Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Portion of the Righteous (Romans 2:10) | Jonathan Edwards

Transcript

The Portion of the Righteous (Romans 2:10) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  So imagine for a second that someone handed you a hyper
• 0:04
  detailed chronological map of your own existence.
• 0:07
  OK, I am picturing that. Yeah, but, you know, not a five
• 0:10
  year plan for your career and definitely not some sort of
• 0:13
  retirement strategy. Right, nothing mundane like
• 0:15
  that. No, we are talking about a map
• 0:17
  that tracks your life from this current second straight through
• 0:21
  the terrifying moment your physical heart stops beating,
• 0:24
  and it goes further into the intermediate phase immediately
• 0:27
  following that straight through the literal end of the world and
• 0:31
  well, finally into the endless, unsearchable ages of eternity.
• 0:34
  That is a staggering concept. It really is so welcome to
• 0:38
  reformed thinking. Today we are taking a deep dive
• 0:40
  into an astonishing piece of theology that does precisely
• 0:43
  that. I am very excited for this one.
• 0:45
  Me too. We are analyzing A staggering
• 0:48
  sermon delivered in December 1740.
• 0:50
  It is by the theologian Jonathan Edwards A.
• 0:52
  Very heavy hitter. Oh absolutely.
• 0:55
  It is titled The portion of the Righteous and the entire text is
• 0:59
  built off a single verse from the apostle Paul which is Romans
• 1:02
  chapter 2 verse 10. Just one verse.
• 1:04
  Just one. OK, let's unpack this.
• 1:07
  We're not just discussing abstract airy concepts today for
• 1:10
  you guys listening. No, not at all.
• 1:12
  We are looking at a precise mechanical timeline of the
• 1:16
  believers existence. The mission for our deep dive is
• 1:20
  to track the specific sequence of glory, honor and peace that
• 1:27
  is promised to the godly. And that is right out of the
• 1:30
  text. In Romans, spot on.
• 1:32
  Edwards maps this promise out chronologically, and the scale
• 1:35
  of it is just absolutely massive.
• 1:36
  Massive is the right word. We are going to see how this
• 1:39
  sequence begins right now, today, and how it accelerates
• 1:43
  through death and judgement. The scale really is huge and to
• 1:47
  understand the mechanics of this timeline we have to establish
• 1:49
  the theological framework Edwards is operating within.
• 1:52
  Right, we need that context. Because Edwards is writing from
• 1:55
  a strict Reformed perspective. Yeah, he's a theologian who
• 1:58
  adheres entirely to the Westminster Confession.
• 2:00
  Which means a very specific view of salvation.
• 2:03
  Precisely. It means everything we discuss
• 2:05
  today is viewed through the lens of God's sovereign grace.
• 2:07
  OK, so unpack that a bit for us. Well, in Reformed theology, the
• 2:11
  salvation of a human being is a complete, finished work of God
• 2:14
  from beginning to end. Not a team effort.
• 2:16
  No, never. It is never viewed as a
• 2:18
  cooperative effort where God starts the process and then just
• 2:22
  waits for the human to finish it with their own strength.
• 2:25
  Like God throwing a rope and hoping we grab on.
• 2:27
  Right. It is not that at all.
• 2:29
  God initiates the salvation, God sustains the soul, and God
• 2:33
  brings that salvation to final completion.
• 2:35
  Is all him. All him.
• 2:37
  What Edwards provides in this 1740 sermon is a forensic, awe
• 2:43
  inspiring look at what that fully realized, sovereignly
• 2:47
  secured salvation actually looks like.
• 2:49
  Across the entire span of a person's existence.
• 2:51
  Yes, he is detailing the logical, inevitable outcome of a
• 2:55
  soul that has been regenerated by God.
• 2:57
  So it's not just a guess. Not a guess.
• 3:00
  By breaking down Romans 2.10, Edwards shows us that eternal
• 3:03
  life is not a vague hope. It is a guaranteed inheritance
• 3:06
  with specific identifiable stages.
• 3:08
  I love that. But before we start charting out
• 3:11
  the staggering rewards of this eternal inheritance, we have to
• 3:14
  establish who actually receives this portion.
• 3:16
  The Who is crucial. It really is.
• 3:18
  We have to identify the specific group of people the Apostle
• 3:21
  Paul's talking about in Romans 2.10.
• 3:23
  And the text is very clear on that.
• 3:25
  It is the text specifies that these rewards go to every man
• 3:30
  that worketh good. That is the phrase.
• 3:32
  Yeah, and Edwards is clear that this is the distinguishing mark
• 3:35
  of true conversion. He draws a very hard line there.
• 3:38
  He does. He points out that the reward is
• 3:41
  not for people who simply sit in a Pew and hear the law.
• 3:44
  Right. Mere attendance isn't enough.
• 3:46
  And it is not for people who you know, verbally profess to be
• 3:50
  good, or people who just have nice intentions.
• 3:53
  Intentions don't cut it, no. It is strictly reserved for
• 3:56
  those who actually do good works.
• 3:57
  But I can hear people questioning this already.
• 4:00
  Yeah, actually, wait a second. I have to push back on this
• 4:02
  myself. Go for it.
• 4:03
  We are looking at this from a Protestant Reformed perspective.
• 4:07
  We adhere to the Westminster Confession, which clearly
• 4:10
  teaches justification by faith alone.
• 4:13
  Solified, yes. We believe that we are saved by
• 4:16
  grace through faith and not by our own works, so that no one
• 4:20
  can boast. That is a core pillar.
• 4:22
  So why is Edwards hinging this massive, eternal reward on every
• 4:26
  man that worketh the good? It seems like a contradiction at
• 4:29
  first glance. It really does.
• 4:31
  Does this contradict our core theology?
• 4:33
  I I like to think about the relationship between faith and
• 4:37
  works using an analogy. Oh, I like analogies.
• 4:40
  Let's hear. It let's use the analogy of an
• 4:41
  apple tree. OK, apple tree.
• 4:43
  Right, if you go out into an orchard and you find a
• 4:46
  completely dead branch lying on the ground.
• 4:48
  Just a dead stick. Yeah, dead piece of wood and you
• 4:51
  tie some fresh apples to it with string.
• 4:53
  You have not created a living apple tree.
• 4:55
  No, obviously not. You just have a dead piece of
• 4:57
  wood with fruit artificially attached to it.
• 4:59
  Yeah, the apples do not bring the wood to life.
• 5:01
  That is a great visual. Thanks O.
• 5:04
  If works cannot save a siritually dead person, how do
• 5:08
  we reconcile Edward's focus on doing good with justification by
• 5:12
  faith alone? This raises a very crucial
• 5:15
  question, and the tension you are feeling goes right to the
• 5:18
  heart of the Reformed understanding of justification
• 5:22
  versus sanctification. OK, help us untangle.
• 5:24
  That well, when Edwards talks about working good through his
• 5:27
  strict Reformed lens, he is entirely consistent with the
• 5:31
  Westminster Confession. So he hasn't abandoned the core
• 5:33
  doctrines. Not at all.
• 5:35
  The text of Romans 2.9 does not contradict justification by
• 5:39
  faith. Rather, it describes the
• 5:41
  inevitable fruit of that faith. Going back to the tree.
• 5:45
  Yes, you are completely right about the tree analogy.
• 5:48
  The fruit does not save the tree.
• 5:50
  It doesn't make it alive. Right.
• 5:52
  The fruit does not pump SAP into the roots and make the tree
• 5:55
  alive. The fruit is the undeniable,
• 5:57
  visible proof that the tree is already alive.
• 6:00
  OK, I see where you're going. Working good is the inevitable
• 6:04
  evidence of a thorough, genuine work of conversion.
• 6:06
  Because something fundamental has changed.
• 6:09
  Yes, Edwards explains that in true conversion, the human heart
• 6:12
  is entirely altered. Ezekiel talks about that, right?
• 6:15
  The heart of Stone. Spot on.
• 6:17
  God removes the heart of stone and provides a heart of flesh.
• 6:20
  A complete replacement. A radical internal alteration.
• 6:23
  The affections are turned away from sin and turned toward God.
• 6:26
  So you start loving different things.
• 6:28
  Exactly. I mean precisely because of this
• 6:31
  radical internal alteration, a person cannot be justified by
• 6:35
  faith and remain unchanged in their behavior.
• 6:38
  It would be impossible. Right.
• 6:39
  If the root is genuinely alive, it must produce good fruit.
• 6:44
  You can't have a living apple tree that never produces an
• 6:46
  apple. That is the whole point.
• 6:48
  So when and the apostle Paul in Romans 2 and Edwards and his
• 6:52
  sermon point to those who work good, they are pointing to the
• 6:56
  only visible metric we have, the.
• 6:59
  Only way we can tell. Right.
• 7:00
  It is the only metric for identifying A genuinely
• 7:03
  regenerated heart. The works are the vindication of
• 7:06
  the faith. They prove it is real.
• 7:07
  Yes, they are the evidence that sovereign Grace has actually
• 7:11
  altered the person. The good works do not purchase
• 7:14
  the heavenly reward. They just prove you belong to
• 7:16
  the God who gives the reward. You said it perfectly.
• 7:19
  They prove that the person belongs to the God who freely
• 7:22
  gives the reward. That makes total sense when you
• 7:24
  break it down like that. The works validate the faith.
• 7:27
  They prove the tree is alive. It is a very consistent theology
• 7:30
  once you grasp that distinction. It is so having identified the
• 7:34
  true believer, the one who possesses A genuinely altered
• 7:37
  heart, we can move chronologically to the very
• 7:40
  first stage of their reward. And this part is fascinating.
• 7:43
  It really is. This is the part of Edward's
• 7:45
  sermon that really caught me off guard.
• 7:47
  Why is that? Well, we usually think of heaven
• 7:50
  as the starting line for our reward.
• 7:52
  Right, like we just suffer now and wait for the end.
• 7:55
  Yeah, we assume we slog through a miserable earthly existence,
• 7:58
  and then the good stuff starts after we die.
• 8:00
  But Edward says no. Right Edwards argues that the
• 8:03
  reward begins immediately, right now, in the present earthly
• 8:07
  life. It starts today.
• 8:09
  Exactly, the believers happiness does not wait for the next
• 8:12
  World. He takes the three categories
• 8:14
  from Romans 2, Point Nora, glory, glory, honor and peace
• 8:19
  and shows how they applied today.
• 8:20
  Let's look at that first one. Glory.
• 8:22
  Yeah, let's look at the first category, glory.
• 8:24
  Edwards defines this glory as Excellency, which means
• 8:27
  receiving the image of God. The image of God implanted in a
• 8:31
  person. Yes, now he admits this image is
• 8:33
  highly imperfect in our current life because of remaining sin.
• 8:36
  We still mess up. We do, but he calls it a divine
• 8:40
  spark. A spark.
• 8:41
  I like that. He says this kindly spark of
• 8:43
  holiness in the believer is 10,000 times superior to the
• 8:48
  most precious Ruby on Earth. 10,000 times just because it's
• 8:52
  divine. Simply because the spark is
• 8:54
  divine in its origin. That is an amazing way to value.
• 8:58
  It I know, I think of this divine spark implanted at the
• 9:02
  moment of conversion like a pilot light in an industrial
• 9:05
  furnace. OK, a pilot light.
• 9:07
  Yeah, the world in hell can blow their hardest, but they cannot
• 9:11
  extinguish that pilot light. Because God is protecting it.
• 9:14
  Right. God sovereignly maintains that
• 9:16
  flame in the believer's heart. Even when it feels small.
• 9:19
  Especially then, it might flicker.
• 9:21
  It might seem small compared to the coldness of the world around
• 9:24
  it, but eventually that small flame will consume all the
• 9:28
  remaining corruption in the soul.
• 9:29
  Wow. Yeah, turning the person into a
• 9:32
  complete blazing flame of fire. That pilot light analogy
• 9:35
  captures the mechanics of sanctification perfectly, thank
• 9:38
  you. The spark is small, but its
• 9:39
  origin is divine, which makes it infinitely valuable.
• 9:42
  It really changes how you look at small acts of obedience.
• 9:45
  It does. The presence of that spark means
• 9:48
  the process of glorification has already begun in the believer's
• 9:51
  life. So that is glory.
• 9:54
  What about the next one? Then Edwards moves to the second
• 9:56
  category, honor. Honor in this present life.
• 9:59
  Right. He defines this present honor as
• 10:02
  adoption. Believers are brought into a
• 10:05
  relationship as children of God. They become joint heirs with
• 10:09
  Christ, yes. Joint heirs.
• 10:12
  This is a staggering concept when you think about the
• 10:15
  hierarchy of the universe. Because we are so low on the
• 10:17
  totem pole, naturally. We are.
• 10:20
  But Edwards points out that this adoption makes the believers
• 10:22
  honor even greater than that of the angels.
• 10:24
  Wait, greater than the Angel? Yes, angels are glorious,
• 10:28
  powerful beings, but they are servants.
• 10:30
  Right, they are messengers. They're called sons by virtue of
• 10:33
  their own separate creation. Christians, however, are sons by
• 10:36
  virtue of their union with the eternal Son of God.
• 10:39
  Because we are united to Jesus. Spot on.
• 10:43
  They share in Christ's sonship because Christ is the heir of
• 10:47
  all things and believers are united to him.
• 10:50
  They share in that exact same inheritance.
• 10:52
  That is mind blowing. Our honor exceeds the angels
• 10:56
  simply because of who we are attached to.
• 10:58
  It is all about the union with Christ.
• 11:00
  OK, so that is glory and honor. What about peace?
• 11:04
  Finally, Edwards addresses peace, which he equates with
• 11:08
  genuine pleasure. Pleasure is an interesting word
• 11:11
  choice for peace. It is, he says.
• 11:13
  This piece is rooted in total safety from God's wrath and in
• 11:16
  possessing inexhaustible riches. Which is the grace of God.
• 11:20
  Right. What is fascinating here is the
• 11:23
  sharp contrast Edward straws between the peace of the
• 11:26
  believer and the false peace of the wicked.
• 11:28
  Oh, the false peace. That is a terrifying concept.
• 11:31
  It really is. The false piece of the
• 11:33
  unregenerate relies entirely on blindness.
• 11:35
  Because if they saw the truth, they would panic.
• 11:37
  Precisely if an ungodly man saw his true standing before a holy
• 11:41
  God, his peace would vanish instantly.
• 11:43
  It would just evaporate completely.
• 11:46
  His quietness relies on delusion.
• 11:48
  It is like a man sleeping comfortably in a burning house
• 11:51
  only because he does not know it is on fire.
• 11:54
  Ignorance is bliss until the roof collapses.
• 11:56
  That is exactly but the believers peace is different.
• 12:00
  It is founded on light, rest, life, substance, and holiness.
• 12:04
  So they don't have to close their eyes to be a peace.
• 12:06
  Not at all. When the believer sees reality
• 12:08
  most clearly, that is when their peace is greatest.
• 12:12
  I love how Edwards lists the specific types of earthly joy
• 12:15
  believers experience to back up that concept of peace.
• 12:18
  He is very practical. He really is.
• 12:21
  It makes the theology highly practical for you.
• 12:23
  Listening today, he details three specific types of joy that
• 12:26
  a believer can experience right now.
• 12:28
  OK, what is the first one? First, there is the joy a person
• 12:31
  has in a sense of their own pardon.
• 12:33
  The relief of being forgiven. Yeah, when you truly grasp that
• 12:36
  you are safe from hell, that the huge debt is canceled and
• 12:39
  immense psychological weight is lifted.
• 12:41
  I can completely understand that.
• 12:43
  Second, there is the joy found in viewing God's Excellency.
• 12:47
  Edwards calls this a cluster of Canaan Foretaste.
• 12:50
  A cluster of Canaan like from the Book of Numbers.
• 12:53
  Right in the Old Testament, the spies brought back a massive
• 12:57
  cluster of grapes to show the Israelites a little sample of
• 13:00
  the Promised Land A. Little taste of what's coming,
• 13:02
  Yeah. Edwards is saying that when we
• 13:04
  worship or read scripture and suddenly see how beautiful God
• 13:07
  is. We are getting those grapes.
• 13:08
  We are getting a literal sample of heaven right here on earth.
• 13:11
  That is a beautiful thought and the third type of joy.
• 13:14
  And third, there's the joy of actually doing things for God's
• 13:18
  glory. The joy of obedience.
• 13:20
  Right. The very act of obedience
• 13:22
  generates joy in the regenerated heart.
• 13:25
  Because the heart has been changed to love those things.
• 13:28
  Spot on. So we have this incredible set
• 13:30
  up if the believer possesses such immense peace, such
• 13:34
  staggering honor, and the very image of God in this life.
• 13:38
  A massive question arises. A massive question Why does
• 13:42
  death still loom? Is such a terror.
• 13:43
  It is the great enemy. It is why do Christians still
• 13:46
  sweat and panic when facing a terminal diagnosis?
• 13:49
  It is a very real fear. That brings us to our next
• 13:51
  section, the paradox of death. Edwards has a very unique take
• 13:55
  on this. He does.
• 13:56
  He fundamentally redefines the moment of death for the
• 13:59
  believer. How so?
• 14:01
  He says that for the Christian, death is not even worthy of the
• 14:05
  name death. Not even worthy of the name.
• 14:07
  Right, because Christ spent all of death strength on the cross.
• 14:11
  He took the full blow. He did by killing Christ.
• 14:15
  Death essentially killed itself. It exhausted its ammunition.
• 14:19
  That is a great way to say it. It is completely disarmed.
• 14:22
  So it has no weapon left. None.
• 14:25
  And here's where it gets really interesting.
• 14:27
  Edwards uses this analogy of the lion and the lamb.
• 14:31
  Tell me about the lion and the. Lamb death was once a roaring,
• 14:34
  devouring lion, but Christ's victory turned it into a lamb
• 14:38
  that is merely wearing a terrifying mask.
• 14:40
  Just a lamb and a mask. Yeah, if a believer fears death,
• 14:44
  it is exactly like a child who is frightened in the dark.
• 14:47
  The fear is real to the child, but the danger isn't.
• 14:49
  Exactly. The terror is born of the
• 14:52
  child's own human frailty and imagination, not of any actual
• 14:55
  danger in the room. That image of the terror
• 14:57
  verifying mask is crucial for understanding the Reformed view
• 15:00
  of glorification. It really shifts your
• 15:02
  perspective. It does death looks horrific,
• 15:05
  but it has absolutely no teeth. It has been completely defanged
• 15:09
  by the resurrection of Christ. So what is death then, if it
• 15:12
  isn't this devouring lion? Well.
• 15:15
  If we connect this to the bigger picture, Edwards is explaining
• 15:18
  the theology of death as a translation.
• 15:20
  A translation like moving from one place to another.
• 15:23
  Yes, a relocation rather than an ending.
• 15:26
  He describes our present earthly life as dull, filled with
• 15:30
  spiritual deadness and stupidity.
• 15:32
  Even for Christians. Even for the most devout
• 15:34
  Christian, the physical body acts as a cramping prison.
• 15:39
  A. Cramping prison?
• 15:40
  That sounds so. Uncomfortable it is meant to our
• 15:42
  physical limitations constantly hinder our spiritual desires.
• 15:46
  Oh I see, like when Jesus said the Spirit is willing but the
• 15:49
  flesh is weak. Spot on.
• 15:51
  We want to pray, but we get tired and fall asleep.
• 15:53
  We want to rejoice, but our brain chemistry makes us
• 15:55
  depressed. Right.
• 15:57
  We get sick, we get distracted, we lose focus.
• 16:00
  It is a constant battle with our own bodies.
• 16:02
  It is Death, therefore, is not a tragedy for the believer.
• 16:07
  It is the glorious release into perfect light and unbroken
• 16:10
  activity. Release from the cramping
• 16:12
  prison. Yes, the believer awakes from a
• 16:15
  state of physical and spiritual lethargy into a state of total
• 16:20
  vibrancy. So they are finally fully awake.
• 16:22
  Completely awake when the physical body drops away, the
• 16:26
  soul is no longer hindered by the constraints of a fallen
• 16:29
  world. The shadow of the lion falls
• 16:31
  away. Right.
• 16:32
  And the believer realizes that death was simply a servant.
• 16:36
  A servant. Yes, a servant sent by God to
• 16:38
  unlock the prison door and usher them into their true life.
• 16:41
  I love that. So the door unlocks, the soul is
• 16:44
  released from the cramping prison of the body, and that
• 16:47
  moves us directly into the intermediate.
• 16:49
  State the next phase on the map. Yeah, this is the period between
• 16:52
  a person's physical death and the final, literal end of the
• 16:55
  world. A lot of people are confused
• 16:56
  about this phase. They are, but the narrative
• 16:59
  follows the soul immediately to its next location, and Edwards
• 17:02
  gets highly specific here. He doesn't leave much to the
• 17:04
  imagination. No, and it is fascinating.
• 17:07
  He talks about the escort. The escort to heaven.
• 17:09
  Yeah, ministering angels are actively standing guard around
• 17:13
  the dying bed. Their job is to protect the
• 17:17
  vulnerable soul from demons, and then they courteously escort the
• 17:20
  soul through the aerial and starry heavens.
• 17:23
  That sounds incredibly majestic. It does, and their destination
• 17:27
  is the 3rd heaven. The 3rd heaven.
• 17:30
  Yeah, Edwards insists. This is a literal distinct
• 17:33
  location in the universe. A physical place.
• 17:35
  Yes, it is the exact place where Christ's glorified physical body
• 17:39
  currently resides. Because Jesus ascended bodily.
• 17:42
  Right, because Christ has a physical body, heaven must be a
• 17:45
  physical place to contain it. That makes perfect logical.
• 17:47
  Sense when the soul arise in this literal heaven, they're
• 17:50
  greeted by departed Saints and presented spotless to the Good
• 17:53
  Shepherd. What a meeting that must.
• 17:55
  Be I know Christ rejoices over this individual soul, a soul He
• 17:59
  loved and chose before the foundation of the world.
• 18:01
  That sovereign grace again. Always, in this intermediate
• 18:05
  state, the souls engage in sweet repose.
• 18:08
  They're finally free from tears, free from physical pain, and
• 18:11
  totally free from indwelling corruption.
• 18:13
  No more fighting sin. None, and they get to converse
• 18:16
  with Old Testament figures like Moses and David.
• 18:19
  Imagine having a chat with David.
• 18:20
  Seriously, they also rejoice as they watch God's earthly
• 18:24
  Providence unfold down below. They are watching.
• 18:27
  Us, yeah. They watch the fall of Pagan
• 18:29
  empires, the progress of the Reformation, the spread of the
• 18:31
  gospel. That is a very dynamic view of
• 18:34
  heaven. It is, but this dynamic makes me
• 18:36
  wonder, what's that? If the Saints in heaven are
• 18:38
  watching earthly history unfold with all his wars and tragedies,
• 18:42
  how can they be happy? That is a very common question,
• 18:45
  right? Does this mean they are just
• 18:47
  sitting in a celestial theater watching us struggle like
• 18:50
  spectators at a sporting event? It is much more active and
• 18:53
  spiritually robust than being mere spectators in a theater.
• 18:56
  Okay, unpack that. Edwards elaborates that these
• 18:59
  Saints are in a state of joyful expectation.
• 19:02
  Joyful expectation. Yes, in our current earthly
• 19:06
  life, desire almost always feels like anxiety or uneasiness.
• 19:10
  We want something and awaiting hurts.
• 19:12
  Exactly, but in the intermediate state they are completely at
• 19:15
  rest. So they don't have that anxiety.
• 19:17
  Right, their desires do not 'cause them any uneasiness.
• 19:21
  Instead, they are eagerly awaiting the final consummation
• 19:24
  of history with perfect patience.
• 19:27
  Because they know how the story ends.
• 19:28
  Spot on. They understand the grand
• 19:31
  narrative of God's redemptive plan in a way we cannot
• 19:34
  currently comprehend. They see the big picture.
• 19:36
  They do so when they watch earthly events, even tragic
• 19:40
  ones, they are not passively observing.
• 19:43
  What are they doing? They are witnessing the
• 19:45
  triumphant March of Christ's Kingdom and the perfect
• 19:48
  execution of God's justice. They see God's hand in
• 19:51
  everything. Yes, when they see a Sinner
• 19:54
  repent or a corrupt, oppressive system fall, they rejoice
• 19:58
  because they see God's glory being magnified.
• 20:01
  That makes sense. They are in a state of absolute
• 20:03
  blessedness, but they are still waiting for something.
• 20:06
  What are they waiting for? They are waiting for the
• 20:08
  resurrection of their bodies. Because they are currently just
• 20:11
  souls. Right, because as wonderful as
• 20:14
  the intermediate state is, human beings are designed by God to be
• 20:18
  embodied creatures. We.
• 20:20
  Aren't meant to be floating ghosts.
• 20:21
  No. A human is a union of body and
• 20:25
  soul. The soul without the body is in
• 20:29
  a state of joy, but it is not yet in its ultimate finalized
• 20:33
  state. It needs physical redemption.
• 20:35
  Yes, complete physical redemption.
• 20:38
  That drives us right into the next major event on this
• 20:40
  timeline. The Resurrection.
• 20:42
  Yes, the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment the.
• 20:44
  Climax of history. The intermediate state is
• 20:46
  wonderful, like we said, but the physical body is part of God's
• 20:50
  original design, and God intends to redeem the physical matter,
• 20:54
  not just the spiritual soul. He doesn't throw away his
• 20:57
  creation, no. So the discussion moves forward
• 21:00
  to the literal end of the world. When does happen?
• 21:02
  Edward says the exact timing of Christ descent is a secret hour.
• 21:06
  No one knows the day or the hour.
• 21:08
  Right, but when it arrives, it will be heralded loudly in
• 21:11
  heaven. Christ will descend with the
• 21:13
  heavenly host. And the Saints?
• 21:14
  The souls of the Saints will come down with him to be
• 21:17
  reunited with their physical bodies.
• 21:18
  Out of the graves. Yes, this new body is sown in
• 21:22
  weakness but raised in power. Raised in power.
• 21:25
  This is where I think of a massive, unimaginable hardware
• 21:28
  upgrade. A hardware upgrade.
• 21:30
  I like this. Yeah, think about your computer.
• 21:32
  In this current life, if we experience even a fraction of
• 21:35
  God's glory, our frail human hardware, it is completely
• 21:40
  overwhelmed. It crashes.
• 21:42
  It totally crashes. Look at the prophets in the
• 21:44
  Bible. When they see an Angel or a
• 21:46
  vision of God, they physically faint.
• 21:49
  They fall down like dead. Men, they weep, they fall down,
• 21:51
  they can't handle it. Our current nervous systems and
• 21:54
  brains simply cannot process that much glory without short
• 21:57
  circuiting our. Processors are too weak.
• 22:00
  Exactly. But the new resurrection
• 22:02
  hardware requires no sleep, requires no fruit, is entirely
• 22:06
  vigorous, and can withstand the immediate, unshielded glory of
• 22:09
  God. God effortlessly.
• 22:10
  It is designed to handle the weight of glory, yes.
• 22:14
  Edwards says their bodies will shine like the brightness of the
• 22:16
  firmament. Like stars?
• 22:17
  Similar to how Moses his face show when he came down from
• 22:20
  Mount Sinai, but far greater and permanent.
• 22:23
  That is an amazing upgrade. It is then the Saints mount up
• 22:27
  to the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
• 22:29
  The meeting in the air. And their secret good works, the
• 22:32
  things no one else saw, are declared publicly for their
• 22:35
  honor. Nothing remains hidden.
• 22:37
  Nothing. And then, astonishingly, they
• 22:40
  sit on 12 Thrones to judge the wicked and the fallen angels.
• 22:45
  This is a huge theological point.
• 22:47
  Wait, judging angels? Yes, If we connect this to the
• 22:51
  bigger picture of history, we see a striking absolute reversal
• 22:56
  of earthly fortunes. A.
• 22:57
  Reversal. Yes, Edwards highlights the
• 23:00
  total humiliation of the wicked at this final judgement.
• 23:03
  OK, lay that out for us. Think about the history of the
• 23:06
  Church Throughout the centuries, the Saints have offered been the
• 23:09
  one standing trial in chains before unjust, arrogant earthly
• 23:13
  judges. Right, the martyrs.
• 23:14
  Yes, they've been persecuted, mocked, tortured and martyred by
• 23:18
  corrupt political and religious powers.
• 23:20
  The. World has treated them terribly.
• 23:22
  Terribly, but in this final moment the tables are completely
• 23:25
  turned. The ultimate role reversal.
• 23:27
  Absolutely. The Saints now sit on Thrones,
• 23:29
  actively participating alongside Christ in the judgement of those
• 23:33
  very persecutors. Wow, judging the people who
• 23:35
  tortured them. Yes.
• 23:36
  Furthermore, they also judged the demonic forces that tempted,
• 23:40
  harassed and tormented them during their earthly lives.
• 23:43
  That is just incredible to picture.
• 23:45
  It is a core component of Reformed eschatology.
• 23:49
  It is the public vindication of God's elect.
• 23:51
  Vindication is a great word for it.
• 23:53
  All the secret good works, the quiet acts of charity, the
• 23:57
  silent prayers that went unnoticed or were mocked by the.
• 24:00
  World, all of it is brought out. All of it is brought to light
• 24:03
  and publicly honored by Christ. The justice handed down is
• 24:06
  absolute and the reversal of status is complete.
• 24:09
  It all gets balanced out. Perfectly balanced, the physical
• 24:12
  bodies they receive for this moment are not just functional,
• 24:15
  they are perfectly suited to reflect the internal spiritual
• 24:20
  purity of their souls. So the outside finally matches
• 24:23
  the inside. Yes, they are designed with a
• 24:25
  specific capacity for eternal worship and perfect
• 24:28
  uninterrupted communion with a holy God.
• 24:31
  So after the judgment concludes, the wicked are castaway, and the
• 24:35
  corrupted earthly world is consumed by fire to be purified.
• 24:39
  The new heavens and the new earth.
• 24:40
  Right, this brings the timeline to its absolute peak, the
• 24:45
  consummate state or eternal blessedness.
• 24:47
  The final destination. Yes, Christ makes a triumphant
• 24:51
  descent back to heaven, presenting his completely
• 24:54
  gathered, fully healed mystical Body to the Father.
• 24:57
  He didn't lose a single one. He loses nothing.
• 25:01
  Not a single member of his flock is missing.
• 25:03
  They enter the New Jerusalem described with its streets of
• 25:06
  gold and gates of Pearl. A very famous image.
• 25:09
  Very famous, yeah, but Edwards makes a brilliant observation
• 25:12
  here. What does he say?
• 25:14
  He says the souls of the Saints will possess far more beauty
• 25:17
  than the city itself. More beautiful than streets of
• 25:19
  gold. Yes, the physical gold and
• 25:22
  pearls are nothing compared to a human soul radiant with perfect
• 25:26
  humility and perfect love. The.
• 25:27
  People are the real treasure. Spot on.
• 25:30
  In this consummate state, Edwards talks about degrees of
• 25:33
  glory. Oh, this is a very interesting
• 25:35
  concept. It is, he says.
• 25:36
  Saints will have different capacities for glory based on
• 25:39
  how they live their earthly lives.
• 25:41
  Capacities, yeah. He uses the image of vessels of
• 25:43
  different sizes being cast into a bottomless ocean.
• 25:46
  So like a small cup and a huge barrel?
• 25:48
  Right, they are all completely full of water, but some vessels
• 25:51
  hold more water than others. That is a very helpful analogy.
• 25:54
  He also mentions that earthly pious friendships and
• 25:57
  ministerial bonds will continue. We will remember each other.
• 26:00
  Yes, and those bonds will be enhanced by profound gratitude.
• 26:04
  That is comforting. And finally, there is the
• 26:06
  beatific vision. The ultimate sight.
• 26:08
  The Saints will see the physical body of Christ with their
• 26:11
  physical bodily eyes, but they will see the essence of God with
• 26:16
  the eyes of the soul. The eyes of the soul.
• 26:18
  Yes, an intellectual, intuitive, perfect certainty facilitated
• 26:23
  directly by the Holy Spirit. Wow.
• 26:26
  But have to zero in on this concept of degrees of glory.
• 26:29
  Let's talk about the vessels. Right, if there are vessels of
• 26:32
  different sizes. Yeah.
• 26:33
  And some Saints have a higher degree of glory and capacity
• 26:36
  than others. It creates inequality.
• 26:38
  It does. How can inequality in heaven not
• 26:41
  lead to jealousy? That is the natural human
• 26:44
  response. In our world, if someone has a
• 26:46
  bigger house or a higher status, it immediately creates friction
• 26:50
  and envy. We see that every day.
• 26:52
  Every day. So how does heaven avoid this
• 26:55
  friction? That is precisely where Edwards
• 26:57
  applies brilliant psychological and theological insight.
• 27:01
  OK, explain his logic here. Well, in our fallen earthly
• 27:04
  state, inequality almost always breeds envy.
• 27:08
  Almost constantly. We constantly compare ourselves
• 27:10
  to others to measure our own worth.
• 27:13
  It's how we figure out where we stand, right?
• 27:15
  But in heaven, perfect holiness means perfect love.
• 27:18
  Perfect love. Yes, you have to remove the
• 27:21
  clouded lens of human sin to understand this dynamic.
• 27:24
  Let's remove the lens. Imagine a St. with a smaller
• 27:27
  capacity for glory, looking at a more exalted St., a much larger
• 27:32
  vessel. The little cup looking at the
• 27:33
  big barrel. Exactly.
• 27:35
  They do not feel a single shred of jealousy.
• 27:38
  None at all. None.
• 27:39
  Instead, they rejoice completely.
• 27:41
  Why do they rejoice? Because they're perfect.
• 27:44
  Love dictates that they find absolute joy in seeing God's
• 27:47
  image so highly magnified in another person.
• 27:50
  Oh. Because it's about God, not
• 27:51
  them. Spot on.
• 27:52
  The more glory a fellow St. Possesses the more of God's
• 27:56
  beautiful character is on display.
• 27:58
  And they love God perfectly. Yes, and since the smaller
• 28:02
  vessel perfectly loves God, they are thrilled to see God
• 28:06
  glorified to such a massive degree in their neighbor.
• 28:09
  They love the other Saints glory as much as their own.
• 28:11
  You said it perfectly. Furthermore, Edwards points out
• 28:15
  a beautiful paradox. What's the paradox?
• 28:17
  The highest in glory are also the most profoundly humble.
• 28:21
  Because humility is part of glory.
• 28:23
  Precisely so the inner quality does not create a hierarchy of
• 28:27
  arrogant pride. It creates harmony.
• 28:30
  It creates a Symphony of mutual joy and perfect harmony.
• 28:33
  The larger vessels are the quickest to bow low.
• 28:36
  That completely flips our earthly understanding of status.
• 28:40
  It really does. Every single vessel, regardless
• 28:42
  of its size, is filled to the absolute brim with happiness.
• 28:46
  So no one feels empty. No one feels empty, no one feels
• 28:49
  lacking, and no one wishes there were someone else.
• 28:51
  The highest are the most humble, and the lowest are thrilled for
• 28:54
  the highest. It is a perfect society.
• 28:56
  It really is. So what does this all mean for
• 28:58
  us sitting here listening right now?
• 29:00
  We have to apply it. We do.
• 29:02
  Having scaled the absolute heights of eternal glory, we
• 29:06
  have to bring this back back down to earth and ask how does
• 29:11
  this dictate the way you live your life today?
• 29:13
  Because it should change everything.
• 29:15
  Edwards does not leave this as a theoretical exercise.
• 29:18
  First, he stresses the mercy of conversion.
• 29:21
  He brings it back to grace. Always Salvation is entirely a
• 29:26
  free gift of sovereign grace, given to wretched enemies of God
• 29:29
  who deserve the exact opposite. We cannot forget that starting
• 29:32
  point. We can't.
• 29:34
  Second, he points out the absolute folly of laziness.
• 29:37
  Laziness in spiritual matters. Right, people will labor
• 29:41
  tirelessly working 80 hour weeks.
• 29:43
  They sacrifice their health. They sacrifice their health,
• 29:45
  their marriages, their Peace of Mind, all stressing over a
• 29:48
  corner office. Or a retirement portfolio.
• 29:50
  Yes, a portfolio that they are absolutely guaranteed to leave
• 29:53
  behind the second their heart stops beating.
• 29:54
  It stays here. It all stays here.
• 29:56
  Yeah, Yeah, those exact same people show careless apathy
• 30:00
  towards securing A literal eternal Kingdom prepared before
• 30:02
  the foundation of the world. It really exposes our skewed
• 30:05
  priorities. It does.
• 30:08
  Third, he says, there is immense comfort in affliction.
• 30:11
  Comfort for those suffering right now.
• 30:13
  Earthly trials, whether chronic illness, poverty, or emotional
• 30:18
  pain. No matter how severe.
• 30:20
  Right. No matter how severe or how long
• 30:22
  they last, they vanish into nothingness when weighed against
• 30:25
  an eternal weight of glory. A drop in the ocean.
• 30:28
  And finally, Edwards gives blunt directions for the seeker.
• 30:32
  What are his instructions? He says you must renounce all
• 30:35
  hope of saving yourself, choose God as your supreme portion, and
• 30:39
  walk the narrow suffering path of the flock.
• 30:41
  This application section really highlights Edward's pastoral
• 30:45
  heart. He wasn't just a brain in a jar.
• 30:47
  No, not at all. We often think of him as just an
• 30:50
  intellectual giant or a strict magician who wrote dense
• 30:53
  theological treatises. But he cared for his
• 30:56
  congregation. Very much so.
• 30:58
  This doctrine is highly pastoral.
• 31:00
  It is designed to do 2 things simultaneously.
• 31:02
  What is the first thing? First, it is meant to comfort
• 31:05
  the afflicted St. in dark times. Like we just mentioned.
• 31:08
  Right when a believer is suffering intense physical pain,
• 31:12
  enduring persecution, or walking through deep spiritual darkness.
• 31:15
  They need hope. They need a road map.
• 31:17
  This detailed road map of their guaranteed future glory provides
• 31:21
  an anchor for their soul. It gives them the endurance to
• 31:25
  keep going because giving up seems easier in the moment.
• 31:27
  Yes, it gives them the endurance to keep going when giving up
• 31:30
  seems easier. Second, it is meant to violently
• 31:34
  shake the natural man awake from his earthly delusions.
• 31:37
  That violent shake. Edwards is holding up the
• 31:39
  breathtaking reality of eternal glory and contrasting it
• 31:43
  directly with the fleeting, empty pursuits of a secular
• 31:46
  life. The 80 hour for work weeks.
• 31:48
  Exactly. He is urging the listener to
• 31:51
  apply critical thinking to their own daily priorities.
• 31:53
  Does my life reflect this reality?
• 31:55
  That is the question. If this eternal state is real,
• 31:58
  and the Reformed perspective insists it is the ultimate
• 32:01
  objective reality of the universe, then apathy is the
• 32:04
  most irrational response possible.
• 32:06
  Is absolute madness to ignore it.
• 32:08
  Ignoring eternity to focus on a temporary retirement account is
• 32:12
  madness. You must renounce self-reliance,
• 32:15
  recognize your own spiritual bankruptcy, and throw yourself
• 32:19
  entirely on the grace of God provided in Jesus Christ.
• 32:22
  That is a very powerful summary of the Reformed position.
• 32:25
  It is the core of gospel we. Have tracked A staggering
• 32:28
  progression today for you guys listening.
• 32:29
  We really covered a lot of ground.
• 32:32
  We started with the Divine Smark that Pilot Light implanted in
• 32:36
  this current life. Which is safe from being put
• 32:38
  out. Yes, kept safe by God, we walk
• 32:40
  through the complete defanging of death.
• 32:43
  A lamb in a scary mass. Right death losing its sting.
• 32:46
  We looked at the joyful expectation of the intermediate
• 32:49
  state. Waiting for the body.
• 32:51
  And then the massive hardware upgrade of the bodily
• 32:53
  resurrection. Built for the weight of glory.
• 32:55
  And finally, we arrived at the beatific vision in eternity,
• 32:59
  where perfect love eliminates all envy.
• 33:01
  It really is a breathtaking inheritance awaiting the
• 33:04
  righteous. It absolutely is.
• 33:06
  I want to leave you, the listener, with a challenging
• 33:10
  concept to Mull over based on that beatific vision.
• 33:13
  A final thought, yeah. We discussed how our ultimate
• 33:16
  eternal joy relies on seeing God with the eyes of the soul rather
• 33:21
  than just our physical eyes. An intellectual, spiritual
• 33:24
  apprehension of God's glory. Exactly.
• 33:27
  So the question is, are we exercising that spiritual site
• 33:31
  right now? That is a heavy question.
• 33:33
  Or are we letting those intellectual and spiritual
• 33:35
  muscles atrophy by only focusing on the physical, temporary world
• 33:40
  directly in front of? Us, are we looking at the
• 33:42
  portfolio or the Kingdom? Right, because if our eternal
• 33:45
  happiness is based on spiritual site, we should probably start
• 33:47
  practicing it today. That is an excellent point to
• 33:50
  end on. Thank you for taking this deep
• 33:51
  dive with us. See you next time.