Latest / Reformed Thinking / Sinners in Zion Tenderly Warned (Isaiah 33:14) | Jonathan Edwards

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Sinners in Zion Tenderly Warned (Isaiah 33:14) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Usually when we talk about a medical diagnosis, there's this
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expectation of precision. Oh yeah, like it works like
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engineering or something. Right.
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You fall, your arm hurts, and you go to the clinic.
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The doctor pulls up the X-ray, points to that jagged white line
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on the screen and just says, well, there it is.
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That is the fracture. It's very binary, very clean.
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Yeah, the bone is broken, or it's intact.
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We like things to be visible. We want our problems easily
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categorized so we know what to do next.
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Which makes sense. But then, you know, you step
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into the world of human psychology, you step into the
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landscape of the spiritual condition, and suddenly that
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X-ray machine is just entirely useless.
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Right, because we're looking at a diagnostic landscape that is
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entirely murky. Yeah, you can't easily see
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what's happening on the inside just by observing the outside.
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Well, welcome to reformed thinking.
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Today we are analyzing a text that tries to build that
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spiritual X-ray machine. And it does it in a very intense
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way. It really does.
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So for you listening, we're going to examine an intense,
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chilling 18th century sermon by Jonathan Edwards.
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It's titled Sinners in Zion Tenderly Warned based on the
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biblical text of Isaiah chapter 33, verse 14.
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To really grasp the weight of this text, we have to look past
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the surface level of historical religious rhetoric.
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OK, let's unpack this, because setting the scene is critical.
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Here it is. Edwards is not dealing in
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abstract theory here. He's performing a severe
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diagnostic evaluation of the people sitting right in front of
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them. Wow.
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Yeah, He uses visceral, almost startling imagery to awaken his
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audience from a state of spiritual slumber.
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It helps to set the scene mentally.
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Paint the picture for us. So we're shifting from our
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fast-paced modern world into a dimly lit historic New England
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meetinghouse in the 1740s, right?
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The wooden pews are hard, the air is still.
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There's no background music playing.
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No light shows or anything like that.
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None at all. The person standing at the front
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is not walking around the stage trying to entertain.
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He's reading from a densely written manuscript, looking
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directly at his congregation. And his goal is not to offer
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comforting platitudes to make everyone feel good about showing
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up right? No, he is delivering an
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incredibly severe warning about the danger of self deception.
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That mental image is crucial because it changes how we hear
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the words. Let's look at the core Scripture
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from the source text. Go for it.
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The passage is Isaiah chapter 33, verse 14.
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Edwards quotes it like this. The sinners in Zion are afraid.
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Fearfulness have surprised the hypocrites.
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Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
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Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
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It's heavy. It is, and what stands out to me
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right away is the specific demographic he is targeting.
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Edwards is not talking to atheists.
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He's not talking to the secular world outside the doors of the
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building. He is aiming this entirely at
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the visible church. That distinction is the hinge on
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which this entire sermon turns, really.
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Edwards breaks down his categorization of humanity very
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systematically. Operating out of that historical
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reformed framework. Spot on.
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Out in the broader world you have people who are entirely
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outside the bounds of the covenant community.
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But then there is Zion. And Zion is a metaphor.
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Right. Yeah, and biblical literature.
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Zion is a historical type, a metaphor for the church.
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Inside Zion, Edwards identifies 2 distinct groups, the truly
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godly and the hypocrites. We should probably define how
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he's using the word hypocrite here.
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We definitely should, because in modern usage, a hypocrite is
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just someone who says one thing and does another.
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Like a politician or something? Yeah, exactly.
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But Edwards defines these individuals as people who make a
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profession of true religion. They show up every Sabbath.
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They listen to the preaching. They check all the religious
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boxes. Right.
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They participate in what are called the ordinances, meaning
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things like baptism and communion.
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But that outward show hides what he terms a natural condition.
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Let's pause and clarify that term for anyone listening who
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might be unfamiliar with the theological jargon.
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When Edwards talks about a natural condition, he is
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referring to an unregenerate state.
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In this framework, humanity is born spiritually dead, naturally
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inclined towards self-interest and rebellion against God.
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Yeah, and being in a natural condition means the person has
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never experienced an internal spiritual resurrection.
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Right. They might have learned how to
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mimic the behavior of a spiritually alive person, but
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internally nothing has changed. Which is incredibly dangerous.
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It's like, think of it like someone who wears the uniform of
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a team. They sit on the bench, they
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execute all the drills perfectly during practice, but secretly
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they are on the payroll of the opposing side.
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They look the part, but their internal allegiance is
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completely different. That sports analogy captures the
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specific danger Edwards is trying to expose.
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The person in the uniform assumes their environment
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provides safety. But it doesn't.
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Not at all. Edwards uses imagery straight
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from the prophet Isaiah to describe the reality of that
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false safety. He talks about ground that
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brings forth no fruit, only stubble.
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Which would have hit home for his audience.
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Definitely. He describes an ancient
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agricultural practice that would have resonated intensely with
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his agrarian listeners in New England.
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He notes that in the ancient Near East, when the corn grew
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very rank, the farmers would reap the wheat, gather the
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valuable grain off the ground, and then literally set fire to
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the remaining stubble left in the field.
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Why stubble specifically? Because stubble is well, it's
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the dead leftovers. It has no root system anymore.
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And it burns incredibly fast. Right, it's just dry, brittle
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material taking up space. Yes, it is fit for nothing else.
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The terrifying connection Edwards makes is that for the
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hypocrite in the church, their own breath, their own wicked
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speeches, their very nature acts as the fire that devours them.
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Oh wow, so they bring the fire with them?
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Yeah, it's an internal consumption.
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They are the fuel for their own destruction.
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He also uses the imagery of burning lime, where stones and
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bones are placed in an exceedingly fierce fire until
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they are completely burnt to ash.
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That's a brutal image. He compares these people to
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briars and thorns growing in God's field.
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They are an encumbrance. They take up resources, they
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drink in the rain, but they produce nothing of value.
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The farmer eventually has to clear the field and their end is
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to be burned. So what you're saying is he's
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essentially locking the doors of the church, looking at the
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people who think they are the safest people on earth, and
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telling them the call is coming from inside the house?
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That is a great way to put it. The danger isn't the Pagan
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armies outside. The danger is the unaddressed
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spiritual rot sitting right in the Pew.
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And what makes this so severe is that according to the text, the
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wrath of God is more specially manifested against this specific
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group that against the outsiders.
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Which is wild to think about. Edwards states that they are
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exalted nearest to heaven in this world by virtue of sitting
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in the pews and hearing the truth, but they will be lowest
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in hell in another. Well, these sinners in Zion are
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currently sitting comfortably in the pews, feeling totally
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secure. Which raises A logical question.
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What's that? How does the state of comfort
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shift into the sheer terror Edwards describes?
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We have to look at the psychological state of these
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people first. Edwards observes that right now
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these individuals are quiet and secure.
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They go about their 18th century daily lives without any
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disturbance. Just going through the motions,
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yeah. They eat, they drink, they farm,
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they conduct their business. The loudest warnings from the
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pulpit do not move them. They can witness a time of
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general religious awakening in their town and stand there
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entirely unaffected. Because they've built up an
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immunity, right? They've built a psychological
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fortress out of their church attendance and outward morality,
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but Edwards promises a massive, violent shift.
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He predicts a sudden, astonishing surprise of fear
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that will melt the stoutest heart.
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And we have to look at how he maps out the progression of this
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fear. He doesn't just say you will be
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scared. No, he's much more methodical
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than that. He breaks it down into 4
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distinct agonizing stages of awakening.
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The first stage is a deathbed realization.
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And the way he describes this is incredibly detailed.
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It really is. He walks through the progression
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of a dying person with a level of psychological realism that
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makes you feel like you are standing right in the.
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He connects this historical warning to a universal human
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anxiety. The fear of running out of time
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and the realization that all your earthly status means
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absolutely nothing when your biology turns against you.
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He starts with the onset of the illness.
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The individual is taken sick initially.
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They have great hope for recovery.
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Because human nature always flatters itself that things will
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turn out well. Always they assume it's just a
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passing ailment. But the distemper prevails, the
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sickness deepens, the person watches, all the medical
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interventions fail. And Edwards lived in an era
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before modern medical monitors and antibiotics.
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The progression of disease was something you had to watch play
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out on a person's face in real time.
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You did, and he describes the exact moment the atmosphere in
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the room shifts. The sick person overhears
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whispering in the corner. Oh, that detail is chilling.
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Friends are telling each other that the patient's extremities
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are growing cold. They're pointing out the
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appearance of the death sweat on the forehead.
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The physician's face falls and he quietly stops offering new
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treatments. Then someone in the room feels
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bound by duty to tell the sick person the brutal truth.
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You are dying. We have to consider the
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cognitive dissonance happening in the mind of the hypocrite at
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this exact second. Right, because up until this
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moment they were praying, making bargains with God about how
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strictly they would live if they were just spared this one time.
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Yeah, they were hoping for some light, some token of favor based
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on their years of church attendance.
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But when the reality of imminent death sets in, the fearfulness
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Isaiah talked about finally surprises them.
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They look at pale, grim death staring them in the face, and
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they realize eternity is only a few hours away.
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And their internal bank account is completely empty.
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Edwards uses this highly specific analogy here that
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really sticks in your mind. He says the dying man acts like
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a drowning victim. The twig analogy.
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Yes, the man catches at slender, brittle twigs and clinches his
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hands around whatever he sees within his reach.
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The dying person tries to tell his friends they are too
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frightened, arguing that the physical symptoms mean something
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else. He's in denial.
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He's grabbing at these tiny, fragile hopes, but as death
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creeps closer, he watches every single one of those twigs snap
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under his weight. It is the realization of
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absolute, unmitigated failure. The text notes that he feels the
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very frame of nature dissolving. He perceives that the soul is
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just about to be evicted from its home.
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And the true terror, Edwards points out, is that the exercise
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of reason holds to the very last moment.
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The mind stays sharp enough to understand exactly what is
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happening. The person knows they have no
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genuine interest in Christ. The outward show has stripped
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away. And their actual unrepented sins
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stare them in the face as the body fetches its last gasp.
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The moment that last gasp happens, we move into the second
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stage, the departed soul. What actually occurs?
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The second in the soul leaves the physical body.
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Edwards does not soften the blow here at all.
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He states that the union of the soul and body is broken.
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The soul forsakes its old habitation, and it immediately
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falls into the hands of devils. To communicate the horror of
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this, he uses vivid animal metaphors.
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Yeah, he asked the congregation to imagine the dreadful fear of
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a lamb or a kid goat falling into the paws of a starving wolf
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with its mouth wide open. Or a little child pursued by a
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lion, seeing the devouring jaws open to tear it to pieces.
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We have to remember the historical context here.
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In 1740s New England, wolves and bears were not abstract concepts
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seen only in zoos. No, they were real, natural
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predators in the dark woods surrounding their towns.
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The fear of wild animal attacks was a legitimate, visceral part
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of frontier life. He even brings in a specific
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biblical reference to heighten this, talking about the two and
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40 mocking children who fell into the paws of Elisha's bears
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in the Book of Kings. Which is an intense story on its
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own. By referencing natural
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predation, Edwards is trying to capture the feeling of absolute,
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paralyzing helplessness. Even if we could perfectly
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imagine the terror of a child cornered by a lion, Edwards
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argues, it is still only a faint shadow of what the departing
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soul of an unregenerate person feels.
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It is the realization that you have stepped out of the physical
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world and instantly become prey. Wow.
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And beyond that immediate, terrifying seizure by demonic
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forces, the departed soul suffers amazing fears of what is
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yet to come. They know their current torment
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is eternal, but they also anticipate the future day of
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judgement, which brings an even greater dread.
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That anticipation brings us to the third stage, the Last
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Judgement. Edwards describes the future
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physical resurrection of the dead.
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He talks about Christ appearing in the clouds, the last trumpet
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sounding and the souls being forced to re enter their
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resurrected bodies with amazing horror.
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The psychological detail he includes regarding the
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resurrection is fascinating. He points out that this fear
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will be universal among the wicked, regardless of their
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earthly status, wealth or bravery.
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He specifically mentions valiant generals and Princess.
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Think about what a general represented in that era.
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These are men who during their earthly lives scorned to show
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fear in the face of an enemy army.
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They scoffed at the roar of cannons and musket fire.
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They built their entire identity on physical courage and
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stoicism. But moral exposure is entirely
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different from physical courage. The contrast to Edwards paints
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here is sharp. A general who would charge into
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a line of cannon fire without blinking is now utterly undone.
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When they hear the last trumpet and see the majesty the judge,
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their teeth will chatter. Edwards says they will fly to
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hide themselves in caves and rocks, shrieking and begging the
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literal mountains to fall on them to cover them.
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It would rather be crushed by millions of tons of rock than
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face the pure holy eye of the Judge.
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It demonstrates the sheer scale of the terror.
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Physical bravery means nothing when the issue is absolute moral
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exposure. Edwards notes that the the
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majesty of the judge will be intolerable to them.
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It will Pierce them through more terrible than flashes of
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lightning piercing their hearts. The realization that every
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hidden thought, every secret hypocrisy, every fake religious
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gesture is now entirely visible creates a panic that breaks even
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the strongest human mind. And then comes the final
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sentence. This is the fourth stage.
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The trial closes. The doom is uttered.
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And Edwards says it will be the most terrible voice ever heard
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by human ears. He describes it as more terrible
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than the sound of the trumpet that woke them from the dead.
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Everyone on the left hand of the judge will physically sink under
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the sheer weight of that spoken sentence.
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Stage 4 culminates with the kindling fire.
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The sentence is pronounced Christ and the Saints ascend,
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and the flames begin to kindle. Edwards describes the visual of
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the entire world Catching Fire, fire coming down from heaven,
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laying hold of the accursed multitude.
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He details the physical reaction, chattering of teeth,
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shaking of loins, violent distortions of the body as they
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begin to feel the actual fierceness of the flames.
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The panic reaches its absolute peak.
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Here. The doomed individuals realize
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there is no escape route. They try to creep into holes,
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into deep caves. Edwards pushes the imagery to
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the extreme, stating that even if they could creep down to the
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very center of the earth, it would be in vain.
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The fire will set the bottoms of the mountains on fire and burn
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down to the lowest hell. There is no bunker deep.
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Enough. He spends a significant amount
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of time detailing the progression of the fear and the
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desperate reaction to the judgement.
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He wants the congregation to feel the closing of the trap.
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Wait, I am stuck on something here.
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What's that he spends all this time talking about a literal sea
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of magma and physical burning? But we are talking about
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spiritual realities, right? If a soul is a spiritual entity,
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or even if they have a resurrected body that is built
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for eternity, how does a physical fire matter?
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Is Edwards just using primitive scare tactics to frighten
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uneducated farmers, or is there a specific theological mechanism
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he is operating under? That is a highly critical
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question, and it's a point where modern readers often
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misunderstand historical theology.
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So it's not just a cartoon pitchforks and flames thing.
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Not at all. Edwards is not just relying on a
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cartoonish view of hell. He directly addresses the
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mechanism of the torment. He wants his congregation to
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grasp the intensity of the wrath.
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OK, so how does he explain it? To do this, he first uses
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physical comparisons. Because human beings are sensory
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creatures, we only understand the unknown by comparing it to
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the known. That makes sense.
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He breaks down three physical examples of extreme heat from
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their contemporary world. First, he points to glass
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melting furnaces. Those were brutal.
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Right in the 18th century, early industrial glassmaking involved
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the absolute hottest, most terrifying display of human made
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heat available. These furnaces were contrived
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for an extreme degree of heat, designed for running and
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refining metals and melting solid materials into liquid
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glass. The heat was so fierce that
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stones would dissolve in it. He asked the listener to imagine
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being brought to the mouth of such a furnace, feeling the
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radiant heat hitting your face, seeing everything inside glowing
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white and bright, and knowing you are about to be cast into
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it. And the second comparison he
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makes leans into historical accounts.
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He talks about heathen cremation pits.
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Yeah, he mentions how in certain cultures they would dig a
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massive pit, fill it with a huge quantity of wood and fuel, place
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bodies on the pile and set it ablaze.
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He uses this as a visual image of the burning of dead souls,
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asking the congregation to imagine standing at the edge of
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a massive glowing pit about to be pushed over the edge.
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The third comparison utilizes the science of his day.
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He points to burning glasses. Like a magnifying glass.
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Exactly. In that era, natural
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philosophers were experimenting with large lenses that could
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concentrate sunlight to a focal point so intense it could
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quickly melt stones and sand. And Edwards scales the
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scientific concept up to a cosmic level.
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He predicts that the heat of the fire that will burn the world
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will be so concentrated it will melt the rocks in the solid
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ground, turning the entire surface of the earth into liquid
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fire. He describes the entire visible
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globe turning into a vast ocean of liquid fire, where the wicked
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are tossed to and fro with vast waves or billows rolling over
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their heads continually. It's a terrifying imagery.
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But back to the mechanism. How does he bridge the gap
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between this physical horror and the spiritual reality?
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He bridges it by explicitly stating that all this physical
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fire is only an image. It is just a shadow of the true
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horror. Which is what?
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The true horror is found in his analysis the biblical text of
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Revelation chapter 19, verse 15, which speaks of the fierceness
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and wrath of Almighty God. Oh, that specific wording.
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Yes. Edward stops to analyze the
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specific remember of that phrase.
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He argues that if the text had only said the wrath of God, that
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would be dreadful enough. The wrath of a human king is
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like the roaring of a lion, so the wrath of a divine creator
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would be terrifying. But the text adds the word
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fierceness. Right.
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It implies the active rage or fury of His wrath, and is not
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just the wrath of God, but of Almighty God.
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So it is the fierceness of omnipotence.
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Precisely the rage of a being of infinite strength.
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That is the spiritual reality behind the physical metaphor of
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the fire. The theological mechanism of
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hell, according to Edwards, is the horror of a finite creature
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bearing the focused, unfiltered, active rage of an infinite,
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omnipotent being. The fire is just the outward
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representation of the inward reality of being completely cut
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off from God's goodness while being fully exposed to is
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justice. And the weight of that exposure
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is compounded by the timeline. Edwards brings up the concept of
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everlasting duration. He runs this terrifying thought
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experiment with a congregation. If a person were brought to a
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glass furnace and told they would suffer inside it for only
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one single minute, the anticipation of that one minute
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would be so terrible that fearfulness would completely
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astonish them. But then Edward scales the
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timeline up. He says it is not one minute, it
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is not one day, it is not an age.
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It's not 100 ages. It is not a million ages, it is
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forever and ever without any end.
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He notes the physiological and psychological state of the
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condemned. He says they will be full of
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quick sense within and without. Their heads, eyes, tongues,
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hands and vitals will be full of glowing fire.
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But more terrifyingly, they will eternally possess the most quick
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and lively sense to feel the torment.
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Their awareness will not dull over time.
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They won't go numb. No.
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Furthermore, they will have a far clearer sense of eternity
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than we do here on earth. In our current state, we cannot
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truly comprehend eternity. The concept swallows our
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thought. We think in terms of days, years
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and lifespans. But in that state, the vastness
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of eternity will be crystal clear to their minds, and the
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thought of spending it in such a condition will sink them into a
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bottomless depths of despair. The psychological breaking point
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of this is devastating to consider, Edwards says.
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The condemned will recognize they simply cannot bear the
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weight of it. They will see that their human
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strength is absolute weakness. They cannot grapple with the
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fierceness of the flames or the act of wrath of God.
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And in that moment of complete cognitive and physical collapse,
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they will cry out with a very specific, desperate desire.
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They will want to return to their first nothing.
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They will desire total annihilation.
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They will cry out, asking how they can possibly bear it,
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wishing they could just cease to exist entirely.
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If existing means this level of exposure to divine wrath, non
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existence becomes the ultimate fantasy.
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But that refuge, that escape into nothingness, is denied.
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The theology dictates that the soul is immortal.
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They are never permitted to return to their first nothing.
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After millions of ages have passed, they are absolutely no
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nearer to the end of their condition than they were the
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second they arrived. Is a bleak picture.
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This horrific fate sounds like a universal baseline for anyone
22:08
who rebels against God in Edwards theological system.
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But he makes a shocking claim in the text he does.
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He argues that the people he is talking to, the sinners in Zion,
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the comfortable churchgoers, have a unique, even worse
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position in this furnace. Yeah, he doesn't hold back.
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Why is a person sitting in the Pew listening to the sermon
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judge so much more harshly than the Pagan outsider who has never
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heard of the Bible? Edward states explicitly that
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sinners in Zion will have by far the lowest place in hell.
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Wow. He says the wrath of God against
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the wicked heathens will be mild and moderate it in comparison
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with what the sinners in Zion will suffer.
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He says their shrieks will be louder, shriller and more bitter
22:49
than anyone else's. This is a terrifying inversion
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of their expectations. They assume they are at the top
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of the spiritual hierarchy because of their religious
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affiliation. Edwards puts them at the
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absolute bottom, and he breaks down 3 distinct logical reasons
23:03
for this heavier judgment, drawing heavily on legal and
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biblical principles regarding culpability.
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We need to unpack those reasons because they explain the
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mechanics of this judgment. Reason 1 is sinning against
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greater light. The concept of greater light
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refers to knowledge and revelation.
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Edwards uses the biblical principle that a blind man has
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comparatively no sin when he stumbles.
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Right. If you don't know the rules,
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your violation of them is mitigated by your ignorance.
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But the one who knows his master's will, who is informed,
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who has the light of the truth to know his duty, and yet
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intentionally disobeys, receives more stripes.
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The person in Zion sits under the teaching of the moral law
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every single week. They know exactly what is
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required. If the light in a person is
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actually darkness, that darkness is incredibly profound.
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Living in active, hidden wickedness while surrounded by
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the illuminating light of the church community is a massive
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aggravation of the sin. It moves from ignorant stumbling
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to calculated treason. That brings us directly to
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reason, too. Sinning against professions and
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vows. The outsiders, the heathens,
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never pretended to be worshippers of the true God.
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They didn't make covenant obligations.
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They didn't stand up in front of a congregation and make
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promises. But the people in Zion did.
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Edwards uses a specific character comparison here that
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is brilliant for explaining the psychology of treasury.
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He compares Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate.
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Oh, that's a brilliant contrast. It perfectly illustrates the
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danger of feigned loyalty. Pilate was a Pagan Roman
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governor. He had no covenant with the God
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of Israel. He was acting out of political
24:38
expediency when he ordered the crucifixion.
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Pilate was the murderer. But Judas was the traitor.
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Judas was one of the inner circle.
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He ate with Christ, traveled with him, and claimed to love
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him. And then he betrayed Christ with
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a kiss. Using a symbol of affection as
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the mechanism of betrayal. Edwards points out that God
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highly resents falsehood and treachery.
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Because Judas feigned loyalty, his sin is treated as far worse
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than pilots Pagan execution orders.
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The hypocrite in the Pew is acting the part of Judas,
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wearing the uniform of a friend while secretly working for the
25:11
enemy. Reason 3 is perhaps the heaviest
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of the logical arguments sinning against greater mercy.
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The hypocrite sitting in the church has been offered the
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infinite mercy of God on a silver platter.
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They've had the dying love of Christ represented to them
25:26
vividly in sermons and sacraments.
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They have been offered the Savior, His blood, and His
25:31
righteousness to cover their natural condition.
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A massive price is put into their hands.
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They possess the Holy Scriptures.
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They enjoy the Sabbath, the community, the various means of
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grace. We should explain what reformed
25:42
theology means by the means of grace.
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Let's do that. These are the ordinary tools God
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uses to communicate salvation and spiritual growth to His
25:50
people, specifically the preaching of the Word, the
25:53
sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.
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And prayer. And the people in Zion have full
25:59
access to these tools. They sit under the preaching,
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they watch the water poured. They eat the bread and drink the
26:04
wine. And what do they do with all of
26:06
that provision? They abuse, despise and reject
26:09
it. They treat it as a social club
26:11
rather than a rescue operation. Right.
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Edwards provides a synthesis of his logic here that is
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absolutely chilling. He states there is no wrath like
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that which arises from mercy, abused and rejected.
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When mercy is continually offered and continually ignored,
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it eventually turns into the fiercest wrath possible.
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He compares this to the fall of humanity in Reformed theology.
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The first Adam broke the world by disobeying God's law in the
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garden, but Christ is referred to as the second Adam, the one
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who comes to fulfill the law and provide the cure for the fall.
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Edwards argues that the fall by the 1st Adam is light in
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comparison to the fall by the second Adam.
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Meaning rejecting Christ, the ultimate costly provision of
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mercy, is a far greater catastrophe than the original
26:58
breaking of the law. It is the difference between
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catching a terminal disease through natural circumstances
27:04
and having the doctor hand you the guaranteed cure, only for
27:08
you to look the doctor in the eye and pour the medicine down
27:11
the drain. Yeah, that's a good way to look
27:12
at it. Sitting in the presence of the
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cure, knowing what it is, claiming you have taken it, and
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yet secretly discarding it, it is a terrifying indictment.
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This entire text is incredibly heavy and dark.
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It's systematically deconstructs any false sense of religious
27:28
security. Here's where it gets really
27:30
interesting, though. After spending all this time
27:32
talking about the cosmic end of the world and eternal timelines,
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Edwards does something jarring. He really pivots.
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He does not end the sermon in despair.
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He stops talking about eternity, looks directly at the specific
27:44
people sitting in the room, and points out what is happening
27:47
right outside their windows. The text suddenly becomes
27:49
hyperlocal and incredibly urgent.
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We have to understand the historical context of what
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Edwards is referencing in this final section.
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He is pointing to a present, undeniable reality in their
28:02
community. He tells them God is doing great
28:05
things right now. There is a current outpouring of
28:09
the Spirit. He is referring to the
28:10
historical period we now call the Great Awakening.
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This was a massive social and spiritual phenomenon sweeping
28:16
through the colonies. He brings up the fact that God
28:19
had wonderfully appeared among them some years ago during a
28:22
previous revival, but then the momentum faded.
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God seemed to depart, leaving the town in a dull, dead state
28:28
for years, where there were scarcely any conversions and
28:30
people went back to their normal routines.
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But now, Edwards says that same God has returned the doors open
28:36
again. He.
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Describes God actively rescuing souls as brands out of the
28:41
burnings. The imagery is vivid.
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A brand is a piece of wood already on fire, snatched out of
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the hearth at the last possible second.
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He talks about God opening prison doors and knocking off
28:51
heavy chains. He is telling them that God is
28:54
actively working salvation from the very destruction he just
28:57
spent the entire sermon describing.
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And this current reality creates a very narrow, urgent doorway of
29:03
opportunity. Edwards uses the imagery of God
29:06
standing in a wide open doorway, calling and begging with a loud
29:10
voice to the sinners in Zion to fly to him for refuge.
29:15
He compares the situation to the biblical story of Lot in the
29:18
book of Genesis. Lot was urgently hastened by
29:20
angels to run out of the city of Sodom before the fire and
29:23
brimstone fell from the sky. The command is not to think
29:26
about it, not to form a committee to discuss it, but to
29:29
make haste, fly for your life and escape to the mountains.
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The flames are coming, but the door is currently open.
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But there's a huge psychological warning embedded in this play.
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Edwards understands human nature perfectly.
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He warns them about the unsteady, self deceiving nature
29:45
of the human heart. He brings up a highly specific
29:47
historical warning for this particular congregation.
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He reminds them of people in their own town who were awakened
29:53
and terrified during the last revival, but eventually grew
29:56
careless. Yes.
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He notes that during the previous Awakening, religious
29:59
talk was lively. People were terrified of hell
30:02
and actively sought salvation. But human beings cannot sustain
30:05
a state of panic indefinitely. As the general zeal in the town
30:09
abated and these individuals saw their neighbors growing less
30:12
zealous, they began to listen to internal excuses.
30:15
The psychology of losing conviction is subtle.
30:18
They started thinking they did not need to be quite so strict.
30:22
They convinced themselves there was no real harm in certain
30:24
practices they had previously abandoned.
30:27
By giving way to minor temptations and harkening to
30:30
rationalizations, they slowly lost their convictions and
30:33
became totally secure in their sin once again.
30:35
Edwards drops a devastating theological diagnostic on these
30:39
specific people. He says they are now in a twice
30:43
so dangerous state as they were before they were ever awakened.
30:47
That phrase twice so dangerous is haunting.
30:50
It means their proximity to the previous revival without
30:53
actually crossing the threshold of true internal faith acted
30:56
like a spiritual inoculation. They got just enough of the dead
30:59
virus to build an immunity to the real thing.
31:02
They became resistant to the very grace that was supposed to
31:05
save them. Because they felt the fear once
31:07
and survived it without changing, they now assume they
31:10
can survive anything. And Edwards pushes this further
31:13
with a practical, grim reminder about the sheer urgency of
31:17
mortality. He tells them death does not
31:20
wait for men to indulge their sloth.
31:22
He asks A pointed, almost sarcastic question.
31:25
Will you put off seeking salvation in hope of seeing
31:28
another revival 7 years from now?
31:30
He points out the mathematical reality that many of the people
31:33
sitting in the room may be in hell before another seven years
31:37
elapse. Death will be too quick for
31:39
them. You cannot schedule your
31:41
spiritual awakening around the cultural calendar.
31:43
There's also a fascinating demographic detail he includes
31:46
in this final plea. It is a generational warning.
31:50
Edwards points out that in this current outpouring of the
31:52
Spirit, God is moving chiefly on the youth of the town.
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He observes that the people being brought forward, the ones
31:57
experiencing genuine conversion, are the young people who were
32:01
not yet on the stage of action during the last revival.
32:04
They are fresh. They have not been inoculated
32:06
yet. Meanwhile, the older
32:08
individuals, the ones who had convictions during the previous
32:11
revival, quenched them and went back to sleep, are now
32:14
abundantly more hardened. God seems to be passing right
32:17
over them. To drive the agony of this home,
32:20
Edwards uses a harsh biblical parallel.
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He references the story of the Israelites in the wilderness
32:26
from the Book of Numbers, chapter 14.
32:28
This is the generation that saw the massive miracles in Egypt,
32:31
saw the Red Sea part, but still rebelled and refused to trust
32:35
God to enter the Promised Land. Correct.
32:37
And because of that specific rebellion against great light
32:40
and mercy, God swore that entire adult generation would wander
32:44
and die in the wilderness. They would never see the
32:46
promised Land. But their little ones, the
32:48
children the adults claimed, would become prey in the
32:51
wilderness. Those were the exact ones God
32:54
promised to bring in to possess the land.
32:56
Edwards uses this historical narrative to warn the hardened
32:59
adults sitting in his congregation.
33:01
He asks them, Shall children, babes and sucklings go into the
33:05
Kingdom of God before you? How will you bear the
33:08
psychological torment of seeing your own children, the youth of
33:11
your town, sitting down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
33:15
Kingdom while you yourselves are thrust out into the dark?
33:18
It is a devastating, isolating question.
33:20
To end the sermon on the psychological pain of seeing
33:23
your children get the exact rescue you assumed was yours
33:27
simply because they were genuine while you were playing a part is
33:30
immense. As we bring this analysis to a
33:33
close, we have to recognize the sheer intellectual and emotional
33:37
weight of what Edwards accomplished in this text.
33:39
He took the concept of religious hypocrisy, placed it under a
33:42
theological microscope and systematically deconstructed.
33:45
It he left absolutely no room for anyone to hide behind their
33:50
perfect church attendance, their outward morality, or their
33:53
historical family name. He forces a complete
33:55
confrontation with the reality of internal spiritual deadness.
34:00
He demands that the listener stop looking at their outward
34:02
behavior and start examining the actual nature of their
34:05
affections. And that brings the diagnostic
34:07
right back to you. Listening to this right now.
34:09
Why does an 18th century sermon about furnaces and stubble
34:12
matter today? It matters because human nature
34:14
has not evolved past the desire for false security.
34:17
This text forces an uncomfortable look at the
34:20
massive gulf between simply being in proximity to a moral
34:24
community and possessing genuine internal virtue.
34:28
It asks you to verify your own spiritual pulse.
34:31
If we pull this back to the broader human condition, it
34:34
leaves us with a final thought to consider.
34:36
If Edwards is correct in his assessment that proximity to the
34:40
truth without internalizing it actually multiplies your guilt,
34:44
how should that alter the way individuals today approach
34:47
casual participation in any moral, ethical or religious
34:51
community? We often assume that associating
34:53
with good people makes us good. But does claiming the label
34:56
without possessing the internal substance actually make you the
34:59
most vulnerable person in the room?
35:01
Think about that X-ray machine we talked about at the very
35:03
beginning of our conversation. You might have a clean bill of
35:06
health on paper. You might look perfectly sound
35:08
from the outside, wearing the right clothes and saying the
35:11
right words. But only a true, honest
35:13
diagnostic of the internal heart will reveal if you are standing
35:17
on solid ground. Or if you are just grabbing at
35:20
brittle twigs waiting for the storm to hit.
35:23
Thank you for joining this session of reform thinking.
35:25
We will catch you on the next deep dive.