Latest / Reformed Thinking / Fleeing Out of Sodom (Luke 17:32) | Jonathan Edwards

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Fleeing Out of Sodom (Luke 17:32) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. We are so glad you were joining
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us today. Yes, thank you for tuning in.
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So our mission in this deep dive is to thoroughly analyze a
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striking sermon by Jonathan Edwards.
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It is titled Fleeing Out of Sodom, and he bases this entire
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work on a very brief yet incredibly weighty directive
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from Christ. In Luke 17.32, Jesus simply
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states, Remember Lot's wife. That is the whole text, just
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three words in English. Yeah, just three words, and we
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are undertaking the specific analysis so you can understand
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the staggering theological gravity of Christ's warning
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about escaping a state of sin. Our source material today is
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Edwards's comprehensive layout of the doctrine and the
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subsequent application of the single verse.
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What we're looking at is a master class in Puritan
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exposition it. Really is Edwards takes a
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historical event from the book of Genesis and draws out the
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eternal spiritual realities that apply directly to the state of
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every human soul. Right.
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The premise here is breathtaking in its urgency.
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Christ is speaking to his disciples, and he uses a moment
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of ancient historical judgment to issue a present and future
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warning. Yeah.
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Edwards captures this urgency beautifully.
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He sets up a framework that forces you, the listener, to
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confront your own spiritual geography.
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Are we residing in a city of destruction or have we fled to
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the mountain of safety? That is the big question.
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To kick things off, I want to look at the setup.
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I was reading through the text and it is fascinating how Christ
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frames this. How so?
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Well, he gives these highly specific instructions right
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before mentioning Lot's wife. He talks about someone being on
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a housetop and leaving their stuff inside, or someone in the
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field not turning back. Right, the immediate context,
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yeah. As a modern reader, picturing
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someone sitting on their shingles next to a chimney feels
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a bit odd. What is Christ actually
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picturing here? That is a great point to
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properly frame this conversation, and we need to
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look at the immediate context of Luke 17 and the parallel passage
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in Matthew 24. Christ is foretelling the
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destruction of Jerusalem, which would occur in 8070 under the
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Roman siege. Right.
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A horrific historical event? Absolutely.
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And he is also pointing forward to the final judgement at the
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end of the world. He draws a direct, unmistakable
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parallel to the days of Noah and the days of Lot.
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In both of those historical instances, the world was going
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about his usual business. People were eating, drinking,
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buying, selling, planting and building.
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Just normal life. Yes, entirely normal.
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The judgement was not anticipated by the masses.
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It was a sudden, catastrophic intrusion into their daily
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routines. Now, regarding the housetop
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imagery, you have to understand the architecture of the ancient
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Near East. The flat roof of a house was not
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just shingles and a chimney. It was a living space.
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It was a place of leisure, a place of rest, perhaps a place
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for evening conversation or prayer.
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It was comfortable. Oh, I see.
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And there would often be an external staircase leading down
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to the street. Christ tells his people that
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when they see the signal of approaching destruction, they
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must behave with absolute, unhesitating urgency.
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No delays at all. None.
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He says that the person resting on the housetop should not even
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go down into the house to take their belongings.
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They must take that external stairwell and run.
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And the person in the field. The person in the field should
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not return back to their home for anything.
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Edwards points out that Jerusalem, much like Sodom, was
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devoted to destruction by special divine wrath.
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Right. Therefore, the command to flee
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out of it with the utmost haste, without looking behind, mirrors
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the angel's command to Lot in Genesis 19.
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That makes a lot of sense. Christ enforces this counsel by
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pointing to Lot's wife, who became a pillar of salt for
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turning her gaze backward. The context establishes a
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baseline of terror regarding the wrath of God and the absolute
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necessity of immediate, decisive flight.
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OK, let's unpack this biblical and typological context further.
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Let's do it because the physical urgency demanded in the text is
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meant to shock you into realizing the spiritual urgency
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of your own conditions. Spot on.
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Christ is demanding that when the signal of destruction
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appears, the sheer panic and total abandonment required must
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be absolute. You do not step foot inside your
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own house to grab a coat, a bag of coins or a family heirloom,
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right? You leave everything behind and
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run for your life, Yeah. Edwards argues that Christ gives
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this direction because fleeing out of Jerusalem is a type.
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It is a physical representation of fleeing out of a state of
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sin. Yes, the physical typifies the
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spiritual. Exactly.
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Well, precisely. The physical act of escaping an
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unbelieving city typifies the spiritual act of escaping a
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state of unbelief. He says that no respect to any
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worldly enjoyment should delay us for one moment.
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We are to forsake all earthly things heartily.
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If you think about it, if you woke up and your house was
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engulfed in flames, you would run out the door without
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stopping to grab your television or your favorite jacket.
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You would be thankful just to have your life, yeah.
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Edwards is asking how much faster should you run from the
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wrath of God? What does it look like to leave
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everything behind spiritually? If we connect this to the bigger
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picture of reformed theology, the implications here are
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massive. How?
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So the reason we must flee with such naked urgency without
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gathering our belongings is intrinsically tied to the
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doctrine of total depravity. We have absolutely nothing of
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value to pack. There is no inherent
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righteousness, no good works, no moral achievements stored up in
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the House of our natural state that we can carry with us to
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make ourselves presentable to God.
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We are completely empty handed. We must flee entirely empty
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handed. Edwards notes that we are to
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flee to Jesus Christ as the sole refuge.
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He describes him as our strong rock and the mount of our
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defense. That is a beautiful.
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Image it is in Reformed thought. This is the essence of salvation
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by grace alone. Through faith alone, we are
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abandoning the city of our own works and relying completely on
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the imputed or alien righteousness of Christ.
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Meaning we bring an outside currency to pay a debt we cannot
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cover. Yes.
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We are showing up to the gates empty handed, trusting that
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Christ's perfect obedience is credited to our account.
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Forsaking all earthly attachments means recognizing
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that everything we possess by nature is tainted by sin and
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falls under the coming judgement.
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To hesitate to think we have something worth salvaging from
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our natural condition is to fundamentally misunderstand the
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absolute holiness of God and the complete corruption of our own
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hearts. It is a terrifying proposition.
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It really is, but it is the necessary precursor to genuine
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salvation. You must see the city for what
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it is before you will ever flee to the mountain.
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That transition from recognizing the corruption of the city to
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actually fleeing is where Edwards lays out his specific
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doctrine. Yes, he moves into the reasons.
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Gives a series of reasons for why we must flee the city of
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filth. The first reason he gives is
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that Sodom is full of filthiness and abominations.
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The second reason is that it is appointed to destruction.
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Edwards describes Sodom in visceral terms.
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He calls it a polluted company where all faculties and
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affections are polluted with vile dispositions that debase
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human nature. The language is intense.
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Very intense, he says. It is a city full of devils and
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unclean spirits. It is their rendezvous and their
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dominion. He even draws a parallel to
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mystical Babylon in Revelation 18.2 right, calling it the
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habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit.
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What stands out to me in this description is the stark
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contrast he paints between outward appearances and inward
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reality. That is a crucial point.
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He notes that some people in Sodom might carry a fair face
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and make a respectable outward show.
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They might pay their taxes, mow their lawns and be polite to
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their neighbors, sure. But if we could look into their
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hearts, Edwards says. They are everyone altogether
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filthy and abominable. Which shatters our normal human
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category. It really destroys any illusion
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of moral respectability outside of Christ.
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A person might look like an upstanding citizen, but Edwards
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says their spiritual geography places them in the rendezvous of
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devils. Following that, his second
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reason states the city is appointed to destruction, The
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cry of the city has reached heaven and the earth itself
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cannot bear the burden of its inhabitants and will spew them
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out. What is fascinating here is the
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theological rationale Edwards provides for this impending
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destruction. He roots it entirely in the
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nature of God. How did he frame that?
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He says God is a holy God, and His nature is infinitely
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opposite to all such uncleanness.
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Therefore the holiness of God will not suffer the city to
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stand. The majesty and justice of God
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required that the inhabitants be destroyed.
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Edwards uses a phrase that should arrest the attention of
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anyone familiar with the Westminster Confession.
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Which phrases that? He calls this the immutable and
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irreversible decree of God. He says he has said it and he
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will do it. If we consider how this concept
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of an irreversible decree aligns with Reformed understandings of
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God's sovereignty, we see a perfect harmony.
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Yeah, God's decrees are not reactionary.
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Precisely, they are eternal, unchangeable purposes based on
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His holy character. When God appoints a city to
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destruction, it is a manifestation of His absolute
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justice. There's no appeal process.
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Then at all there is no leniency to be found, because the decree
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flows from the very perfection of God's being.
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This transitions A seamlessly from the internal pollution of
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the city to the external judgement falling upon it.
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The two are linked. Yes, the internal corruption
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demands the external wrath. The two are inseparable.
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To remain in the city is to partake in its sins and
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therefore, as Revelation 18.4 warns, to receive of its
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plagues. You cannot separate the nature
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of the rebellion from the certainty of the judgement.
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That is it. That brings us to the nature of
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that judgement. Edwards outlines this next,
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stating that the destruction is exceedingly dreadful.
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Reason 3. Yes, and reason 4 is that it is
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a universal destruction. Edwards uses incredibly vivid,
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almost agonizing language here. He.
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Does not hold back. Not at all.
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He says the city is appointed to suffer a dreadful storm of fire
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and brimstone, and that the city will be filled full of the wrath
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of God. He describes a person having the
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fire of God's wrath come down on his head and into his soul, so
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that they are encompassed with fire without and full of fire
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within. Terrifying picture.
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He says their head, heart, bowels, and all limbs shall be
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full of fire, with not a single drop of water to cool them.
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We have to consider the psychological terror he portrays
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here absolutely. He notes that the inhabitants
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will have no place to flee for relief, and they will be
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destroyed without pity. They will cry aloud, but there
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will be none to help, none to regard their lamentations.
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The. Entire city becomes a furnace,
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Yeah. Then he hits on the universality
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of it. Edwards is unrelenting here.
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He says none who stay will escape.
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There is no by corner where the fire will not search them out.
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No safe rooms. None.
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All sorts of people, old and young, great and small, will be
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destroyed together. The specific detail Edwards uses
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to illustrate this horror is chilling.
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He asks you to imagine the literal Sodom where the houses
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were all on fire, offering no safety, right?
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If the inhabitants fled out into the streets, the streets were
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also full of fire. Fire continually came down out
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of heaven everywhere. There was nowhere to hide their
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heads. Nowhere to.
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Go If they fled to their friends, their friends could not
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help them. This imagery reinforces the
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total helplessness of the Sinner under the wrath of God.
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When we speak of the universality of the judgement,
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meaning no exceptions for age, sex, or social condition, we are
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confronting the absolute impartiality of God's justice.
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That is a tough concept for many to grasp.
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It is human. Courts might show leniency based
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on mitigating circumstances, youth, or status, but God's
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justice against sin is exact and exhausted.
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Every single person outside of Christ is equally exposed to the
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entirety of this wrath. There is no localized shelter
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within the city of sin. The only safety is found outside
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the city on the mountain. Edwards is stripping away every
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conceivable false hope a person might cling to.
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Yes. You cannot rely on your youth,
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you cannot rely on your social standing, and you cannot rely on
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your friends. When the wrath of God is poured
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out, human solidarity means nothing.
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You were left entirely alone to face the consuming fire.
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Edwards intensifies this terror further.
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He focuses on the sudden and eternal ruin of the city.
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He warns that the destruction is everlasting and that it is swift
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and sudden. Reasons 5:00 and 6:00.
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Right. He brings in Jude 7, which
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speaks of Sodom and Gomorrah suffering the vengeance of
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eternal fire. Here is where it gets highly
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specific. Edwards points out that the
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literal sinking of the cities which formed the Dead Sea or the
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Salt Sea was designed on purpose by God, designed to be a
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physical type of the Lake of fire and brimstone mentioned in
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Revelation. The land sank and was covered by
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this lifeless body of water, meaning those cities are
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completely incapable of ever being rebuilt.
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It is a permanent scar on the. Earth.
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Yeah, an everlasting desolation that stands as a physical
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representation of eternal destruction.
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Then Edwards highlights the swiftness of this.
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Judgment. He quotes second Peter 2.3.
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Right, stating that their judgment lingereth not the storm
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of wrath and black clouds of divine vengeance hangover them
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every moment. But it is not just Swift, it is
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sudden and entirely unexpected. This is a key point.
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Edwards looks at Genesis 19.23 and notes a terrifying detail.
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It was a fair morning in Sodom. The sun had risen.
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There were no clouds to be seen, no appearance of any storm at
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all. People were likely waking up,
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stretching, getting ready for a completely normal day.
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This raises a massive theological point about the
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nature of God's patience and the illusion of safety.
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The inhabitants of Sodom expected absolutely nothing to
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happen, right? We see the stark contrast in the
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mockery of Lot's sons in law. When Lot warned them, they
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thought he was joking. They were making merry.
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Their hearts were at ease. They were laughing at the
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warning. Yes, but the judgement came at
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once, like travail upon a woman with child leading no
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possibility of escape. This suddenness is a terrifying
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concept. It really is.
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It means that God's silence, or the apparent tranquility of our
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circumstances is not an endorsement of our spiritual
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state, nor is it a guarantee of tomorrow.
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God has already, as Psalm 7.2 Mel says, wet his sword, bent
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his bow, and made ready his arrow on the string.
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The judgement is fully prepared. It is just waiting.
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It is only held back by the sovereign restraint of God,
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which can be withdrawn in a fraction of a second.
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To linger and stop to look back under such conditions is sheer
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madness. The fair morning is a deception
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to the natural eye. The sun shining brightly on a
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life of sin does not mean the fire is not already falling from
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heaven in the decree of God. The sudden arrival of wrath
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underscores the absolute folly of delaying repentance for even
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a single moment. That folly of delay is what
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Edwards addresses next. He talks about the absolute
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foolishness of looking back. Reason 7 and 8.
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Right, he is blunt. There is nothing in Sodom worth
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looking back upon. All the enjoyments of the city
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will soon perish in the common destruction.
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They are all going to be burnt up, Edwards asks.
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Why hanker after perishing things?
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Why expose yourself to being burnt up for the sake of a
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moment? Enjoyment of things that are
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already appointed to the fire. It makes no logical sense.
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None at all. He points out that Lot's wife
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looked back because she remembered the pleasant thing
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she left behind. Sodom was a place of great
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outward plenty, described in Genesis 13 as the Garden of the
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Lord. Right a prosperous place.
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They ate the fat and drank the sweet wallowing and carnal
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pleasures. But Edwards points out the sheer
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absurdity of coveting burning things.
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If your house is on fire, you do not stand on the lawn mourning
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the loss of your toaster. You're just glad to be alive,
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yeah. Then he introduces the grace of
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God. In the midst of this terror, God
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sends messengers to warn us to make haste.
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This is beautiful pivot. Edwards compares ministers of
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the gospel to the angels of the churches.
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They were sent on a grand errand to drag people out of danger,
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just as the literal angels laid hands on Lot and his family.
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Yes, if we delay after having such fair warning, Edwards says,
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we will be exceedingly inexcusable and monstrously
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foolish. The theological framework here
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is stunning, particularly regarding the Angels laying hold
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of the hands of Lot, his wife and his daughters.
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Yeah, they literally grabbed them.
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They physically dragged them out while lingered.
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This is a brilliant, tangible illustration of irresistible
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grace. Let's expand on that.
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The natural inclination of Lot and his family was to hesitate,
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to linger, tied to the comforts of the garden of the Lord.
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Left to their own free will, they would have burned.
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It required a physical, external intervention by the messengers
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of God to forcefully extract them from the judgement.
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In the same way ministers of the gospel are sent to declare the
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warnings of God. But the minister cannot actually
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drag the soul. Correct.
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The actual rescuing is done by the forceful effectual calling
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of the Holy Spirit. God physically removes His elect
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from judgement when they linger. That is a massive comfort.
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It is furthermore, the foolishness of Lot's wife
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reveals the irrational nature of sin to hanker after the ease and
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plenty of a doomed city shows how sin distorts our perception
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of value. We value the wrong things
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entirely. We value the temporary comfort
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of a burning room over the eternal safety of the mountain.
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This shows that salvation requires not just a change of
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location, but a radical change of affections granted by the
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grace of God. Your heart has to be changed,
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yes. Your heart must be changed so
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that you no longer desire the actions of the city.
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So what does this all mean for you, the listener?
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Edwards answers this by shifting forcefully into the application.
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The heavy application. He takes the historical and
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theological groundwork he has laid and aims it directly at the
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natural man. He states plainly that while out
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of Christ a person IS in Sodom. He clarifies that Sodom is not
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just a historical location. It is the place of nativity for
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all humans in a natural state. It is where we have spent our
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lives hitherto. We are citizens of that polluted
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and accursed city. Edwards divides the whole world
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of mankind into just two companies or two cities.
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The. Great binary.
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Yes, there is the city of Zion, which is the Church of God, the
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holy and beloved city, and there is Sodom, the accursed city
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appointed to destruction. What is so striking here is how
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Edwards shatters the illusion of self righteousness.
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A person listening might think their circumstances are not very
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dreadful. They think they're doing OK.
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They might be reformed in their outward behavior, appearing with
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a clean outside and a smooth face to the world.
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They might think they are far better than pirates, high women,
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drunkards, or adulterers. Right?
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But Edwards says that if they are out of Christ, God ranks
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them in the identical society. They are of the same company,
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and they are no better than the worst criminals in the sight of
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God, except that they have greater outward restraints.
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This point strikes at the very core of reformed anthropology
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regarding total depravity. How so?
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We tend to measure our righteousness horizontally,
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comparing ourselves to other people.
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If we are not committing gross outward sins, we assume we are
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residents of a respectable suburb far away from the filth
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of Sodom. We think we are safe.
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We think our polite behavior runs as a different zip code in
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God's eyes. But Edwards, leaning heavily on
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the biblical testimony, insists the division is strictly binary.
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Zion or Sodom? You are either in Zion by faith
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in Christ, or you are in Sodom by nature.
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There's no middle ground, no neutral territory.
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The outwardly moral person who relies on their own goodness is
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just as much a citizen of the accursed city as the most vile
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offender. Because the core issue is the
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same. Yes, because both share the same
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fundamental rejection of God's supreme authority, and both lack
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the imputed righteousness of Christ.
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Edward says that out of Christ, God considers you fit to be
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ranked with them. You are all together the object
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of the abhorrence of God, and you have the wrath of God
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abiding on you. This positional state of the
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natural man is terrifying. Yeah, it leaves no room for
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boasting. None, because it means the clean
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outside in the smooth face offer absolutely zero protection from
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the coming storm of fire. The wrath of God targets the
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city itself and all its registered citizens, regardless
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of their individual behavioral records.
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If you do not have the righteousness of Christ covering
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you, your polite manners will burn just as quickly as the
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crimes of a pirate. Having established this
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terrifying positional reality, Edwards moves into specific
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points of application dealing with hell and the gospel light.
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These are his first two application points.
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He asserts that hell is infinitely more dreadful than
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the literal destruction of Sodom.
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Edward says that the literal storm of fire and brimstone was
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but a shadow, a mere picture of the reality.
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He calls the fire of Sodom painted fire compared to the
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misery of hell. Painted fire.
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Yeah, then he raises the stakes even higher.
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The destruction of those under the gospel is actually greater
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than the destruction of Sodom's inhabitants.
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This is a massive claim. It is Edwards tells his
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listeners that however well they think they've behaved by
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continuing impenitent under the glorious Gospel, they have and
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more provoked God far more and have greater guilt upon them
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than the people of Sodom. Right.
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We have to consider the weight of this.
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A person sitting in a Pew, listening to good teaching,
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living a seemingly harmless life, is actually accumulating
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greater guilt than the most depraved inhabitants of ancient
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Sodom simply because they're rejecting a greater light.
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The concept of painted fire is a brilliant rhetorical device.
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It really is. Edwards is explaining why
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Scripture uses so many different metaphors for hell.
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The never dying worm, the furnace of fire, the blackness
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of darkness, the lake of brimstone.
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If we connect this to the broader picture, we realized
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that no single earthly image is sufficient to capture the
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infinite weight of eternal wrath.
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The reality will exponentially exceed the most horrifying
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earthly shadows. A painting cannot burn you.
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Exactly. A painting of a fire cannot burn
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you, no matter how realistic it looks.
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In the same way, the historical destruction of Sodom, as
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terrible as it was, is just a painting compared to the actual
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wrath of God and eternity. Regarding his second assertion,
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Edwards anchors his argument in the words of Christ himself from
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Matthew 10.15. What does Jesus say there?
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Jesus says it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
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and Gomorrah in the day of judgement than for a city that
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rejects the gospel. The theological weight of
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sinning against gospel light cannot be overstated.
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Guilt in the Reformed framework is measured not just by the
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nature of the ACT, but by the measure of light and grace that
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is rejected. I see to.
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Hear the gospel. To have the work of Christ, His
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substitutionary atonement and His free offer of grace
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presented clearly and to remain impenitent is a crime of
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staggering proportion. It is a direct insult.
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It is a direct insult to the mercy of God.
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The inhabitants of Sodom sinned against the light of nature and
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conscience, but the person in the Pew sins against the
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revelation of the Son of God. Therefore, their judgement must
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be proportionally more severe. The clearer the warning, the
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greater the treason in ignoring it.
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Edwards then brings us to the peril of the backward glance.
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He warns that multitudes are seized suddenly with looking
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back, and that if you look back you never get any farther.
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Application points 3 and 4. Right.
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Edwards notes that God exercised immense patience toward Lot's
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wife. Initially, He showed her mercy
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by having the angels drag her out.
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But the moment she turned to look back, God's patience was
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entirely exhausted, and He proceeded in wrath immediately
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to put her to death. Immediate judgment.
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Yeah, Edwards warns his listeners that God has been
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merciful to them, drawing them by the convictions of his
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spirit. But if they look back now, God
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might suddenly wait no longer, right?
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He analyzes the pillar of salt as a durable monument of wrath.
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He says that when she stood still to look, her punishment
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was that she would stand there forever.
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What a picture. It is.
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Edwards applies this to the spiritual mechanics of
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backsliding. When people who have been
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seeking salvation look back, they quench the Spirit, lose
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their convictions dreadfully, harden their own hearts, make
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way for discouragement, and give Satan a massive advantage to
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ruin them. The spiritual mechanic Edwards
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describes here are crucial for understanding the danger of a
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hardened heart. Let's examine that.
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When a person is awakened to their danger danger and begins
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to flee, they are operating under the illuminating work of
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the Holy Spirit. To look back is to actively
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resist that work. It is an act of spiritual
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rebellion that tells God I prefer the perishing city over
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your promised rescue. Edwards warns that this quenches
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the Spirit, often provoking God to utterly leave them to their
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own hardness of heart. Which is a terrifying thought.
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If this happens, their soul becomes dead and hard, just like
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the literal body of Lot's wife. Turning to salt, Edwards
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references Matthew 12.4345. Explaining why the final state
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of a backslider is worse than the first.
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Yes. When the unclean spirit returns
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to the swept and garnished house, it brings seven other
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spirits more wicked than itself. The person who loses their
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convictions and settles back into a state of sin becomes
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immunized against the gospel. They build a tolerance.
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They've built a tolerance to the warnings of God, Experience
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confirms, as Edwards notes, that none are so hard to bring to
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repentance as backsliders. Yeah, they were frozen in a
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posture of spiritual death, standing as silent monuments to
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the terrifying consequences of rejecting God's drawing grace.
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They heard the warning, they started to run, and then they
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decided the burning city was more attractive.
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God honors that choice. God honors that horrific choice
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by solidifying their heart in that exact posture.
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That terrifying thought leads Edwards to create a sharp
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contrast. He urges the listener to
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consider those who have successfully fled to the
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mountain to the little city of Zoar, which God will spare.
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Points 5-6 and seven. Right.
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He points out that others have attained deliverance while the
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natural man remains in the crosshairs of wrath.
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He says others are happy and out of reach of the storm, but no
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one knows what will become of you.
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It creates a strong sense of urgency.
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It does. He then draws a parallel between
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Lot's wife and the Israelites in the wilderness who desired to go
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back to Egypt, remembering the leeks, onions and garlic like
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according to Numbers 11.5, God sworn His wrath that they would
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not enter his rest. Then Edwards makes a historical
26:54
and theological observation this.
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Is an interesting note. He meets that the world has
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gotten to such a terrible degree of wickedness that the cry of it
27:02
has likely reached heaven, and it looks as if the state of
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things is right for some great revolution and temporal
27:08
judgment. He warns that God will soon
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appear in awful majesty to vindicate His own cause.
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It is essential to analyze these points carefully.
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Edwards utilizes a holy jealousy to provoke the listener.
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How so? Seeing others resting securely
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in Christ while you remain exposed to eternal fire should
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shatter any spiritual lethargy. If you see your neighbor safely
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out of a burning building while you are still inside debating
27:34
whether to grab your photo albums, that should spur you
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into action. Absolutely.
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The parallel to Israel desiring Egypt is incredibly fitting.
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The leeks, onions and garlic represent the trivial momentary
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gratifications of a state of bondage.
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To prefer those over the promised land of God's rest is
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identical to Lot's wife, preferring the ease of Sodom, of
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the safety of the mountain. Yeah, it is the same heart
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issue. Now, regarding his final
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observation, in this section we must impartially report Edward's
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theological framework. He looks at the escalating
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wickedness of his own day and recognizes A biblical pattern.
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Which is. When human wickedness reaches a
28:11
certain pitch, it cries out to heaven, necessitating a response
28:15
from God's justice. He speaks of a great revolution
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and a temporal destruction hanging over the world.
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We read this strictly rooted in the source material.
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Yes, recognizing it as a perennial theological warning
28:29
about the consequences of societal rebellion against God,
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we are not applying this to modern political factions, but
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observing Edwards consistent application of scriptural
28:39
principles to human history. Right, keeping it objective.
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His main thrust is that we cannot certainly tell what God
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is about to do globally, but we know with absolute certainty
28:47
that anyone outside of Christ is in a most unsafe state.
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That leads us to the final application where Edwards
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dissects the anatomy of backsliding.
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He focuses on the exceeding proneness of the human heart to
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look back. This is .8.
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Yes, he points out that the heart of man is a backsliding
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heart filled with a great love and hankering desire after the
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ease and enjoyments of Sodom. Edwards says the tendency of the
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heart is so strong towards Sodom that fleeing is done by mere
29:14
force. Mere force.
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Yeah, it is only because God lays hold on their hands and
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drags them that they move at all.
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The natural gravity of the heart pulls them back.
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He also examines the role of discouragement, noting how the
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heart is unsteady, easily tired, and apartment to listen to
29:29
discouraging temptations. This discouragement weakens the
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hands, acts as a dead weight, and often leads to a state of
29:36
senselessness where convictions are shaken off.
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That is so true to the human experience.
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But perhaps the most terrifying part of this section is Edwards
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medical analogy. He describes backsliding as a
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flattering distemper or a consumption which in his day
29:51
referred to tuberculosis. Right.
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He says it works gradually and steals upon men insensibly.
29:57
They flatter themselves that they are not worse, but perhaps
29:59
a bit better, and in a hopeful way to recover right up until a
30:03
few days before they die. This medical analogy of a
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flattering distemper is a masterful piece of pastoral
30:10
psychology. Let's break that down.
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Tuberculosis or consumption was notorious for giving patients
30:16
false hope. They might experience periods
30:19
where they felt stronger or their symptoms abated, leading
30:22
them to believe they were healing while the disease was
30:25
actually hollowing out their lungs in the inside.
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Edwards applies this precisely to the backsliding heart.
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A person begins to lose their spiritual convictions, but they
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convince themselves they are still seeking God.
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They plead that they haven't completely turned away.
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They rationalize it. Yes, the disease of sin blinds
30:45
them to their actual condition because it comes on gradually.
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They are not terrified by it. They're not awakened to use
30:52
means for relief because they believe they're already in the
30:55
state of recovery. That is a deadly deception.
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By the time they finally realize their true condition, they are
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usually so far gone that they no longer even care that they have
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lost their convictions. The illusion of health keeps
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them from crying out for the physician.
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This underscores why the human heart cannot be trusted.
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Its natural gravity is entirely corrupt.
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Without the continual forceful drawing of God's grace, and
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without our constant watchfulness and prayer, we will
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naturally drift back toward the fire, smiling and feeling
31:24
perfectly healthy all the way down.
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OK. Let's pull all of this together.
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We have covered a massive amount of weighty material today.
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We certainly have. Edwards has taken a single
31:34
verse, remember Lot's wife and built an overwhelming case for
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the absolute necessity of urgent, desperate flight from
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the state of sin. We have seen the the natural man
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resides in a city appointed to certain universal and eternal
31:48
destruction. The wrath of God is held back
31:51
only by his sovereign restraint, and when it falls, it will be
31:54
swift and sudden, leaving no time for escape.
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We've learned that hell is infinitely worse than the
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literal fire that consumed Sodom, and that rejecting the
32:02
gospel light brings an even stricter judgment.
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Fleeing the city requires forsaking all earthly
32:07
attachments and pressing forward to Jesus Christ, the only
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mountain of safety without a single backward glance.
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To look back is to court the immediate exhaustion of God's
32:17
patience and to risk becoming a durable monument of His wrath,
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permanently hardened in sin. As we conclude this deep dive, I
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want to leave you with a final thought to Mull over, building
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upon the terrifying nature of that flattering distemper we
32:30
just discussed. Go ahead.
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Consider the implications of this in our own spiritual lives.
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If backsliding truly works like a consumption where the patient
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feels they're getting better right up until the end, how can
32:41
one diagnose a spiritual disease that uses the illusion of health
32:44
as its primary symptom? If our own hearts are deceitful
32:48
enough to manufacture a feeling of safety while we are secretly
32:51
drifting back toward destruction, what external,
32:54
objective standard must we violently anchor ourselves to in
32:58
order to ensure we're actually pressing forward to the mountain
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of Christ and not just quietly dying in our sleep?
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That is a terrifying and necessary question to consider.
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Thank you so much for joining us for this deep dive on Reformed
33:09
thinking. We hope this careful examination
33:12
of Jonathan Edwards text has provided you with a clearer view
33:15
of the gravity of sin and the urgent necessity of fleeing to
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Christ alone. Until next time, keep your eyes
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fixed forward.