Latest / Reformed Thinking / Love More Excellent Than the Extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:1-2) | Jonathan Edwards

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Love More Excellent Than the Extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:1-2) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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  It's good to have you with us again.
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  It is today we're opening up the archive, so to speak, to look at
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  how theology from the past really speaks directly to our
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  lives today. And we're not just skimming the
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  surface here. We really want to get to the
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  bottom of some, well, some pretty difficult concepts today.
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  Specifically, we're turning our attention to one of the
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  heavyweights. A real giant.
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  Yeah, the Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards, we're going to
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  be doing a deep dive into a specific examination he made of
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  First Corinthians 13, verses 1 and 2.
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  And it's a text that, you know, a lot of people know by heart,
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  or at least they think they do. But Edwards takes these two
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  verses about speaking with the tongues of men and of angels and
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  having faith to remove mountains, and he pulls out a
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  doctrine that is frankly startling.
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  What's the source we're looking at today?
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  It's a sermon or maybe a treatise of his titled Love More
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  Excellent than the Extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit.
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  And just to set the stage for you listening, we're approaching
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  this as two Protestant Christians.
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  We hold to the Westminster Confession, so we value that
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  structure of Reformed theology. Right.
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  And what we're going to see today is Edwards making this
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  really crucial distinction between what he calls gifts and
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  what he calls grace. And I think we need to pause
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  right there because that distinction is going to catch
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  people off guard. I think so too.
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  Most of us, if we're being honest, we assume that if you
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  have the Holy Spirit, you have gifts and grace and it's all
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  kind of mixed together. All one package.
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  Exactly. Yeah, but Edwards takes a
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  scalpel to that idea. He argues that we are missing
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  the point. I mean completely missing the
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  point if we value the spectacular things, the
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  miracles, the signs, the wonders over what he calls the ordinary
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  work of the Spirit. That's right.
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  He's going to make the case that you can have the ability to, you
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  know, suspend the laws of nature.
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  You can have the ability to cast out demons.
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  You can be a spiritual superhero in the eyes of the public.
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  You can, and yet you can still be spiritually bankrupt.
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  Which is a terrifying thought. So the mission for this deep
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  dive is pretty clear. We want to understand why
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  Edwards claims that having the ability to remove mountains is
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  nothing. That's his word, not mine.
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  It's nothing compared to having charity or Christian love.
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  Right. Why is the quiet internal work
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  of love superior to the loud external work of miracles?
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  And the central tension really comes down to this, doesn't it?
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  Is it better to be a prophet like Daniel who could interpret
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  dreams for kings and shut the mouths of lions?
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  Or is it better to be a quiet, obscure believer who simply
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  loves God and their neighbor? And Edward's answer is just It's
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  shocking in its intensity. He argues that a person can
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  perform miracles, they can cast out demons, they can be used
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  mightily by God to build the church.
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  And still be condemned to hell. Still be condemned, whereas love
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  the specific Christian charity he's talking about.
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  That is the only sure sign of salvation.
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  OK, let's unpack this because that sounds like a contradiction
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  to everything we usually see. You know, in religious media or
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  even in our own imaginations, we associate power with God's
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  favor. Of course.
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  If I see someone part the Red Sea, I assume God is pretty
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  happy with that person. So to understand this, we need
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  to look at the landscape Edwards's painting.
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  He starts with the context of the Corinthian church.
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  What was going on there? Well, the church at Corinth was.
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  It was essentially the celebrity Church of the ancient world when
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  it came to spiritual fireworks. They were just full of what
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  Edwards calls extraordinary gifts.
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  Right, so speaking in tongues, prophecy.
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  Tongues, prophecy, gifts of healing, you name it.
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  Edwards notes that this was actually a fulfillment of that
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  prophecy in Joel 2.28, where God says I will pour out my spirit
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  upon all flesh. The famous passage, yeah.
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  Sons and daughters prophesying, old men dreaming dreams, young
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  men seeing visions. Precisely.
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  And Edwards points out that in the Old Testament, the gift of
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  prophecy was incredibly rare. It was reserved for a select
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  few, a Moses here, a Samuel there.
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  But in the Apostolic age, and especially at Corinth, it was
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  almost democratic. It was everywhere.
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  So it wasn't just the leaders. Not at all.
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  Servants, handmaidens, old, young, everyone seemed to have
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  these supernatural abilities. The Apostle Paul even lists them
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  out for us. The Word of Wisdom, the Word of
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  Knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles,
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  prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues.
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  It's a long list. It sounds like an incredible
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  environment to be in. I mean, if you walked into that
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  church you would see undeniable supernatural activity.
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  I imagine the energy in the room would be electric.
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  Oh, absolutely. You would feel like you were at
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  the center of God's action in the world.
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  But Edward says that Paul looks at all of that, all those
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  fireworks, and says, and yet I show you a more excellent way.
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  That is the pivot point. That's the whole sermon in a
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  nutshell, Paul says. If I have all of that, if I
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  understand all mysteries and have all knowledge, but I lack
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  this charity, I'm a zero. I am nothing.
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  So Edwards takes that and builds A framework to categorize how
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  the spirit works. And he breaks it down into two
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  major distinctions, right? He does.
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  The first distinction is between what he calls common and saving
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  gifts. OK, define those for us, because
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  usually when we think of gifts from the Spirit, we think
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  they're for Christians. What's a common gift?
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  A common gift is something that the Spirit of God gives, but
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  it's shared by both the godly and the ungodly.
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  It's not unique to God's children.
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  So it's a resource the Spirit distributes that doesn't require
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  the person receiving it to be, well, a good person.
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  Exactly. Edwards lists things like
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  conviction of sin. Even a non believer can feel
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  guilty for their actions or what he calls common illuminations
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  where you understand a theological concept
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  intellectually but it doesn't change your heart.
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  I've seen that people who can win any theological debate but
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  seem to have no love. Right.
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  Or even religious affections. You know the surge of gratitude
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  when things go well, or sorrow when they go badly.
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  Natural men experience these things.
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  They're not signs of regeneration.
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  OK, so that's common and saving gifts?
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  Saving gifts are peculiar to the Saints.
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  These are things like saving faith and this specific charity
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  or divine love. We're discussing only the elect.
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  Only the true children of God possess these.
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  Then he adds a second distinction, which I found
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  really helpful. He distinguishes between
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  ordinary and extraordinary, and this is where the terminology
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  can get a little tricky for us. It can, because ordinary usually
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  implies something boring or standard, right?
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  But Edwards is using it in a technical sense.
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  Extraordinary gifts are things like miracles, tongues,
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  infallible prophecy, and Edwards argues these were giving for a
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  very specific time and a very specific purpose.
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  Which was what? To establish the Church and to
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  complete the Canon of Scripture. His view, which is a classic
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  Reformed view, is that since the Canon is now complete, these
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  extraordinary gifts have ceased. They were the launch mechanism,
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  not the flight itself. And the ordinary jinx them.
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  These are the works of the Spirit that continue through all
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  ages. Conviction of sin, conversion,
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  sanctification, comfort. The internal work of building a
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  holy character in a believer. So here's the paradox.
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  And I want to make sure I have this right because it's so
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  important for everything that follows.
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  The extraordinary gifts, the miracles, the prophecies, the
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  stuff we see on TV, they're actually in the common category.
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  That's it. Meaning ungodly people can have
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  them, yes. But the ordinary gifts like
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  loving God, being patient, having joy, those are in the
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  special we're saving category, meaning only God's children
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  have. Them you've got it.
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  We shouldn't let the word ordinary fool us.
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  In God's eyes, the so-called ordinary work of changing a
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  heart of stone into a heart of flesh is the rarer work.
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  It's the higher. Work.
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  So raising a dead body is a display of power.
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  But raising a dead soul to love God is a display of grace, and
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  grace is greater than power. Wow, that really flips the
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  script, doesn't it? Naturally chase the spectacular.
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  We're drawn to the miracles. We want to see something
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  amazing. But Edwards is arguing that the
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  thing we often find boring, character holiness, is actually
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  the real miracle. That's the argument.
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  However, before we completely discount the miracles, Edwards
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  is careful not to just trash them, right?
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  I mean, he spends a good chunk of time acknowledging that these
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  extraordinary gifts are a big deal.
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  He does. He's very balanced.
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  He wants to be fair to the text and to reality.
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  He lists these extraordinary gifts as high privileges.
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  In fact, he says, they are perhaps the highest natural
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  privileges a human being can possess.
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  The highest natural privilege? What does he mean by that?
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  He means that if you're just a human being, a created thing,
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  the coolest thing you could possibly do from a natural
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  standpoint is wield the power of God to channel supernatural
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  force. And he goes through a list of
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  biblical heavy hitters to prove this point.
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  He talks about Moses. I mean, just stop and imagine
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  being Moses. You are the instrument God uses
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  to deliver the law. You stand at the Red Sea.
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  You lift your staff and the water parts.
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  You go up on a mountain and talk to God face to face.
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  That's not a small thing. Not at all.
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  It's a massive privilege. And Edwards mentions David, who
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  was inspired to pen the Psalms. Can you imagine knowing that the
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  songs you're writing are the very words of God for the church
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  in all ages? And Elijah and Kalijah.
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  Yeah, performing these mighty works, calling down fire from
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  heaven, healing lepers, raising the dead.
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  These are men who were visibly endued with a capability that
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  was not their own. And he spends a lot of time on
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  Daniel. What was it about Daniel that
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  caught Edward's attention in this context?
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  Daniel is a fascinating case study because his extraordinary
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  gifts were so undeniable that they won him incredible respect
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  in a Pagan world. Edwards points out that Daniel
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  had such understanding and visions and dreams that
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  Nebuchadnezzar. The most powerful man on earth
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  at the time. Right.
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  Nebuchadnezzar falls on his face and is ready to worship Daniel.
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  He commands offerings and incense to be made to him.
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  That's just wild. The king of Babylon treating a
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  Hebrew exile like a God because of his spiritual gift.
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  That's the level of influence most people can't even dream of.
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  And it wasn't just Nebuchadnezzar.
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  The queen praised Daniel for having an excellent spirit.
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  He was elevated above all the presidents and say traps of
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  Persia. The text says he was preferred
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  above them because of the Spirit.
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  And Edwards says that excellent spirit was primarily his gift of
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  prophecy and revelation. Primarily, it brought him honor,
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  it brought him status, and it brought him safety in a very
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  hostile environment. And then, of course, you have
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  the apostles. They're the 12 foundations of
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  the New Jerusalem in Revelation. You can't get much higher than
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  that in terms of spiritual rank. Correct.
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  To be an apostle, to be one of the 12 who walked with Jesus and
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  laid the foundation of the church, is an unmatched honor.
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  So Edwards is not saying miracles are silly or useless.
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  He's establishing their value. He's building them up.
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  So that when he eventually devalues them in comparison to
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  love, the shock is greater. And I have to admit, my reaction
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  to reading this list is that it would be incredibly cool to have
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  these powers. I mean, you read about the
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  people of Lystra wanting to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas
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  as gods because they healed A crippled man.
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  It's seductive. It is.
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  Or Simon the sorcerer who sees the apostles laying on hands and
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  people receiving the Holy Ghost, and he pulls out his wall and
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  says, name your price. I want that capability.
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  It's a very human reaction. We crave that visible
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  validation, that power. And Edwards agrees.
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  He says it's a conformity to Christ's prophetical office.
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  It brings honor from men. It makes you avip in the
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  religious world. But here is where Edwards makes
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  his pivot. And he begins to dismantle our
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  assumptions, brick by brick. He argues that none of this,
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  absolutely none of it, makes you a better person.
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  So let's get into his arguments. He lays out several reasons why
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  charity or love is superior to these gifts.
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  The first argument is about the nature of the blessing itself.
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  He uses this distinction between something being inherent and
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  something being adventitious. What does he mean by that?
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  Yeah, this is a philosophical distinction that carries a lot
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  of theological weight. Saving grace.
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  Love is a quality that is inherent in the nature of the
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  subject. It actually changes who you are.
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  It becomes part of. You.
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  It becomes part of your very being.
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  The gift of miracles, however, is adventitious.
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  That's an old word that just means it's added from the
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  outside. It doesn't become part of your
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  nature. He uses a couple of analogies
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  here that I thought were great. He talks about a garment and a
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  jewel. The garment analogy is perfect.
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  He compares extraordinary gifts to a beautiful garment or
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  precious jewels that you wear. You can take a royal robe and
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  put it on a wiki. Man.
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  He looks kingly right? He looks majestic.
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  But underneath the robe, his nature hasn't changed one bit.
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  He's still a wicked man. The robe is distinct from the
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  person. Precisely so.
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  Balaam prophesying is like a bad man wearing a nice coat.
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  The prophecy is the coat. It's valuable, but it is not
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  him. But Edward says true grace, this
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  love we're talking about, is different.
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  Completely different. It makes the soul itself a
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  precious jewel. It's not something you wear,
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  it's something you become. It changes the very constitution
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  of the human heart from something common into something
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  precious. He also explains this in terms
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  of how the Spirit communicates himself.
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  This is a bit deep, but I think it's crucial, he says.
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  In miracles the Spirit produces an effect, but in grace the
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  Spirit communicates his nature. Yes.
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  Think about Genesis 1.2. The spirit moved upon the face
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  of the waters. The spirit acted on the water,
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  but the water didn't become God. The water remained water, it was
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  just moved by an external force. Edwards says that's what happens
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  in prophecy or miracles. The spirit moves upon a person
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  to produce a supernatural effect, predicting the future,
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  healing a leg, but the spirit does not unite himself to that
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  person's nature. But with saving grace, with
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  love. With saving grace, the Spirit
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  breathes himself into the believer.
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  He becomes an indwelling, vital principle.
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  You become a partaker of the divine nature.
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  As Peter says, the Spirit gives not just his power, but himself.
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  So the take away is stark. You can have the Spirit moving
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  upon you to predict the future, yet not have the Spirit in you
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  to make you holy. And one is a temporary
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  interaction, the other is an eternal union.
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  That brings us to a second major argument, which is about the
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  image of God. We talk a lot about being made
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  in the image of God. Edwards argues that the
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  spiritual image of God isn't about capability.
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  No, it's not. And this is a huge corrective
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  for us. God is all powerful, yes, and
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  God knows everything. But Edwards argues that God's
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  crowning attribute, the thing that makes him lovely and worthy
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  of worship, is His Holiness, his moral excellence.
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  So to be like God is to be holy. To be like God is to be holy.
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  To be like God is to love what is right and hate what is evil.
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  And if we equate God's image with just power or knowledge, we
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  run into a really big problem with Satan.
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  A massive problem. Yeah.
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  Satan has incredible power. We see that throughout
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  Scripture. And Satan has incredible
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  knowledge. He knows the Bible better than
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  any of us do. He can quote it perfectly.
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  So if the image of God consisted of power and knowledge, Satan
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  would be very like God. But he is the opposite of God.
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  Why? Because he lacks love.
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  He lacks holiness. He is the epitome of self
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  centeredness which is the antithesis of charity.
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  That's a really helpful contrast, and Edwards points to
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  Jesus is the ultimate example here.
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  Obviously Christ work miracles, lots of them, But Edwards says
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  that was not his primary conformity to the Father.
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  Right. While Christ's miracles were
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  proofs of his divinity and His mission, his moral image, what
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  Paul calls the mind of Christ, was defined by meekness,
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  lowliness, patience, forgiveness, and love.
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  So walking as Christ walked, and love and humility makes a person
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  more like Jesus than raising the dead does.
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  That's what Edwards argues. You are imitating his heart, not
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  just his hands. You are conforming to his
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  character, which is the very character of God.
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  This leads us to I think is the scariest argument in the whole
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  sermon. We touched on it earlier, but we
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  need to dive deep here. This is the problem of the
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  wicked prophet. Edwards makes the point that God
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  gives these extraordinary gifts to people he effectively hates.
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  It's a hard truth, but it's all over the Bible, and Edwards just
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  lays out a roster of wicked miracle workers to prove that
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  these gifts are absolutely not signs of God's special favor.
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  He. Starts with Balaam.
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  Balaam is the classic example. In the New Testament, Peter and
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  Jude stigmatize him as a wicked man who loved the wages of
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  unrighteousness. He was a prophet for hire.
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  Yet in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, he delivers some of the
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  most beautiful and accurate Messianic prophecies we have.
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  The Spirit of God came upon him. It says that explicitly.
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  He spoke true words from God, and yet he was a reprobate, an
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  enemy of God's people. Then there is Saul, King Saul.
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  Saul is such a tragic figure, a man tormented by jealousy and
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  rage, who hunts David, who eventually consults a witch.
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  A complete mess. Yet the Bible says in First
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  Samuel that the Spirit of God came upon him, and he
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  prophesied. It even came a proverb.
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  Is Saul also among the prophets? Exactly.
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  The shock of it became a saying. You have a man who is clearly
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  rejected by God, who has an evil spirit tormenting him, yet he is
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  operating in the supernatural gift of prophecy.
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  But the ultimate example, the one that really drives the nail
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  in the coffin of our fascination with power, is Judas Iscariot.
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  Judas is the unanswerable argument and Edwards just walks
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  us through Matthew chapter 10. Jesus calls the 12 disciples.
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  He gives them power against unclean spirits to cast them out
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  and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of
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  disease, and Judas is in that group.
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  So let's just visualize this for a second.
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  Judas goes out on a mission trip with the other disciples.
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  He walks into a village. He sees a demon possessed person
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  tormented. He commands the demon to leave
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  in the name of Jesus, and the demon obeys him and flees.
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  He sees a leper, someone ostracized from society.
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  He touches him and the leper is cleansed.
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  His skin becomes whole and. He preaches the gospel.
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  He tells people the Kingdom of God is at hand.
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  People probably got saved under Judas's preaching.
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  They were certainly healed by his hands.
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  No question he was an instrument of God's power and proclamation.
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  And yet, what does Jesus call him?
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  A devil, the son of Perdition. He was lost the entire time.
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  He was a thief, a betrayer, and destined for destruction while
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  simultaneously casting out demons.
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  The implication of this is just, yeah, it's terrifying.
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  It connects back to God's love, Edwards argues.
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  Look, if God gives a gift to Judas, a man he knows is a son
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  of perdition, then that gift cannot possibly be a sign of
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  God's special saving love. It's like the rain.
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  It is God gives sunshine and rain to the just and the unjust.
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  He gives common grace to everyone.
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  And apparently He gives prophecy and miracles to the just and the
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  unjust as well. But he never gives saving grace
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  to the unjust. Never saving grace.
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  The specific holy love is reserved only for God's
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  favorites. It's the secret treasurer.
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  He gives only to his children. He never gives it to the
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  reprobate. So therefore.
• 18:54
  Therefore, Edwards argues, a single drop of genuine love for
• 18:57
  God in your heart is more valuable than an ocean of
• 18:59
  miracles, because that drop of love proves you are God's child.
• 19:03
  The miracles prove absolutely nothing about your standing with
• 19:06
  God. That really puts things in
• 19:08
  perspective. It forces you to stop asking
• 19:11
  what can I do for God in terms of spectacular power, and start
• 19:15
  asking who am I in God in terms of character and love.
• 19:19
  That's the shift. Moving on to his fourth
• 19:21
  argument, Edwards talks about consequences and ends.
• 19:24
  He connects this directly to eternal life.
• 19:27
  He goes straight to Matthew 7, verses 22 and 23.
• 19:30
  This is the scene at the last judgement, and you have a group
• 19:33
  of people protesting their condemnation and what's their
• 19:35
  argument? What's their defense?
• 19:37
  They point to their resume of extraordinary gifts.
• 19:40
  Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in my name, and in
• 19:44
  Thy name cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful
• 19:47
  works? They're holding up that garment
• 19:49
  we talked about earlier. Look at this row by war.
• 19:52
  I did miracles for you. Head of most Jesus doesn't deny
• 19:55
  they did them. He doesn't say you're lying.
• 19:57
  You never cast out a demon, no. He accepts the premise.
• 20:00
  He accepts it, and his response is chilling.
• 20:04
  I never knew you depart from me. You that work in equity?
• 20:07
  So the miracle worker is sent away, but the lover of God is
• 20:10
  welcomed in. That's the unavoidable
• 20:12
  conclusion. Miracles do not guarantee
• 20:15
  heaven, but love or saving grace is infallibly connected to
• 20:19
  eternal life. It is the down payment of heaven
• 20:22
  in the soul. He also references Luke 10.20
• 20:25
  here. He does.
• 20:26
  The disciples come back from a mission trip and they are just
• 20:30
  buzzing with excitement. They say to Jesus, Lord, even
• 20:33
  the demons are subject to us in your name.
• 20:36
  And Jesus corrects them immediately.
• 20:38
  He does. He says do not rejoice in this,
• 20:40
  that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because
• 20:43
  your names are written in heaven.
• 20:45
  He's redirecting their joy from the power, which is
• 20:48
  extraordinary and common, to the grace of election, which is
• 20:51
  ordinary and saving. Don't rejoice in the spectacular
• 20:54
  thing you can do. Rejoice in the secure thing God
• 20:56
  has done for you. Perfectly put, Then, Edwards
• 20:59
  makes a teleological argument, an argument about purpose.
• 21:03
  He distinguishes between means and ends.
• 21:05
  I like this part, the scaffolding analogy.
• 21:07
  It's the best way to understand it.
• 21:09
  Think of a beautiful cathedral being built.
• 21:11
  You have to put up massive amounts of scaffolding, right?
• 21:13
  Cranes supports platforms. Why is the scaffolding there to
• 21:18
  build the cathedral? The scaffolding is the means,
• 21:21
  the cathedral is the end. Once the cathedral is finished,
• 21:24
  what do you do with the scaffolding?
• 21:26
  You take it down. You don't live in the
• 21:27
  scaffolding. You don't admire the
• 21:28
  scaffolding. Exactly.
• 21:30
  Edwards says miracles, tongues, and prophecy were the
• 21:33
  scaffolding. Their purpose was to build the
• 21:35
  church. But what is the church built
• 21:37
  for? It's built for love.
• 21:40
  Ephesians 4.16 says the body builds itself up in love.
• 21:44
  Love is the finished building. So the maxim is that the end is
• 21:48
  always superior to the means. The destination is better than
• 21:51
  the vehicle. Therefore, love must be superior
• 21:54
  to miracles. Correct.
• 21:55
  You don't value the hammer more than the house.
• 21:58
  You don't value the crane more than the cathedral.
• 22:00
  Love is the cathedral, Miracles were just the tools used to
• 22:03
  erect it. And Edwards adds a heavy warning
• 22:05
  here about what he calls aggravated condemnation.
• 22:09
  This refers to that difficult passage in Hebrew 6.
• 22:12
  Yes, verses 4 through 6. It's about those who have tasted
• 22:16
  the heavenly gift and the powers of the world to come and then
• 22:19
  fall away. Edwards identifies these tastes
• 22:22
  and powers as these very extraordinary gifts we're
• 22:25
  talking about. And he argues that if you have
• 22:27
  these gifts and you still reject Christ like Judas did, your
• 22:31
  condemnation is actually worse. It's much worse because you knew
• 22:35
  better. You saw the power first hand,
• 22:37
  you participated in it. Judas's ability to cast out
• 22:41
  demons made his betrayal infinitely more heinous.
• 22:44
  He had seen the authority of the Kingdom of God flowing through
• 22:46
  his own fingertips, and he still sold the king for 30 pieces of
• 22:49
  silver. So miracles without love don't
• 22:52
  just leave you neutral. No, they pave A steeper, faster
• 22:55
  road to judgement. OK, let's transition to the next
• 22:57
  section, which is about the permanence of love.
• 22:59
  This comes right out of the text in First Corinthians 13.8.
• 23:02
  Charity never faileth, but whether there be prophecies,
• 23:06
  they shall fail. This just reinforces that
• 23:08
  scaffolding idea, doesn't it? Miracles are temporary.
• 23:11
  They are suited for this world, for the Church militant that's
• 23:15
  fighting to establish itself. But love is eternal.
• 23:18
  It is the very atmosphere of heaven.
• 23:20
  And Edwards takes a specific stance on the future state of
• 23:23
  the church here. This is interesting because
• 23:25
  often when people talk about the latter days or the end times,
• 23:28
  they expect an explosion of new prophets and new miracles.
• 23:32
  That's a very common expectation, especially in some
• 23:35
  circles. People think the glory of the
• 23:37
  end times will be a return to the Apostolic fireworks, but
• 23:41
  even bigger and better. But Edwards corrects that view.
• 23:44
  He does. He argues that the glory of the
• 23:46
  latter times will not be an increase in new revelations.
• 23:49
  The glory will be an increase in holiness.
• 23:51
  It will be an outpouring of the spirit that produces an
• 23:53
  unprecedented measure of love. So not new revelations.
• 23:58
  Edwards is a firm cessationist in this regard.
• 24:00
  He believes the Canon of Scripture is closed, citing
• 24:03
  Revelation 22. We shouldn't expect additions to
• 24:06
  Scripture. He argues that the Church
• 24:08
  becomes most glorious when it most resembles heaven.
• 24:11
  And heaven isn't the place where people are prophesying the
• 24:14
  future. Because everything is known, it
• 24:17
  isn't a place of healing. Because no one is sick.
• 24:20
  It's a place of perfect, uninterrupted love.
• 24:23
  So if the Church on Earth wants to be glorious, it should look
• 24:27
  like a community of radical sacrificial love, not a magic
• 24:30
  show. That's a very specific vision.
• 24:33
  It really shifts the goal posts for what revival looks like,
• 24:35
  doesn't it? Revival isn't necessarily gold
• 24:37
  dust falling from the ceiling or, you know, strange
• 24:39
  manifestations. No, for Edwards, revival is
• 24:42
  people forgiving their enemies and loving their neighbors with
• 24:45
  the love of Christ. That is the more excellent way.
• 24:48
  Now we're getting into the practical application.
• 24:50
  The so wet of all this, and Edwards makes a comparison
• 24:53
  involving Mary, the mother of Jesus.
• 24:56
  That honestly stopped me in my tracks when I read.
• 24:58
  It it is stunning. He compares the privilege of
• 25:01
  Mary to the privilege of the ordinary believer.
• 25:03
  And just think about Mary's privilege for a moment.
• 25:06
  She is the mother of God. She carried the creator of the
• 25:09
  universe in her womb. She nursed Christ at her breast.
• 25:12
  You would think, OK, that's the pinnacle.
• 25:14
  No human can top that. Right.
• 25:16
  If there's a hierarchy of privilege, Mary has to be at the
• 25:19
  very top. But Edwards, and more
• 25:21
  importantly, Jesus himself, says no.
• 25:24
  He cites Luke 11, verses 27 and 28.
• 25:26
  A woman in the crowd, totally overcome, shouts out to Jesus.
• 25:30
  Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that you
• 25:32
  sucked. And Jesus corrects her.
• 25:34
  He corrects her. He says yay, rather blessed are
• 25:37
  they that hear the word of God and keep it.
• 25:39
  That phrase yay rather is a strong correction.
• 25:42
  He's saying that's a blessing, yes, but here is a greater
• 25:45
  blessing. And the greater blessing is
• 25:47
  hearing the Word and keeping it. Which is love.
• 25:50
  It's obedience born of affection.
• 25:52
  So Jesus is saying that spiritual conformity to Him is a
• 25:55
  greater blessing than being his biological mother.
• 25:58
  Edwards puts it this way. It is a greater privilege to
• 26:01
  have Christ born in your soul by the Holy Spirit than it was to
• 26:04
  have Christ born in your womb. That is just incredible because
• 26:07
  we can't be merry. That position is taken.
• 26:11
  We can all have the greater blessing.
• 26:13
  That's his point. The ordinary grace of loving God
• 26:16
  is available to every single believer, and it is superior to
• 26:20
  the unique, unrepeatable historical privilege of the
• 26:23
  Virgin Mary that really democratizes the glory of the
• 26:27
  Christian life. You don't need to be a celebrity
• 26:28
  St. You just need to be a St.
• 26:31
  Edwards then moves from that high point to a very practical
• 26:35
  pastoral warning. And this feels very relevant to
• 26:38
  today, especially with how people interpret signs in their
• 26:41
  lives. He talks about sudden
• 26:43
  scriptures. This is a classic pastoral
• 26:46
  issue. Then and now.
• 26:48
  Someone is praying about a big decision, or they're wrestling
• 26:51
  with assurance, wondering if they're saved, and suddenly a
• 26:54
  Bible verse just pops into their head.
• 26:55
  And they think that's it, God gave me this verse.
• 26:59
  Therefore it's a direct message to me.
• 27:00
  Right, like the verse, I will restore you the years.
• 27:03
  The local Lucas of Eaton pops into their head and they think,
• 27:05
  OK, my failing business is going to succeed.
• 27:07
  So what's Edward's logic here? It's very simple and very sound,
• 27:12
  he says. Look, if you open your Bible and
• 27:14
  read that verse in its proper context, and the context doesn't
• 27:18
  prove your point, then the verse popping into your head suddenly
• 27:21
  doesn't change its meaning. The method of delivery memory
• 27:25
  versus reading doesn't alter the definition of the words.
• 27:29
  So if the text doesn't promise me business success when I read
• 27:32
  it in the book of Joel, it doesn't promise me business
• 27:34
  success just because I remembered it while I was
• 27:36
  driving. Precisely.
• 27:38
  He's warning against using subjective impulses as a
• 27:42
  substitute for objective truth, and he says the same thing about
• 27:45
  visions and voices. He warns that even if you saw a
• 27:48
  vision or heard an audible voice, that is at best an
• 27:51
  extraordinary gift. It's external.
• 27:53
  It is not saving grace. And more significantly.
• 27:56
  More significantly, the devil can mimic those things.
• 27:58
  The devil can appear as an Angel of light.
• 28:01
  He can give you a vision. He can put a scripture in your
• 28:03
  mind out of context. He can mimic the garment.
• 28:06
  But there's one thing the devil cannot mimic.
• 28:08
  He cannot mimic holy love. He cannot produce a heart that
• 28:12
  genuinely delights in the character of God for his own
• 28:15
  sake and loves its neighbor sacrificially.
• 28:19
  That is the one currency Satan cannot forge.
• 28:22
  So the only sure sign of your good estate, your salvation, is
• 28:27
  discerning Christian love in the heart.
• 28:29
  Not the fireworks, but the fruit.
• 28:31
  That is the only solid ground to stand on for assurance.
• 28:34
  Everything else is shifting sand.
• 28:36
  As we move toward the close of this deep dive, Edwards pivots
• 28:39
  from teaching to exhortation. He wants to encourage the
• 28:42
  listener and us who might feel ordinary, who might look at
• 28:46
  their life and not see any miracles.
• 28:48
  He wants us to have gratitude, overwhelming gratitude.
• 28:51
  He says if you're a believer who loves God even imperfectly, you
• 28:55
  possess a treasure greater than the wealth of Solomon or the
• 28:58
  authority of Caesar. You have something that will
• 29:00
  last when the mountains have crumbled into the sea and the
• 29:02
  prophecies have ceased and. He calls for self examination on
• 29:05
  the back of that How little do we do for God compared to the
• 29:08
  magnitude of this privilege? Right.
• 29:11
  We have the crown jewel of the universe in our chest, this
• 29:14
  indwelling love of God. And yet we often live such
• 29:17
  distracted, petty, selfish lives.
• 29:20
  It's a call to live up to our privilege.
• 29:22
  And he has a warning, a very sober warning for the unrenewed,
• 29:27
  for those who don't have this love.
• 29:28
  It is somber. He addresses those who might be
• 29:31
  religious, who might even be talented or gifted in church
• 29:34
  work, but who lack this root of love.
• 29:37
  He says they are miserable no matter what they possess.
• 29:39
  And he references his local context.
• 29:41
  Remember, this sermon was likely preached during the Great
• 29:44
  Awakening in Northampton. He says the spirit is being
• 29:47
  poured out. Scarcely a family has been
• 29:49
  passed by. So he's urging them to seek this
• 29:51
  blessing while it's available, Yes.
• 29:53
  Now is the time He reminds them that the same God who offers
• 29:56
  this incredible jewel of love now, if they reject it, will
• 30:00
  eventually come in anger. The God who offers the gift will
• 30:03
  one day be the judge. This has been quite a journey
• 30:06
  through this text. It really forces you to
• 30:08
  recalibrate your entire value system as a Christian.
• 30:10
  It does. It strips away our fascination
• 30:13
  with the superficial, the spectacular, and it points us
• 30:16
  back to the substantial, to the heart of the matter, which is
• 30:19
  love for God and neighbor. So here's a final thought to
• 30:23
  leave you with as you go about your week.
• 30:25
  We often wish we could see a miracle to strengthen our faith.
• 30:28
  We think if I could just see the Red Sea part, I would never
• 30:32
  doubt again. We all think that sometimes.
• 30:33
  But Edward suggests something different.
• 30:35
  He suggests that if you have a heart that loves God, a heart
• 30:40
  that was once stone cold and dead to him, but now beats with
• 30:44
  genuine affection for a holy God, you are essentially a
• 30:48
  walking miracle. You are a greater display of
• 30:51
  God's power than the parting of the Red Sea.
• 30:54
  That's a powerful way to put it. The Red Sea is just water
• 30:57
  moving. Your heart is a resurrection
• 30:59
  from the dead, and that is the greatest miracle of all.
• 31:02
  The miracle is in the mirror if you're a believer and you have
• 31:04
  eyes to see it. Thank you for joining us for
• 31:06
  this deep dive on reformed thinking we have.
• 31:09
  This helps you value the ordinary work of the Spirit
• 31:12
  above all else. Until next time.