Latest / Reformed Thinking / Wicked Men Inconsistent With Themselves (Matthew 11:16-19) | Jonathan Edwards

Transcript

Wicked Men Inconsistent With Themselves (Matthew 11:16-19) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  Imagine holding the winning lottery ticket in your hand like
• 0:04
  you have checked the numbers 10 times and you know the
• 0:07
  astronomical value of that little piece of paper.
• 0:09
  Yeah, you are set for life at that point.
• 0:11
  Right. But then because you feel a
• 0:13
  slight chill in the room, you intentionally set the ticket on
• 0:17
  fire just to warm your hands for like 5 seconds.
• 0:21
  I mean, if you saw someone do that you would just assume they
• 0:23
  had completely lost their mind. For sure, the disproportion
• 0:26
  between what they threw away and what they gained is so massive
• 0:29
  it just defies all logic. It makes zero sense.
• 0:32
  But in December of 1738, the theologian Jonathan Edwards
• 0:37
  argued that every single human being does something vastly more
• 0:41
  rational than this on a daily basis.
• 0:43
  Yeah, it is staggering claim. So welcome to Reform Thinking,
• 0:47
  where we investigate historical sources to help you see the
• 0:50
  world more clearly. Today we are looking at a deep
• 0:52
  dive into a sermon Edwards preached titled Wicked Men
• 0:56
  Inconsistent with Themselves. And the core mission of this
• 1:00
  deep dive is to look at his diagnosis of human nature after
• 1:04
  the fall. He basically argues that outside
• 1:07
  of divine grace, the human soul is just a chaotic, contradictory
• 1:11
  mess. Which is a heavy thought for you
• 1:13
  to sit with as you listen today. And the biblical text Edwards
• 1:16
  uses for this is from Matthew Chapter 11, verses 16 through
• 1:20
  19. Right where Jesus is talking to
• 1:21
  the crowds. Yeah.
• 1:23
  Jesus compares that generation to children sitting in the
• 1:26
  marketplace. Yeah, these kids are like
• 1:28
  calling out to their friends saying we played the flute for
• 1:33
  you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not
• 1:36
  mourn. It is like they are playing a
• 1:38
  game of pretend, you know, first a wedding, then a funeral, and
• 1:42
  their playmates just refused to participate in either one.
• 1:44
  To put that in a context you might recognize today, think
• 1:47
  about trying to pick a restaurant with a friend.
• 1:49
  Oh, that is always a nightmare. It really is.
• 1:52
  You suggest a Taco place and they say it is too spicy so he's
• 1:56
  just burgers and they say that is too heavy.
• 1:58
  You bring up sushi and they complain about the price.
• 2:00
  They shoot down everything. Right.
• 2:03
  After a while you realize the problem is not the food options.
• 2:06
  The problem is they just do not want to eat with you, but they
• 2:08
  want to complain. So they mask their rejection by
• 2:11
  finding a specific flaw in every single proposal.
• 2:14
  That is a great analogy. It really captures the
• 2:17
  psychological mechanism Jesus is diagnosing here, because Jesus
• 2:21
  points out the unreasonableness of the people in how they
• 2:23
  received God's messengers. Starting with John the Baptist,
• 2:26
  right? Exactly.
• 2:28
  Spot on. John the Baptist arrives, and
• 2:31
  his ministry is marked by extreme austerity.
• 2:34
  He lives out in the wilderness, wears camel's hair, fasts
• 2:37
  constantly, and preaches this severe message of repentance.
• 2:41
  And how do the people react? They reject him.
• 2:43
  They say he is too austere. They actually accuse him of
• 2:46
  having a demon. Wow.
• 2:47
  Yeah. But then Jesus Christ arrives,
• 2:49
  and his ministry is totally different.
• 2:52
  It is characterized by celebration.
• 2:54
  He goes to feasts. He associates with tax
• 2:56
  collectors. He brings joy.
• 2:58
  And they reject him too. Right.
• 3:00
  They call him a glutton and a drunkard.
• 3:02
  So Edwards draws this brilliant theological conclusion here.
• 3:05
  He says unregenerate humanity will find any excuse to reject
• 3:09
  Pratt's messengers because the method of delivery was never the
• 3:12
  actual issue. It was not about the fasting or
• 3:14
  the feasting. Not at all.
• 3:15
  They hated the austerity of John and they hated the celebration
• 3:19
  of Jesus because they hate the sovereign God behind both of
• 3:21
  those messages. They are just searching for a
• 3:24
  pretext to dismiss divine authority.
• 3:27
  So it is a rigged game from the start.
• 3:29
  Pretty much. And that brings us to Edwards
• 3:32
  first major doctrine in the sermon, which is that the
• 3:34
  practical judgment of humanity contradicts its own reason.
• 3:38
  OK, let's unpack that. Yeah, Edwards talks about the
• 3:40
  intellect being at war with reason.
• 3:43
  He says reason dictates that eternity is vastly more
• 3:46
  significant than a brief earthly life.
• 3:48
  Right. Any rational person has to agree
• 3:50
  with that math. Infinite time is greater than
• 3:52
  finite time. So Reason says it is wise to
• 3:55
  deny momentary pleasures for everlasting joy.
• 3:58
  Yet Edward says the governing practical judgement of fallen
• 4:01
  humanity does the exact opposite.
• 4:04
  They choose the temporary every single time.
• 4:06
  But I have to push back on Edwards here for a second.
• 4:09
  Doesn't everyone act against their better judgement
• 4:12
  sometimes? Like we eat junk food when we
• 4:16
  know we should eat a salad, we procrastinate on work we know is
• 4:19
  due. Why does Edwards treat this
• 4:21
  specific contradiction as such a devastating flaw rather than
• 4:25
  just, you know, a normal human weakness?
• 4:28
  Well, because we are not talking about a simple diet plan or a
• 4:32
  MIS deadline. We are talking about the
• 4:33
  structural integrity of the human soul.
• 4:36
  OK, from a reformed perspective adhering to the Westminster
• 4:39
  Confession, this is not just a momentary slip up.
• 4:42
  The confession teaches total depravity, meaning the
• 4:46
  corruption of sin extends to every single part of our nature.
• 4:50
  So it is systemic. Yes, the intellect itself is
• 4:52
  blinded when an individual in their natural state makes a
• 4:56
  decision. The will does not inquire at the
• 4:58
  mouth of reason, it inquires at the mouth of inclination.
• 5:01
  The will just does whatever it feels like doing.
• 5:04
  Right, the hardware of the soul is corrupted.
• 5:07
  Edwards points out that in temporal earthly matters, people
• 5:11
  act with intense rationality. A merchant will endure terrible
• 5:15
  storms at sea just for the prospect of making some money.
• 5:19
  They use foresight. They do, but in spiritual
• 5:22
  matters they completely abandoned that logic.
• 5:24
  They acknowledge that an eternal state is coming, but they live
• 5:27
  as if this temporary world is the only reality that exists.
• 5:32
  Edwards uses this really vivid illustration of a young person.
• 5:35
  He says. Imagine a young person sitting
• 5:37
  in church hearing a minister preach about the infinite weight
• 5:40
  of eternal things. Yeah, hearing about the horrors
• 5:42
  of a misspent life and the joy of holy.
• 5:44
  Living and the young person's brain just a sense to the logic.
• 5:48
  They mentally agree that preparing for eternity is the
• 5:50
  most rational thing they could possibly do.
• 5:52
  They know it is true. But then Monday morning rolls
• 5:55
  around, and their daily practice shows they prioritize immediate
• 5:58
  sloth and lust. Their governing opinion, the way
• 6:01
  their feet actually move through the world, declares that
• 6:04
  enjoying a brief moment of ease right now is objectively better
• 6:09
  than preparing for eternity. It is a massive paradox.
• 6:13
  The intellect is at war with reason, and this brings us to
• 6:16
  Body Section 2, which is about the conscience being held
• 6:20
  hostage. Yeah, Edwards describes this
• 6:22
  inward war happening inside a person.
• 6:25
  Right, because the conscience is an implanted principle.
• 6:28
  Think of it like an internal alarm system that got installed
• 6:32
  but the human will fights against it.
• 6:34
  The will actively chooses actions that provoke their maker
• 6:38
  and lead to destruction. Which is wild when you really
• 6:41
  think about. It it makes me think of someone
• 6:42
  driving a car. They know a bridge is out ahead.
• 6:45
  They see all the warning signs, the flashing lights, the
• 6:48
  barricade. They acknowledge the signs are
• 6:49
  accurate. Yes, they admit the signs are
• 6:52
  real, but they just slam their foot on the gas pedal anyway.
• 6:54
  That is the perfect way to look at it.
• 6:56
  They are choosing a path they know is ruinous, and Edwards
• 7:00
  details how individuals actively choose sins that they they hope
• 7:04
  to repent of later. Oh, banking on future
• 7:06
  repentance. Yeah, consider the logical knot
• 7:09
  you have to tie your brain into to maintain that position.
• 7:12
  You choose folly, knowing it is folly.
• 7:15
  You say I'm going to do this evil thing today, but I will
• 7:17
  feel bad about it tomorrow and ask for forgiveness.
• 7:20
  It's basically saying I want to drink this poison but I will
• 7:24
  take the antidote tomorrow. Right.
• 7:25
  And Edwards argues this means they essentially hate their own
• 7:28
  souls. They love their own ruin.
• 7:31
  If we go back to the Westminster Confessions view of the will, it
• 7:35
  says that sin holds the will in total bondage.
• 7:38
  It is locked up. Completely humanity wholly lost
• 7:42
  all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying
• 7:45
  salvation. It cannot choose to love God, so
• 7:48
  it just silences the conscience. And because they silence the
• 7:51
  conscience, they end up desiring impossible things.
• 7:55
  Which brings us to the divided will, Edward says.
• 7:57
  People choose and refuse the exact same thing simultaneously.
• 8:01
  He breaks this down into five specific instances which are
• 8:03
  really fascinating. Let's walk through them.
• 8:05
  The first instance is conversion.
• 8:07
  Right people say they wish to be converted.
• 8:09
  They might even pray for it. But when they realize conversion
• 8:12
  means parting with specific cherished sins, what Edwards
• 8:16
  calls right hand sins, they refuse.
• 8:19
  They want the benefits of conversion without actually
• 8:21
  changing. Exactly.
• 8:23
  Then the second instance is humiliation.
• 8:26
  People claim they want to to God, right?
• 8:28
  They want to be humble. But at the same time, they're
• 8:31
  actively building up their own self righteousness.
• 8:34
  Yeah, they are proud of their own humility.
• 8:35
  It makes no sense. The third one is how they view
• 8:38
  Christ and this one is super common.
• 8:41
  People want an interest in Christ as a savior from hell.
• 8:44
  They desperately want the safety net, right?
• 8:47
  But they completely reject His Holiness in His kingly office.
• 8:51
  They want a savior to rescue them from misery, but they
• 8:54
  refuse a king to tell them how to live.
• 8:56
  Which touches on a huge point in Reformed theology.
• 8:59
  You cannot divide the offices of Christ.
• 9:01
  You cannot take him as a priest to forgive your sins and then
• 9:04
  reject him as a king to rule your life.
• 9:06
  The unregenerate heart wants an insurance policy, not a Lord.
• 9:10
  That is a great way to phrase it.
• 9:12
  And then the 4th instance is heaven.
• 9:14
  Everyone wants to go to heaven, right?
• 9:15
  Sure, nobody wants the alternative.
• 9:17
  But Edwards points out they have 0 inclination for the holy
• 9:21
  employments of heaven. If heaven is a place of
• 9:23
  ceaseless worship and communion with God, the unregenerate
• 9:27
  person would actually hate it there.
• 9:29
  If you get bored sitting through a one hour church service, why
• 9:32
  would you want to do that for all eternity?
• 9:34
  Right, and that leads to the 5th instance, which is salvation
• 9:37
  itself. They want salvation from misery,
• 9:40
  but not salvation from sin. That is just the ultimate
• 9:43
  absurdity. It is like a patient going to a
• 9:46
  doctor demanding to be cured of a deadly cough but absolutely
• 9:50
  refusing to stop chain smoking. You cannot but have the cure
• 9:53
  while clinging to the cause of the disease.
• 9:55
  Right, the smoking is causing the cough.
• 9:57
  And Edwards builds this rigorous logic around that sin is the
• 10:01
  seed of misery. Misery is the natural,
• 10:04
  inevitable fruit of sin. They are completely linked.
• 10:06
  Yeah, demanding happiness without holiness is like
• 10:09
  demanding A harmonious tune made entirely of discordant notes.
• 10:12
  It is a logical impossibility. So they're demanding things that
• 10:16
  cannot exist. And Edwards takes this even
• 10:19
  further. He argues that fallen humanity
• 10:22
  actually hates God as he is. Yes, this is a really intense
• 10:26
  part of his argument. He says people reject God for
• 10:29
  his specific attributes, but they would also reject Him if he
• 10:32
  lacked those exact same attributes.
• 10:34
  It is a total double bind. Let's look at His Holiness.
• 10:38
  People hate God's perfect purity because it condemns their sin.
• 10:42
  His Holiness acts as this bright light that exposes all their
• 10:46
  flaws. Nobody likes being exposed.
• 10:48
  No, they don't. But Edwards points out the trap
• 10:50
  here. If God were on a holy, they
• 10:52
  could not trust his promises. Oh wow, because if God could
• 10:55
  sin, he could lie. Right.
• 10:57
  And if a deity can lie, then any promise of an afterlife or
• 11:01
  salvation is totally worthless. So they despise the purity that
• 11:04
  exposes them, but they require that same purity to have any
• 11:07
  foundation for trust. And we see the same thing with
• 11:09
  God's justice. People hate his justice because
• 11:12
  they they're guilty. No criminal wants a perfectly
• 11:15
  just judge. They want a judge who will let
• 11:17
  them off the hook. Right.
• 11:18
  But if God were unjust, we would all live in absolute terror of
• 11:22
  his arbitrary cruelty. An unjust, all powerful being is
• 11:27
  basically a cosmic tyrant. You could do everything right
• 11:29
  and still be sent to hell just because he felt like it.
• 11:32
  Which brings up his omnipotence and omniscience.
• 11:34
  People really dislike his absolute power and all knowing
• 11:37
  nature. Yeah, the loss of privacy is
• 11:39
  terrifying. The idea that God knows every
• 11:41
  secret thought makes the natural mind recoil.
• 11:44
  But at the same time, they wouldn't worship a weak or
• 11:46
  ignorant deity. A weak God couldn't save them
• 11:49
  from anything. And then there is the attribute
• 11:51
  of mercy, which might be the most glaring contradiction of
• 11:54
  all. Unregenerate people often deeply
• 11:57
  resent God's sovereign grace when it is given to others they
• 12:00
  think are unworthy. Oh, like the older brother and
• 12:03
  the prodigal son parable. Spot on.
• 12:05
  The older brother is furious that the father shows mercy to
• 12:08
  the rebellious younger brother. The natural human looks at grace
• 12:11
  given to a notorious Sinner and feels cheated.
• 12:15
  Why did they get a free pass? Right.
• 12:17
  Yet at the very same time, they desperately want mercy for their
• 12:20
  own failures. They are angry when God is
• 12:23
  merciful to others, but terrified He won't pardon their
• 12:25
  own transgressions. It is just endless
• 12:27
  contradictions and for those of you listening, consider him.
• 12:31
  Often modern culture tries to reinvent God to be more
• 12:34
  palatable. Oh, it happens all the time.
• 12:36
  We try to strip away His justice or downplay His absolute
• 12:39
  sovereignty just to create this comfortable, manageable deity, a
• 12:43
  God who affirms all our choices but never judges us.
• 12:47
  But people completely ignore the logical contradictions Edwards
• 12:51
  points out. The natural mind hates God's
• 12:53
  absolute sovereignty and just wants a God made in its own
• 12:56
  image. And this desire to play pretend
• 12:59
  with who God is leads to this massive disconnect between
• 13:02
  outward show and inward reality. Edwards calls it the hypocrite's
• 13:06
  mask. Yeah, he talks about the Whited
• 13:08
  Sepulchers. Which were tombs painted white
• 13:10
  on the outside so they look beautiful, but inside they were
• 13:13
  full of dead bones. It is a brutal metaphor.
• 13:15
  People make a show of reverence in God.
• 13:17
  They look clean on the outside, but their hearts value carnal,
• 13:21
  earthly enjoyments much higher. One of the most striking things
• 13:24
  Edwards critiques here is prayer.
• 13:26
  He talks about how people offer these prayers filled with
• 13:29
  adoration, humility, and repentance.
• 13:31
  They. Say all the right words.
• 13:33
  Yeah, they use the vocabulary of a St., but their hearts contain
• 13:36
  nothing but pride, self righteousness, and honestly,
• 13:40
  contempt for God. They treat prayer like a
• 13:42
  transaction. They think if I say the right
• 13:45
  spiritual phrases, God owes me earthly blessings.
• 13:47
  It is manipulation. Totally.
• 13:49
  And Edwards brings in historical examples to back this up.
• 13:52
  He points to the Jews in the Old Testament who came to the
• 13:55
  prophet Jeremiah. What did they do?
• 13:57
  Well, Jerusalem is in chaos and they begged Jeremiah to ask God
• 14:02
  what they should do. They promise they will obey
• 14:05
  whatever God says, good or bad. Sounds super pious.
• 14:08
  Right, but they were lying. They had already decided they
• 14:11
  were going to flee to Egypt. They didn't want guidance, they
• 14:13
  just wanted divine validation for their rebellion.
• 14:16
  And when God told them to stay. They called Jeremiah a liar and
• 14:19
  went to Egypt anyway. Edwards also looks at the
• 14:22
  Pharisees. They tithe the tiniest spices,
• 14:24
  mint and cumin. They looked incredibly holy.
• 14:28
  But they were plotting murder. Yeah, they claimed to hate the
• 14:31
  devil when they accused John the Baptist, but they really just
• 14:34
  hated God. That is just wild and it leads
• 14:37
  right into his point about profession versus practice.
• 14:41
  The daily lives of people completely contradict their
• 14:44
  stated beliefs. He separates this into two
• 14:46
  categories, the common profession and the special
• 14:50
  profession. Let's start with the common
• 14:51
  profession. These are people who profess to
• 14:54
  believe God is everywhere, right?
• 14:56
  Yes, they acknowledge God is omnipresent.
• 14:59
  Yet they commit abominable sins in secret that they would never
• 15:03
  dare do in front of a human audience.
• 15:05
  They. Care more about the opinion of a
• 15:07
  flawed human being than the gaze of an infinitely holy God.
• 15:10
  They also profess to believe in a future judgement, but they
• 15:13
  live idle, careless lives. As if death and judgement were
• 15:17
  just fairy tales. And then there is the special
• 15:19
  profession. These are people claiming to
• 15:21
  have a distinct spiritual awakening.
• 15:25
  Edwards uses the Galatians as an example.
• 15:27
  Yeah, initially they seem so full of light and affection.
• 15:30
  But their subsequent lives showed a total departure from
• 15:32
  that. They appear self emptied in
• 15:34
  church, but act with extreme self-sufficiency and pride the
• 15:38
  rest of the week. They say I am a wretched Sinner,
• 15:41
  but then look down on everyone else.
• 15:43
  But let me ask you this if someone claims God is more
• 15:46
  excellent than the whole world, how can Edwards say their
• 15:49
  actions prove otherwise? What is the tension there?
• 15:52
  Well, cannot someone genuinely struggle with a specific sin
• 15:56
  while still holding a core belief that God is superior?
• 16:00
  How do we know it is a false profession and not just a real
• 16:03
  painful struggle? That is a really fair question,
• 16:06
  and Edwards anticipates it. He gives us a diagnostic
• 16:09
  question to separate a genuine struggle from a false
• 16:11
  profession. OK, what is the question?
• 16:13
  He asks, if they truly believe God is so excellent, why do
• 16:16
  they, in their governing practice, cast him off for a
• 16:19
  tiny bit of worldly game, honor or convenience?
• 16:23
  The governing practice, right? A regenerate person struggles
• 16:27
  with sin and genuinely grieves over it.
• 16:29
  But for the unregenerate, the habitual governing practice
• 16:33
  invalidates the profession. If you tell me a diamond is
• 16:36
  worth more than a Pebble, but every time Ioffer you a choice,
• 16:39
  you pick the Pebble. Your actions prove you are
• 16:41
  lying. Exactly.
• 16:43
  The practice proves the valuation was false.
• 16:46
  Wow, that brings us to this staggering disconnect.
• 16:49
  Edwards points out about heaven. People hope to enter heaven, but
• 16:53
  they are completely unfit for the glories of it.
• 16:55
  He describes heaven as this place of perfect holiness, the
• 16:59
  heavenly Jerusalem filled with an innumerable company of
• 17:02
  angels. And the eternal business there
• 17:04
  is contemplating God's perfections and praising Him.
• 17:07
  It is a world of perfect peace and love.
• 17:09
  So Edwards draws this crazy contrast.
• 17:11
  He says people are hoping to enter the Holy of Holies while
• 17:14
  currently wallowing like swine in the filth and Meyer's sin.
• 17:18
  It is a very graphic image. It is how can you hope for
• 17:21
  absolute purity when your current daily life is spent
• 17:24
  serving lusts? You cannot.
• 17:27
  A life spent in the service of lust makes a person entirely
• 17:30
  unfit for the company of heaven. If someone spends their earthly
• 17:34
  life in malice, contention, and hatred of their neighbors, they
• 17:38
  are practicing the exact opposite of Heaven's culture.
• 17:41
  They would be miserable there. Completely.
• 17:44
  And that leads to the unstable life of the unregenerate,
• 17:47
  Edwards says. Their wicked practices are
• 17:49
  utterly inconsistent with themselves.
• 17:50
  He. Compares them to a wave of the
• 17:52
  sea. Yeah, driven by the wind and
• 17:54
  tossed or a deceitful bow. It looks like it is aimed at the
• 17:58
  target, but when you fire it, it wildly misses the mark.
• 18:01
  Edwards brings up Judas Iscariot as an example of this.
• 18:04
  Yeah, betraying Christ with a kiss.
• 18:06
  He uses a symbol of affection to commit murder.
• 18:09
  It is total instability. He also mentions the cake not
• 18:12
  turned from the Book of Hosea. Hosea Chapter 7, verse 8.
• 18:16
  It is such a strange, striking image.
• 18:18
  Basically a pancake baked on the fire but never flipped over.
• 18:21
  Right, one side is totally burned and ruined and the other
• 18:24
  side is just raw dough. And Edwards uses that to to
• 18:27
  describe people who act like Saints at church and like
• 18:29
  heathens at home. They might pay their debts and
• 18:32
  look honest on paper, but they are unmerciful and covetous in
• 18:35
  their actual hearts. The vices actually clash with
• 18:38
  each other. A person's pride demands A
• 18:40
  lavish lifestyle to show off, but their covetousness refuses
• 18:45
  to spend the money. Or their ambition fights with
• 18:47
  their sloth. The soul just becomes a war zone
• 18:50
  of competing vices. And why is it a war zone?
• 18:54
  This brings us to the final application of Edward's sermon,
• 18:57
  tracing all this inconsistency back to its root cause.
• 19:00
  The devastation of the fall. Right.
• 19:02
  Edwards describes the original state of humanity.
• 19:05
  Man was made upright with perfect internal harmony.
• 19:08
  Reason sat on the throne and ruled, and the will happily
• 19:11
  obeyed. There was peace, but then the
• 19:13
  fall. Happened.
• 19:14
  Yes. The theological weight of the
• 19:15
  fall is immense here. When man rebelled, the Spirit of
• 19:18
  God departed, and what was left was a darkness worse than the
• 19:22
  primitive chaos before creation. The faculties were just
• 19:25
  shattered. Like a broken piece of
• 19:26
  machinery, the intellect, the conscience, the will, they no
• 19:30
  longer work together. So to summarize the resulting
• 19:33
  miseries Edwards outlines here, first there's the sheer folly of
• 19:37
  acting like a madman in spiritual matters while being
• 19:41
  prudent in earthly matters. It is embarrassing, logically
• 19:44
  speaking. Second, there's the misery of
• 19:46
  being a troubled sea at war with yourself.
• 19:49
  You never have peace. And 3rd, the absolute
• 19:52
  inexcusableness of it all. At the final judgement, people
• 19:57
  will be condemned by their own mouth and logic.
• 20:00
  Because they knew better and they proved they knew how to be
• 20:02
  rational in other areas of life. Which brings us to the absolute
• 20:05
  necessity of sovereign grace. This is the core reformed
• 20:09
  conclusion. Human attempts to fix this utter
• 20:11
  ruin are laughable. You cannot just try harder.
• 20:14
  No, you are using a broken tool to try and fix the broken tool.
• 20:17
  Only the mighty Savior, the God who originally created the soul
• 20:20
  out of nothing, can recreate it. That makes total sense.
• 20:24
  God refuses to enter into covenant friendship with the
• 20:26
  unregenerate because they are treacherous and unstable.
• 20:29
  They need a new heart first. Exactly.
• 20:32
  Well, I mean that is the whole point.
• 20:34
  Grace is the only way out of the chaos.
• 20:36
  So to distill all of this down, humanity outside of grace is not
• 20:41
  just morally flawed, it is structurally broken.
• 20:44
  It demands logical impossibilities.
• 20:46
  And it hates the very cure it desperately needs.
• 20:50
  As you listen to this, we want to acknowledge the weight of
• 20:52
  this deep dive. It is not a late topic.
• 20:54
  Not at all. But recognizing this internal
• 20:57
  chaos is the first step towards seeking the genuine mighty
• 21:01
  savior that Edwards points toward.
• 21:03
  You have to see the disease before you ask for the cure.
• 21:06
  For sure. So we want to leave you with a
• 21:08
  final thought to ponder. If our natural state is to be so
• 21:12
  thoroughly at war with reality and with ourselves, how does
• 21:16
  that change the way you view your own daily desires?
• 21:19
  Are you trusting your own instincts, or are you crying out
• 21:21
  for the architect of your soul to put the pieces back together?
• 21:24
  And on that note, maybe ask yourself when you feel that
• 21:27
  internal friction between what you know is right and what you
• 21:30
  want to do. Are you trying to manage the
• 21:32
  symptoms or are you asking God for a new nature?
• 21:36
  That is the real question. Keep thinking on these things
• 21:38
  and we will catch you next time on reformed thinking.