God's Wrath on Unrighteousness, Part I

 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

 --Romans 1:18-23

The God of Scripture is a God of grace, love, and mercy. We know this because He grants salvation and righteousness to those who believe in His Son alone (1:16-17). But He is also a God of justice, vindication, and wrath. Therefore, when human beings fail to honor the Son, God demonstrates His wrath in an eternally and spiritually devastating way. God’s wrath is not sudden or random. Nor is it aimed at a certain people group. God pours His wrath on all those who deny, oppose, and resist the truth of the gospel of Christ.

The evidence for God is irrefutable. This can clearly be seen from conscience, creation, God’s Word, and His attributes. Foolish is the man who claims there is no God. This man is striving to fool Himself, for even his logic and reasoning reveal the Creator (Psalm 14:1). The earth, seas, and skies reflect the glory and majesty of their creator (Psalm 19:1). God’s very essence is truth. That is not just a part of His character, but His definition (John 14:6). God’s attributes, including His eternal power and His divine nature also prove His existence. One can travel to the most remote of villages and find a people who worship a god. The fact that we, as humans, have a knowledge of a supreme higher being, is rational proof that a supreme deity exists. Despite these overwhelming proofs, human beings still refuse to acknowledge Christ as Lord. God has placed us in front of His creation every day. We live in it, talk to it, eat it, and breathe it. It literally slaps us in the face on a cold, blistery day. But yet mankind refuses to acknowledge the Almighty God. Therefore man has no excuse on the Day of Judgment.

Even though man claims that either God does not exist, or that the God of Scripture is not the One true God, all men are conscious of God’s existence through general revelation. Everyone has a knowledge of God in their hearts. But many people choose not to give Him honor, worship, and praise. They roam around, vainly searching for their purpose in life, refusing to acknowledge that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to serve Him forever. Therefore, their thinking is flawed and the Lord has darkened their hearts, just as He darkened the heart of Pharaoh, who witnessed firsthand the reality of God’s power (Exodus 7-12). These people teach in schools and universities; they invent great technological advancements; they write important pieces of legislature; they theorize and postulate scientific and mathematical formulas; and they are some of the most brilliant minds on the face of the earth. But they are fools who revel in their own personal greatness and not the One who created them with these skills. Instead of giving the glory to God, they worship other things: philosophies, science, political leaders, money, fame, family, sports, the list goes on and on.

Thank the Lord that He is a God of mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness, for everyone would be blinded by our own depravity if not for God’s sovereign election, justification, and sanctification. Thank the Lord for the salvation that only comes through Him. Pray for those who have been blinded by the enticements of this world. Ask the Lord to quell His wrath and to open the hearts and ears of those who refuse to acknowledge Him as Lord.

Loved and Called by God

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus...to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Romans 1:1; 7

The everyday first century Jew believed he was loved by God based on his nationality. The Jews were God's chosen people. He had promised to create the Jewish people from faithful Abraham. This people had been called to be set apart from the other nations of the world. Thus, they had certain dietary and lifestyle restrictions, they had to perform bloody sacrifices to atone for their sin, and they had to follow the law of God. The fact that one had Abraham's, Issac's, Jacob's, and David's blood flowing through their veins was a source of pride for a Jew. Thus, many Jews believed that God had a greater love for them because, of course, they were His chosen people. So the fact that Paul opens the letter by calling the Roman Gentiles "loved by God" would have been sure to make any Jewish reader gasp. But the fact is that God does not make a distinction between races, as we will discuss in further detail in the coming chapters. God loves His own. He loves those who put their trust in Him, no matter whose blood is flowing through their veins. He loves His people, His chosen elect.

Not only does Paul note that God loves the Gentile Romans, he says that God has called them. In essence, God had chosen them to be His saints, thus reiterating the fact that God makes no racial distinctions but chooses whom He pleases. God's election is mysterious, but wonderful. God effectually calls His people, drawing them near to Him by faith. 

Finally, Paul extends his usual standard of greeting to the Roman believers, wishing them grace and peace which only God can provide through the death of His Son. God has set His elect apart from sin, drawing them near to Him so that they are called holy, regardless of their race.

Hate This Evil Life, Love Righteous Eternity

"Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

-John 12:25

We live in a day in age in which quack psychology reigns. So-called experts in the field of psychology tell us to think positively and that all negativity should be erased from the mind. Positive thinking, they say, leads to positive outcomes, and positive outcomes leads to happiness. This is also a central tenant of Zen Buddhism, which has undoubtedly impacted modern thinking.

The day in age in which Jesus lived was no different than our own, for there is nothing new under the sun. The Greek and Roman pantheists promoted the same type of worldview that is being promoted today. However, Jesus told His disciples that the person who loves his life will lose it, whereas the person who hates his life will keep it for eternity. What does Jesus mean by this statement?

Those that will receive eternal life are not people who spend their Sundays on the ball fields or doing other trite and vain things. Those that will receive eternal life are not those who seek to accumulate wealth and material possessions. Those who will receive eternal life are not even those who devote their whole lives to charity. What Jesus means by this statement is that those who will receive eternal life are those that do not love this world or the things in it. His people must live in this world, but they are called to be set apart from it. They mus recognize that this world is fading and is only temporary. His people must also recognize that they are aliens in this world, citizens of a much greater kingdom. There is more to life than the things that the world calls good. Human life exists for the specific purpose of worshiping and glorifying God and serving Him forever.

Therefore, the one who loves his life in this present world is the one who will lose his life for eternity. However, the person that hates this evil and fallible world, recognizing his heavenly citizenship, is the one who will have his place in eternity with Christ.

David Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards: A Colonial Love Story

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

(I Corinthians 13:4-8, 13)

             

First Corinthians 13 has become so cliché to our modern Christian lingo. It is often quoted, but rarely interpreted correctly. Faith, hope, and love are all virtues that we as humans display on this earth. But when, as believers, our faith and hope in Christ has been realized, only love will pass on into heaven. We will continue to demonstrate love as we worship our Lord at His feet.

But can this love endure all things while here on earth? Can this love endure trials, tribulations, and persecutions? What about death? Does our love truly abide after death? David Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards seemed to believe so. These were two young believers who exemplified this type of love. 

David Brainerd was a single 29 year-old who had started a mission to the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. Born in 1718, Brainerd was the most unlikely of missionary candidates. Although he was a very handsome man, Brainerd was skinny, pale, and suffered from a chronic illness, which we now know as tuberculosis. He also battled ongoing bouts of depression, which assaulted his mental spirit. He was plagued more with internal weakness than with the physical. In his depression, he struggled with the sufficiency of God’s grace for him, and wondered why God would die for a sinner such as him. 

Brainerd attended Yale, but was expelled when he criticized one of his tutors by saying that “he has no more grace than a chair”. This added to Brainerd’s depression, especially since a recent law forbade anyone to be appointed as a minister without a degree from Harvard, Yale, or a respectable European school. 

But Brainerd felt stronger than ever that the Lord was leading him to the mission field. He rejected opportunities to work in a mission field of relative ease with people of his own skin color, accepting instead the call to work with American Indians. 

Brainerd’s first mission work was with the Housatonic Indians of New York, where he established a school and began working on a translation of the Psalms. Later, he began working with the fierce and violent Delaware Indians of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

But David needed a respite from his missionary work. Lately, he had grown more ill than usual. He needed a break. It was during this time, in May of 1747, that David Brainerd first arrived at the home of Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massachusetts. 

The spring of 1747 was a very busy time for the Jonathan Edwards household. Sarah Edwards had just given birth to her tenth child, and the household was bustling with young children. As mother to this large family, Sarah was the overseer for farming, cooking, clothing, washing, cleaning, punishment, and education. Historian George Marsden notes that Sarah Edwards was “the embodiment of the Puritan ideal of industry”. 

In addition to caring for the household, Sarah also opened her home to travelers and visitors who came to learn from her husband. David Brainerd’s arrival seemed like an added burden because he needed constant care and attention. 

Jerusha Edwards, Jonathan and Sarah’s seventeen-year old daughter, took on the task of caring for Brainerd. Not much is known about Jerusha, except the fact that, much like her parents, her goal in life was to serve in self-less submission to God’s will. Her father wrote that she was very close to the Lord, especially at such a young age. She admired Brainerd from the start. She knew that he would endure any hardship to bring the gospel to the Indians. Thus, Jerusha viewed Brainerd as the embodiment of her spiritual ideal. She took it upon herself to care for this very weak young man. 

The only prescription that the doctors had prescribed to Brainerd for his illness was fresh air, which he partook of through regular horseback riding. After spending weeks in Northampton at the Edwards home, David left on a horseback ride to Boston, over 100 miles away. He was accompanied by Jerusha, who said she was “to be helpful to him in his weak and low state”. The trip normally took two days. David and Jerusha spent four days traveling. 

Upon arriving in Boston, Brainerd again became deathly ill, and Jerusha feared for his life. The doctors said that he could die any day; however, he seemed to recover just a few weeks later. The trip back to Northampton would again be taken very slowly to ease travel for David. 

David continued to have brief daily horseback rides until finally he was just too weak to continue to do so. By early September, David was confined to bed. Jerusha continued to care for him daily, despite the fact that she was not well herself. 

By October, David Brainerd had taken a turn for the worse. Jonathan Edwards wrote that on Sunday, October 4, Brainerd was near death. Jerusha Edwards entered Brainerd’s room and David “looked on her very pleasantly and said ‘Dear Jerusha, are you willing to part with me? I am willing to part with you…though, if I thought I should not see you and be happy with you in another world, I could not bear to part with you. But we shall spend an happy eternity together!’” Five days later, on October 9, 1747, David Brainerd died at the age of 29. Jerusha was most assuredly by his side at death. 

Jonathan Edwards gave Brainerd a very simplistic funeral service, as David would have wanted it. However, Edwards preached a magnificent funeral sermon entitled, “True Saints, When Absent From the Body, are Present With the Lord”. Edwards emphasized that these saints are not in a temporary holding spot awaiting the Lord’s return, but are immediately with the Lord after death. Perhaps this brought comfort to Jerusha’s grieved soul. Edwards seemed to have emphasized this point with his daughter in mind. 

Just four short months later, Jerusha Edwards died of an acute fever, after having only been ill for a week. This illness was most likely the result of her selfless care for Brainerd. Her father, of course, conducted the funeral, noting that Jerusha “was like a flower that is cut down”. Borrowing the theme from Job, Jonathan compared a cut down flower as a “fit emblem of a young person in the bloom of life, with amiable, pleasant, and promising qualifications, not only with a blooming body, but mind also; with desirable natural and moral endowments.” Jerusha had been the child that was most like her father. Thus, her death stung Jonathan in particularly. He noted her moral virtues in the funeral service, hoping that other young people would learn from her example. He said that Jerusha “declared in words, showed in deed, ever more ready to deny herself, earnestly inquiring in every affair which way she could most glorify God.” 

Jonathan Edwards, remembering the words David Brainerd had spoken to Jerusha while on his deathbed, buried his daughter next to Brainerd. He was confident that they were both presently with the Lord and in the company of each other. But he wanted to ensure that their bodies would rise together at the resurrection. He seemed to understand that the love of David and Jerusha would endure despite death. He seemed to recognize that love is eternal. 


The love with which David Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards showed each other was based on the altruistic love of Christ. Jerusha Edwards risked her health to care for the one in which she not only admired, but also loved. Brainerd recognized and appreciated the love with which Jerusha showed him.

If only the two had lived. They could have married and raised children with the zeal that they both had for the Lord. But that was not God’s sovereign plan for the love with which they displayed. It was His plan that the love of David Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards, with a foundation set on the love of Christ, would endure spiritually. The love of David Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards would never end.

Sources

"David Brainerd." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 01 July 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2013.

Marsden, George M. Jonathan Edwards: A Life. New Haven: Yale UP, 2003. 318-30. Print.

"Missionary Biography: David Brainerd (1718-1747)." Bethany College of Missions. 3 Aug. 2010. Web. 13 Jan. 2013.