Jonathan Edwards, from Miscellanies #139:

I am convinced that there are many things in religion and the Scriptures that are made difficult on purpose to try men, and to exercise their faith and scrutiny, and to hinder the proud and self-sufficient.

John Piper addresses this same issue, speaking particularly about difficulties we encounter in Scripture, in his sermon, "Why God Inspired Hard Texts." He says God has given us hard texts to prompt at least four things, which seem to match well with Edwards' thoughts above:

1. Desperation - A sense of utter dependence on God's enablement.
2. Supplication - Prayer to God for help.
3. Cogitation - Thinking hard about biblical texts.
4. Education -…

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Jonathan Edwards viewed heaven as a place where the joy of God's people will only increase forever and ever. (Sam Storms passionately unpacked this grand vision at our 2003 National Conference in his message "Joy's Eternal Increase: Edwards on the Beauty of Heaven.")

But why did Edwards think this? What will cause the saints' joy to constantly overflow and expand again and again into eternity? Edwards explains in Miscellanies #137:

The object of their thought shall be the glory of God; which they shall contemplate in the creation in general, in the wonderful make of it, particularly of the highest heavens, and in the wonders of God's providence. It shall most clearly and delightfully…

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Where sin abounds with Achan at Jericho, grace abounds all the more at the defeat of Ai. And that abundant grace "spoils" the Israelites.

When God brings Israel back to Canaan to take possession of it, after being gone for 400 years in Egypt and 40 years in the wilderness, the first city they come to is Jericho. There God promises that he will give them victory: "See, I have given Jericho into your hand" (Joshua 6:2).

But there is one caveat to their destruction of Jericho:

The city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. . . Keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction. (6:17-18)

When the day arrives and the wall falls down, the Lord is…

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Impatience without self-control is always bad. But there is a time when impatience can be a sweet expression of love.

Judges 10:10-16

And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.”

And the LORD said to the people of Israel, “Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand. Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; le…

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When Israel was fulfilling the Lord's command to take possession of the Promised Land and drive out its inhabitants, the Gibeonites, who were among them, recognized what was happening and concocted a plan.

They disguised themselves as worn out, weary travelers and approached Joshua, telling him they were from a far away land. They "acted with cunning" (Joshua 9:4) to escape being destroyed along with the other Canaanite nations.

They knew they couldn't ask Israel to just leave them alone. They had to secure some kind of positive, ongoing relationship. So, using their disguise, the Gibeonites urged Joshua to become allies. "Make a covenant with us," they pleaded (9:11).

Their cunning…

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It is a profound gift of grace that God has not only promised us forgiveness, but that he has established the foundations of it right before our eyes.

The death of Jesus Christ is an eternal testimony before God that our sins have been sufficiently dealt with, which gives us confidence that we will receive mercy on the Day of Judgment and not wrath.

Jonathan Edwards ponders the alternative in Miscellanies #113:

Again, if there was no satisfaction for sin, nor any promises of forgiveness; seeing the best are daily renewing their sins, they would [be] in a dreadful case, not knowing whether there be any hope for pardon again, seeing God had pardoned them so often after they had renewed…

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Two days ago at our National Conference, Sam Storms and Justin Taylor took the stage just before lunch to make an unexpected announcement: after 3 years of undercover communication and composition, a special book had been prepared.

There on stage, Sam and Justin presented to John Piper a book written in his honor: For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper.

Sam began by reading from "A Note to John Piper," the first section of the book, in which he and Justin express (and defend) their hearts in masterminding the project. Then Justin read the name of each of the 27 contributors and the titles of their chapters (see below).

It was a weighty moment—in the happiest sens…

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The triune God had a purpose when he set his final creation, man, in the midst of such a marvelous universe. He wanted every aspect of that universe to teach man something about him.

Psalm 19:1-4 and Romans 1:20 tell us this. "The heavens declare the glory of God"; that is, they show forth "his eternal power and divine nature," along with the rest of creation.

In this excerpt from Miscellanies #108, Jonathan Edwards lists a variety of scenes from nature and suggests which attributes of Christ they were made to picture.

[T]he Son of God created the world for his very end, to communicate himself in an image of his own excellency. . . .

So that when we are delighted with flowery meadows…

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Jonathan Edwards believed that Christians in heaven will only increase in holiness and happiness forever and ever.

He based this on the idea that, once in heaven, a Christian's bank of memories will forever be growing, which only means that the number of ideas in their mind will forever be growing also. Of course, this is just another way of saying that a Christian's knowledge will always be increasing—and here is Edwards' connection—

. . . and if their knowledge, doubtless their holiness. For as they increase in the knowledge of God and of the works of God, the more they will see of his excellency; and the more they see of his excellency . . . the more will they love him; and the…

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Jonathan Edwards gives three reasons why human beings, though sinful and inferior in wisdom and strength, will forever exceed angels in glory and honor:

1. Angels were made to serve God by serving man, but man was made to serve God directly.
2. Human grace, holiness, and love are greater virtues than angelic wisdom and strength.
3. Believers are united to Christ in a way angels never will be.

Follow his logic for these points in Miscellanies #103.