Charity and its fruits - Edwards - XVIII - Lecture XVI continued

Required reading
Charity and its fruits by Jonathan Edwards (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Lecture XVI (Heaven, a world of charity or love) by reading up to the paragraph beginning 'VI. O the blessed effects and fruits of this love exercised and enjoyed in these circumstances'.

My summary
Today Edwards continues to explain that heaven is a world of love.  Last week we saw his first three points - this week we see his fourth and fifth.

Thus, fourthly, we are taught about the principle of love in heaven and by this Edwards means 'the love itself that fills and blesses the heavenly world'.  Edwards suggests the love is noticed by its:
(i) nature (it is holy and divine);
(ii) degree (it is perfect).

Fifthly we observe the excellent circumstances in which love shall be exercised, expressed and enjoyed in heaven.  In heaven:
(i) love is always mutual;
(ii) love is never interrupted or damped by jealousy;
(iii) there shall be nothing within themselves to clog or hinder the saints in heaven in the exercises and expressions of love;
(iv) love will be expressed with perfect decency and wisdom;
(v) there shall be nothing external to keep its inhabitants at a distance from each other, or to hinder their most perfect enjoyment of each other's love;
(vi) all shall be united together in very near and dear relations;
(vii) all shall have property and ownership in each other;
(viii) they shall enjoy each other's love in perfect and uninterrupted prosperity;
(ix) all things shall conspire to promote their love and give advantage for mutual enjoyment;
(x) the inhabitants shall know that they shall for ever be continued in the perfect enjoyment of each other's love.

What grabbed me
I continue to enjoy Edwards' descriptions of heaven: 'There shall he nothing within themselves to clog or hinder the saints in heaven in the exercises and expressions of love.  In this world the saints find much to hinder them in this respect. They have a great deal of dulness and heaviness. They carry about with them a heavy-moulded body — a clod of earth — a mass of flesh and blood that is not fitted to be the organ for a soul inflamed with high exercises of divine love ; but which is found a great clog and hindrance to the spirit, so that they cannot express their love to God as they would, and cannot be so active and lively in it as they desire. Often they fain would fly, but they are held down as with a dead weight upon their wings. Fain would they be active, and mount up as a flame of fire, but they find themselves, as it were, hampered and chained down, so that they cannot do as their love inclines them to do. Love disposes them to burst forth in praise, but their tongues are not obedient; they want words to express the ardency of their souls, and cannot order their speech by reason of darkness. Job xxxvii. 19 ; and often for want of expressions, they are forced to content themselves with groanings that cannot be uttered, Rom. viii. 26. '

I can't wait to be free of the hindrances of this sinful body!

Next week's reading
Conclude Lecture XVI (Heaven, a world of charity or love).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.