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Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

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Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God - by Johnathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards presents a clear picture of the predicament of every sinner and lukewarm Christian. Through his words, you can discover much about what it means to follow God. Edwards shows how you can know you have God's favor, avoid the tricks of the Devil, understand more about what sin really is, be an intercessor, and find your reward in heaven. With compelling words and imagery, Edwards describes the shaky position of those who do not follow Christ and God's urgent call to receive His love and forgiveness today.

Excerpt: Chapter 1 The State of Humankind Their foot shall slide in due time. -Deuteronomy 32:35 In this verse, the vengeance of God is threatened on the wicked, unbelieving Israelites, who were God¿s visible people and who lived under the means of grace, but who, notwithstanding all God¿s wonderful works toward them, remained "void of counsel," having no understanding in them (verse 28). Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit, as in two verses that precede our text: For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. (Deuteronomy 32:32-33) The Punishment of the Israelites The phrase I have chosen for my text, "Their foot shall slide in due time," seems to imply the following things. Each of these four implications relates to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed. Prone to Destruction First of all, the Israelites were always exposed to destruction, just as one who stands or walks in slippery places is always prone to a fall. This is implied in the manner in which their destruction was to come upon them, for it is represented by their foot sliding. The same idea is expressed in Psalm 73:18: "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction." Exposed to the Unexpected Second, the phrase implies that they were always exposed to sudden and unexpected destruction. The man who walks in slippery places is at every moment liable to fall. He cannot foresee whether he will stand one moment or fall the next and when he does fall, he falls at once, without warning. This is also expressed in the seventy-third Psalm: Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! (Psalm 73:18-19) Liable because of Themselves Another thing implied by the text is that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another. In the same way, one who stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down. At God¿s Mercy Fourth, the reason why they have not fallen already and do not fall now, is only that God¿s appointed time has not yet come. For it is written that, when that due time, or appointed time, comes, "their foot shall slide." (Deuteronomy 32:35) At that time, they will be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go. And then, at that very instant, they will fall into destruction, just as he who stands on such slippery, declining ground, on the edge of a pit, cannot stand alone for when he is let go, he immediately falls and is lost. The Mere Pleasure of God From this, observe what our text means: There is nothing that keeps wicked men out of hell, at any one moment, except the mere pleasure of God. By "the mere pleasure of God," I mean His sovereign pleasure, His all-powerful will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty nothing else but God¿s sovereign will has a hand in the preservation of wicked men. The truth of this observation may become clear through the following considerations. The Omnipotent God First, there is no lack of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men¿s hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist Him, nor can any man escape from His hands. He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but He can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly ruler finds it very difficult to subdue a rebel who has found means to fortify himself and has made himself strong by having great numbers of followers. However, it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defense from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God¿s enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken into pieces. They are as great heaps of chaff before the whirlwind (see Isaiah 17:13), or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. (See Nahum 1:10) We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the ground. It is just as easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread by which something hangs. Now, think o