The most famous sermon ever preached by one of the most esteemed theologians has never come across more like a sharp stick in the eye than today. Jonathan Edwards let loose Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God on July 8, 1741, in Enfield, Connecticut. It’s said that the congregation became so loud with crying out that Edwards had to stop before finishing the sermon.
I have a feeling that would happen today, too, just not for the same reason. Edwards, who by all accounts was a very meek and kind person, delivers so much offense in that sermon that it’s easy to believe most people today would walk out in the middle of it. And Edwards, in his message, tells us why that is.
“Almost every natural man that hears of Hell flatters himself that he shall escape it.” Sounds about right, wouldn’t you agree? Oh sure, some flippantly say that they’re going to Hell with no emotion, but swing open the door to that eternal horror and see if they don’t run for the hills.
His message is the polar opposite of the “God accepts you just as you are” mindset that’s present in church assemblies today.
For example: “The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much in the same way as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; His wrath towards you burns like fire; He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire; He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in His sight; you are 10,000 times more abominable in His eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.”