Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

The sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" has been referred to throughout history as "the most famous sermon ever preached."  Preached on July 8, 1741 by the Puritan pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards, this sermon was instrumental in maintaining the "Great Awakening" revival in the mid 18th century.  The "Great Awakening" revival was a tremendous time of the spreading (and acceptance) of the Gospel all throughout the United States.  God used many great and godly men (such as George Whitefield) to bring about the revival, but Jonathan Edwards has been identified as the main catalyst through which God brought thousands of men and women to their knees in deep sorrowful repentance, causing them to turn to Jesus Christ as the only escape from God's holy wrath to come.

In the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Edwards spoke with very intense imagery concerning the dangers of being "outside" of Christ in unbelief while yet being "in" God's hands as a rebellious sinner.  Edwards thus directed his sermon not to Christians, but to those who had not yet placed their faith in Jesus, as Edwards stated, "Perhaps this awful subject may awaken those who remain unconverted in the church."  But although Edwards preached this sermon for non-believers, I would still very strongly recommend that Christians read intently and solemnly through this very harsh, but very biblical sermon.  As a Christian myself who is sure of my faith in Jesus Christ, and therefore convinced of my own future deliverance from the "wrath that is to come", I still could not help feeling tremendously unsettled (even disturbed) regarding the hellish future realities of those who die outside of Christ, which Edwards displays so poignantly in this sermon.  As modern-day theologian R.C. Sproul stated, "This sermon is not for the faint of heart."

We live today in an age when the truths of God's wrath are almost completely absent from pulpits in favor of an unbalanced emphasis on God's love.  This unbalance of focusing on God's love while ignoring God's wrath is self-evidently unbiblical, and can be easily demonstrated by the numerical fact that Jesus Himself spoke more about Hell than He did about Heaven.  Therefore if we are called to be true heralds of God's Word, then we have no choice but to reveal the truth and horrors of what Hell is, and will be like, for those who reject Jesus as Savior.  Regarding the scriptural need for this balance, theologian A.W. Pink wrote, "Faithfulness demands that we speak as plainly about Hell as about Heaven."  I would thus encourage all Christians to engage and absorb the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in order to always keep fresh in mind the overwhelmingly merciful escape from Hell which God has provided for us who place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.  As Jonathan Edwards correctly notes, "God has had it on His heart to show to angels and men not only how excellent His love is, but also how terrible His wrath is."

*Note - In addition to reading Jonathan Edwards sermon in book form, I would also highly recommend listening to the audio narration of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by the noted narrator Max McLean (which can be purchased as a download at his "The Listener's Bible" website).  Actually hearing Edwards sermon preached through the strong voice of McLean gives a powerful taste of what it must have been like to have heard Jonathan Edwards deliver this frightening but God-ordained warning to the masses of 18th century America.

"Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them."

- John 3:36

"Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?"

- Luke 3:7

 The following are excerpts taken from Jonathan Edwards sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

"There is laid, in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell.  Corrupt principles, reigning in power in them and in full possession of them, are seeds of hellfire."

"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."

"Sinners deserve to be cast into hell.  Divine justice never stands in the way of God using His power at any moment to destroy them; it makes no objections whatsoever.  Rather, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins.... The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of all-powerful mercy, and God's sovereign will, that holds it back."

"There is no reason to be given why you did not go to hell the moment you walked into the house of God on a Sunday morning, provoking His pure eyes by your sinful, wicked manner of attending His solemn worship.  There is no other reason why you did not go to hell last night, or why you were permitted to wake up again in this world, after you had closed your eyes to sleep.  And there is no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you woke up this morning, except that God's hand has held you up.  Indeed, there is nothing else that can stand as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell."

"The bow of God's wrath is bent; the arrow is made ready on the string; and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow.  It is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow from being made drunk with your blood."

"Natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked.  His anger is great toward them as it is towards those who are actually suffering the executions and fierceness of His wrath in hell.  These natural men have done nothing at all to appease or abate that anger, and God is not in the least bound by any promise to hold them up... Hell is gaping for them; the flames gather and flash about them, and would prefer to lay hold of them and swallow them up.  The fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out; and they have no interest in any Mediator.  There are no means within reach that can be any security to them.  In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of.  All that preserves them every moment is the sovereign, all-powerful will, the uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance, of an incensed God."

"The infinite might and majesty and terribleness of the omnipotent God will be magnified upon you, in the unspeakable intensity of your torments.  You will be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you are in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven will go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is."

"O Sinner!  Consider the fearful danger you are in!  It is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, over which you are held by the hand of God.  And this is the God whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the damned in hell.  You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it and ready every moment to singe it and burn it asunder; yet you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing that you ever have done, nothing you can do, to induce God to spare you for even a moment."

"You have reason to marvel that you are not already in hell."

Puritan Library

The Mortification of Sin

This book is a collection of sermons preached in 1656 by the Puritan theologian John Owen.  The book concerns the subject of mortifying (or killing) sin in our lives.  Owen deals with the subject of mortifying sin on such a deeply theological, yet very personal, level that one is left with strong conviction afterwards for being lackadaisical towards one's  own willful faults and weaknesses and allowing sin to prevail on our lives.  Owen also goes through the biblical process of how to mortify sin, and just as importantly how not to mortify sin.  For example, Owen demonstrates that the purpose of mortifying sin is just as relevant to the success of mortification as the actual act of killing sin, as Owen stated, "Mortification of sin from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world."

The book concludes with the most important aspect of sin-mortification as being wholly dependent upon trust and reliance on the crucifixion of Jesus.  Without recognizing ourselves as partakers in His "baptism of death" we won't be partakers of Jesus' victory over sin for us.  As Owen wrote, "Without the death of Christ, there is no death of sin."  And only by relying completely on the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit can we obtain a reliance upon the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, as Owen concludes, "The Spirit alone reveals unto us the fullness of Christ for our relief: which is the consideration that stays the heart from false ways, and from despairing despondency.  The Spirit alone establishes the heart in expectation of relief from Christ: which is the great sovereign means of mortification."

*Note: John Owen has been called the "Prince of the Puritans."  Owen earned this title because of all the Puritans, he wrote on the most profoundly rich and highest theological level.  Because of this fact, I found myself needing to read multiple pages of Owen's book twice-over in order to fully grasp and absorb the important truths he was attempting to convey.  Therefore, much mental effort and focus is required to read through this book (and others) from John Owen.  But the benefits of such effort will grant tremendous blessings in a Christian's life as they wage war against their greatest mortal enemy; their own sins.

"Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of thy sin.  His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls.  Live in this, and thou wilt die a conqueror.  Yea, thou wilt, through the good providence of God, live to see thy lust dead at thy feet."

- John Owen, The Mortification of Sin, Chapter 14, pg 162