Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God

Sinners in the hands of an Angry God!

By: Jonathan Edwards

There is no want 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 deliver out of his hands. -- He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence 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 in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?

http://www.piney.com/JonEdwSinHands.html

Reflection:

I chose this passage because I felt as though it described the mindset of those who chose to immigrate to America because of religious persecution. The point of this passage was that when it comes to judgment day, you are standing in front of God alone and that you will be judged on your actions alone, not compared to those who lived alongside you. This relates to the Native Americans because this may be why the immigrants tried to convert the Natives, who had never heard of Christianity. I think this sermon was a great wake-up call of many individuals of the time. I am surprised by the bluntness of this sermon and how Edwards simply came out to say exactly what he meant, with absolutely no sugar-coating. This is similar to today because we are a generation who needs a wake-up call such as this.

Dear Diary,

We arrived in America shortly after our ship encountered one of the worst storms I have ever seen in my lifetime. This was my biggest fear. The ship was tossed and thrown about as if were a mere leaf floating in rapids. People were crazy. They fought for a protected space to hide from God's storm. I did see a man push his son out of the way, just so he could reach safety. Some individuals simply jumped off of the ship because they no longer had the will to fight. I hid my eyes behind my father's coattails, for I could no longer bear the sights of the ship. Morning entered and we viewed what was left of the ship's deck. We reached land that afternoon and everyone was delighted to see it. I even saw a man kiss the ground after he leaped to shore. It was Sunday, and so the Captain preached a sermon before we took off to explore. He recited this sermon by Jonathan Edwards, and told us that we were right to leave England. He said that the majority was not always right and that you will have to stand in front of God on judgement day alone. This made me feel a bit better about my father's decision to move, although I am still skeptical.