"Sinners in the hand of an angry God"

HERE is a Jonathan Edwards site.

 

It is said that Edwards stood and read this sermon, holding the manuscript in one hand, and a candle (lamp?) in the other. As he was reading sinners began to cry out, some clutching on to posts as if to keep from slipping into hell. It is quite an interesting story, but I'm unable to retell it without refreshing my memory.

 

I'm reading his sermon now (for the first time), and must say, he does have a way with words!

UNP
Adam

 

I love that sermon, it scares me to death every time I read it! We have an AWESOME God! When I meditate on the wrath of God, three words come to mind, "holy, holy, holy!"

Hebrews 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear

It would do us all some good to meditate on this Divine perfection of the wrath of God. Here is a great sermon you can listen to online or download it in MP3 format at the sermonaudio web site: God's Hell - Matthew 25:46

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rlvaughn:
It is said that Edwards stood and read this sermon, holding the manuscript in one hand, and a candle (lamp?) in the other. As he was reading sinners began to cry out, some clutching on to posts as if to keep from slipping into hell. It is quite an interesting story, but I'm unable to retell it without refreshing my memory.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This story is not only supposed to be accurate, but he was also supposedly almost blind at the time he preached it and had to read with the paper right in his face. Revival broke out like has never been seen since that time in that area. You know the funny part about all of this? This was REQUIRED reading at my high school in the early 70's. Now we can't even say the pledge of allegence because it says "under God".

 

I put a post on here that spoke to this topic and it has disappeared. But let me try again:
Edwards was a master preacher. By many accounts, "Sinners..." was not typical of his preaching. He was pastoral and Puritan in his ministry. And he did not customarily read his sermons. Much of his preaching was extemporaneous. He was a man who was fired from his church. He was a man deeply in love with his wife. Read John Piper's "Supremacy of God in Preaching" for more on Edwards's pulpit ministry and life. He is without a doubt the finest preacher New England ever had, and if not for John Broadus, he'd win as the best preacher in American history hands down.

[ December 26, 2001: Message edited by: TomVols ]