In this sermon given during the Great Awakening, Edwards employs a stern tone combined
with vividto shock his congregation into repenting of their sinful lives and instead choosing to
accept God's grace.
Edwards conveys the fragility of the sinful lives his
congregation lives:
Unconverted men walk over the pit of
hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they
will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen.
This image of men teetering over a rotten covering which is just about to collapse over
the depths of Hell provides a frightening glimpse of impending doom for congregational
members.
Edwards later describes the anger of God toward people who
continually disobey His will:
The devil is waiting for
them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them...
This image shows that at any moment, God can remove His hand of
protection from each of the listeners, and there are powerful and evil forces waiting
ton...
No comments:
Post a Comment