Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

• 1.  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? 

Gud mangler ikke magt til at kaste onde mennesker i helvede, når som helst. Menneskers hænder kan ikke være stærke over for Gud. De stærkeste har ikke magt til at stå Ham imod, eller til at fri nogen ud af Hans hænder. Han er ikke kun i stand til at kaste onde mennesker i helvede, men Han kan gøre det ganske let. Undertiden møder en jordisk fyrste store vanskeligheder når han vil undertrykke en oprøre, som har fundet midler til at befæste sin egen magt, og som er blevet stærk i kraft af antallet af sine tilhængere. Men sådan er det ikke med Gud. Ingen borg kan forsvare mennesker mod Guds magt. Om de så går hånd i hånd, og om så vældige mængder af Guds fjender slutter sig sammen og forener sig, så bliver de dog let skilt ad og knust. De er som store bunker af avner, der ligger bredt ud for hvirvelvinden; eller som store mængder af stubbe på marken, der venter på de fortærende flammer. Vi finder det let at træde på og knuse en orm, som vi ser kravle på jorden; og på samme måde er det let for os at overskære eller svide en tynd tråd der holder fast i noget. Og lige så let er det for Gud, hvis det behager Ham, at kaste sine fjender ned i helvede. Hvad er vi, at vi vover at tænke på at modstå Ham, når selv jorden skælver, når Han vil irettesætte nogen, Han for hvem klipperne kastes ned?

• 2.  They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" Luke 13:7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back. 

De fortjener at blive kastet i helvede. For at den guddommelige retfærdighed aldrig skal stå i vejen vil den ikke hindre at Gud bruger sin magt hvert øjeblik for at ødelægge dem, tværtimod, retfærdigheden kalder højt på en uendelig straf for deres synder. Den guddommelige retfærdighed siger om det træ, der frembringer Sodomas druer : Hug det om! Hvorfor skal det tilmed tage kraften af jorden? (Lukas 13:7).- Den guddommelige retfærdigheds sværd hænger i ethvert øjeblik over deres hoveder, og kun hans vilkårlige nåde og Guds vilje holder det tilbage.

• 3.  They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18. "He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. "Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.

3.  De er allerede under dommen, de er dømt til helvede. Ikke blot fortjener de at blive kastet derned, det er kun retfærdigt, men Guds lovs dom, dette evige og uforanderlige ord om retfærdighed, som Gud har sat mellem Ham og menneskeheden, det er lyst over dem og står dem imod. Således er de allerede bestemt for helvede, Johannes evangeliet 3:18: "Den som ikke tror, er allerede dømt."  Derfor, ethvert menneske, der ikke har omvendt sig, hører helvede til. Det er hans sted. Det er derfra, han kommer, Johannes 8:23 "I er nedefra". Og det er derhen, han er på vej hen. Det er det sted, som retfærdighed og Guds ord, og Hans uforanderlige lovs dom har tildelt ham.

• 4.  They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell. 

4.  De er nu målet for Guds vrede og fordømmelse, den samme vrede og fordømmelse som de vil finde i helvedes pinsler. Og grunden til at de ikke drager til helvede hvert øjeblik, det er ikke at Gud, som har dem i sin magt, ikke er meget vred på dem, for det er Han, som Han er vred på mange elendige skabninger som nu bliver plaget i helvede, hvor de føler og mærker Hans voldsomme vrede.  Ja, Gud er langt mere vred på mange mennesker som nu bor på jorden -  og uden tvivl også vred på mange der sidder her i forsamlingen, og som føler sig vel til mode, end Han er på mange af dem der pines i helvedes flammer.

So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.

5.  Djævelen står rede til at falde over dem og gribe dem, som om de var hans, når som helst Gud vil give ham lov. De hører ham til; han har deres sjæle i forvaring og under sit herredømme. Skriften viser os at de er hans, Lukas 11:12. Djævlene våger over dem, de er altid hos dem ved deres højre hånd. De står og venter på dem, som grådige sultne løver der ser deres bytte og venter at de nok får det, men som holdes tilbage lige nu. Hvis Gud ville trække sin hånd tilbage, den der holder på dem, så ville de på et øjeblik flyve løs på deres stakkels sjæle.  Den gamle slange gaber efter dem, helvede spærrer sin mund vidt op for at modtager dem, og hvis Gud tillod det, ville de hastigt blive opslugt og gå fortabt. 

• 6.  There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. 57:20. 

6.  I onde menneskers sjæle råder disse tilbøjeligheder, som hører helvede til, og som snart ville antændes og blusse op i helvedes ild, hvis det ikke var fordi Gud holdt dem tilbage. I kødelige menneskers natur er der nedlagt et grundlag for helvedes pinsler. Der er disse fordærvede tilbøjeligheder der er som sædekorn for helvedes ild, hvis de onde har magt og fuld rådighed over dem. Disse tilbøjeligheder er virksomme og magtfulde og yderst voldsomme i deres natur, og hvis det ikke var for Guds hånd der standsede dem ville de snart bryde frem, de ville flamme op på samme måde som de samme fordærvelser, den samme fjendtlighed gør i de fordømte sjæles hjerter og ville frembringe de samme pinsler som de gør i dem, De ondes sjæle bliver i Skriften sammenlignet med det oprørte hav, Esajas 57:20.

8.  Menneskers naturlige varsomhed og forsigtighed, der skal tjene til at redde livet, eller andre menneskers omsorg for at beholde dem, sikrer dem ikke et øjeblik. Herom vidner også det guddommelige forsyn og almindelig erfaring. Der er klare beviser på at menneskers egen visdom ikke er nok til at sikre dem mod døden; hvis det var anderledes skulle vi se forskelle mellem de vise og i staten virksomme mænd i verden og andre, når det gjaldt hvor udsatte de var for tidlig og uventet død. Men hvordan er det i virkeligheden? Hos Prædikeren hedder det, kapitel 2, vers 16: "Ak, den vise mand må dø så godt som tåben." 

• 9.  All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.

9.  Alle onde menneskers anstrengelser og påfund, alt det de finder på for at slippe for helvede, medens de fortsætter med at afvise Kristus, og således forbliver onde, det sikrer dem ikke imod helvede, ikke et øjeblik. Næsten alle almindelige mennesker, der hører om helvede, smigrer sig med at de i hvert fald nok skal undgå det. Deres sikkerhed kommer kun an på dem selv. De smigrer sig selv med hvad de har gjort, og med hvad de gør nu, eller hvad de har i sinde at gøre. De lægger alle sammen planer om hvordan de skal undgå fordømmelsen, at de skal nok klare det, og at deres planer ikke vil slå fejl. De hører ganske vist at der kun er få der bliver frelst, at de fleste mennesker der indtil dagen i dag er døde er gået til helvede. Men hver enkelt tror at netop han har forberedt sig så godt at det virkelig vil redde ham bedre end de andre. Han agter ikke at ende på det sted hvor pinslerne råder.Han siger til sig selv at han vil være så omhygelig at det virkelig vil redde ham, og at han vil sørge for alting så det ikke skal fejle.

But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself -- I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief -- Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."

Men menneskenes tåbelige børn bedrager sig selv, sørgeligt nok, med deres egne planer, og i tillid til deres egen styrke og visdom. Men det er kun skygger de sætter deres lid til. Størstedelen af dem der har levet indtil nu under de samme nådens vilkår, og som nu er døde, er utvivlsomt gået til helvede. Og det var ikke fordi de ikke var lige så kloge som vi er, vi der lever nu. Det var ikke fordi de ikke lagde planer for sig selv for at undslippe. Hvis vi kunne tale med dem nu, og spørge dem, én for én, hvad de ventede sig, da de var i live - dengang de hørte om helvede, og om at de selv kunne blive ofre for denne elendighed, så ville vi utvivlsomt høre den ene og den anden svare "Nej, det var aldrig min mening at jeg skulle komme her. Jeg havde tænkt mig det anderledes. Jeg tænkte at jeg skulle nok klare mig. Jeg mente at mine planer var gode nok. Jeg ville virkelig passe på, men det hele kom over mig ganske uventet. Jeg passede ikke på i tide, ikke på den rigtige måde. Det kom som en tyv; døden overlistede mig. Guds vrede var for hurtig for mig. O min forbandede dårskab! Jeg smigrede mig selv og tænkte med velbehag på, hvad jeg ville gøre i livet herefter. Og da jeg sagde "Fred og Sikkerhed", så kom ødelæggelsen pludselig over mig".

• 10.  God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant. 

10.  Gud har på ingen måde forpligtet sig, og han har aldrig lovet at holde det almindelige menneske ude af helvede, end ikke et øjeblik. Gud har visselig ikke givet løfter, hverken om evigt liv eller om nogen udfrielse eller beskærmelse mod evig død; men kun det er indesluttet i nådens pagt, der er løfter, givet i Kristus, i hvem alle løfterne er ja og amen. Men visselig tænker de mennesker ikke på løfterne i nådens pagt, de som ikke er børn af pagten, som ikke tror på nogle af disse løfter, og som ikke bryder sig ham der blev Mellemmanden for at oprette pagten.

So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.

Derfor, hvad så end nogle mennesker har troet eller forestillet sig angående løfter til den almindelige mand, når han søger eller banker på, så er det klart og tydeligt, at hvor meget end et almindeligt menneske anstrenger sig med hensyn til sin religion, hvad han end beder om, så må han først tro på Kristus, førend Gud kan forpligte sig til at holde ham ude af den evige ødelæggelse, blot et øjeblik.

So that, thus it is that 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 as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them,  and would fain lay hold on 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 mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.

Således er det når de naturlige mennesker bliver holdt i Guds hånd over helvedes pøl. De har fortjent ildsøen, og de er allerede dømt til den. Og Gud er grusomt krænket, hans vrede er lige så stor imod dem, som den er imod dem, der nu -  lige nu -  pines af Hans vredes vildskab, der bliver til virkelighed i helvede, og de har ikke gjort det mindste for at mildne eller nedslå denne vrede, ej heller er Gud på nogen måde bundet af noget løfte om at bevare dem blot et øjeblik. Djævelen venter på dem; flammerne kommer nærmere og lyser op omkring dem, vil gerne gribe dem og opsluge dem. Ilden inde i deres egne hjerter, kæmper for at bryde ud, og de vil ikke vide af nogen mellemmand; ingenting indenfor rækkevidde kan give dem nogen sikkerhed. Kort sagt har de intet tilflugtssted, intet de kan klamre sig til. Alt hvad der bevarer dem er til enhver tid en harmfuld Guds frie vilje (dvs hvad som helst, Gud måtte have i tankerne)  - og Hans overbærenhed, der ikke udspringer af  løfter eller pagter.

Application

The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. -- That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.

Hvad skal vi gøre?

Dette er et ærefrygtindgydende emne, som skal vække u-omvendte personer i denne forsamling. Det, som du har hørt, gælder for alle Jer der ikke er i Kristus. Denne elendighedens verden, denne brændende svovlpøl, ligger udstrakt under Jer, vidt og bredt. Dér ligger den grufulde pøl med de glødende flammer, skabt af Gud i hans vrede. Dér står helvedes mund åben på vid gab, og du har intet du kan stå fast på, intet du kan holde fast i. Der er intet mellem dig og helvede, ikke andet end den tomme luft! Det er kun Guds kraft og Hans vilje der holder dig oppe.

You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.

I er sandsynligvis ikke opmærksomme på dette. I ser at I er holdt uden for helvede, men ser ikke Guds hånd heri. Men se på andre ting, på Jeres legemer, der er sunde og raske, se på hvordan I tager vare på jeres eget liv, og hvad I gør for at blive bevarede. Men det er jo alt sammen ingenting: hvis Gud ville trække sin hånd tilbage, så ville de ikke sikre jer imod at falde, ikke mere end den tynde luft ville holde på en person der var hængt op i den.

Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. 

Jeres ondskab tynger jer ned som om I var af bly, så tunge at I af jer selv sank ned. Og hvis Gud tillod jer at komme ud, ville I straks synke og hastigt dale og vælte jer rundt i den bundløse pøl, og Jeres gode helbred og Jeres egen omhu og forsigtighed og Jeres bedste påfund, og al Jeres retfærdighed, det ville alt sammen intet hjælpe til at bevare Jer ude af helvede - ikke mere end en edderkops spind ville kunne standse en faldende klippe. Var det ikke for Guds almægtige nåde, så ville jorden ikke bære Jer et øjeblik! I er en byrde for jorden! Skabningen sukker over Jer. Hver en Guds skabning er nu trælbunden af jeres fordærv, meget mod sin vilje. Solen skinner på jer, for at I i dens lys kan tjene synden og Satan, men den gør det ikke gerne. Jorden giver ikke gerne sine afgrøder for at tilfredsstille Jeres lyster, ej heller giver den gerne plads for, at jeres ondskab kan udfolde sig. Luften giver jer kun nødig, hvad I behøver at ånde, det som I behøver for at jeres legemer kan trives..... mens I bruger jers liv i tjeneste for Guds fjender.   

God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor.

Guds skabninger er gode, og de blev til for at hjælpe mennesker med at tjene Gud; de lader sig ikke gerne bruge til andre formål. De knurrer når de bliver misbrugt til formål så rent ud i strid med deres natur og formål, og Verden ville udspy Jer hvis det ikke var for Hans almægtige hånd, der hviler over os og indgiver os håb.   Guds vredes sorte skyer hænger nu lige over Jeres hoveder, fyldte af en frygtelig storm og truende med torden. Var det ikke for Guds dæmpende hånd, så ville den straks bryde ud og vælte ned over Jer. Guds almægtige gode vilje holder Hans barske blæst tilbage netop nu, ellers ville den komme i sin rasen, og Jeres ødelæggelse ville komme som en hvirvelvind, og I ville være som klinten der ligger tilbage på loens gulv efter at kornet er tærsket.

The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.

Guds vrede er som store vande der er opdæmmede i øjeblikket. Men de svulmer mere og mere, og vokser mere og mere, indtil de finder et afløb. Og jo længere strømmen holdes tilbage, jo vildere, jo voldsommere bliver dens løb, når den først slippes løs. Det er vel sandt at dommen over Jeres onde gerninger ikke er ført ud i livet endnu. Guds hævns floder holdes tilbage. Men Jeres skyld vokser for hver dag der går, og hver dag samler I mere og mere af Guds vrede sammen imod Jer. Vandene løfter sig hele tiden, de vokser sig stærkere og stærkere, og der er ikke andet end Guds nåde der holder dem tilbage, de vande der utålmodigt og hårdt presser på for at bryde frem. Hvis Gud ville åbne for sluserne, ville de straks springe op, og Guds vældes og vredes rasende floder ville strømme frem med ufattelig vildskab og ville komme over Jer med almægtig magt. Og var Jeres styrke end ti tusind gange større end den er, ja, ti tusind gange større end den stærkestes, den allerstærkestes styrke af dem der bor i helvede, så ville det dog ikke være nok til at modstå eller udholde det.

The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and 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 one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. 

Guds vredes bue er spændt, pilen ligger på strengen, Guds retfærdighed retter pilen mod dit hjerte og strammer buen endnu mere, og det er ikke andet end hvad Gud vil, en vred Gud, som ikke har lovet nogen noget - det er Ham, der holder pilen tilbage, så den ikke skal ramme dig og drikke dit blod. Sådan er det for alle Jer, som aldrig har oplevet den store forandring i jeres hjerte, aldrig har oplevet, hvordan Guds Ånds mægtige magt kan virke i jeres sjæle - enhver der aldrig blev født påny og blev en ny skabning, oprejst fra de døde, I der før var i jeres synder, oprejst for at gå ind i et nyt lys og et nyt liv, som I aldrig har kendt før, og som er i hænderne på en vred Gud.

However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you, see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.

Hvordan I så end har forbedret Jeres liv på mange måder, og selv om I har haft religiøse følelser, og hvordan I end har dyrket en form for tro i jeres familier og i jeres lønkammer og i Guds hus, så er det alene Hans gode vilje som holder jer fra at blive opslugt i evig ødelæggelse i dette øjeblik. Er I end ikke overbeviste nu om sandheden af det, I hører, så vil I med tiden blive fuldt overbeviste. De, der er kommet fra en tilstand som den I er i, de ser nu, at sådan var det for dem engang. Ødelæggelsen kom pludselig over de fleste af dem, da de slet ikke ventede den, og medens de sagde "Fred og Tryghed!" - Nu ser de at alt det de stolede på for at give dem fred og tryghed, det var ikke andet end end tynd luft og tomme skygger.

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much 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 ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. 

Den Gud der holder dig over helvedes afgrund, ganske som man holder en edderkop eller et hæsligt insekt over ilden, Han afskyr dig og er udæsket på det grusomste. Hans vrede mod dig brænder som ilden. Han ser på dig som en der ikke er bedre værd end at blive kastet i ilden. Hans øjne er så rene at de ikke tåler at se dig. Du er ti tusind gange mere afskyelig i Hans øjne end den mest afskyelige slange er i dine. Du har krænket Ham uendelig meget mere end en stædig oprører nogensinde krænkede sin fyrste. Og dog er det kun Hans hånd der holder dig tilbage fra at falde i ilden hvert øjeblik. Det skyldes intet andet, at du ikke gik til helvede sidste nat! At du fik lov til at vågne igen til denne verden, efter at du havde lukket dine øjne for at sove.

And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.

Og der er ikke nogen anden grund til at du ikke faldt ned i helvede efter at du stod op her i morges, andet end at Guds hånd har holdt dig oppe. Der kan ikke gives nogen anden grund til at du ikke er kommet i helvede efter at du satte dig på din plads her i Guds hus og krænkede Hans rene øjne ved den syndige onde måde hvorpå du overværer den højtidelige gudstjeneste. Ja, der kan ikke gives nogen anden grund til at du ikke i dette øjeblik segner om og falder ned i helvede.

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, that you are held over in the hand of that 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; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. -- And consider here more particularly

O synder! betænk den frygtelige fare du står i. Det er en stor vredens ildovn, en bred og bundløs afgrund, fuld af vredens luer, det er den du svæver over, kun holdt oppe af Guds hånd, den Gud hvis vrede er vakt og flammer op mod dig lige så meget som mod mange af de fordømte i helvede. Du hænger i en tynd tråd, med den guddommelige vredes flammer der slikker op omkring dig, og hvert øjeblik er de rede til at brænde tråden over så den går itu. Og du bekymrer dig ikke om nogen Mellemmand eller om noget der kunne redde dig, ikke om noget der kunne holde vredens flammer borte, ikke om noget af dit eget, ikke om noget du nogen sinde har gjort, ikke om noget du kan gøre for at Gud skal skåne dig bare et øjeblik Og betænk her i særlig grad

1.  Whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. 20:2. "The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: Whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul." 

1.  hvis vrede det er:  Det er den uendelige Guds vrede. Hvis det kun var et menneskes vrede, om det så var den vældigste fyrste, så ville det kun være ret lidt at bekymre sig om. Kongernes vrede frygter vi i høj grad, især enevældige kongers vrede, de der har deres undersåtter i deres hule hånd, tillige med undersåtternes ejendele og deres liv, som de kan råde over, som de vil. Ordsprogenes Bog 20: 2: "Som løvebrøl er rædslen, en konge vækker, at vække hans vrede er at vove sit liv." 

The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke 12:4,5. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him."

Den undersåt der vækker en vilkårlig fyrstes vrede må vente at lide de allerværste pinsler, som mennesker kan finde på, eller som de kan udføre. Men de største jordiske magthavere er, selv i deres største majestæt og styrke, og når de omgiver sig med deres største onde magt, dog kun svage, foragtelige støvets orme i sammenligning med den store og almægtige Himmelens Skaber og Konge: Det er kun lidt de kan gøre, selv når de er mest rasende og når de er kommet til det yderste af deres vildskab. Alle jordens konger er for Gud ikke andet end græshopper, de er ingenting, ja mindre end ingenting. Både deres kærlighed og deres had er kun foragt værd. Men den store Kongernes Konge, hans vrede er langt forfærdeligere end deres, sådan som Hans Majestæt er større. Lukas 12, vers 4 og 5: "Men jeg siger til Eder, mine venner, frygter ikke for dem, som slår legemet ihjel, og derefter ikke formår at gøre mere. Men jeg vil vise Eder, hvem I skulle frygte:  Frygt Ham, som har magt til, efter at have slået ihjel, at kaste i helvede! Ja, jeg siger Eder: Frygt Ham!"

• 2.  It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isa. 59:18. "According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries." So Isa. 66:15. "For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And in many other places. So, Rev. 19:15, we read of "the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is "the fierceness and wrath of God." The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehovah! 

Det er Hans voldsomme vrede du er udsat for. Vi læser ofte om Guds vrede, som i Esajas kapitel 59, vers 18: "Han gengælder efter fortjeneste, vrede mod uvenner, gengæld mod fjender." Og Esajas kapitel 66, vers 15 "Thi se, som ild kommer Herren, og Hans vogne er som et stormvejr, Han vil vise sin harme i gløder, sin trusel i flammende luer." Og det samme mange andre steder, hvor vi læser om Guds heftighed. I Åbenbaringen kapitel 19, vers 15, læser vi om "Guds, den Almægtiges, vredes harmes vinperse." Disse ord er jo helt forfærdelige. Hvis der kun var sagt "Guds vrede" ville der i ordene have ligget noget uendelig skrækkeligt; men det er ikke kun det der siges, men det hedder "Guds vredes harme". Gud raser! Jehovah er vred! 

Oh, how dreadful that must be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them! But it is also "the fierceness and wrath of almighty God." As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. Oh! then, what will be the consequence! What will become of the poor worms that shall suffer it! Whose hands can be strong? And whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this!

O hvor grufuldt må det ikke være! Hvem kan udsige eller begribe hvad der ligger i sådanne udtryk! Men det er ikke kun det der siges, men "Guds den Almægtiges vredes harme!" Som om der ville komme en meget stor åbenbaring af Hans Almagt, hvor Hans vredes vælde skulle vises, som om mHans Almagt skulle så at sige ophidses og udtrykke sin rasen, som mennesker er vant til at vise deres styrke i deres vredes vildskab.O, hvad vil følgerne deraf ikke blive? Hvad vil der blive af den elendige orm der skal lide under det? Hvem har hænder så stærke? Og hvem har et hjerte der kan bære det? Og den stakkels skabning der skal lide dette, til hvilket forfærdeligt, uudsigeligt, ubegribeligt elendighedens dyb skal han synke?

Betænk nu dette, I der er her til stede, og som endnu ikke er født på ny!  At Gud vil lade sin vrede flamme op, deri ligger, at Han vil lade Jer mærke sin forbitrelse uden medfølelse. Når Gud ser, hvordan du virkelig er, ser den uudsigeligt forfærdelige elendighed du er i, når Han ser hvor du pines, og ser hvor du lider langt mere, end du kan udholde, og ser hvor din stakkels sjæl bliver knust og synker ned som i et uendeligt mørke, så vil Han ikke have nogen medlidenhed med dig. Han vil ikke undlade at give sin vrede frit løb, og Hans hånd, der hviler tungt på dig, vil Han ikke løfte. Der bliver ingen lettelse og ingen nåde. Ej heller vil Gud standse den skarpe, hårde vind, der blæser mod dig. Han vil ikke bekymre sig om dit velbefindende, eller hvor vidt du muligvis lider for meget  i nogen anden forstand end dette, at du ikke skal pines mere, end hvad retfærdighed helt nøjagtigt kræver. Intet vil blive holdt tilbage, kun fordi det er så hårdt for dig at bære. Ezekiel kapitel 8, vers 18: "Men derfor vil også jeg handle med dem i vrede; Jeg viser dem ingen medynk eller skånsel, og selv om de højlydt råber mig ind i øret, vil jeg ikke høre dem."

Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock," Prov. 1:25,26,etc.

Nu er Gud rede til at vise dig medfølelse; dette er Nådens Dag. Hvis du græder over dine synder vil Han give dig nyt mod og håb om nåde. Men når først Nådens Dag er forbi, vil selv Jeres mest ynkelige og smertelige råb og skrig være forgæves; I vil være ganske fortabt, Gud vil kaste Jer bort uden at mildne Jeres lod. Gud vil ikke bruge Jer til andet end at lide elendighed. I skal forblive således, og Jeres liv skal ikke have noget andet mål. I skal være et vredens kar, skabt til ødelæggelse, og dette kar vil ikke blive brugt til andet end til at fyldes med vrede. Gud vil være så langt fra at føle medynk med Jer når I påkalder Ham at det er sagt Han vil kun le ad Jer, og håne jer, Ordsprogenes Bog kapitel 1, versene 25-26, etc.

 

How awful are those words, Isa. 63:3, which are the words of the great God. "I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." It is perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, viz. contempt, and hatred, and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard or favour, that instead of that, he will only tread you under foot. And though he will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he will not regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt: no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.  

Hvor forfærdelige er ikke de ord fra Esajas kapitel 63 vers 3, - vor store Gud har sagt disse ord: "Jeg trådte dem i min vrede, tramped dem i min harme; de sprøjted deres blod på mine klæder, jeg tilsøled hele min klædning." Man kan måske slet ikke forestille sig ord der i sig rummer stærkere udtryk for disse ting - foragt, had, forbitrelse, vrede. Hvis du anråber Gud og beder ham have barmhjertighed med dig, så vil Han så langt fra at have barmhjertighed med dig i din bedrøvelige stilling, eller vise dig det mindste hensyn, den mindste mildhed, kun træde dig under fode. Og selv om Han ved at du ikke kan bære vægten af hans Almagt, så vil Han dog ikke tage hensyn til det, men Han vil knuse dig under sine fødder, uden nåde. Han vil trampe på dig så blodet sprøjter og spredes, det skal bestænke hans klædebon og plette Hans klædning. Han vil ikke kun hade dig, men han vil foragte dig til det yderste. Intet sted skal være godt for dig, intet andet end under hans fødder, hvor du skal trampes ned som gadens snavs!

• 3.  The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that end, that he might show what that wrath of Jehovah is. God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that would provoke them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and accordingly gave orders that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it. But the great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. 

3.  Den ulykke, som I er udsat for, er den, som Gud vil sende over Jer for at vise Jer, hvad Jehovahs vrede virkelig er. Det ligger Gud på hjerte at vise engle og mennesker, både hvor vældig Hans kærlighed er, og hvor forfærdelig hans vrede er. Undertiden vil jordiske konger vise, hvor stor deres vrede er, ved de yderlige straffe de vil bruge mod dem, der står dem imod. Nebukadnesar, denne mægtige og hovmodige hersker i det kaldæiske rige, viste gerne sin vrede da han rasede over Sjadrak, Mesjak og Abed-nego. Derfor gav Han ordre til, at den brændende ovn skulle opvarmes syv gange mere end før. Utvivlsomt blev den gjort så varm og voldsomt brændende, som mennesker overhovedet kunne gøre den. Men vor store Gud er også villig til at vise sin vrede og forstærke sin ærefrygtindgydende majestæt og vældige magt i de ekstremt store lidelser, han påfører sine fjender.

Rom. 9:22. "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" And seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. 33:12-14. "And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites," etc.

Rom. 9, 22:  "Men hvad om nu Gud, skønt han vil vise sin vrede og kundgøre sin magt, dog i megen langmodighed har båret over med vredens kar, fuldt færdige til fortabelse - "  Og når vi ser at dette er Hans plan, og hvad han har bestemt, at vise hvor forfærdelig Jehovahs vrede og rasen er, hvor ublandet og uhæmmet, så ved vi at Han vil gøre det, så det mærkes. Der vil ske noget, der vil foregå noget som ville være grufuldt at se for et vidne der var til stede. Når den store og vrede Gud har rejst sig og fuldbyrdet sin forfærdelige hævn over den stakkels synder - og stakkelen skal jo virkelig ind under Hans harmes uendelige vægt og magt - så vil Gud kalde på hele universet, at det kan se Hans frygtindgydende majestæt og mægtige magt. Esajas kapitel 33, versene 12-14: "Til kalk skal folkene brændes som afhugget torn, der brænder i ild. Hvad jeg gør, skal rygtes til fjerne folk, nære skal kende min vælde. På Zion skal syndere bæve, niddinger gribes af skælven. Hvem kan bo ved fortærende ild, hvem kan bo ved evige bål?"

Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. 66:23,24. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."

Således skal det gå jer, der endnu ikke er omvendte, hvis I forbliver i denne tilstand. Den Almægtige Gud skal vise sig i sin vældighed og majestæt, grusom som Han er, i jeres pinslers u-udsigelige styrke. I skal pines i de Hellige Engles nærværelse, og i Lammets nærværelse. Og når I skal være i denne lidelsernes tilstand skal Himlens ærerige beboere gå frem og se det forfærdelige syn, se hvad den Almægtiges vrede og grusomhed er; og når de har set det, vil de falde på knæ og tilbede Hans store magt og herlighed - Esajas kapitel 66, versene 23 og 24: "Hver måned på nymånedagen, og hver uge på sabbaten skal alt kød komme og tilbede for mit åsyn, siger Herren, og man går ud for at se på ligene af de mænd der faldt fra mig; thi deres orm dør ikke, og deres ild slukkes ikke; de er alt kød en gru."

4.  It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"

4. Det er en evigtvarende vrede. Det ville være forfærdeligt at lide under denne den Almægtige Guds grusomhed og vrede blot et øjeblik; men du skal udholde den i al evighed. Der vil ikke være nogen ende på denne heftige grufulde elendighed. Når du ser fremad, vil du se en lang, ja evigt lang varighed uden grænser, det vil opsluge dine tanker og forbløffe din sjæl. Og du må opgive ethvert håb om udfrielse, ethvert.  Du skal vide uden mindste tvivl, at du skal udholde det i lange tidsaldre, millioner af millioner af æoner, alt medens du kæmper og slås med denne almægtige nådeløse hævn. Og når du har gjort det, når så mange tidsaldre er forløbet på denne måde, så vil du vide, at det er alt sammen ikke andet end som et sandskorn på stranden i forhold til de bjerge, der er tilbage. Ja, din straf vil virkelig blive uendelig! O, hvem kan for alvor udtrykke, hvordan en sjæl må føle det under disse omstændigheder! Alt hvad vi magter selv at sige om det er kun et ganske svagt billede. Det kan ikke udtrykkes, det kan ikke fattes. Thi "Hvem kender Guds vredes magt?"

How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of!

Hvor forfærdeligt er det ikke for dem, der hver dag og hver time er i fare og udsat for denne store vrede og elendighed! Men det er kun den sørgelige tilstand som enhver sjæl i forsamlingen ser sig i, når den ikke er født på ny, hvordan den så ellers er, hvor anstændig og streng, afholdende, from. O, vil du du ikke tænke over det, hvad enten du er ung eller gammel! Der er grund til at mene at der er mange i denne forsamling som hører denne tale og som vil mærke denne ulykke i al evighed. Vi ved ikke hvem de er, eller hvor de sidder, eller hvad de tænker på. Måske har de det ganske behageligt og hører alt hvad der bliver sagt uden at blive anfægtede, og nu smigrer de sig selv med at det angår ikke dem, og de lover sig selv at de skal alle sammen slippe. - Hvis vi vidste at der var een person, bare een, i hele forsamlingen som skulle leve i denne ulykke, hvor forfærdeligt ville det ikke være at tænke på!

If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell? And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quiet and secure, should be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. 

You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!

Hvis vi vidste hvem det var, hvilket forfærdeligt syn ville det da ikke være at se en sådan person! Hele den øvrige forsamling ville opløfte et jammerligt og bittert råb for hans skyld! Men ak, det ville ikke være een og kun en, nej, snarere må vi tro at mange ville mindes denne tale i helvede! Og det ville være sært hvis ikke nogle, der nu sidder her, på nogle af sæderne i dette mødehus, sunde, stille og sikre, skulle være der før dagen gryede i morgen. De af Jer der bliver ved med at leve som naturen nu har anbragt Jer på Jorden, som længst tid vil holde Jer borte fra helvede, de vil snart komme der! Jeres fordømmelse vil ikke slumre. Den vil komme i hast, og sandsynligvis i al hast, over mange af Jer. 

I har grund til at undre Jer over, at I ikke allerede er kommet i helvede. Sådan føler sikkert nogle, som I har set og kendt, og som aldrig fortjente helvede mere end Jer, og som syntes at have lige så gode grunde til at være her blandt os som I har. Deres tilfælde er hinsides alt håb; de råber/græder i den yderste elendighed og fuldkommen fortvivlelse;  men her er I, her i de levendes land og i Guds Hus - og med mulighed for at blive frelst! Hvad ville disse stakkels fordømte sjæle uden håb ikke give for bare en enkelt dag og dens muligheder, som den I lige nu kan glæde jer over!

And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at Suffield, where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?

Og nu har du en særlig anledning - en dag da Kristus har åbnet nådens dør! Den står vidt åben, og her er han, og han kalder og råber med høj røst til stakkels syndere. Denne dag samles mange om ham og trænges for at komme ind i Guds Rige. Mange kommer daglig fra Øst og Vest, fra Nord og Syd. Mange, som for nylig var i den samme elendighed som du er i, er nu lykkelige, deres hjerter er fyldt med kærlighed til ham som har elsket dem og har toet dem i sit blod, renset dem for deres synder, og de glæder sig medens de håber på Guds herlighed. Hvor forfærdeligt er det ikke at blive ladt tilbage en sådan dag! At se så mange andre juble og fryde sig, mens du hentæres og går til grunde! At se så mange glæde sig og synge af fryd i deres hjerter, mens du har grund til at græde, fordi du har sorg i hjertet, og hulke fordi dit hjerte plages! Hvordan kan du føle fred og hvile blot et øjeblik når du har det sådan? Er ikke Jeres sjæle lige så dyrebare som sjælene i Suffield, hvor folket strømmer sammen dag for dag for at møde Kristus?

Are there not many here who have lived long in the world, and are not to this day born again? and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they have lived, but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, sirs, your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Do you not see how generality persons of your years are passed over and left, in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy? You had need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God. 

Er der ikke mange her, som har levet længe i verden, og som endnu ikke indtil denne dag er blevet født på ny? Og det gælder også de fremmede af Israels Rige, de har ikke gjort andet så længe de har levet, end at indsamle vrede til vredens dag? O, I herrer, jeres tilfælde er yderst farligt, på en særlig måde. Ser I ikke hvordan flertallet af mennesker i disse år bliver forbigået og er tabt for denne mærkelige og vidunderlige uddeling af Guds nåde?  I skulle have set på jer selv, I skulle være vågnet af jeres søvn og have set klart! I kan jo ikke bære den uendelige Guds heftige vrede.

-- And you, young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. -- And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?

 - Og I, unge mænd og unge kvinder, vil I forsømme denne dyrebare tid som I nu lever i, medens så mange andre i jeres alder giver afkald på alskens ungdommelig tomhed og flokkes omkring Kristus? Det er især jer der har en særlig anledning nu; men hvis I forsømmer den, vil den snart være hos jer på samme måde som hos de mennesker der tilbragte alle deres ungdoms dyrebare dage i synd, og som nu står på et så forfærdeligt sted, i blindhed og grumhed. Og I, børn, som ikke er omvendte, ved I ikke, at I går lige ned i helvede, hvor I skal lide under Guds frygtelige vrede, Han som nu er vred på jer hver dag og hver nat? Vil I være tilfredse med at være Djævelens børn, når så mange andre børn i landet er omvendte og er blevet Kongernes Konges hellige og lykkelige børn?

And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. 

Og lad alle dem der endnu ikke er i Kristus, og som hænger ud over helvedes dyb, enten det er gamle mænd og kvinder, eller midaldrende, eller unge mennesker eller små børn, lad dem nu høre Guds ord og Hans forsyns kraftigt kaldende røst. Dette Herrens kærkomne år, denne dag der vil bringe nogle en sådan nåde, vil uden tvivl blive en dag der også bringer en særlig hævn over andre. Menneskers hjerter forhærdes, og deres syndeskyld vokser hurtigt en dag som denne, hvis de forsømmer deres sjæle; og der var aldrig så stor fare for, at sådanne mennesker bliver ofre for hjertets hårdhed og sindets blindhed. 

God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days; the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down and cast into the fire.

Gud synes nu at samle sine udvalgte i hast fra alle egne af landet. Og størstedelen af alle voksne, der nogensinde vil blive frelst, vil sandsynligvis komme til frelsen om kort tid, og det skal blive, som det var under den vældige udgydelse af Ånden i Apostlenes dage: De frelste vil blive stadfæstede, og resten vil blive blindet. Hvis det skulle gå dig sådan, vil du i al evighed forbande denne dag, og du vil forbande den dag du blev født, når du ser denne udgydelse af Guds Ånd i disse dage, og du vil ønske du var død og gået til helvede, før du havde set det. Nu er det uden tvivl, som det var i Johannes den Døbers dage, øksen er på en særlig måde lagt ved træernes rod, for at hvert træ som ikke bærer god frugt må blive hugget om og kastet i ilden.

Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed." 

Lad derfor enhver der ikke er i Kristus nu vågne op og fly fra den kommende vrede. Den almægtige Guds vrede hænger nu ganske sikkert over en stor del af denne forsamling. Lad nu enhver flygte fra Sodoma! Skynd dig, løb for livet, se dig ikke tilbage, stands ikke noget sted i Jordan-egnen for at du ikke skal omkomme! (Første Mosebog kapitel 19, vers 17).

Efterskrift

   " .....  Jonathan Edwards berømte prædiken fra 1741 “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”  er den kendteste af alle de prædikener, der er blevet prædiket i USA igennem tiderne. Det er der især to årsager til. Den mest tydelige er, at denne prædiken blev starten på det man kalder “The great awakening”, den store vækkelse. En vækkelse, der bredte sig så meget, at den forvandlede et helt samfund. Ikke fordi man brugte tid på at lave socialt arbejde, men fordi mennesker blev frelst og forvandlede. Man er ikke i tvivl om, at Jonathan Edwards prædiken blev starten på denne kolossale ændring af USA, en forvandling, der har sat sine spor helt op til i dag. Det var jo en vækkelse, der eksempelvis førte til, at politiet i mange byer ikke havde noget at lave, for næsten alle folk havde omvendt sig til Jesus Kristus. Den anden årsag er, at denne prædiken er pensum på rigtigt mange uddannelsesintitutioner. Og jeg taler ikke kun om kristne skoler, det gælder også sekulære. Denne prædikenen er blevet en fast byggesten til USA's historie, litteratur og religiøse udvikling ......   "

Samme prædikenen   -   i en lettere transcripteret (moderne engelsk) form:  

                                        http://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/je-sinners.htm

Preface

For more than 250 years, Jonathan Edwards' sermons have been consistently recognized, and their usefulness and impact have continued to the present day, even in the outdated English of the author's own day. Why then should expositions already so successful and of such stature and proven usefulness require adaptation, revision, rewrite or even editing? The answer is obvious. To increase its usefulness to today's reader, the language in which it was originally written needs updating.

Though his sermons have served other generations well, just as they came from the pen of the author in the eighteenth century, they still could be lost to present and future generations, simply because, to them, the language is neither readily nor fully understandable.

My goal, however, has not been to reduce the original writing to the vernacular of our day. It is designed primarily for you who desire to read and study comfortably and at ease in the language of our time. Only obviously archaic terminology and passages obscured by expressions not totally familiar in our day have been revised. However, neither Jonathan Edwards' meaning nor intent have been tampered with.

Tony Capoccia

All Scripture references are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

A copy of this sermon, Preached by Tony Capoccia, is available on Audio CD or MP3 at www.gospelgems.com

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

by

 Jonathan Edwards
 (1703-1758)

Preached July 8th, 1741

"In due time their foot will slip"--Deut. 32:35

Transcription update copyright © Tony Capoccia, 2007

In this verse the vengeance of God is threatened upon the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's chosen people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, despite all of God's wonderful works towards them, remained without sense, having no discernment in them (Deut. 32:28). After all the cultivations of Heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as shown in verses 32 and 33. The verse that I have chosen for my text, "In due time their foot will slide," seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.

1. That they were always exposed to "ruin;" as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to falling. This is implied in the manner of the destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed in Psalm 73:18, "Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin."

2. It implies, they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is liable to fall at every moment, he cannot foresee from moment to moment whether he shall stand or fall; and when he does fall, he falls suddenly without warning: which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18-19, "Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!"

3. Another thing that is implied is, that they are liable to fall by "themselves," without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.

4. That the reason why they have not already fallen, and don't fall now, is only that God's appointed time has not yet come. For it is said that when that appointed time comes, "their foot will slip." Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined to do because of their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they will fall into ruin; as he that stands in such slippery descending ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go of then he immediately falls and is lost.

The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell but the mere pleasure of God." By the "mere" pleasure of God, I mean His "sovereign" pleasure, His arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation on His part, not hindered by any difficulty. God's will not hindered in the least degree in respect to the preservation of wicked men. The truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.

1. There is no lack of "power" in God to throw 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 anyone save them from His hands. He is not only able to throw wicked men into hell, but He can do it most easily. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty trying to subdue a rebel, who has found ways to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the mere numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defense 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 into pieces. They are like great heaps of light chaff [worthless matter;rubbish] before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry hay before devouring flames. We find it easy to step on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; likewise it is easy for us to cut a slender thread that anything hangs by: therefore it easy for God, when He pleases, to throw His enemies down into hell. What are we, that we should think that we can stand before Him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the mountains collapse?

2. They "deserve" to be thrown into hell; and divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God using His power at any moment to destroy them. Yes, on the contrary, justice calls out loud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?" (Luke 13:7). Every moment the sword of divine justice is waved over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.

3. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They not only justly deserve to be thrown down there, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and unchangeable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between Him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are already bound over to hell. John 3:18, "Whoever does not believe stands condemned already." So that every unconverted man rightly belongs to hell: that is his place; from there he has his origin, John 8:23, "You are from below," and he is headed for there; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of His unchangeable law, assigns to him.

4. They are now the objects of that very same "anger" and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they don't go down to hell at each moment is not because God, in whose power they are under, is not exceedingly angry with them, as He is with the many miserable human beings now tormented in hell, and who there feel and bear the fierceness of His wrath. Yes, God is a great deal more angry with the great numbers that are now on earth; yes, doubtless with the many that are now sitting in this congregation, who feel completely at ease, than He is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell. It is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that He does not let loose His hand and cut them off. God is not like them, though they imagine that He is. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames now rage and glow. The glittering sword is sharpened and held over them, and the pit has opened its mouth under them.

5. The "devil" stands ready to overthrow them, and seize them as his own, at whatever moment God shall allow him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The Scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:21. The devils watch them; they are next to them, at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw His hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment rush upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be rapidly swallowed up and lost.

6. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently ignite and burst into flames of hell-fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of all unsaved men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell-fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceedingly violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would burst into flame after the same manner as the same depravity, the same hatred, does in the hearts of damned souls, and would generate the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked in Scripture are compared to the tossing sea, Isaiah 57:20.

For the present, God restrains their wickedness by His mighty power, as He does the raging waves of the tossing sea, saying, "This far you may come and no farther;" but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon sweep away everything in its path. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, the soul would become perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is unrestrained and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a basin of sin, so, if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.

7. Wicked men cannot find even a moment's security in the fact that death does not appear to be at hand. The unbelieving man has no security in the fact that he is healthy, and that he cannot perceive of any accident taking him out of the world, and that there is no visible danger in any of his circumstances. The diverse and continual experience of the world in all ages shows this is no evidence that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world.

The unseen, unthought of ways and means of persons suddenly being taken out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. 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. The arrows of death fly unseen at noonday; the sharpest eyesight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing that indicates that God needs to use a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of His providence, to destroy any wicked man at any moment. All the options of taking sinners out of the world, are in God's hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to His power and determination, that it depends merely upon the will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell.

8. Unbeliever's prudence and care taken to preserve their own lives, or the caring concern of others to preserve them, does not give them a moment's security. To this, divine providence and universal experience also bears testimony. There is clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and prudent men of the world, and others, with regard to their vulnerability to an early and unexpected death: but how is it in fact? Eccl. 2:16, "Like the fool, the wise man too must die!"

9. All wicked men's pains and instruments which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, does not secure them from hell for one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one determines in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that his strategies will not fail. They surely hear that only a few are saved, and that the greater part of men that have died have gone into hell; but each one imagines that he has a better plan for his own escape than others have come up with. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take sufficient care, and to arrange the concerns of his life so that he will not fail.

But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in the confidence of their own strength and wisdom; they trust in nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who have lived under the same patient grace of God, and are now dead, and have undoubtedly gone into hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive; it was not because they did not determine for themselves how to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of that misery, we, doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had determined otherwise in my mind; I thought I had a good plan for myself: I thought my strategy was good. I intended to take sufficient care; but it came upon me unexpectedly: I didn't expect it at that time, and in that way; it came as a thief: Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me. O my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do after the life on earth; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."

10. God has put Himself under no obligation, has made no promise, to keep any unbelieving man out of hell for one second. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but only what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yes and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant.

So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.

Therefore 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 as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of His wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment: the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and are eager to grab 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 mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged patience, of an incensed God.

APPLICATION

The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This you have heard is the case of every one of you that are without Christ. That world of misery, that lake of burning fire, is stretched out wide under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.

You probably are not cognizant of this; you find that you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, like your good health, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw His hand, they would no more keep you from falling, than thin air would hold a person up that is suspended in it.

Your wickedness makes you as heavy as lead, and adds a downwards tendency with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf; and your good health, and your own care and prudence, and best plans for salvation, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you for one moment; for you are a burden to it: the creation groans with you; the animal is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her fruits to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies.

God's animals are good, and were made for men to serve God with and do not willingly serve any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spit you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of Him who has subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, halts His destroying wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff of the summer.

The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when it is once let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed before; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing, and you are every day storing up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and growing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw His hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yes, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would never be able to withstand or endure it.

The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice points the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and 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 one second from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all of you that never had the great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all of you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a new state, and never experienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God.

However, you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious feelings, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and secret prayer closets, and in your churches, it is nothing but His mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However, you may now be unconvinced of the truth that you now hear, in time you will be fully convinced of it. Those that were in similar circumstances as you are, are now gone and destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing to happen, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some detestable insect, over the fire, detests you, and is dreadfully provoked: His wrath towards you burns like fire; He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be thrown into the fire; He eyes are too pure than to bear to have you in His sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in His eyes, than the most hateful venomous snake is in ours. You have offended Him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince: and yet, it is nothing but His hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell last night; that you were allowed to awake up again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose this morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in this church, provoking His pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending His solemn worship. Yes, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.

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, that you are held over in the hand of that 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 apart; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. And consider here more particularly,

1. "Whose" wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most powerful prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute dictators, who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. 20:2 "A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion; he who angers him forfeits his life." The person that greatly enrages a volatile prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly kings, in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. They can do little, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are like grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is much more terrible than theirs, as His majesty is greater. Luke 12:4-5, "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him."

2. It is the "fury" of His wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isa. 59:18, "According to what they have done, so will He repay wrath to His enemies and retribution to His foes." So Isa. 66:15, "See, the LORD is coming with fire, and His chariots are like a whirlwind; He will bring down His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire." And in many other places. So, Rev. 19:15, we read of "the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." The words are exceedingly terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is the "fury of the wrath of God." The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehovah! O how dreadful that must be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them?

But it is also "the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." As though there would be a very great manifestation of His almighty power in what the fury of His wrath should inflict; as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men exert their strength in the fury of their wrath. Oh! then, what will be the consequence! What will become of the poor man or woman that shall suffer it! Whose hands can be strong? and whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this!

Consider this, you that are here, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fury of His anger, implies, that He will inflict wrath without any pity. When God looks upon the inexpressible circumstances of your case, and sees your torment to be so vastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; He will have no compassion upon you, He will not withhold the executions of His wrath, or in the least lighten His hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will God stop His destroying wind; be will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful for fear that you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you shall "not suffer beyond what strict justice requires."

Nothing shall be withheld, because it is too intense for you to bear. Ezek. 8:18, "Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them." Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when the day of mercy is past, your most pitiful and sorrowful cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be totally lost and thrown away by God, and He will have no regard for your welfare. God will have no other use for you, but for you to suffer misery; you shall for no other purpose; for your body will be a body of wrath designed for destruction; and there will be no other use of your body, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to Him, that it is said He will only "laugh and mock," Prov. 1:25-31,

Since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you--when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

How awful are those words, Isa. 63:3, which are the words of the great God, "I have trodden the winepress alone; I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing." It is perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, viz. contempt, and hatred, and fury of wrath. If you cry to God to pity you, He will be so far from pitying you in your dismal case, or showing you the least regard or favor, that, instead of that, He will only tread you under foot. And though He will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet He will not regard that, but He will crush you under His feet without mercy; He will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on His garments, so as to stain all His clothes. He will not only hate you, but He will have you in the utmost contempt; no place shall be thought fit for you, but under His feet, to be trodden down as the filth of the back alleys.

3. The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that end, that He might show what the wrath of Jehovah is. God has had it on His heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent His love is, and also how terrible His wrath is. Sometimes earthly rulers have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that would provoke them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and arrogant king of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego; and accordingly gave the order that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before: doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fury that human art could raise it.

But the great God is also willing to show His wrath, and magnify His awful majesty and mighty power, in the extreme sufferings of His enemies. Rom. 9:22, "What if God, choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath--prepared for destruction?" And seeing this is His design, and what He has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness, of Jehovah is, He will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be a dreadful witness. When the great and angry God has risen up and executed His awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of His indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. 33:12-13, "The peoples will be burned as if to lime; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze. You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!"

Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the inexpressible strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go out and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. 66:23-24, "'All mankind will come and bow down before me,' says the LORD. And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

4. It is "everlasting" wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one second; but you must suffer it for all of eternity. There will be no end to this extreme horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: for "who knows the power of God's anger?"

How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this sermon, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery for all eternity. We do not know who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they may now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much conviction, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a mournful and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many will remember this sermon in hell! And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this church, in health, quiet and secure, should be there before tomorrow morning.

Those of you that continue in your unsaved condition, who shall keep out of hell the longest, will eventually be there in a little while! Your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly, upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that before appeared as likely to have been alive now as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and complete despair; but here you are in the land of the living, and in the Church, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would those poor damned, hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!

And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day where Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands calling, and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day where many are flocking to Him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north, and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to Him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in His own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful it is to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are suffering grief and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and cry because of the apprehension of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Aren't your souls as precious as the souls of the people in the nearby town where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?

Aren't there many here who have lived a long time in the world, and still are not born again? And so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they have lived, but stored up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, Sirs, your case, in a special way, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Don't you see how persons of your years are passed over and left, in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy? You have need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God.

Young men and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful gorge in blindness and hardness. And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and have become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?

And let every one that is yet without Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now listen to the loud calls of God's word and providence.

This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favor to some, will doubtless be a day of remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases quickly, on such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in His elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great outpouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days, the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you were born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is laid at the roots of the trees, that every tree which does not bring forth good fruit, may be cut down, and thrown into the fire.

Therefore, let every one that is without Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Hurry and escape with your lives, don't look behind you. Escape to the mountain, unless you be consumed."