Following, is a more complete excerpt from Edwards's sermon, wherein the above quote appears. It is important in order to obtain a better grasp of Edwards's manner of preaching:
"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. 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."
Compare the message which Edwards preached, with the prevailing message amongst most contemporary churches in America today, and you will find the contrast to be stark and alarming. Only by means of such comparisons can one appreciate how radically different is the message of contemporary 'Christianity,' so-called, from the message of Christianity in the days of America's Founding. In both cases the fruit of those messages, respectively, is evidenced in the kind of culture and society which each produced. In the former case, the preaching of pious men such as Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Wesley, et al, helped to shape American culture and society which was authentically (though admittedly never altogether) Christian. The great historian of early American history, Perry Miller, wrote, that the literacy rate in Colonial America was nearly 100%, and the Bible was practically universally used as the reading primer. Thus, public preaching must necessarily have hewed very closely to the then widely known record of Scripture. Whereas, today, the most egregious ideas are parlayed--as if by consensus among so many preachers and other religious talking-heads, into a modern-day 'gospel' which is not merely un-Scriptural but demonstrably anti-christ in its meaning! Remarkably, few listeners know the Bible well enough to be able to discern the diabolical ruse.
One of the most common and most egregious of those ideas just alluded to, is the wildly popular claim--extolled by the vast majority of preachers in America--that 'God loves everyone, and He loves them unconditionally'. That is to say, there is nothing anyone can possibly do, there is no kind nor degree of rebellion such that will provoke God's wrath and His hatred toward any individual. But that senseless claim then means that God yet loves Nero, Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, and Josef Stalin--indeed, even the Devil himself! (More than one pastor has insisted, to me, that God does love the Devil.) But nothing could be further from the truth of Scripture. Now, contrast that modern-day 'Christian' message, if you will, with the quote from Jonathan Edwards, above.
Many, if not in fact most, churches welcome in their midst every kind of sinner, as often as they will attend; but those same churches loathe to preach or in any way speak out explicitly against sinful behaviors--much less will they warn of the danger of God's wrath against sin or elaborate upon the realities of eternal damnation and of hell; lest they be accused of being unloving or insensitive to others' feelings. Hogwash! It is just such demonic sophistry that has wrecked the (visible) Christian Church and buried untold multitudes in the heap of its ruins.
Biblical preaching is not supposed to make sinners feel good about themselves. If it is truly Biblical, preaching will by its own nature be offensive to sinners. BH Clendennen testified that a pastor once objected that Clendennen's preaching was offensive to that pastor's congregation. Clendennen retorted, that if that pastor thought the Gospel was intended to make people feel good about themselves, then he did not understand the Gospel. Evidently, that is the case with most preachers in America, today: they do not understand the Gospel. Or, worse, they do not really believe it.
It is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ which resounds from the majority of America's pulpits. In my experience, even most conservative, evangelical churches have been influenced and infiltrated by doctrines of demons in a measure which, though largely unrecognized by the pastors of those churches, those doctrines have nevertheless compromised the message and thus the power of the Gospel to save.
If there shall come genuine Revival to the Body of Christ in America, there must first be a return to Biblical truths, and to Biblical preaching.
One of the most common and most egregious of those ideas just alluded to, is the wildly popular claim--extolled by the vast majority of preachers in America--that 'God loves everyone, and He loves them unconditionally'. That is to say, there is nothing anyone can possibly do, there is no kind nor degree of rebellion such that will provoke God's wrath and His hatred toward any individual. But that senseless claim then means that God yet loves Nero, Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, and Josef Stalin--indeed, even the Devil himself! (More than one pastor has insisted, to me, that God does love the Devil.) But nothing could be further from the truth of Scripture. Now, contrast that modern-day 'Christian' message, if you will, with the quote from Jonathan Edwards, above.
Many, if not in fact most, churches welcome in their midst every kind of sinner, as often as they will attend; but those same churches loathe to preach or in any way speak out explicitly against sinful behaviors--much less will they warn of the danger of God's wrath against sin or elaborate upon the realities of eternal damnation and of hell; lest they be accused of being unloving or insensitive to others' feelings. Hogwash! It is just such demonic sophistry that has wrecked the (visible) Christian Church and buried untold multitudes in the heap of its ruins.
Biblical preaching is not supposed to make sinners feel good about themselves. If it is truly Biblical, preaching will by its own nature be offensive to sinners. BH Clendennen testified that a pastor once objected that Clendennen's preaching was offensive to that pastor's congregation. Clendennen retorted, that if that pastor thought the Gospel was intended to make people feel good about themselves, then he did not understand the Gospel. Evidently, that is the case with most preachers in America, today: they do not understand the Gospel. Or, worse, they do not really believe it.
It is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ which resounds from the majority of America's pulpits. In my experience, even most conservative, evangelical churches have been influenced and infiltrated by doctrines of demons in a measure which, though largely unrecognized by the pastors of those churches, those doctrines have nevertheless compromised the message and thus the power of the Gospel to save.
If there shall come genuine Revival to the Body of Christ in America, there must first be a return to Biblical truths, and to Biblical preaching.
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