God's undeserved mercy

Note: in the decades before the Revolutionary War, Jonathan Edwards was one of America's most influential preachers. His best known sermon was "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God." I have taken the first half of that lengthy message and modernized it for today's readership.

In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them (Deuteronomy 32:35).

In this verse, God is not breathing out threats against godless unbelievers who are persecuting His chosen people; these words promising punishment are directed to the Israelites, the people God has blessed above all others! In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them. With these words, the God of the universe promises what will happen to anyone who chooses to turn their back upon Him and His covenant ratified through Jesus’ holy blood.

In due time their foot will slip. As we consider these words, the following thoughts come to mind:

Sinners are always vulnerable to destruction, just as the person who stands or walks in some slippery place is always at risk of falling. Furthermore, they are exposed to unexpected destruction. The person that walks in slippery places may fall at any moment, and when he does fall, it happens suddenly and without warning. We find this expressed in Psalm 73:18-19: Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed. Finally, such people are liable to fall on their own, without being felled by the hand of another, just as he who stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to bring him to a hard landing.

The reason why these people are not fallen already is only due to the fact that God's appointed time has not yet come. God said that when the appointed time arrives, their foot will slip. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are prone to do by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and at that very instant they shall fall into destruction. The only thing that keeps sinful people out of hell is the merciful pleasure of God. The King of the universe is under no obligation to love us, care for us, or forgive our sins; by our own grievous sins we have removed ourselves from the pleasure of God’s loving approval. The truth of this may be made obvious by the following points.

First, God has the power to cast sinners into hell at any moment. No man or woman has the strength to resist him, nor is there any spiritual power that can rescue a person from his divine judgment. He is not only able to cast the wicked into hell, but he can do it easily. Sometimes an earthly ruler meets with a great deal of difficulty in subduing a rebel, who has found a secure hiding place and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no place that can offer refuge from the power of the Almighty. Though vast multitudes of God's enemies join hand in hand, they are easily dashed to pieces. They are as chaff before the whirlwind, or dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to step on an ant that we see crawling on the ground or to break a spider’s web; it is just as easy for God, when he chooses, to cast his enemies down to hell. Who are we, that we would dare try and stand against him?

Second, sinners deserve to be cast into hell. Divine justice does not object to God using his power at any moment to destroy them. On the contrary, justice calls for infinite punishment for human sin. The wrath of divine justice hangs over the heads of sinners constantly, and only God’s desire to be merciful holds it back.

The wicked are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They not only justly deserve to be cast down, but they are already sentenced by the Law of God; in John 3:18 Jesus says, whoever does not believe stands condemned already. Every unbeliever properly belongs in hell; that is his place. And it is there that he is headed; it is the place that justice, God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable Law has assign to him.

The wicked are at this very moment the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they have been spared so far is not because God is ignoring their sinfulness. God is fully aware of their wickedness, and he hates it. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation is prepared, the fire is ready to receive them.

Furthermore, the devil stands ready to fall upon the wicked and seize them as his own, the moment that God permits him. They belong to him; Satan has their souls in his possession, and they are slaves to his will. Peter warns, Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. He treats sinners as his prey, but is for the present held back. If God should withdraw his restraining hand, Satan would immediately pounce and tear their lives to pieces. The Old Serpent bares his fangs; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be quickly swallowed up and lost.

One should not feel secure simply because death appears to be far off. Accident or war or disastrous weather can end any life suddenly and unexpectedly; at any moment of any day, a man’s life may be on the brink of eternity, his next step entering the afterlife. Unbelievers walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are any number of places in this covering that so weak that they will not bear weight; these places where life unexpectedly collapses into death cannot be seen. When the wicked blunder through life uncaring of the danger, it is only a miracle of God that prevents them from quickly falling into disaster.

Nor can a man find security for his life through living wisely, whether that be good money management or healthy lifestyle choices. If earthly wisdom could insure the future, the wisest of us ought to live the longest, while we should expect the foolish to die at a young age. But the reality? Ecclesiastes 2:16 says, Like the fool, the wise man too must die.

Of course, the wicked do not expect to enter hell. Almost every person who is told of eternal punishment flatters himself that he will escape it. He looks to what he has done, what he is doing now, or what he intends to do in the future, and reckons that by his efforts at being a good person, he need not fear the hereafter. But I daresay that if we could interview a just a few of the many who are in torment today, they would tell us how surprised they are at being consigned to hell.

God has not obligated himself to spare anyone from hell. The Lord has only promised eternal life and rescue from the punishment for sin through his covenant of grace, the promises that are given to those who believe in Christ and seek his mercy. But as for those who do not know Christ, those who reject him, those who treat his sacrifice and his will for their lives lightly, God is under no obligation to preserve such unbelieving and unrepentant sinners from eternal destruction.

So it is that mortal 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 as great towards them as to those who are actually suffering his wrath in hell--and they have done nothing in the least to appease that anger. Nor is God bound by any promise to hold them up for even a moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, eager to lay hold on them and swallow them up; and they have no interest in any Savior, there are no means within reach that can offer them any security. They have no refuge, nothing to take hold of--all that preserves them each moment of their lives is the unwarranted mercy of the God whom they have provoked to anger.

O sinner! Fear the wrath of God. God is infinite. The wrath of the most powerful of men is as nothing compared with the wrath of God. Our Lord Jesus said, 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. The Bible often speaks of the fury of God; in Isaiah 66:15-16 we read 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. For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the LORD. Ezekiel adds, 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.

Today God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now to Jesus with the hope of obtaining forgiveness. But when the time of mercy is past, your most lamentable cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be entirely lost and cast away from God, who will take no further thought to your welfare. God will no longer have any use to put you to, save to suffer misery; you shall continue to exist for no other reason save to pay for your sins with your agony throughout eternity. Isaiah describes that agony this way: their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched. Maggots will eat their flesh, fire will sear their skin, but their bodies will never be consumed, never released from the pain. God’s wrath is an everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this punishment of the Almighty God for just a few minutes; but the lost must suffer it for all eternity. There will be no end to this misery. But the worst part will be the despair, the certain knowledge that no moment of relief will ever come, no one will ever again show them pity or love.

You now have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands calling with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are coming from the east, the west, the north and south; many that were very recently under the awful threat of hell, but are now happy, their hearts filled with love for him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood—these are people who are rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.

Let every one who has neglected Christ, and feel themselves hanging over the pit of hell, take heed of the Savior’s call. This day, a day of unmerited mercy for some, will undoubtedly be a day of divine justice for others. Peter warns, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Speaking of the final years, Jesus predicted, Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. In these days, men's hearts are becoming hard, and their guilt is increasing as they neglect their souls; as it was in the days of John the Baptist, The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Therefore, let everyone that wants to live awaken from the delusions of their sins and fly to Jesus for mercy from the wrath which is to come. The anger of Almighty God hangs over the unrepentant sinner; let every one flee from a life of sin as Lot and his family fled Sodom at the urging of God’s angel: Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away! Heed God’s angel; flee from sin without looking back and seek the mountain of God, where you may find mercy in his holy temple.