Reply To: The Holiness of God, Chapter 9 – God in the Hands of Angry Sinners

[Lynne Mazza-Hilway]

Listening to/reading the news everyday, seeing the sadness, fragility and evil amidst mankind, “How could God possibly be anything else but angry with us? We consider Him unworthy of our total devotion; by nature the love of God is not in us. There still resides a corner of the soul that takes no delight in God.” : ( And so I really appreciated Sproul’s highlighting of Edwards’ sermon. Yes I’m sure too many consider the sermon “utterly sadistic (yet it’s) blow after blow
to conscious stricken hearts, stirring the soul to moral anguish; out of compassion it’s meant to be an awakening to peril.” I just happen to be reading through Jeremiah and Ezekiel presently and you can’t help feeling how heavy and deeply they felt for God’s people, (us), as did Edwards. How many of us can not only truly emphasize with their feelings but are stirred to action as a result? In trying to encourage a few people recently to share share the gospel message, especially hearing them say how badly they feel for certain earthly conditions people they love are struggling with, I questioned what about concern for their eternal lives, aren’t they concerned about that? We “could not stand to hear the cries of the damned for 5 seconds”!
“God’s hand has held (us) up by a slender thread, we have no interest in any Mediator. We long for blissful slumber and continue to be at ease of future punishment; people flatter themselves that they’ll escape it.”
In relation to Edwards’ sermon,the resounding accent falls not on the fiery pit but on the hands of the God who holds us and rescues us from it.” Praise God for that gracious saving rescue!

Thankfully “in Christ (our Mediator) we are awakened yet we still have ‘sleepers’ in our eyes and at times we’re walking around like zombies.” That imagery makes me think how popular it is among many to be attracted to that zombie kind of culture, in movies and Halloween characters but tragically a real parallel to where too many are spiritually.
And as we sing and pray, Lord, wake us from that slumber.