1 [Men] 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.
2 The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The Scripture represents them as his goods. (dominion: authority)
3 The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate 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; as the heart is now a sink of sin, so, if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or furnace of fire and brimstone. 4 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.
5 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 those that are actually suffering the execution 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 for 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 heart is struggling to break out. Directions: Highlight your answer in yellow.
1. What emotions do the title give you?
2. What is the "infinite punishment of their sins" according to the author?
The answer is in chunk 1.
3. What is the main idea of chunk 1?
4. What is the main idea of chunk 2?
5. What images do the author use to describe the fate of sinners in chunk 3? 6. What emotions do the images in chunk 3 provoke in you?
7. What is the main idea of chunk 3?
8. What is the main idea of chunk 4?
9. How is the God described in chunk 4 different from the God described by Jesus Christ in the New Testament?
10. What does "the fiery pit" in chunk
5 mean?
11. What is the main idea of chunk 5?
12. What is the overall tone of the sermon? 13. What do you think the purpose of the sermon is?
14. What rhetorical appeal is mostly used in this sermon?
Fiery pit:
15. Is the rhetorical appeal effective for the author's purpose? Why or why not?
Write your answer in a paragraph format: RACE + C. Include an example.
(22 points)