Heaven, Hell, & the Holiness of God’s Wrath
By Elizabeth Prata
I am working my way through a course called Heaven and Hell led by Dr. Kevin Zuber. The first half of the course focuses on hell and those false philosophies that try to explain hell away. The second half focuses on heaven. I’m almost there.
I’ve learned a lot, but mainly I’ve decided that we do not talk about hell enough.
When you mention ‘Jonathan Edwards,’ people immediately think of his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” a sermon that sparked an awakening in the pagans who heard it, an awakening which spread throughout New England and beyond, thanks to George Whitfield who pushed it on. Edwards is also known for his sermon titled “A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (1737),” a treatment on justification by faith. This sermon was reprinted and read widely across America and in Britain.
But Edwards was more than just the hellfire preacher. He was genuinely concerned for the sluggish, apathetic, sleepy pagans and the nominal Christians who professed but likely didn’t possess the Spirit. One of his goals was to awaken them to both heaven’s bliss and hell’s agonies. He actually preached on heaven more than hell, but his preaching on hell was startling and made deep impressions.
The following is from his 16 part series (16 parts!!) called “Heaven, a World of Love”. It is from part 16, the last part. Edwards contrasted the bliss of heaven he had already preached on in previous parts, with the holiness of God’s wrath in hell.
I know hell isn’t the most comfortable subject, but it is a big part of the Christian life. When we say ‘I’m saved!’ we should ask, FROM WHAT? From the just penalty of eternity in hell, paying for the sins we performed in this life against a holy God. Every person born on this planet is destined for hell by default because of our sin nature. (Babies and the cognitively unable are another subject). Please, please, gird up your loins, take a deep breath, and read on. We must confront the uncomfortable subject of hell. We must!
When you share the Gospel, DON’T leave out hell.
Here’s Jonathan Edwards:
What has been said on this subject may well awaken and alarm the impenitent. — And,
First, by putting them in mind of their misery, in that they have no portion or right in this world of love. You have heard what has been said of heaven, what kind of glory and blessedness is there, and how happy the saints and angels are in that world of perfect love. But consider that none of this belongs to you. When you hear of such things, you hear of that in which you have no interest. No such person as you, a wicked hater of God and Christ, and one that is under the power of a spirit of enmity against all that is good, shall ever enter there. Such as you are, never belong to the faithful Israel of God, and shall never enter their heavenly rest.
It may be said to you, as Peter said to Simon (Acts 8:21), “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God;” and as Nehemiah said to Sanballat and his associates (Neh. 2:20), “You have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.” If such a soul as yours should be admitted into heaven, that world of love, how nauseous would it be to those blest spirits whose souls are as a flame of love! and how would it discompose that loving and blessed society, and put everything in confusion! It would make heaven no longer heaven, if such souls should be admitted there. It would change it from a world of love to a world of hatred, and pride, and envy, and malice, and revenge, as this world is! But this shall never be; and the only alternative is, that such as you shall be shut out with “dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie,” (Rev. 22:15); that is, with all that is vile, and unclean, and unholy. And this subject may well awaken and alarm the impenitent,
Secondly, by showing them that they are in danger of hell, which is a world of hatred. There are three worlds. One is this, which is an intermediate world — a world in which good and evil are so mixed together as to be a sure sign that this world is not to continue forever. Another is heaven, a world of love, without any hatred. And the other is hell, a world of hatred, where there is no love, which is the world to which all of you who are in a Christless state properly belong. This last is the world where God manifests his displeasure and wrath, as in heaven he manifests his love. Everything in hell is hateful. There is not one solitary object there that is not odious and detestable, horrid and hateful. There is no person or thing to be seen there, that is amiable or lovely; nothing that is pure, or holy, or pleasant, but everything abominable and odious. There are no beings there but devils, and damned spirits that are like devils. Hell is, as it were, a vast den of poisonous hissing serpents; the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and with him all his hateful brood.
In that dark world there are none but those whom God hates with a perfect and everlasting hatred. He exercises no love, and extends no mercy to any one object there, but pours out upon them horrors without mixture. All things in the wide universe that are hateful shall be gathered together in hell, as in a vast receptacle provided on purpose, that the universe which God has made may be cleansed of its filthiness, by casting it all into this great sink of wickedness and woe. It is a world prepared on purpose for the expression of God’s wrath. He has made hell for this; and he has no other use for it but there to testify forever his hatred of sin and sinners, where there is no token of love or mercy. There is nothing there but what shows forth the Divine indignation and wrath. Every object shows forth wrath. It is a world all overflowed with a deluge of wrath, as it were, with a deluge of liquid fire, so as to be called a lake of fire and brimstone, and the second death.
Further Resources
The sermon excerpt above, source is here.
The entire sermon contained in a short booklet you can download free or read online, is here.
A six-part series on the Life of Jonathan Edwards is here at Ligonier. I took this class, it’s good. First message is free, successive lessons are behind a paywall. Or, you can get Nichols’ book Jonathan Edwards: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought in paperback (used) for $1.99 at Amazon.
Institute for Christian Life: Heaven & Hell by Dr. Zuber is here.
