Answer:
Explanation:
Edwards begins with a verse from Deuteronomy that sets the tone immediately: "His foot will slip in due course." This verse reflects the wrath of God with the Israelites who did not follow God's laws, but Edwards quickly aligns the evil of his congregation with the Israelites. He uses the image of a slippery foot to show the precarious position of those who live in sin; God will not tolerate it for long before issuing a final judgment, throwing those who choose sin into hell.
Consider the images Edwards uses to explain how members of his audience are on the path to eternal devastation:
That world of misery, that lake of burning sulfur, extends below you. There is the terrible pit of the brilliant flames of the wrath of God; there is the open mouth of hell open; and you have nothing to lean on, nothing between you and hell other than air; it is only the power and the mere pleasure of God that sustains you.
This is a rather frightening image, which paints a mental image of being suspended in a thin layer of earth above a sulfur lake, a "wide open mouth" ready to eternally capture and torment each member of the congregation who has not chosen really follow God. Edwards also allows for another ending here: God currently saves each of them from Hell and gives them time to choose a different path to a different eternity.
Edwards' tone achieved the desired effect. Before his sermon ended, members of the congregation reportedly begged for salvation and fell to the ground, crying and screaming in terror. This was especially significant because this sermon was delivered in a city where there seemed to be a small bag of "thoughtless and vain" reserves in the Great Awakening revival that was sweeping the area. However, the tone made a big impact in the church where Edwards delivered it at Enfield and is still studied and remembered almost 300 years later.
