speaks at
length about God's wrath for sinners and what Hell will be like for those who fail to actively
seek salvation. For those complacent folks who assume themselves to be among God's elect,
Edwards has some sobering words:
"But the foolish
Children of Men do miserably delude themselves in their own Schemes, and in their Confidence in
their own Strength and Wisdom; they trust to nothing but a Shadow."
Edwards' point is that those who feel confident that they are, by
their own estimation, living successfully and self-sufficiently, are deluding themselves.
Edwards inveighs that a person's history of success and good intentions for the future won't
matter to God on the day of judgment. Edwards wants to disabuse his listeners of their notions
that God will spare them because of their cleverness and ability to succeed in their earthly
lives. Their faith in themselves will not impress God, and those who believe that it will are
deceiving themselves.
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