"You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince.and yet, tis nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment tis to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to Hell the last night.that you were suffered to awake.there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why don't this moment drop down into Hell"" (Edwards 268). .
In this passage, Edwards gives the image of a God who can easily decide whether or not to send sinners to the Hell. Edwards also warns the people that God has the ability to do horrible things to the sinners. Everything people are experiencing then as well as the fact that they are not going to the Hell is due to the greatness of God. God has also given wicked men a chance to amend themselves before sending them into the depths of Hell. .
The vivid and horrifying images of Hell scare people and make them consider whether or not they should continue without repenting their sins. In addition, Edwards also wants people to experience the sense of God's sovereignty so that they would act to escape from the damnation. Edwards believes that the power of God is superior to storms, arrows and anything in this world. All in all, Edwards tries to create fear inside people in order to bring people to religion. .
Edwards make several comparisons between the power of God and that of humans to demonstrate the greatness power of God. At the beginning of the text, it says that the strongest man among all of us is no longer God's equals; any kinds of fortress is nothing in front of God; it is as easy for God to defeats anything as it is for humans to tread on worms. All these comparisons demonstrate that God has power over all things.
Things get scarier when Edwards depicts the crucial scene of Hell. The damnation never stops; the pit turns into a raging fire; the furnace swallows the flames. All these images describe a severe picture of how torturous Hell is, which is so intense that it scares people, especially non-Christians.