Hebrews 9:27

Heb. 9:27. And as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment;

One of teenager Edwards' very first unpublished sermons was on this text: (1) and (2) "All men certainly die and after death their everlasting state will be determined" and was re-preached in an elementary form not long before his death: (3) "All men of all nations all over the world must die..."

Apologist Edwards states at the outset that this doctrine is proven by natural reason and revelation. Conscience is native to all, including children. It tells us of rewards and punishments which do not come adequately in this world. Therefore, there must be judgment in the next, for the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer here. Further, man would be made in vain if not for God, because beasts can enjoy this world without the use of reason. God gave man a desire for eternal life to stir him up to do good that his eternal life might be good. There is a "natural horror of being turned into nothing." The soul is immortal and only the body is mortal. All nations - even the "barbarously ignorant indians [sic] here in America" - agree that the soul will endure forever.

"The light of reason convinces the world it is so" (immortality of soul); "the word of God puts it past doubt." Discussing the word of God, Edwards writes that "one true miracle is a demonstration of the truth for which it is wrought." And concerning his doctrine, "If no future reward and punishment then the whole of religion is immediately destroyed."

To Christ, Edwards attributed the "death of God himself in the human nature…." The young preacher of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is already present as he describes some of the convicted as seeing hell's flames before their eyes and actually beginning to feel them. It should be remembered that Edwards did not, at this time, consider himself converted when he warns impenitent sinners that they "Must burn in hell forever" and that there is danger of dropping into hell any moment. Lamenting, the nineteen year old preacher complains that warnings bounce off sinners like a bull against a marble wall. They are not frightened though going to hell.

Already the Puritan doctrine of seeking is present as Edwards urges his hearers not merely to seek but strive. Some even then will not be able to enter.

The juvenile sermon ends with a mature six-fold use answering the question: What do the wicked think of death and judgment? Some don't believe it; some seldom think of it; some are simply "stupid" (insensitive); some put it off until their death-bed; some to a more "convenient time; and some easy believers imagine that strictness is not necessary to avoid judgment.

Heb. 9:28