Sin is the most evil and odious thing, as
well as the most mischievous and fatal.
Sin is the most mortal poison.
Sin, above all things, hazards life, and endangers the soul.
Sin exposes to the loss of all happiness, and to the
suffering of all misery, and brings the wrath of God.
All men have this dreadful evil hanging about them,
and cleaving fast to the soul, and ruling over it, and
keeping it in possession, and under absolute command.
Sin hangs like a viper to the heart!
Sin holds us powerfully, as a lion does his prey.
How can a poor worm bear the wrath of the great God?
O prize that Savior, who keeps your soul in safety,
while thousands of others are carried away by the
fury of God's anger, and are tossed with raging
and burning tempests in hell!
O, how much better is your case than theirs! And
to whom is it owing but to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Remember what was once your case, and
what it is now, and prize Jesus Christ!
- Jonathan Edwards' sermon,
"Safety, Fulness, and Sweet Refreshment in Christ"