Apocalipse 14:9-11

DISCOURSE: 2517
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE UNGODLY

Apocalipse 14:9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

MINISTERS, who wish to discharge their duty conscientiously both to God and man, are placed in a very painful dilemma: if they declare faithfully the whole counsel of God, they are considered as harsh and severe: if, on the contrary, they keep back the more offensive truths, they contract an awful responsibility before God, to whom they must give an account of every soul that has perished through their unfaithfulness. What then are we to do? If the forbearing to alarm the consciences of our auditors would be attended with no evil consequences to them, we might perhaps run the risk of displeasing God ourselves, rather than excite in them any unnecessary disquietude; but when the loss of their souls, and of our own, must infallibly result from such timidity, we feel a necessity laid upon us, and can no longer forbear. Yet, why need we apologize for delivering to men the message which God has sent them? Did not an angel deliver it, when first it was announced? and did he not deliver it with a loud voice, as feeling its importance, and determined, if possible, to arrest the attention of all the world? Let us then be pardoned for treading in the footsteps of an angel, and for seeking, in the way that he adopted, the welfare of your souls.

In the words before us there are two things which we shall endeavour to point out:

I. Who they are against whom God here denounces his judgments—

All Protestant writers are agreed, that “the beast” here mentioned, and more fully treated of in the preceding chapter, is the Papal Hierarchy. The Romish Church, from the time that it attained a sovereignty over other Churches, has been an idolatrous, superstitious, persecuting power. It has been idolatrous, in that it worships saints and images, and the consecrated wafer; and blasphemously ascribes to its supreme head the titles and prerogatives of God himself. It is superstitious, in that it substitutes penances, and pilgrimages, and other ordinances of man’s device, in the place of Christ, our only Advocate and Propitiation. And it is persecuting, insomuch that the cruelties exercised by Pagans themselves against the primitive Christians, do not exceed those which she has committed against those who have asserted their Christian liberty, and refused to comply with her abominations. But as, on the one hand, we cannot suppose that all the members of that Church shall perish; (for God will discriminate between those who serve him to the best of their knowledge, and those who, with high pretences to piety, are enemies to all that is good;) so, on the other hand, all who drink into the spirit of that Church, or, in the language of our text, “receive the mark of the beast in their forehead or their hand,” will certainly be found amongst those who shall endure the judgments here denounced against them. Amongst these therefore we must specify,

1. The adherents of idolatry—

[We do not worship saints or images: true; but are there none who arrogate to themselves an authority in opposition to that of God, or who yield to such authority in points directly contrary to God’s commands? What is this, but to usurp, or acknowledge, a power superior to God; or, in the language of the Apostle, “to worship and serve the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for evermore [Note: Romanos 1:25]?” We do not mean to magnify every instance of wilfulness into an act of idolatry: but, where it is habitually exercised, or submitted to, in opposition to God’s will, there is, in fact, a power elevated above that of God himself: and whether God will resent such usurpation, you yourselves may judge.]

2. The advocates for superstition—

[Superstition is not confined to penances and pilgrimages: it exists wherever there is a substitution made of any human observances in the place of our Redeemer’s sacrifice. Some things may be more palpably absurd than others; but whether we seek to establish a righteousness of our own, by counting beads and repeating the Lord’s prayer, or by a certain round of religious duties, we equally invalidate the Gospel, and make void the death of Christ [Note: Gálatas 5:2; Gálatas 5:4.]. In fact, this, more than any thing else, was the ground of separation from the Church of Rome. Much as transubstantiation and the infallibility of the Pope were objected to, it was the doctrine of human merit that most of all kindled the zeal of the Reformers, and stimulated them to protest against such fatal errors: and in proportion as we entertain hopes of meriting salvation by any works of our own, we return to Popery, and cherish the most damning corruption of “the beast.”]

3. The abettors of persecution—

[It is a strange idea entertained by some, that persecution for the Gospel’s sake has ceased. But if fires be not now kindled for the extirpation of pretended heretics, is therefore persecution ceased? Are there no such things as “cruel mockings” yet in existence? Yea, where is the person who is at all active in the cause of Christ, that is not despised and hated on that very account? Let him possess every qualification that can entitle him to respect, that one fault of loving and serving the Lord Jesus Christ, is sufficient to despoil him of all, and to render him an object of derision. Nor is it to any abhorrence of persecution that we are indebted for the measure of peace that we enjoy, but to the laws, and the knowledge which men possess on the subject of religious toleration. The same spirit that has “made war with the saints” in the Romish Church, still exists in ours: and inasmuch as it does so, we “bear the image of the beast in our forehead, and are in danger of the judgments which are treasured up for it.]

Having ascertained the characters here spoken of, let us inquire into,

II.

Their doom—

Whether the metaphors that are used to describe the punishment of the ungodly are to be understood in any thing like a literal sense, we will not pretend to determine: nor is it of any importance to us to know: for, though there should be no lake of fire and brimstone to torment our bodies, yet will there be torment of some kind or other both to our bodies and souls; and that torment cannot be more fitly represented to us in our present state, than by the images used in our text. We can form some little idea of the internal agony arising from the drinking of a cup composed of burning ingredients; and of the outward agony which we should experience in being burnt alive: and therefore God is pleased to represent his judgments by these images. And, O! what a terrible idea is that of a cup filled with the wrath and indignation of an incensed God; and that of a lake of fire and brimstone, “kindled to the highest degree of fury by the breath of the Almighty [Note: Isaías 30:33.]!” But not to dwell on these metaphors, let us descend to those plainer matters which characterize the misery of the damned. It will be,

1. Unalleviated—

[Here, in our deepest troubles, we find something to mitigate our grief, some mixture of sweet in our cup of bitterness. There is some occupation to amuse us, some thought to sooth us, some friend to console us. But in that world of misery, our cup is “without the smallest mixture” of any thing to assuage our anguish; no engagement to draw away our attention; nothing in the retrospect or prospect to afford us the smallest consolation. Here we have “mercy and judgment;” there we shall have “judgment without mercy.” Small as a drop of water would be to one burning in a lake of fire, it cannot there be granted to us [Note: Lucas 16:24.]

2. Incessant—

[Whatever our afflictions be, whether of mind, or body, or of both together, the very weakness of our frame procures us some respite; and the overwhelming nature of our troubles leads to an occasional suspension of them. But in the future state of our existence, our bodies and souls will be strengthened on purpose that they may be capable of suffering incessant torture. The unhappy sufferers never close their eyes to sleep; they “rest not day nor night;” they are always “weeping, always wailing, always gnashing their teeth” with inexpressible anguish.]

3. Unpitied—

[The sons and daughters of affliction find in this world some benevolent person ready to compassionate their state at least, if they be not able to relieve their misery. But those who are suffering the wrath of God, though tormented in the “presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb,” find no pity whatsoever. Those benevolent spirits, who once would gladly have ministered to them with the tenderest solicitude, now hear their cries, and behold their writhings, without any other emotion than that of acquiescence and perfect approbation. Yea, they themselves are willing instruments of their torture; “gathering them together as tares, and binding them up in bundles, and casting them into the fire [Note: Mateus 13:30; Mateus 13:39; Mateus 13:41.].” The Lord Jesus too, who once left the bosom of his Father for them, and assumed their nature, and groaned, and wept, and bled for them, and would have accounted all the travail of his soul richly recompensed, if they had but availed themselves of his proffered mercy, even He now beholds them, and, so far from pitying their misery, “laughs at their calamity, and mocks now that his judgments are come upon them [Note: Provérbios 1:24.]:” he even finds “rest and comfort to his own soul from the vengeance that he inflicts upon them [Note: Ezequiel 5:13.].” And there is reason to believe that every created being, not excepting the dearest relatives of those who perish, will be like-minded with Christ and the holy angels, and will applaud, and even rejoice in, the sentence that shall be executed, whether it be on the ungodly at large, or on their own relations in particular [Note: Apocalipse 19:1.]

4. Everlasting—

[Whilst here, the troubled look forward to death as the termination of their woes: and men often find satisfaction in the decease of their dearest relatives, from the consideration that they now “rest from their labours.” But in that place of torment, they “cry to the rocks and hills to fall upon them, and to cover them from the wrath of the Lamb;” but they cannot obtain this desired end: they wish for death, but it flees from them. Could they but hope that their misery would end at the expiration of millions of years, they would instantly congratulate themselves on their prospects: but the thought of eternity, O this fearful thought adds such a poignancy to their anguish, as no finite imagination can at all conceive. Could the fire ever be burnt out, or their powers be consumed by it, they would rejoice: but their punishment is everlasting [Note: Mateus 25:46.]; “their worm dieth not, and their fire cannot be quenched [Note: Marcos 9:43.];” on the contrary, “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.”]

Most of you will anticipate me in the following reflections—
1.

How astonishing is the supineness of the ungodly!

[Were the cry of fire to be made in a crowded assembly, what pressing would be made to escape the devouring element, and how backward would people be to believe that they were not in danger! But let God, and his ministers, warn them of eternal fire, and none will pay the smallest regard to their voice. O sad infatuation! For, “who can stand before his indignation? who can abide in the fierceness of his anger [Note: Naum 1:6.]?” “Who amongst us can dwell with the devouring fire? who amongst us can dwell with everlasting burnings [Note: Isaías 33:14.]?” May God awaken all of us from our security; and so lead us to examine our real character, that we may humble ourselves before him, and “flee from the wrath to come!”]

2. How happy are they who have the mark of God’s image upon them!

[Blessed be God! there are many whose dispositions and habits are altogether changed; who were once idolatrous, and superstitious, yea, perhaps contemners and persecutors of real godliness, but are now enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and “renewed after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness.” You also are “marked in your foreheads [Note: Ezequiel 9:4.];” but “your spot is the spot of God’s children [Note: Deuteronômio 32:5.].” Blessed indeed are ye; for “ye shall be counted worthy to escape all those things which are coming on the ungodly, and to stand before the Son of man” in his glory. For you is prepared a very different cup, a cup “wherein is fulness of joy, and pleasures at God’s right hand for evermore [Note: Salmos 16:11.].” Yes, whilst “fornicators, liars, hypocrites,” and sinners of every description “shall have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone [Note: Apocalipse 21:8. with Salmos 9:17.],” you shall dwell in the presence of your God, and enjoy an inconceivable happiness without mixture, intermission, or end.]