IT is said that one of the most remarkable sermons ever preached was that by the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, entitled “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” Edwards was not what is called an emotional preacher. His sermons are not of that kind. He is spoken of as having the greatest mind that America ever produced. It was all laid at the feet of Christ.
It was the beginning of a great awakening in New Hampshire. People were so convicted of sin and the need of a “deliverer from the wrath to come,” that the majority who had been hitherto careless wept aloud, and many were so terrified that they clung to the pillars of the meeting room.
The after-results proved it to be of God. Many were truly converted, and brought forth fruits meet for repentance. We leave those who may to say that it was all emotion. If so, it was emotion resulting from the conviction of God’s Spirit.
When the three thousand, in the day of Pentecost, were moved in a similar way by one sermon, they cried out in terror, “Men and brethren, WHAT SHALL WE DO?”
It is told in Gibson’s history of the state of the Scotch settlement in Antrim and Down two hundred years ago, that the greatest awakening ever known (except perhaps that of 1859) was produced through an earnest young man preaching the terrors of the law. It was what impressed him, and God saw fit to use it to drive sinners to Christ, who is a Saviour from coming wrath. “We shall be saved from wrath through him.” The law is not the gospel we well know, but the use of it in the hand of God’s Spirit is a preparation for the gospel. Thereby the ground is plowed up, and made ready for the seed of the gospel, which brings the comforts of God’s love, exercised in righteousness, to meet the need of the awakened and terror-stricken soul. Without conviction of sin there can be no true conversion to God.
The law was made to be a terror to evil-doers. It is not the law written either on stone or paper, but the execution of its terrible sentence against those who come short of it or break it.
If that terror were removed, the land would soon be filled with open violence and corruption, in low places as well as high places. All kinds of evil would prevail on a much larger scale than at present. Lawlessness was what brought the flood on the world of the ungodly.
So far from the dread thought of eternal punishment turning men against believing the gospel, as has been asserted, it has been a terror to evil-doers, and has helped to restrain men. Besides, it has driven not a few (myself amongst that number) to seek a Saviour-God, so as to escape His just and holy judgment. Eternal judgment was the greatest possible weapon in the hand of God’s Spirit with me, compelling me to turn to Christ for the salvation that I found in Him.
The element of sin’s judgment is largely left out of the preaching today. People say that it is not the gospel. Many preachers are getting to a large extent (secretly perhaps) filled with the spirit of the age, which is the “larger hope”―the ultimate salvation of all men. Such passages are not preached from now as, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord”; “Taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”; “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 14, 1514And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 14‑15)).
God shall yet judge the secrets of men’s hearts, that is, He will expose them to them-selves, which exposure will utterly condemn them, and justify God in dealing with them for their sinful ways. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first (the man of special privilege), and also of the Gentile,” the man now also highly privileged (Rom. 2:99Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; (Romans 2:9)).
If we, who by grace have had our eyes opened to the whole counsel of God, keep back this part of it, are we faithful to our trust? Is it kind of us to do so? Is it true love not to warn men of danger, and such danger as eternal fire? Is true love not rather shown in urging men, like the angels did Lot, to escape for very life? Had not Paul done this before he said, “I am pure from the blood of all men”?
Look at the Master Himself, who spake as never man spake because His heart was full of love for the sinner; He said to some, “Ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matt. 23:3333Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Matthew 23:33)). And he declared to others, who boasted of their superior light and privilege, “Ye shall receive GREATER damnation.”
The heart of Paul reflected that of his blessed Master more than most, if we are to judge from the love expressed not in words only, but in deeds of far-reaching service and suffering: yet he vindicated God in His judgment of those who preached, “Let us do evil that good may come; whose damnation is just.”
Peter also, in denouncing the false teachers of Christendom, uses very scathing terms in his second epistle, “Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not” (2 Peter 2:33And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:3)). Striking and forcible language. This was charity, but it was not false charity.
Even in the house of Cornelius, the God-fearing Gentile. to whom he was sent with words of salvation (not with the gospel of judgment, remember), Peter spoke of Christ as being ready to judge (not to save here) the living and the dead (Acts 10:4242And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. (Acts 10:42)).
Paul also speaks of Christ as the Judge of the living and the dead at His appearing and at His kingdom (2 Tim. 4:11I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; (2 Timothy 4:1)). So this habitable earth of living beings will yet be judged. When the Church is taken to heaven, and the Holy Ghost―the hindering power to the open manifestation of Antichrist―has gone also, Antichrist will make his appearance, leading men to deny the Father and the Son, thus throwing off all profession of Christianity. Out of heaven the Lord will come, as a warrior, followed by the armies of heaven, to destroy Antichrist and all his confederated dupes, in company with the Beast, whose image Antichrist set up in place of God, commanding men to worship it. That will be the awful consummation of man’s boasted progress and enlightenment. (See 2 Them. 1:7, 10; 2:3, 12; Jude 14, 1614And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (Jude 14)
16These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. (Jude 16) Revelation 19:11, 1211And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. (Revelation 19:11‑12).)
The wicked dead will be raised out of their graves after the millennium has passed, and stand before the great white throne, on which Christ as man shall sit as judge. All judgment is committed to Him as man, “that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father.... All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.” (See John 5:20, 2920For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. (John 5:20)
29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:29).)
This judgment of the great white throne will be like an assize, where all is minutely examined from evidence. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:11, 1211And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:11‑12)).
All who are not found amongst those who were raised to life are not found in the book of life, hence they are in the book of the dead, small and great. Their course on earth had been like that of one whom Paul so graphically describes, “She that liveth in pleasure is DEAD WHILE SHE LIVES,” Or like those who had the name or profession of being in the book of the living, but were utterly dead toward God. “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (Rev. 3:11And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. (Revelation 3:1)).
They are judged according to their works. Their works to all appearances may have been what men would approve, and call works of charity and philanthropy. Nevertheless they are dead works, which find no acceptance or favor with the Holy Judge. He will then say, “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity; I never knew you.” But these dead workers will in utter astonishment say, “Have we not done many wonderful works in thy name?” They were works of iniquity. Hence the sentence, “Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” That will be the sentence from the lips of the One who was love incarnate. It will be charity, but not false charity. (See Luke 13:25-2825When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. (Luke 13:25‑28).)
If the angels were-so very urgent in commanding Lot to escape for his life, ought we not to be much more urgent now with men who have got an immortal existence? The judgment we urge men to flee from is eternal, whereas Sodom’s was temporal. Even John the Baptist said, “Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
The solemn thing in eternity about “THE WRATH TO COME” is that, while it shall be always present, as fire shut up in men’s bones, it will always in one sense be to come. Present, yet ever ahead of those who are confined in such a sea of trouble.
“He that believeth not the Son shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth (is fixed) on him” (John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)). Mark well these solemn words, “SHALL NOT SEE LIFE.” It is a complete contradiction of the “larger hope”―or shall we say, “larger delusion”? If that were all it were bad enough to miss or lose what is wrapped up in that one word LIFE. It is not said, “Shall not see immortality”: for all are immortal, as our Lord said, “All live unto God.” “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” So a man might kill your body and leave your soul still alive; that is the clear sense of our Lord’s words. It shows that though death may overtake the body, by the sword or pestilence yet the inner life, which is truly the man, lives. “The spirit returns to God who gave it.” Angels are immortal, but they are never said to enter into eternal life.
What, then, is eternal life, in its scriptural sense, if it be not immortal existence? “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life.” “He that hath the Son hath life.” “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” Such is our Lord’s definition of how we enter into life, and how we possess life, and what constitutes life.
Life is a scene of eternal glory connected with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, of which all true believers may have now the light and present joy, but into which we shall be brought more fully when Jesus conies for us, and gives us by His almighty power bodies of glory like His own. Outside of this all is spiritual death. “To be carnally minded is death,” not necessarily the death of the body, but a state where the love of God is not known, and into which the light of Christ does not enter. Hence, all are “dead in trespasses and in sins” until made to live, like the Ephesians, by the quickening power of God’s Holy Spirit.
By the Holy Spirit’s power we are led to feel our need of Christ, and to appropriate His death. Eating and drinking conveys the thought of appropriating to ourselves that which is death to all that we were in the flesh before God, and we enter into the love of God in Christ, by which we become alive in Christ.
The love of God enjoyed in Christ is the life of our souls now, and will be forever and ever. Even now that life is ours. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life: and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).
Besides not seeing life, which is the death-blow of universalism, there is what is the death-blow of those who believe in the utter destruction of the soul, “The wrath of God abideth on him.” Where would be the force of such language if spirit, soul, and body were made a complete end of, as the body is often put out of being now by cremation? It would have no meaning, but in our judgment would be the purest nonsense.
Why speak figuratively about burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire if there was no term of suffering after the pronouncement of judgment on the wicked? Fire unquenchable represents the anguish and sorrow that will then fill the minds of those who had lived in sin, and lust, and cruelty, and all kinds of wickedness, as well as in the open defiance of a God of love and mercy. Many have filled a suicide’s grave because of having tasted a little of it on earth. Altamont, the clever, ingenious infidel, when dying said, “If you only knew half the mountain that is on me you would struggle with the martyr for his stake, and bless heaven for the flames.”
God save you from it, my reader. Blessed be God that in love He gave His own Son to die for us. He drank the bitter cup of wrath. He was made a curse for us. “He was made sin for us who knew no sin.” “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.”
Let Calvary’s rich display of Divine love melt your heart. Bow before and adore God, that He in love put His own Son on the cross that you might never endure the vengeance of hell fire. Say in truth, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Mighty Deliverer from the wrath to come.
P. W.