Further Assurances Of Hope Series

Verses 9 – 12 of Rev. 14 are the picture of the anger and wrath of God against the ungodly and evil of this world. Those who don’t repent and turn to God in the end time will have the wrath of God fall upon them. The assurance is that justice will triumph. But it will triumph at the expense of the ungodly.

Read verses 9-11. The judgment of God is going to fall on all who follow the beast and receive the mark of the beast. Remember that those with the mark are those that show their first loyalty to the state and to the antichrist instead of God.

This belief runs through society today. There are many who believe that man can control his own destiny, that what is really important is good government, good education, good medicine, good social services, and on and on. But these things are not everlasting.

We see the judgment in verse 10-11. Four things are said about the judgment of God.

1. The ungodly and evil will drink the fury and wrath of God. We know that God must keep heaven perfect. When He creates the new heavens and earth, He has to exclude and shut out all those who have cursed and denied Him. All those who rejected Him. All those who are His enemies. All those who don’t want His control and restraint on their lives.

Remember, too, that God has given man every chance. He has done everything that can be done to reach out and save man. But man continues to reject and deny, and even curse His Son. We can’t forget that God is not only love, but He is also just. Just as His love has to be perfectly demonstrated toward man, so His justice has to be perfectly demonstrated. But when that day comes, He has to be just and exclude all the ungodly and evil. If He were not just, then the new heavens and earth would be corrupted by the ungodly and evil. So the ungodly will drink the cup of God’s fury.

2. The second thing said about the judgment of God is that the ungodly and evil will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur. Fire and sulfur is the picture of the hot flaming molten lava that flows from the mouth of a volcano that has erupted. It’s a terrible thought to think that a person would choose to spend eternity suffering as though he was caught in the bed of fire and burning sulfur.

Today, right now, is the day of God’s love and grace. We must heed the warning of fire and burning sulfur and repent and turn to God.

3. The third thing said about the judgment is that the ungodly and evil will be tormented in the presence of the holy angels and Christ. Christ is the one who will give the order to cast unbelievers into hell and the holy angels will carry out the orders. Christ will be there and every eye of all unbelievers will see Him. On that day, all the unbelievers who have done all the terrible things against Christ will all know that He is exactly who He claimed to be.

4. The fourth thing said about the judgment is that the ungodly and evil will be tormented forever and ever. The picture is that of duration, of how long a person will have to stay in hell amidst all the agony and misery. The picture of wrenching and twisting in pain and suffering, of never being relieved, of never having peace or rest, not even for a single night or day.

There is no peace in hell. There is no rest in hell. It will last forever and ever. A great day of separating is coming, a day when all those who believe in Jesus will be separated from those who have denied Christ. The unbeliever is not going to live in the same world that the believer will live in. Hell is everlasting punishment. READ verse 12.

This verse explains that there is some who will escape the judgment of God. Three things are said about the one who escapes.

1. He is a saint who endures. Saint means set apart unto God. This person has separated himself from the world and set his life apart unto God. Those who endure, who set their lives apart unto God, only those will escape the coming judgment.

2. The one who escapes will obey God’s commandments. He believes God and he loves God so he obeys God. He refuses to accept the mark of the beast, and he follows God so he will escape the coming judgment.

3. He remains faithful to Jesus. He has dedicated his life to follow Jesus Christ so he will escape the coming judgment of God.