Listen carefully to the Word
of God. God is angry with the wicked
every day. If he turn not, he will wet his
sword. He hath bent his bow and made
it ready. He also hath prepared for him
the instruments of death. he ordaineth his arrows against
the persecutors. The wicked, and him that loveth
violence, his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain
snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest. This shall
be the portion of their for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. He hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. It is appointed unto men once
to die, and after this the judgment I wonder how we would conduct
ourselves if we really believed that there is a day coming in
which God Almighty will judge the world for sin. I know that eternal punishment
is a matter of doctrinal orthodoxy. We believe it, we say, and we
fight to defend it. Churches and denominations split
over the doctrine of eternal punishment. But I don't know many people
who really believe it. I don't know really whether you
and I believe it. I wonder how we would act if
we really believed that God Almighty will punish sin. I wonder how I would preach to
you now, this hour, if I really believe that everybody who hears
my voice will stand before God soon and give account for himself. I wonder how you'd listen. I
wonder how we'd act if we really believe that a God is angry on
account of sin, and that a holy, just, righteous, true, and good
God must punish sin. I wonder how you would act if
you really believed, I mean really believed, that your sons and
daughters and husbands and wives and mothers and fathers and brothers
and sisters and friends and neighbors will one day stand before God
Almighty in His holy anger and be crushed into hell. We just don't really believe
that, do we? If we did, we'd do something
about it. If we did, we'd do something
about it. We'd weep until we had no more strength to weep.
Our hearts would burst with pain. We would warn with earnestness.
Pray with fervency. Devote ourselves and all that
is at our disposal to the one awesome business of preaching
the gospel of Christ to the perishing sinners. O Spirit of God, fall on this
preacher and on this congregation and break our hard hearts. Call those here whose hearts are stubborn, filled
with rebellion, enmity, and wrath to a holy God, to see Christ
and believe. And call us who know God's grace to earnestly seek that others
may know that grace. Somehow we believe that God will
punish sin. I don't think we kindly sit and
talk nonchalantly, carelessly, indifferently, or
even think indifferently. That person sitting next to you, or that person that eats at your
table every day, that man, that woman, that child, that friend
you meet face to face every day, somehow we believe that God is
going to crush every rebel into hell. We just couldn't sit passively
and watch them die. You just couldn't do it. I'll
tell you why we're so unconcerned. We don't really believe God. We just don't. I'll tell you
why it is that you can hear this preacher. Sunday morning, Sunday
night, Tuesday night, week after week, month after month, year
after year. Walk in those doors and out those doors and never
have your heart move toward God. You don't really believe God's
going to deal with you over sin. Just don't really believe it.
Now, I want us to read together Revelation 19. Revelation 19. Verses one through
six. This is one of the most awesome
passages in all the Word of God. This subject matters too deep
for me. I can't expound it. I'm just going to give you some
thoughts I've gathered from it. After these things, after God
had taken Babylon, by the hand of a mighty angel, and thrown
her into hell. After the angel had cried, Rejoice
over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for
God hath avenged you on earth. After these things I heard a
great voice of much people in heaven say, Hallelujah, salvation,
and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For true
and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath
avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." And again they said, And her smoke rose up forever
and ever. And the four and twenty elders
and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on
the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah. And the voice came out of the
throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that
fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth." Now try to picture the scene
John has described. Judgment has come. It's all over
now. the wicked have been cast into
hell. And as the smoke of their torments ascends up, up, up to
the throne of God, the saints of God and the angels round the
throne, all who inhabit heaven's glory, with the smoke of their
torments, begin to shout and sing. and give praise to God. What a strange, awesome picture. These men and these women, redeemed
by blood, chosen by grace, are rejoicing, singing, shouting. They're happy. They're delighted.
They're speaking before God the praises of God because of judgment. Read the text, that's what it
says. As eternity commences, the saints
of God in heaven are rejoicing and praising God for the damnation
of the wicked. Now this passage of scripture
clearly declares this fact most plainly. The torments of the
damned in hell will be a subject of eternal praise among the redeemed. You try to get hold of that.
I've been wrestling with it now for weeks. The torments of the damned will
be a subject of eternal praise among the redeemed. And I ask myself this question.
Why? Why? I look you in the face tonight as I've looked you in the face
so many times. And my God, my heart could break
for you. Oh, I would to God that you would
believe. I would to God that you would
fall on your face and cry out for mercy plead with God that he might
have mercy on you for Christ's sake. But one day, I will never
weep again. Why? As God Almighty takes you by your proud, stiff,
rebellious neck and casts you headlong into hell's torments,
there'll be a smile on my face and joy in my heart and a song
of praise to God. Why? That's what the text says. Why? Let me try to answer some questions. And I believe I can answer this
one. Who is it that will sing this
song? The song is sung by a great multitude
in heaven. It's the same multitude we've
seen throughout the book of Revelation. That same multitude which is
before the throne all the way through this book. It's the multitude
of God's elect, the whole church of God gathered together in heaven. These are the ones that were
addressed in verse 20 of the preceding chapter. The angel
said, Rejoice over her, thou heaven! Everybody in heaven began
to rejoice. Everybody around the throne of
God began to rejoice. Rejoice over her, thou heaven! Rejoice, ye holy apostles! Rejoice, ye prophets! For God
hath avenged you on her. This is the elect multitude.
who sing the praises of God for His great salvation. These are
the 144,000 sealed ones whom God has preserved throughout
the days of their pilgrimage and brought at last to His heavenly
throne. These are the men and women who
have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Out of every nation
came to tribe, people, and tongue upon the earth. They are the
ones who sing praise to God and to the Lamb for His distinguishing
grace. These are the blessed dead ones
who die in the Lord, having kept the commandments of God and the
faith of Jesus. This is the great multitude which
has lived and died in every generation for the word of God and for the
testimony of his grace. But now. These men, these women,
who have sung throughout this book of God's electing love,
and sung of Christ's redeeming blood, and sung of God's distinguishing
grace, now, these very same men and women, take up a song that's
altogether different. For now they sing concerning
the damnation of the wicked under the wrath of God in the torments
of hell. How can this be? They're singing now for the praise and the honor of God in damning
the souls for whom they labored all their lives, for whom they prayed with earnestness. They're singing the praises of
God for His judgment upon the wicked over whom they once wept,
to sing the praises of God for his judgment upon every rebel
with whom they once pleaded, those whom they once tried earnestly
to persuade to be reconciled to God. Now they're brought to
judgment and they are singing the praises of God because of
his judgment. I picture in my mind's eye the
Son of God himself, leading the course. There's Christ, the God-man,
that very man who once stood on the brow of the hill and looked
over Jerusalem and cried with aching heart, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how often I've gathered thee unto myself, even as a hen gathers
her chickens under her wings, but you would not. And the Lord
Jesus now, as he sees Jerusalem cast into hell, sings, Alleluia,
Alleluia. He leads to the chorus and he
said, now praise God, all ye heavens, for the smoke of her
torments. He has avenged you. I can picture
David, the man after God's own heart, that tender, loving, beloved
David. There's his son, Solomon, or
Absalom, rather. When David heard the news that
Absalom was slain, he wept and cried with aching heart, O Absalom,
Absalom, my son, my son, would God I had died for thee. But
now as Absalom screams in the agony of hell, David sings, hallelujah,
Alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. There's Paul, that
one who wrote with plain, earnest, loving heart. My prayer and my
heart's desire to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
Would to God I could be accursed from Christ, for my brethren,
my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Now that same man looks
upon his brethren, his kinsmen, according to the flesh, and he
says, Alleluia! The Lord God omnipotent reigns. All the prophets are singing,
all the apostles are singing, all the saints are singing, all
the angels are singing, everybody in heaven is singing, because
God now has poured out his judgment, and every rebel is shut up in
hell under the wrath of Almighty God. What's the theme of their song? In verse three we read, and again
they said, Alleluia, and the smoke of her torments rose up
forever and ever. That word Alleluia simply means
praise Jehovah. So the theme of this song is
the praise of the Lord God for all that he is and all that he
does. Alleluia is an expression of
great joy. As you read through the scriptures,
when men and women saw some revelation, some display of God's glory,
some fresh revelation of some character of God, one of his
attributes, as they saw this revelation of the greatness of
God, they would cry, Alleluia! Praise the Lord! It's an expression
of joy. We say it sometimes in our singing. We don't use the expression much,
for we would not be numbered with those who speak irreverently
of the name of God and simply to speak hallelujah without reverence
for God is but to blaspheme his name and take his name in vain. But it is an expression of great
joy before and toward God. It appears that the saints in
heaven Never get weary of their heavenly employment. For again
and again and again in this passage, we hear them say, Alleluia, Amen,
Alleluia, praise the Lord, Alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. It is the delightful employment
of the saints around the throne as they spend eternity serving
the cause of God's glory to sing his praise. Praise Yehovah. This word, Alleluia, is also
an expression of admiration, astonishment, and wonder. Every
glorious view of Christ, every act in his hand, every word of
his mouth, every revelation of his character, every display
of his majesty, his greatness, his power, and his glory causes
the souls of the redeemed to burst out with another song of
praise saying, Hallelujah. Notice the things for which they
give praise. In verse one. Hallelujah. Salvation. That's
a good thing to praise God for. God Almighty who sits on his
throne has sent and brought salvation to his people by Jesus Christ,
the Lamb. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory. The glory of God is seen
in this lamb. The glory of God is seen in this
salvation. The glory of God is seen in the
work which Christ has accomplished. And honor. God has gotten honor
to his great and glorious name by the salvation of his people
and power. Oh, what power he has displayed
in conquering our enemies and his. When we read in verse two,
for true and righteous are in judgments, that too is a matter
of praise. Verse six, Alleluia for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. In heaven, the saints of God
praise him for his sovereignty. They praise him for his universal
dominion. And so this song, this song has
this theme, it's the praise of God. It's the saints of God singing,
and it's the praise of God which occupies their minds. But what's
the occasion of the song? What is the event that causes
heaven suddenly to burst with this resounding echo? Alleluia,
alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Here God's saints are
shouting, singing and rejoicing over the fall of Babylon. Shouting,
singing and rejoicing over the fall of Antichrist, over the
fall of all false religion. Babylon is the mixing up of everything
together, stirring it well and giving it to men and calling
it Christianity, calling it salvation, calling it eternal life, calling
it the service of God. It is the religion of the world.
And if sin is damning its thousands, religion this day is damning
its tens of thousands. But one of these days, God Almighty
is going to get around to judging this thing called religion. This
thing which has corrupted the earth with her fornication and
persecuted the saints in every age. In our text, God finally
catches up with religion. And after Antichrist, after Babylon,
and all the promoters and followers of freewill works religion have
been cast into hell, there sits God. He's still on his throne,
ruling with absolute sovereignty, just like he was when Adam first
attempted to shove him from his throne. He still sits there,
unmoved, unshaken. The saints of God are happy about
that. They shall. Amen. Hallelujah. God's still
on his throne. God's still the same. His throne
is unshaken. The world will remain forever,
forever. The world will mourn forever
over Babylon and her fall. But the saints of God will rejoice
forever over Babylon's fall. For God will then have avenged
the blood of his servants at her hands. The people who are
singing are the saints of God. The theme of their song is the
praise of God. The occasion of their song is
the judgment of God. And what does it teach us? What does this song teach us?
It's a strange song. There's one similar to it we'll
look at in a little bit, but I know of none just like it in
the scriptures. This song of praise to Christ is a song about
eternal ruin. It's a song about hell. Open
the hymn book up and find me a song about hell. There's not
one in it. Don't know that I've ever read one about hell. Lots
of songs about heaven. Lots of songs about glory. Lots
of songs about eternal happiness. I've never read a song except
this song about eternal ruin. Never read one. These men and
women, God's saints and angels, are singing the song of the damned,
not the song of the redeemed. They're singing the song of the
poor men, not the song of the bliss. They're singing the song
of hell, not the song of heaven. They're singing because of the
damnation of men and women who refuse to bow to and refuse to
trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely the very fact that this
song is recorded in this text means that God Almighty has some
special instruction for us. Here's an awesome fact. When
the wicked are damned, the saints will be seen. What do we learn
from it? Learn this. Learn it well. I don't know how to convince
you, but I learned it well. Let every man, woman, and child
hear me now, and hear me with fear. Hear me with fear. There is a day appointed, a day appointed, when God will
judge you for sin. It is appointed unto men once
to die, and after this the judgment. There is an appointed day of
judgment when God will judge all men by that man whom he has
ordained, Jesus Christ our Lord. For we know that we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may
receive the things done in his body according to that which
he has done, whether it be good or whether it be bad. Everybody,
everybody will stand before God Almighty to be judged according
to exact justice. Everybody, if you perish under
the wrath of God, you perish according to exactly what you
deserve by the deeds of your own evil hands. If you enter
into glory, You enter into glory according to exact justice, receiving
exactly what you deserve by the deeds of God's free grace in
His Son, Jesus Christ. Knowing, therefore, the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men, O, that somehow These words that
come from this mouth might come from the throne of God himself
and reach inside you and get a hold of your heart. I want
to persuade you. I want to persuade you to flee
from the wrath to come. I want to persuade you to seek
the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. I want to persuade you to come
to God through Jesus Christ the Lord. Don't be satisfied Oh God help you don't be satisfied
with morality. Don't be satisfied with religious
name. Don't be satisfied with religious
experience. Don't be satisfied with religious
decision. Don't be satisfied with religious
deed. Don't be satisfied with religious
feelings. Somehow God help you, you got
to get to Christ. You got to get to him. If you
don't, Hell is sure for you. It's sure for you. The first message of the cross
is this fact. A holy, righteous, and just God
must punish sin. At the cross of Jesus Christ
says anything that says that. Harry Haynes. Beaten. Stripped naked. His wounds. His pain. His agony. What did it all say? What did
that cross say? What does the agony, and the
cry, and the grief, and the pain of that man say when that holy
man was made to be sin? He cries, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? What does he say? He's saying
that God Almighty must punish sin. For when God found sin on
the Son of His love, He withdrew not any of His wrath. And if God finds sin on you,
if God finds sin on me, He's going to cast us into hell. Learn this too. There is a place
of eternal torment where every rebel, every unbeliever, shall suffer the wrath of God. That wasn't a fairy tale I read
to you a little bit ago. In hell, the rich man lets out
his eyes in joy. I don't know where hell is, And I don't know what hell is.
Folks say, are the fires of hell real? There's something there
a whole lot worse than real fire. But I'm telling you, there is
a place prepared and reserved by God Almighty for the eternal execution of
His unmitigated wrath. upon immortal souls who deserve His wrath. It's a place of endless agony,
pain, torment, and sin. for sinners forever. Suffer the just wrath of an angry
God. And learn this, the judgment
of the wicked and the eternal torments of the damned will take
place in the very sight of the redeemed. Matthew 25 will read how the
Lord Jesus will gather in the last day the goats on his left
hand and the sheep on his right. We read in Luke 16 of how that
rich man in hell Lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham and Lazarus
in paradise. What does that mean? I don't know how. Can't explain
it. Don't even explain it, it's just
fact. In that last day, preachers and the people to whom
they preach will be witnesses to one another's condemnation
or acquittal. Husbands and wives will be eyewitnesses
to one another's condemnation or acquittal. Parents and children will be
witnesses to one another's condemnation or acquittal. Friends and relatives
will be witnesses to one another's condemnation or acquittal. And
in heaven, the glorified saints will see
clearly the torments of the damned And in hell, the tormented damned
will see clearly the glory of the saints. And the torments of the damned
will cause no sorrow in the glory of heaven. No sorrow. Not a tear will be shed over
yourselves. Ten thousand shall fall at thy
right hand, but the slave will not come near you. We will see them condemned. We will see terror on their faces. And honestly, I can't bear the
thought But we'll hear the screams, the screeches, the
cries, the wailing, the gnashing of teeth among the damned. But there will be no tears in
heaven. Our sorrow will be ended. God
will wipe away all tears from our eyes. We won't be able, we
will not be able in Heaven's glory to weep over God's judgment
on the wicked. We won't be able to, there'll
be no solace. You see, the judgment of God
upon you who believe not will be a matter of everlasting joy
to the redeemed. Yes, God's saints will sing. God's saints will rejoice. God's
saints will shout. God's saints will vote with God
for the damnation of his enemies and do it with delight. The call
is right. The call is right. Turn over to Exodus chapter 14.
I'll give you a picture of it. Exodus 14. Verse 30. Moses and the children of Israel
are standing over on the other side of the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his army And the
horses and the chariots are drowned in the depths of the sea. All
that's left of Pharaoh and his army is a little debris floating
along on the surface. And in verse 30, Moses says,
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel
saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.
And the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His
servant Moses. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse
and his rider had been thrown into the sea. The Lord is my
strength and my song. He has become my salvation. He is my God. I will prepare
for Him an habitation. My Father's God, I will exalt
Him. The Lord is a man of war. The
Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts
have been cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are
drowned. The depths have covered them.
They sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord,
is become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces thine enemy. And in the greatness of thine
excellency, thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee.
Thou sendest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as several. That's what will happen on Judgment
Day. Well, why? Why will God's elect
sing his praises over the damnation of the wicked? It's not because God's saints
delight to see men suffer. I don't even like to see my enemies
suffer. But I send out some friends. God's saints take no pleasure
in the pain of men. If there's ever been anybody
on this earth other than Christ himself who
loved another man, it's the saints of God. They take no pleasure
in the pain of men. They do not sing because they
are mean-spirited and vindictive. God will avenge his own elect. And that's his business and his
doing. But for every man, every woman,
Who's ever opposed my soul, I would to God he'd be merciful to them. Would to God he'd be merciful
to them. And those who oppose my God are my enemies. And against
them I stand firm. With David I say he's enemy to
my enemies. I count them such. But concerning
my enemies, I wish nothing for them but good. and not evil. God's saints aren't mean-spirited.
They're not vindictive men and women. I'll tell you why, let's see. I'll tell you why it is that
in that day we will sing over the damnation of the wicked.
Even though today our hearts break with the thought of it. In that day, we'll have the mind of God. We'll see as he sees, think as
he thinks, and want what he wants. And this is the mind of God.
The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. And righteousness demands satisfaction. Righteousness demands justice. Righteousness demands the punishment
of sin. You see, God made you and me to serve Him. He made us to serve His glory,
the honor and the glory and the praise of His name. And we shall
serve His glory. That's His promise. God made
everything for Himself. Everything. God made everyone
for the glory of His name. And every one of us will serve
His glory at last. There's only two ways men can
serve the cause of God's glory. Only two ways fallen sinners
can glorify God. You can glorify God by faith. By faith. Right now, right where
you sit, guilty, helpless, condemned, justly sentenced to eternal damnation,
you can trust Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and glorify God by
faith. Nothing so glorifies God's faith. Nothing so glorifies the living
God as faith in His living Son, the Lord Jesus. Believe Him,
and you glorify God. If you refuse, you will glorify Him by your
damnation. You'll do it. If you refuse to
trust Christ, If you refuse to be saved by God's free grace
through the merits of a substitute, if you refuse to bow to Christ
the Sovereign King, you must be damned to the praise of His
glory. We will praise God forever for
the damnation of the wicked, because their eternal ruin will
forever glorify God. You see, if you refuse to believe,
you're useless. Useless for anything but judgment. If you refuse to bow to Christ,
you're useless for anything but wrath. If you refuse to magnify,
honor, and glorify the living God by faith, you're useless
except to be kindling for the fires of God's wrath in hell. That's all. That's all useless. The damnation of the wicked will
glorify the justice of God, for he will demonstrate in you that
he must be just and is just. The ruin of the wicked will glorify
the majesty of God, for God will sit on his throne and he will
forever declare the smoke of their torments arises up and
declares that God is to be reverence, and none can stand against him
successfully. The torments of the damned will
glorify the power of God, for men who thought they could resist
his rule women who thought they could resist his dominion, people
who thought they could resist his power, find themselves snatched
up by the nap of the neck and cast into hell by the right hand
of God himself. And the eternal ruin of the wicked
in hell will be an eternal reminder to the saints of God of the debt we owe to our great God, for it is matchless
saving grace. For but for the grace of God,
we too would be damned. The smoke of their torments will
say forever, Who maketh thee to differ from another? What
hast thou that thou didst not receive? And if thou didst receive
it, glory not, as if you had not received, but be the glory
of any glory in the Lord. Now this I tell you. If you die in your sins, if you
die in stiff-necked rebellion in opposition to the gospel of
Jesus Christ, if you die refusing to bow to Jesus Christ as Lord,
Savior, and King Almighty, there will be no pity for you
in eternity. Nobody in hell will pity you,
and nobody in heaven will pity you. Some of you have got godly parents,
friends, relatives, who cried to God for you. Every one of you have a pastor
whose heart breaks for you. But neither parents, friends,
nor pastor will pity you in that day. God will not pity you. Christ will not pity you. The
Holy Spirit will not pity you. The angels of heaven will not
pity you. There'll be no pity for you. But you don't have to die. You don't have to die. The cross tells us plainly that
God will punish sin, must punish sin. But oh, that God-man hanging
on that cursed tree declares that there is forgiveness with
God through the bloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ, his Son. He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But if you die, if you refuse
the claims of Jesus Christ, you will suffer the torments
of God in eternal damnation, and you'll have nobody to blame
but yourself. For he says, I've called, and
you've refused. And I tell you with confidence,
right now, this hour, he's called. You've heard him speak. You've
heard him speak. If you despise his call sent
forth in the gospel, I tremble for your soul, for he may never
speak to you again. May God give you no rest till
you find rest in Christ. Amen.