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Matthew 25:41
Christ will say to the wicked on the left hand,
"Depart, you cursed ones, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
(from Edwards, "The Final Judgment")
How dreadful will these words of the judge be
to the poor, miserable, despairing wretches on
the left hand! How amazing will every syllable
of them be! How will they pierce them to the
soul! These words show the greatest wrath and
abhorrence.
"Depart"
Christ will send them away from his presence,
will remove them forever far out of his sight, into
an everlasting separation from God, as being
most loathsome, and unfit to dwell in his
presence, and enjoy communion with him.
"you cursed ones"
Christ will call them cursed.
Depart, you cursed ones, to whom
everlasting wrath and ruin belong, who
are by your own wickedness prepared
for nothing else, but to be firebrands
of hell, who are the fit objects and
vessels of the vengeance and fury
of the Almighty.
"into everlasting fire"
He will not send them away merely
into a loathsome prison, the receptacle
of the filth and rubbish of the universe.
But into a furnace of fire. That must be
their dwelling place, there they must be
tormented with the most racking pain
and anguish. It is everlasting fire. There is
eternity in the sentence, which infinitely
aggravates the doom, and will make every
word of it immensely more dreadful, sinking,
and amazing to the souls that receive it.
"prepared for the devil and his angels"
This sets forth the greatness and intenseness
of the torments, as the preceding part of the
sentence does the duration. It shows the
dreadfulness of that fire to which they shall
be condemned, that it is the same that is
prepared for the devils, those foul spirits
and great enemies of God. Their condition
will be the same as that of the devils, in
many respects; particularly as they must
burn in the fire forever.
This sentence will doubtless be pronounced
in such an awful manner as shall be a
terrible manifestation of the wrath of the Judge.
There will be divine, holy, and almighty
wrath manifested in the countenance and
voice of the Judge. And we know not what
other manifestations of anger will accompany
the sentence. Perhaps it will be accompanied
with thunders and lightnings, far more dreadful
than were on mount Sinai at the giving of the law.
Correspondent to these exhibitions of divine
wrath, will be the appearances of terror and
most horrible amazement in the condemned.
How will all their faces pale! How will death
sit upon their countenances, when those words
shall be heard! What dolorous cries, shrieks,
and groans! What trembling, and wringing of
hands, and gnashing of teeth, will there then be!
Immediately after this, the sentence will be
executed, as we are informed, Matthew 25:46,
"These shall go away into everlasting
punishment; but the righteous into life
eternal." When the words of the sentence
shall have once proceeded out of the mouth of
the Judge, then that vast and innumerable
throng of ungodly men shall go away, shall be
driven away, shall be necessitated to go away
with devils, and shall with dismal cries and
shrieks be cast into the great furnace of fire
prepared for the punishment of devils, the
perpetual thunders and lightnings of the
wrath of God following them.
Into this furnace they must in both soul and
body enter, never more to come out. Here
they must spend eternal ages in wrestling
with the most excruciating torments, and
in crying out in the midst of the most dreadful
flames, and under the most insupportable wrath.
On the other hand, the righteous shall ascend
to heaven with their glorified bodies, in
company with Christ and his angels. They shall
ascend in the most joyful and triumphant
manner, and shall enter with Christ into that
glorious and blessed world.
Christ having given his church that perfect
beauty, and crowned it with that glory, honor,
and happiness, which were stipulated in the
covenant of redemption before the world was,
and which he died to procure for them; and
having made it a truly glorious church, every
way complete, will present it before the Father,
without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
Thus shall the saints be instated in everlasting
glory, to dwell there with Christ, who shall
feed them, and lead them to living fountains
of water, to the full enjoyment of God, and to
an eternity of the most holy, glorious, and
joyful employments.
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