THE
WAGES OF SIN
From
the Oberlin Evangelist, 1854 By The Rev. CHARLES G.
FINNEY
Also
appeared in the collection titled “Sermons on Gospel Themes”
Translated
and Modernized by Cliff Collins
The death that Paul is talking about is the death
that is due for disobeying God's law.
In discussing this passage, I must:
I. Illustrate the nature
of sin.
II. Specify some of the
attributes of the punishments for disobeying God's law.
III. Show what this
penalty must be.
I. Illustrate the nature of sin.
An illustration will give us a good idea of the
nature of sin, if you believe that the purpose of a government should be to
secure the highest well‑being not only of those governed, but also of the
ruling authorities also. Suppose the
head of this government were to devote his entire life, all his wealth, all his
time, and all his energies to successfully carry out his goal of accomplishing
the highest general good of all the subjects of this government. Towards this purpose, he enacts the best
possible laws, which, if obeyed, will secure the highest good of everybody, the
rich, the poor, the leaders, the workers, adults, and children. He then takes care to attach adequate
penalties; otherwise, all his care and wisdom will be in vain. He devotes all he is and all he has without
reserve or holding back to the interests of his government.
But some of his subjects refuse to sympathize with
his government. They say, “Charity
begins at home”, and they are only concerned with taking care of themselves; in
other words, they are thoroughly selfish.
It is easy to see what this would lead to in a human government. The man who does this becomes the common enemy of the government and of all its subjects. This is sin. This accurately describes the sinner’s situation. Sin is selfishness. It sets up a selfish end, and to gain that selfish end, it uses selfish means; so that in respect to both its end and its means, sin is totally opposed to God and to all the ends of general happiness that He seeks to secure. It denies God's rights and ignores God's interests. Each sinner maintains that his own will shall be the law. The interest he sets himself to secure is entirely opposed to the interest that is proposed by God in His government.
All law must have sanctions. Sanctions include punishments for
disobedience and rewards for obedience to the law. Without sanctions, the law would only be advice. Therefore, every law must have sanctions.
Sanctions are made up of rewards and
punishments. They promise rewards for
obedience, and threaten penalties for disobedience. As a result, these sanctions vindicate the honor of the violated
law.
We have natural sanctions. We also have governmental sanctions. Both forms exist here on earth.
Natural penalties are those evil consequences that
naturally result without any direct intervention of government to punish. Thus in all governments the disrespect
people have for the lawbreaker is a natural penalty on transgressors. They become the natural enemies of all
law-abiding citizens.
In God’s government, a guilty conscience and
feelings of remorse are natural penalties.
We could list many rewards and penalties that naturally result from
obedience on the one hand and from disobedience on the other.
There must also be governmental sanctions. Every governor should show his displeasure
against lawbreakers. To leave the whole
question of obedience to mere natural consequences is obviously unjust to
society.
Since governments are established to uphold the law
and secure obedience, they must put forth their utmost energies in this work.
Another incidental agency of government under some
circumstances is called discipline. One
object of discipline is to go before the infliction of penalty, and force open
unwilling eyes to see that law has a government to back it up, and the sinner
has a fearful penalty to fear. It comes
on men during their time of probation, while they have not yet seen or felt the
fearfulness of the penalty. It is designed
to admonish them to make them think and consider. Thus, its special object is the good of the subject on whom it
falls, and the good of those who may witness its administration. It does not propose to uphold the dignity of
law by administering a series of chastisements. Only penalties can truly uphold the dignity of the law. Discipline, therefore, is not penal in the
sense of visiting crime with deserved punishment, but aims to persuade the
subject to obey the law.
Disciplinary actions would rarely exist under a
government of pure law, because such a government cannot delay inflicting the
penalty. Discipline only operates in a
state of suspended penalty. And so,
penal inflictions must be broadly distinguished from disciplinary inflictions.
We are sinners, and therefore we spend little time
dwelling on the rewards of God's government.
We can have no claim to rewards under the law because of our sin. But the penal features of the law are very
important to us. Therefore:
II. What are the attributes of the penal sanctions
of God's law?
God has given us a reason. Our reason intuitively and irresistibly
reveals to us all the great truths of God’s moral government. There are certain attributes, or essential
features, which we know must belong to the moral law. For example, we intuitively know that the law is just. The penalty for disobeying the law should
therefore also be just. Justice must be
an attribute of God's law; otherwise, the whole universe must condemn the law.
Justice also implies that the penalty is equal to
the law that has been broken. The guilt
of sin consists in its being a violation of our obligation. And so, the guilt must be in proportion to
the magnitude of the obligation violated, and as a result, the penalty must be
measured by this obligation.
Governmental justice is another form of
justice. This feature of the law seeks
to prevent sin. A law is not
governmentally just unless its penalty is designed to provide the best chance
of preventing sin under the circumstances.
Suppose under a government the sanctions of law are small and petty, not
at all proportioned to the end to be secured.
Such a government is unjust to itself, and to the interests it is
committed to maintain. Therefore, a
good government must be governmentally just; providing, in the severity of its
penalties and the certainty of their just infliction, the best chance that its
law will be obeyed.
Again, penal sanctions should be worthy of the end
aimed at by the law and by its author.
Government is only a means to an end, which in this case is universal
obedience, and the happiness that comes from this obedience. If you must have law to obtain this end, its
penalty should be determined accordingly.
Therefore, the penalty should be determined by the
importance of the law. If the law is so
important that disobedience to it undermines the very existence of the government,
then that law should be guarded by the greatest and most solemn sanctions. The penalties attached to its violation
should be very severe.
The penalty should adequately express the
lawgiver's views of the value of 1) the end he proposes to secure by the law;
2) his views of the sacredness of his law; and 3) the guilt of disobedience. Penalty aims to reveal the heart of the
lawgiver to show how seriously he desires to maintain what is right, and
desires to secure the order and well‑being that depends on
obedience. It is in the greatness of
the penalty that the lawgiver reveals his heart and pours the whole influence
of his character on his subjects.
The purpose of executing the penalty is not to
gratify revenge, as many believe, but to influence and encourage us to
obey. It has the same purpose as the
law has.
The penalty for breaking the law should be an
adequate expression of the lawgiver's concern for the public good and of his
interest in it. The law expresses God’s
heart. The penalty also expresses His
heart. In the law, we have a
manifestation of God’s concern for the public interests. In the penalty, we see how great this concern
is. For example, suppose a human law
punished murder with only a very light penalty. Under the pretense of being very tender‑hearted, the
lawgiver penalizes this crime of murder with a fine of fifty dollars! Would this show that he greatly loved his subjects
and highly valued their lives and interests?
No way! You cannot feel that a
legislator has done his duty unless he shows how seriously he values human
life, and unless he attaches a penalty that is as serious as the end to be secured.
Let me say something concerning the infliction of
capital punishment in human governments.
There is a difference of opinion as to which is most effective, life in
prison or death. Without answering this
question, I must say that no one doubts that the murderer deserves to die. If some other punishment than death is to be
preferred, it is not by any means because the murderer does not deserve
death. No man can doubt this for a
moment. It is one of the unchanging
principles of righteousness, that if a man sacrifices the interest of another,
he sacrifices his own; an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.
Government must lay enough stress on protecting
human life by guarding this trust with its most severe penalties. Where life and all its vital interests are
at stake, there the penalty should be as great and solemn as possible.
There are two sides to our emotions, hope and fear,
to which we can also add the prospect of good and the dread of evil. I am now going to talk about penalty. This only addresses fear.
The penalty should adequately assert and vindicate
the rightful authority of the lawgiver.
It should afford, if possible, an adequate rebuke of sin and should be
based on a just appreciation of the nature of sin. God's moral government embraces the whole intelligent universe,
and stretches with its vast results onward through eternity. Hence, the sweep and breadth of its
interests are unlimited, and as a result, the penalties of its law, in order to
vindicate the authority of this government and to uphold these immeasurable
interests, should be dreadful beyond measure.
It is impossible to conceive of anything more dreadful than the
threatened penalty. Those who have just
views of the relations and the guilt of sin, cannot be satisfied unless the
penalty is the greatest that is conceivable.
Sin is so vile, so mischievous, so terribly
destructive, and so far‑sweeping in its ruin, moral agents could not feel
that enough is done so long as more can be done.
III. What is the penalty of God's moral law?
Our text says, “death”. This certainly is not physical death, because both saints and
animals die, neither of whom receive the wages of sin. Besides, this would be no penalty if, after
it is administered, men immediately went to heaven. If such a penalty were considered the wages of sin, it would be
an insult to God's government.
It cannot be spiritual death, for spiritual death
is simply a permanent state of entire disobedience to the law. You cannot think of anything more absurd
than to punish a man for disobedience by subjecting him to a state perpetual
disobedience. This would be an effort
to uphold the law by dooming every offender to its perpetual violation and
nothing more.
But this death is different. It is endless misery, which is like the
death‑penalty in human governments.
Everybody knows what this is. It
separates the criminal from society forever; completely removes him from all
the privileges of the government, and turns him over to hopeless ruin. Nothing more dreadful can be inflicted. The death penalty is the extreme penalty,
fearful beyond any other that is possible for man to inflict.
There can be no doubt that the death that is spoken
of in our text is intended to correspond to the death penalty in human
governments.
You will also observe that in our text the “gift of
God” which is “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” is in direct
contrast with death, the wages of sin. (See Rom. 6:23) This fact may throw light on the question of
the nature of this death. We must look
for the opposite of “eternal life”.
Now this eternal life is not merely an eternal
existence. Eternal life never means
merely an eternal existence anywhere in Scripture. It does mean a state of eternal blessedness and happiness. This life has eternal holiness as its
foundation. The term “life” is used
here in the sense of “real life” or “a life worth living”, that is, a real and
rich enjoyment.”
Now the penalty of death is therefore the opposite
of this, which is, eternal misery.
Let me address some of the objections that have
been raised against this doctrine of eternal punishment.
All the objections I have ever heard amount can be
summarized in three words: “it is unjust”.
They may express it using different terms, but this is the idea that
forms the base of their argument.
(1.) Some say that it is unjust because “life is so
short”.
What a strange thing to say! “Life is so short that men don’t have enough
time to sin enough to deserve eternal death!
Who has forgotten that one sin incurs the penalty due for sinning? How many sins does one have to commit to
make one a transgressor of the law of God?
People often talk as if they think it requires a great many sins. As if a man must commit a great many murders
before he has committed the crime of murder enough to be declared guilty in a
court of law! What? Shall a man come before the court and plead
that although he has broken the law, he has not lived long enough, and has not
broken the law enough times, to incur its penalty? What court on earth would ever recognize such a plea as proving
anything else but the folly and guilt of the person who made it?
(2.) Others say that “man is so small, so very
insignificant a being that he cannot possibly commit an infinite sin”. What does this objection mean? Does it mean that sin is physically created,
and must be measured by the size of the person who commits it? This is a wild idea of the nature of sin. Does the objection mean that man cannot
violate an obligation of infinite strength?
Then his meaning is simply false, as everybody must know. Does he imply that the guilt of sin is not
to be measured by the obligation violated?
Then he doesn’t know what he is talking about, or he wickedly denies
known truth. What? Man so little that he cannot commit much
sin! Is this the way we reason in
similar cases? Suppose your child
disobeys you. He is a lot smaller than
you are! But because of this, do you excuse
him from blame? Is this a reason that
nullifies his guilt? Can inferiors,
against their superior, commit no sin?
Have sensible men always been mistaken in believing that the younger and
smaller are sometimes under obligation to obey the older and the greater? Suppose you punch the magistrate; suppose
you insult, or attempt to assassinate the king. Is this a very small crime, almost too excusable to be considered
a crime at all, because you are in a lower position and he is in a higher position? You say, “I am so little, so very
insignificant! How can I deserve so
great a punishment?” Do you reason this
way in any other case other than your own sins against God? Never.
(3.) I have heard others say, “Sin is not an
infinite evil”. This statement is
ambiguous. Does it mean that sin would
not work infinite mischief if allowed to run on indefinitely? This is false, for if only one soul was
ruined by sin, the mischief accruing from it would be infinite. Does it mean that sin is not an infinite
evil, based on our view of sin’s present results and relations in the world
today? Suppose we believe this, it
proves nothing to our purpose. And
since the sum total of evil that results from each single sin will not all be
brought out in any duration less than eternity, how then can you measure the
evil of sin by what we see today?
But there are still other reasons why the penalty
of the law must be infinite. Sin is an
infinite natural evil in the sense that there are no limits to the natural evil
it would introduce if it were not governmentally restrained.
If sin ruined just one soul, there could be no
limit to the evil that would result.
Again, sin involves infinite guilt because it is a
violation of infinite obligation.
Here it is important to notice a common mistake
growing out of confusing ideas about the ground of our obligation. From this, a false idea develops concerning
what constitutes the guilt of sin. When
you understand the ground of our obligation, you will naturally see the nature
and extent of sin and guilt. Let us
remember our former illustration. Here
is a government, wisely framed to secure the highest good of the governed and
of all concerned. Where does the
obligation to obey come from? It comes
from the importance of the value of the end to be sought. But how important is this obligation to
obey; or, in other words, what is its true measure? It equals the value of the end that the government seeks to
secure. Obedience will secure it, but
sin will destroy it. By this measure of
God, the penalty must be measured. By
this measure the lawgiver must determine how much punishment or reward he must
attach to his law in order to meet the demands of love and justice.
Now God's law aims to secure the highest universal
good. Strictly speaking, the chief and
ultimate end of the law is not to secure supreme homage to God, but rather to
secure the highest good of God and all His creatures. When you see this, you will also see that the intrinsic value of
the end to be sought is the real ground of our obligation to obey the law. Once the value of this end is estimated, you
have the value and strength of the obligation.
This is clearly infinite in the sense of being
unlimited. In this sense, we affirm
that our obligation is to be without limit.
The very reason why we affirm any obligation to
obey at all is that the law is good and it is the only way to achieve the
highest good of the universe.
Therefore, the reason why we affirm any penalty at all compels us to
affirm the justice and need for an infinite penalty. We see that justice must demand an infinite penalty for the same
reason that it demands any penalty whatever.
If any penalty is just, it is because the law secures a certain
good. If this good aimed at by the law
is unlimited in extent, then the penalty must also be unlimited in extent. Thus, governmental justice requires endless
punishment; otherwise, it cannot provide a sufficient guarantee for the public
good.
The law has a tendency to secure infinite
good. Its tendencies are directed to
this end. Therefore, its penalty should
be infinite. The law is not fair to the
interests it attempts to secure unless it arms itself with infinite sanctions.
Nothing less than an infinite penalty can be an
adequate expression of God's view of the value of the great end on which His
heart is set. When men talk about
eternal death being too great a penalty for sin, what do they think of God's
efforts to restrain sin throughout the universe? What do they think of the death of His well-beloved Son? Do they think it’s possible that God could
adequately express His hatred of sin by any penalty less than endless?
Nothing less could adequately express His regard
for the authority of the law. Oh, how
fearful the results and how shocking the very idea would be if God failed to
make an adequate expression of His regard for the sacredness of that law which
forms the basis of the happiness of everyone in His vast kingdom?
Do you still insist that God should regard the
violation of His law as most people today do?
How surely He would bring down an avalanche of ruin on all His
intelligent creatures if He were to yield to their demands! If He were to attach anything less than
endless penalty to His law, what holy being could trust the administration of
His government? Think of it. You could still sin, pay a temporary price,
and when it is all over, enjoy perfect happiness forever. Nonsense.
God’s concern for the public good prevents God from
attaching a light or finite penalty to His law. He loves His subjects too much.
Some people have strange ideas how a ruler should express his regard for
his subjects. They would have him so
tender‑hearted towards the guilty that they should receive His entire
sympathy and regard. They might allow
God to fix a penalty of a week’s wages for the crime of murder, but nothing
more. The poor murderer's wife and
children are so precious you must not take too much money away from him, and
you definitely aren’t allowed to touch his freedom or his life. Don’t even think of doing that. What!
Don’t you know that human nature is very frail and easily tempted and
therefore you ought to deal very sparingly with penalties for murder? Perhaps they would allow you to punish the
murderer by having him spend a week in jail.
Just one week, no more. And they
will allow God to let a guilty man's conscience disturb him about as much for
the crime of murder! Many so-called
Christians today believe that all but the most wicked people will go to
heaven. Many don’t even believe in hell
anymore. They will let the most High
God give a man a conscience that will only trouble him a little if he commits
murder. His conscience will bother him
for the first and perhaps even the second offence; but they are not willing to
notice the fact that under this penalty of a troubling conscience, the more a
man sins, the less his conscience will bother him. It is an established fact,
that the more a person sins, the less his conscience will bother him. Under the operation of this descending
scale, it will soon come to the point that a murderer will not get so much penalty
as the loss of one night's sleep. But
such are the conclusions that men arrive at when they wander from the
affirmations of an upright reason and God’s revealing Word.
Let me speak to those who have the moral sense to
affirm what is right as well as the eyes to see the operation of law. I know you cannot deny the logical need for
the death‑penalty, for breaking the moral law of God. There is a logical conclusion to every one
of these propositions that you cannot escape.
No penalty less than an infinite and endless
penalty can be an adequate expression of God's displeasure against sin and of
His determination to resist and punish it.
The penalty should run on as long as there are subjects to be affected
by it as long as there is a need to demonstrate God's feelings and governmental
course toward sin.
God cannot inflict anything less than this, for He
certainly can inflict an endless and infinite punishment. If therefore the situation demands the
greatest penalty He can inflict, this must be the penalty: banishment from God
and endless death.
But this is what the Gospel everywhere
assumes. The Bible says that by the
deeds of the law no flesh can be justified before God. Indeed, it not only affirms this, but also builds
its entire system of atonement and grace on this foundation. It constantly assumes that there is no such
thing as paying the debt and canceling our obligation. Because of this, the sinner's only relief is
forgiveness through Christ’s redeeming blood.
If the penalty is not endless death, what is it? Is it temporary suffering? Then how long does it last? When does it end? Has any sinner ever got through, served his time and had been
taken to heaven? We have no testimony
to prove that any of this is true. But
we do have the solemn testimony of Jesus Christ to prove that there can never
be such a situation. He tells us that
there can be no passing from hell to heaven or from heaven to hell. A great gulf is fixed between, over which no
one shall ever pass. You may pass from
earth to heaven, or from earth to hell; but these two states of the future
world are far apart, and no man or angel shall pass that wide gulf that divides
them.
Suppose you answer my question, “What is the
penalty?” by replying that it is only the natural consequences of sin as
developed in a troubled conscience.
Then it follows that the more a man sins the less he is punished, until
it is reduced to almost no penalty at all.
Who can believe this? Under this
system, if a man fears punishment, all he has to do is simply continue sinning
with even more will and energy until his conscience becomes seared and he can
look forward to the day when he can very soon overcome all his convictions, and
get beyond any penalty whatever! And do
you honestly believe that this is God's only punishment for sin? You cannot believe
it.
Many so-called Christians today don’t even know the
difference between discipline and penal sanctions. Overlooking this fundamental distinction, they believe that
everything men suffer here in this world are only penal sanctions. But our suffering in this world is not
penal, but disciplinary. They ask,
“what good will it do a sinner to send him to an endless hell? Is not God perfectly benevolent; and if He
is, how can He have any other object than to do the sinner all the good He
can?”
Punishment is not designed to do good to the sinner
who is punished. It looks to another, remoter,
and far greater good. The discipline
that was administered to him while he was on earth was mainly for his personal
good. Penalty looks to other
results. If you ask, does not God aim
to do good to the universal public good by administrating a penalty? I answer, yes, that is precisely what He
aims to do.
Under human governments, the penalty may aim in
part to reclaim. In God’s government,
discipline is designed to turn the sinner back to Him. The death‑penalty that is administered
after all suspension is past and the fatal blow comes, aims not to reclaim, nor
to discipline. It is only penalty. The guilty man is laid on the great public
altar and made a sacrifice for the public good. The object is to make a fearful, terrible impression on the
public mind of the evil of transgression and the fearfulness of its consequences. Discipline is not designed to support the
law, but to turn from sin to love and serve the living God. But the Day of Judgment has nothing to do
with reclaiming the lost sinner. The
Day of Judgment is a penal judgment. It
is strange that these obvious facts should be overlooked.
There is yet another consideration often
disregarded, which is, that behind any safe dispensation of discipline there
must be a moral law supported by ample and fearful sanctions to preserve the
law‑ giver's authority and uphold the majesty and honor of his
government. It would not be safe to
trust a system of discipline, and indeed, it could not be expected to take hold
of the ruined with much force; if it were not supported by a system of laws and
penalties. This penal visitation on the
un-reclaimed sinner must stand forever as an appalling fact to show that
justice is realized, law is vindicated, God is honored; and to make an enduring
and awful impression of the evil of sin and of God's eternal hostility against
it.
REMARKS
We hear a great many people cry out against future
punishment. We would not wonder about
this if it wasn’t for the fact that the Gospel assumes this truth of a future
punishment, and then proposes a remedy.
One would naturally think that our mind would shrink from the thought of
judgment and eternal punishment. When
the Gospel offers us a plan of salvation, I find it bewildering that so many
men will admit that the Gospel is real, and yet they reject the law and its
penalties. They talk about grace; but
what do they mean by grace? When men
deny the fact of sin, they completely eliminate the only reason for grace in
the Gospel. Because they admit the fact
of sin in name only, and virtually deny its guilt, grace becomes only a
name. After repudiating the sanctions
of the law of God, and laboring to disprove their reality, what right do these
people have to claim that they respect the Gospel? They turn the Gospel into a joke, turning it into a series of
promises that God provides to compensate for His laws and unfair demands. Let not men who trample down the law assume
that they honor God by applauding His Gospel!
The Bible’s representations of the final doom of
the wicked are impressive. Natural
objects, for example the gates and walls of the New Jerusalem, which present
the splendors and glories of the heavenly state, reveal spiritual truths. The Bible is like a spiritual telescope in
our hands. We can point it towards the
glorious city “whose builder and Maker is God”. We may survey its inner sanctuary, where the worshiping hosts
praise God without ceasing. We see
their flowing robes of white, the palms of victory in their hands, the beaming
joy of their faces, and the manifestations of indescribable bliss in their
souls. This is heaven portrayed in the Bible.
Who believes that all these scriptures about heaven are nothing more
than exaggerated figures of speech? Who
thinks that these representations are exaggerations, designed to overrate the
facts and raise unwarrantable expectations?
No one can believe this. No one
ever brings this charge against what the Bible says of heaven. What is the purpose in adopting this
figurative mode of representation?
Beyond question, the purpose is to give us the best possible idea of
what heaven is really like.
Then we have the other side. The veil is lifted, and you come to the very
edge of hell to see what is there.
Whereas on the one hand everything was glorious, on the other hand
everything is fearful, and full of horrors.
There is a bottomless pit. A deathless soul is cast into it. He sinks and sinks and sinks, going down
into that awful pit which knows no bottom, weeping and wailing as he descends,
and you hear his groans echo and re‑echo from the sides of that dreaded
cavern of woe!
Here is another picture. You have a “lake of fire and brimstone”, and you see lost sinners
thrown into its waves of rolling fire; and they lash at its burning shore, and
gnaw their tongues in pain. There the
worm dies not die, and their fire is not quenched, and “not one drop of water”
can reach them to “cool their tongues” which are “tormented in that flame.”
What do you think?
Has God said these things simply to frighten your poor soul? Does He want to play on your fears for His
own amusement? Can you possibly believe
that?
No!
Instead, it grieves His heart that He must build such a hell, and must
plunge into it the sinners who will not honor His law and will not embrace
salvation from sinning through His grace.
Ah, the waves of death roll darkly right under the eye of the Holy and
compassionate One! He has no pleasure
in the death of the sinner! But He must
uphold His throne, and save His loyal subjects if He can.
Another scene appears. Here is a death‑bed.
Did you ever see a sinner die?
Can you describe the scene? Was
it a friend, a relative, or someone dear, perhaps very dear to your heart? How long was that person dying? Did it seem to you that their death‑agony
would never end? When my last child
died, his struggle lasted for such a long time. Oh, it was frightfully long and agonizing twenty‑four hours
a day in the agonies of the death struggle!
It made me sick. I couldn’t
stand it! But suppose his death
struggle continued right up until this very day. I would have long ago died from the anguish and nervous
exhaustion of witnessing such a scene.
So would all my friends. Who
could survive to the final termination of such an awful death? Who would not cry out, “My God, cut it
short, cut it short in mercy!” When my
wife died, her death‑struggles were long and heart‑rending. If you had been there, you would have cried
mightily to God, "Cut it short, oh, cut it short and end this dreadful
agony!” But suppose it had continued,
on and on, day after day through its slow moving hours, and night after night
as if morning would never come. The death
suggested in our scripture today supposes an eternal dying. Let us think about this for a moment. Suppose it should actually happen in some
dear circle of sympathizing friends. A
poor man cannot die! He lingers in the
agony of death for a month, a year, five years, ten years until all his friends
have broken down, and have fallen into their graves under the insupportable
horror of the scene: but still the poor man cannot die! He outlives one generation then another and
then another; one hundred years pass and he is still dying in mortal agony, and
yet he is no nearer to the end! What
would you think of such a scene? This
is only a very feeble illustration of that awful “second death!”
God wants us to understand what an awful thing sin
is, and the fearful punishment it deserves.
He is desperately trying to show us by the language He uses how terrible
must be the doom of the determined sinner.
Did you ever see a sinner die?
Did you not cry out “Surely the curse of God has fallen heavily on this world”? All this is only a small taste of that
heavier curse that comes in the “second death!”
Our text affirms that death is the “wages of
sin”. It is just what sin
deserves. Labor earns wages, and
creates a rightful claim to be paid.
Men are treated as earning wages when they sin. They become entitled to their pay. God considers Himself obligated to give them
their well‑deserved wages.
As I have often said, I would not say one word
about this just to distress your souls, if there was no hope and no mercy
possible. Would I torment you before
your time? God forbid! Would I hold out the awful penalty before
you, and tell you there is no hope?
No. I say these things to make
you aware of your need to escape for your life.
Think of this: “the wages of sin is death!” God is aiming to erect a monument that will
proclaim to the whole universe “Stand in awe and sin not!” So that whenever they look on this awful expression,
they will say, “what an awful thing sin
is!” People will want to exclaim, “Oh,
how horrible the penalty!” They too easily overlook the horrible guilt and ill‑desert
of sin! When God lays a sinner on his
death‑bed before our eyes, He invites us to look at the penalty of
sin. There he lies, agonizing,
groaning, quivering, and racked with pain, yet he lives, and lives on. Suppose he lives on in this dying state a
day, a week, a month, a year, a score of years, a century, a thousand years, a
thousand ages, and still he lives on, “dying perpetually, yet never dead”. Finally, the universe passes away; the
heavens are rolled together as a scroll and what then? There lies that sufferer yet. He looks up and cries out, “How long, O HOW
LONG?” Like the knell of eternal death,
the answer comes down to him, “Eternally, ETERNALLY”.
Another cycle of eternal ages rolls on, and again
he dares to ask, how long? Again, the
answer rolls back, “Eternally, ETERNALLY!”
Oh, how this fearful answer comes thundering down through all the realms
of agony and despair.
The apostle John writes, “Then I saw a great white
throne and Him who 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, standing before God, and books were
opened. And another book was opened,
which is the Book of Life. And the dead
were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the
books. The sea gave up the dead who
were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to
his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of
Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
(Rev. 20:11) We will all be
there, and what is more, we will be there to settle our account with our Lord
and receive our allotment. What will
you receive on that final settlement day?
The wages of sin? Do you say,
“Give me my wages! Give me my
wages! I will not be indebted to
Christ?” Sinner, you will receive them. God will promptly pay you without fail. He has made all the necessary arrangements,
and has your wages ready. But be
careful what you do! Look again before
you take your final leap. Soon the
curtain will fall, your time of probation here on earth will end, and all hope
will perish. Where then shall I
be? And you, where? On the right hand or on the left?
The Bible locates hell within sight of heaven. The smoke of their torment
as it rises up forever and ever, is in full view from the heights of the
Heavenly City. There, you adore and
worship; but as you look way off toward where the rich man is, you see the cost
of sin. There, not one drop of water
can go to cool their burning tongues.
There the smoke of their torment rises and rises for evermore. Take care of what you do today!
Suppose you are looking into a large volcanic
crater, where the surges of molten lava boil and roll up, and roll and
swell. Again and again, it belches
forth huge masses of lava to deluge the plains below. Once in my life, I stood at the mighty edge of Mount Etna’s
crater, and looked down into its awful mouth.
I could not help crying out “tremendous, TREMENDOUS!” “There,” I said, “is an image of hell!” Oh, sinner, think of hell, and being thrust
into it. It pours forth its volumes of
smoke and flame forever, never ceasing, never exhausted. The universe can look on that spectacle and
exclaim, “The wages of sin is death!
Oh, sin not, since such is the doom of the unpardoned sinner!” What a powerful demonstration this is of the
government of God! What an exhibition
of His holy justice, of His inflexible purpose to uphold the interests of
holiness and happiness in all His vast dominions! Is not this worthy of God, and of the sacredness of His great
plan of moral government?
Sinner, today, right now, you may now escape this
fearful doom. This is the reason why
God reveals hell in His Bible. Now,
shall this revelation fall on deaf ears and fail to produce fruit in your life?
What would you think if this whole congregation was
pressed by some resistless force close right up to the very edge of hell? However, just as it seems that we are all
about to be pushed over the awful brink, an angel rushes in, with a shout like
a trumpet, announcing, “Salvation is possible, Glory to God, GLORY TO GOD,
GLORY TO GOD!”
You cry aloud “Is it possible?” “Yes, yes”, the angel responds, “let me take
you up in my broad, loving arms, and carry you to the feet of Jesus, for He is
mighty and willing to save!”
Is all this mere talk? Oh, if I could wet my lips with the dews of heaven, and bathe my
tongue in its founts of eloquence, even then I could not describe the realities
of the glory that is to come.
Christian people, are you devising ways to increase
your earthly wealth and comfort, yet neglecting souls? Beware lest you ruin souls that can never
live again! Do you say, “I thought they knew it all? They went to church. They listened to sermons.” But they reply to you, “I did not think that
you believed a word of it yourselves.
You did not act as if you did.
Are you going to heaven? Well, I
am going down to hell! There is no help
for me now. You will sometimes think of
me then, as you shall see the smoke of my woe rising up darkly toward the glorious
heavens. After I have been there a
long, long time, you will sometimes think that I, who once lived by your side,
am there. Oh remember, you cannot pray
for me then; but you will remember that once you might have warned and might
have saved me.”
Oh I think that if there can be bitterness in
heaven, it must enter through such an avenue and spoil your happiness there!