Psa 9:17, Isa 33:14, Mar 16:16, Luk 16:26, 2Th 1:7-9, Rev 14:11 | Barnes

Psalms 9:17

Isaiah 33:14

Mark 16:16

Verse 16. He that believeth. That is, believeth the gospel. Credits it to be true, and acts as if it were true. This is the whole of faith. Man is a sinner, he should act on the belief of this truth, and repent. There is a God. Man should believe it, and fear and love him, and seek his favour. The Lord Jesus died to save him. To have faith in him, is to believe that this is true, and to act accordingly; i.e., to trust him, to rely on him, to love him, to feel that we have no merit, and to cast our all upon him. There is a heaven and a hell. To believe this, is to credit the account, and act as if it were true; to seek the one, and avoid the other. We are to die. To believe this, is to act as if this were so; to be in readiness for it, and to expect it daily and hourly. In one word, faith is feeling and acting as if there were a God, a Saviour, a heaven, a hell; as ff we were sinners, and must die; as if we deserved eternal death, and were in danger of it; and, in view of all, casting our eternal interests on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. To do this, is to be a Christian; not to do it, is to be an infidel.

Is baptized. Is initiated into the church by the application of water, as significant that he is a sinner, and needs the purifying influences of the Holy Ghost. It is worthy of remark, that Jesus has made baptism of so much importance, he did not say, indeed, that a man could not be saved without baptism, but he has strongly implied that where this is neglected, knowing it to be a command of the Saviour, it endangers the salvation of the soul. Faith and baptism are the beginnings of a Christian life: the one the beginning of piety in the soul, the other of its manifestation before men, or of a profession of religion. And every man endangers his eternal interest by being ashamed of Christ before men. See Mk 8:38.

Shall be saved. Saved from sin, (Mt 1:21,) and from eternal death, (Jn 5:24; 3:36,) and raised to eternal life in heaven, Jn 5:28,29; 17:2,24.

Shall be damned. That is, condemned by God, and cast off from his presence, 2Thes 1:6-9. It implies that they will be adjudged to be guilty by God in the day of judgment, Rom 2:12,16, Mt 25:41; that they will deserve to die for ever, (Rom 2:6,8) and that they will be cast out into a place of woe to all eternity, Mt 25:46. It may be asked how it can be just in God to condemn men for ever for not believing the gospel. I answer:

(1.) God has a right to appoint his own terms of mercy.

(2.) Man has no claim on him for heaven

(3.) The sinner rejects the terms of salvation knowingly, deliberately, and perseveringly.

(4.) He has a special disregard and contempt for the gospel.

(5.) His unbelief is produced by the love of sin.

(6.) He shows by this that he has no love for God, and his law, and for eternity.

(7.) He slights the objects dearest to God, and most like him; and,

(8.) he must be miserable. A creature who has no confidence in God, who does not believe that he is true or worthy of his regard, and who never seeks his favour, must be wretched. He rejects God, and he must go into eternity without a Father and without a God. And he has no source of comfort in himself, and must die for ever. There is no being in eternity but God that can make man happy; and without his favour the sinner must be wretched.

Luke 16:26

Verse 26. A great gulf. The word translated gulf means chasm, or the broad, yawning space between two elevated objects. In this place it means that there is no way of passing from one to the other.

Fixed. Strengthened--made firm or immovable. It is so established that it will never be movable or passable. It will for ever divide heaven and hell.

Which would pass. We are not to press this passage literally, as if those who are in heaven would desire to go and visit the wicked in the world of woe. The simple meaning of the statement is, that there can be no communication between the one and the other --there can be no passing from one to the other. It is impossible to conceive that the righteous would desire to leave their abodes in glory to go and dwell in the world of woe; nor can we suppose that they would wish to go for any reason unless it were possible to furnish relief. That will be out of the question. Not even a drop of water will be furnished as a relief to the sufferer.

Neither can they pass to us, &c. There can be no doubt that the wicked will desire to pass the gulf that divides them from heaven. They would be glad to be in a state of happiness; but all such wishes will be vain. How, in the face of the solemn statement of the Saviour here, can men believe that there will be a restoration of all the wicked to heaven? He solemnly assures us that there can be no passage from that world of woe to the abodes of the blessed; yet, in the face of this, many Universalists hold that hell will yet be vacated of its guilty millions, and that all its miserable inhabitants will be received to heaven! Who shall conduct them across this gulf, when Jesus Christ says it cannot be passed? Who shall build a bridge over that yawning chasm which he says is "fixed?" No: if there is anything certain from the Scripture, it is that they who enter hell return no more; they who sink there sink for ever.

(t) "neither can they pass to us" Eze 28:24

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

Verse 7. And to you who are troubled. That is, "It will be a righteous thing for God to give to you who are persecuted rest in the last day." As it will be right and proper to punish the wicked, so it will be right to reward the good. It will not, however, be in precisely the same sense. The wicked will deserve all that they will suffer; but it cannot be said that the righteous will deserve the reward which they will receive. It will be right and proper, because

(1.) there is a fitness that they who are the friends of God should be treated as such, or it is proper that he should show himself to be their Friend; and

(2.) because in this life this is not always clearly done. They are often less prospered, and less happy in their outward circumstances, than the wicked. There is, therefore, a propriety that in the future state God should manifest himself as their Friend, and show to assembled worlds that he is not indifferent to character, or that wickedness does not deserve his smiles, and piety incur his frown. At the same time, however, it will be owing wholly to his grace that any are ever admitted to heaven.

Rest. The future happiness of believers is often represented under the image of rest. It is rest like that of the weary labourer after his day of toil; rest, like that of the soldier after the hardships of a long and perilous march; rest, like the calm repose of one who has been racked with pain. Heb 4:9. The word rest here (ανεσις) means a letting loose, a remission, a relaxation; and hence composure, quiet. 2Cor 2:13, 7:5.

With us. That is, with Paul, Silas, and Timothy, 2Thes 1:1. It would increase the comfort of the Thessalonians, derived from the anticipation of the future world, to reflect that they would meet their religious teachers and friends there. It always augments the anticipated joy of heaven to reflect that we are to share its blessedness with them. There is no envy among those who anticipate heaven; there will be none there. They who desire heaven at all, desire that it may be shared in the highest degree by all who are dear to them.

When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven. Shall appear; shall come from heaven. 1Thes 4:16.

With his mighty angels. Marg., angels of his power. So the Greek. The sense is, that angels of exalted rank and glory will accompany him. 1Thes 4:16, Mt 24:31, 25:31.

(f) "rest with us" Rev 14:13 (g) "his mighty angels" 1Thes 4:16, Jude 1:14 Verse 8. In flaming fire. This is a circumstance which is not noticed in the account of his appearing in the parallel place in 1Thes 4:16. The object of the apostle here seems to be to represent him as coming amidst vivid flashes of lightning. He is commonly described as coming in clouds, and to that common description there is here added the image of incessant lightnings, as if the whole heavens were illuminated with a continued blaze.

Taking vengeance, Marg., yielding. Gr., giving. The word vengeance is used in the sense of punishment, for there cannot be in God what literally corresponds with the passion of revenge. Comp. Rom 12:19.

On them that know not God. On all who are strangers to him; that is, who are living in heathenish darkness, or who, having heard of him, have no practical acquaintance with him.

And that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who do not embrace it, and practise its precepts in their lives. Comp. Rom 2:9.

(a) "flaming fire" Heb 10:27, 2Pet 3:7 (1) "taking" "yielding" (b) "vengeance" De 32:41,43 (c) "know not" Ps 79:6 (d) "that obey not" Rom 2:8 Verse 9. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction. Mt 25:41,46. The word which is here rendered destruction (ολεθρον,) is different from that which occurs in Mt 25:46, and which is there rendered punishment κολασις. The word ολεθρον --occurs only here and in 1Cor 5:5, 1Thes 5:8, 1Timm 6:9; in each of which places it is rendered destruction. It does not denote annihilation, but is used in the same sense in which we use the word when we say that a thing is destroyed. Thus health is destroyed when it fails; property is destroyed when it is burned, or sunk in the ocean; a limb is-destroyed that is lost in battle; life is destroyed when one dies. In the case before us, the destruction, whatever it be, is

(1.) to be continued for ever; and

(2.) is to be of the nature of punishment. The meaning then must be, that the soul is destroyed as to the great purposes of its being with enjoyment, dignity, honour, holiness, happiness. It will not be annihilated, but will live and linger on in destruction. It seems difficult to conceive how any one can profess to hold that this passage is a part of the word of God, and yet deny the doctrine of future eternal punishment. It would not be possible to state that doctrine in clearer language than this. It never is stated in clearer language in any creed or confession of faith; and if it be not true that the wicked will be punished for ever, it must be admitted that it would not have been possible to reveal the doctrine in human language.

From the presence of the Lord. That is, a part of their punishment will consist in being banished from the immediate presence of the Lord. There is a sense in which God is everywhere present, and in that sense he will be in the world where the wicked will dwell, to punish them. But the phrase is also used to denote his more immediate presence; the place where are the symbols of his majesty and glory; the home of the holy and the blessed. It is in that sense that the word is used here; and the idea is, that it will be one of the circumstances contributing to the deeper woe of the place of punishment, that those who dwell there will be banished from that holy abode, and will never be permitted to enter there.

And from the glory of his power. The meaning seems to be, that they will not be able to endure the manifestation of his power and majesty when he shall appear, but will be driven away by it into outer darkness. See 2Thes 2:8. The Saviour, in describing his Second Advent, uses this language: "They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory," Mt 24:30. There will be a great exhibition of both. The power will be seen in the convulsions of nature, which will precede or attend him; in the resurrection of the dead; and in the bringing of all to judgment. And the glory will be seen in his own person; the dignity and number of his attendants; and the honour that shall then be conferred on him as the final Judge of all mankind. By the manifestation of that power and glory the wicked will be driven away into eternal ruin. They will not be able to stand before it, and though, in common with the righteous, they may see the majesty of the Redeemer in the last day, yet they will be driven away to witness it no more.

(e) "destruction from" Php 3:19, 2Pet 3:7 (f) "glory" Isa 2:19

Revelation of John 14:11

Verse 11. And the smoke of their torment. The smoke proceeding from their place of torment. This language is probably derived from the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 19:28: "And he [Abraham] looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace." The destruction of these cities is regarded as an emblem of the destruction of the wicked, and the smoke that ascended from them as a representation of that which ascends from the place where the wicked suffer for ever. Jude 1:7.

Ascendeth up. Continually rises from that world of woe.

For ever and ever. Jude 1:7. This does not indeed affirm that their individual sufferings would be eternal--since it is only a declaration that "the smoke of their torment ascends;" but it is such language as would be used on the supposition that they would suffer for ever, and as can be explained only on that supposition. It implies that their torments continued, and were the cause of that ascending smoke; that is, that they were tormented while it ascended, and as this is declared to be "for ever and ever," it implies that the sufferings of the wicked will be eternal: and this is such language as would not and could not have been used in a revelation from God, unless the punishment of the wicked is eternal. Compare Mt 25:46.

And they have no rest day nor night. "Day and night" include all time; and hence the phrase is used to denote perpetuity--always. The meaning here is, that they never have any rest--any interval of pain. This is stated as a circumstance strongly expressive of the severity of their torment, Here, rest comes to the sufferer. The prisoner in his cell lies down on his bed, though hard, and sleeps; the over-worked slave has also intervals of sleep; the eyes of the mourner are locked in repose, and for moments, if not hours, he forgets his sorrows; no pain that we endure on earth can be so certain and prolonged that nature will not, sooner or later, find the luxury of sleep, or will find rest in the grave. But it will be one of the bitterest ingredients in the cup of woe, in the world of despair, that this luxury will be denied for ever, and that they who enter that gloomy prison sleep no more; never know the respite of a moment-- never even lose the consciousness of their heavy doom. Oh, how different from the condition of sufferers here! And oh, how sad and strange that any of our race will persevere in sin, and go down to those unmitigated and unending sorrows!

Who worship the beast and his image. Rev 13:4,15.

And whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Rev 13:17. The meaning here is, that such worshippers will receive the punishment which other idolaters and sinners do. No exception will be made in favour of an idolater, though he worships idols under the forms of an abused Christianity; none will be made in favour of a sinner because he practised iniquity under the garb of religion.