178 The Revelation of Jesus Christ caught away. We shall see, when we come to the study of chapters seventeen and eighteen, why that false system of Christianity is named as it is. God is here announcing its cer tain doom. When the true church is caught up to meet the Lord in glory (Rev. 4: 1, 2), the false church will sink into darkness and be overwhelmed with a terrible judgment. WARNING AGAINST WORSHIP OP THE BEAST 14:9-11 The fifth picture is one of certain judgment that will come upon the worshippers of the beast: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead. or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tor mented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his Image, and who soever receiveth the mark of his name" (verses 9-11). These are fearful words, but it is God who speaks them. I read that verse to my congregation in Minneapolis some years ago. At the close of the sermon a man came to me and said, "Is that the kind of God you worship-a God who says He is going to do this to those who recognize the claims of the coming 'man of sin'? How do you reconcile that with the God of love?" I said to him what I say to you now: The only way I have of knowing what Almighty God is going to do is by turning to His Word and allowing Him to speak for Himself. This old earth is covered with the ashes of nations that have forgotten God, and in the days gone by He has wiped out more than one city because of its sin. Sin is one thing that He must judge, and that terrible judgment is portrayed in the solemn words that are here recorded.
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