“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. v, 17-19.
“Honor thy father and thy mother (which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” Eph. vi, 2, 3.
“But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” Matt. xv, 3-6.
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom. vii, 7.
6. The faith of Jesus. This term is used in distinction from the commandments of God. It does not refer to a particular degree or kind of faith which the Saviour exercised in the performance of his miracles; for it appears that he wrought these by the power which he had already received from his Father. Matt. viii, 2, 3; Mark i, 40, 41; Luke v, 23, 24. The world itself was made by him. John i. He had ample power, therefore, to perform every miracle which he wrought. There is but one other thing to which this term can refer, namely, the precepts and doctrines of our Lord as recorded in the New Testament. Thus “the faith of the gospel” (Phil. i, 27) must refer to the precepts and doctrines of the gospel. The faith to which a multitude of the priests were obedient (Acts vi, 7), which was resisted by Elymas the sorcerer (Acts xiii, 8), which was committed to the apostles for the obedience of all nations (Rom. i, 5), which Paul testifies that he had kept (2 Tim. iv, 7), and which is to be earnestly maintained, as once delivered to the saints (Jude 3), must refer, we think, to the precepts and doctrines of the everlasting gospel. That the faith of Jesus is used in this sense in Rev. ii, 13, we think cannot be denied. “Thou holdest fast my name,” says Jesus, “and hast not denied my faith.” That this is the sense in which it is used in Rev. xiv, 12, is further evident from the fact that it is spoken of as kept in the same manner that the commandments of God are kept.
“Here are they that keep the commandments of God [the Father], and the faith of Jesus” [the Son]. This excludes alike the blind Jew, who makes his boast in the law and rejects Jesus, and also the Christian who professes faith in Christ while he breaks the commandments of God. It embraces Christian commandment-keepers only.
7. The penalty threatened. The fearful penalty connected with the warning of the third angel consists of two things: 1. The wine of the wrath of God, poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. 2. The torment with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and of the Lamb. Let us carefully consider each in order.
What is the wine of the wrath of God? The next chapter clearly explains this point. “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever.” Rev. xv, 1, 7. It follows therefore that the wine of the wrath of God is the seven last plagues. This fact will be further apparent as we proceed to show that these plagues are future. That the plagues pertain to the future, we think can be established beyond controversy.
1. The wrath of God as threatened by the third angel, is poured out in the seven last plagues; for the first plague is inflicted on the very class that the third angel threatens. Compare Rev. xiv, 9, 10; xvi, 1, 2. This fact proves that the plagues must be future when the third angel’s message is given; and it also proves the identity of the wrath of God without mixture, and the seven last plagues.
2. We have shown that the plagues, and the wrath of God without mixture, are the same. And wrath without mixture must be wrath with nothing else; that is, wrath without mercy. God has not yet visited the earth with unmixed wrath; nor can he while our great High Priest ministers in the heavenly sanctuary, and stays the wrath of God by his intercession for sinful men. When the plagues are poured out, mercy has given place to vengeance.