Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation… This is the case of the fallen angels. I. THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL ANGELS. It is expressly asserted in Scripture. There is no greater moral difficulty in understanding the existence of such beings than in understanding the existence of evil men. They are spoken of as "angels that sinned" (2 Peter 2:4), as devils "who enter into men" (Luke 8:30), as beings to be judged by the saints (1 Corinthians 6:3). II. THEIR REVOLT AND DEFECTION FROM GOD. "And angels which kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation." They are represented in the parallel passage in Peter as simply "the angels that sinned; ' and the devil is spoken of as not "abiding in the truth," and pride is assigned apparently as the cause of his fall (1 Timothy 3:6). "It is hard to be high and not high-minded." But the allusion here is rather to the angels rejecting their high dignity of position in subjection to God, and departing from their habitations in heaven, as the consequence of the alienation caused by pride. 1. Their revolt was a dishonour to God. (1) They slighted the place of his glory. (2) They were the highest order of his creatures, and might have found their happiness in obedient service. 2. An evil nature cannot endure either the joys or the holiness of heaven. 3. It is a sin for the highest being to exempt himself from service. 4. The angels have a habitation in heaven. III. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE EVIL ANGELS. "He hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." 1. There is a present punishment. They are "kept in everlasting bonds under darkness." (1) There are the bonds of. God's power. "The strong man is bound by a stronger than he." "The old dragon was bound for a thousand years." (2) There are the bonds of sin, as if to account for the dread consistency of him "who sinneth from the beginning" (1 John 3:8). (3) There are the bonds of a guilty conscience, which cause the devils to tremble as they believe (James 2:19). (4) Yet restraint or torment cannot reform the evil angels. (5) The devils cannot hurt us unless we get within the compass of their chains. Calvin says, "Wherever they go they drag with them their own chains, and remain involved in darkness." (6) The darkness under which they are held points to their miserable condition, as signified by their separation from the presence of God, brought about as it was by their own act, and utterly irrevocable. 2. There is a future punishment. "Unto the judgment of the great day." (1) The Lord will judge the angels in that day with the saints as his assessors (1 Corinthians 6:3). (2) The devil wilt be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. (3) There will be no further seduction of the wicked, and no further hurt to the elect. - T.C. Parallel Verses KJV: And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. |
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