Foundations of Faith
THE ETERNAL PUNISHMENT OF THE LOST
In this issue we expand upon last month’s study of the final judgment of sinners at the great white throne and look at verses that teach the eternal punishment of the lost.
We hear more and more people saying, “I believe in a loving and tolerant Jesus.” To be sure, Jesus was not only loving, but the highest example and pattern of divine love (John 15:12,13; Eph. 5:2,25). Jesus was also tolerant, far beyond the people of His day. Observe His willingness— as a Jewish man—to receive a drink from a Samaritan woman, something that just wasn’t done in those days (John 4:9). His tolerance of a woman who had a reputation as a sinner was due to her being a sinner saved by grace (Luke 7:36-50; also John 8:3-11). When it came to dealing with people who sinned, and who covered their sin with a cloak of piety, Jesus was probably the most intolerant Person ever to walk this earth (see Matt. 12:34; 23:13-38; John 2:13-17; 8:44).
All this is leading up to the point of this article. People say that a loving and tolerant Jesus surely would not condemn anyone to hell, especially to an eternity in the lake of fire. Many people have the idea that the concept of hell and a lake of fire was invented by the apostles. Let us listen to the Scriptures.
“Broad is the way that leads to destruction” (Matt. 7:13).
“The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness:there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:11,12).
“Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).
“The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom … those who do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41,42; also 49,50).
“It is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:43-48).
“Then said the king to the servants … Cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 22:13; 25:30).
“Then shall [the King] say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
“The rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments…. Cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:19-31).
“He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).
“Those who have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [or judgment]” (John 5:29).
“… the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5; also 1:18; 2:8).
“The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God, and who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:8).
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet…. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone…. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever…. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20; 20:10-15; 21:8).
Outer darkness, wailing, weeping, gnashing of teeth, hell, lake of fire, unquenchable fire, torment, intense thirst, wrath of God, eternal judgment, vengeance. What a horrible future is in store for those who reject the salvation offered by God through the death and resurrection of His Son. Not all of these verses mention the fact that these judgments are eternal, but enough of them do to convince us of that awful truth! (See Assignment 13)
Who are the authors of these terrible words of judgment? About half of these passages were spoken by Jesus Himself, and additional ones refer to the direct involvement of Jesus in the punishment of sinners. Jesus tolerant of evil? No way!!
A number of “evangelicals” today have given up the truth that God’s judgment of sinners is for eternity. If it does not seem to be fair to punish for eternity one who was a sinner for only 90 years, we need to understand that God’s punishment of man is no more severe than His punishment of His own Son-for our sins (Psa. 22:1,15; 69:3,10,20; 88:7,8,16-18; Lam. 1:12; Matt. 27:45,46; John 19:28).
Running the Race
DO WE REALLY BELIEVE IN HELL?
We may hold proper Biblical teaching about hell. But do we really believe hell is terrible, hell is eternal, and thousands of people around us are doomed to spend eternity there? Have we considered what it would be like to spend eternity in the blackness of darkness, completely separated from God and from all light and all love?
It is rather ironic that the sects which claim that there is no hell (for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, and the Seventh-Day Adventists) are extremely active in evangelism, while many people who hold all the right doctrines seem content to let people go on to hell.
We must have more compassion for the lost. Where are the “weeping prophets” or “weeping preachers” for whom the thought of men and women in hell is so terrible that they will cry to God for the souls of the lost? We must overcome laziness, fear, self-indulgence, or whatever is holding us back from telling to all we can their frightful danger.
We must wrestle in prayer, for we are in conflict with a determined and desperate enemy. Satan knows his time is running out. He is using every weapon to ensnare men’s minds.
If we really believe in hell, let us act as if we believed. Proper doctrine without love, compassion, and action is a cold, useless thing, as offensive to God as to the world.
Assignment 13: Write out verses in Matthew 3 and 18 and one in Jude that show that God’s judgment of unrepentant sinners is forever, or with fire that will never go out.