Matthew 25:41; Jude 7
For the last two days we've been talking about the terrible subject of
hell. Now, friends, it's not easy or pleasant for us to deal with this
topic because, really, the description of it in the Bible is terrible
indeed. But it is no more terrible than the conception that many people
have of it because there's more distortion and misunderstanding,
perhaps, of this subject than of any other Bible doctrine. That's why
we're taking the time here to deal with it from the Bible standpoint
alone.
We've already found that the wicked are going to be punished right here
in this earth and they will not be punished until the end of the world.
People do not die and go immediately into the punishment of hell-fire.
First, they must come before the judgment. They must be tried. Their
cases must be settled and then every man will be punished according to
his works. The Bible describes that lake of fire and brimstone down at
the end of the world. It will come after the millenium when the time of
the judgment is here and all the wicked are to be destroyed. The Bible
says, "The wages of sin is death." So these people are going to die.
The wicked will burn in that fire, but they will be burned up. They
will be entirely and completely destroyed, because "the wages of sin is
death."
Now somebody might say right here, "What about this everlasting fire
that the Bible speaks about?" Well, it does say that, of course, in a
number of places. One is Matthew 25:41. Now what is this everlasting
fire? Let's let the Bible explain. In Jude, verse 7, "Even as Sodom and
Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves
over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for
an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Now here we have
an example of eternal or everlasting fire. The Bible says that the
cities of Sodom and Gomorrha were destroyed with eternal fire. Let's
notice what the apostle Peter says on this same subject, and this will
settle it forever. Friends, what about this eternal fire that burned
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha. What did it do to those cities?
Second Peter 2:6, "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into
ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto
those that after should live ungodly." Why, friends, isn't that
wonderful? God says here that those cities suffered the vengeance of
eternal fire but they came down to ashes even though it was eternal
fire. It went out when it came to ashes. Those fires are not burning
today. The Dead Sea is rolling over the place where those ancient
cities once stood. So then, what is this eternal fire then? Well, it's
something that burns and turns something into ashes and from which
there can be no more existence. Now I'm sure that you'll have no
question regarding eternal fire after you study these texts carefully.
Now what about unquenchable fire? Mark 9:43 mentions a fire that can't
be quenched, and people have said, "Well, that's a fire that just will
never go out, will just go on burning and burning and burning, and the
people will be tormented without end." Well, that's not what the Bible
teaches, friends. I'm glad when we have some of these perplexing
things, we don't have to guess or speculate. We can go right to God's
answer in the Bible. Now look at Jeremiah, chapter 17, and here's where
the Lord threatened the city of Jerusalem with a fire that would not be
quenched. He says, "If you'll obey My voice, I'll make your holy city,
Jerusalem, the capital of the earth. (Now I'm telling you what this
says in so many words) And I'll bless you above all other people." But
then in the last verse, He says, "But if ye will not hearken unto me
... will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the
palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." Now, friends, did
they obey? Of course not. And we know the city was destroyed by fire
and according to 2 Chronicles 36:19-21, this city was burned and
destroyed to fulfill the word of Jeremiah the Prophet-that's actually
what it said. Now Jeremiah the Prophet said a fire would be set in the
gate and it would never be quenched, but friends, that unquenchable
fire went out. Unquenchable fire can't be put out; it can't be
quenched; but after it has burned everything up, it will go out.
Unquenchable fire will go out when the wicked are all burned up. The
Bible is very clear on this, and explains it carefully.
Perhaps you're wondering about the word "forever" that's used in
connection with the destruction of the wicked. Revelation 14:11 says,
"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 whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Well, what about that?
How could we explain that? Well it's certainly a fair question and we
ought to consider it. First of all, we ought to realize that the word
"forever" as used in the Bible, does not always mean what it means to
us today. "Forever" when we use it means un-ending-on and on and on.
But in the Bible, friends, it doesn't always mean that at all. It has
many meanings in the Bible, but generally speaking it means a period of
time either limited or unlimited. It might mean on and on throughout
the ages or it might mean a very short period of time. In fact the word
"forever" is used 56 times in the Old Testament alone in connection
with something that has already come to an end. Now that ought to make
it clear to everyone that when the word "forever" appears, we can't
assume that it simply means "without end."
You know, it's a good thing sometimes for us to look up some of these
words and find out what they really do mean. If a word in English
concerns us, we look it up in the dictionary. If a word in the Bible
concerns us, we look it up in a lexicon or a Bible dictionary. Now
let's give a definition from five Bible lexicons of the word "forever."
This is from Greenfield: "Duration, finite or infinite, a period or
duration, past or future time." This is from Schaenelius: "An age,
time, whether longer or shorter." This one is from Liddell and Scott:
"A space or period of time, especially a lifetime." Now friends, the
Bible often uses the word "forever" in reference to a person's
lifetime. Here's another from Parkhurst: "It denotes duration or
continuance of time but with great variety." And then Robinson:
"Duration, the flow or course of time in various relations as
determined by the context." Now that's a good one. He said it means a
period of time but it can mean without end, short, long or medium, but
you have to take the context to be sure what it's talking about.
Now perhaps you're saying, "That's strange, how could a person ever
know for sure what forever means?" No, it's not strange at all. We have
the same things that obtain in our speaking today. In our language
right in this country, take for example, the word "tall." What does it
mean? What does the word "tall" mean? Well, we have to know what you're
referring to. If you mean a tall man, we think of 6 feet, 5 inches,
maybe. But suppose you're talking about a tall tree, that means
something else, 60 feet perhaps. A tall mountain, 6000 feet or even
10,000 feet. It's the same thing with the word "life." We speak of the
life of a man, referring to the length of life, that's 70 years or
maybe even 50 years. Then we speak of the life of a tree; some of these
great trees, 200 years or maybe 300 years. Then we speak of the life of
God, eternity, never-ending, of course. Well, it's the same with the
word forever. You must know how it's used and to what it's referring,
because a word doesn't always mean the same thing, it depends on the
usage. For example, Jonah-and I could name many of these today. Like I
mentioned 56 times in the Old Testament "forever" is used in connection
with something that already came to an end long ago. But here in Jonah
2, it says he was in the whale's belly forever, but in the same book it
specifically says in another place that it was three days and three
nights. There the word forever meant three days and three nights.
In another place in the Bible, "forever" specifically means ten
generations. In 1 Samuel 1:22, Hannah lent her son to the Lord; she
said "forever" her son would be lent to the Lord, but then she said,
"as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord," in verse 28. So
that makes it clear, friends, that we can't take this word "forever" to
mean without end. It means usually the rest of a person's life or as
long as an individual lives, and that's what it means in Revelation
14:11. Some of those wicked will live longer than others. Revelation 14
specifically says day nor night so some of them will be living days in
the fire. We do know that much. But it will mean the length of time
until they are completely perished, until they pass into oblivion, and
are destroyed. The wages of sin will be death.
Don't you realize, friends, that an eternal hell of torment would be
hell for God. The Lord loves His people; even though they're wicked, He
loves them. Even though He has to punish them, He loves them. And to
think that God would take the people that He loves, even though they
are wicked, and put them somewhere to be tortured throughout eternity,
where He could listen to their screams every day for mercy, how can a
person believe a thing like that? It would be truly hell for God. And I
submit to you, if God really did that, He would be guilty of worse
atrocities than the Germans ever thought of in their torture camps.
We've all heard of Adolph Eichmann and how he destroyed six million
Jews, how he experimented with many of them and injected them with
poisons and destroyed them with injections, flame-throwers and gas
chambers, and all the rest of it. It's horrible, too horrible to even
talk about; makes our hair stand on end to read about it. But, my
friends, I say again that if God kept an endless hell of torment, He
would be guilty of worse atrocities than those attributed to Adolph
Eichmann. At last, at least, Eichmann allowed them to die. Their
miseries came to an end. Their punishment ceased. Many preachers, even
great theologians, say that God will never relieve the wicked; that
He'll keep on burning them and tormenting them without end, throughout
eternity. This is the thing that made Robert Ingersoll a great infidel
and unbeliever.
Well, I'm preaching this today, friends, because I want to wipe away
this libel from my Saviour's name. The Lord Jesus has been given credit
for establishing this ignominious doctrine of eternal torment when He
taught actually something entirely different. And I say it's libel and
slander to teach such things, and I believe it's nothing short of
blasphemy to accuse God of doing things that the vilest criminal
wouldn't do. Even in the world of crime, there's a code of ethics and
no criminal would take his own dear boy and put him in a fire and roast
him forever and listen to him scream. And yet men have the gall to
accuse God of that and I say that it's blasphemy, it's slander, it's
libel. You say, "Well, then, what is hell for?" The Lord answers that
in Matthew 25:41. He says, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."