ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

INTRODUCTION:

1. About 300 years ago an error was zealously taught.

2. Some influential theologians concluded that no one would be eternally tormented.

3. By the time of the 19th century (1800s), this view was very popular.

4. So many rejected the idea of eternal punishment that today:

A. Hundreds of years later this idea is still present and prominent.

B. Since so many years have gone by, this error has been refined.

C. When people deny that there will be eternal punishment, they usually offer one of

two common explanations.

5. Some believe in Universalism.

6. Universalism says that God is so good and kind everyone will be saved.

7. Not one person is going to be kept out of heaven.

8. The vilest offenders will be saved along with the most righteous of saints.

9. The other view that is used to deny eternal punishment is that of Annihilation.

10. If you speak to the Jehovah Witnesses and others, this is the view that they subscribe to.

11. Annihilation is almost self-explanatory.

12. It says that the wicked people will be burned up:

God will fully and utterly consume those who are not saved.

13. Imagine a small pool of lighter fluid.

If we toss a match on the fluid, the fire will completely consume.

14. Some think that God will do a similar thing to those who are unsaved.

15. I should add that some think the devil and his helpers will not suffer.

16. They may suffer for a time or they may not suffer at all after the judgment.

I. SINCE WE ARE LOOKING AT SOME THINGS T HAT ARE TO OCCUR AT THE END OF

TIME, WE WILL USE THIS TIME TO LOOK AT THE FATE OF THE UNSAVED.

A. What will happen to those who are not in a right relationship with God?

B. As we look at what the Bible says, one fact stands out.

C. Jesus said much about the end of time and punishment of the wicked.

D. The Lord emphasized this; He stressed this; it is one of His key teachings.

E. Hence, the Bible implies that this subject is important.

F. As Jesus described the wicked and their fate, He used graphic language.

G. One example of this is in Matthew 5:29-30.

(1) This section of scripture is from the Sermon on the Mount.

(2) What the Lord said will be familiar to most who are here.

(3) READ.

H. Jesus said that it would be better to gouge out an eye or cut off a hand.

I. Jesus said that these two acts would be “better”.

J. Most would conclude that cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye would be very bad.

K. Jesus said either of these is better compared to the fate of the wicked (the lost).

L. In these two verses Jesus uses a word that is translated “hell”.

M. The original word is Gehenna.

N. Groups like the Jehovah Witnesses have a prepared speech about this word.

O. They say things like:

(1) “Are you scared of hell?”

(2) “We have been to hell. We know right where it is.”

P. To some these statements are shocking. How can people go to hell?

Q. The word used by Jesus described a valley in Hinnom.

R. This valley was likely on the southern side of Jerusalem.

S. It was a place that had seen a lot of history.

(1) In the Old Testament this valley had been used to sacrifice children.

(2) 2 Kings 16:3 and 21:6; Jeremiah 32:35 are references for this.

(3) By Jesus’ day this valley had become a garbage dump.

(4) But it was more than a place to dump trash.

(5) Gehenna was a place that symbolized judgment.

T. Let’s go back again to the Old Testament for a moment.

(1) The prophet Jeremiah was familiar with this place.

(2) Even in his day, Gehenna represented judgment.

(3) We see this in both Jeremiah 7 and Jeremiah 19.

(4) The complete references are Jeremiah 7:32 and Jeremiah 19:6.

(5) Jeremiah 7:32 reads … READ.

(6) Judgment is the idea in this chapter.

(7) People would die and be buried in this place.

(8) Jeremiah 19:6 says essentially the same thing.

(9) The Jews connected this place with judgment; it was a place of death and destruction.

U. Jesus used this well-known place to describe eternal punishment.

V. Gehenna was an illustration – nothing more.

W. Some groups like the Jehovah Witnesses refuse to see that this is an illustration.

X. They try to make the word “hell” literal and say, “We know right where it is.”

Y. Let’s say for a moment that this view is right.

Z. Let’s say that Gehenna is not an eternal burning place. Gehenna was only this valley.

A. Why then did Jesus say to cut off a hand or take out an eye to avoid going there.

B. The valley of Gehenna does not offer eternal pain.

C. At the very worst, people may have suffered for several hours.

D. On a rare occasion people may have lasted a day or two.

E. If Gehenna is as the Jehovah Witnesses and others believe, it would be better to go there

instead of losing a hand or an eye.

F. Death and suffering would be quick.

G. If Gehenna is not eternal pain, Jesus gave the wrong advice.

H. If we believe what Jesus said, we must reject what a number of groups believe.

I. Jesus said this place is so bad it is better to lose a body part.

J. A marginal note you might want to write in your Bible beside Matthew 5:29-30 is

Matthew 18:8.

K. Matthew 18:8 reads … READ.

(1) The language in Matthew 5 and Matthew 18 is similar.

(2) However, there is one point that is significantly different.

(3) Matthew 18 speaks of “eternal fire”. This is what Gehenna has.

(4) Eternal fire is explained in Mark 9:48. READ.

(5) Matthew and Mark destroy some errors popularized 300 years ago.

(6) What Matthew and Mark say denies universalism.

(7) Not everyone will be saved. Most will be lost.

(8) What these inspired writers say also denies the idea of annihilation.

(9) Suffering will be eternal in nature.

L. Lost people will continue to exist.

M. The existence will not be pleasant.

N. Another reference from Matthew is 13:41-42. READ.

O. Eternal punishment is described as a furnace of fire.

P. I have seen pictures of trains that used wood for fuel.

(1) A man on the train stood and fed the fire.

(2) That was not a pleasant job.

(3) Having your body too close to fire is unpleasant.

(4) Jesus speaks of being in the fire.

(5) The image in Luke 16 is a body encased in a flame. Sounds like a burning house.

Q. This is not the saddest thing we can say about the lost.

(1) In Matthew 25:46 Jesus describes the righteous.

(2) He speaks of them as being “eternally saved”. READ.

(3) We all understand what this means – be with God forever.

(4) That same word is used to describe the lost.

R. In other words, the amount of time that the righteous spend with God is the same

amount of time the lost will spend in punishment.

II. WHO WILL BE THE ONES WHO ENTER INTO THIS KIND OF MISERABLE, ETERNAL

CONDITION? THE BIBLE TELLS US.

A. Those who will be eternally punished will be those who have taken the broad road.

B. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 7.

C. He said that there are two roads we can take.

D. We find this in Matthew 7:13. READ.

E. Many things will take one down the broad road:

(1) Ignorance, a lack of interest, the appeal of the world …

(2) Some good people will take the broad road.

F. What else leads to eternal punishment?

G. Opposition to the cross of Christ. Philippians 3.

(1) I really appreciate some people who are not Christians.

(2) I know some good people who are not members of the Lord’s church.

(3) These people do not actively oppose Christ and the church.

(4) They are of the persuasion, “If you want to be a Christian, that’s OK.”

(5) But not everyone has this kind of spirit.

(6) READ Philippians 3:18.

(7) There are people who actively oppose the cross of Christ.

(8) Anything that has to do with God is opposed.

(9) Get the Bible out of schools, ban prayer, wheel out the 10 Commandments from

the courthouses, take God’s name off our money

(10) Other religious causes oppose the cross of Christ.

(11) When people take this course they are headed for destruction.

H. Another thing that leads to eternal destruction is twisting the scriptures.

I. Peter deals with this in 2 Peter 3:16

(1) In our day and time people try to twist God’s word.

(2) Cults twist scripture.

(3) People who desire to stay with a certain religious group may twist the scripture.

(4) Problems in a family will cause some to twist God’s word.

(5) There have been cases where brethren believed in God’s plan for divorce and

remarriage until a son or daughter decided to violate God’s plan.

(6) So called translations have been put out that twist the scriptures.

(7) Note what God has to say about this in 2 Peter 3:16. READ.

(8) Twisting the scriptures results in destruction.

J. We do not need to twist the scriptures to be lost.

K. We may only be unprepared.

L. There are times when most of us are unprepared.

(1) Someone shows up before we are ready to meet them.

(2) A question is asked that we are unprepared to answer.

(3) We are asked to do a job that we did not prepare for.

(4) God says that we can be unprepared to meet His Son.

(5) READ 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3.

III. WE KNOW WHAT THE DESTRUCTION IS GOING TO BE LIKE. WE HAVE LOOKED AT

SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WILL CAUSE PEOPLE TO RECEIVE ETERNAL PUNISH-

MENT. WHAT ELSE MAY BE SAID?

A. Eternal destruction will not be delayed.

B. God will administer it in a way that is swift.

C. Those who are punished will deserve it.

D. When people receive the sentence of condemnation it will not be commuted.

Those sentenced will be lost.

E. READ 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9.

F. What Paul said to the Christians at Thessalonica is sad.

G. However, the words are true.

H. If I understand these words correctly, the lost will lose their access to God.

(1) In life, we can come to God.

(2) We can ask, seek and knock.

(3) God will respond.

(4) If we die in a lost state, God will not respond.

(5) It is like a giant door will be closed on the lost.

(6) No matter how much pleading and begging,

(7) No matter how sorrowful and sincere,

(8) No matter how willing people will be to obey God,

(9) There will be no more opportunities to obey the gospel.

I. God will permanently say goodbye to the lost.

J. I cannot imagine being in a place where I desperately want God, but God wants no part of me.

K. God forever severs the line of communication.

L. He will do that with the lost.

CONCLUSION:

1. If you are not a child of God, think of your future.

2. A day is coming when what has been described will take place.