When Christ shall sit upon the throne of His glory
to judge the world, only two sentences will be given. To those
on His right hand, He will say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world:" These righteous shall go away into life eternal.
To those on His left hand, He will say, "Depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels." These shall go away into everlasting punishment.
Matthew 25:31-46.
Jesus has also revealed to us that the great majority
of the world will be told to depart into everlasting fire and
that the small minority will be invited to come into the everlasting
kingdom. 2 Peter 1:11. He said, "Enter ye in at the strait
(narrow) gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth
unto life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7:13,
14.
Fire! Do we know anything more horrible? Everlasting!
Do we know anything more lasting? Some refuse to accept these
words. Yet, they remain. Some may respond, "This is only
symbolic language." If it is symbolic, the symbol is never
as strong as that which is symbolized! Jesus is faithful to warn
us. Notice that the everlasting fire was, first, prepared for
the devil and his angels. Both Peter and Jude speak of angels
that "kept not their first estate" and "left their
own habitation." 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6. An insight into this
terrible event is, I believe, found in the events of Revelation
12:7-10. The devil and his angels were doomed to eternal damnation
on the very day they first sinned against God. God gave them no
"plan of salvation."
The punishment for unrepentant and unforgiven
sin is horrible to describe. Jesus said that if we will not cut
off sin in our lives, we will be cast into hell, "where their
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:43-48.
In the book of Revelation, the apostle John wrote that he saw
the devil cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast
and false prophet were and that these "shall be tormented
day and night for ever and ever." 20:10. In chapter 20, verses
14 and 15, the Bible says death, hell, and whosoever was not found
written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire. In
21:8, the Bible says, "the fearful, and unbelieving, and
the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,
and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
Truly, our God is a consuming fire! Hebrews 12:29.
God has given the devil certain limited power
to tempt us to sin. We see this in the garden of Eden, in the
life of Job, in the devil's temptation of Jesus, and in our own
lives. However, God will not suffer (allow) Satan to tempt us
beyond our ability to resist him. 1 Corinthians 10:13. Otherwise,
He would not be just in holding us into account for our sins.
The fact of the matter is, all of us have sinned, and the wages
of this sin is death. Romans 3:23; 6:23. Yet, God so loved the
world that He sent His only begotten Son, and Jesus carried all
of our sins in His own body to the cross. Jesus died to pay the
penalty for our sin and, now, through His gospel, and, through
our obedience to the gospel, offers us forgiveness and the hope
of eternal life. Mark 16:15-16.
Have you accepted this free gift through faith,
repentance, baptism, and faithful godly living? In 2 Corinthians
5:10, 11, when Paul said we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his
body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad,
he said, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men." Yes, the Lord has terror. It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31. To fear
God and to keep His commandments is the whole or all of man. Ecclesiastes
12:13. He said He was going to take vengeance on all who do not
know Him and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-12. Yes, it is true. In Revelation 14, John
wrote that God was going to take vengeance on those who worshipped
the beast and his image and who would not receive the everlasting
gospel that was preached unto them that dwell on the earth to
every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. We, too, will be tormented
with fire and brimstone, and the smoke of our torment will ascend
up for ever and ever. We will have no rest day or night. Hell
has no light, love, rest, comfort, peace, hope, or end. Read Luke
16:19-31.
Dear friends, we need to behold the goodness and
the severity of God. Romans 11:22. By the love of God, we persuade
you to obey the gospel today before it is too late!