Conscious, Endless Suffering

Introduction: The Certainty of Heaven or Hell and Review of Previous Principles

0:02 You and I have no way to know for certain what, if anything, lies beyond the experience of this life unless God himself is pleased to make such a revelation. This is precisely what God has done in his holy word, the Bible, that word which reveals that just as surely as every 24-hour period is divided into night and day, just as surely as all human beings are divided into male and female, fellows, girls, men, women, so just as certainly all men will ultimately find themselves in the bliss of heaven

0:44 or in the terrors of hell. For four Lord's Day mornings we have been considering the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ on the subject of hell, looking particularly at his teaching as it comes to light as, in the Gospel of Matthew. And we have seen four principles that are a summary of our Lord's teaching on the subject in our previous studies. Let me just give them to you briefly, and then we shall move to the fifth this morning.

1:14 We have seen that in the teaching of our Lord that hell is a place and a condition of unspeakable misery, torment, and woe. The two most oft-used figures of our Lord in the Gospel of Matthew are outer darkness, and fire. The outer darkness speaking of what we would call the privative punishment of hell, that from which sinners are excluded, the light of God's countenance, the warmth of his presence. Fire speaks of that which connotes his punitive punishment, that which is poured upon them of God's wrath and anger, both of which result in weeping and gnashing of teeth.

1:58 In the second place we have seen, that hell is a place and a condition where soul and body shall suffer the punishment of sin. Our Lord said, Fear not those which kill the body, and after this have no more that they can do, but fear him who hath power to cast both soul and body, two entities.

2:21 The soul is not the body, the body is not the soul. The soul and body make one man, but the soul exists beyond the destruction of the body. For our Lord said, Don't fear those which, can kill the body, but they cannot touch the soul. But fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

2:39 In the third place we saw, that hell is a place and a condition of divine retribution. That is, God is punishing sinners for their sin. It is not a place of instruction. It is not an extension of the day of grace.

2:55 It is not a place to display his power in obliterating evil. It is a place to display, God's justice in the punishment of evil. And so the words wrath, punishment, vengeance, are used continually in scripture, in connection with the Bible doctrine of hell. And then in our last study we saw, that hell is a place and a condition of degrees of punishment.

3:19 Jesus speaks of some finding it more tolerable in the day of judgment, than of others. And the basis for this of course, is the judgment, the justice of God, and the, the basis upon which God will meet out the differing degrees of punishment, are the extent to which men abandon themselves to sin. Romans 2.5 speaks of those who treasure up wrath.

3:43 They've abandoned themselves to sin, and therefore will receive a greater weight of judgment. The second basis of this degree of punishment, is the influence our sin has had upon others. Our Lord repeats this again and again, where he says, Woe unto those by whom offenses, or occasions of sin come. And then in the last place, the degree of a man's light and privilege, will be the degree of his punishment in hell.

The Fifth Principle: Conscious, Endless Suffering

4:09 It should be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than for Capernaum and Bethsaida, because Bethsaida and Capernaum, had greater light, and greater privilege. Now we come this morning to the fifth, in this series of studies, and the principle that I want to set before you, that is so clearly stamped upon the face of our Lord's teaching, is this, that hell is a place and a condition, of conscious, endless suffering, misery, and woe. There are many who find themselves unable to escape, or twist the force of the biblical language, on the first four points. But they are found to balk at this fifth point.

4:53 They will acknowledge that hell is a place and condition, of unspeakable misery, torment, and woe, because they can't erase the words, wailing, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, unquenchable fire. They will acknowledge that soul and body will suffer, because our Lord says, soul and body shall be destroyed in hell. They will acknowledge that hell is a place of divine retribution, because they cannot escape the words, anger, wrath, vengeance. They will even acknowledge that there will be degrees of punishment, because the scripture is so obvious.

5:24 But when it comes to this fifth principle, in the teaching of our Lord, that that condition of unspeakable misery, torment, and woe, for soul and body, as divine retribution, in degrees of punishment, when they are confronted with the teaching that this suffering is conscious, and eternal, and unending, they dig their heels in and they say, no. Why? Is it because the language of the Bible forces a conclusion upon them, contrary to this statement? No.

5:58 Rather, by listening to the language of human wisdom, human sentiment, and human pride, they frame a notion, and then attempt to force that notion upon the Bible. Perhaps there is no doctrine so much hated and maligned and misrepresented, except it be the doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of God, as this aspect of the doctrine of hell, that the suffering of the damned is conscious and is eternal. Next week, the Lord willing, I shall deal, with some of these attempts to reject the biblical teaching. Restorationism, annihilationism, universalism, all of these attempts

6:40 to somehow tone down the teaching of Scripture. But I'm not going to deal in a negative way this morning. That will come next week, God willing. But I want today to convey the positive evidence that the suffering of hell is conscious and is eternal.

6:58 Mr. Sterrick mentioned something that was so apropos this morning. When he said that a man who's been brought as the disciples were to the place of subjection to the authority of Christ, even though they cannot understand or grasp the weight of his words, when he says, will you go away? They say, Lord, we can't.

7:15 We don't understand. There's much we cannot comprehend. But you have the words of eternal life. We must cling to you and to your truth, for there is no other course open to us.

7:26 And I confess that as I've tried to meditate and think upon this aspect of truth, there is but one truth. There is one thing that holds me to it and that drives me to preach it. It is that my conscience is held captive to the Word of God. No other reason.

7:43 I would be some kind of a fiend who was fit for a place there on Fairview Avenue in Verona if I sat in a corner somewhere and concocted a doctrine of eternal punishment. But when that doctrine is forced upon us by the Scriptures to twist the Scriptures to any other doctrine, the doctrine is to play the fool and to be wiser than God.

Evidence from Words Describing Hell's Duration

8:09 Now, how should we lay out the evidence of Scripture? I will attempt to do so this morning in a threefold manner. I want to set before you, first of all, the words used to describe the duration of hell. Does the Bible use any adjectives or adverbs to describe the duration of hell?

8:28 Secondly, I want us to look at the figures employed that touch on the duration of hell and then, thirdly, the explicit statements of Scripture which touch upon the duration of hell. The words used, the figures employed, and then the explicit statements. First of all, then, what words are used to describe the nature of hell as far as duration is concerned? Quoting just at random, listen to these words.

8:58 Everlasting fire, Matthew 18.8. Eternal fire, Matthew 25. Eternal punishment, Matthew 25.46.

9:11 2 Thessalonians 1.8 and 9. Everlasting or eternal destruction. Revelation 14.11.

9:19 The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and forever. The words used in these passages and in many others are the words Ion, the Greek word Ion, and the Greek word Ionios. And their Hebrew equivalents are, are used in the Old Testament. Now, the question is this.

9:39 What do those words properly mean in their natural and most normal usage? And any lexicographer, that is, a man who traffics in seeking to understand the meaning of words, if you will turn to any lexicon dealing with the meaning of these words, their Hebrew equivalents, or these Greek words, you will find that the normal, most natural meaning of the words is to denote that, which is endless, that which is without termination, that which is eternal. Quoting from one of God's servants, summarizing the teaching of this, Ionios is used in the New Testament 66 times.

10:22 51 times of the happiness of the righteous. In other words, the life they have is Ionios life. Dealing, of course, with quality of life, but one of the unique things about that quality is its duration. It shall be forever.

10:39 Two times of the duration of God and His glory. God is called the Ionios God, the everlasting God. Six other times where there is no doubt as to its meaning being endless. Seven times of the punishment of the wicked.

10:55 Ion is used 95 times, 55 times of unlimited duration, 31 times of duration that has limits, 9 times to denote the duration of the wicked. The plain and usual meaning is that which is endless without termination. So, when we find eternal life described, these are the words used. The rich young ruler comes to Jesus in Matthew 19, 16 and says, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

11:26 Matthew 25, 46, the righteous shall go into eternal life. John 3, 16, should not perish, but have eternal or everlasting life. These are the words used. These are the words used to describe God.

11:39 Revelation 4, 9 and 10. He is called the God who liveth forever and forever. The Father is specifically called this kind of a God in Romans 16. And in verse 26 we read, but now is manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God, the Ionios God, the everlasting God, the God who has no, the beginning and who has no ending.

12:10 It's used of the Son in Revelation 1 and verse 18. He says, I am alive and was dead and behold I am alive unto the ages of the ages. I'm alive forever. It's used of the Spirit in Hebrews 9, 14, who through the eternals offered himself unto God.

12:34 I want you to see in the book of the Revelation by just contrasting, in three sets of passages, how these words have this plain and obvious meaning of speaking of duration that has no end. If it doesn't have that meaning, then John has deliberately confused people. No, the Holy Ghost has, for he inspired the words of John as he wrote the book of the Revelation. Will you contrast first of all Revelation 11, 15 with Revelation 14, 11.

13:06 11, 15. The seventh angel sounded, and there followed great voices in heaven and they said, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. And the marginal reading, your footnote if you have an ASV says, unto the ages of the ages. There is that phrase to speak of an unending reign of Jesus Christ.

13:37 Now in chapter 14 and verse 11, the exact same terminology is used of the suffering of people who've been cast into the place where God's wrath is meted out upon them. Verse 11, and the smoke of their torment goeth up forever and ever. Notice, not the smoke of their annihilation. The smoke of their torment, which is conscious pain, goeth up forever and forever and they have no rest day nor night.

14:09 It doesn't say they have no existence. That would be the way an annihilationist would read the passage. They have no rest day nor night. They that worship the beast in his image, whoso receiveth the mark of his name.

14:23 So see the contrast? In 11.15, a reign that is forever and ever, conscious torment that is forever and ever. Now contrast, please.

14:34 Revelation 15.7, Revelation 15.7, with 19.3.

14:47 15.7 says, And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth, here we are, forever and forever. God is described as the God who lives, who exists, who goes on forever and forever. Revelation 19.3 says,

15:09 Speaking of the judgment that God has brought upon that which is symbolically called the harlot, and the second time they say hallelujah, speaking of the redeemed, and her smoke, that is the smoke of that which is born, the judgment of God, goeth up forever and forever. And then the last contrast, Revelation 22.5,

15:34 There shall be night no more, and they need no light of the lamp, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign, speaking of the redeemed, forever and forever, here is the picture of a reign with Christ without end. We shall be with him forever. The great heaven of heavens to the child of God. Contrast that with chapter 20 and verse 10.

15:59 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night forever and forever. The bliss of the redeemed forever and ever. The torment of the dead, and according to Matthew 25.41, the same hell into which the devil goes, that prepared for the devil and his angels is the hell to which the wicked go.

16:26 And here we see the words used forever and forever. So when these words are used to describe God, the life of the redeemed,

16:37 the life of those or the existence of those apart from Christ, there is no question that they mean endless duration. Now listen carefully. Occasionally the words are used figuratively. And they're used figuratively to speak of that which has permanence.

16:55 And that's why they can be used figuratively. Because there is a true eternity in the words. When you want to describe something that has great permanence, the biblical writers occasionally use these words. So in the psalm, I mean in Genesis 49.26,

17:12 you have this phrase, the everlasting hills. Does that mean that the hills, the hills are going to be there forever and ever in a strict eternity? Of course not. We know that the world as we now know it is going to be consumed with fire.

17:25 There should be the new heavens and the new earth. A reconstructed earth. But the figure is obvious to anyone who reads it. It's a figure used in constantly in our own language interchange and in poetry.

17:37 Because there is a true eternity, when you say the everlasting hills, you mean hills that will last as long as hills can last. It's used of slaves who bind themselves to their master. It's Exodus 21.6, and it says that the slave shall serve forever.

17:53 What does that mean? As long as he has been, he'll be a slave. That's why Paul could say to Philemon, take back Onesimus, that he may be with you forever. What did he mean?

18:03 That forever he was going to be in that house? No, but as long as he has been, he will be with you. And everyone says and acknowledges, of course, sometimes the words figuratively, poetically mean that which cannot have, that strict eternity of duration, but in their natural, most obvious, most frequent use, they mean that which is endless. Or we have no word in the Bible to describe God as far as duration.

18:31 We have no word to describe the duration of the bliss in heaven. These are the words that are used. And if they do not mean a strict eternity for God and for the bliss of the redeemed, simply because we would avoid the teaching that there is a true and strict eternity of hell, we're denuded. We're not fit of any word which has this meaning.

18:51 The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4.18, While we look not on the things that are seen, for the things that are seen are temporal, that is, they are bounded by time, but the things that are not seen are eternal. There the contrast is, whatever is temporal with that which is eternal. One is bounded by this age.

Evidence from Figures Employed for Hell's Duration

19:12 The other has no bounds the age to come. And so, when our Lord, uses these words to describe the duration of the punishment of hell, he meant to teach us this awesome doctrine that the suffering and the punishment of hell is conscious and unending punishment. Now, consider with me the figures that our Lord employs.

19:36 Let's go back to those two initial figures that we started with in our first message. Outer darkness and the symbol of fire. Does our Lord in any way give hints as to the time period of that outer darkness? Yes.

19:48 He says in Matthew 22.13, a very interesting thing.

19:55 Using again the figure of that day when a person would be cast out of the banquet house. In this instance, it's the man, Matthew 22 and verse 13, who did not have a wedding garment.

20:11 And in the oriental culture, if such a one should appear, he would not just be thrown out of doors, for then he might break back in through a window. But notice, notice what it says. When they find the man who is without the wedding garment, verse 13, the king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot. Now, what happens when you bind a man with his hands and with his feet?

20:33 He is rendered what? Immobile. So that wherever you put him, he stays. It's the picture of permanence.

20:43 And our Lord says, this is what happens to those who do not have the wedding garment, who are not found clothed in the righteousness of Christ. They are not, just thrown out into a temple state. They are bound hand and foot and cast into this state and condition of eternal night. So that Jude, picking up this very thought, says in Jude 13, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

21:12 And there's no escaping the word we confronted again. I tell you, dear ones, those little words put together cause me trembling as I speak them. Blackness of darkness forever.

21:31 Hand and foot. And then cast. So the figure our Lord employs with outer darkness speaks of permanence of duration. And then the figure of fire, this oft-repeated figure, our Lord calls it in the first place eternal fire.

21:49 Notice Matthew 18 and verse 8.

21:54 And if thy hand or thy foot causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee, it is good for thee to enter into life maimed or halt, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. The same word used that we've been studying. Ionios, fire. Fire that as far as duration is concerned is unending.

22:18 Matthew 25, 41, you have the same phrase used. Now follow me closely. I want to do a little English grammar. The word fire is a what?

22:29 A noun. The word eternal, is a what? Adjective. Now follow closely.

22:33 Here's what I've seen people do. I mentioned this earlier. I want to repeat it. I saw a man one time say, now look, here's my paper, and he lit a match to it.

22:41 He said, see, it's burned up. Therefore, it is burned up for eternity. It'll never be a piece of paper again. That's what the Bible means when it says eternal fire.

22:49 Wait a minute, you've played a verbal trick on me. That makes this passage say, into the fire, the effect of which is eternal. That isn't what the passage says. The passage says, the fire is eternal.

23:02 Not the effect. The adjective describes the noun.

23:09 And so, for my friend's illustration to work, he better take his piece of paper and have it held in his hands and burn. One day, two days, three, five, ten, a million, millenniums. Then he's rightly illustrated what eternal fire means. Don't let anyone play any little verbal tricks on you to avoid this biblical doctrine by burning up a piece of paper and saying, see, it's burned up for eternity.

23:31 That's all the Bible means. Wood to God. That's all it meant. That's all it meant.

23:34 But our Lord says it's eternal fire.

23:49 And then he calls it unquenchable fire.

23:54 John uses the term in Matthew 3, 12. He speaks of the Lord Jesus. Here's his concept of Jesus. And would to God this concept would come again to the church of Christ.

24:07 And I say to all of you future ministers of the gospel, may this be the Christ you preach. The Christ of grace and of judgment. Of mercy. Of mercy that cannot be fathomed.

24:19 Of judgment that cannot be plumbed. For when John speaks of him, he says in verse 11 of Matthew 3, I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance, but there cometh after me one who is mightier than I, whose shoes I'm not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit. Notice, he will be a Savior who pours out all the gracious influences of the Holy Ghost.

24:47 That's mercy. That's mercy. The Holy Spirit who alone can illuminate the mind, who can regenerate the heart, break the chains that bind us, give us to see the glory of God in the face of Christ. Oh, how we should bless God for a Savior who sends forth in copious measures the Spirit.

25:07 But ah, listen, He not only does a baptizing work of the Spirit, but also of fire, whose fan is in His hand. He will thoroughly He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor. And He will gather His wheat into the garner, but the chaff will He burn up with unquenchable fire. And that word quench is exactly the same word used in Matthew 12, 20, where it speaks of our Lord that He will not quench the burning flax, the smoking flax.

25:38 There's the little wick that's smoking. Someone alluded to it in their prayer this morning. There's still a little flame. It says He won't put it out.

25:45 He'll nurture it. This is the word used, with a little what we call alpha privative, which means not. It is not able to be put out. It is unquenchable.

25:56 It will exist for all eternity. For what purpose? To do its work of judgment upon those whom it falls.

The Figure of Unending Consumption: The Worm and the Fire

26:06 So by the words our Lord uses, He teaches that the duration of the suffering of hell is eternal. By the figures He employs, outer darkness, fire that is eternal, that is unquenchable. And now, you consider with me the third, and as far as I am concerned, the most almost crude, shocking figure. And it's the figure of unending consumption in the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

26:35 If you have an ASV, you will notice that several verses in Mark 9 are omitted which use this phrase. But there is no question as to the textual warrant for its use in verse 48. Mark 9, in verse 48. Back up to verse 47.

26:55 If thy eye cause thee to stumble, cast it out. It is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell. Now notice, where, in which place, it's a word of location, their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

27:20 What is this figure which our Lord uses? Because, because we are not Easterners, it's difficult for us many times to see the things that are most obvious. It wasn't until a few months ago that I understood this very simple figure. Everyone to whom our Lord spoke had seen human bodies destroyed two ways.

27:42 They had seen the maggots breed from the very carcass until the maggot does what? Consumes the flesh. And listen, when the flesh is all consumed, what happens to the maggot?

27:53 What happens to him? He dies. Why? He has nothing more to feed upon.

27:59 If that were not true, our world would be overrun with maggots.

28:04 So in all ordinary consumption of the body, when the body breeds worms, the worms swarm until they consume it, and having consumed it, they die.

28:16 Second way bodies are consumed is by cremation. The Jews had seen this. Out there in that valley of Hinnom, where the offal was thrown and where the dead bodies of dogs and the carcasses of criminals were thrown, they had seen what happened in an area where the fire burned brightly while consuming a carcass. When the carcass is consumed, what happens to the fire?

28:36 Lacking fuel to feed upon it. What? It dies. Oh, do you catch the horror of our Lord's figure?

28:44 He says, the true Gehenna,

28:48 the true lake of fire, is one where all who are cast into it will experience, notice, their worm dies not. Why? Because it has something to feed upon for all eternity. And the fire never goes out because it has something to feed upon for all eternity.

29:13 What more vivid figure could our Lord use to show the eternity of the duration of the punishment of hell? And everyone who says, as we'll see next week, that the words destroy and perish mean to annihilate and obliterate are twisting the word of God, doing violence to every usage of the figures of Christ. And listen, will bring upon themselves the judgment of God for lulling men to sleep with the hope that there will be mercy in the world beyond. For I repeat, annihilation is mercy.

29:47 Jesus said of a certain man, it were better that he had never been born. Why? If there were annihilation out there, he would say, it will be the same as if he had never been born. But he says, it would be better if he'd never been born.

30:03 If there is ultimate restoration, it is good for him that he has been born. For when he is born, he will be better. He will be better for what a monument of grace Judas will be. The one who killed Christ will ultimately be restored.

30:12 You see, to twist the scriptures on this doctrine is to do violence to passage after passage of the word of God. And so I submit that the words used teach the duration is eternal. The figures used, outer darkness for which men are bound, the fire which is eternal and unquenchable, the unending consumption of the worm and of the fire, they all unite to say the punishment and the suffering are eternal. Now consider in the last place the plain statements, the explicit statements which deal with the torments of the damned in hell.

Evidence from Explicit Statements of Scripture

30:52 Statements which speak of duration. And I read earlier the one in Revelation 14. I want to read it again in this light.

31:03 Notice of whom this is said, beginning with verse 9 of Revelation 14. And another angel, a third, followed them saying with a great voice, If any man, if any man worshipeth the beast in his image and receiveth the mark in his forehead or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. See that word again? Hell is the place where God's wrath is meted out.

31:27 It is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb and the smoke of their torment. And goeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day and night they that worship the beast and his image. What more explicit statement could there be to show that the duration is endless? Not enough to say forever and ever but it goes on to enlarge which means that day and night no rest, no rest.

32:03 Eternity will find them as the judgment leaves them. You have the similar phrase in Revelation 19, Revelation 19, 1 to 3. We'll not look at it. Revelation 20, 10.

32:16 The devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and they shall be tormented day and night forever and forever. And then that pivotal statement of our Lord in Matthew 25, 46. The text that has borne the weight of this doctrine in the midst of controversy that has stood unscathed against all of the pride of man who has attempted to somehow scrub out this teaching of Scripture. For Jesus says in Matthew 25, 46 and these shall go away into Ionian palissos into eternal punishment but the righteous into Ionian zoe eternal life.

33:01 And here you have the same word used. Eternal life. Eternal punishment. What is that life?

33:07 In quality it is the life of bliss. In duration it is endless. What is that punishment in quality? It is the horrors and agonies of the damned in duration.

33:19 It is unending. Explicit statement of our Lord. I mentioned to someone in my reading in preparation I found many of the theologians giving logical reasons for eternity as the duration of the punishment of hell. Using human reason and logic I have desisted from this and shall continue to do so and let the whole case stand on Holy Scripture.

Application: The Crowning Horror of Hell's Eternity

33:42 Now may I close this morning with several very personal and I trust by God's grace persuasive applications and exhortations. In the first place in the light of what we have studied I believe it's accurate to say that this biblical concept of the duration of hell is the crowning horror of the doctrine of hell.

34:09 It is the crowning horror of the doctrine of hell. As one servant of Christ has said this is the world's woe the hell of hells that its woe and hell are forever. After the sinners have been in hell millions and millions of years hell will be as much hell as it was at first. The fire that burns will never go out and the worm that gnaws will never die.

34:41 These things are three times repeated by our Lord and Savior in one chapter. It will be a lasting indeed an everlasting misery. It is everlasting punishment and everlasting fire. In all the sufferings that any of you have known you little kiddies when you've had a toothache there's always the hope that if you can't get to the dentist maybe the ache will stop or the aspirin will help.

35:06 Some of you adults who've known the inner pain to which physical pain cannot be compared there's always the hope as scripture says that though weeping may endure for the night joy cometh in the morning. And in every fall every fall every fall in the form of human suffering the man who lies upon his bed there at Mountainside Hospital today wracked with pain can look out his window and see the chirping of a bird. There's a pleasant sight. There's a pleasant sound.

35:30 There are pleasant memories of better days when he walked through the woods on a Sabbath.

35:36 But in hell none of this none of this our minds recoil from even the thought what will the reality be?

35:47 What will the reality be?

35:51 I tell you dear ones the hell of hell is its eternal duration.

Application: Hell's Eternity as a Means to Repentance

35:59 And if that thought can but somehow filter down into our hearts then it may be to us and this is the second point I want to make by way of application this biblical doctrine of the eternity of hell has often been the means to somehow break sin's spell and cause men to begin to take in earnest the call to repent and to believe the gospel. That's how it worked with Moses. For we read in he Hebrews 11 that when he was come to years he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. You see Moses sat down and did some calculating.

36:42 He sat down like an accountant and he put on the left hand side of the ledger all of sin's pleasures and he listed them in his mind. But after each one he had to put a parenthesis. Temple. Temple.

36:56 Temple. Temple. Temple. Temple.

36:59 On the other side of the ledger he put a word at the top. Sin's punishment. And next to each one he drew his line across. This pleasure.

37:09 Temple.

37:12 This sin. Pleasure. Temple. This sin.

37:18 Pleasure. Temple. Eternal. And when he came to the end and drew his line and added it up he said what have I if I have all of my senses satiated with every form of carnal pleasure it is temple and time plus time plus time plus time equals time.

37:40 But eternity plus eternity plus eternity plus eternity is eternity. I'll not play the fool. He turns his back upon Egypt and goes out to face suffering in his own flesh.

37:56 He turns lusts. He turns from human pride to turn from pomp and glory to walk with the people of God to suffer.

38:05 But he said I have no course because I've done my ledger work. My precious young people have you done your ledger work. May God help you to do some ledger work today. Shall I seek the sweetness from this sin for a few more days and drink the wine of God's wrath for that sin forever?

38:30 Shall I for a few days be nigh forever to make my calling and election sure today when I might enter hell tomorrow and grieve my busyness forever? Shall Christ be set before you as a willing and an able Savior only to be slighted and ignored when for all eternity some of you would give listen you would give everything to have just one Lord's Day morning

39:14 in the Trinity Baptist Church given back to you when your pastor looked you in the eye and with tears pled with you to repent pled with you to feel your price you would bark upon the you would give anything for a lover in that place where somebody you loved you preached to pled with you and treated with you and you bartered your soul for a pittance may God have mercy upon some of you who have come Sunday after Sunday week after week and you're sick wedded to your sins what will pride and roost my friend

39:59 if it won't be the preaching of hell to drive you and the glories of Christ to draw you out of you then it'll be the fires of hell to reveal your folly for all eternity you see the scripture says in Ecclesiastes 8 because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sons of men is emboldened to do evil you see if God were to cut men off every time they sin people say oh look at God he's a tyrant no mercy because he doesn't cut them off men say oh well God's easy God's easy he doesn't mean what he says

40:43 see Psalm 50 verses 21 and 22 God says when you did your evil because I didn't immediately judge you you thought I was like you that I forgot that I was overlooking but now listen to the words of God now consider this you that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver oh dear young people dear adults moms dads children this is not preacher's talk this is serious business you better judge God's future dealings by his past how many have rocked themselves to sleep and ended up in hell who said oh well I just trust God won't be quite that stern you'll be listen

41:28 you want to know what God will be like in the future you look and see what he was like in the past you look at that world some tell us the population of the world of Noah's day had reached tremendous proportions they talk about up into the millions of millions up into the high figures how did God feel about that generation my friend this many were spared that many you want to know what God will do in the future my friend listen they tell us in 30 years there'll be 5 billion something like that if God finds that many who've repented and fled to the sun the earth shall be consumed in his wrath God will be in the future just like he was in the past you go out in the plains of Sodom and Gomorrah

42:12 a whole city and there's a servant of God pleading Lord if they're 50 40 30 10 God says no just a little handful and Jude tells us that what happened there is a type it's a figure it's a preview of that which will God God will do in the future may God be pleased to use this doctrine to shake some of you loose from the folly the terrible course in which you're walking some of you no open profession at all others of you your profession listen it wouldn't take you by the first second of the day of judgment all you've got is a name that you're alive but you're dead your heart and your affections your time your interests are wedded to the world to the flesh to the devil

Application: Wonder at God's Mercy and Urgency for the Lost

42:56 and you merely name the name of Christ and oh dear child of God what should this doctrine do for you and for me it ought to fill us with wonder and awe at the mercy revealed to us Jesus is spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 1 10 is the one who delivers us from the wrath to come to be saved from hell is mercy enough but to be saved unto all the glories of heaven who who can begin to express the thanks that he owes to God scripture says look to the rock from whence you were hewn and the pit from whence you were digged dear ones we need more often to meditate to be still to put our ear to the walls

43:41 of hell and hear the groanings of the damned and search for the sound of our own voice and when we don't hear it say why why why why is my not is not my voice joining the chorus of the damned and the answer will come in two words sovereign a debtor to mercy alone not only should it fill us with wonder and awe at the mercy of God it ought to do a little something to stir us with compassion and urgency for the lost do we really believe this then we should be able to say with Paul knowing the terror of the Lord

44:23 we persuade men and this is the point at which I confess I feel most keenly the sin and the coldness of my own heart a man who believes that when you die you die as a dog he's got reason to be indifferent the professing Christian and there are some who in the judgment of charity I would have to call Christians who believe the heresy of annihilationism if I don't see them tearful and burdened and pleading with God for sinners and pleading with men to repent I can understand it what is there to be dreaded if you're going to be sent back into non-existence you won't know any more about it than you knew before you were born there's nothing to dread nothing to fear but oh dear ones we who say we believe the teaching of our Lord

45:07 what kind of stocks and stones are we that we are not found pleading with God for our children listen mom and dad you have within your power given by God something the devil doesn't have in his power the ability to populate hell never forget it all the devil can do is poach on somebody else's property you can create the property and some of you spend all your time providing for shoes and stockings and clothes and underwear and food no time to plead with God to save your children no time to catechize them no time to gather them daily morning and night to instruct them

45:52 no time for this making money to provide for them do something for them my friend one day in the day of judgment they'll rise up and they'll turn the accusing finger and say mom dad you did everything for me but prepare me for this hour and I am confident if my kids don't have the fanciest clothes and they don't have the fanciest toys on the block and they don't live in the fanciest home and if they've got some threadbare furniture I'm confident in the day of judgment that they stand with me and say dad thank you for living before me in a way that I knew these things were real thank you dad

46:36 for taking time to pray with me to instruct me to pray for me and I say to them son, daughter how do you feel now about that threadbare couch that made you a little embarrassed to have your kids in how do you feel about those shoes that were a little out of style what do you think they'd say they'll look you in the eye and say you're kidding what's all that gonna be red

Concluding Exhortation: Seek Mercy in Christ

47:09 dark and dreadful is the place where men no longer see God's face where pain can have no end there fiery waves shall ever roll and conscience change hides the sinking soul while memories torments rend from hope of heaven by sinning driven the anguish of the unforgiven what mortal tongue can tell remorse despair their lot shall be eternal storm sweep o'er that sea

47:53 no rest no peace in hell with thee praise God tis not too late thy doom's not fixed nor sealed thy doom's not fixed thy fate salvation's offered thee repent at once there's mercy here today high heaven will hear thy prayer and set thee fully free may God grant that you'll seek mercy in that blessed fountain of all mercy the Lord Jesus crucified buried risen and exalted for he came to deliver men from the wrath to God are you delivered I'm not asking if you've got a few notions floating around in your head about Christ and about the gospel

48:38 I'm asking you do you have biblical grounds to believe that you have indeed repented and laid hold of Christ my friend do you have any crack in your certainty have you been shaken a little bit this morning say boy am I real don't you just sab that over with the dreariness that'll come from a full stomach in the next hour when you go home cherish that little question mark press it home get along with God open up the Bible and say Lord am I indeed ready and let the Bible judge your state let the scriptures evaluate your profession and give yourself no rest until you know that you're hidden in the Lord Jesus and can say in the words of that great Moravian hymn

49:21 bold shall I stand in thy great day bold in a day like this you crazy no for who ought to my charge shall lay fully absolved from these I am from sin and fear and death and shame how Jesus thy blood and righteousness my beauty are my glorious dress midst flaming worlds in these arrayed with joy shall I lift up my head are you clothed in the righteousness of Christ let us pray