False Teaching of Universalism

The Urgency of Warning Against Eternal Destruction

0:02 When I first came into this area, I was walking on a hill, and I saw a gravel pit fall and bury three human beings alive. I lifted up my voice for help so loud that I was heard in the town below at a distance of near a mile. Help came, and the sufferers were rescued from death.

0:26 No one called me a fanatic then. And when I see eternal destruction ready to fall on poor sinners and about to entomb them irrevocably and call aloud on them to escape, shall I then be called a fanatic? No, I am no fanatic in so doing. And I call on thee with all earnestness to take refuge which is in the gospel set before thee.

0:58 I believe I can enter into the sentiments of that preacher. Let us pray. Let a man be moved to the point of near distraction in the face of physical calamity, and no one calls him a fanatic or an enthusiast. Anything less, they say, is a revelation that he is a heartless fiend.

1:19 But let a man truly believe the clear statements of Holy Scripture concerning the future of the impenitent and begin to call upon men, reason with them, argue with them, entreat them with passion and with tears. And suddenly he is an enthusiast. He is overly negative. There is no reason for such a response but the blindness of the human heart to its own sin and to its own danger.

Review of Christ's Teaching on Hell: Five Principles

1:47 And so, in faithfulness to God and in love to your souls, I have been setting before you in these past Lord's Day mornings the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ on this subject, the future of impenitent sinners. It is the meek, lowly, compassionate Son of God who speaks, more often and with greater detail of the horrors of hell than all the other mouthpieces of Scripture put together. So we must take the Jesus of the Bible and his hell or create another Jesus without hell, but when you've created another Jesus, he's not the Jesus who saves his people from their sins. And there is no other alternative open to anyone who takes seriously, the word of God. Thus far in our teaching, or in our study of the Lord's teaching on the subject of hell, we've set before you five principles or five aspects of what our Lord says concerning hell. I shall only give them to you and then move on to our study this morning. Our Lord taught in the first place that hell is a place and a condition of unspeakable, unalleviated misery, torment and woe.

3:05 He uses the figures of outer darkness and of eternal fire, both of which will result in wailing, the highest pitch of human agony, and gnashing of teeth, the highest expression of frustration, anger, and bitterness. Secondly, our Lord taught that hell is a place and a condition where body and soul shall suffer punishment for sin. Matthew 10 in verse 28, since the whole man was engaged in breaking the laws of God, the whole man shall bear the judgment and the wrath of God. Thirdly, our Lord clearly teaches that hell is a place and a condition where men will suffer punishment for their sin. The purpose of hell is divine retribution. The concepts that are poured into the teaching of our Lord are the concepts of wrath, of punishment, and of vengeance. The word used of God's discipline of his children is never used concerning hell. Whom the Lord loves,

4:13 he chastens, and that word chasten is never used of hell. It's the instruction of a loving father carried out with a rod. Never is it used of hell. But the concepts are that of pure wrath, of divine retribution, God meting out his just anger upon impenitent sinners.

4:33 And then the fourth concept, in our Lord's teaching is this, that hell is a place and a condition where there will be degrees of punishment. All will be perfectly miserable. All shall wail and gnash their teeth, but some shall bear a greater measure of misery. And our Lord teaches this clearly in such terms as these. It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment. He who knew his Lord's will and did it not shall be beaten with many stripes. He who knew not and did not shall be beaten with few. And then last week we considered the fifth and perhaps the crowning horror of our Lord's teaching, that hell is a place and a condition of conscious, endless suffering, misery, and woe. And we saw this in our Lord's

5:26 teaching in a threefold way. First of all, because of the words used to describe the duration of that suffering. The Hebrew word olam, the Greek words ion and ionios are used of the duration of God. They are used of the duration of the bliss of the redeemed. And if they do not have a valid literal meaning as endlessness, there are no words in the Hebrew or the Greek to express those concepts, neither of God nor of heaven, if those are not the words used. And that is their meaning with reference to hell. Secondly, because of the figures our Lord employs. He speaks of eternal fire, unquenchable fire, of a consumption which never ends. Their worm, that which consumes them, never dies.

6:17 Why? Because that which the worm consumes is never dead. It continues to exist, and whatever the worm is, if it's the gnawing of conscience or remorse, whatever it is, our Lord says their worm shall never die, and the fire shall never be quenched. And then you have in the third place, the explicit statements where the duration of hell is described. The smoke of their torment shall ascend up forever and ever, and they, those people that have existence, shall have no rest, day nor night, but shall be tormented day and night, forever and forever. And so if words come to us with anything other than a deliberate attempt to deceive us, these words convey the fifth and most important meaning of the Hebrew word olam. The most terrible aspect of our Lord's teaching on the subject of hell, that it is conscious, never-ending, eternal, misery, suffering, and woe. Now today, in keeping with my promise

Introduction to Major Departures: Universalism and Annihilationism

7:18 of last week, I wish to deal with the major departures from this cardinal doctrine, which in one form or another have plagued the professing church through the centuries. Just as the biblical doctrine of the person of Christ has been attacked by the church, the biblical doctrine of the Christ has been attacked at various periods in the history of the church, Arius in the fourth century, Sibelius and others, just as the sinfulness of man has been attacked by Pelagius and then by Sosinius and others in the history of the church, so likewise this doctrine, so offensive to human nature, has its own list of those who have opposed it and sought to scrub it from the pages of the word of God. This morning I am not attempting to deal with those who deny the doctrine of the eternity of the punishments of hell on purely non-biblical grounds, what I would call the rationalist who says, I cannot think of such a concept, I cannot conceive of it, and therefore since my mind is the know-all and the end-all of all truth, I reject it. I'm not dealing with such. If there are any here this morning, I have no word for you. But there are those within the circle

8:32 of the professing Christian church who have and who do not believe in the doctrine of hell, who do deny this fifth aspect of our Lord's teaching, and they attempt to justify that denial by the very scriptures which teach this principle. And it's with that group that I wish to deal this morning. Now there are all kinds and different brands and first and second cousins twice removed and all the rest, but when you take all of the doctrines that deny this fifth point of our Lord's teaching, that hell is a place and a condition for all of us, you can group them under two headings. There are really but two fathers to all of these little children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of heresy. One is the father of universalism, and the other is Mr. Annihilationism. Now what is universalism? Simply stated, universalism,

9:31 and it has many sons, many daughters, many grandchildren, but they all have this family characteristic. Follow me closely now. Simply stated, universalism is the doctrine that sooner or later all men will be saved. Put it more simply, hell, if there's to be, one will be empty. That's universalism.

9:53 Some say a longer period of time, some say a shorter period, but ultimately everyone will enjoy everything that's described in the book of the Revelation concerning the redeemed. They'll look upon his face, his name will be upon their forehead, they'll enjoy everything that's described in the book of the Revelation concerning the redeemed. Enjoy his presence, no pain, no sickness, no sorrow. Every rational creature, including the devil and the fallen angels, every rational creature will one day know the delights of conscious, unbroken communion with God and the bliss of heaven. That's universalism.

10:23 Now, on the other side, the second great father who has, again, been very prolific in bearing children of all kinds of heresies is that of Annihilationism. Now, simply stated, this is the doctrine that sooner or later all men who remain in rebellion will cease to exist. Hell, then, is not so much a place that will be emptied and send its inhabitants to heaven. It's like a great lion that will consume all of its objects and take them back into nothingness. So, simply stated, Annihilationism and its many forms is the teaching that sooner or later all the impenitent will go back into a state of nothingness. It'll be exactly the way it was before they were conceived in the womb of the mother or ever created by God in the place of the devil and fallen angels. To summarize the teaching of these two groups, and we're going to enlarge on it in a bit and set it in a biblical context, I want you to turn with me to Matthew 26. And this is all I'm attempting to do now is

Refuting Universalism and Annihilationism with Matthew 26:24

11:42 to summarize the basic concepts of Universalism and Annihilationism. Then what we're going to do is to summarize the basic concepts of Universalism and Annihilationism. We set forth the supposed scriptural basis for each, set forth the scriptural reputation for each, and then the Lord willing, next week, show the practical results that come from denying the eternity of the punishments of hell. Matthew 26, and I read now, beginning with verse 24.

12:11 Our Lord is speaking, and he says, The Son of Man goeth, even as it is written of him. But woe, unto that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed. Yes, I must die. It is written, it is decreed of God. But woe be to that man, of course, referring to Judas, who is the instrument of my betrayal. Now notice what our Lord says about him. Good were it for that man if he had not been born. Our Lord uses this terrible word that he uses to describe the son of man. He says, I must die. I must die. I must die. I must die. I must die. I must die. He says this infrequently, but when he uses it, it comes with terrible weight. He uses it with the Pharisees. Woe unto you. Woe unto you. It speaks of the awful impending judgment of God.

13:01 And he says in this case, a woe upon a certain man. It were better for him that somehow he could go back into a state of non-existence. It were good for him that he had never been born in the light of what awaits him in the world to come. Now, universalism would have to rewrite this text and say, it is good for that man that he has been born. For, if Judas should even spend a billion years, that's a finite time, a long time, but a finite time, in hell, but ultimately look upon the face of Jesus as a redeemed man, what greater monument of grace would there be than Judas? Who would have grounds to have a greater sense of joy and wonder at the grace of God in heaven, even more than the devil himself? For the devil did not directly put Jesus to death. Judas was that key instrument. The devil put it into his heart, yes, but he did it. You see,

14:02 Judas would have the greatest measure of joy because he had been saved from the greatest sin. And the universalist would have to write this text, it is good for that man that he was born, for he will ultimately become the greatest monument of grace. Jesus didn't say it. He said, it's good for him that he had never been born.

14:20 Universalism can't handle a text like this. What does the annihilationist say? He says this, woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It will be the same with him as if he had never been born. If the woe is annihilation, to go back into a state of non-existence, then that makes it equal to having never been born. Jesus would have to say, woe to that man, it will be the same with him. It would be the same with him as if he had never been born. It would be the same with him as if he had never been born.

14:53 as if he had never been born, but that is not what he says.

15:00 And the annihilationist cannot face a text like this. Oh, he can handle it. Oh, sure.

15:07 He can get around it. But we're not to get around texts of Scripture. We're to bow to them. I have seen the Jehovah's Witness get around John 20, 28, when Thomas falls at the feet of Christ and says, You know how he gets around it?

15:35 Thomas was so surprised, he said, Oh, my Lord and my God! He was cursing. He was so excited, he said, Oh, my Lord and my God! It's funny, Jesus didn't interpret that way.

15:46 He didn't say, Blessed are you, Thomas, because you've taken my name in vain. He says, Blessed are you because you believed, what? Who I am. Pictures that set forth truth.

16:02 You'll keep walking around, bound them until you walk into the hell you deny is taught in Scripture. That's why Peter says, The ignorant and the unstable twist the Scriptures to their own destruction and advance a jig around text until they enter the fires of the dead. So, you see, a little child armed with a little text like this can stand against all the sophistry and all the apparent weight of the great doctrines of universalism and anarchy. Well, so much for a broad overview.

Universalism's Supposed Scriptural Basis: Three Pillars

16:38 Now will you think with me as first of all we take universalism and set forth the supposed scriptural basis for it. Because we're only dealing with people who try to justify these positions from the Scripture. Where does the universalist extract his doctrine from Scripture? May I suggest that all of his extractions focus on three things.

17:01 And I want you to follow closer with me. I'm giving you sometimes in two minutes what it's taken me hours and hundreds of pages of reading. to get to. So please stick with me.

17:10 First of all, the universalist finds a supposed basis for his position that all men will ultimately be saved in what he conceives the efficacy of the death of Christ. Secondly, the extent of the plan of redemption. And thirdly, the effects of the pain of hell. Three things then.

17:29 Here's the three pillars upon which universalism says our house is built. The efficacy of the death of Christ. Here are some of the texts that the universalists love to park on. Build tents around.

17:43 John 12, 32. Speaking of his own death, Jesus said, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. And the next verse says, This spake he signifying by what death he should die. There the universalist says it's clear.

17:59 Isn't it clear? If I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto me. Was he lifted up? Yes or no?

18:07 I hope you believe. You sing it. Lifted up was he to die. It is finished was his cry.

18:11 The universalist says, All right. If he was lifted up on behalf of all men, all men will be drawn. 1 Timothy 4, 5 and 6 is another great parking ground and camping ground for the universalist. Speaking of Jesus Christ who gave himself a ransom for all, the testimony to be born in due time.

18:32 And they say, See? See? In due time. After some eons of punishment, punishment in hell, this testimony will come to light that Jesus Christ ransomed every last fallen son of Adam, every last rational creature, the devil and fallen angels as well.

18:50 And in due time, hell will be emptied. Heaven will be populated with all rational creatures. So their view of the efficacy of the death of Christ is one pillar upon which their doctrine rests. Second one is what they conceive to be the extent of the plan, the plan of redemption.

19:09 What is God's plan of redemption? What does it envision? And their favorite passages are passages like 1 Corinthians 15, 24 to 28. And I'm not building straw dummies.

19:23 If you get a good book written by a universalist, here are the texts that he will seek to expound. 1 Corinthians 15, 24 to 28. Then come at the end when he, Jesus, shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father. When he shall have abolished, notice, all rule, all authority, and power.

19:44 For he must reign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. For he hath put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he saith all things are put in subjection, it is evident that it is accepted who did subject all things unto him.

20:00 And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things, unto him that God may be all in all. And they say, see, here's the broad scope, the extent of the plan of redemption. It envisages a state in which God will be all in all to all rational creatures, and there's no place in this vision, they say, for the concept of a prison of the damned with groans and cries and misery and woe for all eternity. They say, no, the extent of the plan of redemption utterly precludes such an idea.

20:39 Romans 5.18 is a parallel passage. As in Adam, all die, so in Christ, you see, the gift of righteousness comes upon all. Ephesians 1.10 is another favorite passage of the Universalist under this heading. Listen as I read Ephesians 1 and verse 10. Unto a dispensation of the fullness of times to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, the things upon the earth, in him, and then he goes on to develop the thought. And then you have a passage like Acts 3.21 that speaks of the restitution of all things. And they say, see, all things are going to be restored. One of the children of Universalism is what's called Restorationism. After a period of suffering, everything will be restored.

21:24 Now, please don't go to sleep with me now. You may meet a valid, bona fide Universalist someday. What are you going to say when he brings these texts? Isn't that what it says?

21:32 God's going to be all in all. Everything's going to be restored. Everything's going to be summed up in Christ. That's what the Bible says.

21:38 It says, we believe the Bible. That's what they'll tell you. Third thing, and here they're really short-changed when they try to find some Bible texts for it. The effects of the pain of hell.

21:51 And I've yet to find any text that can be brought forward to show. But they believe this, that the pains of hell will be more persuasive than the overtures of the gospel here on earth. When hell was threatened, men weren't convinced. Therefore, they didn't repent and believe.

22:07 But when hell becomes a reality, they say, hey, that preacher wasn't lying. This is the truth. I'd better get out of here as soon as possible. Then grace is offered and they're willing now to accept the salvation of God purchased by Jesus Christ.

Refuting Universalism: The Particularity of Redemption

22:19 And so the effects of the pains of hell to the universalists will be sanctifying. They will be more powerful than the operations of grace here through the gospel. Well, how do we refute the position of the annihilationists? Well, let's take their points one by one.

22:37 The efficacy of the death of Christ and the efficacy of the death of Christ At this point, we say to the universalists, you are absolutely right when you say that all for whom the Savior died shall, must, ultimately come in to the blessings of the death that he died for them.

22:59 You see, the universalist is right when he has a biblical concept of the efficacy of the death of Christ. Christ did not die simply to make some people savable. He died for the sake of Christ. He died to actually save people.

23:14 Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall make salvation possible for his people? No. He shall what? Save his people from their sin.

23:28 The universalist is right when he has a concept of the efficacy of the death of Christ. But, now listen carefully, though scripture teaches that the benefits of Christ's death are freely and sincerely offered to all, there was in the mind and heart of the Father and of the Son a distinct design in the offering up of the Son of God upon the cross. It is a redemption which effects redemption for all on whose behalf it was made. But it is particular in its design.

24:04 Jesus said, I lay down my life for the sheep. And in that same chapter he faced some people and said, you are not my sheep.

24:15 Jesus said in John 17 of that select group that the Father had given him, the others he calls the world. He says, I don't pray for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me. And for their sakes I sanctify myself. That is, I set myself apart as an offering and a sacrifice.

24:35 Why? That they may be sanctified. Not that it might be possible for them to be sanctified. He says, I set myself apart on their behalf that they may be set apart from their sins unto God by the virtue of my death and my sacrifice.

24:53 Ephesians 5 says, Christ loved the church and gave himself for the church that he might make it sanctifiable. No, but that he might actually sanctify it and actually present it to himself. And so passage after passage which speaks explicitly of that particular design in the death, of Christ, then we realize that Christ's death is not an isolated event in the teaching of Scripture, but it is one event in the great concept of the triune God working out redemption on behalf of man. The Father in eternity set his love upon a people, the rich biblical doctrine of election, chosen in him before the foundation of the world. The Son comes forth from the Father, the Son of God, the Son of God, the Son of God, conscious that he has, I say it reverently, an agreement with the Father. He speaks of it often in the book of John. He says, I know, Father, that you gave a people unto me in John 17.

25:57 I have finished the work you gave me to do. I have given eternal life to as many as you gave me. He speaks in John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me. And so the Son comes forth from the Father with that peculiar, that distinct people, his elect upon his heart.

26:13 When he goes to that cross, he goes with a specific design of bearing in his own body the full measure of the wrath of God that was due to his people. Now he's ascended to the right hand of the Father and the Holy Spirit is sent forth to apply with power what was purchased in blood in keeping with the purpose of the Father. The purpose of the Father, the purchase of the Son, the power of the Spirit effecting the Father. Effecting salvation in the economy of God.

26:47 That's the teaching of the Word of God. And the same Bible that teaches us that there was a peculiar design in the death of Christ and that he shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied also teaches that the Holy Spirit applies that salvation this side of death in the effectual calling. There's not a verse in the Bible that says the Holy Spirit brings to me the benefits of the death of Christ the other side of the grave. He introduces them to it this side and that work is completed the other side but if they aren't introduced to it now they have no grounds to expect it then.

27:27 Now is the day of salvation. It's appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment. As death finds me the judgment will take me and as the judgment takes me eternity will seal me.

27:41 Isn't it interesting that the universalist never and never once goes to the Word of Jesus in the Gospels for his doctrine of what will happen in the world to come? What does he do? He goes to the epistles where you have particular direction and instruction given to believers to make their hearts swell and thrill with their destiny in a redeemed world. Paul's purpose in 1 Corinthians 15 in Ephesians 1 Romans 5 is not to deal with the future of the impenitent.

28:16 He deals with that in Romans 2. He says, Tribulation, wrath and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil.

28:26 And so the supposed biblical basis of the universalist is nothing but a mirage and a smokescreen to justify the rationalistic bent of their own minds and the rebellion of their own hearts. The efficacy of the death of Christ the universalist has no grounds to stand on. Now what about the extent of the plan of redemption? I've already hinted at that.

Refuting Universalism: The Context of 'All Things' and Divine Retribution

28:47 The passages used are not dealing with the future of the impenitent the day of judgment. Take Ephesians 1.10 for example. That's the only one we'll deal with and if you get the principles there you can see through the others.

29:00 What does Ephesians 1.10 say? Well it says that all things are going to be summed up in Jesus Christ.

29:10 And so the universalist says, alright all things that means all men will ultimately be saved. But as Charles Hodge says in dealing with this passage and I quote,

29:20 for example in Ephesians 1.10 he says, it is said to be the purpose of God to bring into one harmonious whole or as expressed in Colossians 1.20 to reconcile unto himself all things all who are in heaven and who are on earth. The question is who or what are the all who are to be reconciled to God?

29:40 The question must be answered by a reference to the nature of the things spoken of and to the rest of the teaching of scripture. It cannot mean absolutely all things the whole universe including sun, moon, stars for they are not susceptible of reconciliation to God. For the same reason it can't mean all sensitive creatures including irrational animals nor can it mean all rational creatures including the holy angels for they don't need reconciliation. Nor can it mean all fallen rational creatures for it is clearly taught in Hebrews 2.16 that Christ did not come to redeem fallen angels. Nor can it mean all men for the Bible teaches elsewhere that all men are not reconciled to God and scripture cannot contradict scripture for that would be for God to contradict himself. The all intended is the all spoken of in the context the whole body of the people of God all the objects of redemption.

30:42 And unless you come to that text with a theory looking for materials to prove it no one in his right mind would ever read through all of those statements of Matthew out or down darkness wailing gnashing of teeth eternal fire all of those statements pregnant with those awful concepts of eternal judgment and suddenly discover that really doesn't mean all that. Look all things all things until the word all flashes with neon lights and multicolored lights and a whole doctrine is built upon a pillar of straw.

31:19 No the extent of God's redemption will bring together the people of God of all ages until all things of all who were purchased by that blood of sacrifice enjoy the full benefits of the redemption. Now when you want to know what happens out in the future you go to the passages which deal specifically with that and when you compare Matthew 13 41 to 43 with Revelation 21 1 to 8 you see that whenever God is saying this is what lies out in the world to come he never gives us the picture of only the redeemed in heaven but he sharpens and highlights the glory of the redeemed by the contrast of the agony of the damned. Notice how our Lord does it in Matthew 13 and then we'll look at the parallel passage in Revelation. The universalist says ultimately hell will be emptied only heaven will be populated.

32:17 Matthew 13 41 to 43 says the son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling in them that do iniquity and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. See it? What lies out there Lord a time coming when God will banish to that awful place all of the wicked then the redeemed shall shine forth in their glory. Turn to Revelation chapter 21 verses 1 to 8 where we have the same picture set before us.

33:07 Revelation 21 verses 1 to 8 and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away and the sea is no more and I saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God made ready as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a great news a great voice out of the throne saying behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he shall dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the first things are passed away and he that sitteth on the throne saith behold I make all things new and he said write for these words are faithful and true and he said unto me they are come to pass I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end I will give unto him that is of a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely he that overcometh shall inherit these things for whom are they reserved those who overcome and I will be his God the overcomer's God and he shall be my son the overcomer's son or the father of the overcomer but for the fear and the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars

34:35 their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death doesn't it almost seem out of place the Holy Ghost takes us up to that veil of what lies in the future for the child of God and he pulls the veil back and he says a time coming no more crying no more tears no more sorrow blessed be such a people to whom God is God the overcomers who overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony it's as though the people of God listening to this letter being read down there in Pergamos or Thyatira or wherever it was read that Sunday morning were caught away and their minds began to think and suddenly they're jarred with these words but the fearful the unbelieving their part the lake of fire reminding them that eternity will find men in bliss and in woe no the universalist by all his clever arguments and by all his pseudo exegesis cannot stand before the force of these principles of the word of God well what about the sufferings of hell then they say the sufferings of hell will be sanctifying in their effects all I do is remind you of all that I sought to set before you in message number three that Jesus taught that hell is a place of divine retribution its purpose

36:03 is not to teach its purpose is not to sanctify its purpose is to bring the righteous angle of God upon the souls and bodies of impenitent sinners and upon the being of the devil and his fallen angels there's not one shred of evidence in the Bible that grace is in operation beyond the grave or that there's any reversal of the disciples of the day of judgment not one shred of evidence not one not one it's interesting though many universalists have tried to teach their doctrine from the Bible one of the great rationalists the rationalist is the kind of man that Mr. Sterrett was talking about this morning he makes his own head the bar of judgment for everything every pronouncement must come to the bar of his reason and whatever seems unreasonable to him he throws out that's a rationalist he looks to no higher court of appeal than he does to the people in his own noggin that's stating it bluntly that's what a rationalist is well one of the great English rationalists Davidson this is what he said about the doctrine of hell after studying it in the Bible now he doesn't believe the Bible but listen to what he said and I quote now if a specific sense be attached to words never ending misery is enunciated in the Bible on the presumption that one doctrine is taught it is the eternity of hell torments that is the eternity that is bad exegesis

37:31 that is bad attempts to open up the meaning of the words of the Bible that's what exegesis is bad exegesis still quoting a rationalist now may attempt to banish this doctrine from the New Testament scriptures but it is still there and the expositors who wish to get rid of it as canon Farrar he was a brilliant Anglican man who tried to teach the doctrine of universalism from the Bible Farrar wrote on The Larger Hope one of the most destructive books and damning delusions that's ever been penned and it's a and many followed its error this man says there are expositors who wish to get rid of it as canon Farrar does they injure the cause they have in view by misrepresentation it must be allowed that the New Testament record not only makes Christ assert everlasting punishment but Paul and John but the question should be looked at from a larger platform than single texts in the light of God's attributes and the nature of the soul the destination of man and the creator's infinite goodness conflicting as they do with the doctrine of everlasting punishment remove that doctrine from the sphere of rational belief if provision be not made in revelation for a change of moral character after death it is made in man's reason philosophical considerations must not be set aside even by the Bible see what he's saying he's saying I'm a rationalist my mind is the final court of appeal the Bible obviously

38:59 teaches the doctrine of eternal peace punishment but I reject it and I won't play the fool like religious men who've tried to dance around the scriptures I just flatly say my mind says no hell therefore for me there is no hell and listen to me this morning if I speak to anyone who doubts the biblical doctrine it is not because you have come to the Bible with the heart of a disciple saying Lord Jesus thou who hast redeemed me by grace thou art my prophet teach me the meaning of thy word and as you read through scriptures with a heart dependent upon the Holy Spirit and a mind subject to Jesus Christ you found an increasing weight of biblical evidence that all pointed to the fact that men will ultimately be saved never never there's only one reason a man is a universalist basically it's because at heart he is a rationalist he's made his own mind and what he thinks is right and just and right and good he's made that the final court of appeal whereas every humble disciple of Jesus Christ who brings his mind and will in subjection to the word of God comes away with this awful awful doctrine awful in the sense that it should create all that the sufferings of hell are conscious eternal punishment meted out upon the impenitent sinner

The Devil's Lie and the Call to Flee to Christ

40:29 well I've not even gotten to annihilation that'll have to take the message next Lord's Day morning I thought I could get through with it but we'll have to leave it but I want to say in closing because I don't want anyone to think this is just again Mr. Stair had emphasized so much in the hour to come a battle of ideas listen my friend listen the first attack of the devil to our first parents came at this precise point God said if you sin here are the consequences in the day you eat you'll die what the devil do serpent who came how'd he come have God said well this God that surrounded you with all this beauty who's endowed you with all these capacities for pleasure this God who has blessed you with all of this goodness have God said this die death judgment punishment this God who's obviously a God of love look your very existence is witnessed to his love look around you your environment is one monumental testimony he's all love this oh maybe some devil some demon some fiend but not God and when she entertained the doubt the next thing was flat denial

41:58 ye shall not surely die listen my friend doubt entertained in the head when joined with the corrupt tendencies of the human heart will become downright denial when you begin to entertain doubt in the head you have corrupt affections which reach out for that doubt because they like the doubt it gives room for corrupt affections to express themselves you mean there's a possibility I can sin and get away with it I can play with evil and not be damned I can court sin and yet still have the favor of God oh that's a wonderful doubt and all the corrupt affections of the human heart begin to fall just suck that doubt into itself until it becomes downright denial but the Mormon Eve took to that fruit she knew that her doubt and the devil's denial were a lie and my friend if you entertain doubt as to the reality of the eternity of hell's punishments and that doubt becomes a denial the moment you pass out of this life and begin to feel a preview in that world of the departed spirits prior to the day of judgment you will be you were that rich man who died and was buried but in hell in Hades lifted up his eyes being in torments you'll know that that doubt was the most

43:26 damnable thing you ever entertained the doctrine of annihilation is but another expression of the voice of the serpent in the garden run from it like you'd run from the devil himself who gave it and where shall you run oh just don't run around anywhere flee to the one who bruised the head of the serpent who said I am the truth and in being truth incarnate said flee the wrath to come come unto me hide yourself in me in my person in my work eat of my flesh drink of my blood assimilate me as Christ crucified buried risen and I'll hide you in my wounds and cover you in my righteousness and when that awful day comes and the wrath of the Lamb is manifested you'll sit down with me at the marriage supper of the Lamb oh if there's some of you here this morning still saying well if there's just one chance in a hundred maybe there is no hell oh friend I plead with you flee to Christ flee to Christ I only preach of hell that you might avoid it may God grant that you flee and dear child of God

44:55 that you will be armed with the scriptural teaching of this awful doctrine both for your own benefit as we shall see in a subsequent message and then that God may spur us up to be more zealous to be more tender to be more persistent in our witness and in our prayers for the lost about us God help us to believe what our Lord's words force us to receive as truth let us pray