False Teaching of Annihilationism

The Neglected Doctrine of Everlasting Punishment and Christ's Teaching on Hell

0:03 tell, or the future of impenitent sinners. One of the most neglected, maligned, footballed doctrines in all of scripture is the doctrine of everlasting punishment. Cries are raised up against such a horrible doctrine, and often those cries focus on statements such as these. How inconsistent is such a concept from the teaching of the meek and lowly, compassionate Jesus. And so to set before you that the Jesus of scripture is not a Jesus whose meekness and compassion automatically excludes any concept of hell, we're looking at his teaching on the subject for the most explicit, terrifying teaching in all of scripture. Scripture on the subject of hell is found in the lips of Jesus Christ himself. So that if we believe the gospels to be an accurate record of his words and deeds, we are forced to one of two alternatives. Either we embrace the Christ of scripture and his hell, or we reject the hell of scripture and along with it reject the Christ of scripture and go out

1:27 and make our own Christ. The problem is if you go out and make your own Christ, you're not the one to whom has been given all power in heaven and in earth to save men. And so if you're left without a hell from his lips, you're left without saving grace from his hands. We have sought to collate the material in the teaching of our Lord under five general headings. I will only give them to you by way of review and for the sake of those of you who have not been with us, to at least give you the thread of thought that we have been seeking to weave in these days and then move on to the next chapter. Thank you. Let's move to our study for the morning. We have seen, first of all, that our Lord Jesus Christ teaches that hell is a condition and a place of unspeakable misery, torment and woe. It is Christ who uses the figures of outer darkness and everlasting fire, both

2:20 of which Christ said will produce wailing and gnashing of teeth. Secondly, our Lord teaches that hell is a place and a condition where the souls and bodies of men will be destroyed. And so we have seen that hell is a condition and a place of unspeakable misery, torment and woe. It is Christ who uses the figures of outer darkness and everlasting fire, both of which Christ said will produce wailing and gnashing of teeth. Everybody must know that hell is a condition and a place of unspeakable misery, torment and woe. It is Christ who uses the figures of outer darkness and everlasting iron. It is Christ who will release words into the text. Now ill-bred men shall suffer punishment for sin, for it is Christ who said, fear not those which destroy the body but fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Thirdly we have seen had our Lord teaches that hell is a place and a condition of divine retribution. That is, a place where God will actively punish men for their sins. It is not a place of instruction, not a place of reformation, not a place of over-emer места, not a place of retribution, but a place where giving grace, hell is a place and a condition of divine retribution. And then in the fourth place, our Lord teaches that hell is a place and a condition where there will be degrees of punishment for sin. He says that it will be more tolerable for certain people in the day of judgment than

3:22 for others. And the degree of punishment will be based upon three things. The extent to which men abandon themselves to sin. Secondly, the extent to which they have affected others by their sin.

3:38 And thirdly, the extent to which they have abused light and privilege. And then the last aspect of the teaching of hell upon which we have focused for several weeks is this. Our Lord teaches implicitly, explicitly, that hell is a place and a condition of conscious, unending punishment. We see this in the very words that our Lord uses to describe the duration of punishment. We see it in the figures that he uses. Their worm dieth not, and the fire is never quenched. It is an eternal consumption. And then in the clear statements of scripture, the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night. And as horrible as the doctrine may be to us, it is clearly taught in scripture, hell is a place and condition of eternal, conscious suffering.

Two Avenues of Denying Eternal Punishment: Universalism and Annihilationism

4:39 And we may say reverently, this is the hell of hells. It's eternity. Now, having established from scriptures that this is so, I indicated that there have been in the history of the church two great avenues of thinking which have sought to deny that the punishment of hell is eternal. Now, we're not thinking of the denials that come from rationalism. We're thinking of the denials that come from rationalism.

5:01 Men who say the idea is preposterous will throw it out simply on the basis that whatever is incompatible with human judgment ought to be chucked out. We're not dealing with that kind of denial, but with the denials that have come under the canopy of the Christian church. And all the denials can be classed under two heads. Universalism on the one hand, and annihilationism on the other.

5:26 Universalism, we looked at last week. It's the teaching which says that ultimately, will be emptied of all of its inhabitants, and all who were in hell will be in heaven. Universalism asserts that sooner or later, every rational being, the devil and fallen angels included, will adorn the courts of glory as redeemed creatures. We looked at the supposed basis of universalism, its concept of the efficacy of the death of Christ, of the extent of the scope of redemption, and thirdly, the function of heaven.

6:02 And we went to scriptures and sought to show that universalism indeed has no fabric of scriptural basis whatsoever, and that which has led men to espouse universalism has not been the teaching of the word of God, but the rationalism of their own minds, and then they've gone to scripture to justify that rationalism. And I remind you of the quote of the English rationalist, Davidson, who said, not believing the doctrine of hell, these are his words, if a specific, sense be attached to words, never-ending misery is enunciated in the Bible. On the presumption that any one doctrine is taught, it is the eternity of hell torments. Bad exegesis may attempt to banish it from the New Testament, but it's still there, and its spositors who wish to get rid of it, as Canon Farrar does, injure the cause they have in view by misrepresentation. It must be allowed that the New Testament, not only be a source of the gospel, but also be a source of the gospel. It's not only makes Christ teach everlasting punishment, but Paul and John. Then he goes on to say,

7:07 but I don't believe it, because anything that's incompatible with the human mind, we've got to throw out. But he says, if you claim to believe the Bible, you must believe this doctrine. Now, I want to deal this morning, this has been our review, with the second great path of denial within the framework of the Christian church, that of annihilationism. Now, in brief, what is the teaching of annihilationism? It is the teaching of annihilationism. It is the teaching of annihilationism.

Defining Annihilationism and its Distortion of Scripture

7:33 It is this, that sooner or later, all who are impenitent will be driven back into non-being. Their very existence will be annihilated, body and soul, so that it will be just as though they had never been brought into existence. Now, there are many brands of annihilationism, as there are many brands and stripes of universalism. But annihilationism has this in common, all of its brands, and it is this, that it will be annihilated. And it is this, that it will be annihilated.

8:03 Not that the wicked will ultimately populate heaven, but they won't populate any place. You see the contrast? They will be driven back into non-being. As we saw last week, the universalist comes to a text like Matthew 26, 24, where Jesus says of Judas, it were better for that man if he had never been born, and they have to change it and say, it's good for that man that he was born, because ultimately, he'll be in the presence of God in glory. The annihilationist must change the text to read, it will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will be the same. It will him as though he had never been born. He will go back into non-being. But Jesus said it were better to have non-being than to have being and to die impenitent for the judgment that will fall upon such a man is conscious eternal punishment in the lake of fire. Now following the pattern that we did last week, let's look first of all at the supposed scriptural foundation for annihilationism. Then we're going to look at a scriptural refutation of

The Four Supposed Scriptural Bases of Annihilationism

9:04 annihilationism and then if time permits, I want you to consider with me the practical effects of denying the eternity of the punishment of hell. What are the supposed scriptural bases of annihilationism? May I suggest that annihilationists come with a fourfold argument to justify their position. First of all, the nature of man, the meaning of certain key words, the purpose of the punishment of hell.

9:34 And the scope of Christ's redemptive work. Annihilationists, almost without exception, hold to a view of the nature of man that differs from the historic Christian view. They hold what is called conditional immortality, which basically means that man as a creature does not possess a never-dying indestructible soul or spirit. Man is simply a body, breath, entity, and when man dies physically, there is nothing that goes beyond the death of the body and lives as an entity. That which we commonly call in scriptural terms the soul or the spirit. No, the annihilationist says, only God has immortality, and they quote from Timothy, who alone hath immortality, that is, endless existence, and God gives that to man as the gift of grace. Through the redemption of Christ. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ

10:41 our Lord. So the annihilationist says, no, man does not have eternal life, that is, he does not have unending existence, except God give it to him as the gift of grace through Jesus Christ. As one who believes that position has stated, and I quote, We believe that immortality, or the quality of being that makes death impossible, is something bestowed upon the believer at the resurrection when Christ returns. The annihilationist go on to say, and this is quite a sweeping assertion, there is nothing in the word soul itself that even remotely implies a conscious entity that is able to survive the death of the body. There is nothing in the bible use of the word that indicates that the bible writers held any such belief. We do not believe that the whole man are worth nothing.脳 The annihilationist says, there is nothing in the word soul itself that can have any any part of man is inherently immortal.

11:42 All right, you follow now? The position. I know this means you have to think, but stick with me. So, those who teach annihilation say, if man does not have a soul that lives forever, God would have to create such in order to put him in hell forever.

11:56 And since God isn't going to do that, the result of his remaining in a state of unbelief is he just ceases to exist. He goes out of existence. All right, the second basis of their teaching will come to the refutation point by point after, is the meaning of key words. The annihilationist picks up his Bible and he reads words like this.

12:16 The broad road which leads to destruction. God is not willing that any should perish, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. They should be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. And so the annihilationist takes the words perish, destruction, and death, and he says, see, it's obvious what the Bible teaches.

12:40 If people don't believe, the wages of sin is death. If you stay on the broad road, you'll perish. And what does it mean to perish? It means to go out of existence.

12:50 What does it mean to die? It means to cease to exist. What does it mean to be destroyed? It means to bring something back into a state of nothingness.

12:59 And so the annihilationist teaches his doctrine on the basis of the meaning that he puts on these key words. Now, the third basis of the annihilationist's teaching is this. The purpose of the punishment of hell. What is the purpose of hell's punishment?

13:16 And remember, the annihilationist believes there will be some punishment for a time. How long? They're not prepared to say. Oh, there will be punishment for a time, but notice, this is the purpose.

13:27 Follow closely and see if you can catch it. Here's the purpose of the punishment. Because eternal torment would perpetuate an immortalized sin, as suffering and woe, and contradict, we believe, divine revelation, which envisions the time when these things shall be no more. We reject the doctrine of endless torment because it seems to provide a plague spot in the universe of God throughout eternity and would seem to indicate that it was impossible for God to abolish it.

14:03 See what he's saying?

14:06 They said if hell were to exist for eternity, it would look like... God was impotent to blot out evil.

14:12 Therefore, we envision hell as not primarily an eternal monument to the justice of God, but God, by his power, will absolutely blot out all the wicked. Therefore, hell's basic purpose is not a revelation of God's justice, but it is power.

14:33 And so the annihilationist has a view of hell that looks upon it primarily as a display of his power, and of his love. In our thinking, quoting an annihilationist, it would detract from the attribute of love and postulates the concept of wrath, which is never appeased. See what he says? If you have eternal hell, then the witness of hell is eternal wrath.

14:59 We don't like that. Therefore, our view of God's love is such that hell must be obliterated in all who are in it. And then the fourth thing, and this is closely akin to it, the annihilationist, has a concept of the scope of Christ's redemption that says ultimately hell must be done away with. And I quote an annihilationist again, the scriptures teach that the atoning work of Christ is to put away sin, first from the individual, and ultimately from the universe.

15:28 The full fruition of Christ's sacrificial atoning work will not only be seen in a redeemed people, but in a restored heaven and earth. And so they say since Christ died to have a restored universe, the whole world will be seen as a restored universe. The wicked must be annihilated or they would be a blot on that restoration. All right, so much then for the fourfold basis of the annihilationist teaching.

Refuting Annihilationism: The Biblical Nature of Man

15:49 Now, will these objections stand up to the weight of scripture? Let's take them in that order briefly. The nature of man. Does the Bible teach that man has a soul, a separate entity called a soul or a spirit which exists beyond physical death?

16:12 The whole doctrine of the Bible in terms of future punishment presupposes the survival of the soul after the death of the body. That's why Christ could say in very natural terms without a big discourse on the indestructibility of the soul, he assumes it when he said to his disciples, don't fear those that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in heaven. You see, our Lord assumes that his disciples also assume that the soul was the indestructible part that existed beyond the death of the body.

16:52 Don't be afraid of those that can butcher your body because they can't butcher the soul. That's the immaterial, the indestructible part of you. But there is one who can put both soul and body in hell. He can raise up the body in resurrection, join it to the soul that exists and send both soul and body into hell.

17:11 Fear him. Fear him. And of course the whole teaching of Luke chapter 16. Our Lord says there was a certain rich man who died and was buried.

17:22 What was that? His body. But it says, and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment. If the soul does not survive the death of the body, what was in hell in torment?

17:35 Of course the soul survives the death of the body. Our Lord assumes it in his teaching of Luke 16. The apostle Paul assumes it in his teaching. When he says in 1 Corinthians 5.5 dealing with the discipline of a professing Christian who was living in an incestuous relationship, he says, deliver such and one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, if this leads to the disillusion of his body that leads to true repentance so that the spirit is saved, he said the action has been productive of its intention. And it ends. But he assumes that the spirit, you see, survives the body.

18:19 Hebrews 12.23 speaks of Christians who now live and their fellowship with other saints who no longer live here on earth. And listen to the way the writer to the Hebrews describes it. He says, ye are come unto Mount Zion, unto the heavenly Jerusalem, unto the spirits of just men made perfect.

18:39 We as God's people are in vital communion and union with all the redeemed, of all ages, the great body of which are not alive today, but they're there at the right hand of the Father. And we are come unto the spirits of just men made perfect. How can the annihilationists dare to say nowhere does the Bible teach that the spirit, the soul, survives the death of the body? These statements taken at random, and I've not been exhaustive, set that concept before us constantly.

19:09 Our Lord, as his body is about to die, says, Father, into thy hands I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself. I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself. I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself, I commit myself. Spirit.

19:16 Then it says they took his body and they put it into a tomb. Steve, in the same words, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And then he falls into the posture that the scripture calls the physical appearance of death. He fell asleep.

19:32 Not speaking of the soul, he says, into thy hands I commend my spirit. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. No, the annihilationist has come up with an unbiblical view of the nature of man to try to cover up his unbiblical view of the doctrine of hell. You see, when you pull one of the threads of God's truth, you're not pulling thread out of cloth that is woven upon a loom that has its warp and its woof.

20:00 You're pulling the thread of a sweater that was knit by grandma. And pull long enough and you'll disintegrate the whole thing and have nothing but two hands full of yarn. And so when the annihilationist has thrown out the biblical doctrine of the eternity of hell's punishment, he's got to do something with the clear teaching of scripture that man has an indestructible soul. And so then he concocts his doctrine, which undermines the biblical teaching of the indestructibility of the soul.

Refuting Annihilationism: The Meaning of Key Words

20:33 All right, then, what about the meaning of the words? Perish, lost, death, and life. I won't weary you with a lot of details, but if you have a young's concordance, if you don't have one, you ought to have one in the household. If you don't have one, see Ralph, and he'll get one for you.

20:48 Buy the book table, or you may even have some on stock. You get a young's concordance, and this will be a good Sunday afternoon exercise for you and the family, if they can read it all. And you take the words perish, destroy, death, and life, and young has them grouped together according to their Hebrew and Greek usage. There may be three or four words used for perish in the New Testament.

21:12 Young will take all the words, say, apolumi, put them all together. Then he'll take apoleia and put those together. He'll put all of them together. He'll put all of them together.

21:18 He'll put all of them together. He'll put all of them together. He'll put all of them together. He'll put all of the words together.

21:19 Now you look and see what those words mean. And they do not mean what the annihilationist has made them mean, again, to cover up his false doctrine. You take the word destroy. The annihilationist says, see, that broad road leads to destruction.

21:34 What do you do when you destroy something? You return it to non-being. Who says so? Scripture doesn't use the word that way.

21:41 This is how the word is used. In Matthew 9, 17, Jesus talks about the man who puts new wine into old wine bottles, wine. He says, if you do that, the wine skins will burst and will perish.

21:56 They perish. What happens when a man puts active new wine into old dry wine skins that have already been stretched and dried out by the wine that was put in them previously? When they burst, do they suddenly disintegrate? No, no.

22:10 They are ruined as far as the use that they were intended to have. They are destroyed. That's the word that's used. Jesus uses it concerning his own death, or the writers do, in Matthew 26, 8.

22:23 Some sought to destroy Christ. What do they mean by destroy? Take away his physical life. Not completely obliterate him so you couldn't find an atom of his person.

22:32 This is the word used in a different form of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Are they annihilated sheep? No, they're lost. They have left their point of reference and safety in the fold of God.

22:46 This is the word that Jesus uses in Matthew 10, 28. Fear him who is able to destroy. Destroy a body and soul in hell. John 3, 16.

22:54 Should not perish, but have everlasting life. The meaning is to ruin, to spoil, to waste, to be undone.

23:03 It never means to annihilate and to obliterate out of existence. Nowhere can it be shown that the biblical idea of destruction is non-being. That's an imposition on the words of Scripture, something that is not found there. And for any of you who may, if you have questions, I said I don't want to wear at you with a lot of details.

23:25 You can look up the meaning of the word in your own Bibles and you will find that this is true. Well, what about the word life and death?

23:34 The Bible nowhere says that eternal life is mere, endless existence. It contrasts eternal life with spiritual death or punishment. Whosoever believes on the Lord Jesus should not perish, but have everlasting life. Does that mean mere, everlasting existence?

23:53 No. The wicked and the saved both have existence. Eternal life is a quality of life. Oh yes, it has duration.

24:01 But the primary concept is a quality of life. It is life in which a man knows God, enjoys God, and the presence of God. And what is it to perish? It's to have existence without God, without the knowledge of God, without the enjoyment of God, without the presence of God.

Refuting Annihilationism: The Purpose of Hell and Scope of Christ's Work

24:18 That's why in a passage like Matthew 25, 46, you have these two things coming together. Contrasted, the righteous shall go away into everlasting life, the enjoyment of God, but the wicked into everlasting punishment, just the opposite of the enjoyment of God. And so I submit that the annihilationist, in trying to build his doctrine on the meaning of the words perish, destroy, lost, death, has no biblical warrant for so doing. And then in the third place, when he tries to concoct a concept of the purpose of hell, that it's primarily a display of God's power, he runs contrary to the whole teaching of Scripture.

24:59 The day of judgment and what follows for the wicked is not a revelation of power primarily, but Romans 2, 5 says the day of judgment is a revelation of the righteous anger of God, of the righteous judgment of God, of His holy wrath. And then fourthly, when they say, well, the scope of Christ's work is such that it envisions a universe from which every last vestige of sin is blotted out, I think this is an insult to Christ. Who knew better the scope of His work than He? And whenever He speaks of the ultimate triumph of His redemptive purposes, He always speaks of it in terms of a final and fixed separation.

The Subtle Deception of Annihilationism

25:43 When the Son of Man comes back, not only shall the righteous shine in the glory of their kingdom, Matthew 13, but He says the wicked shall be severed and be cast into everlasting fire. The Lord Jesus knew the scope of His purpose, and those who are wiser than He border on blasphemy when they impose their thoughts upon the thoughts of Christ. Now may I say in summary, with the annihilationist position, I'm convinced that this is the more subtle of the two errors. The Universalist has so little grounds to stand upon, and the fact that he says all men will ultimately be saved, I think there are ten-year-olds here this morning who could refute a Universalist.

26:26 But you know what's so subtle about the annihilationist? He tries to preserve all the Biblical doctrines of the wrath of God, hell, punishment, retribution, and you will find annihilationists using those terms. So they try to preserve all of the Biblical doctrine of hell, and at the same time preserve all of the sentimental human rationalistic thinking that would obliterate hell. You see, the Universalist, his error is worn more on the end of his nose.

26:58 The annihilationist wears his in his hip pocket. And don't be deceived. I've met annihilationists who talk about being destroyed in hell, who talk about hellfire, but they don't mean what the Bible means. They're thinking of that which will lead into non-being.

27:15 And I shall never forget sitting at the table last Lord's Day morning having breakfast, and my son asked me, Daddy, what are you preaching about today? And I said, well, I'm going to preach about more on hell. And I'm going to show the two great errors. Then I mentioned Universalism and gave a brief definition.

27:31 Then I mentioned Annihilationism and gave a brief definition. And you know what his reflex action was? He said, well, Daddy, that's not punishment. To go back into nothing is better off than what some people have right here.

27:44 And that's the core of the issue, isn't it? When God threatens a terrible judgment upon the impenitent, He's not playing with words. When physical pain is in its intensest form, men long for release from the life, which is the channel of that pain. Right?

28:02 When people are suffering physically, they even cry out for death. And death is a release from the awful pain physically. If men were in hell today, body and soul, under the judgments of God, they'd be crying out to go back into non-being. And that would be an act of grace for God to hear their cry and obliterate their very being and send them back into non-being.

Theological Results of Denying Eternal Punishment

28:27 But there's no revelation in Scripture that such grace is exercised in hell. Now, in closing, I want you to consider with me briefly what are the results of denying the eternity of hell's torments. And I can only give you the headings in general. This problem of the clock is always with us.

28:48 First of all, there are several very serious theological results. As I indicated earlier, all of God's truth is tied together. And if you unravel one part and pull long enough, you'll disintegrate the whole fabric. May I suggest three things that a denial of this doctrine does theologically?

29:07 It lowers our estimation of the wrath of God. Moses in the 90th Psalm said, Who knoweth the power of thine anger, and thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto thee? He says, O God, who can contemplate the magnitude of your wrath? Who fears you as he ought to in the light of your burning anger?

29:30 Listen, my friend, every attribute of God is an attribute stretched out to infinity. It is infinite love with which God loves. It is infinite mercy that he shows. And it's infinite wrath and judgment that he pours upon the head of the wicked.

29:47 And as his mercy and grace are unfathomable, so is his wrath and his anger. No one ever holds to the errors of universalism and annihilationism and trembles at the wrath of God. No one. It's psychologically impossible.

30:03 Second thing it does theologically is it lowers our appreciation of the salvation of God. No little part of our salvation is deliverance from the wrath to come. Salvation is deliverance by grace from sin and its consequences. And so Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1.10, speaking of Christ, Who delivereth us from the wrath to come. Well, if that wrath to come is just non-being, or if it's nothing at all, and we'd ultimately be saved anyway, what appreciation shall I have for that salvation? And I tell you, my friend, there are times when my heart is in its coldest periods that nothing brings the little fires of warmth back. Like serious contemplation on this biblical doctrine, I just sit sometimes and I think, where would I be but for the grace of God?

30:54 And I try to picture myself in hell, whatever it'll be like. And the torment of conscience and the anguish of the wrath of God, righteously poured out upon me. And I find the little embers of love and appreciation begin to be stirred, and the breath of God comes upon them, and there's a little bit of the warmth of genuine love to Christ kindled in my breast again. And when you deny this biblical doctrine, you not only lower the estimation of the wrath of God, but you lower our appreciation of the salvation of God, and worst of all, it lowers our appreciation of the death of Christ.

31:29 If eternal damnation was the just penalty, hanging over the head of God's people, and Jesus Christ was a true substitute who swallowed up every last drop of the wrath that should be in their cup, then I can say in a very real sense, He bore my hell in those hours of agony upon the cross. And oh, how the heart will burn with love to a Savior who bore the brunt of God's wrath. Generally speaking, biblical views of grace and salvation centered in the work of Christ do not long live in any other soil but the soil of this doctrine of eternal punishment. And if you check the history of the Church, when this doctrine has been relinquished, the tree of grace and divine salvation before long begins to wither and die. Those are the theological implications. What are the personal results of denying this doctrine? First of all, it removes a powerful spiritual motive as found in the Word of God.

Personal Results of Denying Eternal Punishment

32:35 Saints and sinners need more than mere motivation. Granted, there needs to be the impartation of power and ability. But as God, through grace, gives to saints and sinners power and ability, He uses the matter of motivation. And so I suggest that when this doctrine is denied or neglected, there is a removal of a powerful spiritual motivation found in Scripture, both to the lost and to the saved.

33:06 Why must I call upon you, present this morning, to repent and believe the Gospel? Is it because I have some peculiar authority, because I've got a reverend in front of my name? No, absolutely not. No, no, that's not the issue.

33:22 I call upon you to repent and to believe the Gospel because Jesus Christ said, except you repent, you'll perish. And perish means to go to that awful place of eternal punishment. And so, as John the Baptist says, so I say, I warn you to flee the wrath to come. One of the great motives in true Biblical evangelism is to urge men to flee the wrath to come.

33:46 And then it's a great restraint in the hearts of lost men. Another man who was no friend to Christianity said, he's an infidel, Lord Bolingbroke, the doctrine of rewards and punishment in a future state has so great a tendency to enforce civil laws that to restrain the vices of men, and to restrain the vices of men, that while I cannot decide for it on principles of theology, I would not decide against it on principles of good policy. You hear what an infidel is saying? He could see that wherever this doctrine is relinquished, sin becomes rampant.

34:24 Shedd, the great theologian of the past generation said, as he saw the affluence of Western civilization and at that time of Germany, he said the doctrine that Germany, Britain and the United States needs more than anything else is this doctrine of eternal punishment. And if it is relinquished, here's a man writing in the late 1800s, he said these societies will become like Solomon to more and woe in sensual vice and debauchery. He was a prophet. He was a prophet.

34:51 The less hell there is in the hearts of men and in the minds of men, the more hell there will be in their lives and in their society. God has placed this as a restraint. And when that doctrine is relinquished, restraint is gone. Then, it's a great motivation to the saved.

35:09 I'm going to have a whole message on this, so I won't go into it this morning in detail. But I'm amazed at how the Lord Jesus used the doctrine of eternal punishment as a motivating factor to Christians. In the face of persecution, he said, don't be afraid of those that will kill your body. You're going to have it rough.

35:28 But fear those that can destroy the soul. You deny me under the press and pinch of persecution, I'll deny you. They came to the martyr the morning of his execution trying to entice him away from his commitment to Christ. And to induce him to recant.

35:44 They said to him, ah, sir, isn't life sweet? And death bitter? The martyr said, yes, it's true. Life is sweet. Death is bitter.

35:56 But eternal death is more bitter. And eternal life is more sweet. Take me to the stake. What held him?

36:07 This doctrine, among other things. Great motivation to the believer. Giving him stability in the face of opposition. Gratitude.

36:15 We'll go into those in detail. I'll just mention it now. And then the second thing it does in terms of personal results. It imbibes, it causes men to hold this doctrine of annihilationism and universalism.

36:27 To imbibe bad mental habits with handling the word of God. When you can come across statements like our Lord which say everlasting fire. Where there worm dieth not and the fire is never quenched. When you can read statements such as these.

36:43 Weeping and wailing. And gnashing of teeth. In hell he lifted up his eyes. Being in torments.

36:49 Be not afraid of them that kill the body. When you can read all those statements of Christ. And play mental tricks. So that those words mean anything less than this vigorous awesome teaching of conscious eternal punishment.

37:05 You've done something to your mind that you can play tricks with any other clearly taught doctrine in Holy Scripture. If you can get around those passages. You can get around any passage. You can have every witness to the deity of Christ.

37:21 And to his substitutionary atonement. And you'll just work all around them. That's what makes it so difficult when you're trying to witness to that Jehovah's Witness friend. They have had a mental cast.

37:32 There's been a bent given to the mind. That words by the time they come out of the page and register there. Have completely changed their meaning. Oh dear friend don't you play with the words of Scripture.

Ministerial Results and Final Exhortation

37:44 God speaks of those who twist them to their own description. And then last of all there are not only theological and practical or personal results. But there are ministerial results. If this doctrine is denied or ignored by silence.

38:00 And what is that result? James says be not many of you teachers knowing that we shall receive the heavier judgment. It's an awful thing to stand before God as an individual. And give account of the deeds done in the body.

38:13 But oh what a thing to stand before him as one. Who is responsible. For the souls of others. Why do I preach this doctrine?

38:25 Is it because I've got some psychological quirks that I've got to somehow satisfy? No. Oh I'm sure I've got some quirks but that has nothing to do with this. Why do I preach this doctrine?

38:36 Why have I held it before you in its sobering awesomeness week after week? I'll tell you why. Because when I stand before God the issue with which God will deal with me is this. Did you preach my whole counsel?

38:49 Did you declare everything I put within my book? And it will not do for me to say well God I knew the doctrine of everlasting hell was there. But God you know how that will just turn off my generation. How can I get a hearing?

39:02 If I try to preach to 20th century men and women and fellows and girls. They'll think I'm some kind of relic out of some puritanic grave. They'll never listen to me. God would say whoever told you it was your business to shape and mold my truth to get a hearing.

39:17 I told you preach the word. Yes but Lord I knew the doctrine was there. But Lord it just seemed to me to be inconsistent with your laws. And God would say who are you to tell me what's consistent in my character?

39:33 Since when did I make you a judge over me to tell me what is just and right for me? I tell you the thought of standing before God as one who was unfaithful to deliver this doctrine. Is enough to make me preach it if I have to to empty pews. Because the Apostle Paul said in Acts 20.26 I am free from the blood of all men for I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. And I say to you young men aspiring to the ministry Don't you be cajoled into down peddling a doctrine that stood central and basic in the teaching of Jesus Christ. Central and basic in the teaching of the Apostle Paul. Don't you be bullied into saying Well that doctrine you know just doesn't settle well with modern man.

40:25 I've read theologians who claim to believe the Bible had made me shudder when they've said Well don't ever teach that God is positively inflicting wrath upon men in hell. Just teach that men are left to the results of their own sin. That's not the teaching of scripture. The teaching of scripture is that God is active in the punishment of the wicked.

40:44 And will be for all eternity. Though I cannot understand or conceive of what that will mean. It's revealed in the word and I must declare it. And so I say in the third place the ministerial implication of this is powerful and searching.

40:59 Be silent on this truth or deny it. And you'll go to the judgment read with the blood of the souls of men. May God help us to believe it. And then to teach it tearfully, carefully, tenderly and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

41:17 And I close this morning the way I've closed week after week. My motive in declaring it is not only that I might discharge my responsibility to God. But having declared the awfulness of hell. I've done so that you might not go there.

41:32 I hope all you ever know of hell is what you've heard from the Bible this side of eternity. I hope that's all you'll ever know of hell. And if you repent and flee to Christ. And cast yourself upon Jesus Christ and say oh Christ.

41:49 You who died and bled and rose. That sinners might be forgiven. My only hope is in you. By your grace I'll give myself to you.

41:58 I'll be what you want me to be. I'll trust only in who you are and what you've done. We have his promise that coming unto him he'll never cast us out in time or in eternity. May God grant that the awesome teaching of this doctrine may lead us to flee the wrath to come.

42:18 And find refuge in Christ crucified. Let us pray. Our Father we thank you for your holy word. That it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our pathway.

42:37 And we ask that the Holy Spirit may be pleased to seal to our hearts that portion that we've studied this morning. We pray for those who are held in the error that we've dealt with this morning. That you will bring them out of that terrible delusion. We think of the many who are delaying repentance.

42:55 Who are living in carelessness because they're not afraid to go back into non-being. Just so long as they can bleed some more sweetness out of sensuous delight now while they have been. Lord what a rude awakening will be theirs. In mercy awaken them and arrest them now.

43:15 We pray that you will help us as your people who profess to believe this doctrine. To evidence by our tender and persistent and careful deeds. And careful dealings with men. By our earnest and fervent prayers to you on their behalf.

43:31 That we do indeed believe the doctrine. May it have its full motivating power in our lives. That knowing the terror of the Lord we might persuade men. Seal the word to our hearts and bless us through the remainder of this day.

43:47 We ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.