Everlasting Punishment


The subject of the final destiny of those who persist in a life of wickedness has not been left to the mere opinions of men, but is a matter of revelation in the Christian scriptures. Furthermore, the knowledge which we possess of the manner of God’s dealings with sinful men in the past would lead us to conclude that at some time or other justice would be meted out to the guilty violators of His law.
There is now in the world a large amount of perverse teaching and sentimental talk against the Bible doctrine of the punishment of the wicked. Men have become so hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, that they imagine that God is altogether such as they are–indifferent as to whether men do good or evil. Therefore men presume on His mercy and go forward in their sins, heaping up “wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds.” Rom. 2:5-6.
Hell is not simply a condition, but is also a place, for into it the wicked will be “turned,” yea, “cast into hell,” and there “shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” It is not the grave, for the righteous as well as the wicked will go into the grave; but “the wicked shall be turned into hell” and there exist in conscious suffering, for “there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” in that condition and place into which the lost will be cast.
Yes, hell is a place; a most terrible place; a prepared place. Prepared for whom? “Prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:41. It was not made for man, but was made “for the devil and his angels.” The demons know of their coming doom, therefore those in the devil-possessed men cried out, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” Matt. 8:29. But while hell was not prepared for men, yet if men choose to serve the devil, they will share his fate, for “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psa. 9:17). “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:41. “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Matt: 23:33. Hell is an actual place. Its punishment will be real.

It Will be Everlasting
I shall now proceed to bring forward the different expressions used in the Bible to describe the punishment of the wicked in hell, also the duration of that punishment.
1. Punishment: The Lord hath reserved “the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (II Pet. 2:9). They are worthy of a “sorer punishment” than death without mercy (Heb. 10:28-29). It will be everlasting. “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment” (Matt. 25:46).
2. Death: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The death here mentioned is not that natural death which comes to good and bad alike, but it is that death which is the direct result of sin, for it is contrasted with eternal life. Natural death is not the end of the soul’s conscious existence, but is simply that state in which the human spirit is separated from the body. So also spiritual death is not the cessation of conscious existence, but is simply that state in this world in which the soul is separated from its normal position of communion and fellowship with God (Ezk. 18:20; Isa. 59:1-2; I Tim. 5:6; Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:15 and John 17:5). In like manner the eternal death of the soul is not the end of its conscious existence, but is simply its eternal separation from God. But natural death is something repulsive. Men shrink from it and seek to evade it. It is chosen with all its repulsiveness, with all its horrors–to represent that future state of separation from God–death.
It will be eternal. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36.
3. Darkness: He “delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” II Pet. 2: 4. According to the parable of Christ, the wicked “shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12). What a fearful thought! To be placed in utter darkness is one of the worst punishments inflicted upon men in this world. A dungeon experience is generally sufficient to break the will of the most stubborn, rebellious criminal. Such is the figure of future punishment. How terrible, then, the reality must be! But this is not all. Instead of being an experience of short duration, as imprisonment in a dungeon, it will be forever. “To whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever” (II Pet. 2:17). “The blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 13). Is there not one ray of future hope for the wicked man? Answer: “When he dieth...he shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall NEVER see light” (Psa. 49:17-19).
4. Damnation: “They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:29. This expresses the highest form of condemnation. “Ye shall receive the greater damnation” (Matt. 23:14). “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (vs. 33).
It will be eternal. “But he is in danger of eternal damnation” (Mark 3:29).
5. Destruction: This word “destruction,” as applied to the wicked, signifies, not the end of their conscious existence, but their utter misery and ruin. The word is thus used in the Bible over and over again. For examples, see Prov. 11:9; Ex. 10:7; 18:7; Eccl. 7:16; Hos. 4:6; Isa. 9:16; Gal. 1:13. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them...and they shall not escape.” I Thess. 5:3. “Whose end is destruction.” Phil. 3:19. All of the sinner’s plans and hopes, yea, even his own noble self which God created for His own glory, is forever blighted and gone down into everlasting misery and ruin–destruction.
It will be everlasting. “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” II Thess. 1:9. This everlasting destruction is not the end of their conscious existence, as the context shows, but is simply their final and eternal separation and banishment from the “presence of the Lord.”
6. Fire: “Shall be in danger of hell-fire” (Matt. 5:22). It is “in flaming fire” that the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven against wrong-doers (II Thess. 1:7-9). It is called: A “lake of fire.” “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8). “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15).
It will be never-ending. “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). “Are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7).
There is no way under heaven to evade the force of this multitude of scriptures describing the fearful fate of the ungodly. 1. They apply to the wicked. 2. They apply to time beyond the judgment. 3. The punishment they depict is terrible. The language describes a future state of everlasting punishment–of conscious pain, suffering, torment, and wretchedness, in hell.
Reader, be not deceived by the false doctrines of men. Obey the Word of God and “FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME” (Matt. 3:7).

— F.G. Smith

“Where is thy refuge, sinner?
Look where your pathway will end.
Repent or you’ll perish forever,
Awful destruction’s at hand.
Heaven or hell you are choosing,
Fixing and sealing your fate,
God and His mercy refusing–
Lost! too late!

Where will you go, poor sinner?
How will your soul escape?
Think of thy lot, when forever
Cast in the dark, burning lake.
If then you’re lost and forgotten,
Writhing in flames of despair,
You will remember you’ve chosen
To be there.”

— B.E. Warren