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"LIFE AFTER DEATH"
What Is The Eternal Destiny Of The Wicked?
INTRODUCTION
1. We now come to the last lesson in this series...
a. In which we will examine that which is the last thing any
Christian would ever want to consider
b. I.e., "the eternal destiny of the wicked"
2. Yet, if we are to faithfully proclaim "the whole counsel of God", it
is necessary to speak of...
a. The righteous indignation of God
b. The place that is prepared for those who reject the gospel of
grace offered through His Son Jesus Christ
3. As we begin, consider this quotation by Ray Summers in his book, "The
Life Beyond"...
"We would do well to remember that we are dealing with terms in
an attempt to describe a condition that almost defies description."
[First of all, then, consider what we know about...]
I. THE "ABODE" OF THE WICKED
A. WE KNOW THEY WILL BE "SEPARATED FROM GOD"...
1. Jesus spoke of such separation on several occasions
a. In His sermon on the mount - Mt 7:21-23
b. In describing the judgment scene - Mt 25:41-46
c. These passages describe separation from the blessings and
fellowship of the Lord's presence
2. Other passages speak of similar separation...
a. No inheritance in the kingdom of God for some - Ep 5:5
b. Shut out of the "eternal city" where there are blessings and
fellowship with God - Re 21:27; 22:15
B. THE ETERNAL DWELLING PLACE IS CALLED "HELL"...
1. The Greek word is "geenna" {gheh'-en-nah}
a. It represents the Hebrew word "Ge-Hinnom"
b. B. W. Johnson comments: "The term Gehenna arose from the
valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the Canaanites
burned human sacrifices to Moloch. After the return of the
Jews from the Captivity they made it a place of defilement,
where the refuse of the city was thrown and burned. The name
was applied to the place of future punishment by the Jews.
The word is often used in the New Testament, and always
denotes a place of future punishment."
2. Jesus used the term to describe the final place of punishment...
a. In His sermon on the mount - Mt 5:21-22,29-30
b. When sending His apostles on the "limited" commission -
Mt 10:28
c. In warning against personal stumblingblocks - Mt 18:8-9
d. Perhaps the most vivid use of this term is in Mk 9:43-48
-- Jesus evidently used this word which spoke to His
contemporaries the horror and abomination of the eternal
destiny awaiting the wicked
3. This place called "hell" was originally prepared for the devil
and his angels (Mt 25:41), but will serve as the place of
punishment for the wicked as well
C. THE ETERNAL DWELLING PLACE IS CALLED "THE LAKE OF FIRE"...
1. Where the "beast" and "false prophet" of Revelation are thrown
- Re 19:20
2. Where the devil (Satan) himself will one day be cast - Re 20:
10
3. The same is said for "death" and "Hades", and all whose names
are not written in "the Lamb's book of life" - Re 20:14-15
4. The future residents of this place are also described in Re
21:8
[Such is the place that God has prepared for the eternal destiny of the
wicked! To appreciate further the horror of this place, consider...]
II. THE "EXPERIENCE" OF THE WICKED
A. WE HAVE SEEN THAT THE IDEA OF "SEPARATION" IS INVOLVED...
1. What such separation from God can be like, no one in this life
can really know
a. For everyone in this life experiences a degree of God's
presence - cf. Ac 17:28
b. E.g., the physical blessings of the sun, rain, etc. are all
manifestations of God's presence in our lives - cf. Mt 5:45
2. But perhaps those who drift farthest away from God in this life
have an "inkling" of what it must be like...
a. Those in this life who drift away from God ultimately
experience "despair"
b. Even as Jesus experienced a sense of being "forsaken", when
He suffered that momentary separation from God while bearing
the sins of the world on the cross - cf. Mt 27:46; Ps 22:1
3. If we have ever experienced separation from a loved one,
perhaps we can begin to understand what eternal separation from
God must be like
B. A TERM COMMONLY USED TO DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE IS "DEATH"...
1. The wages of sin is death - Ro 6:23
2. In Re 2:11; 20:14; it is called the "second death", so we
know that the experience of the wicked is not simply physical
death (which is the "first death")
3. Since physical death is a "separation" of body and spirit, it
is natural to conclude that the second death is a "separation"
of one's soul from His God!
C. THE ETERNAL DESTINY IS DESCRIBED AS "DESTRUCTION"...
1. An everlasting "destruction" from the presence of the Lord
- 2 Th 1:9
2. "whose end is destruction" - Ph 3:19
3. The idea of destruction...
a. Does NOT require the idea of "annihilation"
b. It can just as easily describe the condition of existing in
a state of "total ruin"
-- The next description would confirm that "annihilation" is
not under consideration here...
D. IT IS ALSO DESCRIBED AS "EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT"...
1. The punishment for the wicked is as "everlasting" as the life
given the righteous - Mt 25:46
2. The wicked will be "punished" with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord - 2 Th 1:9
E. IT IS FURTHER SPOKEN OF IN TERMS OF "OUTER DARKNESS"...
1. As in the punishment of the unfaithful servant - Mt 25:30
2. And the punishment reserved for false teachers - 2 Pe 2:17;
Ju 13
F. OTHER TERMS INCLUDE "WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH"...
1. Jesus used these expressions several times - Mt 25:30; 24:51;
22:13
2. When such terms as these are used, it is difficult to accept
any view that suggests the wicked will simply cease to exist at
death, or be raised for judgment and then annihilated!
G. FINALLY, IT IS DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF "FIRE"...
1. The "fire" of Gehenna
2. The "lake of fire"
3. A fire that is never quenched - Mk 9:43-48
4. A fire of indignation which "devours" (but does not destroy out
of existence) - He 10:26-27
CONCLUSION
1. To some degree we must take these terms that describe the destiny of
the wicked as "figurative"
a. How could you have darkness where there is fire?
b. How could you have worms where there is fire?
2. But they are terms anyone can relate to, which describe...
a. Something we cannot possibly comprehend with our finite minds
b. A place of punishment reserved for those who "do not know God,
and...who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" - 2 Th
1:8-9
3. It is natural to "revolt" against any idea such as "hell"...
a. Unfortunately, many have revolted by trying to deny the reality of
hell, and sought to offer some other destiny of the wicked beyond
this life
b. But one cannot define away "hell" without belittling...
1) Either the terribleness of sin
2) Or the holiness and justice of God
A much better way to react to the truth concerning hell is to accept
God's saving grace offered through His Son Jesus Christ, who died on the
cross to save us from hell!
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© Mark A. Copeland, 2001
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