1041. The Punishment of the Wicked As Set Forth in the Gospels

The Punishment of the Wicked As Set Forth in the Gospels

"The wrath of God abideth on him" (Joh_3:36)

We now come to the part of the message which is all-important. We are living in an age when people seem to desire to excuse sin on the one hand, and deny its punishment on the other. We are going to give you the teachings of the Gospels first; because they will include the words of our own precious Lord, Who loved sinners and Who came to seek and to save them.

1. Our first passage–Mat_3:7 : "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Saducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

John the Baptist believed in the punishment of the wicked, because he urged men to flee from the wrath to come. Why seek to save the sinner, if there is nothing to save him from? Why preach the grace which will carry us into Heaven, if there is no hell?

2. Our second passage–Mat_11:22 and Mat_11:24 : "But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee."

The Lord Jesus here positively teaches that there is a day of judgment in which punishment shall be meted out. He goes so far as to say that Chorazin and Bethsaida shall have a heavier punishment than Tyre and Sidon, and that Capernaum shall suffer more than even Sodom. The same thing is taught in chapter Mat_12:41, where the men of Nineveh will rise up in the day of judgment against the generation who had refused the Lord.

3. Our third passage–Mat_26:24 : "It had been good for that man if he had not been born."

Such words as these are meaningless unless there is punishment for the wicked. Certainly it would not have been good for Judas not to have been born if he merely went out into eternal oblivion when he died. But Judas went out with Christ's eternal woe written over him.

4. Our fourth passage–Mat_13:40 and Mat_13:42 : "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

These words mean something. Jesus Christ speaks of the children of the wicked one as being the tares: they are to be burned, cast into a furnace of fire, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.

5. Our fifth passage–Mat_18:8 and Mat_18:9 : "Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."

The expression "everlasting fire" and "hell fire" are not written to scare people. They were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ Who loved men enough to die for them. They carry with them only a touch of the awful woes that await the wicked.

6. Our sixth passage–Mat_25:41 and Mat_25:46 : "Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

Here we have certain ones who are to enter into everlasting fire and everlasting punishment. In contrast to this the righteous are to enter into everlasting life.

7. Our seventh passage–Mar_9:44 : "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

Three times did Christ utter these same words: once in Mar_9:44; then in Mar_9:46; and then in Mar_9:48. He describes hell as a place where "their worm dieth not." And then He adds that the "fire is not quenched." The literalness of this picture may not be doubted. Did not the rich man lift up his eyes "being in torments"? Did not he say, "I am tormented in this flame"? Did not Abraham say: "Son, remember"?

8. Our eighth passage–Mar_3:29 : "But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."

The literal translation is: "He is guilty of an eternal judgment." Men may try to belittle the "wrath to come" and decry the "judgment of the great white throne," but the Word of God never shields them.

9. Our ninth passage–Joh_3:16 : "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

We are closing our Scriptures from the Gospels with this love verse. It has been called "the Gospel in a nutshell," but in the heart of this verse is an expression which needs to make us stop and think. Consider the words "should not perish." Oh, what depths of meaning are wrapped up in that word "perish"! In the 39th verse the full meaning of "perish" is expressed by the words–"the wrath of God abideth on him."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR