1042. The Punishment of the Wicked As Set Forth in the Epistles
The Punishment of the Wicked As Set Forth in the Epistles
"Thinkest thou this, O man, * * that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" (Rom_2:3)
The message of the Epistles concerning the punishment of the wicked is not different from the message of Christ. There may be some added truth in the Epistles, but no contradictory truth.
1. Our first passage–Rom_2:7-9 : "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the Truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile."
"There is an indignation and a wrath, a tribulation and an anguish, stored up for those who obey not the Truth." In Rom_2:5 it is spoken of as "wrath in the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Those who refuse the Lord Jesus and live in shame are certainly worthy of death; and they can never escape the judgment of God. This passage is very solemn and very conclusive.
2. Our second passage–2Th_1:9 : "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power."
This verse presents the return of our Lord and describes His wrath against the wicked. He is coming in flaming fire; He is coming to punish the wicked with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord; He is coming to take vengeance on them who know not God.
In the same chapter the righteous are described in their present suffering, in their patience of faith, in the persecutions and the tribulations which they endure; but their future outlook is: "They shall be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which they suffer." How much better it is to suffer here and be glorified there, than to reject Christ and be punished there!
3. Our third passage–Heb_10:27 : "But a certian fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."
How fearful are these words, and yet they are true! The wicked have no other foregleam than a certain "fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation."
In Heb_10:28 we read how those who "despised Moses' Law died without mercy;" in Heb_10:29 we find that a "sorer punishment shall be put upon those who have trodden under foot the Son of God, and have counted the Blood of the covenant a common thing, and have insulted the Spirit of Christ."
It is useless for men to cavil and deny the terror of coming wrath, for Heb_10:30 says: "Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord." Surely "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God." In Heb_10:39, the wicked are described as "drawing back into perdition." What a story of coming judgments!
4. Our fourth passage–Jdg_1:7 : "Sodom and Gomorrah * * are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
This Scripture has particular reference to the deniers of the faith, known today as Modernists and Liberalists, and commonly called "Higher Critics." By these terms we mean those ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. The condemnation which awaits these men is spoken of as "suffering the judgment of eternal fire." Laughing at such an expression in no way changes its meaning nor alters the awful anguish which awaits the ungodly.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR