Eternal Punishment

There are those within Christendom who advocate total annihilation of the sinner who does not repent, and to be honest I believe for the most part they just flat out deny scripture as a whole. Just from these few text of scripture it is crystal clear to me (and most others) that the apostle John believed that the Devil, all false teachers, all unbelievers, death and hell will all be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and that their torment will be day and night forever and ever, which is clearly the second death!

Matthew 25:41 "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:"

Revelation 20:10 "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

Revelation 20:14 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

Revelation 21:8 "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: which is the second death."

I also believe the doctrine of eternal punishment is an essential doctrine of the faith and here is why.

"Those who do not believe in the eternal punishment of the wicked do not believe in the utter sinfulness of sin. They do not believe that sin is that much of an offense to God. And the reason they do not believe that sin is such an offense to the eternal God that the wicked must be punished eternally is because they do not believe in the Holy and Just God of the Bible." —Marc D. Carpenter

The Sin of Unbelief

Methinks I see you in some place in Hell, tied to a rock, the vulture of remorse gnawing your heart. And up there is Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom. You lift up your eyes and you see who it is. “That is the poor man who layon my dunghill and the dogs licked his sores. There he is in Heaven, while I am cast down. Lazarus—yes, it is Lazarus. And I who was rich in the world of time am here in Hell. Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of hisfinger in water, to cool my tongue.” But no! It cannot be. It cannot be. And while you lie there, if there be one thing in Hell worse than another, it will be seeing the saints in Heaven.

Oh, to think of seeing my mother in Heaven while I am cast out! Oh, Sinner, only think—to see your brother in Heaven—he who was rocked in the same cradle and played beneath the same roof—yet you are cast out! And, husband, there is your wife in Heaven and you are among the damned, And see you, father! Your child is before the Throne. And you, accursed of God and accursed of man, are in Hell. Oh, the Hell of hells will be to see our friends in Heaven and yourselves lost. I beseech you, my Hearers, by the death of Christ—by His agony and bloody sweat—by His Cross and passion—by all that is holy—by all that is sacred in Heaven and earth—by all that is solemn in time or eternity—by all that is horrible in Hell, or glorious in Heaven—by that awful thought, “forever”—I beseech you lay these things to heart and remember that if you are damned, it will be unbelief that damns you. If you are lost, it will be because you believed not on Christ. And if you perish, this shall be the bitterest drop of all—that you did not trust in the Savior.

Excerpt taken from a sermon delivered on Sabbath morning, January 14, 1855 by The Rev. Charles Hadden Spurgeon at the New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

More Sighs From Hell

"For if a man were to have all his sins laid to his own indictment, and must commune with the devils, and endure as much wrath as the great God of heaven can inflict upon him; I say, if it were but for a time, even ten thousand years, and then end, there would be some ground for comfort, and hopes of deliverance. But here is your misery; this is your state forever, here you must be forever. When you look around, and see the innumerable company of screaming devils you are among, you shall be reminded that - this is my portion forever. Oh, when you have been in hell for so many thousands of years as there are stars in the sky or drops in the sea or sands on the seashore, yet you have to live there forever more. Oh, this one word EVER! How it will torment your soul!"

By John Bunyan (1628-1688)

The Eternity of Hell-Torments

"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death!" O foolish mortal that I was, thus to bring myself into these never- ceasing tortures, for the transitory enjoyment of a few short-lived pleasures, which scarcely afforded me any satisfaction, even when I most indulged myself in them. Alas! Are these the wages, these the effects of sin? O damned apostate! First to delude me with pretended promises of happiness, and after several years drudgery in his service, thus to involve me in eternal woe. O that I had never hearkened to his beguiling insinuations! O that I had rejected his very first suggestions with the utmost detestation and abhorrence! O that I had taken up my cross and followed Christ! O that I had never ridiculed serious godliness; and out of a false politeness, condemned the truly pious as too severe, enthusiastic, or superstitious! For I then had been happy indeed, happy beyond expression, happy to all eternity, yonder in those blessed regions where they fit, clothed with unspeakable glory, and chanting forth their seraphic hallelujahs to the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne for ever. But, alas! These reflections come now too late; these wishes now are vain and fruitless. I have not suffered, and therefore must not reign with them. I have in effect denied the Lord that bought me, and therefore justly am I now denied by him. But must I live for ever tormented in these flames? Must this body of mine, which not long since lay in state, was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day, must it be here eternally confined, and made the mockery of insulting devils? O eternity! That thought fills me with despair: I must be miserable for ever."

Come then, all ye self-deluding, self-deluded sinners, and imagine yourselves for once in the place of that truly wretched man I have been here describing. Think, I beseech you by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, think with yourselves, how racking, how unsupportable the never- dying worm of a self-condemning conscience will hereafter be to you. Think how impossible it will be for you to dwell with everlasting burnings.

The Eternity of Hell-Torments by George Whitefield (1714-1769)