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For a master copy of the outline, click here: Basic Bible Doctrine
To Listen on YouTube, click here: The Principles of the Doctrine of Christ (Heb 6:1-2) (Part 4) - Eternal Judgment - Hell
6. Eternal judgment (Heb 6:2)
A. The judgment of the wicked is eternal.
i. Jesus called it eternal damnation (Mar 3:29).
ii. Eternal - 3. a. Infinite in future duration; that always will exist; everlasting, endless. The New Testament expressions eternal life, death, punishment, etc. are here referred to sense 3, this being the sense in which the adj. in such contexts is ordinarily taken.
B. The judgment of the wicked is everlasting.
i. Everlasting - 1. a. Lasting for ever; infinite in future duration; endless; = eternal A. 3.
ii. The eternal judgment of the wicked is called:
a. Everlasting punishment (Mat 25:46).
b. Everlasting fire (Mat 25:41; Mat 18:8).
c. Everlasting destruction (2Th 1:9).
d. Everlasting chains (Jud 1:6).
C. The judgment to come is a frightening thought (Act 24:25).
i. The terror of the Lord that will be experienced at the judgment seat of Christ ought to be motivation for us to persuade men (2Co 5:10-11).
ii. We should behold the severity of God, as well as His goodness (Rom 11:22).
iii. The judgment to come is described as wrath, indignation, tribulation, and anguish (Rom 2:5-9).
a. Wrath n. - 1. Vehement or violent anger; intense exasperation or resentment; deep indignation: d. Righteous indignation on the part of the Deity.
b. Indignation n. - 1. The action of counting or treating (a person or thing) as unworthy of regard or notice; disdain, contempt; contemptuous behaviour or treatment. (last usage in 1530 AD) 2. Anger at what is regarded as unworthy or wrongful; wrath excited by a sense of wrong to oneself or, especially, to others, or by meanness, injustice, wickedness, or misconduct; righteous or dignified anger; the wrath of a superior.
c. Tribulation n. - 1. A condition of great affliction, oppression, or misery; ‘persecution; distress; vexation; disturbance of life’
d. Anguish n. - 1. Excruciating or oppressive bodily pain or suffering, such as the sufferer writhes under. 2. Severe mental suffering, excruciating or oppressive grief or distress.
iv. Eternal judgment happens upon death (Heb 9:27).
D. Hell
i. Hell is below the surface of the earth, presumably in the center of it (Mat 11:23; 2Pe 2:4; Isa 14:9; Deu 32:22; Job 11:8; Pro 7:27; Pro 9:18).
ii. Hell is a place of torment where the soul of the wicked goes (Psa 9:17) immediately upon death (Luk 16:22-28).
iii. Torment v. - 1. trans. To put to torment or torture; to inflict torture upon.
iv. Hell is a place of pain and sorrow (Psa 18:5; Psa 116:3).
v. Hell is a place of eternal fire (Mat 5:22; Mat 18:9; Mar 9:43; Jud 1:7; Rev 14:10-11).
vi. Hell is a place of damnation (Mat 23:33).
a. Damnation - 1. The action of condemning, or fact of being condemned (by judicial sentence, etc.); condemnation. 2. Theol. Condemnation to eternal punishment in the world to come; the fact of being damned, or doomed to hell; spiritual ruin; perdition. (Opposed to salvation.)
b. Condemnation - 1. The action of condemning or of pronouncing adverse judgement on; judicial conviction; expression of disapprobation or strong censure; the fact of being condemned
vii. Therefore hell is a place of unending torment, pain, mental and physical anguish, and condemnation.
viii. It is worth giving up and mortifying any fleshly lust to have the assurance that you're not going to hell (Mat 5:29-30 & Mat 18:9 c/w Col 3:5-6).
ix. God will destroy both soul and body of the wicked in hell (Mat 10:28).
a. The destruction of the soul happens immediately after death (Luk 16:22-23).
b. The destruction of the body happens after the body is resurrected on the last day (Joh 5:28-29 c/w Joh 11:24).
x. Hell has an insatiable appetite (Pro 27:20; Pro 30:15-16; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5).
xi. Death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14).
E. Jesus taught that hell is a place where "their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched" (Mar 9:43-44).
i. This is a quote from Isa 66:24.
ii. In that Isa 66:22 speaks of the new heavens and the new earth, some have concluded that people on the new earth will be able to see those in hell or the lake of fire.
iii. This is not so: consider the context of the passage.
a. Isa 66:14-17 speaks of God executing judgment against His enemies (happened in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem; will also happen at the end of time).
b. After that, the Gentiles in all nations shall see His glory (Isa 66:18-19 c/w Col 1:27) (the gospel went to the Gentiles in all nations).
c. These Gentiles will be an offering to the Lord (Isa 66:20 c/w Rom 15:16).
d. These Gentiles will be made priests of God (Isa 66:21 c/w Rev 1:6; Rev 5:10; 1Pe 2:5,9 c/w Mal 3:3).
e. God then promises to Israel that just as the new heavens and new earth that He will make shall remain before Him, so will the seed of Israel (Abraham's seed - those who are in Christ - Gal 3:28-29) and their name (the Israel of God - Gal 6:16) remain (Isa 66:22).
f. In that day when the Gentiles will be brought into the commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:11-22) and made priests of God (1Pe 2:5,9 c/w Isa 66:21), they shall come to worship God from one new moon to another (monthly communion?) and from one sabbath to another (weekly church service?) (Isa 66:23).
g. During that time they shall see the destruction of the Jews in Jerusalem who transgressed against God (Isa 66:24 c/w Psa 37:34 c/w Dan 9:24,27), and later the destruction of God's enemies at the end of time (Rev 19:21).
h. When these judgments happen, they will look upon the carcasses (the dead body of man) (Isa 66:24 c/w Rev 19:21) of those wicked people whose souls are burning in hell (Mat 23:33).
iv. Isa 66:22-24 is not a prophecy of the new heaven and the new earth, but rather of the NT church times and the judgment of God's enemies which happens during them.
a. God simply used the reference of the new heavens and the new earth as a comparison to show that, just as they will remain once they are made, so will the seed and name of Israel (those that are in Christ, the Israel of God) remain forever.
b. The NT church began in the first century and will remain forever (Eph 3:21).
v. Furthermore, there will be no carcasses (dead bodies) to look at when the saints are living on the new earth because it will be after the resurrection when the bodies of the just and unjust will be resurrected (Joh 5:28-29).
