The Punishment Of Eternal Fire Series

“Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.” [1]

The doctrine of eternal punishment has become the domain of comedians in this day. It is as though our culture seeks to minimise thinking about hell in a futile attempt to avoid thinking about divine judgement. Downplayed by theologians as unworthy of God and ridiculed by preachers too timid to upset sedated congregations, the teaching of eternal punishment that was first provided by Him who created all things has almost ceased being presented from contemporary pulpits. Preachers are hesitant to mention Hell—Gehenna, the Abyss, the Lake of Fire—lest parishioners or seekers might be turned off. However, simply because the teaching is odious to the natural mind does not cause this doctrine to cease being needed. Nor does denial of eternal accountability empty the teaching of terrifying power over the souls of rebellious mankind.

You should not imagine that it is only within recent years that the rejection of the doctrine of eternal punishment has been transformed into a sort of novel situation adopted by apostatising churches. Even in the early days of the Faith, supposed experts arose to explain away the doctrine of accountability to the eternal God. So it was that from earliest days the Apostles of our Lord were compelled to speak pointedly reminding their listeners of this terrifying, dreadful doctrine. In our study through the short missive Jude that was drafted to instruct the faithful in that early day, we note that the half-brother of our Lord found it necessary to speak of this frightful, though necessary, teaching. Jude wrote of the eternal fire as a warning to the faithful, in fact, to all who would read this missive, that an unending punishment awaits all who have rejected the grace of God.

Join me in this hour as we focus on the final sentence found in the SEVENTH VERSE of this brief letter, so that together we may learn something of the neglected doctrine. Let’s study what the Spirit of Christ dictated through His servant so that we are fully equipped as disciples, and so that we are not left wallowing in tragic ignorance.

THE REVELATION — The phrase Jude employs is chilling in its impact on the natural mind. “A punishment of eternal fire” speaks of the nature of God, of the nature of man, and of man’s ultimate accountability to God Who gives us our being. Small wonder that the natural mind shrinks from confronting the implications of this issue. And if Jude was the sole writer in the whole of Scripture who spoke of this matter, we might be advised to reject the teaching, imposing our own imaginations in the place of this frightful doctrine.

But Jude does not speak of this doctrine of punishment in isolation from the rest of Scripture; rather, he speaks in concert with the other writers of Holy Writ, and as one with the Lord Christ Himself. Recall that it was the Master Himself who spoke of the great assize that will occur at His return, and before which will stand the inhabitants of the earth, arrayed as goats and sheep to be segregated.

In Matthew’s Gospel, we witness Jesus as He taught, warning, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me’” [MATTHEW 25:31-36].

With this revelation, the Master reveals that the righteous will question what He has said. “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me’” [MATTHEW 25:37-40]. The righteous will have done as they did because they were moved with compassion by the suffering of those who are persecuted because they have faith in the coming Saviour. Their hearts are transformed by the hope of Christ and His reign!