1 Thessalonians chapter 1. I have somewhat of a heavy subject
this morning. The title of my message, if I
had to title it, and I do, is Eternal Punishment. I want to
begin reading in verse 5 of this first chapter of 1 Thessalonians.
The Apostle Paul had called these brothers and sisters here at
this church, the elect of God, and said, This is the way I know
it, and this is the way you know it, in verse 5. For our gospel
came not unto you in word only. but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost and in much assurance. As you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sakes, and you become followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost, so that we were examples to all that in Macedonia and Achaia. For
from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God is spread
abroad, so that we need not to say anything. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you
turned to God from idols. to serve the living and true
God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." The
wrath to come. I was talking with a man the
other day, and he said that he had changed his views concerning
eternal punishment. that he no longer believed that
God punishes men for eternity for sin. And what brought him,
he said, to that conclusion that he began to think, how could
God be a merciful God and punish a man or a woman for all eternity
for sin? And here's the mistake that men
are apt to make if they're not careful. They begin to reason in their
heads, what would God do in certain
situations? What is God like? And this man
began to reason in his head that God could not be a merciful God
and yet punish a person for sin for all eternity. He could not
see how even that would lay to correspond with the justice of
God. How could this be? And he reached
the conclusion in his own reasoning that this could not be. And then
he said he went to the Scripture to prove it. There's the mistake. There's the mistake. We do not
reason these things out. Any subject to do with God and
the purpose of God and the judgments of God and salvation. We do not
seek to reason these things out and then come to a conclusion
in our own natural thinking, and then go to the Bible to either
prove or disprove what we already think we know. And the reason we don't do that
is because God is not like us. He tells us that his thoughts
are high above our thoughts, and his ways are high above our
ways, even as the heavens are above the earth. So he says,
don't think that I'm like you. Don't think that my thoughts
are like your thoughts, and your ways are like my ways. In other
words, if you and I want to know the truth of a subject, the first
thing we do is not attempt to reason it out in our own minds,
but go to the Word of God to see what He says. Look over here with me in Acts
chapter 17, and look in verse 10. We often refer to the Berean
people, Acts 17. And we like these people because
they had a lot of confidence in the holy scriptures. And they
always went there to prove everything. This great apostle came here
preaching to these Berean people. And It wasn't that they disagreed
with Paul. It wasn't that they were afraid
to believe what he said. But they wanted to know what
God said about what Paul had said. So they didn't make any
judgment upon his words at all. But they went home and searched
the Scripture not to prove what Paul said or to disprove what
he said. But they wanted to weigh what
he said in the light of the scriptures. And look here what was said in
Acts chapter 17 and verse 10. Paul had left Thessalonica, and
he came here to Berea, and it was said the brethren immediately
sent him away, Paul and Silas, by night into Berea, who come
in thither went unto the synagogue of the Jews, and these were more
noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word
with all readiness of mind," they had an open mind, and they
searched the scriptures daily to see what? Whether those things
were so or not. They said, We don't know you. You say you're
an apostle of Christ, that He's called you, and that you're preaching
the truth? We hope so. But we're going to
prove it. And they went home, and they
searched the Scripture. And therefore it was said in
verse 12, Therefore many of them believed. They said Paul was
right. Paul was right in what he preached
to us. Paul comes here to these Thessalonians,
and they were worshippers of idols, and he says, I came preaching
the gospel to you, and you heard my gospel. And it came to you
with such power and assurance, and the Holy Ghost, you were
saved by it. It changed you. It changed your
whole life. It changed your thinking to give
you a new heart and a new spirit. And you turn from idols to the
living God. And he said, when I go now to
people that know you, I don't have to say anything about you.
They come to me and they say, you know those Thessalonica people
you preach to? God has done a mighty work in
their hearts. We've been watching them and
they're turning from idols. And they're preaching the gospel
to everybody. God is doing a work of grace
in their heart. And Paul mentions two things
to them here in verses 9 and 10. He mentions this to them,
how they turned to God from idols to serve this true and living
God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from
the dead. And then he makes this statement,
who delivered us from the wrath to come. And that's my subject
this morning. The wrath to come. John the Baptist sometime made
this very statement. Who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? The Bible has much to say about
the wrath to come. But let's look at it this morning
this way. What's the meaning of this word
wrath that we often see in the scriptures? The meanings vary.
You have to look in the particular context to find out how this
word is used. First of all, it is used to define
inward feelings. I mean the feelings of God. And
it means anger, indignation, abhorrence, even hate. Now, when we talk about the wrath
of man, most places He's told to put aside wrath, to forsake
wrath. Let not the sun go down upon
your wrath. Because man cannot hate justly. Man cannot be angered justly
most of the time. So often he's told to forsake
this anger or this indignation. But in God, these are just and
holy passions because they are against sin. And these passions
of hatred and abhorrence are against men because of their
sins. And these are scriptural terms
to define wrath. Let me read some to you where
these words are translated. This word wrath is translated
by anger and hatred. Listen to Psalms chapter 7 verse
1. God will judge the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked
every day. That word, anger, is the word
we use for wrath. He's anger. He has this feeling
of anger, this passion of anger. In Psalms chapter 5 and verse
5, the foolish shall not stand in thy sight, Lord. all workers of iniquity. That is wrath defined. Hatred
in God's heart for workers of iniquity. And then Psalms chapter
5 and verse 6, Thou shalt destroy them that speak lethal. The Lord
will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. And sometimes this word
wrath is translated as indignation. It's said that the Lord has poured
His wrath into the cup of His indignation, and the wicked,
or those who worship the image of the beast, shall drink of
His wrath, its indignation. These words, what they do is
open up God's heart. They show us an aspect of God
that you and I don't want to see. Anybody that knows anything
about the sovereign God does not want to see this particular
aspect of God. The anger of God. The hostility
of God. The indignation and wrath of
God. But these are words that define
Him in His whole attitude towards sin. Towards sin. He loves righteousness. and he hates iniquities. He's angry with it. He abhors
it, and his indignation is stirred up against it. That's the first
meaning of wrath. It means passion. It means these
feelings even that God has within himself. And sometimes these
inward feelings are temporary. Sometimes God turns from this
inward anger or indignation or wrath against sin. In Numbers
chapter 25 and verse 11, you remember Phinehas, the priest
that he slew two fornicators in the camp of Israel, and the
scripture says, by doing that, he turned away the wrath of the
Lord that was against the children of Israel. He was ready to destroy
the children of Israel. Phinehas pacified that wrath. He turned it away. And in Psalms
chapter 78 and verse 37 and following, we have this. Their heart was
not right with God, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion,
forgave their iniquities and destroyed them not. Yea, many
times turned he from his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath."
So there is a turning from this wrath. God turning from these
feelings of hatred. He said He did this because He
remembered that they were flesh. And as a wind, they passed away
and were no more. Now I want to show you a very
precious verse concerning this in Psalms chapter 85 in verses
1 through verse 3. I want you to look at two or
three scriptures with me, because sometimes we see this in the
scripture, Psalms 85, God turning from this wrath, being appeased
for it. Psalms 85, and look in verse
1. Psalms 85 and verse 1. Thou hast been favorable to thy
land. Thou hast brought back the captivity
of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity
of thy people. Thou hast covered all their sins. And look here, Thou hast taken
away all thy wrath. Thou hast turned thyself from
the fierceness of thine anger. So there is a wrath of God that
he can be turned from. So we call that the temporal
wrath of God. It can indeed be towards a person
because of that person's sin, and then that wrath can be pacified
and God turned from it. Now some people say God doesn't
do that, but he says here he does that. We don't want to mistake
this for that passage where the Lord said, I am the Lord, I change
not. He doesn't change. In His attributes,
He never changes, but I tell you, He does change towards you,
and He changes towards me and other people. He's the moral
judge of all this earth, and as such, He does change His dealings
with them. Does He not? He did here, didn't
He? His wrath was upon him, but he
turned and his wrath was pacified. I want to show you another verse
in Isaiah chapter 54. Look in Isaiah chapter 54 in
verse 8. Here he says somewhat of the
same thing in Isaiah 54 in verse 8. Look what he says in verse 8,
"...in a little wrath," a little wrath, a little what? Temporary
wrath. "...I hid my face from you for
a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on
thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." In a little wrath, for a little
while, temporal wrath. Now, here's where the elect find
themselves before God calls them. They find themselves under the
wrath of God. But it's not eternal wrath, is
it? It's wrath for a little while until He calls them and brings
them to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then that wrath is
removed. God as the moral judge cannot
even look upon the elect in their sins and be pleased with them. He got these feelings of hostility,
these feelings of hate towards their sins and them because of
it. But he said it is only for a
moment. My wrath has been pacified and I will lift it from you when
I bring you to faith in my Son. One more scripture. Look in Isaiah
chapter 60. And look in verse 9 and 10. Isaiah
chapter 60. Surely the islands shall wait
for me, the ships of Tarsha first, to bring my sons from far, their
silver and their gold with them, in the name of the Lord thy God,
and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
Speaking of the Lord Jesus, "...and the sons of strangers shall build
up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee. For
in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor I have had mercy
on thee." Temporal wrath, but it is turned. What is it, brothers
and sisters, that turns God's wrath? What is it that turns
his wrath, and he'll never be upset with his people again?
What is it? It's the death of Christ. It's
the blood of Christ. It's the suffering of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're reconciled to God through
the death of His Son. So that's the first thing, wrath
that is within God Himself. Anger of horrors against sin
and those who commit it. And then is temporal wrath, and
that wrath can be removed, and it is removed from many. Paul
even said concerning all men outside of Christ, he that believeth
the Son of God hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not
God shall not see life, but the wrath of God. But is that temporal wrath? Or
is that eternal wrath? I'll tell you how we find out.
If we're brought to faith in Christ. If we're brought to faith
in Christ. And something else about this
wrath, sometimes this wrath is said to be manifest by punishment. Punishment of one kind or another. It's in God's heart. But then
it is revealed, it is manifest by punishment. In Deuteronomy
chapter 29 and verse 23, listen to this, this is speaking of
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the
plains. It said, The Lord overthrew them in his anger and in his
wrath. The wrath was there against their
sin, but now it is poured forth and they are overthrown. In Genesis
19, speaking of this very overthrow, this was said, The Lord reigned
upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of
heaven, and he overthrew those cities, and the cities of the
plain, and the inhabitants thereof." And here is what 2 Peter 2.6
said about this very subject. He turned the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah into ashes and condemned them with that overthrow making
them an example to those who after should live ungodly. And in Jude, Jude's account of
that says this. We're told this vengeance, that
it was vengeance from God. Why did God overthrow them? Vengeance. It said they suffered the vengeance
of eternal fire. What is vengeance? It's wrath
manifested. its wrath poured out. In Deuteronomy 32, verse 41,
the Lord God says, If I quit my glittering sword, and my hand
take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to my enemies,
and will reward them that hate me, and I will make my arrows
drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour all flesh. And Paul, in our study of the
Ephesians, in chapter 5, verse 6, he had listed all of those
sins that lost people do, idolatry, fornication, covetousness, lasciviousness,
uncleanness. He mentions these sins, and then
he says this, For which things sake the wrath of God cometh? The wrath of God cometh upon
the children of disobedience. If you and I have ever made this
statement, God help us never to make it again. If we've ever said it doesn't
matter what lost people do, because they're lost. If we've ever made
that statement, God help us never to make it again, because it
does matter what lost people do. For these things' sake, The
wrath of God come up upon the children of disobedience. There's
these feelings of God against sin, no matter who commits it. It's this indignation against
sin. And then when sin is continued
in to the time of God's own prerogative, He manifests that wrath. He pours
that wrath out upon that sin. Wrath manifested. Now, this brings
us to this point about this wrath. When an unbeliever dies under
wrath, does this wrath cease as the punishment, or does it
continue? This is what the man was having
trouble with, I told you. Is it the wrath of God that brings
the death of the ungodly, the wicked, the unbeliever, and then
it ceases? Or does it continue in a way
of punishment for all eternity? That all men die under the wrath
of God who are outside Jesus Christ? There's no doubt. That's
plain. They live and they die under
it. You may not know it. And they
may not know it. Everything may look good. They
may be healthy. They may have a good job. They
may have a big bank account. Everything may be going great.
But at death, if they are outside the Lord Jesus Christ, what happens
then? We leave this life in God's filling
toward sin of indignation. Now, now, what about that lifeless
to come? Does God begin to punish at death
and punish for all eternity or not? Now, I want you to turn
some Scripture with me and I want you to begin with Psalms chapter
73. Look in Psalms chapter 73. Asap was having a lot of difficulty
in his relationship with the Lord because he was being chastened
every morning. Things weren't going well in
his heart. Things weren't going well in his home. Things weren't
going well on the job. He said, I'm plagued every morning. God is plaguing me. And he looked
around and he saw the wicked and they were prospering. And
he said, that's what I want to be like. I'm just tired. I've grown weary in my heart.
And he said, even when they come down to die, he tells us in verse
4, there's no vans in their death. They're not in trouble like other
men are. And he got so envious of it. And he went to church
one Sunday morning. And the preacher got up to preach.
And I don't know what his text was, but I tell you, it enlightened
Asap's understanding. And it brought him to see, I
don't want to live and I don't want to die like them. Why? Well, look in verse 17. I went
into the sanctuary of God. Then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in
slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. Now are they brought into desolation. How? As in a moment, they are
utterly consumed with terrors. Not in their dying hours, because
their strength is firm. They've even got confidence in
their death. But oh, the minute they die,
then they are utterly consumed with terrors. In verse 20, as
a dream, When thou awakenest, thou shalt despise their image."
What happens at death to those outside of Christ? They begin
to face fearful horrors. Remember the rich man in hell?
I know that's a parable, as far as I know it's a parable. But
is it a lie? Just because it's a parable,
we're not to believe it? The rich man prays sumptuously
every day, and he lives so well in this world. But when he died,
in hell, he lift up his eyes. And he had to be afraid. He had
to be horrified. Why? Because he was in a flame. What was he under? He was under
God's vengeance. He was under God's wrath. Job 19.29 says this, Be afraid
of the sword, for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword. If I whip my glittering sword,
wrath brings the punishment of the sword. Listen, that you may
know there is a judgment. You see, what happens, men live
in sin, and they either refuse to accept it, or they twist the
fact that God is a just and holy God, and sin is against God. So they put it out of their minds,
and Think nothing of it. Or they try to explain it away.
But here the Lord comes and says, I'm doing this to make you know. There's a judgment. He's not
only going to punish sin, but He's going to make those who
commit it know it. Now listen to what Job says in
chapter 21, verse 17 through 20. He says, How often is the
candle of the wicked put out? and how often cometh the destruction
upon them. God distributeth sorrow in his
anger. They are as stubble before the
wind, and as chaff that the storm driveth away. God layeth up his
iniquity for his children. God rewards him, and he shall
know it. God takes him away, and God is
going to reward him in such a way to make him know it. For his eyes shall see his destruction,
and he shall drink of the wrath of thee Almighty. And don't we read sometimes in
the Scriptures that what unbelievers often say is, depart from me. I don't want to know the knowledge
of your ways. I don't want to know how you
feel about me. I don't want to know how you
feel about my sin. I don't want to know anything
about death and the judgment to come. Just leave me alone.
I'm living my life. I'm having a degree of pleasure
and fun here. Depart from me. I don't deserve
the knowledge of your ways. And what does the Scripture say
God is going to do? He's going to bring men and women
to the place that they will know that God is angry with sin. The rich man in hell is not ignorant
as to why he's there. God has made him to know. And his eyes see his destruction. Job said, "...their confidence
shall be rooted out of their tabernacle." And He will bring
them to the King of Terrors. Now, let men ignore this. Let
them deny it. Let them twist the Scriptures.
But they won't change the Scriptures. They won't change the Scriptures.
Because you cannot change God. You cannot change God. If the
souls of the righteous who leave this world go to be with Christ
and to rest with Him, and they are conscious of where they are
at, then the souls of the wicked, when they leave this world, they
go off into torment. And they will most definitely
be conscious of where they are. The Apostle Paul makes this statement
here in our text. He says, Jesus delivered us from
the wrath to come. From the wrath to come. The fellow, does the wrath cease
sometime after the death of the wicked? Does it cease? We know it's in God's heart towards
them while they live, even though he shows them so many favors.
We know it comes upon them at death because Asaph said they
were taken with all these horrors. But sometime after that, is there
a time in which this wrath upon the wicked ceases, or is it indeed
everlasting punishment? It's everlasting. You say, Bruce,
why do you say that? For this reason. Because we're
told of a resurrection of the just and of the unjust. Men do
not cease to exist when they die. The body is laid in the
ground, and the soul goes to be with Christ, or it goes into
terror and torment under God's wrath. And those who are in Christ
will remain there until the resurrection. Those who are in hell will remain
there until the resurrection. And then there will be a resurrection
of the body. and the soul and body will be
reunited and stand before God in the judgment. Now listen to
this, Daniel 12, verse 2, And many of them that sleep in the
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and
some to everlasting shame and contempt. A resurrection of the
just and the unjust, some to life everlasting, some to shame
and everlasting contempt. And the Lord Jesus says this
in John 5 and 28 and 29, the hour is coming in the which all that are in
the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and shall
come forth, they that have done good to the resurrection of life,
and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation."
Now notice these scriptures, the same terms that are used
to describe the everlasting life and happiness of the saint. is
used to describe the everlasting punishment of the wicked. The same word. You remember when
the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 25, that the coming of the Son
of Man in His glory in all nations would be gathered before Him,
and He'd separate them, the sheep from the goats. And He's saying
to those on His right hand, come you blessed of My Father. and
heard the kingdom prepared for you, and he said to those on
his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."
And then he makes this statement and he sums up the subject like
this. He says to the elect, he says to the reprobate, these
shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
unto life eternal. Same word. Everlasting punishment,
everlasting life. Same word used to describe all
of these. In Revelations, chapter 20, verse
12 and following, this is where the Apostle John was speaking
of this very judgment. And he said he saw the dead,
small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened,
which was the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works." And he says this, "...death and hell gave up the dead which
were in it, and the grave and the sea gave up the dead which
were in them, and they all stood before God." They all stood before
God. And they were judged. And he
says this, Whosoever was not found written in the book of
life was cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. This is the wrath the apostle
was talking about. This is the wrath that's to come. Jesus has saved you from the
wrath to come. It's not temporal wrath. It's not a wrath that will ever
be turned away. It doesn't remain in the heart
of God. It is a wrath that will be poured
out. Not temporary. Not to annihilate
a person. But poured out, and poured out,
and poured out for all eternity. Worlds without end. Now, is that
horrible? Why, that's absolutely horrible.
Who could think about that in its natural reason and believe
it? There's only one reason we believe
it, and that's because the Word of God teaches it. I think any man would be foolish
to believe this. I think a man would be mean and
cruel to believe this if he did not find it in the Word of God. And the Scripture preaches unto
us that it is cruel and fierce. Listen to Isaiah chapter 13 and
verse 9. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh,
cruel, cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the
land desolate, and he shall destroy sinners out of it." And Paul
was writing to this same church in 2 Thessalonians 1. And he
said to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven. with his holy angels in mighty
fire, in fire and power, taking vengeance on them that know not
God, and that obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence
of the Lord. Now, brothers and sisters, I
could stand up here for a long, long time and quote many scriptures
to you to prove eternal punishment. But I think if you'll go back
and examine the scriptures that I gave to you, I think you'll
realize the scriptures does teach an eternal punishment for those
who die outside the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the man that I was
talking to, he made this statement, a merciful God could not inflict
eternal punishment. A merciful God could not inflict
eternal punishment. What about a just God? And what he is saying is that
he had reached this conclusion, if there is such a thing as eternal
punishment, then God is not just. Then God is not just. Let's answer
that question quickly. I want you to look in Romans
chapter 2. Look in Romans chapter 2. If men want to believe something, then you know something, they'll
wind up believing. They'll wind up believing. If
you want to believe something bad enough, the Scripture won't
stop you from believing. Because here's what you'll do.
You'll do the same thing that my friend did, and it's different. You'll figure it all out in your
mind, and then you'll go twist the Scripture to try to prove
what you already think you know. Is God just? Now, if you come
up to me and all I had was my karma reasoning, if you come
up to me and say, Bruce, are you telling me And do you earnestly
believe that a man could live in this world 20 years, 30 years,
150 years, and die, and God punish him for all eternity? You know what I'd tell you if
I didn't have this Bible? I'd never believe something like
that. That's incomprehensible. That's the cruelest thing I've
ever heard in my life. That's not right. That's not
right. I can't enter into this in my
mind. I can enter into a little bit of the joys of heaven, but
the cruelties of hell? Read chapter 14 of Revelation
sometime, and read where he talks about the mixture of God's wrath.
It's without any mixture. It has no mercy. It has no kindness. It has no concern. Look here at what he says in
Romans 2, beginning in verse 1. Thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest, you do
the very same things. But we are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them which commit such
things. And thankest thou this, O man,
that judgest them which do such things, and you do the same,
that you shall escape the judgment of God? or despises thou the
riches of his goodness and forbearance along suffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leads you to repentance, but after
your hardness and impenitent heart treasure up unto yourself
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of what? The unjust judgment of God? No,
the righteous judgment of God. I don't understand how God can
punish a man or a woman for all eternity and be just in doing
it. But that's what he says about
himself. You take away the scriptural concept of eternal punishment
and you embolden the wicked to turn loose the reins of their
lust and sin as they will. Because you teach them when we
die, that's it. That's it. And Paul said, if
that's so, if death ends it, then let us eat, drink, and be
merry, for tomorrow we die, and that's the end of it. There is
a resurrection of the dead, and there is eternal punishment.
And we hold this over the heads of all men outside Christ. When we preach the gospel to
men, We set behind it the eternal punishment of God. And we say
to men, flee, flee from the wrath to come. And we threaten men with eternal
punishment. The man told me, he said, that's
nothing but Catholicism. That's nothing but Scripture.
That's Scripture. You remember when Nebuchadnezzar
told all the people down there in the plains, you bow down and
worship my image? Remember what he had sitting
up here behind him when he made those statements? A fiery furnace? Well, that's what God has behind
the gospel. A fiery hell. And he threatens
men with it. And if you've ever fled to Christ,
you've felt the threatenings of it in your heart, too. You
fled to lay hold upon the hope that sat before you. You take
away eternal punishment for sins, and you take away the necessity
for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it was by this
death that He delivered us from the wrath to come. And how did He do that? He took
this wrath Himself. Wouldn't it be something to come
up with a concept, there is no eternal wrath, when you see the
Son of God hanging on Calvary's tree, dying under God's wrath
to deliver us from it? Behold and see if there is any
sorrow lacking to my sorrow, He said, as He hangs upon the
cross. Wherewith God hath afflicted
me, in the day of His fierce anger. No, there is a wrath. And I tell you, brothers and
sisters, if there was ever any proof how angry God is with sin
and His passion against it, look at the cross. God spared not
His own Son. Why? He loved His elect and was
seeking to deliver them from His wrath to come. So he hated
sin so much that he spurred not his own son. And now to tell
us that he will spur those outside of Christ when he spurred not
his own son? Take away that scriptural concept
of eternal punishment and you dampen the hope of the righteous
as they live in this life. You're waiting for His Son from
heaven. You're hoping. You're hoping. And let people think of us what
they will. It don't matter to me. But a believer lives his life
by hope, knowing that if his hope fails, if his hope is vain,
he knows the alternative. And what does that do for his
hope? It makes him make sure of it. He gets a firmer grasp. I don't want to perish under
God's wrath. I want hope. I don't want to
die like the wicked. Let me die the death of the righteous. The Scripture says the wicked
are driven away in their wickedness. But the righteous has hope in
His death. And I tell you, every time somebody
dies outside of Christ, every time you go to a casket and to
look into the dead face of some man who died outside of Christ,
how does it affect you? Oh, God, thank you for giving
me hope. Thank you for giving me hope. There is a wrath yet to come,
my dear friends, and there is but one way to escape it. And
that's through the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And you have a man that will
stand and tell you how to escape this wrath. I tell you, that's
the best good news that you can ever know. The wrath to come. May God bless
His Word.