13 - The Final Judgment and Eternity

Eternity where?

Image credit - eberhard grossgasteiger - Unsplash.com

Hell fire is literal

Matthew 18 v 7-9

7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!

8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

The above passage of Scripture is sobering; it tells us plain and simple - hell is a real place and the fire of hell is eternal – it will never end!

It is difficult to think of hell it terms of earth time because during our life on earth, time is measured in terms of calendar days, weeks, months and years.

In hell there will be no diaries or calendars to gauge time – existence in hell will just be a perpetual and relentless reality. There will be no sleep, no rest, no relief and no hope, it will never end.

Matthew 25 v 41

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

The elusive grasp

Image credit - Gabriel Meinert - Unsplash.com

My wife and I often talk about the ‘elusive grasp of eternity’. You start thinking of what it would mean to be lost forever and you no sooner grasp something of the horror of what it would feel like - and then the thought seems to escape your grasp. It seems unfathomable.

The thought of being tormented in hell forever with no hope of escape and no prospect of relief brings a sense of imperceptible terror. Perhaps the problem is that we seldom reflect on this subject, and yet it is an eternal reality.

It is dreadful to contemplate the certainty of unsaved souls being doomed, shut out of God’s presence forever. I imagine that people will experience relentless remorse because they rejected the gospel.

You will have memories of your life on earth that will haunt and torment you. You will recall that day when some Christians knocked your front door and invited you to a gospel meeting, but you decided not to go.

You will remember that Christian in your class at school who was different from the others but you didn’t ask why. Worse still; you knew why but you didn’t want to discuss it because it might have implications that would make you uncomfortable. Now you will wish that you had, because you have never been more uncomfortable.

You may even remember hearing about Jesus dying on the cross but you chose not to respond. You will recall specific moments in your life when God was speaking to you but you did nothing about it because of what you thought it would cost.

You will realise that you are where you are because you selfishly chose to suit yourself rather than submit to God. This is the defining point in all of our lives; where we decide that it is ‘me’ or ‘God’. Submission to God is not only the turning point where a person gets ‘saved'; it is the new guiding principle for life!

You will recall celebrating Christmas and Easter, year after year, when the story of the birth, life and death of Jesus tugged at your heart strings but again, you chose to go your own way and do your own thing instead of surrendering your life to Christ.

Why, why, why, you will ask yourself? The torment will be so unrelenting and awful as you realise the finality of your doom. If you are reading this article, there is still time to repent of your sin and turn to God for salvation.

Counting the Cost

Image credit - Crissy Jarvis - Unsplash.com

What is keeping you from becoming a Christian?

Is it the thought of giving up a glass of wine or a bottle of beer? There will be no wine or beer in hell. But in heaven there will be streams of living water - refreshment that has never been experienced on this earth.

Are you holding on to a relationship that you know is wrong? That relationship will not exist in eternity. But in heaven we are offered a relationship with God and with other saints and heavenly beings that will bring perfect happiness and fulfilment for eternal ages to come.

Is it the thought of paying legitimate taxes in your business? There will be no business or money in hell. But in heaven we will enjoy eternal wealth and riches that will be secure and that will never depreciate in value.

Why do you allow temporal things to determine where you will spend eternity?

Image credit - Priscilla Du Preez - Unsplash.com

How hard can it be?

Acts 16 v 31

Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

2 Corinthians 5 v 17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

This is Good News! You need not face the horror and torment of Hell. Why not give your life to Jesus right now? Right where you are, stop, kneel before this God of love, grace and mercy, and ask him to forgive you and save you from this awful judgement.

Admit you are wrong, confess your sins, give your life to him and make him your Lord and Saviour. God can transform you and change the course of your life for today, tomorrow and for eternity.

When a person becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit indwells them, eternal life is received, righteousness is imputed through Christ’s death and fear of the unknown is replaced with the certainty of heaven and a new relationship with God.

We receive forgiveness and cleansing through the sanctifying work of Christ. Nothing that this fallen world can offer compares to this.

SHARE ME on social media. Spread the WORD!