A. Define Eternity: The Greek word (aiwnios) means: "Eternal, everlasting, without end, never to cease, or indeterminate as to duration."

B. This defies the human mind. We think of everything in terms of a beginning and an end. Our world is designed this way. In Gen. 1, when God set time in motion, there was evening and morning—definite periods of time to be used and forever over.

C. But once we go into eternity, it never ceases—time is forever now, with no clocks or calendars.

A. God’s blessing are upon the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45). The wicked and unbelieving enjoy the same physical blessings now as the righteous.

B. There are means of easing our pains and mental anguish. We have medicines, tranquilizers, etc. We have pills for everything.

1. Death is a release from physical suffering.

C. All of these (blessings & sufferings) are because of God’s physical laws.

D. One can live and die in this world without ever acknowledging or obeying God and enjoy His goodness, but in eternity, the picture is changed drastically.

A. Matt. 25:46 states, "And these shall go away into everlasting (KJV) punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." Greek word is the same. Therefore, the period of time is the same for the punishment and the blessing. It is for eternity.

B. The Greek word used for punishment is: (kolasin, from koladw) which means, "I chastise" or "I punish."

1. In Luke 16:23, the rich man lifted up his eyes "being in torment."

2. Read Rev. 20:10; 14:11.

C. If these persons were just dead, they could not be tormented. They are in a state of living consciousness!!

1. In Luke 16:28, the rich man did not want his 5 brothers to come to such a place.

D. This indicates that one keeps mental consciousness. One will have eternity to regret the missed opportunities to obey the gospel, to make things right with God, etc. This will make the situation even more horrible.

A. Jude 13, "for whom (ungodly) the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever."

B. Reason for the darkness—(Jas. 4:7) "God is the Father of lights" and (I John 1:5) "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."

1. Most people have a natural fear of total darkness. The wicked do many of their deeds under the cover of darkness. Notice the contrast of the righteous in I John 1:7.

 

A. Example of pain with childbirth or some severe injury, such as a bad break of a bone or a severe burn.

1. Relief through shock, fainting, medication, healing or death, but these things will not be available in hell.

2. There is no source of comfort or mercy without God.

A. When one is cast into Hell, there is no hope because the communication with God is lost forever!!

B. We can bear many unpleasant things in this life because we know there is a relief to come (heat, cold, pain, disappointments, etc.).

1. Christians have the hope of a better time in the future.

C. Dante, in his famous poem, "The Inferno" said the sign hanging over Hell’s door ought to be: "Those who enter this door leave behind all hope." Therefore, Hell is a helpless and hopeless place.

D. If we could live long enough for the astronauts to bring the Moon back to the Earth one grain of sand or speck of soil at each trip, when the task was completed, eternity would have just begun.

A. We do not like to be separated from our families here on earth, but think of the separation for eternity—never to see them again. Some families are religiously divided because one or some have obeyed the Gospel and others have not. They can remain together here, but not hereafter (II Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15).

Conclusion: It is the tragedy of tragedies to die without God. We can’t live without God’s blessing on this earth. Neither will we be able to live without Him in eternity. To die without obeying the Gospel is to die outside Christ’s body, the church, the saved!

A. To die unsaved is to doom us to spend eternity without God, without our loved ones, in pain, torment and mental anguish over unused opportunities.

B. Do you really believe in God? In Heaven? In Hell? In eternity?

1. We can believe in God, but if we do not become a Christian, we are in a lost condition because we have not obeyed God.

2. What can we do about this? We can become a Christian today and know that the Lord adds us to the redeemed (Acts 2:47; Rev. 21:27).

3. Will you obey Him today?

TOP of PAGE