The Scripture Doctrine of a Future Life

But the statement is plain and explicit that the wicked shall be recompensed in the earth. Here we observe the same principle of justice that is carried out in worldly governments. A man is punished where he commits his crime. So with the wicked: the earth has beheld their crimes; it must also behold their reward. Peter bears decisive testimony on this point in 2 Pet. 3:7-12: "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

Here we see that Peter designates the day of judgment as the time, and the earth as the place, for the perdition (destruction, Web.) of ungodly men. In verses 10-12, he describes the condition of the earth at that time: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens, shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" Will the reader try to comprehend the scene here described? The atmospheric heavens are in flames, the whole earth is one vast lake of liquid fire, the rocks are melting with intense heat, the mountains run down, and all the elements of the earth are molten like lead. Everything that fire can consume is burned up. Paul, speaking of this event in Heb. 12:25, 29, says that those things which can be shaken are removed; but those which cannot, will remain. So Nah. 1:5: "The mountains quake at him [God], and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea the world, and all that dwell therein." Also Deut. 32:22: "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest Hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains."

So then at the judgment this earth is to be melted by intense fire and all its impurity will be consumed. Thus, we think we have proved that the wicked will receive their punishment on the earth, where they have committed their crimes. If further testimony is required on this point, see Matt. 13:30, 40-43; Mal. 4; Dan. 2:35; ect.

IV. The third and connecting fence that we shall build is, That the wicked shall be burned up, entirely consumed, by the fire which melts and purifies the earth.

In Matt. 3:12, we read, "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Here we see that fire is introduced as the destroying agent. In Matt. 25:41, Jesus says, "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." Here it is definitely stated that the wicked will go into "fire." Again: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched." Mark 9:43-46.

It is not only to be fire, but it will be a lake of fire. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 20:13-15. In chapter 21:8, we read, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Chapter 20:10, also declares that "the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false are." This lake of fire we have before proved to be on this earth. Thus, we see the idea that the fire is the "remorse of conscience," is flatly contradicted by the Bible. It is a fire that "consumes," "devours," "burns up," the one which burns up the earth.

With these facts before us, let us now ascertain whether this fire that is hot enough to melt the earth, and dissolve the mountains, will burn up, consume, and devour, the wicked; or whether it will preserve them to all eternity. If the latter is to be the case, we shall expect to find the wicked compared to diamonds, granite, rocks, and other substances which will endure heat the longest. But what must be our conclusion if, on the, contrary, we find them compared to the most combustible materials? Certainly, we cannot conclude that they will exist in a lake of fire eternally.

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED IS COMPARED TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MOST PERISHABLE MATERIALS.

1. We find the wicked compared to chaff. "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. 3:12. Now if you want to know whether the wicked will be burned up or not, try an experiment according to the illustration here used; that is, take a handful of dry chaff, and cast it into a hot fire. What is the result? I think that I hear you answer, "It is burned up, certainly." Very well. Now if the language in the Bible means anything, we have here a good illustration of the end of the wicked.

2. They are compared to stubble. In Nahum 1:10, we read: "For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." Here we have another illustration of the end of sinners. Go and set fire in your wheat stubble when it is "fully dry," and tell me the result. You say it is entirely burned up—reduced to ashes. Then I answer, in the words of the Bible, that the wicked "shall be devoured as [or in like manner to] stubble fully dry." And this takes place in the fire which burns the earth, as will be seen by verse five: "The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein." No wonder that corrupt sinners are consumed in such a fire as this!

3. They are compared to tares. In Matt. 13, we have the parable of the wheat and tares. Verse 30 says, "Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn." In the explanation, Jesus says, "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Verses 40-42.

4. The wicked are compared to dried branches. "If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." John 15:6. Here Jesus uses the illustration of a man pruning a vine and burning up the limbs after they are dry. This certainly conveys to our minds anything but the idea of eternal existence.

5. They are compared to fat of lambs. "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." Ps. 37:20. The illustration that David here employs is that of a sacrifice upon the altar, which is laid upon the fire—it gradually "consumes away" till it is gone. Not a particle of the "fat" is left Dr. Clarke says: "As the fat is wholly consumed in sacrifices, by the fire on the altar, so shall they consume away in the fire of God's wrath." So will the wicked perish. In Zech. 14:12, their destruction is described without any figure.

6. The wicked are compared to thorns, briers, hay, wood, etc. "But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." Heb. 6:8. "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." 1 Cor. 3:12, 13. If you can tell what will be the end of wood, hay, stubble, etc., when tried by fire, you can also tell what will be the end of the wicked; for both will be the same, or else the figure is not a good one.

To sum up all these declarations and illustrations, the wicked are to be dashed "in pieces like a potter's vessel;" Ps. 2:9; to be consumed "as the fat of lambs;" Ps. 37:20; to perish "like the beasts;" Ps. 94:20; to pass away "as a snail which melteth;" Ps. 58:8; to be driven away "as smoke is driven away," and to perish "as wax melteth before the fire;" Ps. 68:2; to be no more "as the whirlwind passeth;" Prov. 10:25. They "shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water, and . . . as tow;" Isa. 1:30, 31; "as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire; " Isa. 33:12; like moth and worm-eaten garments; Isa. 51:8; and "as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consurneth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust." Isa. 5:24. They shall be burned as tares; Matt. 13:30; as dry branches; John 15:6; as wood and hay; 1 Cor. 3:12; as thorns and briars; Heb. 6:8. "They shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away." Hosea 13:3. "They shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." Ps. 37:2. "His roots shall be dried up, beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off;" Job. 18:16; and his light "shall be put out." Job. 18:5. Now the question is, Do these comparisons and illustrations mean anything, or do they not? Were they given to instruct us, or to deceive us? If the wicked are to burn eternally in hell fire, then these comparisons certainly deceive us, as no such idea can be drawn from them. But if the wicked are really to be burned up, then all these illustrations are true to life, instructive, and forcible. Look forward to the time when this earth is one vast lake of fire; behold the wicked in all their natural corruption cast into this burning mass. Now answer me if they will not be burned up as chaff in a furnace. Prejudice may, with a blush for a reason, venture to assert, "No; I don't believe they will;" but inborn common sense will promptly answer, "Yes; they will."

Mal. 4 is very plain upon this subject: "For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven." Has the Bible anywhere else spoken of such a day? It has and calls it "the day of the Lord." "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2. Pet. 3:10. When this takes place, will it not burn as an oven? Most assuredly it will.

We have now learned that the day spoken of by Malachi is the day of the Lord, and that the scenes referred to will transpire on the earth. Now what is to happen at that time? We will read "And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble." Here the wicked are again compared to stubble. Now what will be done with this stubble? Will it be preserved eternally? Answer. "And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Verse 1. Thus, we see that they are to be burned up, root and branch, or, as Isaiah says, "both soul and body." Chap. 10:18. Peter says that when the earth shall melt with heat, "the works that are therein shall be burned up." Malachi tells us that wicked men also shall be burned up. Rev. 20: 9, declares the same thing: "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

Now what is the condition of the wicked after they are "burned up root and branch?" Answer. "And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. 4:3. Here we see that the burning up mentioned reduces the wicked to ashes. This is neither a figure, an illustration, nor a comparison, but a positive declaration of the end of the wicked. Now we can comprehend what the Bible means when it declares that the wicked shall "die," "perish," "be destroyed," etc., etc., as it does hundreds of times in the most positive manner.

THEY SHALL DIE.

To die is thus defined by Webster: "To, cease, to live; to expire; to decease; to perish."

Death, then, is a loss of life, a cessation of existence. In this sense it is familiarly and repeatedly used in the Bible. Take four examples. Speaking of the flood, it says: "And all flesh died that moved upon the earth." Gen. 7:21. Of his cattle, Jacob said; "If men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die." Gen. 33:13. Again: "And the fish that is in the river shall die." Ex. 7:18. Of Dorcas, it says: "It came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died." Acts 9:37. The simple meaning in these instances cannot be misunderstood. It means an utter loss of life. And so it is used in hundreds of places all through the Scriptures. This familiar word is the one which the Lord has chosen more frequently than any other to describe the end of the wicked.

Take a few examples: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." "For his iniquity that he hath done shall he die." Eze.1 8:4, 26. "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die." Eze. 33:14. "He that hateth reproof shall die," Prov. 15:10. "He that despiseth his ways shall die." Prov. 19:16. "The end of those things is death." "For the wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:21, 23. "To be carnally minded is death." Rom. 8:6. "Shall save a soul from death." James 5:20. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:15. Death, then, simple, literal, and complete, is what the Bible everywhere declares to be the portion of the wicked.

THEY SHALL BE DESTROYED.

Destroy: "To demolish; to pull down; to bring to naught; to annihilate."—Webster. Destruction, then, is utter ruin, complete annihilation; and so it is used in the Bible. At the flood, the Lord said: "Every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth." Gen. 7:4. Wild beasts shall "destroy your cattle." Lev. 26:22. "The trees . . . thou shalt destroy." Deut. 20:20. "He sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers." Matt. 22:7.

With a concordance the reader can readily find scores of texts where the word destroy or destroyed is used as above, where there can be no question about its meaning This strong but simple word the Lord has repeatedly used in naming the punishment of the wicked. Thus: "All the wicked will he destroy.'' Ps. 145:20. "I will early destroy all the wicked." Ps. 101:8. "Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matt. 10:28. "The transgressors shall be destroyed together." Ps. 37:38. "All the workers of iniquity . . . shall be destroyed forever." Ps. 92:7. "Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed." Prov. 13:13. "Is not destruction to the wicked?" Job. 31:3. "Destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity." Prov. 10:29. "The indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction." Isa. 10:25. "Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." Rom. 9:22. "Whose end is destruction." Phil. 3:19. "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction." 2 Thess. 1:9. "Which drown men in destruction and perdition." 1 Tim. 6:9. How could language be more decisive as to the utter destruction of the wicked?

THEY SHALL PERISH.

Perish: "To die; to lose life in any manner; to be destroyed; to come to nothing."—Webster. Here is another word, the very strongest that can be found to denote an utter destruction, used many times to denote the end of the wicked.

Take a few passages to show its Bible usage. Of Saul, David said: "He shall descend into battle and perish." 1 Sam. 26:10. Of Jonah's gourd, it is said, "Which came up in a night and perished in a night." Jonah 4:10. "And the bottles perish." Matt. 9:17. The "swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished." Matt. 8:32.

So, the Lord declares, the wicked shall end. "Let the wicked perish at the presence of God." Ps. 68:2. "But the wicked shall perish." Ps. 37:20. "Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish." John 3:15. "Thy money perish with thee." Acts 8:20. “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish." Acts 13:41. "The cross is to them that perish foolishness." 1 Cor. 1:18. "In them that perish." 2 Cor. 2:15. "With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." 2 Thess. 2:10. "He that speaketh lies shall perish." Prov. 19:9. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:3 "As many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law." Rom. 2:12. "Shall utterly perish in their own corruption." 2 Pet. 2:12. If this does not teach utter extinction, then language cannot do it.