As a Christian, as a Pastor, and as a
member of one of the Lord’s churches. This passage of scripture does two things,
(1.) it makes me very thankful for God’s love, mercy, and grace toward me in
saving my unworthy soul from this punishment, and (2) it makes my heart cry for
the lost souls of this world. It does not matter how evil people are because
the very though of someone spending eternity in hell’s fiery flames where God
said, “the fire that never shall be quenched: and their worm dieth not”
Mark 9:46, 46 make me pray harder for the lost. The Prophet Isaiah wrote in
66:24 “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that
have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their
fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” God said,
“their worm die not” Vines define this as, “The statement signifies
the exclusion of the hope of restoration, the punishment being eternal.”
Therefore, once a soul enters the fiery flames of hell it will never end, the
pain, the misery, or the unquenchable fire. This will be for eternity, and it
is “God taking
vengeance” on them because they “know not God, and that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ:” These are those who are ignorant of God, who
mock Him, hate Him, laugh at Him, and disobey His word. These are those who
mocked Jesus Christ by their disbelief, who believed in the works and power of
man over the works and power of Jesus Christ. People will one day understand, just
saying you are a Christian does not make you a Christian, God said, “he that
believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his Son.” 1 John 5:10b.
People will pay in the eternal lake of fire for calling God a liar, for mocking
God in their disbelief, and for not believing in Him and trusting His Beloved
Son as their Saviour. God gave us a record, His own record, and it does not
include works for salvation.
God said, “In flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ:” The word “vengeance” means - vindication, retribution, anger or wrath – in the flaming
fires of eternal hell. People can believe anything they want, they can believe
there is no true God, that the bible is untrue, that Jesus was just a man and
not our Saviour, they can believe that their ungodly works will save them, the
fact is it does not matter what they believe because the undeniable truth is,
if they do not believe in Jesus Christ as their eternal Saviour then hell
awaits them.
Then the Lord said these people “shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power.” These poor lost souls will spend eternity separated from
God’s grace and mercy, and from His presence or from hearing from Him ever
again. They will eternally suffer as the rich man did, “for I am tormented
in this flame.” Matt. 16:24c He was suffering because God no longer showed
any mercy or grace to him but left his wicked soul in hell all alone and for
eternity. This man’s soul will never know a good day ever again and neither
will the unbelievers of this world.
One day God will melt this earth with fervent heat,
the crust of the earth will be melted and sealed and those in hell will forever
be sealed in hells flames crying for God who will never hear their cry for
mercy. Sadly lost people have no idea and give no thought to what awaits them
when they die. People that call themselves Christians who are not truly
Christians, that believe in their ungodly works over God’s own given Saviour
for their salvation will one day open their eyes in hell wondering what went wrong.
When people refuse to believe on Jesus Christ for their salvation (which is the
command of God) and believe their own false religion they have called God a
liar. The only way to be God’s child is to obey His command, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
(5) Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is
the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4
