“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
~Matthew 25:41
JESUS SAID in Matthew 11 that it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for those who heard His Word and did not believe. Stop and think for a moment about the consequences of rejecting the Word of Christ. And so, the message to each of us is trust the Savior Jesus Christ. By true faith, flee to Him as the only One who can and will deliver from the eternal torment of Hell all those and only those who trust in His person and work. In our text, Jesus is speaking of the final judgment when every person will be gathered before Him and He will divide them as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. “Then shall He say unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
JESUS DESCRIBES Hell as the place where the wicked suffer the curse of God in everlasting torment along with the devil and his fallen angels. The time will come when unbelievers will hear the words, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Just as the Bible teaches that at death the soul of a believer goes to heaven (2 Cor. 5; Phil. 1, Luke 16) and his body goes into the grave to await the resurrection when the body will be raised in glory (1 Cor. 15), so also the Bible teaches that at death the soul of an unbeliever goes to Hell (Luke 16), which is a place of conscious, continual, and eternal punishment where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Luke 16:24). The Bible also teaches that the body of an unbeliever will also be raised at Christ’s return but only to be cast into everlasting punishment where all the haters of God, who despised His Word, are damned forever and ever under God’s just judgment (John 5:29).
IN LUKE 19 we read the following words regarding the parable of the minas, “But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us’” (vs. 14). Jesus concludes this parable with these words, “But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me'” (vs. 27). And in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus includes the following words to the same parable, “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).
IF YOU’RE reading this right now and you are not trusting Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, I urge you, RUN to Jesus and cry out to Him for grace and mercy. He alone is your refuge from the infinite and eternal wrath of God against your sin. Make no mistake about, don’t deceive yourself, Jesus is the ONLY HOPE for sinners. As He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). And again, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). Trust Jesus and live!
Tuesday Encouragement: July 23, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry