EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT by C. A. Wyman

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 24, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 51.

EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT.

By C. A. Wyman

Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Continued.

SUMMING it up briefly, the parable is made to teach what the word of God denies, namely, that man is immortal, and that there is now a burning hell, into which the wicked are plunged at death. This teaching is false, and impeaches the wisdom and mercy of God, as shown by the following counts:—

The judgment of the wicked must precede their punishment.
This judgment is still future.
All the faithful in Christ take part in that judgment.
Satan is not in torment.
Hell is this earth.
The resurrection of the wicked alone brings them forth to be punished.
And upon this earth fire comes down from God and devours them.

Application of the Parable.

The language was addressed to the Pharisees, who were "covetous" and who "derided Him," neither would they hear Moses or the prophets. Luke 16:14, 29-31.

It was a parable, for "without a parable spake he not unto them." Matt. 13:34. Things which "are not" were spoken of "as tho they were" (Rom. 4:17; 1 Cor. 1:28), carrying their minds forward to the time when they should see Abraham and Isaac in the kingdom of God, and they themselves thrust out (Luke 13:28).

Pleading indeed was the voice that then addressed that people, telling them that now was the day of their salvation. In all fulness God was showing them that he had raised up that prophet, one among them, like unto their brethren (Deut. 18:15), and that "whosoever would not hearken to that prophet should be destroyed from among the people" (Acts 3:23). If these things, nor Moses and the prophets, would not move them, neither would they be persuaded "tho one rose from the dead." Luke 16:31.

With the earth as the place of hell; with the devils not in "torment;" with all the wicked reserved unto the day of judgment to be punished; with that day of punishment at the resurrection of the unjust; it follows that the "torment of hell" in the parable, must be when they "shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God," and they themselves "thrust out." The wicked will then behold the city and its inhabitants, and seek to take it. Rev. 20:9. The righteous then "behold the reward of the wicked." Ps. 91:8. The life of the wicked will be sufficiently prolonged that all may fully understand "the sinfulness of sin, and that sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:15.

Eternal Fire.

"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 7.

Upon those corrupt cities there fell fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven. Gen. 19:24. The same fire comes down at the close of the thousand years of judgment, upon Satan and all the wicked. Rev. 20:9.

The apostle calls that eternal fire that befell Sodom and Gomorrah, yet who would contend that those cities are still burning. But if that "eternal fire" ceased with the destruction of the cities of the plain and their wicked inhabitants, who shall say that with the final destruction of root and branch the "everlasting fire" shall not cease?

Unquenchable Fire.

"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.

"But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." Jer. 17:27.

Thus, for Sabbath-breaking, the city of Jerusalem was burned with fire that should not be quenched, and yet Jerusalem is not now burning. The fire that God had kindled, neither men, nor devils were able to quench it; yet having done its intended work to devour, the fire ceased to be.

"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.

"Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1.

The wicked shall be consumed as "the chaff" (Isa. 5:24), as the "stubble" (Nahum 1:10), as the "fat of lambs" (Ps. 37:20), as "tow" (Isa. 1:31). Certainly the Lord does not mean that the wicked can be enduring when he likens them to such combustible materials as these.

"And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched." Isa. 66:24.

The worm is a destroyer. Job 17:14; Acts 12:2. It is not the fire devouring and "tormenting" the worm, but their worm and their fire devouring the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against God. There is a time, prolonged "according to their deeds," in which the righteous "behold the reward of the wicked." Ps. 91:8. The city with its ransomed throng dwells, as we have seen, in "everlasting burnings," unharmed. Isa. 33:14, 15. With no eternal life or immortality, with no power to quench their fire, the destroyer goes on till root and branch are consumed.

Seeing that "eternal," "everlasting," and "forever" are sometimes positively limited in the Scripture as to time, the question may naturally arise, How can we determine the true meaning of these terms? As applied to created beings, it is obvious that the character held determines the destiny of each. As life is inherent only in God and Christ (John 5:26), as they alone possess inherent immortality (1 Tim. 6:16), it follows that to all other beings life and immortality are gifts bestowed only upon condition that they seek for them, and that too, with all the heart (Rom. 2:7; 6:23).

As all sin originates in the mind and is of the mind (Matt. 15:19), it follows that to be sinfully minded is death (Rom. 8:6), and that life and peace only are for the spiritually minded. "Enmity" towards the law of God, refusal to keep in love its requirements, brings death to that mind in which sin is; for that which sins "shall die." Eze. 18:20.

Kind reader, we have sought candidly, scripturally, and logically to examine the doctrine of "eternal punishment." If you have thought that somewhere in the dominion of God there is a burning hell, into which the wicked are plunged at death, doubtless in your perusal of the foregoing there are some thoughts new and strange to you, by which your former ideas are found to be at discord with the Scriptures, the mercy and justice of God.

Summed up in brief, these thoughts are largely:—

That the wicked will not have eternal life to endure eternal suffering.
That the devils themselves are not in torment.
That the place of hell is this earth, where devils are.
That the righteous only can dwell in "everlasting burnings."
That the earth is the place of final reward of both righteous and wicked.
That the inheritance of the earth by the saved is not until the wicked are in ashes.

If you have believed in the doctrine of "eternal torment," your belief has been based upon the premise alone that "the soul of man is immortal," and you now see that "the soul that sinneth it shall die."

You also perceive that the logic of the immortality-of-the-soul doctrine upholds and necessitates the perpetuity of sin, by which God himself will be unable to suppress it, or secure a punishment equivalent to the deed; for the sinful mind, heaping up its load of iniquity, and punished "according to its deeds," would make the strife between God and sin of such magnitude that the infinite God could not punish "according to the deeds;" for whatever punishment was inflicted, there would still remain unsatisfied justice.

Do you not see that the same being that has created, can for sin "destroy both soul and body in hell"? Matt. 10:28.

Can you not see that God had a clean universe once, and that it is not planned by the infinite mind to perpetuate the horrible rebellion of Satan against his law and government?

Can you not see that it is Satan alone who promises life in sin, saying, "Ye shall not surely die"?

With all the number of times that ministers and writers say that "the soul is immortal," does it not seem strange that God has never said so once? The word "immortal" is but once used, applying to God only. 1 Tim. 1:17. And immortality is also inherent in him alone, and comes to us only at the resurrection. 1 Tim. 6:16; 1 Cor. 15:53.

He who upholds, believes or teaches the doctrine of the "immortality of the soul" and "rewards and punishments," logically upholds and teaches the perpetuity of sin and the utter incapacity of God to cope with it by punishment, and nullifies the "judgment," the "return of our Lord," and the resurrection.

With these thoughts we leave the subject with you, praying that the God of all grace may help you to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour," by the revelation of, and obedience to, his righteous will.