This the 33rd chapter of 52 in RA Torrey’s 1898 publication What The Bible Teaches. We are reviewing them hoping you’ll join the conversation. See all of Lex’s posts here. A PDF copy of the book can be downloaded here. You are welcome and encouraged to join the discussion in your comments to these posts.
Destiny of Damnation to Reject Redemption
This is a subject most offensive and appalling to the unbeliever, to believe in such a thing in the 21st century. And to believers its a concept they should ponder deeply as well since the eternal destiny of their families and friends is no trivial matter.
Torrey brings out a huge array of Scripture to support the Biblical truth that without being born again, without taking advantage of God’s offer of redemption, rejecting the gift of faith that breaks the bond of death and creates the spark of life in the human soul, the end of man is only eternal damnation, eternal separation from the presence of God. I suppose it is because of the immensity of this reality that all these verses are marshaled in support. It is not a subject in which one should entertain ambiguity. After death one either spends eternity with God in His joy or apart from God in unspeakable agony. The verses in this chapter tell the whole story. They must be read and understood.
There are a lot of details, of course, that I’m leaving out in this summary. Important details. There is the whole topic of rewards, pretty nasty rewards for those who have been enjoying their evil nature in their lifetime. There is the first death and the second death. There’s the lake of fire that sounds like something out of a fairy tale. But for those who will experience it will certainly wish it was only imaginary since they will be sharing it with Death and the Beast and Satan. And those do not make good company!
Quite appropriately Torrey finishes the chapter by saying that the believer needs to understand that the damnation of the unbeliever is not something to be accepted lying down, Yes, Revelation does state “Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.” (Rev. 22:11 NASB) But we should be sensitive to His Spirit’s leading and bear in mind that while we are among the living we can influence others for good – for God. Most important, every moment, we should be living our lives conscious that our thoughts and words and actions, everything should reflect an example that can glorify God. We tend to live our lives in Spiritual neutral, with our Spirituality disengaged, not thinking about God impacting the world through us. But who knows how God is preparing the person He has coming in contact with us day by day. Be ready. Be conscious. Pray for your family and friends daily. The more you pray the more you are conscious of the daily battle and war we are waging resulting in the damned and the saved. Do you want to hear from our Lord, “Why didn’t you pray more for your families salvation, didn’t you love them?”
This is very real. That’s why Torrey writes so many pages with so much passion. There are fewer topics so crucial to the destiny of the soul of Man.
Pingback: The Future Destiny of Those Who Reject Jesus | The Esther Project
This is such a hard topic. It’s a reality that needs to constantly live in the backs of our minds. Not that we scream hellfire to the unsaved, but that OUR understanding of it leads us to love and serve people into the Kingdom of God with a greater urgency!