At the general judgment, the wicked and the godly will be fixed in their eternal habitations, and their place, state, and condition will never be changed.1 By the power of the sentence pronounced by the Judge at the great day upon the wicked on his left hand, ‘Depart from me, ye cursed,’ etc.,2 they ’shall go away into everlasting punishment’; and their punishment will certainly be righteous, because it proceeds from the Omniscient, who sees all secret things, the Judge of all the earth, the essentially righteous God, for whom it is impossible to subvert a man in his cause.3 Their punishment involves the total loss of all happiness, all consolation, and all hope of being ever saved. It involves also unutterable torment, for they ’shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power’;4 and Scripture says ‘that their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,’ that they shall be cast into ‘the lake of fire which burneth with fire and brimstone,’ and into outer darkness, bound hand and foot: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; and their punishment will be everlasting.5
But as to the godly, they shall go, at the gracious call of the Judge, into life eternal. This will be a life perfectly free from sin and all its consequences; and it will bring with it the full fruition of all happiness, glory, and consolation that human nature made perfect is capable of enjoying.6 This glory will essentially consist in beholding the glory of the Lord shining in all the perfections of his nature, in enjoying his peace without ceasing, in admiring and loving him, rejoicing in him, serving him and becoming like him; and its endless duration will be the crown of its excellence.7 Various expressions are used in Scripture to set forth the eternal glory of the saints; such as, ‘entering into the joy of their Lord’; ‘the eternal weight of glory’; ‘being satisfied with the likeness of God’; ‘reigning with the Lord,’ and that without ceasing and for ever.8
1 Heb. 6:2; Matt. 25:46. 2 Matt. 25:46. 3 Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; Lam. 3:36. 4 Matt. 3:12; 7:23; 13:42, 50; 25:41; Luke 16:23-24; Rev. 14:11; Jude 13; Mark 9:44, 46, 48; 2 Thess. 1:9. 5 Mark 9:44, 48; Rev. 19:20; Matt. 22:13; 25:46; Gal. 6:7-8; Job 4:8; 21:30; Prov. 16:4; 22:8; 2 Thess. 1:8; Rom. 9:22; Isa. 33:14: Psa. 11:6; Jer. 30:23; 2 Thess. 1:9. 6 Matt. 25:21,23,34,46; 1 John 2:25; 3:2; Titus 1:2; Rom. 8:30; Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 4:17; Psa. 16:11; 17:15; 1 Thess. 4:17; 2 Thess. 1:10; Col. 3:3-4; 2 Tim. 2:12. 7 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Cor. 13:12; Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2. 8 Matt. 25:21; 2 Cor 4:17; Psa. 17:15; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rom. 8:17; 1 Peter 1:1; Matt. 25:46.
