Furnace of Fire

In Matthew's Gospel in chapter 13, beginning in verse 41, we read, The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. But there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Our text today, friends, is a very somber one.

It comes directly from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he allows us to peek into eternity and get a glimpse of the torments and miseries of hell. Jesus speaks of hell's punishment as a furnace of fire, and that's the title of my message today, friends. When I was a boy in high school, I had a summer job at a local grocery store, and one of my duties was to take the boxes that the produce came in and break them down with a box cutter, then stack those flattened boxes on a two-wheeler and take them back to the back of the store where there was a cast-iron furnace.

As soon as I would open that heavy furnace door, my face would be singed by the heat of those swirling white-hot flames, whose force was unbearable. Hell's punishments are compared to a burning furnace of fire. In the book of Malachi, we see what is fueling that fire.

Malachi 4.1 declares, For 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, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch. The Lord Jesus in our passage here today, friends, from Matthew, it's a solemn warning to all those outside the blood of Christ. Jesus tells us, very plainly, that those who are not his will be thrown into hell against their will.

Strong angels will bind them hand and foot and cast them down to hell into that raging furnace of fire. To get a vivid picture of this, we can turn to Isaiah 57, and verses 20 and 21, which state, But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

This vivid imagery can be seen in hurricane season. I live in Florida, and when a hurricane threatens our coast, I often go out by the seashore and watch the ocean churn with a violent force that makes the water go from blue to a dirty gray from all the mire that's tossed up. Those tossing waves crashing against the rocks of the shore speak of the unrest and turmoil in hell for the wicked.

Then our text in Matthew, Jesus describes the suffering of those tormented souls in hell. He says, And shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Wailing speaks of deep grief and sorrow, and gnashing of teeth signifies great anger and regret that those unconverted souls in hell are in constant agony without any rest. They have remorse for their sins, but it's too late to do anything about it. It's too late to repent.

They regret the life they lived apart from God. God's fury and indignation for sin burns against them like a fiery furnace. Jesus spoke often on the miseries of hell, even if most preachers today never even mention hell.

But I'm here to warn you, friend, if you have never exercised repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, then you are yet in your sins, and a day fast approaches where quite unexpected and suddenly death will visit you, and you will bust hell wide open, where you will suffer unending torments in a furnace of fire. Repent before it's too late.