But that Christ will come—“that same Jesus”—as literally as he was
seen go up into heaven from Mount Olivet, we entertain not one doubt.
That the dead will be raised and pass the final judgment, after which
the wicked will go away into everlasting punishment—into the fire of
_gehena_, where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched, at the
same time that the righteous enter into life eternal—we entertain not
one doubt. These are clear and awful matters of divine revelation, and
the main matters to set forth and enforce on men, and not theories
_about_ these great matters. Is it true that a man may “lose his
own soul?” that a man may be “cast into hell?” that “both soul and
body” may be “destroyed in hell?” that wicked men “shall go away into
everlasting punishment?” that they may be “tormented day and night,
forever and ever?” Is it true that God “has appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he has
ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has
raised him from the dead?” Beyond all question, it is true. In raising
Jesus from the dead, God has given assurance to all men that he will
judge the world in righteousness. The assurance that God will judge the
world in righteousness is the reason for repentance. He commands all
men, everywhere, to repent, because he has appointed a day in which he
will judge the world in righteousness.