_Consume_: "To destroy; as by decomposition, dissipation, waste, or fire."-_Webster._
8. How does John the Baptist describe the destruction of the wicked?
"He that cometh after me is mightier than I, ... whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but _He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire_." Matt.
3:11, 12.
9. For whom does Christ say the fire which will finally destroy the wicked was originally prepared?
"Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, _prepared for the devil and his angels_."
Matt. 25:41.
NOTE.-This fire is called "everlasting" because of the character of the _work_ it does; just as it is called "unquenchable" because it cannot be _put_ out, and not because it will not _go_ out when it has done its work.
10. What will be the result of this punishment?
"As the whirlwind pa.s.seth, _so is the wicked no more_: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation." Prov. 10:25.
11. Will any part of the wicked be left?
"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, that _it shall leave them neither root nor branch_." Mal. 4:1.
12. What will then be their condition?
"For as ye have drunk upon My holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and _they shall be as though they had not been_." Obadiah 16.
13. Where will the _place_ of the wicked then be?
"For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, _thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be_." Ps. 37:10.
NOTE.-It would be difficult to keep the wicked in eternal torment without any place for them, even, in which to exist.
14. Where are both the righteous and the wicked to be recompensed?
"Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed _in the earth_: much more the wicked and the sinner." Prov. 11:31.
15. Do the wicked go directly to their punishment at death, or wait till the day of judgment?
"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the G.o.dly out of temptations, and _to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished_." 2 Peter 2:9.
16. To what are the present heavens and earth reserved?
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, _reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of unG.o.dly men_." 2 Peter 3:7.
NOTE.-Both the present heavens and earth and sinners await the fires of the last day.
17. What will be the result of the fires of the last day?
"Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of G.o.d, wherein _the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat_." "_The earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up._" Verses 12, 10.
18. By what means does Christ say His kingdom is to be cleansed from sin and sinners?
"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_." Matt. 13:41, 42.
NOTE.-Satan and the wicked now have this world as their "place."
In due time Christ will have it. He will cleanse it from sin and sinners, and restore it, that He may give it to the saints of the Most High for an everlasting possession. See Dan. 7:18, 22, 27.
19. When are the wicked dead to be raised to receive their final punishment?
"But the rest of the dead lived not again _until the thousand years were finished_." Rev. 20:5.
20. Whence will come the fire that will destroy them?
"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compa.s.sed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: _and fire came down from G.o.d out of heaven, and devoured them_." Verse 9.
NOTE.-This is called G.o.d"s "strange act" and His "strange work,"-the work of destruction. Isa. 28:21. But by this means G.o.d will once and forever cleanse the universe of sin and all its sad results. Death itself will then be at an end-cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:14.
21. To what will this fire reduce the wicked?
"And ye shall tread down the wicked; for _they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this_, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. 4:3.
NOTE.-The wicked are to be utterly destroyed-consumed away into smoke, brought to ashes. Having inseparably allied themselves with sin, they have forfeited the right to life and an immortal existence, and chosen the way of death and destruction. By their choice they have proved themselves worthless. For this reason they are compared to chaff, briers, thorns, etc. Their destruction will consequently be no real loss. They will themselves have lost their opportunity to obtain eternal life; but by the way in which they used their probationary time they proved themselves unworthy of it. Their destruction will, in fact, be an act of love and mercy on the part of G.o.d; for to perpetuate their lives would only be to perpetuate sin, sorrow, suffering, and misery. Terrible, therefore, as this judgment will be, there will, in consequence of it, be nothing of value lost,-nothing lost worth saving. The experiment of sin will be over, and G.o.d"s original plan of peopling the earth with a race of holy, happy beings will be carried out. 2 Peter 3:13.
22. What is this final destruction of the wicked called?
"This is _the second death_." Rev. 20:14.
23. After the burning day, what will appear?
"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for _new heavens and a new earth_, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter 3:13.
24. Where will the righteous then be found?
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun _in the kingdom of their Father_." Matt. 13:43.
25. What promise of the Saviour will then be fulfilled?