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And as, in those times, vengeance came from God upon the Egyptians who were subjecting Israel to unjust punishment, so is it now, the Lord truly declaring, "And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him? I tell you, that He will avenge them speedily." So says the apostle, in like manner, in the Epistle to the Thessalonians: "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, at the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven with His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire, to take vengeance upon those who know not God, and upon those that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them who have believed in Him."

But where, I ask, will be the location of hell? Somewhere, I think, far removed from this world. For as the prisons and the mines are at a great distance from royal residences, so will hell be located far from this world. We aren’t interested in finding its location but in escaping it. And just because God doesn’t punish everyone here, don’t doubt things to come. For God is merciful and patient. That is why he issues warnings and doesn’t immediately cast us into hell. For “I don’t desire,” he says, “the death of a sinner.” These words have no meaning, however, if sinners never die. And I know, indeed, that there is nothing less pleasant to you than these words. But to me nothing is more pleasant.… Let us, then, continually discuss these things. For to remember hell prevents our falling into hell. Do you not hear St. Paul saying, “Who shall suffer everlasting punishment from the face of the Lord”?

"Who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His might, when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed." There are many men, who form good hopes not by abstaining from their sins, but by thinking that hell is not so terrible as it is said to be, but milder than what is threatened, and temporary, not eternal; and about this they philosophize much. But I could show from many reasons, and conclude from the very expressions concerning hell, that it is not only not milder, but much more terrible than is threatened. But I do not now intend to discourse concerning these things. For the fear even from bare words is sufficient, though we do not fully unfold their meaning. But that it is not temporary, hear Paul now saying, concerning those who know not God, and who do not believe in the Gospel, that "they shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction." How then is that temporary which is everlasting? "From the face of the Lord," he says. What is this? He here wishes to say how easily it might be. For since they were then much puffed up, there is no need, he says, of much trouble; it is enough that God comes and is seen, and all are involved in punishment and others in vengeance. "And from the glory of His might," he says "when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed." Is God glorified? Yea, he says, in all the Saints. How? For when they that puff so greatly see those who were scourged by them, who were despised, who were derided, even those now near to Him, it is His glory, or rather it is their glory, both theirs and His; His indeed, because He did not forsake them; theirs, because they were thought worthy of so great honor. For as it is His riches, that there are faitful men, so also it is His glory that there are those who are to enjoy His blessings. It is the glory of Him that is good, to have those to whom He may impart His beneficence. "And to be marveled at," he says, "in all them that believed," that is, "through them that believed." See here again, "in" is used for "through." For through them He is shown to be admirable, when He brings to so much splendor those who were pitiable and wretched, and who had suffered unnumbered ills, and had believed. His power is shown then; because although they seem to be deserted here, yet nevertheless they there enjoy great glory; then especially is shown all the glory and the power of God.

Paul shows here just how seriousness this punishment is by his use of “eternal.” Indeed the punishment of those wicked who have died is completed in a reality that transcends time itself and is forever.

He says of destruction because there death will be without death, destruction without weakening, and fire without light. apart from the face of the Lord and apart from the glory of his virtue The sentence goes out condemning the impious, when the same Lord says, "Go you cursed ones, into the eternal fire (Mt. 25:41)."

So then, where are the Origenists, who fabulously teach about the finality of punishments? This, that is punishment, Paul called eternal. In what way then can the eternal be temporal according to you? Here the apostle shows the ease with which this will be accomplished. For this, he says, no efforts of any kind are needed, but it is sufficient for God to appear — and punishment will overtake all the disobedient. His very sight and coming will be light for some, and punishment for others. For He will not simply come, but with mighty glory. And His glory will not be without power, and His power will not be without glory. That is, He will appear as the Almighty King.

The punishment is likewise long lasting, for they "shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction." And this can be read in two ways, because there are two kinds of punishment, namely, that of the sense and that of the condemned. This is how it can be understood as about the punishment of the sense: "They shall suffer," i.e., they shall endure eternal punishments, never to end, and this "in destruction," because they shall be ever dying. For the punishments of this life are not like those punishments: in this life the harsher the punishments the shorter they are, because they end; but those punishments are the heaviest, because they are the punishment of death and yet they never cease. Hence it is said that they will always be as though in the throes of death. "Death shall devour them" (Ps 48:15). "Their worm shall never die" (Isa 66:24). Now the punishment of the condemned has two sides to it. First, they will be deprived of the vision of God. Hence he says "from the face of the Lord," namely, removed from the face of the Lord. "No hypocrite shall come before his gaze" (Job 13:16). The second is being deprived of the vision of the glory of the saints. "Let the impious man be taken away lest he see the glory of the saints" (Isa 26:10). One can also understand it another way, such that "from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his power" shows why the punishment of the sense is so harsh. For someone's senses can be voided either by a higher judge or by the power of someone higher, but it will not happen in this case because this judgment comes from the face of the Lord. "May my judgment come from your face" (Ps 16:2). And this is why he says they "shall suffer eternal punishment," i.e., endure it, "from the face of the Lord."

God's own nature is the real sanction of His commands, yet to understand this must, in the end, lead us to the conclusion that union with that Nature is bliss and separation from it horror. Thus Heaven and Hell come in. But it may well be that to think much of either except in this context of thought, to hypostatise them as if they had a substantial meaning apart from the presence or absence of God, corrupts the doctrine of both and corrupts us while we so think of them.