“And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 13:50) In the first place, if you believe that the Word of God is inerrant, then those words, “there shall be,” informs you that this place is real, that is exists somewhere right now, and right now there are the souls of people in it who are in torment. It is brought down to its root level, to the most basic terminology by our Lord in this statement, two kinds of people are there, those who are wailing, and those who are gnashing their teeth, those who are extremely sorrowful, and those who are more than just a little angry.
You have met both types of these individuals, the first, those who will wail, believe themselves to be good people, in general terms, they are those who of course have sinned, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) But, at least in their own eyes, those sins were not really that bad, in fact, many of them were so petty, so menial, that even in the world of man they are seen as trifling, and expected, if not encouraged in many ways.
Pride, small desires, called lust, the desire to move up the ladder of life, so to speak, in their employment field, sports, knowledge, that endless list we speak of occasionally. They help the poor and indigent, they give of themselves for the welfare of cast away animals, they even many times hold devout religious beliefs, but they do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, they have not fulfilled 2nd Cor. 13:5, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
They are what the world calls “good people,” admired, respected, looked up to, but they are the wicked that the wrath of God abides on. “I shouldn’t be here; I was a good person!” They will cry and protest in tears vehemently, they will fall to their knees in a form of prayer, nothing more than forced attrition, they will be confused and bewildered as to why they are in a place of great heat, the place where the rich man from Luke 16:19-31 is still searching for one single drop of water.
They will wail as one who has lost their only beloved child.
The other group are the ones whom the world thinks belong in that place of torment, the murderers, rapists, serial killers, those who in this world had no concern for the welfare of any, save for themselves. Many of these have spent their lives in uncontrollable rage, many behind bars in prison, their hatred the only real expressed emotion they have ever known, the lack of concern and compassion they have for others has brought them to the punishment of the world in many cases, while others found rewards and riches for their efforts here.
When these open their eyes for all eternity in that place of eternal torment, they will not repent in their minds, they will not weep and moan, they will curse Him who sits on the throne, they will blaspheme His Holy name, their anger and rage will increase exponentially, they will defy the Most High for all eternity, they will gnash their teeth.
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38) Those who have been willingly crucified with Christ, those who have been born-again will never shed one tear in sorrow, not one, ever again one day, we will know an eternal peace that cannot be compared to anything we have ever experienced before, no pain or suffering will ever enter into our sphere.
The knowledge of these truths is one of the reasons that we reach out to the lost, to those who will suffer for all eternity, no matter how we are treated. What they will receive for all eternity because of their hatred for the Son of God, cannot be compared to whatever they inflict upon us here in this life for our faith and obedience to the Most High.