God does not desire to send any of His human creation there (2Pet 3:9). Those who at the end will go to hell do so because they have resisted God’s grace and rejected His provision of salvation (Rom 1:16—2:10)“…. the lake of fire. This is the second death,”(Rev 20:14).

“The lake of fire.” The Bible portrays it with a terrible picture of the final destiny of the lost.

(1) It speaks of “tribulation and anguish” (Rom 2:9), “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mat 22:13; 25:30), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thess 1:9), and a “furnace of fire” (Mat 13:42, 50). It speaks of “chains of darkness” (2 Pet 2:4), “everlasting punishment” (Mat 25:46), a “hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched” (Mk 9:43), a “lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev 19:20), and “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; they have no rest day nor night” (14:11).

Indeed: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Heb. 10:31); “It had been good for that man if he had not been born” (Mat 26:24; see also Mat 10:28).

(2) The believers of the NT Church were keenly aware of the fate of those who lived in sin. It was for this reason that they preached with tears (see Acts 20:19) and defended God’s infallible word and saving gospel against all distortion and false doctrines (see Phil 1:17; 2 Tim 1:14).

(3) The solemn fact of eternal punishment for the wicked is the greatest motivation for carrying the gospel to all the world and doing everything possible to persuade people to repent and receive Christ before it is too late (see John 3:16).

“Serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews,” (Acts 20:19)

“With many tears.” Paul on several occasions mentions his serving the Lord with “tears” (v.31; 2Cor 2:4; Phil 3:18). In this address to the Ephesian elders (vv.17-38), he spoke of daily, warning them with tears for a period of three years (v.31). The tears were not the result of weakness; rather, Paul saw the lost condition of the human race, the evil consequences of sin, the distortion of the gospel and the peril of rejecting the Lord as such grave realities that his preaching was often accompanied by tears (cf. Luke 19:41)

How Do We Do God’s Will?

• Do what is right instead of just talking about it
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven,” (Mat 7:21).

Some self-professed athletes can “talk” a great game, but that tells you nothing about their athletic skills. Sin is also not doing right (Jas 4:17).

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