Wailing and Gnashing

The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 13:41-42

Everyone born of women will live for eternity. Those who believe in Jesus Christ for their salvation will spend eternity in the new heaven and earth, worshiping God. All others will spend eternity in hell. All the agnostics, atheists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, progressive Christians, pagans, and anyone that rejects salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Hell is a real place that Christ Himself warned would be a place of punishment and suffering.

• And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15).

• And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:47-48).

• And throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).

• In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out (Luke 13:28).

Those in hell will weep over their rejection of Christ. They will weep over their suffering in the lake of fire. They will weep in outer darkness because the light of God that will illuminate the new earth will not be present in hell.

However, there will also be the gnashing of teeth. This is not just a reference to suffering in hell but to those who will be angry at God. In scripture, gnashing of teeth represents anger. Because of what Stephen had preached, the religious leaders were furious. "Now when they heard this, they became furious in their hearts, and they began gnashing their teeth at him" (Acts 7:54). The psalmist writes, "The wicked schemes against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth" ( Psalm 37:12).

For all my fellow believers, take comfort in knowing that the only hell you will experience is in this life. If you do not know Christ this life will be the only heaven you will experience. Before it is too late, turn from your sin, cry out to God, and expect Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You still have time, but do not tarry; you never know when God will take you from this world.  

Your Shepherd,

Pastor Mark