A preacher once told a story about a night of terror that happened in Africa. First he pointed out that when we meet Jesus, we will experience either the love of God or the wrath of God, and it will be for all eternity. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)).
He explained that the Bible tells us that when God put the first man and woman on earth, they were created in the image of God. They were perfect, without sin, and had daily fellowship with God. But Adam and Eve rebelled against God and thus became sinners, separated from God spiritually. The children that Adam and Eve had were “in his [Adam’s] own likeness, after his image” (Genesis 5:33And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: (Genesis 5:3)). We are all born with our parents’ nature, a sinful nature. We grow up personally responsible to God as child sinners and become adult sinners. Thus, we all face the wrath of God, unless we receive and accept the love of God.
But what is the wrath of God? It is the righteous judgment of God against sin. God is angry with sin and will not accept any who reject His love and mercy. God is not willing that any should perish in hell, but if you refuse His love and continue to live in selfish sin, God will certainly judge you. “The Lord ... is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
God describes what that judgment will be in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9. “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.” To live in rebellion, ignoring God, will land you in the lake of fire, where you will be punished with everlasting destruction. This is the judgment that you will deserve when you do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fire and Brimstone on the Mountain
And now for A Night of Terror: “When I’m in Goma, Congo, Africa, some nights I can look out over Mount Nyiragongo and I can see the red glow of the Lake of Fire. On top of Mount Nyiragongo is a lava lake that is 2 km (1.3 miles) wide and 250 meters (820 feet) deep of molten, red-hot boiling lava. Lava is molten rock, which is more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 degrees Celsius). The rock is so hot that it turns into a fiery lake. Back in May 2021, the side of Mount Nyiragongo split from too much pressure of the lava building up inside, and the fire and brimstone flowed out the side of the mountain. Seventeen villages were destroyed. Four hundred thousand people had to be evacuated, and they were running for their life in fear and terror from the lake of fire as it was coming towards them. More than 30 people did not make it. The lake of fire flowed down the mountain, melting houses, animals and people. There was one lady named Ernestine, and she stayed with her invalid husband as long as she could because her husband could not walk away. The lava flowed closer and became very hot, and the sulphury air made it hard to breathe. Finally, Ernestine had to run, while the river of lava consumed her house and her husband. The screaming of the people who could not get out of the way of the lava flow was heard in the terror of the night.
“That night I received a
WhatsApp message from a Christian named Gideon. He lives near the bottom of that mountain, just 15 km (about 9 miles) away, and the lava was flowing towards their village. He wrote me a message, saying, ‘Hello, brother, pray for us. The volcano is erupting now. We don’t know what to do; we don’t know where to go. Only God can protect us.’
“I have in my hand a piece of hell. This was part of the lake of fire, that flowed down the mountain near the city of Goma. When the lava flows down the mountain and it cools, it turns into lava rocks like this one. Some of them are just small pebbles. Some of them are big boulders, but many of them are about this size.
“In February, I visited some Christians in Goma. I went to one of the villages that was destroyed. We spoke to the village head woman. She’s the chief, and she was standing on top of all the rocks that had cooled. As she stood on top of the pile of lava rocks, she said, ‘This is the spot where my house was.’ Only it was now 3 meters (almost 10 feet) down below the surface of all those rocks. The people were helpless! In her village alone, nine people had died in the lake of fire.”
The volcano erupted at night, and some people didn’t get up and get out of the way in time. Though the lava was slow moving, it didn’t stop, consuming everything and everyone in its path. Goma is six miles from Mount Nyiragongo. But God was merciful to Gideon and the city of Goma. The lava stopped in Buhene, a district on the outskirts of Goma, but not before burying hundreds of houses and even large buildings. When people saw the sky turn red and the lava flowing down the mountain, they grabbed whatever they could carry on their heads and in their hands and fled for their lives. Hundreds of children got separated from their parents in all the chaos. It was truly a night of terror!
Where Is Your Power?
I ask you: Did anyone have the power to stop that volcano from erupting or to stop the flow of lava from consuming their homes and loved ones? No, of course not! And so it is with God. Those who refuse God’s gift of salvation, through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross for our sins, will experience being cast into the lake of fire for eternity, which is forever and ever. They will discover that God is indeed “angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:1111God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. (Psalm 7:11)). Every day that you live in selfish sin and unbelief, ignoring God, you are treasuring up to yourself the wrath of God. You will know then that you made a mistake by not accepting the love of God.
But the wrath of God is not the heart of God! We read “God is love” (1 John 4:1616Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. (John 4:16)). We never read in the Bible that God is wrath or anger. God’s love was so great that He sent His Son Jesus to bleed and die on the cross for our sins. The wrath of God fell on Jesus when He bore our sins on the cross for us. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). We entreat you not to reject the love of God, but to repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for your sins. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him [God] a liar, and His word [truth] is not in us” (1 John 1:9-109That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:9‑10)).
No one knows when their day of death will come, and when it does, you will have no power to stop it. Do not let carelessness, selfish sin and unbelief keep you from the love of God! Receive Christ today!