Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth.

I really hate the idea of eternal punishment, even though it is taught in the Bible. It upsets me to read that some of my friends and loved ones are in hell. In fact, the existence of hell itself upsets me. However, I'm required to believe it because the Lord Jesus said so. Hell was a place of punishment. Judicial punishment. Not just mere endless pain. God is not sadistic. Hell is the place of deserved punishment. And it is deserved because of sin, and because of God's greatness and glory. In fact, God himself said that He did not want anyone to go to hell. God said "do I find any pleasure at all in the wicked that they should die? Would I not rather that they return from their ways and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23). But his holiness demands punishment. Why does hell and its punishments go on forever? I suggest these truths: Luke 16:24: The rich man did not ask God for his mercy. He asked father Abraham for mercy. But no one can be saved by Abraham. The rich man did not even ask Abraham to save him. He asked Lazarus to "dip the tip of his finger in the water and cool my tongue". The rich man was still on repentant, even in the flames. Abraham says that the rich man did not thank God for the good gifts that God had given him, and the rich man did nothing to assuage the suffering of Lazarus. This tells us that the rich man was evil. Abraham also said that there is a gulf fixed between the wicked and the righteous, which cannot be bridged by anything in the afterlife. There is no purgatory. Then the rich man said that the word of God was not enough. He said they needed to be a miracle, a physical miracle, otherwise his brothers would also go to hell. But Abraham said that the word of God was sufficient (This is called sola Scriptura). Physical miracles in themselves would not cause repentance. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. This tells us that the rich man still had no faith, even in the afterlife! Jesus is teaching about the rich man and Lazarus was not a parable. The context tells us that this particular Lazarus was a historical person, unlike the parables. This is why preaching and teaching is so crucial. There is a heaven and there is a hell, and both of them go on forever. God does not want anyone to reject him and go to hell, but he must punish sin, and you can see from this historical story that not only does hell go on forever, unbelief also goes on forever.