Therefore let us repent with all our heart, so that none of us perishes along the way. For if we have commandments to do this also—to tear people away from idols and instruct them—how much more must we keep a soul that already knows God from perishing?
So let us help one another and raise up those who are weak toward what is good, so that we may all be saved; and let us turn one another back and admonish one another.
And let us not merely seem to believe and pay attention now, while the elders are admonishing us. When we have gone home, let us also remember the Lord’s commandments and not be dragged aside by worldly desires. Instead, let us come together more often and try to make progress in the Lord’s commandments, so that, “all thinking the same thing,” we may be gathered together for life.
For the Lord said, “I am coming to gather all the nations, tribes, and languages.” This refers to the day of His appearing, when He will come and redeem us, each person according to their works.
The unbelievers will see His glory and power, and they will be astonished when they see the kingdom of the world in Jesus. They will say, “Woe to us! It was You, and we did not know it. We did not believe, nor did we obey the elders who told us about our salvation.” And “their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and they will be a spectacle to all flesh.”
He is speaking of that day of judgment, when they will see those among us who acted ungodly and distorted the commandments of Jesus Christ.
But the righteous, who have done good, endured sufferings, and hated the soul’s self-indulgent pleasures, will see those who failed and denied Jesus by words or deeds being punished with terrible torments in unquenchable fire. Then they will give glory to their God, saying, “There will be hope for the one who has served God with all their heart.”