THURSDAY 7th
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
NIV (v8) – ‘He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.’
ESV (v8) – ‘. . . in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.’
In the verses we have today Paul brings up the subject of the second coming again, last week I mentioned that the late David Wilkerson used say that the day of the Lord will be a glad sad day, in the verses before us we see very clearly why for some it will be a sad day, for although Christ is coming to take to himself those who have responded to the good news of the gospel, he is also going to return to bring punishment to those who have rejected the good news, punishment that will be eternal. The verses clearly show two things that will happen, the glad news is that he is coming ‘to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at among all who have believed.’ (v10) The sad news is that ‘those who have not obeyed (or believed) the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction’ this is bad enough but it continues ‘away from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his presence, and from the glory of his might’ That clearly indicates that it will be permanent eternal punishment with not ever, never ever getting another chance to believe! This is sad news, and for us who do believe it should be a challenge to us to be willing to do all that we can to make the good news of the gospel known, to let those who at this moment are heading to a lost eternity know that there is a way out, there is hope, there is mercy and forgiveness available and it is to be found in all that Jesus has done for mankind at Calvary.
If you have come across this devotion today and at present you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, then you are at this moment without hope, but you can know hope, by coming to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I should remind you that God doesn’t want anyone to perish, that is why he has provided salvation through the Lord Jesus, so in rejecting what has been made available you are sending yourself to an eternity separated from God. Don’t allow the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to be a sad day for you, make sure you have done all you need to do because of what Christ has done for you, so that when he comes it will be a glad day.