MEMORISE:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8
READ: 2 Thessalonian 1:5-10
5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
MESSAGE:
The wicked are people who do not know God and those who probably know Him but do not seek Him (Psalm 10:2-13). Their lifestyle shows that they don’t believe in the gospel of Christ and that they do not have any regard for God. On the other hand, there are saints- the people of God; these are the people who believe. Though they may suffer persecutions and afflictions for the Kingdom, they remain faithful children of God.
Paul assumes the saints who have believed and remain steadfast even in their afflictions that God will grant them relief and their afflictions would come to an end in due course. Christ will be glorified in them, and they in Him (2 Thessalonians 1:12). On the other hand, God will repay the persecutors with affliction; He will mete out justice. He says in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 that the retribution will be:
“….everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”
The wicked would not cease to exist because of God’s final judgment, rather they would be deprived of being in God’s presence forever.
Daniel also declared:
“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2
Jesus described the judgment thus “ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal (Matthew 25: 41, 46). Revelation describes the fate of the wicked thus:” … and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10).
Beloved, a life without Christ is one full of crises – both when the fellow is alive, and even after death. Too many people pay lip service to following Christ but actually do not in real sense of it. Examine your life and choose to deny yourself and follow Christ daily to escape eternal damnation.
REFLECTION:
Which are you: wicked or saint?
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Mark 11
John 12
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 8: HAVE YOU BEEN TO JESUS.
1. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
o Refrain:
Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
2. Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
3. When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?
4. Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!
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