Tuesday, November 8, 2016
2 Thessalonians 1:6-7 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ... This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
TAKE HEART, THOSE WHO TROUBLE YOU WON'T ALWAYS
As we read the account of the early Christian church as recorded in the Book of Acts one thing that jumps out is the fiery trials early believers were called on to endure at the hands of Jesus' enemies, because of their love for Him and their loyalty to His Word. Because of this they were under pressure to abandon their faith. For this reason Paul wrote letters of encouragement to buck them up, urging them to stay true to Jesus, assuring them that troubles they were experiencing would end. When? When the Lord returns at the end of the age to judge the living and the dead.
Aren't we also in need of such encouragement? When we see society treating God’s holy commandments as dusty relics from an outmoded past, insinuating that those who believe otherwise are fools. When we see the world treating the Bible teachings as nonsense, especially the message of the cross we hold dear. When the Scripture teaching of a future Day of Reckoning is mocked: "Where is the 'coming" Jesus promised? For eons everything's gone on as it always has! The sun comes up in the morning and sets every night. So it will ever be! You Christians really believe the universe has an expiration date?! Foolish!" ... it can be discouraging. We might even be tempted to think that what Scripture says about Jesus' second coming is a myth.
Therefore, to encourage us to stand firm in God's Truth, the Savior reminds us that "when I return (make no mistake, I WILL return!) I will pay back those who trouble you. I will give the ungodly what they've got coming for refusing the invitation to salvation I extended to them and for mistreating My dear believers." "They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power" (v. 9).
Though thoughtless thousands choose the road
That leads the soul away from God,
This happiness, dear Lord, be mine:
To live and die entirely Thine.
On Christ, by faith, I wish to live,
From Him my life, my all, receive,
To Him devote my fleeting hours,
Serve Him alone with all my powers.
(Christian Worship, 466:1-2)
