In our previous post we talked about how we should not fear death because we are secure in God and we continue on in that same vein today.
But it shall not come near you our verse for today says. What does that mean? Does that mean that we have a shield around us protecting us from problems? Don’t you believe that lie for a second. Were the disciples protected? No, eleven out of the twelve died horrible deaths. Was the apostle Paul protected? No, he lost his head to an executioner’s sword. I could give you a laundry list of martyrs who died in the early church. They were not free from physical harm.
Let’s not limit our talk to martyrdom. Saints and sinners die alongside each other every day. We die together in disease. We die together in war. We die together in earthquakes. We die together in hurricanes. We die together in accidents.
So what is the Psalmist saying? I think the clue is in the reward of the wicked portion of the verse. What is the reward of the wicked? Let’s look at a couple of verses. First let’s look at Matthew 13:
41 “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 “and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!Now let’s look at Job 19:
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, 27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another...The reward of the wicked is Hell and we will be there to see that reward handed out with our own eyes. Man is an eternal creature in the sense that we have a beginning but we do not have an end. We will spend all of eternity in one of two places. We will either be in the presence of God enjoying His blessings in Heaven or we will be forever separated from Him in a place of judgment.
It is that thought that is brought to mind with today’s verse. I have heard it said of the final judgment that it will be a great and terrible day. It will be great because God will finally be revealed to all of existence in all of His glory. It will be terrible because there will be many condemned to Hell because of their unwillingness to accept Jesus. Can you picture that scene in your mind? Thousands of people condemned at the same time you are entering into God’s glory. Amidst all of the weeping and wailing you will not be touched because of your allegiance to the Christ.
Let us never forget that the only thing separating the saint from the sinner is God’s mercy. Let us remember that is was nothing special in ourselves that drew us to Him. It was only because of God’s mercy that any of us will spend eternity with Him.
Let us rest in the security that nothing can separate us from Him however let us not rest until the gospel message has been preached to every person. God has commissioned us to send His message to a lost and dying world. Get to the work…
No comments:
Post a Comment