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3 :2 ; 19 :18 ; Dan. 7:9, 10; see also- 2 Pet. 3:7, 10 ). When our Lord Jesus th u s comes He will rend er “vengeance to them th a t know not God, and to them th a t obey not th e Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is a dreadful th ing not to know God. If one does no t know H im it is his own fau lt (cf,. Rom. 1:18-25; 1 John 5 :20 ; John 17:2; 7 :1 7 ). There is no hope for th e man who refuses to “ obey th e Gospel.” To obey th e Gospel means salvation and eternal life (cf. Rom. 1 :16 ; John 3 :3 6 ): not to obey th e Gospel means “ etern al destruction from th e face of th e Lord and from th e glory of His m ight.” They shall he cast out from the presence of th e Lord: th a t is the very essence of sp iritu al death and destruction, separation from God. “ D estruction” in th e Bible usage does no t mean annihilation. A th ing is said to he destroyed “when it is so ruined th a t it no longer subserves th e purpose for which it was made.” The beast is to go “into perdition” (cf. Rev. 17 :10 ). The Greek word tran slated “ perdition” in Rev. 17:10 is th e same word tra n s lated “ destruction” in other passages. But Rev. 19:20, (cf. Rev. 20:10) tells us th a t th e beast goes to a place of end less conscious torm ent. T h at th en is w hat “ destruction ” means. But the principal purpose of th e coming of our Lord Jesus is no t to rend er vengeance to His enem ies b u t to be “ glorified in His sain ts,” i. e., His glory is to be revealed and seen in them (cf. Col. 3 :4 ; John 1 7 :1 0 ). I t is to be carefully noted th a t it does not say to be “ glori fied by H is sain ts” b u t “ glorified in His sain ts.” Fu rth erm o re, those who have believed i n , H im will so manifest th e riches of His grace (cf. Eph. 2 :7 ; 3 :10) th a t all th e universe will marvel a t Him in them . All th is will be “ in th a t day.” W ith th is glorious consum m ation in view, P au l prays “ th a t our God may count you w orthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire (kindly purpose) of goodness and every work of faith w ith power.” The “ you” in v. 11 is emphatic. The purpose of P aul in making th is prayer was th a t the name of our Lord Jesus m ight be glori fied “ in ” them1 and th a t they m ight be glorified in th e Lord Jesus. WEDNESDAY, Ja n u ary 29. 2 Thess. 2 : 1 - 12 . As P au l takes up th e erro r th a t had appeared among them he uses entreaty
g ratitu d e, th e ir “ fa ith ” and love, R.V., b u t h ere th e re is no mention of “ hope.” This is because it was on a. m a tte r regarding “ hope” th a t they had gone astray. Since w riting before th ere h ad been a g reat increase in th e ir faith and th e love of each one of them toward all abounded (cf. v. 3; 1 Thess. 1:3, 12). The church was still being sub jected to g rea t persecutions and afflic tions, h u t in these they were displaying such “ patience and fa ith ” th a t P aul gloried in them in all th e churches. P au l encourages them in these persecu tions and afflictions by telling them th a t th e ir enduring these sufferings is a m anifest token of th e righteous judg m en t of God,” i. e., th e fact th a t God p erm itted them to suffer now was only a proof th a t God would come to rew ard them and punish th e ir enemies here afte r (Ps. 71 :23 -28 ). The purpose for which God perm itted them to suffer was “ to th e end th a t ye may he accounted w orthy of th e kingdom of God for which ye also suffer” , (v. 5; Acts 1 4 :22 ), When we look a t th e persecutions th a t ¿ m e to us in the service of Christ in th is light, we will rejoice in them ra th e r th a n reg ret them (cf. Acts 5 :4 1 ). TUESDAY, Ja n u a ry 28. 2 Thess. 1:6-12. “ It is a righteous th ing w ith God to recompense affliction to them th a t afflict us (you) and to us (you) th a t a re afflicted rest.” The tim e when God will recompense th e affliction to them th a t afflict us and re st to us who are afflicted will he “ a t th e revelation of th e Lord Jesu s from heaven.” All the hope and expectation of believers cen te r in th e re tu rn of Christ and in His visible bodily revelation from heaven (cf. Tit. 2 :1 3 ). The word tran slated “ re st” in v. 7 is no t the- same word th a t is so tran slate d in Matt. 11:28. The word so tran slated in th e la tte r passage means cessation from labor, the word used here means relaxation, i. e., th e relaxing of th e tension of th e suffer ing th a t was now upon them . When th e Lord Jesu s is “ revealed from heaven” He will no t come alone hu t w ith “ th e angels of His Power” (cf. Matt. 2 5 :3 1 ). He will he revealed “ in flaming fire” (literally , in a fire of flame). Our God is a consuming fire (cf. Heb. 1 2 :2 9 ), and will th u s appear when He comes to judge His enemies (cf. Heb. 1 0 :2 7 ). The appearance of fire has often accompanied the m ani festation of God in th e past (cf. Ex.
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