In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in blazing fire at His second coming, bringing rest to His troubled faithful and vengeance with everlasting destruction on the wicked away from His presence. He comes then to be glorified in His saints and admired by all who believe, ending their cares, persecution and tribulation. Those who face that vengeance are those who do not truly know God but reject and deny Him and His way, and those who do not obey the gospel, since mere assent to the facts about Christ does not save while genuine faith works by love and purifies the life. Both classes are rebels who despise Christ's atonement, trample God's law and revile His followers, and like Satan in rebellion they will have no place in heaven. Therefore people must be ready with living faith that puts on the robes of righteousness, keeping the mind stayed on the Lord and turning from close company with those who fear not God and obey not the gospel, for the deciding of the ungodly and the salvation of those who wait for Him in hope are near at hand.
Revelation in Flaming Fire
The text describes Jesus revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire at His second coming, bringing fiery vengeance upon those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel. His glorious presence fills the earth at that revelation, and He comes to be glorified in His saints and admired by all who believe. That coming to earth for the redemption of His people and the destruction of the wicked was what believers expected in 1844. Instead at that time, at the end of the 2300 days, Christ came not to the earth but to the Ancient of Days in the most holy place of the temple of God in heaven, the sudden unexpected coming of the Lord to His temple to begin the investigative judgment.
The final accounting then will be doubly literal, greater than the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews, when the scene is changed so that those who condemned Christ face Him as Judge. It is a future literal fulfillment of the consequences of the people's cry against Jesus, following earlier literal fulfillments in Jerusalem's destruction. That terrible sentence the people called down on themselves and their descendants by accepting responsibility for Christ's blood became an awful heritage, fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and in the later suffering, dispersion, and blood-guilt of their descendants.
The coming brings rest from all cares, perplexities, persecution and tribulation to troubled believers who keep patient, persevering faith that bravely withstands opposition, whose faith does not wane and whose love abounds. God gives rest to those troubled by persecution for the gospel and recompenses tribulation to those who trouble them, and He does not leave His persecuted ones to be overcome but gives them the opportunity and privilege of being overcomers. At that day Christ comes to be glorified in His saints and admired in all them that believe, bringing rest and glory to His people. The wicked are punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, separated from Him and consumed by fire.
The passage was given in harmony with earlier teaching on the second coming to correct the mistaken hope that Christ's coming was immediately at hand and that Paul himself would live to witness the advent. It carries minds forward to the future advent, commending steadfast endurance by pointing to future vindication and judgment on the enemies of God, with prayer that God would count believers worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in them and they in Him. It proves faith in the soon coming is a very old doctrine taught by Christ and the apostles, to be dwelt on with joy, triumph, comfort and encouragement and not treated as a new and strange heresy. The Lord's delay is infinite mercy, holding back the return to give the world longer time to repent and return to loyalty to His government through a proclamation of God's law before His coming in majesty and glory. Sinners wrongly take the waiting as proof He will never come and meet the warning with scorn, jokes and ridicule, persisting in rebellion that will have no place in heaven, but He will surely and soon come from heaven in blazing fire to vindicate His authority and the laws of His kingdom.
Those Who Face Vengeance
Those who do not know God are those who reject God and His way. They are a corrupt, presumptuous generation that denies God and Jesus. Not to know God or Christ in verity and truth is a condition in which a person will affirm or deny anything, whether a lie or the suppositions of satanic agencies, while associates sustain falsehood by answering Yes, Yes to his words and truth is sacrificed to please him.
Disobedience to the gospel is more than failure to assent to the facts about Christ's death, resurrection, ascension and coming, for mere belief in those facts does not save. Genuine faith works through love and purifies the life. Both classes who face vengeance are rebels against God who despise Christ's atonement, trample God's law, and despise and revile His followers. They are separated from the Lord's presence and consumed with fire in everlasting destruction from His presence and glory. Those who persist in rebellion will have no place in heaven, just as Satan had none after he rebelled.
The description identifies worldly associates who fear not God and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Choosing the company of such people aligns a person with the worldly and separates that person from God. Choosing such companions instead of the company of the wise subjects the heart to an influence shaped by intimacy, constancy, love and veneration, and that influence works against moral and spiritual vigor and purity of thought and action, while likeness to Christ comes only by seeking, finding, following, and holding communion with Him.
Warning to Be Ready
A day is coming when God will take vengeance on those who do not know Him, and this means people must be ready for His coming. Eternal things must be allowed to weigh on the mind, and the robes of righteousness must be put on, so that Christ will bestow His blessing and eternal life. He will then lead His people to living fountains of waters where God wipes away all tears from their eyes, through living faith in Christ that gives a faith and hope the world can neither give nor take away.
When unbelief comes into the churches and opposition is manifested, the mind is to be kept stayed upon the Lord, His armor girded on, and discouragement refused. The same work of oppression and persecution suffered by the saints in Paul's day is soon to come upon all who believe in this age, and those who sow seeds of truth beside all waters will meet the same difficulties. When the way is unclear the whole matter is to be rested with God, and faith that works by love and purifies the soul is to be encouraged. God does not leave His persecuted ones to be overcome but gives rest to believers troubled for the gospel while recompensing tribulation to those who trouble them, giving opportunity and privilege to become overcomers.
Selfish conduct and disregard for holy practices show walking apart from God and lack of unity in spirit with Christ. Rejecting God's revealed will and acting in disregard of what is sacred brings grave consequences, for at Jesus' revelation from heaven with mighty angels He comes in flaming fire to punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel with everlasting destruction from the Lord's presence and the glory of His power, in contrast to being glorified in His saints and admired by believers. Choosing the company of people who fear not God and disobey the gospel aligns a person with the worldly and separates that person from God. Such companionship must be examined, judged, and avoided in favor of seeking the company of the wise, because intimacy, constancy, love and veneration subject the heart to an influence that works against moral and spiritual vigor and purity of thought and action, while likeness to Christ comes only by seeking, finding, following, and holding communion with Him. This judgment belongs to the momentous events near at hand when the destiny of the ungodly is decided, while Christ's coming brings salvation to those who wait for Him in hope and faith.
Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in blazing fire at His second coming, bringing rest to His troubled faithful and vengeance with everlasting destruction on the wicked away from His presence. He comes then to be glorified in His saints and admired by all who believe, ending their cares, persecution and tribulation. Those who face that vengeance are those who do not truly know God but reject and deny Him and His way, and those who do not obey the gospel, since mere assent to the facts about Christ does not save while genuine faith works by love and purifies the life. Both classes are rebels who despise Christ's atonement, trample God's law and revile His followers, and like Satan in rebellion they will have no place in heaven. Therefore people must be ready with living faith that puts on the robes of righteousness, keeping the mind stayed on the Lord and turning from close company with those who fear not God and obey not the gospel, for the deciding of the ungodly and the salvation of those who wait for Him in hope are near at hand.
Revelation in Flaming Fire
The text describes Jesus revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire at His second coming, bringing fiery vengeance upon those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel. His glorious presence fills the earth at that revelation, and He comes to be glorified in His saints and admired by all who believe. That coming to earth for the redemption of His people and the destruction of the wicked was what believers expected in 1844. Instead at that time, at the end of the 2300 days, Christ came not to the earth but to the Ancient of Days in the most holy place of the temple of God in heaven, the sudden unexpected coming of the Lord to His temple to begin the investigative judgment.
The final accounting then will be doubly literal, greater than the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews, when the scene is changed so that those who condemned Christ face Him as Judge. It is a future literal fulfillment of the consequences of the people's cry against Jesus, following earlier literal fulfillments in Jerusalem's destruction. That terrible sentence the people called down on themselves and their descendants by accepting responsibility for Christ's blood became an awful heritage, fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and in the later suffering, dispersion, and blood-guilt of their descendants.
The coming brings rest from all cares, perplexities, persecution and tribulation to troubled believers who keep patient, persevering faith that bravely withstands opposition, whose faith does not wane and whose love abounds. God gives rest to those troubled by persecution for the gospel and recompenses tribulation to those who trouble them, and He does not leave His persecuted ones to be overcome but gives them the opportunity and privilege of being overcomers. At that day Christ comes to be glorified in His saints and admired in all them that believe, bringing rest and glory to His people. The wicked are punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, separated from Him and consumed by fire.
The passage was given in harmony with earlier teaching on the second coming to correct the mistaken hope that Christ's coming was immediately at hand and that Paul himself would live to witness the advent. It carries minds forward to the future advent, commending steadfast endurance by pointing to future vindication and judgment on the enemies of God, with prayer that God would count believers worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in them and they in Him. It proves faith in the soon coming is a very old doctrine taught by Christ and the apostles, to be dwelt on with joy, triumph, comfort and encouragement and not treated as a new and strange heresy. The Lord's delay is infinite mercy, holding back the return to give the world longer time to repent and return to loyalty to His government through a proclamation of God's law before His coming in majesty and glory. Sinners wrongly take the waiting as proof He will never come and meet the warning with scorn, jokes and ridicule, persisting in rebellion that will have no place in heaven, but He will surely and soon come from heaven in blazing fire to vindicate His authority and the laws of His kingdom.
Those Who Face Vengeance
Those who do not know God are those who reject God and His way. They are a corrupt, presumptuous generation that denies God and Jesus. Not to know God or Christ in verity and truth is a condition in which a person will affirm or deny anything, whether a lie or the suppositions of satanic agencies, while associates sustain falsehood by answering Yes, Yes to his words and truth is sacrificed to please him.
Disobedience to the gospel is more than failure to assent to the facts about Christ's death, resurrection, ascension and coming, for mere belief in those facts does not save. Genuine faith works through love and purifies the life. Both classes who face vengeance are rebels against God who despise Christ's atonement, trample God's law, and despise and revile His followers. They are separated from the Lord's presence and consumed with fire in everlasting destruction from His presence and glory. Those who persist in rebellion will have no place in heaven, just as Satan had none after he rebelled.
The description identifies worldly associates who fear not God and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Choosing the company of such people aligns a person with the worldly and separates that person from God. Choosing such companions instead of the company of the wise subjects the heart to an influence shaped by intimacy, constancy, love and veneration, and that influence works against moral and spiritual vigor and purity of thought and action, while likeness to Christ comes only by seeking, finding, following, and holding communion with Him.
Warning to Be Ready
A day is coming when God will take vengeance on those who do not know Him, and this means people must be ready for His coming. Eternal things must be allowed to weigh on the mind, and the robes of righteousness must be put on, so that Christ will bestow His blessing and eternal life. He will then lead His people to living fountains of waters where God wipes away all tears from their eyes, through living faith in Christ that gives a faith and hope the world can neither give nor take away.
When unbelief comes into the churches and opposition is manifested, the mind is to be kept stayed upon the Lord, His armor girded on, and discouragement refused. The same work of oppression and persecution suffered by the saints in Paul's day is soon to come upon all who believe in this age, and those who sow seeds of truth beside all waters will meet the same difficulties. When the way is unclear the whole matter is to be rested with God, and faith that works by love and purifies the soul is to be encouraged. God does not leave His persecuted ones to be overcome but gives rest to believers troubled for the gospel while recompensing tribulation to those who trouble them, giving opportunity and privilege to become overcomers.
Selfish conduct and disregard for holy practices show walking apart from God and lack of unity in spirit with Christ. Rejecting God's revealed will and acting in disregard of what is sacred brings grave consequences, for at Jesus' revelation from heaven with mighty angels He comes in flaming fire to punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel with everlasting destruction from the Lord's presence and the glory of His power, in contrast to being glorified in His saints and admired by believers. Choosing the company of people who fear not God and disobey the gospel aligns a person with the worldly and separates that person from God. Such companionship must be examined, judged, and avoided in favor of seeking the company of the wise, because intimacy, constancy, love and veneration subject the heart to an influence that works against moral and spiritual vigor and purity of thought and action, while likeness to Christ comes only by seeking, finding, following, and holding communion with Him. This judgment belongs to the momentous events near at hand when the destiny of the ungodly is decided, while Christ's coming brings salvation to those who wait for Him in hope and faith.