God loves you, very deeply and He sent His one and only Son, the Lord Jesus, to die for you, on the cross. How true and how comforting, that is! But we must never forget the other side to the coin of God's holy character, the fact that God is also JUST!

"God is just; He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord..." 2 THESSALONIANS 1: 6-9

A mother may say to her little boy, "If you go near that fire I'll smack you!" Then, when he touches the fire and gets burned she may cuddle him in her arms. She has expressed LOVE at the expense of her JUSTICE! God is not like that! Of course, some people do not like the idea of a God who is JUST, so they manufacture their own God, a kind of 'God-in a box,' that they control. Their God is all 'love' and they don't want Bible doctrine or truth. Everyone is equal, they say and we are all 'Christians' and the world is getting better. Not so!

Of course, psychologists tell us that we often deny most strongly, what we fear most. Men and women don't like to face up to the TRUTH about HELL, because they don't want to face up to the TRUTH that they are going there - and they are, because God is JUST! Sin, wrong-doing, bad and evil must be punished. A judge or magistrate, in our land must punish wrong-doing. We have a lovely friend who is a procurator and she must punish those who have broken the law - it is her job, to do so. How much more, the JUDGE of all the Earth?

WHO will be punished?

• In the Bible passage above, it is those who have "TROUBLED," the Christians. It is a very serious thing to trouble a Christian! Why because the Christian is God's child. If I troubled one of your children, would you just sit back and shrug it off, as of no consequence? Of course not! Then it is the same with God the Father. We note that in the Old Testament, every nation that troubled the Jews, was punished by the LORD. It is a historical fact!

• Also to be punished are, "those who do not KNOW God." When talking to the lads, up the street, I tell them, "God is as real to me as Trixie, my wife. I walk with Him and talk with Him. He is my friend and helper; we work together." They just can't understand it! Being a Christian is not about a religion, nor a church, nor a social club, nor a hobby. No, it is about a friendship with the Lord Jesus, who is Creator, God and Lord of all. He is mine! I KNOW God! It wasn't always so; I knew about Him, but now I KNOW Him, personally. Do you? If not - it is HELL!

• Also, our scripture says, that those who "do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus," will be punished. What is the gospel? Jesus, Himself, said these words, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish," LUKE 13:3. We know that it was in LOVE that He spoke these TRUE words.

What does the word REPENT mean?

• It begins with a knowledge of SIN. Your eyes are opened. Whereas before you thought you were 'a good sort of person,' you now realise you are wicked, corrupt and bad in God's sight. You see yourself as a great sinner!

• Then, there is real sorrow, for your sin, deep down in your heart. You realise you have wasted so many years. You are aware how much God has been dishonoured by you.

• This leads you to CONFESS your sins to the Lord. You cry out to Him, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"

• You go on to break off from all sin. Your life is CHANGED and that not just for a week or two - it will be a lasting change! The Lord Jesus is on the throne of your life. The Holy Spirit, gives you power to overcome sin; to fight with sin; to war with sin and to get VICTORY over sin.

• A new settled habit emerges, of deep HATRED of all sin. You begin to hate what is evil and love what is good. You delight in Bible study and prayer. You begin to let others know, what the Lord has done for you. You begin to LOVE others, for Jesus' sake. When you fail, you hurry to Jesus, to ask for forgiveness.

• You have a true and living FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ, who washed you from your sins in His own blood.

Well, do you know anything about what it means to REPENT? Because Jesus said that unless you repent, it is HELL! Have you obeyed the gospel? If not you are going to be punished!

The Lord Jesus paints the most horrific picture of HELL, to deter us from going there. He uses words like:-

"blazing fire" , "everlasting destruction", blackness of darkness forever", where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched", "torment", "lake of burning sulphur",
"not a drop of water to cool your tongue", "weeping, wailing and grinding your teeth". He makes it clear that the man in Hell is conscious and has his memory.

Someone has said, "If we can imaging the worst tragedy on Earth, such as a mother holding her dying child after a road accident, and think of that grief and anguish. Multiply the sorrow a million times and you begin to have a picture of what Hell will be like.

A man said to me, "This is Hell, here on Earth now!" I replied, "Look the sun is shining... there is no LIGHT in Hell! Listen the birds are singing... there is no bird SONG in Hell. You and I are talking... there is no FRIENDSHIP in Hell, you'll be in solitary confinement for ever!" That puts paid to the false notion that some of the lads have that they'll be able to party in Hell! No chance!

It is so sad to think, that some dear, sweet, little elderly lady who goes to church and never does anyone any harm, is going to get an awful shock, one day, when she finds herself in Hell... especially if that little lady is YOUR Mother!

A handsome teenage guy, dies suddenly... and finds himself in Hell... out into the dark without a candle... what a tragedy... especially if that boy, is YOUR boy!

PRAYER - "Lord Jesus Christ, You are both tender and terrible, meek yet masterful. My faith is in You. All glory and honour be to Your precious Name. Amen."

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Copyright © Trixie Keilty