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9 Who [hostis] shall be punished [dike][tino] with everlasting [aionios] destruction [olethros] from [apo] the presence [prosopon] of the Lord, [kurios] and [kai] from [apo] the glory [doxa] of his [autos] power; [ischus]KJV-Interlinear
9 And these will pay the penalty
of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of His power, NASB
The word here for
destruction, olethros, is a different word than
used in Matt. 25:46, and which means punishment.
Here, destruction is an
ongoing destruction, a never ending destruction.And that is what awaits those who reject Christ,
entirely from their soul, unbelievers in other words (those who have never
believed in Christ).
At the time of the
Second Advent, and our topic in this verse is the Second Advent not the Rapture,
for no destruction occurs at the Rapture, however, when the Second Advent
occurs, the second most violent event (out of three) will occur.
The first was in the
Flood of Noah, when many millions drowned in what most certainly was terror to
those who died.
The second major
violent event occurs at the Second Advent, when the entire world population
then remaining, most likely billions, will die.Just a very few mature believers will be rescued and live into the
Millennium.
And the third and final
most violent world event will occur at the end of the Millennium, when Satan is
released from his 1000 year imprisonment and all unbelievers will be stood
before the Great White Throne of judgment and cast into the Lake of Fire.
And it is at this final
event that the prophecy here stated, will actually occur.
At the Second Advent all
unbelievers will die and be thrown into the temporary holding cell called
Torments. Torments, is one of four underworld compartments.The underworld is called Hades.And in Torments is where all unbelievers from
history are held in captivity.
Those who reject Christ
through unbelief, have a destiny.And
that destiny is eternal and never ending destruction.
And as we stated,
destruction here is not a thing that is destroyed and then it is over, as with
a building that is burned down, a ship which is sunk and then it is simply lost, and such things.But here, the destruction indicates the ongoing process of destruction.
I could use as an
example, being forced to listen to rap music, where it never ends and you have
to listen and listen and you scream and hold your hands over your ears but it
does no good.But then there might
actually be people out there who are believers and like rap music.So enough of my humor!!
This ongoing
destruction is of course far, far worse.It is an eternal separation from God and that is the worst possible
situation for anyone to find themselves.
God holds the universe
and all things together by His own power and sovereignty and more.When God is not present, then nothing is held
together.So when unbelievers go into the
Lake of Fire, there, God will not be.And since man nor angel, cannot hold together anything, then there will be in their lives, eternal horror.
The Lake of Fire is
elsewhere described in the Bible and I have a special study on the Lake of Fire,
on the web site, for your review when you have the chance.
This is not a pretty
picture for unbelievers, and you certainly would not wish to participate in it.
If, however, you have
already believed in Christ, then you are saved, you are born again, and that is
something that cannot be undone.You
cannot undo your birth, you cannot undo your re-birth, and you cannot cancel out
a belief in Christ, once you have made it.Once saved, always saved.Salvation depends on Christ s work on the Cross, never on your work or
efforts or failures.
This eternal destruction
is often called the second death.And be
assured that believers do not participate in the second death.For with believers in Christ, there will
never be a second death, never, ever.But only heaven and eternal glory and happiness and so forth.
When we studied Colossians,
we studied your story, the song of your life. The things that give you meaning and
purpose.
When we studied 1
Thessalonians, we studied the concept of waiting.And though they, and we all, are waiting for
the next great event of history, the Rapture, our priority in life is to
prepare ourselves for the next life, not to sit around doing nothing and
waiting for something that may not occur for another generation or so.Our priority is to define and design our next
life. We do that through advancement to spiritual maturity, by means of our
daily study of the scriptures.
And now we are in 2
Thessalonians, where the subject is sin.And yes, there is going to be a reference to the Rapture, but more
important, there is going to be a description of society in the days (or
generations) leading up to the Rapture.And namely that will be the phenomenal disillusionment of the world
which has rejected truth.
And this nation, which has
probably become the greatest nation in history, and has gone and elected the
most incompetent and disillusioned government in history, is our best
contemporary good example of this concept.
Not just the rejection
of Christ, but the rejection of truth, which is the guiding and fundamental
principle that establishes and stabilizes life for society.But without truth, there will never be a
stable society.And without doctrine,
there can never be an understanding of truth.
It is for those folks,
who reject truth, and God and Christ and doctrine and so forth,
that this destruction is waiting on the horizon.
In the mean time we
will all suffer to some degree.And
during this time of truth rejection, even believers in Christ will get caught
up in the disillusionment of the lies of the world, because they reject their
daily studies and imitate the thoughts and actions of unbelievers.
But as for you, if you
get your head together, if you get with a daily study program, if you get over
whatever it is that keeps you from a daily study, then there is a life waiting
for you, by Gods personal design specifically for you, that is beyond your
imagination.
Now is the time to post a prayer.
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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