2 Thessalonians 1
the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, [SUP]8 [/SUP]in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. [SUP]9 [/SUP]These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, [SUP]10 [/SUP]when He comes, in that Day,
- When Jesus came to the world, he came as a Saviour
- When He returns, He returns as a Judge
- Those who are judged will fall into two categories
a) Those who do not know God (these are unbelievers who either never heard the Word, or heard the word and rejected it)
b) Those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (these are ones entrusted with the Word but lived their lives after the flesh and not being led by the Spirit. Their lives are characterised by disobedience.
- Both these categories of people have their portion in the lake of fire.
- in particular, we see scriptures from the words of Jesus himself in Luke 12v46 [SUP]46 [/SUP]the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
- we also know that those above who do not obey the gospel as the same ones whom Jesus refers to in Matthew 7v23 [SUP]23 [/SUP]And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
John 3
[SUP]17 [/SUP]For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. [SUP]18 [/SUP]“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [SUP]19 [/SUP]And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [SUP]20 [/SUP]For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. [SUP]21 [/SUP]But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
- In the First Coming of Jesus into the world, He came as Savior.
- He came as the Light to the World - John 1
- So that all who would believe in Him should not perish but have everlating life John 3v16
- He who believes in Christ (v18) will not walk in evil deeds (V19). He who walks in evil deeds hates Jesus (V19)
- He who walks in obedience (v21) comes to the Light, and loves God.
- Now Jesus comes in His Second Coming as the Judge.
Matthew 25
[SUP]31 [/SUP]“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy[SUP][a][/SUP] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. [SUP]32 [/SUP]All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. [SUP]33 [/SUP]And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. [SUP]34 [/SUP]Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:[SUP]35 [/SUP]for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; [SUP]36 [/SUP]I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
[SUP]37 [/SUP]“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? [SUP]38 [/SUP]When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? [SUP]39 [/SUP]Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ [SUP]40 [/SUP]And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
[SUP]41 [/SUP]“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: [SUP]42 [/SUP]for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; [SUP]43 [/SUP]I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
[SUP]44 [/SUP]“Then they also will answer Him,[SUP][b][/SUP] saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ [SUP]45 [/SUP]Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ [SUP]46 [/SUP]And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The only distinction made between who are the Sheep and who are the Goats in the above passage of scripture is based on what they did. They both called Him Lord.