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Only One Reminder Of Sin, December 29
Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the
wicked and the sinner.
Proverbs 11:31
.
The wicked receive their recompense in the earth.
Proverbs 11:31
. They “shall
be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Malachi 4:1
. Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days.
All are punished “according to their deeds.” The sins of the righteous having been
transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all
the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit. His punishment is to be
far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all have perished who
fell by his deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the
wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch—Satan the root, his followers the
branches.
Satan and all who have joined him in rebellion will be cut off.... Then “the
wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not
be”; “they shall be as though they had not been.”
Psalm 37:10
;
Obadiah 16
.
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The justice of God is satisfied, and the saints and all the angelic host say with
a loud voice, Amen.
While the earth is wrapped in the fire of God’s vengeance, the righteous abide
safely in the Holy City. Upon those that had part in the first resurrection, the
second death has no power. (
Revelation 20:6
.) While God is to the wicked a
consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield. (
Psalm 84:11
.)
The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse
is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful
consequences of sin.
One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His
crucifixion....
All that was lost by sin has been restored.... God’s original purpose in the
creation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode of the redeemed.
“The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.”
Psalm 37:29
.
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