- Degrees Of Punishment

The Bible is plain: “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows” (Luke 12:47-48). God is a merciful God, but He is also holy and just. I do not believe, as some do, that God will find a way to bring everyone to heaven in the last day. But in His justice and fairness He has provided many warnings and cautions in the Scriptures about the spiritual light and spiritual responsibilities He has given us. They are directed to us all.
John saw the flashes of lightning. He felt the peals of rumbling thunder. He heard the mighty voices and the trumpet blasts as the angels of God held back the soon-to-be-released judgments coming upon the earth and the seas. We look around us, and we see this world’s cup of iniquity brim full. One day, when it reaches the point of overflow, God will say, “Enough! Open the seals! Sound the trumpets of judgment!” The justice of God and the wrath of God have been ignored and violated so long and so arrogantly that the day of reckoning must come. The divine lightning, the peals of thunder and the rumbling of judgment will go out from the throne.

Some who have misconstrued the meaning of God’s grace will make light of such predictions. But the Bible is unequivocal: God’s throne of grace will become a throne of judgment.

I confess that I am stirred within my being as I study these portions of the Revelation. If I were not a Christian, saved and forgiven, I would not wait. I would get down on my knees and plead for God’s grace and mercy while there is time. I would not deceive my own soul with the excuse that “I do not have enough light” or “I do not understand all that Christ did” or “Why am I any worse in God’s sight than my neighbor?”