Lesson 24: Patience and Endurance
If we endure our trials and tribulations with patience and endurance, the judgment of God is right, and we will be considered worthy of the kingdom for which we suffer. We can rely upon God’s strength to help us grow in patience and endurance. God’s justice will bring trouble on those that trouble us and remove trouble from us. God’s justice will bring punishment on unrepentant sinners; this punishment will occur either in this life as God allows sin to run its full course in the life of the sinner, or it may happen at Christ’s second coming; Christ, who is now hidden in the clouds and many deny his existence; but at his second coming everyone will see him as He is. He will come with blazing fire and mighty angels to destroy wickedness and to punish those who do not know God and who have failed to live by the Gospel of our Lord. This does not mean those who have never heard of God; it means those who have heard and who fail to 0acknowledge Him. The Gospel invites acceptance; to reject the Gospel is to be disobedient to a divine invitation. God will punish such people with everlasting destruction; they will be shut out from his presence and from the majesty of his power. This separation from God is the essence of hell. This will happen on the day Christ comes to be glorified in the lives of his people, and we will share in his glory by virtue of our union with him.