Daily Devotionals
Devotional: September 27th
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
It probably comes as a shock to anyone reading this verse that the fearful and unbelieving are listed together with what we would think of as outrageous, vile sinners, and that they will share the same punishment for all eternity.
It probably comes as an added surprise to note that the fearful are listed first. This should be tremendously sobering to any who excuse their timidity as a trifling matter. Perhaps they are afraid to accept the Lord Jesus because of what their friends might say, or because they are of a naturally retiring disposition. God does not excuse it as a trifle; He views it as culpable cowardice.
It should also be sobering to those who are listed second—the unbelieving. We hear people say, “I can’t believe” or “I wish I could believe.” But those are insincere statements. There is nothing about the Savior that makes it impossible for men to believe in Him. The trouble does not lie in man’s intellect but in his will. Unbelievers don’t want to believe on Him. The Lord Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews of His day, “…you refuse to come to me to have life” HYPERLINK "javascript:" NIV).
No doubt many of the fearful and unbelieving think of themselves as decent, cultured and moral people. In this life they would want nothing to do with murderers, with the immoral, or with those who practice magic arts. But the irony is that they will spend eternity together because they never came to Christ for salvation.
Their doom is “the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” This is, of course, the supreme tragedy. People may argue about the existence of hell and the fact of eternal punishment, but the Bible is very explicit. Hell does exist at the end of a Christless life.
What makes it especially sad is that neither the fearful or the unbelieving or any of the others listed in our verse have to go to the lake of fire. It is completely unnecessary. If they would just repent of their fears and doubts and other sins, and turn to the Lord Jesus in simple, trusting faith, they would be forgiven, cleansed and made fit for heaven.
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