WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
SEPTEMBER 13, 2024
TOPIC: JUDGMENT DAY WILL BE WORSE FOR SOME PEOPLE THAN OTHERS
BY T. O. BANSO
“And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” (Mark 6:11 New King James Version).
Judgment Day is the same as the day of God’s final judgment. It is the day God will judge humans for how they lived their lives on Earth. Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment. That’s talking of the Judgment Day. It is a day of wrath and doom but also a day of reward for God’s people. Jesus says anyone who believes the one who sent Him has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24).
On the other hand, those who do not believe in Jesus Christ are already condemned even before Judgment Day. Judgment Day is just a day for the pronouncement of their judgment. John 3:18-19 says, “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. 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” (New King James Version).
Judgment day for the unrepentant sinner is a day of sorrow of unimaginable proportions. Sadder is that there is no end to this sorrow and anguish. Romans 2:5-11 says, “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God” (New King James Version).
Are you preparing for Judgment Day? Now is the time to prepare because after death, it will be too late. The Apostle John said, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15 New King James Version). Those in the lake of fire shall be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10).
Note that both great and small will face the final judgment. The only way to escape the final judgment, i.e. ending in the lake of fire, is to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. That’s how your name can be written in the Book of Life, which contains the record of those exempted from the lake of fire. On Judgment Day, God will make a difference between the righteous and the sinners. “Sinners will be condemned by God and kept apart from God’s own people” (Psalm 1:5 Good News Translation).
Judgment Day will be worse for some people than others because they rejected the opportunities they had to be saved or the message of salvation. Judgment day will be worse for them because of the amount of gospel light or truth they rejected.
Jesus told His disciples, “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” (Matthew 10:11-15 New King James Version). Note the phrase “It will be more tolerable.” Some translations use the same phrase while others say, “It will be more bearable.” In other words, it will be more tolerable or bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on Judgment Day than for the city that refused to receive the apostles or hear their words. Judgment Day will be worse for such a city than for Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Contemporary English Version says, “I promise you the day of judgment will be easier for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town” (Matthew 10:15). Why? The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which God destroyed with fire because of their wickedness, didn’t have the opportunity to hear the message of salvation, unlike a city that had the opportunity but rejected the messenger and the message. “I can guarantee this truth: Judgment day will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city” (Matthew 10:15 GOD’S WORD Translation). Judgment Day will be worse for the cities or people that salvation came to them but rejected it.
This suggests that there will be varying degrees of punishment on Judgment Day. The judgment of some will be more severe than that of others. Mark 6:11 records similar words of Jesus on this: “And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” (New King James Version). Note the expression “It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah.” The meaning is still the same.
In Matthew 11, Jesus reiterated the same truth that some cities will be worse off on Judgment Day because He did many miracles in them but they refused to repent of their sins. He said given the same opportunity, the ancient cities destroyed for their wickedness would have repented.
Matthew 11:20-22 says, “Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you’” (New King James Version). Note the phrase “It will be more tolerable.” Luke 10:13-15 says the same thing.
Like Chorazin and Bethsaida, cities in the Galilee region that witnessed Jesus’ ministry firsthand but didn’t repent, Capernaum was the headquarters of Jesus’ ministry and also witnessed more of His recorded miracles than other cities. It was highly favoured. But Jesus said Sodom would have remained till that time if the miracles He did in Capernaum had been performed in Sodom. “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you” (Matthew 11:23-24 New King James Version). Again, note the phrase “It will be more tolerable.” This means it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgment Day than for Capernaum. Sodom will be better off on that day than Capernaum.
Don’t waste the opportunities God is giving you to be saved so Judgment Day will not be a day of condemnation for you. Can you remember how many people have come to preach to you to give your life to Jesus? What about the messages on radio, television, and other media you have listened to, watched, or read? God is doing all this because He does not desire that anyone should perish, but that all should turn to repentance (2 Peter 3:9b).
You and many others don’t have any excuse not to be saved. Truly, you do not have the privilege of seeing Jesus physically and witnessing His miracles, but you have more opportunities and privileges than the Christians of old. You have experienced many miracles.
If anyone’s excuse for not believing in Jesus Christ today is that He has not seen Him physically, that excuse is untenable because some people saw and heard Him during His earthly ministry yet did not believe in Him. Jesus says, “On the Judgment Day the Queen of the South will stand up with the people who live now. She will show they are guilty, because she came from far away to listen to Solomon’s wise teaching. And I tell you that someone greater than Solomon is here. On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up with the people who live now, and they will show that you are guilty. When Jonah preached to them, they were sorry and changed their lives. And I tell you that someone greater than Jonah is here” (Luke 11:31-32 New Century Version).
After His resurrection, Jesus told Thomas, who had doubted His resurrection because he was not there when He appeared to the other disciples, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29 New International Version). Don’t wait until you see Jesus physically before you believe in Him. Believe the message of salvation those Jesus has sent are preaching.
Jesus told His disciples, “But if you go into a town, and the people don’t welcome you, then go into the streets and say, ‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that the kingdom of God is near.’ I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the people of Sodom than for the people of that town” (Luke 10:10-12 New Century Version). Note the expression “The kingdom of God is near.”
The kingdom is near you; enter the kingdom. Don’t procrastinate. You have no excuse. Don’t refuse to enter. Judgment day will be worse for some people than others. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off on Judgment Day than some people.
Luke 12:47-48 says, “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the 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. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (New International Version). Note that the punishment will not be the same although both will be punished. But both “many blows” and “few blows” are terrible. You must not experience either.
Judgment Day is real. Don’t reject the opportunities to be saved. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour today. The degrees of suffering in hell should not be misconstrued to mean that some people will find hell bearable or endurable. Far from it. Hell is a place of darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth and the punishment is everlasting (Matthew 8:12; 13:42, 50; 2 Thessalonians 1:9). The fire is eternal (Matthew 25:41). The latter part of Revelation 20:12b says, “The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books” (New International Version). The degree of sin will determine the degree of punishment but do everything to avoid hell by surrendering your life to Jesus. There is no cool place in the lake of fire!
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. Take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You must join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, thank You for the opportunities You have given all sinners to be saved. I pray that sinners will take advantage of these opportunities You are still giving them to be saved before it is too late. Judgment Day shall be a day of reward for me, not condemnation.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
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Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
