GOD IS JUST TO PUNISH THE SINNERS WITH WRATH

We are all sinners. It is the nature with which we are born and is reinforced by the rebellious choices we make in disobeying God. All of us deserve the wrath of God and He would not be unjust to condemn us all. God in His grace and mercy, however, has made provision in the cross of Christ for sinners to be saved.

Who will be condemned?  “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess.1:8)

They are “those who do not know God.”  Now, they may know about God, but do not know Him personally. Here is how Jesus described the saved, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (‭‭John‬ ‭17:3‬)

The condemned are also “those who do not obey the gospel.” The Gospel is faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ that will save us.  We obey when we receive Christ as Lord and Savior.

Some think God will not cast sinners into hell because God is love.  But, His love means He hates sin.  Love cannot be coerced, so a loving God will not force us to love Him back.  A good judge must punish criminals or he is evil.

What is the punishment?

There will be painful tribulation, “since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,” (2 Thess.1:6). Even as they have made the people of God suffer, the wicked will reap what they have sown. The punishment fits the crime.

There will be infernal retribution, “in flaming fire,” (2 Thess.1:8a). This is hell—the Lake of Fire.  “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev.20:15‬).

There will be eternal destruction, “These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,” (2 Thess.1:9). A million years later, the wicked will still be in hell, and a trillion trillion, and forever.

But, you don’t have to go there. Call upon the name of the Lord, and you will be saved (Rom.10:13).

THE JUSTICE AND WRATH OF GOD

“in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)

What percentage of sermons yesterday focused on the wrath of God? Less than 1%? That is just a guess, of course. One thing I am confident of—there were not many.

Among books written for the church world, you will find many categories devoted to favorite authors, best sellers, family life, Bible study, spiritual growth, and such. Rightfully so. But, you are not going to find many books on the wrath of God.

If you are listening to popular Christian songs, how many even mention the wrath of God?  A few, but they are the exception.

Candidly, it is not something I enjoy thinking about. I find no pleasure in preaching on the subject. But, if I am going to be faithful to Christ and to my call, I cannot neglect the topic. Did you realize that Jesus said more about hell than He said about heaven?

Yet, most preachers shun the topic and many Christians are uncomfortable discussing it.  If we are going to have a proper understanding of God then we can’t avoid it.  So, the justice and wrath of God will be our focus in this week’s study. May God use this truth to drive us to our knees in repentance and disturb us concerning those without Christ, so that we share the Gospel with them.

GOD FORSAKEN

God forsaken—what a frightening term for a fearful truth—and it was what the inhabitants of Jerusalem were about to experience.  The vultures were circling and the jackals were skulking—waiting to pick the bones of the dead.  The Jews should have raised their voices to God in repentance, but instead roared at Him as a lion in their arrogance.  That was folly to be met with God’s fury.

The Lord had brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey, but soon there would only be desolation.  The rulers of Babylon—the commanders of their army—would invade—rape, pillage, destroy, kill, and enslave until all would be destroyed.  

Notice, that it is “the sword of the LORD” that falls upon them.  God is sovereign and even as He will use the Babylonians as His sword, it is His hand that wields it.  God is not beyond using a foreign nation to bring down wrath on a land like America today—such a God-blessed land that can soon become a desolation because we have forgotten the source of our blessing.  Nuclear weapons would do that.

The farmers sowed what they hoped would be a harvest of grain, but they would instead reap thorns.  You reap what you sow, and thorns are the crop that comes from the curse of sin.

When Jerusalem fell, the nations that encircled them—Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Syria, and others would be exult in the downfall of Judah and like the aforementioned vultures and jackals were eager to devour the scraps.  Yet, Babylon would conquer those nations, as well.

Out of the dark storm clouds descending on Jerusalem, a beam of hope breaks through in the distance.  After 70 years of captivity, the Jews will be permitted to return.  God will have compassion—and not just to them.  The pagans who dwelt in the land, and influenced the Jews to call on Baal, can be influenced by the Jews to call on the LORD—and “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Rom.10:13). There is hope for Jews and Gentiles alike.  We can sink roots of repentance into the soil of salvation or we will be uprooted and destroyed.  There is no middle ground. 

THE TIME OF TRIBULATION

Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste,

Distorts its surface

And scatters abroad its inhabitants.  (Isaiah 24:1)

Earth is on a countdown to catastrophe.  As in the days of Noah, when the world’s population gave itself over evil, leading a heartbroken, yet holy God to rain down judgment in a flood, so the world is careening toward calamity again, when the Lord will rain down wrath in fire.  It is described in Scripture as a time of tribulation—seven years of judgment, with the last half so horrific as to be called the Great Tribulation.  With a broad brush, Isaiah—in chapter twenty four—paints a portrait of doom in dark colors.

The judgment will be universal in its scope (v.1-4).  There are none exempt because of high position or vast possessions.  In that time, one may live as a prince or pauper, dwell in a shack or a mansion—it will not matter, for judgment will blanket the globe in blood.  There will be no place to hide—all have this in common—they have proudly set themselves in defiance of God.  That never ends well.

This judgment is just in its application (v.5-6).  It is the law of the harvest—you reap what you sow.  While everyone is born estranged from God and deserving of judgment for the evil that we do, there is grace and mercy available now.  Yet, if we do not throw ourselves on the mercy of the court today, in that day lawbreakers will receive justice.

The time of tribulation will be a time of tears in its experience (v.7-12).  The pleasures of sin will be supplanted by the pain of judgment—with mirth yielding to mourning.  Our world loves to party hearty, and be while the wine flows, the music blares.  There will be a time when the wine glasses are empty and the music is silenced.  Bitter tears will fill the glasses and wailing will drown out all other sounds.  The party is over.

That day will have a refining quality in its intent (v.13-16).  Remarkably, there will be those saved out of great tribulation.  From among the Gentiles, comes a vast blood-washed throng, and all Israel (spiritually as well as racially) shall be saved.  After two-thousand years of Great Commission responsibility, the church has failed to carry the Gospel to all tribes and tongues, but finally all peoples will have a chance to hear.  The result will be that many will glorify the Lord.  Fire purges the dross and purifies the gold.

The judgment Isaiah describes will be unprecedented in its nature (v17-20).  This old world had known much sorrow—fearful events and catastrophic eras—still nothing comparable to this—so much so that Jesus said there has never been anything like it, neither ever will be again.

The judgment brings an end to wickedness and the establishment of righteousness (v.21-23).  The Lord Christ will come in power and glory.  He will reign on the earth.  Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord.  The only way to miss judgment is willing submission to Christ.  Today He will be your Lord and Savior, if you receive Him.  Should you reject Him, then He will still be your Lord, but also your Judge.  The choice is yours.

THE CHOICE BETWEEN COMPROMISE AND CONVICTION

“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal.”  (Numbers 25:11)

I have had a few flat tires in my lifetime.  Progress comes to a halt, and if you are traveling at a high speed can be dangerous—even deadly.  It may be the result of hitting a big pothole or sharp object, but not typically.  What usually occurred is that the tire had been losing air almost imperceptibly, and I had failed to be vigilant.  The result was a horrible noise, difficult steering, and finding myself beside the highway with a flat tire. 

I still remember the warning given by the man who once pastored my home church, Dr. Thad Dowdle.  He said, “Most spiritual failures are not the result of a blowout, but a slow leak!”  How true!  We see someone who has wrecked their marriage, totaled their testimony, and are sitting on the side of the road of life, and wonder what happened.  We may conclude it was a sudden event—and it can be—but not usually.  It was the little compromises—the neglect of the spiritual life—failing to be vigilant and diligent in maintaining Biblical convictions that brought the catastrophe.

This is the way the Devil operates.  We observe it in the twenty-fifth chapter of Numbers.  Balak, the King of Moab, had tried to hire Balaam to curse Israel, but each time the false prophet opened his mouth, God cause a blessing rather than a curse to be spoken.  Balaam’s plan then became to send beautiful Moabite women into the camp to seduce the gullible Israeli men, leading them to worship Baal.  Since Balaam couldn’t get God to turn from Israel, he decided to get Israel to turn from God.  Then he knew that God would bring His wrath upon the idolatry.  He knew there was more than one way to skin a cat!

The plan worked perfectly.  Their compromise in their relationship with heathen people—being “unequally yoked,”—led to contamination of their morals, and what we would call “backsliding.”  The wages of sin is death—and we see the high price of low-living.  24,000 died in a plague sent as a punishment from God.

What saved the day?  The zeal of Phineas stopped the plague.  This godly man was stirred to action.  A man named Zimri had given his heart to a pagan woman, who in turn had led him to give his heart to idolatry.  What magnified his sin was that he was a leader in Israel, and so Zimri not only hurt himself, he led others astray.  Phineas took radical action and stuck a javelin through the two compromisers—surgically removing the moral malignancy threatening to kill the nation.  Phineas is commended by God for his zeal—a zeal for holiness like his Lord—and blessing is promised to him and his descendants.

Today you will likely face a temptation—will you respond with compromise or conviction?  Satan whispers, “It is such a little thing.”  It might be—the little compromise added to the little one from yesterday, and the day before—and you may be closer to ruin than you imagine.  May we seek the zeal of Phineas and kill the compromise!  The great old Puritan, John Owen, said, “be killing sin or it will be killing you.”  Click on the link for more from Owen on this vital matter.

https://youtu.be/qU5b3uzqZMc