| The Wrath of God.. A Forgotten Doctrine. One of the prime bits of evidence of the departure of the professing Church from Christianity, as taught by the Bible, is the large-scale rejection of the doctrine of the wrath of God, and the emphasis placed almost exclusively upon His love. Liberal theologians probably feel a moral revulsion at the thought of a God who needs to be appeased by the blood of a victim, while the thought of sinners in the hands of a wrathful God offends their enlightened moral sense. It is sad to find so many professing Christians who, perhaps because it makes them uneasy, either completely ignore everything the Scriptures says about the wrath of God, wish there were no such thing, or treat it as something for which they need to make an apology. It certainly seems that many, if they think about it at all, harbor the delusion that God’s wrath is not consistent with His goodness… an blot on the Divine character if you will, and so banish it from their thoughts. Their preferred view of God is to see Him strictly as a God of love, always bestowing wonderful things upon us, and never causing any grief whatsoever. To these people, a wrathful God can not be the God of the ‘gentle’ Jesus, who never gets angry and who’s vocabulary does not include the word punishment. It is almost as if there is a disconnect between the Bible stories well known to all Christians and their own version of the God they profess to serve. For example in the opening chapters of the very first book of Scripture we not only find Adam and Eve thrust out of the garden for their sin, and the entire human race under the same condemnation, but shortly thereafter hear God saying ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth’ (Genesis 6), which He did in the flood that virtually wiped man off the face of the earth. This was followed not long thereafter by the destruction of the cities of the plain by fire and brimstone from heaven. (Genesis 19). God's wrath is not an abstract quality as these incidents show, but was (and will be again) an open and hard to miss display against evil-doers. Hopefully you have not only read these stories but also realize that God does not change.. that these accounts of God’s wrath are not out-of-date, antiquated fairy stories and that His wrath has not exactly dissipated over time. On the contrary all evidence seems to point to the fact that that sin has an accumulating effect and the terrible plagues and judgments in the book of Revelation are the accumulation of God's wrath over the history of mankind. Whatever the reason, the result has been that the gravity of Biblical Christianity has largely been lost sight of. We are faced with a generation of people who, to their detriment, have absolutely no fear of God and, as a result, will face disastrous consequences. The balance has to be restored.. Mushy, sentimental Christianity has to give way to an understanding that God is a God of love but is also a God of wrath, fury and terror. In fact those that pride themselves on being the people of God, have to be even more careful that they themselves do not become recipients of God’s wrath.. judgment 'begins at the house of God' (1 Peter 4:17) and 'to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more' (Luke 12:48).
The Wrath of God and Evangelism Even when we present the gospel to someone we ignore the judgment of God.. We talk about eternal life, we talk about forgiveness, love and peace, we talk about an abundant life now and an eternal life to come. But we never ever talk about the judgment of God. And we are not alone. Preachers and pastors, who should know better … “…affirm the wrath of God in theory, but they refuse to preach it for fear of alienating cultured people who may come to church. Instead, they preach, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Come to our church, where you will hear only great music and soothing messages.”2 In fact, many twenty-first century preachers take polls to see what their people want to hear. People say they want to hear pastors to preach about their felt needs: how to be happy; how to be not anxious; how to get rid of bad habits; how to lose weight by eating; how to deal with loneliness, sexual frustrations, marital discord, co-dependency, and addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, and credit card abuse. No one says he wants to hear about the wrath of God, the sinfulness of man, the atonement of Christ, the cross, repentance, saving faith, the fear of God, obedience to God’s word, Satan, eternal judgment, or hell. They just want to be told that God loves them and will bless them, no matter what they do. They want a psychological cure for their problems.” [The Wrath of God. Romans 1:18-20. P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.]
Diametrically opposed to most of our evangelistic technique, the very gospel message should begin with the wrath of God. The bad news has to come before the good news... Telling someone that there is a pardon is kind of lost on the person who does not know they are under sentence. Perhaps we are offended by the concept of the wrath and judgment of God because we have become so desensitized to sin and do not truly understand the nature of God’s holiness.
His Wrath.. Fully Justified A toddler in Washingon state beaten into a coma by his father over potty training… thousands of women in Nigeria [1] and Kenya [2], among other Africa nations, raped by military and the police who often use rape and sexual slavery to intimidate communities, with an estimated 10 percent of cases ever successfully prosecuted. The more than more than a hundred people, killed over the course of a single week in drug-related shootings in Mexico [3] (Actually you may be lucky to be just shot.. according to ‘official’ statistics about 65 people are kidnapped each month, (Please note that if you do happen to be kidnapped you stand the thought of being sawed to death, or have your head show up in a different place from the rest of your torso). The bodies of at least 30 people, including women and children, found in a mass grave in a mainly Sunni Arab area of Baghdad [4] Violence torture and mayhem in Sri Lanka [5] assaults against Jews and arson attacks on Jewish congregations in France, Sweden and Britain [6] Football hooliganism in Britain [7] Pirates that terrorize the high seas with an arsenal of high-tech weapons [8] And on a slightly less violent, but still very serious scale.. Real estate scams galore.. Amoral forces pursuing their own wealth-creating agenda contributing to the present crisis in world’s money markets..global warming and dwindling resources.. The litany of man’s greed, stupidity and inhumanity to his fellow man is a never ending one (citing the above examples are akin to picking a pebble off the summit of Mt. Everest), yet when told that God is actually going to do something about this miserable planet of ours, we rear up on our hind legs and adopt our best sanctimonious, holier-than-thou, priggish, mealy-mouthed, self-righteous attitude. How could He do that? How could this “loving” God actually sit in judgment against humanity and find them sadly wanting. How then He then rain mayhem down on this planet? What kind of God would actually be so mean? Not one we would want to serve surely! But maybe, just maybe, that little boy in Washington, those women in Africa or the souls of the children found in that mass grave would not exactly agree with you. Perhaps there are those that will find comfort in knowing that those hundreds of thousands of unreported or unsolved crimes… aren’t. Somebody knows who did it and will get that person to pay… unencumbered by man made rules that all too often work in favour of the guilty. Justice delayed is NOT justice denied. [Also see Two Babylons.. the religious system that operates independently of and in opposition to the true God, and the political, economic, commercial system that is only concerned with indulging the self and material prosperity, growing fat at the expense of many. God warns His people to separate themselves from the system lest they too share in her judgment] God has been amazingly patient with this world, but there is a day looming on the horizon when the iniquity of the Gentiles will be full, when He will say, "No more!". Old Testament prophets such as Joel, Daniel, Malachi, and Isaiah spoke of this time when God would not only bring an end to the injustice and suffering in this world but, when His righteous anger for all the wrongs committed will flood the earth, bringing punishment on the transgressors Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises [Isaiah 13: 9-10]
“rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus” [2 Thessalonians 1:8]. [See Overview of Revelation]
In His Words
God Himself has made no attempt to conceal the fact of His wrath. He is not ashamed to make it known that vengeance and fury are also a part of His nature... "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with Me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand. For I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live forever, If I whet My glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine enemies, and will reward them that hate Me" (Deuteronomy 32:39-41).
Contrary to popular opinion, the New Testament was not very far behind. There are almost fifty instances of the use of the actual word wrath, most of which refer to the wrath of God. A few instances are… [All Emphasis Added] In Matthew 3:7, when John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he called them offspring of vipers, then asked who had warned them to flee from the wrath to come? Jesus warned again and again of ‘the weeping and the gnashing of teeth’ of hell fire and outer darkness, and to not be “afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”. He pictured Himself as one day saying: ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. In Luke 12:5 He said “But I will warn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him”. John 3:36 says “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him”. Paul spoke of “Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come [I Thessalonians 1:10] and said that people with hard and impenitent hearts are storing for themselves wrath in the day of wrath to come [Rom 2:5]. In he Romans 1:18 says “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;” John, the apostle of love, paints a chilling picture of Christ coming as King of kings and Lord of lords ‘treading the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God the Almighty’ [Rev. 19.151!
God’s Wrath Vs. Man’s Anger
However one point that has to be clarified is that when the Bible speaks of the wrath of God, it is not speaking of an emotion similar to the one we think of when we talk of the anger of man. Unless one gives the matter close attention and studies the situations in the Bible, which are said to have aroused God’s wrath, one may be inclined to think that God’s anger is like ours, except infinitely more powerful.. Some common misconceptions about the anger of God is that His feeling get hurt when He does not get His way, or worse, that He is a cruel despot, raving against enemies, and bloodthirsty for revenge. All of which is far from the truth, but common perceptions that stem from confusing divine anger with human anger. We are fallible; and can become angry for the wrong reasons. While man’s anger can be wholly justified and controlled and even righteous (Ephesians 4:26), but, since we are sinful, often it is not. Human anger often involves passion and loss of temper. All too often it is selfish, capricious, out of control, irrational and leads to violence. Too much of the time we get angry because our egos have been slighted, we did not get our way, or quite simply are in a bad mood. God’s anger is completely different… The wrath of God is always measured. He doesn’t just fly off the handle, He doesn’t blow a fuse.. His wrath is a measured response to one thing, and one thing only… sin. Not only is it right for God to display anger against sin, but it is impossible for Him to do otherwise. As the New Dictionary of Theology puts it: In the words of Drew Dyck.. “The inevitable outcome of negating divine wrath is that “We end up embracing a god who looks indifferently at Auschwitz; a god too “enlightened” to be angry at the child molester-in short, a monster. . Walsch’s god may sell books and harmonize with Eastern notions of a dispassionate ideal, but the attractiveness of such a god disappears in the shadow of real evil. The conclusion is inescapable: a god who is never angry at evil is not a loving god. The angry God, however, cares. Christians should not treat God’s divine anger like a dirty secret; it offers stirring proof of His divine love”. [Drew Dyck. The Great Comfort Of God’s Wrath.]
Endnotes:
[1] http://www.afrol.com/articles/22992 [2] http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/10/2008102075138816568.html [3] http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-kidnap1-2008sep01,0,4003595.story [4] http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/018831.php [5] http://www.omct.org/pdf/Prev_Torture/2004/stateviolence_sriLanka_04_eng.pdf [6] http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/06/europe/france.php [7] http://www.sirc.org/publik/football_violence.html [8] http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1280886.html The Wrath of God
Delivered by Dr. Ronald W. Scates on June 6, 1999.
Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD
Sermon text Nahum 1:1-8 You asked for it! Yeah, you really did, so over the next few weeks, we are going to be looking at some of those sermon topics that you have suggested. This morning we kick the whole thing off with a pretty heavy topic: The Wrath of God. Some of you are thinking, "Well, it's about time." Some of you are thinking, "What kind of spiritually masochistic place have I walked into this morning?" Others of you are just kind of thinking, "Huh...?" We hear horror stories about people who have been beaten by fire and brimstone sermons about a God who is out there to clobber you if you get out of line.... but wait minute. Let's get real. How many of you here this morning have ever actually, I mean really heard a sermon like that? In high school you may have read Jonathan Edward's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. But as far as sermons that you have heard, you have probably heard sermons more along that line of, 'Coddled Christians in the Hands of a Soothing Celestial Therapist.' We don't preach on the wrath of God any more today. It is pretty much of an "out" kind of thing, gone the way of high button shoes and Pilgrim hats ... at least until today. When I worked on a dairy farm outside of San Antonio, we used to de-horn calves. That is so they would be less dangerous to us, and to themselves. If you have a cat, you can take him to be de-clawed. They can de-fang snakes. I have even heard that skunks make excellent pets, once you get them de-scented. There has been a kind of a movement in American theology along those same lines to "bell the cat", if you will; to de-fang, to de-claw God, and replace the Almighty One True Living God of the Bible with a hybrid of Barney, Big Bird, Santa Claus, and everybody's grandfather. The only problem with that God is that he is not a God at all. He is an idol, a human construction. The question facing you and me this very morning as we are about to read this prophecy from the book of Nahum, is: Is what we are going to read here merely the rants of a seventh century B.C. fire and brimstone lunatic, or is it God actually revealing himself through the prophecy of Nahum? I believe it is the latter. The Word of God, the inspired Word of God, always saves you and me from idolatry when we allow Scripture to shape our picture of God rather than what is most convenient or comfortable. I would invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me -- and keep them open during the sermon - to the book of Nahum, as this morning we wrestle with verses 1-8 of chapter one. This is the word of God. An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him. The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of [Nineveh]; he will pursue his foes into darkness. Join me as we pray: And now Father as my words are true to your Word, may they be taken to heart. But as my words should stray from your Word, may they be quickly forgotten. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
That word oracle in verse one of our text literally means "burden". Burdens are heavy. They are cumbersome. They are uncomfortable. We want to get rid of burdens. Atrocity. Child sacrifice. Blasphemy. These kind of things are burdensome; and yet they epitomize what the city of Nineveh was all about in the day of Nahum. The city of Nineveh had become burdensome to God. He wants to get rid of it. And so he raises up the prophet Nahum to prophesy against Nineveh, and to lay on the table the wrath of God. This little-known prophet Nahum -- who we know nothing about except that he was an Elkoshite. Nahum puts the burden of the wrath of God on the table. You and I this morning need to bear up under it and wrestle with it if we are serious about worshiping and following the one true living God and not some convenient comfortable idol that we have constructed. And if nothing else, this text before us this morning reminds us that God is not a God who is to be trifled with. That you cannot be presumptuous with, that you can act cocky around (especially if you are from Cockeysville). In those words of that great theologian Jim Croce, 'You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask of the ol' Lone Ranger, and you don't mess with..........God.' Nineveh for years had shaken its fist in the face of God and seemingly got away with it. Nineveh is the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians had carted off the northern kingdom of Israel into exile, and they had gotten away with it. They ruled Palestine with an iron hand, and they had seemingly gotten away with it. They mocked the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so far there had not been one lightning bolt. Ah, but the prophet Nahum says that divine trouble is brewing. It is only a matter of time. In verse two of our text, we get great insight into the character of God where Nahum says, 'God is jealous. He is an avenging God. His wrath will break forth against his foes.' Now right away you and I have a problem with that. Any time we hear the word "jealousy" or "anger" or "wrath" used in conjunction with God, that grates against us. Because when I get jealous, when Jerry gets angry, when you all display your wrath for one reason or another, it is always tainted by sin. There is always mixed motives, good and bad tied up in it. We tend to extrapolate our human definitions of those words onto those words when they are used in reference to God, which is completely wrong. Remember, God is totally pure. He is completely holy, righteous, and just. He is incapable of co-existing with sin. His wrath, his anger is never arbitrary. It is never out of control. It is never tainted in the least by sin. His wrath is a part of his holiness and his purity. In verse 3-7, we are told that God can actually use nature to be a vehicle of his wrath against his foes. Storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, volcanoes. All of these things Nahum says can be used by God as instruments of his wrath against his enemies. Does that mean that El Nino was a visitation God's wrath upon the world? I don't know. I have no idea. The insurance companies are far more certain about this than I am. They call all of this stuff 'Acts of God'. The one thing that we can take away from Scripture is that God can use these things. He can use history, he can use politics, he can use nature and a lot of other things to be instruments of his wrath, should he so choose to do. What about those tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma City a few weeks ago. Was that God inflicting his wrath on the people in Oklahoma City? I don't know. The one thing I do know is that God can use tornados if he so chooses. "Oh come on Ron. All of this wrath of God business. Isn't that really an Old Testament thing?" In the Old Testament we have the God of wrath. In the New Testament we have the God of grace, right? NO. Same God in both testaments. In fact, right here in this text before us, grace abounds. Grace abounds! Look at verses 3 and 7 of your text. In verse 3 in the midst of all of what Nahum is saying about the severity of God's wrath, he says, "The Lord God is slow to anger." Slow to anger. That means that he has a long, long, long, long fuse. It means that it takes a lot to rile him up. It takes a lot to push him "over the edge" to where he acts out his wrath. But the text also says that he is great and powerful. He has ability to carry out the sentence should he choose to act. And in verse 7, "the Lord is good. A refuge in times of trouble." God's wrath is not opposed to his grace -- in fact, they are both a part of his incredible love for you and me. And even for his enemies. If you want to do a study on the wrath of God, don't do it in the Old Testament. Go to the New Testament. Go the Jesus. Jesus speaks more about the wrath of God, and does so in a more eternal way than the Old Testament ever does. And yet the whole idea of the wrath of God is subsumed under his banner of love. His incredible love for us and even for his enemies. Think about it, do you really want a God that has no wrath? The Holocaust. The drunk driver that killed your son and who got off scott free. And every instance of atrocity, and injustice, and abject evil that has seemed to get off the hook; where there has not been any recourse in this world. It is actually a comfort to know that God promises that his judgement, his justice, will one day be completely acted out. No one gets off scott free. The wrath of God is really a comfort. Do you really want a God who has no wrath? So that all of these things like the Holocaust, kind of slide by and are off the hook? The wrath of God means that sin, abject evil, injustice, cruelty, all of these things will not be a part of eternity. They will be completely destroyed one day. If you have a God without wrath, you know what you have really got? A big sack of sentimentality. Not the one true living God who really loves you and me. Right into the very fabric of the universe God has woven in his justice. You and I can ignore it. We can slight it. We can break it. But the promise here is that when it happens, you won't get off Scott free. His justice will one day catch up to the perpetrator. But let me finish up this morning by reminding you and myself of the instance of the greatest outpouring of the wrath of God that has ever been, and ever will be. A wrath that was outpoured due to God's incredible love for all of the Ninevehs of this world. For all of its foes, for all of its enemies; and guess what folks, that includes you and me. Who by our very sin, our volitional rebellion against God, have made ourselves into his enemies. But rather than destroy us in his wrath, rather than destroy Nineveh. (Remember Jonah?) Rather than destroy all of those who have rebelled against him, God pours out his wrath chiefly, supremely, surprisingly, gracefully, at the cross. Upon the person of his own very son, Jesus. A wrath that rightfully should have been directed at you and me. Look at verse 3 of your text. The guilty will not go unpunished. Yet Jesus, the totally not guilty, steps forward and takes God's wrath for the guilty, for you and me. You cannot separate God's wrath from his grace, they are totally interlinked. And so Jesus is the recipient of the wrath of God in place of you and me. Unbelievable. Incredible, and yet that is the only reason that we are here this morning. That is the only reason that you and I are alive. That is the only reason that you and I have any hope for eternal life. The guilty will not go unpunished. But in Jesus Christ, God has declared you and me not guilty. The Lord is good. He is a refuge in times of trouble. "Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger?" says verse 6. The rhetorical answer is, "Nobody.", you and me included, unless we be in Christ Jesus. It is those that have a relationship with Christ that find refuge in the graceful wrath of God. There are the foot of the cross. So my friends, we come to this table this morning. A table really of paradox. A table of the gracious wrath of God and the wrathful grace of God. You see, you cannot separate them. A table where God invites you and me, out of his love. That banner of love that overarches his wrath. Invites you and me as Ninevites. Look at your spiritual passport. You and I are Ninevites. Rather than destroy us, God provides Jesus Christ. His way of destroying sin while at the same time embracing the sinner. Here at this table we meet Jesus Christ: the chief recipient of the wrath of God. God's consuming fire does not destroy us; but in Christ, actually burns the path ahead into eternal life. Nahum, his very name literally means "comfort". When you and I understand the gospel, then the wrath of God is a comfort. A reminder that in eternity, there will be no sin, no injustice, no evil. All of that will be destroyed by God's wrath. And even more comfort to know that in Jesus Christ we are spared. And so come this morning to this table and give great thanks. Great thanks to God because he has taken his own medicine. That he has swallowed his own anger and given you and me instead the medicine of grace. Nothing less than the very person of Jesus Christ, whose real presence we have the privilege this morning of, through common elements of bread and wine, holding in our hands.The Lord Jesus, who has borne the supreme burden of God's wrath. For you and for me. Join me as we pray: Lord God, we thank you that you are a God of wrath, that you will not tolerate or let off the hook any injustice or evil, that will not be a part of eternity. That we have your promise that you will destroy that. And yet Lord, we would have no hope as citizens of Nineveh unless Jesus Christ stepped forward and deflected that wrath from us and took it upon himself. You have done that Lord. This table is a reminder of that. And so Lord, we come and humbly receive your graciousness that you pour out upon us. Open our heart to see you anew this morning as we receive you body and blood. And may we leave here today because of your wrath, more convinced of your love. And we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
|
Index to Articles on 
