Divine Wrath in the New Testament, Part 1

Introduction: The Necessity of Addressing Missing Notes in Gospel Preaching

0:05 This sermon was preached on Sunday evening, May 24th, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. In our studies in the Word of God, last Lord's Day evening, we completed a series of expositions based upon, or really growing out of, a careful consideration of the words of God as found in 1 Timothy 2, verses 8 through 15. And now tonight we begin a new series of studies, a series which will be topical in nature, that is, we will not be examining one specific portion of the Word of God in detail,

0:50 but rather a number of portions of the Word of God, and the unifying principle of those portions which we shall be studying tonight and in subsequent Lord's Day evenings, God willing, is the theme, Some Myths. Some missing notes in contemporary gospel preaching. Some missing notes in contemporary gospel preaching. If we view the gospel under the figure of a chord of music, there are in that chord certain notes which God has placed for the full harmony of truth,

1:32 which are tragically missing in Moses. If we view the gospel under the figure of a chord of music, there are in that chord certain notes which God has placed for the full harmony of truth, and it will be our concern tonight and in subsequent Lord's Day evenings to zero in upon those specific notes. Now, it's important at the very outset to have underscored how vital this subject is. Why should we concern ourselves with whether or not there are some missing notes in contemporary gospel preaching?

2:05 Why should we concern ourselves with whether or not there are some missing notes in contemporary gospel preaching? Why should we concern ourselves with whether or not there are some missing notes in contemporary gospel preaching? Well, I would answer that question by reminding you of the fact that if we accept the testimony of Scripture, then we agree on the fact that there is but one divine remedy for sin-sick humanity. And that remedy is the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

2:29 In the familiar text in Romans 1, the apostle could say in verse 16, For I am not ashamed. I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it, it, it and it alone is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Now, because the gospel is the only divine remedy for sin, any distortions of, additions to, or omissions from that gospel are ruinous to the souls, any distortions of, additions to, or omissions from that gospel are ruinous to the souls,

3:07 For example, Jude in verse 4 addresses itself to a tragic distortion of the gospel. Jude speaks of those who pervert the grace of God unto a license for sin. You see, their problem was not a denial of many of the fundamental tenets of the gospel. It was a distortion of the gospel in which they added to those tenets the logic of the devil.

3:37 For example, the language of Romans, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound, to which some add the devil's logic. Well then, if grace abounds where sin abounds, let sin, that God's grace, may be wonderfully displayed, to which the apostle answers, May Genetor, God forbid. Furthermore, additions to the gospel are condemned in such passages as Galatians 1, 8, and 9. The apostle says, Though we or an angel from heaven should preach any other gospel than that which we have preached unto you, let him be anathema.

4:16 Again I say, though we or an angel from heaven, anyone, preach any other gospel, let him be anathema. And the problem there in Galatia was that people came along with their plus signs to the gospel. The gospel was undergoing a radical alteration by, And then, of course, in such passages as 1 Corinthians 15, subtractions are condemned in the most vigorous language. There were some at Corinth who were subtracting from the basic content of the gospel the fact of the bodily resurrection from the dead.

4:56 And Paul shows by a close line of reasoning that to deny that tenet of the gospel is to leave us with no gospel. It is to leave us. In our sins, it is to leave us with a vain faith. So when I assert that any distortions of, additions to, or omissions from the gospel are ruinous to the souls of men, that is not a projection of human opinion.

5:23 That is simply echoing the mentality of the scriptures themselves. If then we have any concern for the well-being of our own souls, if we have any genuine compassion for the souls, then each one of us must be deeply concerned with this issue of the content of the gospel of Christ. And if we believe that distortions, additions, or omissions result in tragedy for the souls of men, then the theme of our studies in these Lord's Day evenings will be of burning concern to us, missing notes in contemporary,

The Missing Note: The Wrath of God

6:06 contemporary gospel preaching. Tonight, and God willing again next Lord's Day evening, we take up the first of several of these notes which are tragically missing in most contemporary presentations of the gospel, namely the note of the wrath of God.

6:29 And as we begin our study tonight, I believe I can give no better introduction to this subject than to quote a paragraph, that is found in Dr. J. I. Packer's classic work entitled Knowing God.

6:45 And in his chapter on this subject of the wrath of God, he writes, Wrath is an old English word defined in my dictionary as deep, intense anger and indignation. Anger is defined as stirring of resentful displeasure and strong antagonism by a sense of injury or insult. Indignation is defined as righteous anger aroused by injustice and baseness. Such is wrath.

7:22 And wrath, the Bible tells us, is an attribute of God. The modern habit throughout the Christian church is to play down this subject. Those who still believe in the wrath of God, not all do, say little about it. Perhaps they do not think much about it.

7:43 To an age which has unashamedly sold itself to the gods of greed, pride, sex, and self-will, the church mumbles on about God's kindness, but says virtually nothing about His judgment. How often during the past year did you hear, or if you are a minister, did you preach a sermon on the wrath of God? How long is it, I wonder, since a Christian spoke straight on this subject on radio or television or in one of those half-columned sermonettes that appear in some national newspapers and magazines? And if a man did so, how long would it be before he would be asked to speak or write again?

8:27 The fact is that the subject of divine wrath has become taboo in modern society, and Christians by and large have accepted the taboo and conditioned themselves never to raise the matter." Dr. Packer has wisely and very poignantly introduced the subject, and as we take our Bibles in hand, we shall approach it, first of all, considering tonight the prominence of the wrath of God in New Testament preaching and teaching, and if we complete that study, then God willing, next Lord's Day evening,

Why Begin with the New Testament?

9:11 the profound illustrations of the wrath of God in Old Testament history. So you see the two major channels by which this subject will be opened up to us. First of all, then, the prominence of the wrath of God in New Testament preaching and teaching. Now, why do I begin with the New Testament?

9:34 That's a fair question, and it deserves an intelligent answer. And my answer is there are two reasons for setting the framework for a consideration of the wrath of God from the teaching and preaching of the New Testament. The first is the misconception spawned by liberal theology. The misconception spawned by liberal theology.

10:01 Several generations ago, the notion was made popular that the God of the Old Testament was one God, and the God of the New Testament was quite another God. You see, men began to view the Bible not as a divinely inspired revelation of God concerning Himself, but basically a human document in which men reflected their own growing consciousness and understanding of God. You see the difference? If the Bible is God revealing Himself through human authors, its content will have a basic unity,

10:45 for God is the God who says, I am the Lord, I change not. But if the Bible is simply a record of the religious consciousness of men, that consciousness grows, develops, and many times, undergoes radical changes. Well, liberal theology spawned the notion, you see, that in the Old Testament, in more primitive days, people conceived of God as a tribal God, a God whose heart was narrow and constricted, a God whose heart focused upon the concerns of the tribe with which He identified Himself. In this case, of course, it was the nation of Israel.

11:29 And so when we turn to the Old Testament, and we read the account of this God going before the armies of Israel, bathing, as it were, His sword of vengeance in blood upon the necks of the Canaanites, we are to look upon that as a concept of God which men in the 19th and 20th century have of necessity outgrown. The God of the Old Testament is the God of a narrow heart. He is the God of wrath, the God of blood and of vengeance. But, they told their generation, in the New Testament, we find a different picture of God.

12:08 Here we have the God who has an expansive universal benevolence, a God of all love, of all pity, and of all mercy. And this God is supremely reflected in the teaching and the ministry of Jesus Christ. Now, this notion spawned by liberal theology several generations ago is not dead. Varying degrees remain with us to this very day.

12:38 And so lest any hide behind that misconception, I will establish the case for the prominence of the wrath of God from the New Testament documents. And then I have a second reason for doing that, and that pertains to the Biblical concept of progressive revelation. Now, there's a world of difference between the liberal concept of man's so-called growing religious consciousness and the Biblical doctrine of progressive revelation. Now, that doctrine is most clearly stated in a passage such as Hebrews chapter 1 and verses 1 and 2.

13:22 Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers and the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, has at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son. Now, you see this verse teaches on the very surface of it that there is a progression of divine revelation. It is the one God who speaks.

13:54 But this God spoke informally He spoke in former ages by bits and pieces and in diverse, that is, in divergent, differing manners unto the fathers through the prophets. But now all of His speaking has come to a climactic expression in the person of His own dear Son, so that God's many words to His people through the ages have culminated in His final word to His people in His own beloved Son. So that any revelation which God has made of His character comes to its fullest expression

14:38 in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the inspired apostolic commentary upon His person and His work. Now, this is so much the case that John can use radical language in his first chapter, when he says, No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father, He has literally exegeted Him. He has revealed Him.

15:09 What do we do when we seek to exegete a passage of Scripture? We seek to bring out of the text what God put into it. Nothing more, nothing less. Jesus Christ has fully exegeted the Godhead.

15:23 He could say, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. And so because the New Testament contains that climactic revelation of the character and nature of God, particularly in the revelation made in Jesus Christ, any consideration of any attribute of God is not the clearest consideration unless it finds its at least dominant and most clear material in the New Testament. And so for those two reasons, I set the case before you from the New Testament because of the misconceptions spawned by liberal theology and because of the Biblical concept

The Wrath of God in John the Baptist's Preaching

16:08 of progressive revelation. Now then, let us come to the New Testament teaching. Is it proper to assert that if the wrath of God is not a dominant note in the presentation of the gospel, there is something fundamentally lacking in that presentation? That's my thesis.

16:30 Does it warrant serious consideration? Well, let's begin with the first preaching that confronts us in the New Testament. And we will examine the wrath of God in the preaching of John the Baptist. If you will turn to Mark 1 and verse 1, you will notice a very vital principle with respect to the ministry of John the Baptist.

16:56 He stood at a unique place in the history of God's dealings with men. John was the final prophet of the old dispensation and in a sense the first prophet of the new because he was the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that Mark begins his gospel with these words, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and then notice his first subject is John the Baptist. Even as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face who shall prepare thy way.

17:36 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John came who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sin. And here then John's peculiar, John's unique place in redemptive history is underscored by Mark at the very beginning of his gospel. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ occurs with the presence of this strange man preaching in the wilderness of Judea, crying out in the language of Isaiah the prophet, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

18:19 And John's great ministry was to turn the attention of men to the coming of the King of grace, to tell men what they could expect in the person and work of this one who was coming as promised by the ancient prophets. Well, what were the dominant notes then of John's ministry? As he pointed towards Christ, what did he say people could expect of Christ? What should they seek to discover in Christ?

18:52 What should they anticipate receiving from Christ? Well, as you compare the four gospel records, all of which contain some insights and references to the ministry of John, you will discern that there were four prominent notes in the preaching of John the Baptist. The most prominent, of course, was his clarion call to thorough repentance. We saw it here in Mark 1 and verse 4.

19:19 We find it again in Luke 3 and verse 3. And now if you'll turn, please, to Matthew chapter 3, and we see it there in verse 2. John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so one of the dominant notes of John's ministry was this summons to a thorough repentance in the light of the coming of the King.

19:50 But then there was a second note which dominated his preaching, and that is found and is the unique contribution of John's gospel in John chapter 1 and verse 29. John 1 and verse 29. On the morrow he, that is John the Baptist, seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. John points people to the Messiah and says, In him everything typified by every sacrificial lamb under the old economy, that piercing cry

20:34 when the knife went into the breast or cut the throat of that lamb that would be offered up in sacrifice, every cry of every lamb slain before every Jewish altar through the centuries was but a prefiguring of that final perfect lamb who would die as God's appointed sacrifice for sinners, even the Lord Jesus. And so he pointed men not only to the necessity of a thoroughgoing repentance in the light of the coming of the kingdom in the person of the King, but he pointed to that King as the sacrificial lamb, the sin-bearer for men. And he said that the sin-bearer, the Lamb of God,

21:19 was none other, verse 34, than God's unique Son. And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. And so John not only called men to a thorough repentance, but he summoned them to faith in the Lamb of God, His work, who is to be recognized as the Son of God in His person. But then there was a third strand in John's preaching, and this is found in three of the Gospel or four of the Gospel writers.

21:54 It was the promise that this Messiah, this Lamb of God, this Son of God would be the one who would dispense the Spirit upon His people. Again, Matthew chapter 3 and verse 11. Matthew chapter 3 and verse 11. I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance, but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.

22:27 He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. And as surely as pointing to Him and saying, Behold the Lamb of God, underscored the work He accomplished in the days of His humiliation, pointing to Him and saying, He is the one who will baptize with the Spirit, was underscoring the ministry of the Lord Jesus in His state of exaltation, so that on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was sent forth with power, Peter could say, He, Jesus Christ, exalted to the right hand of the Father, made Lord in Christ, He has shed forth this

23:10 which you now see and hear. Now put all of that together. And what do we understand? What do we understand from the message of John?

23:18 If you were there in the wilderness of Judea listening to John preach day after day, what would you glean from his preaching as being the dominant notes? What were you to think with respect to the coming of Messiah? Well, you would know at least these things if you were listening with any discernment that whatever Christ demands, there must be a deep, pervasive, thorough change of mind, of heart, and of life. We don't play games with this Messiah.

23:47 There must be a repentance even though we stand in that favored nation, the nation of Israel, with the Scriptures in our hands, with a revealed way of approaching God with an appointed priesthood in the temple. John is telling us that in the presence of this coming King, we need a deep and radical alteration of our entire inner and outer life. We must repent in the light of the coming of the Messiah. The Son of God.

24:18 You would also understand if you would listen to John day after day that you were to see in this one God's appointed sacrifice for sinners. You were to understand that He was God's Lamb who alone could bear away the sin of the world and that He was well able to do it because He was no mere man. No matter what your eyes might tell you, He had all of the features of true humanity. But that true humanity was joined to essential and undiminished deity.

24:52 He was Son of God. God the Son. And if you listen to John, you would understand that this is why He is able to bear away the world's sin. Because He is no mere man.

25:06 He will die as the Lamb in all the virtue and worth of His uniqueness as God the Son. But then there was a third thing you would understand even though you perhaps would not be able to sort out all of the pieces and how they would fit together. Whoever this coming One was, from Him and from Him alone, you would receive this mighty effusion of the Holy Spirit. He in a unique way would usher in the age of the Holy Spirit.

The Missing Note in John's Preaching: The Coming Wrath

25:38 That age promised by the prophets of old would be an age initiated by the Lord Jesus. But may I say if that's all you understood you would have missed one of the dominant notes in John's preaching. And that fourth note is this missing note in contemporary gospel preaching. It is the note of the wrath of Almighty God.

26:06 Notice in Matthew's Gospel chapter 3 and verse 7. Matthew 3 verse 7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism he said unto them you offspring of vipers who warned you to flee now notice not from the wrath that is to be cancelled in this new revelation of God to be made by the Messiah. He did not point to Jesus as the one who would introduce a radically new concept of God.

26:46 And set the God of the New Testament in opposition to the God of the old. No, no. He said in the light of the coming of this one there is an even greater dimension of divine wrath. And he says who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath.

27:08 And he describes that wrath as something that is already breaking in the direction of these impenitent scribes and Pharisees. Furthermore he goes on to say in verse 10 and even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Vivid imagery.

27:34 It's as though the husbandman comes and he sees a tree in the time of fruit bearing that is nothing but a pile of well arranged sticks. And John says already the axe has come and has struck the root and it's only a matter of time until it will cut clear. And then you'll have firewood. Now who's going to do that?

27:57 You look now at verse 12. Speaking of this one who shall baptize in the Holy Spirit verse 12 whose fan is in his hand now notice he's pointing to Christ. He will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat to the corner but the chaff will heed in sensible fire.

28:29 Now what is he talking about when he talks about the fan in his hand? Now if we lived in Bible times we would understand immediately those people who heard John preach they knew exactly what he was referring to. That was before the days of combines that would harvest and bundle the grain. When the reapers would go out and cut it down with their sickle or their scythe and then they would bring it first of all to the threshing floor and there by various instruments sometimes just oxen trampling on the grain there would be a separation of the head from the stalk the actual kernel from the what we would call the straw or the hay.

29:10 But once that was separated then there had to be a further separation from the outside hull or chaff and the actual kernel which later on would be ground. So in the evening time you find an allusion to this in the book of Ruth that Boaz went out at evening to the threshing floor and when the cool evening breezes would come the farmer the man who was responsible would go to his threshing floor and there he would take a broad paddle like rake or fork made of wood much like some of our bamboo rakes would probably be the closest picture that we have in our day and he would lift up that which had been trampled upon by the oxen or by a kind of sled

29:53 that at times was pulled over it and you find allusions to this in the Old Testament and he would throw it up into the face of the wind and the chaff being lighter than the grain than the kernel would be blown off some feet away from the pile of grain that would increasingly rise as his rake which was called his fang was placed into this mixture of chaff and wheat that was thrown up into the air the chaff blown to one side and when the farmer then would gather his wheat into his barn he would take his chaff and consume it with fire now that's the picture that we have here and John says whatever you think of this coming one this one

30:38 in whose presence there must be deep and thorough repentance whose claims are so radical so pervasive that no mere adjustment of a few externals will do you must repent in the presence of the coming one the kingdom is at hand in the person of the king you must not only think of him in that light but see him as the Lamb if you are ever to know your sins forgiven you must see in him the one true sacrifice for sins which avails before God and furthermore you must see him not dying as a martyr but dying as the Son of God who lays down his life for the sheep and you must see him as the one who will shed forth

31:23 the spirit in plenitude of power and grace but all my listeners John says you have not rightly understood the one whom I preach unless you see him as the Christ with the winnowing fan in his hand will thoroughly purge his threshing floor he will gather the wheat into the garner but the chaff will he burn up with unquenchable fire John did not preach a Jesus who negated or neutralized the concept of the wrath of God John preached a Jesus

32:06 who would not only have nail prints in his hands and his feet as the Lamb who would not only have a crown when he is exalted and is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high to send forth the spirit John says you must think of him and know him and respond to him as the impaled Lamb yes the exalted Lord yes but you must ever think of him with the winnowing fan in his hand and if you are chaff with unquenchable fire the Jesus

32:49 John preached and any other Jesus is a figment of men's imagination a Jesus stripped of his winnowing fan is an idol who is as powerless to save as any stone idol before which an idolater bows in heathen ignorance and yet how often in gospel preaching today is our blessed Lord presented in some manner as the Lamb yes as the exalted one who gives the spirit yes but oh the solemn note of the Jesus

33:34 with the winnowing fan in his hand is so sorely lacking so that instead of the gospel being good news that ravishes the hearts of men and women and boys and girls trembling at the thought that natively they are nothing but chaff in Adam they are sinful chaff sick for nothing to be blown away and consumed in the fire of hell instead of the gospel coming to such as glorious good news causing the heart to well up with a sense of wonder and amazement falling prostrate at the feet of the Lamb of God who is the Son of God the giver of the spirit

34:18 in deep and thorough repentance there is at best a kind of dickering with Jesus a kind of negotiation with Jesus in which I agree to give him a little trust and a little decision in exchange for a little assurance that I'll be alright when I die and then people go merrily on their way living lives basically no different from those who do not claim any saving interest in the work of Christ you see that John the Jesus whom John preached is the Jesus who has the fan in his hand but now we move on

The Wrath of God in the Preaching of Jesus Christ: An Overview

35:02 to consider and I'm sure now we'll only get to this next point the wrath of God in the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ the wrath of God in the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and here again I can only be selective and suggestive and make no efforts at being exhausted the materials are so many in the New Testament it would take a series of Sunday night studies just to read and briefly to comment upon all of the allusions to the wrath of God recorded in the four gospels in fact it may shock some of you and I hope it'll shock you enough to study your Bible on the matter

35:46 to prove me wrong there are more references recorded in the sayings of our Lord to hell and judgment than to heaven and to divine love oh you say come off it preacher go to your Bible with paper and pencil and columns and seek to prove me wrong in the gospel of Matthew alone there are no fewer than thirty distinct references to the wrath of God to the judgment of God to hell and to eternal punishment and they all come from the lips of the Lord Jesus how can that be I thought the Bible said God so loved the world

36:31 that he gave his only begotten son is not the presence of the incarnate son a manifestation of the love of God how is it then that there is this constant reference to the wrath of God in the teaching of our Lord oh the connection is very simple my friends it is only when the love of God is viewed in the context of the reality and magnitude of the wrath of God that that love is understood for what it really is and apart from that it is nothing but divine indulgence and some kind of love for what it really is and apart from that some kind of saccharine sentiment and not the love

The Wrath of God in the Sermon on the Mount

37:14 of an infinitely holy and an infinitely pure God well where should we go to see these demonstrations well let's start where a lot of people would think the wrath of God surely would not be found in that lovely lovely portion the sermon on the mount you hear people say well you know I am not much for this doctrine business I am just a simple person I just love the simple religion of Jesus as expressed in the sermon on the mount and what they mean by that is they have got a notion that somewhere in the sermon on the mount there is something that probably says God helps those that help themselves and do unto others as you would they should do unto you and that is the beginning middle and end

37:58 of their religion one phrase is taken from the sermon on the mount the other is not found anywhere in the bible even though I have been told it was there it isn't but now will you notice in the sermon on the mount our Lord begins by describing the characteristics of the sons and daughters of the kingdom and in the first eleven twelve verses we have a description a marvelous comprehensive description of the character traits of the sons and daughters of the kingdom then in verses thirteen to sixteen we have a description as well as a statement of their function with those character traits how do they function in the midst of a lost and degenerate world and in a corrupt society then there is a transition beginning with verse seventeen

38:43 in which our Lord articulates the nature of his mission and he says do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets I came not to destroy but to fulfill in describing my people in this way I have not negated nor cancelled in any way what you should be led to believe from your reading of the old testament he says you see the official teachers had so corrupted the pure teaching of the word of God that what people thought was the word of God was nothing but the tradition of their religious teachers remember Jesus said in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the traditions of men and they have made void

39:28 the word of God so what our Lord does after enunciating that truth that he has not come to teach something new not to destroy the law and the prophets but to fill them to the full he begins to fill them to the full by restoring the law of God the moral aspects of the law to their original intention in terms of what God meant when he said thou shalt not thou shalt thou shalt not and the first commandment with which he does this is found in verse 21 you have heard that it was said to them of old time thou shalt not kill shall be in danger of the judgment

40:12 but I say unto you not in contradiction to Moses but in contradiction to the tradition that has so encrusted Moses that you don't understand the mind of God is revealed in that precept you think that as long as you don't pull the trigger or plunge the dagger into a man's breast you've kept that commandment tension was never merely to touch upon the externals of a man's conduct I say unto you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment whosoever shall say to his brother Reca it's a term

40:56 of derision shall be in danger of the council now notice and whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of the hell hell of fire. Who introduces these words into the New Testament? The Gehenna of fire. These are not words into the text by medieval theologians. They are the words of truth incarnate. And

41:31 when he would impress upon men the seriousness of violating God's holy law in all of its breadth, in all of its spirituality, he hangs over their heads the threat of the hell of fire to every lawbreaker. You say, that's not my Jesus. Well, if he isn't, you better get rid of your Jesus. This is the Jesus who said, I came not to destroy, but to fulfill.

42:03 What does he do with the next commandment? The same thing. Verse 27. Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery. And your religious leader,

42:13 as long as you don't bed down with your neighbor's wife, you've kept that commandment. Oh, you can sit on your porch and watch her as she go by and undress her in your mind and go to bed with her in your intention. But if you don't actually commit the act, you've kept the law. You can sit in the privacy of some secret place and flip through the pages of a girly magazine. That's all right. So long as you don't violate the marriage bed

42:41 with another woman. That's what your religious leaders tell you. But I say unto you, everyone that looks on a woman to lust after her, looking with an intention to lust, has committed adultery with her already in his heart. It's as though our Lord anticipates an objection of someone saying, hey, wait a minute. If God's law touches

43:09 the first springs of lustful intention, why, how can a man live? How can a woman live? And keep that commandment. Why, every day I see that which provokes intention to lust.

43:24 And when we're in close proximity to those of the opposite sex and feel the warmth of the flesh, certainly if we do not actually commit the act, there cannot help but be the stirring of the desire. How can we ever take that commandment seriously? Listen to Jesus retort to that anticipated objection. And if thy right eye causes thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee, for it's profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. The meek and gentle

44:02 Jesus is going to uphold and enforce the sanctity of the seventh commandment that touches moral purity between the sexes. And he says it touches the deepest springs of the conscious volitional attitude of the heart. And he says it touches the deepest springs of the conscious volitional attitude of the heart. and he says if your complaint is well I can't help but lust he said if it were necessary and it would help hell is a law breaker that's what Jesus said I didn't say it and he went on to say in verse 30 and if thy right hand causes you to stumble that hand with which you touch that warm flesh

44:46 and touching that warm flesh you cannot help but think the lecherous thought he said if the only way you can keep the hand from triggering the lust is to cast it from you he said it's better to do this than one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body go into hell the idea that the body will be resurrected at the last day and that the body with the soul will be cast into hell under the wrath of God that is not a concept buried in the antiquated notions of the Old Testament it is a concept thrust to the center of the Old Testament it is a concept thrust to the center

45:28 in the enforcement of the strictness of divine law by the Lord Jesus Christ himself now who is this Jesus of modern evangelicalism who not only permits promiscuity between consenting adults but who even puts his approval upon committed homosexual relationships so that there are evangelical gay churches throughout the country that Jesus not this one Jesus but this one Jesus who has the power to make them to make them to make them to make them to make them to make them by my genes

46:13 by my upbringing by my inclinations to be drawn to those of the same sex I do not naturally have heterosexual desires and all the other excuses Jesus said whatever steps must be taken to avoid anything that is a violation of the sanctity of the sexual norms of the word of God those steps must be taken or we'll burn in hell my dear people how can we treat lightly such language and why did Jesus speak so graphically of it well my own conviction is because if hell is a place prepared for the devil and his angels and Christ is the creator of all things

46:57 he's made that place and he knows the horror of it and that's why he didn't play games but here in the Sermon on the Mount there is no sweet saccharine just be lovey nice and everything will turn out alright here is the great law giver saying that that in my kingdom my subjects who are marked by poverty of spirit mourning for sin meekness of heart hunger and thirst for righteousness merciful in temperament pure in heart peacemakers and yet in spite of that persecuted and abused by an unsympathetic world my people are those

47:40 who take my holy law seriously when they are tempted to take it lightly they remember what I've told them take my holy law seriously take my law lightly and you'll burn in the flames of everlasting the Sermon on the Mount closes with this theme once more coming to the fore from the lips of our Lord in chapter 7 as he's bringing the sermon to a conclusion his second to the last point his last point being the necessity of obedience to his word verses 24 to 27 but the next to the last point is this

The Wrath of God in Jesus' Parables

48:24 verse 19 every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire therefore by their fruits he shall know them not everyone that says unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that is doing the will of my Father who is in heaven many many many will say to me in that day Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in thy name in thy name cast out demons and by thy name do many mighty works now notice then will I profess unto them not the God of the Old Testament whom I've come to replace no, no

49:08 then will I profess to them I never knew you depart from me you that work iniquity then we turn over to the parables very quickly because again people say well I love the simple religion of Jesus he told lovely sisters stories he just made religious truths so down to earth I mean these preachers that all the time dabbling in doctrine I mean let's just be simple Jesus of the Bible is the parable telling Jesus well let's turn to that collection of parables in Matthew's gospel chapter 13 these parables of the kingdom what place does the wrath of God if any have in these nice

49:51 lovely little religious stories or stories with a religious meaning well when he had given the parables he turned aside with his disciples verse 36 of Matthew 13 and I read then he left the multitudes and went into the house and his disciples came unto him saying explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field and he answered and said he that sowed the good seed is the son of man and the field is the world and the good seed are the sons of the kingdom and the tares are the sons of the evil one and the enemy that sowed them is the devil and the harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are angels

50:35 as therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire so shall it be at the end of the world now notice the clear emphasis of verse 41 the son of man not the antiquated God of the Old Testament but the Lord Jesus himself the son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling in them that do iniquity and shall cast them into the furnace of fire now notice these words come not from some deranged religious maniac standing on a street corner trying to scare people into religion

51:19 they come from the Lord Jesus cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be the weeping there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth that would get an R rating for gruesomeness and brutality and yet it is the one of whom it is said they marveled at the words of grace that proceeded from his lips this is the Jesus who says furnace of fire wailing gnashing of teeth and again verses 27 I'm sorry

52:01 verse 47 again the kingdom of heaven is like a fire like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind which when it was filled they drew up into the beach and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels but the bad they cast away so shall it be in the end of the world the angels will come forth and sever the wicked from among the righteous and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth we could go right through the gospel of Matthew we come to chapter 11 the great gospel of Matthew the gracious invitation of Jesus verse 28 come unto me all labor I will give you rest

52:45 do you know what precedes that invitation the woes of the verses just immediately before the invitation woe unto you Chorazin woe unto you Bethsaida and listen to what he says it will be more tolerable in the day of Sodom and Gomorrah than for you Jesus is saying that the wrath of God is not lessened because he has come it is increased you see his point more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah the great standing historical monument of divine wrath when hell rained down out of heaven and yet Jesus said there will be more day of judgment than for people who live

Conclusion: The Cross as the Fullest Revelation of Wrath

53:29 after the coming of Christ who hear the message of Christ who know of the world the new testament does not tone down the wrath of God it augments it and intensifies it for to whom much is given of him shall much be required my friend I want to close on this note the fullest revelation of wrath comes not in these graphic words of our Lord not even in the frightening descriptions of gnashing of teeth and weeping and wailing in outer darkness but the greatest revelation of divine wrath comes

54:13 in those frightening hours of darkness upon Golgotha when hell is over hell was literally poured into the bosom of the Son of God and in the pangs of a felt abandonment he cried out my God, my God why have you forsaken me there was no bumper sticker staring him in the face that day smile Jesus God loves you he became abhorred and hated of God with a pure and holy hatred at the very point that he was never more loved for as his obedience reached its zenith in his self-giving upon the cross he was never more loved therefore doth my Father love me

54:57 and yet he was never more abhorred when he was made sin for us and the wrath of God broke upon his holy head and sunk into the depths of his holy soul my friend that cross will never become precious until you begin to take seriously the wrath of God against you in your sin God is the only God God is the only God God is angry with the wicked He is angry with those who break His law who flaunt the rules by which He has determined to govern us His anger burns to the impenitent and I say to every impenitent sinner within the sound of my voice you better take seriously

55:40 the doctrine of the wrath of God because it's not an antiquated doctrine that we've outgrown or has been replaced we've established thus far from the New Testament from the New Testament in the teaching and preaching of John the Baptist and we've only touched on a little bit of the teaching of our Lord that the wrath of God is a dominant note in the preaching and teaching of the New Testament is it a dominant note in your understanding of the gospel if not adjust your thinking to the word of God at any cost lest you come under the very wrath of which we've spoken tonight let us pray

56:23 Father we say with the psalmist who knoweth the power of Thy wrath O Lord sober us write Your truth upon our hearts and may we flee from the coming wrath as we find refuge in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us we ask in His name Amen