Divine Wrath in the New Testament, Part 2

Recap: The Prominence of Divine Wrath in New Testament Preaching

0:02 This sermon was preached on Sunday evening, May 31st, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 In our meditation in the Word of God, we come tonight to the second in a series of studies which I have entitled Missing Notes in Contemporary Gospel Preaching. In our first study last Lord's Day evening, we considered from the Scriptures the fundamental truth that the gospel of Christ is the only divinely ordained remedy for sin-sick humanity. And in the light of that fact, the Scriptures teach us that any distortions, additions, or subtractions from that gospel are not a sin. They are ruinous to the souls of men. And with that biblical framework conditioning our thinking, we then began an examination of the first of several of these missing notes in contemporary gospel preaching, which will be the focal points of our concentration and concern. That first note which we began to consider last Lord's Day evening is the note, of the wrath of God.

1:31 Now, in our initial study, I began to set before you biblical materials under the broad heading of the prominence of the doctrine of the wrath of God in New Testament preaching and teaching. And I underscored for you that we would look at this biblical reality of the wrath of God in the beginning exclusively from the New Testament. And I underscored for you that we would look at this biblical reality of the wrath of God in the beginning exclusively from the New Testament. And I underscored for you that we would look at this biblical reality of the wrath of God in the beginning exclusively from the New Testament.

1:58 And that for two reasons. First of all, because of the misconception spawned by liberal theology. The misconception that the God of the Old Testament is a God of narrow tribal concerns, a God of wrath, a God of angry passion, but the God of the New Testament, the God revealed in Christ, is the God who is all love, who is all tenderness, who is all compassion and pity. And in order then to give no quarter to that argument, I wish to establish the doctrine of the prominence, and I keep underscoring that word, the prominence of the wrath of God in New Testament preaching and teaching. And then I do that for a second reason, and that reason resides in the biblical concept of progressive revelation. God has revealed himself in the fullest and complete revelation in the New Testament. And because of this, all that we can know of God will find its most brilliant display as we behold the glory of God reflected in the face of Jesus Christ.

3:21 Well, again, with that perspective firmly established, we took up our New Testaments and we began to consider the prominence of the wrath of God in New Testament preaching and teaching. I directed your attention first of all to the prominence of this theme in the preaching of that forerunner of the Lord Jesus, John the Baptist. And we noted that the wrath of God was one of the four dominant notes in the preaching. John.

3:52 Then we began to consider, and time ran out on us, the prominence of the wrath of God in the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. We turned to what many regard as a lovely little collection of moral axioms, the Sermon on the Mount, and we noted that on the very threshold of the enforcement of the law of God, our Lord underscores with prominence the doctrine of divine wrath. Then we turned to, parables in Matthew 13 and saw that they were not bland, innocuous little spiritual ditties that get across a lovely little lesson here or there, but that those parables are suffused with an emphasis upon the wrath of God. Well I want to pick up the teaching now at that very point, having considered the prominence of the wrath of God in the preaching of our Lord as it is found in the Sermon on the Mount and in the parables. For a few minutes let us continue to consider the prominence of this theme in the teaching of our Lord in what I am calling His general teaching. And I'll be selecting just several passages and by no means will I attempt to be exhaustive.

Jesus's General Teaching: Matthew 10 – Fear God, Not Man

5:11 Turn please to the tenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel. In this particular chapter, I will be talking about the teaching of the wrath of God. In this particular chapter, I will be talking about the teaching of the wrath of God. In this particular setting, our Lord is commissioning the twelve.

5:21 He is giving to them a specific task. Having described their task, He is now preparing them for the opposition they will encounter in the fulfillment of that task. And He says in Matthew 10, 24, A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as a disciple of the Lord.

5:46 If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, that's what they said of our Lord, prince of the powers of darkness, how much more them of his household. In other words, if I, your master, have received this kind of treatment, if I have been slandered, if they have said that I am in league with the devil, don't you be surprised if you get a similar treatment. But now what are they to do? get this kind of treatment? Well, verse 26 tells us, Do not be afraid of them, therefore, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops. And do 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. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your father? But the very hairs of

7:03 your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. How do you notice this? A strange conjunction of various dimensions of the character of the God whom our Lord calls in this passage the Father of his disciples. As he is arming them for the task which he has laid upon them in the previous verses, he tells them they are not to be afraid of those who can harm their bodies, but they are to have a wholesome fear of the God who can destroy souls. In other words, a present recognition of the wrath of God which comes upon men and finds expression in the lake of fire is to be a present consciousness in the minds of the twelve as they go forth to preach, not primarily in this context with regard to preaching to others to flee the wrath to come.

8:14 But as an incentive to remain true to their commission in the face of opposition. Don't be afraid of those who in pursuit of your obedience to my word seize upon you and can commit you to prison and torture and even to death. Don't be afraid of those who kill the body. Fear the one who can take you soul and body and cast you into hell. Who in the exercise of his body will be able to Holy fury can take the whole man and cast him into hell. And then with a master stroke, he turns immediately and says, in verse 29, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them shall fall to the ground without your father. Do you see that smart contrast?

9:09 The God of awesome fury who cast into hell is the father of tender compassion who, as it were, guides a little sparrow that falls to the ground and it does not fall without your father. The father so intimately concerned with every detail in the lives of his children that even the hairs of their head are numbered. Now, who is the true? True and living God.

9:43 Is he the sensitive, loving father concerned with all his works, even the inconsequential little sparrows? Is he that God? Or is he this God of terror and fury who cast his creatures into hell? God, is he?

10:04 Well, my friend, you're not free to make a choice. You're not free to make a choice which sets upon one all. You're not free to make a choice which sets upon one all. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is at one and the same time the God of tender, fatherly concern and compassion and the God of frightening fury and of anger.

10:34 And the God who is only one or the other is an idol and is not the God of the Bible.

Jesus's General Teaching: Matthew 18 – Gentleness and Judgment

10:44 Then we turn to Matthew. Matthew 18, as we continue. Again, I repeat, not an exhaustive, but only a suggestive consideration of some of the teaching of our Lord on this great theme of the wrath of God. Matthew chapter 18, verse 1.

11:05 In that hour came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Now notice, and try to read between the lines what this must have meant in its initial fulfillment. And he called to him a little child and set him in the midst of them.

11:31 Now, generally speaking, little children are very skittish, around, austere, magisterial people. And I can just picture the Lord Jesus who was very much at home with children and with his children. And I can just picture the Lord Jesus with whom children were very much at home. Perhaps getting down on one knee, and I'll not do it here because I'll get out of sight,

11:56 and fixing his eyes upon a little lad or a little girl, it just says a child,

12:03 and set him, so it probably was a male, little boy, and beckoning to the little boy, saying, Sonny, can you come here for a minute? I want you to do something for me. And one can just picture the little child feeling utterly disarmed by the gentleness by the graciousness, by the winsomeness of our Lord, running over and perching on his knee and the Lord Jesus putting his arm on the shoulder. Now, the text doesn't say this, but this could well have happened.

12:32 And saying, now, I want to teach a lesson to some of these grown-ups. You know, they're kind of stupid and thick at times. And I want to use you to help get a lesson across to them. So will you help me?

12:44 And I can just picture the little fellow looking up and saying, Why, Jesus, I'd be glad to do anything you want me to do. What do you want me to do? Well, Sonny, I want you to go right over here and just stand up nice and straight like you're giving your little poem at your Sunday school recital time. And you just stand there, and you don't need to say a thing.

13:03 You just stand there nice and still. All right? Well, sure, Jesus, I'd be glad to do that. And I can picture the little fellow running over right into the circle of the crowd and then the Lord Jesus turning around with burning eye and looking upon these people who are discussing the great theme of who will be the greatest in the world.

13:20 And I can picture the little fellow who will be the greatest in the kingdom. And then he says, verse 3, Truly I say unto you, except you turn and become as little children, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Did you see those characteristics operative in that little child when I called him and set him in your midst? And I'll not pause to underscore what they are, for that's not the purpose of our study tonight.

13:49 But our Lord, the Lord says that unless you become as that little child, you'll not enter the kingdom. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child, that is, not just a little child in age, but one who has become like him in principle, a true son or daughter of the kingdom, whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receive, and that is me. Now up to this point, many would say, ah, I feel so at home with that Jesus.

14:27 Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, who looks upon the little child. That's my Jesus. The Jesus who is the epitome of all gentleness and all tenderness and winsomeness, so that little children at his word feel free to come and run and sit up upon his knee and stand and make a spectacle, in the midst of a large crowd of people, these adults. And yet that same Jesus goes on immediately.

14:59 And here's the thing that has struck me in my preparation, the immediate contrast. It's like thunderbolts dropping out of a clear blue sky at noonday. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me, but whoso shall cause one of these little ones, that they leave on me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone, not the little millstone, but the great millstone, the one that it took a big ox to turn, it were profitable that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck and he should be sunk into the depths of the sea. That immediately brings to my mind gangland, and slayings, mafia-style, when they take concrete blocks and tie people to the block and dump them out of a boat. Is this the same Jesus who a few moments before, in all of His glorious and gracious winsomeness, entices a little lad to sit upon his knee, to stand before adults? Can this be the Jesus who talks about millstones tied about the neck

16:25 and drowned in a brutal way in the sea? But He doesn't stop there. He then goes on to use the strong language of verse 7, Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling. For it must needs be that occasions come, but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh.

16:52 And now the language that we saw in the sermon on the mount, If thy hand or thy foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and cast it from you, it is good for you to enter into life maimed or halt, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. If thine eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you, it is good for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire. He moves from his gentle, gracious, winsome dealings with a child to speak of millstones tied about the neck and ground in the depths of the sea, cutting off right hands, plucking out right eyes, lest they be cast into hell. And there's no indication that he didn't speak all those words in the presence of that same little lad. This notion that, well, with children we just teach the love of God, we just teach the tenderness of Jesus, we just teach the meekness of Jesus. We don't want to upset their tender, fragile little psyches by speaking of hell and of judgment.

18:03 Don't you be wiser than the Son of God.

18:07 Don't you be wiser than the Son of God.

18:13 There's no indication in the context but what that little lad heard, these words that are audited in terms of their external brutality. But they come from the very lips. The lips of the one who said, Sonny, won't you come and do a favor for Jesus? And then you see him move right back into that dimension of his compassionate gentleness as in the subsequent context you have the good shepherd who goes out after the one lost sheep and brings it back rejoicing and speaks of the protectors of the people and children who watch over them in the providence.

18:57 Now do you see again that in the mind of our Lord there was no contradiction between reflecting in his person, in his bearing, in his doings, as well as in his words this full-orbed picture of his heavenly Father, the God who is the God of gentleness, but the God of frightening fury. And our Lord Jesus gave...

The Balanced Jesus: Friend of Children and Denouncer of Sin

19:27 The prominence, not a passing allusion here or there, not an oblique reference occasionally, but whole blocks of his teaching speak in the most explicit terminology of the reality of the wrath of God. Now I ask you again, which Jesus is the Jesus of your liking?

19:54 Is he a Jesus who is only gentle? And a friend of children? And I do not despise that to me. One of my greatest joys as a pastor is my hugging and kissing time with all the kids every Sunday.

20:10 Nothing thrills me more or few things than to have them lined up at that back door as they are every Sunday morning and Sunday night waiting for their weekly smooch.

20:20 Few things fill me with greater pastoral delight than to know that I'm the friend of so many of these precious children.

20:29 And they know I'm their friend. You say, how can that be? You stand up there and you holler and you thunder and you frown and you scowl. They still know I love them.

20:40 And I know they love me.

20:44 Do you see any contradiction between those two things? I'll let you in on a little secret. Many a time I've seen when visitors have come amongst us and they've had little or no exposure to our total life here as a congregation. They've sat under the Word and if God has been pleased to bring that Word with some authority, and searching penetration, I've caught them out of the corner of my eye standing there with their jaw down when they see me at the door hugging the kids and they see the kids lined up for their kisses.

21:17 Why do you preach like that? And you'll drive kids away. You'll scare the liver out of them. That's not true.

21:23 It was not true of our blessed Lord. And to the extent that His image is stamped upon us, His servants, it will not be true of us either. You see, Jesus, Jesus is not only the gentle friend of children, but He is the thundering denunciator of all who cause occasions of stumbling. But the reverse is also true.

21:47 And some of you in your reaction against a saccharine, soft-handed Jesus who is all pity and gentleness and compassion, your tendency is to give the impression that He is a Jesus who only speaks woes, who only speaks word of thundering, words of thundering denunciation. No, no. The Jesus of the Bible is that beautiful, balanced portrayal of the living God who He is and whom He has come to exegete.

Jesus's General Teaching: Matthew 25 – The Final Judgment

22:20 And then there is one final passage in the teaching of our Lord, His general teaching to which I direct your attention, Matthew chapter 25.

22:30 Remember what we're attempting to do now is to establish the prominence of this note, the note of the wrath of God in New Testament preaching and teaching. And we come now to the final passage in the teaching of our Lord, Matthew 25. And beginning with verse 31, our Lord gives this graphic description of the final day, the great day of judgment, when all men will be gathered before His own throne. Now notice what our Lord says with respect to that day.

23:04 But when the Son of Man, the Son shall come in His glory and all the angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory. Before Him shall be gathered all the nations and He shall separate them one from another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Now our Lord is very careful to emphasize that this great and final separation will be brought, brought to pass by Himself. Notice it does not say, when the Son of Man shall come, then shall all men be gathered and the sheep be separated. The emphasis very clearly falls upon His own activity. He will be the great separator. He will separate sheep and goats.

24:00 Then it will be His great privilege as the Messiah, the administrator, the administrator of the messianic kingdom to say to those sheep on His left hand, on His right hand, I'm sorry, here is the language, verse 34, then shall the King say to them on His right hand, come ye blessed of my Father, enter the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And here is our Lord using the words blessedness. He speaks of His Father, the Father who in grace and mercy from the foundation of the world has prepared a kingdom for His own, who in His compassion to men whom He knew would rebel against Him, who in Adam would defect from Him nonetheless, marked out of that great defected race, a great multitude whom no man can number, of every kindred, tribe and tongue and nation. And they were made His deposit, and they were given to Him. He became their surety and representative and died for them. And in due time the Spirit drew them to the knowledge of themselves and of the salvation procured for them in Christ.

25:22 And now in that day our Lord says, blessedness will be their portion, entering the kingdom prepared by this loving Father who in electing grace, who in the grace of redemption so loved the world as to send His only begotten Son, and who by the Spirit drew them to Himself. You see, our Lord must have delighted in speaking those words. But it isn't long before we find Him saying these words in the same setting. Verse 41, Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed.

26:06 Into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angel. Now do you see how closely our Lord brings these things together? Sitting upon His throne He shall say, Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom. But the same King, King of grace, King of mercy, King of pity, shall say to those on His left hand, Depart.

26:38 Not only depart, but depart ye cursed. Not only depart ye cursed, but depart ye cursed into, and not only into the lake of fire, but in companionship with the devil and his angels, the whole company of doomed spirits, and the arch evil spirit himself. And our Lord is not using figures of speech. He's speaking of frightening reality, and then He climaxes the statement with verse 46, And thee shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Do you see why I have asserted that if the note of the wrath of God is not prominent in gospel preaching, it is sub-biblical preaching at best, and a frightening distortion, and omission, and oft-times a damning delusion at worst? The Lord brings them as it were into a deliquid equipoise and balance, the righteous into everlasting life, punishment. Come ye blessed, depart ye cursed,

28:03 so that anyone listening to our Lord would know that the God whom He had come to manifest was not a God of unprincipled and undiluted, not of unprincipled and undiluted, not of unprincipled and undiluted, not of unprincipled and undiluted, nothing but compassion. They would know that He was at one and the same time the God of infinite pure and holy love, fathomable, immense love. It would take the fallen sons of Adam and prepare them to dwell with the Father of light and that forever, but that He was also a God of unspeakable and frightening fury, the God who will not have, have any compunctions about taking His own creatures and through the messianic work of His own Son as the King and Judge of the universe, consign them to eternal punishment, not extinction, eternal punishment. I say the teaching of our Lord is permeated with this note of the wrath of God. I have made no allusions to Matthew, Luke 16, Matthew 23, Mark 9,

The Prominence of Wrath in Apostolic Teaching: Romans

29:27 a host of other passages, but I trust this presentation of these passages has convinced everyone within the sound of my voice that the note of the wrath of God was a prominent note in the teaching of our Lord. Now then, let me hasten on. Fasten your seat belts as we make a quick survey through some pivotal passages in the apostolic teaching. As we read in our consecutive reading through the New Testament this morning, to the apostles was given a unique function in the church of Christ.

30:06 They, by their teaching, were laying the foundation stones for the living temple of God, Ephesians 2 and verse 20. So that in forming the doctrinal concepts of the young churches, the emphases of their letters, were of paramount importance in shaping and molding what the young churches understood of God, of His truth, and of His ways. But when we turn to the first of those epistles, Paul's letter to the Romans, we note that the matter of the wrath of God holds a very prominent place. In fact, I did something that shocked me, and I hope you'll do it, and you'll feel the same shock that I did. If you have a young's or a strong's concordance, look up the use of the word orgy, which is the classic word for wrath. And there are several times in the New Testament where it refers to wrath in man as a sinful passion. The works of the flesh are wrath, only a couple of times, about three or four.

31:16 But the predominant use is with respect to this pure and righteous anger of God against His enemies, against sinners. And the word orgy in the book of Romans is used a dozen times. And in each case, it has some reference to the wrath of God either directly administered or indirectly through human government. Twelve references to divine orgy, divine wrath.

31:44 Now in that great epistle that unfolds as no other epistle, the heart of the gospel of the grace of God, how often do you think the word love is found? The love of God, then. That is, God's love to sinners. Either in the noun form, love, or to love in the verb form.

32:02 Well, it may shock you to know that you'll only find ten such references in the book of Romans. Now, do you feel something of the imbalance of contemporary gospel preaching? There are more explicit references to the wrath of God in Romans than to the love of God. And I didn't write it.

32:25 One of the great themes of that book is opened up or underscored in the opening chapter, verses 16 and 17. I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith, as it is written, but the righteous shall live by faith. The apostle had no reason to be ashamed, to blush concerning the gospel, for he knew the gospel to be the power of God, that gospel in which God has revealed a way of righteousness from Himself and received by faith. And then he begins to open up in what is the closest thing to a systematic treatise of the gospel and whatever other pastoral concerns dictate the structure and emphases of the letter, sure, it is evident that we have something that is a logical presentation of the gospel. And as Paul would open up the gospel, do you notice where he starts? After his summary or thematic statement in verses 16 and 17, notice his first words, verse 18.

33:50 For God is revealed, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. And the theme of the gospel is revealed from heaven. The theme of divine wrath becomes now not only a dominant note, but it becomes a predominant note as he seeks to demonstrate the universal need of this gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel which is the revelation of righteousness. He knows that that gospel will either be totally misunderstood or completely despised unless men and women have an understanding of this reality, the wrath of God. And so he begins in verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. Chapter 2 and verse 5, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, verse 8, but unto them that are factious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

35:18 You see the emphasis of the apostle. He does not come appealing to felt psychological needs. You would come and trust my Jesus that all your hang-ups would be resolved and all frustrations, wonderfully resolved and all of your un-mad ambitions wonderfully fulfilled. He does not come appealing to felt psychological needs.

35:49 He points them to a great objective reality, whether they feel the wrath of God and he takes upon himself to instruct them, those who have never had the written revelation, who have held down in unrighteousness general revelation as given in the creation, he deals with that in the opening verses. Then he turns to those who have more light at least on what we would call ethical and moral standards. Then he turns to the Jews who have the book of God and the note of wrath comes through again in chapter 3 and verse 5. But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visits with wrath? You see the emphasis climaxing there. It's climaxing then in chapter 3 and verse 19.

36:46 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may be brought, notice now, not under a felt psychological need for greater fulfillment by an experience with Jesus. That is not the gospel. That all the world be brought up and it will flow out of his...

37:24 against sinners who hold down the truth in unrighteousness. Sinners who treasure up wrath by despising his goodness. Sinners who like the Jews of that day had the scriptures in their hands but rejected its message and cleverly maneuvered themselves into an externalistic religious kind of activity that sad their own consciences. The apostle comes with this note.

37:54 The word of the wrath of God. And he brings that note to bear upon each of these large segments of society and then he corrals them all and says the word of God indicts the whole bunch of us and brings us under divine judgment. You see the wrath of God again was not an oblique reference now and then. It was not something that he was rather embarrassed about and so occasionally to salve his own conscience makes a passing reference.

38:27 No, no. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Therein is revealed the righteousness of God but a righteousness set against the backdrop of what objective reality? The objective reality of the wrath of Almighty God.

38:45 And my friend until you see yourself standing under that objective reality a wrath that burns against you for what you are in Adam. A wrath that burns against you for what you are in Adam. A wrath that burns against you for what you are by nature. A wrath that burns against you for what you have done in your practice.

39:04 The gospel will not be good news to you. Now I hasten on from the book of Romans though we could look at many other references and very quickly direct your attention to Ephesians. That wonderful epistle that we are presently reading Lord's Day mornings. When the apostle sets out to give this before and after picture of the people of God in chapter two.

The Prominence of Wrath in Apostolic Teaching: Ephesians

39:37 You will notice that the climactic statement that he gives with respect to all men in their natural state draws our attention to this great theme. Verse one. You did he make alive when you were dead through your trespasses and sins. Wherein you once walked according to the course of this world.

39:58 According to the prince of the power of the air of the spirit. Now works in the sons of disobedience. Among whom we all once lived in the lusts of our flesh doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And were by nature.

40:16 Now notice the climactic statement before he begins to draw the picture of what grace has done. Just before the statement but God rich in mercy is this word. We were by nature. We were by nature.

40:32 Children of wrath. Even as the rest. We were those whose rightful inheritance in this state as the dupes and slaves of the devil. Living by the impulses of depraved nature.

40:49 Doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind. What were we? We were children again I emphasize. Yes.

40:57 Unmet psychological needs because of sin. All kinds of fractured. Human relationships because of sin. Yes.

41:04 All those things are true. But the great reality with which we must come to grips is this. We were children of wrath. Even as the rest.

41:14 We were those justly and righteously exposed to the orgy of God. The burning anger and fury of the almighty. We who were made to do his will have sold ourselves to the devil. We who were made to plant our feet.

41:31 In the pathway laid out by divine precept. With a heart that runs in the way of his commandments. What have we done? We've walked according to this passage.

41:42 In a path dictated by a fallen world. A path dictated by our own depraved passions and appetites. And in that condition. Don't believe what the bumper sticker says to you.

41:58 Smile God loves you. My friend. You better believe the word of God. Which says tremble.

42:06 Almighty God is angry. Smile God loves you. Bumper sticker religion. Is indeed the opiate of the people.

42:18 The opiate of a brazen generation. That defies almighty God on every front. And yet is lulled to sleep by bumper sticker religion. Things go better with Jesus.

42:33 Smile God loves you. Try Jesus. Children of wrath. Is the language of the word of God.

The Conjunction of Love and Wrath in Ephesians and Thessalonians

42:43 That's the emphasis. And when he describes men who have yet to embrace. The offers of mercy in Christ. Notice how he describes them in chapter five.

42:55 And again you see this conjunction of love and wrath. And that's why I take the time. To read the context. He begins in chapter five.

43:05 Be ye therefore imitators of God. As beloved children and walk in love. If we the people of God are to be like God. We must be like the God who is love.

43:17 And so he says be imitators of God. And walk in love. And where is God's love supremely revealed. Even as Christ also loved you.

43:28 And gave himself up for you. An offering and a sacrifice to God. For an order of a sweet smell. But fornication.

43:36 Fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness. Let it not even be named among you. As become it's saints. Nor filthiness.

43:44 Nor foolish talking or jesting. Which are not befitting. But rather giving of thanks for this know. For this know.

43:52 Of a surety. That no fornicator. Nor unclean person. Nor covetous man who is an idolater.

43:59 Have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. And God let no man deceive you. With empty words. For because now notice these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience.

44:17 Now wait a minute Paul. You tell me to imitate God who is love. And now in a few breaths later. A few strokes of the pen later.

44:26 You tell me the wrath of God is coming upon men. Now notice. Not just because they reject Christ. Look at the text.

44:37 For. For God sees people fornicating His enemies. Not only because they reject His son. But because they defy Him.

44:58 When He sees covetousness grasping after things. And when he sees idolatry and uncleanness. And these other sins because of these things. And the picture is the wrath of God.

45:11 Oh rathering momentum. Like a mighty tidal wave. And in his own due time. It will break upon the head of sinners.

45:19 Your measure of judgment. Would not shake the belli. for their wickedness committed against their Maker.

45:26 You see, the Apostle Paul, in rightly reflecting the God of the Bible, found no contradiction in calling God's people the imitators of God. Walk in love, in that love manifested supremely in the self-giving of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, he says, because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. And then to that church that so endeared itself to him, the Thessalonian church.

46:02 Notice again the note of divine wrath woven through the fabric of those two epistles. In chapter 1, as he's giving this testimony of how wherever he went, he'd start to open his mouth and say, Hey! Did you hear what happened at Thessalonica? He says, before I can open my mouth, they're already telling me what happened.

46:22 They themselves report of us what manner of entering in we had unto you. How that you turned to God from idols, verse 9, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, now notice, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus. And when he mentions the name of Jesus, his mind is immediately drawn, to all of the redemptive privileges that are His in Christ. And he puts himself in the same category with the Thessalonians, and he says, it is Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to God.

47:02 You see, Paul could never forget that he deserved to be the object of divine wrath. He can never forget. He can never become insensitive to the fact that he deserved wrath, and it was Jesus who, in the love of God, sent out of the heart of God,

47:26 who coming Himself in love and laying down His life for His sheep, giving Himself for His church, thereby delivers us from the wrath to come. You see, in the mind of the apostle, and he's seeking to implant it in the minds of the Thessalonians, they must never divorce their saving relationship, to Christ, from a remembrance of that wrath from which He delivered them. And then, further on in this very epistle, chapter 2 and verse 16, speaking of that impenitent generation, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, speaking in that context of the Jews, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved to fill up their sins always, but the wrath is come upon them, too. The uttermost. Chapter 5 and verse 9, God appointed us not unto wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. You see the antithesis?

The Fierceness of God's Wrath in Revelation

48:33 It is between salvation through Christ and wrath, and there is no other alternative. And if we do not know the salvation of God in Christ, we are yet under the divine wrath. Now, time will not permit me to go into the, the general epistles, references in Peter, references in Hebrews. I had hoped to go through some five or six key references in the book of the Revelation.

48:58 Let me just give you the references. Chapter 6, 12 to 17. Chapter 11, 15 to 18. Chapter 14, 9 to 12.

49:08 Chapter 16, 19. Chapter 19, 11 through 16. But there is one phrase that I want to underscore that occurs two or three times in the book of the Revelation, and it is this phrase, the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty. The fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty.

49:34 And it is that particular contribution of the book of the Revelation that sets before us that graphic imagery of the final judgment of God upon impenitent men and systems and nations, and it is described as the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty. In other words, you have holy wrath joined to omnipotence, and the omnipotence will, as it were, carry the wrath to its ultimate expression in those who are its object.

Application: Sober Warning, Sincere Invitation, Convincing Instruction

50:17 Now, what do we say in the face of these things? In the light of what? We have seen in this, albeit brief survey, of the predominance of the wrath of God in New Testament teaching and preaching. And I underscore it again.

50:34 What does this say to us? Well, I hope it will say at least three things to us, and this is my closing word. Number one, I hope for some it will constitute a word of sober warning. My friend, if you are not in Christ, you are underdressed.

50:52 You are under wrath. John 3 and verse 36 says, He that believeth on the Lord Jesus hath right now everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. I'm quoting now from John 5, 24. But the last words of John 3, 36, the great chapter of divine love.

51:16 Listen to those words. But the wrath of God is abiding on Him. He that believeth not. And the wrath abides not only because of the sin of unbelief, but all the other sins.

51:31 The wrath of God burns against the sinner in his sins, in the totality of his sins. And the only way to find a covering for any one of them is the way you find a covering for all of them, and that's to flee to the Lord Jesus. And if you are not in union with Christ by a living faith, if you are not, in Christ you are under wrath. And my friend, that's a frightening thing.

51:58 That's a frightening thing to be under the wrath of Almighty God. You're under it now. Right now, sitting in this building, sitting in your homes, sitting in your car, as your living room roof is above you, as sure as the roof of this church building is above us, divine wrath like a gathering cloud weighted down of the Almighty is about to burst upon your head. No wonder John said, Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

52:33 Then there is a second thing that I trust this survey will bring home to us. Not only a word of sober warning, but a word of sincere invitation. You see, the Lord Jesus could move so easily as Pastor Nichols underscored so powerfully to our minds and hearts a few weeks ago. He could underscore the reality of divine wrath as it were in one breath, Matthew 11, and beginning with verse 20, he began to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done.

53:07 Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! Woe, woe, woe! But he no sooner sucks a lung full of breath than what he says in verse 28, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

53:26 Thank God that the Jesus of the Bible, is not a Jesus who alone is true to the message of divine wrath, who not only properly reflects his Father's heart as a heart of infinitely pure and holy anger against sinners in their sin, but it is a heart of infinite compassion. You see, it is not that the God of wrath has become the God of love. The truth is that the God of wrath is the God of love. And it is this God who in Jesus Christ invites you, who urges, who commands you to leave your sins and to flee to him for pardon and for escape from divine wrath.

54:09 And then finally, I trust that our study will not only be a word of sober warning, a word of sincere invitation, but a word of convincing instruction to any one of us who would in any situation communicate the gospel. What gospel are we to communicate? A gospel, my friend, that does not downplay or omit the note of divine wrath. If we would be true to the souls of men, we must not only tell them that God is love and that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

54:52 We must tell, and particularly tell our generation, lulled to sleep with bumper sticker relief, that the fury of the Almighty is stirred and it is being stirred with increasing agitation as the sins of this wicked generation rise up to heaven and cry out for judgment. Oh, may we with tearful and broken hearts warn our generation to flee from the wrath of God. And may God raise up not only preachers who will preach with compassion and holy passion, holy passion on this theme, but moms who will weep over their children and dads who will weep over their children and weep as they plead with them to take seriously the realities of divine wrath. May God grant that this note that has not been sounded as it ought may in some measure as a result of our meditations be sounded with compassion and power in our generation and may God make it effectual to the bringing of multitudes to their spiritual senses and cause them to flee the wrath to come. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for the Scriptures

Prayer for Effectual Word

56:16 and we pray that the Holy Spirit will write them upon our hearts and enable us ever to keep in proper perspective and balance all that you've revealed of yourself. Hear our prayer. Seal your word to our hearts. Make it effectual to the salvation of some who are yet under wrath.

56:40 We plead in Jesus' name. Amen.