Category: God’s wrath

Something Not Worth Losing

Sunday, February 3, 2013

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26 KJV).

Super Bowl Sunday comes annually in the United States. Teams fuel the intense passions in the athletic world by vying for a corruptible trophy. Howbeit, the competition in today’s Scripture is spiritual, is worldwide, never has a halftime, and involves the eternal souls of men!

The human soul is most zealous about religion, politics, and sports. These areas are most personal, so they generate many heated debates and conflicts. However, believe it or not, there are worse outcomes than losing a church member, losing an election, and losing a game. Losing your eternal soul is the greatest of all losses!

In the context of today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ told His Jewish disciples to “take up [their] cross, and follow [him]” (verse 24). “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (verse 25). They should not fear losing their earthly lives for His sake. What is most important is that they not lose their souls!

Jesus Christ declared there is more to life than this physical world and its temporal possessions. There is a spiritual world—an afterlife—to consider. In today’s Scripture, He asks them, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Does it make sense to emphasize this temporary world and its corruptible goods, to the point of ignoring your eternal soul, and wind up losing it in hellfire forever and ever?

Dear reader, there is more to you than just your physical body. Your inner man—your soul, your spiritual body—is everlasting. To ignore Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork as sufficient payment for your sins, is to remain dead in those sins, resulting in you spending eternity suffering God’s wrath in the lake of fire literally as a nameless, hopeless, disfigured creature.

Your soul is not worth losing! Trust Christ as your personal Saviour today!

One Little Nation With a Big God #5

Monday, November 19, 2012

“Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud” (Psalm 94:2 KJV).

Israel’s enemies are persecuting and destroying her, and today’s Scripture is her plea for JEHOVAH to shew Himself!

When Jesus Christ left earth in Acts chapter 1, He ascended to sit at His heavenly Father’s right hand (Acts 2:32-36). “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1). Today, Christ is still sitting at the Father’s right hand in heaven (Colossians 3:1), albeit temporarily—notice “until.” One day, when it is time to judge earth’s wicked inhabitants, Christ will rise from His sitting position at the Father’s right hand, and return to earth—His Second Coming—to punish His enemies (unbelievers) with His righteous wrath.

“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God” (Psalm 68:1,2). “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people [Israel]” (Psalm 50:3,4). This vengeance of fire will accompany Christ as His Second Coming, punishing those who “know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-10).

The verse preceding today’s Scripture reads: “O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself” (Psalm 94:1). “For we know him that hath saith [Deuteronomy 32:35], Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again [Deuteronomy 32:36], The Lord shall judge his people [Israel]” (Hebrews 10:30).

At His Second Coming, Jesus Christ, Israel’s “Prince of Peace,” will militarily defeat her enemies, and then usher her into her kingdom of peace, salvation, and prosperity (Isaiah 11:1-16; Isaiah 59:16-22; Jeremiah 23:5-8; et al.).

Little Israel has a glorious hope. In due time, her BIG God will fulfill it!

One Little Nation With a Big God #3

Saturday, November 17, 2012

“Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud” (Psalm 94:2 KJV).

Israel’s enemies are persecuting and destroying her, and today’s Scripture is her plea for JEHOVAH to shew Himself!

For the past 4,000 years—ever since her beginning with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the nation Israel has been harassed, oppressed, and mistreated by the Gentile world. This is partly due to her sins and God’s chastisement (Leviticus 26:31-39; Deuteronomy 28:48-53). Moreover, it is also due to Satan seeking to wipe out Israel (for in doing so, prophecy and God’s purpose and plan for the earth would be abolished).

Even today, little Israel battles her enemies to retain what small amount of real estate she has. Is not Israel God’s “chosen people?” Then, why has God not gotten rid of Israel’s opponents? Actually, God has temporarily set aside the nation Israel, and her program that operated in “time past” is paused: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25). When God is finished forming the Body of Christ, He will return to Israel, and then He will take care of her enemies.

After our Dispensation of Grace terminates with the rapture, and the Church the Body of Christ is removed from earth, Israel will experience “one week” (seven years; Daniel 9:27) of God’s wrath, during which He will separate believing Jews from unbelieving Jews (Zechariah 12:8,9). Also, the satanic antichrist will be ruling the world, and he will persecute believing Israel. His religious leader, the “false prophet,” will gather the armies of the world, in hopes of annihilating Israel (Revelation 16:13-16). In this last great battle, Armageddon, Gentile armies will assemble in Israel, eagerly waiting to defeat her once and for all (Revelation 19:18,19; cf. Psalm 83:1-4).

However, these haughty Gentile armies are unaware that the “judge of the earth” has left heaven’s glory, and He is rapidly nearing planet earth, to “render a reward to the proud….”

God Looks and Notices the Tyrants and Crooks

Friday, August 17, 2012

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

In faith, we join the psalmist and inquire, “The wicked are reigning, so where are You, LORD?”

Psalm 10, which should be read in its entirety, discusses a Jewish believer’s attitude toward the wicked, who seem to go unpunished. God appears to be “standing afar off,” to be “hiding himself in times of trouble,” while the prideful wicked “persecute the poor” (verse 2), “bless [approve] the covetous” (verse 3), ignore God (verse 4), boast of their indestructibility (verses 5,6), curse, deceive, and commit fraud (verse 7), secretly “murder the innocent” (verse 8), and ensnare and oppress the poor (verses 8-10).

The wicked actually say in their heart, “God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it”—they believe they will never be punished (verse 11). Oh, what a faulty assumption!!! The believing Jew responds, “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble…. Thou hast seen it: for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite [avenge] it with thy hand… Break thou the arm of the wicked and evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none” (verses 12,14,15).

Once God retaliates, the psalmist concludes, “that the man of the earth may no more oppress” (verse 18). Psalm 10 is actually describing the antichrist, who will tyrannically rule Israel and the nations by persecuting and murdering God’s people (the “little flock,” the believing remnant of Israel; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9,10; Revelation 13:1-18). To these Jews, it will seem like the antichrist is going unpunished (that God is “hiding”): not so, for God’s wrath will consume the antichrist after the seven years have expired (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

Today, crimes are downplayed and/or denied by authorities that God ordained to execute justice. Does God’s wrath consume them? No… not yet, anyway. In due time, God punishes our persecutors (either at Calvary’s cross if they are believers, or hell and the lake of fire if they are unbelievers). Remember, the adage, “God never sleeps,” is always true!

Be Not Pierced By the Sword of the Spirit #2

Sunday, August 12, 2012

“And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:17 KJV).

Satan not only attacks God’s Word, but he will attack you, the saint, with it!

The prophet Jeremiah preached before and during the three Babylonian invasions of circa 606–587 B.C., the last of which (587) involved the vandalism and burning of the Temple and the complete destruction of Jerusalem. Judah and Benjamin (the southern kingdom) being overrun by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was God’s punishment.

Jeremiah chapter 23 reveals one reason why the LORD is so angry at the southern kingdom of Israel. “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD” (verse 1). “For both prophet and priest are profane: yea, in my house [the Temple] have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD” (verse 11). “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain [worthless]: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD… I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (verses 16,21). “…[F]or ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God” (verse 36c).

People who claim to be speaking on behalf of God (prophets and priests) are lying to Israel… in God’s name too! False prophets had so deceived Israel that she had now fallen into pagan idolatry, and God’s wrath was imminent. Satan had used the office of the prophet—God’s Word—to spiritually injure Israel, and sadly, it worked!

Today, Satan still corrupts God’s people in God’s name. Paul talked about philosophers who “defile the temple of God… which temple [we] are” (1 Corinthians 3:16a,17b). Beware, just as the devil deceived Israel with false prophets, so he still misleads God’s people with false “bibles,” which claim to be “God’s Word” but are not (2 Thessalonians 2:2). God’s Word is a sword, so be careful Satan does not use it to harm you!

The Detail of the World’s Chief-of-State #1

Thursday, August 2, 2012

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53 KJV).

God the Father could have sent tens of thousands of angels to rescue His Son, Jesus Christ, from being arrested and eventually crucified, but those angels were never sent. Why?

Judas Iscariot has led a “great multitude” of Roman soldiers, Israel’s chief priests, and Jewish elders to arrest Jesus (verses 47-49). Immediately after Judas identifies Jesus by betraying Him with a kiss, the mob grabs Jesus. Then, someone with Jesus panics, draws a sword, strikes a servant of the high priest, and cuts off the servant’s right ear (the servant probably ducks to avoid decapitation!) (verse 51). (The one wielding the sword is the Apostle Peter; John 18:10.)

Jesus scolds Peter: “Put up thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matthew 26:52). In Luke 22:51, Jesus says, “Suffer [Allow] ye thus far.” Jesus forbids His disciples to defend Him: He is letting them arrest Him. Why does Jesus not fight back? Jesus says in today’s Scripture that God the Father can send over “twelve legions of angels” to defend Him (a Roman “legion” consisted of 5,000–6,000 soldiers, amounting to as many as 72,000 angels!) (To imagine the power of such an army, consider that one angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night [2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chronicles 32:21]). But God the Father never sent “bodyguard” angels to rescue Jesus at His arrest. Why?

John 18:11 explains, “Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” Jesus submits to His heavenly Father’s will, allowing Himself to be taken captive by the Roman soldiers and the Jews. God the Father wants Jesus Christ to “drink” of the cup of His wrath against sin (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; cf. Revelation 14:9,10). There is no way around it: Jesus knows He has to die, so He does not fight back… yet….

We Troublemakers Are Grace Partakers #5

Sunday, July 29, 2012

“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (Romans 3:9 KJV).

The dispensational change from Law to Grace demonstrates our faithlessness and Christ’s faithfulness….

Verses 22-25a explain: “…[T]he righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood….”

We are all equally sinners, all “fallen short of the glory of God”—“there is no difference.” Accordingly, we can all be “made the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21)—again, “there is no difference.” God can declare us righteous (positionally) in Christ. We can be justified “freely,” no cost to us, because God’s grace is what He did for us (we sinners can do nothing for Him)! What did He do for us? Christ’s shed blood paid for our sins in full (the “redemption” of Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14). God the Father set forth His Son Jesus Christ as “a propitiation,” literally “an appeasement,” a fully satisfying payment to mollify His wrath against our sins. “Jesus… by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).

On Calvary’s cross, Father God made Christ’s “soul an offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10). Christ was “made sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus “was made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). God forsook Christ and literally offered His soul (Psalm 22:1)!!! Oh, the spiritual, let alone physical, torment that Christ suffered on Calvary, we sinners should endure that forever in the lake of fire. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, suffered the eternal wrath of God His Father, for us sinful sons of Adam.

God looked down through time and saw us troublemakers, and in His grace, made a provision for our souls’ salvation: He offered His only begotten Son.

We Troublemakers Are Grace Partakers #4

Saturday, July 28, 2012

“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (Romans 3:9 KJV).

The Apostle Paul delivered such awful news in verses 10-20, in order to present the good news, the Gospel of the Grace of God.

Our very nature, let alone our deeds, condemns us. Furthermore, the Ten Commandments prove our sins offend God (who cannot even look upon sin without exacting punishment at some point). Yes, all of mankind is worthy of God’s wrath, a terrifying everlasting lake of fire and brimstone. What horrible news! “But,” verses 21 and 22 are the first glance of the ray of hope, God’s grace: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”

“The law and the prophets” “witnessed” that mankind could never measure up to God’s holy demands. The Law could never help mankind keep it; it could only demonstrate that he could not keep it. “But now,” in our Dispensation of Grace, God has provided us a way to obtain the righteousness the Mosaic Law demanded… without us having to keep the Law. We can be “made the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because of this dispensational change (Law to Grace), God is “manifesting” His righteousness (His standard of rightness) “without the law.”

By the “faith of (not ‘in’ as modern “bibles” suggest) Christ,” God is offering every single person (“unto all”) salvation from his or her sin and sins. But, this salvation is not imputed (applied) to that person until he or she trusts alone in Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary as the sufficient payment for their sins (“upon all them that believe”). Today, the horrible sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary demonstrates that we could never be fit for heaven through religious ceremonies or self-reformation.

It would take God Almighty to pay for our sins….

No More Sacrifice for Sins?

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,…” (Hebrews 10:26 KJV).

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (verse 25) is often quoted as applicable today, but many stumble over the next verse (today’s Scripture). Exactly what does today’s Scripture mean?

We are eternally secure in Jesus Christ if we have trusted Him alone as our personal Saviour (Ephesians 4:30; 2 Timothy 1:12). Yet, critics of our “once saved, always saved” position usually quote today’s Scripture to contend that we can lose our salvation. Is this a “Bible contradiction?”

Failing to approach the Bible dispensationally only causes doctrinal chaos. This is especially true of the book of Hebrews. The title—Hebrews—indicates the nation Israel is the audience, not us Gentiles in the Dispensation of Grace. Also, Hebrews addresses the time period after our dispensation (that is, the seven-year Tribulation and Second Coming of Christ).

The verses following today’s Scripture explain: “But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:27-29).

Previous verses (1-24) discuss how Jesus Christ’s sacrifice of Himself on Calvary’s cross has abolished Israel’s Old Testament animal sacrifices commanded in “Moses’ law.” If a Jew living in the seven-year Tribulation will “sin wilfully”—that is, will return to offering those animal sacrifices (which ceremonies the antichrist will re-establish and then abolish during that time [Daniel 9:27])—this Jew cannot be saved because he has blasphemously rejected Jesus Christ’s blood and he will literally be participating in Satan worship (the antichrist’s religion). Only God’s “judgment,” “fiery indignation” (fire at the Second Coming of Christ, and eternal hellfire), awaits those wicked Jews, God’s “adversaries” (Hebrews 10:27,30,31; cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

Today’s Scripture does not involve us.

Israel’s Three Prophetic Baptisms #8

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” (Matthew 3:11 KJV).

Let us review why Israel’s three prophetic baptisms do not apply to us:

  1. John’s water baptism: God the Father sent John the Baptist to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). John preaches to Israel, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand [approaching, near]” (Matthew 3:2). John’s water baptism is to prepare Israel to become a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5,6; cf. 1 Peter 2:5,9), since Israel needs the Old Testament priests’ ceremonial washing. Jews who listen to John’s message and experience his water baptism form “the little flock,” the believing remnant of Israel that will inherit Christ’s earthly kingdom (Luke 12:32).
  2. The baptism with the Holy Ghost: On Pentecost (Acts chapter 2), Jesus Christ baptized that “little flock” (His apostles and disciples) with God’s Holy Spirit. This was to empower them to continue what He (Jesus Christ) had begun during His earthly ministry (that is, lead Israel to faith in Him as their Messiah-King; Luke 24:47-49; Acts 1:8).
  3. The fire baptism: Jews who refused the two above baptisms would receive the fire baptism, God’s wrath. Unbelieving Jews would never enter Christ’s earthly kingdom. They would perish in the fire baptism (the Tribulation, Christ’s Second Coming, and eventually hellfire), as described in Matthew 24:36-42, Luke 17:26-37, and Revelation 19:11-21.

When we understand that the three “baptisms” in today’s Scripture are unique to Israel’s prophetic kingdom program spoken by the Old Testament prophets (Acts 3:21), and that we Gentiles in the Dispensation of Grace live in the mystery (secret) program which God hid from the Old Testament prophets (Romans 16:25), it becomes apparently clear that we are totally isolated from Israel’s baptisms. When we understand that Paul is our apostle (Romans 11:13), we follow his epistles Romans through Philemon, and faith does not lead us to practice Israel’s water baptism, seek Israel’s “Pentecostal power,” or fear Israel’s Tribulation.