Why should we fear God? We should fear God because His holiness and justice demands that sin be dealt with and it is dealt with by His holy wrath. God is a God of wrath. Why is it that so many true Christians in our day are uncomfortable with the wrath of God? Most do not like it. When we speak of it, we are almost ashamed and feel we must apologize for it as if God is throwing a temper tantrum.
Many in our day believe that the wrath of God is not consistent with His other attributes such as His love and His goodness. Why do they feel that way? I dare say it is because, like me, they have not sought God in the Scriptures. For what ever reason they have not studied the attributes of God….all the attributes, not just the ones that make them feel good.
Consider what the Scriptures have to say about the wrath of God. In the word of God, He makes no attempt to hide the fact of His wrath. God is not ashamed to reveal to us that vengeance and fury belong to Him.
Deuteronomy 32:39-41
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live forever.
41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Get a good concordance like Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and you will quickly see that there are more references to the anger, fury and wrath of God than there are to His love and tenderness. Not long ago we looked at the Holiness of God. Because God is holy, He hates all sin; And because He hates all sin, His wrath burns against the sinner.
Psalm 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
Psalm 5:4-5
4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
The wrath of God is His eternal hatred of all that is unrighteous. A.W. Pink, in his book, The Attributes of God, says God’s wrath is, “the holiness of God stirred into activity against sin.” God is angry with sin because it is rebellion against His Sovereignty.
We see in the word of God that His wrath is one of His attributes. Consider Romans 1:18.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
How did our thrice Holy God deal with sin when it was found in His most beautiful of all creation, Lucifer the cherib? He cast him out of heaven. How did God deal with man when he rebelled against God in the garden? The earth was cursed and man was cast out of Eden. What about the Great Flood in Genesis 6? Verse 5 tells us…
Genesis 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 6:7 …I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth;
How did God deal with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? He destroyed them for their wickedness as seen in Genesis 19.
It’s obvious why lost men and women should concern themselves with the wrath of God, but what about those of us who have truly been save? Should we? The Divine attribute of God’s wrath is one that we should regularly meditate on. Most of us have been raised in a generation that has not heard of nor even considered the wrath of God. From our earliest days we have been taught of God’s love, His goodness, His mercy and His kindness. We have grown up unaware of His Divine wrath.
Why do we so easily sin? Oh, just because it’s our nature, I guess. Yes it is our nature to sin, but we do so because we don’t see sin as God does. We don’t understand that He is a God of wrath. The more we meditate on God’s wrath against sin, the less easily we will commit sin. If we do not consider God’s wrath we will take sin lightly and make excuses for it.
The more we study and muse on God’s hatred of sin, and His frightful vengeance on it, the more we will understand the heinous nature of it. What else is accomplished by our consideration of the wrath of God? When we meditate on the Divine attribute of God’s wrath, we “beget a true fear in our souls of God.” –A.W. Pink
I began this study speaking about the fear of God. Even as believers, I don’t think we fear God as we should. Our generation has not been given the whole counsel of God. By and large, we have not been taught of the wrath and justice of God, yet we are responsible for ourselves. We can’t blame the preachers of our generation who refuse to speak on sin and God’s Divine wrath against it. We have the word of God in our language. It is up to us to read it, meditate on it. We will stand before God alone and give an account for the works done in the flesh. Does that scare you even a little? We will stand before God.
If we want to fear God as we should we must study all of His attributes, especially His wrath.
Hebrews 12: 28-29
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
A.W. Pink states, “We cannot serve Him acceptably unless there is due reverence for His awful Majesty and godly fear of His righteous anger, and these are best promoted by frequently calling to mind that our God is a consuming fire.
By meditating on God’s wrath not only do we understand the seriousness of our sin and learn how to truly fear God, but also our souls begin to fervently praise Him for delivering us from His wrath to come on this world of sinners.
Do you really love God? Are your affections set on things above or on things on this earth? You can know where your affections are based on what you meditate on…what you think on.
In his book, The Attributes of God, A.W. Pink writes, “Our readiness or our reluctancy to meditate upon the wrath of God becomes a sure test of how our hearts’ really stand affected toward Him. If we do not truly rejoice in God, for what He is in Himself, and that because of all the perfections which are eternally resident in Him, then how dwelleth the love of God in us? Each of us needs to be most prayerfully on his guard against devising an image of God in our thoughts which is patterned after our own evil inclinations. Of old the Lord complained, ‘Thou thoughtest that I was altogether as thyself’ (Psalm50:21), If we rejoice not ‘at the remembrance of His holiness’ (Psalm 97:12), if we rejoice not to know that in a soon coming Day God will make a most glorious display of His wrath, by taking vengeance on all who now oppose Him, it is proof that our hearts are not in subjection to Him.”
A good way to meditate on the attribute of the wrath of God is to read or listen to sermons on that subject. They can be found, but require some digging. Most sermons on the wrath of God date back well before our time. One of the greatest sermons on the wrath of God was preached in 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut by Jonathan Edwards. The title of his message…Sinner’s in the Hands of an Angry God. If you have internet access you can find it at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html.
You may also find another great sermon on the wrath of God preached on Oct. 23, 1881 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled, Flee from the Coming Wrath! It can be found at http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/2704.htm.
I know a young man who thinks himself saved because one day a long time ago, he invited Christ into his heart. He even helped start a charismatic “church” and preached there for a while. Yet, his manner of life and speech do not bear the fruit of one who has been grafted into the true Vine of Jesus Christ. He recently said this… (not a direct quote) “I have just redone my list of people I want to see first when I get to heaven. My mom of course, then I will hang out with men like Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, andWilliam Barret Travis, all those (!@#$**) who wouldn’t put up with the what we are having to put up with today from our government.” How sad! The first people he wants to see in heaven are men, who may not even be there, rather than seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. The sad thing is he will not be there unless God does a work in his life.
Many in that day who have been deceived will say…
Matthew 7:22 … “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”
Then they will hear the most horrifying words ever to be spoken and they will ring in their ears for all eterninty…
Matthew 7:23 And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
At which point they will suffer the full fury and wrath of God for their sins and rightly so, for God is Just and Holy.
Just as John the Baptist once said to many of the Pharisees and Sadducees who were gathered to observe him baptizing…
Matthew 3:7 “…who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
…I urge all those who hear me speak or read what I have written to do likewise. Sinner, flee from the wrath that is coming on you because of your sin. Don’t think for a minute these words are for anyone other than you.
For the one who is trusting in some decision you made a long time ago, don’t be content with your profession of faith. Examine yourself!
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves, Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Cry out to God to search your heart and show you yourself…
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
The greatest assurance you can have that you have truly been saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is if you are continuing in repentance and your faith is growing.
Philippians 1:6 …he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
If you are not continuing to grow in faith and not continuing to repent of your sins...if you can live in sin and there be no Holy Spirit conviction or chastening then you may well be outside of Christ and storing up wrath upon yourself against the day of wrath.
What is the wrath of God? It is the satisfying of God’s justice in Hell for an eternity. Hell is a real place and nothing on this earth compares to it. I constantly hear people say foolish things like… “It was as hot as hell today!” or “That test was hard as hell.” I have even heard this foolish statement made after a cold front came in… “It’s cold as hell out there!” Men have no understanding of the wrath of God. They know not hell. Hell is not a place where old soldiers go to regroup. Hell is a place of torment.
Luke 16:23-24
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Hell is real! Yet, the greatest manifestation of the wrath of God took place on Calvary when the Lord Jesus Christ suffered the full wrath of Holy God for the sins of His people. Christ was crucified high on a hill outside the city for the whole world to see the wrath of God for sin.
When Christ comes again to this earth and sets His feet on the Mt. of Olives, He will unleash the full wrath of God against those gathered in sin against Israel. In that day, those who are alive will cry out for the rocks to fall on them rather than face the fierce wrath of the Lamb of God (Revelation 6:15-17).
Revelation 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Will you flee from the wrath to come? To whom will you flee? Safety from the wrath of God for your sin can be found in only one place and that is in Jesus Christ who satisfied the wrath of God for sin on the cross of Calvary. Go to Him in repentance and faith, He will not cast you out.
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