Tag: Wrath

Reverence & Respect – King of Glory

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.”

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

Psalms 24:10  Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

Isaiah 6:3-5  And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”  And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.  And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

John 12:40    “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

John 14:9   Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Psalms 2:10  Now therefore, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.  O kings, Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Luke 9:26   For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

2Peter 1:3  His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Who is this King of glory – The Lord Of Hosts. Look at what Isaiah said after a vision of the Lord of hosts: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips”.  Isaiah had a starting point “Fear of God”.  I know “fear” can be misunderstood so I have copied this for a reference to help understand the meaning intended: “The Hebrew verb yare can mean “to fear, to respect, to reverence” and the Hebrew noun yirah “usually refers to the fear of God and is viewed as a positive quality. This fear acknowledges God’s good intentions (Ex. 20:20). … This fear is produced by God’s Word (Ps. 119:38; Prov. 2:5) and makes a person receptive to wisdom and knowledge (Prov. 1:7; 9:10)” (Warren Baker and Eugene Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, 2003, pp. 470-471”.  Isaiah began with a reverence and respect of God and who He is.  Without this reverence and respect for God, His word will be meaningless, His promises empty, His salvation rejected, and His purpose seems foolish.  Without this reverence and respect our heart is hardened and though we may read or hear the word of God it will have no place to root in our heart.  Proverbs says the beginning of all wisdom is fear (reverence and respect) of the Lord.  The verses today speak of those who have this reverence and respect of God and those who do not.  Hold tight to this reverence and respect.  With this as a firm anchor in your life His word will have great impact and purpose in your life.

Do not refuse Him

“Stop trusting in mere humans,
who have but a breath in their nostrils.
Why hold them in esteem?”

“Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.”

“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.”

 

Psalms 21:8  Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them. You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man. Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.  For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.

Amos 9:2-3   “If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.  If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.

1 Corinthians 15:25     For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet

Hebrews 10:28-29   How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

Revelation 19:15    From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Psalms 89:22-23  The enemy shall not outwit him; the wicked shall not humble him. I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.

Micah 7:10   Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.

Hebrews 12:25   See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

Scripture speaks much of God’s mercy, grace, blessings, and love – eternal heaven.  It also speaks warnings of punishment, wrath, and judgement – eternal hell. Proverbs says: “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way to death”.  Today in psalms David speaks again on how nothing is hidden from God.  You can not hide from God.  The way that seems right to man that says: there is no God, or there is no single God, or there is no Judgement, or there is no punishment, or they can earn favor with God by being good. Many will seek after those who speak in line with these thoughts, but in the end these all lead to judgement, punishment and eternal hell.  I read something a few weeks back that said about this life “we are not going to make it out of this life alive”.  How true this is.  The length of our life is but a vapor and is gone in comparison to eternity.  If our eyes are only on this life we lose sight of God and eternity.  We see no need for humbly serving, honoring, and glorifying Him. We reject Him, His offer of salvation through believing  in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross, and through this reject of His mercy, grace, and love are destine to judgement, punishment, and eternity in hell.  We must remember to speak not only of God’s grace, mercy and love but also His wrath, fury and punishment.

Guilty

 “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty,”

“The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty”

 

Psalms 20:5  May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!

Micah 7:18    Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

Matthew 12:31  Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Acts 5:31  God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Exodus 34:5-7 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.  The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Romans 4:7-8   “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Ephesians 1:7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 2:4-9  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works:  to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;  but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Isaiah 45:21   Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.

Nahum 1:2-3  The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Read these verses again.  God’s steadfast love, forgiveness, slow to anger, pardoning, grace, mercy, and faithfulness are all proclaimed in light of our sin and His salvation.  Yet we also read  “the Lord will by no means clear the guilty,” and “He will render to each one according to his works.” How are we to look at such opposing outcomes?  Scripture tells us that we all have sinned and fall short.  It also says that God so loved the world that He gave is only son and whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. The outcome of not believing we have any sin or need for God, which leads to no need for God or trusting/believing in the redemption/salvation of Jesus Christ.  We will not be cleared of our guilt based on God’s love, mercy, and grace without repentance, belief, and obedience.  Today is the day of salvation.  A day when God is withholding His wrath.  We know that when we die we enter into eternity and if we enter eternity without repentance, belief, and obedience we will certainly experience God’s wrath – thrown into a lake of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth forever and ever.  Scripture states it is fearful to fall into the hands of God’s anger. Our lives, (words, and actions), can be used to lead people toward God.  Stay in His word, listen for His leading, and obey.

Times of Ignorance

“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.”

“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?”

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Psalms 18:46
The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation

Jeremiah 10:10
But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

Psalms 42:2
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalms 84:2
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Daniel 6:26
I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.

Matthew 16:16
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Acts 14:15
“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Nahum 1:6
Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him

Revelation 20:11
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

Malachi 3:2
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

God is the true God, living God, everlasting King who in times past has overlooked our ignorance but now has commanded all people to repent.  You don’t have to dig very far into science literature to see the concept “There is no God”.  Just because science smart people say there is no God does not mean it is fact or true.  I fear all of this talk has diluted many Christians to a very shallow faith for the simple reason of not wanting to seem uneducated. I can not see the wind but I can see the effects of it in the leaves moving on trees.  I can say there is wind because of the effects I see.  On this same thought I can see the earth and everything that has been created.  I can see stars in the sky.  Science has allowed us to see the formation of a baby in the womb.  Some say that all of this came from a big bag somehow and spend their entire lives searching for what they call the “God Particle”, the building block for all things seen and unseen.  Why is it so many are willing to believe that something like a “Big Bang” can come from nothing.  Doesn’t there have to be a “start.”  Something that created order in the universe.  To say this is not true and to even say those who believe in God are foolish is ignorance.  It is believing a lie.  God said He will no longer overlook ignorance and the time of repentance is now. Wisdom of this world will not find God.  A heart full of pride will never find God for their heart sees no need.  And yet God gives them opportunity after opportunity to humble themselves, repent, yield, trust and follow after Him. He gives many promises and warnings in His word, knocking at everyone heart’s door reaching out to give them true purpose and meaning in this life, plus life ever after with Him.  God is alive!  He will call everyone into account for what they have done and to those who have repented and follow Him, He gives the promise of eternal life.  To those who choose to neglect this promise of everlasting life – they will experience God’s wrath and forever be thrown into hell.  Look around at what has been created and know it was created by the one and only living God.  He is knocking at the door of every heart.  Open your heart, mind and soul to Him, repent, yield, trust and follow after Him.

Who is Like you, oh God

“They are both stupid and foolish;”

“Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing”

Hosea 12:9
He destroys you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against your helper.
Where now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
Where are all your rulers—
those of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.

Deuteronomy 33:26
There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
The eternal God is your dwelling place,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he thrust out the enemy before you

Exodus 15:11
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

1 Kings 8:23
“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;

Jeremiah 10:7
There is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you.
They are both stupid and foolish;

Isaiah 41:28
But when I look, there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.
Behold, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;

What replaces God in our lives to the point where we no longer see Him as ALIVE and AWESOME and OUR HOPE and OUR SHELTER and OUR REFUGE and OUR ROCK and OUR KING.  I imagine something gets lost in our culture where we can easily criticize our President without fear.  We can choose to not stand if he should come into a room. We can choose turn our back on him without any fear of retribution.  Speaking with a friend from Asia yesterday, he was telling me about the King in Thailand who passed away.  If you did not stand upon his entry into a room you would be thrown in jail.  For the next week it is mandatory to wear black and if you don’t you would be thrown in jail. In many countries the office of the King is regarded much higher than the President in our culture.  Is it possible this view of our President dilutes our perception on how we look at God, or how we think we should serve Him?  It would do us well to think deeply about God and our commitment to Him in line with His word and expectations for each of our lives.  How does the excuse “I’m sorry God, I was just to busy for years on end to give you more than a passing thought” sound?  Our heavenly King has asked us to desire to humbly serve Him with all our heart, mind and soul.  How does this happen unless we choose to know and understand Him?  How does this happen if we spend little or no time in His word?  How do we praise and worship Him without continually expanding our knowledge of Him?

God’s Sovereignty

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy

Joshua 11:20
For it was the Lord’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord  commanded Moses.

Exodus 4:21
And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

Deuteronomy 2:30
But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day

Romans 9:15
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved. ’”
“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.

 

When Joshua went through the land, obeying God, and destroying all that was living it says that God had hardened the hearts of these people in order that they would be devoted to destruction.  I don’t know about you but when I think about how we are living in a time of grace and mercy we often forget about God’s sovereignty, purpose, and plan that in the past included hardening entire nation’s hearts.  I read this and wonder what it must would like to have your heart hardened by God and meant for the single purpose of destruction.  I have the human thought of “is this fair”???  We can not put our thoughts above God’s.  Scripture says our thoughts are not God’s thoughts.  I am also so thankful for Romans where Paul addressed this issue of fairness.  Man says: “why does He find fault”?,  “Who can resist His will”? Why have you made me like this”?  Paul continues with who is man that he should question God.  The creator can do what He pleases for the purpose He determines without needing our approval or understanding.  All I can say is that I am so thankful God softened my heart to hear His calling for the need of redemption, forgiveness, and salvation.  Do not neglect His salvation plan and purpose for your life.

Obey the Voice of the Lord

‘They shall not enter my rest. ’

Joshua 5:6
For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey

Numbers 14:33
And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 2:7
For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing

Deuteronomy 8:4
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land.

Hebrews 3:11
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest. ’”
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

For 40 years the Israelites wondered in the wilderness for disobeying God. The children received the promise of God yet they still were under the discipline put on their parents for 40 years before they received the promise.  Disobeying God has consequences not only for us individually but to those we love and cherish.  The writer of Hebrews warns us “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God”.  Obey Him and purpose with  your whole heart to serve Him.  Think on what it means to serve Him with your whole heart, what it means to obey Him, what it means to trust Him.

Live With The End In Mind

Therefore encourage one another with these words

Throughout scripture we are told of tribulation and the coming of the Lord.  Why does God tell us this?  I have to think it is to encourage our faith and to trust Him to lead us through everyday of our life for the blessing of not only our life on earth but also for ETERNITY.   I think there are times we lose sight of eternity through the busyness of our daily lives.  We get so caught up in the here and now that we forget His promise of eternity.  It seems so easy to drift away and live luke warm lives instead of abundantly for Him.  What is the prevention and cure to this way of life? Continually repent and stand in His grace.  Desire Him with all your heart, mind and soul.  Live each day to bring honor and glory to Him.  Learn to be a humble servant.  Learn to give more than you get.  (for the record you will never be able to out give God but it is sure rewarding to try)  Learn to hear His voice speak to your heart.  Stay in scripture always.  Speak of His grace, mercy and love everyday.  Seek to be His vessel to use for His glory and honor. Rejoice in this life no matter what. Learn to forgive.  Be at peace with all as far as it concerns you.  Rely on, trust in, and cling to Him alone.  Know the difference between scripture and culture – there is a big difference.  Do not try to perform your way to God.  And in all things give thanks.

 

Matthew 24:29
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words

1 Corinthians 15:51
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting

Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty- four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged