My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #49!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #49 in Bless-ed:

BLESSING #49: The Blessing of A Biblical View Of Time!

“The greatest gift you can give someone is your time. Because when you give your time, you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back.” (anonymous)

There are so many blessings that the child of God has in knowing Christ. And while it may be true that an unsaved person enjoys some of the blessings that God gives through His gracious providence, many of these gifts are received only when one trusts Christ and becomes a member of God’s forgiven family. One gift which helps believers focus on faithful living is that of time. We who know Christ —

49. WE HAVE THE BLESSING OF A BIBLICAL VIEW OF TIME!

THE BLESSING Albert Einstein once said, “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” We who know Christ believe that our infinite God is timeless and uses the sequential events of life for His glory. He values time and our response as time-bound creatures to the collection of moments we call minutes, hours, days, months, years, etc. As stewards of the time God gives us, believers see time as a gift of their Redeemer to do His work and enjoy His world.

THE BIBLE What does God’s Word, the Bible, have to say about time? One immediately thinks of the section of Ecclesiastes where the writer says “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens . . .” (3:1). Made famous by the musical group The Birds, this section of God’s Word lists certain events (such as a time to be born and a time to die) as under the sovereign oversight of God. The term “time” is used 888 times in the Scriptures, often referring to a sequence of human events.

What principles about time must the believer keep in mind in this life? (1) We are to be faithful stewards of the time God gives us. We should be “redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16, KJV). Concerning unbelievers, Colossians 4:5 says that believers are to “walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (KJV). As Alice Bloch has said, “We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves.”80 Our time is not ours; we are only the managers of the hours and days God entrusts to us. (2) We are to intentionally use the time we have to serve the Lord. Our distracted culture believes it can multitask. In reality divided attention is inattention to what lies before us. The missionary martyr Jim Elliot once said, “Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every moment you believe to be the will of God.” This includes interruptions. Jesus used interruptions to do what lay before Him as He served His Father (see Mark 5 where Jesus is on His way to raise a dead girl but is interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood). (3) We are to commit our time to the Lord who knows the future. We are to use the time the Lord gives us to serve Him, to minister to others, to enjoy His world, to rest, to ponder His goodness to us.

ACTION STEPS
1. The psalmist prays, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Do you view time as your own? If so, confess that to the Lord and ask for His help in viewing time as a loan from the Lord. Review Blessings 39-41 and Paul’s statements in Philippians 3.

2. Ask yourself some hard questions: How much time do I spend in leisure activities? How much time do I spend with lost people? How much time do I spend in serving the people of God? How much time do I spend reading and studying God’s Word?

3. Read the little pamphlet The Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles E. Hummel. He describes the telephone as a great interrupter. How do you look at your cell phone?

4. PRAYER Spending precious time with our loved lost ones is really critical. But we will spend eternity with the family of God. Spend significant time with your lost loved one. And pray that he may come to know the Lord of time.

 

My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #48!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #48 in Bless-ed:

BLESSING #48: The Blessing of Godly Attitudes!

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.” (Charles Swindoll)

As we continue to think about the many blessings we enjoy — or should enjoy — as believers in Jesus, one of the overarching ones reminds us of our internal struggle to honor God in our everyday lives. The blessing I’m thinking of highlights much of the Christian life. We Christians —

48. WE HAVE THE BLESSING OF GODLY ATTITUDES!

THE BLESSING Life is full of situations to which we can respond in either a godly or ungodly way. The believer has the potential to respond to challenging circumstances, unexpected situations, and unwelcome surprises with attitudes that come from his or her new nature in Christ.

THE BIBLE How often have you responded to a situation and later thought, “I could have handled that much better”? Some of the godly attitudes that occur to me are: (1) Thankfulness. We are to give thanks in everything (I Thessalonians 5:18). One of the characteristics of the man without Christ is a failure to give thanks to God (Rom. 1:21). (2) No bitterness. We are not to allow a root of bitterness to grow up in our hearts when things don’t go our way. Ephesians 4:31 says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” (3) Kindness. We belong to a kind God. God’s kindness provides rain for the crops, food for our bellies, and joy for our hearts (Acts 14:17). God’s kindness leads people to repentance (Rom. 2:4). His grace is described as “his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). The coming of the Lord Jesus to accomplish salvation is expressed as “when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared” (Titus 3:4). Kindness is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22); we are “clothe” ourselves with kindness (Col. 3:12). (4) Forgiveness So much in Scripture concerns the issue of forgiveness, an attitude of releasing another person from the penalty of sin. We are to daily forgive our “debtors” (Matt. 6:12). If we don’t, our Father won’t forgive us (Matt. 6:14-15). We are to forgive those who repent (2 Cor. 2:7). We are to forgive as God has forgiven us (Col. 3:13).

ACTIONS STEPS
1. Have an honest time, alone with yourself, asking the question, “What ungodly attitude do I need to work on with the help of God’s Spirit? What Scriptures will help me in this battle?” If you can’t think of anything, ask someone who loves you what they think you should work on!

2. Is there someone you should apologize to for a poor attitude on your part? Confession is good for one’s soul — and will identify an area that needs work. It is humbling, but spiritually healthy, to admit a less than biblical attitude.

3. Should we forgive those who have hurt us — but haven’t repented of their wrongdoing? Can I withhold my forgiveness until the other has confessed their sin against me? How would you relate this issue to verses such as Matthew 6:12-15 and Colossians 3:13? Is forgiveness the same as reconciliation? Read the excellent book The Bait of Satan by John Bevere which is really helpful in this issue of attitudes.

PRAYER 4. Having godly attitudes may be the strongest aspect of our witness as Christians to our lost friends. But we need to be with them for them to see how the Lord gives us right responses to life’s circumstances. Pray for your witness to your friend — and that he would find the Lord and begin the same journey to godly attitudes.

 

My New Book “Bless-ed” Is Now Out! Almost. Blessing #47!

Friends:

My new book, Bless-ed! Fifty-Two Weekly Blessings You Have as a Believer and How to Help Your Lost Friends Find Theirs will soon be available on Amazon here. I have advanced copies if you are interested. I will send you a copy for $10 (which includes shipping). Here’s Blessing #47 in Bless-ed:

BLESSING #47: The Blessing of Righteous Judgment!

“The gospel that does not warn from impending wrath and judgment is no gospel at all! Jesus did not come to save good, moral, self-righteous individuals. He came to save sinners who were on their way to hell!” (Mark Escalera, Sr.)

“You Christians are so judgmental! Jesus said we are not to judge!” I am sick and tired of hearing that misquote from Matthew 7. Jesus’ command was that we not judge hypocritically.

One scholar put it this way:

“We live, in the twentieth century, in a world without judgment, a world where at the last frontier post you simply go out—and nothing happens. It is like coming to the customs and finding there are none after all. And the suspicion that this is in fact the case spreads fast: for it is what we should all like to believe.” (A.T. Robinson)

But isn’t it true that we all long for a just universe where evildoers will receive their appropriate punishment and the righteous be rewarded? The problem is that everyone thinks they are in the category of the righteous! Only those in Christ are forgiven and righteous. So we believers possess the blessing of truth which the Bible gives about reality. We have —

47. WE HAVE THE BLESSING OF RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT!

THE BLESSING We are clearly told in God’s Word that the Judge of all the earth will do right (Gen. 18:25). As the psalmist struggles with the wicked prospering in this life, he takes the long view and says that it was not until —

“I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
Those who are far from you will perish;!
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.” (Ps. 73:17, 27)

There are two and only two categories of human beings: Those who can enter the sanctuary of God and those who are far from God.

THE BIBLE God is a God of justice — and He will cast the wicked (those who have not fled to Christ for salvation) out of His presence (Matt. 7:23; 25:41), confining them away from God’s people forever. Psalm 98:9 says “He will judge the world with righteousness, and the people with equity.”

The Bible teaches that there will be a Great White Throne judgment for those outside of Christ and the only verdict will be that their names are not in the Book of Life (Ps. 69:28; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5). They will then be cast into the lake of fire to be punished forever (Rev. 20:11-15). The Bible also teaches that there will be a Judgment Seat of Christ for believers and they will be judged according to their faithful service (2 Cor. 5:10). The issue will not be salvation, but faithfulness. Rewards will be given (or withheld) based on one’s sacrificial living for Christ.

I came to Christ as a teenager primarily out of a fear of God’s judgment. I have written extensively on the issue of final judgment. You might want to read my defense of the doctrine of eternal punishment in my book The Other Side of the Good News: Contemporary Challenges to Jesus’ Teaching on Hell.

ACTION STEPS

1. When we speak of God’s judgment, we need to do so in an autobiographical way. In other words, we have been saved from God’s wrath by His grace. How can you speak of God’s judgment with someone this week with love and wisdom?

2. I saw a billboard advertising a junk removal company that said, “YOU CALL. WE HAUL. NO JUDGMENT!” Someone has said that “The fear of being labeled judgmental has left our culture with the lack of good judgment.” What Scriptures teach that we —and the church — are, indeed, to judge?

3. Read the 18th-century sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards. It is easily found online. Do we need more sermons like that one today? Why or why not? Discuss this sermon with a friend this week.

4. PRAYER How should you pray for your lost friend in light of God’s judgment? Do not succumb to our culture’s optimistic opinion that “Everything with be okay with everybody.” It might help to write out several prayers for your friend’s present spiritual state before the Lord.

 

My Workshop “Five Certainties in the Light of Tragic Events” (for “Iron Sharpens Iron” conference) Part 5

Emmaus Bible College’s leadership conference “Iron Sharpens Iron” gives me the opportunity to present several workshops.  We’ve been thinking about my first workshop entitled —

“Five Certainties in the Light of Tragic Events”

We’ve noticed the first certainty which is: Man is fallen and capable of great evil. The second certainty is that  God is holy and will judge rightly. Third, we must teach that this life is brief– one must be ready to meet God!  And the fourth certainty that we must keep in mind is that man is still made in the image of God and is capable of incredible acts of kindness and heroism.

There are many other certainties that we could discuss, but the fifth that occurs to us this morning is this: Heaven and hell are real! Hell is not God’s over-reaction to sin, but rather the application of His righteousness to human depravity. We agree with C.S. Lewis who said, “In reality, along with the power to forgive, we have lost the power to condemn.”

The Bible is quite clear that we are not to seek vengeance ourselves, but to leave room for the wrath of God (Rom. 12:19). I’ve studied the wrath of God — and it is a fascinating study. Those in Christ should rejoice that they have been “rescued from God’s wrath” (“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” I Thes. 1:10).

Jonathan Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” caused the people in that Connecticut church where he was a guest preacher to cling to their wooden pews, lest they fall into hell then and there.  Our society, raised on Stephen King horror films, seems not to be frightened by anything.  But — “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”, says Hebrews 10:31 (KJV).

God allows some human evil to occur.  As the late Paul Little once said, “If he were to stop all evil at midnight tonight, which of us would be left at 12:01?”  We grieve with those who have lost loved ones in terrible, man-made tragedies.  But we rejoice that God is holy and will wrap up history righteously!  And these certainties we must preach!

 

 

 

Back to the Basics: Theology Proper #16 God’s RIGHTEOUS WRATH! (Part 1)

Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” way back in the 1700’s as a visiting preacher.  Historians tell us that he emphasized God’s wrath to such a degree that the members of the congregation were clinging to their wooden pews in the fear that they would fall into hell then and there.  It may be that your high school English teacher messed up your reading of Edwards’ sermon.  If so, you may read it here.

Modern man, it is said, has turned his sermon into “God in the Hands of Angry Sinners!”  “God needs to explain Himself — and all the evil in His world!”, they say.  We have lost a sense of God’s anger at sin.

What does the Bible say about the WRATH of God?  Here are (more than) a few verses to keep in mind:

Psalm 7:11-  God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. (KJV). The NIV says “God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day.”

Num. 16:46- “. . . Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.”

Debt. 9:8- “At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath so that He was angry enough to destroy you.”

Deuteronomy 29:20
The Lord will never be willing to forgive them; his wrath and zeal will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot out their names from under heaven.

Deuteronomy 29:28
In furious anger and in great wrath the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

Deuteronomy 32:22
For a fire will be kindled by my wrath, one that burns down to the realm of the dead below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains.

Joshua 22:20
When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things, did not wrath come on the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’”

1 Samuel 28:18
Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today.

2 Samuel 6:8
Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

2 Chronicles 19:2
Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is on you.

2 Chronicles 32:25
But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 36:16
But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.

Job 21:20
Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

Psalm 2:5
He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath,

Psalm 2:12
Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 21:9
When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them.

Psalm 38:3
Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.

Psalm 76:10
Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

Psalm 78:38
Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.

Psalm 78:49
He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility— a band of destroying angels.

Psalm 79:6
Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name;

Psalm 88:16
Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.

Psalm 89:46
How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?

Psalm 90:11
If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.

Psalm 106:23
So he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them.

Proverbs 11:23
The desire of the righteous ends only in good, but the hope of the wicked only in wrath.

Isaiah 1:24
Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.

Isaiah 10:5
[ God’s Judgment on Assyria ] “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!

Isaiah 13:5
They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens— the Lord and the weapons of his wrath— to destroy the whole country.

Isaiah 48:9
For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely.

Isaiah 59:18
According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due.

Jeremiah 7:20
“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.

Jeremiah 7:29
“‘Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.

Jeremiah 10:10
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.

Jeremiah 21:5
I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in furious anger and in great wrath.

Jeremiah 25:15
[ The Cup of God’s Wrath ] This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.

Jeremiah 36:7
Perhaps they will bring their petition before the Lord and will each turn from their wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the Lord are great.”

Jeremiah 50:25
The Lord has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians.

Lamentations 4:11
The Lord has given full vent to his wrath; he has poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations.

Ezekiel 5:13
“Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.

Ezekiel 13:13
“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury.

Ezekiel 16:38
I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger.

Ezekiel 20:21
“‘But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said, “The person who obeys them will live by them,” and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness.

Ezekiel 21:31
I will pour out my wrath on you and breathe out my fiery anger against you; I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men, men skilled in destruction.

Ezekiel 22:22
As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath on you.’”

Ezekiel 25:17
I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them.’”

Daniel 9:16
Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

Hosea 5:10
Judah’s leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.

Hosea 13:11
So in my anger I gave you a king, and in my wrath I took him away.

Nahum 1:2
[ The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh ] The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies.

Nahum 1:6
Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.

Habakkuk 3:2
Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Zephaniah 1:15
That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness—

Zephaniah 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth.

Malachi 1:4
Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.

Matthew 3:7
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Luke 21:23
How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people.

John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Romans 1:18
[ God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity ] The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

Romans 2:5
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

Romans 2:8
But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

Romans 9:22
What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?

Romans 12:19
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Romans 13:4
For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

Ephesians 2:3
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Ephesians 5:6
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

Colossians 3:6
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

1 Thessalonians 1:10
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 6:16
They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!

Revelation 6:17
For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

Revelation 11:18
The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

Revelation 14:10
they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

If you have read all the above verses, my friend, there is a special place in heaven for you. Here are a few takeaways that I see —

1. God is angry with the wicked every day.
2. God’s anger can be “aroused,” can “burn against” sinners, is described as “fierce,” can be “on” someone, can “flare up in a moment,” is described as “his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility.” His wrath “burns like fire.”
3. We read of the “cup of the wrath of the Almighty.”
4. His anger and wrath ought to terrify us!
5. We read that “the Lord will swallow them up in his wrath.”
6. God’s wrath against mankind “brings [Him] praise”!
7. At times God restrains his anger and does not stir up “his full wrath.”
8. We can pray that His wrath would be poured out on nations that do not acknowledge Him.
9. His wrath is as great as the fear that is His due.
10. The hope of the wicked end only in wrath.

And those conclusions are only through the early references in Isaiah. Aren’t you glad for the Son of God who has turned away God’s wrath from you? (to be continued)