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The Holiness And Wrath Of God

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Photo by Joshua Woroniecki on Unsplash

The Holiness And Wrath Of God

Most people have heard of Jonah and the whale. How God to Jonah to go witness to a large city of 120,000 people who were enemies of the Israelites and how Jonah disobeyed God. Then God sent the whale to swallow Jonah and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale. Again, most people know this true story. But do you remember which city Jonah was supposed to go witness to? Do you know what happened to that city after that? These are important questions because they point to the holiness and wrath of God.

God wanted Jonah to witness to the city of Nineveh. Jonah didn’t want to witness to them because they were Israel’s mortal enemies. The Assyrians (Ninevites) carried away captives out of Israel and Judah when they overran their countries. Jonah didn’t want to warn the enemy of God’s impending judgment.

What Happened To Nineveh?

No, Jonah wanted God to judge them and destroy them. So warning them was the last thing Jonah wanted. But after three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, Jonah decided to obey God. So Jonah went to Nineveh and it took him three days to walk through a city of 120,000 people and he warned them that God was going to destroy their city because of their wickedness. But from the king on down, they repented of their sins. They humbled themselves by putting on sackcloth. God did not destroy the city at that time.

This was approximately in the 8th Century B.C. But do you know what happened approximately 100 years later in the 7th Century B.C.? Nineveh was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar – by the Babylonians. They were God’s judgment against the Assyrians. The point is, the repentance of Nineveh did not last. They repented when there was danger of impending doom and destruction, but when they perceived the threat was over, they went back to worshipping idols and back to their wicked way.

Unpunished Today Doesn’t Mean You’ve Gotten Away With It

Just because God doesn’t judge you today over your sins, doesn’t mean that you’ve gotten away with it. God is Holy and God does punish sin. The holiness and wrath of God is very real. Please listen to these words found in Nahum chapter 1: God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.

The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry (Nahum 1:2-10).

Verses Show The Holiness And Wrath Of God

These verses clearly show the holiness and wrath of God. When the Bible says that God is a jealous God it doesn’t mean that he’s jealous like a jealous teenager over their boyfriend flirting with another girl. No, it means that we are to have no other little g gods before God, we are not to worship little g gods. We are to worship the one true God, the God of the Bible. These verses also say that God revenges. Vengeance is mine saith the Lord (Romans 12:19).

Oh do not be deceived tonight. God hates all workers of iniquity (Psalm 5:5). God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11). The soul that sins, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). The punishment for sin is death. We’ve all sinned and we all will die. You have a day that you were born and you will have a day that you will die. You and I cannot cheat death.

But as bad as dying is, dying in your sins dying as an enemy of God is the worst thing you can do. God punishes unrepentant sinners and those who die in their sins will suffer God’s righteous anger for all eternity. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape (Proverbs 19:5). Revelation 21:8 says: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Fear God

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but most people don’t fear God. Oh if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you should be very afraid. You should tremble and sleep should depart from you. Hell is real and everlasting damnation is real. Do not foolishly die in your sins as God’s enemy. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4). is

I hope that by hearing these Bible verses tonight that you realize that there is wrath to come. Don’t continue sauntering through life with God’s anger abiding upon you. God’s wrath over your unrepentant sin is very real. Flee the wrath to come. Repent and believe the Gospel.

Not only is God’s wrath very real, but so is His Holiness. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein (Nahum 1:5). The mountains quake sounds very similar to when God descended down to Mount Sinai and gave Moses the 10 Commandments. Exodus 19:18 states: And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke (covered with smoke), because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

Why does the Bible describe Mount Sinai as being covered in smoke and fire ascending as a furnace? Because God is Holy! Folks, most people don’t realize how Holy God is. A lot of people mistakenly bring God down to our level and/or elevate themselves to God’s level. In other words, they make themselves their own God. But this will not work in the end. God is Holy and it’s time that people recognize and understand this.

Yes God Is Holy

God is Holy. I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel (Psalm 71:22). For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour (Isaiah 43:3). I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King (Isaiah 43:15). Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? (Habakkuk 1:13).

More verses about God’s Holiness: There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:2). But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isaiah 57:15).

Folks, there are many, many more verses in the Bible about God’s Holiness. Do not be deceived. God is Holy and without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). God is Holy, righteous and just. Because He is these things, He cannot tolerate sin. The only way to be in the presence of God is perfection. None of us meet this test. For we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.

We Need A Savior

That’s why we need a Savior and Jesus Christ is that only Savior. Jesus walked this earth 2,000 years ago and He did what you and I can’t do – He lived a perfect, sinless life. He is the only perfect, sacrifice for guilty sinners. Even though the Lord never sinned, He took the punishment, took the place of guilty sinners. That is for guilt sinners who repent and trust Him.

Jesus died on that cruel cross, was buried and rose again three days later. Oh, salvation is for all who repent and surrender their lives to Jesus. Will you do this tonight? Will you recognize that your sins have offend our Holy God. There is nothing that you can do to wipe out your sins. You can’t earn favor with God. You and I are guilty sinners and our only hope is to fall broken over our sins at the feet of Jesus.

Cry out for God to save you. Repent and believe the Gospel. Do this before you die in your sins and you find out about the Holiness and wrath of God when it’s too late. Those who die in their sins will spend eternity in Hell. Don’t do it. Come to Jesus and be saved. Turn to Christ and live. Then you receive God’s mercy and His grace. That’s grace and mercy that you do not deserve, yet you receive nonetheless, if you repent and trust Jesus to save you.

(This message was proclaimed in downtown Springfield, MO on August 5, 2022)

I Hate You

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I Hate You Mocker

I Hate You!

Ministry Update July 10, 2022

Praise God there were nine of us witnessing downtown Friday night. It was really hot out, but it wasn’t too bad in the shade. Trevor and his family brought new witnessing signs that had just arrived the night before and they are great signs. Trevor started off open air preaching after we all prayed and right off the bat he had a mocker that said something before ducking into a store. A little while later the mocker walked by with a group of his friends and yelled at Trevor, “I hate you. I hate someone telling me what to do.” This didn’t shock us because non-believers don’t want to submit to the authority of God. They don’t want anyone telling them what to do. Nevertheless, as Christians, it is our duty to share the Gospel with this lost and dying world. Hell awaits all who die in their sins; who die without Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Elly And Trevor With Their New Signs

Uptight About Drinking

Keven ended up talking to two different guys that needed prayer. So he brought them over (at different times) to where Elly and I were standing. The first guy wouldn’t give us his name. Keven prayed for his prayer needs. Before I could pray the guy prayed for us. After he finished praying, I asked him if he was a Christian. He proceeded to say yeah f-ing aye. I told him that I wouldn’t have put it quite like that and that as Christians we aren’t supposed to let any corrupt communication proceed from our mouth (Ephesians 4:29). Then he said curse words in the bible didn’t mean cuss words today. I didn’t go down that rabbit hole.

Keven Talking To A Guy Before He Asked For Prayer. Reed, Trevor And Elly’s Youngest Daughter Holding Signs, Tyail Holding Her Jesus Sign and Trevor And Ellly’s Oldest Daughter.

We talked some more and Elly quoted him Scripture about how we aren’t to be sexually immoral, drunkards, etc. He got a little uptight about the drinking part, but she explained that the Bible doesn’t say you can’t drink, you aren’t supposed to get drunk. Keven had given him a tract before we all talked and Elly was able to get a tract into the woman’s hand that was with him. I just kept circling back to repentance and faith in Jesus and talked to the man about Psalm 51, where David writes about true repentance. But instead of receiving this, the man goes off on what a sinner David was. Yes David sinned, but he greatly repented. David was a man after God’s own heart. But instead of understanding that part, the man just wanted to justify himself by saying David sinned. We pray that the man and the woman will read the tracts and that God will open their eyes to their need of Jesus.

Keven Talking To Christian

Christian In Name Only?

Then shortly thereafter, Keven brought Christian over for prayer. Keven prayed for his prayer needs, better housing, a better job and some sort of transportation. I prayed that God would save Christian if he isn’t really saved. After we prayed, I asked him if he was a Christian, not in name, but truly a follower of Christ. He said that he had been closer to God in the past, but when life is tough, he drifts away from God. I pointed out that we live in a fallen world and we aren’t promised an easy path. That our salvation doesn’t depend on our physical circumstances. We talked about repentance and surrendering our lives to Jesus. Keven had also given him a tract already and I encouraged him to read his Bible daily.

Trevor Talking To Guy That Says Christians Twist Scriptures

Trevor got into a long conversation with a man. The guy said that he believed in the Bible, but then tried to twist everything that he said was from the Bible. Joshua was there with them at first and heard the guy say that the problem with Christians is they twist Scripture to say what they want. As the guy started doing that, Joshua called him out on it he was doing exactly what he accused Christians of doing. But Trevor patiently shared truth with the guy. At the end of the night, Joshua got into a good conversation with another man toward the end of the night.

Joshua In A Conversation With A Man At The End Of The Night

Mockers And Encouragers

We had some drive by mockers as well as one drive by encourager. One passenger yelled from the back of the car and even got half way out of the vehicle to keep yelling as the car drove away from us. I gave a tract to a guy on a bicycle. He stopped and I asked him if he knew Jesus. He said he was from Afghanistan. So again I asked him if he knew Jesus and replied that he knows a little English. I just encouraged him to read the back of the tract. But while I was asking him if he knew Jesus, a guy walking by spoke up, “Jesus is Lord.!” I said Amen to that. The same guy that said Jesus is Lord came back by later on and had a conversation with Elly. The guy appeared to be a fellow believer.

At one point, I was holding one of Trevor’s signs and a guy was walking in my direction. Before I could hold out my arm to give him a tract, he walked toward me and reached his hand out for one. That rarely happens. Elly offered tracts to several women and they all refused. Following them was a little girl and Elly asked her mom if she could give the girl a tract and the mom said she could. Praise God for that. As usual, the fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ was as sweet as the evangelizing. Thank God for Trevor, Elly, their girls, Keven, Joshua, Tyail and Reed for coming out to share the Gospel Friday night.

(These updates are provided to encourage Christians to share the glorious Gospel with others)

 

 

Wash And Be Clean

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Wash And Be Clean

Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army. He was also a leper that was told that he should go to Israel because there was a prophet there who could heal him. Naaman goes to the prophet but he’s disappointed that the prophet wouldn’t even come out and talk to him. Adding further insult to injury, the prophet told Naaman through the prophet’s servant that Naaman should go dip himself in the Jordan river seven times and then he’d be cleansed of leprosy. The general of the army was told to go wash and be clean. How did Naaman react to this instruction? [Read more…]

Why The Message – Beaten Beyond Recognition?

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Why The Message – Beaten Beyond Recognition?

The death of George Floyd was horrendous and inexcusable. The policeman that callously choked the life out of Mr. Floyd should be punished. Just as horrible as this death was, the violent mobs around the country, especially those attacking people is also horrendous and inexcusable. The man in Dallas that was beaten unconscious was also a despicable, horrendous act of violence. All of this violence and other terrible stories of murder and mayhem around the world remind me of the one who was beaten beyond recognition. Why the message – Beaten Beyond Recognition? Because the one who was beaten beyond recognition is the One – the only Savior of mankind. Jesus, fully God and fully man, came to this very earth that He created and lived perfect, sinless life. The Lord never sinned, not one time. Yet He willingly went to the cruel cross to take the punishment that He didn’t deserve. [Read more…]

Condemned Or Pardoned?

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Condemned Or Pardoned?

Are you condemned or pardoned tonight? Actually, you may protest and say that you’ve never even been to jail, so how can I ask you if you have been condemned or pardoned? I ask this question tonight because each and every one of us are condemned or pardoned. No exceptions. So I ask again, condemned or pardoned? Which is it? [Read more…]

No Safe Places In Hell

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No Safe Places In Hell

Every now and then a student at Missouri State University will say they don’t feel safe while I’m open-air preaching. They want to find a safe place. I’m sorry that some young people get “triggered” when hearing God’s truth, but I really don’t know what’s going to happen to this generation. You can’t call time out in real life and say, “I need to go to my safe place.” This isn’t reality. The really sad reality is there are no safe places in Hell. [Read more…]

Does God Still Save?

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Does God Still Save?

America is now being described as a post-Christian society. Being a Christian and holding to a biblical worldview is not popular. In fact, it’s counter-cultural. Christians are now considered haters and bigots. In fact, in many states, Christians are losing their jobs and some have even gone to jail for standing for their faith. So as America becomes more godless, it begs the question: Does God still save?  [Read more…]

Right Side Of History

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Right Side Of History

We frequently hear in the news about being on the right side of history. When people say this, what they are really saying is that those of us who hold to a biblical worldview, need to forget the Bible and get with the current sexual revolution. They are saying that gay marriage is here to stay and gender identity is fluid and those of us who disagree need to get “on the right side.” If we don’t do so, we are going to find ourselves on the wrong side of history.  [Read more…]

Are You Ungodly?

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Are You Ungodly?

I’m going to ask you a question tonight that you may never have been asked before. But this is a serious question. Are you an ungodly person? Are you ungodly? Most people when offered a Gospel tract respond with “No, I’m good.” Most people think they are good, but are you? Are you really a good person or are you an ungodly one? Can you look at yourself honestly and answer the question truthfully?  [Read more…]