Will God Be Angry Forever?
Psalm 85:5 states: Will you (God) be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will God be angry forever? I will read Psalm 85:1-5 shortly to show that this is a believer that is asking God these questions. The Israelites had rebelled against God and He allowed them to go into captivity because of their rebellion. So will God be angry with true believers forever?
No, He will not be angry forever with those who have truly repented and followed Jesus. But this made me wonder: Will God be angry forever with the wicked? Will His righteous anger burn forever against those who die in their sins as rebels against the Lord? Yes, His righteous anger will burn forever against those who die in their sins and reject the only salvation found in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 85:1-5 says: Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger. Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
God’s Faithfulness
The Psalmist is remembering God’s faithfulness to His people, even when they weren’t always faithful to Him. He is pleading with God to remember them and to not let His anger against His chosen ones continue from generation to generation. The Psalmist is pleading with God for relief. Even in verses 1 through 4, the Psalmist proves that God does not remain angry at true believers forever.
Does God chasten those He loves? You better believe it. Sin brings punishment and chastisement. The purpose is to bring believers who have fallen away back to the Lord again. It is the modern-day equivalent of God allowing other nations overrun Israel when they departed from the statues and commandments of the Lord in Old Testament times.
But God is merciful and full of grace. He restores those who are truly His. He may chasten you for a while, but true believers will be convicted when we are disobeying God. The Holy Spirit will prompt you to turn from your sins and turn back to the Lord. God’s anger will not burn forever against a true child of God’s. Those of us who have truly been born again will be forgiven, when we repent from our sins. True Christians never quit repenting, at least not in this life.
Will God Be Angry Forever With Unbelievers?
Will God be angry forever with unbelievers? Yes He will. But let’s clear up that fact that God is angry with some people right now. You see, many people are peddling a false gospel that God loves everyone. Not every human being is a child of God’s and God is angry with the wicked. The foolish shall not stand in your sight: you hate all workers of iniquity (Psalm 5:5). God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11).
The Bible is clear that God hates the wicked right now. But will He be angry forever? John 3:36 states: He that believes on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36). God’s anger, His wrath abides on unbelievers and His righteous anger abides forever against those who die in their sins. People suffering the torments of Hell will do so forever. They have no rest day or night. The smoke of their torment rises forever.
Matthew 25:46 says: And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
Punishment Of Eternal Fire
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire (Jude 1:7).
And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire (Matthew 18:8). 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 burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).
Folks, I’ve quoted a lot of Bible verses tonight about the reality of Hell and eternal suffering. If you don’t think God will be angry forever, why do unrepentant sinners suffer for all eternity? Of course God is angry with the wicked (unbelievers) forever. Do not be deceived tonight. If you have never repented from your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then God is angry with you.
Do Not die In Your Sins
Do not die in your sins and suffer God’s righteous judgment for all eternity. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). All you are working for in this life apart from Christ is death. Physical death and eternal death – what Jesus called the second death. But the second death never ends. You will wish it would end. You will beg for it to stop, but it will not. Those suffering in Hell will suffer for all eternity. The lake of fire and brimstone will burn forever.
The wages of sin is death. There is nothing that you can do to earn salvation because salvation is the free gift from God. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). You can’t earn favor with God nor can you work your way to Heaven. Salvation is of the Lord. But God commended (or demonstrated) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
You can be saved tonight from the wrath of God, by the mercy and grace of God. That is, if He is drawing you to Himself. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44). You can’t be saved unless God is convicting you over your sins and revealing His Holiness to you. Oh, but if He is drawing you, do not reject such a great salvation. Do not harden your heart.
Repent And Put Your Faith In Jesus
Come to Jesus. Come to Him His way; through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. We have all sinned against God and fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23). The soul that sins, it shall die. The wages of sin is death. Your sin separates you from God. But you can be made right with God when you repent and submit your life to the Lord Jesus.
We have all rebelled against God. Each and every one of us deserves God’s righteous judgment, His eternal punishment. We deserve God being angry with us forever. But God sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means the wrath of God was satisfied when He poured His anger over sin out upon His sinless Son. He did so as Jesus hung on the cruel cross.
Jesus suffered, bled and died and rose again the third day. Jesus defeated sin, death, Hell and Satan. God offers eternal life to all who repent and put their faith in Jesus. When you do this, God is not angry with you. Your sins are forgiven. He casts them as far as the East is from the West. God holds your sins against you no more.
None Of Us Are Righteous
You are now seen as righteous or right with God. Not for anything that you have done and certainly not for any “goodness” that you may have. None of us are good. No, God sees you as righteous because He credits the righteousness of Jesus to you, that is, when you repent and surrender your life to the Lord Jesus.
Oh, but for those who do not repent and believe the Gospel, be forewarned, God is angry with you. Will God be angry with you forever? The answer is yes, if you die in your sins, in your rebellion against our Holy, righteous, just God, then yes, His anger over your sins will abide upon you forever. I’m pleading with you, don’t do it. Do not continue racing down the broad road to destruction.
Recognize that you are a sinner. Cry out for God to save you. Repent from your sins and put your trust in Jesus. Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Be saved. Be saved today. Your sins can be forgiven. You can become a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old things can pass away and all things become new. God will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Repent Therefore And Be Converted
Oh, but you must repent. Repent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19). Oh do this and be refreshed, be renewed. Come to Jesus and be saved and God will not be angry with you forever.
Instead, you will receive love like you’ve never known. Repent and believe the Gospel and receive God’s love. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). When you repent and trust Jesus, you are a child of God’s and you are loved. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16).
(This message was proclaimed in downtown Springfield, Mo on August 16, 2019)