Spring Camp Meeting

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: SCM

Program Code: SCM180011A


00:41 Welcome to the 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting:
00:45 The Three Angels' Messages.
00:49 Hello friends, and welcome to 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting!
00:53 We are so glad you've taken the time to tune in.
00:57 We're going to welcome you with a hearty "Amen. "
00:59 Amen!
01:00 We have been under the unction of the Holy Spirit
01:03 here at 3ABN Camp Meeting, and right now is no exception.
01:06 Shelley Quinn, who is so very much a part of our 3ABN family,
01:11 is going to present a message this morning:
01:13 God's Holy Wrath: Fire and Brimstone.
01:16 And I know that God is going to anoint her.
01:18 So if you're listening by radio or watching by television,
01:21 we'd like to encourage you
01:22 to pray for the Lord to speak to your heart.
01:24 But before she comes, I'm going to lay the foundation
01:27 by sharing a song that I know is important.
01:29 It's important that as you speak about that topic
01:32 that I Give You Jesus.
01:59 If the ship of your life
02:03 is tossing on the sea of strife,
02:08 you need someone.
02:15 If you feel so all alone
02:19 and your house is not a home,
02:23 you need someone.
02:30 If you feel life isn't fair
02:35 and there's no one left to share
02:38 all the lonely days and nights
02:43 when things just won't turn out right,
02:47 and you want someone to share
02:51 and someone to just be there
02:56 you need someone.
03:03 So I give you Jesus...
03:08 He's the peace
03:10 that passes all understanding.
03:18 I give you Jesus...
03:23 He's that perfect love
03:25 that casteth out all fear.
03:33 I give you Jesus...
03:38 He's the water that we'll drink
03:42 and never thirst again.
03:48 I give you Jesus...
03:54 my friend,
03:57 I give you Jesus.
04:06 If the pressures all around
04:09 keep your spirits to the ground,
04:14 you need someone.
04:20 If your body is in pain
04:24 and your health you can't regain,
04:29 you need someone.
04:35 If the times that you have tried
04:39 with all the strength you have inside
04:42 and it seems that you have failed
04:46 remember on the cross He's nailed
04:50 all that bitterness and grief
04:54 to give you peace and sweet relief
04:58 He is the Someone that we need.
05:04 So I give you Jesus...
05:10 He's the peace
05:12 that passes all
05:14 understanding.
05:19 I give you Jesus...
05:24 He's that perfect love
05:26 that casteth out all
05:31 fear.
05:35 I give you Jesus...
05:39 He's the water that you'll drink
05:43 and never thirst again.
05:49 I give you Jesus...
05:54 my friends,
05:56 yes, I give you Jesus...
06:00 He's everything; He's the One we need...
06:05 I give you Jesus...
06:09 my friend,
06:13 yes, I give you
06:18 Jesus.
06:31 Amen! Thank you John!
06:34 Amen! Oh, you look good today!
06:38 Everybody's smiling.
06:40 I have to tell you first of all
06:43 let's pray that my tongue will not be tangled.
06:46 I have been so excited about this Camp Meeting.
06:51 When I get really excited I don't sleep.
06:53 I woke up looking like Rocky Raccoon this morning.
06:57 And it's like: "Oh, Lord, You're going to have to
07:01 make up for the sleep deprivation. "
07:04 And we're going to pray about that.
07:05 But our focus for this hour is Revelation 14:10:
07:12 God's Holy Wrath. And let me put it this way:
07:15 the good news, the gospel of God's holy wrath
07:21 and fire and brimstone. And believe it or not,
07:24 it is good news.
07:25 So let's kind of re-cap for those who... We just want
07:29 to welcome everybody that's watching
07:31 whether you're TV, Internet, or listening on the radio.
07:34 Let's re-cap the three angels' messages.
07:38 The first angel is seen in the sky
07:41 and he has the everlasting gospel.
07:45 The gospel as Hebrews 13:20 talks about it
07:50 the blood of the everlasting covenant.
07:53 This is the gospel that was introduced in Genesis 3:15.
07:56 It is the gospel that was revealed to Abraham
07:59 when he saw the day of Jesus and he was glad.
08:03 It is the gospel that was depic- ted in the sanctuary system
08:07 and it is the gospel that was fulfilled in the death, burial,
08:11 and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
08:13 The gospel - the everlasting gospel - is the foundation
08:18 of the three angels' messages
08:19 and you cannot preach or teach the three angels' messages
08:24 unless you begin with the gospel.
08:27 Nothing else makes sense.
08:29 So he is then saying... He says: "I've got the everlasting gospel
08:35 for every nation, tongue, tribe, and people. "
08:37 We're to preach it, right?
08:39 And he says: "Fear God and give Him glory
08:42 for the hour of His judgment has come.
08:44 Worship Him who created heaven and earth
08:47 the sea, and the springs of water. "
08:49 Then the second angel comes along
08:52 and he says: "Babylon is fallen! Is fallen! "
08:56 Satan's errors are crumbling and Babylon has fallen.
09:02 Now the third angel comes along with a dire warning
09:06 and this warning is this:
09:08 "If anyone worships the beast
09:11 or receives his mark in his forehead or in his hand... "
09:17 their choice brings this consequence.
09:20 Revelation 14:10... Revelation 14:10 says:
09:44 You know, I grew up fearing God the Father.
09:47 All I ever heard about the Father was about His wrath.
09:51 And people twisted scriptures
09:55 to make Him seem demanding and severe.
09:59 And I hope in our short time today
10:02 that we are going to put that fallacy to rest.
10:05 So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before You
10:08 holy and righteous God in the name of Jesus Christ
10:12 thanking You for the gift of salvation,
10:14 thanking You for Your greatest gifts of grace:
10:18 Jesus Christ, Your Holy Spirit, and Your Word.
10:21 Oh Father, pour out Your Holy Spirit now on me.
10:24 Pour out Your Holy Spirit on the people...
10:27 on all who are hearing my voice.
10:29 And Father, may the Spirit be our teacher
10:32 and empower us to not only share this message
10:36 but to put it into practice.
10:38 We thank you, Father for the answer to the prayer of faith.
10:41 In Jesus' name, Amen.
10:43 Let me ask you a question:
10:45 what is the most important thing about you?
10:51 What matters most in your life?
10:55 The answer's going to surprise you.
10:59 What? That's a great answer, by the way.
11:01 But the most important thing in your life is what you believe
11:05 about the nature and character of God.
11:10 What you believe about the character of God is critical.
11:14 Do you see Him as a loving Father?
11:18 Or is He to you a stern and demanding taskmaster?
11:23 Do you see the God of the Old Testament
11:25 portrayed with different characteristics of the God of
11:29 the New Testament?
11:31 Do you realize that Jesus came
11:34 to reveal the Father? To show us the Father?
11:39 And Hebrews 1:3 says that He is the exact representation
11:44 of the Father's character, of His nature and His being.
11:48 So as loving and kind and gentle as Jesus was
11:52 that's the Father.
11:54 You know, it is sad but many religious denominations
11:59 view their picture of God as through a kaleidoscope.
12:03 Do you know what a kaleidoscope is?
12:05 That little cylinder thing that you twist the bottom.
12:08 It's got broken pieces of glass
12:10 and as you twist it makes different patterns.
12:13 Many religious denominations take Bible fragments;
12:18 they put them together to come up and reflect
12:23 a disjointed picture of God.
12:27 Many Christians base their beliefs on denominational creeds
12:33 and on traditions of men
12:36 rather than making the Bible their rule of faith.
12:39 And we have to remember God's thoughts are higher
12:43 than our thoughts, are they not?
12:46 His Word is settled; it stands firm forever.
12:50 And we have to put away preconceived opinions.
12:56 You know, the things that we thought were true about God
13:00 because they can insulate our mind against truth.
13:05 And we've got to put those away
13:06 and we've got to search the scriptures
13:09 to verify that what we believe is true.
13:11 Amen? Amen! All right. So this is the way much of the
13:15 religious world views God. But what about the secular world?
13:20 What is their picture of God?
13:23 I know intellectually honest atheists
13:26 who have come to scripture
13:29 to study with an admitted bias
13:33 that they wanted to prove that
13:34 God was nothing more than fiction.
13:36 And you know what has happened?
13:38 They have found proof of the existence of God.
13:44 The evidence of God.
13:46 They have seen in scripture the beauty of His love
13:49 and they've become Seventh- day Adventist Christians.
13:53 But now there are others in the secular world
13:57 who are atheists and agnostics
14:00 who actually started with a Christian background.
14:05 But what happened is they had erroneous teachings
14:09 that painted God as a reprehensible being
14:14 and they turned their back on God
14:17 concluding that the Bible was nothing more than fiction.
14:21 Are you familiar with
14:22 the militant atheist Richard Dawkins?
14:25 Not Stephen... Oh boy, I always get them confused...
14:30 Richard Dawkins not Stephen Hawking
14:33 who was the theoretical physicist that just died.
14:35 But Richard Dawkins embraced Christianity
14:40 till half-way through his teenage years.
14:44 And then guess what happened? He turned his back on God;
14:48 he turned his back on the Bible;
14:50 he said "It's just fiction. "
14:51 He doesn't believe in creationism;
14:54 he doesn't believe in intelligent design.
14:56 He has become a full-fledged supporter of Darwin's theory
15:01 of evolution.
15:02 Now let's look in his book The God Delusion.
15:07 This is what Richard Hawkins - Dawkins -
15:11 I'm going to confuse this... what Richard Dawkins says.
15:15 And I'll tell you: for a tired tongue this is a tongue twister.
15:19 But in his book The God Delusion Dawkins says:
15:57 Let me ask you: what lens is he looking through?
16:03 Have you ever seen a more disjointed picture of God?
16:08 But there are people who believe this.
16:11 Now let's consider one other
16:14 who embraced Christianity and his name is Chas. Templeton.
16:19 He's now deceased, but he was a pretty famous Canadian.
16:22 Charles Templeton converted to Christianity;
16:26 he became a very popular evangelist.
16:30 But along the way he began to settle into
16:34 a theologically and socially
16:38 more liberal stream.
16:42 And as he did he began to doubt
16:46 and he lost his faith.
16:49 And he declared himself to be an agnostic.
16:54 And agnostic is one who doesn't claim either
16:58 disbelief or faith in God.
17:00 But they think nothing can be known about God.
17:04 Now listen to this man who was an evangelist
17:08 at one time. In his book Farewell To God
17:11 Charles Templeton writes:
17:30 I wonder what half-baked distorted doctrines
17:35 these men were exposed to.
17:38 Think about this!
17:40 It is, I know... I mean I just know that I know...
17:44 that the fallacy of the immortal soul
17:48 and unceasing torture in hell
17:51 was right at the top of the error that they were taught.
17:56 You see, that fallacy infiltrated the church
18:02 by pagan philosophy.
18:05 And this erroneous teaching
18:09 has disfigured God's image
18:13 turning many away from Him completely while keeping
18:17 countless Christians at arms' distance from Him.
18:21 Ooh! That was me!
18:23 I loved Jesus but I feared the Father
18:26 and I kept Him at a distance.
18:29 A complete misunderstanding of God's wrath
18:34 leaves people trembling in doubt and despair.
18:39 And I just have to say it is a travesty
18:43 to portray God as stern and unyielding
18:46 in the Old Testament
18:48 and God of love in the New Testament.
18:51 Because a careful examination,
18:54 a thoughtful study of both Testaments,
18:56 will reveal He's the same in both Testaments.
19:00 The Old Testament is this grand story
19:04 of God's covenant love, redemption, and grace.
19:08 He shows Himself to be a righteous God
19:12 of truth and justice. A Creator who is filled
19:15 with wisdom and goodness. But more than anything
19:19 a Father who is slow to anger and abounding in love.
19:24 While it is true...
19:27 Yes, the Old Testament does emphasize
19:33 more the wrath of God.
19:37 Because the New Testament is magnifying His mercy,
19:42 love, and grace to us in Jesus Christ, right?
19:47 But let me tell you something: the New Testament
19:50 does not lose the emphasis on God's righteousness
19:55 or His severity of punishment on sin.
19:59 In fact, the New Testament...
20:02 the element of wrath is not overlooked,
20:05 it is intensified because God has sent His Son
20:10 to die for us. God is unchanging.
20:12 He is perfect in character.
20:14 He is the same in both Testaments.
20:18 The Old Testament He says: I am the Lord; I change not. "
20:22 And the New Testament says Jesus Christ is "the same
20:25 yesterday, today, and forever. "
20:29 I'll tell you what: our language, our understanding
20:35 is so limited. God is so much bigger -
20:39 so much grander - than any human language
20:43 can describe. And do you realize
20:46 we only have seen a glimpse of His grace.
20:51 We don't understand the depth of His love.
20:54 But God longs to be understood.
20:57 He wants to be known and understood by His creatures
21:01 so that He can strike a responsive chord
21:06 of love in us.
21:09 The apostle John sums up the essence of God's character
21:14 in I John 4 and verse 8.
21:18 I John 4 and verse 8 he says:
21:31 The inherent essential essence
21:36 of God's nature is love.
21:40 Love... that's who He is!
21:43 He IS love.
21:45 And if that is His nature,
21:47 all character attributes have to be derived
21:54 from nature, right?
21:56 So we've got God with this nature of love.
22:00 That means all of the attributes of His character
22:04 must be compatible with love.
22:07 God - when we think of His character -
22:11 God is holy. He is righteous; He is morally pure.
22:16 He is just. And what does it mean to be holy?
22:20 Holy means to be separated from sin.
22:24 So God is totally separated from sin.
22:30 His nature of love... and let me explain why.
22:34 Love and sin are polar opposites.
22:39 They are irreconcilably incompatible.
22:44 So it is God's nature of love
22:48 that establishes His perfect holiness.
22:53 Did you know it is God's nature of love...
22:56 When He pours His love into us by the power of the Holy Spirit
22:59 did you know that's what establishes our holiness?
23:02 Look at I Thessalonians 3:12-13.
23:07 Paul is writing. He says:
23:21 OK... who is doing the work?
23:23 The Lord.
23:25 He's the One that's going to cause you to increase
23:27 and abound in love.
23:29 He says: "Just as we do to you so that... "
23:32 Any time you see so or so that
23:36 this is a purpose statement.
23:54 Do you see what that's saying?
23:55 As we grow in divine love -
23:58 we open up our heart and let God pour His love into us -
24:01 we grow in holiness... we become more like God.
24:05 We are separated from sin.
24:09 Hebrews 12:29 is a scripture that makes many tremble.
24:13 And Hebrews 12:29 says this:
24:25 "Our God is a consuming fire. "
24:30 If I've got gold ore here and I put it through the fire,
24:34 what happens?
24:36 The dross is burned off and it is purified.
24:40 Fire purifies.
24:43 Let me tell you: this is what this scripture means.
24:47 When it says "Our God is a consuming fire"
24:50 love consumes sin.
24:55 Love consumes sin.
24:58 That's why you and I cannot stand in the presence
25:02 of a holy God... a God of love.
25:05 If He were to embrace us as we are,
25:08 if we didn't have the robe of Christ's righteousness,
25:12 if God put His arms around us
25:15 we'd be gone... we'd be obliterated, incinerated.
25:19 We would be gone!
25:21 So love consumes sin.
25:24 How do we then reconcile
25:27 the love of God and the wrath of God?
25:30 The juxtaposition of these two ideas...
25:33 putting them side by side...
25:35 has caused much angst in the Christian community.
25:39 But they are compatible... totally compatible.
25:42 Let's look at His anger. God has a visceral response to sin.
25:49 It is deep-seated, deep-rooted.
25:51 He finds sin absolutely reprehensible.
25:56 It is disgusting... it is repulsive to Him.
26:00 And He gave us the gift of free will.
26:05 But what man has done is we have misused
26:10 that freedom. Man has taken the gift of free will
26:14 to do wrong instead of right.
26:18 And when you think about this
26:20 God's government operates by the power of love.
26:27 But the sin-sick world operates by the love of power
26:33 where the strong exploit the weak.
26:37 And man is angered... Don't you get angry
26:41 at man's inhumanity against man when we see it?
26:45 Why do we think God would not be angered?
26:48 Of course He's angry. It is unthinkable
26:52 to see sin ruining lives and not be angry at it.
26:57 But thankfully God is slow to anger.
27:01 He is very patient and longsuffering.
27:04 And that is repeated throughout the Old Testament
27:07 but let me say... we're going to quote Nahum 1:3.
27:11 Nahum 1:3 says:
27:25 Those who are unrepentant aren't going to be excused.
27:29 God loves the sinner and hates the sin.
27:34 Amen! His love is not sentimental.
27:37 He does not blindly ignore our sin.
27:42 The idea that God is not angry with sinners
27:46 is not found in the Old Testament or the New.
27:49 God is... What we find is that
27:53 only sincere repentance - which is a gift by the way -
27:58 but as we come before Him in repentance
28:01 then God forgives us and His anger is remitted.
28:07 Psalm 30 and verse 5 says this:
28:20 When we repent God cleanses us.
28:24 He forgives us and cleanses us of all unrighteousness.
28:28 You know, He remembers that He formed us from the dirt.
28:32 He remembers that we are but dust.
28:35 Psalm 103:11-14 says:
29:06 Hallelujah! Aren't you glad? Amen!
29:09 God's anger is always morally right and justifiable.
29:15 It is not easily aroused
29:17 but it should be dreaded.
29:20 When human iniquity runs over
29:24 God's anger is aroused to wrath.
29:27 And the way I would explain the difference between anger
29:30 and wrath is wrath is anger on steroids.
29:34 So God's anger and wrath is aroused
29:38 and to express His grief and His unrighteous...
29:45 Let me say that again:
29:46 His righteous indignation
29:49 He pours out His wrath to restrain evil,
29:54 to correct sinners,
29:56 and to punish the stiff-necked rebel.
30:01 Now sometimes God's wrath is active intervention.
30:06 Can you think of a time when He actively intervened
30:10 to destroy evil?
30:13 How about the flood
30:15 when He turned the world into a lake of water?
30:20 Sometimes God's wrath is passive.
30:24 He steps back and He lets sinners suffer the consequences
30:30 of their own choice.
30:32 But you know what? It wounds God... it hurts Him.
30:38 He doesn't want to let people go.
30:42 And when they reject His love and He just steps back
30:46 from them He is bleeding.
30:50 His heart is bleeding over those He loves.
30:53 God wants all to be saved.
30:55 In I Timothy 2:4
30:57 Paul expresses this. He says: "God desires
31:01 all men to be saved
31:04 and to come to the knowledge of the truth. "
31:08 So let's further analyze the wrath of God.
31:12 Both God and humans express wrath
31:16 but there can be no comparison between the two.
31:19 None whatsoever.
31:21 We are warned against human wrath
31:24 because it is usually an emotional response
31:27 to a perceived wrong or injustice.
31:31 And we have to recognize our nature is stained by sin
31:37 so our wrath is usually uncontrolled unrighteous anger
31:42 and it is an evil to be avoided.
31:45 But God's wrath is rooted in His love.
31:51 All right! Let me repeat that
31:53 'cause you don't want to miss that one.
31:55 God's wrath is rooted in His love.
32:00 His wrath is a response to something outside His nature
32:05 against ungodliness and wickedness.
32:08 And it is aroused to protect the objects of His love
32:12 from the situations and elements that are not of His creation.
32:18 God is a moral, personal being
32:22 who is unalterably opposed to evil.
32:27 And when He makes a righteous decision of justice
32:31 and He takes personal actions against evil
32:35 He confronts sin in holy love,
32:38 holy anger, and holy judgment.
32:42 And most often His wrath is tempered by His mercy.
32:47 Aren't we glad for that? Amen!
32:50 Because He wants to bring about repentance.
32:55 BUT the day will come
32:58 when He does His strange act and He will pour out His wrath
33:03 full strength, not mingled with mercy
33:07 to annihilate sin and by association
33:13 sinners will share in its fate.
33:16 What we see is that as we study scripture
33:23 God's wrath is not a permanent attribute.
33:27 No sin... no wrath...
33:30 but it is an ever-present potential
33:35 to carry out the sentence of sin.
33:38 And what is the sentence of sin? Death.
33:41 Both the Old Testament and the New Testament agree on that.
33:44 Ezekiel 18:20 says:
33:46 "The soul who sins shall die. "
33:50 And in Romans 6:23 Paul writes: "The wages of sin
33:54 is death but the gift of God
33:59 is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. "
34:02 Again, God is love, but He doesn't blindly ignore our sin.
34:09 Rather, the extreme depth of His love for us
34:13 we're shown when He sent His Son an offering for our sin.
34:19 When Jesus came and drank the cup -
34:23 the bitter cup - of God's wrath and His fury against sin
34:29 to satisfy the demands of love's justice.
34:33 Let's look at Romans 5:8-9.
34:36 Romans 5:8-9. I love this passage!
34:41 It says:
35:13 You see, humanity had just sunk into the depths of depravity
35:19 and we were utterly unable to fulfill the righteous demands
35:24 of our Creator God. We deserve nothing more...
35:28 we deserve nothing more than His wrath against sin.
35:31 But God did not spare His own Son.
35:37 Isn't that amazing?
35:39 If we had time, I could talk about that for an hour.
35:43 But John wrote in I John 4:10... he said:
35:47 "In this is love
35:49 not that we loved God but that He loved us
35:53 and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. "
35:59 The good news of the gospel -
36:02 the good news of Revelation 14-
36:06 the good news of the gospel is that sinners who justly deserve
36:11 the wrath of God may be delivered from it
36:15 through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
36:22 Amen! He came to be our substitute.
36:27 At the cross Jesus satisfied the penalty for sin.
36:32 He satisfied God's wrath against sin and sinners.
36:36 Mercy, lovingkindness, and truth met at the cross.
36:43 Righteousness and peace kissed at the cross.
36:48 Hallelujah! Aren't we glad
36:53 for a loving Father who put such value on us?
36:58 You are worth nothing less than the price that He paid
37:01 for you with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
37:05 Now according to Paul the gospel reveals the righteousness
37:10 of God but it also reveals His righteous wrath.
37:13 Let's look on the screen at Romans 1:16-19.
37:19 Paul writes:
37:58 God's holiness demands justice
38:02 but His love demands grace.
38:06 Justice is to get what we deserve.
38:11 Mercy is to not get what we deserve.
38:18 But grace is to get what we don't deserve.
38:24 And God's grace will chase us down.
38:27 He does not want to condemn us.
38:29 He wants to save us for eternity.
38:32 That's why He created us.
38:34 And He revealed in humanity His saving love through Christ.
38:39 And when we are united with Jesus by faith
38:42 we're at peace with God.
38:43 Let's look at what Paul said in I Thessalonians 1:10.
38:49 I Thessalonians 1:10 Paul says:
39:07 Now look at John 3:36.
39:11 John writes, John 3:36:
39:24 We're going to come back to that idea in just a moment.
39:27 Everlasting life is only given to the righteous.
39:31 Those who do not believe in the Son don't get eternal life.
39:44 So can you see how important it is to believe in Jesus?
39:49 How do we know if we're believing in Jesus?
39:53 Believing in Jesus goes hand in hand
39:56 with obeying His commandments.
39:59 I John 2:3-4... this will be on the screen...
40:03 I John 2:3-4 says this:
40:22 Whew! Whoo!
40:27 Whoo! You know, John says in the next chapter
40:32 I John 3:24
40:44 What must we do to remain?
40:47 I believe that we can have total assurance of salvation
40:52 as long as we are abiding in Christ.
40:55 It is not once saved, always saved.
40:59 But as long as we remain in Christ...
41:03 See, He doesn't take free will away from us.
41:06 Some people may accept Christ as their Savior.
41:09 Something happens. They turn their back and they walk away.
41:13 And if they do, they are not remaining in Christ.
41:17 But to remain in Jesus we've got to obey His commandments.
41:21 Believing in Him means to be living in Him.
41:26 And breaking His commandment is a sin.
41:29 Sin is an offense against the Creator.
41:33 Against our personal loving Lawgiver.
41:36 The moral governor of the world
41:40 who vindicates His law of love through penalty.
41:45 Just think about this for a minute.
41:47 The finger that wrote this law of love -
41:50 those ten commandments on those two tablets of stone -
41:53 was nailed to the cross.
41:57 Can you imagine that?
41:59 No wonder God's wrath abides on those who reject His love...
42:04 on those who are ungodly and unrighteous.
42:08 They're living under a death sentence
42:10 awaiting God's coming judgment.
42:13 Those who cling to sin and refuse to honor His authority
42:16 are treasuring up wrath for the day of God's final judgment.
42:21 Romans 2:5-9 will be on the screen, and it says this:
43:02 Will God allow such rebellion to go unpunished? No!
43:07 He will obliterate sin in holy love and holy judgment.
43:13 You know, the Hebrew prophets warned
43:16 that the world was "kindling" the wrath of God
43:22 against unrighteousness.
43:24 They saw a cataclysmic day of judgment
43:28 when God will wipe out all sin.
43:32 Judgment against rebellion and sin is coming,
43:35 and unrepentant sinners will not be able to stand
43:40 when God's tribunal... He's sitting on His throne
43:43 and all the secrets of their heart are exposed...
43:46 they won't be able to stand before Him.
43:50 The wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.
43:55 And the Hebrew prophets call this "His strange act. "
44:01 Look at Isaiah 28 and verse 21.
44:05 Isaiah 28:21:
44:23 God's mercy will have reached as far as it can ever reach
44:28 and uncharacteristically God, the Creator,
44:33 will have to become the destroyer.
44:35 He will destroy what He did not create.
44:39 So now let's get back 'cause my time is just going away.
44:42 Let's go back to Revelation 14:10.
44:46 Do you remember in Revelation 13:5
44:49 Babylon proclaims and demands that anyone who doesn't worship
44:55 the beast is going to be what? They're going to be killed.
44:59 But now the third angel comes along
45:02 and in a loud voice he says: "No! No! No!
45:06 That's not true. If anyone does
45:11 worship the beast, he is going to have to drink
45:15 from... " Let's look at this: Revelation 14:10.
45:19 "Anyone who worships the beast and his image
45:22 receives the mark on his head or his hand... "
45:27 this is what their choice brings.
45:30 This consequence: Revelation 14:10:
45:47 The third angel is warning to anyone who shows allegiance
45:51 to the beast is standing at enmity to God's purpose.
45:55 And if they drink the intoxicating wine of idolatry
46:00 and spiritual adultery,
46:03 then they're going to have to drink the bitter cup
46:05 of God's indignation. The seven last plagues
46:09 will be poured out on them without mercy.
46:13 And you know what? There's no need to feel sorry
46:16 for them. They will have been warned
46:19 about worshiping the beast
46:22 before the visitation of God's judgment.
46:25 And earth's inhabitants are going to be without excuse.
46:29 It's too late to repent.
46:31 In fact, if God gave them more time they wouldn't repent.
46:35 That's why He's determined to come.
46:37 So they're going to receive the reward of their actions
46:40 and "the wages of sin is death. "
46:42 So the worshipers of the beast are tormented in fire and
46:46 brimstone. What is fire and brimstone?
46:49 This is an allusion to Sodom and Gomorrah.
46:51 In the science of hermeneutics -
46:54 Bible interpretation - there is a very useful principle
46:58 called "the rule of first mention. "
47:01 So when you see a term in the Bible
47:03 and you don't understand it, look up the first time
47:06 it was mentioned in the Bible
47:08 and in context it will help you understand
47:11 what that term means. First time fire and brimstone
47:14 is mentioned in the Bible is Genesis 19:24-25.
47:19 It will be on the screen.
47:34 God had revealed to Abraham
47:36 that He was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah
47:38 and Abraham said: "Would You also destroy the righteous
47:42 with the wicked? " So Abraham began negotiating
47:45 with God. They finally settled. Abraham said:
47:48 "If You find just ten righteous
47:50 in the cities, will You spare them? "
47:52 God said: "Sure. " But there weren't ten righteous.
47:55 God sent angels, and the only ones who came out
47:59 were Lot, his wife, and two daughters.
48:01 And then He rained the fire of His fury
48:04 down on Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them.
48:07 Did God hate the people of Sodom and Gomorrah?
48:11 No... they hated Him.
48:13 And let me tell you something:
48:15 we've got 4,000 years of history in the Old Testament.
48:22 In that... just those few books. That's 4,000 years of history.
48:25 Don't think you're getting the entire story.
48:28 If God sent Jonah to wicked Nineveh,
48:30 I'm sure God had been trying to save these people
48:33 in Sodom and Gomorrah.
48:34 That's who He is.
48:36 Now in the New Testament Jude says this:
48:38 "As Sodom and Gomorrah... " Jude 1:7...
48:41 It'll be on the screen.
49:03 The vengeance of eternal fire.
49:05 Are they still on fire today?
49:06 No. No... they were reduced to ashes.
49:10 Yet many sincere-hearted Christians
49:13 have been taught that eternal fire means unceasing torment.
49:17 And this is untrue.
49:19 It is an unjust characterization of God.
49:22 In fact, that would make God worse than Mussolini,
49:24 Pol Pot, and Hitler all rolled into one.
49:27 Is any being who would torment another being
49:32 without end worthy of worship?
49:36 No! The apostolic church fathers
49:39 in the first century... You know, the apostolic church
49:43 fathers were the early Christian leaders
49:46 whose lives overlapped the times of the apostles.
49:48 So they knew the apostles.
49:50 And they taught... After Christ died in the first century
49:54 and 3/4 of the second century they taught
49:58 that there were only 2 options: the way of eternal life
50:01 or the way of eternal death.
50:03 And what happened is this pagan philosopher
50:08 by the name of Tertullian comes along.
50:10 He'd been a pupil of Plato.
50:13 Plato was a pupil of Socrates.
50:15 And they had put forth this pagan philosophy
50:19 of immortal life for the soul.
50:23 The Bible says only God has immortality right now.
50:27 We find that in I Timothy 6:16.
50:29 But what happened is Tertullian comes along,
50:32 he converts to Christianity, becomes an ecclesiastical
50:36 writer and then guess what he does?
50:38 He introduces his pagan philosophy to the church.
50:41 Said: "Oh well, if man's soul is immortal, he must have to burn
50:45 for eternity. " But in the Greek
50:49 the word for eternal and everlasting is aionios.
50:54 And that is a term that derives its meaning
50:59 from the thing with which it is associated.
51:02 So when you use aionios - eternal and everlasting -
51:05 associated with God it does mean an infinite
51:10 existence because God is immortal.
51:13 But when you use aionios - eternal or everlasting -
51:17 with mankind or perishable things
51:21 it means only as long as that person or thing exists.
51:27 Eternal redemption Hebrews talks about.
51:31 It's not an endless process of redemption
51:33 but its results are eternal.
51:35 Eternal judgment: it's not an endless process of judgment
51:40 but its results are eternal.
51:44 Eternal fire
51:46 consumed Sodom and Gomorrah
51:50 and the results are eternal.
51:54 II Peter 2:6 says this.
51:56 Whew! We're going to have to go from here...
52:00 II Peter says:
52:13 So eternal fire for humans
52:17 results in total everlasting destruction.
52:22 The lake of fire is the second death.
52:25 Revelation 21:8 says:
52:44 It mentions the second death four times.
52:47 Our God is a consuming fire,
52:49 and in His final embrace of love
52:52 for the whole world He is going to consume all sin
52:58 because love consumes sin.
53:01 Let's look at quickly Isaiah 66:22 and 24
53:07 in the context Isaiah's speaking of the new heavens
53:09 and the new earth.
53:32 Huh? See, unquenchable fire
53:34 means it's not quenched before it achieves its result.
53:39 And then he says: "They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. "
53:43 And Malachi 4:1 says:
53:56 They'll be totally annihilated.
53:59 God says that it will leave them "neither root nor branch. "
54:04 Now Revelation 6:16-17...
54:09 and I'm skipping two pages of notes...
54:11 says that at His coming
54:15 those who rejected Christ's love,
54:20 His salvation...
54:23 Here's what it says. Revelation 6:16-17.
54:45 The wrath of God the Father and the wrath of Jesus Christ
54:49 are of equal intensity.
54:52 So let's summarize real quick.
54:54 God is love; that's His essence of His nature.
54:57 Unconditional, unselfish, other-centered love.
55:01 All attributes of God's character
55:03 are derived from that love.
55:04 So God's wrath against sin is rooted
55:09 in His nature of love.
55:11 God's judgment is absolutely necessary
55:15 to accomplish the redemptive purposes of man.
55:21 He promised us a place where righteousness dwells, right?
55:25 So there's no way to purge evil
55:27 except through the destruction of those who have set themselves
55:31 in irreversible hostility against God.
55:36 So there's a mutual relationship
55:38 between God's wrath and His love.
55:42 It is not unreasonable.
55:44 What's unreasonable - beyond our reason - is that God
55:47 would become a human being and die as our substitute.
55:51 But He's more than that. Hebrews 7:22.
55:54 My favorite scripture in the Bible: Hebrews 7:22 says:
56:07 See, He is our surety.
56:10 He's the surety from God to us
56:13 because II Corinthians 1:20 says
56:15 "All of God's promises are yes and amen in Him. "
56:19 But He is the surety from us to God that we'll walk
56:23 in covenant loyalty because
56:28 Philippians 2:13 says that He's going to work in us
56:32 both too will and to do His good pleasure.
56:35 And Philippians 1:6 promises
56:38 that He will complete the good work He has begun in us.
56:42 Isn't that exciting?
56:44 Amen! Isn't that exciting?
56:47 Whatever you believe
56:50 about the nature and the character of God
56:57 is the most important thing about you.
57:04 Why? Because what you believe
57:07 about the nature and the character of God
57:12 will determine your eternal destination.


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Revised 2018-10-25