Modern American Christianity does its best to avoid the doctrine of the wrath of God, but the Scripture speaks of it everywhere. In this message Pastor Brian seeks to open up this truth, and shows the Source, Timing, and Objects of the wrath of God.
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The Wrath Of God
Romans 1:18
In our last study in the Book of Romans, we saw the theme of the book in verses 16 and 17. The theme of Romans is the gospel. What is the gospel? It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. What is revealed in the gospel? The righteousness of God. The gospel is a revelation that God is willing to bestow a gift of His righteousness upon sinners because of the finished work of Christ. This gift of righteousness is received by faith from first to last.
In verses 17 and 18 Paul says that there are two things that are revealed. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven. Paul begins verse 18 with the word “for”. He is giving us the reason why all men need this glorious gospel. It is because all men are under the wrath of God. You see, in Romans 1:18 through 3:20, Paul launches into his first main point – Our Desperate Need For The Gospel. In this section, he helps us to see the total depravity of the human race and the judgment of God that will fall upon us.
It’s interesting to me that Paul launches into his explanation of the gospel by talking about the wrath of God! Paul begins his explanation of the gospel with a statement about God’s wrath. Now, that seems totally counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? That is diametrically opposed to our American evangelistic technique. We purposely try to avoid that theme, if at all possible. We don’t want to scare away the “new convert”, and so we bring up God’s mercy, and grace, and forgiveness, and love, and happiness, and joy and peace, and abundant living, in hopes of wooing this person to Christ. We tell the sinner that they can have all of these wonderful things, if they will only just come to Christ. However, Paul did not resort to our Madison Avenue evangelistic techniques. Paul began by talking about God’s wrath and judgment. How many times have you began presenting the gospel to someone by saying, “Oh, by the way, did you know that the wrath of God is revealed against your ungodliness?”
You see, we can talk about God’s love and grace and forgiveness all day long, but it will never come to a sinner with power and conviction, unless they understand God’s wrath, and justice, and hatred. How can they understand forgiveness, until they understand the penalty of sin? How can they understand God’s love, until they understand His hatred of sin? Men will not seek God’s grace and salvation, until they understand that the wrath of God is upon them. They must come to see that they are in grave danger and desperate need.
So, this morning, we are going to study the wrath of God, as seen in Romans 1:18. I want to focus with you on the Source of Wrath, the Timing of Wrath, and the Objects of Wrath.
1. The Source Of Wrath
Our text says “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” – let’s stop right there. This tells us that this is God’s wrath, and it comes from heaven. That tells us its source. This is not human wrath. It is divine wrath. It comes from God. Just as the righteousness in verse 17 is God’s righteousness, the wrath in verse 18 is God’s wrath.
Now, it is at this point that we stumble. We somehow think that for God to show wrath is wrong, and is somehow a blight on His holy character. However, all of that is wrong thinking on our part. We just read this last week as a church in Exodus 33 and 34. Well, in Exodus 33:18-19, Moses cries, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” God responds, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” Then in the next chapter, in Exodus 34:6-7 the Bible says, “Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will be no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Moses says, “Lord show me Your glory!” The Lord says, “OK, I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim my Name to you.” So, how does God do that? He starts proclaiming His attributes to Moses, like His compassion, grace, patience, lovingkindness, truth, and justice. Notice, that God’s determination to by no means leave the guilty unpunished was one aspect of His glory, and shows God’s goodness. We tend to think of God’s wrath as being a defect. God, Himself, says it is part of His glory and it is good. Now, how could God’s wrath and justice be good? Well, we all know that injustice is evil. When we are the ones who are treated unjustly, we instinctively understand that injustice is wrong. So for God to exercise justice is right and good and true, and it is good because evil ought to be punished.
Usually, human anger is sinful. James tells us in 1:20 “the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” However, God’s anger is never sinful. It is always holy. God’s wrath is His eternal detestation of all unrighteousness. It is God’s holy displeasure and righteous indignation against all evil. It is the moving cause of that just sentence which He passes upon evildoers. Because God is holy, He hates all sin. Because He hates all sin His anger burns against the sinner. Ps.7:11 says, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day” (KJV). We tell sinners, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Biblically we should say, “God loves you, but is angry with you on account of your rebellion, and commands you to repent.”
There are more references to God’s wrath, anger, fury, and judgment (about 1,200) than to His love, grace, mercy, and lovingkindness (about 800). Virtually every author of Scripture speaks of the wrath of God. They do not always use the word “wrath”, but use synonyms like judgment, condemnation, fury, vengeance, etc. So, with so many references to the wrath of God in the Bible, we have to stop thinking that wrath is somehow unworthy of God.
Let’s take a brief sampling of what the Bible says about God’s wrath. Let’s look at the Old Testament first.
Psalm 2:12, “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
Psalm 78:49 (speaking about the Egyptians), “He sent upon them His burning anger, fury and indignation and trouble, a band of destroying angels. He leveled a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave over their life to the plague, and smote all the firstborn in Egypt, The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham.”
Psalm 90:7,11, “For we have been consumed by Your anger and by Your wrath we have been dismayed… Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?”
Isaiah 34:2, “For the Lord’s indignation is against all the nations, and His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter.”
Isaiah 63:3-6, “I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come. I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath upheld Me. I trod down the peoples in My anger and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
Nahum 1:2-3,6, “A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet… Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him.”
But, what about the New Testament. Yes, it is true, the Old Testament does present God as a God of wrath, but surely the New Testament presents Him only as a God of love, right? Wrong! Both the Old and New testaments present God as a God of love and wrath.
John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Matthew 3:7, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
Romans 2:5-8, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the unrighteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who be perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”
Hebrews 10:26-27; 30-31, “for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries… For we know Him who said, ‘vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Revelation 14:10-11, “he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
The God of the Bible is exactly the same from cover to cover. Yes, He is a God of love and forgiveness, but at the same time He is also a God of wrath and fury.
So, is God’s wrath a blot on His character? I’m afraid that’s how we really feel. Is wrath unworthy of God? All of God’s attributes are Divine Perfections. God has made no attempt to conceal the facts about His wrath. He is not embarrassed or ashamed to speak of His wrath. There is no blemish in God, yet there would be if wrath were absent. Indifference to sin is a moral blemish. How could a perfect all-holy God look with equal satisfaction upon righteousness and evil, or ignore sin and refuse to manifest His displeasure with it? He could not!
Why are we so hesitant to speak of God’s wrath? In centuries past this was not the case. We have all heard of Jonathan Edward’s famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It used to be that people would write hymns about the wrath of God. How many new songs have you heard on the wrath of God? How many sermons have you heard on the love of God? How many have you heard on the wrath of God? How many times have preachers told a sinner that God loves him? This happens constantly. Yet, how many times have we told sinners that God’s wrath abides on him? Is it because God’s love is a more important attribute than His wrath? No. It is because it is taboo in our modern society. We have accepted this taboo and have been conditioned never to raise the matter. We feel we need to apologize for God. We link wrath with a loss of self-control or losing His temper. That’s true in us, but it is never true in God. His wrath is perfect, not impetuous & rash. Bible says He is slow to anger. His wrath is a necessary reaction to moral evil. He is only angry where anger is called for. Some see God’s wrath as cruelty. No, it is not cruel because cruelty is always immoral, but those who receive wrath receive precisely what they deserve. Only suffer what strict justice requires, and what they have chosen for ourselves by deliberately and willfully continuing in sin and ignoring Christ’s claims on them.
So, the first thing we need to understand, is that the wrath being spoken of in Romans 1:18 is God’s wrath. The source of this wrath is divine and it is from heaven.
2. The Timing Of Wrath
Our text says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.” That’s the present tense. It is exactly the same tense as verse 17 which says, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” In fact, the NIV puts it like this, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven.” So, when does God reveal His wrath from heaven? Now, constantly, all the time. In other words, God is not going to only reveal His wrath at the end of history on the day of judgment. He has been revealing His wrath from the beginning of time. How has He done that?
When Adam and Eve sinned, God revealed His wrath. He banished them from the Garden of Eden, and brought a curse upon all of creation.
In the days of Noah, God revealed His wrath. He brought a flood upon the earth that destroyed every living thing under heaven.
He sent fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy those wicked cities.
He destroyed all the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
He sent Saul and the Israelites to kill every man, woman, child and beast.
He brought the Assyrians into Israel to take them captive and deport them.
The greatest manifestation of God’s wrath was when He put His own Son on a cross. There Jesus bore the full fury of God against sin on our behalf.
God is revealing His wrath from heaven all of the time. However, that’s only a little trickle. Romans 2:5 says, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” When we build a dam for a man made lake, the water from the surrounding creeks slowly fill it up. When the water gets too high, they let out some water at the base of the dam. That rushing water looks very powerful to us, but it’s nothing like what it is going to look like when that dam breaks and millions of gallons of water come rushing upon the heads of the people who live in the city below. Right now, sinners are storing up wrath for themselves. The water is rising higher and higher. God reveals His wrath a little here and a little there, like the water let out of the base of the dam. But one day, on Judgment Day, all heaven is going to break loose with righteous fury. The dam is going to break. Sinners will face the unmitigated fury of almighty God. Then His wrath will be fully and completely revealed to the entire universe!
So, the source of wrath is God Himself. The timing of wrath is right now, and throughout history.
3. The Objects Of Wrath
Who is this wrath going to come against? All ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. God is offended and provoked by all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. His wrath is stirred by all the unrighteousness of men that He observes. Well then, who are the objects of God’s wrath? All men who are unrighteous and ungodly. Who are they?
Paul gives us the answer in Romans 3:10-12, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” That’s a pretty absolute answer, isn’t it? Later in verse 23 Paul writes, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So, who are the objects of wrath? All unrighteous men.
When does a person come under the wrath of God? Is it when he has passed the age of accountability? Is it when he commits a really heinous crime like murder or rape? Is it when he dies in an unforgiven state? Let’s let Paul tells in Ephesians 2:3, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Paul says that we were by nature children of wrath, even as everybody else are. Now, what does Paul mean by “by nature”? He means by your fallen human nature. When you became a human being, you became a child of wrath. In other words, Paul is saying that when we arrived into this world we were already a child of wrath. We look at a little baby and think they are so pure and innocent. Not in the sight of God! In His sight, they are corrupt, depraved and under His wrath. They have already been infected with the virus of sin, and it is only a matter of time until that virus manifests itself into all kinds of sinful behavior.
So, all unrighteous and ungodly men are under God’s wrath, and they have been under God’s wrath since birth. Are there any who are not under His wrath? In order to escape God’s wrath a person would have to be godly and righteous. Are there any in the world like that? You see, that’s really what Paul is saying Romans 1:17-18. In verse 17 Paul says that all who have faith in Jesus Christ are righteous before God. They have been given God’s gift of righteousness. So, here is the line of demarcation – faith in Christ. Those who have it are justified, righteousized, and saved from the wrath of God. All those without it are unrighteous, ungodly, and under the wrath of God.
Conclusion
So, what can we learn from Romans 1:18 of practical importance for our lives today?
- Imitate God. God is a God of wrath. He tells us that we are to be like Him. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry, and yet do not sin.” That is a command. God commands us to be angry. What are we to be angry about? Sin! We are to be offended by the things that offend God. When we see divorce, and abortions, and homosexuality, and racial injustice, and murder, and rape, and sexual trafficking, these things should grieve and anger us, because that’s what they do to God! If we are indifferent and apathetic about these things, we are not reflecting the heart of our God. Hebrews 1:9 says of Jesus, “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.” Are we being conformed into the image of Christ. Do we love righteousness and hate lawlessness?
- Speak of God. What do I mean by that? I mean, tell others the truth about God. It does no one any good to hide the truth about God! In your personal witnessing, in your street preaching, in your door to door ministry, you and I need to tell people about God. Never be embarrassed to tell people about the wrath of God. God is not embarrassed by it. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, because God’s wrath is one of His perfections. It’s common to paint every person who speaks plainly about the wrath of God as a “Hell fire and damnation” preacher. We think today that we have outgrown that old archaic and outmoded form of evangelism. Well, if we have, we have outgrown the Bible. When Paul preaches the gospel to those in Rome, he does so by beginning with the wrath of God. That’s why when we used to lead neighborhood investigative bible studies, we would do it in 5 weeks. Each week we would help people discover from the Bible what it teaches about five different subjects: what the Bible teaches about Itself, God, Man, Jesus, and Salvation. We have to start by helping people understand what the Bible teaches about God, and that requires that they understand that without Christ they are under God’s righteous wrath. When we have so sanitized and sugar-coated the gospel that there is nothing for anyone to ever be offended by, we have robbed the gospel of its power. It is no longer the power of God for salvation. Brothers and sisters, stir up your courage, and in love tell people of the wrath of God against their unrighteousness and ungodliness.
- Seek God. What do I mean by that? I mean that you and I need to be sure that we have been saved from God’s wrath. If you are not sure, seek Him, until you have been given a strong Biblical assurance of salvation. Paul says in Romans 5:9, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” If you are not sure that you have received the gift of righteousness through faith in Christ, tremble! Be afraid! Seek God! Go to him on bended knee, and cast yourself on His mercy. Ask God to save you for Christ’s sake. Put all your trust in Jesus and what He has accomplished for your soul. And you will come to have assurance that Jesus will deliver you from the wrath to come!
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