International Ministers Fellowship

Being A Keynote Address to The OPEN GATE 2024, An International Gathering of International Ministers Fellowship (IMF) Holding in The United Kingdom, January 11-14, 2024.

The word, wrath, evokes fear in the minds of people. It paints the picture of a rampaging angry force trampling and destroying every person on its course, resulting in vehement brutality, horrendous affliction, and tormenting fear. Wrath is the extreme opposite of pleasure and comfort. According to Dictionary.com, wrath is “strong or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire. Vengeance or punishment as the consequence of anger.” Wrath is used in reference to God, as well as to man, and Satan. In reference to God, the Bible observes “the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience” (Colossians 3:6). In reference to man, the Bible affirms that “the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). In reference to Satan the Scripture bemoans, “…Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Revelation 12:12). 

The Bible uses the word wrath in three distinct ways: Firstly, it is used to express physical anger as the fierce anger of a king against his subjects. Example, “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). Paul warned the Ephesian believers –  “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath”(Ephesians 4:26). Paul also admonished the fathers on godly parenting saying – “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). King Solomon offered this practical wisdom to live by saying, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).

Secondly, wrath is used in scripture as an expression of human’s sinful and Satan’s inspired anger. Example, Jacob decried the wrath of Simeon and Levi his sons – “Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honour be united to their assembly; for in their anger, they slew a man, and in their self-will, they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel” (Genesis 49:5-7). James underscored the futility of human anger serving as a means to any godly end – “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).

Thirdly, wrath is used to express God’s righteous anger – God threatened to pour his wrath against the children of Israel for their stubbornness – “And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation” (Exodus 32:9-10). God will ultimately unleash His wrath to judge human sinfulness – “Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19:15).

WHAT IS THE WRATH OF GOD?

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18).

The wrath of God is His loving action against evil, which basically consists of the “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” God’s holy nature forbids Him to be indifferent to sin but demands that He actively punishes it. His wrath is therefore His righteous judgment against sin. Paul explained detailly “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honour, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honour, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God” (Romans 2:53-11). Notice that people are treasuring up wrath for themselves as a result of the hardness and impenitence of their hearts. The clear implication of this is that the wrath of God against sinners is duly earned; God will only let each person reap what he or she sowed. He is only giving back to each person whatever the person deserves –“For there is no partiality with God.” 

Therefore, God’s wrath as His judging action against sin, manifests in surrendering people to the consequences of their actions. Romans 1: 24,26,28 support this conclusion. Let us see what those verses say: 

· Romans 1:24 – “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonour their bodies among themselves.” 

· Romans 1:26 – “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.” 

· Romans 1:28 – “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” 

Notice the phrases, “God gave them up” and “God gave them over.” These phrases depict God’s indifference instigated by human mulishness. God’s wrath is expressed in leaving people to their own desires. His wrath makes people follow their own way, which often leads to harm and destruction because without Jesus we are slaves to sin, and sin is intrinsically always destructive. Recall the wisdom of God which states, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

God’s wrath differs from human wrath in that it is not retribution against those who had offended Him. Its goal is not to get back on someone but rather it is to uphold His justice. Every system of justice must uphold and extant law. The law upon which the wrath of God operates states, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezekiel 18:20). Only as a sinner lays the burden of His sin on Christ and receives His righteousness can he escape the wrath to come. This means that in reference to God, wrath does not mean vengeance, because it is not aimed at exacting revenge on people. It is rather a holy display of His justice. J.I. Packer observed in his seminal book, “Knowing God”: “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil.” God’s wrath is His love in action against sin. It is simply God’s love responding to godlessness, wickedness, stubbornness, unrepentant hearts, and rejection of Jesus as Saviour and Master. 

THE LOVE OF GOD VERSUS THE WRATH OF GOD

It is a strange paradox that wrath can be found in a God who is love. This paradox is made more incomprehensible in the face of such claims by God as He proclaimed through Isaiah saying, “Fury is not in Me. Who would set briers and thorns against Me in battle? I would go through them; I would burn them together” (Isaiah 27:4). Here God declared that He has no wrath because He has the capacity to overcome every opposition in battle. My understanding is that wrath, when applied to God takes up a different meaning and goal than when it is applied to man.  Wrath is an essential attribute of God as love is. As God cannot be truly what the Bible claims He is without love, so can He not be truly God without wrath. The infinite worth of God’s purity demands and justifies His wrath. God’s wrath is the proportionate display of His unsoiled holiness in judgment of those who reject His love in Christ. 

In God, wrath is as much a virtue as love or holiness. The God who is love (1 John 4:8) is at once holy (1 Peter 1:16), righteous (Daniel 9:14), as well as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28-29). There is no hierarchy of attributes with God. Each of these attributes is indispensable in attaining an accurate understanding of God. Take away any and you have a strange god of your own making. The God, who is love, is at the same time, holy, righteous and a consuming fire. In God, severity and goodness find perfect accommodation as Paul explained in Romans – “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22). Focusing on God’s goodness at the expense of His severity create a truncated view of Him, much as focussing on His severity at the expense of His goodness. One fosters licentiousness and the other legalism.  The God of the Bible is at the same time good in His severity and severe in His goodness. 

On the Cross we see a clear demonstration of the love and the wrath of God in the sacrifice of Christ. There we see God’s utter hatred for sin and His love for sinners. God unleashed the totality of His wrath against sin on Christ while He hung on the cross. Isaiah prophesied about His suffering saying, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him…And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). In Paul’s words, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us…” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our Lord suffered both physical and emotional pain that can hardly be imagined by the human mind. The worst part of our Lord’s experience of the wrath of God while on the cross was His father’s apparent indifference to Him in His suffering. Having taken responsibility for the sins of the whole world, past, present, and future, the Father could not but distance Himself from His Son. The weight of His sense of abandonment is spelt clearly in His lamentation: “…My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). Ladened with the sin of humanity, the Father, who cannot countenance even a fleeting fellowship with sin turned His face from His dear Son, letting Him bear the fulness of His wrath.

The effect of God’s wrath on Christ is summarized in Scripture as follows: “But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man” (Isaiah 52:14, NLT). Through such gruesome brutality as Christ went through to atone for our sins, shines forth the love of God for us. His pain becomes our joy. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:8-9).

THE WRATH TO COME

“And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

The wrath to come is the Day of the Lord’s Judgement, when He will judge everyone according to their deed, whether good or bad. Paul reminds the Corinthians – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

God promised to judge everyone according to their deeds. Those who are found to be righteous will be blessed while those who are guilty even of one single sin, will be damned. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:10-11). The wrath to come will occasion the unveiling of God’s terror against sin and His righteous indignation against those who choose their self-righteousness over the righteousness of Christ. 

THE TARGET OF THE WRATH TO COME

According to the testimony of the Bible, humanity as the progenies of Adam and Eve, “…were by nature children of wrath…” (Ephesians 2:3). This means that our nature as human qualifies us for the wrath to come. The only way of escape available to us is through the intervention of Christ. The following are some specific targets of the wrath to come.

· “Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD Goes forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD will not return until He has done it, and until He has performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will consider it” (Jeremiah 30:23-24).

· “God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; the LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies” (Nahum 1:2).

· “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6). 

Notice in the three passages above, the description of the target of the wrath of God. The whirlwind of God’s wrath is programmed for the head of the wicked, who are otherwise identified as the enemies of God and sons of disobedience. The wrath of God, which is described by Spurgeon as “the tremendous peril,” dangles over every ungodly person who stubbornly rejects Christ. the Bible makes us understand without any equivocation that “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). Failure to believe in Christ, and by implication to obey Him,  qualifies one for the wrath of God. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). With reference to Christ, believe and obedience mean the same thing. 

Those who make empty confession of their faith in Christ but do not support that with practical holy living will attract the wrath of God upon themselves. Paul calls them sons of disobedience. The context of Ephesian chapter 5 shows that Paul was addressing believers. He began by challenging them to become imitators of Christ as His dear children and to lead a lifestyle “as is fitting for saints” (Ephesians 5:3). Here is the text of Paul’s admonition: “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:3-11). A believer who does not obey Christ and live consistent with the leading of the Holy Spirit but is a partaker of the pollutions and immorality that is rife in the world, is a son of disobedience who will certainly be visited with the wrath of God. 

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM THE WRATH TO COME

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7).

John the Baptist used the word “flee” as the appropriate method to escape from the wrath to come. To flee is to run away as from danger. It is to run so ferociously as not to be overtaken by a life-threatening danger. Escaping the coming wrath calls for vigilance and sober lifestyle. Soberness is a virtue we have almost entirely lost in the church today. Believers now compete with the worldlings in their macabre pursuit for worldly pleasures and applause. One cannot escape the coming wrath while wallowing in unruly living. Paul warned that the day of wrath will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night. “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The wrath to come will come upon the world like labour pain comes upon a pregnant woman. I had a relation whose labour began while we were working in the farm. Before we could get her to the hospital, her baby was born. The wrath to come will arrive unannounced at the hour least expected.  The only option open for believers is to remain spiritually alert and stay connected with Christ. Paul advises believers, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-8).

Only by trusting Jesus and Him alone can one escape the coming wrath. Our Lord Himself assured us, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). The wrath of God and judgement of God will come upon those who rejected Jesus and followed the path of evil. Those who refuse to submit themselves to the righteousness of God in Christ but are rather going about establishing their own systems of righteousness will certainly be damned. Those who trade the grace of God for self-righteousness will end up on that day like a stubborn king who danced naked in the marketplace. The Scripture affirms ever so vehemently, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). God’s wrath is satisfied completely in Christ. At calvary, Christ became the target of God’s unrestrained wrath, consequently, those who put their trust in Him will be delivered from the wrath to come. On the strength of that reality, Paul argued, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9). Faith in Christ is God’s eternal antidote to the wrath to Come. Believers must ever find solace in the good intentions of God towards them in Christ. The scripture assures us that “God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9). This is good news worthy of our limitless celebration. All true believers are destined for salvation and not for the wrath to come. To God be all the glory.

CONCLUSION

The keynote of out text is that there is a great day of God’s judgment coming upon all people. That day is the day of wrath when God will unleash His wrath against the godlessness and ungodliness of humanity. The wrath of God, which means His angry response to human disobedience is a function of His love. A God who would not punish sin cannot be love. Hence, the wrath to come is a day of God’s righteous judgement against those who persist in evil in defiance to Christ’s invitation to abundant life in Him.  Here is a vivid description of the day of God’s wrath and its concomitant cataclysmic events:

“Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:14-17).

Only those who are anchored and rooted in Christ can stand and that, only by His grace.

Thanks for listening. God bless you.