Saved From the Wrath of God
(part 1)
1.
Romans 5:9
What Exactly Is The Wrath Of God?
Romans 5:9,
"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be
saved from God's wrath through him!" "Turn
in your Bibles to Romans chapter 5, as we look at the results of God's work of
love. Romans chapter 5, we see “That being justified by faith we have
peace with God through out Lord Jesus Christ” (verse
1), “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we
now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of
the glory of God. Not only so, but we
also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance.” And verse 3 says we can rejoice in our
tribulations and trials because we know that God's producing something through
them (cf. James 1:2-4). And then he
says, ‘We can rejoice in the
hope of heaven, and we can rejoice because we are going to miss out on the
wrath of God.’ Verse
9 is what I want to look at today
and our topic is “Saved From the Wrath of God.” Look at chapter 5, verse 9. Read
it with me. “Much more than, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be
saved from the wrath of God through him.” I love this verse, and I'm
excited about the verse this morning. We're going to be saved, gang, we shall be saved from the wrath of God
because of his blood [think of the original Passover, when the wrath of God was
taken out on all who didn't have the blood across their doorposts in Egypt ]. Well, what
is the wrath of God? It's not hell, let
me tell you right away. It's not
hell. It's not the Lake of Fire . That's
punishment, yes. That's what going to
happen to those who are the recipients of the wrath of God [if they do not
repent when their opportunity for salvation is given to them], but specifically
that is not the wrath of God. Let's see what the Scripture says the wrath of
God is. Daniel 12, verse 1 talks
about this time of God's wrath. “And there shall be a time of trouble such
as never was since there was a nation until that time.” So
it's called a time of trouble like they have never had before. Jeremiah
30, verses 4 through 7 says it's
the time of Jacob's trouble, specifically Israel , the
nation of Israel, Jacob is involved in this. “Now these are the words
which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah [Israel in context with his saying Judah
could have referred to the 10 lost tribes, the northern kingdom or House of
Israel by this prophet, whoever they might be], for thus says the Lord, 'I've heard the sound of terror, of dread,
and there is no peace. Ask now and see
if a man can give birth.’” Anybody see a guy give birth? No. “‘Why do I see every man with his hands on
his loins as a woman in child-birth? And
why have all faces turned pale?’ Alas,
for that day is great, there is none like it, and it is the time of Jacobs distress or trouble. But he will be saved from it.’” Israel's going to go into this day of God's
wrath, a time of distress, a time of trouble, but God will save a portion of
Israel out of it. It's called the Great
Day of the Lord Zephaniah 1,
verses 14 through 18, “Near is the great day of the Lord, near
and coming very quickly. Listen, the day
of the Lord, in it the warrior cries out bitterly, and a day of wrath is that
day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day
of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and
battle cry against the fortified cities and high towers. And I will bring distress on men so that they
will walk like the blind. And because
they have sinned against the Lord, and their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung. Neither their
silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in that day of the Lord's
wrath. And all the earth will be
devoured in the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete end, even a
terrifying one of all the inhabitants of the earth.” It sounds like Zephaniah is
recording what would happen if God allowed nations to attack each other with
nuclear warheads. People would be blind
walking around, some their blood is poured out like dust, that speaks of
dehydration, just like a nuclear blast can evaporate, vaporize you. 1
Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 2 says “For you yourselves know
full well that the Day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.” This
is called “the wrath of the Lamb” in Revelation 6:16-17, “and they said to the mountains and to the
rocks, ‘fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb.’ For the
great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand?” Revelation 14:10 says, “He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is mixed in
full strength and the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the Lamb.” That's
what's going to happen to the anti-christ. And so that you really understand the summation of the wrath of God, the
entire whole big ball of his wrath is going to be tossed out during the great
tribulation. No doubt about it, Revelation 15:1, “And I saw another sign in
heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels, who had seven plagues, which are the
last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.” And Revelation 16:1, “I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the
seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the
earth.’” This wrath that we have been saved from, in
Romans 5:9 is not hell-fire, it is the wrath of God during the great
tribulation, we have been saved from it, praise the name of the Lord.
Who Will Go
Through The Wrath Of God?
Who will go through it? Well, I'll
just give you a quick survey. Romans 1:18, since you're there, go to chapter 1, verses 18, this sort of summarizes it all, who's going to go
through 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.” In Ephesians 2:3 it says “We
were by nature children of wrath,” so in other words, if you're not born-again by the power of God, you
have an old nature that is a nature that is going to be the recipient of the
wrath of God in the end times. [We have
to understand that when Paul wrote this he and all the other apostles sincerely
believed the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ was imminent and going to be
in their lifetimes. The statement about
the wrath of God does apply to those who will live in the end times going right
into the tribulation (World War III) and the events leading up to the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. But understand,
from the time Paul wrote this to now, almost the entire Church Age has gone by
without this wrath of God being applied to mankind. This wrath of God, in proper context with the
entire Church Age, is but a short span of time which those living in the world
at that time will go through. We are in
the time period of the end times, as evidenced by our ability blast all life
from off the planet, but no one knows when World War III or the 2nd coming will occur within the context of our times. It may be a generation away. Who knows? Jesus said that no man would know the day or hour of his coming, no, not
even the angels. But rest assured, we
are closer to those events than was Paul when he penned this verse.] Ephesians chapter 5, let's look at who the
wrath of God is poured out on. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 5, “For this
you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is
an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of God and of Christ. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for
because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience,
therefore don't be partakers with them, for you were formerly in darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord. So walk
as children of light.” Colossians 3:6
says, “Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” We're told
in Revelation 11 that the wrath of God is going to be poured out upon those who
destroy the earth. Ecology is an
important subject. Earth is not my
mother, you know. I'm not into this
planet worship business, goddess worship. But it is important as Christians that we take care of the earth,
because the earth is "who's?" -- the Lord's
and the fulness thereof. This is, as the
hymn writer said, my father's world. So
it matters to me what happens to the earth and all that the Lord created [and
look at what man is bringing on himself by destroying the earth’s eco-systems,
see https://unityinchrist.com/warming/warming1.htm]. But the purpose of this great tribulation is
to destroy the systems that are anti-God and anti-Christ. [Actually, he's a little off. The great tribulation is World War III,
brought on by Satan's evil unseen influence on evil men (i.e. just like he did with
Adolph Hitler). The Day of the Lord,
comprised of the Seven Trumpet plagues and Seven Last Plagues, is to destroy “those
who destroy the earth,” man's evil anti-God, anti-christ systems of
government.] And to pour out the wrath
of God upon a sin-loving and Christ-rejecting world. The purpose of the tribulation is to test
Israel and bring her back to God and to her Messiah [he's talking about the
Jews and Israelis], to purge the nation, as Daniel 11:35 and Zechariah 13:8-9
state.
Who Will Not
Go Through The Great Tribulation
Well, who will not go through the great tribulation? Probably I'm more interested in who's going
to miss out on this time then on who's going to go through it. That's my selfish nature. Who won't go through the tribulation? Those who have been justified by the blood of
Jesus Christ, going back to Romans 5 verse 9. Let's read it one more time. We've defined now what the wrath of God is clearly through the
Scripture. The day of wrath, the great
and terrible day of the Lord, the Seven Last Plagues when the wrath of God is
poured out in full, that is The Day of the Lord, the wrath of God that we are
missing out on. The wrath of God that we
will escape is the time period made up of the great tribulation and Day of the
Lord. Romans 5:9, "Much more
than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath
of God through him." True believers who have a
personal faith in Christ will not go through this period of the wrath of
God. [seehttp://www.unityinchrist.com/faith/whatis.htm.] It's
interesting, that in Luke 21:36, just note it. In Luke
21:36 when Jesus
is telling his disciples all the terror that will come upon the world during
that time, then he has a little aside. He says, “But
keep on the alert at all times, praying, in order that you may have strength to
escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the
Son of Man.” In other words, Jesus said ‘You can escape these
things.’ [the type of being alert, watchful is not daily pouring over current events and
prophecy to try to figure out when it's all coming down, but instead to be
alert spiritually, awake spiritually, filled with the Holy Spirit, being led by
Him (Romans 8:9-16).] And instead of
being left standing in the tribulation, you could stand before the Throne. You don't have to go through the great tribulation. Revelation
3:10, which we'll
look at more next week, says, “Because
you have kept” -- speaking
of the last-day faithful church – “the
word of my perseverance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing, that
hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell upon
the earth.” [for more on this last era
of God’s Church on earth, see https://unityinchrist.com/revelation/revelation3-1-22.html and scroll to the Philadelphia era paragraph and
read from there.] People ask me often
times, ‘Mark, am I ready for Jesus to come?’ Well, you're the one who's got the answer to
that. Growing up, I used to dread this 2nd coming of Christ, and that was what our church was all about. I mean, his 2nd Advent was even
in the name of our church it was such a big deal-an Adventist-you know. And
yet, I wasn't ready for Jesus to come. And they used to have these evangelists come in, and they always would
have a lady with a low voice sing, and she would always sing this song. I think they called her a contralto. And she would sing "Are you ready for Jesus to come, are you faithful in all that you
do, have you stood for the right, have you fought a good fight, can others see
Jesus in yooou?" I'm going No! No! No! No! I'm not ready for Jesus to come! I'm not faithful in all that I do, I didn't
stand for the right yesterday, I caved in! Others can't see Jesus in me most of the
time! No, I'm not ready! Are you ready for Jesus to come? You know what makes you ready is not what you do, it's who you know. Not what you're doing, but it's who you're knowing, and the one you
know, he'll change your life anyway. I
can stand here now and say, "I'm ready for Jesus to come. I'm ready if the Lord were to come right now,
I'm ready!" And I'm even wanting
Jesus to come. You know, trouble weans
us from this world. You get a little
more trouble in your life, you get a little more longing for heaven [and the
coming Kingdom of God]. Yet get a lot
more trouble in your life, you get a lot more longing for heaven. Don't you? And so I'm longing for heaven, I'm wanting it. If there were two buttons here, "stay
here", "go be with the Lord", I would be hard pressed. Oh it would be nice to stay here, do a little
bit more for the Lord, but man, I'm afraid I'd go for the green button. (If it's a green button, whatever color it
is, I'd push it.) Jesus makes you ready,
Jesus makes you ready for heaven. Remember, there's a
difference between the wrath of the world coming against the church and the
wrath of God coming against the world. The great
tribulation does not originate from Satan. [He's got his terminology mixed up a
bit here. The great tribulation, World
War III, does originate from Satan. The
Day of the Lord, the wrath of God, originates from God.] It's not something Satan conjures up, the
angels of God pouring out seven bowls of plagues on the earth in which the
wrath of God is finished. This is not
some demon doing a bad thing, this is something God's in control of, the wrath of God comes right from God's hand and is poured
out upon the world. Whereas, the trouble
I experience as a Christian does not come from God [but is allowed by God to
purify us], but comes from the evil one and from this world's system. Jesus said, John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you that in me
you might have peace, and in the world you're going to have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world.” True believers are going to face tribulation,
but not the Great Tribulation [i.e. the Wrath of God, the Day of the
Lord]. We're going to face trouble from
the devil's hand, and from the world's hand, and from our own flesh. But we're never going to face, never face,
the time of the wrath of God. When his
wrath is poured out in full strength upon the world, we're not going to be here
gang. You say, “How do you know,
Mark? How do you know?” Well, because I believe the Bible very
clearly teaches a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. [Calvary Chapel teaches a pre-tribulation
rapture. Other pre-millennial
denominations believe in and teach we go to a place of safety before the
pre-tribulation -- both set of beliefs are pre-tribulation. As of this point in time, it's really unclear
which is true, and the teaching one way or the other is so fuzzy, and also
2ndary to the gospel of salvation that it's just not all that important. It is important to realize, both interpretations are based on solid Scripture
that promise protection from the day of God's wrath for believers that are
still alive. I speculate-tongue in
cheek-that God may "rapture" all of us to a "place of
safety". Some Messianic Jews also
believe in the "place of safety" interpretation. This website does not take a stand one way or
the other on this issue or teaching, as it proves to be divisive among
different parts of the body of Christ, not a point of unity. What both sides can agree on is that Jesus
promised protection from the Tribulation, WWIII, and God’s wrath, in Revelation
3:10. Look it up and read it.] "Pre" means before, before the tribulation. Pre-tribulation, and rapture, that's just
another word for being “caught up to be with the Lord.” And I'll tell you how we got that word
Rapture in a second. But I want you to
see where it is in the Bible. 1
Thessalonians 4, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. All the T's are together in the New Testament, and it just happens that
the 1st and 2nd Thessalonians are the first of the
T's-Bible hint for the day. 1st Thessalonians 4, verse
13. He's writing to comfort Christians who have
lost people due to the tribulation of this world, not the Great Tribulation
[i.e. the Day of the Lord], the world's trouble coming at them. Not God trouble in the world, but the world
trouble in them. And indirectly, as he's
trying to comfort these baby Christians that he only got to spend a few weeks
with before he was run away from them, he's reminding them of some specific
truths. “Now, we don't want you to be uninformed,”
verse 13, “brethren, about those who are asleep.” When Christians
die, you don't have to worry about them, a tragedy has not occurred, it is no
more dangerous than death. When I go in
and watch my girls sleep at night, and I tuck them in at night and I just make
sure they're there-one of them likes to sleep with one leg up in the air, she
always has a leg on the wall, always, sleeping with one leg up, in those little
cutesy pajama's, you know, with feet in them, it's so sweet. The other one sleeps on her stomach, and her
hands are up above her like this. And
when I go in, I don't start weeping, ‘Oh, it's all over, it's all over!’ What's
the matter? ‘They're asleep.’ ‘Shh, or you're going to wake them up!’ Right? Sometimes I have you come over when you're at my house and the girls are
asleep, and I say “you want to see something precious? Come here.” I mean, I've done that to some of you, haven't
I? ‘Look at them, aren't they sweet?’ The one time of day when they're so
sweet. [laughter] But they're going to wake up. Early. [more laughter] Before you're ready. They wake
up, praise the Lord, they wake up. And
so sleep is always what is spoken of as, when a believer dies, it's always
spoken of as "sleep." Because
our body goes to sleep. It looks like
sleep, and it's no more harmful than sleep. You're spirit [i.e. the "spirit in man", cf. 1 Cor 2; Romans
8] goes to heaven. How do we know? Because in heaven, there is a vision of the
souls of people who were saved during the tribulation, and they've gone to
heaven, and they are there, and they're crying out to God saying ‘Lord, how long
until, holy and just, until you avenge our blood.’ And the Lord
says,
‘Hang on, here's a robe, put this on, hang on until, just a little while longer
until all your fellow servants, the martyrs, are brought up here, and then it
will end.’ ‘Then I'll avenge your blood.’
(Revelation 6:9-11) But the soul is conscious, active, crying out
to God, can even wear a robe. Which is
important, in a minute. [Other
denominations interpret this a being a metaphor, while they interpret Solomon
in Ecclesiastes literally that the soul is unconscious "i.e. soul
sleep". Also in Ecclesiastes, it
says that all spirit's of
those who die go to God in heaven -- the good and the bad -- while the spirit's
in animals go into the ground. These
groups interpret that God then at the time of the resurrection to immorality at
the last trumpet blast in Revelation (cf. 1 Cor. 15) takes the human spirit's of the righteous dead and uses them to resurrect
them just as they were, but with heavenly immortal bodies. The unrighteous dead are resurrected from the
preserved pattern of their past bodies back to physical life -- God using their
human spirits to re-create their bodies and minds just as they were (cf.
Revelation 20:5). So you see, there are
two ways to interpret these passages, and since these apparently conflicting
passages are really in the Bible, the actual truth is not all that evident, making
this a very secondary doctrine-whichever way you choose to believe. Revelation
3:10 does promise “Because thou hast
kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of
temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon
the earth.” Now that one you can take to the bank. So regardless of which interpretation you or
your denomination believes, rest assured, we are all promised a pre-tribulation protection of some sort. When Scripture passages on a particular
subject appear to conflict, it merely means that the subject is extremely
secondary in God's eyes, and he wants us to find out later, and not invest a
whole lot of effort in teaching about it. I am merely pointing this out because some of you come from fellowships
that believe in literal “soul sleep” while others of you come from the “we're
all awake at God's heavenly throne” group. I'm merely pointing out that it's OK to believe either way, as the Bible
hasn't really nailed this one down, it's in one of those gray-zones as far as
interpretation goes. Rest assured, we'll
find out later. This site can't take
sides on such issues without becoming divisive.] “We
don't want you to be uninformed brethren, about those who are asleep, that you
may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope, for if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again” -- do you
believe that Jesus died and rose
again? And then what did he do? He went to the right hand of God. Right? -- “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
God will bring him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” All of those
who have fallen asleep with Jesus are going to come back with the Lord at the 2nd coming. “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who
are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who
have fallen asleep” (the lucky
bums) “for
the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” ‘Oh, oh,
oh, the dead were dead, see they were raised.’ No, their bodies were raised, their spirits,
their souls were in heaven, their spirits and souls were in heaven. They were spirits and souls without
bodies. Paul calls that being naked in 2
Corinthians 5 [vs. 1-9], and it's uncomfortable, that's why the Lord gives ‘em
a white robe to wear in Revelation, because they're walking around, like, ‘Hey,
this is embarrassing.’ The Lord
gives them a robe to wear. But when they
come, they meet their bodies in the air, their bodies are raised, ‘What was planted in
corruption was raise incorruptible, planted in mortality, raised in
immortality,’ and they meet
their new body in the air, they slip into it like you dive into a glove-oh it
feels so good! There's no limitations to
this new body, the Bible tells us it will be a body like the Lord's, no pains,
no misery, hallelujah. Then, when they
get their new bodies, and this is going to happen in the twinkling of an eye
we're told, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up-underline that
word -- caught up -- in the Latin translation that word ‘caught up’ is the
word rapere, which is translated “rapture.” People say ‘The word “rapture” is not even in the Bible.’ Well, it is too, the Latin Bible. I mean, it is in the Bible, the Latin
translation instead of the Greek. “Then we who are alive and remain shall
be caught up” -- raptured
-- “together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the
Lord, therefore comfort one another with these words.” The term
Rapture came from the Latin translation of the word “caught up.” Why? I
don't know. I'd rather call it the “caught
up” Church, you know. Rapture sounds
sound's weird to me. But the word in
Latin for Rapture means ecstasy, you know, and I guess that describes what it’s
going to be like. Nobody's going to be
in the Rapture going “Oh, how dull, boring,” you know. “This is a drag, man.” I mean, all of you, even those of you who sit
so stoically at church, and I try to make you laugh and can't, even you will be
going “Wow!!! This is crazy, I'm just
like Mark!” This is the clear
teaching of God's Word, the Rapture comes before the tribulation, I don't care
who wrote a book on it. I don't care
what the new book is, or the latest teaching or what the stupid television
channel says. Before the Lord returns
[i.e. the 2nd coming], he's going to come for his church, take us up
before the seven year tribulation, then we come back with him in glory, that's
what the Bible teaches, and it's pictured in the Old Testament and it's
promised in the New.
The Picture Of Enoch
Let's look at the Old Testament pictures. Genesis 5, verses 21 through 24 show us a picture of Enoch. Enoch was a preacher of righteousness
according to Jude. Jude tells us in
verses 14 and 15 that ‘Enoch
was a preacher of righteousness.’ Enoch walked with God. A lot of us get the idea that, ‘Ole Enoch,
all he did all day long was walk with God, you know.’ Who's this? -- Bible charades. That's Enoch, walking with God. You got him wrong, man. Put him behind a pulpit, put him out in the
street, put him in front of a bar, put him someplace
preaching righteousness. That's
Enoch. Jude 14 and 15, see, Enoch knew
judgment was coming, he knew the wrath of God was coming upon the world. He knew that a flood of destruction was
coming, he was living right before the flood, when God covered the whole earth
with water for forty days and forty nights, and it really happened. You got the drain of the flood right back
here, the Grand Canyon, it was the drain-plug, you know. It happened. And he preached and he warned people. And yet he kept walking with God though the world around him was into
sex, it was into drugs, and demonism, and we know these things from a close
study and a careful study of the Scriptures, we know it was a bad day to
live. [And Jesus said the end-times
would be like the Days of Noah, a similar time, similar circumstances.] The wickedness of man
was so great that God was sorry he created man. He said ‘I'm
going to utterly blot man off the face of the earth.’ And he would
have done it had Noah not found favor in his sight. And you know how Noah went through that “wrath”
in the ark. But before the wrath came,
Enoch was caught up to be with the Lord. Look, Genesis
5:21, “And Enoch lived sixty years, and became
the father of Methuselah. And Enoch
walked with God three hundred years, and after he became the father of
Methuselah and had other sons and daughters, so all the days of Enoch were
three hundred and sixty five years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not,
for God took him.” I love it. All of a sudden, Enoch and the Lord on one of their jaunts walking
together. The Lord said, ‘You know,
Enoch, it's a little farther to your place than to mine right now. Come up.’ Enoch was raptured. He was caught
up to be with the Lord. ‘Oh, what
about Noah? What about Noah?’ He went through the tribulation, he went
through the tribulation. Yeah, but
Enoch's the picture of the Church, the Church that walks with God. There are people that will go through the
tribulation, yes. They call them
tribulation saints. But it's not the
Church. It's a whole different group of
people saved under the ministry of 144,000 Jewish evangelists, a ministry of
two witnesses that preach the gospel. And the ministry of three angels that fly through the heaven and preach
the gospel. There will be people saved
during the tribulation, trouble is, they all get martyred, except for a few
Jews that hide, God keeps them hidden, like Noah was hidden in the ark. [this is a remnant of the teaching about "a place of
safety" for the Church that is recognized by those who believe in the
Rapture of the Church as opposed to the Church going to "a place of
safety." How all these prophecies
pan out is yet to be seen, I don’t get too dogmatic about them all.] But praise God, the Church, there's a Rapture before the wrath, I love
it! Don't you?
The Picture Of Lot
And there's another picture. The
picture of Lot. Remember the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah had sinned to such an extent, they were so gross that God
said they had to be exterminated. And
before God could pour out his judgment on those cities he first had to remove
Lot and his family. There's a principle
there. And Abraham stated the
principle. Abraham stated it so well in Genesis chapter 18 in
verses 23 and 25, he said to
the Lord, ‘Lord,
Lord, won't you save the cities if there are this many righteous?’ ‘Yeah, I'd save it if there were this many
righteous, but there aren't.’ ‘Well, how
about this many?’ and he kept
counting down, counting down, ‘if
there's just a handful of righteous?’ The Lord
said ‘I'd
save them if there were just a handful of righteous, but there are not.’ Well then he
says, ‘Well,
you're not going to destroy the city, you're not going to let your wrath fall
on Lot are you?’ “And
Abraham came near and said” Genesis 18:23 and I'm just reading pieces of 23 and 25, “Abraham came near and said, ‘Would you
also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous
with the wicked, far be it from you. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?’” You see,
that's the principle, gang. The principle we see
typified in Enoch and in Lot is that God first has to remove the objects of his
love and grace from the sphere of where his wrath is going to fall. The angel
was sent by the Lord to destroy the city, but the angel said to Lot ‘I can do nothing
until you get out of here!’ And the angel had to say to Lot in Genesis 19:22, ‘Hurry,
escape there,’ the angel
said, ‘for
I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ You see,
until Lot was pulled out and arrived safely to the destination, the wrath
couldn't fall. [And whether you believe
in the pre-tribulation "Rapture" or pre-tribulation “going to a place
of safety” this Biblical principle holds true. You see, I think those who believe in the Rapture are terrified to think
the Rapture may not occur, not knowing that if it isn't a Rapture by which
we're saved out of the tribulation, it will definitely be by another means,
i.e. a “departure” to “the place of safety.” It's definitely one or the other folks, it's
just the Bible is a little fuzzy as to which. Any guesses as to why? Usually
when a subject is left a bit fuzzy like that it's because the Lord doesn't want
us to overly focus on it, going all dogmatic and crazy on the subject. There are other things the Lord wants us
going crazy over right now, and it's not how we're going to have our butts
saved physically from WWIII. But this is
a very interesting subject, told from the Rapture point of view. It may happen this way and it may not. Personally, I have no idea at this point
which Biblical scenario is correct, and this site doesn't take sides, just
tries to present both scenarios as objectively as possible and let the reader
decide. Rest assured, those who are
righteous in God's eyes and live on into this time will find out which scenario
is true. Until then, doing the Lord's
will is far more important than focusing overly on this stuff.] And as long as the Church is on the earth you
don't have to worry about us being in the great tribulation. Oh, the war, the Middle Eastern War, the
Persian Gulf War -- people were saying ‘Oh we've entered into the
tribulation!’ Oh baloney, what are
you doing here if we've entered into the tribulation? You're not going to be here for the
tribulation! [true,
whichever scenario is true.] Or, ‘aren't
we going to go halfway through it, like Rosenthal says?’ No, you're not going to go through any of
it. We have been saved from the wrath of
God through him, through Jesus Christ.
A New
Testament Promise About Protection From God’s Wrath
Now, the first New Testament promise about this, we've seen two Old
Testament pictures, we've got time to take a peek at the New Testament promise
in 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2,
Paul writes the letter to the church of the Thessalonians because, again, he
hasn't been able to spend hardly any time with them to nurture them in the
faith. But the little few weeks he had
with them, he poured a lot into them. He
taught them especially about last-day events. Now he's been separated from them since ‘super-spiritual people’ came in, and said ‘we have a revelation from God that Paul has approved, and
it is this, we're in the Day of the Lord.’ Well they knew, just like you do now, that the Day of the Lord meant the
day of the tribulation [correction, day of God's wrath-the great tribulation is
World War III, and is brought on man by Satan. God's wrath comes to end the tribulation, where God starts to make war
on those that are making war and destroying the earth. Just a mix-up in terms, that's all.] ‘Oh no, oh no, Paul has told us that we
wouldn't go through the Day of the Lord. We're in it? Oh no, I missed the
Rapture!’ You know, have you ever
had that feeling? Like you were supposed
to show up at church for a meeting, you didn't know you got the day wrong, and
no one showed up, and you think ‘Mark's not here, the elders aren't here maybe
the Rapture occurred and I didn't go.’ That ever happen to you? Happened
to me the other day, I thought I'd missed the Rapture. “Now
we request you brethren,” chapter 2 verse 1, “with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and our gathering together to him” -- don't you just love that, ‘Our gathering
together to him’ -- “that you may not be quickly shaken from
your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter from
us to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come.” In other
words, they were really shaken up, man, someone said ‘the Day of the Lord
has come!’ ‘What?! We're in the tribulation now?’ They were being persecuted too, by the
way. Someone said ‘This is the great
tribulation.’ And they're saying, ‘What
are we going through the wrath of God for, I thought we were his precious
Bride?’ “Let no one” verse 3, “in any way deceive you, for it will
not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is
revealed and the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every
so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes the seat in the temple of
God, displaying himself as being God. Don't you remember I was telling you these things?” I want you
to see two things. Number 1, this is
tricky, in the Greek. He says, “Don't let anyone deceive you because
it won't come unless the apostasy comes first.” Now the most
common translation of the word “apostasy” is “a defection” or “revolt” or “a
falling away.” But there is another real
meaning of the word “apostasy,” and it can literally be translated “the disappearance” or “a
departure.” You can write that in the margin of your Bible
safely. He's saying, ‘let no one deceive
you in any way for it will not come unless the “disappearance” or the “departure”
comes first.’ Well you could read that two ways, either the
disappearance of true faith from the earth, that'll happen when we
leave-right?-a departure from truth, yes-or it could mean the departure of the
Church-the Church leaves. We're outa here. And so he
says ‘Don't you remember while I was with you, I was telling you
these things?’ What things? Well, look at 1st Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 8, “For
the Word of the Lord is sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and
Achaia, but also in every place. And your
faith toward God is gone forth so that we have no need to say anything, for
they themselves report about what kind of a reception we had with you, and how
you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead-Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Does
that sound like you're going half-way through it [the tribulation and Day of
the Lord]? No! [time will prove
whether this “halfway through” interpretation might be true or not, as with all
prophecies and their proper interpretation, until the fulfillment is in the
history books, we just don’t know for sure.] We're going to be delivered from,
and that word "from" can mean "out of." 1
Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 9, “For God” Oh we better all read this one
too, this is cool, 5:9, “For
God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ.” [I have a word to add, go back to verses 4-8,
putting this verse 9 in context with the whole passage. Paul tells us living in these last days, as
his letter is focused on the last days, in verse 8 how we as believers in
Jesus, Yeshua ought to be acting. Sort
of, if you want to be protected from wrath, pay attention to this “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so
that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the
darkness. So then, let us not be like
others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and
those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day,
let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the
hope of salvation as a helmet.” Revelation 3 talks of two
churches, which some interpret as church era's or revivals, both occurring at
the end times. One is promised
protection from God's wrath, “the
hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live
on the earth.” The other, the Laodicean era or church, has
no such promise of protection. God wants
us to don the breastplate of righteousness, of self-control, faith and love,
all of which are the qualities or traits of the Holy Spirit. But we must be led by the Holy Spirit, as Romans 8 says, not merely be indwelt
by Him. Galatians 5:22-23 give these
same traits of God's Holy Spirit. Paul
is saying here to those who hope to escape the tribulation of Satan and wrath
of God, “put on self-control,
faith and love, agape love, as a breastplate.” That's in verses 4-8. Verses 9-10 must be taken in context with
verses 4-8.]
Who Is
Restraining Wickedness In The World Right Now?
Now, 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, that's the stuff he had told them. He said, ‘Look,
you've not been destined for wrath, and Jesus delivers you from the wrath to
come.’ And then he's already written to the Romans
and he tells the Romans ‘You've
been saved from the wrath that is to come.’ You're not
going to experience the great tribulation, gang. No way. You're going to leave, and actually, you have to leave before it can
come [either way, rapture of place of safety, this is a Biblical truth]. Now, how do we know that? It says, verse 5, “Don't you remember that while I was
still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be
revealed.” And I always go, ‘What? What restrains him?’ What restrains him? Keep reading, “For the mystery of lawlessness is ready [already] at work,
only he who now restrains will do so.” Who? Who is he who restrains? “Until
he is taken out of the way.” Well, who's restraining
wickedness in the world right now? The
Holy Spirit through the Church -- right? The Holy Spirit through the Church, the Church is called light and
salt. Light restrains the darkness, salt
restrains putrification and corruption [corruption: rotting]. And when you remove the light and the salt
from this world, I tell you, it's going to go to hell in a handcart. I mean, it's going to go bad fast. It's going to rot like a dead body on a hot
day. Get the picture? That's what's going to happen. Shall I go on? [laughter] It's going to be gross. But he that restrains it's the Holy Spirit
in the Church, that when we're caught up [or removed from the scene], we are
that which restrains. When we're taken
out, then the anti-christ can come.
What About If
I Want To Wait & See If These Things Happen Before Committing Myself To
Jesus?
Now, a word in conclusion. What
about those of you who say, ‘Well I believe, maybe, but I'm going to wait
until I see it happen, because you know, I've got my life to live, I've got
some things I want to do, I think Christianity might cramp my style, and I'm
going to wait and see if these things happen. If the anti-christ comes up and all these things happen, then I'll
believe.’ Wrong. The Bible says that if you've heard this
message today, and don't accept Christ, and we get raptured tomorrow, you can't
be saved. [Now that's not entirely
true. The Bible says that many will be
saved during the tribulation. These
people are referred to as tribulation saints, as Mark pointed out earlier. But it appears these people may be saved in
and through martyrdom. Also the Laodicean
era saints are saved through the tribulation and their direct martyrdom. Read Revelation chapter 3:14-21.] What?! Listen, not my words. You
listen. Verse 9, After the Church is taken out of the way, verse 8, “And
then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his
coming. That is, the one whose coming is
in accord with the activity of Satan with all power and signs and false
wonders, with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they
did not receive the” -- what? -- “love of the truth, so as to be
saved. For this reason God will give
them” -- those who
don't love the truth enough to be saved today -- “God will give them a deluding influence so that they might
believe what is false, in order that they may be judged, who did not believe
the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” This is very
solemn, this is very serious. This is so
important. The NIV version of that is: “And then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and
destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of
Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in
every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.” They perish
because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. “For
this reason God sends [i.e. by
allowing Satan to do his work] them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will
be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” Because, he's saying, if you hear the Word today, and you reject it, and
especially if you think you're waiting for some day when these things begin to
happen a little bit more, and the Church is gone – ‘Oh, after the Rapture of
the Church, then I'll believe.’ -- No you won't believe. God will allow a strong deluding influence to
come upon you, so that you'll believe what is false, because you don't love the
truth today. See, God's looking for truth-lovers, wherever they are,
whatever cult they might be in, whatever darkness they're in. God is looking for those who love the truth,
and he'll lead them into his light. But if you don't love the truth,
you will believe a lie. You will be
lost. Don't put it off. Don't say, ‘Well, I'll wait until I see.’ Because that's too late. ‘Well, let me think about it.’ No you don't need to think about it much more
than what you have today, because you might not have a tomorrow. You see it's easy for me to live a little
tritely, because I know that if I die, I'm going to heaven, I know it. Or if the Lord comes tomorrow -- Hey! Hallelujah! I'm going! I'm outa here! But
for those of you that aren't ready for Jesus to return, I would live very
carefully, I would buckle my seatbelt, I would be careful what I ate, I would look
both ways before I crossed the street, I wouldn't be out in thunderstorms,
because I wouldn't want to die in that state. ‘Scare tactics Mark, is that what you're trying to put on me?’ No. It's your life. And if you don't
love it enough to think seriously about it, then you can lose it. It's your life. But maybe some of us love you a little more
than you love yourself. And that we're
thinking about things that matter, where all you're thinking about is the guy
who's looking at you, or what your friends are going to do after the service,
or your casseroles in the oven. Let it
burn. Better it burns than you
burn. It's not scare tactics, it's truth. Sometimes the truth
is scary. But Jesus said the truth would
set you free. It's not by coincidence or accident that you've come
here today. Some of you believers needed
to know what's going to happen, that you're outa here. And we're going to teach you more
next week on this point. But others of
you have come this very day because you really do have a love for the
truth.
Are You Ready
For Jesus To Come?
Are you ready for Jesus to come? No. But you can be ready by
asking him to become your personal Savior today. He crosses all racial barriers, all national
barriers, he crosses all denominational barriers. I could care less whether you've been
baptized, confirmed, posted, I don't care what's happened to you. I want to know whether you've been born-again
by the Spirit of God. And if you've been
born-again by asking Jesus to come into your life, he says, ‘behold, I stand at
the door and knock, and if anyone hears my voice, I will open the door, I will
come into him and he with me, and I'll be his friend for eternity’ is what he's saying. But you've got to open the door, you've got to
ask him to save you. How do you do
that? It's through prayer. Prayer is the way we talk to God. You say, ‘Well I don't know how to talk to
God.’ That's OK, we'll talk to him
together as a friend, you and I, in just a moment, we'll pray a prayer asking
God to save you, asking God to make you ready by making you a new creature and
a Christian [or Messianic Jewish believer]. There are three universal needs in this world, one is the need to get
rid of guilt. Another is the need for
something on the inside that's real, because there's so much loneliness in
life. And the third thing is, it happens
when you die, there's a universal need to know what happens when you die. There's a fear of dying. Jesus, Yeshua meets every one of those
needs. He can take away your guilt, and
forgive you of your sins. 'No, you don't
know how bad I am.' Jesus does, and he
says whoever will come to me, I will never cast away. Prostitutes came to him, rotten corrupt
businessmen came to him. He forgave them
all of their sins. A murderer on the
cross next to him, he forgave him of his sin and gave him eternal life. You can have the emptiness filled with Jesus'
life, and you can know that if you were to die, you'd go to heaven, or if Jesus
were to come tonight, you'd leave with all of us. If you want to be ready, then I want you to
bow your heads right now, all of us, please, pray for those around you. Ask God's Spirit to move out. If you want what Jesus, Yeshua is offering I
want you to pray this prayer with me right now. “Lord
Jesus, please come into my life. I know
that I'm a sinner. I know I've done
wrong things. And I know I am not ready
for you to come back. But I believe you
died for me. And I believe that you rose from the dead for me. And I believe you can change my life. Please accept me just as I am, weak, helpless. Make me a Christian [or Messianic
believer]. Fill my emptiness with
you. Take away my sin, please. And now give me the assurance that because I
believe in you, and trust you with my whole heart and life, that I am ready now
when you come again. In Jesus name [in
the name of Yeshua haMeschiach], Amen.”
In closing
If you'll keep your heads bowed please and pray for those around
you. I just want to talk to you. If you asked the Lord to come into your life,
I want you to know that that decision is going to be tested very soon in the
future, it might be before you get out the door, somebody will make fun of you. Maybe you came with someone and they're not
into the Lord. But you came, and man,
God's spoken to your heart. I want to
pray for you that your faith will stay strong in Christ [Messiah]. Jesus, Yeshua said that if you'll confess me
before men, I'll confess you before my Father in heaven, but if you're ashamed
of me here, I'll be ashamed of you there. I'm going to pray that your courage in Christ will be strong now. Maybe you feel the peace of Christ descending
already in your life. There have been
hundreds of people this year that have experienced what you've just
experienced. It's real! It's real! And I want to pray for you now, that your faith will stay strong in
Jesus. I want to pray a blessing on you
specifically. So everybody's eyes are closed,
just between you and me and the Lord, I'm going to ask you to do something
really tough. I'm not going to ask you
to stand up, I'm not going to ask you to come forward, but wherever you are in
this auditorium, if you prayed that prayer and you wanted Jesus, Yeshua to save
you, raise your hand right now, ok you can put your hands down. Let's pray. ‘Lord we just thank you so much for the power of your Word that
changes lives, for the power of your Spirit and of your peoples prayers, to cause miracles like we've seen today. Thank you Lord, that we as a team, could
share the gospel. Now we pray, Lord,
together, that these brothers and sisters who have accepted you as their
Savior, that their faith will be strong, that they won't waiver. And even though it's tested, that they'll
stand up for Jesus, no matter what the cost. In Jesus name' -- and everybody said -- ‘Amen.’” [This is a transcript of a sermon given by
Pastor J. Mark Martin, Calvary Community Church, P.O. Box 39607, Phoenix,
Arizona 85069] end part 1 Romans 5:9 For Part 2 of Romans 5:9, log onto: https://unityinchrist.com/romans/Romans5-9pt2.htm
related links:
An interesting interpretation of end-time prophecy which is worth looking
at:
https://unityinchrist.com/revelation/Pentecost-Revetion1.htm
Differing interpretations about how we’re to be protected:
https://unityinchrist.com/Prophets_Prophecy.html
Last two eras of the Church, one promised protection:
https://unityinchrist.com/revelation/revelation3-1-22.html
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