Wrath and Righteousness

Rev. {19:15} And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword,
that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule
them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.


(Noah Webster's Dictionary http://refbible.com/w/wrath.htm

1. (a.) Violent anger; vehement exasperation; indignation; rage; fury; ire.

2. (n.) The effects of anger or indignation; the just punishment of an offense or a crime.

3. (a.) See Wroth.

4. (v. t.) To anger; to enrage; -- also used impersonally.

Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia

WRATH, (ANGER)

rath, roth, rath ('aph, from 'anaph, "to snort," "to be angry"; orge, thumos, orgizomai): Designates various degrees of feeling, such as sadness (Psalm 85:4), a frown or turning away of the face in grief or anger (2 Chronicles 26:19 Jeremiah 3:12), indignation (Psalm 38:3), bitterness (Judges 18:25), fury (Esther 1:12), full of anger (Genesis 4:5 John 7:23), snorting mad (Genesis 27:45 Matthew 2:16).

1. Divine Wrath:

Wrath is used with reference to both God and man. When used of God it is to be understood that there is the complete absence of that caprice and unethical quality so prominent in the anger attributed to the gods of the heathen and to man. The divine wrath is to be regarded as the natural expression of the divine nature, which is absolute holiness, manifesting itself against the willful, high-handed, deliberate, inexcusable sin and iniquity of mankind. God's wrath is always regarded in the Scripture as the just, proper, and natural expression of His holiness and righteousness which must always, under all circumstances, and at all costs be maintained. It is therefore a righteous indignation and compatible with the holy and righteous nature of God (Numbers 11:1-10 Deuteronomy 29:27 2 Samuel 6:7 Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 42:25 Jeremiah 44:6 Psalm 79:6). The element of love and compassion is always closely connected with God's anger; if we rightly estimate the divine anger we must unhesitatingly pronounce it to be but the expression and measure of that love (compare Jeremiah 10:24 Ezekiel 23 Amos 3:2).)

***

Rev. {6:16} And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb: {6:17} For the great day of his
wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?


Rev. {11:18} And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come,
and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and
that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name,
small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy
the earth.


Rev. {12:12} Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye
that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of
the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great
wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.


Rev. {14:8} And
there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication. {14:9} And the
third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any
man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his]
mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev. {14:10} The same shall
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out
without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall
be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the
holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb


Rev. {14:19} And the angel thrust in his sickle into the
earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into
the great winepress of the wrath of God.


Rev. {15:1} And I saw another sign in heaven, great and
marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for
in them is filled up the wrath of God


Rev. {16:19} And the
great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the
nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before
God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness
of his wrath.


Rev. {15:7} And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven
angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who
liveth for ever and ever.


{16:1} And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying
to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of
the wrath of God upon the earth


Rev. {18:2} And he cried mightily with
a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every
foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
{18:3} For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath
of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have
committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the
earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her
delicacies.


***


People get angry and the majority of the time they believe the anger is righteous. When the blood gets boiling, the emotions start to rise, that feeling of fury fills a person they start to say things they often regret. No one likes when anger is directed towards them, it makes them want to respond in kind. Anger is destructive in so many ways. So many crimes are committed from anger. Is there a righteous anger? Yes, we've all felt it, but then again as already mentioned most people believe their anger is justified, that it's righteous.


I've been guilty many times over of unrighteous anger, an anger I feel that seems to have little cause, no rhyme or reason. I've lashed out at people for no reason other than the anger in me. Anger can be a problem for a lot of people, I know it has been for me.


God's anger is righteous. God's wrath is justified.


Just as we know how it is to have an anger that is righteous- the anger of a mother whose child has been intentionally hurt by another person. The anger of a father whose son is murdered by a mugger, these sorts of anger are righteous. God's anger, God's wrath is righteous.


God offers His love, God offers life eternal through the sacrifice of His Son. God is justified in His anger as all that He has to offer to His own creations is rejected. As His creatures believe they are in fact creators. As His creatures believe they are more worthy than their Creator.


There is a sense o betrayal when someone grooms another person helping them attain a status in life that is wonderful only to have that person turn around and reject the very person who has helped them get where they are, the person who was there every step of the way. This is on a human level. The pain of being rejected by someone you've only loved and wanted what was best for them is immense. It's practically incomprehensible that someone could betray the love given to them. If it's like that on a human to human level, creature to creature level, how much more so is it on a Creator, creature level? Where the perfect Creator loves the imperfect creature, rather than imperfect creature betraying imperfect creature. We know that every human being is capable of deception and betrayal, but God is not capable of betrayal or deception. His love is perfect and since the beginning He has offered that love to us- the imperfect creatures. If we return the love He has for us that's all He desires. Yet time and again He's been rejected, the perfect love is betrayed over and over.


To put an end to all the sin in the world. To put an end to the author of lies, the first betrayer and the deception that he's used to deceive countless numbers of people, to end all evil personified it has to be justifiably destroyed. The wrath of God will fall upon the author of evil personified and all those who have joined hands with that author of evil and rightfully so.


Each of us will be on one side or the other, God's or Evil's. The wrath of God will fall on the evil and destroy it completely. How can we escape that wrath? By the love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the Son of the Father who makes it possible for us to join with God and His love.


By His mercy and grace may we cling to Him alone who can save us from the wrath deserved. We can't save ourselves, but we can ask Jesus to save us. Jesus will save us, we have to believe that He will, that the power of salvation is real and found in Jesus. In Christ alone we live and in no other way. Believing in Christ this is all we have to do, believe in His power to save us. Once we believe as a result of that believing we live a life in harmony with that belief. Only then is it a true belief. If I say I believe a person will do something and then act as if I don't think they will do that something, do I really believe? No. If we believe Christ is our Salvation then if that belief is real we will live a life that portrays that belief it's a natural outcome of real belief, of real faith. If we say we believe and yet our life doesn't reflect that at all, then is that belief real? Not that we aren't going to struggle, we are! Real belief does not mean perfection in all you do, it means a life surrendered to God's will, and a life that continuously is given over to God's will.


James {2:17} Even
so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. {2:18}
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:
shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee
my faith by my works. {2:19} Thou believest that there is
one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and
tremble. {2:20} But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
without works is dead? {2:21} Was not Abraham our father
justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon
the altar? {2:22} Seest thou how faith wrought with his
works, and by works was faith made perfect? {2:23} And
the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed
God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he
was called the Friend of God. {2:24} Ye see then how that
by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. {2:25}
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works,
when she had received the messengers, and had sent [them]
out another way? {2:26} For as the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also.


Faith - believing and yet living as if you don't believe - is no good.


Faith- believing and living as if you do believe - is good.


When one believes they live in that belief. And like the one man who wanted Jesus to heal his sick son, Jesus asked if he believed, and the man cried out that he did believe but he didn't stop there... he added... help thou my unbelief!


We are caught up in a world that would have us not live as a result of our belief in Christ. We struggle daily against the principalities and powers, the wickedness that would keep our belief separate from our living reality. That wicked one doesn't care a whit if we believe as long as the belief isn't one that is truly reflected in our lives. In fact the wicked one rejoices when he finds people who will shout loudly of their belief and at the same time they live as if they don't believe at all.


Faith, hope, believing, and living in that reality and letting our lives reflect that belief is salvation through Christ. The natural outcome of a real belief, a real faith is a life lived in that faith. We must pray that Jesus helps our unbelief, we must pray that our belief results in a life that reflects that belief naturally, unfeigned.


By the mercy and grace of Jesus alone it is possible. May the Holy Spirit guide us, live in us, lead us, may the love of Christ be real in us now and always.


Amen.