by R. L. Morrison

It is not unusual to hear sermons or read articles on the love of God. We have no disposition to disagree with either, when they present the truth. But it seems sometimes that we forget the same Bible that teaches us of the love of God also teaches us that He is a God of wrath. A knowledge of his wrath is just as important as is the recognition of his great love. "He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:8). "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). These scriptures do not contradict one another, they both teach the truth.

Let us consider the condition that exists among religious people in the world today. I have heard people say, and probably you have also, "We are all God's children. God loves us all." True, we are all made in the likeness or image of God. .And he loved us all (the world) enough to send Jesus Christ to become the sacrifice for sin, something no other could do. But the New Testament teaches that "his children" are those who have obeyed his will, and as a result have been added to his family, the church. But, men go further, saying, "A loving God and Father will never send one of His children to hell to suffer eternally; no earthly father would do so. Surely God would not do so." But again we need an answer to the question, "Who are God's children?" Just because one is made spiritually in the image of God does not mean that he is a child of God. This can be understood by considering something Jesus said to some Jews. "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (John 8:44). Why did Jesus say to these descendants of Abraham, your father is the devil? Because they followed the devil in their works or their manner of life! Jesus said God was not their father, for they did not follow the law God had given them. They followed the devil in the way they lived. So NOT ALL are children of God, although all are made in His image. His children are those who do His will, those who strive to obey Him and live according to the teaching of His word. These are they to whom eternal salvation is promised.

Let us now consider examples of the wrath of God as revealed to us in the scriptures. The first is found in Genesis 6: 5-7: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, for it repenteth me that I have made them." You will remember that as God searched the hearts of men, he found Noah to be a just man. God made provision for Noah and his family to be saved from the flood He sent on the earth. No man knows the number of people who perished in that flood, but who would dare deny that this destruction was the result of God's wrath?

In Exodus 14, we find another example of God's wrath. Moses had led the children of Israel out of Egypt to the shores of the Red Sea. They were encamped there. Pharaoh heard of it. He took the army of Egypt, leading it himself, intending to capture those people and return them to slavery and bondage in Egypt. But God opened the waters of the Red Sea. The Israelites passed through as though on dry ground. Pharaoh and his army attempted to follow, but God allowed the water to return and the Egyptians were totally destroyed. Again we see the wrath of God in the total destruction of those who rejected His message, refusing to obey.

In Numbers 16, we find the account of Korah and others with him, who opposed Moses as the leader of Israel. The wrath of God can be seen in the punishment of these men and their families and the destruction of all they possessed. The record says that the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, their houses and all their goods. They all went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them. Thus God executed his wrath upon those who rebelled against his law. And these, at one time, had been obedient to God, obeying His law.

When Hezekiah was king of Judah, Sennacherib, King of Assyria, came against Judah. He took all the fenced cities of Judah and set his army in array around Jerusalem. He sent a letter by a messenger to Hezekiah, in which he said: "Let not thy God in whom thou trusteth deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hezekiah "spread that letter "before the Lord and prayed. That God heard his prayer is evident, for that night the angel of the Lord slew 185,000 men in the Assyrian army. Here we see an example of both the goodness and the severity of God. It needs no explanation!

In Matthew 24, Jesus foretold the coming destruction of Jerusalem. "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be. And except those days had been shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:20-22). I know there are those who teach, and I suppose believe that those days are yet future. However, Jesus spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem (as the context will show) which came to pass in AD 70. Israel as a nation was completely destroyed. It is also pictured in the book of Revelation, and mentioned elsewhere. But it shows vividly the wrath of God on a nation of people who had received his law, but refused to keep it, and who crucified His Son, whom God sent to save mankind.

These things are all in the past. They will not be repeated. But they do set forth, so we can understand it, the wrath of God. But we shall now consider some things which Jesus taught that are future. These things do pertain to we who are now among the living. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). Man can slay the physical body. There is nothing more that he can do. But Jesus said God can do more, that is, He can consign man to hell. "And if thine eye offend thee (causes you to stumble or sin), pluck it out and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire" (Matthew 18:9). Jesus is not saying to anyone literally, pluck out your eye. He is saying "if your eye leads you to sin, learn to control it." Actually, it is the mind, the heart of man, to which he refers. Evil thoughts lead to evil deeds, and evil deeds, unforgiven, leads one to hell. Jesus also said, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). So the "look" itself can be wrong and will result in eternal loss. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" (Matthew 23:15). He called these religious people, scribes and Pharisees, children of hell! WHY? Their manner of life would lead them to hell, as well as those who followed them. The same condition exists today. There are many false teachers who make proselytes or followers. It matters not what error they might teach, for only truth can make one free from sin: TRUTH ... believed and obeyed!

There are many ideas among religious people today concerning hell. Some do not believe that hell exists. Others believe that hell, as punishment of the wicked, is annihilation, or a ceasing to exist. They might express it like this: It is as a flash of fire, a puff of smoke, and the spirit of man ceases to exist; he becomes as though he had never been. Some teach it is punishment for awhile, until one has atoned for his sins and then he is released from hell and given entrance into heaven. However, none of these things are taught in the Bible.

Mark added somewhat to the account of Jesus regarding sinning with the eye or hand. "And if they hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed , than having two hands to go into hell; into the fire that shall never be quenched: where their worm dieth not; and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt (lame) into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:43-46).

Now turn to Matthew 25, where we find the "word picture" Jesus gives us of the judgment scene on the last day of time. "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations. And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:31-34). Now, verse 41: "then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Now verse 46: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

These scriptures declare both the mercy and the wrath of God. Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica, said, "And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power" (2 Thess. 1: 7-9). And yet again, we find the scriptures teaching the mercy and the wrath of God.

In conclusion, may I present this thought for your consideration: God does not send sinners to hell; He allows them to go to the place for which they have prepared themselves in this life. It is true that He sees that they go to the place for which they prepared themselves in life. And it is true also of those who are redeemed. They prepare themselves for heaven by obeying the will of God in this life. Hebrews 5:8-9; tells us that Christ is the author of eternal salvation to ALL THEM THAT OBEY HIM.

So the choice is left to individuals, people like you and me. God extends his mercy to us through Christ and the gospel. We are asked to obey it. But we accept it and obey or we refuse to do so. Our own attitude toward it and our receiving it or rejecting it determines what our end shall be. We shall, each and every one of us, be the recipient of God's love or God's wrath! Each one of us determines for ourselves, and we should fully recognize that the choice we make in this life is eternal!!

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE???