Deuteronomy 4: 24, “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”
Wildfires sweep across plains and through great forests devouring everything in sight. Man-made or God-made, all that is in the path of the fire catches fire and burns up: trees, animals, plants, humans, houses…the fire consumes it all leaving nothing but ashes in its path.
Hebrews 12: 29, “For our God is a consuming fire.”
If you attend church at all, you will undoubtedly hear a thousand sermons on “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) for every one sermon you hear preached on “Be ye angry, and sin not” (Eph. 4:26). This is a command! It is not a defense for a bad temper. It is not an excuse for an explosion of bitterness from your bruised ego for personal rejection. I am talking here of Holy Anger. God gets angry: “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses” (Exodus 4:14); “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). (If you must have a bumper sticker, try this last statement for a while — but be sure that you increase your insurance before you do so.)
The blessed preacher St. Paul walked down Main Street Athens, the intellectual capital of the world of his day. Acts 17:16 says in the sleepy Elizabethan English of the King James version, “His spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.” The Amplified [1] says it this way, “Now while Paul was awaiting them at Athens, his spirit was grieved and roused to anger as he saw that the city was full of idols.” Such anger needs to come back to us today. I admit right here that I am downright angry. I am angry that Christ is wounded in the house of His friends.
And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not neither did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, the glory is departed from Israel because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken. (I Samuel 4:18-22.)
“Thy glory hath departed .” Too bad and too sad when that is spoken of a church about which glorious things once were spoken. ‘Tis tragic, ’tis true that of some churches such is the epitaphic description of their decay, their inverted torch, their oil-less lamps, their turning back in the day of battle – though armed and carrying bows. That is grief for angels. That is laughter for devils. That is gloating for Satan. That is groaning for Christ’s followers.
A truly riveting evangelistic warning to all professing Christians from Matthew 7:21.
A profession of attachment to Jesus Christ is a necessary part of true and saving religion but the mere profession of attachment to Christ is no proof of true and saving religion.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
There is a great cry throughout the world today pushing tolerance and much of it comes from a rising spirit of godlessness in the nations. The most intolerant nations and national leaders are preaching tolerance, calling for the break down of all barriers of religion and differences.
But this is the position of the people of God- the Bible is the most intolerant book in all the world and the most intolerant teacher that ever addressed Himself to an audience was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now Jesus Christ demonstrated the vast difference between being charitable and being tolerant. Christ was so charitable that in His great heart, He was willing to weep over sinners; He took in all the people of the world and was willing to die for those who hated Him.
But even with that kind of love and charity, Jesus was so intolerant that He taught, “If you are not on my side, then you are against me; if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” He did not leave any middle ground to accommodate the neutral folks who preach tolerance. Christ leaves no middle ground, no place in between.
Hosea 5: 4, “For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away and none shall rescue him.”
Jesus isn’t just the “meek and mild” Savior that many imagine Him to be.
He is the Lion of Judah, and, as such, He shares some of the lions traits:
He powerful and strong; unrelenting and uncontrollable. He is harsh and outspoken when it comes to God’s Truth. He is prone to righteous anger when God’s interests are at stake. He is severe with those who would play at Christianity.
Jesus expects, no, demands, that He be absolutely first in your life. It is necessary, in the end, that He be the ONLY thing that matters to you. If you had to choose between Jesus and your very life, Jesus and your family, Jesus and your personal happiness and comfort, Jesus and your reputation, Jesus and your job, Jesus and your freedom…you must choose Him.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I stumbled into the dimly lit dungeon, fell over a chair and mumbled that I needed a flashlight to read the menu. When the food came I ate it by faith and not by sight.
Gradually, however, I began to make out objects a little more distinctly. You know how it is if you sit a while in a dark room. And my friend remarked, “Funny, isn’t it, how you get used to the dark.”
And I said, “You have given me a new sermon subject, getting used to the dark.”
For one thing, we are living in the dark. We are living in the closing chapter of an age dominated by the prince and powers of darkness. And men do love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. The night is far spent and the blackness is more extensive and more intensive and more excessive as it deepens just before he dawn.
Mammoth Cave is not limited to Kentucky. It is universal today. We are all in it.
If you attend church at all, you will undoubtedly hear a thousand sermons on “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) for every one sermon you hear preached on “Be ye angry, and sin not” (Eph. 4:26). This is a command! It is not a defense for a bad temper. It is not an excuse for an explosion of bitterness from your bruised ego for personal rejection. I am talking here of Holy Anger. God gets angry: “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses” (Exodus 4:14); “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). (If you must have a bumper sticker, try this last statement for a while — but be sure that you increase your insurance before you do so.)
