THE COMING WRATH

THE COMING WRATH

The greatest fear of believers and the world at large is the coming wrath which God shall pour down upon the earth. There is a coming horror and a great out pour of the Lord’s anger upon the earth. It is so horrific that just the thought of it makes many tremble in fear. The bible described it as the day of the Lord. The prophets of old spoke about it and how it will come with great destruction. In fact in their prophecies they said Alas! For it is near.

¹⁵ Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.{Joel 1:15}

Sound the alarm in Jerusalem! Let the blast of the warning trumpet be heard upon my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear, for the day of the Lord’s judgment approaches.

² It is a day of darkness and gloom, of black clouds and thick darkness. What a mighty army! It covers the mountains like night! How great, how powerful these “people” are! The likes of them have not been seen before, and never will again throughout the generations of the world! ³ Fire goes before them and follows them on every side! Ahead of them the land lies fair as Eden’s Garden in all its beauty, but they destroy it to the ground; not one thing escapes.⁴ They look like tiny horses, and they run as fast. ⁵ Look at them leaping along the tops of the mountain! Listen to the noise they make, like the rumbling of chariots, or the roar of fire sweeping across a field, and like a mighty army moving into battle.

⁶ Fear grips the waiting people; their faces grow pale with fright. ⁷ These “soldiers” charge like infantry; they scale the walls like picked and trained commandos. Straight forward they march, never breaking ranks. ⁸ They never crowd each other. Each is right in place. No weapon can stop them. ⁹ They swarm upon the city; they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses, coming like thieves through the windows. ¹⁰ The earth quakes before them and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon are obscured and the stars are hid.{Joel 2:1-10 TLB}

The bible says it will be a day of darkness and gloom. Fear will grip the waiting people. The earth and the heavens will quake, the sun and moon will be obscured and the stars will hide. You must take note the alarm will be sounded in Jerusalem.

I want you to compare this prophecy with the one given by Isaiah and Zephaniah as stated below.

¹⁴ “That terrible day is near. Swiftly it comes—a day when strong men will weep bitterly. ¹⁵ It is a day of the wrath of God poured out; it is a day of terrible distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, of clouds, blackness, ¹⁶ trumpet calls, and battle cries; down go the walled cities and strongest battlements!{Zephaniah 1:14-16 TLB}

That day will be terrible and frightening. It will be a day of anguish and sorrow, gloom and darkness, trumpet calls and battle cries. Strong men shall weep bitterly. God will pour down His wrath. The reason for this great wrath is because the people have sinned against the Lord. He will make them helpless and as blind men searching for a path. Their blood will be poured out into the dust and in the ground will their bodies get rotten. Fire will devour the whole land out of jealousy and He will make a sudden end of all the people on earth.

As you read these prophecies, I want you to ask yourself this question “Am I also going to be consumed in God’s wrath?”

⁶ Howl in pain! The day of the Lord is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction. ⁷ Everyone's hands will hang limp, and everyone's courage will fail.⁸ They will all be terrified and overcome with pain, like the pain of a woman in labor. They will look at each other in fear, and their faces will burn with shame.⁹ The day of the Lord is coming—that cruel day of his fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made a wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed. ¹⁰ Every star and every constellation will stop shining, the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will give no light.

¹¹ The Lord says, “I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel. ¹² Those who survive will be scarcer than gold. ¹³ I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place on that day when I, the Lord Almighty, show my anger. {Isaiah 13:6-13 GNT}

                   

This is what the Lord said; that He will bring disaster upon the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. Who are these wicked people who are also arrogant and proud? The people who will receive the out pour of God’s anger. Again ask yourself “Am I among these people?”

It says here that the earth will be made a wilderness and every sinner will be destroyed. Who are these sinners? Do you think you are one of them?

The Lord’s fury and fierce anger is coming upon the earth. The sun will stop shinning and the moon will not give light. Everyone will tremble and be greatly afraid.

Having read the three prophecies above about the coming wrath, you should ask yourself some salient questions. Is God really going to pour his furious judgement on everyone both righteous and evil? Like Abraham asked “Will you destroy the wicked with the righteous? Will God be just to destroy the guilty and the innocent together? Will He still be a just God if He destroys the trees of righteousness He planted alongside the unrighteous sinners? If you don’t know that as a Christian you are a tree of righteousness, I recommend you read my article “THE PLANTING OF THE LORD”

Now let’s see what our Father Abraham and our Heavenly Father God agreed as regarding destroying the righteous with the wicked.

²⁰ So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. ²¹ I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.”

²² The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. ²³ Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? ²⁵ Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

²⁶ And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”

²⁷ Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people rather than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”

And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people there.”

²⁹ Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only forty?”

And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”

³⁰ “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous people are found?”

And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.”

³¹ Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?”

And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

³² Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?”

And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

³³ When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent. {Genesis 18:20-33 NLT}

It is true that the sin of our current world is far more than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is grievously heinous. We live in a dispensation when people come out boldly to say they have sold their souls to the devil, a generation that openly comes out to oppose God and His righteous children. A generation of wickedness in which the righteous are crucified for believing in Jesus. We live in a time when people have sex with animals, men with men, women with women, and fathers with their daughters. The evil of our age is so much so that God will not have to come down to see it like He did Sodom and Gomorrah. It is so glaring that even the heavens can see it from afar.

Notwithstanding the evil of this age, God still has a remnant. These are the righteous ones. The people planted by God himself to be called oak trees of righteousness. There is no destruction for these ones.

God concluded with Abraham that if he could find ten righteous people in Sodom, He would not destroy the land because He cannot destroy the righteous with the wicked. There are millions of Christians all over the world today with God’s righteousness. Do you think God will destroy us with the wicked because He is angry? I guess you know the answer. His wrath will be poured YES but upon whom shall it be poured?

The series continues next week. Watch out for the next article…..It will provide answers to every question asked here....GOD BLESS YOU.

BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS OF CHURCH

                            BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS OF CHURCH

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago {Ephesians 2:10 NLT}

If you read last week's article, you would have seen that God established us as trees of righteousness so that we can reign as kings on the earth. He recreated  us anew in Christ Jesus as masterpieces so that we can do the good works he prepared for us to do.As I look at the world today,I realise that we have failed God and made ourselves a reproach before the heathen.God did His part by making us righteous but we have simply failed to change the world by reigning as kings. To understand what I mean let me show you what He said will happen after we have been established and planted by God as trees of righteousness.When you are done reading this article,I would like for you to evaluate yourself and find out how much of society you've been able to change for good by being a Christian. If our gathering in church every Sunday doesn't  transform society,then we are simply playing routine. In my opinion, the church is to be held responsible for the current state of our endangered world. 

 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

² To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

³ To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

⁴ And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

⁵ And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

⁶ But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

⁷ For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.{Isaiah 61:1-7}

You will notice that the people in verse one were broken hearted, captives and bound. In verse two they were mourning and needed comfort. In verse three they were mourning, had ashes but lacked beauty, had sorrow but lacked joy, had heavy hearts and couldn't praise God. That was our state before Christ came. A degraded, humbled, disadvantaged and hopeless state. All of that was so because righteousness was lacking. God had not planted any tree of righteousness then. It was for this reason the son of man was made manifest. He came to undo everything that the lack of righteousness had caused. He came to destroy all the works of the devil.

The later part of verse three says that He came to plant us as trees of righteousness and we will be called the planting of the Lord. Once this is done, then every negative thing that was done by our lack of righteousness will have to be undone. He has established us in righteousness and now we are the oak trees of righteousness. That sense of mourning, broken heartedness, hopelessness and beggarly lifestyle is over. It is not time to start living a pitiable life expecting God to come work miracles for us. No! It is time to rise up to the occasion and take charge of the earth. It is not time to walk around with the feeling of condemnation and disqualification. No! It is time to go and preach the good news to others telling them that there is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus and that they too can be justified by faith. It is not time to be hopeless but time to go tell the world that Christ in you is the hope of glory and that hope makes not ashamed.

If you look at verse four you will notice that the downcast low-live people are no longer living in inferiority complex. They have risen up as righteousness trees and are reigning as kings. They are to build up old waste places. The abandoned government projects, roads, schools, economic sector, power sector etc. are now being rebuilt. The trees of righteousness are not to fold their arms waiting for the world to change in the hands of ungodly leaders. We are to raise up the former desolations, to raise a new city, state, country out of wreckage. We are to take the rubble left behind and make it new. We are the ones who will repair the waste cities. 

During our reign as kings, development will come to every nation and the unbelievers shall see our good works and glorify God. Men shall call us priests of the Lord and ministers of our God. The truth is that every one of us that are trees of righteousness are priests and ministers. Let us rise up and reign over the earth as kings. Men are waiting to see our good works. The sick in the hospitals are waiting for us to bring healing to them. The homeless are awaiting for us to shelter them, The hungry are waiting for us to feed them, The orphans are waiting for us to adopt them and be their parents, The orphanage homes are waiting for people who will donate welfare materials and offer free services. The drug addicts are waiting for someone who will bring deliverance to them, the prostitutes are waiting for someone to come to their aid and rescue them from the degrading lifestyle, The poor are expecting us to come bless them, The rejected are waiting for someone to just visit them. All they want to see is our good works and labour of love and they will accept our Jesus. 

All of creation is waiting for the righteous kings to reign but sadly, we are all confined within the four walls of a church building while the world is perishing. Who will go and tell the world that Jesus loves them, who will have compassion enough to pull men out of fire? Who will dare to reign as a righteous king? Who will give hope to the nations? Up till now God is still searching for a man who will stand in the gap. He is looking down from heaven. He sees servants riding on horses while righteous kings are walking on bare foot. Kings who should disciple nations are being controlled by the nations they ought to disciple. 

The world is now teaching the church when they should be learning from us. They make evil decrees and devilish laws and they bind on us. They have become like fathers and we like their children. Woe unto the land whose king is a child. How long shall this evil continue? While we perform our Sunday-Sunday rituals, Satan is forcefully advancing his kingdom. We are just complacent with weekly church routine while souls are perishing in innumerable numbers. What has happened to the charge of "GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD"? What happened to the apostolic drive? Where is the ACTS OF THE PRESENT DAY APOSTLES? At what point in history did we miss it? Who taught us this modern day Christianity of sitting in church every Sunday waiting for the world to come to us when the original charge was for us to go to the world and preach? Where is our compassion for lost souls? Who will pull men out of the flames of Hell?

²² Try to help those who argue against you. Be merciful to those who doubt.²³ Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren’t pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners.{Jude1: 22-23 TLB}

 Time is ticking and soon we will leave this side of eternity. When will the righteous kings realize that they are supposed to reign in life? Arise Church, shine! For your light has come and God’s glory is on you.  Darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. The gentiles are waiting to come to your light and the unrighteous rulers to the brightness of your rising. Let the sleeping kings awake and reign over the earth!

REIGNING BY RIGHTEOUSNESS

REIGNING BY RIGHTEOUSNESS

²¹ For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.{2 Corinthians 5:21}

Having known that we are trees of righteousness planted by God and established to last forever, we must of necessity also know the reason for which we have been made righteous. Why was it necessary for God to establish us in righteousness? Could He not have left us with our dwindling and unstable self -righteousness? Why should He give us the gift of righteousness? Well I know you think it’s just for you to make heaven. But why haven’t you gone to heaven. You have been established in righteousness but you are still here. If the righteousness gift was just for you to go to heaven then God should have taken you to heaven immediately you had faith in God and became righteous. Let me show you why you are still here on this side of eternity.

¹⁷ For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.){Romans 5:17}

The verse above just provided the long awaited answer. It says we received abundant grace and the gift of righteousness so that we can REIGN IN LIFE. Take note, it didn’t say reign in heaven. It says to reign in life, not after death or after rapture. It is to reign here and now on earth. It takes kings to reign. Therefore you were made righteous so that you can reign as a king in life. Sin consciousness has made us slaves for so many years but not any more.

 Now you know that righteousness has been given to us so that we can become kings. We are no longer slaves to fear but kings to reign in life. Now we can approach God without a sense of guilt, fear or inferiority complex. It is by righteousness that kings reign. Now is the time for kings to reign in righteousness. You ought to be reigning not shrinking away in fear. You have been established in righteousness and you must reign.

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. {Isaiah 32:1}

You have to realize that you are a king and are supposed to rule over a kingdom. Find your throne and reign. Your throne has been established in righteousness. It was God’s desire to establish your throne in righteousness. God needed to give you righteousness first so that your throne can be established.

¹² It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. {Proverb 16:12}

⁵ Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.{Proverbs 25:5}

The foundation of any throne is righteousness and justice. Even God’s throne is found on righteousness and justice. He therefore has made us kings and also established our thrones in righteousness and justice.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    love and faithfulness go before you. {Psalms 89:14}

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
    let the distant shores rejoice.
² Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. {Psalms 97:1-2}

Dear friends God is reigning in righteousness and we his children cannot afford to do otherwise. There is no excuse to give. That feeling of condemnation and disqualification that has incapacitated so many must now be replaced with the righteousness consciousness and a royal mentality. God has given us the gift of righteousness so we can reign with it. We don’t reign by self -righteousness but by Christ’s righteousness. Christ has been made unto us wisdom and righteousness so that we can reign by Him. This is what Christ Jesus who is both our wisdom and righteousness said about our kingship:

By me kings reign
    and rulers issue decrees that are just;
¹⁶ by me princes govern,
    and nobles—all who rule on earth.{Proverbs 8:15-16}

³⁰ But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption {1Corinthians 1:30}

Did you notice that it is by Him; that is by His righteousness that we will reign? It is those who receive abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness that will reign in life. You have received both of them but why are you not reigning? You still feel you are not holy enough to reign. Are you not aware that you have been chosen to reign? You are pure in His eyes and he has set you apart to reign.

⁹ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;{1 Peter 2:9}

Have you seen the word royal priesthood? You are not just chosen to be king but also to be priest. All of heaven is waiting for you to reign. You now have a right to access the Father’s presence any time and make a demand. He gave you all authority in heaven and on earth so that you can reign. He gave you His name "Jesus" to reign with. He said to cast out devils and heal the sick in His name. The mandate to rule and have dominion over Satan, sin, sicknesses and diseases has been given to us. We should be looking for the sick to heal and the oppressed to set free. No demon should feel free around you. Cast it out! 

What Jesus would have done if He were physically present we can also do by the authority in His name. The world is the way it is because kings have refused to reign. Change in political leadership from one government to another cannot change the world. We have allowed people who are not yet established in righteousness to rule over us when the bible says a throne is established in righteousness. Until we who are righteous sit on those thrones, there cannot be justice in the world. We are the ones who should rule every sphere of society and saturate the world with kingdom principles. The kingdoms of the earth is ours to take charge of.

¹⁰ And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth {Rev 5:10}

The church is the last hope for humanity. Secular governments have failed and will keep failing. God is counting on us to disciple nations and rule over them. Every nation of the world has been given to us to discipline. We are to teach them the truth and principles of the kingdom. We hold the keys of the kingdom in our hands now and we have authority to shut and open any door as we desire. Heaven is waiting on us to make righteous decrees and establish kingdom laws on earth. Heaven is set to back us up if we would be bold enough to make decrees.

¹⁹ And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.{Matthew 16:19}

We are to flood the earth with righteousness and justice. Every country of the world should be ruled in righteousness and justice and that cannot be done by unrighteous unbelievers. We are to turn many to righteousness and bring them into the kingdom. Every sector of society should have people who have been turned to righteousness. We must turn many to Christ. There should be no unrighteous person in leadership because his throne is not founded on righteousness. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. We must lead many to righteousness, impact them with the Holy Ghost and establish peace on the earth.

¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. {Romans 14:7}

I dare you to locate a sphere of society that you will reign over as king to lead many to righteousness and establish kingdom principles. The whole world is groaning in pain waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. The righteous kings are hiding while creation earnestly expects them to manifest. We are the deliverers who shall come up on mount Zion. We are to shine as light in the world and give savour to the earth.

⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. {Matthew 13:43}

 ³ Those who are wise^[a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. {Daniel 12:3}

¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.{Matthew 5:14-16}

The world is supposed to receive light from us. We are to give direction to them. They are walking in darkness and will keep stumbling until we show them the way. We are made kings so we can give direction to a lost world. They are to see our good works and glorify our father in heaven. Just the way the people of a country rejoice when their president does a lot of good works so is the entire world supposed to rejoice when the righteous rules. The heathen will see our good works and glorify God. They will turn to God and live in righteousness. This is the reason why God established us in righteousness. To reign and do good works. We are created anew in Christ Jesus for good works. We are God’s masterpiece created anew unto good works.

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago {Ephesians 2:10 NLT}

What are the good things He recreated us for and planned for us to do?.....check out next week's article