wrath – Page 4

Typhoon Haiyan: survivors walk like zombies

Posted on November 11, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The Zombie Apocalypse is a well-known American trope that emerged from the literary horror genre spawned by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1818. Throughout the rest of the 1800s, various undead themed books were published, and by the 1920s and 30s, HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe brought the horror genre and with it, zombies, into the modern age.

Nowadays says Wiki, “The turn of the millennium coincided with a decade of box office successes in which the zombie sub-genre experienced a resurgence”.

And, with zombies, came the zombie apocalypse. The “zombie apocalypse” concept, in which the civilized world is brought low by a global zombie infestation, has become a staple of modern popular art.” (Wikipedia)

It has become so popular in fact, that the Center for Disease Control spoofed their own selves in their preparedness booklet Zombie Pandemic, touted as a fun way that “demonstrates the importance of being prepared in an entertaining way that people of all ages will enjoy. (source)

If there are those among you who don’t enjoy the zombie genre, myself included, the image of the zombie is still easily recognized. The shambling, stumbling walk, the insensate eyes, the mumbling, the thousand yard stare…all indicative of zombie behavior. As a matter of fact, zombies are much like the shell shocked WW1 vets returning home from the horrors of battle, so named because they seemed as empty and void as a shell. Shell Shock is “a reaction to the intensity of the bombardment and fighting that produced a helplessness appearing variously as panic, or flight, an inability to reason, sleep, walk or talk.”

Shell Shock: This is Private Eagerfield. (WW1)
Eagerfield’s facial expression is also typical
of von Graefe’s sign where there is an immobility of the
upper eyelid and downward rotation of the eye.(source)

Part of shell shock in the WW1 vets, and any person today who has endured a trauma ,may not only become shell shocked but their condition may also include neurasthenia, as it did for many WW1 vets. Neurasthenia is a condition was explained as being a result of exhaustion of the central nervous system’s energy reserves.

In summary, when populations endure mass trauma to the point where comprehension is impossible, in other words seeing horrors on a scope heretofore unseen or unexperienced, shell shock and nervous system failure often resulted.

Just like zombies.

With all that in mind, here is a news piece today which refers to the Filipinos who endured the “worst storm on record” walking around like zombies.

SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN: Survivors ‘walk like Zombies’
November 10, 2013 – TACLOBAN, Philippines – One of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines, a senior police official said on Sunday, with huge waves sweeping away entire coastal villages and devastating the region’s main city. Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of the area in its path as it tore through Leyte province on Friday, said police chief superintendent Elmer Soria. As rescue workers struggled to reach ravaged villages along the coast, where the death toll is as yet unknown, survivors foraged for food as supplies dwindled or searched for lost loved ones. “People are walking like zombies looking for food,” said Jenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte. “It’s like a movie.” Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by surging sea water strewn with debris that many said resembled a tsunami, leveling houses and drowning hundreds of people in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the typhoon-prone Southeast Asian nation.

Foraging…stumbling around insensate…blank eyes unable to comprehend the scope of the damage…lives lost on a mass scale…It is just heartbreaking to think of so many people and children who are affected by this disaster.

Corpses hanging on trees, homes destroyed, livestock dead, families dispersed, and no food, sanitation or water. Looting, danger, cold, illness.

“Witnesses and officials described chaotic scenes in Leyte’s capital, Tacloban, a coastal city of 220,000 about 580 km (360 miles) southeast of Manila which bore the brunt, with hundreds of bodies piled on the sides of roads and pinned under wrecked houses.” (source)

Bodies litter the debris-strewn streets of the obliterated city of
Tacloban, Philippines
after Typhoon Haiyan came through in November 2013

“On a stretch of road on the way into Tacloban city centre, just past a lone white coffin with gold-painted handles, lay a mass of dead, bloated bodies. Men, women, cats, dogs and pigs were piled in a heap against a stone house with a metal roof bent upwards like a question mark. Its residents stared out at the chaos below like zombies.” (source)

Now imagine when all the world at the same time is like this.

Typhoon Haiyan hit Tacloban city, in Leyte province in central Philippines on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013. It was one of the most powerful typhoons on record, ever. Have you noticed that the storms that come are getting bigger and bigger?

source

Remember Joplin? The tornado? Weatherman Mike Bettes bursting into tears, affected and unable to articulate the scale of the disaster?

The bible says that in the Tribulation, these disasters will come one upon another, faster and faster as birth pangs upon a woman. There will be constant worldwide disasters.

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26)

This verse is saying that people will drop dead on the spot when they see the things that will be happening.

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” (Revelation 6:12-14)

Demons will pour out from hell, attack any and all people not saved by the grace of Jesus after the rapture took the believers during the age of Grace. Mountains will fall, oceans will be as blood, a third of the ships of the sea will sink and millions will drown.

Am I trying to scare you? Yes. Yes. I have talked with too many people that have a casual view of the wrath of God. I have spoken with too many people who have a romantic notion of surviving the Tribulation. I hear too many people set aside the day of their salvation, putting it off for trivial pursuits of drinking carousing, playing.

But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed..
Imagine Tacloban city as your city. Zombie-like shell shocked people wandering insensibly, not caring about you or your safety. They attack for a can of tuna, kill over a drink of water. Or you, stepping over maggot ridden bloated dead bodies, yourself coming down with cholera, knowing that where you fall, you die.

God is soon going to pour out his wrath on the entire world, and unless you are saved by the grace of Jesus, you will be one of those left behind to face all this. Just as the poor folks of the Philippines cannot comprehend the devastation of their cities and towns, you cannot, cannot comprehend the wrath of God that is coming. You have no ability to comprehend what it will be like because Jesus said it will be unlike any time in the world’s history ever. (Matthew 24:21). There is nothing to compare it to. It will be horrible. Words fail.

“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17).

“The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.” (Psalm 110:5)

“How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.” (Jeremiah 30:7)

REPENT NOW! There is nothing casual or romantic or undemanding about this coming time of horror, wrath, and fury from the Almighty God of all creation. Don’t set aside the implications of the storms on the horizon. If you repent of your sins now, and appeal to the Judge for forgiveness He will forgive you. You will leave this earth before the time of Jacob’s trouble begins, and you will not endure the wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9, Revelation 3:10).

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:6-7)

If you do not repent, when we are raptured away you will be left to face an increasingly apocalyptic series of horrors which, if you survive, your mind may simply become zombie-like and your body faint as these things are coming on the earth. And if you die in one of the disasters before you repent, you will spend your eternity in hell paying for your sins in torment and punishment.

Scary? Yes. It is. The fact and certainty of God’s wrath is scary. The certainty of His grace and love in His forgiveness is peace. You choose.

———————

For further reading

What is the biblical understanding of the wrath of God? (short essay)

The Truth About Hell (longer essay)

God’s Wrath Poured Out Like Fire (sermon, listen or read)

judgment, mark of the beast, sin, wrath

Can you be forgiven if you take the mark of the beast?

Posted on November 5, 2013 by elizabethprata

Jesus is long-suffering. He hates sin, but He withholds judgment upon sinners until the full measure of His anger He deems is ready to be poured out onto the world. The greatest news is, God sent His Son to absorb all of God’s wrath for sin onto Himself, so that those who repent and believe would not have to endure that same wrath.

However, those who reject Jesus and His substitutionary atonement, disbelieve His death and resurrection, fail to adopt His Gospel, do not repent, will endure the wrath of God for their sins. Jesus is longsuffering, but He is not a patsy. He’s not even tolerant. He hates sin and He hates all who do iniquity. (Psalm 5:5). At some point, He will unleash all His wrath and the world will then know just how much He hates sin.

That unleashing is called the Tribulation, (Matthew 24:9) also The Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). Jesus said the wrath is stored up for individuals and for the world. He will unseal 7 seal judgments, which are the first set of three series of judgments which include Trumpet Judgments and Bowl Judgments (or four, if you count mysterious Seven Thunders of Rev 10:4).

“calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:16-17)

Jesus literally releases the full strength of His wrath and also unleashes Hell upon earth. The times will be unimaginable for the people left behind on earth after the rapture. The mind cannot comprehend its horrors.

I’ve mentioned His wrath, but next let’s discuss His grace. One of the amazing things about God’s grace is that He continues to reach humans with the news of His forgiveness. We are wretched creatures, constantly rebelling and opposing Him. Yet He extends the hand of grace and many have believed and many more will believe, even in the Tribulation. (Revelation 7:14; Revelation 7:17).

Throughout the Tribulation Jesus sends many messengers with the Good News. He extends His grace even amid wrath. He seals 144,000 to super-evangelize the world. The martyrs themselves are a witness for Him due to their willingness to die for His name. He sends His Two Witnesses (I suspect they will be Enoch and Elijah) to testify of Him. And He sends three angels who proclaim the eternal Gospel, speak of judgment on Babylon, and warn of eternal doom if anyone takes the mark of the Beast. By this time, every nation, tribe and tongue will have heard the Gospel. (Revelation 14:6). Jesus forgives all, every sin, and this continues throughout the first part of the Tribulation, just as it had since the age of Grace began when Jesus rose from the dead, having atoned for every sin. He forgives all sins, except for one. There is one sin that is unforgivable.

Taking a break from the overview of the Tribulation’s wrath and the run-up to Revelation 13’s Mark of the Beast, let’s discuss for a moment this “unforgivable sin”. It is found in Mark 3:28-29, and Matthew 12:31-32

“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.“

This is a very serious thing. There is one sin that a person can commit which Jesus will never forgive. What IS this sin?

The Bible Gateway blog explains it this way: it is willful rejection of Jesus in an onoging attitude of rebellion. “Blasphemy against the Spirit is not unforgivable because of something done unintentionally in the past, but because of something being done deliberately and unrelentingly in the present.“

The Gospel Coalition blog explains it this way: “I suggest it’s a specific, active, and final choice to declare the person and work of Jesus as being demonic in origin“

Dr. Henry Morris states it as “speaking against the Holy Spirit has been interpreted in various ways, but the true meaning cannot contradict other Scripture. It is unequivocally clear that the one unforgivable sin is permanently rejecting Christ (John 3:18; 3:36). Thus, speaking against the Holy Spirit is equivalent to rejecting Christ with such finality that no future repentance is possible.”

Dr John MacArthur describes the unforgivable sin as: “But the one who won’t be forgiven is the one called the apostate who gets full exposure to the truth, full exposure to the gospel, full revelation and makes the final conclusion…it’s not true, I reject Christ.”

It’s a sin to have heard the facts, to have had the Gospel given to you, and to make a deliberate, willful, conscious decision that it is not true, to reject it completely and utterly, and to continue in your sins. That is unforgivable.

Hebrews 2:3 mentions it: “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,”

The word neglect means to ignore, to put little value on it. Hebrews 10:26-27 also mentions this

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

This means that if you have received full information about Christ, and reject it, it is as if you stepped over His body – which He sacrificed for your sins – and now you can only expect judgment,and in fury and fire, too.

Back to the Tribulation- In Revelation 13:15-17 there is a choice people are given. They may participate in the world economy (and thereby eat) but they have to worship the Devil to do it. Or they can reject the devil and accept Christ, but they will be hunted and killed. Here is the scripture which describes this choice: (“It” refers to the False Prophet)

“And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.“

Taking the mark is a mark of worship to the devil, who by then indwells the antichrist. It is a deliberate choice given the world, to worship satan or worship Jesus. The world knows this because three angels flying at midheaven circle the globe to first give the gospel of Jesus Christ, (“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. Revelation 14:6), to declare judgment of Babylon and third, to warn them NOT TO TAKE THE MARK.

“And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (Revelation 14:9-11).

The people of earth by then have had the fullness of all God’s revelation to them through the bible, His son, the prophets, the angels, His Church, the witnesses and the sealed virgins…if they take the mark and worship the beast, they are sinning the unforgivable sin and in a way that for the first time ever, is demonstrable and evident. In the case of Tribulation non-believers who take the mark, they are not only showing their allegiance to satan and their rejection of Jesus, they are permanently modifying their body to show their rejection of Jesus and decision to worship satan instead. They are enacting it and cementing it with their very body, by accepting the mark of the devil on them as the emblem of worship. They reject Jesus and worship of Him, and thus blaspheme the Spirit. It’s over.

It is my contention that this moment divides the believers from the unbelievers in one final, conscious moment of choice. After the mark is places on the hand or the forehead, or refused, marks the final chasm between believer and non-believer.

The scriptures in Revelation 14:9 are clear: take the mark and endure wrath forever. You cannot be saved if you take the mark.

This turning point is also remarked on by the angel in Revelation 4:13a who says, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

One may ask why am I writing about this if the church isn’t going to be here and we always look for Jesus and not toward satan? Because satan is adulterating this simple truth as well. As long as he can sow confusion and persuade even one person to delay their day of salvation, then he has accomplished his evil purposes. The fact of a person’s devilish eternal choice in Rev. 13 matters it matters because when they enter the Tribulation, they are at extreme risk of believing the lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11) and won’t be able to decide.

The moral is always the same: believe on the name of Jesus Christ now. Do not delay your repentance and your appeal to Him, the Judge, for pardon. You are not promised a tomorrow. If you do receive a tomorrow, the rapture may come and you will be left behind to face hell on earth and God’s wrath. When that happens, you are at risk for believing the lie and losing your soul because of the delusion coming upon the world.

Jesus Christ is worthy of honor and glory and praise and love and worship because of who He is. He is the unique Person of the universe, extending His hand of grace to you now. Your sins will have to be dealt with- either through your repentance and His forgiveness, or by your torment and punishment for them in hell forever.

antibiotics, grace, jesus, rapture, tribulation, wrath

The end of antibiotics: the beginning of biblical plagues?

Posted on October 28, 2013 by elizabethprata

SEM depicting methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria

I read an interesting article linked on Drudge to the UK Daily Mail, and discussed over at the American Thinker. It is that we have come to the end of the era of antibiotics.

Here is the American Thinker’s take on it
They’ve been predicting this for years and it looks like it’s finally come to pass.
In our human hubris, we think we can outsmart or defeat Mother Nature. It’s things like this that remind us how our pitiful efforts to control the natural world usually go for naught.

Daily Mail:
A high-ranking official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared in an interview with PBS that the age of antibiotics has come to an end. ‘For a long time, there have been newspaper stories and covers of magazines that talked about “The end of antibiotics, question mark?”‘ said Dr Arjun Srinivasan. ‘Well, now I would say you can change the title to “The end of antibiotics, period.”‘

The associate director of the CDC sat down with Frontline over the summer for a lengthy interview about the growing problem of antibacterial resistance.

I suffered from bronchitis and pneumonia quite bit growing up and into my 20s. In my 40s I suffered from sinusitis, and in my 50s, various ailments that run the gamut of all of the above now that I’m working in a school again.

I’m allergic to sulfa drugs so that limits the number and variety of antibiotics I could take. After a couple of times in my 40s I never went to the doctor again for relief of any of them. I was always worried that the doctors were overprescribing. I was worried I’d build an immunity to them and that when the chips were really down, that they wouldn’t work as well for me.

My suspicions have been confirmed. The doctor went on in the interview saying,

‘We’re in the post-antibiotic era,’ he said. ‘There are patients for whom we have no therapy, and we are literally in a position of having a patient in a bed who has an infection, something that five years ago even we could have treated, but now we can’t.’.

It’s the era of the superbugs. This story from NPR six days ago tells more.

“Many people are familiar with the type of resistant infections often acquired in hospitals, caused by MRSA, the acronym for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. But most people don’t know about the entirely different group of resistant bacteria that Hoffman reports on in , airing Tuesday on PBS’ Frontline. The show explores an outbreak of resistant bacteria at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the U.S., and explains why there is surprisingly little research being conducted into new antibiotics to combat these new superbugs.“

In the days before antibiotics, men died from the merest cut. That is one of the wonderful things about antibiotics, that people no longer die from simple injuries like they did for thousands of years. In this 2010 article by Rustam Aminov titled A Brief History of the Antibiotic Era, from the journal Frontiers of Microbiology, it is stated,

“Antimicrobials are probably one of the most successful forms of chemotherapy in the history of medicine. It is not necessary to reiterate here how many lives they have saved and how significantly they have contributed to the control of infectious diseases that were the leading causes of human morbidity and mortality for most of human existence.”

“We usually associate the beginning of the modern “antibiotic era” with the names of Paul Ehrlich and Alexander Fleming. Ehrlich’s idea of a “magic bullet” that selectively targets only disease-causing microbes and not the host was based on an observation that aniline and other synthetic dyes, which first became available at that time, could stain specific microbes but not others. Ehrlich argued that chemical compounds could be synthesized that would “be able to exert their full action exclusively on the parasite harbored within the organism.” This idea led him to begin a large-scale and systematic screening program (as we would call it today) in 1904 to find a drug against syphilis, a disease that was endemic and almost incurable at that time.“

Add caption

The September 3, 1928 event that led to the penicillin discovery by Fleming a year later was synthesized as Fleming and Erlich had done, and by 1945, penicillin was being mass produced and distributed.

I was born in 1960, a preemie by 5 weeks. I had pneumonia and no doubt penicillin saved my life. I grew up entirely in the era of widely available medicines for any variety of illnesses, cuts, or injuries. I see that that era is coming to a close, or as the doctor in the Daily Mail article stated, has already closed. Widely available antibiotics are not widely available any more, and where they are, oftentimes the patients with the infections are showing a disheartening resistance to their effectiveness. This is serious, because people are dying.

“The mortality rates due to multidrug-resistant bacterial infections are high. Each year, about 25,000 patients in the EU die from an infection with the selected multidrug-resistant bacteria (ECDC/EMEA Joint Working Group, 2009), and more than 63,000 patients in the United States die every year from hospital-acquired bacterial infections.” (source)

So what is to be done about this? It seems that the superbugs are rising fast. The answer is complex and involves societies, government, mass behavior change, widespread education, research and mass distribution. In other words, nothing will happen fast that will help, and a lot can happen fast that will hurt. This is where I see prophecy coming in.

Jesus said that many will die by pestilence.

“Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”(Luke 21:10-12)

“When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:7-8)

Soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas,
ill with Spanish influenza at a hospital ward at Camp Funston.

The time is ripe for any superbug to cover the world quickly. The verse in Revelation says a fourth of the earth will be killed by famine and beasts and pestilence. Assuming a billion are raptured away as Christians (I am being generous, I don’t think there will even be that many), that leaves 6 billion people, so that leaves one billion five hundred million dead from the variety given in the verse. By contrast, the number killed in one of history’s worst pandemics, the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918-19 killed 100 million in the largest estimate.

If the Spanish Influenza killed that many and so quickly prior tot he age of travel, what will a superbug do? Well, what the bible shows us.

Now, you may ask, why am I bringing this up? Why speculate on what hasn’t happened? Why camp on gloom and doom? Because it is a matter of scale.

People first of all don’t take judgment seriously. Look at Lot’s sons-in-law. When Lot said the angels in their home were there to render judgment on the city, the men thought Lot was joking. (Genesis 19:14). But just because the Lord is long-suffering does not mean He won’t punish sin- and sinners. (Numbers 14:18, 2 Peter 3:9). He will.

Secondly, the scale of the judgments shown to us in revelation are unknown to any in the history of the world. (Matthew 24:21). Heaps of dead, masses of dead, hospitals overrun, entire communities with dead in the streets. The blood running and running. The police simply unable to keep up, whole neighborhoods will burn, whole oceans become as blood.

it is good to dwell on the might of the Lord and the power of His wrath. it is good not to think ones self able to withstand the torments from heaven that will over take the whole world (Daniel 7:23) and would ave overcome all flesh if Jesus had not elected to shorten the days. (Matthew 24:22). Do not think that you will wait to make a decision about Jesus when you see the rapture happening. It will happen in the blink of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15:52). Death will then ensue on a scale no man or era has ever seen or written about. You will be as a mote on a violent tsunami wave, disappearing in an instant into the gaping maw of hell if you have not repented. Hell is enlarging its mouth even now.

“Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.” (Isaiah 5:14)

Do not cockily think you have “the stuff” to endure, even as you delay repentance and submitting to Jesus. Do not think that you will be able to handle it. Men will drop dead on the spot from fear and terror. (Luke 21:26). You will be no different.

The scale of what is coming and even as I see it on the horizon is something to fear and respect. God’s long-suffering hand has been stayed these long epochs. It will descend one day on an unsuspecting world, and the scale of the horrors will be unlike anything a person can even rationally comprehend.

The era of antibiotics is ending. The era of the Tribulation may be soon on the horizon. But the Age of Grace is NOW. Jesus has come in the flesh to live the sinless life as the spotless lamb, to die sacrificially and be resurrected by the power of God. He substituted Himself for our place for on the cross, so that any person who believes in Him will not have to endure the wrath that is to come!

That is the reason I focus on this, the prophetic, from time to time. It is the end of days and Jesus will return. His long-suffering, mercy, and patience is one of the miraculous characteristics He shows us daily. William S. Plumer wrote in 1865 in his wonderful essay on Providence,

“Truly, it is astonishing that such sinners as we are should be spared; but surely it is not astonishing that if spared at all, it should be under the government of such a God. “The Lord is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish.” God never punishes with delight. He does not will, or plan, or seek the ruin of his bitterest and most inveterate enemies. In the esteem of God the death of a sinner is a dreadful thing. “Many a time he turns his anger away” (Psalm 78:38) before he strikes a blow or crushes a sinful worm. The reason is, “God is love.” None else would bear so long—would so long avert deserved and terrible punishments from the heads of the rebellious. Truly, the prophet told us of the glorious nature of God, when he said, “The Lord does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.”

Come to Jesus now, under His grace. Repent, and live.

“Shall your repentance be unto life and salvation? Or shall it be but the fruitless relenting of a soul in an undone eternity? O accept the mercy offered to you now. Embrace the Savior, while he waits to be gracious.”

revelation, stars, wrath

The stars will fall from the sky as figs from a tree

Posted on September 16, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Some of the prophecies to come are so beyond imagining that they defy bringing into illustration. Chris Koelle did an amazing and in my opinion, supernaturally spooky job of making the book of Revelation into a graphic book. His art did manage to bring to two dimensions what is nearly incomprehensible to imagine in three.

In the photo below, it has nothing to do with the bible or prophecies or anything religious. A photographer, Lincoln Harrison, simply photographed stars with a long exposure, and …well, let these guys at My Modern Met, (where I found Harrison’s photography) explain.

“Photographer Lincoln Harrison continues to amaze us with his extensive collection of surreal Startrails. …Recently, he produced a series in which each composition is filled with streaks of gorgeous light bursting across the atmosphere. Harrison documents the majestic night sky by using long exposures combined with a creative zoom technique, and then layering two images together in post-production.“

The photograph immediately reminded me of the scene in Revelation where the stars fall from the sky. Here it is, with parallel verses:

“All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.” (Isaiah 34:4)

“The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” (Joel 2:31)

The scene will be utterly terrifying. Men will drop dead on the spot. “People fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Luke 21:26). Imagine standing next to the tree and seeing this happen!

Repent of your sins and escape all these things.

Here is a true fact: “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31).

If you are saved, you are free from the chains of death! Made possible by the ONE MAN who lived a sinless life, and laid it down in voluntary submission to His Father’s will, on behalf of His bride to be. Us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don’t share the love of Christ … Evangelism part 2/3

Posted on September 14, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I’m thinking a lot about evangelism. I feel the times are getting closer and closer to the end. Whether you are a student of eschatology or not (eschatology = last things) the fact is that today we are one day closer to the end than yesterday. Urgency is a must, because today anyone could die. If they are without the Lord, they will go to hell. We must be about the Father’s business, and urgently, with purpose and intent.

And correctly.

The Great Day of the Lord

Posted on September 6, 2013 by elizabethprata

I just worked four hours on a blog entry about Gog-Magog from Ezekiel 38-39 and in re-reading the passages and praying and thinking, I have paused my thought on it, so I am going to study it some more before I say anything. I’m not posting it yet.

I had also come across this passage from Malachi, and it also weighs heavily on me. This is because someone I knew had performed a great and grievous blasphemy against Jesus. He was chastised and punished. I had hoped that the punishment and trauma of the discovery of his blasphemy and wickedness against Jesus which he had done in the name of Jesus purportedly on behalf of Jesus, no less, would chasten him unto repentance and shake his black and stony heart. I see tonight that it has not. Therefore I mourn for those who persist in their blindness because I know they are storing up great wrath for themselves.

Nevertheless, God is great, and he said to Ezekiel, “And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.” This is a comfort, because I know God has spoken in the situation. On the Day when we all stand before Him, the person will remember the chastening and the words and the fact that God had given opportunity to repent. If the completely ignorant are beneficiaries of general revelation of Himself so they are without excuse, (Romans 1:20), when an unsaved person inside the church who has heard the Gospel so often, and has been beneficiary of being immersed in special revelation, still rejects it, how much more are they truly and eternally without excuse?

So here is my thought for the night, short and sweet:

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. “You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of hosts.… (Malachi 4:1-3)

The just will have their day. Hang on to righteousness. Cling to Him and stand on the rock. We will escape the fire and skip on the high places

yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

God, the Lord, is my strength;

he makes my feet like the deer’s;

he makes me tread on my high places.

Habakkuk 3:18-19

in christ alone, judgment, presbyterians, sin, wrath

Presbyterian Denomination denies the doctrine of the wrath of God by 2/3 vote via hymn deletion

Posted on August 9, 2013 by elizabethprata

I ran across this article from the “Alabama Baptist” magazine. It is about a fight they are having in the Presbyterian denomination PCUSA over the traditional hymn “In Christ Alone.” It is titled Why disagree about the words in a hymn?

Presbyterian USA objected to the lyric in the hymn “Till on that cross as Jesus died/The wrath of God was satisfied”. Huh? Yes indeed, they wanted to change that line referring to God’s wrath, to the following: “Till on that cross as Jesus died/The love of God was magnified.”

The writers of the song would not allow the change, so the PresbyterianUSA denomination dropped the song entirely from their hymnal. They “voted 9–6 not to use the song because the theology of the disputed phrase reflected the view of a part of the Presbyterian Church but was not appropriate for the diverse membership as a whole” it is stated in the Alabama Baptist article I linked to above.

Since when is God’s wrath not part of the whole counsel of God, profitable for reproof and rebuke? The article included this quote from Professor George:

“Beeson Divinity School Dean Timothy George was more balanced in his reaction. He wrote, “God’s love is not sentimental; it is holy. It is tender but not squishy. It involves not only compassion, kindness and mercy beyond measure, but also indignation against injustice and unremitting opposition to all that is evil.” George cautioned that to ignore God’s wrath can result in “a less than fully biblical construal of who God is and what He has done, especially in the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ.”

The author of this article in the ‘Alabama Baptist’ is Dr. Bob Terry, graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Dr Terry is the President and editor of the Alabama Baptist. Dr Terry has one of the longest tenures as a state Baptist paper editor, 30 years! He wrote in the article,

“Yet there remains a question about whether God was an angry God at Golgotha whose wrath had to be appeased by the suffering of the innocent Jesus. … “Some popular theologies do hold that Jesus’ suffering appeased God’s wrath. …That is not how I understand the Bible and that is why I do not sing the phrase “the wrath of God was satisfied” even though I love the song “In Christ Alone.” … But God is not the enemy. He is our seeking Friend (Luke 15). That is why I prefer to focus on His love evidenced at Calvary rather than on His wrath.” [underline mine].

So you see the problem is not just among Presbyterian-USAs. Dr Terry of the Alabama Baptists went on to parse whether Jesus was the object of reconciliation or the subject, splitting diversionary hairs while diminishing the doctrine of wrath entirely.

The Alabama Baptist is a 170 year old paper that reaches 80,000 homes weekly and has a readership of 200,000 souls. That is quite the voice and quite the influence.

Making the argument about whether Jesus was the object of God’s wrath or the subject of it is not a legitimate argument, because we all know that Jesus was not the subject. He endured the wrath not because He was sinful. He was sinless. The subject of the wrathful conversation God was having was with sinful mankind through sinless Jesus. Jesus was the object upon Whom God leveled his anger so that it would be exhausted. [FMI, see Jerry Bridges link below]

If we all agree on the basic tenet that Jesus was certainly not the subject of God’s wrath, then that is why we can see that parsing object-subject discussions subtly shifts the conversation away from the proper focus: wrath.

We are the subject of God’s wrath. He leveled that wrath against mankind in the Flood, (Genesis 6:6-7) and also against those fallen angels who had sinned with human women, too. (2 Peter 2:4). God again easily could have leveled His wrath against mankind, at any time thereafter, but He chose to place it on and through Jesus, who was the spotless Lamb, so that it will have been satisfied in holiness but exhausted against now-reconciled man.

Yet that is what the Presbyterians were dickering about. Though their committee speaker denies it now, “in an original, more unguarded, account Mary Louise Bringle wrote for the Christian Century, Bringle admits that wrath was the real issue. She admitted that the hymn selection committee argued whether “the cross is primarily about God’s need to assuage God’s anger.”

Therefore, the Presbyterian Denomination committee’s 2/3 vote is an affirmation of the opposite: they believe that the cross is NOT primarily about God’s anger.

So often these days (not our local congregation, thankfully) we do not hear sermons from preachers speaking of God’s wrath, or sin, or judgment. Satan twists doctrine by suppressing unwanted truths to those who want their ears tickled just as much as he perverts doctrine through changing it, and the Presbyterians are only too happy to comply.

The foundational tenets of the faith are being attacked on every side, either through overt perversion of subtle suppression. This is nothing new. Immediately after the resurrection, the resurrection was denied, Jesus’s deity was denied, grace was denied, Jesus human-ness was denied. Today, hell is being denied, God’s wrath is ignored in favor of His love, the Trinity is under fire, and the reason for the cross is being muddled. It’s a good reminder that satan is always at work in every aspect of church life and to be on guard not only for the presence of bad doctrine but also the absence of good doctrine- not just in the sermons but in the hymns/praise music too.

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(Updated) How close are we to rapture? "Pope Francis On Gays: Who Am I To Judge Them?"

Posted on July 30, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Update at bottom.

I’ve written about the progressive standard that God showed us in the bible about why and when He gives a person or a nation over. That progressive standard in in Romans 1, particularly verses 18-32 in the section titled “God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness”.

I’ve noted on this blog about the progression of the acceptance and normalization of homosexuality and gay marriage, accomplished state-by-state through referenda or judicial fiat. I’ve noted that the last Presidential election’s Democratic party platform contained many unGodly elements in it, including promotion of the gay agenda – and that is the platform (philosophy) a majority of the American people chose. Many millions of American evangelicals were more than a little dismayed by that, but not surprised. We are not surprised when the world acts like the world. Very recently, we noted that America’s Supreme Court accepted the gay agenda through some important judicial decisions. All this has convinced many of us that America is under judgment.

photo credit: San Diego Shooter via photopin cc

I’ve also noted on the blog that the state-by-state acceptance of the homosexual agenda in the US is mirrored on a larger scale with a nation-by-nation secular acceptance of it. Last week, Britain legalized homosexual marriage. Also, Costa Rica has opened the door to it. Australia has opened the door to it. Uruguay and New Zealand have both enacted laws to legalize same-sex marriage which will come into force in August 2013. There are many other examples of nations giving over to the gay agenda.

It is clear that in secular society that great swathes of jurisdictions and sub-jurisdictions have legalized and thus normalized what God abhors.

photo credit: Dennis Wong via photopin cc

Yes, God abhors all sins, but homosexuality is the only one He uses AS a judgment and as a benchmark of progress away from Him into darkness. It is clear that in the secular world, satan has greatly advanced in his cause for sin in claiming the worldly mind. That claim is growing exponentially every day. Just as a car is difficult to get out of a snowbank, with enough push, rocking back and forth, and persistence, traction is gained. That time is now. Traction is fully gained and the floodgates are opened. But again, the world is the world. That’s how it is. We are not surprised- but we do mark the progress of the world’s sin saturation.

In faith communities too, the homosexual agenda has gained remarkable traction. Now, when I say ‘faith community”, I don’t mean legitimate faith. There is no faith except the true faith delivered to the saints once for all (Jude 1:3), but look at this list from Wikipedia:

“Various faith communities around the world support allowing same-sex couples to marry or conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies; for example: Church of Sweden, Quakers, U.S. Episcopalians, the Metropolitan Community Church, the United Church of Christ, the United Church of Canada, Buddhism in Australia, Reform and Conservative Jews, Wiccans, Druids, Unitarian Universalists, and Native American religions with a two-spirit tradition, as well as various progressive and modern Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish groups and various minor religions and other denominations.”

This week both Desmond Tutu has stated that he welcomes the homosexual agenda and openly rejected God.

Wikipedia

Desmond Tutu Says He Would Prefer Hell Over A Homophobic Heaven And God

Mr Tutu has won the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom among other awards, and was Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. He speaks for a considerable segment of the population on a considerably populated continent. The horrific thing is that he speaks these heresies in the name of Jesus.

Today we read- “Pope Francis On Gays: Who Am I To Judge Them?“
The pontiff broached the delicate question of how he would respond to learning that a cleric in his ranks was gay, though not sexually active. For decades, the Vatican has regarded homosexuality as a “disorder,” and Pope Francis’ predecessor Pope Benedict XVI formally barred men with what the Vatican deemed “deep-seated” homosexuality from entering the priesthood. “Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?” the pontiff said, speaking in Italian. “You can’t marginalize these people.”

The Pope is the voice of all Catholics, and the horrific thing is that he speaks these heresies in the name of Jesus. There are 1.2 billion Catholics in the world.

As God gives over the individual to his entrenched sin and rejection of Christ, and as He gives nations over to entrenched sin and rejection of Christ, God also will give over the world to sin and rejection of Christ. The moment He will give over the world to its sin will be the second after the rapture takes place. The world will be then unrestrained in its sin. (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

Daniel 9:24-17 describes the reasons God will begin the Tribulation and the verses record the length of it. God will allow sin to have its day. He will allow it to capture everyone who rejected His Son and thus, believe the lie (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

We look at the progression in Romans and use that as a benchmark for the wrath of abandonment. We know and see individuals who are enduring the wrath of God’s abandonment as they die with atheism or other religions or false Jesus on their lips. We know and see nations enduring the wrath of God’s abandonment as they had wholesale turned away from God’s laws, and I believe America is one of those nations enduring His wrath now, in current times.

But think on this: how long until God unleashes His wrath by abandoning the world to its sin and takes His bride home?? We are watching an amazing thing happen day by day. The peoples, nations, and faiths- all dismiss God by accepting homosexuality. Really, the world is crumbling.

Photo: Venice Beach, Elizabeth Prata

It is like a sand castle. At first the tide nips at the edges of it. The castle loses a few grains of sand, but the larger structure is unaffected. Then a larger wave comes and swipes away a chunk. The waves return to docility and creep up to the castle in tiny nips, for a while. But then another big wave comes, and piled after that, another. The tide is crunching away as it comes in faster and faster, undercutting the entire structure and it starts to tilt. Soon the castle is a mound and soon after that, wiped from existence.

I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,

will he find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:8

Not that He won’t leave the Spirit to draw men to His bosom in the Tribulation, He will. Many come to faith then. But He will unleash His wrath upon an unbelieving world…

When I see whole nations and whole segments of a false faith community embracing homosexuality as they do, the rapture cannot be far behind, according to my understanding of the progression in Romans, at least. The wrath of abandonment is what Desmond Tutu claims to want, but what he doesn’t know is that God has already abandoned Tutu to the wrath of God. He has done the same for those who believe the Pope’s lie, also.

The Gospel has the power to cut through the darkness and save. There is no question about that. But God’s plan is to retrieve the bride for His Son to love and leave the world to His anger. I believe that the advance of the homosexual agenda is a heavy-duty benchmark for that tipping point. I believe that tipping point is soon to appear.

I leave you with a prayer from John MacArthur:

Father, we are so grateful that You have not left us in doubt about these things which are part of life for us. I pray that You’ll use us to bring the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to people in these horrible chains of homosexual behavior, who have no future, no family, no hope, who live with massive guilt, pain, agony, driving unleashed passions. That You would come powerfully through the instrumentation of Your people to bring the gospel–it alone can save them. Be glorified, Lord. Turn the tide with Your truth and with Your gospel. Save people caught in not only this sin, but in all kinds of sins that are so popular in this culture. Give the gospel a fresh hearing, we ask for Your glory, in Christ’s name. Amen.

photo credit: Fr. Stephen, MSC via photopin cc

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"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God": Not so seeker friendly

Posted on July 11, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The following excerpt is Point #4 from the famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Jonathan Edwards was a part of the First Great Awakening. He lived between 1703-1758 and delivered this sermon at the height of the Awakening in New England, in Enfield, Connecticut, July 8, 1741- 272 years ago this week!

As Wikipedia summarizes the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a typical sermon of the Great Awakening, emphasizing the belief that Hell is a real place. Edwards hoped that the imagery and message of his sermon would awaken his audience to the horrific reality that awaited them should they continue without Christ. The underlying point is that God has given humanity a chance to rectify their sins. Edwards says that it is the will of God that keeps wicked men from the depths of Hell. This act of restraint has given humanity a chance to mend their ways and return to Christ.”

Below is the interior of the Rocky Hill Meetinghouse, Salisbury, Mass. built in 1785. It’s typical of the New England meetinghouses of Edwards’ day. It’s called Meetinghouse because the building was used for church services AND government activities. This one was unheated until 1830.

Source

They were leaping out of their pews… “Parishioners personalized their pews by adding footstools, cushions, foot stoves, or arm rests. The pew seats are hinged, possibly to allow women more space for their full skirts while standing.” (source)


Numbered box pews were sold to parishioners. The remainder of the seating was unreserved.(src)

An oft-overlooked fact is that as Edwards preaches hell and gets to point four, he tells the congregation that of the danger of hell, he is speaking to them. Not everyone in a church is saved, as Edwards says,

“There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity.”

It doesn’t matter how moral you are or how sober you are, if not saved by faith in Jesus, their place wrathful torment will be their state forevermore. (Matthew 7:22-23).

John Wesley preaching during 1st Great Awakening

Here’s Edwards:

“It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For “who knows the power of God’s anger?”

“How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell?”

He ended this way:

“Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: “Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.””

—————–end—————

Not so seeker friendly, is it? The reaction of the congregation was astounding. Reverend Stephen Williams was minister at Longmeadow Mass. He recorded the reaction in detail later that night in his diary. This is Pastor Williams’ description of the congregation’s reaction at Enfield to Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,”

“Before the sermon was done there was a great moaning and crying out throughout the whole house, “What shall I do to be saved?! Oh, I am going to Hell! Oh, what shall I do for Christ?!” etc. etc. So that the minister was obliged to desist. Shrieks and cries were piercing and amazing. After some time of waiting, the congregation were still so that a prayer was made, and after that we descended from the pulpit and discoursed with the people, some in one place and some in another, and–amazing and astonishing!–the power of God was seen, and several souls were hopefully wrought upon that night, and oh, the pleasantness of their countenances that received comfort.”

Lest one believe that Jonathan Edwards was dour and sad, here is the text of his sermon, Heaven, A World Of Love

“…But heaven is his dwelling-place above all other places in the universe; and all those places in which he was said to dwell of old, were but types of this. Heaven is a part of creation that God has built for this end, to be the place of his glorious presence, and it is his abode forever; and here will he dwell, and gloriously manifest himself to all eternity. And this renders heaven a world of love; for God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven, fills heaven with love, as the sun, placed in the midst of the visible heavens in a clear day, fills the world with light. The apostle tells us that “God is love;” and therefore, seeing he is an infinite being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love. Seeing he is an all-sufficient being, it follows that he is a full and over-flowing, and inexhaustible fountain of love.”

Yes indeed! His love reigns.

Every person born has an automatic citizenship in hell the world of wrath. You can transfer that citizenship to heaven, the world of love, by repenting of your sins and calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so be saved from the world of despair.

anger, holy, righteous anger, wrath

Where is the righteous indignation? The holy anger?

Posted on May 2, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Most sane people, until recently at least, would agree that child abuse is heinous. It is something that arouses in people an anger and feelings of severe indignation, in some cases, even violence. The very notion of an innocent and vulnerable child being abused by a horrid man or woman is beyond comprehension. The notion of baby abuse is even worse. Most people, including myself, refuse to even think about that because of the dread feelings abuse against children or babies breeds in the heart.

Though most sane people who become righteously angry at the notion of a child being abused will not enter into violence. Most will hanker for justice. They will vigorously pursue a due punishment for that abuser through all appropriate channels – to the utmost.

They will pursue justice through the court system. Of the abusing priests, they pursue justice through the Vatican. Some dedicate their lives to protecting abused children. Others dedicate their profession through a lifetime to obtaining justice for these kids.

All believers are children of God. To God, we are His kids. We feel grown-up, mature, and in earthly terms, we may be. But we are children.

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–
Romans 8:14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Even if we have been a believer for 50 years, we are still a kid to the LORD. We are his sheep, dumb, helpless, and shivering at the wolves who prey on us.

“The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not

bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.”

“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. (Ezekiel 34:4-10)

We can see from the above verses that the sheep can be prey for the wolves in many different ways. When a worthless shepherd throws them to the wolves and feeds himself instead, it is a very bad thing- for the anger of the LORD burns in His chest.

What He is describing is spiritual abuse. This occurs against the children of God by those in positions of trust. We are enduring a flood of worthless shepherds these days, as well as worthless prophets, false teachers, and unregenerated “believers”.

“A steady stream of false teaching has been cumulative so that it is wider and deeper now than it has ever been in human history. False teaching about God, about Christ, about the Bible, about spiritual reality is pandemic. (source)

Pastors who plagiarize are abusing the sheep because they are giving voice to satan and turning the pulpit over to the kingdom of darkness. Teachers who introduce destructive heresies ruin the people who listen to it. (2 Timothy 2:14). False prophets who speak a dream they’ve made up dilute the word.

So my question is, when a pastor or leader or teacher abuses the flock, why don’t we become as righteously angry as we do with secular child abusers? Why, so often, is there more focus on the victimizer than the victims? His feelings? His reputation? His restoration? Why do we not get more righteously angry about spiritual child abuse? Their feelings? Their restoration? Their needs in the face of recovery?

Look at how harshly Paul dealt with those whom the Spirit commanded to be turned over to judgment.

“This command I commit unto thee son, Timothy, according to the prophecies which pointed to thee that thou by them mightest war a noble warfare; holding faith and a good conscience which some having put away have made shipwreck concerning the faith; of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (2 Timothy 2:14-19).

There is a place for righteous anger in a holy setting. We’re commanded to limit it, but it is OK to feel it.

“Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Ephesians 4:26). Here is what

Dr. John MacArthur says about righteous anger:

“You have a right to be angry about some things.

Psalm 97:10 says: “Ye that love the Lord hate evil.” And Psalm 69:9 David says: “Zeal for Thine house is eating me up. The reproaches that are falling on Thee are falling on me.” He’s saying, God, I can’t tolerate what people do to Your name. It infuriates me.

Now I admit I get angry sometimes. I hope to God I never get angry about what happens to John MacArthur, I hope I always get angry about what happens to God’s holy name. And I hope I never stop getting angry about that. We should have a basic, built in, – that is a programmed anger over sin, a programmed anger over evil, that puts us in a beatitude mentality so that whenever I see sin be it in you or be it in me, I mourn in my spirit. That kind of anger is the sinew of the soul.

F. W. Robertson, a great saint, tells in one of his letters that one time he met a certain man who he knew was trying to lure a young girl into prostitution. And he was so angry he bit his lip until it split open and bled.

The anger that is selfish, passionate, undisciplined, uncontrolled is sinful, useless, hurtful. It must be banished from the Christian life. But the disciplined anger that seeks the rightful place of a righteous God is pure and selfless and dynamic.

This sermon goes on to offer practical ways to allow holy anger to rise to the surface but not to let it consume you.

“anger that is unselfish and is based on love for God and concern for others not only is permissible but commanded. Genuine love cannot help being angered at that which injures the object of that love.

“But even righteous anger can easily turn to bitterness, resentment, and self–righteousness. Consequently, Paul goes on to say, do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. Even the best motivated anger can sour, and we are therefore to put it aside at the end of the day. Taken to bed, it is likely to give the devil an opportunity to use it for his purposes. If anger is prolonged, one may begin to seek vengeance and thereby violate the principle taught in Romans 12:17–21…”

In Psalm 4, David shows us what to do with our righteous anger and it’s consistent with what Paul said, “Be angry, and do not sin!” (From Bible.org)-

Twice in this very short psalm (Psalm 4) David refers to his bed. In verse 4, David speaks of being still, of not taking action himself. Apparently David has done all that he could, in the rebuke of his enemies as recorded in verses 2 and 3. Now, he remains still on his bed, not mulling over the sins of his enemies, or plotting their demise, but rather meditating on the virtues of his God.

Get angry if the sheep are abused. Spiritual abuse is terrible and ruins lives and souls. Be angry! But do not sin. You have a right to be angry about some things. You have a command to be angry about some things! However we should not let that righteous anger linger because it would turn to sour bitterness. If we are angry about what angers God and not angry over ourselves, it is a righteous anger. Keep your eyes on God, even when you are praying for justice for the abused sheep.