This morning, I like us to touch on a subject that is often avoided, a subject that is not very easy on the ears but it is exactly what God would have us today.

We have been embarking on a series through the book of Romans. If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to the book of Romans 1:18. We are going to talk about really, the wrath of God.  We are going to talk about something that the world doesn't really like to hear about, but this is where Paul begins- the wrath of God.

Sometimes, we are guilty of selective hearing, isn't it? We like to hear the things we like and we sort of shut our ears to the things that we do not like.

A story is told of an elderly couple.  Both of them are a little bit deaf, a little bit hard of hearing and one day, the husband cried out to the wife. "Dear, would you want to have a cup of coffee?" No reply, and so he went nearer to the wife and said "Dear, would you want a cup of coffee?" Again, no reply, he was thinking to himself, “My wife is really deaf”. So, he went so near to his wife that he is right beside her and said "Dear, do you want a cup of coffee?" She turned around and said to him "For the third time, yes." (Some muted laughter in the congregation. Pastor paused) It takes time, I know. (Laughter in the congregation). Sometimes, in the morning, our minds are not fresh and working as yet.

But you know, this world is a world that is often deaf.  We are deaf especially to the things we do not like to listen to. Preachers also try to avoid preaching and talking about the wrath of God. We’d rather speak about the love of God, the kindness of God, the compassion of God because it is so much more appealing to the audience. We do not want to be seen as narrow-minded, bigoted or kind of a judgmental kind of preacher. And so many a times, God's people go through their entire lives hardly hearing a message about God's wrath and God's holiness.

Paul the apostle is not like us. Paul the apostle spoke as the messenger of God and he gave to the people exactly what they needed to know. He says, in Romans 1:18 these words: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness”

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In these verses and the verses to follow, Paul is going to reveal and unfold to us the message of the gospel, the gospel which is the good news from God: that He is reconciling sinful man to Himself. That's the great news, but the great news is preceded first by an awareness of the bad news: that we as sinful men are under the wrath of a holy God. Before there can be the message of love, there must be a message of warning. Before the good news, there must come the bad news, and before the doctor can convince you to take the medication, he must tell you first that there is a disease.  And Paul here tells us, there is a disease of our souls that deserves nothing but the wrath of God. And this is where Paul begins. He is not a sentimental preacher, he is not a saccharine sweet kind of a preacher, he is not here to be mushy, he is here to tell us exactly what is needed.

So, this morning, we are going to hear something that we may not like to hear, but I pray you will hear because this is what God’s will is, that we would understand the wrath of God. Can I share with you a few thoughts as we look at verses 18-20 this morning?

1. The reality of God's wrath

First of all: the reality of God's wrath. God's wrath is real. Some of us can't accept this doctrine, you know. Some of us almost feel like we've got to apologize for this doctrine- that God is a God of anger and of wrath. We feel like this is like a blemish on God's character. Maybe you brought a friend today. Your friend is beside you, and you’re now shaking your head and putting your hand to your forehead and say, "Oh no, what is this preacher going to talk about, the wrath of God?" You feel so apologetic to your friend, you almost want to lean over and say," Buddy, I am so sorry. I didn't know this pastor is going to talk about the wrath of God. I thought he was going to talk about joy and about peace and about love, but.. the wrath of God… I am so sorry." My friends, you don't need to apologize. You don't have to apologize to God or about God for who He is. He is the creator, He is the Supreme Being.

Maybe one of the reasons why we feel that it is a blemish on God's character to mention that He is a God of wrath is because we have a wrong concept of wrath in the first place. The concept of wrath we have is seen from angry people around us. We see often times people blow up excessively. We see people being angry impulsively, we see a capricious kind of anger where we flip-flopped, we change and we are inconsistent and we say, "That's not the kind of concept we want our God to be." But my friends, God's wrath is not like man's wrath. God's wrath is a righteous wrath, God's wrath is a holy wrath and there is no blemish in God's character. In fact, Scripture repeatedly teaches us about the wrath of God. Paul did not say something that is new. You see, in Psalms 2, the Bible tells us

Psalms 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed,

Psalms 2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

In Psalms 2:12 Kiss the Son ..

What a beautiful verse-‘kiss the Son’- a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ

Psalms 2:12 ..lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.

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Men have no concept of the fierceness of God's wrath. ‘If He be but kindled a little’ - It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.

Psalms 76:6-7 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?

Psalms 78:49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

Psalms 90:7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.

Psalms 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

Jeremiah 7:20  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

Ezekiel 7:19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD

The Bible tells us that there is a God of love but equally that He is a God of wrath, of anger, of fury. Do you know that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the first public act He did was an amazing one? What was His first public act when he entered Jerusalem? Anybody has a clue? It was an act of wrath. He entered the temple and cleared out those who were converting the house of God into a den of thieves. I mean, if you were the ones who were to be introduced as the Savior, maybe you would like to do something politically correct, endear yourself to the people, to the folks. But that's not what Jesus did. He entered Jerusalem with wrath because that's what God is, who He is. He makes no apologies for it. When Jesus preached, He preached more about hell than heaven because God is a God of wrath. In fact, in the New Testament, it teaches us consistently the same truths.

Ephesians 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

2Thessalonians 1:7-8  And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Therefore, Paul says, God's wrath is real. “For the wrath of God is revealed”.

The word ‘revealed’ here is the word ‘apokalyptó’ from which you get the word ‘apocalypse’. It is the word that means ‘to manifest, to make known, to reveal’ and this tense or Greek sentence is really, "For the wrath of God is being revealed".

Do you know that the wrath of God is constantly being revealed in the world around us? It is revealed in the past, it is revealed in the present and it will be revealed in the promised future. When God created the heavens and the earth, there was one summary statement that he said. When he created it all, he said "It is...?" It is finished? (Laughter in the congregation) Wrong chapter reference! When he finished creating the heavens and the earth, He said, "It is good." In fact, He said "It is very good." Yes, He said "It is good." But He also said "It is very good." It is a beautiful, flawless world but then, Adam and Eve decided to sin against God and at that point of time, the wrath of God revealed itself. God poured out His wrath. That's why, women today, you go through a painful delivery process, you scream, you yell because therein is that curse that is put upon men because of our sins against Him.  It is a reminder about the wrath of God. And for many of us, we toil.  Many men, you toil and labor just to feed your family.  Why, because God's wrath is brought upon this earth. The earth is cursed and Paul in Romans would tell us the whole earth is travailing in pain because of sin, because of the wrath of God poured out when Adam and Eve sinned against God. God drove them out of the Garden of Eden and set the angels that they would not return. You see, at the Garden of Eden, God's wrath is revealed.

God's wrath is revealed again in the days of Noah, when the whole earth was filled with wickedness and God sent a great deluge, a great flood to eliminate and to wipe out sin in that whole land. God's wrath is again seen in the Tower of Babel, in the areas of Sodom and Gomorrah. And really, every single day for the Jews, they are reminded of the wrath of God because every day they would worship God by bringing their animals, and they would have to slay the animals, they would have to kill the animals because it is a reminder of the wrath of God upon sin.

The wrath of God is constantly being revealed. It is revealed in the events in the past, it is revealed even in our day to day. We live in a day when there are tragedies, catastrophes, disasters all around and it is a manifestation of the wrath of God. The world was not made to have earthquakes and floods like this, but sin has invoked the wrath and it has been constantly being revealed.

But maybe the greatest demonstration of God's wrath that we have ever seen is some 2000 years ago when Jesus went to the cross and bore our sins. There, on the cross, the full portion of God's wrath is poured into the life of Jesus Christ, that at the end of six hours, He cried out, “My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?” because He was bearing the entire wrath of God against the sins of the world.

Maybe some of us say, “Why is it then that I don't see evil or wicked people being punished for their sins? Why is it that that wicked boss or that wicked guy is still living a very carefree, happy life? Where is the wrath of God in sinners like him?” Ah, my friends, God's accounts are not always taken today. It is not always taken in the timeline we want. But we do know in Scripture, it is appointed unto men once to die but after this, the judgment. There will come a judgment, and that's where God's wrath will be poured.

You know, when Jesus came the first time, 2000 years ago, He said He came to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, to bind the brokenhearted, to heal and to bring deliverance. We live today in what we call ‘the age of grace’. God is gracious to us, He is giving us time that we may turn to Him but there will come a time when it would all be over. When time is up, Scripture tells us in Isaiah 61, there will come the day of vengeance of the Lord. It will come a day when God's wrath would be revealed once again when Jesus comes to judge the world the second time.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation 19, would you?

When Jesus comes again, He is not coming to be the Savior as it was the first time. He is going to be coming as the victorious King. He is going to come as a Judge, He is going to come in His wrath. In Revelation 19, I read to you verse 11 onwards, it says here,

Revelation 19:11-15  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. [12] His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. [13] And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. [14] And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. [15] And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

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My friends, when Jesus comes again, He is going to come in absolute judgment. The wrath of God is constantly being revealed because God is a God of wrath. You see, God is not Santa Claus. Man's way of thinking about God is that we put on God what we have seen in the past. We have seen Santa Claus and we think God is like Santa Claus.  We think that God is like that condoning old grandpa sitting in the heavens stroking his beard and saying "It's all right, it's all right, we will let this go." That's not the God we know of the Bible. He is a God of love, but He is a God of wrath.

And, by the way, there is no contradiction between wrath and love here. In fact I think, it is when we begin to understand the wrath of God that we would start to fully appreciate the love of God. What do you mean by that, Pastor? You see, it is only when we understand how much He hates sin that we start to appreciate how much and how amazing it is for Him to love us. It is only when we comprehend a little bit more of the wrath of God that we can understand a little bit more about the love of God. This is heavy-going but this is exactly what Scripture says. God is a God of love, the reality of God's wrath.

2. The reason for God's wrath

But let's move on because Paul tells us, the reason for God's wrath.  Why is God angry? What is the reason? Paul simply says in verse 18 "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" -two words that tell us about sin. There is only one thing God is angry at -only one thing- sin. It is reflected in these two words, ungodliness and unrighteousness. Similar words in a sense that they both refer to sin but they have different shades of meaning, to help us.

‘Ungodliness’, really refers to a lack of reverence towards God, a lack of worship.  It is a man living his life in impiety, ungodliness.  He is not rightly related to God. The word ‘unrighteousness’ then would refer to sins that are not really against God per se, although all sin are, but unrighteousness against men.

So one is a vertical relationship, the other is a horizontal relationship but God is angry at all sin. The first recorded sin in the Bible is when men turned against God in Genesis 3. The second recorded sin in the Bible is when man sin against man in Genesis 4, when Cain murdered his brother Abel.

You see, sin is like this: when you have not a right relationship with your Creator, you lose a right relationship with men. And God is angry at sins. Maybe some of us say, “But pastor, I'm not such a bad guy, I am actually quite a good guy. I have given to charity, I have helped a lot of people, I have never committed those big sins”

But look at what God says: "His wrath is against all unrighteousness, all ungodliness."

There is a thinking today in Christiandom called ‘universalism’, that means you actually don't need to preach the gospel because God is going to save the whole world anyway. Why? Because God is too nice, God is too good, God is too kind to send everybody to hell. And so, actually, God is going to let everyone go to heaven, there is no need to preach the gospel; but you see, it totally misses the point.

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We need the gospel of Jesus Christ because all of us are under the wrath of God. The gospel is not something optional. The gospel, the saving message of Jesus Christ- it is not some good thing you should have in your pocket. It is absolutely essential because man lives his life under the wrath of God.

That's why the health and wealth gospel totally misses the mark. God gives you health, God gives you wealth but what about the existing wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness? You see, Paul begins his gospel by bringing us to the bad news: we are a people living in sin under the wrath of God. That's where understanding the good news begins.

3. The reasonableness of God's wrath

Let me move.  We have looked at the reality of God's wrath, we have also looked at the reason for God's wrath. Can I give you, thirdly, the reasonableness of God's wrath.

God's wrath is highly reasonable. Let me give you a question alright. This is the question we need to answer today: How can God send people to hell for not believing in Jesus Christ? You say, “It is not fair! How can God send people to hell for not believing in Jesus? Because they have never heard about Jesus Christ” and the place they often like to say is: “What about the people in....?” ”Pastor, they have never heard the gospel because the people in....” Africa, that's the favorite place they like to arrow. “Ah, people in Africa would never know about Jesus, the people in Africa would never hear about the gospel, so how can God send these people to hell for rejecting Jesus? They have never heard of Jesus Christ!” Have you been asked this question before? Can I see, how many of you have been asked this question before? So, how do you answer? How can God be so unfair?

You see, that is the line of thinking people have. It is unfair, it is unreasonable for God to send someone to hell because they did not believe in Jesus Christ, because they have never had a chance and so when people go to God, they would want to say, “Lord, you can't send me to hell because I plead ignorance. I've never heard before so it would be wrong for you to send me to hell.” Ah! Paul, like a good lawyer, argues his case. He presents to us very clearly that it is absolutely reasonable for God to show His wrath in sending sinners to hell. You say, "How?" Let's look at what Paul says, he says in Romans 1:18 onwards

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness”

The word ‘hold’ here means ‘to hold down’, ‘to suppress’.  They are actively pressing down, they are actively holding off the truth that they know; a picture that you can take from wrestling. A wrestler is constantly trying to pin the other opponent down.  And this is what man likes to do -they like to pin, they like to suppress, they like to hold down the truth of God and they do so because of unrighteousness, because of their sinful heart. So they do know the truth, they do know about God but they want to suppress it. You say, “Sure or not, Pastor? Are you sure they really know? Are you sure they really know about the truth of God?” Yes, because Paul goes on to say,

“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.”

So, Paul is saying, ‘Hey, I have no doubt that every human being knows because God says He has already manifested that truth to them.” It is manifest in them. The word ‘manifest’ is ‘to be clear, to be made known, to be revealed again.’

So Paul is saying they hold the truth down and I know they do because they already know the truth. But you say, “How? How do they know the truth? I mean, in the deep dark parts of Africa, there is no pastor, there is no preacher, there is no church. How are they to know the truth? How? Who is going to tell them? Who is going to reveal to them the truth?”

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Paul says, in verse 20

“For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the world are clearly seen...”

How can they know? Who is the pastor? Who is the preacher? Paul says, “They know because Creation speaks unto them.” They can know because as they look at the Creation, they should know about the Creator. When we see the Design of the world, we should know the Designer. The shirt you wear- it did not come by chance, right? Goldlion, Van Huesen- you have all the designers and it is exactly what it is because somebody designed it. I mean, nobody would say, "Where did you find the shirt? Did it drop from the tree?” No, they know it was made by someone.  And the world, the Creation around us, speaks of the Creator.  It is that obvious.

But people, as obvious as it would be, do not want to acknowledge the truth.  So they suppress it, they hold it down in unrighteousness. Sometimes, man misses the most obvious things.

The story is told of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, his sidekick. They went camping, pitched the tent, stayed inside, had a meal, drank a glass of wine and lay down to sleep. Several hours later, Sherlock Holmes woke up and nudged Dr. Watson, “Hey Watson, wake up.” “What's up, Sherlock Holmes?” “Look up, what do you see?” “Well, I see many many stars.” “Well then, what do you make of it, Watson?” Dr. Watson says, "Well astronomically, it tells me that there are billions of planets and millions of galaxies. Well it tells me astrologically, that Saturn is in Leo. Well it tells me horologically, that it is about a quarter past three. It tells me meteorologically, tomorrow would be a fine day. So Sherlock Holmes, what do you think of it?" Sherlock Holmes says, "Watson, you idiot, somebody stole our tent!" (Laughter in the congregation). Sometimes, we miss the most obvious things!

When you look at Creation around you, it is as obvious as it could get, isn't it? It is as obvious as it could get. I was someone who looked at the world around me and said there is no God. But I was a fool.  Deep in my heart, I knew that there is God. But I suppressed it, I held it down because my philosophy of life is that I am the center of the universe.  And if there is God, it means I am no more the center of the universe and because of that, even though I never quite articulated these words to myself, I said there is no God; I held down the truth even though it is as obvious as daylight. The whole world shouts out to us: there is a creator. It is made manifest in us but man is guilty of holding it, suppressing it in unrighteousness.

I read an article about the reasons why science tells me that there is a God. You know, I could list so many things about science proving the existence of God. I just give you a few and it is specifically with regards to the planet, to the world we live. It says here:

1a.The earth is tilted at an angle of 23 degrees.

We do know that the earth revolves around a tilted axis.

1b.If the tilt was even one or two degrees off, the land would be covered with ice and we would all be dead -the precision from our Creator.

It goes on:

2. The moon is exactly 240,000 miles away from the earth. If it were any closer, the ocean tides would be enormous and human life would be wiped out- Gravitational pull that could result excessively.

3. The sun is exactly 12,000 degrees. If it were 50 degrees hotter, we would all burn up. But if it were 50 degrees cooler, we would all freeze to death.

Did it occur by chance? Doesn't it speak of a highly intelligent Supreme Being?

4. The earth is 25,000 miles around and weighs more than 6 septillion tons. And somehow, it hangs unsupported in space and scientists don’t know how.

5. The earth flies through the air at 1000 miles an hour through space. And we don’t even notice it because its design is so perfect. If it were any faster or slower, we would all be taking motion sickness pills.

Look at the stars, look at the skies, look at the water cycle, look at the flowers in full bloom, peer at the grasshoppers that hop in the grass fields and contemplate that amazing miracle of childbirth. My friends, it is just too amazing and too convincing for man to say "There is no God." I studied medicine and I was told that in the medical faculty, the number or the proportion of believers in medicine is the highest amongst all faculties; more Christians there than anywhere else.  Why? Maybe one of the reasons is that we are forced to look at the beauty of God's Creation- this body life, this human life- more intensely. And we can walk out of that place with no other conclusion than to say "We are beautifully and wonderfully made by God." There is no excuse anywhere round. The whole world today has an advertisement, has a billboard, and this billboard says that God is a Creator. There is a God, there is a Creator.

Scientist Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) said,

“This most elegant system of suns and planets could only arise from the purpose and sovereignty of an intelligent and mighty being. He rules them all as the Sovereign Lord of all things.”

Scientists whose studies could not come with any other conclusion than to say, “There is a Supreme Being”:-

Albert Einstein (1879 –1955)

“The harmony of natural law reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking of human beings is utterly insignificant.”

Louis Pasteur (1822-95)

“The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator.”

The whole world has a billboard that cries out, "There is a Creator." It doesn't matter where you live, Timbuktu or New York City. The whole world shouts out at you: "There is a Creator."

We sing those songs we sang- this morning we sang two songs- "This is my Father's world", second song- "Indescribable." God is the one who told the lightning bolt where to go, God is the one who set the stars in the sky. We sing this song “How great thou art”. When you walk through this world, you can sing with it,

“O Lord our God, When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed”

 

The whole of Creation displays and manifest the Supreme Being, God!

“When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze”

“Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee: How great Thou art, how great Thou art!”

A Christian man walks through life looking at the whole of Creation, and saying "God, you are amazing!"

The Bible says (in Psalms 19:1-3) “The heavens declare the glory of God.. “

Just look into the sky, it proclaims to you the glory of God.

“..and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”

“Pastor, the people in Africa didn't know about God!” Are you sure? They know because the invisible things of Him are clearly seen from the Creation that is made. God tells me: every day and every night, there is a preacher preaching to the Africans, there is a preacher preaching to the New Yorkers, there is a preacher preaching to Singaporeans, there is a preacher preaching to the whole world. It doesn't matter what language, it doesn't matter what speech you have, the whole world hears it but the whole world suppresses it. The whole world says, “I cannot hear God, I didn't hear Him” and we want to pretend to ourselves that at the end of life, we can stand before God and say "There is no God, I didn't know." Ah friends, the whole Earth shouts out at us, "There is God.  There is a Creator." Be sure you are listening properly.

This week, I've got my new phone. Ha, it's an iPhone! (Laughter in the congregation) I thought it is quite a cool device. Now my sermon powerpoints can be accessed on my phone. Now, all the Bible words with the Greek and so on, I don't have to memorize them. You can just give a click, and it tells you exactly what it is. It's cool, it's a nice device but I realized there was a flaw with iPhone. I was very disappointed with it. When people call me and I want to talk to them, it seems like they are so far away. It sounds so far, it's so soft. I didn't know what was wrong. I told my friends, our church mates, "Hey, this iPhone got problem, huh? How come they design a phone that is so soft? You must have very sensitive ears." They say, “No, it is not so soft, yours must be faulty.” And so, I did an experiment- I took their phones and they took mine and when I use someone else's iPhone, it is as loud as it can be.

I say, ‘What's wrong?” Pastor Chee Keen, very helpful, he helped me. “Aiyah, maybe your settings are wrong.” So he adjusted the settings, changed it, and tried again. No, it's the same. So he said, “Maybe we need to do a system overhaul!” I said I just got my phone lah. (Laughter in the congregation). Need to reset? I didn't do anything and they said you need to reset. But before you reset, you have got to go back to your laptop, do iTunes, sync it… so I said, “Forget it, I think it's not worth my while.” Then he said the most horrible thing, "Maybe, yours is just a defective phone. You didn't get an Apple, you got a Lemon!” (Laughter in the congregation)

But he was very kind, very helpful, he didn't want to let the matter go. He said "Cannot be, lah." I have tried the speaker function and it's very loud. I mean, when I call people, I hello, hello, I can't put it to my ears, it's just too soft but for the speaker, it works well. He went to the Internet, Googled, ‘IPhone volume soft, how?’ (Laughter in the congregation). Went up to the Internet, he went to a website, a forum, and showed me the answer: ‘It may sound very obvious to you, but have you removed the protective film?’ (Loud laughter in the congregation) I took out the film and it became as CLEAR as anything.

I was so upset with Apple, I was upset with the telco, I thought I got a Lemon! I was blaming everything about Apple, but I realized it is actually myself. There was a film I did not remove and the voice I heard became very muffled. You say, “God, how come I can't hear you? God, are you talking to me? Did you tell me you were here?” You know, at the end of life, we may stand before God and say “I couldn't hear you, God”. And Iike myself, you will realize it’s not God who had a problem. He is manifesting Himself, 365 days, 24 hours a day, preaching to you from Creation. But we did not hear Him because there is a layer of sin in our lives that muffled that voice. We held the truth in unrighteousness. Sin caused us not to hear the voice of God in Creation.

My friends, that's why Scripture says "the invisible things of him from the Creation of the world are clearly seen." It's clear. How? “Being understood by the things that are made" Things do not happen by chance, they are made by God and we can see that very clearly, we can know about God. You say, “What can we know about God? Can we know everything about God from Creation?” The answer is no. You can't know everything about God through Creation alone. I mean, even if you have the Bible, you read everything, there are still some things we do not know until we see Him, isn't it? But what is given to us is sufficient for us today. But the depths of the knowledge of God is plunged in throughout the course of the whole eternity.

Time stamp in audio 0:43:06.5.

But Creation doesn't tell us everything about God. Paul specifies these are the two things you would know about God: His eternal power and Godhead. The word ‘Godhead’ would be better translated ‘Godhood’ or really, ‘divinity’. We know God's power and God's divinity in Creation. There is no excuse to say we did not know there is a Supreme Creator, God. It says these things are obvious and therefore, it is because God has made it clear in them. God hath showed it unto them. So if you look at the last part, they are without excuse because we held or suppressed the truth in unrighteousness.

Imagine you were to die and appeared before God and God brought his judgment and indictment on you, “for the wrath of God is revealed upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness.” This is the charge, and then you stand up and say "No God, I am not guilty because I never knew you." Apostle Paul, like a prosecutor, would walk in and he says "No, you know God.  In fact, I have a witness to say that you would know God." And he brings in the witness; his name is Creation. Creation comes and says, "I told you every single day that there is God.  Day upon day, night upon night, I declare to you the glory of God, His eternal power and divinity. You have no excuse, you cannot plead ignorance. God is known because I am his witness.”

Time stamp in audio 0:45:01.4.

We are without excuse and therefore, the Bible says "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." (Psalms 14:1) Strong words, but it is true. He's not saying that the denial of God means that you are intellectually inferior. This is not an intellectual issue. There are many many brilliant scientists, men, mathematicians, there are many many high IQ people who say that there is no God. It is not an intellectual issue, it is a moral issue, it is a spiritual issue.  Because they held the truth, they suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. And because it is a spiritual issue, when they start to say there is no God, mankind degenerates into a downward spiral. Go read versus 21 all the way to 29, go home and read because we will cover them in the weeks to come, and you will see that man does not improve, in fact, they ‘deprove’ if there is such a word. Man does not evolve upwards, they ‘devolve’ downwards. They became worshipers of idols. They sink into the sins of homosexuality, they go into covetousness, they go into all kinds of sin and God gave them up to these sins because they have wronged themselves in the first step.  They have said in their hearts "There is no God."

That is why the gospel of Jesus Christ is so precious.  That is why men need to come and realize they are under the wrath of God and they need the saving grace of Jesus, because we are without excuse.

(John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.)

Time stamp in audio 0:46:53.8.

Coming back to that question: ‘How can God send people to hell for not believing in Christ?’ My friends, the reason is because men are sent to hell not because they did not believe in Christ, but men are sent to hell because they rejected God already before they heard about Christ.

If I tell you today, or if I tell someone today, “You have cancer, you will die unless you go and get this medication and you refused. Do you know you will be condemned to death, not because you refused the medicine but because of your cancer. Man is sent to hell today not because you rejected Jesus, but primarily because we have rejected God in our lives. And Jesus is the only way whereby we may be saved, and when we rejected Him, we die.  We are sent to hell because of our sins.

Time stamp in audio 0:48:05.5.

It is absolutely just, it is absolutely reasonable that God would send people to hell because they have rejected God and they have failed to receive Jesus Christ. The men in Africa, the woman living in the busy New York City, they stand condemned before God because they could know God but they rejected Him and suppressed that knowledge in unrighteousness. God is vindicated, God is glorified, even in the judgment of sinners.

But my friends, this is the good news: the good news is that “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life”; otherwise “the wrath of God abides with him.”

Jesus took on Himself the wrath of all our sins upon that cross and he who would turn from his sins and believe in Jesus Christ, the Bible says, “You have everlasting life”. The gospel begins here- the gospel is not about helping you to live a better life; it's not a moral improvement program, it’s not something nice that you should carry along in your pockets. The gospel of Jesus primarily saves us from the wrath of a Holy God upon a man who has no excuse before him.

Can I encourage you today, to look to Jesus because he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He died on the cross that you may come to the Father.

(John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.)

And Scripture tells us, there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

(Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.)

Who can save us from the wrath of God that is to come? Jesus, His only Son, who died on the cross.

If you're here today, and you do not know Jesus, can I humbly encourage you to consider the claims of Christ and to flee from the wrath that is to come by turning and trusting in Him alone?

Time stamp in audio 0:50:25.9.

My dear friends, if you are a Christian, if you are a follower of Jesus, the wrath of God should remind you of the need to worship Him and give Him your lives, because he saved you from eternal condemnation and wrath in the fires of hell. And my dear brothers and sisters, do you know that you are sent on a mission?  We live in a world where everybody is under the wrath of God. Nobody is out of the wrath of God unless they have come to know Jesus.  And we alone have the message of life. Would you go and help them? Let's not talk about the people in Africa, let's not talk about people in the Antarctic regions, let's talk about the people right around you today. The wrath of God should remind us to be about our Father's business, to go and to make disciples, to lead people into that life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Let's bow for a word of prayer. Father, once again, we are thankful. These are hard words but absolutely necessary words because I do pray that those who have yet to trust in Jesus as their Savior would be awakened today, that they are by nature the children of wrath because we have suppressed in unrighteousness the knowledge of God and we are all guilty as charged. Our prayer, dear God, is that by your Spirit, You would draw them to trust in Jesus, Your Son. Our prayer, dear God, is that they would turn from their sin and receive that gift of eternal life. I pray none would walk out of this place without being drawn nearer to You today. Lord, I pray even for us as believers, as Your children, Your followers- so often, we are so flippant and casual in our relationship with You. Would You put the fear of God in our hearts and cause us to love You more and to worship You? I pray today even as we are reminded about Your wrath, that we would not be foolish but we will be redeeming the time, buying back all the opportunities to go and to lead others into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. Lord, do Your work, we ask Your Spirit to mold us and to shape us. Bless Your Word again that in due season, Lord, You will be glorified through our lives. We thank You, we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. God bless.