Moving into the new year 2025, let us meditate and think deeply. What are we saved from? Generically, we can say we are saved from going to HELL. If you want your loved ones or friends saved, what are you saving them from? Why do you need to share the gospel? What are you really warning them from?
The King James version states it more realistically but other versions have toned it down. You all must remember, before you are saved, you were God’s enemy and being raised in church and coming to the acknowledgment of His existence does not mean you are saved. Believing and acknowledging are two different realms.
As I mentioned before, you are being saved from God Himself.
John 3:36 KJV “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.”
Romans 1:18 KJV “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”
You are being saved from the WRATH OF GOD! Other versions use the word “anger,” which does not impact as deeply as WRATH! The Wrath of God is not just displayed in HELL but can also be demonstrated during the life of a person.
Zechariah 7:12 KJV “Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a GREAT WRATH from the Lord of hosts.”
In the book of Zachariah, God reminds us that His Great Wrath came upon His people as they chose to turn into a stubborn people, closing up their ears and eyes. In the NT grace era, when we preach about people intentionally closing their ears and eyes and refusing to submit, people think God is the Great Teddy Bear and that you do not need to fear Him. You are culturally deceived, thinking the methods of culture
to make your point will make God submit, just as your moms or dad gave in.
This message is not to bring the wrong fear into you, nor control you, but I think many of our people refuse to understand grace and wrath. Our God is a God of Great Grace but also Great Wrath! In the OT, when God’s people showed contempt, He warned about exile and losing everything, but they refused to believe in the warnings. Eventually, they lost everything and experienced unexpected suffering and loss.
In your life, when you are warned and things are being taken away, whether your spouse, children, money, career, health, or even your life, you will be left with two choices. The first choice is to be offended and get more angry as you attempt to distance yourself from the Person who has bought you (redeemed at Great Cost). This choice of deception is continued because you may believe you are still in the right and being wronged. This choice to close your ears and heart may bring a Great Wrath upon your decision. Or the second choice is to submit and surrender, thinking and meditating that you are in the wrong, as you choose to fully obey without reservation or adding or subtracting your own nonsense.
Comments:
Zechariah 1:2-4 NLT
I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors.
3 Therefore, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’
4 Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’”
If Love is the fulfillment of the law and the demands of the prophets, then if you love your God, you must adhere to the messages and discipline of the prophets (authority), whether logos or Rhema!
Closing your ears and eyes is considered lawlessness and will be met by the wrath of God.
This is the true gospel.
Are you the salt and light of the world? You are supposed to be salt! But if the salt loses its flavor, what good is it for?
What is salt? It is a preservative. Salt is added to preserve and save. Wherever we are, as salt, we are the intercessors of our families, neighbors, and nation. God will relent from His wrath on a nation as long as there is one righteous person. As long as you have flavor, you will be used to save your families who are not here, your neighborhood, your cities, and your nation.
But if you lost your flavor, then those around you will start withering away including your spouses, children, relatives, career, money, heath, their life, your life, etc.
Do not be deceived by blaming everyone else. You are to be the salt and light. Stop telling someone else to be the salt and light so you can stay calm.
Senior Pastor Steve Kim