CIRCUMCISE YOUR HEART

PROCLAMATION

“Circumcise yourselves to The Lord, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or My wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done; burn with no one to quench it.”  Jeremiah 4:4 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to the prophet Jeremiah and proclaimed to the people of Judah.  The Lord God had exhorted and requested that the people of Israel return to Him. (Jeremiah 4:1-2)  He warned them that if they didn’t return to Him, their enemy to the north would come down and destroy their towns and their land. (Jeremiah 4:5-9) 

APPLICATION

In days of old, parents would spank their disobedient children.  Here the disobedient children of Israel were being warned that if they continued to do wrong then they would be spanked.  The term “circumcise” refers to the removal of excess useless foreskin.  It was and old Jewish custom which is still practiced today. (Genesis 17:10-12)  The reference to “circumcise your hearts” was a request to remove “unnecessary covering around their hearts” as a token of their covenant with God.  Today, we give our hearts to so many things and people, but we don’t give our hearts to God.  One of these days we will incur the wrath of God because our heart was in the wrong place and covered with the wrong thing.   

THE CUP OF THE WRATH OF GOD

PROCLAMATION

“This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends His people: ‘See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of My wrath, you will never drink again.  I will put it into the hands of your tormentors …’”  Isaiah 51:22-23 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to the people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah.  Chapter fifty-one of The Bible Book of Isaiah begins with a call to the righteous to look to The Lord, The Rock of their salvation from whom they were carved. (Isaiah 51:1)  He reminds them that He blessed their father Abraham to become the seed of many. (Isaiah 51:2)  He promises to comfort them and to have compassion on them.  He says that He will also restore their ruined cities and wastelands. (Isaiah 51:3)  He encourages them to look to Him for instruction, salvation, and justice.  He tells them to lift up their eyes to the heavens, to listen to Him to learn that which is right, and to take His instruction to heart. (Isaiah 51:4-7)  He says that those whom The Lord has rescued will enter Zion with singing, joy, and gladness. (Isaiah 51:11)  He tells them not to fear mortal man for He is The Almighty Lord their God. (Isaiah 51:12-15)  Then He tells them that they will not drink from the cup of His wrath again, but that He would give the cup to those who torment His people. (Isaiah 51:17-23)

APPLICATION

While we may be suffering now and enduring the wrath of God, if we just keep our hope and faith in The Lord God, (Psalm 130:7) then our storms will pass, and our day of joy will come. (Psalm 30:5)  The day will come when those who do us wrong will get their poetic justice and they will drink from the cup of the wrath of God. (Isaiah 59:18 and Romans 12:19)  

GOD PUNISHES HIS PEOPLE FOR DISOBEDIENCE

Proclamation:

“Israel has sinned; they have violated My covenant, which I commanded them to keep … That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies … I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever is among you …”  Joshua 7:11-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of God which were written by Joshua under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The Lord God told the Israelites not to keep any of the spoils from Jericho after they took the city.  The precious metals were to go into the treasury of The Lord. (Joshua 6:18-19)  But Achan, from the tribe of Judah, took some of them for himself and this angered The Lord God. (Joshua 7:1)  So when they went to war against the army of Ai, God was not with them and they were routed. (Joshua 7:4)  Afterwards, Joshua asked God why they lost and what were they to do? (Joshua 7:6-9)  The Lord God told him that Israel had sinned and violated His covenant.  Then Joshua examined the people, tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family, and man by man, until Achan was found and admitted what he had done. (Joshua 7:16-21)  They gathered all that he had taken, and his family, and his animals, and all that he owned and took them to the Valley of Achor.  There they stoned him, and them, and then burned them all. (Joshua 7:22-26)

Application:

Don’t play with The Lord God.  Don’t say that you are a believer, and then go about and act like a non-believer.  When we sin, we need to confess and ask to be forgiven.  We should not try to hide it as if God can’t see it.  We should search ourselves, our hearts, and our homes to make sure that we are not harboring something which The Lord God abhors, or holding back something which should be given to Him.  Unrepentant sin can not only bring God’s wrath down upon the individual sinner, but also upon his children, his grand-children, and on their children. (Numbers 14:18)   One fine day, all that we thought, said, and did will be judged, it will all pass through the fire of judgment.  All of it that gives God glory will pass through the fire, and we will be rewarded for it.  However, everything else will be burned up and we will suffer a loss, but we ourselves will be saved. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)  Let us do all that we can to the glory of God.  When we pray, let us ask to be forgiven for sins of omission as well as sins of commission.

THE RIGHTEOUS WILL BE SPARED WHEN THE WICKED ARE DESTROYED

Proclamation:

“Then Abraham approached Him and said, ‘Will You sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  What if there are fifty righteous people in the city … What if only ten can be found there?’  He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’”  Genesis 18:20-32

Explanation:

These are the words of God which were written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  When Lot and Abram parted company, Lot chose the well-watered plain of the Jordan and moved his herds and flocks near Sodom.  Unfortunately the people of Sodom were wicked and sinned greatly against The Lord. (Genesis 13:11-13)  It came to pass that the kings in area made war with the other kings nearby, they were defeated and Lot was captured and his possession taken. (Genesis 14:1-12)  When Abram learned of this he took 318 of his servants and attacked and routed them, rescuing Lot and the other captives. (Genesis 14:13-16)  The Lord God told Abram that He was his shield and his very great reward, (Genesis 15:1-5) and God promised him a son.  Abram’s wife Sarai was also old and she was barren, so she gave Abram her slave/handmaid Hagar so that he could have a son.  After she conceived, she began to despise her mistress and Sarai began to mistreat her so she left. (Genesis 16:1-6)  Hagar was confronted by the angel of The Lord and returned and bore Abram a son named Ishmael. (Genesis 16:7-15)  The Lord God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (Genesis 17:5) and his wife Sarai’s name to Sarah. (Genesis 17:15)  God made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:10-11) and promised him that Sarah would bear him a son and he will be called Isaac. (Genesis 17:17-19)  Then The Lord appeared to Abraham (Genesis 18:1-2) and told him that the sins of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah were so great that He was going to destroy the cities. (Genesis 18:17 and 20)  This is when Abraham questioned The Lord regarding sparing the lives of the righteous living among the wicked. (Genesis 18:22-32)

Application:

The Lord God destroyed the whole earth but spared Noah and his family. (Hebrews 11:7)  Here He told Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah but He would spare the righteous there, namely Lot and his family. (Genesis 19:15-16)  He said that if there were ten righteous people there, He would spare the cities for their sakes.  Even when surrounded by wickedness and corruption, a child of God should maintain his faith and Christian walk.  By doing so we will find grace and favor in the eyes of The Lord and thereby be spared the wrath of God which will come to those people who are doing evil.  

ALL LEADERS MUST GIVE AN ACCOUNT FOR THEIR USE OF AUTHORITY

Proclamation:

“God presides in the great assembly; He renders judgment among the ‘gods’… The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.  They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”  Psalm 82:1 and 5 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Asaph, the director of music during the time of King David, who was also a seer who was said to prophesy. (2 Chronicles 29:30)  This psalm is thought to be written by the psalmist, under a prophetic spirit, who foresaw the great corruption of the judges, rulers, kings, princes, and civil magistrates who abused their power.  They are called ‘gods’ because they see themselves as such.  Their perversion of justice causes the cities, states, countries, and kingdoms to be thrown into disorder and confusion.  The Lord God will preside over “the great assembly”, a gathering of all of the leaders and rulers who will have to give an account for the way they used or abused their authority. (Psalm 82:1)  They will pay for their corruption, they will fall from power and die like the mere mortals that they are. (Psalm 82:6)

Application:

All too often we find ourselves under the leadership of individuals who do not understand that they were put in positions of authority by The Lord God, and they will have to give an account to Him.  The wicked and corrupt leaders, civil and religious, will be cut down like grass and wither away. (Psalm 37:2)  Believers need not worry about them.  They will be judged, and punished for their abuse and misuse of their authority.  There is a righteous God to whom we have recourse, and on whom we may depend, when we have been mistreated by unjust leaders.  When we pray for relief from corrupt and abusive leaders, our prayers are heard and will be answered.  By the wrath of God He will avenge us and repay those who abuse us or cause us harm or suffering. (Romans 12:19 and Hebrews 10:30)

WHO CAN WITHSTAND THE WRATH OF GOD

Proclamation:

“It is You alone who are to be feared.  Who can stand before You when You are angry?  From heaven You pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet; when You, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land.”  Psalm 76:7-9 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of the psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Asaph, a Levite who was an outstanding musician in the days of King David, who was also appointed minister of music or choir leader.  This psalm depicts the awesome power and the wrath of God, and why He is to be feared.  He rose up, judged, and destroyed the Assyrian army to protect Jerusalem for King David’s sake from Sennacherib, King of Assyria. (Psalm 76:5)  The Angel of The Lord destroyed the entire Assyrian army in one night while they slept. (2 Kings 19:34-36 and Isaiah 37:35-37)

Application:

The fear of the wrath of God should be enough to cause all men to praise The Lord. (Psalm 76:10)  However, there will come a day when all mankind will recognize and respect Him for who He is, and everyone will bow down to Him. (Isaiah 45:23 and Romans 14:11)  Some of us will see Him as Lord and Savior and will blessed to be with Him in glory, while others will see Him as judge and will be condemned to spend eternity in the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)

BLESSED ARE ALL WHO PUT THEIR TRUST IN THE LORD

Proclamation:

“Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.  Serve The Lord with fear and celebrate His rule with trembling.  Kiss His Son, or He will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for His wrath can flare up in a moment.  Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”  Psalm 2:10-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

The human author of this psalm is unknown but it was clearly written under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God.  The author may have been King David as he is said to have spoken the words in verses one and two of this psalm. (Acts 4:25)  This psalm also serves as an introduction to the psalms.  Whereas psalm 1 refers to “two different ways” for individuals to respond to The Lord, psalm 2 follows it with an application to nations and their leaders.  It begins with human rebellion, (Psalm 2:1-3) followed by God’s reaction (Psalm 2:4-6) and His divine decree. (Psalm 2:7-9)  It ends with a statement of individual human responsibility.  The leaders of all nations are warned that all of the people must serve, worship, and submit to The Lord or they will incur His wrath.  Those who put their trust in Him will be blessed. (Psalm 2:10-12)  Those who don’t will be destroyed.

Application:

The Lord God is the sovereign ruler of all and we are instructed to obey His commands.  The message to us is that those who do not obey Him will perish. (Psalm 1:6 and Psalm 2:12)  This psalm deals with the triumph of The Messiah and His rule over all.  It offers us a warning that all those who oppose Him will be broken into pieces like fragile pottery. (Psalm 2:9)  Only those of us who trust in The Lord will find refuge, peace, and a safe haven in Him.  Blessed are all of those who put their trust in Him. (Psalm 2:12)

IN THIS WORLD BUT NOT OF THIS WORLD

Proclamation:

"You are all children of The Light and children of the day.  We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.  So then, let us not be like others ... But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.  Therefore encourage one another and build each other up ..." 1 Thessalonians 5:5-11 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle Paul under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Addressing the believers in Thessalonica, Paul began this chapter talking about "the day of The Lord", judgement day, and reminded them that as children of God they would be raptured beforehand.  Here he reminds them that they are not of this world and that as children of God they should act differently from the worldly people.  He also reminded them that they need protection against worldly temptations.  As believers, they would be spared the wrath of God and that they should be that fact.

Application:
Jesus said, "I am The Light of the world." (John 8:12 & 9:5)  We are sons of The Light.  He also said that He was that He was from heaven above and that He was not of this world. (John 8:23)  Because of the Christ that is within us, we are in this world but not of this world and we should not act like worldly people.  We need to exercise self-control.  We should put on the whole armor of God as we do battle with the world and its temptations.  It is not God's plan for us to suffer His wrath, but to be saved.  Therefore let us encourage each other, better days are coming.  Let us build each other up and not tear each other down.  Let us help, and not hurt; let us give, and not take; let us love, and not hate.

LET GO OF "FRIENDS"

Proclamation:

“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants ... those you allow to remain will become … thorns in your sides.  They will give you trouble … And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.” Numbers 33:55-56 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to and recorded by Moses.  God told Moses to speak to the Israelites as they were about to the Jordan and enter to promise land.  They were to drive out of the land all of the idol worshiping inhabitants, and destroy all of their carved images and their idols.  God said that if they didn’t do this, then those that remained would bring them trouble.  And then God said that He would treat them like He was going to treat their enemies.

Application:

Some people should only be in our life for a season.  They serve a purpose, usually to teach us a lesson.  However, they were not meant to stay in our lives.  We were not supposed to hold on to them and keep them in our lives.  If our “friends” are not believers in Christ, then what do they believe and who is influencing whom?  It is time to let those people go.  It's not good to hang on to people after God has said for us to move away from them.  Those that we let remain in our lives will cause us nothing but trouble.  If they are remnants of our life before we accepted Christ then they are a temptation to return to our previous sinful habits.  We changed when we became believers and we are now new creatures. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  All of the people that we used to hang out with will not want to come with us on our new walk.  Only birds of the same feather will flock together.  Only people who are in agreement will walk the same walk together. (Amos 3:3)  We can’t walk with The Lord and continue to hold hands with the devil.  Not everybody that was in our “old” life should be with us in our “new” life.  We need to let go of any “friend” who is pulling us away from God.  We do not want to incur the wrath of God because we wanted to keep walking with our evil doing non-believing friends.

The Wrath Of God

"Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." & "The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days."  Genesis 7:4 & 7:24

God told Noah that He was going wipe the face of the earth clean with a flood of water.  Only Noah's family and the animals in the ark were spared from the wrath of God.  (Genesis 7:23)

Being very displeased with the wicked sinful activities of man, God let the entire earth feel His wrath.  (Genesis 6:5-8)  Unfortunately, man has not changed and the earth will again feel the wrath of God.  This earth will be destroyed and a new earth will be created in which the righteous will dwell.  (2 Peter 3:13 & Revelation 21:1)  However, God promised that He will never again destroy the earth with waters of a flood.  (Genesis 9:11)  The experts cannot agree on the exact nature of the next destruction of earth, but The Bible clearly states that the earth will "melt with fervent heat ... and ... it will be burned up."  (2 Peter 3:10) Believers will not be around to see this, they will have been raptured.  (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)  Will you be spared from the wrath of God the next time that the earth is destroyed?

Do Not Incur The Wrath Of God

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these, the wrath of God is coming ... But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."  Colossians 3:5-10 (NIV)

In his letter to the believers in Colosse, the Apostle Paul said that the wrath of God is coming.  He even listed for them the things which would incur the wrath of God.

We need to pray and ask God for forgiveness for our sins, whether they are on this list or not, including our sinful thoughts and intentions.  The wrath of God is coming, and we do not want to incur God's wrath.  We should to do our best to imitate Christ and walk in His way. (Ephesians 5:1-2)  For that, we need to pray for His help.

Don't Be Like Eli's Sons

"Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for The Lord ... Now Eli (the priest), who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among The Lord's people. If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against The Lord, who will intercede for him?" His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke ... Therefore The Lord, The God of Israel, declares: ... Those who honor Me I will honor, but those who despise Me will be disdained." 1 Samuel 2:12-30 (NIV)

The point here, according to John Mac Arthur, was that if God would judge when one sinned against another man, how much more would He bring judgement against those who sinned against Him. There is a price to pay for flagrant disobedience. F J Dake states "Christ is the One who can mediate man's cause with God and He is the covering for the sins of all men should they avail themselves of such services of reconciliation." (Matthew 26:28)

Willful disregard for and rejection of The Lord Jesus, The Christ, will result in eternal damnation. Don't be like Eli's sons. When you mess up, "fess up", and get right with God. You cannot be saved from the penalty of sin without accepting the covering of the blood of Jesus.
Do not invite the wrath of God on your life.