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Eight Reasons Why People Won’t Accept The GospelReason 3 – They have no idea about ‘the clouds of wrath which are hanging over their heads’
Intro
The third reason of why people won’t accept the Gospel:
They have no idea about ‘the clouds of wrath which are hanging over their heads’.
Boston said:
Their eyes are veiled, so that they see not their misery by sin, and as being without Christ :
Hosea 7:9 "Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not; yea, gray hairs are here and there upon hira, yet he knoweth not ;
and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this."
Did they see the clouds of wrath which are hanging above their heads, the quick approaches which death with its sting is making towards them,
their separation from God, and from all the privileges of the covenant, they could not be at ease. The gospel-tidings would be to them as life from the dead.
Occupation of the Netherlands
What did we, the Dutch, know 85 years ago? The Nazi party took over Germany and we were still thinking that we could remain neutral, just like during the first world war. Still, the German army attacked the Netherlands on the 10th of May 1940. The Dutch soldiers were poorly equipped and were overrun quickly. but, they resisted fiercely and above all expectation they managed to hold of the invasion of the Hague. 525 German planes got destroyed. Four days later the German army demanded that Rotterdam would surrender, if not they would release their bombs and destroy the city. The Dutch gave in and surrendered Rotterdam. However, the German air force bombarded the city anyway. 800 people died and 7800 people became homeless. After this attack the Dutch surrendered completely.
Although the Nazi regime showed it’s true face by destroying Rotterdam, many still didn’t have an idea about the clouds of wrath which where hanging over their heads. The first year of the occupation was not the most terrible one. People could still do business and economically things weren’t horribly bad either. Many continued their daily routine. Somewhere around June 1941 the Germans realised that the war wasn’t going as expected and the occupation in Holland became more grim.
The Netherlands counted 140.000 Jews before the war. 107.000 got transported to the east. Of this group plus minus 101.800 were murdered or died due to forced labour and bad living conditions in the camps. Although I only mention the Jews, you need to realise that many others died and got murdered as well.
Human nature
It is human nature to think that it will not happen to them. It is always the other. I call that the ‘things like that do not happen to me’ syndrome. You know, like that frog, sitting in a bowl of water that slowly get cooked. The water is getting warmer and warmer but the frog is getting used to it. Then, when it is to warm, the frog passes out and dies.
Like the frog we think we’ll be alright. We have no idea about our terrible situation towards God. We’ve got no idea about our wretchedness. Why not? Because we do not understand a thing about the glory of God. Everything fades away compared to His Glory. The same goes for our understanding of our sinfulness as discussed in a previous video. It is the complete opposite of God’s holiness.
No true understanding
So, what would happen when we confront a non-believer with Boston’s quote? There are clouds of wrath hanging above your head. Many unbelievers can simply not believe that these clouds are coming from God. They say that this is the old-fashion view of God. No way! God is a sweet guy who will satisfy our needs. He is there for us… always!
You see, we humans, just refuse to recognise that which is staring us in the face. We rather make up our own god. A god that suits our needs, a god who enjoys it to bless each and everyone of us, no matter whether the person is still living in sin. But I’ve got some bad news for people who like to believe in such a god… He only exists in your imagination!
God’s wrath is real
God’s wrath is very real. Romans 1:18 says this:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”
What I said earlier, the thing about ‘refusing to recognise that which is staring us in the face’, becomes painfully true if we read on in Romans 1:19
“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.”
It is as simple as that. I can’t make it more beautiful than this, I am sorry… It is even worst than just ignoring the facts. We humans willingly persevere in our own stubbornness. We want to do it our own way, whether that road is sinful or not, we do not care because we have no understanding of God’s wrath which comes forth out of His holiness. What many people struggle with is the idea that God can be love, and at the same time God can impose wrath. I’ve made a video about that so I advise you to watch it. You’ll find the link in the description below.
I’ll give you two more Bible verses.
Romans 2:5
“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”
And John 3:36
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
In the aforementioned verses, we read about the wrath of God. God’s wrath is responding to godlessness, wickedness, stubbornness, unrepentant hearts, and rejecting Jesus as saviour. In other words, God’s wrath is in response to sin. God will be the judge of all. All humans will have to give an account for what they have done and how they have lived. We have the freedom to choice how we live our lives, however, whatever decision we make, we must be conscious of the consequences of our choices.
Conclusion
In John 3:36 we also read that we don’t have to worry about God’s wrath as long as one condition is met. We have to put our total faith and trust in the work of Jesus Christ. His death gives us complete confidence that the requirements of God’s wrath have been met.
