There is a widely common misconception among many professing believers today that simply because one is, or claims to be, a ‘child of God’ (Christian), that they are somehow granted immunity against any form of God’s ‘wrath’. 

 Why do I say ‘misconception’? Well, for starters - the entire book of the Old Testament is filled with countless examples of God pouring out His wrath on disobedient, rebellious folks; and do you know who was most often the recipient of this punishment? Yep...God’s beloved people. 

 You might give Ps. 78 a read-over and pay close attention to vs.49-50. And if NT believers were under the impression that because they said they believe in Jesus that this somehow exempted them from God’s wrath, then why would Paul have gone in to great detail citing examples of how God had, in the past, poured out His wrath on his people, sending plagues and serpents and the ‘destroyer’ among them for various forms of sin...ranging from sexual immorality and idolatry, to complaining and grumbling? Then, as to underscore this fact, he says all those things happened to them as ‘examples and warnings’ to us on whom the end of the ages had come. (1 Cor. 10:6,11) 

 Please understand...I’m not attempting to paint some twisted version of God as some angry deity who is constantly looking for people who ‘mess up’ so He can pour out His anger and fury on them. Far from it. He has gone to great lengths to save us from His wrath by sending Jesus to deliver and set us free from our sins...which is what brings the wrath of God to begin with. (Rom. 5:9; John 3:17) 

 Sin brings wrath. Sin is the breaking of God’s laws. (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15). And guess what Jesus came to do? He came to set us free from the power of sin so we could go and ‘sin no more’. Why do you think he told that man in John 5 to ‘go and sin no more or something worse may come upon you”? (14) 

 Why do you think Paul warned the Ephesians to “let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience”. (5:6) 

 You say...”well, I’m not a ‘son of disobedience’ because now you I am a child of God.” Ok...and what does 1 John 3:9 state? “Whoever is born of God no longer sins because God’s seed is in him and he cannot sin.” And just who are the ‘children of God’? Those who are led by His Spirit. (Rom. 8:14). And IF...we are being led by His Spirit, we are no longer fulfilling the lusts of the sinful flesh nature. (Gal. 5:16;1 John 3:6). At least that is the way it reads in my bible; what about yours? (There’s a reason I add all these scripture references here daily) 

 Going back to Ephesians 5...why does Paul add that warning about not being deceived with empty words there in vs. 6? Would you do me a favor real quick and turn back to Jeremiah 23:16-20 and see what he had to say about listening to false prophets and such who promised the people that ‘no evil will come upon them’ (God would not do that to you...He’s a good God who loves you) despite the fact...His people continued to walk according to the dictates of their own hearts’. (17) 

 That may very well serve as a backdrop to his warnings to the Corinthians in his second letter to them expressing concerns that they too might be deceived just as Eve was by the serpent and they would end up following or believing in ‘another Jesus and gospel’. (11:2-4). And need I remind you how that played out early on in Genesis 3? God told Adam and Eve – “Don’t eat off this one tree or you will surely die”. (2:17). What did the serpent tell Eve? “You surely will NOT die...it’s ok...you can eat off this tree. There will actually be benefits if you do eat of it”. (3:4-5) This would be the first example of 'another gospel'.

 So when Paul writes there in Romans 8:13...”If you live according the flesh (nature) you will die...” how many more ways can we be told that God means what He says? Our refusal to believe God is what is the root of all our suffering and misery. Again, we are warned in our NT’s while pointing back to those OT generations of God’s people who “did not obey” and therefore “could not enter the land of rest because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:18). Then leading right in to the next chapter, we are told we should “fear lest any of us seem to have come short of it”. (4:1) 

 God means what He says. It’s not a threat...it’s a warning. And there is a difference. So again, going back to Eph. 5 (sorry...I got sidetracked there) ;-) ....Paul said “because of these things the wrath of God comes...” (6). What things? Well, just ease back to vs. 2-5 and you’ll see some various examples of what brings the wrath of God and then underscores again, this point “ This you know (saints)...that ‘No fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” It really does not matter what you call yourself.... Jesus even warned that “Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21) 

 Which leads me back to this subject of idolatry or being an idolater. We need to discuss this topic. What is an idol and why are we so prone to serving and bowing down to them; and then finding it so hard to ‘give them up’? Would you not agree there was a pretty influential idol working in the heart of that rich young ruler we talked about the other day...the one who chose to hold on to his earthly possessions instead of choosing to love and follow Jesus with all his heart by giving them up? (Matt. 19)

 Turn to 1 Cor. 10 for a moment and maybe skim over those verses I brought to your attention just a little while ago...5-11. Now look at vs. 14 where Paul says “Therefor my beloved, flee from idolatry.” As you read further down, you quickly see where he brings in this subject of ‘demons’ and how we should not be ‘fellowshipping with demons’ and how we cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons”; (20-21) ...then asking us “do we (believers) want to provoke the Lord to jealousy?”(22) 

 Is that not an interesting question to pose to NT believers? How could we possibly provoke God to jealousy? That sounds like a pretty sobering warning from Paul...as if he was saying...”Bro...you sure don’t want to do this!” Have we ever heard that before...about God being a ‘jealous’ God? Why...I believe that was made known in the second commandant that God gave us, number 2, to be exact. That’s the one about making idols. You might flip back to Deut. 5:8-10 and read where God warns them about making or bowing down or serving idols and then clearly informs them that He is a ‘jealous God’. So jealous for their hearts that He has no problem ‘visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.....BUT...showing mercy to thousands to those who love Him and keep His commandments.” 

 What did Jesus tell us in John 14:15? “If you love Me... ____________” 

 I will not be able to get to all I feel a need to cover today with this topic, but let me give you a ‘heads-up’ where we are going with all this. Have you ever watched someone else (always easier to see other people’s sins, is it not?) who was so attached to an object or material possession...maybe a ‘hobby’ or their job/profession to the point they were consumed with it? I mean...they devoted so much energy and passion and devotion to this ‘object’ that had zero appeal to you...and you found yourself asking “what is it about that they are so in to?” 

 (Ever seen a man spend hours cleaning, waxing, and detailing his beloved car or truck...and then nearly explode or have a meltdown when maybe a kid’s bike brushes up against it and scuffs it?). So many examples I could use here. What would drive a person to eat and eat and eat to the point they could not even get their ‘600 pound body’ off the bed? 

 It’s one thing to ‘enjoy all things God has given to us” (1 Tim. 6:17) but it is another thing altogether when we allow those ‘things’ to control us and take possession of us. And that would include external, material things as well as those ‘things’ that reside in our hearts that Jesus said ‘defile us’. (Mark 7:21-23) Let me just tell you up front: there are demon spirits attached to those idols that are attempting to deceive us in to believing those ‘things’ can do for us...what only God can and desires to do for us. Ever stopped to wonder why we call certain foods ‘comfort food’? Ever wonder why we look at our bank accounts and our 401’s and follow the stock market and find ‘security’ when those numbers are up, or anxiety when they seem to plummet? Ever find it odd how a ‘red piece of steel on wheels’ could provide so much ‘self-worth’ to an individual? 

 Let me just tell you ...it is not the food nor the bank account numbers or that red piece of steel that provides that sense of comfort, security, or self-worth. It’s a demon spirit who knows how to invoke those false 'feelings' that we get attached to. Yes, I said...demons spirit. 

 I know we don’t really like to talk about ‘those things’ (demon spirits), and I will be the first person to agree that we need not be preoccupied or consumed with them; nor fear them. But make no mistake about it...we certainly better not ignore them. We are told to ‘resist them’ be ‘alert and on guard’ for them and watchful lest they ‘break in to our houses’. (1 Pet. 5:8-9; Matt. 24:43). Folks...why do you think this world is spiraling in the direction it is? We are told it is the ‘wicked one who controls/influences this whole world’, not to mention deceiving it. (1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:9). And it is only through the power of the gospel that we can be set free. (Acts 26:18). That is good news for sure. That ‘thing’ that has controlled you for so long that you have for all practical purposes given up hope of ever being able to overcome...is a spirit that God wants to set you free from. Join me tomorrow? :- )