Welcome back. :- ). Did you happen to pass anyone yesterday who was out and about wearing a cloak of ‘wrath’ by chance? Probably not as obvious to see as one might think. (Yesterday’s post)

We’ve been studying this concept of what it means to be ‘saved’ and what we are actually ‘saved’ from which is in fact, the ‘wrath of God’...whatever that is ,that remains on those who are not true believers of Jesus. (Rom. 5:9; John 3:36)

John wrote there in his gospel at the close of chapter 3: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.” (36)

Those who do not believe the Son...shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides or remains on him.” (same verse)

When Jesus speaks about this new ‘life’ He came to offer, He is obviously speaking to another layer or aspect of ‘life’ given all those He came to were ‘living’ as in breathing, had heartbeats, etc. We are told in Ephesians 2:1 that prior to coming to Christ, we were ‘dead in our sins and trespasses’. Which leads us to conclude that we can be ‘living’ yet...remain dead’. Spiritually dead we can safely conclude.

“I have come that you might have life, and it more abundantly...” Jesus proclaimed in John 10:10. Apart from Him, there is no life. (John 15:4-6). Apart from Him, the ‘wrath of God’ remains on us. (John 3:36). I guess you might say we were all...’Dead Men Walking’.

I think that is why so many of us, as we are traveling through this world for such a brief time, we can become engrossed with searching for...meaning and purpose - for life, true life. Not just existence. Others, just look for entertaining activities to help them ignore emptiness or absence of that 'life'. The rest...seek other avenues to numb the pain of a meaningless life.

Jesus saw how some religious folks were diligently searching for this meaningful life and were actually looking in a good place: The scriptures. But there was just one problem that they faced. Jesus gave them the answer: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of Me. But...you are not willing...to come to Me...that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40)

No attempt to hide truth there- You want true life? You have to be willing to come to Him.

Are there any ‘conditions’ to this notion of ‘coming to Him’? Well, as a matter of fact, there are. There was a rich, young ruler who discovered that for himself. You have to come to Jesus with ...’all your heart’. (Matt. 19:16-22)

If you want to be the recipient of His unconditional love, then you have to come to Him...unconditionally’. This is the central core theme of the gospels...”unless you are willing to forsake all...you cannot be His disciple”. (Luke 14:35; Matt. 10:37-39). He is either going to be Lord of all, or not Lord, at all. There is simply no getting around this truth.

Now, that’s not to say men would not invent doctrines with ‘loopholes’. You know, just say you accept Jesus as Savior and all will be well with your soul. Join our church, get involved, try to do better, pay your tithes and come as often as you can and when you die, heaven awaits you.’ Sound too good to be true? It is. No wonder Jesus warned of widespread deception in the last days. (Matt. 24) and Paul warns of people being deceived into following ‘another Jesus’ and receiving ‘other gospels and spirits’. (2 Cor. 11:2-4). But that could not possibly happen to us, right?

Yesterday, we were tossing out the questions as to what exactly is the ‘wrath of God’ and Why...is it on everyone who is not a believer in Jesus? We closed out once again, getting a glimpse of the compassionate Savior and Shepherd that Jesus was, and still is as He went about teaching the lost people and healing them of all their sicknesses and diseases. Why He spent much time as well...’casting uncleans spirits’ out of people too. He was sent by God and anointed with power to ‘heal all that were oppressed by the devil’. (Acts 10:38).

I know, this idea of ‘unclean spirits’ and ‘demons’ can be unsettling for an educated generation of people like us. Maybe we can use the term ‘mental disorders and illness’ instead? I’m going to stick with what the word teaches. Our struggle is not with ‘flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness and powers of darkness’. (Eph. 6:12)

So we read in John 3:36 that those who are yet to be converted...the ‘wrath of God remains on them’. Would you like more insight as to what that might look like? Go take a look at Ephesians 2:1-3. It will tell you plainly...what was on and...’in’ us. We were dead in sin. And we were under the control and influence of demon spirits who operated in and through our sinful flesh nature. That might also give more insight to John’s assessment how the whole world is under the sway or influence of the ‘wicked one’. (1 John 5:19)

Have you ever seen a dead animal carcass that has been laying on the side of the road for a few days? All kinds of ugly critters have been ‘feasting’ on it. Critters that crawl and fly and even squirm about like maggots and all those unpleasant looking bugs and such. That is what these critters feed upon. Dead bodies attract such things.

When Jesus was teaching about this ‘flood’ that would come in these last days and ‘carry people away’, the disciples asked Him, “Where Lord? Where are they carried away to?” (Luke 17:37). Jesus had an interesting response informing them that “wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will be gathered together”. A ‘carcass’ is a ‘dead body’. You should go look at Jeremiah 7:33 real quick.

And speaking of ‘dead bodies’, do you recall what Jesus told that church ‘body’ there in Revelation 3, the church at Sardis that thought they were doing so fine and dandy and even had a reputation of being such an ‘alive’ church? Jesus told them they were ‘dead’. They were a ‘dead body’ in His eyes because of them lacking some unfinished work. He also warned them that if they did not ‘repent’, that He would ‘come upon them as a thief’. (Rev. 3:1-3). Now I don’t want to wade much deeper in here, but just to make this more interesting, you might take a look at Revelation 18:1-4. It is referring to ‘Mystery Babylon’, what some would suggest is the false religious system of the last days. Look what is told there inhabits this place, or this ‘dead body’ system.

Oh, one other thing about dead bodies. Do you know why we bury people when they die? Humans have been doing this forever, and for multiple reasons. One of them being: to deter any wild animals from getting to the body, to avoid the body being stolen by grave robbers, to stop the spread of diseases, or to prevent those left behind from watching the body decay.

Have you seen the news this past week of those two horrific natural disasters that occurred in Morocco and Libya? Earthquakes and floods have kill thousands upon thousands of people. They are making frantic attempts to bury these dead bodies to prevent the spread of disease.

I know I’m getting way ahead of myself here now, but that verse in Romans 6 comes to mind how when a person comes to Christ, one of the first things they are to do is to be ‘buried with Him through baptism into death’...as this ‘old man is put to death’. (Rom. 6:4-6). All that to say there is a reason one needs to be ‘buried’ when they ‘die’ to self.

Otherwise, they continue to be a feeding ground for unclean ‘beasts’ and such.

Can we just speak plainly here now? The wrath of God...is the powers of darkness, demons spirits, spiritual wickedness that roam about ‘seeking to devour’ as a roaring lion (beast) might do. (1 Pet. 5:8). Psalm 78:49 will tell you clearly what the ‘wrath’ of God is : a ‘band of destroying angels’. And what do they ‘feed upon’? Our sinful flesh nature. (remember our lesson on ‘serpent food’? Gen. 3:14,19)

Could that be the reason that Paul warns us to ‘give no place to the devil’ in Eph. 4:27 and that we are to “make NO provision for the flesh (nature)? (Rom. 13:14). And just maybe that is the reason that when we come to Jesus He immediately begins to lead us to ‘put to death all the deeds of the sinful flesh nature...because if we don’t, we will...surely die”. (Rom. 8:13)

Oh...remember when Jesus called Lazarus out of his dark, stinky, tomb of death there in John 11? Lazarus responded to the call of Jesus and was ‘made alive’. When he made his way out into the ‘light’...go look what Jesus told the disciples to do immediately there in vs. 44. He had some ‘bondages’ that needed to come off.

This Bible just gets more interesting as we read further in, does it not? Probably want to spend some time on this one today...God will make it even more clear to you. I promise. (2 Tim. 2:7)