Tune in as Pastor Josh teaches from the sobering vision in Revelation 8 and 9:
“It’s a sobering vision, especially the end. It’s even hard to hear. These chapters in Revelation 8 and 9 are yet another vision that paint another horrific picture of the wrath of God being poured out in judgement against those who reject him…Every translation uses this word ‘fear’. Do you know why? Because that’s the word they used in the original language. We are to fear God…Where does that fit in with ‘there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?’ The answer is those who fear God do not be afraid of him. Now, that’s my lingo, my interpretation. But this is what that means: those who fear God do not need to fear this wrath. It’s exactly like what we teach our kids about a stove or a campfire. we don’t need to be afraid of a campfire because we fear fire…Likewise, we can boldly come into the very throne room of God, even though he is absolutely Holy, because we know by which we have proper relationship with Him. This doesn’t mean we don’t fear him, we should fear him! Our God is a consuming fire! Handle with care! He’s not tame! We have to respond to God in the way He commands himself to be responded to. But we don’t have to be afraid that we are going to be the ones who receive this wrath, unless we are the ones who are pretending to live for God and are in fact living for ourselves…”
(Originally preached on April 29, 2018)