Peter Tan-Chi - What's The Bad News?
How many of you like bad news? I'm so glad you are all normal. When you hear Bad News, you have two choices: Deny or Do something about it. Now today, I want to give you the Bad News. You know why? You will never appreciate the Good News until you know the Bad News. The Bad News today, is about the reality of the Wrath of God.
Now, what enters your mind when you think of the Wrath of God? For many of us, we think it's a moral blemish of God. That God, being loving, being perfect, God should not have wrath. He should never be angry. Many people think it is not consistent with His character. We want a God that is only loving, caring, forgiving, but you know what's the truth? There are more Bible verses on the wrath of God, than on His love and mercy. The outline of today's message is: God's Wrath is Righteous; number two, it is Real; and number three, it is Redemptive. So today, you will understand the Wrath of God based on the Bible. Number one, it is Righteous. Number two, it is Real. Number three, it is Redemptive.
Now, when we say "The Wrath of God" what do we mean? Here's the definition, "The wrath of God is the indignation", that is something you need to understand. The Wrath of God is not capricious. The Wrath of God is part of God's perfect character. What do we mean? "The Wrath of God is part of God's perfect character," meaning, because God is perfect, and part of that perfection involves God's Wrath. What do you mean? Can you imagine a president of a country who will tolerate evil? Can you imagine a leader that will tolerate injustice? How can that be a good person? Such is God. He's good and because He is good, He's going to take action against evil.
The Wrath of God is righteous, it is "against all ungodliness." why is God angry at unrighteousness, at ungodliness? He gives you the reason. Everybody read, Have you heard of this discussion? What about those people who have not heard the gospel, what about those people who lived before Christ? The Bible is clear. God made it evident for the entire world to know that there's a God, that He exists. How did God reveal Himself? Well, let's find out. Look at Romans 1:20, everybody read together, "For since the creation of the world". The Bible is saying, if you look at the stars, the moon, the skies, the butterflies, the birds, nature, you know for a fact, somebody made it and that person is God.
If you do not mind, look at Psalm 19:1. Psalm 19:1 tells us, Do you know, the heavens give you a story of who God is? "...their expanse is declaring the work of His hands," let me explain this to you. When the Bible was written, they don't have the Hubble telescope. You know, they don't have super microscope. But God is already saying, just by looking at nature, you know, there's a God. Are you familiar with the Fine-Tuning of the Universe? Do you know the distance between the earth and the sun? 93 million miles. The moon is what? So many miles away.
Can I tell you something? Don't laugh at what I'm saying. If the earth is closer to the sun, just by a little bit, what will happen? Life will not survive. If it's further away from the sun, we'll freeze to death. It has to be precise. The distance between the earth and the moon has to be precise. For waves, for the sea, so that there is cleansing of the river, cleansing of the sea. In other words, everything has to be precise. Oxygen, air. I praise God, it's free. But do you know, our atmosphere, how many percent oxygen? Excuse me, 23%. How many percent nitrogen, do you know?
All right, you go to your Google and research. But the ratio has to be precise. If you have more oxygen in the atmosphere, what will happen? Every time there's lightning, automatic, the earth will burn. Too much oxygen is not good, it will cause fire. Too little oxygen, you won't survive. Now, can you imagine everything is so precise? My favorite is gravity. Do you know that the cell within the cell has certain gravity? It has forces. So let me ask you a question. What if you adjust the gravity by 0.0001%. According the scientists, you cannot even adjust it by 0.01%. Not even 0.001%. Not even 0.0001%. If you adjust gravity, the universe will not exist. It will either go apart or it'll collapse. Everything has to be precise.
Now, these are scientific, okay. Based on science. So what's our problem? The problem is this. Let me just share with you quickly, what's our problem. The problem is simply this: We do not honor God, even knowing that He exists. Look at this verse Romans 1:21-23, Do you honor God? How do you honor God? Do you take Him seriously? Do you worship Him? Do you have gratitude toward God? That's the idea here, Do you see the progression? By not honoring God, something happens to our heart, something happens to our mind. "Professing to be wise, they became fools," that's where you have the word "moron". No logic in their thinking.
R.C. Sproul said the following, What is the real reason? Everybody, What is it? "it's a moral problem". Think about it. Look at Romans 1:24-25, I'm going to explain this word, "God gave them over" this is very important. It is used three times in these verses. God gave them over. What does it mean? I'm going to explain soon. You know, the Bible is very clear. Our root sin is not honoring God, because we don't honor God, we don't give thanks to Him, the result is what? Idolatry. Either you worship God or you worship your own man-made God. What do I mean? Whatever, whoever you put your trust, confidence, your hope, and your happiness in, that becomes your God. And that's the root problem of humanity, not realizing who God is and we have created our own God.
Notice, "exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator". I'm sad today, because I see people they're very sincere. They pray to human beings. They pray to the dead. Remember, creature versus Creator. You must only worship the Creator. Who is our Creator? The Bible's very clear, Jesus, God, He's our Creator. You cannot worship any other thing. Therefore, this is what happened to humanity. Look at what happened to us, because we did not honor God, the spiraling down of humanity, of anybody's life. You don't honor God, you go down. Idolatry, slowly. Darkened Heart. Darkened Mind. Perversion. Immorality, etcetera.
You see, the downward spiral of humanity is very clear. It's in the Bible. So don't be surprised if you see what's happening today, the world is sliding down. It all begins with not honoring God. You want yourself to be God. You go down, spiral down. Idolatry. Many of us, are what I call Christian atheists. What are Christian atheists? They believe in God, but they act and behave as though God is irrelevant. That's a Christian atheist. You believe in God, you believe in Jesus, but your life, your behavior tells me you don't exactly believe or are accountable to Him. Secondly, I want you to know something God's Wrath is not only Righteous, It's Real.
Let me share with you examples of some verses, the reality of God's Wrath in John 3:36. Let's read this together. This is from Jesus. Okay. The Wrath of God is Real, What is this verse saying? The Wrath of God is present tense. It's being manifested now. What does it mean? I will share with you in a short while. The Wrath of God is not only present tense, the Wrath of God is also taught by Jesus in terms of application. He tells us in Luke 12 vv.4-5. Okay. About the future Wrath of God, let's read this together. Everybody, Today, the fear of God is not taught anymore. Have you heard a message about "The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom"? (Proverbs 9:10).
Honestly, you will seldom hear that. But don't worry, we are going to teach that. The Wrath of God. When have you heard a message in YouTube that talks about the Wrath of God? You see friends, you've got to know the truth. If you don't know the truth, if you don't know the bad news, how will you take action? How will you do something to avoid the inevitable? The Wrath of God is real. Jesus talked about it. The other apostles talked about it. Let's continue reading, Revelation 6 vv.16-17 I call this the Last Prayer of people living on planet earth.
What is the Last Prayer? You know, the Last Prayer. This is the Last Prayer of people who do not know the Lord, Can you imagine praying to the mountains, praying to the rocks? What is their prayer? The wrath of Jesus. You see, the Wrath of God is real. It's not only present, it's future. The Wrath of God is Bad News. You can deny it, or you can do something about it. My friend, look at the use of the word "God gave them over" three times. "God gave them over" What is that in Tagalog? God gave them over. Let me explain to you in Tagalog. In Tagalog, "Bahala ka na sa buhay mo". Okay. I tell people, if they're very stubborn, "Okay. Bahala ka na, pabayaan na kita". In English, "Up to you, I give you over. You decide what you want to do".
You want to keep on doing bad things? That's fine, I give you over. Notice, from verse 24 to 28, you have three times, the Wrath of God is manifested. How is the Wrath of God manifested? I call this Divine Non-intervention. Instead of intervention, God is saying, "Okay". God's Wrath is manifested when He allows you to do what you want to do with your life. God could have forced His will upon you, but He did not. He's saying, "Look, you are on your own. You want to reject Me? Okay. I'll leave you alone," and that's what's happening to humanity today. We are on our own. That's how God's Wrath is manifested.
For example, let's look at Romans 1:26, You know what God is saying? "Because of your own choice, you don't want to acknowledge Me? All right, I turn you over, your own passion". Remember, Idolatry eventually leads to Immorality. Notice: In other words, what kind of sin is this? You call this homosexual-lesbian sin. Remember, the Bible is very explicit. The Bible is very clear. It is wrong. It is not coming from me. I love all kinds of people. In fact, that's why we, in CCF, we have a special ministry dedicated to people with gender confusion. We have a group of people specializing in that ministry. But my point is this, God loves us. And God is saying, this is part of the consequences of sin, of a degraded passion, depraved mind.
Look at the next verse. You may think God is just speaking on homosexuality and lesbianism. No, look at the next verse. What does it say? Romans 1:28-30 "God gave them over (from the heart) to a depraved mind (bankrupt, corrupt) to do those things, which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed" Now, all scholars agree on one thing. It's very hard to outline this sin. You cannot group them together. They are all over the place. So these are really just examples of unrighteousness. Example.
You say, "Oh, Peter, I am not a homosexual. I don't have gender confusion problem". What about this one? "greed, evil; full of envy (are you jealous of people?), hatred, murder, strife, deceit, malice; ...gossips". Ladies, don't raise your hand. But gossips, have you gossiped? "slanderer," oh my goodness, slander, telling the truth to people who don't need to hear it but you are saying, "just between us, honest ha. Tayo-tayo lang ha. Ito talaga ang nangyari". My goodness, you don't need to tell those things to other people, but that's slander. "haters of God," how in the world, can you be haters of God? Just look at the news today. Haters of God. "insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents".
My goodness. This is all part of the ongoing downward spiral of men. And this is what makes me sad, to those who practice them. Have you heard of this statement? A deprived mind is something like this: I decide what is true for me, I define my own truth. I determine what is right or wrong. You have no right to tell me what is right or wrong. I tell myself what is right or wrong. That, my friend, is the meaning you are making yourself God, "Everyone is doing it, so what's wrong"? Depraved mind. How can it be wrong if it feels so good? How can it be wrong? How can love be wrong? Now you have to understand, these are sincere people. But the Bible says the mind has become corrupted, the heart is corrupted, so they cannot see.
Now, do you understand why Satan does not want you to read the Bible? Because the Bible tells you the truth. God's Wrath is not only righteous. It is not only real. It's also redemptive. What do we mean by redemptive? Redemptive means God wants to do something regarding our problem, but He wants you to know your problem is real. You see, our problem is not only are we sinful by choice. But there's coming judgment and God is saying, "I want to save you".
So Romans 2:1-3 tells us the following, everybody read, the emphasis is "no excuse". In Romans 1, you have no excuse. Don't say you don't know God. God is real. Now remember, God's general revelation is different from God's special specific revelation. God has revealed Himself to us through creation, no excuse. And God has revealed to us today through Jesus, through His Word, you call that a specific revelation. Both are from God. What the author is saying now, everybody, You know why? People who may not really know the Bible, know what is right and wrong. And because you know what's right and wrong, you can tend to become self-righteous.
You judge others, "for in that, which you God" now, compared to your own judgment, In other words, when you judge people, you may make yourself look better. When you judge people, you may think you are not as guilty as those you judge. I call that, projection. But the reality is this, God is saying, "you are just as guilty". You may not be committing those sins I mentioned about, what about others? So God is saying you are without excuse. Continue reading, What the Bible is saying, we have no excuse. So the Bad News is, number one, we have turned away from God, and number two, our deeds are sinful. That's the Bad News. The Wrath of God is real. Why? We have turned away from Him. We have rebelled against Him. And our actions, it's also wrong.
But notice the next verse. I love the next verse. Alright. Romans 2:4-5, I love the phrase, The Bible does not talk about the riches of God's Wrath. No, no, no. It is the riches of God's kindness, the riches of His patience, the riches of His grace. God is rich in that area. Wrath of God is a byproduct of His holiness because sin has to be judged. But the whole purpose of God's Wrath that we, you and I, are experiencing now, many of us are experiencing emptiness problem, is to cause us to what? Everybody read, You know, this is what touched my heart. You know what touched my heart? When I discovered that God has been very kind to me, God has been very patient to me.
I look at my life, I look at my past. I look at my current life. You know, guys, I'm not perfect but God is perfect and God is patient. And His patience towards me, motivates me to repent. Do you know God loves you? God is patient with you. God is kind with you. But God wants you to do something. He wants us to repent. What do you mean by repentance? Repentance is a change in direction. But this is our problem, Notice stubbornness and unrepentant. There are people today, right here, and those of you who, who are watching us all over the world, it is just possible that you have heard this, you know about this, but your heart is hardened, stubborn, unrepentant.
Well, here's the warning to those of you who are unrepentant and who are stubborn, some of us are even angry at God. Your heart has hardened. You have no more desire for God. Well, this is the reality, the Bible says, everybody read, In other words, God is saying "My patience towards you is to lead you to repentance". If you refuse to change, you are storing up wrath for yourself. That day is going to come, whether you like it or not. But God is saying, "Today, I'd like you to repent".
So what is the Bible saying? What is the action point? Well, the action point if you ask me, for believers, look at Hebrews 10:26. Everybody read this together, Oh, what does that mean? He continues, He's warning people not to keep on sinning, willfully. The Wrath of God is a warning, to take sin seriously, and to take God seriously. So what does it say? referring to God Again, everybody read now, "The Lord will judge His people". I have seen people who mock God, who make fun of God, and you know, I feel scared for them. They have no idea what will come in the future. The Bible says "it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God". Why? The Bible says, God is a consuming fire.
The Wrath God is real my friend, but it is Redemptive. Why are you here today? You are here today, not by accident. God loves you. He wants you to hear this message, the Bad News, don't deny it, but do something about it. What is the Bad News? The Wrath of God. It is Righteous. It is what? Righteous? It is Real. And it's Redemptive. That's what God wants us to do, to change. Redemption comes when we are transformed. And the Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, why you need to come to Jesus. When you come to Jesus, The resurrection of Jesus is the proof that He alone can save us.
My friend, a future wrath is coming, not only the wrath that you see now. The wrath that is happening today, are the consequences of your own actions. God is allowing you to experience His wrath, the consequences of your unbelief, the consequences of our decisions. Yes. God allows it. In Tagalog, "Bahala ka sa buhay mo". Okay. Are you having pain? Are you having problems? God is saying, "I want you to wake up. Gising na. I want you to see what's wrong with your life. You are not happy. You are miserable. Why don't you change"? You know, there are some people who are so miserable because they are not right with God. But they think, it will just automatically go away. God is saying, "I'm waking you up. You are miserable. You are depressed. You are unhappy. Why don't you change"?
Ah, let me give you a story as we close, of somebody who experienced the wrath of God, but he changed. Do you know who that person is? That person is famously called the Prodigal Son. Are you familiar with the story of the Prodigal Son? He went to his father, he told his father, "I want my money now". Telling his father, "I wish you die, give me my money now". And the father gave him his money and he went. Remember that story? Why did the father allow the son? Ah, "Bahala ka na sa sariling buhay". You see, God cannot force you to change, but you need to repent. You need to understand what's going on. And this is what the Bible says.
In Luke 15:14, notice how the Wrath of God is manifested but in a very subtle way. Look the consequences of his sin, No more money. Notice the timing, a severe famine came. Next, "to be", what? "impoverished" He became needy. You see, people will not come to God until they realize "I need help". This guy was impoverished, Can you imagine a Jew who doesn't eat pork, is now feeding pigs? How low can you get? God allows. He gave them over to their decisions.
So this guy is no longer in good shape. Hallelujah! No one was helping him. Many times, you short circuit God's discipline, God's way, by intervening. I'm not saying don't help people, but in this case I said, praise God, nobody helped him. No one was helping him. Can I tell you why? If somebody had helped him, do you think he will realize what's wrong with him? Can you read the next verse? Okay. What is that in Tagalog? Natauhan. I do not know how to translate that In English. Natauhan. He became a man. No, cannot be. Natauhan. He came to his senses. That's repentance, change in direction.
Repentance is you change direction in life but many will not change, until you reach a point or you say, "You know what? I need to change". If you don't change, what's going to happen? You are storing up wrath for yourself. And I know everybody here needs repentance. Amen? Notice the heart of God. When that guy stood up, the Bible tells us, That is God, the Father. God is saying, "If you repent today, if you turn, I will embrace you". And that, my friend, is why I like the story of repentance of the Prodigal Son. As we close, look at Romans 5:9, look at our assurance, "Much more".
Remember, the Wrath of God was poured on Jesus. Now let me ask you, is God speaking to you? Have you come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or are you coming to religion? You see, if you put your faith in religion, you put your faith in people, it will not save you. There's only one way to be saved from the Wrath of God. And that is when Jesus died on the cross. He took the Wrath of God upon Himself. The manifestation of Wrath was displayed on the cross, when Jesus suffered for you and for me to show us the Wrath of God against sin. Jesus took your sin. But Jesus is saying, if you come to Him today, if you repent, you will be forgiven. You'll be saved from the wrath to come.
Let's bow our heads. If God has spoken to you and you have never really understood the Good News or the Wrath of God, and today, you want to repent, I want you to raise your hand. I want to pray for you. If you want to experience the forgiveness of God, the salvation of God from His Wrath, you pray this prayer wherever you are.
Lord Jesus, I realize I'm under judgment. I realize I need to repent. Help me Jesus, to follow You. I surrender my life to You. I accept You, Jesus, as my Lord and my Savior. I accept Your sacrifice on the cross for my sins, and now I repent. I want to follow You. I accept Your gift of forgiveness. I accept Your gift of eternal life. Change my heart, today.
Lord Jesus, I pray for this group of men and women, especially those who were convicted by Your Word, that they need to repent of something. It can be immorality. It can be greed. It can be anger. It can be unforgiveness. Whatever it is. Ungratefulness, ingratitude, Lord, whatever it is, will You assure them? If they repent, they shall experience forgiveness. So help us to experience Your sufficiency and all your grace. In Jesus' name, we all pray, Amen and amen.