Micah Bemenderfer

November 30, 2024

Passage Read: Revelation 19-20
Meditation Verse: 19:15

Thought

"He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty." Not just wrath but fierce wrath. We think God is so calm and merciful and gracious, but He's also filled with fierce wrath because men scorn His graciousness and kindness. Because He is so willing to forgive and to blot out sin on the basis of the sacrifice of His Son, men think He approves of their sinful behavior and beliefs because of His silence. In truth, He becomes more filled with wrath when men refuse to believe and repent at news of His precious Son's suffering and resurrection. God is willing to forgive anyone who comes to Him in humility and repentance, but He keeps a record of all the wickedness of those who refuse to repent. And the more the books multiply, the fiercer His wrath becomes.

Application

It is a mistake to forget that God is infuriated by my sin and by the sins of others. To see only His mercy is to risk losing all of His mercy by thinking I have nothing to fear in how I live. He didn't save me so that I could go on my way, living however I want. He saved me so that I would change how I live and conform my life to His instruction. Anyone who refuses to listen to Him, whether that means the beginning of repentance at hearing the Gospel or later in hearing how He desires His people to live, anyone who refuses to repent stores up against themselves wrath from God. And God's wrath grows with accumulated resistance, until it becomes fierce wrath. I must not forget that God has definite expectations on me and my life, and I had better heed them.