The sermon titled 'God's Vengeance For His People' by Bro. Kendall Brantley explores the theme of divine vengeance and how it is articulated in scripture, particularly from Romans 12 and Jeremiah. It emphasizes the challenge of living peacefully with all men, as instructed by scripture, and the importance of biblical counseling in relationships to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts. The sermon references historical and biblical events such as the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah, the flood in Noah's time, and the fall of Babylon to illustrate God's patience and eventual judgment. It warns against the arrogance of human achievements and encourages believers to be long-suffering and to pray for those they struggle to get along with. The sermon also touches on the dangers of blending worldly practices with spiritual beliefs and stresses the need for repentance and obedience to God's commands.

Yesterday we were going to preach primarily from Jeremiah and we will get to it. But for now, turn to Romans chapter 12. The title of the sermon this morning is God's vengeance for his people. You know, and I don't know of the scripture that gives any greater detail about God's vengeance and the scriptures over in Jeremiah, but he makes a statement and Romans the 12th chapter verses 18 through 21 that says if it be possible if it be possible as much as life in you live peacefully with all men and you know that can be challenging that can be challenging and because there are things that we don't always know about people and And I was talking to Sister Faye this morning and we were talking about the scripture that said pastors should not multiply wives in particular. And she said well that means one wife at a time for a pastor and I said well I agree you know but at the same time you know when people get married they've never lived together godly They've never lived together.

They've seen the best behavior of that person that they're joined to. And then sometimes pressure changes things. And people sort of come with the idea, well, you can love someone and really that love will get you through all things. Well, how much do you love God? Because sometimes if you're unequally yoked with a person who professes that they're saved, there can be a world of difference between the person you thought you married and then the one that you were actually married to.

Now I say all that to say I studied biblical counseling years ago and as a pastor, All pastors should be biblical counselors and and before people get married they should have biblical counseling I recommend it highly but a lot of people just don't want to They don't want some of the things about them truthfully revealed, and it creates a problem. So I say that in relation to this verse, God's vengeance for his people, if it be possible as much as life in you live peacefully with all men. And I mentioned biblical counseling because a friend of mine, Lou Perillo, is one of the nation's leading biblical counselors. And he said, in particular, he said, I counsel sometimes with a husband that just said, I just can't live with her anymore. And the wife said, I just absolutely cannot stand to be with her.

I would hate the fact to know that I would have to continue in this situation. And he said, well, do you love your enemies? Even pray for those who you don't get along with. Now, I'll grant you, Jesus didn't say, or did not pray for the world. He made that very plain in John the 17th chapter.

But as you pray, you think about praying for those that you may not get along with so that you may win them to the Lord. And so it does make a difference. So we look at the next verse, dearly beloved avenge not yourself. I was blessed by Deacon in the Grace Baptist Church this past week. His mother-in-law passed away and he was asked to preach and during the service I was standing near him at the gravesite service and he said this pastor standing behind me has taught me something I never thought about for years and one of the things I taught my daughters and taught my family is you never do anything to hurt those you love.

Just period. You just Don't do it. Don't go out there with an attitude that you're going to avenge yourself because you're hurt. No, how many times do we do things deliberately, deliberately? Now, we do enough, not knowing, that what we're doing may be hurting someone, but deliberately to go out there and hurt someone that you love.

You know, that's a, to me, trying to take revenge. And You can't build relationships on that Now Vance not yourselves, but rather give place To wrath for his written written vengeance his mind. I'll replace or say hello and And he means that God means that He will do exactly what he says there. But you don't need to be caught up in it as a Christian. Therefore if thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirsts give him drink for in so doing thou shall he cause a fire only say it." Now my first point this morning, you can be turning to second Peter three as I mentioned the first point, but history demonstrates the fact That God is not at all slack concerning his promise Yes, some men count slackness Second Peter 3 in verse 9 says the Lord is not slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward.

To usward. Now, and I'll read the rest of it later, but we think about that in lieu of our behavior. I had to tell someone that was very dear to me recently, I said, I have not been as long suffering as I should have been. And you know, people can do things because they haven't been taught any better. Now if you're in a typical Baptist church in the United States today, I said a typical Baptist church, do you have any idea what they may be taught versus what you're taught?

You know, brother, there's a reason for 15 or 20 intermembership. There's a reason. And I had a gentleman that attended, stopped by and visited our church recently, probably I said recently, about a year ago. And he said he had recently visited one of the largest churches in Gainesville, Georgia. And you might know the pastor of that church, because he also flies out to California and pastors another church on the same day.

And you think about that. You think about what he preaches and what he teaches. A lot of it is a great message as far as it covers part of the scripture. But what about the other part? And he said, you know, when I visited there, it was like a three story church building.

And he said, when I went in the basement side of it, they had a big statue, a golden statue. It looked like an Oscar. And he said, I asked the people that were there assembling, and he said, what is that for? And he said, we're celebrating Oscar night at the church. Oscar night at the Baptist church.

Now think about that. Never mind what's going on television. All those kind of things are in their place. But when you start bringing the world into the church, you've got a real problem, and you're going to create problems. So I thought about that you know in this point how long-suffering are we toward those that may say that they are a Baptist or may say they believe, that may say that they're Christian, but how much are we long suffering toward them?

And that's something I've had to work on. And I particularly appreciate your pastor here for pointing that out last week. Sometimes we get real intolerant of others and knowing that they have not been brought up in the truth of the gospel and or at least the extent you know I started out in a Baptist Church years ago and when I was about two years old one year you know I stayed there until I was about 10 11 years old and my mother got mad with him for some whatever reason and she left and carried me to a Nazarene church there's a big difference in what bad just believe in Nazarenes I can assure you I'd learned enough doctrine in the Baptist Church to never believe what the Nazarenes believe. And I say that respectfully, I love those folks and all, but when we look at some of the major things You know What if you did not have somebody telling you and preaching to you eternal security? And yet made you think that once the Lord saves you, you can go out that door and sin in 30 minutes and you've lost your salvation.

That's a horrible, horrible thing. You know, but there are people who believe that and are taught that. So I say all that, how long suffering. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God wants people to repent.

You know, and as I spoke yesterday, where is the repenting heart? Before you can ask God to forgive you, have you repented? So the history of Sodom and Gomorrah is given as an example in Scripture in Jude 1 and verse 7. And I'm going to give these various examples of the Scriptures, things that I've mentioned to you already. But you know the history of Salah Gamar you remember how Abraham pleaded God if there will be is there 50 would you would you distort if there was 50 or 40 or 30 and he got right on down to 10.

He said for 10 I wouldn't destroy the city. United States has a chance brother, maybe. There might be 67% Belize in one thing, but thank the Lord there's some still sound Christians out here in the United States and for that reason maybe God is still long suffering. And I look at that, I look at that and I think about that but Jude 1 7 the history of Sodom and Gomorrah is given it says this was a Particular example it says giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh they're set for for an example of people who think that's okay there's nothing wrong with it and and again you can't hardly turn on a Western anymore a modern Western I still watch guns mode and stuff like that but a modern western where you don't see this type of thing portrayed. And so it's an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Fire was rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah and it serves an example for us today because the earth has already been destroyed by water and God said it will be destroyed by fire And so why do we have Sodom and Gomorrah is to remember that city still burns to this day. Amen. You know, you go back and you Google it and you look at the sulfur that is still there and still burning. Still burning. And so we look at those things those in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and others like them cause just lot it says in 2nd Peter 2 and verse 7 just Lot to have his soul vexed because his destruction was imminent.

And why would I be vexed? Because Lot's family was involved. His friends were involved. He maybe spoke against it, spoke against it, spoke against it. But when you know that God's vengeance is about to fall, how is it going to impact you?

Right. Why does it say in the New Testament, remember Lot's wife? Remember Lot's wife. She wanted to turn and look back. Right.

Look back on all the things that she was leaving and the destruction and God told her not to look back and there's a pillow of salt some say I've seen modern pictures of it and they say that's lot's wife you know still stands to this day God's warning went out to know in this family God's warnings went out vengeance is mine for 120 years no priest people called him foolish called him foolish and I like the way brother Paul Jackson used to exemplify that he said ever pounding pounding of the pigs to put the pigs in for that arc to be assembled every time it hit. Judgment's coming. Judgment's coming and we know it. Genesis 7 verse 1 through 23, excuse me, Genesis 6 verse 5, and God saw that the weakness of man was great in the earth and then every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and it's sad but that's exactly what we see today. I have a friend that I talked to about three days ago and the person was taking an art class in Illinois and said that she said that she was dumbfounded because she's an exemplary artist.

That some of the people in the art class was cursing Christians and saying they ought to be killed. And that was a common discussion and she said, she had to just say, well, should I leave this company? I don't feel comfortable here anymore. And is this the type of thing that's being promoted wherever you go and she called him down on it and said look I'm a Christian and While you may not agree with the stand I take why would you want to kill me? But that was being said and this was this week and Marion, Illinois.

So we think about that. Genesis 7 verse 1, and the Lord said to Noah, come thou and all thy house unto the ark. And then verse 23 says, and every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground both man and cattle and the creeping things and the foul of the heaven and they were destroyed from the earth and Noah only remained alive and they that were with him and the ark. You use deposits now you want to see a remnant of what happened people said I've seen things said no that was just a local flood. It just happened right there.

All the earth wasn't destroyed. The Bible says it was. And some of you, I don't know how far up north Georgia you get, but along about Millersville up on 441 you'll see what's called the Nat Line. But you also see from Richmond County all the way to Muskogee County, that is from Augusta to Columbus, Georgia, and all those counties there have an abundance of kaolin. And that kaolin is left over in the deposits of the earth because of the ancient seashore that where the earth was destroyed by water and they're constantly digging up fossils when they dig up that kaolin And you can Google it and see how many different fossils see fossils are brought up out of the earth Right across this stretch of Georgia, and yes, it was covered with water And and y'all closer to water than I like to be right here.

So, but you think about it and all you've got to do is just go up there and look and you'll see those stripped mines and you can go along anywhere and you can see fossils just almost like the sides of this building here. A number of seashells and all. There are still those naysayers that began to defy God and recognize themselves in their own might, refusing to believe in God who gave them that might. And so we see in Genesis 10 the sons of Hound, Cush, and Miseram, and Futt, and Canaan. And Then we see in Cush, who was a member of the cursed family, God had cursed him, the grandson of Hale.

In Cush begat Nimrod, he began to be a mighty one in the earth Genesis 10 verse 6 8 and what did they do he went up and he started saying let us make a great city make a great tower so we can raise it up to show everybody who we are, make a name for ourselves. And that's what he did. In Genesis 11, verse 34, they said one to another, go let us make brick, burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and slime had they from water and They said go to let us build a city in a tower Whose top shall reach unto heaven and let us make a name let us be lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth." And of course, you may remember what the Lord did with them. He said, this is the kind of thing you do.

When people come together, you become vain in your imagination. Your foolish heart was darkened, and you began to make idols. And That's what they do today. That's what's being done and I thought about when we invaded Iraq years ago because of what we thought to be nuclear arming and stationed in Iraq and I thought about all those statues that Saddam Hussein had put up and erected there and I can remember them pulling them down You know that sort of reminded me then there was a Great statue many years prior to that in that same area and it was erected by King Nebuchadnezzar you know when it portrayed according to Daniel all the kingdoms that would come but at that time it was the greatest kingdom on earth. And God called Nebuchadnezzar his servant.

I wanna remind you that all are God's servants. It doesn't matter who they are, whether they're lost or saved, they're still God's servants. And he can use them in accordance with how he determines there to be used. And he told Jeremiah, he said, witness to these people, witness to these people because I'm going to destroy Israel because it has disobeyed me. Israel as well as Judah has made blaspheme my name and done a brought reproach and at this point in time I'm going to tell you what I want you to prophesy against them.

So we look now to Jeremiah 51. Jeremiah 51. I'm going to have to hurry quickly. Jeremiah 51, verse 5 through 7. For Israel had not been forsaken, nor Judah for his God of the Lord of hosts through their land though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel the land was filled with sin well who else was in the land but them?

You know? So the land was filled with sin. And he says, flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul. Be not cut off in her iniquity for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance He will render inter unto her recompense So Babylon had taken Israel and now he's telling Israel you better flee from Babylon because I'm about to revenge my people because Babylon has not treated them and they made fun of Israel. They looked at Israel and they said, and your God is protecting you, and we've got you here as captives in the land of Nebuchadnezzar.

And so Babylon has seen a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunk and the nations have drunken over wine and of course we could see over in the book of Revelation mystical babbling and I don't have time to preach that but the walls that babbling this is something and I studied and and sort of drew out And I want you to understand when they said, let's make a tower into heaven, how big were the walls? The walls that Babylon had built were found to be wide enough for chariots four horses wide to pass each other with room to spare, approximately 80 feet, about from that glass door probably to the back of the baptismal pope. That's about 80 feet and that's how wide they were. Now if you think about that and excavation showed the bricks to span almost 60 miles in circumference. So probably if you went from here back up to Batsley, Georgia that's how wide are the circumference.

The height was amazing. If you've ever been to a football game and looked at the football field from goalpost to goalpost, if you stood it up, 320 feet high. 320 feet high. So what it exemplified was people looking at themselves and say, look what we've done, we can't be conquered. We can't be conquered.

And so the occupants laughed at the God of Israel they made mockery of the Lord's house and in his temple vessels and Baal Shazar who was Nebuchadnezzar's son or grandson I don't remember which I think it was his son it says there if you follow quickly in Daniel 5, 1 through 31, I'll just read the high points, but that's where it's at, Daniel 5 and verses 1 through 31. Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine before a thousand. And silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple, which was in Jerusalem, the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, he multiplied wives, his wives and concubines might drink therein. They drink wine and praise the gods of gold, that is wealth of silver and of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. We have people today that think because they have billions of dollars, they don't have to live like the rest of the people under the law.

In the same hour came four fingers of a man's hand and rolled over against a candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of King's Palace. And the King saw the hand as it wrote, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees moped one against another. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy reward to another. Yet I will read what it says he said many many tequila of arson God hath numbered that kingdom and finished it there are way into balances and are found wanting that kingdom is divided into giving to the Medes and the Persians and That night was Belshazzar the king of Tehaldean slain And there's the median took the kingdom And all those walls didn't happen one bit because the gates were open wide open. So that the Persians just went right on the city through the gates.

And so when God bless you, you are strong. But if you want to feel like you're stronger than the Lord, like they did, Belshazzar, then watch out. Watch out. Psalm 127, I don't have time to read it all, it says, It sent the Lord guardeth the city, the watchman waiteth in vain. I think that's verse one.

The gigantic walls didn't protect Belshazzar or the occupants of the city from God's vengeance neither did it protect Jericho the Image of Belshazzar's father was displayed all around the city except the image that God showed him in dream. And he said in Daniel 2 verse 32 and 33, the image of his head was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and his thighs are brass, his legs are iron, his feet are iron and part of clay. You might have great wealth and yes you're the head and you were ruled for forty years but after that forty years that kingdom won't stand but about thirty more years and then it's over with. Just that quick. And the Greco-Roman Empire was the last empire that Alexander the Great was the last one to come in.

Xerxes was the, I believe the median that came in but I stand to be corrected on that if we look a little further Daniel 5 there's 35 through 37 King Nebuchadnezzar before he thought about all of his wealth. He said, and that habitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and God doth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay as hand are saying to him what doeth thou now I Nebuchadnezzar pray and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride. He is able to obey. That's the most powerful king outside of the Lord Jesus Christ that ever set foot on the earth. You know when you say well Solomon, Solomon had a lot of knowledge and peace in his kingdom but as far as overtaking with power Nebuchadnezzar was one of the strongest kings if not the strongest of all the earth at that time.

And God gave him that power. God is a righteous judge who judged Jerusalem as well as all people he said there in Jeremiah 15 verse 6 and 7 God has forsaken me They're gone backward and they all will stretch out hand against see and destroy thee. I am weary with Repenting I will destroy the people since they return not from their ways." That's a warning to us today. As we see it in Jeremiah 51 verses 45 through 49, 51 verses 45 through 49 my people go you out of the midst of her and deliver you every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord therefore behold the days come that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon and our whole land shall be confounded and all her slain shall be in the midst of her as Babylon has called the slain of Israel to fall so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth." Now we think about that and we look at the book of Revelation and mystical Babylon. Some people believe it will be in Rome because she was the last power.

You know I don't know what your eschatology is there some believe it will happen at Rome some believe it the Babylonian Empire would be advanced again and the slain of all the earth will be there. Some believe it will be in Jerusalem. So anyway consider that but keep in mind that the Lord will Have his vengeance wherever he pleases and whenever he pleases and he doesn't have to do it all at the last day He has done it demonstrated that throughout history I just simply tell you Come out from among them. If you know something is wrong going on no matter where it is or who it is get out get out thank you for your time and attention and your invitation Thanks for watching!