There are attributes of Almighty God that many, especially in this age of “God is only love,” do not like to address, will not discuss or even contemplate, there is a part of God that many who profess Christ do not like to speak about. There are rewards and there are punishments, disciplines, and chastisements if you like, from our Lord to His children, it has been this way since the creation, and since God does not change, it will remain thus throughout eternity.
Many who profess Christ today do not like to think in terms of rewards, unworthiness, “salvation is enough,” works are not required, all of heaven is open to all who call Him Lord, such is the thought process’ of some Christians. As for punishment, that is reserved for the lost, bad feelings are chastisement enough, a loving God would never chastise His children, a simple scolding is enough. These thoughts and many others like them is the new religion amongst many who profess Christ as Lord today, but they have boxed themselves into a corner, as it were, and when the truth is brought to their attention, they have little use to attempt to defend their positions, but instead fall back upon only the hope they have imagined in their minds, the “pick and choose” verses that make them feel better about themselves, a “partial” God, if you will.
There are no negative attributes to Almighty God, He never has and never will deviate from the character traits of who He is, Holy, righteous, jealous, loving, all are balanced perfectly within our Lord, every attribute of God is perfect and without flaw, every action He takes is perfection. There are punishments and there are rewards. Why put the curse upon the earth, upon Adam, Eve, and the serpent, and then on top of that cast them from the garden, I thought God was only love, why take the time to make a whip, (John 2:15) to cast those out of the temple who were defiling it, (John 2:16) I thought we were to love the sinner but hate the sin, why tell the Pharisees that they would die in their sins, I thought we were all supposed to get along with each other, that religious freedom was a right given to all men.
The subjects that few like to speak on these days, are seen as contentious, those who speak the totality of the truth in love are seen as intimidating, far too adamant, they are told to come down from the wall, there is no need for a lookout, the watchman are no longer needed, God is love. I am going to place something before you today that few Christians care to contemplate, they find it grievous to bear, too horrible to contemplate, it is not the God they desire to serve.
Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, is going to sit on a great white throne of judgement one day, and He is not going to forgive even one of those hundreds of millions of souls that are going to stand before Him, He is going to cast them alive into a lake burning with fire and brimstone, (Rev. 21:8) and they are going to be punished without mercy and without pity for all eternity. His vengeance and wrath will be upon them forever, it is never going to let up, it is never going to stop, they are going to suffer beyond all comprehension with no end, complete, total hopelessness with suffering beyond belief.
Is this the God of love that you are warning others about, or do you prefer to just stick to one side of the account, only the parts that make you feel better about yourself. “And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Cor. 13:13) You want to tell them about His love, but not about the time He said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?” (Mark 9:19) You want to explain to them how much He cares for them, but you fear to warn them of the punishment that awaits those who will not serve Him.
The love of many who profess Christ is waxing cold, (Matt. 24:12) and yet all they want to talk about is the love of Christ, not the attributes that do not seem all that loving to them. These speak with hollow words, for they will not speak the entire truth. There is a path that works with all animals and nearly all men, the first is the best, and should be remained on as long as necessary, love, care, compassion, concern, beautiful attributes that show the love of Christ, but, when these are rebuked by the listener, when no submissive obedience is given in return to these attributes, there is another way that almost always works, pain. The simple raising of a hand after enough pain has been inflicted will cause any animal and most men to cringe in fear, to obey because of fear, and my friends, our Lord may be patient beyond anything that we can ever envision, but that patience is coming to an end, He will pull His children from this earth, (1 Thess. 4:17) and He will begin the process of pain, suffering like this world has never seen before and never will again. (Matt. 24:21)
This is the God we serve, loving and jealous, Holy and without pity, His eye will not spare, (Eze. 7:9) for they have rebuked His Holy name, they have rejected His Son, they have not bowed the knee, but they will.
Love is the most important thing, vengeance belongs to God alone, (Heb. 10:30) but if you will not warn them while you are loving them, you are not truly loving them. These single focused attributes we have of God, this “God loves everybody, no matter what” ideology that has permeated the Christian community has led to apathy, has led to an idea that all should be enabled, that truth is what each of us has determined it to be. It has led us away from Christ and the totality of who He is. Stop spending time looking only at the Scriptures that make you feel better, the ones of the God you want to serve, instead look upon the entire Word of God, look at who He is and always has been. There is a reason why this is called the age of grace.
