“For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 12:29) It has always amazed me how many individuals I have spoken with over the years who, although they may not come right out and say it, speak as if there are two completely separate Gods, the one of the Old Testament and the one of the New, the jealous, all-consuming fire and the meek, mild mannered Christ.
On occasion I have reminded those that say they have faith in Christ that our Lord looked people in their eye and told them they were going to die in their sins, (John 8:24) He took the time to make a whip before going into the temple, (John 2:15) He is coming back in wrath to kill millions at the end of the Tribulation period, (Rev. 19:21) but they simply do not want to hear it, they want to speak of nothing but His love, as if it were a “better” quality. The same One who healed thousands looked at them one day and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?” (Matt. 17:17) I am guessing that a few people thought that wasn’t a very kind thing to say.
Jesus is God, He is the One that killed the men of Bethshemesh just for looking into His ark, (1 Sam. 6:19) He is the God of the Old and New Testament, He is the physical representation of the Father. (Col. 1:15) This “nothing but love business” has placed us smack dab in the middle of the apostacy, the great falling away, (2 Thess. 2:3) and contrary to what you might believe, there will be no great revival before the rapture. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:” (Joel 2:28) is not a revival, it is the proclamation of the truth of the signs of the times to those whom He has decided to reveal them to, and those are the voices of truth that you must seek out in these evil days.
Evil has begun its final push in this age, this dispensation if you prefer, and the Lord God has placed individuals on the walls to proclaim His return. “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” (2 Thess. 2:7) This is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit resides in every born-again believer, so it is quite clear that when He leaves, we will leave with Him, yet some still hesitate and even rebuke this most simplest of truths.
God is not going to “step in,” as it were, for the next seven years while we attend the marriage feast, God is Jesus, it is not impossible for our Lord to be in two or more places at once, it is impossible for us to comprehend the Lord though. “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.” (Psalm 50:21) Look ahead to the next verse, what do you read, does it fit into your perception of who God is or who Jesus is, “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” (Psalm 50:22)
My friends, until you can come to the knowledge of the truth that the Lord Jesus is quite capable and willing to inflict terrible pain and suffering, you will never be able to serve Him fully. I have met many people, some of them pastors of churches that refuse to verbalize these truths to their congregations, it just doesn’t seem loving to them. I have often wondered how they are going to react when we return with the Lord to the Mount of Olives at the end of the battle of Armageddon, (Zech. 14:4-5) and He kills millions and casts them into hell. And I feel sorry for them, because at the great white throne there will be no mercy, eternal damnation awaits all who will not call Him Lord. Jesus is God, God is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is Jesus, three in one. Incomprehensible to us, but truth nonetheless. The God we serve is love, the God we serve will show no mercy, until you accept these truths, you cannot serve fully Him whom all will serve one day soon. You cannot pick an attribute of God that you prefer, and call that God.