God is Holy and God is Love
John 3:16,17 (KJV)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
We quote these verses so easily!
But as we think of the words and what they mean; our hearts are touched by the deep love of our God--- of our Savior Jesus Christ.
And then in verses
John 3:18-20 (KJV)
“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
We see the Wrath of God!
How can a God of Love also be a God of Wrath?
Because God is Holy and God is Love!
Holy demands purity---perfection---cleanness ---without spot!
And mankind is as filthy rags, yet; God’s Love made it possible for all of us to be Holy.
But it took the Blood of Jesus the only begotten Son of God.
Holy demands purity ---no defilement!
Romans 3:23 (KJV)
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Only through Jesus’ atoning Blood sacrifice are we made spotless---Holy in God’s eyes.
Only the Blood of God in the flesh can atone for sin. No other Blood could make us Holy.
1 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Power in the Blood ----Power in the Blood
This Blood I believe, was carried by Jesus to the Mercy Seat in heaven and is there for ever more.
Jesus said in Luke:
Luke 24:38,39 (KJV)
“And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
When Jesus said on the cross “It is finished” It meant Paid in Full
Jesus Paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow!
God has done all He can to get lost man to come to HIM !!! He loved them all so much---He died for them!!
God died for Mankind! Lost man can only be Holy if he accepts the Blood Sacrifice of Jesus.
But if not, God’s Holiness will be preserved by His Wrath.
For the Wages of sin is death!!!! God will not allow sin to go unpunished---all sin must be paid in full and if you reject Jesus Christ---you must pay and will pay for your sin in hell!
Illustration: Excerpts from Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God”
When this sermon was preached in 1741; people grabbed hold of the pillars of the church for fear of falling into hell.
“ Within the souls of wicked people, hellish desires reign. Were it not for God’s restraints, those desires would kindle and flare up into hellfire!!”
“Sin is like fire confined by God’s restraints, but if let loose, it would set ablaze the whole course of nature!”
“ The unconverted (lost) walk over the pit of hell on a rotten bridge, and there are countless places on that bridge that are too weak to bear there weight!”
“We find it easy to step on and crush a worm crawling on the ground, and it is easy for us to cut or burn a thin thread by which an object hangs. It is just as easy for God to cast His wicked enemies into hell whenever He pleases. Who are we to think that we can stand against Him whose rebuke makes the earth shake and the mountains fall”
And the TRUTH will make you FREE: The truth opens your eyes.
Here is more Truth:
God hates sin---God hates the devil---He is doomed to the Lake of everlasting Fire
God hated Easu:
Malachi 1:1 through Malachi 1:3 (KJV)
“The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 2I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, 3And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.”
God hates those who eternally reject the Blood of Jesus Christ.
And it is only God’s divine ordained will that stops Him from casting all of the eternal lost to hell right now!
God loves all and wants all to be saved, but He hates sin, for it is evil and all that He is not! God created all and He loves all His creation but---He hates what they have chosen to become!!!
Consider the Parable of the tares and wheat:
Matthew 13:24-30----36-43
“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
“Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
37He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
God knows every saved person---every person who will be saved---and every person who will go to hell!
What stops a sovereign God from casting the wicked ---evil---sinner to hell right now?
Only God’s divine plan; that takes evil and makes good come from it.
Truth says it is not because God loves the eternal lost---Because God does not---He hates the eternal lost for they are a wicked child of satan and they live only for themselves; for the wickedness they can do. God gave His all for them; He gave His Son in Love and they rejected this free gift of love!
If it were in their power, they would destroy God---as satan and his children tried to at Calvary!
God hates sin
Illustration: excerpt from “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God”.
“ The bow of God’s wrath is bent and straining. The arrow is already set on the string, and justice aims it directly at your heart.
It is nothing but the mere pleasure of God- an angry God- who is not restrained by any promise or obligation, that keeps that arrow from being drunk with your blood.
This means that all of you whose hearts have never been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and who have never been born again and made new creatures, raised from being dead in sin to a new light and life-all of you are in the hands of an angry God”
John Bunyan author of Pilgrims Progress and The Acceptable Sacrifice states in the latter:
“Man, as he comes into the world, is not only a dead man, a fool, proud, selfwilled, fearless, a false believer, a lover of sin, and a wild man; but a man that disrelishes the things of the kingdom of God.”
God is Love:
1 Timothy 2:4 (KJV)
“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
And His plan takes into account the evil-wickedness of lost man!
Even though God despises sin---eternally lost people, those who eternally reject Jesus Christ; He tolerates them, so that, you may be saved!
God takes everything and makes good out of it.
Genesis 50:20 (KJV)
“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”
Romans 8:28 (KJV)
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
He uses the wickedness of man---the terribleness of satan to drive the lost to despair---to fear---to hopelessness---such is sin.
To get you to look up:
Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
A Holy God allows sin, so that, you might be saved.
If you are lost, you best get saved now-the dam of God’s Wrath is ready to burst-God will not be mocked!
2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV)
“(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Illustration: Excerpt from “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
“For now God stands ready to have pity on you; this is a day of mercy. Now you may cry with the hope of obtaining mercy. But once the day of mercy is past, your most serious and desperate cries for mercy will be in vain.
You will be forever lost, and God will throw you away, no longer giving thought to your welfare. God will have no other use for you except to make you suffer misery; you shall exist for no other purpose.
You will be objects of His Wrath, prepared for destruction and there will be no other use for those objects but to be filled full of God’s wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to Him, that the Bible says, He will only laugh and mock.”
Romans 9:22 (KJV)
“What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:”
Proverbs 1:26 (KJV)
“I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;”
God is Holy God is Love
1 Timothy 2:4 (KJV)
“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
God’s ordained system is in play and we all are part of God’s ordained system.
That’s why, what we do as Christians, matters
We are part of the Royal Priesthood and our actions determine greatly who will be saved and who will be lost.
How is that? : Because, God has ordained this world system to work by our prayers and our hearts.
James 4:2b(KJV)
“...yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
Jeremiah 33:3 (KJV)
“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
Psalm 126:5,6(KJV)
“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
6He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
If we do not do our part: then we: do not help souls be saved from the hands of an angry God.
You might think---no matter what I do---someone will get saved if she or he is supposed to be saved.
Well if you think that way; you think in error!!
What you do or don’t do matters!
Illustration: Excerpt paraphrased from Andrew Murray’s “With Christ in the School of Prayer”
Our prayers are part of God’s ordained plan. When God framed the world and set the boundaries; He knew who would pray what. Your prayers are an integral part of God’s plan.
Watchman Nee gives us this illustration:
Prayer is to God as rails are to a locomotive. A locomotive is a powerful engine capable of moving massive quantities of goods over a thousand miles a day--- Yet, without RAILS the powerful locomotive cannot move.
God is all-powerful--- Yet without our PRAYERS He will not move. God’s Will is opened to us through our prayers.
God takes all of our prayers---our tears--- and brings power to the lost---salvation power.
The more prayer up to God---the more power sent to bear witness in a lost man of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We as Christians have a tremendous responsibility and if we don’t do our part; souls die and go to hell.
We are made in God’s image. We have a spirit---a personality.
We are our own little entity and will live forever either in hell or heaven.
We each make our own choice and God comes to each of us---to our heart with the Truth and allows each of us to choose or reject Him.
God did not make some to be saved and some to be lost.
2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
But, if He by His power made everyone to be saved then there would be no choice and all would be glorified robots and more important---no Glory for God.
When we choose it is for the Glory of God---But if we reject God---Then His Holiness demands His Wrath to be wielded with Unrestrained Anger.
Illustration from: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
“What will be accomplished and brought to pass will be dreadful to witness.
When the great and angry God has risen up and executed His terrifying vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight of His power of His anger, then God will call upon the whole universe to behold the awful majesty and mighty power displayed in it.
Isaiah 33:12 through Isaiah 33:14 says
“And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
13Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. 14The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
This is how it will be for you who are unconverted if you continue in your unbelief.
The infinite might, majesty, and terribleness of the all-powerful God shall be magnified on you in the inexpressible severity of your torment.
You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels and also in the presence of the Lamb (Jesus Christ).”
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: If you are lost---you had best get saved: NOW!
Christians: This puts a new meaning to prayer doesn’t it?
All of us need to say: Lord from this day forth I will be a prayer warrior.
I will pray for the lost!
I will pray for Revival! A Revival to bring Christians from their apathetic ways; to become on fire for Jesus: Like Jeremiah ---with a fire in his bones.
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