In the year 1741 in the town of Enfield Connecticut Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," and a revival broke out known today as "The Great Awakening." Given the moral and spiritual state of our culture today, one wonders what kind of reaction would greet such a sermon in our day! Certainly it would not be deemed "politically correct" in this era of compromise and corruption.
In fact, such an emphasis was never more necessary, regardless of how unwelcome it may be. The "Good News" of the gospel is little likely to be heeded until we we are smitten with the bad news of our lost condition and its awful consequences. "Verily He is a God that judgeth in the earth," the Holy Spirit declares through the inspired writer. And that ought to stop us in our tracks and move us to pay attention to the word of the lord.
Many welcome Christmas and the "babe in the manger." We can manage babies. Not a few will enjoy Easter and the promise it brings of life after death by way of the resurrection. And some will delight in the general prospect that "Jesus is Coming Again," clinging to the Christmas concept of "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." What is often overlooked, however, is that the return of the King is not a good day for those who have rejected the Savior. The return of Christ will mark the proof that "He is a God that judgeth the earth,"
In another reference the Psalmist prophesies, "… He cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity [Ps. 98:9]." That prophecy finds its consummation in the last vision of Christ in the New Testament. There He is portrayed as leading His armies to execute vengeance on the ungodly, and John says, " I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great (italics mine)." (See the whole passage, Rev. 19:11-21) While the language is figurative, it clearly anticipates an awful outpouring of divine wrath upon a rebellious world.
And this passage does not stand alone in the New Testament. Jesus declared, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him [John 3:36]." Luke quotes Paul, "[God] hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead [Acts 17:31]." Paul himself writes to the Ephesians, "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience [Eph. 5:5, 6]. "The apostle Peter predicts, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up [II Pet. 3:10 all italics mine]."
These are representative of the numerous passages in scripture that warn of the wrath of God which will come upon the rebellious multitudes of mankind when God completes His prophetic plan for the ages. Let us remember; those who reject the gospel of the grace of God have insulted God twice. Once when they have disregarded His law, and again when they disdain His love.
Indeed, there is a glorious reward for the righteous— those who have placed their faith in, and pinned their hopes on the Lord Jesus Christ. But let us never forget that there is a reward for the wicked, as well; one no intelligent person would ever want to receive! For "verily He is a God that judgeth the earth!" What will your reward be?!
With eternity in view,
"Pastor" Frasier
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