i. 20. _If ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with
the sword; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it._
Let a man look steadily at the sun for a few moments, and for a long
time afterwards he will see nothing else; whithersoever he turns, he
will behold the sun. Some men have looked at God's wondrous mercy so
exclusively, that they can see in Him and His Word nothing but mercy,
and they doubt, and teach others to doubt, whether God will fulfil
His threatenings against sin. Let such persons consider these three
facts--+I. That God's justice requires that He should execute His
threatenings against iniquity.+ He Himself would commit a frightful
injustice, and would be the worst active promoter and abettor of evil
in the universe, if He were to treat all men alike. His mere delay to
take vengeance upon transgressors gives rise to some of the most
perplexing of moral problems (Eccles. ix. 2, 3; Ps. lxxiii. 1-9,
&c.), and if He were never to do so, the whole universe would be
driven into atheism. This is the tendency even of His merciful delays
(Ps. x. 11; lxxiii. 11, &c.) +II. That God's truth requires that He
should execute His threatenings against iniquity.+ "The mouth of the
Lord hath spoken it," and shall He not fulfil His Word? So settled is
the conviction of the human mind that He must do so, that it has been
found one of the greatest obstacles to the reception of the Gospel.
How God can be truthful, and yet pardon the sinner, it has
transcended the human mind to conceive. The atonement of Christ is
the _practical_ solution of this mystery. +III. That the history of
His ancient people shows that while in God there is a goodness most
marvellous and tender, on account of which we should praise Him
evermore, there is also a severity so terrible, that on account of it
all the world should stand in awe of Him.+ Remember what frightful
calamities (the sword, famine, pestilence, exile) God sent upon His
ancient people in this world; and shall we imagine that He who
displayed such a capacity for sternness in this world will be found
incapable of it in the world which is to come? Let us dismiss this
delusion which is at once utterly groundless and unspeakably
dangerous.[1]
_Application._--1. True reverence for God will lead us to accept with
equal implicitness all the disclosures which He has been pleased to
give of His character He will be to us neither a God all mercy nor a
God all justice. In Him both these high qualities are found in equal
perfection: they are not opponents, but allies. Each is always in
absolute harmony with the other. 2. True reverence for God will lead
us to tremble in view of His threatenings, as well as to rejoice in
view of His promises. 3. It is with the God of the Bible, and not
with the God of our own sentimental fancies, that we shall have to
deal with at the last. 4. If we take nature as our guide to the
interpretation of revelation, we shall find it easier to believe in
God's severity than in His benignity. In nature there are appalling
indications of sternness. The world in which we now are is full of
suffering.[2] 5. It is in mercy that the threatenings of God's
justice are now set forth.[3]