God is a God of Judgment — E.A. Johnston

Many in the churches today maintain a view of God that is quite different from the one found in my Bible. We have separated God into two gods. The God of the Old Testament, which is the God of judgment, and the God of the New Testament, which is the God of love.

God's Love and Judgment as One Divine Character

But listen to me, friends. You cannot cut God in half and choose a side you feel most comfortable with. My Bible says that God is a God of judgment. Isaiah chapter 30 and verse 18 declares, For the Lord is a God of judgment.

I've had people ask me through the years, How can you preach that God is love and at the same time say, God is a God of judgment who will punish people, judge them, and send them to hell? Allow me to explain it to you in these terms, friends.

Do you see my hand? My hand has two sides. I use the inside of my hand to feed my daughter, to comfort my daughter if she's unhappy. I hold her hand and rub her shoulders with my hand and comfort her.

That's the love side. But my hand has two sides. Now look at my fist. Now don't you do any harm to my daughter, for if you do, I will hit you. And I know how to do it, for I'm trained in fighting kung fu.

And if you try to harm my daughter, I will even kill you if necessary. That's the judgment side of my hand. That's the way God is. He is a God of love and at the same time a God of justice. God will kill on behalf of his people if necessary.

Sin, Judgment, and the Biblical Doctrine of Hell

God is both love and justice as the two sides of my hand. So God is a God of judgment. If you die in your sins, he must carry out the sentencing of his law and send you on to hell. I'll never forget the story as told by Rolf Barnard, who said that after preaching on a Sunday morning service in the south, he was invited to a farm by the deacon of the church to have lunch.

The farmer deacon had prepared a lavish meal of four different kinds of meat, several side dishes and several pieces of pie, all for Rolf Barnard to enjoy. And then the deacon shouted across the table, Preacher, I don't believe in the God you talked about this morning.

You see, Rolf Barnard had preached a message called, God kills people, will he have to kill you? And it was a message of the judgment of God for sin and a warning against going to hell. And this deacon didn't like that message.

He yelled out to Rolf Barnard again from across the table, Preacher, I don't believe in a God who will send people to hell. My God wouldn't act that way. Rolf Barnard put down his knife and fork and looked across the table at this farmer deacon and replied, Yes, sir, I reckon you're right.

I reckon your God wouldn't act that way. But the God of the Bible would. All through my Bible, friends, it declares that God is a God of judgment. John 3 .16 is a declarative statement of the justice of God.

Judgment from the Flood to the Great White Throne

And my Bible speaks of the judgment of God from Genesis, where God destroyed mankind with the judgment of flood, all the way to the last book in my Bible in Revelation, where we stand face to face with the white throne judgment, the tribunal of judgment for all mankind.

We read in chapter 20. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.

And the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things, which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it.

And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were loved by God and patted by his hand. No, it does not say that at all, friends. The text reads,. And they were judged, every man, according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Whosoever. There is another whosoever found in my Bible in the same book of Revelation.

It reads,. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Whosoever is not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

That's God's justice and judgment, friends. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. That's God's love and mercy, friends. My God has two sides to his hand, love and justice. For God is a God of judgment.

The Certainty of Judgment and the Call to Seek Mercy

Hebrews 9 .27 speaks of this time that awaits all mankind. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. And in Jude we read, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all.

Like I said, God is a God of judgment. Do you believe that? I hope you do. And it is my prayer that if you are a person who is outside of Christ and have never been born from above and washed in his blood, then you will at this time seek him for his mercy so you not die in your sins and face him as your judge.

God's Mercy and the Offer of Salvation

God is a God of mercy. God declares in Isaiah, Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none else. Peter declares in his epistle, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some man counts slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Listen to me, friend. If you are an unsaved individual, I do not want you to go to hell. Hell is a horrible prison. Hell is a horrible place of misery and torment that goes on and on forever and ever.

I want you to shut up in there. You can never escape the regions of hell and its horrors. Jesus Christ hung naked on a bloody cross for sinful man. Look to him, friend. Look to him. Only Christ's blood can save you.

You must get under the blood. The old hymn says, What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Look at Jesus, friend. Look to the only remedy for sin. Please listen to the word of God. I pray that the spirit of God attends this scripture to your heart and conscience.

Repentance and Abundant Pardon

Listen to the mercy side of God, friend. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.

And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. That's his mercy. I will leave you with a verse, friend, that shows the two sides of God's hand. Mercy and justice. It is John 3 .36. Listen to God's love and judgment.

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. Surely God is a God of judgment, friends. Let us pray.