Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! (James 2:13 NIV)
I do not like to focus on the wrath of God, or on the judgment of God. It troubles me, when Christians flippantly talk about others, who deserve the wrath of God. We all deserve judgment. We all deserve the wrath of God. That is the point of the cross. Jesus bore our sin, so that we might receive his righteousness. We are recipients of the riches of God's mercy and grace.Wrath and judgment belong to God, not man. Jesus said, Do not judge, or you too will be judged. (Matthew 7:1 NIV)
In the first four verses of Romans 2, Paul made the following points:
Some will argue that they don't live a wicked lifestyle. They don't murder unborn babies. They are not homosexuals or fornicators or adulterers. They do not live a lifesyle of debauchery. That is good.
- The believer who passes judgment on another is without excuse.
- The believer condemns himself when he judges, because he commits the same sin.
- God's judgment is based on truth.
- A mere man, who passes judgment, cannot escape God's judgment, because he commits the same sin.
- The believer who judges shows contempt for the riches of God's kindness, tolerance, and patience.
- It is God's kindness or goodness that leads people to repentance.
However, all have sinned. Here is my question? In the last 24 hours have you violated the royal law of love? Do you always love your neighbor as yourself? Do you always love God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul?
James said, For whoever keep the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking it all. (James 2:10 NIV) If you sin in any manner, then you are guilty before God of breaking the entire law. You are just as guilty as the child molester, the rapist, the homosexual, or the murderer.
Once again, that is the point of the cross. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. God is holy and just, and he cannot wink at sin. God's holiness demands that the penalty for sin must be paid. God's love sent his son to the cross to shed his blood to pay that penalty.
The believer is commanded to love God, and to love his neighbor as himself. To love your neighbor as yourself requires that you choose to show God's mercy and grace to others, regardless of the nature or the utter depravity of their sin. The church must show mercy, while leaving matters of judgment and wrath in the hands of God.
Here is my understanding of the judgment of God. James wrote, Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:15 NIV)
God is not capricious. The judgment and wrath of God arrive when sin is "full-grown," usually after God's mercy has been rejected on numerous occasions.
God desires to show mercy. He is patient. He is long-suffering. However, if people continue to reject his mercy, the consequence is judgment. That judgment comes in the form of reaping the consequences of sin. Sin always produces death, unless the sinner repents, and receives the mercy of God.
Before his death, Kenneth E. Hagin prophesied that 2005 would be a year of judgment, even on the national level. Praise God, he also said that the end of 2005 would be glorious.
As Hurricane Katrina churned and grew ferocious in the Gulf of Mexico, I remembered Dr. Hagin's prophetic words. In my estimation nothing had occured on a national level in 2005, that would qualify as judgment. I began to think that this hurricane could possibly be an instrument of God's judgment on the sin of this nation.
As the storm grew stronger, I was impressed to pray for God's mercy. As I said previously, judgment is in God's domain. To minister the love and mercy of God is in the church's domain.
New Orleans is a city regarded by many as "Sin City." Too many believers, unfortunately, have the attitude that New Orleans deserves the judgment of God. Every city deserves the judgment of God. We have all sinned, so we all deserve his judgment.
I attended seminary in New Orleans. I married a New Orleans woman, and I have numerous relatives in that city. New Orleans is a special city to me.
I read an article about the projected consequences to New Orleans of a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. I realized the stark possibility, that New Orleans as I had known it, may never exist again, if Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans directly.
I also remembered that there are thousands and thousands of committed Christians in New Orleans, who love God, and who are committed to his purpose. That caused me to remember the intercession of Abraham for Sodom. (See Genesis 18:16-33)
Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:23-25 NIV)
God agreed that he would spare the city, if he could find fifty righteous people. Abraham continued to intercede before God to the point that God agreed to spare the city, if he could find ten righteous people there.
We know that the outcome was judgment. Judgment is God's business, but Abraham did his job by interceding for mercy. And his intercession also paved the way for the only righteous citizens to escape the city prior to judgment.
Was Hurricane Katrina the judgment of God on New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast? Was Katrina the judgment of God on this nation? Was it a Satanic attack? Or, was it just a natural disaster?
This I do know. God deeply loves the people of New Orleans. On the afternoon of the storm, I believe that the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me: "I want to bring a fresh move of God to that city."
If Katrina was judgment, there was mercy displayed because the storm did weaken. As bad as it is, it could have been much worse. Aaron Brown of CNN spoke sobering words on Tuesday night as he went to a commercial break. With pictures in the background of the massive flooding in that city, he said, "New Orleans was spared a direct hit by Katrina. This is what an indirect hit looks like."
It has been a terrible week for New Orleans. There are still many trials ahead, but the city was spared. And, in the midst of all of the chaos and suffering, God plans to visit that city again with a fresh move of the Spirit of God.
The prophet Micah recorded what God requires of us. He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8 NIV)
Love his mercy. Rejoice in his mercy given to you, and minister that same mercy to others. Let's continue to pray for God's mercy to be ministered to the people affected by this storm. Let's pray for God to be merciful to this nation. America deserves judgment. May God give us mercy.
His mercy always triumphs!
Wayne L. Williams
September 4, 2005
Atlanta, Georgia
wayne@fotwm.org
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