Justice And Mercy

A few weeks ago my youngest son was asked to dress up like the devil and stand at the entrance to our church holding a sign telling people not to go to church. I'm talking the whole devil outfit, red horns, pitchfork and I think a tail may have been involved.
For those of you who know Nathanael you can imagine how far out of his comfort zone he was.
Of course he didn't tell those closest to him so I didn't get any pictures to use against him at a later date. The Pastor was going to use this to make a point in his teaching on spiritual warfare.
The interesting thing to me was the number of people that drove by him and flicked him off or yelled something mean to him. Some yelled Jesus loves you BUT no one actually stopped and tried to talk to him. They were in a hurry to get to church and missed an opportunity to minister.
I think most people thought he was a whack job and just ignored him but I wonder how many of them don't believe there is actually a devil.
This of course got me to thinking about Heaven and Hell. It amazes me how people live their lives without any real thought of where they will spend eternity.
God is the God of mercy and love but He is also a God of justice.
Let's see what the Bible has to say about it. We'll look at Romans where Paul is speaking.
Romans 1:16-17 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Paul is emphasizing the power of God and how He saves everyone who has faith in Him.
We know the most memorized verse in the Bible is John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(Mercy)
We cling to these verses and we praise God for his love and rightly so however where does the “justice” God come into play?
This is the part most people including me don't like to talk about but it's just as important.
Back to Romans 2.(Justice) We read in verses 6 & 7 God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
Verse 8 reads BUT for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; (Justice)
(Mercy) 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.
Another well known verse is Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.
So we know everyone is a sinner and we know we can be saved from that sin through our faith in Jesus Christ (Mercy) BUT saved from what?
(Justice)2 Peter 2:4-10 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
People don't think they need a Savior because they don't think they need to be saved. Part of the reason for that (in my opinion) is they only hear the mercy part of God and not the justice part. I know some of you reading this jewel don't believe there is a hell so again what would you need to be saved from?
I remember in my partying days when I would go to bars, if you were still there when the bar closed all the lights would come on. Yes I'm sorry to say there were nights I was still there. These lights were called “the ugly lights” because everyone looked better in the dim lighting. Some of you know what I'm talking about....
I guess when I relate that to the spiritual world I feel like it's the same thing. It's last call and the ugly lights are getting ready to come on and Gems for some people it's going to get real ugly!
I'm well aware that no one knows when Christ will return, I just have a sense of urgency to let everyone I know realize that they need a Savior. The Savior, the son of God, Jesus Christ to save us from going to a very real place called hell!
Hell is a place where you are completely cut off from the presence of God. I don't know where that is and I don't want to find out. If that scares you, good.
I want to share part of a story from Luke 16, Gena translation of course.
There was this really rich dude who had all the name brand clothes and lived in the lap of luxury everyday. At the gate of his place was this bum named Lazarus. Lazarus was pretty gross. He was covered with sores and starving. He would have been happy to eat the food thrown out by the rich guy.
One day the beggar dies and the angels carried him to Heaven where he meets up with Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried but he ends up in hell where he is being tormented. One day the rich guy looks up and could see far away into Heaven and he sees Abraham with Lazarus next to him.
I'll let the Bible tell you the rest of the story.
Luke 16:25-31 He calls to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "
That's a tough story to read (justice) BUT the good news is someone did rise from the dead, Jesus and he is calling out to you because He loves you and it's God's desire that non should perish and go to hell.
That decision is up to you because whether you want to hear it or not the same merciful God that sent his son to die for YOU is also a justice God and when the ugly lights come on you will spend eternity somewhere.
The devil may not be dressed in a red suit with a tail and a pitch fork but he's definitely real and hoping you won't believe in him or God.
Jesus did die, He will return and God will judge. I pray you will see the true light and know there is more to God than mercy.