The Most Matchless Exhibition
of Mercy and the Most Dreadful Exhibition of Holy Wrath by Archibald
Brown 1873 The Lord is known by the judgment
which he executes. Psalm 9 16. If you desire to see the most
dreadful specimen of God's wrath I ask you to come with me now
to a place called Calvary. I want you to gather together
on that little spot just outside the city and see such a sight
as Moses never saw when he beheld the bush burning. I want you
to see on Calvary the Lord making himself known by the judgment
which he executes. Who is that upon the tree in
agonies and blood? The answer is Jehovah's son.
What? His beloved son? Yes, his beloved
and only son. But mark his agony. Do you see
that ashen face, furrowed deep, turned up to heaven? Do you hear
that anguished cry that seems to pierce the clouds? My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me? when the Lord looked at the
adorable Jesus. He saw in him not only his own
son, but the sinner's substitute. He saw on him my accursed sins. He saw yours also. And, O solemn
truth, although the substitute was his own son, he would not,
he could not spare the blow. that heaving bosom of His beloved
Son was made the sheath of the sword of His inflexible justice. God must undeify Himself before
He can wink at sin or fail in the execution of His threatened
wrath against iniquity. He must cease to be the Holy
One before mercy can ride roughshod over justice and truth. but righteousness
and mercy, truth and peace, all meet in the sin-atoning sacrifice. The Lord is known by His judgment
which He executes, above all by His judgment of sin at Calvary. Oh, am I speaking to any who
imagine sin to be a trifle? I beg you to measure sin by the
woes of Christ. If you think that iniquity is
but a small thing, understand that iniquity can only be understood
as it is measured by the agonies of a dying God. Probe those wounds,
and fathom that depth of anguish, if you can. Tell me how hot the
fire burned within that loving heart. And when you have told
me that, you have told me how much God hates sin. While Calvary is the most matchless
exhibition of mercy, it is also the most dreadful exhibition
of holy wrath. In one and the same person, and
at one and the same time, there is illimitable love to the sinner,
and there is illimitable hatred to his sin. Go to Calvary, not
to Sinai, to learn how much God abhors this accursed thing, sin.