The Wrath of the Lamb

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It was the expression of justice against sin that crushed out the life of the Son of God. It was the weight of sin that in the garden of Gethsemane caused Him to sweat as it were great drops of blood, and that led Him upon the cross to cry, «My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?» The sins of the transgressor were placed to Christ’s account; but in His justice the love of God was manifested toward every human being.

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In dying upon the cross, Christ did not lessen in the slightest particular the vital claims of the law of Jehovah. He endured punishment in the sinner’s stead, that those who believe in Him might become the sons and daughters of God. But in His death Christ gave evidence to the heavenly universe that God will punish for the sins of a guilty world. The cross of Christ testifies that the law is not changed to meet the sinner in his sins, but that through Christ’s sacrifice the sinner has opportunity to repent.

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Christ can save no man in his sins. He came to bring divine power to combine with human capabilities, that man might overcome the temptations of Satan. Therefore, whatever security men may feel in transgression, because Christ bore the sins of the world, it will be dispelled if they will search the scriptures for themselves.

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As Christ bore the sins of every transgressor, so all who will not receive Him as a personal Saviour, and will not render obedience to the commandments of God, must bear the penalty of their own transgressions. The atonement of Christ has given opportunity to every soul to become a child of God. But those who continue in transgression become one with the originator of sin. They draw their nourishment from Satan; their spirit and attributes are opposed to the law of God, which is the transcript of His character, and the rule of His government.

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On a scrap of paper I read the story of a girl who was lost in the woods, imprisoned by snow. Days and nights passed, and she lost the power to make any effort, and lay motionless. At last some woodmen passed the place. The snow had melted, and they found her unconscious. They gently raised her, laid her on some boards, and carried her to the warmth of their own hearth. They cared for her tenderly, and had the joy of seeing her restored to consciousness. Then they learned who she was, and let her parents know in regard to her. The parents came for her, and when she was strong they took her home.

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It is a wonderful story of a hardy girl; but this is not why I tell it to you. I tell it because I want you to understand the anger of love. Suppose, if you can, that these men had seen the helpless girl, and had passed by on the other side, leaving her to die. Suppose the parents had heard what had been done to the child they loved. How would they have felt toward those men? Thankful, do you think? Would they have been simply indifferent? Would they not rather have been terribly grieved, wildly indignant? Would not the knowledge that their child might have lived, make more bitter their sorrow at her death? Had they chanced to meet these men, would their words to them have been soft, honied words? Would they not have denounced them with righteous indignation, hot as their tears, intense as their love?

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Here, I thought, was a human life, saved by human sympathy and tenderness; but how must the anger of God burn toward those who see souls in peril, ready to die, and yet say nothing, do nothing, to help them. They give all attention to the ninety and nine that are within the fold, while souls in peril are all around them, and no hand is stretched out to save them. If one goes astray, they pass on indifferent. And that soul has all the responsibilities of an immortal life. To lose heaven is to lose everything, and yet how indifferent, how careless never to give him warning, or show him the way of life.

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The sufferings of every man are the sufferings of God’s child, and those who pass by their perishing fellow beings without pity or help, provoke God’s grievous anger. His righteous thunders gather. His vivid lightnings flash; it is the wrath of the Lamb. Be faithful to your fellowmen, and you will please God. He loves the world; love it too, and you will be accepted by Him.

Mrs. E. G. White