The Puritan William Bridge once said, “It is our duty to behold things as God presents them.” He was talking about how God loves to present severity and sweetness together. If we extract the severity alone, and try to live by that, we labor under a cloud of condemnation. If we extract the sweetness alone, and try to live by that, we become effeminate in our faith, and have no structure for our faith. Behold, the apostle says, both the kindness and severity of God (Rom. 11:22).
The ark of the covenant was crowned with the mercy seat, and Uzzah was struck dead because he touched that ark (2 Sam. 6:7). The cup of blessing was given to the Corinthians, and many of them were dead or sick because they tried to drink both it and their selfishness together (1 Cor. 10:16).
Only true evangelical faith can grasp both of these poles. The terrible God, shrouded in the darkness of ineffable holiness, is filled to overflowing with tender mercies. The God of all comfort and kindness throws down empires, judges the hypocrite and pretender, and lays waste to the pretensions of the scholar and wise man.
We capture both elements when we refer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have gathered to Him here; this is His Table, is it not? He is Lord, He is the everlasting Lord, with authority over absolutely everything that can be named. He is also the Savior of the wicked, the helpless, the lost. So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.