THE FOUR JUDGMENTS
BY
REV. J. F. KENDALL,
READ BEFORE THE PROPHETIC CONFERENCE,
HELD IN
QUESTIONS concerning what theologians term the final or the general
judgment often arise in, and often greatly perplex, the mind of the ordinary
believer. It is the purpose of this
study to answer these questions, and thereby give comfort to many a perplexed
spirit.
VARIOUS VIEWS
1. Immediately after death the soul is
placed at the bar of God and judged. Individuals
are treated according to their desert, and this
is done immediately after death. (Dr. Dick, Theology, p. 339.) The soul, at death, goes immediately
to its place of eternal happiness or misery, according to its moral character. (Ms. Lects. of Dr. L. P. Hickok.) Hence -
2. The sentence of God assigns the
righteous to heaven, and they enter at once on an everlasting inheritance.
3. The same sentence assigns the wicked
to everlasting fire.
4. At the resurrection, both the
righteous and the wicked are brought from their respective abodes, when they
are judged a second time, and are returned to the place whence they were
brought, to remain forever. The judgment passed upon
each individual at the termination of his life will be solemnly ratified at the
end of the world. (Dr.
Dick.) It thus appears, and this is the
accepted orthodox view, that the final judgment is merely confirmatory of that
which was passed at death, and not that there has been another chance. This is no scheme of an Eternal Hope.
A general judgment seems necessary to the display of
the justice of God - to such a manifestation of it as will vindicate His
government from all the charges which impiety has brought against it. (Dr. Dick, p. 38.)
1. Such a judgment will be a more
glorious display of Gods majesty and dominion.
2. The end of judgment will be more
fully answered by a public and general than only by a particular and private
judgment.
3. It is very agreeable to reason that
the irregularities which are so open and manifest in the world should, when the
world comes to an end, be publicly rectified by the Supreme Governor. (Edwards
Works, Vol. iv., pp. 205,
206.)
There will be such a revelation of the character of every man, to all
around him, or to all who know him, as shall render the justice of the sentence
of condemnation or acquittal apparent. (Hodge, Theology, Vol. iii., p. 849,)
At the judgment of the last day, the
destiny of the righteous and of the wicked shall be unalterably determined. (Idem, p. 850)
The grand end of the judgment is
therefore to stop every mouth, satisfy every conscience, and make every knee
bow to Gods authority, either willingly in love, or necessarily in absolute
conviction. (Dr. Hickok.)
The sum and substance of all reasons for a general judgment
is, in some way, a vindication of God. God would show Himself holy and righteous in all His functions of
sovereignty. (Dr. Hickok.)
The marked absence of Scripture quotations, or even reference,
is worthy of note, in all these reasons for a general judgment.
That it may appear how unsatisfactory, to their own minds, are
their supposed vindications of the divine dealings, I add one or two quotations
from themselves:
Dr. Hodge, Vol. iii., p. 849: Every man will see himself
as he appears in the sight of God. His
memory will probably prove an indelible register of all his sinful acts,
thoughts and feelings. His conscience
will be so enlightened as to recognize the justice of the sentence which the
righteous Judge shall pronounce upon him. These things being
so, we may ask, What possible need of vindication can
there be?
Dr. Dick: Among the multitude of the condemned, however severe may be
their punishment, and however impatiently they may bear it, there will not be
one who will dare to accuse his Judge of injustice. In the mind of every man a consciousness of
guilt will be deeply fixed; he will be compelled to blame himself alone and to
justify the sentence which has rendered him forever miserable.
The declaration of the Judge concerning those
on His right hand that they are righteous, and concerning those on His left
hand that they are wicked, will be sufficient to convince all in the immense
assembly that the sentence pronounced upon each individual is just.
Thus, while these writers maintain the necessity of a general
judgment for the vindication of the divine character, they themselves proceed
to show that no such vindication is necessary.
Dick: The proceedings will take place in the sight of angels and men.
Countless
millions will be assembled to hear their final doom. All nations shall be gathered before the Son
of Man.
Edwards: In the great and general judgment, all men shall
together appear before the judgment seat to be judged; the whole world, both angels and men, being present to
behold.
Hodge: The persons to be judged are
men and angels. This judgment, therefore, is absolutely universal; it
includes both small and great, and all the generations of men.
Hickok: All fallen angels are to be publicly
judged; also, all the human family.
On the disclosures of the judgment, opinions seriously
differ. Thus Edwards: The works of both righteous
and wicked will be rehearsed. The evil works of the wicked shall then be
brought forth to light. But then he adds: The good works of the
saints will also be brought forth as evidences of their sincerity, and of their
interest in the righteousness of Christ. As to their evil works, they will not
be brought forth against them on that day; for the guilt of them will not lie
upon them, they being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, Hickok, as we
think, well insists that the sins of Christians will be brought to light in the
judgment, for various
reasons; and, as if answering this thought of Edwards, on the ground that the grace of Christ in
their final sanctification can not be fully exhibited without it.
If there is to be such a general judgment, as is generally
supposed, then there would seem to be no good reason to doubt that all the
deeds, both good and evil, of all who have lived, both good and evil, must then
be disclosed. The physical phenomena of
a general judgment are a source of no little trouble. Dr. Hodge avoids it by utterly ignoring
questions which will force themselves upon the reader of Scripture. Dr. Dicks troubles appear in the following
quotations: The
place where the judgment will be held is this world; and, as it is said that
the saints shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, it
should seem that the wicked should be left standing upon the earth.
The
saints being caught up into the clouds by the ministry of angels to meet the
Lord in the air, and the wicked being left on the earth, the judgment will
proceed.
And Dr. Edwards: They shall all be brought to appear before Christ,
the godly being placed on the right hand, the wicked on the left.
Besides
the one standing on the right hand, and the other on the left, there seems to
be this difference between them: that when the dead in Christ shall be raised,
they will all be caught up in the air, where Christ shall be, and shall be
there at His right hand during the judgment, nevermore to set their feet on
this earth; whereas, the wicked shall be left standing on the earth, there to
abide the judgment.
According to this representation, the righteous have been
judged before the judgment begins, for they have been assigned to the right
hand, where they remain during the judgment, while, only the wicked really abide the judgment.
Now, according to the Scriptures upon which these writers depend to
prove their general judgment - viz., Matt. 25: 31-46 - the assemblage of the universe is
to be a promiscuous assemblage, whom, after they shall be gathered, the Son of Man shall separate one from
another; whereas, they both
agree that the separation takes place in the process of gathering. But certainly it does not. The result, according to their view, is a
most singular physical phenomenon, viz.: the saints on His right hand in the
air, the lost on the left standing upon
the earth. It is no
quibble which makes these suggestions.
They deserve to be considered.
One other declaration of Dr. Hodge deserves a moments notice:
At the
judgment of the last day,
he says, the
destiny of the righteous and of the wicked shall be unalterably determined.
By destiny he must mean ultimate fate.
Webster defines determined as ended,
concluded, decided, limited, fixed, settled, resolved, directed.
Which does Dr. Hodge mean? In
truth, his proposition can in nowise be maintained. All orthodox theologians agree that for the
believer to die is to depart and be with Christ, and for the unbeliever it is to go away into everlasting
punishment; but the destiny may be fixed long before that, and, so far as we have experience or knowledge,
is never fixed at the judgment. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not is condemned already. (John 3: 36, 18.) The destiny of every soul is unalterably determined on the moment of his final
acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ as a Saviour.
What is the meaning of the term judgment? Webster answers: Theologically, the final
punishment of the wicked; the last sentence. It should arrest our
thought that, in Websters mind, only the wicked have place in judgment.
Cremers answer (in Theological Lexicon, under krisis):
Specially in judicial procedure, and primarily without
particular regard to the character of the decision.
Then of
a definite accusation or prosecution, guilt of some sort being presupposed by
the judicial procedure. This precise use
of the term, as equal to judicial process, judgment directed against the
guilty, and leading on to condemnation, is comparatively rare in profane Greek,
whereas it is almost the only one in the New Testament.
And he cites (Matt. 5: 21, 22): Whosoever
shall kill, or is angry with his brother
without a cause, shall be in danger of the
judgment, and (Mark 3: 29) the blasphemer against the Holy Ghost is in danger of eternal judgment. Further:
It is characteristic of judicial process, especially of the divine judgment
to which krisis mostly relates, that it is directed
against the guilty. 1 John 4: 17: Hemera, kriseos.
In Mark 5: 15, 11: 22-24, 12: 36 (and others), krisis denotes the final judgment of the
world, which is to bring destruction upon the guilty.
In Rev. 14: 7, 16: 7, 19: 2, the word likewise denotes
the judgment, the act of judging, which discerns and condemns the guilty.
And again, under krima, the decision of a judge, judgment (Rev. 20: 4), the
judgment concerning them is given in what follows. ... Elsewhere in the New Testament throughout,
as in later Greek, the word always denotes a judgment unfavourable to those
concerned - a punitive judgment, involving punishment, as a matter of course.
And he cites 2 Peter 2: 3, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, with Rom. 3: 8, whose judgment is just, and Rom. 5: 16, for the judgment was by one to
condemnation. For the cognizance of the judge, continued Cremer,
to say
nothing of his judgment, implies a coming short.
This is a very vital point in our discussion. If the New Testament usage of the term judgment
implies guilt, and has but one natural sequence - condemnation - then we effect
at once a very large exclusion from the numbers of those for whom a final
judgment is intended; no righteous can be there, and such a thing as a general
judgment must be forever unknown. It is
easy to show, by citation of numerous passages, that Cremer
is right, both as the term is used in reference to man and God.
1.
The use of judge when applied to man.
Doth our law judge any man before it hear him? (John
7: 51.) Pilate said: Take Him
yourselves and judge Him according to your law. The Jews said unto
him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death (John 18: 31), as if that were the only possible
sentence. (See Acts 13: 27-46, 23: 3-6, 24: 6-21.)
Festus said to Paul: Let them go up to
2.
The use of judge when applied to God.
Luke 19: 22: Out of thine own mouth will I judge
thee, thou wicked servant.
Acts 7: 7: The nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge,
saith God.
Rom. 2: 12, 16: As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law
... in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men
by Jesus Christ.
2 Thess. 2:
12: That they all
might be judged who ... had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
Hebrews 9: 27, 28: As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear ... unto salvation. Manifestly judgment and salvation stand over against each other. The world was under judgment, and this meant
condemnation, for in judgment they were judged every man according to his works.
Justice is inexorable, and, since all have sinned, no one who comes into
judgment can escape. Hence the divine
mercy interposed, and, as
judgment was the original doom, so - that is, to meet this very exigency of their case; to arrest judgment and offer salvation - Christ was offered.
Those that look for Him are, of course, believers, who, though by nature children of wrath, have been quickened together with
Christ, raised up
together, and made to sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2: 5, 6), and that certainly is far above fear of death and judgment. For such there remaineth no fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. (Heb. 10: 7).
Not to quote a burdensome number of passages, the reader will find the
term judge used in the sense of condemnation in
John 3: 17,
18, 5: 22, 24, 27, 29, 30, 12: 31, 47, 48, 16: 8, 11 (see Greek and R. V.); also,
numerously in the Apocalypse: Rev. 6: 9, 10, 11: 18, 16: 5, 7, 18: 8, 10, 20, 19: 2, 11, 20: 12, 13. James 2: 13: For judgment is without mercy to him
that showeth no mercy; mercy glorieth against judgment. Very striking
are the passages (Pet. 2: 4, 9): God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, and the Lord knoweth how
... to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to
be punished, and
(3: 7) the heavens and the earth which are
now, by the same word are kept in store,
reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men. See also Jude 6, 15.
To sum up, under the term krisis, or judgment, it occurs forty-eight times in the New
Testament. In forty-one instances it is
translated judgment, three times damnation.
In more than thirty places it may refer to what we term the last
judgment; and, in every one of these cases, it does not appear that any but the
guilty are involved in the judgment, and, in nearly every instance, it is
evident that the righteous are positively excluded. In those instances in which
other than the last judgment is spoken of, the judgment is still only that of
the ungodly, and in no case can it be shown that the godly are brought into
judgment. And if we look at the
close-related word krima,
which is also translated judgment and damnation, it is evident, in every instance in
which it can be applied to the last judgment, that only the ungodly are
included, and judgment is to condemnation.
These facts are very striking, and throw a flood of light upon the
question of the judgment, which is a terror to so many of the Lords people.
But then the question arises, What is to be said of those
texts which, upon their face, seem to teach that there is to be a general
judgment at which all shall be gathered, such as: (Acts 17: 31) He hath appointed a
day in which He will judge the world; (Matt.
25: 32). Before Him shall be
gathered all nations; and especially (2 Cor. 5: 10) We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ?
This first: When we find the true interpretation, these Scriptures with
the others, there will be no contradiction.
What, then, are all the facts concerning the believer? For 2 Cor. 5:
10 refers to him. It is
said, then, We
must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.
The Greek for judgment-seat is bema, and occurs twelve times in the New
Testament. It is derived from baivo, to go, walk, tread, step.
The first definition, both in the classical and New Testament lexicon,
is a step.
In this sense it is used but once: viz. (in Acts 7: 5),
Gave him none inheritance in it, not even a bema of
a foot- a step
of a foot, a foot breadth; or, Authorized Version, not so much
as to set his foot on.
The secondary meaning is an elevated place ascended by steps.
(a) A tribune, to speak or read from. In
this sense (Acts 12: 21), Herod sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. (b) The tribunal of a magistrate or
ruler.
In this sense it is used of Pilate, (Matt. 27:
19) when he sat down on the judgment-seat;
(John 19: 13) Pilate sat down on the judgment-seat: of Gallio,
(Acts
18: 12) the Jews made insurrection against Paul,
and brought him to the judgment-seat. (18: 16) he drave them from the judgment-seat; (18: 17) they beat Sosthenes
before the
judgment-seat: of
Festus, (Acts 25: 6) the next day,
sitting on the judgment-seat, commanded Paul to be
brought; (25: 10) I stand at Caesars
judgment-seat; (25: 17) sat on the
judgment-seat. The other instances of its use are in this
connection: We shall all stand (Rom.
14: 10);
we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ
(2 Cor. 5: 10).
In ten of these twelve cases the Greek word is rendered in the
Authorized Version judgment-seat, and the Revised Version agrees in every instance. In one case the word, both in the Authorized Version
and the Revised Version, is rendered throne, while even here the Revised Version gives the marginal
reading judgment-seat.
In every instance Alford agrees with the Authorized Version.
It is worthy of note, in this
connection, that in not one instance
in which persons are represented as brought before the judgment-seat is any one
of them found guilty, or condemned, by the one who occupies the bema. This, of itself, might suggest the more consistent rendering of
Now, it is affirmed of the believer that he must appear before
the bema of Jesus Christ. For what purpose?
Paul has answered: That everyone may receive the things done in his body,
according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Cor. 5: 10).
All this said concerning those who know
(verse 1) that if
our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, eternal
in the heavens - i.e. believers, and believers only. What does it signify? Precisely what is set forth in 1 Cor.
3: 12-15: Every mans work shall be tried. If any mans work abide ... he shall receive a reward.
This is said only of the believing man, for only such a one is a labourer
together with God (3: 9); and of the one thus tested, it is affirmed that though his work shall be
burned, he himself shall be saved (3: 15).
All works of the believer are to be tried, that it be made manifest
whether or not they are wrought in God (John
3: 21). For this trial
all are gathered before the bema - the ungodly [and unregenerate] are not there, but they are all
believers. Some will receive a great reward for efficient service and many good
works; some a less reward; others less still; and some none at all, their works
being done only in the energy of the flesh, being counted utterly worthless and
cast into the fire; yet, by reason of a true, though it may be feeble, faith,
they do not miss [eternal] salvation; and thus it is that every mans work shall he made manifest, and its true value be
determined. But of judgment, of which we have seen that
it leads on to condemnation [and ultimately the lake of
fire], into any such scene the
believer shall not come. This is
the very word of our divine Lord: He that ... believeth ... hath everlasting
life, and shall not Come into judgment, where the word is the very same which
Paul uses when he says, after death judgment.
It is not difficult to show by irresistible Scripture proof
that no believer shall ever stand in other judgment
than this. Because:
1. The general idea of the judgment
supposes that the sins of the believer are to be brought there and judged. But this is certainly a mistake. For, though all we like sheep have gone
astray. the Lord hath laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:
6), and He bore our sins in His own body on the tree
(1 Peter 2: 24).
When Christ thus bore our sins, He condemned sin in the flesh. (Rom. 8: 3). He put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. (Heb. 9: 26.) The believers sins have, therefore, been
judged and condemned already.
Thy sin was judged in His flesh.
For He died unto sin once. (Rom.
6: 10.) He was wounded for
our transgressions; He was bruised for our
iniquities. (Isaiah 53: 5.) Hence, so far as his sins [of ignorance]* are concerned, the believer looks back
to his judgment, and not forward.
[* See Heb. 10: 26, 27, R.V.]
2. The oneness of Christ and the
believer testifies to the same fact.
Every believer can truly say, I was crucified with Christ.
(Gal. 2: 20.) I was buried with Him
by the baptism unto death (Rom. 6: 4); hence what Christs death expressed,
it expressed for me. If one died for all, then all
died. (2 Cor. 5: 14) Under the old dispensation, the sins
of the Jews were dealt with on the day of atonement. God dealt with the sin, and sins of all time,
on
3. Expose the believer to be judged
according to his deeds, and you insure his condemnation. Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, prays the Psalmist (Ps. 143: 2), for in Thy sight
shall no man living be justified.
No one with whom God enters into judgment can be saved, for justice is
inexorable. And not only have all
sinned, but they continue to sin, and, therefore, if sins were brought into
judgment, ones doom would be inevitable.
No one
will be safe who is to have his eternal destiny determined by his own deeds. (Albert Barnes, Commentary on Rev. 20:
12.)
There remains a further consideration of most serious and
solemn moment, viz.:
4. To bring the believer into judgment
would make the judge the accused. The
judge is Christ. The Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son, and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also.
(John 5: 22,
27.)
It is He which was ordained of God to be the
Judge of quick and dead. (Acts
10: 42.)
But Christ, the Judge, has stood for us.
To bring the believer into judgment, therefore, would be to question the
worth of what Christ has done to bring an accusation against Him. It would bring Him down from the place of
judgment, strip from Him the ermine of the Judge, and place Him before the bar
as a culprit. He died for us, for our
sins. Did He make sufficient
propitiation? Did His work meet the
demand? If so - if His offering was
adequate to the purpose - then the believer is justified; and how can one be
brought into judgment of whom the divine testimony already is - there is
therefore now no condemnation (Rom. 8: 1); he is justified from all things (Acts
13: 39)?
And, further, what greater insult could be offered to Jesus than
to bring into judgment one for whom He has stood? To judge such would be but to judge Himself. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of Gods elect? Shall God
that justifieth? Who is He that condemneth? Is it Christ that
died? (Rom. 8:
33, 34.)
The judgment must, therefore, deal with Him before it can
reach them.
Consider, too, the incongruity of Christ judging His own
bride. Many of them will have been
saints in heaven for thousands of years, and how can such ever be put on
trial? No; all believers will be
gathered at the judgment-seat of Christ for one sole purpose, to receive the
reward for their works, each according as his work shall be. (Rev. 22: 12.) And a reward is not a gift. The believer has [already] received the
latter; the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
(Rom. 6: 23.) The former awaits him
at the bema. And it should be noted for the comfort of
every believer that the bema is not set to determine, or even consider, the
question of [eternal] salvation. That is forever settled, when, as one believeth, so he hath everlasting life.
(John 3: 36).
But it is set to determine the value of
Christian service and the reward therefor.
The judgment-seat of Christ is not for the judgment of the person, but
of his works. There is to be determined
the value of a cup of cold water
given in the name of Christ. For God is
not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister,
(Heb. 6: 10.) Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, he shall receive a reward. (Eph.
6: 8.) Oh, pity to him who, though he himself
shall be saved,
shall yet suffer loss
(1 Cor. 3: 15) at the judgment-seat of Christ, for such loss will be [millennial (Lk. 20: 35) or, in the case of the unregenerate,] eternal! It is
a solemn thought that what we lose here, in the matter of Christian service and
good works, eternity can never make good.
The voice of him who is barely saved, yet so as by fire, will never sound so loud, his harp will never be strung so
rapturously, nor his palm be waved so victoriously [by the overcomer (Rev. 3: 21, cf. Rev.
2: 10, 11, R.V.)] in [the coming kingdom or in] heaven, as will fall to the blessed lot
of him who has abundant entrance.
Oh, joy to him on whose labour, when the fire
shall try every mans work of what sort it is (1
Cor. 3: 13), there shall be no smell of fire, but all his work, either gold, silver or precious stones, shall abide the test, and whose reward shall be great. It is
surely worth an effort to stand well at the judgment-seat of Christ.
The considerations above urged are opposed to the common idea of a general
judgment. What then, shall we say to
Matt. 25:
31-33? When
the Son of Man shall come in His glory. ... before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them from one another, and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
This passage is constantly quoted and relied on in proof of a
general judgment, and is supposed to be parallel with Rev. 20: 11-15: And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it.
... And I saw the dead, small
and great, stand before God; ... and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books. ... And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it, and death and hades
delivered up the dead which were in them, etc. The sound
of the two italicized phrases in the last two quotations will easily mislead
one who is careless respecting details, when a careful consideration of them
will show that these passages can not be parallel, and must, therefore, refer
to entirely different events. The
following facts stand in proof of the last statement:
1. The passage from Matthew contains
not one word to indicate a resurrection; that from Revelation plainly declares
a resurrection (20: 13).
2. In Matthew the dealing is with nations.
What nations? The answer is in Matt. 24:
14: This gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all the nations. Then, When the Son
of Man shall come, ...
before Him shall be gathered all the nations before specified. They come as nations. In Revelation the dealing is with individuals. They were judged every man according
to their works (20: 13). Coupled with this
there follows the third fact, viz.:
3. Matthew evidently speaks of nations
living when the Son of Man appears, as in Zech. 14: 2. Revelation specially designates the nations of the dead.
4. In Matthew we find among the gathered nations
two distinct classes,
viz.: the sheep and the goats; and apart from them a third class, viz.: the brethren
(25: 40-45). The two former
classes are separated on one sole ground, viz.: their treatment of the third
class - the brethren. It were absurd to
suppose that the sheep were rewarded for what they had done to themselves, or
the goats punished for what they had done to the sheep, in the face of the
distinct affirmation that the one class is rewarded and the other punished for
their treatment of a class entirely distinct from either of themselves. Evidently, then, to constitute them either
praiseworthy or blameworthy, they must have known them as the brethren of
Christ.
In Revelation we find but one class - no separation, but all judged out of
those things which were written in the books (20:
12), not the book - consigned to the lake of fire, and among them are many who
never heard of Christ, and to whom the language in Matthew could not apply.
Now, certainly, it is most remarkable and unaccountable that,
if the church, or believers, are to have a place in this stupendous scene, not
one word is said concerning them, and the doom of the lost alone appears as the
result of the grand assize.
Our study of these passages reveals, therefore, the following
facts, viz.: that there is to be a judgment of the living nations, and a
judgment of the great white throne, and these are distinct and separate in time and place.
Where, then, will be the church while these judgments
proceed? With the Lord.
Their case is set forth in 1 Thess. 4:
16, 17. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout;
... and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
... to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. This is the first signal of Christs second
coming. Hence these great events, which
have so often been regarded with nothing less than terror by the Lords dear people,
will not concern them in the least, save as spectators of what their Lord and
Master does.
One other inquiry - partly curious - will prepare the way for
the general conclusion.
When will the judgment-seat of Christ be set? We may not dogmatize, as we have scarcely
more than hints upon which to base a conclusion. This much is sure: when the Lord comes with a
shout, the dead saints will be raised; the living saints will all be
changed in a moment (1 Cor.
15: 51, 52); the corruptible will put on incorruption - the mortal,
immortality. This, of course, marks the
resurrection - sown in dishonour, raised in
glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a
natural body, raised a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15: 43, 44.) Now, in the Revelation (22:
12), we find Jesus saying, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to
give every man according as his work shall be. (1 Cor. 3:
13, 14.)
And in Luke 14: 13, 14, He
says, When thou makest a feast, call the poor. ... the blind, and thou shalt be blessed for thou shalt be recompensed at
the resurrection of the just. These passages may
indicate that the time of the churchs reward is quickly to succeed their
resurrection.
Bunyan: Now when the saints that sleep shall be raised,
thus incorruptible, powerful, glorious and spiritual, and also those that then
shall be found alive, made like them; then forthwith, before the unjust are
raised, the saints shall appear before the judgment-seat of our Lord Jesus
Christ, there to give an account to their Lord, the Judge of all the things
they have done, and to receive a reward for their good according to their
labour.
It is evident from all that has been said that the only
judgment of the believer is that which attaches to his works, wherefore he receives
greater or less reward, or may be none.
The final doom of the wicked is also according to his
works. (Rom.
2: 6; Gal. 6: 7; 2 Pet. 2: 12, 13. Rev. 2: 23, 11: 18, 20: 12.) There is, however, a worldwide distinction in
the two classes of works. Then said
they unto Him, What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God,
that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. (John 6: 28, 29). Eject this special work of God from the lives of the ungodly, the work of faith
and labour of love (1 Thess.
1: 3), and there is left but a harvest of
whirlwind from the sowing of the wind.
To set down our general conclusion in a word, the Scriptures
teach that there are four judgments:
1. A judgment already passed of the
sins of the Lords [redeemed] people. These have been judged condemned and the sentence upon them
executed in the person of our substitute on
2. A coming tribunal of Christ, before
which all believers must stand, for the testing of all their works and
service. If any are present, other than
saints, they can be only the angels of God.
3. A coming tribunal of Christ, when He
sits upon the throne of His glory. (Matt. 25: 31). Before
Him shall be gathered at that tribunal all the nations
then living, for His final adjudication concerning their treatment of Him in
the persons of His brethren.*
* They will be gathered as nations,
representatively; they will he judged as nations for what they have done as
nations; they will be punished as nations, with national calamities and ruin,
and be destroyed as nations. J. R. G.
4. A coming judgment of the Great White
Throne. This is the only proper judgment, in the
sense of the Scripture, viz.: guilt being present and leading on to
condemnation. There are present at this
scene only the rest of the dead. (Rev.
20: 5.)
Previously to this the [accounted
worthy (Lk.
20: 35)] saints have been gathered in the out-resurrection, that from among the dead (Phil. 3: 11), to be forever with
the Lord; and now the remaining dead [including those named in another book
the book of life (Rev. 20: 12, R.V.)] are raised for judgment. This is
the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men (2 Peter 3: 7), into which the unjust have bee reserved
- to be punished (2
Peter 2: 9). Then shall the Son of Man,
to whom all judgment is
Committed, execute judgment upon all ... that
are ungodly. (Jude 15).
Then, too, when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of His Son, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, shall He come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe ... in that day. (2 Thess. 1: 7-10.) The saints will be there, but neither as
culprits nor accused. Then shall
the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matt. 13: 43), and this will be the day of judgment of many Scriptures. Amen.
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