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STUDY VIII
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
The General View of the Day of Judgment--Is it Scriptural?--The Terms,
Judgment and Day, Defined--Several Judgment Days Referred to in
the Scriptures--The First Judgment Day and its Results--Another Appointed
--The Judge--The Character of the Coming Judgment--Similarity
and Dissimilarity of the First and Second Judgments--The
World's Present Accountability--Two Intervening Judgments and
Their Objects--Widely Different Estimates of the Coming Judgment--
How Prophets and Apostles Viewed it.
"GOD hath appointed a day in which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained"
--"Jesus Christ, the righteous." "For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto
the Son." Acts 17:31; 1 John 2:1; John 5:22
A very vague and indefinite idea prevails in regard to the
day of judgment. The view generally entertained is that
Christ will come to earth, seated upon a great white throne,
and that he will summon saint and sinner in rank and file
before him to be judged, amidst great convulsions of nature
--earthquakes, opening graves, rending rocks and falling
mountains; that the trembling sinners will be brought
from the depths of everlasting woe to hear their sins rehearsed,
only to be again returned to an eternal and merciless
doom; and that the saints will be brought from heaven
to witness the misery and despair of the condemned, to hear
again the decision in their own cases, and to return. According
to the prevailing theory, all receive their sentence and
reward at death; and this, which by way of distinction is
commonly called the general judgment, is merely a repetition
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of that first judgment, but for no conceivable purpose,
since they claim that a decision which is final and unalterable
is rendered at death.
The entire time supposed to be assigned to this stupendous
work of judging billions is a twenty-four hour day.
A discourse recently delivered to a Brooklyn congregation
voiced the general view on this subject. It affected to give a
detailed account of the work of the Day of Judgment, representing
it as completed within the limits of a single literal
day.
This is a very crude conception, and is entirely out of harmony
with the inspired Word. It is drawn from a too literal
interpretation of our Lord's parable of the sheep and the
goats. (Matt. 25:31-46) It illustrates the absurdity of
attempting
to force a literal interpretation upon figurative
language. A parable is never an exact statement, but
merely an illustration of a truth by something which is in
many respects like it. If this parable were a literal statement
of the manner in which the judgment will be conducted,
it would apply to literal sheep and goats, just as it
reads, and not to mankind at all. Let us now look at a more
Scriptural as well as a more reasonable view of the work
and the result of the great Judgment Day which God hath
appointed, with which reasonable and Scriptural conclusions
all parables and figures should and do agree.
The term judgment signifies more than simply the rendering
of a verdict. It includes the idea of a trial, as well as a
decision based upon that trial. And this is true not only of
the English word judgment, but also of the Greek word
which it translates.
The term day, both in the Scriptures and in common usage,
though most frequently used to represent a period of
twelve or twenty-four hours, really signifies any definite or
special period of time. Thus, for instance, we speak of
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Noah's day, Luther's day, Washington's day; and thus in
the Bible the entire time of creation is called a day, where
we read of "the day that Jehovah God made the earth and
the heavens" (Gen. 2:4)--a long, definite period. Then we
read of "the day of temptation in the wilderness"--forty
years (Heb. 3:8,9); "the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2); also
the "day of vengeance," "day of wrath" and "day of
trouble"--terms applied to a period of forty years in the
close of the Jewish age, and to a similar period of trouble in
the end of the Gospel age. Then again we read of the "day
of Christ," the "day of judgment," and "his day"--terms
applicable to the Millennial age, in which Messiah will
reign over, rule and judge the world in righteousness, granting
trial as well as rendering sentence. And of that period it
is written: He shall judge the world in righteousness, and in
his day shall show who is that blessed and only potentate,
the King of kings and Lord of lords. (Acts 17:31; 1 Tim. 6:15)
Why any should suppose this day of judgment to be
of but twelve or twenty-four hours, while recognizing the
wider meaning of the word day in other similar cases, is
beyond comprehension, except upon the supposition that
they have been influenced by tradition, without proper evidence
or investigation.
Those who will carefully consult a complete concordance
of the Bible with reference to the Day of Judgment, and
note the kind and amount of work to be accomplished
within that period, will soon see the absurdity of the common
view, and the necessity for giving to the term day its
wider significance.
While the Scriptures speak of a great judgment or trial
day yet future, and show that the masses of mankind are to
have their complete trial and final sentence in that day,
they also teach that there have been other judgment days,
during which certain elect classes have been on trial.
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The first great judgment [trial and sentence] was at the
beginning, in Eden, when the whole human race, as represented
in its head, Adam, stood on trial before God. The result
of that trial was the verdict--Guilty, disobedient, unworthy
of life; and the penalty inflicted was death--"Dying
thou shalt die." (Gen. 2:17, margin) And so "In Adam
all
die." That trial time in Eden was the world's first judgment
day, and the decision of the Judge (Jehovah) has ever since
been enforced.
"The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
unrighteousness." It may be seen in every funeral procession.
Every tomb is a witness to it. It is felt in every ache and pain
we experience--all of which are results of the first trial and
sentence--the righteous sentence of God, that we are unworthy
of life and the blessings originally provided for man
when obedient and in God's likeness. But mankind are to
be recovered from the sentence of that first trial by the one
sacrifice for all, which the great Redeemer provides. All are
to be rescued from the grave and from the sentence of
death--destruction--which in view of this redemption is no
longer to be considered death in the full, everlasting sense
of the word, but rather a temporary sleep; because in the
Millennial morning all will be awakened by the Life-giver
who redeemed all. Only the Church of believers in Christ
are yet in any sense released or "escaped" from this original
sentence and penalty; and their escape is not yet actual, but
only so reckoned by faith. "We are saved by hope" only. Our
actual release from this death penalty (incurred in Adam
and escaped from by getting into Christ) will not be fully
experienced until the resurrection morning, when we shall
be satisfied to awake in our Redeemer's likeness. But the
fact that we who have come to a knowledge of God's gracious
plan in Christ "have escaped the corruption that is [still]
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on the world," so far from proving that others will have no
future hope of escape, proves rather the contrary of this;
for we are first-fruits unto God of his creatures. Our escape
from death in Adam to life in Christ is but a foretaste of the
deliverance of whosoever wills to be delivered from the
bondage of corruption [death] to the liberty of life proper
to all whom God shall recognize as sons. All who will may
be delivered from death to life, regardless of the distinctions
of nature God has provided for his sons on different planes
of being. The Gospel age is the trial-day for life or death to
those called to the divine nature.
But God has appointed a day, in which he will judge the
world. How can this be? Has God changed his mind? Has
he concluded that his decision in the trial of the first man
and the general sentence were unjust, too severe, that he
now concludes to judge the world individually? No; were
such the case, we should have no better guarantee of a just
decision in the future trial than in the past. It is not that
God considers his decision in the first judgment unjust, but
that he has provided a redemption from the penalty of the
first judgment, in order that he may grant another judgment
(trial) under more favorable conditions to the entire
race--all having then had experience with sin and its results.
God has not changed one iota from his original purpose,
which he formed before the world began. He distinctly
informs us that he changes not, and that he will by
no means clear the guilty. He will exact the full penalty
which he justly pronounced. And that full penalty has been
provided by the Redeemer or substitute whom God himself
provided--Jesus Christ, who, "by the grace [favor] of God,
tasted death for every man." Our Lord having provided a
ransom for Adam's race, with his own life, can justly give a
new offer of life to them all. This offer to the Church is under
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the Covenant of sacrifice (Psa. 50:5; Rom. 12:1): to
the world it will be under the New Covenant. Rom. 14:9;
Heb. 10:16; Jer. 31:31
We are further informed that when God gives the world
this individual trial, it will be under Christ as Judge, whom
Jehovah will thus honor because of his obedience even unto
death for our redemption. God has highly exalted him,
even to the divine nature, that he may be a Prince and a
Savior (Acts 5:31), that he may be able to recover from
death and grant judgment to all whom he purchased with
his own precious blood. God has committed all judgment
unto the Son, and has given him all power in heaven and in
earth. John 5:22
It is, then, the highly exalted, glorified Christ, who so
loved the world as to give his life as its ransom-price, who is
to be the Judge of the world in its promised future trial.
And it is Jehovah himself who has appointed him to that
office, for that very purpose. Since such are the plain declarations
of the Scriptures, there is nothing to dread, but on
the contrary there is great cause for rejoicing on the part of
all, in looking forward to the Judgment Day. The character
of the Judge is a sufficient guarantee that the judgment will
be just and merciful, and with due consideration for the infirmities
of all, until the willing and obedient are brought
back to the original perfection lost in Eden.
A judge, in ancient times, was one who executed justice
and relieved the oppressed. Note, for instance, how, when
under oppression by their enemies because of transgression
against the Lord, Israel was time and again released and
blessed by the raising up of judges. Thus we read, "When
the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up
a deliverer,...Othniel. And the spirit of Jehovah came upon
him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war, and prevailed,
and the land had rest forty years." (Judges 3:9-11)
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So, though the world has long been under the power and
oppression of the adversary, Satan, yet shortly he who pays
for the sins of all with his own precious blood will take
his great power and reign. He will deliver and judge those
whom he so loved as to redeem.
With this conclusion all the prophetic declarations agree.
It is written: "With righteousness shall he judge the world,
and the people with equity." Psa. 98:9
This coming judgment will be on exactly the same principles
as the first. The same law of obedience will be presented,
with the same reward of life, and the same penalty
of death. And as the first trial had a beginning, progressed,
and culminated with a sentence, so also will the second;
and the sentence will be life to the righteous, and death to
the unrighteous. The second trial will be more favorable
than the first, because of the experience gained under the
results of the first trial. Unlike the first trial, the second trial
will be one in which every man will stand the test for himself
alone, and not for another. None will then die because
of Adam's sin, or because of inherited imperfections. It shall
no more be said, "The fathers have eaten a sour grape and
the children's teeth are set on edge; but he that eateth the sour
grape, his teeth shall be set on edge." "The soul that
sinneth,
it shall die." (Ezek. 18:4; Jer. 31:29,30) And
it will be true
of the world then, as it is of the Church now, that a man will
not be judged according to that which he hath not, but according
to that which he hath. (2 Cor. 8:12) Under the
reign of Christ, mankind will be gradually educated,
trained and disciplined until they reach perfection. And
when they have reached perfection, perfect harmony with
God will be required, and any who then fall short of perfect
obedience will be cut off, being judged unworthy of life.
The sin which brought death to the race through Adam
was simply one disobedient act; but by that act he fell from
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his perfection. God had a right to demand perfect obedience
of him, since he was created perfect; and he will demand
the same of all men when the great work of restoring
them is complete. None will be permitted to have everlasting
life who then in the slightest degree fall short of perfection.
To fall short of perfection, then, will be to sin wilfully
against full light and perfect ability.
Any who sin wilfully, against full light and ability, will
perish in the second death. And should any one, during
that age of trial, under its full blaze of light, spurn the offered
favors, and make no progress toward perfection for a
hundred years, he will be reckoned unworthy of life and
will be "cut off," though at a hundred years he would be in
the period of comparative childhood. Thus it is written of
that day: "As a lad shall one die a hundred years old; and
as a sinner shall be accursed he who dieth at a hundred
years old." (Isa. 65:20--Leeser) Thus all must have
at least
one hundred years of trial; and, if not so obstinate as to
refuse to make progress, their trial will continue throughout
the entire day of Christ, reaching a culmination only
at its close.
The conclusion of the world's coming judgment is clearly
shown in the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31-46),
in Rev. 20:15; 21:8and in 1 Cor. 15:25. These
and other scriptures show that at its close the two classes
will have been completely separated--the obedient and the
disobedient; those in harmony with the letter and the spirit
of God's law, and those out of harmony with it. They enter
into everlasting life, and the others are remanded to death,
extinction ("second death"), the same sentence as in the
first judgment, from which they had been reckonedly released
by Christ who secured the right to release them by
the giving of their ransom--by his death. This will be their
second death. No ransom will be given for them, and there
will be no release or resurrection for them, their sin being a
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wilful, individual sin against full light and opportunity,
under a most favorable, individual trial.
We do not wish to be understood as ignoring the present
responsibility of the world, which every man has, according
to the measure of light enjoyed, whether it be much or little,
whether it be the light of nature or of revelation. "The eyes
of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the
good," and "God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be
evil." (Prov. 15:3; Eccl. 12:14) The good and
the evil deeds
of the present time will receive a just recompense of reward
either now or hereafter. "Some men's sins are open beforehand,
going before to judgment, and some they follow after."
(1 Tim. 5:24) No others than the Lord's favored "little
flock" have as yet sufficient light to incur the final penalty,
the second death. We here merely broach the subject of the
world's present accountability, leaving the particulars for
subsequent consideration.
A period of about six thousand years intervenes between
the world's first and second judgment days, and during this
long period God has been selecting two special classes from
among men, and specially trying, disciplining and training
them to be his honored instruments during the period or
day of the world's judgment.
These two classes are respectively designated by Paul
(Heb. 3:5,6) as the house of sons and the house of servants,
the former being composed of those overcomers tried and
found faithful during the Christian dispensation, and the
latter being composed of the faithful overcomers who preceded
the Christian dispensation. These special selections
in no sense interfere with the judgment or trial promised to
the world of mankind in the age to follow this Gospel Dispensation.
Those who successfully pass the trial for either of
these special classes will not come into judgment with the
world, but will enter upon their reward when the world is
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coming into judgment. They will be God's agents in the
blessing of the world--in giving to men the instruction and
training necessary for their final testing and judgment. "Do
ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?"
1 Cor. 6:2
These specially selected classes, like the rest of mankind,
were once under the Adamic condemnation, but became
sharers by faith in the benefits of Christ's death. After being
first justified by faith in God's promises, and having then
fulfilled the subsequent conditions of their respective callings,
they are accounted worthy of high exaltation to stations
of honor and authority.
The trial or judgment of both these classes has been
much more severe than the trial of the world will be in its
judgment day; because these have had to withstand Satan,
the prince of this world, with all his wiles and ensnarements,
while in the world's judgment day Christ will be
reigning, and Satan will be bound, that he may not deceive
the nations. (Rev. 20:3) These have suffered persecution for
righteousness' sake, while then men will be rewarded for
righteousness, and punished only for unrighteousness.
These have had great stumbling blocks and snares in the
way, which will be removed when the world is placed on
trial. But though the trial of these two special companies
has been much more severe than the trial of the world will
be, the rewards are correspondingly greater.
Under the sophistries of the great deceiver, Satan, both
the world and the Church nominal have been robbed of the
blessed assurances of the coming time of righteous judgment.
They know that the Bible tells of a coming judgment
day, but they regard it with only fear and dread; and because
of this fear, there is to them no more unwelcome
tidings than that the day of the Lord is at hand. They put
it far away from them, and do not wish to hear it even mentioned.
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They have no idea of the blessings in store for the
world under that glorious reign of him whom God hath appointed
to judge the world in righteousness. Among the
greatest of the blinding influences which Satan has devised
to keep men in ignorance of the truth regarding the judgment
day have been the errors which have crept into the
creeds and hymn books of the various religious sects. Many
have come to esteem these errors as of paramount importance
to the Word of God.
How differently did the prophets and apostles regard
that promised day of judgment! Note the exultant prophetic
utterance of David (1 Chron. 16:31-34). He says:
"Let the heavens be glad,
And let the earth rejoice;
And let men say among the nations, Jehovah reigneth.
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;
Let the fields rejoice, and all that are therein.
Then shall the trees of the wood sing aloud
At the presence of Jehovah,
BECAUSE HE COMETH
TO JUDGE THE EARTH.
O give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good;
For his mercy endureth forever."
To the same day the Apostle also points, assuring us that
it will be a glorious and desirable day, and that for it the
whole creation is groaning and travailing in pain together
--waiting for the great Judge to deliver and to bless
the world, as well as to exalt and glorify the Church.
Rom. 8:21,22
In John 5:28,29a precious promise for the world of a
coming judgment-trial for life everlasting is, by a mistranslation,
turned into a fearful imprecation. According to
the Greek, they that have done evil--that have failed of divine
approval--will come forth unto resurrection [raising
up to perfection] by judgments, "stripes," disciplines. See
the Revised Version.
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Afterward
"God's ways are equal: storm or calm,
Seasons of peril and of rest,
The hurting dart, the healing balm,
Are all apportioned as is best.
In judgments oft misunderstood,
In ways mysterious and obscure,
He brings from evil lasting good,
And makes the final gladness sure.
While Justice takes its course with strength,
Love bids our faith and hope increase:
He'll give the chastened world at length
His afterward of peace.
"When the dread forces of the gale
His sterner purposes perform,
And human skill can naught avail
Against the fury of the storm,
Let loving hearts trust in him still,
Through all the dark and devious way;
For who would thwart his blessed will,
Which leads through night to joyous day?
Be still beneath his tender care;
For he will make the tempest cease,
And bring from out the anguish here
An afterward of peace.
"Look up, O Earth; no storm can last
Beyond the limits God hath set.
When its appointed work is past,
In joy thou shalt thy grief forget.
Where sorrow's plowshare hath swept through,
Thy fairest flowers of life shall spring,
For God shall grant thee life anew,
And all thy wastes shall laugh and sing.
Hope thou in him; his plan for thee
Shall end in triumph and release.
Fear not, for thou shalt surely see
His afterward of peace."
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