Nothing can be more humiliating to man than what we find at the end of the millennium. God will then show that a thousand years of manifested glory will not convert the human heart without His saving grace. The moment Satan is again free, and exercises his power, the unconverted portion of the Gentile nations is deceived by him. He gathers them together in rebellion; but fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them utterly. And this brings us to the last and closing scene in the history of man-the eternal judgment. " And I saw," says John, u a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the heavens and the earth fled away; and there was found no place for them." There need be no difficulty on the reader's part in distinguishing between this last sessional judgment, and the judgment of the living nations. (Matt. 25) When the Lord comes at the beginning of the millennium, the earth, as we have seen, is universally blessed under His reign for a thousand years. But such is not the case here. There is no earth to bless now. It is the resurrection and judgment of the wicked dead at the close of the millennium. The general notion-entertained by nearly all the Brethren's critics-that Christ will not leave the heavens till the end of the millennium, when there will be one general resurrection and one general judgment of the righteous, and the wicked, is utterly without the least foundation in scripture; and not only so, but is directly opposed to the very nature of Christianity and the purposes of God in Christ Jesus.
At the commencement of the millennium, the risen saints are seen sitting upon thrones in association with Christ. " They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand- years." (Rev. 20:44And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4).) This was their time of public reward for service or for suffering with Christ during His absence. " The time is come," says the seer, "that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, small and great."
(Rev. 11:1818And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:18).) But on the great white throne Christ is seen alone. While it was a question of governing the millennial earth, the saints governed with Him. Now it is a question of eternal judgment, and He acts alone. Nevertheless they will be with Him, according to that all-precious word-" Forever with the Lord." The lost and the saved shall then stand face to face-the righteous with the Lord, the wicked standing before Him. What a sight! What a moment! What a difference now between the two companies! Stripped of every false covering-no purple, no miter, no crosier, no mantle of mere profession to screen their guilt now-each one is seen in his real character, and with all his sins; not one has been blotted out-all must be there. " And the sea gave up the dead which were in it: and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to his works." The depths, the unseen world, are forced to deliver up their miserable prisoners, that they may hear from the lips of the once-rejected Jesus their final sentence.
All are now gathered, and time is no longer. The created heavens and earth are fled away; nothing is now to be seen but the great white throne of dazzling brightness, and the glorious Majesty of the Son of man with His glorified saints around Him.
The awful sentence, uttered amidst the dreadful silence of that solemn scene sends back the wicked into the depths of hopeless woe. But the glory and beauty of the Savior Jesus, whom they despised in time, and the myriads of happy saints who surround Him, can never, no, never be forgotten. Thus closes the history of man and the events of time. Eternity begins-the wicked judged, the righteous blessed, and all the ways of God forever vindicated. " Wherefore God also bath highly exalted him [the once lowly Jesus], and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:9-119Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9‑11).) This done, love creates new heavens and a new earth, as the future dwelling place of the redeemed; and God comes down to dwell among them. " Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell among them; and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." Rev. 21:1-71And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Revelation 21:1‑7).