A WORD with you, dear reader, about the judgment of God. We do not want to frighten you, or to work upon your feelings, but we do want you to wake up to facts before it be too late. We want you to look truth in the face. It is true wisdom. Judgment is coming; God says so. It is written; and His word cannot be broken; it endureth forever (1 Peter 1:2525But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (1 Peter 1:25)). But God does not want you to come into it; and we do not want you to come into it. He prepared the lake of fire for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:4141Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (Matthew 25:41)); but He prepared the gospel for sinners. He is Light; He is holy, and must judge the impenitent eternally for His own glory. Such too must meet with the same awful doom. But He is also Love, and in love gave His Son to die on Calvary, whose precious blood was shed, to cleanse us from sin, and to deliver us from judgment. Jesus waits to welcome, pardon, cleanse, and save all who come unto God by Him. But if you do not see your danger, you will still pursue the broad road in indifference and sin. Read then what follows, and may the blessed Savior-God arouse you to a deep sense of your need, that in this day of His abounding grace you may be saved, and saved forever, through the finished atoning work of His dear Son.
"And I saw a great white throne," says the prophet John (Rev. 20:1111And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (Revelation 20:11)). Solemn momentous sight! God forbid that you should see it in your sins. And the throne was occupied. "And him that sat upon it." No name is given, but we are not at a loss to know who it is. "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:2222For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: (John 5:22)). 'Tis the Son of Man, the Son of the Living God, "from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them." Awful vision of an awful fact, yet to take place. From before the glorious face of the Son, whose "head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters " (Rev. 1:14,1514His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. (Revelation 1:14‑15)); the earth, this earth, this mighty globe with its continents and seas, the scene of man's fall, and pride, and folly, the scene of His own death, and the heaven, the beauteous firmament, flee away.
Awful moment! Think of that mighty rush through the boundless space. And “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." Where shall the puny voice of men be in the midst of this vast conflagration, the voice of emperors and kings that have made the world and nations tremble, and the voice of the people?
Where will be the wondrous works that men have boasted of in time, the mighty cities, the progress of civilization, the march of intellect, the works of science, art, and skill? All—all will perish forever. With a great noise, and a great heat, and a great fire, the heaven and earth disappear—dissolved (2 Peter 3:10-1210But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? (2 Peter 3:10‑12)). "And there was found no place for them." Their place among the mighty orbs of God's boundless heaven is no more. He place is found for them. But the great white throne and the great Judge remain.
“And I saw the dead." Mark it well. When the earth and heaven have fled; when the ages of time are past; when the fashion of this world shall have passed. away; when every possible imaginary hiding-place shall have disappeared forever,—then the dead, summoned by the Divine power of the Omnipotent God, the dead from first to last, from the fall to the end of the history of man upon the earth, all who lived and died in their sins, the ungodly, the guilty, the lost, " small and great stand before God." None can escape.
Every soul of man that doeth evil, every sinner who lived without God and Christ, men of low and high estate, from the poorest beggar to the greatest potentate the world has seen; from the most ignorant, degraded, or bestial creature of the human race to the most refined and cultured man that modern civilization can produce,—one and all stand before the throne and before the Judge.
They lived in their sins, they died in them, they are raised in them, they are judged in them. The infidel, the mocker, the despiser, the rejecter, the neglecter, the Pharisee, the hypocrite, the criminal, the liar, the cheat, the religious professor, the immoral man, the self-righteous man, the moral liver without God,—in short, all classes are there.
Millions and millions of men, out of all nations in the past, present, and future,—antediluvians, post-diluvia’s, Jews, Gentiles, Christian professors, all who died impenitent and unbelieving,—are represented; "the dead, small and great.”
Reader, you may shut your eyes to the truth, but the tremendous fact still remains. Satan-deluded and sin-deluded and self-deluded, you must stand before the Judge. There is no possible way of escape then. The infinite holiness of His Presence, the unsullied purity of that awful judgment-seat, the great white throne, will expose all in its true colors; the searching light will show the enormity of sin.
But today, as I write and you read, the Judge is the Savior; and today is the clay of salvation (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)). But the moments run swiftly by. Eternity is at your door. Death is here, the wages of sin. (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). You may die at any moment, and after this the judgment (Heb. 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)), the great white throne.
“And the books were opened." Think of the feelings of that vast multitude, at that awfully solemn moment. Think of your feelings if you should stand there. Everyone will be there with a bad conscience, and will find that every deed, word, and thought is known to the Judge; every careless, wicked, secret, and presumptuous sin before His eye. "And another book was opened, which is the book of life." Thinkest thou that this will bring a ray of hope amongst those vast ranks?
Nay, nay. The most careful searching of its pages must be without result. Had their names been inscribed there, they had never stood in that company. The saints shall judge the world and angels (1 Cor. 6:2, 32Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (1 Corinthians 6:2‑3)), but sinners be judged among the wicked dead (Rev. 20:1212And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)). The believer, whose name is in the book of life, "shall not come into judgment" (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)); he is "not condemned" now; there is "no condemnation” now to them which are in Christ Jesus (John 3:1818He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18); Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)). But alas, alas, no hope for all who stand there. Without hope in the world (Eph. 2:1212That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:12)), and without hope in the Day of Judgment. Then follow the deeply solemn words, “And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." The records of their works are against them. The strictest justice reigns. A just Judge will scrutinize and weigh their works. All are more or less bad; works of the flesh, works of the law, works of self-righteousness, dead works, all are mixed with sin. The duration of the sentence, the punishment, is eternal; but the severity is according to the privileges and responsibility and works of men. A fully-merited and just award will be passed upon all.
“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell (hades) delivered up the dead which were in them." How careful and minute is the Word of God. He is love, and judgment is His strange work (Isa. 28:2121For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. (Isaiah 28:21)). The wish of His heart is that all men should be saved (1 Tim. 2:44Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4)). But men are responsible, and not mere machines. The natural heart loves to maintain the latter fact, and to assert its independence, but without the former. God desires our blessing, and warns us in His Word; we are without excuse.
He has not kept back the consequences of sin, that we may be judge ourselves now, and flee from the coming wrath and find a refuge now in His Son.
Soon, soon, will it be too late. This last sentence is another proof that no sinner can escape the judgment. “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it," &c. &c. Tens of thousands have found a watery grave. Multitudes of sailors, fishermen, lifeboat men, travelers, emigrants, pleasure—seekers, &c., have passed beneath the waters of the mighty ocean into eternity All shall rise again; all who have died in their sins to judgment. With God all things are possible. The mighty Atlantic, the vast Pacific, the rolling Indian Ocean, the wild North Sea, the tideless Mediterranean, every sea great or small, shall yield her dead. He who made all will raise all. Blind unbelief raises endless difficulties.
What are difficulties to God? “The sea gave up the dead," &c. Who made the sea? God. And He who as Man on earth quelled the raging waves of the Sea of Galilee, will command, and the sea shall obey in the Day of Judgment.
“And death and hell (hades) delivered up the dead which were in them." Yes, every churchyard, graveyard, cemetery, catacomb, mausoleum, tomb, urn, shall deliver up its dead. The grave, death, shall deliver up the bodies, and hell (or hades) shall deliver up the soul; and so shall the dead from sea and land, all the ungodly, stand before the Judge. Does any man, with his foolish heart darkened (Rom. 1:21, 2221Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, (Romans 1:21‑22)), think that modern heathen customs, the burning of remains, &c., will be an effectual hindrance to this tremendous fact?
Let such read the 15th chapter of the 1st of Corinthians, vers. 35, 36. “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?" “Thou fool," &c., answers the Word of God.
“And they were judged every man according to their works," &c. Every man. Ah! there is no escaping in the crowd. And men will not be judged in batches in that day. No. Every man; each individual, from sea and land, from every nook and corner of this vast rolling globe. Judged according to their works. Could language be plainer?
“And death and hell (hades) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Death (the first death) and hades are no longer needed. They are but temporary receptacles of the bodies and souls of men. Raised, they go no more into them.
The first death and hades are cast into the lake of fire; and then we are told there is “the second death." And this is "the lake of fire"! How fearfully solemn the import 'of this eternal statement of God who cannot lie. What can our minds imagine more awful than the sure and eternal judgment of God? "The second death." And, as we have seen, the first death is no cessation of existence. Then neither is the second. “The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4: 18).
This solemn vision of God's sure judgment ends with the awful words, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Whosoever, whosoever, whosoever!!!
Oh! reader, is your name in the book of life? The name of every true Christian is inscribed there, the name of whosoever believeth on the Son of God. But whosoever believeth not, his name is not written. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. “Bind him hand and foot (no escape), and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” says another scripture (Matt. 22:1313Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 22:13)). All whose names are written now, will be found written then. There will be no mistakes in God's registry. Written, or not written. Whosoever is as solemn for the unconverted in this scripture, as it is precious in many a gospel scripture for all who believe now. Can you read this scripture? Can you read this paper, friend, and go on another moment careless and indifferent about your state before God? A sinner you are, guilty, ruined, and lost. Death, judgment, and the lake of fire stare you in the face. But love lingers, grace waits, mercy pleads, whilst the righteousness of God is revealed, whereby He can and does pardon, justify, and save the greatest sinner, or the greatest Pharisee, who bows before Him in self-judgment, and believes on His Son.
The Judge who will sit upon the throne in the coming day, is the exalted Savior on the throne of God now. To Him, and to Him alone we point you, the only Savior from the coming wrath.
Many a soul is building his house upon the shifting sand of his own fancied goodness and religious self-righteousness, to come down with a crash at the first blast of the wind of Divine judgment; but whosoever buildeth upon Christ, the Rock of Ages, is safe and sound forever (Luke 15:2727And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. (Luke 15:27)). "Verily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life " (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).
Wondrous grace! Unfathomable love! The Judge Himself has died for the prisoners. Judgment is appointed (Heb. 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)); the Judge is appointed (Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)); and the Day of Judgment is appointed (Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)); but before the execution, the Judge Himself, the Son of Man, has given Himself (Gal. 1:44Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4)), “Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)). “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)).
And then follows the precious statement, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Rom. 5:99Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5:9)). Reader, are you yet a saved one?
Then in Rev. 21:88But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8) we read further, " But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Note it well; the first on the list are the fearful, i.e., the cowardly, or those who wished to be saved, who oft thought about it, but never decided for fear of the consequences.
Secondly, the unbelieving. Oh! that damning, soul-destroying unbelief! “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)). And then follow all manner of the ungodly. And this solemn verse is indicted by the Holy Ghost about men after the fleeing away of earth and heaven, after time is over, and after describing the new heaven and the new earth. Then, last of all, we read of the eternal doom of sinners without God.
And now for a moment, ere we close, let us look behind the curtain of the eternal future, that the Son of God Himself drew aside in Luke 16:1919There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: (Luke 16:19).
A rich man, who fared sumptuously every day; who had all this world could give, but forgot God and his neighbor,—not a wicked man, but a man who just simply lived for himself,—died, and was buried. Common occurrence that in the world! It will happen to you soon, sinner. No doubt it was a splendid funeral. We shouldn't wonder if a large number of the inhabitants of the city turned out to see it. Died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments. What a change from the palace, and purple, and sumptuous fare! We lack space to dwell upon the details, but we see plainly that a man in eternity without God finds nothing but endless misery, with no mercy, no mitigation, no hope, and the awful memory of neglected opportunity forever and ever. He exchanged time, and the privileges of wealth, for eternity and torment. Hopeless as to himself, finding even the request for a drop of water denied him, he wants his brethren warned, who still live, &c. The answer is, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.”
Dear reader, Christ is 'risen from the dead; and you have His testimony, and also the testimony of the Holy Ghost, and the testimony of the Lord's servants, and of this little paper, as well as of Moses and the prophets. Great indeed is your folly, and great indeed your responsibility and guilt, if you neglect the warning. Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade you, be ye reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:11, 2011Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:11)
20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)). You are going straight to death and the great white throne, if unsaved, and from thence to the lake of fire forever. But Christ died; believe on Him, and your back is turned on hell forever, and your path leads straight to the eternal glory of God. Believe on Him, and you are saved now, saved forever, saved to follow Christ, saved to be manifested in His Presence as His own, saved to be rewarded according to your works, saved to dwell for eternity in the holy and blessed Presence of your Savior-God. E. H. C.