p. 100 | The Judgment by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 14, 1884

The Judgment.

By Editor

(Concluded.)

It does not seem to admit of a doubt that the judgment of the saints, the blotting out of sin, the making of the atonement, and the cleansing of the sanctuary, are identical. And we have seen that in the type the atonement was made—the sanctuary cleansed, when the high priest went into the most holy place before the ark; and the most holy was opened only on the day of atonement. This fact is also referred to in the scripture under consideration. Under the sounding of the seventh trumpet it is said, "The temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." Rev. 11:19.

It has been noticed that John was shown a door opened in Heaven; a throne set; and seven lamps of fire before the throne. Rev. 4. But it was not till the seventh trumpet sounded that the temple of God in Heaven was opened where the ark of his testament is seen. By reference to "the example" of the heavenly things—to "the figures of the true"—we learn that the seven lamps, or candlesticks, were in the holy, and the ark of the testament in the most holy place of the sanctuary. And further, that the work of intercession was continual in the holy place, but the most holy was not opened except on the day of atonement.

From this we learn that the work of intercession of our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary extended from the commencement of his ministry in A. D. 31, to the sounding of the seventh trumpet (1844), when the antitypical day of atonement commenced, in which the sanctuary is cleansed.

There are differences in the work of the priest in the two holy places of the sanctuary. The intercession, or work of the priest in the holy; is general, for the whole world; and herein is shown the benefit that the whole world receives from the death of Christ. Every sin deserves its punishment, which is death; and without a mediator this would be the unavoidable and universal consequence. But through the pleading of the Saviour, sentence against the evil work is not speedily executed; Eccl. 8:11; the sinner is granted an opportunity to repent; a time of probation is given in which he may return to God through Christ. In this sense Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. He has prepared a covering beneath which all may find refuge. By virtue of his death for sin, wherein mercy is exalted and justice honored, the transgressor is spared and invited to accept the blood of Jesus as his substitute, and be reconciled to God. And herein is shown the correctness of the apostle's declaration that God is the Saviour of all men; but there is a special salvation to them that believe. 1 Tim. 4:10. The benefits of probation which all enjoy, are by the blood and intercession of Christ. And surely these are no slight benefits. Though the sinner may pass them by unheeding; may scorn the warning voice, and despise the precious blood; the countless multitude of the redeemed who are all reconciled by these very means, forever attest the value and fullness of those means so blindly disregarded by the impenitent.

On the other hand, the Atonement, made in the most holy place, is specific and limited. By this it is not to be understood that repentance and reconciliation are not granted in the day of atonement, as some have inferred. To uphold that view it would be necessary to show that the penitent would not have been received, according to the type, on the day of atonement. But that cannot be shown; it was not the case. The offering on that day was made for all the people; but they only received the benefit of it who "afflicted their souls," as the Lord commanded. "For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people." Lev. 23:29.

The reception of benefit from the work of the priest was conditional upon that day, as upon any other day; but upon this day it was complete and final. For incorrigibility upon this day there was no extension of time.

And so it will be in the antitype. As Christ closes his priestly work in Heaven before he comes to earth; and, when he comes he will find both righteous and wicked ones living on the earth, it follows that the Atonement will be completed and probation ended before he comes. And thus it will be, that they who do not "afflict their souls;" who do not repent and leave their sins while our Advocate is doing that last work, will be cut off without remedy. Crying for mercy after he puts aside his priestly robes will be of no avail. How necessary that we be fully in harmony with the work of God in his last warning message (Rev. 14:9-12) in order that that day shall not come upon us as a thief.

It is a very solemn thought that the last generation of men, living upon the earth just before the Lord appears, and up to the hour of his appearing, will remain here, busied with the things of this world after probation has closed. The great majority having turned away from the alarm which has been sounded; having rejected the warning which has been given by the servants of the Lord, will not understand the great change which has taken place in the position of the Son of God; they will scoff at the idea of his coming being near, and become bolder in sin as the restraining influence of God's Spirit leaves them.

Our Saviour has given a lesson upon this subject which demands the careful consideration of all. He said: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:37-39.

In Gen. 6 we learn that Noah and his family were commanded to enter into the ark seven days before the flood of waters came. "And the Lord shut him in." But when Noah was shut in, all others were shut out. They had neglected the warning too long. They said as will be said in the last days, "All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 2 Peter 3:4. Even after Noah entered into the ark, and the Lord had closed the door, they saw no change; they were emboldened in their hardness of heart because the judgment was delayed. Each day confirmed them in their ideas of their own wisdom, as day after day passed and the flood did not come. Poor souls! they knew not that their destiny was sealed; that there was no chance for them to enter the ark; that they had recklessly passed beyond the offer of mercy. "So shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

The testimony of Jesus after he was glorified teaches the same thing. When he is soon to come the second time he announces: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:11, 12. This decision is not made when he comes, nor after he comes, but when he is quickly coming. This is further proof that it will be as it was in the days of Noah, and that every case must be decided before the Son of man is revealed, "taking vengeance on them that know not God."

The relation of justification and obedience has been fully discussed in articles on that subject. But the relation of justification to the Judgment demands consideration. Peter said: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you; whom the Heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things," &c. Acts 3:19-21. It is evident that Peter did not think their sins would be blotted out when they were converted, but at some future time; and the Scriptures clearly show that that time is when the sanctuary is cleansed and the Atonement made.

But in thus using this text it becomes necessary to vindicate the translation. Some affirm with much assurance that "when the times of refreshing shall come" is an incorrect rendering, and that it should be—"so that times of refreshing shall come." Liddell & Scott give as one definition of the original: "Of the time of a thing's happening, when, as soon as." Pickering says: "When, as to time." Barnes, while he admits that the objection has in its favor the more usual use of the word, says: "Others have rendered it, in accordance with our translation, when, meaning that they might find peace in the day when Christ should return to judgment, which return would be to them a day of rest, though of terror to the wicked. Thus Calvin, Beza, the Latin Vulgate, Schleusner, etc. The grammatical construction will admit of either."

Thus it is seen that the claim that the Authorized Version is wrong, is far from being established. We have no doubt that "when" should be retained in the text; that the expression, "the times of refreshing," refers specially to the blessing of the Spirit which will be given to the saints when they are sealed with the seal of the living God (Rev. 7), which will enable them to stand when Jesus ceases his priestly work, and during the time of pouring out the seven last plagues.

And yet another question has been raised, on which some minds have been perplexed. If the blotting out of sins is done in the closing work of the priest, when the sanctuary is cleansed, that is to say, in the Judgment, then the sins of all the saints must stand on record till that time. Now it has been shown that justification by faith and salvation are not identical; the former is a fact of experience at the present time, while the latter is contingent on "patient continuance in well-doing" on the part of the justified one. As was remarked, "justification by faith is not a final procedure; it does not take the place of the Judgment, nor render the Judgment unnecessary. It looks to something beyond itself to be accomplished in the future."

The same perplexity has arisen over the Apostle's words in Acts 2:38, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." From this it has been inferred, but without sufficient reason, that sin is remitted in the act of baptism. Such an idea is not expressed in the text. Evidently the terms signify in order to the remission of sins; and it is too much to claim that in laboring to gain a certain object, that object is obtained in the very act of laboring. God told his people that they should have life—eternal life—if they kept his commandments, which, to the faithful, will be fulfilled "when Christ who is our life shall appear," and not till then. The declaration above quoted, from Acts 2:38, points to the same fact as that in chapter 3:19. The remission of sin is the work of the Judgment; and the believer must stand justified by faith, looking to the priest for the accomplishment of his hope.

But that the sin is not really blotted out, or atonement made at baptism, or at any other period in probation, is proved by the word of the Lord to Ezekiel, 18:26: "When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his

iniquity that he hath done he shall die." Again, in chapter 32:13: "All his righteousness shall not be remembered." That is, he shall be treated as though he had never been righteous. Now the righteousness of the righteous is by faith; therefore if he turn and commit iniquity he shall be treated as if he never had faith; his justification is annulled—he falls from grace.

For a demonstration of the truthfulness of this view, we look to the cases of the faithful who lived before the time of Christ. Were it admitted that the Atonement was made at the death of Christ, it would still remain a fact in the cases of the patriarchs and prophets that their sins were not atoned for, not actually blotted out till the blood was shed by which they are blotted out. But they were justified by faith, and died in that justified state, looking forward to the work of Christ when the object of their faith should be realized; when his blood should take away the sins of which they had already repented; or, in other words, when the Atonement should be made. This is decisive on the point. It proves beyond dispute that it is possible for a person to be justified by faith, accepted of God, and die in hope, without actually having his sins yet blotted out when he dies. And if the patriarchs and prophets could thus rest in hope, waiting for the blood of the coming Messiah to be shed to blot out their sins, so can the saints of a later age take hold of that blood by faith, waiting for Jesus our High Priest to blot out their sins when the times of refreshing shall come.

We think that our position is fully proved by the Scriptures, that, however closely justification and reconciliation are allied, the Atonement is subsequent to both. And this because it is the Judgment. If we are justified or reconciled, and so continue to the end, we may hope that our sins will be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. This work is effected in the most holy place, where the ark of the testament is; this place is opened in Heaven under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and this trumpet ushers in the judgment of the dead, the coming of Christ without sin unto salvation to them that look for him; the giving reward to all his servants, and the destruction of them that corrupt the earth. These events pass beyond the bounds of human probation, and close up the dispensation of the gospel.

Having traced this subject thus far; having found what the Atonement is; by whom and where it is made; and also for whom; we may turn back to "first principles" and again consider the law of God, and the position it occupies under the gospel. In the type, the testimony—the law—was put into the ark, in the most holy place; and it was over the law that the blood of the covenant was sprinkled by the high priest on the day of atonement. The glory of God was above the cherubim; these were upon the mercy-seat, and this was upon the ark in which was the law. As God looked down upon his law, the very basis of his Government, his justice was aroused, for his law was violated. But mercy interposed; the high priest entered with the blood that brings remission, that had been offered to vindicate the majesty of the law. The blood was sprinkled "upon the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat."

Again the Lord looks down upon his law, but between him and the law is the mercy-seat sprinkled with the blood of the victim; the law is honored; its penalty has been enforced; a substitute has been accepted; and the penitent sinner is pardoned. We notice that here was a real law, taking hold of the moral relations of God's creatures; that here was actual transgression; on the part of the creatures a disregard of moral obligations. But under the Aaronic priesthood there was no actual taking away of that sin; it remained to be taken away by the blood of Christ. Therefore Christ officiates in behalf of that same law, as Paul shows in Heb. 9:15; and therefore the ark of his testament in Heaven contains that same law, where Jesus offers his own blood. Our High Priest has declared that he delighted to do the will of God, yea, the law was in his heart; he magnified the law and made it honorable; he upheld it in his life; he honored it in his death by suffering its penalty to vindicate its justice; he pleads his blood to Heaven in behalf of those who have broken it.

You who claim that God's law is abolished: look to his heavenly temple where Jesus our great High Priest is, and behold it there safely lodged in the ark. You who say that the law is changed—behold the original in Heaven, of which a copy only was given to Israel. Did not God speak it with his own voice? Did he not write it with his own finger? Did he not give it as a rule of holiness of life? Was it not perfect? Did it not contain the whole duty of man? Yes; and by it God will bring every work into judgment. Here is that justice and judgment which are the habitation of his throne. Ps. 89:14. What evidence have you that the heavenly record of God's immutable will has been changed? Men may mutilate the copy he has given them; they may strike out the name of the Holy One, and insert a term of reproach in its stead, but with him is neither variableness nor shadow of turning.

Peter says that Government is "for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well." All rights and privileges are protected by Government—by law. To subvert the law is to destroy the security of our rights. The law-making power has the sole right to change or abolish laws. Yet in the case of the fourth precept of the law of Jehovah men have not only changed its terms, but they now claim that it is their right to determine whether they shall keep it as the "one lawgiver" proclaimed it, or make changes in it, and observe it according to their own amendments! God said, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," and gave the reason, that he rested the seventh day when he created the heavens and the earth. But men say, "The seventh day is the old Jewish Sabbath," and substitute in its place another day which was not the rest-day of God, upon which he never bestowed his blessing, which he never sanctified, and which he never commanded men to keep. They have so long pursued this course that they think it a small matter to make such a change. But how must it look in the sight of Heaven? How must God regard the slight put upon his authority? EDITOR.