Christ's Coming at the Judgment.
By Bishop Merrill
We have seen already, that his coming in glory is personal and visible; that it is for the purpose of raising the dead; that it is at the "end of the world;" and now, if it shall appear that it is also for the purpose of gathering the nations before his Judgment seat, and officially announcing their destiny, we shall have reached a point where speculation and theorizing ought to cease, and where humble Christian faith should recognize the coming of Christ as the one grand event which is to terminate the history of this world, reveal the final outcome of all human probation, and introduce the unchangeable realities of the world of retribution. A preliminary fact ought to be settled before we proceed. It is that rewards and punishments are to be distributed according to the works of men, at the day of Judgment, and at that time only. This is a fundamental fact. It underlies all right conceptions of probation and retribution, and stands out clearly in the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. "For God shall bring every work into Judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." "But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of Judgment." In Rom. 2:5-16, the fact and time of the rewards are set forth, so as to show that retribution follows the day of Judgment. In quoting, the parenthesis is omitted. "But, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds—in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." The day of rewards and punishments is the day of Judgment. To the same point is the following: "But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall all stand before the Judgment-seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. 14:10-12.) Read this in connection with 2 Cor. 5:10: "For we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." This brings out the whole proposition. When men appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, and receive at the Lord's hands according to their deeds, that is the day of Judgment, when we shall all give account of ourselves unto God. Then, if it shall turn out that a work of rewarding men according to their deeds takes place at Christ's second coming, with the angels, when he descends to raise the dead, the point before us will be fully sustained; namely, that his coming is to judge the world, as well as to raise the dead. In support of this proposition we refer to Matt. 16:27: "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." This coming with the angels is not a figurative coming, as it hath been shown; nor is it the spiritual coming in the kingdom, of which mention is made in the succeeding verse. It is a full, distinct, comprehensive statement of his personal coming in the glory of the Father, with the angels, and so complete that it requires no elucidation to show its bearing on the point in hand. It settles the fact beyond all controversy, that his personal coming is the time of retribution—the time of the Judgment. There is but one period for appearing before the Judgment-seat of Christ, and but one object. It is to receive according to the deeds done in the body, which occurs once for all, and when it occurs, that is the day of Judgment. The date is unrevealed, that it is fact is most unequivocally stated, that it will be at the second coming of Christ. "Then he shall reward every man according to his works." We also cite Mark 8:38: "Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." The parallel passage is Luke 9:26: "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels." The connection of these passages is the same as that in Matthew, where it is affirmed that "then he shall reward every man according to his works." The allusion is unquestionably to his personal coming, and to the Judgment. To be "ashamed" of men, in his coming, is more than to feel an inward emotion with reference to them. It means a positive, open, judicial rejection of them. Thus we read in Matt. 10:32, 33: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him wil' I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven." And also in Luke 12:8, 9: "Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God. But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God." This act of confessing men before the Father and before the angels of God is an act that belongs to the period of his coming in glory; and the act of denying those that denied him before men belongs to the same period, and is the same as that expressed above, when he says he will be "ashamed" of them "when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels." It must be, therefore, that the day of his coming in glory with the angels is the day of Judgment, when he "shall reward every man according to his works." Passing over, in this place, the parables of the tares and wheat, and the net with the fishes, which confirm this view; and, also, the testimony of the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew, which bear upon the subject, we turn to 1 Cor. 4:3-5: "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified; but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise of God." The evidence this passage brings is somewhat indirect, yet not in the least ambiguous. The apostle reproves men for judging one another, and possibly alludes to criticisms which had been made upon his own conduct. He appeals from the judgments of men to the Judgment of God, and incidentally mentions the coming of the Lord as the time of the final Judgment, when that is hidden shall be revealed, and every man shall have his just award. He himself could afford to wait for the vindication which that day would surely bring, and he would have all Christian people do the same. Hence his appeal, "Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come." There can be no doubt that this language was written by the apostle Paul under the full persuasion that the coming of the Lord was to be the day of Judgment. It is impossible to understand his appeal on any other hypothesis. But not only does this appeal prove the point by clearly recognizing the coming of the Lord as "the time" of Judgment, but the work attributed to the Lord, at his coming, is the appropriate and distinguishing work of the Judgment-day. "Until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." This is pre-eminently the work of the Lord in the day of Judgment. It is then that he will "bring every work into Judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." It is then that "God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." It is then that "we must all appear before the Judgment-seat Christ, that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." It is then that "the books will be opened," and every one be "judged out of those things which are written in the books." It is then that "every one of us shall give account of himself to God." That is a day of revelation—a day of disclosure—a day of bringing to light the hidden things of darkness. No secrets shall evade the scrutiny of the Judge; no counsels lurking in the hearts of men shall pass the day of the Lord's coming without being made manifest. How, then, is it possible to avoid the conclusion that when the Lord comes it is to judge the world in righteousness? —Second Coming of Christ, by Bishop Merrill.