THE JUDGMENT by M. C. W.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 10, 1890

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 16, No. 10.

THE JUDGMENT.

By M. C. W.

(Concluded.)

3. THE basis of this judgment will be the records of men's lives as kept by angelic scribes in the books of heaven. That a record is kept of men's deeds is shown in many scriptures. First, we have the book of life, in which are written the names of all those who have embraced God's plan of salvation. See Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Ex. 32:32; Ps. 69:28; Heb. 12:23. Secondly, there are written the sins of individuals, as the Lord declares that man shall give an account of every "idle word" (Matt. 12:36); and to the wicked the Scriptures declare that there will come a time when God will reprove them for their sins and "set them in order" before their eyes. We also have God's book of remembrance, in which are written the deeds of the righteous. Mal. 3:16. These books of individual record and of life are brought into the judgment. Says the prophet, "The judgment was set, and the books were opened." See Dan. 7:9, 10. Those who minister before God are the heavenly angels. Rev. 5:11. Among these books, John places the book of life. Rev. 20:12.

4. The standard of the judgment will be the holy law of God. This is expressly declared in Eccl. 12:13, 14; Rom. 2:12; James 2:8-12. And this must necessarily be the case. That law is given, these and other scriptures declare, as the rule of man's conduct. Its transgression is therefore sin. 1 John 3:4; Rom. 7:7. And as all are condemned by that law, all are subject to its claims. Rom. 3:19, 20. It is because men have separated from God's law that he sends his last warning message to bring them back to his fear and worship, and to turn them from the worship of worldly powers, and from those sins which are contrary to his statutes. Rev. 14:6-11. And this is shown in the fact that this threefold message develops a class which keep all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Rev. 14:12.

5. When the righteous are made immortal and gathered to heaven, at the second advent (John 14:1-3), the judgment of the wicked, under Christ, is given into their hands. So Paul, in 1 Cor. 6:2, 3, says: "Do 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? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" In 1 Cor. 4:5 he tells us when this judgment is given to the saints: "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." Men cannot now read men's motives; then God will reveal the counsels of all hearts. The time of this judgment is stated in Rev. 20:4: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." At the end of the thousand years the penalty is executed upon the wicked. Verses 13-15.

But the object of this article is not the judgment of the wicked, but to show that the closing work of Christ, the justification, or cleansing, of the heavenly sanctuary, began in 1844. This is the time when the sins of the righteous will be blotted out. Acts 3:19. As in the type the sins were laid on the head of the scape-goat, or the goat for Azazel (Lev. 16:8, margin), so the sins removed from the people of God will be laid upon the head of the true Azazel, the antitypical scape-goat, Satan, who will be cast into the abyss for the thousand years. Rev. 20:1-3; compare with Lev. 16:29-30. As those anciently who did not confess their sins and humble their souls before God, according to his will, were cut off from among his people, even so if men do not seek God with all their heart, and bring their lives into harmony with his will, although their names may have been written in the book of life, they will be cut off forever; their names will be blotted out. Rev. 3:3, 5; 22:19. Thus there will be a twofold blotting out,—a blotting out of the sins of the righteous, a blotting out of the names of the unfaithful servants of Christ. Those who here deny Christ he will there deny before the Father, while those who confess and forsake their sins through Christ will be confessed before the Father and his holy angels. Matt. 10:32, 33.

It may be said that God does not need time to judge men; and it is true that he knows all hearts and reveals all secret motives. But it is not Deity alone that is concerned in the judgment; the judgment concerns angels and men as well. Therefore there is a time in God's plan for such a purpose and such a work. Eccl. 3:16, 17. It was asked by the father of the faithful, when God was about to bring judgment upon "the cities of the plain," which should be a type of the judgment of all the ungodly, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Gen. 18:25. And the children of faithful Abraham have often asked in faith the same question. This world frequently seems to contradict such faith; but all time is in God's hands; and he will show to all his people, in the impartial records kept by holy angels, by the clear discernment of immortal minds illuminated by the Spirit of God, that he has done all things well, and from that mighty throng will arise the acclaim, "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." Rev. 15:3. The question of faith is then answered; God's justice is vindicated, not to be questioned forevermore. M. C. W.