p. 580 | THE JUDGMENT by J. H. Durland

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 24, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 37.

THE JUDGMENT

By J. H. Durland

THE MILLENNIAL REIGN. NO. 2.

The First Resurrection (Continued).

IN 1 Corinthians 15 the apostle speaks of the resurrection, and again he gives the time the righteous shall be brought forth. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order; Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” Verses 22, 23. In this same chapter we read what he says of the righteous living:—

“Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [the living ones] shall be changed.” Verses 51, 52.

At this time will be the glad reunion of those whom death has separated. All the righteous that are in their graves will be called forth, and as they come from the land of the enemy, clad in immortality, they will be met by the living righteous, and all will rise to meet Jesus, who has called them.

Where does Jesus take this company? This we know not if he has not told us. But on this point we have a “thus saith the Lord:” “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3. Jesus promises to come for his people, and take them to the place he now occupies. In verse 12 he says, “I go unto my Father.” The Father is God, who sitteth on his throne, between the cherubim. See Ps. 99:1. From his throne proceeds the river of life, on whose banks is the tree of life. Rev. 22:1, 2. This is the city of God. To this place Jesus has promised to take his people at his coming.

THE JUDGMENT.

We have already read from the Scriptures that the dead in Christ will be raised when Jesus makes his appearance. But the Scriptures also say, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Heb. 9:27. Then the judgment of the righteous must take place before they are resurrected, or made immortal. This is in harmony with the words of Jesus which we have already read. “They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life.” John 5:28, 29. It must be decided who are righteous before they can be called forth. Does this take place before or after Christ appears in the clouds? We are not left to conjecture on this point. “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.” Rev. 22:11. Everyone must admit that when this decree goes forth every man’s destiny is sealed. While it may not decide the degree of punishment, it does decide who shall be saved or lost. It is very important that the reader give special attention to this text. If we read it correctly, it teaches that there is a time

when a decree shall go forth that shall forever settle the destiny of every individual on the earth. When it goes forth, it will be impossible to convert the unconverted, or for the converted to be lost. Will this decree go forth before or after the millennium? Let the Bible answer: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12. Jesus himself says the decree goes forth before he comes. His coming is “quickly” to follow the decree.

Let us now consider for a moment what we have already gone over: 1. The millennium begins with a resurrection. 2. Those resurrected at this time are the holy ones. 3. This takes place when Christ appears in the clouds. 4. At this same time the righteous living are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up to meet the Lord in the air. 5. Jesus takes them to the place where he now is, which is the city of God. 6. Before his voice awakes the dead, the decree goes forth that decides every individual’s case as to his salvation. We must then conclude that there can be no probation for sinners during the millennial reign.

THE REST OF THE DEAD.

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Who are the rest of the dead? We have already learned that the righteous dead are raised at the beginning of the thousand years, and with the righteous living they are taken to the New Jerusalem. Then the rest of the dead must be the wicked dead. But as with the righteous, so with the wicked, a part of them will be living on the earth when the voice of Jesus is heard in the heavens. In 1 Thess. 4:17 we read, “Then we which are alive and remain,” etc. As we have already said, this implies that some who will be alive when Christ appears will not remain alive. As all the righteous living are changed and taken with Jesus, those who are alive and do not remain must be the wicked.

Of that day we read in Jer. 25:31: “A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword.” Another prophet speaks on this subject as follows: “The Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” Isa. 26:21. This is the time when the wicked have fully united with Satan. The time has come for God to vindicate the authority of his downtrodden law. “He will give them that are wicked to the sword.” Now the angel of death goes forth, not as he did in ancient Egypt, to slay the firstborn only, but the command is, “Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women. . . . They began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Eze. 9:1-6. The work begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual leaders of the people, but have proved themselves to be false watchmen.

At this time Jesus comes forth as a mighty conqueror. “And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. . . . And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Rev. 19:11-16. Of this great conflict Zechariah speaks in the following forcible language: “And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor.” Zech. 14:12, 13. In this mad strife, by the awful outpouring of the unmingled wrath of God, the wicked inhabitants of the earth fall in death. “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.” Jer. 25:33.

At the coming of our Lord the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole earth,—consumed with the spirit of his mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his glory. Then they that are alive,—the righteous,—are taken to the city of God, and the earth is emptied. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” Isa. 24:1. These scriptures show that the millennial reign with Christ cannot be on this earth. If all the righteous are taken away from the earth to the city of God, and all the wicked that were living when the Lord appeared were stricken down in death at the beginning of the millennium, there are none of its inhabitants living on the earth during that period. The wicked are all dead, and the word says they “lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Then, during the millennial reign, there is not one of the wicked inhabitants living. Thus saith the Scriptures.