The Order of Events in the Judgment.
By John Nevins Andrews
THE judgment of wicked men, and of evil angels, by the saints during the thousand years, will solve to their minds, by means of the examination of the books of God's remembrance, the providence of God which has seemed dark and mysterious. For God will then lay open the hidden springs of human conduct, and bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart. 1 Cor. 4:5. The course of those who have diligently used the comparatively small measure of light which has been granted them, will come up to condemn those who have been favored with great light and have neglected it. Matt. 12:41, 42; Luke 11:31, 32. And in like manner those who have been cut off in their sins, as a warning to others, and who would have repented had as great light been granted them as those who have lived at a later time have enjoyed, will come up in this examination to condemn most fearfully those who have had the example of their fate, and had seen greater light than they, and yet have not repented. Matt. 11:21–23; Luke 10:13. But even those wicked men who have been thus cut off by God's judgments as an example to those that after should live ungodly, shall come up in the judgment for the complete punishment of their sins. But their case shall be more tolerable in the judgment than that of those who have had the example of their punishment, and have had far greater light than they were favored with, and yet have refused to repent. Matt. 10:15; 11:22, 24; Luke 10:12, 14. Thus, even the mitigating circumstances are taken into the account in the judgment of the wicked, as certainly as are those of an aggravating character. Surely God is, in the highest sense, just and righteous. The record of the righteous, as we have seen, is passed upon by the Father when he counts them worthy to have part in the resurrection to immortality; and by the Son when they stand before him to receive according to their labors and sacrifices in the cause of God. And that record will show in the case of every one who is able to stand in the judgment so perfect a work of repentance, and confession, and reparations of wrongs done toward others, that not one sinful man can rise up in the judgment against them. Isa. 54:17. The judgment, by the saints, of Satan and his angels and of wicked men being accomplished, it appears that, just before the thousand years expire, the holy city with its immortal inhabitants descends upon our earth, upon a place prepared for it. See Zech. 14:4, 5. At the termination of the thousand years all the wicked dead hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth. John 5:28, 29. The unjust have their resurrection. Acts 24:15. "The rest of the dead" live again. Rev. 20:5. They come forth from the depths of the ocean and from the caverns of earth; for the sea gives up the dead, and hades gives them up also. And they come forth alive, for death itself gives them up. Rev. 20:13. And now Satan is loosed for his final work. He begins it just where he left off. He had gathered the nations to the great battle, when he was bound and they were cut off. Rev. 19. Now, after they have been "many days" in the "prison," the time comes for Satan to visit them as they are loosed from it for their execution. Isa.: 24 21, 22; Eze. 38:8, 9. He resumes his work by inciting them to capture the city of God. Rev. 20:7–9. And thus, by the direct action of Satan, all the wicked, with himself and his angels at their head, stand in the presence of Christ, for the execution of the judgment. As the righteous stand in Christ's presence immediately after they are made immortal, that they may each receive according to their labor (2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 16:27), so do the wicked thus stand in his presence after the second resurrection. As the righteous cannot receive punishment for their sins after they have been blotted out, it follows that those who stand before him to receive for their evil deeds are the wicked, who stand thus in his presence, after the examination of their cases by his saints, during the thousand years. We may safely conclude that many who go down to their graves self-deceived, will come up in the second resurrection really expecting to be saved, and quite unaware that it is the resurrection of the unjust. We think this is the very time when our Lord's words shall have their fulfillment. Matt. 7:22, 23: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." And now, for the first time, all the members of the human family are congregated in one vast assembly. The wicked see the righteous in the kingdom of God, and realize that they themselves are thrust out. And when the wicked realize the mercy which they have slighted, and the infinite sacrifice made for their salvation in the death of God's only Son, and remember their persistent continuance in sin till God could bear no longer, every knee will bow in deepest abasement, acknowledging that God is just, and that their ruin was caused by themselves alone, while the throne of God is forever clear. And as both classes behold the final result of faithful obedience, and of persistent sin, they will, with one mind and voice, declare, "Verily, there is a reward for the righteous; verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth." Ps. 58:11. And now the Son of God pronounces the awful sentence: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt. 25:41. And now, after the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. Rev. 20:9; 2 Pet. 2:6; Gen. 19:24–28. It is the burning earth that constitutes the great lake of fire in which the wicked shall experience the second death. 2 Pet. 3:7–12; Mal. 4:1–3; Prov. 11:31. Satan and his angels shall share this furnace of fire with wicked men; for, indeed, it was originally prepared for them. Matt. 25:41; Isa. 30:33. Finally, the earth shall be not only melted, but dissolved. 2 Pet. 3:10, 11. Such shall be the intense action of the devouring fire, that the earth itself, being reduced to a gaseous condition, shall flee away from the presence of Him that sitteth upon the great white throne, who is doubtless God the Father. Rev. 20:11. Then he that sitteth upon the throne shall say, "Behold, I make all things new." Rev. 21:5. And all the elements that were dissolved in the devouring fire shall unite again to form the earth. The New Jerusalem shall have place upon the new earth, and the glory of God shall fill the earth as the waters fill the sea. The saints shall bear the image of the second Adam, as now they bear that of the first, and shall live for endless ages. Sin, being thus struck out of existence, in the utter destruction of all evil doers, shall never rise up again to mar the handiwork of God. The universe shall be as clean as it was before the rebellion of Satan, and God shall be all in all.