The Time of Rewards and Punishment.
By B. F. Snook
HAVING previously proved the mortality of man, and that in death he is not conscious, neither rewarded for his obedience, nor punished for his disobedience, we will now proceed to point out the time when God will render to every man according to his deeds. Upon this subject we submit the following proposition: I. That the retribution, or giving rewards and punishments, will take place under the sounding of the seventh angel. In the book of Revelation, the Christian dispensation is divided into seven periods, represented by seven churches, seven seals, and then by seven angels sounding seven trumpets. The last of each of these represents the last days of this dispensation. The period measured off by the sounding of the seventh angel, comprehends the times of rewarding the righteous and punishing the ungodly, and hence must span the thousand years, at the end of which the wicked will be destroyed. Rev. xx, 5. The time when the seventh angel sounds next claims our attention. That is, when the mystery of God begins to be finished. Rev. x, 8. The mystery of God is the salvation of Jews and Gentiles on the same conditions. Eph. iii, 2, 6, 9. To finish this mystery is to make the atonement, or cleanse the heavenly sanctuary. Heb. viii, 2, 9; vi, 23; Dan. viii, 14. The sanctuary was to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days. The 2300 days, which are symbols of years—Ex. iv, 6, ended in 1844, for they began in the autumn of 457 B. C., and hence terminate at that time. Therefore, as the seventh angel sounds when the mystery of God begins to be finished; and as the mystery of God begins to be finished when the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary begins, and as that begins at the end of the 2300 days, and as they terminate in 1844, we conclude that the seventh angel began to sound at that time. We are now prepared to consider the testimony upon the subject of retribution. "And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in Heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name small and great, and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." Rev. xi, 15–18. The import of this very significant scripture appears to be as follows: 1. At the close of probation all the wicked nations and individuals of earth are given into the hands of Christ. Ps. ii, 9. 2. The nations become angry and vent their fury in destructive warfare upon each other. Joel iii, 9. 3. In the same period is the time of God's wrath. 4. In the same time he will reward all his faithful people, and destroy the corruptors of the earth. The giving the nations into the hands of Christ, the anger of the nations, and the wrath of God, the salvation of the saints, prophets, and all who fear his name and the destruction of the wicked, are events which must occur in that period measured off by the sounding of the seventh angel, which began in 1844. The fact is therefore herein demonstrated that the popular theory of rewards and punishment being given at death, is incorrect. II. The saints of God will not be rewarded till the resurrection of the dead. The Scriptures are very explicit upon this point. Indeed, they are so very clear that it is a great wonder that any one who has ever read them should believe in such a doctrine as that the righteous go to Heaven and receive their reward, as soon as they die. The Lord said in reference to the time of reward, "And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Luke xiv, 14. "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John v, 28, 29. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Dan. xii, 2. These three important texts are sufficiently clear and pointed to prove our proposition. And upon the authority of this very plain and well-sustained position we hesitate not in saying that the popular theory contradicts the word of God. This doctrine so clearly taught is entirely set aside by the theology of our day. For if the righteous go to heaven at death, there certainly can be no benefit in the doctrine of the resurrection. If the saints can have their reward without it, there is no need of it; and as a result of the general belief on this subject, we discover that the churches generally have no faith in the doctrine of a literal resurrection. III. The resurrection will take place in connection with the second coming of Christ. The time is coming—the bright morning will soon dawn, when the many millions of saints who are yet sleeping will awake from their dreamless slumbers; when the chains of death by which they have long been held in the land of darkness and forgetfulness, will be forever broken, and they will live to die no more. This happy event will occur as described by Christ and the apostles. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. xxiv, 30, 31. "For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. iv, 16. These scriptures connect the resurrection of the just with the second coming of Christ. This introduces another proposition. IV. The saints will be made immortal, receive their crowns, and be rewarded with eternal life, and appear in glory at the second advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 1. The trumpet that awakes the dead will sound when the Lord makes his appearance; and when the trumpet sounds the dead will arise. "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 shall be changed; for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1 Cor. xv, 51–53. Then those who have long been seeking immortality will receive it through the second Adam. "For as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Verse 49. 2. Then, and not at death, will the saint receive his unfading crown. "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 1 Pet. v, 4. It was this bright promise that filled the heart of the apostle Paul to rejoicing, in his last moments. He looked at death as the termination of his earthly sufferings. He said that he was ready to be offered; and well did he know that then his martyrdom was near. But he looked beyond these light afflictions of momentary endurance, to the second advent of Christ for his crown. He said of this, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day (the day of death? No), and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing." 2 Tim. iv, 8. The hope of receiving a crown of glory at death, was no part of Paul's hope. He was content to await God's appointed time, until his change should come. 3. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he reward every man according to his work." Matt. xvi, 27. "And behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. xxii, 12. How brightly does the Lord's blessed word shine around this subject. There is light here that shines so brightly that none can now be excused34for living in ignorance. Not in one single place in all the Bible is there an intimation of a promise of salvation before the Lord comes. The promises all stand in connection with that event. 4. In this world it is appointed to man to suffer and to die; but when Jesus comes and immortalizes his saints, they shall have eternal life, and never suffer any more. Praise the Lord! The Christian's sufferings are all this side of the first resurrection. "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life." Mark x, 30. 5. After Christ informed his disciples that he was going away to his Father, and would leave them in this world to suffer and at last to die, he told them plainly that they could not follow him whither he was going! John xiii, 33. This bereaved them of all their joys; and for their consolation he said to them, "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 xiv, 1–3. How full of sweet consolation the blessed promise in this, must have been to the weeping, sorrowing disciples. The world was dark, but all beyond was bright and resplendent with glory to them. The apostle Peter presented the same promise to the brethren in his day, to induce them to greater acts of faithfulness in the cause of God. He said to them, "When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. iii, 4. Again, Christ, when speaking of the harvest, the end of the world, his coming, and the burning of the tares, said, "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt. xiii, 43. We must desist, or we shall burden our subject with testimony. The foregoing propositions we have sustained with a mass of testimony that no honest man will attempt to gainsay or question. Our final salvation—our eternal all—adheres to, and is dependent upon, the second coming of Christ, which may the Lord hasten, and prepare us for, is our prayer. Amen.