Ten Commandments Tablets with Gavel and Crossby IpswichSDA
12:14Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil, and this is Solomon's conclusion of the whole matter, that the whole duty of humanity is to fear God and keep His commandments. No work is exempt from its scope, for each will be tried and brought into review, including what is hidden from people, done in darkness or in private, and thought secret, which is open to God and will be revealed. The judgment covers thoughts, feelings, intents, motives, words, and deeds down to the heart's inmost thoughts, distinguishes whether each thing is good or evil, and condemns not only what was done but what was left undone, including neglected duties, wasted time, unused opportunities, and good neglected. God's commandments and holy law are the standard by which character and every deed are tested, judgment has been entrusted to the Son who will pass sentence as righteous judge, and heaven keeps exact books that faithfully preserve character, words, and actions, from which the cases of the living and the dead are examined in the investigative judgment that began at the close of the 2300 days in 1844. Each person receives according as his works have been, so now is the time to set wrongs right, confess and forsake sin, and live under God's all-seeing eye in holy obedience with only words and actions one would willingly have angels register.
Solomon's Conclusion and Duty
The verse is Solomon's conclusion of the whole matter as a preacher of righteousness presenting the prospect of a judgment to come, that the whole duty of humanity is to fear God and keep His commandments because God will bring every work into judgment with every secret and hidden thing, whether good or evil. It follows the wise preacher's teaching of knowledge in upright words of truth, and it makes accountability to God part of that duty, with God's commandments as the standard by which character and lives are tested. Joined to fearing God and keeping His commandments, it gives the strongest motive to holy obedience, a motive of supreme worth in view of the judgment to come, rendering to every person according to work with eternal decisions and rewards. It is truth needed in every church as the end toward which present truth leads, to be kept distinctly and clearly before the people in preparation for the Lord's soon coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Realizing this brings a pervading conviction of accountability that makes teachers trustworthy, gives a burden for souls, subordinates every act and enterprise to the universal law of obedience, prompts the constant inquiry what God wants done, keeps eyes directed heavenward to be approved by God, maintains a watching and praying attitude, remembers that body and spirit belong to God by purchase, and walks with God like Enoch in constant awareness of accountability.
The duty includes accounting for every idle word spoken, for which account must be given in the day of judgment and by which a person will be justified or condemned. The judgment makes the choices of youth accountable to God and warns against evil, calling the young to remember their Creator and serve Him rather than turn from His worship. There is one standard for all, with no separate rule for directors and for inferiors, and no sinless swerving from God's law. It applies especially to men in positions of trust and to institutions, condemning oppression, selfish grasping for wages and royalties, manmade laws, and conniving in selfish practices, and the day when every hidden thing will be revealed is near and not far distant.
Obedience to all His commandments is required, and obedience is the only question asked in the judgment, with truth practiced in a person's life, words, and actions as the test by which each person is judged. No one who continues in sin will be vindicated, and no one can claim to be guiltless while continuing in sin. God witnesses and records even the most secret actions of a person's life, and His Word sets a divine standard, identifying right conduct and condemning conduct that leads to ruin unless there is reform. In the great day God will bring forth the law traced by His finger upon the tables of stone now in the ark, and by it pronounce sentence against every evil, seducing science produced by the father of lies.
What Judgment Covers
Every work comes into judgment with no exemption and no work outside its scope, for character and life are tested by God's law and each deed is tried and brought into review before the heavenly universe, including what has been kept secret and what people try to conceal. Every deed, whether good or evil, is brought before God in the coming judgment, carrying eternal decisions and rewards and making the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments the present duty, with confession and forsaking of wrongs and a sincere religious life matters of present importance.
Every secret thing is brought to light, for what is hidden from people, concealed by deception, done in darkness or in private rooms, or thought secret is open to God and will be revealed. The judgment's record includes hidden purposes and motives, so no deed or inward intention is concealed from Him, and the record in heaven faithfully preserves character, words, and actions to be faced in the judgment. Hidden cruelties at the fortified heights against the Waldenses and the sufferings of those who died for faith will be brought to light then, and no place or darkness can conceal wrongdoing from God even when human laws are broken without detection or punishment. Awareness of the guilty record of a life with its secret sins, all open to God and judged according to deeds done, can awaken conscience and bring terror, but conviction must lead to repentance rather than be dismissed.
The judgment covers thoughts, feelings, intents, purposes, motives, words, and deeds, including the spirit prompting them and the heart's inmost thoughts, with nothing concealed from His searching gaze. Thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds are seeds that will produce good or evil fruit, and all actions with their motives are open to inspection by God and the angels as the time of reaping draws near. Every moment and the way it is used are recorded, and every selfish act, false or deceptive word, and moral defect is recorded and will be exposed when young and old see the faithful record of conduct. Secret motives and counsels of the heart, whether good or evil, bring accountability, as when a minister gathered believers' means for himself and later turned against them and must answer to God for what he took as belonging to God's treasury. Those entrusted with others' spiritual care will also answer for the people they influenced, and each person is tested by the perfect standard of God's law.
The judgment distinguishes whether each thing is good or evil, with every human deed open before perfect justice at His tribunal and each person answering for deeds done. No one can assume that God overlooks, excuses, or will not punish persistent wrongdoing against His law, for His judgment is sure and exact and His law is not optional. Human customs and inventions that replace His commandments cannot withstand that judgment and will prove worthless.
Condemnation rests not only on what was done but on what was not done, for a register of sins of omission stands beside sins of commission, including duties left undone, neglected warnings and reproofs, wasted time, unused opportunities, and good neglected. Proving by one's own measure or measurement of character that no positive wrong was done is not enough, for doing no positive good is enough to condemn a person as a wicked and slothful servant. Accountability includes even the smallest actions, words, and thoughts and the influence a life gives off, so life is a sacred trust with eternal consequences needing Christ's saving help. Neglect of His claims and rejection of offered mercy are investigated and charged to the person and add to the record of sin, whether or not the person professes to be a Christian.
God's law searches the heart and records even sins known to God alone, including dark passions of jealousy, revenge, hatred, malignity, lust, and wild ambition hidden from human sight, and evil contemplated but not carried out for want of opportunity. It includes sins that would have been committed if there had been opportunity, with thoughts, purposes, plans, and motives known to God. These hidden secret things form character, and the record of that character reveals its defects and calls the person to repent and turn from sin.
Even the smallest actions, words, and thoughts, the influence a life gives off, and the far-reaching results for good or evil are included and help determine destiny. Words, actions, and even hidden motives are recorded faithfully, and every deed, spoken word, and secret motive is considered, both good and evil. Though people may forget them, they testify for or against them in the judgment and will justify or condemn them. The record kept on high has no omissions or mistakes, and every neglected opportunity to serve God is faithfully reported, while deeds of faith and love, however humble, are also recorded and held in everlasting remembrance.
Standard Judge and Record
God's commandments and holy law are the standard by which character, lives, and every deed are tested, and fearing God and keeping His commandments is the whole duty of humanity because every work including what is hidden will be brought into judgment. The whole world stands condemned before that great moral standard of righteousness, and in the great day every soul that ever lived will receive sentence according to whether deeds have been good or evil in its light. The decisive question in that judgment is whether people have obeyed God's commandments. Those who despise His holy law and the false guides who teach transgression will be exposed, asked why they rejected the Lord's commandment, and overwhelmed with terror and despair. God judges people by His word and its requirements, so those who fulfill them stand while those who disregard them fail, and the Bible serves both as guide in life and as witness against the disobedient in the day of judgment.
Judgment has been entrusted to the Son, for the Father judges no man but has committed all judgment to the Son, and Christ will pass sentence as a righteous judge. His justice, like His mercy, is an expression of His love. He places every action in the scale and brings every work into judgment based on the law in a scene carried forward in the presence of all the worlds, making known the holy character of God and the terrible enormity of sin. Before the mind of the unrepentant sinner all his sins will be opened so he sees and understands the aggregate of sin and his own guilt, while when the loyal overcomers are crowned all who transgressed His law and broke covenant will be present and not one of the righteous will be absent. The Son of man shall come in His glory with all nations gathered before Him as Judge, the One whom every sinner has crucified. In the last great day every word and every act will be subjected to the crucial test of the Judge of all the earth, and the new covenant made with His elect will not cover one trace of evil.
At the end of those who have refused to receive their Saviour, justice will take the throne and Christ will lay bare the motives and deeds of every person. Every hidden action will then stand out as clearly before the doer as if proclaimed before the universe, when the arm strong to save shows itself strong to smite and destroy the enemies of the kingdom. Then every mouth will be stopped and every subterfuge and lying excuse swept away as the cross with its dying Victim is presented and its real bearing is seen by minds blinded and corrupted by sin. Sinners will stand condemned before the cross with its mysterious Victim bowing beneath the infinite burden of human transgression, human apostasy will appear in its heinous character, and men will see and understand their choice to reject Christ the Prince of Peace and choose Barabbas instead.
Heaven keeps exact books that faithfully preserve character, words, and actions, and the record faithfully reveals the person including what is hidden, to be faced in the judgment. God's record of human life is completely accurate when viewed in the light of eternity, with no omissions or mistakes, so every motive and action and everything said and done bears on eternal realities and will be faced again. Angels are present making a record of everything done, the universe of heaven notes every transaction, and the books tell the true story, so what people forget still testifies for or against them. No secret wrong goes unnoticed and no righteous deed is forgotten, for all are recorded in heaven for judgment. The prospect that every word and deed is recorded calls people to consider their words and actions. Even secret committee decisions about wages made by personal ideas and feelings without inquiry into workers' needs are seen and judged, so partiality giving large wages to some while limiting poor workers with families to support will be exposed. Every neglected opportunity to serve God is faithfully reported, while deeds of faith and love however humble are also recorded and held in everlasting remembrance.
Angels watch the development of character and weigh moral worth, and every word and act comes under God's review. Every work, word, and deed, open and secret, is observed and will be brought into judgment, watched by unseen agencies good and evil in busy cities, crowded streets, marts of trade, business transactions, councils, and meetings for worship, even when a person thinks himself alone. Heavenly intelligences witness all that is done and said, all heaven is intensely interested as men act their part either for God or for Satan, and business, sport, and pleasure are not all there is to life. Our actions are under review before God as we form characters fit for eternal life, which makes the present a solemn time in which choices matter for eternity and calls for thorough examination of the heart and a life shaped by genuine faith. God sees every act, and the way a person lives forms a character fit for heaven or for destruction. Where His cause is worked for God Himself is present investigating every action, so such work is not done in a common worldly place but in a place made sacred by His investigating presence, to be done under His supervision with fear and trembling and honor, taking care lest in any emergency the institution that is one of His great agencies for advancing truth be misrepresented.
In the investigative judgment, which began at the close of the 2300 days in 1844, the cases of the living and the dead are examined from the heavenly records. God knows each person's inner life and keeps an exact record, so outward appearances cannot hide wrongdoing, and every deed whether good or evil including what is concealed and every hidden motive is brought into judgment. Unrepented and unforsaken sins remain in those records as a witness against the sinner. His pure sight sees hidden sins as well as outward actions, they are recorded by a witness in the books, and at the judgment thoughts and actions and histories of sins neither confessed nor blotted out will be opened and revealed. Unless people repent and confess their sins to God those sins remain charged against them. Those who have wronged another must confess and repent rather than leave the matter unresolved, or they will have to answer for it before God when wrong actions still recorded confront them. Repenting of evil and putting it away means pardon is recorded, cleansing comes through the blood of Jesus Christ, sin must be overcome before God blots it from the record, and the name will not be blotted out of the book of life.
Character is being transferred to the books of heaven as faithfully as an artist reproduces a face on a polished plate, with every phase of character delineated and every manifestation of selfishness or greed noted. All will stand before angels and men revealed in their true light with every person shown just as he is, and in the judgment the result is twofold: either fashioned after the divine similitude or disfigured by the idolatrous sins of selfishness and covetousness. God brings every work into judgment including every secret thing unseen by people, keeping a faithful representation of character that shows whether each one is forming a character fit to be a member of the heavenly family or a crooked character that can never be straightened. Every cherished sin and every indulgence in wrongdoing makes an eternal impression and takes a likeness for eternity, including selfishness clamoring for recognition, fretfulness when the will is crossed or another is placed higher, and unkindness and meanness allowed to develop. If the selfish way is still followed it will be carried until the great Judge reveals the character in all its deformity.
Time Manner and Outcome
The judgment takes place before the assembled universe, in the presence of all the worlds with all nations gathered before the Judge. Nothing is covered up, for every deed is tried and every act brought into review before the heavenly universe. Every person is shown just as he is, standing revealed in true light before angels and men. The record of each day's conduct is witnessed in heaven, making each accountable for choices that affect the eternal future.
That judgment is connected with Christ's coming in glory, when He appears as divine Judge seated at God's right hand and renders to every man according to his work with eternal decisions and rewards. The dead stand before God in the resurrection to receive sentence according to their works, and the living likewise stand before His seat. Only those who live by every word of God will be saved, so readiness for His return in the clouds with power and great glory requires living with Him now and letting His character shape the life. A correct knowledge of this review would make men fear and tremble for the future.
Each receives according as his works have been, whether punishment or reward. The day of the Lord will reveal unnoticed sacrifices, self-denial, and anguish endured for God, and these will receive their reward. Deeds of faith and love, however humble, are recorded with no omissions or mistakes and held in everlasting remembrance, and faithful effort receives its due credit even when its results go unnoticed or unpraised. God gives to the faithful true patience under trial.
The final review considers whether each faithfully fulfilled the duties given, including the moral and religious duties of life, exposing deeds, words, and the heart's inmost thoughts. Its decision is final, with no secret remaining hidden before the Judge of all. Character formed during probationary life remains unchanged after death, for death dissolves the body but does not change the character. Christ's coming fixes character forever.
That judgment vindicates God's government and honors His commandment-keeping people while exposing the result and terrible enormity of sin. Before the mind of the unrepentant sinner all his sins are opened, so he sees and understands the aggregate of sin and his own guilt, including a whole life brought into view with its secret things. Then every mouth is stopped and every subterfuge and lying excuse swept away as the cross with its dying Victim is presented and its real bearing is seen by minds blinded and corrupted by sin. Sinners stand condemned before the cross, seeing their choice to reject Christ the Prince of Peace and choose Barabbas, understanding that worldly pleasures, riches, and honors have no lasting value, that they formed character under Satan's deceptive influence in allegiance to him, and what it means to transgress God's commandments. At the end of those refusing their Saviour justice takes the throne, Christ lays bare motives and deeds, and every hidden action stands as clearly before the doer as if proclaimed before the universe.
God has a storehouse of retributive judgments which He permits to fall upon those continuing in sin in the face of great light. He avenges the widows and orphans who in hunger and nakedness cry to Him for help from oppression and abuse. As Sodom perished in the flames of vengeance, proud structures supposed fireproof become ashes, costly vessels with gold and silver and human freight sink into a watery grave, man's pride is buried with treasures accumulated by fraud, and flattering monuments of greatness crumble in the dust even before the last great destruction. Then there is sorrow in the world that no human balm can heal.
The great day is near and not far distant, and the end is not long before God brings the judgment in which the passions of the carnal, selfish heart are revealed and every secret thing brought to light. The present is the last great day of atonement, a day of confession before the books are opened when every person is judged by the things written in the books. Unsettled questions should therefore be brought out now, with every work made to appear with its underlying motive and the secrets of all hearts made known. Sins must be confessed beforehand to be placed on the scapegoat and borne away, for those who cover their wrongs cannot stand on vantage ground, religious life must not be made play-work, and those warned cannot then say they received no warning.
Accountability in Daily Life
Every word will be answered for in the judgment, whether good or evil, including every thought, word, and action brought to review on the last great day. The record includes every influence and prompting of the Holy Spirit that leads toward goodness and God, and the worker through whom the Lord brings light will be commended on the day of God. Careless and unkind speech, evil suspicion, false reports, ungodly jest, satire, sarcasm, wit, and remarks spoken in private rooms are included, and their full harvest of harm and loss will not be known until then. Unkind words grow through repetition, and unrighteous suspicions and judgments cause injustice and discord, while those who speak them fail to see the sin they commit and neglect the work given them. This accountability makes ministry and sacred service an eternal responsibility, demanding care in choosing workers for its work.
The use of time is judged, for time is God's gift and hours spent on needless dress ornamentation, amusement, self-gratification, or idle conversation must be accounted for to Him. Life is not for self-pleasing alone but should glorify God and benefit others, and amusements that do not prepare people to carry out ordinary duties faithfully are not innocent. Needless spending on dress and other indulgences means missed opportunities to help the poor and support God's work, with purposes and motives seen as to whether affections are set on heavenly or earthly things. Wasted hours and neglected opportunities will be regretted when the record of life is faced and the lost chance to gain immortal treasure becomes clear.
Business and money are judged with exact scrutiny that never compromises with injustice, for God knows every work and no deed concealed through deception or done for money is hidden from Him. Scheming and sharp dealing, wrongdoing and increased dishonest practices, crooked steps, bribes, grasping bargains, favoritism, indulgence of intemperance that sells reason for liquor, and violations of principle, honor, and integrity will be judged, and even the least dishonest practice will not have favor. Decisions about workers' wages are included, with every transaction recorded in heaven, so those who deal unjustly will answer for it. Secret committee decisions about wages made according to personal ideas and feelings without inquiry into workers' needs are seen and judged, with angels present making the record and the universe of heaven noting every transaction, so partiality giving large wages to some while limiting poor workers with families to support will be exposed. A minister who gathered believers' means for himself and later turned against them must answer for what he took, which belonged to God's treasury, and hidden wrongdoing will be brought to light. Money is God's gift and sacred trust to be spent wisely according to His will and His standards rather than worldly customs, personal inclination, pride, vanity, appetite, passion, or self-gratification that brings harm, while hurried accounts, diverted funds, and inequitable wages stand recorded and testify against the doers.
Leaving the work in the Southern States at a standstill through past neglect will be brought into judgment, and there will be no excuse to offer for failure to arouse and make earnest efforts for its advance. Diverting money raised for the work in the South to the General Conference or the Pacific Press Publishing House was a fraudulent transaction standing recorded, since that money was never the property of those who took it. The lack of money and facilities in the Southern field witnesses against untrustworthy men and will bring a terrible reaction, and every dollar of principal with interest up to the present time must be placed where designed.
Home life is judged in particulars, for God is particular about conduct toward Himself and His law and tests whether a person is a doer of the Word in home life and business life, with man and neighbor, toward believers and unbelievers. The judgment covers words spoken in the family circle and the spirit manifested there, in an appointed day when He judges the world in righteousness and every man receives for things done in the body. Parents must answer for how they fulfill their duty to guide children, not letting natural affection lead them to permit what God forbids or neglect what He commands, but teaching and requiring them to follow the Lord's way. Parents' impatient or careless words, failures to instruct, and all other actions are recorded and count in accountability. Words and actions in courtship are accountable and recorded in heaven, so conduct should be pure and honorable even when unseen, with no word spoken and no action performed that one would not willingly have holy angels look upon and register. Secretly carrying out personal inclinations, pursuing deception to avoid censure, encouraging disregard of rules and order, becoming unfaithful in duty, following erroneous ideas of marriage, following impulse and blind passion, carrying on courtship in flirtation, violating modesty and reserve, guilt of indiscretion, and breaking God's law are included, and marriage cannot be holy and honorable unless it follows the exalted Scriptural principle, because anything debasing degrades character, hides God's high design, and prevents development of purest affections and noblest traits. No work afar atones for a wrong course at home.
Secret adultery and unfaithfulness leave guilt before God though others suppose the person true and good and righteous. Breaking the seventh commandment with more than one person, taking advantage of girls in private under claim of treatment, and leading other souls astray while standing at the head of a sanitarium are held to reckoning with all hidden deeds brought into judgment. The Holy Watcher sees every secret action and hears every secret word, even intimate adultery done in private rooms and in bed by one in responsible position as a watchman, including kissing and embracing another man's wife and lying with her. Such betrayal of sacred trust crucifies the Lord afresh, and all such hidden works are registered in heaven's books to be brought into judgment.
Those entrusted with spiritual care will answer for the people they influenced, with thoughts, words, and motives recorded and every person tested by the perfect standard of God's law. Those who fail to help souls in danger will answer for neglecting people they could have blessed, strengthened, upheld, and healed. Conduct that leads others away from God's kingdom, including words, spirit, and actions recorded as a witness, is exposed and judged by the Word of God. Light brought through faithful workers is commended, while exerting wrong influence and choosing unfit workers are judged.
Cruelty and oppression against God's people cannot escape notice, even when those responsible profess to follow Him. Treatment of weak, weary, and vulnerable fellow workers is witnessed and will receive its deserved judgment. Hidden cruelties committed at the fortified heights against the Waldenses, and the sufferings of those who died for faith, will be brought to light and revealed. Influence upon spouse and children is judged by holy law reaching every action and hidden motive, and those who lead others into transgression are accountable for the harm their example brings. Oppression and other wrongs of one person against another will face retribution unless repented of, making professed believers accountable for conduct that exploits others and desecrates God's work.
God keeps a straight account of every wrong done within the church, especially when one member defrauds a brother or the cause of God and violates his rights, and He Himself will deal with the offender and avenge every such matter. How people deal with one another, and the principles guiding their conduct, are accountable to Him. Therefore a Christian abused or defrauded should bear it patiently and suffer loss and wrong rather than take personal revenge, contend for rights before secular courts, or appeal to unbelievers in courts of justice, leaving judgment and repayment to God.
Violations of the laws governing physical life are sins against God and will be accounted for when every case comes before Him. Violating physical law is violating God's law, so punishment follows, with consequences that may include sickness, ruined health, and death. Self-indulgence rejecting known moral duty is accountable even if conscience is not stirred and suffering is blamed on other causes, for judgment will disclose the true cause. People are judged for what they do in the body and held accountable for debasing passions and affections to lust when their whole being belongs to Him for His service. Even secret acts are reviewed, faithfully recorded, and judged by His Word, and though adultery once carried death by stoning and that form has ended, the law's ultimate penalty remains, so the unrepentant transgressor faces everlasting destruction from the Lord's presence.
Obedience to God's law will be tested in the judgment, and excuses for disobeying the fourth commandment based on work, family, or social ties will not stand. Every work is examined and every thought tested by the law of righteousness as the standard for all from rulers to humblest subjects, and those knowingly rejecting the seventh-day Sabbath and exalting a substitute must answer to God the Creator for their choice. What people regard as unimportant may matter to God, and those who reject a command because obedience would cost something answer for that choice. Obeying some precepts while rejecting others lowers the standard of right and can lead others to disregard God's law.
Daily conduct matters because it will be judged, and when everyday duties are done in fear of God with faithfulness they shape habits and character and form a life-record that can pass the test. The teacher's influence on pupils and others continues to bear fruit, and the teacher will meet those fruits with every word and deed reviewed. Influence and example assume infinite importance in light of the cross and eternity, with day-by-day example and influence registered in records going beforehand to judgment, including a word fitly spoken at the right time that may save a soul from death, whether light has shone in works giving glory to God, and whether example has told for truth.
Every person's work and actions will be examined, including opposition to God's work and words and conduct that harm others, with angels recording and each answering to God, and no one excused when sufficient evidence was available. Only what is like gold, silver, and precious stones stands in the last-day testing. Those who criticize and condemn faithful servants cannot conceal their own hearts' secrets from searching gaze. God sees every thought, plan, and secret act, including what is said and done in private councils, and no secret opposition escapes His judgment. Nebuchadnezzar's pride claiming glory belonging to God was exposed, bringing humiliation and loss of reason, warning those who judge others that they too are seen and measured, and chastening reveals separating sin so it can be corrected before ruin. Sin is sin regardless of rank or station, and though God patiently waits for repentance, those who do not will confess too late for pardon. Those who undermine God, make His purity as nothing by accepting Satan's deceiving methods, and educate and plan for others to do evil will share alike in punishment, for their daring takes nothing from His purity but takes it from their own characters.
Call to Present Response
The coming judgment supplies the strongest motive of supreme worth for holy obedience, joining the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments as the whole duty of humanity. That conviction of accountability makes a person trustworthy, creates a burden for souls, subordinates every act and enterprise to the universal law of obedience, and prompts the constant inquiry what God wants done. It keeps the eyes directed heavenward for divine approval, maintains watching and prayer, remembers that body and spirit belong to God by purchase, and walks with God as Enoch did in unbroken awareness of being answerable. Since every word and deed is recorded and will be faced, including what is hidden, the prospect calls for careful consideration of words and actions now.
Because every deed and every hidden matter will be judged, it is important now to set wrongs right and to build a holy character that will endure when all else perishes. No act is excluded from trial and review before the heavenly universe, even deeds people try to conceal, so confession and forsaking of wrongs and a sincere religious life are matters of present urgency. Wrong actions remain on the heavenly record and will confront the doer, so one who has wronged another must confess and repent rather than leave it unresolved. No covering or excuse can hide the true character of any work when revealed, making neglected repentance and confession urgent while life lasts, since past and present are both answerable. The record may differ from human opinion and includes motives and conduct hidden from others, so wrongs should be made right without delay because the end is near and the record as it stands will be met in judgment.
Religion must not be play-work, for profession or supposed hope alone cannot stand when every word and act comes under review and moral worth is weighed. Eternal life requires thorough heart-work lived out in self-denial, watchfulness, prayer, and separation from worldly influence. Knowing the divine will without doing it brings judgment and greater punishment, so peace must be made with God and separation from the world completed before it is too late, lest supposed readiness prove to be no sound hope. Accountability for injustice and harsh speech, revealing both what was done and the spirit prompting it with its full harm and consequences, calls for repentance, confession, and living faith in the merits of the crucified and living Saviour, especially in the present great day of atonement.
Awareness that God brings every deed and hidden thing into judgment, good or evil, can awaken conscience and bring terror, but conviction must lead to repentance rather than be dismissed. Judgment will expose every secret thing, including passions and deeds of the heart, leaving no claim of unwarned ignorance, so hidden and untrue things must be put away and character transformed to stand open before God. This life is a school preparing for examination by the God of heaven in purity, cleanness of thought, and unselfish action, with every thought, word, and act recorded in heaven. The time to learn Christ's lessons and perfect Christian character is now, with no later opportunity to recover neglected lessons or lost privileges, requiring readiness to stand in Christ's merits with victory gained in His name. Careless disregard of the Holy Spirit in hours of selfish pleasure and amusement will not be lightly regarded when every secret thing is brought into judgment.
Every motive, habit, and phase of character will be brought into judgment against God's holy standard of righteousness, which is His holy law approved for the last great day of reckoning. Those building character, especially the young, must therefore closely examine every habit and practice in the light of God's Word, begin life-work with correct principles and a proper theory of life, put right timber into character building, keep the eye single to God's glory, rise to mastery of self, and refuse the devil's deception. They must examine the course pursued, the influence exercised over one another, whether they uplift, whether they build with chaff or sow pure seed in the heart, whether they lead to purity, and whether associations lead to recognizing and obeying God's law, making a decided change at once where the course would bring sorrow and anguish.
Life is lived under God's all-seeing eye that never slumbers or sleeps and is ever upon each person, for He is always present, holds supreme authority, and takes account of every deed good or evil with no escape from the claims of His law. Daily conduct stamps the life record and forms character for heaven or destruction, so all acts should be such as one will not be ashamed to meet in judgment or to have revealed before people and angels. Words may appear different when spoken than they will appear before God, so speech and conduct should be controlled and kept free of anything one would be ashamed to face in that day. No word should be spoken and no action performed that one would be unwilling for holy angels to look upon and register above, including secretly following personal inclination, practicing deception to avoid censure, encouraging disregard of rules and order, unfaithfulness in duty, erroneous ideas of marriage, impulse and blind passion, flirtatious courtship, immodesty, indiscretion, and breaking God's law. Life must be lived with an eye single to His glory in pure, sanctified, exalted affection worthy of followers of Jesus, with marriage holy and honorable only on the exalted scriptural principle, since anything debasing in courtship degrades character, hides God's noble design, and hinders the purest affections and noblest traits. This same awareness calls students and teachers to Christian respect and self-control, knowing every word, thought, and action, including the hidden, is seen and answerable in judgment.
What matters is God's measurement of character, not human opinion, for every person is bound for judgment and now on trial, and conduct in this world decides future destiny. Success in life's work comes through perfect obedience to every law in God's Word, and failure to obey in this life means failure to gain the life that measures with the life of God. Preparation for the coming day of reckoning, when every act and motive is judged and each rewarded according to works, requires turning from controversies with brethren that reproach the cause and reading the plain Word and practicing its teachings for Christ's sake. A just God examines each life, so each should now do his best in consecrated service, using life and talents for the greatest good. That entrusted work includes caring for the hungry, poor, oppressed, and needy, which honors God and receives His promised blessing when every work is tested and rewarded. Readiness for that judgment is gained by attending to eternal interests now, a readiness connected with the hope of meeting in heaven.
God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil, and this is Solomon's conclusion of the whole matter, that the whole duty of humanity is to fear God and keep His commandments. No work is exempt from its scope, for each will be tried and brought into review, including what is hidden from people, done in darkness or in private, and thought secret, which is open to God and will be revealed. The judgment covers thoughts, feelings, intents, motives, words, and deeds down to the heart's inmost thoughts, distinguishes whether each thing is good or evil, and condemns not only what was done but what was left undone, including neglected duties, wasted time, unused opportunities, and good neglected. God's commandments and holy law are the standard by which character and every deed are tested, judgment has been entrusted to the Son who will pass sentence as righteous judge, and heaven keeps exact books that faithfully preserve character, words, and actions, from which the cases of the living and the dead are examined in the investigative judgment that began at the close of the 2300 days in 1844. Each person receives according as his works have been, so now is the time to set wrongs right, confess and forsake sin, and live under God's all-seeing eye in holy obedience with only words and actions one would willingly have angels register.
Solomon's Conclusion and Duty
The verse is Solomon's conclusion of the whole matter as a preacher of righteousness presenting the prospect of a judgment to come, that the whole duty of humanity is to fear God and keep His commandments because God will bring every work into judgment with every secret and hidden thing, whether good or evil. It follows the wise preacher's teaching of knowledge in upright words of truth, and it makes accountability to God part of that duty, with God's commandments as the standard by which character and lives are tested. Joined to fearing God and keeping His commandments, it gives the strongest motive to holy obedience, a motive of supreme worth in view of the judgment to come, rendering to every person according to work with eternal decisions and rewards. It is truth needed in every church as the end toward which present truth leads, to be kept distinctly and clearly before the people in preparation for the Lord's soon coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Realizing this brings a pervading conviction of accountability that makes teachers trustworthy, gives a burden for souls, subordinates every act and enterprise to the universal law of obedience, prompts the constant inquiry what God wants done, keeps eyes directed heavenward to be approved by God, maintains a watching and praying attitude, remembers that body and spirit belong to God by purchase, and walks with God like Enoch in constant awareness of accountability.
The duty includes accounting for every idle word spoken, for which account must be given in the day of judgment and by which a person will be justified or condemned. The judgment makes the choices of youth accountable to God and warns against evil, calling the young to remember their Creator and serve Him rather than turn from His worship. There is one standard for all, with no separate rule for directors and for inferiors, and no sinless swerving from God's law. It applies especially to men in positions of trust and to institutions, condemning oppression, selfish grasping for wages and royalties, manmade laws, and conniving in selfish practices, and the day when every hidden thing will be revealed is near and not far distant.
Obedience to all His commandments is required, and obedience is the only question asked in the judgment, with truth practiced in a person's life, words, and actions as the test by which each person is judged. No one who continues in sin will be vindicated, and no one can claim to be guiltless while continuing in sin. God witnesses and records even the most secret actions of a person's life, and His Word sets a divine standard, identifying right conduct and condemning conduct that leads to ruin unless there is reform. In the great day God will bring forth the law traced by His finger upon the tables of stone now in the ark, and by it pronounce sentence against every evil, seducing science produced by the father of lies.
What Judgment Covers
Every work comes into judgment with no exemption and no work outside its scope, for character and life are tested by God's law and each deed is tried and brought into review before the heavenly universe, including what has been kept secret and what people try to conceal. Every deed, whether good or evil, is brought before God in the coming judgment, carrying eternal decisions and rewards and making the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments the present duty, with confession and forsaking of wrongs and a sincere religious life matters of present importance.
Every secret thing is brought to light, for what is hidden from people, concealed by deception, done in darkness or in private rooms, or thought secret is open to God and will be revealed. The judgment's record includes hidden purposes and motives, so no deed or inward intention is concealed from Him, and the record in heaven faithfully preserves character, words, and actions to be faced in the judgment. Hidden cruelties at the fortified heights against the Waldenses and the sufferings of those who died for faith will be brought to light then, and no place or darkness can conceal wrongdoing from God even when human laws are broken without detection or punishment. Awareness of the guilty record of a life with its secret sins, all open to God and judged according to deeds done, can awaken conscience and bring terror, but conviction must lead to repentance rather than be dismissed.
The judgment covers thoughts, feelings, intents, purposes, motives, words, and deeds, including the spirit prompting them and the heart's inmost thoughts, with nothing concealed from His searching gaze. Thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds are seeds that will produce good or evil fruit, and all actions with their motives are open to inspection by God and the angels as the time of reaping draws near. Every moment and the way it is used are recorded, and every selfish act, false or deceptive word, and moral defect is recorded and will be exposed when young and old see the faithful record of conduct. Secret motives and counsels of the heart, whether good or evil, bring accountability, as when a minister gathered believers' means for himself and later turned against them and must answer to God for what he took as belonging to God's treasury. Those entrusted with others' spiritual care will also answer for the people they influenced, and each person is tested by the perfect standard of God's law.
The judgment distinguishes whether each thing is good or evil, with every human deed open before perfect justice at His tribunal and each person answering for deeds done. No one can assume that God overlooks, excuses, or will not punish persistent wrongdoing against His law, for His judgment is sure and exact and His law is not optional. Human customs and inventions that replace His commandments cannot withstand that judgment and will prove worthless.
Condemnation rests not only on what was done but on what was not done, for a register of sins of omission stands beside sins of commission, including duties left undone, neglected warnings and reproofs, wasted time, unused opportunities, and good neglected. Proving by one's own measure or measurement of character that no positive wrong was done is not enough, for doing no positive good is enough to condemn a person as a wicked and slothful servant. Accountability includes even the smallest actions, words, and thoughts and the influence a life gives off, so life is a sacred trust with eternal consequences needing Christ's saving help. Neglect of His claims and rejection of offered mercy are investigated and charged to the person and add to the record of sin, whether or not the person professes to be a Christian.
God's law searches the heart and records even sins known to God alone, including dark passions of jealousy, revenge, hatred, malignity, lust, and wild ambition hidden from human sight, and evil contemplated but not carried out for want of opportunity. It includes sins that would have been committed if there had been opportunity, with thoughts, purposes, plans, and motives known to God. These hidden secret things form character, and the record of that character reveals its defects and calls the person to repent and turn from sin.
Even the smallest actions, words, and thoughts, the influence a life gives off, and the far-reaching results for good or evil are included and help determine destiny. Words, actions, and even hidden motives are recorded faithfully, and every deed, spoken word, and secret motive is considered, both good and evil. Though people may forget them, they testify for or against them in the judgment and will justify or condemn them. The record kept on high has no omissions or mistakes, and every neglected opportunity to serve God is faithfully reported, while deeds of faith and love, however humble, are also recorded and held in everlasting remembrance.
Standard Judge and Record
God's commandments and holy law are the standard by which character, lives, and every deed are tested, and fearing God and keeping His commandments is the whole duty of humanity because every work including what is hidden will be brought into judgment. The whole world stands condemned before that great moral standard of righteousness, and in the great day every soul that ever lived will receive sentence according to whether deeds have been good or evil in its light. The decisive question in that judgment is whether people have obeyed God's commandments. Those who despise His holy law and the false guides who teach transgression will be exposed, asked why they rejected the Lord's commandment, and overwhelmed with terror and despair. God judges people by His word and its requirements, so those who fulfill them stand while those who disregard them fail, and the Bible serves both as guide in life and as witness against the disobedient in the day of judgment.
Judgment has been entrusted to the Son, for the Father judges no man but has committed all judgment to the Son, and Christ will pass sentence as a righteous judge. His justice, like His mercy, is an expression of His love. He places every action in the scale and brings every work into judgment based on the law in a scene carried forward in the presence of all the worlds, making known the holy character of God and the terrible enormity of sin. Before the mind of the unrepentant sinner all his sins will be opened so he sees and understands the aggregate of sin and his own guilt, while when the loyal overcomers are crowned all who transgressed His law and broke covenant will be present and not one of the righteous will be absent. The Son of man shall come in His glory with all nations gathered before Him as Judge, the One whom every sinner has crucified. In the last great day every word and every act will be subjected to the crucial test of the Judge of all the earth, and the new covenant made with His elect will not cover one trace of evil.
At the end of those who have refused to receive their Saviour, justice will take the throne and Christ will lay bare the motives and deeds of every person. Every hidden action will then stand out as clearly before the doer as if proclaimed before the universe, when the arm strong to save shows itself strong to smite and destroy the enemies of the kingdom. Then every mouth will be stopped and every subterfuge and lying excuse swept away as the cross with its dying Victim is presented and its real bearing is seen by minds blinded and corrupted by sin. Sinners will stand condemned before the cross with its mysterious Victim bowing beneath the infinite burden of human transgression, human apostasy will appear in its heinous character, and men will see and understand their choice to reject Christ the Prince of Peace and choose Barabbas instead.
Heaven keeps exact books that faithfully preserve character, words, and actions, and the record faithfully reveals the person including what is hidden, to be faced in the judgment. God's record of human life is completely accurate when viewed in the light of eternity, with no omissions or mistakes, so every motive and action and everything said and done bears on eternal realities and will be faced again. Angels are present making a record of everything done, the universe of heaven notes every transaction, and the books tell the true story, so what people forget still testifies for or against them. No secret wrong goes unnoticed and no righteous deed is forgotten, for all are recorded in heaven for judgment. The prospect that every word and deed is recorded calls people to consider their words and actions. Even secret committee decisions about wages made by personal ideas and feelings without inquiry into workers' needs are seen and judged, so partiality giving large wages to some while limiting poor workers with families to support will be exposed. Every neglected opportunity to serve God is faithfully reported, while deeds of faith and love however humble are also recorded and held in everlasting remembrance.
Angels watch the development of character and weigh moral worth, and every word and act comes under God's review. Every work, word, and deed, open and secret, is observed and will be brought into judgment, watched by unseen agencies good and evil in busy cities, crowded streets, marts of trade, business transactions, councils, and meetings for worship, even when a person thinks himself alone. Heavenly intelligences witness all that is done and said, all heaven is intensely interested as men act their part either for God or for Satan, and business, sport, and pleasure are not all there is to life. Our actions are under review before God as we form characters fit for eternal life, which makes the present a solemn time in which choices matter for eternity and calls for thorough examination of the heart and a life shaped by genuine faith. God sees every act, and the way a person lives forms a character fit for heaven or for destruction. Where His cause is worked for God Himself is present investigating every action, so such work is not done in a common worldly place but in a place made sacred by His investigating presence, to be done under His supervision with fear and trembling and honor, taking care lest in any emergency the institution that is one of His great agencies for advancing truth be misrepresented.
In the investigative judgment, which began at the close of the 2300 days in 1844, the cases of the living and the dead are examined from the heavenly records. God knows each person's inner life and keeps an exact record, so outward appearances cannot hide wrongdoing, and every deed whether good or evil including what is concealed and every hidden motive is brought into judgment. Unrepented and unforsaken sins remain in those records as a witness against the sinner. His pure sight sees hidden sins as well as outward actions, they are recorded by a witness in the books, and at the judgment thoughts and actions and histories of sins neither confessed nor blotted out will be opened and revealed. Unless people repent and confess their sins to God those sins remain charged against them. Those who have wronged another must confess and repent rather than leave the matter unresolved, or they will have to answer for it before God when wrong actions still recorded confront them. Repenting of evil and putting it away means pardon is recorded, cleansing comes through the blood of Jesus Christ, sin must be overcome before God blots it from the record, and the name will not be blotted out of the book of life.
Character is being transferred to the books of heaven as faithfully as an artist reproduces a face on a polished plate, with every phase of character delineated and every manifestation of selfishness or greed noted. All will stand before angels and men revealed in their true light with every person shown just as he is, and in the judgment the result is twofold: either fashioned after the divine similitude or disfigured by the idolatrous sins of selfishness and covetousness. God brings every work into judgment including every secret thing unseen by people, keeping a faithful representation of character that shows whether each one is forming a character fit to be a member of the heavenly family or a crooked character that can never be straightened. Every cherished sin and every indulgence in wrongdoing makes an eternal impression and takes a likeness for eternity, including selfishness clamoring for recognition, fretfulness when the will is crossed or another is placed higher, and unkindness and meanness allowed to develop. If the selfish way is still followed it will be carried until the great Judge reveals the character in all its deformity.
Time Manner and Outcome
The judgment takes place before the assembled universe, in the presence of all the worlds with all nations gathered before the Judge. Nothing is covered up, for every deed is tried and every act brought into review before the heavenly universe. Every person is shown just as he is, standing revealed in true light before angels and men. The record of each day's conduct is witnessed in heaven, making each accountable for choices that affect the eternal future.
That judgment is connected with Christ's coming in glory, when He appears as divine Judge seated at God's right hand and renders to every man according to his work with eternal decisions and rewards. The dead stand before God in the resurrection to receive sentence according to their works, and the living likewise stand before His seat. Only those who live by every word of God will be saved, so readiness for His return in the clouds with power and great glory requires living with Him now and letting His character shape the life. A correct knowledge of this review would make men fear and tremble for the future.
Each receives according as his works have been, whether punishment or reward. The day of the Lord will reveal unnoticed sacrifices, self-denial, and anguish endured for God, and these will receive their reward. Deeds of faith and love, however humble, are recorded with no omissions or mistakes and held in everlasting remembrance, and faithful effort receives its due credit even when its results go unnoticed or unpraised. God gives to the faithful true patience under trial.
The final review considers whether each faithfully fulfilled the duties given, including the moral and religious duties of life, exposing deeds, words, and the heart's inmost thoughts. Its decision is final, with no secret remaining hidden before the Judge of all. Character formed during probationary life remains unchanged after death, for death dissolves the body but does not change the character. Christ's coming fixes character forever.
That judgment vindicates God's government and honors His commandment-keeping people while exposing the result and terrible enormity of sin. Before the mind of the unrepentant sinner all his sins are opened, so he sees and understands the aggregate of sin and his own guilt, including a whole life brought into view with its secret things. Then every mouth is stopped and every subterfuge and lying excuse swept away as the cross with its dying Victim is presented and its real bearing is seen by minds blinded and corrupted by sin. Sinners stand condemned before the cross, seeing their choice to reject Christ the Prince of Peace and choose Barabbas, understanding that worldly pleasures, riches, and honors have no lasting value, that they formed character under Satan's deceptive influence in allegiance to him, and what it means to transgress God's commandments. At the end of those refusing their Saviour justice takes the throne, Christ lays bare motives and deeds, and every hidden action stands as clearly before the doer as if proclaimed before the universe.
God has a storehouse of retributive judgments which He permits to fall upon those continuing in sin in the face of great light. He avenges the widows and orphans who in hunger and nakedness cry to Him for help from oppression and abuse. As Sodom perished in the flames of vengeance, proud structures supposed fireproof become ashes, costly vessels with gold and silver and human freight sink into a watery grave, man's pride is buried with treasures accumulated by fraud, and flattering monuments of greatness crumble in the dust even before the last great destruction. Then there is sorrow in the world that no human balm can heal.
The great day is near and not far distant, and the end is not long before God brings the judgment in which the passions of the carnal, selfish heart are revealed and every secret thing brought to light. The present is the last great day of atonement, a day of confession before the books are opened when every person is judged by the things written in the books. Unsettled questions should therefore be brought out now, with every work made to appear with its underlying motive and the secrets of all hearts made known. Sins must be confessed beforehand to be placed on the scapegoat and borne away, for those who cover their wrongs cannot stand on vantage ground, religious life must not be made play-work, and those warned cannot then say they received no warning.
Accountability in Daily Life
Every word will be answered for in the judgment, whether good or evil, including every thought, word, and action brought to review on the last great day. The record includes every influence and prompting of the Holy Spirit that leads toward goodness and God, and the worker through whom the Lord brings light will be commended on the day of God. Careless and unkind speech, evil suspicion, false reports, ungodly jest, satire, sarcasm, wit, and remarks spoken in private rooms are included, and their full harvest of harm and loss will not be known until then. Unkind words grow through repetition, and unrighteous suspicions and judgments cause injustice and discord, while those who speak them fail to see the sin they commit and neglect the work given them. This accountability makes ministry and sacred service an eternal responsibility, demanding care in choosing workers for its work.
The use of time is judged, for time is God's gift and hours spent on needless dress ornamentation, amusement, self-gratification, or idle conversation must be accounted for to Him. Life is not for self-pleasing alone but should glorify God and benefit others, and amusements that do not prepare people to carry out ordinary duties faithfully are not innocent. Needless spending on dress and other indulgences means missed opportunities to help the poor and support God's work, with purposes and motives seen as to whether affections are set on heavenly or earthly things. Wasted hours and neglected opportunities will be regretted when the record of life is faced and the lost chance to gain immortal treasure becomes clear.
Business and money are judged with exact scrutiny that never compromises with injustice, for God knows every work and no deed concealed through deception or done for money is hidden from Him. Scheming and sharp dealing, wrongdoing and increased dishonest practices, crooked steps, bribes, grasping bargains, favoritism, indulgence of intemperance that sells reason for liquor, and violations of principle, honor, and integrity will be judged, and even the least dishonest practice will not have favor. Decisions about workers' wages are included, with every transaction recorded in heaven, so those who deal unjustly will answer for it. Secret committee decisions about wages made according to personal ideas and feelings without inquiry into workers' needs are seen and judged, with angels present making the record and the universe of heaven noting every transaction, so partiality giving large wages to some while limiting poor workers with families to support will be exposed. A minister who gathered believers' means for himself and later turned against them must answer for what he took, which belonged to God's treasury, and hidden wrongdoing will be brought to light. Money is God's gift and sacred trust to be spent wisely according to His will and His standards rather than worldly customs, personal inclination, pride, vanity, appetite, passion, or self-gratification that brings harm, while hurried accounts, diverted funds, and inequitable wages stand recorded and testify against the doers.
Leaving the work in the Southern States at a standstill through past neglect will be brought into judgment, and there will be no excuse to offer for failure to arouse and make earnest efforts for its advance. Diverting money raised for the work in the South to the General Conference or the Pacific Press Publishing House was a fraudulent transaction standing recorded, since that money was never the property of those who took it. The lack of money and facilities in the Southern field witnesses against untrustworthy men and will bring a terrible reaction, and every dollar of principal with interest up to the present time must be placed where designed.
Home life is judged in particulars, for God is particular about conduct toward Himself and His law and tests whether a person is a doer of the Word in home life and business life, with man and neighbor, toward believers and unbelievers. The judgment covers words spoken in the family circle and the spirit manifested there, in an appointed day when He judges the world in righteousness and every man receives for things done in the body. Parents must answer for how they fulfill their duty to guide children, not letting natural affection lead them to permit what God forbids or neglect what He commands, but teaching and requiring them to follow the Lord's way. Parents' impatient or careless words, failures to instruct, and all other actions are recorded and count in accountability. Words and actions in courtship are accountable and recorded in heaven, so conduct should be pure and honorable even when unseen, with no word spoken and no action performed that one would not willingly have holy angels look upon and register. Secretly carrying out personal inclinations, pursuing deception to avoid censure, encouraging disregard of rules and order, becoming unfaithful in duty, following erroneous ideas of marriage, following impulse and blind passion, carrying on courtship in flirtation, violating modesty and reserve, guilt of indiscretion, and breaking God's law are included, and marriage cannot be holy and honorable unless it follows the exalted Scriptural principle, because anything debasing degrades character, hides God's high design, and prevents development of purest affections and noblest traits. No work afar atones for a wrong course at home.
Secret adultery and unfaithfulness leave guilt before God though others suppose the person true and good and righteous. Breaking the seventh commandment with more than one person, taking advantage of girls in private under claim of treatment, and leading other souls astray while standing at the head of a sanitarium are held to reckoning with all hidden deeds brought into judgment. The Holy Watcher sees every secret action and hears every secret word, even intimate adultery done in private rooms and in bed by one in responsible position as a watchman, including kissing and embracing another man's wife and lying with her. Such betrayal of sacred trust crucifies the Lord afresh, and all such hidden works are registered in heaven's books to be brought into judgment.
Those entrusted with spiritual care will answer for the people they influenced, with thoughts, words, and motives recorded and every person tested by the perfect standard of God's law. Those who fail to help souls in danger will answer for neglecting people they could have blessed, strengthened, upheld, and healed. Conduct that leads others away from God's kingdom, including words, spirit, and actions recorded as a witness, is exposed and judged by the Word of God. Light brought through faithful workers is commended, while exerting wrong influence and choosing unfit workers are judged.
Cruelty and oppression against God's people cannot escape notice, even when those responsible profess to follow Him. Treatment of weak, weary, and vulnerable fellow workers is witnessed and will receive its deserved judgment. Hidden cruelties committed at the fortified heights against the Waldenses, and the sufferings of those who died for faith, will be brought to light and revealed. Influence upon spouse and children is judged by holy law reaching every action and hidden motive, and those who lead others into transgression are accountable for the harm their example brings. Oppression and other wrongs of one person against another will face retribution unless repented of, making professed believers accountable for conduct that exploits others and desecrates God's work.
God keeps a straight account of every wrong done within the church, especially when one member defrauds a brother or the cause of God and violates his rights, and He Himself will deal with the offender and avenge every such matter. How people deal with one another, and the principles guiding their conduct, are accountable to Him. Therefore a Christian abused or defrauded should bear it patiently and suffer loss and wrong rather than take personal revenge, contend for rights before secular courts, or appeal to unbelievers in courts of justice, leaving judgment and repayment to God.
Violations of the laws governing physical life are sins against God and will be accounted for when every case comes before Him. Violating physical law is violating God's law, so punishment follows, with consequences that may include sickness, ruined health, and death. Self-indulgence rejecting known moral duty is accountable even if conscience is not stirred and suffering is blamed on other causes, for judgment will disclose the true cause. People are judged for what they do in the body and held accountable for debasing passions and affections to lust when their whole being belongs to Him for His service. Even secret acts are reviewed, faithfully recorded, and judged by His Word, and though adultery once carried death by stoning and that form has ended, the law's ultimate penalty remains, so the unrepentant transgressor faces everlasting destruction from the Lord's presence.
Obedience to God's law will be tested in the judgment, and excuses for disobeying the fourth commandment based on work, family, or social ties will not stand. Every work is examined and every thought tested by the law of righteousness as the standard for all from rulers to humblest subjects, and those knowingly rejecting the seventh-day Sabbath and exalting a substitute must answer to God the Creator for their choice. What people regard as unimportant may matter to God, and those who reject a command because obedience would cost something answer for that choice. Obeying some precepts while rejecting others lowers the standard of right and can lead others to disregard God's law.
Daily conduct matters because it will be judged, and when everyday duties are done in fear of God with faithfulness they shape habits and character and form a life-record that can pass the test. The teacher's influence on pupils and others continues to bear fruit, and the teacher will meet those fruits with every word and deed reviewed. Influence and example assume infinite importance in light of the cross and eternity, with day-by-day example and influence registered in records going beforehand to judgment, including a word fitly spoken at the right time that may save a soul from death, whether light has shone in works giving glory to God, and whether example has told for truth.
Every person's work and actions will be examined, including opposition to God's work and words and conduct that harm others, with angels recording and each answering to God, and no one excused when sufficient evidence was available. Only what is like gold, silver, and precious stones stands in the last-day testing. Those who criticize and condemn faithful servants cannot conceal their own hearts' secrets from searching gaze. God sees every thought, plan, and secret act, including what is said and done in private councils, and no secret opposition escapes His judgment. Nebuchadnezzar's pride claiming glory belonging to God was exposed, bringing humiliation and loss of reason, warning those who judge others that they too are seen and measured, and chastening reveals separating sin so it can be corrected before ruin. Sin is sin regardless of rank or station, and though God patiently waits for repentance, those who do not will confess too late for pardon. Those who undermine God, make His purity as nothing by accepting Satan's deceiving methods, and educate and plan for others to do evil will share alike in punishment, for their daring takes nothing from His purity but takes it from their own characters.
Call to Present Response
The coming judgment supplies the strongest motive of supreme worth for holy obedience, joining the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments as the whole duty of humanity. That conviction of accountability makes a person trustworthy, creates a burden for souls, subordinates every act and enterprise to the universal law of obedience, and prompts the constant inquiry what God wants done. It keeps the eyes directed heavenward for divine approval, maintains watching and prayer, remembers that body and spirit belong to God by purchase, and walks with God as Enoch did in unbroken awareness of being answerable. Since every word and deed is recorded and will be faced, including what is hidden, the prospect calls for careful consideration of words and actions now.
Because every deed and every hidden matter will be judged, it is important now to set wrongs right and to build a holy character that will endure when all else perishes. No act is excluded from trial and review before the heavenly universe, even deeds people try to conceal, so confession and forsaking of wrongs and a sincere religious life are matters of present urgency. Wrong actions remain on the heavenly record and will confront the doer, so one who has wronged another must confess and repent rather than leave it unresolved. No covering or excuse can hide the true character of any work when revealed, making neglected repentance and confession urgent while life lasts, since past and present are both answerable. The record may differ from human opinion and includes motives and conduct hidden from others, so wrongs should be made right without delay because the end is near and the record as it stands will be met in judgment.
Religion must not be play-work, for profession or supposed hope alone cannot stand when every word and act comes under review and moral worth is weighed. Eternal life requires thorough heart-work lived out in self-denial, watchfulness, prayer, and separation from worldly influence. Knowing the divine will without doing it brings judgment and greater punishment, so peace must be made with God and separation from the world completed before it is too late, lest supposed readiness prove to be no sound hope. Accountability for injustice and harsh speech, revealing both what was done and the spirit prompting it with its full harm and consequences, calls for repentance, confession, and living faith in the merits of the crucified and living Saviour, especially in the present great day of atonement.
Awareness that God brings every deed and hidden thing into judgment, good or evil, can awaken conscience and bring terror, but conviction must lead to repentance rather than be dismissed. Judgment will expose every secret thing, including passions and deeds of the heart, leaving no claim of unwarned ignorance, so hidden and untrue things must be put away and character transformed to stand open before God. This life is a school preparing for examination by the God of heaven in purity, cleanness of thought, and unselfish action, with every thought, word, and act recorded in heaven. The time to learn Christ's lessons and perfect Christian character is now, with no later opportunity to recover neglected lessons or lost privileges, requiring readiness to stand in Christ's merits with victory gained in His name. Careless disregard of the Holy Spirit in hours of selfish pleasure and amusement will not be lightly regarded when every secret thing is brought into judgment.
Every motive, habit, and phase of character will be brought into judgment against God's holy standard of righteousness, which is His holy law approved for the last great day of reckoning. Those building character, especially the young, must therefore closely examine every habit and practice in the light of God's Word, begin life-work with correct principles and a proper theory of life, put right timber into character building, keep the eye single to God's glory, rise to mastery of self, and refuse the devil's deception. They must examine the course pursued, the influence exercised over one another, whether they uplift, whether they build with chaff or sow pure seed in the heart, whether they lead to purity, and whether associations lead to recognizing and obeying God's law, making a decided change at once where the course would bring sorrow and anguish.
Life is lived under God's all-seeing eye that never slumbers or sleeps and is ever upon each person, for He is always present, holds supreme authority, and takes account of every deed good or evil with no escape from the claims of His law. Daily conduct stamps the life record and forms character for heaven or destruction, so all acts should be such as one will not be ashamed to meet in judgment or to have revealed before people and angels. Words may appear different when spoken than they will appear before God, so speech and conduct should be controlled and kept free of anything one would be ashamed to face in that day. No word should be spoken and no action performed that one would be unwilling for holy angels to look upon and register above, including secretly following personal inclination, practicing deception to avoid censure, encouraging disregard of rules and order, unfaithfulness in duty, erroneous ideas of marriage, impulse and blind passion, flirtatious courtship, immodesty, indiscretion, and breaking God's law. Life must be lived with an eye single to His glory in pure, sanctified, exalted affection worthy of followers of Jesus, with marriage holy and honorable only on the exalted scriptural principle, since anything debasing in courtship degrades character, hides God's noble design, and hinders the purest affections and noblest traits. This same awareness calls students and teachers to Christian respect and self-control, knowing every word, thought, and action, including the hidden, is seen and answerable in judgment.
What matters is God's measurement of character, not human opinion, for every person is bound for judgment and now on trial, and conduct in this world decides future destiny. Success in life's work comes through perfect obedience to every law in God's Word, and failure to obey in this life means failure to gain the life that measures with the life of God. Preparation for the coming day of reckoning, when every act and motive is judged and each rewarded according to works, requires turning from controversies with brethren that reproach the cause and reading the plain Word and practicing its teachings for Christ's sake. A just God examines each life, so each should now do his best in consecrated service, using life and talents for the greatest good. That entrusted work includes caring for the hungry, poor, oppressed, and needy, which honors God and receives His promised blessing when every work is tested and rewarded. Readiness for that judgment is gained by attending to eternal interests now, a readiness connected with the hope of meeting in heaven.