Judgment To Come; The Dispensation of Divine Awards To Responsible Classes At The Return of Christ, continued

Take, also, similar words addressed to Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia :--

To AMMON: "Because thou hast said, AHA, against my sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, Behold therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession," etc. (Ezek. 25v 3-4).

To MOAB: "Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen, therefore I will execute judgments upon Moab" (Ezek. 25v 8-11).

To EDOM: "Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended and revenged himself upon them, therefore, thus said the Lord God, I will stretch out mine hand upon Edom," etc. (Ezek. 25v 12-13).

To PHILISTIA: "Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred, THEREFORE thus saith the Lord God, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines," etc. (Ezek. 25v 15-16).

In these cases, it does not appear that God intends to mete out individual judgment by resurrection from the dead. It requires a high state of privilege before such can with justice be done. The majority of mankind, particularly in the rude and barbarous times that required the schoolmaster lessons of the Mosaic law, were in circumstances of pure misfortune. Born under condemnation in Adam, and left to the poor resources of the natural mind, which in all its history has never originated anything noble apart from the ideas set in motion by "revelation," they were as unable to elevate themselves above the level on which they stood as any tribe of animals. How just and merciful it was then, of the Deity to "wink at .... the times of this ignorance" (Acts 17v 30), which alienated from the life of God (Eph. 4v 18), and allow flesh, under such circumstances, to pass away like the flower of the field, that the place thereof might know it no more (Psa. 103v 15, 16).

On the supposition that every human being is an immortal soul, such a line of action would, of course, be excluded, and the circumstances of the early "dispensations" would be altogether inexplicable. An immortal soul, in the times of antiquity, would be worth as much as one now; and if it be wise and kind to save immortal souls now, there would seem a strange absence of wisdom and beneficence in the arrangement, which in these early ages, put salvation beyond their reach, and made their doom to hell-fire inevitable by the lack of those means of knowledge which are in our day accessible.

If, to get out of this difficulty, it be suggested that man, in such a plight, will in mercy be permitted to enter heaven, we are instantly compelled to question the value of our own privileges, nay, to doubt and deny the wisdom of the gospel, which, on such a theory, is not only necessary to salvation but a positive hindrance to it; since by its responsibilities, it imperils a salvation which, in its absence, would be certain. We should also be compelled to deny the testimony of Scripture, that man having no understanding is like the beasts that perish, and that life and immortality have been brought to light by Christ through the Gospel.

But we are not now dealing with the monster fiction of Christendom. We leave the immortality of the soul out of the account, and deal with the question of judgment in the light of the fact that mankind is perishing under the law of sin and death, and, in Adam, has no more to do with a future state than the decaying vegetation which, year by year, chokes the forests, and passes away with the winter. The endeavour is to realise, in the light of reason and Scripture testimony, the varying shades of responsibility created by the dealings of the Almighty with a race already exiled from life and favour under the law of Eden.

We have seen that resurrectional responsibility was limited to those who were related to the word of the God of Israel. The promises and precepts conferred privilege and imposed responsibility having reference to resurrection. They formed a basis for that awakening from the dust to everlasting fife, and shame and everlasting contempt, foretold to Daniel, and implied in many parts of the writings of Job, David, and Solomon. The extent to which they operate, it is neither possible nor important for us to determine. The law of resurrectional responsibility operates much more vividly upon our own times, and it is the relation of this law to ourselves that we are more especially concerned to elucidate.

It was left for him who proclaimed himself the "Resurrection and the Life" to define clearly the relation of judgment to the great scheme of which he was the pivot and the means. He appears before us as the solution of the great difficulty which must have haunted the minds of the faithful men of ancient times, in reference to the declaration that "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked" (Eccles. 3v 17). He exhibits in himself the method by which the arbitration of the unapproachable and immeasurable Deity is to be brought to bear upon mortal and finite man. The "Word made flesh" proclaims himself the instrument and vehicle of divine judgment. He tells us that "the Father hath committed ALL JUDGMENT unto the Son" (John 5v 22), and that as no man can come to the Father but by him, so no one will be judged by the Father but in the light of the word which operates through him (John 12v 48).

It is highly important that this fact should be distinctly recognised, because it is part of the truth concerning Jesus, which forms a prominent feature in the proclamation of the gospel. This is evident from these testimonies: 1st, that in which Paul comprehends the doctrine of eternal (aionian) judgment among first principles (Heb. 6v 1,v); 2nd, the declaration of Peter: "He commanded us to PREACH UNTO THE PEOPLE and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be THE JUDGE OF QUICK AND DEAD" (Acts 10v 42); 3rd, the statement of Paul that there is a "day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my (Paul's) gospel" (Rom. 2v 16). These general evidences are strengthened by the following testimonies, which we submit in detail on account of the importance of clear and Scriptural views on the subject :--

"He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shalt judge him in the last day" (John 7v 48).

"As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law" (Rom. 2v 12).

"Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is" (I Cor. 3v 13).

"The Father who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to every man's work" (I Pet. 1v 17).

"The day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds . . . in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ" (Rom. 2v 5, 6, 16).

"We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ... Every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14v 10, 12).

"Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts" (I Cor. 4v 5).

"We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad" (II Cor. 5v 10).

"The Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom" (II Tim. 4v 1).

"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this (that is when the death-state ends in resurrection) the judgment" (Heb. 9v 27).

"Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead" (I Pet. 4v 5).

"That we may have boldness in the day of judgment" (I John 4v 17). "The time of the dead that they should be judged" (Rev. 11v 18).

The proposition that judgment is one of the prerogatives and functions of the Messiah, thus stands upon a very broad Scriptural foundation, not merely as a fact, but as a constituent of the truth as it is in Jesus. The bearing of the fact is apparent in connection with the mission of the Messiah, as related to our particular dispensation. This is briefly defined by Paul to be to "purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2v 14), and by James, "to take out of the Gentiles a people for His name." The mode of accomplishing this work is the preaching of the Gospel. An invitation has gone out to the ends of the earth, for people of any "kindred, nation, people, or tongue" to become servants of the Messiah, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to them that love Him.