Parish Papers Part 3

"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works,"

(Matt. xvi. 27.)

"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 this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of G.o.d: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord," (1 Thess.

iv. 15-17.)

"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not G.o.d, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," (2 Thess. i. 7, 8.)

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pa.s.s away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up," (2 Pet. iii. 10.)

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before G.o.d; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and h.e.l.l delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works," (Rev. xx. 11-13.)

WHO ARE TO BE JUDGED?

We reply, _men_ and _fallen angels_.

"We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." If the government of Jesus Christ over men is to be revealed on that day, it is clear that all men, without exception, must be judged. So linked, indeed, is the history of each man with that of others,--as, for instance, the tempter with the tempted, the oppressed with the oppressor, the teacher with the taught, the child with the parent;--so necessarily is each man's condition and character affected by that of all who have gone before him, up to his first parents;--so truly do all human beings make up _one_ race, _one_ family, from the life of each being more or less connected with that of all, that the knowledge of the real history of even one man, almost implies an examination into the real history of the whole human race. And we shall possess, for the first time, a true history of the whole world, when we truly understand the history of each person, family, and kingdom in it; and so also shall we possess the true history of each individual part, only when we know its relationship to the great whole; and the history of events, when we perceive what bearing they have had on the kingdom of Jesus Christ, whose history is that of the world.

It has been questioned how far the sins of the people of G.o.d, which have been for ever pardoned, are to be revealed at judgment. But we see no reason whatever why this should not be the case, and every reason why it should. We might, beforehand, have thought it more likely that G.o.d would not have recorded in the Bible, and exposed in the light of all coming ages, the sins of His most eminent servants, as those of Abraham, Moses, David, of Peter, or of Paul. But He has told the _whole_ truth regarding them for our warning and instruction; and so will the whole truth be told regarding every saint at judgment, "that no flesh may glory in His presence;" and that the reality of the wickedness of the old man may be proven, as well as the reality of the holiness of the "new man created in Christ Jesus unto good works." And what saint can be unwilling to have revealed what he was, that so the glorious love of G.o.d's Spirit may be made the more manifest, as the sole cause of what he has become, and will continue to be for ever and ever?

Fallen angels shall also be judged upon that day: "For G.o.d spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them, down to h.e.l.l, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment," "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Under what dispensation those beings first sinned against G.o.d, we cannot tell. All we know from the information given us by G.o.d is, that they have been permitted to exercise their power in this world, on the side of evil, ever since the creation of man. Satan, the adversary, the tempter, the enemy, who is the head of these princ.i.p.alities and powers, has been a "liar and murderer from the beginning;" and in every age and clime, he and his wicked spirits have advanced the kingdom of darkness with indomitable perseverance, untiring energy, ceaseless hate, and "all deceivableness and unrighteousness in them that perish." Fallen angels having thus taken so dreadful a part in the history of Christ's kingdom, and being responsible for all they do, shall be tried at judgment; and what a revelation must their trial be of the character, the h.e.l.lish plots and machinations of those enemies of Jesus Christ and His Church!

We have already alluded to the _individuality_ of the examination at the last day,--how "every one of us must give an account of _himself_ to G.o.d;" and "receive the things done in _his_ body, according to what _he_ hath done, whether good or evil;" and also, how each fact must be brought to light upon _evidence_ whose truth cannot be questioned.

Upon that day, mere a.s.sertions will not be sufficient to establish the right or the wrong condition of any one before the judgment-seat. The universe must know the truth! Evidence must, therefore, be adduced which will "convince all;" and that evidence, too, will be sifted.

Before sentence is pa.s.sed, overwhelming proof will demonstrate the righteous ground on which each individual must take his place among those on the left hand or on the right. Let us see if we can discover any sources of evidence for the detection and discrimination of character.

"THE BOOKS SHALL BE OPENED."

1. _The Book of Providence will be opened_.--In this book has been recorded, and from its pages can be shewn, by Jesus Christ, everything which has been done to us, and for us, by Himself, since the hour of our birth till that of our death. Every temporal mercy or spiritual blessing--every advice given by ministers, relations, or friends--every Sabbath which dawned upon us--every stirring of conscience within us--every visitation of sickness or domestic affliction--every item, in short, of that immense sum of things which, in His providence or by His grace, was given us each successive hour of life, and which was intended to mould our characters according to the will of G.o.d;--all shall be revealed at judgment, that the universe may know what Jesus Christ, the King, has really done for each one of His subjects, and what each subject has been, and done, in relation to Him.

2. _The Book of Memory shall be opened_.--An awful volume! It seems almost certain that anything once known to us must for ever abide in memory, and can never be absolutely and for ever lost. Out of sight it may be, but never really out of mind. It may appear to be dead, though it only sleeps, ready to start into vigorous life when touched by some hand which can reach it in the dim mysterious recess where it lies concealed. It is thus, before returning, after a long absence, to the home of our early life, we are unable to discover any page in the volume of our memory inscribed with more than a few incidents which filled up those early years of gladness. Every page seems a blank, or its records, if not obliterated, can hardly be traced. But when we _do_ return, what a magic influence is exercised by every tree, rock, and stream, and by the old home itself with which these were once inseparably a.s.sociated! The history of days and years now glow with the vividness of first impressions, where, until now, all was so indistinct and illegible. Old familiar voices ring in our ears, beloved faces of the old dead gaze upon us as of yore, and their forms flit before our moist eyes. But were not these things all the while in our memory, although unnoticed by us until called forth by fitting circ.u.mstances? And have we not seen evidence of the same mysterious life of the past within us, when in extreme old age a second childhood awakens all the incidents of the first; when memory, like a flash of lightning, irradiates the sky, otherwise dark and wintry, revealing the scenes of early days, which were before quite forgotten? More wonderful still--it is certain that things once known, which in health were as lost to memory as if they had never been, are suddenly recalled, and appear in all their former life and freshness, when fever touches the brain with her delirious hand. The sick man, in his ravings, speaks perhaps a language known only in his infancy, and recalls incidents belonging to a period which was a total blank in his recollections during days of robust health. And what does all this prove but the momentous truth, that anything which once was done,--anything which we have ever thought, uttered, or known, or was ever inscribed in the book of memory,--remains there engraven in characters more permanent than those which, cut deep in the h.o.a.ry monuments of Egypt, have outlived teeming centuries of human history?

Darkness may cover the page, but by a vivid and mysterious flash every letter is illuminated. That flash may be only some trifle, such as a note of music--the tone of some voice--

"The subtle smell which spring unbends, Dread pause abrupt of midnight winds,-- An echo or a dream!"

And thus may it be at judgment; by the extension of the same _kind_ of power, may our _whole_ life, in its minutest details, pa.s.s before our eyes,--each minute of it delivering its own history of word or deed, of things done or things received,--and each recognised as true by the possessor of them all. Accordingly, every man is now, whether he wills it or not, unconsciously writing or _daguerreotyping_ his own biography;--his whole life forming a work of more importance, to himself at least, than any other in the universe,--each volume a year, each chapter a month, each day or hour a page. At judgment memory will read the whole, and be compelled to feel that every word is true. It is strange, too, how rapid--reasoning from a.n.a.logy--such a review may be, without diminishing from its distinctness. States of being, or successive acts, which occupied long periods of time, may very rapidly be recalled in all their minute features. In moments of sudden peril, when death seemed approaching, how frequently have men told us that they beheld, in a twinkling of an eye, the great features of their whole life like a panorama pa.s.sing before their mind's eye! And thus at judgment, clear, yet rapid--intensely real and vivid, yet sudden as light--may the life of the boy, and the man, and the patriarch, from, the first till the last moment of conscious and responsible existence upon earth, be presented to the mind with a self-evidencing power of truth, which cannot, which dare not, be denied or resisted! Jesus Christ will speak _to_ the man from _within_ the man, and, with irresistible power, say to him, "_Son, remember!_"

3. _The Book of Conscience shall be opened_.--This will afford abundant evidence, when read along with the books of memory and providence, of the witness in every man's soul for the moral government of G.o.d, and that ever accused or excused his life. That tremendous power which has dogged the murderer in his flight, following him across the seas, tracking him to his refuge in some solitary island or savage wilderness,--that presence which, like an evil spirit from another world, has disturbed the guilty in the midst of his festivities, or sat heavily on his soul, brooding over him in his slumbers as a horrible nightmare, until he has started up in the agony of despair,--that judge which has made kings tremble on their thrones, and ruffians shiver in their silent cells,--that awful voice will be allowed then to speak out with the power, as well as with the authority, that belong to it. It will pa.s.s judgment upon all the facts in each man's life, which shall then, for the first time, be fully and fairly submitted to its inspection; and each page in memory's book will find a corresponding page in the book of conscience, on that "day when G.o.d shall judge _the secrets_ of men by Jesus Christ," A thousand excuses will be silenced by it, and false hopes crushed, and a fiery law go forth to destroy all the coverings which the deceitful heart now draws over its own wilful and desperate wickedness.

4. "Another book will be opened, which is _the Book of Life_"--In that book are inscribed the characters of all G.o.d's people, and the evidence of the reality of their faith in Christ and obedience to Him.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them!"

These works, which are the evidence, results, and rewards of faith, are recorded by that same Spirit through whose power alone the soul has lived, believed, and been enabled to bring forth such fruit to the praise of the glory of G.o.d by Jesus Christ. In the book of life will be found recorded by the omniscient Holy Spirit of Truth, that secret life of every saint which was "hid with Christ in G.o.d." Then shall be revealed the reality of their repentance and inward renewal of soul; the sincerity of their love to G.o.d and to His people; their secret prayers, thanksgivings, confessions, intercessions, and holy communion with G.o.d; their plans, longings, and sacrifices for the spread of the gospel, and for the glory of G.o.d upon earth; their deeds of charity for Christ,--every prison they entered, every naked one they clothed; the hungry they fed, or the offences forgiven by them from love to Him who forgave them;--that whole _character_, in short, which is the result of union with Christ, will be evidenced to the universe from what is recorded of it in the Lamb's Book of Life.

And is there not another book, even "_the_ Book," which may also be opened at judgment as a witness for the Triune G.o.d in His dealings with mankind? How many millions of men have possessed the Bible, and acknowledged it as the word of G.o.d! Who, therefore, among them, will be able to plead ignorance of any truth--any duty--any danger--any promise--the knowledge of which could essentially affect their eternal salvation? True, they may never have opened the Bible, or have refused to believe it, or have despised and rejected its warnings, counsels, and reproofs; but the Bible was nevertheless given them, and their very ignorance may be their crime. Or, if not ignorant, but only "hating knowledge," and "not choosing the fear of the Lord,"--their condemnation is, that they preferred the darkness to the light, because their deeds were evil? Oh, what a witness will that Book be against the slothful, the wilfully ignorant and unbelieving!

Are these sources of evidence not sufficient wherewith to determine, to the conviction of the universe, each man's character at the judgment of the great day? Should more be required, many other witnesses may be summoned, if necessary, before the white throne.

Satan and wicked spirits are ready to accuse the sinner, and to prove how he yielded to temptation, became habit and repute in sin, and a willing and active instrument for destroying others. True, Satan is a liar; but is _this_ testimony a lie? Can these accusations, if false, be disproved? Can Christ be appealed to either as to their falsehood, or for exculpatory evidences of genuine repentance or new life? And holy angels, too, are there, who will be able to testify as to whether this man ever gave them joy as a true penitent, was the object of their ministrations as an heir of salvation, or known to them as a fellow-worker in Christ's kingdom upon earth. Relations, friends, neighbours, church-members, are also there to tell, at Christ's bidding, what was the manner of his life in the family, in society, or in the "household of G.o.d." What has this man as a father, husband, or child, done? What example did he set? What temper and conduct did he manifest at home? What was his influence as a companion? Did he lead to h.e.l.l or heaven? What did Christians find him to be as a fellow-Christian? Was he cruel and covetous, slothful and indifferent, uncharitable and censorious; or loving, zealous, and self-denying, the author of peace and lover of concord, a friend and brother? Oh!

surely, even now we can easily see how there can be no want of means at the great day of judgment, by which, without any revelation from the unerring and all-seeing Judge himself, each man's character may be searched and known to its inmost depths, and in all its minute details be revealed.

And now, reader, before we proceed, let us here entreat of you to examine your present life. We ask, whether you think it possible that it can afford any evidence upon that day of sincere love to Jesus Christ?--anything which can warrant the Judge to say to _you_, "Well done, good and faithful servant?"--anything in your aims, wishes, purposes, pursuits, endeavours, which evidence the existence in the least degree of that _kind_ of life which is the result of being born and sanctified by G.o.d's Spirit, and cannot otherwise be accounted for?

How many shrink from that examination _now_, which must take place _then!_ But is it not wiser to know your sins, and see your danger now, when the one can be pardoned, and the other averted, than, for the first time, to awake to a sense of both, when your sins can never more, as far as man can discover, be removed, and your danger, if real, must end in ruin? We have many foreshadowings of judgment revealed to us by Christ; and we have the unavailing pleadings of those who desire to be recognised as among His friends. "Lord, Lord!" cry some, "open to us!" These are not infidels, but professed believers in Christ's supreme authority. "Lord, hast thou not taught in our streets?--open to us!" is the plea of those who heard the truth spoken, it may be by Jesus personally; of those, at least, who had the privilege, and did not neglect it, of hearing the word preached.

"Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence?--open to us!"

appears to others sufficient evidence of friendship for the Redeemer, and such as might be urged by those who followed Him in Judea, and saw His person, heard His words, yea, sat at meat with Him as "His familiar friends." "Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and done many wonderful works?--open to us!"

Thus could Judas have pleaded; and many a man, perhaps, who had the gift of miracles without the grace of G.o.d; or many more who have had rare gifts of talent, genius, eloquence, which have done good to others, in spite of their own selfish motives; and who, by many wonderful works, have cast out "evil possessions" of wicked principles and practices from others, while evil, nevertheless, possessed themselves. And with as imposing claims many too may seek admittance to G.o.d's kingdom, because they "gave their goods to feed the poor, or their bodies to be burned." Yet, to each and all such pleadings, Jesus represents himself as saying, "I know you not! Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity!" But if so, we ask you, reader, what evidence of Christian life can you adduce better or more satisfactory than all this? Nothing, be a.s.sured, will be accepted which does not prove a right spirit, or, in other words, the existence in the soul of _love to Jesus Christ_ in some form or other. "LOVEST THOU ME?" will be the grand question, the truthful reply to which will determine our real state on that great day. Hence, while the evidence of doing wonderful works, or of giving our body to be burned, is rejected as worthless, inasmuch as the one proves only the existence of power, and the other of what may be but a sacrifice to self, and not to the Saviour,--yet the gift of a cup of cold water to a disciple for the sake of the Master, will suffice to open the doors of heaven, because affording evidence of the heart which loves Jesus, and for which heaven has been prepared. "Come, ye blessed of my Father! Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of my disciples, ye have done it unto me!" "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ; let him be accursed!"

We need not add that we have a.s.sumed that the persons thus judged have had full opportunities of knowing and serving Jesus as their Lord.

RESULTS OF JUDGMENT.

What shall the results be of such a searching, impartial, and conclusive investigation into the history of mankind? Some of these we may, perhaps, be permitted to antic.i.p.ate.

_The proceedings of the day of judgment will answer all the accusations of Christ's enemies_.

The government of Jesus Christ is hated and opposed here. This fact, alas! in human history, cannot be denied. We do not speak of Satan and his angels, who war against the Lord, nor even of His unconscious foes among the heathen; but only of those men who possess the Bible, and all the means of knowing the will of their Divine King. Yet how many among them are His open and avowed enemies. There is not one feature of His character which men do not blaspheme,--not one act of His government at which they do not cavil. He is alleged to be unrighteous in His commands; unfair in His treatment of mankind; unwise in His arrangements; unfaithful in His words; and even vindictive, unmerciful, implacable in His judgments, and in no respect worthy of man's love and obedience. Jesus of Nazareth--believed in by the Church, known and loved by all its living members--is still "despised and rejected of men." Nor are His enemies ashamed to speak out their thoughts, and openly to scorn and ridicule Him; a.s.serting that He has no right to govern them or the world,--and thus "denying the Lord that bought them." Now, as on the day of His crucifixion, a rabble of all ranks, talents, and professions, cry, "Away with this fellow;" while they demand in His stead some Barabbas "hero" of their own to worship.

There is often manifested an opposition to Christianity which a.s.sumes the aspect of personal hatred. We do not at all allude in these pages to the sincere, reverential man, who doubts, questions, argues, opposes, sifts, denies, rejects, while endeavouring, with an honest mind, to discover and believe _the truth_, whatever that may be; nor to the sadness of spirit of one who _wishes_ "the glad tidings" to be true, but cannot arrive at a conclusion so desirable for his own good and peace, as well as for that of society; nor to the effects of a peculiar const.i.tutional temperament which has a tendency first to doubt and invest everything with darkness, and then endeavours in vain to dispel what itself creates. But when we speak of infidels and unbelievers, we speak of _unG.o.dly_ men who dislike the truth of G.o.d, and who manifest this dislike in their triumph when any supposed error in the life or the doctrines of Jesus Christ is detected, or any evil (for which He is held responsible) is exposed in His followers, and who keep an ample mantle of charity for those who disbelieve, but none for those who believe in Jesus Christ as their only Saviour.

This opposition to the government of G.o.d through Jesus Christ has not been a temporary outburst by a few only. The kingdom of Satan has existed here since the fall of man, side by side with Christ's kingdom, and opposed it in every age and clime. The kingdom of holiness and peace has never entered the soul of any living man, without first meeting, and then overcoming, enmity and ill-will by the power of truth and love. It has never entered a single country on the surface of the globe without terrible combats being fought again and again, in which the best soldiers and n.o.blest subjects of the Great King have "had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments." "We will not have the Lord to reign over us!" has been everywhere the awful battle-cry; and the conflict rages now as fiercely as it did in any age of the world! Nor, moreover, has this opposition been given by uncivilised savages; but men of knowledge and of genius have dedicated all the powers of their mind to the dread task of ridding the world of the Redeemer's sceptre. What they have thought, they have spoken; what they have spoken, they have written and recorded in books, that their influence might extend beyond their own immediate circle and their own time, and that other nations and other generations might know what _they_ thought of the Saviour,--how sincerely they themselves despised and rejected Him, and desired all others to do the same. What is every infidel publication but an accusation against Jesus Christ, a protest against His government, and an attempt to rouse the world to join in the rebellion? "They take counsel together against the Lord and his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us!"

And this hatred to Christ will continue till the end of the world: for we read, that "in _the last days_ will come _scoffers_." Nay, it is quite possible that accusations against Him are, and shall be, maintained by the wicked up till the very hour of judgment. For, even as the criminal before his trial will feed his pride, and soothe his conscience, by denying every charge alleged against him, or by blaming every one but himself; so it may be that the wicked, after death, will continue to cast the blame upon the Saviour, for all they are and have been, even when they can no longer doubt the reality of His existence or government.

And will Jesus ever answer those accusations? Why should He? you perhaps exclaim. His character, you say, cannot be affected in the estimation of the good by anything which the enemies of all righteousness can urge against it. His throne can no more be shaken by the puny attacks of men or devils than the everlasting mountains can be disturbed by the storm-blasts which howl around them. What more, then, is needed, than to shut up the wicked in a prison-house, through whose adamantine walls the accusing cry can never pierce, and whose doors are for ever barred by the holy decree of the Almighty? Ah! were it so, even this thought might possibly gratify pride and enmity, could a _condemned_, though not _judged_ spirit for ever carry with it a conviction of having waged a war in which _power_ alone had conquered weakness, and _might_ trampled upon right; and that all its charges remained unanswered and unanswerable! But let no one presume upon this. It is true that Jesus Christ now, as when on earth He stood before His enemies, "answers nothing." Do not misunderstand this awful silence! You "marvel greatly" that He works no miracle to satisfy your doubts, or you deny His power of doing so, and therefore you imagine, that because He replies not to your accusations, He either hears them not, cares not for them, or cannot meet them. But be a.s.sured, a day is appointed when the question between you and Him will be fairly tried.

Unbelievers of all ranks, and whatever be their ability, will have an opportunity of re-stating their case, and of proving the truth of their accusations--if they can. Let none suppose that Jesus will shrink from such an investigation. Every utterance is reported for review at judgment; every book is kept for that day. It is not the method of the divine government to put down its enemies by mere physical power, as if the question between G.o.d and man was indeed one of strength and weakness, and not rather of right and wrong. The Lord will indeed answer his enemies; but He will do so by the irresistible power of truth, and the omnipotent force of righteousness. He will crush and overwhelm them; but it will be in their own conscience, and in their own estimation. He will expel them from whatever refuge of lies they may vainly attempt to seek for shelter, and expose them to the full blaze of _principle_, until their inmost souls echo the dread sentence of "GUILTY," which must be p.r.o.nounced upon them, while they stand "speechless" amidst the a.s.sembled universe, and before the omniscient and holy Judge of all the earth. "He is coming with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to CONVINCE all that are unG.o.dly among them of all their unG.o.dly deeds which they have unG.o.dly committed, and of all their HARD SPEECHES which unG.o.dly sinners have spoken against Him!"

Do we address one who is a professed unbeliever in the truth, or rather, who "believes a lie,"--that there _is_ no Saviour? We ask such a one to consider what the certain, or even _probable_ consequences will be to him, if all we have said is nevertheless true? What if you shall see Jesus Christ face to face, and have your whole outer and inner history, as it _is known to G.o.d_, minutely revealed to your own mind, and to the a.s.sembled jury of the universe? Will your thinking, or saying, that the whole is a fiction, make it so? Will your scoff at G.o.d's revelation of the future prevent the dead from rising, or the Judge from appearing? Will a foolish jest, or a proud callousness, or a subtle argument, or a brave indifference to what others fear, enable you, on the resurrection morning, to shut your ears against the sound of the last trump, or to disobey the summons of the Son of G.o.d to rise from the tomb, and to appear before Him? And if no unbelief can change the will of G.o.d, or make that false which He proclaims to be true, nor alter His prescribed order in things to come, no more than it can do His present order in the starry heavens,--what can you say to Jesus Christ in your own defence? How can you, in consistency with His Word, so justify your own opinions and conduct, as to make it _possible_ for Him to say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of _thy_ Lord?" But, blessed be G.o.d! the same Word of truth which condemns the sinner, and shuts out all hope of safety to him, _while in his state of unbelief and unG.o.dliness_, invites him, and commands him, to come out of that state, and to share the life which is in Christ for every man. We cannot repeat it too often that Jesus offers immediate pardon and life through faith in His blood, to the chief of sinners--to the oldest and most bitter enemy which He has upon earth! Jesus offers His Spirit to every man, to enlighten his understanding, renew his will, and spiritualise his taste and affections, and shed abroad the love of G.o.d in his heart; so that even thou, whoever thou art, mayest yet love, and be loved by, Jesus Christ and His saints for ever and ever! "_Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and_ THOU _shalt be saved_!" But should His long-suffering patience, and abundant mercy, and rich love, fail to gain your heart,--should you "_prefer_ darkness to light," and "remain in unbelief," and live and die without Him,--how can you escape? Is it not righteous that you should walk in the darkness which you love, and be separated from your Saviour and His people, whom you dislike, and be permitted "to eat of the fruit of your _own_ way, and be filled with your own devices?"

On "the great and terrible day of the Lord," you will, alas! be "_convinced_" that the sentence p.r.o.nounced upon you by the Saviour, of "Depart from me!" is but an echo of what your own heart is now saying to Him! Hear, I beseech you, the words of warning which G.o.d now addresses to you, in order that you may, in time, "flee from the wrath to come!" "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of G.o.d, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living G.o.d," (Heb. x. 26-31.)

But let us further inquire, What shall be its results with reference to the righteous?

1. The righteous will then fully understand the excellence of Christ's government over themselves.

How profoundly mysterious, as yet, to ourselves, is our own individual history! If we attempt to gather up the past, and to trace the whole way along which we have journeyed, with the innumerable windings of the path, and all the dark valleys through which it has led, the rugged places it has pa.s.sed over, or the many lofty hills up which it has ascended,--how endless, how perplexing does it appear! If, again, we try to measure the various powers which have helped to make us what we are, or to weigh the number and relative importance of all the things which have combined to produce the present result of character within, and of circ.u.mstances without us,--how soon are we lost amidst the ma.s.s of the infinite items which make up the sum of even our little history. How inadequate are all our attempts to solve the problems without number which every year suggests. _Why_, for example, has this or that happened? Wherefore this sorrow or that joy?--why such changes of place or of fortune?--why the loss of old friends or the gift of new ones?--why--But the questions are endless, and never can be answered till judgment. It is true, that we are often privileged to _see_ very clearly the reason of many of Christ's dealings with us here. He shews us His _ways_ as well as His _acts_--treating us as "friends" who "know what their Lord doeth." The wheel of Providence often makes its revolutions in so short a period that we see the whole movement. It was thus in the case of Abraham.

The mystery of G.o.d's command was resolved after three days on Mount Moriah. Thus, too, the darkness of family grief and of a distant Saviour, which brooded over the household of Bethany, was dispelled, and vanished before bright sunshine, at the cry, "Lazarus, come forth!" But it is not always thus; and though it would be so more frequently if we waited more patiently upon G.o.d and considered His ways, yet, at best, but a small fraction of our life is understood here. Moreover, our own history is so interlaced with the history of others, that what is more properly theirs, in some degree is ours also. Can Moses, for instance, yet fully comprehend his own life in its relation to the Jewish nation, whose fate is still involved in darkness? Can any one of the saints of old, whose deeds and words are recorded in G.o.d's Book, and are telling every day and hour upon the history of mankind, and must continue to do so till time shall be no more, comprehend what they really have done on earth? Must not the end of all things come before they understand the place and the work their Lord a.s.signed to them? And so is it with the humblest believer. He is a part of a great whole; and to understand how Jesus has governed Himself as a part, he must be able to see his own life in relation to the great whole. But each Christian who has walked by faith, and held fast his confidence in Christ, will then also have revealed how the Lord has governed him, and all that He has done to him and for him, and what He has enabled him to be and to do on earth. The sackcloth and ashes of every patient Job will be turned into garments of praise; and the lamentations of every mourning Jeremiah into songs of gladness: and in adoring wonder and unutterable joy, every head will be bowed down, every crown cast at Christ's feet, and every heart will feel, and mouth confess, "He hath done all things well!" What an amazing disclosure will this be of the wisdom and love with which our gracious Lord has a.s.signed to each servant his lot,--given to each "_his_ work," and so prepared all things for him in the world, and so made all things work together for his good, that "the fruit has been holiness, and the end everlasting life!"

2. But the Christian will also behold at judgment the excellence of Christ's government over others, and over the whole world.

If we are such mysteries to ourselves, and if we cannot as yet truly write our own biographies, how much more perplexing to us is the personal history of any other in his relation to the Redeemer! How impossible to discover the reasons of all, or of any, of Christ's providential dealings with him, or to read aright any one day in his life! Was it possible for Job's friends to interpret, _at the time_, Job's sufferings? G.o.d alone could have corrected Jacob when, in the dark night of his sorrow, yet just before the daybreak of his joy in Egypt, he cried, "Joseph is not, Simeon is not, and will ye take Benjamin away?--_all these things are against me!_" Daniel in the lions' den, or the three young men in the furnace, with a wicked king in peace upon the throne; John the Baptist in the dungeon, with Herod in the banquet hall; Stephen falling asleep beneath the shower of cruel stones, and Saul gazing complacently at the murderers' clothes laid at his feet:--these, and a thousand other such incidents in human history, are, to beholders, involved in a portion of that darkness which hung over the cross of Christ itself, at the time, a mystery of mysteries to all who witnessed its agonies! But when, from the history of persons, we rise to the contemplation of the history of cities, countries, and nations; or ascend to a still higher region in order to take in, if possible, the history of the human race from age to age; and to comprehend what Jesus Christ has done for it, and how He has governed it,--how much more profound is the darkness! If, for instance, we endeavour to form any estimate of the effect which has been produced upon the character and destiny of mankind by the present structure of the physical earth, with its mountains, seas, rivers, winds, and climate--the house which Jesus Christ has built and furnished for His creatures; by the famines and pestilences, wars and conquests, migrations and settlements, arising out of circ.u.mstances more or less controlling man, and beyond his will; as well as by all that has come, as it were, directly from Jesus, through His Church, from Eden till this present hour;--how infinite to us is the field of observation! "O the depth of the riches both of the knowledge and wisdom of G.o.d! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" We gaze upon those majestic wheels of His providence, some of which take whole cycles to revolve, and "their wings are so high, that they are dreadful!" It is so, for example, with the history of Israel, which, commencing with Abraham, when earth was young, four thousand years ago, is still moving on as a distinct stream flowing amidst the waters of the great ocean, yet never mingling with them, though nearing the unfathomable gulf where all is still.

But "what we know not now, we shall know hereafter," upon the great "day of the _revelation_ of Jesus Christ," when, in the light of unerring truth, the history of each man, and of the whole race, will be seen, and for the first time understood. "Now we know in part, but then we shall know even as we are known." Every question which here perplexes or pains the thoughtful and conscientious inquirer, will be fully answered. The secret and hitherto hidden springs of actions will be laid bare, and their remotest results disclosed. We shall apprehend the real life--the true philosophy--of history. Then will the government of Jesus Christ over the whole family of man, and every individual member of it, be seen--what it has always by His Church believed--to have been one of righteousness, wisdom, and love.

3. Need I add, as the last grand result of judgment, that the Triune G.o.d will be glorified?