by E.W. Bullinger
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TEN SERMONS on the SECOND ADVENT X.
Our subject this evening is "the judgment of the Quick (i.e. the Living) and the dead." I have used this expression, because it is in the words of Scripture (2 Tim. iv. 1): and also because it is a term we are accustomed to use in all our Creeds. The word "judgment" does not, of itself, necessarily include rewards and punishments, for it is often used simply of rule and government. Hence, as characteristic of Christ's future glorious reign on earth we read "He shall judge Thy people with righteousness," "He shall judge the poor of the people" (Ps. lxx. 2, 4), and again, "He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the people with His truth" (Ps. xcvi. 13). The whole of this righteous rule is called "the Day of the Lord" because it will be the day of the Lord's judgment. The present day is called "Man's day"* (I Cor. iv. 3, and margin) because it is the day when men judge one another, but another day is coming when the Lord shall be the judge. That day opens with judgment, judgment runs through it, and judgment closes it.
All governments have their judicial departments, and so this future Government of the Lord, will have its definite judicial seasons and occasions. The three scriptures which I have just read, bring before us three definite and distinct judgment scenes. In connection with this, it is interesting and important to note, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the executor of all judgment. He was unjustly judged by man, and He shall be the judge of men. The scene of His rejection shall be the scene of His triumph. The Scriptures are very explicit on this point, "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised them from the dead" (Acts xvii. 31); "The Father unto the Son" (John v. 22). It is as "the Son of God" that He raises the dead, but it is as "the Son of Man" that He executes judgment (see John v. 25, and 27). The whole question of judgment is founded on the immutable purpose of God, the infinite knowledge of God, and the infallible word of God. None can question His power; none can doubt His truth. "Hath He said and shall He not do it? Hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good." As to the times of these judgments, it is written "to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven... God shall judge the righteous, and the wicked: for there is a time for every purpose and for every work" (Ecc. iii. 1, 17). All is ordained and ordered by God. And here let us again put each other in remembrance, that this is not a question of man's opinion, nor is it a question as to any difference of opinion, but it is wholly a question of revelation. If we know all that the Scriptures say about it, then we know all that can be known. If we do not know all that the Scriptures say, then we must "err" for it is written "ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." There have been and there are schools of theology, systems of doctrine, shades of thought, but if this is all the doctrine is, then man may do as he pleases about it, and accept it or reject it, or believe concerning it just what he likes. But if God has spoken, then there is an end of all argument. We have only to bow and believe. Now let us see what God has been pleased to reveal concerning JUDGMENT in these three scriptures. 2 Cor. v. 10 I. The Judgment spoken of in 2 Cor. v. 10 "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ." 1. WHO are they that "appear" in this Judgment scene? The Apostle answers "WE." Who are the "WE?" And the answer is clear, We who "labour that ... we may be accepted of Him" (verse 7); we who "walk by faith" (verse 7); we who have "the earnest of the Spirit" (verse 5); we, Paul and Timothy, by whom the Epistle was written, and "the Church of God" and "all the Saints" (2 Cor. i. 1). In fact it is impossible to find any but the saints of God in this scripture. 2. WHY do "we" appear? "To be made manifest." To "receive." For what? For "deeds done," service rendered, and works wrought -- even as he had taught them in his first Epistle, ch. iii. 11-15. He is speaking here of those who build on the one foundation which is Jesus Christ, and he says, "Now if any man build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones; wood, hay, stubble; Every man's works shall be made manifest (the very expression used in our text): 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. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward. If any man's work be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Can any one doubt that we have the same scene here as in our text? We have the same object stated, and the same expression used, the works "shall be made manifest." We have also the same result, "he shall receive" according to the works. If it is "good" he shall receive a reward. If it is "bad," the work will be burned up, but the worker or builder "shall be saved." 3. WHERE do "we" appear to "be made manifest"? Before the Bema of Christ. The Bema was in one sense a judgment seat. It was not the seat of a judge who gave judicial sentences, punishments and acquittals; but it was a raised dais from which the Judge gave the crowns to the victors in the public games. It was for such a crown the Apostle "laboured," "ran," and "fought," and when reviewing that service he said "henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous JUDGE shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing" (2 Tim. iv. 8). Thus, there is no judgment at all in the common sense of the word, but an awarding of Crowns and rewards for acceptable service. The recipients are already "accepted in the Beloved" as to their persons; and therefore they strive to be "acceptable" as to their service. As to their standing, they appear there in all the Righteousness of Christ. Perfect in all His perfection; glorious in all His glory; beautiful in all His beauty; raised in His likeness, conformed to His image, and made like His own body of glory! How then can they be judged to see if they are lost or saved? The very feeblest of them have already been judged in the person of their Substitute. He bore their sin. He has undergone all the judgment due to them, and hence all who are "quickened with Christ" are said to be "Risen with Christ" so that the question of sin can never again be opened. "To them that look for Him shall He appear, without sin, unto Salvation" (Heb. ix. 28).* For all such, Death is sleep, through Jesus; for it is not necessary that they should die, because this penalty of sin has been paid: and therefore "those who are alive and remain" to Christ's coming will not die at all. And as to Judgment, it is positively stated by Jesus Himself that they "shall not come into Judgment" (John v. 24).** Hence the Apostle asks "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who is he that shall condemn? Shall Christ that died?*** To suppose that one of the God's saints could ever come into judgment, as to his standing and his title to Glory, is not only to flatly contradict the direct statement of Christ Himself, but it is to deny the very foundations of the Gospel; it is to rob the work of Christ of all its merit! For not only does Christ assert the contrary, but the Holy Spirit in Rom. viii. 1 also expressly declares "There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."
Do you not see that if our title to Glory and our standing in Righteousness was not settled at the cross, it is not settled now! that if we did not die with Christ we must die for sin ourselves! that if our salvation is not settled now it must be settled in judgment! and if it has to be settled then, there can be only one result, for it is written "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified" (Ps. cxliii. 2). It may sound very humble, to say 'we cannot know we are saved till the day of judgment,' but this is the essence of Romanism, and he who says it knows nothing of the Gospel, nothing of the work of Christ, nothing of the results of His atonement. He who says it, may call those who rejoice in these precious truths 'presumptuous,' but when Christ says "He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life," then we maintain that it is 'presumption' to deny it, and not to believe it! Those who in spite of all their conviction of sin, set to their seal that God is true, are truly humble, while those who profess to be too humble thus to believe his word (!) are really guilty of presumption! All who are in Christ are saved, justified, and sheltered from all judgment. They are risen with Christ, and stand with Christ on resurrection ground; and hope for "the Resurrection of life," endless glory, and eternal blessedness, in the presence of God and the Lamb. But their work has yet to be appraised, their works have yet to be assayed, their service has yet to be tried; and hence "we shall all stand before the Bema of Christ" (Rom. xiv. 9-13). We shall then see how little of our service has been done for the "glory of God," and how much for the "praise of men"; how little with the "single eye," and how much with a second motive; how little "fulfilled before God" (Rev. iii. 2), and how much before our fellows. And while much, or most, and in many cases all, will be burnt up; yet all who stand there in that heavenly scene will be "SAVED." We next come to Matt. xxv. 31-46. II. The Judgment spoken of in Matt. xxv. 31, 32. "When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left" &c. The popular belief concerning this Scripture is, that we have here what is called "the general judgment," in which all who have ever lived or died shall stand. But observe that 1. There is not a word said about Resurrection: and we may at least put the presumption that there will not be one, against the assumption that there will be one. 2. WHO are they that thus "gathered"? It says "all nations." The word here translated "nations" occurs one hundred and fifty times in the New Testament, and it is never used of any but nations actually existing as such. It occurs with the article, as in our text, one hundred and thirty-two times: and it is rendered "the gentiles," ninety-two times; "the nations," ten times; "the heathen," five times; and simply "nations," twenty-five times. Now is it too much to ask, that if in Matt. xxv. 32 the more usual translation -- "the Gentiles" -- had been given, would the current belief have been as popularly held? If it has been rendered, as it is ninety-two times out of a hundred and thirty-two "Before Him shall be gathered all the gentiles" -- would the popular belief have obtained the hold that it has? 3. WHERE shall all "the nations" be gathered? In answering this question we must note that there are many prophecies in which similar expressions are used, which point to the conclusion that the very same event is probably intended. When we look at them we must be struck with the fact that God will deal by and by with the nations (or the gentiles) as such. In Isa. xxxiv. 1, 2, we read "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations," &c. Again, Joel iii. 1, 2, 11, 12, "For behold, in those days and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also GATHER ALL NATIONS, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land... Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and GATHER yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: FOR THERE WILL I SIT TO JUDGE ALL THE HEATHEN round about." Again, Ezekiel xxxix. 21, "And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them." 4. It is important and material to be clear as to the fact "the Church of God" will not stand in that gathering. For (1) it is written that God is now visiting "the Gentiles, to TAKE OUT OF THEM a people for His name" (Acts xv. 14). If the Church is taken out of the nations, it surely cannot be included in nations, or be judged with them. And (2) we have already heard the words of Christ, how He said, "he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and SHALL NOT COME INTO JUDGMENT" (John v. 24). 5. It is also clear that "the Jew" cannot be in this judgment of the "nations," for it is expressly declared that the Jews "SHALL NOT BE RECKONED AMONG THE NATIONS" (Num. xxiii. 9). So that if "the Jew" be not there, and "the Church of God" be not there, then it is certain that it can be only "the Gentile." 6. Look at the GROUND of the judgment. The popular belief is that the "sheep" are the just, and the "goats" are the unjust. But there is a third party, whom the judge calls "my brethren," with reference to which both sheep and goats are judged. How can this be a general judgment if there are three parties and one of them is not included in it? The two parties are judges as to how they received and treated the third. Surely this cannot refer to any who have lived in this dispensation of the grace of God. Surely those who now reject Christ and His salvation will have something more to answer for than not caring for and tending "the Jews"; and those who are saved in Christ with an everlasting salvation will have a very different title to glory, than that furnished by their own works. Even infidels have not been slow to see this point, and to urge it against the Bible and Christianity. 7. The REWARD is also peculiar. It is "the kingdom prepared for them FROM the foundation of the world." When "the Church of God" is mentioned in this connection, it is "BEFORE the foundation of the world," (Eph. i. 4; John xvii. 24; I Pet. i. 20). This is the expression which is used of the Christ of God and the Church of God because it is the heavenly, eternal, and everlasting kingdom with which they stand connected. Here in Matt. xxv. it is an earthly kingdom: it is the kingdom "under the whole heaven," for "the earth hath He given to the children of men" (Ps. cxv. 16). The title to "the everlasting kingdom of God's dear Son," the kingdom of priests, is a title all of grace, and only of grace. But the title to the kingdom "under the whole heaven," the kingdom "from" the foundation of the world is a title of peculiar works with reference to the Lord's brethren the Jews. Thus the ways of God in judgment are righteous, and suited to the conditions of His own divisions of mankind-- "the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God." All that is revealed to us of Israel, and the ways of God; all that we know of God's purposes, counsels and thoughts; all that we know of Christ, His person and His work; all that we know of the Church of God, her calling and her standing before God, her completeness in Christ, her acceptance in the beloved, and her title to glory; and all that we know of the Scriptures of Truth forbid us to include either the Church of God, or the Israel of God. Israel will be restored, saved and blessed; and as for the Church. Are we asked to believe that God justifies her now by grace, and will judge her then by works? That He will blot out her transgressions now, and condemn her for them then? That He will again bring her sins in remembrance, when He has said "their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more"? 8. Having thus seen who they are not, it may be well to look more closely at who they are, who are to stand in this judgment. It appears from Acts xv. 16, 17 quoted from Amos ix. 11, 12 that after the ascension of the Church and her return unto Christ, and the restoration of Israel, there will be a "residue" of the Gentiles who will enter into blessing. We read that when the taking out of the Church from among the Gentiles shall have been completed, "After this I will return, and will build again the Tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things." May not this "residue" be the "sheep" referred to here? And as for the "goats" are they not included in those who are dealt with in Dan. vii. 25-27 when "The judgment shall sit, and... the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the saints of the most High," &c. May not this be the very judgment here spoken of and referred to in 2 Tim. iv. 1 as the judgment of "the quick," i.e. the living at Christ's appearing and His kingdom; and described more at length in Rev. xix. 11-21. 9. All this is clearly before the Millenium, and upon the earth. It is when "the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of His glory," which is "the throne of His father David," and when He shall appear with His holy angels" to execute judgment" (Jude 14, Zech. xiv. 5, and 2 Thess. ii. 8). 10. But even this judgment is neither total nor final: for after the Millenium, Satan will be loosed, as we read in Rev. xx. 7-10. The nations again revolt, and are destroyed on the earth by fire sent down from heaven, while the Devil who deceived them is then dealt with finally and for ever. And now one word as to the reality of this judgment. If words are to have any definite meaning then we have finality as to those who are here judged and sentenced. The expressions are definite, and the words are precise; the issues are tremendous, and the results are final! The same word "eternal" is used by the Judge Himself of both destinies, and all who receive the Bible as the inspired revelation of God's will, must receive them as absolute, final and authoritative. This brings us to consider Rev. xx. 11-15. III. The great and final judgment scene: and here we must notice. 1. That the TIME of this judgment is after "the thousand years" have ended. 2. The PLACE of this "great white Throne," is not on this earth. In this it is similar to the appearance and of the Saints in 2 Cor. v. which is in the Heavens, though before the Bema of Christ; and it is distinguished from "the Throne" in Matt. xxv., for that is on the earth, while here it is distinctly stated that "the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them" (Rev. xx. 11). 3. The PERSONS who are here judged are all of them Raised from the dead, for this special purpose. Hence it is called in John v. 29, "the resurrection of life." There shall not be one before this throne who has not died. In this it differs from both the other judgment scenes, for in the first (2 Cor. v.) only "those which are alive and remain" and "the dead in Christ" then raised will be there: and in the second (Matt. xxv.) only living nations, for resurrection is not even hinted at. Those who introduce "the dead" into the judgment of the living nations (Matt. xxv.) do not hesitate to introduce the living amongst those who are here called "the dead"! But they have no more authority for the one than for the other. 4. The judgment itself is one of standing and character. It is "according to their works" (verse 12, 13). Not to discover "good works" which may be rewarded, or "dead works" which may be burned up and the workers "saved": but to punish "wicked works" which manifest the character of the workers as the "enemies of God." 5. One question arises here, and that is, are any found in this judgment who are rewarded and saved? The answer is, that not a word is said about it: and where God has not spoken we must hold our peace. All we can say is that the omission is very strange and unaccountable if this be a general judgment of good and bad. The fact of its being called "the Resurrection of Judgment" as distinguished from "the Resurrection of Life" seems to imply that all who are thus raised are for condemnation. True, the Lamb's book of Life is opened, but it does not say that the names of any who are judged are found therein. There is not a word about any arraignment, there is no pleading, no defence; all are "speechless." The description seems to include the wicked dead of every age for "the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and the grave (margin) delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works" (Rev. xx. 13). It does not say that any whose names were in the book of life, were here. It does not say that there were any who were not "cast into the lake of fire" which is "the second death." While Scripture is silent on this particular point, and where this is so we may not speak with certainty, yet on one point all is certain: this judgment is absolute and final. There is no reprieve, and no release. There is no room here for the newly invented fiction of a Protestant purgatory, or for the new theory of "eternal hope." It may be found in man's theology, but it is not found in God's word, and he is a bold interpolator who dares to insert any hope in the words of this scripture. To attempt it is to repeat the lie of Satan and say "ye shall not surely die"! How can there be room for repentance then, when the call to repent "to-day" is based on the very fact, that there will be none after death. God "NOW commandeth all men everywhere to repent BECAUSE He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness," &c. (Acts xvii. 30, 31). The very fact of there being a "JUDGMENT TO COME" is the reason why men are commanded to repent "NOW." The great and important question for us, now and here, is Have you repented now? and Are you sheltered from this judgment? Its portion is yours if you are not washed in the blood of the Lamb. If you have not your "part" in the "first resurrection," "the resurrection of life," then you must have it in "the Resurrection of Judgment." That judgment will not be like the judgments of this world. These are generally limited in their scope and defective in their operation. They are often evaded by technicalities, perverted by bribes and eluded by deceit. But not so with that judgment. Oh how solemn. Is it possible that any can have heard these truths and be unmoved? Can it be that any are still heedless? Oh how awful! to be sporting on the brink of a grave which will never open till this "great white throne" shall be set. You have seen clearly that only those who are Christ's now, who have heard His word, and believed on Him that sent Him "shall not come into judgment." Have you "heard"? Do you "believe"? Oh what momentous questions! Questions on which eternal destinies hang! Better far discover your true state and condition before God now, than to find it out when it will be for ever "too late." Better far come now "to the throne of Grace" and obtain mercy, than to stand before that throne of Judgment and find "the second death"! May it be yours, now, to find the Lord gracious and merciful, while yet He tarries, for "the long suffering of God is salvation." May it be yours to be sheltered by His precious blood, and "NOT COME INTO JUDGMENT." I cannot conclude without thanking God for the privilege of being called to bear this testimony for Him and His Word. I pray that a rich blessing may rest upon it, and that many may be awakened to take a greater interest in Prophetic Truth; to see its importance; to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints; to have their love increased for a Crucified Saviour, their faith increased in a Risen Saviour and their hope increased for a Coming Saviour.
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