judgment is to be arranged, so as to admit of the countless mill- ions of human beings who shall have lived from the beginning of the world to the final consummation being so congregated as to be all gathered before the throne of the Son of Man. The com- mon answer to that difficulty was that the throne is to be so ex- alted and so glorious as to be visible, as are the sun and moon, from a large part of the earth's surface at the same time. These, however, are questions about which we need give ourselves no concern ; these descriptions of the judgment are designed to teach us moral truths, and not the physical phenomena by which the solemn adjudication on the destiny of men is to be attended.
5. The ground or matter of judgment is said to be the " deeds done in the body," men are to be judged " according to their works ; " " the secrets of the heart " are to be brought to light. God's judgment will not be founded on the professions, or the re- lations of men, or on the appearance or reputation which they sustain among their fellows ; but on their real character and on their acts, however secret and covered from the sight of men those acts may have been. God will not be mocked and cannot be deceived ; the character of every man will be clearly revealed. (1.) In the sight of God. (2.) In the sight of the man himself. All self deception will be banished. Every man will see himself as he appears in the sight of God. His memory will probably prove an indelible register of all his sinful acts and thoughts and feelings. His conscience will be so enlightened as to recognize the justice of the sentence which the righteous judge shall pro- nounce upon him. All whom Christ condemns will be self-con- demned. (3.) There will be such a revelation of the character of every man to all around him, or to all who know him, as shall render the justice of the sentence of condemnation or acquittal apparent. Beyond this the representations of Scripture do not require us to go.
Besides these general representations of Scripture that the char- acter and conduct of men is the ground on which the final sen- tence is to be pronounced, there is clear intimation in the Word of God, that, so far as those who hear the Gospel are concerned their future destiny depends on the attitude which they assume to Christ. He came to his own, and his own received Him not ; but to as many as received Him, to them gave He power to be- come the sons of God. He is God manifest in the flesh ; He came into the world to save sinners ; all who receive Him as their God and Saviour, are saved ; all who refuse to recognize and trust
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850 PART IV. Ch. IV. — THE SECOND ADVENT.
Him, perish. They are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ; he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him. Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also con- fess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. When the Jews asked our Lord, What shall we do that we might work the works of God ? his answer was, " This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom He hath sent." In the solemn account given of the last judgment in Matthew xxv. 31-46, the inquest concerns the conduct of men towards Christ. And the Apostle says, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha. The special ground of condem- nation, therefore, under the Gospel is unbelief ; the refusal to re- ceive Christ in the character in which He is presented for our acceptance.
6. Men are to be judged according to the light which they have severally enjoyed. The servant that knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes ; but he that knew it not, shall be beaten with few stripes. " For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." Our Lord says that it shall be more tolerable, in the day of judgment, for Tyre and Sidon, than for the men of his generation. Paul says that the heathen are inexcusable, because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God ; and he lays down the principle that they who sin without law, shall be judged without law ; and that they who have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.
7. At the judgment of the last day the destiny of the right- eous and of the wicked shall be unalterably determined. Each class shall be assigned to its final abode. This is taught in the solemn words : " These shall go away into everlasting punish- ment : but the righteous into life eternal."
How far the descriptions of the process of the last judgment, given in the Bible, are to be understood literally, it is useless to inquire. Two things are remarkable about the prophecies of Scripture, which have already been accomplished. The one is that the fulfilment has, in many cases, been very different from that which a literal interpretation led men to anticipate. The other is, that in some cases they have been fulfilled even to the most minute details. These facts should render us modest in our interpretation of those predictions which remain to be accom-