31-46 ; 1 Cor. xv.3 51, 52 ; 2 Cor. v., 10 ; 1 Thess. iv., 17 ; 2 Thess. "i., 6-10 ; Kev. xx., 11-15. 2d. All evil angels, 2 Pet. it, 4 ; Jude 6. Good angels appearing as attendants and ministers, Matt, xiii., 41, 42.
15. In what sense is it said that the saints shall judge the world ?
See Matt, xix., 28 ; Luke xxii., 29, 30 ; 1 Cor. vi., 2, 3 ; Rev. xx., 4.
In virtue of the union of believers with Christ, his triumph and dominion is theirs. They are joint heirs with him, and if they suffer with him they shall reign with him, Rom. viii., 17 ; 2 Tim. ii., 12. He will judge and condemn his enemies as head and champion of his church, all his members assenting to his judg- ment and glorying in his triumph, Rev. xix., 1-5. — Hodge's Com. on 1st Cor.
16. Upon what principles will his judgment be dispensed?
The judge is figuratively represented, (Rev. xx., 12,) after the analogy of human tribunals, as opening "books" in judgment, ac- cording to the things written in which the dead are to be judged, and also " another book/' " which is the book of life." The books first mentioned doubtless figuratively represent the law or stand- ard according to which each one was to be judged, and the facts in his case, or " the works which he had done." The "book of life" (see also Phil, iv., 3 ; Rev. iii., 5 ; xiii., 8 ; xx., 15) is the book of God's eternal electing love. Those whose names are found written in the " book of life" will be declared righteous on the ground of their participation in the righteousness of Christ. Their holy characters and good deeds, however, will be publicly declared as the evidences of their election, of their relation to Christ, and of the glorious work of Christ in them, Matt, xiii., 43 ; xxv., 34-40.
Those whose names are not found written in " the book of life" will be condemned on the ground of the evil " deeds they have done in the body," tried by the standard of God's law, not as that law has been ignorantly conceived of by each, but as it has been more or less fully and clearly revealed by the Judge himself to each severally. The heathen who has sinned without
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the written law " shall be judged without the law," i. e., by the law written upon his heart, which made him a law unto himself, Luke xii., 47, 48 ; Rom. ii., 12-15. The Jew, who " sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law/' Rom. ii., 12. Every indi- vidual dwelling under the light of the Christian revelation shall be judged in strict accordance with the whole will of God as made known to him, all of the special advantages of every kind enjoyed by him individually modifying the proportion of his responsibility, Matt, xi, 20-24 ; John iii., 19.
The secrets of all hearts; the inward states and hidden springs of action will be brought in as the subject matter of judgment, as well as the actions themselves, Eccle. xii., 14 ; 1 Cor. iv., 5 ; and publicly declared to vindicate the justice of the Judge, and to make manifest the shame of the sinner, Luke viii., 17 ; xii., 2, 3 ; Mark iv., 22. Whether the sins of the saints will be brought for- ward at the judgment or not is a question not settled by the Scrip- tures, though debated by theologians. If they should be, we are sure that it will be done only with the design and effect of en- hancing the glory of the Saviour and the comfort of the saved.
17. What do the Scriptures reveal concerning the future con- flagration of our earth t
The principal passages bearing upon this point are Ps. cii., 26, 27 ; Is. Ii., 6 ; Rom. viii., 19-23 ; Heb. xii., 26, 27 ; 2 Pet. iii., 10-13 ; Rev. xx. and xxi.
Many of the older theologians thought that these passages indicated that the whole existing physical universe was to be destroyed. This view is now universally discarded. Some held that this earth is to be annihilated.
The most common and probable opinion is that at " the resti- tution of all things," Acts, iii., 21, this earth, with its atmosphere, is to be subjected to intense heat, which will radically change its present physical condition, introducing in the place of the present an higher order of things, which shall appear as a " new heavens and a new earth," wherein " the creature itself, also, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God," Rom. viii., 19-23, and wherein the constitution of the new world will be adapted to the " spiritual" or resurrec- tion bodies of the saints, 1 Cor. xv.; 44, to be the scene of the
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heavenly society, and, above all, to be the palace-temple of the God-man for ever, Eph. i., 14 ; Kev. v., 9, 10 ; xxi., 1-5. See also Fairbairn's Typology, Vol. I., Part II., Chap. II., sec. 7.
18. What should be the moral effect of the Scripture doctrine of Christ's second advent ?