John xii. 48. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him : the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
THE judgment of the last day is a period to which we must all look forward with the deepest interest, and for which we should be preparing from day to day : for then " we shall receive at the Lord's hands according to what we have done in the body, whether it be good or evil." True it is, our Lord says, in the verse before my text, " If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not : for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." But we
are not to understand this absolutely : for we are told expressly, that " God has committed all judgment to the Son ;" and that " he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he has ordained." The meaning is, that " to save the world" was the great and primary object of his mission ; and that, though he will also judge the world, he will not do it arbitrarily, according to any secret zvill of his own, but according to his revealed will, even with that word which, from day to day, he declared unto them. Of their reception of this word they should give account ; and in strict accordance with it should his judgment be passed upon them.
In confirmation of this truth, I will shew,
I. The responsibility of those who hear the Gospel —
[Man is responsible to God for every talent that has been committed to him, and for every advantage he enjoys. In pro- portion to the opportunities which men have of knowing their Lord's will, must be their accountableness for the performance of it : and more or fewer stripes will be awarded to the negli- gent servant, according to the degree of information which had been given him, and the knowledge he possessed3. " The times of men's ignorance God winked at ; but, when his fuller reve- lation was made known to them, he called upon them more authoritatively to repentV The uninstructed " heathen will be judged by the law written on their hearts0:" the Jews, by the law of the Ten Commandments'1; but Christians, by the Gospel e. And a far more severe account will be required of us than of the others, on account of the superior light we have enjoyed. Our Lord told his hearers, that " if he had not come and spoken unto them, they had not (comparatively) had sin ; but that now they had no cloak for their sinf." And he warned them, that not only Tyre and Sidon, but even Sodom and Gomorrha, with all their wickedness, would have a lighter con- demnation in the day of judgment, than those who neglected to improve the advantages afforded them by his instructions s. This he plainly declared in the words of my text: " He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judge th him : the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."]
a Luke xii. 47, 48. b Acts xvii. 30. c Rom. ii. 14, 15.
d Rom. ii. 12. e 2 Thess. i. 8. f John xv. 22.
e Matt. x. 14, 15.