348

CHAPTER XX.

THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

Man is accountable to God for his conduct-God knows his conduct-A day of judgment is announced in the holy Scriptures-Jesus will be the Judge-The whole world will be judged—The judgment will be equitable—Its decisions will be final-The prospect is awful; and we should prepare for it.

WE now enter on the most solemn subject that can occupy the thoughts of man; and a subject in which we are all deeply concerned. The solemnities of the judgment-day furnish us with matter of useful meditation for every day in the year; and the more deeply and frequently we ponder this subject in our hearts, the more shall we improve in piety and holy living.

I. Man is accountable to God for his conduct in the present world.

When he was created, in the beginning of time, a law was given to him as the rule of his conduct; and that law is a proof that he was accountable to his Creator from the commencement of his existence. When he transgressed that law, he was brought to judgment, and sentence of death was pronounced upon him by his righteous Judge; but a ray of hope shone on him when it was announced that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's

head. The devil had ruined man under the form of a serpent; and under that form his power was to be crushed by the Messiah.

When the first promise was made, man was placed in the hands of a Mediator, but not without law; for he was not then less accountable to God for his actions than he had been in a state of innocence. This appears by all the mediatorial laws that were afterwards enacted; by the united voice of all the Prophets; by the ministry of the Son of God; and by the inspired writings of all the holy Apostles. They all address man, with one accord, as an accountable moral agent; and they all set before him the promises and the threatenings of God. Those promises are made to the obedient, to encourage them in the paths of piety and virtue; and the threatenings are made to the disobedient, to warn them against the sad effects of impiety and vice.

The conscience of man bears witness to this important truth, that he is accountable for all his words and works to the Maker and Governor of the world; and that deep sense of right and wrong, which is so deeply impressed on every human heart, produces all the terrors of a guilty soul. When the law of God is broken, conscience sounds an alarm, and the sinner is self-condemned. This is in accordance with what the Apostle Paul says of the Gentile nations: "These, not having the law, are a law

unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts in the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." Rom. ii. 14, 15.

II. God is perfectly acquainted with the conduct of man.

There cannot be a doubt of this, when we consider, on the one hand, the perfections of the Deity; and, on the other, what is written in his holy word. He is present in every part of his vast dominions; and he knows every thing that is done in earth and heaven. All our works, both in the public walks of life, and in our secret retirements, are fully known to him. This is well expressed by the royal Psalmist: "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways." Ps. cxxxix. 1-3. And the Lord views our conduct as a Judge; for he “is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." 1 Sam. ii. 3. If this were not the case, how could he judge the world? But as the Judge of man, he "searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts." 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. To impress this truth on our hearts, it is stated, that he records our conduct in a book of remembrance; and that, with other

99

books, will be opened in the day of the Lord. Mal. iii. 16; Rev. xx. 12. Not that he needs any record, for he knoweth all things; but the subject is represented in this light, to assure us that nothing will be forgotten when we shall stand at his awful bar. How marvellous is this subject; and how awful to a reflecting mind!

God sees not only the outward actions of our lives, but the inward workings of our minds. There is not a thought of the heart but what is seen by his all-piercing eye. All our motives, plans, and purposes are perfectly known to him. Our desires, affections, and passions lie open to his view. The whole man, with all his powers and faculties, is seen by his eye; nor can any thing, whether good or evil, be concealed from him. This is a profound mystery to shortsighted mortals; but a fact which we are bound to believe; and a fact which will be proved in the last great day. "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccles. xii. 14. But how could he do this, if he did not know all things?

III. A day of judgment is announced in the holy Scriptures.

This may be proved, beyond the possibility of contradiction, by a few select quotations from the divine records.

First, Enoch foretold the day of judgment. His prophecy is quoted by the Apostle Jude,

in the following words: "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." Jude 14, 15. This passage is not found in the Old Testament; but its authority is established by an inspired writer. It might have been a tradition; but it is now a part of holy writ.

Secondly, Solomon states the subject, in the passage which we quoted in the last section, in words that cannot be misunderstood. It appears by his account, that nothing will be concealed from an assembled world. The good works of the saints, in all their principles and consequences, will appear; and the evil works of sinners, in their nature and effects, will not be hidden. The day will declare every thing that has been done, in every age of the world, and in every nation of the earth; and those correct disclosures of every occurrence in time, will form an universal history of man.

Thirdly, Daniel had the following grand and sublime prophetic view of that awful day: "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame,