And be it remembered that "_every man_ will be judged according to _his_ works." The solemn session of the judgment referred to in Revelation xx. will not be an indiscriminate act. Let none suppose this. There are "_books_"--rolls--records. "_Every man_" will be judged. How? "According to _his_ works." Nothing can be more precise and specific. Each one has committed his own sins, and for them he will be judged and punished everlastingly. We are aware that many cherish the notion that people will only be judged for rejecting the gospel. It is a fatal mistake. Scripture teaches the direct contrary.
It declares that people will be judged according to their works. What are we to learn from the "many stripes" and the "few stripes" of Luke xii.? What is the force of the words "more tolerable" in Matthew xi.?
Are we not plainly taught by these words that there will be a difference in the degrees of judgment and punishment? And does not the apostle most distinctly teach us in Ephesians iv., and Colossians iii., that the wrath of G.o.d cometh upon the children of disobedience (or unbelief) "because of" certain sins against which he solemnly warns the saints?
No doubt the rejection of the gospel leaves people on the ground of judgment, just as the true belief of the gospel takes people off that ground. But the judgment will be, in every case, according to a man"s works. Are we to suppose that the poor ignorant savage, who has lived and died amid the gloomy shades of heathen darkness, will be found in the same "book," or punished with the same severity as a man who has lived and died in the total rejection of the full blaze of gospel light and privilege? Not for a moment, so long as the words "more tolerable" stand on the page of inspiration. The savage will be judged according to his works, and the baptized sinner will be judged according to his works, but a.s.suredly it will be more tolerable for the former than the latter. G.o.d knows how to deal with people. He can discriminate, and He declares that He will give to each according to his works.
Reader, think of this, we beseech you. Think deeply, think seriously.
If thou art unconverted, think of it for thyself, for, a.s.suredly, it concerns thee. And if thou art converted, think of it for others, as the apostle says, "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."
It is impossible for anyone to reflect upon the great and awful fact of judgment to come, and not be stirred up to warn his fellows. We believe it is of the very last possible importance that the consciences of men should be acted upon by the solemn truth of the judgment-seat of Christ--that they should be made to feel the seriousness of having to do with G.o.d as a Judge.
Should the reader, whoever he be, have been led to feel this--if he has been roused by this weighty matter--if he is, even now, asking the question, "What must I do?" the answer is blessedly simple. The gospel declares that the One who will, ere long, act as a Judge, is now revealed as a Justifier--even a Justifier of the unG.o.dly sinner that believeth in Jesus. This changes the aspect of things entirely.
It is not that the thought of the judgment-seat loses a single jot or t.i.ttle of its gravity and solemnity. Quite the contrary. It stands in all its weight and magnitude. But the believer looks at it from a totally different point of view. In place of looking at the judgment-seat of Christ as a guilty member of the first Adam, he looks at it as a justified and accepted member of the Second. In place of looking forward to it as the place where the question of his eternal salvation or perdition is to be decided, he looks to it as one who knows that he is G.o.d"s workmanship, and that he can never come into judgment, inasmuch as he has been taken clean off the ground of guilt, death, and judgment, and placed, through the death and resurrection of Christ, on a new ground altogether, even the ground of life, righteousness, and cloudless favor.
It is most needful to be clear as to this grand fundamental truth.
Very many even of the people of G.o.d are clouded in reference to it, and hence it is that they are afraid when they think of the judgment-seat. They do not know G.o.d as a Justifier. Their faith has not grasped Him as the One who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
They are looking to Christ to keep G.o.d out as a Judge, very much in the same way as the Israelites looked to the blood to keep out the destroyer. See Ex. xii. It is true and real enough, so far as it goes; but it falls very far short of the truth revealed in the New Testament. There is a vast difference between keeping G.o.d out as a Destroyer and a Judge, and bringing Him in as a Saviour and a Justifier. An Israelite would have dreaded, above all things, G.o.d"s coming in to him. Why? Because G.o.d was pa.s.sing through the land as a Destroyer. The Christian, on the contrary, delights to be in the presence of G.o.d. Why? Because He has revealed Himself as a Justifier.
How? By raising up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
There are three forms of expression used by the inspired apostle in Rom. iii. and iv. which should be carefully pondered. In chap. iii.
26, he speaks of "believing in Jesus." In chap. iv. 5, he speaks of "believing in Him that justifieth the unG.o.dly." And, ver. 24, he speaks of "believing in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."
Now, there is no distinction in Scripture without a difference; and when we see a distinction it is our business to inquire as to the difference. What then, is the difference between believing in Jesus, and believing in Him that raised up Jesus? We believe it to be this.
We may often find souls who are really looking to Jesus and believing in Him, and yet they have, deep down in their hearts a sort of dread of meeting G.o.d. It is not that they doubt their salvation, or that they are not really saved. By no means. They are saved, inasmuch as they are looking to Christ, by faith, and all who so look are saved in Him with an everlasting salvation. All this is most blessedly true: but still there is this latent fear or dread of G.o.d, and a shrinking from death. They know that Jesus is friendly to them, inasmuch as He died for them; but they do not see so clearly the friendship of G.o.d.
Hence it is that we find so many of G.o.d"s people in uncertainty and spiritual distress. Their faith has not yet laid hold of G.o.d as the One who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. They are not quite sure of how it may go with them. At times they are happy, because by virtue of the new nature, of which they are a.s.suredly the partakers, they get occupied with Christ: but at times they are miserable, because they begin to look at themselves, and they do not see G.o.d as their Justifier, and as the One who has condemned sin in the flesh.
They are thinking of G.o.d as a Judge with whom some question still remains to be settled. They feel as if G.o.d"s eye were resting on their indwelling sin, and as if they had, in some way or other, to dispose of that question with G.o.d.
Thus it is, we feel persuaded, with hundreds of the true saints of G.o.d. They do not see G.o.d as the Condemner of sin in Christ on the cross, and the Justifier of the believing sinner in Christ rising from the dead. They are looking to Christ on the cross to screen them from G.o.d as a Judge, instead of looking to G.o.d as a Justifier, in raising up Christ from the dead. Jesus was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification. Our sins are forgiven; our indwelling sin, or evil nature, is condemned and set aside. It has no existence _before G.o.d_. It is in us, but He sees us only in a risen Christ; and we are called to _reckon_ ourselves dead, and by the power of G.o.d"s Spirit, to mortify our members, to deny and subdue the evil nature which still dwells in us, and will dwell until we are pa.s.sed out of our present condition, and find our place forever with the Lord.
This makes all so blessedly clear. We have already dwelt upon the fact, that "they that are in the flesh cannot please G.o.d;" but the believer is not in the flesh, though the flesh be in him. He is in the _body_, and on the _earth_, as to the fact of his existence; but he is neither in the _flesh_, nor of the _world_, as to the ground or principle of his standing. "Ye," says the Holy Ghost, "are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit" (Rom. viii.). "They," says our blessed Lord, "are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John xvii.).
What a sweet relief to a heart bowed down under a sense of indwelling sin, and not knowing what to do with it! What solid peace and comfort flow into the soul when I see G.o.d condemning my sin in the cross, and justifying me in a risen Christ! Where are my _sins_? Blotted out.
Where is my _sin_? Condemned and set aside. Where am I? Justified and accepted in a risen Christ. I am brought to G.o.d without a single cloud or misgiving. I am not afraid of my Justifier. I confide in Him, love Him, and adore Him. I joy in G.o.d, and rejoice in hope of His glory.
Thus, then, we have, in some measure, cleared the way for the believer to approach the subject of the judgment-seat of Christ, as set forth in ver. 10 of our chapter, which we shall here quote at length, in order that the reader may have the subject fully before him in the veritable language of inspiration. "For we must all appear (or rather, be manifested) before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
Now there is, in reality, no difficulty or ground of perplexity here.
All we need is to look at the matter from a divine standpoint, and with a simple mind, in order to see it clearly. This is true in reference to every subject treated of in the word of G.o.d, and specially so as to the point now before us. We have no doubt whatever that the real secret of the difficulty felt by so many in respect to the question of the judgment-seat of Christ is self-occupation. Hence it is we so often hear such questions as the following, "Can it be possible that all our sins, all our failures, all our infirmities, all our naughty and foolish ways, shall be published, in the presence of a.s.sembled myriads, before the judgment-seat of Christ?"
Well, then, in the first place, we have to remark that Scripture says nothing of the kind. The pa.s.sage before us, which contains the great, broad statement of the truth on this weighty subject, simply declares that "we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ."
But how shall we be manifested? a.s.suredly, _as we are_. But how is that? As G.o.d"s workmanship--as perfectly righteous, and perfectly holy, and perfectly accepted in the Person of that very One who shall sit on the judgment-seat, and who Himself bore in His own body on the tree all the judgment due to us, and made a full end of the entire system in which we stood. All that which, as sinners, we had to meet, Christ met in our stead. Our _sins_ He bore; our _sin_ He was condemned for. He stood in our stead and answered all responsibilities which rested upon us as men alive in the flesh, as members of the first man, as standing on the old creation-ground. The Judge Himself is our righteousness. We are in Him. All that we are and all that we have, we owe it to Him and to His perfect work. If we, as sinners, had to meet Christ as a Judge, escape were utterly impossible; but, inasmuch as He is our righteousness, condemnation is utterly impossible. In short, the matter is reversed. The atoning death and triumphant resurrection of our Divine Subst.i.tute have completely changed everything, so that the effect of the judgment-seat of Christ will be to make manifest that there is not, and cannot be, a single stain or spot on that workmanship of G.o.d which the saint is declared to be.
But, then, let us ask, Whence this dread of having all our naughtiness exposed at the judgment-seat of Christ? Does not He know all about us?
Are we more afraid of being manifested to the gaze of men and angels than to the gaze of our blessed and adorable Lord? If we are manifested to Him, what matters it to whom beside we are known? How far are Peter and David and many others affected by the fact that untold millions have read the record of their sins, and that the record thereof has been stereotyped on the page of inspiration? Will it prevent their sweeping the strings of the golden harp, or casting their crowns before the feet of Him whose precious blood has obliterated for ever all their sins, and brought them, without spot, into the full blaze of the throne of G.o.d? a.s.suredly not. Why then need any be troubled by the thought of their being thoroughly manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ? Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? May we not safely leave all in the hands of Him who has loved us and washed us in His own blood? Cannot we trust ourselves implicitly to the One who loved us with such a love? Will He expose us? Will He--can He, do aught inconsistent with the love that led Him to give His precious life for us? Will the Head expose the body, or any member thereof? Will the Bridegroom expose the bride? Yes, He will, in one sense. But how? He will publicly set forth, in view of all created intelligences, that there is not a speck or a flaw, a spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, to be seen upon that Church which He loved with a love that many waters could not quench.
Ah! Christian reader, dost thou not see how that nearness to the heart of Christ, as well as the knowledge of His perfect work, would completely roll away the mists which enwrap the subject of the judgment-seat? If thou art washed from thy sins in the blood of Jesus, and loved by G.o.d as Jesus is loved, what reason hast thou to fear that judgment-seat, or to shrink from the thought of being manifested before it? None whatever. Nothing can possibly come up there to alter thy standing, to touch thy relationship, to blot thy t.i.tle, or cloud thy prospect. Indeed we are fully persuaded that the light of _the judgment-seat_ will chase away many of the clouds that have obscured _the mercy-seat_. Many, when they come to stand before that judgment-seat, will wonder why they ever feared it for themselves.
They will see their mistake and adore the grace that has been so much better than all their legal fears. Many who have hardly ever been able to read their t.i.tle here, will read it there, and rejoice and wonder--they will love and worship. They will then see, in broad daylight, what poor, feeble, shallow, unworthy thoughts they had once entertained of the love of Christ, and of the true character of His work. They will perceive how sadly p.r.o.ne they ever were to measure Him by themselves, and to think and feel as if His thoughts and ways were like their own. All this will be seen in the light of that day, and then the burst of praise--the rapturous hallelujah--will come forth from many a heart that, when down here, had been robbed of its peace and joy by legal and unworthy thoughts of G.o.d and His Christ.
But, while it is divinely true that nothing can come out before the judgment-seat of Christ to disturb, in any way, the standing or relationship of the very feeblest member of the body of Christ, or of any member of the family of G.o.d, yet is the thought of that judgment most solemn and weighty. Yes, truly, and none will more feel its weight and solemnity than those who can look forward to it with perfect calmness. And be it well remembered, that there are two things indispensably needful in order to enjoy this calmness of spirit.
First, we must have a t.i.tle without a blot; and, secondly, our moral and practical state must be sound. No amount of mere evangelical clearness as to our t.i.tle will avail unless we are walking in moral integrity before G.o.d. It will not do for a man to _say_ that he is not afraid of the judgment-seat of Christ because Christ died for him, while, at the same time, he is walking in a loose, careless, self-indulgent way. This is a most dreadful delusion. It is alarming in the extreme to find persons drawing a plea from evangelical clearness to shrink the holy responsibility resting upon them as the servants of Christ. Are we to speak idle words because we know we shall never come into judgment? The bare thought is horrible; and yet we may shrink from such a thing when clothed in plain language before us, while, at the same time, we allow ourselves to be drawn, through a false application of the doctrines of grace, into most culpable laxity and carelessness as to the claims of holiness.
All this must be sedulously avoided. The grace that has delivered us from judgment should exert a more powerful influence upon our ways than the fear of that judgment. And not only so, but we must remember that while we, _as sinners_, are delivered from judgment and wrath, yet, _as servants_, we must give account of ourselves and our ways. It is not a question of our being exposed here or there to men, angels, or devils. No; "we must give account to G.o.d" (Rom. xiv. 11, 12). This is far more serious, far more weighty, far more influential, than our being exposed in the view of any creature. "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as _to the Lord_, and not unto men; knowing that of _the Lord_ ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve _the Lord_ Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons" (Col. iii.
23-25).
This is most serious and salutary. It may be asked, "When shall we have to give account to G.o.d? When shall we receive for the wrong?" We are not told, because that is not the question. The grand object of the Holy Ghost in the pa.s.sages just quoted is to lead the conscience into holy exercise in the presence of G.o.d and of the Lord Christ. This is good and most needful in a day of easy profession, like the present, when there is much said about grace, free salvation, justification without works, our standing in Christ. Is it that we want to weaken the sense of these things? Far be the thought. Yea, we would, in every possible way, seek to lead souls into the divine knowledge and enjoyment of those most precious privileges. But then we must remember the adjusting power of _truth_. There are always two sides to a question, and we find in the pages of the New Testament the clearest and fullest statements of grace, lying side by side with the most solemn and searching statements as to our responsibility. Do the latter obscure the former? a.s.suredly not. Neither should the former weaken the latter. Both should have their due place, and be allowed to exert their moulding influence upon our character and ways.
Some professors seem to have a great dislike to the words "duty" and "responsibility;" but we invariably find that those who have the deepest sense of grace have also, and as a necessary consequence, the truest sense of duty and responsibility. We know of no exception. A heart that is duly influenced by divine grace is sure to welcome every reference to the claims of holiness. It is only empty talkers about grace and standing that raise an outcry about duty and responsibility.
G.o.d deals in moral realities. He is real with us, and He wants us to be real with Him. He is real in His love, and real in His faithfulness; and He would have us real in our dealings with Him, and in our response to His holy claims. It is of little use to say "Lord, Lord" if we live in the neglect of His commandments. It is the merest sham to say "I go sir" if we do not go. G.o.d looks for obedience in His children. "He is a rewarder of them that _diligently_ seek Him."
May we bear these things in mind, and remember that all must come out before the judgment-seat of Christ. "We must all be manifested" there.
This is unmingled joy to a really upright mind. If we do not unfeignedly rejoice at the thought of the judgment-seat of Christ, there must be something wrong somewhere. Either we are not established in grace, or we are walking in some false way. If we know that we are justified and accepted before G.o.d in Christ, and if we are walking in moral integrity, as in His presence, the thought of the judgment-seat of Christ will not disturb our hearts. The apostle could say, "We are made manifest to G.o.d; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." Was Paul afraid of the judgment-seat? Not he. But why?
Because he knew that he was accepted, as to his person, in a risen Christ; and, _as to his ways_, he "labored that whether present or absent he might be acceptable to Him." Thus it was with this holy man of G.o.d and devoted servant of Christ. "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward G.o.d and toward men" (Acts xxiv. 16). Paul knew that he was accepted _in_ Christ, and therefore he labored to be acceptable to Him in all his ways.
These two things should never be separated, and they never will be in any divinely taught mind or divinely regulated conscience. They will be perfectly joined together, and, in holy harmony, exert their formative power over the soul. It should be our aim to walk, even now, in the light of the judgment-seat. This would prove a wholesome regulator in many ways. It will not, in any wise, lead to legality of spirit. Impossible. Shall we have any legality when we stand before the judgment-seat of Christ? a.s.suredly not. Well, then, why should the thought of that judgment-seat exert a legal influence now? In point of fact, we feel a.s.sured there is, and can be, no greater joy to an honest heart than to know that everything shall come clearly and fully out, in the perfect light of that solemn day that is approaching. We shall see all then as Christ sees it--judge of it as He judges. We shall look back from amid the blaze of divine light shining from the judgment-seat, and see our whole course in this world. We shall see what blunders we have made--how badly we did this, that, and the other work--mixed motives here--an under current there--a false object in something else. All will be seen then in divine truth and light. Is it a question of our being exposed to the whole universe? By no means.
Should we be concerned, whether or no? Certainly not. Will it, can it, touch our acceptance? Nay, we shall shine there in all the perfectness of our risen and glorified Head. The Judge Himself is our righteousness. We stand in Him. He is our all. What can touch us? We shall appear there as the fruit of His perfect work. We shall even be a.s.sociated with Him in the judgment which He executes over the world.
Is not this enough to settle every question? No doubt. But still we have to think of our individual walk and service. We have to look to it that we bring no wood, hay, and stubble into the light of the coming day, for as surely as we do we shall suffer loss, though we ourselves shall be saved through the fire. We should seek to carry ourselves now as those who are already in the light, and whose one desire is to do what is well pleasing to our adorable Lord, not because of the fear of judgment, but under "the vast constraining influence" of His love. "The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again." This is the true motive-spring in all Christian service. It is not the fear of judgment impelling, but the love of Christ constraining us; and we may say, with fullest a.s.surance, that never shall we have so deep a sense of that love as when we stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.
"When this pa.s.sing world is done, When has sunk yon radiant sun, When I stand with Christ on high, Looking o"er life"s history, Then, Lord, shall I fully know, Not till then, how much I owe."
There are many other points of interest and value in this marvellous chapter; but we feel we must bring our paper to a conclusion; and, most a.s.suredly, we could not do this more suitably than by unfolding, as G.o.d"s Spirit may enable us, that theme which has been before us all along, "The Ministry of Reconciliation," to which we shall now direct the reader"s attention as briefly as we can.
We may view it under three distinct heads; namely, first, the _foundation_ on which this ministry rests; secondly, the _objects_ toward whom it is exercised; thirdly, the _features_ by which it is characterized.
1. And first, then, as to the foundation on which the ministry of reconciliation rests. This is set before us, in the closing verse of our chapter.
"For He (G.o.d) hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of G.o.d in Him."
We have here three parties, namely, G.o.d, Christ, and sin. This latter is simply the expression of what we are by nature. There is in "_us_"
nought but "_sin_," from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, the whole man is sin. The principle of sin pervades the entire system of fallen humanity. The root, trunk, branches, leaves, blossom, fruit--all is sin. It is not only that we have committed sins; we are actually _born_ in sin. True, we have, all of us, our characteristic sins. We have not only, all of us, "gone astray," but "we have turned every one to his own way." Each has pursued his own specific path of evil and folly; and all this is the fruit of that thing called "sin."
The outward life of each is but a stream from the fountain--a branch from the stem; that fountain is sin.
And what, let us ask, is sin? It is the acting of the will in opposition to G.o.d. It is doing our own pleasure--doing what we like ourselves. This is the root--this the source of sin. Let it take what shape, or clothe itself in what forms it may; be it gross or be it most refined in its actings, the great root-principle, the parent stem, is self-will, and this is sin. There is no necessity for entering into any detail; all we desire is that the reader should have a clear and thorough sense of what sin is, and not only so, but that he, by nature, is sinful. Where this great and solemn fact takes full possession of the soul, by the power of the Holy Ghost, there can be no settled rest until the soul is brought to lay hold on the truth set forth in 2 Corinthians v. 21. The question of sin had to be disposed of ere there could be so much as a single thought of reconciliation.
G.o.d could never be reconciled to sin. But fallen man was a sinner by practice and sinful in nature. The very sources of his being were corrupt and defiled, and G.o.d was holy, just, and true. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity. Hence, then, between G.o.d and sinful humanity there could be no such thing as reconciliation. True it is--most blessedly true--that G.o.d is good, and merciful, and gracious. But He is also holy; and holiness and sin could never coalesce.
What was to be done? Hear the answer: "G.o.d hath made Christ to be sin." But where? Reader, look well at this. Where was Christ made sin?
Was it in His birth? or in Jordan"s flood? or in the garden of Gethsemane? Nay; though, most a.s.suredly, in that garden the shadows were lengthening, the darkness was thickening, the gloom was deepening. But where and when was the holy, spotless, precious Lamb of G.o.d made sin? _On the cross, and only there!_ This is a grand cardinal truth--a truth of vital importance--a truth which the enemy of G.o.d and His Word is seeking to darken and set aside in every possible way. The devil is seeking, in the most specious manner, to displace the cross.
He cares not how he compa.s.ses this end. He will make use of anything and everything in order to detract from the glory of the Cross, that great central truth of Christianity round which every other truth circulates, and on which the whole fabric of divine revelation rests as upon an eternal foundation.
"He hath made Him to be sin." Here lies the root of the whole matter.
Christ, on the cross, was made sin for us. He died, and was buried.
Sin was condemned. It met the just judgment of a holy G.o.d who could not pa.s.s over a single jot or t.i.ttle of sin; nay, He poured out His unmingled wrath upon it in the person of His Son, when that Son was "made sin." It is a serious error to believe that Christ was bearing the judgment of G.o.d during His lifetime, or that aught save the death of Christ could meet the question of sin. He might have become incarnate--He might have lived and labored on this earth--He might have wrought His countless miracles--He might have healed, and cleansed, and quickened--He might have prayed, and wept, and groaned; but not any of these things, nor yet all of them put together, could blot out a single stain of that dreadful thing "_sin_." G.o.d the Holy Ghost declares that "without shedding of blood there is no remission"
(Heb. ix. 22).
Now, then, reader, if the holy life and labors of the Son of G.o.d--if His prayers, tears, and groans could not put away sin; how do you think that your life and labors, your prayers, tears, and groans, your good works, rites, ordinances, and ceremonies could ever put away sin?
The fact is, that the life of our blessed Lord only proved man more and more guilty. It laid the topstone upon the superstructure of his guilt, and therefore left the question of sin wholly unsettled.
Nor was this all. Our blessed Lord Himself declares, over and over again, the absolute and indispensable necessity of His death. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and _die_, it abideth _alone_; but if it _die_, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John xii.). "Thus it is written, and thus _it behoved_ (or was necessary for) Christ to suffer" (Luke xxiv. 46). "How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it _must_ be" (Matt. xxvi.)? In a word, death was the only pathway of life, the only basis of union, the only ground of reconciliation. All who speak of incarnation as being the basis of our union with Christ deny, in the plainest way, the whole range of truth connected with a dead and risen Christ. Many may not see this; but Satan sees it, and he sees too how it will work. He knows what he is about, and surely the servants of Christ ought to know what is involved in the error against which we are warning our readers.