501. The Judgment

The Judgment

2Co_5:10 : ’93For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.’94

You all believe the Bible to be true. I will not insult you by an argument in that direction. Your presence in a Christian sanctuary seems to imply it; and if I can show from this book that there is a day of solemn, of momentous importance approaching, you will admit the fact, and as reasonable and intelligent people, want all the light on that subject possible. I take it for granted you are not afraid to look facts full in the face. If there come a business panic, you examine your books; you see what is your outgo and what is your income, what is the amount of stock you have on hand, and make deliberate calculation as to what are the probabilities of your successfully going through that panic. And if I can show you that there is a day coming which will try and test and weigh us’97a day which to a great multitude will be a wild panic’97you will immediately want to make calculation as to what are the probabilities of your successfully going through that crisis unhurt. Many of you are accustomed to serving upon juries. When the case comes on you listen to the evidence on both sides; you hear the counsel for the plaintiff and the counsel for the defendant; you carefully listen to the judge’92s charge; you retire to the private room, and then you come into court and you render the verdict. In this sermon, in the name of God, I impanel this entire audience as a jury before whom I wish to place certain evidence, expecting that by the close of the service you will have rendered your verdict for time and for eternity.

That there is a day of trial coming, I prove from the Book of Ecclesiastes: ’93For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil;’94 from the book of Matthew: ’93And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left;’94 from the book of Acts: ’93God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;’94 from the book of Revelation: ’93And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened.’94

But perhaps you will want to know something of the pomp and paraphernalia of that day, and so I make another group of passages: ’93The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.’94 ’93The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and be removed like a cottage;’94 ’93and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree;’94 ’93and I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.’94 ’93The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.’94 ’93Lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.’94

I suppose, my friends, you have noticed the peculiar figures of speech as I have gone on. You have seen an intoxicated man reeling from one side of the street to the other, with no power of self-control, and finally dropping into the ditch. And God says that our world in its last agony will stagger like a drunkard. You have taken a blue sheet of paper and rolled it up in your hands, and very easily rolled up that blue sheet of paper, and easily held it up in your right hand. And God says that he will take the blue heavens and roll them together like a scroll. You have gone into an orchard when the fruit was ripe, and you looked up through the branches, and you said: ’93Why, this fruit might as well be brought down and taken in,’94 and you took hold of the tree and you shook mightily, and the fruit came down by scores and hundreds. And God says the world after a while, like the ripe fruit of the tree of the universe, shall be brought down as he lays hold of that tree and shakes it, and the stars shall fall like falling figs from a fig-tree.

Now, my friends, are we ready for the solemn announcement of my text? ’93We must all appear 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.’94 I am going to speak first of the Judge, then of those who shall be gathered before him, and then of the sentences pronounced; and may God by his Holy Spirit bring this subject home to our hearts so that we shall look upon it not as a picture of something far away that we will never witness, but as a scene in which you and I will be personally participant.

In the first place, I remark that the Judge on that day will be an impartial judge. It is a very difficult thing to get a judge of that kind in this world, because men are elected to the judiciary by the votes of the people; and it is a very difficult thing, when a case comes on, for a judge to forget ’93this man voted for me, and that man voted against me.’94 But the Judge on that day will be impartial. He was not elected, he will not be elected, by any human suffrage. He existed before the world was. He will exist after it is burned up, independent of man, angel, and devil.

In some cities’97I am glad it is not so in our own city’97in some cities it is almost impossible for a poor man to get justice in the courts, especially if on the other side there be those richly appareled and highly conditioned. In many cities the polished and accomplished villain sits with embroidered slippers, and smoking Havanas of the best brand, while the unpolished and unaccomplished offender waits for his trial and has tin cup and bunk of straw awarded him, and you can often tell by the speed and the recklessness of the trial that the prisoner in the box has no money in his pocket. The law, in many cities, with its hands behind its back, walks in front of great villainies, not seeing them; but woe be to the woman who steals a paper of pins, or the man who takes a loaf of bread to keep his children from starving. But on the day of which I speak the Judge will be impartial. What to him are all the inequalities of human society? Side by side, czar and gate-keeper, president and porter, Chinese emperor and coolie, millionaire and pauper. What to him will it be whether in this world we flashed in gay drawing-room or picked cotton or broke cobblestones or harangued senates or marshaled armies? One platform on which to stand, one law by which to be tried, one impartial Judge to fix our fate. After other trials, people complain, ’93I did not have a fair chance’94; but all nations after that last trial will be compelled to acknowledge they had a fair chance.

He is not only an impartial Judge, but he is a merciful Judge. When a man is to be brought to trial, he asks now which judge is to be on the bench during this term. Some judges are celebrated for their severity, and other judges are celebrated for their leniency. Now I have to tell you the Judge on that day is characterized by mercy. He would rather acquit you than condemn you. He will give you all the advantages in the case. That he has a kind heart I prove by the fact that he went a long journey to comfort two sisters who had lost their brother, and turned aside from a flattering reception to help a poor blind man. There is no telling the height, the depth, the length, the breadth of his mercy.

But he is not only impartial and merciful, he is just. What would you think of the judge who should take his place on the bench and say, ’93Now let all these criminals go free without regard to their character or their present condition or their state of mind. Let them all go free. Open all the prisons and let all the outragers of society be liberated. I have not the heart to punish them’94? Why, such a judge as that you would have impeached. You say, ’93Such a judge as that is fit only for an insane asylum.’94 The greatest farce in the universe would be a judge without justice. Now, I have to tell you that the Judge on that day will be a just Judge. He knows all the law, and he will vindicate it. Suppose we come up before that Judge with all our sins unpardoned, all our crimes unforgiven, and not so much as accepting some one to plead our cause, do you think we will escape? Ah! I tell you nay. If Mercy, radiant and garlanded, sits on one side that throne; Justice, with stern brow and firm lip and gleaming sword, sits on the other. An impartial Judge, a merciful Judge, a just Judge.

But I must pass on and speak of those who will be gathered before him. ’93Lo! there were thunderings and lightnings, and a great earthquake.’94 ’93Behold! he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him.’94 ’93We must all, we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.’94 I have time only to specify five or six different classes who will be brought that day for inspection. In the first place, I remark, that all the good will come up for trial. These sacrificed in the ancient temple, and those taught in a modern Sabbath-school. These came up from a common field of graves, those from the mausoleum of princes. These were buried in the Potter’92s Field, those heard the archangelic blast under the solid masonry of Westminster Abbey. These died in their mother’92s arms; and those were octogenarians, their hair white as the snow that drifted over their sepulchres. These died on pillow of eider down; those put their flaming feet in the burning chariot that sped up from Smithfield. Once they were sinners, once they were culprits, once they deserved to die; but they got the matter settled. Written all over their hearts in the handwriting of that very Judge is their eternal clearance: ’93There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.’94 Not one sin uncanceled. Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates, and let them come in. March on, great army of the pardoned and the good. March on! Hail! sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty. Pass on. Pass up. Pass in.

I remark, also, on that day all blasphemers will come under inspection. On earth they made a great many hard speeches they have forgotten; but on that day the record will be presented. When they first began to swear, the oath caught between the teeth and almost choked their utterance. After a while they spewed their profanities on the air, reckless of God, though sometimes they apologized to the ladies. As a man once, while giving in some testimony to a judge, heard the scratching of a pen behind a curtain, and knew from that that whatever he said was being taken down to be reported, so in the last day it will be found out that the recording angel has kept an account of all the profanities, the unforgiven and unpardoned profanities of a man’92s lifetime, and they will flame out before his astonished vision. They will almost burn the eye in the socket, old words written so long ago. ’93All blasphemers shall have their place in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’94 Swing back, ye gates of darkness. Lift, ye gates of doom. Pass on, you great army of blasphemers. Pass on. Pass out. Pass down. Forever! Forever!

I remark on that day will come up for inspection all the oppressed. On earth they had a hard time of it. Hard crusts, hard taskmasters. No chance at all. These toiled in Egyptian brick-kilns, and* these made garments for government contractors at ruinous rates, and these put out their eyes with their own needles, binding shoes for the elegant feet of lords and ladies. That forehead was never kissed of the sunlight. Those eyes never saw the green fields. Those ears never heard the song of meadow lark and brown thrasher. These were orphans, and they were kicked into the world, and they were kicked out of it. Long story of blistered hands and aching head and broken heart, and now they stand in the presence of him who in every fibre of his soul knows what it is to suffer. This is not the first time he has seen them. He saw them all the time when in their earthly sorrows they cried for pity and for help, and will he cast them off now? Cast them off? Will he? Ask the mother who holds the child in her arms to throw it to the wild beasts; ask the father who holds the child lovingly by the hand to dash that child against the rocks; but do not expect that in the fresh memory of cross and garden of bloody sweat Christ will cast off these suffering ones who have confided in his mercy. Happy day for you all, ye children of the fire. In proportion as the thorn was sharp and the flame was severe, your reward will be great. You suffered with him on earth; you will be glorified with him in heaven. Hail! sons and daughters of the fire.

I remark again, on that day will be gathered for inspection and trial all those who have been secret defrauders or charlatans. Business men who have been behind the curtain know very well that much of commercial life today is rotten to the centre. You pass down the street without especial observation, but on either side are gigantic frauds being enacted. Operators in dishonesty so adroit and so alert the law cannot strike between the joints of their harness. Once in a while a Phoenix Bank swindle or a Ketcham forgery comes to the surface; but the vast majority of the dishonesties never come to the surface, or, coming to the surface, are hushed up. But on the day of which I speak all these things will come up’97all the affairs of banks and insurance companies and moneyed institutions, all unlawful fees by unprincipled attorneys, all trifling with human life by medical charlatans, all unlawful putting of one’92s property beyond the reach of creditors, all sharp practice, all gougings, all shams. If I stand before those who have devoured widows’92 houses or sprung snap judgments or ground the faces of the poor, let me tell you it will be a great ordeal for you unless you have given up your crimes and repented of them before God. God is going to bring the stock exchanges of London and Berlin and New York and the Bourse into judgment; and if you have not repented of your business iniquities it will be hard with you. Gates of darkness, lift. Doors of doom, swing open. All ye secret defrauders and charlatans, pass on, pass out, pass down. Forever! Forever!

I remark again: on that day all the public outragers of law and order will come under inspection. They took the first steamer and got out of the country, and the police could not catch them. The slain body was hidden, and all traces of the crime were obliterated, and everything became a mystery, and the question that passed from lip to lip was: ’93Who did it? Who did it?’94 They slunk into the underground restaurant, or on swift horse they put many miles between them and the scene of their crime. Now it will all come out.

What a general jail delivery! Crimes a hundred years ago committed, and a hundred years ago forgotten, come to resurrection. All the great outlaws of Thebes and Tyre and Babylon joining the gang of desperadoes that come up from our modern cities, a scaled and blasted and peeled and scalded throng, with their mouths still filled with blasphemies and their bodies still polluted with crime, and their eyes still gleaming with revenge, and their hearts still raving with murder. All looking on the throne of judgment, and reading there, before yet it be uttered, their eternal condemnation. Pass on, you public outragers, of law and order. Pass on. Pass out. Pass down. Forever! Forever!

Again I remark, on that day will come under inspection and scrutiny all those who have depended on their personal morality, independent of Jesus Christ. No one ever doubted their integrity. If they owed a dollar, they paid it. No slander on their tongue, no malice in their heart; but here they are before the judgment-seat of Christ. Having refused the Lord Jesus their love and their confidence, here they are on their own resources. They have avoided a great many sins, but they have committed the greatest sin that a man can commit’97they have rejected the Lord Jesus and crucified the Lord of glory. They look back, and they now realize that the Bible was right when it said, and said of the very best naturally who had not any of the grace of God’97said of all them before they were changed: ’93The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.’94 Now they find they made an infinite mistake when they depended upon their personal morality and rejected the Lord. They hear the announcement from the throne: ’93Because I called and ye refused, and stretched out my hand and no man regarded, therefore I will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh.’94 And then in paroxysm of horror they cry out: ’93How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof. The harvest is past, summer is ended, and I am not saved.’94 And then they go to the foot of the cliff and try to shake the stones down on them as they cry: ’93Rocks and mountains, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. The great day of his wrath is come, and who, who shall be able to stand?’94 Gates of darkness, lift. All these who depended upon personal morality and rejected Christ, the only Redeemer, pass on, pass out, pass down. Forever. Forever! But you say: ’93Did not that man do a great many good things?’94 Yes; but the Bible said so plainly he could not have been mistaken in regard to it; the Bible said: ’93By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified; and except ye be born again, ye cannot see the Kingdom of God.’94

I remark again, on that day all persons, of whatever character and of whatever antecedents, who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will be brought under inspection. They heard the Gospel and rejected it. I do not care where they heard it. These heard it in King’92s Chapel and those in Sailors’92 Bethel; these heard it in gorgeous cathedral, and those in log-cabin meeting-house; but they heard it, and they would have none of it. Now they are before the judgment-seat of Christ, unpardoned, and all things seem to be pleading against them. This Bible which they refused to read, or read with an indifferent spirit, pleading against them. The communion table to which they were invited, but which they despised, pleading against them. The cross of the Son of God pleading against them. The warnings of God’92s providence pleading against them. The Holy Spirit pleading against them. Ah! my friends, it will not be the falling of the mountains and the burning seas that will make the consternation; it will be the unimproved privileges of the past gathering around that soul and pushing it to the brink and mocking its agony.

I hear the soliloquy of that soul’97’94Jesus called, the Spirit invited, Christians warned, the Church of God begged me to come in, all Christian influences plied my soul; but here I am unpardoned, and this is the judgment-seat. Too late now. It is all over, and the door goes shut, and that is the judgment-seat. If there were a door ajar, how swiftly I would fly through it! If there were a place to pray, how soon I would make outcry! If there were an invitation offered, how soon I would accept it! But it is too late now. This is the judgment-seat. Bitterness utter. The door shut. My fate sealed. This is the judgment-seat. Oh, if I had heard my mother’92s entreaty! Oh, if I had only heard my sister’92s prayer! Oh, if once in ten thousand years any light would break in upon this darkness! But it is too late. This is the judgment-seat!’94

Are we not ready to receive the full significance of the text when it says, ’93We must all appear 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?’94 Are we not ready to accept the invitation of the Gospel when it says, ’93Ho! every one that thirsteth,’94 ’93whosoever will.’94 ’93Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation;’94 ’93Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the unrighteous his thought, and let him return to the Lord who will have mercy;’94 ’93The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and whosoever will, let him come.’94

Oh, on that day, that wrathful day,

When man to judgment wakes from clay,

Be thou the trembling sinner’92s stay,

Though heaven and earth should pass away.

Autor: T. De Witt Talmage