These Sections teach —

1st. That God has appointed a day ot general judgment.

2d. That he has committed this judgment into the hands of the God-man in his character as Medii\tor.

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3d. That the persons to be judged include apostate angels and the whole human race, good and bad.

4th. That these persons are to be judged as to all their thoughts, words and deeds.

5th. That the great end of God in the appointment of this day is the manifestation of his glorious justice in the condemnation of the reprobate, and of his glorious grace in the glorification of believers.

6th. That the righteous are to be awarded admission to the presence of the Lord, which is to be consciously enjoyed by them in a state of unending holiness, happiness and honor.

7th. That the reprobate are to be awarded a place with the devil and his angels, to be endured with conscious torment and shame through a ceaseless eternity.

1st. It is a dictate of natural reason and conscience that in some way, formally or informally, severally or collectively, God will call all the subjects of his moral government to an exact account for their character and actions. It is obvious, as the author of tlie seventythird Psalm declares, and as many other perplexed souls have thought, that justice is not executed upon men in this world. All this suggests the probability that God will at a future time adjust the disturbed balances and call all men to a strict account. This presumption of reason and conscience is confirmed and declared to be a fact in the word of God ; and the additional information is conveyed that this judgment of men and angels shall be general and simultaneous, and shall be conducted on a certain predetermined day in the future. "The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent; because he

hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance to all men, iu that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts xvii. 30, 31 ; Kom. ii. 16 ; Matt. xxv. 31-46.

2d. The Judge on this great occasion is to be not God absolutely considered, but the God-man in his office as mediatorial King. All judgment is said to be not inherently his, but committed to him by the Father. John V. 22, 27. As Judge he is called the " Son of man" and the "man ordained by God." Matt. xxv. 31, 32; Acts xvii. 31. He conducts the judgment as " the King" and as Head of his members who have lived on earth. " For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink, etc. . . . And the King shall answer and say unto them. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matt. xxv. 35-40. And thus, as mediatorial King, he will consummate his work in the destruction of his enemies, the complete redemption of his friends, and " the restitution of all things." 2 Thess. i. 7-10; Rev. i. 7; Acts iii. 21.

3d. The subjects of the judgment will embrace the entire human race of ever;- generation, each individual appearing immediately after his resurrection, in the completeness of his reintegrated person, both soul and body. All the generations of the dead are to be raised and the then living "changed." "Before him shall be gathered all nations." " We shall not all sleep, but we must all be changed ; . . . the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall bfe raised incorruptible, and we shall

b60 CONFESSION OF FAITH.

be changed." "We must all appear before the judg »\ient-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the *.hings done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. . . . And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell (Hades) delivered up the dead which were in them : and they were judged, every man according to his works." ^latt. XXV. 31-46; 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52; 2 Cor. v. 10; 1 Thess. iv. 16; Rev. xx. 11-15. All evil angels are also to be arraigned in this judgment. "The angels which kept not their first estate ... he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Jude 6 ; 2 Pet. ii. 4. Good angels will be concerned in it as attendants and ministers. Matt. xiii. 41, 42; 2 Thess. i. 7, 8.

4th. The judgment will not rest upon appearances, nor testimony, nor any partial knowledge of the facts, nor upon technical grounds of law, nor specific actions dissociated from the state of the heart and the motives which prompted them. The heathen who has sinned without the law "shall be judged without the law" — that is, without the law supernaturally revealed, but by the law written upon the 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 man who has lived under the dispensation of the gospel shall be judged by the gospel. Heb. ii. 2, 3; x. 28, 29. We are told not to judge according to the appearance (John vii. 24), and therefore to "judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things

of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." 1 Cor. iv. 5 ; Eccles. xii. 14. " There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore, what^^oever ye have spoken in dOifkness shall be heard in the light, and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." Luke viii. 17; xii. 2, 3; Mark iv. 22. This shall be done to manifest the righteousness of God in the condemnation of his enemies, and his glorious grace in the sanctification of his people.

The saints will not be acquitted in the day of judgment on the ground of their wvn good deeds, but because their names are found written in '* the book of life," or the book of God's electing love, and on the ground of their participation in the righteousness of Christ. Their good deeds will be publicly cited as the evidences of their union with Christ. Their union with Christ is the ground of their justification. Their faith is the instrument of their union with Christ ; and their faith, as the Apostle James says, is shown by their works. Phil. iv. 3 ; Rev. iii. 5 ; xiii. 8 ; xx. 12, 15.

5th. The great end of God in this public unveiling of secrets and manifestation of character in connection with his final disposition of his creatures is of course the manifestation of his own glorious excellences as moral Governor and Redeemer. The redeemed are for ever "vessels of his mercy" prepared beforehand, in order that in them might be " made known the riches of his glory." And the reprobate in like manner are exhibited as the " vessels of wrath," to show his righteous wrath and make his power known. Rom. ix. 22, 23. \t has already been proved, under Chapter i v., § 1, that

the chief end of God in the original creation was the manifestation of his own glorious perfections. If this was his end in the original creation, it of course must be so in every subsequent step consequent upon it.

6th. Immediately upon the close of the judgment, the righteous, being honourably acquitted, are to be awarded admission to the presence of the Lord, with whom they are ever to continue in a state of conscious and exalted happiness, excellence and honour for an absolutely unending eternity. Of the blessed estate of the saints, the Scriptures teach — (1.) Their blessedness flows from their perfect freedom from sin, and from their being with God and Christ, and their sharing the glory of Christ as joint heirs with him. John xvii. 24 ; Rom. viii. 17; 1 Thess. iv. 17; Kev. xxi. 3. (2.) It shall be perfectly free from all evil of every kind (Rev. xxi. 4), and it shall involve every form of blessedness in an inconceivably great degree (1 Cor. ii. 9) and exalted in kind (Col. i. 12). (3.) It is to endure for an absolutely unending eternity. It is called "eternal life" and "everlasting life," an "eternal weight of glory," ^'eternal salvation," an " everlasting kingdom," an " eternal inheritance." Matt. xix. 16, 29 ; xxv. 46 ; Rom. ii. 7 ; 2 Cor. iv. 17; Heb. v. 9; 2 Pet. i. 11; 1 Pet. i. 4; Heb. ix. 15.

From such passages as Rom. viii. 19-23; 2 Pet. iil. 5-13, and Rev. xxi. 1, it appears not improbable that after the great conflagration of the earth and all that inhabits its surface, which the Scriptures reveal shall accompany the judgment, this world will be reconstituted, and as the " new heaven " and the " new earth " be glc>*

riously adapted to be the permanent residence of Christ and his Church.

7th. The reprobate will be immediately conveyed to the place prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. XXV. 41), and are there to continue in the conscious endurance of torment and shame for an absolutely unending eternity.

The strongest terms which the Greek language affords are employed in the New Testament to express the unending duration of the penal torments of the lost. The same words [dccoVj aicovco^ and ac6co(:) are used to express the eternal existence of God (1 Tim. i. 17 ; Rom. i. 20 ; xvi. 26), of Christ (Rev. i. 1 8), of the Holy Ghost (Heb. ix. 14), and the endless duration of the happiness of the saints (John vi. 58 ; Matt. xix. 29 ; Matt. xxv. 46, etc., etc.), and the endless duration of the sufferings of the lost. Matt. xxv. 46 ; Jude 6. Besides, their condition is constantly set forth by such terms as, the " fire that shall not be quenched," " fire unquenchable,'^ " the worm that never dies," "bottomless pit," the necessity of paying "the uttermost farthing," "the smoke of their torment ascending up for ever and ever." Luke iii. 17; Mark ix. 45,46; Rev. xiv. 10, 11. Of the unpardonable sin, Christ says that it shall never be pardoned, " neither in this world nor in that which is to come." Matt, xii. 32.

The entire Christian Church, Greek and Roman, Lutheran and Reformed, have agreed in holding this truth that the penal sufferings of the lost are to last for ever. Certain individuals and heretical societies, however, have denied it, and substituted in its place one or other of the following hypotheses :

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(1.) That the "second death " spoken of in Eev. xx. 14, to which the wicked shall be subjected after their condemnation in the judgment, involves the total and a"bsolute destruction of their being — i. e., annihilation. But the Scriptures always consistently speak of the future of the lost as a state of conscious suffering enduring forever. The "worm dieth not," " everlasting fire,'^ " unquenchable fire/' " weeping and gnashing of teeth," " the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night."

(2.) The other hypothesis supposes that, sooner oi later, God will secure the repentance and consequent reformation and restoration of all sinners, even of the devil himself. This is to result either through the atoning and purifying efficacy of protracted though temporary suffering, or through other moral influences which God will bring to bear upon them in another world. But remember — (a.) That suffering per se, while it may expiate guilt, has no tendency to purify the soul from pollution or to enkindle spiritual life. (6.) The atonement of Christ and the sanctifying povAcr of his Spirit are the only appointed means of bringing men to repentance, and indeed the highest possible means to that end. In the case of the reprobate these have been finally rejected, and hence " there remaineth no more sacrifice for sms, but a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Heb. vi. 26, 27. (c.) There is not the slightest trace in Scripture of such an ultimate restoration, either in the design of it, or the means of it, or the results of it. On the contrary, as we have seen, the Scriptures positively affirm the precise reverse to be true.

There is a particular judgment which passes upon every individual immediately after death ; for " it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." — Heb. ix. 27. There is also a general judgment, which shall take place after the resurrection of the dead, at the last day. The present sections — 1. Declare the certainty of a future judgment; 2. Affirm that the administration of this judgment is committed to Jesus Christ ; 3. Point out the parties who shall -appear before his tribunal; 4. The matters to be tried; and, 5. The sentence to be pronounced.

I. The certaintj/ of a future judgment. We are told that

SF.CT. 1, 2.] OP THE LAST JUDGMENT. 321

Paul reasoned before Felix of judgment to come. — Acts xxiv. 25. He proved this truth by arguments drawn from the nature and reason of things ; and such arguments are not to be overlooked by us, though our faith stands upon a more sure foundation.

1. The certainty of a future judgment appears from the dictates of conscience. ^len, even when destitute of supernatural revelation, apprehend an essential difference between good and evil. AVhen they do what is right, their conscience approves and commends their conduct ; and when they do what is wTong, their conscience reproaches and condemns them. If they have committed some atrocious crime, conscience stings them with remorse; and this it does although the crime be secret, and concealed from every human eye. Whence does this arise, but from an awful foreboding ot future retribution? The Apostle Paul, accordingl^T^, shows that all mankind have a witness in themselves that there shall be a future judgment. — Rom. ii. 15.

2. Reason infers a futiire judgment from the state of things in this Avorld. Here we take for granted these two fundamental principles of religion — the being of God, and his providence in the government of the world. All who acknowledge these tniths must, and do, believe that God is infinitely just and righteous, infinitely wise and holy, infinitely good and merciful; and that he cannot be otherwise. From this it necessarily results that it must be well with the righteous, and ill with the wicked. But the most superficial view of the present state of things is sufficient to convince us that God does not, in this world, disj^ense prosperity only to the good, and adversity only to the evil : " There be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it haj^peneth according to the work of the righteous." — Eccl. Adii. 14. The promiscuous dispensations of Providence have perplexed the minds of men in every age, and tried the faith of the children of God. — Ps. Ixxiii. 4-17; Jer. xii. 1, 2; Hab. i. 13. But reason rightly exercised would lead us to the conclusion that, upon the supposition of the being and providence of God, there must be a day coming when these things will be brought under review, and when a wide and visible difference shall be made between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

3. God has given testimony to this truth in all the extraordinary judgments which he has executed since the beginning of the world. Though much wickedness remains impunished and undiscerned in this world, yet God someume:^

322 CONFESSION OF FAITH. QciIAP. XXXIII.

executes judgment upon daring offenders, to show that he judgeth in the earth, and to give warning to men of a judgment to come. In signal judgments, " the wi-ath of God is revealed from heaven against the ungodliness of men;" and an intimation is given of what he will further do hereafter. — 2 Pet. ii. 5, 6, iii. 5, 7.

4. That thei-e is a judgment to come is confirmed by the most explicit testimonies of scripture. Enoch predicted the approach of this day of universal decision as a salutary admonition to that profligate age in which he lived. — Jude 14, 15. Solomon addressed this solemn warning to the voluptuous : " Know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment," — Eccl. xi. 9. Job put his friends in mind that there is a judgment; and the Psalmist frequently represents it in very solemn language. — Job xix. 29; Ps. 1. 3-6, xcviii. 9. Our Lord, during his personal ministry, frequently foretold his coming to judgment; and the testimonies to this truth in the writings of his apostles are numerous. — Matt. XXV. 31-46; Rom. xiv. 10, 12; 2 Cor. v. 10.

5. This truth is confirm.ed by the resurrection of Christ. The Apostle Paul, having affirmed that " God will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained," adds, " whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." — Acts x%di. 31. The resurrection of Christ is a specimen and pledge of a general resurrection — that grand preparative for the judgment. It is an incontestable proof of our Lord's divine mission, and is, therefore, an authentic attestation of all his claims. In the days of his humiliation, when he was accused and condemned before the tribunal of men, he plainly warned them of a future judgment, and declared that he himself would be the judge: " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the

, right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." — jMatt. xxvi. 64. Now, since God hath raised him from the dead, although he was condemned as a blasphemer for this very declaration, is not this an undeniable proof from heaven of the truth of what he then asserted?

II. The administration of the future judgment is committed to Jesus Christ: " He is ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead." — Acts x. 42. It is, indeed, frequently said, that " God shall judge the world;" and the Psalmist declares, " None else is judge but God." — Ps. 1. 6. How are these declarations to be reconciled ? The words of Paul enable us to solve the difficulty. He has told us that **■ God Avill judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." — Acts xvii. 31. It t]ius appears

that God the Father judges the world by the Son. The supreme judiciary power is in the Godhead, and the exercise of that power is committed to Christ, as mediator — John v. 22. There is a peculiar fitness and propriety in this constitution: — 1. It is fit that this high office should be conferred upon Christ, as an honorary reward for his extreme abasement and ignominious sufferings. 2. Inasmuch as men are to be judged after the resurrection in an embodied state, it is fit they should have a visible judge. 3. It is also fit that Christ should be the supreme judge, as it must contribute greatly to the consolation of the saints that they shall be judged by him who is a partaker of their nature, who redeemed them to God by his blood, and who is their advocate with the Father. 4. It may be added, that hereby the condemnation of the Avicked will be rendered more conspicuously just; for if a Mediator — a Saviour — the Friend of sinners — condemn them, they must be worthy of condemnation indeed.

III. We are next to consider the parties who shall appear before the tribunal of Christ. The Scripture says nothing of the judgment of good angels, but it clearly teaches that the apostate angels will be judged. — Jude 4; 2 Pet. ii. 4. That men universally shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ is expressly declared — 2 Cor. v. 10. We are told that Christ " shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing."— 2 Tim. iv. 1. This expression, '* the quick and the dead," comprehends all mankind. By the dead, are to be understood all who died before the period of Christ's coming to judgment ; and by the quick, such as shall then be found alive.

IV. The matter to be tried. This is expressed in the most comprehensive terms : " God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." — Eccl. xii. 14. All the works of the sons of men will be tried, and they shall receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil. Not only the actions of the life, but also the words of men shall be judged; for our Saviour has assured us that " for every idle word which men shall speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment." — Matt. xii. 36. And not only the actions and words, but also the very thoughts of men shall be brought into judgment; for we are told "God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." — Rom. ii. 16.

V. The sentence to be pronounced will be answerable to the several states in which mankind shall be found. They shall receive their doom according to their works. — Rev.xx.13. It is to be remarked, that the good works of the righteous

will be produced in that day, not as the grounds of their acquittal, and of their being adjudged to eternal life, but as the evidences of their gracious state, as being interested in the righteousness of Christ. But the evil deeds of the wicked will be brought forward, not only as evidences of their being strangers to Christ, but also as the grounds of ijieir condemnation. To the glorious company on his right hand the King will say : " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." How different the sentence that will be passed on the guilty crowd on his left hand ! To them he will say: " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." The sentence shall no sooner be passed than it shall be executed. While fallen angels and wicked men shall be driven from the presence of the Judge into the i)it of eternal perdition, the righteous shall be conducted into heavenly mansions, and " shall go no more out." " These shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." The same expression being applied to the hapi^iness of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked, we may conclude that both will be of equal duration.