Revelation 20:11-15 - Homiletics

Judgment; or, the opening of the books. £

Following on the resurrection is the judgment. In connection with this, we read that before the face of him that sat upon the throne the heavens and the earth fled away. This may include the final conflagration. But what the phrase actually means, no man is in a position adequately to judge. Such passages as Psalms 102:26 , Psalms 102:27 ; Matthew 24:35 ; Matthew 19:28 ; Hebrews 1:12-14 ; 2 Peter 3:7 , 2 Peter 3:10-12 ; 1 John 2:17 , prepare us to expect vast changes. "If there is any analogy between what has been and what is to be, there may yet be another catastrophe on the surface of the earth by virtue of which present forms of life will cease to be, and give place to others of a higher order than ever earth has known." Now, the Bible presents to us a moral development. Science shows us physical development. And we are led, by comparing both together, to the conclusion which we have before expressed, that as in the past so in the future, moral and physical events will synchronize, and that when the earth is ripe for geologic change it will also be ripe for a moral one. Planting our feet firmly on the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, we say—There cometh a great decisive day, as tremendous in its moral and spiritual revelations and issues as it will be august in its physical changes. We recognize Divine disclosures concerning the latter as well as concerning the former. There are Divine disclosures to reason in the stone book of nature, and Divine declarations to faith in the written revelation. Where science ends revelation carries us forward, and while the former forecasts the re-preparation of the stage for further action, the other reveals the action which is to take place on that stage. Science brings to view natural law; revelation, a series of laws equally firm and sure; even those of a moral government superadded to physical control, and of a redemptive work inserted into a moral administration. There is a day coming when the working of these varied sets of laws will culminate. In the "economy of the filling up of the seasons" things are kept in store against that day. It is very remarkable to find such vast events indicated in so few words as we find here. But the fact is that all physical charges arc but subordinate to the supreme moral and spiritual issues which are pending. On these we at once proceed to dwell.

I. " THE GREAT DAY " WILL PROVE AT ONCE A CLIMAX OF HISTORY AND A REVELATION OF CHARACTER . Its bearing on the human race is indicated by the words, "day of judgment;" in which term there are included:

1 . The appearing of mankind before God.

2 . The manifestation of character.

3 . Approval or disapproval.

4 . Recompense or penalty.

"It has for a long time been disputed whether the judgment of the world will be an external, visible, formal transaction, or whether the mere decision respecting the destiny of man ; the actual taking effect of retribution is represented under the image of a judicial proceeding, like what is common among men." £ The latter opinion would have more on its side if it were only in such a symbolic book as this that the latter is suggested. But the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments combine in presenting the judgment as a vast solemn last assize.

II. THE ENTIRE ADMINISTRATION OF JUDGMENT IS IN THE HANDS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST . ( John 5:22 , John 5:27 ; Acts 10:42 ; Acts 17:31 ; Romans 14:10 ; 2 Corinthians 5:10 ; Philippians 2:11 .) He is the Head of the human race, both by his original position as Son of God, and by his assumed position as Son of man. He "both died, and rose, and re-lived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."

III. SCRIPTURE TELLS US WHO WILL BE CONCERNED IN THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE JUDGMENT DAY . Devils (Jud 1 John 1:6 ; 2 Peter 2:4 ; Matthew 8:28 ). Men ( Romans 2:4-11 ), including pagans, Jews, Christians, nominal and real. All ( Romans 14:10 ). None will elude the judgment of God ( Romans 2:3 ). "Every one shall give account of himself" ( Romans 14:12 ).

IV. WE ARE ALSO TOLD WHAT WILL BE JUDGED .

1 . Deeds ( 2 Corinthians 5:10 ).

2 . Words ( Matthew 12:36 , Matthew 12:37 ).

3 . Thoughts ( 1 Corinthians 4:3-5 ).

4 . Secret things ( Romans 2:16 ).

5 . "Every secret thing" ( Ecclesiastes 12:14 ).

"There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known."

V. MEN WILL BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE LIGHT THEY HAD ; i.e. according to the use they made of the light God had granted them ( Romans 2:11-15 ; Matthew 10:15 ; Matthew 11:21-24 ; Luke 11:31 , Luke 11:32 ; Luke 12:47 , Luke 12:48 ; Acts 10:34 , Acts 10:35 ). The principles here laid down are those of most manifest equity, and we are quite sure that there will be nothing contrary thereto in the sentence of God. The late Dr. Lawson, of Selkirk, was once asked by a flippant young man how he could think that any, such as Plato and Socrates, would be lost because they had not heard of Jesus Christ. He replied, "If it please God in his mercy, and through faith in his Son, to take you and me to heaven, and that we shall find there Socrates and Plato, I am sure we shall be glad indeed to meet them; but if we shall not find them in heaven, I am also sure that the Judge of all the earth will be able to assign a good reason for their absence, and that none in heaven will be either able or willing to dispute either the justice or the wisdom of his sovereign arrangements." £ We may also add that Scripture not obscurely intimates that every soul will, before the dread day comes, be brought into contact with the Lord Jesus lot acceptance or rejection; and those who followed conscientiously the dimmer light will surely accept joyfully the clearer. Certainly the Judge of all the earth will do right.

VI. WHERE IS THE RECORD OF THE ACTS , WORDS , AND THOUGHTS WHICH WILL BE DISCLOSED AT JUDGMENT ? In "the books." What are these? Who can tell? We would reverently suggest:

1 . There is that unerring record—the memory of God. To the Divine mind everything is present ( Psalms 139:1-24 .). By him nothing is forgotten. All the manifold and complicated currents of human thought, the varied fluctuations of human wills and impulses, the maze of human design and plan, past, present, and future, are all laid.open to his searching glance. Not one passing thought eludes his notice or escapes from his memory. In his mind is a complete and permanent photograph of every soul.

2 . Then there is our own memory. Judging from the collection of facts from which Science essays to draw her conclusions, nothing ever drops completely from man's memory. A word, a look, a sound, a song, a feature, a locket, a hair, may recall deeds and thoughts of a generation past. Let but the barriers which imprison memory be removed, as they seem to have been in the case of many persons near death, and the whole of one's life may rush back in an instant, and reveal the man to himself in a way that shall either make him dumb with horror or inspire him with joy.

3 . If this be so, then the memory of others must be a permanent record of a large part of our lives. For if our memory records the impulses we give, it would seem also, by parity of reasoning, to be a record of the impulses we receive. Thus the power exerted by us over others, and by others over us, creates indelible impressions on their minds and ours, so that their "books" and ours mutually supplement and confirm each other. "You cannot meet a stranger in the streets, nor utter a word in your remotest solitude, nor think a thought in your inmost heart, but lo! this recording angel has noted it down upon the tablets of your soul forever" (Macleod).

4 . Science itself suggests wondrous disclosures in this direction. The great mathematician Babbage, in his Bridgewater Treatise, remarks, "The whole atmosphere is one vast library, on whose pages are recorded all that man has ever said or woman whispered." The air, the light, are ever the bearers of our deeds and words. "It is probable," says Coleridge, "judging from the facts presented in medical records, that all thoughts are in themselves imperishable; and that if the intelligent faculty should be rendered more comprehensive, it would require only a different and apportioned organization—the body celestial instead of the body terrestrial—to bring before every human soul the collective experience of its whole past existence. And this—this, perchance, is the dread book of judgment, in the mysterious hieroglyphics of which every idle word is recorded." £

5 . And then there will be another record—in the countenance of the man. The spirit forms the face. Even here, "it is not in words explicable with what Divine lines and lights the exercise of godliness and charity will mould and gild the hardest and coldest countenances, nether to what darkness their departure will consign even the loveliest. For there is not any virtue the exercise of which even momentarily will not impress a new fairness upon the tortures; neither on them only, but on the whole body." £ The work of grace reforms the countenance. The work of sin deforms it. To a sufficiently keen observer, a man's face is a living book in which his character may be read. Yea, it is even so. "Books" in abundance are every moment having entries made therein from which the character and desert of each can be clearly read at last. So much so is this the case, that it is far easier to see how ruin impends than how salvation is possible, with such a long catalogue of sins as must attach to every man's life. Knowing as we do that in the physical world there is no forgiveness of sins, it is impossible, without Bible teaching, to see how salvation ever can be inserted into the condition of a sinful man. This naturally leads us to another inquiry—

VII. WHAT WILL BE THE ISSUES OF THE JUDGMENT ? These will be twofold.

1 . Eternal life. (Comp. Matthew 25:31-40 ; Romans 8:33 , Romans 8:34 ; 1 John 4:17 ; 2 Timothy 4:8 ; Revelation 2:10 ; Revelation 3:5 .) Scripture is very clear as to the issues of the judgment in the case of the blessed. There is, in fact, one sentence in the paragraph before us which indicates the joyous aspect of the judgment to them. "Another book was opened, which is the book of life" (cf. Isaiah 4:3 ; Luke 10:20 ; Philippians 4:3 ; Hebrews 12:23 ; Philippians 3:20 ). This book of life includes all the saved. Every one of them is written there. The Father's name is written on their foreheads. Their names are written in the Father's book. And this is emphatically a book of grace. Without the redemptive scheme of Divine love, there never would have been any such book at all. Nor should it be left unnoticed that it is called in Revelation 13:8 and Revelation 21:27 the Lamb's book of life. The names recorded there are of those who have been redeemed by his blood, and who are his purchased possession. These shall be welcomed by him to the everlasting kingdom "prepared from the foundation of the world."

(a) It is not surprising if, when we attempt detail, we soon get beyond our reach in dealing with themes so vast.

(b) In this case, however, whatever sin comes out to light, does so as that which is repented of on the one side, and forgiven on the other. So that

(c) even thus the testimony would be borne more vividly to the renewing and forgiving grace of God.

Difficulty (2): We read in John 5:24 that he that believeth shall not come into judgment; and yet we read elsewhere, "We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ:" how is this? Reply: Believers, with others, will be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ; but their manifestation will be that of pardoned and of sanctified men, whose guilt is cancelled and whose sin is removed. Surely, when this is taken into account, the difficulty ceases. There will be no such judgment as involves condemnation.

2 . On the other side, the issue will be condemnation. The terrible word "Depart!" sums up all hell. What further remarks we have to offer on the after state of the ungodly we reserve for the next homily, observing here only that κατακρίμα cannot mean anything less than "an adverse verdict;" and what that may involve, as a final sentence from the lips of the King of kings, we pray God we may never know!

Note: That scenes so solemn as the one put before us in this paragraph are meant to tell mightily upon us, and that they ought to do so, we cannot question, however incapable we may be of realizing all the details thereof. Any one or more of the following applications may well be earnestly pressed on the conscience by pastors and teachers.

1 . Let every believer keep in view the judgment day, with anxious desire then to be approved of the Judge ( 1 John 2:28 ).

2 . Let us endeavour more fully to realize the fact that we are perpetually under the scrutinizing gaze of him "with whom we have to do."

3 . Let us regard every action as a laying up of treasure or of wrath against the great revealing day ( Romans 2:5 ; 1 Timothy 6:19 ).

4 . How intensely momentous does a pastor's or a teacher's work appear in view of that day ( Hebrews 13:17 ) It is not to be wondered at if at times the weight of responsibility is more than he knows how to bear.

5 . The responsibility of those who hear the Word is obviously correspondingly great. It also is implied in Hebrews 13:17 .

6 . None should forget that there is a Divine, a gracious meaning, in the prolonging of the "day of salvation." The promise and the menace are not forgotten. God is not weak. Neither is he indifferent. He is "long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." With a view to this his goodness is drawing men now. He waits to be gracious. But we have no reason for thinking that he will wait always.