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S.N. Redford "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb. 9:27. "Because he hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that many whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead." --Acts 17:31. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the books were opened : and another book was opened, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them : and they were judged every man according to their works." Rev. 20: 12, 13. "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. "And before Him shall be gathered all nations : and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." Matt. 25: 32. From these with many other passages of scripture, we learn that the doctrine of a general judgment is a Bible doctrine. The world may not like this doctrine, and I am sure they do not; but nevertheless it is true. Yes, even they that pierced the Lord shall look upon Him, "And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him."--Rev. 1: 7. Sentence will be passed upon the unrighteous ; they will hear the awful sentence from Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge, "Depart from me, ye cursed," while His saints will hear the joyful news, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom." I do not think that God has a great ledger in heaven with all the good deeds we have done written down, and all the evil deeds we have done written down ; that if our good deeds outnumber our evil deeds, heaven's gate will open to us, or that it will be the reverse of the evil deeds outnumber the good. The Bible teaches that Jesus received the just strokes that should have fallen on us, that He took the place of His people under the law, being made a curse for them. He drank the dregs of the bitter cup of God's wrath for us, and hence God's people are justified in Him. Heaven is justly their home. It is a righteous judgment that they should have joys eternal. God's people will not enter heaven as so many pardoned criminals, but they will possess heaven as an inheritance through Jesus. They are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Not only so, but ungodly men and devils will confess this truth. God's dear saints will fill heaven with their loud hallelujahs, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" Those who die in their sins, those that have no Saviour, those who pierced Him, those who had no love for God, will be raised with all their guilt and shame, and stand before Him who sits upon a throne high and lifted up, their every knee to bow, and every tongue to confess, Jesus, the righteous judge, will pass sentence upon them and they will be banished from His blissful presence forever and ever. This doctrine opposes the doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked ; but, like all other points of doctrine of God it reflects glory and honor to God, and comfort His people. The poor, down-trodden people of God will be avenged of their enemies ; but in that glorious day when Jesus will be avenged of their enemies. Many millions of His saints have suffered death at the hands of their cruel enemies ; but in that glorious day when Jesus shall avenge them, they will lift up their heads with joy ; sorrow and sighing will fall away. The loving hand of Jesus will wipe away all tears from their eyes. Now to summarize: The doctrine of God teaches us that He purposed to save sinners ; that He chose to save sinners ; that He predestinated to save sinners ; that He atoned for the sins of sinners, and forever put them away ; that the Holy Spirit regenerates sinners ; that He will effectually call everyone for whom Christ died ; that Jesus intercedes for all His redeemed people according to the will of God ; that they are preserved in Christ and kept by the power of God, that in the resurrection their bodies will be raised form their dusty beds, and that these, too, will be saved, made spiritual like the glorified body of Jesus. In short, the doctrine of God teaches us that God will save all His people and land them safe in heaven, without the help of man, and in spite of all the opposing powers of hell. This glorious doctrine revives us by the way. Happy is that soul who abides in it. Let us plant our feet upon this solid rock and defy every storm.
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