<< Back |
Chosen no: SM-224 , from: 0 Year. |
Change lang
| |
The Judgment Day Pictured By Jesus
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren,
ye have done it unto Me."— Mt 25:40.
This Scripture is generally
misunderstood and misused.
If one has not studied it in its connections, one would quite likely think that
the Lord is referring to those who have lived during the Gospel Age. But the
context shows that He refers to those living in the Millennial Age. The
principle, however, is helpful to us now. Whoever does a kindness for any one
belonging to the Lord is counted by Him as doing it unto Him.
In the parable of the Sheep and the Goats we read, "When the Son of Man
shall come in all His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the Throne of His glory; and before Him shall be gathered all
nations"—peoples, not the Church. The Church will be with Him in His
Throne. (Col 3:4.) Those spoken of here as gathered before the Throne will be
the whole world of mankind. These are sometimes called Gentiles, meaning those
not in covenant relationship with God.
In the past God made a covenant with the nation of Israel alone. Therefore all
other nations and peoples were outsiders. During this Gospel Age the Lord has
made a covenant with the Church, through Christ, a special Covenant of
Sacrifice into which you and I are privileged to enter. The opportunity to make
this Covenant of Sacrifice has been open throughout the Gospel Age; and all who
come to God through that covenant are said to be Israelites indeed.—Ga
3:8,16,29.
Our text refers, not to Christians, but to Gentiles—the world in general.
Before Messiah’s Throne shall be gathered all people, all nations. "And He
shall separate them the one from the other, as a shepherd divideth his sheep
SM225
from the goats." It is not a class separation, but an individual one.
Whoever, after trial, demonstrates that he is a goat will go over to the left
hand. Whoever proves himself to be a sheep will go to the right. The whole
picture refers to the thousand years of the Messianic Reign, the world’s
judgment, the world’s trial.
The sole object of that Reign is to prove who will desire to be God’s sheep, to
come into His fold and have His Son as their Shepherd, and who will not come
into harmony with Him, but will have a goat-like nature. Then Christ will deal
with them accordingly.
A THOUSAND YEARS OF SEPARATING WORK
Gradually all the goats are gathered to the left hand, and all the sheep to the
right hand. In figurative language the Lord thus designates the place of
disfavor and that of favor. These two classes will not be aware of the fact
that they are going to the right or to the left, as the parable shows. Not
until the conclusion of the trial do they find out where they stand.
The question arises, In what way will the people have an opportunity of
ministering to the Lord’s brethren during the Millennial Age? We note that the
Apostles were in prison sometimes because of their service to the Lord and were
ministered unto; and that some of the Lord’s followers since have been in
prison or in need of assistance; but that probably not very many have been in
prison or hungry or naked. Presumably it has been so all down the Gospel Age.
Hence it is difficult to see how this parable could have any reference to us.
Now we see what the parable means, and this is the explanation:
Throughout the Millennial Age The Messiah will be dealing with the world of
mankind, the majority of whom are now in the great prison-house of death. The
Apostle Paul, in speaking of the resurrection, says that the dead shall come
forth "every man in his own order," or company or class. They will
not all come forth at once. The
SM226
Church class will come forth first; then the Great Company class; and early in
the new order of things will come forth the Ancient Worthies, who will be the
earthly representatives of God’s Kingdom.—1Co 15:21-23.
As Jesus said to some in His day, "Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and
all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God." (Lu 13:28.) They will be the
human representatives of the Heavenly Kingdom, which will be invisible.
Jesus said nothing about their seeing Himself.
Neither did He say, "Ye shall see these My disciples in the Kingdom."
He did say, however, "Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no
more." St. John tells us that the Church shall be like her Lord. (1Jo
3:2.) If the world will not see Him, they will not see the Church; for the
Church will be spirit beings, that cannot be seen.
So we have these orders, at least: The Little Flock, the Great Company, the
Ancient Worthies, and the world of mankind—"every man in his own
order." Jesus said, "The hour is coming when all that are in the
graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall
live." (Joh 5:25-29.) As the world return from the tomb, our thought is
that they will come back in answer to prayer, very much the same as did
Lazarus. The Lord, you remember, said, "Where have ye laid him?" Then
He lifted up His eyes and prayed to the Father, after which He said,
"Lazarus, come forth."—Joh 11:41-44.
MINISTERING UNTO MILLENNIUM BRETHREN
We do not understand that in the Millennial Age the people will have power to
command the dead to come forth from the tomb, but that our Lord Jesus will have
that power. As He prayed for the restoration of Lazarus, not because of any
service which Lazarus would do for Him, but because Lazarus was the brother of
Martha and Mary, so we conceive that nearly all the world will come forth in
answer to the prayers of their brothers, their sisters, their parents, children
and friends.
SM227
To illustrate: Suppose that you and I were of the Restitution class, and not of
the Church class. Suppose that we were living down in the Millennial Age, and
that Restitution had progressed so far that the world was in good shape—plenty
of machinery for conducting affairs, more being produced than was needed, etc.
Then the Lord would let us know, as a world, that we might have the privilege
of co-operating with God, that we might join with Christ in the work of
Restitution. We might say, "First of all, let us pray for father." We
would not desire to have father get here and find that there was no place for
him to eat or sleep or live; so we would make provision for him.
Similarly, we would provide for mother and for other relatives. Each would thus
be brought forth, preparations being made to assist them when they would come
back into life. This whole work of bringing mankind back into life will be
God’s work. It will be the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the work of spirit
beings, as God’s agents. But human beings will be permitted to co-operate,
through their interest in humanity.
The "sheep" class of that Age will be those who will have the Lord’s
spirit; and as the Lord’s purpose will be to bring people back from death, to
teach them and to prepare them for eternal life, all the sheep will feel the
same way. This they will do gladly, because they have a love for this work.
They will be feeding, clothing and helping those whom they have gotten out of
the prison-house of death. Their prayers will go out continually after those in
prison. This explains the whole work of the Millennial Age, and shows how all
the people will come into harmony with God.
THE INDIFFERENT, SELFISH CLASS
But there will be some who will say, "I do not care so much about this
matter. I would rather go automobiling than to care for these people." The
sheep class will be busy working, working right along; but the goat class
SM228
will be showing their selfish disposition. God does not purpose that any who
are selfish shall have everlasting life. Selfishness came in as a result of
sin. You and I were born selfish, and could not help it; but we have better
knowledge now. We are beginning to see God’s way. All then in true sympathy
with God and righteousness will be cultivating love in their hearts.
After the sheep class have provided for those already recovered from the
prison-house of death, they will say, "Now let us ask for others to come
back. Let us get back Uncle Jim." The others will say, "I do not see
why we should bother about Uncle Jim. He was only a distant relative. He did
not leave me anything when he died." But the one with the sheep-like
disposition will say, "Poor old Uncle Jim! I shall try to give a good
welcome back. He will wonder that conditions are so changed. He never saw these
things which we now have. When He died, he thought that he was going to Hell.
This will be his greatest blessing!"
THE LOVING, UNSELFISH CLASS
Thus the sheep class will take their pleasure along the lines in which God and
Christ will be taking theirs. Do you think that God, Christ and the Church will
be running around Heaven in automobiles? The sheep class will say, in effect,
"How can we co-operate with Christ in this work of blessing the
world?" They may not realize it, but they will be developing a noble,
Christlike character.
They will be doing themselves good as well as those raised from the dead.
At the close of the Age the Lord will say to the sheep class, "I was an
hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a
stranger, and ye took Me; naked, and ye clothed Me; sick and in prison, and ye
visited Me"; for "inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of
these, ye did it unto Me." You did not know it, but I was watching you.
You are on My right hand—in My favor. The Father wishes you to have the
SM229
Kingdom originally given to Father Adam but lost through disobedience.
No other class will be given the kingdom. God is not selfish, but is always
considering what He can do for somebody else. All of His people must have His
spirit.
All mankind must eventually have the same spirit or they cannot get the earthly
kingdom. The Heavenly Kingdom is for those of the Church who prove worthy. They
will get it because they have the spirit of love; and those of the world who
cultivate the Lord’s spirit will receive the kingdom prepared for them from the
foundation of the world. (Ge 1:26-28.) Christ’s Kingdom was prepared from
before the foundation of the world. Mankind’s will be an earthly kingdom a Paradise
world-wide.
EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED
So, dear friends, there is a little lesson here for us.
We see in this parable God’s disposition. It helps us to understand His mind.
But you may say, "It is not natural for me to act so unselfishly."
All the more need, then, for you to cultivate that spirit. The Lord is not
looking for natural people, but for New Creatures.
"But," you say, "in my case it would make a great difference;
for my mind is not formed that way." We reply, "You must be
transformed—formed over again. We are all wrong to start with. We must get out
of the condition in which we were born."—Ro 12:1,2.
The Lord does not say that we must entirely transform our flesh. But He does
say that we must transform our mind, our will. We must show Him that our mind
is continually striving for those things which are good, kind, loving and
generous. He will take note of what we are striving to do.
Lest we should be accused of neglecting a certain part of this parable, let me
remind you how it reads. The goat class are to "go away into everlasting
punishment."
"I thought that you do not believe in everlasting punishment," says
one. My dear brother, I always believe
SM230
in everything the Bible says. I believe in everlasting punishment. But what
kind it will be is another matter.
God says one thing, and some of our creeds have said another thing. Therefore
you and I, if true to God, are giving up our creed as unreliable, thoroughly
unsound.
The Bible says that the punishment will be death; and we believe the Bible.—Ro
6:23; Eze 18:4.
The creeds have it that everlasting death means everlasting dying, endless
torture. So when the Bible speaks of everlasting death, some people have their
heads so twisted that they make death mean life. At one time we had our heads
badly twisted. We ran into all kinds of difficulties. I am glad that we are
getting straightened out. We are able to reason more clearly and to understand
the English language better. There is such a thing as everlasting death. When
the goat class are remanded to death, they will become dead everlastingly. They
will remain dead to all eternity.
The Greek word kolasin, here rendered punishment, means to cut off, or to
restrain by cutting off. The Lord will give mankind all the opportunities they
wish to be selfish, to choose the wrong way. They will have the opportunities
and blessings of the Millennial Age, as long as they will not outwardly violate
the Law, as long as they will not injure somebody else. They will not be forced
to help the dead. That work will be one of charity, of love. But unless they
attain the spirit of love, they will not be fit for the kingdom; for God is
Love. Whether on the spirit plane or in the Millennial Kingdom or in the
everlasting kingdom of mankind upon the earth, no one shall continue except
those who are in accord with God.
All others shall be everlastingly cut off from life. See Ac 3:23; Ps 101:8;
37:9; 2Th 1:9.
FIRE A SYMBOL OF DESTRUCTION
Concerning the wicked, our parable says, "Depart, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels." Fire always
symbolizes destruction, and
SM231
everlasting fire would mean an everlasting destruction.
What about its being prepared for the Devil and his angels? I answer: The Devil
is the father of lies, a murderer from the beginning, the one who "abode
not in the Truth." (Joh 8:44.) He has some assistants, "the angels
that kept not their first estate." (Jude 6.) Instead of remaining holy
angels, they became demons, associated under Satan. Their final penalty is to
be quite appropriate for them—fire, the fire of God’s anger, the fire of God’s
opposition.
As fire destroys, so God’s anger will destroy Satan and all in harmony with
him. And because the goat class of mankind manifest the spirit of Satan, the selfish
spirit, contrary to the Divine spirit, they will be classed in with Satan and
his angels; they will have their portion with Satan and the fallen spirits.
They will all be destroyed in the Second Death. This will cleanse the Universe
and have everything pure. Not a sinner will be left in it. Thenceforth all will
be governed by Love.
The Lord Jesus Christ was tried; the Church, His Bride, is being tried; the
Great Company will be tried, before being received into the Heavenly condition.
In the days of Noah all the angels were tried. So all mankind will be tried
during the thousand years of Messiah’s reign, and only the victors will go into
the everlasting conditions. No wonder that the Revelator, prophesying of that
glorious time, says "Every creature in Heaven [the Church, the Great
Company, the angels, the cherubim and seraphim], and on earth, and under the
earth [those now in the tomb], heard I saying, Blessing, glory, honor and power
be unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and
ever!"—Re 5:13.
Soon all shall come, and coming
sing, Throughout this earthly ball, Hosannas to our Heavenly King, And hail
Him, hail Him, hail Him, Hail Him Lord of all!
SM-224