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FUTURE RETRIBUTION
While from past study of the Scriptures
we have found that not the present
age, but the age to come, is the world's
judgment or trial day, the questions
have doubtless occurred to many: To
what extent are men of the world now
accountable for their actions? and will
their present actions be considered in
their future trial? Will those of the
world's children who are moral, honest,
honorable, and even benevolent and
charitable (for there are such) receive
no reward in the future? and will those
who are immoral, dishonest, selfish, and
even criminal, receive no punishment
for their evil deeds?
These are important questions, especially
to the world, and well would it be
for them if they could realize their importance
and profit thereby. They are
important also to the Church, because
of our interest in the world, and because
of our desire to understand and
teach correctly our Father's plans.
We have learned that the sacrifice of
Christ secures for all mankind, however
vile, an awakening from death, and the
privilege of thereafter coming to perfection
and living forever if they will:
"There shall be a resurrection of the
dead, both of the just and of the unjust"
(Acts 24:15). The object of their
being again brought into existence will
be to give them a favorable opportunity
to secure everlasting life on the conditions
which God requires--obedience
to his righteous will. We have no intimation
whatever in the Scriptures that
in the awakening there will be any
change in the moral condition of men;
but we have much, both in reason and
in revelation, to show, that as they went
into death, so they shall come out of it.
As there is "no work, nor device, nor
knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave"
(Eccl. 9:10), they will have learned
nothing. The Millennial Age is the time
allotted for the world's awakening, discipline
and trial under the reign of
Christ.
[R722 : page 3]
While strictly speaking, the world is
not now on trial: that is, the present is
not the time for their full and complete
trial, yet men are not now, nor ever have
been, entirely without light and ability,
for which they are accountable. In the
darkest days of the world's history, and
in the deepest degradation of savage
life, there has always been at least a
measure of the light of conscience pointing
more or less directly to righteousness
and virtue.
At the advent of Jesus an increased
measure of light came to men which increased
to that extent their responsibility,
as Jesus said: "This is the condemnation,
That light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were
evil" (John 3:19). And for those evil
deeds which men have committed
against what light they had, or which it
was their privilege to have, whether of
conscience or of revelation, they will
have to give an account, and receive a
just recompense of reward in their day
of judgment. And likewise to the extent
of their effort to live righteously,
they will receive their reward in the
day of trial (Matt. 10:42).
The age of Christ's reign will be a
time of just judgment, and though it
will be an age of golden opportunities,
it will be a time of severe discipline, trial
and punishment to many. The deeds of
the present life will have much to do with
the future. Paul taught this very clearly
when, before Felix, he reasoned of
justice and self-government in view of
the judgment to come, so that Felix
trembled (Acts 24:25. Dia.).
If men would consider what even reason
must teach them, that a time of
reckoning, of judgment, is coming; that
God will not forever permit evil to triumph,
but that in some way he will
punish evil-doers, it would undoubtedly
save them many sorrows and chastisements
in the age to come. "Woe,"
saith the Prophet, "unto them that seek
deep to hide their counsel from the
Lord, and their works are in the dark,
and they say, Who seeth us? and who
knoweth us?" (Isaiah 29:15.) Behold,
"The eyes of the Lord are in
every place, beholding the evil and the
good" (Prov. 15:3); and "God shall
bring every work into judgment, with
every secret thing, whether it be good
or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:14.
He "will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and make manifest
the counsels of the hearts." 1 Cor. 4:5.
That the judgment will be fair and
impartial, and with due consideration
for the opportunities of each, is also
vouchsafed by the character of the Judge
(The Christ--John 5:22; 1 Cor. 6:2),
by his perfect knowledge, by his unwavering
justice and goodness, by his
divine power, and by his great love as
shown in his sacrifice to redeem men
from death, that they might enjoy the
privilege of a favorable individual trial.
The varied circumstances and opportunities
of men in this and past ages,
indicate that a just judgment will recognize
differences in the degree of individual
responsibility, which will also
necessitate differences in the Lord's
future dealings with them. And this
reasonable deduction we find clearly
confirmed by the Scriptures. The Judge
has been, and still is, taking minute
cognizance of men's actions and words,
although they have been entirely unaware
of it (Prov. 5:21), and he declares
that "Every idle ["pernicious," injurious
or malicious] word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the
day of judgment" (Matt. 12:36); and
that even a cup of cold water given to
one of his little ones, shall in no wise
lose its reward (10:42). The context
shows that the pernicious words to
which Jesus referred were words of willful
and malicious opposition spoken
against manifest light. Vs. 24,31,32.
Jesus also affirmed that it would be
more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon and
Sodom in the day of judgment than for
Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum,
which had misimproved greater advantages
of light and opportunity.
Matt. 11:20-24.
In the very nature of things, we can
see that the future punishments will be
in proportion to past guilt. Every sin
indulged, and every evil propensity cultivated,
hardens the heart and makes
the way back to purity and virtue more
difficult, and consequently sins willfully
indulged now will require punishment
and discipline in the age to come; and
the more deeply the soul is dyed in willing
sin, the more severe will be the
measures required to correct it. As a
wise parent would punish a wayward
child, so Christ will punish the wicked
for their good.
His punishments will always be administered
in justice, tempered with
mercy, and relieved by his approval
and reward to those who are rightly
exercised thereby. And it will only be
when punishments, instructions and encouragements
fail; in short, when love
and mercy have done all that wisdom
can approve (which is all that could be
asked), that any will meet the final
punishment which their case demands--
the second death.
None of the world will meet that
penalty until they have first had all the
blessed opportunities of the age to come.
And while this is true of the world, the
same principles applies now to the consecrated
children of God in this OUR
judgment [trial] day. We now receive
God's favors (through faith) while the
world will receive them in the next age,
viz.: instruction, assistance, encouragement,
discipline and punishments. "For,
what son is he whom the Father chasteneth
not? But if ye be without chastening,
whereof all are partakers, then
are ye bastards and not sons."
Therefore, we when we receive grievous
chastisement, should accept it as
from a loving Father for our correction,
not forgetting "the exhortation which
speaketh unto us as unto children, My
son, despise not thou the chastening of
the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him; for whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth." (Read
Heb. 12:4-13.)
How just and equal are God's ways!
Read carefully the rules of the coming
age--Jer. 31:29-34and Ezek. 18:20-32.
They prove to us, beyond the possibility
of a doubt, the sincerity and reality of
all his professions of love to men: "As
I live, saith the Lord God, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but
that the wicked turn from his way and
live: Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways, for why will ye die?"
Ezek. 33:11.
If men in this life repent of sin, and as
the term repentance implies, begin and
continue the work of reformation to the
best of their ability, they will reap the
benefit of so doing in the age to come;
they will in the resurrection age be to
that extent advanced towards perfection,
and their progress will be more rapid
and easy, while with others it will be
more slow, tedious and difficult. This
is implied in the words of Jesus (John 5:29,30 --Diaglott), "The hour is
coming in the which all that are in their
graves shall hear his voice and shall
come forth; they that have done good
unto the resurrection of life" [those
whose trial is past and who were judged
worthy of life will be raised perfect--the
faithful of past ages to perfect human
life, the overcomers of the gospel age to
perfect life as divine beings], and "they
that have done evil, unto the resurrection
of judgment." [These are awakened
to receive a course of discipline
and correction--judgment--as the necessary
means for their perfecting.]
The man who in this life, by fraud and
injustice, accumulated and hoarded great
wealth, which was scattered to the winds
when he was laid in the dust, will doubtless
awake to lament his loss, and
bewail his poverty, and his utter inability
under the new order of things to
repeat unlawful measures to accumulate
a fortune. It will be a severe chastisement
and bitter experience with many
to overcome the propensities to avarice,
selfishness, pride, ambition and idleness,
fostered and pampered for years in the
present life. Occasionally we see an illustration
of this form of punishment now,
when a man of great wealth suddenly
loses all, and the haughty spirit of himself
and family must fall.
We are told (Dan. 12:2) that some
shall awake to shame and age lasting contempt.
And who can doubt that when
every secret thing is brought into judgment
(Eccl. 12:14), and the dark side
of many a character that now stands
measurably approved among men is
then made known, many a face will
blush and hide itself in confusion from
others. When the man that stole is
required to earn and refund the stolen
property to its rightful owner, with the
addition of twenty per cent. interest, and
the man that lied, deceived, falsely
accused, and otherwise wronged his
neighbor, is required to acknowledge
his crimes and so far as possible repair
damages, on peril of an eternal loss of
life, will not this be retributive justice?
See the clear statement of this in God's
typical dealings with Israel whom he
made to represent the world. (1 Cor. 10:11 and Lev. 6:1-7; also "Tab.
Teachings," page 52.)
"But they that be wise"--the little
flock who are wise enough to accept the
present favor of God which permits us
now to be joint-sacrificers, and by and
by joint-heirs with Christ, these "shall
shine as the brightness of the firmament"
--the Sun. These shall shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father." Dan. 12:2, and Matt. 13:43.)
And there will also be some others
who have endeavored to live in this life
according to the light and opportunity
granted them, and who tried to turn
others to righteousness. Of this class
were the prophets and other justified
faithful ones of past ages, and some
others, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
and Confucius, who enjoyed only the
waning light of nature, but were faithful
to that little light: These shall shine as
the stars forever and ever. They will
be notable, honorable and advanced because
of faithfulness. These will always
[R723 : page 3] be bright ones--men and women of
special honor because of their noble
efforts to stem the tide of evil when the
full force of the tide was against them.
As we are thus permitted to look into
the perfect plan of God, how forcibly
we are reminded of his word through
the prophet Isaiah, "Judgment also
will I lay to the line, and righteousness
to the plummet (Isaiah 28:17.) We
may also see the wholesome influence of
such discipline. Parents in disciplining
their children realize the imperative necessity
of making their punishments in
proportion to the character of offenses;
and so in God's government, great punishments
following great offenses are not
[R723 : page 4] greater than is necessary to establish
justice and to effect so great a moral
reform.
Seeing that the Lord will thus equitably
adjust human affairs in his own due
time, and knowing the outcome of his
plan, we can well afford to endure hardness
for the present, and resist evil with
good, even at the cost of present disadvantage.
Therefore "Recompense to
no man evil for evil." (Rom. 12:17-19.)
"Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The present order of things will not
always continue; a time of reckoning is
coming, and the just Judge of all the
earth says, "Vengeance is mine, I will
repay"; and Peter adds, "The Lord
knoweth how to deliver the godly out
of temptation, and to reserve the unjust
unto the day of judgment to be punished."
And as we have seen, those
punishments will be adapted to the nature
of the offences, and the benevolent
object in view,--man's permanent establishment
in righteousness.
Other Scriptures corroborative of this
view of future rewards and punishments
are as follows: 2 Sam. 3:39; Matt. 16:27;
1 Pet. 3:12; Psa. 19:11; 91:8;
Prov. 11:18; Isa. 40:10; 49:4; Matt. 5:12;
10:41,42; Luke 6:35; Rev. 22:12;
Rom. 14:11,12.
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