850 (Zech. 14:2):
T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S the 25th of Matthew it is not a judg ment of the dead, but of the living nations. The important lesson here for unbe lievers is to impress upon them the ne cessity of accepting Jesus as Saviour, and the confession of Him as Lord. The only hope for the sinner is salvation by faith in the Son of God who hath taken away the sin of the world. When judgment came upon the Egyp tians, the Israelites were sheltered by the blood upon the lintel and upon the door posts of the house. They were judged and found guilty, but in obedi ence to God’s Word, they offered to God the blood as an atonement for their sin. God has never had but one way of saving men from the judgment of sin, and that is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. All who have rejected Christ’s word and work must be judged and must be punished, for God is a righteous Judge and will in no wise clear the guilty. Sentimental thoughts and words about God are foolish. We have His Word telling us His thought about sin and salvation and judgment and the future life, and everything else is mere guess work. PRACTICAL POINTS (1) All questions concerning the future life are settled by the Father of Lights, with whom is no variable ness, neither shadow of turning (Jas. 1:16). (2) Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. A way without devia tion; a truth without contradic tion, and a life without an end. (3) A wholesome fear concerning the future is God-given; but all doubts are dispelled for the believer. (4) The sin question was settled on the Cross. It is always, now, the Son question. (5) If you are in Christ Jesus, you will sit with the Sovereign on the judgment seat.
• “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” There is no resurrection scene here; no Great White Throne; no sea giving up its dead; just living nations. There are four groups in this scene: The Son of Man and His holy angels; the sheep; the goats; His brethren. The sheep who are called “Blessed” are those who have ministered to His brethren during the days of their trib ulation. The goats are those who have persecuted the Jews who have come to recognize and confess the Lord Jesus as their Messiah and coming King. They have been persecuted and mistreated. Here the Lord recognizes the favors done to these persecuted Jewish breth ren as having been done unto Him; and recognizes, also, as personal perse cutors those who have evil entreated His Jewish brethren. How absurd it is, in the light of Scrip ture, to treat this as a judgment of the saints! Those who are expecting to go to Heaven by their good works could hardly say at the judgment: “When saw we thee in prison and ministered unto thee, or when saw we thee in dis tress^” because they advertise their go ing and let it be known; they organize for that very purpose. Now contrast this judgment with the Great White Throne judgment in Rev. 20:11-15. There we have the dead, small and great; the sea giving up its dead; death and hell delivering up their dead, and all judged individually ac cording to their works. No one can compare these two scenes without see ing the great difference between them. Here there is but one class of persons, including all that have lived from Adam down to the end of the age,—but in
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