2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body… I. THERE SHALL BE SUCH AN APPEARANCE AFTER THIS LIFE AS IS HERE SPOKEN OF. 1. It is very agreeable to the nature of God. What can be more agreeable to the nature of the most pure and powerful agent than to draw unto itself whatsoever is like itself, as likewise to remove from itself whatsoever is unlike itself? 2. It is very agreeable to the nature of the soul of man, because otherwise the chief agent, both in good and evil, should have little or no reward for the one, and little or no punishment for the other. 3. It is necessary for the manifestation of the Divine justice: for though whatsoever God doth is just, and that because God does it, yet does it not always appear to be so. And hence it is that this general doom is called in Scripture "the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." 4. The strange disproportion betwixt actions and events, merits and rewards, men's parts and their fortune here in this life, cloth seem to require that there should be a day of an after-reckoning to rectify this (Ecclesiastes 9:2; Ecclesiastes 8:14; Ecclesiastes 7:15). This argument, from the seeming unequal distribution of things here below, was urged by the elder Pliny and some others to prove the non-existence of a God. And truly if my conclusions concerning the certainty of a judgment to come after this life were not true, this argument of theirs would shrewdly shake the foundation of all our creed, viz., the being of a God. But supposing such a judgment, we do at once vindicate the power, wisdom, justice, and consequently the very being of God from all contradiction. 5. There is an inborn and inbred notion and expectation which all men have by nature, that there will be a judgment. Whatsoever all men agree in is the voice of nature itself, and consequently must be true: for the dictates of nature are stronger than the probers of reason. II. WHAT MANNER OF THING THIS JUDGMENT OR LAST DOOM WILL BE. 1. The Judge — Christ. (1) He must be our judge as He is God — (a) Because none but God has jurisdiction over all the parties that are to be tried at that judgment. (b) Because none but omniscience can discern the main and principal things that shall be there called in question. (c) Because none but God can give life and execution to the sentence pronounced. (2) But though God only can be our judge, yet nevertheless He must be man likewise; and that — (a) In regard of the judgment itself, to manifest the impartiality of it. (b) In regard to the parties triable at that day. For among the just there is none so good but he might fairly be afraid to appear at that judgment if the Judge were not our Saviour. And as for the unjust, their condemnation pronounced by that Judge, who laid down His life to save sinners, and consequently cannot possibly be imagined to condemn any but such as would not be saved by Him. (c) In regard of humanity itself — for the dignifying of human nature: that as the nature of man was debased to the lowest degree of meanness in the person of our Saviour, so the same nature, in the same person, might be exalted to so high a degree of power, majesty, and honour, that not only men that had despised Him, and devils that had tempted Him, but even the blessed angels themselves, whose comfort He once stood in need of, should fall down and tremble at His presence. 2. The parties to be judged; and those are all persons of all sorts. 3. The matters that shall be questioned; not our actions only, but our words, thoughts, inclinations, and dispositions. 4. The manner of proceeding. There will be no occasion for examination of witnesses, or reading depositions; for every man shall be indicted and cast or acquitted, by the testimony of his own conscience. 5. The sentence (Matthew 25:34-41).Conclusion: Let it be part of our daily business seriously to meditate upon — 1. The vanity and shortness of our lives. 2. The certainty and uncertainty of our deaths. 3. The great exactness and severity of the judgment to come after death. 4. The eternity of every man's condition in the other world, whether it be good or evil. (R. South, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. |
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