THE JUDGMENT DAY PICTURED BY JESUS " Ino,smuch as ae lxal

THE JUDGMENT DAY PICTURED BY JESUS
" Ino,smuchas ae lxal)ed,onei't unto oneof-tke.l'easto,f
these nfy brethreit',ge Loauedone it unto Me'"-Matl'
25:4O.
ancl misThis Scripture is generally misunalerstood,
one
connectlons'
its
it
in
studietl
has
not
If
one
used.
would ouite iikelv think that tbe Lord is referring1o
tno"" *to have livetl during the Oospel.Age.' Put^S.,"
IuIl-
context shows that He refets to ihose livtng ln tlle
lennial Age. The principle, however,is helpful lo.us
now. Whoever does a kindncss I'or any one belonglng
to tbe Lord is countedby Him as doingit unto Him'
In the parableof tbc Sheepand tlre Coals.we read'
"When the Son of Man shall come in all ltis glory, and
ali the holy angels with Him, then s}lall-He-sit upolr the
Chroneof"His"glory; and beforoHim shall bc gathered
alt nations "-p"eoples, noi the Church. The Church will
be with Him in His Throne. (CoI. 3:4.) Tbose spoken
of here as gathered before the Throne will be the whole
woricl of minkind. These are somctimes cal1edGentiles,
meaning those not in covenant relationship rvith God'
In tf,e past God made a covenant lvith the nation of
Israel aloie. Therefore all other nations ancl peoples
were outsiders. During this Gospel Age the Lortl has
madc a covenantwith thc Church.tlrrougbChrist,I s1ecial Covenantol Sacriliceinlo ulriclr5ou anelI arc pt'iv'legecl to enter. The opportunity t9 makg this Covenani
of Sacrifice has been open throughout the Gospel Age;
and all who come to God through that covenant are sai'l
to be Jsraelitesindeed.-Crl. 3:8, 16,29'
Our tc-rtrpfers,not lo Chri'tians.bu11oCeniile'-iltc
world in €leneral. Before Messiah's Throne shal1be gath"
ered all people, all nations. Ancl He shal1separatethem
ih* oou ?"o- the other, as a shepherd divideth his sheep
224
CHARLES
T. FUSSELL
Age 4
Tke Judgment Dag Pictured by Jesus
225
from the goats," It is not a class separation, but an individual one. Whoever, after trial, cleraonstratesthat
he is a goat will go over to the left hand. Whoever
proves himself to be a sheep will go to the righi. The
whole picture refers to the thousa.ndyears of the Messianic R'eign, the world's judgment, the world's triai.
The sole object of that Reign is to prove who will desire
to be God's sheep, to come into l{is fold and have His
Son as their Shepherd, and who will not come into harmony with Him, buf, will have a goatJike nature. Then
Christ will deal with them accordingly.
.WORK
A THOUSAND YEARS OF SEPASATI}TC
Gradually all the goats are gathered to the left hand,
and all the sheep to the right hand. In figurative language the Lord thus designatesthe place of disfavor and
that of favor. These two classeswill 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 wili the people have
an opportunity of ministering to the Lord's brethren during the Millennial Age? We note that Ure Apostles were
in prison sometimesbecauseof their service to the Lord
and were ministered unto; and that some of the Lord's
followers since have been in prison or in nced of assistance; but that probably not very many have been in
prison or hungry or naked. Presumably it has becn so
all down the Gospel Age. Hence it is clifficult to seehow
this parable could have any reference to us. Now we
seewbat the parable means,and this is Ure 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-houseof death. The Apostle
?aul, in speaking of the resurrection, says that the dead
shall come forth "every man in his own ordcr," or company or class, They will not all come forth at once. The
B I B L E H O U S E . A L L E G H E N Y , P E N N S Y L V A NI A
I ' r s t o r R u s s e l t ' s H € a d q u n r t e r ' s f r o m 1 S S 9t . l C 0 9
Postor Russell's Sermons
Th,e Jud,gment Dag Pi,ctured,bg Jesus
Church class rnill come forth first; then the Great Company class; and eariy in the new order of things will
come forth the Ancient Worthies, who will be the earthly
representatives of God's Kingdom.-1 Cor. 15:21-23.
As Jesus said to somein His day, "Ye shall seeAbraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom
of God." (Luke 13 :28.) They will be the human representatives of the lleavenly Kingdom, which will be invisible. Jesus saiil nothing about their seeing llimself.
Neither clid He say, "Ye shall see these My discipies in
the Kingclom." He dicl say, however, "Yet a little while,
antl the world seeth Me no more." St. John tells us that
the Church shall be like her L.,ord. (1 John 3:2.) If the
world will not seeIIim, they will nof seeUre Church; for
the Church will be spirit beings, that cannot be seen.
So we have these orders, at least:
The Little X'lock,
'Worthies,
the Great Company, the Ancient
anil the world
of mankind-" every man in his own orrler. tt Jesus said,
'(The hour is coming when ali that are in the graves shall
hear the voice of the Son of God; antl they that hear shall
live. " (John 5 :25-29.\ As the workl return from the
tomb, our thought is that they will come back in answer
to prayer, very much the sameas dicl Lazarus. The Lord,
you remember, said, "'Where have ye laid him?" Then
He lifted up His eyes and prayed to the Father, after
which IIe said. "Lazarus. come forth. "-John 11 :41-44.
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 n4illennial Age, and that
Restitution had progressed so far that the worlcl was in
good shape-plenty of machinery for conducting affairs,
more being produced than was needed, etc. Then the
Lord would let us lmow, as a world, that we might have
the privilege of co-operating with God, that we mieht
join with Christ in tbe work of Restitution. We mieht
say, " X'irst of ail, let us pray for father., ' We would
not desire to have father get here and fincl that there
'wasno place for him to eat or sleep
or live ; so wo would
make provision for him.
Similarly, we would provide for mother and for other
relatives. Each woulcl thus be brought for"th, preparations being made to assist them when they woulcl come
back into life. fhis whole work of bringing mankind back
into iife 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-operatq through their interest in humanity.
The "sheep" class of that Age will be those who
rvill bave thc Lord's spirit; and ai tlre Lorrl's purpose
will be to bring people back from death, to teach them
and to prepare them for eternal life, all the sheep rvill
f-eel the same way. This they wilt do gladly, because
they have a love for this work. They will be feedinE.
elothingand helpinglLosewhom tlrey havogollon out o-i
the prisonJrouso
of death. Their praycls uill go out con.
tinually after those in prison. This explains the rvhole
work of the MillcnnialAge, and shou.sLow all tbe peopk
will comeinto barmony witb Cod.
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MINISTEBING
UNTO
MII,I,EN
NIAI,
BRETEEDN
We do not understand that in the Millennial Aee the
people will have power to command ihe dead to come
forth from the tomb, but Urat our Lord Jesus will have
that porver. As He prayed for the restoration of Laza.
rus, not because of aly service which Lazarus would
do for Him, but becauseLazarrrs vras the brother of Martha and Mary, so we conceive that nearly all the worlcl
will comeforth in answer to the prayers of their brothers,
their sisters, their parents, children and friends.
TIIE
INDIFFER,ENT,
SELFISE
CTASS
227
But there '',vill be some who will say, ,,f do not care
so much about this matter. I 'would rather Eo automobiling tban to carefor ihesepeople." The sbeepclasswil.
be busy working,rvorLingriglrt aloug; but tbe goat class
Pastor Russell's Serm,ons
Tke Judgment Dag Pictured, by Jesus
will be showing their selffsh disposition. God does not
purpose that any who are selfish shall have everlasting
iife. Seifishnesscame in as a result of sin. You and I
vere born selfish,and coulclnot help it; but we have better
knowledgenow. We are beginning to seeGocl'sway. All
then in true sympathy with God ancl righteousnesswill
be cultivating love in their hearts.
After the sheep class have provideil 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. IIe was
only a distant relative. He did not leave me anything
when he died." But the one with the sheeplike disnosiiion will say,"Poor old UncleJim ! T sbail try to give
him a sooai welcome back. He wili 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 llell. This will be his greatest blessing!"
Kingdom originally given to X'a{her 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 IIis spirit.
AII mankind must eventually have fhe same spirit or they
cannot get the earthly kingdom. fhe Ileavenly Kingdom
is for those of the Church who prove worthy. They will
get it becausethey have the spirit of love; and those of
the world who cultivate the Lord's spir{t will receive the
kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the
world. (Gen.1:26-28.) Christ's Kingdom was prepared
ftom before the foundation of the world. Mankind's will
be an earthly kingdom-a Paradise world-wide.
228
TIIX
LOVING,
UNSXLFISH
CI,ASS
Thus the sheepclass will take their pleasure along the
iines in which God and Christ will be takins theirs. Do
you think that God, Christ and the Churcb will bc runnilg around lleaven in automobiles? The sheep class
will say, in effect, "Horv 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, ChrisUike character. They rvill be doing themselves good as well as
those raised from llrc doad.
At the close of tle Age the Lord will say to the sheep
class,"f was an hungerecl,and ye gave Me meat; I was
thirstv, and yc gave Mo clrink; f rvas a stranger, and ye
took Me; naked, anclyo clothcd Me; sick antl in prison,
and ye visited Mett; for "inasmuch as ve diai it unto one
of the least of these,ye ('lid it tnto Me." You did not
know it, but f was watching you. You are on My rig'ht
hanil-in My favor. The Father wishes you to have the
TYSRT]ASTII{G PUNISEMENT
OF TEE
229
.WICKED
So, dear friends, there is a little lesson here for us.
We seein this parable God's disposition. It helps us to
understand llis mind. But you may sa.y,"It is not natural for me to act so unsellishly." 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 formecl that way." We reply, "You must be transformed-formed over again. We
are all wrong to start with. We rnust get out of the
condition in which we were born. "-Bom. 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 IIim that our mind
is continually striving for those things which are good,
kind, loving ald generous. He will take note of what we
are striving to do.
Lest we should be accusedof neglecting a certain part
of this parable, let me remind you how it reads. The
goat class are to "go a;rvayinto everlasting punishment."
"I thought that you do not believe in everlasting punishment," says one. My dear brother, I ahvays believe
230
Pastor Russel,l,'sSermons
The Ju,dgnr,entDag Picturetl by Jesus
in everything the Bible says. I believe in everlasting
punisbment. But what kind it will be is another matter.
Gocl 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.-Rom. 6 :23; Ezek. 18 :4.
The creeds have it that everlasting death means everlasting dying, endlesstorture. 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 badiy twisted. We ran into all kinds of
dfficulties. I am glatl that we are getting straightened
out. We are able to reason more clearly and to urderstand the English language better. There is such a thing
as everlasting death. When the goat class are remanded
to death, they will becomedead 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 choosethe 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
forcecl 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 Goclis Love. Whether
on the spirit plane or in the Millenniai Kingdom or in the
everlasting kingdom of mankind upon the earth, no one
shall continue except those who are in accord rviUr Goil.
All others shall be everlastingly cut off from life. See
Acts 3 :23; Psa. 101:8; 37:9; 2 Thess.1 :9.
everlasting fire would mean an everlasting destruction.
What about its being prepared for the Devil and his
angels9 I ansrver: The Devil is tlie father of lies, a murderer from the beginning, the one who "abode not in the
Truth." (John B:44.) He has some assistants, "the
angels that kept not their first estate." (Jude 6.) Instead of remaining holy angels, they becamedemons,associated under Satan. Their final penalty is to be quite
appropriate for them-fire, the fire of Gotl's anger, the
fire of God's opposition.
As fire destroys, so Goci's anger will desfroy Satan
and all in harmony with him. And because the goat
class of mairkind manifest the spirit of Satan, the selfish spirit, contrary to the Divine spirit, they will be
ciassedin with Satan ancl his angels; they wiil have their
portion with Satan and the fallen spirits. They will all
be destroyed in the SecondDeath. This will cleanse the
Ilniverse 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 receivecl into the Heavenly condition. In
the days of Noah all the angels were tried. So all mankind will be tried during the thousandyears of Messiah's
peign, and only the victors will go into the everlasting
eonditions. No rvontler that the Revelator, prophesying of
that giorious time, says "Every creature in lleaven [the
Churoh, the Great Company, the angels,the chcrubim anc
seraphiml, and on earth, anclunder the earth lthose now
in the tombl, heard I saying, Blessing, glory, honor and
power be unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto
the Lamb, forever and ever I "-Rev. 5 '13.
FIRT! A SYMBOIJ OT' DESTN,UCTION
Concerning the wicked, our parable says, "Depart, ye
cursed, into overlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and
his angels." Fire always sj'rnbolizes destruction, and
Soon all shall come,and comiog sing,
Throughout this eadhly ball,
Ilosannas to our Eeavelly King,
Aad hail Him, hail Eim, bail Eim,
Eail Eim Loril of all!
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