Saturday, July 13, 2019

The Judgment Seat Of Christ (8)

The neo Hardshell idea that "the judgment seat of Christ" pertains to a present ongoing judgment (equivalent to God continually chastening) of the believer is not the teaching of the forefathers of the "Primitive Baptist Church." Elder Sylvester Hassell in "Old Paths" said (see here) - highlighting mine):

"Just as the hundred Old Testament prophecies of the first advent of Christ were literally fulfilled at His First Personal (Priestly) Coming, so shall the hundred Old and New Testament prophecies of the second advent of Christ be literally fulfilled at His Second Personal (Kingly) Coming (Amen to that! I will be happy to defend this proposition any time). To warn and restrain the wicked, and to comfort and encourage the afflicted people of God, the Holy Ghost, all through the New Testament, pointed the minds of men, in the first century of the Christian Era, to that most solemn and momentous of all events after the earthly mediation of Christ--His Second and Final Personal Coming to this world (Mt 6:10,19-21; 7:21-27; 11:20-24; 24:42; 25; Mr 13:32-37; Lu 6:46-49; 9:25; 10:13; 12:8-9,32-40; 21:28,34-36; Joh 5:28; 14:1-3; 16:8; 17:24; Ac 2:19; 3:20; 17:30; 24:25; Ro 2:5-16; 13:11-14; 1Co 15:19-58; 2Co 4:16-18; 5:1-11; Ga 6:7-10; Eph 1:10-14; 2:7; 4:30; Php 3:14,20-21; Col 1:5,27-29; 3; 1Th 4:13-18; 5:1-11; 2Th 1:4-10; 3:5; 1Ti 6:13-19; 2Ti 4:1,8; Tit 2:11-15; Heb 1:10; 4:11; 6:2,11,17-20; 9:27; 10:23-25; 11:10,13-16; 13:14; Jas 1:12; 2:5; 5:7-11; 1Pe 1:3-9; 4:1-13; 5:1-11; 2:5-12; 2Pe 3:3-18; 1Jo 3:2; 4:17; Jude 25,25; Re 1:7; 6:12-17; 11:18; 16:15; 19:7-9; 20:10-15;"

Notice how Hassell cites the passage in II Corinthians 5: 10-11, dealing with the Bema, as being fulfilled at the second coming of Christ. If he were alive today, our Hardshell brethren would call him a heretic for such a view!

Again, Hassell wrote:

"and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Judge of quick and dead, as He comes to vindicate the Divine righteousness in the everlasting destiny of every human being, will descend from heaven in awful majesty, amid clouds charged with flaming fire, with all His holy angels, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and He will change the living and raise the dead, and separate the elect from the non-elect, the righteous from the wicked, and, penetrating with His omniscient gaze the secrets of every heart and life, and manifesting them to every other intelligent creature, He will welcome His humble and loving people, in their glorified bodies and spirits, to the heavenly inheritance prepared for them by His Father before the foundation of he world, and He will consign His proud and unloving enemies, in their reunited bodies and souls, to the everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. {Ec 12:14; Da 7:8; 12; Zec 14; Mal 3:16-18; 4; Mt 5:15-27; 10:26; 11:22; 24; 25; Mr 13; Lu 21; Ac 17:31; Ro 2:16; 11; 14:9-12; 2Co 5:10; Ga 5:19-24; 1Th 1:3-4; 4:13-18; 2Th 1:2; 2Ti 3; 4; Heb 6:2; 9:27-28; Re 1:7; 6; 7}"

Notice again how Hassell cites II Cor. 5: 10 that deals with the judgment of believers after they have lived them, a judgment to occur at the second coming of Christ.

Again, Hassell wrote:

"It cannot be doubted that there is a private, particular judgment upon each soul as soon as it leaves the body; {Ec 12:7,14; Heb 9:27; Lu 16:19-31; Mt 23:39; 2Co 5:8; Php 1:23} but the people of God have believed, from the Scriptures, for thousands of years, that, after the resurrection of the body, there will also be a public, general judgment; that men will be raised from the dead in order to be judged, before the assembled universe, according to the deeds done in the body. It seems to me that, if a person does not believe that the following texts, taken together, prove a great, solemn, final day of General Judgment at the end of the present dispensation, as taught in the London Baptist Confession of Faith (Chapters xxxi. and xxxii.) and in almost all Primitive Baptist Articles of Faith, then he would not be convinced of that fact if one should rise from the dead: Ge 18:25; Ps 50:3-6; 96:10,13; 98:9; Ec 3:16-17; 12:7,14; Joe 2:30-31; De 7:9-10; 12:2; Mal 4; Mt 7:21-27; 11:22,24; 12:36-37; 13:37-43; 16:27; 25:31-46; Lu 10:12,14; Joh 5:27-29; 12:48; Ac 2:19-20; 17:31; 24:25; Ro 2:16; 3:6,19; 14:10; 2Co 5:10; 2Th 1:6-10; 2Ti 4:1,8; Heb 6:2; 9:27-28; Jas 5:8-9; 1Pe 4:5; 5:4; 2Pe 2:9; 3:7-14; 1Jo 4:17; Jude 25,25; Re 11:18; 20:11-15)."

Again, notice how Hassell cites II Cor. 5:10 as proof that all men, believers and unbelievers, will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ. Hassell, if he were here, would agree with me on the passage.

Again, one other example, is in these words of Hassell:

"In Joh 5:24 it is said that krisis rendered "condemnation" should be rendered judgment, as it is generally rendered in the English New Testament; but this word certainly means condemnation in Joh 3:19; 5:29; 12:31; 16:8,11; Re 14:7; 18:10; Mt 18:33; Mr 3:29, as its primitive, krinein, means to condemn in Mt 7:12; Joh 16:11; Ac 7:8; Heb 13:4; Re 17:1; and this word, krisis, is used by John as the opposite of salvation {in Joh 3:17-19} and the opposite of life, {in Joh 5:24,29} and therefore he means by it damnation and death; Joh 5:24 is evidently equivalent to Joh 3:18 and Ro 8:1, and cannot contradict Mt 25:31-46; Ro 14:10; 2Co 5:10; 2Ti 4:8; Heb 6:2,20; 2Pe 3:14; 1Jo 4:17, and Re 20:11-15; Joh 12:31 should be rendered "now is a judgment of this world"--there is no "the" in the Greek. The inseparability between the resurrection and the judgment after it may be seen from Joh 5:28-29; Ac 17:31; Heb 6:2; 9:27-28; Re 11:18; 20:11-15."

Again, notice his citation of II Cor. 5:10.

In the "Gospel Messenger" for April, 1901, Hassell has a series of "Questions and Answers" on bible passages and topics. (see here - highlighting mine)

Question - "What are the books mentioned in Rev. 20: 12, to be opened at the last judgment, and who are to be judged out of the books according to their works? 

Answer: The books are the book of the law (Gal. 3:10), the book of conscience (Rom. 2:15,16), and the book of God's omniscience (Heb. 4:13): and another most precious book, the book of God's fatherly remembrance, mentioned at the close of the Old Testament (Mal. 3:16-18), which is the same as the Lamb's book of life, mentioned at the close of the Testament (Rev. 13:8; 20:12-15; 21:27)--a book containing the names of all those redeemed to God by the blood of the Lamb out of kindred and tongue and people and nation (Rev. 5:9-10; 1:5-6; Rom. 8:28-39; I Cor. 1:26-31), their names being written therein, not for their works, but for Christ's work for them and in them--the Lamb's book of life (Rom. 3:10-20; 6:23; 11:6). The whole human race, believers as well as unbelievers, are to appear before the judgment seat of Christ (Matt.25:31-46; Rom. 2:1-16; 14:10; II Cor. 5:10).  The outward works of each one will show plainly to all the character of the life within. Those who love Christ engage in loving and humble ministrations to His people; those who do not love Him do not engage in such ministrations (Matt.25:31-46). The good works of God's people are the external evidences to all men of their election, redemption, and regeneration, and their preparedness for heaven; while the evil works of the non-elect are the evidences of their having no interest in the salvation of Christ and of their preparedness for Hell."

Those PBs today who disagree with Hassell are guilty of promoting a new theory on the passage and on the judgment.

In Hassell's "Questions and Answers" (see here) we read:

Q. If we are saved by grace and not by our works (Rom. 11:5-7; Eph. 2:8, 9; II Tim. 1:9; Tit. 3: 4-7), how is it that we are to be judged according to our works (Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6-11; II Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:13; 22:12)?

A. Our works show our hearts and our characters. If God's grace is in our hearts and characters, it will shine in our lives; if His grace is not in our hearts and characters, our lives will be dark, selfish, worldly, and devilish. The good fruit shows the good tree; and the bad fruit shows the evil tree (Matt. 7:16-20; 5:16; 12:35; 25: 31-46; Isa. 61:3,11; 55:10-13; 43:21; 44: 1-5; Rom. 6; 13:10; Gal. 5:6; Eph. 2:10; Philip 2:12,13; I Thess. 2-5; James 2).

Q. If we are saved entirely by grace, as the Scriptures teach, how is it that Christ, our Divine Judge, will reward every one according to his works (Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6-11; II Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12, 13; 22:12, 13)?

A. A man's deeds show the spirit by which he is actuated, as the fruit shows the nature of the tree. If a man loves the Lord and His people, he will delight to serve Him and them, and take no credit to himself for such service; but if he has no such love, his conduct will plainly enough prove it (Matt. 25:31-46; Philip 2:12,13; Gal. 5:6, 16-25; Heb. 8:8-12; James 2)."

Well, amen to that!

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