"The INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT
"I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and
the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and
for every work." Eccl. 3:17. p. 5, Para. 3,
THE judgment of the great day is an event certain to take
place. "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath
ordained." Acts 17:31. What God hath appointed is sure to
come in due time.
The resurrection of Christ is an
assurance to all men of the final judgment.
It is not the fact of the judgment, however,
but the order of its work,
that at this time engages our attention.
The work to be accomplished is of immense magnitude.
The judgment relates
(1) to all the righteous;
(2) to all the wicked;
(3) to all the evil angels.
The number of cases, therefore, to be
acted upon at this grand tribunal exceeds our powers of
conception. We must not, however, suppose that there will
be any difficulty on the part of the Judge in acting upon
every case individually.
"Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and
if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to
judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge
angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?"
1 Cor. 6:2, 3.
The trump of God sounds as the Savior descends from
heaven. When that trump is heard, all the righteous are, in
the twinkling of an eye, changed to immortality. There can
be no examination after this to determine whether they
shall be counted worthy of eternal life, for they will then
have already laid hold upon it. From this it follows that
the examination and decision of the cases of the righteous
takes place before the advent of Christ.
The saints alone are to be caught up
to meet Christ in the air. 1 Thess. 4:17. But the decision
who these saints are, who shall thus be caught up, rests
not with the angels who execute the work, but with the
Judge, who gives them their commission."