Chapter Twenty
Eight
The Investigative Judgment
Facing Life's Record
“I beheld,” says the prophet Daniel, “till thrones were
placed, and One that was Ancient of Days did sit: His
raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like
pure wool; His throne was fiery flames, and the wheels
thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth
from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him:
the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”
Daniel
7:9, 10, R.V.
Thus was presented to the prophet’s vision the great and
solemn day when the characters and the lives of men should
pass in review before the Judge of all the earth, and to every
man should be rendered “according to his works.” The
Ancient of Days is God the Father. Says the psalmist:
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to
everlasting, Thou art God.”
Psalm 90:2. It is He, the source
of all being, and the fountain of all law, that is to preside in
the judgment. And holy angels as ministers and witnesses,
in number “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands
of thousands,” attend this great tribunal.
“And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they
brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations,
and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away.”
Daniel 7:13, 14. The coming of Christ here described is not His second
coming to the earth. He comes to the Ancient of Days in
heaven to receive dominion and glory and a kingdom, which
will be given Him at the close of His work as a mediator. It
is this coming, and not His second advent to the earth, that
was foretold in prophecy to take place at the termination of
the 2300 days in 1844. Attended by heavenly angels, our great
High Priest enters the holy of holies and there appears in the
presence of God to engage in the last acts of His ministration
in behalf of man—to perform the work of investigative judgment
and to make an atonement for all who are shown to be
entitled to its benefits.
In the typical service only those who had come before God
with confession and repentance, and whose sins, through the
blood of the sin offering, were transferred to the sanctuary,
had a part in the service of the Day of Atonement. So in the
great day of final atonement and investigative judgment the
only cases considered are those of the professed people of
God. The judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate
work, and takes place at a later period. “Judgment must
begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall
the end be of them that obey not the gospel?”
1 Peter 4:17.
The books of record in heaven, in which the names and
the deeds of men are registered, are to determine the
decisions of the judgment. Says the prophet Daniel: “The
judgment was set, and the books were opened.” The
revelator, describing the same scene, adds: “Another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged
out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.”
Revelation 20:12.
The book of life contains the names of all who have ever
entered the service of God. Jesus bade His disciples: “Rejoice,
because your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:20.
Paul speaks of his faithful fellow workers, “whose names are
in the book of life.”
Philippians 4:3. Daniel, looking down
to “a time of trouble, such as never was,” declares that God’s
people shall be delivered, “everyone that shall be found
written in the book.” And the revelator says that those only
shall enter the city of God whose names “are written in the
Lamb’s book of life.”
Daniel 12:1;
Revelation 21:27.
“A book of remembrance” is written before God, in
which are recorded the good deeds of “them that feared
the Lord, and that thought upon His name.”
Malachi 3:16.
Their words of faith, their acts of love, are registered in
heaven. Nehemiah refers to this when he says: “Remember
me, O my God, . . . and wipe not out my good deeds that
I have done for the house of my God.”
Nehemiah 13:14. In
the book of God’s remembrance every deed of righteousness
is immortalized. There every temptation resisted, every evil
overcome, every word of tender pity expressed, is faithfully
chronicled. And every act of sacrifice, every suffering and
sorrow endured for Christ’s sake, is recorded. Says the
psalmist: “Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears
into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book?”
Psalm 56:8.
There is a record also of the sins of men. “For God shall
bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Every idle word
that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the
day of judgment.” Says the Saviour: “By thy words thou
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned.”
Ecclesiastes 12:14;
Matthew 12:36, 37. The secret
purposes and motives appear in the unerring register; for
God “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and
will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.”
1 Corinthians 4:5. “Behold, it is written before Me, . . . your iniquities,
and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the
Lord.”
Isaiah 65:6, 7.
Every man’s work passes in review before God and is
registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Opposite each
name in the books of heaven is entered with terrible exactness
every wrong word, every selfish act, every unfulfilled
duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissembling.
Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs neglected, wasted
moments, unimproved opportunities, the influence exerted for
good or for evil, with its far-reaching results, all are chronicled
by the recording angel.
The law of God is the standard by which the characters
and the lives of men will be tested in the judgment. Says the
wise man: “Fear God, and keep His commandments: for
this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every
work into judgment.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14. The apostle
James admonishes his brethren: “So speak ye, and so do, as
they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.”
James 2:12
Those who in the judgment are “accounted worthy” will
have a part in the resurrection of the just. Jesus said: “They
which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and
the resurrection from the dead, . . . are equal unto the
angels; and are the children of God, being the children of
the resurrection.”
Luke 20:35, 36. And again He declares
that “they that have done good” shall come forth “unto the
resurrection of life.”
John 5:29. The righteous dead will not
be raised until after the judgment at which they are
accounted worthy of “the resurrection of life.” Hence they
will not be present in person at the tribunal when their
records are examined and their cases decided.
Jesus will appear as their advocate, to plead in their behalf
before God. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
1 John 2:1. “For Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us.” “Wherefore He is
able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for
them.”
Hebrews 9:24; 7:25.
As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the
lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before
God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth,
our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation,
and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every
case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected.
When any have sins remaining upon the books of record,
unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted
out of the book of life, and the record of their good deeds will
be erased from the book of God’s remembrance. The Lord
declared to Moses: “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him
will I blot out of My book.”
Exodus 32:33. And says the
prophet Ezekiel: “When the righteous turneth away from his
righteousness, and committeth iniquity, . . . all his
righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned.”
Ezekiel 18:24.
All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed
the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon
entered against their names in the books of heaven; as
they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ,
and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law
of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves
will be accounted worthy of eternal life. The Lord declares,
by the prophet Isaiah: “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy
transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember
thy sins.”
Isaiah 43:25. Said Jesus: “He that overcometh, the
same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot
out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his
name before My Father, and before His angels.” “Whosoever
therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess
also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever
shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before
My Father which is in heaven.”
Revelation 3:5;
Matthew 10:32, 33.
The deepest interest manifested among men in the
decisions of earthly tribunals but faintly represents the interest
evinced in the heavenly courts when the names entered in
the book of life come up in review before the Judge of all the
earth. The divine Intercessor presents the plea that all who
have overcome through faith in His blood be forgiven their
transgressions, that they be restored to their Eden home, and
crowned as joint heirs with Himself to “the first dominion.”
Micah 4:8. Satan in his efforts to deceive and tempt our race
had thought to frustrate the divine plan in man’s creation;
but Christ now asks that this plan be carried into effect as if
man had never fallen. He asks for His people not only pardon
and justification, full and complete, but a share in His
glory and a seat upon His throne.
While Jesus is pleading for the subjects of His grace, Satan
accuses them before God as transgressors. The great deceiver
has sought to lead them into skepticism, to cause them to lose
confidence in God, to separate themselves from His love, and
to break His law. Now he points to the record of their lives,
to the defects of character, the unlikeness to Christ, which
has dishonored their Redeemer, to all the sins that he has
tempted them to commit, and because of these he claims
them as his subjects.
Jesus does not excuse their sins, but shows their penitence
and faith, and, claiming for them forgiveness, He lifts His
wounded hands before the Father and the holy angels,
saying: I know them by name. I have graven them on the palms
of My hands. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.”
Psalm 51:17. And to the accuser of His people He declares:
"The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath
chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked
out of the fire?”
Zechariah 3:2. Christ will clothe His faithful
ones with His own righteousness, that He may present
them to His Father “a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing.”
Ephesians 5:27. Their names
stand enrolled in the book of life, and concerning them it is
written: “They shall walk with Me in white: for they are
worthy.”
Revelation 3:4.
Thus will be realized the complete fulfillment of the
new-covenant promise: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more.” “In those days, and in that
time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall
not be found.”
Jeremiah 31:34;
50:20. “In that day shall the
branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of
the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are
escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is
left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be
called holy, even everyone that is written among the living
in Jerusalem.”
Isaiah 4:2, 3.
The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting
out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of
the Lord. Since the dead are to be judged out of the things
written in the books, it is impossible that the sins of men
should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their
cases are to be investigated. But the apostle Peter distinctly
states that the sins of believers will be blotted out “when the
times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
and He shall send Jesus Christ.”
Acts 3:19, 20. When the
investigative judgment closes, Christ will come, and His
reward will be with Him to give to every man as his work
shall be.
In the typical service the high priest, having made the
atonement for Israel, came forth and blessed the congregation.
So Christ, at the close of His work as mediator, will
appear, “without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28), to bless
His waiting people with eternal life. As the priest, in removing
the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the
head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon
Satan, the originator and instigator of sin. The scapegoat,
bearing the sins of Israel, was sent away “unto a land not
inhabited” (Leviticus 16:22); so Satan, bearing the guilt of
all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit, will
be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then
be desolate, without inhabitant, and he will at last suffer the
full penalty of sin in the fires that shall destroy all the
wicked. Thus the great plan of redemption will reach its
accomplishment in the final eradication of sin and the
deliverance of all who have been willing to renounce evil.
At the time appointed for the judgment—the close of the
2300 days, in 1844—began the work of investigation and blotting
out of sins. All who have ever taken upon themselves
the name of Christ must pass its searching scrutiny. Both the
living and the dead are to be judged “out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works.”
Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not
be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will
stand to witness against the sinner in the day of God. He
may have committed his evil deeds in the light of day or
in the darkness of night; but they were open and manifest
before Him with whom we have to do. Angels of God
witnessed each sin and registered it in the unerring records. Sin
may be concealed, denied, covered up from father, mother,
wife, children, and associates; no one but the guilty actors
may cherish the least suspicion of the wrong; but it is laid
bare before the intelligences of heaven. The darkness of the
darkest night, the secrecy of all deceptive arts, is not sufficient
to veil one thought from the knowledge of the Eternal. God
has an exact record of every unjust account and every unfair
dealing. He is not deceived by appearances of piety. He
makes no mistakes in His estimation of character. Men may
be deceived by those who are corrupt in heart, but God
pierces all disguises and reads the inner life.
How solemn is the thought! Day after day, passing into
eternity, bears its burden of records for the books of heaven.
Words once spoken, deeds once done, can never be recalled.
Angels have registered both the good and the evil. The
mightiest conqueror upon the earth cannot call back the
record of even a single day. Our acts, our words, even our
most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our
destiny for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by
us, they will bear their testimony to justify or condemn.
As the features of the countenance are reproduced with
unerring accuracy on the polished plate of the artist, so the
character is faithfully delineated in the books above. Yet
how little solicitude is felt concerning that record which is
to meet the gaze of heavenly beings. Could the veil which
separates the visible from the invisible world be swept back,
and the children of men behold an angel recording every
word and deed, which they must meet again in the judgment,
how many words that are daily uttered would remain
unspoken, how many deeds would remain undone.
In the judgment the use made of every talent will be
scrutinized. How have we employed the capital lent us of
Heaven? Will the Lord at His coming receive His own with
usury? Have we improved the powers entrusted us, in hand
and heart and brain, to the glory of God and the blessing of
the world? How have we used our time, our pen, our voice,
our money, our influence? What have we done for Christ,
in the person of the poor, the afflicted, the orphan, or the
widow? God has made us the depositaries of His holy word;
what have we done with the light and truth given us to make
men wise unto salvation? No value is attached to a mere
profession of faith in Christ; only the love which is shown
by works is counted genuine. Yet it is love alone which in
the sight of Heaven makes any act of value. Whatever is
done from love, however small it may appear in the estimation
of men, is accepted and rewarded of God.
The hidden selfishness of men stands revealed in the
books of heaven. There is the record of unfulfilled duties
to their fellow men, of forgetfulness of the Saviour’s claims.
There they will see how often were given to Satan the time,
thought, and strength that belonged to Christ. Sad is the
record which angels bear to heaven. Intelligent beings,
professed followers of Christ, are absorbed in the acquirement of
worldly possessions or the enjoyment of earthly pleasures.
Money, time, and strength are sacrificed for display and
self-indulgence; but few are the moments devoted to prayer,
to the searching of the Scriptures, to humiliation of soul and
confession of sin.
Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds,
that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we
ought to be best acquainted. The archdeceiver hates the great
truths that bring to view an atoning sacrifice and an
all-powerful mediator. He knows that with him everything
depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and His truth.
Those who would share the benefits of the Saviour’s
mediation should permit nothing to interfere with their duty to
perfect holiness in the fear of God. The precious hours,
instead of being given to pleasure, to display, or to gain seeking,
should be devoted to an earnest, prayerful study of the
word of truth. The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative
judgment should be clearly understood by the people
of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position
and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise it will be
impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at
this time or to occupy the position which God designs them
to fill. Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each
has a case pending at the bar of God. Each must meet the
great Judge face to face. How important, then, that every
mind contemplate often the solemn scene when the judgment
shall sit and the books shall be opened, when, with
Daniel, every individual must stand in his lot, at the end of
the days.
All who have received the light upon these subjects are to
bear testimony of the great truths which God has committed
to them. The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of
Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns every soul living
upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption,
bringing us down to the very close of time and revealing the
triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and
sin. It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly
investigate these subjects and be able to give an answer to
everyone that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in
them.
The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary
above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death
upon the cross. By His death He began that work which
after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven.
We must by faith enter within the veil, “whither the forerunner
is for us entered.”
Hebrews 6:20. There the light
from the cross of Calvary is reflected. There we may gain a
clearer insight into the mysteries of redemption. The salvation
of man is accomplished at an infinite expense to heaven;
the sacrifice made is equal to the broadest demands of the
broken law of God. Jesus has opened the way to the Father’s
throne, and through His mediation the sincere desire of all
who come to Him in faith may be presented before God.
“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso
confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
Proverbs
28:13. If those who hide and excuse their faults could see
how Satan exults over them, how he taunts Christ and holy
angels with their course, they would make haste to confess
their sins and to put them away. Through defects in the
character, Satan works to gain control of the whole mind,
and he knows that if these defects are cherished, he will
succeed. Therefore he is constantly seeking to deceive the
followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible
for them to overcome. But Jesus pleads in their behalf
His wounded hands, His bruised body; and He declares to
all who would follow Him: “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
2 Corinthians 12:9. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of
Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is
light.”
Matthew 11:29, 30. Let none, then, regard their
defects as incurable. God will give faith and grace to
overcome them.
We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the
typical service, while the high priest was making the
atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by
repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they
be cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who
would have their names retained in the book of life should
now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict
their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance.
There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. The light,
frivolous spirit indulged by so many professed Christians
must be put away. There is earnest warfare before all who
would subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery.
The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not
saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not
offset the want of these qualities in another. Though all
nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet He will
examine the case of each individual with as close and searching
scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the
earth. Everyone must be tested and found without spot or
wrinkle or any such thing.
Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing work of
the atonement. Momentous are the interests involved therein.
The judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above. For
many years this work has been in progress. Soon—none
know how soon—it will pass to the cases of the living. In
the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review.
At this time above all others it behooves every soul to heed
the Saviour’s admonition: “Watch and pray: for ye know not
when the time is.”
Mark 13:33. “If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know
what hour I will come upon thee.”
Revelation 3:3.
When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the
destiny of all will have been decided for life or death.
Probation is ended a short time before the appearing of the Lord
in the clouds of heaven. Christ in the Revelation, looking
forward to that time, declares: “He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and
he that is righteous let him be righteous still: and he that is
holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly;
and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as
his work shall be.”
Revelation 22:11, 12.
The righteous and the wicked will still be living upon
the earth in their mortal state—men will be planting and
building, eating and drinking, all unconscious that the final,
irrevocable decision has been pronounced in the sanctuary
above. Before the Flood, after Noah entered the ark, God
shut him in and shut the ungodly out; but for seven days the
people, knowing not that their doom was fixed, continued
their careless, pleasure-loving life and mocked the warnings
of impending judgment. “So,” says the Saviour, “shall also
the coming of the Son of man be.”
Matthew 24:39. Silently,
unnoticed as the midnight thief, will come the decisive hour
which marks the fixing of every man’s destiny, the final
withdrawal of mercy’s offer to guilty men.
“Watch ye therefore: . . . lest coming suddenly He find
you sleeping.”
Mark 13:35, 36. Perilous is the condition of
those who, growing weary of their watch, turn to the attractions
of the world. While the man of business is absorbed
in the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure lover is seeking
indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arranging her
adornments—it may be in that hour the Judge of all the
earth will pronounce the sentence: “Thou art weighed in
the balances, and art found wanting.”
Daniel 5:27.
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