Samuel Davies (1723-1761)
REPENTANCE AND UNIVERSAL
JUDGMENT Samuel Davies (1723-1761) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.—Acts 17:30-31
I N the dark times of ignorance that preceded the publication of the gospel, God seemed to wink or connive1 at the idolatry and various forms of wickedness that had overspread the world.
That is, He seemed to overlook or take no notice of them, so as either to punish them or to give the nations explicit calls to repentance. Now, says St. Paul, the case is altered. Now the gospel is published through the world, and God therefore will no longer seem to connive at the wickedness and impenitence of mankind, but publishes His great mandate to a rebel world explicitly and loudly, commanding all men everywhere to repent (Act 17:30). He now gives them particular motives and encouragements to this duty.
One motive of the greatest weight, which was never so clearly or extensively published before, is the doctrine of the universal judgment. Surely, the prospect of a judgment must be a strong motive to sinners to repent: this, if anything, will rouse them from their thoughtless security and bring them to repentance.
God has given assurance to all men, that is, to all that hear the gospel, that He has appointed a day for this great purpose, and that Jesus Christ [the] God-man is to preside in person in this majestic solemnity…The resurrection of Christ gives assurance of this in several respects. It is a specimen2 and a pledge of a general resurrection, that grand preparative for the judgment. It is also an authentic attestation of our Lord's claims and an incontestable proof of His divine mission…
1 connive – to shut one's eyes to a thing that one dislikes.
2 specimen – a pattern or model.
Repentance and Universal Judgment
Let us now enter upon the majestic scene. But, alas, what images shall I use to represent it? Nothing that we have seen, nothing that we have heard, nothing that has ever happened on the stage of time can furnish us with proper illustrations. All is low and groveling, all is faint and obscene that ever the sun shone upon when compared with the grand phenomena of that day. We are so accustomed to low and little objects that it is impossible we should ever raise our thoughts to a suitable pitch of elevation. Ere long,3 we shall be amazed spectators of these majestic wonders, and our eyes and our ears will be our instructors. But now, it is necessary we should have such ideas of them as may affect our hearts and prepare us for them. Let us therefore present to our view those representations that divine revelation, our only guide in this case, gives us… As to the person of the Judge, the psalmist tells you, God is
Judge Himself. Yet Christ tells us, the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son, and that He hath given
Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of man.
It is, therefore, Christ Jesus, [the] God-man, as I observed, Who shall sustain this high character. For reasons already alleged, it is most fit it should be devolved4 upon Him. Being God and man, all the advantages of divinity and humanity center in Him and render
Him more fit for this office than if He were God only or man only.
This is the august5 Judge before Whom we must stand. The prospect may inspire us with reverence, joy, and terror.
As to the manner of His appearance, it will be such as becomes the dignity of His person and office. He will shine in all the untreated6 glories of the Godhead and in all the gentler glories of a perfect man. His attendants will add a dignity to the grand appearance, and the sympathy of nature will increase the solemnity and terror of the day. Let His own word describe Him: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory" (Mat 25:31).
"The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2Th
1:7-8). This is the Judge before Whom we must stand…
3 ere long – before long.
4 devolved – passed on; delegated.
5 august – majestic; inspiring awe; solemnly grand.
6 untreated – unstained.
Repentance and Universal Judgment
Now the Judge is come, the judgment seat is erected, the dead are raised. What follows? Why, the universal convention7 of all the sons of men before the judgment seat. What an august convocation,8 what a vast assembly is this! All the sons of men meet in one vast assembly. Adam beholds the long line of his posterity, and they behold their common father…In that prodigious9 assembly, my brethren, you and I must mingle. We shall not be lost in the crowd nor escape the notice of our Judge: His eye will be as particularly fixed on every one as though there were but one before Him.
Now the Judge is seated. Anxious millions stand before Him, waiting for their doom. As yet, there is no separation made between them…But see! At the order of the Judge, the crowd is all in motion. They part: they sort together according to their character and divide to the right and left (Mat 25:31-33)…O! What strange10 separations are now made! What multitudes that once ranked among the saints and were highly esteemed for their piety by others—as well as themselves—are now banished from among them and placed with the trembling criminals upon the left hand! And how many poor, honest-hearted, desponding souls, whose foreboding fears had often placed them there, now find themselves to their agreeable surprise stationed on the right hand of their Judge, Who smiles upon them! What connections are now broken! What hearts torn asunder! What intimate companions, what dear relations, parted forever! Neighbor from neighbor, masters from servants, friend from friend, parents from children, husband from wife…
For who are those miserable multitudes on the left hand? There, through the medium of revelation, I see the drunkard, the swearer, the whoremonger, the liar, the defrauder, and the various classes of profane, profligate11 sinners. There I see the families that call not upon the name of the Lord, and whole nations that forget Him.
And, O! What vast multitudes, what millions of millions of millions do all these make!
But who are those glorious immortals on the right hand? They are those who now mourn over their sins, resist, and forsake them.
They are those who have surrendered themselves entirely to God through Jesus Christ, who have heartily complied with the method of salvation revealed in the gospel; who have been formed new creatures by the almighty power of God; who make it the most ear-
7 convention – summoning, as before a judge.
8 convocation – assembly gathered in response to a summons.
9 prodigious – extraordinarily large; vast.
10 strange – surprising.
11 profligate – given over to sensual pleasure.
Repentance and Universal Judgment
nest, persevering endeavor of their lives to work out their own salvation and to live righteously, soberly, and godly in the world…
Now the trial begins. God judges the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. All the works of all the sons of men will then be tried (1Co
3:11-15)…What strange discoveries will this trial make! What noble dispositions that never shone in full beauty to mortal eyes; what pious and noble actions concealed under the veil of modesty; what affectionate aspirations, what devout exercises of heart that lay open only to the eyes of Omniscience, are now brought to full light and receive the approbation12 of the supreme Judge before the assembled universe!
But, on the other hand, what works of shame and darkness; what hidden things of dishonesty; what dire secrets of treachery, hypocrisy, lewdness, and various forms of wickedness, artfully and industriously concealed from human sight; what horrid exploits of sin now burst to light in all their hellish colors to the confusion of the guilty and the astonishment and horror of the universe! Sure, the history of mankind must then appear like the annals of hell or the biography of devils! There the mark of dissimulation13 will be torn off. Clouded characters will clear up, and men as well as things will appear in their true light. May not the prospect of such a discovery fill some of you with horror? For many of your actions, and especially of your hearts, will not bear the light. How would it confound you, if they were now all published, even in the small circle of your acquaintance? How then can you bear to have them all fully exposed before God, angels, and men?
We are now come to the grand crisis, upon which the eternal states of all mankind turn. I mean the passing [of] the great decisive sentence. Heaven and earth are all silence and attention while the Judge, with smiles in His face and a voice sweeter than heavenly music, turns to the glorious company on His right hand and pours all the joys of heaven into their souls in that transporting sentence of which He has graciously left us a copy. "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Mat 25:34). Every word is full of emphasis, full of heaven, and exactly agreeable to the desires of those to whom it is addressed. They desired, longed, and languished to be near their Lord. Now their Lord invites them, "Come near Me, and dwell with Me forever." There was nothing they desired so much as the blessing of God, nothing they feared so much as His
12 approbation – official approval.
13 dissimulation – concealing of what really is; hypocrisy.
Repentance and Universal Judgment
curse. Now their fears are entirely removed, and their designs fully accomplished; for the supreme Judge pronounces them blessed of His Father. They were all poor in spirit, most of them poor in this world, and all sensible of their unworthiness. How agreeably then are they surprised to hear themselves…invited to inherit a kingdom, as princes of the blood-royal born to thrones and crowns!...
But hark! Another sentence breaks from the mouth of the angry Judge like vengeful thunder. Nature gives a deep tremendous groan! The heavens lower14 and gather blackness, the earth trembles, and guilty millions sink with horror at the sound! And see,
He Whose words are works, Whose fist produced worlds out of nothing; He who could remand15 ten thousand worlds into nothing at a frown; He Whose thunder quelled16 the insurrection of rebel angels in heaven and hurled them headlong down, down, down to the dungeon of hell; see, He turns to the guilty crowd on His left hand. His countenance discovers the righteous indignation that glows in His breast. His countenance bespeaks Him inexorable,17 that there is now no room for prayer and tears. Now the sweet, mild, mediatorial hour is past, and nothing appears but the majesty and terror of the Judge. Horror and darkness frown upon His brow, and vindictive lightnings flash from His eyes. Now—O! Who can bear the sound?—He speaks, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Mat 25:41).
O! The cutting emphasis of every word! Depart! Depart from Me!
From Me, the Author of all good, the fountain of all happiness.
Depart with all My heavy, all-consuming curse upon you. Depart into fire, into everlasting fire, prepared, furnished with fuel, and blown up into rage, prepared for the devil and his angels…
Now the grand period has arrived in which the final everlasting states of mankind are unchangeably settled. From this allimportant era, their happiness or misery runs on in one uniform, uninterrupted tenor: no change, no gradation, but from glory to glory in the scale of perfection or from gulf to gulf in hell. This is the day in which all the schemes of Providence, carried on for thousands of years, terminate.
Time was, but is no more! Now all the sons of men enter upon a duration18 not to be measured by the revolutions of the sun nor by days, months, and years. Now eternity dawns, a day that shall nev-
14 lower – look dark and threatening.
15 remand – send back.
16 quelled – overcame.
17 inexorable – unaffected by pleas.
18 duration – period of time during which something continues.
Repentance and Universal Judgment
er see an evening. This terrible illustrious morning is solemnized with the execution of the sentence. No sooner is it passed than immediately the wicked go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. See the astonished thunderstruck multitude on the left hand, with sullen horror, grief, and despair in their looks, crying and wringing their hands, and glancing a wishful eye towards that heaven which they lost! Now an eternal farewell to earth and all its enjoyments! Farewell to the cheerful light of heaven! Farewell to hope, that sweet relief of affliction!
Heaven frowns [on] them from above, the horrors of hell spread far and wide around them, and conscience within preys upon their hearts. Conscience! O thou abused, exasperated power that now sleepest in so many breasts—what severe, ample revenge wilt thou then take upon those that now dare to do thee violence! O, the dire reflections that memory will then suggest! The remembrance of mercies abused! Of a Savior slighted! Of means and opportunities of salvation neglected and lost! This remembrance will sting the heart like a scorpion. But, O eternity! Eternity! With what horror will thy name circulate through the vaults of hell! Eternity in misery! No end to pain, no hope of an end! O this is the hell of hell!
This is the parent of despair! Despair—the direst ingredient of misery, the most tormenting passion that devils feel.
But let us view a more delightful and illustrious scene. See the bright and triumphant army marching up to their eternal home, under the conduct of the Captain of their salvation, where they shall ever be with the Lord, as happy as their nature in its highest improvement is capable of being made. With what shouts of joy and triumph do they ascend! With what sublime hallelujahs do they crown their Deliverer!...
And now when the inhabitants of our world, for whose sake it was formed, are all removed to other regions, it also meets its fate.
It is fit [that] so guilty a globe, that has been the stage of sin for so many thousands of years, which even supported the cross on which its Maker expired, should be made a monument of the divine displeasure…And see! The universal blaze begins! The heavens pass away with a great noise! The elements melt with fervent heat! The earth and the works that are therein are burnt up! Now stars rush from their orbits, comets glare, the earth trembles with convulsions. The Alps, the Andes, and all the lofty peaks of longextended ridges of mountains burst out into so many burning
Etnas,19 or thunder, and lightning, and smoke, and flame, and
19 Etnas – a reference to Mount Etna, a volcano in eastern Sicily.
Repentance and Universal Judgment
quake like Sinai, when God descended upon it to publish its fiery Law! Rocks melt and run down in torrents of flame; rivers, lakes, and oceans boil and evaporate. Sheets of fire and pillars of smoke, outrageous and insufferable thunders and lightnings burst, bellow, blaze, and involve the atmosphere from pole to pole…The whole globe is now dissolved into a shapeless ocean of liquid fire! Where now shall we find the places where cities stood, where armies fought, where mountains stretched their ridges and reared their heads on high? Alas! They are all lost and have left no trace behind them where they once stood. Where art thou, O my country? Sunk with the rest as a drop into the burning ocean…
We must all appear before the Judgment Seat and receive our sentence according to the deeds done in the body. If so, what are we doing that we are not more diligently preparing?...What do the sinners among you now think of repentance? Repentance is the grand preparative for this awful day. The Apostle, as I observed, mentions the final judgment in my text as a powerful motive to repentance. And what will criminals think of repentance when they see the Judge ascend the throne? Come, sinners, look forward, and see the flaming tribunal erected, your crimes exposed, your doom pronounced, and your hell began. See a whole world demolished and ravaged by boundless conflagration20 for your sins!
With these objects before you, I call you to repent!...God, the great God Whom heaven and earth obey, commands you to repent.
Whatever be your characters, whether rich or poor, old or young, white or black, wherever you sit or stand, this command reaches you. God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. You are this day firmly bound to this duty by His authority. Dare you disobey with the prospect of all the awful solemnities of judgment before you in so near a view?...Repent at the command of God because He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man Whom He hath ordained—of [this], He hath given you all full assurance in that He hath raised Him from the dead (Act 17:31).
From "The Universal Judgment" in Sermons on Important Subjects, Vol. 2, T. S. Arden, in the public domain.
20 conflagration – great destructive fire; inferno.