Kansas City daily journal., 1896-12-27
The Son of Man Judging.


From the Philadelphia Press.
Tho Father judgeth no man. but hath
committed all Judgment unto the Son, and
hath given Him authority 10 execute judg-
ment, because He is the Son of Man
John y:22-2I
the fact of the last judgment Just what it
will be, when it will be, whera
it will be, people have very vague
notions. But the vagueness does not
touch the reality of the thing itself. Prob
ably all our conceptions OF it are about as
wrong as they could be. Vague images
float about in our minds concerning the
last scene. Some of them come from the
Book of Revelations, some of them from
Milton, some from Dante, and not a few
OF the ingredients are probably survivals
of ancient Paganism. The pictures of the
scene in the New Testament are them
selves confused and contradictory. But
the principle upon which the judgment
must proceed is the main thing. This Is
stated with scientific accuracy in our text
Upon what principle shall men ulti-
mately be separated? The Jew said. the
pure in blood shall inherit the kingdom.
the Teuton said the brave shall revel in
Walhalla; the Roman said, the strong shall
survive; the Oriental, the willy shall inherit
the kingdom of heaven. Christ says the
humane man shall live persistently and
the inhuman man shall be blotted out.
classification.
The doctrine of Christianity is that each
mans eternal destiny will be determined
by the moral effect which he has produced
upon his feflowmen. Each human life
touches in the course of its career many
other human lives. 1t influences them more
or less. When the judgment is set and the
books are opened it is not for the purpose
of adding up opposite columns and Strik-
ing balance, but for the purpose of dis
covering what has been the net result
of the influence of each soul upon the to-
tallty of men. Men are judged finally by
humanity. Jesus says that God has in
trusted the conduct of this ultimate de-
clsion to Him, not because He is God but
because He is Man. Conceive of it in a
more dramatic form. Fancy great arena
whose boundaries are as wide as the in
finite plain upon which 1t stands. This
great space is crowded with rank upon
rank of the myriads of men. women and
children who have been, and who have
ceased to be, upon the face of the earth
The judgment is set; each one is sum-
moned personally before the Judge But
the Judge himself delivers no verdict He
calls upon the assembled multitude to ex-
press their opinion. The secrets of all
hearts are disclosed. With a penetrating
voice, reaching to the utmost border of
the crowd, every soul is called upon to
look upon the soul before the Judge. and
Proclamation inquiries, What has such
soul done? How has 1t affected YOU, and
you, and you? Did it lift you up or push
you down? Did it, cleanse you or delile
you? Did it help or hinder?" Here is the
place and here is the only place in the
career of any human soul where it is true
TO say that the voice of the people is the
voice Of God This is the very essence of
Christ's teaching. God has committed
judgment to Him because He is Man. He
belcngS to no race, no time, no tribe, no
people, no type. He is The Man. In this
capacity He speaks in words what Is act
ually the inarticulate judgment of the race
upon each individual member of the race
The striking thing about this conception
or the last judgment Is it's awful simplicity
and its awful severity. 1t is in analogy
with human. methods of proceeding. Every
one when he reaches the end of a stadium
is summoned to give an account of himself
as to what he has done and as to whether
he Is fitted to enter on another stage. Aft
ec man has finished living once the only
question to be raised is whether it Is ad-
vantageous to the universe that he should
be permitted to live a second time. This
is directly in the face of that persistent
conception Of religion which thinks of It
as an effort to achieve a private under
standing with God for the purpose of Sc
curing ones own felicity. God will have
no understanding with any man, except
tndt "Hicil lIe man IelloWS WoulQ nave
with him IL Ii were possible for them to
knew all the facts of his life and char
acter. Christ's dictum is that at the last,
when each individual soul stands naked
and exposed before Him for Judgment. He
will bid it go back again over your whole
career and get the composite verdict Of ali
these whom your life has touched, and that
verdict will be mine.'
The outcome of 1t all is that, POSTPONE
it as long as may be, the point must come
when each individual life shall be weighed
and a valuation put upon it. What has it
been and what has it done? Its effect
may have been nil or noxious or benignant
Let each so pray and SO live that
Not one soul shall be destroyed,
Or cast as rubbish to the void.
When God doth made His pile complete -