The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-18
PREACHED ON 1.-THE JUDGMENT"
Rev. A. j. Smiths Sermon Mt the
First Presbyterian Church.

Rev. A. j. smiths Sermon Mt the
First Presbyterian Church.
Rev. A. j. Smith preached at the First
Presbyterian Church last night on 1.-THE
Judgment" In beginning he told why
Christians believe in the judgment. First
he said, it is because 1t is reasonable.
Man is a responsible being. A child is
responsible to its parents. an employee is
responsible to his employer, citizen is
responsible to his government. The doc
trine of retributlon is seen in the natural,
social and spiritual world. Break one of
natures laws" Mr.. Smith said, land you
suffer the penalty Break one of the laws
of the land, and il justice is not perverted,
you will suffer the penalty. Break one of
the laws in the spiritual world
and you will suffer the penalty.
In order not to believe this, one must
plunge into the darkness and despair of
atheism or infidelity. Conscience constant
ly reminds man that the sinner VIII lie
judged and punished. Felix trembled as
Paul reasoned of judgment to come"
Belshazzar's knees smote together as he
saw the handwriting on the wall. He
knew it was Gods coming Judgment. In
the Old and New Testaments It is affirmed
and reaffirmed that God VIII certainly
judge the just and the unjust"
Who is to be the Judge. was
the next question asked and an
swersd by Mr.. Smith. The scriptures
teaches that God will judge the world by
Christ In 1 Cor. 6: 2 aud 1t is said that
Chrisfs disciples will be associated with
him in this Judgment of the world and
angels.
when viii the judgment take placer"
Mr.. Smith asked.
There was a term used very much in
religious literature which was unscriptural
and misleading and that IS the term
general judgment" 1t is found no
where in the Bible. There is no general
Judgment.
THE Bible" said Mr. Smith, teaches
that there are four separate judg-
ments. One past and the others future
they differ in four general aspects, the
persons judged, the place of judgement,
the time of judgement and the purpose of
the judgement. The first Is the Judge
ment of the believer or righteous for his
sins, the inference is that 1t takes place
at calyarys cross The wrath of God
coming upon Christ as the believers sub
sttute.
The next judgement is that of the be-
lever for his service rendered Christ in
the world. 1t is spoken of in 1 Corinth-
ians, $40, For we must all appear be-
fore the judgement seat of Christ
"That passage refers to the believer
alone,' said Mr.. Smith. Twenty personal
pronouns occur In the first ten verses
alone. Paul was writing to the Christians
in Corinth when he said we This judg-
ment takes place when Christ appears in
the air for his church at the first resur-
rection. The next judgment is the judg
ment of the nations mentioned in the 25th
chapter of Matthew. The persons men
toned are all the nations illustrated by
the sheep and the goats and Christs breth-
rem The brethren here are said
to be the children of Israel
in the prophecy foretelling this event in
Joel 3:2 and u. The place is on the earth
near Jerusalem, in the valley of Jehosha-
plat. The time is said to be before the
millennium in Matthew 1854. The purpose
Is the punishment of the nations for their
treatment of the Jews.
Mr.. Smith said he could not understand
how any earnest Bible student could have
other feeling than love and sympathy for
Gods chosen people. He said he
nly believed that the Turks,
the Russians, the Spaniards and the
French, together with other nations, wouIi
have to give an account at this judgment.
Other prophecies concerning the Jews
have been fulfiNed in a most remarka BILE
manner, and this one will be the last
Judgment is that Of the unjust. This Is
described in the portion of scripture read
as lesson tonight. Revelation 20l1-15.
The dead are spoken Of in the passage as
the persons to be judged. The
time is after the millennium at the end of
the world. The purpose is the punis hment
of the wicked. Nothing is said about the
believers who have taken part in the first
resurrection being judged. They have
passed from judgment. The pur-
pose is the punishment of the
wicked. Some say we are punished for
our sins here. One thing is certain the
Bible teaches that the wicked whose
names are not found in the book of life,
are cast into the lake of fire.
Mr.. Smith announced that the last two
sermons on HELL and Heaven will be
deferred a week in order 10 have a special
Christmas musical service next Sunday
evening. He said there would be a spe-
cial printed programme.