Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-03-27
GREAT AND FINAL DAY
The Judgement of the Great White
Throne.
Sermon Preached at Colley Memorial Pros
bytorinn Church Sunday Evening by
Rov. NJ. w. Doggctt, DID. of Burlington,
NO.
ut Colley Memorial Prcs-

kew. ~: IL.
With these five verses the drama of
this worlds existence is entirely wound
up. This presents the last act This
scene is spoken of in almost every book
in the Bible The phophets, the evan
gelists. the apostles are all inspired to
speak of this great and final day It is
spoken of under different figures. 1t
is spoken of as "the day." that day"
1.-THE day of wrath" 1.-The Judgment of
the great day" 1.-The last day"
In these few verses the seer gives us
passing glance at the scene itself
1t is Il kind of brief panoramic view.
The first thing that catches the seerS
eye, and suppose the first thing that
Will catch the eye of every mortal be-
Ing when that day does in fact roll
round, was the Great White Throne
and He who sat thereon.
This throne is different from the one
beheld by the seer in the opening of the
fourth chapter of this book That
throne was belted with the symbols OF
covenant mercy. With the disappear
ing of that throne mercy is clean gone
forever, with the appearing of this
throne judgment, final Judgment has
come. Not only is this throne different
from the other throne, but the occu
PAM - NUOlueE. III the llISI WAS TIC
covenant keeping God, in the latter it is
the righteous Judge
When the time of the Great White
Throne comes and the righteous Judge
takes his scat thcreupon. is terrible, so
awe-striking. so nefTibly brilliant SO
transccndently glorious will be His APP
pearance that the whole face of nature
Will at once be transformed. Says the
seer: From his face the earth and
heaven fled away, and there was no
place for them" This does not mean
that the earth was annihilated. and that
the heaven was literally no more. The
expression looks, and simply looks to
great moral change. Th term
world" is n SYNONYM for sin. The
meaning then is that the old world of
sin is gone In that it has been trans
formed into new world wherein
dwelleth righteousness.
Now that the great tribunal has been
convened the work of judgment must
begin. That the work of judgment may
begin the parties to be judged must
be brought in. Hence says the seer:
stand before Cod" And the sea q gave
up the dead that were in it, and death
and hell delivered up the dead that
were in them" Does this asscmblagc
include all humanity. the redeemed and
the unrcdeemed. the righteous and un
righteous? IL the scene in Mathew %.
81. 80 is the same with the judgment
OF the great white throne" (and we
believe 1t isl then all humanity will
be there. But the righteous will not be
there for judgment, because there is
therefore now no condemnation (judg
menO to them which are in Christ"
Not only will all humanity be there
comprising the two classes, the saved
and the unsaved, but the angels will
be there. Says our Lord in describing
that day: 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 CORY" When
TIc comes to take His seat upon this
judgment throne He will be accompan-
led by all the holy angels. Still a
third-class will be present-Satan and
the demons of hell, Says Jude: And
the angels that kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation,
He hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of
tho great day" Since they are espec-
ally reserved for that day we have the
right to conclude that they will be
there.
Now, with the throne set and the
righteous Judge seated upon his
throne, and the entire universe assem-
bled. comprising the hosts of angels.
humanity and the demons of hell, we
can imagine n moment of silence, with
his assemblage standing in the most
not broken by word, but by n single
act, land the books were opened" To
my mind that Is the most startling
revelation in Gods word. Why are
these books opened? That the dead
may he judged out of those things
written in the books according to their
works"
What are these books? Simply the
records of life. l understand that this
record is the collective experience of
the soul through its entire earthly ca
reer, embracing thought. word. act,
and all these is gathered uD and so
preserved that the entire life becomes
u living spectacle in that vast pres
ence.
This should not be to us a thing so
incredible. Science teaches us that
every act Is photographed on the wings
of light and borne out into space An
eye far enough removed, looking to-
ward the earth, would see our first
parents marching out of the Garden
of Eden. That eye moving toward the
earth would meet earth's every scene
to the present moment AS the eye of
God is everywhere He can truly see
the past; it is before Him as the pres
ent.
The ini1uity of man has discovered
and so utilized certain principles that
He can photograph and photograph q
series of sounds and acts, preserve
them, and not only once. but many
times in the future, reproduce them
with absolute correctness. A recording
instrument is placed before me here.
My every utterance is recorded. The
instrument is placed upon this pulpit:
then I can take my seat in that pew
and hear myself preach this sermon.
Place in front of me kinetograph. an
instrument which records both act and
sound. Then my every act and utter