But there is one thought developed in the closing paragraph of chapter xx which deserves a moment’s consideration. It is that in the relation which men and things sustain to the Lord Jesus Christ lies the true test of character and the standard of future, as well as present judgment. “Set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel,” through him “the thoughts of many hearts” are revealed (Luke ii, 34, 35). He is, as has been aptly said, the touchstone of human hearts. And it will be by the “inasmuch as ye did” or “did it not” unto him that the final sentence on men will be determined.
This truth is set forth in the expression, “the book of life.” “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” In the prophecy of Daniel, to which there is evidently reference in this paragraph, mention is made of “books” that “were opened.” The writer of the Apocalypse also alludes to the “books” that “were opened.” But he adds to this that “another book was opened, which is the book of life;” and in chapter xxi, 27, he calls it “the Lamb’s book of life.” It is apparent that this additional standard of judgment belongs to the New Testament dispensation and is something having relation to the specific work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul has this in mind in saying (1 Corinthians xvi, 22), “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha.” The Saviour had given a foreshadowing of the same truth in telling his disciples, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” We hear an echo of this in the epistle to Sardis (Revelation iii, 5): “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.” The same truth is indicated by John in his first epistle (1 John v, 12): “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
The character of men is not to be estimated solely by their actions, and to make destiny depend upon them would hardly be just. Every act, whether of word or deed, has its own standard of judgment. That which determines its quality as good or bad is its fitness or unfitness to its designed end; in this consists its conformity with its ideal. A moral agent has, however, another standard of judgment. Goodness or badness in his case is determined by the conformity of his motives, purposes, and intentions with his ideal, which is the fulfillment of the will of his Creator. Not only what he does, but why he does it, enters into the estimate of his moral character. A perfect man would be one in whom faith in the Son of God and experimental knowledge of him are in unison, one whose conduct springs out of a living faith, and in whom a correct faith is translated into actual and complete righteousness of conduct.
It is a fact that upon the fundamental principles of ethics the great religions of the earth do not differ so much from each other as presumption leads us to anticipate. This agreement of the moral codes occasions surprise and even perplexity upon the first appreciation of the fact. But the explanation is simple and easy. These codes are largely the result of observation upon the established and permanent laws of the universe, deductions from facts with which testimony, reason, and consciousness make men acquainted. The data being the same, the conclusions reached are closely similar.
It is the motive power which they bring to bear upon men in order to induce them to actual realization of and conformity to their moral convictions that determines the superiority or inferiority of religions. That which constitutes the distinguishing characteristic of Christianity and gives it its immense preëminence over all other forms of religious belief is that it reveals to us the cross of Christ as the greatest motive power that can operate in human nature. To depreciate or ignore the atonement is to leave out the differentiating element of the religion of Jesus. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John iii, 36). “We must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body” (2 Corinthians v, 10, Revised Version). Wherever, indeed, the full revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ has not been given to men they are to be judged by “the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness” (Romans ii, 15). But where the revelation has been made it is in likeness to him that the test of character lies. And for the final determination of destiny there must be, not only the books of words and deeds, but also the “Lamb’s book of life.”
PART VII
The Ideal of the Kingdom
PART VII
The Ideal of the Kingdom
By these long steps has the holy apostle brought us, through this wonderful record of perils, conflicts, defeats, victories, judgments, and blessings, to the conclusion toward which he has from the commencement been tending; and in the two chapters which close the book he depicts the ideal and perfect kingdom of Christ as it appeared in his conception of it. As Ezekiel in his lonely captivity by the Chebar was comforted with anticipations of a new Canaan and a new temple, wherein Israel, purified by its sufferings and cleansed from idolatry, should enjoy renewed and uninterrupted communion with Jehovah, so was the exiled apostle of Patmos gladdened with a prophetic foresight of new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness shall dwell, not as a wayfarer or one that tarrieth for a night, but as a permanent and eternal inhabitant. For the instruction of all the generations to follow John presents his inspired conception of what the kingdom of Christ in its purest and final form is, whether it be conceived as existing in the heart of an individual believer, or as synonymous with the Church, the body of believers.