Q.-Do Christians appear before the judgment of Christ, to have their sentence given, and receive a reward according to the deeds done in the body, or do they enter into glory, having already in this life appeared before the judgment seat of Christ and received pardon, sins having gone before hand to judgment, so that they know what their sentence is before death?
ANS.-The judgment seat of Christ, for the believer, raises no question of a judicial sentence. He is manifested at the judgment seat, not to be judged, but to he rewarded according to what he has done in the body, whether good or bad. What has been the fruit of the Spirit in him will get rewarded; what has been the work of the flesh, his conscience will then recognize according to Christ's estimate, as good for nothing, and he will suffer loss, as a question of reward. He will then, too, see, as to all that has been of evil in the body, how fully Christ, by His work on the cross, has settled the whole matter according to the judgment of God against sin. The believer appears at the judgment seat as a justified person. He knows his sentence judicially now, as having received from the lips of Christ, who is the judge, the forgiveness of sins, and with this, the promise that he shall not come into judgment. John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24). The word translated in our version condemnation should be judgment; it is the same word in the original as in verse 30. " Being justified by faith we have peace with God," says the apostle in Rom. 5 There could not be peace with God now, if there were uncertainty as to our judicial sentence.
Q.-Has Satan the same power over the bodies of men now that he had in Christ's day? As he has' the power of death, it is claimed that he is the originator of all our sickness and weakness of body. Do you think people are now " possessed with the devil," as they were in Christ's day? For instance, is epilepsy one of his forms of possession?
ANS.-There is nothing in scripture to lead us to think that there is any limitation in the power of Satan over the bodies of men, different to what he had in Job's case, or in the time of our Lord's earthly ministry. He holds this power entirely subject to Christ, who uses him instrumentally for chastisement in love to His own, or in judgment upon the unconverted. We believe persons are still often " possessed with the devil " as they were in Christ's day, though the outward evidence may be different, taking more a mental form in religious and spiritual delusions. Many spiritualists are undoubtedly so possessed.
Epilepsy is a disease of the nervous system, and not a spiritual possession. A demoniacal possession might accompany such a disease, but this would be distinct from the disease itself.
Q.-Please explain the meaning of the passage in 1st Tim. 5th Chapter 11 and 12 verses. What does "having cast off their first faith," mean?
ANS.-The apostle is here giving directions as to those widows who were not to be supported by the church, or " put upon the free list." The young widows, in whom the pulse of life still ran strong, would be apt to tire of being thus set apart for Christ, and desiring to marry again, while being under prohibition to do so, because supported by the church as widows, they would dislike the restraint of Christ's will in the matter, and feeling rebellious at it, be guilty, as those who had gone back in faith from the ground (" their first faith,") of devotion to Christ, in virtue of which they had been put upon the list to remain as widows. Their hearts unkept by Christ, the activities of an unsubdued nature would find vent in going about gossiping from house to house, thus causing sorrow and shame in the church. The younger widows were therefore to marry, and in the healthful and rightful cares of domestic life, find that path and that occupation which would give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
Q.-What is the meaning of the 44th verse of the xxi. chapter of Matthew?
ANS.-The Lord is here addressing the Pharisees, who as representing the nation of Israel, were glen rejecting Him; they were falling on Him,-stumbling over Him, as the head-stone of the corner, they would be broken by it, -it would be their ruin, as it then was nationally. In a future day, when restored to their land, still in rebellion and unbelief, many of them, as to Christ being the Messiah, this stone would fall upon them, and would grind those upon whom it fell to powder. A judgment complete and final for those of the nation still rebellious in "the last day," when Christ comes again.