Reader, I desire that you should ask yourself the plain but deeply interesting question, which stands at the head of this paper, one of such deep importance to your soul. Ask yourself plainly, “In what character do I think of, or know God?” If you are an unsaved sinner, do you not think of Him as a Judge? And that one day or other you will have to stand before Him, and have the question of your sins, and your eternal happiness or misery, finally decided upon!
How solemn a thought is this for the soul? Well might the inspired Psalmist say, “Enter not into Judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” (Psa. 143:22And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. (Psalm 143:2)) Yes, dear reader, solemn indeed is the thought, that the moment God and the sinner meet in judgment it must result in eternal condemnation to the latter! Hence the solemn cry of the Psalmist, “Enter not into judgment,” &c. He knew how it must end. He knew that then hope would vanish forever, when a Holy God—as a Judge—and an unjustified sinner, would meet for judgment. No man living shall then be justified!
There is a day spoken of when “God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 2:1616In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. (Romans 2:16)) One with whom the smallest sin of the countless millions of the human race-be it hidden in the secret recesses of the sinner’s heart -has never been forgotten. And in the daylight of whose presence the very thoughts of the heart are naked and open—the words “spoken in darkness, shall be heard in the light”—then “there is nothing (now) covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be known.” (Luke 2;3) That day is coming when “God shall judge the secrets of men.” When God will enter into judgment, His strange act. I ask you, then, my reader, do you only think of Him thus, as a Judge? If so, you need not wait for that day to know the result—He has declared it now—and He cannot speak with plainer, simple words; and those words are, that “no man living shall be justified!”
Read with me the solemn scene when that day comes, as we find it in Rev. 20:11-1511And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11‑15). “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened which was the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire!” Appalling scene! when God shall judge the secrets of men! Oh! fellow-sinner, are you thinking of God, and of meeting God, thus I Would that I could impress your soul with the solemn result to all who only know Him thus, as a Judge. Would that your heart—finding itself without resource—would cry out of its depths, “I know it is so of a truth; and how can a man be just before God? “(Job 9:22I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? (Job 9:2), margin) “How then can a man be justified with God?” (Job 25:44How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? (Job 25:4)) How am I to know Him-in what character would you have me know Him? if the result is this, for all who must meet Him as a Judge!
Well, my reader, would desire to introduce you to Him, while revealing Himself in another character altogether! He has not yet entered upon His work of judgment-His strange work. He is not now judging the secrets of men-He is not now bringing every work into judgment, as He yet will do, of those who must meet Him as a Judge. But He is revealing Himself to the poor, guilty, sin-laden souls of men in quite another character-under one in which I desire that you should know Him, my reader-and knowing Him, that you should fall before Him with a worshipping, adoring heart to praise His gracious love to your soul, in revealing Himself thus to you. That character is, a JUSTIFIER!! One who is now, in this day of grace, “justifying the ungodly.” (Rom. 4:55But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)) How different is the thought, dear sinner, to think of “God my justifier;” instead of “God my judge.” How precious to know Him thus: as a poor ungodly sinner heretofore cowering before God as an angry Judge, as perhaps you think; from whose presence you might well desire to flee away. To know him now with a relieved and thankful heart, as a justifying God-a Saviour!
Well, you say, surely He must have good grounds to act towards me, a poor ungodly sinner, in such a way as this. I declare to you, dear reader, that He has good grounds to do so. Let us turn to Rom. 3, and see what these grounds are. We read in v. 19, after the sad and wretched tale of sin, which the Scriptures pronounced upon the Jew, (vs. 10-18) He tells us that God has stopped every mouth, bringing in the world under judgment before God. How plain this is; and so gracious in the Lord to tell us so, that we may know it now-that He Himself has closed every mouth—not leaving us one word wherewith to answer Him—your mouth is closed, my reader, and so is mine; and we may take the sentence home to ourselves as our own.
But oh, what a wondrously blessed thing to discover, that the moment a sinner’s lips have been closed by the hand of God, and that he stands self-condemned before Him, that God reveals Himself as a Justifier, on the ground of the precious sacrifice and blood-shedding of Christ! Precious to find, too, that God is righteous in this. To think that we are saved not only by a God of mercy, but a God of righteousness. That He is acting in full keeping with His own righteousness in doing so. Hence the gospel is called “the righteousness of God.” (See chapter 1:16, 17; 21-26) What, then, is the ground on which God acts as a “just God and a Saviour”— “just and the justifier,” of him who believes! It is this, that He has made Christ on His Cross a “Mercy Seat,” where Jesus’ blood speaks such a tale of mercy to the poor sinner-and righteousness against his sin—where God and the poor sinner can meet—the one, a poor, lost, self-condemned sinner; the other a just God, and the justifier of him who believes, (vs. 26) And oh, what a word do we find in (vs. 24.)—worthy of that God from whom it came. “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” “Freely,” fully, eternally justified; with no grudging, unwilling hand. It reminds us of the style of the Shepherd with the lost sheep in Luke 15; when He found it, He laid it on His shoulders “rejoicing!” Or, of the Creditor with his two debtors, in Luke 7, when they had nothing to pay, he “frankly” forgave them both Worthy of God are those precious words, “Freely”— “Frankly” and “Rejoicing!” And then when we think of the pricelessness of the Blood of the spotless victim which was shed; and also of the personal excellence of Him who is that “mercy seat,” we can in some measure comprehend the ground of God’s acting towards us as a Justifier. His heart set free, as it were, to display itself in all the blessedness of redeeming, justifying love!
Dear reader, do you know God in this character? Are you repeating over, and over, and over again, “yes, I know Him now; I thought I would have to meet Him as a Judge, but now I know Him as a Justifier!”— “God my Justifier?” Have you owned His righteous sentence against you? Has your mouth been closed, without one word to answer Him? If so, you know Him at this moment as your own personal Justifier! What a relief to the poor sin-laden soul. And knowing Him thus, you will never have to know Him as a Judge. The question has been settled—the sentence pronounced—you are “justified freely by His grace.”And what He does, He does forever! You may well say then, “It is God that justifieth, who is He that condemneth?” (Rom. 8:33,3433Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:33‑34)) And again, “I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it that man should fear before Him.” (Eccl. 3:1414I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. (Ecclesiastes 3:14).)