Before any can enter the mansions of the blessed , their cases must be investigated , and their characters and their deeds must pass in review before God . All are to be judged according to the things written in the books and to be rewarded as their works have been . This judgment does not take place at death . Mark the words of Paul : " He hath appointed a day , in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained ; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men , in that He hath raised Him from the dead ." Acts 17:31 . Here the apostle plainly stated that a specified time , then future , had been fixed upon for the judgment of the world .
Jude refers to the same period : " The angels which kept not their first estate , but left their own habitation , He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day ." And , again , he quotes the words of Enoch : " Behold , the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints , to execute judgment upon all ." Jude 6 , 14 , 15 . John declares that he " saw the dead , small and great , stand before God ; and the books were opened : . . . and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books ." Revelation 20:12 .
But if the dead are already enjoying the bliss of heaven or writhing in the flames of hell , what need of a future judgment ? The teachings of God ' s word on these important points are neither obscure nor contradictory ; they may be understood by common minds . But what candid mind can see either wisdom or justice in the current theory ? Will the righteous , after the investigation of their cases at the judgment , receive the commendation , " Well done , thou good and faithful servant : . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord ," when they have been dwelling in His presence , perhaps for long ages ? Are the wicked summoned from the place of torment to receive sentence from the Judge of all the earth : " Depart from Me , ye cursed , into everlasting fire "? Matthew 25:21 , 41 . Oh , solemn mockery ! shameful impeachment of the wisdom and justice of God !
The theory of the immortality of the soul was one of those false doctrines that Rome , borrowing from paganism , incorporated into the religion of Christendom . Martin Luther classed it with the " monstrous fables that form part of the Roman dunghill of decretals ." --E. Petavel , The Problem of Immortality , page 255 . Commenting on the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes , that the dead know not anything , the Reformer says : " Another place proving that the dead have no . . . feeling . There is , saith he , no duty , no science , no knowledge , no wisdom there . Solomon judgeth that the dead are asleep , and feel nothing at all . For the dead lie there , accounting neither days nor years , but when they are awaked , they shall seem to have slept scarce one minute ." -- Martin Luther , Exposition of Solomon ' s Booke Called Ecclesiastes , page 152 .
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