1912 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

that "God shall bring every work into judgment, withevery secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it beevil" (Eccl. 12:14); and that "there is nothing coveredthat shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not beknown"; that "whatsoever has been spoken in darknessshall be heard in the light"; and that "spoken in the ear,in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops[openly]." (Luke 12:2,3.) And again we read "Vengeanceis Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."--Rom. 12:19.But when will this reckoning time come? for now, assaith the Prophet Malachi (3:15), men "call the proudhappy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea,they that tempt God are even delivered." With the Psalmist(Psa. 94:3,4) we inquire, "Lord, how long shall thewicked triumph, and all the workers of iniquity boastthemselves?" The Apostle Paul answers that the Lord"hath appointed a day in which He will judge the worldin righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained,"--The Christ. (Acts 17:31.) And "then," says the ProphetMalachi to those who fear the Lord and whom He hathchosen as His jewels, "shall ye return and discern betweenthe righteous and the wicked, between him that servethGod and him that serveth Him not."--Mal. 3:18.But take heed. The same Prophet raises a suggestivequestion, which all would do well to ponder. He asks,"Who may abide the day of His coming? and who shallstand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fireand like fullers' soap...And I will come near toyou to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against thesorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against falseswearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in hiswages, and the widow and the fatherless, and that turnaside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saiththe Lord of hosts."--Mal. 3:2,5.The reference of these Scriptures is to the great judgmentof the Day of the Lord--the day of trouble withwhich this Gospel Dispensation is to close--variously describedas a day "of wrath," "of vengeance," "of recompense,"and as a "time of trouble such as was not sincethere was a nation."But while this great judgment will have to do withthe world in general--with nations and corporations andall civil, social and religious organizations of men; andwhile it will touch the cases of all the individuals livingat that time, we naturally inquire where retributive justicecame, or is to come in, in dealing with all the generationsof the past?Our Lord answers the question when He says, "Thehour is coming in which all that are in the graves shallhear the voice of the Son of Man and shall come forth;they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life;and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection byjudgment." (John 5:28,29; see R.V. and Diaglott.)The whole Millennial Age is thus set forth as a "day" ofreckoning, of trial, of judgment. In that searching judgmentthere will be a reckoning, even for every pernicious