The Accountibility o

The Accountibility of Man
by Sylvester Hassell

ADVOCATE AND MESSENGER
DEVOTED TO THE CAUSE OF TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
R. H. PITTMAN, Editor - - - SYLVESTER HASSELL, Editor


Williamston, N. C., October 1924


THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF MAN

'We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ'; 'every one of us shall give account of himself to God' (Rom. 14:10,12).
'We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad' (2 Cor. 5:10).
'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting' (Gal. 6:7,8).
While 'the Lord is merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin' in the case of all His loved and chosen people, providing an atonement for their sins by the blood of His Son, and giving them regeneration, repentance, and faith, hope and love by the power of His Spirit, He yet 'will by no means clear the guilty' (Exod. 34:6-7). 'Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne' (Psalm 97:2). He 'will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil' (Eccles. 12:14). This righteous judgment of God upon every man, both Jew and Gentile, is according to the gospel committed to and preached by the Apostle Paul (Rom. 2:1-11), and by every other inspired writer, from Moses to the Apostle John. Every human being has a natural conscience, or sense of morality, accusing him if he does wrong, and excusing him if he does right (Rom. 2:14, 15), although it may be greatly perverted by development or circumstances, and may even, by false teaching or evil habits, be 'seared with a hot iron,' or made utterly unfeeling (1 Tim. 4:2); and, in every person, it needs to be cleansed by the blood and word of Christ and enlightened and made tender by the Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14; 10:22; Eph. 5:25-27; 1 John 1:7; John 3:5; Ezek. 36:25-27).
Our most holy Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, and Governor hates, forbids, threatens, and punishes sin in every one of His creatures, and holds them to an account, and brings them to judgment, either now or after death, as in the cases of Adam and Eve and Cain, and the corrupt and violent race at the time of the flood, and the filthy cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the idolatrous and sinful Israelites in the wilderness and in Canaan, destroying their city and temple, after they had crucified Christ, and scattering them all over the world, as He had told them He would, and overthrowing and desolating all their heathen conquerors.
God says of Christ, the Covenant Head and Surety of His people--'If His children forsake my law, and walk not in My judgments, if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes, nevertheless My loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer My faithfulness to fail' (Psalm 89:30-33). 'His seed shall endure forever, and His throne as the sun before Me' (verse 36). In comforting and encouraging the afflicted people of God, the Apostle Paul says: 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh, who corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.' (Heb. 12:6-13). No wise and loving father (as God is) chastens his people for obedience, but for their disobedience, and for their lasting benefit. In this same chapter the Apostle declares to these afflicted believers, that they are not come to the fiery mountain of the law to be destroyed, but to the blessed mountain of the gospel to be saved; and that, having received an immovable kingdom, they need grace whereby they may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God, the God of the believers in Christ, is a consuming fire--that is, to sin in every form and in every being. Job was the most righteous man on earth, yet he needed sore afflictions to humble him, and to make him cry, 'Behold, I am vile; I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes' (Job 1:8; 40:5; 42:6).
S.H.


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