Acts 17:31

Act_17:31

Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will Judge the world in righteousness.

The day of judgment

I. There shall be a day of judgment.

1. A particular judgment. At the day of death the soul hath a judgment passed upon it (Heb_9:27; Ecc_12:7).

2. A general day of judgment; which is the great assize, when the world shall be gathered together (Ecc_12:14; Mat_12:36; Psa_96:13).

II. Why there must be a day of judgment.

1. That God may execute justice on the wicked. Things seem to be carried here in the world with an unequal balance (Job_29:3; Mal_3:15). Diogenes, seeing Harpalus, a thief, go on prosperously, said [that] surely God had cast off the government of the world and minded not how things went here below (2Pe_3:3-4). Therefore God will have a day of assize to vindicate His justice; He will let sinners know that long forbearance is no forgiveness.

2. That God may exercise mercy to the godly. Here piety was the white which was shot at (Rom_8:36). God will therefore have a day of judgment, that He may reward all the tears and sufferings of His people (Rev_7:9).

III. When the day of judgment shall be. It is certain there shall be a judgment; uncertain, when (Mat_24:36). And the reason is--

1. That we may not be curious. There are some things which God would have us ignorant of (Act_1:7). It is a kind of sacrilege, as Salvian speaks, for any man to break into the Holy of holies, and enter into Gods secrets.

2. That we may not be careless. God would have us live every day, saith Austin, as if the last day were approaching. This is the use [which] our Saviour makes of it (Mar_13:32-33).

IV. Who shall be the judge? The Man who is God-man. We must take heed of judging others; this is Christs work (Joh_5:22) There are two things in Christ which do eminently qualify Him for a Judge--

1. Prudence and intelligence, to understand all causes that are brought before Him (Zec_3:9; Heb_4:13). Christ is a Heart searcher; He doth not only judge the fact, but the heart, which no angel can do.

2. Strength, whereby He is able to be revenged upon His enemies (Rev_20:10).

V. The order and method of the trial.

1. The summons to the court (1Th_4:16).

(1) The shrillness of the trumpet. It shall sound so loud, that the dead shall hear it.

(2) The efficacy of the trumpet. It shall not only startle the dead, but raise them out of their graves (Mat_24:31).

2. The manner of the Judges coming to the bench.

(1) It will be glorious to the godly (Tit_2:13).

(a) Christs person shall be glorious. His first coming in the flesh was obscure (Isa_53:2-3). But His second coming will be in the glory of His Father (Mar_8:38).

(b) Christs attendants shall be glorious (Mat_25:31).

(2) Dreadful to the wicked (2Th_1:7-8).

3. The process or the trial itself.

(1) Its universality. It will be a very great assize; never was the like seen (2Co_5:10). Kings and nobles, councils and armies, those who were above all trial here, have no charter of exemption granted them. They who refused to come to the throne of grace shall be forced to come to the bar of justice. And the dead as well as the living must make their appearance (Rev_20:12); and not only men, but angels (Jud_1:6).

(2) Its formality. Which consists in the opening of the books (Dan_7:10; Rev_20:12).

(a) The book of Gods omnisciency (Mal_3:16).

(b) The book of conscience. Men have their sins written in their conscience; but the book is clasped (the searing of the conscience is the clasping of the book); but when this book of conscience shall be unclasped at the great day, then all their hypocrisy, treason, atheism, shall appear to the view of men and angels (Luk_12:3).

(3) Its circumstances.

(a) Impartiality. Jesus Christ will do every man justice. The Thebans did picture their judges blind, that they might not respect persons; without hands, that they might take no bribes. Christs sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness (Heb_1:8). He is no respecter of persons (Act_10:34).

(b) Exactness of the trial. It will be very critical (Mat_3:12). Not a grace or a sin but His fan will discover.

(c) Perspicuity. Sinners shall be so clearly convicted, that they shall hold up their hand at the bar, and cry, guilty (Psa_51:4). The sinner himself shall clear God of injustice.

(d) Supremacy. Men can remove their causes from one place to another, but from Christs court there is no appeal; he who is once doomed here--his condition is irreversible.

VI. The effect of the trial.

1. Segregation. Christ will separate the godly and the wicked as the fan doth separate the wheat from the chaff, as a furnace separates the gold from the dross.

2. The sentence.

(1) The sentence of absolution pronounced upon the godly (Mat_25:34).

(2) The sentence of condemnation pronounced upon the wicked (Mat_25:41). The wicked once said to God, Depart from us (Job_21:14); and now God will say to them, Depart from Me. Depart from Me, in whose presence is fulness of joy.

3. The execution (Mat_13:30). Christ will say, Bundle up these sinners; here a bundle of hypocrites; there a bundle of apostates; there a bundle of profane; bundle them up, and throw them in the fire. And now no cries or entreaties will prevail with the Judge.

Conclusion:

1. Let me persuade all Christians to believe this truth, that there shall be a day of judgment (Ecc_11:9). How many live as if this article were blotted out of their Creed! Durst men swear, be unchaste, live in malice, if they did believe a day of judgment?

2. See here the sad and deplorable estate of wicked men. (T. Watson, A. M.)

The righteousness of final judgment

In which words I observe these five particulars.

I. First, an assertion of a judgment to come. He will judge the world. For the more clear apprehension of the full importance of which it is to be noted that there are two pares of Divine Providence. The former, that by which He takes notice of the actions of men in this life; the latter, that by which He brings men to account in the other world. Which two branches of Providence do mutually infer and prove each other. For on the one hand if there were no such thing as a wise eye of God that strictly observes the actions of men in this world, it were impossible there should be any judgment to come, at least not a judgment in righteousness; for how shall He judge that doth not discern? And on the other hand, if there were no judgment to come, it were to no purpose for God to concern Himself about the affairs of mankind here below. Now this doctrine is the soul and spirit of all religion, and the sinew of all government and society. It is the soul of all religion, for what doth the belief of a God signify (although we should imagine Him to be never so great, glorious and happy) if He will not trouble Himself with government; in short, if He will neither reward nor punish; virtue is then but an empty name. And it is the sinew of all government; for it is certain that plots may sometimes be laid so deep that no eye of man can discover them. And there may be such a potent confederacy of wicked men, as that they shall outface human justice, in which case, what shall keep the world from running into confusion, and becoming an hell upon earth, but the discerning eye and steady hand of Providence?

II. The second observable in my text is, that there is not only a judgment to come, but that the day of it is determined. He hath appointed a day wherein, etc. To adjourn to no certain time is, I think, to dissolve the court; and to appoint no day is to disappoint the business; the Almighty, therefore, hath appointed an express and solemn time for this great transaction. And indeed it is worthy of observation, that in all the great passages of Divine Providence He hath passed such an immutable decree upon them, that the time of their event can be no more casual than the very things themselves. So Exo_12:41, the servitude of the children of Israel was determined to four hundred and thirty years, and the text tells us that when the four hundred and thirty years were expired, even the self-same day departed all the host of the Lord out of the land of Egypt. Again 2Ch_36:21, God had decreed to punish the nation of the Jews with seventy years captivity in Babylon, and precisely upon the expiration of that term, when the Word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah was finished, God put it into the heart of Cyrus to proclaim them liberty.

III. The third observable, namely, that as the day of judgment is set, so the person of the Judge is also constituted and ordered; He will judge the world by that man whom He hath ordained, etc. And as all circumstances of time, place, and persons, are evidences of fact, and assurances of the principal business, so doth this particular designation of the Judge further confirm the certainty of the judgment. And not only so, but it also opens to us the great depth of the Divine goodness, especially upon these two considerations.

1. In the first place, it is wonderful decorous and becoming the Divine Majesty, and righteous towards the person of our Saviour, that He who humbled Himself to take our nature upon Him, and therein to fulfil exactly the Divine law, should in reward of this obedience and humiliation be exalted to be the Judge of the world, which He died for (Php_2:9).

2. Again, secondly, it wonderfully displays the Divine goodness towards us, that He should be appointed our Judge, that hath been, and yet is in our nature, that hath felt our infirmities, conflicted with the same temptations, and that withal had so much love to us as to die for us. That the Divine Majesty will not oppress us with His own glory, nor employ an archangel to pass judgment upon us, who as He hath had no commerce with a body of flesh and blood, cannot have sufficient compassion of our infirmities.

IV. In the fourth particular of my text, He hath given assurance unto all men in that He raised Him from the dead. But how doth that assure us of this great and comfortable point? It is true the resurrection of our Saviour did denote Him to be some great and extraordinary person, but that is no sufficient argument that He shall be Judge of the world; the evidence therefore lies in this, our Saviour, Christ Jesus, whilst He was in the world, had often declared that He was appointed by God to judge the quick and dead, and appealed to His resurrection as the great proof of this.

V. There is one particular more in my text that deserves especial consideration, and that is the manner of this judgment, or rather the measures this Judge will proceed by at that great judgment and that is in righteousness; He will judge the world in righteousness. Now in order hereto, we must first settle the Scripture notion of this phrase righteousness or in righteousness. And that which I first observe to this purpose is this: Nowhere in all the Scripture doth righteousness signify rigour. I say there is no such use of this word in Scripture, when applied to Gods dealings, no, nor yet when it is applied to men; a severe, harsh, rigorous man is so far from being a righteous man in the style of Scripture, that He is quite under another character. But to come home to the business, the full of my observation touching the Scripture notion of the phrase in my text is this, that δικαιοσύνη, or righteousness, is always used there in a comprehensive sense, so as to take in not only justice and uprightness, and impartiality, and the like, but also goodness, kindness, equity, clemency, candour, and mercy. In righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity (Psa_98:1-9, last verse). Where, as world and people are equivalent expressions, and interpret each other, so are righteousness and equity made to be expressive of each other. Now agreeably to this notion, I will, by the guidance of the same holy Scripture, endeavour to represent the measures of that great day.

1. Christ Jesus, the Judge of all the world, will not at the last day proceed arbitrarily with men, but according to known laws; that is, He will not absolve and save any merely because He hath decreed so to do (Rev_2:23; 2Co_5:10). Indeed in this world God doth deal by prerogative, and dispenses the means of grace as well as other favours, as He pleases, from whence it comes to pass, that greater advantages are conferred upon some people than other, but this is not the case at the end of the world, when God comes to demonstrate His justice and righteousness. And besides, wherefore is the Judge said to be the searcher of hearts, if He proceed proleptically upon bare resolution or determination? Why is He said to separate the sheep from the goats, if He make a distinction without a difference? Why is it called a fiery trial if there be no discrimination; and in a word, if He save and damn by prerogative?

2. The Judge of the world will not be partial, or use any respect of persons; that is, He will neither acquit nor condemn any man or men whatsoever, in consideration of external circumstances. As for kindred and family, the Jews were wont to bear themselves in hand with their lineage and descent, that they were Abrahams seed. God will sooner exert His omnipotency in the most improbable miracle that ever He wrought, than admit an unholy person into heaven upon the pretence of kindred and consanguinity. And as for sect and opinion, it is notoriously evident that there is no opinion so orthodox, nor party so canonical, but an evil man may be of it, and at that day nothing will pass current for the sake of the public stamp upon it, but according to the intrinsic value; for all shall be weighed in the balance of the sanctuary. To this head I refer also, that this righteous Judge is capable of no fondness or indulgence, will be wrought upon by no flattery, will value nothing that men can either do or suffer for Him without an holy temper, an habitually pious and virtuous life, and such qualifications inherent as fit a man for the kingdom of heaven.

3. So just and righteous will be the proceedings at this great tribunal, that as no man shall be saved for the righteousness of another, so neither shall any man be damned for the sin of another, but every man shall bear his own burden. Whatever it may please the Divine Majesty to do in this world, where His inflictions are not so properly revenged or the expletion of justice, as methods of mercy to reclaim men from sin; yet most certainly at that day the sons shall not bear the iniquity of the fathers, but every man shall bear his own burden, and the soul only that sinneth shall die.

4. This Judge of all the world will at that great day candidly interpret mens actions, and make the very best of things that the case will bear. Now touching this the tenor of the whole gospel assures us that our merciful Judge will not watch advantages against men, will not insist upon punctilios, but principally looks at the sincerity of mens intentions (Mat_25:34). But that which I principally note in this place is the benignity of His interpretation, for when the righteous say, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, He replies, Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these, etc., as if He had said, I know the sincerity of your intentions, and I take notice of the virtuous temper from whence those actions of yours proceeded; tis the heart I value more than the thing done, or the opportunity of doing.

5. The admirable equity of the great and final judgment is this, That the glory and happiness of good men in the other world shall be increased proportionably to the measures of their difficulties, sufferings, and calamities here in this world. The apostle tells us, That as one star differeth from another in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead. (J. Goodman, D. D.)

Judgment inevitable

When the buried city of Pompeii was unearthed, there was found in a little stone room a circle of men lying dead around a table. They had been invited as watchers before a funeral, to remain with the corpse through the night, while the fatigued relatives rested. According to custom, a feast had been prepared as an offering to the departed spirit. These disinterested and honourable friends thought to help themselves to a moiety of the delicate provisions, and were led on to eat the viands and quaff the wine. Just in the midst of their unholy revel the ashes began to fall, the sulphurous vapours poured in, and they were strangled in the act. The city was soon covered deep under the discharge from the burning mountain--buildings all concealed, streets all filled up; and so two thousands of years passed on. Now that whole transaction, in all its dishonesty and unutterable meanness, has reached the light. The bodies of the watchers and the body of the dead they pretended to watch were lying together there in the midst of the excavations. Ages rolled away before mens eyes saw it, but God the All-seeing was aware of the infamous cheat from the moment it was perpetrated. Oh, how sober, and yet how startling, will be the disclosures of secret iniquity, hidden sins, Sabbath hypocrisy, and ungenuine life, in the great light of the future judgment, as it comes to reveal them in the dawn of eternity! (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

The resurrection a judgment

There are two moments in the history of this world in which the veil is drawn off from Gods government, and it is seen, without any doubt or confusion, how He gives judgment clearly and decisively on the side of goodness and truth. One of these moments is of course to come, the other is past. God, indeed, is far from leaving His judgment without witness in the history of the world. God rewards and punishes now. But human life, as we look at it from the outside, is still full of darkness and perplexity. The perfect and final and manifest clearing up of Gods judgment on what men think and do is not now. It is not till the end and time of mortality, when the Judge sits upon the throne, that this will be pronounced, so that none can doubt it. And in the course of the world there is but one other such occasion like it in its awfulness, like it in its clearness. It was when He who had been condemned as a sinner for the cause of truth and goodness, was raised again by the glory of the Father on the third day. Christ suffered for righteousness, and in Him righteousness was justified before the world, and in anticipation of that great day when righteousness shall finally triumph. Many men, before and after Him, have suffered for righteousness, but their righteousness was left to the varying and contradictory judgments of men. It seemed, as far as present experience went, as if they had found only evil, by keeping innocency and cleaving to the thing that was right. It was faith only that dared to trust against the melancholy resignation of experience. But in Christ the spectacle which had in others been only begun was shown also finished. The world had often looked on the sight of righteousness defeated and overthrown; it had seen the beginning of its course, but not how it was to end. But, for once, in Christ there was shown to men on earth both the beginning and the end. Never before had such righteousness suffered. On the other hand, never before had it been so unanswerably justified. Now is the judgment of this world, said our Lord, when He was about to suffer. The world had doubted whether God did judge and rule the course of things on earth. Where, it had asked, was the God of judgment, and in the person of Jesus Christ, the representative of the human race, the challenge was answered; the world itself was to be judged. In Jesus Christ the boast of wickedness was made in all its insolence. But in Jesus Christ the proof of righteousness, of righteousness in mans real nature, was not put off till the world to come. In that tremendous breaking through the laws of mortality and death, we see the answer to the challenge of the world, and may be sure that it will be well with the righteous. Of this God hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised the crucified from the dead. I am not sure that we always adequately understand how strong a faith it must have needed before Christ rose to believe this in earnest. Good men did believe it. The Psalms are full of this belief; but they are full, too, of its difficulty. They trusted like children to their general confidence in the goodness of the Lord, in spite of death; they were sure that, somehow or other, they would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. But to us the proof has been given. And I am not sure that we always understand how, even still, that faith needs all the support which God has given it. The power of sin is unabated. The righteous and the sinner seem left alike to find their way through life. But when our hearts fail us, when the world mocks us, let us go back as Christians did in the days of the apostles, to the open, empty grave of the Lord--let us rise up in thought and feeling to the unspeakable preciousness of that foundation stone of all human hopes--but now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. No triumph of evil now can equal what happened when He suffered for us and was put to shame; but now is Christ risen from the dead--now is the judgment of the world. (Dean Church.)

The day of judgment

The day when Lord Exeter was tried for high treason; the day when the House of Commons moved for the impeachment of Lord Lovatt; the day when Charles I and Queen Caroline were put upon trial; the day when Robert Emmet was arraigned as an insurgent; the day when Blenner-hasset was brought into the court room because he had tried to overthrow the United States Government, and all the other great trials of the world are nothing compared with the great trial in which you and I shall appear, summoned before the Judge of quick and dead. There will be no pleading there the statute of limitation; no turning States evidence, trying to get off ourselves, while others suffer; no moving for a non-suit. The case will come on inexorably, and we shall be tried. You, my brother, who have so often been advocate for others, will then need an advocate for yourself. Have you selected him? The Lord Chancellor of the Universe. If any man sin we have an advocate--Jesus Christ the righteous. It is uncertain when your case will be called on. Be ye also ready. (T. De Witt Talmage.)

Whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.--

The doctrine of a future judgment confirmed by the resurrection of Christ

I. An express declaration of God concerning a future and general judgment. He hath appointed a day wherein He will judge the world. It must be owned that the natural proofs of a judgment to come, had it not been made an article of our faith, are very strong and cogent. The promiscuous distribution of the blessings and evils of this life to wicked and good men. The triumphs of injustice, and notorious oppression of right, and that not for a short time, but for a course of many years, have been all along made an argument that the Judge of all the earth will one day do right, and justify the wise though unsearchable methods of His providence in this world, by rewarding the innocent and bringing the successful and presumptuous sinner to condign punishment. And indeed there is nothing more true or certain in fact than what Solomon observes (Ecc_8:14, etc.), But though this and several other proofs, which are drawn from natural religion, of a judgment to come should be allowed not only highly probable, but very evident, it must be owned, notwithstanding a great happiness to mankind in general, that God has been pleased to make this natural principle an article of our Christian faith. For by this means those who are not able to reason justly on the nature of things, or to carry on a long train of proofs, are convinced of the truth of a future judgment upon the authority of God.

II. The justice and equity wherewith God will proceed in judging the world--He hath appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness. The justice of the proceedings at that day will appear in this, that God, in rewarding and punishing men, will make a more visible distinction between the wicked and the good than He ordinarily does in this life. Herein also lies the justice of the great and last court of judicature that no partial record shall be had to any persons on account of their superior quality, fortune, or other advantages in this world. To show the impartial execution of justice at that day, we have a particular enumeration of the men of the earth who have abused their power, their authority, or wealth to sinful ends and a very lively image and the horror of despair which will then seize them (Rev_6:15-17).

III. The designation of the person who is to be our judge. That Man whom He hath ordained. It might perhaps have been thought more suitable to the awful solemnity of the last day, and the dignity and glory wherein Christ will then appear, if He had been described in the character of Judge as the Son of God, the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, or in those other magnificent terms wherein He is so often spoken of in the prophetical writings. But still it is more suitable to the state and condition of mankind, and His tender compassion towards them, that when He speaks of coming to judge the world He should rather give us an idea of His human than His Divine nature. For indeed, when we consider the infinite persecutions of the Divine nature, and at what an infinite distance our sins have separated us from it, had the eternal God Himself, without the interposal of a Mediator, thought fit to convene the world in judgment before Him. Alas! the best of men would have been so oppressed with the thoughts of His glory, and their own demerits, that they must of necessity, even under their best grounded hopes, have sunk into great despondency of mind. He that has assumed our nature, and done and suffered so much for us in it, will certainly show all the lenity and tenderness to it which the terms of evangelical obedience will admit.

IV. We have here a very particular and extraordinary circumstance to convince us of the truth and certainty of Christs coming to judge the world, and that is by His resurrection from the dead. The miracles which were done by our Saviour throughout the whole course of His ministry carried a sufficient proof and attestation along with them of the truths which He taught, for no one could have done those things which He did in the most open and public manner without the assistance of a Divine power. Now this being one great article of the religion He came to preach and establish that God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world, it may be said, What need was there of any further witness to confirm this article? Or why, when it was sufficiently confirmed before, was there so great stress laid on the resurrection of Christ for the proof of it? But still there was something peculiar in what related to the resurrection of Christ which rendered it an argument of the truth of His religion more proper to persuade the generality of men and to convince gainsayers than the rest of His miracles. For--

1. He bad Himself appealed to this testimony as one great proof and characteristic of His Divine mission and authority (Joh_2:16). And therefore, besides that His resurrection was a miraculous and extraordinary event, exceeding the powers of nature, it was an argument of His being inspired with a prophetic Spirit, and that God, who alone appropriates to Himself the knowledge of future events, was in this respect also with Him.

2. The caution which the Jews used to prevent, if possible, the resurrection of Christ, gave the greater force to the arguments we draw in proof of our holy religion from it. So that His very enemies, who would fasten so chimerical an imputation upon Him, must confess at least that His resurrection could not be effected by it, but that He was raised by a power truly Divine.

3. Again, whereas it might have been objected that His other miracles were done before people of obscure and mean circumstances, before a company of illiterate Galileans, and the credulous multitude upon whom it is no difficult matter for men of parts and dexterity at any time to impose; though this objection is easily answered, from the public manner of our Saviours working His miracles, and His propounding them afterwards to the examination of His greatest enemies, the Pharisees, yet in His resurrection the very ground of these surmises is quite removed. There could be no artifice used on so remarkable and extraordinary an occasion.

4. There is something in the very nature of the thing itself apt to persuade men, from the resurrection of Christ, that the doctrines which He taught were true, and that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. For though every miracle is above the ordinary course and powers of nature, and supposes certain changes of bodies which cannot be accounted for according to the established order of things; yet where all the bodily powers of a man are rendered incapable of acting, and all the springs of life are entirely broken, it still seems less conceivable how He should either be able to work any change upon other bodies, or to restore His own body again to life.

Conclusion:

1. If God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world, let us have it often in our thoughts, and carefully practise the duties preparative to it.

2. If God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness, then it highly concerns us as we expect to stand in judgment before Him, to take care that we live and die in a holy and righteous state.

3. Since our Blessed Saviour, in speaking of the last judgment, is pleased more peculiarly to style Himself the Son of Man. This consideration will mightily fortify all true penitents against those black and desponding thoughts which are sometimes apt to arise in the minds of very good men. How great or numerous soever our sins have been, yet if we have humbled ourselves before God, and truly repented of them, we know that the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to expiate their guilt.

4. As by the resurrection of Christ we have a more full and express assurance of a future judgment than we could have had from the mere light of reason, let this consideration excite us to walk worthy of so bright and glorious an evidence. Let us resolve to live, not as persons that have some probable notions and conjectures about such a thing, but as men who fully and in earnest believe that we must one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in the body according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (R. Fiddes, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Acts

PAUL AT ATHENS

THE MAN WHO IS JUDGE

Act 17:31.

I. The Resurrection of Jesus gives assurance of judgment.

{a} Christ’s Resurrection is the pledge of ours.

The belief in a future life, as entertained by Paul’s hearers on Mars Hill, was shadowy and dashed with much unbelief. Disembodied spirits wandered ghostlike and spectral in a shadowy underworld.

The belief in the Resurrection of Jesus converts the Greek peradventure into a fact. It gives that belief solidity and makes it easier to grasp firmly. Unless the thought of a future life is completed by the belief that it is a corporeal life, it will never have definiteness and reality enough to sustain itself as a counterpoise to the weight of things seen.

{b} Resurrection implies judgment.

A future bodily life affirms individual identity as persisting beyond the accident of death, and can only be conceived of as a state in which the earthly life is fully developed in its individual results. The dead, who are raised, are raised that they may ‘receive the things done in the body, according to that they have done, whether it be good or bad.’ Historically, the two thoughts have always gone together; and as has been the clearness with which a resurrection has been held as certain, so has been the force with which the anticipation of judgment to come has impinged on conscience.

Jesus is, even in this respect, our Example, for the glory to which He was raised and in which He reigns now is the issue of His earthly life; and in His Resurrection and Ascension we have the historical fact which certifies to all men that a life of self-sacrifice here will assuredly flower into a life of glory there, ‘Ours the Cross, the grave, the skies.’

II. The Resurrection of Jesus gives the assurance that He is Judge.

The bare fact that He is risen does not carry that assurance; we have to take into account that He has risen.

After such a life.

His Resurrection was God’s setting the seal of His approval and acceptance on Christ’s work; His endorsement of Christ’s claims to special relations with Him; His affirmation of Christ’s sinlessness. Jesus had declared that He did always the things that pleased the Father; had claimed to be the pure and perfect realisation of the divine ideal of manhood; had presented Himself as the legitimate object of utter devotion and of religious trust, love, and obedience, and as the only way to God. Men said that He was a blasphemer; God said, and said most emphatically, by raising Him from the dead: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’

With such a sequel.

‘Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more,’ and that fact sets Him apart from others who, according to Scripture, have been raised. His resurrection is, if we may use such a figure, a point; His Ascension and Session at the right hand of God are the line into which the point is prolonged. And from both the point and the line come the assurance that He is the Judge.

III. The risen Jesus is Judge because He is Man.

That seems a paradox. It is a commonplace that we are incompetent to judge another, for human eyes cannot read the secrets of a human heart, and we can only surmise, not know, each other’s motives, which are the all-important part of our deeds. But when we rightly understand Christ’s human nature, we understand how fitted He is to be our Judge, and how blessed it is to think of Him as such. Paul tells the Athenians with deep significance that He who is to be their and the world’s Judge is ‘the Man.’ He sums up human nature in Himself, He is the ideal and the real Man.

And further, Paul tells his hearers that God judges ‘through’ Him, and does so ‘in righteousness.’ He is fitted to be our Judge, because He perfectly and completely bears our nature, knows by experience all its weaknesses and windings, as from the inside, so to speak, and is ‘wondrous kind’ with the kindness which ‘fellow-feeling’ enkindles. He knows us with the knowledge of a God; He knows us with the sympathy of a brother.

The Man who has died for all men thereby becomes the Judge of all. Even in this life, Jesus and His Cross judge us. Our disposition towards Him is the test of our whole character. By their attitude to Him, the thoughts of many hearts are revealed. ‘What think ye of Christ?’ is the question, the answer to which determines our fate, because it reveals our inmost selves and their capacities for receiving blessing or harm from God and His mercy. Jesus Himself has taught us that ‘in that day’ the condition of entrance into the Kingdom is ‘doing the will of My Father which is in heaven.’ He has also taught us that ‘this is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.’ Faith in Jesus as our Saviour is the root from which will grow the good tree which will bring forth good fruit, bearing which our love will be ‘made perfect, that we may have boldness before Him in the day of judgment.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 17:31. Μέλλει κρίνειν, He is about to judge) This is appropriately said in the Areopagus, where justice and judgment used to be dispensed. Paid adds presently the mention of righteousness, as he did also before the judge Felix: ch. Act 24:10; Act 24:25.—[τὴν οἰκουμένην, the habitable earth) Comp. Act 17:26.—V. g.]—ἐν ἀνδρὶ, by the Man) So he calls Jesus, to accord with the comprehension of his hearers. He was about to speak more in detail of Gospel truths to those who desired to hear. The ἐν, by, is construed with μέλλει κρίνειν, He will judge.—ᾧ) for ὃν, whom.—ὥρισε, He hath ordained) viz. as Judge: ch. Act 10:42.—πίστιν παρασχὼν) God hath raised again Jesus from the dead, and by that fact hath demonstrated (having thereby given assurance) that Jesus is the glorious Judge of all men. As to this very phrase, comp. the note on Chrys. de Sacerd. p. 450; and as to the use of the verb παρέχειν, Camerar. comm, utr. ling. col. 328, 329. All ought to have faith in God παρασχόντι, affording faith [who gives the assurance which is the object of faith,—which faith lays hold of]. Therefore Paul here also preaches repentance and faith: and since faith was altogether unknown to the Athenians, he most elegantly makes merely an allusion to it by this phrase. The language besides implies, that no one is compelled [God affords, or presents the object of faith to all, compels none].—ἀναστήσας, in that He hath raised) As to the connection of the resurrection of Christ with the universal preaching of Him, see note, ch. Act 13:32;[108] Luk 24:46-47. Paul did not conclude even this discourse without mention of the resurrection of Christ.

[108] Also 34, as Beng. does not interpret 33 of the resurrection at all. But in ver. 34 of ch. 13, the giving to the whole world of the sure mercies of David, and the declaring of the glad tidings unto the Gentiles, according to the promise made unto the fathers, is represented as necessarily requiring the resurrection of Christ as the preliminary.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 17:31 . διότι καθότι , R.V., see critical note, only found in St. Luke = quia (Blass) in Luk 1:7 ; Luk 19:9 , Act 2:24 ; Act 2:45 ; Act 4:35 = according as: see Plummer on Luk 1:7 , and Blass, Gram. , p. 268. ἔστησεν ἡμέραν : hence the command to repent, cf. 1Ma 4:59 and Blass, in loco . μέλλει κρίνειν , LXX, Psa 9:8 ; Psa 95:13,(Psa 96:13 ), Psa 97:9 , Psa 98:9 ; its form here may = Act 12:6 , “on the point of judging” (Weiss). τὴν οἰκ ., so often in LXX, as in instances above. ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ = δικαίως (as of the moral element in which the judgment will take place), cf. 1Pe 2:24 and Rev 19:11 , cf. Psalms as above, and Sir 45:26 . ἐν ἀνδρὶ : in the person of the man (so Ramsay, Meyer, Alford), not ἄνθρωπος but ἀνήρ , in viro ( cf. 1Co 6:12 , ἐν ὑμῖν κρίνεται ); above we have ἀνθρώποις , but here the nobler appellation. We may compare with the Christian doctrine Book of Enoch , xli. 9, although according to other Jewish statements it would seem that God, and not the Messiah, was to judge the dead. ᾧ ὥρισε : ᾧ attraction, cf. Act 2:22 , see Winer-Schmiedel, p. 225, cf. Act 10:42 , Rom 1:4 . The whole statement, as indeed the general tenor of the address, is entirely in line with the preaching to the Thessalonians in the Epistles written some few months later, cf. 1Th 1:9-10 ; 1Th 3:13 ; 1Th 4:6 ; 1Th 5:2 , 2Th 1:7 ; 2Th 2:12 ; McGiffert, Apostolic Age , p. 259, and Plumptre, in loco . “Pour un juif, dire que Jésus présidera au jugement, c’éait à peu près dire qu’il est créateur. Aussi je ne sais pas de preuve plus éclatante de l’immense impression produite par le Galiléan que ce simple fait … après qu’il eut été crucifié, un pharisien, comme l’avait été Paul, a pu voir en lui le juge des vivants et des morts,” Colani, J. C. et les Croyances Messianiques de son temps . πίστιν παρασχὼν : in classical Greek to afford assurance, a guarantee, see instances in Wetstein. But it is difficult to say how much St. Paul included in the words to a Jewish audience he would no doubt, like St. Peter, have insisted upon the resurrection of Christ as a final proof given by God that the claims of Christ were true; but to an audience like that at Athens he might well insist upon the fact of the resurrection of the Man ordained by God as a guarantee that all men would be raised; R.V., “whereof he hath given assurance,” “whereof” implied in the Greek: marginal rendering in A.V. “offered faith” is omitted in R.V.; “and He hath given all a guarantee in that He hath raised Him from the dead”: so Ramsay. Others have taken the words to mean that God thus affords assurance that He will judge the world righteously in that He hath shown His righteousness by raising Christ, others again connect πίστιν closely with ἐν ἀνδρί (so Bethge). If at this point the Apostle was interrupted he may have intended to pursue the theme further, if not then, on some other occasion. But the fact that the speech contains so little that is distinctively Christian is a strong proof of its genuineness; none would have invented such a speech for Paul, any more than they could have invented his discourse at Lystra, see below on p. 381, and Ramsay, St. Paul , pp. 150 and 250, 251. Yet in this short address at Athens the Apostle had preached both Jesus and the Resurrection.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By declaring Christ to be the judge of the world through the resurrection from the dead.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world--Such language beyond doubt teaches that the judgment will, in its essence, be a solemn judicial assize held upon all mankind at once. "Aptly is this uttered on the Areopagus, the seat of judgment" [BENGEL].

by that man whom he hath ordained--compare Joh 5:22-23, Joh 5:27; Act 10:42.

whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead--the most patent evidence to mankind at large of the judicial authority with which the Risen One is clothed.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 31. He hath appointed a day] He has fixed the time in which he will judge the world, though he has not revealed this time to man.

By that man whom he hath ordained] He has also appointed the judge, by whom the inhabitants of the earth are to be tried.

Whereof he hath given assurance] ΠιϚιν παρασχων πασιν, Having given to all this indubitable proof, that Jesus Christ shall judge the world, by raising him from the dead. The sense of the argument is this: "Jesus Christ, whom we preach as the Saviour of men, has repeatedly told his followers that he would judge the world; and has described to us, at large, the whole of the proceedings of that awful time, Mt 25:31, c. Joh 5:25. Though he was put to death by the Jews, and thus he became a victim for sin, yet God raised him from the dead. By raising him from the dead, God has set his seal to the doctrines he has taught: one of these doctrines is, that he shall judge the world; his resurrection, established by the most incontrovertible evidence, is therefore a proof, an incontestable proof, that he shall judge the world, according to his own declaration."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. Because he hath appointed a day. He maketh mention of the last judgment, that he may awake them out of their dream. For we know how hard a matter it is for men to deny themselves. Therefore, they must be violently enforced unto repentance, which cannot be done better than when they be cited to appear before God’s judgment-seat, and that fearful judgment is set before them, which they may neither despise nor escape. Therefore, let us remember that the doctrine of repentance doth then take place, when men, who would naturally desire to flatter themselves, are awaked with fear of God’s judgment and that none are fit teachers of the gospel but those who are the criers or apparitors of the highest Judge, who bring those who are to come the Judge to plead their cause, and denounce the judgment hanging over their heads, even as if it were in their own hand. Neither is this added in vain, in righteousness, or righteously. For though all men in the world confess that God is a just Judge, yet we see how they, for the most part, pamper and flatter themselves; for they will not suffer God to demand an account farther than their knowledge and understanding doth reach. Therefore, Paul’s meaning is, that men do profit themselves nothing by vain flattery; because they shall not prejudice God’s justice by this means, which showeth that all that is an abomination before God which seemeth goodly in the sight of men, because he will not follow the decrees of men, but that form which himself hath appointed.

By the man whom he hath appointed. It is not to be doubted but that Paul spake more largely concerning Christ, that the Athenians might know that he is the Son of God, by whom salvation was brought to the world, and who had all power given him in heaven and earth; otherwise this speech, which we read here, should have had but small force to persuade. But Luke thought it sufficient to gather the sum of the sermon briefly. Yet is it to be thought that Paul spake first concerning the grace of Christ and that he did first preach him to be the Redeemer of men, before he made him a Judge. But because Christ is oftentimes contemned, when he offereth himself to be a Redeemer, Paul denounceth that he will once sharply punish such wicked contempt, because the whole world must be judged by him. The word [ὁριζειν] may be referred, as well unto the secret counsel of God, as unto external manifestation. Yet because the former exposition is more common, I do willingly embrace the same; to wit, that God, by his eternal decree, hath ordained his Son to be the Judge of the world; and that to the end the reprobate, who refuse to be ruled by Christ, may learn that they strive but in vain against the decree of God, which cannot be broken. But because nothing seemeth more strange to men, than that God shall judge in the person of man, Paul addeth afterward, that dignity of Christ, which were hard to be believed, was approved by his resurrection.

The will of God alone ought to be so reverenced among us, that every man for himself subscribe to his decrees without delay. Because the cloak and color of ignorance useth oftentimes to be objected, therefore Paul saith plainly, that Christ was by his resurrection openly showed to be the Judge of the world, and that that was revealed to the eyes of men, which God had before determined with himself concerning him. For that point of doctrine, which Luke toucheth briefly in few words, was handled by Paul at large. He said not only in a word that Christ rose from death, but he did also intreat of the power of his resurrection as was meet. For to what end did Christ rise, but that he might be the first fruits of those which rise again? (1 Corinthians 15:23.) And to what end shall we rise again, but either to life or death? Whereupon it followeth, that Christ by his resurrection is declared and proved to be the Judge of the world.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(31) Because he hath appointed a day.—Here the speaker would seem, to both sets of hearers, to be falling back into popular superstition. Minos and Rhadamanthus, and Tartarus and the Elysian Fields,—these they had learnt to dismiss, as belonging to the childhood of the individual and of mankind,—

“Esse aliquid Manes et subterranea regna

Vix pueri credunt.”. . . .

[“Talk of our souls and realms beyond the grave,

The very boys will laugh and say you rave.”]

—Juvenal, Sat. ii. 149.

The Epicurean rejected the idea of a divine government altogether. For the Stoic, to quote a line from Schiller,—

“Die Welt-geschichte ist das Welt-gericht,”

[“And the world’s story is its judgment day, “]

and he expected no other. The thought of a day of judgment as the consummation of that history, which was so prominent in St. Paul’s teaching, was altogether strange to them.

By that man whom he hath ordained.—Literally, by a man. Who the man was, and what proof there was that he had been raised from the dead, were questions either reserved for a later stage of teaching, or interrupted by the derision of the hearers. Up to this point they had listened attentively, but that the dead should be raised again seemed to them—as to the Sadducean, to the Greeks generally—absolutely incredible (Act_26:8; 1Co_15:35).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. because he hath appointed, &c.] The day of judgment had long ago been appointed in God’s foreknowledge, but through Christ man’s resurrection and immortality have been made more clear. He knows now, who knows of Christ, that the Son of Man has been raised up, as the first-fruits of a general resurrection. The rising of Christ proved Him to be divine and stamped His doctrine as true. But a part of that doctrine is (Mat_25:32) “Before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats.” By the resurrection of Jesus, God has given to men assurance that what Jesus taught was true, therefore because of the judgment which Christ foretold, men should repent everywhere, for the whole world shall be judged.

It is worth while to notice how St Paul’s argument advances through its various stages. He speaks first of God as the Creator of the world and of men, and of the ordinances which He has made for man’s abode on earth. Then he argues that all this should inspire men with the thought that as they are more worthy than material things, so God is far exalted above men. This ought to have led them to seek after Him, and even in the darker days those who sought could find Him. But now the days of God’s revelation through nature are at an end. He has spoken through that Son of Man whom the resurrection proved to be the Son of God. Through Him will God judge the world, for which judgment men should prepare themselves by repentance.

It may be that at this point the Apostle’s speech was stopped. Neither party among the hearers would have any sympathy with the doctrine of a resurrection and a final judgment. Had the address been completed, St Paul would have probably spoken in more definite language of the life and work of Jesus.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because he hath appointed a day,.... The day of judgment is fixed by God in his eternal purposes, and is sure and certain, and will come, though it is not known by men or angels; and this is a reason why God will have the doctrine of repentance everywhere published, both to Jews and Gentiles, since all must come to judgment: and the day for it is appointed by him,

in the which he will judge the world in righteousness; the whole world will be judged, and every individual in it, good and bad, righteous and wicked; and this judgment will be a righteous one; it will proceed according to the strict rules of justice and equity, and upon the foot of the righteousness of Christ, as that has been received or rejected by men, or as men are clothed with, or are without that righteousness:

by that man whom he hath ordained; Beza's ancient copy reads, "the man Jesus": not that the apostle means that Christ is a mere man; for then he would not be fit to be a Judge of quick and dead, and to pass and execute the definitive sentence; which requires omniscience and omnipotence: but preaching to mere Heathens, he chose not at once to assert the deity of Christ, though he tacitly suggests it: but intended, by degrees, to open the glories of his nature and office to them, he being the person God had from all eternity ordained, and in time had signified, should have all judgment committed to him, and by whom the last judgment shall be managed and transacted:

whereof he hath given assurance to all men: or full proof, both of his being the Judge, and of his fitness to be one, and also of the righteousness, according to which he will judge:

in that he hath raised him from the dead; whereby he was declared to be the Son of God; and when all power in heaven and in earth was given to him; and which was done for the justification of all those for whose offences he was delivered: and this seems to be the reason why the apostle calls Christ the Judge a man, that he might have the opportunity of mentioning his resurrection from the dead.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

31 Because 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.

Ver. 31. Because he hath appointed a day] Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, and the dreadfulness of that great day, "what manner of men ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness," 2Pe 3:11; breaking off our sins by repentance, and being abrupt in the work, since the very next moment thou mayest hear that summons that Pope Julius II did, and was found dead the next day, Veni miser in iudicium, Come, thou wretch, receive thy judgment. (Jac. Renig.) Hence Austin professed that he would not, for the gain of the world, be an atheist for half an hour; because he knew not how suddenly Christ might come to judge him. Aut poenitendum aut pereundum. Either displeasing or perishing.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because he hath appointed a day - This is given as a reason why God commands people to repent. They must be judged; and if they are not penitent and pardoned, they must be condemned. See the notes on Rom 2:16.

Judge the world - The whole world - Jews and Gentiles.

In righteousness - According to the principles of strict justice.

Whom he hath ordained - Or whom he has constituted or appointed as judge. See the Act 10:42 notes; Joh 5:25 notes.

Hath given assurance - Has afforded evidence of this. That evidence consists:

(1) In the fact that Jesus declared that he would judge the nations Joh 5:25-26; Matt. 25; and,

(2) God confirmed the truth of his declarations by raising him from the dead, or gave his sanction to what the Lord Jesus had said, for God would nor work a miracle in favor of an impostor.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Because he hath appointed a day for judging all men with equity, by the man, to wit, Christ Jesus, a man, and also his true Son, whom he has appointed to be their judge; and by raising him (Jesus) from the dead, he hath made it credible, and given sufficient proofs of this truth, that every one shall rise from death. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world: that God will judge the world his enemies have with trembling acknowledged, but when God will judge the world he hath concealed from his friends; yet the time is already set, Psa 96:13; 2Co 5:10, and we ought to be daily prepared for it.

In righteousness: shall not the Judge of all the world do right?

By that man whom he hath ordained; our blessed Saviour, called here man, suitably to his death and resurrection, which St. Paul preached of; as also as man he is thus highly exalted for his debasing of himself for our sakes, Phi 2:9-11.

Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead; an undeniable proof or argument, it being so difficult a matter to believe a world to come, when we see all things remain as they did in this world; and especially to believe, that in the general judgment Christ, whom they had judged, condemned, and executed, should be Judge: God therefore did glorify him, by raising him from the dead, that they and we might not be faithless, but believe, Rom 1:4.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. A day—See note on Joh_11:24.

That man—Crowning the scheme of human history is this judgment-day, at which man, the image and offspring of God, is by man to be judged.

Ordained—As the God of all ages has appointed the day, so he, the God of all nations, hath ordained the man.

Assurance to all—As the day and the man are great world-wide facts, so of them God has sent forth a world-wide announcement.

From the dead—That a common man should be raised from the dead is not credible, for God would not do such a thing. But that a wonderful man, an exceptional man, a miraculous man, the race-born Son of man, ordained by God and set forth by him, should be raised, is credible. And when God has done such a thing, then he furnishes men good reason to believe when he declares that the man raised from the dead will judge the world in righteousness.

These Athenians now hear the fact that a man was raised from the dead, separate from all its miraculous and divine connexions, just as incredulously as we would hear that a man was raised from the dead in some neighbouring country town. They listen to it as a thing not to be listened to. And so, in their peremptory haste, they sink the topmost man of the human race, the topmost event of human history, and the topmost day of human existence, into the ordinary, and so into the false.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Inasmuch as for because, A.V.and T.R.; the man for that man, A.V. He hath appointed a day. Hitherto the Athenians seem to have listened with interest while St. Paul was, with consummate skill, leading them onwards from the doctrines of natural religion, and while he was laying down speculative truths. But now they are brought to a stand. They might no longer go on asking, Ti kainon; A day fixed by God, they were told, was at hand, in which God would judge the world in righteousness, and in which they themselves would be judged also. And the certainty of this was made apparent by the fact that he who was ordained to be Judge was raised from the dead, and so ready to commence the judgment. The time for immediate action was come; God"s revelation had reached them. The man (ajndri). Sondra Act_2:22, jIhsoun ton Nazwraion a ajponon k.t.l. And so in Joh_5:27 our Lord himself says of himself that the Father gave him authority to execute judgment "because he is the Son of man;" and in Mat_26:24, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power." (For the connection of the judgment with Christ"s resurrection, see especially Act_10:40-42) So too the Creeds.

God revealed: his holy purpose.

We ask not only Who or what is he? what is his character and spirit? what is his present attitude towards us? we ask also What is his purpose concerning us? That one infinite God, "in whom we live, and move, and have our being," who holds our destiny in his sovereign hand, is it his intention that the lamp of his lighting, the human spirit, (Pro_20:27) shall go out utterly at death, or that that spirit shall shine in another sphere? And if so, what are to be the conditions of that life beyond the river? The reply is

I THAT GOD WILL CONTINUE TO US OUR EXISTENCE IN ANOTHER STATE, AND WILL JUDGE US FOR OUR. ACTIONS HERE. "He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world." We do not suppose that time hereafter will be measured as it is now, and that the "day" of the other life will correspond with "a day "of our present experience. But the time will come in the future life when "we shall appear before the judgment-seat." God has "appointed unto man once to die," and "after this the judgment." Clearly enough, in the thought and purpose of God, this life is only the commencement of our existence, the probation period on which the long results of the eternal world depend. So far from this being the be-all and end-all of humanity, it is but the preface to the large volume that succeeds; it is but the river which runs down to and is lost in the sea.

II THAT GOD"S JUDGMENT OF US WILL BE ONE OF PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS. "In righteousness.

1. There will be no trace of partiality, no smallest shade of favoritism; none will fare the better, none the worse, for class, or sex, or parentage, or nationality.

2. Regard will be had to all the particulars of human action. "God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing": (Ecc_12:14) all thoughts the "work" of the understanding; all feelings the "work" of the heart; all choices the work" of the will; as well as all words the "work" of the tongue; and all deeds the "work" of the hand.

3. Respect will be had to all that enhances or lessens responsibility; to all special privilege and opportunity on the one hand, and to all privation and disadvantage on the other.

III THAT GOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD BY HIS SON, OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. "By that Man," etc., even the Son of man, to whom all judgment is committed, (Joh_5:22) who will have authority to execute judgment "because he is the Son of man". (Joh_5:27) Christ will be our Judge. His special relationship to us eminently fits him for that supreme position.

1. He is the Lord of our nature.

2. He knows our nature perfectly. (Heb_4:15)

3. He claims that we shall all come into living relation to himself; we must all be "found in him" (Php_3:9; Joh_15:4, Joh_15:6; 1Jn_2:28)

IV THAT GOD HAS GIVEN US STRONG ASSURANCE OF HIS DIVINE PURPOSE. "Whereof he hath given," etc. We have an assurance of such intention in:

1. Our own consciousness of ill desert and incomplete retribution. We feel that sin demands condemnation and punishment, and that our own individual guilt has not received its due penalty. For how much and how many things do we deserve the reproval of the Divine voice, the infliction of the Divine hand!

2. Our observation of the course of abandoned and wicked men. How many are they who go down to the grave with (as it assuredly appears) unpunished sins on their soul!

1. The general apprehension of mankind.

2. But the assurance of God"s purpose is in the language and the life of Jesus Christ; more especially in the fact of his resurrection, preceding, predicting, and ensuring our own.

(1) How foolish to treat as if it were the whole of our career that which is no more than the commencement!

(2) How wise to live in view of that great day of account!

(3) How needful to be rightly related to the supreme Judge! C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world - How fitly does he speak this, in their supreme court of justice? By the man - So he speaks, suiting himself to the capacity of his hearers. Whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead - God raising Jesus demonstrated hereby, that he was to be the glorious Judge of all. We are by no means to imagine that this was all which the apostle intended to have said, but the indolence of some of his hearers and the petulancy of others cut him short.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

world

"oikoumene" = inhabited earth. (See Scofield "Luk 2:1").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

These words are an argument or motive to enforce the foregoing duty of repentance; God requires every man, every where, and that now immediately, to forsake their idols and sinful ways; because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by his Son Christ Jesus, of which he hath already given assurance, by raising him from the dead.

Where note, 1. A judgment to come asserted: He (that is, God) will judge the world; he that hath now an observing eye, will hereafter have a rewarding hand.

Note, 2. That there not only is a judgment to come, but the day or time of it is determined and fixed: He hath appointed a day. As the precise time of Christ’s first coming was fixed by an unalterable, though unknown, decree, so is also the time of his second coming: that not knowing the hour, we may be upon our watch every hour.

Note, 3. That as the day of judgment is determined, so the person of the judge is also constituted and ordained: He will judge the world by that man whom he hath ordained. This is an act of justice to our Saviour, that he, having humbled himself to take our nature, should, as the reward of his humiliation, judge that world which he died to save. And an act of kindness towards us, that he should be our judge, who took upon him our nature, and had so much love to choose our own judge, what choice could we make better for ourselves, than that man whom God hath ordained?

Observe, 4. The assurance which God hath given us of having Christ for our judge; namely, his raising him from the dead.

But how doth that assure us of Christ being our judge?

Answer. Our blessed Saviour, when he was in the world, often declared that he was appointed by God to judge the quick and the dead, and appealed to his resurrection as the great proof of what he said.

Now when Almighty God did accordingly raise him insuch a wonderful manner, (as we know he did,) what is it less than God’s setting his seal to his commission, and openly proclaiming him to be the judge of all the world?

Observe, 5. The manner of this judgment, or the measures which this judge will proceed by, at the great day; and that is, according to righteousness: He will judge the world in righteousness. Not in rigour and severity, taking all the advantages that power can give him; nor yet arbitrarily and upon prerogative, but according to known laws; nor yet partially with respect to persons; but every man’s doom shall depend upon the holiness or unholiness of his heart and life.

Farther, Our Judge will candidly interpret men’s actions, and make the very best of things that the case will bear; principally looking at the sincerity of men’s intentions, and making all favourable allowances for their failings and infirmities that can consist with justice; and will distribute his rewards and happiness and glory to good men in the other world. Now having this high and full assurance of a judgment to come, let us seriously believe it, daily expect it, and duly prepare for it; let neither profit tempt us, nor pleasure allure us, nor power embolden us, nor privacy encourage us, to do that thing which we cannot answer at the great tribunal.

When St. Paul preached of judgment, Felix, though a Pagan, trembled at the sermon.

Lord! what shall we say to those worse than Pagan infidels amongst ourselves, who ridicule a judgment to come, and cry before-hand, God judge me! yea, God damn me! Alas, unhappy men, he will judge you sure enough, and damn you soon enough, if a serious repentance prevent it not.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 22

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. καθότι ἔστησεν ἡμέραν κ.τ.λ., because He hath appointed a day, &c. The day of judgment had, in God’s foreknowledge, been long ago appointed. But through Christ the certainty has been made clear to men. Through a knowledge of Christ, who has been raised from the dead, men have learnt that there is to be a general resurrection. Christ is the firstfruits. But Christ has taught (Mat 25:32) that after resurrection judgment shall come. By the resurrection of Jesus, God has given to men assurance that what Jesus taught is true. Therefore because He foretold and revealed to men the certainty of the judgment, they ought everywhere to repent, for all men shall be judged.

It is worth while to notice how St Paul’s argument advances through its various stages. He speaks first of God as the Creator of the world and of men. Then of the ordinances which He has made for man’s abode on earth. Next he argues that all this should inspire men with the thought that as they are more worthy than material things, so God is far exalted above men. This ought to have led them to seek after Him, and even in the darker days those who sought could find Him. But now the days of God’s revelation through nature are at an end. He has spoken through that Son of Man whom the resurrection proved to be the Son of God. Through Him will God judge the world, for which judgment men should prepare themselves by repentance.

It may be that at this point the Apostle’s speech was stopped. Neither party among the hearers would have any sympathy with the doctrine of a resurrection and a final judgment. Had the address been completed, St Paul would have probably spoken in more definite language about the life and work of Jesus.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. καθότι] See var. read. and reff.:—used by Luke and him only: ‘seeing that,’ inasmuch as.

ἐν δικαιος.] δικαιος. is the character of the judgment,—the element, of which it shall consist.

ἐν ἀνδρί] Not, ‘in (by) a man,’ but by (i.e. in the person of) the man: the art. is omitted after the preposition: see Midd. vi. 1. The ἐν is not instrumental, properly speaking, here or any where else. Its judicial use is only a particular case of its usage of investiture or elementary condition: in the judge the judgment consists, is constituted; he is its vehicle and expression. See ref. 1 Cor. and note for examples of this use.

πίστ. κ.τ.λ. ‘Quia res erat vix credibilis, argumentum adfert eximium.’ Grotius.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.