TREMBLING AT THE JUDGMENT
‘Felix trembled.’
And well he might! for he was now brought face to face with three things which had never troubled him before, but either of which was enough to make him tremble. The first thing was Sin; the second was God; the third was Judgment to come. The verse from which I draw my text speaks also of righteousness and temperance, but I do not think it was either of these that made the covetous old judge tremble. I believe it was ‘ Judgment to come,’ and that subject would include the other two things I have named; and I think the Apostle would speak of them in the order I have named them.
He would first speak of sin. No doubt he knew that Felix was what even the world would call a bad man, by which would be meant a man not living up to the light of his conscience; and he must have been a very bad man to have ‘hoped that money should have been given him of St. Paul, that he might loose him.’ Felix stood to St. Paul in the relation of a judge. In that capacity he was utterly unworthy of his position. He would prostitute the sacred cause of justice for his own venal purposes. His judgment-seat was corrupt! You are no longer surprised, then, that when the Apostle reasoned of ‘judgment to come’ he touched a raw place, even in the hardened soul of the tyrant. ‘Felix trembled.’ He saw the greatness of his sin, and though he repented not, he ‘trembled.’ He saw—can we doubt it?—the spotless purity of God painted by the Apostle in vivid contrast to the baseness of his own character, and though the ‘goodness of God’ did not in his case ‘lead to repentance’ (Romans 2:4), he felt a twinge, and ‘trembled.’ More than all, he heard, doubtless for the first time, of that terrible but just judgment to come, which must one day be his portion, and which would, unless he repented, bring about such a terrific retribution for his misconduct in the judgment-seat; and hearing all this, can you wonder that he winced under the castigation and ‘trembled’?
Following this line of thought, I would bring you, first of all:—
I. Face to face with your own sin.—Until a man has fairly faced this great enemy there is little hope of ‘reasoning’ with him with any success, either about judgment to come or anything else. I grant that to one who is pure-minded the recollection of past sin causes mental pain of the most acute description; I know also that the feeling of being awakened to sin for the first time comes as a shock, often so severe as to make a man most intensely miserable for days or weeks, or even more. It is undoubtedly an awful thing to discover ourselves as being rebels against God, despisers of His goodness, wanton rejecters of His mercy. But I will tell you what is more awful still. It is— Not to feel your sin! The poor sinner just roused to a sense of his miserable state may indeed with reason feel great dejection, but the man who ought to tremble is you who are still unconscious of your peril, you who have remained so long insensible to every argument that has been addressed to your mind, and to every effort that has been made with a view to rescue your perishing soul. It is to you that I speak, and that not in anger, but in love, when I say— Face your sin!
II. Felix was brought by the Apostle’s reasoning face to face with God.—Not only his sin troubled him, but he felt a passing tremor of awe at the revelation of God’s goodness contrasted with his own wickedness. Now, to face God is the solemn duty to which I now call you. It is a fiercer ordeal even than the last, that of facing your sin. But it must be done. All religion has this object, to bring men face to face with God. Shrink not from the ordeal. Make it your business to seek out God. In every means of grace you may find Him. In the Holy Eucharist He specially manifests His Presence, and to this great Sacrament I lovingly bid you, and suggest to you that the spirit in which you should come to that Feast of Love is best expressed in the Psalmist’s words,’ Thy face, Lord, will I seek’ (Psalms 27:8).
III. But if you will not face your sin, nor seek unto God, then I can only reason with you as St. Paul reasoned with Felix, and leave you to a profitless trembling at the fear of judgment to come. The certainty of that judgment is established beyond all possibility of doubt or cavil by almost every book of Holy Scripture. How terrible a trial it will be, even for those that pass through it in safety, Jesus Christ has Himself declared. Prophets and apostles, saints and doctors of the Church, martyrs and confessors, priests and holy laymen, have all combined in different ages to force upon men this great question, ‘Are you ready to face the Judgment Day?’
—Rev. J. H. Buchanan.
Illustration
A priest one day watched from his sacristy the people as they came into church. One face arrested his attention. It was that of a man who plainly bore the mark of Cain upon his brow. Sin, shame, and woe were all plainly revealed in the lines of that face. “I will seek him after service,” said the good priest to himself, “and see if I can help him.” Service ended, the man of God went into the porch and awaited his friend. He approached. But only by his clothes could he be recognised. The face was not the same. Every trace of shame and woe was gone. An air of calm and manly humility lit up the features which had been so dark. “Nevertheless, I will speak to him:—Friend, a word with you if you will. Step in here. When you came into church you were miserable. Is it not so?” “Even so, sir, very miserable.” “And now you are happy? Is that so?” “Very happy, sir, very happy.” “And may I ask what has wrought the change in so short a time? “The priest’s kindly manner bespoke confidence, and the other replied, “Sir, I have been during the last half-hour face to face with my sin, and I have found strength to resolve to go forth and fight it. Hitherto I have been afraid of it. Now, I begin to think it is afraid of me. Pray for me, that I may overcome.” ’