OSEPH KING was born in Kinsman, Trumbull County, Ohio, July 9, 1831. At seven years of age he was left an orphan, and was thrown on the world entirely upon his own resources. This fact subjected him to many privations and severe trials; but his energies were correspondingly quickened, and the self-reliance and patience which have since characterized the man were developed and strengthened thus early by the struggles of the boy. The money he expended in acquiring an education was earned by his own efforts: first, by manual labor on a farm, and, afterward, by teaching. No one helped him to a dollar.

      He began the study of English grammar, and, indeed, all. the common branches of an education, after he entered his eighteenth year, and graduated, with distinguished honor, at Bethany College, in 1855.

      His early religious training was thoroughly Presbyterian, and he had no accurate knowledge of the Disciples, or of their views, till he was twenty years of age. When in his twenty-first year, after going through a long and terrible ordeal in seeking the way of salvation, he was brought to see and understand the truth, and was immersed, in Mahoning County, Ohio, in 1852.

      After graduating at college, his first year in the ministry was spent at Warren, Ohio; the next three years were spent in the State of New York, in connection with the Williamsville Classical Institute. He was afterward pastor of the Church in New Lisbon, Ohio, four years; he then removed to Alleghany City, Pennsylvania, and took charge of the Church in that place, where he has been for nearly five years, and which is his present field of labor.

      Brother KING is of medium stature, and very slight, but has shown himself capable of a large amount of hard work. He has brown hair, gray eyes, and weighs one hundred and twenty-five pounds. His physiognomy marks him as a man of equitable temper, large benevolence, but very decided and firm in reference to all plans of life.

      His preaching is chiefly practical, and his discourses are generally [575] characterized by much that appeals directly to the conscience. He has very little imagination, and is not, in the popular sense, an orator, but his success in the ministry demonstrates that he wields an influence more potent than that which belongs to the most gifted speakers. Every-where he has labored, the Divine blessing has attended his preaching, and he is now doing a work in Alleghany City which is worthy to be recorded as among the most splendid successes that have crowned the pastoral labors of the ministry. [576]

      "And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is he who has been ordained of God to be judge of the living and dead."--ACTS X: 42.

HESE words were spoken by the Apostle Peter, in the house of Cornelius, at the opening of the Gospel dispensation to the Gentiles. Peter was preaching, declaring the testimony of God, and, after affirming the resurrection of Christ, saying: "Him God raised up on the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead;" he also affirms, saying: "He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is he who has been ordained of God to be judge of the living and dead."

      The apostles profoundly respected the authority of Christ. They obeyed his commands. They faithfully executed his will. They were his ambassadors, his plenipotentiaries, clothed with full power to treat with offending man, and make known the terms of reconciliation with an offended God. The text informs us that the apostles were commanded to do two things: First, to preach to the people. In preaching, they were subject to the will [577] of Christ. They preached, not to gratify their own ambition, or because the work of preaching was light and irresponsible, but because the obligation to preach was upon them. All authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Jesus. By that authority he commanded them, saying: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." There is the obligation imposed--the duty solemnly enjoined. How deeply did Paul feel in reference to the work given him to do! And, no doubt, all the apostles felt as did he. "Though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to boast of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is to me if I preach not the Gospel." (1 Cor. ix: 16.)

      Secondly, they were commanded to "testify that Jesus had been ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and dead." The word "testify" scarcely does justice to the original. The word means, in the Greek tongue, to make solemn, public affirmation; to declare earnestly; to urge and enforce, under a deep sense of the truth and importance of what you say. Hence, the Judgeship of Christ was a capital item in the apostolic testimony. The apostles were commanded to proclaim to "all men every-where" that Christ is to return to judge the world in righteousness. Jesus is not only "Lord of all;" he is Judge of all, and to him every knee must bow, and every tongue confess. He is King, Lord, and Judge. His Lordship and Judgeship grow out of his offices as King. As "King of kings, and Lord of lords," he proclaims the law of pardon, governs the Church, rules over his people, and is also the Lord of providence. All things are in his hands. As King he is to judge the world.

      I ask your attention, therefore, to this subject, growing immediately out of Christ's coronation and investiture [578] with supreme authority, viz., his advent to judgment--his coming to reckon with every man, and "pronounce the sentence of eternal woe or bliss."

      Your attention is invited to the following points:

      I. Beloved hearers, listen while I speak to you. Let me ask: Do you believe in a future and eternal judgment? Do you believe that you are to stand before God, to give "account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead?" Do you really accept it as a truth of Divine revelation, that Christ will come to reckon with you; to make solemn inquiry as to the improvement you have made of the talents given you; as to what you have thought, and said, and done during this life; and that the "hidden things of darkness will be brought to light, and the counsels of every heart made manifest?"

      Do you believe this to be a part of God's great revelation? O, I say to you, men need to believe it: but multitudes do not; and, because they do not, they are going down to a fearful end. Let us inquire, then, will there be a future judgment? To this question there can be but one answer. There certainly will be. An approaching judgment is certain. And I proceed to establish the certainty of it.

      1. In the first place, let us examine the "book of conscience." Man's mental and moral constitution furnishes evidence of the judgment of God. The sentence--God will judge every man--is written on every man's heart. Let us search the records within. Every one has evidence-- [579] evidence quite satisfactory, too, if he but take the pains to examine it--in his own soul, in the constitution of his moral nature--that God will sit in judgment upon him. To illustrate: Suppose you do right; suppose you pursue a right course of conduct, such a course as is in harmony with the word of God and the principles of eternal rectitude, there is that within which approves your conduct--in other words, you have the testimony of a good conscience. On the other hand, suppose you do wrong; you sin; act contrary to that which you know to be right; do those things which you ought not to do, or leave undone those things which you ought to do, there is that within which disapproves your conduct; there is inward pain, mental uneasiness, and a consciousness of unhappiness arising from wrong-doing. You have done wrong, and you know it, and feel it. Now, what is that which approves one course of life, and disapproves the opposite course? It is conscience, or the moral sense. It is what the Apostle Paul calls the "law written in the heart;" i. e., in the hearts of the Gentiles, those who had not a written revelation of God's will. And, as the guide-board points out to the traveler the way he must go to reach the desired place, so conscience, rightly interpreted, points, with unerring certainty, to the "righteous judgment of God." It is God's law in the soul, "written in the heart," testifying in favor of truth, and justice, and righteousness, and against sin, and wrong, and disobedience. (Rom. ii: 12-16.) And in the first and second chapters of the letter to the Church at Rome, the apostle clearly shows that conscience and the works of creation--"the things that are made"--furnish such a plain revelation of at least some of the attributes of the Supreme Being, that the others are left "without excuse." And of them he writes: [580] "Who," (without the Bible,) "knowing the judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death; not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." (Rom. i: 32.)

      2. The justice of God requires that there be a day of judgment. Justice is not here meted out to every one. Injustice abounds in this world, and God, for wise reasons, permits it. In every civilized country there are what are called "courts of justice." All men will not, of their own accord, act justly. Hence, courts are organized for the one purpose of seeing that justice shall be done between man and man. And yet, it can not be truthfully said that, in a single court, from that held by a country squire, or a village mayor, up to the Supreme Court of the United States, justice is always and absolutely done. A man may have injustice done him in, and by what is called a court of justice. Indeed, the fact is notorious that fraud and injustice are often perpetrated by those who are themselves set to administer justice. All over this world the innocent are oppressed, the just are treated unjustly.

      The wicked are generally in great power; the righteous poor are trampled upon and kept down. And, during the ages that have passed away, how many of God's chosen and just ones have been persecuted, maltreated, injured in their person and property, oppressed, bound to the stake, and the life violently crushed out of them? and yet God, the infinitely just One, suffered their persecutors to live, and did not come forth openly to vindicate the cause of his suffering and oppressed people. How often is it the case that great criminals go unpunished in this world? Every-where the laws of God and the principles of justice are disregarded--iniquity, transgression, and crime run riot. [581]

      Is there a just God in heaven? Will the "Judge of all the earth do right?" If so, things being as they are in this world--injustice abounding, and justice mocked and trampled under foot in ten thousand instances; if God be just, (and who can doubt it?) if justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne, then there will come a day--there must come a day--when God will come forth as Sovereign, and openly, publicly, visibly, in the presence of all his accountable creatures, punish sin, reward righteousness; search out sins secret and concealed from the knowledge of men; make solemn investigation into the character of every one; examine his life; scan his purposes; scrutinize his heart; explore the deep recesses of his being; penetrate behind the vail of that which is outward; and, having weighed, examined, sifted, searched, scrutinized, exposed, will do what infinite justice determines and says ought to be done. Such a judgment, fearful, searching, far-reaching, awaits every man. None will escape. It will come. It is certain as that you live and hear me speak. God's justice requires it. It will not suffer the guilty to escape. Before Felix, Paul "reasoned concerning righteousness, temperance (self-control), and the judgment to come." (Acts xxiv, xxv.)

      If Jefferson could say "I tremble for my country when I remember that God is just," every one may well tremble for himself when he remembers that God will sit in judgment upon him.

      3. Turning now from conscience and Divine justice, we ask, What says the Word of God? What does God say in his Word concerning a future judgment? Not turning just now to the Old Testament for a single passage--for space will permit me to quote but a few--I cite the words of our Divine Lord in Matt. x: 15: "Verily, [582] I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than for that city." Our Savior often speaks of the day of judgment. I need not multiply quotations. (See Matt. xi: 22-24; xii: 36-42.) Would Jesus unequivocally speak of that which is never to be? Nay; there is, therefore, to be a day of judgment; and sins committed thousands of years since, if not forgiven, will be had in remembrance in that day. It will be a day of wondrous revelations.

      The Apostle Paul, in his discourse to the Athenian philosophers, as you will see recorded in Acts xvii: 30, 31: says, "God now commands all men every-where to repent: because he appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man (Christ Jesus) whom he ordained"--appointed to be Judge of all men. And the proof of Christ's having all judgment committed to him is his resurrection from the dead. God, therefore, has appointed a day; i. e., he has fixed a time--a set time--a time that will be given up to the solemn work of judging men, and determining the destiny of each one. Nothing else will then absorb the mind of either the Judge or the judged. Now, Christ is governing the universe, administering the affairs of his vast empire, and interceding for his people; but there draws near a time when he will come, with "his mighty angels, in flaming fire," and, laying aside other things, will devote the necessary length of time to one thing--judging "the world in righteousness." When he comes, "every eye shall see him, even they who pierced him: and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." (Rev. i: 7.) Gloom and dismay will overspread the world; horror and anguish will seize men. "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and [583] every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. vi: 15-17.)

      This day is approaching, and no power of man or angel can prevent its approach. Men may laugh, treat the matter with ridicule, and "make light of it;" they may say: "Peace and safety;" "Where is the promise of his coming?" and "Away with your notions about a future judgment and the conflagration of the world;" but "sudden destruction will come upon them, and they shall not escape." The antediluvians mocked Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and treated his solemn warnings with indifference; yet the "flood came and swept them all away." So will it be with all the ungodly in the great day of final reckoning.

      O, beloved, write it upon the tablet of your heart; receive the solemn truth; and, from this hour, practically believe that you are to appear before the Judge of all the earth, to receive according to the deeds done in the body.

      In proof of a future judgment, many other passages might be quoted; but it is not necessary. (Rev. xx: 12, 13.) "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." John, Paul, and, above all, our Savior himself, assert the fact of a "day of judgment."

      II. THE JUDGE.

      This is our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Judge of the living and the dead. "The Father judges no one; but has committed all judgment to the Son; that all should honor the Son, as they honor the Father. He that honors not the [584] Son, honors not the Father who sent him." (John v: 22, 23.) All judicial authority has been given to Christ; and the Father's purpose, in giving him such authority, is that his Son may be honored equally with himself. Christ is to receive equal adoration with God; and, wearing our nature as well as the Divine, he is thus an "impartial Judge."

      III. WHO ARE TO BE JUDGED?

      We pass to consider the subject of the Divine judgment.

      1. Fallen angels. There has been sin in heaven among the angels as well as on earth; and as angels are accountable beings--subjects of moral government--and as "all judgment" has been given to the Son, the fallen angels will be judged by the Son of God. (2 Pet. ii: 4; also Jude 6.)

      2. All men will be judged. Not one will escape the righteous judgment of God. "All who, at Christ's coming, shall be living, or shall ever have lived." The judgment will be universal, embracing not only one tongue or kindred, but all tongues and kindreds of men. The beggar and the millionaire; the king on his throne, and the humblest of his subjects; the prince and the peasant; the master and the servant; the old and the young; the judge on the bench, and the prisoner at the bar: all men standing now on the same level, robbed of every earthly distinction; their former position and supposed greatness lost sight of, and with nothing but the character they formed during life, are to stand before the omniscient, omnipotent Judge of all. "We must all appear before the judgement-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or evil." (2 Cor. v: 10.) "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. xiv: 12.) [585]

      Professors of religion sometimes say: "Why, we are not to be judged, are we? Are we not Christians? Are we not members of Christ's body? Have we not been forgiven? Are not the promises ours? Will Christ judge us?" I answer: Yes. Yes, you will be judged. There lives not a man who will escape the final judgment. Not one--not one. Does not the apostle say: "The Lord will judge his people." And, in reference to this very judgment to be passed upon the Lord's people, Paul says: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Fearful, because the Judge is omnipotent; fearful, because he is the searcher of every heart; fearful, because many who are expecting to be acquitted will be condemned; fearful, because the Judge has power "to destroy both soul and body in hell." Well may we tremble, in view of that day; and thousands will tremble then who never trembled before. Like Belshazzar, they will turn pale; their knees will smite one against another, and horror and anguish will seize them. O, may we be prepared for that great day--day of God Almighty!

      The question is sometimes asked, Whether the sins of God's people will be published in the day of judgment. This is one of those "secret things that belong to the Lord our God." It is certain their sins will not be alleged against them to their condemnation; nevertheless, "the Lord will judge his people."

      IV. FOR WHAT ARE WE TO BE JUDGED?

      1. For our works, our deeds, conduct, actions. All the deeds of your life will be subject-matter of inquiry and judicial investigation in the day of final retribution. Not some actions, not some deeds--but every action, every deed of every man. Nothing will be left out of the [586] account. The Judge will take cognizance of every act. He is Omniscient. His knowledge of your whole life, and of every thing you do, during life's continuance, is perfect. No act, no deed will escape his notice.

      I have observed that business men, in making out their bills, to distribute for collection, are careful to specify every item purchased. They forget nothing. Of this, so much, at so much per unit of measurement. Of that, so much, at so much per unit of measurement; and so on, to the end. And often you forget that you bought so much; and when the bill is presented to you for payment, you are surprised to find it so large, and are disposed to dispute its correctness; but the books show it. Here it is--the date and the full account in order.

      Now, God keeps a strict account of all we do. He forgets nothing. All is written in the book of his remembrance. You sin, but you soon forget that you sinned. You drive a hard bargain. You cheat some ignorant one in dealing with him; you falsify for base gain; you give way to passion, and storm about; or you yield to the power of appetite, and drink that which intoxicates. These "little sins," as you call them, are soon forgotten, (you do not retain them in mind long enough to repent of them;) and you flatter yourself you are living a consistent life. Thus life passes on. The day of judgment comes. "The books are opened." And here, in God's great Book of remembrance, is the record of your whole life. Every action is therein recorded, and "every work God will bring into judgment."

      2. But the Divine judgment will extend farther, and reach deeper, than actions. For their words men are to be judged. The Judge says: "Verily, I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give [587] count thereof in the day of judgment." (Matt. xii: 36.) Solemn, startling revelation! "A man's words are the evidence on which he is to be tried before God." His speech--the words that proceed out of his mouth--are an indication of the true principles of his heart. By words the heart is made known, as the tree by its fruit. (Matt. xii: 34.)

      Reader, do you believe this? Do you believe that your words are recorded in God's great Book, and that they will be brought up for judicial investigation in the final day? Take heed to your speech. Restrain your tongue from evil. Pray that God would set a watch upon your lips.

      3. But the Divine judgment goes still farther and deeper than "every work," and "every idle word." Your secret thoughts and purposes; your hidden life--which is every one's true life--must pass the scrutiny of the omniscient Judge. Hear the word of God: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." And what is the reason assigned? The fear of God, and obedience to his commandments, are urged by the most powerful reason. "For every work God will bring into judgment, together with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil." (Eccl. xii: 13, 14.) Every secret thing! Every secret thing, both good and evil! "God will judge the SECRETS of men (takrupa ton andropon) by Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel." (Rom. ii: 16.) God will "bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest of every heart." The heart makes man what he is, and determines his character.

      O, my hearers, the judgment of God, the solemn scrutinies of the Great Day, the searchings of Jehovah, go to the depths of your being; to your thoughts, desires, [588] purposes, aims, the moral tendencies of your life, and a full revelation of the whole will be made. Does it not become you to strive after holiness; to be terribly in earnest in seeking conformity to Christ, and in aiming to have your thoughts, as well as words and actions, pure?

      The poet says: "Things are not what they seem." And we may say, some men are not what they seem. They are masked. They are one thing externally, and another thing internally. Their true life you do not see. They manage to conceal it. But in that day, to which we haste, vails will be rent away, and every man will appear before God and the world in his true character.

      My brethren, do not be false. BE what you profess to be. Be true men; and, above all things, seek to be clear of the last vestige of hypocrisy. Let your light shine.

      And now, in conclusion, let me ask: Are you prepared for this searching, righteous judgment of God? O man, dying man, accountable man, "Prepare to meet thy God." Delay not the work of preparation. The day of which I have spoken; the final day; "the dying day of the world;" "the day which none unholy ought to name," the Day of Judgment. will come. It is drawing near. Soon it will come upon the whole world. May God, the Judge of all, approve thee in that day. Amen.

[TLP 575-589]