Chapter 26—"For Judgment I am Come"
Jesus Christ came to bring light and understanding to a dark world, to redeem mankind from the Fall, to break the bands of sin and death.
Offering salvation to sinners was His gift, but Jesus knew that His coming would divide the rebellious from the righteous, the light from the darkness, the sacred from the profane. Some would be reformed and saved, others condemned. “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world [but] men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Condemning man was not His purpose: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12:47).
Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. (John 9:39)Though a seeming contradiction to John 12:47, in this verse ‘judgment’ is judging with a decision or sentence we pronounce on ourselves by choosing to accept or refuse His light. To better understand, we must realize that in John 9:39, a blind beggar not only received physical sight miraculously for the first time in history, he also came out of spiritual blindness by recognizing Jesus Christ as the Son of God. What a contrast to Pharisee leaders who claimed keys of knowledge and thought their own light was sufficient. By not seeking or recognizing His light, they were the truly blind and condemned.
If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not have sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. (John 15:24, CSB)Christ is the light that “judged no man, and yet by it every man was judged.” “Seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully” (Moroni 7:18).
Mercy or Justice
Christ mercifully delays His judgment so the willing can repent, but His selfless gift is not well received. Though “the world was made by him, the world knew him not. He came unto his own and his own received him not” (John 1:10–11).
Wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state! (2 Nephi 9:27)None can escape God’s judgment. He “will test you with the measuring line of justice” (Isaiah 28:17, NLT). Judgment is translated justice often (H4941). Our actions determine if we are judged by justice or mercy. Mercy “overpowereth justice” (Alma 34:15) but mercy cannot rob justice. Without turning to Christ in transforming repentance, we have no claim on mercy. “Mercy claimeth the penitent” but “justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment. If not so, the works of justice would be destroyed . . . None but the truly penitent are saved” (Alma 42:22–24). Without mercy, there is no redemption.
Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice.
Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God. And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence. (Alma 42:13–14)Knowing that those “in the grasp of justice” are “forever cut off from his presence,” Alma urges with his whole soul: “Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God; but do let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the dust in humility” (Alma 42:14, 30) to receive His atoning sacrifice. Because “the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice,” the penitent are “restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel” (2 Nephi 9:26). But mercy depends on and is inseparably connected to His atonement. Mercy is only found in plural in Hebrew, meaning it is endless and cannot be exhausted. “His mercies fail not . . . they are new every morning” (Lamentations 2:22–23), for “the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:1). That we can be judged in mercy is the purpose of His atonement.
The plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made. Therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also. (Alma 42:15)“O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! for he delivers us from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment” (2 Nephi 9:19). “Abominations shall not reign” (D&C 29:21).
All who do not understand His laws and purposes, will not recognize His judgments as righteous or merciful. To continue sinning with increased intensity only condemns us further. When iniquity is full, God must let justice prevail, even if it means destroying some of His creations because, having rejected mercy, this is the judgment they have chosen.
Will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?
Know ye not that if ye will do these things, that the power of the redemption and the resurrection, which is in Christ, will bring you to stand with shame and awful guilt before the bar of God? (Jacob 6:8–9)Many who expect eternal life will not receive it. They do not want the comfort He offers. Because they refuse His atonement, God asks, “By whom shall I comfort thee?” Without it, their strength will fail for “thy sons have fainted . . . They are full of the fury of the Lord” (Isaiah 51:20). Being ensnared makes us “desolate and faint” (Lamentations 1:13). They “fainted . . . as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36) and will “find no rest” (Jeremiah 45:3).
We “ought always to pray and not to faint” (D&C 101:81). “Let not your hearts faint” for during our preparations, God will send ministering angels who “shall go up before you, but not my presence” (D&C 103:19). A minister, doulos, is a servant bound in subjection or submission to God’s will, not his own. Ministering angels “converse with” and prepare us to “behold of his glory” (Alma 12:29) through the “power and authority of the lesser or Aaronic priesthood” (D&C 107:20). He who does “not fail, neither lets his heart faint . . . shall be mine” and “[I] will accept of his offerings” (D&C 124:75).
God desires “that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory” (Ephesians 3:13). Having strength in tribulation is our glory so “let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). We should “waste and wear out our lives” (D&C 123:13) seeking to overthrow injustice and darkness. This “must needs be, that all men may be left without excuse” (D&C 123:6). Pray “always that they faint not; and inasmuch as they do this, I will be with them even unto the end.” Pray always “until I come . . . I will come quickly and receive you unto myself” (D&C 75:11, 88:126). Joseph prayed fervently for God to
put upon thy servants the testimony of the covenant, that when they go out and proclaim thy word they may seal up the law and prepare the hearts of thy saints for all those judgments thou art about to send, in thy wrath, upon the inhabitants of the earth, because of their transgressions, that thy people may not faint in the day of trouble. (D&C 109:38)For the faithful, the Lord “will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, NIV). This promise is also given in the word of wisdom, offered to all “who are or can be called Saints.” It is “a principle with promises” that are profound (D&C 89:3).
All saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. (D&C 89:18–21)Destruction passes by those covered by His atoning blood, who have “not fainted” cannot “bear them which are evil.” They “tried them which say they are apostles and are not and hast found them liars” (Revelation 2:3, 2). Without His atoning blood, there is no peace.
Without having our election to eternal life made sure (an invaluable witness that He has sealed divine promises for us), we will be in “awful fear” as “knowledge of their iniquities shall smite them at the last day” (2 Nephi 9:46, 33). If we “procrastinate the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, your destruction is made sure” (Helaman 13:38).
Much depends on fulfilling our duty to receive His mercy, salvation, promises, and ‘testimony of the covenant.’ “Seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not” (2 Corinthians 4:1). The faithful, judged by mercy, “and have no cause to fear” (Isaiah 54:14, Gileadi).
At-One-Ment
Faith leads us to His Atonement, a oneness that reunites and reconciles us to God. His gospel is given “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17) to receive His reconciling embrace. A basic word for atonement is kaphar, to cover, wipe out, or “forgive, to be expiated . . . Arabic puts emphasis on a tight squeeze . . . drawing a thing close to one’s self. Closely related are Aramaic and Arabic kafat, meaning a close embrace, which are certainly related to the Egyptian hpt, the common ritual embrace” portrayed in both the ancient and restored endowment. Tragically, the sacred embrace was removed from the LDS ordinance in 1990.
The mercy seat was known as the place of atonement. It had a golden lid with two cherubim whose wings provided cover, imagery of an embrace. It covered the Ark of the Covenant and created space for God to appear, in the holy of holies. The mercy seat represented the place where sins were absolved or covered and the faithful were covered by His mercy. But this too was taken from Israel’s temple.
To receive His sacred embrace is to receive our endowment with its promises, protections, and power. It is to be redeemed, atoned for, and made one with Him. His atoning sacrifice reconciles body and soul, heaven and earth, God and man. This is the object “of faith, where [man] is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him.” The faithful seek this reconciliation diligently, exchanging sin for purity, worldliness for holiness, and rebellion for oneness with God. The return of the prodigal son is the story of atonement, a type for all who sinfully depart from Him but return to His embrace and eternal rest.
By choosing not to receive His comforting embrace, we rebel against the atonement and the fulness we claim to possess. His sacred embrace is atonement imagery, “encircled about eternally in the arms of His love” and mercy (2 Nephi 1:15). “O have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins” (Mosiah 4:2).
Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent and I will receive you. (Alma 5:33)It is damning to remove this sacred embrace or deny its necessity. “Will ye longer deny the Christ or can ye behold the lamb of God?” (Mormon 9:3). To not “look to the great Mediator” is to “choose eternal death” (2 Nephi 2:28–29). We reject it when sacred symbols that lead to knowledge of the at-one-ment He offers are neglected, rejected, or exchanged. “God said they were signs of the atonement.” To deny His atonement, with its ordinances and symbols, is antichrist.
The Savior’s great work is infinite in its power, but it cannot cover sins of those who refuse it. “They cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall because they repent not” (D&C 29:44). If we choose not to be encircled in His arms, we will be “encircled about by the bands of death and the chains of hell” (Alma 5:25). Those who seek “to be a law unto” themselves and “abide in sin” forfeit redemption and “must remain filthy still” (D&C 88:35, 102). Faithless works and provocations “will not be atoned for” (Isaiah 22:14, NIV).
If we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies.
Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. (Hebrews 10:26–27, 29, NLT)Christ “suffereth the pains of all men . . . [and] every living creature” (2 Nephi 9:21). He also suffered “temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death” (Mosiah 3:7). It is the Father’s work, willingly performed by His faithful Son to glorify Him. “This is the gospel”—that Christ came “to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power” (D&C 76:40–42).
I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel that I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross . . . and for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. (3 Nephi 27:13–15)Jesus could not judge the world until after He overcame sin and death. To finish His preparations for man’s salvation and to glorify the Father, Jesus partook of “the bitter cup,” opening the way for man’s return to God. Man chooses his judgment by his response to Christ’s work.
And would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. (D&C 19:18–19)The price for sin must be paid. Christ paid that price through offering His own sinless life, but we must let Him mediate on our behalves to be judged by His mercy. If we choose to deny Him this role in our life, we must pay the bitter price of our own sins with eternal consequence—we will be “cut off from the presence of the Lord” (Alma 42:9).
I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I. (D&C 19:15–17)We cannot remit our own sins so we need His intercession. He who refuses Him “drinketh damnation to his own soul” (Mosiah 2:33). Having “trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (Luke 18:9), many fell.
Behold, an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter cup. (Alma 40:26)“In the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red. It is full of mixture and he poureth out of the same; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them” (Psalm 75:8).
“Where I am they cannot come for they have no power” (D&C 29:29). “There must needs be a power of resurrection to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator” (2 Nephi 9:6).
[They] shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works—whether they be good or whether they be evil. If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation—having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not.
They being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent. (Mosiah 16:10–12)Moroni exhorts us “to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you which were written by this man?” (Moroni 10:27). Jacob too will “meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear” (Jacob 6:13). Nephi, Mormon, and other holy prophets will also see us at the judgment bar.
A courtroom’s “bar of judgment” separates those with legal right and authority from spectators, and it also prohibits some from entering. In other words, those who come to Christ, receive His embrace, and have their favorable judgment revealed (a calling and election made sure) will be found on God’s side of the “pleasing bar,” but all who fail to obtain what He offers will be cast out and consigned to their unfortunate, but chosen, fate.
[When you are] brought to see your nakedness before God, and also the glory of God, and the holiness of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you. O then ye unbelieving, (1) turn ye unto the Lord; (2) cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white; (3) having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day. (Mormon 9:5–6, numerals added)In the end, there will be no doubt in our minds that our punishment is just, for we “shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt” (Alma 11:43).
How will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you? Behold will they not testify that ye are . . . guilty of all manner of wickedness? (Alma 5:22–23)Our sins separate us from God. What hinders us from being one with Him is not Satan’s presence, but the presence of sin in our life. Only Christ removes sin that we can be “washed white through the blood of the Lamb” (Alma 13:11). Remission of sins is required to “have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white” (Alma 5:24).
There can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins. (Alma 5:21)They who “washed their robes” in His atoning blood “have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into . . . the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven” (Revelation 22:14, 21:2).
“I Have Trodden the Winepress Alone”
Jesus appeared in red at the Mount of Olives during His mortal life. In Gethsemane, “His bloody sweat,” selflessly poured out in agony for the sins of the world, “surely stained His garments red.”
He went down into Gethsemane and there He prayed earnestly but with sweet submission; for He said, ‘Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ Complete submission was the essential spirit of His prayer. He rose up from prayer all crimson with his bloody sweat, and He went to meet His foes, delivering Himself up voluntarily to be led as a sheep to the slaughter.The crown of thorns placed on His head surely added to the blood He poured out. Even still, this brutal symbol testified of His divinity and mission. Christ will again appear arrayed in red at the Mount of Olives at His second coming. Armed with righteousness, “he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies” (Isaiah 59:17–18). Having “garments rolled in blood” (Isaiah 9:5) and a shield “made red” (Nahum 2:3) are marks of a valiant warrior.
Christ performed His great sacrifice that “I might subdue all things unto myself—retaining all power, even to the destroying of Satan and his works at the end of the world, and the last great day of judgment, which I shall pass upon the inhabitants” (D&C 19:2–3). John saw similar imagery in his vision.
I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:11–15)The Lord “has a sharp sword to smite the nations, but the sword is in his mouth—to symbolize teaching. He will shepherd the nations with an iron rod [‘the word of God’ (1 Nephi 11:25)]. It would be a battle of beliefs, or, as we might say nowadays, a conflict of ideologies . . . Destroyers of the earth would be destroyed by his teaching.” His word is a double-edge sword, having power to bless or curse, to proclaim eternal life or damnation, to divide the righteous from the wicked, the light from darkness, and offer eternal joy instead of endless torment.
The Savior offers redemption to the sinful and fallen. In the end, those who spurn His great gift will be damned. His judgments are just and binding, and it will be said,
Who is this that cometh down from God in heaven with dyed garments; yea, from the regions which are not known, clothed in his glorious apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? And he shall say: I am he who spake in righteousness, mighty to save. And the Lord shall be red in his apparel and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat. And so great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall withhold its light, and the stars shall be hurled from their places.
And his voice shall be heard: I have trodden the wine-press alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and none were with me; and I have trampled them in my fury, and I did tread upon them in mine anger, and their blood have I sprinkled upon my garments, and stained all my raiment; for this was the day of vengeance which was in my heart. (D&C 133:46–51)His wrath is ultimately unleashed in the valley of Jehoshaphat, a ravine that separates Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Jehoshaphat means ‘the Lord has judged.’ He “will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity” (Isaiah 13:11). Having refused “the cup of salvation,” the wicked drink “the wine cup of [His] fury,” a penalty so severe that God calls it “the cup of trembling” (Isaiah 51:17).
In John’s vision, the Lord’s feet were “like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters” (Revelation 1:15). Brass is a symbol of judgment. An essential part of the Lord’s plan, judgment cleanses, renews, and prepares land and people for a glorious inheritance. Sent to earth to prove themselves worthy to reign eternally (or not), humanity is temporarily given dominion over earth’s creatures, under the condition that they obey God’s laws. Without priesthood power, we cannot fulfill the commandment to cultivate, improve, and exercise great care over the earth, to “subdue it and have dominion . . . over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Moses 2:28). “They are given into your hands” to care for (Genesis 9:2, NIV).
Satan exerts all effort to thwart God’s plan because he knows his time is short. He rejoices in his destruction of souls and worldly power, but his glory and triumph will not last. “The angel of the bottomless pit,” known as Abaddon or Apollyon, will meet his end. Both names represent death or destruction. Apollyon also means to deceive, seduce, or cause to stray. The Lord’s angels are given power to bind the devil, one being given “the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled” (Revelation 20:1–3).
Although he tried every means to prevent us from obtaining divine knowledge, Satan loses in the end. “Now is judgment upon this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). The righteous will “execute righteous judgment on all the wicked” and “all the deeds of wickedness will vanish from the whole earth and descend to the everlasting pit” (1 Enoch 91:11, 14). Christ is the rightful ruler, but men believe the earth is theirs. The Father “hath put all things under [Christ’s] feet and gave him to be the head over all things” (Ephesians 1:22). “He put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him” (Hebrews 2:8). “Let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet” (D&C 76:61). “When all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).
I have made the earth rich, and behold it is my footstool, wherefore, again I will stand upon it. And I hold forth and deign to give unto you greater riches, even a land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey, upon which there shall be no curse when the Lord cometh; and I will give it unto you for the land of your inheritance, if you seek it with all your hearts. (D&C 38:17–19)Jesus finished His preparations at His first coming and in “the fulness of times” He comes again to perfect his work (D&C 76:106). When Christ again stands on “the Mount of Olives” (Zechariah 14:4) and “puts all enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25), righteousness finally rules. “The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand” (Proverbs 12:7).
[Through Him] the idol is destroyed, the temple of images forsaken; and those who but a short time previous followed the traditions of their fathers and sacrificed their own flesh to appease the wrath of some imaginary god, are now raising their voices in the worship of the Most High, and are lifting their thoughts up to Him with the full expectation that one day they will meet with a joyful reception in His everlasting kingdom!After “the day of vengeance,” Christ “shall deliver up the kingdom and present it unto the Father, spotless, saying, I have overcome and have trodden the wine-press alone, even the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God” (D&C 76:107).
Angels testify, “It is finished; it is finished! The Lamb of God hath overcome and trodden the winepress alone . . . and then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his might and the saints shall be filled with his glory and receive their inheritance and be made equal with him” (D&C 88:106–107).
Seeing we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily ensnare us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith; who . . . endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1–2, KJV 2000)
For footnotes and references, click HERE.