through the body, according to what he hath
done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. v. 10. So also Rom. xiv. 10). It
is not expressly said in the passage above quoted who they are who sat
on thrones and had judgment given to them; but the information is
supplied in Matt. xix. 28, where we read, "Jesus said to them [that is,
as the context shows, to Peter and the other apostles], Verily I say to
you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of
man shall sit on the {40} throne of his glory, ye also shall sit on
twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." A like
revelation, addressed exclusively to the apostles, is given in Luke
xxii. 28-80. "The twelve tribes of Israel" is the symbolic designation
of the elect--those that are sealed (see Rev. vii. 3-8).

It must now be taken into account that the experience and the deeds of
_the present life_ alone determine whether any individual is or is not
of the number of the elect. Those only who by the favour of God are
justified in this life by works done through faith are reckoned among
"the just" who partake of the first resurrection. But Scripture
nowhere asserts that their spiritual state differs at their
resurrection from what it was at the time of their death; rather, it
negatives this assumption by describing their state in the interval as
that of "_sleep_." Consequently, not being yet "made perfect," they
have need to pass through the judgment just spoken of (compare 1 Cor.
iii. 11-15), in order that by the completion of their _spiritual
creation_ they might be made meet for immortality. To them, although
there is judgment, there is no "_condemnation_," and, therefore, no
"second death." Such, it seems to me, is the Scriptural doctrine of
immortality, as far as regards _the elect_.

Before proceeding to speak of the judgment of the whole world, it will
be appropriate to consider here what judgment is abstractedly, and what
are its {41} purpose and effect. These questions can only be answered
by means of what is matter of human experience, and in terms derived
therefrom. Now we all know that kings, judges, and magistrates
administer justice and judgment for the purpose of making righteousness
and truth prevail, and that for the same end they inflict punishment on
the guilty. Whatever is this is judgment, and what is not this is not
judgment. The portion of the Scriptures which speaks in plainest terms
of the object and effect of judgm