Against that day.' The Apostle has many allusions to that day in this final letter. It was evidently, as was natural under the circumstances, much in his mind. And the tone of the allusions is remarkable. Remember what Paul believed that day was--a day when he and all men would stand before the judgment' bar of an omniscient and all-righteous, Divine Judge, to receive the deeds done in the body.' A solemn thought and a firm conviction, and a profound impression as to that day, were in his mind. And in the face of all this, he says, I know that He will keep this poor soul of mine against that day.'
Ah, my brother! it is easy for you to shuffle out of your thoughts the judgment-seat before which we must all stand, and so to be quiet. It is easy for you to question, in a so-called intellectual scepticism, the New Testament revelations as to the future, and so to be quiet. It is easy for you to persuade yourselves of the application there of another standard of judgment than that which Scripture reveals, and to say, If I have done my best God will not be hard upon me,' and so to be quiet. But, supposing that that certain tribunal blazed upon you; supposing that you could not get rid of the thought that you were to stand there, and supposing that you realised, further, the rigidity of that judgment, and how it penetrates to the discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart, would you be quiet then? Should you be quiet then? This man was. How? Why? Because, in patient trust, he had put his soul into God's hands, and a lifetime had taught him that his trust was not in vain.
If you want like peace in life, like victory in death, like boldness in the Day of Judgment, oh, dear friend! --friend though unknown--let me plead with you to seek it where Paul found it, and where you will find it, in simple faith on God manifest in His Son.
