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Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:17; 2:23; 4:5-6, 12, 17-19
In this message and in the message following we shall have a thorough review of all the matters in chapters one through four related to God’s governmental judgment. The concept of God’s governmental judgment is a basic thought in Peter’s composition of this Epistle. God’s judgment as seen in 1 Peter may be likened to the hub of a wheel. If the hub were taken away from a wheel, all the spokes would collapse. Likewise, if the thought of God’s judgment were removed from the books of 1 and 2 Peter, these Epistles would lose their basic structure.
Many Christian readers of these Epistles may not pay adequate attention to the matter of God’s governmental judgment. The reason most readers may pay attention to things other than God’s judgment is that their mentality has not been trained to concentrate on this subject in the Word of God. However, John Nelson Darby was an exception. In his treatment of 1 and 2 Peter he focuses his attention on God’s governmental judgment. Whether or not we pay attention to this matter in the Epistles of Peter depends on whether or not we have a mind trained to pay attention to such a subject.
Many years ago, some of us were having fellowship concerning the main subject of the books of the New Testament. We all knew that Matthew is on God’s kingdom; Mark, on service to God; Luke, on God’s salvation; and John, on life. When someone asked about the subject of the Epistles of Peter, much to my surprise Brother Nee said that these two books are on God’s government. From that time onward I began to consider what God’s government is. I said to myself, “Isn’t the kingdom in Matthew God’s government? What is the difference between the kingdom of God and the government of God?” Gradually I began to understand the difference between kingdom and government.
Of course, in 1 and 2 Peter we cannot find the word “government.” But in these two books we see the means by which God carries out His government. The means by which God carries out His government is by judging. Eventually, after God’s judgment has been completed, there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells. The new heaven and the new earth are the consummation of 1 and 2 Peter. We all need to see this.
As we have already pointed out, at the beginning of 1 Peter we have a word concerning the foreknowledge of God before the foundation of the world, that is, in eternity past. In the last chapter of 2 Peter we have a word concerning the new heaven and the new earth in eternity future. This means that the scope of these two Epistles extends from eternity past to eternity future. These two books consummate with the new heaven and the new earth with righteousness as their contents. This is related to the government of God.
God’s judgment began to be exercised in the Old Testament, and it has been continually exercised throughout the generations. Today God is still judging. In the New Testament we see that God’s judgment begins from His own household and ends with the burning of the old heaven and the old earth. That burning will be the last step of God’s judgment. When that last step of judgment has been completed, the new heaven and the new earth will appear. This means that when God has thoroughly cleansed the universe through judgment, there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness will dwell. This is a matter of God’s governmental judgment.
I am burdened that all the saints, especially the young ones, have a clear understanding of 1 and 2 Peter. In particular, we need to see that the subject of these two books is God’s government carried out by His judgment.
First Peter 1:17 says, “And if you call upon as Father the One who without respect of persons judges according to each one’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear.” Peter “is not speaking of the final judgment of the soul. In that sense ‘the Father does not judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son’ (John 5:22). The thing spoken of here is the daily judgment of God’s government in this world, exercised with regard to His children. Accordingly it says, ‘the time of your sojourning’ here” (Darby). This is God’s judgment on His own household (1 Pet. 4:17).
Since these two Epistles are concerned with the government of God, the judgment of God and of the Lord is referred to repeatedly (1 Pet. 2:23; 4:5-6, 17; 2 Pet. 2:3-4, 9; 3:7), as one of the essential items. It began from the angels (2 Pet. 2:3-4), and passed through the generations of man in the Old Testament (2 Pet. 2:5-9). Then in the New Testament age it begins from the house of God (1 Pet. 1:17; 4:6, 17) and continues until the coming of the day of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:10), which will be a day of judgment on the Jews, the believers, and the Gentiles before the millennium. After the millennium, all the dead, including men and demons, will be judged and perish (1 Pet. 4:5; 2 Pet. 3:7), and the heavens and the earth will be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10b, 2 Pet. 3:12). The results of the varied judgments are not the same. Some judgments result in a disciplinary dealing, some in a dispensational punishment, and some in eternal perdition. However, by all these judgments the Lord God will clear up and purify the entire universe, that He may have a new heaven and a new earth for a new universe filled with His righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13) for His delight.
The fear spoken of in 1 Pet. 1:17 is a holy fear, as in Phil. 2:12. It is a healthy, serious caution for us to behave holily. Such fear is mentioned a number of times in this book (1 Pet. 2:17, 18; 3:2, 15) because its teaching concerns the government of God.
We need to be impressed by the fact that God’s government differs in dispensation. There are different judgments for different cases, and these judgments have different results. It is important for us to realize that, in Darby’s words, the judgment in 1:17 is not “the final judgment of the soul.” As John 5:22 reveals, that judgment has been given to the Son. What we have in 1:17 is the daily judgment of God’s government in the world, a judgment that is exercised with regard to His children. This is not the final judgment at the white throne, but the daily judgment of God in the world. The daily judgment of God is not exercised upon fallen sinners; instead, it is exercised upon God’s children.
Those who oppose this teaching from the Word may say, “How is it possible for us, God’s children in grace, to be judged by God? God is our Father, and He loves us and gives us grace. How could He do something to judge us?” Because the truth of God’s judgment is opposed in this way, I am burdened that we all grasp the pure thought regarding it in the Bible. Today all of us are under God’s judgment. God is not only gracing us, giving us grace. He is also judging us. This is the reason we have many sufferings. We have sufferings because God is judging us. On the one hand, God is gracing us to live a life that suits His righteousness under His government. On the other hand, He judges anything that does not match His government. Therefore, in this age we the believers are under the daily judgment of God.
Darby points out that because the judgment in 1:17 is the daily judgment of God’s government exercised with regard to His children, this verse speaks of passing the time of our sojourning in fear. This kind of judgment is exercised upon us, the children of God, while we are passing the time of our sojourning on earth. Therefore, this judgment is not in the future; it is a judgment that we experience today. The Lord’s word in John 5:22 refers to eternal judgment, to the judgment of unbelievers at the white throne. But the judgment here is the present judgment of God upon His children, not on unbelievers.
In the Old Testament God judged the fallen angels, He judged the earth at the time of Noah, and He judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also judged the children of Israel in the wilderness. We have seen that in the New Testament God’s judgment begins from the house of God. This means that God’s judgment begins with us, that is, with the church including all the saints. God’s governmental judgment has already begun. It was being carried out even during the time of the apostles. This judgment will continue until the coming of the day of the Lord.
The day of the Lord is mentioned both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. According to the Bible, the day of the Lord will be a day of judgment, not a day of saving. The whole world has gone away from God. Gradually the Lord has been carrying out His judgment. But a day of His final judgment will come. At that day God will judge everyone. Three categories of people are included in God’s judgment: the Jews, the church people, and the worldly people. God’s judgment has been carried out for thousands of years, and it will continue to be carried out until the final judgment as the day of the Lord. Eventually, God will judge each of the three categories of people. He will judge the Jews, all the Christians, and then all the unbelievers. Do not think that because you are a Christian you will escape the judgment of God. Concerning God’s judgment, there is no escape. The day of the Lord will be a day of judgment before the millennium on the Jews, the believers, and the Gentiles.
After the millennium, all the dead, including men and demons, will be judged at the white throne. That will be the final judgment for eternal perdition. After that judgment has been carried out, the heavens and the earth will be burned up and the new heaven and the new earth will appear.
We have seen that the results of the different kinds of judgments are not the same. Certain judgments result in a disciplinary dealing. This is true of the judgments we experience today. Persecution, trouble, and illness are God’s judgments resulting in a disciplinary dealing in this age.
Other judgments result in dispensational punishment. Dispensational punishment refers to punishment during the thousand years, during the millennial kingdom. The kingdom will be a dispensation. Defeated Christians will suffer a punishment during the coming age. That will be a dispensational punishment.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, some believers will suffer during the dispensation of the kingdom in the coming age (Matt. 24:48-51; 25:24-30). For them, that period of time will be a time of darkness with the weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 25 clearly indicates that when the Lord Jesus comes back, the faithful servants will be rewarded and the unfaithful ones will be punished. Some Bible teachers say that the unfaithful servants in Matthew 25 are false Christians, whereas the faithful ones are genuine Christians. This understanding is not logical nor correct. How could a false Christian be counted as a servant of the Lord? Furthermore, how could a false Christian be raptured to appear before the judgment seat of Christ? Instead of following the interpretation that the unfaithful servants are false Christians, we believe the pure Word of God. The Bible says that when the Lord Jesus comes back, we shall all stand before His judgment seat. In 2 Corinthians 5:10 Paul says clearly that we all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive a reward according to what we have done. If we have done a faithful work, the Lord will give us a prize. But if we have been unfaithful and have failed the Lord, He will give us some kind of punishment. That will be a dispensational punishment during the millennium.
Other judgments will result in eternal perdition. As we have seen, the judgment upon men and demons at the white throne will result in eternal perdition. Therefore, we can see three kinds of results of God’s governmental judgment: disciplinary dealing, dispensational punishment, and eternal perdition.
In 2:23 Peter says concerning Christ, “Who being reviled, did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten, but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously.” According to the usage of the verb “kept committing” in Greek, “all” needs to be inserted here as its object, referring to all the sufferings of the Lord. He kept committing all His insults and injuries to Him who judges righteously in His government, the righteous God, to whom He submitted Himself. This indicates that the Lord recognized God’s government while He was living a human life on earth.
In no other book of the New Testament are we told that the Lord Jesus lived under God’s government. Peter is the only one who tells us of this. In 2:23 Peter indicates that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was under God’s government. Because the Lord lived under God’s government, He committed all His sufferings to God. Here Peter does not speak of God as the faithful One, but as the One who judges righteously. The reason for this is that judging righteously is a matter of God’s government.
First Peter 4:5 says, speaking of unbelievers, “Who shall render an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” The relative pronoun “who” here refers to the nations (4:3), who are astonished at the believers’ different manner of life and speak evil of them (4:4). They have to render an account by relating to the Lord all that they have done and spoken in their entire life. This word concerning the nations rendering an account to the Lord reveals the government of God over all men. The Lord is ready to judge all, both the living and the dead. His judgment is God’s governmental administration to deal with the situation among men.
According to the New Testament, God will judge the living and the dead. Acts 10:42 says that the Lord Jesus has been ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead, and Acts 17:31 says that God has appointed a day in which “He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained.” In 2 Timothy 4:1 Paul says that Jesus Christ “is about to judge the living and the dead.”
To whom does the word “living” refer in 4:5? It refers to unbelievers who are alive when the Lord Jesus comes back. Matthew 25:31-46 speaks regarding this. Matthew 25:31-33 says, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He shall sit on His throne of glory; and all the nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand and the goats on the left.” “All the nations” are all the Gentiles who will be left at Christ’s coming back to the earth after He destroys those Gentiles who follow Antichrist at Armageddon (Rev. 16:14, 16; 19:11-15, 19-21). They will all be gathered and judged at Christ’s throne of glory. This will be Christ’s judgment on the living before the millennium. It will differ from His judgment on the dead at the great white throne after the millennium (Rev. 20:1-15).
Before the Lord sits on His throne of glory according to Matthew 25:31, He will carry out many judgments during the great tribulation. During the period of the great tribulation, many people will be killed by natural calamities, by wars, and by Antichrist. After the great tribulation, the Lord will come and sit on His throne of glory at Jerusalem. All the living nations will be gathered together before Him to be judged. He will discern who are the goats, the bad ones, those who will “go away into eternal punishment,” into eternal fire, and the sheep, the good ones, those who will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. This judgment will be the fulfillment of Peter’s word in Acts 10:42, which says that Christ has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. It will also be the fulfillment of Paul’s word spoken in Acts 17:31, which says that God has appointed Christ to judge all men. Again, in 1 Peter 4:5, Peter says that everyone will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
The “dead” in 4:5 refers to the dead unbelievers, who will be judged at the great white throne described in Revelation 20. We have seen that after the great tribulation, the Lord will exercise His judgment upon the living nations. Then the millennium, the thousand-year kingdom will begin. After the millennium, the Lord will exercise His judgment upon all the dead. Regarding this, Revelation 20:12 says, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by the things which were written in the books, according to their works.” According to Revelation 20:15, “If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.” This is the final judgment of the dead unbelievers. That judgment will be followed by the burning up of the old heavens and earth.
In 4:6 Peter goes on to say, “For unto this end the gospel was preached also to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” In this verse the word “dead” refers to the dead believers in Christ who suffered persecution because of their Christian testimony, as referred to in 1 Pet. 1:6; 2:18-21; 3:16-17 and 1 Pet. 4:12-19. This kind of persecution is considered by Peter in this book as God’s judgment according to the government of God, which begins from the house of God (4:17). The gospel was preached to these dead believers while they were living in order that they might on the one hand be judged, dealt with, by God through the opposers’ persecution according to men in the flesh, but, on the other hand, live by believing in Christ according to God in the spirit. This shows how strict and serious is the judgment of God in His governmental administration. If the believers, who have been obedient to the gospel, are dealt with by God’s governmental judgment, how much more will those who oppose the gospel and blaspheme the believers be judged by God’s dealing!
In 4:12 Peter says, “Beloved, do not think that the fiery ordeal among you is strange, which is coming to you for a trial, as a strange thing happening to you.” According to what we have covered concerning this verse in one of the preceding messages, “fiery ordeal” here means burning. It signifies the burning of a smelting furnace for the purification of gold and silver, like the metaphor used in 1:7. Peter considered the persecution the believers suffered as such a burning furnace used by God to purify their life. This is God’s way to deal with the believers in the judgment of His governmental administration, which begins from His own house (4:17-19).
The fiery ordeal is God’s way to deal not with sinners and opposers but with believers, the members of His household. The burning furnace is a means used by God to carry out the judgment of His governmental administration. In the administration of His government, God uses fiery ordeals as a furnace to purify any dross the believers may have. Yes, as believers in Christ we are gold, yet we still have a lot of dross. Therefore, we need to be purified. This purification cannot be accomplished simply through teaching, fellowship, or attending the meetings of the church. We all need to pass through the burning furnace. God puts us into a burning furnace, into fiery ordeals, to burn away our dross. This is regarded by Peter as a judgment in God’s governmental dealing with the believers.
