When the last day comes, it will expose and bring an end to all the wrongdoing and injustice and evildoing in the world, however secret, or open, or ineradicable it seems for now. It will also, at last, bring into the present the now-future ‘wrath which is to come.’ For these reasons that day is something that sinners dread and prefer not to think about. But for those who are sheltering in Jesus, whose guilt has been taken away by Him and who take His side in the controversy against evil and sin, it will be a day of astonishing blessing and honour. In the following updated extract, James Renwick identifies ten privileges which will be bestowed on believers in the day of judgment. His closing words are a plea to us to make sure now, while we still have opportunity, that we will share in these blessings on that day.

I will show you the excellency of the day of judgment by showing you some privileges and benefits that the believer shall partake of in that day.

Togetherness

The first privilege that the godly shall partake of at the day of judgment is that they shall be gathered from the four winds of heaven, and from the four corners of the earth, by the sound of the last trumpet.

O friends! There is a great scattering among believers now; some are killed, some banished to foreign lands, some dead in their banishment, and some dead in their imprisonment, and many drowned in the sea; in fact, some cast into the sea when dying on the journey, and some cruelly tortured, their bodies quartered and put into pieces.

But at that day, the Lord will gather, so that not one pile of that dust of theirs shall be lost, but with these bodies with which they endured these scatterings, tortures, or death, they shall appear, and be united to the soul again.

Reunion

The second privilege is that they shall be caught up from the earth to meet the Lord in the air. O friends! The King is coming! The great Judge is coming! He is on his way. O prepare for Him! Prepare to meet with Him, for if you are godly, you shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air with joy and gladness.

Triumph

The third privilege that believers shall partake of at the last day is that they shall be set on the right hand of the great Judge, a place of invaluable or inestimable honour, a place of high renown.

It is true that the wicked shall be gathered, but they shall not share in this honourable privilege of sitting at the right hand of Christ with His true sheep. Nor, indeed, do I think that they shall be caught up at all, but shall remain below, and when sentenced, they shall go to hell, there to remain to all eternity.

But the righteous shall have a place at His right hand, a place of honour, a place of pleasure, and a place of delight, where they shall be made sharers of His victory and triumph, and shall join heartily in giving sentence against the reprobate angels and men. They shall not then be partial. The believing father shall give out sentence against the unbelieving child, and the child against the father, and the husband against his loving wife, and that without any reluctance or hesitation at all.

Recognition

The fourth privilege of the true believer is that they shall be acknowledged by the Lord. They shall be acknowledged by Him before His Father, and before all the angels in heaven.

O then, friends! Don’t be afraid to obey Him. Don’t be afraid to confess Him here below, for you shall be acknowledged by God at the last day, and get His approbation, and that is of more worth than if you had the applause of angels, and all saints that ever lived or shall live on the earth. For even if you had these, if you lacked His, you will not partake of the joy of being acknowledged and approved of God at that day.

Cleansing

The fifth privilege is that they shall be freely freed from the guilt and power of sin.

O but the believer has many a black mark while here below! But at that day he shall be freely freed, and clearly cleared, and cleanly washed from all the spots and blemishes that sin has brought on his soul, and shall be clothed with pure and white raiment, even the righteousness of Christ. O friends! What do you think of that glorious garment that shall be put on you at that day?

Exoneration

The sixth privilege that true believers shall share in at the last day is that they shall be cleared, by God, of all the scandals and aspersions or calumnies that have been cast on them by other people. At the last day He will rid them from all the scandals and reproaches they have met with here in this life. As I say, they shall be freely freed before all their adversaries on that day, and acquitted for evermore .

Welcome

The seventh privilege is that they shall be kindly entertained and received by the Lord Himself. He who is king of heaven and earth will welcome and entertain them with this lovely invitation, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, from the foundation of the world.”

O that glorious, pleasant, and profitable inheritance, where you shall enjoy that glorious company! and your activity then shall be a continual praising of God without intermission. O! who can tell what it is! O! who can speak of it with anything approaching relevance! O! that soul-ravishing inheritance which they shall enjoy at that day!

Concurring

The eighth privilege is that they shall sit with Christ, concurring with Him in judgment, judging the world. Many unjust sentences have been given out against the godly in this world, but at that day the believer shall give his consent to that just and terrible judgment given out against the fearful, disobedient sinners who did not want Christ to reign over them in this world. And at that day, the love of believers shall be so great towards Christ that they will concur with Him in judgment, and shall accuse and condemn their nearest kinsfolk or relations according to the flesh, and that without any reluctance or hesitation.

Possession

The ninth privilege is that they shall be invited to come and take possession of the grand dwelling place which has been prepared for them from all eternity. O come and take possession and ownership now of your kingdom!

It would only darken the glory of it to you, for me to begin to speak of it. For who is able to describe that holy place? The privileges of it cannot be told you, neither by angels nor spirits of just men made perfect, who are now in possession of it, far less by me! Not all the angels and saints who have been in possession of it these many years, would not be able to describe it to us! But what we may say is that it is a rest without a rest. There they are for ever quit of trouble, of sin, sorrow, or misery, and there they are for ever restless in giving praise to God.

Contrast

The tenth privilege is their sense of their happiness, or the happy condition they are in, when they think of the wicked in torment and find themselves freely freed from that miserable and woeful condition that the wicked are entering into, that shall never have an end.

Our response

How should we use these facts? O consider what you are doing, while you have time, and while you have opportunity! O strive to be made sharers of these privileges! O seek to enjoy Him!

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