"All The Nations Will Be Gathered Before HIM!"

The great Arbiter of life and death!
(William Nicholson,
"The Separation of the Righteous from the Wicked!" 1862)

"When the SON of MAN comes in HIS glory,
and all the angels with HIM, HE will sit on 
HIS throne in heavenly glory. All the nations 
will be gathered before HIM, and HE will 
separate the people one from another, 
as a shepherd separates the sheep from 
the goats. HE will put the sheep on HIS 
right, and the goats on HIS left!" 
Matthew 25:31-33

There are three important days
in the existence of a man: 
   the day of his birth,
   the day of his death, and
   the day when he shall be judged.

At the day of his birth he commences
an immortal existence; he enters on a
career which will be lengthened out
through an endless eternity.

At the day of his death--
his seed-time, his probation, and
all his works shall end. His body shall
return to the dust, and his soul pass
into the world of spirits.

At the day of judgment, all his thoughts,

motives, and actions, will be scrutinized 

by the great Arbiter of life and death, 

and the character of them will decide his 

everlasting destiny. 

"For we must all appear before the judgment 
seat of CHRIST, that each one may receive 
what is due him for the things done while 
in the body, whether good or bad!" 
2 Corinthians 5:10

I. The Great and Solemn Convention. 

"All the nations will be gathered before HIM!"

1. The time when this convention 

shall take place: 

"When the SON of MAN shall come in HIS glory."

2. The grand appearance of the Judge: 

"HE shall come in HIS glory."

3. This appearance will be judicial. 

 "Then HE will sit on HIS throne 
in heavenly glory." 

 The nations of the earth shall be gathered 

before HIM, at HIS bar. It will be a judicial throne.

3. The Assembly.

 "All the nations will be gathered before HIM!" 

What a vast assembly! 

Yes, "all nations," all the inhabitants 

of the world, from Adam to his last-born 

son, shall be gathered before the throne!

II. The Momentous Separation 

and Its Consequences. 

"And He will separate the people one 
from another as a shepherd separates 
the sheep from the goats. HE will put 
the sheep on HIS right and the goats 
on HIS left!"

1. He will separate them into two classes:
  the righteous--and the wicked,
  saved saints--and lost sinners,
  the pure grain--and the chaff,
  the wheat--and the tares,
  the sheep--and the goats.

2. This separation will be exact.
Though the multitude will be so vast--
yet the character of each will be detected
with the greatest precision. Every thought,
desire, motive, and action will be known
to the infallible JUDGE!

3. This separation will be complete and just. 

There will be no partiality. HE will make 

the separation in righteousness, according 

to HIS perfect law of equity. 

"Be not deceived; GOD is not mocked, 
for whatever a man sows--that shall he reap!"
(Galatians 6:7)

The judgment will be so complete, that all will
acknowledge the justice displayed in the separation.

4. This separation will be to many most
surprising, degrading, and mortifying!

Then the proud and wealthy--
will be humbled and brought down!

Men of talent and genius, "wise men
after the flesh," who received
the applause of the multitude--
will descend from their pinnacle
of glory, to contempt and infamy--
and see the poor despised Christian
infinitely exalted above them!

What mortification will the miser feel
when he finds his gold so worthless!

What will the worldly objects and
pursuits of the ambitious appear then!

How will the votary of of this world, and
the lover of pleasure, find themselves
undeceived then!

How will those who have rejected CHRIST,

or denied GOD'S existence, open their eyes

in astonishment!

What surprise when they gaze on HIM,

and hear HIM say,

"But those enemies of MINE who did
not want ME to be king over them--
bring them here and kill them in front of ME!"
Luke 19:27

Then there will be "weeping and gnashing
of teeth," such as the world never saw, when
the rich, the splendid, the refined, and the noble--
behold the Christian pauper, beggar, and slave,
ready to "sit down in the kingdom of GOD,
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--
and they themselves thrust out!"

5. This separation will, in many cases,
be awfully affecting. What a distinction 
will then be made in families! 

Some parents themselves will be left behind,
and with failing eyes, and bursting hearts,
will follow their children rising to the heavens,
and bidding them an everlasting farewell.

6. This separation will be eternal.
They shall be divided--
and never come together again.
There will be no return from perdition;
none from paradise, to any common center
where parted friends may be reunited.
This separation is not for one, two,
or more years, but forever!

There will be an impassable gulf fixed!
Luke 6:26. 

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment--
but the righteous to eternal life!" Matthew 25:46 

"That word 'forever' breaks the heart!"
Thomas Watson 

 
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You may want to read the whole of William Nicholson's insightful short article,
"The Separation of the Righteous from the Wicked!"