Lessons in the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther For the Senior Department of Lutheran Sunday-Schools and for General Use · George Mezger
LESSON 28.
The Second Article. Christ Will Come To Judge The World Which is the Second Article? _I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead._ 1. When our Lord ascended into heaven and His disciples were looking after Him as He was taken up before their eyes, higher and higher, two men stood by them in white apparel, two angels, who said: _"This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."_ Acts 1,11. We confess therefore that our Lord _will come again,_ that He will come again in like manner as His apostles saw Him taken up into heaven. He will come _visibly._ All men on earth will see our Lord coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luke 21,27. He will not come again in deep humility and poverty, as He came when He was born in Bethlehem, but with great power and glory. _"The Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels."_ Matt. 16,27. All men will see Him as the almighty King surrounded by His heavenly hosts. Every one will then have to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and every one will have to bow to Him. _Our Lord will come again visibly and in great glory._
2. When the Lord comes in His glory, the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the earth and all the works therein shall be burned up. 2 Pet. 3,10. _The Last Day, the end of this world, will then have come._ On this Last Day our Lord will come to _"judge the quick and the dead."_ Christ has been ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. Acts 10,42. He will judge the _quick,_ that is, those who are still living when He comes. He will judge the dead. On that day all the dead will rise again and will be brought before the Lord to be judged by Him. 3. Christ Himself has given us a beautiful description of His Judgment. (Read the whole passage, Matt. 25,31-46.) He tells us: _"When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations."_ Matt. 25,31.32. Christ is the Judge of all nations, of all men. _"We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in His body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."_ 2 Cor. 5,10. No one, be He ever so mighty, rich, or learned, can escape His Judgment.
4. How will Christ judge? He says: _"And He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left."_ Matt. 25,32.33. The _sheep are those who truly believe in Christ, their Savior,_ and in Him have forgiveness of their sins. _The goats are those who in this life rejected Christ and His grace._ To His sheep He will say: _"Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."_ V. 34. On the goats He will pronounce this judgment: _"Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."_ V. 41. And then the Lord will prove to all men that His judgment is a righteous one by the good works of the believers and the evil deeds of His enemies.--This judgment is final and will never be altered. His enemies _"shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."_ Matt. 25,46.
5. _When will this great Day of Judgment, the day of our Lord, come?_ This we do not know. Our Lord says: _"Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."_ Mark 13,32. We should not try to find out the exact day of the coming of our Lord. But God has in His Word revealed two important things about this day. He tells us that His day will come _suddenly, when nobody expects it. "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night."_ 2 Pet. 3,10. _"Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh."_ Matt. 25,13.--We also know that this day will come _soon. "The end of all things is at hand."_ 1 Pet. 4,7. We may and should expect the Lord _daily_ and be prepared to receive Him. There are many signs which announce the coming of Christ. Matt. 24,14-31; Luke 21,25-36. 6. _"This is most certainly true."_ With these words we conclude also our Second Article. From God's Word we know that all we have learned in the Second Article is most certainly true. Therefore we believe and confess it. 1. _On the Last Day our Lord will come again visibly and in great glory to judge the quick and the dead, all men. You, too, must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ._
2. _On this day He will cast away the wicked and unbelievers into everlasting punishment. The righteous He will receive into His everlasting kingdom. Believe in Christ, and you will be saved._ 3. _We know neither day nor hour of His coming, but we know that His day will come unexpectedly and soon. Watch always and be prepared to receive your Lord._ _He is ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead._ Acts 10,42. _The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night._ 2 Pet. 3,10. _The end of all things is at hand._ 1 Pet. 4,7. _We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad._ 2 Cor. 5,10.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.