Q. 4. When will the day of judgment be?

A. At the end of the world-when this scene of things shall close.(b)

Q. 5. How long will judgment day, or the time of judgment continue?

A. It will probably continue a much longer time than a natural day or twenty-four hours. To adjudge all the cases of angels and men would seem to require a far longer space of time than a day. Any period of time, whether definite or indefinite, may properly be denominated a day, when spoken of in reference to the general judgment. The precise time of judgment, therefore, in duration, appears not to be specified in the Scriptures.

Q. 6. Where will be the place of judgment? A. We do not know. It will be, however, in that place, which is best suited to the occasion. Probably, therefore, it will not be on the earth, but in the air, the region of clouds, the most capacious place for such vast multitudes of beings to assemble.(c)

Q. 7. Who will be the judge?

A. The Lord Jesus Christ. He will sit in judgment, and render unto all according to their deeds.(d)

Q. 8. In what manner will Christ come to final judgment?

(b) Matt. 25. 31-33. 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; 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 his left.

(c) 1 Thess. 4. 17. Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

(d) John 5. 22, 27. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

A. He will appear, attended by His holy angels in all the uncreated glories of the Godhead, and the derived glories of perfect manhood.(*)

Q. 9. How will angels and men be affected at His approach?

A. None will then be disposed to deny either the divinity or humanity of His Person, nor the truth of His religion. The holy will have unspeakable sensations of joy and delight, and the unholy will have the most heart-rending anguish and horrour. Q. 10. What is the particular design of the general judgment?

A. 1. It is not to furnish the Judge with instruction and information, for He is omniscient, and, consequently, knows the hearts and actions of all creatures: But,

2. It is to let all intelligent creatures in general, and every individual of such in particular, whether holy or unholy, know on what grounds angels and men are justified or condemned, and publickly to justify God in His treatment of all moral beings. It is not only highly important, that God should do right, but that He should display His righteousness in the government of the moral world to all intelligent beings. Without a general judgment, God can make every individual see and feel, that He has treated him right; but He cannot make any person see and feel, that He has treated others right, without a full exhibition of all their conduct. But in the general judgment all will perceive most clearly the equity of every sentence that is passed. This will be the case with holy and unholy angels, holy and unholy men.

Q. 11. By what rule of judgment will Jesus Christ judge angels and men?

(e) Matt. 25. 31. 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.

A. By the means of knowledge, they shall have enjoyed, and the motives to obedience, with which they shall have been favoured. Among mankind, the Heathen will be tried by the light of nature; the Jews will be tried by the light of nature and the Scriptures of the Old Testament; and Christians will be tried by the light of nature, and the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments both.(f)

Q. 12. For what will angels and men be judged? A. For all their moral conduct. The conduct of holy angels, who have kept their first estate, will be scrutinized and applauded. The conduct of those angels, who have apostatized, will be fully examined and condemned. The conduct of all mankind will be brought to view, of the righteous as well as the wicked. The sins of both, as they are so intimately connected and interwoven one with another, will of necessity be exhibited and. considered. This, too, will be necessary in order to justify the righteous decision of the Judge-to manifest His justice in condemning the wicked, and His grace in saving the penitent and believing. In the acquittal of the holy, and the condemnation of the unholy, the consciences of all will justify the decision of the omniscient and righteous Judge.(5)

(f) Rom. 2. 12, 16. For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

(g) 2 Cor. 5. 10. For 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. Eccl. 12. 14. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Luke 12. 2. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Matt. 12. 36, 37. But I say unto you, that every idle word, that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 1 Cor. 4. 5. Therefore judge nothing before the

Q. 13. When trial is had, what sentence will the Judge pronounce?

A. The wicked He will doom to everlasting perdition in hell; and the righteous He will reward with everlasting felicity in heaven. The sentence thus passed will be irreversible and eternal, and, consequently, the state of all moral creatures will be fixed forever.(h)

Q. 14. How should judgment day be viewed? A. It should be viewed as the most sublime, interesting, solemn, and momentous of all periods of duration; for then time will close; eternity will commence; the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with the mighty shout of the arch-angel; the heavens will roll together as a scroll; the elements will melt with fervent heat; in the twinkling of an eye the nations under ground will start into life; mankind, of all generations, climes, and languages, together with all holy and unholy angels, will be assembled to receive an irrevocable sentence, according to the deeds they have done; Jesus Christ will sit in judgment, and seal the destiny of all moral creatures for eternity; and then will commence the highest glory and felicity of all holy creatures, and

time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts. Rev. 20. 12, 13. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened; which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things, which were written in the books, according to their works. the sea gave up the dead, which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.

And

(h) Matt. 25. 34, 41, 46. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil, and his angels. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.

the deepest shame and wretchedness of all the unholy.

Q. 15. What effect ought the doctrine of the general judgment to have upon all mankind?.

A. It should excite them to universal holiness in heart and life. God and their own interest demand it.(i)

(i) 2 Pet. 3. 10, 11. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.