1. Will there be a day of judgment?

Yes; for our Lord Jesus Christ will come at the last day to judge and rule all the dead, to give to believers everlasting life and everlasting joy, but to condemn wicked men and devils to hell and everlasting punishment. (Augsburg Confession, Art. xvii; Apology, Art. viii.)

2. Prove this from Holy Scripture.

“He shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.” — Ps. 9:8

“For behold the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire; for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh.” — Isaiah 66:15

“And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man.” — John 5:27

“He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained.” — Acts 17:31

“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you: and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.” — 2 Thess. 1:6, 7

3. Who will have to appear at this judgment?

All men, believers and unbelievers, as many of them as have ever lived, do now live, and ever shall live.

4. What will be the order of proceedings or form of this judgment?

Inasmuch as Christ, the searcher of hearts, will be the judge, such a course of proceedings, as is observed in human courts, will not be necessary. This Judge will rather pronounce judgment on all the thoughts, words, and works of men, and his judgment, which he pronounces on every individual, will be quickly executed, without delay or hindrance, as this course is described by Christ himself. Matt. 25:32ff.

5. According to what rule will judgment be rendered?

The rule of this court will be this: “He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18. Thus Christ himself speaks, John 12:48: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day.”

In like manner Paul, Rom. 2:16: “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel.”

6. What will be the tenor of the final sentence?

Christ himself mentions this, Matt. 25:34 and 41. For the believing and elect shall hear the words:

“Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

But to the unbelieving it shall be said:

“Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

“The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 13:49, 50.

7. But how will Christ come to this judgment?

The Saviour himself tells us this, assuring us that he shall come in the clouds in great power and glory, namely, in that glory which his human nature has received from its union with the divine, and by sitting at the right hand of God.

Matt. 24:30; 25:31. Then will go forth that command, and the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God on high; and the whole multitude of the angels with trumpets and a mighty voice. Matt. 24:31; 25:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16.

8. This seems to conflict with that which Zechariah (ch. 12:10) says, namely, they shall look upon him whom they have pierced.

By this the prophet does not mean to say that the form of the flesh of Christ will again be the form of a servant, but that he, by a certain arrangement will then show the wicked the scars of his wounds, and the marks of the nails, and in this manner fill them with the most extreme terror.

9. Will the unbelieving see the divinity of Christ?

No; “for the wicked will not behold the majesty of the Lord,” Isa. 26:10; but they will only see his human nature radiant with the splendor of divine glory. Of this Augustine, in his book on the Trinity, beautifully says: “When the pious and the wicked shall have seen him, holding judgment in the glorified form of the servant, then will the wicked be taken away, that he may not see the brilliancy of God, in which God is, and which those only who are of pure heart shall behold, because they shall become partakers of everlasting life.”