This past weekend, we spent time and energy focusing on the phrase from the Apostles’ Creed “from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.”
Meditating about the judgment to come is not the most popular of topics. But Christians who have gone before us have summarized the judgment in some helpful historical documents.
One of those is the Second London Confession. You can read the entire Confession of Faith online. Below is the section about the judgment with scriptural references. We provide this for you on our Cuyahoga Valley Church blog as a helpful summary statement. We encourage you to read it carefully and to look up all the scriptures. Afterwards are a series of questions to help you process and apply.
Chapter 32 – The Last Judgment
1. God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given by the Father. In that day, the apostate angels will be judged. So also, all people who have lived on the earth will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds and to receive a reckoning according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.
2. God’s purpose for appointing this day is to manifest the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect, and of his justice in the eternal damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For at that time the righteous will go into everlasting life and receive fullness of joy and glory with everlasting rewards in the presence of the Lord. But the wicked, who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be thrown into everlasting torments and punished with everlasting destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.
Romans 9:22, 23. Matthew 25:21, 34; 2 Timothy 4:8. Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:48; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10.
3. Christ desires that we be firmly convinced that a day of judgment will come, both to deter everyone from sin and to comfort the godly more fully in their adversity. For this reason, he has determined to keep the day secret, to encourage people to shake off any fleshly security and always to be watchful, because they do not know the hour when the Lord will come and so that they may always be prepared to say, “Come Lord Jesus; come quickly. Amen.”
2 Corinthians 5:10, 11. 2 Thessalonians 1:5–7. Mark 13:35–37; Luke 12:35, 36. Revelation 22:20.
- Which of these truths/concepts stood out to you the most?
- What was encouraging? What was challenging?
- What questions did this raise for you?
- How will you find answers to those questions?
- Based on these truths, what changes need to be made in your life?
- When will you make those changes?
- Who will help you?
