1. Christ will come in the clouds of Heaven, and gather all nations together before His throne, placing the good on His right hand, and the wicked on His left (Matt. xxiv. and xxv.). 2. He will then make manifest the good and the evil that every man has done, even his most secret thoughts, and also the graces which He has given to each one; and finally He will pronounce judgment upon all (2 Cor. v. 10).
'And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the presence of the throne, and the books were opened; and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works' (Apoc. xx. 12). For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; nor hidden, that shall not be known' (Luke xii. 2, and Mark iv. 22). 'The Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts' (1 Cor. iv. 5).
6. What will be the sentence, and the end of the last judgment?
Christ will say to the good: 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' But to the wicked He will say: 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just into life everlasting.' (Matt. xxv.).
7. Is there not, besides the general, another judgment?
Yes, there is also the particular judgment, in which every man shall be judged immediately after his death.
Therefore the Holy Scripture says: 'It is easy before God in the day of death to reward every one according to his ways' (Ecclus. xi. 28).
8. Why will there be a general judgment besides the particular?
For three principal reasons: 1. That God's wisdom and justice may be acknowledged by all men; 2. That Jesus Christ may be glorified before the whole world;
