Article 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. On this day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons who have lived on earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.
Article 2. God's end in appointing this day is the manifestation of the glory both 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 then shall the righteous 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 or obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast aside into everlasting torments and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
Article 3. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity, so will He have the day unknown to men, so that they may shake off all carnal security and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come.
Article 2. God's end in appointing this day is the manifestation of the glory both 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 then shall the righteous 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 or obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast aside into everlasting torments and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
Article 3. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity, so will He have the day unknown to men, so that they may shake off all carnal security and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come.
Q.. What comfort do you have by the coming of Christ again to judge the living and the dead?
A. That in all my miseries and persecutions, I look with my head lifted up, for the very same who before yielded Himself to the judgment of God for me, and took away all malediction from me, will come as judge from heaven to throw all His and my enemies into everlasting pains. He will also translate me with all His chosen to Himself, into celestial joys, and everlasting glory.
An Orthodox Catechism, Question 51.
