The Judgment of the Living Nations

We will now consider the well-known passage in Matt. 25:31 to the end-the judgment of the sheep and the goats. "When the Son of man shall come in His glory... then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations." It is very clear that Christ here comes in glory to the earth. But when He so comes, we shall come with Him; for "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." Col. 3:4.
It is equally clear that He is here seen coming to judge the nations. When He so comes we shall come pith Him (Jude 14, 15). Now if at this period we come with Him, He must previously have come for us, and further, He does not here come to judge us, but we believers come with Him to judge the nations. 'Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" 1 Cor. 6:2.
Who then are these nations? They are the Gentile lotions, or heathen alive on the earth when Christ comes in judgment. They are the very nations to whom the Jewish remnant have preached the gospel of the kingdom after the Church has been taken 'way. If you study these verses carefully, you will see that the nations are judged according to the way n which they have treated these godly Jews, here called "these My brethren." vv. 40,45.
They are divided into two companies—the sheep are those who have received these messengers of the coming King, and to them are addressed the gracious words, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." v. 34. That is, they enter the millennium to enjoy all the blessings of Christ's earthly kingdom.
The goats, on the other hand, are those who have rejected these messengers and refused the mercy offered through them. To them are uttered the awful words, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." v. 41. This judgment of the living nations being over, the millennium will commence, and for 1000 years we (the glorified saints) shall live and reign with Christ (Rev. 20:4).
Carefully observe that in this passage none but the living nations are judged. All here are alive; none of them have passed through death. This in itself is sufficient to show that a general judgment is out of the question.