Christ the Judge.
Both by natural right, and by a special claim acquired and superinduced on that, the Son of God is Judge of mankind; the natural right putting as Creator all things into His hand, and man among these, as their final Arranger and Disposer; the acquired claim giving an especial fitness to His being Judge of men, inasmuch as they are His own peculiar possession, and the family of which He is the undoubted and manifested Head. But there are some subordinate and lesser reasons why He and no other should be the Judge of mankind.
I. He unites in Himself those proprieties for the high office which none other could. The judgment will be for the deeds done in the body, and will not take place till the dead are again united to their bodies. By God's eternal laws of self-manifestation to His creatures, none other than the incarnate Son of God can be the Judge of mankind; can stand visible and audible on this earth of ours, exercising over us all a right of disposal, inherent in Him, because He is our Creator; purchased and assured to Him, because He is our Redeemer.
II. It would be requisite for the final assurance of God's people and conviction of God's enemies, that one should be the chief agent who might cause the greatest possible joy to the one and the greatest possible remorse and dismay to the other. For remember, thatjudgment will be set to redress the wrongs of the whole lifetime of the world.
III. The day and hour of the final judgment are hidden in the counsels of the Father. We have Christ's own word for two things respecting it, the one of which we may well set against the other as a corrective, and both of which form solemn incentives to watchfulness. The first is, that when that day is near there will be plain and undeniable signs of its approach; as plain to those who are watching for them as the budding of the trees is a token that summer is nigh. The other is, that when the day actually does come, it will be sudden and unexpected, as a thief breaking into the house at dead of night. In other words, the Church will, on the one hand, not be left uninformed of the signs of her Lord's near approach; and on the other, she will not lay these signs so deeply to heart as to be thoroughly awakened and on the look out for Him.
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons,vol. vi., p. 53.
References: Acts 11:1-18. Homiletic Magazine,vol. ix., p. 239. Acts 11:8. Preacher's Monthly,vol. vi., p. 53.