Who is under judgment?
All stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ both now and in the last day.
Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 17
21Not everyone saying to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many powers?' 23And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who work lawlessness.'
31When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his throne of glory. 32And all the Gentiles will be assembled before him, and he will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will set the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34Then the king will say to those out from his right, 'Come, you who are blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me water to drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 36I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you cared for me; I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37Then the just will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungering and feed you, or thirsting and give you drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and come to visit you?' 40And the king will answer and say to them, 'Amen, I say to you, upon however much you did to one of these brothers of mine, the least, you did to me.' 41Then he will say also to those on his left, 'Go from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me; I was naked and you did not clothe me; I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungering or thirsting or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve you?' 45Then he will answer them, saying, 'Amen, I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of these, the least, you did not do it to me.' 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
22The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. 23This is so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24Truly, truly, I say to you that the one who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 25Truly, truly, I say to you that an hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28Do not marvel at this, because an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice. 29And those who have done good will come out to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
42He ordered us to preach to the people and to testify that this one is the one having been determined by God as judge of living and dead.
30The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31Because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Everyone will be judged by Jesus Christ, and everyone is under his judgment already. The creed confesses that Christ "will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead," and Article XII of the Confession of Faith opens with the words of the catechism's answer: "We believe all men stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the last day." The same article goes on to confess "the resurrection of the dead; the righteous to life eternal and the wicked to endless condemnation."
All. No one is exempt. Paul told the Athenians that God "commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed," and that the proof is the resurrection (Acts 17:30-31). He reminds Christians that "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what he has done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10). In Matthew 25 "all the Gentiles will be assembled before him" (Matthew 25:32). Church membership is no exemption either; Jesus warns that some who say "Lord, Lord" and even prophesy in his name will hear, "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:22-23).
Of Jesus Christ. The judge is the Son. "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22), and the apostles were ordered to testify that Jesus is "the one having been determined by God as judge of living and dead" (Acts 10:42). Both now and in the last day. The last day is the hour "in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice" (John 5:28). The present judgment is already under way, and the same passage describes it: (John 5:24).
A Methodist hears this as sober encouragement. The judge is the same Christ who died for the ungodly and now intercedes for his people. The standard of Matthew 25 (feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned) is the holiness of heart and life the church teaches every believer to pursue, because those works are what love for Christ looks like when he is met in "the least" (Matthew 25:40).