Sunday Morning Service

Matthew 25:31-46 (Click title for audio access)

“And Then The Judgment” • 2.20.11 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Matthew has spent the last two chapters on Christ's last sermon, called the Olivet Discourse.

- It describes one of the most troubling periods that will come in human history, but that will give way to one of the greatest eras that man could ever know.

- After the Great Tribulation comes the Millenial reign of Christ. In this final section of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus will describe what it will be like, beginning on the day of His return.

- While there is much here that is specific to the time, there are practical applications that apply in any age that we can grab onto for our own.

Text

• Matthew 25:31 : “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.” : This verse is glorious. Jesus coming in His glory to sit on the throne of glory!

- Take note of the word "when." This is not theory. This is going to happen. It’s inevitable. It will take place and it will happen on this earth after the seven years of tribulation have occurred.

- He will come in His glory, which refers to His majesty, His splendour, His dignity. His first coming was in humility and service. This second coming will be the opposite.

- It is the ultimate moment of royalty, as Christ becomes the ruler of all the earth, sitting on His glorious throne in the city of Jerusalem!

- When He first came, He came without angelic backup. He could have called them, but He did not. This time, He'll come with all the angels. The world will see the Lord and the angels physically!

- When He came first, He came to serve. This time, He will begin to rule. The King of Redemption will sit and offer Himself to the citizens of Earth, physically, for a thousand years!

- This will be an amazing, wonderful time for those who have believed upon Him. The believers who have lived through the tribulation, many of them Jews, have clung onto dear life.

- They are the ones who have been hiding in the darkness, holding out while the Antichrist has hunted them. The vision of Christ's return will be the greatest sight they have ever seen.

- For those who have hated Him, it will be quite another story.

• Matthew 25:32,33 : "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." : This is called the "Judgment Of The Nations." It is the first of three judgments, the other two being the Bema Seat Judgment for rewards and then, the White Throne Judgment.

- The analogy that is being employed would be familiar to those in that part of the world. Any shepherd would allow the sheep and the goats to be together during the day.

- At night time, the shepherd would take the two animal groups and separate them.

- In that moment, the tables will be radically and permanently turned. For all of history, these many nations stood in judgment of Christ, wondering if He was worthy of their life and trust.

- Would they honor Him in their hearts and confess Him with their lips? They had had their chance to do so. Now, Jesus stands in judgment of them, declaring whether or not they will have life!

- The right hand in scripture points to favor and inheritance. You will recall in our study of Genesis that Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim, who received the greater portion of inheritance.

- The sheep are the favored ones with the inheritance!

- If there is any verse that puts the pulse in missionary achievement, it's this one.

- The hard work, much of it unknown and unappreciated, that missionaries around the world have done, will pay off as many will be ushered to safety.

- The missionaries that will have the greatest influence in the tribulation period will be 144,000 born again, Jewish Greg Lauries! Their work will be priceless in bringing people to their Messiah.

- At the same time, I imagine many people from various nations, who will have been brought the gospel at a much earlier time, who will bear the fruits of righteousness in that troubling time.

- There will be people who were rescued by the message of Christ, brought to them by foreign men and women, who sacrificed their livelihoods and their comfort to bring the good news of Christ.

- The Great Shepherd will take His sheep and bring them into the pen where they will be safe forever in the care of their God.

- The opposite will be true of the goats, representing those which were wicked and antichrist. They will be moved to the left, reserved for judgment.

- These will be those who refused the supremacy of Christ. At that time, there will be no doubt of Christ's role in history.

• Matthew 25:34-36 : "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’" : Jesus tells the people on His right hand, those that have been declared righteous, that they are blessed by His Father. This is a wonderful description of God's people, the ones Jesus calls "elect."

- They are invited to enjoy the blessings of the Kingdom that has been prepared for them.

- Think about the concept of being blessed by a great person. They just want to give you something and the greater the person, the greater the resource, the greater the gift.

- What is given to you is great, but is a fraction of that person's resource. Consider the blessing given by the one who created the universe!

- When you are blessed of the Father, there is no limit to what His children will receive! What will we receive? The Kingdom.

- It has been prepared for us from the foundation of the world! Wait! I thought that it was being prepared from the time when Jesus left! Jesus is currently, like the bridegroom, preparing a place.

- However, In the mind of God, all plans were made before the earth was founded. "We'll make earth and people. They'll rebel, but we'll save them. Those who receive will share in our joy!"

- In the mind of God, all that was left was the actual unfolding of history. This Kingdom, eternally in His mind, will finally be opened for those that it has been prepared for.

- Why does He call them blessed? Why are they now invited into the Kingdom of God? Because of how they responded in the world!

- Understand that Jesus is not listing off a list of works that people can do to receive salvation. No work that we do will ever move the heart of God. However, these people are people of real faith.

- Their faith is seen by what they have done and to whom it was done. In each case, they did something for people that could not pay them back.

- They saw the hungry, physically and spiritually, and they gave sustenance. They bought meals or they took time to explain something of the Lord's heart for them.

- They saw the thirsty, physically and spiritually, and they gave a drink. They gave them a cold drink on a hot day, or refreshed their souls with a word of encouragement.

- They saw the stranger with no resource and they gave them shelter! They paid for motel stays or offered a room in their home. They brought them into the church and offered them fellowship.

- They saw nakedness, better translated "poorly clothed" and responded. They bought or gave clothes. They offered the life of God through Christ and clothed a person with His righteousness.

- They saw sickness and they didn't turn away. They made hospital visits, called or attended to the ill. They prayed for healing and wouldn't stop until they saw God's answer, yes or no!

- They saw prisoners and they came. They visited and shared the love of God where that love was the least available, to the ones most desperate for it.

- This does not mean that one person did all of this or that every person did this to the exclusion of the rest of their life. It means that this group of people took on these issues.

- Those who were righteous demonstrated why they were righteous by responding to the needs that were in front of them.

- At every point, did you see yourself? Maybe you saw yourself in one category more than another. Maybe you saw yourself in several categories all at once.

- The point is that Jesus is telling these people that they did all of this to Him. He'll explain in a few verses.

• Matthew 25:37-40 : "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’" : Who are these people? The Righteous! I about fell out of my seat when I heard an expositor that I trust say that these were moral people.

- His reasoning is that God wants moral people in His Kingdom! No. God wants people who share His heart and act like He acts in His Kingdom! Those are RIGHTEOUS people!

- Look at how they answer the Lord's statement: When did we do these things? There are 5 great insights to take note of here which teach us about righteous action.

- First, when they did these things, they did them for the people that they saw.

- They saw need and they responded. They did not look away. Instead, they took from their own resource and did something about what they saw. They seized opportunity.

- Notice secondly: None of this was major output! They gave practically. There were no buildings constructed or charities founded. It was food, a drink, some clothes, etc.

- People who were sick, were visited, not healed! People who were in prison were seen, not freed! These people did not do anything particularly great.

- A third insight: They did not remember what it was they had done! They did not keep count! They did not do this for attention or for a reward! They gave out of genuine concern.

- Contrast this with the attitude of those who come to Christ boasting of their deeds. "We did this and that in your name." Those people sought to impress Christ. These people are different!

- Because they were impressed with Christ, they did these things without looking for reward.

- Notice a fourth insight: When they had done what they had done, they did it to the least of these of Christ's brethren. They gave charitably.

- These were not great men or women. They are lowly, seemingly insignificant. But what is done good or bad to Christians, Christ's brethren, is done to Christ Himself!

- There is a union that comes with knowing Christ that is supernatural. His blood makes us family in Him, making us brothers. Jesus is our big brother!

- When we care for one of His family, even those who are the least thought of, the most insignificant, we are showing care, as it were to Christ Himself.

- Think of it on the opposite end of the scale. When Paul was persecuting Christians, He was persecuting Christ.

- Notice this fifth and final insight: While the righteous forgot about their deeds, the Lord did not! They gave without thought of reward. He saw what was done! He recorded it!

- During our lifetime, there may not be a reward to be found. Our brethren may not be in any position to repay us, and the true child of God will not have it anyway.

- But on that day, every thing that we have ever done in a selfless desire to bless another, will be remembered by the Lord and rewarded!

• Matthew 25:41 : "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:" : The righteous on His right will begin to enjoy the benefits of their blessing. The opposite will be true for those on the left!

- "Depart from Me, you cursed." This word "depart" is interesting. One use of the word "poryuo" is to describe a journey that has already been established. To say "depart" is to say, "keep going."

- In other words, "Continue now the journey that you have begun!" The wicked had forsaken the Lord. Their decision had been made long before this moment.

- Jesus consigns them to the path that they had chosen for themselves.

- He had called the ones on the right to be gathered to Him. These He tells to depart. He calls the righteous ones, "Blessed." These, He calls "cursed" or "doomed."

- Their lives are now permanently ruined for eternity! They are eternally doomed.

- Jesus speaking, had called the righteous into the place of blessing that the Father intended for them from the foundations of the earth. He tells the wicked, go into the fire prepared for the devil!

- Please understand this: Hell is not made for man. It was made as a place of punishment for the devil and the angels that followed his rebellious lead in Revelation 12.

- When a person lives out a life of rebellion against the Lord, the only place that journey leads is the everlasting fires of hell!

- The word "everlasting" means "that which has always been and will always be!" Hell is just as eternal as heaven! There will be no escape and there will be rehabilitation.

- What is it that they were condemned for? It might surprise you.

• Matthew 25:42-46 : "for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'" : These people had the same opportunities, but had the opposite response.

- These people may refer specifically to the one who had the opportunity to help God's people during the tribulation period, but the application goes much farther.

- The goats had a chance to offer of themselves, but couldn't because they do not share the same spirit as Christ! They know nothing of it.

- They are calloused and hard hearted, seeking their own and never giving it a second thought.

- Please notice: Their judgment is not based on what they did to the Lord. It's what they refused to do! Their sin was not one of commission, but of ommission!

• James 4:17 : "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."

- They knew what to do, but the turned a blind eye! The foolish virgins were left out because they did not have enough oil. One Talent Tom was condemned because he buried his master's money.

- The goats are condemned because they didn't give of themselves, revealing a lack of Christ's spirit within them!

- These are going into everlasting punishment. There will be no reprieve. There will be no relief. But the righteous will go into eternal life. Where will those closest to us be?

Conclusion

- I'd like us to close this morning looking at this final set of verses. Turn to Galatian 6 and listen to these words from the Apostle Paul.

• Galatians 6:6-10 : "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."