Micah McCormick: Let's turn over to the Gospel of Matthew this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew twenty-five.
Micah McCormick: We'll take the end of this chapter this morning.
Micah McCormick: Matthew twenty-five, starting with verse thirty-one and all the way down to the end of this chapter.
Micah McCormick: Matthew twenty-five, thirty-one to forty-six.
Micah McCormick: This is God's word.
Micah McCormick: When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Micah McCormick: All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Micah McCormick: He will put the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left.
Micah McCormick: Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Micah McCormick: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.
Micah McCormick: I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
Micah McCormick: I was a stranger and you took me in.
Micah McCormick: I was naked and you clothed me.
Micah McCormick: I was sick and you took care of me.
Micah McCormick: I was in prison and you visited me.
Micah McCormick: Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
Micah McCormick: When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you?
Micah McCormick: When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?
Micah McCormick: And the king will answer them, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Micah McCormick: Then he will also say to those on the left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Micah McCormick: For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink.
Micah McCormick: I was a stranger and you didn't take me in, I was naked and you didn't clothe me, sick and in prison, and you didn't take care of me.
Micah McCormick: Then they too will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or without clothes or sick or in prison and not help you?
Micah McCormick: Then he will answer them, Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.
Micah McCormick: And they will go away into eternal punishment.
Micah McCormick: But the righteous into eternal life.
Micah McCormick: Let's ask God's blessing again.
Micah McCormick: But we pray that you would help us to do that today.
Micah McCormick: That we would take as we should and where we should, these words of deep and tremendous comfort.
Micah McCormick: And that we should take, as we should be sober and vigilant and thoughtful, these words of warning as well.
Micah McCormick: Do this by the power of your spirit, we pray.
Micah McCormick: In Jesus' name, amen.
Micah McCormick: We've come this morning to the end of this chunk of Jesus' teaching in the last two chapters of Matthew that we've been going through, Matthew 24 and 25.
Micah McCormick: Sometimes it's known as the Olivet Discourse because Jesus taught from the Mount of Olives.
Micah McCormick: And Jesus lands this teaching, he ends this teaching with words of incredible significance and eternal weight.
Micah McCormick: And we want to understand and feel that weight today.
Micah McCormick: Sometimes people think about this section of scripture, and they only or mainly want to think about contemporary events.
Micah McCormick: Of course, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, it's all profitable for us.
Micah McCormick: But Jesus ends with heaven and hell.
Micah McCormick: And we want the weight of our hearts and thoughts to be matching our Savior.
Micah McCormick: On the last day, every human will either be rewarded or rejected.
Micah McCormick: Those are the two stark alternatives in this passage.
Micah McCormick: There's really ultimately no neutrality when it comes to following Jesus.
Micah McCormick: So, regardless of what culture you live in, how many wars you've experienced, how much opposition you've experienced, regardless of whether your own culture or your own family is more friendly to Christian values or less family friendly to Christian values.
Micah McCormick: No matter any of those differences, every human will either be rewarded or rejected.
Micah McCormick: These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Micah McCormick: Our passage presents some sharp contrasts.
Micah McCormick: There's two groups, two fruits, and two destinies.
Micah McCormick: Those are the contrasts in the passage.
Micah McCormick: So there's two groups there's the sheep and there's the goats.
Micah McCormick: And there's two fruits.
Micah McCormick: There's faithful service to the Lord, there's that fruit of the sheep, and then there's the fruit, or we could say lack of fruit, but there's no faithful service to the Lord.
Micah McCormick: And there's ultimately two destinies eternal life on the one hand for the sheep, and eternal punishment, on the other hand, for the goats.
Micah McCormick: That's true of everybody here, everyone who's ever lived, every human in the last day will either be rewarded or rejected.
Micah McCormick: So we're gonna work through the passage with those contrasts in mind, two groups, two fruits, two destinies.
Micah McCormick: And we'll start with two groups.
Micah McCormick: Look again at verse 31.
Micah McCormick: When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Micah McCormick: All the nations will be gathered before him.
Micah McCormick: He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left.
Micah McCormick: There it is.
Micah McCormick: Only two categories, sheep and goats.
Micah McCormick: Now, obviously, these animals are it's a metaphor for people.
Micah McCormick: Jesus isn't saying there's something inherently wonderful about sheep or that goats are inherently bad.
Micah McCormick: If you've ever had goat's milk or goat's cheese, you're not condemned.
Micah McCormick: But there's a point to this metaphor.
Micah McCormick: Shepherds have to distinguish between the sheep and the goats.
Micah McCormick: And Jesus is the good shepherd.
Micah McCormick: And often in Scripture he refers to his people as sheep.
Micah McCormick: Listen to some other places.
Micah McCormick: Psalm 78, 52.
Micah McCormick: He led his people out like sheep and guided them like a flock.
Micah McCormick: Psalm 79, 13, then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture, will thank you forever.
Micah McCormick: We will declare your praise to generation after generation.
Micah McCormick: Psalm 100, acknowledge the Lord is God, He made us, we are His, His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Micah McCormick: Ezekiel 34, 11.
Micah McCormick: This is what the Lord God says.
Micah McCormick: See, I myself will search for my flock and look for them.
Micah McCormick: As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for my flock.
Micah McCormick: Isaiah 40, verse 11, he protects his flock like a shepherd.
Micah McCormick: He gathers the lambs in his arms.
Micah McCormick: Do you hear in those verses that I read, the main thing about the sheep is that they have a shepherd.
Micah McCormick: The main thing is not that they stick together, that they're compliant.
Micah McCormick: The main thing is they have a shepherd.
Micah McCormick: They have a good shepherd in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Micah McCormick: And the Bible tells us not only that there is a good shepherd, Jesus, that sheep he has that belong to him, the good shepherd actually loves his sheep and sacrifices himself for them.
Micah McCormick: Even in our passage, we see Christ referred to in different ways.
Micah McCormick: In verse 31, he's called the Son of Man.
Micah McCormick: In verse 34, he's called the King.
Micah McCormick: In verse 37, he's referred to as Lord.
Micah McCormick: So those titles, so accurate, so appropriate, his authority, his judgment will come to that.
Micah McCormick: But notice in verse 32, this son of man, this king, this Lord functions as a shepherd.
Micah McCormick: Isaiah 53, 6, the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.
Micah McCormick: We like sheep have gone astray.
Micah McCormick: He took the punishment.
Micah McCormick: Or think about John chapter 10, where Jesus says, Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
Micah McCormick: All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them.
Micah McCormick: I am the gate.
Micah McCormick: If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.
Micah McCormick: A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
Micah McCormick: I have come so that they might have life and have it in abundance.
Micah McCormick: I am the good shepherd.
Micah McCormick: The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.
SPEAKER_00: And that leaves the goats.
Micah McCormick: And perhaps some of you here today wondering, well, I don't know if I'm a sheep or a goat.
Micah McCormick: Or maybe I am a goat.
Micah McCormick: Consider God has brought you here.
Micah McCormick: Hear the voice of the shepherd today.
Micah McCormick: Turn from your own way today.
Micah McCormick: Turn from your ignorance, your self-centeredness, your rebellion.
Micah McCormick: I know those are strong words.
Micah McCormick: You might think, well, I'm not really opposed to the Lord.
Micah McCormick: I'm just kind of neutral.
Micah McCormick: But again, there's no neutrality in the last day.
Micah McCormick: Everyone will be either rewarded or rejected.
Micah McCormick: Know that the Lord is patient.
Micah McCormick: Know that the Lord is kind.
Micah McCormick: But know that if you have not truly embraced him, you're not in a neutral category.
Micah McCormick: You're in the category of those who will be condemned.
Micah McCormick: You're one of the goats.
Micah McCormick: On the last day, every human, every human will be either rewarded or rejected.
Micah McCormick: Two groups of people, the sheep and the goats.
Micah McCormick: Next, two fruits.
Micah McCormick: We see this spelled out in verse 35, down to verse 45.
Micah McCormick: And when I say two fruits, again, remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 7 by their fruits you will know them.
Micah McCormick: So by the deeds of a person's life, you will see evidence of whether or not they truly know the Lord.
Micah McCormick: It's not the good works that earn your way to heaven.
Micah McCormick: As Josh and Carol testified, it's only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but the evidence of our lives shows what's really inside, shows who we belong to, who possesses us.
Micah McCormick: Verse 35.
Micah McCormick: I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.
Micah McCormick: I was a stranger, you took me in, I was naked, and you clothed me.
Micah McCormick: I was sick, you took care of me.
Micah McCormick: I was in prison, you visited me.
Micah McCormick: There's the positive fruit.
Micah McCormick: And then verse 42 to 43 outlines the lack of genuine fruit.
Micah McCormick: I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat.
Micah McCormick: I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.
Micah McCormick: I was a stranger and you didn't take me in.
Micah McCormick: I was naked and you didn't clothe me, sick and in prison, and you didn't take care of me.
Micah McCormick: So again, it's please don't misunderstand.
Micah McCormick: It's not that a life well lived builds up enough merit for you to be allowed into heaven.
Micah McCormick: If you take a bunch of apples and put them on a pear tree, doesn't make it an apple tree.
Micah McCormick: The fruit shows what the tree actually is.
Micah McCormick: The root of our salvation is faith in the Good Shepherd.
Micah McCormick: But the fruit of our life will indeed show the faith of our hearts.
Micah McCormick: And these good works here, they have their value.
Micah McCormick: This positive fruit, they have their value in relation to Jesus.
Micah McCormick: I was hungry.
Micah McCormick: I was a stranger, etc.
Micah McCormick: Matches the whole call of Matthew.
Micah McCormick: Matthew's been telling us throughout this whole gospel come to Christ, embrace King Jesus.
Micah McCormick: As Jesus himself says, come unto me, all you that labor in heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
Micah McCormick: And so this fruit is fruit done with reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Micah McCormick: So it's not just generic good deeds.
Micah McCormick: There's all kinds of people who do all kinds of good things, and we're thankful for that.
Micah McCormick: We should be appreciative of that.
Micah McCormick: But these are good deeds that have their ultimate value in relation to Jesus Himself.
SPEAKER_00: Remember on the road to Damascus, where Jesus, the resurrected Christ, confronts Saul and he says to Saul, Why are you persecuting me?
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus was in heaven.
Micah McCormick: Saul couldn't touch Jesus.
Micah McCormick: But Saul was persecuting the body of Christ, Christ's people.
Micah McCormick: And because he was doing that, Jesus could say, Well, you're persecuting me.
Micah McCormick: Likewise, here, if you serve the people of God, because they are the body of Christ, you are serving Christ Himself.
Micah McCormick: Take joy, take comfort in that.
Micah McCormick: Most all of us, probably everyone as far as I know, has never had an opportunity to directly minister to the human body of Jesus Christ.
Micah McCormick: He walked on earth, he's now at heaven at God's right hand.
Micah McCormick: Some people in the gospels will come to a woman next week who is able to sacrificially serve Jesus while he walked.
Micah McCormick: Most of us, like these righteous ones, might think, well, wait a minute, I never actually did anything specifically to Jesus.
Micah McCormick: Ah.
Micah McCormick: But if you did it to his body, his bride, you did it to him and for him.
Micah McCormick: There's something more here.
Micah McCormick: If you remember in Matthew 10, Jesus tells his disciples to go out and proclaim the good news.
Micah McCormick: And then at the end of that chapter, he says, Whoever welcomes you welcomes me.
Micah McCormick: Whoever gives you a cup of cold water.
Micah McCormick: So he's sending out these gospel ambassadors, and he anticipates that people who welcome the gospel ambassadors are welcoming the message they bring, the good news of Jesus.
Micah McCormick: So there's something also I think similar here.
Micah McCormick: If you look back at Matthew 24, take a look in your Bibles.
Micah McCormick: This is just one chapter back.
Micah McCormick: In Matthew 24, 14, Jesus says the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world.
Micah McCormick: So just like in Matthew 10, there's going to be gospel ambassadors going out in all the world.
Micah McCormick: And guess what?
Micah McCormick: They're going to experience persecution, suffering, imprisonment, right?
Micah McCormick: But not all will reject them.
Micah McCormick: Some will hear and embrace their message.
Micah McCormick: So to serve them is to evidence that you love the message they're bringing.
Micah McCormick: Listen to how D.A.
Micah McCormick: Carson puts it.
Micah McCormick: The fate of the nations will be determined by how they respond to Jesus' followers, who are charged with spreading the gospel, and who do so in the face of hunger, thirst, illness, and imprisonment.
Micah McCormick: Good deeds done to Jesus' followers, even the least of them, are not only works of compassion and morality, but they reflect where people stand in relation to the kingdom and to Jesus Himself.
Micah McCormick: So I hope that helps you shed light on verse 40 when the king in our chapter, Matthew 25, when the king says, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Micah McCormick: He's talking about his spiritual family.
Micah McCormick: He's not talking here about humanity in general.
Micah McCormick: He's already said in Matthew 12, Who is my mother, who are my brothers?
Micah McCormick: And then to his disciples, these are my mother and my brothers, whoever does the will of my father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.
Micah McCormick: Now I know some of you are thinking, so you're saying we're just supposed to ignore unbelievers?
Micah McCormick: If someone's destitute and naked, we got to first find out, are you born again?
Micah McCormick: If you're not, tough luck, we'll see you later.
Micah McCormick: No, there's plenty of Bible verses about doing good to all, letting our light so shine before men.
Micah McCormick: But we're focused on what this passage is about.
Micah McCormick: Don't you love expositional preaching?
Micah McCormick: We've got to see what this passage is about.
Micah McCormick: In the New Testament, that language of brother and sister sometimes refers to a biological family or kin.
Micah McCormick: It never in the New Testament refers to all of humanity.
Micah McCormick: It normally refers to the followers of Jesus Christ, the family of God.
Micah McCormick: So Jesus here is especially and specifically talking about how you minister to the people of God, those who are clothed with the message of the gospel.
Micah McCormick: And if you receive their message, of course you're going to want to receive them.
Micah McCormick: We see this play out beautifully in the book of Acts.
Micah McCormick: You don't have to turn there.
Micah McCormick: But in Acts 2, Peter preaches a gospel sermon and they repent and believe and trust.
Micah McCormick: And then everyone was filled with awe.
Micah McCormick: And the believers were together and held all things in common.
Micah McCormick: Acts chapter 4, we see something similar.
Micah McCormick: Peter preaches again.
Micah McCormick: People receive it.
Micah McCormick: There's rejoicing.
Micah McCormick: And then it says in Acts 4 the entire group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one claimed any possession was his own.
Micah McCormick: Instead, they held everything in common.
Micah McCormick: For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of what was sold, laid them at the apostles' feet.
Micah McCormick: This was then distributed to each person as any had need.
Micah McCormick: See that beautiful demonstration of gospel receptivity and gospel hospitality.
Micah McCormick: And praise God, I see that in so many of you.
Micah McCormick: We take up a benevolence offering, especially for believers, and we're going to do that again today.
Micah McCormick: The benevolence fund is often well, well supplied.
Micah McCormick: I hear the heart that many of you have to pray for persecuted Christians, to those that are in prison around the world.
Micah McCormick: And I'm sure if someone was put in jail here in Long Island for truly preaching the gospel, you'd want to go visit them and minister to them.
Micah McCormick: That shows your heart, that shows your good fruit, that you know the Lord, that you're one of his sheep.
Micah McCormick: You bring meals to visiting missionaries like the Kunis.
Micah McCormick: You want to sit and spend time with them.
Micah McCormick: Oh, it's so little.
Micah McCormick: No, but in the Lord's eyes, it's so much.
Micah McCormick: The Lord Jesus Christ receives these little tokens, these good deeds, as done to himself.
Micah McCormick: And take encouragement also for those of you that will suffer for the sake of Christ.
Micah McCormick: Those that may find yourselves without a job or hated by the world because of your testimony.
Micah McCormick: God will send his ravens to care for you.
Micah McCormick: He will send his people to care for you.
Micah McCormick: He'll protect you, he'll comfort you.
Micah McCormick: There's much hope here.
Micah McCormick: But if that's the fruit of faithful service done to the Lord, for others, there is no real faithful service done with a view to the Lord.
Micah McCormick: Oh, you might give to a charity because you're looking for a tax break.
Micah McCormick: You might be decent to people at work because you don't want to seem like an egomaniac and you can't really get a raise or promotion at work if you're a jerk all the time.
Micah McCormick: You might even be kind to people in your family or in your neighborhood because you think, hmm, well, if I scratch their back, they have to scratch my back.
Micah McCormick: Do you see how different that is from devoted service to the Good Shepherd?
Micah McCormick: Jesus is bringing all things in relation to himself.
Micah McCormick: And how we relate to the people of God, especially, shows what we think of him.
Micah McCormick: In the last day, every human will either be rewarded or rejected.
Micah McCormick: Two groups of people, two fruits, and then finally today, let's consider these two destinies.
Micah McCormick: In verse 32, Jesus says that when he comes, there will be a great separation.
Micah McCormick: This is not a separation just to identify groups of people.
Micah McCormick: This is a separation meant to divide people forever.
Micah McCormick: Verse 34.
Micah McCormick: Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Micah McCormick: That's the destiny of the sheep.
Micah McCormick: Then verse 41 shows the destiny of the goats.
Micah McCormick: He will say to those on the left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Micah McCormick: And the whole passage ends with those two destinies.
Micah McCormick: Verse 46.
Micah McCormick: They, that is, the goats, will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Micah McCormick: So first the destiny of the sheep.
Micah McCormick: Verse 46 says it will be eternal life.
Micah McCormick: Eternal life for the child of God is not simply existing forever.
Micah McCormick: Sometimes we think about eternal life as you're kind of on a cloud floating around.
Micah McCormick: Maybe you get a harp if you did enough good things.
Micah McCormick: And it's kind of like this sort of spiritual coma that's a little better than dying, but it seems kind of like not that great.
Micah McCormick: Eternal life is so much more than that.
Micah McCormick: Eternal life is about knowing and enjoying the living God forever.
Micah McCormick: That's why the Westminster Catechism, its first question is what is the chief end of man?
Micah McCormick: In other words, what's the purpose and goal for humans?
Micah McCormick: And the answer is to worship God and enjoy him forever.
Micah McCormick: It's not simply about duration of existence, it's about the quality of life that you have.
Micah McCormick: John 10, 10, I have come, Jesus says, that they might have life and have it in abundance.
Micah McCormick: Acts 2.28, you've revealed the paths of life to me.
Micah McCormick: You fill me with gladness in your presence.
Micah McCormick: Or John 17 3, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.
Micah McCormick: If knowing and enjoying God forever sounds somehow boring to you, maybe you don't have eternal life.
Micah McCormick: Maybe you're not one of his sheep.
Micah McCormick: For those who know him, that should thrill our hearts to bask in the glory of our Savior, to be brought to a place of perfection where we don't struggle with sin or pain.
Micah McCormick: But more importantly, we have this perfect relationship that we're able to enjoy.
Micah McCormick: That's the destination of all who belong to the Lord.
Micah McCormick: The goats have a different destiny.
Micah McCormick: In verse 46, it's described as eternal punishment.
Micah McCormick: In verse 41, it speaks of them being placed under God's curse and consigned to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Micah McCormick: Now, some of you may be visiting today, and maybe you think, you know what, this is what I don't like about Baptist churches.
Micah McCormick: You always have to get around to the demons and hellfire and brimstone.
Micah McCormick: Why do you have to do that?
Micah McCormick: Well, I can't speak for all Baptist churches, but I can speak for our church and say, we don't tell the Lord what he should say.
Micah McCormick: We listen to what he says.
Micah McCormick: We don't edit Jesus.
Micah McCormick: How to call ourselves followers of Christ and then to think that we know better what he should say, why would we call ourselves followers of Christ?
Micah McCormick: That wouldn't be appropriate.
Micah McCormick: And if you come week after week, and we'd invite you to come, we're thankful if you're a visitor here today, you'll see that we typically go through whole books of the Bible.
Micah McCormick: So we don't just go looking for all of the scariest passages.
Micah McCormick: Yes, some Baptist churches do that.
Micah McCormick: Uh, but we don't just try to avoid what might offend someone because we're gonna take whatever God says and let that be our guide.
Micah McCormick: There's a lot of comfort in the Bible.
Micah McCormick: There's comfort here in this passage for the sheep.
Micah McCormick: But the same Jesus, who is the shepherd of all comfort, he speaks about hell more than anyone else in the Bible.
Micah McCormick: It's an eternal punishment, verse 41 and verse 46.
Micah McCormick: So some people say, Well, everyone gets into heaven.
Micah McCormick: That's not what Jesus says.
Micah McCormick: Some people think, well, the goats are gonna be probably just kind of destroyed and annihilated.
Micah McCormick: Not what Jesus says here.
Micah McCormick: The contrast in verse 46, the contrast to eternal life is eternal punishment.
Micah McCormick: No one thinks that the sheep are gonna be able to enjoy the new creation for five seconds and they get destroyed forever.
Micah McCormick: And many of us, when we think about eternal punishment, it unsettles us.
Micah McCormick: Why do we presume that we deserve eternal reward, but that we obviously would never deserve eternal punishment?
Micah McCormick: Why would the one unsettle us and the other it's like, yeah, definitely, that should be me.
Micah McCormick: Doesn't that say something about who we are?
Micah McCormick: That doesn't it suggest that perhaps at times we put ourselves at the center of the universe instead of God?
Micah McCormick: Um this reward, this eternal life that comes to the sheep, it's because of their identity with the shepherd.
Micah McCormick: They inherit the kingdom.
Micah McCormick: It's not about simply living in a shiny palace, it's about being a part of the family of God, the good shepherd's family.
Micah McCormick: And because of his gracious gift, because they belong to the eternal son, they are able to enjoy him forever.
Micah McCormick: For those that experience this punishment, consider not just what you've done, but who you've done it to.
Micah McCormick: Again, the words of Jesus here when I was hungry, you didn't feed me.
Micah McCormick: When I was thirsty, you didn't give me something to drink.
Micah McCormick: So if you read Jesus as saying there was someone who happened to be thirsty, you didn't give them water, so you're gonna be thirsty forever, and you think, well, that that doesn't seem eye for an eye, it doesn't seem proportional.
Micah McCormick: It's not about that isolated deed, it's that you've ignored and rejected him, and he's the living and true and eternal God.
Micah McCormick: So when you sin against him, that's the infinite weight of your actions.
Micah McCormick: There's where the eternity comes in because of who it is with whom we have to do, the Lord Himself.
Micah McCormick: In conclusion today, I want to just offer one final word to some different groups of people.
Micah McCormick: Some of you may be here, you may know, I'm not a sheep.
Micah McCormick: I I I'm a goat.
Micah McCormick: Is there no hope for me?
Micah McCormick: There is hope for you.
Micah McCormick: Again, consider you're here, aren't you?
Micah McCormick: Aren't you hearing the word?
Micah McCormick: Do you do you hear the voice of Christ?
Micah McCormick: Would you listen?
Micah McCormick: Would you embrace him?
Micah McCormick: Others who may be here thinking, Oh yeah, I'm definitely a sheep.
Micah McCormick: And you're actually not.
Micah McCormick: Jesus does say, Many will come in the last day and say, Lord, Lord, and I'll say, Depart from me, you who work iniquity.
Micah McCormick: Consider your own life.
Micah McCormick: Don't just rely only on your own private judgment.
Micah McCormick: Grab someone else, pray with them, ask them to consider your faith in your life.
Micah McCormick: And then a third group, and these last two groups, especially today, can take comfort, but then there are people, and I it's hard when you're preaching to so many different kinds of people, and we ourselves have experienced probably all of these at different times in our life.
Micah McCormick: Those that you're a sheep, but you just struggle with doubt.
Micah McCormick: You're constantly wondering, well, maybe I'm not a sheep, maybe I am a goat.
Micah McCormick: The Savior is a tender shepherd.
Micah McCormick: That's what he says here.
Micah McCormick: He receives weak and doubting souls.
Micah McCormick: It's not your uncertainty or certainty that's going to ultimately see you through.
Micah McCormick: It's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Micah McCormick: So keep hoping in him.
Micah McCormick: Take comfort that for those who are clinging to Christ alone, even if we don't always feel the assurance that we should, God is there, God is near.
Micah McCormick: And then lastly, for those that know that you're a sheep, let the reality of eternity sober you as you go out from here and interact with others.
Micah McCormick: But look forward with hope.
Micah McCormick: The sufferings of this present life are not worth comparing the glory that will be revealed in us.
Micah McCormick: To think of the relationships that might be broken because we're a Christian.
Micah McCormick: It's not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us.
Micah McCormick: To think of the of the lack of success we may have on the planes of human existence and our jobs or our, yes, but we're gonna inherit the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
Micah McCormick: We're part of God's eternal purpose.
Micah McCormick: It's a grand thing to know that.
Micah McCormick: On the last day, every human will be either rewarded or rejected.
Micah McCormick: May we seek God.
Micah McCormick: Let's pray.
Micah McCormick: Lord, we want desperately to know divine words and divine comfort.
Micah McCormick: Thank you, Spirit of God, that you do all things well.
Micah McCormick: And we dare not trust ourselves or look ultimately to ourselves, but seek you while you might be found and call on you while you are near.
Micah McCormick: Thank you for being near to us.
Micah McCormick: Thank you for the hope we have of eternal life, the hope we have of resurrection and glory and joy.
Micah McCormick: Help us, Lord, not to live lives of complaining and bitterness towards others, but to live as your people thoughtfully, with boldness proclaiming the good news, with a heart of longing to minister to all the saints and their needs.
Micah McCormick: And ultimately, it's our desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
Micah McCormick: We don't work as pleasers of men, but as serving the Lord together.
Micah McCormick: So, Lord, let us serve one another during this time of reflection and communion, and may we commune especially with the Savior as we anticipate his coming, as we anticipate the confidence that we can have.
Micah McCormick: We pray today, particularly for those struggling souls, that you have promised you won't break a bruised reed or quench a smoking flax till you send judgment to victory.
Micah McCormick: Oh, Lord, bring the sweetness of assurance, bring the sweetness of fellowship and peace to those that are in a turmoil of soul today.
Micah McCormick: Do that for your glory's sake, we pray.
Micah McCormick: In Jesus' name, amen.