SPEAKER_00 0:01

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then you will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered nations, and he will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on the right, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom that has been 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 welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. And the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we do these things for you? And the king will answer, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me. 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 welcome me. Naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they 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, As you did not do it to one of the least of these. You did not do it to me.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Some of you all have seen the show The Chosen. I own the only caution I would have for you if you're watching The Chosen is remember if there's a contradiction between the chosen and the Bible, go with the Bible, alright? I've had people quote me. You remember when this happened? I'm like, no, that's the chosen. That's not the Bible. They I think that the author or the director does a good job using imagination and sort of envisioning things that Christ may have said or done, but it's obviously the most powerful in moments like that when they're quoting directly from Scripture. And this morning, as we continue in our series on the parables, I bring you a parable that some say is not a parable. The reason being, now, the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, 31 through 46, is found in a succession of parables. The unwise or the wise manager at the end of chapter 24, and then there's three in chapter 25. A few weeks ago, we looked at the parable of the ten virgins, and then the parable of the talents. Following that is the story of the sheep and the goats. Um, it's included on many parable lists, but some say that it feels like a parable, but it's actually an explanation of the end times. Regardless of whether it's truly a parable or if it's depicting reality that will take place. It's shared in story form and a very powerful one at that. And this morning we're going to be talking about when the end comes. Now, in AD 79, there is a famous destruction of Pompeii and another Roman city that flowed from a volcano that basically took out the whole town and put Pompeii in ruins. And scientists have tried to study what things were going on during the time of the explosion. And it had all the signs that an explosion was going to happen, but people did not know how to determine the signs. There was shaking, there was rumbling, there were loud sounds, there was even a flume of smoke just a few days before the volcanic eruption. And basically on the day of the explosion, the researchers have been able to deduce that the town was operating in absolute normalcy. People were in the market, they were in the Roman baths, they were at work, they were just carrying on, and all of a sudden, volcanic ash began and lava began just zooming down the mountain, destroying the ancient city of Pompeii. There are some parallels with the return of Christ in that. In other words, there are some signs. There's also normalcy. In Matthew 24, Jesus talked about the signs of the time, but only in generalities. There'll be wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters. He clarified that you still don't know the day or the hour. He also seemed to explain that it's going to be like two women grinding grain at a mill, one's taken and one remains, or two men out in a field, one's taken and one remains. It's going to be normal daily activities, although there are signs of it coming. And as we look at this story together, hopefully we'll leave this room this morning more prepared for the end. Whether you're a believer that needs to really ask God for a greater faithfulness, or whether you're someone today that has really never made that life-altering decision of trusting Christ for salvation, I believe God will speak to us as we consider when the end comes. Let me first of all read verses 31, 32, and 33 of Matthew 25, where we find these words. And he will place the sheep on his right, and the goats on his left. Now, this first principle about when the end comes is number one on your outline, and it's this, it's simply this, the whole world will stand before God. There is accountability for all mankind when the end comes, that we will all stand before God. I recently received a notice to appear for jury duty, and at the bottom of that request, or summons rather, were all kinds of boxes to check if you had a legitimate excuse for not appearing. And I searched for them, and I only had one out. And the out was rather legitimate. I was going for, quote, business out of the country. I was in Nepal and I was able to put that down. I wrote what I was doing. I didn't necessarily mention mission trip because I figured that would make me cancel the trip and they'd summon me right away. But nonetheless, I checked what that I was going to be out of the country, been planning it for over a year, and I didn't show up. I've not been arrested yet. I've not heard from them. But nonetheless, there are certain things you're summoned to, and that if you can't make it, it's okay. Well, brothers and sisters, the end of the world standing before God's tribunal is not one of them. There's no way to say, hey, I can't make it, God, because I've got plans. There's no way out of this moment. And this is a scene depicting just that. Now, Christ is telling the story, and he refers to himself by his most used self-designation, and that's the Son of Man. This is a word describing elements of his deity, but more emphasizing his humanity, that of all mankind, he's the son of them. He's the perfect human. He's certainly God in flesh. Some have wondered why did he not refer to himself as the son of God more? Why did he not refer to himself as the Messiah more? We don't exactly know. He certainly received designation that was put him equal with God. He received the titles given to him by others as the king and as God in the case of Thomas. Many feel that the reason he didn't go around saying, I'm the Son of God, I'm the Messiah, is because the Father perfectly timed his ending. And if he would come out of the gate proclaiming that everywhere, he would not have made it three years. God wanted to give him three years to work with the disciples, train what would become the church, and when the time was right, he sacrificed his son, who also he raised from the dead. And maybe also those who became his followers, if they would have led with the, hey, this is the Messiah, by the way, guys. I think we could probably take Rome. He's also the Son of God. They would try to elevate him to a premature kingship. But nonetheless, he described himself as the Son of Man. But now it's time for him, as this is three days before his death. He's about to be captured and tried and crucified. And he says, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, meaning the sum total of all God's perfections, the brightness of the character of God. When he comes back, he's going to come, not as a baby in a manger, but the sovereign, perfect, sinless Son of God whose eyes are like blazing fire. And it says, all the angels with him. Now you have, you probably have some cute little angels on your shelf at home that you got from a Christian bookstore somewhere. And angels are certainly cute and all that good stuff, but they're also agents of judgment. We read in the book of Revelation. They're not as cute as they appear upon our shelf. You see them accompanying the Son of God, the Son of Man, in periods of judgment. And this is their role there. It says, Then he will sit on his glorious throne. Now, the throne, of course, represented the fact that Christ was king, and this is not the king of England. This is no figurehead king. This is in line with ancient monarchs that had absolute authority and absolute control. Jesus Christ will sit on his glorious throne at the end of the age and will begin to meet out God's just judgments on all mankind. And we need to remember that he will sit on the throne one day and that he is filled with glory. This to me is an amazing statement to make when you're basically everybody who is in power has rejected you. You're about to be beaten within an inch of your life, and you're going to die on a criminal's cross. Yet he is saying, I'm returning, and I'm going to sit on my throne of glory. Mankind is scratching that going, Are you really saying that right now? It's like someone that it loses out on something, and they walk out the door saying, I'm going to, I'm going to show you, I'm going to come back one day and I'm going to own this company, or I'm going to be the biggest, baddest person you ever seen. Christ is making claims that most people couldn't fulfill, but when he rose from the grave a matter of days after this, they had to think again that maybe there was something to his words. In verse 32, before him will be gathered all the nations. Well, I'll pause right there. Before him will be gathered all the nations. There's a bit of debate as to when this particular judgment takes place. Did you know that? Theologians like to line up the judgments of the Bible in really neat fashions of this comes here, this comes here. And at the end of the day, I guess we'll find out when we'll find out. Now, some people like to make the distinction of this describes the judgment of the nations that is distinct from the final judgment, which is referred to from the book of Revelation, chapter 20, as the Great White Throne judgment. The Great White Throne judgment, Revelation 20, 11 through 15, is the final, final, final deal where the enemy, Satan, is cast in the lake of burning sulfur, and the new heaven and the new earth comes on earth, and God's final kingdom of heaven is set up. The righteous come here, those who don't know Christ, eternity separated from him in a place called hell. That's the final, final, the great white throne judgment. This particular scene, some believe is one with the great white throne. The reason some say there's a distinction, and they call it the judgment of the nations, is because there seems to be a judgment for different reasons. This particular judgment seems to be a judgment based on what you do. Now, I don't think that those two are necessarily in conflict. In other words, this could be describing something that is synonymous but just has a different emphasis to the very last judgment. Others say no, the the judgment of the nations happens after what's referred to in Revelation and Daniel as the seven-year period of tribulation, and before what Revelation 20 refers to as the thousand-year reign, which is known as the millennium. Some say there's a judgment of the nations before that, and then after the whole thousand-year reign, the millennium. Some of you are going, would you just go back to preaching? What are you talking about here? Anyway, some of you going, I'm finally, I'm glad you said that. Some of you going, please don't never say it again. Nonetheless, as I mentioned, when we need to know what this is, we'll find out, right? And I don't think anyone's going to be going, hey, is this the judgment of the nations or the great white throne? I don't guess that's going to matter, but for those of you that were listening, I'm trying to say we don't really know. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And so in this judgment, there will be a very clear separation. Separate the sheep from the goats. Now, the the sheep and the goats were oftentimes grazed on fields together, but a good shepherd, a good one who tended to those animals would separate them because goats could be more intemperate than the sheep. They're basically a little more ordering, and the sheep were milder. They were wandering and foolish, but milder in their personality. And essentially, they're this recalls in ancient care for animals in a field, oftentimes the shepherd would put them through a sort of a flute that was only big enough for one animal. And someone would be sitting on top of where you would come out of that particular pass-through, and the separation would happen there. If a sheep was coming out, they would go this way, and if a goat's coming out, they would go this way. And so that was a familiar image to people that were hearing this story. And Christ said at the end of the age, there's going to be only two distinctions. And the Son of Man is going to separate people just like a farmer or a rancher would separate sheep and goats. And this gives us the asterisk under number one today, and that's this Jesus will separate mankind into two categories. You may have heard before there are three kinds of people in this world, those who know how to count and those who don't. There used to be folks that said, you know what, there's no real difference between the right and the left. Everyone's basically the same. I think in our day we've seen that not being the case. There's a greater distinction between the right and the left. And yet there's many that aim for third wayism. Some probably with really good motives, and some not wanting to pick sides, and some just like a third option. I want a mushy metal, I don't want to be all over here, I don't want to be all the way over there. Now, we understand in life that we when you go to a restaurant, you don't want them to give them you a menu that has two items. You're used to those menus that have 50, 60 items, and it takes the wives at least a rather long period to decide. I'm not giving a personal testimony, but maybe I am. We want choices, right? And Jesus says, You want choices? I'll give you two. There's only two. In verse 33, it says, and he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left. Some try to read too much into this, trying to say that, you know what I think you're trying to say with this, right? That the right are, you know, gods and the left are not. I would say this the main reason why Jesus said it this way is because in ancient courts, if a judge gave you an adjudication, if you basically had been tried and found not guilty, he put you to the right. And so everyone was understanding that, and they said, so he goes, those who are my sheep, those who follow me with loyalty, you're going to go on the right, and the right, as we'll find out, goes into the kingdom of heaven. Now, um, this week President Trump said something that was controversial. That is a real shocker right there. And he was asked about international law. Did you hear him say that? Mankind, our world has not agreed on international law since the Nuremberg trials after World War II. And so someone said, with President Trump being good at diplomacy, he said, No, shouldn't you follow international law? And he says, I don't need international law because I trust myself to make proper judgments. And so that was picked up. What? You don't believe in international law? And it led to a discussion in the world about is there such a thing as international law? And the reason there's not really a thing as international law is because our nations view right and wrong and truth so radically differently, that there's not agreed-upon law that governs everybody in the world. There are actually some cultures that value treachery, that value death, and others that value life and things of that nature. I want you to know that international law will be put into place at the end of the age. And that will be God's international tribunal, where everyone is summoned, and a separation will indeed take place. Now, in verse 34 begins the meeting out of judgment, and the first section refers to the righteous. So, number two, in your outline, the righteous will receive reward. And the asterisk underneath number two is this the reward for the righteous is the kingdom of heaven. Now, the key to understanding, verse 35, 36, well, 35 through 40, rather, is verse 34. Verse 34 says this Then the king will say to those on his right, Christ is referring to himself as the king. He was the Son of Man in verse 31, he's the king in verse 34. Come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So, the reason this is important is because 35 through 40 at first glance sounds rather worksy. And if you go to this church, if you've been to a gospel evangelical church, you know that the proper place of works is proof of salvation, not meriting salvation. But at first glance, 35 through 40 basically can be interpreted by those who believe in a rather social gospel to say, if you want to go to heaven, be sweet to people that are hurting, and you'll be all right. And hell is reserved for people that are mean to those who are hurting. And that interpretation would only be possible if verse 34 didn't exist. But verse 34 does exist. And it tells us, Come, you who are blessed by my Father. So the source of the salvation of the righteous is the Father, his desire, his grace, his willingness to receive them as righteous. And then it says, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Inheritance is something that is not tied with merit, at least generally. Inheritance happens because you are part of a family. You are part of a connection with someone who, out of his or her goodwill, extend their resources to you upon death. I used to not really like that bumper sticker that said we are spending our kids' inheritance. I sort of like it more now at 55 years old. They don't go to this service, so we're okay. But anyway. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Then it says from the foundation of the world. Now that's uh a reference to election, something that we see in many places in Scripture, that that shows us that God is one who elects our salvation. And electing us to salvation does not get rid of the necessity of belief. Belief flows from those who have been elected. In other words, it's important for us to make a personal and real decision to follow Christ. The answer is where did that ability to decide come from? Did it spring from someone's autonomous freedom, or did it spring from a loving plan of a heavenly father in ages and eternity past? I think it's the latter. I think it's eternity past, and I think it's explaining in here. It still requires a response of repentance and faith. Repentance and faith comes because of an electing grace of God. But nonetheless, it shows that salvation is all of grace. But verses 35 through 40 shows that the righteous are righteous because of his grace, but you know they're righteous because they are living it out by being kind to those who have needs. Verse 35, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Now, do you remember when Paul met the Lord on the Damascus road? And the Lord said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? That was a very confusing thing for him to hear because Saul, rather, did not think that his persecution of Christians was hurting Jesus. But Jesus has such an identification with his people, there's a oneness between Christ Himself and His people that He says, You're persecuting me. As we're going to find here, that same connection between Christ and His people. When you do good to God's people, you're doing kindness to him personally. But there is confusion. It says, then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you, and when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? The fact that the righteous are confused about this shows that they did not think they were meriting their salvation. They weren't checking a box and going, visiting the sick, boom, I'm probably going to heaven. Gave money to the poor, boom, I'm making it there. They just loved the king so much that they served the king's people. That's how I have confused my wife, Susie, many times. Because I will say to her, Suze, you are the best lady in the universe. You're the sweetest wife on the face of this earth. And she goes, What are you talking about? She has no idea what I'm talking about. You know why? Because loving me is so natural to her, she doesn't even know that she's doing it. It's just in her heart. And the same is true with God's people, that loving people in need is so natural, loving others is so natural to those who truly know God that we don't even know when we're doing it. Why? Because we're acting according to the new nature God has given us. In verse 40, it says, and the king will answer them, truly I say to you, as you did it to one of these least of these my brothers, you did it to me. There is some question as to who are the least of these. Do they refer to all poor people in general? Some say that they may refer to Jews in the tribulation. A version that makes more sense to me is when he says, My brothers, who did Jesus refer to, especially in the Gospel of Matthew, when he used the term my brothers? It was generally a reference to his disciples. So some say the reference here is that Christians are to be kind to everybody, because there's many verses that say that, but in this particular passage, Jesus may be referencing the way we treat other Christians. We should not shoot our wounded, we should not neglect God's people. Just like it says in Galatians chapter 6, verse 10, especially those who belong to the family of believers, and that could be in reference here. I'm trying, I try to be mindful of what I'm preaching that week. And I don't know, I try to pay special attention. It's not when I move from one pastor to another that I try to forget the lesson learned and not be as eager to apply it to my life. But this week, I'm thinking, who are the least of these in my world? And I was at firehouse subs with a discipleship group uh earlier this week and meeting with a group of guys trying to encourage them in their walk with the Lord. And there was a homeless dude outside with a you know a grocery cart full of stuff. I'd seen this particular homeless guy before. And he comes inside and looks right at me and says, Hey bro, could you buy me a sandwich? And I'm going, absolutely, I'm gonna have to stand before God's people and preach this passage. Sure. I didn't say it quite that way. But I'm like, this is a good week for a homeless person to ask me for anything. You pretty much have anything you ask. Anything you ask for. Hopefully next week it'll be the same thing. But you know what I'm saying, right? I was like, yeah, this is what this is from God. Well, brothers and sisters, we should not have off and on again kindness for Christ. We should be cognizant of it all the time. Now, the third principle is found in verses 41 through 46, and the third principle is the unrighteous will experience eternal judgment. I believe I warned you a few weeks ago that some of these latter parables deal more with judgment. A few weeks from today, we're gonna look at one that's almost entirely about what hell is like in the rich man in Lazarus and Luke 16. But suffice it to say that God's mercy and grace are not at odds with his judgment. And certainly some people say, well, the Old Testament is more judgment and the New Testament is more love. There are mixtures of both in both testaments for sure, but I would say that the judgment in the Old Testament feels more pronounced because it was more with judgment in real time. There is elements in the book of Acts of God judging people in real time, but that was very obvious in the Old Testament. But much of the New Testament emphasis has to do with judgment at the end of the age. That was Christ's emphasis. That was certainly Paul's emphasis. You see exceptions to that in the book of Acts with Ananias and Sapphira. But most of the judgment happens in the future. And it happens, and his judgment is only the flip side of the coin of God's mercy and grace. It's not, and it doesn't come from God's heart. He's not pursuing judgment in a vicious way. He simply is stuck with his holiness. And he can't let sentimentality void who he really is in his essence, a supremely holy God. In verse 41, then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you are you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Why does it say that hell, the eternal fire, is prepared for the devil and his angels? Well, partly because I think that's just the idea, is that it's not God's heart for people to enter there. In other words, the design for hell was the devil and the host of demons to burn there forever. But when people refuse the gospel, it's almost their joining team Satan and rejecting the Son of God. And if you join with Satan, you will end up where Satan is supposed to be. Certainly that's a frightening reality, but I believe that's what's behind his words. Now, in verse 42, you see sort of the opposite repeating of what we just saw in 35 through 40, with that there are six lists of meeting needs, six ways you can meet a need. By the way, I wouldn't view this list as exhaustive. I think these are just examples of how Christians should love, and the unrighteous are now being accused of not doing these things. 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 welcome me. Naked, you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. These are sins of omission. Were you here when we studied the book of James and we got to chapter 14, verse 17? Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it sins. And so these were sins of omission committed by people that aren't blessed of the Father, that aren't receiving an inheritance, that didn't know Christ in a personal way, and no matter what they said with their mouth, their actions showed that they didn't really have a relationship with God. And the sins of omissions were part of that. In verse 44, then they will also answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick and in prison and did not minister to you? You can see, I find that fascinating that both the righteous and the unrighteous are utterly confused as to this sentence or this statement about them. As I mentioned, the righteous were confused because they're just doing their thing. They're so in love with God that they're kind and loving to people. But the unrighteous were so consumed by their world and their preference and their agenda that the poor, the needy, the imprisoned, the sick, they didn't fit into those plans. And it wasn't like they woke up one day and said, I'm gonna stick it to Jesus today. I'm gonna do anything I can to offend him by not loving other people. It had it never came into their mind. They were completely taken back as to this indictment. It did not make sense to them. But in verse 45, then he will say to those, then he will answer them saying, Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. Now, the last verse we'll look at is sort of the linchpin to all this, and certainly a verse that's not easy to read and to take in. But I would not be a good pastor if I led you to this point and just sort of sugarcoated the ending. Verse 46 says, and these will go away into eternal punishment. By the way, I'm not sure if some of you who are more into theology than others have heard of the term annihilationism. Annihilationism is an explanation of hell that says that people will cease to exist after a while. And part of the reason this has become popular has to do with it, it fits mercy more in the minds of people and says, you know, maybe people are gonna be destroyed in hell and they'll cease to exist. The problem is whatever, remember, you believe what you believe based on what the word of God says, not what feels best and what hits a cultural moment. And there is not a better interpretation for everlasting than the word eternal. I do not know why God decrees that punishment is to happen for eternity, but it clearly does according to his own words, and it says, but the righteous to eternal life. You know, the good news about eternity, the good news about it all, is that there's a way out. There's a way out of this eternal punishment. You, if you were here, if you were there Wednesday night at first Wednesday prayer, you heard a little more information about our trip to Nepal in a few weeks ago. And there was one moment, you know, when you're in a long trip and you're ready for home? That was obviously our vibe, and we took a flight from Kathmandu to Doha, Qatar. And we arrived there, and our bodies, well, I don't even know what time it was in our bodies. I was thoroughly confused. But it was 1 a.m. in Qatar or Qatar. And I would say it's a beautiful airport. If you've ever been to the Qatar Airport, it is amazing. It's beautiful, all kinds of cool things to see and do there, which we got to experience on the way over, but on the way back, our flight from Kathmandu left a couple hours late. And it was 1 a.m. And I guess I've never been in a group of four people where I was in the best shape of anybody. So I elected myself to dart as fast as I could, and I was like a lizard on a rail in the airport, man. We had to go, had to go through, it was forever, it was miles away. You had to get into this cart and go there, and the it was just forever. And it was 1 a.m. And we were cutting it close. We get there. I I get there, and my first question was, is there still time to make it? And the guy said, You're good, sir. We're about to close down, we're but we're but we're good. So I'm calling Tony, I'm calling Susie, I'm calling Teresa, nobody's answering, which is a good thing, because they're doing they're doing their hustle as well. And finally they came and I'm like, guys, we made it. Guys, we made it. And what was interesting was that if you arrived just a few minutes after that crew, you didn't make it. There was time, but there wasn't a lot of time. And I've never been the type of person that likes to predict when the end's coming. That's generally a fool's errand of when the end's coming. But I want to say right now, brothers and sisters, you've got time to choose Christ. But I don't know that you have a lot of time. And my encouragement to you is to make that choice this day and say, I want to be on Christ's team. I want to be the kind of person that's helping the poor, that's meeting needs, but I know that flows from a relationship with Him that I want to know that I know that I have. And this morning, I'd like us to take a moment and bow together and enter into a time of response as we come to deal with this text and ask God for grace and say, Lord, I want to hear from you today. Maybe you're here and you know you've trusted Christ for salvation, but you can see that there's some callousness to helping others. Would you ask God for a heart full of love for those in need and to give you both the wisdom and the courage to meet needs in Christ's name? But if you're here today and you've never called upon the name of the Lord, let today be the day of salvation. You can see on the screen in a moment a chance for you to connect with someone from our staff. And I've been encouraged to see that several people from Village Park campus have been connecting with Pastor Shannon and others. They'll also be up here at the end of the service, willing to receive anyone who would like prayer or discuss this particular message. But if you're here today and have never trusted Christ for salvation, the Bible says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Would you this day say, Lord, come into my life and forgive me of my sins? Lord, I know I'm a sinner. I know that you died for me. You're the perfect sinless Son of God, and I trust you to save me. Would you make that your prayer this morning from your own soul? Heavenly Father, you've given us a lot to think about here. And we know that this movie called Life has a timer on it. We don't know when our life will end, we don't know when the world will end, but Lord, we want to stand before your international tribunal and be on the side of the righteous, to be one of your sheep, living God. And I pray you would live your life through us as we try to love others this week. Be glorified in Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen.