11.23.14 The Final Judgment

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The Final Judgment * Matthew 25:31-46 Good morning, my name is Jeremy, I’m happy to be with my Burlington family this morning! Last week Pastor Chris covered Matthew chapter 24 where Jesus talks about the End of Days. And if you here last week you’ll recall the message is that Jesus is coming back. We don’t know exactly when, but we know it’s close, closer than ever, and to hold on! I hope we know that Jesus doesn’t really need us to be on the planning committee, the Father has that all worked out, no input or opinion needed from you or me, but he does want us to be on the welcoming committee.

Now due to schedules and such, next week the passage will be about being prepared – being ready – but today He is talking about the “for what.” Being prepared for what. Today’s passage is about the day. The day that no one in this room will escape, the day when preparations cease and the King comes. A lot of people have erroneously called today’s passage a parable. This passage is not a parable, it is a prophecy. At times Jesus uses language that is called a simile, but this is Jesus telling you and I what is going to happen on the last day.

Let’s read it together, Matthew 25:31-46 31

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 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. 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, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[f] you did it to me.’ 41

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 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.’ 44 Then they also will answer, 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?’ 45 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.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” 1

This morning much of this message is going to feel maybe a little “right in your face,” because frankly, what Jesus is laying out here for us is for the most part very straight forward. And so for a bit this might feel a little mechanical, but there are some realities that Jesus wants to make sure that you hear and that you know. Let’s just walk back through this passage a bit. I see 5 things to point out in this message, we will be able to work through 1-4 pretty quickly. Let’s look.

First is “The Day” or “The Event” in verse 31, 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Again this is prophecy from the mouth of Jesus. He is telling us that there is a day that I am coming and when I come it’s going to look much different. Jesus’ first coming was in meekness and the weakness of a baby and other than to a few shepherds, He came without any fanfare. Born in a barn, raised by a poor working family, Jesus’ first coming is marked by hardship, poverty and sacrifice and humility. In the next two days, He is about to be stripped, beaten, mocked, spat upon – and even though He is God in the flesh – in the greatest act of love that has ever been, He will willingly lay down his life and take our punishment. But that is His first coming. Jesus is speaking of His second coming.

On this day He is coming as Judge and as King and He is coming in great power. The armies of angels that surround Him will be too numerous to count. On this day that Jesus is speaking of there are no more enemies that dare stand against Him. They have all been crushed. Just prior to this day, or perhaps even on the same day, we see a very different picture of Jesus in Revelation 19:11-16, 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in[a] blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

This is the King who is coming. Not the lowly and patient and pushed around Jesus of Nazareth, but the King of Kings, with His name tattooed on His thigh. This is nothing but power and majesty. And people will not be saying things like “Hey, do you think it’s Him?” or “Eh, I was watching CNN and they say it’s definitely not Him, ” “Yeah – well I think maybe it’s Him,” there will be none of that. Everyone everywhere will know that He has returned. Look, that day is coming. There is no getting around it. 2

It’s an awesome picture…one that I hope will make you sit up. Stop checking your phone or thinking about lunch and pay very close attention. Because if that is “the event,” then next we are going to talk about the “who,” which is you in this picture? Verse 32, 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Not only is this day unavoidable in general, it is inescapable for you. It is inescapable for me. This gathering is universal. The word that Jesus uses when he says “nations” is “every ethne,” every people group. It means every race, every color, every tribe, every tongue. Every single person from the Akolet tribe of Puapa New Guinea standing next to millions and millions of people from China. Americans standing next to Iranians and next to them every single person from every other country who has ever lived. This is completely universal. And although it is universal it is very individual , which means that somewhere in that crowd you will stand. He says He will separate people, individuals, one from another.

Which means the Moment is coming ever closer when the King of Kings, Jesus, will look directly at you. I will not judge you. Your mama will not judge you, or offer excuses for you. God the Father will not judge you. On this day, you will stand alone before the Judge, the righteous Judge, Jesus Christ. John 5:22 says this, 22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. Because of His sacrifice and His leaving heaven and taking upon Himself your sin and mine, God the Father has given all judgment to the Son. You will not stand before Peter at the pearly gates. You will look face to face with the Son of God and in perfect righteousness He alone will announce your verdict. I will stand alone. My son must stand in judgment before Christ by themselves. Your child, your spouse, your girlfriend, everyone including you, will stand before Him. I cannot hide behind Chris Carr. It’s not a deal where like in school, or I remember this in boot camp in the military, where if you just keep your head down, and oh, oh, oh, don’t make eye contact, whatever you do, don’t make eye contact, maybe, just maybe you can move on through with the herd and not get noticed. It is universal, every person from everywhere, and it is individual.

Next we hear His verdict, 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 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. And then jump down to verse 41, 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. His decision is final and you are one or the other. There is no in between. There is no appeal process, there is no injustice. You will either hear, “Come, you who are blessed,” or you will hear, “Depart from me, you cursed.”

That’s it. I don’t know what else there is to say about it. It is either one or the other. You are either a sheep or a goat. I’m not going to waste time today on a 10 minute 3

explanation of why He says sheep or goats, or why left or right, I think you pretty much get it. The deal is, it’s final. There is no arguing with the Judge. A lot of people don’t like this. Well…sorry. He knows everything. He created you and the heavens and the earth. He is perfect and just and He will not screw up. Not one single case, not one.

Now we are going to spend much of the rest of our time talking about “the basis” for that verdict and the “evidence” for that verdict. But when it comes right down to it, there just isn’t a whole lot to drill down on when it comes to the verdict itself. You are one or the other. But just to be sure that we grasp the gravity of this scene, jump down to verse 46, 46 And these (Talking of the goats on his left) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” I guess if I were to underline and just stew on any of those words, I’d camp on “eternal.” Never ending. Ever. Hard to imagine isn’t it? For those who are sent to the eternal fire, it’s a punishment that after a million years… and look, tick - tock – tick – tock – tick – tock – tick- tock – tick – tock… Some of you were just now annoyed that I did that for 10 seconds – that was 10 seconds…. because it seemed like a really long time! But after a million years of punishment and torment that the Bible says will cause weeping and gnashing of teeth, and another million goes by, you are no closer to the end. Because the end will never come.

When people reject an infinitely merciful, infinitely beautiful and infinitely gracious Christ saying, “Come! I’ve made it possible.” It is fitting to receive infinite punishment. Some of you will hear me plead with you today to accept His full and complete pardon, to believe, and by faith be adopted into His family, and lovingly follow him for the 2 or 5 or 20 or whatever years you have left on this earth. But undoubtedly some will look upon the cross, look at the incredible sacrifice of the Father giving His only Son (can you imagine giving up your child?) to be punished in place of His enemies, and many will just say “Nah, no thanks.” Thinking that it’s a bum deal. That following Jesus is just not going to fit them. Now I’m not big on scaring people into heaven because, really, honestly, nobody wants to go to hell. And there are already way too many people who have walked an aisle, or repeated some prayer, or checked some box on a card - but they don’t have any love for Jesus. They don’t see Him as glorious and precious, they don’t care to be in relationship with Him. Not now or in the future. They just don’t like the idea of going to hell. If that’s you this morning, please stay with me all the way to the end, because I promise I’m not going to give you an opportunity to check another box or walk another aisle. I’m not going to give you an opportunity to “do” anything, but rather, I’m going to ask you to “receive” something. Something very different than maybe anything you might expect.

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And yes, this passage speaks of an eternal punishment, but he also speaks about our great hope of eternal life, for those to whom He says “Come,” we are to inherit the Kingdom that has been prepared for us since before the foundations of the world. It must be some kind of amazing if God has prepared it for us from before the foundations of the world!

As difficult as it is to imagine eternal punishment, it’s equally as difficult to grasp what the Psalmist talks about when he says - in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Just merely being in His presence, knowing that we are accepted and treasured, never a sorrow, our relationship with Him never hindered by our sin, just a complete openness with Him and those around us. I mean, can you even fathom that? I don’t think we can. Can you imagine a relationship between you and I where my sin isn’t constantly getting in the way? Where my pride isn’t there, always trying to one up you. Can you imagine looking around in heaven and seeing the face of Jesus and thinking, “I shouldn’t be here! Doesn’t He know what I’ve done?” And yet He’s said, “Come.” And it never ends. Not ever!

But why? Why? Why does He say, “Come.” In this passage He’s inviting them into the Kingdom, on what terms? On what basis? This is where people have a lot of difficulty with this passage because they say, “Well, look, it says in verse 35 and 36 that their being invited in because, “you fed me when I was hungry…you gave Me water when I was thirsty – you took me in when I was a stranger – you visited me when I was sick and you came to me when I was in prison. So doesn’t that teach that we are saved and invited into His kingdom because of good works? Isn’t He saying that you can come into the Kingdom because your basic human kindness?” If that’s the case, what do we do with Ephesians 2: 8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this (this faith – even the faith to believe) is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works – so that no one may boast What do we do with the pile of verses where Jesus says things like, “You must be born again,” or, “No man comes to the Father except through me.” No mention of earning it and works. What do we do with the thief on the cross next to Jesus? As they were both dying, the thief simply looked over and said, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom,” that guy didn’t get to get down of that cross and do anything! He didn’t get to go home and make it up to his mama, He didn’t get to help some person in need, or make amends to those he had stolen from. The only thing that guy got to do was die. And Jesus looked over and said to him, “today you will be with me in paradise.” So there must be more to it.

There is, and it hangs on verse 34,34 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. That is the source of our salvation. Come you who are blessed by my Father. He is the source. Jesus says you are entering the Kingdom because My Father has determined to bless you. Verse 34 expresses the reality and the beauty of 5

redemption, salvation, and justification based upon the Father’s choosing, in love, to adopt you and me! The Kingdom was prepared for those who belong to Christ before the foundation of the world, long before anyone ever gave anyone else a cup of cold water.

So if it’s not about works and doing enough good things to twist Jesus’ arm into putting us over with the sheep, (I hope we would agree that if we could earn it there would be no need to sacrifice the sinless son of God, that would be pointless) so if it’s not about works, why then does Jesus go on to point out the works that the sheep did? Look at it again quickly 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, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ He’s telling us that there’s something about the sheep. There is something about them, and it’s not just the things they’ve done, it’s whom they’ve done them to. Verse 40 And the King will answer them, “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”. First, the things they had done are actually just little things. They were just things that people would commonly suffer from back in the first century, hunger and thirst, being a stranger in the land, or not having enough clothes. These are like little common every day things, things that Jesus could relate to. Nothing earth shattering, no major societal problems have been conquered and poverty vanquished, just everyday things, little things.

I don’t know about you, but I’m much more tempted to do big things for Jesus, you know, the kind of things that get His attention. The kind of things that will get 200 likes on Facebook. Kind of like the things Jesus describes in Matthew 7: 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, Pretty awesome huh? I wouldn’t mind belting out some prophecy. and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ How cool would that be? 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ So I guess Jesus isn’t impressed with mighty works. There’s something about these sheep, cause they are doing just everyday little things.

Next let’s look at who these people are caring for in these little ways. The King said, “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,” I believe He’s referring to the least of these sheep that are gathered before him in this scene around His throne, and that word “the least” is a picture of someone who is not just desperate, but they know they are desperate. One description I read this week was one of a beggar who not only had his hand out in need, but the other hand was covering his face as if he were ashamed to even be seen begging. It’s a person who is in need in every sense of the word. And Jesus calls the least of these his brothers, so we have a person in need and he is a brother of Jesus! He is a disciple, earlier in Matthew Jesus tells us exactly who is brothers are: Matthew 12, 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, 6

and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

So what is it about these sheep? Jesus points out that they have done these little every day things to fellow Christians, to brothers or sisters, others who have been adopted into the family, when He gives us their response. He tells us something else about these sheep, they are like surprised that Jesus even mentions these things. Check out the surprised reaction they give Jesus in verse 37, “ Lord…when did we see you hungry and give you some food? When did we see you thirsty? I don’t remember giving you a drink! I don’t recall ever seeing you naked or sick – or coming to visit you in prison. Jesus, are you sure? It’s not that we don’t believe you Jesus, but we didn’t keep track of these little things.

Look, for me most of this passage and most of this message has seemed very mechanical, very matter of fact Jesus says (1) there’s going to be a day, and I’m coming back, it’s going to happen, no getting around it. And on that day (2) every person will stand before me, everyone – no exceptions – from every tongue, tribe and nation, it’s universal and yet completely individual. You and I will stand by ourselves in front of the King. And then (3) He’s going to announce His verdict. That’s it, it’s one or the other, He will either say you are a sheep or a goat, left or right, heaven or hell. And then He says (4) He’s basing that verdict upon one thing and one thing only: the loving sovereign choice of God the Father to adopt a people for Himself and rescue them to ransom these sheep through the Son and give them an inheritance, a Kingdom that never ends, and then finally he goes on (5) not as a reason to ransom them – but rather he goes on to give this list, or evidence that the sheep have demonstrated that they belong to God’s family.

And this is where I kind of get stuck. All week I keep asking, what is it about these sheep? What kind of people do things like that? What the heck is driving them that they would have this almost unconscious love that would cause them to serve brothers and sisters around them and not even notice they’re doing it? What makes that possible?

And then it hit me, the clues are scattered all around in this text, it is people who feel the weight of their own adoption into that family, and they are so blown away that God would look out and choose them, adopt them, rescue them. It’s people who will look around in heaven and scream, “I shouldn’t be here!” It’s people who Jesus describes in Matthew 5:3 – blessed are those who are poor in Spirit – for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. They are so moved by their own adoption, of God’s choosing 7

them, that when they encounter another brother or sister who has some need, they don’t even think about it, they just meet that need in whatever way they can. They don’t keep track of it, don’t draw attention to it, they may not even remember it. They just couldn’t help it – because they’ve been adopted too.

So how can I help you feel that fresh today in here (the heart)? Knowing a bunch of facts and how it’s all going to go down on judgment day, maybe that helps you up here (head), but if it’s just our heads that know these thing, I’m afraid we’ll take off out of here today, running out to do some works, even good deeds, out of fear or to keep track so you hope to high heaven that he puts you in the right line on the last day, clearly that isn’t what the King is looking for.

I wrestled with what I could possibly say so that today you understood the Gospel and the amazement that comes from being adopted by God. Maybe for the first time ever, or how could I cause you to remember your adoption fresh today, to the point that your heart would almost burst in gratitude.

I don’t do this very often, but I’ve decided to show you a picture of all these things rather than just try to say it. Listen carefully to the words in this video, look for yourself in the story.

That’s who we are. The Christian life is a family, and everyone, everyone of us is adopted by God. You and I are the kids in that video. That’s us. That’s His family from all over the world, like some kind of crazy gathering “of the United Nations” (excerpt from video) with all kinds of issues and infirmaries. But like that dad said in the video, He looked out at the whole world, and He chose you. For no other reason but that He loved you, and wanted you to be His son, or daughter.

If you’ve never known Him as daddy, let today be the day. Turn away from the path of being some kind of self made man or woman, or turn away from the disaster that is your life…and just accept His adoption through the sacrifice of His Son. You can’t impress Him, and your past won’t dissuade Him from choosing you. And then for Pete’s sake, tell someone! That today you became a child of God, because it apparently gives Jesus great delight when we love on, take care of, and look after one another in His family.

And for those of you who’ve already said yes to Him, but you are like me and you say to yourself, “I don’t think my love of my brothers and sisters comes real easy.” Let 8

today, and tomorrow, and the day after that be days where we remind ourselves that out of all the world, He chose me! And when we encounter a brother or sister, or anyone for that matter, in need, it won’t seem like so much of a chore.

Close in prayer

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. © 2014 by Jeremy Hess You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author, (2) any modifications are clearly marked, (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, (4) you include Harmony Bible Church’s website address (www.harmonybiblechurch.org) on the copied resource.

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