Matt 25:31-46- Houses on sand dont stand.
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· 26 viewsPreparedness and Faithfulness to the Lord is clearly on displayed by our devotion to brotherly love.
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As we come to the close of chapter 25, we also come to Jesus last sermon so to speak
Chapter 26-28 are going to be the Passover, Betrayal and Crucifixion
For last 2 months or so, we have been walking through some of Jesus final words and here is his last recorded teaching of the disciples
This chapter has continued to build open Jesus foretelling of Jerusalems destruction and his 2nd Coming when all unbeliever will be judged
Verse 1-13- we have a be prepared, for no one knows the hours- wise and foolish bridesmaids
Verse 14-30- Faithfulness to living out Gods word in obedience proves a prepared heart in Christ- 3 Servants
Today as we look in verse 31-46- Hearts faithfully and obediently awaiting God returns, will be find genuinely loving the body of Christ
1. When the King comes again (31-33)
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
What a different scene this will be
The disciples are looking at the incarnate Jesus who came meek and lowly at his coming into the world-
However the 2nd looks much different- unveiled glory- no one will wonder if its him or if he came
He is coming in full glory and the all the host of heaven
Did you catch that? All the host of heaven
Multitudes announce his earthly birth but they all come when he comes in full glory to sit on the throne and judge the world
Jews would have the Father judging the world not the Messiah but Jesus makes it clear who will be doing the judging
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.
On the day of the Lord, when he comes, he will gather the nations and seperate his sheep from the goats
A shepherd clearly knows the difference between the sheep and goats and so clearly is it for Jesus to spot the real from the fake
And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Sheep- the genuine- are placed on the right hand and the goats- unbelieving- on the left
In Jewish law, acquittals were placed on the right side of the judge and judgements were passed down from his left hand
this will play out in our story
2. King speaks to his Faithful (34-39)
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.
On the day of Lord- when I say that, Im speaking to the great white throne judgement, when all people stand before God
We see the faithful enjoy intimate fellowship with God
The ones who Jesus sought and bought are the same ones the Father called
Again, in what only can be described as the sheer love of God, the faithful are brought into the New Heaven and New Earth of which was prepared for you before the earth had a cornerstone
What does man do in salvation, nothing, except believe and be thankful that God called your dead heart to life
These types of terms or even the predestination and election words shoudlnt bother us
They should only reminds us of the deep love God has for us which is clearly seen in
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Oh praise the one who who paid my debt raised this life up from the dead! What a hymn ??!!
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.’
Jesus says for because you served me, fed me , clothed me, welcomed me, visited me and came to prison to rescue me
Jesus goes on a long list of moral acts of kindness
none of them necessarily religious- just acts of love
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?’ 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.’
The faithful say, when did we do any of these to you Lord?
As if God was ever needed anything
but look at Jesus response to them
If you did it for one of my brothers you did it me
All acts of mercy and kindness showed to the family of God is done unto the Lord
Even the some of the smallest acts, God finds honor in
Im gonna stick to Jesus primary intent is focused on the family of God- brothers in the faith
He calls his disciples brothers as he sends Mary to tell them of his resurrection
All in the NT, brothers is a term of endearment for the body
Jesus also does many kind and gracious acts to many people but
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
3. King judges the loveless
“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.
The discussion takes a hard turn now
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
So the cursed has spread to us all
Physical death isnt the worst punishment
When Adam sinned, he died spiritually and from everyone since- has been born spiritually dead
From the new born to well seasoned
Thats why Ephesians 2 say we were died in our trespasses
Why were not sinners because we sinned, but we sin because we are sinners
Spiritual death came to us all and remains for all who will not repent and we see hell is horrific
No person spoke more of it than Jesus
I dont want us to think hell was made after sin came into the world- like God didnt know who would reject him and came up with a plan after the fact
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
What a list- look at leads the way- cowardly
Rev is a book about perseverance- you cant be a coward and walk the Christian walk
You will be faced with a decision whether to follow God or just fall in line with everyone else
“this seems to be the most practical thing to do” , “It wont be forever, just a little bit”,
It easy to look at a long list of whats behind it and say whew glad thats not me and in reality we maybe closer to the front of the line than what we think
We have taken great length to describe the punishment and the wrath of God
But Jesus explains why this is so for this group of professing Christians
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.’
They were loveless, compassionless, heartless, self absorbed
Oh man is it easy to find this today inside and outside the church
The point of commendation for the first group becomes the condemnation of the second
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?’ 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.’
Then the excuses begin- Jesus when did we not do it to you? If I saw you, I would have helped you
The reply is similar as before- Because you didnt do it for least of these, you didnt do it for me
What is missing in this statement that was in verse 40?--- Brothers
This group may view itself in the kingdom of God and the family of God- but God has the DNA results
His blood isnt covering them- he doesnt call them brothers
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Jesus again makes clear distinction- these will go to eternal punishment- and the righteous to eternal life
Loving others doesnt save us from sin
-this passage can make us think a works based righteousness is possible
-The what we really need is take on every cause and ill in the world and will prove we love Jesus- not quite
-Vs 35-40 have been the heartbeat of many great Christian civic organizations but that doesnt produce a righteousness that can save
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Salvation only comes when repent of our sin and submit publically and privately to the Lordship of Jesus Christ
That in and of itself is impossible without grace
as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
But from the work of God in believers lives, we are to live a life of good works- primarily the FOS and that will manifest itself in a variety of ways in our lives according to our talents God has given us
Lets be clear, we dont work for Christ to earn his favor or grace, We work and serve Christ because we realize without grace, how lost I would be
2. Who do I have to help? Christians or non Christians?
-We ask is this question because of the verse 40 with the word “brothers”
-In the primary context of this passage, Jesus is speaking to serving fellow Christians and loving them
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
there is supposed to be a genuine love we exude for all people but dont we treat our family with a much deeper concern and passion
there is reason parents continue feeding and clothing all you little rascals- they love you
But what if they didnt
What if they didnt discipline you, encourage you, pray for you, cry with you- you may eventually think, why dont they love me
In the same way the church is to do the same- discipline, encourage, pray for and even cry with each other and if we dont, we may end up asking why dont they love me?
And when they came to him, he said to them:
“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;
Paul didnt say just listen to my sermons- you will know where i stand
But Paul said you know my reputation by how I lived among you- serving the Lord with humility, at times tears and in the midst of hard times
This was tough me and causes me to look and evaluate myself
I had to examine my whole manner of teaching and serving
Before I wrote this sermon I had four goals to achieve
Did they clearly hear Gods words declared, 2. Are saint and sinner called to holiness? 3. Do they know God loves the church? 4. Do they know I love them?
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
We are called to love our brothers and sisters in Christ- sometimes love is crying with them and some times love is telling them, “I love you but this is wrong. Whats going on?”
I think this is what Jesus has in mind
This group is the same group as the bridesmaid and the servants- lots of profession but no preparation, faithfulness and love only prove them to be false
I was in this group once, so where you, and you may be now- the to miss eternal punishment is to trust in Jesus
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Houses on sand, won’t stand.