THE TRIUMPH OF GOD RESULTS IN JUDGMENT

Matthew 25: 31-46

INTRODUCTION

In the almost thirty years I have been involved in talking with others about their spiritual condition I have asked two questions of literally hundreds of people. Dr. D. James Kennedy, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, first wrote these questions in the 1970’s for the evangelism program his church developed. The questions are these: If you were to die tonight, would you be absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? If you were to die tonight and stand before God and he were to ask you, “Why should I allow you into my heaven?”, what would you say to him? While I think it is quite clear from the Bible that we will not be asked any questions at the final judgment, these questions, especially the second one, do help us determine what or who we are trusting in order to go to heaven. In our passage this morning Jesus is going to give the only correct answer to this question. Let me warn you, it is not the answer that most of us would expect. It is certainly not the answer I was told to listen for when I was trained in how to use these questions. The answer I was told to listen for was true but only half true. A half truth masquerading as the whole truth is an untruth. In this passage Jesus is telling us, in advance, who are the people who will end up in heaven and who are the people who will end up in hell. In this passage Jesus is like the professor who gives the answers to the final exam to his class prior to their taking the exam. How great would that be? If you are a student in the class you will go over those answers and make sure you have them down cold so you will be sure to pass the test. That is how we should treat what Jesus is saying here. He is describing what will happen when he comes to judge the world. He is telling us what will be the criteria by which he will determine who is going to heaven and who is going to hell.

MAIN POINT

You should pay attention to what Jesus says about heaven and hell because…

I. He is the judge and king (vv. 31-33)

The picture of Jesus Christ that we are given in vv. 31-33 is awesome. Here we see the eternal Son of God who took on human flesh and lived among us for 33 years and suffered and died and rose again coming back to this earth. He comes in the brilliance of his glory. His glory outshines the sun so that it seems that the sun, moon and stars have disappeared. He comes with overwhelming force, with millions of angels. Just one of these angels is so glorious that every encounter with an angel in the Bible fills humans with terror. No human has ever experienced anything close to the majesty, power, beauty and terror of this glorious appearing. There are no earthly comparisons that will do justice to this terrible appearing. The Bible uses earthquakes and volcanoes and hurricanes and powerful kings with their armies to try and approximate the fearsome glory of this appearing, but none are truly adequate but only dim candles compared to the radiance of his coming again. The fall of the twin towers on Sept. 11 is nothing compared to this day. The power and destruction of the atomic bombs dropped upon Japan to end WWII is but a faint whisper of the devastation coming at this day.

He will sit upon his throne of glory with the countless billions of peoples who have ever lived standing before him in resurrected bodies. Then, like a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats he will separate all human beings into two groups. He will place those whom are called sheep upon his right hand, the place of honor and favor and those whom are called goats upon his left hand, the place of dishonor. I want you to notice that he consults no one as to who belongs where. He, by the power of his omniscient knowledge, knows who are the sheep and who are the goats. He knows what every human has thought and felt and done. All things are open and laid bare before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. The motive of every action of every human to ever live is known to him. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, the Lord “will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will judge the motives of each man’s heart.” He doesn’t have to try to remember. He has no need to inquire or to examine or to ask questions. In one simple, eternal act, he knows what everyone has ever done and why they have done what they have done. There will be no debating with this judge, no questioning of his decisions. He will justly and sovereignly separate from one another husbands and wives, parents and children, fellow citizens, co-workers, in short, the only human characteristics that will matter are those upon which this great judge decides the fate of every human being.

Marvel that this great and terrible judge has told you in advance about his coming and is telling you how to be among the sheep. Remember that you are among the minority of human beings to live who have heard what the judge is going to base his decisions upon. Pay attention to what he says. What we are going to look at now are the characteristics upon which he will base his judgment.

You should pay attention to what Jesus says about heaven and hell because…

•  He is the judge and king

•  And because…

II. Those going to heaven will do so by His grace (vv. 33-39)

What Jesus teaches in this passage was virtually incomprehensible to me for many years after I professed faith in Christ. I know without any question that many, maybe even most of you, have no idea what to make of Jesus telling those who are sheep that the reason they are going to heaven is because they acted kindly to “his brothers” and that the reason the goats are going to hell is because of what they did not do for “his brothers”. I was taught that no one is going to heaven because of what they do. We are saved by grace, not by works. Yet, Jesus says here as he says in Revelation and scores of other passages that every human is going to be judged according to what they have done. How is it that we are saved by God’s unmerited favor, by his grace and not by our works and yet we are going to be judged according to what we have done, in short, by our works? Jesus does here what every other biblical writer does when talking about these things. He begins by describing the grace of God and then he describes what grace accomplishes. I want you to see six ways that Jesus shows that people only go to heaven because of his unmerited favor and not because of anything they have done. Jesus teaches here that salvation is a gift of grace not works and that works identify the recipients of salvation.

First , Jesus calls those who go to heaven, sheep and those who go to hell, goats. Throughout the OT God calls his people sheep. He is the shepherd of his sheep. He also calls his enemies goats. In particular I want to remind you of a passage we had read for us last week. In Ezekiel 34 God says he is going to shepherd his flock, his sheep and that he is going to judge between the sheep and the goats and appoint one shepherd over his flock, his servant David. In John 10 Jesus says that he is going to save his sheep. He says that the reason people don’t believe in him is because they are not his sheep and the reason that others believe him and follow him is because they are his sheep. This is the language of grace. People are sheep not because of how they act. They are made sheep by God’s free grace and then they act like sheep, listening to their shepherd and following him.

Second , in v. 34, Jesus literally says, “Come, you who have been blessed by my Father.” This is the language of grace. God does not bless them in response to anything they have done. Rather, at a point in the past they were blessed by God and now they continue in a state of being blessed. This is simply saying what is said everywhere in the Scriptures: God does not bless because we obey, God blesses and so we obey. We see it in Noah; the first thing we are told about him is that he found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Then we are a told that Noah is righteous and that he obeys God by building the ark. Abraham is called out of Ur and then he believes God. David is chosen to be king and then he kills Goliath. Jeremiah is called to be a prophet while in the womb and so he is a prophet. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” One of the spiritual blessings enumerated is recorded in Ephesians 2: Christians were once dead in their trespasses and sins and then God, without any help from we corpses, made us alive. Jesus affirms what the Scriptures say everywhere, those who are going to heaven are doing so by a free act of God’s grace, not because of anything they have done.

Third , those going to heaven receive it as an inheritance. What do you have to do to be an heir? You have to be born into the family in order to inherit the family fortune. In other words, all those who receive heaven as an inheritance do so not because of what they do but because of their status as children and no child ever decided to be born. This is 1 Peter 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, caused us to be born again into a living hope…” Fourth , the inheritance is a kingdom which “has been prepared from the creation of the world.” So before any of these sheep were born or had done anything good or bad, God prepared this inheritance for them. This is the language of Ephesians 1:4, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world…” Prior to creation God determined who his sheep would be, not in response to anything in them but according to the pleasure of his own will.

Fifth , Jesus calls them righteous ones. He says they are those who are righteous and who do righteousness. In using this language he is saying what John says in his first letter, “If you know that God is righteous, you know that everyone who does righteousness has been born of him.” The only people who practice righteousness are those who “have been born of God” because God is righteous. This is simply, “like Father, like son.” According to both the OT and NT there are no righteous human beings by nature, therefore, if you discover a person who is acting in a righteous manner, you know they must have God’s life in them because only he is righteous. Finally , Jesus shows that salvation is entirely a work of free and sovereign grace because the sheep are surprised, not that they are treated as sheep, but because of the reason Jesus gives for their being accepted as sheep. They had no idea they were serving Jesus when they were serving the hungry, thirsty, sick and imprisoned people they were serving. They took care of these “brothers” of Jesus because they wanted to. They didn’t serve these people with the idea that God would like them better. Rather, it came natural to them. These people were not being nice so that God would accept them into heaven. Rather, the life of heaven was planted in them and so they did these good things. Their good works are the fruit of the life that is within them, not the cause of the life they possess.

Jesus, before he talks about the good that some humans do, points us towards the ultimate cause of these good deeds, the sovereign grace of God. As the apostle Paul says in Titus 2, Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and purify for himself a people of his very own, eager to do good.” The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ does not merely secure pardon for sin but a new heart that delights to do good. That is what we see here. This is Ephesians 2: 8-10 where we are told that salvation is by grace, not by works and that all who are saved by grace do the works that God prepared in advance for us to do. The evidence that you have been saved by grace, not by works is that you do good works. Now lets look at the fruit that Jesus says always accompanies saving grace and will be the criteria used to determine who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.

You should pay attention to what Jesus says about heaven and hell because…

•  He is the judge and king

•  Those going to heaven will do so by His grace

•  And because…

III. Those going to heaven will do so because they loved Jesus by loving Christians (vv. 35-40)

In vv. 35-36 Jesus tells those on his right, who have been blessed by his father that they fed him when he was hungry and gave him a drink when he was thirsty. They welcomed him into their homes when he was a stranger and gave him clothes when he had none. They took care of Jesus when he was sick and they visited him when he was in prison. In short, Jesus says that the criteria he uses to determine who goes to heaven is how they have treated him. Jesus is himself the dividing line between heaven and hell. Those who love Jesus and take care of him are going to heaven. That is what he says in vv. 35-36. However, the righteous answer him with surprise in their voices. They ask him, when did we see you hungry and thirsty and meet your need? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you home or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and take care of you? The righteous have no idea what he is talking about. They don’t ever remember seeing him or taking care of him. So Jesus tells them, “Whatever you did for one of these, my brothers, even the least of them, you did for me.”

The first question we have to answer is “who are Jesus’ brothers?” We have two places in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus identifies his brothers. In chapter 12:46-50 we are told about a time when Jesus was teaching and his mother and brothers showed up in order to talk with him. (Mark tells us that they had come in order to take him away because they thought he was crazy.) Someone told him that his mom and brothers were there to see him and this is what he said, “‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’” Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’” In other words, Jesus says that his family is his disciples, those who do the will of God. Then in Matthew 28:10, on the Sunday of his resurrection, he appears to Mary Magdelene and the other Mary and says, “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Again, Jesus’ brothers are his disciples. This does not mean we are not to love those who are outside the church. However, this passage is not teaching that every hungry, sick or imprisoned person is Jesus. This passage is teaching that every Christian you meet is Jesus and the way you treat every Christian you come in contact with is how you treat Jesus.

Therefore, Jesus says that when a person meets the needs of Christians, when we love Christians, we are loving him. Most of the people in this room profess to be Christians. That means that when you look at the person sitting next to you, you are looking at Jesus. How you feel about the people in this room and how you treat the people in this room is how you are treating Jesus. If you are a true Christian, then you are, without hardly thinking about it, trying to meet the needs of the people sitting with you in this room. It isn’t a burden to you, it is a delight. The way that you know that you are a person who has been blessed by the Father and for whom God has prepared a kingdom for you from the creation of the world is by how you treat the other Christians sitting in this room. It is this way because the way you treat Christians is the way you treat Jesus. Every true Christian loves Jesus and therefore every true Christian loves other Christians and is continually seeking to meet the needs of other Christians, especially those other Christians who are considered the least ones. What Jesus says here is that the primary evidence that God has graciously saved you is that you are like a heat seeking missile except you are seeking Christians in need. Again, it is what you do by nature. It isn’t some programmed, forced duty but this is the way you live your life without hardly even thinking about it. If you say you love Jesus, the definition of being a Christian, then you love helping his needy people. I know that the people sitting around you don’t look much like Jesus, but every time you seek to meet the need of a Christian, you love Jesus.

You should pay attention to what Jesus says about heaven and hell because…

•  He is the judge and king

•  Those going to heaven will do so by His grace

•  Those going to heaven will do so because they loved Jesus by loving Christians

•  And because…

IV. Those going to hell will do so because they didn’t love Jesus and so didn’t love Christians (vv. 41-45)

Those on the left hand of the Son of Man are told, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” What is the criteria Jesus uses to utter these horrible words? He says it is because he was hungry and thirsty and they did nothing to meet his need. He was a stranger and they didn’t invite him in. He was naked and they gave him no clothes. He was sick and in prison and they did nothing to help him. So again, he is the dividing line. How a person treats Jesus is the condition upon which they gain heaven or are sent to hell. The reason they are rejected is because they did not love him as evidenced by their lack of concern for his brothers.

These cursed ones are as surprised as the blessed ones at this statement. They want to know when they saw him in need and refused to help him. He tells them the same thing he told the sheep, “whatever you did not do for one of these, my brothers, even the least of them, you did not do for me.”

In other words the justification for their being consigned to hell is not that they did evil things or that they were mean to Christians. Rather, he sends them to hell because they ignored Christians who were in need. It wasn’t that they hated Christians; they just didn’t love Christians. There isn’t anyone in here that ought not to tremble at this word. No one can love every Christian in this room. However, are you actively loving anyone because he is a Christian and not because of what he’ll do for you or because she is part of your earthly family? Jesus delivers these people to an eternal hell not because of what they do, but because of what they do not do. The people who are going to be sent to hell are characterized by an indifference to and a lack of involvement in the lives of other Christians. If you say you love Jesus but are not actively seeking to meet the needs of other Christians, that is proof that you are a goat and not a sheep. Being indifferent to Christians comes natural to non-Christians. When you are indifferent to the needs of Christians, you are merely revealing what is the true condition of your heart. You are revealing how you feel about Jesus himself. It goes without saying that if you are not merely indifferent to Christians but actually harbor hatred in your heart towards other Christians or act to harm them, you can be certain that you are not loving Jesus and therefore among the goats. Additionally, this shows that anyone who says they are going to heaven but refuse to come to church and be involved in the life of the church is living in a dream world. There will not be anyone in heaven who refused to be involved in the church. Christians are naturally drawn to the church because Christians are drawn to Jesus and Jesus only lives in his church.

If you look at yourself and can see that you are not seeking to meet the needs of other Christians you should repent and call out for mercy. You need to be honest with yourself. The reason you are indifferent to other Christians is because you are indifferent to Jesus, no matter what you say. Those who think Jesus is a nothing and a nobody, treat other Christians like they are nobodies. The solution is not to grit your teeth and hold your nose while you try to love other smelly sheep. The answer is first to cry out to Jesus to give you a new heart that is in love with him. Everyone who loves Jesus, loves to meet the needs of other Christians. You have to get a new heart. You need a new love for Christ. Most likely, if you are not naturally engaged in loving Christians and yet professing to be a Christian, the problem is that you don’t really love Jesus, you only love something you think Jesus is going to do for you. You are not a Christian because you don’t want to go to hell but want to go to heaven. You are not a Christian because you want your sins forgiven. You are not a Christian because you want honest friends or obedient children or a loving husband. You are a Christian because you love Jesus. True Christians love Jesus and therefore love all those who have Jesus living in them. Again, none of us can love everyone in this church. However, all of us can love some. If you are a Christian then you are looking for need in the lives of other Christians and actively seeking to meet those needs.

You should pay attention to what Jesus says about heaven and hell because…

•  He is the judge and king

•  Those going to heaven will do so by His grace

•  Those going to heaven will do so because they loved Jesus by loving Christians

•  Those going to hell will do so because they didn’t love Jesus and so didn’t love Christians

•  And because…

V. His decision is final and forever (vv. 34, 41 & 46)

In v. 46 Jesus says that the life he gives to the sheep is eternal and the punishment he gives to the goats is eternal. There is no end to the blessed life and there is no end to the horrible punishment. You will not be given another chance to love Christ and so love Christians. What you are doing right now will be the decisive factor to be used in determining which eternal state you will go into. According to v. 34, heaven is first of all living in fellowship with this great and glorious Christ, who is Savior, Judge and King. It is living in a state of blessing, inheriting a kingdom. As we’ve seen earlier in chapter 25 it is being a part of the wedding party and having the master say, “well done good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.” There is no greater good that can befall a sinful human being than to have the magnificent Jesus Christ welcome you into his eternal kingdom because you welcomed him into your home when a stranger visited your church.

But also consider the eternal punishment that will befall all who do not love Christ and show it by their unwillingness to love Christians. First , it is a separation from Christ and his kingdom. It is being shut out of the wedding feast and being thrown out of the kingdom into the outer darkness. It is to live forever outside of the kindness of God and the goodness of God. That may seem to you not to be so bad, but the only thing that makes this life at all pleasurable is the kindness of God. All pleasure will be removed because God will not be present to bless but only to curse. Second , you will be the object of God’s cursing. He will pour out his displeasure and anger against you forever. All of us have had someone be angry with us. It is a very unpleasant experience. Those whom are commanded to depart will be the brunt of God’s perfect and just anger forever. Third , it is a place of eternal fire. The point here is that because you will have a physical body you will experience physical pain forever, comparable to the pain of being burned. Fourth , they will live with the devil and his demons forever. The place to which you will go if you do not love Christ and so love Christians is populated by demons who have only hatred for God and all other living creatures. Hell is not a place you want to go. There is a day coming when you will remember this day, when you were warned by the Lord Jesus Christ himself about the conditions for entering heaven and the horror of entering hell. Don’t ignore what he is telling you today. Don’t live in presumption. Be honest about what is truly going on in your heart by evaluating how you are treating other Christians. Cry out for mercy from this great Jesus who offers himself as a Savior for all you trust him and love him above all else.

You should pay attention to what Jesus says about heaven and hell because…

•  He is the judge and king

•  Those going to heaven will do so by His grace

•  Those going to heaven will do so because they loved Jesus by loving Christians

•  Those going to hell will do so because they didn’t love Jesus and so didn’t love Christians

•  His decision is final and forever