Matthew pt. 95- The Sheep & the Goats

Turn in your Bible to Matthew 25.

We've taken a long time to get here.

We've really slowed down. I can't take time every single

week to remind you of the fullest context possible.

But remember, Jesus has been a man on a mission marching

towards the cross. Imagine if you knew when you

were going to die. It's a game that we'll play a

lot of times at dinner. Me and the boys will ask all

kinds of different questions. We'll have these family talking

cards. And it's like if you could be an

animal for a day or if you could this or if you could that, or if

you could travel in in the past or in the future, which would it

be and why? And all kinds of things.

One of them is if you if you could find out when you were

going to die and you wouldn't impact it by finding it out, it

would just be like, no, this is it's set.

If you could find it out, would you want to know?

Just an interesting thought experiment.

Some people say, yeah, I want to know because I want to maximize

the time. Other people like, no, I'd

rather just be surprised when the bus comes and hits me or

whatever's going to happen there and just let it be a wow, didn't

see that coming. But Jesus knew.

He knew and Jesus chose his death.

That's the difference. Most of us, I'm trying to avoid

mine. I don't want to prolong mine as

long as possible, delay it. And Jesus saying I'm choosing

mine. I know when it's coming.

And he's been marching towards the cross.

He has been orchestrating his own death.

He's been creating the circumstances that he knew would

lead to his own death. Remember, he's not a victim of

circumstance. They tried to kill him multiple

times. They wanted to stone him.

Not going to happen. They wanted to throw him off a

Cliff. Not going to happen.

He lays his life down. He has the power to lay it down.

He has the power to take it back up again.

But he also has that weight coming upon him knowing that

he's not just going to die any death.

He's going to have a tormented, tormented suffering, a physical

and excruciating. That word excruciating actually

means literally means from the cross.

That's where we get the word excruciating.

So if we're trying to describe something as it was

excruciatingly painful, that word excruciating come means

from the cross. So the cross was the most

horrific thing that humans had been able to come up with.

And the Romans were very, very, very good at their jobs.

They knew how to prolong your death.

They knew how to make you suffer in your hands, in your feet and

your head, and simultaneously you're suffocating.

And of course, that's after the beating that Jesus endured.

He knows what's coming, and he chooses what's coming because

he's good, because he's perfect, because he wants to please the

Father, because he loves you. But he has this weight on him.

It's a heavyweight. It's a dread.

Jesus isn't fearful, but Jesus feels the dread and the

pressure, not to mention the separation he's going to

experience from the Father, which he reveals when he cries

out on the cross. My God, my God, why have you

forsaken me? The Father forsakes Jesus.

Why does the Father forsake Jesus?

So that you will not have to be forsaken.

Somebody's got to be forsaken. The enemies of God had to be

forsaken. But Jesus said I'll be forsaken,

Father, and we'll have a substitution.

And now if you put faith in Jesus, he becomes the one who

was forsaken and you can become the beloved Son of God.

We say son that includes daughters because all throughout

Scripture the Son is the one who receives the inheritance.

So the Bible is not sexist. To say that you're a son of God

is a good thing to women and to men.

You're to be a son of God is to say like you're a sheep in his

pasture. I'm not a sheep, I'm a human

being. Yes, I know.

And also it's good to be a sheep.

It's good to be a son of God. That means you'll receive the

full inheritance that applies to male and female.

So now we've come. Jesus has been preaching.

He was dropping the nuclear bombs to really ensure ensure

what's going to happen to him in the next couple of days.

He humiliates the Pharisees, He humiliates everybody who who

opposes him. They test Him and remember He's

the Passover lamb who's going to be sacrificed.

Nobody realizes that yet, but He realizes that, and the Passover

lambs had to be inspected and tested first.

Jesus is inspected and tested and inspected and tested.

They think that they found flaws and that they found fault.

They have not. He passes every test perfectly

and in fact, He tests those who tests Him and He finds them

lacking. And then he shares in in chapter

24, Jesus leaves the temple. He's going away in verse 1 of 24

when his disciples came to the to point out to him the

buildings of the temple. So they're probably just saying,

Lord, like this play, isn't it magnificent?

I mean, I know we've been here multiple times together, Jesus,

but the temple, the whole complex is so amazing.

And they're just saying, like, look at the architecture, Lord,

They're just, hey, Jesus, look at that.

Like it's just amazing that we did that the, the, the Lord's

design and they're just enjoying it and they're pointing it out.

Not, not too different from what me and the family did this week

at Universal Studios. Wow, wow.

Look what they did. Just enjoying it, delighting in

the beauty of it. And Jesus, Jesus answered them.

You see all of these, do you? Not truly.

I say to you, there will not be left here 1 stone upon another

that will not be thrown down. So kind of a turns the corner

there. Why he has a heavyweight on him.

He's not grumpy, in a bad mood, but he needs his disciples to

understand the stakes of what's going on.

Today's not a day to admire architecture, Boys.

You've got less than 72 hours left with me.

I need to make sure that all the lessons land and that they land

deeply. All these stones.

You see, boys, this whole place is going to be destroyed.

Which leads them to their question.

Then as he sat on the Mount of Olives in verse 3 of 24, the

disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these

things be and what will be the sign of your coming at the end

of the age? That was the question or

questions that they asked. Tell us when will these things

be and what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the

age? And now Jesus gives what?

Matthew devotes 2 chapters to his answer to that question.

The longest answer we've had from Jesus for any question he's

been asked anywhere in the gospels.

He gives 2 chapters and he starts to talk about this is

what it's going to look like at the sign of my coming.

And I showed you, hey, there are faithful Christian perspectives

on how the world's going to end. Some of us feel really sure.

Some of us are like me, like I'm not exactly sure how it's all

going to unfold. I know for sure he's coming

back. We celebrated the unity that we

have there together. And then Jesus goes on and he

tells 3 parables he's still answering their question of what

it will be like at his coming. He gives the parable about the

the faithful servant and the foolish servant, The foolish

servant who says to himself, the wicked servant says, my master

is delayed and he begins to act wickedly.

He does evil things, actively does bad things.

And then he gave us the parable of the 10 virgins, 5 are wise

and five are foolish. The five foolish virgins, they

didn't actively go do an evil thing, but they were negligent

of the work that was assigned to them.

And then the parable of the talents again, the foolish

servant, the one with one talent, he didn't actively go do

an evil thing. He didn't go spin his the the

wealth foolishly or wickedly. He just preserved it and did

nothing with it. And the Lord said that was also

wicked And we said, man, I, I like the wicked servant story

because I see like go do wicked stuff.

You get terrible punishment, but the the the foolish virgins,

these beautiful young girls, the bridesmaids, they've been so

excited. Let us into the wedding.

Sorry we're late, we had to go get oil.

He says I don't know you and you're not coming in.

The wedding is the is eternity with the Lord.

That's what the wedding is in reference to.

And then the parable of the talents.

He says take from the one who has one and give it to the one

who has 10 already. Take from him and give to him.

Why? Because the Lord is smart.

He's a smart investor. He's saying I'm going to reward

faithfulness. I'm going to reward

fruitfulness. And we found that the Lord wants

a return on our lives. So he's finished these three

parables. The wicked servant is thrown out

into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and

gnashing of teeth. And now we've come to Jesus's

final clarification, His final answer, His final teaching as he

answers this question. Chapter 25, verse 31.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with

him, he will then sit on his glorious throne.

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. And he will place the sheep on

his right, but the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you are

blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom 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.

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we

see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?

When did we see you a stranger, and welcome you, or naked and

clothe you? And when do we see you in 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.

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.

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 imprisoned, and you did not

visit me. Then they will answer also

saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or

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.

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the

righteous into eternal life. Heavenly Father, we have been

seeing the weight of Jesus, the weight of your judgments, the

perfection of your judgments, and all your justice and all

your grace. God, I pray to day that we would

see both the love of God and the fear of God.

I pray that you would mark us that way as Christians.

That we would truly be mature, that we would truly grow up,

That we would truly love you. That we would truly not not air

towards one or the other. That we would not be more of a

grace focused person or more of a fear of the Lord focused

person. But that we would be a person

trained and instructed by the scriptures who are marked deeply

by the Holy Spirit led to be the right thing at the right time.

That we would receive your grace.

That we would walk in a holy fear and that it would compel us

with your love to tell the truth to everyone that we know and

love. That they would be spared, that

they would be rescued. In Jesus name.

I thank you, I need you. Amen.

One of the things we need to point out, and I'll continue to

do so throughout the sermon today, is that a quick reading.

If I don't know any else, if I don't know anything else in my

Bible and this is all I read, I would come away from this

passage thinking these people go to heaven because of the good

things that they did, and these people went to hell because of

the bad things that they did. Could you agree with that?

Could you see that? If this is all I ever read and I

had nothing else, I would go. They took care of the poor and

they didn't. So that's why they go to heaven

and that's why they go to hell. That's the opposite of what I

shared. You know, before the service,

what we were talking about earlier is that you don't earn

anything. But what we're recognizing here

is judgment. The judgment is what we're

seeing here. This is just the judgment at the

end. And he's using these things as

evidence of what was in the heart.

So they're not going to heaven and they're not going to hell.

You are nice to poor people. You get to come to heaven.

You earned it. You deserved it.

You sacrificed for poor people for crying out loud.

You were very kind and now you deserve to be in heaven forever.

It's not what's happening. And he doesn't say you were mean

to poor people and therefore you're going to hell forever.

What he's saying is this is the evidence that you were saved.

Yes, this proves who you always were, not always were who you

became in Christ. This proves who you were.

These are just the evidences that are being brought up in the

courtroom before the judge. So we've often said, and it's

often been said, hey, if you were convicted, if you were

charged with being a Christian, they dragged you into court,

you're under arrest, you're standing there.

Is there enough evidence to convict you?

You would hope that the answer would be yes, But remember, the

evidence needs to actually be good fruit, not look at all my

church attendance. Anybody can put their body in a

seat on a Sunday morning. We're talking about fruit that

came out of the heart. Well, look how much Bible I

know. Anybody can stuff information

into their brain. We're talking about fruit that

came out of the heart. Those are the evidences that the

Lord says proves what's already happened in the heart.

So salvation is by God's grace through faith.

Judgment does not make a person a sheep or a goat.

The judgment here is just exposing what they already were.

That's what's happening. Faith that is real always

produces love that is real. Empty religion gets exposed when

Jesus shows up. So what Jesus is describing in

this passage is not how people earn heaven, but Jesus is

showing how heaven shows who already belongs to him.

I'll say it another way. Salvation is not earned by

action, but salvation is revealed by action.

Salvation is not earned by action, but of course it is

revealed by action. They'll know us by our love.

They'll know us by our fruits. Jesus tells us over and over and

over to judge a tree by its fruit.

That's how we know what kind of tree it is.

That's how we can be certain the fruit it produces tells us all.

I know what kind of tree this is.

This is a Christian tree. How do you know?

We'll look at all the good fruit that doesn't come from anything

else except the work of God inside of that tree.

And the work of God in that tree makes that tree a Christian

tree. That tree is saved not because

it's giving good fruit. It's giving good fruit because

it's saved. The Lord saved the tree.

The Lord made the tree new, and now the tree can't do anything

except give good fruit. Oh, is there an exception to

that? Well, there is.

Oh, the tree has a piece of bad fruit, but everywhere else is

good fruit that needs to be cut off and burned.

That's an exception. It's not who the tree is.

The tree is capable of producing a piece of bad fruit.

Any Christians in here ever produce a piece of bad fruit

even after they've been in Christ?

I have. Does that mean that you lost

your salvation in that moment? No, it doesn't.

And yet the Lord says put on the new man and don't put on the old

man. So once we become saved, imagine

the Lord puts us in the shower and he washes us and cleans us.

Ta da, you're a new creation. But you walk back into the

bedroom and there's two sets of clothes now.

There's the old set that you used to wear, and there's a new

set that the Lord laid out for you.

You are brand new and you are clean.

And when we put on that old set of clothes, it's just a gross

thought, isn't it? Imagine coming in, taking a

shower for a hot, sweaty day, working in the yard, and you put

on that same set of clothes. It's not right.

That's how it feels to a Christian when we sin, we put

it's we're putting on the old man and the Lord's going, what

are you doing? That's not who you are.

That's not who you are. Yes, you're wearing the wrong

clothes. Take those off.

You've been washed, you've been cleansed.

We need to burn the old clothes. We need to get rid of the old

clothes and put on the new man. So remember, Jesus here is

describing the judgement at the end.

He's not describing the means of salvation.

Remember our context. He's saying when the Son of Man

comes in his glory, this is what the judgement will be like Verse

31, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels

with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

This is the final return. When Jesus is coming back, all

the boys, all the disciples are there listening.

They're leaning in. He's going, this is going to

happen, this is going to happen, this is going, they're going.

That's a lot. That's a lot coming.

And, you know, they had more questions that they didn't ask

them. And because they didn't ask

those follow up questions, then the church has been disagreeing

on certain parts there for 2000 years ago.

I think it says something, it says something isn't.

I wish one of the guys would just be like, hey, abomination

that causes desolation. And the thing about all the they

didn't go there. The final return.

This is when he comes back and he's sitting on a, he's still

sitting on a throne, but it's a different throne.

He comes in all his glory and all the angels with him.

Then he will sit on his glorious throne.

The first time Jesus came, he didn't come in all his glory.

He came modestly. He came quietly.

The next time Jesus comes, it's not modest and it's not quiet.

This is really actually going to happen.

And those who believe it are going to live in preparation for

it because they do care and they do believe and they do know that

the Lord is going to return in glory.

Whether or not you think it's going to be a rapture first, or

whether or not you think there's just going to be 1 grand return

all in one moment, no matter how you think it's going to happen,

we all agree that it's going to happen.

We all know that he's actually coming, that he's going to break

open the sky. And it's not just going to be

angels appearing to the shepherds on in the countryside.

It's going to be the King coming in his glory, opening up the

sky. And all his angels, all the

angels will accompany their King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and

the whole world will see the King.

And everyone will either be rejoicing or horrified.

And they'll know instantly what they should do.

Because those who are rejoicing are exciting going.

Yes, I knew it. I've been living for it.

And this is the moment I've been looking for.

My master has returned. I can't wait to to sit with him

and to show him what I've been working on.

Remember the faithful Stuarts, Master?

I took what you gave me and I multiplied it.

They're not afraid when the boss comes back.

Oh, boss is here. Boss is here.

Everybody look busy as a bumper sticker that used to be on the

on cars Christians would put on Jesus is coming soon.

Look busy. You need to do more than it was

a joke, but it's not a good one. We need to do more than look

busy. We need to be fruitful.

So some are going to rejoice and go, my King, my Lord, and others

are going to go. They will say to the mountains,

fall on us, to the hills. They'll say cover us, hide me

from the wrath of the Lamb, because I know exactly what's

about to happen, because I know exactly who he is and I know

exactly what I've done with him. I've been I've wanted to be

separated from him, and now He's going to give me that desire

permanently and eternally. I haven't wanted to submit to

him. I haven't wanted to yield to

him. I haven't wanted to be in

fellowship with Him, and now he's going to give me the desire

of my heart and he's going to produce righteous judgment for

all eternity. The throne of grace in this

moment, when this happens, this future moment, it's ended.

There is no more throne of grace.

That's a wild thing to say. The throne of grace will stop.

Praise God, right now, the throne of grace is open.

Come to the throne of grace and receive mercy and help in a time

of need. That's the throne that he's

sitting on right now. Rejoice in it, be thankful for

it. Come to it over and over and

over and over. But there's a day where he's

going to stand up. The Father's going to say, now's

the time. And the Son is going to come for

his bride and he is going to judge.

And he's going to separate the sheep from the goats.

And it will not be any more grace.

There will not be any more mercy.

It will be time for judgment. The cup of wrath will have

filled up. That bowl will be finished.

And the Lord will say, and now it pours out on who?

On the goats, on those who don't love the Lord, on those who

don't want the Lord. He sits on the throne because he

is in authority and everyone has gathered to him.

Notice before he came in a lot of humility before this time.

He's coming with all the grandeur and all the power that

anyone could ever imagine. The judge does not come to your

house to hear your case, does he?

Now you go to the judge. You go and stand before the

judge. He is the one in authority.

He sits above you. He runs and is in charge of the

courtroom. You will dress how he tells you

to dress. You'll speak how he tells you to

speak. You'll stand when he tells you

to stand. You'll sit when he tells you to

sit. Because he's in charge, Because

he has authority. This is Jesus, the angels are

going to be doing the gathering and we all come before the Lord.

Verse 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. Last time He came to the

nations, this time the nations come to him.

Everyone is being rounded up for assessment.

The Lamb who was inspected, the Lamb who was tested, the Lamb

who was found perfect is now the judge.

Everybody judged him before. People been judging Jesus for

2000 years. Well, I think he's this.

I think he's this, I think he's this.

Your time to judge Him is all finished.

Hope you judge rightly because the one that you thought was

under your thumb, it's been the opposite the whole time Now.

Although like I said earlier, although men thought he was

flawed, the Father knew that he was flawless.

He was perfect. The Lamb is now the Judge and

all are gathered to Him because He is in all authority.

Angels gather and Jesus separates people one from

another. Jesus has been separating people

one from another for a long time.

He said he would, but it wasn't his.

It wasn't his desire, but he said it was inevitable.

He said I've come to I've I'm going to not bring peace, but a

sword. He said you'll have enemies in

your own household. I will turn father against

daughter. I'll turn mother against son.

I'll turn the whole family against one another.

Is that his motive? Is he sowing discord?

No, he's just saying I am that dividing line.

So as some choose to follow me and others don't, there will

inevitably be friction. It's not that the Lord wanted

it, but there will inevitably be friction.

Christians have been turned over by their family members over to

death. That still happens to this day

in Muslim nations. There's still much persecution

that brothers and sisters in Christ experience, and they have

for thousands of years now. But Jesus did not intend for

people to be separated from him or from each other, because

everyone should have and could have chosen to love Him, chosen

to follow Him, chosen to obey Him.

Remember, we're talking about a future moment to come.

When's it coming Soon. Jesus is coming soon, and He's

coming in all of His glory. Here we see not one more chance.

The throne of grace is closed. Now He clarifies who is the

sheep and who is the goat. Sometimes shepherds would mix

their sheep and their goats temporarily, but later they

would divide them. The sheep here represent people

whose hearts are right with God. Goats are stubborn, goats are

defiant. Goats will ram into people, ram

into sheep, ram into the shepherd.

So Jesus punishes them permanently.

Verse 33. And then he will place the sheep

on his right and the goats on his left.

The right hand throughout Scripture is a sign of blessing,

a sign of favour, a sign of provision, a sign of strength, a

sign of selection, a sign of inheritance.

This is where the sons go. This is why Jesus is sitting at

the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

This is why we will sit at the right hand of Jesus.

Sheep will go to the right and goats are disposed of.

Jewish listeners, as soon as they're hearing this, they

already know this is that this is going to be bad for whoever's

on the left hand. As soon as Jesus says, hey, he's

going to separate the right from the left.

They weren't waiting in suspense to wonder which meant which some

some commentaries, some historians have said that in

ancient times they would wipe themselves with the left hand.

And you know, that was they didn't have all of the hygiene

tools that we have today. So the right hand was considered

more preserved and more clean. So you don't want anything to do

with the left hand, but that's where the goats go.

Verse 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. This makes the humble sheep say

Hallelujah. What a promise, what a treasure,

what a blessing. They are blessed by the Father

and they inherit the Kingdom, the Kingdom that was prepared

from the foundation of the world.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and

at that point He still had a Kingdom prepared in God's heart.

He was already preparing. He knew what was coming.

He knew Adam was going to sin. He knew He was going to blow it.

He knew he Jesus was going to come and rescue us, and He knew

He would gather His bride once again and we would all live

happily ever after. And He knew that the goats would

be dealt with as well. From the foundation of the

world. This is what the Lord prepared.

In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the

Word was God. The Lord's been planning this

for a long time. This should just bring you

encouragement. This should just remind you of

grace. Again, even in the middle of all

this judgement, there's much grace still being distributed.

It's still favor, it's still blessing, it's still the Lord's

pleasure to give you the Kingdom, which is just crazy.

I would think if it was me, I would just make me a servant.

Why make us sons? God is that loving.

He cares about us that much. Verse 35, He tells him why 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. These are the sheep, and this is

the evidence that he uses to show them that they're his

sheep. He knows his sheep and his sheep

know him, but as judge, he still measures particular things.

This is how he knows you're his sheep.

These are Christian virtues and Christian kindness.

Christians caring for Christians, Christians loving

their enemies. These are the things that the

Lord measures. This is how He judges.

Jesus is our advocate and this is how He makes a case against

our accuser. He can say look at the fruit,

look at the fruit, look at the fruit, look at the fruit.

No, the fruit didn't save them, but the fruit proves something

about them. Salvation is not earned by

action, but salvation is revealed by action.

It is not great works of power that prove your salvation.

It is not miracles that prove your salvation.

It is not the driving out of demons that prove your

salvation. Why?

Because many will say on that day, Lord, did we not prophecy

in your name? Did we not do miracles in your

name? Did we not cast out demons in

your name? That's crazy.

How many Christians? How many people?

We should clarify that. How many people do you know who

are doing miracles, who are prophesying and driving out

demons? Well, Jesus said that many who

do those things will stand before Him on that day and say,

Lord, look what I did, and he'll say depart from me.

I never knew you, you worker of iniquity.

I don't have a good theological explanation for that.

You just got to settle that one for yourself.

But people who drove out demons, people who work miracles, and

people who prophesied in His name are going to be separated

and lost forever from them. I I just chalked that up to God

and His kindness is still going to get His good gifts to people

no matter what flawed vessel might be using them.

But this should give you pause to inspect basic and simple

fruits in people's lives before you trust them not not that you

should condemn everyone. I'm not telling you to condemn,

but I'm saying before you trust a minister, before you trust

that favorite preacher, Is there fruit that is inspectable?

And and apparently miracles, prophecy and demon casting out

is not the inspectable fruit that matters most to Jesus.

Which is wild because those sound pretty good to me.

Like ma'am, this dude's working miracles in his ministry.

He's got, you know, active prophetic ministry and they

drive out demons. Like for real.

It's legit. But is, but are you able to

inspect the other fruits that the Lord cares about, like

clothing people, like feeding people, like all the things that

aren't spectacular, but all the things that everyone can do?

I don't know if I can do this and this and this.

Well, you can drive out demons, you can prophecy, and you can't

work miracles according to your New Testament.

And yet, even if you never did any of those things, apparently

that wasn't the evidence that the Lord was like, hey, you

prophesied. You didn't prophecy, you drove

out demons. You didn't drive out demons.

You to my right hand, you to my left hand.

That's not what he pointed out. It was simple things that the

the most simple among us. Who could say, I don't know if I

could ever. First of all, you're wrong.

And you should pray and seek to prophecy and pray and seek to

drive out demons and do the work of the ministry and walk in

Christian authority in the name of Jesus to drive out the works

of darkness around you. And yet those aren't the things

that the Lord is pointing out as evidences of salvation.

Many will say, Lord I did all this for you, but He will say I

never knew you. What he looks for are

measurements of love and caring for those in need.

Simple things that everyone can do Keep going.

Verse 36 I was naked and you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to

me. Simple obediences.

This is likely, most theologians have thought throughout history,

this is likely Christians caring for Christians.

Why are Christians in prison? Well, because they broke the

law. Well, why would Christians break

the law? Because the law was wicked.

That's the point. You're not allowed to do this.

You're not allowed to do that. And Christians who are faithful

are going to go, oh, I will do that.

Think about Paul. He gets imprisoned for living

righteously, for doing the right things.

And you should go visit Paul. You should go care for Paul.

You should go bring him an extra coat.

Why? He's he's not in prison because

he killed somebody. Well, he killed a lot of people,

but he's not in prison for that, ironically enough.

He's in prison for righteousness sake, so this is likely

Christians caring for Christians, especially those who

have suffered for righteousness sake.

Sometimes you break an unrighteous law to obey Jesus.

Christians should prioritize one another, and these are things

that the Lord watches for. What he lists here is attainable

for everyone, no matter how much money you have or what your

status is or how experienced you are as a Christian.

Basic obediences. That's the freedom that I keep

wanting you to receive and enjoy.

The Lord just wants you to walk out the faithfulness that's

right in front of you. What does He put in your hand?

What obedience has He given you to do?

What has He called you to in this season even of life?

What would faithfulness look like?

What would wise stewardship look like?

If the Lord were to return next week, what would you be?

What would you want this week to look like?

Where would you want to emphasize?

Where would you want to say, man, my fruitfulness is right

here, man, I need to be. I am going to double down on my

gentleness to my wife. I'm going to double down on my

respectful speech to my husband. I'm going to double down on my

obedience to my parents. Like those are simple.

They if you're a husband, you don't have to go far to figure

out. I wonder what I should be doing.

There's a lot of New Testament commands for you husbands.

If you're a wife, you don't have to be like, what should a

Christian wife do? Let me go ask the bloggers.

No, don't do that. Go ask your New Testament.

There's lots there, Christian wife, and you don't have to

like, it's not complicated. You don't need a new book study

like it. There's plenty to get started.

Kids, it's not complicated. You know what to do.

If you have a job, you know what to do, don't you?

It's not that complicated. Work diligently and do

everything you're doing as unto the Lord, not as unto this

terrible client, not as unto your terrible boss.

You're doing everything under the Lord.

So when your boss goes on another vacation and another

vacation and blames everything on you, you're going, it's OK.

I wasn't doing it for my boss. I was doing it for the Lord.

So the Lord is pleased and the Lord is keeping the books.

Simple obediences flow out of love, and that reveals

salvation. It doesn't earn salvation, but

it proves salvation. Miracles are good.

Driving out demons is good. We should pray for those and

expect them, but they are not the determinations that He uses

at the judgement. Verse 37, He's saying you did

all these things. And then the righteous answer in

verse 37, Lord, when do we see you hungry and feed you, or

thirsty and give you drink? This is a pleasant exchange.

He's saying you're blessed, you're getting the smile of

Jesus in this moment. My father loves you enter into

the eternal Kingdom that's always been prepared for you and

because you did this and then and then they go, when did I do

that? When when did this happen?

When did I see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you

a drink? When did I see you a stranger

and welcome you? When were you naked and I

clothed you When were you sick and or in prison and I visited

you and the King will answer them truly.

I say to you as you did it to the least of these, my brothers,

you did it to me. Look at their surprise.

They didn't even realize that they had done it.

That's a big green flag. That's a good sign.

Their ignorance about what? When they did these things that

reveals their humility and their sincerity.

Why? Because it was natural to them.

It was just who they were and they did not think any of these

things were exceptional. When they did these things, they

didn't think I did a good thing. They just thought it's just

called living. Why?

Because that's what happens when you're an orange tree.

You just make oranges. You don't think, how do I come

up with an orange today? Orange trees just make oranges.

That's just what they do. Oranges flow out of orange trees

automatically. They don't have to work at it.

The Lord has built it so that the orange tree just produces

fruit and the Lord has built as Christians so that there is a

new heart and new desire inside of them.

That's why they had done these things.

They lived their lives. And the Lord said, you did all

this for me and I what, when did I do that for you?

He's like, and he's going to rollback the tape and go see

this. And they're like, but that that

was just a Tuesday. And he's like, I know, I know.

And it was me working in you to do it and you were faithful to

do it. It proves that you had been

saved. This fruit, this orange is

evidence that you are an orange tree.

Enter into the joy of your master.

They're not like the Pharisees who do things to be seen.

That was the issue with the Pharisees.

Remember, doing good stuff is good everybody, but the issue is

they were doing good things to be seen or doing good things to

earn favor. Doing good is not a problem, but

your motive is what matters. So when something is natural to

you, you're not overthinking it. Humility and sincerity are what

you're seeing here though. They're honestly confused

because they were not keeping score along the way.

The righteous Christian is not keeping score.

The righteous Christian is saying, look at this, look at

that, look at that. I'm stacking it up today.

I am a super Christian. They're just going, God is good,

God is good. Let me pass along the goodness

and the blessing of the Lord. The righteous are not tracking

their goodness. They're just good because

they've been made new and it's who they are.

If you're tracking your goodness, that's a red flag

because you see goodness as an exception instead of your

standard operating procedure. So do good things and you're

not. And it's not that you have to be

ignorant of them, but you're also don't let your right hand

know what your left hand is doing.

That means that you're not. You're just you're not trying to

be seen. Now the tender hearted overthink

that they're like, I can't go put my offering in because then

everyone will see that I'm giving in to the Lord and then

what do I do? All right, if it's really

bothering you, you can give online, but don't worry about

putting your money in the offering.

It's going to be OK. The point is the motive, your

blessing is not robbed. If you walk up here and put

money in the offering plate, I assure you, unless of course

you're doing it to be seen. Now, if you did a cartwheel on

the way up here and you're like, hey, everybody, here's how much

is on the check today, that would be different.

Enjoy your reward from people because that's the only one

you're getting. If you're tracking your

goodness, that's a red flag because you see goodness as

exceptional instead of your standard operating procedure.

If you make an orange and you go look everybody instead of like,

yeah, I'm an orange tree. It's just what orange trees do.

Yeah, it's just Christian stuff. Just a Christian being a

Christian. I love the Lord.

I love people, man. I don't always get it right,

that's for sure. And and I repent when I sin

because I still produce bad fruit sometimes.

But yeah, more and more there's just oranges and oranges and oh,

that one's bad. Lord forgive me and people

forgive me. Whoever needs to forgive me,

please forgive me. Verse 40.

The king will answer them. Truly.

I say to you as you did it for the least of these, my brothers,

you did it for me. He rewinds the tape for him.

Whether it was food or money or visits or time or phone calls or

love, he's been keeping the record.

Proverbs 1917 says whoever gives to the poor lends to the Lord.

So whoever gives to the poor, you gave to the poor freely.

God says that you actually let him borrow from you, and that

means he's going to pay you back.

So you're thinking, I gave that away, I'll never see that again.

That's not true. If you gave to the poor, the

Lord says I owe you 1 now you know, like you don't owe me

anything. He's like, no, I know I don't

actually owe you anything, but I'm going to repay.

I'm going to repay. Whoever gives to the poor lends

to the Lord. So you give to the poor and you

just, the Lord has just taken out a loan from you and he's

like, I owe you, thank you for that, and I'm going to pay you

back. That's how he sees this.

So they thought they were giving to the poor, and the Lord says,

you actually were lending to me. And now it is my pleasure and

joy to pay you back for it. What they did in private is now

rewarded and honored in public. Verse 41 Here's the tragic turn.

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. 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.

The others were blessed and now these are cursed.

Jesus is black and white over and over and over and over.

There will be blessing and there will be cursing.

Everyone had the opportunity to be blessed, but many of them had

mental awareness of the King without devotion to the King.

They had never allowed the King to actually change them.

They believed in God. I've known lots of people who

believe in God, and I've known lots of people who believe that

the whole Bible is true, from Genesis all the way through to

maps. And still that's not saving

faith. It's just knowledge.

Of course Jesus is God. I think anybody with half a

brain in one eye should be able to come to that conclusion.

And yet, not everybody comes to a saving faith.

The path is narrow and few find it.

The road to destruction, Jesus says, is wide, and many are on

it. It certainly seems that the

majority of people throughout history will experience eternal

torment. Not oblivion, which would be

relief for them, but eternal fire, eternal darkness, eternal

terror. Hell was prepared, Jesus tells

us here, for the devil and his angels.

That's why God build hell, by the way.

God built hell. The devil didn't invent hell.

The devil's not sitting on a throne in hell with a pitchfork

poking at people. Jesus built hell.

Jesus is in charge of hell. The devil's not in charge of

hell. It is where God sends sends his

enemies for all eternity. And then the revelation tells us

that hell is going to be thrown into the lake of fire.

That doesn't sound good either. The devil is not in charge.

Jesus is in charge of everything.

People in hell are people who do not love God and did not want

God. And now they get what they've

always wanted, to be away from God.

So he says get out of my sight, be separated from me forever.

They join his enemies because that is exactly what they are.

Verse 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food.

I was thirsty, You gave me no drink.

I was a stranger. You did not welcome me naked.

You did not clothe me sick and imprisoned, and you did not

visit me. This is what they did not do.

They're judged by the same list as the sheep.

They did not feed, they did not give drink, they did not

welcome, they did not clothe, they did not visit.

Their neglect is the evidence of who they actually are.

And then verse 44, then they will also answer.

Now they're panicked because they know what's coming for

them. Lord, Lord, 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?

They're saying no, no, if you had been there, we'd have done

right by you, which isn't true either.

They're saying no, no, no, no. We saw all these other filthy

people throughout life and all these people in need and people

who needed our love and people who needed grace.

We didn't give them anything. But if you had been there,

certainly we would have cared for you.

It's gone. You're revealing exactly who you

are. Exactly my point.

They've just proven their point. And that also will be used

against them. The Lord always uses people's

words against them. Oh, is that the way you see it?

Yes, Lord, consider it done. They don't realize that they're

just proving his point. No, Lord, we would have done it

for you. Yeah.

You're doing things to be seen because it's not really who you

are. You can put on temporarily.

You can muster out an orange from time to time, but the tree

is rotten. The tree is dead, and the tree

is bad. It's full of rotten fruit.

It's the weird exception when you produce a good orange and

you go, look, Lord, I can do some stuff sometimes, but it's

not who you are. You haven't been saved.

You haven't received new desires and a new identity.

If it had been you, we would have done it.

They cared about being seen and did not believe He was always

actually watching. If they really cared about being

seen, they would have obeyed all the time because the Lord was

always watching. And we're closing verse 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.

Neglecting others is neglecting the Lord.

He is their shepherd and he watches them.

How you treat them reveals who you are.

Some of you are already thinking, man, I need to go out

there and do better today. No, if that's what you've heard,

you've missed the sermon. If that's what you've heard,

you've missed the Lord. Man, I got to go out and I

really need to go out and do better today.

No, you don't. It will profit you nothing to go

out and do better today to muster up some oranges.

What matters is that you become a new tree.

That's what you need. When you become a new tree,

oranges will flow. Non Christians and false

Christians always think that genuine Christians are mustering

it up, and they're not. That's their secret.

They're not doing it. They're so much better than me.

They're not what the What you might be seeing, though, is

someone who's saved, and you might not be.

Christians struggle, Christians suffer, Christians walk through

difficulties, and Christians sin.

But when Christians sin, they have an advocate and they

confess their sins and they hate their sins.

And it feels to them like putting on filthy clothes on a

clean body. Non Christians, when they send

feels right. It's who I am outside of Christ.

That's who I am outside of Christ.

That's who you are. What's wrong with my clothes?

They feel good to me. Yeah.

Filthy clothes on a filthy body. It's it's it's a good pair.

But the Lord wants to wash everybody and make everybody new

so that at the judgement he can say all these oranges that

proves you're an orange tree. Orange trees enter into the joy

of the Lord. Orange trees enter it not

because of the oranges. The oranges are just the

inevitable outcome of being an orange tree in my orchard.

Biblical knowledge is not the same thing as being saved by

Jesus. Church attendance is not the

same thing as being saved by Jesus.

Many are going to hear and depart from me and they were

sure that they were going to hear.

Well done. Verse 46.

There's two outcomes and these will go away into eternal

punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Hallelujah, eternal life. That means life with God, not

just living forever. Timeline that's included, but

that is not the greatest advantage.

The closer your heart gets to Jesus, the less you're going to

be focused on the length of time and the more you're going to be

focused on the person of Jesus, the person of the Father, the

Son, and the Holy Spirit to be with them, to be present with

them. The Christian would never be

satisfied in a heaven without Jesus in it.

Oh, it's beautiful, it's perfect, it's paradise, it's

utopia. Where's Jesus?

Oh, there's no Jesus here, There's just a utopia.

Shoot me now. He was the reward, He was the

point. This created place, this new

heaven and new earth. You know who the Maker is,

right? It's Jesus.

There are two categories. Eternal punishment is terror and

horror. There are many near death

experiences and stories and the majority of the public ones

create very, very rosy pictures. The majority they get shared

publicly, have very, very positive stories to go along

with them. I was going to light and there

were angels. Why is that?

What's because those are the popular ones to share, because a

lot of the people who experienced torments and near

death experience, oftentimes they don't go and write books

about it. There's actually a Doctor Who

wrote a book about he's, he's a heart doctor and he's had, I

guess he's not very good because a lot of his patients died, but

he's experienced hundreds of people who, who, who died on his

table or came back and he saw plenty, he said where they were

like, Oh my goodness, I was in heaven with the Lord and he

found out these people are Christians.

He said the majority, though, had terrifying, horrifying

experiences. He said those actually affected

me more and those were what led him to becoming a Christian.

He said, we don't want to be led by people's near death

experiences. We're led by the word of God and

still the people who experienced those things.

He wrote a book, I forget what it's called, I forget his name,

but the people who experienced the near death experiences, who

went to hell, it was unpleasant. It was horror and terror.

They talked about the certainty of the permanence of it.

And then God in his mercy allowed people on earth to

resuscitate a body, and God allowed that spirit to return

back to the body in his great grace and his great kindness.

Being in hell for two minutes and being able to come back.

And they would be screaming on the table, I'm in hell, save me,

save me, I'm in hell. Pastor.

That's a little bit heavy. Guys.

Read the Bible. It's really heavy.

It's your soul and it's forever. I don't know about that fire and

brimstone stuff. OK, go read the Bible.

Go read the Bible. Go read Jesus.

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the

righteous into eternal life. Or let's move back to verse 30

where Jesus is talking. Cast the worthless servant into

outer darkness. In that place there will be

weeping and gnashing of teeth. Heavy.

Yeah. And I'm not supposed to remove

that heaviness for us. The Lord didn't.

But thank God, eternal life is real.

Heaven is going to be better than you could ever imagine.

We had, we had a couple moments. I did anyway.

I don't know about Clark family member #5 who said it was not

the best family vacation ever. I had, I had a few moments this

week of just bliss. I don't know if you've ever

done, you know, a vacation or a trip where you're just like, you

just have a few moments like this moment.

It's everything. This moment is just perfect.

The beauty, the goodness that just the blessings of all you're

like, this is just opulence. Can you think of 1?

Can you think of a moment just a pleasure or a delight or a

beauty that is a shadow of a shadow of a shadow of the

greater glory that is to come? We're not going to be fat babies

and diapers playing harps on clouds in heaven.

It's not going to be anything stupid like that.

It's going to be amazing and glorious.

We're going to rule and reign with him.

The scripture says we're going to judge the angels and there's

going to be reward and there's going to be rulership.

The one who ruled over the talents, well, gets put over 10

cities, literal cities that are made new on Earth.

I don't know. I don't know, but I know there

will be rank, there will be reward, there will be delight,

there will be pleasure, there will be worship, there will be

beauty, there will be goodness. There will be civilization, it

will be Kingdom civilization, and it will be perfectly ruled

by a king. Nobody voted him in, nobody can

remove him. He's king forever, and of his

Kingdom there will be no end. And the smoke of his enemies

also will rise up forever. But his Saints and his sheep

will be with him, enjoying him. So thank God, eternal life is

real. Not just quantity, but quality,

entering into the joy of our Master, entering into the

pleasure of our master enjoying Jesus.

I think we are too easily satisfied.

I think our prayers are too easily satisfied.

Lord, solve this temporary issue.

OK, I will. There's promises for that.

Yes, thank you, Lord, Congrats. Your 80 years was just enhanced.

Lord, fix this thing and that thing and this thing.

But often times, Mike, I'm so easily satisfied.

It takes so little to satisfy me.

Lord, I'm focused on these smaller things.

Lord said, I want to expand your vision for a walk with me.

I want to expand your vision for not just yourself, but for

others. Who are you caring about?

Who else are you praying for beyond your own needs to be met?

Who else are you approaching the throne of grace with boldness to

plead for that loved one, that they would come to Christ, that

they would turn from their sin, that they would be delivered

from strongholds, that they would be sanctified, that they

would grow in maturity? That's a marker of the Christian

life. That's a marker of your maturity

or immaturity. Babies only care about

themselves. I'm not insulting you, but I am

educating you. Babies only care about

themselves. And there's a time in my

Christian walk where I only cared about myself.

I was a baby. It's OK, Babies are babies.

We love babies, but babies aren't supposed to be babies

after 15 years. Babies after 15 years.

That's a problem. There's an issue and many

Christians have been babies for decades and they go, I'm going

to heaven, please grow up. We need you to my sons.

I would say the same thing if they were still babies and they

still couldn't do any son, please grow up.

I need my 15 year old to be able to take out the trash.

Please grow up. I need my 17 year old to be able

to run to the grocery store. Please grow up.

That's not my mess. I don't need to clean that.

Please grow up. This is development, this is

growth. This is what the Christian life

is supposed to look like. Remember to grow.

The Lord is growing us. The Lord is building us.

Don't be so easily satisfied. Seek true and deep satisfaction

in the Lord, because that is the greatest satisfaction you can

possibly get. All right, my final closing

bill. Ephesians 2.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you

once walked, following the course of this world, following

the Prince and power of the air, that spirit that is now at work

in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived, in

the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the

body and the mind. We were by nature children of

wrath, like the rest of mankind, but God being rich in mercy

because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we

were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with

Christ. By grace you have been saved.

And He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the

heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He

might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness

toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved

through faith. This is not of your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one

can boast. We are his workmanship, created

in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand

that we should walk in them. It lays it all out.

You're saved, and now you're prepared for good works, but

you're not saved by good works. But now, if good works aren't

flowing out of you, what's going on?

What in the world is going on? If you're seeing bad works

flowing out of you, you are one of two things not saved.

Good news, you still can be or #2 you're a believer who is

backsliding. And that is also very dangerous.

Both are correctable because right now we still enjoy the

throne of grace. And it is not too late until

Matthew 25 is fulfilled. And as of this moment, right

now, it's not so today. That's why the Lord says today

is the day of salvation. Today, right here, right now.

Come to Jesus the Savior before he's Jesus the judge.

Come to Jesus while he's still on the throne of grace.

Turn from your fake religion. Turn from your love of yourself,

Turn from your comfort, turn from your pride.

Jesus is Lord, he's not just your helper.

Repent and believe the gospel and receive new life.

The same Jesus who warns us, the same Jesus who will judge us all

is the same Jesus who died for you to save you from all that

judgment. This passage is not a history

lesson about just what happened that day.

The words of Jesus demand a response today to determine your

future. Be saved by Jesus and then you

will obey Jesus. Heavenly Father, thank you for

Jesus. Thank you for the cross.

Thank you for the throne of grace.

Would you just raise your hands, everyone in a posture of

submission and humility? I want to lead you in a prayer,

but saying these words will do nothing unless they're prayed

out of a genuine heart. I myself and many other

preachers have foolishly and accidentally, I believe, misled

people into a false security because they thought that there

was something magical about reciting a particular prayer.

What matters is a humble heart, genuinely confessing sin and

being saved by the Lord. That is business between you and

the Lord that I cannot participate in.

But I will lead the humble, the backsliding, the unsaved in this

prayer. Heavenly Father, I know that I

need help. I know that I'm a Sinner.

I know that I have fallen short of your standards.

I haven't been good enough. I'm a child deserving wrath.

I've followed the Prince and the power of the air.

I've obeyed my flesh and followed my own mind.

I renounce all of that now. I need to be made new.

I need to be rescued. I'm a rotten tree, and I need

salvation. Give me a new heart, give me new

desires, give me a new life, and then produce your good fruit in

me. I can't make it on my own, but

through the power of the Holy Spirit I receive this gift of

grace to be a new creation, to be a devoted disciple, to be a

faithful follower. To be a wise steward.

I belong to you, you now own me. I give up my rights over myself

and I am yours. What a joy, what a blessing to

be saved to love you. I devote my life to you now and

forever teach me to grow in Jesus name.

Amen. Lord, I thank you for your

people. I thank you for grace.

I thank you for your justice. All of that makes you perfect

and good. And now the Lord bless you and

keep you. The Lord make his face Shinedown

upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance

upon you and give you great peace in Jesus name, Amen.