Bibles to Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. Last Sunday night, Ryan referred to the judgment to come in his sermon. And I thought we'd look at that judgment to come in more detail tonight at the end of Matthew chapter 25, specifically verses 31 to 46, which I'll read.
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you blessed of 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 took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me.
I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. And the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you?
Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. And he will also say to those on the left hand, depart from me you cursed into the everlasting 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 take me in. Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison and you did not visit me.
Then they also will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? And He will answer them, saying, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Amen.
Let us pray again. Father, thank you for this sober account in Holy Scripture. We know and are mindful that this is our future. We know there is a day appointed, and we know that you have furnished proof of this by having raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
We see that He will be the one that conducts this judgment. And God, I pray that all of us would be ready. All of us would be cleansed in His precious blood. All of us would have that righteousness that avails with a holy God.
We ask that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to receive this truth tonight. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. Forgive us for all of our sin and its influences in our minds and hearts. And we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. Well,
Introduction
if you look back for just a moment to chapter 24, you will see what we call the Olivet Discourse. And the Olivet Discourse is Jesus' prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in AD 70. And at the end of the prophecy proper, beginning in chapter 24 at verse 36, Jesus gives practical application, not only in dealing with the judgment that will come upon Jerusalem, but in dealing with the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein he will judge the living and the dead. The overarching concern of our Lord is on watchfulness.
You see that in chapter 24 at verses 36 to 44. Be watchful, be ready. And then he goes on to describe what watchfulness looks like. It looks like being faithful, chapter 24, verses 45 to 51.
It looks like being prepared, chapter 25, verses 1 to 13. It looks like being diligent, chapter 25, verses 14 to 30. And it looks like understanding and recognizing the accountability that we have before the just judge of all the earth. That's what we find in verses 31 to 46.
Notice that Jesus speaks of the sheep and the goats. This is a simile designed to highlight the separation that occurs. But the teaching is not parabolic, it is rather prophetic. Jesus is telling us what's gonna happen on that day of judgment that all men everywhere, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what you've done, you will stand before the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So that's the scene portrayed in verses 31 to 46.
Setting of the Judgment
I wanna look first at the setting of the judgment, and then secondly, we'll look at the execution of the judgment. But notice in the first place, the setting of the judgment. The judge is identified in verse 31, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. From this point onward, Jesus refers to himself as the king.
The king separates the sheep and the goats. The king receives the sheep into his fold. The king calls the goats to depart from him and pronounces a curse upon him. And this designation, son of man, is a favorite one of our Lord Jesus, of himself, in the gospel records.
Some refer to it as according to his humanity. Whenever Jesus speaks of son of man, we ought to appreciate the true humanity. I think it's precisely the opposite. Whenever we see that identifier in the mouth of our Lord concerning himself, it typically refers to his divinity.
Intriguingly in Luke chapter three, where he's referred to as the son of God, there it's his humanity that's stressed in terms of the genealogy that comes or that connects him with Adam. So the Son of Man reflects a prophecy in Daniel chapter 7 in verses 13 and 14. I was watching in the night visions and behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him.
Then to him was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. You see the significance of this in the trial before the Sanhedrin. Turn over to Matthew chapter 26, specifically at verse 62.
Jesus on trial before the Sanhedrin, verse 62, the high priest, arose and said to him, do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you? But Jesus kept silent and the high priest answered and said to him, I put you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God.
Jesus said to him, it is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Look at the response of the high priest in verse 65. The high priest tore his clothes, saying, he has spoken blasphemy.
What further need do we have of witnesses? Look now, you have heard his blasphemy. What do you think? They answered and said, he is deserving of death.
So when Jesus says of himself, he is Daniel's son of man, that is not lost on the high priest. The high priest equates that with blasphemy and they order him to be executed for that sin, for that crime. So back to Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31, it is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Son of Man.
It is the King of Kings. He is glorious, He is attended by angels, and He sits upon the throne of glory. And then in verses 32 and 33, we see the target of His judgment. It says, All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. So simply, the target of his judgment is all nations, all persons that are in those nations that have ever lived. We will not escape this. It is appointed for man to die once, and then comes judgment.
There is that old quip that there's only two certainties in life, death and taxes. You cannot pay your taxes if you're okay with going to jail. But to die and to stand in judgment is absolutely certain. That will happen.
We will all give an account of deeds done in the body, whether good or ill. And so Jesus brings us to consider that awful scene. And
Execution of the Judgment
now we come to the execution of the judgment, and this breaks down into three sections. First, the judgment of the righteous, verses 34 to 40. Secondly, the judgment of the unrighteous, verses 41 to 45. And then finally, the summary concerning the judgment, in verse 46.
Judgment of the Righteous
Notice in the first place the judgment of the righteous, beginning in verse 34, the declaration. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. most glorious, most wondrous, most awesome, and most excellent. That is our future. Come, is what the blessed King says.
When the King, in his earthly ministry, bids us come, and when we by grace do come, in the eschatological judgment to come, We are bidden by Him to come into that kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. That is the declaration of the king to the righteous. Now notice the reason provided by the judge in verses 35 and 36. Notice, he makes this pronouncement, come, you blessed, Come, you inheritor.
Come, you receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And then he gives the rationale. He gives the reason. And in verse 35 he says, For I was hungry, and you gave me food.
I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me.
I was in prison, and you came to me. Now, I realize that this passage causes a great deal of confusion among the people of God. It seems to suggest that we enter into heaven or we are excluded from heaven by the works that we have done. Well, let me just encourage you,
Justification and Good Works
this passage not only shows us what the day of judgment looks like, but it also underscores for us the glorious doctrine of justification by faith alone. Justification by faith alone always results in the sanctification of the one who was justified. In other words, those saved by grace will engage in good works. Those saved by grace will manifest that salvation in their gratitude toward God that fleshes itself out in the way that they conduct themselves to the least of these my brethren.
In other words, they have a heart to serve the people of God, not perfectly were justified by grace through faith in the perfect one, our Lord Jesus Christ. On that day of judgment, we're not going to be able to proffer works that are absolutely spotless and pure. The best that we do needs to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Our repentance needs to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. good thing that we offer to God needs to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
So he provides this rationale in verses 35 and 36. Now notice the response of the righteous in verses 37 to 39. They're surprised at his assessment. Why do you think they're surprised with his assessment? not least of all by his association of himself with the least of these my brethren.
Notice the first person singular, verses 35 and 36. I was hungry, you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you took me in.
I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. That response in verse 37 is absolutely consistent.
Then the righteous will say to him, or 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 take you in, or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? They're surprised, again, the association that the good works they did to the people of God, Jesus says, you did it unto me.
Now, the New Testament goes on to elucidate this even further in Acts chapter 9, when the risen Christ, the enthroned Christ, comes to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, and Paul asks for his identity, and he says, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. We have no historical record that Paul the Apostle actually persecuted the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a historical record that Paul the Apostle was on his way to Damascus with extradition papers so that he could seize believers and take them back to Jerusalem and punish them. So when Jesus says, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, we see the solidarity between the head and the body.
The rest of the New Testament, again, underscores that reality, Christ's connection to his bride. He is the head and we are the body. So they are surprised at the association, but as well, they're surprised because the righteous did not do these works in order that they may garner a reward. They simply did it because that's the reflex of having been saved by God's grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
They didn't do the works to get saved. They did the works because they had been saved. Knox Chamberlain says, they have acted from love of God and neighbor rather than from hope of reward. You see, it's a consistent thing.
Those justified freely by God's grace live a life of sanctification. They engage in good works. Now, I know we don't engage in good works like we ought. I know our sanctification isn't, you know, red hot as it ought to be.
But again, brethren, the point is, is that the works done by believers are not done so that they may be given reward by God in terms of eternal life. The works done by believers is because they have received eternal life from God. And then the judge confirms this in verse 40. Notice, and the king will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.
The solidarity between Christ and his bride is most excellent. It's most wonderful. And hopefully it tempers the way we approach service to others. When we engage in good works, Christ is the one who receives those and approves them.
Now
Judgment of the Unrighteous
notice in the second place, the judgment of the unrighteous in verses 41 to 45. Again, you have a declaration by the king in verse 41, just the opposite. Then he will also say to those on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The sheep are told to come, they come.
The goats are told to depart. Ryle says they would not hear Christ when he said, come unto me and I will give you rest. And now they must hear him say, depart into everlasting fire. Don't miss the significance of that.
Before this, in Matthew chapter 11, Jesus does that very thing. at that point. At that point, you hear the words of the king in verse 40. Verse 41, depart from me, you curse, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The king calls them curse, whereas the sheep are identified as those blessed of my father.
The king cast them into the everlasting fire. Notice it's prepared for the devil and for his angels. Spurgeon makes the observation. They had joined the devil in refusing allegiance to the Lord.
So it was but right that imitating his rebellion, they should share his judgment. You identify with the devil on this side of the Day of Judgment? You resist and reject the Lord Jesus Christ? Don't be surprised when you hear, depart from me.
Go into that place that was created for the devil and for his angels. Now again, similar to the judgment of the righteous, the king furnishes proof. The king furnishes a rationale. The king gives reasons, and notice that the emphasis falls on the sins of omission.
They are condemned for not doing the good that they were supposed to do. In contrast with the righteous who did the good that they were supposed to do, the unrighteous did not do the good that they were supposed to do. Notice in verse 42, For I was hungry, you gave me no food. I was thirsty, you gave me no drink.
I was a stranger, and you did not take me in. Naked, and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. In the same place, you have their surprise, verse 44.
Similarly, then they will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? So it's the exact contrast with the righteous, the declaration of the king, the rationale afforded by the king. And notice, it was failure to act in or engage in acts of charity or sins of omission. And again, brethren, I want to clarify that it's not the case that when you get on that day of judgment, you'll enter in or you'll be excluded from heaven solely and alone based on your works.
No, we enter in based on what Christ has accomplished, or we are excluded because of our refusal, or our unbelief, or our lack of reception of what Christ has accomplished. The passage teaches us what the New Testament elsewhere manifests. that when sinners are saved, by grace, through faith, they will, by grace, continue in, or engage in, rather, good works.
Confession on Faith and Works
Our confession puts it this way. It says, faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the alone instrument of justification. Yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. That is an appeal to Galatians 5.6.
You can turn there. Galatians chapter 5. It would be an odd twist of events if the Apostle, having declared the doctrine of justification by faith so clearly in chapter 2 of Galatians, and having condemned those who would distort that gospel of grace in chapter 1, showing its covenantal framework in chapters 3 and 4, to now come in chapter 5 and say, oh, and by the way, you're saved by the degree to which you love people. That would be contrary to the apostles whole argument in Galatians.
Notice in chapter five at verse one, stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You who have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law, you've fallen from grace.
For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. He's dealing with justified by grace through faith in Christ believers. He is dealing with the place of love relative to our sanctification, which follows on the heels of our justification.
Like the Confession says, faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the alone instrument of justification, yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love. Machen on Galatians 5, 6, love according to the New Testament is not the means of salvation, but it is the finest fruit of it. A man is saved by faith, not by love, but he is saved by faith in order that he may love. And then, of course, you have the teaching of James in James chapter 2.
We're not supposed to blunt that sword in our defense of justification by faith alone. James affirms justification by faith alone. James affirms sovereign grace. James affirms the work of God in opening the dead sinner's heart and implanting the living word there.
James and Paul agree theologically. James and Paul agree, even with reference to justification and sanctification. You see, everything that James does in James 2 fits with justification by faith. He's talking about a particular type of faith, a species of faith that is not accompanied by all other saving graces.
It is a dead faith. It isn't legit. It isn't real. So James is simply telling his audience that those who profess faith in Jesus, saving faith in Jesus, will always result in good works.
It will always be like Abraham, who believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. Abraham is appealed to by James, in James chapter 2, to show that Abraham was justified by faith in Genesis chapter 15, and then James, or rather Abraham's demonstration of that was at Moriah, when he took his son, the only son, the son that he loved, and he offered him up to God. So you see justification by faith and then the works consistent with it. The same thing in Leviticus.
Brethren, guess what happens after the day of atonement in Leviticus chapter 16? Guess what happens when your sins are forgiven? Then comes the holiness code. Then comes how then must we live?
You live this way as justified freely by grace through faith in Christ, sinners. And just for the record, it's not only Abraham, but it's also Rahab. Rahab the harlot confessed her faith in Yahweh. The works that she did in hiding the spies demonstrated the validity of that faith in the living and true God.
Incidentally, turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Paul emphasizes the same thing as James does. Justification by faith and the place of good works following that justification by faith. Notice in Ephesians 2.8, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Why did they ever try to posit any antipathy between James and Paul? Well, the papists did that to try and maintain their Galatian heresy. But there is no antipathy between the Apostle Paul and James.
They both preach justification by faith alone. But that faith is not alone, but it's always accompanied by all other saving graces. Our confession at chapter 16, paragraph 2, says these good works, the good works done by the people of God, by those who have believed the gospel, these good works done in obedience to God's commandments are the, listen to this, fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith. They are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith.
So in Matthew 25, 31 to 46, Jesus isn't turning on its head the doctrine of justification by faith alone, to basically say on the day of judgment, it's up to you. On the day of judgment, whatever you did or you didn't do, that's the basis upon which you'll enter in or you'll be excluded. So
Works as Evidence of Faith
going back to Matthew chapter 25, understanding the evidentiary nature of these acts or good works, that's the emphasis in the passage. So in terms of the response of the unrighteous in verse 44, notice, then they will also answer him saying, Lord, this indicates or evidences that these are false professors in the Christian camp. Similarly with Matthew 7, turn back to Matthew 7, the very end of the chapter. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount by speaking of two ways, two trees, two claims, and two builders.
And notice the two claims in chapter 7 at verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Notice, Lord, Lord. These aren't Muslims.
These aren't Hindus. These aren't atheists. These are persons that are describing Jesus, the King, as Lord. So not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? Notice that Jesus does not negate the claim. Jesus doesn't say, oh, you're lying. You're false.
No, you didn't do any of that. No, he doesn't do that. See, people take this passage and turn it on its head as well and tell people, you need to do more. You need to work harder.
You need to be better. Oh, brethren, you need to do more. I do. We need to work harder.
We need to be better. I grant that. But this is not the text. That is to get it absolutely positively wrong.
Doing the will of the Father is belief on the Lord Jesus Christ. John 6 and verse 40. Doing the will of the Father is not us going out there, working our fingers to the bone, thinking that somehow we can erase the sin problem, and thinking that somehow our obedience is exact, it is entire, it is perpetual, and it is personal, and we're going to offer it up to God vis-Ã -vis a covenant of works and say, take me into your kingdom. No!
The doing of the will of the Father in heaven is to believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 23, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. It's not like they were saved and lost it. I never knew you.
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. So imagine you're doing those things, you're doing those good works, you're casting out demons, you're healing people, but you're not doing it by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus. So Jesus says, Jesus condemns that as lawlessness. It's not just the work.
It's the attitude or the mindset or the heart behind the work. If we're doing things to earn our favor with God, we are lawless men and women. If we are doing things because God in his grace has saved us, has forgiven us, and given us a righteousness, that's the right tenor in which to engage in our good works. So back to Matthew chapter 25, they address him as Lord.
It is the insincerity of professing Christians, but it certainly demonstrates the vivid reality of Philippians 2, 10, and 11. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Make no mistake about it. You will confess that He is Lord.
Confess Him now and by grace you're saved. Confess Him then, it'll be the last thing you say before you depart and are cast into the hell that was prepared for the devil and his angels. And then notice, the assumption that they seem to proffer is that if they knew it was Jesus, well then they would have done it. Look at verse 44, then they also will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?
What's the implication? Well, Lord, if we would have known you wanted a burger, if we would have known that you wanted some water, if we would have known that you wanted a visitation, well, by all means, we would have been there for you. That's not the point. The point is you do what you do because God has saved you.
You do what you do because it's right. You do what you do not because of who the target audience is. You do what you do because God calls you to do it. Now notice the confirmation by the judge, verse 45, that he will answer them, saying, Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.
So the absence of acts of charity highlights what? The absence of saving faith. Make sure you don't miss this. I want you to get this.
Yes, we all need to do more. Yes, we all need to try harder. Yes, we all need to be better. But brethren, the point of the passage is that these are evidences, these are fruits of a faith that God has given by which we close with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The rejection of Christ's least of these, notice in verse 45, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, brethren, it carries over from the former use. It's just a literary dropping of the brethren. Now there is this teaching that it means all men everywhere. Usually people that imbibe that particular doctrine end up as a works righteousness salvation.
It just seems to happen. There's a good case to be made. The least of these, my brethren, in Matthew's gospel are Jesus' disciples. That doesn't mean we shouldn't help pagans.
That doesn't mean if your neighbor has fallen off the roof and he's bleeding, you say, hey, can you affirm that Christ lived, died, and rose again? Can you affirm that you're saved by God? Once we know that, then I'll call 911, or then I'll put something on your, on your bleeding wound. No, no, no, that's not it.
We can certainly do good to all men, but what does the apostle say? Do good to all men, Galatians 6, especially of the household of faith. In other words, the least of these, my brethren, are Christ's disciples. Again, it's the solidarity of the head with the body.
And if we don't care about one another, it reflects that ultimately we don't have saving faith in the Lord Jesus. The disciples of Christ are his brethren. Matthew 12, Matthew 23, Matthew 28. The disciples of Christ are little ones that should not be made to stumble.
Chapter 18, verse 6. Or despised. Chapter 18, verse 10. For it is the Father's will that they should not perish.
Chapter 18, verse 14. The disciples of Christ who are received are on par with the reception of Christ himself. In fact, look at chapter 10 specifically to see this connection. Chapter 10 at verse 40.
He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.
The nations are judged ultimately based on their reception or rejection of Christ, and that is demonstrable in the way that they treat Christ's people. The point of the passage, the summary statement in chapter 25 at verse 46, underscores what he's already said. But there is something intriguing to note. Verse 46, these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
It's intriguing. People don't have a problem with eternal life. They have a problem with everlasting punishment. They have a problem with eternal condemnation in hell forever and ever.
But interestingly, it's the same word employed by Jesus, either for blessing or for woe. John Gill notes this and he comments, and which ascertains the eternity of the punishment of the wicked. For as the happiness of the righteous will be eternal, the punishment of the wicked be so too. For no reason can be given why the word, which is the same in both clauses, should be taken in the one for a limited time and in the other for an eternal duration.
What hermeneutical framework do you have to deny that everlasting damnation means everlasting damnation when it's strictly parallel with eternal life?
Nine Reasons Against Salvation by Works
Now, in conclusion, first of all, the passage does not teach salvation by works. It's good for us to know what the Bible teaches, but it's also good for us to know what the Bible doesn't teach. And I'm going to give you several reasons, I'll just run through them, why the passage does not teach salvation by works. I've already alluded to this, I've already invoked our confession, the theology behind it, the justification by faith, the connection between justification and sanctification, though distinct, they are inextricably connected.
But in terms of the passage not teaching salvation by works, in the first place, the sheep and the goats are already sheep and goats when they get to the judgment. The sheep and the goats are already sheep and goats when they get to the judgment. They're not made so at that point. Secondly, the sheep are called blessed of my father, which points to them as having been favored by God.
Grace is the emphasis. Grace is the accent. Third, the sheep are called to inherit the kingdom. We don't earn or merit an inheritance.
We receive the inheritance because we're adopted sons and daughters of the living and true God. Fourthly, the sheep are given a kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundation of the world, just like they were elected, Ephesians 1.4. Just like the good works they walk in, Ephesians 2.10. Fifth, the good works are the evidence of the presence of saving faith.
Again, 25, 31 to 46 is not a separate book. It's not sort of out there. It's not, okay, here's what you have, Genesis to Revelation, where the overarching theme is on justification by faith alone. You get it in Genesis 15.
Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. I mentioned Zechariah the prophet this morning. Zechariah chapter 3 with reference to Joshua the high priest. He wasn't saved because he was a law keeper.
He wasn't saved because he was good. He was saved because God is gracious and God justified him. He forgave him of his sins and he clothed him with a righteousness. You get to the pages of the New Testament.
The same emphasis is throughout. So 31 to 46 is not upbraiding all of that and saying, oh, and by the way, on the day of judgment, you're either entering in or you're excluded based on how you treated your brothers and sisters. Again, hear the emphasis, brethren. Treat your brothers and sisters well.
Treat your brothers and sisters with love. Treat your brothers and sisters with the good works that is glorifying to God, is good for your soul, and is certainly good for them. Six, the surprise of the sheep indicates that they were not doing good works in order to be saved. They did them as a consequence of their salvation.
They're shocked. Look, Lord, when did we see you? When did we do these things? When did we engage in this?
That's a different mindset than the person who's calculatingly trying to accrue enough good works so that they can enter in to the presence of God. Seventh, the continual emphasis in Matthew's gospel is on salvation by grace through faith. 121, you shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who will save his people from their sins. You've got Matthew 7, verses 21 to 23. We just looked there.
Doing the will of God is not more works. Again, in the realm of sanctification, do more works, but in terms of the day of judgment, it's the active and passive obedience of Jesus that we desperately need. Matthew chapter 9, the call of Matthew. Jesus tells Matthew, follow me.
Matthew was a wretch. Matthew was a tax collector. Matthew didn't have an epiphany in the tax office and say, oh, there's that Jesus of Nazareth. I'm going to go out and do good things, so hopefully he'll bring me into his troop there.
No. Matthew chapter 11, 25 to 30. Come to me, all you who are weary and debilated, and I will give you rest. You see, those passages are consistent with this passage.
And then of course in Matthew chapter 20 at verse 28, you could turn there just to see. Again, the stress is on the salvation brought out by our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 20, 28, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Eighthly, the ludicrous notion that Jesus and Paul are at odds in the matter of salvation.
It's a rejection of the unity of scripture. And don't think that hasn't been tried. Don't think that there's been a big wedge inserted between Jesus and Paul. There's a school of thought out there that Jesus was this wonderful, great religious teacher and Paul the apostle basically came and messed it all up.
Paul the Apostle came and basically convoluted it and twisted it to serve his own needs. Brethren, we know that's garbage, we know that's wrong, but understand there's no wedge between the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels and Paul in the Epistles. It is the unity of Scripture. And then ninthly and finally in terms of the passage not teaching salvation by works, the application of Galatians 2.21.
Galatians 2.21, the apostle says, I do not set apart or set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. So if it is the case that we can stand before God as a sheep because of all the great things that we have done, then why the cross? Why the Lord Jesus?
Why blood atonement? Why Leviticus chapter 16?
What the Passage Does Teach
Now, secondly, the passage does teach, first, the absolute certainty of judgment to come. We don't think about this today. We see all kinds of political characters. We see all kinds of criminal elements.
We see all kinds of persons. What appears to be get away with things, scot-free. I mean, brethren, there are some horrendous, heinous things. I think in the state of California right now, you can actually walk into a store, shoplift, I think it's up to $950, walk right out and they don't even arrest you.
Now, that's bad, isn't it? That's horrible. That really does attack at the very guts of a civil society, and it does abandon this whole concept of the rule of law. I mean, we saw the summer of love in 2020 with Antifa and Black Lives Matter, basically burning cities down.
I mean, not just a little bit of peaceful protest, but actually, you know, remember Chaz? I'm old enough to remember Chaz. You remember these renegade men? What's happened to these people?
Where's the accountability? Where's the punishment? Where's the punitive or corrective measures? Where's the sorts of things that ought to be applied across the board?
Well, when it comes to the divine tribunal, none of us escapes. When it comes to the judgment to come, all of us will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, the glory of Christ as the judge to come. the allusion to Old Testament texts describing judgment to Yahweh, the title of Son of Man, the self-identification of Christ as King, who is the eschatological judge. In John 5, God willing, in the coming weeks, we will see how Jesus says that the Father has entrusted to Him judgeship over all things.
Well, that shows and demonstrates the glory of Jesus Christ. Thirdly, you'll have the separation of the righteous from the wicked on the day of judgment and into eternity. Good news, isn't it? It's not always gonna be like this.
Not always gonna be the case where there's these sorts of injustices. In the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21 and verse 8, it's repeated twice in Revelation 22, I think twice, that the wicked are excluded from the city of God. That is given, sure, to warn the people of God, you make sure you're part of the people of God, but it's also an encouragement. Do you wanna go to heaven when in heaven there's all the sorts of crime, all the sorts of rebellion, all the sorts of pedophilia, all the sorts of injustices that obtain in this lower world?
Isn't that gonna be one of the blessings of being in the new Jerusalem, the exclusion of the wicked from that wonderful place? Fourth, the truth that works give evidence to the presence of saving faith. That's obvious, that's patent. That's what the text is telling us.
Fifth, the identification of good works. Look at what the text says. Jesus says, I was in prison and you visited me. I was hungry and you gave me to eat.
I was sick and you visited me. John Chrysostom says, Mark, how easy are his injunctions? In other words, good works, biblically defined, don't demand a ton of money on our part. Don't demand a ton of resourcefulness on our part.
Don't demand a ton of ingenuity on our part. It doesn't take rocket science to see a brother who's hungry or a brother who's thirsty and say, here's a cup of water. That's not rocket science, brethren. Chris Austen says, and mark how easy are his injunctions.
He said not, I was in prison and you set me free. I was sick and you raised me up again, but you visited me and you came unto me. Sixth, we see the necessity for God's people to engage in such good works. Again, not so that we will be saved, but because by grace we have been saved.
Calvin says we must be prodigiously sluggish if compassion be not drawn out or drawn from our bowels by this statement in verse 40, that Christ is either neglected or honored in the person of those who need our assistance. Seventhly, the passage does teach that there are two and only two places where persons will go for eternity. Verse 46 summarizes, these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. There's no limbo, there's no purgatory, there's no dreamless sleep, there's no anything other than heaven and hell.
Those are the exclusive realities facing people when they enter the day of judgment. Eighthly, the blessedness of the righteous. Consider the blessedness of the righteous. First of all, they're with Christ.
Secondly, they have a prepared kingdom and they have entered into eternal life. That right there ought to cause all of God's people to jump up with a mighty leap and to shout glory to his name. And then finally, the misery of the unrighteous. I think I've explained to you typical Puritan and Reformed sort of commentary on the doctrine of hell.
It involves a two-fold punishment. There is a punishment of loss and there is a punishment of sense. You have the punishment of loss in the words of Jesus, depart from me. If the pinnacle of blessedness is to be with Christ, then the pinnacle of cursedness is to be cast from Him.
So there is this punishment of loss. All of the good of God is deprived in a punitive way. But then there is the punishment of sense. And you see that in Scripture.
There'll be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. There's no rest for the wicked, the Bible tells us. So you have the blessedness of the righteous and you have the cursedness of the wicked. And then finally, it is imperative that the church preach the gospel.
This is the means by which men, women, boys and girls are prepared for the day of judgment. If we preach social justice without the gospel of salvation, we are doing positive damage to people. In the early part of the 20th century, they called that the social gospel. Guess what's making its foray back into the professing churches of our Lord Jesus Christ today?
We call it social justice warriors. Again, not wrong to be concerned with social justice. The Bible, specifically the Proverbs of Solomon, do you know how many times Solomon says that the Lord abominates unjust scales? We saw last week, Proverbs chapter 6, God abominates the hands that shed innocent blood.
Of course we should be in tune with social justice. Of course we should be concerned with the downtrodden and the poor. Of course, we should be concerned with those things, but without the gospel of Jesus Christ, we're doing positive damage to people. We're teaching them the be better, do more, try harder, and everything will work out.
That's not the gospel. That's not salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. So the church has a responsibility at this place, or at this point, to prepare people to stand in judgment before the living and the true God. And it is imperative, ultimately, that you believe the gospel.
The one who says in Matthew 11, come to me, says in Matthew 25 on that day of judgment, come. There is a connection there. You refuse him now, you reject him now, there will be no calm on that day of judgment. There will rather be depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels.
There is a way, there is a means, there is hope, and it is in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for its consistency. We thank you for the unity of scripture. We thank you for the scope of the whole, which is our blessed savior, bringing salvation to his people for the glory of God almighty.
May you give us wisdom concerning these things. And God, may you give us earnestness when it comes to manifesting that saving grace in our own hearts and lives in the way that we treat one another. Go with us now, we pray. Bless us in this coming week.
Bless all of our brothers and sisters who are still struggling with illness. Bless the Neufelds with their several difficulties and trials. God, we thank you that Dawn made it safely to Oklahoma. We pray for your grace and your mercy and your blessing upon her in this new chapter of her life.
And Lord, go with your people now, we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Close with a brief time of meditation.
Scripture References
- Genesis 15
- Leviticus 16
- Proverbs 6
- Zechariah 3
- Matthew 1:21; 7:21-23; 9; 10:40; 11:25-30; 12; 18:6; 18:10; 18:14; 20:28; 23; 24:36-44; 24:45-51; 25:1-13; 25:14-30; 25:31-46; 26:62-65; 28
- Daniel 7:13-14
- John 5; 6:40
- Acts 9
- Galatians 1; 2:21; 3; 4; 5:1-6; 6:10
- Ephesians 1:4; 2:8-10
- Philippians 2:10-11
- James 2
- Revelation 21:8; 22