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Matthew chapter 25, as we come 
to the end of the Olivet Discourse, the fifth discourse in Matthew's 
gospel, certainly as we come into chapter 26, we begin the 
passion of our Lord Jesus, His death, or sufferings in His death 
on behalf of the people of God. Matthew chapter 25, I'll read 
verses 31 to 46. 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. 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 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, in as much as you did 
it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. 
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. 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? 
Then he will answer them saying, assuredly I say to you, in as 
much 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. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for the gospel according to Matthew. We thank you for 
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ recorded here. God, this is a 
sobering passage, a scary passage in so many ways. We pray now 
that you would supply us with the Holy Spirit, that you would 
help us to understand these things, and as your people, God, help 
us to act upon them. We know that we are saved by 
grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But that faith 
is not alone. It does produce good works. It 
does yield sanctification. And may we learn from this passage 
the necessity of that reality. And God, for those who are outside 
of Christ, may today be the day of salvation. May they not learn 
from this passage to go out and feed someone in order to be saved, 
but may they learn from this passage to look unto Jesus Christ 
and be saved. We thank you for the gospel of 
our Lord. We thank you for the grace that 
you demonstrate in the life and the death and the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ. So God, guide us now and direct 
us by the power of your Spirit, forgiving us of all of our sins 
and our unrighteousness. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. Well, before we begin actually 
looking at the passage, I want to make two preliminary observations. In the first place, several years 
ago I heard of a preacher that had retired. I think he had been 
a pastor or a preacher for about 40 years or so. And he said, 
you know, I learned over my period of time, or as I reflect back 
on my ministry, he says, I took the 40 years that I had. to tell 
the people of God what they should believe, but I never told them 
what they aren't supposed to believe. And I simply say that 
because this passage is greatly misunderstood. So along the way, 
I'm going to try and illustrate or highlight what the passage 
doesn't mean, what it doesn't teach. Roman Catholicism, for 
instance, will interpret Matthew 25, 31 to 46 in a much different 
fashion than I'm going to interpret for you this morning. So I think 
it's important for the people of God to not only know what 
Scripture does teach, but we need to know what it doesn't 
teach so that we're not led astray and led by every wind of doctrine. In the second place, this is 
a most sober passage of Scripture. It is a most serious passage 
of Scripture. As I said, it comes at the end 
of the Olivet Discourse, just prior to the passion of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Christ has spent a great deal 
of time in Matthew 24 and 25 highlighting the reality of His 
coming judgment, highlighting the reality of how we are to 
live in light of His returning glory. And specifically, at the 
end of chapter 24, he tells us we ought to be watchful. And 
watchfulness does not simply mean to sit by the window and 
look up into the sky, but watchfulness is concrete. It results in faithfulness 
in the people of God. It results in a preparedness, 
like those wise virgins that had a vessel for their oil to 
go along with their lamp. It also results in diligence, 
the parable of the talents and what these men did in terms of 
their service to the master. And here we find what that judgment 
day will look like. So if the preceding section was 
living in light of the second coming, this particular section 
illustrates what will happen at the second coming. It illustrates 
what will happen at that great divide. When Christ, like a shepherd, 
divides the sheep from the goats, He casts the goats away for all 
eternity. Again, a very terrifying passage 
of Scripture, something that is often lost on us today because 
we typically only think about this life, we only think about 
this comfort, we only think about what is beyond us in terms of 
a few years. But Scripture teaches that we 
will all die, and then comes judgment. The Scripture teaches 
that we will all stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to give 
an account of the deeds done in the body, whether good or 
evil. Scripture says that we will have a time when we pass 
from this life or from this age into the age to come. And this 
particular passage of Scripture highlights that day for us. This 
particular passage of Scripture tells us what it will look like 
in terms of eternal life or eternal punishment. So let's look at 
the passage under two considerations. There's a lot of material here. 
I suspect that not all of your questions are going to be answered 
this morning. If you have questions and you want to email me, call 
me, visit me, text me, or send a carrier pigeon, I will seek 
to answer your particular questions. I look at some of these Puritan 
authors. For instance, the parable of 
the 10 virgins, I took that up in one sermon. Some of these 
brothers go for 10 sermons on these things. I don't have that 
competency, I don't have that skill, but at the same time, 
I think we lose sight of the whole if we spend too much time 
on the details. I think that Christ's words here, 
taken cumulatively, ought to produce in the people of God 
watchfulness It ought to produce in the people of God a holy awe 
in light of His second coming. And for those who are not His 
people to get a glimpse at the judgment to come, I hope and 
pray that it produces a holy terror that causes you to flee 
to Jesus Christ for salvation. So let's look first at the setting 
of the judgment in verses 31 to 33, and then secondly, the 
execution of the judgment in verses 34 to 36. But in the first 
place, the setting, two things here, the identification of the 
judge and the target of his judgment. Notice 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. Now, Jesus 
has used this identifier of himself in several instances in Matthew's 
gospel. This son of man is taken straight 
out of the prophet Daniel. 7, 13, and 14. It highlights 
His preeminence. It highlights His glory. It highlights 
His majesty. It highlights His kingship. Now 
we hear it, Son of Man, and we associate it with Christ and 
His humanity. But more often than not, it bears 
that Daniel 7, 13, and 14 meaning. This man of preeminence, this 
man of majesty, this man who's been given a kingdom, this man 
who rules and reigns over all things for the good of His church. 
So, he identifies himself in this particular instance as the 
one who will judge. Now, we preach Christ and Him 
crucified, don't we? Paul says that in 1 Corinthians 
chapter 1. The Jews, they seek after signs, and the Greeks, 
they seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. And 
why do we preach Christ crucified? Because that's the means by which 
sinners are saved. In other words, if you are a 
sinner here this morning and you have not come to faith in 
Jesus Christ, the answer in terms of salvation for your never-dying 
soul or body is to look to Christ in faith and you will be saved. So as we understand that reality 
presently, Christ is at the right hand of the Father. where He 
always lives to make intercession for His people, but as well where 
He lives to save sinners who come to the Father by Jesus Christ. Hebrews 7.25, it tells us, He 
is able to save to the uttermost all who draw near to God through 
Him. So right here, right now, presently, currently, I am preaching 
to you that if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, He will 
save you from your sins. You don't have to sign a card. 
You don't have to come up forward. We don't have to have every head 
bowed and every eye closed. We don't have to shoot up our 
hands into the sky. You don't have to sign your name 
down. You don't have to give any money. You don't have to 
promise any service. All you have to do, by the grace 
of God, presently, currently, is to look in faith to Jesus 
Christ. And scripture says, when a sinner 
looks to Him, they live. In fact, he himself used that 
analogy from the book of Numbers, in Numbers chapter 22. You remember 
that instance. The people of Israel, as they 
were wont to do, would complain about God. I mean, talk about 
a whining, grumbling, complaining pack of people. And we read that 
account. But we ought to see ourselves 
there, too. I don't think that whining, grumbling, 
and complaining is unique to Old Covenant Israel. I mean, 
we can whine, grumble, and complain with the best of them, can't 
we? Do you remember that instance in Numbers 22? So God sent fiery 
serpents down or out to bite the Israelites. And persons were 
hurt, they were dying. And so God gave Moses the command 
to make a brazen or a bronze serpent, lift it up in the wilderness. And the particular instance was, 
or the particular directive was to look and live. Not to fix 
yourself, not to drag close to that brazen serpent, not to seek 
medical assistance and the brazen serpent, not to try and cure 
yourself, but the scripture says, look and live. Well, Christ uses 
that analogy in John 3. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, so also must the Son of Man be lifted up. 
What's the implication? That everybody who looked at 
that serpent was saved. The implication, obviously, in 
its new covenant setting is all those who look in faith to Christ 
are saved. It's a beautiful thing, isn't 
it? Christians aren't going to heaven, much to the chagrin of 
those who misunderstand this passage, because of the good 
that they do. They're going to heaven because 
of the great that Christ did. He fulfilled the Father's law, 
as Pastor Porter referenced, in every jot and tittle. He left 
nothing undone. His life was a life of active 
obedience to the law of his Father. His death was a death wherein 
He took the place of sinners. He bore the penalty due to their 
sin by the Father. So we preach Christ crucified 
now as a Savior, but look at what verse 31 says. There's a 
day coming when He'll no longer be Savior. Now, certainly He'll 
still be Savior to the saved, but there's a point and a time 
where it stops. The Son of Man is going to come 
again in glory, and at that time it's too late. You see, one of 
the emphases throughout this passage or all of the discourse 
is to be prepared, be watchful, be watchful, be faithful, be 
prepared. Whether he extends his delay for millennia, or he 
comes back tonight. You need to be ready right now. 
You need to live in light of the second coming, because there 
is a day coming, as we see in the parable with the virgins, 
when those foolish virgins are going to knock the door, and 
the bridegroom's not going to allow them access. There's a 
time when that one talent man is going to be cast off and stripped 
of the talent that he had. It'll be given to the one who 
had 10. There is a time, in other words, if you are outside of 
Christ, where you may remain outside of Christ with no opportunity 
or no gospel preaching as a means by which the Spirit uses to bring 
you nigh. The Son of Man will come in glory 
to judge the living and the dead. The church has always confessed 
and professed that, and they haven't made it up willy-nilly, 
but it comes directly from the teaching of our Savior. The Lord 
Jesus identifies Himself as that judge in John chapter 5, verses 
22, 27 to 29. Acts 17, what's Paul's grand 
message at Mars Hill or the Areopagus when he's discoursing? with those 
Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. They all like to sit around and 
stroke their beards and talk about new sorts of things. Paul 
comes along and they say, who is this idle babbler? Who is 
this seed picker? Who is this guy that just has 
sort of accumulated all these bits and pieces of theology and 
philosophy? We want to hear from him. He 
preaches Jesus and the resurrection. Let's hear what he has to say. 
So what does Paul do? He preaches Jesus and the resurrection. It's a beautiful thing. You know 
that Paul in that particular section in Acts 17, oh it's only 
1040, we got lots of time here this morning. In that section 
in Acts chapter 17, you know what Paul does not do? He does 
not set out to prove the resurrection. He doesn't give 15 evidences 
to these Epicureans and Stoics as to why they ought to believe 
in the resurrection. Paul assumes it, Paul presupposes 
it, and Paul uses it as exhibit A as to why these sinners ought 
to repent. Because God has raised up this 
Jesus, and he has stationed him, or rather he will judge the world 
by this Christ. You see, this is what Scripture 
testifies. We are told we're going to stand 
before the Lord. Romans 14, 2 Corinthians 5.10, we'll stand before Jesus 
Christ. So in other words, that one who 
offers salvation now is going to deal out retribution then. So don't go home today and say, 
well, it was just another sermon in Matthew chapter 25, and it 
really doesn't matter. It really doesn't affect me. 
It really doesn't have any claim upon my life. Oh, yes, it does, 
because you'll stand before this Jesus. And what do you think 
you're going to be able to say? Well, I never knew. Not that 
that will get you off the hook. That's Romans 1. Men know God, 
and yet they suppress the truth and unrighteousness so that on 
that day they are without apologetic. They are without defense. Our 
translations say they are without excuse. But for those of you 
who are here, who have heard the gospel articulated, who have 
heard the simple truth that God is holy and you're not, and the 
only means whereby men can be saved is through Christ, you're 
not going to be able to say, well, I didn't know. I didn't 
understand. I didn't hear. You've been hearing it for as 
long as I've been here. Believe the gospel because you 
will meet this son of man in glory, or in his glory, when 
he judges the living and the dead. And I know with kids, ah, 
you know, I can't even think about my 10th or my 15th or my 
20th birthday. I'm still trying to wrap my mind 
around where I'm gonna go to college. And you want me to think about, 
you know, when I'm really old, like 50 or 60 or 70. Funny how age 
is relative, isn't it? When I was 30, 50 seemed old. 
Now it's just, right. We tend to be like that. We don't 
think beyond today. You see what Jesus is telling 
you? To think beyond today. You see what everywhere scripture 
conveys to sinners in our day and age? Stop thinking about 
yourself, the right now, and how you're gonna make it for, 
you know, these five years. You may not even make it for 
five years, according to James. We need to think in terms of 
eternity. We need to think in terms of 
Moses' psalm in Psalm 90. You know, 60 or 70 or 80 years 
and then we will fly away. Where is it that you're going 
to fly away to? Look at the two options and only two options 
of verse 46. Romanism is wrong on a whole 
lot of points. Certainly the idea of purgatory 
is wrong. There's no third place where 
you go and purgate or purge some of your sin for a period of time. Either Christ pays it all or 
He doesn't. You don't get half a Savior, 
we don't get some Savior, and then I gotta do the rest. Notice 
in verse 46, these will go away into everlasting punishment, 
but the righteous into eternal life. Those are the two options 
available. That's what lay beyond the grave 
for each and every one of us. You say, well, I don't believe 
that. Well, it doesn't change the fact. Just because you wish 
or choose not to believe something doesn't mean that it actually 
alters the reality. This is a real subject that we 
need to take into real consideration. Christ will come in His glory, 
not in a state of humiliation. One of the reasons why I think 
everybody loves celebrating Jesus in December 25th is because He's 
helpless. We like a Jesus in a manger, 
don't we? We like a Jesus who's sitting under or lying under 
the lowing of the oxen. We like a Jesus that is in a 
position of disadvantage. We like a Jesus that we can domesticate 
and a Jesus that we can control. But that's not the Jesus that 
will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, not 
to denigrate or to put down or insult that aspect of our Lord's 
incarnation. It was beautiful. Wondrous, glorious. In fact, we spent the last hour 
sort of rehearsing that union of the divine and the human in 
the one person of our Lord Jesus. It's a beautiful, wondrous thing. But people get all sappy and 
sentimental in December. They like baby Jesus because 
baby Jesus doesn't wield a sword and chop off heads and cast people 
into hell. You say, well, that sounds Islamic. 
No, it's Bible. I don't know about the chopping 
off the heads, but the casting into the hell. Notice, he will 
come again in glory, not in the state of humiliation. He will 
come with all his holy angels, and he will sit on the throne 
of his glory. It's an amazing scene, isn't 
it? It's what we just sang, 217. And in a moment, I'm going to 
show you something in terms of the connection of this passage 
that is truly amazing. But we just sang, Look, ye saints, 
the sight is glorious. See the man of sorrows now. From 
the fight, return victorious. Every knee to him shall bow. 
See, they mocked him. They crucified him. They belittled him. The hymn 
writer bids us, look ye saints, the sight is glorious. See the 
man of sorrows. Now, from the fight return victorious, 
every knee to him shall bow. Isn't it intriguing that the 
unrighteous even call him Lord? See, the execution of the judgment 
breaks down into two almost parallel sections. You've got the righteous, 
you've got the unrighteous. The righteous are told to come, 
the unrighteous are told to depart. The righteous are told why they 
get to come, because their works evidence the presence of saving 
faith. The unrighteous are told why they're going to depart, 
because their lack of works gave evidence to the absence of saving 
faith. Both parties then say, when, Lord, did we see you? And 
then the Lord gives the particular justification of his verdict, 
and then he tells them the summary. So they're parallel sections, 
but the unrighteous in the account say, Lord, too. Now we can understand 
that in one of two ways. The first is similar to Matthew 
7, 21 to 23. Not everyone who says to me on 
that day, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. We might 
be dealing with a class like the foolish virgins in these 
unrighteous in Matthew 25, 31 to 46. It might be like those 
who profess saving faith but do not possess saving faith by 
the grace of God. Or it more, and I think it does, 
highlight the reality of Philippians 2, 11. that Philippians 2.11 
reality that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess 
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You may not confess Him as Lord 
and Savior now, but you will confess Him as Lord one day. Mark my words, look at the text 
of scripture, hear the sobering judgment, the reality that this 
Christ, whom men crucified for sin, will come again in glory. Something about the connection 
needs to be appreciated or the context. What's going to happen 
in chapter 26? What is going to happen in chapter 
26? I realize everybody lost an hour last night, so let me 
just tell you what's going to happen in chapter 26. We see 
the Son of Man delivered up. We see the Son of Man mocked. 
We see the Son of Man scourged. We see the Son of Man crucified 
and died. And intriguingly, on two particular 
points, both the Roman soldiers and the leaders of Israel mock 
the concept of his kingship. Isn't that intriguing that this 
one, remember, this is the Passion Week. I know when we take time 
to go through a big bit of scripture, we lose sight of the particular 
historical time reference. This is the Passion Week. This 
is Tuesday night that Jesus is saying this. Friday, he is going 
to be crucified. Isn't that amazing? So what does 
that tell us? He looks beyond the humiliation. He looks beyond the crown of 
thorns. He looks beyond the mocking crowd. He looks beyond the beatings. 
He looks beyond the scourging. He looks beyond the cross itself 
to the resurrection on the third day, to the ascension to the 
father's right hand, to the current session, wherein he now reigns 
and rules over all things for his church, to that final day 
of judgment. That captures 2.17 in the first 
stanza. See the man of sorrows now, because 
as we move through chapters 26 and 27, it's going to be difficult 
to remember this reality that He's going to come again in glory. 
But Christ looks past all of that shame, all of that heartache, 
all of that sorrow, and He tells persons at the end to summarize 
not only all of that discourse, but I think to leave a powerful 
message for all of us to consider as we enter into just who this 
Jesus is in Matthew 26 to 28. The Son of Man will come in glory 
to judge the living and the dead. He comes in His glory and all 
the holy angels with Him, and then He will sit on the throne 
of His glory." Notice, the target of His judgment, the nations, 
presupposes something that lots of people deny, don't they? Resurrection. We're all, not good, but we're 
all materialists, and I speak generally, in North America. We're just a collection of random 
atoms and molecules and particles, and once we go to the grave, 
everything stops, right? It's just over. It's just done. We just happen to be this massive 
collection of atoms and particles that may marry another massive 
collection of particles and atoms and may have other little masses 
of particles and atoms and then we all go to the grave and everything 
just ends because we're materialists. We think that life is only concretized, 
it's only material, it's only stuff. We don't think or acknowledge 
the existence of the immaterial, the soul, the spirit, that inward 
part that so many today deny. You see, Jesus assumes the resurrection 
from the dead. Jesus assumes that all the nations 
will be gathered before him. Jesus assumes this, presupposes 
this, and operates according to it. If you ever have for a 
moment thought that life ends at the grave, you have thought 
wrong. Scripture testifies you enter into the grave and as, 
or prior to the second coming, you stand in judgment and enter 
into heaven or hell in terms of your soul, but there is a 
general resurrection from the dead when Jesus comes. Body and 
soul will be reunited. Body and soul either enter into 
heaven or to hell. You see, the Bible's not against 
the body. Gnostics were against the body. The body is good. God's 
not at war with our bodies. God is at war with our sin. You 
see, what does Romans 8 tell us in terms of this creation? 
The creation itself yearns for redemption because it's in bondage. What do we see at the end in 
the book of Revelation? We see a new heavens and a new 
earth. I don't personally think that 
means brand new. I think it means redeemed, bondage 
lifted, curse removed. Because of the first Adam, the 
curse is imposed. By the second Adam, the curse 
is removed. And all those who, by the grace 
of God, are in the first Adam get to enjoy the benefits and 
the blessings of that new heavens and new earth. You see, Jesus 
assumes there's a resurrection from the dead. As well, I say 
the best explanation of all the nations here is all the nations. 
There's a lot of attempts to try and limit the scope of the 
judgment. In fact, there's a lot of attempts to try and jockey 
between different judgments. We're going to just take it in 
the most straightforward sense that all the nations here means 
that all the nations here. And it also shows us something 
of the glory of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, guess who 
gathered all the nations for judgment? In Isaiah the prophet, 
chapter 66. In Joel the prophet, chapter 
3. Zechariah the prophet, chapter 
14. It was Yahweh of Israel gathered all the nations before him in 
order to judge. What's Jesus asserting here? 
that He has the Son of Man. He has the One who has glory. 
He has the One who sits upon the throne of glory. This One 
who has all the holy angels, this Man is equal to Yahweh. He is His Son. He is of the same 
substance, one with the Father. Now notice, what he does when 
he gathers the nations before him. Verses 32b and 33. 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. 
Sometimes people call this passage the parable of the sheep and 
the goats. It's not a parable. This simile of sheep and goats 
function in this small way to show the division of the separation 
of the judgment day. We're not dealing with parable 
in 31 to 46. We're dealing with prophecy. We're dealing with something 
similar to Isaiah 66 or Joel 3 or Zechariah 14. We're dealing 
in the category of prophecy wherein Jesus as our prophet, because 
we're ignorant, speaks the truth to us concerning this judgment. So we see that he makes this 
division 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. Now, there's some background to this. In the book of Ezekiel, 
chapter 34, Yahweh does a similar sort of separation. You can see 
sheep identified as sheep in Matthew's gospel, or the believers 
identified as sheep in Matthew 18, 12, Matthew 26, 31. The point 
here, though, specifically, is on the division. It's on the 
separation. And there's many reasons why 
in the commentaries they were separated. Some suggest that 
in the daytime they were all herded together. You had sheep 
and goats. Again, I think that does seem to fill in for us what's 
happening in the context. You've got these wise virgins 
and these foolish virgins, but you don't really know which is 
wise and which is foolish until the end, right? You've got these 
different slaves with different talents doing their different 
things and you really don't know who's legit until the end. So 
that might actually be something that we need to consider here. 
We might be in the church. We might attend morning and evening. 
We might even go to Sunday school or Wednesday night. That doesn't 
necessarily mean that all that glitters is gold. But the idea 
being is that sheep and goats were herded together during the 
day, and at night the shepherd would separate them, because 
sheep are hardier beings and they're happy to be outside. 
I don't know if happy is the right word, but whatever happens 
in a sheep, he's okay being outside, where the goats, not as hardy, 
would need to be inside, herd together and keep warm, and that 
sort of thing. But as France points out, it's 
not the reason for the separation, it's the reality of the separation. That's what Jesus wants you to 
get. As the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so 
will the Son of Man separate individuals from the nations 
who gather before him. Now, notice he puts the sheep 
on his right hand. This is a place of prominence. 
We see this in 1 Kings, we see it in Psalm 45, and we see it 
in Psalm 110. But it is intriguing for us to 
appreciate something that J.C. Ryle says concerning this separation. He says, there will no longer 
be any distinction between kings and subjects. Notice how they're 
not separated. Oh, you were in this tax bracket, 
so you're over here. You were in this religion, so 
you're over here. You had this social status, so 
you're over there. That's not the distinction in 
view here. It doesn't matter where you work, 
as long as it's lawful. It doesn't matter how much money 
you have, as long as you don't steal it. It doesn't matter what 
sort of impact you've made on this world. What matters is faith 
in Jesus Christ, you see. So I think that Ryle is right 
on here. So many of the distinctions that 
we appreciate on this side of the judgment are gone. He says, 
there will no longer be any distinction between kings and subjects, or 
masters and servants, or dissenters and churchmen. There will be 
no mention of ranks or denominations, for the former things will have 
passed away. He says, grace or no grace, conversion 
or unconversion, faith or no faith, will be the only distinctions 
at the last day. That's what matters. And I'm 
just gonna jump right in and tell you, they're not judged 
in terms of their salvation based on their works, but the Bible 
everywhere tells us that those who have genuine faith in Jesus 
Christ will do good works. Those good works demonstrate 
or evidence the presence of faith or its absence, One telling sign 
of that is the reality that there's sheep and goats before him already. This isn't a trial. This isn't 
the ponying up of evidence. There's no call for witnesses 
to corroborate the judge's verdict. This is strictly judgment. We 
think judgment, we think, okay, we've got to go before the judge, 
we've got to present our... Strictly speaking, judgment, the trial's 
been done. The trial's over. The judge now 
hands down the sentence. This isn't back and forth. You 
don't get attorneys at this place. You can't hire the crack attorney 
to stand before you, represent you. Praise God that if you have 
Jesus, you don't need to hire the crack attorney because he 
is our advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. 
You see, they're already sheep and goats. Jesus does not say 
to them, based on your performance in that world, I now confer upon 
you the title of sheep. No, they're already sheep and 
goats before they present. It's one of the reasons we know 
that Romanism is wrong, or that view that says we're saved by 
works is wrong. They're already sheep. They're 
already goats. And I made a misstep yesterday 
in our theology study, because sheep and goats were in my head. 
I said that goats pass to sheep nests, and they don't. If we 
speak specifically in these biblical categories, the sheep are the 
saved, the goats are the reprobate. Goats never become non-reprobate. They're already sheep and the 
goats when they get here. Now, notice the judgment of the 
righteous. In terms of the execution of 
the judgment, before you panic, I think we'll just take up the 
righteous this morning and we'll get to the unrighteous next week. 
But notice the judgment of the righteous. In the first place, 
the declaration of the judge, verse 34, 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. The king calls the sheep to come. I think it is common for us to 
camp on passages like these, as I've said in the previous 
studies, and say, look at what the unbeliever gets. Look at 
what the believer gets. by grace through faith. We have responded to that Matthew 
11, 25 to 30 comment. Come to me, Jesus says, all you 
who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Certainly when in this world 
we pass from darkness into marvelous light, we enjoy rest. We have 
peace with God. Romans 5.1, therefore, having 
been justified by faith, we have peace with God, don't we? But 
we've not entered in fully to that rest that is there for us. 
And this is what the king will say. Then the king will say to 
those on his right hand, come. There's a world of blessing and 
a world of goodness and a world of joy and that calm. It means 
we get to be with Jesus. It means communion. It means 
intimacy. It means what the wise virgins 
got. Remember, the foolish knocked 
the door and the bridegroom didn't let them in. Where were the wise? They were already in. This is 
in our future, believers. Come, says Christ. Come into 
the presence of God Most High and the Lamb who sits upon the 
throne. Come is the very rationale for us to get out of bed every 
morning. Come helps us to look beyond the sorrows and the difficulties 
and the hardships of this life. This come, this promise from 
our Lord Jesus ought to produce a bounce in our step. Brethren, 
we do sorrow, we do have trial, we do have heartache, but you 
know what the overarching theme of the believer's life ought 
to be? Joy, thanksgiving, blessedness, happiness, because there is a 
day coming when there will be no more pain, there'll be no 
more sorrow, there'll be no more hunger, there'll be no more thirst, 
there'll be no more death, and there'll be only presence with 
God. Come, he says. Notice. He says, come you blessed 
of my Father. This is another reason we know 
that the passage does not teach salvation by works. You blessed 
of my Father. The idea here is that they are 
recipients of God's favor. They're not blessed of my Father 
because they have distinguished themselves among all others. No, they are where they're at 
because they've been blessed of the Father. So along the way, 
I'm going to point out that it certainly does not mean salvation 
by works. They are blessed of my father. 
But then notice what he goes on to say. Come, you blessed 
of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
of the world. Intriguing language if this is 
earned. Intriguing language if this is 
merited. Intriguing language if this passage 
does teach salvation by work. We don't earn or merit an inheritance, 
do we? It's an inheritance. This is 
Paul's point in Ephesians 1, 14 and 18. It flows out of that 
Ephesians 1, 4 reality. God chose us in him before the 
foundation of the world. So believers, as we follow the 
trajectory in Paul, and reaffirmed here by our Lord Jesus in this 
discourse, they're elected by God from before the foundation 
of the world. The very good works that we actually do are prepared 
beforehand by God. In other words, when these men 
are commended for having fed the hungry, or given drink to 
the thirsty, or clothing the naked, or visiting the infirm, 
or helping those in prison, it's works God ordained for them to 
do. Ephesians 2, 8 to 10. Is everybody with me? This passage 
does not teach what some think it teaches. We're not dealing 
with, you know, Jesus and Matthew teaching us salvation by works 
and then Paul over here teaching us salvation by faith. How do 
we reconcile those? We don't need to reconcile them 
because Jesus affirms the same very thing. We inherit the kingdom. The use of inherit underscores 
the gracious provision. One doesn't earn a merit and 
inheritance. As well, the reference to the 
kingdom prepared underscores the gracious provision. It was 
prepared by God for his elect. He didn't just willy-nilly prepare 
this kingdom for anybody who might choose to enter in. He 
didn't willy-nilly prepare this kingdom for anybody who might 
answer up and actually feed somebody who's hungry. you He prepared 
it for those he set his heart, or set his love on. Chamberlain 
says, it has been prepared for them from the foundation of the 
world, shows that it was not ultimately their good deeds that 
made them eligible for entry. Rather, those deeds revealed 
who they already were, the elect of God, whom he chose in accord 
with his good pleasure, the people saved from their sins by the 
redemptive sacrifice of God's son. All things Matthew's gospel 
teaches us. Now, some of you may not even 
know what I'm talking about. There are those who teach that 
when we feed people, when we clothe people, when we give people 
drink, we are doing works good enough to be commended by God, 
to be rewarded by God, and then to be given access to the kingdom 
by God. That is a wrong interpretation. 
The Bible everywhere tells us we're saved by grace alone through 
faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. these good works evidence or 
they demonstrate that that faith is present. We need to appreciate 
that as we move through the passage because the answer to your problem 
today is not go buy a pack of hot dogs and find somebody homeless 
and hand it to them and you'll mitigate all the effects of your 
sinfulness and your waywardness. The answer to you today is not 
carry around a jug of water and every time you see somebody licking 
their lips in need of a drink, you give them a drink. That's 
not it. Your good works can't undo the 
amount of sin that you've committed. Your good works can't atone for 
the amount of sins you have committed. The only good works that avail 
with God are the perfect works of our Lord Jesus Christ and 
his death on behalf of sinners and his resurrection on the third 
day. The answer to you today, in order to be prepared for the 
day of judgment, is not to go buy hot dogs, not to buy a jug 
of water, but to look unto Jesus Christ in faith and be saved. You see, this passage cannot 
be utilized to teach what others teach in terms of salvation, 
but it also ought not to be minimized in God's church for laziness 
or passivity. You see, if we're saved by grace 
through faith in Jesus Christ, some wrongly conclude, Romans 
6, 1, that we may continue in sin, that grace may abound. Paul 
says, may it never be. But some may also wrongly conclude, 
if I'm not saved by my good works, then what difference do my good 
works make? What difference does it make whether I do good works 
or not? He said, I don't want to spend so much time telling 
what this passage does not mean and not tell you what it does 
mean. Believers, if you have a genuine 
faith in Jesus Christ, that genuine faith in Jesus Christ will be 
demonstrated or evidenced by the works you do. This is James 
2, 14 to 26. There's no problem between James 
and Paul. There's no problem between James, 
Paul, and Jesus. There's no antithesis in terms 
of, well, Paul preaches grace, and James preaches works, and 
Jesus preaches works, and sometimes faith. They're all singing off 
the same page. See, one of the big problems 
with this particular view is that it does seek to pit Jesus 
against Paul or Paul against James. We don't need to pit anyone 
against each other. It's to denigrate the unity of 
the Scripture. Prior to the Enlightenment, people 
looked at the Bible, 66 books though it is, as one book with 
one author who penned it through these human agents. Now it's 
so many compartments and so many disjointed things and so many 
random thoughts and so many difficulties for the theologian to try and 
piece together to have a coherent theology. As if God the Lord, 
who used these 66 books to present one coherent theology, couldn't 
do a successful job on his own. You see, it's offensive to read 
Bible commentaries and to see something like, there's no possible 
way to reconcile Matthew's Jesus here with Paul. Well, it's precisely 
the task of those who are concerned in such matters to do that very 
thing, to see that they're both singing off the same page. But 
in terms of the reason given by the judge, it is the acts 
of charity toward others. Notice. The king will say what he says, 
and then 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. You see, as believers, we cannot say, we can continue 
in sin that grace may abound, as Paul says, may it never be, 
Romans 6.1. But neither can we say we're saved by grace, so 
I can just lay around. I don't need to alleviate a brother in 
need. I don't need to help anybody. I'm saved by grace. Is that our attitude sometimes? 
I'm saved by grace. Praise God I'm saved by grace. It works 
out well because I'm a really lazy person that doesn't want 
to help anybody anyway. So thanks to be the God that 
it's all by grace. Do we operate at that level? 
I don't think we'd ever verbalize it. I don't think we'd ever actually 
vocalize it, especially in front of others. But is it somewhere 
latent in our hearts? Thank the Lord for salvation 
by grace, because it really meant I got to go feed people, I got 
to go clothe people, I got to go give drinks to people. That's 
just not my thing. This is not how I'm led, you 
see. It's not my ministry. Spirit hasn't gifted me that 
way. Isn't it intriguing that they're basic acts of charity? 
This is not the master or the king holding the bar high. Is 
it? Okay, you've got to go out and 
leap over tall buildings in a single bound. You've got to run faster 
than a steaming locomotive. You've got to be able to stop 
bullets with your big chat. No, these are basic acts of kindness 
done in Jesus' name for His glory. If a brother is hungry, feed 
him. If a brother is thirsty, give him something to drink. 
If a brother is naked, give him a shirt. If a brother's in prison, 
go visit him. If a brother's sick, go visit 
him. If a brother is destitute, help him. Listen to what John 
Chrysostom, the silver-tongued preacher said in the early church. 
He says, and Mark, how easy are his injunctions. We're dealing 
with basic evidence here. We're not dealing with splitting 
the atom here for Jesus. He says, and mark how easy are 
his injunctions. He said not, I was in prison 
and ye set me free. I was sick and ye raised me up 
again, but ye visited me. You came unto me. You see, that's what he calls 
us to. But I don't have healing powers 
of Jesus. Just go visit the sick person. 
I don't have Gucci designer clothes. Give them your Walmart shirt. 
I don't have the power to raise the dead. But you have the power 
to sit next to the dying and hold their hand and pray with 
them, don't you? See, we don't want to spend so 
much time telling ourselves what the passage doesn't mean and 
neglect what it does mean. This is the point of James. James affirms sovereign grace. 
James 1.18, of his will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. Sounds as Pauline as Paul the 
Apostle, doesn't it? He acknowledges faith in Jesus 
Christ. Let not any of you hold the faith 
of our Lord with partiality. Sovereign grace and faith in 
James. What's James dealing with? He 
is dealing with professing Christians who don't see it as their ministry 
to feed poor people. They don't feel led to give a 
shirt to somebody in need. Isn't this James's point? If 
somebody comes to your door and says that they're hungry and 
that they're cold, you know, don't say, well, be warm and 
filled while the door is shutting on them. Do you see the consistency 
of Scripture? Do you see that we have one author? And the author gave us James 
2, gave us Ephesians 2, gave us Romans 9, gave us Matthew 
25. It's all consistent, it's all 
coherent, it's all beautiful, and it's all to be believed. 
So see, brethren, these are not stupendous acts. So if we think 
of the parable of the talents, well, that one fellow got five 
talents. The other fellow got two talents. 
I wonder what that looks like. It looks like feeding people 
that are hungry, giving drink to people that are thirsty, clothing 
people that are naked, visiting people that are in prison, visiting 
people that are sick, helping people. That's what these talents 
are. You see, it's not stupendous 
acts that the Lord is seeking. So don't ever get it in your 
head. Well, you know, I'm not Spurgeon, so I'm not ever going to witness. 
What? I'm not gifted and trained, and 
I haven't been to Bible school, so I'm not going to tell anybody 
about Jesus. Go ahead and tell people about Jesus. I'm not a 
trained doctor, but you can visit sick people, can't you? This is a scary passage, isn't 
it? A terrifying passage. Because Jesus means business. 
Our salvation by grace through faith is to produce or should 
demonstrate good fruit. In other words, you can't say, well, 
I'm a believer in Jesus and not have any fruit. James 2, 14 to 
26. In fact, James is dealing with 
that. In James 2, 14 when he says, can faith save? He doesn't mean faith saving 
as the instrument of God whereby he joins a sinner savingly to 
Jesus Christ. James is dealing with that empty 
profession. James in 2, 14 ought to be understood 
this way. Can that faith save? That sort 
of faith that says it's in Christ, but then slams the door upon 
a brother or sister who's hungry or naked? Can that faith? No, 
because it's not true faith, you see. Perfect consistency 
in Scripture that we have here. The talents invested look like 
this, not stupendous acts that only a few in the church can 
engage in. In some, the acts of charity 
demonstrate or give evidence to the presence of faith in the 
sheep. Paul say this, faith works through what? Galatians 5, 6. 
It works through love. Doesn't mean we're saved by a 
faith working through love. We're saved by a faith alone, 
but that faith is never alone and will ultimately produce that 
love. This is the emphasis of our confession. It says specifically, 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. perfectly consistent 
passage with the Pauline doctrine of justification by faith alone. 
And Paul tells us the same thing, by grace you've been saved through 
faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, lest any 
man should boast. What's he saying, verse 10? I 
don't know why papers forget Ephesians 2.10. I don't know 
why people think Protestants don't affirm good works. Paul 
says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for what? Just lay on our couch and revel 
in justification by faith? You know, it's an insult to Paul. 
It demeans the theology of Paul to somehow suggest it's a workless 
salvation. Now, when I say workless salvation, 
I don't mean like our works gain us to salvation, but as we're 
saved by grace, there will be good works. And Paul tells us 
the very same thing that James tells us. Paul tells us the very 
same thing that Jesus tells us. Jesus tells us the same thing 
that Paul and James. You get the point, don't you? 
It's somehow okay for commentators to have this problem between 
Paul and Jesus or Paul and Matthew. Don't let preachers ever leave 
you with that ball of unfinished business. I think it's the task 
of preachers to so know or at least be inclined to a systematic 
theology that we are able to synthesize and make these things 
evident and obvious as they most certainly are. I would be in 
pain if somebody in our church thought, well, if I do enough 
good things, I'm gonna go to heaven. But I'd equally be in pain for 
those who think, well, I'm saved by grace through faith in Jesus, 
so I can just go lay down. I can just be passive, I don't 
have to do anything. Brother or sister comes to my 
house and they're hungry or they're destitute, I can just shut the door and 
say, be warm and be filled, because you know, it's not my words that 
gain me favor with God. It's a wrong way to approach 
it. Now notice, we're bringing this 
to a close. Notice the response of the righteous. Verses 37 to 
39, 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 take you in or naked and clothe 
you or, excuse me, or when did we see you sick or in prison 
and come to you? Notice that the righteous are 
surprised, aren't they? That they're surprised. I think they're surprised at 
least on two levels. In the first place, they're not 
doing their good works for reward. They don't carry around a little 
list in their back pocket, you know, as we husbands do sometimes. 
Honey, I did the dishes. Honey, I cut the grass, as if 
it doesn't count unless she understands that we did it. Maybe you guys 
don't, I got that problem. Hopefully I'm getting better 
as I get older, but this ledger system, Maybe my assets will, 
you know, bury my liabilities and she'll love me. No, it's 
not quite like that. But this desire to get credit, 
we're not dealing with a ledger here. We're not dealing with 
a mass of sheep that thought that by their works they were 
securing their way to heaven. They're shocked. When did we 
see you? It's another argument why the 
works salvation interpretation is wrong. Paul condemns works 
righteousness people for pride, doesn't he? What would proud 
sheep say? Of course we saw you, and of 
course we ministered to you, and of course we did everything 
we're supposed to do. That's the self-righteous speak. So 
at that level, they're surprised because they haven't done their 
works in order to be saved. Their works have been done as 
a response to their salvation. In other words, their works are 
a consequence of what God has done, that God in his grace moved 
them from the position of lost sheep to found sheep, the good 
works now necessarily flow. So they're surprised. As well, 
I suspect they're a bit surprised that Jesus identifies this way 
with the destitute. They're genuinely surprised. 
When did we see you naked? When did we see you sick? When 
did we see you in prison? They are surprised because the 
son of man who's going to come in his glory with all his holy 
angels and sit on the throne of his glory to judge all nations 
doesn't sound like one who can't get a sandwich, doesn't sound 
like one who can't get a cup of water. So when did we see 
you? Now notice Christ's response. 
This is most important that we understand this because I think 
our definition of the least of these my brethren goes a long 
way to our interpretation of the whole. Notice verse 40, and 
the king will answer and say to them, assuredly I say to you, 
in as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, 
you did it to me. Now there is a universal application 
of this passage and that typically fits the word salvation. Some 
interpret the least of these as the needy in general. Any 
person anywhere that is needy, any person anywhere that is sick, 
any person anywhere that is in prison, any person anywhere that 
is hungry or thirsty. That interpretation typically 
goes hand in hand with the idea that works are the pathway to 
salvation. But in Matthew's gospel, according 
to Matthew's usage, the persons that Jesus is referring to here 
are his disciples. You see, the overarching concern 
of Christ, with reference to that day of judgment, is how 
you respond to Christ. And according to Matthew's teaching, 
how you respond to Christ's people gives evidence of how you respond 
to him. Does everybody get that? Now, 
I'm not suggesting go out and be mean to non-Christian homeless. No, I'm not suggesting that we 
don't offer a cup of water or a shirt or a tie, or not a tie, 
but something to somebody who has need that's not a believer. By all means, what does Paul 
say in Galatians? Let us do good to all men, especially 
to the household of faith. You see, there is a primary requirement, 
brethren, in our good works that we look after our own. We may 
go out to Timbuktu and evangelize and, you know, be doctors and 
miss the people in our own midst that could use our doctoring. We might package up a bundle 
of goodies for some prisoner in a state penitentiary somewhere 
and send it and not realize that somebody in our church needs 
that box of goodies too. The theology that we find in 
Matthew indicates who these people are. Specifically, the disciples 
are called his brethren. Pastor Porter read Matthew 28, 
8 to 10. Christ identifies his disciples 
there as brethren. Notice in Matthew 12, verses 
48 to 50. This is an important thing to 
understand because it does hinge or it does at least affect the 
way we interpret the whole. Notice in Matthew 12, 48 to 50, 
he answered and said to the one who told him, who is my mother 
and who are my brothers? And he stretched out his hand 
toward his disciples and said, here are my mother and my brothers. 
Forever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and my 
sister and my mother. As well, though the language 
differs a little bit, in Matthew 25 he says, the least of these 
my brethren. Though the language, the least 
of these is not used and applied to disciples, little ones is. In Matthew chapter 18, very specifically. In Matthew 18.6, little ones, 
that's Christ's disciples, are not to be made to stumble. Verse 
10, they're not to be despised for it is the Father's will that 
these little ones should not perish in Matthew 18.14. And most telling is Matthew 10. The point of the passage is this. 
It's not, go out and hand out good things and you'll go to 
heaven for your good works. It ultimately hinges on what 
think ye of Christ. Very often the way you treat 
Christ's people is what you think of Christ. Not very often, that's 
the point. You see, Jesus identifies with 
his people such that when they hunger, he hungers, such that 
when they thirst, he thirsts, such that when they're naked, 
he's naked. You see this solidarity in the 
book of Acts as well. Remember on that road to Damascus 
when the Lord Jesus comes to Saul, the persecutor, and Saul 
says, who are you, Lord? And he says, I am Jesus, whom 
you persecute. You see, Christ's solidarity 
with his sheep. Notice in Matthew 10, 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 same idea is here. The nations are ultimately judged 
based on their reception of or rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and that is demonstrable in the way the nations respond to the 
Lord Jesus Christ's people. It is certainly demonstrable 
the way that the sheep in a local congregation look at the other 
sheep in that local congregation. In fact, Calvin makes this observation 
that is very penetrating. He says, we must be prodigiously 
sluggish if compassion be not drawn from our bowels by this 
statement, this verse 40, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least 
of these my brethren, you did it to me, that Christ is either 
neglected or honored in the person of those who need our assistance. Did you get that? Please internalize 
this. Christ is either neglected or 
honored in the person of those who need our assistance. So that's his judgment upon the 
righteous. There is a declaration concerning 
blessing. Come, you blessed of my father. 
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the world. 
There is that affirmation or that demonstration of those particular 
works that show the root of the matter is present. You see, brethren, 
that's Isaiah 58. That's Proverbs. That's Old Testament language 
to flesh out for us what good works look like. That's not exhaustive. You're not confined to those 
acts of charity. You don't say, well, that's not 
on the list, so I'm not gonna do it. I'll by all means do it. Notice there's no duty toward 
God here. Worship, prayer, sacrifice, adoration. He's telling us what genuine 
faith produces in the sheep. It produces a mindset where they 
feed other sheep. They give drink to other sheep. 
They clothe other sheep. They visit other sheep. They 
care for other sheep. That's just what sheep do. You 
boil it all down. What's a sheep do? He does what 
God saved him to do. He does it because God saved 
him. He doesn't do it because he thinks he's going to get saved. 
See, these works are not a condition of our salvation. They are the 
consequence of our salvation. And I think the passage is manifestly 
clear in that regard. Well, let's conclude by capitalizing 
just a few things that the passage does not teach. Doesn't teach 
salvation by works. Sheep and goats are already sheep 
and goats when they get to the judgment. The sheep are called 
blessed of my father. That means they are the recipients 
of God's favor. They are told to inherit the 
kingdom. We don't inherit or merit an 
inheritance. The sheep are given a kingdom 
that was prepared for you from the foundation of the world, 
just like they were elected from the foundation of the world, 
Ephesians 1.4. Just like the sorts of good works 
they walk in, in Ephesians 2.10. The good works are the evidence 
of saving faith. The good works are the evidence 
of saving faith. And so if this morning, as you 
survey your life, if you come to the point where you say, there's 
none of that in me, there is nothing, I could care less about 
other sheep, then believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you 
come to the point where you say, yeah, that's a pretty accurate 
description of me, do not pat yourself on the back, for we 
are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, 
which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 
Isn't it sick and sinful for us to try and take credit? You 
know, general rule of thumb in the world of life, of Christianity, 
whenever you do anything right, God gets the glory. Whenever 
you do anything wrong, you get the blame. Just keep that in 
mind and you'll be happy, well-adjusted human beings. God gets glory 
in your good, you get blame in your bad. It just is the great 
leveler, great equalizer. It just gives you that stability 
that you desperately need. You see, the passage does not 
teach salvation by works, but the passage most surely underscores 
that if you profess faith in Jesus Christ, if you confess 
the true religion, then your life will be consistent with 
it. We are to adorn the doctrine 
of our Savior, to put a Pauline spin on it or a Pauline interpretation. In Titus chapter 2, he just traces 
the whole argument. He says, for the grace of God 
that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that 
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, 
righteously and godly in the present age. looking for the 
blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus 
Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from 
every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people. 
What? Zealous for good works. See, 
the passage does not teach salvation by works, but the passage underscores 
that if you are saved, you will have good works. They'll be directed 
to your brothers and your sisters in the context of your local 
church. Certainly, you can do great things 
for those in Timbuktu. Certainly, you can give money, 
you can send cards, you can send care packages. But brethren, 
if you know there's a need in the context of the local sheep 
that you happen to herd with, It's really nice for you to try 
and alleviate their issues and their problems and their difficulties 
and their hardships, because this is the evidence that God's 
saving grace has been manifested in our lives, that we, by grace, 
have looked to Christ in faith. And that faith is not alone, 
but it results in, it produces, it yields, it has as consequent 
as our confession of faith says. It is not alone in the person 
justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces. And it is no dead faith, but 
it works by love." Well, if you have followed the argument this 
morning, then I would suggest that before you begin to conclude 
that I need to go out, buy things to give to others, you need to 
first look unto Jesus. You need to believe the gospel. 
The gospel isn't, I did these good things and therefore I'm 
going to enter into heaven. That's not good news because 
I can't do enough good things. The good news is that Christ 
has done it all. Christ has lived in obedience 
to the Father's law. Christ never deviated. Christ 
never wandered. Christ never, ever sinned. Christ was holy, harmless, and 
undefiled, separate from sinners. Not that he doesn't receive them, 
not that he doesn't eat with them, but that he doesn't participate 
with them in their sin. And that Christ went to the cross, 
and he took the place of sinners, and he bore the wrath and fury 
of God. the way of salvation, if it could 
be achieved by our handing out sandwiches, or our dispersing 
of water, or our giving of clothing, then in the language of Galatians 
chapter two, then Christ died in vain. If righteousness comes 
through the law, then Christ died in vain. There is no way 
that Matthew 25, 31 to 46 teaches salvation by works. It teaches 
that you must look to Christ in faith. Well, let us pray. 
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word and we thank 
you for this time that we can gather together. We just pray 
that you would cause us to reflect upon this day of judgment, cause 
us to reflect upon the reality that we will all stand before 
the Lord Jesus, that we will give an account of deeds done 
in the body, whether good or evil. I pray that you would cause 
these things to be applied by the Holy Spirit and be merciful 
and gracious and help us as the people of God to do those things 
that are consistent with such a glorious and a gracious salvation. Go with us now, we pray, through 
Christ our Lord. Amen.