"He Will Judge" Sermon: Matthew 25:31-46

"He Will Judge"
[Matthew 25:31-46]
December 30, 2007 Second Reformed Church

We've come to the end of another year. Has anything changed? We celebrated Christmas last week -- we rejoiced in remembering the birth of our God and Savior in history. This week I received my first Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day catalogs. Surely, the Easter catalogs will arrive next week.

And let us not think it's just the commercial world -- we in the church can get into a rut of doing the same thing every year, skating from holiday to event to holiday. And remembering is a good and biblical thing to do. But in reality, we don't move in circles, we move in a straight line, and we live, not merely on the surface, I hope, but there is depth and depths to be explored with and for each of us.

Last week, we considered the Baby Who came quietly, in mystery. "What Child Is This?" We thought about God Who lived among us and was not known by His own. And after He had lived among us, He was crucified, died, rose on the third day, and ascended back to His Throne, from whence He governs all things.

Today, we look at one point about His Return -- His Second Coming -- and we have mentioned this in the past few weeks as well -- Jesus is coming back again. And when He does, it will not be quiet, it will not be secret, no one will be confused as to Who He is. Jesus said, "Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:30-31). And we read this morning, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne."

When Jesus returns, it will be with a shout, with trumpets blaring, He will have His whole retinue of angels with Him, thousands upon thousands, and He will descend on the clouds, on His Throne, blazing with glory, and everyone, all over the earth will recognize Him. And every person who has ever existed will be gathered before Him, and Jesus will judge.

And when Jesus judges, there will only be two, eternal outcomes: Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will separate the people of the earth, as sheep from goats, and to the sheep, He will say, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the world." And to the goats, He will say, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

Notice, Jesus says that the sheep, the elect of God, are blessed by His Father. Why are the sheep blessed? Why are you and I blessed if we are Christians -- if we believe in Jesus Alone for our Salvation? Jesus said, "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I come from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those who you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them" (John 17:6-10).

The sheep are blessed because God chose us to be His people and gave us to Jesus, and we have received Jesus and His Word -- His Salvation. The sheep are not blessed because we have done something, but because God chose us and made us willing and able to receive the Gift of the Salvation in Jesus.

And the sheep are given the inheritance of the kingdom -- the new earth and the new Jerusalem that appear at the restoration of all things. And this kingdom God has been preparing for the sheep from the Creation. What will the kingdom be like? Consider this: God created everything that is in six days, yet God has prepared the kingdom for over six thousand years. That's why Paul could confess "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. For his sake I have suffered loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:7-8).

Jesus says the goats, on the other hand, are cursed. Why? Paul explains, "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by the things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.' Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for 'the righteous shall live by faith.' But the law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does them shall live by them.' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us -- for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree' -- " (Galatians 3:10-13). In other words, if you think you can be right with God by keeping His Law, by doing good works, by being "good enough" -- you're cursed -- because no one -- no mere human being -- can keep all of God's Law; it's impossible. The Law was given to us to show us that we cannot keep it, that we need a Savior. And if we choose not to receive Jesus and His Salvation, we are doomed under the curse of the Law.

And those who are cursed -- the goats -- will suffer for all of eternity in fire. And in order for fire to make you suffer, you must have a physical body -- this is another place where we see that our physical bodies will be raised to live eternally, like Jesus. But the goats will suffer physical, as well as all other types of torment, in the fire for all of eternity. And it is all the more pitiful to hear Jesus say that Hell was designed for the devil and his angels, not humans.

And someone will object to all of this and say, "But wait a minute -- the text specifically says that the sheep and the goats are separated by whether or not they have done certain acts -- whether they have fed and clothed the poor, welcomed the stranger, and visited the sick and the imprisoned. Jesus is saying that our eternal destiny is based on what we do or do not do. Our salvation is based on our works."

But that can't be what Jesus means, can it? Paul wrote, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should do them" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Paul says, and we see again and again in the Scripture, that our salvation is a Gift of God, God's Work, we add nothing to our salvation, we can add nothing to our salvation. Yes, works must follow our salvation to prove that it is true, as James wrote, "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother of sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:14-17).

So, what is Jesus saying? Are we judged based on our works? Is our eternal Salvation based on our works? The problem in considering Jesus' Words is that we have only been considering the works of the sheep and the works of the goats. The problem we run into in reading this text is merely considering the works of the sheep and the works of the goats. The solution is found in understanding that the sheep don't only have their works. Paul wrote, "For [Christ's] sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, that righteousness from God that depends on faith --" (Philippians 3:8b-9).

Understand, when we all stand before the Throne of Christ, the measure of God's Law will be held up against us -- and if we stand before Jesus merely with our works, we are cursed -- but if we have been chosen by God, if we have been saved by Jesus, then we have had Jesus' Righteousness -- His perfect keeping of the Law -- credited to our accounts -- so when Jesus holds the measure of God's Law against the sheep, He sees that -- in Him, through His Salvation, by His crediting His Righteousness to us -- we have perfectly fulfilled all of the Law. Does that make sense?

Look, if I were to stand before Jesus on the Day of Judgment and rely solely on my own good works, on my declaration that I have been "good enough" -- Jesus would hold the measure of God's Law up to me and say, "Not hardly, depart from me, you cursed." But, on that day, I will not confess my own righteousness -- my own good works -- since I have been saved by Jesus and credited with His Perfect Keeping of the Law -- the measure will be held up to Jesus Himself, and I will be welcomed as blessed by the Father -- for Jesus' Sake. Jesus took my place in receiving God's Wrath for my sin and Jesus took my place in keeping God's Law perfectly, crediting that perfection to my account, so, through Him, I can stand righteous on the Day of Judgment.

And some object, "If Jesus took God's Wrath upon Himself and kept God's Law perfectly, so He takes away our sin and credits us with His Righteousness, why should I bother to keep the Law? Can't I just do what I want?"

No. If we have truly believed in Jesus Alone for our Salvation, He has good works planned for us from the foundation of the world and we are to do them -- not for Salvation, but as a response to it.

So what shall we do? Let's begin today -- this new year -- with the categories that Jesus uses in talking about the final judgment. And let us start in the Church -- as Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me." We are One Body and Christ is our Head, so, as we do good for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we do it for Him, as well.

First, let us grow deeper in our faith and understanding -- in our belief in Christ. Let us learn from God's Word and each other. Let us come to worship and Bible Study and gather in small groups to study God's Word in each others homes. If you love Christ, if you are a Christian, you will read you Bible and be in study with your fellow Christians. It's good and right to read on your own, but it is also necessary to interact with other Christians. There is no Salvation outside of the Church. There is no Salvation outside of the Body of Christ. If you need help, see me. But let our priority be to grow deeper in our faith and understanding -- in our belief in Christ -- and in helping our fellow Christians to do the same.

Second, let us love each other. We will not always like each other. We will not always agree with each other. But in the Name of Jesus Christ and for the sake of the Gospel, we must love each other -- we must do everything we can to make each other's lives better, and refrain from doing those things that hurt. It won't always be easy -- there is a devilish delight in pulling others down, but we must stop. We can discuss; we can lovingly guide, admonish, and chide. But we must love each other.

And third, let us willingly practice self-denial -- to show contempt for the world -- for the cause of Christ and His people. What does that look like? Let us not hoard and amass the treasures of the world, but share some out of all the blessings God has given us with His Church and those in need. Let us say "no" to that T.V. show, that event, or that sin that would keep us from doing the good works that God has set before us. If God was willing to be slaughtered by human hands, perhaps we can miss our favorite show to visit someone who is sick or to attend a Bible study.

Will this year be any different? Will we be seen as the sheep of the Good Shepherd, now and on that final day? In response to Jesus' Salvation, we must now live for Him. After all, there are only 361 shopping days until Christmas.

Let us pray:
Good Shepherd, we rejoice and look forward to that final day when you come in glory as Judge. We thank You that You have not only taken our sin upon Yourself, but You have credited us with Your Holy Life so we can stand and be received as the blessed by the Father. Cause us to learn and love and live according to the good works You have set before us, and especially for our brothers and sisters in Christ. For it is in Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.