The Hole in Our Gospel – Are You Planning for God?? – Sermon

I have not preached to you like I will today – I’m nervous about that, but I’m convicted. But first, some details that I think are interesting and/or important in this text and in support of what Stearns is trying to get us to understand.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory” (Matthew 25:31) refers to Jesus’ return. We are in the Olivet Discourse, Jesus’ last real Sermon as such, and a good half of it is about Jesus’ parousia – coming again. When Jesus comes again, it will be very unlike his first coming in obscurity (a babe in a manager in a cave in Bethlehem) his second coming will be the most public event of all time. And for some, the most terrible event of all time Terrible you say, yep, terrible.

What Jesus teaches here, and as we affirm in the Apostles’ Creed, Jesus “shall come to judge.” Here Jesus depicts himself as a shepherd king, Marlee introduced that ideal to us last week, a shepherd king who like David has come to bless God’s people and to punish his enemies.  This is a difference you have to understand – Jesus the mighty conquering, all powerful king that the 1^st century Jews wanted to believe that their Messiah will be, finally, the Jesus that will come again. Yet, more than David, he has come to set all the nations right. The Olivet Discourse begins with the prophetic pronouncement of God’s coming judgment upon Israel (the fall of Jerusalem), and it ends with Jesus’s coming judgment upon every nation. Human beings won’t be judged before “the bar of history” but in the court of Jesus Christ.

Church, here is the very 1st thing I want you to know and never ever forget about this sermon from Jesus and the  parable about the glorious and powerful second coming of Christ. The picture here of Jesus is awesome! God alone is glorious and powerful, and yet here what do we see? Jesus will come “in his [own] glory” and “sit [a position of authority] on [God’s? no] his glorious throne” (v. 31). He possesses his own glory; he possesses his own glorious throne. And who will be with him? Some of the angels? No. “All the angels” (v. 31) And who will stand before him? The Jews? The Gentiles? Some of the people of the world? No. “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another [insert – “all the”?] people …” (v. 32). Do you see the picture? Jesus is the sole judge of the world, and absolutely every angel circles around him – Hear me now!!!! Absolutely every person stands before him. Talk about absolute glory and authority! Do I have to go on?

Well. I will, Jesus is then called not “a king” but “the King” (v. 34) – the divine King, and this “Son of Man” proceeds to judge the world based on people’s relationship to Him and His will.

Here’s the second thing I want you to see from Jesus’ sermon. Jesus’ judgment involves gathering and separating. Now there are two things in this to be aware of. The language of gathering has a hopeful sound to true believers. Those who have been true to Jesus, those who have been scattered throughout the world are now gathered “from the four winds” (24:31) for salvation. Their final salvation, however, comes by means of an “awful separation.” C. S. Lewis called it “the Great Divorce.”

Jesus separates people into two groups, the phrase “one from another” (v. 32) suggests the personal selection of every person from every nation. By personal I believe that we will all stand as individuals before the judgment seat. For Jesus to know who a sheep is and who is a goat requires not only a knowledge of human actions, but intimate knowledge of the motives of each person’s heart. That’s something that should impact each of us very, very deeply and very, very intimately.

Now, here’s why I believe Stearns, and rightly so, uses this passage to underscore his message. Jesus’ judgment is based on works – on what one did or didn’t do. This is not an unfamiliar theme in Jesus’ teaching. Earlier in Matthew 16:27 he said, “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.”

What works you might ask, good question!

Still others of you might ask – what about Paul’s teaching about salvation by grace and not works….again, good question!

The works implied here are works of love. In fact, Jesus mentions six basic physical and expected social areas of work that are illustrative, not exhaustive or comprehensive. Even Jesus himself didn’t act out all of these actions. He certainly fed the hungry and visited the sick. But we have no record of him welcoming a stranger into his home (he had no home per se in his adult ministry) or visiting the imprisoned. However, here we don’t ask the question, did Jesus do all six, and do I have to do all six? No, we affirm the statement, “Jesus would do all six and sixty thousand more, and you and I should go and do likewise.” These works of love are lowly, quite unspectacular, and seemingly nonreligious. Here Jesus doesn’t say, “The one who worked for Caesar and influenced important political decisions gains approval.” He doesn’t say, “The one who visited the sick man and healed him gains approval.” He doesn’t say, “The one who visited the imprisoned woman and freed her gains approval.” And he certainly doesn’t say, “The one who prayed or fasted or attended church or tithed or preached a great sermon on this parable gains approval.” In fact, there are no distinctly Jewish or Christian religious acts mentioned. Not even faith is mentioned.

Pay attention now – Here, only love is the measuring stick.

As Stearns points out over and over again, these lowly, unspectacular, seemingly nonreligious works of love are equally available to all, to offer to others. Unless there is a major physical or mental impairment –  all of us can feed the hungry, all of us can welcome the stranger, or visit the sick. The rich can; the poor can; the educated and uneducated can; men can; women can. It takes no special talent. It only takes willingness. It only takes a Spirit-filled heart.

So, here’s the really tough part – this is not an area that I yearn to preach to you – and most every week I do yearn to preach to you.

Those judged by Jesus meet opposite fates. The righteous “come” to Jesus, and the unrighteous “depart” from him; the righteous are “blessed” and the unrighteous “cursed” ; the righteous are granted “eternal life” and the unrighteous “eternal punishment” ; the righteous “inherit … the kingdom” (v. 34) and the unrighteous “eternal fire”.

Both types of people (there are only two types in the world according to this parable) have a place “prepared” for them (vv. 34, 41). How you need to read this is that these places are prepared by God. For the unrighteous, Hell has been “prepared for the devil and his angels” and those who act like them; for the righteous, the kingdom has been prepared for them (“for you”) “from the foundation of the world”. The phrase “foundation of the world” tells us that God had a grand plan in place either before he created everything or as a part of creation itself. God’s kingdom for God’s people was no afterthought. I’ve told you before, God planned for you! My 1^st question to you this morning might be the most important thing I can ask you:

God planned for you…. are you planning for God???

There is a fearsome finality to Jesus’ judgment. There are no second chances during the second coming. The too-late verdict of Matthew 25:11, 12 haunts me. Those who had time to make wise decisions for themselves about the course of their lives will at the final judgment have a final decision about their final fate “made for them” with the utmost finality.

You see, what I think will be shocking for so many on this day, is that both the righteous and the unrighteous are going to be surprised. Surprised because both are professing Christians. The truly righteous aren’t going to be surprised that they are saved, but they will be surprised that their little, seemingly insignificant actions to the little people to whom they gave little thought, turns out to be a big deal to Jesus. But at the very same time, those on the other side are surprised that their last-minute profession of faith is not enough and that their lack of little actions to the little people are also a big deal to Jesus.

Jesus speaks a great deal on the reality of Hell – Gehenna, he is quite pictorial. He gives us graphic pictures of punishment – here “eternal fire” (v. 41), in the passage before “outer darkness” (v. 30). So, is Hell literally fire or is it literally darkness? That’s the wrong question. Jesus is not giving a realistic proposition but is picturing a reality – a reality of which we’d just as well not have a realistic view. “ ‘Eternal fire’ may indeed be metaphorical, but it is a metaphor for the awful.” However, you chose to read this, however, picture the awful.

Jesus gives just enough of a visual to make us step back and catch our breath, As I find no real delight in this message this morning, Jesus finds no delight in the judgment of the wicked.

Wow, that was heavy….so, what do we do with this….

Our first application is that we should be thankful for Jesus’ clear teachings on the final judgment. We should be thankful because on that day finally the world will be set aright. What Eugene Peterson labels “the cleanest, least ambiguous moral writing that we have” So much like the story line of the Bible itself, no matter how confused we are or misled by various clues and characters, justice will prevail! When we think of all the evil and suffering and injustices in this world, we tend to ask God, “Why?” But the question more often posed by the people in the Bible is not “Why?” but “How long?” The final judgment is final justice, that day when God’s righteousness will finally “flow like a river “(Isaiah 48:18).

Also, we should be thankful for Jesus’ teachings on judgment because such teachings are intended to create a discomfort that will keep us pressing on. Remember, Jesus knows us. He knows that we all want to sit down and relax on the comfortable couch of Christian commitment, and so he has placed these pointed prophetic tacks in the cushions to keep us up and to keep us going.

Another added value to Jesus’ teaching on judgment is that it allows us to see the glory of God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness upon the black backdrop of sin and death… and Hell. One writer said it this way: “Our churches need the restoration of God’s judgment message for the sake of the message of God’s grace!” I agree. Our churches need the full gospel. And, the full Gospel is this: Rescue from wrath through faith in Jesus as Lord is what makes grace so amazing.

Our second application comes straight from the pen of the Apostle Paul. In Galatians 6:10 he writes, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” As followers of Jesus, this parable should motivate us to do good to everyone. We are to prepare for the parousia – that day when the King returns – by joyfully loving our neighbors, especially those in great need.

Thankfully, Christians have been, are now, and (Lord willing) will be on the front lines of every issue of social need and injustice. We couldn’t count the number of children adopted and sponsored and mouths fed and homes built because of Christians motivated to act based on Matthew 25:40. That one verse has benefited the world’s poor more than a million welfare initiatives! Tolstoy said, “Where love is, there is God also.” I say “Where love is, there the Church of Jesus is also.” The Red Cross, the YMCA, the Salvation Army, World Vision, Canadian Baptist Ministries – these are our compassionate response from Jesus last sermon.

If you didn’t come to this text as someone on fire for Jesus you’d best become one now.
Shout “Amen.”
Raise your hands in adoration.
All glory and honour and praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ!

All glory and honour and praise be to the One who now reigns in his heavenly glory, who was crushed for our iniquities but who now sits upon the throne,  
who was then entombed for our sins but who now reigns over the righteous in his eternal kingdom,
All glory and honour and praise be to the One who gave his own life for us. You see, the one who once was mocked as being “the King of Jews” is in fact the King of the Nations.

So, what will it be? Sheep or Goat? Remember, there’s no halfway with this….as Stearns says “God wants each of us to surrender our lives to Him completely, to follow Him, to obey His commands, and to show His love to others. But before we can demonstrate that love and offer the gospel to the rest of the world, we have to fill the hole in our own gospel.”

You must decide if you’ve not already….and if you have made that decision, then you must let others know the urgency of their need to decide.