I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the passage that I plan to preach
out of in the second service, which is Psalm 37, Psalm 37. Now, the reason I'm doing this,
my heart was drawn, I'm gonna actually preach, Lord willing,
this first service out of Matthew 25, but my heart was drawn to this passage of
scripture, Psalm 37, a few days ago, and it's a passage that
we've looked at before and we'd do well to look at again. Psalm
37, and like I said, I plan to preach out of this in second
service. Fret not thyself, because of evildoers. Neither be thou
envious against the workers of iniquity, for they soon shall
be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land
and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way
unto the Lord. Trust also in him, and he shall
bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy
righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Fret not thyself because
of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth
wicked devices to pass, cease from anger and forsake wrath,
fret not thyself in any wise to do evil, for evildoers shall
be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit
the earth. As I read those verses earlier,
I began to think scriptures, in that passage of scripture
three times, the Lord said, fret not thyself, fret not thyself,
fret not thyself. Don't be uneasy, don't be hot,
don't be angry, don't be mad, don't, don't. And as I began to think on that
passage, I began to contemplate The foundation of why. Why we don't fret. Why? Turn with me now to Matthew
25. Matthew 25. Matthew 25. I want to look for
a few minutes at verses 31 to 40. Matthew 25. This is a reason. This is a reason. Now, listen. We're living in
a world that's passing away. This life is a vapor. When did you graduate from high
school, Neil? Just a few years ago. It's just
right. I mean, just, you know. Yeah. I got my invitation to
go to my 50th college reunion, 50th, last year. This life, this
life is fleeting. It's almost over. Scripture declares in Matthew
25, verse 31, when the Son of Man shall come
in his glory, and all the holy angels with him. Then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered
all nations. And he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, the goats on his
left. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, come. Be blessed of my father. Inherit
the kingdom prepared for you, the foundation of the world. You know, I want us, while we
contemplate, don't fret. Don't fret. Don't fret over evildoers. Don't fret over what's going
on. The Lord is working all things after the counsel of his own
will. He ruleth in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And we're just gonna be here
in light of eternity for just another moment. It's almost over. Don't fret. Oh, these things
that would tear us all to pieces going on in this world, When, when the Son of Man, not
if, but when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, when He shall
come in His glory, when He returns, not as the man of sorrows, one
acquainted with grief and subject to the sufferings and submission
under his father's work as he did the first time. But when
he comes in the fullness of his glory, in the deity, in all the
perfections of his divine nature, that glory that was veiled, almost
without exception, everybody except I think about when he
was on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John stand
there. And he shone, the scripture says, brighter than the noonday
sun. For just a moment, just a glimpse. When he shall come, the scripture
declares in his glory and all the holy angels with him, When
all these holy angels, those angels that were kept from falling
in Satan's rebellion, those angels who are the ministering spirits
of those who are heirs of salvation, then shall he sit upon the throne
of his glory. Scripture says in verse 32, and
before him I want you to notice how many times shall is written
in these scriptures right here. Before him shall be gathered
all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd
divided his sheep from the goats. Nobody's gonna be absent. Everybody
sitting in this congregation right now gonna be here. Be there,
everybody in this community, everybody in Fairmont, Farmington. Everybody. Everybody that's ever
lived, everybody that's living right now, everybody that shall
be born, everybody's gonna be there. You know why they're gonna be
there? Turn to Matthew 13. Because they're gonna be gathered
Now, I understand that everybody's, you know, this world, I know
everybody's busy, I get it, I get it. Everybody's busy, everybody
got stuff, everybody got stuff to do, I know, I get it. But
there's coming a day when everybody is gonna be gathered. Matthew
13, verse 24 to 30. Another parable put he forth
unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man
which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his
enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But
when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder
came. said unto him, sir, didst not
thou sow good seed in thy field? From which then hath it tares?
And he said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servant said
unto them, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? And
he said, nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you root
up also the wheat with them. Let them grow together till the
harvest. And in the time of harvest, I
will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat unto
my barn. And just turn over, there's a
verse 37 of that same chapter. The Lord explained it. He answered
and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed is the son of man,
the field is the world. The good seed are the children
of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked
one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is
the end of the world. The reapers are the angels, and
therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, and so
shall it be in the end of the world. Go back in Matthew 25
and verse 32. Before him shall be gathered
all nations. Everybody's gonna be there. They're
gonna be gathered by the angels. The angels are gonna gather them
up, and the scripture says the Lord Verse 32, he shall separate
one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. Now all that know him in saving
grace, all those that vainly profess him, know him in a way
that they think because of their good works. All that's been made
wise into salvation and all that have no knowledge, no interest
in the gospel. They're all gonna be there. We're
all gonna stand, and the sheep are gonna be gathered, the scripture
declares unto life, and the tares are gonna be bundled, gonna be
cast out. And the great shepherd of the
sheep is gonna be the one that separates them, because he knows.
He knows. He said, I know my sheep. Matthew 25 verse 33, he shall
set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. He's
not going to divide people according to their material wealth, everything
that we've ever accumulated in this world. It's all going to
be burned up. Don't worry. We're not taking
it with us. It's not going to be because
of our political persuasion. This is going to be the difference
right here. What think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Those that were given unto the
Son in electing grace, those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ
bore their guilt in His own body and shed His blood in the putting
away of their sin, satisfying the law on their behalf. Those
who by the grace of God have cast themselves upon him for
mercy. Those who have been given faith
to believe him. Those that worship God in the
spirit. They rejoice in Christ Jesus
and have no confidence in their flesh. Those are going to be
on his right hand. But on the left, are going to
be all those left to themselves, left to do what they want to
do. You know why men and women have
no desire to come to the service? You know why they don't come?
They don't want to. They don't want to. They don't want to come. They're doing just fine. They're
doing well. They're left to themselves in
their own wicked, graceless, slothful, attitude. And then
verse 34 in Matthew 25, then shall the king say unto them
on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then shall the king say to those
on his right hand, you know what I noticed immediately, the son
of man, had come in His glory. And you know who the Son of Man
is? He's the King. The King is the Judge. We've all been told that the
Son of Man is coming back, but I'm telling you, the King is
the one that we're going to stand before. But now here we see the
King saying something to those on His right hand. Come. He's going to say two things
to this group. To those on the right hand, he's going to say
come. To those on the left, he's going to say depart. Depart. I want men, women, I want people
to hear. I want you to hear. It's like those four lepers here
we looked at a few weeks ago. Why will you perish? Why? Why
sit here and die? Why sit here and die? Now I understand,
unless the Spirit of God gives a man or woman a heart, they're
not gonna come. I know that, I know that. But
do you know that if you perish, you listen to me, do you know
that if you perish, you wanted to? You wanted to. Come, you blessed of my Father,
those that have been made before the foundation of the world to
be objects of His mercy. Those everlastingly loved in
Christ, blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus, those for whom Christ has died, those that the
Spirit of God's called out of darkness, removed that stony
heart and gave them a heart of flesh You who are heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ, those of you that's been kept
by the power of God. I've said this before. I got
here a little bit, almost, and that's been a little, almost
21 years. It was, before I knew it, it
was 20. And now here it is coming to the end of this year. I got
here in 03. Before you know it, it'll be
coming up on 21 years. And I'm looking at some people
that were sitting here when I got here. And by the grace of God,
you're still here. Those of us now are starting,
I said the other day, I'm seeing a whole lot more gray hair than
I did when I got here. But do you know, I'm looking
at people that, spiritually speaking especially, more beautiful now
than when I first got here. We've come to know each other,
love each other, These that God had knit together in the Lord
Jesus Christ and kept us. I got a text this morning from
Brother David Edmondson. Just a little quick back and
forth, pray the Lord bless him. He texted me back and told me
basically the same thing. I've known David a long time.
I told him, I said, David, I'm so thankful to the Lord that
we've been able to make this journey together. A lot of water
under the bridge, but by the grace of God, we're still here.
That's the way a believer is. God's people love God's people.
They love each other. They're blessed of the Lord.
They're blessed. Come, you're blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now I'm gonna read
just a few verses here and I'm gonna stop for this first message.
But the Lord said back in Matthew 25, when he told them in verse
34, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. And the next word in verse 35
is for, for. Now, I want you to notice carefully
what he's about to say, for what he's about to say is not the
cause of them being able to inherit the kingdom. The kingdom was
prepared for them before the foundation of the world, and
therefore nothing that they're going to do in time could possibly
be the reason for them being able to inherit. It was prepared
for them before the foundation of the world, before they were
ever born. So nothing that man does in time
is the cause of his salvation. What man does in time is the
effect of what God has done for him. The will and purpose of
Almighty God is the sole cause of man's salvation. Not our works,
not by works of righteousness that we've done, but according
to His mercy. He saved us. Men and women that think that
they have been converted because of what they've done. No. God's people are going to do
so. They are going to believe. You
must believe. Paul told the Philippian jailer
when he said, what must I do to be saved? He said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But I'm
telling you, belief is the gift of God. Faith is a gift of God.
Belief is the effect of what the Lord's done for us, not the
cause of it. Because if you think that you're
converted because you did something, then you believe in salvation
by works. No, sir. No, sir. Enter the kingdom prepared for
you, come inherit. For I was hungered and you gave
me meat. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. Naked, you clothed me. I was sick, you visited me. I
was in prison, you came unto me. Then shall the righteous
answer him saying, Lord, When saw we thee hungered, and hungered,
and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we
thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee?
When saw we thee sick, or in prison, came to thee, and the
king shall answer, and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me. Now, we don't discourage
anybody from just general kindness, compassion, to others. We don't do that. We don't discourage
people. But when our Lord was speaking to these people right
here, every point of the Lord's commendation of what His sheep
did, enter in, inherit the kingdom. For everything that He told them
was concerning the necessity of preaching the gospel. I'll
show you that just closing. It's going to be a short message
here, but very relevant. We don't know who the sheep are. I don't know who the sheep of
God are. And I have no earthly idea until the Lord makes it
apparent that maybe he has called out one. And even then, there
may be the appearance of life, but do you know how You know
one of God's own? According to the word of the
Lord, they that endure to the end shall be saved. There may be
the appearance of life there for a while. I told you what
Brother Henry said. Somebody asked him about Brother
Solomon. Do you think Brother Solomon's a believer? He said, well, ask
me in 20 years. I may have a little bit better
idea. I don't know. I don't know. God's people are
going to remain to the end because God's going to keep If they leave,
they were never of us. That's what the scripture says.
I didn't say it. Scripture said that. You inherit the kingdom
because I was hungry. And whenever God's people, preacher,
hear the gospel, here's what it is. He said, I was hungry,
I hungered, and you gave me meat. There is a meat that satisfies
the spiritually hungry soul. And that meat that he says, you
fed me, he's talking about the feeding of the blessed gospel
that proclaims the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, I was hungered and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and
you gave me drink. And when he says I, I, he's talking
about his people. That's what he's gonna say. He
said, when you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did
this to me. So whenever, when we proclaim the gospel, when
you pray, for God's preachers. When you pray for them, when
you encourage them, when you're here in attendance, I'm so thankful
to see God's people here. Well, you know, it just doesn't
really matter. We're all fitly joined together. There is a great need of us meeting
together, being together, worshiping together, where the body I want
my arm to show up with me wherever I am. Every time I go somewhere,
I'd like for it to be there. I just, you know. He said, I
was hungry and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. What drink soothes the thirst
of one made to know his need of life but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ? The meat, he said, I was hungry,
you gave me meat. I was thirsty, you gave me drink.
Listen to this, John 6, 55. The Lord said, my flesh is meat
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. Do you know what God's
people feast on? They feast on the broken body
and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's meat to
them. That's drink to them. concerning
the oneness of himself with his people. He said, I was hungry. He gave me meat. I was thirsty.
He gave me a drink. I was a stranger. Turn to Colossians 1. He said,
I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was a stranger. I was an alien. I was an outcast. Colossians 1, whenever again. If you want to know, about those
that are walking in obedience to the Lord's commands, those
that preach, support, love in the gospel. Colossians chapter
one, verse 21, 22. And you that were sometimes alienated,
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death. I present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. I was a stranger. But we preach the gospel and
we proclaim the Lord who has reconciled his people to the
Father. He says back in verse 36 of Matthew
25, naked and you clothe me. Those that are spiritually naked
before God. They need to hear. I know what
the scripture says concerning my righteousness. It's just filthy
rags. I know that. I know I'm not going
to satisfy God by my obedience because I've never been obedient.
Tell me about Him that clothes me in His righteousness and His
obedience and gives me faith to believe Him, trust Him, He
said, I was naked, you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited
me. I was in prison. Those that are sick, from the
crown of their head to the sole of their foot, putrefying sores. Sick with the presence of sin,
in prison, in bondage. to sin, to Satan. Tell me about
the strong man that enters into the house of one that is strong,
but the stronger defeats him and takes away that which was
captive and held in bondage. He said, this is the way it was.
He said, I was hungry, you gave me meat, I was thirsty, you gave
me drink, I was a stranger, you took me in naked, you clothed
me, sick, you visited me, I was in prison, you came to me. They
said, when? When did we do that? When did
we do that? That's what he told them. He
said, when you did it, to the least of these my brethren. And
again, I don't know who they are. What I want to do is I want
to go in all the world. I want to preach the gospel to
every creature. And I'm going to believe that Almighty God
is going to honor his word. And he's going to call out his
people. And I want to proclaim there's life in Christ. There's
feasting upon the broken body. There's drink upon the shed blood.
There's reconciliation before God. only in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ who's reconciled us. This clothing, this ointment
for our sickness, come unto me. All ye that are weak and heavy
laden, I will give you rest. Now, fret not, fret not, fret
not. All this gonna be over in just
a minute. I pray that the Lord bless you
to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. All right.