Take our Bibles and turn to Matthew
chapter 25. Matthew 25. And we will start our reading
at verse 31. We have in this chapter one of
the most amazing passages to be found almost anywhere in regard
to our Savior's remarks about those whom the Scriptures call
the sheep and the goats the children of God and the children of the
devil. And these are sobering thoughts,
and we ought to give them our careful attention. They are certainly
in regard to believers. I tell you, you can't read this
chapter and not say, well, the only way I can be worthy of any
of these blessings that are said to be mine forever and ever,
unless those blessings come to me by virtue of our Savior, the
Lord Jesus. His life, His living, His death,
all of this, everything in here having to do with the sheep,
comes freely from the hand of our precious Savior, the Lord
Jesus. So, I'm not used to getting in the
pulpit at ten after eleven, but I'll take it. Last time we went
down in the country to preach at Wells Chapel, which was 2006,
and I don't expect to be asked back, It was ten minutes to twelve
when I got in the pulpit. And if what had taken place previously
was any good, I wouldn't have any complaint. But they spent
the whole time on nothing but garbage. Just pure junk. You know, making people think
good about themselves and nothing about Christ. You could go there
a month of Sundays You could probably count on one finger
the number of times you heard the name Jesus Christ. And that
ain't the only place that's taking place like that either. But anyway,
I want us to carefully read, hear, and then I'm going to make
some remarks to try to summarize And I don't think I'm capable,
I know I'm not, but I'm going to try. So first of all, may
we pray. Lord, we come together into this
place this morning, thankful that we're still alive
and breathing, having received from Your hand
from the moment we left our mother's womb and even before that to
this present hour. Whether we know it or not, you
have kept us, you have blessed us beyond measure. Lord, what we need to know, are
we yours or are we not? "'Tis a point I long to know,
oft it causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I His or am I not?" Lord, if we can ask and answer that one
question, do I belong to you? Do we belong to you? Let us not leave this place this
morning in a doubtful state. Is Christ everything to me? Then
there is a good chance that I have the life of God in my soul. Is
Christ more important to me than anything else in this world?
Then maybe I have a saving interest in Him. But Lord, for the benefit of
these things, for blessing them to our heart and our soul, this is divine work. It is the
work of your blessed Spirit for whom we pray to come into our
midst. We beg of you as we read and
as we study and as we speak, Lord, that you would guide us Teach us. Save us. O save us, we pray. In Christ's
name, Amen. We begin at verse 31 in Matthew
chapter 25. Our Lord Jesus is speaking. 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. on the face of this earth, all
nations, all nations who have ever been, who may not be today. But this is a bringing together
of every member of the human race from Adam until the last
moment that the last person is brought into life in this world. Verse 32. And before him shall
be gathered all nations. He shall separate them one from
another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his
left." Now let me caution you, let me warn you, let me implore
you to carefully notice some things in the remaining verses
that we're about to read. It is truly amazing how believers
are described in this book of God. So our Lord turns in verse 34
to those on his right hand. Now, which one were they? The
sheep. The sheep. The saved. The children of God. All kinds
of statements in our Bibles that identify who this is. He shall say to the sheep on
his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, Inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is not a second thought
with God. This is not God rearranging His
plans because things went awry at Calvary's cross. My soul,
He meant for Christ to die on that cross. And if He doesn't
die, sinners cannot live before Him. There is such a thing as
an atonement, and you and I can't make it. We can sacrifice everything
we have, even our very lives, and God won't even so much as
notice it. But it is the death of His Son.
I tell you, this is where everything is. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. Now look how this
plays out. When he's talking to the sheep,
they suddenly can't remember anything that he's telling them
that they've done. But when he comes to the goats
and he tells them they've done none of these things, they can't
remember not ever having done them. And that's the difference
between life and death. That's the difference between
believers and unbelievers. Unbelievers believe they've done
God so many favors, He ought to be thankful to welcome them
into His heaven. I tell you, that ain't so. But
many people think it is so. We're born thinking it's so.
So he says in verse 35, some of these things I've got to put
in modern-day English. I was hungry. hungered. 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. Naked and you clothed me. I was
sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came
unto me. Then shall the righteous," oh,
there's another word now about Christ's sheep, Christ's church,
the righteous. And this ain't their own righteousness.
This is the imputed righteousness of Christ. Romans 10, 3, I believe,
or 4, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. Alright, verse 37 again. Then
shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see
You hungry? and fed you, or thirsty and gave
you drink? When did we see you a stranger
and took you in, or naked and clothed you? Or when did we see
you sick or in prison and come unto you? And the king shall
answer and say unto his sheep, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as you have done it unto one of the least of these who My brethren? The least of these
my brethren? These are Christ's people, scattered
all over this world. They're called by the Lord Jesus
himself, his brothers and sisters. Inasmuch as you have done it
unto the least of one of these, my brethren, you have done it
unto me." Now we go to the other side. This took care of the right
hand, now we take care of the left hand. Then shall he say
unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed! Now, he didn't say, depart from
me, you irreligious people. Hell is going to be full of plenty
of religious people. Our Bible has countless examples
and illustrations. You cannot possibly think that
because people say they are believers, that makes it so. Heavens no! We have the parable of the Pharisee and the publican
in the temple in Luke chapter 18. And just as soon as that
one is finished, we have another young man who is a rich young
ruler and he runs to Christ and falls on his knees in reverence
and says, Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
And when you talk about what must I do to inherit, That means,
what do I have to do to earn it? And our Lord has no room nor
tolerance for a person to think himself, because of who he is
and what he's done, what he has and so forth, that he's welcomed
into heaven. That ain't the case. And that
old boy went away sorrowful. When our Lord told him if he
wanted to be his disciple, go sell everything you have, give
it to the poor, and come be my disciple. He was real anxious
to begin with, but he left in a hurry at the end. Where was I? 41. Depart from me, you cursed, into
everlasting fire. prepared for the devil and his
angels. Hell was not made for man, but
it turns out man is made for hell if God doesn't stop it. If He doesn't cross our path
and give us what we'll never have unless He gives it to us. And that's eternal life. For I was hungry, and you didn't
give me any food. I was thirsty, and you didn't
give me any drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't
take me in. Naked, and you clothed me not.
Sick and imprisoned, and you visited me not." And then here's
the goats in their reply. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, When did we see you hungry or thirsty or estranged or naked
or sick or in prison and did not minister unto you? We can't
remember a single time of having slighted you. Then shall our Savior answer
them, saying, Verily, Amen, I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did
it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto life eternal." Now, if nothing
else in these verses, except verse 46, We cannot miss this important
truth. This is what occurs on judgment
day. When Christ sits on that great
white throne of judgment, the sheep on His right hand and the
goats on His left. Do you remember in Matthew 7
those people Claimed to know Christ and did so many things
for him and preached for him and fought evil for him and tried
to do away with abortions and marijuana and whatever else is
in our repertoire as a nation at this present time. And you
know what our Lord said? He said, Depart from me, you
workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Now, we have to know Him. But if He don't know me, I ain't
never going to know Him. When we were born, now this might
stick in your craw a little bit. When we were born, We were already
sheep or goat, though you couldn't tell the difference. Now you say, well, preacher,
that's too harsh. That's what this book teaches.
That's what this passage teaches. You've got a problem with God,
not with me. But I don't mind problems if
you want to have a problem with me. I just know. I know this. From brutal experience, I know
it. I've been kicked out of enough
Baptist churches to learn this lesson. They don't want to know
what this book says. They want the preacher to tell
them what they already think they know. And when you do anything
else, you just as well start packing your bags. Unto the goats you shall go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."
I tried to find out who wrote these words, just a couple of
little stanzas that I don't even know where I picked it up, but
I have a Spurgeon hymn book, I have a Joseph Hart, hymnal,
way back in the 1700s, 1800s. And I have, what's that other
character's name? Another pretty good sizable hymn
book, way back hundreds of years ago. And I couldn't find it in
them, so I got this from someplace else. Here it is. What it means
to be blessed. We choose our God, and part of
this is trying to deceive you a little bit, and I'm trying
to do that, so that you'll recognize where you are, and I'll recognize
where I am. We choose our God, and then we're
blessed. And in his courts we dwell, though
here we find perpetual rest, and of his goodness tell. But
here's the question, same question Newton was asking us a bit ago
in our bulletin hymn. But how came we, the Lord, to
choose? What happened to me that I actually
gladly choose God? Who are for sin accursed? This mystery we'll soon disclose. And here's the only reason. If
you love Christ, here's the only reason. Because God loved me
first. First. You can find this written
specifically to this end in 1 John 4, verse 19. We love Him because
He first Loved us is what you'll find
in that passage in 1 John 4. Now let's get down to, I don't
know what you call the rest of this, just trying to tie some
loose ends up. And some people might call it
preaching and others might call it something else. Let's go back
through this, not every verse, just a few of the things that
are here. So who are these persons that
are said to be blessed of the Father? And what is the blessing of men
compared to the blessing of God? You remember the statement that
we were just singing earlier, God is not a man that He should
lie, neither the Son of Man that He should repent. Has He said and shall He not
do it? Or has He spoken and shall He
not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment
to bless, and He has blessed. Now this is that false prophet. that King Balak was trying to
give enough money to, to pronounce a curse on Israel, and every
time he went to a different mountaintop to look at the Israelites' camp
down below, he couldn't pronounce a curse, but only a blessing. He said, behold, I've received
commandment. This is a false prophet that
God would not let curse Israel. Was there no sin in Israel? Oh,
come on, you know better than that. And so do I. And He has blessed, and I cannot
reverse it. And we can say the same thing.
If God has blessed me, neither I myself nor anyone else can
change it. Because whatever God does, It's
how long, Edward? It shall be forever. Ecclesiastes
3.14. He's blessed and I cannot reverse
it. Why is it like that? Because
God made it that way. But here's what we sung. The reason is that God is not
a man that he should lie, neither a son of man that he should repent.
And yet there are plenty of places in the Old Testament that describe
God as repenting. But it doesn't mean what we think
it means. It means that God sometimes does
things that look like a character trait of a human being, such
as changing our minds, such as repentance. But it is often put
into such language in order to make it through this hard skull
of ours that the God of the Bible does not change. Not ever. And I'm talking about
the eternity to come and everything that takes place between here
and there. Second question. What is it to
be blessed of God? Hey, there ain't no reason for
y'all not to turn right this morning. How about Ephesians
chapter 1? Now, if you ain't discovered Ephesians
1, you ain't read your Bible yet. What is it to be blessed of God
the Father? Ephesians 1, verses 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us. Who's us? You remember us, his story? It
don't belong to everybody. This is Paul and the persons
to whom this letter is addressed. It's talking about believers
who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places
in Christ. According as He has chosen us,
if God is blessing us, He has first chosen us In Christ, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy, H-O-L-Y, and without
blame before Him in love. Now how on earth can we be made holy and that
holiness is unbroken? It lasts forever. Let me go a little step further
in verse 5. Having God, having predestinated. Boy, the average religious person
hates that word. But I want you to know it's in
this book, and it's in there for a reason. Having predestinated us unto Christ, by Jesus Christ. I'm not reading it right. "...having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ,
according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of
the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the
Beloved." And that's the first period since way back before
we started reading. The end of verse 2 has a period,
and the end of verse 6 is the next period. Alright, here's
another question. This blessing that God has pronounced
in Matthew 25 in regard to His sheep. They are redeemed. If one of them is, they all are. They are redeemed from the curse
of the law. Moses' law, God's law, the Ten
Commandments, and any other commandment you want to scratch up, conforms
to this very statement, this exact statement. We are redeemed
from the curse of the law. Let's see, in Acts 13.39, we're
going to find that we're justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. I mean, now there's plenty of
people worshiping God right at this hour who think they keep
the Ten Commandments and they ain't bashful about telling you
so. Do you know why such mess is
that? Has taken over religion in America? Because of the preaching they've
listened to. Somebody has left something out,
I mean some important stuff, such as who is God and who am
I and who is the Lord Jesus Christ and what does it mean to be saved. Justified from all things from
which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Thirdly,
this blessing of God the Father says that God called them by
His grace, and that He feeds them on the bread of life. So no wonder the Lord Jesus,
in our reading, says to His sheep, Come, you blessed of my Father. Matthew chapter 11. Let's just
turn to this one, I don't mind. I'm already in Matthew, and you
might have been. Last part of chapter 11. If I could, I'll start at verse
25 in Matthew 11. The previous verses have reference
to some places in Israel that were
noted for the Jewish religion, such as Chorazin in verse 21
and Bethsaida. Tyre and Sidon are mentioned
in verse 21 as well, and then we learn in verse 22 that it
will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of Judgment
than for you. Because Tyre and Sidon never
heard of Christ, have no opinion about Him, or anything. But these other persons in these
Jewish cities, Or hell-bent on putting Christ to death, and
they do. Only because God decides forever and ever ago that He
would use them to that end, since they were so interested in seeing
His demise. Then He comes in verse 23 to
Capernaum, which is where He made His headquarters once He
began His public life. "...which are exalted unto heaven
shall be brought down to hell, For if the mighty works which
have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment
than for you." Now watch carefully. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. What
is he thanking him for? Because you've hidden these things
from the wise and prudent, and you have revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in your sight. And if it seems good in his sight,
that's what he's going to do. Verse 27, All things are delivered
unto me of my Father, and no man knows the Son but the Father,
neither knows any man the Father except the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him. And then these words, 28, 29,
and 30, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Now this is rest of soul. This is rest from sin and condemnation. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light." So no wonder the invitation in
Matthew 25 is, come, you blessed of my Father. Now we come into third place,
having to do with, I don't know why I use such a hard word, it's
an induction. But you know what it is to be
inducted into who's who in America. You know, you've got your name
in there, I'm sure, all of you. And no telling what all else,
you know. So we know the word induction. We may not use it every day,
but we still pretty much know what it is. And we're glad we
do. Come, you blessed of my Father. And from that, we go to the induction,
that is, the actual inheriting of a new world. And every word is filled with
meaning. What are we inducted into? The
possession of a kingdom. It's God's kingdom. And Christ
rules and reigns in that kingdom. He admits and He refuses, as
is plainly borne out in Matthew chapter 25. So the possession
itself is a kingdom. But there's a qualification for
those who are to enter therein. It says, prepared for you. And
surely we must know who the you are. Let me see, I'm supposed
to have Well, I didn't write that down,
I'm sorry. I'm going to read it for you
then, John chapter 14. Well, I haven't found it, it's
right here in front of my eye and I just can't see. And I actually
washed my glasses this morning, carefully. John 14, verses 2
and 3. So if you'll turn, I'll wait
for you. Verses 14, the second and third
verses. In my Father's house are many
mansions, if it were not so. I would have kept that out of
your sight." No. If it were not so, he said, I
would have told you. And if you'll trace our Lord's
journey through the four Gospels, you'll have more people than
you can keep up with that He actually exposed them to be against
Him instead of for Him, even when they pretended to be His
followers. Take Judas for example. Scripture says that when he went
out and hung himself, that he went to his own place. And that
ain't glory. That's hell. And he didn't seem to have any
loss of time getting there. Alright, let me read you these
words. In my Father's house, are many mansions. If it were
not so, I would have told you." This ought to be a comfort to
us that the Lord Jesus tells us that he came into this world,
took on human flesh, lived to be thirty-some years
old, And during that time that we have of him in his public
life and ministry, he never tried to cover up false religion, but
brought it out into the open. He said, if it isn't so, I would
have told you. There's plenty of people that
tell you, but they don't tell you what they're leaving out.
But the Lord Jesus cannot be charged with such stupidity as
that. It has to do then with His ascension,
with His death, with His obedience, with His incarnation, with His
grace as well as His providence. And then we read in this statement,
the time when. When is that time? And it is
said to be before the foundation of the world. before the foundation
of the world. One more subject has to do with
the enjoyment of these things. Are they mine? Do they belong
to me? Am I one of his sheep? Or do I just think so? I don't know why that thought
came to mind, but how about turning to Romans? I'll get back to this
in just a second. In fact, this has a lot to do
with what I was wanting to say. I have a little booklet at the
house we have reprinted by A.W. Pink, and it's called The Christian
in Romans 7. Because most of today's professing
Christianity cannot bear the thought that when Paul said some
things about himself in Romans 7, that he's talking about himself
now as a believer. Some 20 years since Christ met
him on the road to Damascus. But they have to butcher the
Bible just a bit in order to make it say that. Let me show
you where that is. Verses 24 and 25. And there are
plenty of others that we could go back to in this chapter. Oh
wretched man that I was! Oh no! That I am! According to the chronology that
I have in my Bible, Paul wrote this letter to the Romans somewhere
around A.D. 60. 60 A.D., which would put it twenty-some
years from the time that our Lord met him on the road to Damascus.
Well, let me just quit chasing it around and ask you straightforward. Can you say this about yourself?
Can I say this about myself? And I tell you, if I can't or
you can't, we ain't never met God in Christ. Some people think they have to
put on makeup and perfume in order to come to Christ, you
know, so they'll look better and smell better. I don't know
why the Bible says everywhere Christ came to save sinners,
to save the ungodly, to save the lost. So this statement now, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death,
is the answer. I thank God through Jesus Christ
my Lord. So then, with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, and with the flesh the law of sin. And we'll carry these two natures
in us until we go to the grave, for Christ returns first. So the enjoyment of this wonderful,
glorious Redeemer and his sheep. Now we sow in tears, then we
reap in joy. Now we run the race, then we
obtain the prize. Now we fight the good fight of
faith, then we lay hold on eternal life. And I'll read you this statement
out of 2 Corinthians. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, I mean compared to eternity, but for a moment, works in us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal or temporary, but the things which
are not seen are eternal, eternal. That's what we've been reading
in Matthew chapter 25. May the Lord help us. What wonderful
and what awful words indeed. And in untold numbers of other
places, it is the same.