See several of the faces that
have come in. A lot of our folk are out of town, but we're glad
that you're here. I'm glad I'm here. And we're met to worship. The Lord has given us this thought
in his precious word today, and I'm anxious to give it to you.
Maybe it won't be too long. Maybe it'll be a little while.
I don't know. But either way, that'll be all right. God's words when he speaks to
my heart excites me. And so I thank you for being
here to hear the preaching today. Amen. Matthew 25. And we're going to
pick up reading in verse 31. Matthew 25 and verse 31. Different type message today.
Subject you don't hear As much about as we should I believe
But if you'll stay with us trust, it'll be a blessing and a help
to you 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 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, but the goats on
the left. 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.
For I was in hungry and you gave me meat. 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 answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungry, and fed thee,
or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we
thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? Here is God's elect. who don't
even recognize His testimony concerning them as being them. Now, that's worth thinking about. 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. Then shall he say also unto them
on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was in
hunger, and ye gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me
no drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in. Naked, and
ye clothed me not. sick and in prison, and you visited
me not? Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or a thirst, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister
unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying,
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of the
least of these, you did it not to me. These shall go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Backing up to 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. There is a great contrast between what Christ speaks here
and the actual existing conditions when he speaks it. Within three
days of what he's saying here, within three days of this, he's
to be crucified in shame. And yet he looks beyond all that
shame and speaks of coming in his glory. Great contrast between
the shame of the present moment and the coming glory. Then he had with him here when
he speaks a little company of disciples, one of whom just a few hours
from now will betray him, another who will deny him three
times, and they all will forsake him. And yet he speaks of a following
most glorious. He's coming and all the holy
angels with him. He's looking beyond. Hebrews
said, who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the
cross, despising the shame, but he's looking to the accomplishment
of the work. Not only that, but he's about
to be brought into judgment as a criminal, as a blasphemer,
to appear before the courts, before Caiaphas, the high priest,
before all the chief priests and the elders, before Herod,
before Pontius Pilate, And yet instead of him speaking here
about being brought before a throne of judgment, he says he's coming,
and then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. He's looking
beyond. He's looking beyond. Now, in this verse, 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. Neither
here or anywhere else does the Bible say anything about a secret
coming of the Lord, or a secret rapture. Many have taken the
statement of 1 Thessalonians 5 too, that he cometh as a thief
in the night, and they've made his coming to be a secret thing.
But His coming as a thief in the night is in the sense that
His coming will be unexpected. In such an hour as you think
not, the Son of Man cometh. It's not any secret thing. Matter
of fact, Revelation 1, 7 says, Behold, He cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see Him. And they also which pierced Him
And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. So the coming of the Lord is
not a secret affair. It's not a private affair. All will know. And according
to this passage that we've read, all will be gathered before him. Verse 32, 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. He shall set the sheep on his
right hand, but the goats on the left. Every nation that ever
existed, every individual that ever existed, both born and unborn,
shall be assembled before the Lord. Not one from any nation
And not one from any generation shall be missing. All will be
gathered to stand in one assembly before the King in His glory. And none of the assembly shall
make any distinction in the assembly. We'll stand together. We'll stand
as all fallen sinful sons of Adam. I want to tell you what
an awesome and what a humbling time that will be when all humanity
stands before the Lord Jesus Christ in His glory. None will dare speak of national
distinction. None will dare speak of moral
distinction. None will dare speak of religious
distinction. None will dare to speak, period. Even fools will keep mouths shut
in that hour when we all stand before the Son in His glory. But there is a distinction to
be made, a separating of the untold billions of Adam's race. No man will help with the separating.
No angel will help with the separating. Verse 32 says, "...and He shall
separate them." The Lord Jesus Christ shall separate them one
from another and only He can do the separating. And may I
say He's not going to separate men as religious and unreligious,
as rich and poor, old and young, male and female, no. He's not
going to separate humanity into a thousand little cliques based
on our foolish scales of morality or religious excellence. He's
not going to separate based on denomination or anything else. The separation is into two groups
and two groups only, not a third, not a fourth, but only the two. The one is placed on his right
hand, the other on the left. How will he do it? What is the manner, the method?
Only he knows. Verse 32 says, he shall separate
them one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. A shepherd knows his sheep from
the goats. Now this separation comes by
the one shepherd. The only one qualified to do
so. The only one who really knows
his sheep. So here's all humanity, all the
human family, all the human race. of every generation. You say,
how's there going to be room for all that many people that
God's got forever ever were? There's room. Standing before
Christ, the King on His throne, all humanity of every age, every
generation, every time, every nation together before Him. Now, as this separation is made. We understand that all this crowd
are sinners. All this crowd are fallen children
of Adam, including Adam. He's going to be there. So it's not like all this crowd
is going to look like candidates for heaven. But since we're all Adam, it's
gonna look like all these are candidates for hell. You say you mean you'd talk about
my grandmother like that? And mine. We're talking about standing
before the sinless, holy Son of God in His glory. Now verse 33, he said, he shall
set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. The separation is made, and it's
made completely, and it's made perfectly. There will not be a single sheep
on the left hand. there on his right hand. And
there will not be a single goat on the right hand, there on his
left hand. Then, as we read in the text,
he'll speak separately to each group. First to the sheep, then
to the ghosts. Now notice the contrast in what
he speaks to each group. And I will tell you, these are
things you need to know. These are things we need to pay attention
to. Notice the contrast in verses
34 and verse 41. To the sheep, in verse 34, he
says, come. To the goats, in verse 41, he
says, depart. Big difference, big difference. Can I say the most precious word
in all the English language or in any language that the Son of God could ever
speak to a fallen child of Adam is the word come. He didn't have
to. And the saddest word The most
horrible word could ever be spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ to anyone
is the word depart. And yet when he comes, both these
words will be spoken, spoken with all clarity, directly addressed
to every individual who ever lived. And not one will protest
not one judgment will be overturned. When the Son of God speaks, and
speaks to you individually, whether He says come, or whether He says
depart, that's what it'll be, and that's what you'll do, and
that's what it'll be forever. Another contrast To the sheep
in verse 34, come ye blessed of my father. To the goats in verse 41, depart
from me ye cursed. The one group is blessed, the
other is cursed. This will be the most awesome
separation ever. It'll matter not then that you've
been blessed with a good family here. It'll matter not then that you've
been blessed with a good job here. It'll matter not then that
you've been blessed with good health here. It'll matter not
then that you've been blessed with good friends here. It'll
matter not then that you've been blessed with long life here. What'll matter then, and this
is all that'll matter, is will the Son of God say to you, come,
ye blessed of my Father, or will he say, depart from me, ye cursed? One or the other. And there's
another side to that thought. It'll matter not here that your
whole life has seemed to be cursed. And I talked to a lot of people
that would give me that impression that everything they've ever
done is wrong, everything that's ever happened to them has been
wrong, nothing good has ever happened to them in life. But I want to say to you, it'll
not matter then that your whole life has been seemingly cursed. The seeming curse of the broken
home you came from. The seeming curse of the career
you failed at. The seeming curse of those that
consistently mistreated you through the years. The seeming curse
of financial struggles along the way. The seeming curse of
broken health and sickness and pain through the years. None
of that will matter then. The seeming curse of wayward
children, of disputing and fighting siblings. The seeming curse of
loneliness, that nobody cares about you and you're all alone.
I want to tell you, none of that will matter then. All the seeming
curses of this life will be gone then. What will matter then,
more than anything has ever mattered, is will the Son of God say to
you as an individual, come, you blessed of my Father, or will
you say depart from me Another contrast, verse 34, to
the sheep, it's inherit the kingdom. In verse 41 to the goats, it's
depart into everlasting fire. The one will be glorious. The
other will be awful. The one will be shut in with
Christ. The other will be shut out from
Christ. Another contrast that we read
here, both these destinations are prepared. Look at the word prepared if
you have your Bible. Verse 34 and again in verse 41. To the sheep, in verse 34, the
kingdom prepared for you. from the foundation of the world.
Catch that little phrase, for you, for you, the sheep, for
you. It wasn't prepared for good people,
it was prepared for you. Wasn't prepared for deserving
people, it was prepared for you who are called by God's grace.
Wasn't prepared for whosoever will, for this religious world
to spit in God's face and say, no, I won't, but I'm glad to
know I always could if I will. No, it's not for whosoever will.
This is prepared for you. You, you who are the subjects
of God's grace from eternity. Prepared for you. Wasn't prepared
yesterday. prepared from the foundation
of the world. Before the Creator created the
world, He prepared a kingdom for you. And did He prepare it in vain? Could you miss it? Why, you did
miss it. But He didn't miss it. To the sheep he says, I've prepared
it for you. And now I bring it to you. All
hell couldn't stop me from bringing it to you. I've prepared it for
you. That's my savior. Now in verse
41, to the goats, I'm telling you folks, I'm enjoying this.
I can't help it if you are or are not, or is or ain't, or do's
or don't. To the sheep, he says, I prepared
it for you. Now in verse 41, to the goats,
also a place prepared. Prepared. And he calls it everlasting
fire. Prepared for the devil and his
angels. Now let me say something about
that. I've heard preachers say for many, many years, that hell wasn't prepared for
man. The Bible said it was prepared for the devil and his angels.
We just read that. But they're wrong. The word angels
here, it's important to study your Bible. The word angels here
is not angelic beings. But it's messengers. And it's
used in that sense throughout the New Testament. You remember
especially the seven letters over in the Revelation written
to the seven churches of Asia, Revelation two and three, each
one is addressed to the angel of the church of Ephesus, the
angel of the church of Philadelphia and Sardis and so on. The angel
referring to not angelic beings, not some guardian angel, but
it's given to the messengers or the pastors of those churches. And that word angel is used throughout
the New Testament like that as meaning messenger. So here in
our text, this everlasting fire is prepared for the devil and
his messengers. Whose messenger are you? I trust you're not the devil's
messenger. Because this everlasting fire is prepared for the devil
and his messengers. One other contrast, this separation is once for all, never reversible,
never changeable, it's forever. Verse 46, and these shall go away into everlasting
punishment. You need not listen to this crowd
that says hell's just for a little while. But the righteous into life. Eternal. Eternal. I will tell you words are important.
Look at it. Concerning the wicked, the punishment,
it's everlasting. The word everlasting means without
an end. Not necessarily without a beginning. It began when Adam fell and so
the human family into sin and shame and death and alienation
from God. It began then, but the punishment
for sin is everlasting. That's the ghost. But the sheep,
look at the last line, but the righteous into life eternal,
not everlasting, but eternal. And I said something everlasting,
has no end, but a beginning. But the righteous are into life
eternal. Eternal means without a beginning
or an ending. And so Christ's sheep have always
been his sheep. Eternal. Eternal. Now I come to a question. Why would any believer fear or dread this coming of
the Lord? The Son of Man shall come in
His glory. Why would any believer fear? You are a believer, aren't you?
Then why the fear? You say, well, I hate to admit
it, but it's because of how I've
lived my life. I've come way short of anything
a Christian ought to be. And I fear the judgment. I want you to look with me at
two verses about judgment. Romans 14 and 10 will be the
first verse. Romans 14 and 10. And if we could manage to read
out of the Bible instead of reading into it, if we could grasp what God said
versus what men have said. Revelation 14.10. Paul is dealing with some dissension
among brethren. And he said, But why dost thou
judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at naught
thy brother? Who gave us this right? For we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. It is not what I say about you
or what you say about me. It is not what I say to you as
to what I think of you or what you say to me as to what you
think of me. It is vain to judge one another. Paul says, why don't
you do it? What do you bother? Why dost
thou judge thy brother? Why dost thou set it not thy
brother? Why do you bother with all that? It is vain to judge
one another. It is what Christ says. He's
the judge. And in spite of what you or I
or anybody else says, He's going to set every single one of His
sheep on His right hand and say, come ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. And he's going to say to all else on his left,
depart from me into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels. Blessed or cursed, into my kingdom
or into everlasting life. It's his call. not yours. Now another scripture, 2 Corinthians
5 and verse 10. This is especially one we need
to see. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. I know a lot of you are saying,
that's what I'm scared of, because I've done bad. Well, I won't argue with you
on that. But the common understanding,
the common interpretation of this verse is a smack in the
face to the Son of God and His accomplished work of redemption. That He had justified us once and for all in the sight
of God forever. Do you understand that in Christ
you cannot be any more justified or any less justified than anybody
else in Christ? Now here's the key. The word
appear in this verse. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ. The Greek word for appear here
is used nine times in this same epistle, 2 Corinthians. And it is usually translated to make manifest or made manifest. Matter of fact, it's used twice
in the very next verse, verse 11. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto
God. It's the very same term as the
word appear in the previous verse. And I trust also are made manifest
in your consciences. There it is again. So the meaning of verse 10 is,
For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ
as to whether you're a sheep or a goat. It's the same as in
our text in Matthew 25. We must all be made manifest. Christ will declare plainly whether
you're a sheep or a goat. That everyone may receive, receive
what? Either eternal life or everlasting
punishment, just like he said. A tree is known by the fruit
it bears. The things done in the body,
what does that mean? Well, it don't mean every move
and every breath. Everybody knows that we all fail
and we all fall. But over the long haul, what
does your life demonstration of character declare you to be? A sheep or a goat? And that is the meaning of this
verse, that it will be made manifest in that hour. to which group
you belong, to the sheep or the goats. There is no warning, as nine
out of 10 preachers will preach, there is no warning of a measure
of condemnation and sin that you've yet to face. Christ paid
for it all, past, present, and future. You say, does that excuse
me for the way I live? No, it explains why you choose
to live that way. It identifies you. You say, but I still fear the
coming of the Lord because of all my failures, the times I
didn't do right and didn't want to do right. Even when I knew
to do right, I've got a lot to answer for.
Listen, if you're one of God's sheep, you may have to face the
consequences of it in this life, and we do. And most of us have
many regrets, and I firmly believe that most of us live most of
the time under the chastening hand of God to some degree. But the reason you fear the coming
of the Lord is unbelief. You don't believe that Jesus
Christ did what he said he did. You don't believe the gospel
as it is. I'm telling you, all this mess
we're in now will be over for his children when he comes. Oh,
say, but I'm glad. I'm glad. He's not coming to
give us a little hell before he gives us heaven. He's coming
to give us heaven. He settled it all. Now, you don't
have a problem believing one side of it, the negative. You believe Adam got us where
we are in this world. You didn't decide to be a sinner.
You're one by nature. You know that. Scripture says we came forth
from a mother's womb speaking lies. Some of us have practiced
it more than others. That's what we all are, sinners
by nature. Adam did that for us because we were in him from creation. We were in Adam in the garden.
We were in Adam when he ate of the forbidden fruit. We believe
that we're what we are by nature in this life. in Adam. That's true. But we don't believe we're what
we are in Christ, justified freely by His grace, accepted, approved,
forgiven, and without condemnation before God forever. We call God a liar when he said,
their sins and iniquities will I remember against them no more
forever. Unbelief of that is why you're
afraid of the Lord's coming. If I believe I was chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world, and that's what
Ephesians 1-4 says, and I believe