Don't ever let me forget this. But if you'd turn to Matthew
chapter 25, Matthew chapter 25, may I express on behalf of all
of us who visit our appreciation to this church and those who
have assisted you in this conference, it is a mammoth undertaking to
say the least. We are certainly pleased to be
here, and I wish somebody were standing here besides me, but
I guess it's my turn. So, Matthew chapter 25. We're
going to start our reading in verse 31. And read through verse 46, you'll find words nowhere else
of such magnitude, such delight, and yet some of the most awful
words. found any place in our Bible. The title of this little reading, I'll call it,
maybe it'll turn out to be a sermon, I doubt it, but I want to call
it simply this, Come You Blessed or Depart You Cursed. Somebody must have slipped something
in my food this morning. I'm not supposed to be like this,
so bear with me a little bit. It'll get the crick out in a
minute, Clay. Where'd he go? Verse 31, Matthew 25. When the
Son of Man, notice not the Son of God. the Son of Man. As the Son of Man, he is without
father. But as the Son of God, he is
without mother. But here it is talking about
our Savior wearing human flesh. When this world is no more, this
event brings it to a screeching halt, when the Son of Man shall
come in his glory at his second coming. And I do not wish to
be more specific than that. It matters not to me what your
views are about the second coming, when it's going to be, and what's
got to take place in front of it and all of that. Here's the
gist of it right here. When the Son of Man shall come
in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, not all the
angels, 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 divides his sheep from the goats. How's he going to do that? I
don't have a clue and I don't care. He speaks and it's done. 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, you blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the And the strangest turn of events
begins with the very next statement. Because I was hungry and you
gave me meat. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you took me
in. naked and you clothed me, sick
and you visited me, I was in prison and you came unto me.
Now this is, I'm talking about the sheep now, don't misunderstand
this. Look what they said. One and
all. I almost can say there cannot
be an exception. Matter of fact, I have to say
it. Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give 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 them, Verily, amen, I say unto you. inasmuch
as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren. And the comma is not before my
brethren, but after. You have done it unto me. Unto me. Now we take up the awful and
terrible side of this matter. Now listen carefully. If what we've read about the
blessed is true, and it is, what we're about to read about
the cursed is true. And you and me, we're one or
the other. There is no other group. This whole world and all its
inhabitants from the beginning of time to the end of time are
divided into sheep and goats, the blessed and the cursed. There is no other alternative. It behooves us to pay careful
attention to these words. Verse 41, Then shall he say unto
them, also unto them on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels." Every unbeliever, like the devil
himself, is a rebel against God. In all of the Lord's children, we
begin our life in this world in that same rebellion. And it is only the miraculous,
irresistible, all-powerful grace of God that can change me from
a rebel to a believer. How strange again, following
the same track as before, slightly abbreviated. But here we read
in regard to the curse, beginning at verse 42. Now you won't mind if I make this
when I was hungry. I'd just like to put it where
you can understand it better. I was hungry. You gave me no meat. I was thirsty. You gave me no drink. I was a
stranger, you took me not in. Naked and you clothed me not. Sick and imprisoned and you visited
me not. Now do you remember what the
sheep said? Lord, when did we do this? These people say, when
did we not do this? Now that ought to help us understand
which group we're in. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison? When did we not
minister unto you? We can't remember a time. when
we didn't serve you. Then shall he answer them, saying,
Amen I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of the
least of these, you did it not to me." Now the closing statement encompassing
the whole passage. And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." Everlasting punishment, life
eternal. Now you can ask your pastor here,
and he can tell you if this is so, and I read somewhere The
word everlasting and the word eternal are precisely and exactly
the same words in the Greek. Both last forever. Both are eternal. If one is, the other must be
as well. Brother Fortner didn't say so,
but he might not pull this trapdoor
if I have to go to twelve, but I'll try to finish before then.
But I need you to look at some scriptures. What is the issue
here that separates the sheep and the goats? One group is said
to have served the Lord Jesus Christ. They seem to be not conscious
of it. It doesn't seem to be on their
minds or on their hearts. But he said they all served him. We conclude then that they must.
Believers do love Christ and they do serve him. But we count ourselves at best
unprofitable servants. But the goats, they cannot recall a time in
their lives that they haven't served God faithfully. All right, let's take the blessed.
looking strictly at verse 34. 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. Now let's see what this book
says about the believer. and their works. First text that I'd ask you to
turn to is the book of Psalms, reading one statement out of
the second psalm, and if I can remember it, I'll quote you the
one out of another psalm. The last verse of Psalm 2. While you're finding it, I will
remind you that the gist of Psalm 1 is describing the blessed man,
and that man is nobody except the Lord Jesus Christ, and we
are blessed by virtue of being in him. This blessed statement
in verse 34 of Matthew 25 is true of the sheep by virtue
of their all being in Christ. Now, in this mixed up world about
works, it is for the most part completely 180 degrees opposite
from the truth. But it is difficult for us at
times to conceive that there aren't some things that we must
bring to the table. But to tell you the truth, there
is nothing that we bring to the table. But if there is one thing
of all which more people believe than any other thing put together,
it is the matter of faith. Faith. So let's let faith be
representative of these works that the believers are said to
have done to our Lord Jesus Christ. So we have a statement in Psalm
2 and verse 12, kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish
from the way. And that's pretty close kin to
what we've just read in Matthew 25. If we've kissed the son,
what all that entails. kiss the son lest he be angry,
and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little."
And then this statement, blessed are all they that put their trust
in him. Blessed. What did it say in Matthew
25, 34? Come, you blessed. You blessed. Down our way, people just run
the Word into the ground, have a blessed this, that, or the
other, as if we could communicate to someone else a state of blessedness,
and we have no such capability or power whatsoever. There is
only one way by which you and I can be blessed, and that is
to be in the blessed one, our precious Savior. Blessed are
all they that put their trust. in him. Somebody used the verse
last night, I think, Psalm 65, verse 4, blessed. See, I knew
I was going to forget it. I just had it on the tip of my
tongue. Psalm 65, verse 4, when you get as old as me, you'll
start forgetting a few things too. I hope you don't. Blessed is the man. whom God
chooses. Oh yes, we choose him, but we
choose him why? Because he first chose me. This choice was made in eternity
past. Blessed is the man whom God chooses
and causes to approach unto himself. What a statement. What a statement
indeed. Now let's get things a little
closer at hand. If you'd turn back to the New
Testament again, to the Gospel of John, chapter 6. I've been
in trouble because of what I'm about to say to you, and I don't
know what will take place today. We'll find out. We may not ever
find out. It doesn't matter. John chapter 6. John 6 begins with the feeding
of the 5,000. And immediately upon the conclusion
of that, in verse 15, some of the beneficiaries of that miracle
of the feeding of the 5,000 have a purpose in mind concerning
themselves and Christ. And verse 15 says, when Jesus
therefore perceived that they would come, I've got to read this real slow, come
and take him by force. To make him a king, he departed
again into a mountain himself alone. Now, we ought to feel sorry for these
people. I mean this, how much more ignorant can you get than
to think that we can make Christ do what we want him to do? Or
that we can contribute to his being a king. But the truth is,
we're all born with this disease. We may not be quite this bold,
but I know for sure that I have had views, I hope I no longer do, though
I don't know that I've gone long enough to be sure I won't, had
such thoughts that we can manipulate God to cater to our own sinful, selfish
desires. So our Lord, the next day, these
people finally discover him back in Capernaum, and in verse 28, after some words of admonition
and so forth, verse 28 says, then said they unto him, What
shall we do that we might work the works of God? In other words,
they found our Savior uncooperative. He would not do for them what
they wished for him to do. So now they ask the secret that
they might do God's work themselves. And my dear friends, we live
in a in a religious world that is full and running over with
this same philosophy. The question is, do you and I still
possess such idiotic ideas? What shall I do that I might
work the works of God? Well, if it's God's work, it
is not our work. But I call your attention in
verse 29 to our Savior's own words. Jesus answered and said
unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him
whom God has sent. And I call your attention to
that little three-letter word, T-H-E. And if I could translate the
Bible, I'd put it in all capital letters. The work of God. I'd rather let the Bible comment
on that. Let me just ask you to turn to
a couple of texts real quickly. Ephesians chapter 1. Let's talk about this matter
of believing, or faith, or trust, or receiving Christ, whatever
you wish to call it. Verses 19 and 20 in the first
chapter of Ephesians. I don't have time to talk about
the other two watts, but if you want a good outline here, there
are three watts in these statements. two of them in verse 18, but
the third one is in verse 19. And, you've got to go back a
ways to get the subject of this statement, that is, that you
might know what is the exceeding greatness of God's power to us
who believe According to the working of his mighty power,
you and I are made believers. How? According to the working
of God's mighty power, which he wrought or worked in Christ
when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places. Faith is the greatest miracle. almost imaginable. It's never less than a miracle,
a miracle. The same power that it took to
raise Christ from the dead, ascend Him to glory, sit Him at the
Father's right hand in heavenly places, that's what it takes. for a sinner to trust Christ. And it is the work of God. Now here is the importance of
that little word, the. In Fayetteville, North Carolina,
near where we live, there was a Baptist church that split off
of another Baptist church that split off of another. You know
how that goes. And they named themselves The New Testament
Baptist Church. And two or three years later,
they decided they wanted to join an association of other churches.
And oddly enough, they had to change their church name. But
they only changed one word. They took off the the. That's all. You can call yourself
New Testament Baptist Church and come be a part of us, but
you can't be the New Testament Baptist Church. This is the work
of God that you believe on Him, on Christ, whom God has sent. One more statement. Back to your
left, just a tiny ways, Galatians chapter 2. Now, I don't mean
one more thing altogether. I'm talking about just, you know,
just This little deal right here. Galatians 2.20, here's a key
that will unlock this matter concerning faith being the work
of God. 20th verse, Galatians chapter
2, this famous statement, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live. Yet, it's not really me, Paul
said, yet not I. Not I, but Christ lives in me. Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live, in the flesh. while still in
this body, this life in our souls, which is none other than Christ
himself, the life which I now live in the flesh." Watch this. I live by the faith of Jesus
Christ. It does not say in. says of. This life of God in our soul
is first the faith of Christ and then it's faith in Christ. Don't get that turned around. Who loved me and gave himself
for me. All right, one more text on this
deal here about the blessed. and these works that they couldn't
remember doing. That's pretty special now if
you're serving the Lord and you're almost unaware of
it. They said, when did we do this? Philippians chapter 2. Verses 12 and 13. Wherefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. Now, it doesn't say work your
own salvation. It's work out what God has worked
in. And the first word in the next
verse makes it absolutely mandatory that you don't split the two
apart. The word for has the force of because. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling because it is God who works in you both
to will and to do. of his good pleasure. My friend, believers do have
works, but it is God who works in us,
both in the willing and in the doing of those works. of Matthew 25. Let's read that
once more and then we'll go to the Gospel of Luke. Matthew 25 verse 41. Then shall he say also unto them
on the left hand, depart from me. you cursed into
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. If you would turn to Luke 18. And beginning with verse 18, you have the account of the rich
young ruler who comes to our Lord Jesus Christ wanting to
know, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? That's a valid
question, it's a good question. It betrays a terrible ignorance
just like we found in John chapter 6. But this is part and parcel
of being a part of Adam's fallen race. He approaches our Savior by calling
him good master. One of the other Gospels tell
us that he ran to where Christ was and kneeled. This man is
anxious and interested and at least seemingly humble in the
process. Our Lord sends him to the commandments
of God, and this man with audacity says, All these have I kept from
my youth up And our Lord just takes one of the ten. He could
have picked any one of the ten, but he just picked one. This
man had great possessions. Our Lord said, yet lack you one
thing. This is in verse 22. Sell all
that you have, distribute it unto the poor, and you shall
have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. And the man
heard this, he was very sorrowful for he was very rich, and he
leaves off his quest in this regard to the Lord Jesus. Now my dear friend, this is a
picture of every man. This is how we come into this
world, believing that something that we do determines whether
we inherit eternal life or everlasting punishment. Now that's just flat
the case. No matter where we live, no matter
where we're from, no matter what language we speak, what color
our skin, what part of the globe we live on, it is unchangeable. It is everywhere the same, the
same. Would you turn to John chapter
3? Verses 19, 20, and 21 in the third chapter of John. In verses 19 and 20, these words
are applicable to that group in Matthew 25, when our Lord
said, Come, depart from me, you cursed. John 3, 19. This is the condemnation. This is it. Every generation,
everywhere, this is the condemnation. Are men condemned? Here is the
condemnation. Here it is. This is the condemnation
that light, the Lord Jesus Christ, the light of the world, light
has come into the world. And we love darkness rather than
light. Why? Because our so-called good
works are evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light. Why? We don't want to give up our
good works, which are not good. They are nothing but sin. Everyone that does evil hates
the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved. But he that does truth, strange
expression, he that doeth truth comes to the light. Why? Here it is, that his deeds may
be made manifest, made obvious. Is that right? that our deeds
are worked in God? Can't be much plainer than that,
can it? Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 to 23. Here is an unmistakable illustration
of what we've been reading about. It is our Lord's own statement
that will occur the very day that he is describing in Matthew
25, the last day, the day of judgment, when this world has
been brought to an end. Verse 21, Matthew 7, ìNot everyone
that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father which is in
heaven, many will say to me in that day.î Thatís what they were
saying in Matthew 25. I was hungry, you gave me no
meat. I was thirsty, you gave me no
drink, and so forth. And look here. Here is the very
same thing. Not everyone that says, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the
will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me,
and that's who is saying to him in Matthew 25. Many will say
to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied or preached
in your name, in your name cast out devils, and in your name
done many wonderful works? And what is he going to say,
exactly what he said in Matthew 25, 41? Depart from me, you cursed. Here it reads, I never knew you. We claim to have known him, but
he did not know me. I don't mean he didn't know about
me. I mean he did not love me. I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. My dear friends, this is sobering
business. outward looks count for nothing, what I think
is less than nothing, are we in Christ or are we not? Is He all our salvation, all
our hope, all our desire, our everything and our all, or isn't
He? I know this. He is or He isn't. Let's see, I've got two more
scriptures. The first one is in John chapter
5, and I know what you're thinking.
How come this stuff couldn't just have been one right after
the other in our Bibles? We wouldn't understand it any
better than we do now, if it was. Somebody said this weekend it
has to be revealed. And no man can do that. I want to show you a scripture
in the fifth chapter of John that has a tremendous kinship
with Matthew 25 and what we've just read in Matthew chapter
7. It is in just two verses, 28 and 29. And by the way, the first verse
we read in Matthew 25, verse 31, called our Lord Jesus by
what name? The Son of Man. And in verse
27 of John chapter 5, it says, the closing phrase, because he
is the Son of Man. Talking about judgment. All right,
here it is, verse 28 and 29. Marvel not at this. For the hour is coming when all
that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come
forth, they that have done good. Are you a do-gooder? I'll have to ask you how that
is. They that have done good unto
the resurrection of life. Take all the scriptures that
we've consulted and answer the question about goodness. It is
a borrowed goodness. It is imputed goodness. It is the goodness of God in
his grace in the Lord Jesus Christ that any man can be said to have
done good. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and
they that have done evil under the resurrection of what? Damnation. Now just how much
evil do we have to do to be raised in a resurrection of damnation?
One single solitary sin not covered by the blood of Christ. How much
good do we have to do to be in the resurrection of life It ain't
too hard, just as good as God. One more scripture, Revelation
chapter 14. I want to talk to believers now. Come,
you blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom that's been reserved for you
before time ever was. before man was ever created. Now what about the believer and
his works? Let's jump forward in our minds
where we've already been in the scriptures to that day, and here
it is. Verse 13 of Revelation 14. This is a good text for a funeral.
Down our way, everybody that dies is a saint. I mean, they
changed into one automatically, I reckon. I don't know. John said, And I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from this point on. from henceforth. Yea, says the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors. And what about their works? Their
works do follow them. When we meet the Savior, On that
day described in Matthew 25, those works are not in our mind,
they're not on our tongues, they're not in our hands, they're behind
us, out of sight and out of mind. And we say what our Lord said
his sheep would say, when did we do this?