Matthew 25. I want to begin reading
this morning in verse 31, and re-render that chapter. Matthew
25, verse 31. Brother Larry has been teaching to us on the
humiliation of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to look today
at His exaltation. 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, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King
say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. For I was man hungered, and ye
gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink. I was a stranger, and ye took
me in. Naked, and ye clothed me. I was
sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came
unto me. Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee that 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? Or when saw we
thee sick, and in prison, and came unto 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. 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 not
hungry, 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 ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, whence all we need, and hungry, or thirsty, or a
stranger, or naked, and sick, or in prison, and did not minister
unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying,
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away
unto everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto life everlasting."
Now, in the Old Testament scriptures, we often read of the first coming
of the Son of God into this world. A virgin shall conceive and bring
forth a son. That's a prophecy of the coming
of the Son of God. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given. That's a prophecy of the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lo, I come, he said, to do thy
will. We read this in the Old Testament
Scriptures that the Son of God would come into this world. We're
told so often of that coming. Even the seventh from Adam, Enoch
himself, prophesied of the coming of Jesus Christ. But you notice
something else that we find in the Old Testament Scriptures.
They not only prophesy of His first coming, they tell us often
of His second coming. When Enoch VII from Adam said,
The Lord cometh, he wasn't talking about his first coming to be
humiliated, but he was talking about the Lord of glory coming
with all his saints, with ten thousands of his saints. And
the prophet David said, I will behold his face in righteousness. When? When he comes again. I'll
be satisfied when I awake with his likeness. That's his second
coming in his glory. And Daniel tells us in the twelfth
chapter of his book that there would be a day of trouble. Trouble
to the church of God. Trouble to Jacob. Like there
was never been since there was a nation. And he said at that
time his people would be delivered. Delivered from what? Delivered
from this bondage of corruption. Who is going to be delivered?
All of them that's written in the book. When is this going
to take place? When the Lord Jesus Christ comes
in His glory. When He returns the second time. And here's what we find in this,
my text today. This tells us not when the Lord
Jesus comes in His humiliation, that's already happened, hasn't
it? But we find here that He's coming again. And here He's coming
in His glory. The first time He come to be
humble. The first time He come to empty
Himself. But when He comes again, He's
coming in His glory. I want you to turn your Bibles
with me this morning over to 1 Peter. I want you to hold chapter
25 here in Matthew. But turn your Bibles over here
with me in 1 Peter chapter 1 and look here in verse 9. 1 Peter
chapter 1 and verse 9. And look for how Peter says this.
Here's the way he says it here in verse 9. He says, receiving
the end of our faith. 1 Peter 1 verse 9. even the salvation
of our souls, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come
unto you. Searching what, or what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ. Isaiah
talked about the coming of Christ and about His sufferings. The
prophet David talked about the first coming of Christ and about
His sufferings. But look what else they told
about. Not only His sufferings, but look at this, and the glory
that should follow. The Lord Jesus suffered, but
He's entered unto His glory. Do you remember when He was walking
with those two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection? And they had no idea, they did
not believe that He had raised from the dead. And He said, O
fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to have entered
unto His glory? Where is the Son of God this
morning? He's in glory. And when He comes again, as our
text tells us this morning, He's coming in that glory. The first time Brother Larry
has told us, so aptly told us, there in Philippians chapter
2, that He came in our humanity. And Brother Larry reminded us
this morning that He came in our fallen humanity. He didn't
come to take the likeness of Adam before the fall. Adam didn't
suffer before the fall. Adam never sweated before the
fall. Adam had no blisters on his fingers before the fall.
But the Son of God was made in our fallen likeness. He could
be tempted. He could hunger. He could thirst.
He suffered being tempted. And I tell you, brothers and
sisters, He hung on that cross. That was the ultimate humiliation. Brother Larry told us that this
morning. Hanging there in nakedness and shame and bearing our sins. And aren't you so thankful for
that humiliation? Our salvation came out of that
humiliation. Our hope came out of His humiliation. But what a great contrast His
second coming is as opposed to His first coming. The first coming,
humiliation. The second coming, the Son of
Man shall come in His glory. He's nothing now like He was
when He was upon this earth. Oh, He's still meek and lowly
in His heart. But I tell you where He veiled
that glory before. When He comes again, He's going
to be in that glory. He's coming from a glorious heaven.
He's coming with His glorious angels. He's coming in a glorious
body. And He will occupy in that day
a glorious throne, a throne of judgment. He will assign every
man his long home. He will execute judgment upon
every man. That's His glory. What not the
Son of Man to have suffered these things and to have entered into
His glory? Where's Jesus Christ at this
morning? He's in His glory. He's restful. He's peaceful. He's unmoved. He's unmovable. He's untroubled. Don't you find
a degree of comfort in that? In my hours of trial and trouble
and fear and doubts, I've often found a degree of comfort in
this, that I have a friend who is restful. I'm in trouble, but
I have a friend who is at rest. I am so often moved, aren't you? But we have a friend who cannot
be moved. Jesus Christ, seated in heaven,
in His glory. To be honest with you, brothers
and sisters, I've had times in my life where my faith has been
so weak, and my understanding has been so clouded, that I thought
heaven was too high for me. I thought heaven was too happy
a place, and I was too miserable a creature to ever make it to
that place. And I've often wondered in myself,
to be honest with you, if I have a saving interest in that place. But I found a measure of assurance
in this one thing alone, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
in my very humanity, in my very likeness, has already overcome,
in His humanity, all the obstacles that would keep one like me from
entering into that place. He overcame Himself and now He
is there in our humanity. A glorified humanity, yes, but
there He sits. And what's He doing there? To
assure every last child of God that they will enter there in
their glorified humanity. Now I find some comfort in that,
don't you? We find great comfort in the
fact that He indeed came into this world in humiliation and
suffered the shame and death and spitting of the cross. But
we find our assurance and our glorification someday in the
fact that He's already entered there and taken possession of
that holy and happy place in our humanity. And if He's there,
dear brothers and sisters, that assures you someday you'll be
there too. You may feel like the lowest,
You may feel like the most wretched, you may be the most despised
person in this world, but if you're in Christ Jesus the Lord,
your forerunner has already entered that place for you. I find a
measure of comfort in that, don't you? He's not content to be there
by himself. He's not even content that the
spirits of just men made holy will be there with him. He will
not be fully satisfied until he has all his children there
with him, bodies as well as souls and spirits. He purchased the
body And our text tells us here that He's coming again. And when
He comes again, He's going to change their vile body and fashion
it like unto His glorious body. There was a time when He was
weak. Oh, so weak. He fasted forty days and forty
nights. And He was so weak, an angel
came to minister to Him. There was a time when the Lord
Jesus Christ grew so weary that He sat down on Jacob's well to
rest Him there. He prayed in the garden in such
agony that His sweat became as great drops of blood. He was
crucified through weakness there upon that cross. But look at
Him now. Look at Him now. He's glorious. And He's coming in that glory.
That's what He said. The Son of Man shall come in
His glory. And His holy angels are coming
with Him. And He's in this glorious body. He's coming again. That's the
message of the New Testament. He's coming again. And look what's
going to take place here in verse 32 when He comes again. Before
Him shall be gathered all nations." Before Him will be gathered all
nations. And that's what the Scripture
teaches us everywhere, that everybody is coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. See, we either come now in our
hearts to Him and give up ourselves to Him to be saved by Him, or
we wait. But we're all coming. All the
nations are coming to Him. This is His second coming in
His glory, and then before His throne, at His feet, in His presence,
everybody comes and stands there before Him. Now He began this
subject of His second coming, what was going to take place,
all the way back over in chapter 24. Look back here in chapter
24 with me. Chapter 24 and chapter 25, both
of these chapters is regarding, for the most part, the coming
of Jesus Christ. Look in verse 3, this is the
question they ask Him. And as He said upon the Mount
of Olives, 24-3, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying,
Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign
of thy coming and of the end of the world? And he spends two
chapters, for the most part, telling them that he's coming
again. And then he sums it up in chapter
25, beginning in verse 31, of his coming, how it's going to
be. But let's look at some things right quickly in these two chapters
concerning this coming of the Son of Man and His glory. And
the first thing we find out about it, look in verse 36. Look in
verse 36 of chapter 24. Here's the first thing about
the coming of Jesus Christ from heaven. Look at this, verse 36. But of that day and hour knoweth
no man, no, not the angels in heaven, but my Father only. What's the first thing we learn
about His coming? We have no idea when He's coming. We do
not know when He's coming. We've had some people that set
dates. Some people said He was coming
in 78. Well, this is 2006. They embarrass themselves, they
embarrass those that know Him and love Him. Don't set dates.
We don't know when the Son of God is coming. We just know He's
coming. He's coming again. And be careful of this, brothers
and sisters, be careful of looking for outward signs of His coming. Look here in verse 37 and verse
38. But as in the days of Noah, so
shall it be also in the coming of the Son of Man. For as in
the days that were before the flood, they were eating, and
drinking, and marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day that
Noah entered unto the ark, and knew not until the flood came,
and took them all away, so also shall it be in the coming of
the Son of Man." What's he saying to us? Things aren't going to
change. Some tell us, well, we're just
headed for one season now. You know, we're just going to
have one season, all this climate change. That'll never happen,
folks. Don't look for outward signs. As long as this world
stands, things in general will not change. It'll be just like
it was in the days of Noah. It'll be just like it was in
the days of Lot. They eat, they drink, they marry,
they build, they sold, just like we're doing today. And fire fell
when Lot went out of that city. And Peter said it's because things
continue like this unchanged that people harden themselves.
People say, where's the promise of His coming? Since the fathers
fell asleep, we've heard this, they said, and look at everything.
It's continued just like it's always been from the beginning
of the creation. But see, that's one thing about
it. We don't look for outward signs of His coming. He's coming
in an hour that you and I think not. That's the first thing about
His coming. And something else about His
coming, look here in verse 27 of chapter 24. Look how quick
it is. Look here how quick it is. Look
here in verse 27. For as the lightning cometh out
of the east, and shineth even unto the west. That's fasting. I'm telling you, when you see
the lightning bolt, it's too late. It's done struck, ain't
it? Ain't no time to duck, ain't
no time to hide, ain't no time to run. That's the way He said
the coming, even so shall it be in the coming of the Son of
Man. Just like lightning, that's fast. In a moment in the twinkling
of an eye. It'll be a day like this. When
everybody's got up, some went to work, some went to party,
some went to church, some washed in the car in the summertime,
some more in the yard, just a normal day. And then suddenly the Son
of Man shall appear in heaven in all of His glory. And suddenly
the earth and the heaven shall flee away, and all the nations
will be gathered before Him. But it's all going to take place
that quick. Suddenly. There won't be time
to pray in that day. There won't be time to prepare.
There won't be time to repent. No. No. All you'll be done is caught
up. Caught up. All nation. Stand before Him.
Therefore, look in chapter 24 here, and look in verse 42. In
verse 44, look at this. Here's what He's teaching them
now in the light of His coming. The sudden, the sudden. Look
what He said in verse 42. Watch ye therefore, for you know
not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if
the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief
would come, he would have watched and not have suffered his house
to be broken up. Therefore, be also ready, for
in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man is coming."
Be ready. Stay ready. That's what he said.
And he gives us this parable of the ten virgins in chapter
25. And look what he says in verse
10. The five wise, they had oil in their lamps. They were ready
when the Lord came. The five foolish, they had a
profession of faith, but didn't have the Holy Spirit. That's
what this parable is teaching. And then in verse 10, And while
the foolish went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that
were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was
shut. Afterward came the other virgins, saying, Lord, open to
us. And he answered and said unto them, I know you not. Watch
therefore, for ye know not Neither the day nor the hour wherein
the Son of Man cometh." See that? Be ready. Be ready. And look
here at something else he says about it. In chapter 25, and
look here at verse 19. Look here at verse 19. Something else about this day
of His coming. He just told us about His service
there, beginning in verse 14 through verse 18. He called his
servants, he gave to one five talents, and he gave to another
servant three talents, and another servant one talent. He said,
now you go trade with what I give. You be busy until I come. The
one that had five talents, he traded, and he had five more
talents. The one that had three talents,
he traded, and he got three more talents. The one who had one
talent went and buried it in the earth. And now here's what
happened in the Lord's coming again. Look what he said in verse
19. And after a long time, the Lord
of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. What's this about the Lord's
coming? It's a day of reckoning. It's a day of reckoning. when
He calls all the nations of the world up to give account to Him,
their Creator, and their Sustainer, and their Judge. Somebody thinks, you know, because
we won't argue with them. Oh, Bruce just let that go. He
won't argue with me. He won't argue with me. No. You
know why? Because somebody else is going
to have the last word. It don't matter if I win an argument or
you win an argument, the Lord is going to have the last word.
So it don't matter, does it? Boy, if somebody would say, I
pulled the wool over their eyes, I fooled them. No, you didn't. No, you didn't fool nobody. You
didn't deceive nobody. What they know is this, they're
leaving you to the Lord to reckon with you. You ain't deceived
nobody. You ain't pulled the wool over
nobody's eye. Boy, nobody said anything about the bad things
that I'm doing. They must not know it. I must
have it hid from their eyes. No, you hid nothing from nobody's
eye. They just know this, dear soul.
They know this, that every man will have to give account of
himself to God. We hide nothing. Don't make yourself
sick, dear brother. Don't concern yourself, dear
sister, over what others are doing or not doing. Old so-and-so
is not living like he should. Old so-and-so is not giving like
he should. Old so-and-so is doing this and
he's not doing that. Well, dear brothers and sisters,
remember this. You and me and old so-and-so,
all of us, will have to be called up someday and be reckoned with
by our Lord in heaven. To a man's own master he stands
or falls. I'm just saying this, brothers
and sisters, a day of reckoning is coming when the Lord will
deal with each one of us. Every man shall give account
of himself to God. You ain't going to give account
for me, Clarence. I ain't going to give account for you. We all
must stand here and tell what He said, when the Son of Man
comes after a long time, He calls His servant and He reckons with
them in His coming. I tell you, our Lord is the only
one that's able to reckon with people. He has the understanding
to do it. He has the wisdom to do it. He
knows the heart of an individual. He knows the secret things. He
knows the motives. He's the only one that's fit
to judge and reckon with people. And He'll do it. He'll do it.
Look here what He says in verse, chapter 25 now. Go back to our
text. The Lord is coming. The Lord
Jesus Christ is coming in His glory. And before Him stand all
nations to dare reckon. And notice the first thing that
he does here in verse 32. Notice the first thing he does.
Look in verse 32. All nations shall be gathered
before him, 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, and the goats on his left." What's the first thing
he does? He begins to separate people. All of them are standing there
together, and he begins to separate them. He takes part of them out,
sets them on his right hand, He takes the others out and sets
them on His left hand. He does that Himself. Ain't this
what He told His disciples that He would do? He told about coming to this
world as a good man, He said. And He sowed seed in His field. He sowed wheat there. Remember
that? And the wheat came up and began
to produce fruit. And his servants went out there
and looked at the field, and all these tires were out there
in the field. And they came to him, and they said, Lord, didn't
you sow good seed in your field? He said, yes. They said, where
did all these tires come from? He said, an enemy's did that.
And they said, Lord, I'll tell you what we'll do for you. We'll
go pluck all those towers up. Isn't that what they said? Oh,
we ain't got to make sense out of it. We can't examine people. We can't pluck nobody up. And
the Lord said, you proud disciples, you leave them alone. If you
go out trying to pluck up the tower, you're going to pluck
up some weeds. Let them alone and let them both grow together.
You be as good to one as you are to the other. And when the
day of judgment comes, I'll separate. Well, here's the day. Here's
the day has come, and what's he doing? He's separating the
man. He divides him. He takes the sheep, and he puts
them on the right. He takes the goats, and he puts
them on the left. Here's the harvest. And he's
scrutinized. He's discriminated. This Son
of Man, this Lord of Glory, And notice how he does this. I think this is so telling. Notice
how he does this. Before he ever begins to reckon
with it. He has all these nations standing
here before him, and the first thing he does is separate them
one from another. He doesn't begin by saying to
them, I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave
me drink. Therefore, come and sit on my
right hand." He didn't say that, did he? This is very telling
how he does this. The first thing he does is this. The first thing he does, he separates
his sheep from the goats. And he separates them and puts
his sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left. He separates them whether they're
sheep or goats. Ain't that very telling? What
does that tell us, brothers and sisters, when he does it? It
tells us, first and foremost, this. It's to teach us and show
us that God saves by His grace. Not just by grace, but by distinguishing
grace. By discriminating grace. He saves them first and foremost. They're at the judgment, not
because of what they've done, but because of who they are. Why does He take the sheep and
put them on His right hand? Because they're sheep. Who is
the sheep? They're His chosen ones. They're
His elect ones. They're His vessels of mercy. His redeemed ones. His regenerated
ones. They've always been His sheep. When He chose them from the beginning
and gave them to His dear Son in that covenant of grace, He
wasn't because of nothing that He saw in them. He was because
of His own grace and good pleasure, He chose His sheep. Well, when
it gets y'all into the judgment, and He sets them on the right
hand, it's for the same reason. His own good pleasure. Their salvation was not dependent
upon their good works, but it was dependent upon God's distinguishing
grace. That's why He separated them
before He ever began to reckon with them. Whatever He was to
do with them or say to them had nothing to do with their eternal
salvation. They were saved at last because
they were sheep. And I challenge you, dear brothers
and sisters, to find any other reason. That's the foundation
of their salvation. They were sheep. And God's going
to make it known in that day. Every step of the way in their
salvation, grace came to them because they were chosen out
of God to be saved from the foundation of the world. They were saved first and foremost
because of God's distinguished grace. They were marked out.
They were set aside. They were ordained to life eternal. Every step of the way. Everything
that happened to them happened to them because they were sheep.
When the Lord Jesus came to this world to die, to lay down His
life, He said, I lay down my life. For who? The sheep. And He laid down His life because
they were sheep. He said this, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth His
life for the sheep. As the Father knows me, even
so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep."
They're his sheep. They're his sheep. And he laid
down his life for them. And he says something else about
their calling. Not only about his redeeming
them by his death, but listen to John chapter 10 verse 16.
Of the sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice. Why must I bring? They're no different than anybody
else. They're no better than anybody else. They're no worse
than anybody else. But the Lord Jesus said, I must
bring them. Bring them where? Bring them
to me. Bring them to repentance. Bring them to trust me with all
their hearts. Bring them to rely upon me for
all their salvation. I must bring them. Why, Lord
Jesus? Because they're my sheep. They're
my sheep. There's a poor old sinner and
he's dead, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. And the
Holy Ghost comes to him and opens his understanding, makes him
to know he's under the judgment of God, breaks his heart, brings
him to God, brings him to repentance, brings him to look to Jesus Christ
and be saved. brings him to a world of devils
and temptations, and brings him all the way to heaven and sets
him there on the right hand of the Son of God. Why, brothers
and sisters? What's the cause of it all? He's
ashamed. He's ashamed. I tell you, a man
may mock at God's elect and love here. A man may kink at discriminating
grace here. But I tell you what, on the day
of judgment, the Son of God is going to show the nations of
this world that His people are there because He chose them as
His people. He separates not sheep. I tell
you, I want to be one of them, don't you? I preached a message
a few weeks ago, a few months ago, I want to be one of them.
I want to be one of them. Them that He predestinated, them
He called. Those He called them He justified. Them He justified, them He also
glorified. And here them are. And where
are them? On the right hand. And you know
why they're there? Because they're His. They're
His. For I am His and He is mine.
And because I'm His and He is mine, I've got hope of life eternal. And you do too, if you're His.
If you're His. The Son of Man. The Son of Man. Look at something else here.
Look at something else. I tell you, I often pray, and
I imagine you do too. When I think of this day, it's
a day of awe to me. I think of the heavens opening
up, and the Son of Man in His glory, and the heavens are so
afraid, and the earth is so fearful. It flees away from His face.
And I think of that time, brothers and sisters, and I've prayed
about it. I often pray to the Lord. I've even told the Lord,
Lord, I can't stand the four years I am right now. You're
glorious and holy, fearful in praises. Even his servant John,
John the beloved that leaned on his breast. The disciple whom
Jesus loved, he stood before the Lord, remember in Revelation
1, and the Lord had these eyes like lamps of fire, and his countenance
was as brass burning in the furnace. He is glorious, and John fell
at his feet as though dead. Daniel saw a vision of it, and
Daniel said, he was so glorious, all my beauty was turned to corruption.
How in the world can you stand before Him? How in the world
can I think about standing before Him? You know how? Grace. Grace. Grace. Gird up the loins of your
minds and hold to the end for the grace that's to be brought
unto you. And that's what we're going to
see there on the Dead Judgment. And the first thing we're going
to see is grace. Come, ye blessed of my Father. Come, my sheep. Come, my vessels of mercy. Why
does the Lord do this? Well, He's going to make people
see in that day, brothers and sisters, it is indeed of the
Lord that any man or woman or girl is saved. And it will be
for our comfort, won't it? It will be for our shelter. The
same grace that chose you, the same grace that called you and
kept you, is the same grace that's going to save you in that day.
Grace. Grace. Now, quickly. I don't want to
keep you too long, but I want to go to verses 35. Look at this.
Verse 35 through verse 45. I just want to look at this right
quickly. Here we have the Son of Man coming in His glory. All
the nations are gathered before Him. He sets his sheep there
upon the right hand, the goats on his left, showing his distinguishing
grace for his sheep. Now, in verse 35, he begins to
show the difference he's made in the sheep and the goats. That's
what he's going to show right now. What's the difference in
the believer and the unbeliever? Well, we look at each other,
and sometimes we can't tell the difference, can we? I can't tell
who a believer is and who an unbeliever is sometimes. You
take some good moral people, and you can't tell them from
a believer, as far as morality is concerned. But I tell you,
the Lord can. The Lord can, because He sees
the heart, you see. He knows why people do what they
do. And the first thing we see about his sheep in the Day of
Judgment, and he acknowledges it here, look at the difference
in their characters. Look at the character they have.
Look at their nature. Look at their attitude towards
others. Look in verse 35. I was hungry. You gave me meat. I was thirsty. You gave me a
cup of water. I was a stranger and you tucked
me in. I was naked and you clothed me. And he says down here in
verse 42, he says to the unbeliever, to the wicked, I was hungry and
you gave me nothing. I was thirsty and you didn't
even give me a cup of water. What do we see here, brothers
and sisters? Though the world sometimes doesn't see it, the
Lord sees a difference in His people as opposed to the law. His people are a good people. His people are a generous, caring,
giving people. Now they are. They are. Well, the goats said, we didn't
know. We never saw any need. Nobody told us. Why did the sheep do all this
good and the goats didn't? Because of their natures. Ain't
it strange that here the sheep was, and they found all this
that needed to be done, and they did. And the ghost never saw
anything, did it? If you've got a tender heart,
if you've got a loving heart, you're just going to be running
into all kinds of people who've got needs. If you've got an old
hard, uncaring heart, you ain't going to see no need. You're
too self-centered. You're too full of yourself.
That's the difference, ain't it? Grace. Grace will make you gracious.
Obtaining mercy will make you merciful. It will. And the Lord Jesus acknowledged
that. There's something else about this. Notice the little
things that the Lord Jesus took notice of here on the dead judgment.
You gave me meat. That ain't much, is it? Brother
Bob has often given us something. He brings us a package or two
of meat. That ain't much out of your whole storehouse, is
it, Bob? It ain't much. A bed to rest in? Just a bed? A shirt? You gave me a shirt? You took a few minutes to come
by and visit me. These are little things. Little
things. But I'll tell you what the Master
said about little things. He that's faithful in that which
is least, he'll be faithful in that which is much. And he that's
unjust in that which is least is going to be unjust in much.
You and I aren't going to change anything, brother, and we're
not going to change this world. We probably ain't going to make
any difference here in Newcastle, probably. But it's the little
things that we're concerned about. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
will take notice of. The husband loving his wife,
being faithful to her, caring for her, The wife reverencing
her husband? Children obeying their parents?
Being good to your neighbor? Visiting the poor sick? Encouraging
people? Giving a few dollars when you
have it? Little things. We're not building big cathedrals.
We're not wanting to sit on some worldwide missionary board. Little things. Little things. I was talking to a waitress the
other night down at one of the restaurants. And she said, you
know, she said some of the most unkind
people that come in here on Sunday evening, and they come right
from church, she said. And she said they work me to
death. And when they leave, they leave
me nothing on the table. That's what she told me. They
go to the church and they talk about all the good things they've
done and all the great things they're going to do for God,
but they pass over the little things. Being untimed to a waitress? That person that's under you,
that's serving you? How do you feel, brothers and
sisters, about those that you can take advantage of? See, these
were the underprivileged. These were the nobodies. These
were the downtrodden. A man who was hungry and had
no way to feed himself. That's who they paid attention
to. A man's in prison. They wouldn't visit him. He had
no influence. How do you treat people that
are your servants? How do you treat the nobodies
that you run into? That's what the Master is talking
about. These little things. These little things. He'll take
notice of them in the dead judgment. Something else here right quickly.
The Lord will never forget anything that's done for his glory. That's what he's saying there.
I'm sure there's some of these people that started churches.
They did some great things in this world. But the Lord is teaching
us here that He'll never forget anything, the smallest thing
that's done for His glory, a cup of cold water in His name. God is not unrighteous, brothers
and sisters, to forget your work of faith and labor of love that
you've shown to His name. John Mitchell calls me, Patriot
of Montana, and he's got a favorite verse that he's often quoting
to me, and it's stuck with me now for a long, long time. It's
been such encouragement to me. And I forgot it. I know it well, and I forgot
it. I now remember it. Be ye steadfast, unmoved. Always abound in the work of
the Lord. For as much as you know, your
labor is not in vain in the Lord. In the Lord. He'll never forget
it. You forget it. You may stand
some day and say, when did I do that? He'll remind you when you
did. He'll never forget it. And lastly,
and closing, is this. Christ will never be ashamed
to own His union with His people. He'll never be ashamed. I don't
care who they were in this world. If they were His, He'll never
be ashamed of them. He's one with Him. Here was a
poor hungry man that couldn't even feed himself. And you know
what he said? I'm in perfect union with Him. When you do it
unto me, he said, you've done it unto my brother. When you
do it to my brother, you do it to me. If you give a cup of cold
water to one of my little children who is thirsty, you've done it
to me, because I'm one with him. If you come to prison and visit
me, me in prison? He's in heaven, but he's one
with that man in prison. You come when I'm sick and my
fever's high, And I'm vomiting, and you just come to say hi to
me. Oh dear brother, dear sister, if you need me, holler at me,
would you? You've done it to me. You've done it to me. And
when you cheat, and when you walk over, and when you harm,
and when you persecute my little children, you do it to me. Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? And here this Jesus of Nazareth
is in all this glory. He's already suffered. He's already
been shamed. Already emptied himself. Already
counted himself as naught and hung on Calvary's tree. And now
there He is in heaven. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of
Mary, sitting on this glorious throne. And here's the last thing
He says. Here's the last thing He says.
These shall go away. Ain't that beautiful? Why? Sin. Sin. Sin is not only hid God's face
from us, it will drive us from the presence of God out into
eternal darkness. These shall go away. Where are
they going? But where else is left if they
don't go to heaven? These shall go away into hell. They're going to leave light.
They're going to leave the Lamb of God. They're going to leave
love and grace and mercy. And these are going away into
hate, into torment, into eternal misery. These shall go away.
But the righteous, the righteous, Those who have this spotless
garment on of Jesus Christ. We're made the righteousness
of God in Him. We're given a righteous nature.
Come, you blessed of my Father, into life everlasting. These
into life eternal. Oh, what a blessed day. What
a blessed day. The severity of God, the wrath
of God, these shall go away. The mercy of God, the grace of
God, the love of God. Come, you're blessed in my Father. Gracious Father in heaven, oh
Father, what awesome words that we've tried to deal with this
morning. You've told us of what's ahead, the last day, the last
time, the resurrection. And Lord, we bow before you today. We humble our souls before you.
We dare not say anything in our own defense. You're the glorious
Lord who knows our hearts. You know our motives. You know
all about us. And we bless you for it. Cleanse
us. Save us. Oh, Lord, prepare us
for that day. For we know it's soon to come.
We seek for mercy now. We look for mercy in that day. And Lord, our hope is that we
are indeed one of yours, made so by your elective love, redeemed
by your dear Son, called by your Holy Spirit, and kept to this
very day by your mercy. Bless this message today. Give
us all ears and hearts to understand. for the glory and the honor of
this great King, Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.