in Matthew chapter 13. I just want to read this for
us again and comment. And three more Scriptures I want
to turn to. Matthew chapter 13. Let's read
what we preached from this morning. Verse 24. Another parable put
forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened
to a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept,
his enemies came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his
way. And when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder
came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed
in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto
him, Will thou then that we go and gather them up? And he said,
Nay, lest ye gather up the tares, lest ye gather up the tares,
ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together
unto the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say
unto the reapers, Go ye to gather first the tares, and bind them
in bundles to burn them. but gather the wheat into barns.
And now the interpretation of it, down in verse 37, He answered
and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man.
The field is the world, the good seed of the children of the kingdom,
but the tares of the children of the wicked one. The enemy
that sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the
world, the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered
and burned in the fire, So shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth
His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things
that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them
into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Here in the last two verses I
read to you, we see here that the Lord puts a difference between
the wicked and the righteous, between the believers and the
unbelievers. He's always did that, hasn't
He? He put a difference between Egypt and Israel. And He puts
a difference today between the righteous and the wicked. And
He will on this day, He'll make a difference. Here are the unbelievers. They often seem right. They seem
like they have an easier time in all that they do. But that's
temporal. That's temporal. We never want
to look at even rich people or the famous people and envy what
they have or how they feel. That's all temporal. Here the
wicked may seem to have it better. But there the wicked will be
tormented. And the wicked will gnash their
teeth in darkness. When we get old enough to have
a little understanding, we set goals for ourselves, don't we?
We set goals for certain ages and what we want to accomplish
in our life. And we look forward sometimes
to retirement and being able to set aside a little for that.
And we set goals. And here's a goal that we should
all set. I think that's a good way to say it. We talk about
setting goals for other things, but we should have this purpose
in our life, as the old writer said, to make heaven our home,
to be in Christ and to be found in Him on this day, because this
life is coming to a close. This world is coming to an end.
Here, it may seem more like fun and easy for the wicked, but
we're looking to the end, aren't we? at the end of the world. And it says here that at the
end, the wicked shall gnash their teeth, but the righteous shall
be comforted. The righteous shall be comforted.
There the wicked shall go off into darkness, but it is then
that the righteous shall shine in the kingdom of their Father. Here the kingdoms of this world
seem to rule the day. They seem to rule the day. Sin
seems to reign on every hand. But there we'll see who really
reigned. There the kingdom of God will
reign. The kingdom of God's dear Son
will shine in all of its splendor. All these other kingdoms then
will have passed away. And look how many great kingdoms
have already passed away. Where's the great kingdom of
Nebuchadnezzar? It's gone, isn't it? Alexander
ruled the world at one time, they tell us. Where is his kingdom?
But where is the kingdom of God's dear Son? It is standing forever. And on that day the righteous
will look back and see all the kingdoms have fallen, the kingdoms
that men built for themselves, and rejoiced in, and reigned
in. But they fell, and one kingdom
will be left in the end, and that is the kingdom of God's
dear Son, the kingdom of the Father. And that's the kingdom
that you and I are looking at. Verse 43 says, They shall shine. I love this. I love to just think
about this. They shall shine. The Lord tells
us here to let our lights shine before men, doesn't He? And He
says you do shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation. But how dimly we shine. How dimly we shine. But then
the righteous shall shine. And they shall shine in the glory
of their Redeemer. And I say this because this is
not their glory. They're shining as the sun. That's not their glory. That's
the glory of their Lord that was put upon them. You remember
in Matthew chapter 17 when our Lord took some of His apostles
up on the mountain. And it was said there that He
was transfigured. And His face did shine as the
sun, and His remnant was as white as the light. And that's the
way the believers will shine there. It will be His glory that
was put upon them. Here we have a portion of this
glory. We can't see it. Sometimes we
seem to feel just a portion of it. That glory of the gospel
that has shined in our hearts. If our gospel be hid, it is hid
to the lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the
minds of them that believe not, listen, lest the light of the
glorious gospel of God should shine through unto them." God
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, He shined into
our hearts. And what is that? That is the
glory of God, the glory of the redeeming God. that glory will
be manifested in its fullness. What is that glory that's there? What is this light? Is that not
God's redeeming glory that's in the Lord Jesus Christ? In
Revelation 21, the Bible said the city had no need of the sun
nor of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten
it And the Lamb is the light thereof. And you know what that
city is? That's the church. That's the
redeemed people. Listen, John said, There came
one to me and said, Come, and I will show you the Lamb's wife. And he took me to a great high
mountain. That's a beautiful way to describe
heaven, isn't it? and exceeding high mountain is
what that word is. And He showed to me that holy
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory
of God, and her light was likened to a stone most precious. What is that? What is that light? What is that shining forth as
the sun? That is the glory of her Redeemer.
Paul said, Here we have borne the image of the earth here.
I look at you and you know what I see? Atoms! I see atoms! Fallen atoms! And we're growing
old and dim, aren't we? Until they put us in the cold
ground that's dark. But, oh, there the righteous
will shine in the kingdom of their Father. And the glory that
will be upon them will be the glory of their Redeemer. How
He glows in heaven! Can you imagine light in that
beautiful place? It's so huge that there'll be
plenty of room. In my Father's house are many
mansions. And yet He lights it. He lights
it with His glory. And this is the glory they're
going to shine with. Oh, we can't see that now, can
we? We can hardly believe such a thing. But that's what He said. Then shall the righteous shine
forth in the kingdom of their Father. When will all this take
place? Well, our text tells us, doesn't
it? The end of the world. The end of all things, Peter
said. They're at hand. They're at hand. Now is our salvation
nearer than when we believed. The Lord is standing before the
door. It's coming soon, isn't it? It's
swiftly passing by. The time has come that judgment
must begin at the house of God. And boy, we see that, don't we?
The Father chastening His children. Dealing with them. Here, as the
Father deals with His Son. What shall the end be of those
that obey not the Gospel? We know the end, don't we? We're
not ignorant of their end. Here, they shall be cast into
a fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. That's the end. Seeing all these
things. All these temporal things shall
be dissolved. What manner of persons ought
we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, hastening and
looking for the coming of the day of God? Who in the heavens,
being on fire, shall melt with fervent heat, and the elements
shall pass away with a great noise, and all the works of men
will be burned up. But we, according to His promise,
look for a new heaven. and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness." Oh, some people scoff. We hear them all the time,
that when they mock and they deny. But you know the denying
of something doesn't disprove it, does it? That's no evidence. We have evidence. Disbelieving
it will not delay it. Mocking it will not hinder its
coming. Soon it will be said, the end
is It is come. The end of the world
is come. The harvest is the end of the
world. Every year we are taught this
lesson. We are reminded this lesson.
that the end is coming. Because every year we see the
farmers go out in their field and they take the machines and
they gather their crops and bring it and put it into their barn.
What does that teach us? What does that remind us of?
The harvest is coming. The harvest is coming. The end
of the world is coming. In verse 41, He said, The Son
of Man shall send forth His angel. And He doesn't tell us here,
but He does tell us in another place that He's coming with them.
Or He's bringing them with Him. He's being revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels. And not apart from the saints.
They're coming too. There are saints on earth and
there are saints in heaven. And them which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with Him. And then there shall be a great
gathering. He doesn't go into any details
here. But on this day there will be
a resurrection of the just and the unjust, and everybody will
go up to heaven and stand there before Him in the end. And I want to look at three Scriptures
with you quickly concerning that. If you'll turn over with me to
Matthew chapter 7, and I won't keep you but just a few minutes.
Matthew chapter 7 and look in verse 21. This is the end. The end has come, Matthew chapter
7. If you'll read the context of the
verses here, I'm going to look at in verse 22 and verse 23.
You'll see there in verse 13, enter ye in at the straight gate,
for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.
And many there be that go in there are at, because straight
is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and
few there be that find it." That's what we've been talking about,
isn't it? Life and destruction. And then something else we've
been talking about. Trees, planting, seeds. In verse 17. Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." That's
what we've been studying about, isn't it? Gathering up the tares
and so on. And we come here now to verse
21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. Now here is the end. Here is the judgment day. In
verse 22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in your name? In your name cast out devils,
and in your name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you, Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Now, here's the separation, isn't
it? Remember the Lord said, let them alone? We studied that this
morning. Let them alone. Don't try to
pluck up tares. Leave them alone and let them
grow together. And in the day of the harvest,
what am I going to do? I'll separate them. And here's
the separation. Here's the separation. And here's
the key, I think, to understanding this verse. It's found in here
in verse 21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of
my Father." First and foremost, what is the will of the Father? What is the will of our Father
in salvation? Well, it is this, to believe
on His Son. Is that not it? What is the work
of God, the Jews said? The Lord Jesus said, this is
the work of God. that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent. And then he said, This is the
will of him that sent me, that ye believe on the Son of God. That's his will. He that seeth
the Son, and believeth on him. These in Matthew chapter 7 miss
the straight gate, don't they? They miss the straight gate that
leads to lie. And what is that gate? Do you
know what it is? And this is a straight gate.
And you think about this, and you'll say, yes, that's got to
be it. You know what the straight gate
is? It's a justifying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
it. A justifying faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The reason I say that is this,
and here you see what these men and women were dependent upon.
They were dependent not upon Christ. They weren't dependent
upon His obedience to justify them. What were they dependent
upon? The works. The works. I tell you, there's something
about us that almost called us a bad name, because I've read
it so much, these workmongers. But isn't that ingrained in us? When we get in a bad spot too,
when the Lord seems like He's let us get shut up in ourselves
and we get in trouble, and don't we sometimes say, why? Look what I've done. Lord, have
I not tried to preach? Have I not tried to be faithful?
Have I not tried to reach? I've denied myself here and there.
And before you know it, what are you trying to do? Justify
yourself before God. Did you ever do that? When you
get in trouble, He'll show you what you're dependent upon. And
boy, these fellows were in trouble. These fellows were in trouble.
They looked at the face of the Lord Jesus, and He had a frown
on His face when He looked at them. And they said, Man, we're
in trouble. And what did they start pleading? We preached. Lord, we preached in Your name.
Had they? Probably. Probably. I don't think
they were lying. They said we've done many wonderful
works. Had they done it? In their own eyes at least. But
what did the Lord call it here? He said it's works of iniquity,
didn't He? And why was it works of iniquity?
For simply this reason, until we're accepted in the Beloved,
until we're justified by His obedience, by faith in Him, everything
we do is sin. Everything. It doesn't matter
if it's done in His name. It doesn't matter if we sell
all our goods and give it to the poor. Give our bodies to
be burned. Until to Jesus' work you cling
by a living faith. Doing is a deadly thing. Doing ends in death. That's where
these stood. Why couldn't they enter in? Why
did the Lord reject them? Justifying faith was absent in
their heart. Now brothers and sisters, this
is the most important truth I believe in all the Scriptures to be known
as far as salvation is concerned. Because how many people have
tried to work their way into God's presence? And they've done
a lot of wonderful things. But that's not the way God justifies
a sinner. God is holy. And you and I are
sinful. We've got to have somebody to
take our place, somebody to put away our sins, somebody to obey
for us. And the way God justifies us
is by our being accepted in Him, justified due to His obedience. Ain't that so? We don't hear
much about that, do we? I want you to turn to a passage
of Scripture where Brother Wayne has been teaching for us. Look
over in Romans chapter 3 right quickly. Let me just read this
to you, Romans chapter 3. They pleaded the ground for their
acceptance was their works. I bet you today if you took some
kind of a survey, you went around from house to house or where
you work or some place in your neighborhood and you asked people,
you put it to them something like this. If we are sinners
and God is holy, How can God accept us? How can He justify
my person? And I bet you'd get as many different
answers as many different people as you ask. But there's but one
way that God justifies a sinner. And Luther used to say the church
stands or falls on this, didn't he? And I tell you, He'll decide
which side you're on in the judgment. That's what determines, left
side or right side. Look here how Paul says it in
Romans chapter 3 and look at verse 23. All have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. That's where we have to start.
That's where we have to start. God teaching us ourselves. All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So being justified,
how? Freely by His grace. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say, at this time, His righteousness,
that He might be just and yet the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. That's all He does. is believe
in Jesus, the Crucified One. Where is boasting then? It is
excluded. By what law? Of works? No, if
it were by works we would boast, but by the law of faith. Now
look in verse 28, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified
by faith in Jesus Christ without the deeds of the law. Well, that's something we really,
brothers and sisters, need to get into our hearts. Because
until we're justified by faith in Christ alone, none of our
works are accepted. The instant we're justified by
faith in Christ, our works are accepted. Then our works are
pleasing unto the Father, but not until then. This is that
gilgal you were talking about, Randy, we're always going back
to. Justification by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
So we see these people at the end of the world. The end has
come. And all of them have gone up
to heaven. And they are standing there before the Lord. And their
plea is not heard. They are not led into heaven
because they had no justified faith. None. None. Their dependence for their justification
was, we have preached. We have done many wonderful works
in Your name. That won't justify a man before
God. You'll see people like that.
We'll see people like that at the judgment. They'll be there
now. They'll be there. That's when
this was, at the judgment. Look at another place. Look at
Luke chapter 13. Here's another place. Luke chapter
13, verse 24. Same place. just from a different aspect.
Luke chapter 13. And look here in verse 24. A
man had just asked the Lord Jesus. There in verse 23. Lord, are
there few that be saved? Is there few going to be saved
in the end of the earth? Strive to enter in at the straight
gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the master
of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door, And you
begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord,
Lord, open to us. And he shall answer and say unto
you, I know you, not whence you are. Then shall you begin to
say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast
taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you,
I know you not which you are. Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity." He said the same thing to them that he said to this
first group. Here, these were completely different
than the others. They didn't plead any works at
all. They didn't say, look what we've done. We've preached. We've
done these great things. They said simply that you have
taught us. We have sat in your presence
while you taught, and we have eat in your presence. Now, I
imagine the first interpretation of this is to the Jews. It applies
to them very well, doesn't it? Because so many Jews ate in Christ's
presence. He fed them on the grass he knows.
Remember that? and eat with them in their homes,
in the Pharisees' house, even eat with publicans and sinners.
And they heard him teach. He taught in the temples, he
taught in the synagogues, taught on the mountains. So these Jews,
so many of them, they could have said this very well, and very
well they will say it in the Day of Judgment. They'll say that. But you know
it applies to all the church age, doesn't it? Won't this apply
to the tars among the wheats? It'll apply to them, won't it?
These never bragged about their works. They would never have
trusted their works. They heard the truth about justifying
faith, and they were content to hear it. We have sat in your
presence. We've heard your preachers preach.
We've ate in the presence of the saints. They sat under the
preaching of the gospel week after week. They would never
think about quitting. They came and took communion
with the saints. They drank the cup and they ate
the bread. There was no open hostility.
There was no indifference to the worship services. But here
was their problem. They came to church. They came
to church. But they never really came to
Jesus. They heard the gospel and they
gave mental assent to it. But the gospel never came to
them in its saving power. They were content to be among
the saints without examining themselves to see if they were
one. They were content to come and sit and listen. They had
a form of godliness, but they denied the power of it. Their
bodies were present, but their hearts were far away. They were
content with the profession of Christ, not to possess Him. And the Lord instructs them here
in verse 24, strive. When this man said, Lord, are
there few to be saved? And what he's telling them, don't
be content to merely sit and listen. Don't be content to sit
among the saints. This word to strive means to
make an effort, use exertion, to endeavor with earnestness,
to labor hard. Many will seek to enter in and
shall not be able. Why? Because they were content
with the externals of religion. But when it came to themselves,
giving themselves up to the Lord, taking the cross and following
Him, they were not willing to do it. They drew back. They were content to sit and
listen. And here is where they found
themselves on the Day of Judgment. Paul said we must through much
tribulation enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And we must not let
anything stop us from coming to Christ, saving Him, and taking
up our cross and following Him at any cost. Somebody said that
being saved is the easiest thing in the world. Being saved is
the most impossible thing in the world. You cannot be saved
apart from grace and the Holy Spirit working in our hearts.
That is how impossible that is. It is the most serious thing
between the eternities, isn't it? If a man is content to merely
come to church services week after week, And here, but there
is no heart communion with Jesus. There is no denying of Himself
for Jesus. There is no going out and serving
the Lord through the week unless repentance prevents He will be
separated from those He sat with all of His life long. They came
and they sat and they listened. And that's all they did. That's
all they did. And a man can do that, can he?
A woman can come to church and sit and listen with the saints
and never have the power of the gospel come to their hearts.
Never have Christ revealed to their hearts. I had no idea what
it was to be saved. I had no idea what it was to
follow the Lord, and you didn't either, did you? You'll never
dream that such tribulations, such heartaches, such burdens
that you bore, such trials. Strive to enter in. Lord, don't
let a thing keep me from You and Your saving power and marriage. One more place, look in Matthew
chapter 25, a very familiar place. The end. The end. This is a very familiar passage
about the Lord Jesus coming at the last day with His angels.
Verse 31, Matthew 25, When the Son of Man shall come in His
glory. That's what we're talking about.
All the holy angels with Him. Then He shall 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 divideth his sheep from the goats." Here
he calls them sheep and goats. In our text this morning he called
them tares and wheat, didn't he? But here's the separation.
Leave them alone. You're not able to separate them.
I'll separate them. When? At the last day. At the
end of the world. In verse 33, "...he shall set
the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left." Then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom, come and shine." That's what
he's telling them. Come and shine in the kingdom
of your Father. And this kingdom was prepared
for you from the very foundation of the world. And notice what
kind of character these people were. Here we see another character. First of all, we've seen people
bragging about their works, depending upon their works for justification. Then we see the next group, they
were content just with outward, external religion, coming and
sitting and listening. Listen at the true character
of the Lord's people. I was 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 to me. Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a-hungry, and fed thee,
or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
and tucked you in, or naked, and clothed thee? When did we
see you sick, and in prison, and came to you? And the king
shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as ye have done it unto 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. I was hungry,
you gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me
no drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me not in. Sick, and you clothed me not. Naked, and you clothed
me not. Sick, and in prison you did not
visit me. And then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord,
whence all thee we hunger, or thirst, or stranger, naked, and
sick, and in prison did not minister unto thee. He shall say unto
them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to
the one of the least of these, ye did it not to me." Now this
is strange, isn't it? Ain't it strange how we have
the right to divide the Word of Truth? Those first guys was
bragging how hard they worked about all the wonderful works.
And he said they called it, he called it works of iniquity.
Here he rebukes these for not working. For not working. So it's a different aspect, isn't
it, the way he looks at them. The first had no justifying faith,
so their works were works of iniquity. The second were content
with externals of religion without the power working in their heart.
And these had no true love and compassion. That was their whole
problem. The first group trusted in the
works. and showed the absence of justifying faith. And these
show their absence of justifying faith by having no works of love. For justifying faith works by
love." The very instant a man looks to Christ to be saved,
his heart is filled with the love of God. It is shed abroad
in the heart. And where that love is there,
brothers and sisters, you cannot hide it. You can't hide it. You can't say, be warmed and
filled and give a person not those things which they need.
If a brother had need, and John said, we shut up our valves of
compassion against him, how dwells the love of God in him? Where
the love of God and the mercy of God is in the heart, a true
need cannot be neglected. Mercy reaches out to the hungry
with food. Love gives drink to the thirsty. Compassion takes a stranger in. Grace clothes the naked. And
goodness visits the sick and afflicted. And these are the
graces of the Holy Spirit in a man's heart. These fellows didn't do these
things. And you know why they didn't do them? They had no saving
faith. All the while they lived in this
world, they had no saving faith. I don't know what these were
dependent upon. It doesn't say, does it? It doesn't say what
they were dependent upon. But they had no love. They had
no compassion. They had no mercy. A man can
know himself to be a wheat A man can know himself to be a sheep
instead of a goat or tares. A man can know that the Lord
has planted him by these three things. Number one, this, is
he justified by faith in Christ alone? Is his acceptance with
the court of heaven utterly dependent upon the doing and dying of the
Lord Jesus Christ? Am I resting wholly and completely
upon Him who is my obedience and my righteousness? I tell
you, that's the beginning of the way, isn't it? That's the
beginning. And secondly, this, is He not
content with the externals of religion? But He has to know
the power of it in His heart. He can't be content with just
hearing of the gospel that it's saving. He must feel its power
in His heart. wooing Him and winning Him to
follow Christ no matter where He leads. If I can let Him go,
then that fills my heart with doubt that I am His. If I can
let Him go on and me not longing to follow Him and long for grace
to go with Him wherever He leads, that may prove that I do not
love Him. And thirdly, is the deep love
of God truly shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost? Can
I live my life in this world with disregard for the sufferings
and needs of others, especially God's people? Boy, there's plenty
of proof, isn't there? There's plenty of evidence. You
say, Bruce, Jesus Christ is my life. He's my acceptance. He's my righteousness. He's my
sanctification, my wisdom. My redemption. He's my everything.
My acceptance with God. That's wonderful. That's wonderful. And if that be so, you can't
be content with a powerless religion, can you? You can't. You've got to feel its power
in your heart. And I tell you what, you see a poor man in need,
you can't turn your back on him. Love goes out, especially to
God's children. The end is come. Lord bless His Word. Let's pray.