Loving the Brothers

Call to Worship: Psalm 47:1-2 // Prayer

Adoration: God, our Father and Creator, we see in the wild waves of the ocean a symbol our difficulties in this life; yet we see that you said to them, “This far you may come and no farther; here is where you proud waves halt.” And so we know that also your sovereign hand is on our lives to guard and keep us, and to defend and preserve us. Lord God, who can describe the motion of rain clouds? The flash of lightning? The noise of thunder? The shining stars above, that never depart from your command, but always rise according to the signs and seasons you’ve appointed? Who can describe the wisdom of everything you’ve done to care for your creatures, and even for your people?

Confession: And yet you have not only given us life and breath, but also the promise of eternal life in Christ. And knowing that promise, then, we bring to you a confession of our own faithlessness and wavering. We confess to you, our Father, that we have been foolish instead of wise; quick-tempered instead of patient; selfish instead of loving. For these things and more, Father, we ask your forgiveness, for we have sinned against you.

Thanksgiving: Yet we know that you are the reviver of the dead, and the forgiver of sinners, through Jesus Christ who is our hope. And so we rejoice in your presence in the mercy you have shown to us!

Supp: And we ask that you would use the greatness of the gospel of mercy to bind our hearts together as a congregation, increasing the sweetness of our fellowship in Christ, that we might together live out our unity in the bond of peace; and we beg you in the same way to protect us from divisiveness, that the name of your Son might be honored through how we lives our lives together // and we lift up to you Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Aloha: please, we ask, glorify your holy name among them as they worship this morning, and so transform them from glory to glory, to love you and to share your gospel in the community // and we lift up to you the church in Israel and the surrounding region: we ask that this fragile peace in that area might be sustained; that their might be a lasting end to conflict there; and that both in Israel and the surrounding nations your gospel might go forward with power and might that those who dwell in deep darkness might see the light of your grace, and that your church among the Israelis and the Arabs would be empowered by your Spirit to speak this grace to them // and now, as I preach your Word, please give me help and power, and please use your Word in our hearts to do your work, for our good and for the honor of your holy name...

Announcements

Potluck + congregational meeting next Sunday: I know we just had one! But that’s just kind of how the schedule came together for these few months. And of course, the potluck is for everyone. The the congregational meeting, after the potluck, will be limited to members as we do some important family business.

Next Sunday, we’ll also be taking a brief break from Matthew for a series on the Gospel & True Conversion.

And that also means that our Thursday night bible study will shift: we’ll shift to a study of 1 Kings, focused on how to read & apply OT stories in a wise and helpful way in our lives. If you’ve ever struggled with how OT history applies to your life, I highly encourage you to come! And just as a bonus—there’s no homework for this study!

Benediction

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 ESV

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

[680]

Intro

“I like Jesus, but not the church.”

That’s a common line among modern, non-Christian folks. “I like Jesus, but I don’t like the church.”

And we bristle at it, of course, because we are the church. We don’t like having shade thrown on us like that.

But we would do well to ask—“Do we have a similar problem?”

Here’s what I mean: they say they don’t like the church.

But do you love the church? And if you say that you do, does your life actually bear that out?

And to be clear: the word “church” doesn’t mean a building or a hierarchy of leaders or an organization of ministry professionals. It means the people of God. Do you love God’s people? Would someone who looked into your life from the outside, and studied you, actually come to the conclusion that you love the church?

And now, here we are, looking at this the last section of Jesus’ sermon about his own return at the end of the age—about when he will judge the nations—and this is the very question he presses on us: Do you love his people?

And he presses this question for a very specific reason: as we saw last week, he wants to expose our hearts to us, so that we can know if we are ready for his return, and if we find out that we are not, so that we have the chance to repent and believe the gospel.

Or to put it another way, Jesus presses this question to make a cut on our hearts like a skilled surgeon, to expose what is actually there inside, so that we can have the opportunity to act on what we see—the opportunity to make sure that our hearts are ready for his return.

How do you treat his people?

And so this is a heavy question, for sure. For most of us, it’s going to cut in some uncomfortable places. And toward the end of the sermon, I do want to point us toward some gospel comfort and hope as well. But before we go there, we need walk through this passage and to let it confront our hearts directly so that it can have the effect Jesus meant for it: to make us ready for his return. So...

How do you treat Jesus’ people? And what does that mean for your eternity?

The King’s Return to Judge

Well, the stage is set for this question in verse 31 with a description of just how majestic Jesus’ return will be. It says:

Matthew 25:31 ESV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

And of course, the ‘Son of Man’ in this verse is Jesus. But it’s worth noting that this verse is purposefully imitating a line from the OT, from Zechariah 14:5, which says, “Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.” And the point of this imitation is to emphasize the majesty and the weightiness of the judgement.

Jesus is not just the greatest human king, though he is that. But he is also the Divine King. The angels who come with him at his return may showcase his glory in a way, but he doesn’t need them. He is the Creator-God. His power is limitless and total. The world will meet its maker.

And that means that this judgement will be completely unescapable. Every person who has ever lived will have to face it.

And so verse 32 tells us that every nation will be gathered together before his throne.

Think about that for a moment. Do you know what won’t matter on that day? Your ethnic origin. The color of your skin. The nation you called home. The tribe of people you identified with. And then add whatever you like to that list...

It will all be utterly unimportant.

Why? Because, in the end, when you are facing Christ, there will be only two kinds of people.

And we see that here in verses 32 and 33, where it says:

Matthew 25:32–33 ESV

and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

Do you see that? All humanity divided into two groups… and two groups only.

Now in that culture, the right-hand side of a throne was considered a place of honor.

And in the picture Jesus is painting here, that’s where one of these two kinds of person ends up. That’s where the sheep end up.

But the other side—the left-hand side—in that culture could be considered either a place of lesser honor, or of dishonor. And so the other of these two kinds of people is divided out to the left-hand side. And that’s already an ominous thing.

But if we step back to see where we’re at, very simply, it’s this: all humanity has been divided into two groups for judgement.

Those who Loved Summoned to the Kingdom

And judgement comes first to those on the right. Jesus says to them—verse 34:

Matthew 25:34 ESV

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’

So, those on the right are invited to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

And imagine that moment: to have the King of the Universe look at you and describe you as ‘blessed by the eternal Father’—saying to you, essentially, that’s the most fundamental reality about who you are. Blessed with an immeasurable blessing by the God of all blessedness, life, beauty, and glory.

And then, after addressing you in that way, he summons you to claim your inheritance: a Kingdom which God has been preparing for you from the day the world was first made.

But then Jesus explains what marks these folks as part of this first group of people—this group that is blessed by the Father. He says, beginning in verse 35:

Matthew 25:35–36 ESV

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

And you hear that list, and you think, “That’s incredible. What incredible people these folks in this blessed group are.”

“But I’m a little disturbed. Because when will I ever have a chance to minister to Jesus in that way?”

Well, apparently, this group of folks is just as mystified. Look at verse 37:

Matthew 25:37–39 ESV

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

When indeed? Listen to the Divine King’s answer in verse 40:

Matthew 25:40 ESV

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

You can imagine the joyful silence of those folks as they took that answer in.

And it needs to be said, Jesus’ answer here isn’t just exaggeration to make a point, or flowery language of some kind. It’s a beautiful, but plain fact. You can take it to the bank. If you show love to a fellow believer, you are showing love to Jesus himself.

How does it work?

To be a believer is to part of the church. And the church is the bride of Christ.

And the bride of Christ has a real union with her husband. She is his body.

And so, if you serve her, you serve him. If you show her kindness—you’ve directly shown kindness to Jesus himself.

And by the way, this passage is often used to talk about serving the poor in general. That’s not what it’s about. Serving the poor is an important thing in the Bible. But the language in verse 40 is, “one of the least of these, my brothers.” And the language of “brothers” means believers specifically.

Or to put it another way, love for all human beings is right and good—Jesus taught it himself in passages such as Matthew 5:44. But there’s a special kind of love that God’s people have for one another. As Psalm 16:3 says:

Psalm 16:3 ESV

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

And when you delight in your fellow believers... you are showing love to Christ himself.

Now, this might bring up a host of issues for you. What about believers who have hurt me in the past? Or, what if I don’t see obvious opportunities in my life to serve fellow believers in the way that’s described here? In a little bit, I do want to try to give you some wisdom for sorting through those kinds of questions.

But here’s what we have in this passage so far: Those who love Jesus’ people love Jesus, and it is them who will be welcomed into the kingdom at the final judgement.

Those who Ignored Banished to the Fire

But now comes the second half of the judgement. The King turns to address the other kind of people—the ones on his left. And he gives them the exact opposite pronouncement:

Matthew 25:41 ESV

‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’

And those are heavy words.

It is too much to imagine—having the king of the universe pronounce you eternally cursed, and then banish you into eternal judgement.

But why were they condemned? Now, you might have expected that if one group was welcomed into the kingdom as those who loved Christ’s people, the other group would be condemned for hating Christ’s people.

But that’s not the contrast that this passage gives us.

It’s not loved vs. hated—it’s loved vs. ignored; loved vs. didn’t care about God’s people.

If you look in verses 42 through 44, it’s the same list of needs. The same list of opportunities to show love to God’s people. But in this case, the opportunities were ignored, passed over—maybe unrecognized.

Serve the King’s bride, and you’ve served the king himself. Ignore the king’s bride, and what? You’ve despised the king himself. And so at the end of the day, there is no room for, “I like Jesus, but not the church.” There’s no room for that either out in the world, or among us, who call ourselves Christians. If you love Jesus, then you love what he loves. And he loves his bride. If you love him, then you love his people.

But those who ignore his people, despise him. They despise the sovereign king of the universe. And so, they will be cursed and banished forever at his returned.

Synthesis: What’s the Point?

Now, just as with the previous passage—the parable of the talents—you might read this one and wonder if Jesus is teaching salvation by works. Is he saying that you have to show a certain amount of love toward other believers in order to qualify for the kingdom?

Well the basic answer is, no. And if you see it that way, you’re getting the locomotive and the caboose mixed up. What we have here is not external actions of love earning God’s kingdom, but external actions cluing us into the internal workings of the heart

It’s not about whether you did enough things to earn the kingdom. Rather, it’s about whether or not you belong to Jesus. Anyone can claim to love Jesus. Anyone can claim to belong to him. But if it’s just a claim, Jesus will call your bluff: “So then, did you love my bride?”

Or to put it another way, salvation is given freely by God. He freely forgives sinners and destines them for glory, and he does so based on the death of his Son in their place. But those who come to him for forgiveness also then have transformed hearts that love him.

So on the one hand, believing the gospel saves you, period. And your good works add nothing to that salvation. But on the other hand, when God saves you he also renovates your heart by his Spirit, changing you to love him. And if you love him, you’ll love his people.

And so, in the end, the question of whether or not you love his people answers the question of whether or not you genuinely turned to Christ in the first place.

And so, in that way, how you treat Jesus’ people reveals where you’ll spend eternity.

Application and Conclusion

Now, the biggest problem with everything I just said is that it’s true, but it’s all very theoretical.

How does all of this actually work itself out where the rubber meets the road? How does it apply to our ordinary lives that God has given us, week in and week out?

Well imagine, for a moment, the original audience that Matthew wrote this gospel for—1st century Christians. Imagine them there, outcasts of Roman society, gathered together in a house or a villa to worship God, and one of the elders of the congregation brings out the scroll of Matthew’s Gospel, and starts to read from this passage.

When they heard the words “the least of these, my brothers”—that phrase from verse 40—who would that bring to mind for them? They would have simply looked to the right and to the left. They would have simply looked at the brothers and sisters around them—the other members of their own congregation.

The church in our day can be so commercialized and individualistic that it’s easy for us to miss this fact. Don’t like the church you’re in? Just skip to another you’re more comfortable with. And so churches today have begun to operate more like spiritual businesses catering to the tastes of individual customers than communities covenanted together in the love of Christ.

But biblically speaking, if you go to the NT and ask, “What’s the place, where I’ll normally be showing love to God’s people?” The resounding answer is: “Within your own local church.”

Now, don’t mistake what I’m saying—this love certainly applies beyond your own church as well. It must! And the Bible itself illustrates this. For example, in 2 Timothy chapter 1, Paul writes about how he was imprisoned in Rome and Onesiphorus visited him there many times at his own risk, to give encouragement and supplies to Paul. Onesiphorus wasn’t part of Paul’s congregation. But they were brothers in Christ. So this love applies to any believer you meet anywhere.

[traveling missionaries; refugees from persecution… definitely applies outside of your own congregation.]

And yet, for each of us, most of the chances we will have to show love to God’s people will come to us in our own local church. And that’s because God designed the Christian life to work that way.

In God’s design, the universal church (that’s all believers across time and space) manifests itself in real time as local churches. That’s why nearly all of the NT letters were written either to local churches or to local church leaders.

By God’s design, the Christian life was made to be lived out in expressed commitment to a particular, local group of believers who gather regularly as a church. That’s why most of the one-another commands it the NT assume that you are committed to the life of a local church.

And so, while the word ‘church’ is not in this passage, the local church is the place where the rest of the NT mostly plays out this idea. And so for us to appreciate the weight of what Jesus is saying here, and to apply it to ourselves, we have to grapple with that.

It would be so easy to imagine in your mind that you’d commit dramatic acts of love for believers if only the opportunity presented itself to you—while at the same time holding the local church at arm’s length. Or, maybe technically being quite involved in a church, but without a heart of love toward those around you. Which means that even a pastor can be guilty of this!

So then, the majority of this love for the least of these, Christ’s brothers is meant to be played out in a local church.

So with that in mind, let’s fill out the picture for ourselves. What does this love look like in practice for us?

It looks like noticing and helping with each other’s needs.

It looks like visiting the sick—that’s important for pastors, yes. But actually, it’s a ministry for everyone. Consider visiting brothers and sisters while they’re hospitalized or having a rough time with health at home. Pray with them. Wash dishes for them. Bring a meal over.

It looks like risking yourself for fellow believers. Is a believer on the job being heckled for his or her faith? Throw in your lot. I’ll never forget when I was surrounded by classmates giving me a hard time for my faith at the beginning of my freshman year in college. Then the guy from across the hall stuck his head in the room where we were and voiced his agreement with me. We’re close friends to this day.

And how about the members of your church who drive you crazy? They’re the ones most difficult to love—which means it counts the most when you love them. And that way of thinking about it creates a kind of unity—imperfect though it may be—that the world seems to be always looking for, but can never find.

So that’s it. This idea of loving God’s people, when you trace it out across the rest of the NT and then apply it to our situation today, includes every believer that you might meet anywhere, but is focused on your relationships within your local church.. The local church is where most of the muscle gets put on the bones of this.

But as I said at the beginning, this truth about loving God’s people probably cut most of us in some uncomfortable places:

Perhaps you’re realizing that there’s a bitterness or a lovelessness or an indifference in your heart toward your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Or, maybe you’re thinking about years that you spent away from the local church—you can’t love the bride of Christ from a distance.

Or maybe you know that you do love God’s people, but you’re seeing that it’s mixed. There’s love, but it’s mixed with apathy or resentment or a lack of real rootedness in your church. In one way or another, you’ve come face to face with a lack of love in your own heart. And probably, most of us are in that category.

So what do we do? What do we do with the fact that Jesus will divide people out at the end of the age based on how they’ve treated his people? That those who ignored his people will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven?

First, for false Christians, a passage like this can be the very thing that brings you to true salvation. It can show you the ugliness of your attitude toward Christ by highlighting something more tangible—your treatment of Christ’s people. And that’s a painful thing to see. But it is meant to direct your heart to Christ to seek his mercy—and Christ’s mercy is given freely and instantly to those who confess. It’s not that you need to get better at loving his people. It’s that you need his forgiveness. And once you’ve received his forgiveness, you’ll find yourself beginning to love his people as well as a result.

But second, for genuine Christians who recognize a lack of love in our hearts, this warning is meant to correct you. It’s meant to guide you back to the path of Christ and thus to keep you safe for glory. And it’s all of us, if we’re honest, that will see a lack of love for the church when we look inward. Fear not, brothers and sisters: turn to the Father and confess your sin. The grace of God in Christ is far more than enough to cover it, and to bring you safely home.

And third, warnings like this help us to think about those in our lives who may still need to hear the gospel from us, because even if they claim Christ’s name, they don’t give evidence of loving his people.

So then, if you take all of this and go again to the opening scene of the passage, with every nation gathered before Jesus’ throne to be judged, what does all of it say to us? If you’ve named Jesus as your king, it presses this question on you: do you love him, and so, do you love his people? It is a sobering question, because it speaks to eternal destinies. But it is given in grace so that we might be ready when he comes.

Notice the two words that Jesus chose to end his sermon: “eternal life.” Eternal life is what you stand to gain. And if you’ve believed the gospel, eternal life is what you have. And you may not love God’s people perfectly, but you do love them genuinely, and you desire to love them more. And even that desire is a gift, given to you by God’s grace.

Brothers and sisters, let us press on to love the bride of Christ with more faithfulness, self-sacrifice, and affection as each week and month and year go by. And let us long for the day that our love for one another becomes perfect in the presence of our Savior.