The Final Judgment

Bottom line

You know what you need to do, the question is whether or not you are going to do it.

Opening Line

How many people remember when they took their first driving test to get their license?

Introduction

I remember my first test. As I look back on that day, there wasn’t a hope I was going to get my license that day. First off, the instructor that I got had an unspoken policy that she failed all the male drivers on their first exam. So I was in trouble right out of the gate. Then we got started, I was driving down main street, Watrous, and the examiner told me to turn right. So I pulled up to the corner and signaled that I was turning. There was a lady walking across the street when I got to the corner, and she stopped to let me go through. I’m not supposed to go through; you’re supposed to let them cross. After a few minutes of awkwardly waiting, the examiner told me to finish my turn. Just so you know, that is an automatic fail. I’m pretty sure the woman crossing the street was in on it.

We continued the test, and we had gone on the highway and I had to turn back onto main street to finish the test. As I got to the corner, my youth pastor at the time was at the corner, and was so excited to see me that he honked the horn at me. He scared the examiner so bad that she grabbed the steering wheel thinking it was the oncoming traffic was honking. Examiner intervention, fail. Endangering both myself and other traffic, fail. Needless to say, I didn’t go back to Watrous to take the second test. Wasn’t going to take that chance.

Main Point

When it comes to getting your driver license, why is the final stage a road test? Why isn’t the written portion of the driver training enough to get the license?

Because there is a very big difference between knowing how something is supposed to be done, and actually being able to do it.

Why it matters

As we wrap up our look at Matthew 25, Jesus is going to lay out what the road test is going to look like. See the parables last week laid out the fact that you are going to be judged based on your ability to obey, and that is important to know. This is where the rubber meets the road. Jesus isn’t just going to encourage you as disciples to obey, he is going to lay out what obedience actually looks like.

And for this test, it is a pass fail kind of exam. You are either doing these things, or you’re not.

Scripture

So with that, we are in Matthew 25:31-33

Matthew 25:31–36 NLT

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

Care for those in need

So Jesus says on that day when he sits on his glorious throne, people are going to be separateed like sheep from goats. He says this to the sheep. Why? I’m going to show this morning that the idea of caring for those in need has been a fundamental teaching all throughout the bible.

Deuteronomy 15:7–11 NLT

“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.

Moses is giving the law to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the promised land, and he tells them that they are to care for the poor. In fact, Moses tells them that if they take for the poor, they will be blessed, and if they don’t they are guilty of sin. It’s not just a suggestion, it is a command

Isaiah 1:17 NLT

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

The reason that widows and orphans come up so much is that they have the greatest challenges before them. Women and children couldn’t work, thus they couldn’t provide for themselves. Without a husband and father, widows and orphans were in a tough spot. Thus, God tells the people to care for them.

Jeremiah 22:3 NLT

This is what the Lord says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!

The fact that mistreating foreigners, orphans and widows is listed beside murder speaks to the importance of caring for those in need in the kingdom of God.

James 1:27 NLT

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

Pure religion is both, not the emphasis of one over the other. As disciples of Jesus, we are to remain untatinted by the world AND care for the poor and those in need.

The one thing I always found interesting in Deuteronomy is the fact the God doesn’t just tell the Israelites to care for orphans and widows, but he actually gives practical instruction to go with it.

Deuteronomy 24:19–21 NLT

“When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.

The Israelites are told to not worry about getting every bit of grain, every olive, and every grape. In fact, they are told to leave some behind so that the poor can pick from it. When you read that, it brings greater clarity to what is happening in the story of Ruth.

Ruth 2:15–16 NLT

When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”

So Ruth was among the widows gathering everything that was missed in order to provide for herself and Naomi. Now Boaz added to it, making sure that Ruth didn’t have to work as hard as everyone else, but it was not like Ruth was doing something out of the ordinary.

Deuteronomy 14:28–29 NLT

“At the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that year’s harvest and store it in the nearest town. Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all your work.

So along with harvesting in such a way that the poor could pick from what was missed, a tithe was to be set aside to help meet the needs of the foreigners, widows and orphans.

Psalm 68:5 NLT

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy.

All of this culminates with the revealing of God’s heart. He is father to the fatherless and the defender of widows, who could not defend themselves.

blank

Caring for those that are in need is a key expression of our faith. It is something that God worked into the very law of the Old Testament, and Jesus is simply repeating and continuing to institute it’s importance.

I also want to suggest that it is not just the physical needs that you are to meet. For those who don’t know anyone that is imprisoned. What about someone trapped in a negative way of thinking? In the story of the demoniac, the man was trapped in demon possession and Jesus set him free. People can be imprisoned by addiction and sin. You don’t have to be in jail to be in prison.

Yes you are to feed those who are physically hungry, but there are many in our community that are spiritually thirsty. Jesus says that if you drink from the water that he offers, you will never thirst again. Jesus is the well of living water, and he meets your needs in ways nothing else can.

Jesus is talking primarily about meeting the physical needs, and you need to recognize those needs first and foremost. But when the physical needs are being met, it often opens the door for other needs to be met, and you need to be ready to meet those as well.

Matthew 25:37–40 NLT

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Made in the image of God

The king says that when you did it to the least of these brothers and sisters, you did it to me. This is a profoundly big thought that I don’t want you to miss, and it takes us all the way back to Genesis 1:27

Genesis 1:27 NLT

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 5:1 NLT

This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself.

Genesis 9:5–6 NLT

“And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.

James 3:7–9 NLT

People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.

In the beginning, man and woman were made in the image and likeness of God. When we say image, it is the same understanding as my daughters looking like me, or having my image. Unfortunately, when sin entered the world in Genesis 3, humanity lost the likeness of God and instead are born with a sin nature

blank

It is also why, you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and make him the Savior of your life, the Holy Spirit comes into to you and begins to sanctify you. The goal is to be more and more like Christ. Essentially, you are trying to return to the way were, being the image and likeness of God.

But this is why God loves humanity, and why, as disciples of Jesus, you are to love and care for other people. All of us bear the image of God and that creates an intrinsic value in you. As image bearers, you are sons and daughters of God. All of humanity as sons and daughters of God, just some don’t know it or are running away from that reality. This is why God declared creation very good after the formation of man. This is why Jesus willingly came and died on a cross to take away the sins of the world. This is why God loves humanity so much. When he looks at man, he sees his own image in you.

So the challenge is for you to see people the same way. It is too easy to see people as your enemy, as evil, as the problem. Jesus is reminding you that actually all of us have a sin issue that can only be healed by the blood of Jesus. But all of us are made in God’s image, and that sets you apart from all of creation, and it makes man worth caring for. Whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it to me. You love others because it doing so, you show love to the one who created all of us.

Matthew 25:41–46 NLT

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

Exodus 22:22–24 NLT

“You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

Proverbs 14:31 NLT

Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors him.

God takes it personally

Over the course of the series, I have tried to put the positive spin on what Jesus is saying, and it hasn’t been that hard. I’ve too often heard others, and preached it myself, in a way that over emphasized the negative. For me, it has always been the goal of injecting just enough fear to get people moving.

But even though I’ve intentionally focused on the positive, that you will share in God’s blessing and goodness if you do these things, I can’t ignore the very real warning that Jesus is giving. If you get this wrong, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for those fail in this area. In fact, Jesus says those in this category will experience eternal punishment.

Transition to Application

James 2:14–18 NLT

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

Main To Do

I am not saying that good deeds will save you. You are not saved by deeds, you are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and faith in him alone. However, the words of James and Jesus cannot be ignored, because faith that doesn’t lead to action is dead.

The scripture clearly shows that if you are a dsiciple of Jesus, it will be seen if things you do and care about, not how much you know.

So how can you put your faith into pracitce in light of everything we have looked at today? Are there physical needs around you that you can meet? At the beginning of the series I talked about loneliness being at an all time high. Is there someone in your circle of influence that needs companionship?

How can you show the love of God to someone who needs it this week? That is what it comes down to. In fact I would take it a step further. I want you to wake up every morning, and at some point in your time of prayer, ask God, who can I show your love to today?

Why it matters

Ask it everyday. If you start your day with that question, it will get you in the mindset to watch for opportunities. It invites God to create those opportunities for you. It tells God that you are willing to be used by him to make an impact on someone’s life today.

Never underestimate the power of a small gesture. Lives have been transformed by a well timed word of encouragement. One act of generosity could start a ripple effect of kindness throughout the day. It is not always about the size of the act, it is about the willingness. But, if you are willing to love people in the small things, it creates a readiness for when the bigger opportunities come.

Closing Line

Father, who can I show the love of Jesus to today?

Discussion Questions

What stood out from the message?

In what ways can we show love to the people around us who are in need, as a reflection of our faith?

What practices can we adopt to ensure that we are actively living out the command to care for those in need?

How does recognizing all people as image bearers of God change the way we approach compassion and service?

How can your understanding of 'faith without actions is dead' influence your daily decisions?

Think of a time when you felt compelled to help someone. What motivated you, and how can you replicate that feeling?

What practical steps can you take this week to reach out and show God’s love to others?