Be Different
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31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Series Theme - Living in Uncertain Times
Be Discerning
Be Dependable
Be Deliberate
Be Diligent
Today I want to speak about Being Different.
Jesus is teaching on the judgment of the Christian vs the judgment of the unsaved.
If these are the only scriptures that we know about these two judgments, we could come up with the wrong ideas about how to serve Christ and what it means to be different.
We could fall into the trap of the works centered service to Christ.
That is we can do enough and act good enough, then Jesus will be smiling at us when we stand before him.
And yes, the Bible does say that our works are judged. But that is not why Christ admits us into his kingdom or not.
In the disciples return from doing good things.
They are excited and praising God. And they say to Jesus, Lord, look what we’ve done, even the demons are subject to us in your name.
And Jesus responds. Well let’s get something straight here. First the enemy is defeated. He cannot stand before you.
And secondly, don’t rejoice in what you do, even in my name, but rejoice in who you are. Rejoice in the fact that your names are written in the lambs book of life.
So what Jesus says here is be excited about, and rejoice in the fact that you are a child of heaven.
And that’s what we see here today in these verses. The child of heaven is different than the child of this earth.
We see there is a difference in why they do things.
They do things because of Jesus.
My boys doing things simply because they are Alberts
They grew up in an Albert house
They were shaped by Albert customs and beliefs
They have always been around Alberts - they speak like Alberts, they act like Alberts, they live life like Alberts.
This is what the family of God should be like. The word Christian means Christ Like
The children of God should be like their family, like their father.
In fact, even Jesus said himself, that he only did things based on what he saw the father do
And he only spoke what he heard the father speak.
Sounds a lot like that doesn’t it? Jesus was saying that he had become, just like Dad. That he was a chip off the old block so to say.
We see here in our verses today, that their reasoning for doing these things was because they were Christ like. They knew what he expected
And they were seeking to serve him.
WE can understand the unrighteous on the left saying, well Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or naked and not take care of you?
Where and how did that happen, because we don’t remember it. And naturally they wouldn’t. They did not have a relationship with him.
But even these righteous say it. Lord, when did that happen? I don’t remember serving you or giving you my cloak or visiting you in prison. Jesus, when were you in prison.
And Jesus says, no, it was the way that you cared for those around you, who were needy. As you did it for them, you did it for me.
In fact, Jesus’ exact wording is when you did it to the lease of these - you did it to me.
What do we see here in this? I believe that we see that it wasn’t about doing anything for credit.
it was about doing things because that’s just what Jesus would have done.
WWJD
The unrighteous want the credit.
Hey, wait a minute Jesus, you can’t hold that against us. We didn’t see you. We didn’t know that it was you
The righteous were like, We weren’t necessarily looking for you there Jesus, we just knew that it needed to be done.
Bill Wilson - Sidewalk Sunday School - “I saw the Need”
Can I tell you church that if Jesus was here today, those are the place where he would be.
The places where people are hungry, thirsty, where the sick and naked were and where the imprisoned are.
Oh wait, Jesus is still on this earth. He is here, because he is in his church
We see there is a difference in where they do things.
In we read
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. 37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Luke 6:27-
Again we see comparison, don’t we
Don’t just love those who love you - because then you aren’t any different than them. Sinners love those who love them. My children love everyone
Don’t do good to just those who do good to you - even the world does that. Do good to those who seek your harm
Don’t give to get back
Verse 35 is the key
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
There is is again. Be this way, because that’s what your father is like
To sum all this up, the son/daughter of God goes beyond their comfort zone
The child of God goes where they are not wanted because it is where they are needed
The child of God cares for people who could never repay them, because they have already received everything they will ever need.
They don’t wait to be wanted, but they want to love and serve on the waiting.
This is what Jesus taught them to do.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
And he could teach that because that’s what he modeled
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
So I believe that as believers who are living for and following Christ, that there is no end to where we might find ourselves in bringing the gospel to our lost and dying world.
Jesus said go to the ends of the earth.
In another parable he said go into the highways and byways. That’s The alleyways and paths of the brokeness of life
So there is a difference in why we do things
a difference in where we do things
And a difference in who gets the glory.
We want to see Jesus lifted high
In that last verse that I read from Philippians, it said that every tongue should confess that Jesus christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father
Jesus wasn’t here to glorify himself. He was here to glorify the father.
Jesus continues to bring that glory to his father, by the way the church glorifies him.
When the son is glorified, the father is glorified.
Remember, he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. He is the Son the third part of the triune God.
When we glorify the Holy Spirit in our lives, God is glorified.
When we lift up Jesus in our lives, we lift up God.
If we go back to our verses in we read
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
When is Jesus glorified on this earth?
We know that he is glorified by his position at the right hand of the father
We know that he is glorified as the son of God
We know that the angels sing Holy Holy Holy 24/7
But all of that is in heaven. When is Jesus Glorified on the earth?
I believe that He is glorified on this earth as his people lift him up in praise
I believe that He is glorified on this earth as his people give testimony to His power in their lives
I believe that he is glorified on this earth as his people stand and are stable in times that are uncertain
I believe that He is glorified as we go and live life with a life that speaks of his power, and blessing and faithfulness
Who glorifies Jesus in your work place - You do
Who glorifies Jesus on your bowling team - You do
Who glorifies Jesus in your community, on your school board and in places of influence? YOU DO! The believer does, AMEN?
So what did you do this week to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ in your world?
If you can’t think about it, don’t worry, you have a new week starting tomorrow morning to see it happen.
Jesus is in his glory, he is standing at the judgment seat of the world in all of his glory
And he says to his believers, I am glorified in the way that you take care of the those that are perceived to be the least of these
I am glorified in the reason why you do what you do in your world
I am glorified in the places that you do what you do to the furthest corners of this world
I am glorified when you stand out different than the world around you. They see the difference and your lives point to me.
Let’s be different today church, because we are the children of God
Let’s be different today church because there is a different mandate upon our lives - love the unloved, to give never expecting anything in return, to care for the sick and shutins and the down and out
Let’s be different today church, because it’s not about getting the credit, but giving the credit to the one who did it all anyways.
Let’s be different because our savior and our God is different.
Let’s be different to shine our light for him.
AMEN?
Let’s Pray