Sermon for November 22, 2020 17 Minutes
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 25:31-46
Matthew 25:31-46
This morning I'll be reading Matthew chapter 25 verses 31 through 46.
And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
Matthew 25:31-46
In these verses,,, Jesus is warning that God will separate the true believer's from pretenders and unbelievers. Our obedience to the commands of Jesus will show "whether",,, we “are” who we proclaim to be.
Matthew 25:31–46 (HCSB)
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the 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, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. 34 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 foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’ 40 “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ 41 Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take Me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of Me.’ 44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’ 45 “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.
-----------------------------------------------------------
As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving this coming week,,, I can't help but think that these words really should mean something to us as Christians today.
We have so much to be thankful for in this country that sometimes we lose sight of what really matters until it's in danger of being taken away from us!
This covid pandemic is in danger of changing things for us again as our number of infections begin to go back up.
Hopefully after looking at these verses,,, they will help us see what is really important as we continue our walk with God this week.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verse 31 says: 31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
If you remember from the verses before this,,, Jesus was talking to the disciples about His return and how they need to be prepared.
The three parables that Jesus told them,,, were supposed to help the disciples see the importance of being prepared and this is information that we need,,, so that we can be prepared as well.
Because,,, once this event takes place,,, it will be too late to do anything else as we see in the three parables Jesus used as examples,,, in the 1st parable - we learn that we must be watchful and prepared,,, because we don't know the hour or the day,,, in the 2nd parable - we must be prepared at all times because,,, like the 5 foolish bridesmaids discovered,,, there won't be time to return and get ready when the groom arrives,,, and in the 3rd parable - we must be using whatever talents God has given us right this minute because we will have to give an accounting of what we have done with the abilities that God has given us,,, and the way that we should be using them to help others.
So now that He has given this information,,, we are told in these verses,,, what will happen when this event takes place.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verses 32 and 33 say: 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.
Jesus is apparently using "nations" as a way of saying that all will come before Him on that day.
John Wesley's Commentary says that sheep were thought of as an example of a good animal at that time,,, and goats were used as an example of a bad animal.
Maybe that's why that Jesus used sheep and goats to describe what will happen.
He also says that the right hand is the place of honor and the left hand is the place of dishonor.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verses 34 through 39 say:
34 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 foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’
Notice in verse 34,,, where it says: the King will say to those on His right,
Remember that the place of honor is on the right hand,,, and that's where they are placed.
And,,, they are placed there even though they may not understand how or why they are receiving this honor.
Which is why this information is included here.
My Bible Knowledge Commentary says that the reason so many will ask when they could have done these things to Jesus on that day is because Jesus didn't live during their lifetime,,, while at the same time,,, even during Jesus' time on earth,,, there were many that did these things for others without any thought of it being credited to them as being done for Jesus.
They did it because it was in their heart to do so,,, not for acknowledgement or glory,,, which is why they ask in response to this,,, and Jesus gives them the answer in the next verse.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verse 40 says: 40 “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
This is the reason that we do what we can for others.
Once we become Christians,,, it's just a part of what we do,,, and it's not something that we really think about.
But,,, as these scriptures show,,, it becomes very important!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verses 41 through 44 say: 41 Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take Me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of Me.’44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’
Just as the righteous didn't know when or how they did any of the things that Jesus congratulated them for,,, the ones that were on the left had no idea when they had failed to do any of the things that He condemned them for.
As it was so easy for the Christians to do these things without thinking of them,,, it was just as easy for the condemned to ignore the needs of others.
And it's this danger that Jesus wants us to realize before it's too late.
If we realize that we aren't living our life the way that we should,,, then we still have time to change,,, but if we wait too late,,, then we run the risk of hearing the words in the next two verses.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verses 45 and 46 say: 45 “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
I hope that everyone pays attention to the last verse!
If you don't remember anything else from today's scripture,,, I pray that you see what "can" happen if the right choices aren't made.
And if you are hearing these words today and there is any doubt about your choices,,, you have a chance to make things right and live the way that God intended for you to live all along.
And that begins by acknowledging that you need Jesus as your Savior,,, because that's the key to living the life that we all should be living.
If you have given your life to Christ and you feel like you have gotten further from the Lord than you need to be,,, again,,, today is your chance to make things right with God.
Today is the day,,, because,,, we aren't promised tomorrow,,, and we don't know the hour or the day when Jesus will come.
And if you are living the kind of life that you are supposed to be living,,, continue to do the things that will help you to hear the words of Jesus from verse 34,,, 34 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 foundation of the world.
We don't do these things to earn our way into heaven,,, but we do them because of Jesus Christ,,, and the change that has become such a part of our life,,, that we don't realize that we are doing these things.
With the love of Jesus in our hearts and the thankfulness that we have for all that He's done for us,,, it just comes naturally to help others without thinking about it.
-----------------------------------------------------------
That's why,,, as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday,,, that we remember these verses and the way that Jesus helps us each day.
Remember that it's the feeling that we get from our involvement in our community that helps us so much.
And it's our coming together as a church family that makes it all possible,,, and that's what this pandemic is trying to take away from us.
Remember this during your Thanksgiving blessings and thank God for the chance to come together in our church each week because we take so many things for granted.
And we need to remember all the things that we have to be thankful for this thanksgiving,,, even after all that we have been through,,, these last several months!
-----------------------------------------------------------