THE FINAL JUDGEMENT
Matthew 25:31-46
THE SECOND COMING
V:31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne."
A. This is the prophecy of the long awaited second coming of
our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
1. In the first
coming, Jesus came as king, but in a poor man's clothing and
surroundings.
2. In the second
coming, Jesus will appear as the king, in all the royal attire.
a. He will
appear high and lifted up, with a host of angels at His side.
b. He will sit
on His throne.
c. His glory
will be shown.
B. The first time
Christ came to us, He came as the redeemer of mankind.
1. He came to be
our sacrifice for sin.
2. He came to
fulfill the prophecies concerning Himself and the Law.
3. With His death on the cross, the work of redemption
was complete.
C. In this second
coming of Christ, He will be the judge of the sins of
man and the
righteousness of the Father.
1. In the first coming, Christ was a
shepherd of His people.
2. In the second
coming, Christ will still be the shepherd.
THE SEPARATION; THE GOOD FROM THE BAD
V:32. " Before
him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."
A. It is God who
brings people together.
1. We all have a
common beginning, Adam and Eve.
2. From the first
family, there was unity in the body of God's creation.
3. In the first
family, the sin of man has it's origin.
4. In the first
family, division among man began.
B. Because of the sin
in the first family, Jesus became redeemer and judge.
1. Notice, there
are two classes of people in God's creations.
2. There are sheep
and goats.
a. There are
believers and non believers.
b. There are
the obedient and the non obedient.
C. Jesus, the great
shepherd, will separate the good from the bad.
1. It is by His
standards that men will be separated.
2. Jesus knows the
difference between the sheep and the goats.
3. Sheep are considered
the emblems of mildness, simple mindedness, patience,
usefulness, and
can easily be lead.
4. Goats are considered
quarrelsome, evil minded, ill scented, riotous, profane and
impure.
V:33. " And he will place the sheep on his right, but
the goats on the left."
A. The King of Kings
will do the separation of men and the placement of men to His
right or left prior
to His judgment.
1. The right hand represents God's approval,
success and endless blessings.
2. The left
hand represents rejection, God's disapproval and endless misery.
B. The right hand of
God represents His power and glory.
1. The left
hand of God represents His waft and damnation.
2. The sheep
will be judged for their righteousness.
1 Cor 3:13
a. The sheep
will receive a crown of life. Rev 2:10
3. The goats
are judged for their sinfulness.
a. The
goats will be judged and cast into the lake of fire.
THE BLESSINGS OF THE SAVED
V: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."
A. Those who accept
Jesus as Lord and Savior are automatically destined for the right
hand of God.
1. Those that are
on the right are the new creations in Christ Jesus.
2. Those on the
right are under the leadership of Christ.
3. Those on the
right make up the body of Christ.
4. Those on the
right are the Church of Jesus Christ.
B. Those on the right
were predestine to be in Christ before the foundation of the world.
1. Those on the
right are blessed by God.
2. It is by the
grace of God that we are placed on the right hand of Jesus.
a. The Word says, that there is none
righteous, no not one.
b. We are
saved by Grace and not by works.
c. We are
save by Jesus and nothing of ourselves.
3. Since the
Kingdom was prepared for us before the foundation of the earth,
we have no
part in our salvation.
A GOOD NEIGHBOR
V:35-36. " 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, 36 I was
naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and
you came to me."
A. Jesus gave us the compassionate nature of His sheep.
1. Those who love
the Lord, return the favors that God gave them to others in need.
2. All of us probably
do some of this some of the time, but
not all of this all the
time.
a. God
blesses that which we do for others out of love and obedience.
B. The sheep are
those who can be trained to do what is needed when called upon.
1. God gives each
of us, His sheep, gifts and talents to treat our neighbors with
love and
respect.
2. Food and water are the basic resources we
can use to show kindness.
3. Some have the
gift to encourage others. Some have the talent to look at
at another
person and know they need a word of encouragement.
a. Encouraging
others at the right time with a word from God can be a
tremendous
help.
b. There are
times when all people need is your time.
4. You can easily
see a person who is without the proper clothing and
immediately
know their need.
a. It takes a person with love in their
hearts to see and respond to the needs of
others on
a regular basis.
b. God expects
consistence from believers, because He consistently supplies
our needs
without any cost to us.
5. It is our job to visit each other when their
is sickness in the family.
a. We are
commanded to come to the aid of the sick and pray for them.
b. We are to
anoint them with the Holy Spirit and pray that their sins are
forgiven.
c. God
promises that the faith of believers will heal the sick.
6. The time when a
person is cut off from family and friends is a time of reflections.
a. When believers visit those in jail with
a Word from the Lord, they can be the
catalyst for
change.
b.
Imprisonment is not the time to give up, but the time to give into the will of
the Father.
c. The
missionary work in the prisons can affect many lives.
V:37. " Then the
righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed
you, or thirsty and give you drink?"
A. Jesus was not
speaking about Himself, but those that belong to Him.
1. Jesus is
concerned about all who profess Him as Lord and Savior.
2. Jesus is also
concerned about all those who have been predestined for the body
of Christ,
but have not yet been called out of the world.
3.Jesus is concerned about our compassion
for others whether they are in the body of
Christ or not.
B. We will never see
the creator of everything in need of anything.
1. The only thing
Christ is in need of, is our worship, which gives Him glory.
2. What we do for
others in Jesus name gives Him glory.
V:38-39 " And
when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe
you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison
and visit you?"
A. God has given us
the talents and the resources to do here on earth what He could
easily do from
heaven.
1. God blessed
us to be His ambassadors on earth.
2. We were all
strangers to the common wealth of heaven until Jesus became
our
intercessor at the right hand of the Father.
3. We were all
naked before the righteousness of God until we were covered by the
blood of
Jesus.
4. We were all sin
sick until we were drawn to Jesus by the Father.
5. We were all
imprisoned by our sins, until we were liberated by Jesus.
B. Because of what
Jesus has done for us, we should see others as His children and do
what we can to
draw them to Him.
THE LOVE OF JESUS
V:40. " And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to
you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
A. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior measures our love for
Him by what we do for
others in His
name.
1. Our time on
earth has been allotted to us to seek the kingdom
of God
righteousness.
2. Every need of
others is an opportunity for us to express our love for God through
kindness to
them.
B. The Lord considers
all men and women our brothers and sisters in Christ.
1. The least of
these could be the very young or the worst criminal.
2. The least of
these are those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus.
3. When one sinner
repents, angels in heaven rejoice.
THE ETERNAL DAMNATION
V:41. "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart
from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels."
A. Our time on earth is the time to get to know Christ and
His righteousness.
1. No one knows
the time when Christ will return.
2. No one knows
the time of his own death.
3. The Word says,
Christ will return as a thief in the night.
B. Our time on earth
is the time to express our faith in Jesus Christ.
1. The evidence
of our faith shows up in our love for our neighbors.
2. We position
ourselves on the left or the right of Jesus by what we do on earth.
3. Christ will
judge the living and the dead after His second coming.
a. He will place
the righteous on His right hand.
b. He will
place the unrighteous on His left hand.
4. Those on the
right will receive eternal blessings.
5. Those on the
left will receive eternal damnation.
6. Those on the
right will have accepted Christ as their personal Savior.
7. Those on the
left will have rejected Christ.
C. Those on the right
hand of Christ, have heaven as their final eternal destination.
1. Those on the
left hand of Christ, will have the fiery hell as their final destination.
2. Hell was not
prepared for believers, but for the devil and his demons.
V:42-43 " 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 welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me,
sick and in prison and you did not visit me."
A. The evidence of a lack of faith in Jesus shows up in a
lack of compassion for others in
need.
1. The evidence of
a lack of faith shows up in selfish behavior in the face of the
unselfish
blessings of God.
2. The evidence of a
lack of faith shows up when one takes credit for what God has
done in their
lives.
B. The evidence of a lack of faith shows up in a lack of any
regards for the needs of
others.
THE RESPONSE OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS
V:44-45. " Then
they also will answer, 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, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one
of the least of these, you did not do it to me."
A. The ones who never show concern for the welfare of others
in need, are indicating that
their
destination is hell.
1. If you don't
know Christ before you depart this earth, you will not have a chance to
know Him at the day of judgment of all
people.
2. God has given us
a chance to be responsible for our destination of heaven or hell.
B. It is irresponsible behavior to take Christ for granted.
1. It is
irresponsible behavior to assume that when you are dead you are done.
2. It is the trick
of the devil for anyone to ignore the evidence of the glory of God
presence in
their daily lives.
THE FINAL DESTINATION
V:46. " And these will go away into eternal punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life."
A. There is life after death.
1. There is a
heaven and there is a hell.
2. To not believe
in God is to believe in hell.
B. The wages of sin is eternal separation from God.
1. But the gift of
God is the eternal presence with the Father in heaven.
2. We are all
responsible for the choices we make in this life.
3. We all will be
judged by our choice for Jesus or our choice to reject Jesus.
HEAVEN OR HELL, IT IS YOUR CHOICE
Rev. M. Mitchell, Asst Pastor of GMBC.
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