Separating Sheep from Goats, #1 (Mat. 25:31-46)

Introduction: The Sobering Reality of Christ's Return and Final Judgment

0:01 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, February 3rd, 2002, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 Now may I urge you to turn with me in your own Bibles to the portion to which I've just made reference, Matthew chapter 25.

0:25 I shall read verses 31 to the end of the chapter.

0:32 Matthew 25 at verse 31. But when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all the nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

1:08 Then he shall say, Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.

1:32 Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was sick, and you visited me.

1:39 I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you? Or a thirst, and give you drink?

1:52 And when did we see you a stranger, and take you in? Or naked, and clothed you? And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come unto you? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Truly I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it unto one of these my brethren, even the least, you did it unto me.

2:22 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink.

2:43 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. Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto you?

3:08 Then shall he answer them, saying, Truly I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did not do it unto one of these least, you did it not unto me. And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

3:35 Let us cry to God that God, by the Holy Spirit, would cause us to taste the powers of the age to come as we come to the Lord. We come to this most sobering portion of the word of God.

3:52 Our Father, you know the reluctance of my own heart to take up a passage such as this, lest by my own lack of felt terror, I misrepresent the sobriety of the issues spoken by our Lord Jesus. We acknowledge that we are unearthed and that we are an earth-bound, sense-bound people, but that your Holy Spirit is able to cause us to taste and see the issues of the age to come. And we pray that your word will become a living, powerful word in this place this morning.

4:38 We ask you, Lord Jesus, be present to stamp upon every heart the great realities of this portion. Amen. We plead for our good and for your name's sake. Amen.

The Context of Christ's Return in New Testament Belief

4:55 My wife and I are deeply grateful for the steady stream of cards, of notes, of letters, of flowers, and of tastefully prepared meals which continue to come to us as an affirmation of your love and your concern for us, particularly in the ongoing trials with my wife's physical condition. In one such letter that arrived in the mail two weeks ago contained the following poem entitled Quite Suddenly, written by H.A. Ironside,

5:37 a Bible teacher and commentator of another generation. And I want to read it in your hearing as we return this morning to our series of studies on The Return of Christ in New Testament Belief and Experience. It's entitled Quite Suddenly, Quite Suddenly. Quite suddenly, it may at the turning of a lane where I stand to watch a skylark soar from out the swelling grain, that the trump of God shall thrill me with its call so loud and clear, and I'm called away to meet him whom of all I hold most dear.

6:21 Quite suddenly, it may be in his house as I bend my knee that the kingly voice longed for comes at last to summon me and the fellowship of earth life that has seemed so passing sweet proves nothing but the shadow of our meeting round his feet. Quite suddenly, it may be as I lie in a dreamless sleep God's gift to many a sorrowing heart with no more tears to weep that a call to God is heard. That a call shall break my slumber and a voice sound in my ear. Rise up, my love, and come away.

7:05 Behold, the bridegroom's here.

7:10 That poem captures the essence of the teaching of our Lord Jesus that in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes. Or in the language of the parable of the ten virgins, the cry will go forth, Behold, the bridegroom comes. And we're now coming toward the end of a series of 33 messages on this theme of the return of Christ in New Testament belief and experience. And in doing so, the focus of our attention today is going to be placed upon the passage that I've read in your hearing.

7:51 I want to say just a word about its place in this section of the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 24, commonly called the Olivet Discourse, as you've been reminded in recent weeks, contains the teaching of our Lord focusing on two great events in the history of redemption. One is the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem, which occurred in 70 A.D.

8:16 and forever dismantled the entire Levitical system. There is no more priesthood, temple, or sacrifice as the one who is the temple and who is the Lord. But it is God's final sacrifice has come and has validated His identity and accomplished His work, sent forth the Holy Spirit, and now we live in that age awaiting the consummation at His coming. But in that chapter, we have not only prophetic words concerning the destruction of the temple and of the city of Jerusalem, but also concerning the second coming of our Lord Jesus in glory and power at the end of the year.

8:58 At the end of the age. Our Lord then follows that instruction with three parables, each of which highlights and underscores some practical spiritual duty or attitude which is to mark His disciples in the light of His second coming. In Matthew 24, 45-51, we have the parable of the two servants, which as we saw in our study together, underscores the duty of life living before Christ in the diligent performance of His revealed will for us as much as if He never went away and in such a way that we would want to be living were He to return

9:42 and find us engaged in whatever we are doing. And then in Matthew 25, 1-13, the parable of the ten virgins, which underscores the necessity of living in watchful readiness to the Lord God. To go forth and meet the bridegroom at His coming. The great truth of that parable being no preparation is possible when He comes.

10:09 If we are to go in with Him to the marriage feast, His coming must find us prepared. And then in Matthew 25, 14-30, the parable of the talents, our Lord underscores the responsibility of being diligent and faithful in the exercise of His will. Of the stewardship of our own peculiar gifts and opportunities, knowing that when He returns He will call us to account with respect to how we administered that stewardship. Then is the culmination and capstone upon all this instruction about His coming.

The Stakes of the Final Judgment: Eternal Punishment or Eternal Life

10:50 The bulk of Matthew 24, the parable of the two servants, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, our Lord drops all parabolic instruction and gives to us what I have read in your hearing. This very sobering and vivid description of the final judgment, a judgment initiated by and conducted in connection with our Lord's second coming. And as we take up the passage, I'm concerned that each and every one of us present this morning, give focused attention to this sobering portion of the Word of God

11:33 and to try to draw you in, young and old alike, children, teenagers, adults. I want you to fasten your minds with me for just a moment upon the opening and closing words of this paragraph. The paragraph begins with our Lord saying, but when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, when the Son of Man shall come, the passage has to do with something that will unfold when the Son of Man shall come. But the passage ends with these words, verse 46, and these shall go away.

12:15 When the Son of Man comes, these shall go away. And in between we will see that those words point to every single one of us. When the Son of Man comes, then all who are gathered before Him will be sent away. Some shall go away into eternal punishment, and some shall go away into the consummate blessings of eternal life.

12:48 These are the issues at stake this morning. When the Son of Man comes, you shall go away. I'll, shall go away. And you and I will go away either into eternal punishment and all that Scripture packs into those horrible, frightening words, eternal punishment, or into all the indescribable bliss and glory packed into the words eternal life.

13:26 And it is these realities that not only throb through this passage, but remembering that the chapter divisions are not inspired, we read on in the beginning of chapter 26, and it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, you know, after two days the Passover comes and the Son of Man is delivered up to be crucified. As Jesus finishes these words, He now focuses His mind upon His coming ordeal, upon His crucifixion. In other words, it is the realities of this passage

14:10 that necessitate all that Jesus will undergo in the coming hours. The rejection, the false accusations, the buffeting, the spittle, the crown of thorns, the rejection, the impalement upon that cruel, cruel instrument of execution. All of this is nonsense if there is no eternal hell. If there is no glorious and eternal heaven, our Lord Jesus goes to the ordeal of His crucifixion, having finished all these words, words which culminate

14:54 in the sobering terms eternal punishment, eternal life. Strip away those realities and you turn His ordeal into mockery. May God help us then, even as we anticipate gathering tonight to the table, as we seek by God's grace to enter into something of the spirit of the passage before us, that none of us will have the spirit of Eutychus. He couldn't have slept physically until first of all he was turned to God.

15:33 He was turned off mentally and psychologically and emotionally. You don't fall asleep when your heart's pounding and your mind is fully engaged.

15:44 God help us. God help us. God help us if we sleep mentally, let alone physically, against the backdrop of eternal punishment and eternal life.

The Identity of the Judge: The Son of Man in Glory

15:59 Now as we come to the passage, I want to open it up under two very simple headings. First of all, the passage sets before us the identity of the judge. It's Jesus teaching on the judgment of the last day when he returns and he begins with what I'm calling the identity of the judge. And then secondly, the activity of the judge.

16:22 First of all then, the identity of the judge. Look at the language of the text. But when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory. Our Lord identifies himself with his favorite title of self-identity.

16:47 If you've read the Gospels with any degree of alertness, you know that again and again when Jesus refers to himself, he refers to himself as the Son of Man. It was his favorite title of self-identification. Now he did that for a number of reasons, and certainly one of them was not that he was uncomfortable with the identification as Son of God. When John the Baptist points to him as the Lamb of God early in his ministry and then says the Son of God, there is no objection from our Lord Jesus.

17:24 Here in this very Gospel record in Matthew 16, when Jesus asked the disciples, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Peter answers and says, thou art the Christ, the Son, the Son of the living God. Jesus does not rebuke him, but he says, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. Flesh and blood is not revealed this unto you, but my Father who is in heaven.

17:47 And upon this rock, upon you, Peter, confessing me to be who I am, I will build my church. Not upon Peter's profession, not upon Peter's person, but upon that which Peter professes, Jesus Messiah, who is Son of God. But for a number of reasons which I won't go into, he chooses to use this term which has its tap roots in Daniel's prophetic vision in Daniel 7, 13 and 14 where Daniel sees one like unto a Son of Man coming to the throne and a kingdom is given to him that will never end. It is a messianic title and Jesus takes it to himself

18:32 and he used it again and again as he anticipated his ordeal, the scriptures tell us that he began to speak plainly that the Son of Man must suffer and be rejected and be crucified. But here in our passage, our Lord, in giving the identity of the judge of the universe, says when the Son of Man shall come in his glory. It will not be the Son of Man coming in obscurity, in humiliation, to face rejection. But three qualifying things are said about this identity of the Son of Man in this setting.

19:15 Look at them. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory. That is, in the manifest outshining and radiance of who he is at this point in the history of redemption. You remember that our Lord prayed in John 17, and now, Father, glorifying, me with the glory that I had with you before the world was.

19:42 He anticipates his death, his resurrection, and then his glorification as the obedient servant of Jehovah. And he says, Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world began. And when he comes to judge, the identity of the judge is the Son of Man coming, in his glory. That is, in the outshining and brilliant manifestation of who he is as the enthroned and glorified suffering servant of Jehovah.

20:24 And then we are told, he shall come and the angels with him. They shall be his servants attending him. In Jude 15, we read that Enoch prophesied that the Lord would come with ten thousand of his holy ones. In Matthew 13, in several passages, Jesus speaks of the angels being his attendants in the sorting out of the wicked from the righteous and in the ultimate condemnation and execution of the wicked.

20:58 And so the Lord Jesus will come and all the angels with him, those spirit beings sent forth from heaven, sent forth to do service to the heirs of salvation, will be his attendants. They will be his entourage. As he appears to set up court, all the angels of heaven will attend him. He will come in his glory, all the angels with him.

21:26 And then the third thing we are told about the identity of the judge is that he will sit on the throne of his glory as king. Then shall he sit, on the throne of his glory. Some render it on his glorious throne. I think it takes off some of the edge of it.

21:45 He shall sit upon the throne that is the place from which his glory will be manifested. And sitting in that position, he sits as the unrivaled king of the universe. For you will notice in verse 34, and to my knowledge, these are the only, this is the only place in all of the gospel records where Jesus refers to himself explicitly as the king. Verse 34, then shall the king say to them on his right hand.

22:19 And then we read further in verse 40, and the king shall answer and say unto them. Jesus is careful to underscore that when he comes to set up judgment, and he is the judge, that he sits on the throne of his glory. The throne of his glory as king. That there is no appellate court that stands over him to evaluate his decisions.

22:46 There is no higher court to which appeal can be made. But the king who said, all authority has been given unto me in heaven and upon earth. The king shall sit upon his throne. None to rival, none to overturn the judgments that are made.

23:06 But the king shall sit upon his throne. And this fact that Jesus Christ, the son of man, will come in his glory, and the angels with him shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and will exercise judgment in the last day, is a fact stated in many other portions of the word of God. I cite only two or three of them. In John chapter five, our Lord Jesus spoke these words, unmistakable in their significance at this point.

23:39 John chapter five, and verse 22 and 23. For neither does the Father judge any man, but he has given all judgment unto the Son. To what end? That all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.

23:58 He that honors not the Son, honors not the Father that sent him. In the context, if we do not honor the Son with reference to his being assigned the distinct place and function as the judge of the world, we do not truly honor the Father. So when a cleric prays, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, God of Mohammed, no such God exists. The God who exists is the God who is still, is the God who has given this honor to his Son, that he, the Son,

24:42 the second person of the Godhead, he, the Son, is the judge. And if we do not honor him specifically in terms of the place assigned to him by the Father, we do not honor the Father. The Father has no Son, but the Son to whom he has given judgment of the world. In Acts chapter 10, Peter indicates that sounding this note was an essential element in the gospel which he was commissioned to preach.

25:14 In Acts chapter 10, Peter is preaching in the household of Cornelius. He has spoken of Christ's death and Christ's resurrection. And now he says in verse 42 of Acts 10, And he, Jesus, charged us to preach unto the people, and to testify that this is he who is ordained of God to be judge of the living and the dead. Peter says we have a solemn commission and we are not only to be witnesses to the fact that Jesus was crucified, Jesus was buried, Jesus was raised from the dead,

25:58 the Jesus who validated his identity by mighty signs and wonders. All of this was in Peter's previous part of the sermon. But he charged us to preach and to testify that this same Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of the living and of the dead. And then in Acts 17, we find that the Apostle Paul sounds the same note.

26:25 Standing in the midst of these pagan philosophers, he is preaching to them about the only God who is. And he says in Acts 17 and verse 30 and 31, The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands men that they should all everywhere repent inasmuch as he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained, whereof he has given assurance unto all men, and that he has raised him from the dead. Joseph's empty tomb is God's validation of the assignment of Jesus

27:09 to be the judge of all men. Now I want you to think for a moment. Kids, think with me. I hope you're looking at me.

27:19 When I look out and try to engage you with my eyes, I see you're looking at me. You see me standing behind this pulpit. You see me, a latter middle-aged man, two hands, receding hairline, wrinkles on his brow. Your eyes see me.

27:39 Right? I'm not a spook. I'm not a phantom. I'm not a mirage.

27:46 I'm the real, live, living me. Your eyes see me behind the pulpit. Now listen to me. Listen to me.

27:56 As surely as you sit here this morning, in your eyes see me behind this pulpit. Your eyes are going to see Jesus seated on the throne of His glory. Your eyes, your eyes, yours, are going to see Jesus seated on the throne of His glory. Revelation 1-7 says, Every eye shall see Him.

28:26 I like the particularity. Not all eyes shall see Him. But every single eye shall see Him when the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the angels with Him. Then shall He sit on the throne of His glory.

28:50 The one who stood before the high priest and listened to the trumped up charges who was shunted down to the Sanhedrin, pushed over to Pilate, up to Herod, back to Pilate, hung upon a cross, placed in a borrowed tomb. That Jesus your eyes will see in the context of His glory. A glory that will overwhelm and utterly astound and stun and shatter so much so that the Bible uses this language. And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat upon it

29:34 from whose face the heaven and the earth fled away. And I saw the dead stand before Him. Strange language. The earth and the heaven fled from the brightness and the glory of that throne.

29:54 Yet I saw the dead great and small stand before Him. The language of Revelation 6. The great ones and the insignificant ones have this in common. They say, hide us from the face of Him that sits upon the throne.

30:13 Have you been in a situation where there are five or ten people around with cameras and they all began to pop their flashes all at once and you see spots before your eyes? I want you to think of ten thousand flash cameras all going off at once just ten feet from your eyeballs. That will be but a small token of the glory that shall issue from the face of the Lord Jesus. That's the identity of the Judge and you're going to see Him and I'm going to see Him on the throne of His glory.

The Activity of the Judge: Universal Convocation

30:52 Now we come secondly to the activity of the Judge. Jesus clearly stated in Matthew 24, 36 but of that day and hour no man knows not the angels nor the Son. Matthew 24, verse 36 but of that day and hour knows no one not even the angels of heaven neither the Son but the Father only. He unashamedly acknowledges ignorance of the day and hour.

31:25 The time of His coming remains veiled in the Father's mind and heart but not what will happen at His coming. Of that He is absolutely certain. Look how the passage begins. When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the angels with Him then shall He sit on the throne of His glory.

31:52 And then our Lord describes His activity as the Judge. And I see in the passage five distinct activities described by our Lord from His position as the Judge. He speaks of them with unequivocal absolute certainty of His coming to the Father and in His glory. And as

32:22 a

32:42 daughter He signs up together, a calling together. And our Lord makes it abundantly clear that when He sits upon the throne of His glory, the first thing He will do is He will ensure a universal convocation. Look at the language of the text. He comes, He sits on the throne of His glory, and before Him, in the very face of the judge before Him, shall be gathered a future passive. Not they will gather

33:27 themselves. They shall be gathered. Someone will act upon them to make them the gathered nations. They shall be gathered before Him.

33:43 Before Him shall be gathered all the nations. The first activity of the judge is to ensure a universal convocation. To state it in more legal terms, he will see to it that every man, woman, boy or girl from Adam to the last person on God's earth at the coming of Jesus will appear in court and none will be able to be guilty of contempt of court. Not a one. Before Him shall be gathered

34:23 all the nations. They will be acted upon by a power and an authority external to them that will secure their presence in court on the day the Lord Jesus sits as judge. And though it does not explicitly say, but it does not explicitly say, but it does not explicitly say, but it does not simply state here that it is Christ himself who will secure this universal convocation, that truth is clearly taught in John 5, verses 28 and 29. After asserting that the Father had given all right

35:04 of judgment to the Son, these verses tell us that it is the Son himself who will do what is necessary to bring every single son and daughter of God to the kingdom of God. them into court on that day. John 5, 28. Marvel not at this, for the hour comes in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good unto the

35:36 resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment. As surely as Jesus stood in that sad scene amidst those he loved very dearly, wept with them under the shadow of death that had come into that home at Bethany. Lazarus is dead. He's been in his tomb four days.

36:04 The body has begun to decompose. The old authorized version says, behold, by now he stinketh.

36:14 And what does our Lord Jesus do? With no incantations, with no magical rituals. Jesus simply stands and exerts this very power upon Lazarus and says, Lazarus. And the scripture says, and he came forth. Some have said,

36:37 perhaps a little cheekily, he said the name Lazarus, for had he given the generic statement, come forth, all the graves would have opened and spilled out their dead. But in the last day, it will not be. Lazarus, by name, it will be all humanity. And when he says, come forth, the scripture says, all that are in the tomb shall hear his voice and shall come forth. Can you imagine the thoughts

37:09 of those departed spirits joined to their bodies that had long since rotted and decomposed, and they find themselves constituted again,

37:22 the whole integrated men or women, and the first sight they have is Jesus upon his throne.

37:32 Some who sat in the service like this this morning, and who in their mind's eye saw that scene, when he comes, he shall sit upon the throne of his glory. And the first conscious thought they have reconstituted as an integrated human being, soul and body joined together, they see that throne. The book of the Revelation says, that's when they cry for rocks and hills to hide them, to fall upon them. They want anything but that throne. And if there were some black hole in the

38:07 universe into which they could somehow plunge themselves, they'd welcome the black hole. Anything but him who sits on the throne. But our text says, before him shall be gathered. Before him shall be gathered.

38:26 gathered all the nations and he shall separate them. And I must make a little exegetical point. Some of you have heard the nonsense. Well, this has nothing to do with individuals. This has to

38:40 do with God gathering nations in a separate judgment to deal with nations in terms of how they dealt with the Jews. Well, not only is that ridiculous from many standpoints, but just exegetically and linguistically. Ethne is a neuter word. For be gathered before him all the nations and he shall separate them. That's a masculine plural pronoun. If our Lord was saying

39:08 he's dealing with the nations, it would be separate them. It would be a neuter pronoun, but it's a masculine pronoun speaking for the individuals in their collective identity as individuals. And he shall separate them. separate them one from another, not the nations, but the individuals that comprise the nations, there will be a universal convocation effected by the power of Jesus Christ himself.

39:43 I want you to think of that for a few moments. Some of you sitting here have heard the voice of Christ again and again and again, going out in the overtures of grace and of mercy, pleading with you to come to him. He says to you, as he has said many times to some of you, Come unto me, all that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.

40:16 You've heard him say, Him that comes to me I'll in no wise cast out. And you have resurrected. He has absolutely, repeatedly defied the overtures of his voice in gospel grace. My friend, when he says, Come forth to judgment, there will be no resistance of his voice.

40:40 All that are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth, and before him shall be gathered all the nations. It's losing business, my friend. There is nothing. There is nothing you can do, nowhere you can go, to escape the fact that as sure as your eyes look upon me, they will look upon an enthroned Christ as you are part, as I am part, of that universal convocation.

The Activity of the Judge: Infallible Separation

41:17 Then having effected this universal convocation, notice secondly, or having ensured it, he will then effect an infallible separation. Look at the text. He will effect an infallible separation. He gathers, then he separates.

41:35 Look at the language. And before him shall be gathered all the nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left. The reality of an infallible separation in the day of judgment is a dominant note in the teaching of our Lord. Remember in Matthew 13, he speaks of the last day.

42:11 He sends forth the angels to separate the wheat from the tares. The dragnet brings in a bunch of fish, some good, some bad. At the end of the age, Jesus said, there will be a separation of the good from the bad fish. Here the emphasis comes again.

42:31 The first act of the judge upon the throne, having ensured this universal convocation, is to effect this infallible separation. And he sets before us a simile. Notice, he shall separate them one from another as or like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. There is a reference to this in Ezekiel 34 in verse 17.

43:04 Apparently something with which the hearers of our Lord would have been familiar. We are told that the Palestinian shepherds would often allow sheep and goats to graze together throughout the day. But because their tolerance to cold and other factors, they needed to be separated into differing folds at night. And the shepherd would identify the sheep and call them out.

43:29 And put them together and separate the goats. As a shepherd enters into this activity of identifying who the goats are and who the sheep are. Here our Lord uses a simile. As or like a shepherd separates sheep from goats.

43:47 And then he drops the simile and it becomes a metaphor. And he shall set the sheep.

43:52 He moves from simile to metaphor. So I don't get too upset if at some time preaching I move from simile to metaphor. The Lord does it. He sets those.

44:00 Who are like sheep. Who have been called out and identified. And set together on the right hand. And those who have been called out like the goats.

44:11 Have been separated, grouped together and set upon the left hand. But I've said this will be the effecting of an infallible separation. Remember who it is that is doing the separating. It's the Son of Man.

44:29 Seated on the throne. Seated on the throne. On the throne of his glory. It is the Son of Man who as Son of God.

44:37 Possesses all of the undiluted faculties and capacities of the Godhead. He has infallible knowledge.

44:50 He has full and extensive knowledge. The scripture says the Lord knows those who are his. He will make no mistakes in identifying. One is a goat who in reality is a sheep.

45:05 None will be identified by him as a sheep who in reality is a goat. There will be the effecting of an infallible separation by the judge himself. Here on earth some are regarded as sheep in their own eyes. And in the eyes of others who in reality God knows are really goats.

45:34 Some may be regarded by others as goats who in reality are sheep. But in that day there will be no mistaking of the identity. The sovereign omniscient Lord exalted to the place of majesty upon the throne. It is he who will effect the separation.

45:59 And therefore it will be infallible.

46:03 Now again I want you to bring near that. I want you to bring near that day. As I was praying over this passage and even driving here this morning. I said Lord help me to see it.

46:12 Can you see it in your mind's eye?

46:16 Heads, faces as far as the eye can see. Off to the horizon on the left and the right, the north and the south. Just as you stand on the Jersey shore and you watch the sea drop off to the horizon ahead of you. Think of nothing but a sea of faces.

46:35 And among them all. Are only sheep and only goats. And the omniscient eye of God like a powerful zoom lens will zoom in on you. And you will be the only individual in the gaze of the omniscient infallible enthroned judge.

46:57 And he'll identify you for who you really are.

47:02 He shall separate them.

47:06 Sheep to the right, the place of honor and dignity. Goats to the left. Goats to the left. Goats to the right, the place of ill omen.

47:13 Whether by superstition or what in that culture at that time to be put on the left hand. Was to be put in the place of dishonor. And the place of a bad omen. And our Lord seizes upon that prevailing mindset.

47:28 And seeks to bring his hearers to the place where they recognize. This is a horrifying reality. That regardless of who I may fool in this life. The judge.

47:41 The judge will affect this infallible separation.

47:48 And he will not do when he separates and says to my left. For mom and dad to say, but Lord Jesus, that's my child. That's my child. I believe Lord Jesus.

48:03 They were a sheep. Will not do for mom and dad to plead that he has mistaken identity.

48:10 Won't cut it for fellow church members. Say, but Lord, he's one of us. He sat and worshiped with us. He came to the table with.

48:22 He led us in prayer at prayer meeting. The judge will say, my assessment is infallible. He's a goat. He belongs here.

The Activity of the Judge: Magisterial Declaration

48:38 You see why any preacher with half his wits about him shies away from a passage like this. It's sobering stuff, an infallible separation, but then we hasten on to note thirdly, having insured a universal convocation, having effected an infallible separation. Then thirdly, he will issue a magisterial declaration, a magisterial declaration. Where do we find that in the text?

49:11 Verse 34, then having made the separation, then shall the king say, see the Lord. Jesus didn't say, then shall I say, then shall the son of man say, but he uses this unique self-identification then. Shall. the king say. What follows is a magisterial declaration of the king of kings. None can

49:36 overturn it. None can rightfully challenge it. It is a magisterial declaration. Look at his declaration to the sheep, verse 34. Then shall the king say to them on his right

49:49 hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. They are graciously commanded to come. Same word used in Matthew chapter 11, 28 in that wonderful invitation. Come, come. He gives this gracious command to those

50:18 identified as the sheep. Come. This is how he describes them, how they are identified. They are blessed of the father.

50:27 Come, you blessed of my father. His first identification of them is that they exist under the canopy of the free, sovereign benediction and blessing of the father. Come, you blessed of my father. And then he says, inherit the kingdom.

50:51 You see, you don't earn an inheritance. An inheritance comes in virtue of a relationship. And he says, inherit a kingdom. There's no concept of earning, of working and meriting.

51:05 You are blessed by the father's free, sovereign disposition to bless you. Furthermore, you are to be the recipients of an inherited kingdom. And furthermore, Jesus said, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Before you had any being. Before the foundation of the world. You talk about grace. It throbs

51:30 through this magisterial declaration to the sheep. Come, you blessed. Whatever else follows about, for I was hungry and I was thirsty. Nothing in those words of our Lord can negate the essential identity of the righteous. They are called blessed of the father. They are

51:53 the inheritors of the kingdom. A kingdom prepared for them before they had any being. Prepared from the foundation of the world. But then look at his magisterial declaration to the goats, verse 41. Then shall he say to them on the left hand, depart from me,

52:16 you cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil. And then he says, depart from me, so that they may think, ye that are hoarded with an evil anger. And so, the ramkum. As surely as our Lord Jesus frames His words to underscore the pure graciousness of the salvation and the eternal bliss of His own. He identifies in horrific language the horrible

52:55 condition of those who are not His own. Depart from me. Depart from me and your Father and the properly and holy one. me. That would be hell enough. Jesus, source of all light, the medium through which God's love

53:07 is revealed to men, full of grace and truth, depart from me. You get on pretty well right now, you think, living without him. But to have a gnawing soul devoid of all the light and grace that emanates from Jesus for all eternity will be all the hell that any soul can bear. Depart from me. Depart from me, you cursed ones, you who remain under the curse of the God who

53:43 made you, whose rule you defied, whose law you refused to obey, whose gospel you spurned, and who thereby have brought your soul to the cross. Under the curse of Almighty God, depart from me, you cursed ones, into, into the eternal fire, into the state and condition of excruciating pain that will never end. That place and condition prepared not for you from the foundation of the world, but prepared for the devil and his angels.

54:28 Prepared for that foul fiend who revolted and had taken within the orbit of his revolt a number of those heavenly creatures called angels. Prepared for the revolting one. For the rebellious one, you have chosen to be like him. Now you'll spend eternity with him.

54:55 Depart from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

55:06 This twofold magisterial declaration is precisely what the judge will make in the last judgment. Each and every one of us sitting here this morning. God help me to believe it as I preach it. You're going to hear the words, come you blessed or depart.

55:31 You're hearing them now from a fellow mortal who by nature was one of the cursed ones. Who by nature and practice deserve to be with the devil and his angels. But who by God's free sovereign blessing, by his grace giving the inheritance of grace in Jesus. Has made me his child to hear his words, come you blessed of my father.

56:06 When I ought to hear, depart you cursed. But you're going to hear one or the other. You're going to hear one or the other. And a day will come in your history when you'll say the preacher told it to him.

56:24 That whatever he did to me. A moment will come when you say he did the truth. My ears are hearing. My ears are hearing.

56:42 Depart one or the other. The magisterial declaration of the king upon the throne will be pronounced to you and to me. But then in the fourth place notice that he will then give a factual vindication of his declaration. He will give a factual vindication of his declaration.

The Activity of the Judge: Factual Vindication of His Declaration

57:14 To vindicate someone or something is to clear from criticism, blame or suspicion. To uphold by evidence or argument the righteousness, the justification for a given act. And what our Lord is doing in this section. Beginning in verse 35, for I was hungry.

57:37 And then in his dealing with those on the left hand, the goats. When he says in verse 42, for I was hungry. What our Lord is doing is basically giving a factual vindication. Of the declaration made on the one hand to the sheep and on the other hand to the goats.

57:57 Let me try to illustrate it this way. One of the commentators had a footnote that set forth this analogy and I found it helpful. When it was raining some last week, I might say to you. It is raining because or for the atmospheric conditions were conducive to the production of rain.

58:18 And I would be taking you to cause. It is raining for this cause. The atmospheric conditions are such as to produce a rainfall. Or I might say to you.

58:27 It is raining for there are puddles on my basketball court. Now I am not taking you to cause but to effect. The puddles don't cause the rain. They are the evidence that the rain has occurred or is occurring.

58:43 You follow me? Now when Jesus says. Then will he say to those on the right hand. Come you blessed for.

58:51 He is not giving the cause for which they are blessed. The cause for which they inherit the kingdom. No. He is giving the evidence that they are indeed such as to whom this magisterial pronouncement should be made.

59:08 That they are truly sons and daughters of the kingdom. And I want you to notice how he does this. Look first of all at his vindication. Of.

59:19 His declaration to the sheep. Verse 35. For. I was hungry and you gave me to eat.

59:27 I was thirsty and you gave me. I was a stranger you took me in. Naked you clothed me. I was sick you visited me.

59:37 I was in prison you came to me. You see what our Lord is emphasizing. I me. I me.

59:43 I me. And in the middle you. I you me. I you me.

59:47 I you me. The whole thing is a matter of relationship. And he says I am here publicly in my court declaring you to be the blessed of my father. The legitimate inheritors of a kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world.

60:05 Because you indeed manifested that you had a unique and intimate relationship with me. That's the issue. I. Me.

60:16 You. And that keep on going all the way through. And he says that unique and real relationship to me was manifested in the way you regarded those who were joined to me. For when they say Lord when did we see you.

60:34 When did we see you. They keep emphasizing in there response. When did we see you sick. When did we see you in prison.

60:40 And the Lord said in as much as you did it unto the least of these. My brethren. Unto the law. holiest of those who sustain a special relationship to me in faith and love.

60:52 You were doing it to me. You couldn't reach out and touch me. I was in heaven awaiting the day of judgment.

61:01 But those united to me were on earth, and you saw me in them. And because you had a relationship of faith and love to me, you reached out to them. Inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these, my brethren, you did it unto me. You evidenced that you had a special relationship to me, and the evidence was seen in the way you related to those who sustained that relationship to me.

61:30 Likewise, when he vindicates his declaration to the goats, the reverse is true. Notice again that emphasis upon the personal relationship. Verse 42, For I was hungry. You did not get me to eat.

61:47 I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger. You did not take me in naked. You did not clothe me.

61:54 They shall answer and say, Lord, when did we see you hungry or athirst? And he shall say, Inasmuch as you did it not unto one of these least, you did it not unto me. The same principle. And in this crass, individualistic age, it takes tremendous effort to think biblically.

62:14 Though our relationship to Christ is the most precious, it is an intensely personal relationship imaginable. It is never atomistic. When the Spirit of God brings a sinner to repent of his sin and lay hold of Christ as his only hope of life and salvation, when that sinner is regenerated by the Spirit, united to Christ, indwelt by the Spirit of Sonship, he is not only united to Christ, he is united to all who are united to him. It's a great lesson.

62:47 When God got through to Paul in the complex of his conversion, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

62:55 Persecute me. The voice from heaven, you persecute me. When you touch my saints, you touch me. I'm so united to them.

63:04 So that Paul understood from the very outset, there was no atomistic relationship to Christ. We are one in Adam. We are one in Christ. There is a solidarity in our spiritual relationship.

63:18 And our Lord vindicates this declaration to the righteous and to the wicked by giving the concrete, specific, factual evidence. You sustain no special relationship to me. And it was manifested in the way you did not do what you did not do to my own. And the positive, you showed your special relationship to me.

The Activity of the Judge: Irreversible Implementation and Concluding Exhortation

63:48 By the way you related to those who are joined to me. And then, God willing, this is what we'll amplify tonight in our communion meditation. The fifth activity, he will ensure an irreversible implementation of his declaration. Verse 46.

64:09 And these shall go away. Are they empty words when the king says, depart from me? No. These shall go away.

64:18 These shall go away. These shall go away. These shall go away. These shall go away.

64:19 These shall go away. These shall go away. The words, depart, will effect the departure. He will ensure an irreversible implementation of his declaration.

64:28 He says, depart, they will depart. When he says, come, you blessed, they will come. The righteous will go into eternal life. As I said, God willing, we'll consider those words more fully tonight.

64:44 I've tried to just open up the passage, not to embellish it, but to try. I've tried to make it live and cause some of you to be arrested from staggering through carelessly another Lord's day. Yeah, let the old preacher do his thing. Let him holler and shout and get intense.

65:07 It'll all be over soon. I'll go home and have my lunch, have a nap, read my book, come back tonight, and I will have suffered through another Sunday.

65:18 God have mercy on you.

65:21 God have mercy on you. Jesus. Jesus closes his discourse on his second coming with this somber, arresting passage.

65:35 Having finished these words, he goes to die.

65:42 My friend, treat this lightly, and you'll treat his death lightly. Take seriously what is here, and you will find you have no rest till you rest in the crucified Savior. May God grant that the truth of the passage will be. I close with a hymn that embodies so much of what I've attempted to say.

66:12 The last stanza is a prayer.

66:17 Great judge of all, that day will come when mortals must receive their doom. Oh, hear our cry and grant we may of thee find mercy in that day. The wicked tremble. Saints rejoice, one dreads, the other loves the voice.

66:40 The wicked fear. Believers sing the coming of their God and King.

66:47 Think, oh my soul, thou must appear and pass the judgment at this bar. What now does God and conscience say? Wilt thou find mercy in that day? Dost thou by faith to Jesus flee?

67:05 In his name. Is his dear image stamped on thee? If so, let nothing thee dismay. Thou shalt find mercy in that day.

67:17 Eternal judge, almighty Lord, seal home and bless thy solemn word. And oh, that we poor sinners may of thee find mercy in that day. Let's pray. Our Father, you know our hearts.

67:42 We feel like blocks of stone at times when we come near truths that ought to take our breath away and make us tremble.

67:56 Lord, have mercy upon us. We pray especially for those who have no biblical grounds to believe they are ready for the voice of the archangel and the trump and seeing the seated judge in all his glory. Therefore we pray that we epsilonuck the contrite maleficent who w richtig Bo��ich this world yesterday. We pray that this day will not end ere they cry for mercy and pardon and cleansing in the blood of Jesus.

68:28 We pray for your people, that each of us, will by faith hide afresh in him who bore the full brunt of your righteous fury against our sin, who bore the weight of our hell-deservingness that wrung from his heart that piercing cry, Jesus, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Strengthen the assurance of your saints. Give us joy in the knowledge that with the hymn writer we can say, Bold shall I stand in thy great day, for who ought to my charge shall lay. How we thank you that we may have confidence, looking the day of judgment straight in the eye,

69:12 knowing that the one who sits upon the throne will vindicate us because we've been covered in his blood and renewed by his spirit. Oh, Father, seal your word to the encouragement of your saints and to the conviction of sinners. And may that final day reveal that we did not labor in vain to seek to bring some to the feet of Jesus. Bless us then as we leave this place.

69:41 We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.