The Final Judgment
Matthew 25: 31-46
Last Sunday in the Church Year
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the last Sunday of the Church year is the Gospel reading Matthew 25. At the end of the church year our attention focuses on the Second Coming of the Lord. In our Gospel reading two weeks ago the Lord reminded us to be ready and to be waiting for His return. We are ready for His return when we abide in God’s Word and when we trust God’s promises to us. In our reading last week Paul reminded us that Christ’s return will be a wonderful and joyous occasion for Christians. He called us children of light. He reminded us that our identity is in Christ.
That theme of the end times concludes in our readings for today. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus describes Judgment Day itself. Christ tells us that all people will stand before Him. He will separate them like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place those who trust in Him at His right side. He will place those who rejected Him at His left side. Christ’s right hand denotes His saving will. His left hand denotes judgment. It is God’s desire to save all people, but some have rejected Him and so the Day of the Lord is the public declaration of God’s judgment. Some will hear, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the word”. The rest will hear, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”.
Notice on Judgment Day Christ will speak to those who trust in Him. To the believers the Lord mentions the good that they have done in His sight. He mentions the times that they fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger, and visited the prisoner. We understand that we could never achieve our salvation based upon our own merit. Throughout God’s Word we see very clearly that all of us have been rescued from sin and death because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are all a part of the Kingdom of God because of our Lord’s grace. When the Lord addresses the sheep He says the words, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father”. Indeed the sheep are blessed because of God’s grace. The reason that the Lord mentions the good works of the sheep is because those works are a fruit of their Christian faith. Faith in Christ Jesus alone saves but Christian faith is never alone. Serving God and serving each other flows from our faith in Christ. As followers of Jesus we live a life of giving thanks to Him. We live a life of love because God first loved us. The good works that we do are a fruit of faith. God only looks at works done in faith. It pleases the Lord to see his people do what is right as a fruit of Christian faith.
However the Lord does not recognize works done by those who have rejected His grace because their works are not done in faith. That is why when Jesus speaks to those who have rejected Him, He states that they did not feed the hungry, help the stranger, or visit the prisoner. The Lord does not recognize any work that is not done in faith. What the Lord sees is their sin and unbelief. He sees their rejection of His grace.
What Jesus reveals to us is what will happen when He returns. There are good reasons why we should be waiting and ready for this day. First, if Christians fail to look for the return of Christ they could fall away from God. We should be very aware that the Lord will come to judge the living and the dead. If we are not, then we open ourselves up to all the temptations of this world. If we don’t take God’s judgement seriously then we put our selves in a position to be distracted by the things of this world. In this life we are always in spiritual danger. Failure to watch for Christ to come can deaden that awareness. It opens the door for Satan, it invites the world to overwhelm us, and it encourages our sinful nature to dominate. If that were to happen, we could fall from faith and be found among the goats. Let us pray to our heavenly Father that He would sustain us in our faith. The Lord is calling on us to be ready for His return. It is a call to repentance. It is a call to abide in His Word. We come to church and gather around the means of grace to receive forgiveness and for our faith to be strengthened. We come to the house of God to be reminded of the Lord’s return.
Second, Christians are to be ready for the return of Christ so that they don’t forget what the Lord has given us to do. Jesus speaks about the sheep giving food, drink, and clothing. He speaks about them helping the sick and visiting the prisoners. We should help all people, but the Lord is most especially speaking about fellow Christians. He calls those we serve as His brothers. When we serve our neighbor, we serve the Lord and honor His Name.
Third, we look to Christ’s return so that we do not get discouraged in this life. The world is a fallen and sinful place. We are surrounded by brokenness, sickness, and death. The darkness of this world can seem overwhelming. We will have the temptation to put our head in the sand and go into survival mode. We will isolate ourselves in an attempt to escape the world. In this sinful world our only hope is in the Lord. That is why the Lord comes to us and directs our attention back to Him. We are reminded that He has defeated sin and death and won our salvation through His death and resurrection. He has overcome evil and has won the victory. We see our Lord’s victory through the eyes of faith. There will come a time when we see His victory with our own eyes. That time will come when the Lord returns. On that day the Lord will usher in the new heavens and the new earth. On that day our creator and redeemer will raise the dead. Our confidence is in the Lord.
Fourth, we look to Christ’s return because we have a longing to see Him. Remember what Jesus said. “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” That means the Lord knew you and had great plans for you before the foundation of the world. His plan was to give you an eternal inheritance. We have received that inheritance and now yearn to be with the Lord. It is true that the Lord is with us right now, but He is hidden. We look forward to being in the full presence of the Lord and to look upon His glory with our own eyes. We look forward to living in His kingdom forever. We look forward to eternal joy in the life to come. Because Jesus has loved us, we love Him, and we long for Him to return. Amen.