The Last Sunday of the Church Year

November 26, 2023

Matthew 25:31-46

The Time In Between—

A Time to Yearn for the End!

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For 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 invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit 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? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (NIV1984)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It’s happened to me many many times over the course of the last 38 years. I’ll be visiting with someone in the hospital or in a rehab center, in a nursing home or in a senior facility and they say to me, “Pastor, I want to go home.” I assure them that their doctors are doing their very best to help them in every way they can and when the doctors determine that it is safe for them to go home, they’ll let them go home. Then they look at me and say, “You don’t understand. I’m tired. I want to go HOME.” I instantly shift gears and remind them that their dear Lord and Savior already has their “homecoming” all planned out and when He determines that the time is right He will fulfill His promise to come and take them Home.

It is not unusual for a child of God to get to a point on their journey through this world when they are ready to go Home. Whether it’s the pain of the disease they have been battling or the side effects of the treatments they are receiving, whether it’s the aches and the pains of a body that has been worn out by decades of hard work or the loneliness that comes from the fact that their circle of family and friends has dwindled to the point that no one calls, no one visits— they are ready to leave this life and enter into eternal life.

As we come to the end of yet another church year it is time to once again focus our attention on the end of all things— Judgment Day. As we conclude our sermon series entitled The Time In Between let’s see how our Savior reminds us that: The Time In Between is A Time to Yearn for The End.

Our sermon text for today concludes a series of three parables that Jesus spoke to His disciples just before His suffering and death on the cross. Jesus used the Parable of the Ten Virgins to impress upon His disciples the need for them to keep replenishing the “oil” of their faith through regular use of His holy Word and His holy Sacrament so that they are ready for whenever He, the Bridegroom, returns. From there He transitioned to emphasizing that as His disciples, as His “servants,” they are to be faithful in using the “talents,” the gifts that He has given to them to use while He is gone. Today Jesus encourages His disciples— including us— to remember that Judgment Day is not a day that we should fear, but rather Judgment Day is a day that we yearn for, a day that we confidently look forward to!

Why is Judgment Day a day that we yearn for? Why is Judgment Day a day that we can confidently look forward to? I see two answers to that question. First, we yearn for Judgment Day to arrive because of what we will see and experience on that day. Look at verses 31 to 33 of our text. Jesus says, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”

Even our best attempts to picture this scene in our mind fall far short of what we will see and experience on Judgment Day! Our Brother Jesus, the Son of Man (the name He most often used to describe Himself) once came into our world in great humility— in a stable in Bethlehem, on a donkey riding into Jerusalem, on a cross on a hill outside of Jerusalem. (Pointing to the cross) But on Judgment Day we will see our Brother return to this earth in all of His power, majesty and glory! We will see Him surrounded by all of His holy angels. We will see Him sitting on His throne as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He will not only “gather all the nations before Him,” but He will judge them. This judgment will be revealed for all to see as He “separates the sheep from the goats.”

Think about it, my friends. We will marvel at the power of our Lord as He raises all the dead from their graves— both the believers and the unbelievers. We will magnify the truthfulness of the God who told us that this is exactly what He would do when He returned to this earth. (See Daniel 12:2; John 5:25-30) We will be mystified at how all people— everyone who has ever lived on the face of this earth— how all people will be summoned to stand before Him for the ultimate final act of judgment.

As you are striving to picture this scene in your mind, take note of the fact that just as there were only two types of virgins— the “wise” and the “foolish,” just as there were only two types of servants— the ones who faithfully and joyfully used the “talents” that had been given to them and the one who “hid his talent in the ground,” so also, there will be only two types of people on Judgment Day— the “sheep” and the “goats.” There is no middle ground. There is no neutral territory. There are only those who believe and trust in Jesus as their Savior and those who don’t.

The judgment that Jesus made public by separating the “sheep” from the “goats” will then be verified in a way in which there will be no room for debate. Just look at verses 34-40 and picture yourself as one of the “sheep” standing on the right hand of the King. These verses reveal to us that the second reason we yearn for Judgment Day is because of what we will hear our King say to us! He will say to you and to me, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

Could we possibly hear any words more glorious than these? These are the kindest possible words of pure grace that anyone could hear! These words reveal the blessed relationship that you enjoy with your heavenly Father. You are the children of God— children who have the privilege of addressing the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth as “Father.” As a child of the heavenly Father you are an “heir of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). As an “heir” you will receive not just any “inheritance”— you will receive the “kingdom” that your heavenly Father “prepared for you since the creation of the world”! What a glorious comfort it is to know that even before we were born, our heavenly Father knew us. What a glorious comfort it is to know that even before He created this world, He “prepared” this glorious “kingdom” for us! That’s grace!

But why? Why is the heavenly Father gifting us such a glorious inheritance? Our King goes on to explain, “’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 invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prion and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

How would you respond to someone who says that these passages show that we are saved by works, by what we do and not on the basis of faith alone? There are two things you would need to emphasize. First, emphasize the fact that Jesus spoke these words after the judgment had already taken place. Jesus’ judgment on “all nations” was pronounced when He separated everyone into two groups: “sheep” and “goats.” Whatever group Jesus placed someone into determines where they will spend eternity.

Second, emphasize the reaction of the “righteous” when they hear Jesus speak these words to them. The fact that they ask the King, “When? When did we do these things for you?” reveals that these actions were not done in some misguided effort to earn God’s grace or to earn God’s forgiveness. All these actions were a natural outflow of the faith which lived in their hearts. They are an example of what Jesus meant when He said, “Likewise every good tree bears good fruit” (Matthew 7:17).

This portion of our text reminds us to closely examine our own lives, my friends. How well are we letting our faith in Jesus shine forth in the actions of our lives? As we strive to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind are we allowing that love to be reflected to others? Are we striving to love our neighbor as ourselves? Or is our life more focused on ourselves? Those are questions that we would do well to ask ourselves— especially when we are contemplating what we will see and hear on Judgment Day. And if ever— if ever!— we think that nobody even notices what we are doing to help others out of love for Jesus, remember that our King in heaven above sees even the “smallest” thing that we do for others, even giving a cup of cold water to one of His “little ones”!

Because of what we know we will see and experience on Judgment Day and because of what we know we will hear our King say to us on Judgment Day we do not need to fear Judgment Day! Through faith in what Jesus has done for us (Pointing to the cross) we know that God’s judgment on us has already been pronounced! We have been “Declared: Not guilty!” purely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s why we can “yearn” for the end. Whether it’s the end of our journey here on this earth or the end of the world as we know it— what comes next is far more glorious than what we can imagine. That’s the comfort that God gives to you and that’s the comfort that you can share with others.

As we turn to the second portion of our text we are given the sobering reminder of what comes “next” for the “goats,” for those who do not believe and trust in Jesus as their Savior. Look at verse 41, “Then he (the King) will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

“Depart from me.” Those are the most eternally devastating words that anyone could ever possibly hear! To be completely separated from God’s presence, to be completely separated from God’s grace is a punishment that we would not wish on anyone! And not only are the “goats” separated from God, but they are also banished “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Hell was not intended for people. Hell was specifically “prepared” for the devil and all the evil angels who followed him in his futile rebellion against God. Anyone who continues to follow in Satan’s rebellion will find that he leads them directly into the “eternal fires” of hell.

How will everyone know that Jesus’ judgment on the “goats” is just and correct? Look at what the King says to them in verses 42 to 45, “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’” They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” He will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

The King points to the lack of “good fruit” in the lives of the “goats” as undeniable proof that there was no saving faith in their hearts. The actions— or perhaps we should say the inactions of their life— revealed that there was no true love, no agape love for Jesus (Pointing to the cross) in their heart.

What about the people who do give to charity, but they do not believe in Jesus as their Savior? What about the people who are not Christians, but they do try to help others— especially the less fortunate? This is where we need to remember that from the perspective of the King anything and everything that is not done out of love and thankfulness to Him for what He has done for them— is not acceptable in His eyes. As the King has revealed to us in His Word, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

It has happened to me many times over the course of the last 38 years and I’m sure it will happen again. I’ll be visiting with someone whose body has been ravaged by a disease or worn out by the passage of time and they’ll say something like, “I’m tired. I just want to go home.” They yearn for the end because by the grace of God they know what comes next! They know that they will see their King in all of His power, majesty and glory! They know that they will hear their King say to them, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

With that as our focus, may God grant that we are all able to yearn for the end.

To God be the glory!

Amen