The sermon titled 'The Comforts & Terrors of the Gospel' explores Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus describes the final judgment and the separation of people as sheep and goats. The speaker underscores that the Gospel brings both comforts and terrors, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating love for Christ through actions. Jesus' teachings highlight that genuine faith is evidenced by works, contrasting those who serve others selflessly ('sheep') with those who live to be served ('goats'). The sermon discusses the first and second comings of Jesus, noting His initial humiliation and His future glorious return. It stresses the necessity for believers to be ready for judgment, cultivating a life marked by compassion and service, and warns against the dangers of easy-believism. The sermon concludes with a call to repentance and faith, urging listeners to reflect on their relationship with Christ.

Please join me this morning in Matthew chapter 25. We'll be reading verses 31 through 46. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Then the king will say to those 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 food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in I Was naked and you clove me. I was sick and you visited me.

I was in prison and you came to me Then the righteous will answer him saying Lord When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When do we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothed you? Or when do we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. Then he will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. 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 they also will answer him saying, Lord, when do we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger or naked, or sick or in prison and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, "'Assuredly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." title of the sermon this morning is the Comforts and Terrors of the Gospel.

So many people think that the Gospel is just comforts, and man is it ever comforts. It is comforts. But it's not just comforts. There are many terrors associated with the Gospel that we're confronted with, we're forced to consider in today's text. So we'll be doing that.

Really the last three or four weeks, any one of those texts could have been titled, The Comforts and Terrors of the Gospel, because Jesus has been bearing down on very particular themes and he keeps coming at them from different angles. Every different angle. The Judgment Day has been front and center. And he keeps coming at this great day from different angles and so it is this week. Last week there was a master with three servants.

Two of those servants were profitable. One of them was unprofitable. The week before there was a bridegroom and there's a wedding. And there are all these bridesmaids. Well, half of them, five of them are ready for the wedding day and they have oil.

Half of them aren't ready at all for the wedding day. They have no oil. And what we see week after week, after week now, is that for those who have demonstrated that they love Christ, so picking my words very carefully here, they've demonstrated there's something outward that is an evidence, a proof that they've loved Christ. The words of the Master, the words of Christ are so tender. Haven't you loved these words as we've hit them in these texts?

Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master or a welcoming in to the wedding feast. Brought in to participate in a banquet. But for those who have demonstrated that they've only really loved themselves, I want to argue that that's really what's been on display also in these texts, is the unprofitable servant, the ten virgins who had no oil, have proved something with their lives too. And here's what they proved.

They loved themselves. They didn't really love Christ. They might have found some benefit for themselves from religion, but there was no love for Christ in their hearts. So for those who have demonstrated that, they really love themselves, there's this stark, explicit rejection by Jesus Christ. Last week, the unprofitable servant was cast out into outer darkness and the week before the door was shut.

You can almost hear the slamming of the door, the securing of that door, and Jesus said, I never knew you. Who are you knocking at my door? I never knew you. And so Jesus is bringing us places, painting pictures that are designed to have an effect on us. And it's actually the mercy of God.

He's trying to bring us to the door to imagine what it would be like to be excluded, to be on the other side of that slamming door. He's trying to get us to imagine what it would be like to have it said, Cast him out into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And so for those who have trusted him, All these words that Jesus is speaking are words of such comfort. They awaken in us a desire for that day, a longing for that day. Oh, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

I can't wait for this day to come because Jesus has awakened in my heart a longing for him to come back and claim his bride. But on the other hand, for those who have not trusted in him, he's working, he's laboring to awaken a fear of the Lord in his heart that would cause the unregenerate, the unrepentant to tremble before him and to consider being on the other side of that door or to consider it being said, cast him out into outer darkness. So this is the place that Jesus brings us to again. Now let's take the first part of our text. We're in Matthew 25, let's look at verses 31 through 33.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." Jesus starts out by saying, when the Son of Man comes, not if the Son of Man comes, He's coming when He comes. This is a certainty and Jesus begins speaking with the certainty of the day, when he comes. And the nations are going to be gathered and separated.

This is what these verses are about. Now think of the context. Jesus is only a very few days from laying down his life and from dying a scandalous death, a shameful death between two common criminals. Just a few 72 hours or something like that away from this. And in some ways, This is a very fitting end to the life of Jesus Christ.

He was born in a barn. He took on the form of a servant. And All his life is marked by humiliation, all of it. He was despised and rejected of men. And though crowds were coming to him because of the things he was saying and the things that he was doing.

Jesus was never for a day of his life an insider. Every day of his life was an outsider. He was never a king living in a palace. He didn't even have a place to lay his head. This is the first coming of the Messiah.

But the second coming of the Messiah will be nothing like that. And Jesus is making this so plain. It'll be nothing like that. All the humiliation that Jesus has willingly subjected himself to will be a thing of the past when he comes. He's coming in glory.

And he's going to sit on a glorious throne and he's going to rule and he's going to judge. That's why the image of the crucifix is bad. It's bad Because it always keeps before your eyes a crucified Jesus. He's always on the cross. He's always in humiliation.

And yes, this is the hinge point of history. I don't dispute that for a minute, but to always be thinking of Jesus as an emaciated criminal, crucified, is the wrong way to think. He was never that way before he was born. He'll never be that way again since then. So to always think of him that way is wrong.

Listen to how Jesus is introduced in Revelation chapter 1. John is seeing those visions And it's not a crucifix that John is seeing. He's actually seeing one like the Son of Man and his hair is white like wool. It's whiter than snow. And his eyes are like a flame of fire.

And there's a two-edged sword protruding from his mouth, and his countenance is like the sun shining in all its strength. There's no emaciated criminal. There is the Lord of glory. And the next time Jesus is seen by humans, that's what you'll see. He's coming in glory.

He's going to sit on a glorious throne to reign and to judge. Here's what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. In Matthew 25, Jesus says that he's coming with all the holy angels.

So please don't come to this text and just skim over the top of it. Think what does that mean? Jesus is coming with all the holy angels. Now in the Bible, When one angel comes, what happens? Prostrate.

On your face. And what does the angel always have to say? What does he have to say? Fear not. Don't fear.

Get up off your hands and knees. Now, when Jesus comes, all the holy angels are coming with Him. How many is that? Well, we don't know. But in Daniel 7, there's a scene where the Ancient of Days is seated and there are 10, 000 times 10, 000 ministering to him.

So maybe they're all there in Daniel 7, who knows, but in Daniel 7 there's 100 million. There's 100 million, That's what 10, 000 times 10, 000 is. There's 100 million. You don't know what that number is. You have no context for that number.

It just means a multitude that you can't even count. That's what's going to happen when Jesus comes back. Ten thousand times ten thousand, maybe times ten thousand. A multitude that you'd never be able to number. If we gave you all day long, you'd be over still here in this section, over here.

You wouldn't be able to count this multitude. And if there were just one of them, you would prostrate yourself. And that angel would have to say, fear not, don't fear, stand up. In John 5, Jesus says that all judgment has been committed to him by the Father. It's all been committed to Jesus.

This is why he's coming in glory, because His Father has glorified Him. He's committed all judgment to Him. So when it's time to judge, when the day of judgment comes, Jesus comes with all the holy angels and the judgment that has been committed to Him is executed. It says that all the nations will be gathered. So this isn't a gathering where people have decided that it's a good idea to come before him.

They're gathered. They're gathered. The ones that are comforted by the day of judgment are gathered. The ones who are terrorized by the day of judgment are gathered. This is not looking for volunteers.

All the nations will be gathered before him. The dead will rise. And everyone who's ever been given a life, everyone who's ever walked the earth will be before him. So think about this scene. Adam will be there.

Noah will be there. Moses will be there. Abraham will be there. Sarah will be there. Mary and Martha will be there.

And there will be sheep and they'll be set at the right hand. And Cain will be there. Pharaoh will be there. Judas, the son of perdition, will be there. And they'll be goats, and they'll be set at the left hand of Jesus.

You will be there. I will be there. Everyone who you've ever known will be there. Jesus is painting this picture. Jesus is setting this scene before you because you're going to see it again.

This isn't the last time you encounter this. This is to make you ready. That's been the theme of the whole chapter. Watch and be ready. Be ready because you're going to be here.

You're going to see the 10, 000 times 10, 000 times 10, 000 that are ministering to him. All the holy angels will be there. Everyone who's ever lived will be there. You will be there. Matthew 13 had the parable of the wheat and the tares.

Listen to verses 41 and 42. This is Matthew 13, verses 41 and 42. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Jesus has been saying these same things for a long time. The angels are going to come and the wheat and the tares who grew together for so long, the sheep and the goats who grazed together for so long, there's going to be a separation on that day. The angels will go and they'll separate.

Consider the sheep. Consider the sheep. Consider the rich biblical imagery of the sheep. Think of Psalm 23, where there's a shepherd who takes his sheep into the greenest pastures and by the stillest, the quietest waters. Think of Psalm 95.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. People of God have always been depicted as sheep, as the sheep of His pasture. Think of Ezekiel 34 where false shepherds are condemned and God says, because of your wickedness I'll shepherd them myself. Because you wouldn't shepherd them according to my ways. I'll just shepherd them myself.

Now turn in your Bibles to John 10. John 10 is such a rich passage of shepherding and sheep. If you put it side by side with Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, you just find such rich parallels running through Psalm 23 and John 10. So I'm going to start reading in John 10 verse 22, but leading up to that, earlier in the chapter Jesus says, I am the door. I am the door in verse seven.

And in verses 11 and verse 14, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. Now listen what Jesus says beginning in John chapter 10 verse 22, reading through 29. Now it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, How long do you keep us in doubt?

If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my hand." In John 10, the sheep have been given to him by his father. They're given to him. You don't elect yourself sheep. You don't vote for yourself.

The Father gives the sheep to His Son, and the Son is the Good shepherd, and the sheep hear his voice. It's a gift. They've been given to the son, and they can hear his voice. These ones who were confronting Jesus here, they just couldn't hear his voice. They couldn't follow him, but not so with the sheep.

So the sheep are given by the Father and they follow Jesus because they hear his voice, they know him, and he knows them, and he sets them at the right hand. Now, remember back to Matthew 20. In Matthew 20, James and John and their mama are clamoring to be at the right hand because it's the place of what? It's the place of favor and honor. And here is the right hand again.

And the Son of Man, when He comes in glory, is going to give the place of honor to his sheep. He's going to put them on his right hand. Think of all the places of favor and honor in this life, in this world. There's always a place of favor, there's always a place of honor. You go into any company, you go into the government, go into any institution and there are places of favor and honor.

And you get them by being born into a certain family or you get them based on your performance and effort and skills or you get them based on wealth, or you get those places of favor and honor based on your connections who you know might get you a place of favor and honor. But now all that, all those things have passed away. Your family connections and your wealth and all your own merit are former things. And now It's just your relation to Jesus Christ. That's it.

Will you have a place of favor and honor? What's your relationship to Jesus Christ? That's all it comes down to. All those other things are boiled away. They evaporate.

And we're just left with one thing. Who are you in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ? There will be a mighty separation of that day where all the other divisions cease to matter at all. The denominational divisions won't matter. The divisions between countries, ethnic groups, they won't matter.

There will just be one division and the Son of Man who's coming in glory will be that dividing line. Now let's look at verses 34 through 40, the sheep. Then the king will say to those 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 food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.

I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you?

Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." Jesus is going to speak to the sheep on those days. He's going to address the sheep. And he's going to bless them. This isn't the blessed of the Beatitudes that's over and over again.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. This isn't the same word. That word means happy. Happy doesn't really do the word justice, but it's the feeling that you get when you have favor with God.

That's what's being talked about in the Beatitudes. This is a blessing that you would pronounce over your children. If any of you bless your children when they go to bed, it's that kind of blessing. You're blessed by the Father. He's actually pronouncing a blessing on you.

That's the word here. Come, you blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the word. So there is a bidding to come. Come.

And there's a blessing pronounced. And there's a declaration that you're an heir, that you've been selected to inherit. What words of comfort? What words of comfort? Well done, good and faithful servant.

Enter into the joy of your master. Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 1. Now, Jesus as this unfolds is just going to talk about works. He's not going to say one word about a profession of faith. He's not going to say anything about believing.

He's not going to say anything about repenting. I'm a little uncomfortable with that. But Jesus is right. I'm the problem. And he's not uncomfortable with that.

And it's completely appropriate for him to say this and we're going to talk about what that means. But he's only going to talk about works. So how does this relate to works and what the Bible says elsewhere about faith. Paul explains this in Ephesians 1 and 2. So we're going to look at a few verses in Ephesians 1 and a few in Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 1 verses 3 through 6, Paul writes, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So do you get it? I mean, are you hearing the echoes of Matthew 15 already? Come, you blessed of my Father. Paul is recounting the same thing here.

He's blessing God because he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Now verse 4, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved." So here Paul is talking about the declaration, the deal made before the foundation of the world, before you were ever born, before you ever did one thing, good or bad. As you see the tie-in here to Romans 9 and Jacob and Esau, God had determined who He loved and who He hated before they had ever done one thing, good or bad. This backs up in time to before the foundation of the world and he chose and he predestined.

And why? Verse 6 says why? To the praise of his glorious grace. God Almighty is putting himself on display as merciful by redeeming people who don't deserve to be redeemed. Do you see what's happening here?

They don't deserve to be redeemed, but he's showing himself. He's showing that he is a God who's full of mercy by redeeming a people so that He receives the glory that He so richly deserves. Now look in Ephesians chapter 2, starting in verse 8, and we'll read Ephesians 2, 10. Very famous passage of scripture. For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." So you get that salvation here, the mechanisms of salvation are given to us in black and white in the plainest terms. It's by grace through faith. And it's not of works because if it was of works you would boast, you would brag about it if you could earn your way in.

So this is for the glory of God. This is so that God would be known as merciful. It's not for your glory. So all boasting has to be stripped away from us, who would be so predisposed to be proud of ourselves if we could work our way in. All that must be stripped away from us so that God may receive the glory.

There's no works in it and then as soon as Paul gets finished making it so clear that it's not works, he says, you're his workmanship. You're his workmanship. So once he's done what you don't deserve, he's prepared good works for you to walk in them. Long before you were ever born, he prepared good works and you're going to walk in them and that also will be to his praise. So it's all to his praise.

The grace that you don't deserve, the faith that's a gift, that's all to his praise. And then the works that you'll walk in once he's taken you from a rebel, an enemy, and He's made you a son, He's prepared works and that also will be to the praise of His glory. In Revelation 13 verse 8, Jesus is called the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. Jesus is the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. Jesus is the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.

It happened in time here in the gospels, But it was determined before the world ever was, before one person ever walked the earth, it was determined that Jesus Christ would die to ransom a people. Jesus talks about works, but they're rooted in eternity. Do you get this? All the works spoken of in Matthew 25 are rooted in eternity. We are his workmanship.

He's just whittling away at that block of wood. He's making you into something for the praise of His own name. So all the good works are just to the praise of His glorious grace. You're His workmanship. He's working on you.

All the good works are not merit before God, But it's to prove that he is a good workman. He's a good workman. He produces good things. He prepared those good works that you may walk in them. Now back to Matthew 25.

Back to Matthew 25. So we went to John 10 to see what is the nature of sheep. Jesus has already talked about sheep. He's already talked about being the door and being the shepherd. The nature of sheep is that they're given to the Son by the Father, they're just given to Him, and that He's mightier than all, so no one can ever take them out of His hand.

So, this is what's happening in Matthew 25. You have all these sheep who have been kept for this day. You get that from John 10? They've been kept. No one could keep them from the day that Jesus is talking about.

No one could snatch them from the Father's hand. They've been kept. They've been preserved. They've been brought faithfully to this day where the Son of Man will come and set them at his right hand, the place of favor. And then we went to Ephesians 2 to show that even though Jesus is talking about works, that salvation is really by grace through faith.

And then as soon as Paul stops talking about that, he starts talking about the good works that will flow out of those who God has poured out His mercy on. So now we're back. Now we're back in Matthew 25. Look at verse 37. These sheep, in verse 37, are actually called what?

The righteous. The self-righteous? May it never be. They're the righteous. You can't find anyone who is commended for their own righteousness in the Bible.

You just can't find it. All our righteousness is as filthy rags. The only righteousness that you'll ever find in any passage of the Bible is imputed righteousness. It's a foreign righteousness. It's a foreign righteousness.

It didn't start within yourself. It was pressed upon you. When they're called the righteous in verse 37, you know instantly that what Jesus is talking about can't have anything to do with workspace righteousness. It's the righteousness apart from the law, because no man was ever justified by the works of the law. I want to make some observations about the good works.

I want to make six observations about the good works that we see here in Matthew 25. First, I'm going to define good works biblically. It is doing those things which are according to the Word of God. So there's a standard for good works. And doing those things for the glory of God.

Two essential ingredients to this recipe. The right thing as defined by the Word of God for the right reason. So good works lines up with the Word of God, it's the right thing, and it's for the glory of God, it's for the right reason. And If you have a work that is only one of those but not the other, it's not a good work. In other words, if you do something that's consistent with the Word of God, but you do it for your own glory, or you do it for any other motivation, then it's not a good work in God's eyes.

That doesn't mean it might not be helpful to someone else. That's not the point. The question is, what does God think is a good work? So it has to have both of these essential elements. And so the opposite is also the case.

You do something for the glory of God, but it has nothing to do with his revealed will. You just offer something to him that's not consistent with the Word of God. It's not a good word. So you have two essential ingredients here. And the works in Matthew 25 fit the bill.

So, number one, number one, observations about these good works. Number one, this crushes easy-belieavism. Just crushes it. Pray a prayer, walk an aisle, and you're born again. No matter what.

Because you prayed the prayer. You made it over that one hurdle, and you're saved. And nothing else will ever matter. This is not the Gospel. It's not a gospel that anyone literate in the Bible should even recognize.

And this parable crushes it. I want you to think about the big picture here. This has all been one discourse, all one discourse. One discourse. In chapter 23, Jesus, he pronounces eight woes on the hypocritical Pharisees.

And it's for their outwardness. It's for all their works that have constructed an outward righteousness. And he's just been relentless and he's been ruthless in tearing down all those outward works because they had no heart in them. There was no heart. When you pulled away the shell that they had constructed, there's nothing under there.

There's no heart. There's no love for God. There's no real desire for obedience. It's just legalism. It's trying to earn your way in.

So Jesus has obliterated that. Now he comes in chapter 25 and goes right to the other end of the continuum. And he is relentless on that, and he's ruthless on that, and he obliterates that. All profession, all talk, but no evidence to back it up. So, he's done both.

Do you see how he's destroyed both? An outward righteousness that has no heart. He crushed that in chapter 23. And now in chapter 25, anyone who would be all talk but no evidence, no fruit, all gab. He's crushing that in 25 And he leaves us with where the gospel, the true gospel, the biblical gospel would take us which is a heart that's changed produces fruit.

When the Holy Spirit of God comes to indwell. You can never be the same. Can't you see that? Anything else is madness. Anything else is madness.

What could be more absurd than a member of the Trinity coming and taking up residence in a person and then there be no change. That is insanity. Number one, crushes easy believe-ism. Number two, these are not works for show. They're not works for show.

Jesus just bore down on the works for show thing in Matthew chapter six. He starts talking about those hypocrites who anytime they do a good deed they're blowing a trumpet, good work being done here. And Matthew 25 is talking about something completely different. These are not works for show. Jesus is talking about people who are hungry and feeding them.

He's talking about people who are thirsty, giving them a drink. He's talking about strangers with nowhere to stay, taking them in. He's talking about the naked, clothing them. He's talking about the sick, going to them. He's talking about people in prison, visiting them.

He's talking about people who will never be able to reciprocate. They'll never be able to return the favor. And probably no one will ever know that you've done it. And the sheep could care less if anyone ever knows. The sheep, just from the text here, they don't have a very high view of these works.

They're surprised to be commended by Jesus for these works. Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? When did we ever see you naked and clothed? When did we ever see you in prison? They don't have a high view of their works.

They haven't been counting. They haven't been marking it in their diary. Number three, These are acts of compassion. Compassion. Love with feet.

Okay. Not ooey gooey sentimental, only love. Now, love should be emotional. Love should be emotional, but it shouldn't only be emotional. When you've got a love that's only emotional, you know you have been overthrown by our culture.

But this is a love with feet. These are acts of compassion. I was reading the Good Samaritan this morning. Luke 10, I think it starts in verse 25. You know the story.

Man going from Jerusalem down to Jericho, he falls in among robbers, they beat him, they leave him half dead. Here comes a priest, doesn't want to get involved, passes by. Here comes a Levite, Masters of the law, doesn't want to get involved, passes by, here comes a despised Samaritan. Here's what it says, and when he saw him, he had compassion. So the priest came and there was no impulse of compassion out of his heart.

The Levite came, there was not an impulse of compassion. But when the Samaritan came and his eyes fell upon that man who was half dead and had just been left to die. It caused an impulse in his heart. He had a new heart, a soft heart, a warm heart. So when his eyes, anytime the Samaritan's eyes sees something like that, it causes an impulse in his heart because he doesn't have a dead heart.

He has an alive heart. So Luke 10 says, and when he saw him, He had compassion. Listen to Micah 6 verse 8. We sing this all the time. He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

When you see someone beaten and left dead and you have an impulse of compassion, It's the convergence of these things. It's to do justly. It's to love mercy. It's to walk humbly before your God. And that's what these acts are that Jesus is pointing out in his sheep.

You saw me hungry and there was an impulse of compassion in your heart and that love had feet. That love ended up in food, distributed, drink, distributed, strangers taken in, the naked, clothed, the sick, visited, going to those in prison. Number four. You can tell from how it's said that this is just a part of their life. This is a part of the sheep's life.

This isn't the exception, it's the rule. It's not the exception, it's the rule. This is happening all the time in the lives of the sheep. So that they have to say, when did we do that? When did we do that?

Because it wasn't exceptional. Not, it worked. My plan to work myself in, I executed it. I did it. The plan worked.

I had a spreadsheet I was managing and I executed the plan and now I'm a sheep. No, it's, when did we do that? I can't even think of the time you're talking about. Number five, these things were done to help fellow believers. Jesus said, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, My brethren.

In Matthew chapter 12, he defines exactly who his brethren are. It's those who do the will of his father. Jesus says, those are my brothers and sisters and mothers, those who do the will of my Father. It's the other sheep, or his brethren. In the book of 1 John, John gives the love of the Brethren as a distinguishing mark of a Christian.

That's one of the themes of the book of 1 John. Loving the Brethren is a distinguishing mark for Christians. Now does that mean we should only help Christians? No, that's not what that means. But that's who Jesus is talking about here.

And it has to do with loving what God loves. It has to do with advancing the kingdom. It has to do with the relationship that changes forever when you enter into the kingdom of God and you're adopted into a family and how you treat those family members. Listen to Paul in Galatians 9. Excuse me, there is no Galatians 9.

Listen to Paul in Galatians 6 verses 9 and 10. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Let us do good to all, especially those of the household of faith. So we prioritize brothers and sisters because they're family.

They're part of our same household. But that is not to the exclusion of all in any way. Finally, observation number six. These things were done to Christ. It was like he received the food or the drink.

It was like He was visited. It was like He was taken in. It was like He was clothed. They were done to Christ. It's a disposition towards Christ that's on display.

If your disposition towards Christ is real and authentic and genuine, then it manifests itself. It is demonstrated in these other things. Do you see how closely Jesus identifies with his people? So that if I go and I do something for one of my brothers and sisters in Christ, he's so identified with them that I did it to him. It's just like in the book of Acts, in Acts 9.

Saul's persecuting the church and Jesus says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? When you mess with my brethren, you mess with me. When you help my brethren, you did it to me." The goats, starting in verse 41, through the end of the chapter. Then he will also say to those on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.

I was a stranger, you did not take me in. Naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me." Then they also will answer him 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, then he will answer saying, assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Jesus has spoken to the sheep now, he speaks to the goats. And if there are any more terrifying words that you could ever hear spoken. I can't imagine what they would be.

Instead of, come you blessed of my Father, it's, depart from me you cursed. Depart from me you cursed. Here's what J.C. Ryle says, they would not hear Christ when he said come unto me and I will give you rest And now they must hear him say, depart into everlasting fire. They wouldn't hear when he said, come, I'll give you rest.

So now they must hear, depart. I believe This is the most terrifying thing about the Gospel, that in that moment they will know that the free offer of pardon has been rejected. That pardon was offered and was despised. And was despised. Think of the goats and their lives and all of the common graces that they've enjoyed.

Jesus says that God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. And they've enjoyed many comforts in this life, even though they didn't deserve comforts. God has been kind to them in this life, and all those kindnesses are going to be withdrawn. There are so many things that made their rebellion to him not only bearable, but even pleasant to them. And all of those comforts are going to be removed forever and ever.

Why? Because of what they did not do. Because of what they did not do. The evidence is against them. The evidence is against them.

Turn your Bibles to James 2. James 2. James 2 and we'll start in verse 14 and read through 26. James 2 verse 14, what does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have words? Can faith save him?

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, so do you see how we're right back here in Matthew 25. We're talking about a brother or sister naked and destitute of daily food. Verse 16. And one of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But some will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. Do you want to know, oh foolish man, what faith without works is dead?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only.

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James is teaching about two kinds of faith. One is a faith that's just words, just words. And James says, even the demons have that kind of faith. Even the demons believe a set of propositions, okay?

Even the demons believe a set of propositions, okay? Even the demons believe a set of propositions, but it doesn't make them saved. James says at least they have the good sense to tremble and fear God. There's another kind of faith that is genuine, is saving, causes a person to become a new creation and then they act like it. That's all that James is saying.

That when someone becomes a new creation you can tell because they act like it. That's it. Don't read anything else into James. That's what he's teaching. When you're made new, you can tell because you act like it.

And he calls two witnesses. He calls Abraham, who says, Abraham acted like it. He acted like he believed God. That's why it was credited to him as righteousness, because he proved that his faith was genuine. It wasn't the faker kind of faith that just believes a set of propositions, but it was real faith.

And so he acted like it. And then he speaks of Rahab, who acted like it. And she demonstrated that it was real, that it was saving. Consider these two Proverbs. Proverbs 14-31, he who oppresses the poor reproaches his maker, But he who honors him has mercy on the needy.

The one who honors God has mercy on the needy. That just happens. That's just a law of the universe. That's what Proverbs is saying. Those who honor God have mercy on the needy.

One to one correlation. If they honor God, then they have mercy on the needy. If they don't have mercy on the needy, they're reproaching their maker. They're rebuking God. Listen to Proverbs 19 verse 17.

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord and he will pay back what he is given. When you have pity on the poor, it's like loaning God, and he's going to pay back with interest. Matthew 25 is about the day when the loan comes due and God says, Have interest. Have a pile of interest. I want to make a few observations about the lack of good works.

We made observations about the good works and I want to make some observations about the lack of good works. Number one, the goats lived to be served. The goats lived to be served. Jesus said, I didn't come to be served, but to serve and to lay down my life as a ransom for many. The sheep have actually just been conformed into the image of their shepherd.

That's why they're feeding those who don't have food and clothing, those who are naked, because they've just been conformed into an image. And so, as their master didn't come to be served, they don't come to be served either. They come to serve. But the goats live to be served and that says something profound about them. That's what this text is teaching.

Number two, they call Jesus Lord. Lord, when do we not do these things? It's like Matthew 7. Lord, Lord, did we not? And then the list.

They call Jesus Lord and their goats, and they were always goats. Number three, The goats are insensible of any neglect of Christ. Do you see that? They're totally insensible of any neglect of Christ. When did we not minister to you?

When the truth is, when the need was before them, there just wasn't enough in it for them. If we'd have known someone important was to be fed. I mean, we would have done that. If we didn't know someone important who could have helped us was naked, we certainly would have clothed them. Totally insensible to having neglected Christ.

But in truth, their whole lives have neglected Christ. And they're excluded because of how they treated Jesus, though they never thought of it that way. This is in this parable. They never thought of it that way. But they'll be excluded because of how they treated Jesus.

Number four. They proved that they have no love for Christ people, and especially not the least. Remember, love for the brethren is a distinguishing mark of a Christian. If you don't love the brethren, you're not a Christian. It's a distinguishing mark.

It's not the only mark, but it's a distinguishing mark. Number five, the condemnation is for sins of omission. Wow, you don't want to miss that point. How much of our mind share of our thoughts about religion are devoted to the don't do this list. I'm not diminishing that list.

We ought to know it. We ought to avoid things that God hates. But the condemnation here is for sins of omission, things they did not do that they should have. Very revealing. They could have deprived themselves of everything.

These aren't murderers being described here. Drunkards. They don't have to be, have been that. It's not that they were doing the things that God said you shouldn't do. It's that they weren't doing the things that he loves.

Verse 46, the goats are made to depart into everlasting punishment, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and Jesus' sheep are welcomed into everlasting life. Some are told to come, some are told to depart. Some are Some are called blessed of the Father, coheirs with Christ. Some are called cursed. And Jesus says, have your infinity.

Have your infinity. A million ages, go have it. Should you be comforted or terrified by these words? Jesus is desiring that you would be. Don't give yourself false comfort.

And don't terrorize yourself falsely either. By faith. By faith. Three concluding remarks. Jesus was humiliated at His first coming.

A member of the Trinity should have never been subjected to the things he experienced in this life except for he set them aside to redeem the people. And this is the guilt of the goats that they rejected the offer of pardon. Jesus left heaven and took on the form of a servant and was crucified like a criminal and the goats rejected the pardon that was offered. He's coming again, and none of that humiliation will be evident. His face will shine like the sun in all its strength.

The second thing, no one will talk themselves out of this separation. This is a day for evidence, And your life will say all that needs to be said. And the time of words will have passed. What is your life saying? Now don't be fooled, this is not a social gospel being preached by Jesus.

It's not a social gospel. Many do-gooders will be there on the left in that day. There was enough in it for them to do that good. It was for the praise of man, or so that they might think well of themselves. That will not make them a sheep on that day.

It's not a social gospel being preached here. But your life is saying something. What is it saying? Finally, brothers and sisters, be comforted to hear these words, come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world. God has had this in his mind before he ever formed the earth by his word.

It was in his mind. If you have saving faith, you were in his mind. He made it ready for you before you ever took a breath. Those without saving faith, this text is a mercy to you. It's made to bring you to the wrong side of the slamming door so that you can hear it slam and you can be made wise.

While there's time to repent, Today is the day of salvation. Don't comfort yourself with false comforts for one more second. Repent and believe the gospel. Let's pray. Oh Father, I thank you for your word.

I thank you that you have brought us to this day, week after week after week, so that we would think about the day when the Son of Man will come with 10, 000 times 10, 000 angels and will gather the nations before him and he will separate. I thank you for the mercy of this text that you would tell people in such plain terms so that they could walk in wisdom. Oh God I pray for the moving of your spirit among us to hear your word to really hear your word to be given ears by the Spirit of God to hear these things. We thank you that you are the good shepherd and that no one can snatch your sheep from your hands. But you'll preserve them until that day and then you'll put them in the place of favor and honor even though they'll be so surprised to be favored and honored.

I praise you for your word in Jesus' name. Amen.