Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: I know we. We just prayed and we don't normally do this kind of thing, but I want to stop for a second and just acknowledge, you know, we are at a point in our church right now where we just have literally today a lot of our brothers and sisters who are in the hospital or dealing with health issues or those sorts of things. And so I want to.
I'm sure you're probably, like, already thinking of at least one person, so why don't we just stop real quick and just pray for that? Pray for God's movement in our church, for health and protection and healing.
Jesus, we thank you so much for the gift of this church family.
Lord, we pray that you would be with us. Lord, we have brothers and sisters who are precious to us, who today are hurting, who are dealing with health issues and scares and pains. And, Lord, we just pray that you would be the comforter, that you would be the healer, and that you would be the shepherd that our hearts need.
Lord, empower and encourage us in this room to be your hands and feet of visitation, of encouragement, of.
Of just presence with those who need it. God, we love you and pray these things in your name. Amen.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: We're going to be in Matthew 25.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: Today, if you want to turn there. We're finishing out this series on Jesus's teaching on the end times called Be Ready, but while you're turning their eyes. So I have a question. Those of you who are doing the discipleship groups.
How you doing with your Bible memorization right about now, huh? How are we doing? How are we doing? Where are you at with first John? Assurance of salvation? Where you at? You got it? Can you do it right now?
Can we do it collectively?
Okay. All right, I'm going to turn my mic off because we're going to do this.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: I want you to do this loud, okay?
[00:01:45] Speaker A: All right, here we go.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Who felt super out of the loop just then?
[00:02:13] Speaker A: That's on purpose. I'm just kidding.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: Hey, listen, if you did feel super.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: Out of the loop, there's still time.
You can jump into one of the groups. You should talk to one of the pastors. We'd love for you to be a part of that. It has been really good for me these last few weeks, just getting together and praying and getting in the word with brothers and sisters. I hope it has been as life giving for you guys. You notice I didn't do the second memory verse with you. That's because I don't have it memorized yet, and I didn't want to be embarrassed I only picked one I knew.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Okay, we're finishing up this series today called Be Ready. We've spent the last several weeks going through Matthew 24 and 25, looking at Jesus's last kind of formal teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. If you remember, Matthew is divided up between these sections of narrative and these sections of discourse or teaching. This is the last of the chunks of teaching often called the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus talks about the end times. It starts with Jesus prophesying that the temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed, which turns out it was in 70 AD.
[00:03:20] Speaker A: Some 40 or so years later, right?
[00:03:22] Speaker B: But that evolves into a conversation about Christ's return and about the actual end of all things. And it gets into some.
Some really interesting stuff, right? Like, apocalyptic texts in the scripture can be weird, they can be scary, they can be hard to figure out. And Jesus jumps right into them. In chapter 25. We've been the last two weeks, Jesus ends out this sermon by delivering three quick parables in a row. And it's really like these parables are kind of his application, right? He's spent time talking about the fact that he's. He's leaving after his death and resurrection. He's going to come back for a final judgment someday, but no one knows when it'll be. And it'll be hard and confusing for people, and there'll be persecution and people will suffer and people will doubt and the church will struggle, but it'll persevere to the end. But no one knows when it's going to happen. So you need to be ready, right? Like, it's kind of the whole theme he's working through. And then he ends with these three parables to be like, okay, since you. Since you're waiting for me to come back, and you won't know when I'll come back, take these three things to heart.
In the three parables he gives us, we talked about the parable the Bridesmaids, where Jesus talked about the necessity that we take responsibility for our own faith, right? That we can't rest on the spirituality.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: And faith of others, but that we.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: Must choose how we will interact with.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: God and interact with the Gospel.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: We talked last week about the parable of the talents and this idea that we must make the most of the.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: Investment that God has put in us.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: That there's something about the Gospel work that Christ has done that he's invested in us, and he expects us to not just sit on that, but to use this one life he's given us.
[00:05:05] Speaker A: For kingdom investment, for Something important for something that lasts.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: And then today we're going to look at the closing of the sermon. And I think it's worth noting that over the next few months, as we finish out Matthew, we're literally transitioning from this point on to the Passion narrative. Jesus's last 48 hours leading up to his arrest, betrayal, trial, death by crucifixion, and resurrection. Like we're at that point of the story. From this point on, we will hear things from Jesus, we'll learn from Jesus. But this text that we're about to read is the last moment of specific teaching that Jesus gives to his followers in Matthew.
And I think Matthew does this on purpose. He ends Christ's teaching ministry at this note. And I'm going to tell you guys, if you've already looked ahead in your text, you're like, wow, dang, that's hard for me.
I think for me personally, this is.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: Easily Jesus's most difficult teaching.
It's painful for me to engage this.
[00:06:11] Speaker B: I would say this is what, one.
[00:06:13] Speaker A: Of, if not the most difficult to engage text in the entire Bible.
This is a rough one.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: This is the parable of the sheep.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: And the goats, if you've ever heard that one before.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: So we're going to talk about it today. And the point today, I think is going to be about as simple as it can be.
This, it's the point of the actual text. It's just this.
Genuine faith is proved in just action.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: Genuine Christian faith is proven through not.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: Just action, but just action.
Faith in Jesus Christ will always look like something in your life.
It will fundamentally change you, change your worldview, change the actions, the decisions you make. It will look like something. And Jesus is going to force us to face that truth today.
So if you don't have a Bible with you, there's house Bibles around the room.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: You can look in the chairs in front of you. We say this every week, but we believe in the importance of access to God's word. If you don't have a Bible, snag that one or talk to me. I'll get you a nicer one.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: But guys, as we look at this.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: Text today, I believe this is going to raise some anxiety in our hearts.
It's a hard text, raises questions like, is Jesus claiming that our salvation is dependent on these certain specific actions?
[00:07:36] Speaker B: If we make mess up this list of to dos, will we miss out on our salvation, on our eternity? And guys, that's a valid question that this text raises.
But stick with me.
[00:07:49] Speaker A: I promise you this text at the.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: End of the day is about grace.
This text is also a gut check.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: A hard gut check.
But Jesus is faithful to graciously give his salvation to his children.
It's about grace. The question is whether or not we will genuinely engage and participate in the wonderful gift he's given us. So pray with me one more time and then we're going to jump in and start reading this text. Jesus, we ask this morning that you would be our teacher, that you would speak through your word, Holy Spirit, that.
[00:08:22] Speaker B: You would challenge us where we need to be challenged, Lord, where our love.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: Has grown cold, where we have grown calluses over our hearts, through doubts, through apathy, through habitual sin patterns. Lord, I pray that in your grace you would pull those calluses away today and you would poke us in tender places that we might consider your gospel challenge afresh. Lord, I pray that each one of us would be encouraged and challenged today, that we would step away from this gathering today having heard from you in a real way and been empowered by you, to take steps toward faith and godliness, that we love you, we trust you, pray these things in your name. Amen.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: All right, Matthew 25. We're going to start in verse 31. And we read this.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them one from another. Just as a shepherd separates the sheep from, from the goats, he will put.
[00:09:29] Speaker A: The sheep on his right and the.
[00:09:30] Speaker B: Goats on the left.
So Jesus steps directly into the story. Remember, it's the culmination of this whole sermon. This is his closing point. And he's just spent time going kind of bam, bam, bam through these quick, short parables. This is the culmination of the whole thing. He's putting all of the sermon together, but really all three of the parables together. He's sharing very clearly what it will look like when he does return.
You have to remember this is the.
[00:10:06] Speaker A: Disciples listening to this sermon.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: And they've only known Jesus as the.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Rabbi, the humble carpenter, the guy who loves kids and hangs out with his friends.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Like yes, he's, he's bold, he's striking.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: When he teaches.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: He doesn't shy away from saying heavy.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Things or challenging authority and power.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: But at the end of the day.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: He'S like a backwoods blue collar peasant like them, right?
He's a down to earth guy. Isaiah rightly prophesied and described Christ when.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: He said that Jesus didn't have an.
[00:10:41] Speaker A: Impressive form or majesty, that we should look at him, no appearance, that we should desire Him.
Jesus is just a dude, but he says here, when he returns, it will be very different.
He will come in glory. He will be surrounded by angels. He will sit upon a glorious white throne.
Paul said it to the Philippians in the Christ Hymn. He said, at that moment, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord John. One tells us that when Christ came to the world, the world, his own creation didn't recognize him as creator.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: But when he returns, Jesus tells us here, there will be no doubts.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: He will not return as a humble, quiet, lowly peasant. He'll return in victory, in power, in authority. And it will be glorious.
It'll also be really intense.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: He'll gather the nations. This is a way of saying that every single soul in the creation will fail.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: Face Jesus on the day of his return.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: And Jesus shares this using a parable of a shepherd. Which, by the way, this is a.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Little bit of a side note, but this actually brings up an interesting kind of piece about this particular text. It's really kind of only a half parable. It follows some of the conventions of Jesus's parables, but it also is very obviously like specifically prophetic. Right. Like he's speaking about something that will actually happen in the future. So he's using this image of a king in a court, in a shepherd at pasture, to make a point about his authority and the coming judgment.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: And so it kind of leaves you, like, structurally, like, is this text a.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Prophecy or a parable? And the answer is just kind of. Yeah, which is, which is, which is interesting.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: But regardless, he makes this point very succinctly, even though none of us are first century shepherds, the image of the shepherd in this text, even with no knowledge.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: Right.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: It's stark.
And we know historically that Jesus is tapping into a very normal image when he says this, but he's injecting it with a lot of stakes and some very real fear. You see back in, in this area.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: In the first century, sheep and goats, they're similar enough that Near Eastern shepherds almost always combine the flocks for grazing.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: By the way, that's still true. Like, here's a picture, modern day, of.
[00:13:07] Speaker A: A shepherd with their flocks in Turkey in the last 10 years.
[00:13:10] Speaker B: And they've got the sheep and the goats mixed together.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: This is very close geographically to where Jesus lived. This is the way these things kind of look.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: You put the sheep and the goats together because for the most part, it's.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: Their caretaking regimen is identical and they do well together.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: The only major difference between them, as.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Far as caretaking goes, is that goats are much more temperature sensitive because they have lighter coats and they have a single layer to their coat.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: And so they need to be gathered.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: Together and given preferential spacing when they bed down for the night. Otherwise they can get illnesses.
[00:13:44] Speaker B: Sheep have so much wool on them.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: They'Re pretty much good wherever you. They're like double insulated mugs. Like, they're good pretty much wherever.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: But goats are a little more sensitive. So the shepherd would separate them out and put all the goats together so.
[00:13:57] Speaker A: They could bed down and get close to each other and be fine. Now, you have to understand there was.
[00:14:03] Speaker B: No cultural association with, like, good or.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: Bad or positive or negative, between yeast, right? Like, it's just sheep and goats. They both had their purposes. And the image Jesus is grabbing onto in here is just the idea that shepherds have to separate them apart.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: But he takes this very normal image and he now connects it to not just his glorious return, but to his final judgment.
Now, before we move on, it's worth.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: Pointing out that basically the entire rest of the New Testament teaching on Jesus's return is incredibly consistent with what Jesus says here.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: When Jesus returns, the entire creation will.
[00:14:45] Speaker A: Submit to his royal judgment.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: That is a teaching that the entire.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: New Testament, all the major authors come back to and affirm in deep clarity. In his second letter to the Thessalonians.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: Paul is encouraging Christians who are being.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: Persecuted really heavily by reminding them that in the final days, when there's judgment, that Christ will justify their suffering. And he says this.
[00:15:10] Speaker B: This will take place at the revelation of the lor Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels. He will take vengeance with flaming fire.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: On those who don't know God and those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: And they will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord's presence, from his glorious strength on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by.
[00:15:30] Speaker A: Those who have believed because our testimony among you was believed.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: John the Apostle is even more specific in his sprawling prophetic work of revelation. He is given a vision of this moment, and he spells it out in detail in Revelation 20.
Then I saw a great white throne, and one seated upon it, and earth and heaven fled from his presence, but nowhere was found for them to hide. And I saw also even the dead, both great and small, were raised up and stood before the throne. And then books were opened. A book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the book.
Even the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were within them. And each was judged according to their works. And death and Hades were judged and thrown to the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: The biblical teaching is incredibly unified on.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: The idea that Jesus will come back and when he does, he will judge all of creation and he will judge it on the basis of evil and the curse.
Everyone who lives and everyone who has ever lived. There is no sin, no injustice so small that it will escape the judgment.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Of our beloved Christ when he returns.
And beloved, that should actually be an encouragement for you.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: There's no wrong that's ever been done to you.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: There's no sin that's ever been committed against you that was unseen by Christ, that will not be accounted for.
He is a good, just judge.
Should be encouraging for us.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: It's beautiful. It's also terrifying, right?
Because it's not just all the sins, injustices done against you, it's also all the ones you did.
That's pretty rough.
Read on with me. And look how Jesus describes this to us. Because he has a. He's a very specific and a very.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: Practical focus for us when considering his coming, return and his judgment. Verse 34 says this.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Then the King will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my Father and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.
[00:18:03] Speaker A: And the righteous will answer him, lord, when do we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink?
[00:18:09] Speaker B: When do we see you a stranger.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: And take you in or without clothes and clothes you?
[00:18:12] Speaker B: When do we see you sick or in prison and visit you?
[00:18:16] Speaker A: And the King will answer them, truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did for me.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: In our text, Jesus associates righteousness with.
[00:18:28] Speaker A: Sheep, and as we'll see, unrighteousness with the goat.
He's already done the work of separating them and now he's giving them their reward.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: But there's a really important distinction in.
[00:18:40] Speaker A: This first section of the text that.
[00:18:42] Speaker B: We can miss, I think because of.
[00:18:44] Speaker A: Just the unique way this text is written.
[00:18:46] Speaker B: You see, the main aspect of this.
[00:18:48] Speaker A: Text that I think sticks out to most of us as we read it is that Jesus makes this connection between these sheep's faithful love and service to folk in need to their faithful love and service of him. Right?
[00:18:58] Speaker B: He tells them they, they're blessed by the Father.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: And the indicator of this blessing is the fact that they helped him when he was in need. And they're confused, when do we help you?
[00:19:07] Speaker B: And Jesus informs them of their help.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: To the marginalized in their life was.
[00:19:11] Speaker B: Actually help to Him.
[00:19:12] Speaker A: It's a striking image.
[00:19:14] Speaker B: And by the way, it really is the main point Jesus wants us to consider in this text. But I think it's important not to move to that main point too quickly.
The trouble with this text is that people often understandably associate this text with some sort of works based merit, right?
Jesus seems to be saying really clearly that their ministry in this life had weight at the time of judgment. And there is truth to that. We need to wrestle with that. But not before we start with this fundamental truth of the text and of the teaching of the whole of Scripture. Look how Jesus describes, describes the reward of their blessing. Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
[00:20:06] Speaker A: They're being given an inheritance.
There's a funny thing about inheritances.
[00:20:12] Speaker B: They're secure, right?
They're not earned by merit. They are given by relationship.
Jesus says to these sheep, the Father.
[00:20:23] Speaker A: Has prepared this inheritance for them before the foundation of the world.
This is not compensation for services rendered.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: This is a gift lovingly given to children.
Jesus starts the text there.
[00:20:40] Speaker A: I think it's important, I think it's.
[00:20:42] Speaker B: On purpose because the rest of this text is about our works.
It's about what we do with our faith in this world. But Jesus wants to make sure that you know that even in this prophecy parable, your good works don't earn your salvation.
The Bible is clear and consistent on this point. Salvation is a gift given by grace. It is not earned by our work.
I think what we'll see in this text, that our good works show our salvation.
They're the visible evidence of the gift God has given and the work he has done in us.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: I think this is why the sheep are so surprised.
The works Jesus is referencing in their lives, they weren't done to earn anything.
They weren't done with serving Jesus in mind.
[00:21:33] Speaker B: They were done because it was the.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: Natural outpouring of what Jesus had done.
[00:21:37] Speaker B: In these sheeps hearts because of grace, they have become the kind of people who do good works.
And Jesus tells another something about this kind of good work for its own sake. That is in fact direct service and glory to him.
But I want you to notice something.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: Before we read on.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Notice how Jesus has chosen to completely.
[00:22:03] Speaker A: Repeat his list of good works and telling the story.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: It's kind of awkwardly structured, right? Like the judge gives the list and.
[00:22:11] Speaker A: Then the sheep go, when did we?
[00:22:13] Speaker B: And then they repeat the whole list, right?
[00:22:16] Speaker A: That's kind of a weird choice literarily.
[00:22:18] Speaker B: And it actually is going to continue.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: On, like read on with me because.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: I think we're going to see purpose.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: In our text here. Verse 41.
[00:22:25] Speaker B: Then he will say to those on the left, depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you didn't take me, and I was naked and you didn't clothe me. I was sick and imprisoned and you didn't take care of me. And they too will answer, lord, when do we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or without clothes or sick or in prison and not help you?
[00:22:55] Speaker A: And he will answer them, truly, I tell you, whatever you did not do, or the least of these, you did not do for me. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: Okay, we stop for a minute.
That's heavy.
This is why I started out saying.
[00:23:16] Speaker A: I don't like this text.
This is one of the hardest texts in scripture.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: I mean like the rest of the.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: Sermon, but maybe a little more intensely here. Jesus pulls no punches.
He's giving a stark and a painful warning.
[00:23:32] Speaker B: The goats in this text, I think.
[00:23:34] Speaker A: This is what makes it so upsetting.
They're completely rejected. They're thrown into eternal punishment. By the way, this is common language Jesus uses in reference to hell, eternal banishment from the grace, love of God.
[00:23:45] Speaker B: But what makes this text so disturbing to me is that these goats, he's.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: Not talking about like Hitler's right.
This isn't the obviously evil ones who've openly rejected Jesus.
[00:23:59] Speaker B: This isn't even like the peaceful atheists.
[00:24:01] Speaker A: Who just don't like how God has revealed himself.
[00:24:04] Speaker B: We've all seen those haunting kind of.
[00:24:06] Speaker A: Sorrowful, like social media or YouTube videos.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: Of some atheists, staunch atheists, saying something like, if I died and met God, I would look at him and say, how dare you Right. Like we. We've seen those kind of things before.
But that's not who these goats are.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: They're not the Hitlers and they're not the atheists. These goats, according to Jesus, were seemingly.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: A part of the flock.
Right until the moment of judgment.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: These goats are shocked and appalled that they've been separated from the sheep and rejected by the king.
Notice how as Jesus moves from the.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: Sheep to the goats, the same list.
[00:24:47] Speaker A: Of good works is repeated a third and then a fourth time.
These goats are incredulous. When did we ignore you, Jesus?
[00:24:57] Speaker B: We would never do that.
[00:24:59] Speaker A: Why are you saying that?
These folk who claim to love and to follow Jesus, Jesus says to them, you don't know me.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: Their failure to typify the good works.
[00:25:14] Speaker A: Of genuine believers indicates that they themselves are not in fact, believers.
[00:25:21] Speaker B: To fail to be changed by Jesus.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: Fundamentally means that one does not know Jesus as that is horrific.
It's all the more horrific because these goats seem so surprised by it.
They thought they were in, but they were not.
It's really rough.
It highlights that this teaching is the culmination of these three parables.
Bring it together with me mentally. Right?
[00:25:52] Speaker B: The bridesmaids, they thought they were a.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: Vital part of the wedding. But the groom said, I don't know you, and you locked them out.
[00:25:59] Speaker B: The lazy servant thought he knew the master better than the other servants. I know you. I know what you're like.
[00:26:05] Speaker A: But the master said, you don't know me, and cast him away.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: These goats walked with the flock. They grazed with the flock. They were deceived.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: And when Jesus returns, they find to their shocking horror, that they are not known by Jesus and they are cast away.
Guys, that's a scary text.
But you know something? It's supposed to be scary.
Jesus is trying to shock us and.
[00:26:35] Speaker B: Grab our attention with this text.
But this isn't the only.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: The shocking piece isn't the only aspect to this.
[00:26:42] Speaker B: Remember that Jesus has repeated this list.
[00:26:44] Speaker A: Of actions four distinct times.
This kind of repetition, this is a way of shining a spotlight on these actions, this facet of the story. He wants us to deeply consider this list of deeds.
I think that's interesting. Of all the things in this text.
[00:27:02] Speaker B: To me as a reader, that feels like the least important, right? Like, I'm too busy when I read this text, I'm too busy being scared.
[00:27:12] Speaker A: That I might be a goat and not realize it, to really care about, like, the specifics of the list, which I think is exactly why Jesus, knowing our weakness, repeats the list four times.
[00:27:22] Speaker B: To be like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, look at this part, look at this part.
So if Jesus wants us to consider.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: It, let's consider it.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: What does Jesus mention in his list.
[00:27:33] Speaker A: Of deeds done in service to him? Fed when hungry, given drink when thirsty, the stranger taken in the naked, clothed, the sick, visited the imprisoned, cared for.
Now that's actually a really interesting list.
If we stop and think about that for a minute.
You see, we can breeze over this. We can miss this bit easily because in Western society, like even secularized Western society, we've built it entirely on Christian ethics.
And so the things that the Bible says are good, generally speaking, even in secularized Western society, we say are good.
And so we can miss little moments like this.
But this was not the case in Roman dominated Palestine.
[00:28:18] Speaker B: Rome was not a culture that cared.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: For the weak and the overlooked.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: And to be completely honest, even Jewish.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: Culture struggled to care for the weak and the overlooked.
[00:28:28] Speaker B: Even though the Old Testament clearly teaches.
[00:28:31] Speaker A: Compassion and mercy ministry as ethically necessary, many Jews by this time struggled with the belief that the poor, the weak, the sick, were all poor, weak and sick for a reason, their own sin, their own evil, or God's anger and judgment on them.
[00:28:46] Speaker B: The idea that society as a whole, much less individuals, owed it to take care of the marginalized, you understand, that.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: Simply did not widely exist in this moment in human history.
[00:28:59] Speaker B: In fact, Roman society spurned this idea.
[00:29:04] Speaker A: Roman Rome practically worshiped the idea of personal power.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: To be in the sort of powerless.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: Position of poverty, isolation, sickness or prison.
[00:29:14] Speaker B: Like that was to become a worthless person.
If you couldn't pull yourself up by your own virtue and strength, you basically.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: Deserved to miss out on society.
But Christians have always rejected this dehumanizing worldview.
And I mean that literally.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Christians have always rejected that dehumanizing worldview.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: Christian ethics were unique and new in the world. When they took off.
They took what was written but rarely practiced in the Old Testament, Jewish ethics.
[00:29:51] Speaker B: And expounded upon it in radical and.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: Progressive ways that were buck wild to Roman society.
[00:29:58] Speaker B: Children and women were treated as of.
[00:30:00] Speaker A: Equal value to adult men.
[00:30:02] Speaker B: Poor were treated as of equal value to wealthy immigrants and sojourners were treated.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: As of equal value to native born.
[00:30:09] Speaker B: The earliest known texts regarding Christianity outside of the Bible, like literally the earliest ones we have, include a discipleship manual for baptism candidates describing radical financial giving, radical sharing and generosity within the church, into the community, to the poor, the immigrant, and the radical protection and care.
[00:30:28] Speaker A: For unborn and newborn children and orphans.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: As well as that discipleship manual one.
[00:30:33] Speaker A: Of the earliest documents we have about Christianity, that's of the Bible, are several letters from Roman officials critiquing Christianity as a movement for women and slaves because of how radically it elevates the impoverished people.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: In the New Testament itself, we see the apostles when they finally meet Paul and they hear about his mission to the Gentiles. Paul describes that meeting by saying, they didn't add anything to my doctrine, like we were synced up on doctrine. But they challenged me to continue mercy ministry to the poor. And I was already stoked on that. So it was easy for us to come together on that because that's, that's.
[00:31:11] Speaker A: Just who Christians are.
Christians are people who, because of their experience of Jesus, care for the marginalized in this world.
It's beautiful, it's radical, and according to Jesus, it's necessary.
It's necessary.
[00:31:28] Speaker B: There's something about genuinely encountering Christ that He says will permanently change the way you view suffering and need in the world.
[00:31:41] Speaker A: And I believe the reason for that is simple, beloved.
It is because you are in fact, very needy.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: Is this not the story of the.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: Gospel that Jesus looked at his beloved creation under the effects of the curse?
[00:31:57] Speaker B: And he said that you are harassed.
[00:31:59] Speaker A: And helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
[00:32:01] Speaker B: He said, all who are weary and.
[00:32:03] Speaker A: Burdened can come to him and find rest.
[00:32:05] Speaker B: You, beloved, are the neat.
The sin of others. And the sin you've chosen has left.
[00:32:11] Speaker A: You impoverished and in need of food and water and clothes. The reality of the curse has left you, the stranger, with no one to take you in.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: The evil of sin in this world has made you sick and locked you.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: Behind the chains of oppression. You, beloved, you are the one in need.
[00:32:27] Speaker B: And Jesus interceded for you.
He is seated on your behalf.
He gave you the spiritual food and water that is himself. He clothed you in his own righteousness. He hosted you into his home and brought you into his family. He's healed you and broken you free from the chains of sin and death.
Beloved, Jesus has freed you.
[00:32:50] Speaker A: Amen.
Is that not the gospel?
[00:32:54] Speaker B: How can that not change you, beloved?
[00:32:58] Speaker A: The Gospel is God's amazing gift of compassion and mercy and grace.
Jesus, if you are in Christ Jesus, has fundamentally changed your experience of life.
And the Scripture's really clear here.
This is what salvation does to you, which I'm going to put this on the screen. This is a really famous text about the gospel from Ephesians 2. Paul says it clearly. And you who were dead in your.
[00:33:24] Speaker B: Trespasses and sin, in which you previously.
[00:33:26] Speaker A: Walked according to the ways of the.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: World according to the ruler of the.
[00:33:29] Speaker A: Power of the air and the spirit.
[00:33:31] Speaker B: Now working in the disobedience.
We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts. And we were by nature children under wrath, as the others were.
[00:33:44] Speaker A: Also verse four.
[00:33:46] Speaker B: But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace. He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith. This is not from yourselves. It is God's gift, not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. What's that? Church for good works, which God prepared.
[00:34:26] Speaker A: Ahead of time for us to do.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: See, we love that first part where Paul's like, you didn't do anything to earn this. It was God's grace. It was a gift. It's just your faith and his grace, that's what saves you. We're like, yes, awesome. Yes, I love that. I love free salvation. But Paul gets to the end. He goes, look, look. Your works don't save you. You don't get to boast that you're so righteous that you saved yourself.
But you were saved for good works.
God prepared them for you ahead of time.
When you got saved, Jesus didn't vacuum your soul up to heaven. He left you here.
He left you here. Why?
[00:35:08] Speaker A: Why would he leave you here in a broken and dirty world where there's suffering and sin and evil and injustice?
Because, beloved, he has prepared good works in advance for you to do.
He has saved you to a glorious work.
[00:35:21] Speaker B: He left you here to complete it.
Your good works do not sage you, but you were made for them.
[00:35:29] Speaker A: God hates sin. He hates the curse. When his wonderful creation suffers because of the reality of the curse, the Lord mourns and he has empowered us and.
[00:35:40] Speaker B: Released us to be a part of.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: Building his kingdom here and now.
[00:35:45] Speaker B: First and foremost, that means declaring the.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: Gospel, invitation for more to come to save, acknowledge in Him.
[00:35:50] Speaker B: But alongside that missional work is the kingdom, work of justice and compassion.
We are here on earth, left here, beloved, to be curse killers, combating the effects of the curse wherever we find it.
Poverty, lack of access to water, food.
Beloved, that is a kingdom of God.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: Issue, strangers and sojourners and immigrants who face hardship and isolation and mistreatment.
Beloved, that is a kingdom of God issue.
[00:36:24] Speaker B: The impoverished without access to necessary clothing or shelter.
That is a kingdom of God issue. The sick and the elderly sitting alone in hospitals and nursing homes, Beloved, that is a kingdom of God issued criminals serving their sentence, even justly alone and surrounded by curse influence. That is a kingdom of God issue.
We're left here for that exact kind of work.
Jesus left you here precisely for this. God prepared you in advance for these good works, beloved.
You get to be the hands and feet of Jesus to people who desperately.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: Need to know him, know his heart for them.
[00:37:12] Speaker B: Your good works, beloved, they show the.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: Truth of the gospel you proclaim when.
[00:37:17] Speaker B: You cross cultural, political, self serving lines and you meet the real needs of people who are in desperate need like Jesus did for you. Mind you, you put teeth to the gospel invitation.
You put strength to it. It shows the gospel of Jesus is set apart from this world. It proves that Christianity has substance behind its claims. The good works don't save you.
[00:37:44] Speaker A: Jesus does that.
[00:37:45] Speaker B: But good works are the obvious and hear me church, necessary proof that you have already and actually encountered Jesus and received his gift of salvation.
[00:37:58] Speaker A: James says it like this in chapter two.
[00:38:02] Speaker B: What good is it, my brothers and.
[00:38:03] Speaker A: Sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works, can such faith save him?
[00:38:09] Speaker B: If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, go in peace, stay warm, be well fed, but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith, if it.
[00:38:21] Speaker A: Doesn'T have works, is dead by itself.
[00:38:24] Speaker B: But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works.
[00:38:32] Speaker A: You believe God is one good.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: Even the demons believe that and they shudder.
Senseless person, are you willing to learn.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: That faith without works is useless? Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works and offering Isaac his son on the altar? You said that faith was active together with his works. And by works faith is made complete.
The scripture was fulfilled. It says Abraham believed God. That was credited to him as righteousness and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
[00:39:00] Speaker B: In the same way, wasn't Rahab the.
[00:39:02] Speaker A: Prostitute also justified by works and receiving.
[00:39:04] Speaker B: The messengers and sending them out by different route? For just as the body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: It's a fact of it, brothers and Sisters, Jesus changes you, changes the way you live your life.
Yes, salvation is by grace alone.
Yes, and amen to the end of time.
But, beloved, believe in the gospel without change.
Belief in the gospel without obedience.
Belief in the gospel without good works.
Hear this, beloved, is not belief.
It isn't?
It isn't.
You can know all about Jesus.
[00:39:57] Speaker B: But.
[00:39:57] Speaker A: You have to actually know him.
Ask me almost anything you want about Star Trek for real. I've taken way too many deep dives.
I can tell you ludicrously dumb facts and trivia about Star Trek.
I'd never experienced it.
I'd never been on that ship. I'd never gone out into space.
You can know all about something and not know it.
You can know all about Jesus, but you gotta know something. Beloved, the demons know all about Jesus.
In fact, they know more about him than you do.
But they don't know him.
Beloved, our standard of faith ought to be higher than demons. Amen.
The gospel of Jesus will change you.
And so I'll ask you, as I've asked you the last several weeks, do you know Jesus?
Do you know him?
And the easiest way to answer that question is to look at your own life. Beloved, has Jesus changed you? Do you live a life of good and just kingdom works? Do you spend your time, your money, your skills on the service of those in need in the advancement of the kingdom? Or do you spend it on yourself?
I want to close today with just three challenges as we lay out this text. Three ways that I believe. In our cultural moment, we are tempted to worship something other than Christ.
You see, I think most of us are generally cool with what Christ is saying here.
[00:41:30] Speaker B: We're like, yeah, yeah, I get it.
[00:41:31] Speaker A: Gospel's awesome, Gospel's free.
[00:41:33] Speaker B: But it's so radical.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: Like it should change me. Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Jesus has been good to me, so I should be good to others.
But remember, good works are really about showing who has your heart.
I think many of us allow our love for Christ to grow cold purely and simply because we have raised up a series of little G gods in front of him that distract us.
And so I want to encourage you to genuinely sit with me in these three questions band if you want to come back up.
Three questions.
And these are meant to be heavy for us. And I want to encourage you to consider these.
Take these into our moment of prayer. Just a minute.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: Do you worship Christ or do you.
[00:42:15] Speaker A: Worship your nation, your political conviction?
Many of us are all about good works and loving and serving those in need until it runs up against our political convictions, Right?
[00:42:29] Speaker B: In fact, I'm confident that many of us heard me challenging us to consider the impoverished, the immigrant and the prisoner.
And we kind of thought in our head like, nah, right?
[00:42:46] Speaker A: Was that poor person poor for a reason?
Are they mooching off the system instead of working to better themselves? Well, did that immigrant come here legally? Did they follow the systems we've set up and dot every I and cross every table?
Well, those prisoners, are they violent? Are they drug offenders?
Do they deserve to be there?
Listen, I get those concerns. I'm sympathetic to those concerned.
But be warned.
If your concerns regarding these types of questions as they apply to our current political hot buttons, cause you to step back from providing love, care and presence.
[00:43:21] Speaker B: And service to the exact people that Christ lists for us, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times.
[00:43:31] Speaker A: Then you need to hear me, beloved, that should be a caution to you.
[00:43:37] Speaker B: If your political conviction causes you to step back from loving the people that Christ has put in your life to love, then you need to ask yourself if you genuinely worship Jesus more than you worship your political convictions.
You don't think these commands were politically.
[00:43:56] Speaker A: Controversial in Jesus Day?
I have news for you. They were much stranger then than they are now.
But if Christ is your king, his concerns are your concerns.
Well, do you worship Christ or do you worship your own tribe, Your own family?
[00:44:16] Speaker B: Many of us heard this list of needs and we immediately thought of how a life serving those kinds of people.
[00:44:21] Speaker A: Would affect our family.
You give your time and your money to help be impoverished. How will that affect your kids experience of your family?
If you open your home to the stranger, the immigrant, the orphan, the foster child, how will that disrupt your family system and your plans for vacations?
Of course those are real concerns.
But do you realize our earliest brothers.
[00:44:46] Speaker B: And sisters literally invented the concept of funded orphanages?
The Roman solution for orphans and unwanted children was the trash dump.
Literally, Christians would go and gather up those kids and raise them.
The Roman solution to poverty was enslavement.
The Roman solution to the immigrant issue was oppression.
Christians stepped in and gave aid, give, love, service, and it absolutely made their life harder.
Of course it did cost them, cost their families.
But beloved, who gets your allegiance, your.
[00:45:30] Speaker A: Family or your Christ?
And lastly, and probably the biggest one, beloved, do you worship Christ or did.
[00:45:38] Speaker B: You worship yourself, your own pleasure?
Many of us heard that challenge. And the first feeling we got from that wasn't a thought of how much it would serve or cost us, but.
[00:45:51] Speaker A: How much it would make your life.
[00:45:52] Speaker B: Harder, how inconvenient it would be.
Beloved, if you live your life loving.
[00:45:59] Speaker A: And serving those in need, like Jesus did for you, you have to know something.
[00:46:03] Speaker B: It will objectively, objectively, in almost every way, make your life harder.
You will have less time, you have less money, will sometimes be mistreated. You will be thought of as strange. You will struggle with your cultural and political belonging. It will be hard.
But the question is just have you a trember to Jesus?
If you know Jesus, then you won't.
[00:46:33] Speaker A: Be able to help. But ask, beloved, who gets the final say in your life, you or Christ?
[00:46:42] Speaker B: There's only one question in this entire text. There's only one difference between sheep and goats. And it is simply this, beloved, do you know Jesus?
[00:46:55] Speaker A: Have you met friend?
Has his gospel changed? You love it? That is freely available to you today.
If you're in this place and you have never given your life to Christ.
That is freely available to you today.
If you are in this place and you've been following Christ for years and you're feeling the sting of conviction, you go, maybe I am a go. There's actual real fear and anxiety there. You need to know, beloved, there need be no fear for you.
The gospel is ready and available for you today.
All of us prodigals are welcomed home.
Welcome to grace, welcome to forgiveness, welcome to life Trinity. Welcome to the gospel.
Let's take just a few minutes in your seat in the quiet, talk to Christ about this.
Consider who your idols might be, and.
[00:47:49] Speaker B: Then we're going to come back together and take community.
