Second Last Sunday

Jesse Jacobsen

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Time-stamp: "Sat Nov 12 18:11:36 2005"

Matthew 25:31–46

“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 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 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.'

“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 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 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.”

Jesus will set all to rights

Delayed gratification. If anyone has never heard of it, delayed gratification is an idea that we may not be able to have the things we want right away. Even what we need may require working and saving before we have them.

It's now about 65 years since the Great Depression. Not so many people remember it. Those who do are generally the parents of the Baby Boomers. But I'm part of what they call Generation X, which is after the Baby Boomers. After that was Generation Y, and now there's something else. It seems to me that generally speaking, the farther a generation is from the Great Depression, the less they welcome delayed gratification.

Our text is about delayed gratification, but not of luxury items or good clothing or the like. This is the ultimate in delayed gratification. For this, you have to wait until after you're dead. Normally, delayed gratification requires patience and a certain amount of faith. But the kind Jesus is teaching requires the truest kind of faith and something more than patience. Not even the Depression generation has any advantages here. This is delayed gratification of God's justice. We have to wait until the end of time, and we will receive more than we can imagine.

Now, you know things happen that don't seem right. I've often heard or read the words of unbelievers who say that injustices disprove God. They are seemingly right, because an awful lot of injustice happens in the world, and where is God? You may think that you have been the victim of some injustice. Maybe you have, but you may not be satisfied in this world. For final justice, we have to wait for the End. Jesus will set all to rights, because sin and unbelief must not go unpunished, and because justification must come to light.

Because sin and unbelief must not go unpunished

There's a fascinating passage in Romans, where the apostle Paul writes about God's point of view upon the sins of believers who lived before Jesus. God set forth Jesus Christ as the propitiation, or guilt-payment, “by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Maybe you didn't catch all that. It's worth a little study later today, and you'll find it again in Romans 3.

Twice in that passage, Paul says that one reason Jesus came to die was to demonstrate God's righteousness. God is righteous, but He blessed many unrighteous people in the Old Testament, and they even entered heaven. One of them was Moses. Another was Noah. Others were Abraham, Jacob, and David. There were women, too: Mrs. Noah, Eve our Mother, Rahab of Jericho, Ruth of Moab, Sarah, and the list goes on. They were all unrighteous people, but God blessed them and brought them to heaven. How could a righteous god do that? The answer is exactly what He demonstrated when Jesus came to die. The sins of Moses, Noah, and the rest were all punished when Jesus suffered and died on the cross. It not only obtained forgiveness for those people, but it vindicated God, demonstrating that He was righteous all along.

With God our Creator, sin and unbelief must not go unpunished. Even the smallest sins of our minds cannot stand before Him. Even our secret doubts of His Word must be vanquished. That's what Jesus did for all those sinners in the Old Testament. He bore their sins himself to where they cannot return: the grave. So don't believe anyone who complains about a wrathful and bloody god in the Old Testament. He did show His wrath then, as He does now, but He showed His mercy more than anything else — His mercy that is finally based upon the death of Jesus Christ.

But you know, we have the same god. He is our Creator, and we owe Him our obedience too. The trouble for us is that Jesus is in the past, and meanwhile we have our own sins and doubts that must be punished by a righteous God. I've heard some people say that God should just overlook our sins, or look the other way. But that kind of thing can only make sense to a sinful person, and God is not sinful. He cannot overlook or even tolerate anything that is not pure and holy. So our problem is this question: Are our sins also forgiven, like those of the Old Testament believers?

There is no question more pressing. At least, there will be nothing else when we lie upon our deathbeds or when the trumpet sounds from heaven. “Am I also forgiven?” At such a moment, we know that God can accept nothing less than perfection.

It may seem that God is letting sinners escape for now, but there will be an accounting at the End. That's why Jesus will return on His throne of glory. Jesus will set all to rights, because sin and unbelief must not go unpunished.

Because justification must come to light

We are still left in some uncertainty. Will our sins also be forgiven, like those of Abraham and Sarah? If you examine what the Son of Man says in our text, he lets some into heaven and sends others away on the basis of their works. Have you ever visited Him in prison? Have you provided Him with food, clothing, or the like? I haven't, because I haven't seen Him. I'm sure that if any of us recognized Jesus, we'd instantly go and do whatever He wants. But we don't see Him, do we? Both sets of people in our text are baffled by this. Neither can remember seeing Jesus here on earth. But the Son of Man says, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

So in the Final Judgment, our works of love that we have done for our neighbors will be the reason we are either saved or damned. Right? Not exactly. But first, consider your own works of love. Maybe you keep a nice list, a score of how you are doing compared to other people. Are you doing well? It doesn't matter. You see, the definition of a good work is the life of Jesus Christ. He lived perfectly, from birth to death. He had no jealous, covetous thoughts. He did not lust after anything improper. He loved and helped everyone as much as His circumstances would allow. If that also describes your life, then you won't have any problem in the Final Judgment. If not, then you have a problem.

We all have a serious problem. The King will know our sins. He will know our very hearts. But our hearts are not pure. We have not loved as well as we should. Can we try harder? It won't help. Can we find someone worse off than we are? It won't help. Can we convince God to change His standards? No. We are boxed in, and can only repent and hear what God has to say.

What He says is that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is given to those who believe that He died for them. The very life of Jesus, with all of His good works, now belongs to you. Also the death of Jesus; He died for you. In other words, you are in the same boat with Abraham, Sarah, and the rest. The last part of that Romans verse describes the same God that we have: “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

God justifies those who believe what He has told us about Jesus. This comes not because of our works or our love. It comes through faith alone to us, because of His promise and what Jesus did for us. That is justification: Jesus dies with our sin, and we live with his righteousness. When you stand before Him on the Last Day, you will be wearing His righteousness like a garment, and you will wear it forever.

That Day will be the End of this world. All accounts will be settled. If we have committed any injustices, it will be known that Jesus already suffered for them. If we have received any injustices, they will be openly corrected. As the proof that we deserve eternal life, Jesus will point to our good works — our real good works. Some of them are what He did in our place, but now that we have been born again by His Word, we also do what is natural for God's children: works of love toward our neighbor. It's not for any reward, but because of what we are. God forgives the taint of sin, and is pleased to accept what remains. Those who do not believe in Jesus may live fine lives, but they are not good in God's sight. So we will be surprised to find that we've done anything good, and they will be surprised that they have not.

So do not be dismayed. This is the ultimate in delayed gratification. Jesus will set all to rights, because justification must come to light. Be patient. Trust His Word, and know that you stand forgiven with the entire Church of Jesus Christ in all ages. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

This document was translated from LATEX by HEVEA.