Matthew 25:31-46 sermon, “Live Out the Last Day Difference”

Matthew 25:31-46

Sometimes it’s just seeing a smile or having someone listen.  That’s all it takes to make your day different.  Sometimes it’s bigger – a new job, getting accepted into certain school, marriage, a child, or even an accident.  Such things make a difference on the rest of your life.  This morning, we’re not just going to talk about what makes a difference in our lives, but when they make a difference.  Normally, the only way to know something made a difference in your life is after the fact.   We look back at the past and how it has shaped our life today.

But with God, things work differently.  He alone can speak of future things and yet the difference is immediate.  You can immediately act on his Word because God always does what he says.  His promises are a good example.  They are different from all other promises because as soon as he says it, it’s as good as done.  Only in God can we be so confident.

Only with God’s Word do things change so much simply because it’s God who speaks it.  His Word is always transformational, changing us and making big differences in our lives – even when speaking about the future!  We’d all agree that big changes are coming on the Last Day…but because these are Jesus’ words, the difference starts now.  Therefore, let us Live Out the Last Day Difference, With Faith and With Fruits.

Jesus has been instructing his disciples about end things.  Jesus sparked the whole conversation as the disciples admired the buildings of the temple of Jerusalem and Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”  As you can imagine, that really got the wheels turning in their minds.  To think of a time when the streets you walk and the buildings you see while be destroyed…it might make you shudder and stop you in your tracks.  The disciples now thought about the end.  Later on, they asked Jesus for more information.  What would happen at the end?  What are the signs?  What we see here is the final part of Jesus’ answer.

What will happen?  The Son of Man will come, with all his angels, and he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.  That’s just where he belongs, isn’t it?  Last time the general public saw Jesus, he was the one unjustly judged and sent to die on the cross.  This time that very crucified Jesus returns as the Judge of all nations.  Everything is focused around this Son of Man, this King, seated on his throne.  Look at all the verbs.  Jesus will direct all things on the Last Day.  He is the one in charge.

Everyone, “all nations,” must answer to him.  No one is left out – meaning that whether people realize it now or not, this day will make a huge difference for them!  But notice what happens.  First, Jesus will separate everyone.  Then he will command those on his right to come, and those on his left to “depart” – each time he follows up his command with the evidence, the demonstration before all nations to prove he is right when he speaks and justified when he judges (Psalm 51:4).

Are you okay with Jesus’ being your fair and righteous Judge?  What can you give him in exchange for your soul?  Should a righteous Judge accept what I think is “good enough”?  When it’s my turn should I offer my excuses – “the serpent deceived me…”?  We shudder to think that all our inmost thoughts, all our hidden deeds, all our forgotten sins would be remembered and exposed in broad daylight before this holy King.  Because that’s exactly what seems to be happening – it seems Jesus is going to base his decision on what we’ve done.  Why doesn’t he talk about someone’s faith?  Does faith really mean nothing?  Will there be a big switcheroo from saved by faith to saved by works on the Last Day?  The only word we would expect in that situation is “Depart.”

That’s where the great surprise comes in.  When Jesus turns to the right, he speaks to those who knew they didn’t deserve the word, “Come.”  He speaks to those who didn’t earn their way in, but who inherited it – because they received a new status as sons, blessed by the Father.  He speaks to those who inherited a kingdom prepared since the creation of the world – before they did anything at all.  Do you see?  Jesus will make it very clear that his invitation is a gift to you.  It comes only by grace.  You will not be confronted with any sins, because they’ve all been judged and condemned at the cross.  Our risen and living Savior will come not to judge us by our works, but he will come in a new way – to bring us to everlasting life.

Surprise!  But you knew that already!  This is our hope now, right?  Saved by grace?  But it’s so much more than worldly hope – it’s a hope that changes you now.  It changes our natural hope to all-out confident hope.  Because Jesus tells you here what he will say – and here he speaks of a gift, of an inheritance, of a blessing only by grace.  He will tell us what we’ve hoped for all along.  The point here is that on the Last Day Jesus will welcome you to heaven by grace, through faith in him.  And if Jesus tells us this is how it is then in the End, we can be so sure it is true now.  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  The rules will not be changed on the Last Day.  The gospel will not suddenly be ineffective; my hope will not be in vain.

That’s why Scripture says, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”   You have eternal life.  You have crossed over from death to life.  Our citizenship is  in heaven.

Jesus’ words on the Last Day really make a difference now.  Live out that difference with faith – faith’s confidence that longs for his coming with sheer joy.  For the Last Day is not my “day of reckoning,” but my day of redemption!

Let that Last Day difference resonate for a while.  What a surprising gift is announced to us today and will be spoken to us from our Savior’s lips himself on that day.  This is your identity – you are a sheep of the Good Shepherd.  This is who you are today, tomorrow, and to eternity.  And so not just on the Last Day will we look different from the goats, but even today, we give evidence of our “sheephood” by the way we live.

In front of everyone, Jesus speaks to those on his right, the sheep side, and says, ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  Jesus shows here that believers were not living their lives according to their own pleasure, but because of God’s love for them, they were moved to love others.  That is one of the goals of God’s love to us – that we in turn would love others.  James mentions how our faith and our actions go together and how faith is made complete by what we do.  John writes along the same lines and says that if we obey God’s Word, if we love one another, God’s love is made complete in us (1 John 4:12) and he says that such fruit in our lives gives us “confidence on the day of judgment because in this world, we are like him” (1 John 4:17).  That’s the difference God’s love makes in our lives – WE ARE LIKE HIM!

So before all nations, all people everywhere, Jesus will make the Last Day difference clear by our everyday difference.  To those on his right, Jesus will say, “You did this… you did this… you did this…,” but to those on his left, he will reveal their completely opposite ways and say, “You did not… You did not…you did not…”    Along with faith come fruits of love for God and his will.  Along with unbelief are its fruits of enmity and hatred of God’s will.  Such differences will be clear to everyone.

But he doesn’t just show the difference in outward action.  There’s also a difference in their hearts.  Isn’t it interesting that King Jesus would have each side answer him and respond?  Why would Jesus include their comments at such a decisive moment?  Because it’s part of the evidence.  He wants us to see not just what they did, but the difference that was in their hearts when they did it.

Those sheep on the right were surprised at what Jesus said.  In their minds, they had no list or record of good things they had done.  They had humility in their hearts.  They loved because God is love, not because of who was watching.  They were thinking of other’s benefit.  But the goats on the left were also surprised – they figured they had no failure, that their record should’ve looked better than that.  They had pride in their hearts and focused on themselves.

Behold the great difference between a believer and unbeliever in both the heart and their activity.  Jesus teaches us these Last Day differences to encourage us to live out the difference with fruits.  Be who we are now and forever.  As our lesson from 1 Thessalonians put it, “you are sons of light…you belong to the day” – so then, let us not be like others, but rather be self-controlled and put on confident faith, and love and hope…Now let us bear the fruit of who we are in Christ!

How sweet it is to hear Jesus’ call of grace to his sheep on the Last Day.  Rejoice in the prepared gift of heaven waiting for you.  Live in that joy now by offering your life to Jesus your Lord who bought you with his blood.  Let your whole life be one of thanksgiving and praise and glory to God.  Let everything you do be the fruit of who you really are in Jesus Christ, your coming King. For the Last Day difference starts today.  Amen.