“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46 NIV)
There are days that people never forget. That’s what President Roosevelt said when Pearl Harbor happened. Remember his words? December 7th is “a day that will live in infamy.” Or maybe for you it’s the day that your first child was born. You’ll never forget that day. Like September 11th. All you have to do is say that date, and people know. Or your wedding day. I hope you haven’t forgotten the date! Some are good and some are bad, but there are days that people never forget.
Every one of those days—from the very best days to the very worst days—points ahead to one special day: “The day of the LORD.” Starting with his prophets in the Old Testament, God told his people to look ahead to the day of the LORD. Judgment Day. The Last Day. Jesus’ disciples in the New Testament picked up on that phrase. They told Christians to look ahead to the day of the LORD. Is that day of the LORD going to be a good day or a bad day? Both. Worse than the worst day. Better than the best day. Both! Jesus wants us to be ready for the day of the LORD.
So he tells us all about it: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him.” Jesus says, “I’ll be back!” Not as a baby in Bethlehem. As the King to judge the living and the dead. It’s popular today to say that Jesus doesn’t judge anybody. Is that true? No! That’s the opposite of the truth. Jesus is coming back to judge everybody. All nations will be gathered before him. No one will be left out. We will see Jesus as he really is with all his power and glory and angels and throne.
Here’s what Jesus is going to do: “He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” The judgment will go fast. Why? Because Jesus knows everything. There is no need for a trial. You won’t get five minutes to plead your case to Jesus. He knows. He will separate the sheep from the goats. On earth, Christians and non-Christians are all mixed together. Not on the Last Day. There are only two options: Heaven or hell. “He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” So, is it going to be a good day or a bad day?
It’s going to be the best day ever! “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come…’” That’s a beautiful word: “Come…” It’s like when your dog is really excited for something. Maybe a treat. Maybe a walk. Before your dog gets that thing, you tell her to sit. Can you picture this? So she sits, shaking with excitement. She can’t wait. Finally, you say, “Come!” And the dog leaps and bounds over to you… That’s the day of the LORD! To people longing for hope and comfort and peace, Jesus will say, “Come…” Can you imagine the joy? Happiness like never before.
It gets better. “Come, you who are blessed by my Father.” “You who are blessed.” Have you seen those t-shirts that say, “Hot mess, still blessed”? We often don’t feel blessed. We feel like a mess. But the Bible says something different: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (Psalm 32:1). You’re blessed! Remember the time when Jesus took the little children in his arms and blessed them? Maybe you aren’t so little anymore, but you have a Father in heaven who loves you. “Come, you who are blessed by my Father…”
Where? “Take your inheritance…” Don’t miss this word: Inheritance. Eternal life in heaven is an inheritance. Do you earn your inheritance? No! Do you have to work to get your inheritance? No! Who earned it? Your parents. They earned it. But for you, it’s a gift. That’s what eternal life is. A gift earned for you by Jesus on the cross. “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance…”
There’s one more phrase: “The kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” God knew you before the creation of the world. God chose you before the creation of the world. You’re not an accident or a mistake. You have a home in heaven. Just like you circle a date on your calendar for when your family is coming for Christmas, God has your name written on his calendar: “This is the day my beloved child is coming home!” It’s hard to think of more beautiful words in the whole Bible: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” The day of the LORD will be great!
Or awful… That was the sheep. But there were also the goats. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me…’” Doesn’t that make you shiver? It should. “Depart from me…” I heard a story about a college football coach who kicked a player off his team. The player recorded their conversation and shared it. After criticizing the player again and again, the coach yelled, “Get out of here! You’re done!” Now imagine Jesus, sitting on his throne, telling you, “Depart from me… Get away from my love and my grace and my forgiveness, forever.” That’s terrifying!
But it gets worse: “Depart from me, you who are cursed…” The pope gave an interview recently in which someone who was living a sinful lifestyle asked if there was room in the church for him —even if he didn’t repent. The pope said, “Of course. God never turns anyone away.” Is that true? No. That’s not the Bible’s message. When God gave his commands, he said, “Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 27:26). Sin doesn’t bring acceptance from God. It brings a curse. So repent! Or, “depart from me, you who are cursed…”
Where? “Into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” What’s that taking about? Hell. But Jesus wouldn’t send anyone to hell, right? Wrong! Who is talking here? Jesus! Do you realize that Jesus says more about hell than anyone else in the Bible? Know why? Jesus is the Lord of hell. Jesus created hell as a place of eternal torment for the devil and his wicked angels. And Jesus says there are people there in hell right now. What’s hell like? Eternal fire. Imagine being burned, but never dying. Imagine being on fire, but never having it go out. Forever.
This is serious stuff. Can you see that? The day of the LORD will be either the best day or the worst day imaginable. It will be like either 9/11 or the birth of your child. It will be like either the Pearl Harbor disaster or as joyful as your wedding day. Do you think about it? Jesus wants you to. I know you’re busy. But Jesus is coming back! There are only two options: “They will go to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Heaven or hell. Which one? On “the great and dreadful day of the LORD,” “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved” (Joel 2:31-32). When the day of the LORD comes, salvation is found only in the name of Jesus.
So why doesn’t Jesus say that? Did you notice what he said? When he welcomes people into heaven, Jesus doesn’t say, “You believed in me.” He says, “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…” When people ask, “When did we do those things?”, Jesus replied, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did for me.” People love this today. It sounds like the “social gospel.” Know what that is? “It doesn’t matter what you believe. Just do good. Be kind. Care for the poor. Make society better. That’s all that matters.” Right?
Is that how we’re saved? Doing good to people in need? Well, doing good is a good thing. There are lots of places in the Bible that talk about serving those in need! But that’s not what Jesus is talking about here. It all depends on the phrase, “brothers and sisters.” How can we know what Jesus means? Study the Bible! In the Bible, Jesus never refers to unbelievers as “brothers and sisters.” He’s not telling us to just be good to all the people around us, and then we’ll go to heaven. Instead, Matthew uses the word “brothers” in two specific ways. When Jesus talks about “brothers,” he’s talking about either real brothers by birth or about fellow disciples of Jesus.
Here are two examples. Later in Matthew, on Easter morning, when Jesus rose from the dead, he told the women, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee” (Matthew 28:10). Who were those “brothers”? The Eleven disciples (minus Judas). Earlier in Matthew, Jesus sent out his Twelve disciples to share the Gospel. He said, “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me…. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (Matthew 10:40,42). Who was Jesus talking about? His disciples. Do you see a connection with our lesson? Little ones… A cup of water… Reward…
When a disciple of Jesus shares God’s Word with you, the way you treat that person is proof of your faith in Jesus. If someone tells you about Jesus, and you care for him, what are saying to Jesus? “I love you. I believe in you!” If someone tells you about Jesus, and you ignore him or mock him, what are you saying to Jesus? “I don’t need you. Leave me alone.” On the day of the LORD, your faith in Jesus will be seen in how you treat those who come to you in Jesus’ name. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Even that is scary. As I wrote this, I thought of all the pastors I’ve thought bad thoughts about. I thought of all the times I’ve been too busy for Jesus. The day of the LORD leads us to repent! I deserve to hear, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire.” You do too!
But Jesus heard that for us. On the cross, he heard God say, “Depart from me.” Remember what Jesus cried out? “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). On the cross, he heard God say, “Cursed are you…” Jesus was abandoned and cursed for us. To save us from our sins. We should be afraid of Judgment Day, but we don’t have to be, because Jesus died for us! “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved” (Joel 2:32). There is salvation in Jesus’ name! By grace, Jesus will say to repentant Christians, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
So never forget about the day of the LORD. Let every big day—good or bad—remind you that Jesus is coming back. When there is another catastrophe, when there is another victory, remember that the day of the LORD is coming. It will be more terrifying than 9/11. But it will be happier than your wedding. When will evil be punished? On the day of the LORD. When will suffering end? On the day of the LORD. Cling to Jesus’ promises. Welcome those who come to you with God’s Word. Learn to say, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Isaiah 52:7). There is nothing more important in life than to be ready for the day of the LORD.
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