Sermon - March 13, 2016 - Matthew 25 - Sheep or Goat - Audio File

Here is a link for this weeks sermon. It was an exciting message. The recording is better than last week, but still not perfect.

Sheep or Goat?

God Bless,

Robert

Sermon - March 13, 2016 - Matthew 25:31-46 - Sheep or Goat?

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been looking at Jesus’ teachings in Matthew chapter 25.  While these teachings were original part of Jesus’ teachings on His second coming, they have a direct impact on our lives.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins reminded us that we need to Be Prepared. We need to have that deep personal relationship with Jesus that only comes from truly knowing Him. It is only through knowing Jesus that we will be changed by the Holy Spirit and ready for Jesus when we see Him again.

The Parable of the Talents was a reminder that we need to Be Faithful. Being faithful means we need to be out doing what we were created to do. If you remember the wicked slave did nothing with the money, he was given. He was so worried about doing the wrong thing, that he did not even try. Jesus told us to be witnesses, so that is exactly what we need to be doing. He is not going to judge us on how successful we are, only that we acted in faith. We need to be reaching the lost and serving Christ wherever we go.

Be Prepared and Be Faithful, judgement is coming.

As we open our Bibles to Matthew 25, we come to the section titled The Sheep and the Goats. In here we find that Jesus is separating those who were prepared and faithful from those who were foolish and lazy.

This is the judgement of the gentiles, just like you and I, those who have lived through the tribulation. It is the judgement to determine who will or will not enter the kingdom. While we will not be there at the end of the tribulation the requirements apply to us.

Matthew 25:31-33

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.” 

Judgement day is coming. Jesus Christ will return as a triumphant King. If you remember from a few weeks back, everyone will be surprised by His coming but there will be no doubt that He has returned. Every person alive at the end of the tribulation will know that Jesus Christ has returned. He will then gather them up to himself as it was foretold by Joel.

Joel 3:2

“I will gather all the nations and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment with them there because of My people, My inheritance Israel. The nations have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries and divided up My land.”

Jesus will be there in all of His glory, physically here on the earth sitting on His throne. As all the gentiles are gathered together He will begin to sort them. There will be those who were prepared and faithful and they will be sent to the right. Those who were foolish and lazy and they will be sent to the left.

Our Great Shepherd will sort all who are there by prepared and foolish, faithful and lazy, sheep and goats.

Matthew 25:34-36

“³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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 took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’”

The Shepherd is talking to His prepared and faithful sheep. He is inviting them to come get the reward that was prepared for them.

Jesus goes on to talk about things they have done. Food for the hungry, drinks for the thirsty, caring for the stranger and for those who had nothing. Taking care of the sick and visiting those in prison.

Please remember that Jesus is not telling us that if we perform this work or that work, if we give food or clothing that we will be saved. No He is reminding us that taking a stand for those in need, giving where we can, is a sign of our faith in Jesus and the gift of salvation that He has given us.

He is not looking for us to check tasks off of a list of requirement. He is expecting us to be faithful every day of our lives, serving others like He did. Where there is a need, meet it. Witnessing like we have been told to do, and raising up disciples to follow in our footsteps.

When we continue reading the sheep respond.

Matthew 25:37-39

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’”

As us human’s normally do, those being rewarded took Jesus literally. We never did these things for you Lord. We have never seen you in our lives until this moment. How could we have done anything to serve you if we never saw you?

Sounds like something some of us left brained, logical thinkers would say. I could almost hear someone say something along the lines of ‘yeah I helped others, I remember giving that young family some food, but Jesus I have never given anything to you.’

Jesus does not see it that way.

Matthew 25:40

⁴⁰ “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ 

Time out, listen to those words again, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ 

Paints a different picture doesn’t it?

To those who had just lived through the tribulation, Jesus would be talking about all the people that had needs during that horrible period of history. The other believers that would have been persecuted. The Jewish people who would have been hunted. Anyone who disagrees with those in charge who would be imprisoned and tortured.

For us, it is simply that we are to serve everyone in need. Whether it is the person in front of us at the grocery store who is short a few dollars who is just trying to buy food for her family, or the man who is so down on his luck that he has nothing to wear for a job interview. The children who are hungry in this country and all around the world.

Sadly, the list could go on and on. There is so much need in this world, and we the Church are told by our Lord to care for those in need. Not in hopes of it saving us, but in service to others because we have been given that ultimate gift that we do not deserve.

If Jesus has freely given us the gift of grace, should we be giving gifts to others? You bet!

Matthew 10:40-42

⁴⁰ “The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me.⁴¹ Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he’s righteous will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple—I assure you: He will never lose his reward!”

If we welcome those that Jesus puts in our path, we are receiving Him. So anything we do for others, is in service to our Lord. Faithful Service. This is what sets true believers apart from those who are Christians in name only, it is the difference between being rewarded and being judged.

Matthew 25:41-43

^“41 Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels! ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you didn’t take Me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of Me.’”

Think back to the message from 2 weeks ago.

Those who were not prepared, the 5 foolish virgins. They heard these dreaded words.

Matthew 25:12

“But he replied, ‘I assure you: I do not know you!”

Words that would make you skin crawl in fear as you stand before the One True King.

Then last week when we looked at the Parable of the Talents. The slave who did nothing was called evil and lazy and then this happened.

Matthew 25:30

“And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Lack of faith gets you thrown into hell. The eternal fire prepared for the Devil. The outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, and worst of all, a place separate from Jesus. Eternity without Hope.

As their eyes are opened to the harsh reality they are about to face they cry out.

Matthew 25:44-46

⁴⁴ “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’ ⁴⁵ “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’ ⁴⁶ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Like the virgins and slaves, these people may have thought they were doing the right things. They may have been attending church, wearing Christian clothes, carrying a Bible, and even a little silver fish on their car.

The difference comes down to if you are living out the greatest and second greatest commandments.

Matthew 22:37-39

“³⁷ He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.³⁸ This is the greatest and most important command. ³⁹ The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love God and Love Others!

Ephesians 2:8-10

“⁸ For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— ⁹ not from works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.”

Are you doing the works created for you? What are you doing to live out your faith? What are you doing to show your Love for God? What are you doing to love others?

If you are not living out your faith, I implore you to pray about it. Ask God to change your heart, ask Jesus to forgive your lack of faithfulness, and ask the Holy Spirit to put new opportunities in your path so that you can live out your faith. 

Don't sit on your faith, put it to action!

Blessings,

Robert

Sermon - March 6, 2016 - Be Faithful - Link to Audio File

Update: Just listened to it and it is not the best recording. It seemed to get better after the first few minutes, but breaks up a bit here and there.


With so many out sick, we wanted to get a link posted to the audio file from today's message.


Be Faithful


God Bless,

Robert

Sermon - March 6, 2013 - Matthew 25:14-30 - Be Faithful

Last week we looked at the parable of the ten virgins and we saw that it was Jesus’ way of reminding us to be prepared. Knowing about Jesus is not enough, we need to have a close personal relationship with Him. Saying the right thing and looking the part is not enough. If we want to have enough oil to carry us through the trials, tribulations, and delays… we need to be prepared by Knowing Jesus.

For those living through the tribulation and those of us living today, the message was the same. Be prepared to endure whatever comes your way. As we move on to the parable of the talents, I think we will see that the message of being faithful is important for us today and will be important to those living through the tribulation waiting for the King to return.

Matthew 25:14-18

¹⁴ “For it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another, one—to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately ¹⁶ the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. ¹⁷ In the same way the man with two earned two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.”

Obviously the man or master in this parable represents our Lord Jesus Christ. The time He is gone during His journey represents the time lapse from when He was on Earth last time and ascended into heaven until the time of His second coming at the end of the tribulation. So far we can safely say that He has been gone for just shy of 2,000 years and as believers living today we are still waiting on His return. Those living through the tribulation will be in the same boat we are, not knowing exactly when He will return but hopefully they will be watching for it.

In the parable the master gave his 3 servants talents. Now a talent is a significant amount of money, today a single talent would be just over $12,000. Obviously not chump change and something that has considerable value and importance to the master. The servant he gave the single talent to he trusted with $12,000. The servant with two talents was given $24,000 and the first servant given 5 talents was given $60,000. All together the master had given out just shy of $100,000. A significant value and expected something out of it.

The masters final act before leaving on his journey was to give the money out to his servants and based on the fact that 2 of the 3 acted in the same way, there was probably some instructions that went along with it. Something along the lines of telling them to go out and put the money to work and grow it. I would bet that the master’s expectations were pretty clear.

Jesus gave His followers some clear directions after His resurrection and just before He ascended to heaven. These were His final words before He left.

Acts 1:8

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witness in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The master expected his servants to grow his money and Jesus expects us to be His witnesses. It does not matter if He was going to be gone for a year, 2,000 years, or even 10,000 years. The expectation is the same. Do as you are told! Be witnesses!

Jesus left His followers with one task. Witness to everyone. Start with those in your community and move on from there. Continue until every person alive has heard the good news. Witness, witness, and witness. Never stop!

Like the parable of the ten virgins, once again Jesus is talking about believers since all are His servants or slaves, depending on what version of the Bible you are reading. If this message is about and for believers, things like the Great Commandment of Loving God the second of loving your neighbor as yourself are implied. It can also be assumed that the Great Commission is understood and that each one understands that they are to go and make disciples.

Jesus is telling the Parable of the Talents to remind all believers to be faithful. He has given us a job to do and He expects that we are going to do it.

The master in the parable gave his slaves something to work with. If you read Acts 1:8 again you see that Jesus is telling all believers that we “will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come” on us. We are to be His witness’ but we are not expected to do it without something or someone to help us.

John 16:7-14

“Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: ⁹ About sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. ¹² “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you.”

The Holy Spirit was sent to help us. He convicts the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment; which prepares the hearts of the lost to hear the good news. He guides us towards the truth. Which is more than helping us understand the words of Jesus as it includes guiding us to act faithfully in all the things we have been given to do. The Holy Spirit is going to guide us and He is going to use us to glorify Jesus.

The slaves received a large sum of money, we receive the Holy Spirit and the Spiritual Gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

^“4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person. ⁷ A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: ⁸ to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, ⁹ to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as He wills.”

Lots of different gifts are given to lots of different people, all to help carry out what Jesus wanted us to do. Witness to others.

Jesus has sent us the Holy Spirit, who has gifted each of us in different ways. The question is; are we being faithful and doing what we are supposed to do with them. Are we witnessing to others and carrying Jesus’ message to the ends of the earth?

Our master is gone and we are waiting for Him to return. What is this waiting supposed to look like?

When you are in the waiting room at the doctor’s office you are just sitting still twiddling your thumbs. That is NOT what we are supposed to be doing when we are waiting for Jesus. We are supposed to be carrying out Jesus’ commands and making the most out of what we have been given. We are to do what we can so that as many as possible can hear the life changing, eternity saving, message of grace.

We need to make the most out of the opportunity we have been given. Turn back to Matthew 25 and let’s look at how the master responded when he returned.

Matthew 25:19-21

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I’ve earned five more talents.’ ²¹ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!’”

The master trusted the first slave with $60,000 and when he returned the slave doubled it and gave the master back $120,000. The first slave was faithful and carried out what his master expected and received his master’s praise and enjoyed his reward.

Matthew 25:22-23

²² “Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I’ve earned two more talents.’ ²³ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!’”

The second slave responded just like the first. He took what he was given and faithfully grew it. The $24,000 he was given was turned into $48,000 when his master returned. For his efforts he received the same praise and reward the first servant received.

I think it is important that what is being praised is the faithfulness, not the result. Just because the second slave received a lesser amount of money and returned less than the first slave does not mean he is rewarded less. The same is said for us. Our eternal reward is not based on the gifts we receive, the tasks we are given, or even the results we accomplish. Our eternal reward is based on our faithfulness to carry out the task Jesus gave us.

Jesus is not going to measure us by how many people we individually lead to Him. Instead He is going to be reward us according to our faithfulness. Did we do what we were created to do? Did we faithfully use the gifts we were given?

It is not the results, but the faithfulness that will be rewarded.

Now let’s look how things turn out for the final slave who was given $12,000.

Matthew 25:24-30

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a difficult man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ “But his master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy slave! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, ²⁷ then you should have deposited my money with the bankers. And when I returned I would have received my money back with interest. ²⁸ “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents. ²⁹ For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ³⁰ And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

At first glance you might think this third slave did the prudent thing. He was afraid of making a mistake and losing the money. If you remember, what they were given was based on their ability, so even the master did not expect much out of this slave. He probably questioned his ability to grow the investment. He was afraid of doing something wrong.

I am sure we can all relate to being afraid to do something. Some fear is helpful at times. When doing things like buying a house or changing jobs, a small amount of fear helps us to think through things very carefully. If we let the fear take over though it can prevent us from doing anything at all. There are people out there that are so afraid of germs that they do not leave their houses or go out of their way to have no contact with kids.

The wicked slave was trying to not do the wrong thing, so he ended up doing absolutely nothing at all. He did not act in faith.

I know it can be scary talking to people about Jesus. I know that putting yourself out there can cause fear. I know that there is a risk that you could be rejected by others. I know that you may not be successful in leading that person to Christ. Jesus is not worried about how successful we are, He is not worried about if we reach 1, 10, 100, or more people. He expects us to be faithful. That is all, we need to be faithful.

The first two servants were rewarded due to their faithfulness and they heard ‘Well done, good and faithful slave!’

If you are faithful in serving Jesus, witnessing where ever you go. You too can hear ‘Well done, good and faithful slave!’

The Parable of the Ten Virgins stressed the need to ‘Be Prepared’ and the Parable of the Talents stressed the need to ‘Be Faithful’. Those of us alive today and those who will be living through the tribulation need to do just that. Be Prepared by cultivating that deep personal relationship with Jesus and Be Faithful in serving Him every day of our lives.

Thank you for reading! Be Prepared for when you meet Jesus, and Be Faithful as you serve Him!

Robert