Today is our last Sunday looking at Parables Of The Kingdom.  Since January 1st we’ve been exploring together these stories that Jesus told to capture the attention of His listeners - to allow Him to teach His disciples on a deeper level.  Stories that - in part - bring the awesomeness of the Kingdom of God down to a level where we can begin to understand its meaning for us.  What it means for us to live in the Kingdom of God - to live subject to the reign and movement of the sovereign God within His universe - to live with Jesus Christ as the Lord and King of our lives.

Please turn with me to Matthew 25 - starting at verse 31.  This morning we’ve come to the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.  As you’re turning let’s be reminded of the setting of this parable.

Jesus is in Jerusalem - standing on the Mount of Olives.  Its dusk.  The light is fading.  That kind of twilight at the end of the day.  Know what I mean?  He’s standing there with this small group of men - His disciples - one of whom would betray Him.  They’re looking out over this city - where already plans are being made for His arrest and crucifixion.  The situation is growing in volatility - open conflict. 

Throughout that day Jesus has been teaching - with parables - about what is to come - preparing His disciples for His arrest - crucifixion - resurrection - ascension - and return.  From a human standpoint Jesus is talking nonsense.  All this stuff about future history is kind of hard to get a handle on.  Given the circumstances - difficult to imagine.  He’s facing defeat.  Evil is about to triumph.  With the dusk, the powers of darkness are gathering.

Then - here in verse 31 - for a moment - Jesus drops all the stories - the seeds and weeds and virgins and talents that we’ve been looking at - and He makes this powerful declaration - verse 31:  “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 from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”

That’s powerful.  Isn’t it?  Doesn’t sound defeatist.  Its a statement of certain future historical fact.  Jesus will appear - in all His Godly glory - with the angelic armies of heaven.  He will come as the judge - sit on the throne as the sovereign God of the universe - to  determine who will enter into the Kingdom and who will not.

Fast forward to Revelation 20 - verse 11 - same scene.  “Then I - John the Apostle - then I saw a great white throne and Him - Jesus - Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire - same place where Satan ends up.  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

No one escapes this.  We all have an appointment to stand before the sovereign God - Jesus - to be judged.  He’s talking about the nations.  From the nations - who’s in - who’s out.  Are you a sheep or a goat?  Important question.

Verse 34:  “Then - when all this judging takes place - then the King will say to those on His right - the sheep - ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’”

Let’s pause.  There are two things we need to notice here.

First:  The blessings.  The sheep are blessed of God.  They’re favored of God.   They get the dwelling place in the Father’s house.  The “well done good and faithful slave” pat on the back.  The joy of the Master.  They inherit the Kingdom - the pearl - the treasure.  Its theirs - the scope and reality of God’s sovereign eternal domain is theirs.  That’s blessing that’s impossible to get our minds around.  Awesome to consider.

Second:  Notice the criteria of judgment - the deeds.  These are deeds that would involve being proactive - actively looking for needs.  Getting to know people intimately enough to know what their issues might be.  Taking steps to tangibly meet those needs.  These are actions that could involve personal sacrifice - financial commitment - the commitment of resources - time and effort given without any expectation of repayment or personal reward. 

Verse 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?  And when did we see you a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’”

There’s complete surprise here.  “When did we ever do any of that stuff?”  They haven’t been keeping any records.  They’re not looking for praise - some kind of brass plaque with their name on it - or an award at some banquet.  All the stuff they’ve been doing wasn’t some extraordinary hardship.  They’ve just been doing what God’s people do.  Unthinkingly - unknowingly - because they love Jesus - they’ve been responding to the needs of those around them.   

Verse 40:  “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

God knows His people.  He knows their hearts.  He knows their deeds. 

Verse 41 - on the other hand:  “Then He will also say to those on His left - the goats - ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’  Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’”

Notice - again there’s complete surprise.  But its surprise for a different reason.  The sheep are doing good deeds without knowing it and getting credit for it.  The goats are doing good deeds and they can prove it - they’re keeping track of them - and they’re surprised that they’re not getting noticed.  “How did we schlep up on this one?  Who did we miss that we were suppose to help?”

Standing before the throne of Jesus - there will be those who will who will really have to scratch to find one good thing that they’ve done for others.

When Bill Gates dies he goes up to Heaven where Peter shows him to his house - a beautiful 20 room house with grounds and a tennis court.  Bill Gates is pleased and spends months enjoying the amenities of heaven.

One day he was enjoying one of Heaven's many fine parks when he ran into a man dressed in a fine tailored suit.

“That’s a nice suit,” says Gates.  “Where did you get it?”

“Actually,” the man replied, “I was given a hundred of these when I got here.  I've been treated really well.  I got a mansion overlooking a beautiful hill with a huge five-hundred acre estate, a golf course, and three Rolls Royce's.”

“Were you a Pope, or a doctor healing the sick?” asked Gates.

“No,” said the man, “I was the captain of the Titanic.”

Hearing this made Gates so angry that he immediately stalked off to find  Peter.  Cornering Peter he said, “How could you give me such a little house, while you're showering new cars, a mansion, and fine suits on the Captain of the Titanic?  I invented the Windows operating system!  Why does he deserve better?”

“Yes, but we use Windows,” replied Peter, “and the Titanic only crashed once.”

Some people are gonna be scratching to come up with one good deed.  But let’s be honest - there are also a ton of really good people out there who’ve done a great number of good things for a whole lot of needy people.  And it’s a little strange to think this - standing before the throne - with all those impressive works laid out as evidence - hearing Jesus say, “You didn’t feed Me, water Me, invite Me, clothe Me, visit Me.”  That’s gonna surprise a lot of people that are hanging on to those deeds for their acceptance into heaven.

Verse 45:  “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’  These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

There are two points of application that I’d like to share with you.  The first concerns The Kingdom of God - what God offers to us - what Jesus is teaching about.

The Kingdom of God transcends creation.  It includes all that we might imagine and beyond - all of existence.  But all that is only a subset of the Kingdom.  The Kingdom is where God is sovereign.  Is there any place where God is not sovereign?  No.  Is there any time - or outside of time - where God is not sovereign?  No.    

The scope of human history is a included as a part of The Kingdom of God.  God’s plan of redemption - God’s grace - His mercy - the sacrifice of Christ on the cross - the coming of judgment and our eternal destiny are a part of the Kingdom of God.  What God is about doing in His Kingdom - calling humankind into relationship with Him.

The seed is sown into the hearts of mankind - remember this?  Sown among the weeds.  There is great potential - like a mustard seed - or leaven.

Those who recognize their spiritual poverty are placed within the Kingdom of God.  Where the captives are released - the blind are given sight - the oppressed are set free.  Where God deals with the deeper issues of our hearts and we’re transformed - becoming the incredible - priceless person that He intends.  Remember the pearl?  The treasure?  We’re created in the image of God - made to be a child of God - heirs of the Kingdom.  In the Kingdom, God transforms us - grows us - strengthens us - matures us -  in the midst of all of what’s going on around us - bringing the reality of His Kingdom into our hearts - making us to be the person that He intends.

Those who live in the Kingdom engage life at its deepest levels - at the flash point of conflict between the Kingdom and the world - where all of what God is doing in creation and all of what He is doing in us comes together - lived out in this adventure - this battle - wheat and tares - sheep and goats - Satan acting in opposition to God.  To live knowing that the sovereign God - who loves us so deeply - this God has all of this under control and that He’s using us according to His sovereign eternal purposes.  Living each day with purpose and meaning and with God’s assurance of our eternal destiny - not torture and fire and brimstone - but eternity with Him - a wedding feast has been prepared. 

In the parables that we’ve looked at Jesus has been teaching this.  The Kingdom is here.  God - in the giving of His Son - God has dealt with the issue of sin - what separates us from Him - dealt with it on the cross through the death of Jesus.  God loves us.  God forgives.  God is ready to apply His grace and mercy to our lives.

The invitation is given.  It is a real genuine offer by God to each one of us to enter into all that He offers.  The Kingdom is before us.  Respond.  Choose.  Accept the invitation.  Give your life to God.

Second point of application.  What God expects - our response to the offer of the Kingdom.

Ray Stedman - in his sermon, “The Unconscious Test” shared about what he experienced at a concert he went to.  Let me read this to you.

“In the company of a large number of friends I attended a public concert in a large city.  The officials of both the city and state were in attendance and a great crowd of people had jammed into a small open air square.  The officials were seated in front row chairs on a small platform.  Among the various performers that night was a young starlet from Hollywood.  She was dressed in a gownless evening strap and in this revealing attire came to the microphone to sing.  She did several swinging numbers, swaying with her hips and snapping her fingers.  As she sang I happened to turn to note the reaction of the mayor of the city, seated on the front row.”

“Evidently he had lost himself in the performance, for his guard was down.  His eyes were agleam with lechery, his mouth had dropped partly open, and he was fairly drooling.  I saw also the governor of the state, seated a few chairs away, who was eyeing the mayor with a stern look of disapproval.  While I watched, the governor caught the mayor’s eye.  Immediately he reddened, shifted uneasily in his chair, closed his mouth, sat straight up and looked out over the audience.  The governor’s glance had said to him, in the most eloquent silence I have ever heard, “Shape up, man, you’re in public!”  Though the major was the soul of propriety the rest of the evening, in one unconscious moment reality had shown through.” (1)

Character is who we are when - what?  no one is looking.  The reality is that God is always looking.  When we pray God has His eyes open.  And God sees to the depths of our heart.  That’s why the sheep get credit for deeds they weren’t conscious of and the goats get no credit for doing such great deeds.  God’s expectation - the test - evaluates our hearts.

When we read the passage from Revelation 20 - remember that - the scene of judgment?  There’s a statement made there - twice - that we sometimes miss - or some people would like to ignore - makes them uncomfortable.  But its crucial that we see it.

Books are opened.  Among them is the Book of Life.  Those who are judged are judged from the things which are written in the books - quote, “according to their deeds.”  John goes on - the sea gives up its dead - death and Hades give up their dead.  They’re all judged - quote, “everyone of them according to their deeds.”  What’s the statement? “According to their deeds.”

Sounds like Jesus is judging people according to what they did to “the least of these.”  Sounds kind of like salvation by works - makes some people uncomfortable to think this way.  But notice - the deeds aren’t the bottom line.  If anyone’s name is not found written in the Book of Life - no matter how impressive their deeds may be - long hours serving in the church - charitable works - large financial donations - fighting for the rights of others - on and on - no matter how impressive the list may be - if their name is not found written in the Book of Life, he - or she - is thrown into the lake of fire - eternal torment - eternal death.

They’re judged according to their deeds because they don’t have Jesus - the life He offers.  They’re still trying to live a kingdom life by their own works - their own deeds rather than by THE DEED - which is the source and basis of all other deeds - which is the death of Jesus Christ.

We need to be clear about what’s being said here - for two reasons.  First - because what God expects - the test Jesus applies to the sheep and the goats - deals with the basis of why we do what we do - it evaluates our heart - our personal saving relationship with God.

Second - we need to be clear about what’s being said here because while Jesus is not preaching a social Gospel - that the Gospel is all about doing good things for other people - feeding, watering, inviting, clothing, visiting - there is an expectation - that those who genuinely live in the Kingdom - who have a - from the heart saving relationship with God - will live differently in their relationship with others.  As James writes, “Faith without works is - what?  dead.”  (James 2:26)

Life in the Kingdom is more than a doctrinal or theological concept for monks or theologians or any of us to spend our lives contemplating and debating in fortress churches and spiritual communities.  Endlessly going to seminars and studies and conferences and reading books and watching videos and DVD’s and Christian TV and listening to CD’s and Christian radio all focused on teaching us how to be better Christians and to enjoy our Christianity and to seek God’s blessing of our lives - Five Biblical Principles To Live By So That You Too Can Experience God’s Abundant Blessing.

The Kingdom of God is not about using God given resources to provide for our own comfort and pleasure and reputation.  The Kingdom of God is not about snobby Christians who see the church as their own special club.  Who gossip and backbite and treat God’s people in ungodly ways.  Let alone how they treat those who need to hear of God’s love and are desperate to see His love lived out in the lives of His people.

Those who truly live in the Kingdom will tangibly touch the world around them with the life of the Kingdom.  Our hearts sold out to Jesus will produce lives that - even if we’re not aware of it - will do those deeds that Jesus will one day say, “You did these to Me.”  The ultimate judgment is not our theology but our actions.  Actions which demonstrate the reality in our hearts.

Gene Mims, in his book, The Kingdom Focused Church, writes this:  “The Kingdom of God, in its simplest form, is the reign of Jesus Christ as Lord and King in our lives.  It is the Holy Spirit working in us, through us, and around us in such a way that we actually live and do the will of God.  Through the Kingdom we can live the lives that God created us to live - life at the maximum.” (2)

Is that your life this morning?  Are you a sheep or a goat?

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