- [Narrator] The entire sermon of Jesus Christ
on the Mount of Olives builds to a final judgment.
Throughout the sermon, there are themes of judgment
concerning the separation of believers and unbelievers.
All three of the parables in the discourse
contain graphic symbols of coming judgment,
and the great overriding theme of the whole discourse,
the sudden appearing of Jesus Christ,
is continually portrayed as the ultimate event
that will precipitate and signal
the arrival of a massive catastrophic judgment.
Now, Christ paints a vivid picture of the judgment.
Matthew 25:31-33, ESV:
When the Son of Man comes in His glory,
and all the angels with Him,
then He will sit on His glorious throne.
Before Him will be gathered all the nations,
and He will separate people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And He will place the sheep on His right,
but the goats on His left.
No one had more to say
about judgment and scripture than Jesus.
He often warned of looming doom for the unrepentant.
Luke 13:3-5, NLT:
Not at all!
And you will perish, too, unless you repent over your sins
and turn to God.
And what about the 18 people who died
when the Tower of Siloam fell on them?
Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem?
No, and I tell you again that unless you repent,
you will perish, too.
He spoke about hell a lot more than he talked about heaven,
and He did it in the most vivid
and disturbing terms possible.
The majority of what we know
about sinner's eternal punishment
comes from the Savior's mouth.
And none of the descriptions of judgment in the Bible
are more severe or powerful than those offered by Jesus.
Yet He always spoke of such things
in the most tender and compassionate tones.
He pleaded with sinners to repent of their sins,
reconcile with God and seek refuge in Him from God's wrath.
He knew the tremendous cost of sin
and the severity of the vine anger against the sinner
better than anybody,
since He would bear the brunt of that wrath
on behalf of those He redeemed.
As a result, whenever He addressed such issues,
He did it with the utmost empathy
and not the least hostility.
He even saw as He gazed upon the Jerusalem,
knowing that the city,
as well as the entire country of Israel
would reject Him as their Messiah
and would soon be destroyed.
When He saw the city, He cried and said,
Luke 19:41-44, NIV:
As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city,
He wept over it and said,
"If you, even you, had only known on this day
what would bring you peace,
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
The days will come upon you
when your enemies will build an embankment against you
and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
They will dust you to the ground,
you and the children within your walls.
They will not leave one stone on another
because you did not recognize
the time of God's coming to you."
In many ways, Jesus Christ entire discourse
on the Mount of Olives
is just an extension of that compassionate plea.
Beginning from the same starting point,
a lament about the eminent destruction of Jerusalem,
Christ simply broadens his perspective
and gives the disciples an extended the appeal
that encompasses the future,
right up to His return and the judgment that ensues.
The same Spirit that prompted crisis weeping
over the city of Jerusalem,
therefore permeates and colors the entire Olivet discourse,
and Matthew who was there to hear it all firsthand
recorded it in his gospel,
where it stands as a beacon to all sinners
throughout the entire age.
It is the Lord's last appeal for repentance
before it is too late.
Looking back over the sermon,
we can see that all of His numerous exhortations
to be faithful and all of His warnings to be prepared,
amount to the same thing:
They are a compassionate call to repentance
and faith in Him.
He is telling us to be ready for His return
because He will deliver final judgment when He returns.
And when He wraps up His discourse,
He goes into great detail about that judgment.
This final section of the Olivet discourse
is one of the most stern and somber warnings
concerning judgment in the Bible.
The judge is Christ, the great shepherd
who separates the sheep from the goats.
None of the other gospels
have these remarks of Christ recorded in them.
But Matthew intent on portraying Christ as King
here shows Him seated on His earthly throne.
Indeed, this judgment is His first act
after His triumphant return to earth
implying that it is His first order of business
as earthly ruler.
Psalm 2:8-12, ESV:
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Now therefore, O Kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way,
for His wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
Here Christ is judging those alive at His coming,
separating the sheep, the true believers,
from the goats, unbelievers.
In the immediately proceeding parables,
the goats represent the same type of individuals
who are portrayed as evil servants, unwise virgins,
and an unfaithful steward.
Jesus Himself is the judge in the event shown here.
This is in line with what He said at another occasion,
John 5:22-23, KJV:
For the Father judgeth no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
That all men should honor the Son,
even as they honor the Father.
He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father,
which hath sent Him.
Thus the same compassionate one
who wept and pleaded with sinners to be reconciled to God
will one day be the sovereign judge.
And He will judge with a rod of iron.
He will dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.
Revelation 19:15, NIV:
Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword
with which to strike down the nations.
He will rule them with an iron scepter.
He treads the winepress
of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
Psalms 2:8, NIV:
Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
The judgment will be fierce,
as shown in Revelation 19:15, with the imagery of Christ.
Revelation 19:15, NIV:
Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword
with which to strike down the nations.
He will rule them with an iron scepter.
He treads the winepress
of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
Matthew 25:31, NIV:
When the Son of Man comes in His glory,
and all the angels with Him,
He will sit on His glorious throne.
Various verses of the scripture
teach that the angels will help in the judgment.
According to 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, NIV:
And give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well.
This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven
in blazing fire with His powerful angels.
He will punish those who do not know God
and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Matthew 24:31, NIV:
And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather His elect from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens to the other.
Zachariah 14:5, NIV:
You will flee by my mountain valley,
for it will extend to Azel.
You will flee as you fled from the earthquake
in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
Then the Lord my God will come,
and all the holy ones with Him.
Colossians 3:4, NIV:
When Christ, who is your life, appears,
then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Here's an interesting fact,
this passage in Matthew 25:31-46
is the first time Christ clearly refers to Himself as King
in any of His recorded statements.
Matthew 25:31-46, NKJV:
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 clothed 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 cloth me,
sick and in prison and you did not visit Me."
Then they 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."
Throughout His ministry,
He had much to say about the Kingdom of God,
but He did not expressly feature Himself as King
until He did so in this context,
speaking privately to the disciples.
Later, before Pilate, He publicly acknowledged
that He is King.
John 18:37, NIV:
"You are a king then!: said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king.
In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world
is to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
The title Christ most frequently applied to Himself
was Son of Man.
Even here, He employs that expression,
but only to say that the Son of Man will come in His glory
and subsequently take His throne.
In verse 34, He calls Himself King for the first on record.
Let us pray.
Lord, good morning.
Today's a new day.
And with that comes the opportunity for a fresh start.
Yesterday has passed along with whatever mistakes,
errors, or failures I may have had.
It's a good day to rejoice and be grateful.
And I am, Lord.
Thank you for giving me another chance to love,
give and be everything you want me to be today.
Today, I want to start the day with you
on my mind and in my heart.
Allow me to dress in the armor you've provided me
on a daily basis, the helmet of salvation,
the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith,
the belt of truth, the shoes of peace
and the sword of the Spirit.
With praise for you and petitions for people around me
and those I encountered on my tongue,
feed me with Your daily bread today as the bread of life,
Your food like manner will sustain me
throughout any trials and hunger.
Help me to focus my mind on higher things
and only say things that would benefit and encourage others.
Lord, help me to guard my heart's affections,
help me to treat everyone I meet
with the same respect and love that you do,
forgiving others and asking for forgiveness when I need it.
As I begin this day, remind me that I am Your own.
Keep my feet from tripping
and my mind from wandering into diversions
that could divert my attention away
from the most important things You've planned for me.
Lord, I'm honored to be Your child,
and I'm so grateful that You died for me
rising again on Your own new morning,
so that every day could be filled
with the wonder of Your love,
the freedom of Your Spirit and the joy of knowing you.
I know earthly life is short and fleeting, Lord,
but I want to live today as if it were the first
or the last day of my life,
giving things for every good and perfect gift
you choose to give.
Today and every day I want to live my life for you, Jesus.
In Your precious name, amen.