Sermon for Trinity 26
Isaiah 40:9-11 + 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10 + Matthew 25:31-46
One of the most basic teachings of the Bible is that this world is heading for certain and unavoidable destruction, that Christ will come again to this earth, that there will be a Day of Judgment, a day of reckoning for all men. The Son of Man will come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory as Judge. On that day, all the terrorists and jihadists of the world will have to appear before Christ. On that day, all the people of all the countries of Europe (including France and Germany) that have almost entirely abandoned the Christian faith, where hundreds of churches and cathedrals now stand empty—never used anymore—, and where the churches that are used have largely turned Christianity into a mockery of itself—they will have to appear before Christ. On that day, the people of America, who, in their quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, have largely abandoned Him who is the Life, have turned liberty into license, and the pursuit of happiness into the pursuit of selfishness—they will have to appear before Christ.
And you and I along with them. So pay attention to the words of the Judge today, while it is day, before the night comes, before the Court convenes. Now is the time to listen and learn, because the day of reckoning is coming.
The day of reckoning is heralded by all sorts of mini-judgments that come upon the world, like we saw in France on Friday. And every single one of those mini-judgments carries with it God’s intended purpose that the rest of the world should wake up—not just wake up to the threat of Islam or the foolishness of recklessly bringing tens of thousands of foreign refugees into your country, but wake up to the reality of your sin, your idolatry, your rejection of God’s Word, your rejection of God’s Son. These mini-judgments all direct our attention to the much greater, much more devastating Final Judgment. They all cry out with a loud voice, the day of reckoning is coming!
On the day of reckoning, when Christ comes, there will be no standing in line before the pearly gates, waiting for St. Peter’s decision on whether to let people into heaven or not. There will be an immediate and final separation of the sheep and the goats. The sheep will get to go into everlasting life. The goats will be cast into everlasting fire. The judgment itself on that day will be over before it begins, because the judgment takes place here and now, in this life, during this time of grace. All people begin their lives under God’s judgment, with a standing condemnation hanging over their heads because of their sin. But now is the time when God sends out ministers of the Word, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins, to baptize people away from condemnation. Now is the time when the Holy Spirit justifies people by faith in Christ, removing the condemnation that was hanging over their heads and bringing them into the safety of the Holy Christian Church.
So what will the Judge be doing on the day of reckoning, if He won’t be deciding people’s fate? According to today’s Gospel, He’ll be publicly declaring the evidence that supports the Judge’s already-made decision.
First, He addresses the sheep, those on His right, the blessed, the saints, the children of God, the believers in Christ, the justified by faith, the true Christians. Did you notice in the Gospel that Jesus didn’t list a single sin committed by the sheep? Why? Is this some special, tiny group of people who were just that perfect that they never did anything wrong, anything sinful? Not at all! What did David say in the famous Psalm? Not, “Blessed is he who has never sinned.” But, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” The sheep are not sinless; they are counted by God as sinless. Their faith—worked in them by the Holy Spirit during their earthly lifetime—was counted to them for righteousness. They “inherit” the kingdom of God. They don’t earn it. They inherit it, because they have been made children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in the blood of Christ, shed for our sins, makes us worthy to stand before the Judge on the day of reckoning without fear and without guilt.
So what does the Judge say about the sheep? He praises them for all the deeds of kindness they have done for their Christian brothers in their times of need. “You fed Me. You clothed Me. You visited Me.” How so? Because Christ dwells by His Spirit in the body of every believer. What Christian parents do for their children, they do for Christ. What Christian children do for their parents, they do for Christ. What church members do for their pastor and for one another, they do for Christ. At least, that’s how He sees it. Jesus looks for these fruits of faith, these deeds of love of all kinds from those who call themselves Christians. And anyone who is a true Christians, who is justified by faith alone, will have an abundance of these deeds of love to be read out loud on the day of reckoning. Christians are not safe from the judgment because of these works. Instead, because Christians are safe from the judgment through a true and living faith in Christ, they do these works. And God, in His grace, accepts them as tokens and testimonies of the faith He has worked and sustained in their hearts by His Spirit, through the Means of Grace.
But what about the goats on His left? Did you notice in the Gospel that the Judge, in listing the evidence that supported His verdict against them, doesn’t even mention all the atrocities people have committed in the world? He doesn’t even bother listing what we consider the most obvious sins—murder and adultery and crime and greed. “You didn’t feed Me. You didn’t clothe Me. You didn’t visit Me.” All sins of omission. Consider how horrifying this judgment is. Forget about the persecutions and the killings of Christians. For not going out of their way to do good to Christ’s holy people here on earth in their time of need, their eternal condemnation is deserved.
What? Could these unbelieving goats have earned their justification by being nicer to Christians? Not at all. Everything that does not come from faith in Christ is sin, as the Bible clearly teaches, and a man is justified, not by works, but only by faith in Christ. But where there is no faith, there are no truly good works, there is no true love. Unbelievers may think of themselves as good and righteous people, but they will all be confronted on the day of reckoning with the harsh reality: from God’s perspective they did no good thing for Him, because they did not believe in Him, and therefore, they did no good thing for His people, either.
The result for the goats will be everlasting fire and condemnation. How tragic! Because that was not God’s original intention for anyone. Jesus says that the everlasting fire of hell was prepared, not for men, but “for the devil and his angels.” God’s intention from the beginning of time was to save the entire human race through faith in Christ, even as He gave Christ into death as the payment for the sins of the whole world. He calls all men by the Gospel to turn from their sins and to believe in Christ. Here we are again today, gathered together around the Word of Christ, humbly seeking refuge under the cross. The whole city is invited to come and hear the Gospel and receive the forgiveness of their sins so that they are prepared for the day of reckoning. Where are they? Why are we so few? Why are solid, orthodox, Gospel-preaching churches almost empty around the world?
Christ gives us the answer in John chapter 3. “Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
So what do we do? We keep preaching and hearing the Gospel. We keep living in daily repentance and humility before God. We keep doing the works of love that are fitting for saints. We keep praying that God would grant repentance to those who still live in the darkness of unbelief. And we eagerly await the day of reckoning, because Christ has told us ahead of time what a blessed day it will be for those who are found trusting in Him.
The biggest threat facing this country and this world is not “climate change,” as some people strangely claim. It’s not poverty, not bankruptcy, not even militant Islam. The biggest threat facing this world is the day of reckoning. Christ is coming. He is coming soon. Listen to Him now, and you will be safe on that glorious and dreadful day. Amen.
