We have been studying together the book of Revelation and have moved through the 19th chapter of this great book. As we come to the end of Revelation chapter 19 and are ready for chapter 20, we are moving into the establishing of the Kingdom of God on earth. There are some events that take place in connection with the return of Jesus Christ to earth that we are giving some consideration. At the end of Revelation chapter 19, we have the infamous battle of Armageddon, or as we noted in our study, the campaign of Armageddon, which results in the destruction of the armies of the world in Palestine. A tremendous conflict. The blood will flow for an extent of 200 miles in Palestine. Multitudes will die there. That results in the death of the armies of the world. We noted in our last consideration that the whole purpose of God in the seven-year tribulation, climaxing with Armageddon, is to bring Israel to its knees. So God disciplines the nation through that seven-year period with the intention of turning the nation to Christ, that they might believe that He is their Messiah. And thus, the fulfillment of Romans chapter 11 will take place. All Israel will be saved. There will be a mass turning on the part of the Jews to Jesus shortly before His return at Armageddon. When Jesus Christ returns to earth at His second coming, the destruction of Armageddon takes place. There is now a series of judgments that will be set up following Armageddon. At Armageddon, all the armies of the world in Palestine suffer destruction. But there are many people around the world who were not at Armageddon and so who have not experienced death. They have survived the seven-year period leading up to the return of Christ. They were not part of the armies at Armageddon. So, we have now set up the throne of Christ on earth to exercise judgment over the living on the earth. And I want to look with you in our time together today at the judgment of the living at the second coming of Christ. In the coming weeks, I want to give you some notes and charts relating to the judgments of Scripture and the resurrections of Scripture and the chronology of Revelation. There will be a series of those over the next weeks. Right now I want to focus on the judgment of the living. Fix in your mind who we are talking about in the judgments we're going to be talking about. It is Jews and Gentiles who are physically alive on the earth when Christ returns at His second coming. They have survived the tribulation. They have survived Armageddon. Now they will be called before Christ to be judged. The unbelievers will be killed. The believers will go into the kingdom that He is going to establish. Turn to the book of Jude in your Bibles, just before the book of Revelation. It has 25 verses. I want to look at verses 14 and 15 with you, where Jude quotes from the prophet Enoch. And in Jude, verse 14, About these also, and the these refers to the false teachers that he has been talking about. About these also, Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied. Now, if you go back to Genesis chapter 5, in the genealogy of Genesis 5, and count seven generations, you come to Enoch, the genealogy of Enoch. Now, we're not told anything about Enoch's prophesying there. We're told that Enoch did not die. because God took him directly to heaven. But now we find out that Enoch was a prophet. And way back in Genesis chapter 5, he was prophesying about the coming of the Lord to earth to bring judgment upon the ungodly. Enoch prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones. It is customary in Old Testament prophecy. The prophets would often speak in the past tense. to denote the finality of what they were saying. So, they're prophesying a coming event, but since it's God speaking, it's as good as done. The Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, and we saw this in Revelation 19, to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds, which they have done in an ungodly way, of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts, speaking arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of advantage. God is going to come in judgment and the ungodly, and you note the repeated emphasis on ungodly in verse 15, will experience the judgment of God. When Christ comes and the living are judged, there will be two groups, Jews and Gentiles. Turn back to the book of Ezekiel. Chapter 20, verse 33, As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. So you note the context here. God taking the position of being the king over Israel. This will happen. and what we call the mediatorial kingdom through the mediator, Jesus Christ, who will be King. Yet, in the context of His taking control as King, it will be with wrath poured out. We've seen already a portion of this when He returns at Armageddon. It's a time of wrath and judgment. That is all necessary preparation for Him assuming His role as King over Israel. I shall bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered. Ezekiel is talking about Israel here. Israel will be gathered from the dispersion. All the places throughout the world where they have gone, they will be gathered together by God now. With an outstretched arm, with wrath poured out. The wrath again is emphasized. I shall bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. And there I shall enter into judgment with you face to face. Jesus Christ Himself will be personally on the earth again. Israel will be gathered before Him and judgment will take place. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God." The analogy is with Israel in the wilderness after Egypt. You remember, they wandered 40 years in the wilderness. For what purpose? Till God had killed all the unbelievers. Then the rest could go into Palestine. That's the same parallel. These Jews now, at the second coming of Christ, are gathered before Him in the wilderness. Perhaps the same wilderness, we're not told. The unbelievers will be executed and the rest will go into the kingdom, into the land of Palestine. I shall make you pass under the rod. I shall bring you into the bond of the covenant." Picture there, sifting out the sheep and dividing them as they're passed under the rod. "'I shall purge from you the rebels, those who transgress against Me. I shall bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel.'" You see, this judgment evidently takes place outside the confines of Palestine. The rebels, those who transgress against God, will be purged out. And only the believing remnant will be privileged to go into the land and into the kingdom that he is establishing. Look over in Malachi, the last book of your Old Testament. Chapter 3, verse 1 begins, Behold, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Passage applied to John the Baptist. But we're immediately going to be carried to the second coming of Christ. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller soap. It will be a time of purifying and cleansing and judgment. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Verse 5, Then I will draw near to you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerer, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the wage owner, the widow, and so on. You know, verse 6, For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore, you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. It is the mercy and grace of God that a remnant will survive out of Israel and enter into the kingdom. And if it were not for the fact that Israel has an unchanging God who is faithful to His covenant promises, the nation would be annihilated. But He is a God of mercy and grace and will bring salvation through a remnant." Again, the emphasis on judgment. Judgment will also encompass the Gentiles that we read in a previous study, Joel chapter 3. And there, there's an emphasis on the nations being brought to Him for judgment, which includes Armageddon and includes events around Armageddon. Judgment is the focal point. Turn over to Matthew chapter 13 in the New Testament, just after the book of Malachi chapter 13. We have parables relating to the kingdom. the kingdom that Christ will establish on the earth. They present mysteries, new information about the kingdom. And one of the key emphases here is there is going to be an extensive delay, humanly speaking, before the kingdom is established. A number of these parables are very familiar to us. I'm not going to go into the details, but I just want to highlight certain points about them. The parable of the wheat and the tares. In verses 24 to 30, picture that the weed and the tares will grow together until the end of the age. And the focal point is primarily on the time of Christ's ministry on the earth and the seven year tribulation where there will be much similarity. Now, there may be application to us today as well. But both the wheat and the tares, verse 30, grow together until the harvest. And in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, first gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up, but gather the wheat into my barn. And for many people and in many people, it is clear they do not belong to the living God. For other people, it's not so clear, but it will become clear in the day of judgment. People who have pretended and acted like they belong to the living God will be revealed for what they are. True believers will be revealed as true believers as well. When Christ interprets this parable, He says in verse 37, the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, giving forth the Word of God, the Bread of Life. But verse 39, the enemy who sowed the tares is the devil. So you have the Son of God sowing good seed, the Word of God. You have the devil sowing bad seed, false teaching. It causes people to believe if they're good people, if they get baptized, if they do their best, they will be acceptable of God. That kind of teaching. The harvest, verse 39, is the end of the age. So you see the context of these parables. They're focusing on the end of the age, when Christ will return and what will happen as a result of His return. The angels are the reapers. Therefore, just as the tears are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. In that place, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Keep in mind, we're going to see this again and again. The eternal destiny of the wicked is always described as a place of awful darkness. of burning fire, of terrible suffering, then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. You see, we're at the end of the age. We are determining who is going to destruction and who is going into the kingdom. This judgment will sift out the living who are believers from the living who are unbelievers. Parable of the dragnet in verses 47 to 50. Look at verse 49. So it will be at the end of the age, the angel shall come forth, take out the wicked from among the righteous and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. God could not be any more clear than he is in his word. There are two destinies. These destinies are real. And every man, woman and child is destined either to eternal hell or to eternal glory. There are no other options. There are no neutral people. Jesus said, He who is not with Me is against Me. All determined on your response to Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, whether you have repented of your sin and turned to Him in faith. So, we come to Matthew 25. which is where we're going to focus our attention. We're not going to start it just yet. We only have Matthew 24 and 25 to do. We would just highlight these, obviously. I want to remind you of something. And very important, don't get lost here. All the judgments of Scripture are based on works. All the judgments of Scripture are based on works. And there are a series of judgments. We will review those at a later study. And I'll give you a chart on those judgments and an explanation. However, the Scripture is clear. No one will ever be saved by their works. So don't think that we have a contradiction here. No one can be saved by their good works. For example, let me read you Galatians 2, verse 16. Verse 15, we are Jews by nature and not sinners among the Gentiles. Paul is writing, now listen, nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. since by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." It is not possible for a human being to be considered righteous before God by the works that he does. That is the death stroke to all the religions of the world. All tell us that if we do this, if we do that, if we try our hardest, if we join this church, if we get baptized, if we take communion, and on we go. You can join this church, become a board member, teach Sunday school for 50 years, die and go to an eternal hell. Because you cannot become righteous before God by being baptized, by joining this church, by giving your money. You only become righteous before God by believing that you are a sinner for whom Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died. But then why are the judgments of Scripture based on works? Because God is clear. What you do reveals what you are. Your works flow out of your very character. And so, when you are judged by your works, you will be revealed for what you really are. Back to Matthew chapter 12, verse 34. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, Speak what is good. He's speaking to religious people, religious leaders. He says, it's impossible for you to truly speak what is good, that which is consistent with the character of God. For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. You see the issue? Your heart is depraved and corrupted, so your words are consistent with your heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good. The evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. Point being, out of a wicked heart come wicked words. Out of a good heart come good words. How does the heart get transformed? When you're born again by believing in Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus said you must be born again. I say to you that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified." Wait a minute. We read in Galatians 2, verse 16, by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified. Now he says, by your words you shall be justified. That's something I do. No, because if you read the context, you realize that the words come from the heart. And they reveal what you are. They don't make you what you are. In verse 33, which we didn't read, either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad. The tree is known by its fruit. You don't make a tree an apple tree by going out and tying apples on it. But a tree that is an apple tree by its very nature produces apples. That's the picture here. Look in Matthew chapter 15. The issue here is on what you eat and what you don't eat, what you put into your mouth, what you don't put into your mouth. Verse 17, Jesus said, Do you not understand? that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated. But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man. To eat with unwashed hands, that doesn't defile the man. Pharisees are all caught up. Disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate. They defiled themselves. No, that's not what defiles you. It's what comes from within, out of your heart. Remember, the works of the flesh are these in Galatians chapter 5 and the works of the flesh are enumerated. Then we're told those who practice such things shall not be part of the kingdom. That reveals what you are. We sometimes use arguments with young people about what they should eat or put in their mouth or so on, on the basis of that defiles the body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. What you put in your mouth does not defile the temple of the Holy Spirit. What goes in the mouth doesn't defile the temple. What comes out of the heart defiles the temple. The Scripture tells us, don't make any mistake, there won't be any adulterers going into the kingdom. Liars, murderers. Why? That reveals what their heart is. So that's the point. When we talk about these judgments being by works, we're not saying these people were saved by their works. We're saying their works reveal whether they have been born again. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Now we're ready to come to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24 and 25 form a unit. Very important to set the context of Matthew 25 and the judgments that take place there. Matthew 25 is one of the most misused passages that we have in the scripture. Let's start with Matthew 24. Let me just highlight a few things for you. Jesus talked about the destruction of the temple. in the opening verses of chapter 24. Then the disciples want to know when all this destruction is going to take place in the context of when are you going to set up the kingdom. So the end of verse 3, He's on the Mount of Olives. Tell us, when will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? The coming they're concerned about is the coming to establish the kingdom. The end of this age that will be followed by the millennial age, the kingdom age. Same thing we read in the parables in Matthew 13. So that's the context here. This is after the rapture of the church. We begin here with the 70th week of Daniel, the seven years leading up to the return of Christ. So the church is not in view in Matthew 24 and 25. It's already been removed from the earth. So in verses 4 to 28, Jesus unfolds material relating to the seven-year tribulation. That was the subject matter of Revelation chapter 6 to 19. Here we have a summary form of it. We looked into this section during that time. Note verse 29. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, we're following a chronological pattern in Matthew 24, and I believe in Matthew 25 as well. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, you have the return of Christ in all of His glory, which we considered in connection with our study of Revelation 19. Verse 31, He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet. They will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Now in Matthew 13, the angels went forth and gathered the wicked. Now they go forth and gather the elect. And the wicked and the elect alike are to be gathered together in preparation for judgment and the establishing of the kingdom. Now, there are a series of illustrations and parables given that go through the rest of chapter 24 and all of chapter 25, focusing on the return of Christ to earth. The overriding emphasis will be, be ready, be ready for His coming. These are instructions given to those who will be living on the earth during the seven-year tribulation. That's the focal point of who is addressed. The disciples are addressed here as representatives. But it carries us to the end of the age, to when Christ will return in glory, where obviously that hasn't happened yet. That is yet a future event. So he tells the parable of the fig tree, for example, in verses 32 to 35. And He says, when you see all these things in verse 33, all these things that I told you about in verses 4 to 28, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly, I say to you, this generation, the generation that sees these things, will not pass away until all these things take place. So those people, who are living in the seven-year tribulation, they see all these things happen. They have the assurance the return of Christ will take place in their lifetime, in their generation. Many of them are going to die, but humanly speaking, in their lifetime, the way we would express it. You can go to the bank on this because verse 35 says, heaven and earth shall pass away, my words will not pass away. This is fixed and settled. There is no chance for change or alteration. But of that day, verse 36, an hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor of the Son, but the Father alone. And you can't fix the day and the hour. Now, they can know that within our lifetime, those living in the tribulation, but they can't fix the day and the hour. The angels don't know it. The Son, in His incarnation, who had voluntarily limited His omniscience, did not know it. The Father alone. Then he uses the example of the days of Noah. Everybody's going to be going about their activity, eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage. What happened? The flood came and swept them away. Emphasis is on judgment. The wicked will be swept away into hell at the second coming, even as they were swept away in the days of Noah. Verses 40 and 41, there would be two in the field, one taken, one left. Two women at the mill, one taken, one left. That's not talking about the rapture. We've seen in chapter 13, the wicked are taken. That fits the parallel in Noah. The flood came and took them away. We're talking about the wicked being taken away here. They will not be left to go into the kingdom. The faithful householder, verse 42, therefore be on the alert. So you see, verse 33 said, he's near, right at the door when you see these things. Verse 36, now remember, you don't know the day and the hour. Verse 42, therefore be on the alert. You don't know which day your Lord is coming. Verse 44, for this reason be ready, for the Son of Man is coming an hour when you will not think. That emphasis on be ready, be ready. Verses 45 to 51 contrasts the wise and the foolish servant or slave. The wise slave is the one who is doing his master's will. so that he's not caught off guard. When his master comes, he's ready. The foolish slave is the one not doing his master's will. The end result of him will be destruction at the end of that chapter. Then chapter 25 begins. Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins. The then connects it. Then the kingdom of heaven. So we're still in the same discussion. And the focal point is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the earthly kingdom that Christ shall establish. for which He will rule and reign." Now, there are three different pictures in this chapter. There's the ten virgins in the first thirteen verses. There's the parable of the talents in verses fourteen to thirty. Then the sheep and goat judgment in verses thirty-one to forty-six. My understanding is what we have here is portrayed the judgment of the living, those ready and not ready. First in Israel, In the first two parables, the virgins and the talents, and then the nations, the Gentiles in the sheep and the goats. The focal point is the people who are alive at the second coming of Christ, determining who will be going into the kingdom and who will not be going into the kingdom. The first parable, the kingdom of heaven will be compared to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, five of them were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil. The prudent took oil along with their lamps. Now, while the bridegroom was delaying, there is an element that is characteristic through this section as well. We saw it in chapter 13. There is a delay. It takes longer than they expected for the Messiah to come, the bridegroom to come. They got drowsy and began to sleep. This is a story. The point is given in verse 13. Be on the alert then. You do not know the day nor the hour. So the point is getting ready. The fact that the five wise were drowsy as well as the five foolish is not a condemnation. The five wise are prepared for the duration. The five foolish are not. And you know the account. At midnight in verse 6, the bridegroom arrives. The five foolish get up, it's midnight, we don't have any oil for our lamps. The five wise say, we can't give you our oil, so the five foolish have to go buy oil. While they're gone, verse 10 says, those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. That's the kingdom, the millennium, as we've seen in chapter 19 and we're going to look at in chapter 20 in a future study. The door was shut. Later, the other virgins came saying, Lord, Lord, open up for us. He said, truly, I say to you, I do not know you. Keep that in mind. We're going to see that expression again. So the point of this is, be ready. Once He returns, it's too late to get ready. Those unprepared will be closed out of the kingdom. Those who will be prepared go into the kingdom. Back in Matthew chapter 7, verse 24, Jesus is speaking, Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. That word wise is the same word used for the wise virgins in chapter 25. Verse 26, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a foolish man. That's the word for the foolish virgins. So the wise man and the prudent virgin, same word. The foolish man, the foolish virgin, same word. There's the same point. Those who heard the word of Christ and prepared by believing, and those who heard the words of Christ and did not believe. That's the dividing line. Same point being drawn here. The wise and the foolish. The wise are not those who are more intellectually capable. They are those who have heard the word and believed it. The foolish are those who have heard it, but they have not believed it. Back up a little earlier in this chapter, verse 13, talking about enter the narrow gate, for the way to destruction is broad. So, you go through a broad gate to destruction, you travel a broad way. You go through a narrow gate to life, you travel a narrow way. Nobody goes through the narrow gate and travels the broad way. We understand that. It's important that we are fixed in this whole issue. There are many people saying, involved in a situation now, personally, oh yeah, I'm safe. I trusted Christ. I made a decision. Back at this point, so many years ago, he's been traveling the broad road ever since. Can't understand why nobody thinks he's a Christian. Nobody traveling the broad way entered the narrow gate. And those who enter the narrow gate travel the narrow way. That's the same thing we were talking about. Your works demonstrate your character. Verse 16, you'll know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles. Even so, every good tree bears good fruit. The bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you should know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. See, we're talking about how you get into the kingdom. But he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, obedience to the word of God, that flows out of having become a new creature in Christ, having been born again. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, in your name perform many miracles? Then I will declare to them, I never knew you." That's the same thing he said to the five foolish virgins who came knocking. I never knew you. They had not responded in faith to the Word, believed and been forgiven. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. The picture that is drawn there. Come back to chapter 25. I take it the friends of the bridegroom. You know, these virgins are not the bride. The bridegroom comes with the bride. And we've looked at the Oriental wedding. The virgins going into the wedding feast as the attendants and so on. They represent Israel. Remember, John the Baptist said that he was not the bridegroom. He wasn't the bride. He was a friend of the bridegroom. That's the relationship Israel will have in the context to the bride. Okay, in Matthew chapter 25 verse 14, there is a second parable told. A parable of the talents. And this does not have to do with what we call being a talented person. Talents were money. It was a weight of silver. So what you have here is a master getting ready for a long journey. And again, there's going to be an emphasis, verse 19, after a long time. A reminder that there's going to be time go by before the king comes to establish his kingdom. This master gathers his slaves around him. I take it the slaves are Israel, the nation which had been called to belong to God as a nation. He gives them his possessions. To the first slave he gives five talents. To the second slave, he gives two talents. To the third slave, he gives one talent. Now, they are responsible as his servants to act faithfully in the use of what has been given them. Then the master leaves and is on a long journey, gone for a long time. Then at the end of verse 19, he came back to settle accounts with his servants. The first servant, he had doubled what he had. Not only had the original five talents, but he had added five talents to it. Verse 21, his master said to him, well done, good and faithful slave. You are faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. The second servant had received two talents. He had acquired two more. He gets the same commendation. Well done, good and faithful slave. Verse 23, you were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. Back at the end of verse 15, the master had given to each according to his ability. This was personal and individual. But the third slave had not been faithful, and he blames the master. Our victimization society is nothing new. What does he say? Verse 24, The one who had received one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid. You know, really, you're a tough guy. Hard to work for. Hard to please. When you keep in mind what your character is, you'll understand what I did. I hid your talent in the ground. Something wrong here. What are you hiding the ground for? If you're afraid of me, at least you could have put it in the bank and got interest. Verse 26, the Master said to him, you wicked, lazy slave. You knew that I reap where I did not sow, gather where I scatter no seed. You ought to have put my money in the bank. At least I'd have gotten interest when I got back. What are you doing hiding it? Perhaps in case the Master doesn't come back, it'll be mine if I put it in the bank. I'll have to put it in his name, but if he doesn't come back and I have it buried, whatever, the point is he's unfaithful. He has not handled what was entrusted to him faithfully. Therefore, take away the talent from him, give it to the one who has ten talents. Verse 29 can be a mind twister. For to everyone who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has shall be taken away. Cast the worthless slave into the outer darkness, and that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Verse 29, you take it from the one who has little and give it to the one who has much. Come back earlier in Matthew again to chapter 13. Verse 12. Question here, verse 10, the disciples ask, why are you speaking in parables? He answered, verse 11, to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. Parables serve two purposes. to help believers understand more of the truth of God, and to keep unbelievers from understanding anything about the truth of God. Verse 12, For whoever has to Him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. They're basically the same thing. As happened with the talents, those who have will receive more. Those who don't have, even the little bit they have will be taken away. In the context here, the reference is to the Word of God and the response to the Word of God. It would seem to indicate that perhaps in the parable of the talents, the issue for Israel is, Israel has been given the Word of God. In Romans chapter 3, Paul says, what advantage is there being a Jew? The opening verses of Romans 3, he says, "...much in every way. First of all, to them was entrusted the oracles of God." The Jews were given the Word of God. The tragedy is, for many of them, they've done nothing with it. It lays there dormant. Oh, they'll bring out the scrolls, they'll do things with it, but they have never believed. So it has never multiplied in their lives. Because that's what happens when the Word of God is believed and taken into the life. It transforms you and produces fruit. And it multiplies itself in your life. When it comes to the judgments, those who have the Word of God but have not believed on it, thus had their life changed by it, they lose what they have. They are cast into judgment and hell. Whereas, blessing and further abundance will be given to those who have already received. Think about it. They've received the blessing of salvation, joy, cleansing of sin, and they're going into a kingdom where His blessings will only be multiplied and they will receive more and grow and increase. For the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea in the kingdom. Those who have had the Word and not responded to it are going to an eternal hell, losing the little they had because they did not believe. That's the picture. that is portrayed here. Come back to Matthew 25. They cast into outer darkness in verse 30 where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Outer darkness, this idea that, oh, I'm going to hell, but all my friends are going, so at least I'll have company. You're right on the first point. You're wrong on the second. I don't doubt maybe all your friends are going to hell, but there'll be no company in hell. It's a place of outer darkness. described as outer darkness to denote the isolation, the loneliness that will be there. There will be multitudes of people in hell. There will be no personal relationships in hell. It's a place of outer darkness. Fiery, burning torment. How that all works together, I don't know. I did read an article by a fireman who had been placed into a raging fire in an abyss to suit. He says, you know, people ask me what it was like. You expect the brightness and brilliance of it. You say, what overwhelmed me was the darkness of it. I am not willing to test it myself. So I take the word. I don't know whether that's accurate physically speaking or not, but Jesus is clear. Consistently, hell is a place of outer darkness, of burning fire, of tremendous torment. So take no comfort in you have friends going to hell. They will be there, but you will have no relationship with them. Verses 31 to 46. We can just highlight this judgment in the next hour and a half is the judgment of the sheep and the goats. Tremendously misunderstood. Many social programs have been started in churches on the basis of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31 to 46. Note the context. Verse 31. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he'll sit on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered around him. So, first Christ comes. You have the destruction of Armageddon. You have the gathering of the wicked and the righteous. First Israel comes. The wicked are sifted out, destroyed. The righteous in Israel, the remnant, are left. Now the nations come before His glorious throne for judgment. The nations are the non-Jewish peoples. He'll separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Put the sheep on his right hand, the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom. Talking about the kingdom. We're at the end of the age. Prepared for you from the foundation of the world. It's always God's intention that His people live in the kingdom which He will rule over on the earth. For I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. Thirsty, you gave me drink. A stranger, you invited me in. Naked, you clothed me. Sick, you visited me. The righteous will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry, feed you and do all these things? Verse 40, the king will answer and say to them, truly, I say to you, to the extent you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even to the least of them, you did it to me. So wait a minute, who are these brothers of mine? It is used for people indiscriminately, they pull out these verses on feeding the hungry and so on and say, that's why we ought to be feeding the hungry today. Worthy ought to be feeding the hungry or not is worthy of discussion and ought to be handled on a biblical foundation. Matthew 25 does not encourage that. You have to determine, who are my brothers? It's never used indiscriminately of all people in the Scripture. Jesus never uses it that way. We have three groups here. We have the sheep, the goats, and these brothers of mine. It's the sheep who are asking, when did we do these good things to you? These brothers of mine can't be the sheep that are subject to the judgment. My brothers are these Jews, these brothers of mine, these Jews that have come through the tribulation, that believing remnant who have survived the judgments and are now waiting to go into the kingdom. How these Gentiles treat the Jews during that seven-year tribulation will be a manifestation of whether they have really been born again or not. Because remember, the closest parallel we have in modern times is Nazi Germany. where anyone who did an act of kindness to a Jew put his own life on the line, was going to be much more intense, much more horrible. Jesus said there is never a tribulation like the one that will occur, particularly during the last three and a half years of that period. Anyone who would show an act of kindness to a Jew will immediately himself be subject to death. Only those who truly believe in Jesus Christ and understand something of His work will befriend a Jew in those days. I can go give my neighbor a cup of cold water today. It doesn't cost me a thing. I can go visit him in the hospital and nobody arrests me. But for any Gentile who treats a Jew with kindness in the tribulation, it will be a totally different story. So here we're back to what? The tree producing fruit. True believers realizing that the tribulation is the work of God in refining Israel and preparing a remnant, and I am privileged as a believer in Christ to be part of that work in preserving the remnant. And that's the focal point of what we're talking about, and that's the people who are being treated with kindness. Jews in the 70th week of Daniel. Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't be kind to other people. I'm saying Matthew chapter 25 has nothing to do with that. And if we're going to establish emphasis like that, we ought to do it soundly on the basis of Scripture properly interpreted. Verse 41, then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels, because you didn't treat me this way. And again, it goes back to how you treated these Jews, brothers of mine. Verse 46, these will go away into eternal punishment, the righteous into eternal life. The judgment of the living at the return of Christ. Armageddon takes place. All the rest of the living on the earth are gathered before Christ. First, the Jews are judged. And the unbelieving Jews are purged out. Can you imagine? Those Jews have gone through the awfulness of the tribulation a holocaust like has never been. And some of them are still not believers and are on their way to hell. What an awful time. But many will have been converted. They will be the remnant. They will be there as the brothers of Christ. Now the Gentiles come before Him. And this is not judgment of nations by nation, but the nations as the Gentiles individually come before Him. And the righteous are separated out from the wicked. The wicked are destroyed and cast into hell, prepared for the devil and his angels. The righteous are left to go into the kingdom. What does he say? Verse 34, Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now we have all the wicked removed from the earth. Only the righteous left. We are ready to move on. But there are some other things to take place. We have to have the resurrection of Old Testament saints. The resurrection of Tribulation saints. The casting of Lucifer himself into hell. The joining of Jehovah again to this believing remnant in covenant relationship as His wife. And then the Kingdom begins. So those are the things that we will look at in future studies. You know, Scripture is always making clear, no matter what judgment we are considering, no matter where we are in God's timetable, humanity divides down into these two basic groups. Those who have been born again and those who have not been born again. Those who have come face to face with the reality of their own sinfulness, because, God says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, there is none righteous, no, not even one. And the blow that deals to my pride is fatal. Some people never get over that. I'm unwilling to see myself as God sees me. Until, by God's grace, I see myself as a sinner lost and condemned, there is no hope for salvation. But when you see yourself as God says you are, you repent of your sin, turning to Christ, believing that He, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world, died for you. In that instant of time, God cleanses you, forgives you, gives you new life. You are born again. You become His child. Your destiny is changed from destruction to life. You've moved from the Broadway, passed through the narrow gate and are on the narrow road that leads to life. You know, it's awesome when you think about it. Everybody sitting in this room fits in one of those two groups. You are either on your way to destruction or you are on your way to eternal glory and blessing. It all hinges on your relationship to Jesus Christ. You may have fooled some. You may be a tare and you look like wheat. God is not fooled. The wheat and the tares may grow together. The sovereign God who searches the hearts. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. Who can know it? Jeremiah 17 asks. The response to verse 9 is verse 10. I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the rain. He knows me as I am. He knows you as you are. Are you ready to face Jesus Christ? Are you a child of God? Have you been cleansed and forgiven, if not, by His grace? My prayer is that you believe in Him today. For us who have believed, remember, it's expected, demanded and required that our lives manifest His character. Our desire ought to be that the beauty of His character will be seen in everything we do. because we are a people awaiting His return to take the church to be with Himself. Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for such a Savior. Thank You, Lord, that You are an unchanging God. Because You do not change, Israel is not destroyed. Because You do not change, we are not destroyed. You are a God of righteousness, justice and judgment. You are a God of love, mercy and grace. Lord, you know us as we are, as we've gathered here today. I pray the Spirit might search our hearts and convict us. Some are self-deluded and self-deceived. They're traveling a broad road, claiming to have entered a narrow gate. Lord, what a tragedy that someday they should stand and say, Lord, Lord, we did all these things. And he would say, I never knew you. Lord, may this be a day of conviction and salvation for them. For those of us who have truly believed, Lord, it's a testimony to your grace, not our worthiness. Lord, we would desire to manifest the beauty of your character more completely and more fully. May we be faithful in our service, living in light of the fact that you are coming again. Perhaps you will be coming in the air today to call the church to yourself. Lord, may we be living with that expectation, fully prepared as people who have believed in the Savior and are living for Him. We pray in His name, Amen.