CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION
SUNDAY MAY 21ST 2023
Sermon by Pastor Marc Simeon
SERVING JESUS THROUGH ADDRESSING THE ADVERSITIES OF OTHERS
Matthew 25: 31-40
31 ¶ “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.
32 “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.
33 “And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 “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:
35 ‘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;
36 ‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 ‘When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 ‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 “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.’
INTRODUCTION
- All professed Christians would like to have a divine encounter with God.
- We like it even when we have special dreams of heaven.
- We seek to have a tangible encounter with God when we pray and when we worship.
- We would all love to be among the 120 disciples in the Upper Room welcoming the arrival of the Holy Spirit.
- We would all love to be among the few disciples who witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus in company of Moses and Elisha.
- Some travel long distances in hope for a close encounter with God.
- Sometimes we bypass Christ down the street on our way to look for Him.
- Many want to turn the Christian religion to a litany of rules and rituals in hopes of securing a close intimacy with God.
- We often fail to realize that the Christian faith is not a religion, but a relationship with God.
- Jesus summarized his religion in two laws
- Mt 22:37-39 Jesus said to him,” ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the first and great commandment. 39 “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
- Love is the only law of the Christian faith
- 2Jo 1:5 ¶ And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.
- LOVE TOWARD GOD
- LOVE TOWARD THE BRETHREN IN CHRIST
- LOVE TOWARD THE WHOLE WORLD
- LOVE TOWARD THE ONES WHO ARE IN NEED.
- It pains the Lord to see that His church has departed from this core principal to exhibit the love of Christ among ourselves Christians, and to all human beings.
- Joh 13:35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
THE IMPACT OF THE LOVE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH
Ac 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 ¶ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
- The mark of distinction of a good church is love.
- Every mature Christian retains the memory of an ideal church that they’ve been part of since conversion.
- Surprisingly, the glamour of the sanctuary, the professionalism in the services, and even the sound doctrinal preaching don’t rank high among the reasons that made that church special to them.
- It is always the fellowship; the love, the sense of belonging, and the sense of family that usually have a lasting effect on church parishioners.
URGENT TEACHING FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO GO TO HEAVEN
- In Matthew 25, we are in the last few days of Jesus’ earthly ministry before the crucifixion.
- After having given many aspect of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus took his time to draw a picture of heaven that leaves all of us uncomfortable.
Matthew 25: 31-40
31 ¶ “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.
32 “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.
33 “And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
THE GROUP ON THE RIGHT
34 “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:
35 ‘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;
36 ‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
- We know that we are saved by grace and not by our good works, but we cannot be saved and not produce good works.
- This judgment will be solely on the basis of our generosity and good disposition toward others.
- 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.
- The most difficult part was that they did all of it without knowing that they were serving God.
- They did it out of their good dispositions.
- They did it because it was the natural thing for a Christian to do.
- Jesus insists that it was Him they did it to.
- 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
- 38 ‘When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
- 39 ‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
- 40 “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.’
- Being caring toward others, being generous, and extending your helping hands are not alternatives but a requirements for all Christians.
- Two groups will be formed before God.
- One will have access to the throne of God and the other being thrown to the lake of fire principally on the basis of their generosity.
THE GROUP ON THE LEFT
Mt 25:41 “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 clothe Me,
- sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also 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?’
45 “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.’
46 “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- While we are busy looking for Jesus in our magnificent sanctuaries, He can easily be spotted in the most unnoticeable places.
- Find a person in need, and you will find Jesus in Him or her.
- Find an orphan in need of love and you will find Jesus.
- Visit the hospitals and you will locate Jesus in that person who has received no visit.
- Go to the prison cells, there, you will find Jesus.
- Go to the street corners, there you will find many Jesus’ walking around.
- That person that smelled so bad that you just passed was Jesus in disguise.
- The Christians in need are all Jesus’.
- This person who just lost his child is Jesus in need of comfort.
- The nursing homes are full of Jesus’ who got abandoned by their family members.
- That weird kid you know in your class can be Jesus with no friend.
- That foreign student from Sudan who just got a student visa in your school is Jesus out of place in need of a friend.
NO PLACE IN HEAVEN
- For selfish and self centered people.
- For racists and prejudice people.
- For stingy, tightfisted, and egocentric people.
- For insensible, merciless, and hardhearted people.
- In our hypocrisy, we would love to welcome the glorified Christ in our midst to elevate our standard.
- Be a natural people lover.
- Don’t do good to others in order to earn points to get to heaven.
- Allow the love of God to permeate in you and act naturally toward all God put your way.
- Be consistent in your care of others in need, let it become a way of life for you and not an exception.
CONCLUSION
- Remember that lack of love is gross sin and determining factor to indicate if you are truly Christians.
- Remember that some will be thrown in hell solely for the sin of carelessness of others.
- While those in need are like Jesus’ manifestation to you, the same way, you will be the only Jesus that some will ever see.
- They pray and you come with solution.
- They are hungry and you bring them food.
- They might call you an angel.
- For some, that’s the closest encounter they will ever have with God.
Pasteur Marc Simeon 