Matthew 25 – We are responsible
Introduction
A. Matthew 25 – Jesus teaches us the judge's viewpoint who will judge us on the last day.
B. Matthew 25:14-30 – we must serve Christ according to the gifts and opportunities he gives us.
C. Matthew 25:31-46 – We must know the heart of Christ who offered his life on the cross so that all men may be forgiven and change their lives according to the will of Christ. Those who do not know Christ are not known to him either. The man who has no mercy to his neighbor will not receive mercy from Christ.
I. Parable of the Talents
A. The Kingdom of Heaven is of Christ, the King.
1. Christ entrusted his goods to his servants before ascending to heaven. (V14)
2. Matthew 28:18-20 commanded his disciples to make disciples of all nations.
3. Matthew 6:19-24 We must not accumulate treasures on earth. We make friends in heaven forever when we have mercy on the lost.
4. Luke 16:9-13 We must be faithful to what is not ours. Everything belongs to God.
B. We must be responsible: God commands us, and he will judge us for being irresponsible in terms of love for others.
1. Be the salt of the Earth, Matthew 5:13-16
2. Love your enemy, Matthew 5:38-48; Luke 6:27-36.
3. Give to the needy. Matthew 6:1-4; Luke 16:9-13.
4. Forgive those who sin against us. Matthew 6:14-15; Luke 6:37-38; 17:1-10.
5. Golden rule: Matthew 7:12; Luke 10:30-37. The Good Samaritan.
6. Bear good fruit. Matthew 7:13-23.
7. Deny yourself, take your cross and follow Christ. Matthew 16:24; Luke 9:22-26; 14:26-35; 18:22-27.
8. Receive the "child" in the name of Jesus. Luke 9:47-48; 10:21; 18:17; Matthew 18:2-5; 19:13-15.
9. Confess Christ. Matthew 10:32-33; Luke 12:8-9.
10. Do not fear those who kill the body. Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4-5.
11. Repent of sins. Luke 13:3, 5.
12. Humiliate yourself. Luke 14:7-11.
II. Parable of the Throne of Glory
A. The only law is mercy. We are guilty and condemned if we do not show mercy to those in need:
1. To those who are hungry.
2. To those who are thirsty.
3. To outsiders.
4. To the naked.
5. To the sick.
6. To the imprisoned.
B. Jesus quoted the Law of Mercy of Hosea 6:6
1. Matthew 22:36-40 The basis of the law and the prophets.
2. Matthew 5:17-20 love the enemies.
3. Matthew 9:13; 12:7. If we know God, we will be faithful, merciful, full of compassion and have faithful love.
4. The second law of Moses: Leviticus 19:18 (see v. 9-18). Love your neighbor as yourself.
--Matthew 7:12, is the Royal law. It is empathy. Put oneself in the other's place to understand what he needs and wants. Otherwise, how can one fulfill the golden rule?
C. Hunger results from drought, wars, tyranny, injustice, and laziness. People die of starvation. Jeremiah 38:9; Deuteronomy 28:53-57.
1. Deuteronomy 28:47-48. “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.”
2. Deuteronomy 32:23-24
3. Proverbs 19:15. “Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.”
D. God saves the hungry. If we know God, we will also help the poor.
1. The Prayer of Hannah. 1 Samuel 2:3-8.
2. Psalm 107:1-9, 33-38. The goodness of God. (See also Psalm 146:5-8)
3. Matthew 5:42-44; Romans 12:20 (Proverbs 25:21)
4. Isaiah 58:6-10. The fast that God wants is “to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
5. Ezekiel 18:7, 16. The character of the righteous is defined as “gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment.”
6. Job 22:7. That is the way of the righteous man.
E. Jesus said on the cross, "I am thirsty." (John 19:28) (the prophecy: Psalm 69:21)
1. Men die of thirst. Hosea 2:3; 2 Chronicles 32:11.
2. Hezekiah's tunnel was excavated for the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians. It carried water from the Gihon spring to the Pool of Siloam.
3. Isaiah 44:3 "For I will pour out water upon the land" refers to the practice of pouring water upon the Arab when he arrives from the desert: his mouth is opened to quench his thirst.
F. God provides rivers of water, Isaiah 41:17-20. For the "afflicted and needy" looking for water.
1. Isaiah 21:14. In the prophecy about Arabia, he said, “To the thirsty bring water; meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema.”
2. They who know God will give water to the thirsty.
G. There is also a thirst for the word of God.
1. Amos 8:11 – Thus spoke Jesus, John 4:13, 14; 6:35.
2. There is thirst for God: Psalm 42:2; 63:1; 143:6; Isaiah 55:1
H. Love for the Stranger – for the Sojourner, the Pilgrim.
1. The patriarchs were pilgrims, strangers.
A. Abraham, Genesis 15:13; 17:8
B. Genesis 232:4; 28:4; 37; Psalm 39:12; 119:19.
2. Moses named his son, Gershom. Exodus 2:22. The name means sojourner.
3. The law of Moses commanded mercy to foreigners. Exodus 12:49; Leviticus 24:32; Numbers 9:14; 15:15-21; Leviticus 19:9-18, 33-34. “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
4. Malachi 3:5 It was evil to abuse the foreigners.
5. "Hospitality" in the New Testament is of the word, "Amador of Foreigners." Hebrews 13:1; 1 Timothy 3:3.
I. Those who were naked, ill, or imprisoned.
1. Naked because of losing a war. 2 Chronicles 28:15
--Deuteronomy 28:48 The punishment of God was to serve their enemies in nakedness.
2. Naked because of poverty or because of circumstances of bad weather, or by falling into the hands of thieves or evil men. We can die from exposure to the elements, from cold or heat without the right clothes.
3. Naked because of serving Christ. Romans 8:35.
4. Ezekiel 18:7, 16 the righteous cover the naked.
J. Those who sick
1. Jesus had mercy on the sick. Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 10:1.
2. God had mercy on Israel when he was ill. Exodus 15:26; (Deut. 7:15) 23:25.
3. He also threatened Israel with the punishment of sickness. Deuteronomy 28:60-61.
4. Ezekiel 34. The Kings of Israel condemned for not caring for the weak and the sick.
K. Those in prison
1. The great saints imprisoned: Joseph (Gen. 39:20), Jeremiah (Jer 29:26; 32:2; 33:1; 37:21; 38:6; 39:15) John (Matthew 4:12:14:3), the apostles (Acts 5:18, 19), the saints imprisoned by Saul (Acts 8:3; 26:10), Peter ( Acts 12:4-5), Paul and Silas (Acts 16:23-24; Ephesians 3:1; 2 Timothy 1:8),
2. God in heaven hears the sufferings of the imprisoned, Psalm 102; 18-20.
3. 2 Timothy 1:8, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.”