IDEA: At the judgment, men and women will judge themselves, their deeds will judge them, and Christ will judge them.
TEXT: "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 clothe 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 clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' 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?' 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" (Matthew 25:31-46).
PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that for those who are separated from God forever, the separation will not be arbitrary.
Have you ever been on a jury?
Have you ever been on a jury for a capital or serious offense?
When the defendant is declared guilty by the judge, on what is that judgment based?
When men and women stand at the judgment, on what basis will God find them guilty? Some of Jesus' parables indicate that there will be several different lines of evidence to show us our guilt.
I. People will judge themselves.
It will become apparent what we are.
The parable of the wheat and tares indicates this.
The maidens are shown to be foolish when the bridegroom appears because they failed to bring sufficient oil.
Some defendants in a trial never make it to court because it is so evident that they are guilty that they accept a plea bargain.
II. People will also give an account of themselves. They will bear witness to their sinfulness.
Prior to this parable, Jesus had just told two other parables.
In the parable of the talents, the third servant acknowledged that he buried what had been entrusted to him to invest.
In the parable of the servants in charge of two households, the bad servant bears witness to his sinfulness.
A defendant may not realize what she has done until she is cross-examined and her guilt is made evident.
III. The judgment will be an act of discernment by the Judge.
In Matthew 25:31-46 and in Matthew 7:23 we learn that "many will say . . . and He will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you."
In a court, the judgment of the judge is limited, but how different our courts would be if the judge were able to look into the heart, and the secrets of the heart were unveiled. That is the basis of the judgment of God.