Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
In these verses Jesus continued to teach on the judgment that will take place at the end of the Tribulation. This judgment is further teaching on the goats and the sheep that Jesus mentioned earlier in this passage. In those verses Jesus stated that the sheep would be set at His right hand and the goats would be on his left hand.
Yesterday we looked at those who were on the right hand of Jesus. That would be the sheep. They are the godly people. In the context of our text, they would be godly Jews. They are the ones who will be saved during the Tribulation, in spite of the extreme efforts of the antichrist to destroy all Jews and all Christians. He will not succeed. He will be an extremely wicked man, but he will not succeed in his goal. He will be cast into the lake of fire and Jesus will judge the remaining people left on earth at that time.
As we noted, the sheep will be rewarded and they will enter into the kingdom. In today’s verses Jesus is dealing with those on His left hand. Those are the goats. There will be no mixing up of the people. The goats will all be on the left. They are those who Jesus described as the cursed ones. They will be cast into everlasting fire. Notice that fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus did not want any person to go to hell.
II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
God’s desire is for sinners to be saved. He has provided all that is needed for all to be saved. God has given His warnings about the coming antichrist for centuries. Yet many have refused to believe what God says and they choose to go on as if there is no danger ahead. There are people in our town who take the opportunity to publicly mock us when they see us outside. That is sad. God would much rather see them get saved, than mocking Him. If they persist in their rebellion against God, their end will not be good. We trust and pray that they will be saved before it is too late.
In verses 42-43 Jesus explained why He called these people cursed. They had no time for the godly individuals who were struggling to get by during the terrible days of the Tribulation. They had no food or water to give them. They did not offer them any clothing to keep themselves warm. They offered nothing for those who were sick. They also did not care that Christians were imprisoned during that terrible time.
We can see in our time how hardened doctors, nurses and governments are. There are very simple and inexpensive remedies for the virus that has been around now for a while. Yet in Canada, you cannot obtain these remedies unless you do it in a subtle manner. Those who should be looking after the well-being of society have forbidden known remedies from being used and they have tried to force all people to take the shots that are known to be harmful. These people know that. There is enough data out now to clearly show the dangers of these shots and we also know that there are greater dangers coming in the future.
Israel has foolishly promoted the fourth shot already and they are working on the fifth. They have discovered severe side effects for those who have taken the shots, and yet they are still promoting them. Israel should be leading the way in promoting good science and good response to this evil plot. Yet because they are lost, they are blind. There is a Jewish doctor in New York who proved that there were proven remedies for this virus early on. He was silenced. He has stated that we could have been finished with this thing a long time ago and many lives could have been spared. People have died from the virus, but many have also died from the shots.
The response of the government and the medical officials to this virus is a picture of the hard-heartedness that will be exemplified during the Tribulation. The focus then will be clearly against the Jews and Christians. Jesus is referring to saved Jews in our text.
In verse 44 we see that the wicked will ask the Lord when they neglected to look after Him. In verse 45 Jesus pointed out that the saved are His people. Those who attack true Christians are attacking God. Those who are saved need to remember that the lost hate them because they hate God. During the Tribulation the saved will gather together and they will still be seeking to help others to know the truth. They will also be occupied in trying to protect themselves from the evil plot of the antichrist and his goons.
We see in verse 46 that none of these people will have a legitimate excuse for their wicked behaviour. None of them will be spared the judgment that is coming for them. They chose to reject the work of the 144,000 virgin Jewish men who will be witnessing of God’s truth during the first half of the Tribulation. They will reject the testimony of the 2 witnesses who will be killed at the mid point of the Tribulation. The Bible says that the ungodly will throw a party as those 2 men will be lying dead in the streets of Jerusalem in plain view of all the world, for three days. These wicked people will be shocked when God will raise those two men up at the end of the three days. They will watch them ascend up to heaven, out of the reach of the wicked.
Even though they will see this and they will also see other evidence of the power of God, they will not repent. The book of the Revelation tells us that they will cry out for the rocks to fall on them. They will assume they will be better off dead than alive. They are foolish and they are wicked.
Jesus gave these warnings some 2,000 years ago. Many people have read these verses. Many sermons have been preached on these verses. Some of them have been a distortion of the facts. Some have been godly messages seeking to help the lost to see their need to be saved. Yet thousands of people have ignored the warnings that Jesus gave here. They have died and gone to hell.
This current generation is also being given opportunity to pay attention and listen to what God is saying. Yet sadly, many are still rejecting God’s truth and ignoring the warnings. Soon it will be too late. The Lord’s return is imminent. Death is also very real for each person. The wise person believes what God says and runs to Him in repentance and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. If you are reading this, but not saved, why not turn to God today and be saved? Don’t delay. Every Word of God is pure. It is all true. It is a very serious matter. God wants you to know His peace and blessing. We are praying that many will choose wisely in these last days.
Pastor Bartel
