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Week:01, Season:1,
2012
Posted on Saturday by PCT
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When will it come, Lord？
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Scripture：《
Matthew 25: 31-46
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31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
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The time of the Judgement Day is beyond our control
Today is the first day of 2012. Many people in Taiwan stayed up very late to welcome in the New Year. Some of those people had just gone to bed at the time we prepared ourselves to worship God at church. Nowadays, people usually spend their New Year’s Eve at overnight parties in order not to waste the last few hours of the passing year. Similarly, several churches also have the interests in holding overnight events on the New Year’s Eve, such as overnight prayer meetings, overnight services and lent prayers. In order to attract young people, these overnight events at church are designed carefully with various shows with the New Year countdown: 10, 9, 8…3, 2, 1. These events seem to be meaningful but if we think from a Biblical point of view, we will find that they are different with Jesus’ teaching. What Jesus told us is that at the end of our time, the Judgement Day is controlled by God.
At the beginning of Matthew 25, Jesus uses two parables to indicate that the time of the Judgement Day is known by no one. The first parable is talking about the ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet their bridegrooms, but all fell asleep because of the delay of the grooms. Only the five wise virgins went in with the bridegrooms to the wedding banquet. The other five girls were waiting for the bridegrooms too but because of their carelessness the Lord said to them, “I don’t know you.’ The second parable is talking about a master who was going on a journey and called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them with different amount of money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them according to their rewards. These two stories are closely bound to time. They also remind us that the deadline of life is unpredictable.
We can see through the passage we read today an emphasis that the Judgement Day is something human cannot predict and control. The decision is made by the judge. This may lead us to a question: “When will it be？” Somehow, what we can ensure is that the last day will definitely come and we have no perception of when will it arrive or chance of preventing it. The only thing we can control is to get ourselves ready for its coming.
Son of Man became the King and set the standard of all rewards and punishments
The passage we read today describes the image of the Judgement Day. The main story line is that the Son of Man became the King and it’s a moment for all of us to face the one in power --- Jesus Christ. The final judgement for all of the human beings is non-negotiable. This is not as simple as what we count down 10, 9, 8…3, 2, 1 for the New Year with a romantic scene of colourful lighting and fireworks. When the last moment comes, the Son of Man will separate people to His right and left sides. The right and left sides here do not refer to the right and left seats which Jesus’ disciples fight for before Jesus ‘s crucifixion, but the final judgement on the good and bad done by each of us: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” The goats symbolise the disobedient men who know the Son of Man but remain unchanged and insist on doing evil. In contrast, sheep symbolise obedient men who know the Son of Man and follow the Lord’s will and live like people of God.
Interesting is that both kinds of men asked the same questions while facing the final judgement. They all asked, “When did we see you…？” The scripture has already showed us a clear answer before we figure it out. Although the timing is important, the primary question should be asked is what Jesus told to the righteous, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”But Jesus answered the wicked, “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” The words from Jesus, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did (not) do for one of the least of these, you did (not) do for me.” Already, he has set a clear standard of His reward and punishment for us.
Do not ask when but follow the Lord’s will
The answer from the Son of Man is not something beyond our knowledge. What he mentioned in His answers are things which often happen in our daily life. We can at least find four different meanings of ‘when’ according to changes of time and space: 1. When --- refers to the time when things we cannot forget and we already forgot happened; 2. When --- refers to the time when things that have not yet happened but will definitely happen; 3. When --- refers to the time whether we would like things to happen. For example, when we see someone is hungry or thirsty, someone is a stranger, someone needs clothes, someone is sick and someone is in prison, do we want to look after them？ 4. When --- refers to the time whether we would like these things to happen in God’s time without asking for rewards or when, where, who, and why things happened, but instead following God’s will to achieve things.
Receive the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world
The Judgement Day is clearly set according to God’s schedule. The judgement from God is the best answer to us for the question of “when will the end of the earth come”. The Lord says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Isn’t this the reward that all Christians expect？ Isn’t this the moment, the time to prove what Christians have expected for their entire lives？ The day is for us to see the Lord in person and receive our own mark sheet from Him. The day is for us to receive the salvation and it is not for the wicked to negotiate their reward for what they have done.
It is often mentioned in the Bible of “the least, tiny” things, such as: “If you have faith small as a grain of mustard seed”; the tiny offering from the poor widow (Mark 12: 42-43); do for one of the least…etc. This “tiny” challenges our values. This “tiny” is likely to be those people and things we care for the least. The Bible reminds us the importance of what we do for the least as we also do it for the Lord. On the day of the glory, the Lord will say to the righteous, “Whatever you did do for one of the least of these, you did do for me.” This is the certification for us to enter the kingdom of God. The coming of the day of glory is not according to the schedule expected by humans but it will come without warming. Thus we shall be aware and remind ourselves to do good for the Lord in every second.
In our limited lifetime, what can we Christians do for our Lord？ Just simply remember that the good and kindness we have done does not need media, o be broadcast, or spoken out loudly via the mass media, since everything we have done for our Lord will be proclaimed by Jesus at the last judgement: You have achieved the great (tiny) things. Come now and receive the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world!
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For discussion：
1. We always have some matters in completing our schedules. Do we always leave it until the very last minute？ Do we also have this attitude about the coming of the Judgement Day？ Is it too late to confess our faith when Jesus comes again？
2. How do you see your scheduled service and completed service at church？ Do you advertise what you have done rather than glory God’s name and serve the people？ Have you ever accepted works beyond your own ability or deprived others of opportunities just to gain your own praises？
Please pray for：
1. Pray for the New Year’s service at church. Try to change your attitude by not planning too many works but only focusing on one project and doing it with your best.
2. Pray for the difficulties our country is facing now; no matter whether it’s the problem of people’s livelihood, the issue of the sovereignty or the current elections, we pray for God’s revealing purposes.
Prayer：
Life giving God, you are the pilot of time. You give us new chance and new life. You take away our old mind and you comfort our wounded soul. We give our thanks to You and we fear You. Today is the beginning of a whole new year. May You guide our future. May our days all honour your name and benefit people. In the name of the Christ. Amen.
Something you can do：
1. Recall things that have happened before with your church members, colleagues, friends and family. Are there things you promised to each other but have not yet completed？ List out your New Year’s wishes and share your feasible plans on how to achieve them.
2. Pray for churches under construction and those which have reverends. Pray to God for His guidance and abundance for these churches.
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