Sermon Transcript – All Good Things Must Come To An End?

Series A – Last Sunday of the Church Year – Sunday, November 23, 2014 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota.
We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:
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Time StampTranscript
0:25The holy Gospel According to Saint
0:30Matthew chapter 25 verses 31-46 when the son of man comes in his glory
0:38and all the angels with him he will sit on his throne in Heavenly Glory
0:43all of the Nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a Shepherd
0:49separates the sheep from the goats he’ll put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left
0:55then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed by my father take your inheritance the kingdom
1:02prepared for you since the creation of the world for I was hungry he gave me something to eat I was thirsty you gave
1:09me something to drink I was a stranger and you invited me in I needed clothes
1:14and you clothed me I was sick and you looked after me I was in prison and you came to visit me
1:20then the righteous will answer him Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to
1:27drink when do we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you when did we see you sick or
1:34in prison and go to visit you and the King will reply I tell you the
1:39truth whatever you did for the least of these my brothers you did for me
1:44then he will say to those on his left depart from me you who are cursed into
1:49the Eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry you gave me nothing to eat I was thirsty you gave
1:56me 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
2:03sick and in prison and you did not look after me they also will answer Lord when do we
2:08see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you
2:14reply I tell you the truth whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you
2:19did not do for me and then they will go away to Eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal
2:27life in the name of Jesus
2:32so the saying goes all good things must come to an end that’s how the saying goes but think
2:38about this life for a second we live under a curse we’re all born dead and trespasses and sins
2:46we sin against God and sin against each other daily and much
2:51so when this world comes to an end is it that a good thing is coming to an end
2:57and if you think about it what’s coming is eternal life well if eternal life is coming then well all good things must
3:04not come to an end because the good thing that is coming will never end ever
3:10and so with that today is the Sunday the last Sunday of the church here next
3:16Sunday we begin a brand new church here with Advent one and what’s interesting is is that the gospel text for next
3:23Sunday is like the Ying into this week’s Yang it’s the uh it’s like the opposite
3:29of it next week a little bit of a preview Christ is coming into Jerusalem
3:35on a donkey not a war horse a donkey but today he comes on a war horse so to
3:43speak so as we look at this text this gospel text of this of the parable of
3:49the sheep and the goats let’s get a little bit of context here and what I mean by that let’s do a
3:55little bit of a survey of what the Bible teaches regarding the end of the world and you will find that God’s word speaks
4:02about this often and explicitly so none of us should be caught unawares
4:09remember the uh they watch words for the last two Sundays we’re watch watch Christ is coming
4:16so Revelation chapter one we’re just going to hop around the scriptures a little bit Revelation chapter 1 verse 7
4:22says this look he Jesus is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him
4:29even those who pierced him and all the peoples on the earth will mourn because of him so shall it be amen
4:37now notice a couple of things with this little text everyone is going to see him even those
4:43who pierced him well the people who pierced Jesus they’ve long since decayed
4:49into dust and Ashes their bodies are no more how on Earth will their eyes behold
4:54the lord well this hints at the fact that on the last day Jesus is
4:59going to raise everybody from the grave everybody so in fact this past week we put to rest
5:07Judy stingrum and at the graveside when we were committing her body to the Earth
5:12afterwards I was talking with Marlene and she says you know we all have plots
5:17here we’re all going to be buried here and she showed me where she was going to be buried and I said to her on the last
5:23day this is going to be a great place to be and she said indeed it will be indeed
5:29it will be so on that great day when Jesus returns the great and terrible day
5:35a little bit of both every eye will see Christ including
5:41those who pierced him everybody who will be raised from the grave Matthew chapter 19 Jesus talks about this he says I tell
5:48you the truth at the renewal of all things when the son of man sits on his glorious throne
5:53you who have followed me will also sit on twelve Thrones judging the 12 tribes
5:58of Israel Jesus talks explicitly of his return and even says that the apostles are going to take place in the judgment
6:05Psalm 97 verses 2 through 6 talks about Jesus’s glorious throne and here’s how
6:10the psalmist describes it clouds and thick Darkness surround him righteousness and Justice are the
6:17foundation of his throne fire goes before him and consumes his foes on
6:23every side yeah this doesn’t sound like Precious Moments Jesus does it
6:28his lightning lights up the world the Earth sees and trembles the mountains
6:33melt like Wax before the Lord before the Lord of all of the Earth the heavens Proclaim his righteousness in all the
6:40peoples see his glory yeah that’s a description of Christ’s glorious throne and what that’s all
6:47about what an awesome sight that is and yet we have nothing to fear from Christ we are in him Daniel writes about the
6:55End of the Age here’s what he says in chapter 7 verses 9 through 10 Daniel writes as I looked Thrones were set in
7:02place and the Ancient of Days took his seat his clothing was as white as snow
7:08and the hair of his head was white like wool does it sounded like Jesus on the day of the Transfiguration right his throne was
7:15flaming with fire and its Wheels were all Ablaze a river of fire was flowing coming out from before him thousands
7:23upon thousands attended him Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand stood before him the court was seated
7:29and the books were opened now before you get all nervous about these books yeah
7:36wait when the Bible starts mentioning the day of judgment starts talking about books I know what’s written in my book
7:43you know what’s written in yours right now last thing I want is for that book
7:49to be opened and for me to be held accountable for what’s in that book and if you’re honest with yourself the same is true for you
7:55you know what’s written in those books well let me remind you of the Gospel here we’ll put a little gospel in the
8:01center here while we’re talking about the day of judgment Colossians chapter 2 addresses this Colossians chapter 2
8:0611-14 says this in him that’s in Christ also you were circumcised with a
8:12circumcision made without hands by the putting off of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ having been
8:18buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who
8:23raised him from the dead now you’ll notice that you know there’s kind of a common theme here if you show up on Any Given Sunday you’re at Kong’s Winger I’m
8:30probably going to point you to your baptism for good reason it’s something objective that God has done to you God
8:35has circumcised your heart Christ has circumcised your heart in your baptism and here’s the fun part that deals with
8:41these books and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision
8:47of your flesh notice that scripture makes it clear that each and every one of us we’re born sinners
8:54it says this God Made You Alive together with Christ having forgiven all of our trespasses by
9:02canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands this
9:08he set aside nailing it to the cross so on that great and terrible day when
9:16the books are open and we see the Throne of Christ and him in glory and his hair
9:21all white with righteousness and the books are open all of those things that
9:26you’re worried about that you know condemn you well that record of debt has been
9:33canceled it’s been nailed to the cross those pages are not in your book
9:39you are forgiven all that’s left are your good works because of what Christ has done for you
9:45this is good news now let’s keep get back to the end of the world Everyone likes talking about
9:51the end of the world I like talking about it from scripture second Thessalonians chapter 1 5-12
9:56reads all of this is evidence that God’s judgment is right and as a result you
10:02will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God ah that bears repeating you yes you
10:09all of you are going to be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which
10:14you are suffering God is just and he will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to those who
10:21are troubled and to us as well this will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed
10:27from heaven and blazing fire with his powerful angels He will punish those who
10:32do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ fascinating way to talk about the gospel
10:38obey the gospel how do you obey the gospel answer you believe it
10:45the good news is this this is the gospel Christ bled and died for your sins and was raised again on the third day for
10:51your justification so to obey the gospel is to believe that you have a merciful and kind savior who
10:57took his sins upon him your sins upon himself and bled and died for you and
11:02rose again from the grave that’s what it means to obey the gospel they will be punished with Everlasting
11:08destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the Majesty of his power on the day that he
11:14comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed this includes you
11:21because you believed Our Testimony to you yes folks this includes you you someday are going to stand and Marvel at
11:29Christ in his glorious Kingdom all because he’s made you worthy so with
11:34this in mind we constantly pray for you that our God May count you worthy that’s God’s doing the work of his calling and
11:41that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and Every Act prompted by your faith we pray this also
11:48that in the name of our Lord Jesus they may be glorified in you and you and him according to the grace of our God and
11:54our Lord Jesus Christ Matthew 24 we read this a few weeks ago
11:5929-31 it says this immediately after the distress of those days the distress of
12:04the last days will be intense and if Christ does not cut them short no one will survive after the distress of those
12:11days the sun will be darkened the moon will not give its light the Stars will fall from the sky the heavenly bodies
12:18will be shaken where Jesus in the parable of the of the weeds the field and the weeds says this
12:25this is his interpretation at that time the sign of the son of man will appear this is Matthew 13 37-43 at that time
12:32the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn they will see the son
12:38of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great Glory he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call oh
12:46that trumpet call is all throughout the New Testament you pay attention to that that’s signaling the end of the world kind of like when the walls of Jericho
12:53fell right yeah walls of Jericho that’s type and Shadow of the end of the world
12:58yeah the final trumpet blast they will gather his elect from the Four Winds and from one end of the Heavens to
13:05the other so he said the one who sowed The Good Seed well that’s the son of man that’s
13:11Jesus the field is the world The Good Seed stands for the sons of the Kingdom the weeds are the sons of the evil one
13:16and the enemy who sows them as the devil the Harvest is the end of the age and the Harvesters are angels one of the
13:22reasons why life is so difficult right now is because wheat and tares are all
13:28together in the same field and those tears can bully they really do
13:34as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire so it will be at the End of the Age the son of man will send out his
13:39angels and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil they will throw them
13:46into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
13:51then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their father he who hasn’t ears let him hear or first
13:58Thessalonians 4 for the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command with the voice of the Archangel
14:04and with the trumpet call of God there’s that trumpet again and the dead in Christ will rise first and after that we
14:10who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever
14:18therefore encourage each other with these words as you can see scripture talks extensively and explicitly
14:26regarding the fact that this world which had a beginning in the beginning when
14:31God said let there be light and there was light and in the beginning
14:37when God created the heavens and the Earth that this world had a beginning and it
14:44will have an end just like Jesus cried out on the cross to tell us die that is finished
14:52someday in the very near future Christ will again say to tell us that
14:58it’s finished it’s done the end has come this world is passing away and so now we
15:04come to our gospel text the parable of the sheep and the goats an often abused text why well because
15:12well with a careless reading not paying attention to the details it’s very easy to think well I’m saved by my works
15:20didn’t Jesus say to the Sheep you know come you who are blessed because I was hungry and you gave me something to eat
15:25isn’t that saying that the Sheep are saved by their works only if you’re not paying attention to the details this is not saying that at
15:32all scripture is very clear not one person will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law
15:39so therefore if you read this Parable that way you’ve missed a vital clue a
15:44vital thing in this text that points to the fact that we’re saved not by our works but by grace and if you’re truly
15:51in Christ then you truly do good works there’s no such thing as a Christian who doesn’t do good works that’s like saying there’s a such thing as a living body
15:57that doesn’t breathe that’s silly you know I don’t know any living bodies that don’t breathe if you do come see me I’d
16:03like to see that but we return now to our Parable here’s what it says when the son of man comes in his glory and now we
16:10have all the backstory we know the details and the angels with him and we know what they’re doing and what they’re
16:15up to separating the wheat from the tares he will sit on his throne in the Heavenly glory and all the nations will
16:22be gathered before him by the way everybody’s going to be there you don’t
16:27worry about putting this in your day planner the angels will make sure that you’re there okay you see what I’m
16:32saying here but you ain’t getting out of this one this is the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that
16:37Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father so all the nations will be gathered before him you’re going to be
16:44there he will separate the people one from another as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats he will put the
16:49sheep on his right the goats on his left and by the way at this point the
16:57Judgment has already taken place you’re judged by what you are not what
17:02you do if you are a sheep you’re on the right if you’re a goat you’re on the
17:07left plain and simple you’re either sheep or goat
17:13you either believe and trust in Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins and are reckoned righteous by the righteousness
17:19imputed to you from Christ or you’re a goat an unbeliever and you have to be
17:25judged by all of your works so the king will say to those on his right and notice he starts off with
17:31gospel here not law starts off with gospel Christ is merciful in fact it is really not in
17:38Christ’s nature to be wrathful but he will show wrath when he is provoked
17:44does that make sense so Christ says to the Sheep come
17:50great words come you who are blessed by my father take your inheritance ah
17:57here’s the inheritance the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world
18:03for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat I was thirsty you gave me something to drink I was a stranger
18:10and 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
18:16came to visit me and the Sheep scratched their heads and go
18:22uh Lord but notice those words here then the righteous will answer him it doesn’t
18:28say the Sheep it says the righteous the righteous and remember what we just read all of us were born dead in
18:35trespasses and sins but Christ circumcised our hearts washing Us in the waters of our baptism
18:42he’s giving us Faith he declares us righteous so the king declares us sinners to be righteous by faith as a
18:49gift and so he says to the righteous the righteous will answer him Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or
18:56thirsty and give you something to drink they’re just like amazing right when did we see you a stranger and invite you in
19:03needing clothes that clothe you when did you see when did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you
19:09now pay attention to the details here then the king will reply I tell you the
19:15truth whatever you did for the least of these my brothers
19:21you did for me who are Jesus’s brothers
19:26the gospel of Matthew Jesus talks about this explicitly Jesus’s brothers sisters
19:33those are the ones who believe in him so notice here the Sheep the sheepy
19:40things they do the Sheep doing the sheepy things they do they see Christian
19:47Brothers and you can say sisters and they see their Christian Brothers in
19:53need and food and they feed them they see their Christian Brothers thirsty and they give them something to drink they
20:00see their Christian Brothers even though they are strangers they invite them in they see their Christian Brothers
20:05needing clothes and clothing them or sick or in prison in prison for what
20:11for preaching the gospel they go to visit them this is all about how sheep treat sheep
20:20how Christians treat other Christians what does the scripture say they will know we are Christians by our
20:27love doesn’t say gossip by the way I just want to make that clear okay okay if you were confused on that they’ll
20:34know we’re Christians by our love our love towards each other so this is not talking about some
20:41generic acts of Mercy although we should and ought and must take care of our
20:46neighbors in need even if they’re not believers but this isn’t talking about that Jesus
20:52here is talking about how Christians are treating Christians as you’ve done to the least of these my brothers and this
20:58then becomes the hinge point because the goats then how do they treat Christians
21:04is the question that comes up the king reply I tell you the truth whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine my brothers you did for me then he
21:11will say to those on his left depart terrible words listen you don’t want to hear these words not from Jesus not
21:18applied to you depart is a bad thing in this in on this day depart from me you
21:24who are cursed into the Eternal fire yeah that’s how long that’s going to
21:30last by the way into the Eternal fire prepared for the
21:36devil and his angels notice it says prepare for the devil and his angels it is utter foolishness that any human
21:42being would end up in this place because Christ has bled and died for the sins of
21:47the world no one no one needs go here
21:55this place was prepared for the devil and his angels Christ did not die for the devil and the demons he died for the
22:01sins of the world he says to them I was hungry you gave me
22:08nothing to eat what’s the context these brothers of mine so how does the how do the goats treat Christians oh they’re
22:15hungry I don’t feed them I was thirsty they don’t give them anything to drink as a stranger you
22:22don’t invite me in I need clothes you don’t clothe me I was sick and in prison you did not look after me what do goats
22:28do they reject Christ and they reject his brothers who bring the message of
22:34the good news of Christ in him crucified for their sins and when they see them they mistreat them they persecute them
22:42they put them out they don’t care for their needs in fact oftentimes they work in hostility against their needs and
22:49persecute them even to the point of death this is what goats do so they will answer Lord when did we see
22:56you hungry or thirsty or estranged or needing clothes or sick and in prison and did not help you he would probably I
23:02tell you the truth whatever you did not do for the least of these at least least of what at least of these my brothers
23:08you did not do it for me and then we’ve got this verse then they
23:15the goats will go away to Eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life notice that eternal life and
23:21eternal punishment are inextricably linked you can’t tear them apart how long is eternal life how long do you
23:28Christians intend to live when Christ returns forever
23:34World Without End days without end and the sad news is is that the opposite
23:39of this is that those who reject Christ persist in sin and unbelief despite the fact
23:45that Christ has bled and died for them they will go to Eternal punishment their punishment will last as long as our
23:53eternal life sad it’s tragic it’s a tough verse to preach on
24:01but this is the truth this is what’s at stake this is why we preach the gospel this is why we plead with our neighbors
24:07repent be forgiven Christ has bled and died for you let me paint a slightly better picture
24:15to end with here though it’s tough place to end Revelation chapter 21 says this
24:21then I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth
24:27I can’t wait for this day to come new heaven new Earth for the first Heaven the first Earth had passed away so even
24:34the universe is like us we come to eternal life through death and resurrection and so this universe
24:41this time space continuum dies it passes away and then it is Resurrected
24:47for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away there was no longer any sea
24:53I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed
24:59for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying now the dwelling
25:05of God is with men and he will live with them and they will be his people and God
25:11himself will be with them and be their God he will wipe every tear from their
25:16eyes there will be no more death thank God no more mourning or crying or
25:25pain for the old Order of Things has passed away
25:31he who was Seated on the throne said I am making everything new
25:38write this down for these words are trustworthy and true he’s making everything new
25:46so the saying goes all good things must come to an end but that’s not what our texts say this
25:51morning this cursed creation is coming to an end and all good things will last forever
25:59and ever days without end and because you are in Christ because you are forgiven because you’ve been brought to
26:06penitent faith in Jesus you’re washed and redeemed you too will be with Christ you will
26:12hear from him come into the inheritance prepared for you before the foundations of the Earth
26:19all because of what Christ has done for you it’s kind of a last way of looking at this
26:25have any of you read The Chronicles of Narnia yeah some of you have read them
26:31the final book is called the last battle now if you’re not familiar with the stories I’ll try to bring up to speed
26:36quickly Chronicles of Narnia are about this other world called Narnia and in that other world Jesus is called Aslan
26:44and he doesn’t appear as a man he appears as a glorious fearful and wonderful lion named Aslan well in the
26:51last book the last battle Narnia just like Earth comes to an end and it comes to an end very similar to
26:57the way the Earth is going to come to an end and there’s a reason why there’s a parallel there was a great deception and one of the
27:04deceivers was a donkey named puzzle who ultimately repented but in the story if you’re familiar with The Lion the Witch
27:09and the Wardrobe there were four children Peter Susan Edmund and Lucy who
27:15traveled to Narnia and they went back another time and then when they went
27:20back the second time Peter and Susan were told they could never return to Narnia and they were very sad about this
27:26and then there was another adventure where Edmond and Lucy went back to Narnia and at the end of that Adventure
27:32they were told they couldn’t return to Narnia again that was very difficult for them they wanted so badly to be back in
27:39Narnia while at the end of the last battle Peter and Edmund and Lucy are all back
27:46in Narnia now Susan is left out because unfortunately Susan she grew up
27:53she is ceased to be childlike so she’s not there very sad and tragic indeed
27:58but so we pick up at the very last pages of the last battle and Aslan is talking
28:05to the puzzle to the donkey named puzzle the one who participated in the great deception in Narnia and who was brought
28:11to repentance and Aslan forgives him here’s what it says the very first person whom Aslan called to him was
28:17puzzled the Donkey you never saw a donkey look feebler and sillier than puzzle did as he walked up
28:24to Aslan and he took and he looked beside Aslan as small as a kitten looks
28:30beside a Saint Bernard the lion bowed down his head and whispered something to puzzle at which his long ears went down
28:38but then he said something else at which his ears perked up
28:43you can only imagine law and gospel you’re guilty but I
28:49forgive you the humans couldn’t hear what he said either time
28:54and then Aslan turned to them and says you do not yet look so happy as I mean
29:01you to be so Lucy spoke up well we’re so afraid of being sent away
29:07Aslan when you have sent us back into our own world so often
29:13Aslan said well there’s no fear of that have you not guessed their hearts leaped and wild hope Rose
29:20within them Aslan said there was a real Railway
29:26accident your father and your mother and all of you are as you used to call it in the
29:34shadowlands you’re dead therefore the school term is over
29:41the holidays have begun the dream has ended this is the morning
30:00as he spoke he no longer looked to them like a lion but the things that began to happen
30:06after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them and as for this
30:13well this is the end of all the stories and we can most truly say
30:19that they all lived happily ever after but for them it was only the beginning
30:24of the real story all of their life in this world and all of their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and
30:32the title page and now at last they were beginning chapter one of the great story
30:38which no one on earth has read which goes on forever and forever in which
30:44every chapter is better than the one before foreign
30:55C.S Lewis picked it up and we see it we see it and we greet it
31:01from afar and we pray with the church as the churches prayed throughout the ages Maranatha
31:08come Lord Jesus come come and save us
31:14and take us home and he will and all of us will see his glory and
31:22Marvel and all of us will hear from him well done good and faithful servant
31:29because he has made us righteous he has bled and died for us he has done all of
31:35this for us and this is most certainly true all good things must come to an end
31:42the good things haven’t even begun and when they begin they will never end in the name of Jesus Amen
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