(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)
It is generally wise to plan ahead. That may not be possible, though, in every situation.
Matthew organizes his gospel by alternating between sections of what Jesus did and what he said, between narrative and discourse. In the narrative sections, Matthew relates (among other things) some of the more significant events in Jesus' life, especially his many miracles. In the discourse sections, Matthew records a few of Jesus' extended periods of instruction to his disciples, such as the Sermon on the Mount. As Jesus earthly ministry draws to a close, he gives one more extended discourse to his disciples, this one on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the temple in Jerusalem. That view of God's house prompts the disciples to ask about God's plan for the future
* LVII The Foremost Continuation2
...which extends part of...
Some people reject the idea that a loving God would consign anyone to an eternity of suffering. Instead, God will exercise a more humane (anthropomorphized) solution. After judging the wicked, He will annihilate (euthanize) them, sparing them from further suffering; they will simply cease to exist.4 The problem with Annihilationism, as this view is called, is that passages describing the future state of the unrighteous reveal quite a different outcome. Jesus uses the same word as in Matt 25 elsewhere to note the same extent of retribution for the wicked and of reward for the righteous.5 He says in...
In contrast, Jesus says...
Again, some people reject the idea that a loving God would consign anyone to an eternity of suffering. Instead, God will exercise a more humane (anthropomorphized) solution. After judging the wicked, He will grant them amnesty, at which point they will join the righteous.6 The problem with
Universalism, as this view is called, is that passages describing the future state of the unrighteous reveal quite a different outcome. Nowhere does the New Testament hint at a change in scenery for the wicked, that their condition after death will ever improve.
Daniel makes a statement similar to what Jesus says in Matt 25, likewise denying both Annihilationism and Universalism.
Not only do these aberrant views of Annihilationism and Universalism fail to account for what scripture says, they fail to account for what God is. They make the wrong aspect of His character the most important aspect of His character. The predominant divine attribute is not love but...holiness, which demands recompense against those who reject God.
The assumption that eternal punishment is incompatible with God's loving nature betrays a weak view of divine justice.10 One theologian said this:
In Matt 24:46, Jesus says that what awaits you as his disciple is "eternal life," and that is by far the benefit biblical writers mention most (30+), but it is not the only benefit they mention.
In addition to eternal life, you will also receive...
You will also receive an...
More than eternal life, which would certainly be enough, God has other benefits in store for you:
When the king returns, everyone will experience The Foremost Continuation, which extends part of the permanence of God to man.16 That continuation will be quantitatively identical for the righteous and the unrighteous. That is, your future state will have the same duration. That continuation, though, will be qualitatively dissimilar for the righteous and the unrighteous. That is, your future state will have a different destination. If you are a faithful subject of the king, then your position in the kingdom is assured.
Jesus told the parable to inspire your confidence in the future and to improve your conduct in the present. The primary distinction in these two groups was how they treated others of Jesus' disciples. As the king says in...
Having considered The Foremost Continuation, we will look next at The Foremost Contradiction, which shows the paradox of God, in Rom 5:7-8.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
An insurance agent was teaching his wife to drive when the brakes suddenly failed on a steep, downhill grade. "I can't stop!" she shouted. "What should I do?" "Brace yourself," her husband replied... "and try to hit something cheap."Planning ahead may not be possible in every situation, especially when events are suddenly moving rapidly to an unpleasant end. If there is time, however, and that unpleasant end is in sight, it may be critical to make a decision sooner rather than later. That is certainly the case with The Foremost Continuation.
Matthew organizes his gospel by alternating between sections of what Jesus did and what he said, between narrative and discourse. In the narrative sections, Matthew relates (among other things) some of the more significant events in Jesus' life, especially his many miracles. In the discourse sections, Matthew records a few of Jesus' extended periods of instruction to his disciples, such as the Sermon on the Mount. As Jesus earthly ministry draws to a close, he gives one more extended discourse to his disciples, this one on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the temple in Jerusalem. That view of God's house prompts the disciples to ask about God's plan for the future
Matt 24:3b "Tell us," they said, "...what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"Jesus answers with a list of common events marking progress toward the end in passages we considered earlier in this series: Things reach a peak with the abomination of desolation, which allows (XVI.) The Foremost Computation (Matt 24:15, 21) that starts the countdown leading to (XXXVI.) The Foremost Convulsion (Matt 24:29-30) in the heavens just prior to Jesus' return. We also looked at how the messiah will offer (XXI.) The Foremost Commendation (Matt 25:21) to those who remain loyal to him. At the end of the discourse, Jesus tells about "The Sheep and Goats," a parable1 that describes the final disposition of people. It is...
* LVII The Foremost Continuation2
...which extends part of...
- The permanence of God (Matt 25:46)
Matt 25:46 [The wicked] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.In this final section of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus tells the story about a king who, having left his realm for a time to the care of his subjects, returns and determines whether or not they have been faithful in his absence. He likens the process to what a shepherd does with a mixed flock, perhaps before taking the goats to market (Nolland 2005:1026, n. 219).
Matt 25:31 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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.Whatever the reason for the shepherd's separation, the king will perform a similar task with his subjects,3 and to a similar end, deciding which group will remain in his realm and which group will not.
Matt 25:34 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.... 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.'It is, however, Jesus' final remark that presents the single point of the parable: These two groups face comparable but contrasting ends...and there are only two groups in the end. Look again at...
Matt 25:46 [The wicked] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.Speaking to his disciples, and his words apply to all who have become his followers, Jesus says...
1. Your future state will have the same duration.That is, the wicked and the righteous will live on for the same period, which he describes with the same word: "eternal."
Some people reject the idea that a loving God would consign anyone to an eternity of suffering. Instead, God will exercise a more humane (anthropomorphized) solution. After judging the wicked, He will annihilate (euthanize) them, sparing them from further suffering; they will simply cease to exist.4 The problem with Annihilationism, as this view is called, is that passages describing the future state of the unrighteous reveal quite a different outcome. Jesus uses the same word as in Matt 25 elsewhere to note the same extent of retribution for the wicked and of reward for the righteous.5 He says in...
Matt 18:8b It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire....then in...
Matt 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake...will inherit eternal life.Annihilation is not what awaits the wicked. They will endure eternal punishment, even as you will enjoy eternal life. (Besides, applying this view to the verse in Matt 25, abbreviating the fate of the one group would require abbreviating the fate of the other group.)
- This passage (in Matt 25) disproves Annihilationism, the notion that God will obliterate the wicked.
In contrast, Jesus says...
2. Your future state will have a different destination.That is, the wicked and the righteous will not live in the same place, which he describes with two very different words: "punishment" for the wicked, "life" for the righteous.
Again, some people reject the idea that a loving God would consign anyone to an eternity of suffering. Instead, God will exercise a more humane (anthropomorphized) solution. After judging the wicked, He will grant them amnesty, at which point they will join the righteous.6 The problem with
Universalism, as this view is called, is that passages describing the future state of the unrighteous reveal quite a different outcome. Nowhere does the New Testament hint at a change in scenery for the wicked, that their condition after death will ever improve.
- Jesus said...7
Mark 9:48 ..."their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'
- Paul said...
2 Thess 1:9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord...
- Jude said...
Jude 7b ...[they] suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
- John said...8
Universalism is not what awaits the wicked. They will endure eternal punishment, wholly apart from the righteous.9Rev 14:11a ...the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.
- This passage (in Matt 25) disproves Universalism, the notion that God will liberate the wicked.
Daniel makes a statement similar to what Jesus says in Matt 25, likewise denying both Annihilationism and Universalism.
Dan 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.Here as well, the wicked and the righteous will live on for the same period, which Daniel describes with the same word: "everlasting." The wicked and the righteous, however, will live on in different places, one characterized by "life," the other filled with "contempt."
Not only do these aberrant views of Annihilationism and Universalism fail to account for what scripture says, they fail to account for what God is. They make the wrong aspect of His character the most important aspect of His character. The predominant divine attribute is not love but...holiness, which demands recompense against those who reject God.
The assumption that eternal punishment is incompatible with God's loving nature betrays a weak view of divine justice.10 One theologian said this:
Shallow views of sin and of God's holiness.. .lie at the bottom of weak theories [about] the doom of the impenitent. When we see sin in all its hideousness and enormity, the Holiness of God in all its perfection...nothing but a doctrine that those who persist in the choice of sin, who love darkness rather than light, and who persist in the rejection of...God, shall endure everlasting anguish, will satisfy the demands of our own moral intuitions. (Torrey n.d.: 311; quoted in Wenham 1974:39)If God grants the righteous eternal comfort, it is not inconceivable that He would condemn the wicked to eternal torment.
In Matt 24:46, Jesus says that what awaits you as his disciple is "eternal life," and that is by far the benefit biblical writers mention most (30+), but it is not the only benefit they mention.
In addition to eternal life, you will also receive...
- Eternal glory
2 Cor 4:17 ...our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory....So it will be for you. Whatever trials you experience in this life, God will more than make up in the next life by giving you eternal glory. You will also receive an...
- Eternal home
2 Cor 5:1b [W]e have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.I doubt there is anyone here who has not encountered the physical limitations of this life, especially as you experience disease or the simple but inexorable decline in your faculties. God will put an end to that by giving you a new body, an eternal home.
You will also receive an...
- Eternal inheritance13
Matt 25:34 "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."While most of us have what we need, none of us is independently wealthy. Consequently, bills inevitably arise that tax our resources, and you may wonder how to make ends meet. Whatever concerns you have in this life, they will vanish in the next life when you receive your eternal inheritance.
More than eternal life, which would certainly be enough, God has other benefits in store for you:
- Eternal glory
- Eternal home
- Eternal inheritance
1 Cor 2:9 ...No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.Do you love God?
When the king returns, everyone will experience The Foremost Continuation, which extends part of the permanence of God to man.16 That continuation will be quantitatively identical for the righteous and the unrighteous. That is, your future state will have the same duration. That continuation, though, will be qualitatively dissimilar for the righteous and the unrighteous. That is, your future state will have a different destination. If you are a faithful subject of the king, then your position in the kingdom is assured.
Jesus told the parable to inspire your confidence in the future and to improve your conduct in the present. The primary distinction in these two groups was how they treated others of Jesus' disciples. As the king says in...
Matt 25:40 ...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.This is similar to what Jesus said in...17
John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.Are you meeting the king's expectations? . . . How will he evaluate your conduct when he returns?
Having considered The Foremost Continuation, we will look next at The Foremost Contradiction, which shows the paradox of God, in Rom 5:7-8.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)
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Jim Skaggs