Mathew 25–The Judgment
I have been asked to comment on Mathew chapter 25. Let me say to start that I am not here to deal with every verse in this chapter because that could take volumes but I will sum up what I think is the bottom line. Allow me to quote the last verse of that chapter:
Matt 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
If you read the entire chapter it is clear that Christ is speaking about the same coming of judgment that I believe happened in 70AD. A clear spiritual division happened at the cross. A new heaven and new earth appeared on the day of the Lord, but the old heaven and old earth continued along side for a short time. The old heaven and old earth had its final reckoning when the temple came tumbling down. Let’s go back to chapter 24 and see the connection to all of this:
Matt 24:29-34 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
In the mind of God (the Kingdom of pure thought) there is a clear division of what mankind’s situation is. Within all of us are ten virgins. Five are wise and five are foolish. Within all of us there is the man who uses his talents well and the man who squanders his talent. Within all of us there is the person who feeds the hungry, takes care of the sick, and visits those who are in prison, and then within all of us there is the person who really cares nothing at all about the plight of those less fortunate. Within all of us there is that which needs shut out, destroyed, cast into the lake of fire along with the power of all delusion and lies that we have dreamed up (the devil).
Paul gives us the perfect example of what I am talking about by bringing our redemption and salvation down to a personal level. Listen:
1 Tim 1:12-17 I thank him who has given me strength for this, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful by appointing me to his service, though I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him; but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners; but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Saul (who is now Paul) represented the old man of sin, the old heaven and old earth, the foolish virgins, the man who squandered his talent, the cold uncaring person, but Paul (who used to be Saul) represents the NEW MAN who has had the old man put out, cast into the lake of fire, and all his delusions of a self righteous life was completely and utterly destroyed.
And the best part of what Paul (the New Man) says is that he is the example of Jesus Christ’s perfect patience. Yes, God will never allow anything other then our perfection to enter the Kingdom of pure thought. A Kingdom where Love, joy, peace, and patience are what rule our thoughts.
Paul never claimed that it was his belief that got him to this new heaven and new earth (the land of MERCY). In fact, he said it was his unbelief….."but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."
Every single human being that has ever lived has acted IGNORANTLY IN UNBELIEF. Thank God we have a Father that loves us so much that he will sift out all the garbage that we have allowed into our lives. Even if you go all the way back to Adam & Eve you will see the two sides of mankind. After mankind was created God said: "And it is good, very good." But after mankind believed the lie (a lie is an illusion) he hid in the bush. Now wasn’t he still good, very good????? And yet there was now a foolish part added to who man THOUGHT he was. Please read Mathew 25 again slowly and ask yourself the following questions:
- Don’t I see within myself the VERY GOOD that God has said all along is there?
- Don’t I hate the illusions I have gathered in my life that make me think so poorly of myself?
- Don’t I want God to separate the the sheep and the goats within my own existence?
- Don’t I want the unwise virgins in my life to be shut out?
- Don’t I want the lazy, greedy person in me to see he gains nothing by that way of life?
- Don’t I want God to end this horrible conflict within me and show me the beauty and power of my true inner man?
If we are honest with ourselves we will see the GREAT CONFLICT which wages war within, but the GOOD NEWS is that the BEST PART OF WHO WE REALLY ARE has never been in danger and will eventually be completely rescued by the bright light of REALITY.
If you accept the traditional view of Mathew chapter 25 then all I can say to you is BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID. Or you can trust in a PERFECT GOD who will never let us down and who does not depend on us to accomplish his PERFECT WILL. The God who has never lost sight of what He created and always knew that he would bring each and everyone of us back to the REALITY of who we really are.
Yes, I believe in judgment. I believe when Christ was lifted up that he took upon himself all the fearful judgments that had mankind still hiding in the bush self condemnation. We can come out NOW. We have a New Heaven and a New Earth. A place where the Kingdom of Love, joy, and peace takes the place of fear, judgments, condemnation, and self righteousness. You wonder why I am negative toward the organized church? LOOK WHAT THEY TEACH and ask yourself "Is that how you really want to live?"
You know what my answer is and I hope at the very least that this post will give those who live in fear by what their preachers are teaching them on this chapter to see that God truly is a God of PERFECT LOVE, and perfect love will CAST OUT ALL FEAR.
If somebody wants to read Matthew 25 with the literal view typical of today’s eschatology, they’ll have to ignore or creatively translate all the other verses you’ve noted in the past that talk about God’s grace. Yet many are able to accomplish just that. I did it myself for a long time.
Wherever our heart is, our exegesis will follow!
Redlefty said: “Wherever our heart is, our exegesis will follow!”
That’s exactly why I quit trying to convince people a long time ago. I share where I am now in hopes it will spark a question or relieve some fear.
Thanks for your comment…….I agree.
Good thoughts, Cliff!
I once heard someone say, “don’t tell me about your God. Show me who you are, then I will know all about your God.”
On another note, it’s interesting that many bible scholars tend toward the idea that the end of Matthew is a forged addition, added many centuries later to attempt to remedy an apparent abrupt ending to the gospel, putting on a spin to promote their own theology. I don’t know, but they do seem to have some good arguments as to why wording doesn’t appear to be consistent with the rest of the book. A google search of “bible forgery in Matthew” will yield some interesting results.
Thanks for the post Cliff. I completely agree that if the traditional interpretation is correct, we all are in big trouble. I’m still learning to let go of that fear but it’s happening.
Don’t forget, Kiara… those professional christians who rely on your money to keep their ministries in “business”, must keep you living in fear. Without it, they have no reign over you. They want to be your savior, and they can only do it with your cash. They can’t permit you to experience true freedom, because it would put them out of a job. That is their biggest fear. They need you, and they need you to need them! And their preaching will revolve around that premise.
We can’t know freedom unless we are out from under the control of others.
Cliff,
You’re awesome, dude. Thanks for posting this. I still have questions about this chapter of Matthew, but like you said, it would take volumes to cover it all.
I appreciate all the time that you put into your posts. I think it shows that you truly care about what you’re doing here at Bold Grace.
Have a wonderful day!
Jason
I like the literal translation better.
And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian.
I’d add that if one accepts the traditional viewpoint, one would have to ignore John 10:10 especially. (IMO, if God were someone to dole out “everlasting punishment”, he’d be no better than “the thief” himself! And who would want to worship or express love for a God like that?)
Great comments by all. I feel so fortunate that for some strange reason I never allowed within my self even an instant of entertaining the idea that God could ever be the God of Everlasting Torment. As a very young man I knew there just had to be another explanation for what was being taught from the pulpits of the church. This spurred me on to Ask, to Seek, and to Knock.
My heart’s desire for all that visit this site is not for them to agree, but to simply be willing to search the truth that their hearts are already telling them is true. When you hear those messages of Judgment and condemnation what does your heart say? I believe it will say to you: “Get out, and find the truth about a LOVING and GIVING GOD! The organized chruches of today are not going to let go of their HELL and it’s time to let your hearts be heard.
Hi cliff, you said, When you hear those messages of Judgment and condemnation what does your heart say?
When i was under that fear guilt and condemnation preaching, I became what i heard. More and more self righteous. For that is all that it can produce in a person. But when i learned of the love of God for all in Christ, my heart began to tell me that as God our Father is love and i was made in his image. So i see all the judgment’s of God were good, for their purpose was to bring me to the reality of who i really was. His purpose was to bring me out of that darkness and into his marvelous light. He knew i could not do it myself, so he translated me through his great love for me into his kingdom of love. The veil had to be lifted by him and he did so by his grace. People are still being kept under that veil in their mind’s by the preaching of judgment, when in fact judgment has already taken place. My heart is burdened because people for whom Christ tasted of death for are being kept bound by the ignorance that is still being preached to this day. Keep showing other’s cliff that the veil has been lifted and all judgment has passed. The kingdom of heaven is full of love joy and peace in the spirit of grace.
Grace and peace toward you my friends, always.
Well said Kenneth.
Cliff-
“My heart’s desire for all that visit this site is not for them to agree, but to simply be willing to search the truth that their hearts are already telling them is true.”
That is my feeling exactly. We may disagree on the little things at times, but when it comes to the heart, we agree 100%. A book I am presently reading discusses scientific studies which have shown that the heart produces eight times the electrical activity of the brain and 5,000 times the magnetic activity of the brain. The heart also tells the brain how much of the emotional hormones, endorphins, and other chemicals to produce for the body to be “emotionally” healthy. So where’s the real center of the body’s emotion. Right where people have been told for thousands of years……THE HEART!!
Thanks Don, That is so interesting.
Don R
What is the title of the book you are reading?
Thanks
Peace
Geo
Geo- You’d like it. It’s Gregg Braden’s “The Spontaneous Healing of Belief”. Lots of quantum physics/spirituality equalities are discussed.
Okay, Thanks Don
I read one of his other books too. The Divine Matrix I think was the title.
I will have to get this one also. I got The Divine Matrix on your recommendation also I think?
Thanks
Geo
I don’t know were to start.Ibelieve the bible teaches to love and share.so if jesus had extra oil ,would he tell you to go buy some or would he give you his? just like the servents and the tallents, I believethe servent with the one tallent. was the one that was a faithful servent ,the passage starts out with they were given as to there abilities, the first two bosted about what they did,where does the bible tell you to gamble.who would have been the faithful servent if they lost the money?the third servent was the only one to mention how the master conducted himself,he showed me that he knew him. thanks for reading sorry i am not good on a computer
Thanks for stopping by Dave. I appreciated your comment and don’t worry about skills on the computer…..when I started out I typed with two fingers but thanks to some wonderful teaching CD’s I can now actually type at about 60 words a minute and I didn’t start learning until I was 45 years old.
I used the following to help me….
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing® Platinum 20