Be the Church FPBC vision: We are “a city on a hill that cannot be hidden” - We are the salt - We are the light People may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven Matthew 5:13-16

Be the Church Sermon on the Mount Spheres of influence Be the Church God’s calling His people to His standard of holiness To satisfy both letter and spirit of the Law Spheres of influence We are called to influence the world around us for God Be the Church Time for action Not a “one off” but a “life long” Right perspective about “Be the Church”, Matthew 25:31- 26:16

The Sheep, the Goats, the Marys and the Judases Matthew 25:31-26:16

Matthew 25:31-33; 46 Upon Jesus 2nd coming, everyone will be appointed eternal life or eternal punishment He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left How will we be judged? What will be the evidences used to judge us? Matthew 25:34-45 gave us the answer

The Sheep “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. 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. ’

The Sheep “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? ’ “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. ’

The Goats “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. 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 Goats “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? ’ “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. ’

The Judgment The King reply, ‘Truly I tell you whatever you did or did not do to the least’ Is that it? We will be judged by our works? What is the difference between our faith as compare to other religions?

Judgment of the Heart When the sheep met the needs of the least Not knowing they were serving God Not focusing on treasure in heaven Out of pure compassion for the least The goats will only meet needs if They know they are serving God They get their treasure in heaven There is a return on investment for them Having the heart of Jesus, His compassion for the needy, seeing how God sees and loving as He loves

Very Serious Questions Are you a sheep or a goat? When you do good works, what is the condition of your heart? Do you have compassion for the people you serve? Do you even see needs and work to meet the needs? Where are you heading, eternal life or eternal condemnation?

What about Mary? Matthew 26:6-16 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor

What about Mary? Matthew 26:6-16 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her. Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot — went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over

Worshiping God vs doing good works Is Jesus contradicting His earlier teaching about seeing and meeting needs? How do we reconcile worshiping God and doing good works? Do we try to strike a balance between the two? Jesus seems to say doing both wholeheartedly and extravagantly, is that possible? Both Mary and the sheep hearts were in sync with God. The disciples missed the opportunity

Conclusion Why did Matthew placed the two incident back to back? The greatest commandment Matthew 22:37-39 ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’

The Need for a Savior How do we live up to the standard of the Sermon on the Mount? How do we influence our sphere for God? How do we “be the Church” and fulfill God’s vision for FPBC? Love God wholeheartedly and love our neighbors extravagantly. How do we do that with the right heart motive? How do we make sure that we are sheep, not goats? No short cut, but a vibrant relationship with God developed through life long habit of praying and studying God’s word