Sitting in my recliner at 2 am not long ago I heard a sound, the sound of a train breaking through the silence of the night. While sitting there thinking of the comfort that a train whistle brought to my sleepless morning I began to think of other sounds. A windmill creaking while the wind powered it, the sound of my mother as she reads bible stories to us when we were young, the sound of thunder in the distance that announced the springtime thunderstorms that refresh the earth with God’s care. Sounds; they are important to us, they remind of us events that have taken place in our lives some good, some not so good. Sounds of the preacher as he talks of the greatness of your dad that just passed from this earth, sounds of the doctor as he exclaims “It’s a boy or girl” when two loving married individuals welcome their first child into the world (or any thereafter). It is the news that you receive from the State Trooper as he notifies you of the death of a loved one. It is the words of comfort and expressions of love through prayer because of the tragic event.

There is another sound. You can’t hear it; it is not the least bit audible. Yet this sound is louder than a jet engine at take-off, louder than the loudest clap of thunder. The noise is deafening! It is the sound of Jesus exclaiming “Depart from me!” Matthew 25:41 is the verse referenced. Within this verse, I want to take a look at four key words or phrases. It is my hope that by looking at this verse and discussing those four key words or phrases that it will help us understand that as Christians the phrase “depart from me” will not be what we hear in the “day of judgment.”

The scripture:

‘Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels:” Mt.25:41

Before we take a look at those four words-phrases let me provide you some background to the aforementioned verse.

This verse falls toward the end of “the parable of the shepherd dividing the sheep and goats” (Mt.25:31-46) It is the last of the parables that Jesus began telling in chapter 21 of Matthew. Jesus often used events from everyday life that the people of the region could relate to. It was those “life” experiences that helped them, and us for that matter, understand the meaning of the story. This parable is different as it describes a future event. While it is a story of a shepherd performing the duties of dividing the sheep from the goats, it tells of undeniable truths about the final judgment.

Verse 31 of this parable states: “But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:” Jesus had already talked of His second coming in chapter 24 of Matthew, specifically verse 30 he will come “on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” This glory is from God the Father (Mt.16:27). It is the same glory that Jesus had shared with the Father before the world was created (Jn.17:5). The return of our Lord and Savior will be attended by all the angels. When Jesus returns another sound will take place; the sound of the Day of Judgment, the trumpet. The angels will then gather His elect from the “four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Mt.24:31)

At the time of the judgment, Christ will sit on His throne of glory. This can be traced all the way back to Daniel 7:13, 14. Here the throne drives home His authority as King and Judge. In other passages, you see God portrayed as the Judge. Acts 17 makes it very clear that God will judge the world through His Son Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30, 31 cf. Jn.5:22, 27). When Jesus comes again, He will “repay every man according to His deeds.” (Mt.16:27)

Contrary to the teaching of premillennialism, there is no scripture that teaches or implies that Jesus will come back for the rapture and later return to reign for a 1000 years on earth before taking His saved to heaven. Christ’s second coming will be to judge the whole earth. He will sit on the throne of judgment when he returns. (Jn.5:24-29; Acts 10:42; 17:30, 31: 2Cor.5:10; 2Thess.1:6-10; 2Tim.4:1)

Ok, with that background let’s take a look at the 4 key words-phrases:

First there is the word “them.” In the parable, the “them” in this passage are the goats. (vs.33) The goats/them describe the wicked and evil ones of the world. You might be saying “well that does not describe me.” I know this to be true because I have uttered those same words before in my life. The fact is we were all wicked, entrenched in the grips of sin before the blood of Christ washed us. Through obedience to His word we were cleansed of our sinfulness (does not mean that we will not sin again) and made new before God. So, who are the wicked of the world? Only answered anyone that does not adhere to the word of God, His perfect declaration to us, the Bible. In more detail passages such as 1Cor.6:9, 10:

Vs.9 or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, Vs.10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Or Gal.5:19-21:

Vs.19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, V.20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, Vs.21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Folks it’s not me saying this, it is breathed from God onto the pages of His word for all of us to read, discern, and obey. Jesus further states that the “them” are cursed. That brings us to our second word-phrase “depart from me, you cursed.” What does that mean? To be condemned is to be “shut out” from the glory of heaven and the presence of our Lord. (2Thess.1:9) An outcast away from the love and care of God.

Presence is important; we need, having been created in His image, to seek always to be in His presence. (cf. Psa.16:11; Psa.51:11) On the contrary if we do not seek to be in His presence, I.e. sin cannot abound in the presence of God; then we become those accursed ones, the ones that Jesus will say “depart from me.” (cf. Mt.7:23; 22:13; Lk.13:27)

Third, there is “eternal fire” (or everlasting). So it is that the “them” (wicked, sinful unrepentant humanity) will be told to “depart” because of their wickedness into the eternal fire, that is, hell. Everlasting means “without end, never to cease. The same word is used to describe God (Rom.16:26) and the Holy Spirit (Heb.9:14). Jesus statement here does not give us the ability to apply limitations to the time spent in hell. If you limit the time spent in hell you also must limit the time spent heaven. The point is the wicked will be in hell as long as the righteous will be in heaven. Jesus said that the fire is eternal. He described hell as a place of “unquenchable fire”…where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mk.9:43-48)

Fourth, there is the verb “prepared.” This is repeated from verse 34 which states the kingdom has been “prepared” for the righteous. In this verse a place of great pain and anguish, unquenchable, everlasting has been “prepared” for the devil and his angels. As Satan has been separated from the glory of heaven so will we if we chose not to follow the everlasting truths from God’s word. We, I, will be right there along-side the devil and his angels. What a horrible thought. There is not one of us that sees our eternity spent with Satan. However, I can tell you this, if you spend your life on earth abiding and agreeing with Satan then there is a place “prepared” for you, forever, never ending. God has prepared, because of His great love, everything necessary to prevent mankind from going to that terrible place of torment (Jn.3:16, 17, 36; cf. Heb.10:30, 31).

To close I want to point out these two important applications for us:

1. We, as obedient children of God, have been given a commission. Jesus came into this world for one purpose: “to seek and save that which was lost” (Lk.19:10) Jesus commission to Christians is one of great priority; nothing can equal it. Jesus literally poured his life into the creation of the gospel; we are to spend our lives, our daily walk before the Lord, in spreading it. (Mt.28:18-20; Mk.16:15) His word outlines for us how to fulfill the Great Commission. We do so by evangelizing the world. (Mt.28:19) by edifying the new converts by example and teaching. We teach them to observe all that JESUS commanded, (Mt.28:20). I nor you can improve on Jesus plan. It was perfect for His church when he gave it, and the apostles went about spreading it in the first century, (see the Acts of the Apostles) and it is perfect some 2000 plus years later. Jesus’ plan is in place and available until he returns, (Mt.28:20) “I am with you always, even to the end of age.” Until Jesus comes back, we are commanded to continue His work of giving the gift of the gospel to all, to nurturing and teaching, to the equipping faithful followers to join the greatest work ever known to mankind, the work of Jesus!
2. We must be alert! We do not know when our Lord and Savior will come again. Had He given us an exact date wouldn’t our human nature be to wait until the last minute? To live in sin and enjoys the lifestyles that suit our will and not the Fathers. Since we do not know when Jesus is coming, we must be prepared. Ah, there it is again “prepared.” We must be watchful, continue to pray that we may not be lead into temptation (Mt.26:41). That does not mean that we sit idly by watching the heavens for His return. For that discussion, we should read the parable of the talents.

This post is submitted with the greatest amount of love and prayer for you that I can muster. It is for your soul. There is a war going on for your soul and has been from the day you were born. Satan wants you, but Satan only wants to use you in his army to attempt to defeat those that have been obedient to God. He will take you further into to the depths of sin than you want to go and never release you. Your only hope is Jesus. God wants you so much that He gave His only son to die for you on a wooden cross. What has Satan given?

Sounds, oh, so valuable. The “I love you” from a husband to a wife or to their children, or “I forgive you” regardless if the individual(s) asked for it. What sound will you hear on that great day of judgment; will it be “depart from you workers of lawlessness” (Lk.13:27) or will it be “well done, my good and faithful servant” (Mt.25:21, 23)?