Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth

Hmm. The sermon. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. What does that mean? Does it mean you have good-tiered ducks and you'll be able to handle that? Or that you've been to see your dentist, orthodontist, and you have good teeth so you can gnash on them very well. In the old westerns, if you remember from movies in the 50s and 60s, whenever the doctor would have to work on you, remove an arrow or a bullet, they would give you a swig of whiskey and then stick a, put a stick in your mouth and you would have to bite on it. And there was definitely, I'm sure, weeping and gnashing of teeth at that time, if you saw that. Or I even felt it myself watching sometimes. So, anybody want to tell me, weeping and gnashing of teeth, what does it mean to you? If somebody came to you and said, well, what's that mean? Yes, sir? Two things. One who realizes they had a chance to move it, and the other that hit God anyway, and he showed up and now they just want a gnat. Okay, that's how he would explain. I have another one in the back. Yes, sir? Arguing. Arguing. Whether it's good or bad, you're flapping the, you're flapping the jaw on your feet. We've been in that. Okay, do we have something else? John?

Okay.

Okay, anybody else? Yes, in the back. Looks like I'm going to get quite a few opinions here.

A mixture of sorrow and anger. Okay, yes, Donna?

Regret and anger. Bill? I think it's like you had the opportunity ever so much. You had it in your hand. You had it in the bag, if you will, but you let it slip away. Oh, so sorrow. And sorrow and nashita. Oh, I couldn't tell you. All right. Anybody else?

I have a flat playing field, so anybody else wants to add something? No? Okay.

Let me start by saying that some people, this is called an idiom. Others call it a phrase. You may hear it. You may hear it in movies. You may hear it in conversation. Well, there are actually, as you can see, many thoughts on it. I pulled it from AI, some of it, and pulled it to just see what the explanations were. So I got one from AI, I got one from other places, and actually there were three that they put together, besides that encompasses most of what you have said here, but the three schools of thought is, one, mental anguish.

The second, mental and physical anguish as one receives final judgment. And then the third, it was a metaphor, or is a metaphor for the tribulation state of mind. So between those three and the five or six we had here, we kind of get a view of what this phrase means. This is not a fire and brimstone sermon. Okay. I hope there will not be any weeping and gnashing of teeth.

But it's interesting that the Bible is the originator of this phrase, this idiom, because they don't know it existed before that, but it definitely exists in many writings since then, most taken from Scripture. How many times do you think the phrase, the idiom, weeping and gnashing of teeth are in Scripture?

What do I always say? If I usually ask a question, the answer is usually Jesus or God. And if I ask a number, the number is usually what? Seven. There you have your answer. Do you think that's by chance? Good. I don't either. So we're on the same page there. So I want to look at this phrase idiom, but it's all done by Jesus Christ every time it's done by Jesus Christ. And so I want to say that this is not just a phrase, but a proclamation.

And if I can say so, we might even consider it prophecy, because there is a time when there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as predicted here in Scripture. So I would like to do that in this time that I have, because this proclamation is made six times in the book of Matthew and only one time in the book of Luke. So John doesn't mention it.

Mark doesn't mention it, yet I think for us to truly understand the context of it, I'd like to go to Matthew six times. He mentions it, so this phrase stuck out to Matthew because he wrote it so many times. You're going to tell me that John didn't hear it. Tell me they believe Mark is Peter's account. He didn't hear it.

Emily Luke, who wrote 30 years later, heard it. I heard it was told by someone that they heard it. So is it possible that most, a lot of the writers, because there's a big argument whether Mark was written first or Matthew was written first, I've read all sides and I've always stick with Matthew. This is one of the reasons why I believe that the other writers had the book of Matthew that's written to the Jews first. That's why so many times it says kingdom of heaven instead of kingdom of God. But when you look at this, Matthew covered it six times and quoted Jesus Christ six times. Was there a reason for the other ones to do that? I think it was pretty well covered.

And so for me to understand, I think the writers who, good chance many of them knew Matthew, would have put it all together. Why this phrase was brought out by him if he followed this?

Unlike the other disciples. As a matter of fact, you look at his what? Sermon on the Mount. It's a full sermon. It's a structure. And even though it may not be in chronological order like Luke, most of the writers wrote what was so important to them first, except for Luke, who followed the Greek logic of chronological order. The others really put some in, especially John, the last from chapter seven to the end is the last week of Jesus Christ's life. He had that done. But other than that, the stories and parables are mixed in at various times. But this that we're going to look at today, because there's no one better to explain it, but we need to be able to explain it to people in case they want to know. But there's no one that can explain it better than Jesus Christ and Matthew, who was there with him, who Jesus called from his profession. He said, lay it down, rich man, and follow me, because he was wealthy. Study your Bibles. You'll find he was very wealthy. As a matter of fact, many commentaries will say that Matthew was, in today's world, a millionaire. And he walked away from it, very young man, gave it all up. So he looked at life through a different lens. And so for him to write this, I am intrigued. And I was to take this subject because I've never covered this subject before. I've talked about it, but I never took it apart like we are going to today. And what time? So we only have seven scriptures to look at. Well, really eight, the last one, which is not in Gospels. But I want to start, and we're going to take the journey with Matthew.

And we're going to see in Matthew's writings why he thought it was so important to use this phrase six times more than Luke and cover it so well that the other disciples decided not to put it in there.

So let's go. I'm going to be reading from the New Living Translation. So let's allow the Word of God to explain truly Christ's words that he spoke. So let's go. First thing is Matthew 8. What happens in Matthew 8?

What happens in Matthew 5, 6, and 7? Sermon on the Mount. Thank you, John. And he comes off that mountain teaching in these verses confronted by a man with leprosy. And he heals him. He reaches out and touches him. Oh, which was shocking. Shocking, I tell you. You touched him. And then he was well. But yeah, you're not to touch a leopard, but he's well. But he what? But he, can you see? Had to be surprising to them. And then he, the next thing he just travels just a little bit, and all of a sudden there's a Roman centurion that comes to him and asks him to say what? Oh, very good. Good, good, good. I was going to have to go back to Genesis 1-1 again. But no, he wanted him to heal his servant. And you remember what Christ said? Show me the way, and I'll go do it. Which was totally shocking to the Pharisees. You don't go in a, you don't go, no, you don't go in a Gentiles house, especially a Roman and a centurion, which is like a colonel, almost a general in our army. Powerful. He could wipe us all out. Are you nuts?

And he said, I'll go to your house. And he said, no, you don't need to. I'm also a man under authority. If I say go, men go. I give men order. He said, just say the word. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. And what would Jesus Christ said?

I have seen such faith in all of Israel. Whoa, what a slam to all the Jews who are standing there to the Sadducees of Pharisees. What he.

Yes, how could you do that? That's disgusting.

And what happened next? He was healed that very hour or the same time, as they say. Okay. I just told that so you know the story flow of Matthew. Matthew does a great job of telling that story, especially a sermon on the Mount, the attitudes and everything we get there. And then you go into he just gets down that mountain and he's confronted by these two miracles that he performs. And then what do we come to? We come to verse 10.

And I'll be reading a new living translation. Matthew 8 and verse 10. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed, turning to those who were following him. He said, I tell you the truth. I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel. And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of God. But many Israelites, those for whom the kingdom was prepared. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Doesn't that send?

Didn't that send? Wait a minute. For God to love the world that he gave his own. I thought he's the world. But who was it prepared for first? Who did he rescue from Egypt? And he told them, I'm going to make you into a holy nation, a nation of priests. Yes! So that they could, they could have the kingdom of God on earth are so close to it. So this is amazing. Came from east to west, sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast. But many Israelites, those whom the kingdom was prepared, will be thrown into outer darkness. And there will be what? Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Okay, let's not take anything, let's not add to or take away, as I said this morning. I want to be guilty of it. But let's just say what it says.

There's going to be many that will have us weeping and gnashing of teeth, because even though a place was prepared for them, they're not going to be in the kingdom. Can we say that? Anybody have a problem with that? Because that's what it said. You're going to be cast out, not in the kingdom. You're going to be out, and they're going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth, because I could have been there. I could have been there. I should have been there. Any of you ever done that? Regret something so much because you came so close to doing it. It was like, man, I was almost there. It was in my grasp. It wasn't. Gentiles in, Israelites out. Not a popular message, but it was the message. And it's what Jesus Christ delivered right after the Sermon on the Mount.

Powerful, powerful words, profound words that should have struck those who heard that incredible sermon. Just read it. Just read those three chapters. Greatest sermon ever given. Not even close. No one has given a sermon as great as that one, and he ends up saying this.

So let's jump ahead. Jump ahead with me, if you will, to Matthew 13. It's the second time. It's the second count. So we get to learn. We get to learn by examining and taking it apart, just like if you want to be a detective. You, you examine things, or you want to be like Matlock, who I used to watch, who would take everything apart and figure this out and figure this out and take this little piece and this little piece and this little piece and ah! Now we get the whole picture. This is what Jesus Christ is giving to us. Hear a little what? Hear a little. Guess what? Hear a little, there a little means what? Pretty soon you got locked. That is what we want to do today, because this phrase should be so important.

Because, you know, I go to a, I have a good dentist, and I have caps and everything else, but I don't want to grind my teeth, and I don't want to be weeping anymore, and I have to. But, what he's talking about here will definitely cause you to weep and gnash. So, Matthew 13. We're going to go down to verse 40 first. And so, here, before we jump into the story, the story is about wheat and tares. Everybody's heard wheat and tares. Okay, the tares are going to show up, the devil put them in there, and they're going to, you know, let them grow up with the wheat, and then at the end it'll be harvested, and they'll get rid of them then. So, we know the context here. Another incredible story here. But then he says in verse 40, Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. Or as another one, the New King James calls it, the end of this age. But do you get that? I mean, have you read that but maybe looked over a little bit? Because it's just like, just as those weeds will be gathered together and burned up, because he said don't pull them up, let them grow. And at the final end, then the angels will harvest them, and then they'll burn them up. Just like that, he said we will be. This world will be. So, it will be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels. Who's going to handle this job of sorting? Oh, I thought Jesus was going to do it. No, he sent his angels to do it. Okay. And you know there's a lot of angels, so they can handle the job individually. I don't care how many millions or billions you may have on this earth. Guess what? He's got enough angels to handle it. Right? Yes, John. The angels knew it, too, that they were planting it. Yes, yes they did. So, they watched them grow. You think they aren't watching what's growing now?

Why are they called maleik, messengers? Who they message you? Who they deliver in messages to?

Okay, the Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. Well, they send their hands. We don't judge them, do we? Already judged, already handled. Then it says in 42, and the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So, is he talking about the lake of fire?

What else could he be referring to? Are Gahanna fire, because it's a burning fire.

Is the lake of fire going to be a real thing? Yeah, how long is that going to last? You know? When does it start? Anybody tell me? The Bible says when it starts.

Right? It tells the first two people thrown in there.

Ah, beast and the false prophet. So, right when the angels gather them, when Christ is returning that, there they go. They're in. So, this is what happens. So, if this is a lake of fire, because it's talking about burning up, I don't think I'm adding anything to it. Right?

So, let's look at that.

Would you think about what it would be like to watch? Watch. Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego thrown into the fire.

I mean, you've read that story, right? Can you imagine being there? Can you imagine being one who threw them in? What happened to the ones who threw them in? They got burned up. Okay, you know who can't get burned up here?

So, is this how it's going to be? Is Christ telling us this is how it's going to be? It sure looks that way, doesn't it? But he's not done, even in this message, because let's go over to the same chapter, and let's go over to verse 47. He said, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. Have you ever seen anybody fishing with nets? Yeah, I have in the Caribbean where you throw it out, and you know, then they really have to drag it.

I mean, it's a lot more work than I thought it was going to be. I prefer my fishing pole myself. But yeah, so he's giving them something at that time that they're used to seeing. They're used to seeing them cast it out, see a Galilee, and what is he also telling? His disciples, half of them were fishermen, weren't they? Close to half that we know.

We don't know about the others. So they understood what it was like to pull that net up, and then what'd you have? Everything in there. Let's see what it says. Caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. Today, if they did that, you'd have to throw all the trash in the plastic and the beer cans in the coke cans away.

Okay. Yes, true. Very good. And then it says in 49, that is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous. How do they know the difference?

Didn't we just hear that? They know. They know they've been keeping an eye on these things, and they know the righteous. It's going to be a whole lot easier for them. You know, you may have some mathematical whizzes of angels, but it's going to be a lot easier to just count the righteous, and it counts all the unrighteous, right?

So the angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace. Same thing he said earlier. It's a lake of fire. They're going to help purify the earth, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And then he said, do you understand all these things?

And you know what his disciples said? Yes, we do. And then he has this incredible saying. I don't think David has this. Oh yeah, I do have it down there. But I want to look at 52. Then he added, Jesus Christ added, every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the kingdom of God. Do you want to raise your hand?

You don't want to be a disciple. You don't want to be a teacher in the kingdom of God. It's what you're called to be, right? It's your destiny. You don't just get a free pass. You don't get a free buffet for going into the kingdom.

He's expecting something of us. Kings and priests. Priests teach. Kings rule. This is what he's talking about. Those who become a disciple in the kingdom of God is like, okay, metaphor, is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as the old. Do you know what he's saying there? You don't know everything yet.

I don't know everything yet. I may bring into the kingdom. If the kingdom happens, I die and the kingdom comes. I'm resurrected. I'm in that kingdom. What I know in this life is not enough. There's new stuff. There's new stuff we don't know. There's new stuff in here that I don't know that we don't know, but he's going to give it to us. It's going to be old and new. And isn't it going to be wonderful for us to be able to teach that? I hate it for those people who think they know everything about the Bible already.

We do not know it all yet. Why don't you put a period up yet? Because it says we will. Isn't that incredible? Incredible teaching just in those three examples. We're only halfway through.

This weeping and gnashing of teeth, and we already know when it's going to take place, how it's going to take place, who's going to be involved, and who's not going to be involved. Do you see any righteous thrown into the lake of fire? And now doesn't that add to it when Jesus Christ is talking in his other parables about the end time and those who are thrown into the fire, and those who are there at the very end, and how they're separated, and how they do these things? Let's go! Let's see what else he says, because Matthew's not through yet. Join me. Join me in Matthew 22. Matthew 22. Jesus sets up this phrase, this idiom, by telling a story of being time. And this great, as he was it, this great king, has this great feast for his son. It's a wedding feast. Does that ring a bell? Well, you better be preparing for a wedding, you know? And so he invites all these people, you know, come over here, yeah, yeah, come over here, and they all have excuses. Oh, no, I can't. I can't. Days of our life TV show is on, or some of these other, wait, the ballgame is Sunday night. I can't go Sunday night because the Pacers are going to beat the whoever they're playing. So they make all these excuses. And then we come down to verse 11. Said, But when the king came in to meet those who showed up, whoops, good to see. Guest, he noticed a man who wasn't wearing proper clothing for a wedding.

What's that look like? Is there something called a linen? It's wedding white linen, which are, represents the what? Righteous acts of the saints. Okay. What they have on, but he can tell whether they're righteous or not. He noticed this guy wasn't wearing proper wedding. He said, Friend, he asked, How is it that you are here without wedding clothes? How are you at the party when you weren't even invited, but you snuck in? You found a way in.

I did that one time. I hate to say. Snuck into a wedding. I was single. I was 20, 21, and I went to eat at this place, and they had a wedding going on in the back. And so after the wedding, and I was finished eating, I said, Man, there's some good-looking girls. And then later they made a terrible movie. Wedding Crashers. I'm like, Wow, now that wasn't me. But, but I actually went and, and it was such fun. It looked so good. I mean, they had a band. They had all this, and they had three or four hundred people. So what were they gonna, what was it gonna hurt? Yeah, what was it gonna, and you should have seen the food. Open bar. I was 20. It's like, yeah, yeah. And then what do I do? I just go in, start talking things up. Oh, man, a bride was beautiful, wasn't she? And all this kind of stuff. And they invited me. Oh, we start talking. And then, and then I felt really bad afterwards. Especially because I hadn't, by 20 years of age, I hadn't read the Bible in this part yet. Hadn't read much. So this made me feel really bad. But it made me feel good. I didn't, they didn't throw me out. So let's, let's look because it said, but the man had no reply. Then the kingdom said to his aides, bind his hands and feet and throw them into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. What is the lesson he's teaching us here? There's going to be no fakes. You can't fake righteousness. You can't fake it. You can't be a pretender. You can't be an actor. Like I acted like I belonged in that wedding.

You can't be a hypocrite. That's a Greek word for actor, is hypocrite. You can't just slide your way in. You can't fake it at that end time. And those who fake it, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth because you're going to be thrown. Where did, where did we just see they were going to be thrown? Oh, yes. And because otherwise, but he said to the, to this one, the big fake, bind him hand and feet and throw him in there.

What a, what a story. But he's not done. Join me in Matthew 24. Matthew 24. What is Matthew 24?

The Olivet prophecy. He's standing on the Mount of Olives and they say, well, when will these things be? When will these things be? So he gives a whole chapter, two chapters on what's going to be like at the end time. That's what he says. So here's how it's going to be. And then he goes into all the stuff you can read in the verses before it. And then he comes down to verse 45. And he says, A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the Master can give a responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them means taking care of them. Are you taking care of anyone? It's not the ministry has to do that. Bill, Stan, Jeff, we have deacons here. It's supposed to be taking care of people. No responsibility. You have things in your family. Okay. If the Master returns and find that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth. The Master will put that servant in charge of all he owns and you shall inherit what does Scripture say? All things. That means the servant is part of the family. You will have the inheritance. But what if the servant is evil and thinks, my Master won't be back for a while? Oh, man, we've got 15, 20 years. He's not coming back anytime soon. Pull me another beer.

This is serious stuff. Very serious stuff. He's saying because he does give us responsibility, whether it's in our family or whether it's in the church or wherever it is, you don't know what is going to be down the road. What if my Master, what if that evil servant thinks my Master won't be back for a while and he begins beating the other servants or treating them badly? You ever treated anyone badly? I think we all have, especially the household of faith.

Don't gossip about anybody. Ever criticize someone without knowing all the facts? Hmm. Partying! Yes! And getting drunk.

Not taking responsibility for yourself.

That's, he's talking to the church.

And here, he's especially talking to the ministry, leadership, but he's talking to all of us.

The Master will return unannounced. Uh-oh.

And unexpected, and he will cut the servants to pieces and sign him a place with the hypocrites. Remember those actors?

In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Boy, he's just turning up the heat, if I can use that word in this phrase. I got one more in Matthew. I have to look at my watch. Make sure I'm not keeping you guys over time.

And people say, well, don't worry about that. Well, I do, because God's never late. He's always on time. To the second. When Jesus Christ, when will he return? Just the right second, not the moment, the second.

So I kind of want to be on his side and make sure. Turn to Matthew 25 and verse 28.

Said then, oh yes, here, he gives another parable about, he gives you certain things, one five, one two, one one, and tells you go invest it. He's using his analogy for his spirit. What are you doing with it? He gives everybody a certain amount of talent. So guess what?

You're going to use it. It's the old phrase, use it or lose it. Well, what happens? He's got two that use it and one decides not to. I just go bury it in the ground. He said, at least you could have put it with the bankers and I would have gotten even a little interest. And in banks today, it is a little interest, but it was something. What do you want to do? Show up to God and say, got nothing except what you gave me. That's scary. Let's see. Verse 28. Then he ordered, take the money from this servant and give it to the one with ten bags of silver, what was silver that time, to those who use, well, what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

Now, throw this useless servant into outer darkness. He's not in the kingdom where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Whoa! Okay. I think Matthew sends a clear story and definitely a proclamation to all of us.

We don't want this. We don't want to go down that road. But just so I'm sure, let's go over to Luke. Let's go over to Luke 13. He's the only other one that tells us. And he gives quite a few parables there before he comes down to verse 22. Chapter 13, verse 22. Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on towards Jerusalem. Someone asked him, Lord, will only a few be saved? He replied, work hard.

Huh? You mean I thought it was just faith? All I had to do was have faith.

Oh, he says, work hard to enter the narrow door of God's kingdom, for many will try to enter, but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, Lord, open that door for us. But he will apply. I don't know you or where you come from. Then you will say, but we ate and we drank with you. We attended services. We ate at the buffet with you. And you taught us in the streets. You taught us at Bible studies. And he will reply, I tell you, I don't know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil. You don't practice what I taught. You're evil.

And I don't want anything to do with you. He said, then, 28, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God. But you'll be thrown out. But I know those... No. He doesn't know you. And the people will come from all around the world, from east and west and north and south, to take... What's the word? Two words. There places. There is a place. I go to prepare a... This is it. In his kingdom. This is what it's about. Wow.

To take their place in the kingdom of God and note this. And when he says, note this, some who seem least important now will be greatest then, and some who are greatest now will be least important then. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. He fulfills that.

I have one more verse. We'll wrap this up. Go with me to Revelation.

Revelation 21, verse 8. It says, but cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murders, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars. What do we call liars? Also actors, we saw earlier. Those who pretend to be, they're lying. They're not part of God's church. They just act like they are because they just want to take this as an insurance policy. Yeah, write me up that policy. Okay, I'm good. I don't have to do anything. I got the policy in my hand. Well, it'll go with the lake of fire. It'll be burnt up too.

All liars, their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.

There's a movie, True Story. It was actually made into a really good movie. I studied the history before I saw the movie. I'm not particularly a Tom Cruise fan, but he made a movie called The Last Samurai. Did anybody see that movie? A few. It was actually a true story. You can even look up the people's names and see pictures of them. They don't look quite like.

He sure didn't look like Tom Cruise. The last samurai guy didn't look that. But in that movie, there's this great statement as Tom Cruise. His job is to train young men to go and battle the samurai for the emperor. And so he's working with them, and he's working with them, and the head guy goes, well, we just need to go. We need to go and attack them. And Tom Cruise looks at him, and he says, they're not ready. They're not ready.

And you know, they weren't ready, and they got slaughtered. True story. Are we ready?

Or do we need a little more time? For many of us, God thankfully has given us more time. We need to be ready.

Brethren, leave no doubt. Leave no doubt.

And there will be no weeping and gnashing of teeth in your future.