Matthew 25: What Have You Done to Deserve My Kingdom?

Introduction

"What have you done with the life I gave you?" Jean-Blaise Amougou invites the Église Évangélique Vie Nouvelle to imagine that moment: there is no more preaching, no more meetings, no chance to start over. There is no more appearance, no more function, no more title, no more reputation. Only you and Jesus remain.

The Lord will not ask how much money you earned, how many houses you owned, or how many people knew you when you preached or prophesied. He will ask what you did for his kingdom. "That question is terrifying for the one who lived for himself. But it is glorious for the one who lived for Jesus Christ."

The message draws on Matthew 25, especially the judgment of the nations from verse 31 onward, on Ephesians 2:8-10, and on Revelation 22:12: "Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work." Because the service had to end earlier, the preacher condenses his message and announces that he will cover points 11 and 12 another time.

Outline of the Message

1. No One Deserves Salvation

The first fundamental truth: we do not earn the kingdom of God by our works. You do not deserve heaven because you bring a million euros to the church, invite the pastor to your home with his wife and children, or bless a brother or sister.
Ephesians 2:8 says it: by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Salvation, the cross, forgiveness, and eternal life are all grace. On the cross, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34).
"We do not work to be saved. We serve because we have been saved."
We are his workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). God is the great potter who shapes us so that we become like him. Whoever is created in Jesus belongs to him, becomes his private property, and Satan sees the blood of Jesus on him.
Here is the biblical balance: "Works do not produce salvation. Salvation produces works."

2. Why Does Jesus Talk About Reward?

Grace does not mean our lives do not matter. In Matthew 25, the King says to those on his right hand: "Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Then he speaks about what they did.
The love of God must remain in our hearts at every moment, toward one another. Hatred, jealousy, quarrels, grumbling, and envy have no place there.
The preacher imagines a Jesus who holds a grudge against Peter, who denied him. Yet John and Peter were the ones who ran to the tomb, and the message was: "Call my disciples, but call Peter too" (see Mark 16:7). "Hatred has no part among the children of God."
"Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40). What we do for others out of love for Jesus Christ, Jesus counts as done for himself.
One day, on the street, absorbed in his phone, the preacher passes a dirty man who had not eaten in two days. A thought grips him: "What if it were Jesus?" He gives him what he has. The man begins to cry and tells him he is Cameroonian, just like him. The preacher stays an hour talking with him, bearing witness to God's goodness, "because God's compassion filled me." His conclusion: let us never close our hearts to someone who cries out for help.

3. What Have You Done With What God Entrusted to You?

Our generation asks, "What can God do for me?" The Gospel teaches us to ask, "Lord, what do you want to do through me?"
We have a lot of ideas and we want to bring God into them. "That's not biblical." God is the one who chooses and God is the one who appoints, as he did for Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).
God has given you time, strength, gifts, a family, abilities, resources, opportunities, influence, a mouth to testify about him, and hands to serve. The question will be: "What have you done with what I entrusted to you?"
Witnessing, praying, and fasting are actions, but they are not what gets us into heaven. What does is doing God's will and walking in obedience by faith.
Time is one of the things God gives us that we can never get back. "We can lose money and earn it back. We can lose a house and build another, but a day that has passed never returns."
How much time do you give to prayer, meditating on the Word, being with your family, serving, and evangelizing? We find time for a soccer game, a movie, or a visit, but when it comes to witnessing about the one who set us free from death, how much time do we give?

4. What Have You Done With the Souls Placed Around You?

"The church that does not evangelize dies." For the preacher, "we are all evangelists": the first mission of a disciple of Jesus is to say who he is and what he does in our lives. He calls the Church to humble itself and ask God's forgiveness because we no longer evangelize.
A young person from the church brought his primary school teacher to the service: "I talked to her about Jesus at school and she came." How many still do the same with their boss or their coworkers?
The preacher works at a company where about 98% of his colleagues are Muslim. They all know who he is, and so does management. He witnesses without stopping, "not for Jean-Blaise, but for the one who lives in me."
Witness to your family, because "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). Witness to your neighbors, your friends, and the discouraged people you meet on the subway and in your neighborhood.
A neighbor, met while he was walking with difficulty on crutches after a stroke, received a simple smile. Today, every time he sees the preacher, he tells him that he has given his life to Jesus and goes to church.
We testify to what we have seen and experienced (John 3:11-14). "Don't spit on Muslims, don't spit on Jehovah's Witnesses," but let us reflect Jesus where they are.
We want a great mission. God answers: start with the person I have already placed next to you. "Start with one, and then we'll see." Philip was led into the desert to a single soul (Acts 8:26-40).

5. What Have You Done for the Least of These?

"Matthew 25 is overwhelming," from the first verse to the last. Jesus speaks of those who were hungry, thirsty, strangers, sick, or in prison, and he says: you did it to me.
The kingdom is not measured only by our spiritual words. "Our faith must become visible in our love." You can preach about love, but do you love? You can talk about forgiveness, but do you forgive? You can talk about compassion, but do you stop for someone who is suffering?
Let us not wait until we have a thousand members to serve, or until we are appointed as leaders. Service begins when there are one, two, or three of us.
What do you know how to do that you are not doing in the house of God? Putting away the instruments, telling a brother or sister "I love you," opening your home to someone who has none.
A big mistake is to say: when I have a lot, I will give; when I have time, I will serve; when I am older, I will get involved; when my problems are settled, I will work for God.
"God does not ask for what you don't have. He asks for what you have." Moses had a staff, David a sling, the widow two small coins, the boy five loaves and two fish that fed five thousand men, besides women and children. "In God's hands, what seems small can become extraordinary."

6. God Will Examine the Work and the Motive

"Each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is" (1 Corinthians 3:13). "Either you hold up or you burn."
God does not look only at what we have done, but at why we did it. "We can do a good thing for a bad reason."
We can serve to be applauded, preach to be recognized, give to be admired, work for a position. Paul and the apostles, on the other hand, were beaten and thrown into prison because they told the truth.
Jesus taught that you should not let your left hand know what your right hand does (Matthew 6:3). "The glory belongs to Jesus." We have nothing and we will leave with nothing.
"God measures not only the action, but he looks at the motive." What motivates you?

7. Working for God Without Living With God

"The danger: having worked for God without having lived with God." In Matthew 7:22-23, some will say, "Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name?" And Jesus will answer, "I never knew you."
The preacher speaks as Jesus would: "You came to church without knowing me. You sang without knowing me. You preached without knowing me." For him, it is one of the most serious sayings of Jesus.
Which Jesus do we worship? The one who died on the cross and rose again, who said "It is finished" (John 19:30), for whom there is no more condemnation (Romans 8:1), who broke the chains of bondage? Or another Jesus, sought in places where he is not?
"What a tragedy! Doing things for Jesus without truly belonging to Jesus."
If you know Jesus, you live in humility, in love, and in the fear of God. You flee the works of the flesh, sexual immorality and adultery, like Joseph (Genesis 39). You watch what you say and what you do. Jesus asks for genuine repentance and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
So the first question is not "what am I doing for you?" but "Lord, do I know you as you know me?"

8. The Kingdom, an Inheritance for Those Who Belong to the King

"The kingdom is not a reward for high performers. It is an inheritance for those who belong to the king."
Matthew 25:34 speaks of a kingdom that is "prepared": it is not a human invention, it is prepared by God. Our hope rests first of all on his grace in Jesus Christ.
This grace transforms the way we live: we are transformed from glory to glory into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). Whoever has met Jesus cannot say: since I am saved by grace, I can live however I want. Paul would answer: certainly not (Romans 6:1-2). The preacher points to Galatians 5.
"The grace that saves is also the grace that transforms."
Everything we own will stay behind: house, car, money, job, clothes, titles. Only one thing will have eternal value: what we have done for Jesus Christ and in obedience to Jesus Christ.
This question is not asked to condemn us, but to wake us up. Someone needs to start serving again, take up prayer again, rediscover a passion for souls, ask forgiveness, forgive, consecrate themselves anew, and say: "Lord, here I am. I no longer want to waste the time you have given me."

Key Takeaways

No one deserves salvation: it is grace. We do not work to be saved, we serve because we have been saved.
What you do for one of the least of these out of love for Jesus, he counts as done for himself.
Your time, your gifts, and the souls placed around you are entrusted to you. A day that has passed never returns.
God does not ask you for what you don't have, but for what you have. He also looks at the motive of your heart.
The greatest danger is working for God without living with him. The kingdom is an inheritance for those who belong to the king.

Personal Application

If Jesus asked you today, "What have you done with the life I gave you?", what would you answer?
How much time did you give this week to prayer, the Word, and witnessing, compared to your leisure?
Which person has God already placed next to you, at work, in your family, or in your neighborhood, so that you can talk to them about Jesus?
What do you have in your hands today that God could use in his house?
Do you serve God by truly knowing him, or do you do things for him without living with him?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you earn the kingdom of God by your works?

No. Jean-Blaise Amougou is very clear: no one deserves salvation. According to Ephesians 2:8-9, it is by grace that we are saved, through faith, and it is the gift of God. We do not work to be saved, we serve because we have been saved. Works do not produce salvation, salvation produces works.

What does "you did it to me" mean in Matthew 25?

In Matthew 25:40, Jesus declares that whatever was done to one of his least brothers was done to him. For the preacher, this is a great revelation: what we do for others out of love for Jesus Christ, Jesus counts as done for himself. Our faith must become visible in our love.

Why does Jesus say "I never knew you" to those who prophesied in his name?

In Matthew 7:22-23, some prophesied and performed miracles in Jesus' name without belonging to him. Jean-Blaise Amougou sees in this the danger of having worked for God without having lived with God. So the first question is not "what am I doing for God?" but "Lord, do I know you as you know me?"