Don't Be a Goat

Tell Them What You are Going to Tell Them

Matthew 25:31–46 NIV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “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.’ “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.’ “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.’ “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.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Introduction

Today we're going to talk about the G.O.A.T. In the world many people strive to be the G.O.A.T., But in the Kingdom of heaven the last thing that you want to be is the goat.

A debate that many people have today is who is the G.O.A.T. For those that may not be familiar with the term the G.O.A.T. G.O.A.T.

Stands for the greatest of all time. People most often debate who is the G.O.A.T. in sports arguments, however; It is not exclusive to sports arguments. Recently a gentleman retired from football you may know his name, he wore #12 and played for New England and Tampa. Maybe you have heard of him, a man by the name of Tom Brady . Many consider Tom Brady to be the G.O.A.T. But in our area we have this young up and comer who wears the number 15 and while he hasn't played long enough to be considered the G.O.A.T. many believe that by the end of his playing career he will undoubtedly have surpassed Tom Brady to become the G.O.A.T. but for those who are older and can remember the quarterback play of people such as Terry Bradshaw, Dan Marino, and John Elway we might have another person in mind for consideration of the greatest of all times the G.O.A.T a man who wore #16 by the name of Joe Montana. Then there's the G.O.A.T. argument in basketball. Is LeBron James the G.O.A.T. or is it Michael Jordan? To me this is not even an argument of course it's it's Michael Jordan. Now as someone who was born and raised in Detroit MI. you have to understand how difficult it is for me to say that. You have to understand that something happens to me physically when I have to say those words. Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time. But as I stated before the G.O.A.T. argument goes beyond sports. We have these conversations as preachers. I attend Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Many at Midwestern would say a gentleman by the name of Charles Spurgeon was the greatest of all times when it comes to preachers. But then some would say, hold on, wait a minute what about Jonathan Edwards, then you would have those that say but of course it has to be Martin Luther King Jr. Then there will be those people that will say no all of you are wrong of course the greatest of all time is Billy Graham. And then there will of course be that small group of people that very small group of people that very very very small group of people who might say something like it's Franklin Ruff. Now of course I am not comparing myself to this Mount Rushmore of preachers these great preachers, but I do have to admit that it's nice seeing my picture up there with such great preachers.

The G.O.A.T. Conversation even extends to politics. President Trump has said that he is the G.O.A.T. when it comes to presidents of course in the polarizing times that we live in there would be many who Would argue for other presidents , such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or Ronald Reagan. Sports, politics, preaching, and many other areas will have debates over who's the G.O.A.T. But all of these men who are in the conversation for Greatest of all time, all of them have one thing in common, Whether it be Tom Brady , Patrick Mahomes, or Joe Montana, LeBron James , or Michael Jordan,It doesn't matter who they are all of these men have one thing in common , whether it's Charles Spurgeon , Jonathan Edwards , Martin Luther King , or Billy Graham, Whether it's George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, or Donald Trump, Each and everyone of these individuals and any other individual that might fall into the category of greatest of all time, they all have one thing in common. The one thing that they have in common is something that they have in common with all of us and that is that each of these individuals along with all of us are created by the creator . And so the argument for the G.O.A.T. Ends there nothing that is created can be the G.O.A.T. because the G.O.A.T is the creator God is the G.O.A.T. In fact when it comes to How God will look upon us at the time of judgment none of us want to be the goat . As we continue our examination of the Olivet discourse we will find out why none of us want to be the goat. Of course as we have learned the Olivet discourse is about the end times, It is about when Jesus will return . We know that only the father knows when that time will be and so our responsibility as Christians is to be ready. As a part of being ready we come to understand an important issue that is the central message of today's text and that is (Go to sermon central idea.)

Series Central Idea

Only the father knows when Christ will return , as Christians our responsibility is to be ready

Sermon Central Idea

Jesus is coming, when he returns his coming as king and judge.

The first time Jesus came he came as the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world . Through his sacrifice all of creation has been redeemed , and you and I and all of humanity have an opportunity for salvation, because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life . In his first coming as the lamb of God he came to offer us eternal life . When he comes for the second time the door to salvation will be closed. Right now the door to salvation is open and anyone who repent and accepts Jesus as Lord and savior can walk through that open door. When Jesus comes the second time the door to salvation will be permanently closed. In his second coming Jesus will return as the king of kings, he will return as the Lord of Lords, he will return as judge. The central message that we will focus on today is when Jesus returns he is returning as king and judge.

Main Point(s)

The main point that we're going to address as we look at that central message today is

When Jesus returns you would much rather be a sheep than the goat .

Tell Them

So let's talk about why you would rather be a sheep than the goat. In the parable Jesus says that when he returns with the angels he's going to divide all the nations up and he's going to divide them like the shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. Now it's important for us to understand how this parable reflects how we live in the world .

When the shepherd takes the sheep and the goats out to the field, they are all mixed together, in many situations if you're looking from a distance you might not be able to tell the difference between the sheep and the goats. In the world we are all mixed together, the believer and the nonbeliever and sometimes you can not tell the deference between the two. When the shepherd brings the flock in the sheep and the goats are separated . So if we were to look at this in terms of humanity what Jesus is saying is that before the judgment takes place we are all mixed together those who know Jesus and those who do not, but when he returns and the time of judgment comes he is going to separate us just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats . And let me tell you when this separation happens you want to be a sheep and not a goat.

In society today sees the comparison between the sheep and the goat totally different. To call someone a sheep is to say that they are weak, soft, or unmotivated. No one wants to be a sheep, but when Jesus returns you definitely want to be a sheep.

In society if you ask a person, would you rather be the G.O.A.T. or would you rather be a sheep almost 100 times out of 100 a person is going to choose to be the G.O.A.T. When judgment comes you don't want to be the goat . Why is that?

Let's look at what Jesus had to say about the sheep

Matthew 25:34–40 NIV

“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.’ “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 sheep are the ones who did what was right. The sheep isn't the strongest, the sheep isn't the one that you notice , but the sheep is the one who fed the hungry, who gave water to the thirsty, who gave shelter to the stranger, who clothed the naked, who took care of the sick, and who visited the prisoner .

The righteous do not recognize in themselves what Jesus was saying about them. They asked when did we do all this. Verse 40 answers their question.

Matthew 25:40 NIV

“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.’

Now let's look very carefully at the words of Jesus here “ whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine , you did for me” the reason that this sentence is so important is because Jesus says whatever you did for the brothers and sisters of mine in saying this Jesus is showing us that he is talking about how believers take care of believers . The only way to be a brother, or a sister of Jesus is to be adopted into the Family of Jesus and the only way to be adopted in the family of Jesus is to repent and accept Jesus as Lord and savior . So when Jesus says whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters you did for me he is saying whatever you did for the least of believers you did for me.

This could be a very dangerous text. I could see where someone would take this text and say that Jesus is only concerned with Christians taking care of Christians . That is not what Jesus is saying. What we must understand as Christians is if we cannot take care of each other then we cannot effectively minister to the world. To effectively show love to the world we have to first love each other . To effectively meet the needs of the world we must first effectively meet the needs of each other. So when Jesus says whatever you do to the least of these my brothers and sisters you do to me he is not saying ignore the rest of the world he is not saying ignore non Christians he is saying that however you treat my brothers and sisters, this is how you are treating me. We want to care about , and care for each other and although the world says differently we want to be the sheep.

So we've established that we want to be the sheep but why don't we want to be the goat. Let's look at what Jesus had to say about the goats .

Matthew 25:41–45 NIV

“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.’ “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.’

What we do is important , but equally as important are the things that we fail to do . Jesus points out that the goats did not feed the hungry, They did not give the thirsty drink , they did not invite the stranger, nor did they give clothes to the naked, or take care of the sick, or visit the imprisoned. What they failed to do for their fellow man they failed to do for Jesus.

We have a choice we can choose to be the sheep, or we can choose to be the goat , however; At the judgment you would much rather be a sheep

Question(s)

It seems like salvation is about works

Answer(s)

As We examine this text we can see how someone can look at this and say salvation is all about works . Jesus is dividing people based on what they did so yes it does look like salvation is about works, but we have to look beyond the surface, we have to look deeper, and when we do what we come to understand is that the works are not necessary for salvation, the works happen because we are saved. The difference between the believer and the non believer, the difference between the saved and the unsaved starts with repentance and acceptance. We repent, and we accept the lordship of Jesus Christ . When this happens the bible is very clear that a transformation begins. The Bible tells us in

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Romans 12:2 NIV

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

As you can see the process of salvation is also a process of transformation and as we go through that process of transformation we are changed. We cease to be what we used to be and we become more of what God wants us to be and we begin to do those things which we should do as followers of God. So we are not saved because of our works. We do the works because the transformation that has taken place in us gives us a desire to do those things which we should be doing . The transformation gives us that desire to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to take in the stranger, to heal the sick , and to visit the imprisoned .

When Jesus separates the sheep from the goats he isn't doing it simply based on works. He's doing it because those who were saved are those who desired to be the sheep and those who were unsaved are those who desired to be goats. Those who were saved were transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit, and those who are unsaved the goats did not undergo the transformation . So to answer the question is salvation about works the answer is no salvation is not about works, salvation is about repentance and acceptance. When we repent and accept Jesus we are transformed and when we are transformed we will do the works .

Application.

So how should we apply this text to life? That depends first of all we should all desire to be sheep , and in order to be sheep we've said it many times but let's reiterate that in order to be sheep one must repent and one must accept Jesus christ as lord and savior. We want to live our lives as sheep . Not a sheep in the way the world sees sheep as weak and helpless, but we want to live as godly sheep those who go out and show love and compassion for our brothers and sisters in Christ and as we show love and compassion for our brothers and sisters in Christ you know what's going to happen people who are not a part of the family, people who are not Christians will see how Christians love each other and they're going to be drawn to us, but also as we go about loving each other then we can also go out and love the world and as we do that people will also be drawn to the Kingdom . So the basic application here is to. Repent, accept, and love . Repent , accept, and love . Repent of your sins, accept Jesus as lord and savior and love God, love your brothers and sisters and love the world .

Tell Them What You Told Them

This is the final sermon in our series on the Olivet discourse . And one of the most important things for us to know , is what we don't know , and what we can't know . First let's talk about what we know, we know the Jesus is coming back . What we don't know is when he is coming back. Each week you have heard only the father knows when Jesus is returning our responsibility as Christians is to be ready . We are ready because we know that Jesus is coming back. Jesus has already redeemed all of creation, he has already done everything that he can do to give humanity an opportunity for salvation. As long as we draw breath and before he returns we have that opportunity to accept him as Lord and savior. We have the opportunity to look at our lives and to repent and realize that there would be no way for us in our fallen state to be in the presence of a holy God. Were it not for the blood of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ we would be lost . We know that when Jesus comes back he's coming back as the king of kings , he's coming back as the lord of lords, he's coming back to judge . You don't want to be a goat, you want to be a sheep. Jesus will separate the nations as the shepherd separates the sheep and the goats . You don't want to be a goat, because when Jesus separates the sheep from the goats the G.O.A.T. does not stand for greatest of all time the G.O.A.T.S. stands for God objects to all that sin. You don't want to be a goat you want to be a sheep who knows and hears the voice of their shepherd Jesus . You want to be a sheep who has loved his fellow sheep , as well as the goats . You want to be a sheep who hears from the king “come you who are blessed by my father take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world .