Sheep and Goats
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Sheep and Goats
Sheep and Goats
Go ahead and open your Bibles to , that is where we will be looking this morning.
Chapter 25 picks up right where 24 leaves off, so we need to go back and remind ourselves of what Christ is talking about.
Remember that the Disciples are asking Jesus when the destruction of the Temple will come, and when His kingdom is going to be ushered in. And Jesus talks to them both of the destruction of the temple in AD 70 and of signs of the end of the age, when He will return.
And at the end of Chapter 24, Jesus explains to the disciples that no one knows the time when He is going to return. He doesn’t leave them with a task to figure out when He will return, he overtly tells them that they aren’t going to know.
However, Jesus does talk to them about since they don’t know when He will return, that they are to be faithful to the task that He has given them, so they will be found faithful when He does return.
And that’s the same theme that we are going to be looking at today. Jesus is still talking to them about faithfulness as they wait for the second coming.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 25:1
The first thing we want to look at here is that picking up where he was at in chapter 24, in the parable the bridegroom is delayed. The delay is so long that they at one point fall asleep. They have no idea when he is going to arrive, and that’s exactly what Jesus told us in Chapter 24.
Notice that they aren’t sitting around trying to figure it out either. He arrives when they are not expecting it, as Christ has said it will happen.
When you look at this parable, it gets real easy to get lost in the weeds and to miss the point of the parable.
These are the members of a bridal party, who have gone out to meet the groom.
The marital practice of the day was that the groom would come to the bride’s house and that is where they would marry. On rare occasion, the bridal party would meet the groom’s party at a mutual location.
So to us it seems weird that this bridal party would be sitting around waiting on the groom, but to the disciples, this would have been a common thing.
And the point of the parable is that there are those who are vigilant and prepared, and those who are not. Remember, this is on the heels of Jesus talking about faithful servants attending to the task they were given.
The task these women were given was to be on watch for the bridegroom. Some of them are prepared for that task, and some are not.
But notice that it appeared at the beginning that they were prepared, but they would not last.
In Pilgrims Progress, John Bunyan’s main character is named Christian. And the story is the description of the journey that Christian sets out on. At the very beginning of the journey, Christian comes across a man named Pliable, and upon hearing the promises of the Kingdom, decides he wants in and joins Christian on his journey.
But immediately, Christian and his new friend run into a bog, or a swamp, and are stuck. The joyful journey has suddenly turned difficult.
Bunyan writes, “At this Pliable began to be offended, and angrily said to his fellow, Is this the happiness you have told me all this while of? If we have such ill speed at our first setting out, what may we expect betwixt this an our journey’s end?”
You see, Pliable’s character wanted the joy of the promises of the kingdom. He loved the idea of a place where there are no tears, no sorrow, no pain. But he would not endure the journey in order to get there.
You see, the desire for joy to come was not enough to sustain him in the midst of trouble.
And the same is true for us. It is not enough for us to want to stay out of hell. Jesus is not cosmic fire insurance.
It is not enough for us to want heaven. To want to walk on streets of gold, to want to walk beside the crystal sea.
Paul Washer said, “If you want to follow Jesus because He will give you a better life, that’s Idolatry”.
We follow Jesus because we want Jesus. Because any other reason that we have will not sustain us when life gets difficult.
ONLY CHRIST WILL SUSTAIN US.
That is the call of the believer. To endure.
The kingdom of heaven, the marriage feast is prepared for those who will endure.
Not for those who simply make a profession of faith,
not for those who simply walk an isle and sign a card,
not for those who simply become members of their local church.
but for those who endure
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Christ said in chapter 24,
However, as Christ tells his next parable, we see that there is a purpose in the midst of that endurance.
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Jesus tells of multiple servants who have been given talents. And first, we need to understand here, that when we say talents, this is not American Idol.
We are not talking about the ability to sing, dance or do ventriloquism.
A talent is estimated to be worth several hundred thousand dollars.
I say that to make sure we understand, these are no small things. Even the servant who was given one talent, was endowed with a great amount of responsibility.
In the first parable, Jesus teaches us that a faithful Christian life is not a one moment event, it is a lifetime of endurance.
And here in this second parable, we see that while we are called to endure to the end, we are not to hole up and just wait for it all to be over.
In the middle of our waiting, we have been entrusted to further the kingdom. Remember, at the end of chapter 24, Jesus has already said that a faithful servant is found performing the task that the master left them to do.
We could spend a week just here in this parable, but I want to really pull two things out of this text.
Jesus is not teaching here that we have to earn our keep as believers.
Notice that the servant who was given 5 talents gains 5 more
Then the servant who was given 2 gains 2 more
The master does not come back and compare the man who made 2 more with the one who made 5 more.
Both are told that they have been good and faithful servants.
The third servant is not berated because the master has need and the servant did not fulfill.
The third servant is berated because he was lazy.
It is not about results, it is about faithfulness.
In my study, I came across a song from an African American slave
There’s a king and a captain high,
And he’s coming by and by,
and he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes,
You can hear his legions charging in the regions of the sky,
And he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
There’s a man they thrust aside
who was tortured till he died,
And he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
He was hated and rejected,
he was scorned and crucified,
And he’ll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
When he comes! When he comes!
He’ll be crowned by saints and angels when he comes
they’ll be shouting out Hosanna to the man that men denied,
And I’ll kneel among my cotton when he comes.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is what a faithful heart sounds like. To be faithful to the task that has been set before us.
2. The relationship the servants have to the master
Both the first and the second servant are eager to present what they have to the master
Not because they want to show off, but because their work was to please the master
but look at what the third servant says
Matthew 25:
He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’
The third servant has a picture of the master that neither of the other two servants have.
Whereas the first two worked so that they may please the master, the third was afraid of the judgement of the master.
Herein we can see that the first two servants loved the master, and therefore wanted to be faithful to the task so that they could show their love to him.
But the third, who did not love the master, but instead only wanted to avoid judgement, had no motivation to do anything that would risk him that judgement.
And again we can see the same in ourselves.
In the last parable, we saw that we will not endure if we do not love the Lord. Desire for heaven or desire to stay out of hell will not suffice.
And here in this parable, we see that fear of God’s wrath alone will not propel us to be faithful servants.
What should propel us to be faithful stewards of what God has given us? A love of Christ.
And that same love of Christ leads us to love those who are His
Matthew 25:31-
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
There are two ways we can read this text and come away with a message that Jesus does not say
First, this passage is dealing with relationships between believers. That does not mean that we are not to love unbelievers around us. Just because Jesus doesn’t say everything that could be said in this text doesn’t mean it isn’t true or applicable.
We are called by scripture to Love those who hate us, to bless those who curse us. Nothing of what Jesus says here undermines any of that.
But the focus of this text is the relationship between believers.
The second way we can get a wrong message from this text is to think that the sheep and goats in the passage are sheep or goats because they did or did not love and serve Christ’s people.
Rather, it is the exact opposite. It is their relationship to the father that determines whether they are sheep or goats. And the outflow of that relationship leads them to either serve or not to serve.
Again, as we said with the parable of the talents, this is not believers earning their keep with the Lord. This is a service that flows out of a love for God and His people.
And one final thing I want us to see here in this text is the way that the Lord identifies with His people.
Christ says if you served one of my brothers, you have served me.
We see this again on the road to Damascus.
Saul has been persecuting and murdering believers, and when Christ blinds Saul, He says, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
If you are a believer this morning, you are united with Christ. Every believer is united with Him.
So if a brother or sister serves another brother or sister out of a love for God and that person, they are serving Christ.
As believers, we are not only united to Christ, but we are united in Christ.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you have more in common with a brother or sister in Christ than you do your own unbelieving family members.
That unity that we have in Christ should propel us to serve and love one another. Our common faith in the One True God binds us together, and unites us in love.
Conclusion
So as we look to the whole of , we have questions that we must answer.
As believers in Christ, if the Lord were to come back today, would we be found among the faithful?
Are we using everything that God has given us, from the breath in our lungs to our cars and homes, in service of the Kingdom?
As God has bestowed such grace upon us, are we being graceful to those around us?
As God mercifully brought you to an understanding of the Gospel, are you out sharing that same gospel with others?
The primary question we face as believers this morning is does our love for the Lord propel us to be faithful servants? or are we being lazy and making excuses?
But there is another question that must be answered first
The primary question we must look at this morning is, are we a sheep or are we a goat?
In all of the text this morning, there is only one thing separating sheep and goats. A relationship and love for Jesus.
I’m not asking if you ever walked and Isle and told someone you wanted to go to heaven.
I’m not asking if anyone ever led you through a prayer and told you that you were a Christian.
I’m not even asking if you have been a faithful servant in the church year after year.
I’m asking you this morning if you have ever come to the feet of the father, repented of your sins, and live a life that shows a love for Jesus Christ.
Ladies and gentlemen, nothing we do matters if we get this question wrong. We are not saved by works, we are saved by faith.
Have you ever put your faith in Jesus Christ?
If you aren’t sure, please come talk to me or to one of the elders. Let us show you today what the Word says about how you can love Jesus.
Lets pray.