The Sheep & the Goats

The Sheep & the Goats

Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus has spent almost two chapters warning us of His Second Coming. As He finishes the Olivet Discourse, He ends with a very moving picture of what His return will look like. It will be a wonderful day for those who know Christ but a horrible day for those who don’t. I’m going to share with you five things about the return of Christ.

1. Christ will return in glorious fashion (31-32).

A. His return is inevitable.

“He shall”

Illust. I don’t know if you have ever had your brakes go out while you were driving, but it’s a scary thing. When it comes to this world, the brakes are out. You are not going to stop time. We are cruising speedily toward the return of Christ.

We should be glad He is going to return.

What if Christ did not return? What would happen to our world?

This world cannot sustain itself. Scientists admit this. They say because the universe is expanding eventually all the stars will die out and life will cease to exist.

Man cannot control himself.

We are becoming more and more foolish. We’re discovering new ways to sin. Depravity is making us less human.

We are developing weapons that could destroy entire countries.

Humanity cannot save itself.

We can’t save ourselves from natural disasters: hurricanes, floods, heat, etc.

We can’t save ourselves from diseases.

We can’t save ourselves from sin.

This world would continue to get uglier and more dangerous until eventually humanity and the earth itself ceased to exist as we know it.

We need to Jesus to come back! Thank God He will!

B. He is going to return in glory.

Jude said

“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 14-15).

Paul said in 1 Thess. 1:7-10

when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

In the Bible when a person saw one angel they were overwhelmed (Luke 2:9). When Christ returns multitude of angels will be with Him. Their presence will light up the sky.

Among these angels will be the Son of Man, Christ Jesus. He will be the most glorious of them all.

You’ll recognize Him!

You’ll know Him!

He will descend to the earth and be seated upon a throne. It will be a glorious throne!

No one has ever made an entrance like Jesus is going to make!

C. He is going to gather the nations before Him.

Notice it will be “all the nations”. The world will be gathered before Jesus. Who could do that but the Lord?

Some will come willingly; others will have to be dragged. But all will come!

Some of you are late to everything but you won’t be late to this.

Picture this in your mind.

The Lord seated upon His throne surrounded by The Holy Angels. The world is gathered before Him.

A sea of people

A multitude of heavenly beings

God Himself on His throne

I enjoy fishing. Sometimes, after I pull a fish out of the water, I wonder what that fish is thinking. He is pulled from His home and is suddenly face to face with this being far bigger than he is.

The Bible describes the judgment day as a net cast into the sea and the fish dragged to shore and then separated good from bad (13:47-50).

On this day the net is cast, and God drags everyone to shore. They have been pulled out of their homes and now they stand face to face with a Being far greater than they are. Christ will return in glorious fashion.

2. People will be divided into two groups (33).

A. It is a privilege to be a sheep.

It’s unfortunate that in our culture it has become popular to say things like “I’m not a sheep” or “Don’t be a sheep.”

Even professing Christians say things like

“I’m not a sheep!” I know what they mean. They mean they aren’t going to be blindly led into conforming to restrictions or mandates. I understand that. But I have some advice for you. Find another way to say it.

As far as I’m concerned, you’re no better than the LGBTQ movement who hijacked the rainbow and made into something God never intended it to be. God meant the rainbow to be a sign of His promise to never flood the world again. The world stole it and transformed its meaning into something vile and disgusting.

God never intended for the term sheep to be derogatory. He describes His people as sheep.

In the OT- The Lord is My Shepherd! (Psalm 23)

We are the sheep of His hand (Psalm 95:7)

In the NT- Jesus said My sheep hear my voice (John 10:27).

Jesus said He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).

I was a lost sheep. The Good Shepherd went looking for me. He found me, threw me over His shoulder and took me back to the fold! I rejoice in that (Luke 15:4-7)!

I’m a sheep! I’m not just any sheep, I’m Christ’s sheep. I’m thankful for that. When Christ comes back, He better not hearing you shouting, “I’m no sheep!”

You say, “You know what I mean preacher!”

It doesn’t matter what you mean. God has chosen to identify His people as sheep. When you use that word with a negative ungodly connotation you are normalizing that stereotype. Use another word but leave God’s Word for His people alone.

B. God is the One who is separating people.

He shall separate them. In that culture often sheep and goats fed together at daytime but were separated at night. Sheep could handle the cold better than goats. A skilled shepherd could easily separate them.

This would be an impossible task for humans:

Logistically. It would be a nightmare.

We can’t keep people with more than 12 items out of the express lane.

We can’t keep people who aren’t handicapped out of the handicap spots.

We would have sheep on goat’s side and goats on the sheep’s side. We would be constantly going back and forth.

Truthfully. We can’t look at a person’s heart. We would not know who went where. It wouldn’t be a fair judgment.

God is the only One who is qualified to do this. He is the only One who can do this.

C. There are only two groups.

It’s sheep and goats. You are one or the other. We will either be on the right hand or the left hand. Wherever you are you will always be.

There isn’t a third option for seekers. There isn’t an undecided group. There isn’t an “almost a sheep” group or “Just a little bit of a goat” group.

3. Jesus is not suggesting we are saved by humanitarian efforts.

A. Some misunderstand Jesus’ teaching.

They think these people went to heaven because they are good people.

They fed people

They gave water to people

They were nice to strangers

They bought people clothing

They visited the sick and those in prison.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 you can give all your money to help the poor but if you don’t have goldy love it profits you nothing.

You can do all of these things and not have faith in Christ at all. There are many religions who do humanitarian work. There are many government programs who help meet basic needs. This is not what Jesus is talking about.

B. Jesus is describing how people relate to His family.

Two things I want you to see:

1) The person helped represents Christ “I was hungry and you fed Me”.

2) The person helped was a brother of Jesus (40).

That’s not to say we are not to help people who aren’t saved. We should. We should love our enemies. We should do good to them. We should even pray for them. But the context here is the Second coming. The world becomes hostile to Christians, persecution is widespread, and believers are in need.

This isn’t just about ministering to poor people. It’s about supporting the gospel. I’ll give you some verses to prove that.

James 2:15-17

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

1 John 3:17

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Galatians 6:10

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

C. Those preaching the gospel need to be sustained.

When Paul was listing his sufferings in 2 Cor. 11 he listed almost all the things Jesus does here.

He was imprisoned

He was hungry

He was thirsty

He was like a stranger (rejected by Jews and Gentiles)

He was without proper clothing

The sheep help these people because they represent Christ, and they love Christ. They love the message of Christ. They want the message of Christ to be shared so they help those who are sharing it.

4. God’s sheep are rewarded for their service to Him (34-40).

A. How do the sheep look?

They are busy. Feeding, clothing, visiting. Why? Because of what Christ has done for them.

Christ fed them the bread of life so they feed others!

Christ gave them the Living Water so they give a cold drink!

Christ took them in so they take in others!

Christ set them free from the prison of sin so they have compassion on those who are in bonds.

Christ clothed them with His own righteousness, so they clothe others!

Christ has healed them so they minister to the sick!

This is not a works salvation. This is a salvation that works! How could we do anything less when we know what Christ has done for us!

They are compassionate. When they see the people of God in need their heart breaks.

They are concerned about the gospel. The sheep understand the need for the gospel to be shared. The world needs people who are sharing the gospel. The greatest need in this world is the gospel. Therefore, those who share it must be cared for.

We fed 34 families this week in our mission center. What good would we have done had we not shared the gospel with them?

Every week we have a Bible study for our neighborhood. We feed people at the end but what good would we be doing if we did not teach the Word? We would be no different than any social program. There will always be people who will provide the things poor people need. There are few who will do so and share the gospel as well.

B. How do the sheep react when Christ speaks to them?

They are surprised.

When did we do this Lord? When did we feed you?

Here are a couple of things about the sheep’s actions:

1) They were simple duties. Anyone could do them.

The sheep stand in contrast to the false believers in Matthew 7:21-23 who say they:

Prophesied

Cast out devils

Did many wonderful works

2) They were not recognized as great works by the sheep.

In heaven you will be rewarded for things you never imagined. It wasn’t that big of a deal to you, but it was a big deal to the Lord and the person you ministered to.

In heaven you will be rewarded for things you have forgotten you have done.

This will be one of the joys of heaven. We will be surprised by the grace of God. Selfless and forgotten acts will be recognized!

C. How does Christ respond to the sheep.

He will say “Come on in.”

He will give them an inheritance prepared for them before time began. To enter heaven will be the greatest joy of our lives.

We are alive.

We are with those we loved and lost.

We are in a kingdom that is glorious.

We are with Christ forever. (Illustration of having that written on mom’s flag for the covid memorial) I could think of nothing better.

5. The goats are condemned for their lack of service to Christ (41-46).

A. Their sin was a sin of omission.

It wasn’t something they had done but rather something they had not done. They were like the foolish virgins in 25:1-13 who did not have a lit torch.

Just like the sheep, they are surprised at what the Lord says to them. They ask, “When did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked, in prison, sick or a stranger?”

Jesus tells them they did not do it to the “least of these”. Again, I think that refers to suffering Christians who are sharing the gospel. These are not “least” in God’s eyes by “least” in the eyes of the world.

Surely there were times these people helped others. Many lost people give to the poor. Clearly the text is talking about the response the world has to believers.

Listen to me friend, they are judged for their ack of concern for those who carry the gospel and the name of Jesus.

There will be people who say I gave to this organization or that one.

I helped with cancer research.

I helped with hurricane victims.

I gave to the Police Association.

I gave to the March of Dimes.

Those are fine things to do.

But what about the church? What about the propagation of the gospel? What are you doing to make sure the Word of God goes forth? What are you doing for the name of Jesus?

We are a blessed people. We have food and drink. We are not in prison for preaching the gospel yet. But the principle remains. What are we doing for those who do the work of Christ on this earth?

Are we encouraging them?

Are we assisting them?

Are we funding the work of God?

There are people who come to church but do nothing to advance the kingdom of God through the church. In fact, some do the opposite. We have workers laboring for the Lord in the local church. We have some who attend the same church and do nothing but sew discord. They gossip. They tear down. They do nothing to build the church up.

Understand the sin of omission is a serious sin. Goats do nothing to help the church. Goats do not care if the church is healthy or not. Goats are self-centered. They care about themselves and that’s it.

B. Christ is harsh with the goats.

Depart from me- you didn’t want My people. My kingdom is filled with my people, you wouldn’t like it here.

You are cursed- That’s strong language from the Lord. It means you are ruined, you are devoted to destruction.

Into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels- You are no better than a devil. You will share an eternal home with Satan.

Everlasting punishment (46)- Your lack of concern for the work of God has eternal consequences. Hell never stops. It never cools off.

Are you a sheep or a goat? Are you serving Christ by serving those who love Him and carry His message?