The Final Judgment
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Sheep and the Goats....
Sheep and the Goats....
Good morning friends,
I hope you’ve had a good week.
It’s a joy to see you this morning and but not only see you, but the joy of gathering and worshipping together is a blessing.
So that you for making this time your priority, the time together in God’s house with other believers.
Today we come back to the Gospel of Matthew this morning and we return to chapter 25 with the text of the final judgment, or more commonly referred to as the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.
So take your Bibles this morning and lets look at our text today.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 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. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 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. 35 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, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 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.’
41 “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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 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.’ 44 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?’ 45 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.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Now for a little back ground today, remember for the last few passages in chapter 24 and even to last week at the beginning of chapter 25, the call has been to be ready.
And rightly so, God’s desire is for humanity to be ready, to be His children embracing his mercy and grace so that we are ready when He returns to gather his church.
But with this passage, He has come, He has returned to this world. It’s a picture of victory, grandeur and majesty.
But just like in the parable last week, when the Master returned to His property, do you remember what happened?
He brought his servants before Him and there was an accounting of their life, actions while He was gone. So here, there is an accounting for the days of their lives.
So with that in mind, lets begin my friends.
1. His Return to His Kingdom...
Now I word the phrase like this way because the return Jesus is speaking about is His return to establish his Kingdom on this earth.
I refer to this as the second phase of His coming…, Now I say that based on a couple of things… but lets start with what the Scriptures say.
Verse 31 tells us that the Son of Man, which is the favorite title Jesus refers to himself as while on earth.
When He returns in glory, with His angels, Jesus says, He will sit on His throne…
Now this tells us this is the second phase of His return. The first phase, we know Jesus comes in the air only and He raptures His church.
Remember I Thes 4:16-18
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
So do you see it, He returns and with the cry of the command of the archangel, and the trumpet call, the dead in Christ will rise from the grave.
I want to remind you, Paul tells us to be absent from the body means we we are present with the Lord. So the souls of men and women, boys and girls who have left this world and are either innocent ( before knowing right from wrong) or having professed Christ in this life. They return with him and are joined instantly to those now living, glorified bodies…
Then others who are alive at that time are caught up in the air to join them. At that point, we will forever be with the Lord.
We (the church are with Him)
Now we also know that after we return with the Lord to heaven, the Great Tribulation begins, here on earth. At the end of those 7 years, Jesus returns with his angels and us, the church
But it is the second portion of His return where we know that Jesus actually returns to the earth physically that He left from so long ago.
This is the event Jesus is referring right now with Matthew 25, verse 31.
And Jesus says He is returning to this world, to sit on his throne. This long await day will actually fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah chapter 14 verse 4. Let me share with you....
4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.
King Jesus is coming my friends, He will bind Satan for a 1000 years and we will rule and reign with Him here. Let me share Revelation 20, verses 1-4...
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Without a doubt, Jesus will one day return to His kingdom and fulfill the prophecies given in the Old Testament...
Jesus is coming back… well let’s move forward, what will Jesus do when he returns
2. The Gathering of the World....
Now let me remind you again, this events takes place after the rapture of the church (saved born again believers called home) and after the Great Tribulation, those 7 years of suffering.
It is at this time that Jesus and his church, return to this earth with Him to rule and reign with Him for this 1000 year period.
So if this doesn’t involve the church, what judgment is taking place?
This judgment my friends is the judgement of those who live on the earth during the days of his return.
So remember this world is still alive and functioning when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom here on earth.
And at this time Jesus calls the Gentile world until himself and will judge them. Now this is different than the Great White Throne that Rev 20 illustrates. The Great White Throne of Judgement is the Judgement of the dead, the evil ones, the sinful ones the one who heard and rejected the message of Jesus to come… These who abandoned God in life will then be raised and judged.
Now that we have that out of the way, lets look at the text again, verses 32-33
32 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. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
So Jesus refers to the Gentiles as 2 different species of animals, he called them Sheep and Goats.... Sheep are assembled on the right and the goats are assembled on the left.
Now understand these animals are similar in appearance, their size, color.... They both produce milk that can be used for things likes cheese (sheep cheese - No bueno) and the like. They are often herded together out upon the hillsides to graze and such.
But make no mistake, they are very different animals. They are two different species of the animal kingdom.
Now understand the sides that they are placed are significant as well. The right side stands for power, authority and life. The left side, death, sinful and stained....
So we can say with all certainty, the sheep, who are on the right side of Jesus throne are referred to as the saved, while those on the left, The goats are not saved., and stand judged.
Now there is one other group of people here that are alive, but are not judged at this time. In a prophetic sense it would appear to be -the Jewish people, those who are still alive at this time. Jesus refers to them as “brothers” at the end of verse 40.
Yet there in a more natural sense it may refer to the needy of the world. The broken and wounded of life. Those who are seemingly cast aside by society
My friends, what a day it will be when the world will be called to stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
He will hold each person accountable for what they have done with the message of God’s wondrous grace. With His salvation....
The truth is this… we must make certain in this life, have we been saved, because it is to late after this life.
Now just one last thought today..
3. Judgement....
As the Gentiles are gathered before the Lord, we know already that some are on the right - the Sheep and others on the left - Goats.
And I want you to hear the words of our Lord here… look at verses 34-40
34 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. 35 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, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 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.’
So as you open the text, we see Jesus welcoming those on the right, the sheep. The welcome greeting gives them permission to take hold of the inheritance that the Father had prepared from the foundation of the world.
Why?
Jesus says for I was Hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you did not turn me away, 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...
Jesus says they cared for Him, making sure that His needs were met. In truth they respected and cared for those in front of them seeing them as who they really are… men and women who are made in the image of God.
Friends, you want to know how to treat those around us, right here you go.
But they are amazed, they said Lord we don’t understand, when did we do these things for you...
Jesus says this in verse 40
40 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.’
Remember who the least of these my brothers are.... they are the Jewish community or those who have been cast away by most in the world.
Regardless,. Those who have suffered and often been in need, Jesus says when you cared for the needs of the least of the world, you have cared for me.
Please understand this is not a works based type of Salvation, but it is merely the fruit of their own Salvation. We know from this text that even during His kingdom reign God has mercy on those who come to Him by faith and live for Him.
Consider James, the have brother of our Lord....
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Friends no man or woman is saved by works, we are saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but because we are His, we do have works.
These people on the left of our Lord are saved, they are welcomed into kingdom living.
But what of the goats… Those people on the left?
Look at Matthew 25:41-46
41 “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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 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.’ 44 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?’ 45 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.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Those who had no works also had no hope, no future life with the Lord. Jesus tells them to depart from Him, you are fit only for eternal fire, hell that was prepared for the devil and his angels ( those fallen angels)
Listen friends, God never intended for humanity to be in hell, but once mankind chose to rebel against God and sin, then a place of punishment was prepared for them.
The goats even object, when did we see you and not minister to you.. Jesus reply is simple, verse 45 Matt 25:45
45 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.’
To have no care for those around us, reveals there is no part of his presence in our lives. All mankind, man or women, no matter where they come from, or what they seemingly represent, all humanity is made in the image of God and we are called to love them, serve them in their need and share the message of His love with them.
How can we say we are His if we do not love our neighbor. Simply we cannot not..
My friends, in this life… no matter when, if we have life we better live for Jesus, and the world should be impacted by our redeemed life.
Jesus is revealing the pictures of the final world, He is reminding us to walk, talk and share as we would have in the days to come.
Are you forgiven, Heaven will only be your home if you know and love Him today.
Lets pray....