Sheep, Goats are divided Separately

Matthew 25:31-46

Matthew 25:31-46, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of 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 took Me in; 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 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, 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, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The Bible has so very much to say about judgment and it is a major biblical theme.

Psalm 7:11, “God is angry with the wicked every day.” Is this the reason why the Bible has so much to say about it? Because God is so continually concerned about judging sin.

Psalm 1:5, “The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.”

Most people think that judgment is pretty much an Old Testament message, but that is not the case. The message of judgment is equally important to the New Testament. It is even more dramatically presented in the New Testament than it is in the Old Testament.

People look at the Old Testament and say that there you have an angry God, destroying peoples, nations, and creating great wars. But in the New Testament isn’t God presented as a God of love? The fact is God is presented as a God of love in both the Old and the New.

God is presented as a God of judgment in both the Old and the New. No difference at all. If we study the Old Testament carefully, we will find that the judgments of the Old Testament primarily have to do with temporal judgment, that is judgment on earth. They focus on what happens to man in the world.

Whereas judgment in the New Testament focuses on eternal judgment, what happens to man in the afterlife, the next world. The Old Testament may talk about a nation being destroyed or a man losing his life or being cut off from the world. It emphasizes the fact that God raises up and puts down certain individuals, powers, and peoples, but it focuses on them in terms of their temporal existence.

The New Testament primary emphasis turns to being that which focuses upon the eternal aspect of judgment, the afterlife. We do have in the New Testament temporal judgment.

• The death of Ananias and Sapphira,
• The sudden blindness of Elymas the sorcerer,
• The terrible death of Herod Agrippa who having been smitten by the angel of the Lord was eaten by worms and died.

The temporal judgment on Jerusalem predicted which is as much a temporal judgment as the prediction of devastation to come to Babylon and Nineveh in the Old Testament. We do have in the New Testament temporal judgment, “Woe to you Chorazin. Woe to you Bethsaida,” Capernaum’s devastation and destruction. Those things are in the New Testament.

But the emphasis of the New Testament is on the eternal judgment, is on the consequence of temporal judgment, not just that you might lose your life but that you will lose your soul forever. That is the New Testament emphasis.

John the Baptist in the New Testament preaches about the wrath of God.

Matthew 3:7, But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Not some present wrath but some future wrath. John the apostle also said the same.

John 3:36, He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

The book of Acts the Apostle Paul is presenting truth to Felix. He argued about justice and self-control and future judgments so that Felix was alarmed.

Acts 24:25, Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self- control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”

The Apostle Paul says to the Romans that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, unrighteousness of men who hold the truth.

2 Thessalonians 1:6, since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,

Hebrews 10:31, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Many things to do with judgment.

Hebrews 12:29, For our God is a consuming fire.

James 2:13, For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

1 Peter 4:17, “For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” 2 Peter 3, about swift destruction, condemnation, destruction. You read about punishment until the Day of Judgment, destruction again, the gloom of darkness, the heavens and earth being destroyed, the destruction of ungodly men.

The epistle of Jude warns about Sodom and Gomorrah serve as an example of a punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 1:6-7, And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Revelation talks more about eternal judgment. The wine of God’s wrath poured unmixed into the cup of His anger, torment with fire and sulphur, the smoke of their torment going up forever and ever, no rest day or night. The angel swinging his sickle into the earth and gathering the vintage of the earth and throwing it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Out of the mouth of Christ a sharp sword by which He judges and rules. The winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, of the second death of the lake of fire and so forth.

The New Testament focuses tremendous emphasis on judgment. It isn’t just in the Acts and the epistles and the Revelation, it’s in the gospels also. Because no one said more about judgment than Jesus did.

• He taught about it repeatedly.
• He spoke of sins that wouldn’t be forgiven.
• He spoke of the danger of losing one’s soul forever.
• He spoke of perdition.
• He spoke of destruction.
• He spoke of hell, of fire, of wailing and weeping and gnashing of teeth, of outer darkness, of torment.

The awesomeness of facing eternity apart from salvation. His words are intense, and they are inescapable. We are not surprised when we come to Matthew 25 that in the climax of His sermon on His second coming, it too has a warning about judgment.

V 41, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” I thought Jesus was a person who shared love with everybody, kind and good, what is all of this about everlasting fire and cursing?

V 46, And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” A warning that comes out of love. Love warns! Jesus was a person who shared great love if He didn’t warn us about that which could eternally damn us. It is love that warns.

Jesus gave so many judgment warnings does not minimize but rather maximizes His love. There is no harshness in Him. There is no coldness. There is no unfeeling attitude toward the destiny of men, but repeatedly a warning against unbelief and judgment.

Wherever you are in the New Testament, you feel this constant pressure of impending judgment. It is a focus that comes repeatedly, that men might be drawn to salvation not only by the attraction of salvation’s benefits but by the horrors of the alternative judgment.

The disciples are saying to Jesus in this passage, Matthew 24 and 25, “Tell us about Your second coming. Tell us about when You set up Your kingdom.” They don’t know it as the second coming because they don’t imagine He will go back and come again.

Tell us about the establishing of Your kingdom. Tell us about when You come in Your glory. Tell us what it’s going to be like when You reign as Messiah. What are the signs and when will it happen? Jesus answers them all kinds of preliminary signs and then says, “The exact moment, no one knows, so everyone needs to be ready.”

Everyone.

Why do you need to be ready? Because when He comes there will be with that coming an irreversible and eternal judgment. V 31, when He comes, He will judge. V 32, separating all people into two categories called sheep and goats.

• The sheep go into the kingdom.
• The goats are kept out.

When any person dies, they immediately enter into that judgment right then. The decision of their eternal destiny is rendered. But for those who are still alive when Jesus comes, at that moment of His coming that judgment will take place.

Jesus says, “When I come, I come as a judge, not only as a King. I come to determine who is allowed to enter My kingdom.” When the disciples are asking, “What is the sign of Your coming and when is it going to happen?” Jesus ends with a warning.

So typical of His love. Jesus says in effect, “I want everyone to know the signs, I want everyone to know I am coming, so that everyone will be ready when it comes, when it happens.” V 31, the Son of Man is the Judge. The time of the judgment is right after the close of the tribulation when He comes in glory to set up His kingdom.

The place of judgment where His glory throne is in Jerusalem.

Who are the subjects of judgment? V 32, All the peoples.

The process of judgment.

How does this judgment occur? V 32, All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. All the peoples are gathered, everybody from everywhere all over the earth that’s still alive is brought into Jerusalem and He separates one from another.

He separates them into two groups

A shepherd dividing his sheep from his goats. Shepherds do that in that land. Even to this very day we can see mixed herds of sheep and goats all over the hillsides. Shepherds divide them. They divide them very often for feeding and resting.

They move them together and then separate them. It is necessary because sheep and goats do not feed well together, and they do not rest well together. The reason being the sheep are basically docile, gentle, easily led and easily scared.

The goats are unruly, rambunctious and almost fearless, and they create all kinds of problems for the sheep. A separation needs to be made. The same way that a shepherd would sort his sheep from his goats, so the Lord Jesus Christ, in His coming, will separate believers from unbelievers.

Believers, to be taken into His kingdom to join the glorified saints out of the Old Testament, tribulation, and the church who are going to be there in glorified form with new bodies fit for earth and heaven. Jesus is going to take those who are living, who are represented here as sheep into His kingdom as well.

The goats are put out of His kingdom. V 33, And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

• The right hand is the hand of blessing.
• The right hand is the hand of honour.
• The right hand is the hand of inheritance.

The preferred hand. The sheep here are preferred in the analogy.

• The sheep are submissive, gentle and docile.
• The goats are unruly, rough, and rugged.

• The sheep represent the blessed.
• The goats are representing those who are the non‑blessed.

To show you the importance of this, when Jacob set out to bless his grandsons, Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. When Jacob set out to pronounce the blessing on those sons, he was very cautious on which son he placed his right hand because that very simple act of placing his right hand on that young man indicated that he was the heir, that he was the child of inheritance of blessing.

Genesis 48:9-14, Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!” 12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and

his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. Jacob crossed his hands in order to be sure that he got his right hand on Ephraim because the setting of the right-hand symbolized blessing and inheritance.

The sheep, the docile, easily led, responsive, needing to be cared for sheep represent the saints. They are put on the right hand which is the hand of blessing. V 34, Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you

from the foundation of the world

In that great climactic day when Jesus comes and He is ready to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem where His throne is there. He is going to rule the world. In His coming, He destroyed all the armies of Armageddon. He defeated all the nations that were fighting against Him.

In a terrible bloodbath, He comes the victor. Having defeated all His enemies, having come back to reign, He establishes His throne. He collects all these people together and, on His right, He puts the believers. They are separated.

He says this to them. ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the

world

He says to the sheep, to the believers alive at His second coming.

• They have lived through their earthly life.
• They survived the holocaust of the great tribulation.
• They are still alive physically.
• They must know what happens to them now.

He says to them “Come into the kingdom.”

• You will remain alive.
• You will not die.
• You will live the way you are.
• You will go into this kingdom.

They don’t have to do anything. They are already here on earth. The kingdom has come on earth, and they just keep living. They will live though under the rule of Jesus Christ in His glorious kingdom. V 34, Then the King will say to those on His right hand, This fits Matthew’s emphasis.

This is the King.

Jesus calls Him the King because He now is coming in His kingdom. V 31, He has called Himself as Son of Man.

Matthew 24:30, twice Son of Man.

But now Jesus calls Himself King. He says, “Come to My right side.” In Greek, Roman, and Talmudic sources, the good people in any kind of a judication or a trial, always went to the right side of the judge. This fits that pattern.

V 34, Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you

from the foundation of the world

Jesus is inviting them into the kingdom.

What are the terms? Many people have sort of had difficulty with this passage, because they in V 35- 36 ‘You fed Me when I was hungry. You gave Me water when I was thirsty. You took Me in when I was a stranger. You clothed Me when I was partially clad. You visited Me when I was sick, and you came to Me when I was prison.’

Does that teach salvation by works?

Is Jesus calling them to come to the kingdom because of their philanthropy? Can you come into the kingdom because of your basic human kindness? Can you come into the kingdom because of all the social action that you were involved in?

This seems rather problematic. Are people going to go into the kingdom because of their social orientation? Far from that. All bound up in V 34. People who get confused here somehow miss V 34, because here it makes it very clear the basis of their entrance into the kingdom.

‘Come, you blessed of My Father This emphasizes the source of their salvation. You are blessed of My Father. You are entering into the kingdom because My Father has determined to bless you. Here you have sovereign grace beautifully expressed.

In the Greek literally says, “My Father’s blessed ones.”

You are coming into My kingdom because God predetermined sovereignly to bless you. He redeemed you out of His sovereign love. V 34 expresses the innate reality of redemption and salvation and justification. ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom ‘Inherit’, which implies something very important.

You inherit something because you are born into a family. It implies again that they belong to the family of God, to which you belong by faith. You inherit what is yours because by faith you have become a joint heir with Christ.

Romans 8:16-17, The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

We are the elect by sovereign grace, the chosen to be blessed by the Father. We are those who inherit because we belong to the family by faith and are sons of God. We can see the source of salvation and the gift of salvation given to those who are the children of God.

“Inherit the kingdom prepared for you.” When God prepared the kingdom, it was for us that He prepared it.

• You were chosen.
• You were ordained to this.
• You are those whom the Father designed to love.

We have the source of salvation in the Father’s blessing, desire to bless, you have the reception of salvation in the faith that brings you into the inheritance, you have the selectivity of salvation in the fact that the kingdom was prepared for those people.

Whoever it was prepared for are going into it. God isn’t going to lose any and He knows who He prepared it for. It was prepared from the foundation of the world. That emphasizes the eternal covenant that God made with Himself to redeem a people selected before the foundation of the world.

Who are these people going in? They are not just people who got involved in social action. They are not just people who did good deeds on the earth.

These are those chosen from the foundation of the world by sovereign God to receive His grace and be blessed. They have responded by faith and became His heirs in the family. The good deeds mentioned in V 35 and 36 are not the primary emphasis.

• The primary emphasis in identifying these people is in V 34.
• The good deeds are the fruit of the redemption in V 34.

The people who get confused by this passage get confused because they perhaps haven’t looked as closely as they ought to look at V 34. A parallel we find in the epistle of Peter.

1 Peter 1:3-4, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

God did it. God blessed by His mercy chose us, gave us an inheritance. This is the reason we are saved.

• Reason for Salvation is in V 34.
• Proof of Salvation in V 35 & 36.

V 35 and 36 are only outward evidence of an inward sovereign grace. The justice, the fairness, the equity of what the King does in bringing these people into His kingdom, the justice of His act is manifest in the deeds that these people demonstrate.

But it isn’t the deeds alone that qualify them. It’s their redemption which issues in those deeds. When He says, “Come in on this basis,” He is judging them according to their works but only insofar as their works are a manifestation of the redeeming act which God foreordained in their behalf.

The Lord wants this not to be a secret. He is saying, “You come into My kingdom because you are the chosen. It is obvious that you are the chosen because this is how you have lived.” The mark of salvation is always the same, it is manifest righteousness. Here the manifested righteousness revealed in selfless love.

V 35-36, for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

Six things are mentioned

• 1. Hunger,
• 2. Thirst,
• 3. Alienation,
• 4. Improper clothing,
• 5. Sickness, and
• 6. Imprisonment.

He says I know you belong in My kingdom because you met all those needs in My case. You ministered to Me in those areas. You did. You ministered to Me. The kingdom is for people who do that for Christ. Those who supply a need, whatever that need might be.

In that culture, that’s what the need was. People could be hungry and have no food.

• They could be thirsty and need a drink.
• They could be strangers without a place to stay/.
• They could be ill clothed and needing proper clothing.
• They could be sick and needing someone to come and attend to their sickness.

• They could be in prison and needing someone to come and visit them there to find out why they were there and work to get them out.

That is what they needed in that day. Some of those needs still exist even in our day, but in our culture a lot of those needs are being met but people have a lot of other needs. A lot of other hurts, problems, and anxieties.

He is saying you demonstrate to Me that you are people of the kingdom chosen by the Father because it is your objective to meet those needs. He says you have done it to Me. The kingdom is for people who do that for Christ. That indicates their genuine salvation.

The response of the people in that day is quite amazing. V 37, “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?

Who answered Him? The righteous. It is not just declared righteousness but a real righteousness. It’s imputed righteousness.

The reason these people do this is because they are made righteous in Christ. This is the outflow of that miracle. It Is the righteous, It Is the blessed of the Father, It Is the inheritors of the kingdom, It Is the predetermined and foreordained who demonstrate their righteousness in good deeds.

V 38-39, When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?

When did we do that to You?

When was that that we did that?

When were we ever so generous to You? V 40, And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ What a statement.

Who are His brethren?

Hebrews 2:11-12, For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying: “I will declare Your

name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.” He Is referring to the redeemed people.

1 Corinthians 6:17, But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Paul celebrates that repeatedly that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Christ is in His people.

What is done to me as a Christian is done to Him. He is so intimately identified with me.

Matthew 18:5, Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. Jesus means not a physical child but a spiritual child.

When you receive another believer by open your arms, meet their need, embrace them, strengthen them, and encourage or you help them or whatever, you do it to Christ. Whatever you do to another believer, you do to Christ.

The simple yet profound truth that the Lord is endeavouring to communicate. Whatever you do to a fellow believer, you do to Christ. Very simple.

Matthew 10:40, “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

When you open your arms to a fellow believer then you are receiving Christ. When you are receiving Christ then you are receiving the Father whom Christ represents. What you do to another believer is what you do to Christ.

Jesus says to these who are gathered on His right hand, who are the chosen of the Father, your choice, your sovereign grace, your election, your redemption and your imputed righteousness has caused you to demonstrate the love of God to the people of God.

The external mark of your genuineness and I take you into My kingdom. It is always manifest righteousness that marks a true believer in Scripture.

James 2:17, Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

There are going to be some gathered in the final judgment who may have different claims.

Matthew 7:22-23, Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

We prophesied in Your name. We cast out demons in Your name. We have done many wonderful works in Your name. Jesus telling them that He don’t know them. Here Jesus doesn’t say, “I saw you cast out demons. I saw you prophesy greatly. I saw you do many wonderful works.”

Those monumental successes outwardly is NOT that demonstrate the proof of true salvation. It is that day-to-day routine grace kindness goodness demonstrated toward believers in need that proves the case.

There will be some who did the daily routine simple acts of love and therefore manifested the indwelling presence of the living God. Exactly what Jesus meant when He summed it up in simple words.

John 13:35, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The proof is in manifest love, in the routine things of life, in the caring for those who have need. You may ask me that you never met anybody who was naked so that I could put clothes on them, but if I did I would. The heart attitude.

Maybe you have met somebody with another need, have you met that need? This is how you examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.

Romans 2:6-7, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honour, and immortality;

He doesn’t say the ones who did all the phenomenal things, that had the big meetings and the big miracle workers, and so forth. He says it is to those who by patient routine well doing. It’s just the goodness of life that flows out daily, the faithful discharge of humble duty in the day-to-day things that demonstrates genuine salvation.

2 Peter 1:5-7, But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. Showing unselfish consciousness that unaffected selflessness.

What did you do last week to meet the need of someone else? What did you do to set aside a comfort, something you really wanted to do, or you wanted to have to put in the hands of someone else something they needed?

Time?

Prayer?

Thought?

Instruction?

Love?

Kindness?

Food?

Did you go visit anybody in the hospital? Did you go to a prison to see someone there to see how you could help? Maybe they have a family they need care for that family. Basically, redeemed people, righteous people who belong to the Father manifest the Father’s characteristics.

When Jesus came into the world He did too. When John the Baptist sent a messenger to find out whether Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus responded to them.

Matthew 11:5, The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. He just said tell him that it must be God because I am going through the world meeting the needs of hurting people. I am helping people. God’s heart. If you belong to Jesus Christ, there is a giving attitude. I am concerned about it not only in our older and younger generations. Because we live in an utterly indulgent society and many of us who are a little bit older sort of have a little more sane view.

But kids are coming up just bombarded with indulgences so that everything is consumed by the eye, the ego. We lose touch with the fact that we ought to be giving ourselves away. Service rendered to another Christian is a mark of a Christian.

Service rendered to another Christian is an act toward Christ and that is an act toward God and that is proof of your salvation. These people who are standing there at that moment when Jesus comes will have survived the tribulation. The tribulation will have generated some dire need.

• There will be hungry, thirsty people.
• There will be homeless people.
• There will be shattered and devastated families and lives.
• There will be desperate people.
• There will be imprisoned people.
• There will be deathly sick people.

All those things will come out of the tribulation in very clear and bold relief. When that happens to the family of God, it will be the believers that come to their rescue and they don’t care whether they are identified with the family of God, they don’t fear the consequence of that. They will pay the price.

Ask yourself the question

If you were brought before that tribunal will Jesus look at you and say, “You are blessed of My Father. Yes, you are to come into My kingdom in your glorified form. Yes, you belong there among those who were chosen before the foundation of the world, because I see in your life the love of the Lord. I see you reaching out to other people. I see you sharing and meeting needs?”

A very important question.

What are you doing for someone else? These people they are not only good but humble. They say, “When did we ever do that?” They don’t say, “yes, of course, Lord, yes. Yes, we have a plaque on our wall: Philanthropist of the year. We understand that, yes.”

None of that. They don’t know what He is talking. The true Christian is going to read that and say, “O God, I failed.” If that is what you are saying in your heart, then maybe you do belong with that group. Have you ever given someone a drink when they needed it?

Have you ever taken a stranger in and given him lodging? Have you ever taken someone who didn’t have proper clothing and purchased that? Have you ever gone to the sick to comfort them?

Have you ever gone to the prison? Yes, yes, Lord not what I should have done. Don’t you feel that way? I mean, woefully beneath what I should have done. If we love God, then we show we belong to God by our actions. Because God is love, and He sheds His love abroad in the hearts of those who are His children.

John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

1 John 3:16, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Do you live for self or for others? Jesus says to them that you are to come into My kingdom. You not only are good and kind and demonstrating the love of God, but you are humble, too. V 40, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Christ identifies with the least of His brethren.

The most insignificant, the most inconsequential life is intimately integrated with the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ identified with the least person. The least are usually the most trouble. The most prominent who need the least help. It is the least who need the most.

God help us all to show ourselves to be His children through this. The rest of the people are on His left hand. V 41, “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the

devil and his angels

Hell was prepared for the unredeemable devil and his angels who fell and there was no plan to redeem them. They who were once pure and holy in the presence of God, chose unholiness and there is no way to reverse that. There is no remedy for that and so God prepared a place for the devil and his angels in everlasting fire and that was for them.

But men have chosen to identify in their rebellion, and they go there by choice to a place not even intended for them. God created man for fellowship with Himself. You cursed, You devoted to destruction, You who have rejected Me.

Go away into everlasting fire. Speaks of separation! “Depart from Me.” It speaks of isolation. Go with the devil and his angels. Destination: A place of darkness. Duration: Everlasting. Affliction: Fire. Imagine that scene.

Go away, you chose it.

Why? V 42-43, 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

You never demonstrated the love of God, which is the mark of the manifestation of His presence. You never revealed a changed life. You never showed love for the brethren. He is not talking about the milk of human kindness. You never gave yourself away to meet the needs of other redeemed people.

What is their response? V 44, “Then they also will answer Him, 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?’ If we had known You were around, we would have done that.

When did we ever see You? V 45, Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ Never with a heart of the love of God do the unregenerate minister to the saints.

You didn’t do it. People are saved because they are chosen by God. They are damned because of what they don’t do.

They are saved because they are the blessed of the Father, chosen before the foundation of the world to inherit. They are damned because of what they don’t do.

The Parable of virgins

It didn’t say, “five virgins went into the wedding and five were shut out for being vile, immoral, ugly, gross, evil, wretched sinners.” No, it wasn’t what they did that left them out, it was what they didn’t do. They didn’t get any oil.

The point there was that they didn’t have oil. It was something they didn’t have, they didn’t do. Not something they did that damned them. There is nothing you can do in terms of sin. No matter how gross that sin is that results in your damnation.

The failure to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The same with the servant. The third one who got one talent, it wasn’t what he did, it was what he didn’t do. He just buried it and paid no attention to it that damned him and sent him to outer darkness.

The virgins weren’t vile they were just negligent. The servant wasn’t immoral. He did nothing. People are damned to hell by what they don’t do.

What they don’t do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

• It is the absence of righteousness.
• It is the absence of the love of God that comes through faith in Christ.
• It is the absence of those kinds of deeds that demonstrate righteousness and demonstrate God’s love.
• It is the presence of the sin of unbelief, the absence of faith.

They die right there on the spot in that moment.

How is that death going to take place?

Zechariah 14:4, The Day of the Lord comes His feet stand on the Mount of Olives. There is a valley created. The nations come in it to be judged. The Lord is King over all the earth.

Zechariah 14:9, And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— “The Lord is one,”

Zechariah 14:12, And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.

We don’t know how that happens, but in that moment, the people on His left will be consumed instantaneously. They leave the earth. They go to everlasting fire. V 46, And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The righteous whose righteousness is manifest in good deeds, they go “into everlasting life.” The words everlasting and eternal in the verse. Everlasting punishment is just as everlasting as everlasting life.

Is the punishment eternal? Yes. Just like the eternal life. But on the other hand, the life is eternal and so is the punishment. It is everlasting punishment where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, where the smoke of their torment goes up forever.

No kingdom for them. They leave the earth. They are gone from the earth, never to return, to go into eternity without God.

At the end of the thousand years, they come back for their final sentencing. But this is an irreversible judgment, everlasting punishment. The righteous, they go into the kingdom in physical bodies.

What is going to happen to them? They enter into is an eternal life. If their physical body dies, they will just be glorified instantaneously, because they have entered into also an irreversible eternal blessing. Our Lord brings His sermon to an end with a warning.

When is He coming? We don’t know the exact moment. Everyone should always be ready because irreversible judgment will occur when He comes. On the one hand will be the sheep who have embraced the Saviour and been made righteous and have received the love of God which they manifest.

On the other hand, the goats, not made righteous, not possessors of the love of God, therefore unable to manifest it. They are set apart. The sheep come into the kingdom.

The goats are destroyed from the earth to eternal punishment. The choice of every soul. Eternity will be in just two places. Whoever lives on the face of the earth will be in one or the other. You will. It may not be just the issue of what you do, your deeds will damn you. But they need not.

It is what you don’t do. It is a refusal to come to Christ that ultimately pronounces the final curse.