Am I a Sheep or a Goat? | Matthew 25:31-46
Am I a Sheep or a Goat? – The Moment of Truth
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious
throne. 32 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. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his
left.
34 “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. 35 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, 36 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.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and
clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “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.’
41 “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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me nothing to drink, 43 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.’
44 “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?’
45 “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.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
1. - Following the parables of the 10 bridesmaids and the distribution of the talents (Mikey and Clay)
A. In the last few weeks, through Jesus’ parables, we’ve learned:
- that we need be prepared in anticipation of His coming (and know the consequences of not be
prepared)
- that we need to invest the gifts talents and abilities that he’s given us in His kingdom (and know
the consequences of not investing ourselves in His Kingdom work)
- and finally (truly finally) with this parable, Jesus shows us how to respond to his grace and what
he expects to see as fruit in His followers.
- Not really a parable as much as a prophesy – we don’t find terms like “like” – the kingdom of Heaven is
like…or “like 10 virgins. Jesus is giving a statement of fact: “When the Son of man comes…”
- This is about the 2 nd coming of Christ,- Something each of us is going to experience
-The most public event of all time
- It could be today, tomorrow or in a thousand years.
- Before Jesus died and rose again, He prepared His disciples for His departure and all of us for His
return.
Verse 31
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
- Jesus is confirming that He is:
The one who will be enthroned as JUDGE
Daniel 7:9
“As I looked, “thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
The One In the presence of angels…
Daniel 7:10
A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened.
The One who will reward the righteous…
Daniel 7:18
But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever
and ever.’
- and punish the wicked
Daniel 7:26
But the court will sit, and his (satan’s) power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.
- get the picture? Jesus in all His glory…maybe this will help…
Revelation 19:11-16
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and
True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His
head were many crowns. He [a] had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed
with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in
heaven, clothed in [b] fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth
goes a [c] sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of
iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has
on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.
Verses 32-33
32 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. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his
left.
-Absolute truth that each of us will be standing there with each other – all of us…ever
- He is going to separate us, one from another
- this is going to be a personal interaction. We will EACH stand, individually before Jesus, in all of
His glory. (Harkening back to the parable of the talents stressing individual gifting, responsibility
and accountability.
- He is going to place each of us either on His right or on His left…no middle ground…no fence to
sit on
Matthew 25:34-40
34 “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. 35 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, 36 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.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and
clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “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.’
- He will judge each of us individually, based on the life we lived – what we did or didn’t do.
- That’s a familiar theme from Matthew 16…
Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will
reward each person according to what they have done.
- You may ask…isn’t that a works-based salvation? NO
I am not saved by works, but works are the evidence that I’ve been saved
- The good works performed by believers aren’t the basis of salvation but should be understood
as the necessary EVIDENCE of salvation. These works are the fruit and product of our new life
in Jesus.
- We don’t do these things to be saved…we are compelled to do these things because we ARE
saved….out of our love and gratitude for Jesus
- the works, we will find, are works of LOVE
- They’re lowly, not spectacular and seemingly not religious (but maybe they ARE…)
James 1:27
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in
their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
- faith and hope aren’t mentioned…only LOVE.
Could it be that LOVE is the true evidence and fruit of our faith? How we love others
demonstrates how we love Jesus.
John 15:12
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
1 John 4:7-8
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of
God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:19-21
We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For
whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have
not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and
sister.
1 John 3:17-18
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how
can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with
actions and in truth.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’ [a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ [b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Everything hangs on LOVING GOD and LOVING PEOPLE…everything
It’s not the works that Jesus rewards, but evidence that we truly KNOW HIM and LISTEN TO
HIM…that we LOVE HIM and LOVE OTHERS.
- In this case, it’s the command and also the fruit
Matthew 25:41-46
41 “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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me nothing to drink, 43 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.’
44 “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?’
45 “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.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
- Those judged by Jesus meet opposite fates…
- the righteous come to Jesus, and the unrighteous depart from Him
- the righteous are blessed, and the unrighteous are cursed
- There is a fearsome finality to Jesus’ judgement – there are no second chances at this point.
- Both the righteous and the unrighteous seem surprised…maybe both are professing Christians
- Both answer…”Lord…”
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many
miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Philippians 2:10-11
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
- We shouldn’t be surprised by any of this after reading this parable – we know what Jesus is looking for
on judgment day.
- If it seems harsh, consider the fact that Jesus is giving us a 2000 year heads-up…
- Jesus will know how much we love Him, based on how much we loved the least of these.
- We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength and all our mind.
AND love our neighbor as our self.
The two have always been connected…we show God how much we love Him when we
obey this and love others. We are truly called to love God and love people, because Jesus
identifies with the least of these.
So, back to a pretty legit question is: Is Jesus teaching works righteousness here?..that we can somehow
earn our salvation through righteous works?...No
- One clue is in how the righteous reply – if they were trying to earn eternal life by feeding the
hungry, and so on, they wouldn’t be surprised when Jesus commended them for good works.
- Jesus isn’t defining FAITH in this story – He’s showing us what it looks like when it’s alive, and the
consequences of it when it’s dead.
James 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such
faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to
them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is
it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is
one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless [d] ? 21 Was not our father
Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that
his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And
the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness,” [ e ] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what
they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she
gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
-In that light, Martin Luthor said this:
“ O, it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works
incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has
already done them and is consistently doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an
unbeliever.”
That sounds really harsh, doesn’t it?...I mean…that last sentence…but if you think about it, isn’t that
exactly what this parable is saying? Isn’t that exactly what Jesus is saying?
That makes us have to ask: Is the neglect of service to others so wicked that it deserves separation from
God for eternity?...the fires of hell?
The answer, both fortunately and unfortunately, is YES.
James 4:17
17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
- In some ways, there’s no ambiguity in what Jesus is saying here…so what seams really clear in this
reading?
- What do these passages in Matthew teach us about Jesus’ return?
1. His return will be sudden
- people will be going through their daily routine
2. His judgement will be irreversible – no second chance to repent at that point
- There are servants who will not be ready when their Master returns
- There will be bridesmaids locked out of the marriage feast for not preparing
- There’s no middle ground…no fence to ride, and I believe that if there were, Jesus
would swipe left
3. Our hearts will be exposed.
- The true nature of who we are before God will come to light
4. Our sentence may be surprising
5. We must be prepared – our lives and our eternities are at stake
6. The Kingdom of Heaven is not for those who simply respond to an invitation. All of the
bridesmaids had done that…or just praying the sinner’s prayer (which is not in the Bible)
7. The Kingdom of heaven is not for those who simply make a confession – each of the
bridesmaids would have said they were part of the bridal party
8. The Kingdom of Heaven is not for those who merely express some affection – positive feelings
about Jesus wont be enough on the last day.
Where do we go from here?
- The first big application of this is that we should be grateful that Jesus will one day set the world right.
- We should be grateful that Jesus told us in advance how to show Him love...that how you treat other
people demonstrates the nature of your relationship with Jesus.
- His mercy is like a long yellow light…
- We should be grateful that Jesus loves us enough to tell us through these parables:
- how to be prepared in anticipation of His coming (and the consequences of not be prepared)
- the importance of investing our gifts talents and abilities that he’s given us in His kingdom (and
the consequences of not investing ourselves in His Kingdom work)
- and finally (truly finally) with this parable, Jesus shows us how to respond to his grace, and love
Him the way He wants to be loved.
- Now…taking care of the poor is not new to the word of God. The Bible mentions the poor over 2000
times.
Isaiah 58:10
…and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
- “spend yourselves” means give them your life! Leave it all on the field.
- but what about taking care of ourselves…retirement…for when we’re old?
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves
break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.
- So one could say that the Bible says to spend your life on behalf of the poor, not to spend your life trying
to avoid dying poor.
- and you don’t know when that is (by the way)
Moving Forward:
You serve people that God has put around you not because you want to get to heaven, but because
Jesus has changed your heart.
Are you ready for that day?
Are you ready to meet God?
Are you ready to stand before Jesus and give an account?
You might ask yourselves, or ask God: How can I be ready?
1. Trust in Jesus…give Him your heart. Don’t be close-fisted with your life
Triangle
2. Repent of your sin…
Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for
us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who
endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
3. Listen to the warnings Jesus has given us in the last few weeks, and pray earnestly for Him to show
you where your heart is.:
-The maidens (Matthew 25:1-13) consider themselves friends of the bridegroom, but they don’t
live in a way that anticipates his return.
-The wicked servant (Matthew 25:14-30) considers himself in the employ of the Master, but he’s
never offered his talents without reserve for the kingdom.
-The “goats” (Matthew 25:31-46) are surprised to be rejected by Jesus, who they thought they
were faithfully serving. But when it came to pouring themselves out for the crushed people of
God, they weren’t engaged at all.
Here’s the sobering thing about these parables: There is no middle ground. You are either committed to
the mission, all-in for Jesus, and using your resources for his people and his kingdom, or you are not. You
are either a sheep or a goat. And that puts the lukewarm Christian in a very precarious position.
- Have you offered your life and your talents, no matter your age, as an investment in the kingdom? Could
we look at your giving and say that you are all-in with the mission of God? Would your calendar back up
what your words say when you declare, “Jesus is Lord”?
- This isn’t the time to ask ourselves questions about our actions. It’s time to ask ourselves questions
about our faith…especially in light of Matthew 25
- It’s time to ask ourselves if we are giving God the first and best of ourselves, your time and your money,
or are you giving Him the leftovers.
- It’s time to stop calling our complacency, apathy or indifference to those Jesus calls us to love, a “busy
schedule” or “bills” or “forgetfulness”. Call it what it is…sin.
We sang “Open the Eyes of my Heart”…Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to see you. Not only has
Jesus told us how to show Him love, but He has shown us where to find Him.
4. Go to them…the hungry, the thirsty, to strangers. Clothe the naked…look after the sick…visit a
prisoner.
5. Use the gifts, talents and abilities that the master has given you to serve Him…to love God by loving
people.
- If you don’t feel like it, do it anyway. I can promise you that when we go to Africa and look in the faces of
those kids, you bet I see the face of Jesus.
6. Seek out opportunities…don’t just sit and wait for them to come to you…
Buy food for the blessing box
If you see there’s a meal train, jump on it…or start one for someone who needs it
We’re currently putting together back-to-school items for newly arrived refugees and those less
priviledged.
Give from your time, your talent and treasure sacrificially to your church and other organizations
and people that God leads you to. Find an organization doing the work of God and help them. If you cant
find one, start one.
Go to your neighbor
Practice loving people as an outpouring of your gratitude to a loving, merciful, grace-giving God