Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Matthew 25:31-33
Matthew 25:31 “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.
-- several
years ago, Kim and I watched a show that quickly became one of our favorites of
all times -- when it comes to TV and movies, we gravitate towards spies and
mysteries and similar dramas -- this show was called, "The Americans"
-- hopefully, you had the opportunity to see it yourself
-- to sum it up, “The Americans” is
the story about a typical suburban family in Falls Church, Virginia in the
early 1980's -- but this typical suburban family has a very non-typical secret
-- you see, the husband and wife in this family are not what they seem -- they
are actually Russian spies
-- as the
story unfolds over the six seasons it ran, we learn that the husband and wife
in this family are not really Americans -- they were recruited in Russia to
give up their lives and to come to America to live a secret life -- to be
married and to have children and to appear to be, for all intents and purposes,
normal suburban Americans
-- they
look like Americans -- they talk like Americans -- they go to work like
Americans -- they socialize like Americans -- they take their kids to soccer
practice and dance recitals and drop them off at the mall -- just by looking at
them, no one can tell that they are actually undercover Russian agents
-- every
time I read this passage and the parable of the wheat and tares from Matthew
13, I always think about this show -- you see, we have sleeper agents of our
own right here in the church of America today -- actually, we have two types of
sleeper agents in our midst that are revealed by Jesus in this passage
-- first,
we have the secret agents in our midst who are unbelievers -- who don’t have a
personal relationship with Jesus and haven’t put their faith and trust in Him
as their Lord and Savior
-- these are the people we
associate with in our daily lives who look like Christians and talk like Christians
and do all the normal things that Christians do -- they may go to our churches
-- they may even put Jesus fish on the back of their cars -- but in reality,
they are not believers in Christ
-- they are unbelievers who are
living a lie -- they’re only pretending to be believers -- and it could be
they've lived this lie so long they have started to think it’s true -- if you
were to ask them if they were Christians, they would tell you, "yes,"
even though they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus
-- the
other type of secret agent we have in our midst are the Christians who don't do
anything -- they're Christians in name only with no evidence of their faith --
they've received Christ -- they come to church -- they read their Bibles --
they pray -- they spend time with God -- but they don't do anything else --
their faith is theological, not practical
-- Jesus
said that the world would know us by our love, but because these people are not
loving, no one knows they are Christians -- they are secret agent Christians
-- I see
this at work a lot -- there are several of us there who are Christians, and we
get together occasionally to talk about the Bible or to disciple each other --
one of the guys I meet with on a fairly regular basis asked if it would be okay
to bring this other guy with him the next time he drops by -- when he mentioned
this other guy, I was dumbfounded -- I said, "He's a Christian?" -- I
had no idea -- there was no evidence of his faith -- his actions and his speech
are no different than anyone around him -- if he's a Christian, he's a secret
agent Christian, because he's not been living out his faith for all the world
to see
-- if you
get down to the basics of this passage, that’s what this is all about -- who's
in and who's out -- who's a believer and who's not -- who's doing what Christ
commanded and who's not
-- the big
questions that we need to ask ourselves as we go through this passage are:
1) Where am
I in this passage? -- Am I a sheep or am I a goat? -- Can I say I have truly
received Jesus as my Lord and Savior or am I just going through the motions
without ever having truly made a commitment and placed my faith and trust in
Him?
2) If I am
sure I am saved, then am I showing others Christ through my love and through my
actions? -- just because we are saved doesn't mean we are serving God -- Jesus
said "if you love me, obey me -- if you love me, show the world" -- works
don't save us -- works won't get us to heaven -- but works are outward signs of
an inward grace -- they prove our faith -- they are evidence of our faith --
they are the fingerprints of God in our lives
II. Scripture Lesson -- Matthew 25:31-46
-- we
looked at this passage briefly during our study on Heaven, Hell, and Everything
In-Between, but this morning, we’re going to give it a more detailed look
-- but even with that, keep in mind
that we will never be able to fully mine the depths of God’s word -- every time
you study familiar passages such as this, you’re always going to find something
new that God wants to reveal to you at that specific time -- so, let me
encourage you to always spend some time in the passages we look at in church
and study them on your own, because you’re going to get more out of them each
time you do so
-- so, let’s look at this together
and see what we can learn from Jesus’ story of the separation of the sheep and
the goats
-- verse 31
Matthew 25:31 “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.
-- we learn
here that the events of this passage will occur at the end of this age -- at
the end of the Tribulation Period we have been studying in the Book of
Revelation -- this is the scene at the judgment seat of Christ in Revelation 19
and 20 that will occur after the Tribulation -- after Armageddon -- after the
defeat of the antichrist and his prophet and all the nations of the world that fought
against Jesus and His army
-- so, this
passage concerns the fate of the people who have lived through the Tribulation
-- both saints and sinners -- both those who believe in Christ and have trusted
in Him for their salvation and those who have rejected Jesus and refuse to
repent of their sins and turn to Him for forgiveness
-- we read here that at that time, Jesus
will be seated on His glorious throne, and 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
-- as we will see, this will be the
separation of the believers from the nonbelievers -- the righteous from the
wicked -- but let me just make a point here
-- the
Bible calls those who have not received Christ, “the wicked” -- but that
doesn't mean these aren't good people -- that doesn't mean these people go
around doing wicked and evil deeds -- that everything that they do is wrong --
the term, “the wicked,” means they are
still in their sins -- their spirits are tainted with evil and their sins have
condemned them -- they are wicked because they have rejected God and His offer
of salvation -- they are wicked because they refuse to be cleansed through the
blood of Jesus
-- we all used to be one of them --
maybe some of us still are -- that's what the cross is all about -- it's about
forgiveness and righteousness and new life -- the cross is what separates the
righteous from the wicked -- the believer from the unbeliever
-- Jesus
says that when the nations are gathered before Him, He will separate them into
two groups -- with the sheep on His right -- the position of honor -- and the
goats on His left -- it's important to see here that the sheep and goats
already exist -- they are already defined -- all Jesus does is separate them
-- and even
though this passage is talking about the judgment seat of Christ at the end of
the age, we need to recognize the truth that is captured in this passage -- we
live in world that is intermingled -- we worship in churches that are
intermingled -- the sheep and the goats are all together in this place -- just
like the wheat and the tares from Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13
-- and, as
we pointed out, sometimes it’s impossible to tell the difference between the
sheep and the goats right now, because they resemble each other -- the goats
aren’t walking around with “666” tattooed on their forehead -- they’re men and
women just like us -- decent, good people -- but people who haven’t received
Jesus as their Lord and Savior -- people who refuse His offer of forgiveness
and eternal life and who stand guilty and condemned because of their sin
-- that’s
why the Holy Spirit is constantly calling out to these people and convicting
them of their sin and urging them to turn to Jesus for salvation -- He’s trying
to get them to choose Jesus so they will be transformed from being goats to being
sheep
-- the Spirit has done this throughout
the history of the earth, and He will continue to do so until the end of the
Tribulation Period -- when the people are forced to finally make a final choice
and decide, once and for all, if they are going to turn to Jesus and put their
faith and trust in Him or not
-- so, as
this passage opens, that’s where we are at -- the point of no return -- if
someone has made it through the Tribulation up to this point and they still
haven’t turned to Jesus, they have made the final decision to reject God and to
refuse to turn to Him for forgiveness -- at this point, it's too late -- goats
can no longer become sheep
-- their fate is sealed because when
Jesus returns again, your choice has already been determined -- either you've
chosen to be a sheep or you've chosen to be a goat -- and Jesus will separate
you based on your choice
-- this separation is solely based on
the cross -- it's based on salvation -- it’s based on whether you have a personal
relationship with Jesus or not
-- Christ called Himself the good
shepherd and He calls His believers His sheep -- so, the sheep are the
righteous ones -- the sheep are the ones who accepted the forgiveness of sins
offered by Christ through His death on the cross -- the goats are the ones who
did not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior
-- I heard
a radio spot on WAFT a few years ago that really speaks to this separation -- this
man dies and goes up to the person at the gates of Heaven to be judged -- The
man at the gate opens a book that records all the deeds of this man -- he tells
him that his place in eternity will be determined by what the book says
-- The dead
man says, "Does it say I believed in God in there? -- I hear that's
important up here." -- The man with
the book says, "Yes, it does say you believed in God." -- he reads a few more minutes and then he
tells the dead man to go stand with the group over on his left.
-- The man
starts to head over there and says, "Wait a minute. Is that Satan in my group?" -- The man with the book says "Yes."
-- The dead man says, "But I believed in God. I shouldn't be in that group."
-- The man
with the book says, "Satan believed in God, too. It takes more than belief to be saved. You must accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior
and ask Him to forgive your sins."
-- vs. 34
Matthew 25:34 “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.’
-- now we
learn what characteristics separate the sheep from the goats -- the righteous
from the wicked
-- in verse
34 Jesus describes those on His right as those "blessed by My Father"
-- what does it mean to be "blessed by My Father?" -- this is a
reference to those who have been saved by grace, through faith, not of works
but through the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary -- these
are the ones who have a personal relationship with Jesus, and who prove their
faith by their righteous lives and righteous deeds
--
salvation is never based on what you do -- salvation is based solely on
receiving forgiveness for our sins through faith in Jesus -- but, as this
passage shows, works are important in the life of a Christian because what is
in your heart will show through what you do
-- the
sheep in this passage were commended by Jesus because they had fed him when he
was hungry -- they gave him something to drink when he was thirsty -- they
invited him into their homes -- they gave him clothes when he needed them --
they looked after him when he was sick -- and they visited him in prison
-- the
sheep had done great things -- they had done powerful works in the name of
Jesus -- but works alone do not save -- they are merely evidence of a saving
faith -- as James 2:17 says, "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by
action, is dead."
-- but look
back at vs. 37
Matthew 25:37 “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.’
-- what a
wonderful passage -- these verses show the heart of these sheep -- they did all
these things -- they fed him and gave him something to drink -- they clothed
him and visited him and took care of him -- and they didn't even realize they
were doing something special -- they were doing it out of love -- they were
doing it from the heart
-- what is
in your heart will show through your actions -- here's a quick test -- want to
see what is in your heart -- take your hand and hit it with a hammer -- the
words that fly out of your mouth will tell you what's in your heart -- now, I'm
just kidding about that, but the principle is true -- we are what our heart is
-- if you
have Christ's love in your heart, it will come out -- it will show through your
actions and through your service to others, even if you don't recognize what
you are doing at the time, just like the sheep in this passage
-- you do
these things because this is who you are in Christ
-- there's
a couple of other things we need to think about here
-- in verse
40 Jesus says whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did
for Me
-- who does
He mean by "these brothers of mine?" -- some think Jesus is referring
to the world, meaning that we should serve the world and show them His love in
a real and tangible way just as the sheep are commended for in this passage
-- and
while I would certainly agree that Jesus intends for us to share His love with
the world He died for, in this case it seems Jesus is referring specifically to
the church
-- in Luke
8:19-21 Jesus tells us that His mother and brothers are those who hear God's
word and put it into practice -- in other words, "these brothers of
mine," seem to refer to the church and seem to imply that our resources
should first be used to minister to God's people before we minister to those
around us
-- the
other thing that is interesting in this verse is that Jesus says what we do for
these brothers of mine, you did for Me -- that's the same thing He told Paul on
the road to Damascus -- as Paul was going forth persecuting the church and
putting believers in chains, Jesus asked him, "Why are you persecuting
Me?"
-- the
church is not a denomination -- it is not a building -- it is not a philosophy
-- the church is the body of Christ -- and when we minister to those in the
church, we are ministering to Christ Himself
-- as Mother
Teresa used to say, "In the poor we meet Jesus in his most distressing
disguises." -- likewise, it is in the church we meet Jesus at His best when
the church ministers in His name out of love
-- so, this
is who the sheep are -- this is what they look like -- but, unfortunately, sometimes
sheep don't act like sheep -- sometimes sheep act like goats -- they don't
serve like they should because the love in their hearts has grown cold --
they're secret agent Christians who are selfish in their faith
-- we're
not going to have time to go into this in detail today, but know this -- the
Bible tells us that there will be another judgment after the great white throne
judgment we see in this passage
-- this second judgment will be the
judgment of the sheep -- not a judgment of sin -- not a judgment of salvation
-- but a judgment of our works -- the Bible says that we are Christ's
workmanship, created in Him to do the good works that He planned for us before
time began -- Christ will judge us and reward us based on what we have and have
not done for Him -- our salvation will not be in jeopardy, but our eternal
rewards will be dependent on our obedience as shown through our works
-- knowing
this, as we look at the next few verses about the characteristics of the goats,
ask yourself which animal you more closely resemble -- and which one you should
be striving to be like
-- verse
41
Matthew 25:41 “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.”
-- Jesus
looks at the group of people on His left and calls them the cursed of God --
there's only two choices in life -- either you are blessed of God or you are cursed
of God -- and the blessing only comes through the cross
-- these
people lived their life apart from Christ -- these people depended on
themselves for salvation and rejected the only true source of salvation and now
find themselves separated from God for all eternity
-- Jesus
rebukes them for failing to live as the sheep -- for failing to know and live
the love that comes through the very presence of God in our lives -- for
failing to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty -- for failing to give
clothes to those in need and failing to visit those sick and in prison
-- Basil
the Great wrote, "The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The
garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked. The
shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot. The money you
keep locked away is the money of the poor."
-- it is
for this the goats are rebuked
-- now keep
in mind that the goats are the people you pass everyday -- these are the men
and women you share your lives with -- the people in line with you at the
grocery store -- the people sitting next to you at the restaurant -- the people
gathered around the water cooler at work
-- these
are people who may give to charities -- who drop coins into the Salvation Army
bucket at Christmas -- who do good things in this world
-- but in
the eyes of God, all their good works are tainted by the evil within -- as it
says in Isaiah 64:6 our good works are like filthy rags -- and as Paul pointed
out in Philippians 3:8, all that we consider good is nothing more than rubbish
-- when a
person is not a believer -- when they are still living apart from God with a
stained soul -- everything they do is stained -- that is why works cannot save
-- our works, even though they look good to the world, are not good enough for
eternity
-- I find
verse 44 interesting -- when Jesus rebukes the goats for not doing the same as
the sheep, their response is the same -- they use the same words, but they
don't have the same meaning -- it takes on a different tone than that we saw in
verses 37 and 38
-- look
back at verse 44
Matthew 25:44 “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?’
-- the
response of the goats seems to be, "If we had known it was you, we would
have done it!" -- the sheep did all of this out of love without even being
aware of what they were doing -- it is the nature of a sheep to serve and to
love others because they have been loved by Jesus, just as it is the nature of
a goat to serve others only out of selfishness because that is all they have
known
-- my
mother used to complain about the kids in school -- She would be teaching them
and some of them would ask, "Will this be on the test?" -- The ones who truly wanted to learn never
asked this question -- it was those who were looking out only for themselves
who did
-- in the
same way, the goats ask the question, "When did we not do this?"
because they didn't realize it was on the test -- “if only we had known, we
would have done this for you, too”
-- before
we end our study in this passage, let me call out one more thing to your
attention -- notice the actions and inactions that brings Jesus’ commendation
and rebuke here in this passage
-- these
are not religious activities -- His commendation and rebuke is not for church
stuff -- Jesus doesn't tell the sheep, "You read your Bible every day --
you came to church every Sunday -- you had a quiet time every morning" --
these are means of grace, by which God's Spirit is imparted to us -- these are
the ways we relate to God -- we come to know God -- we become one with God
-- the works
commended in this passage are what we call the social graces -- practical
ministry -- putting hands and feet to our faith -- they remind us that Christianity
is not about church -- it's not about religion -- it's about life -- it's about
doing life together -- it's about loving others because Christ loves us --
that's really what this passage is all about -- that's really what separates
the sheep from the goats
IV. Closing
-- I want
to close by sharing with you a story from Dr. Fred Craddock, who was a
professor at the Candler School of Theology at Emory -- Dr. Craddock had
stopped at a deli to get something to eat -- he said the place was packed but
people moved over and made room for him at the counter -- Many people had come
in just in to get out of the cold for a few minutes
-- not long
after he got there, a rather unkempt woman came in, and a couple of people made
some room for her -- a large man with a greasy apron came over and asked in a
loud voice, "What do you want?" She said, "I'll just take a
glass of water."
-- He sat
the water in front of her and said, "Now what do you want?" -- She
said, "The water is fine." -- He said, "Look, lady, there are
paying customers in here. Either you going to have to order something else or
get out."
-- She
said, "Can I just stay in out of the cold?" -- He said, "No, you
have to order something or leave." -- Slowly she scooted out of her seat
and started to leave. -- But when she did the person on her right and left also
got up to leave, too -- then the people on each side of them got up to leave --
pretty soon everyone started to leave because of what the cook said to the lady
-- seeing what was going on, the
man in the greasy apron said, "All right, come on back. You can
stay." -- She sat down and everyone else took their seats again --
finally, the owner grudgingly gave the woman a bowl of soup for free
-- Craddock
asked the man beside him, "Who is that lady?" -- The man said,
"I don't know, but if she's not welcome, I'm not welcome."
-- Craddock
said, "You know, as I started to eat that soup, it wasn't so bad -- matter
of fact it reminded me of something I had eaten before, and I couldn't figure
out why it tasted so familiar as I ate"
-- but, as
I left that little deli and I looked back at that woman sitting there in that
atmosphere, I remembered what that soup tasted like -- it tasted like the bread
and wine of communion."1
-- when the
world shows this kind of love, it is easy to recognize that this is what the
Father had in mind all along -- this is what separates the sheep from the goats
-- this is what makes us Christians, and this is what should compel us to go
forth and serve others in His name
-- this is
what we should remember this morning -- too many of us look at Jesus and the
cross as only an escape ladder from Hell -- as a ticket to Heaven -- and we
think that once we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we’re done
-- but there is more to this
Christian life than just punching your ticket to Heaven -- Christ loved us so
much that He died for us, and He calls us to share His love with others by
telling them about Him and by caring for them, as He would
-- this means taking His body and
His blood and His love and passing it on to those who are hungry and thirsty --
cold and sick -- strangers needing a friend or those in prison -- that is what
we should seek to be like every day of our lives
-- this is the real message from
this passage and this is the real call of His church in the world today
-- so, let us leave here as the
sheep Jesus has called us to be -- let us leave here as those determined to
share His love with the world around us
-- let's
pray
1 Illustration modified from a sermon by Jeff Strite, Love
Me Nots, 2/21/2011 -- http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/scripture/illustrations-on-matthew-25+31.asp
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