The Sheep and Goats, Part 1

Matthew 25 is where we are, the Olivet discourse, 31st verse. How you respond is very important, because at the end of all things is the judgment of God. And so tonight we're going to speak about that judgment, the judgment of the sheep and the goats, to understand that when the king returns and when he sets up his kingdom, there will be a judgment. Certain ones will enter that kingdom, others will not. And this parable this evening explains to us that scenario. Let me read it to you, then we'll make some comments.

But when the sun of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then they will sit on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right, and the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.

I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in naked. You clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? when did we see you a stranger and invite you in or naked and clothe you and when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you and the king will answer and say to them truly i say to you to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine even the least of them you did it to me then he will also say to those on his left depart from me a cursed once into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels for i was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat.

I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, naked, and you did not clothe me sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they themselves 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 take care of you? Then he will answer them saying, surely I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these. You did not do it. to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

The Bible says a lot about the judgment of God. A lot of times we tend to think that the Old Testament speaks of God's judgment and the New Testament speaks of God's love. Well, that's not necessarily true because the Old Testament does speak of God's love as well as judgment. And the New Testament also speaks of judgment as well as God's love. But in the New Testament, the judgment of God preached about and spoken of is different than the judgment in the Old Testament. And I want to be able to explain that to you this evening as we understand the introduction before we move to the instruction and then look at the implications.

By way of introduction, let me read to you 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse number 1, down through verse 11.

It says, for I do not, want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed in the sea, and all were baptized into Moses and in the cloud and in the sea. And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spirit of drink. For they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things as they also crave.

and do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written. The people sat down to eat and drink and stood up to play, nor let us act immorally as some of them did and 23,000 fell in one day, nor let us try the Lord as some of them did and were destroyed by the serpent, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happen to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Paul gives us a unique illustration about God's judgment in the Old Testament, how God was displeased with the children of Israel, so much so that a lot of them died.

In fact, some of them committed immorality and gives us the number. 23,000 of them were killed. Some of them grumbled and they died. And Paul says these things are written for our instruction. They're written for us as in examples to give us a warning. that we might understand how serious God is about sin. You see, we live in a society that thinks that God just winks at sin and is not that serious about it, but that's not true. God is very serious about sin and expects his people to follow him. And when they don't follow him, there is a price to pay.

And God, throughout the Old Testament, judged people as well as nations, to leave us an example. So let me explain you to you this by way of introduction.

Temporal judgment versus eternal judgment. In the Old Testament, the emphasis was on temporal judgment. There was the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis Chapter 19, where those people were destroyed. There was the judgment upon Aiken and Joshua Chapter 7 and his family where they were killed because they had taken something they shouldn't have taken. There was the judgment of the 23,000 Israelites that were killed because of immorality. there were the ten plagues that happened in Egypt as a form of God's judgment upon mankind to give them a warning to let them know that he is serious about sin and and he is number one he is the God and Pharaoh's not in Exodus and we'll get to that when we study the book of Exodus but to understand that God is serious about about judgment and people are to look at those those times and in which God had acted with severity upon people's sin and and the consequences of their sin to learn from him about his holiness, about his justice, even about his mercy, because he didn't kill everybody.

He spared many people over and over again. The Old Testament, God would destroy a person. He would destroy a nation in judgment to let people know how concerned he is about sin. You go over to the New Testament. You have something similar. Acts chapter 5, you have the death of Ananias and Sapphire, and Sapphire, lied about the money they received from the selling of their home. You have Herod Agrippa in Acts 12 who was killed. You have the judgment of Jerusalem, Matthew 23, which happened in 70A.D.

that Christ prophesied about. And yet, that's not the emphasis in the New Testament. The New Testament emphasis is in eternal punishment and eternal judgment. I want you to understand that. In the Old Testament, God judged man, God judged nations, to give us warnings about what he was eventually going to do with man who rebelled against him. When you come to the New Testament, what do you have? You have some temporal judgments, but what you have is a forecast of eternal judgment that's going to come.

That's assured. In fact, it warns that those who rebel against God are lost souls and they will be lost forever unless they repent. For example, John the Baptist, Matthew chapter 3, said to the religious leaders, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Christ will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. In Rome with chapter 1, verse number 18, Paul said that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

Paul would say in 1st, chapter 1, excuse me, chapter 4, verse number 6, The Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. Hebrews chapter 10, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews chapter 12, our God is a consuming fire. James said in James 2.13, he shall have judgment without mercy that has shown no mercy. Peter said in 1. Peter 4.17, the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first begin at us, what shall the end of end be of them, that obey not the gospel of God.

Jude, over in Jude 1, verse number 5, would say these words. He said, Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. just as Saddam and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these and those in gross immorality and when at the strange flesh are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

You go to the book of Revelation over in Revelation chapter 14. It speaks of the warning by the Apostle John as he talks about the end of the age. And in Revelation 14, verse number 10, it says, that unbelievers will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night. In verse number 19 of Revelation 14, it says that the angel would thrust his sickle into the earth and gather the vine of the earth and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.

In Revelation 19, on Christ returned out of his mouth, go with a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and said he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of the Almighty God. You can read about it in the Gospels, for all the gospel writers wrote about the eternal judgment of God. So when you come to Matthew 25, and Christ says, Depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Christ, above all else, anyone else, spoke more about judgment, eternal judgment. Why? Because he loves people. That's why. You see, if he didn't love people, he wouldn't warn people. You see, if you love somebody, you're going to warn them about their future. And then that's not true? You don't want somebody going off into something that's going to harm them, so you give them a warning. Christ spoke more about eternal judgment than any of the apostles because he wanted to make sure. that people understood that they reject him, this is where they will be.

Now you think about that. Because what does Paul say over in 2 Timothy 4, verse number 1? He says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. Who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word? Paul says, listen, Christ Jesus is going to return. And when he does, he's going to judge mankind. So Timothy, make sure you preach the word to people. They need to know the truth. They need to know right from wrong. They need to know what God says about the end.

That's why Paul said in 2ndus 511, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. We know about God's terror. We know about God's judgment. So what do we do? We're out to persuade men, to convince men that if they keep going down that road, they will spend eternity away from God. That's important. And our Lord, our Lord was not apathetic about the eternal death. destiny of man. He was concerned about it. And don't we find ourselves sort of numb to the eternal destiny of man away from God? I mean, if we could just get a glimpse of hell for like a micro second, it would change our evangelism.

It would change our drive and passion to share Christ with with people. And that's what made Christ the great evangelist that he was. He created hell. He created hell specifically for the devil and his angels. So he knows the torment that's there. So when he came to earth in his incarnation, his passion was to persuade men to believe in him, to come to him, to know that if they don't, they will spend eternity separated from him. So he would speak a lot more about hell than he ever did about heaven.

Because he didn't want man to go there. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And our Lord, our Lord in his mercy and his grace, concludes the Olivet discourse in Matthew 25 by giving this parable by the sheep and the goats and answering a question the disciples never asked. They asked about the end of the age. Lord, when are you going to return? When is it going to be the full revelation of your presence? When is the end of the age? And so Christ gave them the signs. Christ gave them the stories surrounding those signs.

God spoke to them about the sorrow in the stories concerning the signs. but now he goes a step further and tells them not only about the end of the age but what's going to happen to those who are not alert how is that he's going to judge them so that would affect these men these apostles in the future that they might be able to persuade man through the preaching of the gospel that leads us to our instruction point number two and five things i want you to see about this judgment the person who judges the period of judgment the place of judgment the people who are judged and the process of judgment.

First of all, the person who judges. The Bible says in verse number 31, Matthew 25, but when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

The person who's going to do the judging is the son of man. Jesus Christ himself. John 522 says this. The father judgeteth no man. but hath committed all judgment unto the sun. So, when you come to the parable of the sheep and the goats, it talks about the son of man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, why does he use the title of the son of man? Why that title? Because it is his messianic title, and it expresses the fullness of its incarnation, which at the same time helps us understand his humiliation as God becoming man.

Jesus affirmed that he was God and that God became man. It was the affirmation of the servant spirit that he had. The very first time he uses it, he uses it in Matthew chapter 8 and says, don't you know that the son of man has no place to lay his head?

Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the son of man? no place to lay his head. First time he uses the phrase on the man for himself.

Do you know when the last time that phrase is used in the Bible? Probably not, unless you read my notes. Revelation Chapter 14. Turn there with me if you would for a moment. Revelation Chapter 14. Verse number 14. John says, then I looked and behold a white cloud and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man having a golden crown on his head. and a sharp sickle in his hand. And that is significant. Why? Because you see, in his incarnation, as a son of man, he had what? Nothing. He didn't have a house.

He didn't have a car. He didn't have land. He had absolutely nothing. Not even a place to lay his head. Now, as son of man returning, he comes to claim what? Everything. It's all going to be his. So he will no longer be called the son of man. But you will note something in Matthew 25. He's called a son of man until verse number 33. Excuse me, 34. It says, then what? The king will say to those on his right. You see, as son of man, he comes in judgment. You see, because he was a son of man, it gave him all the right credentials to be able to judge man.

Because he was a high priest who was tempted on all points like we are yet sin so he has all the credentials by which to judge man with complete justice and complete authority and complete mercy. So when he speaks of future judgment, he calls himself to king to show the transition from his incarnation to his glorification. You know, Christ never flaunted his kingship when he was on earth. You know, the wise men came and they bowed down to him and knew that he was the king of the Jews. Matthew's whole presentation of the gospel is about Jesus as king of the Jews, right?

And yet he never went around flaunting himself as the king. You need to bow down to me. I am the king. He presented himself as a son of man because in his incarnation, it was the express purpose for him to demonstrate his humiliation. And that's what he did. And yet when he hung on a cross, Jesus of Nazareth, it said, the king of the Jews. He was and he is the king. And when he returns, he will judge the world. Remember Enoch way back in the book of Genesis? He gave a prophecy about the coming of the son of man.

Jude 14 and 15 records it. Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied saying, behold the Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment upon all and to convict all that are ungodly. Think about it. Enoch, way back in the book of Genesis, was given a vision of the future of Revelation and the son of man returning with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment upon all the ungodly. When Christ came the first time, he came because he wanted to make forgiveness possible.

He wanted to make access to him a reality. And so he came in his incarnation to die for the sins of man, to redeem man, to show us how he would love the unlovely. He wanted man to understand salvation. And so he became a servant and he died for the sins of man. But when he comes the second time, it's different.

He doesn't come the same way he came the first time. Oh, all will recognize him. All will mourn. All will see him. But he will come a different way. When he came the first time, very few saw him and very few cared about him.

When he comes the second time, everybody will see him. And everybody will care because their future rests in his hands. And so when Christ comes again, the Bible says in Matthew 25, verse number 31, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him.

Think about that. All the angels with him. Second Desolians 1-7 says, the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.

Matthew 24, 1st number 29. We read it earlier or weeks ago. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers will fall from the sky, and then the sign of the sun of man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes the earth will mourn, and they will see the sun. The sun will fall from the sky, a man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one into the sky to the other he will come in blazing glory remember the world is dark at this time there is no more light the battle of armageddon has begun that is they have gathered in the valley in megetto they have marched their way down toward bowsraw they're in edom and they are about to do the last thing they can possibly do to kill the Jewish people.

And Jesus shows them with his brilliant glory. And everybody will see him. Remember, he dwells in unapproachable light. Paul tells us in First Timothy.

And so when the ungodly see him, they will immediately be destroyed because of the brightness of his character. Oh, he will come not only with his angels, but he's going to come with his saints. That is, those of us who have been raptured and were already in glory with him through those seven years of tribulation. We're going to come back with. with him. That's going to be a great day, man. We're going to be coming down on white horses, and we're going to be with him and the angels, man, and this is going to be, I just can't wait to be there.

I just can't wait, you know? I'm going to be yelling, yeah, here he comes. He told you he was coming. Now he's going to get you. I'm going to get something to say. I want to say something. And I'm going to be with him, and so are you, if you know the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in Colossus 3, 4, when Christ, who is their life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. We're going to come back with him. Revelation 19, tell us. us, I saw heaven open and behold a white horse. Listen, John saw heaven open twice.

Revelation 4? Revelation 4? He saw heaven open. And what did he see? He saw the Lamb of God. He saw God the Father stood in on his throne. He saw the worship of God. And what did he see? He saw the 24 elders in heaven. If you've been with us in our study of Revelation, you know that those 24 elders represent the Church of Jesus Christ. In Revelation 4, it's interesting that the heaven is open and John sees in and the church is there. In Revelation 19, the Church is opened again and guess what the church now is coming out of heaven the church now is coming out of heaven as we descend with the mighty angels and with our lord i saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he that sat up on him was called faithful and true and righteous he and with righteous in righteousness excuse me he doth judge and and make war it says in verse 12 he says his eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

And the armies that were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white, and clean. Oh, that's going to be a great day. But Jesus is going to return, the son of man. That's the person who's going to judge because he has been given that authority. And so now he's going to come and do what the Father has given to him. Execute judgment upon man. Number two, the period of judgment.

Matthew 25, 31, and 32 tell us that judgment will take place when the son of man returns. And we'll talk about that in great detail in our next session together. Let's pray. Amen. Thank you.