Sermon Transcript

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I'm reading this morning from Matthew 25 beginning in verse 31. These are Jesus's concluding words to His Olivet Discourse. He says, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and 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? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’"

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"Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

0:02:14.2

Again, thus Jesus concludes this conversation that He was having with His disciples on the Mount of Olives just days before He goes to the cross. They prompted the conversation by asking questions about the end of the age of the signs of look for. Jesus does much to lay out some of that in Matthew 24. In chapter 25 He kicks into His master storyteller mode. He tells three parables, three stories to illustrate some of what He's been talking about, three stories that urge us, first, to get ready. That's the parable of the ten bridesmaids in chapter 25 verses 1-13. The next one begs the question- will you be found faithful when He comes? Then this last one has to do about a final judgement.

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Now, last time when we were looking at the parable of the talents, I said part of what this second story tells us is that there is a day of accounting that awaits believers. You and I will be held accountable for all that God has entrusted to us in this life, starting with our money. It belongs to Him. A talent back then was a large sum of money. And the story is about the entrustment of those talents to three different people and how the master goes away. And then he comes back and he settles accounts with them. There will be a day of accounting for believers. But there will be a day of judgement for unbelievers, and that's what this story is all about, the judgement of the sheep and the goats.

0:04:03.9

Now, in my Bible what the editors have done is they've put a little heading at the start of this parable, at the start of this paragraph. It says, "The Final Judgement." By the way, you do know that the chapters and verses and the breakdown, the way they happen in our Bible, those weren't original in the Hebrew or Greek language when it was written. The books certainly were. But editors later went in and inserted chapter and verse breakdowns and paragraph headings and all that to make it more readable for us. So, in my translation of the Bible it says "The Final Judgement" as a heading there. I'm going to take issue with that. The judgement of the sheep and the goat is not the final judgement. In fact, as I read and study Bible prophecy from this time forward to the end of the age, I actually see three future judgements to come. I've put them in your notes. We'll put a little chart up on the screen here just to get an overview of this.

0:05:03.4

The first one to come is the what's known as the bema seat of Christ, the judgement seat of Christ. I believe this happens during the Tribulation Period, and it's a judgement for believers. It's not a judgement that determines whether or not you get into heaven. No, you're already heading to heaven by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not based upon your own merits and your own good works but based upon the merits of Christ who died on the cross for your sins, was buried and rose again from the dead. I believe believers in Jesus Christ will be raptured out of this earth prior to the seven-year Tribulation Period. And during that time while all this trouble is going on in earth, something is happening in heaven known as the bema seat of Christ. A judgement seat that every believer will face that kind of like a reward ceremony. Your works and my works, after we have come to faith in Jesus Christ, will be tried by fire, the New Testament says. And some of our works will be found to be gold, silver and precious stones, works that will endure for all of eternity. Others, wood, hay and stubble. They'll just burn up right there. It doesn't mean you won't get to heaven. It just means that you enter heaven a little singed on the backside, as somebody once said.

0:06:24.0

Somebody once described the bema seat, the judgement seat of Christ, as sort of like a high school graduation. Everybody graduates. Everybody gets a diploma. Some graduate with honor, those who have been found faithful, those who have served well and all of that kind of thing. So that's the bema seat of Christ.

0:06:41.3

Fast forward to the other end of the chart and to the final book of the Bible and to Revelation 20. We have what is known as the great white throne judgement. This is a judgement for unbelievers. This is the final judgement before the eternal state, or the new heaven and the earth, come into play. This is a sobering scene. Read in Revelation 20:11-15. It is a time when every unbeliever stands before the great white throne of God, and they are judged for their sins. And the Bible says that all the unbelievers plus the devil and his demons plus death itself are cast into the lake of fire. There's no rejoicing in that. I'm just telling you what the Bible says. It's a very, very sobering scene.

0:07:32.7

In between that in terms of a timeline comes this judgement of the sheep and the goats. Again, I place it at the end of the Tribulation after the second coming of Christ and just prior to Jesus setting up His 1,000-year reign on this earth. I believe in a literal millennial reign of Jesus Christ that is spoken of in Bible prophecy all throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, and especially in Revelation 20. Some differ with that. Some don't believe it's a literal thing. I say they'll catch up one day and figure out that they're wrong. But I humbly hold that position.

0:08:13.1

And the question about the judgement of the sheep and the goats is, who gets to enter into the millennial earthly kingdom? When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," He has the millennial kingdom in mind, a literal time when Jesus Christ will sit on David's throne. What does it say in verse 31? "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne." This is the throne of David in Jerusalem.

0:08:54.4

Now, the Jews who are waiting for their Messiah thought this was going to happen 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. They didn't quite understand the subtle nuances in the Old Testament prophecies. We have the privilege of all the New Testament and the progress of Revelation and the unfolding of these things to recognize a nuance and a separation in time in some of those prophecies. For example, one that I'm sure your ears are familiar with, Isaiah 9:6. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." It's a great Christmas passage. It reminds us of Bethlehem, and it should, when the Christ Child was born in Bethlehem, when a Son was given to us, when the Father sent His Son to be born here. That scripture and that prophecy goes on to say, "For the government shall be upon his shoulders, and he shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end." That part of it didn't happen 2000 years ago. But what we see in that prophecy now is the subtle difference between the first coming of Christ and His second coming.

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At His second coming He will come as the conquering King, at His first coming, the suffering servant paying the penalty for our sins, dying on the cross, rising from the dead, ascending back to the Father, promising to return. And when He comes, oh yes, He will sit on His glorious throne, the throne of David, set up His earthly kingdom. "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And then the question becomes of those…and this gets really specific…those Gentile believers coming out of the Tribulation, which ones get to go into the kingdom and which ones don't? And the sovereign Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. That's this judgement here. As I understand scripture, you and I as believers in Jesus Christ won't be here. It's not that we can't learn from this, but this is a judgement at the end of the Tribulation for those Tribulation Gentile believers who go in or out of the kingdom and reign with Jesus along with us as we come back at His second coming.

0:11:28.2

Now, with that in mind, I find a couple of contrasts, two or three contrast and questions that arise from this very fascinating story, this parable that Jesus told about the sheep and the goats. The first contrast is obvious. Are you a sheep or a goat? Are you a believer or an unbeliever? That's the idea here. The sheep are believers, and the goats are unbelievers.

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By the way, our new director of kids' ministry here at Atlantic Shores, Debbie Pound, she and her husband bought a house out in Suffolk out on a farm. And they have some wonderful little farm animals we're getting to know. They have three goats- Apache, Geronimo…and I forget the third one. The third one just arrived this week. We didn't have time to do this, but I suggested, "Hey, why don't I go out and interview the goats? Let's just read the story to the goats. And here what I want them to know. It doesn't end well for the goats." I found some humor in it, but we didn't get that far. But that's the idea. Are you a sheep or a goat?

0:12:28.8

The second contrast is this- are you on the right or the left? Did you see that in verse 33? "And He [that is, the Son of Man] will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left." What's that all about, the right and the left? And is it even significant enough to mention. Well, the Holy Spirit doesn’t waste words in the scripture. I have some conservative friends who live in Washington, D.C., who want to make political hay out of this. You know, the sheep, the believers, are on the right, and the goats, the unbelievers, are on the left. That has nothing to do with Washington politics. In fact, I say please don't diminish what the scripture is saying here by inserting your political bias on the right or the left. That's not what this is all about.

0:13:29.7

But there is significance in the Bible to being on the right or on the left. Let me just highlight a few things. First of all, in the Old Testament we learn about the right hand of blessing or favor. For example, in Genesis 48 in the story of when Joseph was gathering with his aging father Jacob, who now has a new name Israel, Joseph brings his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And in that culture when an aging almost dying patriarch passed the family blessing onto the next generation, he put his right hand on the eldest. Now, the irony in the story, of course, is that when Jacob was born, he was a twin. His twin was Esau. Esau came out first; he was the eldest. Jacob was the heel-catcher, grabbing onto his heel. Jacob was the deceiver. He was a supplanter, and he deceived his brother Esau one day when he came back from a hunting trip. Esau was tired, and Jacob got him to trade his birthright for a pot of porridge. So is the irony of the story here. But the right hand of blessing, the right hand of the favor of God comes into play here.

0:14:49.3

In the New Testament we learn about something called the right hand of fellowship. Have you ever heard that? Maybe you grew up in a church where, when they received new members into the church, you extended to them the right hand of fellowship. It's sort of like when a mayor of a city hands some person a key to the city. Well, in the church we extend the right hand of fellowship, and that says, "You're welcome in this place," or, "You're a new member in this place. We're together as part of the body of Christ here." In Galatians 2:9 it says when James and Peter and John, who seemed to be pillars in the church, "perceived the grace that was given to me," Paul says, "they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised." That right hand of fellowship was, again, a way of welcoming them into the church and also saying, "Hey, as we commission you to be sent out with the gospel into the mission field, so to speak, our fellowship goes with you."

0:15:55.0

And then thirdly, the right hand of honor, power, and authority. We see this in references to the Messiah and to Jesus Christ. Jesus was quoting the Old Testament in Matthew 22:44, applying this to Himself. "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.'" We say that Jesus today, as He ascended to the Father, is at the right hand of the Father, that place of honor and power and authority. Romans 8:34, "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." What is Jesus doing at the right hand of God? Well, one of the things the Bible says He's doing as He sits in that place of honor, power, and authority is He is praying for us. He is interceding for us. That should be encouraging.

0:17:08.4

So, back to the questions, the contrast that this parable raises up in Matthew 25, the parable of the sheep and the goats. Are you a sheep, or are you a goat? Are you on the right or on the left? On the right meaning the right hand of God's blessing, His favor, His fellowship. Even as a believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible says we are joint heirs with Christ. We inherit His honor, His power, His authority. In some way, He shares that with us.

0:17:43.8

The third contrast is grace or works. This is an interesting one because this particular parable about the sheep and the goats has raised all kinds of questions throughout church history, one of which asks, is Jesus advocating a works-based salvation here? Because He really praises the sheep for what they do, and He scolds the goats for what they don't do. To the sheep, you know, "You fed me when I was hungry; you clothed me when I was naked. You tended to Me when I was sick. You did all these good works. You did all of these to the least of these, my brothers. And when you did that, it's like you were doing it unto Me." It's raised this question about faith versus works.

0:18:40.5

Keith Green, who was one of the early pioneers of contemporary Christian music, actually had a song about the parable of the sheep and the goats. It's a real crazy kind of arrangement. Look it up sometime. It's a fun song. But he concludes in his lyrics by saying this- "The only difference between the sheep and the goats is what they did (0:19:00.1) and didn't do." And it leaves you with this sense. Is Jesus saying that entrance into the kingdom of God is based on what I do or don't do? That sounds like a works-based theology. Well, see, I would differ with Keith Green by saying there is more to the difference between the sheep and the goats, and we'll get to that in a minute.

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But as the unfolding of theology in the New Testament happens, we understand that salvation is not by good works, but we are certainly saved for good works. There have been debates and discussions about the theology of Paul versus James in the New Testament, because Paul says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not (0:20:00.0) by works, lest any man should boast." But then James comes along in James 2, and he says, "Faith without works is dead." Throughout church history people have said, "Oh, there is a conflict in scripture. Two scriptures disagree with one another." Martin Luther, the guy who sparked the Protestant Reformation in the early 1600s, had no respect for James. He called James a straw epistle, and he cut it right out of his Bible. Martin Luther was a towering figure in church history and Protestant church history, but he was a little quirky on some things too. And you have to understand, he had a long way from which to come because he had been steeped in Roman Catholicism, which is very much a works-based kind of faith. He just arced it a little bit too far.

0:20:54.9

We understand that James and Paul are talking about two sides of the same coin. Salvation is by grace and through faith alone and in Christ along, not by works, Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9. But too often folks forget verse 10. "For we are his workmanship, created for good works in Christ Jesus." Paul understands both sides of the same coin. We're not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works. James is just that guy who is on the other side of coin, and he is saying, "Show me your faith. Show me the authenticity of your faith by your works." That's what he means by "faith without works is dead."

0:21:50.1

So, this parable, back to Matthew 25, raises that question. Is Jesus advocating just go do a lot of good works, help the poor, the naked, and the sick, and you'll get into heaven? No, the sheep in the story were doing that not in order to get to heaven, but because they were going to heaven. This is what kingdom citizens do as evidence of their genuine faith. They care for the poor. They care for the sick. Many ministry and other humanitarian organizations have risen because of the compelling call to compassion in this text of scripture.

0:22:35.6

Well, with that in mind, let's talk a little bit about what sheep do and goats don't. What sheep do, and what's goats don't do, and I'm going to broaden Keith Green's limited understanding. It's not about just what they do and don't do. In fact, first of all, here is what sheep do that goats don't. Number one, they bow before the sovereign Shepherd. Go back again the verse 31. Jesus says, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne." There wasn't much glorious about Bethlehem, not from a human perspective. The Old Testament Hebrew people were steeped in the Messianic prophecies, and they were expecting a coming conquering King. That wasn't the Messiah 2000 years ago. He came as a humble servant, and He came as a suffering servant. He came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The next time He comes, He comes as the conquering King to sit on His glorious throne, I say again, the throne of David in the holy city of Jerusalem. And He will enact His millennial kingdom there.

0:24:09.4

The Bible tells us in Philippians that one day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. How do you fit into that? Are you a sheep, a believer in Jesus Christ evidenced by "I have and am bowing before the sovereign Shepherd"? Does that describe you? You're either a sheep or you're a goat. It's a rather binary choice. Jesus is very binary in this. It's either this or it's this, a sheep or a goat, the right or the left. You're either bowing before the sovereign Shepherd or you're not. One day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess. Better to bow now than later, right, when it's too late. That's one difference between the sheep and the goats.

0:25:16.5

The second is an obvious one we've already touched on, and that is that sheep in the context here serve others. Not in order to get to heaven, not in order to receive the right hand of blessing or favor from God. You already have that. That's what grace is all about. But in response to God's generosity and in His grace, we serve Him as we serve others. Some of you are great at this. You're just so servant hearted. You even have the spiritual gift of mercy, and I see you serving here and serving there. I think of the folks that are in our food pantry, and I've seen them serving on Wednesday. Serving others and caring for the sick and the poor and all that. Before you came to Christ, you might have been the most selfish person in the world, I know I was. It was all about me, my, and mine and getting all my stuff that I want out of this life. But as a follower of Jesus Christ, as He transforms us from the inside out, that compassion thing ought to be rearing up in every one of us. We ought to be growing in our compassion and concern and care for the least and the last and the last, for the hurting, for the poor, for the imprisoned, for people who just need somebody to come alongside them. That's what sheep do. Goats don't do that, not for kingdom reasons.

0:26:48.9

And then thirdly, the difference between sheep and goats—what sheep do, and goats don't—sheep experience…write this down…eternal life, as opposed to another binary choice, which is eternal punishment. Look at it in verse 43. Jesus says, "And these," speaking of the goats. This is why it's doesn't end well for the goats. "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Again, in the context here, those who, as a demonstration of the faith they already possess, as evidence of a genuine faith, feed the poor and care for the sick and have compassion for others, they will enter eternal life. But those who didn't care and serve with compassion as evidence that they don't have faith, their destination is eternal punishment.

0:27:59.4

I know most of the world would say, "No, we'd like some in between here." But, again, Jesus is very binary. Sheep or goat. Right or left. Eternal life or eternal punishment. An insider or an outsider. There is coming a day, yes, for the accounting of believers and for the judgement of unbelievers. And I hope what a message like this does for me as your pastor and for all of us who name the name of Jesus Christ is that there is a compassion welling up inside of us not only to serve the poor, but to speak the words of salvation to them. That salvation is by grace alone and through faith alone and in Jesus Christ alone, and all are welcome at the cross of Christ.

0:28:56.7

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Me." We are compelled as followers of Jesus to do everything we can until He comes to get that message out there, to do it with great compassion. Maybe the way into somebody's life to earn the right to share that good news and that gospel with them is by serving them. Look for opportunities to do that as we do as a church as well.

0:29:21.8

But the other desire that I have is for those of you who are here. Maybe you say, "You know, in all honesty, I've got to admit. I'm a goat. I've been thinking that the favor of God would land upon me because I'm a pretty good person as compared to X or Y or Z." And you've got to understand, that's not the way it works in the Bible. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." "The wages of sin is death." That's the bad news. "But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." That's the good news. And, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead," the Bible says, you'll be saved, rescued from that eternal punishment and granted all the rights and the privileges of eternal life as a sheep who bows before the sovereign Shepherd.

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