The Sheep and Goats: Matthew 25:31-46 :: By Sean Gooding

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ ⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

We continue our study about Israel and the fact that the New Testament church has not replaced her based on the promises that have been made by God to her. God made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I thought I was done with the whole Israel study, but as I was planning today, I began to think of the situation in the world right now. Israel is at war with Hamas, and there is a clear divide right now in the nation; there are those who are for Israel and those who are against her. As I was going over that in my mind, this judgment came to mind and a question, “Are you living in a Sheep nation or a Goat nation?” This is one serious consideration that you need to make about where you live.

The context of this chapter is very important; the chapter begins with the parable of the Ten Virgins: five are wise (they have extra oil for their lamps), and five are foolish (they have no oil). The oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. These ten virgins await the return of the Bridegroom (Jesus). When He returns, those with the extra oil (Holy Spirit) are allowed to enter the wedding feast, and the others, even after getting oil, are refused entry. This is a picture of the New Testament church, the Bride of Christ, as we await the return of the Lord to take us home to the marriage supper.

The next parable is that of the Talents. They are distributed by a master who is leaving for a far country, and he leaves his servants with work to be accomplished based on their abilities. Thus, the master has given them what they can handle and work with. The master then returns and assesses the work of the servants. Once again, we see a clear picture of our judgment before Christ for how we lived as children of God after we were saved. We will be called to give an account of ourselves to the master, Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:10-11, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences” (NKJV).

The third parable has nothing to do with the New Testament churches or the saints, but we are told in verse 32, “all nations will be gathered before Him.” The ‘Him’ is Jesus; we know that from verse 31, “The Son of Man comes in His glory.” Seated on His throne, He executes judgment on the nations based on one criterion found in verse 40, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” How did the nations treat His brethren? Jesus, of course, is an Israelite, and the brethren He is referring to are His countrymen.

We are told in the Abrahamic covenant from Genesis 12:3 that “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The nation of Israel and our relationship with her as a nation is still very, very important. If I understand this parable correctly, only the nations who treated them well will be allowed into the Millennial kingdom. There is no way that Israel is no longer relevant if the nations will be judged on how they treat her.

How are your politicians speaking about Israel? How are our leaders speaking about Israel’s right to defend herself and protect her people? You can see the hatred for Israel coming to the top once these types of events happen. It amazes me that even people that Hamas would kill, like homosexuals, trans and others of that ilk, seem to be pro-Hamas. Idiots. The Abrahamic covenant is alive and well today, and the standard of it is still the standard by which God will judge the nations of the earth. Israel will never stop being relevant.

Just as a summary of Matthew 25, do you have the extra oil of the Holy Spirit? Will you be able to answer the call of the Bridegroom? If you can, and yes, are you serving the Lord and investing the talents He has given you in the world around you, and will you be able to be judged as a ‘good and faithful servant’? The second question is one that we all, as saved people, need to answer. None of us want to be like the lazy servant who, though saved, was not able to have all the blessings that he could have had. And stop comparing yourself to others in the Kingdom; the guy with two was judged faithful like the one with ten because he did the work assigned. As children of God, we should be praying for the nation of Israel, not just in wartime, but as often as we can.

Psalm 122:6-9, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good.”

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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