THE PARABLES OF
JESUS, #043
A Chronological Study
"To Him who opened
His mouth in parables and|
uttered things hidden since the creation of the world."
Psalm 78:2
"The
Judgment
The Sheep and The Goats"
Matthew 25:31-46
This is the final
parable that Jesus speaks to His followers. This next quote comes directly after
this parable:
When Jesus had
finished all these words, He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is
coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.”
Closing out
Matthew’s Gospel will be the dinner at Simon the leper’s home where Mary the
Magdalene will anoint Jesus with the perfume. Then Judas will bargain with the
High Priests for “thirty pieces of silver” for the betrayal of Jesus.
After the second day
it’s the Passover and Jesus gathers His disciples for “The Last Supper” together
– and after singing a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of
Gethsemane – Evening came and Judas betrayed The Lord Jesus, The Messiah, The
Christ… with a kiss.
This parable is all
about judgment. It’s a simple story about all of mankind being divided up into
just two groups. It is the third parable in a row, just in Matthew chapter 25,
that Jesus has been telling His Disciples concerning that coming Judgment. In
fact, many of His parables speak of eventual judgment of those who refuse to bow
the knee and worship, love, and adore Almighty God and His Son, the sent Savior
of sinful man. The Father delegated Him to be the creator and sustainer of His
creation. The Father planted the promise of the “Anointed One’s” coming in the
very first book of the Bible – and continuously over the next 65 books. He has
spoken of Him though every one of His prophets, and He came to earth in Human
form as the final lesson to His Chosen Nation, Israel.
God established a
nation of “covenanted” people (contracted to God) to be His chosen people – and
they continuously turned their backs and hearts away from Him – to the extent
that they put the Savior of mankind to death rather than submit to “their God.”
God then turned to
the “Gentile” world (non-Jewish) – the un-covenanted people. People who were in
no way under any contract to be His people. Out of them would come millions upon
millions of men, women, boys and girls, who would willingly, voluntarily,
believe and believe in Jesus, the Christ, as their Savior.
When that process is
completed according to God’s timing… Judgment will come – not just any judgment,
like He judged Israel, or other evil nations in the past until now, but a final
judgment upon all of humanity. Humanity will be divided up into two groups:
Those counted as righteous (believers) spoken of as Sheep, and those counted as
evil (non-righteous) spoken of as Goats. In this final judgment the Righteous
will become His family for all of Eternity, and the un-righteous will be
sentenced away from God, in a dark place of His choosing and control, away from
all good and righteousness for the rest of Eternity, with no chance of pardon or
escape. And that’s the story of this parable of “The Sheep and the Goats.”
THE JUDGMENT – The Sheep and The Goats
The Dividing of ALL into Two Groups
Matthew 25:31-33
Here we see the events that immediately follow The
Lord Jesus’ second advent (2nd
coming) to the earth. He will have already rescued His church age believers from
the earth, and they will be with Him upon His return. Also accompanying Him on
that return will be all the angels of heaven and earth. He will sit upon His
throne (the now re-established throne of King David).
Gathering all the
peoples of the world He will divide them up into one of two groups. The grouping
of the Righteous – to His right, and the grouping of the un-righteous – to His
left.
THE MESSAGE TO THE
SHEEP
Matthew
25:34-40
As you can judge,
even the smallest kindness paid, by a believer, is credited as a kindness done
on Jesus’ behalf. We can judge by this that the inclination to do good, in the
believer, is a yieldedness motivated by His Holy Spirit. Even the smallest thing
is willing obedience to Him.
THE MESSAGE TO THE
GOATS
Matthew
25:41-45
Again, as you can
judge, even the smallest thing that is not motivated by the willing service of
the motivation from God’s Holy Spirit, is a result of the desperately wicked
heart of man. Even the most altruistic actions of an unsaved person – prove to
be self motivated and driven, and therefore judged as wicked.
Matthew 25:46
We need to be careful in determining the
cause and effect here. It would seem, at first glance, that salvation is the
result of good works. However, the full teaching of scripture teaches that man’s
salvation if by faith alone – through the grace of God and not by way of our
good works.[i]
Jesus makes it clear in this parable that their inheritance was theirs “Since
the creation of the world” [Matthew
25:34], and that’s long before they could
ever do any good works! As we have said many times before, the believer’s good
works are the result of their salvation, not the cause of it. Our good works, in
this manner, are only found to be acceptable to our Lord and God because of our
relationship to our Lord and Master, the very Son of God.
I read an article by Hayden Hefner of the
Gospel Coalition speaking about the real difference between sheep and goats. It
was spurred on by a song by Keith Green, “The Sheep and the Goats.” Hayden
noticed that Green’s last line of his song didn’t really tell the story of the
parable; “According to this scripture is what they did and didn’t do.” Hayden
remarks: “The only difference between righteous sheep and unrighteous goats is
not what they did or did not go. The difference is not merely in outward
characteristics. Sheep and goats have different DNA. The difference is cellular.
They are different species.” He says that we must be careful not to confuse
symptoms with causes – be careful not to confuse wool with DNA.
[ii]
You see his point is that while there are “outward characteristics” that are similar (mankind, often good, often bad, happy, sad, lots of “look-a-likes,” One, the Sheep, are lovers of their fellow mankind in such a way as to desire their coming to Christ for eternity. They, from the foundations of the world, were somehow chosen by God for that blessed destination. The other, the Goats, were not chosen in such a way. They were not chosen, and at the same time they absolutely refuse to be chosen according to their own wills. Just how God has done that I do not know, but I know His heart and His righteousness, and perhaps someday I will know the how.
Because…
2 Peter 3:8-10
"8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."
But for now, I know the sheep and the goats are
absolutely different and have absolutely different destinations.
“Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He talked about Himself as the sheep’s good
shepherd and the people who followed Him as His sheep. Sheep are known to be
defenseless and reliant upon a shepherd for care, protection, and direction.
Unlike sheep, goats are known for being
headstrong, self-reliant, and independent – likely to “head-butt” you as they
would want you to hug them. Two contrasting animals perfectly chosen for this
closing parable.”
[iii]
THE FOUR
FINAL JUDGMENTS OF THE SCRIPTURES
[iv]
There are at least four judgments connected with the second coming of Jesus
Christ to the earth. Here is a brief summary based on the writings of J. Dwight
Pentecost, former Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, and one of the
founders of the Philadelphia College of Bible – my wife’s and my al Mamata.
First, is the
judgment on the Nation of Israel. Romans 9:6 indicates that the Nation, which was promised through the
covenants, a kingdom over which the Messiah, David’s son, should reign. Before
this kingdom can be instituted at His personal return to the earth, there must
be a judgment on Israel to determine those that will enter into this kingdom,
for it is clearly revealed that “they are not all Israel which are of Israel.”
This judgment is scheduled to happen upon Jesus’ second coming, before the
Kingdom is established.
Second, is the
judgment of the Gentiles.
This judgment occurs directly following the judgment of Israel, just before the
establishment of Israel upon their Land. These two judgments must precede the
beginning of the millennium, for those accepted in this judgment are taken into
that kingdom.
Third, The
Judgment of the Fallen Angels.
This judgment will wait until after the millennial kingdom is over.
“And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever
and ever
[Revelation
20:10].
This judgement will occur before the final fourth judgment.
Fourth, The Great
White Throne Judgment.
The Final Judgment. It is clearly indicated that this judgment takes place after
the end of the millennial reign of Christ.
(brief portions from Revelation 20)
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.
The dead were judged out of the things in the book
of life.
The sea gave up its dead, death and hell delivered
up it’s dead… and they were judged every man according to their works.
And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on
it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no
place for them
[the dead].”
This judgment, contrary to popular misconception, is not to determine whether
those who stand before this judgment bar are saved or not. All those that are to
be saved have been saved and have entered into their eternal state. Those that
are to be blessed eternally have entered into their blessing.
This is rather a judgment on the evil works of the unsaved. The sentence of the
“second death” is passed upon them. This second death is the confirmation and
making eternal their absolute and eternal separation from God.
FOLLOW-UP
QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS
1.
Why is Jesus’ messages so pointed on
performance and quality in these last parables?
2.
What is the point of the message of “The
Sheep and the Goats?”
FOLLOW-UP
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
1.
Why is Jesus’ messages so pointed on
performance and quality in these last parables?
Jesus
has no time left for teaching normal believer level messages to His Disciples.
He has only a few days to complete their training. It is essential that they get
the message that there are eternal ramifications to His teachings. The nation of
Israel is going to be placed aside as far as a people whom God is going to use
to spread His Gospel throughout our world. It will be up to the Disciples and
their efforts to organize and teach a whole new generation of people who will
become known as the “Assembly.” Later they will be called “The Church.” It is
essential that they get the importance of His last messages so that they will be
prepared and readied to lead the way into their future.
At the
end of the road there’s a stop sign. And at that stop sign there’s a judgment to
be made. Does one belong to God through Jesus, His Son, or not? God has spent
thousands of years to gather those who would voluntarily choose to love Him with
their Hearts, Minds, and Souls. At a certain point in time that effort will come
to a close and the judgment will be initialized. In the lesson Hayden Hefner of
the Gospel Coalition clears the matter up substantially – “The only difference
between righteous sheep and unrighteous goats is not what they did or did not
do. The difference is not merely in outward characteristics. Sheep and Goats
have different DNA. The difference is cellular. They are different species."
There are those who will come to the Lord God through Jesus because they will.
There are those who will not come to the Lord God through Jesus because they
will not. It’s the believer’s job to spread the gospel to all – so that those
who will… will. It is essential that each of us do what we can to complete that
“Book of Life.” Reach out and speak to those who might be saveable.
The "The Ancient Path"
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Jeremiah 18:15
"Don't stumble from the Ancient Path.”
2024-02-28 updated
[i]
John 1:12; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:22-24; Romans 4:4-8; Romans 7:24-25;
Romans 8:12; Galatians 3:6-9; Ephesians 2:8-10.
[ii]
Hayden Hefner, The Gospel Coalition, “The Real Difference Between Sheep
and Goats”
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/real-difference-sheep-goats/
[iii]
Jesus Film Project, “What’s the Parabale of the Sheep and Goats about?”
[iv] J. Dwight Pentecost, “Things to Come, A Study in Biblical Eschatology,” Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI.