Final separation, of course this
passage here is where Christ separates the sheep from the
goats. He says in verse 31, it says,
when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, now that's His
second coming. You remember the Bible speaks
of over in Hebrews chapter nine about how Christ came the first
time to put away sin. And He came by means of the Holy
Spirit creating that humanity, that sinless humanity that he
united his deity with in the womb of the Virgin Mary. It was
a very humble birth, very humble beginning. He's born in a manger.
All of that, you know the story. And he came that first time to
put away sin. And that was necessary for the
salvation of his people. Christ having been made the surety
of his people before the world began, God chose us and gave
us to Christ, put all of the conditions of our salvation upon
him, and appointed him to be our surety, our substitute, our
redeemer, our keeper, our mediator, all of that. And he came that
first time in a humble way. Isaiah describes it in Isaiah
53, you know, how he was despised and rejected of men, a man of
sorrows, acquainted with grief, all of that. And having our sins
imputed to him, he subjected himself to become a servant.
What a condescension. You know, it's not condescending
for us to be servants. Because we're sinful human beings.
When God makes us his servants in the new birth, servants of
Christ, that's a big step up for us. And it's all by his grace. But Christ condescended, Philippians
chapter two tells us about that. And he came to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. he lived that perfect life, he
went to the cross, he died for our sins, he secured the salvation
of God's people and when he talks about his glory, coming in his
glory, he's talking about the second coming of Christ because
then he'll come in all the glory of his successful work to save
all whom he intended to save and to bring his enemy to their
knees. Every tongue's gonna confess,
every knee's gonna bow. They're gonna confess that Jesus
is the Son of God. And those who die in unbelief
and who are raised again unto condemnation at that time, it'll
be a forced bowing. There'll be no faith there, there'll
be no repentance there. And I'm not gonna get into all
that today. But when he shall come in his
glory, verse 31, and all the holy angels with him, that's
his servants, his attendants, very publicly, not a secret,
not just people just disappearing and everybody wondering where
they're at. He says, then shall he sit upon the throne of his
glory, the king of kings, not a babe in a manger, not one who's
despised and rejected of men, but one whose glory will shine
forth as the sovereign of this universe. that's how he's going
to come. As he came the first time to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, he'll come the second
time in his glory. And verse 32 says, and before
him shall be gathered all nations. Now this is all without exception
here because he's going to gather them all together and he shall
separate them one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep
from the goats. This is the final separation.
And so he said, it says in verse 33, he shall set the sheep on
his right hand. The right hand is the right hand
of judgment and acceptance. It's the right hand of declaring them justified before
the whole universe. And the goats will be on the
left. that's the right, that's the left hand of rejection, separation
from God, all right. So when I call this the final
separation, you know in the Bible separation usually refers to
sanctification being set apart and as God's people were set
apart, separated out from the very beginning before the foundation
of the world and given a salvation in Christ Jesus before the world
began, God chose his people. We were separated and it had
nothing to do with anything God foresaw in us or what we would
do or anything. It was totally God's sovereign
grace. It's called the election of grace.
I preached on that last Sunday. In other words, these people
who talk about election, that God looked down through a telescope
of time and foresaw that you would believe and then he chose
you on that. That's not the God of the Bible. That's an idol. Because that's
a reactionary God. God doesn't react. God is the
first cause, the prime mover in all areas. And so he chose
us, he separated us out in the sovereign election of grace,
gave us to Christ, put all the responsibility of our salvation
upon him. And then he separated us out,
you might say, legally on the cross when Christ stood as our
surety and died for our sins. He obeyed unto death for His
people. He gave Himself the just for
the unjust. He redeemed us by His blood and
that's the redeemed separation. That's Christ paying the price
of our sin debt that had been charged to Him. and given us
a righteousness that he worked out on the cross. But God had
determined that before the foundation of the world. And then the next
separation that we experience is being separated out in the
new birth. When God brings us under the
preaching of the gospel and gives us life from the dead and we're
made separate from unbelievers. It's called the new creation. Whereas once we were in darkness
and ignorance and in unbelief, now we're in the light. Now we
know God. We know Christ as the Redeemer. We know the truth. We know how
God justifies the ungodly. And we're His servants. We were
servants of sin in unbelief. Now we're still sinners. we're
not separated from the world in that way. We're still sinners
but we're sinners saved by grace, evidenced by our faith in Christ. Repentance of dead works and
our continuing in him by the grace of God. So that's the separation
there and it doesn't have anything to do with what we wear or what
we eat or don't eat or all that stuff. That's religious. Now,
somebody asked me about it, so does that mean we can wear anything? Listen, use your head. No, there's
certain things we shouldn't eat and shouldn't drink and shouldn't
wear, all of that, but that's not our separation from the world.
That's what I'm saying. That's not our sanctification.
What is it that separates us from the world in the new birth?
It's the gospel that we believe. you know, 10 people who claim
to be Christian, and only one of them, let's say, knows the
true gospel of how God justifies the ungodly based upon the imputed
righteousness of Christ. That person, no matter what they're
wearing or eating that day, they're separate from the rest of them. So that's that separation. Well,
here's the final separation at judgment when Christ will separate
the sheep from the goats. Now, you know who the sheep are.
The sheep are those whose names were written in the Lamb's book
of life before the world began. They're the elect. They're called
the church, the true church. They're sinners saved by grace.
Christ said he died for those sheep. He put away their sins. He worked out righteousness for
them. In John 10, he said, my sheep,
he said, I know my sheep. And my sheep hear my voice. How
do we hear his voice? In a dream or in a vision? No,
in the preaching of the gospel. By the power of the spirit who
gives us eyes to see and ears to hear. We see the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. And he said, they follow me.
I know them and they know me. They follow me and no one can
pluck them out of my father's hand. He'll bring them to glory. that's His sheep and His sheep
are made up of God's elect out of all nations and then all nations
also includes the unbeliever, those who live and die in unbelief
and I'm going to talk about that a little bit in the message coming
up. But this throne of His glory is the throne of judgment which
He earned that right by His obedience unto death for His people. And
from this throne of judgment, he's going to declare the reality
of what it means to be a sheep and a goat. This judgment, you
know, people, they have a wrong idea of judgment. The judgment
is not where we go to find out where we're going. Now, unbelievers
will find out, you know, just like those in Matthew 7. That's
a prime, there's just three verses, 7, 21, 23, I think it is. That's a prime verse that gives
you an understanding of judgment. Prime section of scripture, just
a few verses. And it shows us that anyone who
stands before God without Christ, without being washed in His blood
and clothed in His righteousness, that it's going to be declared
before the whole universe that they're not saved, their works
are works of iniquity. And that's why we talk about
the terror of the Lord of judgment, to stand before a holy God, a
just God without Christ is to stand before him without his
mercy, without his grace, without his love, without his righteousness,
without his blood. And so all of this is a declaration
of the reality of what was true here on earth. Am I a believer? Am I one of God's sheep? Am I
one of God's elect? That's what I preached on last
week. Well, all the way we know that is by the gospel that we
believe and live. That's what we do. I was talking
to somebody the other day about, you know, there's people who
they claim to believe the same gospel we believe, but they're
comfortable sitting in religious assemblies where that gospel
is not preached. And I told him, I said, well,
what you've got there, I said, this may sound harsh, but what
you've got there is a hypocrite. If you, listen, if you know and
love the true and living God, you're not gonna sit there comfortably
listening to a preacher lie on him. Do y'all love your mamas
and your daddies? What if I was up here talking
about your mamas and daddies and tell them lies on them? Would
you sit there and listen? No, you wouldn't. Well, what
about your heavenly father? See, isn't that more important?
I wanna hear it. Listen, I don't wanna sit and
listen to a preacher lie on God. But how do we know we're one
of his sheep? Well, we know and love the gospel. We know it's
by the revelation of God. We know it had nothing to do
with our goodness or our power or our will. It was totally the
work of God. And the only reason that I'm
a sheep and not a goat is the grace of God in Christ. Do you
realize that? You too. He didn't look down
through the telescope of time and say, well, there's old Robert
Marsh. Look what he did. He walked an aisle, got baptized. I'm gonna choose him. No, that's
a false god. Where do you find that in the
book of God? You don't find it. Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. That's what God said. And that's
God. Somebody said, well, I don't
want that. I don't have anything to do with that God. Well, you're
gonna do with him. because he's coming in his glory and he's
gonna gather all nations before him. He's gonna separate them
one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats.
Aren't you thankful that when you read the 23rd Psalm, you
know the reality of it, the Lord is my shepherd. Isn't it something
when you think about standing before the judge of all and you
look up there and he's your elder brother That's what Christ is
to his people. He's your husband. He's your
shepherd. He's your savior. He's your mediator,
as well as your judge. Well, we've already been judged. And that judgment at the end
is just gonna declare the reality of it. Well, when were we judged?
On the cross of Calvary. Because when he died, I died.
When he was buried, I was buried. When he arose again, I arose
again. How do you know it was for you? Because I believe in
him, and that's a gift from God. I rest in him for his righteousness. So the sheep are the elect of
God, chosen in Christ, given him before the foundation of
the world. They're justified by God's grace based upon the
righteousness of Christ imputed to them. They're redeemed by
his blood, and in God's appointed time, they're given spiritual
life in the new birth by the Spirit. They're called to faith
in Christ and true repentance and they'll stay in that state
by the grace of God. The goats are the non-elect. Remember he told the Pharisees,
he said, you believe not because you're not of my sheep. That's
your problem. They're the reprobates whom God fitted to destruction. And you say, well, that's not
fair. Well, read Romans 9. He'll tell you about that. He'll
give you the answers that God gives. And just remember, you're
not as big as God. There's one old poem I read years
ago. I don't even know what the guy
believed. But he was true on this line. He said, your arms
are too short to box with God. Your brain, my brain, is too
puny to debate with God. You understand that? And that's
what he told Job and his three friends. Where were you when
I created this world and put Leviathan in the sea? You weren't
around, were you? You weren't there. So who are
you to argue or to debate with God? Who am I? He's all, we're
nothing. And so the reprobate, the goats
who were fitted to destruction, And who are, they are all, listen,
these goats are all who go through this life in unbelief and die
in that state without having Christ as their savior and their
mediator. That's who the goats are. And
here, when I look at that, you know, I thought about this when
I first come in to see these truths in the Bible, and I didn't
like them. But I got to thinking, I said,
well, one thing I do know is whoever these goats are, I don't
wanna be found among that herd. What about you? I wanna be with
the sheep. Well, what does the Bible say
about the sheep? They believe in the Lord. They believe in
Christ. They submit to his righteousness. Now, as far as looking out at
the world, and you say, well, who are the sheep and who are
the goats? Well, the only way we can know ourselves or anybody
else is by the gospel. And that's why Christ says, go
in all the world and preach the gospel. Whosoever believeth shall
be saved. I don't have any problem with
that. I know the natural man will not believe of his own free
will, because his will is bound to his nature. And the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither
can he know them. They're spiritually discerned. But do you believe
it? Well, if you do, God's given
you the gift of faith. Now looking out at the world
in general and talking about that, we can look at the secret
things belong to God, the revealed things belong to us. What does
God reveal in his word about these sheep? Well, now look,
let's go on. Look at verse 34. It says, let's
see, we'll go, then shall the king say unto them on his right
hand, come ye blessed of my father. They're blessed. Now at this
point in time, he's not talking about the general well-being
of people here on earth, like even the unjust, it rains on
the just and the unjust, but this is the blessing of salvation.
They're blessed. Blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord imputed righteousness without works. blessed of my
father." And then he says, inherit the kingdom of God. It's an inheritance. Now, what do you know about an
inheritance? You didn't earn it. It's not given to you because
you worked for it. Somebody else earned it, worked
for it and bequeathed it to you upon his death. What a beautiful
picture of Christ giving all the blessings and benefits of
salvation to his sheep. Peter called it an inheritance
that's incorruptible. cannot be taken away. And then
he says, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. In other words,
this is not something that you prepared, you made. Now I know
the Bible tells us to prepare to meet God. We looked at that
in the parable of the 10 virgins and the parable of the one right
before this about the talents. Yes, we're to prepare, but how
are we to prepare? We're to look to Christ who did
all the preparation for us. The author and finisher of our
faith. So we're not coming in based on our works. This is a
table that's already been set and don't bring your own dish.
It won't be any good on this table. This is a table that Christ
has made and set and gives to us. And when was it prepared?
From the foundation of the world. Wow. before you were ever born,
before the world was created, before Adam fell, this inheritance
was prepared by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit in the everlasting covenant of grace. And then he says this,
look at verse 35. For I was an hungry, I was hungry
and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came unto me. Now, doesn't that sound
like salvations by works? No, not if you keep it in its
context, not if you interpret what we might call the obscure
with the clear. What's he talking about here?
I've got it in your lesson here. The works that he mentions are
not works they did to earn their place and blessings in the kingdom. They are evidences and underscore
the word evidences. worked in and through them by
God that proved their faith in and love for Christ and their
love for all the brethren. What does the Bible say about
the commandments of Christ? He tells us, he says, God commands
us, love Christ, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and love the
brethren. And this is a separation because
what he's saying here is that the evidence of faith in Christ
and love for the brethren is that we side with our brethren
in Christ against the world. And all these things that are
bequeathed to us, he calls them the righteous, for example. He
says on this, they're blessed. And he
says, then verse 37, he says, then shall the righteous answer
him, the righteous. Well, how are we righteous? What
does the Bible say about how a sinner is made righteous? Are you telling me that the Bible
tells us that we're saved by grace and based on the righteousness
of Christ imputed to us? But then all of a sudden in this
one little parable here, that's all blown to smithereens by works. No, the Bible says that the righteous
are made so by the grace of God based on Christ's righteousness
imputed without our works. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputed righteousness without works. But there are works in the Bible. For we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. But they're not works aimed at
saving ourselves or earning God's favor. They're works of faith,
they're works of love, they're works of grace, they're works
of gratitude. And they're especially shown
toward each other as brethren in Christ to help each other. And that's what he's saying.
And here's what he says. He says, verse 37, then shall
the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungry
and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee
a stranger and took thee in or naked and clothed thee? Or when
saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? Now, one
thing you notice right here is that the one thing that the righteous,
whoever they are, have in their minds is not their works. It's
not like those in Matthew 7, haven't we done this? Haven't
we cast out demons? Haven't we done many wonderful
works? You see, a person who doesn't know Christ, standing
before God at the judgment, their hope is in what they think they've
done, or are doing, or tried to do, or what God's enabled
them to do. Like the Pharisee in Luke 18, I thank God I'm not
like other men. Their minds are on, well, what
did I do to earn heaven? What did I do to earn God's favor? But the righteous here, their
mind's not on that. When did we ever do all that? Because
their minds are on what? They're on whom? Christ. I have
no other plea. Christ died for me. Christ rose
again for me. Christ is my righteousness. Well,
here's what he says. verse 40, and the king shall
answer and say to them, verily I say to you, in as much as you
have done it to the least of one of these my brethren, you
have done it unto me. Christ and his people are one. You can't love God and hate the
brethren. That's what he's saying. Now
that doesn't mean we're always going to get along on every issue
and sometimes we'll even get angry at each other and sometimes
we'll stew because we're stupid. and selfish, you know, all that,
yeah, I know it. And we should patch up these
things in love and all of that. But when it comes to standing
with our brethren against the world and the gospel, helping
them, especially our brethren who lose, like back then it was
very, very common for a true believer to lose their job over
their belief in Christ. So many in the Gentile world,
and we're not in that right now here in Matthew, but in the Gentile
world, so many of the jobs that they had were connected with
idolatry, and they had to either quit or lose their job, and they
needed help. They would get jailed. Paul and
Peter, they were all in jail at one time, in bonds, free. widows, orphans, all of that.
And what he's talking about is evidences of faith in Christ,
evidences of love for Christ and his people. And he said,
inasmuch as you've done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, you've done it unto me. Now the word least there
doesn't indicate that there are stages of honor and blessing
and possession in heaven. He has the mostest, I have the
leastest, all that. What he's talking about is very
practical. You know, by nature, you know, I am, even
as believers, we've got the flesh, you know that. But we have a
tendency to be nicer to people that we think can help us in
some way. But what about those who can
give us no benefit at all on this earth? You know what I'm
saying? That's the least of my brethren,
I believe what he's talking about. I read a couple commentaries
that agree with that. In other words, it doesn't matter
who that person is. Doesn't matter what their status
in the community is. And doesn't matter what benefit
I'm gonna derive either monetarily or honor or whatever, they're
my brother or my sister in Christ. And that's the least of my brethren.
So that's what he's saying, I believe, but you may have a better explanation
of what I've got, but I haven't read it anyway. But look at verse
41. Then shall he say unto them on
the left hand, depart from me, you cursed. Now what does he
say? The sheep are blessed. The goats are cursed. And that's
the pronouncement of God. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law. If you're
gonna be saved by your works, you better do it all. You gotta
stand before God sinlessly perfect. And if you're not cursed, the
sheep, they could be cursed if it weren't for Christ who was
made a curse for them, made sin for them. you're cursed," and
he says, go into everlasting fire, that's condemnation, eternal
damnation, prepared for the devil and his angels. You followed
the ways of the devil. Remember he told the Pharisees
in John 8 44, you're of your father the devil, the works that
you do. Verse 42, I was hungry, and you
gave me no meat. I was thirsty, you gave me no
drink. I was a stranger, you took me not in, naked, and you
clothed me not sick and in prison, and you visited me not. Now look
at the different answer here. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when saw we thee in hunger, or thirst, or a stranger,
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
When did we fail you? What's the problem? Their mind's
on their works. did we not do this? And he says in verse 45,
then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not
unto me. The world hates the gospel and
the sheep. Christ said marvel not if the
world hates you. They wouldn't help us at all
in the cause of the gospel. Then he says, and these shall
go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto life eternal. Well, what's the Bible tell us?
The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Okay.