Who Are The Sheep?

Q: What does the Bible say about the sheep and the goats?

The Bible teaches that during judgment, Jesus will separate the righteous sheep from the unrighteous goats, with the sheep entering eternal life and the goats facing eternal damnation (Matthew 25:31-46). In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus provides a vivid picture of the final judgment where He, as the Son of Man, will gather all nations and separate people like a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The sheep are those on His right hand, representing the righteous who have been blessed by the Father and will enter eternal life. In contrast, the goats on His left represent the unrighteous who will experience everlasting punishment. This separation underscores the certainty of divine judgment and highlights the distinction between those who have true faith in Christ and those relying on their works.

Q: How do we know who the sheep are?

The sheep are identified by their faith, the blessings of election and redemption, and their love for Christ and one another (John 10:27). The true sheep of Christ are known by several attributes that reflect their status as the elect. First, they are blessed, as indicated in Matthew 25:34, where they are called 'blessed of my Father.' They have been chosen and redeemed by the blood of Christ, thus making their inheritance assured (Ephesians 1:3-7). Furthermore, the sheep hear Christ's voice and follow Him, signifying their genuine faith and relationship with the Shepherd (John 10:27). Their love for one another and their willingness to serve Christ by serving others underscore their identity. If someone lacks faith or love for the brethren, they cannot be counted among His sheep.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand their identity as sheep?

Understanding our identity as sheep reassures us of God's grace, our eternal security, and our call to love and serve others (1 Peter 1:5). For Christians, grasping the truth of being one of Christ's sheep is foundational to their faith. It provides assurance of salvation, as believers recognize they are not saved by their works but by the grace of God through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). This identity as sheep also instills a sense of purpose; having been chosen and redeemed, believers are called to serve Christ by serving others, demonstrating the love they have received. Furthermore, knowing that they are kept by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5) allows Christians to live boldly without fear of losing their salvation, resting in the knowledge that Christ will complete the work He has begun in them.

Before we begin the message, we'll go to Lord in prayer again. I want to mention that our sister Patty lost her mother this morning. I know most of y'all know that, so just be in prayer for her and Chuck and the family as they go through this time of grieving. Don't have any information about the services yet, but as soon as I get that, I'm sure Tia, you'll text that out. I don't think I have any, I don't know what my schedule would be if Tia didn't help me out. I'm thankful for it, I am very grateful. So be in prayer for her and Chuck, I sure miss to see them and I know that they're grieving, pray for them.

The arm is getting better. I'm just trying to keep it somewhat immobile. I don't want to go back. So I'm kind of just being over-precautious with this. So you may see me move it around, and it's okay. I can move it around. I'm just trying to restrain myself. When I preach, I get a little animated, so I got to remind myself. This arm would be way over there if I took this off.

So I'm trying to just push it down. So if I move around, I'll move it a little bit. but it's okay, so thank you for the prayers that you've sent up for me, and this, ask you to pray for, pray for our children, pray for those in our families. Don't forget, don't neglect to pray for them. Those in our families that are lost, that don't have any interest in the things of Christ, it grieves me. for my own children, and I know it does for yours.

But I know this, we're convinced of the sovereignty of God in this matter. We're convinced that God has a people. And we're convinced that he will call those people, as that hymn just said, at his appointed hour. And I'm so thankful that I have that comfort, I have that understanding and I'm so thankful the Lord has called me. If he had not called me, I would have never come. I would have never believed. So I'm thankful that he has. Pray for God's churches. Pray for me as I preach. I need your prayers. I need the power of his spirit I need His voice, I need His words. And so I pray He'll give them to you tonight. Let's go to Him in prayer.

Gracious Father in Heaven, we bow ourselves again recognizing You are gracious, You are merciful, longsuffering with us, plenteous in redemption. And this is because of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is because of His Righteousness, we are made righteous. Because of his redemption, we are redeemed. Because he is our sanctification, we are sanctified. And truly, he is our wisdom. We understand that salvation is only by him.

And this by the power and grace of your spirit. We ask for thy spirit tonight that you would send him to us. We know that he dwells in every heart of every believer. But Father, I pray that he would work in a special way on the hearts of everyone who hears the gospel tonight. The heart of this preacher, as well as the heart of the hearers. Show us again. Tell us again the story of Christ and his redeeming love. Tell us again how you chose us redeemed us, called us. Tell us again how you keep us. We're so forgetful, so fearful.

Lord, I pray for our sister tonight. I pray for her family as they grieve and mourn the loss of someone they love so dearly. I pray that you'd send your word into their heart to give them comfort, to know that you are sovereign and merciful and gracious. I pray, Father, that you would bless this church, bless this congregation with your own self. Bless us with unity, with love. Bless us with hearts of meekness. Make us like Him to be our Savior. Forgive us our many sins. We pray this in Christ's name. For His sake. Amen. Take your Bibles and turn back with me to Matthew 25. Matthew chapter 25. Tonight we're going to be looking at verses 31 through verse 46.

Now, the title of this message, Who are the sheep? who are the sheep. Now, we've been through this chapter together, we have seen that the Lord in the previous chapter tells of His coming. And He gives this warning to be ready, that everyone should be ready for His coming. And then in chapter 25, He gives us these two parables, which we've gone over in detail. which represent the whole of professing Christendom, of everyone who professes to believe.

The parable of the wise virgins and the foolish virgins. Remember, the only thing that separated them was the oil. The only difference between the wise and the foolish was that the wise had the oil, which is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Anyone can profess to believe, but only those who have the oil of the Spirit, the life, and the light of the gospel in our hearts are the wise. You remember what happened to the foolish?

When they sinned, they both sinned, but when they heard the message of His coming, they both got up, but only one had the light. Only the wise had the light. And the foolish said, well, we give us your light. And they couldn't because we can't give our light to anybody else. We said, go hear the gospel. That's what we tell anybody who doesn't have this light, hear the word. But you notice this, the foolish went away and never came back until it was over. That's what happens.

You see, those who are wise and have the oil, they will endure until he comes back, what our Lord teaches. The second parable was the faithful and the foolish, the slothful servants. Now the faithful servants, they were given the gifts of God's grace and they put them to usury. Everyone who's a believer in Jesus Christ is given faith.

And what do we do? We put that faith to work. Every time we're under trial, aren't we putting that faith to usury? When we can't understand or we can't see what God is doing, what do we do? We believe. We're putting that faith to work. Love, joy, peace, all of these graces. The believer desires to grow in every one of these and we don't put it to ourselves. We put it to the Spirit of God to cause these things to grow.

But those who have only a profession, they're buried in the earth. Their profession is wrapped in their works, in their earthly ceremonies and rituals. And when Christ comes again, you know that those who believe on him, those who have life, grow in the grace and knowledge of God, they'll be accepted. But those who trust in their own works will be rejected.

And now we have this last one. Now this last one, I want you to understand the difference. It's not a parable. Our Lord has given us two parables, but this one is not a parable. This is a plain declaration of what is yet to come. This is a plain revelation of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all his holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he will separate them one from the other, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." Our Lord Jesus Christ, He is coming, and this is what He is going to do. He is going to gather all nations together.

This includes believers and non-believers. This includes all of those who made a profession of faith and all of those who possess faith. This will be the wise and the foolish. This will be the industrious servants and the slothful servants. He will gather all men before his judgment. And He will divide them as easily as a shepherd divides sheep from goats. Scripture says He will put His sheep on His right hand and the goat shall be on His left hand. That's how easily He'll divide all men.

Now that's just in the end when He comes that's exactly what's going to happen. And He tells us plainly in this text that those on His right hand, His sheep, will enter into eternal life and those goats on his left hand will enter into eternal damnation.

This is how easily the text is understood. That's how simple it is. This is not a matter of if, it's just a matter of when. The hour is coming for you. hour is moving forward to that hour. When Jesus comes, and that's the first thing I want to bring to our attention, His return.

When Christ comes, He will not come as He did the first time. Do not imagine that He will come in any type of humility or humiliation. He will not come as a man to save men, he's already done that. He will not come to call men. This is the fallacy of the pre-Melendez is that he's going to come and he's going to go away giving people another chance. That's not true. When he comes, it's over. It's done. It's the end.

When He comes, He will come not in humility. He did that the first time, didn't He? And this is glorious. We are so thankful that He did come in humility in His first advent. When He came the first time, He came in humility. He did so to provide righteousness for His people. And He did that. Everywhere Jesus walked, He was He was righteous. Everything he said, everything he did, in humility and subjection to the law of God, he did it.

And he humbled himself and became obedient, the scripture says, even to the death of the cross, which means even in bearing our sin in his own body on the tree. And our Lord, when He was done, He said this, it's finished. Salvation's finished. And God set Him on the throne, and I'll tell you right now, our Lord is on the throne. Our Lord is right now ruling all things. This is not a debatable subject. This is not up for debate or question. It doesn't matter what men think. It doesn't matter how they feel. It doesn't matter what opinions they give.

He is right now ruling all things after the counsel of His own will and He is doing exactly what He purposes to do. Somebody comes and asks you, well how can you explain this? I don't have to. I don't have to. Our God is in the heavens and hath done whatsoever He pleased. That's what Jesus is doing right now. And I know what he's pleased to do. I don't know how it's going to happen. I don't know the providences that will work toward it. But I know this. He's going to save his people from their sins. I know that.

He said that in John 17, he says. Father, glorify the son. With the glory which I had with thee before the world was, the scripture says he gave He gave all power over all flesh unto him that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. There's no question that Jesus Christ is right now reigning and ruling over all things.

And he's saving his people. And I know this, not one of them will be lost. This is the glory of the gospel. This is the victory. This is the success of our Lord Jesus Christ. That not one that he died for will be lost. Everyone will be called. Everyone will believe. Everyone will come. And in that day He comes, He will divide them on His right hand, and they shall enter into glory. That's without question. He is coming, friend. He is coming. That day is coming.

Oh, that wicked men would flee from their own works religion. This is the desire of everyone of God's people is that everyone that we know would flee their works religion and believe on Christ. That they would see He's coming. You know what? Our message is the most glorious message. All is ready. Isn't this the most glorious message? And yet it's the most hated message. Isn't that astounding? If you offer anybody something free in this world, they'll jump through 20,000 hoops to get it. But you tell them salvation is free and they don't want it. They want to earn it. They want to work for it. I'll tell you this. I know this. If Christ hadn't come the first time, there would be no shame. There would be no life. We'd all be as the fallen angels with no hope. But I'm thankful he did come the first time in humility.

And I know this, he calls his sheep. He is even now calling his sheep. And I know his sheep, according to this text that we have here, they shall enter into eternal life. That's what he says. He says in verse 46, The one on the left shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.

And so then the only question is this, who are the sheep? If the sheep are the only ones going into life eternal, I desire to know who they are. I desire to know this, am I one of them? Who am I? It's a very personal question, isn't it? What does it matter if everybody around you is a sheep and you're not? What is that? What is that? So I long to answer this through what Christ says in this text. Who are the sheep? I've got five things here. Five things.

First of all, they're blessed. Come you blessed of my Father." Whoever they are, they're blessed. And I'm going to tell you how they're blessed. I'm going to give you three things about being blessed. The second thing is they're heirs. He said, come, inherit the kingdom of heaven prepared for you before the foundation of the world.

Thirdly, he says they are righteous. He said, they are righteous. He gives all this characteristics, and we're going to talk about that in a minute. But then he said, in verse 37, he said, then shall the righteous say unto him. You see, he calls his sheep righteous. They're righteous. And fourthly, I want you to see the character of the sheep. They love to serve Christ. He said, when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was sick, they loved to serve him. That's number four. Number five is this.

They love the brethren and confess their own sin. He said, if you've done it to the least of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. They love the brethren. and they confess their sins, they said, when do we do any of this? You see that? When he says you did all this, and when they, what'd they say? When in the world do we ever do any of that?

So those are the five things. Now, may God help me get through this, because these are a lot. When I got five things, it takes me a little while. I hope Lord gives me grace to speed through this. First of all, the sheep are blessed. He said, come you, blessed of my Father. Turn over to Ephesians chapter 1 and we're going to flip back and forth from our text to this one because I think they're very much tied together. Ephesians chapter 1. The sheep are blessed first of all because they are chosen. They are chosen.

Look at this. Paul in verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, what calls this? Praise? Who hath, what? Blessed us. Blessed us with what? All spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. You know what these spiritual blessings are? If you go from chapter 1 all the way to chapter 2, this is all these spiritual blessings. He's going to describe all of these spiritual blessings that we possess. And the first one He describes is what? Election. Election. He hath blessed us. Now when were we blessed? When were we blessed?

Look back at your text. Hold this. Go back to your text. Look at what Christ says about His sheep. The king shall say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. When? Before the foundation of the world. They were so blessed that he prepared a kingdom for them before the foundation of the world. This kingdom, this inheritance, I want you to see this. It was not prepared for everybody. You got that? He said it was prepared for you. He looks over to those on his right hand and he says you. He's not talking about them. He said you. It's prepared for you. When? Before the foundation of the world, which means this. It had nothing to do with your marriage. If it was before you, how could you merit it? It was before you.

That's exactly what Paul says over in Ephesians chapter one. He says, according as he had chosen us in Christ, when? Before the foundation of the world. So then the source of all this blessing is the eternal election of God's grace in this, that he, the father, blessed you by putting you in union with his son. And that's the blessing. That's the blessing. That we should be put in Christ. When? Before the world began.

Isn't it wonderful that God didn't wait to see what you would do? Isn't it wonderful that He didn't wait to see what you could merit? He did this by His own sovereign will and decree. And see that the Father in election blessed us in that he loved us." Look at that. That we should be holy. According, he had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before him. What's his motivation? Love. That's his motivation, in love. In love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children.

Behold the blessing of having God's love. These sheep have God's love and they've had it from eternity. Consider this, that God's love is eternal, omnipotent, immutable, unchangeable. Therefore, the love of the Father toward us is as high as God. His love is as strong as God. And His love can never be lowered, confounded, or lost.

Isn't that strange to us? Have you ever experienced any kind of love like that from anyone else? The people you love the most, has your love been changeless? Can you say that? Man, I've loved them all the time, never changing. No, our love is so mutable. We can barely wrap our minds around this. But God says, I have loved thee. I like this. In Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 3, the Lord answers the question before it's asked. In that passage of Scripture, in verse 3, there was no question in verses 1 and 2. But in verse 3, God answers a question that wasn't asked. And He says, Yes.

Yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. You see the blessedness of the Father in that he chose us and the blessedness of the Father in love. He put us into union with Christ. This leads to the second blessing. Those that are blessed of the Father have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. They are blessed by the redemption of Jesus Christ.

God purposed that we should have a kingdom. prepared for us before the foundation of the world. But how in the world could we be fit for heaven? Well, He says that we should be made holy and without blame before Him. You see, He purposed the sheep to be conformed to the image of His Son.

In Romans 8.29 He says, Then He predestinated. He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. This is what God chose His sheep to be. He chose them to be in the very image of His Son. Therefore, when Jesus Christ, who was given the sheep, when He came into this world, God ordained that He should be the surety for all his elect.

What does that mean? Assurity. It means the one who guarantees. That's what he was made. He was made a guarantor. That's what Judah was to Benjamin, wasn't he? When Jacob let his son Benjamin go, he let him go because Judah swore that he would bring him again. And this is what Christ is to us. He is our representative.

Go to Isaiah chapter 9, look at this. This was prophesied before Christ came into the world. Isaiah chapter 9, and look at verse 6. Behold the blessing, you sheep, you're His sheep, you've been chosen in love, you've been predestinated to obtain an inheritance. Now notice how it's going to be obtained. Verse 6, for unto us a child is born, Unto us a Son is given.

We know this is the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a child born. But this was no ordinary child. This was the Son of God given. And notice what His work would be. And the government shall be upon His shoulder. What does that mean? It means the weight It means the responsibility of his kingdom, of his government, of his people should rest solely on his shoulders. That he should bear them, that he should carry them, that he should protect them, that he should save them. That's what he came in the world to do.

And notice what his people shall call him. His name shall be called Wonderful. Isn't that what we call Him? You that have been saved by Him, is that not what He is called? Is He not wonderful? Is He not your daily counselor? Who do you go to for trouble? Who do you want counsel from? He's our counselor, isn't He?

And He's not just a counselor, He's the mighty God. He's the mighty God in flesh. He's the everlasting Father. One with the Father in purpose and will and the Prince of Peace. Why? He made peace by the blood of His cross. And look, look at His success. Here's His success. Of the increase of His government there shall be no end. I like that. You realize that the Kingdom of God is always increasing?

You know, people in the news talk about people moving from state to state, right? One state has a bunch of people, and then people move. Well, that state decreases. The people that were there left, and they decrease. And some other state gets an increase, and then pretty soon they'll get a decrease.

You know, the kingdom of God never decreases. It's always increasing. God is daily adding to His church such as should be saved. And what happens when they die? Increase. The kingdom of heaven is being populated daily, isn't it? Of the increase of His kingdom there shall be no end. Why? It's the eternal kingdom of joy and peace. And look what He says, and peace and there shall be no end. And upon the throne of David and upon the kingdom to order it. You know what that word means?

To erect it, to build it. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, upon this rock, I will build my church. That's what he's doing right now. He is building his church. He is adding stone upon stone, living stone upon living stone, calling his people. He's going to build it. He's going to establish it, and then he's going to establish it. That word means to support, keep, and sustain it. Isn't this what he does for his church? He supports us, he keeps us, and he sustains us.

Now, every believer testifies that's true. Were you not at it? Because of His success, were you not at it? Do you not now have peace with God because of Him? This is the blessing of the sheep. All because of this. Christ has redeemed us. Go back to Ephesians 1. Look at that in verse 7. It says, In whom? We have what?

Redemption. Those that were blessed in the election have been blessed with what? Redemption. We have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of sins according to what? The riches of His grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed us. So when Christ comes again, listen, His sheep have no concern.

Why? They're blessed. They've been chosen to this place. And they've been redeemed. They've been bought. So when the judge sees them, what does he see? He sees a righteous group of people. He bore their sin away. There's no more sin to see. And thirdly, they are blessed in the new birth. Now this is vital.

You can understand the first two, but if you've not experienced this one, you have no cause to claim to be a she. You can know all about election. You can know all about redemption. You can know all about effectual calling. But if you have not been effectually called, you're not blessed. This is the evidence of one's election and redemption. It is the blessing of the new birth. the blessing of the new birth. Go to John 10. Go to John chapter 10. Now our Lord Jesus Christ makes it clear who he came to die for. In John chapter 10 and verse 11.

Look what Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for what? For who? Specifically who? The sheep. The sheep. He not only says that once, he says that twice. He says in verse 15, I lay down my life for the sheep. This should do away with all ideas of universal atonement. It's just simple, isn't it? These are plain words. He laid down His life for His sheep. Now then, because He laid down His life, look what He says He's got to do. Look at verse 16.

He said, Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them I also must bring. And they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Does that sound questionable to you? as though he may not get everybody that he wants. No, he said, other sheep I have that are not Jews. Some of these are my sheep and they've heard my voice. But I have other sheep that are just not of this folk.

Them I also must bring. I must do it. And this is the result. They shall hear my voice. and there shall be." What? One fold. When he stands and he separated that group of sheep on this side, isn't that one fold? Know what he said? There shall be one fold. And what? One shepherd. Who's the shepherd? Our Lord Jesus Christ is our shepherd. The shepherd of the sheep. And the evidence of his sheep is this, they believe on him.

Friends, faith is the evidence. Faith is the evidence. Now we, by nature, were not believers. In fact, we were dead in trespasses and sins. Go back to Ephesians chapter 2, look at this. This is what Paul says of us. He says, and you hath he quickened, who were what? Dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, were by nature the children of wrath, haters of God, even as others.

What made the difference but God? No difference, is there? There was no difference between us. You could not tell a sheep from a goat from anything in the world. By nature, we are the same. Except this, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love, wherewith he loved us. When did he love us? While we were yet sinners. While we were yet sinners. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.

By grace, you're saved and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places where in Christ that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ. For by grace, you are saved through what faith. You see, all of that salvation took place before faith. God put us in Christ, we died with Christ, we rose again, we were seated with Christ, that in the ages to come He might show it. And He did show it. In the day that He caused us to be born again, He gave us faith. For by grace you are saved through faith, and that faith not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, and not of works. lest any man should boast." See, the sheep are only known by this, their faith. Their faith.

Go to John 10 again. I know I'm flipping back and forth. John 10. Look what Jesus said to these men. What makes a difference between a goat and a sheep? Listen to this. The only distinguishing difference is faith. Watch what Jesus said. They said in verse 24, he said, tell us if you're the Christ. Now listen to what he said. I told you in verse 25. I told you. Shouldn't that be enough? Tell us if you're the Christ. I told you. Not only did I tell you, I told you and you believe not. The works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me.

Not only did he tell them, he showed them. And yet they did what? They still wouldn't believe. Now why? Look around you. Look at the people that you love, that you care about. They hear the gospel and they will not believe. Now why? Have you ever asked that? Why would you reject the only thing that could save you? Look at this.

He said, you believe not, why? Because you're not of my sheep. Do not make that backwards. Religion takes that and puts it, you're not my sheep because you don't believe. Not what he said. He said, you don't believe because you're not of my sheep. So if a man lives his life and never truly believes, you know why?

He's a goat. Goats never become sheep. There's no scripture passage that says goats become sheep, ever. If you were a sheep, you've always been a sheep. You're a goat. You'll always be a goat. Men don't like that. Does it really matter what they like? Jesus said, you don't believe because. You're not a my sheep. But here's how you tell my sheep. Look at this,

27. My sheep, what do they do?

They hear my voice. When the gospel is preached, they don't hear the voice of the man. They hear the voice of God speaking to them. My voice. If I ever stand up here and give you my opinion, please don't listen. Please? He can only tell you what God says about Himself. And then only God can take that and make you hear it.

He says this, My sheep hear Me. And don't worry, I know them. What comforts me is this, He knows me. What does it matter what I know? If he knows me, he says, I know my sheep. Listen, and they follow me. They follow me. They believe me. This is the blessing of the sheep. They are chosen. They are loved. They are redeemed. They are called. And I want you to know this. Every sheep is blessed in that they are kept. Now what Peter said, who are, 1 Peter 1 verse 5, who are kept by the power of God. Isn't that wonderful that you're kept? Isn't that You can't get out of this. There's no way to fall off this. There's no way that you or I are going to screw this up. It didn't have anything to do with us.

It was an act of sovereign love. It was an act of divine sacrifice. It was an act of divine power that brought us, and it's an act of divine power that will keep us. So in that day, everyone who truly believes, he will separate them on his right hand, and they shall receive exactly what he purposed to give them. Why? They're blessed. They're blessed. I'm going to speed through these next ones. Their sheep are heirs. If you believe, if you trust in Christ, listen to me, you are an heir of everything. I know this requires faith, doesn't it?

I mean, you look at God's people, and we are a sorry bunch of people. We are the lowliest people on the face of the earth. The most impoverished people are mostly God's people. Scripture says not many noble, not many powerful are going to be called. Most of God's people are lowly.

God says this to his people, you're heir of everything. Why? because we are heirs of God. Do you understand? I don't think I do, so I can't even ask you to say, do you understand that? God himself is your reward. Can there be any higher reward? Well, I'm going to have God and a bigger mansion. This is the foolishness of the flesh. Well, I'm going to get more crowns than you, because I did more work than you. If God is your reward, then can there be a higher gift? There's not. You are heirs. You know what? This has the idea of a man's last will and testament. A man writes out a will, and he signs it. He seals it. And then he dies. They open the will and whoever's named in that gets what he gave them. This is exactly how it was.

God purposed that you should have everything. Eternal life, joy, peace, meet me. Every grace, every mercy, every pleasure in heaven is ours. Why? Because God decreed it and Christ died. The will has been ratified. We are heirs of heaven, purposed, purchased for us by the blood of Christ.

How do I know that? That passage in Isaiah, it says this, and the zeal of the Lord shall perform it. How do you know this is going to get done? I'm telling you what. How often do we spend our time in fear and unbelief that this thing ain't going to get done? Do you realize the glory of God is tied to your salvation? You that truly believe, you that have the Spirit of God, you understand that this is all for the glory of God, and if He fails to save you, His glory fails.

It won't fail. It won't fail. We are heirs of heaven. Thirdly, his sheep are righteous. His sheep are righteous. That's what he calls them. Let's go back to our text really quick. Back to your text. Look at this. Let's deal with this, the character of the sheep first. He said in verse 35, when I was hungry, you gave me meat. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. I was stranger. You took me in naked. You called me sick and you visited me in prison.

You come to me now. We as believers understand we have never seen the Lord in his humility. We have never seen him. We've never been able the Lord in his humility. He hungered. I never saw that. I could never have done anything like that for Him because I never saw Him. This is not physical.

But this is the character of every true believer is that our desire is to serve Him. This is the character of every true believer. He said, If a man forsake not his father and mother and sister and brother and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. That's not the character of my disciples, he's saying. My disciples, they forsake everything for me.

Seeing how much He's blessed us, is it not reasonable for us to forsake everything for Him? What should we not let go for the cause and glory of Christ? Tell me. Is there anything we're trying to hold on to? That's the flesh, isn't it? I know that's in our flesh. We'll see that in just a second. But isn't it not reasonable for us to sacrifice everything for Him? Family? Our own life also? It's just reasonable, isn't it? See, this is the character of the sheep.

They love Him. They love Him more than they love anybody else. And notice this, He calls them righteous. Then shall the righteous say. These are what He calls His people. Now then listen, they are not righteous by what they do for Him. They do for Him because they are righteous. Where's our righteousness come from? You that believe, where's your righteousness come from? Now make no mistake, you are righteous.

Now this is something that we have to hold on to by faith because we can't see it. You can't see it by watching me. You can't see it by looking at your own life. Look back on your life and tell me you can see you're righteous. No, you can't. Matter of fact, this is the confession of them. They said, when did we do any of these things for you? We are righteous, but we know this, we are not righteous by what we've done.

Our righteousness is solely based on his righteousness. Make no mistake about it, you are. I want you to understand, he called you righteous. He said to them, the righteous, you're righteous, you're righteous. righteous because of his righteousness. Therefore, we do not trust in our own righteousness. Rather, we confess our sins.

And if you want to know, this is the stark distinction between them and the goats. When the goats, when Jesus said, you didn't do these things to me, you notice what they said? They said this. Look, look at what the goats say. Okay, in verse 44, And they shall answer the LORD, saying, Lord, when saw we thee in hunger, and thirst, and stranger, and naked, and sick, and in prison, and did not minister to you? They're confused. They don't understand. We did those things. See what they were trusting in? They were trusting in what they had done for Him. The sheep are trusting in what He had done for them. There's a difference.

And notice this, the sheep love the brethren. The sheep love the brethren. Jesus said this, look at verse, 40, and the king shall answer them. Verily I say unto you, insomuch as you have done one of these least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. I want you to know this, if there is no love for the brethren, you're not one of his. You see, faith and love are together. You can't separate them. Faith in Christ always generates love for the brethren. John says this, we know we have passed from death to life, we know we are sheep, listen, because we love the brethren.

Isn't this amazing that the Lord said when you've done it under the least of these, you did it to me. Do you not see how intimate that is? That when one of God's people suffer, and we come to them, and we take care of them, or we help them, or we encourage them, do you understand we've done it to him? That's how intimate, we are his body. All of his people are his body.

And what happens when you hurt yourself? Look what I'm doing. Look how much struggle I'm going through for my arm. I'm going through a lot of difficulty here. Why? Because I love this arm. It's part of me. That's what we do for each other. We love each other. Why? Because you're the body. And you're his body. And you're his body.

And if I love him, then surely I love his body. John says we love Him because He first loved us. Now there's how we love each other. If you want to know how you can forgive and how you can love each other, it's only by His love, right? Only by looking at His love.

These are His sheep. They're blessed. They're chosen. They're redeemed. They're called. They're blessed. His children are heirs. His sheep are heirs of heaven. His sheep are made righteous by Jesus Christ. They love and they serve Christ. They confess that they're not righteous in themselves, and they love the brethren. Now then, again, this has always been personal. Is this me? Am I His? Am I His sheep?

If God, by grace, answers that question in our souls, then we have great cause to rejoice. I mean, we don't have any reason to complain. We just don't. Because that day is coming soon. That day is coming soon. He's going to come again, and He's going to give His children eternal life. But everybody dependent upon their own works. Every man depending on their own self-righteousness. They're goats. They're goats. And that day will be terrible for them. Expecting, expecting heaven. And in that day he says to them, depart from me. What a horrible day. What a glorious day. for the sheep. I pray God will comfort you with this.

Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Mitch, would you dismiss in prayer? Well, precious Heavenly Father, thank you for this Word that you've given us. Thank you for your Faithful servant, you have sent to us to proclaim your word. We pray that you would allow us to glorify you in all that we say and do. We pray that you would allow us to go out into this world and proclaim the mighty work that was finished upon the cross by your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. That you would be with us. The liberty and the power to glorify you Help me!

Who Are The Sheep?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the sheep and the goats?

How do we know who the sheep are?

Why is it important for Christians to understand their identity as sheep?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

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Who Are The Sheep?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the sheep and the goats?

How do we know who the sheep are?

Why is it important for Christians to understand their identity as sheep?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

Comments

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