One of the men stopped me last
night and wanted to know my text for the day. And I said, man,
I don't get that information this soon. And I still am not sure that
this is where I'm supposed to be. So you tell me, I won't try
to tell you. But I want you to turn to a passage
of scripture in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25. Oh, and the same
man wanted to know my title. Well, you've got to find a text
before you get a title. So I'm going to give you my text. Am I a sheep or a goat? Because
we're one or the other. And it cannot change. We are what we are by the grace
of God. We're going to begin at verse
31. Now this is either going to take
a long time or a short time and I can't tell you which that is
either. So, our Lord speaks some of the clearest
plainest words in all the Bible. But when we look at ourselves
and our old religion, and we all had an old religion, some
of us has had two or three versions of it. And I'm in that category,
along with some other fellows I might mention, but I won't. But our Lord is speaking How on earth we had the same
Bible back then and could not see these things? We found out that we were spiritually
blind and spiritually dead. And what we thought was physical
is actually spiritual. Verse 31, Matthew 25. I'm going
to read to the end of the chapter and then we'll come back and
work on the verses. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory, And before him shall be gathered
all nations, all nations that have ever existed, all people
that have ever been on the face of this earth. And he shall separate
them one from another. And he does that division, first
of all, by the use of very telling words, sheep or goat. He shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on
the left. This is very telling. It is very
important. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, that is, his people, his sheep, his
bride, his church, He'll say to his people on his
right hand, come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I don't know how
long that is, but that's a long time. Nobody knows how old this earth
is. These crazy people that claim
to know are just absolutely mad. But if that's their thing, let
them have it. I don't care. Here's what he says to his people. All of his people. All of his
people of all time and every generation. Come, you blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, you gave me
food. I was thirsty, and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came
unto me. Here's another very important. They're all important, but these
stand out, these verses. Then shall the righteous, we
have another word now to add to the sheep, the righteous. You cannot be in Christ without
being righteous. And if we've ever been in him, we can't get out of him. These people act surprised at
what our Lord has just recorded about them. They said, Lord, when did we
see you hungry and feed you? or thirsty and gave you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and
clothed you? Or when did we see you sick or
in prison and come unto you? And the king shall answer and
say unto them, Amen, I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it
unto me. Yet they seem to have had no
knowledge of it. That seems like a pretty good
way to live the Christian life. Then our Lord turns to the other
group on his left hand. Verse 41, depart from me you
cursed. into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels. But unbelieving sinners, God-hating
sinners who do not flee to Christ for refuge are in this number. I think that was verse 40. Did
I cover 40? Oh, you people are not trained. You won't answer
me. I got it. Okay. Boy, I can do that at home and
I get an answer just like that. I'm going to read 41 again anyway
if I haven't already read it. Then shall he say unto them on
the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed. into everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. I did read it once
before. For I was unhungry, and you gave me no food. I was thirsty,
you gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me not in. Naked, and you clothed me not.
Sick and in prison, and you visited me not. Now compare this to verse
37. Back in 37, the righteous answered
him, Lord, when did we do any of these things for you? We have
no recollection. We evidently don't talk hardly
at all about what we do in your name. But that ain't true of the other
groups. Now we compare verse 44 with
verse 37. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison? You just name a
time that you were in any of these conditions, and we did
not minister unto you. We've done everything we're supposed
to do, and yet they haven't done anything. Nothing. Nothing. Religious? No doubt. Professed to love God? No doubt. But when his son came to this
earth, these same people put him to death. on the cross, claimed to doing God a favor. So the Lord answers their statement
in verse 45, Then shall he answer them, saying, Amen, I say unto
you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these,
you did it not to me. And they shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous unto life eternal. So which is it? Am I a sheep or a goat? You can't mix the two. One is mutually exclusive of
the other. Every human being on this earth
is in one of these two categories. Religion in America is in as
sorry a state as this world has ever seen. There is every kind of blasphemy
imaginable. You would think churches would
have some restrictions upon what they do as a congregation, but
no, it doesn't work that way. You use everything that modern
society uses to get these unsuspecting peoples into your grasp And you
can easily convert them because they're already lost. And since
you're lost and they're lost, you're gonna both stay lost until
the gospel comes to town. And then things really get lively. I've been on the receiving end
of a few. And I still remember them fondly.
You might not think so, but I do. My first question is this. What do you think of this condensed
section out of Matthew 25 verse 31 to the end of the chapter,
which is 46, Can we get hold of what we've
read and spoken of already? Now I know, I know because I've
been there, that in a congregation of this size, or for that matter,
any size, there's generally both kinds
of people present, sheep or goats. this precious, precious statement. And the contrast, I can't get
over the contrast, between what the righteous said to the Lord
when He told them about everything they had done, and they couldn't
remember a bit of it, and the other ones He said, these are
the things that you didn't do, and they said, we remember doing
all of them. I found this little statement
somewhere. I don't remember. It's been many
years ago, and I don't remember where I found it. You might recognize
the words to it. What comfort can a Savior bring
to those who never felt their woe? A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. Are you a sinner? Am I a sinner? We were born sinners and will
die sinners. But thank God the sheep will
be resurrected to life. A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost hath made him so. New life from him we must receive. Before for sin we rightly grieve,
we cannot believe apart from the new birth. No matter how
many times you hear it, no matter how elementary or complicated
it sounds to you, it is an absolute necessity. And it's not something
we can give ourselves. It's not something our parents
can give to their children. The new birth is the work of
the triune God. And it's everywhere in these scriptures,
just everywhere. Matthew messed up my Bible for
me, looking some songs. But I'll get over that. I thought this little, it's actually
a hymn by Isaac Watts, but I won't, I won't punish you anymore by
singing to you. But I'd like to read it. I'm
sure you've seen it. If not, I'll find somebody to
make you a copy of it. I'd write it out, but you couldn't
read it. Here it is. No more my God. I boast no more. Now that's a mouthful. Wow. I boast no more of all the duties
I have done. I quit the hopes I held before. Did you? Did you give up those unrealistic
false hopes we used to have? Do you now despise your old religion? If you can't, if you don't, you
ain't left it yet. You're just trying to play the
two against the other and see which one comes out the best
in the end. I quit the hopes I held before
to trust the merits of Christ. Now for the love I bear his name. What was my gain? I count my
loss. My former pride I call my shame. My old religion I call my shame. If you can't say that, you got
problems, real problems. My former pride I call my shame
and nail my glory to his cross. Yes, and I must and will esteem
all things but loss for Jesus' sake. Oh, may my soul be found
in him and of his righteousness partake. Let me interject one little thought
regarding the word righteousness. I've had a few experiences over
the years with people who call themselves reformed. And all that means is they believe
they have a righteousness of their own. And that ain't no
righteousness at all. Nail my glory to his cross. Yes, and I must and will esteem
all things but loss for Jesus' sake. Oh, may my soul be found
in him and of his righteousness partake. Here's the last stanza, just
four little stanzas. The best obedience of my hands
dares not appear before thy throne. What? the best that I can do,
I don't dare present it to God? If we think we can, if we think
we do, you don't have Christ. A person's own works is an insult
to God. If man could have been saved
some other way than by the cross, God would be utterly foolish
to put his son there in order to save his people. The best
obedience of my hands dares not appear before thy throne, but
faith can answer thy demands by pleading what my Lord has
done. And done is the right word, it
is D-O-N-E, done. That means complete, it means
finished, and perhaps some other definitions that could be offered
as well. Now let's go back to Matthew
25. First of all, before I begin
to read a second time, we need to be clear about a good
many things that are addressed in our Bibles. Why did Christ come to this earth? Knowing that he'd wind up on Calvary's
cross. Why did he come? Because he alone can work out
and merit a perfect righteousness so grand and glorious that it
is enough for every last one of his people, all of them. And I'm sure Kentucky is no exception
to North Carolina when it comes to the state of present-day religion. It is as rotten and as sorry
and as stinking as it has ever been. Churches do anything and everything
except worship God. Somebody told me, I think I know who it is, but
I don't want to say it because I don't know it for sure. But
anyway, there was a particular pastor at a Methodist church
in this little town, and the preacher's parishioners began to see some glaring mistakes
that just jumped out at them. So they started keeping notes
to find out how often this man on a Sunday, Sunday after Sunday,
referred to Jesus Christ. And do you know they didn't have
one? What you going to preach? What
are you going to tell people about if it's not about Christ? It's all about themselves. Becoming
and being better people and being a nicer neighbor and being this,
that, and the other. And I'll tell you, we've missed
the boat entirely if that's the case. And I think you folks know
better than that. I'm sure you do. You may not
love it, but you know it. You've heard it. And we've already
heard it in this meeting. All right, let's see if we can
find ourselves one more time. Verse 31. When the Son of Man
shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne
of His glory. Oh, and by the way, that's called
the Great White Throne. It's Judgment Day. When our Lord comes back, this
thing's already over. It's finished. And before him shall be gathered
all nations. Those that have died thousands
of years ago and those that, you know, have just died. Before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another. You say, Preacher, that don't
even make sense. It would take a gazillion years
to do that. Not if Christ is God, it don't. I don't remember the text right
this minute, but The Lord Jesus is pictured in our Bibles as
speaking this world into being. Where's Paul making? I stole
this from Paul a long time ago, talking about the, you know,
speaking and it's done. Well, he said in the Latin, there's
only two words, dictum and factum. And they mean, when translated,
spoken and done. And that's how it is. There's
no room for us and our influence and whatever else we think we
could contribute to the case. It just, it is an absurdity to
think such things. All right, verse 33. He shall set the sheep on his
right hand. Are you a sheep? Am I a sheep? But the goats on the left, am
I a goat? Some people would describe me
like that, I'm sure, but that don't count. It's what God sees. You may say to me, well, preacher,
I don't think God acts in such an arbitrary manner as this.
Well, he's been doing it forever. And you tell me how God can be
just and send hurricanes and tornadoes and mass slaughter
and all the rest. It fits His purpose. I urge you to go back It's at
your earliest convenience. Well, heck no, don't even wait
on your convenience. Just do it. Read that several times. I use this for a funeral sermon,
I reckon you'd call it, or something like that. last Sunday, as a
matter of fact, and a good many people at that
funeral were a part of a group that tried
to put my wife and us in the street, and they couldn't do it. And these people were there out of
respect to the person that died. And so I took Matthew 25 and just read and commented as I
read it. And an older gentleman came up
to me after the graveside service was finished
and He said, did you know you made
some people mad today? I said, well, I'm not surprised,
but that ain't my problem. It isn't. The truth is always
something we don't want to hear. It goes counter to the grain. There are so many counterfeits. to who God is and who man is
and who Christ is, what salvation is. It's just beyond our ability
to comprehend. The simple truth of the matter
is, unless I have Christ, I don't have anything at all. God help us. Thank you.