If not that I did choose thee,
Lord, O Lord, that had not been. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neidert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Mattawar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information visit our website at ToddsRoadGraceChurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyberg. Our text for this morning is
found in Matthew 25. I'd like to begin reading in
verse 31 of Matthew 25. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And He says, 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. And he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on His left. I have entitled
this message, Sheep and Goats. You and I are either a sheep
or a goat. A sheep never becomes a goat
and a goat never becomes a sheep. Sheep or goats. when the Son of Man cometh in
all of His glory. Not if, but when. You'll remember the words of
the thief, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
He knew the Son of Man would return in all of His glory, and
so do you. If you didn't before, now you
do now. When the Son of Man shall return. The Old Testament says somebody's
coming. The Gospel says He's here. And the epistles of the New Testament
tell us He's coming again. When the Son of Man comes in
His glory. Now, when He came for the first
time, He came in humiliation. What a stoop when God became
flesh. What condescension when the Creator
took upon Him the form of a man. What a stoop that was. He whom the heavens cannot contain
became a man. And what a stoop He took when
He went to the cross, when He bore the sins of His people,
and He bore all the consequence of sin What a stoop! Now when
He returns again, He'll be returning in all of His glory, all of His
infinite greatness and holiness and power and wisdom. Oh, He'll
come in all of His glory. And with Him will be all of His
holy angels. Those ones who are greater in
power and might than you and I. The elect angels waiting to
do His will. When He returns with all of His
holy angels, He tells us that He shall sit upon the throne
of His glory. Sitting. His work having been
finished. Accomplishing the salvation of
all of His people, the sheep. Sitting. Ruling and reigning. Sitting in uncontested sovereignty. Sitting because all opposition
has been brought down. His work finished, sitting, not
pacing back and forth, but sitting in absolute control. John said, Behold, he cometh
with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also
which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of him. Now we read in verse 32, as He
returns to sit on the throne of His glory, and before Him
shall be gathered all nations. Everyone to ever live is going
to be at this gathering, standing before the great Judge, the Lord
Jesus Christ, sitting upon the throne of His glory. All fleshly
distinctions at that time will have ceased. The president will
be standing beside the pauper, and they all stand before the
great judge of the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, at that
time, a great separation shall take place. We read, "...and
before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep, from the
goats. Now, when this separation takes
place, a great gulf will have been fixed between the sheep
and the goats. Christ makes this great gulf. And they can't be brought together.
They've been separated eternally. Now, they may be side by side
now. And it may be that you can't
tell the difference between a sheep and a goat now. but the difference
will be seen clearly then, and that separation will take place
then. And men treat with contempt and
thoughtlessness the coming of the great king now, but they
won't then. Now, sheep and goats, those who
believe and those who do not believe. the righteous and the
wicked, the saved and the lost. Now, we can't distinguish them
now very clearly, but on that day everyone will know who the
sheep are and who the goats are. Now, who are the sheep? He shall separate them on the
day of judgment One from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep
from the goats. Who are the sheep? Now, we can
answer that question from the Scriptures. The sheep are those
the shepherd laid his life down for. The sheep are those that
Christ died for. Let me read you from the Scripture
what our Lord says regarding his sheep. We read in John chapter
10. Beginning in verse 14, I am the
Good Shepherd. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He says, I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep,
and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. He did not lay down His life
for goats. He laid down His life for the sheep. And He said, and
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, Them also I
must bring, and they shall hear My voice." Every one of My sheep,
they shall hear My voice. They'll hear My voice in the
Gospel. I will speak to them through the Gospel. And there
shall be one fold and one shepherd. In verse 24 of the same chapter,
then came the Jews round about Him and said unto Him, How long
dost Thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly." Jesus answered them, I told you. He was always plain. He said, I told you, and you
believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you
are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. Notice, He did not
say, He did not say, You're not a sheep because you don't believe.
He said the reason you do not believe is because you're not
a sheep. Big difference. Let's go on reading. He said
in verse 27, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they
follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life. His sheep are the
ones who know Him, who follow Him, They are the ones that He
has given eternal life to. He says in verse 28, And they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My
hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than all, and no
man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. His sheep
are His elect. the ones the Father gave Him,
the ones He laid down His life for. That's who His sheep are,
all of His people, all of those who believe on His name. Now, somebody may ask, well,
who are the goats then? The goats are everyone who is
not a sheep. Now, let me tell you three things
about goats. First of all, goats cannot follow. Remember, the
Lord said of his sheep, they follow me. He said to Matthew,
one of his sheep, follow me. And Matthew rose, forsook all,
and followed him. That's what sheep do, but a goat
cannot follow. They can be driven from behind,
but they cannot follow a shepherd. It's against their nature. Second
thing about a goat is a goat can eat anything. He'll eat paper. He'll eat, it doesn't have to
be real food. He'll eat anything. And you've
probably seen that if you've ever been around goats. They'll
eat anything. A goat will listen to anything
whether it's true, false. They swallow it all whole without
having any discernment or understanding. They can hear that which is false.
They can feed on that which is false and be satisfied because
they're goats. And thirdly, it's the nature
of a goat to butt. A goat hears some aspect of the
truth of God, the truth of the gospel, and says, but what about
this? What about that? Fill in the blank. Whatever you're
talking about regarding the gospel, the goat will always give a but.
The goat does not bow. The goat buts in objection to
the gospel. Now, in verse 34, verse 33, and
he, Matthew 25, back to our text, and he shall set the sheep on
his right hand The place of honor and blessing, but the goats on
the left. Verse 34. Now, let me make a
statement regarding this verse before I read it. If you want
to understand what grace means, And if you want to understand
the true relationship between grace and works, you'll see in
this following passage of Scripture. Now, I pray that God will open
my eyes and your eyes to His truth. So listen real carefully.
Verse 34 of Matthew 25, after this separation is made, then
Shall the King, I love the way the Lord refers to Himself as
the King. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And when
He speaks, He speaks with authority because of who He is. He is the
King. Oh, I love to think of Him in
this light. He is the King. Then shall the
King say unto them on His right hand, Come. Not go away, but
come. Now the law says go and do. Perform something that will make
you right before Me. But the king says to the sheep,
come. Come and welcome to the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's nothing to prevent you
from coming. You see, all sin has been dealt with. All sin
has been put away with regard to the sheep. Christ laid down
His life for the sheep. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things?" There's nothing to prevent you from coming.
He says to the sheep, come. Not go and do, but come right
now. And beloved, it's not a long
journey. You get there as soon as you come. Come, ye blessed
of My Father. Oh, to be blessed by God. He hath blessed us. This is true
of every believer. Ephesians 1-3. He hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Every blessing God has to give,
the believer possesses in the Lord Jesus Christ. Come, ye blessed
of my Father. Inherit. Inherit. Don't miss that. Inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Inherit. Now, what is an inheritance?
Well, it's not something you earn. It's something that's given
to you because of your connection with somebody else. Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit. Because of your kinship with
the Lord Jesus Christ, because you're in Him, Because you're
united to Him. Because He is your Savior. Inherit. Men try to mix grace and works. The rich young ruler came to
the Lord and said, Good Master, what good thing shall I do to
inherit eternal life? There's nothing good you do to
inherit anything. So what he was doing, he was
mixing grace and works, which ends up being nothing more than
works. The kingdom of heaven is an inheritance, something
that's given to you for Christ's sake. Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Note those words, the
kingdom prepared for you. Our Lord said, I go and prepare
a place for you. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. And I go and prepare a place for you." Now that doesn't
mean he's going up to heaven and tidying up a room. He's talking
about going to the cross. I go to the cross to prepare
a place for you in glory. This eternal inheritance, everything
I needed. Everything I need to get me into
heaven, He prepared. He did it when He went to the
cross for me as my representative, as my substitute, as my Savior,
as my Lord and King, as my Prophet, Priest and King. He went to the
cross to prepare a place for me. Oh, thank God for what He
did. He says, I go and prepare a place
for you. Come, ye blessed of my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Before time began, this kingdom
was prepared for you. Christ is called in Revelation
13, 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before
time began, He was the Lamb slain, already slain, already slaughtered.
You see, God doesn't dwell in time. Everything is in the eternal
present with Him. He doesn't deal in time. There's
not a yesterday and tomorrow. Christ has always been the land
slain from the foundation of the world. And God's people have
had all of their inheritance given to them in Christ Jesus
before time began. Listen to this Scripture. 2 Timothy
1.9 says, He saved us and He called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Everything I have was given to
me before I was ever born. And it's a good thing, because
if the Lord would have waited until I was born, He wouldn't have
given it to me. But no, I've always been viewed in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1-4 says, according
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him. Now, what this
is talking about is election and predestination. You know,
men scoff at this today. They refuse to deal with it or
they'll disbelieve it or relegate it to a status of a doctrine
of secondary importance, but they won't then. Everyone is
going to see the issue of election. Then come, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now, everything
that was purposed in eternity will be seen in time. And everything
that was purposed in eternity will have evidence of what took
place in time that it was purposed in eternity. Well, what do I
mean by that? Now, he says to these people,
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world for I was hungry and you gave me meat." He talks about
what took place in time. 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,
and I was in prison, and you came to me." This is the evidence
that the kingdom was prepared for you from the foundation of
the world because you did all these things to me in time. Now, is this literal? Yes, it is literal. But more
than being literal, There's a spiritual application to this. The Lord
saying, I was hungry and thirsty and you gave me meat and drink.
I was a stranger. You took me in. I was naked.
You clothed me. I was sick and in prison. And
you came into me and visited me. This describes a believer. A believer is someone who hungers
and thirsts for righteousness. Didn't our Lord say, blessed
are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness? For they shall
be filled." Now, a believer is someone who hungers and thirsts
for righteousness. Hunger and thirst is a conscious
absence, and you know you must have righteousness, and how you
hunger and thirst that righteousness would be given to you. Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled. And what about this thing of being a stranger?
A believer is a stranger and a pilgrim here. This world is
not his home. What about this thing of nakedness?
I need clothed. I need to have my nakedness covered
with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what about
this thing of being sick? The Word is literally without
strength. Impotent. Yes, sickness is involved,
but it's strengthlessness. And every believer knows what
it is to have absolutely no spiritual power and totally dependent upon
grace. And what about prison? A believer
knows something about being imprisoned in a body of sin, and they cry
out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this
body of death? And the Lord says, I was these things because He's
united to believers. Whatever I've experienced, I'm
in Him. He experienced. And he says to
these people who had the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation
of the world, I was all these things and you came to me and
you met my needs through the gospel. That's what you did.
Now, verse 37, look at the people's response. You see, believers,
sheep are so much different from goats. Sheep do not know they
did these things. Goats can give you the name and
time and date when they did them. Oh, we did these things. But
listen to how the sheep respond. Then, verse 37, shall the righteous... I love this name of the believer,
the righteous. Let me tell you something about
the believer and the unbeliever, the righteous and the wicked,
the sheep and the goats. All the righteous believe themselves
to be wicked. And all of the wicked believe
themselves to be righteous, or at least they have the potential
to be righteous if they do some certain thing. It's in their
power. All the righteous believe themselves
to be wicked, and all of the wicked believe themselves to
be righteous. Now, notice how the righteous
answer when our Lord says, You've done these things for Me. Then
shall the righteous answer Him, saying, When saw we thee in hunger,
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?"
We are not aware of doing any of these things. We didn't know
this. And look at the answer of the
King. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say
unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least
of these, My brethren, you've done it to me." Now here he's
speaking of union with himself. He doesn't say, it's as if you
did it to me. He said, you did it to me. Inasmuch as you've done it to
one of the least of these, my brethren, both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause
he's not ashamed to call them brethren. He says, inasmuch as
you've done this to one of the least of these My brethren, you
gave them the Gospel. You gave them this clothing.
You gave them this hunger and thirst and you satisfied it.
You showed them their need of Christ and their weakness and
how that Christ came to those who were without strength and
died for the ungodly. You gave them the Gospel. Then
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto
you, inasmuch as you've done it to one of the least of these
My brethren, you've done it to Me. Then, now he deals with the
goats. Then shall he also say unto them
on the left hand, the goats, depart from me ye cursed. Oh, to be cursed by God. I'm either blessed and have all
of God's blessing or I'm under God's curse. Depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. Four, I was hungry and you gave
me no meat. I was thirsty and 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. You didn't do any of these things.
I understand this. If I'm damned, if I'm cursed
by God, the reason I'm cursed is not because I'm not one of
the elect or not because Christ didn't die for me. I'm cursed
because of what I did or didn't do. I'm cursed because of my
own personal sin. That's the reason for God's curse. These people did not do any of
this. Now, they thought they did. They
said, Then shall they answer and say, Lord, when saw we thee
in hunger, or thirst, or stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison,
did minister to you? We thought we did. Now, these
people had no understanding of hungering and thirsting for righteousness
because they already had their own righteousness. They didn't
know anything about being a stranger because this world was what they
loved. They didn't know anything about being naked because they
had a fig leaf righteousness that they were satisfied with.
They didn't know anything about being weak and sick and sinful
because they thought they had some strength. They didn't know
anything about being imprisoned because they thought they had
a free will and they could do anything they wanted. They had no understanding
of this. And so they couldn't minister
the gospel to these people because they didn't know what it meant.
They were blind to this and they thought they had done these things.
Verse 45, Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as you did it not to the least of these, my brethren,
you did it not to me. And these shall go away to everlasting
punishment. There is no annihilation. Hell
lasts forever. because the justice of God can
never be satisfied in their punishment. Sin is so infinite, the punishment
is eternal. These shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous, every believer righteous, righteous
because Christ's righteousness is their righteousness, and they
are united to Him, shall go into life eternal. The sheep and the
goats. Every sheep looks to Christ.
May God give you grace to do just that. We have this message
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he knows, he took off. To request a copy of the sermon
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