Would you open your Bibles back
to Matthew chapter 25? I've entitled this message, Sheep
and Goats. And my introduction is my title,
Sheep and Goats. Verse 31, The Son of Man shall come in
His glory. When? Not if. When? Do you remember the thief's
words? Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. He knew. And you do too. And if you didn't before today,
you do now. He shall return in His glory. When the son of man shall return
in his glory, the son of God is the son of man. That's glorious
in itself. When the son of man shall come
in his glory, his first appearing was humiliation. How he humbled
himself when he became a man. and how he humbled himself when
he went to the cross. He was called a man of sorrows
and acquainted and whole how deeply acquainted he was with
grief. But when he comes in a second
advent, what a dazzling display of sovereignty, of glory, of
power, of holiness, of grace, when he comes in the clouds in
all of his glory. When the son of man cometh in
all of his glory. Now the great majority of mankind
views him now with irreverence. They won't then. Believer, we shall see him as
he is. And with him will be all of his
holy angels, these ones who are greater in power and might than
we are, the elect angels, ready to do his bidding. And we read
that he shall sit upon the throne of his glory, seated, ruling and reigning. in uncontested sovereignty. Sitting, his work finished. Sitting, not pacing back and
forth, but sitting in complete control. All opposition brought
down. Behold, he cometh with the clouds,
John said, and every eye shall see him, and they also which
pierced him and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of him. Verse 32, and before him shall
be gathered all nations. Every man to ever live will be
here at this time and all fleshly distinctions will be no more. The plumber and the president
will stand side by side before the great king and judge, the
Lord Jesus Christ. All nations will be gathered
together before him. And at that time, a great separation
shall take place. We read in verse 32, and he shall
separate them one from another as a shepherd divided his sheep
from the goats. Now, A great separation will
take place. A great gulf will be fixed between
the two at that time so that the one can't pass to the other
and the other cannot pass to the other. A great gulf will
be fixed. There will be sheep and there
will be goats. They stand side by side now.
They won't then. Sheep and goats. Those who believe
and those who do not believe, the righteous and the wicked,
the saved and the lost, you and I right now are either a sheep
or a goat. And let me say this, a goat never
becomes a sheep and a sheep never becomes a goat. You and I, right
now, are either sheep or goats. Men may not be able to distinguish
what we are, but he does. He does. Now, who are the sheep? He shall separate them one from
another as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. Who
are his sheep? Well, let's answer that from
the scriptures. Turn to John chapter 10. John chapter 10, verse 14. I am the good shepherd and know
my sheep and have known of mine As the father knoweth me, even
so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. The sheep are the ones he died
for. He didn't die for goats. He died
for the sheep. Verse 16, and other sheep I have
which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Look 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. There wasn't any mistake about
what he said, no mistaking it, I told you. And you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you're
not of my sheep, as I said unto you. Now listen to what he said.
He didn't say you're not my sheep because you don't believe, did
he? He said you believe not because you're not of my sheep, as I
said unto you. My sheep Hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand, my Father which gave them me, the sheep are the
elect. My father, which gave them me,
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my father's hand. I and my father are one." Now,
that's who the sheep are. They're the elect of God, those
the father gave him, those he laid down his life for. Those
are the sheep. Well, who are the goats? Everybody
that's not a sheep. Let me tell you three things
about goats. Goats will not follow. They can be driven, but they
will not follow. Second, a goat will eat anything. You've seen that. I've seen goat
eat things that are not, I mean, whatever you get around a goat,
it'll eat. A goat will eat anything. A goat
will listen to anything. A goat will be satisfied with
anything. And third, it's the nature of a goat to butt. You give some aspect of the truth,
but what about? But, but what about? It's the
nature of a goat to butt. Sheep bow. Goats butt. And he separates them one from
another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. Now look in verse 34. Back to Matthew chapter 25. This separation has taken place.
And then we read in verse 34, then shall the King say unto
them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Now, once you listen real carefully, if you want to understand grace,
And if you want to know the relationship between grace and works, we get
some understanding of it in this passage of scripture. Now, grace
begins with the word of the king. Then shall the king say unto
them, sovereign authority, he'll say to them on his right hand,
the sheep Come. Not go and do. The law says go
and do. He says come. The spirit and
the bride say come. and let him that's a thirst come,
and whosoever will, let him come and take the water of life freely. Now, the message of the gospel
is come and welcome to the Lord Jesus Christ. Come right now.
Don't wait. Come right now. Don't wait till
you get better. Don't wait till you improve yourself. Right now,
as you are, come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, it's
not a long journey. It doesn't take long to get there.
You're there as soon as you come. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Come ye blessed of my Father. Now the sheep are those who are
blessed of God. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Oh, the blessing of
being a sheep. Verse 34, then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my father,
inherit, not earn, not work for, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. Now inherit, you know
why you get an inheritance? For one reason, because of your
connection with somebody else. It's not something you earn.
It's because of your connection with somebody else. Now, men
mix this up. Remember the rich young ruler
who said, what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? That works. You don't do a good
thing to inherit eternal life. You inherit eternal life because
of your connection with somebody else, even the Lord Jesus Christ. Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit The kingdom prepared for you. Listen to the language.
The kingdom prepared for you. The Lord said, I go. and prepare
a place for you. Now, he's not talking about going
up to heaven and getting that room ready. He's talking about going
to the cross. He went to the cross to prepare
a place for every believer. And he says, if I go and prepare
a place for you, I shall doubtless come again and receive you to
myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Come, ye blessed
of my heart, of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you,
and when was this preparation made? He said, from the foundation
of the world. Now, when was this preparation
made? When was this kingdom prepared?
He says, from the foundation of the world. before time began. I love thinking about this. I
don't understand it, but I love thinking about it. Christ is
called in Revelation 13, 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, before there was ever a sinner. There was a Savior,
and He was the Lamb slain, not just the Lamb, but the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And there has never been a time
when a sheep has been viewed independently of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Listen
to these scriptures. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, He saved
us. He called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, according to His own purpose and grace
which were given us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of
the world. Everything I have was given to
me before I was ever born. If he would have waited to afterward,
he would have never given it to me. I would have messed it
up. But thank God, everything I have was given to me before
the world began. According as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him. Now this is what is known
as election. People scoff at election now
or relegate it to a doctrine of secondary importance or explain
it away, they won't then though, will they? Come, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now, the evidence, I want you
to listen real carefully to this statement, the evidence of what
was purposed in eternity is seen by what takes place in time.
Now I want you to think about that. The evidence of what took
place in eternity is seen by what takes place here in time. Now this Kingdom was prepared
and completely prepared for them from the foundation of the world.
I think of that passage of scripture in Hebrews 4 3 says the works
were finished. All the works of salvation were
finished. They were completed before the foundation of the
world. God doesn't dwell in time. When he purposed it, it was done.
It's not as if it were done. It was done. He was completed
before the foundation of the world. Now that's just something
that you just bow. That's who God is. He doesn't
dwell in time. He dwells in eternity. But everything that he purposed
in eternity is seen by what takes place right here. So look what
our Lord says. Now he says to these people, these sheep, come
ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. Four, verse 35, four. I was an
hungered and you gave me meat. That's what took place here.
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. Now, Lord says, I was
hungry. I was thirsty. I was a stranger. I was sick. And I was naked. And I was in prison. Lord says
that about himself. I was hungry. And you took me
in. You gave me meat. I was thirsty. You gave me something to drink.
I was a stranger. You took me in. I was naked,
shivering in the cold, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me.
And I was in jail, locked up, and you came to me. Literally? Yes, literally. Literally. But the main teaching
here is what a believer is. A believer is hungry and he's thirsty. He hungers
and thirsts for righteousness. A believer is a stranger in this
world. I am. I'm a stranger in this
world. This world's not my home. I'm just passing through. A believer
is a stranger. A believer is naked and needs to be closed. They know something of their
own nakedness. And they know their need of being clothed. Clothed with the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I was sick. And that
word sick is the word that's generally translated impotent.
Paul put it this way when we were yet without strength. Without
strength. I was without strength. And you
visited me in grace. And I was in prison. I was locked
up and I couldn't get out. I was in prison and you came
to me. Now, this is a believer, isn't it?
A believer hungers and thirsts for righteousness. And this one
who came to him came with the message of the gospel. Here's
righteousness. Hunger and thirst are a conscious
absence and want. If you're hungry, it's because
you don't have any food in your stomach and it needs to be brought
to you. Righteousness. We hunger and thirst for righteousness. Stranger. A believer is a stranger
and strangers like to flock together. They come to each other, don't
they? Being a stranger in this world, there's an affinity there
that you come together. Strangers together in this world. And what about this thing of
being naked? Naked without a covering. And
a believer comes and gives the covering, preaches the covering,
preaches the gospel to the Lord Jesus Christ. What a covering.
And I like this too, this thing of covering. We cover in silence
the faults of our brethren, knowing our faults are just as bad. Love covers with silence. Love covers with silence. That's what love does. And sick,
sick, weak, helpless, needy of grace, And you came and preached
to me the gospel. You see, the Lord's united to
his people. And I was in prison. Do you know what it is to be
imprisoned to a sinful nature? You cry out, Oh, wretched man
that I am. Who should deliver me from this
body of death? Prisoned, imprisoned in a sinful
nature. And you came to me. Now, this
is what believers do one for another. They come with each
other with the gospel. Yes, true. Physically, this is
all true. But the main thing, the Lord
said, I was these things and you came to me. Now, look what
happens next. Verse 37. Then shall the righteous answer him. The sheep are also called the
righteous. Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered,
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 to thee?
We're not aware of doing anything like this. We're not aware of
anything like this. What are you talking about? We
didn't do this, unlike the goats. If you go on reading about the
goats, they thought they did. We got the times and dates when
we did these things. What are you talking about? We
did the, where were you coming up with this? But they thought
we didn't do any of this. And let me tell you something
that's amazing, a glaring difference between a believer and an unbeliever,
between a sheep and between a goat, between the righteous and between
the wicked. All of the righteous believe
themselves to be wicked. And they don't see any good in
what they've done. And all the wicked believe themselves
to be righteous or at least have the potential to be righteous.
If I'm in the right position, I can be righteous. I may be bad now. I may be acting
like a dog now, but one of these days I'll be okay. Now, The righteous
did not see that they had done anything. Now, if you can look
at your life and think, I passed the test. I think, I think I'm
one of the right, I really, I measure up. I kind of believe you're
deceived. Feel sure of it. The true believer
does not see this in himself, does he? It's called honesty, and it's called humility. Verse
40, and the king shall answer and
say unto them, verily, truly, I say unto you, inasmuch as you've
done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you've
done it to me. Now, the Lord doesn't say in
as much as you did it to my brethren just like you did it to me, did
he? He said in as much as you've
done it to the least of these my brethren, you've done it to
me. Now what our Lord is talking
about is union with himself. And I love thinking about this.
It's scary thinking about it when I think about how I treat
you, but I like thinking about it with regard to how you treat
me. How you treat me is how you treat
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what he said. Inasmuch
as you've done it to the least of these my brethren, you've
done it to me. And how I treat you is how I
treat Christ Himself. You see, the evidence of what
took place before time began is seen here in time, isn't it? What you do. He said in verse
40, the king shall answer and saying to them, Verily I say
unto you, inasmuch as you've done it unto one of the least
of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. Now look in
verse 41. Now he speaks to the goats. We've
been talking about the sheep. Now he speaks to the goats. Then shall he say also unto them
on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed into
everlasting fire. prepared for the devil and his
angels. Now this I know about hell is
it's everlasting. And he says to these people on
his left hand, these goats, and can you imagine hearing his voice
say, depart, depart from me. Into everlasting fire he cursed,
prepared for the devil and his angels. Verse 42, for I was an
hungered 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. I was naked and you clothed me
not. sick and in prison and you visited
me not. Now this could be physically,
but I believe these people thought they did these things because
they go on to say, Lord, when didn't we do this? We thought
we did. I mean, I can remember the day time. I've got a list
of all the times I did these things. When did I not do this? And this person is someone who
has no compassion for the hungering and the thirsting because they're
already full. They have no understanding of
being a stranger or a pilgrim because they feel right at home
here. They have no understanding of
the need for being clothed because they got a nice fig leaf apron on, covering their nakedness,
and they think it will do. They have no sympathy for weakness
because they think they have some spiritual strength. Prison? Well, we've got a free will.
We can walk out of here anytime we want. They don't understand,
therefore they don't meet this need. They don't preach the gospel. The Lord said, you didn't do
these things to me. And as much as you didn't do
it to them, you didn't do it to me. Verse 44. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when saw we thee in hunger, or thirst, or a stranger,
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did minister to thee? We
thought we did. 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 to me. And these shall go away to everlasting
punishment." Now that's the end of the goat. And the goat goes
to everlasting punishment, not because he was ordained before
time began to be punished, but because of the things he refused
to do. Understand this. Damnation, judgment,
is according to a man's works. He's being paid back for what
he did or did not do. Now understand that. These goats,
they shall go away under everlasting punishment. But the righteous,
there's the sheep, the righteous. I love this name for the sheep,
the righteous. Now, how in the world Can I be
righteous so that I go into life eternal? Unlike these goats who
go into everlasting punishment, how can I be one of these people
called the righteous? I want to be in that group, don't
you? I want to be a sheep. I don't want to be a goat. I
want to be a sheep. Well, if I'm united to Christ,
I am righteous. As He is, so are we in the world. Is He righteous? Then I am too. Just as righteous as He is because
His righteousness is my righteousness. Righteous by imputation. where
He, God the Father, imputed the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ to me, so that it is mine. My sin became His sin, and the
proof of that is He died for it. My sin became His sin, and
just as truly as my sin became His sin, His personal righteousness
becomes mine. Righteous by imputation. Righteous
by gift. We read in Romans 5, 17 of the
gift of righteousness. That means it's something God
has given me. God has given me this. And then righteous by nature. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous. It's talking about the new birth
at holy nature. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. Now, How can I know that I'm eternally
united to Christ? I can't see it. How can I know that his righteousness
is imputed to me? I mean, I don't have a book that
I'm reading. There's my name, it happened.
How can I know that he has given me this righteousness as a gift? How can I know that I have a
righteous nature? Because when I look in, I don't
see much of a righteous nature. I see sin. How can I believe
and know that I have a righteous nature? Romans 5.1 says, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. being righteous by
faith. That's what justification is,
by faith. Now, what is the evidence that
I'm united to Christ? Faith. I really do believe the
gospel. I don't know what else you can
say about me, but you can say this, I am relying on Jesus Christ
as my only righteousness before God, and that is the evidence
of being united to Him. How do I know that His righteousness
has been imputed to me? I'm relying on Christ, and those
who have the righteousness of Him imputed to them believe the
gospel. How do I know God has given me
this glorious gift of righteousness? Because I believe the gospel.
I'm relying on the Lord Jesus Christ right now as my righteousness
before God. How do I know I've been given
this new righteous nature? Is it because I can see how holy?
No, it's because I believe the gospel. Now that's how the righteous
are righteous. The sheep are the righteous,
but the righteous into life eternal. So everything that the righteous
have was given to them before the foundation of the world. and the evidence that they have
it is seen by what they do here in time. Let's pray together.