As you think about these things, please Read
Matthew 25:31-46 ,where Jesus teaches about the Separation of the Sheep and the Goats. It
should be easy to tell sheep apart from goats. They don’t look alike at all. In
the same way, it should be easy to tell Christians apart from the world by the
mercy, compassion and love that we show to those who are suffering, overlooked,
rejected and in need.
There’s a Difference Between Sheep and Goats
Jesus
begins this illustration by painting a vivid portrait of Himself sitting on His
throne at the final judgement. Here he sits as the Good Shepherd, guarding the
entrance to heaven in the same way a Shepherd guards the sheepfold, only allowing
his own sheep to enter in.
Who
do the sheep represent? CHRISTIANS.
Why are sheep valued? What are they primarily raised for? WOOL. When a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, the
sheep will be led away to be sheared and cleaned up. If you have ever been to
the fair and watched them shear sheep, you know that when they are finished,
the sheep are fresh and clean and their wool is bright and white. This should remind
us of how God has promised to wash us clean, white as snow. What does that
symbolize? FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
The sheep’s old clothing is removed and it has a new coat. The Bible describes
this as being robed in righteousness and clothed with garments of salvation. (Isaiah
61:10) The illustration of the sheep represents believers being forgiven, put
in a right standing with God, having our old sinful nature sheared away, receiving
glorified bodies and being allowed to enter heaven and enjoy God’s rest.
Who
do the goats represent? Unbelievers or
Unsaved people. What are
goats primarily raised for? Milk and MEAT.
A milk goat would have been kept at home for supplying the household’s daily
needs. Goats being brought in from the fields like these would have been raised
for meat or sacrifice. Jesus depicts this type of goat as being led away to be
slaughtered. During their lives on earth, shepherds feed, watch over and care
for goats. This reminds us of the way that every blessing, food and good thing
unbelievers enjoy in this life comes from God. What they fail to realize is
that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. There is a day of judgement
coming when unbelievers will perish in the fire of God’s justice while by grace
through faith believers will receive eternal life in heaven. We are reminded that
since creation, from the very foundation of the world, God has lovingly planned
this moment of blessing and reward for those who follow Him.
Now
I have a question for you. Are any of us natural-born sheep? NO. Because
all of us sin, we are all goats by nature, sinful and selfish. We are born
again by the Spirit as sheep when we are saved. Who can be born again as a sheep, or child of God? Anyone who believes and places their faith in
Jesus Christ. And when we are born again, there should be evidence of
change in our lives.
Central Idea of
Text
Jesus
taught that his followers would be known for ministering to the needs of others
and that a day of judgement was coming when they would be rewarded and the cursed
would be punished.
Lesson Idea
As
Followers of Christ, we should be
known for ministering to people in need and a day of judgement IS coming when believers WILL be rewarded and unbelievers WILL be punished.
We
should care for the needs of others because Jesus cares for their needs. In
verses 35-46, Jesus emphasizes this idea, using repetition to draw the
attention of his followers to six specific groups of people by mentioning them four
times. He focuses on caring for the Hungry, the Thirsty, Strangers, those
Without Clothing, the Sick and those In Prison. As His disciples, we should be
known for ministering to those who are suffering, rejected by society or in
need.
1. God’s People Care for the Hungry, the Thirsty and the Naked
The
reason the tithe was established in the Old Testament was to care for widows,
orphans, and strangers living among God’s people (Deut. 26:12, 10:18). Here we
see that this is an important New Testament ministry as well. In fact, the
first deacons, or ministers, in the New Testament were ordained for the purpose
of making sure that widows received their fair share of food. (Acts 6:3) But this isn’t just the job of a few
individuals, all believers are called to the task, which Jesus expands to cover
anyone in need. God cares for their well-being and has entrusted us with the service
of meeting those needs. Tithing was the minimum requirement under the law to
help care for the poor. Under grace, we should do so much more. What are some
practical ways we can minister to the poor and hungry in our society? [discuss]
To
this day, I remember the deacons in my church giving out free, and very much
appreciated, cups of water at the 4th of July parade with Mark 9:41
on a sign: Whosoever shall give you a cup
of water to drink in my name.....shall not lose his reward. Growing up, the
churches in our community formed a ministerial alliance to provide a food bank
with non-perishable items which our church hosted. They also had diapers, baby
formula, a closet filled with donated clothing, and a loan closet with various
tools and items a person might need to borrow. That’s wonderful. But as
individuals, we are called to minister as well. Sometimes you might feel the
Holy Spirit urge you to give money to a specific person in need, buy them a
meal or donate a sack of groceries. Perhaps you feel led to serve meals at a
homeless shelter or make a specially designated contribution. The point is that
we should care and if our heart is
filled with the love of Christ, we will care.
The
call to minister to those who are hungry, thirsty or in need of clothing has a
double meaning, a Gospel meaning. Jesus also taught that those who hunger and
thirst after righteousness will be filled. All people need to be clothed with
salvation. We show how much we care for people by taking care of their physical
needs but we must go beyond that to care for their spiritual needs, teaching
them the Word of God and proclaiming the Gospel. Our compassionate care for the
poor is a powerful way we can demonstrate the love of Jesus to them.
2. God’s People Care for the Sick
What
are some practical ways we can care for the sick? Hospital visits come to mind.
But what about giving a person a ride to treatment or holding their hand as
they wait for news from the Doctor? We can’t all afford to pay for their medical
bills, but we can babysit children while someone goes to the doctor and we can
do housework, yardwork or barnyard chores for someone who is sick or injured
and can’t do it for themselves. And most importantly, we can pray. We can join
our faith together with other believers and pray in agreement for the sick to
be made well and for God to give them comfort, strength, endurance and
faithfulness.
To
Visit the sick means to look in on someone
and look after their well-being. We should all be on the look-out for people
who are missing from worship and checking in on them to let them know we care. We
can organize meals, write cards and letters, send encouragement and check in on
their family members. We can show compassion and bring comfort and hope through
Christ to the elderly or terminally ill. We can help raise funds for someone
with insufficient health care who needs treatment. It doesn’t have to be hard,
there are all sorts of ways to show that we care. To someone who is sick with
the flu and living alone, even dropping off a can of soup with some crackers
and Sprite can mean the world, as I can personally attest. Whatever the
situation, we can offer people comfort, hope and the promise of perfect healing
in heaven one day.
3. God’s People Care for Strangers
Who
were the strangers in the first century? We know in the Old Testament that
strangers or sojourners were foreigners who chose to live among God’s people
and follow His laws. According to Leviticus 19:34, these people were to be
loved and treated like native born Israelites. A stranger in the first century could have been a fellow Jew in need of
a place to stay or a traveler in need of assistance, but throughout the Bible the
term strangers usually refers to foreigners. We know that Jews did not
associate with Gentiles. These words of Jesus are a confrontational call to end
that practice for the sake of the Gospel. Who are the strangers in our society?
[discuss]
A
stranger might be a new person who has just moved to town, the new kid at
school or a new church member. They might be an immigrant or refugee in need of
assistance. It is our responsibility to show them the love of Christ.
I
was forever impressed as a kid to see how my church dealt with strangers in
need. One time, such a stranger came passing through town. Because of the
dangers in our society, it might not always be possible to invite a stranger
into your home around your children, but some men from our church got him a
hotel room for the night and food and gas to get him safely on his way. In
fact, our Pastor rarely gave people money, but he always had vouchers from
local Christian business men for groceries, gas, diapers, formula and various
other needs so that if anyone came to the church needing help, they could
receive it in Jesus’ name, with a Gospel presentation of course.
What
are some other groups of people who might be considered strangers? We should
definitely remember college students far away from their families. Helping a
student with a flat tire, inviting them to your home for a meal or a Holiday if
they can’t go home, performing car repairs for free or even boarding a student
in your home are all ways that you can reach out to them. Providing meals
through the Baptist Student Union, care packages to new students in dorms or a
free tailgate before a football game are all ways that we can connect with
college students, help them find a new church home and keep/get them involved
with the family of God in their new town. Hosting a get together such as a
hayride in a positive Christian environment can have life-changing positive
consequences for young adults.
Our
church hosts English classes to help immigrants. We can all help with our
attitudes and our online postings as well as our support for fair, kind and
Christ-like treatment of immigrants and refugees.
Strangers,
to the Jews, meant people of a different race or ethnic background. For us, showing
kindness and hospitality to strangers means showing equality and brotherly love
to all people. To a first century audience this meant sitting down to share a
meal with Gentiles, sharing fellowship and accepting each other as equals made
clean, worthy and accepted in Christ. To us, this means doing all we can to
show dignity and respect to all of the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. We
should be doing everything within our power to show all people the love of
Christ. We can look out for the new person, inviting new community members into
our home for a meal or taking them a pie just to say Hi. From sitting with the
new kid at school and showing them around to sitting with the new couple at
church and introducing them to our friends, we can give a loving welcome and reach
out to invite the people in our community into our churches. There are many
ways to help strangers. Those of us who are in Christ should empathize with
their situation and do what we can to help.
4. God’s People Care for Prisoners
Let’s
talk about ministering God’s grace to prisoners. In the New Testament we have
seen cases of men who were wrongfully imprisoned and in need of ministry. We
study examples of believers laboring in prayer to God for them to much avail,
like the time the people gathered to pray for Peter and an angel showed up to
miraculously lead him out of jail, rescuing him from Herod’s wrath. Psalm 33:5
tells us: He loves righteousness and
justice. The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD. God cares
about those who have been treated unjustly. But in this passage, Jesus makes no
distinction between guilty or innocent prisoners. The same God who loves justice
is also the God who offers Grace. There is mercy and forgiveness at the cross for
the very worst of sinners. Prisoners need the hope that comes through the good
news about Jesus Christ. Clearly, this passage is a call for individuals and
their churches to support and engage in prison ministry. The Gideons deliver
Bibles to inmates. Our own Southwestern Seminary provides the opportunity to
earn degrees while incarcerated. We can all pray for missionaries and others
who have been wrongfully imprisoned. What are some other ways we can minister
to prisoners? [discuss]
Are
people in jail the only types of prisoners mentioned in the Bible? Who was
Jesus talking about when He said “The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of
sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed”? [discuss] Jesus did give
blind people their sight, but He was also talking about those who are
spiritually blind and in bondage and slavery to sin. It is our job as believers
to preach the gospel and set the captives free, leading them to Jesus who can break
the chains of sin. We help prisoners of all sorts find true freedom and a hope
that can never be taken away by teaching them about the salvation offered through
Jesus Christ.
A
Time of Judgement is Coming
Three
times, at the beginning, middle and end of this teaching, Jesus reminds us that
a day of judgement is coming when the sheep will be separated from the goats,
believers from unbelievers, the blessed from the cursed, the righteous from the
unrighteous. Those in a right standing with God will enter into eternal reward
in Heaven. Those who are not will be punished in the fire which has been
prepared for the devil and his angels. Like a goat led off to the
slaughterhouse, they will be cut off from the source of life forever. Kolasis, translated here as punished, is a form of the root word kolazo, the word for pruning a tree. It means unbelievers will be
permanently cut off from God, eternally pruned from the tree of life. Like a
branch that is cut from Abraham’s family tree, as an evil tree that is chopped
down and thrown into the fire, sinners will be consumed by the flames.
Scripture teaches that God alone is immortal, that we live, move and have our
being, our very existence, in Him. (1
Tim. 6:15-16, Acts 17:28). Jesus said: I
am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing. Eternal
life can only come from being connected to Jesus. To be cut off, severed from
God completely and cast into the Lake of Fire is what He called the second
death, the destruction of the soul (Matthew 10:28, Revelation 20:14). But there
is good news. From the very foundation of the world, God designed a way for us
to be grafted into Jesus’ family tree, reconciled and joined with Him. Jesus
promised that He was going to prepare a place for us and that He would come
back for us. Heaven is a place of eternal reward with infinite pleasures where
we will experience fellowship with each other in the joy, love and peace of
God’s Presence. So, how do we receive this reward?
Conclusion
Are
these good deeds some sort of list that we must check off in order to enter
heaven? NO. Of course not. We are saved by grace through faith. We are
made right with God through our relationship with Christ, not through works so
that we can’t brag about it. Jesus said that people will know us by our fruits.
This fruit is the goodness and the good works that are produced by the Holy
Spirit working in our lives. As believers, knowing that a time of judgement and
reward is coming, we should have a sense of urgency for sharing the Gospel. It
is easy to tell sheep apart from goats because they don’t look alike. In the
same way, it should be easy to tell Christians apart from the world by the
mercy, care, compassion and love that we show to people who are in need. God’s
people clothe the poor, visit the sick, feed the hungry, quench the thirsty,
welcome strangers and bring hope to prisoners. These good works are the natural
overflow of a grateful heart that has been filled with the love of Christ.
There
might be one of you here today that isn’t sure if you will be counted among
God’s sheep at that great judgement. If you’ve never repented of your sins and
asked Jesus to come into your life, to fill your heart with love and compassion
and save you, then I urge you to do that today.
Maybe
there is someone else here who would say you’ve known the Lord for a long time,
but this morning, you realize that you’ve had an ungodly attitude or a lack of
concern for those in need. I encourage you to examine yourself and your
relationship with God and repent. Do acts of charity, where people are given
something they didn’t earn, make you feel resentful? Isn’t that what Jesus did
when He saved us?
Maybe
you have expressed an unbiblical perspective toward immigrants or refugees. What
about other strangers? Perhaps you harbor hatred toward foreigners, or mistrust
for your brothers and sisters in Christ whose skin is a different tint than
your own. Now is the time to repent of those sinful attitudes and start fresh.
I am always happy to discuss, share and pray with you about
these things.
Jesus
taught that when we feed someone who is hungry, provide clothes for someone in
need, welcome a stranger, give a thirsty person a drink, visit prisoners or care
for the sick, we have done those things for Him and when we refuse, we have
rejected Christ Himself. When we accept the truth, that each person is created
in the Image of God, worthy of dignity, honor, respect and a good faith
presentation of the Gospel, it changes us, aligning our perspective with God’s
will. How can we refuse to care for someone Jesus loved enough to die for? I
encourage you to sit down with your family at home this week and talk about practical
ways to reach out, offer a helping hand and show God’s love and grace to
hurting people in our society by ministering to their needs.
Closing Prayer
Let’s
pray together. Father, Thank-you for the many ways you have blessed us and
provided for us. Forgive us for the times we have failed to care for those in
need. Help us to share with them from the blessings we have received. Lead us
as we go throughout this week, help our attitudes to reflect your mercy and
help us to look for opportunities to show your love and demonstrate your compassion.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
