Are You A Sheep Or A Goat

Are You A Sheep Or A Goat

Matthew 24:32-46

10/31/04

How many times have you said or heard someone say you goat. In the ancient world goats and sheep where animals that every farmer had. Goats were of less value the Sheep. Sheep were valuable because of its wool that was used to produce clothing. Sheep require assistance in the form of a shepherd for protection and guidance. They look to their shepherd with love and devotion. They know their shepherd voice and come when He calls. Now goats on the other hand are very independent minded and don’t like being told what to do. They will run off and hide and do not need a shepherd for protection or guidance. They want to depend on their own self. They don’t like running with the herd instead they prefer a loss association and are at home in their environment. They resent being lead or forced to do something they don’t want to. They rebel against a shepherd and want to live in the world. Goats are like the little boy finally sat down after first resisting his parents’ command to do so. He said to his parents, " I’m sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside."

What a perfect description on the state of man. You are a either a sheep or a goat. A goat can become a sheep but a sheep can never become a goat no matter how much the want to act like a goat they can never become one. Many people today are walking their path in life refusing to follow their shepherd. Others never had a shepherd and are not looking for a shepherd. They want nothing to do with the leadership of Jesus Christ. They want to do their thing and they don’t want to be told what to do. God calls us to follow Him. This morning I want us to examine why God calls us to be the sheep and not the goats of the world.

I. In Matthew 32-33 we see that Jesus Christ gathers all the nations and separates them into sheep and goats the saved and the lost. Never doubt that at some point in the future Jesus Christ shall gather all the nations and judge them. This is the judgment of nations not the Great White Throne of Judgment that occurs at the end of the thousand years rule. The judgment talked about here is the judgment of those people living through the Great Tribulations on the earth at time of Christ’s return.

A. Notice that this is a judgment of separation.

a. At this judgment nations stand before Christ who then separates the saved from the lost.

b. These are living nations. The dead have not yet been called because they will be judged at the Great White Throne of Judgment.

B. We need to be turning more goats into sheep. Look at verses 35-40

II. The Sheep shall be blessed by God, Why ?

A. They sought Him and His will for them.

a. They were willing to be used.

b. They were willing to surrender all to Him.

c. They understood and accepted that it was not all about them but it was all about Him.

B. They loved Him.

a. They love Him so much that they felt a need to care for the poor and hungry.

b. They did this out of love and it is such a part of their lives that it has become second nature for them. They don’t have to think about helping it is a need, a desire that arises naturally when they see a need.

C. They share with those in need

a. They give of their time to help

b. They give of their increase to help those less fortunate

c. They give of their spirituality by sharing Jesus Christ with a lost world. They show the world the Shepherd by being willing to follow His direction.

D. They shall inherit the Kingdom

a. They will have eternal life.

III. The goats shall be judged, why?

A. The did not seek Jesus

a. They refused to follow the direction of the shepherd.

b. They were not willing to submit to His authority and be used by Him.

c. They never to understood or accepted that it was all about Him. Instead they believed and lived a life that based on all about them.

B. They hated Him

a. They opposed Him and His leadership

b. They worked in opposition to His disciples

c. They were to prideful to bow down to Him.

C. They were only concerned about themselves.

a. They felt no need to help those who were less fortunate then they.

b. They believed in themselves. They followed their direction instead of Jesus’.