Jean Crist from Niagara Falls, New York, talks about her days in a Christian college, where the college president gave a weekly Monday morning chapel message. On one occasion, the student body settled down for another session of daydreaming as he launched into one of those messages. His pedestrian method of delivery made it difficult for students to focus on what he was saying. As they fixed their gaze on him, their thoughts wandered to other things, but their minds had been programmed to listen for his always welcome conclusion, “Now we shall stand.”
Time crept by and finally they heard the words they’d been waiting for. They all stood and found themselves facing a startled president who had asked in the course of his message, “How shall we stand in the day of judgement...?” (Jean Crist, Niagara Falls, NY, “Lite Fare,” Christian Reader)
The Bible says that when Jesus comes again, He will judge the world to determine who goes into His Kingdom and who is banished from His Kingdom. Tell me. How will YOU stand in that day of judgment? It’s a very important question to ask yourself especially as we approach these last days before Jesus comes again. Will Jesus let you into His Kingdom, or will He turn you away?
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 25, Matthew 25, where Jesus describes the criteria by which He will judge who gets into His Kingdom or not.
Matthew 25:31-33 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left (ESV).
Realize that when Jesus comes to rule and reign on this earth...
HE WILL SEPARATE THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS.
Understand that Jesus will distinguish between those who will inherit His Kingdom and those He will turn away. Know that Jesus will divide everybody into two categories: those that get in; and those that He excludes.
During the day, sheep and goats grazed in the same pasture, but at night, the shepherd had to separate them, because the male goats were often hostile toward the sheep. And the goats needed to be warm at night while the sheep preferred the open air.
The goats just caused a lot of trouble for the shepherds, who received much more for the sale of their sheep than they did on the sale of their goats (Freeman, J. M., & Chadwick, H. J., 1998, Manners & customs of the Bible, p. 470; Keener, C. S., 2014, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition, p. 112).
In Matthew 13, Jesus paints a different picture to talk about the same separation at His Coming. There, He describes the wheat and the weeds growing together in the same field, which He will separate at harvest time (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43).
In our current age, God allows good and evil to co-exist, but there is coming a time when He will separate the two. When Jesus comes again, He will separate the sons of the evil one from the sons of the Kingdom. He will remove all evil from His Kingdom, and Jesus will reign for a thousand years in perfect peace while Satan is bound (Revelation 20:1-6).
Now, in Jesus day, the Jewish Supreme Court (a.k.a., the Sanhedrin) put the prisoners they acquitted on the right of the president, while they put the prisoners they convicted on his left (Freeman, J. M., & Chadwick, H. J., 1998, Manners & customs of the Bible, p. 470).
Let me tell you. When Jesus comes again you will want to stand acquitted with the sheep at His right hand, not condemned with the goats on His left (vs.33).
Michelangelo worked for ten years on his final work, called Rondanini Pietà. He ended up breaking it, because it was full of impurities and so hard that sparks flew from under his chisel. A servant rescued the sculpture, which survives to this day. It bears the marks of Michelangelo's chisel, but none of the beauty of his earlier works. Another sculptor, Lorenzo Dominguez, described the dilemma and unpredictability of working with stone. He said, “The stone wants to be stone; the artist wants it to be art.”
In the same way, God wants to create a work of art in each of His creatures. As He chips away, attempting to free His image within, your stony heart can either submit to His chipping or resist. If it submits, features of the Savior begin to emerge. If it submits long enough, the Savior himself emerges. However, if it resists, and continues to resist, there will come a day when God lets the stone be stone.
C. S. Lewis said as much when he wrote that there are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “Thy will be done” or “Go ahead and have it your way” (Ken Gire, Shaped by the Cross, IVP Books, 2011, page 116; www.PreachingToday.com).
What will it be for you? His way or your way?
For a time, God will allow both kinds of people to coexist, but there’s coming a time when He will separate the two. Just make sure you’re the right kind. If you want to stand in the judgment to come, realize that Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats, and...
BE A SHEEP.
Make sure you’re a child of God through Faith in His Son. Ensure that you’re an heir to the riches of God’s Kingdom by trusting Christ with your life.
Matthew 25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (ESV).
Only God’s legitimate heirs inherit God’s Kingdom. So make sure you’re an heir through faith in Christ.
Speaking of fellow believers, the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17).
These are the meek in Matthew 5:5, who will INHERIT the earth. These are those who left everything to follow Christ in Mathew 19:29. They will receive a hundred times as much in Christ’s Kingdom and INHERIT eternal life. Those who yield to Christ, surrendering all to Him, will inherit the earth with Him, as they rule and reign with Him in His coming earthly kingdom (Matthew 19:28).
My dear friends, if you haven’t done it already, please surrender your life to Jesus, yield to Him, trust Christ with your life and so receive the Kingdom. Inherit your place beside Christ when He comes to reign on this earth.
Before her death in January last year (2020), Cathy Boone had been living on the streets for years, struggling with drug abuse and mental illness. Her father, Jack Spithill, said the tragedy was multiplied tenfold by the revelation that she died without collecting any of the inheritance she was due after her mother’s death, an amount that totaled over $900,000.
Her father said, “It just didn’t make any sense to me. That money was just sitting there, and she needed help in the worst way.” Jack said that after he lost touch with his daughter, he was unsure if she even knew she was entitled to an inheritance, or if so, how to go about collecting. After her mother died, estate representatives tried to contact Cathy by phone and email. They spoke to other family members, sent her messages on Facebook, and even ran ads in the newspaper… to no effect. When all that failed, they hired a private investigator, but came up empty (Keil Iboshi, “Homeless Oregon woman, 49, could have claimed nearly $900k from state before she died,” The Oregonian, 6-4-21; www. PreachingToday.com).
How sad, but here’s the good news for you! No matter what state you find yourself in this life, you have an eternal inheritance through faith in Christ.
Please, surrender your life to Christ, and let Him start changing you from the inside out, and so receive the Kingdom when He comes again.
Receive the Kingdom, because you receive the King’s messengers.
Matthew 25:35-40 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me’ (ESV).
Earlier in Matthew, Jesus identifies His brothers as those who follow Him and do God’s will (Matthew 12:48–50; 23:8; 28:10). To be sure, Christ wants us to care for the poor and needy in this world (Matthew 6:2-3; 19:21; James 1:27). But in this context, Jesus’ brothers are those who’s allegiance to Christ have left them poor and destitute during the tribulation (Matthew 24:9-10).
According to the book of Revelation, they will be unable to buy or sell unless they declare their allegiance to the antichrist through the “mark of the beast” (Revelation 13:16-18). As a result, believers during the tribulation will have to depend on one another for survival. Since they cannot buy anything from the merchants in the world, they will have to depend on each other for food, drink, housing, clothing, and healthcare. The authorities will throw many people in prison for their allegiance to Christ, so believers will have to depend on other believers to visit them there.
We’re getting a small taste of this in some of our major cities, where the authorities have mandated vaccine passports to go into stores and restaurants. If you don’t have a vaccine passport, you have to find other means of getting what you need or want. Now, I am not saying that the Covid vaccine or a vaccine passport is the mark of the beast, but it does give you a little taste of how that mark could work during the tribulation.
Believers will desperately need each other during the tribulation. Jesus charged them with sharing the good news of the Kingdom (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20). So Jesus welcomes those believers who have cared for their fellow messengers of the King into His Kingdom. They receive the kingdom, because they receive the King’s messengers.
Ruth went to her mailbox and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter:
Dear Ruth,
I'm going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon, and I would like to visit. Love Always, Jesus.
Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. "Why would the Lord want to visit me? I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer." With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets.
"Oh my goodness, I really don't have anything to offer. I'll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner." She reached for her purse and counted out its contents. Five dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least."
She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk... leaving Ruth with grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday. Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm.
"Hey lady, can you help us, lady?"
Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags.
"Look lady, I ain't got a job, 'ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, it's getting cold and we're getting 'kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we'd really appreciate it."
Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to.
"Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him."
“Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway."
The man put his arm around the woman's shoulders. They turned and headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart.
“Sir, wait!"
The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. "Look, why don't you take this food. I'll figure out something else to serve my guest." She handed the man her grocery bag.
“Thank you, lady. Thank you very much!" "Yes, thank you!" It was the man's wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering.
"You know, I've got another coat at home. Here, why don't you take this one." Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman's shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street... without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest.
"Thank you, lady! Thank you very much!"
Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit, and she didn't have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. "That's odd. The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day." She took the envelope out of the box and opened it.
Dear Ruth, it was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat. Love Always, Jesus.
The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed (Author unknown, www.cobblestoneroadministry.org/sermon3.html).
While Matthew 25 relates to a time yet future, it does encourage us to care for one another today.
Feed the hungry. Refresh the thirsty. Clothe the naked. Welcome the stranger. Visit the sick. Go to those in prison. For when you do it to them, you do it to Jesus. Receive the kingdom, because you receive the King’s messengers.
And receive the King’s messengers, because you receive the King Himself. Earlier in Matthew, Jesus said to His followers, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me” (Matthew 10:40). So to receive the King’s messengers is to receive the King Himself, and that’s the basis for their acceptance into Christ’s Kingdom.
They don’t get in, because they care for people, no. They get in, because they had already welcomed Jesus into their hearts.
You see, the sheep are surprised (vs.37-39) when Jesus tells them how their ministry to His messengers ministered to Him. They are NOT surprised to be at Jesus right hand, acquitted of all their sin (vs.33). They are surprised, however, that their ministry of care means so much to Jesus.
This demonstrates that they are not seeking to earn their salvation or their entrance into Christ’s Kingdom. They are doing what they do, simply because that is what they do as followers of Christ. Christ is changing their hearts, so they naturally (or should I say supernaturally) reflect His heart for people. They have already received Christ, so they naturally receive Christ’s messengers.
As the reformers put it: It is faith alone that saves, but the faith that saves is never alone. True believers always express their faith in acts of compassion.
Patricia L. Miller, a former hospital staff person, writes about her work in the emergency room, where she learned to stop crying at the pain around her.
“Each day,” she says, “it seemed I was becoming insensitive to people and their real needs. Five years of emergency room exposure had taken its toll.”
Then God intervened.
She was taking information for registering a young woman who had overdosed on drugs and had attempted suicide. The woman’s mother sat before Patricia as she typed the information into the computer. The mother was unkempt and bleary eyed. The police had awakened her in the middle of the night to come to the hospital.
Patricia said to herself, “Hurry up,” as the woman’s mother slowly gave her the information. Patricia’s impatience was raw as she finished the report and jumped to the machine to copy the medical cards. That's when God stopped her—at the copy machine. He spoke to Patricia’s heart: “You didn't even look at her.” He repeated it, gently: “You didn't even look at her.”
Patricia felt His grief for the mother and her daughter, so she bowed her head and prayed, “I'm sorry, Lord. I am so sorry.”
Then Patricia sat down in front of the distraught woman and put her hands around the woman’s hands. Patricia looked into her eyes with all the love that God could flood through her and said, “I care. Don't give up.”
The mother wept and wept. She poured her heart out to Patricia about the years of dealing with a rebellious daughter as a single mom. “Finally,” Patricia says, “she looked up and thanked me—Me, the coldhearted one with no feelings.
Patricia says, “My attitude changed that night. My Jesus came right into the workplace in spite of rules that tried to keep him out. He came in to set me free to care again. He gave himself to that woman through me. My God, who so loved the world, broke that self-imposed barrier around my heart. Now he could reach out, not only to me in my pain, but to a lost and hurting woman” (Patricia L. Miller, Pentecostal Evangel, 10-15-00), pp. 9-11; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what God does for true believers. He sets you free to care even as He cares for you. The Holy Spirit, who dwells within every believer, will not let you off the hook. His heart of compassion will move your heart to have compassion for those in need, especially for your brothers and sisters in Christ.
So trust Christ with your life and be a sheep. Yield to Christ and so receive the Kingdom. Receive the Kingdom because you receive the King’s messengers. And receive the King’s messengers because you receive the King. If you want to stand in the judgment to come, be a sheep.
DON’T BE A GOAT.
Don’t reject Christ and His messengers. Don’t let an unbelieving heart keep you out of Christ’s Kingdom.
Matthew 25:41-46 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (ESV)
Don’t compel Jesus to reject you, because you reject the King’s messengers, because you reject the King.
The goats end up in hell, not because they refuse to care. They end up in hell, because they reject Christ. They are not surprised to be at Jesus’ left hand, condemned for their sin (vs.33). However, they, like the sheep, are surprised that Jesus took their rejection of His messengers so personally.
If they thought feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, and visiting the sick would gain them entrance into the Kingdom, they would have performed acts of mercy even though their hearts were far away.
But Jesus looks at the heart. He is not impressed with outward acts of piety. Rather, He rewards a heart that trusts Him. You cannot get into His Kingdom just because you look good on the outside, no. The only way to get in is to let Christ change your heart on the inside.
So if you want to stand in the judgment to come, be a sheep; don’t be a goat.
Some doors, like the front gate of the White House, are tough to walk through. The White House has one layer of security after another, and you simply don't get in unless you have an invitation.
That’s what NBA star Shaquille O'Neil discovered on Sunday July 26, 2009. He tried to get into the White House without an appointment. Now, his fame opens a lot of doors for him, but not the doors of the White House.
He was on a D.C. sports radio show two days earlier, and he put this question to the listeners: “Check this out, I got on a nice suit, I'm in D.C. paying a visit, I jump out of a cab in front of the White House, I don't use none of my political or law enforcement connections. If I go to the gate and say, ‘Hey, I'm in town, I would like to see the President,’ do I get in, or do I not get in?”
Shaq was going to put his celebrity, and Obama's love of basketball, to the test. Two days later, Shaq gave it a try, but the security guards at the White House turned Him away (J. E. Skeets, "Shaq rejected at White House," Yahoo Sports Blog, 7-27-09; www.PreachingToday.com).
In the same way, Jesus will turn you away from His Kingdom if your heart is far from Him. Your celebrity status, your acts of piety, your good works are not enough. Instead, you must receive the King if you want to receive His Kingdom.
Please, if you haven’t done it already, invite Jesus to come into your heart so He can change you from the inside out. If you let Him, Jesus will transform your goat-like heart into the heart of a sheep that follows Him.
