Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
JUDGMENT OF THE SHEEP AND GOATS
The Word of God brings man through a long journey in time and then sends us off into an eternity without end. From the very foundation of the world and the creation of all things, the Bible sets forth a historical record for all men to see and understand. It is a record of people, places, and events that present examples to teach all of us, in our own circumstances, our own faults and failures, our own victories, and our own capacity to learn, the ways of God and what the future holds for those who learn from God’s Word and then either obey it or disobey it.
The story of creation presents the glory, majesty and power of God’s word for it is by merely speaking a word that the earth, the universe, the plants and the animal kingdom came into existence. The mountains rose and the oceans were formed at his command. What a mighty God we serve!
Then we see the wonderful love of God as he carefully formed man from the very dust of the earth that he had just spoken into existence and then formed woman from the rib of the man and breathed his own eternal breath of life into them, giving them a living soul.
God’s love is also shown in the fact that he already knew, in the omniscience of God, that this same man and woman, that he so lovingly formed and gave life, would very soon fall into deadly sin. So, even before God formed man, he had already formulated a plan to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross so that God could redeem man from sin once again. Then God’s ultimate love is shown in that, even though he gave his only Son for man, he would still give man the freedom to choose whether he would serve his loving Father in Heaven or continue in his sinful state and suffer eternal death.
Because God, through his love, allows men that choice, there are multitudes who live in what Joel 3:14 describes as, "the valley of decision” and never choose to live for God. The heart of man knows that choosing to live for God means that they must travel a different path than other men. Their lives must exemplify the choice that they make.
Those who choose to follow God must “come out from among”…those of the world, and “be separate” according to 2 Corinthians 6:17. Those who live for Jesus must surrender their hearts, their lives, their future, their fortune, and every facet of their life to his purpose for God will accept nothing less than complete commitment to him.
Just as a man and wife will accept, and should never accept, anything less than a 100%, absolute total commitment to one another and forsake all others, as the marriage vow says, God will accept nothing less than the same. To allow anything in our hearts of this world to come between us and our God is the same as committing adultery in the eyes of God and we are counted as unfaithful servants.
God calls those servants who are unfaithful evil servants and if we read what is said in Matthew 24:50-51 we will see what the future of those evil servants will be like. "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
There is a story, or a parable, in the Book of Matthew where Jesus also call those who are unfaithful, “unprofitable servants”.
Matthew 25:14-34 (summarized) There was a Lord who was the master of his kingdom who left his servants to tend to the fields and continue building his kingdom while he went on a long, extended trip. Just as surely as he left, he would return one day and there would be a “day of reckoning” for what his servants had done in his absence.
Not all were given the same tasks because there was a multitude of various jobs that needed to be completed. Some, who were more capable in the areas of finance and management, he gave more responsibility with his wealth and bank accounts. Others, who were more capable in the area of technical skills and in building or repairing things, he gave the assignment to maintain, build and create new facilities for his kingdom. For others, whose capabilities were more in the line of teaching the children or doing the domestic work, he assigned the task of watching over his children and keeping his house in order. Every man was given an assignment in accordance with their individual skills.
The one thing that was common to all is that, when the Lord returned one day, he would expect every one of those servants to have done their duty and to have increased the wealth, and size of his kingdom. He expected a larger farm. He expected more skillful servants. He expected a greater wealth. He expected a cleaner and more comfortable home than what was there when he left.
But there was one servant who was not only very fearful of his master, but he was a little lazy too. He did not want to take a chance on losing what he had been given for he knew that he had to have that much, at least, to give back when the master returned.
So he took what he was given and kept it only to himself in a safe, secure and secret place. He didn’t put himself or his master’s gift at risk. Since there is no such thing as gain without some risk, he didn’t bring any new wealth to the master’s coffers.
That man was a servant, just as all the rest. He was given responsibilities and gifts just like all the rest. His assignment from the master was commensurate with his skills and abilities, and was even designed to bring him ultimate joy and satisfaction, but he failed to use those things to please his master.
What was the end result of that “unprofitable servant”?
Matthew 25:30, "And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 25:31-34 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 the left. 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:"
Those sheep on the right hand, who rest in the power of God and who trust in the hand of God to lead them on, will face judgment, but their judgment will be at the Judgment Seat of Christ, where the Blood of the Lamb, will have been applied to every heart and sin will be presented. They will be judged according to their work too, but their works will not be judged as sinful or righteous, only good works will be brought up but those good works will be judged as acceptable or not depending upon the motive behind those good works. All of their evil deeds and sins will have been washed away by the Blood and will be erased from the record of their lives. All of those who face Christ on that day will enter into the glories of Heaven that God had prepared for them from the very beginning.
Their future will be bright, glorious and wonderful for all eternity. That’s the judgment that we want to face. Even though we will feel likely feel unworthy, and we will fall on our face in worship and in surrender to the Lord, we will be seen as sons of God and joint heirs with Christ and God will wipe away all tears, all memories of past failures, and everything that would take away from our enjoyment of our eternal home in Glory.
But what about the goats that were sent to the left hand?
Matthew 25:41, "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:"
The goats are those who considered themselves as servants of the Lord just as much as the sheep were. They believed the same thing as the sheep. They went to the same places as the sheep. They looked like the sheep, acted like the sheep, but their hearts were still the heart of a goat. All the good works they did were for nothing as far as their eternal reward was concerned because they had never really been washed in the Blood of the Lamb. The only way to be a real sheep is to be washed in that Blood. Only by being washed in the Blood of the Lamb can we have the love of God within us that we can show to one another. The love that this world offers pales in comparison to the love that God shows for us and expects us to show for one another.
We can see from this parable of the sheep and goats that what we do for one another, and the love we show for one another go a long way in determining whether we are a sheep or a goat.
John 13:35 says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
If we truly love God and love one another, we will not be able to just sit idly while people all around us are suffering and dying and going to face judgment without God. God’s sheep will be doing all they can to help others become sheep! God’s sheep will be doing all they can to help others because the love of God within them won’t let them close their eyes to the needs of those around them.
The goats that were on the left hand were sent off into eternal punishment. This scene is described in Revelation 20:11-15 and is called the “Great White Throne Judgment”.
Revelation 20:11-15, "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
This is where the goats shall appear. Those who claim to know Jesus but really don’t know him. Those who claim to love God but don’t love their fellowman. Those who claim to be a servant but refuse to put their whole heart into the work of God. Those who claim to love their fellowman but who are too caught up in their own lives to give even a moment of time to someone else without expecting to be compensated in return, will all be at this judgment along with every man, woman, young person above the age of accountability who have never claimed to know Jesus, will all face the Righteous Judge of the Universe, in all his Holiness, Glory, Majesty, Power and Wrath at this judgment throne.
This judgment is called “Great” because it is the Omnipotent Creator of all things who now sits in judgment. There is no power that can stand before him. There is no excuse that will exempt those who stand before him for all excuses and reasoning of mortal men have been made as nothing before his Omniscient power. No man can hide from him for he is Omnipresent.
This judgment is called “White” because it is the Righteous, Holy, Judge of all things who now sits upon his Throne to judge all who refused to bow their knee and confess his Son as their God. Every one of those present will be forced to bow their knee and confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God now. They won’t have a choice anymore for God will bend their knees for them and force their tongue to speak. The power to resist will be taken away and the thing that they would not do willingly they will now be forced to do but it will be too late to change their eternal destiny.
All of the “good works” of mankind and the “self-righteousness” of their hearts will be exposed as “filthy rags” compared to the Holiness and Righteousness of he who sits upon the Throne.
This may be a crude example but it will make a point.
Just imagine finding a pile of molded, mildewed, dirty diapers that were long forgotten, rotted, filled will maggots, with a stench that forced you to cover your nose and mouth and close your eyes, made you hold your breath and made your stomach queasy to even look upon and you may come close to what man’s “good works” and “self-righteousness” might look like to a Holy God.
Fear will grip the heart of all who are before God at this judgment. Fear because they already know their guilt. They already know their punishment. And they already know that there is no way to escape.
There wealth, power, prestige, fame, or popularity are wiped away by the majesty and glory of He who sits upon the throne. All of these things are nothing in the realm of God’s kingdom.
The greatest military genius and the highest ranking military commander of man will fall as dead before the Almighty God who is Omnipotent.
The intelligence of all of our vaunted ‘Think Tanks” of all of our universities will melt into ignorance at the presence of the Omniscient One upon the Throne.
The wealth and influence of those who control the earth’s wealth and wield such political and social power over mankind now will be as nothing before him who holds all things in the palm of his hand and controls all things in the affairs of men. They will realize that all that they were was only because of God’s permission and it won’t count for anything now.
Those who seek after fame and recognition of this world will cry for the mountains to hide them in that day. Their greatest cry is that the Righteous Judge of the Universe won’t even remember that they existed – but He won’t forget them – and all those who bowed before them as their idols on this earth will watch as they are condemned to the fires of hell along with every other one who stands there.
Those “goats” who claimed to be holy and righteous will see their filthiness just as it really is in the sight of God. There will be no more hypocrites then. The true heart of every man will be revealed for exactly what it is, a sin blackened heart that deserves only to burn forever in the pit of hell.
Not one person who is forced to fall upon their face before the Great White Throne and worship the King of King and Lord of Lords will ever see the wonders of his eternal Kingdom for they have come for one purpose only – TO BE JUDGED AND CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOR ALL ETERNITY!
God will playback every word, every deed, every moment of their lives, one by one, hour by hour, or whatever time and means is necessary to expose every sin for all to see. There will none who will escape this testimony against them and all will be condemned to the same punishment, eternal death.
The scripture says that even those who have already been in the flames of hell for many years, all of those whose bodies have been destroyed by time and the grave, all those who have been buried at sea, all those who have died in whatever manner and whatever place they have been killed will rise to this judgment.
What a terrible thought, that those who are now in the pits of hell will be brought out to face judgment and then cast back into that same pit, never to come out again.
That eternal punishment will be more horrible than we could ever imagine. I hope and pray that none of us ever experience that feeling of being lost and being tormented and with no hope of ever seeing or experiencing anything good, ever again. Forgotten by all who loved us, except for those who are there with us, who will scream at us and blame us for their own sufferings. For all eternity to dwell in the flames that were meant to destroy sin and to hear the laughter and feel the torment of death, and demonic spirits and the never ending blackness of sin – forever, and forever, and forever – never to end – on and on and on – for an unimaginable eternity.
Oh my brother and sister, my friend, you don’t have to go there. Today is still the day of Salvation. Call upon the Lord while you are still here. Give your heart to Jesus today.
Surrender your life to him. Bow your knee willingly and confess as the Lord of your life willingly. You will be forced to do so later if you don’t but why be forced? Do so of your own choice.
God is speaking to you right now. You may still be in that “Valley of Decision”. It’s time to make the choice to follow Jesus? Will you make that choice?
Only those who confess Jesus as the Lord of their lives and who are washed in the Blood of the Lamb will enter Heaven’s glory. The only door to Heaven is through that blood.
Now is the time. While the Spirit of God is speaking and calling! Don’t wait any longer!
Your next breath could be your last. We are all only one heartbeat from facing the Judgment Thrones of God. Which Judgment will you face?
