Matthew 25:31-46
The Text:
“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. 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. 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.’ “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.” (Matthew 25:31-46, ESV)
From the Sermon:
on the right and goats on the left… then our works will be judged. And that is the key. Our works will be judged, but we will not be judged by our works. You see the sorting of judgment on the last day isn’t based on what you have done or left undone, but on what you are. Are you a sheep? Then you go to the right. Are you a goat? Then you go to the left. It’s as simple as sorting coins on the desk. What you are determines where you go. It doesn’t have anything to do with what you have done. On the right hand is blessings, inheritance and praise for the imperfect works you have done. On the left is curses, punishment and condemnation for the works you did for the wrong reasons, or didn’t do at all; Life eternal on the one side and eternal fire on the other. It comes back to that question I asked at the beginning, “Are you a sheep, or a goat?” I just wanna be a sheep (Baa Baa Baa Baa)!
