The Sheep and the Goats

Transcript

GR 732
12/22/1985
The Sheep and the Goats
Matthew 25:31-46
Gil Rugh

Matthew 25 is a section of the Word of God that is very crucial, and it is very often misunderstood and misapplied. Much of what is done today in the context of social action and much of the motivation for Christians getting involved in social programs comes out of an incorrect understanding of what is said in Matthew 25. It is important that we have a proper grasp of this section of the Word so that we function as God intends us to function. Recently I had a conversation with a pastor who shared with me that he did not believe that we had a biblical ministry because we were not functioning in fulfillment of Matthew 25. He believed we were out of the will of God because we did not understand the teaching in Matthew 25.
The important thing in understanding this section of Matthew 25, the judgment of the nations or the sheep and goats judgment, is the context. Putting Matthew 25:31-46 in the proper context resolves much of the problem of interpretation and application. This passage concludes not only Matthew 25, but also the discourse that Jesus began at the beginning of Matthew 24. Jesus was talking about the destruction of the temple, and the disciples associated that with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Christ which would be preceded by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’” (Matt. 24:3). The disciples asked Jesus about the destruction of the temple and the climax of the age with the Second Coming of Christ. In this discourse, Christ began to unfold truth relating to His Second Coming.
First, in Matthew 24:4-28 He talked about the seven-year period that will precede His Second Coming, known as the Tribulation or the Great Tribulation. The seven-year period will culminate with the glorious return of Christ bodily to earth to establish His kingdom, Matthew 24:29-31. Then in Matthew 24:32-51 He emphasized how important it is to be ready for His coming and indicated that many people will be unprepared and will not be expecting Jesus Christ when He comes the second time. Then in Matthew 25 there are three parables; the third one is not really a parable but I’m going to call it a parable just for simplicity. These three parables relate to the judgments that will take place following the return of Christ to the earth, so just erase the chapter division in your mind between Matthew 24 and 25.

The context of Matthew 25 includes the events leading up to the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, a reminder of the importance of being ready for that Second Coming, and then the judgments that will take place following the Second Coming. At the conclusion of Matthew 25 is the final judgment--not the final judgment of the world--but the final judgment preceding the beginning of the earthly kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Christ talked in some detail about judgment in light of His Second Coming. This was not new material to the Jews. The Old Testament promised judgment when the Messiah returned to earth. The Jews knew that judgment was coming. Christ talked about it in Matthew 13, “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age” (v. 40). The context is the end of the age. “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vv. 41-42). That is the climax of Matthew 25: being sentenced to eternal destruction or welcomed into eternal life. “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (v. 43). Note that this refers to things that happen “in the kingdom.” When Christ comes, the wicked will be removed and destroyed and cast into eternal darkness, and the righteous will be welcomed into the kingdom. Again in Matthew 13:49-50, “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The Second Coming of Christ will be in the context of judgment, and the kingdom cannot begin until the wicked have been destroyed.
The account of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 is not a parable in the strict sense of the word. The first two accounts of judgment in Matthew 25 are parables: the ten virgins and the talents. But in this third account, although He used analogies to sheep and goats, basically it is a straight forward account of judgment. It is a little easier to refer to the three judgments in Matthew 25 by just referring to them as three parables.
The first two judgments related to Israel. When the Messiah comes, He will gather the nation Israel, all Jews, before Him, and He will sift out the unbelieving Jews from the believing Jews and the unbelieving Jews will be destroyed. Ezekiel 20 prophesied this judgment on Israel as well.
The judgment beginning in Matthew 25:31 focuses on Gentile nations. When Christ returns the Gentile nations will be gathered before Him and will be divided between the believers and the unbelievers. The unbelievers will be destroyed; the believers will go into the kingdom that Christ will establish. So when Christ begins His reign on earth, there will be no unbelievers alive on the face of the earth. There is no resurrection associated with the judgments of Matthew 25. This is not a judgment of resurrected people. This is a judgment of people who survive the seven-year tribulation and will be judged in light of the beginning of the kingdom, the question being: do you go in to the kingdom or don’t you? Living Jews were the subject of the earlier judgments, and the living Gentiles will be the subject at the Second Coming of Christ to earth.
In Matthew 25:31, the time of this judgment is clearly marked. “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.” This will happen when Jesus Christ returns in glory. Matthew 24:30 also talked about the Second Coming when every eye will behold Him. The statement that “He will sit on His glorious throne” indicates that at this time He will be established as King over the earth, and His first item of business will be to exercise judgment over the world. The title, the Son of Man, is His Messianic title drawn from Daniel 7, where Daniel had a preview of the coming of the Son of Man, before the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man then is presented the kingdoms of the world and the rule of all creation.
The subject of this judgment is the nations as indicated in Matthew 25:32, “All the nations will be gathered before Him.” The word that is used means ‘nations’ or ‘Gentiles’ and it seems that this refers to Gentiles in contrast to Jews. At this point the Jews have already been judged as pictured in the parables of the virgins and the talents. Even though this is called the judgment of the nations, keep in mind it is a judgment of individuals. Each nation will not come and be judged as a nation, but rather the Gentile nations, in contrast to the nation Israel, will be coming for judgment and the individual Gentiles will be judged by Jesus Christ.
Matthew 25:32-33 continues, “and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.” This pictures a shepherd, perhaps at the end of the day, sifting and dividing the goats on one side and the sheep on the other side. The right hand is the place of favor or honor. This is where the sheep go. They represent the righteous and the believer. The goats picture the unbeliever.
Note what it says in Matthew 25:33: “He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.” There are only two groups at the judgment. When it comes to judgment before Jesus Christ, all humanity can be divided into two clear groups. That is crucial. There is not a third group. The sheep, the goats and the neuter. There are two clear groups. Jesus indicated earlier in Matthew that those who are not with Him are against Him. And at this judgment, there are just two groups: the righteous and the unrighteous. All humanity always divides into those two groups.
Four things of importance are said in Matthew 25:34 about these who are blessed to inherit the kingdom, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” First, they are called “blessed of My Father,” and it stresses the fact that this position in going into the kingdom is attributable to the grace of God. This is a blessing from God, not a right that is theirs. They are going to come into the kingdom as a result of the grace of God and His goodness. They are the objects of God’s blessing.
The second thing that is said is “inherit the kingdom.” This is important because it stresses the fact that this is something not earned; it is inherited. It is something given to them. If you inherit from your parents, it is not something you earn; you have it by virtue of your position in relationship to your parents, not by virtue of anything you have done to earn it or merit it. Many children inherit things they were not worthy of from their parents. So when we say we inherit the kingdom, it stresses the fact that it is a privilege or blessing given by virtue of position. If we are the sons of God, then we are the heirs of Jesus Christ, heirs and co-heirs. I am going to inherit the kingdom by virtue of my relationship to Jesus Christ which makes me a child of God.
The third thing said about those blessed to inherit this kingdom is that it is “prepared for you.” That is interesting because these are Gentiles, and the Jews always thought the kingdom was Jewish. But this says the kingdom is prepared for Gentiles! This is a reminder that the kingdom is God’s plan for all of His children. The kingdom is prepared for Gentile believers as well as Jewish believers, even though in the Millennium (the first thousand years of this kingdom) Israel will be the central people. It will be a Jewish kingdom, yet it is for all the people of God. It has been prepared for the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
This is presented even more clearly in the fourth phrase, “prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The kingdom was God’s plan for His children from the beginning of creation. When God began creation in Genesis 1, it was His plan that His children share in His kingdom. He put Adam and Eve in a garden in a perfect environment. But they sinned, and the glorious kingdom and reign of God for His children was marred, and in effect, postponed. But the kingdom is God’s plan for His children from all creation. And all believers are destined to share in that kingdom, including those who became believers before the establishment of Israel, those in the nation Israel itself, those in the Gentile nations, and those in the Church; all believers from all time are destined and appointed to the kingdom that God has prepared for them from the creation.
There is only one kingdom dealt with in the Scriptures. Some people talk about an ‘earthly’ kingdom promised to Israel and a ‘spiritual’ kingdom that exists today in people’s hearts. But there is only one kingdom, and that is the kingdom that God prepared for His people from the foundation of the world. That kingdom is developed in detail throughout the Old Testament; it is an earthly kingdom over which the Messiah will rule and reign. That is the kingdom that God has prepared for His people.
In Matthew 25:35-36 the King gives the reasons for the privilege of going into this kingdom, “For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” It is what they did to Christ and for Christ that marks them out as worthy of the kingdom, as those who are to inherit the kingdom. That seems fitting, how they treated Christ.
The amazing thing is that the ones to whom the King is speaking are surprised at this. Matthew 25:37-39 says, “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’” They didn’t know when they did this. Keep in mind, this is the Second Coming of Christ to earth. He will have been absent bodily from the earth for almost two millenniums! They are amazed. They do not know how they could have done this for Christ since they did not have any contact with Him bodily on earth. Yet Christ says they did it to Him.
The righteous ones are the ones who have treated Christ in this way. Those going into the kingdom are the righteous. But it is important to understand what God says about being righteous and how you become righteous. Some people get out of Matthew 25 that you are going to be saved by your works, and that if you do good deeds, God will accept you as a righteous person. If you stop and consider what God says about being righteous and becoming righteous, then you recognize that cannot be what God is saying in Matthew 25.
Romans 3:28 says, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” The word ‘justified’ means ‘declared righteous,’ so a man is declared righteous by faith apart from works of the Law. Doing good does not produce righteousness before God, not even obeying the Law God gave in the Old Testament.
God declares a person righteous when he comes to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 4:5 says, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Righteousness comes apart from what you do. It is simply believing in what God has done. He had His Son die on a cross to pay the penalty for your sin and be raised from the dead because the penalty was paid. If you believe that, God declares you righteous, apart from what you do.
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Galatians 2:16 reads, “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” And Galatians 3:11 reads, “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall live by faith.’” Note that repeated stress: You cannot become righteous before God by what you do. You become righteous before God by coming to believe in the finished work of His Son Jesus Christ. This is essential in order to understand Matthew 25.
When Christ said in Matthew 25:37, “The righteous will answer Him,” He was referring to those who come to believe in Him as their Savior. But it appears that these became righteous by what they did. That is impossible because God says, “By works no man shall be declared righteous.” No man! Not even one, let alone all these gathered Gentiles. So we are given insight. The righteous are those who have come to believe in Jesus Christ, and they will manifest their faith by doing righteous deeds.

The righteous are surprised by Christ’s assessment. When did they do all these good, kind, loving things to the Lord? Matthew 25:40 is the key verse in understanding this parable, and it is where the misunderstanding comes: “The King will answer and say to
them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”
Who are “these brothers of Mine”? That’s the big question. There are several things to keep in mind. First, this is a new group. The Gentiles are gathered before Him and are gathered into two groups, the sheep and the goats. The sheep are the righteous; the goats are the unrighteous or the unbelievers. The sheep are destined to the eternal kingdom, and the unrighteous to eternal destruction. Who is this third group, “these brothers of Mine”? There are several explanations given. Some people consider “these brethren of Mine” to refer to all the poor and needy of the world, the afflicted, and the suffering. So they believe that when you treat the poor and needy with love and kindness and reach out to meet their needs and when you send food and money to aid the starving in a part of the world suffering from famine, you are doing this to Christ and will be rewarded by Him. That can be moving preaching, but it is horrible exegesis.
First, the word ‘brethren’ is never used, unless this is the only time, of the poor and needy in a general sense in the Scripture. There is no precedent for thinking that the poor and needy would be in view in this passage. That would mean that the unbeliever and the believer would be at this judgment, and then all the poor and needy as the brothers of Christ. The sheep are the righteous. How are they different from “these brothers of Mine”? If they are the poor, does that mean the sheep are the rich, wealthy believers?
This doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t fit the overall context. It doesn’t even fit the immediate context, because we have the righteous and the unrighteous and this group, “these brethren of Mine.”
Since this is a judgment of Gentiles according to Matthew 25:32, “these brethren of Mine” are non-Gentiles or Jews. This would not be the Jews as a whole nation, because the nation Israel was subject to its judgment in Matthew 25:1-30. And at this point the unbelievers will have been rooted out; they have passed under the rod as Ezekiel 20 says, so that the unrighteous might be removed from the nation Israel. So all that will be left alive on the earth are the righteous believing Jews. I believe that is the group referred to by the phrase, “these brothers of Mine”, the believing Jews who have come through the Tribulation. At the judgment of the Gentiles, Jesus says to the sheep, “When you treated with love and kindness this believing Jew who was representing Me in those awful tribulation days, you were doing it to Me.” He says that was a manifestation of the fact that they believed in Him. That is the point that is being stressed. This does not refer to Israel generally, but believing Israelites. That fits with the way ‘brethren’ is used in Matthew in relationship to Christ.
Jesus spoke of his brothers in Matthew 12:47, “Someone said to Him, ‘Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.’ But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.’” Jesus asked, “Who are My brothers?” And He said that those who have come to believe in Him have this family relationship with Him. In Matthew12 Jesus said that His disciples are the ones who are really His brothers, and in Matthew 25 the believing Jews would be the ones who are really His brothers.
In Matthew 28:10 it says, “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.’” Who was He
talking about when He referred to ‘My brethren‘? Those disciples who believed in Him.
In Matthew 28:16 it says that the disciples proceeded to Galilee in response to Jesus’ statement. To say that “the brethren” in Matthew 25 refers to the afflicted and needy of the world is to ignore not only the context of Matthew 25 but also the context of the Book of Matthew. “The brethren” are those who have come to believe in Him, and in Matthew 25 they are brethren in contrast to Gentiles. So they must be Jewish brethren, because the Gentiles are measured in light of their treatment of these brethren, non-Gentiles, Jewish believers.
Christ spoke of similar matters in the same kind of context in Matthew 10. Christ was describing the seven-year Tribulation that will precede His Second Coming to earth. In Matthew 10:21-23 Jesus said, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until
the Son of Man comes.” During this time of intense persecution, believing Jews will be carrying the message of Christ to the world. Those Jews who come to believe in Christ will be used of Him to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and there will be intense persecution.
Matthew 10:40 says, “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” That is the principle being established at the judgment of Matthew 25, if you did it to this representative of Mine, you did it to Me. “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Matt. 10:41-42). Who was He talking about there? These little ones who believe in Me. When you give a cup of cold water to this representative of Mine, you are doing it to Me. In the midst of this terrible persecution, particularly the last three and one- half years of the Tribulation, as these Jews who have come to believe and love Jesus Christ are proclaiming Him and as Satan attempts to destroy them, any Gentiles who reach out in love to protect them and to help meet their needs are doing it to Christ. At that time if there is a Jew who has been proclaiming Jesus Christ who has been imprisoned and someone attempts to help him, he will be putting his own life on the line. As soon as a Gentile would reach out and identify himself as one who would help one of these Jews, he marks himself for execution; and only true believers in Christ are going to step out in those days and have anything to do with these faithful, believing Jews. That’s why the standard of judgment is what it is in Matthew 25.
To try to apply this to today does not make sense. Many people are doing social programs and it’s not a reflection of a righteous character, it is just a social program.
There is no pressure; you can go to the prison and visit inmates and nobody is going to execute you for it. You can give money to the poor and nobody is going to imprison you for it. You can feed the hungry and nobody is going to take your life for it. If you do that for a believing Jew in the Tribulation, you will be putting your life and your family on the line. Only true believers in Jesus Christ will do that. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t give a cup of cold water to a thirsty person today. I am saying that Matthew 25 is not talking about that. People try to make Matthew 25 say what they want it to say instead of allowing it to say what it does say, and the result is confusion. There are churches involved in all kinds of social programs and quoting Matthew 25; and if that’s the foundation for their social programs, they are taking Matthew 25 totally out of context and they are corrupting and abusing the Word of God. And then they want God to bless them for it.
As soon as you start to explain the context of Matthew 25, your experience will be what mine is, some will shake their heads and tell you that you are just trying to get around your responsibility. But if I do not understand the context and interpret the passage in light of the context, then I can make it say whatever I want it to say. Many of those promoting the social programs are doing exactly that. They tell you that you can get to heaven by doing these nice things to poor people and that you will go to heaven because you treated the afflicted with kindness. But that has nothing to do with what Matthew 25 is talking about at all. We need to be faithful to the Word of God. God wants us involved in social programs and that is clear in the Word of God, and I do not have to corrupt and distort Matthew 25 to bring that about.
This same point is emphasized in Acts 9:4; Paul was persecuting the Church and Jesus interrupted him on the Damascus Road and said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Paul was persecuting believers who were following Jesus Christ! Particularly the Jews who had come to believe in Christ. Jesus intervened and told Paul he was persecuting Him. That’s the point. You’re doing it to Him when you do it to those who are His followers. So in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” These Jews who will come to believe in Christ during the Tribulation will be His representatives.
Jesus continued in Matthew 25:41-45, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’” Remember that eternity is at stake at this judgment. Everyone closed out of the Kingdom is going to spend eternity in hell. Everyone going into the Kingdom will have eternal life in the presence of God. This is a judgment with eternity at stake.
The way a person responds to a believer representing Jesus Christ is a reflection of his attitude toward Christ. When you share Jesus Christ with someone and he rejects you and despises you for it, that person is reflecting his attitude toward Jesus Christ. What they dislike about you is the message you proclaim, the identification you have. The fact that these people did not help these poor persecuted “brethren of Mine,” indicates that they did not love Christ. They did not identify with the brethren in the message proclaimed and they were not interested in the message or in helping the brethren. This reflects their character.
The point is the same as that developed in detail by James in his book. The principle at this judgment is that if you are righteous and have come to believe in Christ, then your life will demonstrate that. That is the principle developed in James. There is no such thing at any time on the earth as a person who has faith in Christ and who does not have a changed life. I realize what that means: that many people who claim to be Christians are liars. And that is what God says. If your life is not transformed, you do not have saving faith, you have demonic faith according to James.
James 2:14 says, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” Can you be saved by a faith that does not have works associated with it? If a brother has needs and you tell him that you hope his needs get met but you don’t help, what have you done? Nothing according to James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’” You can not package faith! It is not something tangible that you can see and feel and hold onto. It is something that I have in my heart and mind! But James writes that he can show you his faith by his works. You can’t see his faith but you can see the evidence that his faith is real by what he does. When someone claims to believe something, you know if he really believes it by how he responds. If someone says that he believes that he can leap off of tall buildings in a single bound and fly, then you find out he really doesn’t believe it because he doesn’t do it. If I say that I believe I can swim and then I jump in the water and swim, I really believe I can do it. That’s the point. If your faith is real, it will manifest itself in what you do. You claim to believe in Jesus Christ, show me your faith!
James 2 continues, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (v. 19). It is great to believe God is one, but remember, you’re in the company of the demons because that is the kind of faith the demons have! In fact, their faith is so strong they tremble in the realization that there is one sovereign God. So don’t think you’re going to get to heaven by the fact you believe in God, because there are not going to be any demons in heaven and even demonic faith believes in God. The demons believe in God but their lives have not been transformed by that faith. There is no change in the demons. They don’t have saving faith. Saving faith transforms. An example is Abraham.
James seems to say Abraham was justified by works. “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?” (James 2:21) That sounds like it is contrary to what we read in Romans and Galatians by Paul that man is justified by faith apart from works. Is this a contradiction? No, Abraham was justified when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected (brought to completion); and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:22-24). The account of Abraham is key to what James wrote about. In Genesis 15:6, Abraham believed God and God credited it to him as righteousness. When Abraham believed God in Genesis 15, God declared Abraham righteous. Was Abraham righteous or wasn’t he? Did God tell the truth, or didn’t He? Abraham had to be righteous because God doesn’t lie. But it was 30 years later that he took Isaac up on Mt. Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice. Thirty years later! Was Abraham righteous 30 years earlier or not? God said he was! I believe God!
What did James mean then? James knew that because he quoted Genesis 15:6 in James 2:23. The point is that Abraham’s faith was demonstrated to be real and genuine because his works manifested the fact that he believed God. He did what a believer would do: he obeyed God! If you have true saving faith in Jesus Christ, your life will be transformed. If your life hasn’t been changed, you don’t have saving faith. I know I can’t measure your faith, but I know what God says about saving faith. I know the demons have a lot of faith. They have so much faith they shake in the presence of God in recognition of who He is! But they’re not saved. You may have that much faith. You may say, „I have got so much faith and I have been so moved that I have trembled.’ That puts you in the company of the demons who tremble in His presence. If you have God’s saving faith, your life will be different. If your life hasn’t changed, you don’t have the faith the Bible is talking about for salvation, and you need to get that straightened out.
In Matthew 25, that’s the point! Those who have really come to believe in Christ will be manifesting His character; these Jewish evangelists will be moving through the world under tremendous persecution. They will be reaching out as the servants of Christ, to be used of Christ, to meet others needs, and to encourage others in the message of the Gospel. They will be manifesting that they are those who are righteous by faith. Those who don’t will be manifesting their character as well.
So Matthew 25:46 summarizes it, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” That’s the culmination. And note something awesome: those who will be sentenced to eternal punishment are sentenced because of what they did not do. There are people who sit in churches and hear the message of sin and salvation and continue to think that they are not so bad because they don’t commit adultery, they don’t murder, they don’t steal, they don’t do bad things like that. But you know what? The people who are sentenced to eternal destruction are sentenced on the basis of what they do not do. We sometimes think we’re all right because of what we don’t do. But it’s not an issue of what they haven’t done. In Matthew 25 it is not a matter of the fact that they haven’t committed adultery, they haven’t murdered, they haven’t lied, and they haven’t stolen. They are going to hell because of what they didn’t do, not what they did do. Matthew 25 doesn’t say they are going to hell because they persecuted the Jewish believers, they are going to hell because they did not do anything for the Jewish believers.
One writer put it very strikingly. He noted that the three greatest arraignments of man in regard to his sin have to do with what he does not do. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin because they believed not in Me. The convicting ministry of the Spirit is going on because they believe not; not because they commit sin, not because they are immoral, not because they are greedy, but because they believe not. He is convicting them because of what they do not do. John 16:8-9, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me.”
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:22, “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.” Christ also referred to them as “accursed ones” in Matthew 25:41. Then Jesus said in Matthew 25:45, “To the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” People are lost because of what they do not do.
Amazing! We need to be reminded of that.
Parents can be relatively satisfied with their children’s condition thinking they are good kids. They seem to be an encouragement and they don’t get into trouble. They are not into drugs, they are not immoral, and they don’t do bad things, so they are pretty good kids. Then you realize those kids can go to hell because of what they don’t do. We need to stop and think. They are in a perilous position. You can go to hell because of what you don’t do. If you don’t believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will spend eternity in hell. That’s the issue! The issue is not all the good you do. If you do not believe in Jesus Christ and love Him as your Savior, you will spend eternity in hell.
Scripture emphasizes this over and over, and it comes out in this judgment. The judgment is clear. As Christ sets up His kingdom, He will gather all the Gentiles before Him and they will be divided between the righteous and the unrighteous. Righteousness will manifest itself in behavior and conduct toward those believing Jews in that time of intense suffering and persecution leading up to the Second Coming of Christ. Those who do not respond in righteous conduct because of righteous character will be sentenced to eternity in hell.
Matthew 25:46 indicates that punishment will be eternal. We like to draw a distinction between correction and punishment. This verse says eternal punishment. That is the same word that is used with eternal life. What is meant by eternal life? Life that goes on enjoying the presence of God forever. The opposite of that is eternal punishment: enduring suffering and personal conscious torment forever and ever and ever. Eternal life boggles my mind. It is hard to grasp the concept that hundreds and millions and billions of years from now, I will be personally consciously enjoying the glorious presence of God, and it will just be beginning, because eternity has no ending! But the other side of that is just as true! Eternal punishment means conscious torment 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, day and night, as we measure time, for hundreds of millions and billions of years, and you have just begun. I have to say that is more awful than I can imagine. I just can’t conceive of it! But I had better be careful: just because I don’t grasp it or I can’t conceive of it, that doesn’t change reality. It’s true because God says it is. Is it any wonder that He reminds us again and again of the need to come to believe in His Son? What a tragedy that there will be people in a hundred million years enduring the awful torment of hell because of what they did not do, they did not believe in Jesus Christ.
People who are exposed to this message but do not believe in Jesus Christ will be enduring the torments of hell in a hundred million years because they did not believe in Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). “Truly, truly,
I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24). “You are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:40). Those who do not believe are lost because of what they do not do; they are unwilling to come to Him so that they may have life. Do you see where the responsibility for condemnation rests? If you are lost and spend eternity in hell, it will be because of what you did not do. You were unwilling to come to Jesus Christ to have life and for that there is condemnation.
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).