THE
REFORMED WITNESS HOUR
"Sheep Separated from the Goats"
Rev. Jai
Mahtani
(e-mail: Rev.
Carl Haak) |
Dear Radio Friends,
The Word of God that we consider together today is found in
Matthew 25, which gives to us several vivid pictures of the final day of
judgment.
We have been considering the very practical subject of Christian
hospitality — the love of strangers, the love of the brethren. And we hope to focus soon on love for our
children. But before we enter into that
subject of covenantal instruction, we would like today to look at the fact that
the final day of judgment will have everything to do with this matter of
hospitality.
Using parabolic language, the Lord Jesus uses earthly
illustrations to teach spiritual principles.
In Matthew 25 He really gives three parables — first, the parable of the
virgins (wise and foolish); then, the second parable on God-given talents and
the use of those talents. But both
those parables point to the final parable, which we want to consider for a few
moments today. It has to do with the
call to prepare for the final day of judgment, with regard to the exercise of
Christian hospitality.
Please open your Bibles and read Matthew 25:31ff. This Word of God clearly points out that we
have in this passage the final day of judgment. When Christ returns, He not only returns as the Bridegroom for
His bride, not only as the faithful Lord to judge His servants, but now, as we
see, He comes really as the Judge, the great Shepherd, who will separate the
sheep from the goats. The King, we read
in verse 34, shall say unto His sheep, who are on his right hand, “Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world.” What a wonderful word of
comfort and welcome to glory!
Then He goes on in this passage to explain to them that while we
were here on this earth we manifest ourselves, indeed, as Christ’s sheep and
citizens of the kingdom, because, as He says, “I was an hungered, and ye gave
me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
naked, and ye clothed me: I was
sick, and ye visited me: I was in
prison, and ye came unto me.” The
righteous, we read in this passage, are flabbergasted, they are bewildered, and
they respond saying: “Lord, when saw we
thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee
in? or naked, and clothed thee…?” Then,
in verse 40 of Matthew 25 (one of my most favorite verses in the entire
Scriptures), “the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me.”
So, I want to speak with you for a few moments today on that
final day of judgment, when the sheep are separated from the goats: when it will take place; why it will take
place; and with what blessing.
The text tells us when that will take place (v. 31), “when the
Son of man shall come in his glory.”
The reference is clearly to the glorious day promised in Scripture when
Christ shall return at the end of the ages.
The Lord Jesus Christ is described as the Son of man because, as you
know, He came in human flesh. The Son of
God, the second person of the holy Trinity, yet He came as Immanuel, God with
us, that He might suffer and die for our sins and then rise again on the third
day and ascend to heaven as the Head of His people.
But, as our text points out, the day is coming when the Son of
man shall return in His glory.
Notice: “And all the holy angels
with him,” who serve as ministering servants in the day of judgment. The picture is clear. Then shall He sit upon the throne of His
glory (although already now He is at the right hand of God), in order that all
the nations may know that, indeed, He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He will arrive with all majesty and glory
with His angels. And He will be there,
sitting on His throne. Notice, “before
him shall be gathered all nations: and
he shall separate them” as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. That is the ultimate purpose of the final
day of judgment. This is, of course,
for the comfort of God’s people who may suffer at the present time. In that final day, the great Shepherd of the
sheep will separate the sheep from the goats.
For the sheep, to use the metaphor in this passage, during the
day (today, throughout the New Testament era) are mixed with the goats. At the end time, however, there will come
finally glory and rest and eternal peace.
Even as the shepherd will divide, at the end of each day, the sheep from
the goats, so Christ will come in judgment to separate the sheep from the
goats.
In verse 34, Christ is speaking to the sheep who are on His
right hand with those comforting words:
“Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.” I
ask you to pay careful attention to that as we meditate on this Scripture,
especially as we look at the manifestation of their good works — of love, of
hospitality and compassion one to another — that we might not think that
somehow, after all, our salvation is dependent upon our works. Not at all!
Christ comforts the sheep with these words: “Ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.”
Indeed, they have that wonderful assurance that, after all, they
have been blessed by the Father and have been given that eternal life and that
unconditional love of the Father even before this world began. As the church is being gathered here on
earth in the midst of the world, oftentimes this Word of the gospel is not
fully proclaimed to them. They need to
be reminded that they are as the elect sheep amongst the goats. They are as the wheat, and there are always
going to be the presence of the tares. They
are even, sometimes, mocked at, and they are oftentimes very
insignificant. Sometimes God’s people
begin to struggle and think, “Well, perhaps there is nothing better.” Or, worse yet, there can creep into the
church the idea that God’s people must strive to do good works in order to be
saved or to become big and significant in the world, in order to be counted for
something. But, beloved, let us
remember that the Judgment Day comes, and the day of reward comes, in that
glorious day when Christ will usher in the new heavens and the new earth.
I remember a story that was once told me of a missionary who
went to a faraway land. He was laboring
for some thirty years away from his homeland, from his family. He had his wife with him, but, other than
that, it was a very lonely environment, and there was, besides, much
persecution, and he had grown old. Now
he was returning home. He was on the
ship. The ship took dock at his
homeland. Then he saw this band
playing. And he saw all these beautiful
decorations there at the harbor. He had
a smile in his heart and on his face.
And he thought, “Well, finally I am home and finally I am being
welcomed.” As he got off the ship and
down to the dock he realized that all that band playing and all those decorations
and all the welcome was because there were some other important people on
board. It was not for him at all! There was nobody at the harbor to receive
him! His wife thought that he looked a
bit down. And she asked him why. He said, “Oh, don’t worry about it. I guess the welcome was not really for
me.” And the darling wife, who had
labored with him for some thirty years, gave him an embrace and said, “Dear,
remember what you have always preached?
Remember what you said to the people before you left the mission
field? Our reward is not here on this
earth. We have a far greater reward to
come.” That cheered him up. And that must make us be thankful and look
forward to that glorious day when Christ shall come, even as this passage of
Scripture reminds us.
The sheep are separated from the goats. We read in this passage of Scripture, “Come,
ye blessed of my Father.” So the basis
of the royal welcome is not the works of men.
Many take this passage and teach that so long as you are busy in good
works, perhaps serving even in the cause of missions, then you can expect a
glorious day of reward. We must be
warned, the Scriptures tell us, Jesus Himself, that we must not think that on
that last day we can cry out, “Lord, Lord, we did this and we did that,” as if,
somehow, our reward is going to be on the basis of our good works. Not at all!
When the final judgment comes, we must look for those precious words,
“Come, ye blessed of my Father. The
kingdom was prepared for you from before the foundation of the
world.” It is all of grace! After all, we must remember that an
inheritance is never earned. It is a
gift. It is left behind by parents for
their children. Of course, in
foolishness, sometimes children like to imagine that they deserve something
from their parents. Then, very sadly,
there is so much sibling rivalry over the inheritance. But, the truth is, an inheritance is a
gift. It is sovereignly prepared, by
God, before the foundation of the world for His people.
But now, although in fact salvation is by grace, and although
our inheritance and our reward is by grace, we must realize what the passage of
Scripture here is teaching us. Jesus
says, “The sheep are separated from the goats for a reason.” He says, “For when I was an hungered, ye
gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in.” Notice the response of the sheep: they are amazed. They are
bewildered. They did not come
boasting. They did not come saying,
“Lord, we did this or we did that in your name.” Not at all. What their
left hand had done their right hand did not know and remember.
But the King shall answer and say unto them, “Verily, verily I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these my brethren, ye did
it unto me.” You see, the sheep here
are reminded that while they were on earth they manifested that they were,
indeed, a people of God when they were zealous of good works. And that good work that they performed was
especially to the household of faith, in that they served the brethren, even
the least of the brethren. When they
saw a brother hungry or thirsty, they did not turn the other way. They sought to meet that need. When they heard of a brother who was in
prison, they did not say, “Oh, we don’t have time, we pray!” They did indeed pray for such a one in
prison, but they also went to visit him in prison.
As I said in my introduction, this is one of my favorite verses
in all of holy Writ. When my wife and I
were in Zeeland, Michigan during my seminary days, we had a doctor who showed
us much kindness in helping with the whole process of the pregnancy and
delivery. In order that we could show
him appreciation, we made him a memento, after the delivery, with a picture of
our twin boys who were our firstborn.
Underneath the picture are the words of this passage of Scripture in
Matthew 25:40. Significant, is it not,
that Christ should point to the fact that this was done to the least of these
His brethren — not to the greatest, but to the least. Not to those who, perhaps, are the noble, the rich, the
well-known, so that if you were to do some act of kindness to them, it would
become very well known and even appreciated in the midst of the church or the
world — but to the least of these My brethren, to those who, perhaps, are not
much appreciated and who do not receive much attention in the body of
Christ. Jesus says, “Blessed are you,
for when ye did it unto the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me.” And, on that basis, Christ gives to them the
reward of everlasting life — not because they had merited it, but because they
were the blessed of the Father, and therefore manifested this fruit in their
lives, for the Scriptures tell us that they who are born of God will also love
others who are born of God. They who
have the love of God in their hearts will also exercise that love one towards
another. That has been the theme
throughout this series: we must walk in
love for the stranger, for the brethren, and then also for our children.
When that day comes, when the sheep will be separated from the
goats, there will be great blessing.
Not so for the wicked, of course, for He will say to the wicked who are
on the left hand, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared
for the devil and his angels.” That
separation is sharp. That separation is
fatal! Depart from Me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire.
Notice the contrast, too.
Jesus says to the goats: “For I
was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat:
I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink.” Instead of showing mercy to the people of God, they were found to
be cruel and to be wicked. They deny
this: “When were we walking in such a
way that we did not show kindness and mercy?
When did we see you hungry and gave you no meat…?” And Jesus says, “Inasmuch as ye did it not
to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” Then He announces that they must be cast away into everlasting
punishment.
Now, a very serious question.
One might now ask, “Are you saying to us, Rev. Mahtani, that our
salvation is after all dependent upon our works?” The answer to that question is this: The fruit of our salvation and our blessedness in Christ is that
we will love the brethren! If you hate
the saints and ignore them now; if you despise them now and pretend and imagine
that you are a Christian; then I say to you, in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that what you will face at the day of judgment is indeed everlasting
punishment of hell and destruction. For
it is impossible for the child of God to know the blessing and favor of God,
and then to turn around and walk in cruelty and hatred against the people of
God.
This is a very serious warning.
Those who claim to be Christian must not forsake the assembling of God’s
people together. Those who claim to be
Christian, who have known the love of Christ and the mercy of God in Jesus
Christ, must not turn around and say that they have nothing to do with the
people of God.
Let me give you an example.
Here I have come to experience the tender love and mercy of God in that
He will forgive such a sinner as I am.
Graciously and freely He has blotted out my iniquities in the blood of
Jesus Christ. Not on account of anything
I have done, but only because of Christ’s death on the cross God has forgiven
me. Now, is it right for me to turn
around and pull my brother by the collar and be unwilling to forgive my
brother, to have a bitter spirit against my brother the rest of my life and, in
fact, foolishly walk in hatred against my brother? Worse yet, attempt to take the life of my brother? May I do that? And may I then say, “But I know the forgiveness of God”? That is impossible. If I truly have come to know the forgiveness
of the Lord my God in Jesus Christ, then the fruit of it will be that I learn
to forgive my brother also. If I have
come to know the love of God unconditionally given to me in Jesus Christ, then
I must learn more and more to love my neighbor as myself.
Then the righteous, we read, shall enter into eternal life. What a word they will hear when there is a
royal welcome awaiting them at the gates of heaven! Christ Himself, as the King, will say, “Come, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from before the foundation of the world because ye are the
blessed of My Father. Come, not go away
(depart), but come, come in, and inherit with Me. Be princes and princesses in the kingdom of God.” Why?
Because of all that we have done?
No! But “because ye are the
blessed of My Father. Ye are those who
have been shown favor and grace of My Father.
And in that grace you have manifest that love to the brethren. So it will be grace for grace, you see. Even when you did it to the least of these
My brethren, the point is that you did it unto Me.”
For, you see, it was then the fruit of the righteousness that we
have in Jesus Christ. When we see the
weak and the hungry we do not, and we must not, then show love and compassion
for the praise of men. We do not and must
not do it even simply because we want to be humane and make this world a better
place to live in. But we must do so out
of gratitude to God for the righteousness that He has wrought for us in
Christ. The motive must be love for the
people of God. The motive, ultimately,
must be love unto Jesus Christ who died for us and who is coming again. The motive must be that, because God has
loved us, we show the love of God by manifesting that love to the
brethren. Oh, yes, now in much
weakness, but then in perfection, when the Son of man comes and brings us to
glory.
May God give us grace, then, that we truly learn to love the
brethren and to love the stranger. For,
who knows if God places on the pathway of our lives those whom we may not
recognize as fellow saints but who truly are the people of God. Some have entertained angels unawares,
according to Hebrews 11:2. Thus are we
reminded to love the brethren, to love the stranger.
Perhaps it is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who now would place
upon our pathway a stranger, one we do not know, who has been brought in by
another. Perhaps it is a brother who is
in prison on account of his own weakness and sin. What do we do? Do we say,
“Well, he deserves it”? Or, “Well, let
somebody else go visit him”? Or do we
prayerfully consider if indeed we are called, as God’s people, as the sheep of
Jesus Christ who have been loved with such an everlasting love, to make their
prayer for the brother in prison, to count ourselves as bound with those who
are bound and to go, even, to visit such a brother in prison.
Those are examples. As
we conclude this part of our series, looking at the Judgment Day when the sheep
will be separated from the goats, may the Lord impress upon our hearts that as
we are called to show love to our neighbor, including both love for the
stranger and love for the brethren. In
the weeks to come, I want to emphasize our calling to love our children.
I trust that nothing in this series takes away from that! We are called to show love to our
children. Godly, parental
instruction. Godly rearing of our
children in the covenant — this is an essential aspect of the Reformed
faith. But we must balance that with
what we have seen in the weeks gone by.
May God work that in our hearts, that we might be found lovers of
strangers, lovers of the brethren, and lovers of our children.
Let us pray.
Our Father which art in heaven, we come to Thee to thank Thee
that Thou hast caused Thy love to be shed abroad in our hearts, so that now we
might also walk in love for the brethren.
Thou hast forgiven us. Help us
to forgive others. Thou hast shown to
us such love. Help us then to extend
that even to the brethren. We look for
that blessed day when Christ will finally come upon the clouds of glory. Come, Lord Jesus, Amen.