The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 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, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
So here, quite obviously, we have a description of Judgement Day. Those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb are the sheep. Those who are not are the goats. I think as human beings we often focus on the "action" part of this passage. Clothe the naked. Feed the hungry. Care for the sick. But, as I said last week, some "goats" do those things too. We've discussed over and over again the fact that we cannot earn righteousness. We cannot goody-goody our way into heaven. It is ONLY by the grace of God that we are saved. So here, when Jesus talks about the "sheep" taking their inheritance and references the good things they have done, the good things he is referring to are the things we've done for others because of the grace and blessing given to us by God. In other words, the outpouring to others of the love and mercy and blessings already bestowed upon us by Him. John MacArthur, in The Judgment of the Nations, says:
Who are these people going in? They're not just people who got involved in social action. They're not just people who did good deeds on the earth. These are those chosen from the foundation of the world by sovereign God to receive His grace and be blessed and who responded by faith and became His heirs in the family. And all of that soteriological richness is compacted in verse 34. And that can't be missed, that can't be missed. The good deeds mentioned in 35 and 36 are not the primary emphasis. The primary emphasis in identifying these people is in verse 34. The good deeds are the fruit of the redemption defined for us in such simple yet profound terms in verse 34. And the people who get confused by this passage get confused because they perhaps haven't looked as closely as they ought to look at verse 34. And looking at verses 35 and 36 alone might provide some difficulty.
The real fact of salvation is in verse 34. The proof of it is in verse 35 and 36. They are only outward evidences of an inward sovereign grace.
So, the justice...now listen...the justice, the fairness, the equity of what the King does in bringing these people into His Kingdom, the justice of His act is manifest in the deeds that these people demonstrate. But it isn't the deeds alone that qualify them. It's their redemption which issues in those deeds. So when He says come in on this basis, He is judging them according to their works but only insofar as their works are a manifestation of the redeeming act which God foreordained in their behalf.
You say, "I never met anybody who was naked so that I could put clothes on them, but if I did I would." That's the heart attitude. But maybe you've met somebody with another need, have you met that need? That's how you examine yourself to see if you're in the faith. That's the test in the end. It's similar in Romans 2, isn't it? Where it says God, in verse 6, will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory, honor, immortality, they'll receive eternal life. You see, He doesn't say the ones who did all the phenomenal things, that had the big meetings and the big miracle workers and so forth and so forth. He says it's to those who by patient routine well doing. It's just the goodness of life that flows out daily, the faithful discharge of humble duty in the day‑to‑day things that demonstrates genuine salvation.
I read a story yesterday and posted it to my Facebook page about a transit driver in Winnipeg who gave his shoes to a homeless man because the homeless man didn't have any. The story doesn't mention whether the bus driver was a Christian or not, but what that story made me think about was whether or not I am watching for opportunities to help others like this man did. Do I notice the people around me who are barefoot? Maybe not literally barefoot, but need help with something that I can provide? How often do I miss opportunities just because I am preoccupied or in a hurry?
No comments:
Post a Comment