This is the final parable of the mini-series that we see in Matthew 24 to 25 and it is also the last parable that we are studying in this whole series of the parables of Jesus. Remember, these four parables are all about being ready for the second coming of Jesus. These parables are time specific. They are pointing to the times that we are living in today. They are relevant most to how we should be living and what we should be doing in our present day.

Let’s begin by reading Matthew 25:31-33

• Matthew 25:31-33
  31 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: 32 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: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
• How does this parable begin? What event is being described here?
• There is no doubt what this event is. It is about the second coming – when the Son of man, referring to Jesus, shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with him.
• Jesus is sitting on His throne. He is coming as king. He is coming to judge all nations, and judge every single person.
• This is the time that the sheep and the goats will be separated from each other.
• The sheep represent the righteous and good people that will be saved and the goats represent those that will be lost. We will see this in a minute.
• But we also know this from the fact that the sheep are on the right hand of Jesus and the goats are on the left hand of Jesus.

What does the right hand represent?

• Isaiah 41:10
  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
• The sheep are the righteous ones. They are on the right hand of Jesus. He has held them up with His righteousness.

It is very interesting to note that there are minor differences between sheep and goat. They look very much similar. They say that the easiest way to tell the difference between a sheep and a goat is their tail. The sheep’s tail always goes down and the goat’s tail always goes up.

• Another couple of differences is that goats almost always have horns but sheep don’t always do. And also sheep have wool but goats have hair.
• However, the sheep and goat are from the same family group. And to the untrained eye, it would be hard to discern which is which.
• But the distinction between these two groups are a little bit more pronounced than in the previous two parables.
  • The ten virgins, they were all virgins.
  • The servants with the talents. They all received talents.
• So there will be eventual separation between the righteous and the unrighteous. However, they will grow together just like how the wheat and the tares grow together until the end of time.

But what is it that set apart these two groups of people at the end of time? Let’s have a look at the sheep first.

• Matthew 25:34-40
  34 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: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 — When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 — Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And 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.
• What are the reasons that Jesus gave?
  • 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 took me in, you housed me.
  • I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear.
  • I was sick and you came and visited me.
  • I was in prison and you came and visited me there also.
• This sounds like community service doesn’t it? Doing good works.
• But notice, what was common with all these people?
  • They were people in need.
  • You see, there is a big difference between helping those that are in need and just feeding a friend or visiting a friend that you haven’t seen for a while.
  • Those that are in need, it is an urgent case. It’s important. Being hungry because you haven’t eaten for a few days. Thirsty because you don’t have access to clean water or any water. Being in prison or those that are suffering from sickness.
• That is a big difference in comparison to those that are just your friends and you are feeding them, inviting them to come over for lunch or dinner. That’s more like doing a favour for people. Being hospitable to your friends. You scratch my back I scratch your back. Since you invited me over for dinner, I’ll invite you over for dinner.
• How about feeding those that cannot pay you back? Or helping those that are actually in need and they have nothing to give you except a word of thanks.
• So works are highlighted. This is something that can be seen very clearly with our own eyes. It is not that we are saved by works. But there is a reason that it is actual physical works.

But what sets these people apart from the goats? What is the reason that they have these good actions?

• 1 John 3:16
  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
• When we understand the love of God and are filled with His love in our hearts, then we will understand what it means to lay down our lives for those around us just as Jesus lay His life down for us.
• But is Jesus expecting us to sacrifice like He did? To sacrifice our life? Of course not right? What does this mean? How do we lay down our lives for others? Let’s keep reading.
• 1 John 3:17-18
  17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
• When we see our brother in need and we don’t help him, how can we have the love of God dwelling in our hearts. This is exactly what Matthew 25 is referring to – those that are in need.
• So the sheep are those that have that love from God. They understand the great love that Jesus had for them and as a result they are filled with His love for others around them.
• And love is best expressed in sacrifice. Self-sacrificial love. Just as Jesus sacrificed for us, we should sacrifice for others.
• So it’s not that the sheep are saved by works. But their works show the love of God burning in their hearts.

How about the goats though? Let’s have a look at them.

• Matthew 25:41-46
  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: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
• The goats are the exact opposite. They don’t do any good works at all.
• So even though the sheep and the goat look alike, even though they are from the same family group, they really are opposite. They are nothing like each other in works at all.
• Did you know that both the sheep and the goat are used in the sanctuary services? Meaning that these two groups of people are in the church. They are both Christian’s.
• So if the sheep are motivated by love to do these good deeds, it means that the goats don’t have the love of Jesus abiding in their hearts. They may go to church, but they don’t love Jesus. They may profess to be Christian’s, but they don’t love Christ.
• That’s pretty serious!

Love really is the dividing line between the sheep and the goats. One has the love of Christ in their hearts and one doesn’t have that love. One perceives the love of God and the other doesn’t. How can we have the love of God abiding in our hearts today?

• Galatians 5:22
  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
  • If we have the Holy Spirit abiding in our hearts, we will have the love of God abiding there too. Which means, if the Holy Spirt is abiding in our hearts, then we will be found doing the works of the sheep. It will not just be lip service. We will not be found loving in tongue only, but also in deed, in action. We will be able to see it ourselves and others can see it as well.
• Romans 5:5
  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
• 1 Peter 1:22
  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
• It is through the Holy Spirit and Him alone that we can possibly love like Jesus loves.
• This is the central core of the Christian. Without the Holy Spirit, our whole Christian life is lived in vain.

But you know what is interesting? We have studied about the Holy Spirit in the previous parables. Remember the parable of the 10 virgins?

• Matthew 25:1-4
  1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
• What was the oil? It was the Holy Spirit!
• Actually, if we go back one more parable, the parable of the wise servant vs the wicked servant.
  • The wise servant gave meat in due season. They were found preaching and teaching the word of God. Their faith was being built up and they were building the faith of others around them by sharing the word of God.
• Then the parable of the ten virgins.
  • They had extra oil. They were praying continually for the Holy Spirit.
• Then the parable of the talents.
  • The servants were all given talents but one of them just hid the talent and didn’t go and trade with it.
• But this parable shows that it’s not about trading and using our talents full stop – whether it is for ourselves or for benefitting others it doesn’t matter. No! We must use our talents in a self-sacrificial way for others, to be a blessing to others, to help others – especially those in need!
• And if we have the Holy Spirit abiding in our hearts, we will have the love of God abiding there. And the love of God will inspire us to be a blessing to others. It is the love of God that will motivate us to sacrifice for others. That is how we know if we truly have the Holy Spirit or not!
• Some people have the spirit, but it is not a holy one! We need to be careful that we don’t deceive ourselves thinking that coming to church week in and week out is sufficient. God is not judging us by just our hearts. His judgment is plain and simple and clear to everyone! We will know for ourselves at the end of the day if we are in a saving relationship with Christ or not. We need to take that honest assessment of ourselves today by looking at our works.

So how do we know if we really love or not today?

• It is revealed in our works.
• The foundation is our faith and our love for God. But the outward revelation of His love is found in self-sacrificial works.
• That is what Christ did for us when He died on the cross. That was the greatest expression of His love for each of us. Self-sacrificial works.

But what is sacrifice? Let’s have a clearer understanding of what sacrifice is really all about.

• You see, when we need to sacrifice something, it means that we really need to sit there and think about it, pray about it. Maybe we get counsel and opinions from other people. We come back and write it all down on a whiteboard. We really put much thought into it before just going out to do it. It becomes a struggle to us.
• That is sacrifice! It really eats into our budget, maybe it takes away from our sleep. It takes effort like cooking each week or having to visit every day that sick person. It is out of routine, it’s out of our normal schedule. That’s sacrifice.
• You know Christ did not take His sacrifice on the cross without much consideration. He really struggled. His humanity really struggled against sacrificing His own life. When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, let’s have a look at His struggle.
• Luke 22:42-44
  42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
• Jesus prayed this prayer three times in the garden of Gethsemane to have the cup be removed for Him. He really did not want to die on the cross and drink the cup of wrath. This was just before He would be taken off to be crucified! He had the power to destroy all those murderers that would come and nail Him to the cross. But He struggled to allow that all to take place!
• He struggled so much that He sweat great drops of blood! He was in agony. He was fighting against that human nature that had no desire to sacrifice.
• But Jesus was filled with love, that heaven-born love for you and for me. And when we have that love and we struggle, but we pray to do right, God will also send His angels to help us and to strengthen us to resolve to do that which is right.
• But what I want you to see is that this type of sacrifice, it won’t come without a struggle.
• And you know many times we think that if we are struggling to do these good things, then it is best we don’t do it.
  • For example, if we are not happy to go to church then we better not go.
  • Or if we have thoughts to leave the prison visitation or leave the hospital as soon as possible, then we must be bad.
• But no friends, it’s ok to have those feelings. That’s normal. That’s human! Even Jesus struggled with these sorts of feelings.

But what is sacrifice then? When you have to really think and consider about it. Struggle with it.

• How about coming to church early to help set up and get the church ready? Let the Sabbath be the day that you get up the earliest and not the latest.
• How about taking annual leave to serve God? That’s sacrifice!
• Many students skip school and skip classes for many different reasons. Mostly it is for leisure or pleasure activities. But when is the last time you skipped classes to serve God? That’s sacrifice!
• Too often when the call to serve and sacrifice comes around in church, we give genuine reasons – I am working, I need to study, I have classes or school.
• But true sacrifice is something that we really need to think about, we really need to pray about it.
• And struggling with it doesn’t mean it is wrong, it means you are human because you are going against your own human selfish desires!
• To many of us giving tithe is no longer a sacrifice. We don’t need to think twice about it anymore. How about giving 10% tithe and 10% offering then? If you have to pause and sit there and think and think and think about it, then that is sacrifice!
• The sheep in the parable, they are denying self and letting the love of God work in and through them, producing works of a self-sacrificial nature.
• There is no true commit without sacrifice.
• They truly are committed. They really love with all their hearts God and also man.

And today, God is not looking for us to simply be busy with good works. He wants our hearts filled full with the love of God. And when we are filled with His Spirit, He will give us a burden for souls. He will give us a desire to be a better person. He will instill all the good things of heaven in our hearts. He will change the way we think, how we organize and prioritize our time. He will give us a different purpose for our lives.

So what do we have to do? Let’s keep praying. Praying for His Spirit to fill us. And keep praying until something happens, until God answers your prayers. Let’s not stop praying when our lamp is full of oil. We need to keep praying until our vessels are filled with oil as well. We need EXTRA oil.

We don’t know what trials or crises are coming ahead. But I know that through Christ we can be more than conquerors. Through Christ we can do all things. Let us be filled with all the fulness of God today that truly we might be found living the life that Christ wants us to live!