Seeking for the truth
© 2004 -
The parable of the sheep
and the goats
"When the Son of Man comes
in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
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.
He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
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.
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, 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.'
"Then the righteous
will answer him,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply,
'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"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. 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, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
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?'
"He will reply,
'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away
to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25:31-
Ready to receive the final verdict?
In the third and final parable Jesus cautions us to be ready to receive from Him the final verdict.
And He shows the process of the last Judgment.
On that Day the world will see, what the saints now believe; that the Lord Jesus Christ is the brightness of the Fathers Glory.
He will bring His Holy angels with Him.
On that Day all of mankind will appear before Him.
And a distinction will be made between the precious and the vile.
Jesus will give honour to His godly ones, by placing them on His right hand side.
They are not only forgiven and acquitted, but preferred, and rewarded.
Jesus says in effect: “Come! You that followed Me carrying the cross, doing My will. Welcome! Come into My embrace!”
Now, at first glance at this third parable we might assume, that we can get to heaven by way of good works alone.
But many other verses in the Bible disprove that:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -
not by works, so that no-
But it is also true that obedience to Him, and a determination to do good, is required for salvation.
It is just what we have covered in the last parable.
James says:
“Show me your faith by your works.”
Jesus here praises them for their denial of self, of putting other people first, and doing something practical for poor people.
Jesus was underlining the importance of us doing good works, and that it was necessary
to our salvation.
Yes, necessary to our salvation.
At the Judgment Day, more emphasis will be placed, upon what good works were done, than is commonly imagined.
From the parable, notice the humility of the saints.
They see their efforts as being weak and feeble.
They don’t see their good deeds as getting them another step closer to heaven.
They see their good works as being unworthy, compared to the glory that is being revealed to them.
Christ makes the most of our infirmities, and our good deeds.
Let’s briefly look at the sentence of the wicked.
Every word has terror in it:
“Depart from Me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels.”
The reason for the sentence is again, the charge of omission.
It wasn’t that those who had been charged, had put people in prison.
No, it was because they didn't visit people in prison, and they didn't give people something to eat or drink, and they didn't provide hospitality, and they didn't visit the sick, etc, etc.
These people filled up their time by fulfilling their own desires.
They were selfish.
They were taken up with their own pleasures.
Are we guilty of the sins of omission?
Jesus Christ has cautioned us to be ready to attend Him, the Bridegroom.
He has cautioned us to be ready to give an account to Him.
And He has cautioned us to be ready to receive from Him our final verdict.
Some to horrendous darkness, but others to eternal life.
Vulture image: thanks to Serif ARTGallery CD
Hugging image: thanks to GSP 100,000 clipart CD.
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