The Goat and Sheep Nation Sermon Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus uses this parable as a description and prediction of judgment of all people. The importance of the parable is that people are to love others and all they do to one another should be an act of service to Christ the chief Shepherd. All people will be separated into two groups; Jesus called them the Sheep and Goat nations. Note the nation is not the term of a country but a group of people.

The Son of Man upon His Throne (v31) recalls the prophecy of Daniel in which the Ancient of Days bestows the kingdom upon ‘one like a son of man’ blessed by my Father (Dan 7:13-14). The blessing to the sheep (v32) consists of their inheritance of the Father’s kingdom, given not as a reward for good works but because of their saving relationship with God the Father and God the Son.

The good works mentioned here is not the cause of Salvation but the effect of Salvation. Good works can only come out of the relationship one has with Jesus Christ the Shepherd. Salvation is faith in Jesus that causes us to behave like Jesus Himself. Jesus Christ is coming again to earth but this time He is coming as both a Judge and a King who will sit on His glorious Throne. (2 Thess 1:7 & Rev 14:17-20).

Judgment day separation: There will be a division into two groups; the Sheep (righteous nation) and the Goat (unrighteous nation). Jesus uses the scale of compassion, kindness, mercy, and love; to classify the two groups of people in the world. This parable draws a picture of those who did the will of God and those who failed to do God’s will in living a life of love towards others. Jesus’ death and resurrection is our salvation, He ransomed us for His glory. Therefore, we ought to live a holy life to inherit His kingdom.

My brothers and sister, the face of Christ is hidden behind the face of others, even those needy brothers and sisters around us. We all are needy people because we all need someone’s help in one way or the other, hence the reason for the great reward in serving others.

The fullness of salvation is that it is a free gift and more valued than anything we can ever know, and yet it is measured here on this earth. We are not saved just because we bear good fruits no, but because we have become good trees. You see if we fail to give God what is right, there usually isn’t anything left to give. God separates humans into the sheep or the goat, and He placed the sheep (believers in Him) on His right hand and calls them His. He placed the goat (non-believers) on His left hand and He did not call them His.

We hear ‘come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit…’ (v34a), inheritance is a gift. We do not earn it, meaning it is not by our works. Something has to happen for an inheritance to occur, i.e. in the normality of life the original owner has to die for anyone to inherit their possessions. So, the King Jesus had to die for us to inherit His kingdom through our salvation in Him. If you are still a goat my beloved, it is only through salvation in Christ that anyone sheep or goat can inherit the Kingdom of God.

If someone is not a family member, how possible is it that such person is likely to inherit from that family? Whose are we, and which do we belong to? Jesus said in John “on that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you” (John 14:20. Hallelujah this is the mystery of Jesus that a human mind cannot comprehend but the heart believes the reality Amen).

As men, we believe in our hearts, not in our minds but we use our minds to reason. In salvation we believe in our heart and with our mouth we confess or proclaim the Lordship of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The reality is that salvation is available even to the goat nation today. Please don’t wait until that Day of Judgment or tomorrow because you might not make tomorrow. Here and now is given to us, but the next minute or hour is not. Only Jesus has those. Through salvation in Christ, John tells us ‘the Father and the Son have made their home in a believer’s heart through the person of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from God the Father’ (John 14:21-23).

The sheep showed compassion and kindness, but the goat did not. How much have we loved others? How well do we care about others? In 1 John 4, he talks about how we can grow in our love for one another. In love, there is no fear because perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Our love for God is evidently shown towards the compassion we have for others. ‘Love is sacrifice’ I John 3:5.

What we do show is the evidence of faith or no faith, believe or unbelief. That is why Jesus in this parable shows that the way we love others is evident of the way we love Him. Note that our true relationship in Christ is not marked by how much we quote the bible, but it is in how we treat others. Do you know all mankind can show compassion i.e. sheep and goat can care for one another?

Sacrifice of all sorts is key in loving… let us look at this little story:

Once upon a time there was a certain man who God gave ten apples and said to him: “man eat the first three apples, use the second three to trade for shelter over your head, the third three is for you to trade for clothing and God gave him the final one so that he can have something to give back to God through a neighbour”. The man did as God asked with the nine but he looked at the tenth, it seemed to him bigger & juicier than the rest. The man immediately said to himself God had all the other apples in the world so the man ate the tenth apple and gave God the core. The man acted greedily towards his neighbour by not share thereby bringing to mind what Jesus said ‘I was hungry you feed me not (verse 42).

The greatest gift that this world has ever seen is Jesus and the greatest sacrifice ever made in the history of mankind was made by Jesus the King on the cross. If anyone has a personal relationship with Christ, then such a person too has been given a great gift. Note we can never out-give the King. Therefore, if we have Christ as the Lord and Saviour of our lives, then we carry the King’s sceptre ie His authority.

Friends good works on its own cannot save us, but the lack of it will condemn us. Grace comes before the works, not after the works as we have seen with the sheep nation. Goats are condemned because they had no works at all and no faith or love for Christ which is shown to one another.

Jesus does not want anyone to go to hell because He made hell for Satan and his evil or devilish angels as v41b tells us. But you see God so loves us very much that He will not force anyone of us to go to heaven without our choice. It must be from our free will that we choose to yield to His warning.

Notice both the sheep and the goat nations were surprised when Jesus our Judge identified that their actions to other people are in fact actions to those who Jesus cares about enough to die for. Every human we see represents Jesus, which is why we must render help and act towards them as unto Christ Himself.

Christ says ‘come, be blessed and inherit…’. I wish and pray that we listen today and come, for this glorious call is for us to believe in our heart that Jesus is the Son of God and to confess with our mouth His Lordship. There is no other name through which we are saved, except that of Jesus Christ. My brothers and Sister God bless you as you hear and obey His calling.