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There we go.
Good morning.
There we go.
Glad you guys are with us.
If you're online with us, thank you for joining in as well.
It's good to be here.
Good to be gathered in God's family together.
And so let's go ahead and dive on in.
If you've got your Bible, it's going to open up to Matthew chapter 25.
And this morning, we're going to look at the parable of the sheep and the goats.
Now, as you're turning there, I think there's some significance to the placement of the teaching
and where Matthew puts this parable in.
So this parable is one of the last teachings of Jesus as he enters into the Passover scene
with his disciples.
So some biblical history of what's going on.
This is right before Jesus would teach on the Last Supper.
This is right before Jesus would be betrayed.
It's right before he would be arrested, beaten, and then crucified.
And so this is the very last words of Christ before all of these other events begin to unfold
where he will do some more teaching.
But this kind of ends a segment of ministry for him.
And I think it's very important for us to look at and see what exactly is Jesus talking about.
As we read it, this parable unfolds a little bit differently than other parables.
In fact, some people say that this isn't even a parable.
It's just a teaching of Jesus.
But there are some aspects of it that make it a parable.
So kind of what am I talking about?
So as Jesus begins to teach, he speaks in the reality of referring to himself as the Son of Man.
Which in all the other parables that we've studied,
Jesus begins at the very beginning with establishing who he is as a character within the parable.
But then he's going to switch over and he's going to refer to both the shepherd and the king.
And so when you see in here, Jesus is the Son of Man, Jesus is the shepherd, Jesus is the king,
as it all goes forward and as he tells the parable.
So let's start reading Matthew chapter 25 verse 31.
Jesus says,
When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him,
then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Before him will be gathered all the nations,
and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
Come you who are blessed by my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food.
I was thirsty and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
I was naked and you clothed me.
I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came to me.
Then the righteous will answer him saying,
Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you?
And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?
And the king will answer them,
Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,
you did it to me.
Then he will say to those on his left,
Depart from me, you cursed and to the eternal fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food.
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.
I was a stranger and you did not welcome me.
Naked and you did not clothe me.
Sick and in prison and you did not visit me.
Then they also will answer saying,
Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison
and did not minister to you?
Then he will answer them saying,
Truly I say to you, as you did not do to one of the least of these,
you did not do it to me.
And these will go away into eternal punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life.
And so Jesus, as he begins this next stage of ministry,
not only for him, but for his followers,
is continuing to lay the groundwork of communicating some hard truth for them
as they're going to continue on in ministry without him.
And what I mean by without him is without his physical presence there.
So Jesus is about to go to the cross and die.
And they're going to have that stretch of three day period where they're without him.
But then also into the ascension where Jesus will go and promise of the Holy Spirit
and still be with his followers in spirit, but not be with them physically.
And so again, it's this important message of the gospel.
It's the important part of what I'm entrusting you with.
And Jesus paints a picture that would be very common of the separating of the sheep and the goats
to the group of disciples that are gathered there with him.
And so what I want us to look at within here is there's some harsh realities of truths
that you and I, as we call ourselves believers,
that we have to embrace within the gospel teaching of what the gospel calls us to.
And then maybe even more important, what we reflect of the gospel.
You know, there's a phrase that's used commonly and it's applied to this passage of scripture
that we need to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
And I want to say, I agree with that, but I believe that it's a partial truth
and not the full truth of what we're called to be.
That what we're called to be is the hands, the feet, and the mouth of Jesus.
That what we carry with us, what we proclaim, and what we do
should all fully embrace the gospel.
And it's what we see come forward out of this passage of scripture.
So let's understand the gospel and then how that impacts us
and what that causes in our life.
So the first truth I think we want to look at,
which is going to provide the umbrella of which this message falls under,
is this, that the gospel both unites and separates.
The gospel both unites and separates.
One of the common things that a lot of believers are talking about,
especially in the culture and the climate in which we currently live,
is the unity of believers and the unity of the gospel.
And that's true.
The gospel does provide unity.
But the full truth of the work of what the gospel does
is the gospel both unites and the gospel separates.
And it's what we see from the very beginning in verse 32.
Jesus says,
So let's look at this.
What does it mean that the gospel both equally unites and equally separates?
First part, the gospel unites.
Jesus' words.
Before him will be gathered all the nations.
You see, there's a global work of God that's been going on since the very beginning
that we as believers have to come and wrestle with and understand
and work toward applying in our life.
And Jesus doesn't back down from it.
In his teachings, even before they knew of the faith that would go
and that would spread all across the world,
and Jesus establishes right here.
There's a beautiful work of the gospel that unites.
Before him will be gathered all the nations.
In Revelation chapter 7, in John's account of the throne room,
as he begins to describe what that looks like,
he's very specific.
Where he says,
Gathered before the king is every tribe, every nation, and every tongue.
Jesus in Matthew 28, when he gives us the great commission, right?
The call of all believers to go and to make disciples.
He says that we're not just to make disciples here.
We're not just to make disciples over there.
We're not just to make disciples in our community,
but that the work of the church is continually working and moving
so that we make disciples of all nations.
And the word used there for nations is the word ethnic,
to imply the ethnic groups.
So you and I, when we begin to understand that the gospel is global,
that the gospel unites every tribe, every nation, every tongue,
we begin to understand the bigness of the call of the gospel.
See, we even look at one country in our world right now,
the country of India.
There are over 2,700 ethnic groups alone found in India.
And so God in the great commission,
Jesus here doesn't say, just take the gospel to India.
Jesus says, take the gospel to 2,700 different ethnic groups in India
and the application of the gospel.
Because God's heart, God's desire, God's plan is the gathering of all.
And so we begin to look at this great, big, global work of what God is doing.
And this morning, I was able to pull up the statistics and look at it.
That within the 100 largest unreached people groups,
the 100 largest unreached ethnic groups,
there's 1.9 billion people, 25% of the world's population.
It's a church we've got work to do.
When standing before God, of what, how the gospel unites,
about how the gospel brings in,
about how the gospel has always been intended to be taken to people
who don't look like us,
who don't speak the same language that we do,
that have different cultures than what we have,
have different skin color than what we have,
look differently, act differently, respond differently.
But the gospel goes to them.
What we see when we look at scripture
is that the gospel sees and celebrates diversity.
And it is the power of God displayed in that
that unites.
The world always wants to take people
and divide them into their spot.
Put them in their box.
Give them their area.
Divide them into their space.
And the work of God and the power of only the gospel
says, no, no, no, no, no.
That's not what we do.
We take all of those people who are different.
We take all of those people
who should be at conflict.
And what the gospel does
is brings them together
and turns them into family.
It turns them into a people.
God's people.
So that where there once were peoples,
there's now a people before one king.
Jesus.
And so the gospel unites.
But another thing is the gospel separates.
And Jesus tells us that he will separate people
one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Now let's talk a little bit about being a shepherd.
Kind of a lost job profession in our world.
But being a shepherd was a hard job.
Being a shepherd was a dirty job.
In fact, if you were a shepherd,
that job was typically done from a distance.
And you would have to take your flock away from town
for a couple reasons.
Number one, they smelled bad.
I don't know if you've ever been around
massive groups of animals,
but they typically don't smell too good.
Right?
So the shepherds would go out from the town
to the pastures in which their flocks would graze.
But then also they had to go outside of the town
to get the water and what they would need.
And so here's why this is important.
Shepherds, when we think of shepherds,
at least when I do in the context in which I grew up,
I picture a shepherd with a big flock of sheep around them.
Right?
If we think back to our old Sunday school classes
and the pictures,
we think about the Christmas narrative
that's told to us and what we picture
and what we think of.
But the truth is most shepherds
during the time of Jesus' day,
it wouldn't just be sheeps.
In fact, most of the time it would be sheep and goats
would all be a part of the flock together.
So as the shepherd would move and navigate,
he has some sheep,
he has some goats,
and the job of the shepherd was to keep them separate
because of what they needed
and how they responded to each other.
But when most people would look out
and look across and look down into the pasture
and see from a distance,
do you know what people couldn't do?
They couldn't tell the difference
between sheep and goats.
Only the shepherd could.
And I think it's an interesting part
for us to be able to understand,
we begin to understand that the gospel separates.
That Jesus says there is this great unity,
but there's going to also be a separation
that is placed in between.
And who separates?
Not the townspeople looking off,
not the people who are out on the side,
but the shepherd himself separates.
And so we begin to understand
in this separation that exists
that Jesus is both the means
and the standard of the separation.
That's why John chapter 14, verse 6,
Jesus speaking of himself,
says,
I, I am the way,
I am the truth,
I am the life,
that it all comes from who?
Jesus.
Not just his teaching,
not the things that he does,
but that all of them found within him
that Jesus is the way,
Jesus is the truth,
Jesus is the life,
and in that the gospel separates.
There's an eternal weight
that is placed within this passage of scripture.
This isn't a hypothetical situation
that Jesus is laying out,
but it's a situation
that rings true for scripture
and that every single one of us will face.
As we heard the two little kids
on the end of the video, right,
begin to argue,
I am the sheep,
I am the sheep.
The reality is,
within our world,
within our life,
there's only two choices.
You're either a sheep,
or you're a goat.
And that's determined
by the king.
It's determined
by the gospel.
So the gospel unites,
but the gospel also separates.
So how do we respond in this
as we read the situation
that unfolds
as Jesus shares
with his disciples?
And for us,
I think what we have to come to
is seeing others
in light of the gospel.
Seeing others
in light of the gospel.
So as we begin to see this story
of what is happening,
the separation happens.
And Jesus says
that the sheep
will be on the right
and the goats
will be on the left.
And what the sheep
will enter into
is the sheep
will enter into
an inheritance.
The sheep
will enter into the kingdom.
The sheep
will enter in
before their heavenly king.
But the goats,
the goats
will enter into punishment.
Same situation,
two different destinations.
And so Jesus begins
to speak
of why one
heads in one direction
and the other
heads in the other direction.
And this continues
to build on the narrative
that we've been seeing
in parables.
Jesus speaks
to their fruit.
Jesus speaks
to what is seen.
Jesus speaks
as to who they are.
And so Jesus
looks at the sheep
and he says,
look,
when I was hungry,
you fed me.
When I was thirsty,
you gave me something
to drink.
When I was a stranger,
you welcomed me in.
When I was naked,
you cared for me.
When I was sick,
you visited me.
When I was in prison,
you came to me.
So as the sheep
are going in,
they're excited
to enter into the kingdom.
And from back behind them,
they can hear
the shepherd begin
to say
why they're headed in.
And then an amazing
thing happens.
They're surprised.
I think this is the part
that we miss
all too often
in scripture.
They're surprised
that they're entering in
and for the reason
of why the shepherd
says they're going
into the kingdom.
And I think this speaks
to the great humility
of the redeemed life.
It's not as they entered in
and as what's being spoken
about them
as they begin
to nod their heads
and say,
that's right,
look at all of the things
that I've done.
But it's that
in the humility
of them,
they're even surprised
of the work
that God has done
in them.
And the posturing
and the positioning
of their heart.
And so they ask
a profound question.
When did we do this?
Jesus, tell us,
when did this happen?
When did we see you
this way?
When did we know
that this is who you were?
And Jesus,
very simply,
Jesus in his kindness
and his compassion,
says,
as you did
for the least
of these,
my brothers,
you did also
for me.
But then there's
the goats.
And as they begin
to enter in,
Jesus begins
to speak
of their lack
of fruit,
of what they
didn't do.
Continuing to build
on that this
is who you are,
that this is the
transformation
that takes place
in your life.
And Jesus says,
I was hungry.
You didn't feed me.
I was thirsty.
You gave me
nothing to drink.
I was a stranger.
I was naked.
I was sick.
I was in prison.
And you not one time
cared for me.
And their response
was,
but Jesus,
if we would have
known it was you,
it would have been
completely different.
And you see
the motivation
of the fruit
of their heart.
It's not about
what's been done
to them
that overflows
on how they
treat others.
You see,
the core of the heart
of the teaching
of the gospel
shows us
who we are,
not only with Christ,
but who we were
before Christ.
The more that I
dig into God's word,
the more I begin
to understand
how unworthy
I am of him,
of what the gospel
reveals to me,
that I was a
desperate sinner
worthy of death
and death alone.
But what God
gave me
was not what I
deserved.
But what God
gave me
was his grace.
And it
transforms us.
The gospel
transforms how
we see ourselves.
And then when
the gospel
rightly applied
to our lives,
surrendered before God,
it begins to
change how
we see others.
And so there's
a question that
comes from this
parable that
a lot of people
argue about.
And the question
is, when Jesus
gives this parable,
who's he talking
about was served?
Who are the
least of these?
Is it everybody?
Is it all
of the different
people that I
encounter, both
saved and lost?
Or is it just
the saved people?
So Jesus,
what are you
talking about
when you say
to the least
of these?
And I want
to attempt
this morning
to answer
that without
answering it
at all.
All right?
I think you'll
understand what
I'm saying
in a second.
The first
thing that I
want us to
understand is
it changes
how we view
the Imago
Dei.
And what I
mean by the
Imago Dei
is everyone.
It's the truth
rooted for us
in Genesis,
in creation,
when God
said that he
made man
in his image
and in his
likeness.
The phrase
in his image
and his likeness
is the Imago
Dei.
It's what
all of
mankind,
regardless of
language,
regardless of
skin tone,
regardless of
race,
regardless of
country,
regardless of
male or
female,
it's what
all of
mankind
has been
made in.
And what
the gospel
does is the
gospel changes
the way that
we view
everyone by
causing us
to understand
and realize
that everyone
is made
in the
Imago Dei,
that everyone
is made
in the image
of God.
So when I
see someone,
regardless of
what I see,
regardless of
what they do,
regardless of
what they say,
they were an
individual made
in the image
of God,
both the
lost and the
saved.
in our
world right
now,
I feel
where we're
being pushed
toward
is placing
ourselves in
camps,
identifying
with a
group
that either
think like
us,
speak like
us,
believe like
us,
or look
like us.
And in
that,
those are
the group
of people
that we
should be
drawn to.
Those are
the group
of people
that we
should care
for.
Those are
the group
of people
that we
should love.
Those are
the group
of people
that we
should give
grace.
Those are
the group
of people
that we
should align
ourselves
with.
The problem
and the
tension
within that
is it
goes against
what Scripture
teaches us,
that everyone
is made
in the
image
and the
likeness
of God
so that
when we
go out
and we
love,
when there's
hunger,
when there's
thirst,
when there's
desperation,
that we
look at
mankind
as the
whole
and how
we view
others
matters.
Whether
they're lost
or saved,
whether
they're
Republican
or Democrat,
whether
they're rich
or poor,
whether
they're
black or
white.
because of
the
Mago
Day,
there should
be a
burden
in our
hearts
for all
men,
all women,
and all
children
to hear,
to see,
and to have
the opportunity
to respond
to the
gospel of
Jesus Christ.
There is
no more
diversity
than in
heaven.
there's
no more
diversity
than in
heaven.
How we
view
everyone
matters.
But it
should also
change this,
how we
view the
family,
those of
us who
were saved.
You know,
it's an
interesting
thing when
you look at
scripture.
God could
have referred
to his
group of
people by
many things.
He could
refer to
them as
a
denomination.
He could
have referred
to them
as a
religion.
He could
have referred
to them
as an
organization
or a
non-profit.
But he
didn't.
That time
and time
again,
the imagery
and the
picture of
what we
see in
scripture
is that
of the
family.
So that
you're my
brother,
and I'm
your brother.
So that
you're my
sister,
and I'm
your brother.
That all
of us,
regardless of
our skin
tone,
regardless of
our language,
regardless of
where we
were born,
regardless of
how we
voted,
regardless of
what we've
done or
what we
will do,
regardless of
our education,
regardless of
our placement
in society,
that we
are all
family,
brothers and
sisters in
Christ,
before the
heavenly
father.
not the
CEO,
not the
manager,
but before
our heavenly
father.
And I
think right
now,
more so,
my life
has been
brief so
far,
but I
believe there's
an opportunity
for the
church,
for the
family of
God,
to display
themselves
in such
a capacity
that glorifies
him and
draws people
to him.
That we
have an
opportunity,
that as
Berger talked
about at the
very beginning
of God's
plan,
that in the
midst of the
chaos,
in the midst
of the ugly,
in the midst
of the hatred,
in the midst
of the name
calling,
that we
have an
opportunity to
reflect something
different in the
family that
causes everyone
else to not
know and
understand why
they can hate
me, but I
just love
them.
And it
gives us
that moment
in time.
But the
question that I
have for us
as a church,
what kind
of family
are we
displaying?
What kind
of family
are we
portraying?
What are we
living out
in this
world?
I want to
tell y'all a
story and
wrap up with
this.
Growing up,
one of my
best friends
was a guy
named Pat.
Pat and I
were best
friends all
through elementary
school and
middle school.
Pat would
always come
over to my
house and
spend the
night.
We played
on the same
baseball team
together.
Johnny's
recaps.
My dad
was our
coach.
I was the
second baseman.
He was the
shortstop.
He would
come to
my house
and we
would just
play baseball
all day
long.
He'd come
over Friday
when we
got out
of school
and he
would stay
until after
church on
Sunday.
Pat was
like a
brother to
me.
I loved
him.
We're
still
friends to
this day.
Absolutely
love Pat.
Pat would
spend the
whole weekend
at our
house,
would eat
meals with
us,
would watch
TV with
us.
My parents
were like
his parents.
My sister
was like
his sister.
We know
the beautiful
thing about
elementary age
kids sometimes
is we say
things that
everyone's
thinking but
no one has
yet said,
right?
And one day
Pat's at my
house and
we're playing
and we're
having a good
time and I
remember this
conversation.
I said to
him, I said,
Pat, man,
why don't you
ever ask me to
spend the
night at your
house?
And he
kind of sat
there for a
minute and
he said,
man, he
said,
see, I
don't know
my dad.
My dad's
never been
involved in
my life.
And I
come here
and your
dad takes
us down to
the gas
station and
buys us
candy and
drinks and
plays baseball
with us in
the front
yard.
He said,
my mom,
she's got her
own problems
and her own
struggles and
she's not like
your mom.
He said,
I don't know if
my mom will be
at home when I
wake up in the
morning.
She doesn't
cook for us.
She doesn't
do stuff.
My mom would
go out and
play basketball
with us and
beat us most
of the time.
He said,
my mom,
she doesn't
do that.
He said,
my house
isn't like
your house.
We don't
eat together.
We don't
watch TV
together.
We don't
hang out
together.
He said,
but when I
come to
your house,
you all
become my
family.
You see,
what Pat
experienced
was a depth
of love
that he
longed for.
A depth
of love
that he
craved
and that he
needed.
there's
people in
this world
that need
to experience
the love
of Jesus
Christ.
A depth
of love
that as
Christians,
we say
we know,
we say
we've
experienced,
we've even
acknowledged
that we've
been called
to share it
with them.
but the
question I
have
for all
of us,
do we?
Do we?
There's only
two options.
You're either
a sheep
or you're
a goat.
Jesus is real
clear.
And I
love the
argument
that happened
between those
two little
kids.
I'm one,
no I'm one,
no I'm one.
And here's
my hope.
I hope
we all
are.
I hope
we all
are.
But it
says
that we
gotta live
like it.
So are
you a
sheep?
Are you
a goat?
Would you
pray with
me?
Lord,
come to
you this
morning.
Lord,
I thank
you for
your
unfailing
love for
us.
Lord,
it is
by your
love and
through your
love only
we find
life,
we find
hope,
we find
purpose.
Lord,
if those
are of us
that are
sheep.
Lord,
may we
continue
to be
transformed
by the
gospel,
to live
our lives
worthy
of the
name by
which we've
been saved.
Lord,
continuing
to press
into
in difficult
situations,
in difficult
relationships,
grace and
kindness.
Lord,
that we
would understand
that within
us that
the gospel
is greater
than our
opinion.
And Lord,
that the
gospel maybe
begin to
shape and
change our
opinion.
Lord,
may we
begin to
understand
what it
looks like
to love
everyone and
love the
family of
God.
Lord,
the beauty
that is
developed
and
matured
and how
that
attracts
and how
that
draws
in
and how
people
long
to want
to know
you.
Lord,
convict our
hearts,
capture us.
It's in
Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.
One question
for you.
I just
got one.
We're all
going to walk
out these
doors.
We're all
going to go
to our
lives.
Monday is
going to
come for
all of us
short of
Jesus
calling us
back.
As you
leave here,
will you
leave a
sheep
or will you
leave a
goat?
We'll stand
as we
worship him.
Thanks again
for listening
to the
Willow Ridge
Church
weekly
podcast.
We hope
that you
enjoyed
listening to
this week's
message.
If you'd
like to
learn more
about who
we are
or explore
additional
resources,
visit us
online at
www.willowridgechurch.com
or by searching
for Willow Ridge
Church on
Facebook and
Instagram.