Key Verse:
"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."
Matthew 25:32
This is
Jesus’ final message on this theme of how it will be in the end. Jesus
continues to make it very clear that things are not always as they seem. Those
who live well and at ease in this life are not necessarily the blessed ones
according to God.
First of all,
I should explain that shepherds in the Middle East often do heard sheep and
goats together. However, since they are needed for different purposes, there
are those times when the shepherds need to separate them.
As we can see
from the passage in Ezekiel, since long past, God has been dealing with the
false piety of the religious, those who think that they are saved because of
their behavior and those who serve the Lord out of love. He has been frustrated
by those who talk the talk, but do not walk the walk. How interesting that
those who claim to be religious and believe themselves to be secure treat their
security as justification for abusing and neglecting the less fortunate. While
God continues to call for compassion, mercy and justice, the religious continue
to behave with arrogance, greed and cruelty. Oh, they know the law, and use it
as their defense, but they never know God's heart.
I believe that the most sobering verse in all of scripture is Matthew 7:21-23,:
"Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I
will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from Me, you
evildoers." And along with that, Matthew 25:41: "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.
It is amazing
how quickly and willingly we can be deceived into thinking that our evil is good
and our good is evil. In fact, this was one of God's "Woes," to His
people from before Christ came! "Woe to those who call evil good and good
evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for
sweet and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah
5:20) The religious think that they are on the inside track with God
because of their religious behavior, prophesying, miracles. What amazing power
they possess. All their fellow men are impressed! But God sees how they treat
their fellow man through their behavior and attitudes and He is not impressed
by what He sees. It is not enough to be a hearer of the word. It is not enough
to have God's word memorized. That would be like memorizing a recipe, but never
preparing the good food it describes. No, God looks for those who are doers of
His word and will. That's how He sees who the truly faithful and believing are.
It is those who obey that are deemed worthy of His kingdom.
The religious
often know His rules, but do not know His heart. In turn, God says to them,
"Depart from Me, for I never knew you either." That is a sobering
thought indeed. I once heard of the complaint of a very successful business man
who said, "I climbed the ladder of success and when I got to the top, I
found that it was leaning on the wrong wall.” That is the fate of the one who
thinks that he will make it to heaven by his works or thinks himself worthy
because of all the blessing he has received in this life. He may have trampled
on his fellow man and muddied the water to beat them to the top, but he may
arrive only to hear God say, "wrong wall." Then, there will be the
grief of a wasted life for all the wrong goals and all the wrong reasons.
Hymn: "Day of Judgment! Day of Wonders!"
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