In the previous posting we found Jesus saying that upon His return He will send His angels throughout the world where they will gather His people and bring them to Him. As they stand before Him He will divide them into two groups–sheep and goats–and pronounce His verdict over each. At this point it is vitally important that the reader understand who the sheep and goats are, why they were separated and why they received their respective rewards and curses.

The Institutional Church has for many generations been taught that the two groups involved in the Matthew 25:31-34;41,46 judgment episode were the saved, born again church members (sheep), and that the goats are all other people. This heresy is a curse from Satan who has convinced them that they (the sheep) are saved, and that everyone else (the goats) are lost.  However, as the Scriptures make clear, the sheep-goat judgment of Matthew 25 involves only the church–those who call Jesus “Lord, Lord” (Mat. 7:20-23) and come before Him expecting to be rewarded. It is important that we understand that both the Matthew 7 and Matthew 25 passages involve the same event–the judgment of the church.

Concerning the Matthew 25 teaching, two types of people are involved in each incident–field workers, mill grinders, talent recipients, plants in the field, virgins, fish, servants, etc. In the worker, grinder, field plant cases a man owns either the field or the instrument of labor, or both. In the talent, servant, plant, virgin, fish parables a man has total power over everyone and everything involved. THAT “MAN” IS JESUS CHRIST. THE ENTITIES INVOLVED ARE PEOPLE IN “THE CHURCH.” Note that those in one group (sheep) are rewarded with eternal life (Mat. 25:31-34) while those in the other group (goats) are cursed and cast into “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mat. 25: 41,46). Note also that the One who rewards or curses them has the power to do so because THEY BELONG TO HIM. Here Jesus tells us that, though all in “the church” belong to Him, some obey Him totally and will be rewarded while others obey him partially and will be cursed. Today’s goats have unknowingly worshiped and obeyed Satan, all the while convinced that they are serving God, are saved, born again and rapture-ready. As such, they see no need to “study to show (themselves) approved of God” (2 Tim. 2:15) and to “work out (their) own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). The fix being in and the deck being stacked, they see no need to conduct the Scripture-based self-evaluation commanded by God in 1 Peter 4:17,18. All three commands–Scripture-study, salvation-determination and self-evaluation–involve the Word of God. This is the Word that will judge both sheep and goats. It will not be sweet baby Jesus in the manger decreeing the final outcome of sheep-life and goat-life. The Word of the Lord–His holy, infallible Bible–that will serve as God’s arbiter (Jn. 12:48). Each person in “the church” will be evaluated according to how he/she handled that holy, Spirit-inspired, eternal Word. To be continued. L.J.