SERMON DATE AND TITLE: 2008-07-20 "The Sheep and the Goats"
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July 20, 2008 - Sheepfold Ministries
Pastor Phil Roland
THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS
MATTHEW 25:31-46
“God calls His children to simple human compassion and obedience to His Word. Jesus is calling us today to more acts of compassion and agape.” Pastor Phil
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
"For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Matthew 16:27
“If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:15-17
UNITED STATES TODAY:
304 Million People, less than 5% of the world’s population, using 32% of world’s total goods and services
WORLD HUNGER STATISTICS
Today our world is home to 6.6 billion people.
Every Year 15 Million children die from hunger, that’s one every
Every day 16,000 children die from hunger.
That’s one child every five seconds.
One out of every eight children under the age of twelve in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night.
The average wage earner in the US makes $46,000 yearly.
SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 25:
1) The Parable of the Ten Virgins
2) The Parable of the Talents
3) The Righteous Acts of God’s Sheep
The Holy Spirit manifests Himself through God’s people in overt acts of compassion.
Biblical Fact:
Ancient Palestinian Sheep were WHITE and Goats were BLACK
(See JACOB’S SCHEME in LABAN STORY: Genesis 30:25-43)
MATTHEW 25:35,36
Six Creative Acts of Agape that Identify God’s Righteous Sheep:
I. FEEDING THE HUNGRY v. 35a
“'for I was hungry and you gave Me food;”
A. Bureaucracy is NOT the solution
1. Faith-Based Programs are loaded with restrictions
2. Depression era survivors learned to share w/one another
3. Those who HAD gave to the HAVE NOTS
B. World Food Consumption
1. US adults eat 4 ½ pounds of food daily
2. India 2 pounds
3. Some parts of Africa less than 6 oz. daily
II. GIVING WATER TO THE THIRSTY v. 35b
“'for I was thirsty and you gave me drink,”
A. Giving a cup of cold water in Jesus’ Name has rewards – Matt. 10:42
“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because
he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
B. Small acts of kindness do NOT go unnoticed by the Lord
III. OFFERING SHELTER TO THE STRANGER vs. 35c
“'I was a stranger and you took me in.”
A. Will people take advantage of you? Yes, occasionally.
B. TENSION: Helping the deserving AND the undeserving poor
1. Remember? Sheep AND goats?
2. Wise as serpents, harmless as doves - Matthew 10:16
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be
wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
IV. GIVING CLOTHING TO THE NEEDY v. 36
“'I was naked and you clothed me”
A. We Americans tire of clothing quickly
1. Consignment Shops
2. Thrift Stores
B. Third world country people do not have that luxury
V. VISITING THE SICK – v. 36
“'for I was sick and you visited me;”
A. Marcus Wellby of pastors
1. “Oh no! It’s the pastor! Pull down the shades! Be quiet!”
2. Professional visitors not always welcome
B. Illness isolates us from others
1. Need the prayers of the faithful
2. Sick body causes emotional and spiritual sickness
VI. GOING TO THOSE IN PRISON – v. 36b
“I was in prison and you came to Me.”
A. Peter and Paul were prisoners
B. Prisoners need encouragement and “A Hand Up”
1. Some are wrongly imprisoned, some make a single mistake
2. Some need role models and pointed in the right path
TO WHOM DO WE GIVE OUR LOVE? IT’S SIMPLY JESUS.
Jesus who is starving and thirsty
Jesus who is a stranger and naked
Jesus who is sick and in prison LOVING HIM WON’T WAIT!
THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS, Text:
MATTHEW 25:31-46
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33 "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
38 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 'for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
43 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
44 "Then they also will answer Him, 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?'
45 "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
46 "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
MATTHEW 25
A contemporary look
I WAS HUNGRY
AND YOU FORMED A HUMANITIES CLUB TO DISCUSS MY HUNGER.
THANK YOU.
I WAS IN PRISON AND YOU CREPT OFF QUIETLY
TO PRAY FOR MY RELEASE.
I WAS NAKED AND IN YOUR MIND
YOU DEBATED THE MORALITY OP MY APPEARANCE.
I WAS SICK AND YOU KNELT
AND THANKED GOD FOR YOUR HEALTH.
I WAS LONELY
AND YOU LEFT ME ALONE TO PRAY FOR ME.
YOU SEEM SO HOLY.
S0 CLOSE TO GOD,
BUT I'M STILL HUNGRY AND LONELY AND COLD.
THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS
CLOSING ILLUSTRATION
In a little English village in Medieval times many were suddenly struck by the terrible plague.
People died right and left!
One, two, even a family at a time died, until there was scarcely enough people left to bury the dead!
There was a certain home in which lived a father, a mother, and five children. The youngest child was a little fair-haired, fair-skinned English boy, just barely past four years of age.
The father in that family died first. He died on his job. A child died, then a second, then a third, then the fourth. They came back from burying the fourth child. The little boy climbed up into his mother's lap.
"Mama, where is daddy?"
"Daddy is gone. Someday we shall see him."
"Well, where is Danny?"
"Danny is gone."
"Where is Mary?"
"Mary is gone, too, to be with Daddy." "Where is Marjorie?"
"Marjorie is gone, too, to be with Daddy." He asked where the fourth was, only to be told,
"She is gone, too, to be with Daddy,"
"Mamma, you aren't going to go, are you?"
She hugged him to her breast, and looking down into his troubled eyes, she said,"Son, I may have to go."
"Mamma, I will be left all alone! You can't go!"
"Son, I may have to go!"
"Mamma, if you go, who is going to take care of me?"
The mother, with her tears dropping on his head, sobbed out,
"Jesus will take care of you, son. Jesus will take care of you, baby!" A few days later the mother was stricken and died. She was buried. The townspeople forgot about the child. Everybody was busy with problems of their own. The child went to sleep. Later he woke up.
It was about eight o'clock at night. Mamma was not there, he was cold and hungry. He got out of his little bed——he still had his clothes on——he went from room to room crying,
"Mamma! Mamma!"
Then he remembered where they had put his mamma. He could not quite understand why.
OPENING THE DOOR, walking down the moonlit street, he came to the cemetery. There were no gates to bar him.
Going over to his mother's fresh grave, standing by it, the boy sobbed, "Mamma! Mamma!"
The next morning a neighboring farmer was driving thru the town. He dared not stop because of the plague. He was afraid of the danger of infection. As he drove the heavily loaded wagon slowly, he noticed what he thought was a little animal on one of the graves by the side of the fence in the cemetery. Slowing up his horses, he saw the child. He was human after all! He had a heart! He had feelings!
He jumped from the wagon, walked into the cemetery, and picked up the boy. The boy opened his eyes, saw the face of a stranger in that BLUE morning, and began to cry.
The man comforted him until he was quiet.
"What are you doing here, son?" asked the farmer.
"I came to find Mama."
"Where is she?"
"She's in there! They put her in there! I want my momma!"
Again the heavy tears came as the boy wept out,
"Momma said that if she went away, Jesus would come and take care of me!"
Pressing the child to his breast, the farmer almost whispered as he struggled to keep the tears back,"SON, I HAVE COME TO TAKE CARE OF YOU. JESUS SENT ME TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!"
Looking up thru tear dimmed eyes, the boy said,
"Mister, you have been a long time coming!