Health Checkup #1
Matthew 25: 31 – 46
31 “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.”
Sheep and goats are often seen together in the same fields. Farmers, ranchers, and herdsmen usually allow them to graze and roam in the same field. It is pointless to place them in different fields. Sheep and goats are free to wander and mingle together.
I’ve noticed there are some things that goats do but sheep would never attempt. The Bible uses the illustration of sheep as “good” and goats as “bad.” One may ask, “Is the behavior of the two so different that the goats deserve this reputation?”
When a sheep wants to eat from a tree and it cannot reach the branches, it humbly turns back to graze on the grass. But a goat will climb on any sheep standing under the tree to reach the leaves! Whenever goats have an advantage over sheep on the hillside, they just ram into the sheep, often without any obvious reason.
The easiest way to tell the difference between a sheep and goat is to look at their tails. A goat's tail goes up (unless it is sick, frightened, or in distress). Sheep tails hang down and are often docked (shortened) for health and sanitary reasons.
A big difference between sheep and goats is their foraging behavior and diet selection. Goats are natural browsers, preferring to eat leaves, twigs, vines, and shrubs. They are very agile and will stand on their hind legs to reach vegetation. Goats like to eat the tops of plants. Sheep are grazers, preferring to eat short, tender grasses and clover. Their dietary preference is forbs (broadleaf weeds) and they like to graze close to the soil surface. Goats require a more nutritious diet.
Sheep and goats tend to behavior differently. Goats are naturally curious and independent, while sheep tend to be more distant. Sheep have a stronger flocking instinct and become very agitated if they are separated from the rest of the flock. It is easier to keep sheep inside a fence than goats.
Goats will seek shelter more readily than sheep. Neither species likes to get its feet wet nor do both prefer upland grazing to lowland. In a fight, a ram will back up and charge to butt heads. A goat will rear up on his hind legs and come down forcibly to butt heads. During confrontation, such fighting behavior favors the ram.
The goat's ruminant nature is actually the most challenging facet of keeping goats. The animal will not be tied down to one spot. Blocked off from the outdoors, it will continually challenge its pen by finding means of escape either through jumping or craftily unlocking enclosures. Hence, the fence is of the utmost importance.
So, why do you think our Great Master used them as reference regarding humans? I think that many of your are now contemplating some of the things I have told you about sheep and goats and can start to see some possible reasons. As I know that you are aware of is that sin is doing what is wrong. It is also failing to do what is right. If you know that you should do something and fail to do it, then it also is sin. The practice of wrongdoing is the sin of commission and the failure to do right is the sin of omission. We read in the book of James chapter 4, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
When you consider the verses that we have read in the Gospel of Matthew you begin to understand the importance of doing things for other people. You will note from the book of Exodus chapter 20 that the Ten Commandments were broken down really into two areas; love for our God and love for our neighbor. To a large degree you cannot just do one. You have to be doing both.
Goats are people who have perfected the art of doing nothing except for them. All they worry about is their own needs and possibly their family’s benefits. It does not matter who they use and misuse in order to accomplish this.
I use to have a tax preparation business. You would ask people who are making six figure salaries what they give in donations. You know what most want to claim? Their donations are from getting rid of their old clothes. In most cases that’s it.
Our Lord Jesus had ‘compassion’. I know that if you think of the Gospels your mind will pick up some of the stories where our Great Master’s love moved Him to do something for the masses. Having a hard time thinking of some examples then let me give you a few of them. Remember how our Lord was moved as He looked at the people and knew that they did not have a Shepherd watching over them. How about how He healed all those who came to Him? How about when He fed all the people?
If you look at the book of Acts you will see that people were first called Christians in Antioch. Why? Because the people had heard about how compassionate our Lord Jesus was and watching His sheep they responded that these people must be His followers, hence Christians.
Sheep are proactive and practical. Their motto is, ‘If I cannot help all, then I will help at least one.’ Please notice in verse 35 that our Lord Jesus used the singular word, ‘stranger’.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holyfn 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.’
Unlike what some ministers say, our Lord Jesus did not say, ‘Give till it hurts’. He wants us to be touched, moved, or prodded inside by the great needs we see in other people’s lives. He wants you to try to do something even if you can only give someone a glass of water.
Sometimes I get quite upset when someone sends another person to the church for help. The needy person comes into the church office and tells me that so and so told him to come to the church for money to get food, transportation, or other help. I call the person who recommended the church solve the needy person’s dilemma and ask this question, ‘Just so I will not be duplicating anything that you have done, can you tell me what you have already done for the person sitting in my office?’ Can you guess what answer the person on the phone gives me? In most cases they have done nothing except tell the person to go to the church for help. This is wrong. If the Lord sent a needy person your way it is up to you to do something not pass it off on the church to solve. You may give the person a few bucks out of your pocket, or go and buy them some food. Do something!
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.’
A Christian may be unenthusiastic, undeveloped, unpredictable, and unfathomable, but never unrecognizable. He or she can be introverted but not inactive. Those who do not do something have missed a chance to serve our Lord, for by helping others we are ministering to Him.
Who is a sheep, and who is a goat? The Lord knows, deeds do count, and time will tell. Final things will speak for themselves and sort themselves out in the end. A goat is one who does nothing, feels nothing, and is nothing in the end.
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.”
People who are goats try to blend in with sheep. I like to call them “undercover Christians’. They think that they are going to heaven so why worry about anything or anyone else.
I think the scariest verse in the bible is in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 7 which says, 21 “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. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
The apostle Paul challenges us to examine ourselves that we are truly Christians. You need to take your own personal inventory. A redeemed life is one that is given the character of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you actually think that not doing anything matches the Wonderful character of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
Please do not let the enemy fool you. If you check out your life and there is nothing that others can say that they see Christ in your lives then you need to fall on your knees and ask the Lord Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. Ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Ask Him to help you do all things that He wants to fulfill in and through you.
