Right or Left, Sheep or Goats?

    “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. 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. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 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: 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; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Matthew 25:31-36

Today, we hear a lot about the Right-Wing conservative and the Left-Wing progressive. There seems to be a war between them, the left always fighting with the policies of the right and vice versa.

What is important is your position with Jesus, whether you are on His left or His right. The ones on His right hand are sheep, but the ones on His left hand are goats. Goats are a motley crew, always butting against everything in the natural, but in the scripture, they are not in the will of God.

Jesus called the right, righteous, and He put them on His right because they gave to others, and He counted them righteous.

“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 take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 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.’ Matthew 25:37-40

DEPART FROM ME

“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: 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Matthew 25:41-43

Jesus was telling the goats to depart into Hell because they were lost and did not have the nature and character of God! That is why they couldn't see the need of people who were hungry, thirsty, and naked. The compassion of God was absent from them!

This is not about our good works for Christ because we are saved by faith, not works; it is about the nature and character of God in the born-again, new creation. Goats represent the lost who have no divine nature within them, only the deeds of the flesh!

The Holy Spirit in the believer has the compassion to do good works for those who are sick, hungry, naked, or in prison, unlike the goats who have no concern for the needy!

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ Matthew 25:44

WHY ME?

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Matthew 25:45

Even believers pass by those who have needs every day without lifting a finger to help them. We have no excuse if we say we didn't see, the hospitals are full, the prisons too, and the streets are full of needy people, beggars, and the like.

I could never understand those in church who never seemed to have any ministry; they didn't seem to care for anyone's needs except to go to church. I can't tell you how many times, when we would go to churches for our ladies in our program to sing and testify, and the people would say, "We are sure glad God called you to do this."

That really was irritating, thinking to myself, 'Why me, and not them?' but then I would shake it off and praise God that He let me see people saved and delivered. Glory to God!

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:46

Your servant in Christ, Timothy Laughlin
 Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ