Matthew 25:31-46

It’s tough to tell the difference. Sometimes, it’s not easy to make a distinction. Sometimes, we can’t tell the difference between a sanctified, purified, believer in God, and someone who just looks saved, who just acts like they believe. Sometimes, the sheep and the goats look a lot alike.

The confusion is never greater than right here, right now, Sunday morning in church. When the sheep and the goats get together and sing together and pray together and listen to a sermon together and drink coffee together, it’s hard, it’s so hard to tell the difference, to separate the true believers from the pretend believers, the saved from the not saved. We sound the same when we sing, we look the same as we listen, we all close our eyes as we pray, we tend to talk about the same things as we fellowship. The goats, the sheep, all mixed together.

Until that last day, when Jesus comes. And when the trumpet sounds, and we see that most beautiful face, suddenly, there won’t be any confusion. Believers, non believers, saved, unsaved, children of God and children of Satan will be seen for who they are. Verse 31:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

But at that point, it will be too late to make a change. The goats will know they’re goats, the unsaved will know that they’re unsaved, but they won’t be able to decide to follow Jesus. It will be too late.

So Jesus gives us a heads-up, here in Matthew 25. You want to know what makes a sheep a sheep, and a goat a goat? You want to know the difference between a believer and a non-believer? A believer does, a non-believer doesn’t. A believer acts, a non-believer avoids. A believer serves, a non-believer sits. For this season of lent, as we have drawn closer to the cross and the grave of Good Friday and Easter, we have heard the voice of Jesus telling us to serve one another. As He bent down and washed our feet, He looks us straight in the face and tells us to get down on the floor and wash each other’s feet.

And we have been told how to do this. We have been told to help carry each other’s burdens, including the burden of fighting sin and temptation. We have been told to turn away from our own lives, and all the important things we think we need to do, and pay attention to those around us, especially the people we wouldn’t usually notice.

And this week, as we see our King entering Jerusalem, preparing to serve us with His life, we also hear our King telling us, clearly, to do. What we do, how we do it, who we do it for is the evidence of our salvation. It’s how we know whether we’re saved or not. It’s how we know whether Jesus lives in us and controls our lives, or whether we just SAY Jesus lives in us and controls our lives.

Because if Jesus is really truly living in us, if Jesus really truly controls our lives, then we will act like Jesus acts, and Jesus serves. When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on that Sunday before He died, He came as the Servant King. He didn’t come riding into town so that people could cheer for Him or sing songs to Him. He knew full well what these same people would be saying just 5 days later. No, Jesus came riding into town on that donkey to serve us, to serve us with His death and His resurrection. And if Jesus acts like that with His own life, then we act like that with our own lives, if Jesus is living in us, if we are saved.

In fact, if we are serving another person, if we are acting like Jesus acted, if we are doing, we are doing it for Jesus, we’re doing it for our King, and that is what it means to be saved. Verse 34:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

Let me just say that for those who are saved, these are the words that we most want to hear, from the Person we most want to them from. To be welcomed, to be blessed, to be given our inheritance, the kingdom that Jesus has been working on since before Genesis 1. Imagine what kind of kingdom we’ll receive, a kingdom that’s been in the works for longer than the world is old. This is what we look forward to. This is what you will receive.

You who are truly saved, that is. You who have been taken over by the King, and who look like it. You will receive this inheritance because, verse 35:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

You did. You notice when Jesus was hungry, and you made sure He got something to eat. And you didn’t just give Him leftovers. You put some love in your cooking. You noticed He was thirsty, and you filled His cup. You invited Him over to your home. Your casa was His casa. You made Him feel at home. He was naked, which was really awkward for you. So you took Him shopping and made sure He was dressed. And not with just clothes that had holes in them, or fashions that nobody ever wears anymore. You clothed Him with real clothes, clothes that helped Jesus fit in. He was sick, but you didn’t worry about catching what He had. You checked in on Him, made sure He had what He needed. He was in prison, but the walls that kept Him in couldn’t keep you out. You visited Jesus in prison.

This sounds so weird, doesn’t it? A hungry, thirsty sick Jesus. A Jesus in prison. A naked Jesus. This just isn’t right, and you’re thinking verse 37:

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

I mean, if you had seen Jesus thirsty and hungry and sick and naked, of course you would have tried to help. I mean, after all, this is Jesus. You love Jesus. You wouldn’t hesitate, not for a second, to do something for your Savior.

And, verse 40:

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

When you gave to that person in need, when you came alongside, when you fed them, when you visited them, that wasn’t just that person receiving the food, the visit, the encouragement, the friendship. That was Jesus. That was your Savior. You did that for someone that Jesus loves, so when you did that for them, you did it for Him. You served, just like He served. You sacrificed your time, your resources, your energy, your money, you sacrificed your life, just like your King sacrificed His life. Welcome, your King says, receive your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

And then the King turns to the goats. And the smile that was on His face as He looked at His sheep, the love that was in His eyes, the pleasure that beamed from Him turns to anger, condemnation, even hatred. Verse 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.

He tells them, He tells the goats, He tells the fake believers to go to hell. That’s not just a little phrase that people use when they’re angry. That’s the judgment of the judge. It’s the sentence of the court. For those who didn’t act like the King, for those who didn’t live their lives under the control of Jesus, their future is cursed, to endure eternal burning, right along with the devil and his angels.

Verse 42:

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

Now again, if it was Jesus that was hungry, if it was Jesus that was thirsty, if it was Jesus sick and alone and in prison and naked, then someone would have done something about it. Jesus, we’d help, of course.

But that person that was hungry, that person that was alone, that person that was in prison didn’t LOOK like Jesus. They looked scary. They had long scraggy hair, and they kind of smelled. Jesus doesn’t have long scraggy hair, and Jesus certainly doesn’t smell. They didn’t dress the way we KNOW Jesus would dress. And that disease, well, Jesus would certainly not have THAT disease. I mean, if Jesus could get sick, then He’d probably have some kind of polite kind of disease, something acceptable, something not contagious. But that person, that person had AIDS, and we all know where AIDS come from. That person had hepatitis, and the needle marks in their arms are obvious enough. Jesus we would help. Those people, well, what could we do? Verse 44:

“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?’

And in the middle of the whining and the excuses and all the good reasons for not showing up, the King shuts it down. “Enough!” Verse 45:

‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

He took it personally. When a person was overlooked, when a person was ignored, when we walked right on by, trying not to notice the need, that was Jesus. We ignored Jesus. We went out of our way to avoid Jesus. We left Jesus hungry, thirsty, sick and naked and alone. We didn’t act like our King. We didn’t serve like our King. We didn’t do, because we weren’t controlled by our King.

Verse 46:

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

This is why our King came riding into town that Sunday, the Sunday before He died, one week before He rose again. He came to serve. He came to die. He came to make us righteous with His death. He came to deliver eternal life.

And if our King came to serve, then we come to serve. If we don’t serve, then He’s not our King. If He’s our King, then we serve. It’s that simple. And this list here in Matthew 25 of how to serve is not a complete list, but it’s a good place to start. Who is hungry right now? We have a food drive going right now, so we’re working on this. But have we given, have we served like Jesus would? Have we given food like we would if we were giving Jesus the food? Who is lonely, who’s a stranger in our town, or even in our church? Who never gets talked to? Who maybe is a little scary? Who looks different, and their differences keep us from going over to their house and introducing ourselves? We can avoid, but if we do, we’re avoiding Jesus. Who’s sick, and what are they sick from? What disease frightens us, disgusts us enough to keep us away? We’re actually a little relieved that the disease has not come into our community or our church yet, and we’re certainly not going to go out looking for someone who needs our help. And we’ve walked right around Jesus, ignoring, avoiding our Savior.

Do you see Jesus? Do you see your King coming? He came into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, and the people sang and shouted to see Him. But they didn’t serve. Do you see Jesus? Do you see your King coming? How will you respond? Will it just be with singing and waving branches? Will you do your time at church, looking like the sheep, pretending to believe? Or will you follow your King? Will you do as He does? Will you lay down your life and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely? Will you do?