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The Parable of Sheeps and Goats
Introduction:
The definition of the word “parable” is to “lay next to or compare”.
A parable is a story with a hidden message that only
“spiritually opened” ears can hear.
The parables are word pictures into what God is trying to teach us.
The parables of Jesus are one of the times Jesus teaches lessons
for future generations. These parables need to be meditated on and
closely studied. Parables have a “layered” meaning, for example
the parable of the Prodigal Son. The story is one of going astray
and coming back. It seems to be the story of an actual son, with
an older brother, and his father…like in any family.
We have all read this before and it has given much comfort and
hope to the families that have had a child gone astray.
We must realize that the parables have layers...there is a surface
layer and a deeper layer. For example, the surface layer would be
relating to children going astray within your own family and the
deeper meaning is what we are going to present to you in the
following papers.
Remember what the disciples asked Jesus:
(Matthew 13:10-17)
The Purpose of Parables
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to
them in parables?”
11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more
will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does
not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they
do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they
hear;
17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous
men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to
hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
The Lesson:
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
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.
32All 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. 33He will put the sheep on his right
and the goats on his left.
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. 35For 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, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and
you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
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? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or
needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or
in prison and go to visit you?'
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.'
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. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I 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.'
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?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do
for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous
to eternal life."
The Lesson:
Scripture in BLACK, Comments in BLUE
A) 31"When the Son of man comes in his glory, ”
See MT. OF TRANSFIGURATION Paper
As shown in Jesus' transfigured glory state on the Mountain of
Transfiguration to Peter, James, and John.
B)And all the angels with him,
As told in the Book of Jude:
Jude 1:14-16
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men:
"See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his
holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly
of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way,
and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
16These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their
own evil desires;they boast about themselves and flatter others
for their own advantage.
C)Then he will sit on his glorious throne.
The throne Jesus sits on as King of kings and is seated at the
right hand of The Father.
D)32 Before him will be gathered all the nations,
JEW, GENTILE, & HEATHEN
All nations can be divided into three groups:
Jew, Gentile and Heathen.
Isaiah 19:25
The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying,
"Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork,
and Israel my inheritance.
E) And he will separate them one from another
CHOSEN & UNCHOSEN
Wheat and tares, sheep and goats, those of Christ and those not
of Christ.
F) As a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats
The Shepherd is Jesus and all people are sheep and goats.
Jesus died for both the sheeps and the goats; for the goats
as a scapegpat and for the sheep as the sacraficial lamb.
Even though the goats are the ones who did not choose Him, the
price for their sin has been paid for. He is the Kinsman
Redeemer for both the sheeps and the goats.
The sacraficial lamb and scapegoat are a foreshadowing from
the Old Testament rituals described in Leviticus:
Leviticus 4:24
He is to lay his hand on the goat's head and slaughter it
at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before
the LORD. It is a sin offering.
Leviticus 16:8
8 He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD
and the other for the scapegoat
2 Chronicles 35:6
Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves and prepare
the lambs for your fellow countrymen,doing what the LORD commanded
through Moses."
Those who choose Jesus, live and become sheep. Those that do
not choose Jesus become goats and die. Everybody is going
to live life one way or another. If you live like a sheep you
will die like a sheep and go through the "narrow gate". If
you live as a goat you will die as a scapegoat and be sent off
and never seen from again.
G) 33 and he will place the sheep at his right hand,
Right is good...
H) But the goats to the left.
Left is sinister...
I) 34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand,
Those who choose the King who is Jesus, are His sheep and they are
on Jesus' RIGHT side .
J)`Come, O blessed of my Father,
ENTER INTO THE NARROW GATE FOR MY SHEEP KNOW MY VOICE!
Matthew 7:13
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad
is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it
K) Inherit the kingdom prepared for you
This is the “new heaven and new earth “.
Revelation 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven
and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer
any sea.
2Peter 3:13
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new
heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness
L) From the foundation of the world;
GOD knew/knows who would choose him and who would not;
"Many are invited and few are chosen." God did not predestine the
choice wheteher you would choose Him or not. However, God knows who
would choose Him or not. Those who would choose Him have
predestined Good Works to do in His name.
M)35 for I was hungry and you gave me food,
This is a predestined Good Work.
Those who did/do not choose Jesus would never have fed Jesus.
N) I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
PREDESTINED GOOD WORK.
O) I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
PREDESTINED GOOD WORK.
P) 36 I was naked and you clothed me,
PREDESTINED GOOD WORK.
Q) I was sick and you visited me,
PREDESTINED GOOD WORK.
R) I was in prison and you came to me.’
PREDESTINED GOOD WORK.
S) 37 Then the righteous will answer him,
The righteous are the sheep.
T) Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty
and give thee drink?
These people do not realize that God set them up to be used in
these situations for God’s own purpose.
U) 38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee,
or naked and clothe thee?
THE ACTS OF KINDNESS THAT NO ONE SEES,{ BUT GOD DOES } THAT
CAN ONLY BE DONE “RIGHTEOUSLY” BY THE ONE WHO KNOW’S OF WHAT
GOD HAS DONE FOR HIM ~NEVER EVEN THINKING OF REWARD~
IN FACT ALMOST CRYING OVER THE PAIN OF THE OTHER PERSON
V) 39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'
THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND HIS WORDS BECAUSE JESUS IS TELLING THOSE
WHO CHOOSE HIM THAT THEY WERE PREDESTINED FOR GOOD WORKS SET UP
BY GOD BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD!
W) 40 And the King will answer them,
The King is Jesus...an He provides answers for His sheep...
X) `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of
these my brethren,
YOU DID THE PREDESTINED GOOD WORK FOR THE SHEEP WHO ARE YOUR
TRUE BRETHERN BECAUSE OF WHAT "I" (The "I" is Jesus), DID FOR YOU...
Y) You did it to me. '
YOU DID PREDESTINED GOOD WORKS FOR "ME" (JESUS) AND BY "ME" (JESUS).
Z) 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand,
THOSE WHO DO NOT CHOOSE JESUS ~ THE GOATS ~ THOSE ON THE LEFT...
A1)`Depart from me, You cursed,
Cursed are the goats...who are on the left hand of Jesus...
B2) Into the eternal fire
The goats chose to go to hell by not following Jesus. The goats
made this choice, not Jesus. God knows who chooses and who doesn't.
C3) Prepared for the devil and his angels ;
Hell was prepared for them and they are waiting for the goats.
D4) 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food,
YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS GOOD WORK~ if you don't need Jesus...then
be perfect.
(As a goat, you cannot do a predestined Good Work for My brethern'
who are the sheep.)
E5) I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS GOOD WORK~ if you don't need Jesus...then
be perfect.
F6) 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,
YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS GOOD WORK~ if you don't need Jesus...then
be perfect.
G7) Naked and you did not clothe me,
YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS GOOD WORK~ if you don't need Jesus...then
be perfect.
H8) Sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'
YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS GOOD WORK~ if you don't need Jesus...then
be perfect.
I9) 44 Then they also will answer,`Lord, when did we see thee hungry
or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison,
IN OTHER WORDS, THESE PEOPLE ANSWERED:"If we knew you (Jesus)
were the actual Son of God and you wanted something, or wanted us
to do something that would save us, then we would have stopped
and given you what you demanded...if we really knew who You
(Jesus) really were!"
J10) And did not minister to thee?'
They could not see that if they chose not to accept Jesus and what
He did for them, then they must live perfectly and never miss doing
predestined good works...they cannot miss even one opportunity or
they will no longer be perfect. Those who believe in Jesus may
miss the opportunity, but they are seen as perfect through Jesus in
God's eyes. Those who do not believe in Jesus have the opportunity
to do predestined good works, but if they fail at any of them, they
are not perfect in the eyes of God. The "good works" that are seen
in the world of mankind as "good", lay outside of the predestined
Good Works of God, and are only works of man. In God's eyes the
good works of man should have been done anyway.
There is a "big" difference between what mankind thinks are good
works and the predestined Good Works of God...
they are two different things and two different acts.
K11) 45 then he will answer them,`Truly, I say to you, as you did
it (predestined Good Works) not to one of the least of these,
Then you are not doing any Good Works by or through Me (Jesus).
L12) You did it not to me.
THEN YOU DON’T KNOW ME & I (Jesus) DON’T KNOW YOU and you can't
do ANY Good Works in the "eyes" of God!
M13) 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment,
AS WITH THE GOATS WHO ARE NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN.
N14) But the righteous into eternal life."
The sheep shall pass through the narrow gate into eternal life.
END.
Before we end this parable lesson, one of the writers was inspired
to write a poem about this parable. We felt it was appropriate and
humorous to include it at the bottom of this lesson...
The Poem of Sheep and Goats
When the Man walked into the field,
he saw goats and sheep playing.
He said, "It is about to rain for the first time,
come into My boat and you will be safe".
The sheep had talked with the man before,
and liked him very much.
So upon hearing his request they ran into the boat.
The goats however liked to play in the field,
and never before talked with the Man
so they all ran away.
As the rain came crashing down
the boat begain to rise
and float away
The sheep had to stay in the boat
for 370 days
with the Man.
Finally the water receeded
and the boat came to rest.
The Man opened the doors
and the sheep ran out to play.
As they ran throughout the field
they found the moral to this story...
It is better to be a sheep in a boat
then to run away like a goat
because when it was said and done
those that wanted only fun
did not know that goats,
don’t float!
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