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.' 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.' 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.' 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?' 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.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.1
As Gabriel promised Mary, . . . behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:31-33)
Brethrens Problem | Cause | Sheeps Response |
---|---|---|
Lacking food and water | Unable to buy or sell (Rev. 13:17) | Given food and drink |
Naked | Unable to buy or sell (Rev. 13:17) | Clothed |
Stranger, foreigner without housing | Flight of Jewish believers (Mat. 24:15; Rev. 12:13) | Taken in, given a place to stay |
Sick and in prison | Persecution of all believers, but especially Jewish believers (Rev. 7:3-8) | Visited |
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 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 2:14-17)
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. . . . Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matthew 13:43)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:47-50)
Endnotes:
1. | NKJV, Matthew 25:31-46 |
2. | Ref-0057, January/February 2001, p. 30 |
3. | Several factors indicate that David's throne is separate and distinct from God's throne in heaven. First, several descendants of David have sat on his throne, but only one of his descendants ever sits on the right hand of God's throne in heaven. That descendant is Jesus Christ (Ps 110:1; Heb 8:1; Heb 12:2). Second, David's throne was not established before his lifetime (2Sa 7:16-17). By contrast, since God has always ruled over His creation, His throne in heaven was established long before David's throne (Ps 93:1-2). Third, since God's throne in heaven was established long before David's throne and since God's throne was established forever (La 5:19), then it was not necessary for God to promise to establish David's throne forever (2Sa 7:16) if they are the same throne. Fourth, David's throne was on the earth, not in heaven. David and his descendants who sat on his throne exercised an earthly, ruling authority. They never exercised ruling authority in or from heaven. By contrast, as noted earlier, the Bible indicates that God's throne is in heaven. Fifth, the Bible's consistent description of David's throne indicates that it belongs to David. When God talked to David about his throne, God referred to it as thy throne (2Sa 7:16; Ps 89:4; Ps 132:12). When God mentioned David's throne to others, He referred to it as his throne (Ps 89:29; Jer 33:21), David's throne (Jer 13:13), and the throne of David (Jer 17:25; Jer 22:2, Jer 22:4, Jer 22:30). By contrast, the Scriptures consistent description of the throne in heaven indicates that it belongs to God the Father.2 |
4. | Ref-1265, Rev. 9:15 |
5. | Ref-1124, 339-340 |
6. | Ref-1268, p. 203 |
7. | The separation of the sheep and the goats at the Second Coming also refutes the idea of a posttribulational Rapture. The implications [of this passage] are clearly in favor of a pretribulational view. If the rapture and translation of the church occur while Christ is coming from heaven to earth in His second coming to set up His kingdom, and the church meets the Lord in the air, it is obvious that this very act would separate all the saved from the unsaved. Under these circumstances, no judgment of the nations would be necessary subsequent to the second coming of Christ, because the sheep and goats would already be separated. The implication of this passage in Matthew is that no rapture of living saints occurs at the time Christ comes to set up His kingdom.6 |
Sources:
NKJV | Unless indicated otherwise, all Scripture references are from the New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
Ref-0057 | Israel My Glory (Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry) [www.foi.org]. See Isa. 46:13. |
Ref-1124 | Ironside, H. A., Expository Notes on the Gospel of Matthew (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1948). |
Ref-1265 | Anthony C. Garland, A Testimony of Jesus Christ: A Commentary on the Book of Revelation - Volume 1, (Camano Island, WA: SpiritAndTruth.org, 2004) [https://SpiritAndTruth.org/id/revci.htm]. ISBN:0-9788864-1-0c. |
Ref-1268 | John Walvoord, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come (Chicago, IL: Moody Bible Institute, 1974). ISBN:08024-5189-6d. |