The sheep and the goats?

[37818]

The kingdom of God has two parts, an outward and an inward. Matthew was the gospel writer who dealt with the outward and visible kingdom, announcing it is at hand. The king is in the midst and was near to establishing his earthly visible kingdom through his chosen people, Israel. However, the outward physical kingdom that men can see cannot take place until the inward kingdom that no one can see is established and that is inside each individual the citizen of that kingdom.

This had already been proven over 1500 years of Israel's history since Moses led the nation out of Egypt at it's birth. They were given the law of God but could not keep it. It only condemned them and revealed their inability. When Jesus came they were subjugated by the nations of the world. Jesus Christ was the only Jew who could keep the law of God perfectly, and he did. His ability stemmed from the fact that he had the perfect righteousness of God in his physical body from his birth, the Spirit, who was his power to resist sin. Here is what the Bible says of him;

.Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
This is the Holy Spirit of God

There is no power in the flesh for the perfect holiness that God demands

This is spoken of John the Baptist:

Joh 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

Here is a quote of John the Baptist as he witnessed concerning the light.

Jn 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

So here are synonyms in scripture.
1) The Spirit of Christ
2) Righteousness of Christ
3) Eternal life
4) The gift of God
5) The Light

A sinner must understand his condition before God and embrace his promise by faith before he can become a citizen of the future visible kingdom of heaven. It is not possible for this order to be reversed because of the nature of the flesh. This is the reason God is establishing his kingdom from heaven at the end of the Bible, in Re 20, rather than the beginning in Ge 4. Sin had to be dealt with first and sinners must be in the kingdom of God before he can go into the visible kingdom at it's inauguration. All others will have been killed in the great tribulation or will be killed before it begins.

LK 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

......

26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

In this parable, this judgement and slaughter of enemies is before the execution of the visible kingdom when personal righteousness is a requirement to enter it.

One of your ? rants.
Revelation 20:15.

 

[Van]

How does Revelation 20:11-15 inform our understanding of when are humans separated like sheep to the right and goats to the left?

This judgement occurs AFTER the separation has been performed. Who goes to Hades, sheep or goats? Goats! Therefore the Great White Throne judgement is of goats only. None of them are found in the Lamb's book of life.

Why is this view necessary? Scripture says the "dead" were gathered. It is the "dead" of Revelation 20:5, those of the second resurrection, who are gathered.

Consider John 5:29, where the first resurrection is the resurrection of life, and the second resurrection is the resurrection of judgement, i.e. the Great White Throne judgement.

 

[Van]

In Matthew 25: 31-46 Jesus teaches about the end of the age of grace. He will begin His Millennial reign, sitting on His thrown.

Some have read this passage and conclude, mistakenly in my opinion, that Christ's division will be based on works.

But I believe "giving to Christ what He needed" refers to giving Christ, by those physically living at that time, trust, love and commitment.

In verse 40 we see that the sheep are "brothers" [siblings] of Christ, thus those having been born anew as children of God.

And on the other left side, the goats are described as not giving Christ what He needed. Perhaps they had never heard the gospel because it was not presented or because like Soil #1, they had lost their ability to understand the spiritual milk of the gospel. And of course, the many who had sought the narrow door. but never finding it, would have failed to fully embrace the gospel, like Soil #2 or #3 of Matthew 13. Their love for and commitment to Christ was not sufficient, such that Christ would or had become the overriding priority of their lives.

The key take away here, as in Matthew 7:21-23 is to do the "will" of the Father, which John presents with crystal clarity:

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in [into] Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” [John 6:40 NASB]

 

[Van]

What does it mean to "take up our cross" and follow Him? It means we must willingly sacrifice our lives in order to actually follow Christ. We must be "poor in spirit" recognizing our reliance upon God and NOT self sufficient, or relying upon worldly treasures. It is not easy, it is, at least for me, a lifelong battle. It is hard for a "rich" man (by the world's standards) to enter the kingdom. It is not so much hearing His voice, as in following Him as we leave our worldly treasures behind, but that is what we do if we are "His sheep." We heed Him and override our self sufficiency. We give our treasure to others, just like Christ! We do not just want to enter the kingdom, but we want to bring as many rewards (those we helped lead to Christ) as we can. His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him.