15 Minutes With Jesus / Robert Haymes
The Sheep And The Goats
Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is about The Sheep And The Goats. Let’s turn to Mat 25:31-46, 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. Before we get to the main meat of this message, I’m reminded right here: these are the two places where the entire human race is going to go; some into everlasting life, and some into everlasting punishment. Believe me, these things are real! This is the truth. This is where the whole human race is going. Only the righteous are going into eternal life; only the sheep. In Matthew 7 Jesus said, Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but they that do the will of My Father. They that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. They that love Jesus will keep His Words. He that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that practices sin is of the Devil. So, as we Christians follow the Lord to do righteousness; to be led by the Holy Spirit to do the will of the Father, He will be leading us in doing good works. Mat 19:16-21, Now behold, one came and said to Him, Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? So He said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. He said to Him, Which ones? Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to Him, All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. We need to be following Jesus in giving to the poor and doing good to the needy. Let’s turn to Luke 10:25-37, And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, What is written in the law? What is your reading of it? So he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And He said to him, You have answered rightly; do this and you will live. But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Then Jesus answered and said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. So which of these three do you think was a neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? And he said, He who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise. We are called as believers to do likewise; to show mercy; to have compassion. But we also are called to be led by the Holy Spirit. It’s so important that we understand this, and that we obey the Lord in showing mercy and doing good in giving, in taking care of others. It is so important: Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me. That’s what we’re called to do as Christians. Before Jesus went back to be with the Father He told His disciples, I will not leave you alone. I will not leave you comfortless. When I go to the Father I’m going to send the Holy Spirit, that He may be with you forever. So Jesus has not left us alone. He sent the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and we as believers can receive the Holy Spirit; be baptized in the Holy Spirit and be led by the Holy Spirit to do the will of the Father every day, denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him every day. That’s what Jesus has called us to do. He’s called us to love one another. Let’s go to 1 John 3:16-19, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. Let’s go to 1 Cor 13:1-3, This is the chapter on love: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. So if we are giving to the poor; if we are visiting prisoners and the sick, and we’re not doing it in love, it profits us nothing. Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My Words. So, as we’re walking in love, and walking in obedience, He will lead us, in fact He will bring people to us that He wants us to minister to. And if we love the Lord, and if we love one another, if we have love in our hearts, as we read in 1 John, we won’t shut up our hearts. But, according as we have, we will give, we will share, we will do what the Lord leads us to do in every situation.
Why are people poor? There are many reasons, and the Lord knows: the Lord knows why a person is on the street; why a person is homeless; why a person is begging. The Lord knows every heart. That’s why it is so important for us to be led by the Holy Spirit when we give to the poor, or when we visit prisoners, or when we help the needy. It’s so important. Jas 2:14-17, 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. God will lead you in His love to give to the poor, help the needy, visit the sick and the prisoners. He will bring those brothers and sisters that are needy across your path: the ones that He wants you to minister to. He knows every heart. He knows what they need, and He knows what you are able to give to them, and He will lead you by His Spirit what to do in every situation. We must be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in this, for there are many deceivers and seducers and false brethren who are very skilled in getting people to give to them. Some are able to carry on their deceit for a long time. The Lord will lead you. He will bring the needy ones to you and show you what to do to really help them. I’ve also experienced preachers that are very skilled and very crafty, and they know how to get money from the people because Christians want to do this: they want to give; they want to help the needy, and they want to give to those that teach them. But there are many false prophets: Jesus said they are wolves, ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing. The sheep’s clothing is the Word of God. They speak the Word of God. They quote the Word of God, and they know how to deceive the people and to get money from them, big money. The only thing is, they don’t count the cost. I’ve always said this. They are very crafty and they use their craftiness to get money, but they don’t count the cost, because one day they will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and they will have to give an account for what they’ve done to His people, and how they’ve treated His sheep. Remember, Jesus said, If you’ve done it to one of the least of these my brethren, you’ve done it unto Me. So, if you’ve stolen from Jesus it’s not a good thing. That’s what Judas did. In the Book of John, John said about Judas that he had the money bag. That tells you several things: First of all it tells you Jesus wasn’t too concerned about money; He let Judas carry the bag, and John said that he was a thief, and he used to pilfer from the money bag. So, can you imagine: one of Jesus’ twelve disciples was stealing from Jesus! It didn’t work out too well for Judas. Neither will it work out well for these false prophets, and these wolves in sheep’s clothing, if they don’t repent; if they don’t stop taking from God’s sheep. We are supposed to be doing quite the opposite! Now there are many ministries and people doing things to help people, but the question is: Is God leading them? Are they being led by the Holy Spirit in what they are doing, in giving to the poor, or helping the needy, or visiting prisoners, or the sick? Are they doing it in obedience to the Lord, or are they doing it as a dead work: something that they come up with on their own? And they are ministering to people and it’s not according to the will of God. So, we must be led by the Holy Spirit. We must have a heart of compassion. Jesus had compassion on people, but He said, I only do the will of My Father; I only do what I see My Father doing, and I only say what I hear My Father saying, and we are called to walk in the same way. And we can! Recently I heard a message about this very subject, about how we must have a heart for the poor, for orphans and widows. We must have a heart to minister to them and help them. And when I was praying about this, the Lord told me, I will bring them to you. Again: 1 John 3:16-18, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.