"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, then 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." [Matthew 25:31-46]

 

Jesus tells us what is going to happen at the judgment seat of Christ when all men will be judged. I want you to pay particular attention to how many times Jesus said the word 'will' in these passages of Scripture concerning the things that are going to happen on that Day. Picture this if you can; Jesus comes into the judgment hall: (1) then He (Jesus Christ) will sit on the throne of His glory.  (and) (2) All the nations will be gathered before Him, And the Judging begins: (3) then He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. (4) And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. (5)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. (6) 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? (7) 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.' (8) 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.' (9) 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?' (10) 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.' (11) And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

 

Did you pay attention to who the judge is? It isn't His Father or the Holy Spirit; it is the one who was rejected by men during their life time. Why is He the judge and not the Father or the Holy Spirit? He was the one who came, who died, and who suffered at the hands of sinful man for the sins of man. Most everyone in America has heard that He died for our sins that we might have life; and they have lived their life just as other people of all the ages have lived their lives. They have been deceived into thinking it doesn't matter to Jesus whether or not they were loving and kind, hateful and revengeful, or selfish and materialistic. But this is not the picture Jesus is painting for us in these passages of Scripture. Jesus clearly makes a distinction between those who accept Him as their Lord and Savior; and those who are self serving people. The one group Jesus called 'the sheep' and seated them at His right hand. The other group He called 'the goats' and placed them at His left hand. Then Jesus goes into detail providing us with a description of the things 'the sheep' did that made them acceptable to Him and a list of things 'the goats' didn't do that caused them to be rejected. To 'the sheep' Jesus said, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: and to 'the goats' He said, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." 

 

Both 'the sheep' and 'the goats' were judged on the merits of their life. 'The sheep' who willingly followed their Lord and obeyed His instructions are going to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world; and 'the goats' who are self willed and self seeking people will go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus then lists the good deeds 'the sheep' performed in His Name in their life time; and what 'the goats' didn't do that caused them to be cast into the everlasting fire. To 'the sheep' Jesus said, "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." But he said to 'the goats' on His right hand, "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 Jesus pronounced judgment on 'the goats': "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." 

 

Notice in the above Scriptures Jesus said the things that were done and those that were not; were all done unto Him who is the judge. How can this be you ask? Folks, Jesus who is the judge purchased all of mankind from Satan by forfeiting His own life as their purchase price; and when we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior we dedicated our life to Him. Even though a person hasn't accepted Him as their Lord and Savior that person still belongs to Him because He paid the same price for the life of 'the goats' as He did for those who are dedicated to Him. He gave His life that every person that will ever be born on this earth could have eternal life. Now it is up to us to decide whether or not we want to partake of that life. Those that were grateful Jesus called 'Sheep' and set them on His right hand. Those people who were ungrateful and selfish He called 'Goats' and seated them to His left. The only question now remaining to be answered is whether or not we are going to be one of the heaven bound 'sheep'; or one of the fire breathing 'goats'? God gave us a free will when He created us and He has given us the right to choose where we want to spend our eternity. He won't twist our arm to make us choose heaven, but neither will he keep us out of hell if we are bound and determined to go there. We choose whether we want to be a 'Baa' and inherit the kingdom prepared for us, or a 'Butt head' and go to hell. In this life we choose where we want to spend our eternity; and Jesus will abide by the choice we made "On that Day." OTBP