Baaaaah or Naaaaay?, Part 1

November, 2005

by: Jay Underwood

The comedian Rodney Dangerfield would lament “I don’t get no respect.” Well such is the life of the Matthew 25 goat. What was a valuable animal to the Israelites of Bible times is used by Jesus in verses 31-46 to demonstrate ultimate disfavor. Judgment Day is what the passage speaks to and while we in the Jr. High are wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount, a section of scripture that has been taught since January, you might ask what does the Sermon on the Mount have to do with Judgment Day? Well everything really when you consider that after teaching all about the Kingdom of Heaven and what it means to be a Kingdom citizen, Jesus wraps up the sermon with four illustrations describing the two kinds of groups that ALL peoples of the earth will be divided into. This will happen, as Matthew 7:22 says, “on that day” or in other words on Judgment Day. Judgment Day is also known as the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20 when anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, hence, one of the two groups. The other group will consist of those whose names are written in the Book of Life that will spend eternity ruling and reigning with Christ in the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21).

As said earlier, these two groups are represented at the end of Matthew 7 in the form of those who enter through the narrow or wide gates (vv. 13-14), those that bear good fruit or bad fruit, those that say “Lord, Lord” with either a true or false heart, and those that build their foundation on the rock or the sand. In each of these instances, it’s the former that is the true believer, the one assured of eternal life and the latter that is the unsaved, the one destined for eternal destruction. Again, as Matthew 25 puts it, the sheep and the goats. My question to the Jr. Highers lately has been “So which one are you? Are you a sheep or a goat? Or maybe you’re not sure?” This is a most important question for all of us to ask ourselves. If you were to die today or Christ was to return at this very moment, into which pen would you be herded? To the one on Jesus' right or the one on His left? And if your not sure, you need to find out—now! Examine your heart, read God’s Word, pray, ask a pastor or elder for help. Next month: What to look for in your own “heart examination.”