34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Seem to me the sheep go to kingdom, and If we compare to the got go to lake of fore
Lake of fire is hell isn't It?
Then kingdom must opposit of hell, > mean heaven.
The similarity between Mat 25 and matt 7 is both the people think they are work for the Lord and Will be welcome by Jesus.
In other side, the sheep also think they never work for the Lord. But Jesus say you do work for Me
When you show love to the needy, poor and the least, you do It for Me, now come with me to my Kingdom.
First of all, from chapter 24 thru 25, Jesus has been talking about His return to the earth to end the age. Therefore, the information in those two chapters must be kept in that context. That said, when Jesus returns to the earth to end the age, one of the events which will take place will be the sheep and goat judgment, which will take place right here on earth. The sheep and the goat judgment
is not referring to the great white throne judgment, which takes place at the end of the thousand years. Below is from "Gotquestions.com" regarding the sheep and the goats, which I whole heartedly agree with:
Question: "What is the meaning of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats?"
Answer: The Parable of the Sheep and Goats is part of the
Olivet Discourse. It is found in
Matthew 25:31-46. A parable is a short, simple story of comparison. Jesus used parables to teach spiritual truths by means of earthly situations.
Jesus begins the parable by saying it concerns His return in glory to set up His kingdom (
Matthew 25:31).
Therefore, the setting of this event is at the beginning of the millennium, after the tribulation. All those on earth at that time will be brought before the Lord, and He will separate them “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left” (verses 32–33).
The sheep are those who were saved during the tribulation; the goats are the unsaved who survived the tribulation.
The sheep on Jesus’ right hand are blessed by God the Father and given an inheritance. The reason is stated: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (verses 35-36). The righteous will not understand: when did they see Jesus in such a pitiful condition and help Him? “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’” (verses 39-40).
The goats on Jesus’ left hand are cursed with eternal hell-fire, “prepared for the devil and his angels” (verse 41). The reason is given: they had opportunity to minister to the Lord, but they did nothing (verses 42-43). The damned ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” (verse 44). Jesus replies, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (verse 45).
Jesus then ends the discourse with a contrast: “They will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (verse 46).
In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, we are looking at man redeemed and saved, and man condemned and lost. A casual reading seems to suggest that salvation is the result of good works. The “sheep” acted charitably, giving food, drink, and clothing to the needy. The “goats” showed no charity. This seems to result in salvation for the sheep and damnation for the goats.
However, Scripture does not contradict itself, and the Bible clearly and repeatedly teaches that salvation is by faith through the grace of God and not by our good works (see
John 1:12;
Acts 15:11;
Romans 3:22-24;
Romans 4:4-8;
Romans 7:24-25;
Romans 8:12;
Galatians 3:6-9; and
Ephesians 2:8-10). In fact, Jesus Himself makes it clear in the parable that the salvation of the “sheep” is not based on their works—their inheritance was theirs “since the creation of the world” (
Matthew 25:34), long before they could ever do any good works!
The good works mentioned in the parable are not the
cause of salvation but the
effect of salvation. As Christians we become like Christ (see
Romans 8:29;
2 Corinthians 3:18; and
Colossians 2:6-7).
Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Good works in a Christian’s life are the direct overflow of these traits, and are only acceptable to God because of the relationship that exists between servant and Master, the saved and their Savior, the sheep and their Shepherd (see
Ephesians 2:10).
The core message of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats is that God’s people will love others. Good works will result from our relationship to the Shepherd. Followers of Christ will treat others with kindness, serving them as if they were serving Christ Himself. The unregenerate live in the opposite manner. While “goats” can indeed perform acts of kindness and charity, their hearts are not right with God, and their actions are not for the right purpose – to honor and worship God.
