When we consider God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness, there is doubt it is the will of God that all mankind be saved, as we read in Jeremiah 23:4

“I will place new shepherds over my sheep. They will take care of my sheep, and my sheep will never again feel afraid. None of my sheep will be lost.” This message is from the LORD.”

The trouble is that mankind seems to have gone out of its way to antagonise God to ensure His plan to save us all, will be thwarted. Thus in Matthew 25:32-33 Jesus tells us what will happen, saying:

“And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left.”

Jesus ends in Matthew 25:46 with the conclusion:

“And these (the goats) shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous (the sheep) into everlasting life.”

What was it that made them unrighteous? Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:45 saying:

“Truly 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.”

Jesus is not saying here that we earn our righteousness by deeds; rather it is our deeds and actions which display the righteousness we have achieved. If we do the correct things all the time without even thinking about it, our actions are displaying our heart. For as Romans 10:10 says: “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.”

When Jesus says to the goats on his left side (Matthew 25:42-43) “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; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me,” He was referring to mankind being hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and in prison.

Without a doubt, Jesus was talking about those who believed in Him, or at least professed to believe in Him. This is confirmed in Matthew 7:20-23 as Jesus says:

“Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works?
And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!”

The Lord’s words for us are given for guidance and soul searching. It is not a case of faith only, and certainly never a case of works only but as James 2:26 makes very clear:

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

Jesus has made it clear for us that what we think and what we do matters to Him!

Amen and Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father,
I come before you in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour, to seek your forgiveness for being out of balance in my life.
I know that I have unbelief in me, and I ask you to help me overcome my unbelief. I pray You will grant me the faith and belief of Lord Jesus himself, such that I may be changed for you, forever.
I know also that I have not demonstrated the fruit of righteousness in my life through my words or my works or my actions. I acknowledge that I am still bound in fleshy ego and self pride, thinking only of myself, and not others. Oh Lord, please help me to become dead to myself and alive to You and Your Holy Spirit.
I pray Lord that Your Holy Spirit will now fill me and change me from the inside out so that when others see me, they see a reflection of You in me.
Oh Lord, please have mercy on this sinner.
I pray this in the almighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen and Amen and Amen.