Goats

Goats (Written by guest writer David Peterson)

Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives as He spoke to His disciples in Matthew chapters 24 and 25. In this portion of Scripture, known as the Olivet Discourse, He explained how His followers should prepare for His return. He also described how, when He comes again, the nations will be separated — with the sheep (believers) on His right and the goats (unbelievers) on His left.

Regarding the goats, Jesus says in Matthew 25:41, 46:

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.’

… These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The issue here is one of faith. The goats probably thought they were doing good works, but they did them for their own reward rather than out of love and obedience to God. The judgment of the wicked will last eternally.

English theologian A. W. Pink once wrote this about pastoring sheep and goats:

“It is only those who truly love Christ that are fitted to minister to His flock! The work is so laborious, the appreciation is often so small, the response so discouraging, the criticisms so harsh, the attacks of Satan so fierce, that only the ‘love of Christ’—His for us and ours for Him—can ‘constrain’ to such work. Hirelings will feed the goats, but only those who love Christ can feed His sheep.”

Jesus spoke of this same truth in John 10, where He described the hired hand who abandons the sheep because he has no real care or commitment to them. Pink’s observation echoes that image: hirelings feed goats, but lovers of Christ feed sheep. Those who are goats simply do not have genuine faith in, or love for, Christ.

The hymn writer Isaac Watts captured the horror of eternal separation from Christ in his hymn That Awful Day Will Surely Come. He wrote:

Thou lovely Chief of all my joys,

Thou Sovereign of my heart,

How could I bear to hear Thy voice

Pronounce the sound, “Depart!”

Watts reminds us of the unspeakable sorrow of hearing our Lord say those words.

Let Us Pray

Jesus, You promised that Your return will separate people as sheep and goats. Your message for us is to be prepared for Your judgment. Please grant men and women repentance and faith, that they might be saved for Your glory today. Amen.