27 Nov 2015
Matthew 25:31-32
Matthew 25:31: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:”
As we’ve seen, this entire chapter is talking about those who survived the Tribulation, and these verses are no different. The Church will not be included in the sheep or the goats, because the Church is part of the group that accompanied Christ back to Earth. In the Second Coming the Lord will return WITH the Church. They are already saved and were already judged in Heaven prior to the Second Coming.
This judgment is different: it is focused on those who survived the Tribulation. Here the Lord divides people into two categories: those who are saved (and who demonstrated that faith by the way they acted), and those who are lost. Those who were saved will be allowed to live, and will go on to live it the Millennial Kingdom. Those who are not saved (and who took the Mark of the Beast) will be killed. When it is all over there will not be a single lost person anywhere in the entire world.
So, to recap: this passage does not apply to the Church at all. This applies only to those who survive the Tribulation. They are the ones that are judged when the Lord returns. The consequences are dire:
Matthew 25:46: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
There are only two possible outcomes to this: everlasting life, or everlasting punishment. You simply cannot be neutral when it comes to God.