After the Lord has completely finished with the church age, He will come with His overcomers, the faithful ones who mature early, to the earth from heaven, from the air, to judge the people who are still living on the earth at that time, that is, the nations (25:31-32). As for those who have died in the past generations, the Lord will judge them at the great white throne after another thousand years at the end of the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:11-15). The Scripture says that the Lord will judge “the living and the dead” (2 Tim. 4:1). His judging of the living is before the millennial kingdom, and His judging of the dead is after the millennial kingdom, both of which determine the matter of eternal perdition for man. The judgment of the living is signified by the parable of the net in Matthew 13:47-48 and is spoken of again by the Lord in the account of the separating of the sheep from the goats in 25:32-46.
The basis of the judgment of the nations at the end of Matthew 25 is the eternal gospel. The result of this judgment is that those who receive the eternal gospel, fear God, and do not kill the saints but rather help them when they have the opportunity will be counted by the Lord as righteous. These correspond to the good in 13:48 and to the sheep in 25:33. All those who do not receive the eternal gospel, who do not fear God, and who kill rather than help the saints will be counted by God as evil. These correspond to the foul in 13:48 and to the goats in 25:33.
Matthew 25 says that the sheep are those who treat well the least of the Lord’s brothers (vv. 34-40). Every saved one knows that to treat the Lord’s brothers well is to treat the Lord well. However, the sheep do not know this; this proves that they are not Christians. When Saul persecuted the churches and the Christians, the Lord said that he was persecuting the Lord Himself (Acts 9:1-5). Moreover, the Lord said that to treat His brothers well is to treat Him well (Matt. 25:40). From this we see that the brothers are the Lord’s members; they are the saints who are left behind to pass through the great tribulation. Hence, their thirst, hunger, nakedness, and sickness are the trials and tribulations they will pass through (vv. 35-36).
Some say that the sheep do not refer to the unbelievers, those who are not regenerated. They say that the unbelievers are not the Lord’s sheep, and it is impossible for the unsaved ones to go into eternal life. Our answer is that Psalm 100 says that all the people on the earth are the sheep of God’s pasture, whom God cares for and nourishes (v. 3). Furthermore, in Luke 15 the ninety-nine lost sheep signify the people of the world; only the one that is found is a saved one (vv. 4-7). Hence, it is inaccurate to say that only the saved ones can be likened to sheep. Consequently, the first reason for believing that the sheep in Matthew 25 do not refer to unbelievers cannot be validated.
Moreover, Matthew 25 says that the righteous will go into eternal life (v. 46), but this is different from the believers’ having eternal life (John 3:16). Whereas eternal life has entered into the believers, the unbelievers who are righteous will go into eternal life, which refers to the realm of the kingdom, the realm of eternity. The eternal life spoken of in Matthew 25 does not focus on the life itself but on the realm of life. In verse 34 the Lord says to the sheep, “Come...inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” This refers to the blessing of the earth, that is, the blessing of the garden of Eden. This blessing was lost because of Adam’s sin, but the sheep will enjoy this blessing, which God ordained for man to enjoy when He created man. They will be the people in the millennium. In verse 41 the Lord says to the goats, “Go away...into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” This also is a matter of a sphere. The kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world is for man’s enjoyment, and the eternal fire is prepared for the devil and his angels. However, the goats on the Lord’s left also will go into eternal fire. They will be the grapes on the vine of the earth mentioned in Revelation 14:17-20.
The sheep enter into a kingdom, which is a sphere; the goats enter into the lake of fire, which also is a sphere. The eternal punishment spoken of in Matthew 25:46 is the lake of fire, and the eternal life is the prepared kingdom. Both refer to a sphere, a realm. Thus, to go into eternal life does not mean to have eternal life, because the sheep have not been regenerated.
The judgment of the sheep and the goats will be executed not in the air but when the Lord comes to the earth, because they will not have departed from the earth. However, the judgment of the saints at the Lord’s judgment seat will be in the air, because they will have been raptured (1 Thes. 4:16-17). Therefore, the judgment of the sheep and the goats has nothing to do with the saints but is related to the unbelievers who are living when the Lord comes back to the earth.
Our focus should not be on expounding the prophecy of the kingdom but on seeing the way of life. The Lord’s word shows that being a Christian is not merely a matter of salvation; after salvation there are also the matters of maturity and faithfulness. Hence, we need to be delivered from the great tree and the leaven and be small, lowly food to supply others. Moreover, we need to be delivered from the world to become a treasure, to be full of light, and to exercise our gifts. All this added together is to submit to the authority of the kingdom, to allow the heavens to reign, and to subject ourselves to God’s ruling, that is, to allow God to reign. This is the Gospel of Matthew, the gospel of the kingdom, which is to save God’s people from the sin of rebellion. We need to learn from the Lord’s pattern. He did not strive or cry out, nor could anyone hear His voice in the streets (12:19), but He was full of the ruling authority. If we apply all these points, we will have the living described in Matthew 5 through 7 and will live in the reality of the kingdom.
The light that the Lord has given in Matthew is His revelation to the church today. This light causes us to take the way of the kingdom. This is the light of the ruling of the heavens, the light of being delivered from rebellion, the light of the gospel of the kingdom. Only when we take this way can we preach the gospel, teach people, and bring the nations to the Lord. This is the way Matthew ends. When the kingdom people gather into the Lord’s name, He will be in their midst. Only such people can truly experience Emmanuel, God with us, and Jesus, the One who saves His people from their sins. This word enlightens our inner being so that we will not dare to beat our companions by criticizing or judging them. Those who do not have this light may still have peace even if they become a part of the great tree and mix leaven into the fine flour. Those who have light, however, will not be able to do these things.