The Judgement of the Sheep and Goats

The Judgment of the Sheep and Goats

Good behavior brings positive commendation and blessing.

Poor behavior brings censure and curse.

There is direct correlation between the effort and amount of righteous and unrighteous behavior and its correspondent blessing and curse.


The Dynamics of the Judgment of the Sheep and Goats, Illustrated

I loved soaking people with a hose, playing around in the front yard with a hose when I was kid...

For the sake of an illustration, lets say there are two hoses attached to two houses. The hose you have access to is dependent on the house you live in.

The house you live in corresponds to the intrinsic identity you possess. House #1 is child of God, house #2 is trapped in sin.

Here are some of the facts about hoses:
1. They are attached to faucets
2. They have pressurized water behind them that seeks to get out
3. Faucets are valves that can turn from complete shut off (pointing 90 degrees away from the source of water) to completely aligned with the source of water, and everything in between.

Although the water is pressurized and really wants to get out, a faucet is set at 90 degrees where the flow of water is completely shut off. If you want to have the flow of water come out, you have to crank on the faucet to align the valve with the source of water. The more you crank on the faucet, the more effort you put into cranking on the handle, the more, incrementally, the water will flow out, until you get it to full blast.

The amount of water coming out will depend on how much effort you spend on cranking the on the faucet... on how much you turn the faucet.

The amount of water coming out is the natural result of how much the operator cranks on the faucet.

You are relegated to the house you are intrinsically identified with, either child of God or trapped in the sphere of sin.

The child of God house has a hose that dispenses blessing, and the trapped in sin house has a hose that dispenses curse.

The blessing dispensed from the hose in house #1 and the curse dispensed from the hose in house #2 are the natural results of the efforts of the operator to crank on the hose. The amount of each is consistent with the effort to draw out the blessing or curse.


The Illustration Applied to Matthew 25:31-46

The eternal destiny described for us in Matthew 25 has two sets of distinguished intrinsically identified groups: sheep and goats.

The sheep are intrinsically children of God and thus may crank on the faucet of blessing and receive from it the natural results of their efforts.

The goats are intrinsically identified with being trapped within the sphere of their sin and thus may only crank on the faucet of curse and then they will receive from it the natural results of their unrighteous efforts.

These results will be consistent with their efforts.

A person who has kingdom citizenship will be evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ. This person is in the kingdom. The blessedness of being in that kingdom will be determined by the effort he put into it.

A person who does not have kingdom citizenship, because they do not possess life, is relegated to the country that is characterized by being trapped in sin, also known as the lake of fire. The cursedness of being in that country will be determined by the efforts he put into it.


Illustration of Blessedness

Let's say I gave you round trip plane tickets to Hawaii 6 months away from now. Thats all I gave you. Free tickets there. You now have 6 months to secure privilege in Hawaii by wheeling and dealing in your sales job.


3 Cases in point describing the blessedness of the effort put into cranking on the hose of blessing:

Case 1: Shipwrecks much of his sales over those months. Gets there barely with his EBT card. Sleeps on the beach under an umbrella and rents a bicycle. Is in paradise.

Case 2: Lays on the couch alot and watches Netflix, but gets some selling done: stays at motel 6, eats spam out of a can, crowded beaches, crowded buses. Is in paradise.

Case 3: Wheels and deals!! Hyatt Regency, submarine and helicopter rides, crazy awesome luaus, private beach, limo rides, and dinner with the governor. Is in paradise.


Conclusion
As can be abundantly seen, the amount of blessedness is dependent on one's effort...

If that stands to reason:

Would it not follow that the amount of curse would depend on one's efforts, be consistent with his actions?