Matthew 25:31-46

25:31-33 | In ancient times, sheep and goats often gazed together during the day, but at night they were separated into distinct flocks. The wool of the sheep would keep them warm, but the goats needed to huddle together for warmth.

25:34-36 | From the beginnging (foundation of the world), God the Father planned to bless His children by including them in the inheritance of His Son, which includes the glorious kingdom to come (Luke 12:32; James 2:5; Rev. 21:7). The good deeds commended here are not the root, but rather the fruit, of their salvation (James 2:14-17; 1 John 3:16-17).

25:37-40 | Those on the Lord’s right - the righteous - do not recall performing the services listed. So far as they know, the Lord is no longer among them. Their actions are evidence of true faith, not things done in an attempt to earn salvation or impress God.

25:41-45 | The cursed are those who failed to show compassion to the Lord’s children (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6-7). Just as the righteous reveal their true relationship with God by compassion, the wicked demonstrate their lack of relationship with God by the cavalier way they treat the needy.

25:46 | Some say that a God of love could never punish people forever - they teach that the wicked are destroyed and cease to exist. But this verse says that hell’s punishment is eternal in the same way that life is eternal (Dan. 12:2).