Are you a true sheep of Jesus?

A few weeks ago I preached about what a true sheep (disciple) of Jesus looks like. I have also been teaching a bible study Wednesday evenings on this subject. I am going to share some of the material from this study with you today.

The scripture I used in the sermon was Matthew 25:31-46, in which Jesus was describing the separation of the sheep from the goats.

Matthew 25:31-46 New International Version (NIV)

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Jesus often referred to his followers and disciples as sheep. There are over 200 references to sheep in the bible. In today’s scripture the Lord is separating his sheep from the goats. This was a common practice in Palestine, because sheep and goat flocks were often intermingled. The shepherd would allow the sheep and goats to be together during the day and separate them at night. The reason this was done, is the sheep could withstand the colder night temperatures better than the goats. The goats would need to be huddled together to keep warm.

Can you imagine what this would look like? Jesus comes in all his glory with all the angels of heaven with him. The nations, basically all people gathered before the throne of Jesus. Then Jesus separates the people as a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats.

Jesus says” Come you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

Jesus says his sheep are blessed by his Father and this blessing is our inheritance, the kingdom prepared for us.

Jesus then tells us why some people were sheep and others goats. He says “for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

I find it interesting that Jesus says this instead of saying, the sheep believed in me as their Lord and Savior.

The sheep answer Jesus, asking him when did we see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and gave you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or need clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?

Jesus calls the sheep righteous and they were not aware that they had done these things for Jesus.

Then Jesus gives us the reason these people were considered righteous and called his sheep.

Jesus says” truly I tell you whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.

Wow, so the reason these people are considered righteous and his sheep; is they cared for the other sheep.

We know that the goats did not care for others in the flock.

The result; the goats go away to eternal punishment and the sheep to eternal life.

The first trait of what true sheep look like is;

1. True sheep care for their fellow sheep

In Matthew 7:15-20 Jesus warns us to watch out for false prophets. Jesus says they will come to you in sheep’s clothing. In other words, they will be pretending to be sheep. Jesus says by their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Jesus says, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

John 21:15-17 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Reinstates Peter

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

In both of these passages the fruit or words and actions we take are of high importance. Jesus says that “you will know them by their fruit” and tells Peter to “feed his lambs, take care of my sheep and feed my sheep.” So, our actions testify what is in our hearts.

The next scripture I want to look at is John 10:1-5

John 10:1-5 New International Version (NIV)

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

In this passage Jesus is talking to the Pharisees about the Good Shepherd and his sheep. The shepherd enters by the gate, but a thief or robber climb in some other way. Jesus says in verse 3 the sheep listen to his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Verse 4 says; his sheep follow him because they know his voice. Verse 5 says, the sheep will never follow a stranger, in fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize his voice.

So, the next trait of what true sheep look like is;

2. True sheep know the voice of Jesus and follow him.

Another scripture I want to look at quickly is Matthew 7:21-23

Matthew 7:21-23 New International Version (NIV)

True and False Disciples

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

In this passage Jesus says that not everyone who says to him Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Jesus says” many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles? Then Jesus says,” I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!

False disciples or sheep call Jesus Lord, but they do not do the will of the Father in heaven. Our third trait of what true sheep look like is:

3. True sheep do the will of our Father in heaven.

Another scripture I want to look at is;

John 14:23-24 New International Version (NIV)

²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

In John 14:23-24 we find another clue to what a true sheep looks like. Jesus says, “anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” “Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”

Our fourth trait of what a true sheep looks like is;

4. True sheep obey Jesus’ teachings.

So, we have 4 traits of what true sheep of Jesus look like. None of these traits speak about our salvation, but a few of them do speak about eternal life.

So, is there more to being a true sheep than believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior?

Believing in Jesus is required for salvation but is only the beginning. It is also clear that we are expected to grow spiritually and produce good fruit. How do we do these four important traits that define true sheep?

How do we apply what we have learned?

What we are talking about is spiritual growth or learning to be disciples of Jesus.

We are not saved by works, but by Faith, yet it is our works that testify of our faith.

Jesus knows our hearts and whether we are real sheep or not. Our actions and our words come from our heart. So, it is our actions and our words that define what is in our hearts. That is why Jesus said, you will recognize them by their fruit.

In Matthew 7:13,14 Jesus talks about the narrow and wide gates. Let’s read this together.

“Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. “

I believe that many so-called prophesying Christians will be in for a rude awakening on the day of judgement. Are you truly born again, if there is no evidence of a true-life change? The evidence is found in these four traits we talked about this morning.

1. True sheep care for their fellow sheep.
2. True sheep know the voice of Jesus and follow him.
3. True sheep do the will of our Father in heaven.
4. True sheep obey Jesus’ teachings.

If our lives are not producing this fruit, we need to examine our hearts carefully and make changes to get on the narrow road and enter through the small gate.

These four traits define a true sheep or disciple of Jesus Christ. I encourage you to carefully look at your lives and seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel.

Is 2019 a defining moment in your life, a point where you made real spiritual growth a priority?

Please don’t take this lightly, your eternal life depends on this. There is no better time to change your life than right now.

Do you want to experience the Christian life in a new exciting way? Do you want to reignite your passion for Jesus? Do you want to live the life that God created you to live? I challenge you to make a commitment today, to make these four traits a priority.

Our lives, the things we do and say are the evidence of our salvation. They are our testimony of a true changed heart.

Are you a true sheep of Jesus?

May the Lord Bless you and keep you! Thank you for reading my blog!