1. JESUS WILL COME AGAIN TO SEPARATE.
Our Lord declared in Matthew 25:31-33 - "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." This separation will occur at the second coming of Christ. However, in order for this separation to take place, first, all who have ever lived will be raised forth from the dead. The Lord affirmed in John 5:28,29 that such would happen - "...the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." Immediately after this general resurrection, Jesus will separate the righteous from the wicked. Such will be a simple task for Him, as easy as a shepherd dividing sheep and goats into two distinct groups. Besides this act of separation...
2. JESUS WILL COME AGAIN TO SENTENCE.
There is a divine purpose to be accomplished after the faithful and unfaithful are separated. The Lord will pronounce the judgment or sentence for every individual. Matthew 25:34 says - "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." The judgment of the faithful will be pleasant, leading to everlasting life with deity. But such is not the case for the wicked - "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels'" (Matt. 25:41). The wicked will receive a never-ending sentence of suffering and anguish in hell. As the apostle Paul put it - "These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (II Thess. 1:9).
Dear listeners, it is imperative we all realize that there are only two eternal destinies. Every human who has ever lived will end up in one of those two places. While living in this realm, it is easy to get distracted with temporal things. It is easy to forget that as time passes, our eternal home, whether it be heaven or hell, is getting nearer. Eternity is one day closer today than it was yesterday, and tomorrow we'll be one day closer than we are today--assuming tomorrow comes! You see, there is no guarantee for tomorrow. We typically live by the assumption that there will be a tomorrow. We assume that we won't die and we assume that the Lord won't come again before we wake up in the morning. But we can't know either of these things with certainty. Consequently, we must always be ready to meet the Lord in judgment. When He separates the sheep from the goats, with what group will you be? Will you hear the words: "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matt. 25:21) or will the Lord say: "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matt. 7:23)? Friends, please contact us if you need assistance getting your life right with the Lord.