According to the descriptions that are presented to us in scripture, there are only two types of Christians: sheep and goats. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). In this verse Jesus gives us the three things that distinguishes a sheep from a goat.
1. His sheep hear His voice, in the written word and sometimes also in His Still Small Voice. His word is their foundation and guide for living. Jesus said in John 8:47, “He that is of God hears God’s words…” The word hear carries with it the ability to understand God’s instructions. The sheep hear God’s words; therefore they can discern between the true and the false. “…and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger that will not follow, but will flee from him: for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:4,5).
The sheep are willingly corralled by the word of God and refuse any deviations. They recognize and understand the importance of sound doctrine. They know their Shepherd is the embodiment of God’s word, and He is the way, the truth and the life, and the only way to God the Father, John 14:6. They will not compromise.
2. “I know them.” Jesus has a relationship with His sheep and “He calls His own sheep by name” (John 10:3). He knows them intimately and individually. In turn, His sheep desire that intimate relationship with their Shepherd.
3. “And they follow Me.” “He leads them” (John 10:3). His sheep are willingly directed by His Holy Spirit and their desire is to do His will. They have recognized the importance of dying to the self-will and are willing to pick up their cross and follow Him wherever He leads.
So we can see in these three descriptions that the sheep are disciples, devoted to following Jesus and doing His will in their lives. In Matthew 25:31-46, we are shown the Lord’s sheep serving others, because this is what His Holy Spirit is leading them to do, and they are being obedient to His direction. In these verses we are also shown the contrast between the sheep who hear His voice, know and follow Him, and the goats who are the exact opposite.
The goats read God’s word and may have great knowledge of it, but they are not allowing it to effect any significant changes in their nature.
They resist any genuine intimacy with God that can convict them, preferring a “religious” relationship that leaves them in control of their lives.
While they may profess to be followers of Christ, because of their refusal to relinquish self-will, they are really not genuinely following the Lord and are not humbly submitting to His Lordship in their lives. Thus the goats in Matthew’s description are not being led by the Holy Spirit, even though they are professed believers.
Therefore, the basic elements that make the distinction between a sheep and a goat are humility and pride.
Years ago I had a dream where the Lord was walking through a group of people separating them to His right and His left. Then He came to me and asked, “What condition is your shell?” I was holding a crushed and broken sea urchin shell in my hand. I replied, “Not very good, Lord.” Then He smiled at me and I watched Him ascend. The shell represented humility, a quality that was formed in me by the trials, failures and encounters He allowed me to experience.
The Lord dwells with a humble and contrite spirit. -
For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. - Isaiah 57:15
For all those things has My hand made, and all those things have been, says the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word. – Isaiah 66:2
Humility is the spiritual condition that makes a life pliable in His hands. Moses is described as the meekest man on the earth (Numbers 12:3). Because of his humility, God was able to do great things through him without the man’s ego and self-will getting in the way.
So how can we tell the difference between a sheep and a goat when they are all sitting together in the same congregation? We will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:16), specifically how they respond when they are being corrected.
A new professed believer who spent the night with her boyfriend right after her baptism, was told by her seasoned Bible teacher that she needed to put God first in her life. The student responded, “Jesus protects, but He doesn’t direct,” and cut of the relationship.
A friend of mine who appeared to be super spiritual, had relocated her business to a location that was not as safe. When she was stalked she had to close down for three weeks. I told her that she had made some decisions in her flesh and she needed to focus and ask the Lord what He wanted her to do. She called the next day, rebuked me three times in the name of Jesus and said I was a witch.
A conflict arose in a church between two of its members that almost erupted into a physical altercation in front of the congregation. The pastor ordered both men to leave. One of them later humbly repented with tears concerning his behavior and was received back into the church. The other man adamantly refused to apologize and went to another assembly. (Incidentally, this altercation broke out in the wake of the pastor’s sermon on forgiveness.)
A close friend of mine that I had known since fifth grade and a professed believer, told me that she read the Bible and didn’t get anything out of it and wanted me to read a book by the Dali Lama. She became offended when I told her that only those who receive Jesus can go to heaven (John 14:6). When I told her she needed to read her Bible and give herself a fresh start with the Lord, she erupted into a volcano, spewing out insults through multiple emails and likened zealous Christians to the mentally ill.
A new church plant sent out a questionnaire into the surrounding neighborhoods asking what the people would like to see in a church. The most common response was, “Don’t tell us what to do.” Goats do not like to be corrected or told what to do.
I counseled a pastor who had an imbalanced sheep/goat ratio in his church, with the goats outnumbering the sheep. Jesus said to feed His sheep (John 21:15-17). I told this pastor to feed the sheep and not to let the goats hinder him from feeding his people the pure, uncompromised truth of God’s word. He should not have to compromise his messages to cater to the goats; his responsibility is to feed the sheep, those who actually want to be fed and grow in the Lord.
When Jesus had a large group following Him, He spoke the truth to them, and all became offended and left, except for His twelve disciples (John 6:53-68). Jesus did not run after the others and beg to come back. He let the goats leave and continued to instruct His faithful, humble sheep.
The prophet Jeremiah experienced rejection and abuse from the people, when God had sent him to bring the Lord’s words of correction. The people had massively deviated from following God’s word, and had fallen into gross sins. Their self-will and pride rejected any correction, in spite of Jeremiah’s warnings that unless they repented, they would experience a 70 year captivity in Babylon. It was God’s love for His people that permitted them to endure that time of captivity, which He knew would eventually lead to their repentance and correction.
Trans Goats
So we can see from this example we have in scripture, that it is possible for a prideful, disobedient goat to be transitioned into a humble, obedient sheep. God uses various methods to accomplish His purposes in the life of a believer, and His motive is always love. And for those of us who have been the objects of a goat’s rebuttals, our response should always be done in love, for the welfare of these ones who have not as yet come to the realization of what God wants to see in His people.
The agony that Jesus endured for us so we could be included in the Lord’s flock, gave Him the right to tell us what to do.
Be a sheep.
1. His sheep hear His voice, in the written word and sometimes also in His Still Small Voice. His word is their foundation and guide for living. Jesus said in John 8:47, “He that is of God hears God’s words…” The word hear carries with it the ability to understand God’s instructions. The sheep hear God’s words; therefore they can discern between the true and the false. “…and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger that will not follow, but will flee from him: for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:4,5).
The sheep are willingly corralled by the word of God and refuse any deviations. They recognize and understand the importance of sound doctrine. They know their Shepherd is the embodiment of God’s word, and He is the way, the truth and the life, and the only way to God the Father, John 14:6. They will not compromise.
2. “I know them.” Jesus has a relationship with His sheep and “He calls His own sheep by name” (John 10:3). He knows them intimately and individually. In turn, His sheep desire that intimate relationship with their Shepherd.
3. “And they follow Me.” “He leads them” (John 10:3). His sheep are willingly directed by His Holy Spirit and their desire is to do His will. They have recognized the importance of dying to the self-will and are willing to pick up their cross and follow Him wherever He leads.
So we can see in these three descriptions that the sheep are disciples, devoted to following Jesus and doing His will in their lives. In Matthew 25:31-46, we are shown the Lord’s sheep serving others, because this is what His Holy Spirit is leading them to do, and they are being obedient to His direction. In these verses we are also shown the contrast between the sheep who hear His voice, know and follow Him, and the goats who are the exact opposite.
The goats read God’s word and may have great knowledge of it, but they are not allowing it to effect any significant changes in their nature.
They resist any genuine intimacy with God that can convict them, preferring a “religious” relationship that leaves them in control of their lives.
While they may profess to be followers of Christ, because of their refusal to relinquish self-will, they are really not genuinely following the Lord and are not humbly submitting to His Lordship in their lives. Thus the goats in Matthew’s description are not being led by the Holy Spirit, even though they are professed believers.
Therefore, the basic elements that make the distinction between a sheep and a goat are humility and pride.
Years ago I had a dream where the Lord was walking through a group of people separating them to His right and His left. Then He came to me and asked, “What condition is your shell?” I was holding a crushed and broken sea urchin shell in my hand. I replied, “Not very good, Lord.” Then He smiled at me and I watched Him ascend. The shell represented humility, a quality that was formed in me by the trials, failures and encounters He allowed me to experience.
The Lord dwells with a humble and contrite spirit. -
For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. - Isaiah 57:15
For all those things has My hand made, and all those things have been, says the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word. – Isaiah 66:2
Humility is the spiritual condition that makes a life pliable in His hands. Moses is described as the meekest man on the earth (Numbers 12:3). Because of his humility, God was able to do great things through him without the man’s ego and self-will getting in the way.
So how can we tell the difference between a sheep and a goat when they are all sitting together in the same congregation? We will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:16), specifically how they respond when they are being corrected.
A new professed believer who spent the night with her boyfriend right after her baptism, was told by her seasoned Bible teacher that she needed to put God first in her life. The student responded, “Jesus protects, but He doesn’t direct,” and cut of the relationship.
A friend of mine who appeared to be super spiritual, had relocated her business to a location that was not as safe. When she was stalked she had to close down for three weeks. I told her that she had made some decisions in her flesh and she needed to focus and ask the Lord what He wanted her to do. She called the next day, rebuked me three times in the name of Jesus and said I was a witch.
A conflict arose in a church between two of its members that almost erupted into a physical altercation in front of the congregation. The pastor ordered both men to leave. One of them later humbly repented with tears concerning his behavior and was received back into the church. The other man adamantly refused to apologize and went to another assembly. (Incidentally, this altercation broke out in the wake of the pastor’s sermon on forgiveness.)
A close friend of mine that I had known since fifth grade and a professed believer, told me that she read the Bible and didn’t get anything out of it and wanted me to read a book by the Dali Lama. She became offended when I told her that only those who receive Jesus can go to heaven (John 14:6). When I told her she needed to read her Bible and give herself a fresh start with the Lord, she erupted into a volcano, spewing out insults through multiple emails and likened zealous Christians to the mentally ill.
A new church plant sent out a questionnaire into the surrounding neighborhoods asking what the people would like to see in a church. The most common response was, “Don’t tell us what to do.” Goats do not like to be corrected or told what to do.
I counseled a pastor who had an imbalanced sheep/goat ratio in his church, with the goats outnumbering the sheep. Jesus said to feed His sheep (John 21:15-17). I told this pastor to feed the sheep and not to let the goats hinder him from feeding his people the pure, uncompromised truth of God’s word. He should not have to compromise his messages to cater to the goats; his responsibility is to feed the sheep, those who actually want to be fed and grow in the Lord.
When Jesus had a large group following Him, He spoke the truth to them, and all became offended and left, except for His twelve disciples (John 6:53-68). Jesus did not run after the others and beg to come back. He let the goats leave and continued to instruct His faithful, humble sheep.
The prophet Jeremiah experienced rejection and abuse from the people, when God had sent him to bring the Lord’s words of correction. The people had massively deviated from following God’s word, and had fallen into gross sins. Their self-will and pride rejected any correction, in spite of Jeremiah’s warnings that unless they repented, they would experience a 70 year captivity in Babylon. It was God’s love for His people that permitted them to endure that time of captivity, which He knew would eventually lead to their repentance and correction.
Trans Goats
So we can see from this example we have in scripture, that it is possible for a prideful, disobedient goat to be transitioned into a humble, obedient sheep. God uses various methods to accomplish His purposes in the life of a believer, and His motive is always love. And for those of us who have been the objects of a goat’s rebuttals, our response should always be done in love, for the welfare of these ones who have not as yet come to the realization of what God wants to see in His people.
The agony that Jesus endured for us so we could be included in the Lord’s flock, gave Him the right to tell us what to do.
Be a sheep.
