The sheep are the believing Gentile survivors of the Tribulation who are blessed into the Kingdom, and the goats are the unbelieving Gentile survivors who depart into everlasting punishment.
Les Feldick places this judgment at the end of the Tribulation when Christ sits on His throne in Jerusalem and gathers the survivors of all nations. The sheep are believers who responded to the gospel of the 144,000 and cared for them in their affliction, while the goats are unbelievers who rejected that message and did not help. Their works are evidence of their faith, not the ground of their salvation.
Matthew 25:31-33 — This is the scene where the Son of man sits on His throne and separates the nations as a shepherd divides sheep from goats.
Matthew 25:34-40 — It records the reward of the sheep and introduces the phrase 'my brethren,' which is the crux of Les's identification of them as the 144,000.
Matthew 25:41-46 — It shows the fate of the goats and why they are sent away into everlasting punishment.
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus describes a future judgment after His return in glory with His holy angels. He says He will sit upon the throne of His glory and that before Him 'shall be gathered all nations' (Matthew 25:32). As a shepherd separates sheep from goats, He will place the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left (Matthew 25:33). To the sheep He says, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world' (Matthew 25:34). He lists their acts: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, taking in strangers, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-36). When they ask when they did this, He answers, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40). To the goats on the left He says, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels' (Matthew 25:41), and He tells them that failing to care for the least of His brethren was failing to care for Him (Matthew 25:45). The passage concludes: 'And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal' (Matthew 25:46).
Les Feldick places Matthew 25's judgment at the end of the Tribulation. He teaches that Christ will bring all the survivors of that seven-year period before Him in Jerusalem and immediately separate believers from unbelievers, pictured as a shepherd dividing sheep from goats (Clips 1, 5). The sheep are believers — specifically Gentile believers among the survivors who responded to the gospel of the kingdom preached by the 144,000 Jewish witnesses (Clips 2, 3). They show their new relationship by feeding, clothing, visiting, and sheltering the 144,000 during the closing days of the Tribulation (Clips 3, 4, 6). Les identifies 'my brethren' in Matthew 25:40 as the 144,000 Jews, not humanity in general (Clip 4). He compares this to believers in Nazi Germany who hid Jews at great personal risk (Clip 4). The goats are the Gentile survivors who rejected the 144,000's message; still calling Jesus 'Lord,' they are nevertheless lost and are told to depart into everlasting fire (Clip 3). Les is careful to note the sheep's good works are the result of their salvation, not the cause of it (Clip 1). He also teaches that no unbelievers enter the Millennial Kingdom and that this Matthew 25 judgment is of Gentiles — no Jews are involved in it (Clip 2).
For Les Feldick, the sheep are the believers among the survivors of the Tribulation. In Clip 5 he says the sheep represent believers and are placed on the King's right hand. Clip 2 adds that out of the survivors there is a percentage who heard the gospel from the 144,000, became believers, and are ready for the Kingdom. Clip 3 says these people respond to the message of the 144,000 and become believers, then minister to their physical needs. Clip 4 further identifies them as the 'righteous' believers of verse 37 and compares their care for the 144,000 to Christians in Nazi Germany giving refuge to Jews.
The goats are the unbelieving survivors. Clip 5 states the goats represent the unbelievers on the left. Clip 3 explains that those who did not care are the goats; they still call Him 'Lord' but are lost and are told to depart into everlasting fire. Clip 1 shows them being told, 'Depart from me, I never knew you.' Clip 2 explains that survivors who rejected the gospel of the 144,000 are removed from the scene and that no unbelievers will go into the Kingdom.
Les Feldick is explicit: in Matthew 25:40, 'my brethren' are the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who preach the gospel of the kingdom during the Tribulation. In Clip 4 he asks, 'Now who are the My brethren?' and answers, 'The 144,000 Jews who were preaching the gospel during the seven years of tribulation.' Clip 6 says believers realize the salvation these Jews brought them and sacrifice whatever they have to help these 144,000. Clip 7 gives the background that the 144,000 are sealed so no one can take their lives, and Clip 3 notes that they face hunger and prison while these believers minister to their needs.
No, says Les. In Clip 1 he states plainly, 'It wasn't their good works that performed their salvation. It was their salvation that caused them to perform the works.' The works of feeding, clothing, visiting, and sheltering the 144,000 are the fruit of genuine faith, not the price of entry. Clip 2 adds that no unbelievers will go into the Kingdom — only believers — so entrance into the Kingdom depends on believing, not on a works-based merit system.
Les teaches that this judgment is completely Gentile. In Clip 2 he says, 'Now those were all Gentiles, there are no Jews involved in that judgment of Matthew 25.' While he mentions a remnant of Jews fleeing Jerusalem and other Jewish survivors in the Tribulation, the sheep-and-goats separation in Matthew 25 is presented as a division among Gentile survivors.
The Mark of the Beast & the Unholy Trinity Explained
card and their purse and so forth. And so even our secular articles have suggested that if there was some way of putting a mark on the flesh, on the hand or on the forehead, so that all they'd have to do is just like you do with your items in the store, run it over a scanner, and there wouldn't even be a need for a card. It'd be right there. So it's all there.
Salvation produces the works; goats are rejected
Les shows that the sheep are Tribulation survivors brought before Christ, but their works came from their salvation—not the other way around. The goats are told to depart because they failed to help 'these my brethren.'
Sheep and goats are Gentile Tribulation survivors
Les teaches that the Matthew 25 judgment is for all Gentiles and that no Jews are involved. Believing survivors enter the Kingdom; survivors who rejected the gospel of the 144,000 are removed.
Goats are those who did not care
Les explains that responders to the 144,000 become believers and minister to their needs, while the goats are the survivors who did not care. They call Jesus 'Lord' but are lost and depart into everlasting fire.
'My brethren' are the 144,000 Jewish evangelists
Les identifies 'the least of these, my brethren' as the 144,000 Jews who preach during the Tribulation, and compares believers helping them to Christians sheltering Jews in Nazi Germany.
Christ separates sheep from goats on His throne
Les describes the setting: Christ sits on His glorious throne in Jerusalem, gathers all nations, and separates them, with sheep (believers) on the right and goats (unbelievers) on the left.
Believers' help to the 144,000 is help to Christ
Les says the believers recognize the salvation the 144,000 brought them and sacrificially help them through hunger and prison, which Jesus counts as doing it to Him.
144,000 sealed and preach the gospel of the kingdom
Les provides background that the 144,000 are sealed so no one can take their lives, that they proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, and that those with the mark of the beast will not respond.
Matthew 25:31: When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Sets the scene for the sheep-and-goats separation at the Son of man's glorious return.
Matthew 25:32: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Directly describes the gathering of all nations and the shepherd-like separation.
Matthew 25:33: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Shows the two groups are divided by position, right and left.
Matthew 25:34: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Identifies the sheep as blessed of the Father and heirs of the prepared kingdom.
Matthew 25:40: And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
This verse provides the basis of the sheep's reward and introduces the phrase 'my brethren' that Les identifies as the 144,000.
Matthew 25:41: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
The goats' sentence is departure into everlasting fire.
Matthew 25:46: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Summarizes the final destinies of the two groups.
Les identifies them as the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who preach the gospel of the kingdom during the Tribulation. They face hunger, prison, and suffering, and the believing survivors minister to their physical needs.
No. Les says it was not their good works that performed their salvation, but their salvation that caused them to perform the works. The helping is evidence of the faith that receives the Kingdom.
The goats are unbelieving survivors who are told, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.' Les says they are the survivors who rejected the gospel message of the 144,000 and did not help them, and they are removed from the scene.
Watch the Teaching: The Mark of the Beast & the Unholy Trinity Explained