25:41 Depart from me. The “goats” will have demonstrated their implacable enmity against God by their attitude toward His suffering “brethren” (Matthew 25:40)l They probably will have received “the mark of the beast” and so are irretrievably lost (Revelation 14:9-11).

25:41 everlasting fire. Those who are offended by the idea of eternal hell-fire as the abode of the lost must at least reckon with the fact that it was Jesus Christ Himself who set forth this doctrine most emphatically of all (see also Matthew 5:29-30; 10:28; 13:41-42,50; 18:8-9; 23:33; etc.). They should also recall that Christ so loved them that He Himself suffered the worst pangs of hell when He died for them on the cross, and they have thus far spurned His infinite love.

25:41 devil. The everlasting fires of hell were actually prepared for the devil, so that those who knowingly or carelessly choose Satan instead of Christ (there is no other choice!) will exist forever with Satan in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10-15). Since their domain is also called the “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; II Peter 2:17; Jude 13), it may well be that the “lake of fire” is a burning star far out in the blackness of the vast universe created by God, with this particular portion of it prepared for Satan and the rebellious angels.

25:46 righteous. Since no one is “righteous” except those made righteous through Christ (II Corinthians 5:21), and since only these have eternal life (Romans 6:23), we must conclude that these “sheep” either have been—or perhaps, by God’s election and foreknowledge, will be—saved through faith in Christ. That faith has been evidenced by their response to the urgent needs of Christ’s “brethren” during the tribulation period, a response surely endangering their own lives also.