THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS
Matthew 25: 31-46 (NIV)
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.”
25:31-46 The return of the
Lord will usher in a judgment, which will divide people. The judgment will be
based on moral character, and the character is revealed by charitable deeds or
the lack of them. Outward evidence demonstrates inner righteousness or
unrighteousness. Good works do not produce good character; good character
produces good works.
25:34-40 All of Our Giving
Is to Be as to God Our Source. SEED FAITH. Whenever you and I give, or plant
our seeds of faith, we are doing it for Jesus. The persons we visit in prison
or on their sickbeds become as Jesus to us. How may we know our Lord? We know
Him in doing His works and in doing them as much to Him as for Him. We know Him
in putting our arms around those who are desperate or alone. He said that when
we do this we are putting our arms around Him – Jesus Christ, our blessed
Savior.
Although our giving is to take on very real and
tangible forms as we reach out to people, as we give through individuals and
churches and ministries to meet great needs around the world, the focus of our
faith is to be on Jesus and Jesus alone. He is God – and He is our Source.
Jesus is the object of our worship and our love. He alone is worthy of our
lives, and He alone can supply our needs.
We give to others, but let us keep our vision clear.
We look past them, with our faith directed to God and offered as a service of
love for Him.
25:37-40 Christ Mandates Social Concern, HUMAN
WORTH. Christ mandates social
consciousness and concern (vv.31-46). Here are the principles by which all
people will be judged: their treatment of those who are hungry, homeless, poor,
diseased, and imprisoned. Social concern cannot biblically be divorced from the
Christian walk. "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord;
and that which he hath given will he pay him again" (Prov. 19:17). Jesus equates our treatment of those who are
destitute or distressed with our treatment of Himself.
What we do for them, we
do for Him. We must not allow the Christian walk to be only a spiritual
enterprise, unrelated to the service of humanity. When we fail to care for
social need, we fail to place proper value on others, decreasing our own merit
in the eyes of the Lord and inviting His condemnation (see James 2:14-17).
In Christ,
Playwright
Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible
Stories Theatre of
Fine
& Performing Arts
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