Thursday, December 6, 2018

Matthew 25:31 says, 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:  This is simply a statement about the return of Christ.  When Christ returns with His angels, He will sit on His throne in His glory, and will not a baby in a manger.  There will certainly be room for Him in the world.  Verse thirty-two states, 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:  Jesus tells us that everyone living will appear before Him, and He will separate them as a shepherd would separate sheep and goats.  Verse thirty-three continues, And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.  The sheep and goats will be on opposite sides during the judgment of God, just a those who are saved will be separated from those who have not put their faith in Christ.  Verse thirty-four declares, 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:  Jesus tells us that the sheep, those on the right hand of God will be invited in as those blessed by the Father through faith in the Son.  This is how the relationship between God and man was meant to be, even before God's creation began.  In verse thirty-five Jesus says, For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:  I believe that these are actions that God expects from His people.  We cannot divide the world into those who have a lot because they deserve it and those who do not because they don't.  I think we sometimes seem to have the attitude in America that God has blessed us because we deserve it and that His blessings are strictly for our benefit.  Being blessed by God, if indeed we are, means that we are to help the less fortunate and not to look down on them with contempt.  The whole world belongs to God, and all the people in it.  The only way we can claim to be better than anyone else is because of our acceptance of Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and even then we are to see ourselves as simple servants to God.  Just as God reached out to us in love, we are to reach out to the world.  Verse twenty-five continued with the commendation saying, Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.  We do not have to search very hard to find people in great need today.  We often write off people in prison by thinking they got what they deserved, but Jesus tells us we are to have compassion for them, even if the are there because they are guilty.  As followers of Christ, we cannot be a me first group of people, but must be a God first group of people.  Sharing with the less fortunate is an expectation, but condemning them is not.  Verse thirty-seven states, Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  I believe that Jesus is telling us that we shouldn't even be aware of our good works.  If we are doing good works so that we can be praised, then I believe that is all the reward we will receive.  Verse thirty-eight continues the question asking, When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?  Then verse thirty-nine ends the question stating, Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?  As stated above, we don't do good works for self reward.  Jesus tells us that we should not even be aware of when we did these things for God.  Then in verse forty Jesus gives the answer declaring, 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.  Jesus says that when we help the less fortunate, then it is the same as helping God Himself.  Since everything belongs to God anyway, He could simply take things away from us and give them to someone else.  Instead, like the talents, God chooses to bless some with more than others, expecting them to use what they have been blessed with to enlarge His kingdom.  Verse forty-one says, 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:  Just as those on the right were commended for their actions, those on the left were condemned for their lack of action.  We may not even acknowledge when we fail to act in God's love, because we don't have His love for all people in our hearts.  Verse forty-two continues, For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:  Then verse forty-three concludes,I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.  These are the same things that those that loved Christ had done.  Their lack of action condemned them.  It is not enough to avoid doing wrong, but we must also do what is right.  Verse forty-four says, Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?  They asked the same question those who had been commended asked.  They wanted to know where they had failed to do these things.  I believe that was one of the keys to the problem.  Had they been following God's leadership, they would have known when they failed to do His will.  Verse forty-five says,  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.  The answer was the opposite as with the other group.  It named the least of these once more, but said anytime they failed to help the least that they failed to help God.  Then, verse forty-six declares, And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.  This is not a statement about working for salvation, but is a statement about being led by the Holy Spirit to help the less fortunate in the world.  Since those who were told to enter into heaven didn't even know when they had done these good works, they weren't working for their own benefit, but were doing the will of God.  So must we as followers of Christ.

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