"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: 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: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 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: 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: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 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. 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: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 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. 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? 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. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
The substance of today's lesson is a glaring expose' of what is wrong with our modern "Christian" society .
This text is Jesus' analogy of what the final judgment will look like. According to Him, the "dids" will immediately be separated from the "did nots". The "dids" are those who, during their lives, actually got up and made an effort to spread the grace of God by teaching the soul saving gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone who would stand still long enough to listen. AND, the "dids" will also be those who have obeyed and lived their lives in a manner that reflects the two "great" commandments Jesus placed upon us, which are in essence, to love God with all of our being, and to treat our fellow man/woman as we would have them treat us. Jesus said that if we reach out with charitable hearts and lift up those who are weak, we have, in essence, reached out to and helped Him,"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."
Likewise, if we fail our duties to the gospel and fail to love and care for the weakest among us, "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 "did nots" will be those who fail to follow in the footsteps of Christ and who fail to reach out to the weak. Jesus also tells us what the reward will be for both the "dids" and the "did nots", "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
We should all take this lesson to heart and because of our having been made "righteous" through faith in Jesus Christ, realize that being a child of God demands much more than making a bi-weekly trek to the "church house". In order to make sure that we are not judged to be "did nots", we are to demonstrate the righteousness that has been imputed into us through Christ Jesus.
We, as true Christian people, must actually, and freely, give of our time, talent, and wealth, to help those who are either, in need of God's saving grace through the gospel of Jesus Christ, or those who simply need a helping hand in their daily struggle through life.
Today's lesson clearly establishes that the true spirit of Christmas is not something that should be undertaken only one day out of a year, or even just two days a week. The spirit of giving that Christ demands of His own is constantly ongoing.~
No comments:
Post a Comment