THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS

(Matthew 25:31-46)

Jesus said:

31 When the Son of Man comes in His Glory,

And all the angels with Him,

He will sit on His Throne in Heavenly Glory.

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 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, 'I tell you the truth,

Whatever you did for one of the least of these My brothers of Mine,

You did for Me.'

41Then 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, 'I tell you the Truth,

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.

(Matthew 25:31-46)

This parable teaches the sobering reality

Of the love, righteousness and justice of God, the King.

It demonstrates that Christ Jesus completely identifies

With each of His created children, whether they know Him or not,

And all of their needs are of Paramount importance to Him.

To supply the needs of others is to supply for Christ Jesus;

To ignore the needs of others is to ignore Christ Jesus Himself.

To be as selfless as Christ Jesus calls us to be,

Requires that we have His heart;

That we have Christ living inside of us;

That we have been Crucified with Christ and no longer live,

But Christ lives in us;

That we do not belong to this World but to His Kingdom,

And we love His children as much as He does.

Christ Jesus is telling us that our Eternal Destination

Rests on the condition of our heart;

We must have His heart, nothing less will do.