Thread: Bible Study 101: Matthew Chapter 25:Verses 31-46
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Bible Study 101: Matthew Chapter 25:Verses 31-46
Posted : 25 Jun, 2010 11:06 PM
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and ALL the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ALL the nations will be gathered before Him,and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For i was hungry and you agve Me food. I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in. I was naked and you clothed Me. I was sick and you visited Me. I was in prison and you came to Me.
Then the Righteous(sheep) will answer Him saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? Or when did we see You thristy and gave you a drink? When did we see You a stranger and took you in? Or when did we come visit You when you were sick? Or when did we come to You when You were in prison?
And the King will say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to the lease of these Me brother/sisters, you did it to Me.
Then He will also say to those on His left hand, the goats, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me no food. I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take Me in. I was naked and yu did not clothe Me.I was sick and you did not visit Me. I was in prison and youdid not come to Me.
Then the goats will also answer Him saying, Lord, when did we see YOu hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, orin prison and did not minister to You? The the King will answer them saying, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you DID NOT do it to the least of these, you DID NOT do it to Me.
And these(goats) will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous(sheep) will go into eternal life."
It is true that how we live today will reveal and determine where we will spend eternity.
Two Questions:
(1) What comparsion or difference, do you see in Matthew to or from that given in Revelation chapter 20:verses 11-15?
(2) Why is the compassionate treatment of other people, rather than what a person believes, set forth in this parable as the measure of one's slavation?
WOW! I can't believe that all the pop-scholars and backseat theologians on this forum don't have any deep spiritual insights, opinions, or thoughts in this.... hmmmmm, wonder why? C'mon guys use your spiritual wisdom, knowledge and understanding, surely, the Holy Spirit has given you something in this is a simple Bible study from God....
Compassionate treatment of others is the gospel of Christ. Selflessness. God is love, and unless we can exhibit that true love through His power in us, then we will not be saved. We have to know God's character and live in out in our lives as a witness to God's love and sacrifice.
These verses in Matthew take place at the second coming of Christ.
The verses in Revelation take place after the second coming of Christ, and after the thousand year reign in heaven. The first resurrection is of the righteous, and the second resurrection is of the wicked. Every wicked human dies twice. At the end of their lifetime, or during the second coming of Christ, and then again after the resurrection of the wicked and the final judgment.
Leon and Mark, you guys are so right on, I onkly wished you guys would have taken it to the next level in discussion.
One things many Christian believers don't understand or know is, that among the works that reveal the true heart of a believer is that of helping to meet the needs of others, this is the believers call from the Lord.
This is so important that in the final judgment Christ will judge the nations (people) believers and unbelievers according to what they did or did not do for others, as we see in Revelation chapter 20:11-15. Our love toward others presents who we are in Christ.
Jesus will divide the two groups as the passage tells us, the sheep (believers) on His right hand, and the unbelievers(goats) on His left hand, Thie sheep (believers) on His right will then be called righteous according to their works, and the goats(unbelievers) will then be called the cursed (or wicked) based on thiier works. The unbelievers will be condemned into everlasting fire which is hell, becasue they did not meet the needs of the needy, they were self-centered, and showed no love toward Christ or others.
I liked what you said Leon, about those who meet the needs demonstarte that they were indeed filled with the Holy Spirit and took on the character of Christ through their compassion of helping others. The Holy Spirit represents Chirst living on the inside of us in our hearts.
People are either believers in Jesus Christ or unbelievers who refuse to accept Him. We as believers in Christ must always be conscious of the fact that everyone we know and meet will one day stand before the Lord and be judged according to our deeds (good works).
The lack of compassion for hurting people shows a lack of love for our neighbor as Christ has so commanded us to do. This also shows a lack of love for the Lord when we cannot find it in our hearts to help others.
