The Charity Of The Righteous

31 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:

32 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:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 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:

35 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:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 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.

41 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:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 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.

44 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?

45 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.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Introduction

In this passage of scripture, we find Jesus speaking to us about a day that is coming that is a judgment day. You will remember that in chapter 24, the people were asking Jesus about the end times, what was going to happen, what was going to come. Jesus gave them an explanation that included wars and rumors of wars. Things that would happen in the land. Then in chapter 25, Jesus continues His discourse on the end times. He uses a king as an illustration. He, Jesus Christ, being the king. In this illustration, He gives to us truths that we need to know about a righteous life. We will explore three things from this passage in this study.

The Righteous Are Selfless Through Charity

Did you notice that in this passage, when the judgment day comes, He will take the people of the world and separates them to the left and to the right. To the right will be the sheep of His fold. To the left will be the people who He never knew.

He turns to those of the sheep and explains that because of their charity toward other, they have gained eternal life and a place in Heaven. When He talks to them about their work, it is always about them pouring themselves out into the lives of others. He mentions that when was hungry they fed him. When he was naked they gave him clothes. When he was sick they visited Him. The question that these people had was, “Lord we have never seen you in these conditions, how can you say that we have done this to you?” The great truth of this scripture is that Jesus was able to say “As much as you have done it to the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me.”

This tells me that they became selfless in the work that they did for the cause of Christ. May I remind you of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:13?

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

May I suggest to you that charity is more than just love. It is love in action. Charity is taking the steps necessary to minister to those who are in need at their point of need. Think about this verse. Faith is the foundation of your salvation experience. Without faith in Christ, you cannot boast of an eternal home with Him forever. Without faith in Christ, you cannot have hope. Two basic foundations to the Christian life, Faith and the result of faith is hope.