8. In addition to these things,
when the Son of Man comes in his glory along with
all the angels he will sit on his glorious throne and
all the nations will be gathered before him and he
will separate them from each other just like a
shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will have
the sheep placed at his right hand and the goats on
his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right hand
side, “Come, those of you who are blessed by my
Father and receive the kingdom that has been
prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
9. The truth is that when I was hungry you gave me
something to eat, when I was thirsty you gave me
something to drink; when I was a stranger you took
me in; when I lacked clothing you gave me clothes
to wear; when I was sick you visited me and when I
was in prison you came to me.”
Then the righteous ones will say, “Lord, when did
we see you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and
gave you a drink? When were you a stranger and
we welcomed you or without clothing and we gave
you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or
in prison and came to you?”
10. The king’s answer to them will be, “To the extent that you
did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
Then he will say to those on his left, “Be separated from
me, those of you who have lived under the spell of
deception, into the eternal fire that has been prepared
for the devil and his angels. I was hungry but you decided
to give me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you decided
to give me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you
decided not to welcome me. I was without clothing and
you decided to withhold clothing from me. I was sick and
in prison and you did not visit me.”
11. Then those people will seek to answer for
themselves by saying, “Lord, when did we see you
hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or unclothed or sick
or in prison and decided not to minister to you?”
He will answer them by saying, “Truly, to the extent
that you decided not to do anything for any of the
least of these people you decided not to do
anything for me.
And these people will go away to eternal judgment
while the righteous enter eternal life.
18. The least of the hungry
The least of the thirsty
The least of the strangers
The least of the unclothed
The least of the sick
The least of the prisoners
19. The least of the hungry
The least of the thirsty
the stranger-est person
in the space
The least of the unclothed
The least of the sick
The least of the prisoners
20. Learn how to make
the stranger-est person
in the space
feel the
most important and welcome
21. the stranger-est person
in the space
DO IT BY
OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
UNTIL YOU DO IT
FROM A TRANSFORMED HEART
Editor's Notes
Q. I once heard you make a statement that idealism is the enemy of true vision. Could you explain what idealism is and how it contrasts to vision?Idealism is basically seeing the ideal way we think things should be. This sounds good, but we must remember that the good side of the Tree of Knowledge is just as deadly as the evil side. Idealism is of human origin, is a form of humanism, and usually sets itself against the Lords purposes. The Pharisees are a good example of the results of adding human ideals to the ways of God. The result of this was that those who cared the most about honoring the ways of the Lord, who seemed to have the greatest hope in the coming of the Messiah, actually opposed Him when He came, and were instrumental in having Him crucified because He did not meet up to their ideals.We must understand that the Lord has the highest ideals of all for man. His ways are far superior to anything man can conceive of. However, He always comes with very practical, step-by-step ways for man to climb higher in a way that allows him to actually reach that high place. The Pharisees were offended that these "untrained and unlearned" apostles would even try to teach about the Lord and His ways, but those apostles actually knew the Lord and His ways better than anyone else. Even so, those apostles were still far from being all they were called to be at that time. They had much maturing to do as well, but the Lord still made them the leaders of His church because they knew Him better than anyone else.Think about this. The Lord sent His disciples out to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out devils even before He had taught them to pray! It was only after they came back from their mission that they asked the Lord to teach them to pray. My point is that many who we may reject as not being nearly as mature or knowledgeable as they should be to be His messengers often are, and often have much more of the true activity of God in their life and ministry than those who meet human standards.Why is it that revival almost always breaks out among tiny little groups of immature and seemingly mixed up people who have little going for them other than a sincere hunger for the Lord? Why is it that He can seldom use the more "mature and established" groups to pour out His new wine through? Human ideals are usually roadblocks to the true moves of God. True vision originates from God, not man, and it sees the heights with practical wisdom for reaching them