Tuesday, October 2, 2012
One of the Most Sobering Passages in the Entire Bible
Matthew 25:31-46
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, accompanied by all the angels, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. 33 The `sheep' he will place at his right hand and the `goats' at his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you made me your guest, 36 I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' 37 Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, `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 make you our guest, or needing clothes and provide them? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' 40 The King will say to them, `Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!' 41 "Then he will also speak to those on his left, saying, `Get away from me, you who are cursed! Go off into the fire prepared for the Adversary and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 a stranger and you did not welcome me, needing clothes and you did not give them to me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they too will reply, `Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, needing clothes, sick or in prison, and not take care of you?' 45 And he will answer them, `Yes! I tell you that whenever you refused to do it for the least important of these people, you refused to do it for me!' 46 They will go off to eternal punishment, but those who have done what God wants will go to eternal life."
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As a corollary consider:
ReplyDeleteLuke 19:12-28 HCSB Therefore He said: "A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then return. 13 He called 10 of his slaves, gave them 10 minas, and told them, 'Engage in business until I come back.' 14 "But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We don't want this man to rule over us!' 15 "At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those slaves he had given the money to so he could find out how much they had made in business. 16 The first came forward and said, 'Master, your mina has earned 10 more minas.' 17 "'Well done, good slave!' he told him. 'Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, have authority over 10 towns.' 18 "The second came and said, 'Master, your mina has made five minas.' 19 "So he said to him, 'You will be over five towns.' 20 "And another came and said, 'Master, here is your mina. I have kept it hidden away in a cloth 21 because I was afraid of you, for you're a tough man: you collect what you didn't deposit and reap what you didn't sow.' 22 "He told him, 'I will judge you by what you have said, you evil slave! If you knew I was a tough man, collecting what I didn't deposit and reaping what I didn't sow, 23 why didn't you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest!' 24 So he said to those standing there, 'Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has 10 minas.' 25 "But they said to him, 'Master, he has 10 minas.' 26 "'I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away. 27 But bring here these enemies of mine, who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter them in my presence.'" 28 When He had said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
This should make each of us afraid to the point of trembling.
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