Opening Prayer
Lord, teach us Your Word, and help us to walk in its light. Amen.
Text: Matthew 25:31-46
“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 gave 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 will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ‘When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘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, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Devotion
Christ and His judgment seat separate us into two groups. What decides our eternity is how each person in this life regarded Christ. Those who with humble mind and true faith live in Him and do good shall stand acquitted and enter into the joy of their Lord. But those who here live worldly lives, either with external piety or open wickedness, must depart into everlasting fire. The saved inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. They inherit it as God’s children in Christ, they have not earned it themselves with their works. They pretend no merit of their own. “When did we do these good things for You, Lord?” They served Him incessantly, but their left hand did not know what their right hand was doing (Mat 6:3). The fact that they knew how to do good was pure grace. How then could it be merit? All the same the Lord reckons it so. He remembers their good works and rewards them. He is the One who does the good in us, but regards it as if we had done it of ourselves. The saints comfort themselves only by grace. That is also what has saved them and made them blessed. In all their works they are weak and deserve only wrath, but the Lord completely disregards their weakness and finds pure glorious works in them. He sees that everything, even the smallest thing, is done for Him, and He leaves nothing without His reward.
On the other hand we hear the question of the spiritually blind and self-righteous: “When did we see You and not serve You?” That’s a terrible question. Woe to us if, blind to ourselves and blind to grace, we think we are doing our works completely for the Lord! And woe to us if He alone is not our righteousness and our life, so that we serve Him in His needy members on earth! O that these words might permeate bone and marrow: “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Closing Prayer
Holy and righteous God, in mercy You became the Son of Man to be a gracious Judge to us. Grant us to live our life here on earth in true faith and love, and to stand with all Your people at Your right hand on the Day of Your glory. Amen.
Hymn
When comes the Lord’s great Judgment Day
By storms the earth’s o’ertaken,
With billows strong the sea will sway,
And heaven’s pow’rs be shaken,
And when that final hour arrives,
Revealing Christ our Savior,
Then all the debts of all our lives
He pays with gracious favor.
Then ev’ry person – even they
Who wandered far and often –
The Prince of Life their eyes shall see
When ev’ry eye shall open.
The unbelievers all around
Are struck with fear and terror
When evil deeds of past are found,
And those of public horror.
The righteous then shall shout with glee
At Jesus’ last arrival;
What joy shall fill our hearts when we
Are found among the faithful!
Brorson: O Menneske, som tror og ved L 109:5-9 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: Jeg ved et evigt Himmerig (CON 117); alternate hymn: The day is surely drawing near ELH 538