Jesus describes the Final Judgment in Matthew 25:31-46:
“…when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.”
Here we see that the righteous are gathered at the Lord’s right hand, at a place of honor, while the unrighteous are gathered at his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothes? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'”
Here Jesus is making it clear that whatever we do to our fellow brothers and sisters, we are doing to the Lord. “You must love the Lord you God with all your hear, all your soul, and all you mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love you neighbor as yourself.'” Matthew 22: 37-39
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
Then they will replay, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sister, you were refusing me.’
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Let me be clear, our salvation is paid for by Christ’s blood on the cross. Nothing we can do, or any amount of good works, will ever earn us a place in heaven. It is by Grace alone. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.
“What good is it, dear brothers and sister, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Goodbye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’–but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” James 2:14-16.
Brothers and sisters, don’t let another day go by without helping one another, treating them as you would the Lord Jesus.
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