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Chapter 70—Christ Identifies With the Poor and
Suffering
This chapter is based on
Matthew 25:31-46
.
“When the Son of man shall come, ... then shall He sit upon the
throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations:
and He shall separate them one from another.” Thus Christ pictured
the scene of the great judgment day. When the nations are gathered
before Him, there will be but two classes, and their eternal destiny
will be determined by what they have done or have neglected to do
for Him in the person of the poor and suffering.
In that day Christ does not present before men the great work He
has done for them in giving His life; He presents the faithful work
they have done for Him. “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye
gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: naked, and ye
clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye
came unto Me.” But those whom Christ commends know not that
they have been ministering to Him. To their perplexed inquiries He
answers, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”
In all who suffer for My name, said Jesus, you are to recognize
Me. As you would minister to Me, so you are to minister to them.
All who have been born into the heavenly family are in a special
sense the brethren of our Lord. The love of Christ binds together the
members of His family. “Everyone that loveth is born of God, and
knoweth God.”
1 John 4:7
.
[430]
Those whom Christ commends in the judgment may have known
little of theology, but they have cherished His principles. Even
among the heathen are those who have cherished the spirit of kind-
ness. Before the words of life had fallen on their ears, they be-
friended missionaries, even at the peril of their own lives. Those who
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