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Daily Devotions

Matthew

Matthew 
Day 
Day 307

How Would Jesus Judge the Nations

Text: Matthew 25 : 31 - 46

How would Jesus judge the nations? We already have an intimation of how He would judge, based on what He taught on previous occasions. Let us consider once again what He said in the following text.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
You will know them by their fruits.”
MATTHEW 7:15-16a

The KEY criterion that Jesus would use to measure the worth of a person’s confession of faith would be the “fruit” evidenced in their lives! As far as Jesus was concerned, it would be very easy to tell a good tree from a bad one.

“Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad
tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits
you will know them.”
MATTHEW 7:16-20

Mere profession of faith means very little, if anything at all. Let us once again ponder these solemn words Jesus spoke.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of My Father in heaven.”
MATTHEW 7:21

Of course, one may expect loud protests from those who are turned away. What would they say? More words? Mere words!

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons
in Your Name, and done many wonders in Your Name?'”
MATTHEW 7:22

What impressive words these were! What great claims these were! Were they mere words? Others may be impressed, but not Jesus who sees through everything.

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practise lawlessness!'”
MATTHEW 7:23

Jesus will unerringly judge all the nations. Mere claims, even if they were to capitalize on the Name of Jesus, would effect nothing before the Divine Judge.

GRACIOUS WORDS OF THE KING

We must never think that Jesus could be anything but a fair and competent Judge. Let us consider how He commended those He called “sheep”.

“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…”
MATTHEW 25:34

“Then the King will say…”

Jesus will speak as King, not a humble teacher. He will speak with all the power and authority invested in Him as anointed King.

“Come, you blessed of My Father…”

Jesus’ judgment is not done without due consultation with His Father. He would have His Father’s approval and blessing of all that He would speak.

“Inherit the kingdom prepared for you…”

Once again, Jesus employed the word “kingdom”. He came preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. He invited people to enter in. He spoke at length about the many different aspects of the Kingdom. The Kingdom was now presented as an inheritance to all who are blessed of the Father.

“From the foundation of the world…”

What an amazing statement Jesus made here! The kingdom of God was not a recent invention of Jesus. The kingdom of God was prophesied by prophets like Daniel. Did it go further back than Daniel’s time? According to Jesus, God had already prepared a kingdom for all who would be adjudged worthy of entering therein!

WHO ARE THE HEIRS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

Who may enter the kingdom of heaven? We are deeply indebted to the Apostle Paul for explaining an important truth concerning our salvation.

“But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man
appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured
out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.”
TITUS 3:4-7

We are “justified” or “declared righteous” because of the atonement Jesus made on our behalf when He gave His life for us! Because of the love and kindness of God, we are made heirs of the kingdom of God! How grateful we must be for our salvation