Are You Doing It?

Are You Doing It?
  Matthew 25:31-46  |  Pastor Terry Wilcox

Poverty – “not having enough resources to satisfy basic needs”

Jesus began his first public message saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18) Proverbs 14:31, “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” Proverbs 19:17 says, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”

1. The  Throne Judgement – Matthew 25:31-34
   The Bema Seat Judgement is for  and is about .
2. The core of Jesus’ parable is : Matthew 25:35-40
   Love for  is evidenced by love for .
3. Jesus’ astounding concept – Matthew 25:40
   To serve those in poverty is to  . 

   “If they had a social gospel in the day of the prodigal son, somebody would have given him a bed and a sandwich and he never would have gone home.”  -Vance Havner

   What does providing the means mean?
   For the Christ-follower, good works includes the life-changing gospel of  and .

   ”An individual gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul. One is a ghost, the other a corpse.” – E. Stanley Jones

   “Talk of love without acts of love denies the life transformation of being in Christ.” – Pastor Terry

   ”The Gospel of Christ knows no religion but social; no holiness, but social holiness.” -John Wesley

4. Might poverty also include: the , the , the .

   In Basel, Switzerland is St. Martin’s Church. On the front wall is a sculpture depicting Martin of Tours, a Roman soldier with Christian faith.

   The store behind it is that one cold, winter day, entering a city, he was stopped by a beggar asking for alms. Having no money, Martin took off his coat, cut it in two, and gave half to the beggar. That night he had a dream of heaven, and Jesus was wearing half of a Roman soldier’s coat. An angel asked him, “Master, why are you wearing that battered old cloak?” And Jesus answered, “My servant Martin gave it to me.”

Personal Notes