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The Lord's most pleasurable life

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[Matthew 25:40]

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth,

whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

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Jesus, our Lord of salvation, promised that He would come again to this earth.

Jesus coming again as the Judge of the world. Only God knows when that day is.

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Jesus told us about what will happen on that day.

On that day there will be a sound of praise from angels all over the earth,

and Jesus will come down to the earth with a cloud.

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Jesus who comes back will sit high on the glorious throne.

Everyone in the whole world stands before Him to be judged.

No one will stand before the Lord without exception.

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At this time, Jesus distinguishes all the people of the world on the right or on the left, as if the shepherd distinguishes between sheep and goats.

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And Jesus praises the people on his right side and says:

“You gave me something to eat when I was hungry.

You gave me a drink when I was thirsty. You gave me clothes when I was naked, and you came to me when I was in prison.”

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Those who are amazed at Jesus' words say to Him again: “We never did as Jesus said.”

“What you did to those who are in trouble around you is what you did to me.”

Jesus will put the righteous on His right side into the glorious kingdom God has prepared.

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Then Jesus said that the people on the his left would hear the following rebuke:

“Depart from me, you who are cursed,

into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes

and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.”

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The people on the left side of Jesus respond to him in protest:

“We have never seen Jesus suffer such a thing. It is unfair.”

“When your neighbors are in trouble, weak, and naked, you have done nothing to them,

and you have done nothing to me.”

Jesus said that the wicked on the left side would go into eternal punishment.

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Thus, Jesus will surely come back and judge all men of good and evil.

But how can we be able to meet and serve Jesus like the people on the right side?

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It is in the name of Jesus who cares for and helps people in difficult and hard situations around us.

There are people in the Bible who have been greatly praised for living this life.

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A woman named Tabitha is one of them. Tabitha built clothes and underwear for the people who lived alone around her and took good care of them. The Bible records Tabitha:

(Ac 9:36) “In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas);

she was always doing good and helping the poor.”

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When Tabitha died, the gracious women pleaded with Peter to resuscitate.

God listened to Peter's prayer and saved Tabitha.

God showed how delighted Tabitha loved her neighbor.

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Cornelius, who was the centurion of the Roman army,

is also introduced as a person who looked after his neighbors very well.

(Ac 10:2) “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing;

he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.”

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God greatly pleaded Cornelius, who took care of the hardest neighbors with God's mercy. Righteous Cornelius and his family were the first Gentiles

who believed in Jesus and were saved.

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In today's Word, Jesus said that Jesus is our neighbor who needs our help.

Those who believe in the words of Jesus and serve God are willing to help

and support the needy neighbors like Tabitha and Cornelius.

We, as children of God, must also be willing to help our hard-hearted friends around us.

I hope you will remember that it is the Lord's most delightful life and

that it will be you who will please God.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)