IDEA: God wants something from the heart, and in the heart you look at sacrifice differently. TEXT: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 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: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31-46).

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand the righteousness that works from the inside out.

Suppose you're doing marital counseling and you're talking to a young man. From a biblical perspective, you want to tell him what his responsibility is toward his wife. What would you tell him? "Love her as Christ loves the church."

Suppose he responds to that, saying, "How many times do I have to love her?" What would that tell you?

I. In Matthew 25, Jesus describes the people He calls "sheep."

What characterizes these people?

Don't you feel like asking, "How many hungry people do I have to feed? How many homeless do I have to take in? How many coats do I have to give to people who are cold? How many visits do I have to make to prison?" What's wrong with asking those questions?

II. Is Jesus setting up another standard for us to follow in this passage?

What is the difference between seeing this as a standard and recognizing this as an evidence?

An evidence of what?

If someone said, "How do I become one of Christ's sheep?" would you urge the person to behave in terms of Matthew 25?

III. In the Old Testament, people offered sacrifices, but it was possible for people to offer sacrifices in the same way that people might go about changing their charitable behavior.

Jesus rebuked that in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."

Is Jesus saying that He does not want sacrifice? No, He wants something from the heart, and in the heart you look at sacrifices differently.