James Nisbet Commentary - Matthew 25:34 - 25:34

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James Nisbet Commentary - Matthew 25:34 - 25:34


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THE CALL TO GLORY

‘Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’

Mat_25:34

The parable, if parable indeed it be, sets Christ forth to us under three titles:—‘the Son of man,’—‘the Shepherd,’—and ‘the King.’ The selection is not arbitrary—nor is it without its intention and significancy. There is sympathy,—and service,—and sovereignty.

I. The King’s invitation.—As King of the kingdom which He is about to bestow, Christ says, ‘Come!’ Those who hear it then will scarcely need anything more—for it shows that they are to be near Him—near Him, to whom nearness has always been another word for all safety, and all peace, and all joy. When that word is said, we shall immediately draw close to the throne, and, in some way, take part with our Lord in the remainder of that very judgment. And when that grand court breaks up, and Christ moves away, we shall move with Him. And, from that moment, for ever and for ever, we shall ‘follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.’

II. Why are we to come?—Because we are the ‘blessed of the Father.’ How true Christ is, in that word to His own mission! And every saint will well respond to the thought—‘Why am I at this right-hand? Why am I an invited one? Why all this privilege to me?’ Because God loved me—therefore He chose me. It was not what I did, but what I received; not my work, but His blessing.

III. The kingdom prepared.—The same thought runs on into the after-part of the sentence—‘Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ In this life we are all minors, and therefore it is there is so much of a school character about all that happens to us in this world. It is all so, characteristically, discipline. Then the heir will be of age—his education will be done; and he will be ready to succeed to his ‘inheritance.’ Before ever the foundation of this earth was laid, that ‘inheritance’ has been ‘prepared.’ Christ Himself was fond of that thought. It rose the first to His mind when, to comfort His disciples’ heart, and His own, He selected the joyous topic, ‘I go to prepare a place for you.’ And if you place that passage by the side of this, I infer that from everlasting Christ was ‘preparing’ heaven for His people.

The Rev. James Vaughan.