Evangelism and Spiritual Warfare, Mentor's Guide, MG08

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E V A N G E L I S M A N D S P I R I T U A L W A R F A R E

these, you did not do it to me.” [46] And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Jesus’ teaching about the judgment in Matthew 25 represents one of the most important yet troubling discourses our Lord ever gave us about the nature of salvation and of true intimacy with him. It is fashionable in many settings today to attribute salvation to the one who bows their head at the end of the hymn of invitation in an evangelistic meeting, or to the person who raises their hand at the preacher’s request at the invitation at the conclusion of a revival service. Jesus describes real relationship with him in an entirely different way. Those who know him, those who inherit eternal life and the Kingdomwhich God has prepared for his own, are those whose lives demonstrate extraordinary mercy towards the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. Those who know Christ inadvertently pour out their service and grace upon these broken and battered, and realize at the judgment, to their utter amazement, that they have actually been ministering instead to the Lord himself. Jesus, in this text, completely redefines the religious life; it is not merely understanding facts and being able to communicate data; pure religion is about the concrete demonstration of compassion to the broken and despised, whose identification with Messiah is so complete that to care for them is to care for him. What would happen if we completely redefined the doctrine of “assurance of salvation” to mean caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. This would be to capture salvation and evangelism in a new way, to do it, Jesus style . May God give us the grace to see through the eyes of the Lord and to see those who really are in fact the very Christ in another person . After reciting and/or singing the Nicene Creed (located in the Appendix), pray the following prayer: Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ~ The Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer and Administrations of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David . New York: The Church Hymnal Corporation, 1979. p. 230

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Nicene Creed and Prayer