IDEA: Spiritual health works from the inside out, not from the outside in. 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 recognize that the righteousness that glorifies God is not performance, but a product of inner life.

If I were to ask you, what does a healthy person do, or what does a healthy person look like, what would you say?

If I were to ask you how to become a healthy person, would it then follow that anyone who did those things and looked like that was healthy?

Health works from the inside out, not from the outside in.

I. If I asked you what a righteous person does, or what a righteous person looks like, what might you say?

Prays, fasts, gives money, attends church, etc.

Would it follow that if you do those things, you are necessarily righteous?

II. Jesus warned us that there are two kinds of righteousness in Matthew 5:20.

How would you describe the two kinds of righteousness?

How does God's kind of righteousness reveal itself? Matthew 25 points us to the answer.

III. Does giving money to a good cause then prove that you have God's kind of righteousness?

What is the evidence of God at work in someone's life? How do we do good works that glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14)?

In caring for the hungry and thirsty, the homeless and sick and imprisoned, the naked, what does that reveal.