I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
6 sermons cite this verse
… but this is how the parable begins, and it's in Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 through 46. If you have your Bible, turn there. and Jesus says this, when the Son of Man, remember that's what he called himself, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory and all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Now he's going to send the goats away. He's going to say, you have no part with me and he's going to send them away, but he's going to invite the sheep to join him. And when he invites the sheep to join him, and when he welcomes them into his kingdom, he says this, I was hungry and you gave me food. …
… for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger 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? Verse 40, 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. Oh, that's powerful. Jesus says, I'm coming back to establish my kingdom on this planet. I'm going to establish my kingdom, and I'm going to set you to the side, and you will be blessed. You will inherit with everything that goes along with a part of being a part of his kingdom. And they will say to the king, they will ask the question, how did I get here? And he said, because I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. I was a stranger. You took me in. I was naked. You clothed me. I was sick. You visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. When? He said, when you did it until the least of these. …
… I was a stranger, and you invited me in. I needed clothes, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in? When did we see you needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? And the king will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did to me. Then the king will say to those on his left, depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, prepare for the devil and his angels. for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. And I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to 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 visit me. You came to be with me. And then they're gonna go, well, wait, when did we ever give you food or drink or clothing, Jesus? And he will say, what you did for the least of these, you did for me. Remember what he said to Paul on the way? He said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He takes what's done to his church personally. He takes what's done to the poor, what's done to the lost, what's done to those who don't know the gospel yet. He takes it personally. It seems to be that Jesus is saying the dress code in determining whether you are a sheep or a goat comes down to your caring for what God cares for. Do you love what the beloved loves? Do you love what he loves? …
… You gave me something to drink. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and in prison and you visited me. I was a stranger, an immigrant, and you welcomed me. And as much as you've done it for the least of these, you've done it unto me. And so John said, we're going to take that seriously. We're going to go start visiting these. And this became a part of the Methodist way of life, the Methodist character and ethos. So across the course of his ministry, he would visit both what were called then insane asylums. He would visit these places to give hope to people who were struggling with mental illness, and he would visit the prisoners, the prisons. He began advocating for prison reform in the 18th century because the conditions in many of the prisons were terrible. And he did that to the end of his life, 1787. So this is four years before he died, I think was the last time we recorded that he's advocating for prison reform and still visiting people in prisons. …
… And I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and ye visited me. I was in prison and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee to drink? When saw we thee a stranger took thee and are naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you've done it unto the least of one of these my brethren. You've done it unto me.