They would show samples of the beautiful cards they produce and close each commercial with these words for potential buyers to consider, "When you CARE enough to send the VERY BEST!"
The message was clear, even to children, that if you really CARED for someone you would be willing to give the VERY BEST.
That same message needs to be preached from the pulpits of our churches across America. If we really CARE for the souls of man, we will be willing to give the VERY BEST that we have.
God gave us the ultimate example. Look at John 3:16, We mread. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
That God should love mankind to this extent is astounding! This LOVE and CARE was mind boggling to the Psalmist.
He said, Psalm 8:4, "What is man, that thou art mindful of Him?"
Illus: When we read these verses that tell us about God's CARE for us, we think of a beautiful girl that all the fellows desperately want to date. When the beautiful girl gets ready to marry, what man does she marry? She picks a man who is so ugly he looks like he has been whipped with an ugly stick every day of his life. What everyone cannot figure out is - WHY would such a beautiful girl CARE about an ugly fellow?
That would cause all of us to wonder, but there is something that should cause us to wonder even more than that. Why would God so love us that He would give His only begotten Son to die for our sins and allow us to dwell with Him for eternity?. There is only one answer, "He CARED enough to give the VERY BEST!" God wants us to have that same attitude of CARING for other people, that we would be willing to give the best of ourselves to them.
Illus: Why is soul winning not a daily part of many Christian's lives? They do not CARE. When we CARE we will SHARE.
Notice, in our text, God shows us two kinds of people that you will find in the church today. They are:
1. The caring.
In Verses 34-40, We read, "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: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or 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 ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, he have done it unto me." These verses definitely speak to the caring Christian!
2. The non-caring.
In Verses 41-46, We read, "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
There is a strong IMPLICATION in these verses. That is, if you are saved, you CARE, and if you are not saved you do NOT CARE about anything except yourself.
The context our text refers to is set in the time of the tribulation. The Bible teaches us, in Rev. 13:16-17, that no one will be able to buy or sell food unless he has the mark of the beast on his right hand, or on his forehead. The anti-Christ will use the necessities of life to try to force every human on this earth to serve him. But, God always has a remnant. Those who are saved during the tribulation, who CARE for others will give "...so much as..." a glass of water to God's messengers.
Illus: Dr. J. Vernon McGee says of the tribulation period, "The Anti-Christ will have God's messengers butchered and slain, and anyone who would give them a cup of cold water will do so at the risk of his own life. To hand out a cup of cold water has little value in our day, but in the Great Tribulation it will have tremendous value. It will mean taking a stand for Jesus Christ. The basis on which the nations will be judged is their acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ. He says, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Does their giving a glass of water, food, or clothing, to the messengers of God, during the tribulation period mean they are saved by works?
Illus: Ironside said, "We are not to suppose that the salvation of these gentiles will be on the ground of works, but their works will prove the reality of their faith." This is the same thing the book of James teaches.
All men are saved by GOD'S GRACE. But if they are saved by God's grace it will be reflected in their CARING FOR OTHERS who are not saved. Jesus says our helping the LOST is the same thing as doing it unto Him. He also says, "As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you." (John 20:21) One of the most dominant things about Jesus' life is that He CARED for everyone. Let us look at His life again to see what it will take for us to be soul winners. We see in His life-
I. HE CARED FOR THE DOWN AND OUT.
Jesus gave His BEST, to the WORST. That is, Christ came along and loved and saved and made something of the lives of those who seemed to have been cast into the large garbage pile of society by the mainstream of humanity. Some examples of this are seen in the scriptures. For example:
1. He had time for the woman at the well.
Look at John 4:7-29. The woman in this story had been married five times and when Jesus came and talked to her she was living with a man she was not married to. That woman had a terrible reputation.
• Probably none of the decent women in town would have anything to do with her.
• Many probably made fun of her as she walked down the street.
• She was a social outcast.
• She knew what it was to be shunned and rejected.
But notice, even though others felt they were too good to associate with her, Jesus treated her with love and respect.
Do you know who really appreciates love and respect?
People who are outcasts appreciate being loved and respected. People who are treated as outcasts know what it is to be looked down on.
They know what it is to be lonely because people around them do not want to be caught talking to them in public.
Illus: Every one of you probably knows someone who is an outcast. You could win that person to Christ if you would be willing to associate with them. John 20:21b tells us that Jesus said, "...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." If some of you who claim to be Christians would get off your high horse and let Christ send you to those who are outcast, you could be soul winners. For example, some of you know-
• ALCOHOLICS or DRUG ADDICTS who have gotten their bodies bound up by alcohol and/or drugs. They know what it is to have others talk about them and laugh at them. They know what it is like to be rejected by society. Some of you know-
• AN UNWED MOTHER who knows that she made a mistake. Now she, with her child, is looked down upon because of the mistake she made in listening to some foolish boy talk her into doing something she should never have done. Some of you know-
• AN UNEDUCATED person who did not have the privilege of being born into a home where mother and dad were able to help him see the need for a good education and who now lives every day as if he was not a complete person because of his lack of education. Some of you know-
• HOMOSEXUALS who have ruined their lives with this abominable sin. In spite of the many who would okay this sin, God does not!
In Leviticus 18:22 We read, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
Too many people have been seduced and deceived by Satan into falling into this sin. Christians must do all within their power to help these people believe the truth and turn to Christ to save them and deliver them.
• Many people hate homosexuals and do not want to even be near them.
• As we have seen reported in the news, those who hate homosexuals will literally corner them on the streets and beat them to a pulp if given the opportunity. (What a shame the news media cannot report, at the same time, the fact that the majority of the people do not approve of homosexuality, but seek peaceful means of stopping its spread.)
• No one on this earth hates this sin any more than God, but God still loves the sinner and would help him if he would turn to Christ.
If Jesus was here today, He would give top priority to winning those that society is overlooking. The woman at the well had lived in sin and ruined her life. No one was to blame but herself, and society was going to see to it that she paid the full price for her improprieties by rejecting her. Christ Jesus made a special time to give her the gospel message. Throughout the scriptures we see that Jesus gave His BEST, it seems, to society's WORST.
2. He had time for lepers.
In Luke 17:12-13 we read, "And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
What a sad situation!
We read that in Bible times when people had leprosy they were isolated from everyone else. If they walked down a street, or anyone approached, they were required to yell as they went, "Unclean! Unclean!"
Why? To protect those who had not been infected by the disease because once one became infected he was doomed to suffer and die a horrible death.
Illus: Leprosy and AIDS have several things in common. The tragic thing about AIDS is that it is so widespread, especially among teenagers, and many of them do not even know they have it. Once they have it, there is no known cure. It is believed by the former Surgeon General, Edward Koop, that there never will be a cure.
As far as the people of Bible times knew, there was no cure for leprosy, and once a person was infected his skin would literally rot off of his body.
We are told that people who had this terrible disease were not only repulsive in appearance, but one could literally smell the rotting of a leper's flesh if he got within fifty feet of the leper.
Everyone rejected lepers. They were the outcasts of the outcast. Notice, when Jesus entered that "certain village" ten lepers called, from a distance, to Jesus to have mercy on them.
In verse 14, we read His response, "...Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that as they went THEY WERE CLEANSED."
Time and time again we read in the Bible of people who were rejected by society who were loved and saved by Christ.
He CARED enough to SHARE.
3. He had time for tax collectors.
In Luke 17 we read of Jesus' coming to Zacchaeus who was in the sycomore tree. Zacchaeus had robbed people as he collected taxes for Rome, and for himself. The Bible tells us he was a very rich man, and everyone knew how he had acquired that wealth. Because of his job, he was despised by he had robbed time and time again. But, when Jesus passed through Jericho one of the few men He singled out to talk to was Zacchaeus. Why? He SHARED because He CARED!
4. He had time for a demoniac.
In Mark 5 we read the story of Jesus' encounter with a demon possessed man.
In Verses 1-5, We read, "And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him, And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones."
If you and I had seen that wild man coming at us we would have ran and hidden.
But, Jesus took time to deal with that social outcast. He cast the demons out of him and made him whole.
We see time and time again that Jesus gave the BEST to those who seemed to be the WORST!
In Isaiah 61:1 says of Jesus, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."
In Luke 7:34 Jesus reached out to so many who were outcast that He had the reputation of being, "...a friend of publicans and sinners!"
The "proper" people could not understand - How could Christ, if He was the Son of God as He claimed, associate with the scum of the earth.
Look at their bewilderment in Mark 2:16, "And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?"
One of the reasons that many have never been able to win anyone to Christ is because they will only attempt to win those who are in "high" society, that everyone looks up to, because in winning someone like that would bring them glory.
They will not "waste" time on outcasts that everyone looks down upon. You see, a person like that does not really CARE about helping people come to know Christ. It is easy to say, "I CARE," but it is another story when it comes to trying to reaching them because you really CARE!
Illus: We see many celebrities doing things for charity because they say they CARE. But, we cannot help but wonder how many of them would be doing what they are doing if the cameras were turned off and the nation was not told what they were doing.
Christ did not do what He did because He wanted attention. He did it because He CARED. His life teaches us something very clearly - if WE CARE, WE WILL SHARE! He cared for the DOWN and OUT. He left us the commission, "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."
II. HE CARED FOR THE UP AND OUT.
Not only did Jesus love the down-and-out, we also need to mention that He loved the up-and-out. He reached out to those who were rich. Jesus did not see people in the light of what they possessed. He saw people in two categories, they were either saved, or they were lost. If they were lost, regardless of their financial status, Jesus dealt with them. It is not His will that any perish! HE CARED ENOUGH TO GIVE THE VERY BEST!
Conclusion/Summary: Christians, Christ said, "...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." He wants to send you into a lost world caring for two kinds of lost people:
I. HE CARED FOR THE DOWN AND OUT.
II. HE CARED FOR THE UP AND OUT.
Lost person, whichever category you find yourself in today, you need to know Jesus loves you, and He wants to save you if you will come to Him right now.
