Matthew 25:31-44 (NKJV) The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations
31 “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. 32 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. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 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: 35 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; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 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.’ 41 “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: 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 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.’
44 “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?’ 45 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.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
It's NOT hard to determine who the least of these are from this passage of scripture. Clearly, they are those who are hungry, thirsty, estranged, naked, sick, and incarcerated.
It’s interesting how we sometimes attempt to qualify who we help, or even question how they got into their current situation before we determine if they actually, deserve our help? It reminds me of the Lawyer who came to Jesus in Luke 10:29, and asked, “Who is my neighbor.” He wanted to justify himself.
Sometimes people ask questions looking for the loophole that would justify their lack of action in responding to the needs of others. Or they don’t really believe they have a responsibility to help others. They really don’t believe that scripture demands that they help those in need. They think if I want to I can and if I don’t want to, I don’t have to. I do a lot of other good stuff. God’s not going to hold it against me, not really.
Scripture tells us that “The poor will always be with you.” Why is that?
I believe that one reason, the poor will always be with you is so that there will always be an opportunity for you to show compassion for, “The Least Of These.” As long as Christ is with us there will be poor with us.
We need to be able to see the face of Jesus in the faces of those in need He brings across our path. When I read this passage in Matthew, I can hear Jesus saying that if you don’t see those in need, you don’t see me.
So, what are the reasons we don’t help others?
1. Somebody else will do it:
a. There was a task that anybody could have done but everybody thought somebody else would do it so in the
end nobody did it.
b. This passage of scripture lets us know that Jesus, The Son of Man, expects all of us to on some level aid the poor.
2. I don’t have a lot of money:
a. The amount of money we have is less important than who we put our trust in to be our provider, our source.
b. All too often we try to plan our financial security around God rather than with Him.
What do I mean by this? 2 keys to financial security in the Kingdom are Tithes and Offerings.
Malachi 3:8-11 (NKJV) 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet, you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven, And pour out for you such blessing, That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit. for you in the field,” says the LORD of hosts.
c. Now if your mind quickly goes to the question of “is tithing scriptural in the New Testament”, then you missed the point.
d. Anybody know someone like that? I used to be that guy and I learned the hard way.
e. Some of us, because we haven’t engaged in God’s financial system, our finances are cursed, and we will always be in financial distress. No matter how much we make or save we will always be at this same level.
Tell the story of me learning about Tithes and offerings. My pastor was teaching years ago, and I was in financial distress. BROKE!! And in deep in a financial hole!!
3. Ministry shouldn’t make me feel uncomfortable:
a. Ministry is as much for our spiritual growth as it is for the help of the person being ministered to.
b. God is developing in us a spirit of compassion that will allow us to respond to the needs of others quickly
4. The fourth reason we don’t help others:
5.
a. Some of us are afraid. We are afraid to come down to that part of town or….
b. We are afraid to approach the panhandler on the street.
c. We don’t know what they will use the money for, really. Will they buy drugs or alcohol?
d. This is one reason why we recommend that you support organizations like the Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries, with your time, talent, and treasure.
e. We have learned how to minister in effective ways to the poor in our communities.
f. Panhandling in the last few years has been hijacked by those who would profit off the generosity of others.
g. Right around the corner from many of the Social Services you will find panhandlers. Many of whom own their own homes. In cities across the country, panhandling has become the newest occupation. The money is tax free, and in some cases, they are making $800+ a day.
h. Never disregard the voice of God, if He should speak to your heart about giving to a panhandler however, I want you to be informed about the practice of panhandling in society today.
i. We can talk later about encampments and people who would rather stay there than go to a rescue mission or some other social service agency.
j. Usually, if you listen to the news, those in the encampments will tell you why they don’t like GOSPEL missions or agencies that have rules.
