Matthew 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 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, ye have done it unto me.
We see an important truth here in verse 37. We see that the righteous are not looking for recognition. We often read of politicians who look for a photo op. The whole vain philosophy of selfies is a desire for self recognition. Jesus pointed out here that the righteous are changed at salvation and it is a part of their nature as true saints to be looking to help other believers. There is a community that is developed by those who love the Lord that is unique.
Over the past two years there have been groups that have been trying to encourage people to form communities. Some of their arguments are valid. Food costs and everything else is going up. If people pool their resources they will be better off than the “lone wolf”.
Jesus teaches us that the righteous are motivated by the love of God to help others in need.
John 3:16 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.
Jesus is love and He demonstrated His love in leaving Heaven’s glory and coming to this sin cursed earth to lay down His life for the sheep. True Christians are willing to give up the luxuries of life to be directed by God to help lost sinners know His peace and forgiveness.
True Christians also look out for one another. That is what we see in the early church in Jerusalem. We see that same philosophy in other churches of the first century. When there was a famine in Jerusalem, the apostle Paul encouraged other churches to take up a collection for them and he would gather the money together on his journeys and bring it to the saints in Jerusalem to help them through that time. The early churches did not look to the government for help. They were not state run churches. The governments of that time had little respect for true churches. They saw the apostle Paul as a trouble maker because just about everywhere he went, the Judaizers followed and stirred up the people against Paul. The officials did not recognize the Judaizers as the trouble makers, but rather saw Paul as the one who needed to be stopped.
Some years ago I was considering pastoring a church in a rural area. In a meeting with the men of the church I was asked of my position with regard to public schools. I knew that the training of children belongs to the parents and that the public school system became acceptable because the designers were able to convince parents that they were not qualified to teach their children to live in a sophisticated world. At that time I still believed that Christian teachers could make a school a good place for learning. I stated that I would seek to influence the principal and other staff to know God and teach the truth regarding origins and other important matters. I was told by one of the men at that meeting that he did not think it was a good thing to “stir up a hornets nest.” He was a professing Christian and a grandfather, but he was willing to feed his grandchildren to the wolves for the sake of “peace”. His own son was already lost to the ungodly philosophy of the system. Yet he claimed to be saved.
Since that time the Lord has shown me that the public school system is corrupt and true Christian parents should not have their children in that system. Parents need to teach their children that God is central to life in all things. Parents can be directed by God to train their children to live in this sin-cursed world in such a way as to be a blessing to God and to man if they are saved and serve Him faithfully.
True Christians exalt God and they do that because they have been changed by God. Jesus pointed out that true Christians do not let other Christians suffer unnecessarily. They seek to help them along the way.
In verses 37-39, we see that the righteous were just being righteous. They did not see what they were doing as anything special. This was the way true saints operated. Even though they did not look for recognition, Jesus pointed out that their efforts did not go unnoticed. They were noticed where it really matters. The righteous do not seek to have their names engraved in some fake brick on a wall or printed on some certificate. Their faithfulness will be recognized by the God of heaven.
Lost people are motivated by recognition. They want to be noticed. The flesh desires this.
However, the spirit desires to serve God. We notice in the Bible that the Holy Spirit indwells every true child of God. Jesus stated:
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. There is no pushing for notice or superiority in the Godhead. Each person of the Godhead has His place and each person is content to function in that place. True believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and He guides them into that humility and steadfastness that is important.
The Bible teaches that the saints will be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. The apostle Paul spoke of a crown of righteousness that he was looking forward to receiving and he also stated that crown was available for all those who love His appearing.
Paul was not in a competition with anyone. He was serving the Lord faithfully because that was what he was created to do as a child of God. He was directed by God to rebuke the saints in Corinth for their carnality.
Certainly during the Tribulation the saints will not be looking for self-recognition. The antichrist will be doing that. The saints will humbly serve God and look for ways to help one another to survive and be faithful to the Lord during those evil days. Their faithfulness to God will be rewarded by Jesus Christ. That is the only reward that is worth having.
Let us, who are saved, walk humbly with our God and let Him guide us to be a blessing to other saints in these last days. Today is the Lord’s day. It is the day that every true child of God should be in a true local church. Every true child of God should be a member of a true local church. We come together because we are commanded to do so by God. We also come together because that is what we are created to do in Christ Jesus.
A person can holler from the housetop that they are saved. Their actions need to meet up with their words. The actions of the faithful saints in the end of the Tribulation will demonstrate who they truly are and they will be recognized by the Lord Jesus Christ for their faithfulness.
Pastor Bartel
