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Why Do I Keep Harping On This Subject?
Please let me explain ... and please don't stop reading this message until you finish it.
Yes. It's a hard message. I don't bother trying to candy-coat the truth, because I don't have to worry about congregation members being "offended" [by the truth] and leaving my church.
So, here is the hard truth:
Who are the sheep and who are the goats?
Matthew 25:31-46: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ...
So who are these sheep and goats? Have you always assumed that because you profess to be a Christian and attend church [and occasionally read the Bible and occasionally pray, etc., etc.], that you will be counted among the sheep? Why have you assumed that? The scriptures seem to indicate just the opposite in many instances.
Jesus himself said, "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
[Do people not claiming to be Christians "prophesy" in Jesus' name? Do people not professing to be Christians drive out demons and perform miracles in Jesus' name? It sounds to me like these goats thought for all the world that they were going to be counted among the sheep.]
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." --Matthew 7:21-27
But what words must we put into practice? What is God's will for us? Well, I don't presume to know what God speaks to each of you individually, but I do know at least one thing that he expects and requires all of us to do. Let's finish reading the words of Jesus in Matthew, chapter 25:
Matthew 25:31-46
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, 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, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
And what about the scriptures in the books of James and 1st John?
They seem to say the same thing:
I John 3:17-18: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
JAS 1:22-25: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
JAS 2:14-20: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
JAS 5:1-5: Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
Are you consuming the resources God has given to you ... that He intended for you to use to help feed hungry (starving to death) people? What did you do this month instead of helping to save a few lives -- or a few dozen, or a few hundred? Go to church? Say a prayer for the hungry? Prophesy? Cast out demons in Jesus' name? Sing a song? Lead yet another Bible study? Profess your faith? Go on vacation to the beach? Play a round of golf? Buy another useless gadget?
There's still time to repent (be sorry, ask forgiveness and start acting/living differently).
Life is too short and eternity too long to even risk the possibility that we may be counted among the "goats".
Can we feed everyone? No. Can we feed some? Yes. But which ones? How many? How much money does God want you or I to give to feed the hungry? How can we know?
By asking Him and then waiting and listening for an answer.
Have you even asked lately?
So what did He say?
Are you doing what he said?
Are you giving what he told you to give?
It is estimated that about forty-one thousand children die of starvation every day.
Do you know what it feels like to die of starvation?
I don't either. So I looked it up. I read about it.
It takes a long time. It is slow and painful.
And totally unnecessary for anyone on this earth to die that way.
If you spend your life ignoring those children, pretending they don't exist, that it's not your problem, that God hasn't "called" you to help, letting them die, day after day after day, while you consume the resources God meant for them ...
then, frankly, you deserve to hear the words, "Depart from me...".
That is the plain, hard truth that you probably won't hear from your local church pulpit.
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