Hello. Remember me?
No? Well. I’m back.
There’s a lot of talk right now about strangers and
ministers. So, who is a stranger? Who is
a minister? What should I do? Jesus answered these questions Himself. He did not use a parable. His meaning wasn’t veiled for the disciples
only. Jesus said
Matthew
25:31-46
31 When the
Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And
before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he
shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 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:
35 For I was
an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a
stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked,
and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came
unto me.
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.
41 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:
42 For I was
an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 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.
44 Then
shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or
athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister
unto thee?
45 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.
46 And these
shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
His message is pretty clear.
He said it more simply to Peter when He said ‘if you love me, feed my
sheep.’
As Believers, we don’t have the luxury of
discrimination. God gave His Son for the
whole world, while we were yet sinners as the saying goes. He didn’t send His Son for those who already
loved Him. He sent His Son that the
whole world; past, present and future generations might return to Him. And He
said He would do the sorting, not us.
So, whom do we serve?
We serve God. How do we serve
Him? When we ‘do it to the least of
these'. Who is supposed to do the work?
Isn’t that work for a minister?
Yes. To minister is to
serve. If you serve God, you’re a
minister and this is work we must do.
As we move forward in our belief, we have to come to a point
where we accept Jesus as Lord as well as Savior. He has to be more than a rescue plan; He has
to be sovereign in this life as well as the next. We have to start learning that picking up our
cross means denying what we want to do.
We literally must put down our prejudices, our plans, our life and
submit ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.
The sacrifice doesn’t get to choose how it’s used. It just makes itself available.
We know the strangers.
If we’ve confessed Christ, and see a need, we are obliged to act. If you see then need, then you were the
minister sent to that situation. That’s
why you’re seeing it.
Romans
12:1
I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
If you're looking for a church home in Atlanta metro area, please consider visiting us.
Fellowship Church
455 GA Hwy 138 W Jonesboro, GA 30238
Disciples Class - Tuesdays at 7:00 PM
Sunday School - Sundays at 10:00 AM
Morning Worship - Sundays at 11:30 AM
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