We'll turn this evening to Luke's Gospel chapter
7.
First of all, we're going to study parable
number 10.
And our subject today is loving God and
man.
And Jesus spoke here a parable which tells
us the reason why we are to love
God.
And the reason why some people love God
more than others.
Why some people are willing to sacrifice more
and give more because they love more.
Luke chapter 7, Jesus said in verse 41
and 42, a certain moneylender had two debtors
and that moneylender is a picture of God.
And the debtors are all human beings.
We are in debt to God for all
that he has forgiven us, our sins.
We are in debt every time we commit
a sin.
We are in debt.
Unbelievers are in debt.
Believers are in debt.
One owed 500 denarii and the other 50.
One owed 10 times more than the other
and they were both unable to repay.
He graciously forgave them both.
Which of them therefore will love him more?
Simon said, I suppose the one whom he
forgave more.
And he said to him, you have judged
correctly.
Now let me just say a few words
first about these two things.
Love for God and love for man.
Like the two arms of the cross, vertically
love for God and love for man is
the sum and substance of the entire Old
Testament law and also of the whole Bible.
When Jesus died on the cross, he manifested
his intense love for his father, first of
all, by obeying him completely.
And he also manifested his intense love for
us by dying on the cross.
So the cross is a symbol of total
love for God and total love for man.
We mustn't forget that when we think of
the cross.
Sometimes we think of it only as Jesus'
love for man.
Once when some people wanted to test Jesus
in Matthew chapter 22 and came to him
and asked him, which is the great commandment
in the law?
Matthew 22 verse 36.
And they were trying to trap him with
a question.
And they would find fault with him, whichever
commandment he mentioned.
So he said, the great commandment, the foremost
commandment is to love the Lord your God,
verse 37, with all your heart, all your
soul, and with all your mind.
Then he said, it doesn't stop there.
The second is like unto it, you shall
love your neighbor as yourself.
So he spoke about that vertical love and
the horizontal love.
And he said, the entire law in the
prophets, verse 40, is dependent on these two
commandments.
When Moses came down from the mountain, he
came with two tablets of stone.
And the first tablet had four commandments written
on it.
The first four commandments which spoke about love
for God.
And the other tablet had six commandments written
on it, which spoke about love for our
neighbors, fellow human beings.
So the entire law was summed up in
these two tablets, one which represented love for
God and the other which represented love for
one's neighbor.
And Jesus said, not only the law but
all the teachings of the prophets hung on
these two.
And this is what the law could never
accomplish in anybody's heart.
God wanted man to love him with all
his heart and to love his fellow human
beings as himself.
And he gave these two tablets of stone,
but nobody in all those 1500 years since
the law was given, nobody could come to
this which God wanted.
And that's what we read in Romans chapter
8 and verse 3.
It says there, what the law could not
do.
What was it that the law could not
do?
The law could not make a man love
God with all his heart.
He loved himself.
He loved money.
He loved the things of the world.
No matter how much you preach to them,
they still love money.
They still love themselves.
And they still love the things of the
world.
And all the great prophets preached to them,
it wouldn't change them.
It couldn't get one man to love God
with all his heart.
And it could not get one man to
love his neighbor as himself.
They all loved themselves and they couldn't care
less for most of their neighbors.
So that is what that little phrase in
Romans 8 3 means, what the law could
not do.
That is what the law could not do.
The law could make them keep external commandments.
But now it says in the rest of
that verse, God has done it through sending
Jesus to the earth who lived that life.
And now listen to verse 4, Romans 8
4, that requirement of the law can now
be fulfilled inside us who live according to
the Holy Spirit.
So this is the whole purpose of the
coming of the Holy Spirit.
That this, these dual commandment, this dual commandment
to love God with all your heart and
to love your neighbor as yourself, which the
law could not accomplish, can now be accomplished
by the Holy Spirit coming into our hearts.
Because now God says, I will write these
laws inside your heart, inside your mind.
And when God writes it inside, that means
I can do it.
That means I can love God with all
my heart so that I don't love money,
so that I don't love myself, and I
don't love the things of the world.
And I can have a concern for my
neighbor like Jesus had, that I'm willing to
deny myself to serve him and love him.
And so it says in Romans chapter 5
and verse 5, Romans chapter 5 and verse
5, the middle of that verse it says,
the love of God is poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit that is given
to us.
So why was the Holy Spirit given to
us?
That the love of God may be poured
into our hearts so that my entire heart
can be filled with love for God and
love for my neighbor as myself.
And that is what real holiness is.
And all these parables that we're going to
look at today deal with this dual love
manifested on the cross, which the law could
not accomplish, which can now be accomplished in
our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
If you open yourself to the Holy Spirit
of God to fill you continuously, you will
love God with all your heart.
You don't have to produce it.
No, we cannot produce it.
People tried for 1500 years to do it
and they did not succeed.
You're not going to succeed today.
We have to recognize our weakness and say,
Lord, I cannot do it, but I want
you to fill my heart with the love
of God through the Holy Spirit so that
you write your laws in my heart and
I do what the law could not accomplish.
And then as I said, we will be
holy.
Now this is not a burdensome life.
The devil says, oh, if you start loving
everybody like yourself, it'll be a tremendous burden.
No, it's when you love yourself that you're
sick.
When you obey God's commandments to love God
with all your heart and love your neighbor
as yourself, you're perfectly healthy.
Is anybody afraid of being perfectly healthy?
Supposing we say God's going to do a
work for you that there's no sickness in
you.
Oh, how wonderful that'll be.
Well, whatever is health for the body is
what I'm saying for our spirit.
A man is perfectly healthy in his spirit
when he loves God with all his heart
and he loves his neighbor as himself.
If he doesn't do that, he is sick.
Health is not a burden.
Sickness is a burden.
So having said those words as an introduction,
let me go to this parable.
The first one here, number 10 in Luke
chapter 7, which we just read.
This is a story of a Pharisee who
invited Jesus to his house.
And while Jesus was in the house, a
very sinful woman.
We read in Luke chapter 7 in verse
37, there was a woman in the city
who was a sinner.
She was in all probability a prostitute who
had lived a very wicked life, but who
had repented, whom Jesus had forgiven, and she
did not know how to express her love
for Jesus.
So you know what she did?
She took all the savings that she had
got in her earnings as a prostitute and
she went to the market and she spent
all that money and bought a very expensive
perfume.
If you go to these shops that sell
perfume bottles, they are very, very expensive.
And she bought a large bottle of perfume,
spending her entire savings.
And she came to the feet of Jesus
and she poured it on his feet and
anointed his feet.
We read that in verse 38.
Now Simon was a Pharisee who had invited
Jesus and he knew the Old Testament law.
And I want you to read a verse
in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy chapter 23
and verse 18.
In Deuteronomy chapter 23 and verse 18, there
was an Old Testament law which said that
you must never bring the earnings of a
prostitute into the house of God.
That is an abomination to God if a
prostitute brings her earnings and gives it to
God.
So Simon knew that law and he said,
I know where this woman got her money
from.
She got it through earning it as a
prostitute, a harlot.
And if Jesus were really a prophet, he
would have known this is wrong.
Even I can discern it.
How is it he can't discern it?
So he said, Jesus cannot be a prophet.
That's what he said in Luke 7 39.
But Jesus was a person who was always
breaking these ceremonial laws because he loved people.
He was not here to, you know, make
life difficult for people with the laws.
He would break the Sabbath laws and all
types of laws.
And this is another one that he broke
where he received that hire of a harlot
that was forbidden in Deuteronomy because he saw
the woman's heart.
God looks at a man's heart.
God looks at a woman's heart.
Whereas religious people like that Pharisee, they're always
careful to see whether you obeyed some little
letter of the law.
That's how the Pharisees were always seeking to
get people to see if they're obeying some
letter of the law.
And they've got scriptures to quote.
And I've seen through the years, religious people
like that in Christian circles in all denominations.
I've seen one thing about them.
They never grow spiritually till they get rid
of this legalistic, trying to find fault in
other people with little verses of scripture.
And if any of you are like that,
I want to encourage you to get rid
of it.
Otherwise, you won't find yourself in fellowship with
Jesus Christ.
And then Jesus told this parable to this
person that here were two people who were
in debt and one person owed 10 times
what the other person owed.
500 denarii one person owed and the other
person owed 50 denarii.
500 denarii was about two years salary if
you exclude all the holidays.
Two years salary.
It's a lot of money.
And the other person owed only about two
months salary.
And both were freely forgiven.
So who will love more?
And that man said obviously if somebody's forgiven
more, he loves more.
So there we see the reason why some
believers love God more than others.
And when we love God more, we will
sacrifice more.
Have you seen how a mother sacrifices for
her child?
You know what all she'll give up for
the sake of her children?
Parents.
What a lot parents do for their children
is because they love their children.
They don't do it for strangers out in
the streets.
Love always produces devotion, service, sacrifice.
And you can see that especially in a
mother's love for her children.
She'll deny herself food if the children can
eat properly.
She'll deny herself clothes if the children can
have clothes.
Why is it some people love Jesus also
like that?
That they deny themselves so many things because
they want to pour out their life, their
money, their energy, everything for the Lord in
his work.
And then there are other believers who just
choose a little comfortable life.
Just go to the meetings regularly on Sundays
and ease their conscience.
Shall I tell you the reason?
One has been forgiven 500 and the other
has been forgiven only 50.
Why did the apostle Paul, who was the
son of a very rich businessman in Tarsus,
only rich Jewish businessman went to Tarsus and
who could have lived as a, he after
he was converted he could have gone to
Tarsus and been a respectable Christian businessman and
lived there and attended a local church there
and been a good brother in that church.
Maybe an elder and run his business and
given money for God's work.
Why didn't he do that?
Why did he choose a life of sacrifice
and difficulty?
Where you read 2nd Corinthians chapter 11.
He says there are times when he did
not have enough money to buy food.
This is the greatest apostle of the first
century.
He did not have enough money to buy
food.
Another place in the same chapter he says
he didn't have enough money to buy warm
clothes.
He shivered in the cold.
Why should he choose such a life?
The son of such a rich businessman choosing
such a life.
It was love.
He said I am the chief of sinners
and I have been forgiven and that's why
I want to pour out my love at
the Lord's feet.
Now you know many of us when we
pray we all like to say oh God
I'm such a filthy sinner.
That sounds very humble but most of us
don't really believe it.
Because if somebody else says we are filthy
sinners we get a little upset.
That proves we don't really believe it.
But if you really believe that you're a
filthy sinner and some people say even strong
statements like oh God I'm the filthiest sinner
in the world.
Really?
Well if you are then you must love
the Lord more than anybody else in the
world.
Right?
Because you've been forgiven more than anybody else.
So the next time you call yourself a
filthy sinner please remember that you are under
obligation to prove that by loving the Lord
more than everybody else.
If you believe that you're the worst sinner
in this congregation then you must prove by
your life of sacrifice and devotion to Christ
more than anybody else here.
That's the only way to prove that I
have been forgiven much.
Now does this parable mean that we have
to actually go out and sin a lot
before we love the Lord?
No no no no no.
Paul did not actually go out and commit
so many sins because in another place he
says according to the righteousness of the law
I am blameless.
How do these two things go together?
I'm blameless according to the righteousness of the
law.
Another place he says I'm the chief of
sinners.
It's because the awareness of sin is different
in different people.
It's a question of how much your conscience
convicts you.
Conscience is like a weighing machine.
You know when a weighing machine the spring
in a weighing machine is spoiled.
Even if a big man stands on it
the needle doesn't move because the spring is
spoiled.
And when we are unconverted our conscience is
like that.
Even a big sin we don't get convicted.
You can put one ton and the needle
just moves slightly.
Something's wrong and that's the condition of man's
conscience.
But once we accept Christ gradually the Holy
Spirit begins to work on our conscience on
this weighing machine and makes it more and
more sensitive.
That's how you know you're growing spiritually.
That some sins which you never thought were
sins before now you're convicted.
Now you're convicted about a little word that
you spoke or a little bit of unfaithfulness
in money.
That means the weighing machine is which did
not register even one ton before is now
registering at least 100 pounds or 100 kilos.
And then it's now it's getting a little
more sensitive is registering 10 kilos and then
it gets more sensitive.
Now the weighing machine is getting repaired it's
registering one kilo and it's registering a hundred
grams and more.
The Holy Spirit works on our conscience and
it begins to register 10 grams and it
begins to register one gram and it begins
to register one milligram.
Boy what a work that is.
And so when a very sensitive conscience like
that conscience which can register one milligram any
little weight you put on it the needle
flickers.
So such a man even though he may
be a very holy man he considers himself
a very very great sinner because his conscience
is so sensitive.
And the other man who's actually a much
filthier sinner than this man he doesn't feel
he's such a great sinner because his weighing
machine is defective.
His conscience doesn't register anything.
So that was why a man like Paul
who kept the law from his childhood felt
that he was the greatest of sinners and
that's why according to this parable he felt
he had been forgiven so much.
And if he had been forgiven so much
it was his duty to love the Lord
in return so much.
It all depends on your definition of sin.
Now in the scriptures there are two definitions
of sin.
1 John chapter 3 verse 4 which says
sin is transgression of the law.
That means if God draws a circle and
says don't go outside you go outside and
do something which God told you not to
do transgression of the law that is sin.
The other verse is in James 4 verse
17 where it says if you know that
you should do something good and you don't
do it that's sin.
The first is a sin of commission and
the second is a sin of omission.
Omission means you didn't do it.
You didn't do something that you should have
done.
Now many people don't think of sins of
omission as sins.
For example if the Lord wanted you to
help somebody and you didn't help somebody you
didn't slap him but you didn't help him.
That's a sin.
It's a sin of omission.
But the best definition of sin is in
Romans 3 verse 23 where it says all
have sinned and come short of the glory
of God.
So when your definition of sin is if
I do something wrong that's sin.
You won't be committing many sins because you
can live a whole day without doing anything
wrong and you can say well I didn't
commit any sin today.
You know why you say that?
Because your definition of sin is so shallow.
But when your definition of sin is according
to Romans 3 23 all have sinned and
come short the glory of God.
Then you realize I did not get 100
% according to God's standard today and God
shows me sin.
The glory of God was seen in Jesus
Christ.
So anything less than that is sin.
So when my definition of sin is if
I have acted in any unchristlike way or
spoken an unchristlike word or thought an unchristlike
thought or had an unchristlike motive in what
I did or I had an unchristlike attitude
towards another brother or sister that I've sinned.
Then my standard of sin becomes so high
that I feel there's so many sins in
my life and I ask the Lord to
forgive me and I realize he has forgiven
me so much.
I hope I've explained that clearly that your
awareness of sin depends upon your definition of
sin and you can be a very holy
man and feel that you're a greater sinner
than a prostitute or a thief.
You know like Isaiah when he came into
God's presence he said oh God I'm a
sinful man.
He never felt that till he came into
God's presence and he saw the holiness of
God.
So we see here that this is God's
will that we recognize our sin and from
the fact that God has forgiven us so
much flows out a gratitude to him because
he's forgiven us so much that we pour
out our life in service for him.
Now we turn to parable number 11 in
Matthew chapter 18.
Matthew's gospel chapter 18 in verse 23 to
35 we know this well-known story of
a king who forgave his servant and that
servant went out and did not forgive his
fellow servant.
Now I tried to find out what this
means when it says here in verse 24
that there was a man who owed the
king 10,000 talents.
Now when we read 10,000 talents we
don't know exactly what it means.
So I tried to find out what is
the value of 10,000 talents and I
discovered that 10,000 talents is like 500
million rupees.
I imagine if you had a debt of
500 million rupees.
Boy what a lot of money that is
10 million dollars and Jesus was trying to
show us how many sins we have been
forgiven.
How many sins have you been forgiven thousand
two thousand no five hundred million.
That's how many I hope you recognize that
that's why we need to love the Lord
with all our hearts and this man was
forgiven 500 million rupees and he went out
and he met another man it says here
verse 28 who owed him a hundred denary
which is 800 rupees.
Now you got the understanding of this story.
Here I am forgiven 500 million rupees and
I meet another man who owes me 800
rupees.
Now I realize 800 rupees is a lot
of money but it's nothing compared to 500
million rupees which the king forgave me.
And we read here that when this first
slave did not forgive his fellow slave the
other slaves reported it to the king.
Now I want you to see what the
king said the Lord said to him verse
32 you wicked slave when you don't forgive
somebody what are you you are a wicked
person.
Don't get angry with me I'm not insulting
you I'm just telling you what God's word
says I'm he said you wicked slave verse
32 when you don't forgive somebody I don't
care whether you call yourself believer spirit-filled
or this group or that group if you
don't forgive somebody you're a wicked person.
Wicked what a word what was his crime
did he kill somebody no did he commit
adultery no what was the crime of this
wicked person he just didn't forgive somebody you
know many of us don't realize how serious
a sin it is when we don't forgive
others if you love a person as yourself
don't you want other people to forgive you
well then you must forgive that person and
because he didn't forgive that person it says
this king was first of all moved with
compassion towards him now he was moved with
anger verse 34 God's compassion can become anger
notice that it says here earlier on the
Lord felt compassion verse 27 and the same
Lord verse 34 was moved with anger God
can be moved with compassion towards us or
God can be moved with anger towards us
what does it depend on it depends on
whether you've forgiven the people around you how
many people did he not forgive one person
and if there is one person in your
life whom you have not forgiven God is
moved with anger towards you and says you
wicked man you wicked woman I forgave you
500 million rupees and you go and catch
somebody's throat for 800 rupees and you know
what the Lord did he unforgave his sins
now have you ever heard of unforgiveness you've
all heard of forgiveness but have you heard
of unforgiveness canceling the forgiveness now there are
some people who believe that God never cancels
forgiveness but read this story did he cancel
his forgiveness or not yes he called him
and said hey you pay back your 500
million rupees and you stay in jail till
you pay it back how long do you
think it'll take you to pay 500 million
rupees especially if you're in jail you'll have
to stay there all your life and then
do you know what Jesus said listen to
this verse 35 so shall my heavenly father
do to you so shall my heavenly father
do to you if you don't forgive your
brother from your heart it's not enough to
say to him okay you're forgiven it must
be from your heart I'll give you a
personal testimony you know once someone did some
harm to me and like I have made
it a practice always in my life I
say Lord I've forgiven him I don't want
to hold anything against him I don't think
any evil I don't wish any evil I
want to greet him when I see him
I want to love him I forgive him
but then after some weeks I heard that
something bad happened to him and I felt
a little happy in my heart see I'm
no different from you just the same the
same flesh and then God showed me you
know why you felt so happy in your
heart because you did not forgive him from
your heart I said Lord thank you for
showing that to me I never knew that
I thought I'd forgiven him from my heart
I said Lord I want to really forgive
him from my heart so that next time
I hear if something bad has happened to
him I will not be happy I will
grieve just like I grieve for my brother
or if something good happens to him I'll
rejoice instead of feeling a bit jealous so
very often God shows us by the thoughts
that come in our heart whether we have
forgiven somebody from our heart or not one
of the prayers which I pray and I've
taught all the people in our church to
pray is Psalm 139 verse 24 the last
verse of Psalm 139 where the living Bible
says Lord show me anything in my life
that's making you sad point out anything in
my life that's making you sad it may
be that you haven't forgiven somebody from your
heart so that's the lesson we have to
learn here forgive others because God has forgiven
us so much there's a lovely verse in
the book of Hebrews which says we have
come to the blood of Jesus Hebrews chapter
12 the blood of Jesus which speaks better
things than the blood of Abel you know
what the blood of Abel cried out for
God judge Cain judge Cain judge Cain God
said that your brother's blood is crying out
to me from the ground Genesis chapter 4
when Jesus died on the cross his blood
also fell to the ground and you know
what Jesus blood was crying out father forgive
them forgive them forgive them that's the difference
between Jesus blood and Abel's blood we're not
under the old covenant we're under the new
covenant we don't follow Abel though he was
a righteous man we follow Jesus Christ and
we forgive and our heart's cry is forgive
now we go to parable number 12 Luke
chapter 10 the parable of the good Samaritan
Luke chapter 10 verse 30 to 37 you
know the story there was this man beaten
up when he was traveling from Jerusalem to
Jericho robbers came and beat him up and
he was lying there half dead and this
priest verse 31 came by that road I
want you to see here in Luke chapter
10 verse 31 what did the priest do
what did he do nothing can you sin
by doing nothing yes he did nothing he
didn't kick him no he just left him
alone then a Levite came verse 32 what
did he do he also did nothing he
didn't kick him or spit on him or
call him a bad name or nothing he
just left him alone and then came a
Samaritan and he saw him and picked him
up and took care of him and Jesus
used this parable to show that we have
to be concerned about the needy people around
us whom we meet we must not be
indifferent to their need the priest was going
for a meeting he says no I can't
be bothered to help somebody I have to
go for the meeting you know he's a
holy man going for the meeting and he
didn't want to be late for the meeting
and the Levite was also going for the
meeting so he's I can't be delayed by
all this but the Samaritan maybe he was
also going for a meeting but he said
well I'll have to skip the meeting today
because this man's dying I got to help
him you know religious people are very interested
in going to meetings and reading the bible
but spiritual people are interested in helping others
who they see in need you know to
married couples I often say this in a
home where there are a number of small
children I know my wife had small children
in our home at one time and I
know how difficult it is for a mother
with small children somebody's got to be got
ready for going to school got to send
their lunch box with them and so many
things a little baby is crying and so
many things the mother has to do early
in the morning and the holy father can
be sitting reading the bible in the sitting
room he's having his quiet time and he's
studying hebrews chapter 9 about the tabernacle or
something like that and saying oh god speak
to me and god is trying to say
to him close your bible and go and
help your wife in the kitchen but he
doesn't hear that he's trying to study the
tabernacle that's the levite and the priest oh
he got to go to the meeting they're
going to study the bible but another fellow
who's not so holy who doesn't read the
bible in the morning perhaps he goes and
helps his wife in the kitchen that's the
good samaritan so I'm not saying we shouldn't
read the bible what I say is there
is a time and a place for all
these things and Jesus taught us to be
considerate about struggling people around us it may
be your sister maybe your brother who's in
need and you are engaged in some religious
activity like reading the bible or going to
a meeting or something like that you ignore
the need of this person it may be
your wife it may be somebody in your
home sometimes we don't think our nearest neighbor
is the one we see right in our
home a lot of christians are indifferent to
the needs of those in their home you
know Jesus said how some of you fellows
who go into full-time work and your
father is in need and you say Korban
sorry dad can't give you any money I've
given it for God and Jesus said you
haven't kept the law when the law says
honor your father and mother Jesus said that
he's how can you say you keep the
law when with all your holy activity you
ignore your father who is not having enough
money to survive Jesus spoke about practical christianity
which is not just involved in religious activities
like fasting and praying and reading the bible
and going to meetings but in actually helping
people in need both must go together if
this religious activity does not lead to that
type of activity my faith is dead the
bible says faith without good works is dead
if I say I love God with all
my heart and I don't love that neighbor
of mine that brother of mine who's in
need John the apostle says you're a liar
so that's the meaning of this variable in
this story here and Jesus asked this man
which of these three people verse 36 do
you think proved to be a neighbor he
said the one who went and helped him
and then Jesus said verse 37 go and
do the same sometimes we have to interrupt
our religious activities to help other people I
tell fathers who got little children supposing the
two-year-old child comes with a broken
toy and says dad please fix this broken
toy and the holy father is reading the
bible what should he do he can say
get away I'm busy here you know what
will happen the poor child will cry and
go away one day that two-year-old
child will grow up to be 18 years
old and he will turn to his dad
and say I don't want to talk to
you why why is it many young people
have no time to talk to their fathers
today because their fathers had no time for
them when they were young don't make the
mistake that your fathers did when you have
children take time for them there's nothing wrong
in closing the bible you can read it
some other time fix that little broken toy
and build some fellowship with your little child
that is how we care for the little
little needs of people around us and I
believe a true Christian is one who is
alert to the needs he sees around him
in people I want to encourage you if
you're filled with the holy spirit you will
be alert to the needs of people around
you they won't have to tell you you'll
be alert this good Samaritan was alert and
he helped this man who was in need
now the last parable number 13 is in
Matthew chapter 25 verse 31 to 36 is
the parable where Jesus spoke about the time
when he's going to separate people the nations
Matthew 25 verse 32 like the sheep and
the goats now who are the sheep and
who are the goats this is the point
now we all like to think that we
are sheep and all those other fellows are
goats well let's find out who are the
sheep and who are the goats it says
here that Jesus will turn round to the
sheep on his right hand verse 33 and
34 of Matthew 25 and he will say
to them come you who are blessed of
my father inherit the kingdom which has been
prepared for you from the foundation of the
world why what's the reason because once upon
a time you said lord Jesus come into
my heart no was it only that once
upon a time you signed a decision card
please come into the kingdom no read carefully
because i was hungry and you gave me
something to eat i was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink you didn't just
sign decision cards you helped me i was
a stranger not knowing my way around and
you helped me you took me into my
your house and gave me a meal i
was naked i was in torn clothes and
you had some extra clothes and you gave
them to me and i was in prison
and you thought about me how i must
be feeling lonely in prison and you came
and visited me and encouraged me and the
righteous will say the sheep lord you hungry
i never saw you hungry in my whole
life i never saw you thirsty i never
saw you in torn clothes in fact i
never saw you at all in my whole
earthly life i was always wanting to see
you i was always saying lord show me
Jesus show me Jesus and i never saw
Jesus how many of you would like to
see Jesus isn't that wonderful and Jesus said
yes you did see me when you saw
one of these young brothers of mine you
actually saw me because i dwelt in his
heart that young sister who was poor who
was hungry that young brother who was thirsty
who didn't have proper clothes who was in
prison who was sick you came and encouraged
me if you want to see Jesus you
can see him he's far closer than we
think in the needy brothers and sisters in
the church he's not talking about the whole
world he says my brothers he's not talking
about the whole world he's talking about my
brothers those who are particularly his children who
are in need what is your attitude towards
them that is your attitude to Jesus and
that determines which side of the lord you're
going to stand in the final day that
determines whether you're a sheep or a goat
and remember this that in that day we
will not be able to move from one
side to the other isn't it interesting that
the righteous could say lord when did that
happen you know that's one mark of a
righteous man he does good and he doesn't
remember it what about you do you remember
all the good that you've done to different
people or will you say oh i don't
remember that when did i do that it's
a mark of a righteous man he does
good and he forgets it now the opposite
of this we find in Matthew chapter 7
verse 22 of some other people who stand
at the judgment seat of Christ but they
remember everything they did they're not like these
people they say lord here's a list of
all that i did in my life i
prophesied in your name i cast out demons
in your name Matthew 7 22 i did
miracles in your name and that's just a
little sample lord i give out tracts in
your name i went to so many places
and preached in your name i did this
in your name i did that in your
name and i did the other thing in
your name i healed the sick in your
name and Jesus would say get away from
me i don't even know you isn't that
amazing that the people who got a list
of all the things they did for the
lord are sent to hell and the other
people who say lord when did we do
anything good for you i don't even remember
they say come to heaven god's ways are
not our ways but notice one thing what
did the fellow in Matthew chapter 25 do
he visited the sick and he went to
heaven what did the fellow in Matthew 7
do he healed the sick and he went
to hell how do you like that you
visit the sick and you go to heaven
you heal the sick and you go to
hell because the man who visited the sick
said brother i'm sorry i don't have any
gift of healing but i brought you some
plantains and oranges that's all i can do
i just came to encourage you and pray
for you i don't have any gift of
healing i want to pray for you i
just want to tell you i'm praying for
you and that fellow was so encouraged the
other fellow who healed the sick he was
just seeking his own honor he didn't know
the lord it's interesting faith without works is
dead if you say you love god so
much and you don't love your fellow believers
you're a liar these parables teach us the
importance of love for god with all of
our hearts because we've been forgiven so much
and love for our fellow believers who are
in need may god help us let's pray
the word of god demands a response from
your heart what you have heard is a
standard so high that you can never reach
it you know what you need you need
to be filled with the holy spirit so
that god can write his laws in your
heart and mind ask him to fill you
with the holy spirit to fill your heart
with the love of god so that you
can love god with all your heart and
never love anything on this earth because you
love god with all your heart and that
you will ask god to fill your heart
with love for your fellow believers heavenly father
as we bow before you help us to
live in the light of the word of
god that we have read we pray in
jesus name