When Did We…
Amazed and humbled….again. We shake our heads in wonder as we watch a local church in this city pull off massive crusades, do radio and television programs, manage an elementary school, send missionaries to the indigenous and do social outreaches.
Two weeks ago God filled the same plaza we used in August with approximately 25,000 people. There is a shopping mall on one side where people were gathering on the verandas to listen. On the other side is another store similar to a Super Walmart where more people were gathering at the open areas to listen and watch. There were many healings and about 4000 salvations.
Two weeks later on a Saturday, they conducted a social outreach like we’ve never seen before. This one church organized and accomplished a service to the street children, some orphans, some just put out and forgotten. They targeted the poor children of the city and surrounding areas as well. It was the second time they provided this service. The first time there were 700 children who received from this ministry.
At this second outreach, 1350 children were served, almost double from the first time. They had their hair washed, trimmed or cut. They had their teeth cleaned and treated if needed. A doctor examined them and took their weight, height and other vital statistics. If the child was sick or needed medication the doctor gave them instructions for the pharmacy tent. In addition, the pharmacy provided each child vitamins. Then, they moved to the next tent where they were fed. Kevin and I worked in this food tent. Before the children left they were given shoes, shirts and gospel tracts.
This event was an overall miracle of provision, even for the church. They were only prepared for 700 children as before but none walked away without being treated, fed, and receiving new shoes and shirts! God miraculously provided enough for 650 more children!
While parents and family members of some of the children waited, the ministry teams that included pastors, met, ministered and prayed with them. Many of them received salvation! All the various teams managed the flow without a hitch. It was truly amazing! And, it was all at the expense of this one church. It was there, in the parking lot of this church. This will undoubtedly remain one of the greatest experiences of our lives. We saw the following scripture fulfilled in a place in the middle of a country where most, including and especially the religious, are hostile toward Christianity.
Matthew 25:35-36 35‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 
We reflect on Matthew 25:35-36 knowing that on this day orphans, the rejected and those held captive to the bondage of sin were shown the compassion of their loving Savior. We wonder about what would happen if every Christian church would step into this primary purpose that God puts before us. One thing we know for sure is what the following verses say in Matthew 25.
Matthew 25:27-40 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‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39‘And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
But how did the righteous come to be in the presence of Him who was holding an account of what they had done? We have to look at the preceding verses for that answer.
Matthew 25:31-34 31“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32“And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Now we see there were goats and sheep.What about those goats who are also found in the presence of Him who sits on His glorious throne of judgment? After all, it is the nations (vs. 32) that are gathered before Him. Their destiny is seen later in the chapter.
Matthew 25:41-45 41“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44“Then they themselves also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45“Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that 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 eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Some of us are reassuring ourselves in our hearts that we will be on the right side of the throne of judgment. We go to church every Sunday and pay our tithes. We are faithful to our spouses and families. We don’t participate in worldly activities. Some of us may even express our Christianity in ways that others can see outwardly like the religious people of Jesus’s day.
But there is another place Jesus teaching His followers. Here we find an especially hard saying of Jesus. It is where we discover that some of those goats are obviously those who believed they were good Christians!
Matthew 7:21-23 23“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
It is a frightening thing to speculate the possibility of falling short of God’s purpose. If we fail to walk in the love of God we could find ourselves hearing those very words as we stand in His presence where He sits in judgment of all nations. Let us soberly and prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and lives. May we be willing to hear His call and direction. Then let us be faithful to step out and be blessed to be a blessing.