Who Really Cares?

1. Read: Matthew 25:35, 36 “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: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”

2. About the Text:

1) Jesus is speaking concerning the great judgment that will come upon all mankind.

2) The sheep were the ones who cared for others.

3) Jesus gives for us in these verses, the basic principles of caring for one another.

4) Caring for another person is not the same as having anxiety for someone.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. The hungry need food.

2. God cares for all men in doing his part in providing for man’s nourishment. Acts 14:17

3. He expects us to do our part to provide first for our own nourishment. Genesis 3:19 “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread….”

4. He also expects us to provide for others who need nourishment. Luke 14:12-14 “Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

1. People need shelter from the elements. Wind, Rain, Cold, Snow, Heat, etc.

2. God is a God of shelter. The Psalmist states, ” For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.” Psalm 61:3

3. Jesus speaks of the “stranger” in this passage.

i. The word “stranger” has a different meaning in today’s society.

ii. The original Greek word signified more of a traveler.

iii. It was custom for travelers to ask for lodging when none could be found.

iv. This is what Hebrews 13:2 is speaking about “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

4. We should be ready to provide shelter for the stranger and those in need.

i. Parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:34, 35 says that he put him in an inn.

ii. Notice the example of Lydia. Acts 16:15 “And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.”

iii. Matthew 10:11 “And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.”

1. The naked need clothing.

2. God provided the first clothes for mankind. Genesis 3:21 “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

3. God provided for Israel by extending the life of their clothes. Deuteronomy 29:5 “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.”

4. Notice 2 Chronicles 28:15 “And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.”

5. In Job 31:19 he states that he never failed to act when he saw the poor in need of clothes.

1. Healing the sick was part of Jesus ministry.

i. Matthew 4:24 “And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.”

ii. Luke 9:2 “And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.”

2. Elders have a special role in visiting the sick today.

i. James 5:14, 15 says “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

ii. Anointing with oil was a custom of the day.

iii. God works through providential means today.

3. 1 Thess. 5:14 “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”

1. Prison then was not what it is today.

i. Today prison is largely for criminals.

ii. Back then they had what was called debtor’s prison.

iii. Insane asylums were not know and they usually cast these into prison with the rest.

iv. Slaves that were disobedient to masters were cast into prison.

v. MANY were unjustly imprisoned (See Acts 5:18 and Acts 16:23, 24).

vi. John the baptizer was also unjustly cast into prison.

vii. There were also political and religious prisoners.

2. Regardless, prison today is a place of isolation and loneliness for many.

3. There are also spiritual prisons of our own minds.

4. “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts” (Psalm 119:63).

5. 2 Tim.4:9-13 “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.”

6. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

1. Conclusion–Let us give diligence to care for others.

i. Nourishment

ii. Shelter

iii. Clothing

iv. Comfort

v. Companionship

vi. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again (Proverbs 19:17).

2. Invitation