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NASB | Matthew 24:1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 24:1 Jesus left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the [magnificent and massive] buildings of the temple. [Mark 13; Luke 21:5-36] |
Subject: In the book of Matthew, who are the goat |
Bible Note: I believe that the message is that we are to show love by our actions toward our brother. Jesus says "in as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren" is probably not meant to mean the race of the Jewish people, but more likely first and foremost the Christian that obeys the Lords commands, as He says in another place, "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." And we have the oft admonition of Paul to show compassion, and support unto the household of faith, and again his continuous concern for the poor among the saints throughout the book of Acts. Do not mistake me, I do not believe a person who is hungry should be ignored by a passing saint whether or not that hungry man is part of the church or not. However, if it be a sin to ignore the "unidentifiable" man under the bridge downtown, how much more will we be counted guilty who ignore the needy among our own local fellowship of believers. We are first given the responsibility and accountability before God over our handing of the needs we know about among our brethren and that which is within our poor to relieve. I agree that this passage in Matthew 25:32 does apply to serving all the needy but particularly those of the church. If so.. where will the man end up who claims "belief" in Christ and who has the power to relieve the suffering in his own circle of influence and lifts not a finger to help because doing so might hinder plans for purchasing a bigger house, 5 times larger than his family needs? Will the Lord say.. enter in.. you loose a few rewards.. but it is not that big of a deal.. after all you did believe the things in the Bible really happened. Or will he say.. depart from me... Go over there with the goats. You knew of needs among your own church and it was in your power to help that sister or brother. You said to yourself.. That is the pastors job, if they need help let them go to him. " I am not trying to change the doctrine of Grace, and salvation by faith. However, did you know that Luther had issues accepting James as canonical? This tells me that even then men have a tendency to think actions of love might somehow be related to attempts to making oneself appear righteous by practicing the Law. The two are nothing alike. The law is a list of precepts that one can keep without even understanding their meaning or shadow. Then such a legalist can go about having no love for others and deceive himself into thinking he is righteous because he kept the list of precepts, line upon line. The spiritual man who is following Faith and not the works of the law is full of Love and will be seeking to help others. Does this active love that helps others save the man? No, Faith is what saves Him, but as James said, the kind of Faith that God accepts is not a faith we make up and call it faith, but the kind of Faith HE GIVES US, and that Faith works by Love, there is no such thing as saving faith that does not love others and actively prove it. If we find that we are doing nothing to relieve the suffering of saints in our realm of influence then we have every reason to examine the validity of our faith. We can have the real God kind of Faith, the only kind He accepts, but we must not allow deception to enter in and "ease" our conscience into accepting less than the real kind of Faith that seeks to help others. Otherwise, even those that think they are part of the sheep will find they are nothing but goats in that day. I am afraid that in this age we have a mixed gospel. That sometimes the true Gospel is preached and at other times minister proclaim a false hope of salvation that costs men nothing. The gift of eternal life is freely given to all that believe, and yet this never removes the fact that unless you are willing to take up your cross and follow him (which means you are willing to die for Him) you cannot be His disciple. Therefore Believing is not just mental assent, it is a total commitment unto death. But we have the promise that they that give their lives for His sake will find it. This is to be applied in a spiritual way, on a daily basis indeed, but it is also to be applied to the very act of self sacrifice in a physical way, giving up your own comforts to show love to another. This is message of the true Gospel and the only one that brings salvation. May God Bless You As You Study His Word. |