Whom Will Christ Welcome?

Christ says to his redeemed people, «Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, 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.

«Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 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.» Faithful work is acceptable to God. Heaven smiles upon the one who through patient continuance in well-doing accomplishes a work which can only be done through self-denying labor. Talk is cheap; but good works, like carrying for the needy, the fatherless, and widows, are genuine fruits, and grow naturally on a good tree. This is working together with Christ.

Pure religion and undefiled before the Father is this: «To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep . . . unspotted from the world.» Christ requires deeds of benevolence, of kind words, of tender regard for the poor, the needy, and the afflicted. When hearts sympathize with hearts burdened with discouragement and grief, when the hand dispenses to the needy, when the naked are clothed, and the stranger made welcome to a seat at your fireside and a place in your heart, angels come very near; and an answering strain responds in heaven; for every deed of justice and mercy makes sweet music in the courts of the great King. The Father from his throne beholds, and numbers the doers with his most precious treasures. «And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day, when I make up my jewels.» Every kind and merciful act is counted as if done for Jesus, and brings the doer into closer relationship with him.

Then shall Christ «say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; 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. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, . . . and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.»

What a oneness Jesus here expresses as existing between himself and his suffering disciples. He makes their case his own. He identifies himself with them as being in person the very sufferer. And the terrible punishment threatened those on the left is not in this case on account of their great sins. They are not condemned for the things they did do, but for what they did not do. Mark it, selfish Christians, every neglect of yours to the needy poor, the widow, the fatherless, is a neglect to Jesus in their persons. You are unfaithful to the duties Heaven assigns you. You please yourself, and can take your portion with the self-pleasers.

Our heavenly Father lays blessings disguised in our pathway, but some will not touch these for fear of detracting from their own enjoyment. Angels are waiting to see if we will accept these opportunities, if we will bless others that they may bless us again. The Lord himself has made us to differ — some poor, some rich, some afflicted — that all may have an opportunity to develop character. The poor are purposely permitted of God to be thus, that we may be tested and proved, and develop what is in our hearts.

«Be not forgetful to entertain strangers,» an apostle says; «for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.» When Elijah came to the widow of Sarepta, she shared her morsel with the prophet of God; and through the miracle that followed, she herself was sustained, and her life and that of her son preserved. Thus will it prove in the case of many, if they will do their duty cheerfully, for the glory of God.

«That which ye sow shall ye also reap.» The harvest is coming, the great reaping time, when we shall reap what we have sown. There will be no failure in the crop; the harvest is sure. Now is the sowing time. Now is the time to become rich in good works, «ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may lay hold on eternal life.»