Sermon 4/06/03 pm

Jim Huskey, God Remembers Good, Too

This morning we looked at a principle from the Old Testament, be sure

your sin will find you out, as Moses warned the children of Gad and

Reuben that if they didn't follow up on their promise to go across

Jordan and help take the land of Canaan that they would sin against

God, and they could be sure their sin would find them out. They would

lose their inheritance they wanted on the east side Jordan and they

would have to settle in the land of Canaan rather than the place they

desired. A lot of times we emphasize that part of the principle.

There is another side of it.

In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus sets forth a very wonderful principle

that illustrates another facet of that. In Matthew 10:37 beginning,

Jesus says, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not

worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not

worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me,

is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he

that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you

receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He

that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a

prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of

a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever

shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water

only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no

wise lose his reward." Matt. 10:37-42.

We're living in a age of big things, when people like to emphasize how

big a congregation is, how much money they have, how many programs they

have, all sorts of things of this nature. One of the interesting things

to me is, in so many instances Jesus emphasized just the opposite.

Jesus emphasized some small things. For instance, in the above

passage he gave assurance that even a cup of cold water given would be

remembered. Now I want you to think about that for a minute. So much

of the time people are prone to remember BIG things, but God remembers

LITTLE things. Why? There's a reason for that. The average "john doe"

out here, the average member of the church, in a lot of respects is

probably not capable of big things on his own. So God is mindful of

the little things that are done.

Do you remember the story of the widow and her two mites? Jesus said

in his eyes she had cast in more than anybody else, even though she,

in a monetary amount only cast in what would be equal to about a

penny. But the Bible says that was her whole living. Mark 12:41-44.

So God reckoned it as more than anybody else had given. God remembers.

You see, sometimes I think we get in a negative groove, maybe, and

emphasize a lot of negatives, but when we stop and think the was God

remembers things, when we do something, God doesn't forget about that.

It may be just a little something, but God said we don't lose our

reward for that, that's going to be remembered.

There are a couple passage that come to mind. In Hebrews, Paul is

trying to encourage those Jewish christians to remain faithful and he

wrote, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of

love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered

to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do

shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end; and

be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience

inherit the promises." Heb. 6:10-12. God is not unrighteous to forget

our work and labour of love. He remembers those things.

In II Timothy, Paul wrote, "The Lord give mercy unto the house of

Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;

but when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligenlty, and found

me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that

day, and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou

knowest very well." II Tim. 1:16-18. 'The Lord grant mercy to the

house of Onesiphorus.' What did he do? He found Paul when he was in

jail and he went to see him; he went to see him and brought comfort to

him.

Then that brings to mind another passage over in the book of Matthew,

chapter 25, beginning with verse 31. "When the Son of man shall come

in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon

the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations;

and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth

his sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right

hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on

his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom

prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an

hungred, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink;

(there's that cup of cold only, Matt. 10:42) I was a stranger, and ye

took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me;

and I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous

answer him, saying, Lord when saw we thee an hungred, 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." Matt. 25:31-40.

One of the things that for a long time escaped me about that passage

is the list of things the Lord included in it, and the things he didn't

include in it. When we begin to look at it, he doesn't say anything

about clothing the masses, he doesn't say anything about feeding all

the world's poor, he doesn't say anything about a big prison ministry,

he doesn't say anything about a big visitation program, or anything

like that. But he said 'I was thirsty and you gave me drink.' In

other words, one person. 'I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I

was hungry.' Like I said, he doesn't say anything about feeding the

world's masses; he talks about one individual - 'I was hungry, you

gave me someting to eat; I was sick, and you came to see me. You did

what you could; I was in prison, and you came.' Now we've already

read the Lord's statement - 'whoever shall give a cup of cold water

only won't lose his reward', Matt. 10:42. Now here the Lord again

is using that as one of the things in illustrating what is going to

happen on judgement day. 'You saw me thirsty and gave me something to

drink.' Then we've read from Paul's pen, 'The Lord grant mercy to the

house of Onesiphorus....he wasn't ashamed of my chains." II Tim. 1.

In other words, Paul was a prisoner in Rome, Paul was in jail; so when

Onesiphorus came to Rome, he found Paul, went to see him, and provided

what comfort he could for Paul. And Paul said 'he sought me out, he

oft refreshed me, and he wasn't ashamed of my chain.'

So from this list of things that are recorded in Matthew chapter 25

and the judgment secne, we find them scattered here and there throughout

the New Testament - God's people doing things they could do. You see,

there's a principle involved here. God doesn't require us to do things

we're not capable of doing. He doesn't require us to give something we

don't have. He doesn't require us to use a talent we don't have. One

of the things that stands out is the simplicity. God placed salvation

within the reach of the common person. It was said of Jesus that the

common people heard him gladly, Mark 12:37. So the things that are

recorded are not big things but little things. Maybe that was why the

prophet Zechariah said, "For who hath despised the day of small things?

Zech. 4:10.

I'm afraid our age has lost sight of small things. We emphasize

bigness, the Lord emphasizes doing those little things, those little

things concerning which he said, 'you won't lose your reward.' I'm

glad. That leaves it within the reach of all of us.