In consideration of the Christian duty of benevolence, the first question that comes to mind is: Is benevolence a duty? And if a duty, what does it mean to be a duty? Of course, we who have planned this meeting believe it to be a duty, along with the other topics already discussed. The problem that we have as Christians, is that we some times look at our duties as optional. We see Christianity after baptism as a matter of trying to remain unstained from this world. Evangelism, edification, benevolence, and other Christian duties, we might look upon as "extra" or optional. I believe that we may hold these beliefs to our own destruction. Is benevolence a duty? Let’s see what the scripture says.

Matthew 25: 31-46:
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:
³²   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:
³³   And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
³⁴   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:
³⁵   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:
³⁶   Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
³⁷   Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
³⁸   When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
³⁹   Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
⁴⁰   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.
⁴¹   Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
⁴²   For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
⁴³   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.
⁴⁴   Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
⁴⁵   Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
⁴⁶   And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

In this illustration we see Jesus coming in His kingdom, and He gathers the nations, and separates them, "as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats". The righteous are labeled as the sheep and enter heaven. I won’t go any further without making note that what I believe to be one of the most beautiful, and most encouraging things said about heaven is said in this passage. Heaven is called "the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world". God made heaven with man in mind. It is not a place that he prepared for Himself that he will bring us unto. It is a place that He has prepared for us, that He might be there with us. He will still be The Almighty God, and He will be among us, but he has considered us in the creation of heaven. He has put first, those things that will be rewarding to us. How much more perfect a place can heaven be than that? In our text, the righteous, the sheep, go to such a place.

But what of the goats? We see the goats sent to hell. This not described as a place prepared with man in mind. Rather this is a place of punishment "prepared for the devil and his angels". God did not prepare hell to punish man, for He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hell is prepared as a place to punish Satan and his angels, and whatever punishment is meted out in hell, will be punishment worthy of the transgressions of Satan himself. It is not a punishment intended for man, but some men due to their stubbornness will find themselves subjected to this punishment as do the "goats’ in our text. It will not be Satan administering the punishment, but rather he will be punished equally and alongside all those who find themselves in this state for eternity.

Now, the question is: Why did these "goats" end up in hell? The answer is obvious. They weren’t benevolent. They didn’t give food to the hungry, or drink to the thirsty. They didn’t minister to the needs of the naked, the stranger, the sick, or the prisoner. Now we know that there are a number of other ways that someone could end up in hell. But Jesus , in this example gives no reason other than their simple lack of benevolence. To me it seems as if no other reason was necessary. These people had failed in their duty of benevolence, and in doing so had sinned.

This is the danger when we look upon duty as optional. If we see something as optional, then we tend to justify our failure before God as if "it wasn’t really necessary anyway". If we see something as duty, then we appeal to the blood of Christ for justification of our failures, just like any other sin. Our text in Matthew seems to make it clear that failure in the duty of benevolence can result in eternal punishment just as quickly as stealing, adultery, lying, murder or any other sin. None of us may ever be perfect in the carrying out of our duty of benevolence, but we need to know that we should seek forgiveness when we fall short. We need to be sure to treat failure of duty like any other sin. It requires repentance and humility, and most especially the blood of Christ to be justified. One of the craftiest tricks of Satan is to get us to try to justify ourselves before God.

Now some may look at the text and say that I may have misinterpreted what is said. My interpretation is based on the premise that Jesus might have actually said exactly what he meant in this passage. I will give, however, that some of the language is figurative. (After all, it is talking about sheep and goats.) Additionally, the saved that do go to heaven in this passage, go there only for being benevolent. We know that more is required than that. Let’s consider for a moment, did Jesus say exactly what he meant? If he did, then we should be able to find support for this elsewhere in scripture. I believe we can.

We find elsewhere in scripture that to remove benevolence from our Christian walk, is to defile our religion.

James 1: 27 reads:
²⁷   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.

As we see here, and was spoken earlier, pure and undefiled religion is more than simply remaining unstained from the world. Visiting widows and orphans in their affliction is necessary as well. These two aspects are inseparable. Remove either and our religion becomes defiled and impure.

Now when it says visiting widows and orphans in their affliction, that doesn’t mean that we simply drop by to make notice of their affliction. When visiting widows and orphans in their affliction is said, some attention to that affliction is implied. We’re not to simply leave them in the afflicted state in which they were found. Benevolence is to be applied at this point to relieve their distress. To not do so, would be faith without works. In fact, when James writes about faith and works later in this book, benevolence is the very work he uses in example.

James 2: 14-17 reads:
¹⁴   What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
¹⁵   If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
¹⁶   And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
¹⁷   Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

It is not enough to simply offer words of encouragement at this point. We can simply say "I know that the Lord will take of your needs". The provision that the Lord has made for those needs is to place us there to attend to them. To leave these needs unattended is James’ definition of faith without works, a dead faith. This is a faith that is useless to serve and useless to save.

Additionally, to not attend to needy brethren is to not show mercy.

James 2:13:
¹³   For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

This, simply makes the same statement that Jesus made in greater detail in our earlier text. He (God) will judge without mercy, those who have not shown mercy, those who weren’t benevolent. It would seem then, that benevolence is a duty. And failure in that duty is enough to earn eternity in hell, the same as any other sin.

We know that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. However, I believe that it is our love for God that truly keeps us faithful. The point is that if we do our benevolence simply to stay out of hell, there is not much likelihood that we will stay faithful in it. Additionally, we will give our benevolence grudgingly and not out of generosity and love as it should be. As Christians, we must develop the proper mindset for benevolence. I could not find scripture commanding this ( bear in mind, I still have not memorized every scripture), but I could think of one example.

2 Corinthians 8: 1-2:
¹   Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
²   How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

In the context of this passage, we find Paul, making collection from various churches during his travels, in order to make provision for the needy brethren in Jerusalem. As he travels through Macedonia he finds that the churches in this region are impoverished to such a level that he doesn’t even want to ask them for a contribution. When the Macedonian brethren learn of the need for funds in Jerusalem, however, Paul is unable to restrain them from giving. How were they able to give this gift in spite of their "deep poverty"? Paul’s own words "the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality". They had received so much from the Lord that it produced joy. Jesus, through His sacrifice, had given them eternal life. For free!! He had to give it to us for free, because we would never be able to afford to pay for it. These brethren being so joyful for the blessings received, demanded to participate in any work of the church that was available. The joy of these brethren was so great that when added to their poverty, it produced liberality. Christians should all have this view of giving.

I don’t want to leave the subject of giving without covering the "laying by in store on the first day of the week". I believe that our giving on Sunday is only a small part of benevolence, but the topic runs so near that I felt that I should cover it. Is laying by in store a duty or an option? We’ve already talked about the importance of knowing the difference. Let’s consider 1 Cor 16: 1&2.

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Let me pose the question. When Paul says "let every one of you lay by him in store", who does that leave out? All I’m trying to say is that maybe when Paul said every one of you, that he meant every one of us . In this text I can see only a small number exempted from giving. Those who can stand honestly before the Lord and say "Lord, you have not prospered me". Otherwise, even if I’m only slightly prospered, I’m required to give something!

Now one might ask, "Doesn’t the bible say that I’m not to give of necessity"? Yes it does, and if Paul is saying we’re required to give in this passage, then the other passage cannot conflict. Let’s take a look at

2 Corinthians 9:7
⁷   Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

The language here is similar "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give".

Who does this leave out? Anyone who purposes in their heart not to give. I would hate to be prospered by God, and have to explain why I purposed not to give. Also bear in mind that the context here is that Paul is about to arrive with the Macedonian brethren, and Paul does not want the Corinthian brethren to be embarrassed by their contribution since they’ve had a year to save up. He fears if they are embarrassed that they might try to grudgingly scrape together at the last minute.

The point here is that it is wrong to give grudgingly or of necessity, but it’s not the gift that needs to be fixed. Its the heart. The problem is we have the wrong type of heart in our giving. We need to fix the heart and not the gift. I’m not saying that nobody qualifies to refrain, if this were true there would be no need for benevolence in the church. What I do say is that this is a much smaller group than we might think. A group limited only to those who truly have not been prospered by the Lord in a financial way. I also don’t believe that it is appropriate to immediately start hounding new Christians to give money. However part of the process of edification is to make these brethren aware that it is a duty to put something into that collection plate on Sunday.

As I said earlier that one of the Devil’s best tricks is to get us to believe that duty is optional. We have to beware.

Now, I’d like to move on to other areas of benevolence. I owe much of the remainder of the lesson to Elise Parkinson who asked me a simple question. "What is benevolence". This made me actually look it up in the dictionary. I found that the closest synonym for benevolence was kindness. In fact, I would go so far to say that all true benevolence finds it’s root in kindness. So, is kindness required or optional?

Galatians 5:22-23 reads:
²²   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³   gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  (NASB)

Now in the preceding verses, Paul also speaks of the works of the flesh. Paul says that the works of the flesh are manifest, or obvious. What follows are several things, each of which, by itself constitutes a work of the flesh. Each by itself can result in damnation, and does not need to be combined with other works of the flesh to have that result. The list is not necessarily complete because the works of the flesh are manifest. Anybody should know a work of the flesh when they see one. In the Galatians 5:22&23 Paul has another list describing the fruit of the Spirit. These are inseparable. It does not say fruits of the Spirit. Each does not stand alone as a fruit, but all combine to make up the fruit. Kindness is one of the components of the fruit. If the fruit that you bear does not include kindness, it is no longer the fruit of the Spirit. What happens to branches that bear the wrong kind of fruit? Cut off and cast into the fire, right? Understand that we aren’t elevating kindness above the other parts of the fruit, but it is our topic. It seems clear that kindness as well is a duty and not optional for the Christian.

One group of people that is much in need of kindness is those described by Paul as "them that are without".

Colossians 4:5-6 reads:
⁵   Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
⁶   Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

If we take verse 5 out of context, we could easily think that Paul speaks of the needy when he says "them that are without". In context, and considering some of the more contemporary translations of the Bible we can see that this really speaks of "outsiders". If you think about it there is nobody needier than those who are without the gospel. I’m sure that we’ve all been approached by somebody in public places for money. I’m not saying that this is a good thing, but sometimes I don’t give them any money. But sometimes I do. Usually I’m just hoping that they will take the money and go away. We should have a different attitude about this. Benevolence in this case is to give people what they need. I’m mindful of Acts chapter 3, where Peter and John find the man who was paralyzed from birth at the temple gate. The man asked for money and in verse 6 Peter said "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk". We don’t have the power to heal the lame in this way, but we do have the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. We have the Gospel. We have the Keys to the Kingdom. When we’re reaching in our pocket for a couple of dollars, we should at the same time be reaching for the keys. These people are as eligible for salvation as anyone else. I know that we sometimes worry that they will simply be a drain on the resources of the church, but that is not a judgment that we can make in advance. If they will not work, they should not eat. We have to bring them into the church to test their willingness to work. I guarantee if we start preaching to these people, we are certain to find where their heart really lies.

Another group that is in true need of kindness, or benevolence are the lost sons, the people that come forward to rededicate their lives to Christ. This is benevolence that doesn’t cost anything. These people have a special place in my heart as I have been one of them. In Luke chapter 15, Jesus relates a parable of the lost son. Sometimes when I read it, it tugs at my heartstrings, as it so closely parallels my own life. I was baptized at an early age. I was faithful throughout my teenage years. I was one of the leading young men in the youth group in Ridgecrest. I went away to college and went away from the church. I want to make it clear that I wasn’t living a nice Christian life and simply not going to church. That was my plan, but that wasn’t how it worked out. No, much like the lost son in the parable, I squandered my inheritance in "riotous living". I won’t go into detail, let’s just say that my living was about as riotous as living gets. I was away from the church for more than ten years.

I did finally come to my senses. It seemed to be a slow process. I remember being invited to worship at Central Christian Church by a friend. I went, just to be friendly. I remember it seemed familiar, but there was something wrong with it. I remember visiting my parents on weekends. They would go off to church, and I would stay home. My young niece would ask "Uncle Jack, why aren’t you going to church"? I’d tell her that I didn’t feel like it. I remember one Sunday she said to her grandmother, "If uncle Jack doesn’t feel like going to church, then I don’t feel like it either". That really got me. I got up, got dressed, and went to church, just to keep peace in the family. It’s funny, at this point I knew that my niece needed to be in church, but still didn’t see any need for me being there.

I don’t remember the catalyst that brought everything together. I don’t remember the date. I do remember that it was late on a Wednesday night, too late to attend a Bible study. I was a man in my early 30’s, laying on my bed, crying like a little baby. I didn’t think of the scripture at the time but it must have been the same thing Solomon felt when he wrote "vanity of vanities, all is vanity". Over 30 years of my life had come to absolutely nothing. I realized that to fear God and to keep his commandments was the whole duty of man, a duty that I had long ago forsaken. All I knew to do was to pray, and because of my state, I wasn’t even sure that God would listen. Looking back, and considering our parable, I see that the Father noticed the lost son at a "great distance" and ran out and fell on his neck and kissed him. I kind of feel that God gave me a kiss on the neck that night. I also got my Bible out and started to read, for the first time in over 10 years. It was the old King James that my grandmother had given me to commemorate my baptism. It’s funny, I had lost many possessions over the years, moving and what-not, but I still had that Bible. I knew exactly where it was. I dusted it off and began to read. I’ve tried to keep up with regular reading and study since that time. Sometimes like in everything else, I fail.

I knew that I needed to go forward on Sunday. I drove around the rest of the week and looked at the buildings of the Churches of Christ here in the vicinity. I chose Palmdale. I picked Palmdale because of outward appearance. The building needed paint, the planter had morning glories mingled with weeds. There was grass growing in the parking lot. They looked like they could use a worker, and I needed to work. Much like the lost son, I didn’t feel worthy to be a son. I just wanted to be as one of the hired hands. I went there Sunday morning at 11:00 AM. I’d been raised in the church, so I thought that this was the "scriptural" time for worship. They go an hour earlier there. I saw the brethren out front and was too embarrassed to go up to them. I checked the sign and they did meet at the "correct" time in the evening, 6:00 PM. I came back, I went forward, confessed, and placed membership. There must have only been about 10 people there, but every one of them came to me, greeted me warmly, offered to help with anything I needed. I don’t know that I ever felt so much love from so few people. I don’t know where I’d be if not for their kindness. This benevolence didn’t cost any one of them a penny.

I attended all of their meetings, and they were quick to put me to work, waiting on the table or leading a prayer. One of the most benevolent that they did was to accept me in such a fashion as to put me to work. Again, it didn’t cost them anything. After about three weeks, one Sunday I was just feeling too weak to go to church. The brethren didn’t call me in the following week, but rather Brother Charles Lee called me that very Sunday afternoon. He asked how I was, said that he had missed me, and was there anything that I needed. I lied to him. I said that I was sick, but I was starting to feel a lot better, and would be at the Sunday evening service. He said that he looked forward to seeing me there. (We never spoke of it, but he probably knew that I was lying.) I’d have to say that phone call was the most benevolent thing that anybody has ever done for me. I don’t know what would have happened to me had I not gotten that call. I don’t know that I would ever have felt strong enough to go back. This is why kindness and benevolence are commanded, because they can make such a difference in a life.

There’s one thing in our parable that really torques my jaws. It’s the faithful son, and his attitude. Remember, he wouldn’t come to the party. His Father killed the fatted calf and had a feast. His son that was dead had returned alive! His son that was lost had been found! And the faithful son was too proud to even come to the party. Interestingly enough, both son’s believe the same thing, that the lost son is no longer worthy to be a son. This common belief keeps them apart, and that is quite sad.

Scripture tells us that angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner repents. I know now that on that Wednesday, as I prayed, drenched in my tears, angels in heaven were rejoicing. I know that when I went forward on that Sunday, angels were rejoicing again. There was a party going on in heaven, and I don’t know where I’d be if the brethren had been too proud to come to the party. I do know that anybody that has ever truly felt like the lost son, could never behave like the faithful son. If you’ve felt only worthy to be the hired hand, you’d never be too proud to come to the party.

But it can be a problem in the church that we have not enough "hired hands" and too many "faithful sons". Usually this comes about when somebody has gone to the well once to often. We might get the attitude that "they come down there all the time. when are they going to get their act together!" Do you think that after I went forward that Sunday in Palmdale, that I was a model Christian from that point forward? Let me tell you, riotous living doesn’t go away that easy. I should have been forward probably a lot more often than I was. Some times I would seem like I was repenting of the same sin over and over. And would fall right back into the same snares. But I keep (present tense) working on these things and try to bring myself more in agreement with what Christ would have me be. As I read the scriptures, angels rejoice whenever I repent. They don’t stop because I’ve repented of this one before. When one of our brethren is coming forward on a repeated basis because they’re having trouble shaking of sin. They’re trying to change but having little success. They’re asking for our prayers. They’re repenting, and the angel’s are rejoicing. There’s a party going in heaven, and brethren we better not be too proud to attend. If we are, then we should be down in front repenting right alongside of them, because our hearts are wrong.

Brethren, benevolence is a duty. It’s required and not optional. I believe that it is required because, among all of Christian duties, this one really touches and changes lives. Benevolence has changed my life. The lesson is yours.

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