Gospel
"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee." Proverbs 25:21-11
The Bible says when your enemy hungers feed him and when he thirsts give him drink for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire upon his head.
We know that Proverbs are basically wise sayings some practical and some like parables full of spiritual meaning.
God delights when we do good to our enemies. Jesus said, "If ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same." Luke 6:33
Now a logical question we must ask ourselves is what is the greatest good we can do to our enemy which is in fact our neighbor? Is it to simply give them a loaf of fresh bread or a gallon of water? No that isn't what they need the most is it?
That will only sustain a person for a limited amount of time.
Is this Bible verses in Proverbs 25 only to be taken in a literal sense of physical food and water? As is often the case in the Bible God reveals a deeper spiritual meaning by showing us the gospel throughout holy scripture. In this particular passage I take it to have a deeper spiritual meaning that those who are hungry are those who need the gospel.
Those who are thirsty you give them Christ who is the living water which is a fountain that never runs dry. This is what our enemies especially need because they do not know Jesus. We are to do good to all men but if we only do good or godly things for Christians only then what reward do we have?
Unbelievers love their own (i.e. those of the world)but the disciples of Jesus Christ are to love those who not only love them but those who do not love them. As we search the Bible we find that the greatest love in fulfillment of the second table of the law is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The greatest love that we could have for ourselves is that we might love God and be saved.
We are to desire our neighbor's salvation so that if our enemy hungers we are to give him bread. The bread will either satisfy to the saving of our enemie's souls or it will result in them trampling upon that precious name we hold so dear. If the latter is the case then judgement on that individual is certain which is heaping coals of fire on their head.
Bread in the Bible points us to Jesus Christ who said, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." John 6:35
Jesus also pointed out the importance of his disciples not laboring for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to eternal life. John 6:27 The food which perishes is of course physical food for our earthly bodies but the food which endures to eternal life is the Word of God.
Jesus told some of his disciples that unless they ate his flesh and drank his blood they had no life in them. John 6:56 After hearing this many of his disciples were offended and said this is a hard or difficult saying to receive and by this offense many no longer followed Jesus. Jesus then asked his twelve disciples if they would also stop following him and impulsive Peter replied,
"Lord to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life." John 6:68
Jesus said in Matthew 25 when the son of man shall come in his glory he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on the left and then he shall say unto them on his left hand depart from me ye cursed into ever lasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels for I was a hungered and ye gave me no meat and 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.
This concerns the believer's responsibility of sending forth the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is so serious a duty that Jesus will bring judgment on those professing his name who failed to minister the gospel to those hungry and thirsty souls who needed the bread of heaven and the water of life which alone can satisfy the heart of man.
You see God is mostly concerned with ministering to people's spiritual needs. There are many people and organizations in the world that will minister to people's physical needs but how many will minister to the spiritual needs?
Ask yourself what good is it to have a belly full of food and end up in hell?
On the other hand, we may end up in heaven and get there through starvation or persecution by being deprived of our physical necessities. Is this the worse that can happen to us? Luther said in his famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" the body they can kill, his truth abideth still.
What a blessed place to be when the time of our appointment shall be complete and we shall be safe in heaven with our Lord.
Carlton Pruitt ministers the gospel to the Los Angeles area. Formerly a Hollywood actor (SAG member)and junk removal expert he now spends most of his time studying the scriptures, writing articles, hymns and poems and doing street preaching.
See his videos on http://www.youtube.com Type LAStreetPreacher in the search bar. CONTACT at [email protected]
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