‘In Romans, the Apostle Paul says that we should be careful with strangers and be good to strangers because we never know when we’re entertaining an angel and not know it.’ – Bob Barney
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2000 years ago, a newscaster that we know of as Jesus Christ warned us about false Christianity. The warning was not against the devil but against false Christianity…about people who come in His name and deceive many.
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Hi, Bob Barney here with another edition of The Plain Truth Today. Last week my wife and I were in Richmond, and we had stopped by an IHOP to have breakfast and a person who was the host, a black man, came up to us while we were eating and asked us if we wanted to donate to a cause. I forgot which one it was right now, but we said no. We didn’t really want to be disturbed while we were eating. We didn’t tell them that, we just said no. And while we were eating, I began to become a little, I should say, guilty about turning the man down.
In Romans, the Apostle Paul says that we should be careful with strangers and be good to strangers because we never know when we’re entertaining an angel and not know it. In our life, people can come upon us or cross our paths, and we are not aware, according to the Apostle Paul, and I believe this, that some of the people we meet are angels and we are being tested to see what kind of character we have. Sadly, I would like to say that I failed that test.
It reminds me of a time about 35 years ago when I was in the marine paint business at the time and we were doing the Miami Boat Show and walking to the convention center one morning, an old man came up to me and asked me if I had any money. I was a little perturbed and I said no and that I didn’t have anything on me at the time. I did, but I didn’t want to give it to him. He looked at me and said, ‘I believe in God too’.
Well, that touched me and that speared me through the heart, and I reached into my pocket and I think I gave him either 10 or 20 dollars, I forgot what it was, to the chagrin of my friends or fellow salesmen around me who thought I was not giving this guy any money. But I thought then, as I think now, that you never know when the person asking you for money is really an angel. Now that being said, I’m not saying we should give money to every panhandler on the street. Many of which, when you follow them home at night, they get in their BMW or Mercedes, and they drive home, and they take their family out to an expensive steak dinner. There are many charlatans out there and I’m not suggesting that you should give your hard-earned money to everyone who asks for it. But there are times when you’re not sure of what’s going on, maybe it’s good to reach in your pocket and give out some money to the people who ask for it.
Jesus said, lend to or give to whomever asks you for it, if you have the ability to. As God blesses us, it is our duty to take the earnings that we have in excess and distribute some of that at least out to those out there who need it.
So from the Plain truth today, this is a little reminder that we may be tested by angels from time to time and we should not forget what it could mean for our future salvation. Hank Williams in a song named, A Tramp on the Street, mentioned this very thought. He sang about the tramp that was at Lazarus’ dog begging for crumbs to eat from his table ended up dying. And in the millennium, during the resurrection of the dead, he comes to life and reigns with Abraham, Father Abraham, and Jesus for a millennium. And Lazarus, the rich man, awakes in a fiery hellfire being burned up, and that’s really what the symbolism is, and he cries out for sympathy. And he basically doesn’t get any because he never showed it in his lifetime. So like I said, a little reminder to remember what God has done for you and that the person asking you for some money could be an angel testing your will to be good. This is Bob Barney saying goodbye, friends.