10:42 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.
So the word reveals 3 kinds of reward :
A prophet Reward
A righteous man's Reward
A little one's Reward
The prophet, Righteous man and little one are all children of God but their rewards varies. This is why the same seed sown in a different soil produces a different result. The difference is in the soil and not in the seed.
So let's examine each, and we would find out why their results varies, so that you would know where to sow, though regardless of where you sow, there's a reward, but as a gardener you know the kind of result you want so this should guide your choice of seed and soil to sow in, except the holy ghost says otherwise.
Let's look at the characteristics of these three
A Little One
1 John 2:13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
1 Jn 2 gives a detailed description of the characteristics of little ones.category
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Children still have issues with sin, they are born again, spirit filled but they still commit acts of unrighteousness once in a while; according to the bible, you are in this category. A whole lot of verse in this scripture points towards acts of unrighteousness, acts that are inconsistent with the righteous life in Christ.
The whole of 1 Jn 2:1 addresses sin, when it talks about children.
These ones are born again, but the God life is not showing yet. It is not full blown in their finances, they are still poor. It is not full blown in their communication, they still talk carnally, the life of the kingdom is not fully seen in their lives yet.
Yet Jesus says "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" Mt 10:42
Jesus related the reward of the little one to giving the little ones a cup of cold water. So the way to receive the little ones blessing is to give them a cup of cold water.
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word
So water refers to the word. So when you feed the little one with the word of God, Jesus said, you will not loose your reward.
Why did Jesus, particularly say 'Cold water'?
Pro 25:25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
What cold water is to a thirsty soul is what 'good news from a far country' is.
The word 'gospel' means 'good news'. LK 8:1, Rom 10:15
In other words, the gospel from a far country is like cold water to a thirsty soul.
Why is it 'from a far country'
Jesus said in Jn 18:36 " My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."
So the gospel from a far country means the gospel of the kingdom of Heaven. (Which is the kingdom Jesus brought to the earth from heaven
Jn 8:23
Joh 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.)
The gospel if the kingdom of heaven is like cold waters to a thirsty souls. And Jesus said "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. "
So, whosoever gives these little ones the word of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, will in no wise loose his reward.
Poverty is a result of sin. When God cursed the serpent in Genesis because sin, he said "...Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:" Gen 3:14
So one of the curses on the devil was 'dust shall thou eat all the days of thy life'
1 Sam 2:8 says " He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them."
God raises the poor from THE DUST. Don't forget Gen 3:14, so the poor man is feeding on dust, the same curse God placed on the serpent.So poverty (physically or spiritually) is the off shoot of sin.
But Glory to God, he raises the poor from the DUST. How does God do this?
Lk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
So the solution to that physical and spirital poverty is 'the preaching to the poor'. The word of God ministered to the spiritually and physically poor is what would take them out of their languish in poverty.
Heb 14:23 says "...whatsoever is not of faith is sin"
The life of the unbeliever is not of faith, carnality is not of faith, physical poverty is not of faith, sickness and disease is not of faith. But these are seen in the lives of 'these little ones' that's why Jesus said "give them cold water to drink" if you do this you would not loose your reward. So give them the word.
I know someone is asking ' does this mean if a christian is poor, we should not give him money?'
The answer is obvious. For the fact that he is poor Jesus said " preach the gospel to the poor". That's the only way any other thing you might do would have value. The first point of call is not money! It's not giving that 'poor christian' money, NO! Give him THE WORD OF GOD. Feed him with it, if it actually gets into him, he might not need your money.
This is the popular scripture that 'the poor' quotes
"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." Pr 19:17
Another translation puts it this way
"He who has pity on the poor gives to the Lord, and the Lord will give him his reward." Pr 19:17 BBE
My question remains the same, "what did Jesus say you should give?"
Money? No!, THE GOSPEL.
This is your major seed to the poor.
Jesus fed the multitude for three days and nights with THE WORD before he gave them bread to eat.
Mat 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
So the emphasis is on THE WORD. That's where the change is.
1 Jn 2:1-5 in addressing "little ones" he mentions their problem, 'sin' and points them immediately to the solution, 'JESUS, the WORD'
So if you want to receive the little ones reward, expose them to the truth of who they truly are in Christ, and if you know you're a little one yourself, go for THE WORD!
(This teaching continues on the next post)
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