Imagine with me that we’ve come to the last day of this world’s history.

Jesus Christ – King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the One appointed as Judge of all humanity – has returned in glory, majesty, and honor. All those who have lived and died over the thousands of years of human history have been raised from the dead, reconstituted by the sovereign power of God, and reunited with their souls. They join those who were alive on the unexpected day of Christ’s return. All are before the Judgment seat of Christ to receive their eternal reward or their eternal penalty.

Jesus separates the “Sheep” from the “Goats”: The Sheep: Those who were chosen, called, and saved by sheer grace. The Goats: Those who were passed over in the divine economy of redemption.

But the universe – including the created beings known as angels – demand, as it were, evidences that mark the difference between the Sheep and the Goats. Salvation by grace was ordained to bring forth the fruits and the demonstration of good works. These justify our faith – our true religion – before all.

And what that grand demonstration of God’s grace in the lives of His people looks like is utterly, astoundingly, eternally memorably striking. The evidence of true saving faith comes down to two things: What did people do with Jesus Christ? and How was that demonstrated?

The Great Judge who has the final word in human affairs speaks – first to the Sheep – His true people:

Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.

Those addressed are stunned at how their lives that had been blessed with God’s saving work come down to these few things. But how did they do these things for Jesus Christ?

They ask: 

"Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you? When did we see you thirsty, and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger, and welcome you? When did we see you naked, and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?"

And the profound answer from King Jesus is simply:

"Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers (and sisters), you did it to me."  Jesus and His bride, the Church, are truly one. And the day of Judgment is a grand declaration that true love for Jesus was shown by true love for His Bride - His people.

Tragically, the opposite is also true. Those whose lives were not caught up in demonstrations of practical love to Christ and His people showed conclusively that they had no part in God’s saving work in history. Their punishment is eternal, even as the blessing on God’s true people is eternal.

I urge you to read the whole dramatic account in the 25th chapter of the Bible’s Gospel of Matthew.

It’s among Christ’s probing final words near to the time of His trial, sentencing, execution, and death. And it’s designed to make us ask if our faith is truly centered on Christ – and truly demonstrated by lives of love to Christ in His people.

"I was in prison, and you visited me…" "As you came to and visited one of the least of these my brothers and my sisters in prison, you did it to me."

Now we mustn’t understand this as many modern commentators on the Bible do. Jesus is NOT saying here that we demonstrate our faith in Christ by a general love, and by works of compassion for all people. Other texts of the Bible teach that quite clearly, but not this one. In this section of the Word of God, Jesus is speaking specifically of showing love to Christ by practical expressions of love to His people. Nothing less is satisfactory evidence that we are truly Christians.

And those practical expressions of love specifically include going to and ministering to professed Christians who are incarcerated – who are in prison – for whatever reason. You can read many accounts of how Christians in the early church cared for their brothers and sisters who had been imprisoned – usually for reasons connected with their commitment to Christ. They brought them food and clothing. In many cases, they paid from their own funds so that their brothers and sisters in Christ could be released. Some sold themselves into slavery to raise the price for that release. That genuine self-giving love for those regarded as social outcasts was a powerful testimony to the pagan world. And while it began with a ministry to other Christians, it also reached to others in prison who were poor, needy, and – in many, many cases – unjustly imprisoned. Jesus did come “to proclaim liberty to captives” – beginning with gracious liberation from the guilt and power of sin.

Throughout history, Christians have taken seriously the many-leveled admonition from the Bible book of Hebrews:

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them…

It’s hard to imagine that today in America there are over 2.3 million people who are incarcerated. From 1975 – 2005 – over a 30-year period – the number of those imprisoned in the United States quadrupled. Today the American prison system has been called “The Prison-Industrial Complex”. The world behind the barbed wire, stark walls, and barred windows is notoriously full of mistreatment, oppression, sexual perversion, and dehumanization. The violent often become more violent. And little is done to prepare those who have been removed from society – often for decades – to return to society prepared for a new life in a strange new world. Those who have been incarcerated have – as it were – scarlet letters on their heads: They are branded with labels, viewed as stereotypes, and often marginalized by society – an American version of the lepers of other nations and cultures. So, it’s understandable that the recidivism rate – the rate at which former criminals return to a life of crime – is notoriously high. And the cycle begins again.

I was in prison, and you visited me…

Professed Christians are not immune to criminal actions that cause them to land in prison. In some cases, people – faced with their guilt and the consequences of their misconduct as it affected others – have serious dealings with God and God in Christ during their incarceration. They become genuine Christians during their imprisonment. Jesus indwells these by the Holy Spirit. They are to be visited – ministered to – by other Christians. And that inevitably brings these ministering Christians into contact with a whole community of people who are faced daily with the painful fruits of their bad conduct – and whose only hope for real reformation – reformation that begins with a new heart that comes from God Himself – is in the good news of the liberating Jesus Christ.

Our topic for today’s Visit to the Pastor’s Study is I Was in Prison, and…: A Look Inside Prison Ministry. My guest today is Pastor Brett Mahlen, a trained and ordained minister whose call is to minister to those in prison. He’s an Associate Pastor of Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Orland Park, IL, and he’ll not only tell us what prison life and ministry to those in prison is really like; but he’ll also give us practical advice for prison ministry that connects prisoners with the life of the local church. That’s so important!

Minister to those in prisons – Pastor Brett Mahlen – welcome to A Visit to the Pastor’s Study….

Here’s a link to the full program:

Yours in the Great Liberator,
Pastor Bill