Surah Ya-Sin, Ayah 25

قَالَ يقَوْمِ اتَّبِعُواْ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

(He said: "O my people! Obey the Messengers.") -- he urged his people to follow the Messengers who had come to them.

اتَّبِعُواْ مَن لاَّ يَسْـَلُكُمْ أَجْراً

(Obey those who ask no wages of you,) means, `for the Message which they convey to you, and they are rightly-guided in what they are calling you to, the worship of Allah Alone with no partner or associate.'

وَمَا لِىَ لاَ أَعْبُدُ الَّذِى فَطَرَنِى

(And why should I not worship Him Who has created me) means, `and what is there to stop me from sincerely worshipping the One Who has created me, and worshipping Him Alone, with no partner or associate'

The addressee here could be his own people where calling Allah Ta’ ala their Lord was to express a reality - though, they did not accept it. Then, it could also be that this address is to the messengers and the purpose of saying: إِنِّي آمَنتُ بِرَ‌بِّكُمْ فَاسْمَعُونِ (listen to me) may be that they should hear what he was saying and bear witness before Allah that he was a believer.

Both the prophets at that time were powerless. Nevertheless, this third man associated himself with them. In the struggle between truth and untruth, man has to take the side of the truth, even if it amounts to supporting the weak against the strong. The third man urged the people of his community to pay heed to the words of the earlier Prophets who were on the straight path and who did not seek any return for guiding rightly. This shows that in spite of a man being selfless and well-intentioned, his words will be examined in the light of reason, and will be deemed to be of value only if they measure up to the standard of reason.