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Brothers to Sinners and Saints, March 9
Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1 John 4:7
.
In all who suffer for My name, said Jesus, you are to recognize Me. As you
would minister to Me, so you are to minister to them. This is the evidence that you
are My disciples.
All who have been born into the heavenly family are in a special sense the
brethren of our Lord. The love of Christ binds together the members of His family,
and wherever that love is made manifest there the divine relationship is revealed.
“Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (
1 John 4:7
).
Those whom Christ commends in the judgment may have known little of the-
ology, but they have cherished His principles. Through the influence of the divine
Spirit they have been a blessing to those about them. Even among the heathen
are those who have cherished the spirit of kindness; before the words of life had
fallen upon their ears, they have befriended the missionaries, even ministering to
them at the peril of their own lives. Among the heathen are those who worship God
ignorantly, those to whom the light is never brought by human instrumentality, yet
they will not perish. Though ignorant of the written law of God, they have heard
His voice speaking to them in nature, and have done the things that the law required.
Their works are evidence that the Holy Spirit has touched their hearts, and they are
recognized as the children of God.
How surprised and gladdened will be the lowly among the nations, and among
the heathen, to hear from the lips of the Saviour, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”! How glad will
be the heart of Infinite Love as His followers look up with surprise and joy at His
words of approval!
But not to any class is Christ’s love restricted. He identifies Himself with every
child of humanity. That we might become members of the heavenly family, He
became a member of the earthly family. He is the Son of man, and thus a brother to
every son and daughter of Adam. His followers are not to feel themselves detached
from the perishing world around them. They are a part of the great web of humanity;
and Heaven looks upon them as brothers to sinners as well as to saints. The fallen,
the erring, and the sinful, Christ’s love embraces; and every deed of kindness done
to uplift a fallen soul, every act of mercy, is accepted as done to Him (
The Desire of
Ages, 638
).
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