Duty to the Unfortunate
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but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord. Ye shall do no unrighteousness
in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor
the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy
neighbor.” “Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s landmark. And
all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to
wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be
he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow.
And all the people shall say, Amen.”
It is strange that professed Christian men should disregard the
plain, positive teachings of the word of God and feel no compunctions
of conscience. God places upon them the responsibility of caring for
the unfortunate, the blind, the lame, the widow, and the fatherless; but
many make no effort to regard it. In order to save such, God frequently
brings them under the rod of affliction and places them in positions
similar to those occupied by the persons who were in need of their
help and sympathy, but who did not receive it at their hands.
God will hold the church at-----responsible, as a body, for the
wrong course of its members. If a selfish and unsympathizing spirit
is allowed to exist in any of its members toward the unfortunate, the
widow, the orphan, the blind, the lame, or those who are sick in body
or mind, He will hide His face from His people until they do their duty
and remove the wrong from among them. If any professing the name
of Christ so far misrepresent their Saviour as to be unmindful of their
duty to the afflicted, or if they in any way seek to advantage themselves
to the injury of the unfortunate and thus rob them of means, the Lord
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holds the church accountable for the sin of its members until they have
done all they can to remedy the existing evil. He will not hearken to
the prayer of His people while the orphan, the fatherless, the lame, the
blind, and the sick are neglected among them.
There is more meant by “being on the Lord’s side” than merely
saying so in meeting. The Lord’s side is ever the side of mercy, pity,
and sympathy for the suffering, as will be seen by the example given us
in the life of Jesus. We are required to imitate His example. But there
are some who are not on the Lord’s side in regard to these things; they
are on the side of the enemy. In giving to His hearers an illustration of
this subject, Jesus said:
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My
brethren, ye have done it unto Me. Then shall He say also unto them