Man’s Duty to His Fellow Men
477
and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw
him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and
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brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when
he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said
unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when
I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest
thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said,
He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do
thou likewise.”
Here the conditions of inheriting eternal life are plainly stated by
our Saviour in the most simple manner. The man who was wounded
and robbed represents those who are subjects of our interest, sympathy,
and charity. If we neglect the cases of the needy and the unfortunate
that are brought under our notice, no matter who they may be, we
have no assurance of eternal life; for we do not answer the claims that
God has upon us. We are not compassionate and pitiful to humanity,
because they may not be kith or kin to us. You have been found
transgressors of the second great commandment, upon which the last
six commandments depend. Whosoever offendeth in one point, is
guilty of all. Those who do not open their hearts to the wants and
sufferings of humanity will not open their hearts to the claims of God as
stated in the first four precepts of the Decalogue. Idols claim the heart
and affections, and God is not honored and does not reign supreme.
You have, as a family, made a sad failure. You are not, in the
strictest sense, commandment keepers. You may be quite exact in some
things, yet neglect the weightier matters—judgment, mercy, and the
love of God. Although the customs of the world are no criterion for us,
yet I have been shown that the pitying sympathy and the benevolence
of the world for the unfortunate in many cases shame the professed
followers of Christ. Many manifest indifference toward those whom
God has thrown among them for the purpose of testing and proving
them, and developing what is in their hearts. God reads. He marks
every act of selfishness, every act of indifference toward the afflicted,
the widows, and the fatherless; and He writes against their names:
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“Guilty, wanting, lawbreakers.” We shall be rewarded as our works