Poor in the Church
129
this they practice the instruction given in the fifty-eighth chapter of
Isaiah, and the blessing there pronounced will be theirs.—
Testimonies
[182]
for the Church 6:272
.
Every Church Member to Do His Part—The Lord’s people are
to be as true as steel to principle. He has pointed out the work devolving
on every church member. He declares that the church members are
faithfully to do their duty to those within their own borders. They are
generously to support their own poor. They are to engage in systematic
missionary work, teaching their children to keep the way of the Lord
and to do judgment and justice.
But the light which for years has been before the churches has
been disregarded. The work that ought to have been done for suffering
humanity in every church has not been done. Church members have
failed to heed the word of the Lord, and this has deprived them of an
experience they should have gained in gospel work.—
The Review and
Herald, March 4, 1902
.
The poor and the needy are to be cared for. These must not be
neglected, at whatever cost or sacrifice to ourselves.—
The Youth’s
Instructor, August 26, 1897
.
The Church to Bear the Burden—The churches that have the
poor among them should not neglect their stewardship and throw the
burden of the poor and sick upon the sanitarium. All the members of
the several churches are responsible before God for their afflicted ones.
They should bear their own burdens. If they have sick persons among
them, whom they wish to be benefited by treatment, they should, if
able, send them to the sanitarium. In doing this they will not only
be patronizing the institution which God has established but will be
helping those who need help, caring for the poor as God requires us to
do.—
Testimonies for the Church 4:551
.
[183]
When the Lord’s Poor Are Neglected—When the Lord’s poor
are neglected and forgotten or greeted with cold looks and cruel words,
let the guilty one bear in mind that he is neglecting Christ in the person
of His saints. Our Saviour identifies His interest with that of suffering
humanity. As the heart of the parent yearns with pitying tenderness
over the suffering one of her little flock, so the heart of our Redeemer
sympathizes with the poorest and lowliest of His earthly children. He
has placed them among us to awaken in our hearts that love which He
feels toward the suffering and oppressed, and He will let His judgments