Chapter 1—Why Poverty and Distress?
Blessed Are the Merciful—The Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the
merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” There never was a time when
there was greater need for the exercise of mercy than today. The poor
are all around us, the distressed, the afflicted, the sorrowing, and those
who are ready to perish.
Those who have acquired riches have acquired them through the
exercise of the talents that were given them of God, but these talents
for the acquiring of property were given to them that they might relieve
those who are in poverty. These gifts were bestowed upon men by Him
who maketh His sun to shine and His rain to fall upon the just and the
unjust, that by the fruitfulness of the earth men might have abundant
supplies for all their need. The fields have been blessed of God, and
“of His goodness He hath prepared for the poor.”—
The Signs of the
Times, June 13, 1892
.
Suffering and Misery Not Intended by God—There are many
who complain of God because the world is so full of want and suffering,
but God never meant that this misery should exist. He never meant that
one man should have an abundance of the luxuries of life while the
children of others cry for bread. The Lord is a God of benevolence.—
Testimonies for the Church 6:273
.
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God has made men His stewards, and He is not to be charged with
the sufferings, the misery, the nakedness, and the want of humanity.
The Lord has made ample provision for all. He has given to thousands
of men large supplies with which to alleviate the want of their fellows;
but those whom God has made stewards have not stood the test, for
they have failed to relieve the suffering and the needy.
When men who have been abundantly blessed of Heaven with
large wealth fail to carry out God’s design, and do not relieve the poor
and the oppressed, the Lord is displeased and will surely visit them.
They have no excuse for withholding from their neighbors the help
that God has put it into their power to provide; and God is dishonored,
His character is misinterpreted by Satan, and He is represented as a
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