The poverty of the people to whom we are sent is not to prevent us from working for them. Christ came to this earth to walk and work among the poor and suffering. They received the greatest share of His attention. And today, in the person of His children, He visits the poor and needy, relieving woe and alleviating suffering.
(7T 226.1)
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Take away suffering and need, and we should have no way of understanding the mercy and love of God, no way of knowing the compassionate, sympathetic heavenly Father. Never does the gospel put on an aspect of greater loveliness than when it is brought to the most needy and destitute regions. Then it is that its light shines forth with the clearest radiance and the greatest power. Truth from the word of God enters the hovel of the peasant; rays from the Sun of Righteousness light up the rude cottage of the poor, bringing gladness to the sick and suffering. Angels of God are there, and the simple faith shown makes the crust of bread and the cup of water a banquet. The sin-pardoning Saviour welcomes the poor and ignorant, and gives them to eat of the bread that comes down from heaven. They drink of the water of life. Those who have been loathed and abandoned are through faith and pardon raised to the dignity of sons and daughters of God. Lifted above the world, they sit in heavenly places in Christ. They may have no earthly treasure, but they have found the pearl of great price.
(7T 226.2)
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How best to accomplish the work in this difficult field is the problem before us. Long years of neglect have made it far more difficult than it would otherwise have been. Obstructions have been accumulating.
(7T 226.3)
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As God’s people labor earnestly, humbly, self-sacrificingly, they will gain the rich reward of which Job speaks: “When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; ... the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.... I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.”Job 29:11-16.
(7T 238.1)
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The blessing of good works will follow into the eternal world those who deny self for the sake of their Saviour. When the redeemed stand around the throne of God, those who have been saved from sin and degradation will come to those who labored for them, with the words of greeting: “I was without God and without hope in the world. I was perishing in corruption and sin. I was starving for physical and for spiritual food. You came to me in love and pity, and fed and clothed me. You pointed me to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.”
(7T 238.2)
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My brethren in the South, be strong, yea, be strong. The hand of oppression and robbery shall not afflict you if you will exalt the holy principles of God’s law. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard for you against him. You are engaged in an important work, and you are to take heed, to watch and pray, to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. Work with an eye single to the glory of God, with a sense of your individual responsibility. Remember that the Lord alone can make your efforts successful.
(7T 238.3)
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