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XIV.
Christian Service
Chapter 153
:
The Poor, and our Duty Toward Them
1. WHAT is God's
attitude toward the poor?
"He shall deliver the needy
when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath
no helper." Ps. 72:12.
2. For what purpose did
Christ say God had anointed Him?
"He hath anointed Me to preach the
gospel to the poor." Luke 4:18.
3. When did He say we
could minister to the poor? "Whensoever
ye will ye may do them good." Mark 14:7.
4. What did Paul say
regarding our duty to the poor?
"I have showed you all things, how
that so laboring ye ought to support the
weak, and to remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to
give than to receive." Acts 20:35.
5. What promises are
made to those who consider the poor?
"Blessed is he that considereth the
poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of
trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep
him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the
earth: and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the
will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen
him upon the bed of languishing: Thou wilt make
all his bed in his sickness." Ps. 41:1-3.
6. How does the Lord
regard kindness shown to the poor?
"He that hath pity upon the poor
lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he
hath given will He pay him again." Prov.
19:17. "For God is not unrighteous to forget
your work and labor of love, which ye have
showed toward His name, in that ye have
ministered to the saints, and do minister." Heb.
6:10.
7. What fate awaits
those who turn a deaf ear to the poor?
"Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry
of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but
shall not be heard." Prov. 21:13.
8. What classes are we
especially enjoined to help?
"Learn to do well; seek judgment,
relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow." Isa. 1:17.
9. What is pure and
undefiled religion declared to be?
"Pure religion and undefiled before
God and the Father is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction,
and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
James 1:27.
10. What kind of fast
is most acceptable to God?
"Is not this the fast that I have
chosen? . . . Is it not to deal thy bread to
the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that
are cast out to thy house? when thou seest
the naked, that thou cover him; and that
thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?"
Isa. 58:6,7.
11. What is promised
those who do this work?
"Then shalt thou call, and the Lord
shall answer; thou shalt cry and He shall say,
Here I am. . . . And if thou draw out thy soul
to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy
darkness be as the noonday. And the Lord shall
guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt
be like a watered garden, and like a spring of
water, whose waters fail not." Verses 9-11.
12. How did the
patriarch Job treat the poor?
"I was a father to the poor:
and the cause which I knew not I searched
out." Job 29:16.
13. What did Christ
tell the rich young man to do?
"Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give
to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in
heaven: and come and follow Me." Matt. 19:21.
NOTE.-From Matt. 25:31-45 we learn that
Christ identifies Himself with needy,
suffering humanity; and that any neglect
shown them He regards as done unto Himself.
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