Section 14

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.

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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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