Healthful Living

Chapter 41—Christian Help Work

Christ's Ambassadors

1147. This is the special work now before us.—Testimonies for the Church 2:34. HL 274.1

1148. Our own human affections and sympathies are not to wane away and become extinct, but through living connection with God our love is to deepen, our interest to become more intense, our efforts more successful in promoting the happiness of those around us.... Souls about us are perishing for sympathy which is never expressed.—The Signs of the Times, July 3, 1893. HL 274.2

1149. The Lord has set before you another work, the work of extending the truth by establishing centers of interest in cities, and sending workers into the highways and hedges.—Special Testimonies, Series A 10:6. HL 274.3

1150. Many individuals might be laboring in towns and cities, visiting from house to house, becoming acquainted with families, entering into their social life, dining at their tables, entering into conversation by their firesides, dropping the precious seed of truth all along the line. As they exercise their talents, Christ will give them wisdom, and many believers will be found rejoicing in the knowledge of the truth as a result of their labors.—The Review and Herald, July 9, 1895. HL 274.4

1151. The standard of truth may be raised by humble men and women, and the youth, and even children, may be a blessing to others, by revealing what the truth has done for them. God will use the most feeble instruments if they are wholly submitted to him. He can work through them to reach souls to whom the minister could not obtain access. There are the highways and byways to be searched. With your Bible in your hand, with your heart warm and glowing with the love of God, you may go out and tell others your experience; you may make known to them the truth that has impressed your heart, praying with faith that God will make your efforts successful in their salvation. Communicate light, and you will have more light to communicate. Thus you may become laborers together with God.—The Review and Herald, January 12, 1897. HL 274.5

1152. No verbal description could reveal God to the world. Our Saviour employed human faculties, for only by adopting these could he be comprehended by humanity. Only humanity could reach humanity. He lived out the character of God through the human body which God had prepared for him.... If our people would administer to other souls who need their help, they would themselves be ministered unto by the chief Shepherd, and thousands would be rejoicing in the fold who are now wandering in the desert. Let every soul go to work to seek and to save the lost, ... visiting the dark places of the earth where there are no churches.—The Review and Herald, June 25, 1895. HL 275.1

1153. In the path which the poor, the neglected, the suffering, and the sorrowing must tread, Christ walked while on earth, taking upon him all the woes which the afflicted must bear. His home was among the poor. His family was not distinguished by learning, riches, or position. For many years he worked at his trade as a carpenter.—Special Instruction Relating to the Review and Herald Office, and The Work in Battle Creek, 13. HL 275.2

1154. Union with Christ means the dispensing of his blessings.—The Signs of the Times, September 19, 1895. HL 276.1

1155. The angels look upon the distressed of God's family upon the earth, and they are prepared to co-operate with the human agent in relieving oppression and suffering. They will co-operate with those who “break every yoke,” who “bring the poor that are cast out to thy house.”—The Review and Herald, July 23, 1895. HL 276.2

Our Duty to the Poor

1156. There is no case of need for which some one is not responsible.—The Signs of the Times, September 19, 1895. HL 276.3

1157. As long as there are hungry ones in God's world to be fed, naked ones to be clothed, souls perishing for the bread and water of salvation, every unnecessary indulgence, every overplus of capital, pleads for the poor and needy. HL 276.4

1158. The poor and the needy were objects of his [Christ's] special attention. He sought to inspire with hope the most rough and unpromising, setting before them the idea that they might become blameless and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them manifest as the children of God among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom they would shine as lights in the world.—The Signs of the Times, August 6, 1896. HL 276.5

1159. What sacrifice are we ready to make that we may find the lost pearl, and place it in the hands of our Saviour? The cities are teeming with iniquity; Satan suggests that it is impossible to do any good within their borders, and so they are sadly neglected. But there are lost pearls there, whose value you cannot realize until you earnestly seek to find them. There might be one hundred workers where there is but one seeking diligently, prayerfully, and with intense interest to find the pearls that are buried in the rubbish of these cities.—The Review and Herald, April 21, 1896. HL 276.6

1160. When heavenly intelligences see those who claim to be sons and daughters of God putting forth Christlike efforts to help the erring, manifesting a tender, sympathetic spirit for the repentant and the fallen, angels press close to them, and bring to their remembrance the very words that will soothe and uplift the soul.... Jesus has given his precious life, his personal attention, to the least of God's little ones; and the angels that excel in strength encamp round about them that fear God. Then let us be on our guard, and never permit one contemptuous thought to occupy the mind in regard to one of the little ones of God. We should look after the erring with solicitude, and speak encouraging words to the fallen, and fear lest by some unwise action we shall turn them away from the pitying Saviour.... There is a large, a very large number of straying and lost sheep that have perished in the wild deserts of sin, simply because no one went after them to search for them and to bring them back to the fold. Jesus uses the illustration of a lost sheep to show the need of seeking after those who have wandered from him; for a sheep once lost will never find its way back to the fold without help. It must be sought for, it must be carried back to the fold.—The Review and Herald, June 30, 1896. HL 277.1

Our Duty to the Sick

1161. We shall find the footprints of Jesus by the sick-bed, by the side of suffering humanity, in the hovels of the poverty stricken and distressed. We may walk in these footsteps, comforting the suffering, speaking words of hope and comfort to the despondent. Doing as Jesus did when he was upon earth, we shall walk in his blessed steps.—The Review and Herald, June 9, 1896. HL 278.1

1162. When the sick and wretched applied to the Saviour for help, he first relieved the poor, suffering body before he attempted to administer to the darkened mind. When the present misery of the supplicant was removed, his thoughts could better be directed into the channel of light and truth.—The Spirit of Prophecy 2:226. HL 278.2

1163. When he sent out his disciples, he commissioned them to heal the sick as well as to preach the gospel. When he sent forth the seventy, he commanded them to heal the sick, and next to preach that the kingdom of God had come nigh unto them. Their physical health was to be first cared for, in order that the way might be prepared for their minds to be reached by those truths which the apostles were to preach. The Saviour of the world devoted more time and labor to healing the afflicted of their maladies than to preaching. His last injunction to his apostles, his representatives upon the earth, was to lay hands on the sick that they might recover. When the Master shall come, he will commend those who have visited the sick and relieved the necessities of the afflicted.—Testimonies for the Church 4:225. HL 278.3

Our Duty to Orphans and the Aged

1164. There are multitudes of poor children who need care and protection. There are multitudes of aged people who are dependent upon others for the necessities of life. The Lord has not designed that these sufferers should be neglected.—The Review and Herald, March 17, 1896. HL 279.1

1165. Let the condition of helpless little ones appeal to every mother's heart, that she may put into exercise a mother's love for homeless orphan children. Their helplessness appeals to every God-given attribute in human nature.—The Medical Missionary, 321. HL 279.2

1166. Do we expect that those who are lost will be faultless? If you would do something to be approved of Heaven, take a child who needs help, who needs forbearance, and the grace of Christ. We choose associates because we think they will benefit us; but Christ sought association with those whom he could benefit.—The Signs of the Times, April 1, 1889. HL 279.3

Blessing to Christian Helpers

1167. Our happiness will be proportionate to our unselfish works, prompted by divine love; for in the plan of salvation God has appointed the law of action and reaction, making the work of beneficence in all its branches twice blessed.—The Signs of the Times, November 25, 1886. HL 279.4

1168. No one can give place in his own heart and life for the stream of God's blessing to flow to others, without receiving in himself a rich reward.—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 112. HL 279.5