p. 172 | THE POOR by James White

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 15, 1858

THE POOR.

By James White

Probably there is a greater proportion of the poor of this world among us than with any other class of professing Christians. "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom?" James ii, 5. The answer is, He has. And we have a duty to do to the worthy suffering poor among us. There are those who will be poor, however good may be their chance. And there are those who become poor by misfortune, and by the most rigid economy, and strictest industry, cannot rise from their poverty and distressed condition. The latter class are worthy to receive alms. And there are precious promises in the word of God to those who consider the poor to relieve them from suffering.

"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. xli, 1–3.

"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." Prov. xix, 17.

The suffering poor among us must be sought out, and then assisted in their struggles to rise above their poverty. In order to give a fair idea of the condition of some of our poor brethren, we here insert an extract from a letter from Bro. Isaac N. Pike of Jamaica, Vt., which describes the condition of Bro. S. Pratt and family at that place:

"I would say a word for Bro. Stephen Pratt. I saw him last evening. He informed me that he had received a bill from the Review Office for two or three volumes of the Review, which he was unable to pay. He thinks he shall have to stop the paper for want of means to pay for it. He is in a strait place, truly. He not only needs the sympathy of friends, but something more substantial to keep life in himself and family. His family consists of himself, wife and one child. His health is poor. He has his wife's mother, a woman of some sixty or seventy years of age, who has been nearly bed-ridden for years, until of late the Lord has wrought a work upon her and she is so far restored as to be about the house. She is helped some by her other children, but the burden of her support comes on Bro. Pratt. In addition to this he has two of his wife's sisters with him, one of them with a child about two years old. The mother has poor health. The other is sick with the scrofula and under the doctor's care, and to all appearance cannot live long. Her neck and lungs are badly affected. You can see that his family consists of seven persons, five adults, and all either sick or in poor health.

"His earthly substance consists of a cow, three or four sheep, and a few fowls. He lives on hire, and is now in debt on his last year's rent. His year is up, and he knows not where to go. His provisions are all consumed, and he has for a few weeks past lived two or three days, and at one time nearly a week without a morsel of bread. He is trying to live out the testimony of Jesus, and has been holding on by faith, trusting that the Lord would open some way for him.

But he returned home last night almost discouraged, as he had failed to procure half a bushel of corn for his family at the village, where two sisters had made provision for him."

"Bro. Pike will receive our thanks for giving the above description of Bro. Pratt's condition. We knew nothing of his circumstances. He shall have the Review free. It is the wish of the Publishing Committee that such should have it without charge. We hope to hear from all such, that they may be marked free on our books.

But what shall be done for Bro. Pratt and his family? As we read the above description we felt deep pity for them, and could not refrain from tears. Many others will drop the tear of pity as they read it. But this will do the poor brother but little good if the pitying ones all stop here. The question is, How much do we pity?

As the letter lay before us yesterday, and we were musing upon what could be done for the family, Bro. G. Lowree came in to pay $2, in advance on the Review, when we read the letter to him. It moved his pity. But how much? Without a word being said,

Bro. L. took out $1, and said, 'Send that to them.' We remarked that it should not go alone, and put $1 with it, and sent them to the afflicted family.

Those who pity this poor family to the amount of $1 each, may forward their one dollar to this Office, and we will forward it to Bro. Pratt. And when you are doing this, brethren, put in another to send the Review to the poor. According to present prospects $500 must be raised for this object.

And we would say to all, Send in the names and address of all the poor who might be profited by reading the Review. While God is choosing the poor of this world to be heirs of his kingdom, we should do all we can to teach them in the way to the kingdom. Send in their names for the Review and Instructor.

All our printers are at work for $5 per week, when they can earn $7 per week at the usual prices. Here is a sacrifice on the part of each of $104 a year in order to send the truth as far and wide as possible. These, too, often have a dollar or more to hand out to the poor, and to ministers. They will have their reward. Now suppose that poor, covetous souls, who hardly give a dollar to the poor, or to help the cause, could get into the kingdom, how ashamed they would feel to stand up side of those who have great reward for benevolence and sacrifice. But such will not be there. "Nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. vi, 10.