Eternal Destiny of the Disabled, Infants, and Slaves

The destiny of those with mental disabilities and the way God views their lives is a subject of profound hope and divine compassion, as they are specifically cared for by the Lord and His heavenly agencies. 🌟

The Future of the Disabled and Infants

Every child and person with a mental disability has the possibility of attaining eternal life through the grace of GodAH 280.3. Regarding the case of individuals with limited reason, the grace of God will remove all hereditary, transmitted imbecility, and they will have an inheritance among the saints in lightLDE 293.3. God’s compassion is so deep that He has evened the path to life even for children, proportioning the way according to their strength and capacityRH January 20, 1863, par. 10. While we cannot tell if all children of unbelieving parents will be saved because God has not made His purpose plain in that specific matter, we know that He hears the prayers of the honest and sends divine light to those who are humble and teachable like childrenLDE 293.3+1. It is also important to recognize that the faith of parents can cover their children, acting as a symbol of protection similar to the blood on the doorposts in Egypt3SM 314.1.

• Restoration: In heaven, the lame man shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing Isaiah 35:6.

• Healing: Those who have been cripples from birth will find that strength comes with faith, and they will leap and walk as though they never had an infirmityLP 56.3+1.

God’s View of Caregiving and Patient Behavior

God profoundly understands the challenges of caregiving and the behaviors influenced by physical or mental conditions. Jesus is a compassionate physician who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, having been tempted in all points as we are Hebrews 4:159MR 122.4+1. He knows that men with all the infirmities of humanity are doing His work, and He notes their failures and discouragement with the tenderest pity5T 420.2. While parents and families are held responsible for the mold of character they give their children, God is acquainted with every weakness and will help those who are struggling1SM 353.2+1. He also specifically promises special care and grace to those who bear the suffering of bodily infirmities, ensuring their trials will not be greater than they can endure3MR 276.2+1.

The Importance of Your Work

Your service to your patient is a vital mission that God watches with intense interest.

• A Test of Character: God has placed the lame, the blind, and the afflicted in close relationship to the church to prove His people and develop their true characterWM 35.4.

• Angelic Observation: Angels of God are watching to see how we treat those who need our sympathy and loveWM 35.4+1.

• Personal Blessing: By helping others bear their burdens, you are contributing to the health of your own soul and body, as doing good benefits both the giver and the receiver2T 534.1.

• Divine Strength: When you feel exhausted or encompassed by infirmities, looking to Jesus can provide the strength to rise above these challenges and find courage 2 Corinthians 12:98LtMs, Lt 33a, 1893, par. 9+1.

The Lord requires us to be pitiful and considerate of the unfortunate, and this disinterested benevolence is a defining characteristic of genuine religion James 1:273T 516.2+1. Be encouraged that every word of hope spoken and every act of compassion is noted by the One who took man's nature to reach man's wantsBTS January 1, 1909, par. 4+1. 🙏

The destiny of an oppressed slave who was kept in total ignorance and degradation is handled by a compassionate God by allowing them to remain in the grave as though they had never existed1SG 193.1.

Divine Compassion for the Ignorant Slave

God is a rightful Master and views the slave as His own workmanship, not the property of any man1T 201.2+1. Because many slaves were kept in such extreme ignorance that they knew nothing of God or the Bible and only feared their master's lash, they did not reach a moral position higher than a beast1SG 193.1. In His mercy, God does not take such a soul to heaven to face a life they were never prepared for, nor does He punish them; instead, He lets them be as though they had not been1SG 193.1.

The Accountability of the Oppressor

While the ignorant slave rests in silence, the accountability for their soul falls entirely upon the master1SG 193.1.

• Visitation of Sins: All the sins committed by the slave in their state of ignorance will be visited upon the master1SG 193.1.

• The Final Judgment: The slave-master will be required to answer for the soul he kept in darkness1SG 193.1.

• The Master's End: The master must suffer the seven last plagues and face the second resurrection to experience the second, most awful death1SG 193.1.

The Principle of Moral Equality

In the eyes of Heaven, there is no separate rule for the master and the servant, as Christ ennobled all service by becoming a servant HimselfST May 23, 1900, par. 7. Under the Mosaic law, various provisions existed to ensure that servants were not treated as mere chattels, as they were often considered free men and women within the family structureARSH October 1, 1861, page 138.13. Furthermore, regardless of human laws, believers are commanded not to obey mandates to return fugitive slaves, as the slave is not human propertySPCCSR 192.2+1.

Spiritual Freedom Available to All

True freedom is not found in social status but in a relationship with Christ.

• The Higher Calling: Those who are slaves to men are encouraged to be the Lord’s freemen, while those who are socially free are to consider themselves Christ’s servantsARSH April 7, 1863, page 145.29.

• Victory Over Passion: One may be physically free but still a slave to their own unsubdued will, impulses, or passions21MR 254.1+1.

• The Resurrection Hope: For those slaves who did know and love Jesus, the resurrection remains a glorious hope where they will be vindicated and their suffering avengedARSH March 8, 1864, page 118.13.

... the slave-master would have to answer for the soul of his slave whom he has kept in ignorance; and all the sins of the slave will be visited upon the master. God cannot take the slave to heaven, who has been kept in ignorance and degradation, knowing nothing of God, or the Bible, fearing nothing but his master's lash, and not holding so elevated a position as his master's brute beasts. But he does the best thing for him that a compassionate God can do. He lets him be as though he had not been; while the master has to suffer the seven last plagues, and then come up in the second resurrection...— 1SG 193.1 (1858)

... slave to his master, we are not to obey; and we must abide the consequences of violating this law. The slave is not the property of any man. God is his rightful master, and man has no right to take God's workmanship into his hands, and claim him as his own— 1T 201.2 (1885)

2. This positive command requiring the slave to take and use his liberty, whenever he can get it, necessarily qualifies and limits what is said of abiding in the condi...— ARSH April 7, 1863, page 145.29 (1862)

...ng to every nation, every individual. No one can keep the law of God without ministering to others. Man is not to act as tho there was one rule for the master and another for the servant. Christ was a servant; he lived not to please Himself; and by His life of service He has ennobled al...— ST May 23, 1900, par. 7 (1874)

Be encouraged that the Lord is a God of perfect justice and infinite tenderness, and He never overlooks the suffering of the downtroddenARSH March 8, 1864, page 118.13. 🕊️