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Working as Christ Worked
by Mrs. E. G. White
For three years the disciples had before them
the wonderful example of Christ. Day by day they walked and talked with Him,
hearing His words of cheer to the weary and heavy-laden, and seeing the
manifestations of His power in behalf of the sick and afflicted. When the time
came for Him to leave them, He gave them power and grace to work as He had
worked, saying, "Freely ye have received, freely give." They were to go forth
into the world to shed abroad the light of His gospel of love and healing. The
work He had done they were to do.
And this is the work we also are to do in the
world. In sympathy and compassion we are to minister to those in need, seeking
with unselfish earnestness to lighten the woes of suffering humanity.
In the path which the poor, the neglected,
the suffering, and the sorrowing must tread, the Saviour walked while on this
earth. We shall find His footsteps by the sick-bed, by the side of the
suffering, in the hovels of the poverty-stricken and distressed. We may walk in
these footsteps, comforting the sorrowful and speaking words of hope and
courage to the despondent.
As we engage in this work, we are to remember
that man has a body as well as a soul to save. Both are to be restored to
health by God's simple but efficacious methods. In this, as in all else, Christ
is our example. When people applied to Him for help, He relieved the suffering
body before He attempted to minister to the darkened mind. The physical
sickness of the suppliant removed, his mind could better be directed into the
channel of truth.
Our Lord devoted more time and labor to healing
the sick than to preaching. When He sent forth the seventy, He commanded them
to heal the sick, and then to preach that the kingdom of God had come nigh unto
them. The physical health was first to be cared for, that the way might be
prepared for the reception of the truth which the apostles were to proclaim.
In giving His last commission to the disciples,
Christ said: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature. . . . These signs shall follow them that believe: In My name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." When the Saviour comes
again, He will commend those who have visited the afflicted and relieved their
necessities. He will say: "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungered, and
ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye
took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in
prison, and ye came unto Me. . . . Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."
The relations between God and each soul are as
distinct and full as though there were not another one for whom He gave His
beloved Son. The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. His heart of love is
touched by our sorrows, and even by our utterance of them. Nothing that in any
way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in
our experience too dark for Him to read, no perplexity too difficult for Him to
unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass
the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our
heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He does not take an immediate
interest.
The greatest of all gifts, all talents, is
true, Christlike love. It is not position or profession that makes a man of
value in God's sight. It is being good and doing good. Paul declares: "If I
have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, . . . but
have not love, I am nothing." "If I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, and have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal."
"Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is
love."
The doing of true Christian help work brings
rich blessings. It is a practical carrying out of the Saviour's commission, and
it demonstrates the power of the gospel. It calls for laborious effort, but it
pays; for by it souls are brought to the cross of Christ.
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 twice
blessed.
Printed in Pacific Health Journal,
December, 1901.
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|  God's
Word Our Assurance
Christ
Our Righteousness A Morning Talk
Through
Faith Alone Part 1
Through
Faith Alone Part 2
What
Was Secured by the Death of Christ
Seek
Those Things Which are Above Part 1
Seek
Those Things Which are Above Part 2
Christ,
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"Let
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Ellen
G. White's Last Recorded Letter
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A
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Christ
Our Hope
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Trusting
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The
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How
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How
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"Ye
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"Ye
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"Ye
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"I
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Working
as Christ Worked
A
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The
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What
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God's
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A
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Ask
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The
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The
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The
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One
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The
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Christ
Spans the Gulf of Sin, Part 1
Christ
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Homeward
Bound
A
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Asking
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God's
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True
Success
Little
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Him
Hearts
Filled with Thankfullnes to God
Calamities
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Lord
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Some Thoughts
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