November 17, 1898

God's Care for His People

EGW

The Lord of heaven is not regardless of us and our concerns, but is in communication with the fallen inhabitants of this world. Christ has not laid aside His human nature; He stands in the presence of God as our substitute and surety, our living intercessor. To Him is given all power in behalf of humanity, and all things have been committed into His hands, that He may complete the work of redemption, which was begun in such humiliation and at such an immense sacrifice.ST November 17, 1898, par. 1

The Lord is in active communication with every part of His vast dominions. He is represented as bending toward the earth and its inhabitants. He is listening to every word that is uttered. He hears every groan; He listens to every prayer; He observes the movements of every one; He approves or condemns every action. The hand of Christ draws aside the vail which conceals from our eyes the glory of heaven; and we behold Him in His high and holy place, not in a state of silence and indifference to His subjects in a fallen world, but surrounded by all the heavenly host,—ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, all waiting to go at His bidding on errands of mercy and love.ST November 17, 1898, par. 2

Christ had such an experience in His humanity that He desires to be close beside every one who passes through suffering for the truth's sake,—those who are tortured, imprisoned in dungeons, and bound in chains. He ministers to all such. He is the friend of all who love and fear Him, and He will punish those who dare to lead them from safe paths, or put them in positions of distress as they conscientiously endeavor to keep the way of the Lord.ST November 17, 1898, par. 3

God has always had a care for His people. When Moses turned aside at the sight of the burning bush, the Lord called, “Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters; for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”ST November 17, 1898, par. 4

Christ taught His disciples that the amount of divine attention given to any object is proportionate to the rank assigned to it in the creation of God. He called their attention to the birds of the air. Not a sparrow, He said, falls to the ground without the notice of our heavenly Father. And if the little sparrow is regarded by Him, surely the souls of those for whom Christ has died are precious in His sight. The value of man, the estimate God places upon him, is revealed in the cross of Calvary. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And will not God judge those who cause pain or disappointment to the ones for whom Christ has given His life? Then let men be careful how, by word or action, they cause one of God's children sorrow or grief.ST November 17, 1898, par. 5

In order to enlarge our comprehension of the benevolence and love of our heavenly Father, Christ reminds us that God sends His rain on the just and on the unjust, and “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good.” Christ leads us forth into the open field of nature, and seeks to teach us the lesson that the Hand which upholds the world, and paints the lily of the field, and the flowers of varied beauty, is the hand of the great Master-Artist. It is He who gives to each its distinctive beauty. He tells us that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these simple, natural flowers, which He has given as an expression of His love for man.ST November 17, 1898, par. 6

Every drop of rain, every ray of light shed on our unthankful world, is an evidence of God's long forbearance and love. If the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; if the lovely flowers, which delight our senses, reveal such exquisite skill and care on the part of the great Master-Artist, we can not have exaggerated ideas of the regard and value which God has placed on the human beings made in His likeness. And He will not pass by a selfish, discourteous, or unkind action of one human being toward another. That one should lead another to dishonor His name and transgress His law, is a matter that will not be disregarded in the day of final recompense.ST November 17, 1898, par. 7

Who can measure or anticipate the gift of God? For ages sin had interrupted the flow of divine benevolence to man; but God's mercy and love for the fallen race have not ceased to accumulate, nor lost their earthward direction. The inhabitants of the world, their reason perverted, have turned the earth into a lazar-house. But God still lives and reigns, and in Christ He has poured on the world a healing flood. In the gift of God's dear Son, a definite view of His character has been given to the race that is never absent from His mind. His very heart is laid open in the royal law. That infinite standard is presented to all, that there may be no mistake in regard to that kind of people God would have compose His kingdom. It is only those who are obedient to all His commandments who will become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. These will be honored with a citizenship above, a life that measures with the life of God,—a life without sorrow, pain, or death throughout eternal ages.ST November 17, 1898, par. 8

Mrs. E. G. White