Page:The religious instruction of the colored population.djvu/5



"And the poor have the gospel preached to them."—. 15. "The poor shall never ceate out ul tho land."—. 11.—"The Lord maksth pour and maketh rich, he hringeih low and raiseth up."—, 7. "The rich and ihe poor meet together. The Lord regardeth not the rich more than the poor. They are all the work of his hand."— 2, and 11). "The poor ye have always with you."— 11. "Hearken, my beloved brethren! Hath not God chosen the pour of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom? but ye have despised the poor."—, 5. and other similar passages of God's word affectingly teach us that it ii a part of the divine arrangement to have ranks and orders in human society, aid that God expects the higher and more favored sons of Adam to care for their poor brethren. These ranks and orders, and their mutual relations and obligations, have been from the beginning, and shall continue to the end. When, however, God was pleased to be manifested in human flesh, for human redemption, no other form did he choose for Himself to wear but the form of a servant. The incarnate Word is emphatically a friend and associate of the poor—nay, of publicans and sinners. He calls the penitent poor his brethren; nay, he says, that at the last day He will consider every tiling done to the least of them as done to Himself. Yes! and so great is the regard He has for His poor, that He institules one particular class of officers in his church—the Deacons—on purpose to see after their temporal wants. As for their spiritual necessities, He chose them as the special subject of His own personal attention when on earth; nay, He puts down the preaching of the gospel, by Himself, to the poor, as the most distinct and peculiar mark of His divine mission. "Art thou he that should come, (said John's messengers,) or do we look for another?" "Go (said Jesus) and shew John again