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The Duty of Remembering the Poor
A Sermon Delivered on Thursday Evening, September 25th, 1856, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark
Preached on behalf of the Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society.
"Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do."Galatians 2:10.
Poverty is no virtue; wealth is no sin. On the other
hand, wealth is not morally good, and poverty is not morally evil. A man may be a good man
and a rich man; it is quite certain that very frequently good men are poor men. Virtue is
a plant which depends not upon the atmosphere which surrounds it, but upon the hand which
waters it, and upon the grace which sustains it. We draw no support for grace from our
circumstances whether they be good or evil. Our circumstances may sometimes militate
against the gracious work in our breast, but it is quite certain that no position in life
is a sustaining cause of the life of grace in the soul. That must always be maintained by
divine power, which can work as well in poverty as in riches; for we see some of the
finest specimens of the full development of Christianity in those who are the very meanest
in temporal circumstances; far outshining those whom we should have imagined, from their
position in society, would have had many things to assist their virtues and sustain their
graces. Grace is a plant which draws no nourishment from the wilderness in which it grows;
it finds nothing to feed upon in the heart of man; all it lives upon it receives
supernaturally. It sends all its roots upwards, none downwards; it draws no support from
poverty, and none from riches. Gold cannot sustain grace; on the other hand, rags cannot
make it flourish. Grace is a plant which derives the whole of its support from God the
Holy Spirit, and is therefore entirely independent of the circumstances of man. But yet,
mark you, it is an undeniable fact, that God hath been pleased for the most part to plant
his grace in the soil of poverty. He has not chosen many great, nor many mighty men of
this world, but he hath "chosen the poor of this worldrich in faithto be
heirs of the kingdom of God." We should wonder why, were we not quite sure that God
is wise in his choice. We cannot dispute a fact which Scripture teaches, and which our own
observation supports, that the Lord's people are, to a very large extent, the poor of this
world. Very few of them wear crowns; very few ride in carriages; only a proportion of them
have a competence; a very large multitude of his family are destitute, afflicted,
tormented, and are kept leaning, day by day, upon the daily provisions of God, and
trusting him from meal to meal, believing that he will supply their wants out of the
riches of his fullness.
Now, to-night, we shall first of all mention the fact that God has a poor
people; secondly, the dutywe should remember the poor; and then, thirdly,
the obligation for us to perform this duty; for there are sundry reasons why we
ought to be specially mindful of the poor of the Lord's flock.
I. First, then, THE LORD HAS A POOR PEOPLEa fact notorious to us all, which daily
observation confirms. Why does the Lord have a poor people? This is a question that might
suggest itself to us, and we might not at all times find it easy to answer it, if we were
poor ourselves. God could make them all rich if he pleased; he could lay hags of gold at
their doors, he could send whole rivers of supplies, where now it is a desert, he could
scatter round their houses abundance of provisions; as once he made the quails lie in very
heaps round the camp of Israel, so now he could rain bread out of heaven to feed them.
There is no necessity that they should be poor, only as it pleases his own sovereign will.
"The cattle upon a thousand hills are his," he could supply them; he could make
the rich men of this world give up all their wealth, if he so pleased to turn their minds;
he could make the richest, the greatest, and the mightiest, bring all their power and
riches to the feet of his children, for the hearts of all men are in his control. But he
does not choose to do so; he allows them to suffer want, he allows them to pine in penury
and obscurity. Why is this? I believe that is a question we should not find it easy to
answer, if we were in the circumstances, but seeing that many of us are out of the
affliction, we may perhaps hint at one or two reasons why the Lord God has had, has, and
always will have, a poor people in this world.
I. I think one reason is, to teach us how grateful we should be for all the comforts he
bestows on many of us. One of the sweetest meals I think I have ever eaten was after
beholding a spectacle of penury which had made me weep. When we see others wanting daily
bread, does not our loaf at once taste very sweet? It may have been very dry; but we saw
some one begging for bread in the streets, and we thanked God for what we had that day,
when we knew that others wanted. When we take our walks abroad and see the poor, he must
be but a very poor Christian who does not lift up his eyes to heaven and thank his God
thus
"Not more than others I deserve,
But God has given me more."
If we were all made rich alike, if God had given us all abundance, we should never know the value of his mercies, but he puts the poor side by side with us, to make their trials, like a dark shadow, set forth the brightness which he is pleased to give to us in temporal matters. Oh! ye would never thank God half so much if ye did not see your cause for thankfulness by marking the needs of others. Oh! ye dainty ones, that can scarcely eat the food that is put before you, it would do you good it you could sit down at the table of the poor. Oh! ye discontented ones, who are always murmuring at your households, because all kinds of delicacies are not provided for you, it would do you good if you could sit down for a while to workhouse fare, and sometimes eat a little less than that, and fast a day or two, to find your appetites. Ay, ye who never sing a song of praise to God, it would be no small benefit to you, if you were for mice made to want his bounties, then you might be led to thank God for all his abundant supplies. Even Christian men want a spur to their thankfulness. God gives us a great many mercies we never thank him for Day by day his mercies come, but day by day we forget them. His mercies lie
"Forgotten in unthankfulness,
And without praises die."
Put you out in the cold some winter's night,
and would you not thank God for the fire afterwards? Make you thirst for a little while,
and how grateful would be the crop of water! Now, if God has not exposed us in this way,
it is at least an instance of his wisdom, that he has placed others in that position, to
teach those of his family who are more highly favored in temporal matters, how thankful
they ought to be for the gifts of his providence.
2. That, however, I take it, is but a very low view of the matter. There are other and
higher, and better reasons. God is pleased always to have a poor people, that he may
display his sovereignty in all he does. If there were no poor saints, we should not so
strongly believe the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, or, at least, if the saints
believed it, as they always must and will, yet the wicked, and those who despise it, would
not have so clear an evidence of it, and would not sin against such great light, which
shines upon their poor dark, blind eyeballs from evident displays of sovereignty in
salvation. Those who deny divine sovereignty, deny it in the face of all testimony
certainly in the teeth of Scripture, for it is there positively affirmed, and God, in
order that there may be something besides Scripture, has made his providence bear out the
written word, and has caused many of his children to be the despised among the people.
"I take whom I please," save God. "Ye would have me choose kings and queens
first; I choose their humble servants in their kitchens before I choose their masters and
mistresses in their banqueting halls. Ye would have me take the counsellor and the wise
man; I take the fool first, that I may teach you to despise the wisdom of man. I take the
poor before the rich, that I may humble all your pride, and teach you there is nothing in
man that makes me choose him, but that it is the sovereign will of God alone which creates
men heirs of grace." I bless God that there are poor saints, for they teach me this
lesson, that God will do as he pleases with his own. They show me manifestly, that however
much men may deny the sovereignty of God, they cannot rob him of it, that he will still
exert it to the very last, long as this earth shall stand, and mayhap find ways of
exerting it, even in future ages. Certainly the existence of a poor people in the world is
proof positive in the mind of the saint, and a plain and bold affirmation to the most
obtuse intellect of the sinner, that there is a sovereignty of God in the choice of men.
3. Again: God has a poor people, I take it, that he may display more the power of his
comforting promises, and the supports of the gospel. If all God's saints were
well-to-do in this world, and never lacked, we should scarcely realize the value of the
gospel half so much, Oh! my brethren, when we find some that have not where to day their
heads, who yet can say, "Still will I trust in the Lord;" when we see some who
have nothing but bread and water who still glory in Jesus; when we see them
"wondering where the scene shall end," seeing that "every day new straits
attend," and yet having faith in Christ, oh, what honor it reflects on the gospel!
Let my rich friend there stand up and say, "I have faith in God for to-morrow with
regard to my daily bread;" you would say, "My dear friend, I do not at all
wonder at it, for you have plenty of money at home to buy your bread with, and a salary
coming in on such a day; there is not much opportunity for faith in your case." But
when some poor habakkuk rises and exclaims "although the fig-tree shall not blossom
neither shall there be fruit in the vine," and so on, "Yet will I trust in the
Lord." Ah! then that shows the power of all-supporting grace. You know we hear of a
great many different inventions that will never stand a trial. One man advertises a
swimining belt; a fine thing it would be for dry land, but when it is tried at sea, I fear
it will not exactly answer the purpose, and really we cannot know the value of an
invention unless we test it, and put it through all the trials when it is supposed to be
able to endure. Now, grace is tested in the poverty of believersthat they are still
in a great degree an uncomplaining and unmurmuring racethat they bear up under every
discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of
all their apparent evils some good shall ultimately springthat their God will either
work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as
long as he is pleased to keep them there beloved, this is no doubt one reason why God puts
his people in poor circumstances. "There," says the architect, "this
building is strong." Ay, sir, but it must be tester!: let the wind blow against it.
There is a lighthouse out at sea: it is a calm nightI cannot tell whether the
edifice is firm; the tempest must howl about it, and then I shall know whether it will
stand. So with religion, if it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous
waters, we should not know that the ship was staunch and strong, if the winds did not blow
upon it, as they do on our poor tried brethren, we should not know bow firm and secure it
is. The master-works of God are those that stand in the midst of difficultieswhen
all things oppose them, yet maintain their stand; these are his all-glorious works, and so
his best children, those who honor him most, are those who have grace to sustain them
amidst the heaviest load of tribulations and trials. God puts his people into such
circumstances, then, to show us the power of his grace.
4. Then, again: God often allows his people to be a tried and a poor people, just to
plague the devil. The devil was never more plagued in his life, I think, than he was
with Job. As long as Job was rich, Job caused much envy in Satan, but he never made him so
angry as when he was poor. It was then that Satan was the most incensed against him
because, after all his trials, he would not curse God and die. You know, if a man thinks
he can do a thing, he will always wrap himself up in his self-complacency, till he tries
to do it and then fails. So Satan thinks he may overthrow one or other of God's children.
"Now, Satan," says God, "I will give thee an opportunity of trying thy
skill: one of my children is very poor; I will cut off his bread and water, I will give
him the water of affliction to drink, and the bread of bitterness to eat; he shall be
exceedingly tried; take him, Satan, drag him through fire and water, and see what thou
canst do with him." So Satan tries to starve out the divine life from his soul; but
he cannot do it, and he finds, after all he has done, that he is defeated, and he goes
away plagued and vexed, and feeling another hell within himself, though miserable enough
before, because he was foiled in all his attempts to tread out the spark of life in the
heart of God's child. God often allows Satan to test the Lord's work. It is marvellous
that the crafty devil should continue to work when it all tends to the glory of God after
all, but he is a devil all over, and will ever continue so. He always will keep on
meddling with God's children; he will persevere even to the last moment; till every saint
is safe across the Jordan, he will still be plaguing and vexing God's beloved. Ah! then
let us rejoice, God will deliver us, and bring us off safe at last, yea, "more than
conquerors, through him that loved us."
5. Furthermore, the design of our heavenly Father in allowing a poor people in this world,
and keeping his people poor, when he might make them rich, is possibly to give us some
living glimpse of Christ. A poor man is the image of Jesus Christ, if he be a
Christian. All Christians are the image of Jesus Christ, for the sanctifying influence of
Christ exerted on them has made them in some degree like their Master. But the poor man is
like his Master, not only in his character, but in his circumstances too. When you look on
a poor saint, you have a better picture of Jesus than you have in a rich saint. The rich
saint is a member of Christ; he has the image of his Master stamped upon him, and that
image shall be perfected when he shall arrive in heaven; but the poor saint has something
else; he has not only the most prominent feature, but the back-ground, and the
fore-ground, and all in the picture. He has the circumstances of it. Look at his brown
hands, hardened by toil; such were his Savior's once; look at his weary feet, blistered
with his journeyings; such were his-Savior's many a time. He sits upon a well from
weariness, as did his Lord once; he hath nowhere to rest, nor had his Master; foxes had
holes, and the birds of the air had nests, but he had not where to lay his head He is fed
by charity, so was his Master; others supplied his wants. See! he sits down at an invited
table, so did his Master; he had not one of his own. Thou seest Christ, then; thou seest
as much of Christ as thou wilt see just yet, until thou art taken up where thou shalt be
like him, and see him as he is. He would have us always remember the Savior's poverty:
"How he was rich, and yet for our sakes became poor." And just as, on some
memorable day, they strike medals which bear the impress of its hero, so I look upon every
poor saint as being a medal struck from the mint divine, to be a memento of the existence
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is to make me remember my Lord, to bid me meditate upon that
wondrous depth of poverty into which he stooped, that he might lift me up to light and
glory. Oh! blessed Jesus, this is wise, for we oft forget theewise that thou hast
given us some opportunity to remember thee.
6. But now one more reason, and I have done with this part of the subject. The Lord, has a
poor people in the midst of us, for this reason, that he determines to give us
opportunities of showing our love to him. Now, we show our love to Christ when we sing
of him and when we pray to him; but if there were no poor people in the world we should
often say within ourselves, "Oh I how I wish there were one of Christ's brethren that
I could help; I should like to give Christ something; I should like to show my Master that
I loved him, not by words only but by deeds too." And if all the poor saints were
taken clean away, and we were all well-to-do, and had abundance, there would be none to
require any assistance, and I think we might begin to weep, because there were no poor
saints to help. It is one of the most healthy things in the world to help a saint; it is a
great blessing to our own souls; it is a healthy exercise of the mind to visit the poor of
the Lord's flock, and distribute as we are able of our substance to their necessities. Let
us look upon it, not as a mere duty, but as a delight and privilege; for if we were not
able to give something of our substance to Christ, we should have to go down on our knees
to ask him to give us some opportunity of showing our love to him. Take away the saints,
and one channel wherein our love might flow is withdrawn at once. But that shall never be,
for the poor we always shall have with us, and there are some reasons why we always shall
have them.
II. The second thing we shall endeavor to speak of is THE DUTY here alluded to: "They
would that we should remember the poor." "Remember the poor;" that word
"remember" is a very comprehensive word.
We ought to remember the poor in our prayers. I need not remind you to offer
supplication for the rich, but remember the poor; remember them and pray that God would
comfort and cheer them in all the trials of their penury, that he would supply their wants
out of the riches of his fullness. Let the angel touch you on the arm, when you have
nearly finished your prayer, and say, "Remember the poor; remember the poor of the
flock." Let your prayers always go up to heaven for them.
Remember the poor, too, in your conversation. It is remarkable that all of us
remember the rich. We talk about all men being equal, but I do not believe there is an
Englishman who is not silly enough to boast, if he has happened to be with a lord in his
lifetime. To have seen a live lord is a most marvellous thing, and there is scarcely one
of us that could resist the temptation of talking about it. We may say what we like about
believing in the equality of mankind; so we do, till we happen to get a little elevated,
then we don't believe it any longer. We are all ready enough to pull others down when we
are in humble circumstances; but when we get a little elevated, we foolishly think it only
a child's fancy that we indulged in, and that after all there are more differences than we
imagined. We always remember the rich. You see a man respectable in church; you always
know him, don't you? You are on the exchange, or walking down the street; you never find
any difficulty in recognising him. Somehow or other, your memory is very treacherous in
remembering the poor, but very strong in remembering a rich man. Let me remind you to
"Remember the poor." It is singular enough that there, is no command to remember
the rich; I suppose because there is no necessity for it, for we usually remember them.
But there is a command for us to remember the poor. Now, the next time you see a poor
brother coal-heaver, bricklayer, hodsman, or whatever he may be, do know him, if you
please; and if you see him in all his dirty garments still know him; do not forget him;
try and recolleet him. Next sacrament Sunday look him if the face as though you remembered
him; for the last twenty times you have seen him you have appeared as if you did not
remember him, and the poor man's mind has been hurt as much as if it were same slight on
your part, because he was a poor brother. I will not say that it was so, but I am rather
afraid it was in some degree. Now, when you see him in the street, say, "Well,
brother, I know you," and if he comes up to speak to you, do not think it will lower
you to be seen speaking to him in the street. If he is your brother, acknowledge him; if
he is not tell no lie about it, but leave the church, and make no false professions. But
if you believe it, carry it out.
Now, often, when you are walking home from the house of God, you do not remember the poor,
do you. If they should require to speak to you, however important their errand, they would
not get attended to very frequently. If Mr. So-and-so, who is a respectable gentleman,
wanted you, "Oh! yes, sir, I can stop a moment and have a little conversation with
you;" but if a poor person wants you, "Oh! I am in such a hurry; I must go
home;" and you are sure to go off directly. Now, for the future, just reverse your
habit. When you see a rich man, do just what you like about attending to him; I know what
you will like to do; but when you see a poor man, just make it a point of conscience that
you attend to him. I was very much pleased with the conduct of a brother who is here
present. He may remember the circumstance, and bless God that he gave him grace to act as
he did. A short time ago there stood in the aisle near his pew door, a gentleman and a
poor fellow in a smock frock. I thought to myself, "He will let one in I know, I
wonder which it will be." I did not wait long, before out he came, and in went the
smock frock. He thought very rightly, that the gentlemen would stand a chance of getting a
seat out of some of you, but he thought it best to remember the poor; and it was likely
that the poorman was the most tired, for he had no doubt had a hard week's work, and
probably a long walk, for there are not many smock frocks near London. Therefore he gave
in reality to the most necessitous. I say, again, "Remember the poor." There is
no necessity to tell you to remember the richto be very respectful, and to speak
very kindly and lovingly to those who are above you; you will take care of yourselves on
that point; but it is the poor you are disposed not to attend to, and therefore I will
press on you this commandment, that you remember the poor.
But this especially means, I think, that in the provision for their necessities, we
ought to remember the poor. Some of us have pretty good need to remember the poor. I am
sure I have, for I have about ten times as many poor people come to me every day as I can
possibly relieve. If I were as rich as the Mayor of London, or Her Majesty the Queen, I
could scarcely accede to the immense requests sometimes made to me. There is scarcely a
poor man that is hard run by his creditors, or a poor woman that cannot make up her rent,
but they write to the minister. All the poor souls come to him; and I think to myself,
"What can I do with you? I have really done as much as I can, and here are three or
four more coming." So I am obliged to send them away, and can only pity, but cannot
assist; and this must be the case, unless some one shot a waggon load of gold before my
door. Still, we must "remember the poor." Some think it very hard to have so
many calls on them; I do not; I only think it hard when I cannot help them; if I could, I
would think it a great blessing to assist them all. If I were put in possession of great
wealth, I do not say what I would do, for very frequently people's hearts get smaller when
their means get greater; but where God has given us wealth, I am sure where there are
necessitous children of God, we ought to remember them directly. How much of the
superfluities might be given to their necessities! How many of our lavished luxuries might
be bestowed on that which they crave for their very existence. Ye know not how poor this
world is. You ride through one part of this magnificent city, and you say, "Talk of
poverty! There is no such thing." You ride through another part, and you say, Talk of
riches! There is no such thing. The world is poor." Some of you should, now and then,
go and search out poverty. Place you above it, and your movements in life seldom bring you
into contact with it. If you would have your hearts enlarged, visit the poor; follow them
into their dens, for they are but little better in some cases; go up their creaking
staircases; see the straw in the corner of the room where they sleep, ay, see worse than
thatsee a chair whereon a man has been for the last five years, not able to sit
without being propped, obliged to be fed by others, and yet living on four or five
shillings a week, with nothing to support him properly, or give him sufficient bodily
nutriment. Go and see such cases, and if you do not put your hands in your pockets, and
help the aged pilgrims, I am afraid there is not much Christianity in you, or if you do
not help the one that you see has the greatest need, I am afraid the love of God dwelleth
not in you. It is a duty we owe to the poor of the Lord's flock, and we reap many
advantages we should not have if we had not to remember the poor.
III. Now, allow me to press home THIS OBLIGATION: why should we remember poor? I
shall not urge it upon the ground of common philanthropy and charity, that were a too mean
and low way of addressing Christian men, although even they perhaps might be benefited by
it. I shall urge it in another way.
"Remember the poor," because they are your Lord's brethren. What! do you not
feel, like David, that you would do anything for Jonathan's sake? and if he hath some poor
sick son, some Mephibosheth, lame in his feet, wilt thou not seat him at thy table, or
give him a maintenance, if thou canst, seeing that Jonathan's blood is in his veins?
Remember, beloved, the blood of Jesus runs in the veins of poor saints they are his
relatives, they are his friends, and if that move thee not, remember they are thy friends
too. They are thy brethren if thou art a child of God; they are allied to thee; if they
are sons of God, so art thou, and they are brethren of thine. What! let thy brother
starve? If thou canst, wilt thou not relieve thy brother's necessity, not shield him from
the cold, not ward off hunger, not provide for his needs? Oh! I know thou lovest Jesus I
know thou lovest the friends of Jesus and I know thou lovest thine own family and,
therefore, thou wilt love thy poor brethren, wilt thou not? I know thou writ, thou wilt
relieve them. Remember, too, that thou thyself mayst be like thy poor brother ere long,
therefore, take heed that thou despise him not, for some one will despise thee. Oh! think
thee that all thou hast God has lent thee, he may take it all from thee if he pleases, and
if he seeth that thou makest an ill use of it, perhaps he will take it from thee now. Full
many a man has lost his wealth by God's righteous judgment for his misuse of it. Thou art
God's steward, wilt thou cheat him? He has given thee his wealth to distribute to the
poor; wilt thou not supply their needs out of what he hath given thee? Yes, surely thou
wilt; I cannot believe thou wilt turn them away, so long as thou hast aught wherewith to
relieve them, but wilt share what thou hast with them. Remember, if thou dost not relieve
them, thou givest great and grave suspicion that thou lovest not Christ, for if ye love
not Christ's people, how can it be that ye are his disciples, since it is the mark,
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another;"
and how can ye love, where ye have, and give not where God hath made you rich, and yet you
do not bestow? Gravely ye give cause to doubt that the love of God is in you, if the love
of the brethren is not in you also. Oh! remember, when thou givest, God can give thee
more. Thou hast lost nothing! thou hast put it in another purse, and God may hand it back
to thee in larger measure yet. Men lose nothing by what they give to God's saints. It
would often be a heavenly investment if they bestowed it upon God's family; but if they
retain it, God hath other means to make them poor, if they will not give to his cause.
John Bunyan tells of a man who had a roll of cloth, and the more he cut from it, the more
he had; and he says, in his rhyming way,
"A man there was, though some did
count him mad,
The more he cast away, the more he had."
He was not much of a madman, after all, if
he had more the more he gave away. But that is a very selfish view; remember, it thou
never hast it back again, it is no small honor to give it to Christ; and remember, what
thou givest to his children thou puttest into his palm; and if Christ should stand at the
door as thou passeth the plate, how wouldst thou put thy money in to please him! Remember,
his poor believing family are his hand; give into his hand, then, as ye can at all times
and seasons. Remember the poor; ye shall always have the poor to remember.
Well, now, I beg leave to commend to your attention and notice to-night, the Aged
Pilgrims' Friend Society, as being an especially excellent institution, because it will
enable you to remember the poor. Those who are relieved by it are, in the first place, all
Christians, as far as man can judge; they are all examined beforehand as to their
experience of a change of heart, and the existence of a divine life within them, and none
are received into the society but those who are really the members of Christ's mystical
body, and give evidence of the work of grace in their hearts. In the next place, the funds
which are given to them are distributed by Christian men, who visit them once a month; and
when they visit them, I do not suppose they leave them without praying with them and
endeavoring to cheer their hearts. I know they do not. They often spend a season of
prayer, and have a kind conversation with them concerning their souls. And, last of all,
they are all over sixty. They have a double claim on us, because they are the Lord's aged
people, as well as the Lord's poor people; and none of them have anything without they
absolutely and really require it. I will just read you this very short paper to tell you
what they have done:
"The Society was established in 1807 for the relief
of the aged Christian pool, above sixty years, irrespective of denominational distinction,
both male and female in town and country; it has extended its valuable aid to 1650 aged
disciples of the Lord Jesus, among whom have been distributed upwards of 50,000. "The following is a brief account of its present state, in reference both to the number relieved, and the amount of income and expenditure. There are
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