Whatever God does is done thoroughly: "He has done all things well." (Mark 7:37)
When He speaks, He leaves no room for reasonable misunderstanding. So since: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life," (John 3:16) He has taken the greatest pains to make it very clear that He is no respecter of persons and that nobody is left out. Wealth and worldly position are no recommendation with Him. The Gospel was, in its inception, addressed especially to the poor, the grand proof of the Messiahship of Jesus being that: "The poor have the Gospel preached to them." (Matthew 11:5)
The anointing of the Spirit of God is for the express purpose of enabling the receiver "to preach the Gospel to the poor." (Luke 4:18)
All the promises are to the poor, instead of to the rich. "Hearken, my beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to them that love Him?" (James 2:5)
If Christ had come preaching to the rich, the poor would have slunk away abashed, not daring to present their needs; but when the door was open so wide as to take in the very poorest, the lowest, and the most despised, it was very evident that all who would might be saved. Nay, more, Christ himself, who was rich, became poor, and so made it forever impossible for anybody to doubt the sincerity of His call.
Even the rich must become poor; for none of this world's goods can ever be taken to heaven. "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out." (1 Timothy 6:7)
So, as a matter of fact, God must love the poor if He loved anybody; for the richest are really poor, since they bring nothing more into the world than the poorest; and when the wealthy are required to become poor in order to gain the world to come, it is simply that they may recognize and acknowledge what they really are. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." (1 Corinthians 3:19)
And so the things of God are hidden from the wise and prudent, and are revealed unto babes. Thus all may understand for the most unlettered have not to acquire something, before they can know God's salvation, and the philosophers have only to let go of their worldly wisdom.
The inhabitants of this earth form a vast pyramid, the base being composed of all the poor; and by identifying himself with the very lowest stratum, Christ showed that His Gospel comprehends all. "We speak ... not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought; But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory; Which none of the princes of this world knew." (1 Corinthians 2:6-8)
Thus it was that when the mystery was revealed,--God manifest in the flesh--the announcement was made, not to princes, but to peasants. "There were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." (Luke 2:8-10)
First to the poor shepherds, then to all the world. God chooses the humble and unknown as His ambassadors to the world, the messengers of His mercy. Those who can understand it best, naturally receive it first.
• Moses was not called to lead the host of Israel from bondage to freedom while he was the prince in the court of Egypt, and heir to the throne; but it was when he was a lone shepherd in the wilderness that the glory of God was revealed to him.
• Gideon was threshing grain on his father's farm, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and sent him to deliver Israel from their Midianite oppressors.
• David was called from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over the Lord's people.
• Elisha was ploughing the field with his father's hired servants, as one of them, when the mantle of Elijah was cast upon him, which was his call to be one of the greatest of Israel's prophets.
• Amos when charged with being only a conspirator, and no prophet, did not plead his family position, but on the contrary said, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herd man, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit; And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." (Amos 7:14-15)
• Samuel and Jeremiah were both little children when the work of the Lord was revealed to them.
"Though the Lord be high, yet He has respect unto all lowly." (Psalm 138:6)
With all the evidences of God's special attachment to the poor, why should anybody ever complain of the oppression of the rich, or seek to defend themselves against injustice? The Lord thinks upon the poor and needy. "For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever." (Psalm 9:18) "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, says the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffs at him [or, "would ensnare him"]." (Psalm 12:5) "I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor." (Psalm 140:12) "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)
If we expect Him to give us eternal things, why can we not much more trust Him for all that we need of temporal things? The Gospel contains the remedy for all ills, the deliverance from all afflictions. "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)
Strikes and boycotts can never be mentioned as becoming saints, and no Christian will ever in any way whatever countenance any such doings; for it is by "the power of the world to come," (Hebrews 6:5) that all wrongs are to be righted. The proclamation, "Peace on earth," will soon meet its fulfillment; for the Judge stands at the door. Christ will soon come, and cause wars and oppression to cease unto the ends of the earth; and it is to this event that the angelic message directs us. "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draws nigh." (James 5:7-8)--Present Truth, December 11, 1902--Timeline: I-2 (The Announcement to the Shepherds)--Luke 2:8-20.