“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’” This is how it will be once God has His way. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men! God’s tabernacle is the New Jerusalem that will come down from heaven to the new earth. This tabernacle of God is in the process if being built now. Peter writes, “Coming to Him as to a living stone . . . you also, as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Pet. 2:4-5. “But Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm to the end.” Heb. 3:6. People struggle and strive with temporary things, with pleasing each other. They harbor nothing but sin and the passing pleasures of this world. However, God works with them by His Spirit, and when they turn to Him, Jesus dwells in their hearts by faith. Their bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit. Then God has a dwelling place in the midst of mankind. There may be just one such person in the midst of an ungodly home or at a place of employment. It is not easy to remain holy in such an atmosphere. Therefore, holy brethren, you who have received a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess, Jesus. Heb. 3:1. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve and lay down His life. Jesus treated people just as God will treat them on the new earth. He had compassion on them. They were like sheep without a shepherd. There were tears, cries, sorrow, pain, and death, but all this ceased wherever Jesus went. He healed the sick and made their souls whole by the blessed words which He spoke. He invited them to come to Him, all those who labored and were heavy laden, and He would give them rest. We who have received a heavenly calling have the same task to fulfill. We must be conscious of this task if we are to keep ourselves holy and undefiled by the world. We must be finished with serving ourselves so we can hear the people crying and sorrowing. We are to do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith (Gal. 6:10), and to brotherly love we are to add love toward all men. We should never hear such cries in the church. There are many kinds of people in the church. The Word of life has brought us together, and Paul tells us to consider our calling. Not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called; but God has chosen the foolish and weak things of the world, that which is despised, which is nothing in this world to bring to nothing the things that are. 1 Cor. 1:26-28. Among such a group of people there are many who are not easy to bear. However, God does a mighty work by building for Himself a habitation out of such people. During this time of building, we need to serve each other without making a distinction based on whether we like an individual or not according to the flesh. What about those who are weak, who are less honorable, who are despised in the world, who is down-and-out, those who are unsympathetic? Do we help them? God has elected to lead them our way, which is why it is important for us not to draw back. There are many cries that need to be silenced, and tears that need to be dried until God has His way with them and is formed in them. There is no glory in helping them. Perhaps they don’t even have the sense to say “Thank you.” This is why it is important to understand our calling—God wants to do a work in them through you! When it is a question of helping such lowly people, the tendency is to want to rule over them. If you give them some financial aid, you also want to decide what they should use it for. If they should by chance buy themselves a cake with the money, you might say, “See, they don’t know how to use money properly. Wouldn’t it have been better if they had bought some bread or a pair of stockings if they are so poor?” When you give with that kind of an attitude you are not giving from your heart, but rather out of a sense of obligation to soothe your conscience. Just because they are poor doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t like to have a piece of cake or go on an outing just like you do. They don’t have that opportunity so often; couldn’t we give them a little bit extra? Some people have to set up a committee before they help anyone. They consult and negotiate with all kinds of people. Why not act according to the leading of the Spirit and not let the right hand know what the left is doing? However, in this context it should be mentioned that a sense of orderliness and administrative abilities are innate gifts, and a lack of these abilities is the cause for many a person’s poverty. But you who have these abilities, why do you boast as if you had not received them? Why not be humble and help them instead of judging them? Then there are some individuals who help and really sacrifice what they need for themselves, but one day they discover that it has had the opposite effect of their intentions. Those who are being helped end up being lazy and open their hearts to the spirit of making demands. Then Satan comes and says, “Now you can see what you are getting for helping him; you have worn yourself out to no purpose.” Instead of being glad that you could be of help you end up being disappointed and discouraged. But we read, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Col. 3:23-24. You must never regret the good you have done. It is not the person you have helped who is to reward you; neither should you expect any praise from anyone else, but it is the Lord who will reward you. If you have done it as unto the Lord He will reward you just as much, even if the person whom you have helped misuses it. Just don’t give Satan an opportunity to ruin your calling and your work. He will keep on preaching to you so that in the end you won’t be able to find a single needy person who is worthy of your help. And if you hear a cry, he will say, “There, you can see how ungodly they are; all they do is demand. Such people should never be helped.” But if you listen to that voice, your heart will turn to stone. Paul writes, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Phil. 1:9-11. Love must not grow cold even if its gift is being misused, but it must abound in knowledge and all discernment. It is not the intention that I should stop helping because my help is being misused, but that I should increase in discernment so that I can help in the right way. Help is not only a matter of giving money, but spending time with the person is also help; and this can often cost more. He who lacks wisdom, let him pray. And if we are to dry tears, silence the cries, and help people in need, we need wisdom; but God will give it to us so we can become perfect in the work of ministry and be a part of the New Jerusalem. It is more blessed to give than to receive, and our glory will be beyond comparison on the day we will be God’s tabernacle among men on the new earth.Sigurd Bratlie