THE TITHE IS THE LORD'S.
By R. F. Cottrell
“And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.” Lev. 27:30. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” All things being the Lord’s, if we give, we only give of that which is his. We are the Lord’s, both by creation and redemption. Our time is all the Lord’s. We do not give one day in seven to him; he graciously gives us six days, in which we may provide for our earthly wants, and reserves the seventh to himself. To appropriate the seventh day, or any part of it, to ourselves is to rob God. So with the tithe. All we have is the Lord’s. He gave his people anciently nine-tenths and reserved one-tenth to himself. With all the light, the blessings, and privileges, of the gospel, does he require any less of us? Why should he? Should we not, in view of the mercies of God, lay all upon his altar, offering ourselves a living sacrifice? If a tenth is all the Lord reserves, how small the demand! and how contemptible to rob God by withholding that, or any part of it! Yet professed Christians, yes, professed believers in the present truth, are doing this very thing. The coming of the Lord is at hand. The world is to be warned. If ever a tenth, or even much more than that, was demanded for the work of the Lord, it is now. Souls are perishing for lack of the knowledge which God has given to us. We shall be held responsible. We are all in arrears in our account with God. We are defaulters; we have long been guilty of embezzlement; and shall we continue to rob God? The way is all open for us to use our time and our means in spreading the truth among perishing men. Will we engage in it? Will we give of the time and means which God has intrusted to us, for the service of God and humanity? A little time from the present will tell. The record will be made up—the accounts closed. Then the reward will be given to the faithful—those that have been faithful over a few things will be made ruler over many.