THE increasing prevalence of drunkenness among women was the theme of some remarks made by the Rev. L. A. Banks, D. D., at the recent Methodist State conference at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., which greatly surprised the members of that body. Mr. Banks is the pastor of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City, and is therefore in a position to know something of the conditions of which he spoke. He said:—
“I have looked into this question, and some of these days I will give some startling facts. The most dangerous drinking by women is in the better and middle classes. In New York City women, members of the churches, drink whisky cocktails in public on Sunday. I say nothing but what I can prove in court. American civilization is like a pie. The top crust, or the “four hundred,” is steeped in champagne, while the bottom is soggy with beer. The middle class, until recently, has been fairly good.”
“Dr. Banks,” it is stated, “asked why Methodist women, Baptist women, Presbyterian women, and those of other denominations have the punch bowl in their houses beside the lemonade bowl. Why do prominent Methodist laymen ignore the license system? And he explained that in his opinion it was because the pulpit had ceased to preach the gospel that a drunkard will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Bubonic Plague in Kansas
A TOPEKA, Kan., dispatch states that Dr. Chas. Lowry, secretary of the Kansas State board of health, has gone to Rice County to investigate some symptoms of bubonic plague. Nine men have died from the disease in that locality.
No More Delay
By William Brickey
WILLIAM BRICKEY
WHEN this gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in every clime
For a witness to all nations, we shall
reach the end of time:
Christ will come in all his glory, down
the shining heavenly way;
He is coming for his people, there will be
no more delay.
Are you looking for his gracious revelation?
Are you ready for the end of your probation?
Are you longing for the day
When our great High Priest will say,
There will be no more delay,
It is finished?
In this present generation, to the earth's remotest bound,
Must this threefold gospel message with a mighty voice resound.
In the spirit of Elijah, with a martyr's zeal we pray,
Even so come, blessed Jesus! come, and make no more delay.
We can see the harvest fields already whitening;
Brethren, let us send the message with the lightning;
Send the steam ships on their way
With the message for to-day,
There must be no more delay
'Till it's finished.
All the elements are preaching that the day is just at hand,
Floods and flames and epidemics almost desolate the land.
Wars and pestilence and famines preach, and earthquakes plainly say,
He is coming, he is coming! there will be no more delay.
Nahum's chariots rage and jostle one another
In the streets, and in the broadway, where, my brother,
They emphatically say,
'Tis God's preparation day;
There will be no more delay
'Till it's finished.
Gather up the silent messengers, prepared for men to read,
Send them forth on Nahum's chariots, with almost lightning speed.
Send along the living preachers, let them lift their voice and say,
He is coming, he is coming! there will be no more delay.
Wake and rouse thee for the conflict, O my brother!
Do not trust the living issue to another;
Tarry not another day,
You have heard the Master say,
There will be no more delay
'Till it's finished.
Words to Our Workers
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
It is by bearing much fruit that God's workers testify to the power of his word. The tame, spiritless efforts that produce no fruit are an evidence that there is no living connection with God.
“Herein is my Father glorified,” Christ declared, “that ye bear much fruit.”
In order to labor successfully for God, there must be in the heart an all-absorbing love for him. Heart-religion must rule in the life. Until the heart is humble and contrite before God, until the sins which his word denounces are put away, his blessing can not be given. Those who win sinners to Christ must cherish the principles of Christianity. Those who do not love God with heart and soul and strength and mind might better go apart and rest awhile. They might better take up some other work, until they breathe a higher, purer atmosphere; for God can not work with them until their hearts are purified through obedience to his word.
True workers will put away all self-exaltation and self-sufficiency. It is those who have the least evidence of the power of the Spirit of God in their labors who feel the greatest self-exaltation. These will try to repress those to whom God has given the precious truths for which his flock is starving,—the bread of life, which will satisfy the hunger of the soul.
The Lord calls for workers, not sermonizers, for men who will do real work. The time is coming when we shall take a retrospective view of the work that we have done in this life. Then every man's work will appear at its true value. Those who have souls to show as the result of their labor will receive recognition from God. And I have been instructed that not a few, but many souls will be saved through the labors of men who have looked to Jesus for their ordination and orders. Such men have taken up work in the hardest parts of the field, and have labored successfully for the Master.
There are thousands upon thousands dead in trespasses and sins. Thousands are passing into the grave unwarned and unconverted. Who will render an account for these souls? God calls for workers who will labor for those who know not the truth, who will go forth to rescue those who are out of the fold. Many to-day are rejoicing in the truth, full of thankfulness and hope, who would never have been reached if the Lord had not put into the hearts of human instrumentalities a desire to save souls.
When our ministers and teachers breathe the breath of God, a high and holy consecration will be manifest. The Holy Spirit must come to every gospel worker, to every church member, if those who are perishing in sin are saved to Christ. The crown of life is gained by those who run with patience the race set before them. Brethren, God forbid that you should lose this prize. But there are among our workers those who are doing little to gain a high, noble spirituality. The torpor of spiritual death has been long upon them.
It is not orthodox theories, not membership in the church, not the diligent performance of a certain round of duties, that gives evidence of life. In an ancient tower in Switzerland I saw the image of a man that moved as if it possessed life. It looked like a living man, and I whispered when I came near, as if it could hear me. But though the image looked like life, it had no real life. It was moved by machinery.
Motion is not necessarily life. We may go through all the forms and ceremonies of religion; but unless we are alive in Christ, our work is worthless. The Lord calls for living, working, believing Christians. There are hundreds who, though professedly following the Lord, have no light from heaven to reflect to the dark places of the earth. O, if we realized how sadly the Lord looks upon the attitude in which some have stood for years, we would change at once, and earnestly seek the Lord! In the name of the Lord I call upon those who are offering God nothing but profession, to repent. They are in need of power from on high.
There are in the ministry many who are consumers and not producers. They have been bought with a price, and they should use in God's service the strength and energy that he has entrusted to them. God calls for sincere, earnest, persevering laborers. His delegated servants should look upon no work that he gives them as too taxing. Those who would be successful laborers in his cause must put to the task brain and bone and muscle.
Improvement is needed in many departments of God's work. New lines of work must be organized. New workers must go into the field to labor for souls. These workers are to dig in God's Word for the precious ore of truth. As they search the Word, the truth will appear to them in a new aspect.
“Search the Scriptures,” said the divine Teacher; “for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
The members of the church of God need to be instructed and educated, line upon line, as a Bible class. Nine tenths of our people, including many of our ministers and teachers, are content with surface truths.
The Bible is compared to treasure hid in a field, “the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” He desires the privilege of searching every part of the field, that he may make himself the possessor of all its treasures. I call upon my brethren to allow nothing to hinder them from a daily study of God's Word.
To us to-day comes the message to the church in Sardis: “These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will8come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
Making Shipwreck
By W. T. Bartlett
W. T. BARTLETT
If you have ever seen a shipwreck, you will be better able to understand why Paul should speak of some who went astray as making shipwreck of faith. He himself knew what it meant. “Thrice,” he says, “I suffered shipwreck,” and this was written before the shipwreck which occurred on the voyage to Rome, described in Acts 27.
A few weeks ago I was walking by the seashore, near one of our Western ports, when I was surprised to see before me the stern half of a large steamer lying propped up on the beach. There seemed to be nothing much the matter with it, except that one half was missing, and the iron plates were jagged and rough where the ship had been divided. Some of the iron masts had been taken out, and lay, with heaps of rusting chain, on the pebbles. The bulk of the great vessel towered high above me, and it seemed a thousand pities that so much valuable material, which had taken so much skill and strength to put together, and which ought to be plowing its way to distant lands in the service of man, should be lying rusting there, a broken wreck.
On inquiry I learned what had brought the steamer to its end. It had been purchased by a foreign merchant, and was just leaving for the port where he lived, with a heavy load of machinery. The pilot had been warned that the water of the dock in which the vessel had been lying, had washed out for itself a narrow channel for some distance, pushing the sand to either side, so that it would be unsafe for him to attempt to turn the steamer until he had gone straight ahead for some distance. For some reason this warning was not sufficiently regarded, and soon after leaving the dock an attempt was made to turn the steamer, with the result that it grounded on one bank of the sandy channel.
No one thought the mishap would prove serious, expecting to float off with the next tide. Being so near the shore, the pilot put off in a boat, and went back to his friends for a few hours, but during his absence, the tide ran lower, and the steamer, not supported by sufficient water, and heavily laden with machinery, broke in halves on the bank, so that when the pilot returned, his vessel was in two pieces.
It seemed a small mistake to make, but it was a very great one when it came to be measured by its consequences. Yet how many people are treating their lives, which are much more valuable and important than many ships with their cargoes, as if it were a small matter to take them into dangerous places. All around us are the poor, broken lives that have made shipwreck, some seemingly empty and worthless, but others laden with precious merchandise, and when we come to inquire how it is that these will never reach their desired haven, we generally find that it is on account of some small thing that could have been got over very easily if any one had known that it was so important. It needs only a little leak to sink the largest and finest ship ever floated, and it needs only a little carelessness to bring to a hopeless ruin a life that might have been filled with the glory of God, and have been a blessing to many.
Paul might well think of a shipwreck when he thought upon the lives of those who had failed because they had left off to be conscientious, for it does not matter how rich a cargo is carried, or how powerful and magnificent the vessel, or even how numerous and skillful the men who guide it, if there is not the most careful attention to the chart and the guide-marks, all the rest will not save the vessel from shipwreck. The ship that I saw had hardly begun her voyage, yet she needed as much watchfulness as if she had been long on the journey. The evil always comes just when we are not watching for it, so we must watch always, from first to last, if we would endure unto the end.
Experience of God's Prophets
By John Norton Loughborough
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH
“Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.” Acts 7: 52.
There are individuals who claim that the gift of prophecy can not be genuine if many of God’s professed people reject or oppose its teaching. They reason thus: “If this manifestation and teaching be genuine, all the Lord’s people will indorse it.” If such were the case, the people of this age would be far different from those of past ages, whose course was “written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Cor. 10: 11.
Our initial text states how the Jewish people anciently treated God’s true prophets, and other scriptures confirm the statement: “And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes [often], and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.” 2 Chron. 36: 15, 16.
In our Saviour’s discourse on the mount, he said: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matt. 5: 11, 12.
Who were the actors in that persecution? we inquire. They were professedly in the fold—in the church. This is vividly set forth in our Lord’s parable of the householder, where he says, “There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. . . .”
“And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.” Matt. 21: 33-38, 45.
In 2 Chron. 24: 20, 21, is found a record of one who suffered such persecution. “And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye can not prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.” See also Matt. 23: 35.
Jeremiah the prophet also suffered persecution at the hands of those who professed to be God’s people, as the following scriptures show: “Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.” Jer. 18: 18.
Not content with simply using their lips, they next took a course to make him a “gazing-stock” to the people: “Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.” Jer. 20: 1, 2.
And this severe treatment of the prophet Jeremiah was all because he continued to speak to them of the things that the Lord had shown him would come upon Jerusalem and upon that people. These reproofs and warnings they would not accept nor believe. Yet he still earnestly entreated them, which only increased their hatred. Hardening their hearts, they were prepared for greater cruelty to the prophet, as is recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter of Jeremiah:9“Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets [false prophets] and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die. Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. . . .”
“Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.” Jeremiah then said to them, “Know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears. Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets: This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people,” saying that Micah, in the days of Hezekiah, had made predictions similar to those of Jeremiah; but Hezekiah did not put Micah to death. They spoke also of one Urijah who prophesied similarly to Jeremiah in the days of Jehoiakim, and that Jehoiakim had him put to death. With this pleading and the favor of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Jeremiah was kept from the death which the priests and false prophets had planned.
Notwithstanding the angry attitude of Jeremiah’s persecutors, he tenderly entreated the priests, rulers, and people to heed the Lord’s counsel. This only vexed them the more, and strengthened their determination to destroy him. “Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.” Zedekiah, wishing to consult him, took him out of the dungeons, and had a private interview, whereupon Jeremiah showed him that his predictions were already fulfilling against those false prophets who had said, “The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land.” Jer. 37: 15, 19. So Zedekiah took him out of the dungeons, and put him in the court of the prison, and provided him with food.
Jeremiah faithfully instructed the people as to what course they should pursue when the king of Babylon should return with his army to take Jerusalem. The people reasoned with Zedekiah that Jeremiah’s words weakened the people by teaching them that they should surrender to the Chaldeans. This reasoning so weakened Zedekiah that he said to the people, concerning Jeremiah, “Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do anything against you. Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.” Jer. 38: 5, 6.
Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, “spake to the king, saying, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. . . . So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. . . . Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.” Jer. 39: 8, 9, 13, 28.
Notwithstanding the fact that what Jeremiah had predicted was being accomplished before their eyes, the king left Jeremiah in bonds. Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the Babylonian guard, after taking Jerusalem, said to Jeremiah, “The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said. . . . And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hands. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee. . . . Whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. . . . So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go. Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.” Jer. 40: 2-6.
(To be concluded)
The Labor Problem
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
E. J. WAGGONER
THE highest hopes of the most unselfish philanthropist can not embrace so much for mankind as is offered in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which it is the mission of his church to proclaim. There is therefore no need for any such organization as a trade union, to bring men to love their neighbors as themselves. I can quite understand the call for something of the kind, by well-disposed men who do not know the gospel; but when Christians enter into such organizations, they thereby bring a charge of inefficiency against the gospel which they profess. Moreover, however zealously men labor to spread the spirit of brotherly love, they can never accomplish it except through the preaching of Christ, in whom the love of God is revealed; for the first and great commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind;” and the commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” is secondary to this, and grows out of it. “We love, because he first loved us.” It is only as the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, that any man can love his neighbor as himself.
The brotherhood of man can exist only when God is recognized and honored as the Father. Men are born brothers, not made so by contract or agreement. It needs no argument to show that there is not a state of brotherhood now existing among men; therefore it is self-evident that this desirable state can be reached only through the new birth. The only solution of the labor problem, and of the unrighteous strife between capital and labor is found in the re-creating, regenerating cross of him who cries, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matt. 11: 28, 29.
They All With One Consent Began to Make Excuse
By E. T. RUSSELL
E. T. RUSSELL
As people excuse themselves from giving their hearts to God, so in like manner many who profess to love him excuse themselves from laboring with him to save souls. Some excuse themselves from labor because they see something in the way. “The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.” Like Christian in Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” we need to surmount all difficulties, and pass the lions; for when we reach them, we shall find them chained. In order to be successful in working for Christ, we shall have to overcome all obstacles, and not allow obstacles to overcome us.
Some reason that they will do something sometime in the future in the work of soul-saving; but does not the Lord say, “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation”? And he plainly tells us not to put off the day of labor. “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” John 4: 25. Souls are going down to ruin all around us on account of our spiritual indolence and indecision. We reason that we will go to work sometime; but when the Lord says, “Now is the accepted time,” and, “Look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest,” why not take him at his word, and now gather fruit unto life eternal?
Others reason that they have but one talent, and therefore they are satisfied to bury their talent in the earth. But why do so? Why not with that one talent work for God? Would it not be better to use the one talent in serving God rather than mammon? If we continue to serve the world, in the reckoning day the Lord will say unto us, “Thou wicked and slothful servant.” Matt. 25: 24-30. Some one may say, “I am too weak; I can not do anything for10the Master.” But suppose you are weak, Jesus is anxious to help you, and he says, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Through him your strength will be made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor. 12: 9.
Others excuse themselves by saying, “I would take hold of the work if I only knew that I could be successful.” You can do all things through Christ strengthening you. Phil. 4: 13. The Lord says, “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Eccl. 11: 6.
As servants of the Lord, we should not excuse ourselves from labor. God has called us to service, and only those who work faithfully will receive the “Well done” at the coming of the Master. As a people, we need a baptism for service. In fact, this is one of our greatest needs. We need a definite, soul-saving conversion.
Gospel Finance
By William Covert
A Second Tithe
WILLIAM COVERT
(Concluded)
In addition to the first tithe and the offerings previously described, there was a second tithe devoted to sacred uses. A liberal portion of it was given for two years to the priests to provide a fund for hospitality and charity.
Of the first tithe, the Lord said, “I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel.” Num. 18:21. But another tithe is described by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy, which was used in a different manner from that which is mentioned above. Of this it is said, “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. . . . And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.” Deut. 14:22-25, 27.
This tithe, or its value in money, was to be taken for two years by the people to the place where the sanctuary was located, and there used according to the following directions: “But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: and thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: and there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. . . . Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thine oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: but thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man servant, and thy maid servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.” Deut. 12:5-7, 17, 18.
The reader is asked to notice that the tithe herein named was to be shared with the Levites and many persons of all the tribes attending the annual gathering of the season. The event was to be a season of rejoicing for all. The tithes and the offerings brought, at the same time supplied the needs of the occasion, and provided for the necessities of others.
Every third year the second tithe was laid apart by the people in their homes, to be given to the Levites, the strangers, the orphans, and the widows. “At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: and the Levite (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee), and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.” Deut. 14:28, 29. “When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.” Deut. 26:12, 13. This could not possibly have been the tithe of which Levi was to have “all.”
When these instructions were faithfully carried out, the wants of every person were well supplied. The gospel workers were all made comfortable; the poor were clothed and fed, and the stranger made a welcome guest at the home of every Israelite.
On condition of obedience, the Lord’s providential blessings were to be visited upon the land, and his cause and people richly sustained by special care. “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. . . . And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. . . . And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.” Lev. 26:3-5, 10, 12.
Support for Aged Laborers
If the Bible plan of finance were heeded, there would be no anxiety felt among ministers about support in old age. The system of tithes and offerings made ample provision for every person in the list of workers. Old and young were supplied from the funds thus secured. There was no refusing support to minister or priest because he had grown old. If such things do occur among any people, it is because the Lord’s plan of gospel finance has not been fully carried out.
The time of manual service in the sanctuary was to cease at the age of fifty with priests and Levites, but this limit did not apply to official service, or the performance of sacred rites. Aaron, the first of his order, was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died, but served as high priest from the day of anointing until the time of his death. According to the plan, the priest’s office continued as long as life lasted. For this reason the priesthood of Christ has no end. “By so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant. And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing: but he, because he abideth forever, hath his priesthood unchangeable.”
In this prayer, David expressed a sentiment to be found in the heart of every one who is approaching old age: “Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. . . . When I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not.” Ps. 71:9, 18. Why should one who has given the strength of his life to the service of the Lord be cast aside when he is old? Surely the Lord will not forsake a faithful laborer who has grown old in his service. As the tithes and offerings constitute the Lord’s fund for the support of his workers, he certainly intended to continue to them their patrimony while life should last.
The labors of some men have yielded bountiful harvests when they were old. The Lord speaks of this result as if it were a matter to be depended upon. He says, “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” Ps. 92:13, 14. However, as matters now stand in the Christian world, and even in our own denomination, there is a question as to how the aged ministers are to be supported. It was the Lord’s plan that they should be supported to the end of their days from the same fund that they11drew from in the prime of their lives. It If the churches and conferences have neglected to do the Lord’s work in the right way, then they should make special provision for the aged laborers. It is not the province of these articles to tell what that provision should be.
Giving
Giving to the Lord’s cause is designed to bless the giver, while it bestows funds to maintain the work. It is enumerated among the gifts of the Spirit, and attention is called to the beauty and liberality in the gifts. Rom. 12:8, R. V. There is a general anxiety on the part of mankind to receive gifts, and to have them come in large amounts. A better thing, however, than receiving is proposed by the Lord to his people; for he says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” In this manner the Lord makes it possible for his children to get the greatest blessing. Even the poor who give all do more than the rich who give from their abundance, and yet withhold a larger sum. The poor widow who gave two mites, cast in a greater gift than the rich man who placed a thousand dollars in the treasury, and yet had an abundance left. “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” Mark 12:41-44.
It is the effort on the part of the giver, and the spirit of love and cheerfulness with which the gift is offered, that gives it worth. The liberality in a gift makes it sweet with the fragrance of love. The Lord owns all the gold in the vaults and the ore in the mines,—even the world with all its fullness is his,—and he could cause the rich to turn billions of dollars into his treasuries if that were for the best; but his people can not afford to have the supplies come in that way. Even though it should require all they possess, it would be far better for them to supply funds for gospel work, to give, than to have the world’s millionaires come forward and lift all these burdens.
There is no more serious mistake being made by the Lord’s people than the effort they are making to accumulate riches. Nothing else holds a man to the earth like a desire for property. Our Saviour in his sermon on the mount earnestly cautioned his people against trying to become rich in this world’s goods. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Matt. 6:19, 20.
It is not the design of the Lord that his people or his cause should suffer for lack of means. He has therefore given them property enough to supply every need. All that is necessary is for Christians to comprehend the true situation of things, and act with consistency. It is inconsistent and unwise for Christians to withhold means from the Lord’s cause. The Lord’s design is to make them stewards of his property. The financial condition of things pertaining to the Lord’s cause could be very greatly improved within a month if clearness of conception and consistency of action were secured. The bountiful way in which God gave to man is set forth as an example to man, so that the Christian worker is admonished to “charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Tim. 6:17-19.
The works of God are so ordained that all things receive in order to give. That only can be kept and enjoyed which is given away. Thus the richest are those who have given most, and those have least who are grasping to retain the greatest amount. The giver shares in the joys of all who by his bounties are blessed, and so he multiplies his possessions only through his liberality.