THE RIGHT AND THE WRONG USE OF MONEY.
By C. H. Bliss
The power to get money is a gift from God. “It is He that giveth thee power to get wealth.” Deut. 8:18. The money is also His. “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine.” Hag. 2:8. We are His stewards, and responsible for the way we use His money. If we waste His goods, He will say to us in the end, “Give an account of thy stewardship.” Now the Lord requires of us tithes and offerings. Yet when these are brought in we should say with David, “Of Thine own have we given Thee.” When these tithes and offerings were not paid, the Lord said to His people, “Ye have robbed Me.” When the people asked wherein, the Lord replied in “tithes and offerings.” Mal. 3:8. The Lord had said to His people, “The tithe is Mine.” The Saviour recognizes the duty to pay tithe. Matt. 23:23. It is God’s plan that those who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. No doubt there are many readers of the SIGNS who indorse these principles. You may not belong to any church. But will that excuse you from the duty to pay tithes? Should you pay tithe, would you lose anything? Suppose you try it? The Lord promises to pour out a blessing. Do you believe His Word? Can you trust Him? But to whom shall we pay it? The Lord says bring it into the storehouse. Then God has a storehouse, a treasury from which God’s ministers draw a support. But who are God’s ministers? Those who preach for Him; not those who preach for money, nor those who preach the “doctrines and commandments of men;” but those who preach the Word; those who do not shun to declare the whole counsel of God. And what is their character?—“Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.” No true minister of God can use fermented wine, or cider or beer, or tobacco, or anything that defiles “the temple of God.” Faithful ministers of God have a right to draw support from His “storehouse.” Now, dear readers of the SIGNS, remember the tithes of some of God’s servants has been the means of sending you the precious truth. Will you use the money God has given you to aid in advocating error or to aid in advancing what you believe is the truth of God? Think on these things, and may the Lord give you understanding.