INCREASING BY SCATTERING.
By Chas. T. Everson
In the early days of the New England States repeated attempts were made to have the Legislature of Massachusetts grant a charter to a society which had for its object the furtherance of foreign missionary work. But it was always met with the objection that they needed all the missionaries at home that they had. At last one of the chief promoters of this worthy enterprise arose and said, “Religion is a commodity of such a nature that the more you give away the more you have left.” This is a truth that is well worth remembering; for the whole plan of salvation is founded upon the principle of giving. It is not man alone that is asked to give up his ways and means. But from the Father in heaven to the lowest individual that is in harmony with the right principle, every one is willing to be spent in the cause of God. God has set the example by giving up all that is near and dear to Him in the gift of His Son to die for a fallen race. We must not lose sight of the fact that, while giving is the foundation of the whole plan of salvation, it is a giving that enriches the giver; for in that God was willing to give up His Son, He obtained many sons in return with Him. In Heb. 2:10 we read that thru the sufferings of Christ, our Captain, God has brought many sons unto glory. So also Christ gave up His life, but in so doing He received in return His own life with the countless number of lives that have been redeemed thru His sacrifice. Likewise, if we are willing to give up our dark, sinful life in this world, we shall receive a bright, everlasting life in the world to come. It is the same way in financial matters. God says that the one that pays his tithe and offerings, upon him will He pour out such a blessing that it will necessitate the opening of the windows of heaven to bestow it. See Malachi, chapter 3. The wise man says, “There is that scattereth and yet increaseth.” We must not understand from this that giving is not felt as a sacrifice at the time. When God gave up His only-begotten Son, He tore Him as it were from His bosom, and it left His heart bleeding. Paul expresses it thus in Rom. 8:32, “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?” As compared with the great pain that came to God’s heart in giving up His Son, everything else sinks into insignificance. When Jesus came to give up His life for mankind, He shrank from the trying ordeal, and said, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” It was the effort of His life to finally submit to drink it. In the many severe trials thru which Paul had to pass, he saw great sacrifice at the time. In prison, shipwrecked, beaten with many stripes, and at last beheaded, he saw a marked contrast to the life he might have enjoyed as an honored and renowned statesman in the Jewish Sanhedrin. As he looked over the situation, he was compelled to say (1 Cor. 15:19), “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” But as he realized that there was a resurrection from the dead, and a crown laid up for him in heaven, he exclaimed, “I have fought a good fight.” And in Phil. 3:7 he says, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” But in it all he reaches this conclusion in the eleventh verse, “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” In giving up his life and its comforts, Paul realized that he was gaining a life and an estate far in advance of what he here sacrificed. In paying our honest tithe and offerings it may seem as if we could hardly spare the money, but just above us are the windows of heaven open, and if we will look up we will see that in giving we are enriching ourselves. As it says in Heb. 12:11, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” God, as He gave up His Son, felt it very keenly at the time; but when He shall see the redeemed host, purchased by that gift, He shall rejoice with an everlasting joy. When Jesus yielded up His life on Calvary’s cross, it was amid darkness and untold agony. But to present the vision of Isaiah when Jesus looks upon His redeemed saints: Their countenances are radiant with glory; and, as He fixes His loving eyes upon them, He sees the travail of His soul, and is satisfied. Isa. 53:11. Every one that has sacrificed anything in this world, be it home, friends, comforts, money, or even life, when he is redeemed in God’s kingdom, will forget that he ever gave up anything as he sees the great glory that has come to him as a consequence. A writer, viewing herself as among the redeemed in glory, says: “We tried to call up our greatest trials, but they looked so small compared with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, that we could not speak them out, and we all cried out, Alleluia! Heaven is cheap enough.” CHAS. T. EVERSON.