697. The Tithe—What Is It?
WHAT is the tithe, for instance for lumbermen, farmers, and laborers who are in and out of debt? For example, suppose I go in debt for logs, for a car for lumber, and for all help to handle it. When I get my pay shall I pay tithe on the whole amount, or pay for logs and handling, and then pay the tithe? EARNEST SEEKER. A tithe is a tenth. The Lord’s tithe is the tenth of our income, not counting out our personal labor or time. A man runs a farm. The interest on his mortgage is $100; his hired help costs him $200; his taxes, $30; his extra feed for cows raised off the farm, $100. His income from the farm is $1,000. Now it seems to us that it would be clear to all that $430, the sum of the four items named, should be deducted. He would, therefore, pay tithe on the balance, $570, which would be his income, the tithe of which would be $57. In the case above mentioned, it is manifest that the cost of logs, car, and handling, so far alone as hired help is concerned, should be deducted from the proceeds of the sale of the logs or lumber, before the amount is tithed. If the cost of the logs was $1,000, the freight and handling $500, and the proceeds should be $2,000, the amount to be tithed would be $500, and the tithe $50. But debts not contracted for the purpose of carrying on the business in hand should not be deducted in either principal or interest. That is, if the lumberman before he began this job owed $100 upon a house he had built, that debt nor its interest should not be deducted from the gross income before tithing. A general rule would be that all expenses in the carrying on of the business should be deducted from the proceeds of the business before tithing, but this would not include personal expenses of board, house rent, clothing, etc. PLEASE inform me which was the first church. E. M. D. The first church was that founded by the Lord, and that has been the only true church from the beginning. The center of that church is Jesus Christ, its living Head. Eph. 1:22, 23; Col. 1:18. The first special manifestation of that church in power in this era was on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2. The true church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone. The church of Christ obeys the Head. The children of Abraham do the works of Abraham. The Roman Catholic Church is of later human organization. 699. “In the End of the Sabbath.”
MATT. 28:1 says, “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week.” This would seem to indicate that the Marys went to the sepulcher at the close of the Sabbath, sundown. Mark 16:2 places it at “the rising of the sun.” See also Luke 24:1; John 20:1. Explain the difference. INQUIRING MINDS. The expression “in the end of the Sabbath” is from the Greek “opse de sabbatōn,” rendered by some, “at the end of the Sabbath,” or, “after the Sabbath.” Greenfield’s Lexicon of the New Testament defines opse as follows: “Adverb, late, namely, put for the first watch, at evening (Mark 11:19; 13:35); opse sabbatōn, late in the Sabbath, that is, after or at the end of the Sabbath. Mark 28:1.” Read Matt. 28:1 in the light of the other evangelists. I UNDERSTAND that “forever and ever” does not mean eternity, but in the German language it is all the same. G. R. “Forever and ever” in the New Testament literally means “unto the ages of the ages,” “unto ages of ages,” etc. See Rev. 1:6; 14:11, margin of Revised Version. It is about as strong an expression for eternity as we know. See tract on “Tormented Forever and Ever,” Bible Students’ Library, No. 111; price, 1 cent. 701. “The Signs,” and the Bible.
IF a Christian is determined to give the reading of the SIGNS the advantage before reading the Bible, is it not better to stop reading the Bible? A. F. The reading of God’s Word should not be neglected for anything else. But this does not mean that anything else should not be read. No one can read the SIGNS without reading the Bible, for it abounds in Scriptural quotation. Our correspondent tells us that in reading the SIGNS it took him so much time to look up Scriptural references that he was hindered in his regular Bible reading. Could he not see that the Scriptures, the references of which he sought out, was a part of the Bible? Many learn to love the Bible by reading some good paper. But if you can read but one in a limited time, let it be the Bible. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” the verse reads. It means what it says. God has given nothing that He wishes to withdraw; He calls no one whom He wishes to reject. When men lose the gifts and calling of God, it is because they themselves will not hear them. WAS Haman a descendant of King Agag of the Amalekites, taken alive by Saul? If so, how many generations apart were they? T. L. S. He was probably a descendant. He is called “Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite.” Esther 3:10. This would account for his enmity of the Jews. Compare with 1 Samuel 15. How many generations existed between them we do not know, as no genealogy is preserved. The time was about five and one-half centuries. WOULD you raise swine if you were a farmer? If not, why? A SUBSCRIBER. We would not, because, (1) we do not believe that physiologically, hygienically, or scripturally the swine is fit for food. We know no reason why the beast is not as unclean to-day as it was when the Lord placed it among the unclean beasts, the flesh of which was an abomination to His people. See Lev. 11:7, 8; Deut. 14:8. (2) It might injure my influence for good to engage in a work the fruits of which I did not consider good. (3) We believe there are equally profitable and more elevating occupations for a farmer. These are our reasons. WILL the saints progress in learning through all ages of eternity? Yes; why not? God never styles Himself the God of the dead; He “is the God of the living.” With the living thing there is growth; and God’s people will live to contemplate Him and His works to all eternity. How can there help being growth? But we will never grow weary nor graduate; for the finite can never reach the infinite. DID God make our entire solar system on the fourth day? G. H. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” How much the work of the fourth day had to do with the perfecting and shaping the solar system, in bringing its parts to the light of this world, and arranging their motions, we do not know, and therefore we can not say. In the sense of bringing into existence, their creation preceded the fourth day; for they are a part of the heavens.