APPEAL TO KANSAS BRETHREN.
By J. N. Ayers
The year 1877 is nearly gone. God has given us abundant crops. What have we given him? Are we thankful for his blessings? Have we given him a thank-offering? Have we even paid him his tithe? The Lord has not only blessed us in temporal things, but he has also blessed the labor of our ministers and of the tract society in bringing many to the truth. In our own State (Kansas) several new churches have been organized, some of the older ones have had quite an increase to their numbers, and many openings are now waiting for a minister. Jesus is soon coming to give every man as his work shall be. Rev. 22: 12. What shall we receive when he comes? There are to be but two classes then. To the one class Jesus will say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you;” the other will hear him say, “Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.” With which class shall we be? Who are the “unprofitable servants”? Are we not, so far as we have the Lord’s means, and refuse to give him the usury? All we have is the Lord’s. We are his stewards. He has gone into a far country, and has intrusted us with his goods. He says, “Occupy till I come.” Luke 19: 12, 13. Now while the Lord is gone he has a work to be done, and he retains a part of the increase of his goods to carry forward his work in his absence. This he calls “usury.” Matt. 25: 27. He tells us just what usury he claims. Lev. 27: 30, 32: “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.” “And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, . . . the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.” Then the tithe, or tenth, of all our increase is the Lord’s, and we have no right to use it for anything but the Lord’s work. Not only has he told us that one-tenth is his, but he has also told us which tenth it is. Ex. 22: 29: “Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits.” Ex. 23: 19: “The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God.” If the above is true, we have no more right to the first tenth of our increase than we have to the seventh day. The Lord has given us six days in which to do our work, and has reserved one day, the seventh, for himself. He has given us nine-tenths of all we can honestly make, and has reserved one-tenth, the first, for himself. Have we given the Lord his usury for the year 1877, the one-tenth of all our increase? If not, will it not be with us as it was with those wicked husbandmen spoken of in Matt. 21: 33-41? Will not the Lord take his goods from us, and give them to others who will give him his own in its proper season? Is the Lord able to dispossess us? Will he do it? “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” Hag. 1: 9. Do we want the Lord to blow upon our grain or stock that we have gathered the past year? If we do not, let us give him that which belongs to him, then we can claim the blessings he has promised. Let us see what some of these blessings are. 2 Chron. 31: 10: “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty; for the Lord hath blessed his people.” Prov. 3: 9, 10: “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Mal. 3: 10: “Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Do we believe the Lord will do as he says? Our works will show. “For as the body without the breath [margin] is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Jas. 2: 26. The prophet says, Mal. 3: 8, “Will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me.” From the first verse we find he is talking to those living when he comes to his temple, and the sixth verse shows that this language applies while the investigative Judgment is in session; for it is when witnesses are used. See verse 5. Then it applies to the people living since 1844. The Lord says we have robbed him. Wherein? say we. The Lord answers, “In tithes and offerings.” If we have given him his tithes, he still claims offerings, free-will or thank-offerings. This comes out of our nine-tenths. Are we thankful for the bountiful harvest with which we have been blessed the past season? Have we acknowledged our gratitude by an offering to God? “When thou vowest a vow unto thy God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou hast vowed.” Eccl. 5: 4. Have we promised to give to the tract society a sum equal to one-third our s. b.? and have we paid it? If we have not, we ought to do so at once. The society is in pressing need of means just now. Who will be the first to send in his thank-offerings and pay his vows? Let us take hold in earnest. Let those who have means, give, and those who have time, engage in canvassing. The tract society is doing more in Kansas to-day than all our ministers. The most I have done since Conference has been to gather the sheaves that were reaped by the T. and M. reaper. It is a good reaper, and it does good work; but it takes men and money to run it. They have it running in Osborn Co., where ten were gathered into the churches at our last meeting, some of whom had never heard a sermon. In Jewell Co. they have kept it running (although hands were scarce), and twelve were gathered into the Salem church. They intend to keep it moving all winter. In Republic Co. it has done a good work. Near White Rock is a field where the sheaves are scattered all around, and need gathering up. At New Liberty a live church has resulted from the grain cut by the same machine; at Hanover, Washington Co., is another; and in Neosho Co. is a company of Swedes consisting of four families calling for a gatherer of their own language, as there is quite a settlement of Swedes there, and they are anxious to hear preaching. Calls for a preacher are coming in from all parts of the State where interests have been awakened by our papers, books, and tracts. Now is the best time in the year to work. The grain is fast ripening, and if not cut will soon fall down and spoil. Every Seventh-day Adventist should at once have his or her name enrolled as a tract worker, and report to the company commander for duty; and each may have some sheaves to bring in when the gathering time comes. J. N. AYERS.