Your ShelfYour Projects

SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE

4%

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 19, 1878

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 13.

Read the full edition

SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE.

By James White

(Concluded.)
We here give extracts from Mrs. White’s Testimonies to the Church, which show what the Lord has revealed to her from time to time relative to the subject under consideration. The first was given in the year 1859, as follows:—
“There is order in Heaven, and God is well pleased with the efforts of his people in trying to move with system and order in his work. I saw that there should be order in the church of God, and arrangement in regard to carrying forward successfully the last great message of mercy to the world. God is leading his people in the plan of Systematic Benevolence, and of the points to which he is bringing up his people, this is one which will cut the closest with some. To them this point cuts off the right arm, and plucks out the right eye, while to others it is a great relief. To noble, generous souls the demands upon them seem very small, and they cannot be content to do so little. Some have large possessions, and if they lay by them in store for charitable purposes as God has prospered them, it seems to them like a large sum. The selfish heart clings as closely to a little offering as to a larger one, and makes the small offering look very large. I was pointed back to the commencement of this last work. Then some who loved the truth could consistently talk of sacrificing. They devoted much to the cause of God to send the truth to others. They have sent their treasure beforehand to Heaven.”
“Brethren, you who have received the truth at a later period, and have large possessions, God has called you into the field, not merely that you may enjoy the truth, but that you may aid with your substance in carrying forward this great work. And if you have an interest in this work, you will venture out, and invest something in it, that others may be saved by your efforts, and you reap with them the final reward. Great sacrifices have been made and privations endured to place the truth in a clear light before you. Now God calls upon you, in your turn, to make great efforts and to sacrifice, in order to place the truth before those who are in darkness. God requires this. You profess to believe the truth; let your works testify to the fact. Unless your faith works, it is dead. Nothing but a living faith will save you in the fearful scenes which are just before you. I saw that it was time that those who have large possessions begin to work fast. It is time they were not only laying by them in store as God is now prospering them, but as he HAS prospered them.”
The second was given in the year 1861, as follows:—
“I was pointed back to the children of Israel anciently. God required of them all a sacrifice, both poor and rich, according as he had prospered them. The poor were not excused because they had not the wealth of their rich brethren. They were required to exercise economy and self-denial, that they come not before the Lord empty-handed. And if some were so poor that it was utterly impossible for them to bring an offering to the Lord, if sickness or misfortune had deprived them of the ability to bestow, those who were wealthy were required to help them to a humble mite, that they come not before the Lord empty-handed. This arrangement preserved a mutual interest.”
“In the arrangement of Systematic Benevolence some have not come up and united in this work, and have excused themselves because they were not free from debt. They plead that they must first ‘owe no man anything.’ But being in debt does not excuse them. I saw that they should render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. Some feel conscientious to ‘owe no man anything,’ and think that God can require nothing of them, until their debts are all paid. Here they deceive themselves. They fail to render to God the things that are God’s. Every one must bring to the Lord a suitable offering. Those who are in debt should take the amount of their debts from what they possess and give a proportion of the remainder.”
“Some feel under sacred obligations to their children. They must give them each a portion, but feel themselves unable to raise means to aid the cause of God. They make the excuse that they have a duty to do to their children. This may be right, but their first duty belongs to God. Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. Rob not God by withholding from him your tithes and offerings. It is the first, sacred duty to render to God a suitable proportion. Let none throw in their claims and lead you to rob God. Let not your children steal your offering from God’s altar for their own benefit.”
The third extract is taken from a Testimony given in 1873, as a warning to those who decide as to appropriating funds in the S. B. treasury, lest the system be broken down:—
“Our system to raise means for the support of the cause is equitable in its workings, and will be ample in its results. But when all our people shall come up to the figures, in the rapid growth of the cause it must be guarded carefully from abuses by careless auditors and unconsecrated ministers, lest our people become discouraged at improper appropriations, and the system become broken down.”
The fourth extract is from a Testimony given in the year 1875, and was put in print under the caption—

TITHES AND OFFERINGS.

“The mission of the church of Jesus Christ is to save perishing sinners. It is to make known the love of God to men, and to win them to Christ by the efficacy of that love. The truth for this time must be carried into the dark corners of the earth. And this work may begin at home. The followers of Christ should not live selfish lives; but imbued with the spirit of Christ, they should work in harmony with Christ.”
“There are causes for the present coldness and unbelief. The love of the world, the cares of life, separate the soul from God. The water of life must be in us, and flowing out from us, springing up into everlasting life. We must work out what God works in. If the Christian would enjoy the light of life, he must increase his efforts to bring others to the knowledge of the truth. His life must be characterized by exertion and sacrifices to do others good, and then there will be no complaints of lack of enjoyment.”
“Angels are ever engaged in working for others’ happiness. This is their joy. That which to selfish hearts would be considered humiliating service, in ministry to those who are wretched, and in every way inferior in character and rank, is the work of the pure, sinless angels in the royal courts of Heaven. The spirit of Christ’s self-sacrificing love is the spirit which pervades Heaven, and is the very essence of its bliss. Those who feel no special pleasure in seeking to be a blessing to others, in working, even at a sacrifice, to do them good, cannot have the spirit of Christ or of Heaven; for they have no union with the work of angels, and cannot participate in the bliss that imparts elevated joy to the heavenly angels.”
“The principle of the cross of Christ brings every believing soul under heavy contribution to deny self, to impart light to others, and to give of his means to extend the light. If he is in connection with Heaven, he will be engaged in this work in harmony with the angels.”
“In proportion as the love of Christ fills our hearts and controls our lives, covetousness, selfishness, and love of ease, will be overcome, and it will be our pleasure to do the will of Christ, whose servants we claim to be. Our happiness will then be proportionate to our unselfish works, prompted by the love of Christ. Divine wisdom has appointed, in the plan of salvation, the law of action and reaction, making the work of beneficence, in all its branches, twice blessed. He that gives to the needy blesses others and is blessed himself in a still greater degree. God could have reached his object in saving sinners without the aid of man; but he knew that man could not be happy without acting a part in the great work in which he should be cultivating self-denial and benevolence. That man might not lose the blessed results of benevolence, our Redeemer formed the plan of enlisting him as his co-worker. By a chain of circumstances which would call forth his charities, he brings man under the best means of cultivating benevolence, and keeps him habitually giving to help the poor, and to advance his cause.”
“God has mercifully brought a class to the knowledge of the truth, that they might appreciate its priceless value in comparison with earthly treasures. Jesus has said to these, ‘Follow me.’ He is testing them with the invitation to the supper which he has prepared. He is watching to see what characters they will develop, whether their own selfish interests will be considered of greater value than eternal riches.”
The fifth extract is from a Testimony printed in 1875, as follows:—
“All the members of the church should feel that the truth which they profess is a reality, and they should be disinterested workers. Some rich men feel like murmuring because the work of God is extending, and there is a demand for money. They say there is no end of the calls for means. One object after another is continually rising, demanding help. We would say to such that we hope the cause of God will so extend that there will be greater occasion, and more frequent and urgent calls for supplies from the treasury to prosecute the work.”
“If the plan of Systematic Benevolence was fully adopted and carried out to a man, there would be a constant supply in the treasury. The income would flow in like a steady stream constantly supplied by overflowing springs of benevolence. Almsgiving is a part of gospel religion. Does not the consideration of the infinite price paid for our redemption leave upon us solemn obligations pecuniarily, as well as lay claim upon all our power to be devoted to the work of the Master?”
“We shall have a debt to settle with the Master by-and-by, when he shall say, ‘Give an account of thy stewardship.’ If men prefer to set aside the claims of God and grasp and selfishly retain all that he gives them, he will hold his peace at present, and continue frequently to test them by increasing his bounties, and by letting his blessings flow on, and these men pass on receiving honor of men, and without censure in the church; but by-and-by he will say, ‘Give an account of thy stewardship.’ Says Christ, ‘Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.’ ‘Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price,’ and are under obligation to glorify God with your means as well as in your body, and in your spirit, which are his.”
“‘Ye are bought with a price,’ not ‘with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.’ He asks the return of the gifts he has intrusted to us, to aid in the salvation of souls. He has given his blood; he asks our silver. It is through his poverty that we are made rich, and yet, will we refuse to give back to him his own gifts? God is not dependent upon man for the support of his cause. He could have sent means direct from Heaven to supply his treasury, if his providence had seen that this was the best for man. He might have devised means whereby angels would have been sent to publish the truth to the world without the agency of men. He might have written the truth upon the heavens, and let them declare to the world his requirements in living characters.”
“God is not dependent upon any man’s gold or silver. He says, ‘Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.’ Whatever necessity there is for our agency in the advancement of the cause of God, he has purposely arranged for our good. He has honored us by making us co-workers with him. He has ordained that there should be a necessity for the co-operation of men, that they may keep in exercise their benevolent affections.”
“Should all whom God has prospered with earthly riches carry out his plan in faithfully giving a tenth of all their increase, and if they should not withhold their trespass offerings and their thank offerings, the treasury would be constantly replenished. The simplicity of the plan of Systematic Benevolence does not detract from its merits, but extols the wisdom of God in its arrangement. Everything bearing the divine stamp unites simplicity with utility.”
“If Systematic Benevolence was universally adopted, according to God’s plan, and the tithing system carried out as faithfully by the wealthy as it is by the poorer classes, there would be no need of repeated and urgent calls for means at our large religious gatherings. There has been a neglect, in the several churches, of keeping up the plan of Systematic Benevolence, and the result has been an impoverished treasury and a backslidden church.” J. W.