The Divine Law of the Tithe.
By N. C. Messenger
THE practice of tithing, if honestly carried out, compels sincerity. I have often felt that the habit of self-examination fails with us for lack of a definite test. This law furnishes a sure test. Evil influences will be present with us to overthrow our resolution; but they will be thrown back like waves beating against a solid rock. The character will gain strength, stability, insight, as well as the qualities of faith and trust. The practice of tithing, if honestly carried out, is an effectual corrective of the terrible and fatal sin of avarice, which, if inherited, grows with our growth, and increases with age. No one who trusts in riches, and whose life is built upon such trust, can enter into the kingdom of Heaven. And this spirit of avarice continually moves us to escape from the obligations of the law of love to the Lord and the neighbor. The law of tithing is an effectual and constant rebuke to these tendencies. It is like a clear light, shining into the deep recesses of the mind, revealing all that is mean and sordid, and showing up the unrealness of the fancied trust and faith of the avaricious spirit. It is an immovable barrier in the path of self-deception. It helps us to decide our duties by divine law instead of human custom. We now are apt to measure our obligations by the deeds of others. "I will give as much as you will," is a common remark. "I will do my share," is another. We measure our duties by others. In so doing, we are apt to judge of others' ability to their disadvantage. There is in it a constant appeal to self-hood. An unwilling spirit pervades it. Not so with the tithe. Following this, one only lives according to his real ability. We cease to judge. And then there is no disappointed feeling that some might have done better. The means are ready when the use calls. And then, behind all and above all, is the powerful assurance that one is obeying the voice of the Lord, and not that of man. It will enable us to spread abroad the tidings of the kingdom of God. It will melt the ice in our hearts, cure us of our stagnation, and, opening the windows of Heaven, pour us out a blessing that there shall not be room to receive it. It will be a firm foundation for spiritual and natural development, a bond uniting the individual man more closely with his fellows, a new stimulus to the church as an institution, and to the principles of faith and love which are the real church. This truth, obeyed, will be a ladder upon which angels can descend from Heaven to earth, and ascend from earth. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, 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."