The Most Ancient and Blessed Art by Mary Alice Hare Loper, M. S.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 18, 1916

The Most Ancient and Blessed Art

By Mary Alice Hare Loper, M. S.

Giving as the Antidote for Selfishness — God Knew What Man Needed When He Planned the Program of Tithes and Offerings — Source of Happiness

By MARY ALICE HARE LOPER, M. S.

DID you ever suffer an attack of mental shivers at divine service, as you unwillingly found yourself in the way of the offering plate? If so, did you hurriedly search out the smallest coin you had with you — just to save your reputation? This is a very practical question, for many of us have so little real spiritual philanthropy that it cannot be seen with the naked eye.

THE MOST ANCIENT AND IMPORTANT ART

The art of giving as taught in Holy Writ, is the most ancient and most important of all the arts, and can be learned only in the school of Christ. He gave cheerfully His great all to save humanity; and He asks each of us to give our little all to save others. Every promise of the Bible is pledged to that soul who complies with this divine request; and surely the greatest sacrifice any one can make is very small as compared with that which was made for him. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." The only real happiness one ever experiences in this world, comes as the result of giving — not simply money, but time and talents as well.

THE ANTIDOTE FOR SELFISHNESS

Humanity became so selfish because of sin, that the only way to save men was through the art of giving; so the tithing system and the system of offerings were instituted, in order to impress upon people their obligations to God and to their fellow men. God claims the tenth of one's income as His, to be used in the support of the gospel ministry. Lev. 27: 30-32; Num. 18: 21; Matt. 23: 23. Besides this, we are to give offerings from the nine tenths. 2 Cor. 9: 7; 1 Cor. 16: 1, 2. But many are guilty of robbing God, as plainly stated in Mal. 3: 8. Many are as selfish with the Lord's money as was a certain miller with his customers' wheat, of whom it was said that he would take all the grist for toll, and then fight the owner for the sacks. The miller had as good right to keep the grist, as we have to keep all the nine tenths; and he had as good right to keep the sacks, as we have to keep the tithes. Only the toll for our labor rightfully belongs to us, and the toll will supply all our needs. This amount God gives to us; the rest belongs to Him.

SO TIRED OF GIVING

"But," says one, "I get so tired of this giving, giving all the time!" Do you ever tire of receiving? "Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth." Deut. 8: 18.

Money is given us preëminently for this one purpose — to be used in the salvation of souls. The giving of offerings is made just as obligatory as the paying of tithes. In no place in the Bible are we exhorted to lay up treasure anywhere but "in heaven." "He that layeth up treasure for himself . . . is not rich toward God." "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

"All that a man hath will he give for his life." How much should he cheerfully give to secure, not only for himself, but for others, the life of happiness that will never end? "All that a man hath" will secure heaven. But men have so little faith in God, and so much faith in this world, that it is difficult to persuade them to invest in that which means a title to an eternal inheritance.

No one is deprived of the blessedness of giving, because of poverty. The poor person is invited to give just the same as the rich — "as God hath prospered him." Many people think they have nothing to give, because they do not recognize the divine claims upon that which they have. They have so many wants — not needs — that they cannot supply them all, and so the interests of the gospel are left out of their reckoning. Our heavenly Father promises to supply all our need. Phil. 4: 19.

But there is a vast difference between our wants and our needs. It is possible to be more interested in the millinery cause than in the missionary cause. It is possible to lay up more treasure in the lodge than in the church. It is easy to become more interested in automobiles and flying machines than in the "chariots of God." And the sad part of it all is, the man who gives nothing to spread the gospel, knows nothing of real happiness in this world, and has no promise of the world to come. The happiest man on this earth is the man who most nearly lives up to the Bible standard of giving. He may have very little of this world's goods; his offerings in dollars and cents may be small; but he knows the inward joy of heart consecration — of giving all — and the blessing which follows.

THE BLESSING ON THE POOR

"But others do not know what a hard time I have to get along," says one. Do any of us have any harder time to "get along" than had the poor widow anciently who cast two mites into the temple treasury? Jesus said of her, "Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

Many seemingly think there is another part to this story, which reads, "And she began to starve from that very hour, and kept on starving until she died." But evidently such was not her doful experience. She went out of the temple far richer than she went in. She had the full assurance that God would care especially for her, not only because she was a poor widow, but because she had given cheerfully her all to Him. Every promise of the gospel was hers, and it is evident she did not starve to death.

KNEW A POCKETBOOK SECRET

God does not do things that way. That poor widow knew the secret of a consecrated pocketbook — a Spirit-filled owner. She knew the liberal art of giving, for she had taken lessons from the great Master Artist. She well knew that it is not the amount one gives, but the sacrifice which goes with it, that counts in heaven. And although she went out from the temple not only penniless, but miteless, she had set an example of sacrifice for which she received the commendation of the Master, and which has been a blessing to the world from that day to this.

POOR PROSPECTS FOR THE LAZY MAN

Did you ever read in the Bible of a certain lazy man whose heart was so filled with love for perishing souls that he cast all his living into the temple treasury? — No, you never saw a Bible record like that, for no such thing ever happened. I once heard a man say he wished he were a rock, so that he might have nothing to do but rest for a thousand years. There are hopelessly lazy people who are going to have the experience of resting for a thousand years, while the righteous are in heaven. But sad will be their awakening in the resurrection of the wicked.

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." But there are those who would rather sit in the shade and eat cake that other hands had toiled for, than exercise their own frames sufficiently to get up a good perspiration and keep healthy. There is no such thing as a willfully lazy Christian. It is just as much the duty of the lazy individual to overcome his laziness as it is for the quick-tempered individual to overcome his besetting sin. Those who shirk duty in any line, are held accountable for burying their talent in the earth, and for the help they might be to the gospel work.

KNOW NOTHING OF THIS BLESSEDNESS

Many church members know nothing of the blessedness of giving. They consider their own selfish interests first, and then perhaps give a little to God of that which causes them no sacrifice. David says, "Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." And the Lord says: "Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." Here and there are individuals who have dedicated their all to God. It is not difficult to tell who they are. They are always giving, always doing; and they cannot hide the result. The church knows it, and the world knows it.

THE TWO THERMOMETERS ALIKE

One's missionary thermometer and one's spiritual thermometer always indicate the same degree of temperature. When God converts a man, He converts his heart, the seat of affection, and this invariably includes his earthly possessions. He becomes possessed of an intense desire to save souls, and so he plans and works and gives with that blessed end in view. Head conversion is very common. It is much more easily accomplished than heart conversion, for the heart and the pocketbook are inseparable. What affects the one, affects the other. Many who have experienced head conversion have tried the impossible task of giving to God the heart

without the pocketbook, but they have always miserably failed. The heart cannot be Spirit-filled unless the pocketbook is Spirit-emptied — its contents wholly given to God.

The great underlying principle of the gospel is, Give, give, give. And this principle includes man's best good. Only through giving can one keep his affections from becoming centered in this world — only through giving can one lay up treasure in heaven. Only those who in this life make sure of their mansions in the New Jerusalem, will ever see the inside of the eternal city. It is best to secure our abstracts of title now.