Chapter 26—Robbing God of Rightful Service
There are men in the ranks of Sabbathkeepers who are holding
fast their earthly treasure. It is their god, their idol; and they love their
money, their farms, their cattle, and their merchandise better than they
love their Saviour, who for their sakes became poor, that they, through
His poverty, might be made rich. They exalt their earthly treasures,
considering them of greater value than the souls of men. Will such
have the “Well done” spoken to them? No; never. The irrevocable
sentence, “Depart,” will fall upon their startled senses. Christ has no
use for them. They have been slothful servants, hoarding the means
God has given them, while their fellow men have perished in darkness
and error.
My soul feels to the very depths on this point. Will the men of
means sleep on until it is too late? until God shall reject them and
their treasures, saying, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for
your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted,
and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered;
and the rust of them shall be a witness against you.” What a revelation
will be made in the day of God, when hoarded treasures, and wages
kept back by fraud, cry against their possessors, who were professedly
good Christians, and flattered themselves that they were keeping the
law of God, when they loved gain better than they loved the purchase
of Christ’s blood, the souls of men.
Now is the time for all to work.... What will many answer in the
day of God, when He inquires, What have ye done for Me, who gave
My riches, My honor, My command, and My life to save you from
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ruin? The do-nothings will be speechless in that day. They will see the
sin of their neglect. They have robbed God of the service of a lifetime.
They have not influenced any for good. They have not brought one
soul to Jesus. They felt content to do nothing for the Master; and
they meet no reward, but eternal loss. They perish with the wicked,
although they professed to be followers of Christ.—
The Review and
Herald, March 14, 1878
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