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Counsels on Stewardship
give willingly, for the love of Christ, the offering will in no case be
acceptable to God.
Characters Wrecked
Death, clad in the livery of heaven, lurks in the pathway of the
young. Sin is gilded over by church sanctity. These various forms of
amusement in the churches of our day have ruined thousands who,
but for them, might have remained upright and become the followers
of Christ. Wrecks of character have been made by these fashionable
church festivals and theatrical performances, and thousands more will
be destroyed; yet people will not be aware of the danger, nor of the
fearful influences exerted. Many young men and women have lost their
souls through these corrupting influences.—
The Review and Herald,
November 21, 1878
.
Giving for Selfish Considerations
In professedly Christian gatherings, Satan throws a religious gar-
ment over delusive pleasures and unholy revelings to give them the
appearance of sanctity, and the consciences of many are quieted be-
cause means are raised to defray church expenses. Men refuse to give
for the love of God; but for the love of pleasure, and the indulgence of
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appetite for selfish considerations, they will part with their money.
Is it because there is not power in the lessons of Christ upon benev-
olence, and in His example, and the grace of God upon the heart to
lead men to glorify God with their substance, that such a course must
be resorted to in order to sustain the church? The injury sustained to
the physical, mental, and moral health in these scenes of amusement
and gluttony is not small. And the day of final reckoning will show
souls lost through the influence of these scenes of gaiety and folly.
It is a deplorable fact that sacred and eternal considerations do
not have that power to open the hearts of the professed followers of
Christ to make freewill offerings to sustain the gospel, as the tempting
bribes of feasting and general merriment. It is a sad reality that these
inducements will prevail when sacred and eternal things will have no
force to influence the heart to engage in works of benevolence.