Chapter 62—Preparation for Death
There are aged ones among us who are nearing the close of their
probation; but for the want of wide-awake men to secure to the cause
of God the means in their possession, it passes into the hands of those
who are serving Satan. This means was only lent them of God to be
returned to Him; but in nine cases out of ten, these brethren, when
passing from the stage of action, appropriate God’s property in a way
that cannot glorify Him, for not one dollar of it will ever flow into the
Lord’s treasury. In some cases these apparently good brethren have
had unconsecrated advisers, who counseled from their own standpoint,
and not according to the mind of God.
Property is often bequeathed to children and grandchildren only to
their injury. They have no love for God or for the truth, and therefore
this means, all of which is the Lord’s, passes into Satan’s ranks, to
be controlled by him. Satan is much more vigilant, keen-sighted, and
skillful in devising ways to secure means to himself than our brethren
are to secure the Lord’s own to His cause.
Some wills are made in so loose a manner that they will not stand
the test of the law, and thus thousands of dollars have been lost to the
cause. Our brethren should feel that a responsibility rests upon them,
as faithful servants in the cause of God, to exercise their intellect in
regard to this matter, and secure to the Lord His own.
Many manifest a needless delicacy on this point. They feel that
they are stepping upon forbidden ground when they introduce the
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subject of property to the aged or to invalids in order to learn what
disposition they design to make of it. But this duty is just as sacred as
the duty to preach the word to save souls. Here is a man with God’s
money or property in his hands. He is about to change his stewardship.
Will he place the means which God has lent him to be used in His
cause, in the hands of wicked men, just because they are his relatives?
Should not Christian men feel interested and anxious for that man’s
future good as well as for the interest of God’s cause, that he shall
make a right disposition of his Lord’s money, the talents lent him for
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