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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
Wealthy men are to be tested more closely than they ever yet have
been. If they stand the test and overcome the blemishes upon their
character, and as faithful stewards of Christ render to God the things
that are His, it will be said to them: “Well done, good and faithful
servant; thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler
over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
I was then directed to the parable of the unjust steward: “And I
say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrigh-
teousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting
habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also
in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If
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therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who
will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been
faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which
is your own?”
If men fail to render to God that which He has lent them to use to
His glory, and thus rob Him, they will make an entire failure. He has
lent them means which they can improve upon by losing no opportunity
to do good, and thus they may be constantly laying up treasure in
heaven. But if, like the man who had one talent, they hide it, fearing
that God will get that which their talent gains, they will not only lose
the increase which will finally be awarded the faithful steward, but
also the principal which God gave them to work upon. Because they
have robbed God, they will not have laid up treasure in heaven, and
they lose their earthly treasure also. They have no habitation on earth,
and no Friend in heaven to receive them into the everlasting habitation
of the righteous.
Christ declares: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will
hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon”—cannot serve
God and your riches, too. “The Pharisees also, who were covetous,
heard all these things: and they derided Him.” Mark the words of Christ
to them: “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God
knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men
[which is riches acquired by oppression, by deception, by overreaching,
by fraud, or in any other dishonest manner] is abomination in the sight
of God.” Then Christ presents the two characters, the rich man who
was clothed with purple and fine linen, and who fared sumptuously