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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
they are deeply aggrieved, because they feel the inconvenience of the
losses they have sustained; yet they do not feel that their unwise course
has deprived the cause of God of means, and that as His stewards
they must render an account for this squandering of the Lord’s money.
Should they be required to venture something for the cause of God, to
invest a quarter even of that which they have lost by their investment
in earthly things, they would feel that heaven costs too much.
Eternal things are not appreciated. You are not a rich man, yet your
heart may be just as much placed upon the little you have, and you
may cling to it just as closely as the millionaire to his treasures. Small,
very small, will be the profits realized by you in your investments
in worldly enterprises; while, on the other hand, if you invest in the
cause of God, make that cause a part of you, and love it as you love
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yourself, and are willing to sacrifice for its advancement, showing your
confidence and faith in its ultimate triumph, you will reap a precious
harvest, if not in this life, in the better life than this. You will reap an
eternal reward which is of as much higher value than any common,
earthly gains as the immortal is higher than the perishable.
Brother B, you seemed anxious to find out what had been said in
regard to your position in the church and what was our mind in regard
to it. It was just this that I have written. I feared for you because of
what I have been shown of your peculiarities. You moved by impulse.
You would pray if you felt like it, and speak if you felt like it. You
would go to meeting if so disposed, or stay at home if not. You greatly
lacked the spirit of self-sacrifice. You have consulted your own wishes
and ease, and pleased yourself, instead of feeling that you should
please God. Duty, duty! at your post every time. Have you enlisted as
a soldier of the cross of Christ? If so, your feelings do not excuse you
from duty. You must be willing to endure hardness as a good soldier.
Go without the camp, bearing the reproach; for thus did the Captain of
your salvation. The qualifications of a bishop, or of an elder or deacon,
are, to be “blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon
angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; but a
lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be
able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”
Paul enumerates the precious gifts to be desired, and exhorts the
brethren: “He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth,