Sacredness of Vows
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matter receive earnest attention; for an account must be rendered to
God in the last day, and His claims must be settled.
The responsibilities of the Christian businessman, however large
or small his capital, will be in exact proportion to his gifts from God.
The deceitfulness of riches has ruined thousands and tens of thousands.
These wealthy men forget that they are stewards, and that the day is
fast approaching when it shall be said to them: “Give an account of
thy stewardship.” As shown by the parable of the talents, every man is
responsible for the wise use of the gifts bestowed. The poor man in
the parable, because he had the least gift, felt the least responsibility
and made no use of the talent entrusted to him; therefore he was cast
into outer darkness.
Said Christ: “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
kingdom of God!” And His disciples were astonished at His doctrine.
When a minister who has labored successfully in securing souls to
Jesus Christ abandons his sacred work in order to secure temporal
gain, he is called an apostate, and he will be held accountable to God
for the talents that he has misapplied. When men of business, farmers,
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mechanics, merchants, lawyers, etc., become members of the church,
they become servants of Christ; and although their talents may be
entirely different, their responsibility to advance the cause of God by
personal effort, and with their means, is no less than that which rests
upon the minister. The woe which will fall upon the minister if he
preach not the gospel, will just as surely fall upon the businessman,
if he, with his different talents, will not be a co-worker with Christ
in accomplishing the same results. When this is brought home to the
individual, some will say, “This is an hard saying;” nevertheless it is
true, although continually contradicted by the practice of men who
profess to be followers of Christ.
God provided bread for His people in the wilderness by a miracle of
mercy, and He could have provided everything necessary for religious
service; but He did not, because in His infinite wisdom He saw that
the moral discipline of His people depended upon their co-operating
with Him, every one of them doing something. As long as the truth is
progressive, the claims of God rest upon men to give of that which He
has entrusted to them for this very purpose. God, the Creator of man,
by instituting the plan of systematic benevolence, has made the work
bear equally upon all according to their several abilities. Everyone is