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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
secure means to himself than our brethren are to secure the Lord’s own
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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
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
wise improvement? Will his brethren stand by and see him losing his
hold on this life and at the same time robbing the treasury of God?
This would be a fearful loss to himself and to the cause; for, by placing
his talent of means in the hands of those who have no regard for the
truth of God, he would, to all intents and purposes, be wrapping it in a
napkin and hiding it in the earth.
The Lord would have His followers dispense their means while they
can do it themselves. Some may inquire: “Must we actually dispossess
ourselves of everything which we call our own?” We may not be
required to do this now; but we must be willing to do so for Christ’s
sake. We must acknowledge that our possessions are absolutely His,
by using of them freely whenever means is needed to advance His
cause. Some close their ears to the calls made for money to be used in
sending missionaries to foreign countries and in publishing the truth
and scattering it like autumn leaves all over the world. Such excuse
their covetousness by informing you that they have made arrangements
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to be charitable at death. They have considered the cause of God in
their wills. Therefore they live a life of avarice, robbing God in
tithes and in offerings, and in their wills return to God but a small
portion of that which He has lent them, while a very large proportion
is appropriated to relatives who have no interest in the truth. This is