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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
God knows no compromise with sin, no connection with artifice, no
union with transgression. Soldiers are wanted who will always answer
to the roll call and be ready for immediate action, not those who, when
needed, are found aiding the enemy.
Ours is a great work. Yet there are many who profess to believe
these sacred truths, who are paralyzed by the sophistry of Satan, and
are doing nothing for, but rather hinder, God’s cause. When will they
act like those who wait for the Lord? When will they show a zeal in
accordance with their faith? Many people selfishly retain their means,
and soothe their conscience with a plan for doing some great thing for
the cause of God after their death. They make a will donating a large
sum to the church and its various interests, and then settle down with a
feeling that they have done all that is required of them. Wherein have
they denied self by this act? They have, on the contrary, exhibited the
true essence of selfishness. When they have no longer any use for their
money they propose to give it to God. But they will retain it as long as
they can, till they are compelled to relinquish it by a messenger that
cannot be turned aside.
Such a will is often an evidence of real covetousness. God has
made us all His stewards, and in no case has He authorized us to
neglect our duty or leave it for others to do. The call for means to
advance the cause of truth will never be more urgent than now. Our
money will never do a greater amount of good than at the present time.
Every day of delay in rightly appropriating it, is limiting the period in
which it will do good in saving souls. If we leave others to accomplish
that which God has left for us to do, we wrong ourselves and Him who
gave us all we have. How can others do our work of benevolence any
better than we can do it ourselves? God would have every man, during
his lifetime, the executor of his own will in this matter. Adversity,
accident, or intrigue may forever cut off meditated acts of benevolence,
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when he who has accumulated a fortune is no longer by to guard it. It
is sad that so many neglect the present golden opportunity to do good,
and wait to be cast out of their stewardship before giving back to the
Lord the means which He has lent them to be used for His glory.
One marked feature in the teachings of Christ is the frequency
and earnestness with which He rebuked the sin of covetousness and
pointed out the danger of worldly acquisitions and inordinate love of
gain. In the mansions of the rich, in the temple and in the streets, He