264
Counsels on Stewardship
His cause, to build up His kingdom.... They felt a desire to have a
share in the kingdom of God, and they pledged to give of their means
to some of the various enterprises of the Lord’s cause. That pledge
was not made to man, but to God in the presence of His angels, who
were moving upon the hearts of these selfish, money-loving men.
In making the pledge, they were greatly blessed; but how quickly
the feelings change when they stand on common ground. As the
immediate impression of the Holy Spirit becomes dim, as the mind and
heart become absorbed again in worldly business, it is most difficult
for them to maintain the consecration of themselves and their property
to the Lord. Satan assails them with his temptation, “You were foolish
to pledge that money, you need it to invest in your business, and you
will meet with loss if you pay the pledge.”
Now they draw back, they murmur, they complain of the Lord’s
message and His messengers. They say things that are not true, claim-
ing that they pledged under excitement, that they did not fully under-
stand the matter, the case was overstated, their feelings were moved,
and this led them to make the pledge. They talked as though the pre-
[314]
cious blessing they received was the result of a deception practiced
upon them by the minister to secure money. They change their minds,
and feel under no obligation to pay their vows to God. There is most
fearful robbery of God, and flimsy excuses are made for resisting and
denying the Holy Spirit. Some plead inconvenience; they say they
need their money—to do what? To bury in houses and lands, in some
money-making scheme. Because the pledge was made for a religious
object, they think it cannot be enforced by law, and the love of money
is so strong upon them that they deceive their own souls, and presume
to rob God. To many it might be said, “You treat no other friend so
ill.”
The number of those who commit the sin of Ananias and Sapphira
is increasing. Men do not lie to man, but to God in their disregard of the
pledges which His Spirit moved upon them to make. Because sentence
against an evil work is not, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira,
executed speedily, the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to
do evil, to strive against the Spirit of God. How will these men stand
in the judgment? Dare you abide the final issue of this question? How
will you stand in the scenes described in the Revelation? “I saw a great
white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the