Your wealth is the Lord’s! Don’t misuse it
“Is it yours?” This question has been asked and discussed in previous articles. Now the third time I ask it again! In the last two articles of the series we discussed the need of being vigilant when handling something that does not belong to us; something which is not our property. We saw that our body and our time are two talents entrusted to us by God to manage; they do not belong to us, but they are Lord’s. But, what about the money which we worked so hard to earn? This month we will not discuss about the money, but your money! Is it yours?
What is money? Although you may not have a lot, you still have some. Money can be also expressed by the things you possess. In short, it is your wealth. “Money has great value, because it can do great good. In the hands of God’s children it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, and clothing for the naked. It is a defense for the oppressed, and a means of help to the sick. But money is of no more value than sand, only as it is put to use in providing for the necessities of life, in blessing others, and advancing the cause of Christ.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 351
To whom does your money really belong? You may believe that “it is mine”, or my family’s. Is this true? Jeremiah wrote “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9. Therefore, be careful how you answer! Let us examine this subject from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. The Lord always has the correct answers.
THE CREATOR AND OWNER
He (the Lord) owns the earth. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.” Psalm 50:10–11. “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the LORD of hosts.” Haggai 2:8. He also owns us, as we studied in the first article of this series. “So we Thy people and sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks for ever.” Psalm 79:13. By what authority does He own us? Firstly, He created all things, both heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11). He also made man. “Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us.” Psalm 100:3. Secondly, He maintains all things. “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power.” Hebrews 1:3. “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:28. Thirdly, He paid the price to redeem us. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18–19. And finally, it is He that gives us power to obtain wealth. “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:18
“God claims the whole earth as His vineyard. Though now in the hands of the usurper, it belongs to God. By redemption no less than by creation it is His. For the world Christ’s sacrifice was made. ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.’ John 3:16. Daily the whole world receives blessing from God. Every drop of rain, every ray of light shed on our unthankful race, every leaf and flower and fruit, testifies to God’s long forbearance and His great love.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 301
In Eden, the Lord used a tree as a lesson to teach His ownership of all. “The Lord created every tree in Eden pleasant to the eyes and good for food, and He bade Adam and Eve freely enjoy His bounties. But He made one exception. Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they were not to eat. This tree God reserved as a constant reminder of His ownership of all.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 386
“The Lord sought to teach Israel that in everything He must be first. . . Everything that they possessed was His.” –The Acts of the Apostles, p. 337. “God lays His hand upon all man’s possessions, saying: I am the owner of the universe, and these goods are Mine.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 387
Tithe and offering
“Money is a trust from God. It is not ours to expend for the gratification of pride or ambition.” –The Ministry of Healing, p. 287. Once we have earned some money, the next logical situation we face is how to spend God’s money.
The tithe is 10 percent of one’s total income and is a principle of systematic benevolence established in the Holy Scriptures. “In the Hebrew economy one tenth of the income of the people was set apart to support the public worship of God. . . . The tithing system did not originate with the Hebrews. From the earliest times the Lord claimed a tithe as His, and this claim was recognized and honored. . . . As the Israelites were about to be established as a nation, the law of tithing was reaffirmed as one of the divinely ordained statutes upon obedience to which their prosperity depended. . . . ‘The tithe . . . is the Lord’s’ (Leviticus 27:30). Here the same form of expression is employed as in the law of the Sabbath. ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.’ (Exodus 20:10). God reserved to Himself a specified portion of man’s time and of his means, and no man could, without guilt, appropriate either for his own interests. ” –Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 525–526
“The New Testament does not re-enact the law of the tithe, as it does not that of the Sabbath; for the validity of both is assumed, and their deep spiritual import explained. God has made an absolute reservation of a specified portion of our time and our means. To ignore these claims is to rob God.” –The Review and Herald, May 16, 1882
“The tithe should be consecrated to God. His requirements come first. We are not doing His will if we consecrate to Him what is left after all our wants have been supplied. Before any part of our income is consumed, we should take out and present to Him that portion which He claims as His. When this is done, the remainder will be sanctified and blessed to our own use.” –Pacific Union Recorder, October 10, 1901
“The tithe is sacred, reserved by God for Himself. It is to be brought into His treasury to be used to sustain the gospel laborers in their work.” –Counsels on Stewardship, p. 93. “It is not to be regarded as a poor fund. It is to be especially devoted to the support of those who are bearing God’s message to the world; and it should not be diverted from this purpose.” –Ibid, p. 103
“The payment of the tithe was but a part of God’s plan for the support of His service. Numerous gifts and offerings were divinely specified. Under the Jewish system the people were taught to cherish a spirit of liberality both in sustaining the cause of God and in supplying the wants of the needy. For special occasions there were freewill offerings. At the harvest and the vintage, the first fruits of the field—corn, wine, and oil—were consecrated as an offering to the Lord. The gleanings and the corners of the field were reserved for the poor. The first fruits of the wool when the sheep were shorn, of the grain when the wheat was threshed, were set apart for God. So also were the first-born of all animals, and a redemption price was paid for the first-born son. The first fruits were to be presented before the Lord at the sanctuary and were then devoted to the use of the priests.” –The Acts of Apostles, p. 336–337
There is a spiritual issue involved in this principle of the paying of tithes and offerings. “In the great work of warning the world, those who have the truth in the heart, and are sanctified through the truth, will act their assigned part. They will be faithful in the payment of tithes and offerings. Every church member is bound by covenant relation with God to deny himself of every
extravagant outlay of means. Let not the want of economy in the home life render us unable to act our part in strengthening the work already established, and in entering new territory.” –Counsels on Stewardship, p. 74
“The Lord has made the proclamation of the gospel dependent on the consecrated ability and the voluntary gifts and offerings of His people. While He has called men to preach the Word, He has made it the privilege of the whole church to share in the work by contributing of their means to its support.” –In Heavenly Places, p. 303. It is God who blesses men with property, and He does this that they may be able to give toward the advancement of His cause.
“Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, . . .Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock.” Deuteronomy 12:11, 17. The Lord made it clear that the people were to bring their tithes and offerings to a place that He chose. They were not to use the tithes or offerings to their own discretion within their gates. “As soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits . . . and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.” 2 Chronicles 31:5
STEWARDSHIP
“We should regard ourselves as stewards of the Lord’s property and God as the supreme proprietor, to whom we are to render His own when He shall require it.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 480–481. “Our money has not been given us that we might honor and glorify ourselves. As faithful stewards we are to use it for the honor and glory of God.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 351
“God is testing every soul that claims to believe in Him. All are entrusted with talents. The Lord has given men His goods upon which to trade. He has made them His stewards, and has placed in their possession money, houses, and lands. All these are to be regarded as the Lord’s goods and used to advance His work, to build up His kingdom in the world. In trading with the Lord’s goods, we are to seek Him for wisdom, that we may not use His sacred trust to glorify ourselves or to indulge selfish impulses. The amount entrusted varies, but those who have the smallest gifts must not feel that because their talent of means is small, they can do nothing with it.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 245–246
Jesus said, “freely ye have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:18. The Bible says: “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.” Proverbs 19:17
Paul reminds us that “We are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:9. “If all professed Christians would faithfully bring their tithes to God, His treasury would be full.” –Counsels on Stewardship, p. 67
WHAT if I do NOT give?
The eighth commandment reads, “Thou shalt not steal.” Exodus 20:15. Is it possible to rob God whom we do not see? “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.” Malachi 3:8
“For a long time the Lord has been robbed because there are those who do not realize that the tithe is God’s reserved portion.” –Counsels on Stewardship, p. 93. “When we withhold that which He says is His, the curse rests upon the whole, and we are recorded in the books of heaven as guilty of robbery. God gives man nine-tenths, but the one-tenth He claims for sacred purposes,—as He has given man six days for his own work, and has reserved the seventh day to Himself.” –Pacific Union Recorder, October 10, 1901
“The neglect to confess Christ in your account books cuts you off from the great privilege of having your name registered in the Lamb’s book of life.” –Our High Calling, p. 192
“Those who are selfishly withholding their means need not be surprised if God’s hand scatters. That which should have been devoted to the advancement of the work and cause of God, but which has been withheld, may be entrusted to a reckless son, and he may squander it. A fine horse, the pride of a vain heart, may be found dead in the stable. Occasionally a cow may die. Losses of fruit or other crops may come. God can scatter the means He has lent to His stewards, if they refuse to use it to His glory. Some, I saw, may have none of these losses to remind them of their remissness in duty, but their cases may be the more hopeless.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 661–662
“Let none feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use according to their own judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in an emergency, nor to apply it as they see fit, even in what they may regard as the Lord’s work.” –Gospel Workers, p. 224
“He who realizes that his money is a talent from God will use it economically, and will feel it a duty to save that he may give. . . . Every penny used unnecessarily deprives the spender of a precious opportunity of doing good. It is robbing God of the honor and glory which should flow back to Him through the improvement of His entrusted talents.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 351–352
“The tithe you have withheld I reserve for the support of My servants in their work of opening the Scriptures to those who are in the regions of darkness, who do not understand My law. In using My reserve fund to gratify your own desires you have robbed souls of the light which I made provision for them to receive. You have had opportunity to show loyalty to Me, but you have not done this. You have robbed Me; you have stolen My reserve fund. ‘Ye are cursed with a curse.’ Malachi 3:9.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 387
“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 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.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 479–480
“To lose a little of this world seems to you a terrible calamity which would cost your life. But the thought of losing heaven does not cause half the fears to be manifested. Through your careful efforts to save this life, you are in danger of losing eternal life. . . .
“Your heart is on your earthly treasures, therefore you have no heart for the heavenly. These poor things which are seen—the earthly—eclipse the glory of the heavenly. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. . . . You need a fresh conversion every day. Die daily to self. . . . If this requires a great effort, make it; you will be repaid in so doing.” –Ibid., vol. 1, p. 698
“Some think that only a portion of their means is the Lord’s. When they have set apart a portion for religious and charitable purposes, they regard the remainder as their own, to be used as they see fit. But in this they mistake. All we possess is the Lord’s, and we are accountable to Him for the use we make of it. In the use of every penny, it will be seen whether we love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. . . .
“Hoarded wealth is not merely useless, it is a curse. In this life it is a snare to the soul, drawing the affections away from the heavenly treasure. In the great day of God its witness to unused talents and neglected opportunities will condemn its possessor. James 5:1–4.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 351–352
“Hasten, my brethren and sisters, to bring to God a faithful tithe, and to bring Him also a willing thank offering. There are many who will not be blessed till they make restitution of the tithe which they have withheld. God is waiting for you to redeem the past.” –Counsels on Stewardship, p. 87
BLESSINGS MULTIPLIED
“The tithing system was founded upon a principle which is as enduring as the law of God. It will be a blessing to those who will carry it out to the end of time. Our heavenly Father did not originate the system to enrich Himself, but to be a great blessing to man.” –Pacific Union Recorder, October 10, 1901
“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God.” Deuteronomy 28:2. “No man can lay up treasure in heaven without finding his life on earth thereby enriched and ennobled.” –Education, p. 145
We have a great responsibility in keeping a faithful account with our Creator. It is as a covenant relationship with Him. Each person needs to search their own heart diligently to see how they have done. Let us repent without delay if we have not been faithful. He gave His only Son to die for us; we need to give our all to Him for His glory. We receive as we give and it is more blessed to give than to receive. If we will impart to Him faithfully as He asks, He will open ways whereby we will be able to continually bestow because we will be continually receiving.
“He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.” Proverbs 22:9. The divine blessing is showered upon the generous giver who shares his possessions with those who have little. “He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.” Proverbs 28:27. The Biblical principle of giving is based on multiplication. If something is donated, it is preserved and multiplied; and the blessings are then multiplied as well. “God is abundantly able to fulfill His promises. . . . Faithful stewards, who wisely use the goods which God has intrusted to them to advance the truth and bless suffering humanity, will be rewarded for so doing. God will pour into their hands while they dispense to others. He is advancing His cause in the earth through stewards intrusted with His capital. Some there are who, notwithstanding they greatly desire wealth, would be ruined by its possession. God has tested individuals by lending them talents of means. It was in their power to abuse the gift or use it to the glory of God.” –The Review and Herald, October 31, 1878
God owns everything, including our time and money. He has given us His law, by which we will be judged. We also have the commission to carry the gospel into all the world. We can help this work by returning faithfully a tithe of our increase to support the ministry, and offerings for the different branches of His work. We should not be weary in giving to Him; He gives all to us. If we honor God, He will honor us. He blesses us that we may bless others. If we are faithful in giving unselfishly, He will pour out a blessing for us.
“Would you make your property secure? Place it in the hand that bears the nail prints of the crucifixion. Retain all in your possession, and it will be to your eternal loss. Give it to God, and from that moment it bears His inscription. It is sealed with His immutability. Would you enjoy your substance? Then use it to bless the suffering. Would you increase your possessions? ‘Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. –Counsels on Stewardship., p. 49. “We are to make investments in heavenly interests, and always work with heaven in view, laying our treasure up in the bank of heaven.” –The Signs of the Times, April 4, 1895
The Lord says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10
“For what shall we hoard up treasures? To be swept away by the flames of the last day? Shall we lay up gold and silver, to be a witness against us in the Judgment,—to eat our flesh as it were fire? Shall we cling to our possessions till they fall into the hands of our enemies? The time is coming when commandment keepers can neither buy nor sell. Of what use will houses and lands, bank stock and merchandise, be to us then? Now is the time to place our treasures where they will be eternally secure. . . . That which we give to the cause of God becomes our own forever. Says Christ, ‘Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven’ (Matthew 6:20). These alone, of all that we possess, are really ours. All that we lay up on earth, we must leave at last. It is only what we give for Christ that we can take with us into the eternal world.” –The Review and Herald, December 6, 1887
Victor Shumbusho,
D.R.Congo