The Faithful Steward | Page 9

wages. 2. The idea of copartnership. Each member of the church,
on principles of common honesty, is bound to bear his share of the
common expenses.] But though no given proportion of property is
definitely enjoined, there are certain general principles laid down, by
which we may make approximations towards a proportionate amount,
and never be at a loss respecting individual gifts in specific instances
when the heart is right. The following are such.
The great truth that God has a supreme and inalienable right in us and
in all that we possess. "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith
the Lord of Hosts." "For every beast of the field is mine, and the cattle
upon a thousand hills." "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the
father, so also the soul of the son is mine."--The injunction to dedicate
ourselves to God. "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service."--The requirement to love God and
his cause and interest more devotedly than the dearest worldly
possession. "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and
mother, and wife and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his
own life also, he cannot be my disciple." "Whosoever he be of you that
forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be my disciple."--The command to
love our neighbor as ourselves; that we are to supply his necessities,
and relieve his sufferings, so far as lies in our power, with the same
willingness that we do our own.--The intimation that our gifts should
be such as to call into exercise our faith and self-denial. The poor
widow cast into the treasury of the Lord "all that she had, even all her

living;" with which generous sacrifice Christ was well pleased; and
Paul commends the Macedonian Christians, because they gave not only
according to their power, but beyond their power.-- The promises to the
benevolent. "The liberal soul shall be made fat." "He that watereth shall
be watered himself." "It is more blessed to give than to receive."--The
duty of imitating Christ, who "suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that we should follow in his steps;" that we should "walk even as he
also walked."
Also, the very large amount of their income, (which has been estimated
at not less than one fifth) required of the Jews to be given for the
support of religion, and in charity, was intended to convey to us similar
instruction. For though the law of tithes or double tithes is not binding
upon us, the great sacrifices which they were required to make, are
designed to have a moral influence on succeeding generations. It is not
the idle record of a bygone race, or of a dispensation that has vanished
away; it utters a voice to us; it is the living exemplification of a
principle which we are bound to adopt. If even the poor among the
Jews could give so much, the poor can still give bountifully in
proportion to their means,--and, were they disposed, how profusely
might the rich lavish their munificence. With the fact before us of the
great sacrifices the Jews were commanded to make for the support of
religion in their own narrow bounds; when we consider the breadth of
the field we are called to cultivate,--the spiritual necessities of the
perishing millions of our race, the opportunities to reach them, the
worth of the undying soul, the revenue of glory its salvation will yield
the Saviour, what sacrifices ought the poor, at the present day, to make
in their penury, and the rich in their abundance, to promote the glory of
Christ in the salvation of souls; and how terrible the doom of those who
refuse.
These principles, requisitions, promises, and examples, show us that
our sacrifices should be great, and the amount of our contributions
large, when either the worldly or spiritual necessities of others demand
our aid; while they leave the treasuries of benevolence to be filled by
the spontaneous flow of each individual soul.

The desire, therefore, to fasten on the consciences of men the obligation
to contribute periodically a certain portion of their income or property,
as universally binding, is not to be gratified by arguments drawn either
from reason or revelation. We may resort to no artificial means. We
may trust in no machinery which does not work and glow with the
living fires of the heart. Love, conscience, and reason, must be the
originating and guiding forces. We must fall back upon, and confide in,
these vital principles of holy conduct. First the heart, and then the act,
is the Gospel scheme, and we may not reverse the process. To