“Bring an Offering Unto the Lord.”
NP
December 12, 1900 [typed]
Portions of this manuscript are published in UL 360.
“Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 1
We need to realize the importance of consecrating our talents to God. We should give ourselves to Him—body, soul, and spirit—to do His will. Our talents are not of our own creating; they are but lent to us, and they are to be sacredly employed in God’s service. We must not trifle with the responsibility of using them wisely. As we use them, we are ever to remember that God will require them again at our hands. As we use our talents wisely, devoting them to God’s service, they will be increased. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 2
In the parable of the talents, Christ has plainly declared the use He expects us to make of our endowments. “The kingdom of heaven,” the Saviour said, “is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, according to their several ability, and straightway took his journey.” [Matthew 25:14, 15.] Read carefully the record of use made of these talents. The one who had received five talents and the one who had received ten put their money out to usury, and on the return of their Master, they were able to give back to him the principal and interest. These servants were equally commended. To each the Master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things: I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” [Verse 23.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 3
The servant who had received one talent did not appreciate the gift, but bound up his talent and hid it in the earth. He did not good with that which the lord gave him. With murmuring and complaint he came to his lord, saying, “Lord, I knew thee, that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him which hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” [Verses 24-29.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 4
The holiday season is right upon us. At this time much money is spent in buying presents which are of very little use. If those who claim to believe the Bible would consider that the Lord has claims upon them which are unthought of and unacknowledged, they would regard the matter of Christmas and New Year gifts in an altogether different light. Christ has made for us a complete offering, an offering without defect or blemish. If we make Christmas or New Year offerings, let it be the offering of wholehearted service to God. In the place of using our money to buy presents for friends or relatives who do not need them, let us bring this money to God as a thank offering for what He has done for us, even as the wise men brought to Christ their offerings of gold and frankincense and myrrh. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 5
I wish to tell you, my dear friends, that as you do your best, making your gift proportionate to your ability to give, God will accept your offering. Remember the offering Christ made—the offering of Himself to a life of suffering, humiliation, and shame in order to save a world perishing in sin. Unless this offering had been made, we must have perished. As we look upon the self-denial and self-sacrifice of Christ, the sacrifices we are called upon to make sink into insignificance. How much do you owe to Him who gave His life for you? 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 6
Christ’s invitation to the whole world is, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] Christ has the most precious lessons for us to learn. Strength of purpose and moral courage are obtained through His grace. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:30, 31.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 7
Christ had compassion upon fallen man. He placed Himself in his stead, to suffer the penalty of transgression. Thus He has made it possible for sinners to return to their allegiance to God, to take their place under the royal standard of the Prince of life. Christ has purchased the whole race, to give them an opportunity to become reconciled to God. He placed truth before men with such clearness and simplicity that all who will may find the path to heaven. He is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” [John 1:9.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 8
All the words of the great Teacher are weighty with eternal importance. They are full of dignity and nobility, and are comprehensible to all who wish to understand. Christ presented sublime and beautiful truths with the greatest simplicity. He used the most familiar objects to illustrate His meaning, knowing that when His hearers should afterward see these objects His lessons would repeat themselves to their minds. Thus He inculcated grand and ennobling truths. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 9
These treasures of truth have been opened to us, that we may understand the great love wherewith God has loved us. “Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind: be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ: as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.” [1 Peter 1:13-16.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 10
Many in this world are perishing in their sins. Careless and worldly, their hearts have waxed gross. They are proving themselves to be dishonest in dealing with God’s property. They love not the truth. They turn away from the righteousness of Christ to the beggarly elements of the world. They trample under their feet the precepts of God’s law, especially the Sabbath commandment. The heart of the Saviour is grieved by their conduct. He desires to save every soul whom He has purchased. O that men would understand this, and place themselves in connection with the great Master Worker! 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 11
Soon the Lord is coming to this earth with power and great glory, and the work that we are to do now is outlined in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. Who is doing this work? Who is building the Lord’s altars? Who is preparing the people for the great day of the Lord? Now, just now, every one who claims to be a child of God should bring of their means to God’s treasury, that there may be a supply to draw from to provide the workers with facilities for entering new places to present the truth to those who have never heard it. Let there be no dearth in the Lord’s treasury. From His treasure God supplies all our necessities. Shall we be only consumers? Shall we not be producers, giving of our means that the truth may be presented to many people, who will acknowledge and accept the message, and in turn give back to God His own, and themselves be numbered among producers? 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 12
There is ever to be in the treasury of the Lord means to be used for the enlarging of His territory and the building of sanctuaries where those who accept present truth may worship Him in the beauty of holiness. God calls upon His people to bring of their means, in tithes and freewill offerings, to Him, that His workers may have facilities wherewith to establish memorials for Him in villages, towns, and cities. These memorials will constantly bear witness that after creating the earth in six days, God gave the seventh day to His people as a day of rest, to be a sign between Him and them, that they might know that He was the Lord who sanctified them. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 13
We are not to be consumers, drawing from the supply, but producers, bringing to the Lord that which He can use to advance His great work. We are not only to receive God’s gifts. With a full sense of our accountability we are to bring a return to Him, that there may be in His treasury for the advancement of His work an ample supply of means, a supply from which His workmen may draw to enable them to carry the message from city to city and from country to country. God’s self-sacrificing workers should be provided with sufficient facilities to make their work a success. Let us not forget the work in foreign fields. The sight as it is presented to me is deplorable. There is great need of workers and of facilities which will enable the workers to do successful work. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 14
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” [Psalm 24:1.] This world is the Lord’s storehouse, from which we are ever drawing. He has provided fruits and grains and vegetables for our sustenance. For us He makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall. The whole human family, good and evil, are constantly drawing from God’s storehouse. It makes every difference with those so highly privileged how they receive the Lord’s gifts and how they treat the contract the Lord has made with them. He has made them His almoners, directing them to draw from His storehouse, and then make a return to Him in gifts and offerings, “that there may be meat in mine house,” He says. [Malachi 3:10.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 15
In the third chapter of Malachi is found the contract God has made with man. Here the Lord specifies the part He will act in bestowing His great gifts on those who will make a faithful return to Him in tithes and offerings. To the selfish ones God says, “Ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 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.” [Verses 9, 10.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 16
There is no time to lose. Let God’s people bring their offerings to Him, that they may worship Him with hearts full of rejoicing. Remember that God has imparted to you of His blessings, that you may have wherewith to give to Him. The Lord’s work is now languishing because men do not realize the claims God has upon them. Our institutions in Europe are struggling under a burden of debt. The work of saving these institutions from failure and ruin must be carried forward. They must not sink under a burden of debt. God will surely be dishonored if they do. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 17
Let the Lord see that His people are willing to make offerings of self-denial for the hour of His work, that they toil, not for selfish ends, but that under His prospering grace they may have wherewith to give to the objects in need of their help. If the institution whose future is now trembling in the balance do not become established, strengthened, and settled, the cause of God will sustain great loss. Satan will have obtained a victory which we cannot afford to let him gain. A sore wound will be given to the work. Shall we not make an effort to “give to him that needeth”? [Ephesians 4:28.] Of what is there greater need than to release the Lord’s instrumentalities from debt, and establish them upon a sure basis? 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 18
I have decided to give to the work in Europe all the royalties on the copies sold in that field of the book on Christian temperance which I hope soon to publish. And I have decided also to give the royalties on the copies of this book sold elsewhere to the building up of sanitariums, that the work of these institutions for suffering humanity may go forward. I will give this book for the use of our sanitariums wherever established. The work of these institutions for the poor and suffering is the work of God, and I desire to have a part in it by dedicating to it the entire profits of this book. Will my brethren and sisters act their part by assisting the publishing houses to pay for the expense of publication? 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 19
Just now we need to make special effort to help the lines of God’s work which are in need of help. Those who are laboring in new fields should be encouraged to plant the standard in new places, to annex new territory for God. Camp meetings are to be held in many places. Churches are to be raised up and organized. There is to be a pressing into new territory. Will not my brethren and sisters throughout the world consecrate themselves and their possessions to God? God help them to bring freewill offering to Him who gave His only begotten Son to save them from eternal death. Let the believers in Christ deny self, take up the cross, and follow their Leader. Let them make decided efforts to place themselves under His discipline, to take His yoke upon them, and learn of Him. Those who do this will find rest unto their souls. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 20
Let believers in the truth bring to God a faithful tithe. Let them bring Him peace offerings and thank offerings for the great love wherewith He has loved them. Then there will be no dearth of means in His treasury. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 21
How long shall the apathy remain that is upon the people of God? The words in the fifty-fourth chapter of Isaiah are for us: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes: for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left: and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not: for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded: for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thy husband, the Lord of hosts is his name: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the Lord of the whole earth shall he be called.” [Verses 2-5.] 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 22
Our time for work is short. We have not a moment to lose. Let us do something for Christ, and do it now. 15LtMs, Ms 73, 1900, par. 23