How can the beneficent Father continue to make us His stewards, if we grasp all that is placed in our care, selfishly claiming it as our own? All that we have comes from God. He gives to us, that we may be His helping hand to bless others. He requires that we return to Him the tithe. He says it is holy unto the Lord.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 2

God will bear long. He will test and prove all; but the curse will surely follow the selfish transgressor. God knows the heart. Every thought and every purpose is open to His eye. He says, “Them that honor Me I will honor.” He knows whom to bless, and who deserves the curse. He makes no mistakes. Angels are keeping a record of all our works. When we rob God of the tithe, we also rob ourselves: for we lose the heavenly treasure. We deprive ourselves of the blessing of God, which is promised to those who deal honestly with Him. “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” God's ministers should not fail to warn the people, showing from the Bible the result of withholding the tithe.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 3

When men realize that they are not their own, that they are bought with a price, and are therefore the Lord's property, and all they have is simply intrusted to them as His stewards, they will, with cheerful heart, render to God the things that are His, and there will be no occasion to urge or beg for the tithe. All will realize that they are not proprietors, but stewards, and will know that they must give an account of their Lord's money.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 4

But few feel remorse of soul because they are daily robbing God. There must be deeper convictions on this subject. The conscience must be aroused, and the matter receive earnest attention; for an account must be rendered to God in the last day, and His claims must be settled.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 5

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. But 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.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 6

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.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 7

The simplicity of the plan shows the wisdom of God in its arrangement. Everything bearing the divine stamp unites simplicity with utility. Those who return to the Lord the tenth, will find it true that the nine-tenths are worth more to them than the ten-tenths.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 8

God requires no less of His people in these last days than He did of the Jewish nation. He knew the tithing system would be a blessing to all who would heed it. We should be careful not to turn the blessings of God into a curse.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 9

If all the tithes were brought into the storehouse, God's treasury would not be empty. “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.” When man does his part, God never fails to fulfil His promises.PUR October 10, 1901, par. 10

Mrs. E. G. White

September 26, 1901

October 24, 1901