We are God’s fellow workers. 1 Corinthians 3:9.

Our indebtedness to God and our entire dependence upon Him should lead us to acknowledge Him as the giver of all our blessings, and by our offerings we acknowledge this. Of the bounties He has bestowed upon us, He requires that a portion be returned to Him. By giving to the Lord His due, we declare to the world that all our mercies are from Him, that all we possess belongs to Him….

When the Jews held their services of thanksgiving after the ingathering of nature’s treasure, they offered sacrifices to God. To us it might seem strange that sacrificial offerings should have formed so important a part of the universal rejoicing; and to outward appearances, it was a strange combination to mingle the sacrifice of beasts with the expressions of joy. But this was built upon the true foundation, for Christ Himself was the object of these ceremonial services. When, in these festal gatherings, blood was shed and offerings were made to God, the people were not only thanking Him for His present mercies, but they were thanking Him for the promise of a Savior, and by this expressing the truth that without the shedding of the blood of the Son of God there could be no forgiveness of sins….

The Lord has committed talents to men and women, that they may be better fitted to honor and glorify Him. To some He has entrusted means; to others, special qualifications for service; to others, tact and influence. Some have five talents, others two, and others one. From the highest to the lowest each has been entrusted with some gift. These talents are not our own. They belong to God. He has given them to us for conscientious use, and He will one day ask for an account of them.

The great lesson we are daily to learn is that we are stewards of God’s gifts—stewards of money, of reason, of intellect, of influence. As stewards of the Lord’s gifts, we are to trade upon these talents, however small they may be….

However small your talent may appear, use it in God’s service, for He has need of it. If it is wisely used, you may bring to God one soul who also will dedicate his or her powers to the Master’s service. That soul may win other souls, and thus one talent, faithfully used, may gain many talents.—The Review and Herald, November 24, 1896.

From From the Heart

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, … who made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:5-7.

The Son of God … left His riches and honor and glory, and clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might take hold of divinity and become a partaker of the divine nature. He came not to live in the palaces of kings, to live without care and labor and be supplied with all the conveniences which human nature naturally craves. The world never saw its Lord wealthy. In the council of heaven He had chosen to stand in the ranks of the poor and the oppressed, … to learn the trade of His earthly parent. He came to the world to be a reconstructor of character, and He brought into all His work the perfection which He desired to bring into the character He was transforming by His divine power.

Nor did He shun the social life of His countrymen. That all might become acquainted with God manifest in the flesh, He mingled with every class of society, and was called the friend of sinners. In Himself Christ possessed an absolute right to all things, but He gave Himself to a life of poverty that we might be rich in heavenly treasure. Commander in the heavenly courts, He took the lowest place on earth. Rich, yet for our sake He became poor….

For a little time the Lord allows His people to be His stewards, that He may test their character. In that time they decide their eternal destiny. If they work in opposition to the will of God, they cannot belong to the royal family….

Evidence of the work of grace in the heart is given when we do good to everyone as we have opportunity. The proof of our love is given in a Christlike spirit, a willingness to impart the good things God has given us, a readiness to practice self-denial and self-sacrifice in order to help advance the cause of God and suffering humanity. Never should we pass by the object that calls for our liberality….

The Lord will use all who will give themselves to be used. But He requires heart service…. When the heart is given to God, our talents, our energy, our possessions, all we have and are, will be devoted to His service.—The Review and Herald, May 15, 1900.

From From the Heart

He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9:6.

Liberality is one of the directions of the Holy Spirit, and when the professed people of God withhold from the Lord His own in gifts and offerings, they meet with spiritual loss….

It were better not to give at all than to give grudgingly, for if we impart of our means when we have not the spirit to give freely, we mock God. Let us bear in mind that we are dealing with One upon whom we depend for every blessing, One who reads every thought of the heart, every purpose of the mind.

The apostle Paul had a special work to present before his Corinthian brethren. There was a famine in Jerusalem, and the disciples, “every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea.” They presented the need to the churches, expecting to receive a small sum for the relief of the needy saints; and in prayer they presented before the Lord the necessity.

But the Macedonian believers, moved by the Spirit of God, first made an entire consecration of themselves to God, and then gave all that they had. They felt it a privilege thus to give expression to their trust in God. The Macedonian believers were poor, but they did not have to be urged to give. They rejoiced that they had opportunity to contribute of their means. Of themselves they came forward and made the offering, in their Christlike simplicity, their integrity and love for their brethren, denying themselves of food and clothing in cases where they had no money. And when the apostles would have restrained them, they pleaded with them to receive the contribution and carry it to the afflicted saints.

This self-denial and self-sacrifice far exceeded Paul’s expectations, and he was filled with thanksgiving; and taking courage by this example, by epistle he exhorted Titus to stir up the church in Corinth to the same good works….

“We desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.”

This movement on the part of the Macedonians was inspired of God to arouse in the Corinthian church the spirit of liberality.—The Review and Herald, May 15, 1900.

From From the Heart

Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20.

For many months I have been troubled as I have seen that some of our brethren whom God has used in His cause are now perplexed over the scientific theology which has come in to lead men away from a true faith in God. Sabbath night, a week ago, after I had been prayerfully studying over these things, I had a vision in which I was speaking before a large company where many questions were asked concerning my work and writings.

I was directed by a messenger from heaven not to take the burden of picking up and answering all the sayings and doubts that are being put into many minds. “Stand as the messenger of God anywhere, in any place,” I was bidden, “and bear the testimony I shall give you. Be free. Bear the testimony that the Lord has for you to bear in reproof, in rebuke, in the work of encouraging and lifting up the soul; ‘teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’”

After the vision I prayed aloud with great fervor and earnestness. My soul was strengthened, for the words had been spoken: “Be strong, yea, be strong. Let none of the misleading words of ministers or physicians distress your mind. Tell them to take the light given them in publications. Truth will always bear away the victory. Go straight forward with your work.

“If the Holy Spirit is rejected, all My words will not help to remove, even for the time being, the false representations that have been made, and Satan stands ready to invent more. If the evidence already given is rejected, all other evidence will be useless until there is seen the converting power of God upon minds. If the convincing impressions of the Holy Spirit made in the past will not be accepted as trustworthy evidence, nothing that can be presented hereafter will reach them, because the bewitching guile of Satan has perverted their discernment.” …

God now calls for all who choose to serve Him to stand firmly on the platform of eternal truth. Let those who have brought about the present state of confusion by making the division that exists, stop to consider seriously before going any further. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” “If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.”—The Review and Herald, August 9, 1906.

From From the Heart

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. John 3:36.

Those who are truly children of God are believers, not doubters and chronic grumblers…. Through all ages and in every nation those that believe that Jesus can and will save them personally from sin, are the elect and chosen of God; they are His peculiar treasure….

The Lord has graciously opened out to our understanding by the Holy Spirit rich truth, and we should respond to this by corresponding works of piety and devotion, in harmony with the superior privileges and advantages that have been bestowed upon us. The Lord is waiting to be gracious to His people, to give them an increased knowledge of His paternal character, of His goodness, mercy, and love. He waits to show them His glory; and if they follow on to know the Lord, they shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning.

The people of God are not to stand upon common ground, but upon the holy ground of gospel truth. They are to keep step with their Leader, looking continually to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of their faith, marching onward and upward, and having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness….

It is the privilege of the children of God to be delivered from the control of the lusts of the flesh, and to preserve their peculiar, heavenly character, which distinguishes them from the lovers of the world. In their moral taste, in their habits and customs, they are separate from the world. Who are the children of God? They are members of the royal family, and a royal nation, a peculiar people, showing forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light….

Will not those to whom have been committed the treasures of truth, consider the superior advantages of light and privilege that have been purchased for us by the sacrifice of the Son of God on Calvary’s cross? We are to be judged by the light that has been given us, and we can find no excuse by which to extenuate our course. The Way, the Truth, and the Life has been set before us….

We are to place our will on the side of the Lord’s will, and firmly determine that by His grace we will be free from sin.—The Review and Herald, August 1, 1893.

From From the Heart