The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-09-17
For the Central Presbyterian.
How is Your Minister Supported?
No. 4.

We saw in our last the striking ad-
vantages which attach to the system of
ministerial support found in the Mosaic
lava system as beautiful as it is simple
the only system ever given to the
Church of God. And now, that this or
dinance of God may be in force with US,
it Is only necessary that church recog-
nize the obligation to pay tithes. There
were other offerings made by Israel to
God besides the 1.-THE, in which the Lee
vites had a share. They were the sin
offering, the trespass-ofering, the peace
Offering. These we've all typical Of Christ.
They were fulfilled in Him, and are dom
away. The 1.-THE typi6ed nothing. fiji
remains, the system remains. The prln
ciples of ministerial support are then un-
changed, and we have, as the apostle
Paul teaches we ought to have, "the same
ordinance respecting the ministers Of the
gospel that God made respecting the
priests of the law" Whether then, we
are to enjoy the advantages of the system
which we have considered or not, depends
on our answer to the question, Is the 1.-THE
law still in force? Let us now address
ourselves to this question. And first, let
us settle few general principles.
STANDARD OF CONSIDERATION.
1t is a truth familiar to every Chris
tan, that we are not our own. All that
we are, all that we have, belongs to God.
In this, we are on the same footing with
the people of God, who lived before Christ.
Thew. were called to love the Lord their
God with all their heart and with all
their soul, and with all their might We
can do nothing more We enjoy greater
light. We have higher motives. But
the standard of conservation, from the
beginning until now, has been ever the
same. We consecrate our all.
THINGS CoNsECRATED.
This conservation of man embraces
four things. First, his person; second,
the persons that belong to him; third, his
time; fourth, his substance Everything
that man can call his own falls under
one of these four heads.
TOKENS OF CONSIDERATION.
For each of these divisions, God re
ouired of his people who lived before
Christ token, to be rendered as an ac-
acknowledgement of Gods proprietorshiP.
For the conservation of the mans own
person, the token was circumcision. For
the conservation of his children, the token
was the circumcision of the males, the
natural representatives of his offspring.
For the conservation of his time, the token
was stated rendering to God Of one
seventh of all-"the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God. For the
conservation of his substance, the token
was a stated rendering to God of one
tenth Of all" the 1.-THE of the land is the
Lords" By these four tokens, aYowal
was made of Gods sovereignty over all
that the man was and all that he had.*
Under the gospel, it is generally admit
ted that God still requires of his people
some visible signs Of their conservation
In token Of the conservation Of our per
sit Is obvious that freewill offering doe
not imply any acknowledgement Of sovereignty
If I offer a gift to the Queen Of Great Britain,
express my affection and goodwill; but my vol
untary present by no means signifies that re
cognize her as my sovereign. If however, tn,
sovereign annually lays claim to a definite par
ofmy income, and pay the tax, confess he
dominion over my estate. The case Is the sam,
between us and God The voluntary offering
Of the church express gratitude and love to God
They do not recognize his sovereignty over on
possessions But the 1.-THE is an income tax
the payment of this is an overcoming tolel
that Gods right over our property Is confessed