The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-04-07
The POWER OF MONEY.
EVEN THE GOLDEN GATES STAND AJAR
FOR THE NAN WHO COMES DOWN
WITH THE DUST.
Earthly Riches Properly Invested
Will Hell, us to Secure the Ezeav-
enly Riclles---If You Would go to
Heaven When You Die. You Must
Pay Your Church Dues.

Heaven When You Die, You Must
Pay Your Church Dues.
Sermon by the Rev. J. o. Lindsay, D. D,
Text-Pay your church dues.
/ Twenty years ago | would not have said
the less minister said in the pulpit about
| money. especially about the money that pco'
| pic ought to give to the Church, the better.
! / now think he cannot be faithful to his Mas.
ter without speaking plainly and earnestly OF
this great matter.
BY church dues mean several things
l. The pastors salary. It isa law of the diS.
pensation in which we live that they that
preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
The workman is worthy of his meat. The
laborer is worthy OF his hire. This Is not Il
human enactment. but q divine ordinance.
1t is enstamped with the authority of the
great God. A minister may refuse to receive
i ii. As Paul did, for prudential reasons; but q
people cannot withhold it without bringing
upon themselves fearful rrtribnli0n. 2. The
several enterprises of the Church, as Pu6iica-
| ton, Education, Missions, Foreign and DO
mestic-all these require money. The assess,
ments for these objects are generally ttlr ana
! reasonable, and ought to be promptly and
| fully met. II one church nrglcctS the pay
ment of lis dues in any Of these regards, the
enterprise will languish or the deficit Will
have to be made up by the other churches.
expansive, looking to the regions beyond, aud
! caring for the things Of others. 8. There arc
other expenses about q church of q more 10
cal character, as erecting or repairing, or talk;
ing care of tile church building, and several
other matters, all Of which require money.
All these things l group under the general
/ head Of "church dues"
They have claims upon us for pecuniary
support. TO meet these claims Is not simply
duty, but q. duty Of the highest and most
solemn character. The debts we owe to our
lcctcd without bringing guilt upon our souls.
| Bat this is a debt that we owe directly to the
great and awful God. BY paying ii we honor
and glorify him; BY withholding the pay, n.y.
cast contempt upon the Sovereign Of the uni
verse, the God Of Salvation.
THAT tho Church requires money TO carry on
its o,,crato.is is not peculiar to ii, but +, char
artcristic which it has in common With all
other organizations. y government that had
no revenue from taxes, or imports, or sale OF
lands, would go to pieces at oucc. All the
charitable societies, secret or public, are kept
up by The members paying their dues, and
without this payment they could net cNiSt.
| All organizations literary or scientific, polit'
ical orsocial. have expenses that require mon
! cy. The family, even the poorest, cannot sub
siSt without m,ncy. Money is a controlling
factor in all the Societies which men can
form in thi world. The wise man truly said
| "Moncy anSwcrcth all things
! say, then, in all earncSincSS, my friends,
that yOn cannot neglect to pay yo.r church
dues without being criminals before high
heaven. 1t is not something you can 40 as
yOu please about. but you must do as Goa re.
| ourcs. II is not Il matter Of your will but %
divine law. 1t is true that In the exercise 0i
! your free agency you may NEGLECT the divine
requirement, but you will DO it at your peril
! You will find IN this as well as in other mat
! tc:s that it is al evil and bitter thing to Sin
against God
We're to attempt q full analysis OF this sin
would have TO show that it is covenant
| 1,rn inr ltrlr
most solemn, Withholding what Is due to an
other, which is plain violation of The eighth
commandment.
ask YOU to notice the relation which this
matter has to IL clurGli'S welfare. Sam Jones
says, "it takes two things TO run Il church,
grace ard money; the Lord will furnish the
grace, but the people must give the money.
| VIZ may add that His giving The grace is de-
| pendent in 4 large measure OH our giving the
| money. If we withhold the n0ney lie
Will keep back the gra"e. | make bold to say
any part os it, in amy denomination Il church
| that can be properly called prosperous that
does not pay its financial dues. Where this
matter is neglected there will be some dead
some division, a weak ministry Or nn increase
| OF membership, or in some way, clear and
unmistakble, The divine dispeaSnrc will fall
upon such church. What riIiablc Spccta-
Gle does the great mrjority OF oar country
churches present! What Il low state Of pic:y!
What limited number show the least inter
est in religion! We can he interested in see
ular matters in the news sof the ncishlor-
hood, the markets, crops, politics, fashions,
the railroad, but how few care anything for
the cause of God. for the ur-buiding of
Chrst's Kingdom, for the salvation OF human
souls! The truth is and it is one that should
make us shudder, that there is very little re.
l.ion in the church. There is an amazing
deal of indifference among It's members. We
nce.ln't talk about the world S nDcOnccrn and
stupidity and deadnc>S 10 divine things
| ThnSp rrpfiSplN lhp ch1r1rtnrjSirS of the
average church member. Now, the cause OF
this low state of rlety may not be seen at a
glance. There, indeed, may be many causes
in operation to produce thl is state OF things.
but we cannot mistake when we mention
as one of these ca uses, and Il Very Influential
one, the neglect u pay the church dues. On
spirit is grcvcd and wthdrawS, and blight
and disaster follow. II is true principle, If
we honor God He will honor us, and II We
serve Him, obey His ordinances, the reward
will be great In keeping His commanq.
mentS there is great reward.
Not only is it true that q church is not
prosperous That fails to pay its dues, but it is
also true that Il church is prosperous that
capnot be found anywhere AL exception IL
! this statement. The church that Goes its duty
in this regard will have tokens Of divine pow.
What have said thus far is general, ap.
Iicable to the Church as Il body; but let us
look at the case Uf the individual. | assert
that no one was ever injured financially by
paying his church dues. l have known men
| To become ba:Ikrupts from many causes, but
never from this cause. know one who was
ruined by his wi les extravaganza. Her hew
/ bonuctS, and silk dresses, and ostrich fcath.
ers, and diamond rings, and pearl ncclllncc
and sealsllin sacquc SO depleted his means
that he had nothing to pay his debts with,
and he had to go into bankruptcy. l knew
another, more than one such, who became in.
solvent by drinking whisfcy ana smoking
fine cigars. Their living beyond their income
! made them Il wreck. But of all the people
have known or heard of have never know,
one injured financially by paying his church
dues. And more Than that | uOnt believe
there is any true financial prosperity where
! this duty is neglected.. There may be q seem.
ing prosperity, but Just wait awhile the
, curse will come, sooner or later, in some form
God don't settle up his accounts with men III
the end OF every week, nor at the end Of ev.
cry year, but, mark this, he settles them.
Gods hand, Judgment wall reach those who
neglect this duty, and how they will wncC
and smart under that touch! That financial
embarrassment, that big debt which takes
away the mans appetite, and takes away his
sleep, and takes away his chccrlulneSS and
makes him prematurcly old, and brings tC
him disease, and after awhile brings to him
dcath-all this might not have been if he had
paid his church dues. The nan withhOlds
his dues and God vii hholds his blessing. and
that is Just the explanation in hundreds q
cases that otherwise seem So mysterious.
DEFY any man who has pecuniary troubles &c
look back over his past life and honestly say
he has fully done his duty In paying his
church dacs
Wcnrc a poor people We become sudden.
~ alive to that fact when we are asked tC
give 10 some benevolent ject. But there /.
far more IN this complaint OF poverty thar
an excuse for sting ness. am AFRAID that ~
do not realize the fact that we are a poor peO
PIE and arc getting poorer every year. Some
DrOplr cannot SEE their poverty us long
as they can get their supplies on Il lien. or bo