River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-09-17


weekly Bibl q
Stables. preached today from the text:
HE that hath pity upon the poor
Iendeth unto the Lord; and that which
he hath given will He pay him again"
Proverbs 1917.
The fact that | have been preaching
for thirty Eight years and yet have
never taken up a collection nor made
any appeal for money in connection
with my work may have led some TO
the erroneous conclusion that | am
opposed to charities, said the Pastor
Nothing could be further from the
truth. During those thirty-eight years
many thousands of dollars have pass,
ed through my hands-voluntary gifts
from grateful souls, for the spread of
the Good TidingS of great joy which
shall yet be unto all people. More
over, it is my conviction that no one
could be an acceptable Christian un
less he possessed the spirit of charity,
benevolence, unless he really loved to
give for good purpOses-for the glory
of God, for the benefit of his fellows.
The Pastor declared that from his
viewpoint missionary enterprises might
properly be considered charities
but not so Church enterprises. The
Church, he claimed, Is not a mission
airy society for the worlds benefit, but
an arrangement for the benefit Of the
Church members. Hence each mem
Der of this brotherhood should consider
himself in duty bound to cooperate to
the extent of his ability in providing
the necessary expenses connected with
the meeting-place - light, janitorage,
etc.-the blessings and comforts of
which he enjoys. Yet even in this
there should be nothing akin to cOer-
cion or demand. If the sum-total were
found insufficient, more humble quar-
ters at less expense should be engaged
as soon as possible.
1t is wrong, said the Pastor. for
congregation to aspire to fine, ex-
pensive auditorium and general estab-
lishment beyond their own means. 1t
is wrong for them to go outside and
solicit money from the world, the flesh
and the Devil, in the name of God!
Surely God never authorized such
proceeding; for just as surely as 1t
would be offensive to any right-minded
person to have solicitation for money
made In his name, SO it must be to the
Almighty to have begging done In His
name without His authority.
The Bible distinctly tells that God is
very rich No rich man would approve
of begging done in his name, especial
" from the poor. And for us to prom
Use Gods special blessing and favor in
return for filthy lucre Is an outrage
against Divine Justice, Wisdom, Love
and Power The Lords own Word is
that all the gold and silver are His.
But, we are told, if solicitations, col
lections, pew rents, fairs, festivals.
ETC., were abandoned, all the churches
would be closed, except such as are
beneficially endowed If this were the
case, we believe that, nevertheless. the
Church would gain respect and int1u-
ence with the world which would more
than compensate If one-half the
churches disorganized, the other half,
rightly supported in accordance with
the Divine precepts and the example
of Jesus and His Apostles, would ac-
complish more good than would twice
the number under present conditions.
in which they have considerable of the
worlds scorn That scorn directly and
Indirectly reflects against the Divine
Character and the Divine Word.
In illustration Of this conviction the
Pastor cited the fact that the Divine
blessing has been with his work. He
admitted that the money passing
through his hands is really as nothing
compared with the large sum spent
annually by the various Christian de
nominations. He admitted that the
International Bible Students AssOcia-
ton owns no valuable real estate and
cannot boast of large bank accounts.
They have followed the plan of using
actively and economically in Gods
service whatever money has voluntari-
| " come to them-not seeking to build
temples made with hands, but to pre-
pare the living stones for the glorious
Temple of Christ beyond the veil
Under this arrangement. they never
spend more than what is in hand. God
has blessed the work, and the unsolic-
/ tied donations increase year by year.
| The activities incidental to the use of
these funds extend now to all parts of
| the earth, preaching the Message OF
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