thousands of gold and silver,”[190] state that which is true from other
than a religious point of view. They state an absolute truth, and one
that is recognized in the business world. Even in this age of passion
for money-getting, when competition is so sharp, and methods are so
unscrupulous, it is still widely acknowledged that, for a young man
starting in life, integrity, diligence, temperance, purity, and thrift
constitute a better capital than any amount of mere money.
* * * * *
Yet even of those who appreciate the value of these qualities and
acknowledge the Bible as their source, there are but few who recognize
the principle upon which they depend.
[Sidenote: _Stewardship_]
That which lies at the foundation of business integrity and of true
success is the recognition of God’s ownership. The Creator of all
things, He is the original proprietor. We are His stewards. All that we
have is a trust from Him, to be used according to His direction.
This is an obligation that rests upon every human being. It has to do
with the whole sphere of human activity. Whether we recognize it or not,
we are stewards, supplied from God with talents and facilities, and
placed in the world to do a work appointed by Him.
To every man is given “his work,”[191]—the work for which his
capabilities adapt him,—the work which will result in greatest good to
himself and to his fellow-men, and in greatest honor to God.
[Sidenote: “_Be Not Anxious_”]
Thus our business or calling is a part of God’s great plan, and, so long
as it is conducted in accordance with His will, He Himself is
responsible for the results. “Laborers together with God,”[192] our part
is faithful compliance with His directions. Thus there is no place for
anxious care. Diligence, fidelity, care-taking, thrift, and discretion
are called for. Every faculty is to be exercised to its highest
capacity. But the dependence will be, not on the successful outcome of
our efforts, but on the promise of God. The word that fed Israel in the
desert, and sustained Elijah through the time of famine, has the same
power to-day. “Be not anxious,[193] saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink?... Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”[194]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Tithing_]
He who gives men power to get wealth has with the gift bound up an
obligation. Of all that we acquire He claims a specified portion. The
tithe is the Lord’s. “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of
the land or of the fruit of the tree,” “the tithe of the herd or of the
flock, ... shall be holy unto the Lord.”[195] The pledge made by Jacob
at Bethel shows the extent of the obligation. “Of all that Thou shalt
give me,” he said, “I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.”[196]
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,”[197] is God’s command. No
appeal is made to gratitude or to generosity. This is a matter of simple
honesty. The tithe is the Lord’s; and He bids us return to Him that
which is His own.
“It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”[198] If
honesty is an essential principle of business life, must we not
recognize our obligation to God,—the obligation that underlies every
other?
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Ministry_]
By the terms of our stewardship we are placed under obligation, not only
to God, but to man. To the infinite love of the Redeemer every human
being is indebted for the gifts of life. Food and raiment and shelter,
body and mind and soul,—all are the purchase of His blood. And by the
obligation of gratitude and service thus imposed, Christ has bound us to
our fellow-men. He bids us, “By love serve one another.”[199] “Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have
done it unto Me.”[200]
[Sidenote: “_I Am Debtor_”]
“I am debtor,” Paul declares, “both to the Greeks and to the barbarians;
both to the wise and to the unwise.”[201] So also are we. By all that
has blessed our life above others, we are placed under obligation to
every human being whom we might benefit.
These truths are not for the closet more than for the counting-room. The
goods that we handle are not our own, and never can this fact safely be
lost sight of. We are but stewards, and on the discharge of our
obligation to God and man depend both the welfare of our fellow-beings
and our own destiny for this life and for the life to come.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Profit and Loss_]
“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that
withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” “Cast thy
bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.” “The
liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered
also himself.”[202]
“Labor not to be rich.... Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is
not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an
eagle toward heaven.”[203]
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and
shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For
with the same measure that ye meet withal it shall be measured to you
again.”[204]
* * * * *
“Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all
thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy
presses shall burst out with new wine.”[205]
[Sidenote: _The Best-Paying Investment_]
“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. And I will rebuke the
devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your
ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the
field.... And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a
delightsome land.”[206]
“If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then
I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her
increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your
threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto
the sowing-time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in
your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, ... and none shall
make you afraid.”[207]
[Sidenote: _Security for Deposit_]
“Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for
the widow.” “Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will
deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him
alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth; and Thou wilt not deliver
him unto the will of his enemies.” “He that hath pity upon the poor
lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him
again.”[208]
He who makes this investment lays up double treasure. Besides that
which, however wisely improved, he must leave at last, he is amassing
wealth for eternity,—that treasure of character which is the most
valuable possession of earth or heaven.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Insurance_]
“The Lord knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall
be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days
of famine they shall be satisfied.”[209]
“He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the
truth in his heart; ... he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth
not;” “he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands
from holding of bribes, ... and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he
shall dwell on high; ... bread shall be given him; his waters shall be
sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the
land that is very far off.”[210]
God has given in His word a picture of a prosperous man,—one whose life
was in the truest sense a success, a man whom both heaven and earth
delighted to honor. Of his experiences Job himself says:—
[Sidenote: _A Successful Career_]
“In the ripeness of my days,
When the secret of God was upon my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were about me; ...
When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
When I prepared my seat in the broad place,[211]
The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up and stood;
The princes refrained talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth;
The voice of the nobles was hushed....
“For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me;
Because I delivered the poor that cried,
The fatherless also, and him[211] that had none to help him.
“The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
I was eyes to the blind,
And feet was I to the lame.
I was a father to the needy;
And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.”
“The stranger did not lodge in the street;
But I opened my doors to the traveler.”
“Unto me men gave ear, and waited.... [Sidenote: _Its Crown of Honor_]
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I chose out their way, and sat chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that _comforteth the mourners_.”[212]
“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with
it.”[213]
“Riches and honor are with Me,” declares Wisdom; “yea, durable riches
and righteousness.”[214]
[Sidenote: _A Fruitless Venture_]
The Bible shows also the result of a departure from right principles in
our dealing both with God and with one another. To those who are
entrusted with His gifts but indifferent to His claims, God says:—
“Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but
ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye
clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth
wages to put it into a bag with holes.... Ye looked for much, and, lo,
it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.”
“When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when
one came to the press-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the
press, there were but twenty.” “Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of
Mine house that is waste.” “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me.
But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings.”
“Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is
stayed from her fruit.”[215]
[Sidenote: _Gains That Impoverish_]
“Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, ... ye have
built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have
planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.” “The
Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that
thou settest thine hand unto.” “Thy sons and thy daughters shall be
given unto another, ... and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing
for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine
hand.”[216]
“He that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst
of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.”[217]
The accounts of every business, the details of every transaction, pass
the scrutiny of unseen auditors, agents of Him who never compromises
with injustice, never overlooks evil, never palliates wrong.
[Sidenote: _The Audit_]
“If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of
judgment and justice, ... marvel not at the matter; for He that is
higher than the highest regardeth.” “There is no darkness, nor shadow of
death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”[218]
“They set their mouth against the heavens, and ... say, How doth God
know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” “These things hast thou
done,” God says, “and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such a one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them
in order before thine eyes.”[219]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _A Witness Never Silenced_]
“I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying
roll.... This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole
earth; for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side
according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that
side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts,
and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of
him that sweareth falsely by My name; and it shall remain in the midst
of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the
stones thereof.”[220]
Against every evil-doer God’s law utters condemnation. He may disregard
that voice, he may seek to drown its warning, but in vain. It follows
him. It makes itself heard. It destroys his peace. If unheeded, it
pursues him to the grave. It bears witness against him at the judgment.
A quenchless fire, it consumes at last soul and body.
* * * * *
“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”[221]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Question of Questions_]
This is a question that demands consideration by every parent, every
teacher, every student,—by every human being, young or old. No scheme of
business or plan of life can be sound or complete that embraces only the
brief years of this present life, and makes no provision for the
unending future. Let the youth be taught to take eternity into their
reckoning. Let them be taught to choose the principles and seek the
possessions that are enduring,—to lay up for themselves that “treasure
in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither
moth corrupteth;” to make to themselves friends “by means of the mammon
of unrighteousness,” that when it shall fail, these may receive them
“into the eternal tabernacles.”[222]
All who do this are making the best possible preparation for life in
this world. No man can lay up treasure in heaven without finding his
life on earth thereby enriched and ennobled.
“Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life
that now is, and of that which is to come.”[223]
_Bible Biographies_
“WHO THROUGH FAITH SUBDUED
KINGDOMS, WROUGHT RIGHTEOUSNESS,
FROM WEAKNESS WERE MADE STRONG”
[Sidenote: _A Faithful Delineation_]
As an educator no part of the Bible is of greater value than are its
biographies. These biographies differ from all others in that they are
absolutely true to life. It is impossible for any finite mind to
interpret rightly, in all things, the workings of another. None but He
who reads the heart, who discerns the secret springs of motive and
action, can with absolute truth delineate character, or give a faithful
picture of a human life. In God’s word alone is found such delineation.
No truth does the Bible more clearly teach than that what we do is the
result of what we are. To a great degree the experiences of life are the
fruition of our own thoughts and deeds.
“The curse causeless shall not come.”[224]
[Sidenote: _Retribution_]
“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; ... unto the
wicked, it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be
given him.”[225]
“Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the
fruit of their thoughts.”[226]
Terrible is this truth, and deeply should it be impressed. Every deed
reacts upon the doer. Never a human being but may recognize, in the
evils that curse his life, fruitage of his own sowing. Yet even thus we
are not without hope.
[Sidenote: _Experience of Jacob_]
To gain the birthright that was his already by God’s promise, Jacob
resorted to fraud, and he reaped the harvest in his brother’s hatred.
Through twenty years of exile he was himself wronged and defrauded, and
was at last forced to find safety in flight; and he reaped a second
harvest, as the evils of his own character were seen to crop out in his
sons;—all but too true a picture of the retributions of human life.
But God says: “I will not contend forever, neither will I be always
wroth; for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls which I have
made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I
hid Me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will lead him also, and
restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.... Peace, peace to him
that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will
heal him.”[227]
[Sidenote: _Gain through Loss_]
Jacob in his distress was not overwhelmed. He had repented, he had
endeavored to atone for the wrong to his brother. And when threatened
with death through the wrath of Esau, he sought help from God. “Yea, he
had power over the Angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made
supplication.” “And He blessed him there.”[228] In the power of His
might the forgiven one stood up, no longer the supplanter, but a prince
with God. He had gained not merely deliverance from his outraged
brother, but deliverance from himself. The power of evil in his own
nature was broken; his character was transformed.
At eventide there was light. Jacob, reviewing his life-history,
recognized the sustaining power of God,—“the God which fed me all my
life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all
evil.”[229]
The same experience is repeated in the history of Jacob’s sons,—sin
working retribution, and repentance bearing fruit of righteousness unto
life.
God does not annul His laws. He does not work contrary to them. The work
of sin He does not undo. But He transforms. Through His grace the curse
works out blessing.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _The Levites_]
Of the sons of Jacob, Levi was one of the most cruel and vindictive, one
of the two most guilty in the treacherous murder of the Shechemites.
Levi’s characteristics, reflected in his descendants, incurred for them
the decree from God, “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in
Israel.”[230] But repentance wrought re-formation; and by their
faithfulness to God amidst the apostasy of the other tribes, the curse
was transformed into a token of highest honor.
[Sidenote: _A Curse Transformed_]
“The Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant
of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him, and to bless
in His name.” “My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave
them to him for the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before
My name.... He walked with Me in peace and equity, and did turn many
away from iniquity.”[231]
The appointed ministers of the sanctuary, the Levites received no landed
inheritance; they dwelt together in cities set apart for their use, and
received their support from the tithes and the gifts and offerings
devoted to God’s service. They were the teachers of the people, guests
at all their festivities, and everywhere honored as servants and
representatives of God. To the whole nation was given the command: “Take
heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest
upon the earth.” “Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren;
the Lord is his inheritance.”[232]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Report of the Spies_]
The truth that as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he,”[233] finds
another illustration in Israel’s experience. On the borders of Canaan
the spies, returned from searching the country, made their report. The
beauty and fruitfulness of the land were lost sight of, through fear of
the difficulties in the way of its occupation. The cities walled up to
heaven, the giant warriors, the iron chariots, daunted their faith.
Leaving God out of the question, the multitude echoed the decision of
the unbelieving spies, “We be not able to go up against the people; for
they are stronger than we.”[234] Their words proved true. They were not
able to go up, and they wore out their lives in the desert.
[Sidenote: _By Faith to Conquest_]
Two, however, of the twelve who had viewed the land, reasoned otherwise.
“We are well able to overcome it,”[234] they urged, counting God’s
promise superior to giants, walled cities, or chariots of iron. For them
their word was true. Though they shared with their brethren the forty
years’ wandering, Caleb and Joshua entered the land of promise. As
courageous of heart as when with the hosts of the Lord he set out from
Egypt, Caleb asked for and received as his portion the stronghold of the
giants. In God’s strength he drove out the Canaanites. The vineyards and
olive-groves where his feet had trodden became his possession. Though
the cowards and rebels perished in the wilderness, the men of faith ate
of the grapes of Eschol.
[Sidenote: _One Evil Cherished_]
No truth does the Bible set forth in clearer light than the peril of
even one departure from the right,—peril both to the wrong-doer and to
all whom his influence shall reach. Example has wonderful power; and
when cast on the side of the evil tendencies of our nature, it becomes
well-nigh irresistible.
[Sidenote: _Decoys of the Tempter_]
The strongest bulwark of vice in our world is not the iniquitous life of
the abandoned sinner or the degraded outcast; it is that life which
otherwise appears virtuous, honorable, and noble, but in which one sin
is fostered, one vice indulged. To the soul that is struggling in secret
against some giant temptation, trembling upon the very verge of the
precipice, such an example is one of the most powerful enticements to
sin. He who, endowed with high conceptions of life and truth and honor,
does yet wilfully transgress one precept of God’s holy law, has
perverted his noble gifts into a lure to sin. Genius, talent, sympathy,
even generous and kindly deeds, may thus become decoys of Satan to
entice souls over the precipice of ruin.
This is why God has given so many examples showing the results of even
one wrong act. From the sad story of that one sin which “brought death
into the world, and all our woe, with loss of Eden,” to the record of
him who for thirty pieces of silver sold the Lord of glory, Bible
biography abounds in these examples, set up as beacons of warning at the
byways leading from the path of life.
* * * * *
There is warning also in noting the results that have followed upon even
once yielding to human weakness and error, the fruit of the letting go
of faith.
[Sidenote: _One Failure of Faith_]
[Sidenote: _Loss to Elijah_]
By one failure of his faith, Elijah cut short his life-work. Heavy was
the burden that he had borne in behalf of Israel; faithful had been his
warnings against the national idolatry; and deep was his solicitude as
during three years and a half of famine he watched and waited for some
token of repentance. Alone he stood for God upon Mount Carmel. Through
the power of faith, idolatry was cast down, and the blessed rain
testified to the showers of blessing waiting to be poured upon Israel.
Then in his weariness and weakness he fled before the threats of
Jezebel, and alone in the desert prayed that he might die. His faith had
failed. The work he had begun, he was not to complete. God bade him
anoint another to be prophet in his stead.
But God had marked the heart-service of His servant. Elijah was not to
perish in discouragement and solitude in the wilderness. Not for him the
descent to the tomb, but the ascent with God’s angels to the presence of
His glory.
These life-records declare what every human being will one day
understand,—that sin can bring only shame and loss; that unbelief means
failure; but that God’s mercy reaches to the deepest depths; that faith
lifts up the repenting soul to share the adoption of the sons of God.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: _Discipline_]
All who in this world render true service to God or man receive a
preparatory training in the school of sorrow. The weightier the trust
and the higher the service, the closer is the test and the more severe
the discipline.
Study the experiences of Joseph and of Moses, of Daniel and of David.
Compare the early history of David with the history of Solomon, and
consider the results.
[Sidenote: _David_]
David in his youth was intimately associated with Saul, and his stay at
court and his connection with the king’s household gave him an insight
into the cares and sorrows and perplexities concealed by the glitter and
pomp of royalty. He saw of how little worth is human glory to bring
peace to the soul. And it was with relief and gladness that he returned
from the king’s court to the sheepfolds and the flocks.
[Sidenote: _In Training for the Throne_]