Testimony Treasures, Volume 1 - Ellen G. White

Chapter 88
Withholding Means
The blessing of God will rest upon those in ----- who have the cause of
Christ at heart. The freewill offerings of our brethren and sisters, made in
faith and love to the crucified Redeemer, will bring back blessings to them;
for God marks and remembers every act of liberality on the part of His
saints. In preparing a house of worship, there must be a great exercise of
faith and trust in God. In business transactions those who venture nothing
make but little advancement; why not have faith also in an enterprise for God
and invest in His cause?
Some, when in poverty, are generous with their little; but as they acquire
property, they become penurious. The reason they have so little faith is that
they do not keep moving forward as they prosper, and give to the cause of
God even at a sacrifice.
In the Jewish system it was required that beneficence should first be
shown to the Lord. At the harvest and the vintage the first fruits of the field--
the corn, the wine, and the oil--were to be consecrated as an offering to the
Lord. The gleanings and the corners of the fields were reserved for the poor.
Our gracious heavenly Father did not neglect the wants of the poor. The first
fruits of the wool when the sheep were shorn, of the grain when the wheat
was threshed, were to be offered to the Lord; and it was commanded that the
poor, the widows, the orphans, and the strangers, be invited to their feasts. At
the close of every year all were required to make solemn oath whether or not
they had done according to the command of God.
This arrangement was made by the Lord to impress upon the people that
in every matter He must be first. By this system of benevolence they were to
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