You have stood directly in the way of the salvation of your children. You lay their indifference to religious things to other causes than the true. Your example is a stumbling block to them. They know by your fruits, by your words and works, that you do not believe in the near coming of Christ. Some of them do not hesitate to make sport of the idea of the near coming of Christ and of the shortness of time. They take great satisfaction when you drive a sharp bargain. They think that father is keen in a trade and that nobody can get the better of him, and they are following in your footsteps. Faith without works is dead, being alone. Money has given you power, and you have used that power to take advantage of the necessities of others. Your speculations in business life have not been honest, you have not been just with your fellow men. By your trades you have sacrificed your reputation as a Christian and as an honest man. By fair trading, means did not come into your possession fast enough to satisfy your thirst for gain, and you have frequently made the poor man’s burdens heavier by taking advantage of his necessity to increase your property. Look carefully, Brother S. You are making fearful losses for earthly gain. You are losing manly integrity and heavenly virtue, in the hour of temptation. Is this gain or loss? Are you richer or poorer for all such increase? To you it is a fearful loss, for it takes just so much from the treasure you might have been accumulating in heaven. (3T 249.1) MC VC

Every opportunity to help a brother in need, or to aid the cause of God in the spread of the truth, is a pearl that you can send beforehand and deposit in the bank of heaven for safekeeping. God is testing and proving you. He has been giving His blessings to you with a lavish hand and is now watching to see what use you are making of them, to see if you will help those who need help and if you will feel the worth of souls and do what you can with the means that He has entrusted to you. Every such opportunity improved adds to your heavenly treasure. But love of self has led you to prefer earthly possessions even at the sacrifice of the heavenly. You choose the treasures that moth and rust corrupt rather than those which are as enduring as eternity. It is your privilege to exercise tender compassion and to bless others; but your eyes are so blinded by the God of this world that you cannot discern this precious gem—the blessing to be received by doing good, by being rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up for yourself a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on eternal life. You are imperiling your soul by neglecting to avail yourself of precious opportunities to secure the heavenly treasure. Are you really richer for your penuriousness, for your close managing? God is proving you, and it is for you to determine whether you will come out gold or valueless dross. Should your probation close tonight, how would your life record stand? Not a dollar of what you have gained could you take with you. The curse of every unjust act would attend you. Your sharpness in trade, when viewed in the mirror that God will present before you, will not lead to self-congratulation. Covetousness is idolatry. (3T 249.2) MC VC