(Testimonies for the Church Volume 6 345, 451-2, 465, 467)
Christ has given in His own life a lesson of hospitality. When surrounded by the hungry multitude beside the sea, He did not send them unrefreshed to their homes. He said to His disciples: “Give ye them to eat.”Matthew 14:16. And by an act of creative power He supplied food sufficient to satisfy their need. Yet how simple was the food provided! There were no luxuries. He who had all the resources of heaven at His command could have spread for the people a rich repast. But He supplied only that which would suffice for their need, that which was the daily food of the fisherfolk about the sea.
(6T 345.1)
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If men were today simple in their habits, living in harmony with nature’s laws, there would be an abundant supply for all the needs of the human family. There would be fewer imaginary wants and more opportunity to work in God’s ways.
(6T 345.2)
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Christ did not seek to attract men to Him by gratifying the desire for luxury. The simple fare He provided was an assurance not only of His power but of His love, of His tender care for them in the common needs of life. And while He fed them with the barley loaves, He gave them also to eat of the bread of life. Here is our example. Our fare may be plain and even scanty. Our lot may be shut in with poverty. Our resources may be no greater than were those of the disciples with the five loaves and the two fishes. Yet as we come in contact with those in need, Christ bids us: “Give ye them to eat.”Matthew 14:16; Mark 6:37; Luke 9:13. We are to impart of that which we have; and as we give, Christ will see that our lack is supplied.
(6T 345.3)
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In this connection read the story of the widow of Sarepta. To this woman in a heathen land God sent His servant in time of famine to ask for food. “And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah.”1 Kings 17:12-15.
(6T 345.4)
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Do not educate your children to think that your love for them must be expressed by indulgence of their pride, extravagance, and love of display. There is no time now to invent ways for using up money. Use your inventive faculties in seeking to economize. Instead of gratifying selfish inclination, spending money for those things that destroy the reasoning faculties, study how to deny self, that you may have something to invest in lifting the standard of truth in new fields. The intellect is a talent; use it in studying how best to employ your means for the salvation of souls.
(6T 451.1)
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Teach your children that God has a claim upon all they possess, a claim that nothing can ever cancel; whatever they have is theirs only in trust as a test of their obedience. Inspire them with ambition to gain stars for their crown by winning many souls from sin to righteousness.
(6T 451.2)
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Money is a needed treasure; let it not be lavished upon those who do not need it. Someone needs your willing gifts. Too often those who have means fail to consider how many in the world are hungry, starving for food. They may say: “I cannot feed them all.” But by practicing Christ’s lessons on economy you can feed one. It may be that you can feed many who are hungering for temporal food. And you can feed their souls with the bread of life. “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”John 6:12. These words were spoken by Him who had all the resources of the universe at His command; while His miracle-working power supplied thousands with food, He did not disdain to teach a lesson in economy.
(6T 451.3)
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Practice economy in the use of your time. This is the Lord’s. Your strength is the Lord’s. If you have extravagant habits, cut them away from your life. Such habits, indulged, will make you bankrupt for eternity. And habits of economy, industry, and sobriety are, even in this world, a better portion for you and your children than a rich dowry.
(6T 452.1)
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We are travelers, pilgrims and strangers, on earth. Let us not spend our means in gratifying desires that God bids us repress. Let us rather set a right example before our associates. Let us fitly represent our faith by restricting our wants. Let the churches arise as one, and work earnestly as those who are walking in the full light of truth for these last days. Let your influence impress souls with the sacredness of God’s requirements.
(6T 452.2)
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If in the providence of God you have been given riches, do not settle down with the thought that you need not engage in useful labor, that you have enough, and can eat, drink, and be merry. Do not stand idle while others are struggling to obtain means for the cause. Invest your means in the Lord’s work. If you do less than your duty in giving help to the perishing, remember that your indolence is incurring guilt.
(6T 452.3)
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It is God who gives men power to get wealth, and He has bestowed this ability, not as a means of gratifying self, but as a means of returning to God His own. With this object it is not a sin to acquire means. Money is to be earned by labor. Every youth should be trained to habits of industry. The Bible condemns no man for being rich if he has acquired his riches honestly. It is the selfish love of money wrongfully employed that is the root of all evil. Wealth will prove a blessing if we regard it as the Lord’s, to be received with thankfulness and with thankfulness returned to the Giver.
(6T 452.4)
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Who will now place themselves on the Lord’s side? Who will be as His helping hand, lifting wholeheartedly? Who will encourage the oppressed to trust in the Lord? Who will manifest that faith which will not fail nor falter, but which presses forward to victory? Who will now strive to build up that which Satan is striving to tear down, a work which should be going forward in strong lines? Who will now do for their brethren in Europe that which they would wish to have done for them in similar circumstances? Who will co-operate with the ministering angels?
(6T 465.1)
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The Lord calls upon His people to make offerings of self-denial. Let us give up something that we intended to purchase for personal comfort or pleasure. Let us teach our children to deny self and become the Lord’s helping hands in dispensing His blessings.
(6T 465.2)
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I plead with my Scandinavian brethren to do what they can. We will unite our efforts with your work of love and helpfulness. There is sufficient means in the hands of the Lord’s stewards to do this work if they will unite in tender sympathy to restore, to heal, and to bring health and prosperity to God’s instrumentalities.
(6T 465.3)
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The sums which you give may be small when compared with the necessities of the work, but be not discouraged. Have faith in God. Hold fast to the hand of Infinite Power, and that which seemed hopeless at first will look different. The feeding of the five thousand is an object lesson for us. He who with five loaves and two small fishes fed five thousand men besides women and children, can do great things for His people today.
(6T 465.4)
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Let us waste no time in deploring the scantiness of our visible resources, but let us make the best use of what we have. Though the outward appearance may be unpromising, energy and trust in God will develop resources. Let us send in our offerings with thanksgiving and with prayer that the Lord will bless the gifts and multiply them as He did the food given to the five thousand. If we use the very best facilities we have, the power of God will enable us to reach the multitudes that are starving for the bread of life.
(6T 467.1)
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In this work of helping our brethren in Denmark and Norway, let us lift zealously and nobly, leaving the result with God. Let us have faith to believe that He will enlarge our offerings until they are sufficient to place His institutions on vantage ground.
(6T 467.2)
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Faith is the spiritual hand that touches infinity.
(6T 467.3)
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The simple prayers indited by the Holy Spirit will ascend through the gates ajar, the open door which Christ has declared: I have opened, and no man can shut. These prayers, mingled with the incense of the perfection of Christ, will ascend as fragrance to the Father, and answers will come.
(6T 467.4)
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Workers for Christ are never to think, much less to speak, of failure in their work. The Lord Jesus is our efficiency in all things; His Spirit is to be our inspiration; and as we place ourselves in His hands, to be channels of light, our means of doing good will never be exhausted. We may draw upon His fullness and receive of that grace which has no limit.
(6T 467.5)
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