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The following is an address on tithing given by Miss Margaret W. Leitch of Ceylon, (given during the SEVENTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR CONVENTION held in the auditorium endeavor and hall williston, centennial park, and in the gospel tabernacle and many churches. nashville, tenn., july 6 – 11, 1898. To view the original transcript: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/155819409.pdf)
THE TENTH LEGION; FORWARD MARCH. We have come to this Convention to seek for a blessing. We desire a blessing in our own hearts, and we desire to carry back a blessing to our societies and homes. The Lord Jesus has told us how to get a blessing. He has said, "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him" (John 14: 21). This greatest of all blessings, the abiding presence of the Blessed One in our hearts, is conditioned upon the keeping of his commandments. If we fulfil the conditions, he will fulfil the promise. Shall we not lift up our hearts in prayer to him, and continue to lift them up all through this session, asking that by his Spirit he will reveal to us his will, and enable us to surrender our wills in glad obedience? Page 201 GOD'S CLAIM. The topic before us is Tithe-Giving. In considering this important subject, let us remind ourselves that all we have belongs to God. He is the absolute owner, and he has never conveyed away his ownership. Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's, and the earth also, with all that therein is" (Deut. 10: 14). "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein" (Ps. 24: 1). "Every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills" (Hag. 2:8). As the Creator, he must have absolute ownership in all his creatures: and if an absolute claim could be strengthened, it would be by the fact that he who gave us life sustains it and with his own life redeemed it. "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6: 19, 20). If God has absolute ownership in us we can have absolute ownership in nothing whatever. Those houses and lands and corner lots, those shops and mines and bank-accounts, are not ours at all. We are not proprietors apportioning our own. We are all of us only "tenants at will" of the Almighty. We are told to "occupy." We are stewards: we are to be reckoned with; we must give account. Does not the owner expect from his tenant some sort of tribute or acknowledgment? Surely he does, and he is not content to take a few hollow and empty words of "Thank you." In order that we may constantly remember the fact that all we have belongs to God, he has taught us in his Word that, while all should be used in the way that will best honor him, one-tenth should be set aside for his direct service. "The tenth is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord" (Lev. 27:30). EXAMPLES FROM SCRIPTURE. Abraham paid tithes of all to the priest of the Most High God. Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20). Jacob vowed. "Of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give a tenth unto thee " (Gen. 28:22). In many places in the Old Testament the giving of the tenth and of free-will offerings is most clearly enjoined. God asked those gifts from his people because he wished to bless them by lifting them up out of a life of selfishness into a life of communion with himself. Had the Jews, through tithes and thank-offerings, "kept the Lord always before them," they would not have committed the sins which brought punishment upon them and upon their land. The Levitical order of the priesthood with its sacrifices was done away by the Great Sacrifice; but we who are under a new and better priesthood, that of Him who was "made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" are not thereby freed from the obligation of tithe-giving. Tithes were paid to this order of priesthood centuries before the Levitical order was proclaimed. In no place in the New Testament do we read that Christ disannulled the law of tithes. On the contrary, he expressly commended tithe-giving in Matthew 23:23. "Ye pay tithes...These ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone." If it was incumbent upon the Jews to pay tithes, is it not more incumbent upon us? Greater obligations are resting upon us than rested upon the Jews. Under the old dispensation the Jews were only required to care for their own nation, but under the new dispensation the command is, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." In view of the larger work entrusted to us, it seems that a tenth is the very least that a disciple of Christ should give, and that over and above that he should give as God has prospered him. THE PRACTICE OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. It is a matter of history that the early Christians paid tithes, and that they continued to do this centuries after the resurrection of our Lord. Grotius says. "From the most ancient ages a tenth has been regarded as the portion due to Page 202 God according to both Greek and Latin historians." Ambrose says, "Whosoever fails to pay his tithes fears not God, and knows not what true repentance and confession mean." Augustine says, "Tithes are required as a debt. Pay tithes and out of the nine parts give alms." Many of the councils of the early Church proclaimed to Christians the obligation of paying tithes, resting the duty not on the authority of ecclesiastical law, but on the sure basis of the Word of God. This is the unanimous judgment of the fathers and the voice of the Church uncontradicted for more than a thousand years. The rapid spread of Christianity during the first centuries is doubtless due in no small measure, to the fact that the Christians devoted a tenth of their income to the extension of Christ's kingdom. GOD A GOOD MASTER. To our short-sighted view it may perhaps seem severe that a working woman, whose income is only a dollar a day, should be required to give ten cents of that, or that a widow with little children should be asked to give a tenth of her small earnings for the extension of Christ's kingdom. But the Master met this very condition in the third request in the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread." "Leave thy fatherless children with me, and I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me." "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Give, and it shall be given unto you." In the Master's first sermon he referred to the widow of Zarephath. She had only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruse, yet out of that small quantity she was bidden first to make a little cake for the prophet. To this obedient widow was given the high honor of sustaining God's prophet, and in return God sustained her and her son throughout the whole period of famine. THE GIVING OF NATIVE CONVERTS. Will giving the tenth impoverish? I can testify from ten years of missionary experience that even among the poorest native converts the giving of the tenth does not impoverish. In Ceylon, as in most Eastern countries, the great majority of the people. are poor. The ordinary wage of a working man there is only a sum equal to eight cents a day. But although the majority of the native Christians are poor, they are not so poor that they cannot give for the support of the gospel. When they read in the Bible that a tenth is the Lord's, they just believe it. They are simple-hearted children in the Christian religion, and they have never been taught that they should not believe what they read in the Bible. Believing, they begin to give accordingly. Those who are employed in government or mission service give a tenth of their salaries. The farmers are accustomed to give every tenth bushel of rice. Those who have gardens give the fruit of each tenth tree. They give the tenth before they begin to use any part for themselves. They find that giving in this way brings them a spiritual blessing. They also find by experience that nine-tenths with God's blessing goes as far as ten-tenths used to go. The Christian community is rapidly increasing. It is the best educated, the most respected, and the most prosperous community in the island. FREE-WILL OFFERINGS. Although the native Christians begin by giving a tenth, they do not always stop there. When a convert from heathenism is received into the Christian Church he takes the tenth as a starting point and says, "Less than this I will not give." He does not say that he will not give more. Many of the native Christians as they grow in grace begin to give more than the tenth. Every year, after harvest-time, a thank-offering meeting is held in each church, when the people bring as free-will offerings sheep. goats, fowls, fruit, grain, vegetables, and other things. Such meetings are held Page 203 on a week-day. After a joyful praise-service in the church a little sale is held. outside under the wide-spreading trees, and the proceeds go to help carry on God's work. As a result of such giving the majority of the native churches are self-supporting, and the remainder are fast becoming so. In addition the native Christians give toward the support of Christian schools, toward the work of the Bible society, and their native missionary society. I merely speak of Ceylon as one instance. The self-sacrifice shown by the native converts in many mission fields is such as to put Christians in this land to shame. DAILY GIVING. The Christian women in Ceylon have a method of their own for giving to foreign missions. The Christian mother in each home, as she measures out the rice for the evening meal, takes out each day a handful or more and puts it into a little box called "The Lord's box." At the end of each month the treasurer of each church visits the Christian homes, collects the rice from these boxes, sells it, and the money goes to aid the native missionary society in supporting native Christians as missionaries in distant villages. These poor native Christians in Ceylon cannot afford such luxuries as I see on every hand in America. Their tables are not loaded with dainties. Many of them have only one meal a day. They cannot afford to worship in magnificent churches with stained-glass windows, highly-paid choirs, and church debts. But they are enjoying one luxury. They are sending out and supporting native workers in the Regions Beyond." Why could not every church in this country enjoy such a luxury? They could if their members were to join the "Tenth Legion." MORE THAN MONEY. The native Christians in Ceylon are giving more than money; they are giving their sons and daughters to Christ's work. Many of the young men educated in the higher educational mission schools have gone as Christian workers to other parts of the island; to India, Burmah, Singapore, the Straits Settlement, Penang, and Bornea. They are now employed in connection with twelve different missionary societies. These young men are cheerfully accepting, in mission service, one-sixth or one-eighth of the salary which they might have secured in government service. Their question is not "Where can I make the most money?" but "Where does God want me?" And at his call they are, like brave soldiers, leaving home and friends and going to the front, where the battle is the hardest. THE REWARD. These sons do not need to hear a great many missionary sermons to induce them to become missionaries. They had seen the father setting aside the tenth for the Lord's service, a giving that often entailed real sacrifice. They had seen the mother putting aside the daily handful of rice with a daily lifting of the face to Christ and a daily prayer that his kingdom may come. He who said, "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," has made good his promise, granting to those parents the unspeakable blessing of seeing their children consecrated to the service of God. Sometimes in a palatial home in this country a mother will say to me. "I feel very sad and anxious about my children: my sons are prospering in business, my daughters are devoted to society; but they do not care for the things of God." And I say to such a mother,"What have you been seeking for your children? Have you been seeking first the kingdom of God?" If when God calls we answer, then when we call "the Lord will When we cry he will say, "Here I am." Page 204 OUR OWN NEED. We need to give for our own safety. Christ speaks of but one power in the universe as likely to become a dangerous rival for that throne in man's heart and life which belongs to God himself. That subtle power, that dangerous rival, against which he warns us, is Mammon, the love of money. He tells that between the pursuit of gain and the service of the living God every man must choose.Ye cannot serve God and mammon." THE WORLD'S NEED. We need to give for the sake of others. Never before were the fields so white for the harvest or the calls for laborers so loud as now. Mission fields are open. The world is the field. All fences are down. "The Christian Church stands to-day face to face with its answered prayers." THE NEED IN CHINA. Look, for example, at the marvelous changes which have taken place in China within the last few years. Formerly the literati of China, who practically hold all the offices and are the real rulers of the Empire, were Christianity's strongest opponents; but since the China-Japan war, the Chinese government leaders have become convinced that the Empire must change front. It had been facing toward the past. Not wishing to confide in the ambassadors of any of the nations, under the circumstances, it is a fact that they sought counsel from Christian missionaries. After frequent interviews, high government officials requested the missionary leaders, who were in their confidence, to put in writing their suggestions for the reform of China, and this was done. The immediate result was a special order to the provinces making it emphatic that missionaries are not only to be tolerated, but protected. Rev. Timothy Richards, one of the leaders of this movement, who has been for twenty-seven years in China, says, "When I think of the importance of this movement. I feel appalled by its magnitude. The leaders of four hundred millions of people turning to the Christian Church for light and leading! Take time to realize what that means. And now that they have come to you, I hope that you will not allow them to go astray for lack of a sympathizing hand to lead them into the way of righteousness." The missionary force in China should be increased without delay.. THE NEED IN INDIA. India presents a crisis equally as great as that in China. As a result of the kindness shown and help given by the missionaries to the famine-stricken people during the last famine, a remarkable mass movement is taking place toward Christianity, and many thousands are forsaking idolatry and openly avowing themselves the disciples of Christ. To instruct these multitudes of inquirers more missionaries are needed, and should be sent to India at once. THE NEED IN AFRICA. An equally remarkable transformation is taking place in Africa. That dark continent, for centuries the home of terrible oppression and indescribable misery, is rapidly being opened up to civilization and the gospel. Look at the transformation in a single district-Uganda: "Ten thousand souls brought into contact with the gospel, half of them able to read for themselves; two hundred church buildings erected by native Christians; two hundred native evangelists and teachers entirely supported by the native Church; ten thousand copies of the New Testament in circulation; six thousand souls under daily instruction; the number of converts doubling yearly for the last six years; the power of God shown by changed lives; and all this in what was once the centre of the thickest darkness in the world." Truly "We are living. we are dwelling, in a grand and awful time, In an age on ages telling. To be living is sublime." Page 205 WORKERS READY. Not only has God opened the long-closed doors, but he has raised up an army of workers eager to enter them. More than five thousand young men and women, many of them the brightest students from the colleges and seminaries of this country, have signed the Student Volunteer Declaration, saying, "It is my purpose, God permitting, to become a foreign missionary." Over eleven hundred of these have already been sent out by their respective mission boards, and more than four thousand are either in course of preparation or are waiting for an opportunity to go. On one hand is the loud call for reinforcements, and on the other a great company of young volunteers. What hinders the advance? Nothing but the lack of funds. A FORWARD MOVEMENT. Who can make a forward movement possible? The 3,000,000 members of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor can do it. I bless God that now, in the fulness of time, he has called into existence this mighty organization and has put it into the hearts of its leaders to enroll a Tenth Legion. This Tenth Legion is now over ten thousand strong. I pray God that it may number 100,000 at the next annual meeting, and that it may keep on growing until the principle of tithe-giving shall permeate the whole of Christendom. When that day comes it will be the morning, so to speak, of the new creation. There will then be abundant means to carry on God's work at home and abroad, and twenty years should not pass till the story of the Cross should be uttered in the ears of every living man." The Master, who has given us our great life-work, the evangelization of the world, has provided ample financial resources for the carrying on of that work. He has given us a system of Biblical finance which needs no revision, and which, if followed out, will furnish ample revenues for his kingdom. The annual income of the forty millions of Protestant church-members is estimated at fifteen billions of dollars-a tenth of that would be 1.500 millions. Supposing that four-sixths of that tithe was given to the support of the home churches and local charities, and the remaining two-sixths was divided equally between home and foreign missions, the foreign mission cause would then receive not merely fourteen millions as at present, but 240 millions; and instead of having, as now, one missionary and four native workers for every 95,000 heathen, the Church could have one mis. sionary and four native workers for every 5.625 heathen. In other words, if Christians were to give one-tenth of their income to God's work and one-sixth of that tenth to foreign missions the gospel could be preached to the whole world in one generation. For the advancement of an object so dear to the heart of our Risen Lord, shall we not every one of us resolve that, God helping us, we will do our part? Let us lift our faces and our hearts to him whom having not seen, we love," and say to him, "Lord Jesus, it may be only a little that I can do to show my love to thee, but by thy grace it will be my best, my uttermost. By thy grace I will do it at once." If we will enroll our names in the Tenth Legion, and make it henceforth a part of our life-work to promote the practice of tithe-giving in our churches, societies, and among our friends, our lives will not have been lived in vain. Perhaps in no other way could we do so much to promote the coming of Christ's kingdom. LITERATURE. May I suggest that, to this end, we would do well to secure the wide distribution of such booklets as "The Tenth Legion." by Amos R. Wells: "The Opportunity of the Hour," by Eddie; "God's Tithe," by A. J. Gordon; "Christian Missions and the Highest Use of Wealth," by President Gates; and Money and the Kingdom," by Dr. Josiah Strong. (The circulation of this last booklet brought in $40,000 to the Congregational Home Missionary Society.) These booklets can be secured through the United Society. Page 206 We can also help the cause by preparing striking charts and maps, by arranging meetings on the subject of the Tenth Legion and by circulating enrolment-blanks at such meetings, and by enclosing them in letters to friends. HAVE A DEFINITE AIM. If each one of the 10,000 tithe-givers would make an earnest effort to secure, by God's help, the enrolment of twelve others within the next twelve months, and if the secretary could announce at the next annual meeting, "Over 100,000 names enrolled in the Tenth Legion "all the churches and all the benevolent.societies would begin to feel the blessed influences of a mighty forward movement. Brothers, sisters, let us make this effort to the glory of God. He who has promised to use the weak things of the world to confound the mighty" can use even us, if we will but yield ourselves utterly to the doing of his good, acceptable, and perfect will. The Convention got its blood-cells well shaken up when the only and original Mr. Puddefoot began his address on home missions. Read more here https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/155819409.pdf Comments are closed.
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