We are creatures of extremes. We are no sooner pulled out of the ditch on one side of the road than we drift to the one on the other side. Truth keeps the middle of the road, and if we walk with it we will be kept there too. The abject begging, so often witnessed in Christendom under plea of the cause of Christ, becomes so repellent to such as have learned God's mind and way of carrying on His work, that they are liable to consider all matters of money as out of place among spiritual things, and under that sentiment they are in a measure ashamed of having anything to do with it.
They cannot free their minds from the idea of begging when money is spoken of, and so it is unclean to them. They have not taken in the Christian thought that "to do good and to communicate" (give of their substance) are by God called sacrifices, and that " with such sacrifices God is well pleased " (Heb. 13:16). And note, in the previous verse He has just called " praise " and the "giving thanks to His name" with our lips, "The sacrifice of praise." The same name, sacrifice, is used for money. The poor widow who had but two mites, and gave them both, offered to God a greater sacrifice than the rich who had plenty left. If this truth is taken in, it will end all carelessness with regard to the collection; for the basket passing from hand . to hand, as did the bread and the cup, will find us as worshipful in putting our contribution into it as we were in eating of the bread and drinking of the cup. And henceforth it will be a sanctified offering, not money begged by any one from any one, but a free-will offering presented to God from His redeemed people, for whom He gave even His only Son, and to whom He gives this opportunity to express their gratefulness. What difference then is in these:Begging for Christ humiliates Him and says He is still in poverty; offering to Him puts Him in the place of honor and majesty-His dues. A careful reading of i Cor. 16 :1-3 will show the delicacy of the apostle in treating of this subject. He asks that the collection which was being made for the needy saints at Jerusalem be all finished before he comes. He, in his apostolic authority, has ordered it to take place among the assemblies, but it must not be as if he were begging of them.
It must be as a free-will offering, for no other could be acceptable to God.
Then he tells them how to carry it out suitably:" Upon the first day of the week (their assembly day) let every one of you (not a few rich ones) lay by him in store (set apart) as God hath prospered him." Mark this well:" As God hath prospered him." God does not demand of us so much per cent., as once by the law. We are under grace, and the per cent, we give of our weekly earnings or incomes must come from our hearts. Am I free to give i, 5, 10, 20 or 50 per cent, of what I get in the week? Let me settle it with holy purpose before God, and on the first day of the week deliberately set it apart as belonging to God. From this treasury then I shall draw as occasion in my judgment calls for. I am not now dispensing my own funds but the Lord's, and this will enable me to be liberal. Then mark what he adds, "And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem." The assembly has contributed that money, and the men who will dispose of it must be men trusted and commended by the assembly. The "liberality" of the assembly must remain under its control.
All this is beautiful, and commends itself at once to every upright mind. And, beloved brethren, if we follow these instructions, we shall, at the end, be astonished at what has been accomplished, though we may be, in large majority, a poor people.
The servant of Christ, if rightly minded, will do as all servants do:they look to the one they serve for their pay, whoever may be his paymaster. So if they are servants of Christ they will look to Christ-not even to His people; far less of course to the world. He has told them:"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body what ye shall put on … neither be ye of doubtful mind . . . Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things" (Luke 12:22-30). If they spend their time and strength in faithful service to Him, He will prove to them that every word of His mouth is true and reliable. The servant's path of dependence on his Lord and Master alone is made here very plain.
The Lord speaks also to His people who are served, however, and their path is also well-defined. He says to them, "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn," and, "The laborer is worthy of his reward" (i Tim. 5:18).
One of the sweetest books of Scripture is the epistle of Paul to the Philippians. They were the first fruits of his labor in Europe, reaped in much suffering. A special affection existed therefore between them, and the apostle expresses it thus:" Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel [in those parts] when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity" (chap. 4:15, 16). Then follows the heavenly principle which governs him, "Not because I desire a gift; but I desire fruit that may abound to your account." The law principle of hiring and paying the minister could never produce such fruit as this in the apostle's soul.
But think, dear brethren, of this dear man in necessity while laboring away from Philippi, suddenly
seeing one of his beloved Philippians reach his door and deposit in his hands an abundance from Philippi. His necessities relieved were something, even to a man who had learned to be content with whatsoever circumstances he was in, but what was that compared with the love and fellowship of that company of saints he loved as his own soul! He was thought of by them. They could not be with him, but they would do the thing next to it:They would stand back of him sharing their substance with him. What encouragement to him! What a holding up of his hands!
Well, they who heed Paul's words, "Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ," more or less share his circumstances in that path; and assemblies which collect and minister only on some great occasion when being served, lose all this exercise and experience of divine love, and also the spiritual development which flows from it. And if narrowness of heart becomes chronic, the Lord, after His wonted patience, has to use severe measures. He did so at Corinth, where they seemed to have little or no gratefulness toward the beloved apostle who had served them so faithfully.
Having fulfilled the task laid upon me, I would only add that the necessary expenses of the assembly should first of alike met of course. Righteousness is always first. Every one should know what those expenses are, as a just proportion belongs to each, and whether present or absent, should conscientiously discharge this responsibility according to his ability.
Some assemblies make it their practice to set apart one Lord's day in the month, whose collection
is sent to whoever the assembly has before decided to make its recipient. When the collections are large, they are sometimes divided between two, that the ministrations may thus be more frequent, bringing most happy communications between the assemblies and those engaged in the Lord's service throughout the world. It keeps us in touch with the Lord's interests, and our hearts are enlarged and taken out of their natural egotism. We would strongly advise all assemblies to adopt the same course of action, ever remembering these great principles:" Every man according as he purposeth in his heart:not grudgingly, or of necessity:for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7).
" He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully" (2 Cor. 9:6).
A mind formed by Scripture will not give grudgingly nor spasmodically, but with deliberate purpose before God.