according to stewardship_, but as if we
were owners of what we have, forgetting that the time has not yet come
when we shall enter upon _our possessions_; and he does so in order
that, by these losses and expenses, our property which we have collected
may be decreased, lest we should altogether set our hearts again upon
earthly things, and forget God entirely. His love is so great, that he
will not let his children quietly go their own way when they have
forsaken him; but if his loving admonitions by his Holy Spirit are
disregarded, he is obliged in fatherly love to chastise them. A striking
illustration of what I have said we have in the case of Israel
nationally. The commandment to them was, to leave their land
uncultivated in the seventh year, in order that it might rest, and the
Lord promised to make up for this deficiency by his abundant blessing
resting upon the sixth year. However, Israel acted not according to this
commandment, no doubt saying, in the unbelief of their hearts, as the
Lord had foretold, "What shall we eat in the seventh year? Behold, we
shall not sow, nor gather in our increase." Levit. xxv. But what did the
Lord do? He was determined the land should have rest, and as the
Israelites did not willingly give it, he sent them for seventy years
into captivity, in order that thus the land might have rest. See Levit.
xxvi. 33-35. Beloved brethren in the Lord, let us take heed so to walk
as that the Lord may not be obliged by chastisement to take a part of
our earthly possessions from us in the way of bad debts, sickness,
decrease of business, and the like, because we would not own our
position as _stewards_, but act as _owners_, and keep for ourselves the
means with which the Lord had intrusted us, not for the gratification of
our own carnal mind, but for the sake of using them in his service and
to his praise.

It might also be said by a brother whose earnings are small, should _I_
also give according to my earnings? They are already so small that my
wife can only with the greatest difficulty manage to make them
sufficient for the family. My reply is, Have you ever considered, my
brother, that the very reason why the Lord is obliged to let your
earnings remain so small may be the fact of your spending everything
upon yourselves, and that if he were to give you more you would only use
it to increase your own family comfort, instead of looking about to see
who among the brethren are sick, or who have no