Review and Herald, vol 3, p. 418 col 2, Dec 1, 1896 (Counsels on Stewardship (CS), p. 106):  "God says that there should be meat in His house, and if the money in the treasury is tampered with, if it is regarded as right for individuals to make what use they please of the tithe, the Lord cannot bless.  He cannot sustain those who think that they can do as they please with that which is His."

     Review and Herald, vol 3, p. 418 col 2, Dec 1, 1896 (CS 106):  "If the pastors show that they are not fitted for their charge, if they fail to set before the church the importance of returning to God His own...and that the tithe is brought in, they are in peril.  They are neglecting a matter which involves a blessing or a curse to the church.  They should be relieved of their responsibility, and other men should be tested and tried."

     Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 525:  "From the earliest times, the Lord claimed a tithe as His; and this claim was recognized and honored.  Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God."

     1 Corinthians 9:3, 7-8, 11, 13, 14:  "Mine answer to them that examine me is this...Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?  Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?...If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?...Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple?...Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel."

     Review and Herald, vol 3, p. 418 col 2, Dec 1, 1896 (Welfare Ministry (WM), p. 277):  "The tithe is set apart for a special use....It is to be especially devoted to the support of those who are bearing God's message to the world, and it should not be diverted from this purpose."

     "Doors that have been closed to him who merely preaches the gospel, will be opened to the intelligent medical missionary.  God reaches hearts through the relief of physical suffering....

     "Nothing will open doors for the truth like evangelistic medical missionary work.  This will find access to hearts and minds, and will be a means of converting many to the truth....The evangelist who is prepared to minister to a diseased body is given the grandest opportunity of ministering to the sin-sick soul....

     "God works today to reach hearts in the same way that He worked when Christ was upon this earth.  In reading the word of God, we see that Christ brought medical missionary work into His ministry.  Cannot we understand the commission He gave to His disciples and to us?"

     "The tithe should go to those who labor in word and doctrine, be they men or women."

     "If you have more means than you need to settle [with] your ministers in a fair, liberal, Christian manner, there are other places where you can help, where there are but few people and poor, and the tithe is limited.  Send the Lord's money to them.  This I have been repeatedly shown is the way to do."

     "The minister who labors should be sustained.  But notwithstanding this, those who are officiating in this work see that there is not money in the treasury to pay the minister.  They are withdrawing the tithe for other expenses,--to keep up the meeting-house necessities...God is not glorified in any such work.  We have to raise our voice against this kind of management."

     "His people today are to remember that the house of worship is the Lord's property, and that it is to be scrupulously cared for.  But the funds for this work are not to come from the tithe."  

TO BE SUPPORTED WITH TITHE?

SPECULATION SCHEMES BE PURCHASED WITH TITHE?

     "They permit themselves to be drawn into the current which is sweeping man downward, and when satan sees his plans work so well, he invents scheme after scheme, that the Lord's money may be diverted into channels where the cause of God will get none of it.  Satan tells the speculator that if he will engage in this land scheme, he can make means to help the cause of God, and he presents illusions that fascinate the senses and thousands of dollars are bound away from the cause of God...

     "Those who engage in speculation cannot keep the commandments of God in sincerity and in truth."

     "If all would take the Scripture just as it reads, and open their hearts to understand the word of the Lord, they would not say, 'I cannot see the tithing question.  I cannot see that in my circumstances I should pay tithes.'  'Will a man rob God?'  The consequence of doing so is plainly stated, and I would not risk the consequence.  All who will take a wholehearted, decided position to obey God; who will not take the Lord's reserved funds--His own money--to settle their debts; who will render to the Lord the portion that He claims as His own, will receive the blessing of God which is promised to all who obey Him."

     "When you see a young man or a young woman who is a promising subject, advance or loan the sum needed, with the idea that it is a loan, not a gift.  It would be better to have it thus.  Then when it is returned, it can be used to educate others.  But this money is not to be taken from the tithe, but from a separate fund secured for that purpose....

     "Now in regard to educating students in our schools.  It is a good idea; it will have to be done; but God forbid that in the place of practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice (of) our individual selves, to do this work, we should subtract from the Lord's portion, specially reserved to sustain the ministers in active labor in the field, and...to (keep) at work those who are already ordained for the work."

TO BE SUPPORTED WITH TITHE?

     But some reason away God's specific directions, declaring that they do not need to give God's tithe to His living ministers or His institutions, because they can use this sacred money to buy Bibles, Spirit of Prophecy books, tracts, or other present truth materials to hand or mail out; and this misappropriation of God's tithe is done "all in the name of the Lord!"  Still others reason that they can pool their tithe money, and then buy copy machines, tape duplicators and cassette tapes, video recorders, travel vans or motor homes, and the list goes on and on--all justified by the human reasoning that "all this is to be used in the Lord's work."  But even though these other items are good and beneficial in spreading God's truth, by using God's sacred tithe to purchase these, God considers it to be robbery!  This is not only robbery from God, but is also robbery from His ministers, and robbery of the light and truth from those who sit in darkness and gross darkness.  All because the tithe was not used as God has clearly directed!

     Testimonies, vol 6, p. 387:  "The tithe you have withheld I reserve for the support of My servants in their work of opening the Scriptures to those who are in the regions of darkness, who do not understand My law.  In using My reserve fund to gratify your own desires you have robbed souls of the light which I made provision for them to receive.  You have had opportunity to show loyalty to Me, but you have not done this.  You have robbed Me; you have stolen My reserve fund..."

     Manuscript 82, 1904 (MR #451, p. 1-4):  "The tithe is to be used for one purpose,--to sustain the ministers whom the Lord has appointed to do His work.  It is to be used to support those who speak the words of life to the people, and carry the burden of the flock of God.

     "But there are ministers who have been robbed of their wages.  God's provision for them has not been respected....

     "A very plain, definite message has been given to me to give to our people.  I am bidden to tell them that they are making a mistake in applying the tithe to various objects which, though good in themselves, are not the object to which the Lord has said that the tithe is to be applied.  Those who make this use of the tithe are departing from the Lord's arrangement.

     "God will judge for these things.  One reasons that the tithe may be appropriated to school purposes.  Still others would reason that canvassers and colporteurs should be supported from the tithe.  But a great mistake is made when the tithe is drawn from the object for which it is to be used,--the support of the ministers...

     "The use of the tithe must be looked upon as a sacred matter by our people.  We must guard strictly against all that is contrary to the message now given....

     "When a man enters the ministry, he is to be paid from the tithe enough to sustain his family.  He is not to feel that he is a beggar.

     "The impression is becoming quite common that the sacred disposition of the tithe no longer exists.  Many have lost their sense of the Lord's requirements.

     "The tithe is sacred, reserved by God for Himself.  It is to be brought into His treasury to be used to sustain the gospel laborers in their work.  For a long time the Lord has been robbed, because there are those who do not realize that the tithe is God's reserved portion.

     "Many ministers are lying in their graves, brought there by sorrow and disappointment, and by the hardship brought upon them because they did not receive sufficient for their labors....

     "There should be an abundant supply in the Lord's treasury, and there would be if selfish hearts and hands had not made use of the tithe to support other lines of work.

     "God's reserved resources are to be used in no such haphazard way.  The tithe is the Lord's and those who meddle with it will be punished with the loss of their heavenly treasure, unless they repent.  Let the work no longer be hedged up because the tithe has been diverted into various channels other than the one to which the Lord has said it should go.  Provision is to be made for these other lines of work.  They are to be sustained but not from the tithe.  God has not changed; the tithe is [still] to be used for the support of the ministry..."

     "There will always be a temptation to divert the tithe money to other channels, we know; but the Lord has guarded this, His own portion, to be sacredly used for the support of the gospel ministers....There may be a great dearth of means if there is a departing from the Lord's plan.

     "The Lord regards the tithe as His own, to be used for a certain purpose, and it is an easy matter, in the place of practicing the self-denial that we should...to dip into the Lord's consecrated portion which should be used only to sustain the ministers in new fields as well as in other places.  And this should not be done in a...[mean or stingy] way....

     "We shall become very narrow, conceited, and selfish if we are not guarded and do not watch against the foe we have to meet and contend with....Let there be no meager, stingy plans in using the consecrated portion for the sustaining of the ministry...

     "Now in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I charge you not to devote the means that should be used in sustaining the gospel to any other purpose."

     "The displeasure of God is kindled against those who claim to be His followers, yet allow consecrated workers to suffer for the necessities of life while engaged in active ministry.  These selfish ones will be called to render an account, not only for the misuse of their Lord's money, but for the depression and heartache which their course has brought upon His faithful servants.  Those who are called...in God's service, should receive for their self-sacrificing efforts wages sufficient to support themselves and their families....

     "Is not the work of disseminating truth, and leading souls to Christ, of more importance than any ordinary business?  And are not those who faithfully engage in this work justly entitled to ample remuneration...?"

     "Every soul who is honored in being a steward of God is to carefully guard the tithe money.  This is sacred means.  The Lord will not sanction your borrowing this money for any other work.  It will create evils you cannot now discern.  It is not to be meddled with...Keep your hands off the Lord's reserve fund.  That means is to do a great work before probation shall close."

     So tithe is only to be used to support God's ministers and their ministry for Him, but offerings can be used to spread the printed truth.

     Testimonies, vol 4, p. 472:  "...Christ assigned to men the work of spreading the gospel.  But while some go forth to preach, He calls upon others to answer His claims upon them for tithes and offerings with which to support the ministry and to spread the printed truth all over the land."

     Testimonies, vol 9, p. 246-47:  "A steward identifies himself with his master.  He accepts the responsibilities of a steward, and he must act in his master's stead, doing as his master would do were he presiding.  His master's interests become his.  The position of a steward is one of dignity because his master trusts him.  If in any wise he acts selfishly and turns the advantages gained by trading with his lord's goods to his own advantage, he has perverted the trust reposed in him...

     "God has given special direction as to the use of the tithe.  He does not design that His work shall be crippled for want of means.  That there may be no haphazard work and no error, He has made our duty on these points very plain.  The portion that God has reserved for Himself is not to be diverted to any other purpose than that which He has specified.  Let none feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use according to their own judgment.  They are not to use it for themselves in an emergency, nor to apply it as they see fit, even in what they may regard as the Lord's work."

     So, those who have not been giving God's sacred tithe according to the Lord's directions, whether through ignorance or not, but who have been withholding it and placing it into other areas, are unfaithful stewards.  They are also guilty of robbery by defrauding God and misusing, misappropriating, and diverting this sacred fund for their own usage!

     Review and Herald, vol 2, p. 451 col 2, Dec 23, 1890 (CS 86):  "Will you withhold from God His own?  Will you divert from the treasury the portion of means which the Lord claims as His?  If so, you are robbing God, and every dollar is charged against you in the books of heaven."

     Review and Herald, vol 4, p. 475 col 1, Dec 23, 1902 (CS 98):  "...if you have robbed the Lord, make restitution.  As far as possible, make the past right, and then ask the Saviour to pardon you."

     Christ's Object Lessons, p. 144-45:  "As the Giver of every blessing, God claims a certain portion of all we possess.  This is His provision to sustain the preaching of the gospel.  And by making this return to God, we are to show our appreciation of His gifts.  But if we withhold from Him that which is His own, how can we claim His blessing?  If we are unfaithful stewards of earthly things, how can we expect Him to entrust us with the things of heaven?  It may be that here is the secret of unanswered prayer.

     "But the Lord in His great mercy is ready to forgive, and He says, 'Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,...and prove Me now herewith,...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.  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy...'

     "So it is with every other one of God's requirements.  All His gifts are promised on condition of obedience."

     Review and Herald, vol 3, p. 418 col 1-2, Dec 1, 1896 (CS 82):  "The reproof and warning and promise of the Lord are given in definite language in Malachi 3:8: 'Will a man rob God?  Yet ye have robbed Me.  But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee?'  The Lord answers, 'In tithes and offerings.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me...'...

     "This message has lost none of its force.  It is just as fresh in its importance as God's gifts are fresh and continual.  There is no difficulty in understanding our duty in the light of this message, given through God's holy prophet.  We are not left to stumble along in darkness and disobedience.  The truth is plainly stated, and it can be clearly understood by all who wish to be honest in the sight of God.  A tithe of all our income is the Lord's.  He lays His hand upon that portion which He has specified that we shall return to Him, and says, I allow you to use My bounties after you have laid aside the tenth, and have come before Me with gifts and offerings.

     "The Lord calls for His tithe...Besides this, He calls for your gifts and offerings.  No one is compelled to present his tithe or his gifts and offerings to the Lord.  But just as surely as God's word is given to us, just as surely will He require His own with usury at the hand of every human being.  If men are unfaithful in rendering to God His own, if they disregard God's charge to His stewards, they will not long have the blessing of that which the Lord has entrusted to them....

     "If they choose, men may refuse to connect themselves with their Maker; they may refuse to give themselves to His service, and trade upon His entrusted goods; they may fail to exercise frugality and self-denial, and may forget that the Lord requires a return of what He has given them.  All such are unfaithful stewards.

     "A faithful steward will do all he possibly can in the service of God; the one object before him will be the great need of the world.  He will realize that the message of truth is to be given, not only in his own neighborhood, but in the regions beyond.  When men cherish this spirit, the love of the truth and the sanctification they will receive through the truth, will banish avarice, overreaching, and every species of dishonesty."

     Anciently, God's people devoted 1/4 (PP 527) to 1/3 (3T 395, 4T 467-68) of all their income to support God's ministers and His cause, and they were greatly blessed by doing so.  God's people today would also experience a greater love for, rejoicing in, and sanctification through the truth if they would also do the same--placing God's will and His cause first above their own will and cause.

     That is why Paul, after the church had enjoyed the blessings of the seventh-day Sabbath, required them to set aside God's money on sunday--the first day, or the beginning of the week.  By doing this, God and His cause was placed first, before any other expenditures could take place for that new week (see 1 Cor 16:1-2, CS 80, CSW 130).  If God's people today would also realize that "their first duty is to God" (CS 94), and would always make it their first priority to give God His own money in tithes, offerings, and gifts before dividing the rest of their money for other needs, then they would also realize the same blessings as did God's people in the past, and would also be able to give more to God and His work!

     Testimonies, vol 3, p. 398:  "There are but few who consider the binding claims that God has upon them to make it their first business to meet the necessities of His cause and let their own desires be served last."

     The church leadership states that "There is only one place for the Lord's tithes to be deposited: the storehouse of the church.  For Adventists, no other use of the tithe is admissible" (Adventist Review, March 3, 1988, p. 11).  The ministers also tell their members that even though a large sum of God's money has been misappropriated and lost by the church in the Davenport affair (see back page of Adventist Review of April 8, 1982); and even though the church has invested God's money in stocks and bonds (anywhere from companies making war equipment and chemicals to stores dealing in liquor--see 1983 GC investment portfolio), and has lost a large sum of God's money in the stock market crash (see Adventist Review, April 28, 1988, p. 7); and even though the church has been using this sacred money to support the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches since 1959 (write for documents) which in turn uses this money to further terrorism and the killing of Christian missionaries (write for documents); yet they state that God still expects the people to bring all their tithes and offerings to the church!

     In fact they teach the people not to worry in the least, because God will divinely watch every penny and protect it from going to support apostasy and corruption, or from being lost in other investment schemes.

     But whose pennies, that God was suppose to divinely watch, were lost in the church's involvement in the Davenport affair?  More than $878,000. was reported lost (see Adventist Review, April 8, 1982, back page), and a great deal more (one printed source estimated between $21-42 million) went unreported by the church.  Whose pennies, that God was suppose to divinely watch, were loss by the church's involvement in the stock market in 1968 when the church reported losses of $44,006.73; or in 1969--losses of $966,130.96; or in 1970--losses of $1,769,105.36; or in 1971--losses of $1,282,611.94; or in 1972--losses of $1,034,022.49; or in 1973--losses of $2,053,298.42 (see the minutes of "REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION AND FINANCE" Note--this is the reported losses of only one of the conferences under the General Conference!  How much more was loss by the other conferences has not yet been openly revealed).  Or whose pennies, that God was suppose to divinely watch, were loss in the 1987 stock market crash of black monday?  $47,000,000. was reported lost by the church (see Adventist Review, April 28, 1988, p. 7).  So, were the pennies of those who gave the Lord's money of tithes and offerings into the church, divinely protected from being lost?  No!  Neither was this sacred money divinely protected way back in 1870!

     Testimonies, vol 2, p. 518:  "Means that had been consecrated to God to advance His cause has been squandered.  Families in poverty, who had experienced the sanctifying influences of the truth and who therefore prized it and felt grateful to God for it, have thought that they could and should deprive themselves of even the necessaries of life in order to bring in their offerings to the treasury of the Lord.  Some have deprived themselves of articles of clothing which they really needed to make them comfortable.  Others have sold their only cow and have dedicated to God the means thus received.  In the sincerity of their souls, with many tears of gratitude because it was their privilege to do this for the cause of God, they have bowed before the Lord with their offering and have invoked His blessing upon it as they sent it forth, praying that it might be the means of bringing the knowledge of the truth to souls in darkness.  The means thus dedicated has not always been appropriated as the self-sacrificing donors designed.  Covetous, selfish men, having no spirit of self-denial or self-sacrifice themselves, have handled unfaithfully means thus brought into the treasury...Their unconsecrated, reckless management has squandered and scattered means that had been consecrated to God with prayers and tears."

     The ministers also teach that even if God does not divinely watch this money, the church is still the only treasury of God; and if this sacred money was used in a wrong way, yet the membership are not held responsible because their responsibility ended when they gave their money into the church.

     But is this what God really expects of His people?  Is this actually what God teaches?  Is the church the only treasury or storehouse of God?  To find this out, we must first discover what the real purpose and function is of God's treasury or storehouse.

     Review and Herald, vol 3, p. 419 col 2, Dec 8, 1896 (CS 71):  "The great missionary work for the salvation of souls is to be carried forward.  In the tithe, with gifts and offerings, God has made ample provision for this work.  He intends that the ministry of the gospel shall be fully sustained.  He claims the tithe as His own, and it should ever be regarded as a sacred reserve, to be placed in His treasury for the benefit of His cause, for the advancement of His work, for sending His messengers into 'regions beyond,' even to the uttermost parts of the earth."

     Many have been led to believe that only the headquarters of the church is where God's treasury or storehouse is found.  Hence all the money must be given to the church in order to build up and advance God's cause and finish His work; even though that church headquarters is misusing this money for their own purposes, or losing it in other scheming areas, instead of using it to build up God's cause and finish His work in the earth.  But from looking at the purpose and function of God's treasury or storehouse, it is seen that God's people individually can be the place where God's treasury or storehouse can be found--the place where God's tithes and offerings can be obtained with which to supply God's money to those people or institutions who are doing God's will.

     Is this true?  Can God's people individually be the place where God's treasury or storehouse is found, and thus can give their tithes and offerings directly to God's ministers and/or other areas of His work--completely bypassing the church headquarters who is misusing this sacred money--and yet not be guilty of withholding this money from God's treasury or storehouse?  YES!

     Testimonies, vol 3, p. 388-89:  "All may feel that they can act a part in carrying forward the precious work of salvation.  Every man, woman, and youth may become a treasurer for the Lord and may be an agent to meet the demands upon the treasury.  Says the apostle: 'Let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.'"

     "I have myself appropriated my tithe to the most needy cases brought to my notice.  I have been instructed to do this; and as the money is not withheld from the Lord's treasury, it is not a matter that should be commented upon...

     "Some cases have been kept before me for years, and I have supplied their needs from the tithe, as God has instructed me to do.  And if any person shall say to me, Sister White, will you appropriate my tithe where you know it is most needed, I shall say, Yes, I will; and I have done so.  I commend those sisters who have placed their tithe where it is most needed to help to do a work that is being left undone...

"I sent this matter to you (Elder Watson) so that you shall not make a mistake.  Circumstances alter cases.  I would not advise that any should make a practice of gathering up tithe money. But for years there have now and then been persons who have lost confidence in the appropriation of the tithe (by the General Conference) who have placed their tithe in my hands, and said that if I did not take it they would themselves appropriate it to the families of the most needy minister they could find.  I have taken the money, given a receipt for it, and told them how it was appropriated."

     "Here the outlets are blocked.  And the work all over the field demands an entirely different course of action than we have had.  We have heard enough, abundance, about that 'everything must go around in the regular way.'  When we see the regular lines are altered and purified and refined, and the God of the heavens mold is upon the regular lines, then it is our business to establish the regular lines....

     "There is to be no man that has the right to put his hand out and say, No, you can not go there; we won't support you if you go there.  Why, what have you to do with supporting?  Did they (conference leaders) create the means?  The means come from the people, and those who are destitute fields.  The voice of God has told me to instruct them (laborers building up God's cause) to go to the people and to tell them their necessities, and to draw all the people to work just where they can find a place to work, to build up the work in every place they can."

     "God has given me a message for the men who are carrying large responsibilities in Washington and other centers of the work....The Lord works through various agencies....All the means is not to be handled by one agency or organization.  There is much business to be done conscientiously for the cause of God....

     "To those in our conferences who felt that they had authority to forbid the gathering of means in certain territory I now say: This matter has been presented to me again and again.  I now bear my testimony in the name of the Lord to those whom it concerns.  Wherever you are withhold your forbiddings. The work of the Lord is not to be thus trammeled....This wonderful burden of responsibility which some suppose God has placed upon them with their official position, has never been laid upon them.  If men were standing free on the high platform of truth, they would never accept the responsibility to frame rules and regulations that hinder and cramp God's chosen laborers in their work..."

WHERE MOST NEEDED IN ORDER TO BUILD UP GOD'S WORK !

     "The present showing is sufficient to prove to all who have the true missionary spirit that the 'regular lines' may prove a failure and a snare.  God helping His people, the circle of kings (General Conference) who dared to take such great responsibilities shall never again exercise their unsanctified power in the so-called 'regular lines.'"

     God has made each one of us His trusted stewards.  Hence we are held individually responsible for where we give God's sacred money and to whom it goes to support.  And no one--not even the church--has the authority to tell us differently.  The money belongs to the Lord, and not to the church or its leadership!

     The Jewish leaders were masters at getting their church membership to believe that it was not their individual duty to carry out their own convictions regarding God's money.  But, as a rule, they were to pay their tithes, offerings, and gifts into the church system, and then let their leaders control where this money should go.

     Desire of Ages, p. 617:  "The Jewish rulers recognized the obligation of tithing, and this was right; but they did not leave the people to carry out their own convictions of duty.  Arbitrary rules were laid down..."

     God has clearly revealed that no one is to hand to the church their own individual responsibility of stewardship over God's money.  If they did, even if they would clearly state to the leaders exactly where they wanted this money sent to and used for, it could still be misused and misapplied.

     Letter 41, May 6, 1894 (1888 Materials, vol 3, p. 1234-38):  "When I received Brother Haskell's letter explaining that you had detained the money we so much needed, I wanted to ask you, my brother, what right had you to do this?...that one thousand (dollars) was not permitted to come to the object for which it was pledged, but must be stopped at the Pacific Press.  Who has been your counsellor in this movement?  Are not the individuals who pledged the money responsible to God?  Is not a man to be left free, when moved upon by the Spirit of God, to place his means where he sees fit?...

     "The Lord has not given orders to any man to divert money from the channel in which it should go.  Who owns the men, the General Conference, the Pacific Press?  Who has heard the voice of God directing that this means should be diverted into other channels?...Let the money that comes from those whom God has made His stewards be received and treated as a sacred offering, and be applied where it was designed....Why should men want to interpose their own ways and ideas to defeat the purposes of God?

     "I have been made sick at heart at this management....I am now able to understand more perfectly that light given me when my husband was so feeble in Greenville, Michigan.  That was the beginning of divine directions concerning means.  I was shown that the Lord would have my husband and myself independent of all our institutions, in financial matters....God would teach us how to dispose of the means He would bring into our possession to be used to His own glory....I was warned not to shift the responsibility of my stewardship upon any institution or organization; when I should see the needs of the cause in its various branches, then I must act, even though my brethren did not discern the necessity as I saw it.  If I called upon men in responsible positions, even for the means which God had intrusted to me...these brethren would give counsel to divert that means into other channels....I was made to feel keenly how little safety there would be in leaving my brethren to bear my responsibility....

     "But thank God for the light He has given me; I will take heed to it, and will endeavor to be a faithful steward."

     Testimonies, vol 9, p. 279-80 (Oct 3, 1907):  "Again and again I have been instructed to say to our people: Let your faith and trust be in God.  Do not depend on any erring man to define your duty....God is the one to whom to look for an understanding of individual duty....But when one man allows another to step in between him and the duty that God has pointed out to him, giving to man his confidence and accepting him as guide, then he steps from the true platform to a false and dangerous one.  Such a man, instead of growing and developing, will lose his spirituality."

     Spirit of Prophecy, vol 4, p. 339:  "'We (satan and his angels) must do our utmost to prevent those who labor in God's cause from obtaining means to use against us.  Keep the money in our own ranks.  The more means they obtain, the more they will injure our kingdom by taking from us our subjects.'"

     There are as many more tactics used, as the devil has lies.  But some of the ones noticed are as follows; having others refusing to give God's money where the need was clearly seen, because no tax write-off could be obtained; having others refusing to give God's money to His ministers because these did not have an extra outside job with which to support their families; having others spreading falsehoods and lies about God's true ministers, to try and cut off all support to them when others believe the falsehoods and lies without checking things out for themselves; having others borrowing our extra money who can not, or do not, intend to pay it back, and thus it is not available when needed for God's cause (see 2T 675-76); in causing others to stall and delay in selling their property or removing savings from the bank, and then satan causes both to be tied up, absorbed, or lost before it ever reaches God's work (see 5T 154-55, EW 57, Kress Collection, p. 147, 4T 83, 7T 56); etc.

     But praise God that He has given His people such plain light and clear directions in answering our questions regarding tithes, offerings, and gifts.  Also for showing us our own individual responsibility to invest this means ourselves, in order that we can advance God's work and His cause immediately as the need arises.

     All that we have--houses, property, money in the banks, and etc--are now to be placed upon God's altar, so that it can be used immediately when God has need for it in spreading His truth.  Our possessions will be of no use to God or any of His messengers when the time of trouble soon begins.  But would be a great cause of sorrow and remorse to us when we would try to use these to further God's cause, and found our possessions to be useless because we waited too long!

     Early Writings, p. 56-57:  "Houses and lands will be of no use to the saints in the time of trouble, for they will then have to flee before infuriated mobs, and at that time their possessions cannot be disposed of to advance the cause of present truth.  I was shown that it is the will of God that the saints should cut loose from every encumbrance before the time of trouble comes, and make a covenant with God through sacrifice.  If they have their property on the altar and earnestly inquire of God for duty, He will teach them when to dispose of these things.  Then they will be free in the time of trouble and have no clogs to weigh them down.

     "I saw that if any held on to their property and did not inquire of the Lord as to their duty, He would not make duty known, and they would be permitted to keep their property, and in the time of trouble it would come up before them like a mountain to crush them, and they would try to dispose of it, but would not be able.  I heard some mourn like this: 'The cause was languishing, God's people were starving for the truth, and we made no effort to supply the lack; now our property is useless.  Oh, that we had let it go, and laid up treasure in heaven!'....

     "Now is the time to lay up treasure in heaven and to set our hearts in order, ready for the time of trouble.  Those only who have clean hands and pure hearts will stand in that trying time.  Now is the time for the law of God to be in our minds, foreheads, and written in our hearts."

     Our first work, as God's faithful and wise stewards, is to test (by Isaiah 8:20) the messages and stated positions of the different "so-called" ministers and institutions of God, to see if they are really standing for and preaching the complete present truth for today, or just partial truth, or truth mixed with error.  This means that we individually must study for ourselves so that we can know with certainty if a particular minister or institution is really standing for and teaching truth or error, instead of having to rely upon the testimony of someone else.  We ourselves must know the truth before we can intelligently support those who are preaching the truth!

     After this homework is done, and we believe that we have found a particular minister or institution that can be safely supported, are we to then go ahead and give them God's money?  NO!  Before we give anyone God's money, we must first seek God in prayer, asking Him to show us if we have chosen correctly.  God knows better than ourselves who really needs His money at any given time; and just because we have supported someone in the past, does not mean that we can continue to support them in the future without first asking God for His approval.

     Many times those who were once standing faithful and preaching the truth have, seemingly overnight, changed their positions into that of standing for and preaching truth mixed with error.  We would probably have continued on supporting them for several more months, not realizing that they had changed leaders.  But God would have known the instant they changed; and if we had looked to Him first, we would have been impressed not to support them as we had in the past.  The whole key is to always seek God first for His wisdom and guidance, before we take any action--especially in regards to the giving of His money to others.  If we always seek God's guidance before we move, we shall never be ashamed or disappointed with whom we gave His money to, because we would not be following our own wisdom, but the wisdom and guidance of One who never errs!

     Gospel Workers, p. 455:  "When those who are to appropriate to the needs of the Lord's work the means in His treasury, have unselfishly tried to gain a right understanding of the situation, they should come to the mercy-seat, asking for clear intuition and heavenly wisdom, that they may see the necessities of the far-off countries, as well as of those nearer by.  Never will they seek the Lord in vain.  As they ask Him to help them to advance the work in regions beyond, they will receive grace from on high."

     Early Writings, p. 50:  "I saw that the quick work that God was doing on the earth would soon be cut short in righteousness and that the messengers must speed swiftly on their way to search out the scattered flock.  An angel said, 'Are all messengers?'  Another answered, 'No, no; God's messengers have a message.'

     "I saw that the cause of God had been hindered and dishonored by some traveling who had no message from God.  Such will have to give an account to God for every dollar they have used in traveling where it was not their duty to go, because that money might have helped on the cause of God; and for the lack of the spiritual food that might have been given them by God's called and chosen messengers, had they had the means, souls have starved and died."

     "I saw the necessity of the messengers, especially, watching and checking all fanaticism wherever they might see it rise.  Satan is pressing in on every side, and unless we watch for him, and have our eyes open to his devices and snares, and have on the whole armor of God, the fiery darts of the wicked will hit us.  There are many precious truths contained in the Word of God, but it is 'present truth' that the flock needs now.  I have seen the danger of the messengers running off from the important points of present truth, to dwell upon subjects that are not calculated to unite the flock and sanctify the soul.  Satan will here take every possible advantage to injure the cause."

     "Those who receive the truth and are brought into such trials would have had the truth the same if these men had stayed away and filled the humble place the Lord designed for them.  God's eye was upon His jewels, and He would have directed to them His called and chosen messengers--men who would have moved understandingly....

     "God will not entrust the care of His precious flock to men whose mind and judgment have been weakened by former errors that they have cherished, such as so-called perfectionism and Spiritualism, and who, by their course while in these errors, have disgraced themselves and brought reproach upon the cause of truth.  Although they may now feel free from error and competent to go forth and to teach this last message, God will not accept them.  He will not entrust precious souls to their care; for their judgment was perverted while in error, and is now weakened....

     "The servants of God who teach the truth should be men of judgment.  They should be men who can bear opposition and not get excited; for those who oppose the truth will pick at those who teach it, and every objection that can be produced will be brought in its worst form to bear against the truth.  The servants of God who bear the message must be prepared to remove these objections, with calmness and meekness, by the light of truth....

     "Those who profess to be servants of the living God must be willing to be servants of all, instead of being exalted above the brethren, and they must possess a kind, courteous spirit.  If they err, they should be ready to confess thoroughly.  Honesty of intention cannot stand as an excuse for not confessing errors.  Confession would not lessen the confidence of the church in the messenger, and he would set a good example; a spirit of confession would be encouraged in the church, and sweet union would be the result.  Those who profess to be teachers should be patterns of piety, meekness, and humility, possessing a kind spirit, to win souls to Jesus and the truth of the Bible.  A minister of Christ should be pure in conversation and in actions.  He should ever bear in mind that he is handling words of inspiration, words of a holy God.  He must also bear in mind that the flock is entrusted to his care, and that he is to bear their cases to Jesus, and plead for them as Jesus pleads for us with the Father.  I was pointed back to the children of Israel anciently and saw how pure and holy the ministers of the sanctuary had to be, because they were brought by their work into a close connection with God.  They that minister must be holy, pure, and without blemish, or God will destroy them.  God has not changed.  He is just as holy and pure, just as particular, as He ever was."

     "God cannot use men who, in time of peril, when the strength, courage, and influence of all are needed, are afraid to take a firm stand for the right.  He calls for men who will do faithful battle against wrong, warring against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places..."

     "Truth is eternal, and conflict with error will only make manifest its strength."

     "The work outlined in these scriptures [Isaiah 43:8-13, 42:16-21] is the work before us.  The terms 'My servant,' 'Israel,' 'the Lord's servant,' means anyone that the Lord may select and appoint to do a certain work.  He makes them ministers of His will, though some who are selected may be as ignorant of His will as was Nebuchadnezzar."

     "As the time comes for the loud cry to be given, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service.  The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions.  Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them.  The sins of Babylon will be laid open.  The fearful results of a union of Church and State, the inroads of Spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power,--all will be unmasked.  By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred.  Thousands upon thousands have never listened to words like these.  In amazement they hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her errors and sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent to her from Heaven....

     "Different periods in the history of the church have each been marked by the development of some special truth, adapted to the necessities of the people of God at that time.  Every new truth has made its way against hatred and opposition; those who were blessed with its light were tempted and tried.  The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency.  Who dare refuse to publish it?  He commands His servants to present the last invitation of mercy to the world.  They cannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls.  Christ's ambassadors have nothing to do with consequences.  They must perform their duty, and leave results with God."

     Manuscript 13, March 25, 1908 (MR #454, p. 29):  "The message of present truth must be carried to those who have never heard it.  We pray that the Lord will give you wisdom to place your means where it will build up the cause of God in the earth."