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deny this claim of God? God's
claim stands! Admit , then, your
income belongs to God! It 's his to
do with as he wills.
How God' s Law Regulates Your
lncome
But God is a God of love. He knows
your need in this time of recession.
God is concerned about you. He
has your welfare in mind. There–
fore God has made a law respecting
that portion of his wealth which
your t hinking and you r labor has
ext racted and worked upon.
Get this fixed thoroughly in your
mind. Your wages, your salary,
your profit, your income belongs to
God, not to you. Probably you nev–
er realized this before. This may
seem like a new idea to you . But it
is not an idea-it is a fact!
So God, the rightful owner of
your income, has made a law
respect ing its d isposal and its use.
God's law respecting what you
earn is in fact a deal he has made
with you. He al lows you to work on
his earth, to use a part of the earth,
or what is in it, or on it, to utilize its
forces and energies, and to extract
from it food, materials, supplies,
wood, metals, oils, coal- or to work
on or with that which others have
extracted from the earth, in manu–
facturing, distributing, buying, sell–
ing, investing-whatever may be
your occupation or job or profession.
So, whether you have realized it or
not you have been working in par t–
nership with God.
The farme r or gardener may
plant seed , plow, and expend his
labor in raising food. But who sup–
plied the soil? Who created t he liv–
ing process that makes the seed
sprout and grow? Who sends the
rain, or provides water for irriga–
tion? Who set the sun in the sky
and causes it to shine and warm t he
earth? Who causes the plant to
drink out of the soil the minerals
and good elements, and to grow
into the vegetable, the grain or the
fruit ? Did you perform this part of
the business of raising the food you
eat?
When we really think about it,
we shall see that God supplies
about nine parts of everything man
makes or prod uces, and man 's
t hinking, planning, and working
8
suppl ies only about one part. But
God does not take nine tenths of
the proceeds or the income. He
doesn' t take even six tenths, or even
two tenths. God is generous. God
has reserved for his use only
one
little tenth of what is produced out
of his earth through his forces and
energies!
God takes only ONE tenth. And
after you have been honest in PA
Y–
ING God's tenth to God's chosen
representative, then- AND NOT UN–
TIL THEN-God has decreed that
t he other nine ten ths becomes
legal ly yours!
That's God's law!
Not a penny of what you earn, or
a penny's worth of the value of
what you produce, is yours- it all
belongs to God to do with as he
directs. God has legally directed
t hat after you have honestly paid
him the one little tenth he requires
for his creative work, then t he
other nine tenths he gives to you.
Then and not unti l then can you
r igh t full y claim ownership over
that nine tenths.
When we get our thinking
straight- when we get understand–
ing- when we stop to realize how
much of what we have was provided
by God-then we realize how lov–
ing, how generous, how solici tous
for our welfare in t his time of finan–
cia! stress God is.
The Curses and Blesslngs
But that's only part of the story.
What does God want with that
first tentlt? How does he use it? He
requires that small fraction of what
is produced out of his earth for the
purpose of disseminating to the
people his message of the way of
life that wi ll free them from fears
and worries, give t hem peace of
mind and happiness, give t hem joy
and success and li fe eterna!!
Yes, even this tenth that God
withholds for his use is expended
for human good! For proclaiming
his gospel of peace and happiness
and joy and salvation! For letting
people know God wi ll heal them
when they are s ick- that God wi ll
deliver t hem from every trouble–
supply t heir every need! Give them
eterna! life!
This unhappy recession- ridden
world is starving for that knowledge!
This world is under a curse because
it has robbed God of his money and
his wealth, and t hereby withheld
from itsel f the knowledge ofwhy it is
in economic chaos-why there is no
real peace- why it finds life empty
and fruitl ess, full of suffering and
unhappiness, frustration and death!
All of God's Jaws are for man's
good!
Obedience to God's Jaws brings
b lessings! When we violate his
laws, we bring curses upon our–
selves!
Even the true Christians- the
Spirit-begotten sons of God-need
to cry out to God for help, for
deliverance. In this world today,
even those who turn to the ways of
God suffer from the common viola–
tions of mankind as a whole. But
there is help. There is deliverance!
In Psalm 34:19, we read: "Many
are the affiict ions of the righteous;
but the Lord delivers him out of
them al
l."
And in the 18th verse we
read: "The Lord is near to the bro–
kenhearted, and saves tbe crushed
in spirit."
If
we want that prayer an–
swered- if we want the blessings of
God , and not the curses of trans–
gression- the way is to forsake our
ways and our thoughts and return
to God's ways.
How to Have More
Throughou t the Scriptures God
makes it a Jaw that the fi rst tenth of
every individual's income shall be
paid to God through bis own called
and chosen servant-for the pur–
pose of proclaiming his gospel mes–
sage!
That law has always been in
force and effect. We fi nd Abra–
ham, 400 years before Moses, pay–
ing the tithe or the first tenth of bis
income to God's H igh Priest. Four
hundred years Jater, whe n the
Levít ica! priesthood s tarted , we
fi nd the tithing law continued .
During t hat period God com–
manded the people to pay the tithes
to God's servants for that dispensa–
tion- the Levites.
And in H ebrews 7 in the New
Testament, God shows us that,
since t he priesthood is changed to
that of J esus Christ , there is also
mad e a c hange in the l aw
(Continued on page 12)
The
PLAIN TRUTH