I was shown that some who have been engaged in our office of publication, in our Health Institute, and in the ministry have labored simply for wages. There are exceptions; not all are guilty in this respect, but few have seemed to realize that they must give an account of their stewardship. 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; and they have robbed the treasury of God by receiving means which they had not justly earned. Their unconsecrated, reckless management has squandered and scattered means that had been consecrated to God with prayers and tears. (2T 518.1) MC VC

I was shown that the recording angel makes a faithful record of every offering dedicated to God and put into the treasury, and also of the final result of the means thus bestowed. The eye of God takes cognizance of every farthing devoted to His cause, and of the willingness or reluctance of the giver. The motive in giving is also chronicled. Those self-sacrificing, consecrated ones who render back to God the things that are His, as He requires of them, will be rewarded according to their works. Even though the means thus consecrated be misapplied, so that it does not accomplish the object which the donor had in view,—the glory of God and the salvation of souls,—those who made the sacrifice in sincerity of soul, with an eye single to the glory of God, will not lose their reward. (2T 518.2) MC VC

Those who have made a wrong use of means dedicated to God will be required to give an account of their stewardship. Some have selfishly grasped means because of their love of gain. Others have not a tender conscience; it has become seared through long-cherished selfishness. They view sacred and eternal things from a low standpoint. Through their long continuance in a wrong course their moral sensibilities seem paralyzed. It seems impossible to elevate their views and feelings to the exalted standard clearly brought to view in the word of God. Unless there is a thorough transformation by the renewing of the mind, this class will find no place in heaven. Those who have pursued a course of selfishness and wrong, not regarding even the treasury of God as sacred, could not appreciate the purity and holiness of the sanctified in the kingdom of heaven, or the value of the rich glory, the eternal reward, reserved for the faithful overcomers. Their minds have so long run in a low, selfish channel that they cannot appreciate eternal things. They do not value salvation. It seems impossible to elevate their minds to rightly estimate the plan of salvation or the value of the atonement. Selfish interests have engrossed the entire being; like a loadstone they hold the mind and affections, binding them down to a low level. Some of these persons will never attain to perfection of Christian character because they do not see the value and necessity of such a character. Their minds cannot be elevated so that they will be charmed with holiness. Self-love and selfish interests have so warped the character that they cannot be made to distinguish the sacred and eternal from the common. God’s cause and His treasury are no more sacred to them than common business or means devoted to worldly purposes. (2T 519.1) MC VC

Duties in this direction are binding upon all who profess to be followers of Christ. God’s law specifies their duty to their fellow men: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matthew 22:39. By a disregard of justice, mercy, and benevolence to their neighbor, some have so hardened the heart that they can go still further, and even rob God without compunctions of conscience. Do such close their eyes and their understanding to the fact that God knows, that He reads their every action and the motive which impelled them to it? His reward is with Him, and His work before Him, to give to every man according as his work shall be. Every good and every wrong act, and its influence upon others, is traced out by the Searcher of hearts, to whom every secret is revealed. And the reward will be according to the motives which prompted the action. (2T 520.1) MC VC

Notwithstanding the repeated warnings and reproofs which the Lord has sent them, those who have occupied responsible positions have followed their own ways and been guided by their own unsanctified judgment, and, in consequence, the cause of God has suffered, and souls have been turned from the truth. All who are thus guilty will have a fearful record to meet in the day of final retribution. If they are ever saved, it will be by no common effort on their part; their past life must be seen by them and redeemed. If this work be entered upon with sincerity, and followed with perseverance and untiring earnestness, it will be wholly successful; but many will not succeed because the earnestness with which they commence the work dies down to listlessness and carelessness. Their efforts are right at first, as they have some sense of their condition; but they seek to forget the past, and pass over it without taking up the stumbling blocks and making thorough work. Their repentance is not genuine sorrow that through their influence God has been dishonored and souls for whom Christ died have been lost. They make spasmodic efforts and show great feeling; but the fact that the efforts cease, that this feeling soon passes off and is succeeded by listless indifference, evinces that God was not fully in the work. The feelings were for a time wrought upon; but the work did not reach deep enough to change the principles which governed their actions. They are as liable to be led again into the same wrong course as they were at first; for they have not strength to withstand the wiles of Satan, but are subject to his devices. (2T 520.2) MC VC