We shall have a debt to settle with the Master by and by, when He shall say: “Give an account of thy stewardship.” Luke 16:2. If men prefer to set aside the claims of God and to grasp and selfishly retain all that He gives them, He will hold His peace at present and continue frequently to test them by increasing His bounties by letting His blessings flow on, and these men may pass on receiving honor of men and without censure in the church; but by and by He will say: “Give an account of thy stewardship.” Luke 16:2. Says Christ: “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.” Matthew 25:45. “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price,” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. and are under obligation to glorify God with your means as well as in your body and in your spirit, which are His. “Ye are bought with a price,” 1 Corinthians 6:20. not “with corruptible things, as silver and gold,” 1 Peter 1:18. “but with the precious blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:19. He asks a return of the gifts that He has entrusted to us, to aid in the salvation of souls. He has given His blood; He asks our silver. It is through His poverty that we are made rich; and will we refuse to give back to Him His own gifts? (3T 390.1) MC VC

God is not dependent upon man for the support of His cause. He could have sent means direct from heaven to supply His treasury, if His providence had seen that this was best for man. He might have devised means whereby angels would have been sent to publish the truth to the world without the agency of men. He might have written the truth upon the heavens, and let that declare to the world His requirements in living characters. God is not dependent upon any man’s gold or silver. He says: “Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.” Psalm 50:10, 12. Whatever necessity there is for our agency in the advancement of the cause of God, He has purposely arranged for our good. He has honored us by making us co-workers with Him. He has ordained that there should be a necessity for the co-operation of men, that they may keep in exercise their benevolence. (3T 390.2) MC VC