Archives by: Gary Hoag

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:31-34

“Anxiety and care, hurry and worry, these God-dishonoring works of the flesh are ever coming up again. How true George Mueller used to say: “Where anxiety begins faith ends, where faith begins anxiety ends.” The lesson can only be learned in constant dependence upon Him in seeking the things which are above.

We are then utterly helpless in ourselves. Alas! how often we look in our anxiety, in sickness and in health to something in ourselves and to men and man’s help and not to Him in whose hands we are so securely and leave it all with Him, committing our way unto the Lord.

And all this is applicable to even the smallest matters of the daily life. Seeking then first of all the kingdom of God and His righteousness—that is, the things which are above—the promise is given, all things shall be added unto you.

And there is another characteristic about anxiety. It looks unbelievingly ahead. Unbelief draws dark pictures of despair and occupies the mind with a day which may never come. How different it ought to be and will be if we but follow His word.”

A.C. Gaebelein (1861-1945) cites George Mueller (1805-1898) in The Gospel of Matthew: An Exposition (New York: Our Hope Publication Office, 1910) 148-149.

Learn to give largely. The large giver is the happy Christian. “The liberal soul shall be made fat” (Proverbs 11:25). “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully,” and “God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8-9). Success and growth in the Christian life depend upon few things more than upon liberal giving. The stingy Christian cannot be a growing Christian. It is wonderful how a Christian man begins to grow when he begins to give.

R.A. Torrey (1856-1928) in How to Succeed in the Christian Life (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, 1906) 93.

A reporters once told Mother Teresa, “I wouldn’t do what you do for a million dollars.” She responded, “Me neither. We live in community and among the suffering because it is what we are made for. Not only does it give life to others, but it gives us life as well.”

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 503.

Q: “What is the objection to raising money for church support by means of fairs, socials, etc.?”

A: “There is quite a difference in these things and in Christian opinion concerning them. There seems to be no objection to ladies doing sewing, embroidery work, making cake and delicacies, and selling the product of their labor at a fair price for the benefit of the Lord’s work. But the average church fair is not usually content with such prosaic features. Things frivolous, worldly and sensational are often introduced. Storekeepers, under pressure, are made to contribute articles, and visitors, in the same way, are made to buy them. All this lowers the dignity of the Christian religion and cultivates false standards of Christian giving.”

James Martin Gray (1851-1935) in Bible Problems Explained (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, 1913) 43-44. At the time of writing he was Dean of Moody Bible Institute, and later he served as President.

“Before us [is] a new law of love. Love is benevolence. Benevolence is giving one’s self; self-sacrifice for others; losing my life that others may find life; giving up my liberty that other men’s liberty may be increased; denying myself extravagant and useless expenditure that the nakedness of the naked may be clothed, and the hunger and thirst of the needy may be filled; mutual self-sacrifice for each other’s sake.”

A.T. Pierson (1837-1911) in The Heart of the Gospel: Sermons on the Life-Changing Power of the Good News (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1996) 447.

“Marvel at the goodness of God. Oh! how good God is towards me! Oh! how good he is! O Lord, how rich in mercy is thy heart, and how generous in lovingkindness. O my soul, let us recount forever the graces which he has given us.

Marvel at your ingratitude. But what am I, O Lord, that though art mindful of me? Oh! how great is my unworthiness! Alas! I have trampled under foot thy benefits; I have dishonored thy graces, misusing them in contempt of thy sovereign goodness; I have opposed the abyss of my ingratitude to the abyss of thy grace and favor.

Stir yourself up to gratitude. Well then, O my heart, be no longer faithless, ungrateful and disloyal to this great Benefactor. And shall not my soul henceforth be subject to God, who has wrought so many wonders and graces in me and for me?

Withdraw your heart from such and such pleasures, consecrate it to the service of God who has done so much for it. Apply the powers of your soul to know him and be grateful to him, by such and such exercises which are conducive to that purpose; make a careful use of the means which are in the Church to save yourself and to love God. Yes, I will be assiduous in prayer, in the frequentation of the sacraments, I will listen to the word of God, I will put into practice the inspirations and counsels that I receive.”

Francis de Sales (1567-1622) in Introduction to the Devout Life (Mineola, NY: Dover, 2009) 54.

They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful desires, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 1 Timothy 6:9

“Permit me to speak as freely of myself as I would of another man I gain all I can (namely, by writing) without hurting either my soul or body. I save all I can, not willingly wasting anything, not a sheet of paper, not a cup of water. I do not lay out anything, not a shilling, unless as a sacrifice to God. Yet by giving all I can, I am effectually secured from “laying up treasures upon earth”…

Herein, my brethren, let you that are rich, be even as I am. Do you that possess more than food and raiment ask: “What shall we do? Shall we throw into the sea what God hath given us?” God forbid that you should! It is an excellent talent: It may be employed much to the glory of God. Your way lies plain before your face; if you have courage, walk in it. Having gained, in a right sense, all you can, and saved all you can; in spite of nature, and custom, and worldly prudence, give all you can. I do not say, “Be a good Jew, giving a tenth of all you possess.” I do not say, “Be a good Pharisee, giving a fifth of all your substance.” I dare not advise you to give half of what you have; no, nor three quarters; but all!

Lift up your hearts, and you will see clearly, in what sense this is to be done. If you desire to be a “faithful and a wise steward,” out of that portion of your Lord’s goods which he has for the present lodged in your hands, but with the right of resumption whenever it pleaseth him, (1.) Provide things needful for yourself; food to eat, raiment to put on; whatever nature moderately requires, for preserving you both in health and strength; (2.) Provide these for your wife, your children, your servants, or any others who pertain to your household. If, when this is done, there be an overplus left, then do good to “them that are of the household of faith.” If there be an overplus still, “as you have opportunity, do good unto all men.”

In so doing, you give all you can; nay, in a sound sense, all you have. For all that is laid out in this manner, is really given to God. You render unto God the things that are God’s, not only by what you give to the poor, but also by that which you expend in providing things needful for yourself and your household.”

John Wesley (1703-1791) excerpts from 2.6 and 2.8 of Sermon 87 on 1 Timothy 6:9, The Danger of Riches. To read it in its entirety, visit: http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/87/

“We too much mind worldly things, and shrink from duties that will injure or hinder our temporal interests. How common is it for ministers to drown themselves in worldly business!

If worldly interest did not much prevail against the interest of Christ and the Church, surely most ministers would be more fruitful in good works, and would more lay out what they have for his glory.

Experience hath fully proved that works of charity do most powerfully remove prejudice and open the heart to works of piety. If men see that you are addicted to do good, they will the more easily believe that you are good, and that it is good which you persuade them to.

When they see that you love them, and seek their good, they will the more easily trust you. And when they see that you seek not the things of the world, they will the less suspect your intentions, and the more easily be drawn to seek that which you seek.

Oh, how much good might ministers do, if they did set themselves wholly to do good, and would dedicate all their faculties and substance to that end!”

Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in The Reformed Pastor, 62.

“As we consider the Christian life and try to realize something of its responsibilities and possibilities, it will be well for us to ponder afresh the secret of true living, the way to meet not only the extraordinary, but, what is far more difficult, the ordinary demands of daily life…In many ways life is difficult and its problems complex, making heavy demands on heart, brain and body. But the difficulty and complexity can all be met by the simplicity and sufficiency of God’s glorious provision in Christ as we see it revealed to us in the Scriptures…”

W.H. Griffith Thomas (1861-1924) in The Christian Life and How to Live it (Chicago: Moody Press, 1919) 39.

“No life can be blessed which is self-centered, and shut in, as the Dead Sea, by giant walls. The secret of having is giving; of learning is teaching; of climbing to the throne is by stooping to wash the feet of the disciples. Think more of others than yourself, and your own life shall be never so rich and prosperous.”

Frederick Brotherton Meyer (1847-1929) in The Secret of Guidance (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1896) 61.