Robert Bellarmine: What will your testimony be at the Day of Judgment?

“The superfluous riches which thou didst hoard and suffer to become rotten when thou shouldst have given them in alms to the poor, the superfluous garments which though didst possess and preferred to see eaten by moths rather than clothing the poor, and the gold and silver which thou didst choose to see lie in idleness rather than spend on food for the poor, all these things, I say, will bear testimony against thee in the Day of Judgement.” (Cf. James 5:1-3).

Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) scholar and lecturer, as recounted by Jill Haak Adels in The Wisdom of the Saints (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987) 124.

“If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.”

Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) missionary, as recounted by Jill Haak Adels in The Wisdom of the Saints (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987) 124.

“The more you abandon to God the care of all temporal things, the more He will take care to provide for all your wants; but if, on the contrary, you try to supply all your own needs, Providence will allow you to continue to do just that, and then it may very well happen that even necessities will be lacking, God thus reproving you for your want of faith and reliance on Him.”

Jean Baptiste de la Salle (1651-1719) priest and reformer, as recounted by Jill Haak Adels in The Wisdom of the Saints (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987) 57.

Because it is so common;
Because it is found among those who make pretensions to refinement and even religion;
Because it is not so easy to define what is covetousness, as it is to define impurity of life;
Because the public conscience is seared, and the mind blinded to the low and grovelling character of the sin.

Albert Barnes Notes Explanatory and Practical on the Epistles (New York: Harper Brothers, 1845) 317.

“Christians must be part of the counter-culture, resistant to the TV ads and to the skewed priorities of our consumer culture. Giving is the antidote to selfishness, but is also a command for Christians. If we take that command seriously, maybe the world will take us seriously.”

Sir Fred Catherwood in the foreward to Beyond Greed by Brian Rosner (Kingsford, Australia: Matthias Media, 2004) 8.

The lyrics of this song were written by John Newton (1725-1807) who also penned “Amazing Grace.” Matthew Smith put them to music afresh in 2006. Listen to the song on YouTube while you read the lyrics:

“Though troubles assail and dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail and foes all unite;
Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
The scripture assures us, the Lord will provide

The birds without barn or storehouse are fed,
From them let us learn to trust for our bread:
His saints, what is fitting, shall ne’er be denied,
So long as it’s written, the Lord will provide

We may, like the ships, by tempest be tossed
On perilous deeps, but cannot be lost.
Though Satan enrages the wind and the tide,
The promise engages, the Lord will provide.

His call we obey, like Abram of old,
Not knowing our way, but faith makes us bold;
For though we are strangers we have a good Guide,
And trust in all dangers, the Lord will provide

When Satan appears to stop up our path,
And fill us with fears, we triumph by faith;
He cannot take from us, though oft he has tried,
This heart-cheering promise, the Lord will provide

He tells us we’re weak, our hope is in vain,
The good that we seek we ne’er shall obtain,
But when such suggestions our spirits have plied,
This answers all questions, the Lord will provide

No strength of our own, or goodness we claim,
Yet since we have known the Savior’s great name;
In this our strong tower for safety we hide,
The Lord is our power, the Lord will provide

When life sinks apace and death is in view,
This word of his grace shall comfort us through:
No fearing or doubting with Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting the Lord will provide.”

From All I Owe, released 07 November 2006
Words: John Newton
Music: Matthew Smith

“Generosity is impossible apart from our love of God and of His people. But with such love, generosity not only is possible but inevitable.”

John MacArthur First Corinthians (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series, 1984) 452.

“Sometimes children of God are fearful of growing old and being unable to work any longer. If I point out to them how their heavenly Father has always helped those who put their trust in Him, they might not say that times have changed. But it is evident that they do not see God as the living God. [So I started the orphanage because] I longed to set something before the children of God that they might see that He does not forsake, even in hard times, those who rely on Him.”

George Mueller (1805-1898) in The Autobiography of George Mueller (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1984) 72.

“Christians, let us leave the government of the world till the King comes; let us leave the civilizing of the world to be the incidental effect of the presence there of the Gospel of Christ, and let us give our time, our strength, our money, our days to the mission distinctively committed to the Church, namely, to make the Lord Jesus Christ known to every creature!”

C.I. Scofield (1843-1921), the conclusion to his passionate message: The Biggest Failure in the Church Age.

“All the needy who are possessed by that grievous malady, [the love of money], though they have no wealth of their own on which they may bestow worship as its due, pay awe-struck homage to that of their neighbors, and come at early dawn to the houses of those who have abundance of it as though they were the grandest temples, there to make their prayers and beg for blessing from the masters as though they were gods. To such [God] says elsewhere “Ye shall not follow idols and ye shall not make molten gods,” thus teaching them in a figure that it is not fitting to assign divine honors to wealth.” Cf. 1 Tim 6:10.

Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE-50 CE), Jewish Biblical Philosopher in Special Laws I.24.3. LCL.