The Weber Literary Journal observe the law shall receive great blessings and rewards. During the Reformation, by Hezekiah, the people proved their repentance by immediate payment of tithes. They gave so abundantly that there was a great surplus. Hezekiah noticed this surplus and asked as to the reason. Azoriah, chief of the house of Jadak, answered him, and said: "Since the people began bringing their offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had plenty to eat and plenty left, for the Lord hath blessed his people, and that which is left is the great store." God always rewards those individuals who pay their tithing. During the boyhood of Joseph Smith, his widowed mother took a load of their best potatoes to the tithing office. The clerk chided her and called her anything but prudent and wise for paying her tithing. Thereupon she turned to the clerk and reprimanded him. "Would you deny me a blessing? If I did not pay my tithes I would expect the Lord to withhold His blessings from me." And never after did she ever have to call upon the Church for help. The spiritual rewards for the payment of tithing are inestimable. "For he that is tithed shall not be burned at His coming." In their behalf the Lord will rebuke the devourer, He will cause the earth to yield its strength to the husbandman, the tiller of the soil, and the herder of the flocks. Those who do not obey the Lord will never know that God tells the truth, and that He is a rewarder of His people. But those who obey the laws that have been given anciently, and that have been renewed in this dispensation, for the building up of Zion, for the feeding of the orphans and widowed, and for the spreading of the Gospel to the nations of the earth; those who listen to His words, prize them and apply them, will come to know that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, and that He fulfills His promises. But there are some people in the world, who contend that the leaders of the Church are made rich by tithing. This is absurd, for the Lord provided for a counsel of at least eighteen men of wisdom, faith, and ability, to dispose of the revenue as they see fit. This counsel is composed of the First Presidency of the Church; the Bishopric of the Church, and the high coun- 36 The Weber Literary Journal cilmen or the Twelve Apostles. Never yet has anyone of these men gone into office poor and come out rich, but rather they have taken office rich and laid down their work poor. Others accuse the Church of commercialism. Never has there been any truth in this charge. When the Church was in need of funds in financing the sugar industry, President Grant went to Washington, and secured a loan for the Church. Not a cent of tithing was used, and not a cent has been used. Another charge is that the leaders tyranically compel the people to pay tithing. Our belief in free agency prevents this. The payment of tithing is absolutely voluntary. I can pay my tithing or not; it is as I choose to do. I observe the law because I believe it to be right. For by it it shall be known, whether one shall be under the covenant of promise, whether one is faithful; for if a man keepeth all the law save in one point, he is a transgressor of the law, and not entitled to the fulness of the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But if a man keepeth all the law that is revealed, according to his strength, his substance, and his ability, though it be but little, it is just as acceptable to God as if he was able to do a thousand times more. God always blesses those individuals and nations who worship and honor Him. One day, Roger Babson, statistician for America, was visiting the President of Brazil. While looking out across the great Amazon river, the President asked: "Mr. Babson, how is it, that despite the fact that South America has greater mine resources than North America, has much greater agricultural acreage, has in some cases thousands of acres under one fence, has 131 more specimens of trees than was ever listed in Botanical books how is it that North America has progressed so much faster?" Mr. Babson could not answer. Thereupon the President said: "I attribute it to the fact that North America was settled by the Pilgrim Fathers in search of God, while South America was settled by the Spaniards in search of Gold." If God will bless a continent because of a God-seeking people, oh, how much more will He bless it because of a tithe-paying people. "Bring ye, therefore, all your tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now, herewith, saith the Lord, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room to receive it." 37