In Acts 19:19 the believers in Ephesus who practiced magic brought their books together and burned them. The value of the books was fifty thousand pieces of silver. We have used this example as a basis for helping others to have a burning of demonic, filthy, and improper things. Some people have mah-jongg sets, dice, Chinese dominos, and poker cards in their homes, and others have wine vessels, pipes for smoking, pictures of movie stars, and other things in their homes. Pictures of movie stars are filthy things that corrupt many people. There are also filthy books and pictures. Some believers have indecent and pornographic pictures in their homes. These are demonic and filthy. New believers should follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to remove any such demonic and filthy thing from their lives and their homes.
In 1941, I went to Weihaiwei in Shangtung Province to preach the gospel. Some believed in the Lord, were saved, and wanted to terminate the things of the past in their homes. Every household willingly brought their mah-jongg sets, which were of the best quality, and put them in a huge pile. Some brothers suggested that we sell the mah-jongg sets because they were so nice and expensive, saying that it would be a pity to burn them. I said, “We can sell many things, but we cannot sell the mah-jongg sets. We must burn them.” On that day we piled up some wood, poured gasoline on top, and burned the mah-jongg sets. During the burning, some of these brothers and sisters, no doubt, felt some pain in their hearts. However, they were not compelled to burn their sets; rather, they brought them voluntarily. Every new believer should have this type of clearance. Unbecoming clothing that is demonic and filthy should also be burned. Sleeveless clothing or items with low necklines can be altered. How we deal with our clothing should be according to the Holy Spirit’s inward touch. The Holy Spirit will inwardly speak to people about the need to burn some of their clothing, even if it is expensive. If the Holy Spirit touches us inwardly to burn an item, we should obey, no matter the value of the item.
Furthermore, some luxurious cosmetics should also be burned. These are all classified as demonic and filthy. We should neither use nor give to others what is improper, indecent, demonic, or filthy in nature. We should not sell such things to others; we should burn them. The biblical principle is burning. In Acts 19:19 the Bible specifically states the value of the things burned, showing that the believers in those days burned expensive items. Fifty thousand pieces of silver in those days is considerably more than fifty thousand dollars today, but all these were still burned. When we abandon demonic and filthy things, we should not consider the cost or the loss.
The salvation of Zaccheus presents the matter of making restitution (Luke 19:2-8). As soon as Zaccheus was saved, he said to the Lord that if he had taken anything from anyone by false accusation, he would restore four times as much. This is to deal with unrighteous gain. Restoring four times as much is neither a law nor a principle; it was according to the Holy Spirit’s moving and the inner urging of Zaccheus’s conscience. It may not be necessary to restore four times as much; perhaps slightly more than the original amount is enough. We should be careful about putting too heavy a burden on the conscience of the new believers.
It is not necessary to dig into our past to find out whom we owe in order to repay them. However, if the Holy Spirit touches us, making us conscious of the fact that we owe others material things, we should follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to properly restore what we owe.
There are several matters that need to be considered when restoring our debt to others. First, a person may not have sufficient financial means to take care of this matter. A person who stole ten thousand dollars in the past may not presently have one thousand dollars. He does not have the financial means to repay his debt. In this circumstance, if he feels that the Holy Spirit wants him to deal with this matter, he should repay as much as he can and confess this sin before the person whom he owes, even though his money is limited.
Second, there are times when we should let the person we owe know that we are repaying them, but there are times when it is wise to not let the person know. We need to seriously consider the situation so that others are not implicated. If we will cause problems by implicating others, we should repay secretly. If someone knows that we stole something from him, we should make an open restitution to him. However, if he does not know that we have stolen something from him, and if by informing him we will implicate others, our restitution should be done in secret. We should repay secretly so that others do not suffer material loss. This requires wisdom because our repayment may give rise to disputes and create an injustice for others.
Third, if the person whom we owe has passed away, in principle, we should give what we owe to his closest relative. If his wife is alive, we should repay his wife. If his children are living and his wife is not, we should repay his children. We should repay the person who is beneficially entitled to his estate. If we cannot find such a person, it is best to give what we owe to the poor.
Fourth, it may be difficult for the conscience of a new believer to set an amount to repay, whether the exact amount, double the amount, or more. Consequently, such ones should fellowship with the more mature believers in the church. Basically, a new believer should neither repay so little that his conscience condemns him nor repay so much that his conscience cannot bear the burden. There is no fixed rule. We must consider all circumstances, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and do what is appropriate.
We should be very careful in making restitution because others are often involved. Some situations may involve the government, others may involve private parties, and still others may affect the relationship between a husband and wife. Therefore, we should not simply consider the peace in our conscience and our innocence before the Lord without considering others. We must not involve others in dealing with these matters. Some people have caused discord between husbands and wives and even caused family disputes in dealing with these matters. This, in fact, can increase one’s indebtedness to others. Therefore, we need to be wise and deal with this matter appropriately so that those whom we owe are compensated without causing others to suffer. This will glorify the Lord and be profitable to others as well as ourselves. The principle in making restitution is to glorify the Lord. This profits others as well as ourselves. We need to deal with this matter according to this principle so that no one suffers loss.