Earlier text: The Christian Use of WealthWHEN William Miller preached the doctrine of the advent near, he disclaimed any intention to form a new church; he never made any effort in that direction. After the passing of the set time, in 1844, when most of the churches turned so decidedly against the advent doctrine that its believers had generally to separate themselves from their communions, they were yet opposed to the idea of forming themselves into a church, and suffered much from contention and confusion rather than organize into another denomination. Nearly all of them considered that they were ill used and oppressed by the several churches to which they had belonged, and they feared to risk an organization which might be the means of again restricting their religious liberty. It is truth that the Adventists, of all classes, never took kindly to the idea of organization; and some of them to this day have scarcely enough of the form of organization to preserve order in their own midst. The Seventh-day Adventists were not an exception to the above statement. They put off the work of organization as long as they possibly could. At first they formed churches on the most simple plan they could devise, each being separate from all others, having no defined relation to one another. And when it was seen by most of those who traveled and visited the various churches that they needed in some way to recognize the existence and authority of their sister churches, which could be best done by organizing Conferences, the plan was opposed by some of our strongest brethren, almost up to the very time of its consummation. It was first found necessary to organize churches that it might be known to all who were and who were not accepted as brethren and sisters in the faith. We were often troubled by fanatical spirits who represented themselves as Seventh-day Adventists, but who, by their conduct and influence, misrepresented the people and the faith. Without some kind of an organization it could not be determined who were to be acknowledged as members; and of course discipline could not be administered. In this condition we stood for a number of years, having churches formed in a large number of States; but as far as discipline or concert of action was concerned, we found ourselves crippled and bound. We were amongst those who were slow to adopt the idea of Conference organization, but we were converted to it by the necessities of the case; by the prevalence of confusion and disorder which we had no power to correct. From the very beginning of our work, fanatics pressed themselves amongst us, professing great love for the truth. Such persons have no lack of zeal, however greatly they may lack knowledge (Rom. 10:2) and prudence. And they are generally "wandering stars" (Jude 13) going from church to church, their show of zeal warming the hearts of believers toward them, while they may not remain long enough in any place for their true character to be fully known. If the church where they resided, or where they were well known, endeavored to restrain them, they had no power to control them beyond their own neighborhood, and no means to secure action on the part of other churches. This was an evil which we lamented, and yet took no steps to prevent it for some years. Another difficulty presented itself. When a church found it necessary to withdraw from one who walked disorderly, he could easily apply for membership in another, and thus the cause suffer on from his evil influence. We remember an instance which did much to secure our action in favor of more thorough organization. A certain church withdrew from a member because of his persistent disorderly walk; he applied to another church for admittance; the church to which he had belonged warned them of the consequence if they received him; but, instead of being thankful for the warning, they resented it as an interference with their rights, saying that they alone were to judge whom they should admit to church fellowship. In one sense they were right; every church is to judge of its own membership; but in case of a great misjudgment, and also in case of mal-administration of discipline, justice can be done to the truth and to all parties by having some opportunity of appeal. In the case above referred to we laid before them plainly the danger of the course they were about to pursue, but they would not be persuaded; they feared an infringement upon their freedom of action, and admitted the applicant. They had abundant reason to regret their course, as the man soon involved the church in trouble which nearly proved its ruin. Such things caused the friends of the work to resolve to form Conferences; and we drew up a constitution for a General Conference, which was approved by the brethren, and adopted, and although it served its purpose well for a score of years, with very few changes, it has only recently been changed in one point where it should have been changed years ago; thus showing the conservative spirit of the S. D. Adventists—quite the contrary of the judgment people pass upon them. Conservatism is a good quality; but all good qualities may be abused. In the case to which we refer, the cause has suffered because of an unwillingness to change that which served a good purpose in the infancy of the work, when we had few believers, no State Conferences, no missionary societies, no camp-meetings, no associations of any kind, and no school or health organizations. It is now adopted as a rule that a person coming from another church must bring a letter in order to be admitted to membership. Without this he must be proved before he can be accepted. There is no injustice in this, for if a member is in good standing, there will be no difficulty in obtaining a letter; but if he is not, then the cause should be protected. No one who loves the cause, and is at all zealous for the right, will find fault with this arrangement. This is, or should be, invariably followed where members change their residence. But it is frequently the case that our members go on journeys to be absent from the church weeks and even months. And they may visit other churches, yet not change their residence, and, of course, not wish to transfer their membership. In such cases they should receive a "traveling letter," good for three months, to be renewed on application if needed for a longer time. It is the duty of every member to communicate with the church every three months. In the church of Oakland we give traveling letters, and all churches ought to give them to traveling members. Now we wish to introduce another point which has not yet received the consideration which it demands. We refer to ministers moving from place to place without taking the necessary papers from the Conferences to which they belong. We believe that Conference officers and ministers ought to set an example of good order. If a church should not receive a member from another church without a letter recommending him as a member, much less should a Conference receive as a minister a person coming from another Conference without a recommendation from that Conference as a minister. We have seen injury done to the cause on account of carelessness or imprudence in this respect. And it is not sufficient that the person bring a church letter. It often happens that a church may give a letter certifying that the bearer is a member in good standing, yet if the same person should apply for a letter recommending him as a preacher he could not get a vote in favor of it. Why, then, should another church, or another Conference, accept him as a preacher on his church letter? But if the person has had credentials as a minister, the case is no better. If his standing is good, and if there are sufficient reasons for moving from one State to another, he will have no difficulty in procuring a certificate from his Conference officers to that effect. And unless the person and his circumstances are well known, we believe that such a certificate should be required in all cases. Our people have found it advisable to consult the General Conference in regard to the removal of ministers, and we believe that this is the wise and prudent course. We are aware that some oppose this idea because (they say) it gives too much "authority" to that body. But we have no fears that our General Conference, or its officers, will act in a dictatorial or haughty spirit. It has not been so in the past. They have acted more as advisers than directors; and having the whole field under their constant inspection, they are better qualified to advise than any others. Besides the constitution makes them advisers in all such matters. We have never found any to complain in such cases except restless ones who do not take kindly to order or restraint; but we want order for their benefit as well as for others. "God is not the author of confusion." He has given us strict orders in his word concerning discipline, and laid upon the church the responsibility of maintaining it. And respect for the authority of God, and regard for the welfare of the churches, both demand that we should heed these orders. That First-Day Sabbath.
By Editor
IN a recent report of meetings in Pennsylvania, found in the Review and Herald, it was stated that opposers "secured the help of Dr. J. Litch and Elder Osler from the East to attack us." Also that Dr. Litch claimed "that in the Greek the first day was always called Sabbath." We are much surprised to read this statement. Dr. Litch must know that he was "handling the word of God deceitfully." The reason why we were particularly struck with this report is that he once made the same statement in the Advent Herald, the organ of the denomination with which he then stood and now stands connected. This was in 1851, when Sylvester Bliss was editor of the Herald. Mr. Litch accused the seventh-day people of a want of candor in saying that the first day is never in the Scriptures called the Sabbath, and referred to the Greek of Matt. 28:1, etc. Mr. Bliss was an accomplished scholar, both in Hebrew and Greek, and he was also a man of more than usual candor; for it too often happens that disputants will pervert or evade the truth in order to overcome an opponent. To the assertion of Mr. Litch, the editor, Mr. Bliss, appended the following note:— REMARKS.—Lest any should gather from the above that the word 'Sabbath' is represented by the phrase 'first day of the week,' we add that 'Sabbath' is simply translated 'week' in those texts—other words indicating the day of the week. The word 'Sabbath' is originally a Hebrew word, and signifies rest; but occurring at regular intervals, by a metonymy it became significant of the periods separated by these rests. So that we have the seventh day of the rest, and the first day of the rest, week, or Sabbath.—ED. Mr. Bliss was a keeper of the first day, but he could not let such a false statement as that made by Mr. Litch pass uncorrected. And now for Mr. Litch489to reiterate the statement does not speak well for his conscience. We see by a note in the Christian Advocate of San Francisco that the man whose errors we pointed out on this subject proposes to refer the question to the faculty of a college for decision, and inquires if the editor of the SIGNS will agree to this proposition! It struck us as being singular that he should consider it necessary to ask our consent to submit it to a college faculty. But if that is what he wants, he has it, given most heartily. We have in our possession the decision of a college faculty in the East to whom the same question was submitted. They were all Sunday-keepers, but they decided against the Sunday-Sabbath view on those passages, as every scholar is bound to do. We shall anxiously wait for the decision of the faculty on this coast, and when it appears, we will also publish the other. We may also give a more extended collation of the testimony of versions, lexicons, and commentaries, than we gave before. We hope to see that decision soon. THE people of this busy age resemble the Athenians of many years ago, who "spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear, some new thing." Acts 17:21. Spiritualism has been before the American people more than a third of a century, and is so well known that it has ceased to be a novelty, and for this reason attracts less attention than it did some years ago, when its believers were comparatively few in number, and when it was doing little in the way of presenting convincing phenomena compared to what it is doing at present. We have no doubt that many of our readers will be surprised at the statement that Spiritualism was never so active in presenting evidences of its reality, never so successful in making converts, as at the present time. Another reason why Spiritualism makes so little noise in the world is that it meets with very little opposition. Its main doctrine—the immortality of the soul—is one of the most cherished dogmas of the age, and many who are not prepared to accept all its teachings and conclusions, declare it is "a beautiful theory," "a beautiful belief," and are all ready to yield to its fullest claims whenever it presents evidences which appeal to their sensibilities. They believe in everything which makes communication with their dead friends possible, and Satan has a thousand ways to make them believe it is actual. In the early stage of Spiritualism there was no one who exerted a wider influence than Warren Chase. But he was dogmatic in atheism, and in his opposition to marriage as a legal or ecclesiastical rite; and these views are not as popular amongst Spiritualists as they were years ago. From the first, we have believed that it would achieve its greatest and final triumph in the garb of religion, and everything is tending in that direction at the present time. Dr. Peebles is exerting as strong an influence as any Spiritualist, and he is decided in favor of the religious phase. Soon after he embraced Spiritualism, he became a free-thinker, and spoke disparagingly of the Bible. In a recent letter he says:— "Reviewing my earlier productions, I am frank to confess that they contain paragraphs and passages that I would gladly expunge, but I wrote the best I then knew." Now he is among the foremost to advocate the religious phase of Spiritualism. He says his pamphlet entitled, "Christ the Corner-Stone of Spiritualism," has had a sale of over 21,000 copies. It will be of interest to every one to know in what light he holds Christ. The following words show:— "Close thinkers make the proper distinction between Jesus, the physical man—called our 'Elder Brother,' and who, to use apostolic language, was 'made perfect through suffering'—and Christ the 'Way, the Truth, and the Life.' To this Christ—the living Christ of God—my soul clings." It is to be regretted that there is in the churches, among church members, so much superficial, fashionable, vain religion, that goes no deeper than a profession, and has no clearly defined and thoroughly grounded faith in the word of God. With the mass of such this declaration of Mr. Peebles would be accepted as a mark of genuine Christian faith. Where the "mystical" or "spiritual" meaning of the Bible is sought for to the exclusion of the literal; where literalism is scouted as "materialism," the rejection of "Jesus, the physical man," would be overlooked, if Christ, the way, the truth, and the life—the living Christ of God—were accepted. And they would no doubt raise the question in astonishment: "Why not? Is it not sufficient to accept Christ as the way, the truth, and the life, the living Christ of God?" We say, No; not if he is rejected as that Jesus who was made perfect through suffering. The Scriptures allow of no such distinction as that made by Dr. Peebles. Paul said he was determined to know nothing among them but "Christ and him crucified." But this is not the Christ of "Christian Spiritualism." Satan exults over a profession of Christianity which excludes the cross of Jesus of Nazareth; which does not rest upon the merits of that blood which cleanses—and which alone can cleanse—from all unrighteousness. In the death and resurrection of "Jesus, the physical man," the arch enemy saw the death of all his hopes, without the possibility of their revival. And it well suits his purpose to turn away the minds of the people from this view of Christ, taking upon himself the nature of man, "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. Though Dr. Peebles professes that Christ is the corner-stone of Spiritualism, he well knows that it stands as firmly and securely without this corner-stone as with it. Speaking of his own opportunities of observation, and consequent ability to compile his contemplated book, "Thirty Years' Work in Spiritualism," he says:— "As I have personally witnessed the phenomena of both Spiritism and Spiritualism in its higher phases in the Occident and the Orient, in nearly all lands, civilized and savage, I can write of the demonstrations and their tendencies, of workers and their teachings, with some degree of authority." Spiritualism is the same in "all lands, civilized and savage," but until the last thirty years it was far better known in the savage than the civilized. It was always practiced among barbarous peoples. The Bible denounced it as heathenism, an abomination to the Lord, which brought the Lord's displeasure upon the nations in Canaan. Deut. 18:9-12, and others. When Mr. Peebles was traveling in Asia he said in his letters that he found Spiritualism existing everywhere. Almost all the superstitions of the Mongolians are founded upon the theory of the immortality of the soul, and the direct presence and aid of the spirits of the departed. Their conservatism, or opposition to innovations and improvements, grows out of a regard for these things. They expressed their fears that the railroad trains would frighten away the spirits of their ancestors; hence their determined opposition to their introduction. They deify the spirits of the dead. The Catholic doctrine of the "invocation of the saints," and "canonizing" the illustrious dead, is transplanted from heathenism. To this day both Catholics and Protestants accept the speculations and vagaries of Plato as the best proofs and arguments on the immortality of the soul. The Banner of Light of Aug. 2, 1884, contains an article on "Spiritual Phenomena in New Zealand." Speaking of some recent manifestations in a circle where several Maori chiefs were present, the report says:— "The natives were awe-struck, and talked together in their own tongue, calling to remembrance that which they had seen in their younger days. Before the missionaries came they always had communications with departed spirits; the missionaries, however, forbade it." The italics are given as found in the report. The professed Christians of the present generation, however, do not forbid it. The report is copied from the New Zealand Times, which says:— "At the present time circles have been formed everywhere throughout the districts. Some of the church people denounce the movement, but others of their body meet in secret conclave, and try to obtain the manifestations." From time to time we are receiving evidences that Spiritualism prevails very extensively in church circles, especially in the large cities, and among the more rich and fashionable congregations. Everything is tending in the direction of popularizing the "abomination," and so to enable it to speedily act the part which inspiration foresaw and recorded that it would act, both in church and State. Rev. 13:11-18. "Another Day."
By Uriah Smith
WE find these words in Heb. 4:8; and it is strange that any one should attempt to find in them proof for the change of the Sabbath, but so it is. Sunday is indeed "another day" from the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, but it is not the other day of this text, as can in a few words be shown. The verse reads: "For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day." The margin reads correctly, Joshua instead of Jesus; and the reference is to the only "rest" which Joshua ever gave to the children of Israel, which was the rest in the land of Canaan to which he brought them. The "other day" is therefore brought in contrast with the rest in Canaan, not with the weekly rest of the Sabbath. If Joshua had tried to give them the rest of the seventh-day Sabbath and failed, then another day being spoken of it might perhaps refer to the first-day Sabbath. But nothing of this kind is brought to view in the chapter. The rest which remains, of verse 9, is not the observance490of a weekly Sabbath here upon the earth; but if it did refer to that, even if it was the first-day Sabbath, as some claim, then it was still future in the year 64, when Paul wrote this epistle to the Hebrews; for it still "remained" before them, and Christians were exhorted to beware of unbelief lest they should thereby fail to enter into it. The teaching of this portion of Scripture, beginning with the seventh verse of the previous chapter, briefly described, is this:— God has purposed that the human race, after their probation is ended, shall enter into a heavenly rest like the rest into which he entered when he had finished the work of creation. In Canaan he gave to the people a type of this heavenly rest. The history of the Israelites in journeying to that rest was an example of the spiritual experiences of all who are seeking the heavenly rest. Some of the Israelites failed to enter into the rest of Canaan, through unbelief. Just so, many professing to be Christians will fail to enter into the heavenly rest, the antitypical Canaan, through the same sin. God's rest which he has promised that his people shall finally enter, dates from the seventh day of the first week of time; and this explains the reference to the seventh day of verse 4 of chapter 4. It simply gives an idea of the nature of God's rest, and the point from which it dates. Into such a rest as God then enjoyed, blissfully contemplating all his works and pronouncing them very good, he has purposed that his people shall enter when they have finished the period of their probation. And he has waited from generation to generation for the number to be made up which should enter therein; namely, the destined number to inhabit the earth when it shall be redeemed. Isa. 45:18. One generation passed, and the number was not made up, so the invitation went to the next. That passes, a few receive the offers of mercy, the number is not made up, and the invitation is still extended to generations in the future. If it had been completed under the Mosaic dispensation, and with that people whom God then called, the work would have closed. But so many of them proved apostate, that "after so long a time," another day, or dispensation, is set apart in which we have the privilege of hearing his voice if we harden not our hearts. This is the day that was spoken of by David. It refers to the whole gospel dispensation, in which the invitations of mercy are going to the Gentiles. The heavenly rest is still before us. The "promise is left us" of entering into it on certain conditions. But we are exhorted to fear lest we shall come short of this through unbelief, as the Israelites failed to gain the typical rest in Canaan. It may be thought that two or three expressions demand more particular notice, to harmonize them with the view here advanced. Verse 3: "For we which have believed do enter into rest." The entering into rest is after the work of believing is all done. We do not enter into rest until after we "have believed," or have finished our course of belief. Some translate this passage thus: "For we which believe are to enter into rest." Verse 10: "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." This shows us that no man enters into this rest in this present state. He does not enter it until after his work of probation is done. For here we are constantly engaged in working out our salvation with fear and trembling. But when we enter into the heavenly rest, we shall then have ceased from all this work, as God ceased from his on the seventh day of creation. Neither the subject nor the language of this chapter has any reference to the weekly Sabbath, except the allusion in verse 4 to the first seventh day of time, which was to show us when God's rest commenced, and the nature of that rest into which we are to enter if we continue faithful to the end. MANY people, when reproved for an improper word or action, excuse or justify themselves by saying, "It is my way." Is this a proper ground for justification? Let us see what the Scriptures say about it. The Lord says, "Amend your ways." Jer. 7:3. If our ways are not right they should be amended, and not justified. The weeping prophet says, "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord." Lam. 3:40. The Lord calls upon us to consider our ways. Hag. 1:5, 7. By careful consideration our ways may not appear excusable. But the fact that certain ways are our own ways should be no excuse for retaining them, but rather a reason for rejecting them. If we would honor God, we should not do our own way. Isa. 58:13. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." Isa. 55:8. Of the wicked he says, "Destruction and misery are in their ways." Rom. 3:16. In pleading with Israel he says, "Thou shalt remember thy ways and be ashamed." Eze. 16:61. The psalmist asks, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" and the answer is given, "by taking heed thereto according to thy word." Ps. 119:9. His own experience is given in verse 104: "Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way." The law of God is a detecter of false ways, therefore we should test all our ways by it. If they are not in harmony with this rule, let us not extenuate nor follow them, but "ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein." Jer. 6:16. The Missionary.
By S. N. Haskell
Bible-Readings in City Missions.
THE city missions were entered upon less than a year ago as an experiment; but they have already been established in quite a number of our leading cities. There are scarcely any two of them where those in charge adopt precisely the same method of carrying forward the work, and the question to be solved is, Which method will be productive of the most good? We hear very encouraging reports from Buffalo and Syracuse, N. Y., also from other cities West. Hundreds of subscribers for the Signs have already been taken in the city of Buffalo; a few have embraced the Sabbath, and many more are interested. We also hear encouraging reports from Boston. It is evident that no one method can be adopted in every city with the same success. And yet there are certain principles which will apply to all places. The plan which as yet has seemed to be most successful is that of holding Bible-readings in families, and obtaining subscribers for the Signs, delivering them each week and receiving pay for them when delivered, at five cents per copy. The papers are also sold in public parks, depots, and wherever the people are accessible. To those who become interested our tracts and pamphlets are sold. Bound books do not sell so readily in the Eastern cities as in the West. The following is an extract of a letter just received from the Boston mission:— "Have you any tracts in Swedish? If so, please send us an assortment. There is a family of Swedes where we hold Bible-readings who are going to keep the Sabbath. They want to know how to show it to others, so, as they said last Sunday, 'When we take away what people believe we can give them something better.' We hope to have them doing missionary work. They are two young ladies—dress-makers. We held a Bible-reading with them and they said after we left, the Sabbath came home to them 'so sharp' they could hardly wait to keep it. Please send something in Swedish, Danish, or Norwegian. "We have sold over one hundred copies of the Signs in a week past, at five cents per copy. Bro. — and myself sold over thirty, Sunday morning on the Common. We have been selling old papers which we had loaned and taken up. After we get all these odds and ends disposed of, I hope to call on you to increase our club. "Our Bible-readings in families are becoming intensely interesting. Several seem to be brought right to the deciding point. It seems as though we had led some of these just as far as we know how to lead them; and we feel a great responsibility rests upon us to know how to make them feel the importance of obeying the truth. Some of these persons will be a great help to us if they will take their stand with us. "We have had to give up for the present the Wednesday night meeting at the mission, in order to keep up the appointments in families; have one Bible-reading every night, and three on Sundays. Then we have one every morning among ourselves; so you see we get some drill on the Bible. "Hope we shall have your prayers for God's blessing to attend the work here. We are all working hard and wishing we could do ten times as much. Please send Present Truth one year to —. Send a set of charts on rollers. A gentleman who was here yesterday wants to buy them." These Bible-readings embrace more than a single family. Sometimes they are held with the family during the first visit, then an appointment is left for another, when the family themselves invite in their neighbors. In this way the families become interested for their neighbors, and not unfrequently there will be from five to fifteen in attendance at each Bible-reading. They sit around a large table, each one with a Bible, and all turn to the various texts. Questions are asked and the Bible explained, or rather texts are quoted so that the Bible explains itself. On Sabbath and Sunday, there are public social meetings or readings at the mission rooms. Bible-readings are also held on board the ships. Some of our sisters are quite as successful in holding Bible-readings as our brethren. There is no reason why there should not be a hundred of them acting as colporters, visiting from house to house and holding Bible-readings, where there are now but ten. But it is not every one who can hold a successful Bible-reading. It is as important that our brethren be instructed how to do this successfully as it is doing missionary work of any kind. Some will naturally adapt themselves to it, while others need a special drill to prepare them to give the readings acceptably. There are many who have engaged in the missionary work in the past, and given up discouraged because they failed of having success; when, had they felt the importance of being instructed by some person of experience before they commenced, they would have had success. One thing is certain, God is with his truth, and he will help those who not only feel their need of him but feel the importance of qualifying themselves to labor in the best manner. The Lord seems to be blessing the work in Worcester, Mass. The Bible-readings are also made prominent at that place. For all of these things we thank God and take courage. Ashland, Oregon.
By Charles L. Boyd
This is a town of about 1,500 inhabitants. A series of meetings was commenced at this place about seven years ago, but sickness prevented the completion of the work. Through the advice of the brethren from California, arrangements were made at the camp-meeting to come here with the tent. We commenced meetings August 1. Our tent is pitched in a pleasant grove in a convenient part of town. The people are being persistently warned against coming to the tent; nevertheless, they do come. Our congregation averages from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty. Mrs. Boyd and Bro. John Burden are assisting in the work. We ask the prayers of those who desire the advancement of the truth. Encouraging Words.
By Editor
The following is from one of the old-time believers in the Third Angel's Message. Our prayer also is that God will tenderly lead the remaining ones of the "little flock" who embraced the present truth when the work was so small that worldly-minded people would not recognize it. May they have faith and patience to hold out till the crown is given. "I would say: We are highly interested in the SIGNS and hail it with joy. The good old SIGNS! how can we do without it? Our fervent prayers ascend to Heaven for you, upon whom the burden of the work falls so heavily, that you may be sustained and guided all the way through to the end of this great and good work. In much love,
Mankato, Minn. Washington Morse." The Missionary Spirit.
By M. L. HUNTLEY
It is an exalted privilege to bear some part in the work of God. It is the highest honor that can be conferred upon man in his fallen condition. As the result of personal transgression, every power of man's being has become demoralized and weakened. The fact that God does accept efforts, when put forth in a proper spirit, while in this fallen condition, shows unbounded mercy and condescension on the part of our Creator, notwithstanding much that is professedly done for Christ's sake is not acceptable to him. Therefore, an understanding of what constitutes acceptable service is of the utmost importance. The outward acts of the Pharisee who went up into the temple to pray, so far as we can judge, are not worthy of censure. Doubtless it was his duty to do these very things, yet his service was not pleasing to God; while the poor publican, who perhaps had committed grievous sins, found acceptance. Also, it was the duty of the rich men to cast much into the treasury, notwithstanding the poor widow's offering was of far greater value in the sight of the Lord than all that they had done. The lesson here taught is not that those only who are poor, and such as the world does not esteem, can find favor with God; but that he regards the state or condition of the heart more than the outward acts. It was the motive which actuated these individuals that rendered their efforts, although insignificant in themselves, acceptable to him. Had those who did much possess the same spirit, their services would also have been acceptable. There are motives unseen by man, and underlying every act of life, which God regards. He reads the heart, and sees not as man seeth. The apostle refers to this principle when he says that, though he should give all his goods to feed the poor, and his body to be burned, if he had not charity it would profit him nothing. It is the spirit that is drawn out for others' good, that labors not for earthly reward, but for the salvation of their fellow-men, that is of value in the sight of God. This spirit is everywhere seen in the life of Christ. It is what led him to come into this dark world, and sustained him in the hours of fearful temptation and terrible agony which he endured. It is the same spirit which prompted those who have left all that was dear and desirable to them to go to heathen lands to spend and be spent in the service of God. Many have seemed to think that such earnestness, zeal, devotion, and self-denial as have been manifested in the lives of sacrificing missionaries were only necessary in instances of great responsibility; but it is the spirit of Christ, and without it we are none of his. The importance of the present time demands that every individual who accepts the light of present truth should possess this sacrificing spirit to a large degree. Children should be educated in it. The responsibility and the importance of the work of those who in time past have thus gone to foreign lands, does not equal that of ours. A life-time is short to devote to the service of God, but when only a few years remain in which so much is to be done, the importance of rightly improving every day cannot be expressed. This spirit prompts to constant action. It cannot rest in inactivity. It will labor long and suffer much, even though its efforts may seem to be fruitless, and although it may meet with almost insurmountable difficulties, and the effort to overcome them may wring from the soul prayers and tears of anguish; but it brings no rest, no reprieve, until the work is done. The dungeon and the stake have been arrayed against it in vain. From the inner prisons and upon couches of suffering it has spoken words of eloquence and power which have resounded through the earth; and sung hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God that melted the stony hearts of those who heard. It has no part nor lot with that kind of voluntary humility which pleads unworthiness and inability as an excuse for not bearing burdens in the work of God, when at the same time the business of this world is performed readily and with success. It rather exclaims, Here, Lord, am I; send me. Not one-twentieth is accomplished that might be if all possessed the spirit of sacrificing labor. As the man of this world watches for opportunity to increase his wealth, and takes advantage of every favorable circumstance, so should opportunities for missionary labor be sought out and improved. The providence of God has so arranged it that every one can have a part in his work, and what each individual does is valued in proportion to the ability he possesses to do, and the motive that actuates him in doing it. What, then, can be said for those who consider themselves or anything they possess too good to devote to a cause like this. It is worthy of the best affections of the heart; and could we rightly view the blessedness of enlisting our interests in the cause of Christ, we should be led to exclaim, “What shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits to us!” Truly, it is a condescension on the part of God, and an exalted privilege to us, that we are permitted to bear some humble part in the work of God upon the earth. M. L. HUNTLEY.