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thing. Freedom for the sake of truth, freedom and truth for the sake of character,-these are the three great things which distinguish our Church, which constitute

our cause.

Now one or two practical suggestions. We ought to be proud of this cause. We ought to be enthusiastic. in contemplating it. It is God's cause. No angel in the universe can do any grander thing than we are called upon to do, to help people find the truth, to help them live the right life. If we can only do that, the burdens of the world will be taken off, and all will find blessedness and righteousness. It is the cause, then, of humanity. If you decline to help on this cause, what do you do? You take your stand in favor of the continuance in the world of pain, of disease, of vice, of crime, of dishonesty, of corruption, of wars, of all the things that burden and afflict the world. He that is not with us, said Jesus, is against us. The man who does not vote, votes for the wrong side. sides, does take sides against the good. He cannot help himself. This, then, is the great cause of humanity. What ought you to do about it? to it.

The man who does not take

Commit yourself

No great thing
If we

There is money One of the papers

Then there is a very practical matter. can be carried on in this world without means. are going to carry on this great cause of ours, we need money. Our missionary body in Boston needs ten times the amount of money which it receives. enough. I only suggest the need here. said recently that the churches are all beggars. They are not. When I ask you not to give me money, but to use a part of your money to help on the cause of humanity, the deliverance of the world from its evils, do I beg? I simply point out to you not only the path of duty, but what ought to be the path of privilege. Is your money yours? There are several possible ways

of getting money, either by being endowed by God with unusual faculties for accumulating money or by inheri tance, or by a dozen other ways. But there is no personal merit in it at all. You did not make yourself, you did not make your conditions. The civilization of the world, the efforts of mankind from the beginning, have created the industrial, the commercial conditions which make it possible to-day for people to get money. That money is yours in trust. I ask you to use some of it to help God, who gave it to you in his work of saving men, through whose ministry he helped you to get it. There is one thing I cannot understand. I see men who are represented as believing in hell who possess thousands-nay, millions of dollars; and they give little fragments of it here and there. Think of it! Think of it!! Think of it!!! Men pouring like a cataract moment by moment into the abyss while people are playing, amusing themselves, spending money on follies, on automobiles, on yachts, on all sorts of things, when they might save some soul! Why, it is infamous, it is inhuman! If people appreciate what it means, they must do one of two things, either give up their belief or give up their money, one of the two. We do not believe that, of course; but we do believe that the world is groaning and travailing in its burden of suffering and sorrow and wrong, and we can do something to help. Do it, then!

And now at the end, my last suggestion. Give time, give consideration, give sympathy. A great many people act as if they had hired a minister to do all the religious work of the parish for them, and, when they have paid the bills, they are released. Do those things that need to be done yourselves. If they do not need to be done, then let us abandon the church. If they should be done, whose business is it to do them? Is it mine? Of course it is. Is it any more mine than it is yours? No! If it is anybody's business to help the

our cause.

world, it is everybody's business to do it, so far as he is able. Let us, then, co-operate. Let us appreciate Let us see its dignity, its nobility, its importance. Let us co-operate together, and co-operate with God.

Dear Father, we give ourselves afresh to Thee this morning. Help us to understand a little what it means. Let us feel how great a thing it is. Let us understand a little of its importance. And then let us give ourselves, our money, our time, our thought, our effort, and so help Thee to help the world.

Amen.

LIFE'S DARK PROBLEMS

OR

Is This a Good World?

BY

MINOT J. SAVAGE, D.D.

Crown Octavo, net, $1.35 (By mail, $1.50)

CONTENTS

The Answer of Job; Some Theological Answers; The Divine Government; Pain; Life's Incompleteness; Moral Evil; Death; Accidents and Calamities; Mental Disease and Decay; Is God a Father?

In these chapters the author discusses at length the principal ones of life's dark problems. He does not undertake to answer all the questions which any one might ask, nor does he feel under obligation to do this. He holds, as all reasonable persons must, that to the finite mind an infinite universe must always be a mystery. All men need is solid standing ground under their feet and light enough to take the next step in advance. In this spirit of modesty, then, he attemps to say none of these difficulties is utterly overwhelming, but that in spite of them there is reason to trust in God and look forward with most inspiring hope to the future.

The book ought to be helpful to those who are inclined to hold pessimistic views of the universe, or who are crushed and helpless under specific burdens of their own.

NEW YORK

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

LONDON

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No better gift books than the above “Hymns" and "Poems," being specially adapted for the holiday season, "Light on the Cloud" for time of bereavement and sorrow.

For sale by booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by

GEO. H. ELLIS CO., PUBLISHER,

272 CONGRESS ST., BOSTON.

104 EAST 20TH ST., NEW YORK.

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