^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. 1.0 I.I ill 1.8 1.25 1.4 ||l.6 ■• 6" — ► Hiotographic Sciences Corporation S A cF <^ >^ "fir O^ %^ >^^ (^:^ s Yet, like the work of the oxen, the work of th<; min- isters of the Ijospel is himitiU, There is nothing in it ouiwnrdly ntlraciivc. Though they have re, such biings devote ihemstlves exclusively to this work, it is plain that provision must be made for them. It might have been otherwise. Instead of men, God might have set apart angels to this work. Then, think of it ; there would have been no need of collections, or pew-rents, or weekly oflerings. There would have been no need of college endowment funds. Home mission, French evangelization and Foreign mission funds would cease to exist. There would be no aged and infirm ministers ; no widows and orphans needing our care. There would have been no need to attend so laboriously to the augmen- tation of stipends. Then the labourers would not have needed a cent. " Ah 1" I hear some one say, HOW GLORIOUS that would have been ! How freely would the Gospel have been preached 1 How much loore heavenly and spiritual ! How infinitely supi-riDr in every rcsiK'ct to the present conililion of things ! How much let- ter than this continual dunning of people for money ; this eternal cry of (iivc, jjive. give ;' this turning the pulpit into a begging box ! l)ur hands are never out of our iMKkcts. Stop, sir, stop ; I can listen to such tallc no longer. Let me asV you a few j)lain questions in all earnestness. Do you think (Jod is a fool ? Do you think He has made a huge mistake in arranging for the preaching of the (Jospel by men and not Dy angels ? Better tell Him that to His face ; but until you are prepared to do so, better hold your tongue, f.ye, and let not even your heart harbour for an mstant such an impious thought. Why is it that (lod has arranged for the preaching of His (jospel by beings compassed with infirmity, beings requiring material support P Is it because the angels think such work HENKATH TIIFIR UIONITY ? Nay, the highest angel in heaven would think it his gre test honour to stand in the place of the most obscure minister of the Ciospel, prearhing to the smallest audience in the world. Is it then because God cannot spare the angels from their higher duties ? Nay, there is in (jod's universe no duty or privilege higher than exalting the name of the only begotten .Son of Go'i as the Saviour of sinners. There is no work more pleasing to (]od the P'ather. The angels came v ith delight to roll the stone away from His sepulchre, and to fold the linen clothes in which His bo('y was wrapped. The smallest service for the Lord Jesus is a work excelling in glory. Is it then because God wishes ' is work to be done at AS CHKAP A KAIK AS HOSSIIU.K, and therefore puts part of the burden on us ? Perish the thought forever in the sight of the great sacrifice He has made, the unspeakalHe gift He has bestowed, even His own Son — dearer to Him than all things visible and invisible. What ! does the Almighty need our help ? Does the Creator of the ends of the earth need our money ? Nay, but He knows that 7oe need to. learn the God-like glory of giving, of giving for such a cause. He would have us children worthy of Himself, knowing that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Therefore, for our good, for our present and future blessedness, He has committed this ministry into human hands. This is part also of our spiritual training, an arrangement made for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. We might also come to this conclusion from think- ing on God's ways. If these are His servants, will He not see that they are paid ? If they are His soldiers, will He send them a warfare at their own charges ? If they are His oxen, will He muzzle them ? If He takes care for oxen, much more will He take care for the ministers of His Gospel. And the remembrance of God's past arrangements makes us come to the same conclusion. When He set apart one of the twelve tribes to attend to spiritual matters, He made liberal provision for them. He £,ave them cities to live in, fields for their cattle, a tenth part of the produce of the fields of their brethren, and in addition urged His people to remember them with s|>ecial gifts in seasons of thankfulness. • HAS GOD GROWN LESS GENEROUS? Is He less interested in the support of these men whom He has ordained to preach the Gospel to every creature in the world than He WM in the cupport oif I those whom He had ordained to conserve the truth I in Canaan till His .Son should come? Is He less J anxious about thosf who are torch-bearers to every i land ol darkness than He was about those who trim- med the lamp and ke|)t it burning in that little I land ? Nay, He is the same yesterday, to-day, and I for ever. j Hut, apart altogether from such inferences as these, j we have I TIIK PLAIN DECLARATION, "They which minister about holy things live of the I things of the temple, and they which wait at the altar I are partakers with the altar. £ven so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel." This is a matter which (iod has thus ordained ; therefore, if any find fault, let him know that he finds fault with (iod. Hence, also we have the plain command, " Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth in every g(V)d thing." Nothing could be more plain and emphatic. And remember, it is in connection with this commandment that we have tb; solemn warning, " He not deceivetl ; God is not r. locked ; for what- soever a man soweth, that shall h.' also reap." With how many is the support of the ministry A MERE MOCKERY ? The Rev. Newman Hall tells the following : " I remember once dining at the h<;use of a wealthy mer- chant, who, though he loved the house of God, was not remarkable for generous contributions, and who said to me across the table that his thoughts had wandered at church in the morning service by calcu- lating that during thirty years he had paid in pew rent upwards of £y>o {$1,500). It was, perhaps, rude in me, but my spirit was stirred to reply : ' Less sir, than for blacking the shoes of your household.' After a pause, he« frankly said: 'That is true !' I heard no more of the payment of pew rent as a sign of generosity." How many think if their own minister is fairly supported their responsibilities cease, as if their little corner of the vineyard constituted the whole Church of Christ. One of the saddest sights in any church, and one of the most hurtful, is the .selfishness of a numerous and well-to-do congregation. Not only does it withhold the money which is sorely needed, but its evil example is imitated and its selfish policy adopted by others, to the hindrance of Christian fruitfulness. Little do they dream what mischief they may do in the heritage of the Lord. A large tract of land in Glengarry, Ontario, has been rendered utterly useless by 'the introduction of one floiuer into the garden of a Roman Catholic bishop there. From one little plant with a beautiful blue flower, it has multiplied into millions and overrun thou.sands of acres, utterly destroying their fruitfulness ; and so the people now call it THE bishop's CURSK. Selfishness in any strong congregation is like that weed, and if it is not utterly rooted out will work fearful havoc in the whole Church. The bishop's curse is nothing to it. The strong need to be re- minded that they must bear the burdens of the weak, and so fulfil the law of Christ. I was once talking with a farmer on this subject, and as he did not seem to be particularly clear about it, I asked him if he could repeat the Shorter Catechism " Yes," said he ; "I learned it when a hoy, and I have not forgot il iserve the truth ic? Is He less >earcrs to every those who trim- ; in that little ay, to-day, and :rences as these, ngs live of the vait at the altar 7 hath the Lord • Gospel should which (iod has fault, let him lence, also we hat is taught in cheth in every lore plain and onnection with :)!emn warning, ced ; for what- ) reap." With y following : "I a wealthy mer- 5e of God, was ions, and who thoughts had rvice bj^ calcu- 1 paid in pew was, perhaps, red to reply : hoes of your said: 'That ment of pew lister is fairly if their little hole Church any church, Ifishness of a Not only urely needed, selfish policy of Christian mischief they large tract of lered utterly ver into the here. From lower, it has thousands of and so the is like that t will work he bishop's ;d to be re- of the weak, snce talking lid not seem him if he ' Yes," said re not foigot Jit yet." ••Well," I said, "let me hear you answer Ithis (luestion : 'What is required in the eighth com- Imanclmcn- .>' " He began to repeat the words, " The fighlh commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of our- selves-" " Stop," I said ;" Is that all the answer?" f ' No," he replied " there are other two words—' and \thcrs: " " But don't most people put a full stop after [•ourselves,' and never dream that in order to obey Tlhe eighth commandment they have to think of others »s well as themselves?" "T».at is true," he an- Swere., for the maintenance ind spread of the Gospel, oh, how niggardly ! In how many cases is there spent on the ministry of the ^Gospel less than a tithe of what is s[)ent on USKI.KSS LUXURIES OR HURTKUI, INDULGENCES ! ^re you among the number of these ? Well, friend, BOW on. Sow as you please ; but remember " God is Inot mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall Ihe also reap. He that soweth to the flesh shall [of tlie flesh reap corruption." * The support of the ministry being (Jod's ordinance, I it is not to be looked upon either as a matter of charity or as a mere bargain. How many seem to think that the minister is a genteel beggar, with a threadbare I black coat, to whom it is a charity to toss a morsel [out of their superfluity. How many seem to think [that the minister is a man in their employment — a 'Who can doubt that if a tenth part of what is now spent I by some of our chi'rch members on tobacco, sweets, and amuse- muntj (to say nothing of intoxicating drinks) were set apart for I the Aupport of the ministry we would have more than enough I to give every minister of our Church $ 1,000 a year and manse, ' and who would be any the worse for it ? Some of our mem- bers would stare in astonishment if asked to give Stno to start this fund, and yet they are able to give thuir chitdren ioyt worth $100 or more — and their friends a femst for which it would Cake many a boor minister a quarttr'i labury to pay ; and we are brethren i servant, to whom they have given a situation, with a promise of so much pay for so much work.* How then are we to lof)k upon this support ? It is simply as circumstances allow, a falling in with AN AKKANC.EMENT ^ which our Father has made for the carrying on of that work with which is linked the highest goixl of tlie human soul. Mut when we speak of these things, some who profess to be exceedingly spiritual jioint to the Apostle Paul, and tell us that he did not live of the (iospel, but, instead, laboured with his own hands to support himself and friends. True, we leply. This is just the exception that proves the rule. Paul sta'cs very emphatically that he ha » li *1 I ! do you service." Agnin nnd ogain he gladly recei' ed money (rom the |M»or but Iwluveii brethren in I'iiil- iupi. What a deli(;htrul {{low of thankfulness is tiiere in that letter he writes to them (lom Rome, acknowledging their gifts. The money spent hy these pool disciples on I'aul the aged, and prisoner of Jess, I would," and he did give me a very good bone. This idea was the seed of the parable with which this closes." *I once heard a bcotchuiun who had prospered remarkably, and who was worth a gi^eat deal of money, but who was by no mean^ noted for liberality, say the following to a friend in reference to giving : " Man, Aleck, a'm no gude at coontin. When I gaed to schiile I began wi' adeeshin, and I ikive been Icarnin't •' my life. I hae twe come to liubktracshin yet.'' He willioon. This support of the ministry slioidd be generous. WE DO NOT desire RICHES for ministers. We have much sympathy with what lulward Irving said to a young minister in an ordina- tion charge: ''Oh, if thou shouldst become rich; oh, if thou shouldst die rich, I will be ashamed of thee." And we do not fear poverty. However ungenerous the support given to the ministers of the Ciospel, the work will go on. .Sec, is this a true minister of Christ Jesus ! Feed him with bread and water. Clothe Inm in sheepskins and goatskins. House him in dens and caves of the earth. Do you stop his work? l)o you shut his mouth? Nay. Hear his cry : " Necessity is laid on me, yea, woe is unto me if I |)re.ich not the (iospel." Hut while we ha' e no desire for riches, and no despair from poverty, yet we maintain that the support of the minister of the (Jospel should be generous. Why? Hecause of the jirotracted training he has to go through before he can be called to one of our weakest congregations ? He- cause of his capacity and attainments, and the money value of these in any ordinary occupation ? I might give these and many such as sufficient reasons, but I purposely forbear. Instead, I would answer, he should be generously supported Inicause of HIS POSITION IN .SOCIETY. He belongs to no class cf society. Like the Gospel he preaches, he is equally related to all — high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant ; therefore, he should be in such a position as to be able to approach the richest, as well as the poorest, and to be approachable by the poorest, as well as by the richest ; and above all he should be raised above humiliating and ensnaring dependence on individuals.* I would also say it should be generous FOR THE SAKE OF HIS WORK. It will be better done if he is raised above distracting cares. How can a man concentrate all his energies on this high work when he does not know how to make ends meet. How can he preach from the text, " Owe no man anything," when, through no fault of his, perhaps, but through culpable carelessness on the part of his people, he has a heavy account with this one and iiat one in his audience? In the columns of the Canada Presbyterian, the following appeared some time ago : "A lady, a member of Dr. John tlall's church in New York, was asked why she always went to hear Dr. Hall wherever he spoke, and she answered : It does me good to sit under him. Dr. Hall is just like a great sunbeam." " Yes," said the editor, $10,000 a year and a little army of willing workers will go a long way to produce a sunbeam spirit ; but it is hard for a minister to write a sunbeam sermon while he hears his wife scrape the bottom of the flour barrel in the next room." This witness is true. It would have been miserable economy to muzzle the ox, and it is MISERABLE ECONOMY to pinch the minister. Are there any muzzled oxen * A friend in England once told me the following : He was to preach in a little country town, in a church which was looking out for a minister. Just before poing into the pulpit, an office- bearer, by way of giving him a hmt as to how he should conduct himself, taid : " You kno* if you do not preach so as tu please the people who sit in such and xuch a pew, you can't get on lid be GBNRROUS. : economy to muzzled oxen in our church, i. *,^ are there nny minUter* not ade- quately supported ? There is alraut one minister out of every three in the western section of our Church who receives less than $750 a year, and mo*t of these [have to keep a horse otf these small silarie* in order I to do their work. Fancy such a minister walking into a bookseller's store. He takes up a lMM)k and looks at it ; he peeps into another; he read* the titles of a great many. The bookseller comes up to him ; politely points out this new work aii;j'l salary, say to some friends, in presence of his wife, "Well, as to small salaries, I must say this, when I tiegan life in a city with $1,000 a year, I was just as comfortable then as I am to-day." " If you were, I was not," his wife in- stantly replied. He had been in the habit of giving her all his money, and, therefore, the whole burden of making ends meet had fallen on her shoulders, and so, if he did not know the difTerence that a good income made, she did. To give another illustration of how much the Church owes to the ministers' wives, who are in many cases splendid chancellors of the exchequer : I was once dining with a country brotlier, in presence of his nice large family, lie had been in his charge for over twenty years, and had never all that time received over $500, and hid a horse and buggy and sleigh to keep oil" that. Sniilin;;ly he asked if I could guess how old his coat was. It was a very good coat, and I felt inclined to say two years, but I professed my inability to do so, and was just as glad I did, for he •Our riclier members could do a great deal of good at com- paratively little expense by giving gifts of books to many ministers in our we.iker charges, or, better still, by establishing a session library in all our congregations, rich and poor alike, for the use of the minister. As one who once possessed such a library, I can testify to its immense benefits. We h.tve S. S. Libraries and Congregational Libraries. Why shoul 1 there not also be a .Ses iion Library in connection with every Church 1 One of the best of these I have seen w.is in a Manse in a sea coast town in Scotland. The minister who occupied the Manse has since then attained great eminence as an exegete. Was there no connection between his valuable critical laUjurs and that library? told me that it was twenty years old. It was the coat in which he wss married. Yes, I thought . and what carefulness and diligent housekeeping does this fact imply ? CAN WK no ANVTItlNO to remove the scandalous condition of things that exists ? If we had $J5,ooo |>er annum achlitional to what is now bemg raised, we could give each minister in the western section t)f the Church $750 per annum and a manse. The Cieneral Assembly thinks this should and could be done. The question may \tc fairly a'iked, are the aid-receiving ctuigregations doing what they might be expected to do? And the answer is, they arc d(ung better than the self-supporting congregations. Last year, aid-receiving congregations contributed for ministeri.al stipend at the r.ale of $7. IS per communi- cant, whereas theself-supportingiontiibuted at the rate of $4.90 jvr communicant for the same purpose. Were the self-.iupporting tti contribute ft>r ministerial siip- port at the rate of the aid-receiving, they would raise $150,000 more than they are now doing Would it be unreasonable then to expect them to raise the whole $35,000 additional, required for this work ? In presenting this matter to ditTerenl congregations, I have received much encouragement, and have come to the conclusion that the matter reiiuires only to l)e fairly stated to elicit a hearty response. After stating the rase as in the preceding pages, one gen- tleman, unsolicited, |)rt)mise 1 $200 for the first year to launch the scheme. A lady sent me a ci^etiu" for $150. Another gentleman sent me a letter contain- ing a $100 bill, with directions not to le: his namir be known, but to forward it to the most muzzled minister I knew. A boy sent me $2.00 out of his pocket- UKjney, and a servant girl, probably newly out from the Old Country, gave me two sixpences. These are a few instances out of many that could be stated. If a like spirit was general, the thing could lie easily accomplished ; for after all it is not great in itself - not ijreat as compared with our ability. Vet in another sense, it is great. It is great in regard to the amount of good which this money would accom- plish. Think how many cares and hardships and privations it would abolish ; how much sunshine it would bring to those who, though never comjilaining, have a weary struggle to maintain from year to year. Surely we dare not say in regard to this work, "Am I my brother's keeper ?" Some thertv may be who have no heart for this work, who will never be at a loss to excuse themselves, and say in the most crabbed of accents, "I will not give you a cent"; but there are others who, like a good lady, whom we met, will ask with pain, " Why did you not tell us this before, that we might put an end to such a scandal .■'" Only let each one lay this matter before the Lord, and all will be well. For our encourage- ment and warning, let me conclude with A I'ARABLE. There was a certain rich man'iwhose name was Nabal, and his fields brought forth abumlantly. Now, it came to pass in the time of harvest, that he rose early, and went to one of his threshing floois, and, seeing the ox eat of the ears of grain which he wa.s treading out, it grieved him sore, and he said to his servant, "Why this waste? Take a muzzle and bind it on the mouth of the ox, that my substance be not wasted." And the servant did as he was commanded, and Nabal went his way. Now, about I Boon, Aihel, the rich neishbour of Ntbal, paued by. and the Mrvant intreated him laying. " My matter hai commanded me to muule the ox, and he ii very faint, for the sun i* hot and the work it heavy ; per- mit me, I pray thee, to take him to thy rich pasture for one hour, that he may eat and drink and be refresheii." And Ashel was wroth, and his counten- ance fell, and he nald, " Must I make Nobal rich ? Is it reason that I should waste my sul)stance in fat- tening his oxen ? Nay, verily. Bring him not to any of my fields." And when he went away angry, the heart i)( that servant was sad, for he grieved because of the (^. And a poor man, Hesed, drew nigh ond said, "Grieve not because of this. Behold I nave a little pttch of grass and a well therein ; lead the ox thither, and lei him take his fill." And the servant said, " The blessing of the God of Israel, who spake bjr th« mouth of Moaet saying, ' Thou shah not muiilt the mouth of the ox that trtodeth out the corn,' rest upon thee and upon thy house, in ! that thou didst take compassion on the beat." So he passed bv the rich pastures of Ashel and led the , ox of Nkbal to the poor man's little field. Which of I these, therefore, Nalml, Ashel, Hesed. obeved the I law: "Thou shalt not muczle the mouth of the ox I that treadcth out the c orn ?" We have seen in what sense the Holy Ghost makes this law bin let it be. ny times and in t the suggestion it may deepen oing on. It is tily welcome to envelope, and ue. After the aneys thus sent n to our much I who read this Here is the >r the Church r edition is in lontreal, from MACKAY.