The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1857-10-17
From-the Banner of the Covenant.
Thoughts for the Church; or, how to
do our duty.

rich or poor, high or low, should not only
ask in all sincerity, "Lord, what wilt thor
have me to do 2" but should also strive -tc
learn in what way the work assigned him
can be most successfully performed. No
only during the solemnities of a communion
but at all times,--in the devotions of the
closet and of the sanctuary,-in the exer
cises of worship and in the activities OF dal'
ly work, our aim, as Christians, should be
to realize the truth, 81 am not my own, but
his who gave himself for me- Always liv-
ing by Christ, to live and labor for Hin
shall always be my highest duty and pures'
pleasure.
The spirit of true religion has an insepa-
rable connection with the activities Of true
religion. Our first aim must, of course, bt
to preserve the spirit of true godliness; but
with this must be its life and power daily
exemplifed in action.
Every day we pray, Thy kingdom come;
and we would Justly reprOach ourselves for
a single omission of this duty; but are we
as careful to actually do something daily to
make this kingdom Gomez Let us each test
our desire for Christ's glory by what we do
us well as say. There are too many IN the
Church like the West India woman. AT
missionary meetings she always sang most
heartily the missionary hymn; and usually,
when the collection-plate passed her, with
eyes upturned, she would sing. "Fly abroad,
thou mighty Gospel" yet she would give
nothing. The collector at length, yearied
by her conduct, one day touched her elbow
with his plate, saying, "Sister, it's no use
for you to sing, Ely abroad, mighty Cos
pel,' unless you give something to make it
fly"
We believe there are few of our people
who do not daily pray as Christ taught them,
and we say not, Cease your prayer, and
work, but Add more acork to yoor prayer.
Work and pray, and your work will give a
life and earnestness and feeling to prayer
such as it never had before. Giving is an
important part of worship. | am perfectly
sure our portion of the Church, though one
of the leaders in contributions of men and
money to the cause of missions, is not doing
one-tenth of what it can easily do, and OF
course what it is our solemn duty to do. |
do not say word to show that you and |
ought TO give money as well as prayer for
the spread of the Gospel. We know we
ought,
We should not seek to discover the small
est amount possible which a reproving con-
science will permit US to give. The mea-
sure of each ones love to Christ must settle
how much we do, and happy is each one
whose Gift secures from the Master the COM
mendation, "She hath done what she could" "
Without a burdensome effort on the part
...'ss a. nessro p,sgit ;as'rcass orr
contributions as a Church, IN one year, from
$4,000 to 100000. A few have already
done their proportion of this. VIII not all
come forward to the e.work? VIII every rea-
der of this paragraph do his and her part ?
Many doubtless say, Ho,o can ece2 an
swer, 1st. Eray member must be 0ctice. Re-
sponsibility in this thing is pressed on every
man, woman, and child, in the Church.
Father, mother, son, and daughter, act each
for himself and herself.
I'd. We answer the question, "How y in
the second place, by stating that each mem
Der should be regularly active. Each should
know not only what he is called to do, but
acheas and hoop it is to be done. We do not
want to see Christian hberality rushing to-
day like a swollen brook, and tomorrow
leave. an empty channel. We want to see
Christians move forward to this work like a
disciplined army, in order and with preci-
sion, and not like troop of boys and idlerS
following band of music or some wander
ing show. We might say much Of the ad-
yantages of system and regularity to the
cause and to ourselves personally; but our
space only allows the request that you would
think of these advantages, and try to EMU
merate them Our first point was, Er@y
one do something. Our second is, DO II re-
guIarly. VIII you try this also 7 Why
Should not our gifts be regular as well as
our prayers3 While we pray with unchang-
ing regularity, Thy kingdom come" let us
as regularly show by our gifts that we have
confidence in our prayer Such a prayer
ought not to cost US nothing. The old Dea-
con had the true spirit when he said, 81 can
not pray without giving" That man was
right when he said, 81 do not want my re-
ligion to cost me nothing" "Give me,
said beggar to bishop, 80 give me a
farthing." NO." replied the bishop, 81
cannot spare it," "Then," said the beggar,
"giveme your blessing" yes" answer
ed the bishop, 81 will give You that" The
beggar replied, ''Now, | will not have it; il
not worth a farthing to you, it is worthless
to me-" How much have my daily prayers
cost me? and what are they worth? are
questions worthy of Christian consideration
Sd. We should not only gre, and gre re-
gulwly, but give frequently. 1t is easy tc
give often and little, where it is not possible
to give largely at any one time. How dc
men of moderate means purchase their to-
bacco or other like indulgence? By little
and frequent sums, which singly appear t'7
fes, but in the year come to enormous sums
An instance of the greatness of little things
''How much do you give to missions 2
said to a friend. "AbOut two or three
dollars yearly" he answered. "Can yol
not give me fre to-day 7" said l. "Oh no
l am not able" was his answer. "Wha
did that cigar cost yOu?" asked. "Tw.
cents. "And how many do you use daily ?
Give" said he, "the year round" " "Then,
said l, "you give thirty-six dollars and fit,
cents for cigars yearly, and two or thre
dollars for missions. This large sum 10
cigars you have not felt because you pai
it little by little The smaller sum paid a
once was raised without difficulty. Ough
not religion to get the benefit of this cours
, of giving? l took the hint to myself, an
gave it to others, who say, 1--WE can now d
ten times as much as before, and twice a