Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1906-01-10
CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR.
Prayer Mee<ing Topic For the Week
Beginning Jan. IA.
BY REV S. H. DOYLE.

BY REV S. H. DOYLE.
Topic.-What CiGist taught about mon
ey and its uses.-1att. il, IL; Mark X, IL
81
The world today has we'll been called
money mad. No more fully did the Is
rae.ites in the wilderness worship the
golden calf than thousands of people
in the present generation bow down
before the power and the desire for
money. Nor is this simply a charac-
teristic of the present day. In all times
men have appreciated the value of
money and have very often been will
ing to obtain it at the sacrifice of every
thing that is honorable in life. For
money Judas Iscariot betrayed his
Saviour; for it Lord Bacon betrayed
the great trust of honor that was placed
in his hands, and for gold Benedict Ar
mold betrayed his country. Pau de-
clares thai money is the root of all
evil, and as we look about us today
and see the ruin and destruction that
have cone into the lives of thousands
OF men through an effort even at the
sacrifice of honesty and of honor, to
lay up great riches We cannot but be
appalled, at the thought of the power
that money yields in the world.
While i, would be most interesting to
know just what Christ thought about
money and its use, yet it must be con-
feSsed that there is very little recorded
in the gospels SO far as He is con-
cerned. He lived humble and simple
life and was seldom brought into close
rel tons with great financial problems.
Moreover, His method was not to deal
with the social and financial conditions
of His day, but to lay down certain di-
vine principles that in time would
work out all the problems of human
life We can feel assured. however,
that If Christ were living today he
would in no way sanction any false or
dishonest accumulation of wealth or its
use In such a way as to defraud 9th
ers or deprive them of the rights that
belong unto them.
Looking into the life of Christ from
the standpoint of the money question,
we can feel assured a. Christ would
sanction the conservation of money to
God for the extension of His kingdom
in the world. When but a child, 70
Him were offered the gifts of great
men, and there Is no record that in His
after life He in any way condemned
the conservation of money to the ex-
tension of His kingdom. ca The value
that Christ attached to money in its
use in the church depended upon the
motive in the heart of the giver rather
than the amount that was given. This
fact is clearly demonstrated in the Incl
dent in which he praised the poor wild
ow in her gifts above the Pharisees.
who had given gold where she gave
mites, because out of her poverty
she gave all, while what the others
gave was very small in comparison to
what they possessed. The question of
the value of the money consecrated for
Christian use is one rather of what we
have left than what we give. o. Christ
would still preach the doctrine that
money must not stand between Him
and the salvation of the soul. The rich
young ruler who left Christ because he
loved his money above his Master had
awakened the interests of Christ. He
looked upon him with great favor, and
yet He demanded that before he could
become His follower he must give up
his money that there should be nothing
to stand between him and his Saviour
Whatever else we may think about
money and its use, every one should
clearly understand that no man who
worships gold can at the same time &C.
ceptably worship God, and, moreover.
no one who gives money the first place
in his heart can give any place to Je-
sus Christ. for Christ must be all or
nothing