Ellsworth American., 1906-03-21
HRIsTIAN ENDEAvOR.
Prayer Meeting Topic For the Week
Beginning March .5.

BY REV. S. H. DOYLE.
Topie.-Bountiful sowins; our gifts to
Christs cause.-Luke vi, IS; IL Cor. tx.
Ills. "a missionary meeting9
Salvation is free, but the extension
of Christ's kingdom in the world is ex-
pensive. Yet this is the mission of
Christs church, for He Himself gave
the command, Go We into all the world
and preach the gospel to every crea-
ture." And the money necessary for
carrying forward the work Of God
must come from the Christian people
of the world We should not expect
the state TO furnish funds for Chris
tlan missions, and it is not the duty of
the people of the world to do it. The
duty and responsibility of supplying
the means for the spread of the gospel
rest upon Christians alone, and they
should consider it privilege and joy
as we'll as u duty and a responsibility.
Moreover, the money for this purpose
is to be given. The word of God lays
great stress upon giving, but it no
where intimates that the church is to
become a business concern and to raise
its funds by engaging in money max
inc schemes even such as are legiti-
mate among men for the accumulation
Of wealth In laying down this law
God must have had good purpose
even toward the givers, and, therefore,
for our own sakes, as well as for the
good of the cause, we should not shirk
this Christian duty, but heartily and
literally respond to it.
The inspiration to bountiful giving
for Christ's cause is in the promises of
God. God has definitely promised in
His word that if we will give to Him
He will give to us even in greater
measure than we have given; and on
the other hand that if we fail in the
performance of this duty He will fail
in blessing us. Christ says, Give and
1t shall be given unto you: good meas
ure, pressed down and shaken together
and running over men shall give into
your bosom" The apostle Paul. en-
phasizing the same fact, declares, 'TEe
which soweth sparingly shall reap also
sparingly, and he which soweth bounti-
fully shall reap also bountifully." The
principles here set down are simply
those of nature. He that gives re-
ceives. The farmer who sows but lit
tie reaps a small harvest, while he who
sows plentifully reaps an abundant
harvest, but back of this natural law
is the promise of God. Crops may fail,
whether the sowing is sparing or boun-
tiful, but Gods promises never fail.
In the spiritual world, therefore. we
have the natural law plus the prom
ise Of God. If. therefore, we trust
God, We should give bountifully to
Christ's cause If we do not trust
God we can withhold our gifts but
when there come heaviness of soul
and dearth of spiritual harvest let us
remember that the burden rests upon
our own shoulders. Having sown moth
ing we cannot expect to reap anything,
and If we do we shall be sadly disap-
pointed.
The methods of giving as set forth il
the Scriptures are simple and practical
Bile. God asks nothing impossible of any
man. The rule Of giving is possessing.
Only in proportion as God blesses us
does He ask us to give to Him, but He
does ask and expect that of us. If we
have much we should give large gifts.
If we have but little our gifts must be
small, but for this reason they should
not be withheld We should not be too
proud to give what we can because we
cannot give as much as some one else.
The effectiveness of money does not al
ways depend upon the amount of it.
Out Of little money some men make
a fortune while out Of a fortune others
make failure. The value of money
depends upon how it is used. Our God
can make the smallest gift, If it be in
proportion to our ability and cheerfully
given, accomplish great results. As He
blesses us, therefore, let US give bounti-
fully, willingly and cheerfully and
wait for the harvest of souls, and when
that day comes our only regret will be
not that we gave what we did. but
that we did not give more.
BIBLE READINGS.
Gen. xviii, 20-22; Prov. xi, 24-2e;
NAL Iii, 10; Matt. 10, T-10; xviii, 10,
20; Acts XIV, 22-2G; Ky, 80: 1 Cor. xvi.
Is; II Cor. viii, 1-12; Rev. xii, II.