George Washington Flowers 
 Memorial Collection 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY THE 
 FAMILY OF 
 COLONEL FLOWERS 
 
CIFTS I THE TREASURy; 
 
 A SERMON ON DIOCESAN MISSIONS, 
 
 PEEACHED AT THE CONYENTIOK 
 
 IS 
 
 ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, EDENTON, N. C, 
 MAY I §5 8, 
 
 BY REV. H. H. PROUT, ^ 
 
 HBCTon OF ST. John's cnuRcir^ wiiriAMSBORoraH. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE COPENTIOiV. 
 
 fayetteville: 
 
 PRINTED BY EDWARD J. HALE & SON. 
 
 1858. 
 
GIFTS IH THE T 
 
 A SERMON ON DIOCESAN MISSIONS, 
 
 PREACHED AT THE CONVENTION 
 
 IN 
 
 ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, EBENTON, N. C. 
 
 MAY 
 
 BY REV. H. H. PROUT, 
 
 RBCTOE OF ST. JOHN's CHURCH, WILLIAMSBOROUQH. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CONVENTION. 
 
 fayetteville: 
 
 PRINTED BY EDWARD J. HALE & SON. 
 1858. 
 
OIFTS IN THE TREASURY. 
 
 And Jesus sat over against the Treasury, and beheld how the people cast mo- 
 ney into the Treasury. And many that were rich cast in much. And there 
 came a certain poor widow, and threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And 
 he called unto him his disciples and saith unto them, verily I say unto you, that 
 this poor widow hath cast in more than all they which have cast into the Trea- 
 sury. — St. Mark, xii., 41, 42, 43. 
 
 It will be expected, on an occasion like the present, that there 
 will be an appeal to acknowledged principles of christian action. 
 The benevolence which the Gospel inculcates, if it be not as 
 peculiar as the faith it teaches, is at least as evident. What 
 then are the rules and measures of this christian benevolence? 
 Peculiar as the faith is, distinctive as is our creed, the practical 
 humane kindness of our religion is also palpable and plain. It 
 looks upon humanity, including both the present condition and 
 future prospects of men, under the providence of God, with a 
 kindly interest, with a genial solicitude. Hence, wherever the 
 seed of Gospel truth has been sown, there have sprung up char- 
 ities to bless mankind. And since the Gospel is ours in respect 
 to the truth it teaches, it is ours also in respect to its kind phi- 
 lanthropic charity. 
 
 Even the Temple of God of old had its Treasury for alms and 
 benevolences. That limited and austere ceremonial" dispensa- 
 tion cherished within itself a principle of sympathy with man, 
 which Christ our Lord caused to expand and glow with the 
 warm breath of his self-sacrificing love. The worshippers in 
 the Temple were not only those who prayed and believed and 
 confessed, but it was theirs also to give alms as a religious du- 
 ty. And our Lord himself, frequenting that solemn service, 
 did not hasten from the holy place, but "sat over against the 
 Treasury and beheld how the people cast gifts into the Treasu- 
 ry." And having before taught his disciples how to pray, he 
 now calls them to him and teaches them what true charity is, 
 from what principles it proceeds, and by what measures it is 
 to be regulated. 
 
 The Temple at Jerusalem was a place of daily resort for de- 
 vout people. The faithful, of every rank in life, congregated 
 
4 
 
 there to join in public prayers, or to offer prirately each one 
 his own petitions. And each one, as his prayer is done, turns 
 to the appointed coffer which should contain gifts to God, and 
 casts in his offering, benevolently and charitably. But "Jesus 
 sat over against the Treasury," and, unawares, the donor of 
 gifts comes under the eye of One who judgeth righteously. He 
 dreams not probably of the scrutinizing gaze which is reading 
 Lis character. To give, is with him a habit; so much so that 
 he is almost unconscious of the gift. But still this habitual 
 charity, in the principle wdiich prompts it and in the measure 
 of its exercise, is a test of character. 
 
 Many, we are told, acting under a cognizance they were lit- 
 tle aware of, "many that were rich threw in much." You can 
 imagine the diversities of religious character which must have 
 been developed to the clear-seeing eye of Christ. The con- 
 Bciously righteous man, for example, rises from a calm prayer 
 and turns to bestow his offering in punctilious proportion to his 
 income. No one item of gain from any source is forgotten. He 
 tithes even his "mint and anise and cummin," and a weighty 
 offering falls from his hand into the Treasury of God. Follow- 
 ing him, we may conceive of a character prodigal of worldly 
 goods, careless of money, a stranger to sordid feeling, who 
 thinks neither of how^ little nor of how much his gift may be; 
 "who gives cheerfully, perhaps liberally. Another succeeds: 
 studious of appearances, weighing his gift accurately in the 
 balances of men's eyes, graduating it by their approbation, 
 giving merely what it was customary to give, keeping reso- 
 lutely within a certain line of fashionable charity. Then again, 
 there comes, under the discerning eye of Christ, a perplexed 
 soul, harrassed by conflicting claims, anxious to do well but 
 hardly able to tell w^iat he ought to do; private claims setting 
 one way, the claims of public charity setting another way, ma- 
 king him timid in action and confused in motive. Thus, the 
 many — the complacent and the prodigal, the careless and the 
 perplexed, — the "many who were rich threw in much." Were 
 they condemned? It does not appear that they were. Still, 
 while the munificence of the respective offerings of these rich 
 men excited general admiration, the high eulogium of Him who 
 lead the heart and character of every one is not bestowed on 
 them, but is reserved for one poor w^oman. 
 
 No consideration but that of felt duty will lead modest pov- 
 
5 
 
 erty to expose itself to tlie world. The poor are apt to have 
 but few friends, and they never feel it so much as when jostled 
 in the throng of the wealthy. The crowd, the "many", whom 
 this poor widow was amongst, were rich, of easy deportment 
 and high standing, and were it not that the house of (jod is the 
 home of the poor, where they know they have the right to be, 
 she must have felt herself sadly out of place in such company. 
 The best that the lowly can hope for sometimes is, that they 
 may pass unnoticed. And when the tvjo mites dropped from 
 her hand, and no tongue of critical admiration was ready to 
 applaud, she had only to shrink away again, timid amongst the 
 bold, and desponding while others were smiling and satisfied. 
 Yet the Eye that seeth not as man seeth had beheld this scene, 
 and discerned the hidden truth of things. He knows what is 
 in the heart who made the heart, and there is no respect of 
 persons with Him. "Yerily I say unto you, this poor widow 
 hath cast in more than they all." This is the righteous judg- 
 ment of Christ. "For all they did cast in of their abundahce, 
 but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her 
 living.^'' 
 
 And can there be a plainer instance and illustration of true 
 christian benevolence? Or was there ever a mirror held up to 
 the fair countenance of true charity that reflected it back more 
 beautifully? The lesson conveyed is so. plain that a child may 
 understand it: so truthful and clear, that one would suppose 
 every child-like heart must feel it. Our duty is gently, yet in- 
 evitably insinuated. Let us remember what our Lord has de- 
 clared to be indispensable on our part: not profound sagacity, 
 not deep learning, not admirable prudence; but a heart suscep- 
 tible to lessons of goodness, that responds promp'tly to a perfect 
 rule of action: a heart that does not try to prove itself an ex- 
 ception to a rule of revealed duty, but knows in itself that the 
 rule is of Grod, because it feels it to he true. In short, we are 
 to heed our first kind impulses, because our very kindest im- 
 pulses are most nearly right, and the one thing indispensable, 
 therefore, is, that we "be converted and become as little chil- 
 dren." 
 
 It is most worthy of our observation, that no caveat is here 
 interposed against what some would perhaps have called a lack 
 of prudence in the poor woman. She ought at least, in the 
 view of many, to have kept one of the two mites for herself. 
 
6 
 
 while she gave away the other. But this very lack of all self- 
 ish prudence, the entireness of the self-forgetfulness, is what 
 gained the praise of Christ, and appears to constitute the finish 
 and perfection of the example. Here then we behold a display 
 of pure christian benevolence, clear without a shadow, beauti- 
 ful without ornament. 
 
 It is presumed that we have the courage to contemplate the 
 rules of duty without flinching and without fear. Our Lord 
 does not deceive us into happiness. If the true principle of 
 benevolent action contains a cross, even. He does not hide it 
 from us, but exposes the whole pain and grief of duty to the 
 heart that would enlist in His service. It is most remarkable, 
 not that the Gospel offers blessings — that every false religion 
 professes to do — but that it offers them to us if we bear a cross 
 of self-denial and renunciation, which no false religion ventures 
 to do. It frankly says to every one, "Endure hardness; take up 
 and^bear the Cross; forsake all that you have: you shall then 
 be a disciple of Christ, and have treasure in heaven." All 
 through the Gospel, grief and pain, and voluntary loss and cer- 
 tain suffering, are as plainly propounded to men as are the glo- 
 ries of heaven; and the latter are no more certain as rewards 
 than the former are inevitable as conditions antecedently ne- 
 cessary. And in the open exercise of this frankness, it is still 
 supposed that men will believe unto eternal life; and that their 
 faith will have firm tone and elastic power to bound in sympa- 
 thy toward whatever is high in duty or profound in self-denial. 
 
 Why was it said of this poor donor, that though she offered 
 so little she still gave more than all the offerings of the wealthy? 
 First, because it was more relatively to her means. The rich 
 gave but a fragment of their means; donations which deprived 
 them of no indulgence, and brought them into no discomfort. 
 Eut the charity of this individual not only cut off the means of 
 self-indulgence, but brought her into immediate discomfort. 
 And this showed that the charity was genuine. This was the 
 circumstance on account of which it gained the express praise 
 of Christ. If therefore christian benevolence includes the bear- 
 ing of a cross — if the kindness of christians, to be real, must be 
 like the kindness of Christ himself — then it were well to remem- 
 ber that the Eye that read the character of those who contri- 
 buted in the Temple, reads ours, and that we all shall be 
 weighed in the same balances of pure strict justice. 
 
7 
 
 For it may, I hope, be truly said of every one of us, that he 
 desires the approval of God. We are living and laboring to 
 gain the Divine blessing and pardon. Our wish is to enter in- 
 to Life at last. We desire also even now a proof of accept- 
 ance, a hope of final salvation, which shall be an anchor of the 
 soul, sure and stedfast. To have that comfortable assured hope, 
 is to be most blessed, though in want of all else. But it was 
 this very approval, this same most desirable blessing, which 
 she who gave all had in return for it: had it too because she 
 gave all. It was an experiment built on the truth conveyed in 
 that most beautiful parable — "The kingdom of heaven is like a 
 merchantman seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found 
 one pearl of great price, sold all that he had and bought it." 
 Therefore her gift into the Treasury of God was also such an 
 one as left her in want; she contributed all her living. The 
 inestimably precious return, "the pearl of great price," was the 
 express approval of Christ, including, of course, forgiveness, 
 peace and joy. Not as of merit, but of grace. This self-denial 
 was proof of sincerity of heart and vigor of faith. It showed a 
 plain fulfilment of the conditions upon which eternal life is of- 
 fered to us. 
 
 Thus the character and extent of our charitable benefactions 
 becomes, in the very doctrine of Christ, proof of our actual 
 standing with God. "If thou wilt be perfect, sell what thou 
 hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in hea- 
 ven." It is not the absolute amount, but the proportion it bears 
 to the ability of the donor, that forms a criterion of sincerity. 
 And it becomes an actual satisfactory proof of faith only when 
 it is felt to be an entire, and a costly sacrifice. Always, in true 
 devotion to God, there is a wholeness, an integrity, a moral 
 completeness. And the reason of it, the reason why nothing 
 less than all, even the very treasures of the heart, are ade- 
 quate, is two-fold: first, the commandment, "Thou shalt have 
 no other Gods but me;" and second, because we are purchased 
 anew to God by the precious blood of Christ, and are not our 
 own. If we are to yield ourselves to God, that includes the 
 yielding of our choicest treasures and most profound affections. 
 Unreserved, undivided devotion is therefore the just claim of 
 the Creator and Redeemer. And the whole discipline of Christ 
 is the imparting, cherishing, and completing of this holy cha- 
 racter. Therefore it is proper for every one under this disci- 
 
8 
 
 pline to ask himself — Is my allegiance in any degree divided 
 between tlie world and God? Does my heart cling fondly to 
 the things of this world? Do I hear of parting with my trea- 
 sures with extreme dislike, finding it hard to realize that the 
 treasures above are of equivalent value, not to speak of esteem- 
 ing them infinitely better? Do I reluctate against the radical 
 profound conversion of my soul to Himself, which the grace of 
 God would work? It is a hard saying now, and has ever been 
 a hard saying. We read in the Bible of one who went away 
 sorrowful when the consecration of property was made the test 
 of consecration of character by Christ; and he went away sor- 
 rowful, because "A^ had great possessions^ His worldly good 
 things had absorbed his afiections. It might be said that his 
 possessions had got possession of him. 
 
 Yet here is the unspeakable value of the Gross and Gospel 
 of Christ. It transmutes the perishable into the incorruptible, 
 the temporal into the eternal. The heart of man gives color 
 and value to every thing about him. And in the very idea of 
 a believer, we are to include a renewed devout heart — a new 
 creature. "Old things are passed away, all things are become 
 new." Hence property, once a means of temptation and irre- 
 ligious living, is now a means of devout living and of gaining 
 peace with God. The world is the servant of a true believer. 
 If he is poor he makes his two mites purchase for him a spirit- 
 ual blessing. If he is rich, he makes wealth a means of work- 
 ing out purposes of affection and devotion toward God. It is 
 the renewed spiritual mind that works in this way toward spir- 
 itual peace. It edifies itself in love by edifying the happiness 
 of others. A true christian conviction of duty overpowers 
 worldliness of heart in obeying the call to minister to the poor 
 and destitute. It has indwelling strength to enter into success- 
 ful competition with whatever is worldly or false. It colors 
 and gives tone to the life. He who is animated by it follows 
 the steps of Him who, though "rich, for our sakes became poor, 
 that we through his empliatic poverty might be rich." 
 
 Why, again, is it said that she who gave the minute offering 
 of two mites gave more than others? Because there was value 
 and power in iJie faith which prompted such a gift to further 
 the ends of charitable benefactions. 
 
 And what ends or purposes have sve now in view? Do they 
 call for true faith? Our Diocesan Missions are not merely a 
 
9 
 
 charity, but a religious charity. The design indeed is to send 
 forth Ministers and to gather congregations in places where 
 there is special destitution. Churches are to be built, and men 
 are to be educated for the Ministry. But surely this is not all; 
 this religious purpose includes the repentance and sanctifica- 
 tion of men, and their faithful obedience unto salvation. It in- 
 cludes personal conformity to the law of Christ and joy in His 
 Cross, and a spiritual new creation. The end being spiritual, 
 the means are also spiritual, and make necessary the special 
 blessing of God. Our whole dependence in our Mission work 
 is therefore on the accompanying grace and favor of the Spirit 
 of God. We may build the outward edifice, and indeed work 
 thereby a good work, but this is still only a type of the spirit- 
 ual house — the holy Temple built up of believers themselves. 
 Hence, those who love the Gospel and would propagate it, are 
 termed Believers. They walk by faith, and speak because they 
 believe. Faith is our distinctive denomination, and it is as ev- 
 ident that he who would do good to others must do it by faith 
 in God, as that the same faith is necessary for receiving a bless- 
 ing himself. It is owing to this power of faith seizing hold of 
 the promise of God i^, behalf of others, that ''Hhe poor in this 
 vjorld^ Hch in faiths are the children of God and become the 
 benefactors of mankind. In the light of the truth that faith 
 controls the mercy and grace which convert and save, you may 
 see how it was that the donor who gave but two mites^ in effect 
 gave more than others. It was an act that brought into blessed 
 exercise strong faith. This act and offering of a pure heart was 
 successful, because it was a distinct appeal to the Power which 
 dispenses every good and perfect gift. The gift may have been 
 slight, but the faith involved was strong; even the more clear, 
 because the offering was the penny which, when given, left the 
 donor penniless. Yet how shall we describe such poverty and 
 its blessedness but by saying that it is like the poverty of 
 Christ himself, which enriches the world, and which is our own 
 salvation? It diffuses a sweet odor of blessing around it. The 
 thousands of the wealthy derive power to do good from the 
 mite of the faithful, and "a little leaven leaveneth the whole 
 lump." A Church may hence be rich, though poor to outward 
 view; and contrariwise also, while to outward seeming exceed- 
 ingly opulent, it may be intrinsically poor indeed. It was on 
 this principle, that self-denying faith is the power and wealth 
 
10 
 
 of the Church, that the Apostles ''were poor yet made many 
 rich, had nothing yet possessed all things." It was by poor 
 men, we may well remember, that the Missionary triumphs of 
 the early Church were all wi'ought; when old customs and in- 
 durated habits of sin were broken up; when a false science was 
 exploded, and imposing religions, consecrated by the use of 
 ages, were overthrown, — "not by might nor by power, but by 
 my Spirit, saith the Lord." It was thus in their poverty that 
 the Apostles scattered blessings, and their weakness was strong. 
 Their entire consecration in faith was like that of the blessed 
 donor who threw in her all. "When they undertook to do good 
 to men and to extend religion, they emphatically, in the fullest 
 possible meaning of the words, threw in their all. Shall we 
 have success on any other condition? If we stand at all will it 
 not be in the same divine strength which their weakness ena- 
 bled them to wield? Surely it. will be forever true that the 
 strength of the Church is in the prayer of faith, the work of 
 faith, and the contribution of faith. It is only through a real 
 self-denial that we shall become truly rich and be able to dis- 
 pense blessings to others. 
 
 But is our present Missionary work oi^a character to demand 
 this entireness of consecration? 
 
 Consider the extent of the field. More than five hundred 
 miles from the place where we are now assembled, but still 
 within the limits of your own State, there are congregations 
 untended and a Chapel without a Minister, In the intermedi- 
 ate distance, at many points, there is an emphatic call for our 
 services, and a deep necessity. In order to the successful es- 
 tablishment of the Church in almost every corner of this vast 
 Diocese, there is nothing wanting but men of earnest devotion 
 and means for their support. It is hard to realize, either the 
 large extent or the pressing need cf this work, without being 
 in some degree an eye-witness of it. Indeed we ought to be 
 freely scattering the seed of Divine Truth broad-cast over this 
 whole home-territory of ours. Because, again, it is home-terri- 
 tory. The people are our home people, our household of faith. 
 For is not the true idea of a Diocese that of an ecclesiastical 
 christian household, a spiritual family under the paternal care 
 of one who is therefore called our Father in God? And in this 
 character it becomes a mere centre of concentrated responsibil- 
 ity. Our General Church Authority has so arranged it, and it 
 
11 
 
 therefore becomes to us a minor subdivision of the great fami- 
 ly of Christ. A marking out and a definition of a IJiocese is a 
 marking out and definition of the duties of all the members of 
 it. The duty is as plain as the boundary is, and conterminous 
 with it: And not only plain but divinely sanctioned, as certain- 
 ly as the authority acting in the premises has divine sanction. 
 Consider the force of the obligation to do good to our brethren, 
 therefore; it is an obligation growing out of the special Divine 
 Providence which has made us a Diocese. Or consider the 
 magnitude of the field, and it is seen, at once, that it will task 
 every energy of devotion and give full scope to entire self-denial. 
 
 And now, therefore, if, in applying what has been said, I 
 make some special suggestions, shall I venture too far, or pre- 
 sume too much on the spontaneous self-denying devotion of my 
 hearers? Should one of us consecrate his property to the found- 
 ing and endowment of a Mission in this home-territory amongst 
 his home-people, would he be casting in too much into the 
 Treasury of God? Should he make it adequate as a perpetual 
 endowment to carry the means of grace to those who are likely 
 to be ever poor, would he regret it? We have the poor, and 
 shall ever have them with us. Would not such an ofi:ering 
 cast into the Treasury secure the benediction of Him who has 
 made the poor the representatives of Himself? There are large 
 portions of thinly-settled country, and also the suburbs of cities 
 and towns, where such a work would be a perpetual blessing 
 to the poor, and therefore a source of undying satisfaction to 
 the donor. 
 
 Or again, would you consecrate means and time to God in 
 the way of charity to brethren? A Depository of Bibles, Prayer 
 Books, and other good books, in many a secluded portion of 
 the State, to be distributed on certain defined rules, would be 
 a means of very great good. This is a noble work and greatly 
 needed. Carried on intelligently and wisely, it would do much 
 toward the sound improvement of both the mind and heart of 
 the people. It would give most encouraging employment to 
 as many self-denying hearts and energetic hands and strong 
 wills as chose to enter into it. The enterprize, from its very 
 nature, would tend to kindle up into a high fervor the charity 
 that shall undertake it. Experience of blessing is most often 
 reaped on the field where we labor to do good to otliers, and 
 to scatter blessings is to the donor's heart a great joy, making 
 
12 
 
 his own tongue eloquent for the truth, and his feet swifter iu 
 the paths of wisdom. O that the self-seclusion in which too 
 many immure themselves might be broken through! In pro- 
 claiming the truth, they might feel the force and value of truth. 
 It would rejoice their own hearts to make others glad, and per- 
 haps never, until they do learn to make others glad, will they 
 themselves be made glad and fall of hope. Still better, there- 
 fore, than all, will he do, who shall give himself to the direct 
 work of teaching, catechising, and preaching. Benevolent de- 
 votion can hardly find any where a sphere of more varied and 
 romantic attraction than your home-territory, or a people more 
 genial, kind and deserving. Here, then, is direct scope and 
 tangible necessity for earnest devotion to God's service in the im- 
 mediate discharge of concentrated responsibility that rests on us. 
 
 But would you have us to become Missionaries then? Why 
 not? Thrown as we are in the midst of a multitude of tasking 
 obligations, there are but two possible courses: either self-con- 
 secration to duty, or self-secUision from duty. And every one 
 will either heartily grapple with his duties to his brethren and 
 spread the truth among them, or else he will seclude himself. 
 But surely it is every man's duty to diflfuse abroad the know- 
 ledge and love of that Truth which he himself knows and loves. 
 The question then is, which shall you do? Shall the generation 
 in which you are living know you as an ardent laborer for their 
 good? Shall your record be written on the hearts of your coun- 
 trymen, and at length be inscribed on high in the Book of 
 God's remembrance? Are you willing to trust yourself, your 
 all^ on the mere promise of God even now, anticipating the 
 solemn hour when you shall be obliged to do so? Will you de- 
 vote a whole life to God in cultivating a hope of His mercy, 
 that when the hour comes, which is coming swiftly and will 
 not be put oif, you may quietly resign yourself, hoping to reign 
 with Him with wliom you may perchance have suffered? 
 
 To keep within the boundary which separates us from the 
 ignorant and guilty and perishing, is an old error. But is it 
 really of any consequence whether the separating line be the 
 rules of Society, so called, or the rules of a Convent? Does it 
 make any difference whether it be the walls of a monastery or 
 the walls of a parlor? I appeal to common sense. Recollect, 
 I am speaking in behalf of an attractive and most important 
 sphere of labor: a people generally of pastoral simplicity of 
 
13 
 
 character, ready-minded and generous, prompt to respond to 
 every benevolent act for their good; your own people^ upon 
 whom every discreet enterprise for tlieir benefit will leave its 
 distinct indelible impression. And I am appealing to you as 
 having, each in his measure, power to make" that impression. 
 And I ask again, should those who habitually retreat from 
 bearing the weighty Cross of Christ in their brethren's behalf, 
 listen often and complacently to many a grand philippic against 
 the errors of ancient seclusionists, and become worthily indig- 
 nant at broken vows of voluntary obedience, w^ould it assoil 
 their consciences? Themselves banished from hard duty? and 
 self-banished too, perhaps, ^mowg pomps and vanities solemnly 
 renounced long since? But I turn from the thought of what 
 our delinquencies may possibly deserve, and from the most sad 
 consequences to ourselves should w^e be found to have reached a 
 position of self-indulgence only by wading through broken vows. 
 
 Let the specialty of this charity be therefore well considered. 
 Besides the example of Him who became poor for us that by 
 His poverty we might be rich, besides the force of the law of 
 universal benevolence, there is the home claim of our house- 
 hold people. They are justly dear as fellow-citizens and fellow- 
 heirs of the Kingdom of Christ. There really should be chris- 
 tian schools established among them in many a destitute place; 
 there should be conversational teaching in many a remote set- 
 tlement from house to house; there should be free distribution 
 of good books, widely diffusing at the same time knowledge of 
 the Truth by oral instruction. To all these good works laymen 
 are competent. And these might be made very effective me- 
 thods of cultivating that vineyard which the Lord of it has let 
 out to us for a time. Let us make such use of them as that we 
 may be prepared for the day of account. 
 
 One more special method of promoting the success of our 
 Diocesan Missions deserves attention. Self-denial for others' 
 good may be effectually shown if, when a congregation might 
 receive a benefaction, it should forbear to receive it in order 
 that it might go to those more in need. Now may not some of 
 our beneficiary congregations, whose beneficiary habit has long 
 since become formed, properly practice this self-denial? Kot 
 to receive a stipend is equivalent to bestowing that stipend on 
 others; just as to receive it is to abstract it from the supply of 
 others. Our Treasury is for the supply of the destitute; and 
 
14 
 
 we have many destitute. Is it not well to remember, that the 
 offering which true charity has cast in is a true sacrifice to God? 
 — a Cross-emblazoned offering? If the magnanimity of the 
 blessed donor is seen in her casting in her wJiole liviiig^ take 
 care lest you draw upon that magnanimity without hona fide 
 necessity. Touch not the gift of charity without real need. The 
 sacredness of it consists in this, that it is a gift which was 
 blessed to the donor of it only because it left her in actual want. 
 Let us therefore ask ourselves, before taking out of the Treasu 
 ry any portion of tJie all of Divine charity, whether we have 
 bestowed our whole living — our all. For until we reach self- 
 denial we never reach the exercise of true charity, nor ever grasp 
 its rewards. There is no charity whatever in giving ever so 
 much to supply our own spiritual wants. A congregation must 
 first supply its own necessities and then give freely to others 
 before it can even leghi to be charitable. Over and above its 
 own wants, it must throw in its two mites for others, before it 
 can have right to the promise and blessing of Christ. 
 
 They who receive our Diocesan stipend are the receivers of 
 christian alms — mere charity. Surely there is something im- 
 proper, perhaps criminal^ in taking alms when there is not ac- 
 tual necessity; that is to say, real want and destitution. This 
 would appear to be only a general principle of social morality. 
 And since not to take is further equivalent to giving, let the 
 members of our beneficiary congregations thoroughly examine 
 themselves and see if they have it not in their power to do good 
 to their brethren in this way. 
 
 Here is a congregation composed in part of wealthy men, 
 who are content to have the Gospel preached to them and to 
 receive the sacraments through the aid of Diocesan alms. There 
 is a congregation really poor, almost wholly unable to help 
 themselves, who have not been preached to for a year or years, 
 who appeal to us from time to time to help them. But none 
 can go to them to baptise their infants nor to feed them with 
 the sacramental bread; and their dead die and are buried, and 
 the Church's soothing note of triumphant hope is not heard over 
 them. Why is this the tale told respecting many a remote set- 
 tlement and village? Why are crowds of those who would 
 gladly learn our ways and walk in them still ignorant? Because, 
 simply, long-standing chronic beneficiaries, including some rich 
 and well-to-do communities, absorb our whole means! Is not 
 tMs taking the bread out of the mouths of the starving? Is this 
 
15 
 
 robbing God or not? In the name of God, let me say, exercise 
 charity before consenting to receive its benefactions. Other- 
 wise you may surely receive a spiritual detriment with the 
 very same hand that is stretched out to receive a pecuniary 
 gift, and while grasping a charity, forfeit the benediction of 
 heaven. 
 
 That benediction is what we are seekino: — that biessins: of 
 Christ is what prompts our charities. It is the true motive of 
 every true christian heart in its labors and self-sacrifice. May 
 we then so benevolently live and do for others as that we may 
 experience the truth of the words, "it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive." 
 
 The argument then, on the whole, is this: Let us do good in 
 order to obtain good: let us give all that we may have all. It 
 is an argument addressed to those who believe and walk by 
 faith. It supposes the future to be not only real but better 
 than the present: the eternal to be superior to the temporal. 
 And not only this, but self-denying charity is wisdom, because 
 there is a peace of God, and a sense of the approval of Christ, 
 a smile of Divine benediction which shines on him whose con- 
 science witnesses that his works are the works of a child of God, 
 which is better than glittering silver or the weight of fine gold. 
 
 And may we not reasonably hope also to receive present re- 
 ward in beholding the good resulting from means and labors 
 given in behalf of our Missions? Surely it must rejoice the 
 eyes that may be permitted to see the work of religion prosper- 
 ing, and the Church of God widely extended in our wide, va- 
 ried, beautiful home-territory. Anthems of christian praise 
 mingling with the ocean's Te Deum on the one side, and echo- 
 ing through our secluded mountain fastnesses on the other, how 
 solemn and glad were it to hear! Might the grace of God but 
 sanctify the people as His providence has blessed them richly, 
 and our whole domain become a land of righteousness, as it is 
 a land plentiful and beautiful; how cheering the anticipation! 
 It is an anticipation built upon faith in the promise of Christ, 
 which finds in our health-giving air only a type and illustration 
 of the stirring influence of the Spirit of God, moving gently yet 
 with salutary breath on the hearts of the people. In further- 
 ance of this good work, is it not worth while to put forth our 
 very best exertions? Shall we be satisfied with bestowing less 
 than self-exhausting devotion in this cause? Might not several 
 congregations amongst support each its owa Missionarj la a 
 
16 
 
 given county or district on the Western or South-Western por- 
 tion of the State? Let the interest of a Parish which God hath 
 greatly blessed be localized and centred on some special field for 
 benevolent action: a peculiar region, perhaps, and peculiarly 
 beautiful: attractive for its own sake, still more worthy on ac- 
 count of those who occupj^ it: marked and distinguished by na- 
 ture from the sea-board and its flourishing Parishes, but linked 
 etill by social and civil and christian bonds even to this distant 
 quarter. Why look perpetually abroad for destitution? Whj 
 look to foreign wants and neglect your own household of faith? 
 Surely there is lack of knowledge elsewhere than in Africa, and 
 tliere is the charm of sublime and romantic scenery elsewhere 
 than in Europe. It is in your own home that your deepest re- 
 sponsibilities centre. It has every claim to be loved, not in 
 word and tongue only, as too many seem to be satisfied to do, 
 but in deed and in truth. 
 
 Shall we not then help forward this work, and hasten the day 
 when there shall be prevalent a religion orderly, simple, ear- 
 nest, sincere? When on the basis of Truth there shall rise up 
 in our midst a Temple set apart to the "One Lord, the One 
 God and Father of all," and consecrated and hallowed to its use 
 by a whole people? It may be of the very deepest concern to 
 every one of us to labor while his day may last in building up 
 this Sanctuary of Unity and Peace, whereto may be gathered 
 our home-people, "to ofier up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to 
 God by Jesus Christ." Such an array of considerations as clus- 
 ter around this duty is seldom presented. Your country is 
 physically interesting as well as spiritually needy. It is your 
 home, and that home ecclesiastically defined and religiously 
 bounded: your own commonwealth, and its whole prospective 
 honor is involved in its religious condition. We are in several 
 respects members of this family whose wants are before us: 
 members of this household, whose Supreme Head and Father 
 is Christ. 
 
 It is not without a view, however, finally, to a crown of life 
 hereafter, that the wisdom of present self-denial is asserted. We 
 have in view the example of the painful life of Christ on earth 
 and his present exaltation in glory, when we say it is wise to 
 even sufier with Him. To cast in our all into the Treasury is 
 prudent, for it is to lay up treasure in heaven, and to transfer 
 our affections there, where our hope is finally to be, through 
 the mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
\ 
 
V.2 
 
 074 
 
 N.C. 204 299^1865-| 
 _ JU^Ol Religious pamphlets 
 
 ISSUED TO 
 
 N.C. 204 Z99 1860-99 v.2 
 • Nos.1-13 343074