(_b_) _1 Thess. 5:11_—“_Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do_”; _Heb. 3:13_—“_Exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To‐day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin._” Churches exist in order to: 1. create ideals; 2. supply motives; 3. direct energies. They are the leaven hidden in the three measures of meal. But there must be life in the leaven, or no good will come of it. There is no use of taking to China a lamp that will not burn in America. The light that shines the furthest shines brightest nearest home. (_c_) _Mat. 28:19_—“_Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations_”; _Acts 8:4_—“_They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word_”; _2 Cor. 8:5_—“_and this, not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God_”; _Jude 23_—“_And on some have mercy, who are in __ doubt; and some save, snatching them out of the fire._” Inscribed upon a mural tablet of a Christian church, in Aneityum in the South Seas, to the memory of Dr. John Geddie, the pioneer missionary in that field, are the words: “When he came here, there were no Christians; when he went away, there were no heathen.” Inscription over the grave of David Livingstone in Westminster Abbey: “For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets, to abolish the desolating slave trade of Central Africa, where with his last words he wrote: ‘All I can add in my solitude is, May Heaven’s richest blessing come down on everyone, American, English or Turk, who will help to heal this open sore of the world.’ ” C. The law of the church is simply the will of Christ, as expressed in the Scriptures and interpreted by the Holy Spirit. This law respects: (_a_) The qualifications for membership.—These are regeneration and baptism, _i. e._, spiritual new birth and ritual new birth; the surrender of the inward and of the outward life to Christ; the spiritual entrance into communion with Christ’s death and resurrection, and the formal profession of this to the world by being buried with Christ and rising with him in baptism. (_b_) The duties imposed on members.—In discovering the will of Christ from the Scriptures, each member has the right of private judgment, being directly responsible to Christ for his use of the means of knowledge, and for his obedience to Christ’s commands when these are known.