prayer, as so many who quote it seem to believe, but with immediate reference to the honoring of God with our substance, for thus it runs: “Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, and prove me now herewith.” While, therefore, it is true that a spirit of liberality in the support of the cause of Christ must be a fruit of renewed life in the Church, it is also true that its manifestation by the Church will be the forerunner of such spiritual triumphs as it has never yet achieved. Thus it is of great moment that we should use means for the awakening of Christians to a sense of the importance of this matter, and few things, in my judgment, would more efficiently contribute to the attainment of that end than setting briefly and pointedly before them the teachings of the word of God upon the subject. I cannot hope to cover all that ground in the few minutes now at my disposal; the most I shall attempt will be to take a general survey of it. Beginning, then, with the act of giving itself, I find that it is spoken of as a part of self consecration to God, for when at the close of his reign David brought out in the sight of all the people the treasures which he had amassed for the building of the Temple and sought to incite them to make an offering for the same purpose, he said, “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?” It is regarded as an act of worship, for God commanded his people to “come into his courts and bring an offering with them.” It is described by Paul as a “grace.” When writing to the Corinthians he said, “Therefore as ye abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge, and in all diligence and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.” Only think of it—“as ye abound in utterance, so abound in this grace also.” What a blessed thing it would be in this America of ours, on which the gift of tongues seems to have been so lavishly bestowed, if Christians generally were as fluent in giving as they are in speech! It is referred to again and again as a “communion” in such passages as these: “Let him that is taught in the word communicate to”—that is, have communion with Him, that teacheth in all good things, “to do good and to communicate forget not,” or, as it might be given more literally, “Of well doing and of communion be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” In the same sense Paul, who had just received a gift from the Philippians, thanks God for their “fellowship,” that is, “communion” in the gospel from the first day until now; and praises them for having done well in communicating, or rather, for the word is the same, in having communion with his affliction; while he records it to their credit that no church communicated with him; or, for the word is still the same, “had communion with him in the matter of giving and receiving but they only.” To the same effect he says to the Corinthians that the churches of Macedonia had begged him to take