suffer. According to the Hebrew conception, there is a causal nexus between the moral and the physical world. In Deut. xxviii. it is expressly threatened that the punishment for disobeying divine law will consist in the "curse" of poverty. The soil, kine, flocksall will become sterile, and war will bring its evil and destruction. And this threat is constantly reiterated by the prophets. This doctrine, that wickedness is the forerunner of misfortune, is taught in the Old Testament with regard to nations and individuals. The Anavistic opinion of poverty, as reflected in the Psalms, is quite in contrast with that we have just seen. Poverty becomes the condition of sainthood. The poor are not the "cursed," but the "blessed" (compare Matt. v. 3). Spiritual poverty is here regarded as a misfortune, a sort of punishment that the wicked receive; but material wealth has little or no value. The Anavim would not change their poverty for riches, for that would have to be done at the expense of the Lord's friendship. The rich are His enemies. II. RICHES.-Riches the Bible considers a token of divine favor. "The blessing of the Lord maketh rich" (Prov. x. 22) expresses the biblical belief in the divine source of wealth. The institutions of tithes, first-fruits, thanksgiving offerings, would also give evidence of this belief. While Israel was a pastoral people, their wealth consisted in flocks and kine, and when they followed agriculture there was added to this the produce of the soil-wheat, grain, wine, oil, etc. If their flocks increased, if the soil was fruitful, riches accumulated. But such increase and fertility depended on favorable conditions of nature, that is, on the blessings of heaven, and these would be given only for obedience to the commands of the Lord (Deut. xxviii.). Hence the blessing that made rich was the reward for righteousness. To an agricultural and pastoral people peace also is essential to prosperity. This, too, is promised as a reward for social morality. The millennial promises of the prophets are based on the universal reign of social justice (Isa. ii. 2-4; Micah iv. 2-4, where peaceful security and individual prosperity are the reward of walking in the paths of the Lord). When civic righteousness prevails and corruption and oppression have been eliminated * Giving tithes, first-fruits, etc., would be a recognition that all things come from the Lord, and would be a symbolical rendering to Him (or His priests) of His due. from society, the Lord will bestow His blessings in the form of material and spiritual wealth. Social equity will conduce to the general welfare. All will enjoy its fruits. Wealth, then, comes as a natural result of righteousness.* The happiness, peace, comfort, and security which the Hebrew terms for the rich, in their complimentary sense, denote are God's blessings. They represent and symbolize the favor He shows to a righteous people, which builds its institutions on truth and justice, watches over the weak, cares for the unfortunate, and jealously guards and protects the rights of the defenseless. The Lord rewards those who are careful to pay Him tithes and offerings, which go to the priests and Levites, and those who pay their debt to the Lord in giving the orphan, widow, and stranger the gleanings of the field, etc. A people which, in biblical language, walks in the ways of the Lord will be prosperous and know nothing of poverty. 66 But this collective morality which finds favor in the eyes of God and brings His blessings implies righteous conduct on the part of the individual. If the individual would escape poverty and enjoy wealth, he must become wise" enough (Prov. xiii. 18) to recognize that a causal relation exists between the right and prosperous. The "wise" man will walk through life "with his eyes in his head " (Eccl. ii. 14); he will not be guilty of immorality in any form-idleness, vice, debauchery, fraud, falsehood; for his "wisdom" consists in recognizing that all these are detestable in the sight of the Lord and will be punished with destruction and poverty, whereas the virtues of liberality, industry, etc. (Prov. xi. 25; xiii. 2; iii. 9), will be recompensed with increase. Civic righteousness or public justice and individual "wise" (i.e., God-fearing) conduct are posited by the ancient Hebrews as the means of winning divine favor, which will realize and manifest itself through natural, wealth-producing agents. We should note, however, the distinction that is made between righteous wealth and ill-gotten riches. The latter is condemned. Its acquirement does not indicate heavenly favor. There is no blessing attached to it, and it will not abide (Prov. x. 2). "He that *See Ex. xxiii. 20, ff.; Deut. xxviii.; Lev. xxvi. Applied to individuals, this doctrine is repeatedly insisted on in the Book of Proverbs. Cf. also Jer. vii. 5-7; Isa. lviii. 7; Ps. i. . trusteth in riches acquired through fraud shall fail" (Prov. xl. 28). In Isa. v. 7, 8, the method of getting rich unjustly is shown; but there shall be no protection in such riches. The Mosaic laws against usury, fraud, deceitful balances, oppressive treatment of employees, etc., were intended to operate against the accumulation of unrighteous wealth. But wealth per se, honorably gotten and properly used, is not condemned in the Bible. It is, on the contrary, considered a mark of God's pleasure. However, the danger that attaches to it is marked out. It may lead to vanity and pride and make its possessor forgetful of God.* Deuteronomy warns the Israelite not to be lured from righteous living by wealth, and the Book of Proverbs has numerous references to the dangers of wealth (Prov. viii. 11; x. 15; xi. 28; xiii. 7; xv. 6; xvi. 8). In the later Anavistic view riches are condemned because of this danger. They are considered only in an unfavorable light. III. BIBLICAL SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY.-The biblical solution of the problem of poverty is not found in an economic readjustment of society, for poverty, according to the Bible, is not due to a faulty system of distribution, as modern socialists maintain, or, ultimately, to the niggardliness of nature, as other schools of political economy hold, but to society's or the individual's moral delinquencies. It is considered penal in its nature. When the cause of poverty is found in unrighteousness, the remedy suggests itself. Let man, socially and individually, lead a just, God-fearing, righteous life, and there will be no poverty. This is the teaching of the Pentateuch and the prophets. The seeming contradiction between Deut. xv. 4, which speaks of the time when there shall be no poor in Israel, promising the cessation of poverty as a reward for hearkening unto the voice of the Lord, and xv. 11, which says, "The poor shall never cease out of the land," apparently doubting the possibility of the complete and final removal of poverty from among mankind, is reconciled when we consider that the former verse refers to Israel exclusively, with whom prosperity will be found when the Lord's commands are strictly followed, whereas xv. 11 makes reference to the other nations who have not yet come under Yahweh's laws. These two verses would express the belief that poverty will cease in * Prov. xxx. 9, "Lest I become over-full and deny thee." Israel as soon as God's law becomes man's rule of conduct, but will not disappear from the earth until Yahweh is recognized as the Sovereign of the universe.* The Pentateuch sees, then, in the establishment of righteousness the cure for poverty. And the prophets of Israel teach the same doctrine (Isa. i. 16-19; lviii. 7, 8; Hos. xiv. 5, etc.). Their cry is for civic righteousness, for justice. To injustice they attribute the existence of the large number of the "social" poor, those who become impoverished because their rights are wrested from them. In close connection with righteousness we find charity insisted on as a remedy for poverty. Charity is an obligation on the part of the rich, and a right of the poor. The admonitions to do charity which we find in the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the later writings are based on the belief that the poor have a right to expect it. The gleanings of field, olive-yard, vineyard, etc., which are given to the poor (Lev. xix. 9, 10; Deut. xxiv. 19 ff.), the orphan, widow, and stranger, are viewed as their rightful property. To withhold it from them is to rob them, to oppress them, and the Lord will surely punish such unrighteousness. So withholding tithes and offerings which belong to the priests and Levites, and are the only means of support of this dependent class, is stigmatized as robbery. It is robbing the Lord (Mal. iii. 8-12), because the priests and Levites are the Lord's servants. The gleanings of field and vineyard, the levitical assessments, etc., are enforced gifts. It is a form of compulsory charity. It is characteristic of the biblical idea of charity that it is something compulsory on man, and not dependent on his own inclination. It is a debt man owes to the Lord, for from the Lord comes all he possesses. When the poor cry for help, they must be aided, else it is a sin against him who closes his ear to their request. Thus charity becomes an adjuvant to justice as a cure for poverty. Justice and charity constitute righteousness (ny), and in this the problem of poverty finds its solution. PASTORAL HELPS AND HINTS IMPROVING THE PRAYER-MEETING FIRST of all a minister needs to face and settle the question as to whether his midweek service shall be a pastoral lecture or a prayer-meeting. Many people prefer the former. If so, well and good, only the two can not be combined without seriously marring both. Personally, I prefer the latter. There are many objections, I am quite aware, to the traditional prayer-meeting; but, on the whole, it seems best suited for the active, up-to-date church. The fact is, all live churches have a good prayer-meeting and lay strong emphasis upon it. It is both a rallying-point and a radiating center. Granted, then, that one has decided to make the midweek service a prayer-meeting, his first aim should be to give it as informal a character as possible. This does not mean that the service should be undignified, but rather that it should not partake of the temper or method of the regular Sabbath service. A minister's temptation, ordinarily, is to make too set an address. This must be carefully avoided, and at the same time he should not drop into the so-called "prayer-meeting talk," which, frequently, is thin, vapid, and sentimental. He should seek to make it as strong a piece of work as he can do. It should be simple, practical, and experimental, coming as closely as possible to the people's needs and throbbing with the warmth and vitality of the Gospel. In most cases it seems to me wise that the minister should speak last. In this way he avoids the mistake of discouraging the laymen from attempting to speak after his carefully prepared address, and disarms the excuse pleaded by so many that the ground had been already covered, and they felt they had nothing further to say. The prayer-meeting, in order to be successful, should also partake of a social character. The spirit of fellowship must abound. In other words, the minister should seek to give the prayer-meeting its own atmosphere, such as may be detected the instant one enters the room, and which an attendant shall not fail to breathe after the meeting has closed and he has returned to his home. My own plan has been to greet the people when they entered, and to go to the rear of the room during the singing of the last hymn, so that after the benediction was pronounced I would be at the door to give a hand of fellowship to the people as they retired. It is a good plan to have regular ushers, chosen with reference to their courtesy and sociability. I have always encouraged the members to turn to one another and greet their seat-mates immediately after the benediction, and in order to get them to remain for social conversation afterward I have tried to have various committee meetings held immediately succeeding the service. The meeting must be made intensely interesting if we are to get a large attendance and maintain it. The tide these days sets away from the midweek service. There are so many things of interest in the world and people's lives are so much more complex than they used to be that the prayer-meeting has a fearful competition to contend with. To make it thus interesting the music should be bright and animated, with a good pianist and either a precentor or a prayer-meeting choir to give snap and volume to the singing. Avoid difficult hymns. Taking it all in all, however much we may object to the music, Gospel hymns sing better and are more enjoyed by an average congregation than any others. The meeting must have a carefully arranged program, and this should vary from night to night. To avoid having the same officers always upon their feet, it should be clearly understood that certain ones have been asked to be present and take part, and others should hold back until they have given the meeting its start. I have ordinarily planned the program so minutely that even the opening prayer and two or three brief closing prayers had been previously arranged for. An unaccompanied hymn, started preferably by the minister, or, if he can not sing, by some one chosen for the purpose, is a good way of keeping up the spirit and fervor of the meeting. This, too, may be prearranged. Everything depends, of course, upon the topic selected for the meetings. The cut-anddried topic card is disadvantageous from the start. Sometimes "request" subjects are the best to follow; sometimes consecutive subjects that are closely tied together and that cover a month or six weeks will be found effective. A testimony meeting can be dropped in every month or two and be found most inspiriting. One church that I know of spent nearly the whole of the year upon favorite chapters. This, however, deflected the midweek service before the year was over from a prayer-meeting into a lecture. Mention should also be made of advertising as a valuable agent in building up the prayermeeting. An ingenious use of printer's ink will do far more in this respect than we are in the habit of supposing. A catchy title to the topic card, attractive typography, and enterprise in the distribution of the leaflets are all-important. I have recently used a small four-page leaflet that bore the title in bold type letters printed across the first page: "A Good Winter Resort." These were handed to the people as they entered the church. Seeing the title they were curious at once, and opened the leaflet to find that the resort referred to was the midweek service. Upon this second page the place and hour were indicated. On the third page the topics were given, which in this case happened to be arranged under the general heading of: "The Vocation wherewith we are called," and were subdivided into: "A Disciple of Christ," "A Friend of Christ," "A Witness for Christ," "A Servant of Christ," "A Brother of Christ." On the last page was printed one verse of the dainty poem "An Hour with Thee." There is one condition of a good prayermeeting thus far unnamed. It is, of course, always presupposed-namely, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. I doubt if we ministers approach the midweek service, usually, with sufficient prayer. Still more do I doubt whether it is carried as it should be as a burden upon the hearts of the people. The minister who comes from a long period spent upon his knees to the service brings an atmosphere with him which is unmistakable, and must needs prove contagious; his words are charged with spiritual warmth and life; and the service is invariably set from the start to the highest and purest key. WHY SOME CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR SOCIETIES DIE FOR the most part they have a surprising vitality. It is not strange, however, that there are some dead Christian Endeavor societies, for there are many dead churcheschurches which lived and at one time flourished, but now are utterly extinct. A church that once dies, moreover, is usually dead for all time. It is very seldom revived. Some other denomination comes in and occupies the field, or else it is left neglected and in ruins, as on some of our New England hillsides. A Christian Endeavor society with suspended animation very often comes to life again. It is hard for it to stay dead. With the advent of a new pastor, with the coming sometimes of a new family only, the work is begun with new vigor and earnestness and goes on to completer success than ever. Moreover, far more societies are born than die, so that there is a constant net gain all over the world. Even the cases of suspended animation, tho much is made of them in some quarters, are comparatively rare. The oldest society, that in Williston Church, Portland, Maine, was twenty-four years of age on the second day of February, 1905. It has never suspended its work, and is as vigorous and vital as ever in its history. Many others have passed their twentieth milestone and show no signs of decrepitude. The second oldest society, one which has passed its twenty-third birthday and is connected with the North Church at Newburyport, is still hale and hearty, tho somewhat venerable as young people's societies go. A record was made a short time since of the first society of Christian Endeavor formed in different States, territories, and provinces, and it was found that out of fifty of these societies, many of which were a score of years old or more, forty-two are in existence to-day, and the other eight would have been had they not been changed by denominational pressure into strictly denominational societies. Still, in spite of this remarkable vitality, some Christian Endeavor societies, it must be admitted, have died, and not always in the hope of a blessed resurrection. Various reasons are given in individual cases, and, doubtless, there is more than one reason which will apply. The church sometimes dies, and with it the young people's society necessarily goes out of existence. The young people often move away from rural districts, depleting the church of its young life and making the young people's society almost impossible. Once in a while the spirit of worldliness seizes upon the young people, and the best efforts of pastors and older counselors seem powerless for a time to prevent the merging of the society into a mere social or literary club, which soon dies a timely and unlamented death. But all these causes put together do not amount to a tithe of the number of societies that are killed by the indifference or hostility of the pastor. The pastor who is so disposed finds it very easy to destroy his Christian Endeavor society on account of the principles of loyalty and thorough-going devotion which are woven into the very warp and woof of the movement. The principle of the Christian Endeavor society is to do what its church and pastor want to have it do, to take up any kind of work that the pastor will have it take up, to drop anything which he does not deem desirable, to emphasize this or that feature as he may choose; and the flexibility of the society and its adaptability to all classes and conditions of men make it possible for him to mold the young life of the church through this means in any way that he chooses. Some pastors have taken advantage of this principle to legislate or freeze their societies out of existence; a few have abruptly disbanded them; a few more have substituted something else on an original and independent line, which has flourished so long as he had time and strength to look after it, and usually no longer; still more, by utter neglect and indifference, by staying away from the meetings, and sometimes by cruel criticism, have chilled their society until its lifeblood stagnated and the minister could exclaim over a wellnigh lifeless organization, which he had himself weakened and nearly killed: Why should it exist any longer? Let it die the death of the useless and the superfluous. I am not writing at random or of matters for which I can not give chapter and verse. More than a score of times have earnest, loyal young Christians come to me with tears in their eyes, and have said: “What can we do? Our pastor is slowly strangling the life out of our society." Many a letter have I received within the last twenty years, pathetic in its tale of cold indifference and absolute neglect of young people whose hearts yearn for the support of their pastor in working for their church through their Christian Endeavor society. Sometimes denominational zeal has inspired over-ardent sectarians to kill their society in order to substitute for it a purely denominational organization. Some hundreds, perhaps thousands, have thus been put to death, and very rarely has a vigorous denominational society been erected on the ruins. The young people have not in any large numbers left their churches, for the idea of loyalty to the church is ineradicable in the Christian Endeavor movement; but they have been chilled and depressed, and the enthusiasm for their work has often thus been taken out of them. Said a wise Methodist pastor to me not long since, one who had been the presiding elder of a large district: "I have always had an Epworth League in previous charges, but in this field I found a vigorous, earnest, loyal Christian Endeavor society, and I have worked with it and it with me as heartily as pastor and young people possibly could. I have no thought or wish for any other under these circumstances." But other societies have died not for denominational reasons, but by reason of pure neglect. When the chilling winds have ceased to blow and sunnier skies have dawned upon the young people, they have come to life again and gone on more vigorous than ever. Said a well-known pastor of a Western city church to his young people, who had been organized by his predecessor into a vigorous, aggressive Christian Endeavor society: "What do you call yourself?" "We are a Christian Endeavor society," said the spokesman. "And what are you endeavoring to do?" asked the pastor again, with a circumflex sneer in his voice. "Why," answered the president, “we endeavor to have a warm, earnest prayer-meeting every week; to train our members along the different lines of committee work for the church; to help the spiritual activities of the young people; in fact, to do anything the church wants to have done." "Then go and start a mission Sun |