who as believers have come into possession of the blessings of redemption, to preach the Gospel to every creature and make disciples of all the nations. And as they earnestly endeavor to carry out the commission, at home and in regions beyond, they soon find out, not only in the crowded centers of our own country, but in foreign fields among the heathen as well, that there are many needs and evils besides the spiritual death and woe which sin has brought into the world that cry out for relief, and that it is utterly impossible to apply the direct remedy of the Gospel in many cases until the physical needs, the aches and ailments of the body, have been in some measure relieved. The history of rescue missions and slum work is full of illustrations of this practical truth. And so we find that in all Christian mission work everywhere, more especially in the department of inner mission work, a large amount of ministering in temporal things is combined with the direct service of the Gospel. While the former is not neglected, the latter is always kept in view as the chief thing, because what stranded and fallen men need is not only amelioration of bodily ills and reformation of life, but also and supremely regeneration of heart and spiritual life, without which an outwardly reformed life is only a temporal good and may be a refined form of hypocrisy and self-righteous

ness.

d. Apostolic injunction and example. Consider, for instance, the words of St. Paul in the sixth chapter. of his epistle to the Galatians: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. * * * Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." The history of the early

Church is a luminous exemplification of these principles of Christian brotherhood, good will, and service to mankind. The diaconate, both male and female, was an office that grew out of the needs of the growing Church and provided for the ministry of mercy, service among those in need of temporal relief, under the direction and control of the Church. The community of goods in the church at Jerusalem was only a local incident, but it is a beautiful illustration of Christian love and fellowship which includes the sharing of temporal goods as occasion may require. And besides providing for the needy members of the household of faith, the early Christians unstintingly bestowed kindnesses upon strangers and ministered even unto their heathen persecutors, when the latter were in need of help.

4. The Aim as Distinguished from the Methods. In conclusion, to avoid any possible misunderstanding as to the nature, the scope, and the legitimacy of the work, let the true aim of all Christian mission work be duly emphasized and kept in view.

a. The aim is salvation from sin and death. As a work of the Church, and not merely a form of Christian philanthropy, this is the aim that must be kept supreme in all forms of inner mission work. The Gospel of Christ is the great remedy that must be applied wherever it can get a hearing. In many cases of need and distress it gets a hearing and a cordial welcome through some ministration to bodily ailments. This, then, becomes a means to the higher end of reaching the soul. The physical is subordinate to the spiritual; the temporal, to the eternal. The works of mercy are not in themselves ends, but means. Even though they be regarded as aims in a subordinate sense and within the limited sphere of a particular charity, the workers must

be conscious of their setting in the whole enterprise and of their relation to the ultimate end of the Gospel and of the Church. That is to save souls, to win disciples. for Christ and to incorporate them, wherever possible, in the Church. The displacement of this aim, the elevation of methods and secondary objects into the place of an independent aim, leads to perversion here, just as it does in foreign missionary work.

b. The methods vary according to the needs. The relatively large place of charities in inner mission work does not change the matter, nor justify a modification of principle in the case. If the charities are maintained for their own sake, independently of the Gospel, and without the distinct and constant presence and power of the Gospel, they deteriorate into philanthropies and humanities, they change their character and the class to which they belong, they cease to be a part of the specific work of the Church, they no longer belong to the sphere of Christian missions and are no longer a part of the great and ramified missionary enterprise which the Lord of the harvest has given His Church to do.

Such considerations will impel the leaders of the movement to shape their methods of work not only according to the needs that appeal for help, but also with a view to the immediate and the ultimate aim. Any forms of activity that leave practically no room for more or less direct influence of the Gospel are to be discarded as not coming within the scope of the Church's inner mission activity. And when certain lines of work are undertaken, provision will be made from the outset for the work and influence of the Gospel, to be carried on wisely and prudently, with due regard for time and conditions, but faithfully and persistently, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

CHAPTER XXIII.

PRINCIPAL METHODS OF THE WORK.

1. Congregational.

The division of methods, attempted here, is not the one that is commonly made and accepted in the standard German works on inner missions. From their point of view the entire work is institutional, and work in the congregation is enrolled as one of the forms of the institutional activity. And for them that idea and order is quite natural. It is in accord with the historical development of the enterprise in its modern form in Germany as well as with the conditions still largely prevailing in the fatherland. But is it in harmony with the situation in America where we are fortunately free from the entanglements and limitations in which the state churches of Europe are involved, and where we have neither occasion nor call to inaugurate and carry on the work through independent organizations separate and apart from the churches? We are of the decided opinion that it is not. Moreover, from the Scriptural point of view, as we had occasion to show in another connection, all such work which devolves upon the Church and belongs to the sphere of churchly activity should, under normal conditions, be under the control and supervision of the churches in whose name it is carried on. For these reasons the development of the inner mission. enterprise, so far as it has progressed among us, is for the most part different from that which it has taken in Europe. This is a great advantage for us, and the advantage should be consistently followed up.

a. This form of inner mission activity is of prime importance. It is so from every point of view, whether we regard it in the light of Scripture, or of the example of the apostolic and early Christian Church, or of the natural order of development. In this sphere, as in all other mission work, the Gospel of Christ must be the chief reliance for the accomplishment of the end of Christian missions. And the Church is the divinely planted and appointed institution for the propagation of the Gospel and the administration of the means of grace in general. The Church is, therefore, the proper body to train and send out and support missionaries and, consequently, also to have the general oversight of the work. This is the Scriptural idea, and it is beautifully exemplified in the early Church.

Our congregations would do well to make a more earnest study of the spirit and work of the apostolic churches. It was springtide in the Church, the season of new life and freshness, of vigor and beauty, of health and hope. It is like a cooling breeze from the mountains to read the plain record of this purling life in the Acts of the Apostles. There we find such phrases and statements as these: With one accord; they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers; they lifted up their voice to God with one accord; all that believed were together and had all things common; they were of one heart and of one soul; they attended to the work with gladness and singleness of heart. And so we are prepared to read, further, that, praising God, they had "favor with all the people," and "great grace was upon them all." Is there not in all this a lesson for our time? Ought it not at least to act as a check upon our distracted strenuosity and as a spiritual tonic for our disjointed