broken up by the scattering of the church, and I do not
remember any hint in the Epistles to the Churches that there should be
an effort to establish a similar communism in any place."

"No?" said Hubert. "I shall search farther and see what they do say."

And he did. A less disinterested disciple would not have pressed such
a vigorous search toward an end that might mean his own monetary
disadvantage. But a supreme longing to know the will of God and to do
it was master of the situation. Moreover he remembered the vision of
the cross that stood at the outset of his Christian way, and the terms
of complete abandonment of himself and his circumstances to which he
consented in his heart.

He pursued diligent and business-like methods in his study. With the
aid of a concordance he found and tabulated what the Gospels had to say
about "money," "gold," "silver," "goods," "riches" and "treasure,"
words that might serve as clews to discover the mind of God in the
matter he searched out. Also he read carefully the Epistles to see
what, in the more settled state of the church, was enjoined after the
dissolving of the community at Jerusalem.

His thoughtful study involved the spare hours of many days, and he
emerged from it with certain convictions which were not likely soon to
be shaken. He set his arguments in order with a deliberation and logic
with which a lawyer might prepare his brief. His leading conclusions
as to the teaching of the Scriptures on the subject were somewhat as
follows:

First, that the possession of riches is a disadvantage to a man as to
his entering the kingdom of heaven. Indeed, that it would render it
impossible but for the grace of God with whom all things are possible.

Second, that the teaching of the Lord Jesus placed the seeking of
worldly goods in utter contempt and disregard as compared with heavenly
riches. Indeed, they might well be abandoned for the sake of that
treasure. That even the necessities of life were not the things to be
anxiously sought, but were guaranteed by God in response to the
diligent, first-in-order, whole-hearted seeking of His kingdom and
righteousness. That this teaching, however, was guarded against
misinterpretation by practical instructions in the Epistles to work for
honest support and in order to have to give.

Third, that an instant effect of the coming of the Holy Spirit was a
practical illustration of that disdain of earthly goods inculcated by