The spirit of the martyr is needed if one would fulfil his God-appointed mission. Nothing could cause the martyrs to forswear allegiance to their God. More than anything else, more than all else, was their Father's commendation,—the "well done, good and faithful servant." All was sacrificed that they might gain this divine recognition. Like other mortals, they longed for human sympathy and human commendation, but instead of these they suffered persecution because they dared be faithful to their high sense of Truth and right.

While they earnestly desired to impart the knowledge of the true God which would bless universal humanity as it had blessed them, and while they labored faithfully to that end, yet they realized that in all their endeavors they were working for God alone. To Him, and to Him only, were they accountable. He was their Judge, and by Him they knew they would be rewarded according to the measure of their faithfulness. So clearly did they realize that they were working for God, and that they would be judged according to God's standard, and not according to man's that they shrank not from the world's condemnation.

The world gave them nothing in return for all their labor and sacrifice, but this does not signify that they received no present reward. The consciousness of right doing, the supporting power of divine Love which enabled them to sing psalms of rejoicing when suffering the most bitter persecutions, and even when the human sense of life was being consumed by the devouring flames, was a present reward, such as the world could neither give nor take away. This was their joy; this was their present reward, which far surpassed all the favors the world could bestow. The fact that they were servants of God, working for Him only, was the secret of their lives of love and sacrifice. This inspired and sustained them in the darkest hour of persecution as well as in the days of joy and gladness.

The lives of the martyrs teach us that to work for God is the key to a happy and successful life. Working for self, or even for others, cannot bring to humanity the full measure of success and happiness. One may labor unselfishly for another's good, sacrificing time, talents, and money, but the lack of recognition and appreciation on the part of the one for whom the labor was performed and the sacrifice made, is the bitter cup which takes away the joy of doing for others. When one's efforts are appreciated it is easy to realize that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." But when one's efforts are not appreciated, and in addition to this he is misjudged as to his motives, he is oftentimes tempted to give up in despair.

To work for God alone is the way to escape the suffering occasioned by ingratitude and lack of appreciation on the part of others. As Paul says, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." This statement is broad enough to cover every possible human experience. "Whatsoever ve do,"—the little things of life as well as the great ones. If these are done as a service performed unto God, they are not in vain, no matter what may seem to be the result when judged from a human point of view. Honest work for a just Master can never go unrewarded. The joy and satisfaction of such labor is unknown to the one who looks no higher than the mortal and material sense of things. To such an one life may seem to be one round of material labor for which nothing but a material reward is expected. But if one realizes that each day is a lesson in the school of experience wherein he is working out his salvation from all error, he sees that even in the little things he can know that God is with him, and that a higher and more harmonious consciousness of existence is the reward for labor well done. The triumph of good over evil in his own consciousness is a sufficient reward, for it brings happiness, health, and life.

Mortals cannot rightly appreciate the efforts of another in their behalf, or justly estimate the worth of his labors. Perhaps this is not so much because they would not, as because they cannot. They must of necessity view all things from their standpoint of experience, and because of this their estimate of the labor and sacrifice of another usually falls far short of what it should be. Their limited sense of things causes them to withhold the gratitude and appreciation which would otherwise find expression in their lives. If one is looking for that human recognition and appreciation to which he feels he is justly entitled, he suffers a keen sense of disappointment when he fails to receive it. These disappointments teach a much-needed lesson, causing one to look beyond the material sense of things and find his reward in the spiritual fact of being where all is harmony, and love and justice reign supreme.

How different will be one's conception of life when in all that he does he looks to God alone. Divine Love is all-wise and just, and the faithful servant need have no fear that his labors will be unnoticed and unrewarded. No loving service for God, no matter how small it may seem in the eyes of the world, can fail to accomplish good results. It is bread cast upon the waters that will surely return in a manifestation of God's goodness. It is seed sown that, in due season, will bring forth fruit, thirty, sixty, or it may be, an hundred fold.

A higher motive than the hope of reward inspires the efforts of the one who is working for God. He does right because it is right, not because he expects or hopes to be rewarded for so doing. Instead of feeling that he has done a great work and is justly entitled to a rich reward, he feels that all he has done is so little, compared with the love the Father has bestowed upon him, that he has already received more than he deserves. Meekly and lovingly does he recall the words of the Master, "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."

The true Christian Scientist realizes that as a child of God his true selfhood is expressed only in right doing. He is constantly called upon to deny the sense of selfhood in matter, but he must not deny his true being as a child of God by withholding that which is good and right. This life becomes to him the expression of God's goodness in every thought, word, and deed of human experience. He has no fear of results, for he has within his own heart the constant assurance that God is All, and that nothing can withstand the might of Omnipotence. Thus he is content to labor and to wait for the manifestation of God's goodness. He knows that nothing can rob him of his sonship with God or deprive him of the least of the blessings which his heavenly Father has bestowed upon him.

This view of life and its work lifts him above the sense of discouragement, that great enemy to human endeavor and progress. He may or he may not see the immediate results of his labor, but he knows they are sure. He has caught a glimpse of the great Principle of life, and he has applied that Principle to all the affairs of daily experience. The immediate result may not be what he expected, but he knows that if he is faithful to the Truth of Being, nothing but harmony can result. It is his to sow the seed and wait patiently for the harvest, for God alone can give the increase. Inspired with faith in God's power and willingness to manifest Himself through the humblest warrior on the field of battle, he loses sight of his own weakness. Thus he is girded "with strength unto the battle," and, like the shepherd boy, he goes forth to meet the Goliath of sin, sickness, and death. He realizes that in the future as in the past, he will come off more than conqueror, and that nothing shall be able to separate him from that greatest of all blessings,—the love of God. This is his reward, which the world can neither give nor take away.