Every step of progress, in any direction, involves either a sacrifice or a separation of some kind. Even in matters of human knowledge, of commerce, of science, of domestic life, this principle is true, that progress necessitates sacrifice or separation. We cannot advance one step without detaching ourselves from the place where we now are, and breaking up some old relationship. To ascend the mountain we must leave the valley, to form a new home the young pair must break up from the old home, to learn a new science we must abandon many an old idea, to rise to a position of responsibility or honor involves fresh sacrifices and greater cares; in fact, every person, every creature, everything in creation, is folded round with the meshes of this law, you cannot advance without paying for it. God is the only being who from eternity to eternity is so full and perfect and absolute in every way as to have no increase, no diminution, and whose unlimited self-sufficiency fills every point of space and every moment of duration; within whose capacious arms all creation floats, yet remains distinct from his ever blessed Godhead. But with all creatures there is change, and an ongoing progress, either upwards or downwards, either inward or outward, either expanding or contracting, either brightening or darkening, and oftentimes in this earthly stage of existence, moving both ways by turns. God's call for Abraham to leave his father's house, and be an emigrant with Jehovah toward the setting of the sun, has an echo throughout the world, and a duplicate form in millions of lives. Now, every law of nature either runs up into the spiritual state, or is repeated there on a finer scale and with wider range. So, remember, as we journey along in our spiritual ships, that we run up against this principle of paying some price for every step of progress. It is an axiom, that if we want Pentecostal power, we must pay Pentecostal prices. There is a unique species of steamship called the "tugboat,'' and it sets forth in a most striking way, a class of very worthy and heroic Christian souls. The steamtug is constructed on this very principle of sacrifice and separation, for it is built pre-eminently for strength, and so it must sacrifice largeness of bulk and showy splendor, and it is built for swiftness not only in speed, but in turning in a small compass, and so it must sacrifice many qualities of other kinds of ships, and by its smallness in size, it must be separated from those popular kinds of steamboats and ferry-boats which are adapted for carrying large excursion parties. If we trace out the allegory, all these principles will be manifest in types of Christian life, and especially in a class of energetic, swift-moving, missionary souls, who are specially called of God to do a work in the service for souls, corresponding to the service of steamtugs in maritime commerce.

1. The steamtug has a special build with the following ends in view, to be as strong and swift as possible with the least amount of size. The body of such a vessel is not formed to carry many passengers, or much freight on board, but only large enough to carry a powerful engine, in fact the hull of the vessel is made entirely for the engine, just as some people seem to have bodies built expressly for their souls. In one sense this should be true of everybody, but there are special cases where the body seems to be exclusively for the spiritual enginery of the soul; for this reason tugboats are not built for show, and there is but little about them for show, although when they go shooting across the harbor, or plunging through the waves, there is a fascinating beauty in their graceful motion, which resembles the spiritual charm of those busy, rapid-moving, fire-baptized souls, who are carried away with a missionary zeal in serving the Lord.

Again, the structure of a steamtug does not admit of its being used for carrying many passengers, or going with large excursion parties, which illustrates the fact that those saints who serve as tugboats for Jesus, can never adapt themselves to going with the majority, or working on popular lines, they never load themselves down with religious moonlight excursions, and are not in demand for things that are popular, but are always in demand in times of distress. Every Christian must have all the graces, but there are special types, in which some one or two graces largely predominate. Every steamboat must combine all the principles that go to make a steamboat, yet there are distinct types, so widely different as to hardly be recognized as belonging to the same family; as for instance, see the difference between a ferryboat and a battleship, or between an immense triple deck sidewheeler and a little tug that plays around it almost unnoticed.

2. The tugboat has only one mission to fill, and that is to help other vessels, and unless it is employed in ministering to all other kinds of ships, it is practically out of a job. True, a steamtug may sometimes be employed to carry the mails, or take a few passengers, or a small amount of freight; but its special and well nigh exclusive use is to help other vessels of all sorts and sizes whatsoever. For this reason it is built for nothing but strength, and hence requires a deeper draft of water, a stronger wheel and a heavier engine, than any other ship in the world to its size.

How true all this is of these sanctified persons who are specially adapted for rescuing other souls, and for all kinds of mission work. Above all the graces, they need strength, and unflagging zeal; a tireless perseverance, a humble, patient, plodding courage, that tugs away on some stranded soul, and will not give up, till it comes triumphantly steaming up the harbor with some dear soul in tow. Among the believers who have received their Pentecost, there are some who are specially gifted to be pioneers in opening up new missions, new fields of spiritual thought, new methods of service, who move on rapidly here and there. Then, there are others specially gifted to teach, to explain scripture, to harmonize and adjust Bible doctrine, and take difficult problems and unfold them with the beauty and simplicity of sun-light, enabling multitudes to see their way clear through matters of faith. Then there are others who are pre-eminently gentle and winsome in their lives, remarkably gifted in gracefulness of spirit, body, words, and manners; pouring forth a tranquil stream of comfort to others. Then there are some whose great gift is on the divine side, and who seem deficient in skill to deal directly with many of their fellows, but all of whose nature opens out toward God; who live mostly in the mysterious and the supernatural, and they are regarded by some as impracticable and heavenly treasures, like the old Prophets; these get hold on the divine perfections, and get secret insights into the way things are going, and produce results by way of the Throne.

Again, there are those who are full of rippling music, gleeful, childlike, light-hearted saints, specially gifted to care for children, nursing the sick, whose lives bubble and glance like a mountain stream splashing over its pebly bed, and who make up in cheerfulness for what they lack in depth. Then there is a species of beautifully sad souls, who all their lives have been attended with sorrow; their tears are frequently their meat and drink, and even their purest and sweetest joys are tinctured with pathetic, tranquil, heaven-yearning sorrow; who carry their cross deep-sunken in their heart's blood; they are deep, meditative souls, and as scripture says, ''gather the precious things brought forth by the moon and the stars.'' And many other varieties could be delineated, but the tugboat Christian, while he may have some of all these foregoing traits, he differs in type from all of them, in that his special gift is that of divine zeal and benevolence acting in an emergency, with promptness, with agility, and combining the dashing speed of a mother's love for her babe, with the patient, gentle persistence of a nurse with the sick. Their greatest gift is energy of character. The moment you meet them, you feel the presence of a spiritual backbone. They may be of a modest and shy disposition, with no special attractiveness in ordinary circumstances, but as quick as a storm comes up, and a hurricane dashes along the coast, wrecking vessels, they are up and at it, plunging into all sorts of difficulties, facing danger in a howling mob, going into slums, tackling a demoniac, catching at some fallen creature, and regardless of self-interest, putting their lives in the jaws of death for the welfare of others.

Let us look a little in detail at the multiplied ministries of the steam tugboat. It must have the qualities of quick motion, to go forward, or backward, or dart around a big ship readily. Also, the quality of plunging in the waves, with hatches all down, and be fairly smothered under the water, to drag a ship in from a heavy sea. It must be adapted to ocean or river, to tow an old lighter, or turn around the bow of a battleship. In every circumstance, the supreme requisite is that of strength. Now all these qualities constitute the spiritual furnishing of a sanctified mission worker, for such an one must be adapted to various classes, and various needs of his fellows. One work of a steamtug is to run out to sea, or along the coasts, and hunt up foundered or dismantled ships of any kind, and pull them into harbor. This is exactly the work of anointed mission workers, to watch out for any kind of a character that is foundered, or torn to pieces in a moral storm, and by tying fast to them with the hawser of compassion and prayer, draw them into the harbor of repentance and restoration. Also, in times of war, when great and gallant ships are transpierced with the enemy's shells, or their rudder, or wheel house has been shot away, then there is work for the little energetic steamtug, that quickly runs up alongside its wounded brother, and steams away to some distant navy yard for repairs.

Ah! what tales of heroic love service God's mission workers in the great cities could tell, far more thrilling than the story of old sailors who have been pulled in from equinoxial storms. The battles of the soul are always being fought, and the explosion of hellish dynamite to cripple or kill God's servants, will never stop till Jesus returns, and chains Satan, and speaks to the whole earth, ''Be still, and know that I am God, I will be exalted in all the earth." Hence there is constant need for steamtug saints, to be gathering in either wrecked or wounded souls. It requires more love, more deep, solid power, to rescue the fallen and the wounded, than any other kind of work in the world. Remember the steamtug is ten times stronger than any other kind of vessel in proportion to its size; and a person given up to the rescue of the fallen, must have a strength ten times beyond the average preacher or evangelist. Men and women may not only be very prominent Christians, but prominent holiness preachers and evangelists, with ability to run camp meetings, and conventions, and foreign missionary enterprises, who are greatly lacking in that deep, vast, tender, ocean-hearted love, sufficient to go down in literal practical compassion and help for those who are bruised and mangled in their lives. To be filled with real perfect love, is a thousand times more difficult and rare than it is to preach eloquently on the subject. Just as there is many a beautiful ship, that with sails all spread, will fascinate the beholder, but utterly unadapted to pull a stranded merchantman off the sand bank, or tow a canalboat across a harbor, so there is many a Christian who can captivate multitudes with his beautiful words about the spiritual life, who has not the humility to help a soul off the rocks, or at the bottom of society. And we must not always condemn such, for in many cases they literally know nothing* of that great capacity of love nature to constitute them rescuers of the distressed. The tugboat Christian is a walking life-saving station. Even a splendid sanctified head may exist with very little capacity for divine compassion. Another kind of work for the steamtug, is to take in tow schooners, sail ships, and all sorts of ocean craft, when they enter a bay or river, and pull them to their moorings, or to the dock, in order to facilitate the journey, and especially through narrow places difficult to sail. This also illustrates a work done by tugboat Christians, who lay hold of souls that are coming home to Jesus, or that want prayer for healing, or special guidance, and by their loving zeal they save souls from beating their way against difficulties, and by direct methods of immediate submission and present tense faith, lead the seekers very quickly to rest in Christ. Another work which is very interesting to watch the steamtugs perform, is that of turning round a great ship at the wharf or in a narrow space of water. Some ships are too large to turn themselves quickly in a narrow port, and so steam tugboats are employed for that purpose, and frequently from one to half a dozen tugboats will apply all their strength towards docking a big ship, or turning it round so it can head for the sea. Some will be pulling at the bow, and others pushing at the stern, till the great floating mountain of iron is in proper position. This is the kind of service which God's two steamtug saints, Aquilla and Priscilla, rendered to that great moral ship, Apollas. After hearing him preach with marvelous eloquence, though he was a gigantic soul, and elegantly equipped to sail life's ocean, they saw he needed help, for he was not headed toward the open sea of the fullness of God, and so these humble rescue mission workers, who had gone with Paul down in the horrible slums of Rome, and hauled out many a sin-battered soul, they now applied their energies to the more dignified task of helping to turn a great Apostle into a right position with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is need for this same kind of ministry all the time among God's people. There are always among ministers and evangelists those who need to be helped by other Christians of richer experience and wisdom, albeit of humbler positions in life. The Creator has never given all His gifts in full measure to any one person, and His plan is that of supplementary service, which Paul distinctly explains by the members of the body serving each other. As the ocean liner, which in magnitude and equipment is the wonder of the civilized world, must condescend, when in a narrow harbor, to accept of the ministry of the humble steamtug, so there is no Christian, however great or good, who does not many and many a time stand in great need of the counsel, the reproofs, the advice, the prayers, the sympathies, and the strong reinforcement, of those chosen souls who in humility are gifted with remarkable strength, and who have a special calling like the steamtug to help others.