No lesson taught by the Savior during his ministry in mortality was more frequently and thoroughly impressed than that of unselfish service. Of those who labored solely for the things of this world, or for praise or the honors that men can bestow, He had a habit of saying: "They have their reward." If they obtained that which they strove for they were already repaid: they were entitled to nothing more. Of the rich He said, "Ye have received your consolation." It was not sufficient that man should seek to benefit or bring happiness alone to those they loved. Even that He evidently regarded as a species of selfishness, as implied by the saying: "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?" "For sinners do even the same." His exhortation was: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal."

All this was not intended to imply that wealth itself was intrinsically bad, or that poverty had any essential virtue, except as a means to an end. The rule was, as expressed by the great Teacher, that "where the treasure is, there will the heart be also." A sublime test upon this point was that made of the young man who applied to the Savior upon one occasion to know what good thing he could do to gain eternal life. Though he was able to say that he had kept all the commandments from his youth up, it was apparent to the Master that his heart was set upon the wealth he possessed, as evidence of which he turned away sorrowfully when required by the Savior to surrender his possessions, for the benefit of the poor, and follow Him.

The Gospel as revealed anew in our day has shed a flood of light upon the subject of salvation, and the conditions upon which it is predicated. The glorious principle of salvation for the dead, as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, has awakened a desire in the hearts of thousands of earnest seekers after truth to do a vicarious work for the benefit of their dead relatives and friends, that they may share in all the blessings and privileges of the Gospel. In this work, as well as in the preaching of the Gospel to the living, have avenues been opened up for unselfish work, which, as it involves no earthly reward, is clearly in the line of laying up treasures in heaven, as distinguished from the work of amassing treasures upon earth which absorbs the attention of so many of the earth's inhabitants. That the recital of some typical examples of sacrifices unselfishly made in the interest of others, and th—e joy experienced therein, may tend to promote faith in those who read the same and incite them also to lay up treasures in heaven, this volume is published in continuation of the "Faith Promoting Series," originated and published by the present author about thirty-five years ago.