X W\ TIIE BALM OF GILEAD A SERMON DELIVERED BEFORE THE (Dneik Conference Biissionartj §ocie AT UTICA, JULY 29, 1852, LYMAN A. EDDY. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CONFERENCE. AUBURN : Northern Christian Advocate Office. WM. I. MOSES, PRINTER, 1852. / fl^r’The Author wishes it understood, that the pecuniary avails of this Sermon, after defraying the expense of publication, will be exclu- sively appropriated to the Missionary cause. SERMON. Is there no halm in Gilead ? Is there no physician there ? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered ? — Jeremiah 8: 22. These enquiries were made by one who was deeply im- bued with a missionary spirit. If Paul is justly consider- ed a model missionary under the Christian dispensation, Jeremiah may with equal propriety be so estimated under the Jewish economy. Is a missionary spirit a spirit of in- quisitiveness, a disposition to lift our eyes from ourselves, and look abroad in quest of opportunities of doing good ? That the prophet possessed such a mind, the language of our text and context sufficiently demonstrates. Is a mis- sionary spirit a spirit of weeping, in view of the woes of others ? Whose compassion over human degradation and suffering was more deeply and tenderly excited than the man of God, properly distinguished as “the weeping prophet ?” Is a spirit of sacrifice an essential element in the character of a true missionary ? We admit that sensi- bility alone is an equivocal test of a genuine missionary spirit. We are aware, as Bishop Butler says, “A man may have the passive sentiment of compassion, without the active principle of benevolence.” But Jeremiah evin- ced not only a disposition to see and feel the condition of others, but also to do what he could to relieve human misery ; and in this cause he sacrificed his time, his strength, and finally his life. It was an affecting sense of the depravity, guilt, and a prophetic view of the doom of his impenitent countrymen that induced him to utter the reproving yet eloquent inter- rogatories of our text. The language used implies that the evils they were suffering, and the more severe evils impend- 4 ing over them, were not only self-inflicted, but perpetuated while a remedy was within their reach. Indeed, the most bitter ingredient in the cup of the prophet’s anguish was, that this heaven-favored people should perish, with abun- dant means of relief at hand. But while we wonder at the infatuation of the Jews, let us enquire whether the language of our text is not ap- plicable to our own times ; — whether, if Jeremiah was now living, in surveying the sad condition of our world, in view especially of the superior provisions of grace now enjoyed, he would not, with greater astonishment, and still more intense emotion, utter the exclamation : “Is there no balm in Gilead ? Is there no physician there ? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered ?” My main design in the present discourse is to show that, in view of the ample remedial provisions graciously made for the recovery of the human family from the moral dis- orders of the fall, there is serious culpability somewhere, that so little has been done to effect this object. In pursuance of this design, the first enquiry suggested is, whether the moral condition of the world is such as should excite our solicitude and grief ? On this point, widely different views have been entertained by professed Christians. There are some, indeed, of whom it must be said, they scarcely entertain any idea whatever on the subject. Having, as they believe, personally obtained the bread of life, they do not trouble themselves to enquire whether their neighbors, either at home or abroad, are supplied with the same precious blessing. One of this class, I recollect, on a certain occasion, when I had been trying to show that we were “verily guilty concerning our brethren, the heathen, in that we saw the anguish of their souls, and would not help them,” came to me after service, complaining bitterly of my severity, and with an air of apparent sincerity, said that for more than twenty years before, he had not been reminded of the obligation to send the Gospel to the destitute, and besides found it sufficient- 5 ly difficult to secure the salvation of his own soul, without caring for the souls of others. A more numerous class entertain altogether too gloomy and discouraging views of the condition of our race. Con- stitutionally, perhaps, of a melancholic or misanthropic turn of mind, they see only the dark features of the great family of man, and vehemently maintain, not only that the world is growing worse and worse, but that it is absolutely incurable. They see Ichabod in fiery cap- itals, emblazoned upon everything in Church and State. “Signs and omens multiply along their path, but they are signs of woe ; and every falling star is a presage of wrath hence, so far from encouraging systematic plans for the amelioration of the condition of society, they denounce every movement, as the offspring either of fanaticism or hypocrisy, and its tendency only to hasten the catastrophe, and bring down thunderbolts of destruction upon an in- corrigible world. Another class, on the contrary, appear too well satisfied with the world as it is. True, they admit that things are not just as they should be ; but studiously noting all the favorable signs of the times, and carefully comparing the past with the present, they expatiate on the “progress of the age” towards perfection, with as much exultation as an astronomer announces the discovery of a new planet. And so elated do they seem, in the prospect of the world’s ultimate emancipation from ignorance and vice, that they scarcely enquire whether the car of reform might not be made to move with greater rapidity, and especially wheth- er they can do anything to accelerate its motion. Now, I apprehend the true view of the subject lies be- tween these extremes. Viewing the world from the appropriate stand-point, we find occasion neither for dis- couragement on the one hand, nor unmingled gratulation on the other. When we consider what has been done, especially during the past century, the tendency of which is to the moral improvement of the human family — the obstacles to inter- 6 communication between the nations of earth that have been removed — the prejudices which have been overcome — the wonderful advancement in the arts and sciences, and the application of those improvements to the spiritual, as well as intellectual and physical welfare of man — the noble philanthropic institutions which have been founded, and the success which has crowned the special, yet, it must be confessed, very scanty efforts put forth for the evan- gelization of the heathen, the conversion of the Jews, and reclamation of semi-pagan Churches — in fine, when we consider that more has been effected for the world’s conversion during the last fifty years than had been done for fifteen centuries previously, we see abundant occasion of gratitude for the past, and hope for the future. But when we reflect how much land there remaineth yet to be possessed ; when we consider that although nearly two thousand years have rolled away since the Great Missionary solemnly charged the Church to preach the Gospel to every creature, there are probably as many pagans now dwellihg upon our earth, who are groping in as profound ignorance, and practicing the most disgusting abominations, as there have been at any time since the ascension of our blessed Savior, we look in vain for occasion of triumph. Have we time to spend in congratulations, when three-fourths of those for whom Christ shed his precious blood are liv- ing and dying, either in utter ignorance that such a Sa- vior ever lived, or in the belief that he was an impostor, and was justly crucified as a malefactor ? Is it a time for exultation, when, notwithstanding the invasions made upon the territory of Satan, by far the largest, if not love- liest portion of our globe, is shrouded in heathenish dark- ness, with only here and there a spot illumined with the light of civilization, while these dark places are still full of the habitations of cruelty? The testimony of all who visit these countries agrees that Paganism, wherever it exists, is the same cruel, abominable system, producing the same bitter fruits, and of course hurrying its victims to the same dreadful doom as when the apostle Paul wrote 7 Ins Epistle to the Romans. Surely, if we rejoice at all, it must be with trembling, when we bear in mind that six hundred millions of immortal souls, capable of glorifying, and made to glorify God forever, are still miserable idola- ters, filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, malignity, covetousness, murder ; without understanding, without natural affection ; implacable, and unmerciful. And when, moreover, we consider how strongly a large portion of nominal Christendom resembles actual heathendom, and that even in the most enlightened nations our “Ears are pained with every day’s report of wrong and outrage,” in deep humiliation we are compelled to admit that if something has been done in the work of human eleva- tion, much more still remains to be done. The Gospel, says Mr. Young, has been making progress in the world over eighteen hundred years, and it is com- puted that there are not more than ten millions of true Christians, or about one hundredth part of the human fam- ily, savingly converted to God. Let conversions go on at this rate, and from the present period, and it will take up- ward of one hundred and seventy-seven thousand years for the Gospel to fill the whole earth. Surely, therefore, he says, something must be defective, either in the means used, or mode of seeking the world’s salvation. This leads us to the interesting enquiry, II. Whether any remedy can be found adequate to the fearful emergency. Is there any balm sufficiently potent to heal the deep-seated and far-reaching malady of our race ? It mfy indeed seem superfluous that a question like this should be instituted, especially in the presence of such an audience as it is my privilege now to address. But let none of us hastily conclude that this is a settled point in all minds. It is my deliberate opinion that a want of con- fidence in the divinely appointed means for the world’s recovery, is one of the leading causes of the apathy, even among Christians, in relation to the moral welfare of our degraded and alienated race. It is true, the number is 8 small who consider the human family irremediably disor- dered — of those who denounce all efforts for the world’s reformation as visionary enthusiasm, or spiritual charlat- anism, and who seem almost impatient for the visitation of the avenging fires from heaven, to destroy a race of beings too polluted to be saved. Most men of ordinary intelligence admit that something may and ought to be done for the elevation of the vicious and ignorant in all lands, but instead of confidingly trusting in the simple “balm of Gilead” — the Gospel of Christ, to cure a leprous world, not a few exhibit too much of the captious and in- credulous spirit of the Assyrian dignitary, who said, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ?” Even in our own times, characterized as they are by outward respect for the Bible, religion has many compet- itors for the honor of improving mankind. In this stirring age of speculation and revolution, theorists and propa- gandists are constantly proclaiming new and infallible methods for the reformation of the world. But how vain, nay, presumptuous the idea of clamorous empyrics, that impotent and short-sighted man can furnish a more effica- cious prescription than Infinite Wisdom has devised ! In this wonder-working age, we admit, ingenious arti- sans may construct roads and bridges of iron, horses of fire, and post-chaises of lightning, and thus seemingly an- nihilate time and space ; and they may invent numberless labor-saving machines of great temporal utility ; but they can make no rail-way to heaven, nor can they contrive to communicate with the celestial world by telegraph, or by any medium other than that revealed in the lively Or- acles. Religious enthusiasts, and military adventurers may, again and again, repeat the experiment of making men virtuous by the instrumentality of bristling bayonets or flashing scimitars, by bitter denunciation, or venomous sarcasm ; but in every instance they will find a fresh ver- ification of Divine truth, that “the wrath of man worlt- eth not the righteousness of God.” Political economists, 0 by assuming that the moral evils of society are the fruits of badly constructed governments, may agitate and agi- tate, turn and overturn, but they will learn that changing men's political condition does not change their moral na- ture, and that mere civil liberty, however desirable in it- self, given to a people whose hearts are steeped in scepti- cism, or petrified by crime, is like building a magnificent temple upon the crater of a volcano, or placing the dead- liest weapons in the unshackled hands of a murderous banditti. As much as I love republicanism, (and I claim to love it sincerely and ardently,) let me live under the iron rule of one despot, rather than be exposed to the ty- ranny of a licentious and atheistic populace. The devotees of science may boast of the virtues of a liberal and popular education as the grand antidote for the ills of society, but the fact was fully demonstrated more than 2000 years ago, that whatever literature and science can do, and we concede they can do much, they have in themselves alone , no tendency to promote the moral improvement of community. In the language of Mr.. Harris, “the instruction of a community, in worldly science, can at best but multiply its mental and social re- sources, and thus correct its taste for some of the grosser forms of sensuality. But ask ancient Greece and Rome the direction in which it tends, unguarded by revelation, and you will find that it leads through atheism to destruc- tion. Survey the whole compass of history, and say in what instance has a progress in arts, and commerce, and attendant wealth, unaccompanied by religion, faded to in- crease the luxury and licentiousness, the arrogance and selfishness of a people, and thus seal their doom ?” I linger a moment on this point, because I fear that not- withstanding the sad lessons which past history has fur- nished of the utter insufficiency of the most gigantic efforts of science to elevate mankind from moral degrada- tion, many are still laboring under the delusion that every species of truth has a tendency not only to the intellec- tual advancement, but moral regeneration of society. B 10 But if moral evil has its source in depraved affections, which can be reached only through the medium of con- science, it obviously is as idle to expect that a vicious heart can be renovated by lectures on Geology or Elec- tricity, as that a man can become thoroughly acquainted with Astronomy by studying Botany. Truth, we all know, is mighty ; and if the world is ever purified from the dreadful malady of sin, it must be “sanctified through the truth.” But it is not historical truth, nor mathemati- cal truth, nor metaphysical truth, nor psychological truth that can rescue a slave to vice from the thraldom of his depraved propensities. If the refinements of polite liter- ature, if the cultivation of poetry, music, and eloquence are calculated to make men better, how happens it that in the ancient republics, not only was the progress of so- ciety in depravity in proportion to their progress in sci- ence and the fine arts, but some of the most illustrious devotees of learning were the most disgusting slaves of sin ? Let it then never be forgotten that, while all truth is valuable in its place, and sound learning in every depart- ment of knowledge, instead of being an antagonism to Christianity, when sanctified, is a mighty instrument of religious influence, which we are at liberty neither to despise nor neglect, it is only the truth as it is in Jesus — the Gospel of salvation through the merits of the cru- cified Redeemer, applied by the Holy Spirit, that can be relied upon for the conversion of the world, or of any of the individuals of which it is composed. Every other proposed panacea has been tried, simple and compounded, the academic groves have been traversed in vain, the classic waters of Castalia have been quaffed, but alas, at best, they heal the hurt of the daughter of a people slightly , while the heart, the seat of the disorder, remains untouched. The admirable adaptation of the unadulterated Gospel to cure the malady of sin is obvious. It is a searching remedy. Its message is not to the understanding, but 11 through the understanding to the heart. It thunders to the conscience, disclosing man’s lost and undone condi- tion as a rebellious and desperately wicked sinner. It is a powerful restorative. “The simple fact,” says Robert Newton, “that the Gospel is the ‘power of God,’ lays pros- trate everything that can be urged against missionary ex- ertions. Talk no more about the power of prejudice, the power of ignorance, the power of superstition, and pas- sion, and caste. I admit these are great powers; but there is a power infinitely greater ; a power that can tri- umph over all the powers of earth and hell — it is the power of God. Here is a power that can overcome the power of sin, snap asunder the chains of oppression, pull down strong-holds, “cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exaltcth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring every thought into captivity to the obe- dience of Christ.” Such is the nature of this balm of Gilead. It is a universal catholicon. It is adapted not only to some cases, but all cases ; not only to one na- tion, but every nation. It is alike adapted to the moral constitution of the king on the throne, and the mendicant crouching at his footstool ; the philosopher in his laborato- ry, and the savage in his mud cabin. III. We come now to the thrilling practical enquiry suggested by our text. If the world is in a solvable state, if it is the will of heaven that the kingdoms of earth should become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, why is it that this stupendous enterprise moves so tardi- dily ? I answer negatively, 1. It is not because the Gospel has lost any of its prim- itive power or efficacy. We know what this simple agen- cy effected in the days of the apostles. How the few unlettered disciples, who had experienced the transforming power of the Cross, went every where, proclaiming “Christ and him crucified” as the only remedy for our wretched race ; and wherever the}'' went, idolatry fell prostrate, heathen oracles were struck dumb, philosophers were con- founded, and the people converted by thousands, till Asia 12 Minor, and Greece, with Italy, and the various parts of the Roman Empire were evangelized. Nor is the Gospel less efficacious at the present day. Unlike many specifics of human invention, it loses no virtue by lapse of time, for this balm of life is “the precious distillment of the heart of infinite love.” 2. It is not because any gifts or aids are withheld from those specially appointed to propagate the Gospel, which were possessed by the primitive evangelists. There are some who, apologizing for the meagre success of Chris- tianity in these days, compared with apostolic times, sig- nificantly remark that the present is not an age of mira- cles, and therefore infer that a Church divested of the miracle-working power is not to be expected to accom- plish a tithe of what was effected by those Christians thus endowed. But who can suppose the God of benevolence woidd have limited the age of miracles to a single gener- ation, if this power is really essential to the extension of the Gospel and the conversion of the world ? It was, in- deed, fitting, before the Scripture canon was completed, that the human instruments employed should possess a special inspiration, to demonstrate the divinity of the new doctrines which they taught, for the benefit not only of their own generation, but of all succeeding generations. It is, however, a mistake to suppose that the remarkable success of the primitive Christians, in the conversion of sinners, is attributable to their miracle-working gift. It is true, on several occasions mighty miracles were wrought. But, I ask, was it by signs and wonders ex- hibited, for instance, upon the day of Pentecost, that the assembled multitude, convicted of their guilt, were con- strained to cry out, what shall wc do ? or was it not rath- er the result of a faithful application of Gospel truth ? Indeed, when our Savior gave the charge to his followers to go forth as fishers of men, he did not direct them to work miracles as means to save the lost, but the impera- tive mandate was, preach the word. And thus, wherev- er they went, whether among the doctors at Jerusalem, 13 the philosophers at Athens, or the barbarians of Mclita, they rehearsed the simple story of the Cross, not only as the leading, but only measure to secure the salvation of souls. Paul wrought no miracle when Felix trembled, but he reasoned. He exhibited no prodigy when he al- most persuaded Agrippa to be a Christian, but gave an unsophisticated account of his religious experience. Preaching in public, and from house to house, was the first and last resort of the apostles to bring rebellious sin- ners into allegiance with God. If, then, ministers of Jesus, in these times, are under the same obligation to Christianize the world ; if they are officiating under the same identical commission, dispensing the same all-pow- erful word of life ; promised the same Divine aid to preach, and the same Holy Comforter to encourage them in their sublime work, why is not the Gospel equally successful as in the first century ? 3. It is not because a more rapid propagation of the Gospel would interfere with the Divine purposes. What the secret purposes of God are, of course it is not for us to enquire, but whatever they are, they cannot contradict his revealed will ; and the Bible being our guide, nothing is more obvious than that the Almighty desires the speedy, not tardy evangelization of the world. And yet it is not uncommon, at the present day, to hear not only stoical philosophers, but grave divines attribute the slow progress of reform to the sovereignty of God. We are told that ‘‘Providence is never in haste that in the accomplish- ment of his great purposes of mercy in relation to our race, he is always slow in his movements. Now, such sentiments, if I do not entirely misapprehend their im- port, are not only erroneous, but have a very mischievous tendency. It is under this fatal delusion that the impen- itent sinner is carelessly waiting God’s time for his con- version — that the lordly oppressor of his brother man is professedly waiting for a sluggish Providence to open the door of release for the degraded captive, whom he continues, from generation to generation, remorse- 14 lessly to crush to the earth beneath his iron heel. — And it is under the sad influence of this error that many religionists gaze so complacently upon a world lying in the embrace of the wicked one, while more than twenty mil- lions of benighted pagans are being every year hurried into eternity, destitute of the hopes and consolations of the Gospel. Brethren, let us see to it that we manifest not the slightest sj^mpathy with the sentiments of those who thus indirectly, at least, charge the present melancholy state of the world upon their Maker. Our heavenly Father has given palpable and wonderful proof of his unwilling- ness that men should perish, and his desire — I had almost said intense anxiety — that the world of mankind should be converted. It was not because Providence was slow, that the Isra- elites were forty years in the wilderness ; but because they were provokingly slow to believe, and obey God. It is not because the Divine Being does not desire the immedi- ate deliverance of the down-trodden, that African slavery continues to exist, with its untold, if not unmitigated hor- rors in our land ; but because his guilty, yet fearfully re- sponsible stewards, who hold them in bondage, turn a deaf ear to his unequivocal command, to “ break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free.” And shall we say the pro- gress of evangelism is so slow, because God is pleased, or even willing, to see iniquity continue to abound for long and dreary ages ? Did the incarnate Deity, while robed in the vestments of humanity, and incessantly running on errands of mercy to the guilty, furnish any ground for the chilling and revolting dogma under review ? And when upon the Mount of Ascension, he said to his disciples, Go, distribute the bread of life to a famishing world, did he caution them not to be in haste in the execution of their mission, lest millennial glory might prematurely dawn upon our globe? No ! the command was to go immedi- ately, and with alacrity ; and the emblem illustrating the promptitude and zeal required of his ambassadors, was not 15 a crawling reptile, which “drags its slow length along,” but a mighty, and swift-pinioned angel, flying through the heavens. We find the Bible full of instructions, to be instant in season, and out of season, and do what our hands find to do, with our might, but not one word of ad- vice to manifest a dignified tardiness, lest, perchance, we should get the start of Providence. While we admit that Jehovah is never in a hurry, never impetuous and precip- itate in accomplishing his great purposes, it is not true that he is slack, as men generally count slackness, in the fulfillment of his merciful designs towards the children of men. Let us then give no countenance to the opposite sentiment, come from what source it may, lest we reflect upon the Divine character, encourage spiritual indolence, and evoke the shades of the sainted Wesley and Fletcher among us, to reiterate the apprehension that “ we are leaning too much towards Calvinism.” The solemn question under consideration, then, remains unanswered ; and we further observe, 4. That the slow progress in the moral improvement of unenlightened nations is not because they are inacces- sible. Certainly, if this excuse for withholding the Balm of Gilead from perishing millions, ever was valid, it is not valid now. Nearly the whole habitable world has been thoroughly explored by scientific or commercial ad- venturers, if not by missionaries of religion. By the un- precedented improvements made within a few years, in the means of inter-communication, “ the poles of the earth may be said to be almost brought together.” The world can now be circumnavigated in steam-ships with less peril, if not actually in less time, than it took St. Paul to make his memorable missionary voyage upon the Mediterranean. The most distant heathen are now our neighbors in a more literal and intimate sense, than ever before. We cannot now plead ignorance of their condition. Not only walls of stone, but the more formidable barriers of preju- dice have, as the lamented Olin observed, fallen down without even the blast of a rams-horn. We can almost 1(3 literally hear the sad wail of myriads dying for lack of knowledge : we can almost see them with outstretched hands, imploringly looking to us for relief. And, if not now, soon, with our railroads belting the earth in every direction, and our telegraphic wires stretching over conti- nents and through oceans, we shall be able, from every section of Christendom, to whisper in the ear of benighted idolaters, in the most distant regions, “ Know the Lord,” and perchance, almost in the twinkling of an eye, receive the hearty response, “come over and help us.” The question then recurs, why does not the progress of evangelism correspond with the achievements of science, the arts, and of commercial enterprise ? Why is it that the missionaries of Mammon are almost invariably in ad- vance of the Missionaries of the Cross, in exploring the dark places of the earth ; and that the latter are every- where meeting with a practical rebuke for following so timidly and slothfully, in the footsteps of those who, for purposes infinitely less important, prepared the way before them ? 5. Admitting the accessibility of the heathen, can we plead a want of means to help them ? What is meant by this plea? Of course it docs not intimate that we have no useful knowledge to impart to unenlightened nations. It must be admitted by Christians, that we have an effec- tual remedy in our hands ; an infallible prescription, writ- ten by the Great Physician himself, which we are under the most sacred obligation, not only to read and use, but circulate. Does it imply that we have not the men to carry this sovereign balm, and dispense it to the innume- rable victims of spiritual disease in distant lands? But are there less men and ivomen in the Church to propagate the Gospel than there were in the first century, when every member was literally a missionary, by whose combined agency the world was well nigh evangelized ? The “ god of this world” has no difficulty in mustering any number of men, to go to any region of the globe, however distant, to any clime, however sickly, and to endure any privation, 17 however severe, in order to the aggrandizement of this greedy monopolist. And, shall it he said, that Protestant Christendom does its utmost when it sends but about six- teen hundred missionaries into pagan lands, to save pre- cious souls, redeemed by the blood of the Son of God, while the missionaries of Mammon, by tens of thousands, are unreluctantly bidding adieu to the endearments of home and kindred, and eagerly penetrating the most distant and difficult parts of the earth for filthy lucre ? Equally fallacious, also, is the plea that there is want of funds to carry forward this enterprise, with that vigor which its importance demands. The author of the Gos- pel is the owner of the universe. The silver and the gold are his, and the cattle upon a thousand hills; and he has furnished all the means requisite for his servants to execute his requirements, if they are employed according to his direction. The great misfortune is, the money which should be devoted to the salvation of the Avorld, is used to damn it. That this remark is not extravagant will appear, I think, when we consider that, while the ag- gregate funds raised by the Protestant Churches through- out the world, for missionary purposes and Bible distribu- tion, are less than two and a half millions of dollars, about $316,000,000, according to Dr. Alcott, are expended in the United States alone, for superfluities, and chiefly for the gratification of unnatural, and, of course, vicious appetites. Is it not, for instance, a humiliating thought, that while in our country, less than one million of dollars, per annum, are expended to propagate the Gospel among the heathen, $100,000,000 are worse than wasted in the consumption of intoxicating liquors, and about $30,000,000 in tobacco ? Much is said in these days about making sacrifices for religious purposes ; but is it not true, that in these tempo- rizing times, even the Church of the self-sacrificing Re- deemer makes far greater pecuniary sacrifices upon the altar of Bacchus, and fashion, and denominational pride, than upon the altar of Christ ? The heathen, to support their idolatrous fooleries, make sacrifices that cost some- c 18 thing. Mr. Harris, in his Great Commission, tells us that the celebration of the Hindoo goddess Doorga, alone, costs not less than two and a half millions of dollars an- nually ; and Mr. Dean, a Baptist missionary, says that the Chinese are supposed to spend $360,000,000 a year, mere- ly for incense to burn before their idols. Now, the seri- ous question arises, will not these pagan devotees, many of whom bestow “ all their living” in honor of a false religion, rise up in the day of judgment and condemn us for our stinted and reluctant offerings into the treasury of that matchless Benefactor, who ungrudgingly gave himself for us ? If, then, there is balm in Gilead, of sovereign effi- cacy ; if there is a great multitude of men specially set apart as agents to dispense this balm to all classes ; if it is the will of the Head Physician that this benevolent work should be executed with all possible despatch ; if the gates of the world are thrown wide open, and the heralds of salvation almost every where permitted, if not invited to enter, and a vast preponderance of wealth and political and commercial influence has been put into the hands of those nations to whom the execution of this work is spe- cially committed, why is not the world converted, or at least the enterprise carried forward with a degree of ener- gy bearing some proportion to its importance ? In directly answering these questions, we must not for- get, as the late Mr. Nevins remarks, that the world, in gen- eral, docs not wish to be converted. Such is man’s native depravity, that in proportion to the inveteracy of his mor- al malady, is the strength of his resistance against the in- fluences designed for his relief. This, in no small degree, accounts for the melancholy prevalence of iniquity in Gospel-instructed communities. There are some who will not be made whole ; “they will not come to Christ that they may have life.” Their will, left free by God, is more than a match for all the motives that can be made to bear upon it. They perish in their sins, not because there is no adequate remedy, nor, because they are 19 ignorant of that remedy, but because they will not ap- ply it; and so, to some extent, it will doubtless ever be in all pagan and anti-Christian lands. I have no idea of a millennial period on earth, when it shall be literally true, that all will savingly “Know the Lord, from the least to the greatest.” I do, however, expect the glorious era will dawn when the knowledge of salvation shall be univer- sally ditFused — the principles of the Gospel everywhere triumphant, and the kingdoms of the earth, based upon the righteous principles of eternal truth, shall become in fact, if not in form, the kingdom of Jesus Christ ; but in the midst of the brightest latter-day glories of the mili- tant Church, such is human infatuation, a sad, though it is hoped a very small minority, after all, will remain in their sins, to be separated from the righteous, like tares from the wheat, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire. Nor in answering the queries of our text, must we for- get the systematic and active measures which are in ope- ration to prevent the recovery of the spiritual health of mankind. The devil is the leader of this movement. II is works show that he is in earnest in opposing every- thing that tends to the moral improvement or happiness of the human family. Time would fail even to allude to the numerous instrumentalities and devices he em- ploys to keep the world under his dominion of wick- edness and wo. Suffice it to say, that his various and nu- merous missionaries, visible and invisible, manifest a de- gree of ingenuity, heroism, and truly self-sacrificing devo- tion to the work of ruining the bodies and souls of men, that is enough, methinks, to make angels weep, and doubt- less astonishes even the leaders of the hosts of darkness themselves. But an inconceivably greater wonder still, both in heaven and hell, is that, while wicked men, with the devil for their master, and perdition for their wages, are indefatigable everywhere in destroying souls, the great mass of Christ’s professed soldiers, with the Almighty for their Captain, holy angels as their coadjutors, and eternal glory as 20 their reward, are doing little or nothing for their salvation. We come, at last, then, to the solution of the mystery involved in the interrogatory of the text. Satan and his minions are doing all they can, to prevent the conversion of the world, but Christians are not really trying to effect this glorious object, on which all heaven is gazing with thrilling interest. That the servants of sin have no sympathy with the missionary cause is not strange, but that redeemed sinners, who have tested the virtue of the Savior’s blood, should manifest so little anxiety for their fellow-sufferers, and such ingratitude to their Benefactor, is unaccountable. The world ought to, and might have been converted long ago, had the Church been heartily in favor of it, and evinced her desire by actions as well as words. While we rejoice to believe there are some in almost every congregation of Christians who give practical proof of heartfelt interest in the enterprise of evangelizing the heathen, and that the number of true missionary spirits is increasing, no for- mal argument is necessary to show that the great majority, even of Christ’s baptized followers, have no real sympa- thy with the missionary movements of the present age. Alas, how small a proportion of the Church feel interest enough in this work to acquaint themselves with its opera- tions, its difficulties, and achievements. And how vastly smaller is the number of those who personally identify themselves with the cause, as missionaries actually enlis- ted, and ready at any moment to be drafted for active ser- vice in some distant field of spiritual conflict ! If the army of Israel is really awake to this cause, tell me why our meetings, specially called to consult, labor, and pray with reference to the heathen, are so infrequent, and so thin- ly attended ? Why is it that comparatively so little “ma- terial aid” is furnished, and that little secured, in many instances, only by resorting to humiliating expedients, which appeal to the curiosity, pride, or selfishness of the human heart, rather than to the “constraining love of Christ?” 21 From what has been advanced, it is undeniable that the great desideratum of the times, is a revival of the missionary spirit which characterized the apostolic age. And as it is the height of enthusiasm to look for primitive success, without manifesting primitive zeal, the enquiry naturally arises, how a revival of apostolic zeal to propa- gate the Gospel can be promoted. On this point, I intend- ed to make several suggestions ; but my limits will allow me only to illustrate one remark, which I trust will not be deemed inappropriate, in a discourse appointed to be preached before a body of Christian Ministers. The re- mark is this : If we would see greater earnestness in the Church generally, in relation to the missionary cause, there must frst be manifested far greater earnestness on the part of the ministry. It is easy for us to rail against that unwieldy and yet intangible thing called the Church, and reproach its luke- warmness, but it is not quite so easy, as component and fearfully influential parts of the Church, to see and feel how far we are individually culpable in the matter. Of little avail, brethren, will it be for us to teach our people that every Christian is in fact a sworn missionary, and personally interested in the imperative command to “Go into all the world and disciple all nations,” if at the same time they detect in us a disposition to shun humble and self-denying fields of ministerial labor, and selfishly to scramble after the most inviting, lucrative, and honorable positions ; and when it occurs that a young man among us, listening to the loud wail of perishing millions in dis- tant lands, and burning with intense desire to give them the balm of Gilead, says to us, “Here am I, send mef we either manifest surprise at his enthusiasm, as though some strange thing had happened, or set our busy imaginations in the pursuit of other motives, impelling him to the self- sacrificing expedition, than the love of souls. In these times of denominational competition in exter- nal splendor, we cannot expect to inflame very warm zeal in our membership to send the Gospel to foreign heathen, 22 if by virtually barring the poor from our gorgeous church- es, and disdaining the drudgery of going out into the high- ways and hedges after sinners, we give just occasion to the degraded multitudes all around us to say, “No man careth for our souls,” when perhaps the developments of the Great Day will show, that especially these benighted foreigners from all lands, have been sent by Providence to our shores, on purpose to be healed of the malady of sin, and being healed, to carry the precious restorative to their fatherland. In this age of unprecedented responsi- bility, in view of unprecedented facilities for wholesale aggression upon the dark dominions of Belial, it will be comparatively labor lost to instruct Christian parents to consecrate their children upon the missionary altar, and educate them with special reference to the whitening spir- itual harvest everywhere visible, while our own offspring, if not placed under the direct tutelage of satan’s minis- try, are apparently trained with supreme adaptation to the groveling and selfish aims of this vain world. In these days of practical amalgamation between the votaries of Christ and the devotees of fashion, it will be in vain for us to hope to bring back the Church to that simplicity and self-denial which characterized the . apostolic age, and which, believe me, must be done .before the jubilant mil- lennial song can be sung, if, while we urge gay and world- ly Christians to throw their superfluous ornaments into the missionary treasury, our eagle-eyed auditors amuse themselves by inspecting the sparkling jewelry that pro- fusely decorates those delicate forms which, on pleasant Sabbaths, are voluptuously displayed in the pastor’s pew. In this age, when Mammon, always the ruling god of the world, has become to a sad extent the god of the Church, and when ten thousand scrutinizing eyes are jealously watching for developments of selfishness and avarice in those who profess, and ought certainly, to live at the greatest possible distance from every thing that bears even the appearance of covetousness, it will be more than labor lost for us to attempt to convince the people that it is more blessed for them to give than to receive, if by our rapacity, and parsimony, we give palpable proof of our conviction that it is far more blessed for us to receive than to bestow. In a word, if we wotdd arouse the Church to mighty endeavors in the enterprise of Christianizing the world, we must give more practical proof that we are in earnest ourselves. We must not forget that “while precept whis- pers, example thunders.” “ Conduct hath the loudest voice ; The tongue is but an instrument, on which A man may play what tune he pleases ; But in the deed, the unequivocal, authentic deed W e find sound argument — we react the heart." O ! when the whole world is contemplated as a vast missionary field; every charge as a missionary station ; the Church as a missionary family ; when every pastor is indeed a missionary , consecrating his every instrument of influence to the one grand object for which the sacred ministry was instituted, then, and not till then, may we expect to see the Church shake off her long and guilty lethargy, and in solid phalanx “come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” Would we have every member of the Church shine as a refulgent, beacon light in a dark place, we must keep ll£>ly fire so intensely, steadily, and brightly burning upon the altar of our own hearts, that no deluge of opposition can quench it, nor mountain of earthliness smother it. Would we have our people well informed in relation to the condition of the moral world, we must encourage a public investigating spirit, by standing always upon the watch-tower ourselves, as attentive observers of all the great benevolent and malevolent movements of the age, and eager to respond intelligently to the solemn enquiry, “Watchman, what of the night ?” If we would see our hearers weeping in unaffected compassion over the down- trodden and perishing, we must “look through our tears,” 24 as we tell them to lift up their eyes and behold the vast moral harvest fields, dead ripe for the spiritual sickle. If we Avould see our enterprising business men pour out their wealth, if not their life-blood, like water, for the rescue of benighted pagans, and our intelligent young men and women volunteering, by thousands, to penetrate the most dreary fastnesses of heathendom as heralds of salva- tion, let us demonstrate by our quenchless, yet calm and well-directed zeal, that, like Jeremiah and Paul, we are victims of one idea — the noble idea of turning men from darkness to light, from the power of satan unto God. But where shall we go to learn more fully the spirit of missions ? Not to the school of the prophets nor apostles, but to the school of Christ. If we desire to obtain ap- propriate ideas of the magnitude and grandeur of this work, we must fly to Gethsemane and Calvary. There, beholding divine love incarnate, love for the whole world, love agonizing, bleeding, dying ; let us seek to be imbued with more of the mind of our Emmanuel. As love, pure and fervent, is the central element of his character, the spirit of Christ is eminently a missionary spirit ; and with- out the spirit of Christ — let us all remember, ministers and laymen, professors and non-professors — without the spirit of Christ, we are none of, his. Without this he owns us not as his fellow-laborers here, nor will he recog- nize us as sharers with him in the joys of celestial triumph hereafter. Blessed Jesus, ashamed of our past supineness, selfish- ness, and cowardice, we come to thy cross and crave for- giveness. We prostrate ourselves in the garden of Thine agony, and beseech Thee to baptize us with a measure of that love wherewith Thou hast loved us ; then shall we be prompt to go at Thy bidding to the morally disordered in any part of the great lazar-house of the world, and skillful in administering the balm of Gilead to the guilty and perishing victims of ignorance and superstition wher- ever the finger of Thy providence shall direct our foot- steps.