JAMES S. DENNIS 
 
 AS MISSIONARY TO SYRIA 
 
 HELD IN THE 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEWARK, N 
 
 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 
 
 §Uw»w1t, gL : 
 
 F O It P It I V A T E CIltCULATION 
 1868 . 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/exercisesatordinOOunse_O 
 
EXERCISES 
 
 AT THE 
 
 O II DINATI O Tsr 
 
 OF 
 
 JAMES S. DEMIS, 
 
 Under the appointment of the -/American Board. 
 
 AS MISSIONARY TO SYRIA. 
 
 HELD IN THE 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEWARK, N. J., 
 
 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23d, 1868. 
 
 Iteatls, f ♦: 
 
 PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 
 
 I 860 . 
 
At an adjourned meeting of the Presbytery of Newark, held in 
 the First Presbyterian Church lecture room, Wednesday, Septem¬ 
 ber 23d, at 3 P. M., James S. Dennis, of Newark, N. J., having 
 been examined, was accepted as a candidate for ordination as an 
 evangelist, his prospective field of labor being the Syrian Mission, 
 under the auspices of the American Board; and the services 
 attending the ordination, were appointed to be held in the First 
 Presbyterian Church at 7J o’clock the same evening. In the 
 absence of the Moderator, Rev. Robert Airman, of Elizabeth, 
 was invited by the Presbytery to preside in the evening, and offer 
 the ordaining prayer. 
 
 A sermon was preached by Rev. J. F. Stearns, D. D., Pastor of 
 the First Presbyterian Church, Newark, after which Rev. Robert 
 Airman spoke briefly of his regret that occasions like the present 
 did not occur more frequently in the history of the Presbytery, 
 and of his earnest desire that deeper feelings of interest, and 
 higher views of personal responsibility might possess the hearts 
 and consciences of all Christians with regard to the great and 
 important work of Foreign Missions. 
 
4 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 He then recited the proceedings of the Presbytery, and pro¬ 
 posed the Constitutional questions to the candidate. After which 
 he offered the Ordaining Prayer, being assisted by the Presbytery 
 in the laying on of hands. 
 
 A charge was then delivered by Rev. H. W. Poor, H. D., 
 Pastor of High street Presbyterian Church, Newark, followed 
 by an Address of Welcome on behalf of the Syrian Mission, by 
 Rev. H. H. Jessup, D.D., of Syria. 
 
 The services were concluded by singing the hymn commencing, 
 “ All hail the power of Jesus name, 77 followed by the doxology, 
 and benediction by the newly ordained evangelist. 
 
 
turnon 
 
 * ^ * ,a ^ ^ * 
 
 bjr : jeo. j . J'. learns, n 
 
 ISAIAH xlix : 6. “And he said: It is a light thing that thou shouldest be 
 my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of 
 Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest 
 be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” 
 
 It is the purpose of God, as made known in the Scriptures, to 
 convert the whole world by human instruments. Of this, the 
 passage before us contains one of the most explicit declarations. 
 It is addressed to the Messiah, of whose expected reign, the 
 prophecy of Isaiah is so full. And being addressed to him in his 
 capacity as servant of God, and Head of the Church, it indicates 
 the agency by means of which the purpose was to be effected. 
 So the apostles Paul and Barnabas seem to have understood it, 
 when, upon the rejection of their message by the Jews at Antioch 
 in Pisidia, they “ waxed bold, and said: It was necessary that the 
 word of God should first be spoken unto you; but seeing ye put 
 it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, 
 we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, 
 saying: I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles that thou 
 shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.’ 7 What he 
 had said in prophecy to their Master, they regarded as said like- 
 
6 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 wise to his apostles. And by parity of reasoning, what he said to 
 them, we may regard as said with suitable qualifications, to the 
 whole Church, and to every member of it. “ I have set thee to be 
 a light of the Gentiles that thou shouldest be for salvation unto 
 the ends of the earth. 77 (Acts xiii: 49.) 
 
 Here, then, we have the Church’s mission under her Divine 
 Head. If the world is to be converted at all, she is to do it. 
 Using the means of grace already provided, under the favor of 
 Divine Providence, with reliance on the Holy Spirit to give effi¬ 
 cacy to the truth, she is to go forth to the conversion of the race 
 just as she has heretofore done (only with vastly increased zeal, 
 self-devotion and burning love) to that of individual men. 
 
 No doubt the great Head of the Church might have adopted 
 other and quicker methods. But he did not see fit. This was the 
 one best adapted to call forth Christian activity, to invigorate the 
 piety, test the devotedness, quicken the affections, and develop the 
 capacities of the Church. Had he done the whole work by a 
 miracle, his people might have looked on and admired, but would 
 have been conscious of no responsibility and enjoyed no oppor¬ 
 tunity to co-operate. Had he done it by angelic agency, the glory 
 of the instrument might have attracted an undue portion of the 
 praise. But he committed it to men, frail and peccable, that the 
 privilege might be ours on the one hand, and God’s all the glory 
 on the other. As St. Paul forcibly expresses it, “We have this 
 treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might 
 be of God, and not of us. 77 
 
 Yes, the 'power is of God. And this is our answer to the unbe¬ 
 liever when he talks of the inadequacy of the instrument, “You 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 7 
 
 are attempting,” he says, “ an impossibility. Why, if the Lord 
 would make windows in heaven, this thing might not be! ” But 
 there is no need that the Lord should make windows. The divine 
 forces already in operation, the word and ordinances, the providence 
 and the grace of God, fully employed, are sufficient, without the 
 slightest disturbance of the course of events in the order of 
 nature, to give success to the endeavors of his servants. Too often, 
 in the course of her history has the Church grown impatient or 
 despondent, either abandoning her high hopes raised by prophecy, 
 or sighing for her Lord 7 s personal return that he might at once 
 put the finishing stroke to the work with his own hand. But she 
 must not throw back upon Him what he has chosen to entrust to 
 her faithfulness. When he ascended up on high, leading captivity 
 captive, he left the command: “ Go ye and make disciples of all 
 the nations. 77 And the gifts which he gave, and the powers he 
 engaged in their favor, were, no doubt, sufficient for the comple¬ 
 tion of the enterprise. 
 
 Let us look first at the means furnished for the purpose. We 
 may affirm confidently that the divinely appointed means, which 
 are the truth revealed in the Holy Scriptures, the ordinances and 
 institutions of the Church and the privilege of prayer, supply all 
 that could be asked for in the way of means, for the conversion of 
 the world. 
 
 The object cannot be promoted by force. “ The weapons of our 
 warfare are not carnal.” Other systems of pretended religion 
 may be propagated by force. Ours never. Could the whole world 
 be subdued by Christian arms, and so made to accept the Chris¬ 
 tian name and law, it would still be as far as ever, and perhaps 
 
8 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 farther, from the true Christian religion. It can not be promoted 
 by authority. The time has passed, we trust, when leaders may 
 do all the thinking for their followers, and ignorance be deemed 
 the mother of devotion. Men must understand for themselves, 
 and believe and decide for themselves, or their faith will not be 
 that of the heart. Nor can it be advanced by tricks of sophistry 
 and concealment. The only way in which such religion can be 
 propagated is by bringing out clearly and fully, and urging, by its 
 own proper claimant, on the judgments and hearts of men, the 
 simple truth in its own native beauty and majesty. 
 
 For the prosecution of this object, God has given us the Holy 
 Scriptures, that most wonderful book—a vast repository of reli¬ 
 gious truth, unveiling to us the hidden depths of our own nature, 
 and the world unseen, revealing God, and standing out before all 
 ages as a perpetual witness of his mind and will. He did not 
 withdraw himself behind the veil of nature, through which, in the 
 infancy of the race, he made his face at times so clearly visible, 
 and his voice so distinctly heard, till he had given to the world, 
 for the advantage of all time, a supernatural revelation. I say 
 a supernatural; and yet most natural. It was given by men 
 speaking and writing in their own language and their own forms 
 of thought; and the very stuff of which it is composed is, for the 
 most part, human experiences. And yet the revelation is divine. 
 It claims to be so. It bears credentials clearly proving it to be 
 so. Its very contents are a conclusive witness that it is so. No 
 uninspired man could have produced such a volume. It brings 
 man and God into the closest relations and makes us hear God’s 
 voice, even as did Adam among the trees of the garden. We 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 9 
 
 work in our great mission in a human way; but the instrument with 
 which we work is divine. There is a divine authority lying behind 
 it, and a divine power going along with it. 
 
 This instrument, thus divinely provided, is of no partial or 
 
 temporary application. It is addressed to man as man. In all its 
 
 parts the unity of the race is assumed as a fundamental principle. 
 
 The subjects of its gracious provisions are children of one and the 
 
 same human father. The wants it is designed to meet are those 
 
 flowing from one and the same human fall. The salvation which it 
 
 offers is the restoration of the same divine image, and the privilege 
 
 of sonship with the same Heavenly Father, and a final home in 
 
 the same heavenly mansions. And, what is more than all, the 
 
 Saviour whom it offers, and who is the central figure in all its 
 
 doctrines, histories, promises, persuasions and invitations, the “ all 
 
 in all” of whatsoever it undertakes to do or teach is the Son of 
 
 Man, the second Adam, the embodied ideal of what man, as man, 
 
 ought to be, the one centre of redemption, and the one perfect 
 
 model for the entire human family. A revelation like this, as may 
 
 be seen at a glance, is adapted to the wants of man in all times 
 
 and under every possible variety of human development. It 
 
 never grows old, as our own experience testifies; for at no 
 
 period of the past was it more precious to men’s souls than we 
 
 have found it in ours. A portion of it was given originally among 
 
 the Jews and shaped especially for them. Yet in those very parts 
 
 Gentile Christians have found more spiritual food than even the 
 
 Jews discovered. As, in the course of ages, it has been carried 
 
 from one nation to another, it has been found to possess the same 
 
 virtue and produce everywhere substantially the same fruits. It 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 has been tried in high places and in low, among barbarians and 
 in countries highly civilized and refined, in Africa, in Asia, among 
 the barbarous islands of the ocean, in all the countries of ancient 
 and modern Europe, among the savages of aboriginal America and 
 Australia, and everywhere, with some diversity of degrees has it 
 proved its power to make men “ wise unto eternal life. 77 To the 
 consciences and hearts of all classes, it has proved itself to 
 be “ quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, 
 piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and body, of the 
 joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of 
 the heart. 77 To all who have received it, and become subject to 
 its influence, it has proved “ profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 
 for correction and instruction in righteousness. 77 And who can 
 doubt that having done so much and tried its power successfully 
 in so great a variety of circumstances, it will be found sufficient in 
 every future emergency, and contains within it the seeds of reno¬ 
 vation for the entire human family ? 
 
 No doubt a great work needs to be done in unfolding, illustra¬ 
 ting and applying truths hitherto partially latent. The Bible is a 
 deep mine which the exertions of the best thinkers have as yet 
 
 but partially explored. Like the physical universe, the work of 
 
 » 
 
 the same Master, it requires all the attainments of the most 
 advanced science in every age to bring out and bring into full use 
 its inexhaustible riches. When the good old pastor Robinson said : 
 
 1 am verily persuaded there is more truth yet to break forth out 
 of God 7 s holy Word, 77 he said that which every generation might 
 repeat, and which is one of the best guarantees for the progress of 
 Christianity. There is going to be a great contest over the 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 11 
 
 questions—“ What is the Bible, and what are its claims? 77 Infidel¬ 
 ity in its various forms of Atheism, Naturalism, Pantheism and 
 that which calls itself rational Christianity, is girding itself up for 
 a desperate effort, and has been now for a long time collecting 
 weapons of attack from every quarter. In the fields of science, 
 philosophy, history and antiquities, battles have but begun to be 
 fought, which will require, on the part of those who should defend 
 the faith, the utmost vigilance, courage, union and preparation. 
 The young men of our day ought to advance far beyond the 
 position of their fathers, and grapple vigorously, according to 
 their abilities, with all the questions affecting revealed truth to 
 which the public mind is directed. But we have no fear of the 
 result. It is God’s truth and only needs to be understood, both in 
 its own positions and its relations to all knowledge in order to 
 triumph. All the attacks that are made upon it will but serve to 
 display the more its divine strength. 
 
 I say, then, we have no need to have a new revelation in order 
 to convert the world. That which we have is sufficient. It is as 
 good now as it was when it spread Christianity all along the 
 shores of Western Asia and Northern Africa, extended its sway 
 far away to the Indus, and made of pagan Europe a united Chris¬ 
 tendom. And it is just as well adapted to convert the Japanese 
 as it was the English, and the masses of China and India, as it 
 was those of the Roman Empire. And what we say of the Bible 
 we may say also of the Church and her institutions, her sacraments, 
 her worship, her discipline and her ministry. Only these are to 
 be carried back (where they have departed,) to their original 
 purity and simplicity, and used with vigor and self-devotion, 
 
12 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 accompanied with prayer. We want no new Church and no new 
 ministry. The Christian ministry, as already established, is the 
 ministry for the millennium. The Christian Church, as the Apostles 
 founded it, is the Church for the latter day. Let both fulfill their 
 mission, and while prayer holds heaven’s gate open and keeps up 
 a living communication with the Fountain of strength, there need 
 be no discouragement in the widest efforts for the evangelization 
 of mankind. 
 
 II. But we are pointed to the obstacles—they are so formid¬ 
 able ! How can we ever reach the remote masses ? How get 
 access to their minds ? How overcome their prejudices ? How 
 get the truths of the Gospel within their knowledge and in contact 
 with their hearts ? To this I answer, there is a Providence , and 
 that Providence is on the side of the Gospel. We may affirm 
 with the same confidence, in the second place, that the Providence 
 of God, working according to its ordinary methods , is sufficient for 
 the removal of all the obstacles and the supply of all the requisite 
 facilities. 
 
 We have witnessed in our day wonderful changes. The world 
 in which we live is, in many respects, very different from that into 
 which we were born. The most widely separated tribes live 
 very near to each other in comparison with what they did fifty 
 years ago. Who would have dreamed then of crossing an entire 
 continent at a continuous speed of twenty or thirty miles in the 
 hour ? Who would not have thought the scheme visionary which 
 must depend for its success on the conveyance of intelligence 
 across the Atlantic in less time than would be required for a 
 messenger to ride post haste to the next village ? But would such 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 13 
 
 a scheme appear visionary now ? And how have this and the like 
 changes been effected ? By a series of fortunate accidents, says 
 the Atheist. By the natural course of events, says the man of 
 the world. By God’s all-wise, all-controlling Providence, says 
 the Christian Philosopher. There is a divine power working 
 always in the affairs of the world, it makes no show. It disturbs 
 no material laws. Looking back over its path you find the series 
 of effect from cause evervwhere unbroken. Yet marvellous results 
 come to pass. Events which once seemed not to be thought of 
 take place quietly as a matter of every day occurrence ; so that we 
 are able to accomplish by our own natural strength what would once 
 have surpassed the power of all humanity combined. 
 
 And what is true in the natural world is true also in the moral. 
 God has not taken his finger off from either, since he put in motion 
 the wheels of nature and of man’s natural life. He controls all 
 the forces of society, all the operations of governments, all the 
 intercourse of nations, all the changes of popular feeling and 
 opinion. Those who watch carefully the movements of the world 
 can often see in them unmistakeable evidence of a purpose. But 
 whose purpose ? Not that of the men who act in and seem 
 to govern those movements. For it is a very different one from 
 that which they have had in their minds. It combines for its 
 accomplishment forces over which they have not the slightest con¬ 
 trol, and is brought about, even where it employs their actions , 
 directly against their intentions. This was signally illustrated 
 in the case of our own recent war. The most casual observer 
 could hardly fail to discern tokens of it. The result was not in 
 the design of either of the parties, yet successes and defeats were 
 
14 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 made equally to contribute to it. Who formed that purpose? 
 Who made the combinations necessary to carry it into effect ? 
 Of course it was not a matter of accident—that has no purpose. 
 Of course it could not be ascribed to men. None of them fully 
 comprehended it. We have no recourse, then, but to ascribe it to 
 God. And the same divine intelligence, employing the same 
 divine power, is in operation everywhere, determining all things in 
 the on-goings of the world, according to the counsels of his own 
 wise, Infinite will. 
 
 Now what we affirm is, that this divine Providence, acting in 
 accordance with a divine purpose, acting now, acting always , acting 
 not against nature but in nature’s own sphere, is adequate to the 
 removal of every obstacle and the supply of every facility for the 
 conversion of the world by human instrumentality. We used to 
 speak of the imperviousness of China—a people rigidly excluding 
 themselves from foreign intercourse—a people of fixed customs 
 and fixed ideas, changeless for ages. How could those millions of 
 human souls ever be reached ? But what have we seen ? A 
 mighty movement, agitating that vast empire to its centre, in the 
 interest of a misconceived and adulterated, yet not without some 
 obscure rudiments of a true Christianity. The little leaven 
 ferments. The mighty multitudes “ feel after if haply they may 
 find. 77 And what again ? The pagan rulers of those hundreds of 
 millions, of their own accord, asking admission to the society of 
 Christian nations, and selecting an American citizen to negotiate 
 in their behalf the treaty of intercourse ! We used to hear much 
 of the caste system of India; but it is melting away like the dew of 
 the morning. Slavery seemed to us ten years ago so entrenched 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 15 
 
 among ns, that nothing could overthrow it. But it is gone, never 
 to be restored. These are specimens of the providential changes 
 which we see going on all the world over. Thus is the way open¬ 
 ing for the free access of the Gospel, and the influence of Christen¬ 
 dom made to bear on the most secluded portions of heathendom. 
 Thus have mountains of prejudice been scaled, and strong for¬ 
 tresses of superstition been demolished. Wars, revolutions, the 
 enterprises of the discoverer and the emigrant, all the improve¬ 
 ments of science and the arts, every step of advance in civiliza¬ 
 tion, social culture and thought, are made to serve as provi¬ 
 dential instruments for this end. Commerce is pushing its 
 bold way east, west, north, south, everywhere demanding as its 
 right free intercourse, and carrying with it facilities of which the 
 Christian adventurer may make use. And everywhere is heard 
 not always with philanthropic, and still less with Christian aims, 
 but yet effectively, the prophetic cry, “ Go through, go through 
 the gates, prepare ye the way of the people, cast up, cast the high¬ 
 way, gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the people. 77 
 
 I know that what we call the improvements of the age, do not 
 always tell directly on the progress of the Gospel. We shall be 
 told that infidelity is increasing. That may be true. It is not 
 the office of Divine Providence to convert the world by its own 
 agencies. All we can expect of it is to prepare the "way, break 
 down the barriers, plough the soil, afford the facilities; and if the 
 Church does not seize the advantage, no doubt the enemy of all 
 good will. But the Providence of God can furnish every needed 
 opportunity. And this it can do to any desirable extent, without 
 transcending in the least degree its most regular and ordinary 
 
16 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 methods. Thus is the prophetic voice verified, “ Every valley shall 
 be filled and every mountain shall be made low. 77 And thus the 
 word of the Lord, faithfully preached by his servants, “ shall have 
 free course and be glorified. 77 
 
 III. But there is one point more not to be overlooked. It 
 may be said, all this does not meet the necessities of the case. 
 The power which makes the Christian does not lie either in the 
 facilities or the means. St. Paul said of himself: “ I have 
 planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 77 The divine 
 power which gives the increase, belongs neither to the word nor 
 Providence of God, but to his grace. 
 
 Let me say, then, in the third place, that the established opera¬ 
 tions of divine grace, the influences of the Holy Spirit, as they 
 now descend and have been descending with greater or less 
 power for two thousand years, without a miracle, without any 
 agency, not in constant operation in a greater or less degree, are 
 sufficient to give such efficiency to the preaching of the Word as 
 to accomplish the object in view. 
 
 I need not stay to prove here the reality of the Spirit’s influ¬ 
 ence. It is on this alone that we rely for the conversion of a 
 single soul. It is, no doubt, subject to its own laws. God never 
 acts arbitrarily, though he acts freely. But we cannot trace them. 
 Why it descends more copiously at one place or time than another, 
 we cannot tell. Some powerful effusions which we have witnessed 
 show what it can do, when God wills, without at all changing its 
 character. What are called “ revivals of religion, 77 » great 
 awakenings, 77 &c., have been known in the Church since the days 
 of the Apostles. The scene at Pentecost was one of them. The 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 17 
 
 English missionaries in the Southern Pacific labored sixteen years 
 without a single conversion. “ The heavens above them,” they 
 say, “ seemed as "brass, and the earth under them as iron.” In 
 the very night of their despondency the voice of prayer was heard 
 from the lips of a native. It was the beginning of a most wonder, 
 fill change. The flame spread and soon enveloped the islands. 
 And while the ship was on its way, conveying from their noble 
 English patrons, the resolution sooner to “ sell their garments from 
 their backs than give up the enterprise,” another was on its way 
 carrying back the intelligence that a whole people had abandoned 
 their idols. We look upon such changes as these and exclaim, 
 What has God wrought! In our astonishment we almost feel 
 ourselves in the presence of a miracle. But there is no miracle. 
 All the ordinary causal sequences, physical and moral, are going on 
 just as they are wont to do. No new law of the human mind has 
 been introduced, no old law in the slightest degree disturbed. 
 Nor are such occurrences altogether infrequent. They are to be 
 found in the history of all our Missions—in the Sandwich Islands, 
 in Ceylon, in China, in Africa, as well as in various parts of Europe 
 and America. The truth is, the grace of God, since the mission of 
 the Spirit has obtained a settled home among the forces of nature. 
 It is not of them, yet is in perfect harmony with them. God acts 
 in it as a sovereign, for it is a sphere reserved, so to speak, for his 
 own direct spiritual agency. Yet its benefits are dispensed ordi¬ 
 narily on established conditions. The prayers and efforts of the 
 Church, the faithful preaching and inculcation of the Word, have 
 a vital relation to it. A preparatory work, both in the Church 
 
 and the world, always precedes its more powerful manifestations. 
 3 
 
18 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 But when the fullness of the time comes, and the Spirit is poured 
 out like the rain, there is no show, no violence, no mighty physical 
 signs, but only “ a still small voice 77 in men 7 s hearts. 
 
 Now what if these occurrences should become more frequent? 
 What if that which is now occasional should become constant ? 
 What if the breadth of their operations should be enlarged ? 
 What if the power manifested in them should become more 
 intense ? How easy would it seem, under the faithful preaching of 
 the Word, with the prayers and efforts of the whole Church, 
 Divine Providence having opened the way, to accomplish the con¬ 
 version of the world ? What we have witnessed in our own 
 country, within a few years, may serve as an illustration. Such 
 results could not be repeated often or continued long, without 
 bringing to God almost the entire population. And all so 
 naturally! As the rain descends, and as the sun shines, so does 
 the Spirit of God come, and the whole face of society is changed! 
 It would not take long for the superstitions of ages to be dissipa¬ 
 ted, the iron bands of prejudice to be broken, the idols utterly 
 demolished, and the whole earth covered with “ the knowledge of 
 "the glory of the Lord! 77 
 
 And why should we not expect such a result? Why should not 
 we pray for it ? Why not labor with direct reference to it, hoping 
 and trusting in the “ exceeding great and precious promises of 
 God ? 77 If I am not mistaken, there are such promises bestudding the 
 pages of the Old and New Testaments. The present is the dis¬ 
 pensation of the Spirit, in which, while Nature goes on in her old 
 course, Divine Providence controls the outer world, and the Holy 
 Spirit of God works by human means in men’s hearts. And there 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 19 
 
 are promises not yet fulfilled, of mighty outpourings of tlie Spirit in 
 the latter day. It may take a long time for the accomplishment of 
 the object. God’s preparatory work has been going on already nearly 
 two thousand years, and He is still overturning, overturning, over¬ 
 turning. But the the signs of the times indicate a steady advance* 
 Be sure He has not forgotten any of his promises. The dispensation 
 of the Spirit will not cease till the mission work of the Spirit has 
 been fully accomplished. This fallen world is not to be destroyed 
 till it has been converted. It is to be converted not by a catas¬ 
 trophe in nature, or a miraculous sign from heaven, but by the 
 agency of Christian men, acting in the line of Christian duty, in 
 dependence on the Word, Providence and grace of God. 
 
 Why then should not the Church awake at once to her high 
 privilege, awake from her apathy and worldliness, awake also 
 from her too faithless discouragement. Let her put on her strength; 
 let her bring forth her resources; let her take in the whole compass 
 of her great work; let her aim be the completed enterprise; 
 let her run her race steadily and energetically with her eye fixed 
 on the goal. 
 
 It is with such an aim that we have entered, in these modern 
 times, on the missionary work. “ The field is the world.’ 7 We have 
 compassed it in our plans. We have compassed a large portion of 
 it in our actual explorations. And we mean to compass it by God’s 
 help in our beneficent efforts. There are the heathen to be con¬ 
 verted. There are the degraded masses in Christian lands to be 
 lifted up. There are the old fallen Christian churches to be resus¬ 
 citated, or their members disenthralled from superstition and 
 error, and drawn off into purer and more spiritual organizations. 
 
20 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 And the Church can do it. She intends to do it. Ay, she must 
 do it. 
 
 Into this last department of the great work, you my young 
 brother, who are now to be set apart, by the laying on of hands 
 and prayer, to the Christian ministry, are preparing to enter. This 
 is to you, I know, a moment of intensest interest—an interest, need 
 1 say, in which your pastor, who, from your boyhood, has regarded 
 you with peculiar tenderness, watching over and assisting to direct, 
 with something of the warm affection of a father for a son, your intel¬ 
 lectual and spiritual development, very deeply participates. Fresh 
 in my memory is the time, when, a mere child, you whispered in my 
 ear, timidly, the wish and purpose to become a minister of the 
 Gospel, and equally so that still more solemn hour, when side by 
 side with that honored mother who now gives you up, not without 
 some natural maternal shrinkings, to the work of a missionary in 
 a foreign land, as she then gave you with herself to the unconditional 
 service of Christ, you professed publicly in this house your choice 
 of Him for your portion, and took upon yourself the vows of the 
 everlasting covenant. That wish and purpose, long the subject of 
 your prayers, God permits you now to fulfill. It was He, I doubt 
 not, who disposed you to become a missionary. Not without much 
 thought and deliberation, not without great strength and clearness 
 of conviction, not without ample time taken to test, under a variety 
 of circumstances, the sincerity and wisdom of your choice, have 
 you consecrated your life, with all your powers, to this department 
 of service. 
 
 I give you joy, my dear young brother, in the auspicious pros¬ 
 pects now opening before you. You have engaged in a work 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 21 
 
 second to none that ever occupied, or could occupy the powers 
 of a mortal, in the mission to which you are appointed, you 
 will enroll your name with those of some of the noblest and most 
 successful soldiers of the cross, now with the sainted dead—with 
 those of Fiske and Parsons, and Goodell and Bird, and Eli Smith 
 and Whiting, and Hebard—names honored on earth for all time, 
 and honored, 1 doubt not, in heaven. You will be associated in 
 your work with some of the ablest and best men of the age, in 
 whose counsels you will share, and in whose wise plans it will 
 be a privilege to co-operate. The location of your mission is on 
 ground memorable in history. Its position is such as cannot but 
 give it in the future, a vast influence on the destinies of the world 
 —at the very centre of political and commercial power, in the 
 highway of the nations. 
 
 Gird yourself then to your great work with a holy energy. 
 Give yourself wholly to it. Take to yourself the whole armor 
 of God. Place before you for your aim, nothing less than the 
 glory of Christ in the conversion of this lost world to his love. 
 It cannot, will not fail. If not in earth, no doubt in heaven, you 
 will rejoice over its perfect accomplishment. And whether we, 
 who now bid you God speed as we send you forth, shall ever 
 meet you or not again in this world, may we see, in God’s great 
 day, your crown of righteousness, and hear the Master’s voice 
 bidding you welcome, as a tried and faithful servant, to “ the ever¬ 
 lasting kingdom and joy of your Redeemer.” 
 
 Brethren and friends we have all of us in this matter a personal 
 
 t 
 
 responsibility. Our young brethren must not go forth unattended 
 with our sympathies and prayers, and our faithful pledges of 
 
22 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 support and co-operation. This work is not theirs only. It i s 
 ours as well. We cannot do our part by delegation only. Our 
 Lord expects of us personal service. To each and all is the com¬ 
 mission given : “ I have set thee to be a light unto the nations. 77 
 
 Thee ! whom ? Thee, Christian. Thee, least of his disciples. 
 Thee, ransomed sinner, purchased with his blood ! Consider the 
 object—a world lying in wickedness, to be filled with the glory of 
 God! Consider the responsibility. Our Lord will come soon to 
 take account of his servants. Consider the obligation. “ Bought 
 with a price ! 77 Look, my friends, at your Bibles, your Sabbath 
 Schools, your pleasant Christian sanctuaries, your family altars 
 and your closets. The wants of millions of our brother-men who 
 have none of these, cry, “ come and help us ! 77 Ay, the Master 
 himself, He who has saved us, He with whom we hope to dwell in 
 glory forever, looks from his heavenly throne and reminds us of 
 gratitude : “ Freely ye have received, freely give 77 —give in every 
 way in which his goodness may enable you ; give of your money, 
 give of your prayers, give of your children, give your warmest 
 sympathies and most efficient endeavors. 0, if there is a people 
 in the world to whom these words come with power, it is we: 
 “ Freely ye have received, freely give . 77 
 
My Dear Brother, and I may here add, beloved associate 
 and friend :—The time draws nigh when the delightful fellowship 
 of labor, maintained between ns for the last eighteen months, must 
 cease, and we are to part—I remaining at home to carry alone the 
 burden you have been kindly helping me bear—and you, to convey 
 abroad the divine commission which you have been delivering 
 here. However many the occasions for regret at such a separa¬ 
 tion, with me and my people, there is none who would interpose 
 them to detain you among us in opposition to the call which 
 your soul has heard from the great Master to depart hence 
 and bear witness for Him among those who have not heard His 
 name, or, having heard, sadly misapprehend its gracious import. 
 The cause of Christ and His redemption is too grand to be im¬ 
 peded by personal considerations; and we know that were you to 
 love home and friends and the pleasures of Christian society, more 
 than Christ himself, you would not be worthy of Christ, nor suited 
 to represent Him even among us. The minister who is not ready 
 to be a missionary, should the summons be made to him, is not true 
 to his office, and dishonors his title. When you tell us, therefore, 
 
24 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 that you have * heard distinctly the missionary call, we recognize 
 its imperativeness, and crowning you with our benedictions and 
 prayers, we say, “ Go, and the Lord go with thee, and make thee a 
 blessing to others, even as thou hast been to us. 7 ’ 
 
 In discharging the duty of the occasion, which, at your request, 
 has been imposed on me, you need not that I should say much 
 unto you. By your labors among us, you have already given 
 proof, that in the matter of the ministry, you are a workman that 
 need not be ashamed. All that is needed is that you go on as you 
 have begun, preaching the Word in all fidelity and tenderness, and 
 laboring both publicly and privately, in season and out of season, 
 by example and counsel, to impress its unspeakable importance on 
 the minds of men. 
 
 Passing by, therefore, the ordinary exhortations pertinent to the 
 general subject of the ministry, let me come directly to those 
 thoughts which are suggested by your future vocation as a mission¬ 
 ary. This is distinguished from that you have hitherto fulfilled, not 
 so much in substance as in form, being modified by the peculiari¬ 
 ties of the field wherein you are to labor. And this field will be a 
 new one —new in every respect; not only new as to spiritual cul¬ 
 ture, but new also to you , as it respects the people you are to labor 
 among, and the instruments you are to labor with. Not as here, 
 will you find things ready made to your hands, and the advantage 
 of entering upon other men 7 s labors. Your business will be the 
 harder and rougher one of laying foundations in a soil that has to 
 be cleared from encumbrances of gigantic superstitions and errors, 
 centuries old. And not only so. The ruins and rubbish of a Chris¬ 
 tianity that has been strangely perverted and gone to decay now 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 25 
 
 likewise cover the region where yon are to plant churches of a 
 purer faith—even the living temples of an indwelling God. And 
 here you will be obliged to toil long, and toil obscurely, before as 
 yet the very first stones of the edifice can be laid, and the struc¬ 
 ture begin to rise which shall gladden your eyes as the permanent 
 result and reward of your workmanship. In most instances your 
 problem will be not how or what you shall preach, but how you 
 shall gather your congregation to preach to, and where you shall 
 assemble the people. Thus you will be brought down to the very 
 rudiments of evangelical labor and into close resemblance to our 
 
 v_/ 
 
 blessed Lord and the Apostles, at the commencement of their min¬ 
 istry. Like them, you will be obliged to begin by addressing the 
 individual , wherever he may be found—putting yourself in per¬ 
 sonal contact with men, women and children, in the house and by 
 the way and at the market—improving all opportunities to present 
 to them Jesus, and turning all incidents to best account. For 
 work such as this you will require the tactics of the Apostle Paul, 
 whose example in dealing with men for God I would specially 
 commend to your earnest study and imitation. Like him begin by 
 counting all things but loss for Christ’s sake—learning, eloquence, 
 reputation, chances for using and displaying high gifts and attain¬ 
 ments—let it all go in the simple endeavor to lay hold of men and 
 bring them to repentance and faith. At Athens, you will remem¬ 
 ber, Paul stood on Mars’ Hill, and made a great speech; probably 
 one of “ his most splendid efforts.” But at Athens Paul’s success 
 was small; no church, that we read of, did he found there. At 
 Corinth he repudiated all “ wisdom of words,” and “ in weakness 
 
 and fear and much trembling,” he wrought among the poor and 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 despised of society by the simplest personal address; and there, 
 in that most depraved of cities, the Lord “ gave him much people. 77 
 Here, I take it, is a lesson for all ministers, but especially for a 
 missionary. If ever a person needs to employ the power of direct 
 personal influence, coming into close, earnest contact with the peo¬ 
 ple, in all meekness and love, it is he. And in doing this work, 
 you will, like Paul, need to cultivate great versatility of character, 
 “ becoming all things to all men 77 ; adapting yourself to their 
 ways of life and modes of thought, if so be you might get at them 
 and cause them to feel the warmth and sincerity of your personal 
 interest in their welfare. As far as possible, close the gap which 
 diversity of civilization creates between different nationalities, and 
 partake with them in their carnal things, so that they may the 
 more readily partake of your spiritual things. Show the sympa¬ 
 thizing, compassionate heart everywhere. Here will be the hiding 
 of your power. It was one secret of our Lord 7 s mighty influence 
 that “ He had compassion on multitudes, 77 and made the humblest 
 and neediest feel its warmth and cheer. In proportion, then, as 
 you show the people that you love "them, feel for them, can stoop 
 to their conditions without evincing condescension, desire their 
 salvation and elevation in all good, will be the strength of your 
 hold upon them, and also their readiness to receive the Gospel at 
 your lips. Exhibit neither surprise nor contempt at the alien 
 manners and customs you may encounter. Observe the strictest 
 courtesy, presuming not in the least upon your superiority of cul¬ 
 ture or upon the powers of your commission. Before attempting 
 to rebuke or correct, aim to understand. Judge things not only 
 from your own point of view, but also from the stand occupied by 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 27 
 
 the people you are among. Maintaining a wise indifference to non- 
 essentials, abide firmly by the essentials alone, both of morality 
 and religion. Be ready to use all agencies and instrumentalities 
 which God may put in your way for furthering the one great ob¬ 
 ject, without being too scrupulous as to their exact suitableness in 
 all things. Consider how God consents to employ us, and, as He 
 sees us, we are far from perfect. Let us not be more scrupulous 
 than God. We must consent to work with the materials we have, 
 and show our skill in using poor tools to the best advantage. Re¬ 
 member, poor tools in the moral world grow better by good 
 usage. 
 
 In dealing with men, wayward, crooked, perverse, of dull moral 
 perceptions, ready to turn the very Gospel you preach and the 
 advantages you bring into means of promoting their own selfish 
 ends, your patience will often be tried to the utmost and your 
 animosities greatly provoked. It was so with Paul; and in such 
 cases, most of all will you need Paul's spirit, which was also the 
 spirit of Christ. Let personal considerations be ever entirely 
 submerged. So far as offences and injuries and insults affect you 
 personally, let it not appear that you have noticed them. The 
 obtrusion of self in any issue taken is fatal to spiritual influence. 
 As soon as it is observed that personal motives are bearing sway in 
 your decisions, that moment you neutralize the power of your posi¬ 
 tion as a missionary who professes to have renounced self for the 
 good of others, and who, on this ground, presses his claim to be heard 
 and heeded. Ever keep yourself, therefore, on the high level of 
 one who can even “ take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in 
 necessities, in persecutions for Christ's sake." Carry everywhere 
 
28 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 the majestic attitude of one who can say with clear look “ I seek 
 not yours but you. 77 
 
 One of the prime conditions for discharging your duties will be 
 
 t 
 
 the acquisition of the language of the people you labor among. 
 This, therefore, must be one of the first things securing attention. 
 But the acquisition of a language for oral uses, can be cloister 
 work only in small part. The power of speech comes through 
 hearing and practice. Hence it will be for your profit to mingle 
 much with the people from the beginning, and courageously to use 
 every particle of knowledge you may get in the effort to acquire 
 more. As it is the policy of the merchant to make every “ dollar 
 chase a dollar, 77 so must it be yours to set every word to catch a 
 word. Shrink not through fear of mistakes. It is the bold swim¬ 
 mer that soonest acquires the art. Launch out, therefore, at every 
 opportunity. Count on blundering and learn from it. Now and 
 then we find a missionary who utterly fails, simply through 
 fear of failing. Even in the matter of learning a language, 
 one must be willing “ to be counted a fool that he may become 
 wise. 77 
 
 In your first efforts in missionary work there will be much to 
 dishearten. Here is a danger you will have to encounter at the 
 outset. It is then that the contrast between your own ineffective¬ 
 ness and the magnitude of the work before you will strike you 
 most appallingly, and you will be disposed to feel that you were 
 wasting powers and energies to little purpose. But against all 
 such discouragements, bear in mind that you are neither to mea¬ 
 sure duty by the amount or even by chances of success ; nor yet to 
 judge of probabilities of success by appearances. Remember the 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 29 
 
 parable of the mustard seed; and while you are busy with small 
 things, obeying the orders of the great Husbandman, be cheered 
 with the thought that results are with Him and He giveth increase 
 to the smallest things, making them great to the praise of His power. 
 The consideration that is to sustain and urge you onward amid all 
 disheartenments is, that you are fulfilling the behests if your Lord 
 and Master, and that your reward will be according to your fidelity 
 and not according to your success. 
 
 Another point to be considered is your association with other 
 missionaries. In consequence of this association, you will not be 
 at liberty to act with entire independence. In all co-operative 
 labor it will be necessary to adopt some general policy in which 
 all parties shall concur. With this, as already existing, it will 
 be for ) r our comfort and the comfort of your brethren that you 
 cordially comply. But while you endeavor to fall in with existing 
 arrangements, do not on your part attempt to press your method of 
 working upon others. Allow the largest liberty consistent with 
 unity of aim. Paul had his way of working and Peter his. One 
 thought he could accomplish the most good by supporting himself 
 and refusing “ to lead about a wife or a sister; 11 while the other 
 accepted support and enjoyed companionship. But neither Apostle 
 thought of making his own policy paramount over that of the 
 other. And so let it be with you. Remember that the aptitudes 
 and gifts of men vary, and that the method most suited for success 
 with one person may utterly neutralize the efforts of another. 
 Let Saul wear his armor and David carry his sling. The point is to 
 kill Goliath and rout the Philistines, and honored will be he who 
 
 t 
 
 can accomplish that. And if you see that it is some humbler per- 
 
30 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 son than yourself who has been called to achieve the victory, let 
 not the evil spirit of the jealous Saul prevent you from joining 
 in the hosannas which the event elicits. The cause is one, and 
 whoever may strike the effective blow, all will, and all should tri¬ 
 umph with praises unto Him to whom alone the honor is due. 
 
 There is another class of men with whom your relations will be 
 somewhat delicate and at times trying. I mean the native pastors 
 and catechists. As a general thing, your superior culture and 
 abilities will enable you to act as their instructor and guide. But oft¬ 
 entimes, they, by reason of their better knowledge of the language 
 and better acquaintance with the people and circumstances, will 
 have the advantage in judgment and power. It will be your wisdom 
 to yield and defer to them. Such a relative position will test your 
 humility and call for that temper of mind which consents to be¬ 
 come as nothing that it may serve all. You will then show your¬ 
 self best qualified to take the lead when you can understand 
 how courteously to retire and give others place when the occasion 
 demands. Remember, it will be your business to build up self- 
 sustaining congregations and self-reliant pastors. You cannot do 
 this unless you consent to be “ among them as one that serveth, 77 
 aifd allow them full scope for the exercise of their independence. 
 This may lead at times to some seeming disorder in your system, 
 but disorder is one of the attendants upon liberty and indepen¬ 
 dence. You must rejoice when you see men, if actuated by a 
 right spirit, ready to take upon themselves responsibilities, and to 
 act for themselves, even though they may not agree with you in 
 every particular. The missionary does not go .out to become the 
 Lord over G-od 7 s heritage, even though he may have been instru- 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 31 
 
 mental in winning that heritage. His real greatness will show 
 itself in endeavoring to rear men to place in God’s kingdom, 
 u whose shoe’s latchet he may be unworthy to unloose.” Court, 
 then, the magnanimity of John whose joy was fulfilled when point¬ 
 ing to his success, or he could say “ He must increase but I must 
 decrease.” 
 
 You will also stand in peculiar relations to the American Board. 
 Here the obligations will be mutual. The Board is organized for 
 the sake of supporting the men who 'volunteer to execute the com¬ 
 mission devolved upon the whole church. It is, therefore, in 
 one sense, the servant of the missionaries, who go out upon their 
 Lord’s appointment. But if the missionaries derive support from 
 the church through the Board, it is but proper that they hold 
 themselves responsible to the church, through the Board, for the 
 right use of the funds they receive, and the manner in which they 
 employ their time. Your position will be, therefore, one of modi¬ 
 fied independence and subordination, which the grace of love and 
 Christian devotion will teach you how to preserve and maintain. 
 No doubt your judgment will sometimes differ from that of those 
 who sometimes undertake to direct you; and you may feel called 
 upon, attimes, to express your adverse opinion and to advocate it 
 strenuously ; but when, having so done, and then finding yourself 
 overruled, learn patiently to submit and wait for the ultimate di¬ 
 vine, providential decision, which shall either vindicate you or 
 convince you. There is no greater mischief to a good cause than 
 the jarring in counsel, made by an obstinate good man. Say your 
 say out boldly and kindly, and, when you are in a minority, yield. 
 This is true Christian heroism. 
 
32 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 Your prime obligations, however, are to your great Master. 
 His is the commission you bear; His is the strength in which you 
 execute it; His is the glory of your success; to Him are you mainly 
 responsible ; and from Him will you get your reward. Keep 
 this fact foremost in your heart. It is the one grand considera¬ 
 tion, which, absorbing all others, should control, direct and stimu¬ 
 late you throughout your whole work. A missionary loses his char¬ 
 acter when he forgets this, and with this he loses everything noble 
 belonging to his vocation. Let your consciousness then be ever 
 filled with the abiding thought—“ I am the ambassador of Christ 
 to those who have not known His name and have not asked for 
 Him; 77 and in this consciousness speak and act; be ready to do 
 and to die ; committing the whole burden of care about the issue 
 with Him who, unseen, hovers over every field where His servants 
 are toiling, to help them in the conflict and to receive their spirits 
 when the time of departure comes. To His keeping, therefore, we 
 commend you, my dear brother, in the full assurance that He will 
 keep that treasure of our hearts which we thus commit unto Him 
 until the last day. We know not what His decisions may be in 
 reference to you for the future, whether it be a long and useful life, 
 spared through many dangers and perils, to close at last serenely 
 in your native land, like that of the Patriarch Goodale, or a mar- 
 tyr 7 s death in early life, like that of Miriam and Coffing, or a return 
 to this land, broken by disease and excess of work, as is the case 
 with many others; but whatever it may be, we have such trust in 
 the reality of your connexion with the Master, as to be comforted 
 in the assured hope that it will be well with you and for the cause 
 you have espoused through you. Only watch thou in all things; 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 33 
 
 endure afflictions; do the work of an Evangelist; make full proof 
 of thy ministry, and the Lord, whom you serve, will stand by you 
 to the end. To Him, therefore, and to the word of His grace do 
 we all commend you— we, the Presbytery, under whose care you 
 have been brought into the ministry—this ancient and venerable 
 church, which has been your spiritual home from your infancy, and 
 its pastor—I too, and the people of my charge, on whom your im¬ 
 press will linger long as that of a Timothy, whose youth has so 
 blended with the gravity and earnestness of manhood as to win 
 both tender affection and cordial esteem,—also the whole circle of 
 friends and associates who have closed around vou in ever grow- 
 ing regard,—and will add, father, mother, brothers and sister—alb 
 all unite in invoking upon you the selectest blessings of our heav¬ 
 enly Father; and in praying that He may give you the rich reward 
 of bringing many sons into glory. Dearer to us will be the Syrian 
 mission for your sake, and when we meet in our monthly con¬ 
 cert of prayer, it will be with peculiar pleasure that we shall look 
 on the page that bears your name and tells us how the Lord is pros¬ 
 pering your work. Accept our pledge of sympathy and support. 
 Be thou faithful unto death, and the Lord shall give thee a crown 
 
 of life. Amen and farewell. 
 
 5 
 
jdralfl of th ferian j)’ 
 
 mmi, 
 
 BY BEY. H. H, JESSUP, D. D., SYRIA. 
 
 My Dear Brother in Christ :— I esteem it a privilege to be 
 permitted on this occasion, to give you the right hand of fellow¬ 
 ship, and, in the name of our Lord and Master, of my missionary 
 brethren, and of the churches and people in Syria, to bid you a 
 cordial welcome to the missionary work. 
 
 After a residence of nearly thirteen years in that distant land, 
 I can speak from experience of the work to which you have con¬ 
 secrated your life, and, in view of its darker as well as its brighter 
 features, its trials as well as its joys, looking upon it just as it is, 
 and as it will continue to be, I can honestly and heartily congratu¬ 
 late you upon the choice you have made. 
 
 The important geographical position of the mission to which 
 you are going, is familiar to you and to all present to-night. But 
 its strategic position, with reference to the great work of evangel¬ 
 izing the world, is still more important. It is in the very centre 
 of the Mohammedan world. The religion of Mohammed extends 
 from Peking in China, to Liberia in Western Africa, and numbers 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 35 
 
 one hundred and fifty millions of followers, of whom one hundred 
 
 « 
 
 millions speak the Arabic language. The only sacred book of 
 these millions of Moslems is the Koran, an Arabic book; and 
 whatever their vernacular or spoken language, whether Turkish, 
 Mandingo, Persian, Tartar, Hindostanee, or Chinese, they can read 
 the Koran only in Arabic. These one hundred and fifty millions 
 of men, spread over one hundred and twenty degrees of longitude, 
 if then, they can read their own sacred book at all, they must read 
 it in the Arabic language, which is the language you are to speak, 
 and preach, and write, and think in, during your life in Syria. 
 
 If you write a book in Arabic, it will be ready for a population 
 more than four times as large as the United States. If you train 
 a native preacher, he can go through the whole northern half of 
 the vast continent of Africa, and find the people able to understand 
 him, and read the Bible he bears with him; and then turning 
 eastward, he may traverse Persia, Afghanistan, Belochistan, Tar¬ 
 tary, Northern India, and Northern China, and find everywhere 
 men who will revere his Arabic Bible, because it is in the sacred 
 language of the Koran. You will learn on reaching Beirut, that 
 the Arabic Bible translated and printed there, has already been 
 scattered abroad from Liberia on the West, to Peking in the East. 
 You will find a vast and overwhelming work unfolding before 
 you—a work which is to be felt in years to come, not only in the 
 narrow geographical area of Syria, but throughout the region 
 occupied by one-eighth of the human race. 
 
 You go to Syria at a time when you are greatly needed. The 
 brethren there are overwhelmed with work. Few, alas, are ready 
 to heed the Divine command, “ Go and teach all nations; ;; and 
 
36 
 
 ORDAINING 5 EXERCISES. 
 
 you may rest assured that on your arrival, you will be greeted 
 with a hearty welcome. 
 
 I. I bid you welcome in the first place to a life of hard work. 
 The missionary work is as varied in its character as is Christian 
 work at home, and as far as individuals are concerned, generally 
 far more so. 
 
 Our mission ought to be well enough manned to admit of the 
 same wise division of labor which obtains at home, so that while 
 one is pastor, another is teacher, another author, another editor, 
 another missionary secretary, and another city missionary or col¬ 
 porteur. But owing to the numerical weakness of the most of our 
 missions, one man is often compelled to act as pastor, preacher, 
 visitor, editor, teacher, author, singing-master, itinerant colporteur, 
 architect, superintendent of schools, postmaster, and even printer. 
 It is not likely that you will ever be called to serve an appren¬ 
 ticeship in all these varied duties and offices; but you will not be 
 long on Syrian soil before you will find that the missionary 7 s office 
 is no sinecure. In the first place, you will find a formidable bar¬ 
 rier between yourself and the people—the Arabic language. That 
 language is to be learned, not by magic, nor by any short method, 
 but by dint of hard work. 
 
 The Arabic language is an admirable school of humility and 
 patience. You have been studying for years. In the Academy, 
 the College and Seminary, and in the active duties of pulpit minis¬ 
 tration, you have been laying up stores of knowledge, so that in 
 science, the ancient languages, and theological learning, you have 
 probably few peers among the natives of the land to which you 
 are going. But on your arrival your lips will be sealed. With- 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 37 
 
 out the means of communicating with the people, all your learning 
 will be of little avail. You must become a little child again that 
 you may be wise, and beginning with the alphabet, learn letter by 
 letter, word by word, sentence by sentence, reading, writing, and 
 above all, hearing and speaking the language, until you find your¬ 
 self gradually mastering the difficult gutturals and Oriental idioms, 
 unconsciously perhaps to yourself, but none the less surely. 
 
 One element of a child’s character is especially needed in learn¬ 
 ing a foreign tongue, and that is, so to speak, his fearlessness, his 
 utter indifference to making mistakes.. Our own children make 
 constantly the most laughable mistakes in learning the English 
 language; but with childish simplicity, try again, until they mas¬ 
 ter the difficulties of articulation and pronunciation. Do not be 
 afraid of mistakes. Listen carefully to the native pronunciation. 
 The ear is of more practical use than the eye in learning to speak 
 any foreign tongue. Spend as much of your time as possible with 
 the natives of the country. Walk with them, ride with them, visit 
 them, and improve every opportunity to make talk on every occa¬ 
 sion. 
 
 No young man need fear to enter the missionary work on account 
 of the difficulties of the language. Let any Christian young man, 
 of good education, sound common sense, and ordinary habits of 
 study, enter the missionary work, full of the love of Christ and 
 the love of souls, and find himself in the presence of thousands of 
 immortal beings, who know not Christ, with no barrier between 
 himself and their hearts but a difficult language, and he will break 
 that barrier down. 
 
 Again, with a life of hard work before you, you should use 
 
38 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 every means for the preservation of bodily health. As a matter of 
 conscience and Christian duty, do not spend too much time in the 
 confinement of yonr study. Breathe the free, pure air of Leba¬ 
 non^ heights or the Mediterranean’s shores, cultivate flowers, geol¬ 
 ogize among the fossiliferous rocks, call upon the farmers in their 
 fields, the gardeners by the water courses, and the artisans in their 
 shops. There is no glory in falling a martyr to the Arabic lan¬ 
 guage, and it is poor economy to break down your health prema¬ 
 turely by neglecting the simplest rules of health. Expect to live 
 a long life, and to spend it all on missionary ground. Do not 
 allow a morbid conscientiousness to prevent your taking needed 
 rest and recreation. 
 
 II. I bid you welcome to an office and a work which are pre¬ 
 eminently Apostolic . It is well that every missionary, upon set¬ 
 ting out in his great life-work, should understand the nature of 
 that work. 
 
 The experience of the last half century in missionary work has 
 evolved this principle, that the foreign missionary goes forth to 
 do precisely the work which Paul and Peter and James and John 
 did, in the Apostolic age. 
 
 It is the work of preaching the Gospel, leading souls to Christ, 
 organizing the believers into churches, and ordaining native pas¬ 
 tors over them. It is necessary to the life and growth and per¬ 
 petuity of the native churches everywhere, that they have their 
 own pastors and support them. 
 
 You do not go to Syria to be a pastor in Beirut or Sidon, or 
 Tripoli or Abeih or Hums. It is very natural that a missionary, 
 after sowing long in tears and gathering an interesting church 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 39 
 
 to every member of which he holds the relation of a spiritual 
 father, should feel that he can act as their pastor better than any 
 one of their own number, and should desire to remain in a relation 
 to them which he has temporarily and perhaps necessarily held; 
 but if he would develop in that church the feeling of self-respect 
 and manly independence, let him rather devote himself to the 
 training of a native pastor, to be installed over them and sup. 
 ported by them. 
 
 The Arabs have a proverb, “ Tza kan beddak tiffiy insan , isnoo- 
 dhoo 77 —“If you would palsy a man hold him up; 77 and if you 
 would palsy a native church, feed it and nurse it and brace it up, 
 and very soon, by leaning upon you, it will forget the use of its 
 limbs and become a helpless cripple. There are too many such 
 cripples already on missionary ground, which need to be galvan¬ 
 ized into life, by being forced to take up their beds and walk. 
 Do not, therefore, picture to yourself the delights of the pastoral 
 relation ; you go forth as an Evangelist. You will journey where 
 Paul journeyed, and you go to do again the very work of planting 
 and founding, and organizing, which he performed. 
 
 You will preach and journey and converse with men personally 
 and collectively. You may at some time be called to aid in train¬ 
 ing native ministers, or in preparing a Christian literature for the 
 millions who speak the Arabic language; but remember, that if 
 you act as a pastor at all, it must be from that sad necessity which 
 arises from the want of a native ministry. In the strategy of mis¬ 
 sions, the true Christian Evangelist goes forth on a campaign to 
 the enemy’s country. He reduces a citadel, a fortress, a town, a 
 district, to allegiance to Christ, but he cannot remain to garrison 
 
40 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 the conquered country. The people themselves, brought into 
 loyal obedience, must man the forts and hold the strategic points 
 for Christ, while the Apostolic Evangelist must pass on to points 
 beyond. Paul was not a pastor in Galatia, Ephesus, Phillippi, 
 Rome or Colosse, but he founded churches in these places, ordained 
 pastors over them and then moved on to parts still lying in dark¬ 
 ness. 
 
 When circumstances required, he inquired into their state and 
 wrote searching epistles to them, and such will often be the expe¬ 
 rience of the modern missionary. You will have disappointments 
 and trials not unlike those of the Apostle to the Gentiles, and it 
 will often prove a source of comfort to you, to study the experi¬ 
 ence of that man of God, as delineated in his Epistles, and find 
 how similar are the Galatians and the Cretans and the people of 
 Asia in our day to those of whom the Apostle wrote. And you 
 will perhaps cease to wonder that the Apostle could gather men 
 into churches and afterwards speak of them in terms of such bit¬ 
 ter reproof. 
 
 III. I bid you welcome to a life of patient waiting. When the 
 Syrian farmer £oes forth to sow his grain, he is often obliged to 
 use for seed literally the last wheat remaining in store for the 
 support of his wife and children. He goes from his house weep¬ 
 ing and he sows in tears, then comes the struggle with want—the 
 patient waiting, until at length the tears are wiped away and the 
 whole house is filled with rejoicing as he returns again, bringing 
 his sheaves with him. You may reap soon, you may not reap at 
 all. But you are bidden to sow the seed, not knowing which will 
 prosper. 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 41 
 
 But how different your work from that of Parsons and Fisk, 
 Goodell and Bird, who first went forth into that Syrian harvest 
 field as missionary pioneers. Fisk sleeps under the Cypress trees 
 of Beirut, where in later years Eli Smith and Whiting and not a 
 few others, have lain down to await the resurrection morn. Par¬ 
 sons sleeps in an unknown grave down in Egypt. But what a 
 change since his day. Just above the grave of Pliny Fisk now 
 stand the American Press building, with its two steam power 
 presses; the Female Seminary, with its one hundred pupils; the 
 new Evangelical Church edifice with its overflowing congregation, 
 and near by the Protestant College, and Medical Institution; while 
 along the slopes of Lebanon, in northern Galilee, and around the 
 entering in of Hamath, are little churches of living believers in 
 Christ. Your work will be one of faith, but far more a work of 
 sight than was allowed to the earlier laborers in the East. You 
 may plant new seed or water seed already planted, but the in¬ 
 crease and growth of fruitage are of the Lord. 
 
 IY. 1 welcome you to a work of personal discipline. The Lord 
 has not only a work to do by you and through you, in Syria, but a 
 work to do in you. Hence you will find trials strewn in your 
 path. Fear them not. Shrink not from your encounter with foes 
 within and without. When led to ask why are my hopes disap¬ 
 pointed so often, why do the fairly promising blossoms bring so 
 little fruit, why do hopeful cases of seeming conversion relapse into 
 apostasy and open hostility, why is there so little spiritual life, or 
 self-denial, or gratitude among those for whom I have toiled 
 and wept and prayed and denied myself?—let it be a comfort to 
 
 you to know that your Saviour Jesus brought you to Syria, not 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 only that He might use you to bring others to heaven, but by the 
 sanctified influence of gracious discipline, He might fit you for hea¬ 
 ven. Trials will come oftentimes just when you do not expect them. 
 The trials of climate and strange customs, of a difficult language, 
 of separation from friends and deprivation of Christian society, 
 will be much less severe than you may anticipate ; but new forms 
 of spiritual trial will spring up in your path, and you will need to 
 live near to Christ, and lean upon Him, and commit every interest, 
 every care, every question of duty, every burden to Him, and He 
 will give you relief and the victory. 
 
 V. Again, I welcome you to a labor of love. The first duty of a 
 missionary is to prove to the people that he loves them. If you can¬ 
 not do this you will not reach their hearts. Identify yourself with 
 them. They are men like ourselves. They can be melted by love 
 when they cannot be broken by argument. They are shrewd and 
 sagacious in reading human character. They can tell in a very 
 brief period whether you really love them and desire their good- 
 You cannot expect them to appreciate your self-denial in leaving 
 home and friends for their sakes. Your books, your dress and 
 your European habits may lead them, perhaps, to think that your 
 physical lot is far easier and higher than that of themselves. But 
 if you show an interest in their welfare, identify yourself with 
 them as a people, show a fondness for their language and their 
 customs, many of which are beautiful and commendable—if you con¬ 
 vince them that you have come to live and die among them, and 
 to live only for their good and the glory of Christ, you will win 
 their confidence, and they will listen with interest as you tell the 
 story of the Cross. 
 
ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 43 
 
 Do not fear to go among the lowliest of the people in the most 
 abject abodes. Some fifteen years ago 1 listened to a missionary, 
 charge given by the now sainted G-oodell to a young missionary 
 just going to India. In allusion to this very point he said: 
 “ When you reach India, my brother, and gaze upon the wretched 
 condition of its crowded people, living in filth and degradation, 
 and the thought comes into your mind, how can I, a civilized man, 
 born and trained in a land of Christian light and refinement, so 
 degrade myself as to associate with such miserable, abject crea¬ 
 tures, at whose very presence my refined nature revolts ; then re¬ 
 member, I entreat you, the prayer which you offer every day of 
 your life that God would send his pure and sinless Spirit, who is 
 of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, to descend and dwell in 
 your vile and sinful heart; not simply to come to you, but to stay 
 and take up his abode with you; ;; and so I would say, remember 
 what the Holy Spirit has done for you, and be always willing to 
 labor for the lowest and most wretched of the fellatahs in the 
 Syrian mountain villages. 
 
 VI. In conclusion, let me welcome you to the missionary work, 
 taking Christ as your only model and exemplar. You will 
 be associated with a band of earnest and beloved Christian 
 brethren, some of whom labored in Syria before you were born. 
 You will find in the native churches not a few ripe and experi¬ 
 enced Christians who walk with God, and will receive you with a 
 most cordial welcome. You will be led, in that land of Apostles 
 and prophets, to study anew the characters of those holy men of 
 old, who wrought righteousness in that very land where you labor. 
 But take no man or men as your models. Follow Christ. He has 
 
44 
 
 ORDAINING EXERCISES. 
 
 bidden you “ go, 77 but He goes with you. Like the Syrian Shep¬ 
 herds, with whom you wifi often rove over the mountains and 
 plains, He goes before His people. He will go before you. On 
 the sea He will be with you. When your feet first touch the soil 
 of Syria He will be with you. You will find Him as near and as 
 precious in your Syrian closet as in your own loved home. 
 
 He will lead you beside still waters. He will search out the 
 green pastures of His love for you, even amid the wilderness of 
 spiritual desolation. 
 
 Welcome then to Syria—to 'the number of our enfeebled mission, 
 whose hearts have already been cheered by the tidings from afar 
 that you are coming to their relief. 
 
 Welcome to the fellowship of joy and sorrow, to the discipline 
 of trial and personal sanctification; to the patient watching and 
 waiting for that harvest which has been watered by tears; to the 
 Apostolic work of founding churches in the name and to the glory 
 of Christ; to the hard labor of an earnest worker in the Master's 
 cause ; to the winning of the people’s love and confidence, and 
 above all, to the humble imitation of Christ our living Head, our 
 only Exemplar, without whom we can do nothing. 
 
 May His Spirit dwell in you richly, make you faithful unto 
 death, and give you at last many Syrian jewels in your crown of 
 rejoicing. 
 

 
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