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CHRISTIAN MISSIONS ENTITLED TO SUPPORT. 
 
 ; 
 
 A 
 
 DISCOURSE, 
 
 Preached before the Welsh-Neck Baptist AasocrAiiON 
 AT THEIR Seventh Anniversahv, held with the 
 Mispeh Church, Darunqton Dist. S C. 
 
 November, 1838 
 
 published at their request. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. C. FURMAN. 
 
 PASTOR or the welsh-neck church. 
 
 ‘None of us liveth to himself.' 
 
 RALEIGH: 
 
 PRINTED AT THE RECORDER OFFICE. 
 
 1839 . 
 
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SliRMON. 
 
 Titus 3: 14. Who gare himself for us that he might redeem us from all 
 iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous or good works. 
 
 In this interesting passage the epostle presents several important sub- 
 jects of consideration. Having previously described his Christian 
 brethren, and himself, ns e-xpecting the second coming of the Lord 
 Jesus with a sort of holy anxiety, — ‘looking for that blessed hope, and 
 the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ’ — he here alludes to the method by which, and the ends for 
 which, the Saviour had secured for himself a people upon earth. — 
 That method consisted in the highest personal sacrifice — ‘who gave 
 himself for us’ — and the ends to be answered by it, were the deliver- 
 ance of his people from the power, and the punishment of sin, and a 
 moral preparation of them for his service, investing them with a char- 
 acter, by which they might be clearly distinguished from the rest of 
 the world, and rendered efficient instruments for accomplishing the 
 most important objects. All this is certainly meant to be expressed 
 by the terms — ‘purify unto himself — a peculiar people — zealous of 
 good works. 
 
 To this last clause, as containing an inspired, and therefore, uner' 
 ring description of Christian character, 1 invite your attention, with 
 special reference to what is the appropriate subject of our present 
 consideration, viz. missionary operations. 
 
 It is a notorious fact, that ministers, and churches, calling them- 
 selves ministers of Christ, and churches of Christ, have avowed a de- 
 termined hostility to all missionary undertakings, and have even as- 
 sumed the epithet — ‘Anti-missionary’ as their distinguishing title. It 
 is equally well known that churches and individuals, who have not 
 
4 
 
 placed themselves in the ranks of organized opposition, are yet dome 
 nothing in aid of this important cause ; and that many who profess to 
 to approve and support, are doing so Little in its behalf that their con- 
 tributions serve only to attest their knowledge of its claims, and their 
 unwillingness to meet them fairly. 'These know their duty, but they 
 do it not.’ In the judgment of those professed chnslians, the stern self- 
 denial, the living martyrdom of the missionary himself, and the pecu- 
 niary contributions from the hands of others intended to supply his 
 bodily necessities, together with their fervent prayers for his spiritual 
 prosperity, and the success of his labors, are either no part of the good 
 works,’ enjoined by the authority of Christ ; or they constitute so small 
 an item, that they may be omitted without the forfeiture of a confidence 
 in their own piety. 
 
 I shall endeavor to rebut the arguments of opposers ; to condemn the 
 apathy and in difference of those who are doing nothing; and to jus- 
 tify and excite the zeal of those who acknowledge their duty in this 
 important particular. In doing this I shall refer to the word of God, 
 under a solemn conviction, that by it we shall be judged in the last 
 day; and that by it every sentiment we entertain, and every practice 
 we pursue, may be tested, so that we may now determine at what we 
 shall rejoice, and at what we may be ashamed, at that awfully momen- 
 tous period. In prosecuting this purpose let us 
 
 I. Consider the conduct of primitive Christians as affording Christ- 
 ian missions the sanction of their example : 
 
 II. Refer to descriptions of Christian character and duty, drawn 
 by the pen of inspiration, as evidence that Christians ought to aid in 
 missionary undertakings : 
 
 III. Inquire into the justness of applying the epithet 'good works' 
 to Christian missions, in view of the mode of their operations : and 
 
 IV. Show that this distinction is pre-eminently due to them. 
 
 I. In the first place, we are to consider the example of the first 
 Christians, as furnishing authority for missions. 
 
 No one will deny that in the conduct of inspired men, and of the 
 churches gathered by their labors, and trained by their instruction, we 
 have a true explanation of the character of those good works, spoken 
 of in the text; and which all, who had believed in God, were urged to 
 be careful to maintain. 
 
 The periods of time which immediately preceded, and followed the 
 ascension of Christ constituted a glorious epoch in the history of the 
 world. Until then the institutions of religion were confined to a sin- 
 
5 
 
 gle nation. To the Jews pertained the adoption, and the glory, and 
 the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of Ciod, and 
 the promises. Looking back through the long vista of centuries, 
 upon the repeated displays of God’s gracious purpose toward them, the 
 Israelites — some with foolish pride, but some with grateful joy — could 
 •ay, ‘he hath not dealt so with any nation.’ Even when Messiah 
 made his advent, the Jews were exclusively honored with his appear- 
 ance among them. It is in this sense the evangelist remarks, ‘he came 
 to his own, and his own received him not.’ In reference to those 
 benefits, which he dispensed as he ‘went about doing good,’ he clearly 
 intimated on one memorable occasion, that in answering petitions 
 made by persons, not members of the Jewish community, although he 
 did not violate, he was yet exceeding design of his ministry. Re- 
 specting the plea of the Syrophenician w’oraan he remarked, ‘I am 
 not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' When he had 
 clothed the seventy disciples with the pow-er of working miracles, and 
 had commissioned them to proclaim the fact, that the kingdom cf God 
 was come nigh, he limited their ministry to the country of the Jew’s ; 
 ‘go not,’ said he,’ into the way of the gentiles, and into any city of the 
 Samaritans enter ye not.’ He predicted, indeed, that he would attract to 
 himself o/ euery nation, but he predicted it asan event which 
 would /oZ/oui his crucifixion ; and I, if I be lifted up from the earth will 
 draw all men unto me.’ 
 
 When this momentous occurrence had transpired, and the crucified 
 Redeemer had risen from the dead, a different order of things was es- 
 tablished. The middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles, 
 was broken down ; and the Saviour, having satisfied the disciples of 
 his resurrection, by many infallible proofs, imparted instruction as to 
 their future course, substituting a new and different commission, in 
 t he place of the one, under which they had acted. Having taught them 
 that repentance, and remission of sins should be preached in his 
 name among all nations, he declared, ‘all power is given unto mein 
 heaven and in earth,’ and added the solemn injunction ‘go ye, there- 
 fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.’ "Go ye into all the world and 
 preach the gospel to every creature' ‘Ye shall receive power from 
 on high, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be 
 witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria 
 and to the uttermost part of the earth. 
 
 When he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he he was 
 taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. The disciples 
 
6 
 
 immediately returned to Jerusalem, and there waited, according to the 
 direction of their master, for the promised outpourings of the spirit. — 
 On the day of pentecost their e.xpectations were realized ; and, in the 
 unprecedented miracle wrought on that occasion, a further manifesta- 
 tion was made of God’s purpose respecting the nations of the earth. — 
 The apostles were instantly endued with such a knowledge of hither- 
 to unknown languages, as enabled them to address, in their own 
 tongues, a multitude composed of individuals from fifteen different 
 countries. Peter explained this surprising event, as a fulfilment of 
 Joel’s prophecy, respecting the outpourings of the spirit all flesh. 
 In his address to those who were awakened on that occasion, he de- 
 clared, ‘the promise is to you and to your children, and to all that are 
 afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call.’ In accor- 
 dance with these views of the will of God, we find Philip preaching 
 the gospel in the city of Samaria; then baptizing the Ethiopian eu- 
 nuch; and then preaching the gospel from Azotus to Caesarea. 
 
 But, notwithstanding the intimations of the Divine intention, which 
 had been already afforded, the disciples, and even the apostles, were 
 slow in apprehending their own duty. For this reason, when an an- 
 gel was sent to Cornelius directing him to learn the will of God from 
 Peter, a vision appeared to that apostle designed to satisfy his mind 
 respecting the propriety of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. For 
 this reason, the believing Jews, who accompanied Peter to the house 
 of Cornelius, were astonished at the effects which followed his preach- 
 ing on that occasion, ‘because that on the Gentiles, also, was poured 
 out the gift of the Holy Ghost.’ For the same reason, the Jewish con- 
 verts at Jerusalem made Peter’s conduct in this case a matter of 
 grave accusation against him — ‘thou wentest in<to men uncircumcised, 
 and didst eat with them.’ Peter, however explained the matter, by 
 showing that he had acted under the highest authority — that he had 
 only obeyed the plainly manifested will of God. ‘When they 
 heard these things they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, 
 then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.’ 
 
 More than half of that portion of the sacred volume, which we de- 
 nominate the Acts of the Apostles, is occupied with the history of one 
 of their number viz : the Apostle Paul. In the account of his conver- 
 sion, recorded in the ninth chapter, we have this declaration of the 
 Lord Jesus respecting him ; ‘he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my 
 name before Ge/itifcs, and kings, and the children of Israel.’ It is 
 unnecessary to refer to the subsequent history of this apostle, to 
 show how he fulfilled this purpose of his Lord and Saviour, by preach- 
 
7 
 
 ing the gospel even among those, who were sunken in the grossest 
 idolatry. The office which he filled, and which he delighted to mag- 
 nify, was that of missionary la the htalhen. It may not be amiss to 
 inform those who are fighting against the cause of missions, that the 
 words Apostle and Missionary have originally the same meaning. — 
 They differ in nothing but in their source, the one being derived from 
 the Greek language, and the other from the Latin. The meaning of 
 both, expressed by a term of Saxon origin, is ‘one sent.' ‘Anti-apostol- 
 ic’ would, therefore, be as appropriate a designation of certain church- 
 es and associations as ‘Anti-missionary.’ It may not be improper to 
 state for the benefit of the same persons, that the word Gentile, found 
 in the scriptures, and the word Heathen, used now-a-days, agree per- 
 fectly in meaning ; both terms being applied to those nations, or indi- 
 viduals, who are destitute of the word of God, and ignorant of the true 
 religion. Our translators have employed the latter of these terms 
 in a passage in which Paul ha? described an incident in his own lifci 
 which presents a beautiful parallel with what some of us have witnes- 
 sed, when ministering brethren, who were to remain at home, have giv- 
 en assurances of their approbation and co-operation to others, who 
 were on the eve of departure for foreign lands. This is his language • 
 ‘And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, saw 
 the grace, tvhich was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas 
 the right-hand of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and 
 they unto the circumcision.’ — Gal. 2; 9. Surely it becomes those 
 who boast of the opposition they are making to modern missions, to 
 pause and consider whether they are not glorying in their shame. 
 
 Passing from the example of the primitive preachers of the gospel 
 to that of primitive private Christians, we shall see, that they consider, 
 ed it to be their duty to make contributions of their worldly substance 
 for the promotion of the cause ; particularly, for the aid of the poor, 
 and the maintainance of those, who were engaged in the work of the 
 ministry. Those sacrifices of personal property, mentioned in the 
 Acts of the Apostle, greatly surpass what has been done since; and 
 probably will never be equalled again until ministers and Christians 
 generally are distinguished by those degrees of faith, which made eter- 
 nity an ever-present reality-before the minds of the first Christians ; and 
 which, weighing temporal things with eternal, caused them to feel 
 that all earthly good or evil was insignificant in comparison with the 
 salvation or ruin of the soul. The necessity of the case requiring it, 
 they hesitated not a moment to give up their proprietorship in what 
 they had acquired or inherited, and to become dependent on a com- 
 
8 
 
 roon stock. After the account of the baptism of the three thousand, 
 we are told, ‘they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and 
 fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And all that 
 believed were together, and had all things comnmn, and sold their 
 possessions, and goods, and parted them to all, as every man had 
 need.’ 
 
 The brief accounts of Paul’s ministry, found in the Acts and in 
 his epistles, contain repeated evidences of his deriving his support 
 from his brethren. When he and Barnabas were sent, at an impor- 
 tant crisis, from Antioch to Jerusalem, they" were ‘brought on their 
 way by the church:’ and when, in the character of a missionary, he 
 was about to enter unexplored and heathen regions, he called upon the 
 churches to supply him with the means necessary for the performance 
 of such journeys. To the church in Rome he says, ‘whensoever I takg 
 my journey into Spain I will come to you ; for I trust to see you in 
 my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you.' In 
 writing to the Philippians, he expresses in the liveliest manner his 
 gratitude to God, on their account; because of their exemplary readi- 
 ness to meet his necessities : ‘I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now 
 at the last your care of me hath flourished again. Ye have done well 
 that ye did communicate with my affliction. Now, ye Philippians, 
 know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed 
 from Macedonia, no church communicated with me, as concerning 
 giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thesalonica ye sent 
 once, and again, unto my necessities. Not because I desire a gift; 
 but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all, 
 and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things 
 which were sent from you, odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice accep- 
 table, well pleasing to God. 
 
 Such is an imperfect sketch of the conduct of primitive Christians — 
 to us a plain and authoritative example ; and one which should shame 
 to silence those inconsistent men, who, while they set up an exclusive 
 claim to a proper regard for the scriptures, condemn others as merce- 
 nary and presumptuous, merely because they are conscientiously fol- 
 lowing this example. 
 
 II. We come now to descriptions of Christian character, and Christ- 
 ian duty, found in the sacred volume, which seem to us to render co- 
 operation in missionary undertakings obligatory upon Christians. 
 
 Let us attend, first to those descriptions, which apply especially to 
 the ministers of Christ. The character, and work of the adorable 
 saviour, and those of the men whom he invests with the ministry of 
 
9 
 
 reconciliation, present points of infinite contrast: yet there are other 
 points of obvious resemblance. ‘As my Father hath sent me, so send 
 I you,’ was his language to the twelve, after his resurrection. H$ 
 was sent to proclaim the messages of mercy in the ears of guilty, and 
 miserable human beings. The ministers of Jesus preach the very gos- 
 pel which fell from his blessed lips ; and inasmuch as his spiritual 
 presence is promised to be perpetually with them, and it is through 
 their agency that he invites the ends of the earth to look unto him and 
 be saved, each one of them may adopt the strong language of the apos- 
 tie, ‘for me to live is Christ ]' i. e. it i? in a sense the life and ministry 
 of Christ perpetuated. They meet the same reception which was af- 
 forded him ; and just in proportion as the circumstances under which 
 they labour, and the spirit in which they labour, resemble the circum- 
 stances in which he was placed, and the spirit which actuated him, 
 will they encounter the contradiction and opposition, by which his 
 way was marked. In this respect the foreign missionary is most near- 
 ly like his Lord and master. Another point of resemblance, and the 
 one which deserves our special notice, is, that so far as the wants of 
 his human nature were concerned, God did not raise him above the 
 necessity of dependence upon those who loved him for his works' sake. 
 The thoughtless bird, and the very beast of the wood, had larger pos- 
 sessions than ‘the apostle of our profession’ claimed for hfmself; for 
 whilst they could retire, the one to her own nest, and the other to his 
 own hiding place, he had not where to lay his head. At the hands of 
 pious females he was content to receive supplies cf his wants ; 
 for it is said of one of his journeys, during which he went throughout 
 every city, and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the 
 kingdom, that the twelve were with him, and certain women which 
 had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, 
 out of whom he cast seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, He- 
 rod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto 
 him of their substance. In accordance with his own example he se- 
 lected the first publishers of his gospel almost exclusively from among 
 the poor. Matthew, called to his office from the employment of a tax- 
 gatherer, and Barnabas, who was a possessor of landed estate, were 
 probably the only ones among these primitive preachers, who were 
 not absolutely poor. And it is not improbable that Matthew, however 
 lucrative his office might have been, reduced himself to a common lot 
 of poverty with the rest of the disciples, when he resigned his seat at 
 the receipt-of-custom. Barnabas, we know, ‘having land sold it, and 
 brought the money, and laid it down at the apostles’ feel.’ Such was 
 
10 
 
 the state of things, in the early history of the church ; and, at the pres- 
 ent day, me well know, the dispensation of the gospel is not iinfre- 
 quently, I might say, almost invariably, committed to those,who though 
 ‘rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to 
 them that love him,’ are yet ‘poor in this world.’ 
 
 Destitute, as the early preachers of the gospel were, of worldly pos- 
 sessions, they evidently felt it to be their duty to abstain from any em- 
 plo 3 rments, which would have interfered with an entire devotedness to 
 their ministry. Not only did they forego the opportunities of accumu- 
 lation, afforded by their former secular callings ; they even declined an 
 important religious service, because it would have consumed time, 
 which they felt themselves bound to employ in a different manner. — 
 Hence arose the institution of the office of deacons. The apostles 
 having directed the brethren to look-out, and appoint suitable persons 
 to occupy this office, declared, ‘but we will give ourselves continually 
 to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.’ Being thus excluded 
 from the ordinary means of support, and having no miraculous pro- 
 vision for their maintenance, these first preachers of the gospel were,, 
 of course, shut up to the necessk_v of depending, like their master, up- 
 on the contributions of those, who loved them for their work's sake. 
 
 Paul’s case may be cited as being at variance with this state- 
 ment. He refers more than once, to his laboring with his own 
 hands. But under what circumstances? Undoubtedly those of ex- 
 treme necessity. ‘Even unto this hour we both hunger, and thirsty 
 and are naked, and are buffetted, and have no certain dwelling-place, 
 and labour, working with our hands.’ Such are his own words, writ- 
 ten to the Corinthian church from Ephesus. From this passage, and 
 from Acts 20 ; 34, 2 Cor. 11: 9, and 1 Thes! 2 : 9 we learn that Paul 
 did labor for his own support, at Ephesus, Corinth, and Thesalonica. 
 But why did the apostle thus labor with his own hands? First, be- 
 cause the contributions, made by other churches, were not sufficient to 
 support him ; and secondl 3 ', because particular circumstances ren- 
 dered it inexpedient for him to derive his support from certain church- 
 es. That he was supported in partis beyond a doubt : to the Corin- 
 thians he says, ‘I robbed other churches taking wages of them to do 
 you service.’ To the Philippians he writes, ‘In Thessalonica ye sent 
 once, and again unto my necessity.’ These contributions were made 
 by extremely poor churches, (the abundance of their joy and their 
 deep poverty abounding to the riches of their liberality) and were not 
 adequate to the apostle’s maintenance. He was, therefore, compelled 
 to resort to manual labor to provide himself the means of subsistence j 
 
11 
 
 because particular reasons rendered it inexpedient to exercise his right 
 to a support from the churches for whose good he was laboring. — 
 What these reasons were is explained in 2 Cor. lllh chapter. He 
 kept himself from being burdensome, not because he did not love them, 
 and was unwilling to receive their contributions ; but because he would 
 cut off occasion of misrepresentation and calumny, from those who 
 desired occasion viz. the false apostles. His conduct, therefore, on 
 these occasions cannot with any propriety be alleged as an objection 
 to the position, that the primitive preachers looked to the churches for 
 their support. 
 
 In perfect harmony with their example is the rule of ministerial 
 duty laid down in the word of God. While Timothy was taught 
 what he had a right to expect. (1 Tim. 5; 17, 18,) he was authorita- 
 tively enjoined, ‘meditate upon these things ; thyself wholly to 
 that thy profiting may appear unto all.’ 
 
 From these views of of the condition of ministers of the gospel, we 
 think, it is clear, that they are a class of men, who, according to the 
 Divine will, are to abstain from those employments, by which men 
 ordinarily acquire property, — to make the care of souls their one great 
 business, — and to depend for their sustenance, except in extraordinary 
 cases, upon means provided by their brethren in Christ. The evi- 
 dence that it is, not only their privilege, but their duty, to preach the 
 gospel to any of the inhabitants of the earth to whom they can have 
 access, is furnished in the very terms of the commission, ‘Go ye into 
 all the world' ‘preach the gospel to every creature ; in Paut’s de- 
 scription of the subject matter of the ministry of reconciliation to wit, 
 that God was in Clirist, reconciling the wo-ld unto himself, not im- 
 puting their trespasses unto theraj and in the example of the first 
 preachers already considered. 
 
 Let us now glance at what is said of Christian character and duty 
 in general. 
 
 ‘Ye are the light of the world,’ said the Saviour to his disciples. — 
 There is an important sense in which the humble Christian, whose 
 great poverty may prevent his conferring benefits on others at a dis- 
 tance, acts out the meaning of this declaration, and by the luminous 
 exhibition c^n holy life, demonstrates the difference between right and 
 wrong, between sin and holiness. But there is a wider sense, in 
 which this impressive assertion is to be understood. Our Saviour 
 meant to teach that the darkness of idolatry and error, — the gross 
 darkness.which has covered the people of the earth, — is not to be dissi- 
 pated without the instrumentality of his people. ‘The light of the 
 
12 
 
 world,’ was a title which, in the highest sense, belonged to Him, and 
 which he applied to himself, as the source of all intellectual and spir- 
 itual light in the universe ; but in an inferior sense, he, no doubt, 
 appropriates the same title to himself, when he says, ‘as long as J am 
 in the world, I am the light of the world’ — that is, ‘while I continue 
 on the earth, my life, and teaching, and preaching are diffusing abroad 
 the truth, which like light removing darkness,’ scatters the errors and 
 ignorance of men, Now, in this sense, his people are the represen- 
 tatives of Christ; and when he says to them, 'ye are the light of the 
 world,’ it is as if he had said, ‘the knowledge of revealed truth is in 
 your keeping — the word of God will never go but whither you bear, 
 or send it — the gospel will nowhere be preached without your coun- 
 tenance and aid.’ 
 
 Passages already referred to under the previous head of this dis- 
 course, teach us in what manner private Christians may perform, in 
 part, the duty of co-operating with those who perform the labor of 
 preaching the gospel. ‘Sending to their necessities,’ and praying for 
 their success, are repeatedly insisted on as prominent parts of this 
 duty. 
 
 In the third epistle of John, the design of the writer evidently is to 
 commend and encourage Gaius, on account of the liberality he had ex- 
 ercised tow'ard those ministers, who had gone among the heathen, 
 without receiving any remuneration from them. ‘Beloved,’ says the 
 venerable apostle, ‘thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the 
 brethren, and to strangers; which have borne witness to thy chari- 
 ty before the church; whom if thou bring forward on their journey, 
 after a godly sort, thou shall do well ; because^that for his name’s sake 
 they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought 
 to receive such, that we might be fellow helpers to the truth.’ Here 
 was a most amiable character — a Christian, who did not suffer the spir- 
 it of covetousness, in the garb of a prudent suspicion of persons at a 
 distance, to chill the sympathy, and to refuse the aid, which were due 
 io brethren abroad, as well, as to those at home. This man’s soul 
 prospered.’ 
 
 The church, to which Gaius belonged, contained a member of a 
 very different stamp. He was probably a minister, but a man of a 
 proud, ambitious, domineering spirit : he loved to have the pre-emi- 
 nence; he withheld from the church a letter written by the apostle, 
 and spoke maliciously against him ; he would not receive the brethren, 
 for kindness to whom Gaius was commended; and not satisfied with 
 
13 
 
 this degree ol opposition, be forbade others to receirc them, and eficc- 
 ted the excommunication of those members of the church, who did not 
 comply with his prohibition. Such was Diotrephes — a character, it 
 would seem reasonable to suppose, none would emulate; but strange 
 to say, churches are to be found who deal ‘non»fellowship’ and exclu- 
 sion against all missionaries, and friends of missions.* 
 
 It is needless to mention how often the exercise of practical benev. 
 olence is enjoined in general terms. The scriptures abound in such 
 precepts as these, ‘to do good, and to communicate, forget not.’ ‘Be 
 not weary in well doing’ — ‘Be ye steadfast, and uninovable, always 
 abounding in the work of the Lord’— 'As we have opportunity, let us 
 do good unto all men, especially to them which are of the household 
 of faith.’ Were’there neither examples,nor direct precepts in the scrip- 
 tures respecting the sending of the gospel to pagan countries, these 
 general precepts would afford a perfect sanction for the use of any 
 means, by which the gospel might be conveyed to them; provided 
 there was nothing wrong in the means themselves. 
 
 III. Let us now enquire. Whether there be any ground of objec- 
 tion to Christian missions in their mode of operation ? 
 
 This topic is introduced, merely, for the purpose of remarking upon 
 the opinions of some, who object to missions because of the constant de- 
 mands for money, which are made for their support. It is to be la- 
 mented, that many seem to feel themselves exonerated from all obliga- 
 tion to honor God with their substance, when they can make a charge 
 of base motives against those, who urge the claims of benevolent un- 
 dertakings. In a deplorable absence of that charity, which ‘thinketh 
 no evil,’ but which ‘hopeth all things,’ they sit in judgment on ‘another 
 man’s servant,’ and assuming the prerogative of judging the heart, 
 condemn him for motives which he never avows, and of the existence 
 of which they can give no proof. Now this is wrong, greatly wrong. 
 Reputation — whether of an individual, or a society — is a most deli- 
 cate thing, and as valuable as it is delicate. Not only is it susceptible 
 of deserved injury from direct proof of guilt, it receives unmerit- 
 ed damage from a mere assertion, a hint, an insinuation, a whisper. — 
 The injustice, which is thus done, is oft times most grievous; and 
 this is the injustice, which is habitually practised by some, who call 
 
 •Dr. Adam Clarke employs a homely but very significant epithet as de- 
 scriptive of the spirit of Diotrephes: he calls it ‘the Doa-iN-rnE-MANGER spirit.’ 
 What is the invariable result of opposition to missions'! Spiritual leanness, 
 decline, and death. To those who are c.-v-wilung to give its blessings to oth- 
 ers, the gospel CAN be no better food, than straw to a carnivorous animal. 
 
14 
 
 themselves disciples of the Saviour. An application is made by some 
 ad vocate of missions ; the circumstances of the case are fairly stated; 
 the tender and powerful motives, which the gospel supplies, are bro’t 
 to bear upon the party addressed, but all in vain; because he has 
 shielded his heart with a suspicion — an uncharitable and unfounded, 
 but not on that account less powerful suspicion of the integrity of the 
 friends of missions. 
 
 We would press this considtration n'pon those who profess to be 
 opposed to missions, out of respect to God's authority. We would 
 solemnly remind them, that while Divine authority has referred us to 
 the conduct of men, as the basis of our opinion concerning their char- 
 acter, it not only does not allow, h\i\. positively foibids our judging the 
 motives of others. If these objectors know of fraudulent dealing in the 
 management of missionary funds, they are at liberty, nay they are 
 bound, to publish these facts; but if they know of no such dealings, then, 
 their insinuations and objections are not only unmanly, and ungene- 
 rous, but in a high degree unchristian. We beg those professors of 
 religion, to whom these remarks apply, to examine well the position 
 they have assumed ; and to enquire whether in their zeal to put down 
 certain measures, because they deem them to be destitute of scriptual 
 sanction, they have not themselves been betrayed into an egregious vi- 
 olation of some of the plainest precepts in the scriptures. 
 
 Another class of persons are offended at these demands for money ; 
 out fora very different reason. They have no suspicion of unfaith- 
 fulness in the conduct of our missionary agencies, but they grieve 
 that the glory of the gospel should be lessened, as they think, by the 
 stress laid upon obtaining money. Money, in lh,eir view, exerts a kind 
 of desecrating influence upon religion. But what is money? Is it 
 not the representative of human labor, and of the various productions 
 of nature — those creatures of God, which 'are good,’ and ‘to be recei- 
 ved with thanksgiving’ ? The love of money indeed is a most ruin- 
 inous idolatry ; as is the love of the world, and of the things of the 
 world ; but the love of money, and money itself are two very different 
 things. The one can only be a direful calamity ; to feel it is like being 
 subject to leprosy or plague — the other may be, and often is, a distin- 
 guished advantage, especially as it invests its owner with the means 
 of doing good ; as in the case of Philemon in earli(*r times, and of 
 Howard, Thornton, Wilberforce, and a host of others at subsequent pe- 
 nods. So far from excluding money from religious uses, the Lord 
 has, in all ages, made provision for it.s being brought into service in 
 his cause, and demanded its contribution. Moreover he has asserted 
 
15 
 
 
 his absolute ownership to all the wealth found among men — *iho silver, 
 and the gold are the Lord's, — and has predicted its free, and abundant 
 use in bringing in the latter day glory. 
 
 The objection then, to which we allude, is surely without founda- 
 tion. Its futility may be further seen, by reflecting upon the cfTects, 
 which would be produced, by fully acting it out. Virtually to banish 
 money from the service of God, we must, of necessity, relapse into 
 such forms of worship, as suit only the savage state ; for the houses, 
 in which \re congregate, do not grow up by miracle above our heads. 
 It is money which fells the timber, and rewards the arlesan, and sup- 
 plies the edifice for public accommodation. The ministers, who 
 preach to you, consume money, directly and indirectly, in doing so. — 
 Time is money; and the lime which they spend in preparatory stu- 
 dies, and in going to, and from the places of meeting, and the expense 
 of their means of transportation are so much money. Indeed, no man 
 tan preach the gospel, in such manner as he ought without cost, 
 whether it be borne by himself or others. Against such a degree of 
 the use of money in the service of God, no one perhaps, will object ; 
 but if it be right to use it in any measure, it is of course, right to use 
 it in that measure, in which it will accomplish the largest amount of 
 good. 
 
 IV. We proceed to show, that missionary efforts are pre eminent- 
 ly entitled to a place among those good works referred to in our te.xt. 
 
 In determining the comparative worth of different acts of benefi- 
 cence, our judgments are based upon three considerations: 1st, the 
 disposition of the benefactor ; 2nd, the nature of the good bestowed; 
 and 3rd, the circumstances of need in the case of the beneficiary. It 
 is the disposition of the benefactor, which, in certain circumstances, 
 renders a kind tone, or a sympathizing look dearer and more welcome 
 to the heart, than a rich, but heartless donation. A benefit, to be en- 
 joyed for a day, may be great : it must be greater if the enjoyment be 
 protracted through a year, and greater still if it be conferred for one’s 
 life-time. A gift bestowed on one individual, surrounded with every 
 earthly source of satisfaction, is valued only as an expression of the 
 disposition of the donor ; while the same gift bestowed upon another, 
 is a thousand-fold more valuable ; because, in addition to the expres- 
 sion of the kind intention of the giver, it proves a substantial benefit to 
 the receiver — a means, it may be, of acquiring health, of liberation 
 from debt, of relief from anxiety : in other words, it is a supply minis- 
 tered to necessity. 
 
 T ested by this rule, all thejqualities of a beneficent act are found, i» 
 
16 
 
 their highest degree, in God’s 'unspeakable gift.’ The disposition 
 which originated it, was benevolence in its greatest perfection: — the 
 substance of the benefit was infinite evil averted, and infinite good be- 
 stowed; — and the circumstances of the recipients, circumstances of ab- 
 solute, and utmost need. 
 
 To this display of the beneficence of God the nearest resemblance 
 on earth, is found in the labors, which are directed at the salvation of 
 the heathen : for 1. let me ask, whence does the desire to give them the 
 spring, but from the operation of the Holy Ghost, shedding 
 abroad the love of God in the heart, and by the influence of this new 
 affection, subduing the power of selfishness, and begetting the dispo- 
 sition of voluntary self-sacrifice for the good of others? I appeal to 
 those Christians, who have been misled by their teachers into opposi- 
 tion to missions, and I ask then, if, when their hearts first felt the love 
 of Jesus, they did not glow with intense desire, that all the ends of the 
 earth might see the salvation of God? Did they not, then at least, 
 echo back the prayer of David, ‘Let the people praise thee, O God, let 
 all the people praise thee Think, my brethren, how you have felt, 
 when your souls were filled with the largest measures of the influen- 
 ces of the Holy Spirit ; ‘remember vvhence ye have fallen, be zealous, 
 and repent.' 
 
 2. But what is the good accomplished by Christian missions ? To 
 answer this question, by merely relating what has already been done, 
 is more than we can now attempt. Instead, therefore, of going into a 
 detail of all the glorious effects of missionary labour ; — instead of point- 
 ing you to the peaceful habits of civilized life, subsiituted in the place 
 of savage wanderings and lawlessness ; — instead of directing your 
 view to the extinguished funeral piles, on which, until the influence 
 of missionaries prevented it, twenty thousand widows were annually 
 burnt to death ; instead of looking at the schools, in which thousands 
 of children, of both sexes, have learned to read in countries, where 
 during the long reign of paganism, not a single girl had ever learned 
 a letter; — instead of counting the languages into which the word of 
 God has been translated, or numbering the bibles, which, like streams 
 of salvation, arc flowing among nations pining with spiritual thirst; 
 
 instead of enumerating the churches, which have been established, 
 
 with the liundreds of converted heathen gathered into them, and main- 
 taining, with admirable fidelity, the discipline of the gospel; — instead 
 of going, in imagination, to the spot, where the once benighted idola- 
 ator is standing upas a witness for tlie living God,’ and is telling his 
 countrymen of the love of Jesus ; or where he is lifting up his voice in 
 
17 
 
 fervent supplication, in the name of our common Mediator, before our 
 common God and Father, for blessings on those, who sent him the 
 gospel ; or where he is burying in the baptismal water, his tawney 
 brethren yielding themselves to him who died for their sins and rose 
 for their justification ; instead ofthus ‘walking about Zion, and telling 
 her towers,’ beneath those skies, which have been wont to look down 
 only on the spires of gilded pagodas, and idol temples; — instead of 
 this general survey, we feel that, we shall have told enough for Chris- 
 tian missions, to tell even a stnall item of the results they have accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Take, then, a single instance, in which the grace of God, giving 
 efficacy to missionary labors, has triumphed in the conversion of a 
 heathen soul ; and I ask, who can compute the value of the benefit, 
 which has thus been done? We sometimes hear complaints, that so 
 much has been expended in support of missions; but limiting, as we 
 now do, our view of their success to the conversion of one solitary hea- 
 then, we ask again, who is willing to compare all that has ever been 
 expended with this one result ? Apply the golden rule, and put your- 
 selves, my brethren, each one in the place of this converted heathen, — 
 put your soul in his soul’s stead,andask yourselves,, what would com- 
 pensate you for your surrender, were such a thing possible, of your hope 
 in Christ? Losing the joy of forgiveness,and resuming the load of un- 
 pardoned guilt; making the doleful exchange ofthe peace of God, which 
 passeth all understanding, for the unmitigated anguish of a broken 
 spirit; giving up the blessed hope of the gospel for the dismal fore- 
 bodings of a guilty mind ; in fine, making the actual transition from 
 every thing desirable in the condition of a Christian, into the horrible 
 condition of a poor, forlorn, bedarkened, ruined heathen — O what 
 could compensate you for your loss And if a professor of the relig- 
 ion of Christ should sit down to calculate any expenditure of money, 
 and estimate the sum, thus asceitained, as out-weighing the value of 
 your loss — if, under such circumstances, you thought of him, who 
 died that he might redeem, and who asked the question, ‘What is a 
 man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’ — 
 how could you but exclaim, ‘How dwelleth the love of Christ ia 
 him.’ 
 
 My brethren, to learn the worth ofthe benefit we are now consider- 
 ing, let us place ourselves beside the death-bed ofsome dying Burman 
 convert. You see his sunken eye, but you see it brightened with th« 
 glorious hope of eternal life. He is expiring in the faith of Jesus. — 
 You hear his exulting confidence in a reconciled God, and a precious 
 
18 
 
 Saviour. Death has lost its sting; and the grave its terror. And 
 now, suppose it should be left to the choice of one of you, to gain for 
 himself all that has ever been expended in missionary undertakings, 
 and plunge this dying man back into the darkness of a heathen’s 
 death ; or to forego this large possession, and leave him to the enjoy- 
 ment of his triumph over the last enemy: and who could hesitate how 
 to decide ? If any man could, we say to him — lay down the Christian 
 name: away with such pretensions of discipleship to him, who gave 
 himself for us. 
 
 3. Need we remark upon the circumstances of necessity in the 
 case of the heathen ? Their need is extreme. Upon this subject an 
 erroneous opinion is entertained by some, who believe that the hea- 
 then will be saved. But on what is this opinion founded? Can we 
 hope for their salvation because of the smallness of their guilt ? Their 
 guilt, of course, does not consist in the violation of the eternal com- 
 mands of the decalogue, or in a rejection of the gospel. Yet an in- 
 spired writer charges them with heinous guilt. He teaches us, that 
 God has impressed on the face of creation evidences of his eternal pow- 
 er and Godhead, which address themselves to the senses of mankind, 
 and which must be apprehended by every mind that does not ‘hold the 
 truth in unrighteousness,’ (or hinder the truth by unrighteousness.’*) 
 Possessing these means of knowing God, the heathen have not glori- 
 fied hjm as God, but have plunged into abominable idolatries. The 
 apostle asserts that ‘they are without excuse' He draws a most appal- 
 ling picture of human depravity, as a piciure of the heathen. — a likcr 
 pess 60 true fo the original, that missionaries have been charged by 
 them with having written the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ro 
 mans after going among them. The same authority plainly declare.', 
 that all are ‘under sin,’ ‘that every mouth must be stopped, and the 
 whole world become guilty before God,’ and that ‘as many, ns have 
 sinned without law’ (the revealed law) ‘shall perish without law.’ — 
 pan we hope for their salvation because it may be in the purpose of 
 God to save them? We know nothing of the purposes of God, but 
 what is revealed in the scriptures; and of his gracious purpose in sa- 
 ving men we have no reason fora conjecture, that it will be accom- 
 plished independently of those means which have been divinely ap- 
 pointed, for this very end : ‘it pleased God by the foolishness of preach- 
 ing to save them that believe.’ Where there is no vision the people 
 perish. Can we hope that the gospel will be conveyed to them by any 
 
 •Professor Stuart’s iinniliiiioii. See his Coninieiilniy on Koiniins. 
 
19 
 
 other mf.dium than the instrumcntdlity of Christians ? UndoubttHiiy 
 not. Angels are not employed in publishing the glad tidings of sal- 
 vation. VV’hen one of them was sent to Cornelius, in answer to his 
 prayer for Divine instruction, he was sent, not to communicate gospel 
 truth, but to direct him to Peter as a preacher of the gospel, through 
 whom that communication might be made. Thus early, and thus 
 plainly did God indicate by his providence what is abundantly clear 
 in his word, viz. that for the dispensation of revealed truth the treasure 
 is committed to earthen vessels. The gospel then will never reach 
 the heathen if it be not carried by those who have it. On men de- 
 volves this work — a work, the importance, the necessity of which, al- 
 though confided to human hands, may be learned from the fact, that it 
 was enjoined in the last command of the Saviour, and dignified by the 
 promise of his personal presence, in all places, and throughout all 
 time. 
 
 In conclusion; Permit me, my brethren, to ask, ‘If the views now 
 preserated be correct, what should be our conduct? Does it not be' 
 come us, each one for himself, fairly and honestly to meet the quest- 
 ion — whether it is his duty to go to the heathen ? An increase of 
 vital piety, would, beyond all doubt, greatly swell the number of mis- 
 sionaries. If we decide in the light of God’s word, and providence, 
 that it IS not our duty to go, ought we not to furnish to those who 
 are willing to go, the means of going, even if it should be ne- 
 cessary in doing so, to make the most costly sacrifices of temporal 
 comforts and advantages ? Suppose, that some desolating disease had 
 visited the metropolis of our State; and that the inhabitants, ignoratjf 
 of any means of prevention or cure, were dying daily, by hundreds ; 
 and suppose that, by some singular favor, you had obtained a knowl- 
 edge of some simple but effectual remedy, in ihe reach of all : what 
 would justify you in locking up the secret in your own bosom ?— 
 Would the indulgence of your love of ease, — or your desire of gain ? 
 Surely, no such causes would be permitted to operate; and any amount 
 of toil and expenditure you would gladly encounter, to convey the 
 knowledge you possessed to the pitiable sufferers. But what is an af- 
 flicted city to an afflicted world 1 What are the ravages of disease tq 
 the ravages of sin ? What is the death of the body to the death of the 
 soul ? 
 
 Take another case. Suppose,that by some awful visitation of God, ev- 
 ery minister of the gospel, within the limits of South Carolina,should 
 this very day be cut off, the same calamity having already befallen eve- 
 ry other section of our land ; and suppose, this congregation were in- 
 
20 
 
 formed, that beyond the Atlantic fifteen ministers of the gospel, actua- 
 ted by the love of Jesus, and of the souls of men, were willing, if we 
 would but bear their expenses, to leave therr native land, their friends, 
 their homes, and coming to our stricken and benighted state, to spend 
 their days in laboring for the good of ourselves and our children. — 
 What, under such circumstances, would you do to secure their coming? 
 Whatever that might be, it is more imperiously demanded by the 
 wants of the heathen : for if every bible were obliterated throughout 
 our whole land, and every minister dead, yet the condition of the peo- 
 ple would be exalted to heaven in point of privilege, in comparison 
 with that of idolatrous nations. The knowledge of divine truth re- 
 tained in the memories of many would be an infinite advantage. And 
 yet strange to say, at this very time, fifteen servants of Christ, who 
 have given themselves to him and to the great work of imparting the 
 knowledge of his salvation to the dying heathen, are waiting to go, 
 anxious to go — but they cannot go, because the Baptists of America 
 withhold the means ! 
 
 Christian brethren, how long shall these things be? O, let us 
 learn to do for the heathen, what, with proper views, we should de- 
 sire, our circumstances being reversed, to be done for ourselves. Let 
 us imitate more closely the example of Him, who gave himself for us 
 — who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal 
 with God ; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the 
 form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men ; and, being 
 found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient 
 unto death, even the death of the cross. 
 
 Compassionate Redeemer ! IMould thy people into thine own im- 
 age. Inspire them with thy tender pity for the lost and guilty. En- 
 able them to fulfil the purposes of their redemption. O make them a 
 peculiar people, zealous of good works. Amen.