1

and love, of truth and grace, of holiness, peace and joy; till it embrace the remotest tribe and habita→ tion of men,-what a godlike enterprise is this! . This is the object which He who dwells in the high and holy place, and inhabiteth eternity, had in view when he spread out the heavens as a curtain, and the earth as a tent to dwell in! For this he still upholds and governs the universe he has made. For this he gave his Son to die. For this his Spirit dwells among men. For this he has constituted a church in the world. For this he has revealed his word. For this he has established the ministry of reconciliation, and given them the commissions "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." There is no work so grand and glorious as this in the purity, disinterested ness, and greatness of its aims-in the obstacles and difficulties it has to contend within the means which are necessary to its success in the toil and self-denial with which it is carried forward -in the interests which are subservient to its advancement in the loftiness and sublimity of its moral associations-in its amazing extension and perpetuity-in its certain and everlasting triumphs -and its final rewards. It is an object that ought to take strong hold of the mind and conscience. It is worthy of intense thought, and the strongest and most ardent affections. It is one of those grand and stupendous objects, which, when once we give to it a steady and fixed attention, has weight and influence enough to fill and engross, absorb, transport, and transform the soul.

Need we plead with you then, my brethren, for a deeper interest in this great enterprise? We are.

debtorsto the heathen. Neither Britain nor America has done her duty to the pagan world. The providence of God is opening before these churches numerous and extensive fields of missionary labor, demanding a great and immediate increase of men and means, and urging us to occupy them with the least possible delay. Men there are, who ought no longer to hesitate in consecrating themselves to this work. Men of the deepest piéty, the soundest judgment, the best talents, and the most varied and extensive learning, which the church can furnish; men, who are moved by the cries and distresses of • the heathen; men, whose love of country gives way to their love of the world,-must be found in great. numbers, else ages of darkness will yet fulfil their "tardy and disastrous course" over the world. Which of us is duly sensible of the relation he sustains to the souls of the heathen? What have we done that is at all commensurate with their claims? "What have we suffered, in what have we denied ourselves, that the gospel might have free course and be glorified throughout the earth? O could the spirits of Ziegenbalgh and Swartz, Elliot and Brainerd, Milne and Hall, Worcester and Evarts, "bend from their thrones, in what tones of rebuke, solicitude, and expostulation, would they entreat these blood-bought churches, for the love of Jesus, to remember the perishing heathen!cranet

What shall I say? Who can tell if some poor Pagan is not this day struggling for the assurance of a happy immortality, who "through your mercy might have obtained mercy." To the hopes of the dying believer he is a stranger. He never dwelt in a christian land. He never heard a sermon, nor

..

saw a Bible. He knows not that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin. No; he is the victim of a dark and dreadful idolatry! Around his bed of death gather the shades of an impenetrable night. Over his prospects for eternity are collected heavy and dense clouds of, unappeased indignation. Approach and see. His bosom is torn and distracted with anguish. His lips quiver with agSony, and he draws his last gasp in despair! And, O that it were one solitary Pagan only! But, think of twenty-five millions of your fellow-men, every year sinking in such a death; and then look into that deep abyss, where millions after millions of years roll on, and the miserable sufferers encounter,new dangers-new fears-new scenes of anguish, without any prospect of termination; and what emotions of grief, abasement, and horror, maysmite our bosoms! "We are verily guilty concerning our brother.". Here are miseries which our faithfulness might have relieved. But for our guilty slumber, multitudes of these immortal beings might have been trained to a happy immortality. Excruciating thought! O immeasurable responsibility! because the remedy for these woes is in our hands. Sin infinite! to be washed away only by atoning blood. I add,

4. Our subject enforces the importance of prayer for the missionary cause. Our blessed Lord would ...have us remember this cause every day we live.

You see from the place our text holds in the form of prayer he taught his disciples, that he would have us give it precedence to the petition for our daily bread, and even for his pardoning mercy.

I know of no truth more important to a body of men engaged in the missionary enterprise, than the absolute dependance of missions on God. I know of no sentiment worthy of being engraven in broader and deeper characters on the bosom of every missionary than this,-"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts!?? God himself is the secret spring, the original mover of the whole design. From the days of the apostles to the present hour, his invisible hand set the whole machinery in motion. These designs of mercy to the heathen are of no earthly origin; and the entire success of them depends on him who

them birth. His providence must smile, or the most benevolent plans will be defeated. His. Spirit must be poured from on high, or the heathen world will remain still dead in sin, and grope their way to eternity through gloom dark as midnight. There is every thing to throw the cause of missions absolutely into the hands of God. Mere human influence can never subdue the stupid lethargy, the inexorable habits, the imbedded depravity of the pagan mind. There are most disheartening, most, overwhelming obstacles at every step. And God. will not give his glory to another. If we attempt. the subjugation of this world to its rightful Prince, rather by our own policy and prowess than his presence and power, we shall be compelled to feel our insufficiency. Whether the cause decline or prosper, its friends must be driven to their knees. They must stretch out their hands unto God; they must lie on their faces at his throne. This is their confidence. "Prayers and pains through Jesus Christ," said the devoted Elliot, "can do any

their stupidity; will kindle a momentary zeal; will excite a flush of animal feeling; will commend their cause to the enthusiasm of a popular assembly: this will power with God. give them

I

I wish it were in my power to enforce, as desire, the importance of prayer for the cause of missions. My "respected fathers and brethren, shall we not carry this cause with new fervor to the throne of grace? We cannot hope too much from God! Copious showers of divine grace upon the heathen will be poured forth as soon as a spirit of supplication is copiously poured forth upon the churches. Missionaries die and become the prey of savage men, for the want, of prayer in the churches at home. It is a melancholy fact, that isa't the number of conversions in heathen lands does not bear a due proportion to the amount of effort in the missionary enterprise, and for the want of prayer in the churches at home. It is a lamentation, that the special occasion set apart for such prayer are so little regarded by the professed friends of Jesus Christ. It is one of the dark signs of the times. One of the melancholy proofs that the day of millennial glory is not very near, is the little interest which is taken in those precious seasons of united and special supplication, for the conversion of the heathen. Were Paul to rise from his grave, and visit these churches, one of the first privileges he would seek to enjoy, would be the monthly concert of prayer for the heathen. Were Jesus Christ again to descend into our world, I am persuaded he would never absent himself from this season of prayer. The