Perhaps there never was a time which more than the present required zeal blended with discretion, firmness tempered with meekness, and faithfulness softened by charity, in the Christian minister: well does the admonition of our blessed Lord to his disciples apply to those whom, in this day, he has called to be pastors under Himself—“be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” There are two other passages of Scripture which appear to present a striking view of an important duty of the clerical office in times like the present, and of the mode in which it is to be exercised: the command addressed to Isaiah, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.”[193a]And the instructions given by St. Paul to Timothy, “The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth.”[193b]It is the duty of Christian ministers to exhort and console each other in the difficult work they have to perform; “to put one another always in remembrance;” to “bear one another’s burdens;” to “admonish one another in the spirit of meekness and brotherly love.” How high is the dignity of the ministerial office! “Leta man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.”[194a]“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled unto God.”[194b]How awful its responsibility! “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore, hear the word of my mouth, and give them warning from me: when I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”[194c]“Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with his own blood.”[194d]How great the satisfaction, how sweet the joys of a successful ministry! “For what is our hope or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy.”[194e]“Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith: for now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord: for what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy,wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God?”[195a]“Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”[195b]“Holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”[195c]And how rich its reward! “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”[195d]“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.”[195e]Many distinguished bishops and pastors, who have shone as bright lights in our church, have strongly recommended that every clergyman should have his appointed seasons in which he “communes with his own heart, and in his chamber, and is still;” meditates deeply upon his important, responsible, and sacred office; reads, studies, and prays over the ordination service; and diligently, strictly, and impartially examines into how far he has been, through Divine grace, enabled to keep his ordination vows—to perform his ordination obligations. Such a practice is of such manifest propriety and use, that doubtless it prevails extensively: and high indeed, is the standardof duty, and strict the requirements of service, which our Church imposes upon every minister: “See that you never cease your labour, your care, and diligence, until ye have done all that lieth in you to bring all such as are committed to your charge unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no place left for error in religion, or for viciousness of life.”[196a]
The prophet Isaiah thus prays to the Lord: “Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee; the desire of our soul is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee. With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me, will I seek Thee early;for when Thy judgments are in the earth,the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”[196b]How “instant in season, and out of season,” must all the ministers of the Gospel be, that through the blessing of God, they may make the Divine visitation, which has fallen on the land, conducive to the religious improvement of their several flocks. The very fear of the consequences of intemperance, as being considered to predispose the system towards this dreadful disease, has, in many places, operated to the production of a great external reformation of the habits of life; let thenthe favourable moment be seized, and every means used, that the inner man may be converted to God. It is not sufficient, that the pestilence should be considered as a judgment, and thus made the occasion of private and public exhortation; the press should teem with tracts on this most important and engrossing subject; and there should be diffused throughout the country, under every form, and adapted to every rank in life, admonition and entreaty for all to improve to their soul’s health the spread of a pestilence, which so often destroys the body which it attacks. Every clergyman has his own sphere of influence within which, at least, his labours may be beneficially exercised; and if, by publishing, he benefits only those who are principally dependent on him for religious instruction, he should consider himself well repaid:—but who know how far they may be instruments in God’s hands for good to their fellow men? The Almighty often selects feeble agents to accomplish great results, that it may be seen, that “neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth: but God that giveth the increase.”[197]And oh! what a source of joy there is to the true believer in hoping he may be an humble instrument in God’s hands of “winning souls to Christ.” The excellent Doddridge, in the preface to his “Rise and Progress ofReligion in the Soul,” says, he should consider his labour far more than amply compensated, if his work, through the Divine blessing, be made instrumental to the conversionof one sinner. What a field is now opened to the ministers of the Gospel, in which they may hope, through God’s grace and blessing, “to turn many to righteousness;” for in times of great national apprehension and danger the cause of true religion often advances and flourishes. And oh! how sweet in such seasons, how doubly blessed—blessed both to those who minister, and to those who are ministered unto—is the faithful and zealous discharge of the duties of their high and holy calling, who are commissioned to pour the balm of consolation on the wounded spirit, to bind up the broken-hearted, to sooth the terrors of affrighted conscience, and to lead the humble, and contrite, and heavy-laden, to the Saviour, that they may take His yoke upon them, and find rest unto their souls.
Archbishop Leighton, the bright ornament of Scottish Episcopacy, has forcibly stated the nature and obligations of the Christian ministry, in commenting upon that most instructive passage in the First general Epistle of St. Peter, “Feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples tothe flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”[199]“The duty enjoined,” writes the Archbishop, “is,Feed the flock of God. Every step of the way of our salvation hath on it the print of infinite majesty, wisdom, and goodness; and this among the rest, that men, sinful, weak men, are made subservient in that great work of bringing Christ and souls to meet; that by the foolishness of preaching (or what appears so to carnal wisdom), the chosen of God are called, and come unto Jesus, and are madewise unto salvation; and that the life which is conveyed to them by theword of life, in the hands of poor men, is by the same means preserved and advanced. And this is the standing work of the ministry, and this the thing here bound upon them that are employed in it,to feed the flock of God that is among them. Jesus Christ descended to purchase a Church, and ascended to provide and furnish it, to send down his Spirit:He ascended,and gave gifts, particularlyfor the work of the ministry, and the great use of them is,to feed the flock of God.”
“Not to say any more of this usual resemblance of a flock, importing the weakness and tenderness of the Church, the continual need she stands in of inspection, and guidance, and defence, and thetender care of the Chief Shepherd for these things; the phrase enforces the present duty of subordinate pastors; their care and diligence in feeding of that flock. The due rule of discipline not excluded, the main part of feeding is by doctrine, leading them into the wholesome andgreen pasturesof saving truths, revealed in the Gospel, accommodating the way of teaching to their condition and capacity; to be, as much as may be, particularly acquainted with it, and suit diligently and prudently their doctrine to it; tofeed the sheep, those more advanced;to feed the lambs, the younger and weaker; to have special care of the infirm; to learn of their Master the Great Shepherd, tobind up that which is broken,and strengthen that which is sick,[200a]those that are broken in spirit, that are exercised with temptations,and gently to lead those that are with young,[200b]in whom the inward work of grace is as in the conception, and they heavy and weak with the weight of it, and the many difficulties and doubtings, which are frequent companions and symptoms of that work. Oh! what dexterity and skilfulness, what diligence, and above all, what affection, and bowels of compassion, are needful for this task!Who is sufficient for these things?[200c]Who would not faint, and give over in it, were not our Lord theChief Shepherd; were not all our sufficiency laid upin His rich fulness, and all our insufficiency covered in His gracious acceptance?”[201]Animated by a high sense of duty, and enlightened, strengthened, and guided by an abundant outpouring of Divine grace, may all the “pastors and teachers,” who have been ordained, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ;” “Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine;” “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive: but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things which is the Head, even Christ: from whom the whole body, fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love.” God grant that none of His servants may faint or grow weary under the increased weight of duty laid upon them by the circumstances of the times! May they all labour, and “pray withoutceasing for the church and people of God,—remembering that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!” When faithful to their great Master, they have high encouragements to excite, holy consolations to cheer, and heavenly aid to direct and bless their unremitting exertions in His service, whose weak and “unprofitable,” but still faithful and attached “servants” they are. Let not any such fear but that they will obtain a blessing on their labours, an answer to their prayers, from that gracious Being whose ministers they are, and the advancement of whose kingdom they seek. Never did the Lord fail his servants; His “exceeding great and precious promises” are all sure and steadfast, are all “yea and in him, Amen.” “For He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee; so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me:”[202a]He hath said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world, Amen.”[202b]May each individual pastor of the Church of Christ have grace to receive and act upon, as addressed to himself, the concluding admonition of St Paul to Timothy: “Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry:” then “The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.”[202c]Andwhen the time of his earthly stewardship is on the eve of completion,—the period of his allotted ministry about to expire, then he may hope that upon his last hours will be poured some portion of the joyful testimony of an approving conscience; some measure of that blessed assurance of confirmed faith, which cheered and supported the dying Hooker; “I plead not my righteousness, but the forgiveness of my unrighteousness through His merits who died to purchase pardon for penitent sinners. Let not mine, O Lord, but Thy will be done! God hath heard my daily petitions; for I am at peace with all men, and He is at peace with me. From such blessed assurance, I feel that inward joy which this world can neither give nor take from me. My conscience beareth me this witness; and this witness makes the thoughts of death joyful.” Then he may hope that the approach of the dark shadows of death will be illumined by some beams of that light from above, which, with the full blaze of triumphant faith, shed a holy flood of radiance and glory over the close of the ministry of the great Apostle of the Gentiles: “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to all those who love his appearing.”[204a]
Let the laity also be reminded of what they owe to God and society at this eventful time. There are various modes by which they can advance the cause of religion. The value of their services in co-operation with the Clergy in forming visiting societies, has been already stated. But as their situation and engagements in life preclude many from taking an active part in any work of Christian charity, it must be a high satisfaction to them who are humble disciples of that blessed Lord, “who went about doing good,”[204b]to have an opportunity of endeavouring at once to follow His example, and obey His commands, by means of public societies and institutions. The best interests of man would be much promoted, if the noble, and great, and affluent in the land, who fear God, would make a more decided demonstration of their sentiments; and give the full weight of their rank and influence, and contribute liberally, to the support of societies, the object of which is the advancement of true religion. In such times as the present, it is awful to witness the apathy, supineness, and indifference in the cause of the Lord, which prevail so extensively in the world, amongst those who profess themselves to be His servants.But disregard for the spiritual wants of others, at all times highly sinful, is doubly so now; and unwillingness, through fear of ridicule or misconstruction, to manifest a warm zeal for the honour of the Lord and a decided devotion to His cause—at all times a wretched weakness—must, when His enemies are active and powerful, be peculiarly offensive to Him, who has said, “Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”[205a]Let, therefore, all lukewarm professors of religion be addressed in the words of Joshua, “If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose this day whom ye will serve:”[205b]let them be warned in the words of the Saviour, “He that is not with me, is against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.”[205c]
It is the high and peculiar distinction of our country, that we have not only charitable institutions for the prevention and cure of many of the physical evils, and for the relief and solace of many of the moral evils of life; but we have societies for the supply of the religious wants of our home population, of our colonies, and of the whole family of man, wherever British commerce, and, with it,British influence, extend. This is not the place to enter upon the subject of all these societies; their bare enumeration, with the most brief statement of their several objects, would fill many pages; perhaps, therefore, to particularize any, where all have merit, may be deemed unjust towards others; but every consistent member of the Church of England is bound strenuously to support, and every clergyman zealously to advocate, societies, whose professed object is the inculcation of doctrines which he firmly believes, the use of a ritual which he fondly loves, the observance of ordinances which he highly values and reverences. Of these it may be right to make some brief notice, not only because some of them have not received that encouragement and support to which their importance entitles them, but because they are peculiarly calculated to remedy the existence, and to prevent the recurrence, of many of the evils which at present endanger our civil and religious institutions. First in order stands the National Society for promoting the education of the poor in the principles of the Established Church. Then, ascending to a higher grade in society, we have an institution, King’s College and School, to supply the youth of the middle classes, in the metropolis, with a liberal education, founded on the basis of religious knowledge. This institution is only in its infancy, but if properly supported, it might extend its ramificationsthroughout the kingdom, diffusing every where the beneficial fruit of true religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge. It is much to be wished that similar colleges and schools, in connexion with King’s College, were established in all our great towns, in like manner as schools every where throughout the kingdom have sprung from that prolific parent, with which they are in union, the Central School in Baldwin’s Gardens. Our National Schools are well calculated early to train children in the path of godliness; to accustom them to habits of cleanliness, neatness, and order; to excite them to industry and application, to habituate them to proper restraint and discipline, to supply them with the knowledge suitable to their station in life; and, above all, to impress deeply the mind with the great truths of the Gospel, and to store it richly with passages of Scripture, which, once thoroughly learnt, are rarely forgotten, but may, in after life, prove in the hour of temptation a safeguard, and in seasons of sickness or of sorrow, a sweet and never-failing solace. If the minds of our manufacturing and agricultural population had been fortified with the principles which are now instilled in these schools, into the children of the poor, the success of the teachers of infidelity and sedition would have been far different from what it has unfortunately proved. The system of instruction adopted in King’s Collegeis precisely the one which has been recommended as alone affording any security that education will be rendered conducive to the advancement of the best, the eternal interests of man. Every facility is afforded for the acquisition of knowledge, but the relative importance of its several departments is steadily kept in view, and the balance of studies is carefully adjusted, that, if possible, none may be pursued to the neglect of others, but all receiving their due degree of attention, religion and morals, literature and science, may occupy their proper place in the plan of education. This institution, through the Divine blessing, may be of great value in checking the progress of unsettled and unsound opinions amongst a class of men which is daily becoming more influential in society; whilst there will be also a better safeguard for the future, in the foundation of sound religious principles, which is designed to be laid; and which should ever be a primary object, for not only is the prevention easier than the cure, but the poison may spread where the antidote is never, or fruitlessly, applied. If we view then in connexion, our Infant, National, and Sunday Schools, in full operation; King’s College adapted to branch into similar institutions in our great towns; and our old-established Grammar Schools and Universities continuing to flourish; we shall see that these are calculated to form one vast chain,which, in its concatenation, would unite the great bulk of the population of the country with the established Church.
Nor is the attention of the Church confined to the education of the youth of her communion. She has a Society also to afford the poor adequate accommodation when attending religious worship, of which, in some places, the great proportion of them were long deprived, from the increase of population, and want of free seats, in the parish churches. Parliament, with proper liberality, has at different timed placed certain sums at the disposal of Commissioners; to assist in remedying this great evil, which has inflicted the severest injury on the moral and religious character of the lower classes in England. Much has, therefore, been done, but still more remains to be done; and though perhaps the least regarded, still the Society for building and enlarging churches is of great importance to the interests of religion, and therefore well deserving of the support of the friends of the Establishment. The valuable and venerable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge completes the work of Christian charity and instruction, by accompanying, as it were, the poor man to his home, supplying, either gratuitously or at very reduced prices, the Holy Scriptures, the book of common prayer, and tracts and works designed to correct erroneous opinions and immoral habits, and to promote soundness of faithand holiness of life. Nor is this the utmost limit of the Society’s labours among our home population: parochial lending libraries have been also established by it; that in every parish where the desire of knowledge has been called forth by the national schools, works which combine amusement with instruction—works which inform the head and improve the heart—may be accessible, free of all cost to the poor man, in his hour of leisure. It is thus these two most valuable Societies, acting in co-operation, aid in the due and effective discharge of their important duties the parochial clergy, who are thereby enabled to diffuse amongst the indigent and ignorant of their several parishes—to a degree far beyond what the exertions of individuals, however pious and wealthy, are likely to effect—the blessings of Christian education and Christian knowledge. Great are the claims, therefore, of these societies upon the members of the Church of England, for their support, that all of her communion may be educated, nourished, and preserved in those principles of saving faith and holy obedience, which, drawn directly from Scripture, are summed up in the articles, embodied in the liturgy, and explained in the homilies of our pure and reformed branch of the church of Christ.
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge extends her operations beyond our home population: in co-operation with the Society for the Propagationof the Gospel in Foreign Parts, it has laboured most diligently and with very encouraging success, in the wide and waste field of our numerous colonies. Missionaries, catechists, and schoolmasters, are sent into every land where we have possessions; and congregations have been formed and churches built where the glad tidings of the Gospel had never before been heard. But, however cheering what has been done and is doing for the spread of Christianity may be, the painful confession must be made that this country has never yet, in any adequate degree, discharged the religious obligations she owes her colonies.[211]The sceptre of Great Britain rules over one hundred millions who are said to be ignorant of the Gospel. Great and splendid have been the instances of individual liberality, but as a nation we have not made those strenuous exertions, those sacrifices which duty requires: we have been unmindful of the heavy debt of gratitude and service which we owe to the Ruler of nations. Why are we to suppose that Divine Providence has bestowed upon us such a vast colonial empire? Not to swell the pomp andincrease the power and wealth of a little island, which has been proudly styled,
“The Island, Empress of the Sea:”
but that we may be instruments in the hands of the Great and Gracious Lord of the whole human race in benefiting mankind. And how can we best accomplish this great end? A Christian nation should make it an object of paramount importance to diffuse the light of that Gospel, in which it has itself for ages rejoiced as the best gift, the holiest privilege, it enjoys at the hands of God. Has then this Christian nation so acted? Alas! there is one circumstance, which painfully occupies at this moment the attention of the friends of Christianity, here and in India, which may suffice to answer in the negative. Bishop after bishop has been allowed to go forth, with the spirit of a martyr, and to meet a martyr’s death in India, where the diocese is admitted by all to be so extensive, that the strongest constitution must, from the effects of the climate, sink under even an imperfect discharge of the overwhelming load of duty. And yet repeated applications for the appointment of bishops to the several presidencies, by which the cause of religion amongst the Christian, and the spread of the Gospel amongst the Heathen population, would be very greatly advanced, have been up to this time refused, it is much to be feared, from an unwillingness to incurthe expense of further episcopal appointments. May Bishop Turner be the last, who, humanly speaking, is to be thus sacrificed! For it would inflict a heavy load of sin upon a Christian people to be not only lavish of life, of talents, and of piety, but to prefer to the cause of God, who has so abundantly blessed us, an economy, which, however wise and proper when rightly practised, becomes miserable and wicked when allowed to operate to the hinderance of the Gospel. An appeal is never made in vain to the good feelings of the people of England, and the present is an occasion, on which all who value not merely the cause of religion, but of humanity, should make a declaration of their opinions; and come forward liberally to the support of Societies whose object is so important and praiseworthy, and whose means are so inadequate to several claims upon them. The reports of the Societies for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for the year 1831, cannot be too strongly recommended to the attention of the public. The comparatively small support which the latter receives from annual subscription must be mainly ascribed to the nature and extent of its labours being so little known; for it is not the character of the English people to allow a valuable Society to languish from want of funds. And yet, during the past year, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts must havesuspended in some places the great work it is carrying on, if it had not allowed its expenditure to exceed greatly its receipts. Such is the sad truth we learn from the report now before the public, which pleads the cause of Christianity in distant lands, so powerfully, and yet so meekly, that it cannot fail to awaken sympathy in every religious breast, and call forth assistance from every liberal hand. “According to its power, yea, and beyond its power,” it has opened the hand of Christian bounty in answer to the numerous and pressing calls that have been made upon it: and the consequence has been that the means of meeting such calls have become every year more insufficient. Even on the supposition (a supposition, however, which benevolence will not allow to be entertained for a moment), that all new applications for its assistance are to be disregarded, the Society will require an addition of at least 10,000l.to its yearly income for the fulfilment of engagements into which it has entered. Its deficiencies for many years have been supplied by large reductions of its capital. The single fact that it has been compelled to sell nearly 70,000l.stock must fill its friends with serious uneasiness. For unless its funds are very largely increased, it is manifest that they must soon be exhausted. But, surely, so sad a result can never be allowed! There is too much benevolence in the Christian public of this favoured nation, to permit the abandonment of so great a work as that by which the light of theGospel, in its purity, is communicated to the benighted nations of the East. Who among us will be wanting, in most earnest efforts, to save our brethren in the colonies from so sad an injury as the loss of that religious instruction, and those means of grace which are to be regarded as their birthright? Who will allow the many excellent men who have left their native country as missionaries, with the purest zeal, and the most earnest desire to promote the spiritual welfare of their fellow-creatures, through incessant toil in distant lands, to be deprived of the moderate but necessary support, that has hitherto been afforded by this Society? Who will allow the no less valuable persons, who have been diligently trained in the colonies, almost from their cradles, to carry forward the same Christian designs, as missionaries, and catechists, and school-masters, to be now cast upon the world, and exposed to all the miseries of want?
“What shall be said, if it fail of attaining its full measure of good, through the indifference of those whom God has not only ‘blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ,’ but to whom He has also largely afforded the temporal means of imparting those blessings to others? What shall be said if they, who by the abundant mercy of God are themselves supplied with the bread of life, suffer their fellow-creatures, whose necessities are plainly pointed out to them, to perish with hunger? Your committee will not contemplate the possibility ofsuch a deplorable case as this. Grateful for the support which the Society has already received, and through which it has been enabled to effect so much, they will not allow themselves to doubt, but that Providence will now, and from time to time, raise it up friends who will furnish it with more ample and effectual means for the continuance and extension of its ‘labours of love.’”
Every friend of religion must earnestly pray that a hope so humbly and devoutly expressed may be fulfilled, and that the Lord may bless and prosper these Societies, in sowing the good seed of the word, in a field of immense extent, and, in many parts, of the most unpromising barrenness. For they embrace—to particularize only the most important missions—the widely dispersed population of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canadas; the numerous islands of the West Indies; the great Peninsula of India; and the various settlements in Australia. And it is gratifying and highly satisfactory to be able to quote the impartial testimony of a distinguished individual, the late Governor of Nova Scotia, to their efficiency and value: “In countries in which I have resided, and which I have visited—in remote and almost desert places, I have witnessed the blessings and comforts of our holy religion, dispensed, by your servants, to persons who otherwise might pass from the cradle to the grave, without the blessings or benefits, the comforts or the consolations of any appropriate holy office, tosanctify their entrance into life, to receive them into the Christian family, to solemnize those connexions, on the proper observance of which the moral constitution of society essentially depends, and finally to perform the last sad offices over departed humanity. In my own person—in my own family—in visitations the most awful—in severe domestic affliction, I have partaken of those blessings and consolations, administered by your servants.” Let, therefore, the parliament and people of the United Kingdom contribute liberally, not merely towards the continuance, but the extension, of the important labours of a Society, whose only fault has been,—if it be a fault,—that it has so shrunk from any appearance of obtruding its wants, that it has not sufficiently made known its claims upon the friends of religion; who must be at once desirous that our countrymen in our distant dependencies should not be debarred from the exercise of religious worship; and that the light of the Gospel may be shed upon those, who, though living under the government of Great Britain, are lying in darkness and the shadow of death. And if there be any whose hearts expand not with that diffusive spirit of Christian philanthropy, which ardently desires to promote the spiritual welfare of the whole human race; let them at least be sensible to the religious wants, and alive to the religious improvement of their countrymen, who are established in some of the numerous colonies of this vast empire. In this great commercialcountry, in which the spirit of enterprise or the calls of duty lead so many forth often at an early age into distant lands, there must be an immense number of influential persons, who have a direct interest in this provision for the religious instruction of the residents in our several dependencies. And oh! how consolatory must it prove to the heart of a parent, or even of a friend, who sends forth a youth to seek his fortune far from friends, kindred, and home, to know that he will not be deprived of the public exercise of those religious duties in which he has been early trained. Oh! how immeasurably would the pain of separation, which may be for life—which may be for ever—be increased, if there was a melancholy certainty, that at the most dangerous period of life, when the passions are strong, the judgment weak, and the principles often unsettled; and where the temptations to sensual indulgences abound, and the restraints of parental authority are removed; there was no religious monitor, no duly ordained pastor, to instruct in health, to cheer in sorrow, to strengthen in sickness, and, it may be, to support and console in death, those who are pursuing an useful and honourable course far from their dearest earthly ties, far from what is ever dear to the heart of all—their native land—the land of their fathers.
In entering thus more at length on the subject of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts than on any other Society, an exceptionhas been made in its favour, because it has never yet received that encouragement and support to which its most important object and valuable labours so well entitle it: but imperfect as the notice of other Societies has been, it would be still more so if concluded without any mention of the Church Missionary Society, and the British and Foreign Bible Society. The first of these is formed with the design of endeavouring to obey to the fullest extent the parting command of our blessed Lord, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature:”[219]it is not confined by any limits, but wherever the opening presents itself, thither the indefatigable, zealous, and faithful missionary is sent: and the Lord has greatly prospered their labours. The latter, whether we regard its scope or its machinery, is a mighty and wonderful engine, capable of producing immense benefit to the whole human race: its scope is not merely the supply of the inhabitants of the British dominions with the Scriptures, but their translation into every language, their dissemination in every land; and its vast and complicated machinery has been put into operation in every quarter of the globe. It may suffice to state, that the grand, the beneficent, and most Christian end, which these two Societies have in view, is to evangelize the world: the one sends itsmissionary either instructed, or to be instructed, in the language of the country where is to be his field in which he is to sow the good seed of the word of life; and the other supplies the sower with that seed of the word of life translated into the language of the country. The difficulties they have to encounter are immense; and the danger of the neglect of the legitimate object, or of perversion of the power and means of these Societies, may be considerable; but still the enterprise of Christian love is not to be abandoned, because it is difficult; nor the means of Christian usefulness sacrificed, because they are capable of abuse: rather let those who rejoice in the light of the Gospel, and thank God every day of their lives for having the high privilege of reading His Book, labour to provide missionaries so well fitted for their office, as to afford reasonable hope that through Him, on whose assistance and blessing they alone depend, they may surmount the many and arduous difficulties which impede their progress: rather let them exercise increased vigilance, and employ greater care and attention, that if any error exist, it may be corrected, that if any abuse has crept in, it may be reformed. Let these Societies be only faithful to their trust—true to the one great object they are ever to keep in view, and they may fully rely upon Him, whose kingdom they labour to advance, whose word they seek to publish—to bless their work andensure their success. But let them remember that no unsound principles of expediency, no unworthy means to excite popularity, or to gain support, must be had recourse to; such would be to apply to their goodly edifices the “untempered mortar,” which would end in their destruction: let them go forth in the strength of the Lord, and in his strength only; let them seek the extension of Christ’s kingdom, and of His kingdom only; and then all who love the Lord’s Christ, honour His name, and seek to promote His glory—if they can do no more, will at least say, we “bid you God speed.”
The increasing exertions which are making, in this country, for the diffusion of vital religion amongst Christians, and for the spread of the Gospel amongst the heathen, will form one of the brightest pages in its history. And truly at this moment it presents almost the only subject on which the Christian’s anxious eye can rest with unmixed satisfaction and with joyful hope. The prospect around is in many parts dark and discouraging, but in one direction is illumined by a bright and holy light—“the sun of righteousness arising with healing in his wings,” upon the “nations which sit in darkness and the shadow of death.”[221]England appears to be selected by God for this great and glorious work. As the RomanEmpire was raised up and employed by the Great Governor of the Universe for the first promulgation of the Gospel; and as the Greek language was made the medium through which that Gospel was extensively diffused: so we may hope that the British Empire, so greatly increased, may be employed, and the English language, so widely spread, be made a medium, for that final promulgation which is to take place, and the result of which is to be thus complete—“the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”[222]But however this may be—for ill does it become short-sighted man to speculate on the unfulfilled prophecies of Holy Writ—our line of duty is plain: we must make the most strenuous exertions, trusting to be instruments in the hands of the Almighty in the conversion of the heathen. The labour of love, which springs from gratitude to God, which is directed by faith in His promises and animated by hope of His blessing, will never be fruitless: if it please not the Divine Providence to give it a prosperous issue to those for whose benefit it was designed, it will return as a blessing—“good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over”—into the bosoms of those, who planned, supported, and conducted it, with a sole view to God’s glory and the salvation ofmen. This physical pestilence has travelled from India to England: does it not in awful terms reproach us, for having, as a nation, done so little to arrest and heal the moral pestilence which rages throughout that great Peninsula? Oh! let every means be used by the friends of religion to rouse a sinful people to a due sense of what they owe to their home population, to their colonies, and to the world at large. Whatever be the channel in which an individual may wish the stream of his bounty to flow, he will find Societies through which he will best accomplish the good he has in view. Let, therefore, all be active, liberal, and zealous, in the cause of religion: let all, according to the ability which God supplieth, endeavour to promote the present and eternal welfare of all mankind! “Charge them,” says St. Paul, “who are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy: that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate: laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”[223]—“But this I say, he which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. Every manaccording as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound towards you; that ye always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”[224a]“Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity:” let all in their several vocations endeavour to improve, to the spiritual advantage of themselves and others, this Divine visitation; that thus its great object being accomplished—for the language of God’s chastisements, whether national or individual, is “be zealous and repent,”—we may humbly hope that our gracious Lord God will be pleased to withdraw His heavy hand from His humbled and contrite people; the duty of each of whom has been shown to be, to effect, through the Divine blessing, a personal reformation; for the sins of each individual form fractions of the immense integral of national guilt, which has called down the Divine displeasure; to employ their rank, influence, and a due proportion of their wealth, in labouring to advance, by their personal exertions, and through the medium of societies, a national reformation; and to diffuse throughout the world the knowledge of the Saviour, that “the kingdoms of this world may become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.”[224b]
And how are they to be addressed who are the enemies of the Lord and of His Christ—who trample under foot his cross, and, at present, stand excluded from all benefit of the great atonement by “counting the blood of the covenant an unholy thing”—how are they to be addressed who deny the Lord who bought them, and secretly maintain, or openly espouse, the doctrines of infidelity? In the language of friendly warning and exhortation. Sometimes the Christian advocate has erred by employing a tone of conscious superiority, of cold severity, or of keen satire: the first offends, the second hardens, the third irritates the proud spirit of unbelief: the voice of remonstrance is often listened to, when authority commands in vain. Let, therefore, whatever has been said, in these pages, be considered, not as intended in the least degree to wound or insult the feelings of any one, but as written in the honest and faithful discharge of Christian duty. And in the spirit of meekness and charity let me entreat those, who reject Christianity, to pause, reflect, and examine deeply into the grounds on which they have come to a decision which involves their eternal destiny. Let me ask them whether they have ever duly considered, first,the possibility of Revelation being true; and, secondly,the consequences of Revelation being true. Surely a creed, which numbers amongst its defenders laymen, who hold the highest place in England’s proudannals of science and philosophy, is not lightly to be rejected by ordinary minds: surely where Bacon, Milton, Boyle, Locke, and Newton, have been believers, there is room to admitthe possibilityof the creed being true. When intellects of the most powerful grasp, disciplined by the most arduous studies, and stored with the richest fruits of human knowledge, have received with humility, gratitude, reverence, and faith, the Bible, as the inspired Word of God, some doubts may flash across the mind of the infidel, as to whether he has arrived at a just conclusion, in refusing to believe that Bible. And oh! if there do arise a doubt, let him now be entreated to re-examine this most important subject, on which the interests of eternity depend; to reconsider the grounds on which he denies a faith in which, during eighteen hundred years, millions have lived and died.
There is, however, a second point of consideration, and that a very important one, which ought not to be lost sight of,the consequences of Revelation being true,—the unutterable anguish of hopeless, endless despair and torment. Infidels often speak with much levity, and sometimes with profaneness, of the awful punishments of a future world, denounced in Scripture against impenitent guilt; but, if they searched deeply into their own hearts, they would find not only that they were less happy than they were before they shook off theirbelief in Revelation; but some might discover, almost, the commencement of the gnawing of the undying worm. In health, this may be scarcely perceived, but when the hour approaches, which generally tears away the mask which has concealed internal feelings long kept secret, the hideousness of infidelity is fully seen. Some appear to have acted their part to the last; thus Hume was said to have spent some of his latter hours in reading “the Dialogues of the Dead,” of the Apostate Lucian; but what an employment for one who professed to be a philosopher! At a time, when the eyes are about to close for ever on all that the heart has held dear in life, “drollery, in such circumstances, is neither more nor less than
Moody madness, laughing wildAmidst severest woe.”[227]
Moody madness, laughing wildAmidst severest woe.”[227]
But such cases are, generally, of rare, occurrence: as the sombre shades of the evening of life gathered around Gibbon, this melancholy confession escaped him,—the past is gone, the present is but for a moment, and the prospect of the future is dark and doubtful. Paine, who had vauntingly proclaimed, that, during an illness, expected by himself and those around him to be fatal, he had rejoiced that he had published his Age of Reason, when the hour of death really arrived, endured all the agoniesof remorse, evincing a horrible combination of awakened terror and blasphemous despair. And that renowned champion of infidelity, Voltaire, who was smitten, in his hour of pride and triumph, suffered in his last hours such intolerable anguish and such overwhelming terror, that the alarmed physician declared, that the furies of Orestes could not equal the horrors of such a death-bed.
Should the consideration of the possibility and consequences of the truth of Revelation, and of the certainty of the present wretchedness of infidelity, awaken in some readers feelings of apprehension,—lest, whilst in imagination they have been releasing themselves from the trammels of superstition, they have in reality been fastening round their own necks the heavy yoke of that hard task-master, the great enemy of the human race; let them be entreated to institute now a strict enquiry as to the unanswerableness of the objections against Revelation, on the strength of which they have withheld their belief; and as to the certainty of those conclusions of unassisted reason, on which they have been content to build their opinions as to an hereafter, unmindful that,
“Dim as the borrowed beams of moon and starsTo lonely, weary, wandering travellers,Is reason to the soul.”
“Dim as the borrowed beams of moon and starsTo lonely, weary, wandering travellers,Is reason to the soul.”
Alas! it is melancholy to think how many rejectChristianity without due examination: but let the infidel be assured that, whether he is involved in the mazy labyrinth of metaphysical subtleties, perplexed with the false conclusions of materialism, startled by the apparent extent of physical and moral evil, or offended, with the multitude of sceptics, at mysteries, creeds, and articles; he will find answers to all his objections and difficulties in the various treatises which have been written on the evidences of Christianity. But let him not enter upon the subject with a prejudiced mind, in the pride of human reason, or under the influence of human passions. Is it likely that the Great Author of light and life will vouchsafe to illuminate understandings, which prejudice darkens, and pride renders presumptuous; or convert and sanctify hearts, which sensuality debases and pollutes? They who approach the Great Governor of the Universe to be instructed, in what belongs to their everlasting peace, must come with humility, reverence, and awe; they must strive to divest themselves of prepossession, prejudice, and passion; and pray to be guided unto all truth: and if they persevere in patient and dispassionate examination of the evidences of Christianity, and in an humble and careful study of the Scriptures themselves, accompanied with sincere and earnest prayers, in God’s good time, the light of Divine grace will break upon their darkened understandings; they will see howwonderfully the conflicting attributes of justice and mercy have been reconciled in the Divine plan for the restoration of a guilty world to the favour of its offended God; they will be filled with devout admiration of that love of God, which passeth all understanding, which has provided for the most heinous offenders a means of escape from eternal condemnation; and they will thankfully and joyfully embrace the offers of salvation through the Saviour, published in the Gospel.
But if there be any who refuse to return to the God of their youth; any who close their ears against every admonition to examine, deeply, into those principles of infidelity, which they have adopted,—principles too dear to man’s natural pride, too favourable to his natural corruption, to be willingly or easily resigned—let them at least be persuaded not to attempt to make proselytes to their creed. The time may come when they shall be convinced of the truth of Christianity; and oh! how will the weight of guilt, which, in the sad and dark hour of a late repentance, almost overwhelms the soul, be increased, if they have been instrumental in destroying the belief of others, which they have not the power to restore! There is no crime of so deep a die as the ruin of an immortal soul; none which subjects to the same dreadful remorse; none which presents the same terrible impediment to our obtaining pardon and peace: for what presentpeace can there be to him, who sees one soul exposed to eternal condemnation, through his means? What to him who sees many? What to him, who has the agonising conviction ever present to his mind, that he has no longer the power to attempt to repair the evil he has done, for they have been summoned to judgment, whom he had led astray? There is also another consideration which may have some weight with those who promulgate infidel doctrines, which is, that they blast the present as well as eternal happiness of their miserable converts. “Perhaps our modern sceptics are ignorant, that without the belief of a God and the hope of immortality, the miseries of human life would often be insupportable. Yet this I must suppose, or I must believe them to be the most cruel, the most perfidious, and the most profligate of men.” It is most true, that if you rob a man of his religious principles, you deprive him of what “has both the promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come,” his peace of mind, his trust in God’s protection, his faith in the Saviour, his hope of glory, all that consoles, improves, elevates, and ennobles our nature—all are gone, and in their place are substituted lawless passions, disappointed hopes, and bitter regrets. If, therefore, no other consideration will avail to induce the infidel school to forego their plans of proselytism, let regard for their philanthropy, of which they makesuch boast, be urged to prevent their rendering men less happy than they are at present, under the mild and benignant rule of Christianity. May that blessed Lord, who “willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live, have mercy upon all infidels and heretics, and so fetch them home to His flock, that they may be made one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The duty of a Christian people, under Divine visitations, however feebly, has been faithfully stated, according to the conscientious belief of the writer: may He, in dependence upon whose blessing, and to promote whose kingdom it has been written, make it instrumental to the production of a religious improvement of the afflictive dispensation sent upon the land. The nature of the disease has ceased to be doubtful, and the pestilence which has been so long advancing towards us is admitted now by all to have reached our shores. Once more, then, let the question be asked, “What will ye do in the day of visitation when your desolation shall come from far, to whom will ye flee for help?” Oh that one simultaneous cry would respond from the inhabitants of this kingdom—“We will trust in the lord for ever,for in the lord jehovah is everlasting strength!” When Solomon, on the dedication of the temple, prayed, “If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, or whatsoeversickness there be: then what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sin, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house; then hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and render to every man according unto all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, for Thou only knowest the hearts of all men.”[233a]The Lord returned the gracious answer: “I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people: if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”[233b]
Prayers, set forth by authority, are offered up to the throne of grace, throughout the kingdom, and it has pleased the Almighty to deal graciously with His people, in mitigating the virulence of the pestilence: let a fast be proclaimed, that on an appointed day the whole nation may “humble themselves, and pray, and seek the Lord’s face:” let associations be formed to assist the ministers of God’s Word and Sacraments, to exhort and entreat thepeople to “turn from their wicked ways:” and if “the Lord’s people, which are called by His name,” humbled and contrite turn unto Him, with all their hearts, and with mourning and fasting, and cry, “Spare us, O Lord, spare Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy most precious blood; turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause Thine anger towards us to cease;” “Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and just are Thy judgments:” if they “cease to do evil, and learn to do well,” then in God’s good time the gracious promise will be fulfilled, for “the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it,”—Iwill hear from heaven,and will forgive their sin,and will heal their land.
Oh may it not be, that the wickedness of the land shall avert from it the mercy and blessing of the Most High! May it not be, that the fearful words shall become applicable to us, “Thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not!” Oh! rather may “the spirit of grace and supplications” be poured upon the people, for “Will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment; blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Then shall the Lord’s people derive joy and peace from those transporting words of comfort: “For asmall moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord Thy Redeemer.”
“God’s judgments are in the earth.” In many places there has been a literal fulfilment of those terrible predictions, the application of which is not to be considered limited to any time or nation: “All joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone: in the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.”[235a]Truly in our case it may be said, “the isles saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were afraid.”[235b]Oh! without experiencing the extreme severity of the scourge, may this nation learn the lesson it is meant to teach! “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord; even the name of the Lord God of Israel, in the isles of the sea.” “Trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.” Proclaim every where “God is our hope and strength,” a “sure refuge in the day of trouble.” “Then shall the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” Then shall they know that “the Lord is a very present help in trouble; blessed arethe people whose trust is in Him.” Then, God grant that it may be said of this land, long favoured and blest of heaven, thou “hast glorified God in the day of visitation;”[236a]therefore, thou shalt “obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.”[236b]“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy rere-ward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say,here i am.”[236c]
May God, whose gracious and never-failing Providence orders all things both in heaven and earth, of His infinite mercy, accomplish this great end of all His visitations, that we may become a “righteous nation unto the Lord.” May those who are slumbering in the fatal lethargy of sin “awake to righteousness and sin not:” alarmed by the judgments impending over them, may habitual sinners seek for grace, “to turn from the evil of their ways,” before “the Lord be revealed from heaven, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on the wicked, and those who know not God.” May the lukewarm, who, even in the hour of danger, still “halt between two opinions,” cleave to the Lord, lest their souls should be required of them, whilst yet balancing the claims of God and mammon. May the faithfultrim their lamps, “have their loins girded, and their lights burning, and be like unto men that wait for their Lord: blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching.” And may God pour His especial grace and blessing upon the nation at large: that all may recognize His hand, submit to His will, depend on His protection, profit by His chastisements, and endeavour to promote His glory here and abroad, now and for ever. “Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”[237]