J LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. J 
 
 | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J 
 
MEMOIR AND SERMONS 
 
 EEY. WM. J. ARMSTRONG, D.D. 
 
 LATE SECRETARY OF AM. BD. OF COM. FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 3Eirite& is 
 
 REV. HOLLIS READ. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY M. W. DODD, 
 
 CORNER OF SPRUCE STREET AND CITY HALL SQUARE. 
 
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 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 
 
 M. W. DODD, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. 
 
 B. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER, 
 
 63 Vesey street, N. Y. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 MEMOIR, 
 
 Page 
 
 Chapter I. — The early Life of Armstrong — Biographical Ac- 
 count. By Rev. David Greene, . . . . 13 
 " IT. — Dr. Armstrong on the Steamer Atlantic, . . 15 
 " III. — Further Notices of Dr. Armstrong — Rev. J. C. 
 
 Smith, Washington City, 72 
 
 " IV. — Dr. Armstrong as a Pastor, Preacher, <fec, . . 88 
 44 Y. — Other reminiscences — His early ministry in Char- 
 lotteville — Letter to Mrs. Kelly — To his sister — To 
 his daughter on her birthday — Armstrong in his 
 first field of missionary labor — Conclusion. . . 106 
 
 SERMONS. 
 
 L— The Death of the Saint, . . . • . . . .135 
 II. — The Love of Christ a Constraining Motive in the Mis- 
 sionary Work, 143 
 
 III. — A Voice from the steamer Atlantic — The Field White 
 
 for Harvest, 153 
 
 IV. — Christ, the Power of God in the Salvation of Men, . 166 
 
 V. — The Living Waters, 177 
 
 VL— The Cross of Christ, 184 
 
 VII. — Love to an Unseen Saviour, 194 
 
 VIII. —The Likeness of God, 208 
 
 IX.— The End of all Things at Hand, 222 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 X.— Death and Judgment, 232 
 
 XL— Peace in Death, 245 
 
 XII. — The Unreasonableness, Guilt, and Danger of Inde- 
 cision, 259 
 
 XIII. — The Happy Decision, 270 
 
 XIV. — The Children of Believers— Members of the Church, . 280 
 
 XV.— To Die is Gain, 295 
 
 XVI. — Seeking God with the whole Heart, . . . " . 306 
 
 XVII. — Earnestness in Religion, 317 
 
 XVIII. — Immediate Submission, 326 
 
 XIX.— The Almost Christian, 336 
 
 XX.— Panting after God, 348 
 
 XXL — The Faith of the Gospel a Missionary Principle, . . 359 
 
 XXIL— The Missionary Spirit, 370 
 
 XXIIL— The Gospel Triumphant, 383 
 
 Address — " Why Young Men should become Missionaries," . 395 
 
1 it t r o H 1 1 i r . 
 
 The character of the good man is a legacy to posterity. The 
 compiler feels that, in giving the following pages to the public, 
 he is made the instrument of conferring a real and substantial 
 good. There is good reason, we think, for putting on record, 
 in a more enduring form than has already been done, the vir- 
 tues of so excellent and useful a man. Few men had so strong 
 a hold on the affections of all good men ; and all such as loved 
 him will be glad to preserve a memorial of their excellent friend ; 
 and few men were so extensively known, and so eminently and 
 widely useful ; and, therefore, many in our land, and in foreign 
 lauds, who were not personal friends, loved him fur his works' 
 sake, and for his Masters sake, and will, on this account, be 
 happy to receive this humble tribute to his worth. 
 
 But there remains another reason for this volume. Dr. Arm- 
 strong's missionary life covers the most important historic pe- 
 riod of American Missions. He entered the missionary service 
 in connexion with the Central Board, in 1S34, and closed his 
 service on board the Atlantic in 1346 — twelve years of unusual 
 interest in the missionary work — a period, as a whole, of great 
 prosperity, yet some of these years were years of unwonted 
 disaster. Included in this period were those dark days of re- 
 vulsion when men, ready to go abroad to the heathen, were 
 detained in the country for the lack of funds to send them 
 forth ; when the reluctant hand of retrenchment had to pass 
 
 1* 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 over our missions, amputating limbs from the body, disbanding 
 schools, crippling the press, dismissing native laborers, and in 
 every way retarding the whole work. Those were dark days ; 
 and had the only dark feature been that the Board was now, 
 for the first time, obliged to recede from its noble resolution to 
 send abroad every suitable man who should offer himself, the 
 revulsion would have been sufficiently disastrous. To be com- 
 pelled to recede here ; to be obliged to say to young men who 
 were desirous and ready to go to the heathen, " we cannot 
 send you," produced a revulsion in the work which years have 
 not fully repaired. 
 
 Dr. Armstrong came to the work for such a day as this. A 
 crisis was to be passed, which should call into action the ex- 
 perience and wisdom, the zeal and perseverance, of the best and 
 wisest men in the church. Armstrong bore his full share in 
 this emergency. Not only a crisis was to be met, a reduced 
 treasury to be replenished, and a supply of missionary agents 
 to be secured, when once, and for the first time, our Colleges 
 and Theological Seminaries had heard the announcement made 
 that the Board could not send out oil who should be willing to 
 go, but a reaction was to be encountered. The evil was felt, 
 deeply felt, in all departments of the work, and each of the 
 Secretaries of the Board, and the Prudential Committee, bore 
 a noble share in the work at this crisis. Yet it was in Dr. 
 Armstrong's department, as Secretary of Home Correspondence 
 and Superintendent of Agencies, where the remedy must be 
 more especially applied ; and how he addressed himself to the 
 duties of his office at this critical juncture, how he met the 
 crisis, how he encountered the reaction, let the prosperous con- 
 dition of the Board for the last eight or ten years, and the in- 
 creasing missionary spirit in the churches, tell. The ship was 
 almost stranded, masts broken, sails riven, winds adverse, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 the fearful and the faint-hearted verily thought she must foun- 
 der — at least, that she would not soon be seen sailing on a 
 smooth sea, sails full, and breeze fair. But so it was. A few 
 years repaired the disaster ; the churches resumed a more 
 healthful tone than before ; the schools of the prophets were 
 not " disobedient to the heavenly vision ;" they were ready to 
 go far away to the Gentiles ; the silver and the gold reple- 
 nished the treasury of the Lord ; disbanded schools were again 
 collected ; presses again resumed their labors ; new missiona- 
 ries were sent out, new stations commenced ; and, after a few 
 short years, the friends of Missions forgot the past in the aus- 
 picious present. But this state of the work was not brought 
 about but by the untiring zeal, the sound judgment, the pious 
 perseverance, and the fervent prayers, of the chief agents of 
 the Board. Thanks for the men who, under God, conducted 
 the Board, and the missionary work, so successfully through 
 this crisis. 
 
 And here, especially, do we trace the footsteps of the justly 
 lamented Armstrong. It was his province especially to stand 
 in the breach, and nobly did he fulfil this mission. To no man 
 does the church owe a greater debt of gratitude ; he fulfilled 
 his mission, and the Lord took him. How kindly, how ten- 
 derly, with what persevering fidelity, how judiciously, he ad- 
 dressed himself to the work given him to do, the pastors and 
 churches who enjoyed his labors will bear a willing testimony. 
 
 The Sermons which make up so large a portion of the vo- 
 lume, constitute a part of the Memoir. They are, in a sense 
 historical ; they indicate the condition of the church during 
 the period in question ; the means adapted to rouse her to 
 duty ; the principles which were needed to be inculcated ; the 
 views of Gospel truth, or the particular truths which the con- 
 dition of the church required to be urged upon her, and the 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION, 
 
 motives to action which ought to be set before her. Yet Dr. 
 Armstrong is but partially represented as a preacher by his 
 written sermons ; his earnestness of manner, and unction of 
 spirit, are but poorly delineated on paper. These, which more 
 particularly gave the character to his preaching, sought expres- 
 sion rather through the free channels of extemporaneous de- 
 livery. 
 
 The conversion of Dr. Armstrong adds another to the num- 
 ber of delightful instances of a blessing following parental fide- 
 lity on the occasion of a son's first leaving home, to go abroad 
 in the wide world. This is an important crisis in a young 
 man's life. Abram is believed to have been first awakened, 
 and brought to a knowledge of the true God, on the occasion 
 of his going from home. There is no evidence of his piety till, 
 in his loneliness, as he wandered towards the land of Canaan, 
 " the Lord appeared unto him, and there built he an altar unto 
 the Lord." And may we not, with yet more probability, affirm 
 the same of Jacob ? We hear nothing of his personal piety ; 
 of his personal recognition of God as his God, till after that 
 notable night, in which, in his loneliness, he lay himself down 
 on the earth upon his pillow of stones. He had just cut him- 
 self off from the protection, the tenderness, and the sympathies 
 of the parental roof ; he felt helpless, defenceless, lonely ; it 
 was, perhaps, his first night from home ; the occasion of the 
 departure had deeply affected him ; he thought of the pious 
 counsels of his father, of the tears and prayers of his mother. 
 In the absence of parental counsel and maternal tenderness, he 
 felt the need of a Heavenly guide, of the love of One whose 
 banners should for ever be over him, whose love should be as 
 a wall of fire about him. Before he lays his head upon. his 
 hard pillow he prays, invoking the protection of his Heavenly 
 Father, and casting himself upon his care. He sleeps ; but his 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 soul awakes, and the Lord appears to him in a dream, and 
 promises to be his God, as he had been his father's God ; and 
 from this day he avouched the Lord to be his God. And 
 many a young man, since, has had occasion to bless God for the 
 influences that accompanied this important period of life. The 
 tenderness of feeling which such an occasion very naturally en- 
 genders ; the kind sympathies it calls out ; the warm and 
 friendly instructions which it solicits ; the prayers it calls forth, 
 are especially suited to direct the mind heavenwards. The 
 parting hour is an hour of great moral power ; hearts are then 
 warm, and the susceptibilities of the soul awake to receive the 
 most kindly impressions ; thoughts then speak, and words 
 burn ; long cherished relationships are broken up ; all are vivid- 
 ly reminded of the instability of all such relationships ; are 
 made to feel the uncertainty of the return of the departing 
 . one ; and very naturally there is at this moment a mutual look- 
 ing forward to a home beyond the narrow confines of this life, 
 where there are no partings, no adieus, no dissolutions of do- 
 mestic ties. Eternal things are then almost involuntarily forced 
 upon the attentions of the parties ; prayers are sought and 
 pledged, and oftentimes the most salutary and lasting impres- 
 sions are made. 
 
 So it was in the case of young Armstrong. He lived a 
 thoughtless youth till this important epoch of his life. The 
 father's attempts to reach the heart of the son were now for 
 the first time successful. " The first? decidedly religious im- 
 pressions were now made on the mind of the son." These im- 
 pressions never wore off ; after a few months he became the sub- 
 ject of saving grace. 
 
 In the preparation of the Memoir, two plans suggested them- 
 selves to the mind of the compiler : the first was to recast the 
 materials put into his hand from which to construct it, and so 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 combine the several accounts which appeared at the time, as 
 the better to preserve the unity and order of the thoughts and 
 events therein contained ; the other was, to let the writers of 
 those different notices each speak for himself, as he spoke while 
 yet every ear was tingling with the sad reverberations from 
 that doomed vessel, and while that solemn bell was yet tolling 
 the requiem of the departed ones, and anguish and wailing 
 was yet going up from many an afflicted household. I chose 
 the latter method as more consonant, I doubt not, with the 
 feelings of the numerous friends who still retain a vivid recol- 
 lection of the mournful catastrophe. They would have its 
 events recounted in the language of the day, when men spoke 
 with the voice of the Almighty still sounding in their ears. 
 This, we are persuaded, will more than compensate for the 
 lack of order and consistency which we consent to sacrifice. 
 
 In reference to the sermons destined to fill up this volume, 
 the only difficulty has been in the selection. Few pastors, of 
 the same number of years standing, it is believed, left behind 
 them so many good sermons. I do not say great sermons in the 
 usual acceptation of the term, but good, practical, evangelical 
 sermons ; all so uniformly good as to make a selection difficult. 
 I am, therefore, by no means sure that I have selected the best 
 of the great number put into my hands. Those selected will 
 doubtless be pronounced good ; and they present a fair and 
 pleasant record of the man, the preacher, and the Christian. 
 
 We present this volume to Dr. Armstrong's friends as a 
 memorial of his worth, sure they will accept the offering as a 
 record of one they loved. You loved him as a man, you 
 honored him as a Christian, you revered him as a minister of 
 Christ, and you will love to cherish his memory, to imitate his 
 virtues, and to transmit his character to your children. 
 
 Accept, then, this record of your friend and brother in Christ ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 peruse it ; circulate it ; and pray the great Master of the vine- 
 yard that he will raise up a succession of such men to adorn 
 the ministry of reconciliation, to favor God's gracious plans of 
 mercy to the heathen, and thus abundantly to light up with a 
 smile the moral desolations of our world. 
 
MEMOIR OF KEY. W. J. ARMSTRONG, D.D. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The early life of Armstrong — Memoir by Rev. David Greene. 
 
 Though dead the wise and the good man lives ; 
 though dumb, he speaks ; though absent in the place of 
 graves, he is present with us, and we commune with 
 the soul that is gone. He lives in every truth he pro- 
 mulgated, in every precept he exemplified, in every 
 right principle he inculcated, or which he yet more 
 indelibly impressed on the minds of his cotemporaries 
 by living ads; he lives in every right feeling and 
 moral affection which he transmitted to others. The 
 teachings, the character, the virtues of the good man 
 are immortal. Hence the value of all truthfully written 
 biography. If it be a fair picture of the good man, it 
 is an inheritance to posterity worth preserving. If it 
 be a truthful mirror, we cannot suspend it in too con- 
 spicuous a place, or look at it too often. But will it be 
 read? We think it will, and we think so because it 
 pays homage to goodness, to moral excellence, to truth, 
 integrity, benevolence, and amiability. 
 
 Bare as these virtues are in our apostate world, yet 
 when they are really seen or recorded, as in the case of 
 the subject of this memoir, they are revered. It is the 
 homage which the world pays to virtue. 
 
 Few men have shared so largely in the confidence 
 2 
 
14 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 and affections of all good men as Dr. W. J. Armstrong. 
 He was one of the five excellent Secretaries of the 
 American Board, who in quick succession, and while 
 their sun had scarcely passed the zenith of life, have 
 been called from their arduous and useful labors 
 below to enter upon a higher service, nearer the great 
 King. Such was the man, such the various posts he 
 held in the King's service, such the work he did, and 
 the universal esteem in which he was held, as to seem 
 to accord to him a memorial among the mighty dead, 
 Armstrong was a man of kindred spirit with Worcester, 
 Evarts, Cornelius and Wisner. He had filled the 
 office of Secretary of the Board longer than either of 
 them — eleven years in all. And such, too, was the 
 manner of his death as to give an interest to the details 
 of his life. 
 
 A biographical notice, by the Eev. David Greene, 
 co-secretary of the Board with Dr. Armstrong, very 
 happily portrays, in a few pages, the prominent points 
 of the life of the late secretary. "We insert this excel- 
 lent notice without mutilation or amendment, simply 
 adding to it such other notices as appeared at the time 
 of Dr. Armstrong's death, and as we have been able 
 since to collect. We also interpose a few entries in a 
 brief diary which he kept in the early part of his life, 
 and two letters — one from his excellent father — all fur- 
 nishing a further illustration of his early life. 
 
 ^William Jessup Armstrong was bom on the 
 20th of October, 1796, at Mendham, New Jersey, 
 where his father, Eev. Amzi Armstrong, D.D., was 
 pastor of the Presbyterian Church. He was the oldest 
 of nine children, of whom six were daughters. His 
 parents consecrated him to God, and early expressed 
 the desire that, following in the footsteps of his father, 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 15 
 
 he might be qualified for, and in due time enter, the 
 Gospel ministry. Their prayers and councils, and all 
 the arrangements relative to his education, bore on this 
 subject. 
 
 " The first years of his life were spent at home, 
 acquiring the common rudiments of an education ; in 
 addition to which he had, at the age of thirteen, made 
 such attainments in the Latin and Greek languages as 
 to be qualified to enter college. But for want of 
 maturity and vigor of physical constitution, and pro- 
 bably, also, a desire to retain a youth of such a temper- 
 ament longer under the Christian watch and guidance 
 of the parental roof, he was placed on a farm, where he 
 spent about five years, anticipating some of his college 
 studies, but dividing his time mainly between manual 
 labor and reading, the former increasing his muscular 
 energy to a somewhat uncommon degree, laying a foun- 
 dation for that excellent and uninterrupted health 
 which he enjoyed, and contributing undoubtedly to 
 that promptness and tact in every station and employ- 
 ment to which he was called, by which his later years 
 were characterized; and the latter storing his mind 
 with much of that general information on which he 
 drew when subsequently occupied with active public 
 labors. 
 
 " In 1814, at eighteen years of age, young Armstrong 
 entered the junior class in the college at Princeton, the 
 venerable Dr. Green being then President. Hitherto 
 he had been a lively, ardent, impetuous youth; and 
 though he must have known the wishes and prayers of 
 his father, and that he was sent to college only with the 
 hope that he might become qualified to preach the 
 Gospel, yet he seems not to have sympathized with 
 him, nor spent much thought on his own spiritual con- 
 cerns and prospects. As the best method of reaching 
 
16 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 his heart, the father, before the object of his hopes was 
 sent from home, addressed a sermon to the youth of his 
 congregation, prepared with special reference to the 
 case of this son. The prayer of the father was heard, 
 and his aim in part accomplished. By that sermon the 
 first decided religious impressions were made on the 
 mind of the son. These impressions, though partially 
 effaced by the novel scenes and excitements of college 
 life, never wore off; and a few months afterwards, 
 during a revival of religion in that institution, young 
 Armstrong indulged the hope of acceptance with God. 
 This revival, it is understood, gave occasion for the 
 tract, by Dr. Green, entitled l Questions and Counsels,' 
 which has since been so extensively useful in times of 
 religious awakening." 
 
 Fain would we know more of this interesting portion 
 of young Armstrong's life. A youth of eighteen years, 
 he consecrates himself to his God. Here he lays the 
 foundation of that sterling Christian character which 
 so well adorned his after life. How was this character 
 formed, under what guidance, by what helps, through 
 what instructions ? We trace in the formation of such 
 a character the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the 
 counsels of the inspired word. And we may distinctly 
 trace, too, the " Questions and Counsels" and teachings 
 of that time-honored servant of Christ (lately fallen 
 asleep) who then presided over Nassau Hall. Were we 
 to judge of the thoroughness and depth of that work 
 of grace from Dr. Green's carefully drawn up statement, 
 in the shape of a report to the trustees of the college, we 
 should expect its converts would prove such men as 
 Armstrong and Bishop Mcllvine, and others of blessed 
 memory, who were its subjects. Yet we are not with- 
 out another ray of light here. Though Dr. Armstrong 
 was not in the practice of keeping a journal, yet a few 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. lY 
 
 entries in the early part of his Christian experience give 
 no doubtful intimation of the kind of Christian charac- 
 ter which he then began to form. We shall there 
 discover the germ, the elements of that meek, self- 
 denying, energetic religion, which so beautifully charac- 
 terized his after life. Though they are the breathings 
 of the new-born soul, the fresh aspirations of the bride- 
 groom coming out of his chamber, and rejoicing as a 
 strong man to run a race, yet we discern in them the 
 elements of that character which afterwards so adorned 
 the man, and blessed the church. 
 
 Occasionally during the year 1815, the year after the 
 date of the commencement of his religious life, he 
 noted down his religious exercises. "We find expres- 
 sions like these : — 
 
 " Oh, for increasing grace ! Oh, for the Holy Spirit 
 to warm and animate my cold and insensible heart, and 
 to revive my weak and dying grace ! How good is God ! 
 Praise him all my soul — all that is within me. Praise 
 his holy name for all his mercies unto me. What pre- 
 cious privileges have I this day enjoyed. Dr. G. 
 preached from Eph. ii, 14, 'He is our peace.' A power- 
 ful sermon, and I humbly hope not quite useless to my 
 dying, immortal soul. How little have I lived to Him 
 who died for me. How much sin have I committed ; 
 how much that I might have done have I left undone ! 
 Gracious Saviour, quicken me by the sanctifying influ- 
 ence of Thy holy spirit, so that I may live more to Thy 
 glory. Subdue these lusts which war against my soul. 
 Rule in me, and reign over me. Be my prophet, priest, 
 and king ; be my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, 
 and redemption. Oh, give me a spirit of earnest, 
 humble, and fervent prayer. Give me the temper of a 
 little child. Make me meek and lowly, make me, if it 
 please thee, an humble instrument in Thy hands of 
 
18 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 doing much good in my day and generation. True, 
 Lord, I am unworthy, but Thou art merciful. Thy 
 sacrifice is sufficient. In that world, I place all my 
 hopes. To Thy cross would I nail all my corruptions. 
 By it would I rise to dwell for ever in Thy presence. 
 
 " Truly the Lord is good to me, though I am un- 
 grateful. Oh, that His mercies might lead me to 
 repentance — that His suffering, His dying love might 
 sweetly constrain me to love Him with my whole heart, 
 and to serve Him with a perfect service. Blessed, pre- 
 cious, lovely, dying Saviour, take me! take me, oh, 
 take me, with all that I have and am ; renew and 
 sanctify me, make my polluted soul a fit temple for Thy 
 holy spirit to dwell in. Give me a spirit of prayer ; 
 grant communion and fellowship with Thyself. May I 
 live near to Thee — may I walk with God. 
 
 " How little I have profited by the privileges of this 
 day. Lord, call me not to an account in justice as 
 Thou mightest do for misimprovement. Look in 
 mercy on me through the mediation of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. For his sake have mercy on me and bless me. 
 Create in me a new heart, and renew in me a right 
 spirit. Guide me in the path of wisdom ; make me 
 wholly Thine. May I live in Thy fear and to Thy 
 glory. Thou knowest my heart — lead me in Thine 
 own way. Bless to me the opportunity of hearing Thy 
 word this evening. 
 
 u Again the light of that blessed morning that saw 
 the Lord arise has greeted my opening eyes. But how 
 cold has it found me. How little prospect of a blessing 
 on this day unless God, for his own mercy'.s sake, inter- 
 pose. My heart is cold as the ice, and harder than the 
 nether mill-stone. How dead and cold were my secret 
 prayers this morning. Oh, blessed sun of righteous- 
 ness, shine upon me, and warm and animate my cold 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 19 
 
 and lifeless affections. I do long for Thy salvation. I 
 do earnestly long for Thy presence, and to enjoy the 
 sweets of communion with thee. I deserve them not, 
 but Thou hast said I came not to call the righteous, but 
 sinners to repentance. Call me — draw me sweetly to 
 thee by the sweetly constraining influences of the 
 blessed Spirit. Oh, for a sight of my blessed Jesus — 
 for one of his seraphic smiles, to give me, even in this 
 world of sin and sorrow, a precious foretaste of those 
 joys which, angels and the spirits of just men made 
 perfect, have, while they cast their sorrows at His feet, — 
 and in loudest symphony tune their golden harps to 
 the praises of the Lamb that was slain from the foun- 
 dation of the world. 
 
 " This day I have made a solemn resolution in the 
 presence of Grod, and, in His strength, I humbly hope 
 never again so to yield myself to temptation as to indulge 
 in my most easily besetting sin. I most fervently pray 
 that he would keep me from it by his grace, and grant, 
 for Jesus' sake, that I may serve him in holiness all the 
 days of his life. — W. J. A. [Broken] — Grod be merciful 
 to me a sinner. — W. J. A." 
 
 In the breathings of this new-born soul, we meet the 
 earnest pleadings for greater measures of grace — deep 
 searchings of heart — the self-renouncing, self-denying 
 spirit — an honest self-examination, and an earnest desire 
 that he may at once enter the service of his new Mas- 
 ter : " Quicken me by the influence of Thy Spirit — 
 rule in me and over me. Oh, give me a spirit of 
 earnest, humble, fervent prayer. Give me the temper 
 of a little child. Make me meek and lowly ; and if it 
 please thee, make me an humble instrument in Thy 
 hands of doing much good in my day and generation/ 7 
 Nor were these aspirations after holiness, these hun- 
 gerings and thirstings for greater supplies of grace, 
 
20 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 this ardent desire to be good and to do good, in vain. 
 They were incipient motions of that spiritual life which 
 was so richly developed in after manhood. They 
 reveal the source of that life, and the means by which 
 it is watched over and cherished, and brought to matu- 
 rity. Piety is a delicate germ, planted by the hand of 
 the ever blessed Spirit, yet, unless it be cherished by 
 the kindly influence of prayer, and fed by the bread of 
 life, and rooted in the soul by meditation on the Divine 
 Word, and watered from the wells of salvation — unless 
 the genial sun shine upon it, and the breath of Heaven 
 breathe upon it, it will wither and bring forth no fruit. 
 
 Such was not the religion of the lamented Armstrong. 
 His religion was a full, flowing, fertilizing stream, 
 gathering strength and depth and momentum at every 
 step of its progress; becoming broader, purer, more 
 fertilizing as it gently descended into the ocean of 
 eternal bliss. It was the river of life flowing out from 
 the throne of God, and after meandering in delightful 
 luxuriance amidst the moral desolations of this fallen 
 world, dispensing untold blessings in its course, it 
 returned to the exhaustless fountain from which it 
 sprung. Be it our delightful task to start from these 
 small, yet not insignificant, beginnings, and to follow 
 down this living stream, marking well the deserts it has 
 made glad, and the solitary places it has made to blos- 
 som as the rose. 
 
 The following letter reveals a secret in the formation 
 of Dr. Armstrong's character. Never was parental 
 instruction better given or more honestly and profit- 
 ably appropriated. Though the letter gives us but a 
 single glance at the parental and ministerial character 
 of the father, it is enough to indicate the rich patri- 
 mony which fell to the lot of the son. He evidently 
 " divided his living" with a son, who played not the 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 21 
 
 prodigal, but suitably used the goods that fell to him 
 from a worthy father. But we will let the letter speak 
 for itself. 
 
 Letter addressed to Win. J. Armstrong by his father, Bev. 
 Amzi Armstrong, 
 
 " Mendham, 20th Feb. 1815. 
 
 " My dear Son : 
 
 11 Yours of the 10th inst. came in due time by the 
 mail. Never before did you give me such pleasure 
 and comfort as when you asked counsel of me, to help 
 you in the service of the Lord Christ, and concerning 
 the way of life. It is of immense importance to you 
 that the present precious opportunity you enjoy should 
 be used to acquire a fixed and settled taste and decided 
 predilection for your Lord's service, and for the moral 
 principles, and the holy doctrines of His word. Culti- 
 vate, therefore, I beseech you, a spirit of meek and 
 dutiful obedience to his will, and firm and unwavering 
 reliance upon his word and promise. I hope the spirit 
 of grace has wrought in }^our heart that full persuasion 
 which has given you a more complete.and joyful assur- 
 ance that Jesus is the Christ, and that all the promises 
 of God are in him, yea, and in him amen, than you 
 ever had of any other truth or position whatever. 
 This is the rock on which the church is builded, and 
 the foundation — the cornerstone of all our hopes. 
 
 11 Strive to have this conviction deeply inwrought 
 into all the sentiments and feelings of your heart. 
 This you cannot accomplish by any artful contrivances 
 or stratagems ; but only by maintaining a meek and 
 dutiful temper, and strengthening the conviction by 
 prayerful reading and meditation in the Divine Word. 
 That word is the great charter of your Christian hopes, 
 
22 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 and must be your guide in the path of life, and, there- 
 fore, your best security will be an intimate and pious 
 acquaintance with it. 
 
 u Whether written obligations, as } r ou mentioned in 
 your last, would be useful in your case, I am at a loss 
 to judge. My opinion has been, that for persons natu- 
 rally of a phlegmatic, unyielding temper they may be 
 useful. But for those of a more pliant and generous 
 native temper, it is better that they accustom them- 
 selves to frequent repeated acts of consecration in 
 prayer and worship addressed immediately to their 
 Lord, continually referring in their thoughts and feel- 
 ings to those highest bonds, and most solemn obliga- 
 tions that are written and sealed in the blood of Christ. 
 In every case there is danger, I suppose : the execution 
 of such written obligations as, I think, Dr. Doddrige 
 proposes, may lead to a legal and self-righteous spirit 
 in relying, if not on our own doings, yet on our pur- 
 poses of doing, and in holding ourselves bound, by our 
 own act, rather than by those everlasting and most 
 solemn obligations which we owe to God in Christ. 
 
 "I think it would be better for you if you could 
 habituate yourself to a cheerful and entire trust, com- 
 mitting yourself and all your interests and concerns to 
 God in Christ, and being anxious only to obey his will 
 and do his service. Your self-examinations, then, 
 would turn not on the question l Am I safe ? 7 but on 
 this rather, 'Do I reverence and love my Lord and 
 Master, and am I obedient to His holy will and plea- 
 sure ?' And if, at any time, fears and doubts beset 
 you hard, look into the pages of His sacred Word for 
 a refreshing of your faith in that Divine truth, which is 
 the source of light and peace. And continue to look 
 there, with prayer and supplication, and turn not to 
 any other expedient, till the spirit of grace revive that 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 23 
 
 persuasion which so fills and satisfies the mind as to 
 leave no wish or desire unsatisfied, but this, that you 
 may serve and please the Lord. Be assured that 
 nothing short of this persuasion of the truth as it is in 
 Jesus will ever fill your heart with the true joy and 
 peace of the believer, and without this persuasion all 
 other sources of joy and consolation must fail you. 
 Your Christianity is no better than deism if this be not 
 the chief and leading axiom in it, that Jesus is the 
 Christ ; and it is only by a direct view of faith, behold- 
 ing the Lamb of God, that the power of sin in us, and 
 over us, is effectually broken. If you lose sight of this 
 object, j-ou will be involved in darkness. And, re- 
 member, God requires of you the exercise of your 
 moral faculties, and your rational nature, in habits of 
 believing, and extended views of the precious truth, to 
 supply, in a measure, the place and office of those vivid 
 apprehensions which are the more immediate work of 
 the spirit of grace, and which you are not to expect 
 will be always continually supplied to you in your 
 state of trial ; else there would be no trial. If you be 
 indeed a Christian, it is your faith that is to be tried, 
 that your temper may be mended. You are not to be 
 guided or measured by men, nor to rely on comparing 
 yourself with yourself, but your rule of faith and the 
 foundation and support of your hope, are to be taken 
 only from the sacred Scriptures. 
 
 " Your very affectionate father, 
 
 i: A}izi Armstrong." 
 
 The lines which follow, the effusions of his youthful 
 heart and untried muse, give us a farther intimation as 
 to where young Armstrong gathered the elements of 
 that healthful, Bible character, which unfolded in such 
 ripeness in after years. The means by which these 
 
24 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 stanzas were preserved, and the source from which they 
 came into the hands of the compiler, give them some 
 additional interest. There still lives in this place an 
 aged woman, now humbled and debased, who well 
 knew the Armstrong family when William was a boy. 
 Either from repetition, or otherwise, she had received 
 these lines, and committed them to her memory. And 
 there, after more than thirty j^ears, W as found the only 
 copy known to be in existence. The following fac- 
 simile was taken, verbally, from its original plate and 
 transferred to paper : — 
 
 THE BIBLE. 
 
 The Bible, man's best friend on earth, 
 Friend, indeed, of Heavenly birth, 
 Precious gift of God to man, 
 Who Thy excellence can scan ? 
 
 In this Tale, where sorrows spring, 
 Thou canst make the mourner sing; 
 In this land of darkest night, 
 Thou canst cheer with heavenly light. 
 
 When the heart corrodes with care, 
 Sweet Thy consolations are ; 
 When the anguished spirit dies, 
 Springs of life are Thy supplies. 
 
 In the hour of ardent youth, 
 May I love Thy sacred truth ; 
 May it all my actions guide, 
 May it check my passions' tide. 
 
 When advancing on life's stage, 
 I arrive at middle age, 
 Be thou still my chosen friend, 
 All my footsteps to attend. 
 
 May I never, never stray, 
 From that calm and peaceful wiy, 
 Over life's tempestuous sea, 
 Pointed out alone by Thee. 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 25 
 
 When I hear the billows roar, 
 As they dash against that shore 
 Whither all are tending fast, 
 At which all must end at last : 
 
 As a beacon shed Thy light, 
 O'er the waves, dispel the night, 
 Cheer the darkness, cheer the gloom, 
 Thickening awful o'er the tomb. 
 
 Light me to that blissful port, 
 Where my Saviour holds his court ; 
 Then I'll chant Thy praises high, 
 There my joys will never die. 
 
 In this connection, the following letter will be read 
 with interest; it is the voice of a much respected 
 friend. Not only does it come as a timely and faithful 
 messenger, to serve our present purpose, but to many it 
 will be received as a precious record of by -gone scenes 
 of peculiar interest. That precious revival was the 
 beginning of spiritual life to some of the brightest 
 ornaments of the American church. Armstrong, 
 Mcllvaine, Daniel Baker, Byington, and Governor 
 McDowell, of Virginia, were the subjects of it. It was 
 truly a fountain from which flowed forth many a copi- 
 ous stream that has carried beauty and fertility through 
 as many desert fields. 
 
 " Belvidere, N. J., Aug. 5th, 1851. 
 
 11 Mr. A. Merwin. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — As you have desired from me any 
 information that I may possess relative to the important 
 change in the moral character of that devoted servant 
 of God, I hasten to communicate such knowledge as I 
 possess touching the single point of his conversion. At 
 the time of this remarkable outpouring of God's spirit, 
 I was a member of the senior class, and certain events 
 that transpired then have left an indelible impression 
 
26 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 on my mind. At tliis period, and how many years 
 prior I know not, an evening prayer meeting was care- 
 fully observed by the few pious students of the col- 
 lege. The hour for that meeting was announced by 
 the bell, intimating to the students that the time had 
 arrived when each was expected to retire to his room 
 for the nisrht. 
 
 o 
 
 " These were precious meetings for praise and prayer, 
 and as my room was central in its position, it was the 
 place for assembling during most of the two years that 
 I remained in Princeton. There were students at this 
 time connected with the college, who by their riotous 
 and insubordinate conduct had caused the faculty 
 much trouble. Daniel Baker, a beloved classmate and 
 most intimate friend (now Dr. Baker, signally blessed 
 in his labors as a pastor and missionary), in one of our 
 walks, proposed that we should make a special effort 
 for the conversion of our fellow students. It happened 
 that we were members of the different literary societies 
 connected with the college. He a Whig and myself a 
 Clio. The spirit of rivalry between these societies was 
 such that there was but little social intercourse among 
 the students, excepting as Whigs associated with 
 Whigs, and Olios with their fellows. The simple plan 
 proposed was for each to select some one of our uncon- 
 verted friends, and having made them the subject of 
 special prayer, affectionately and earnestly to direct 
 their immediate attention to the subject of personal 
 religion ; and to report whatever of an interesting 
 nature might occur. I have always felt, in looking back 
 to this subject, that God put this thought and desire in 
 Brother Baker's heart, and that this, however small, 
 was the beginning of that work of grace which issued, 
 under the appropriate means, in the conversion of so 
 many men who have honored God in the ministry, 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. ( 2 7 
 
 and in the other professions which they have so use- 
 fully sustained. The first person that I took occa- 
 sion to converse with was a Mr. Newbold, of Phi- 
 ladelphia, a member of the junior class. He was a 
 young man, amiable, of a correct deportment and 
 universally respected. As a scholar, he stood at the 
 head of his class. I never shall forget the tenderness 
 of feeling that he manifested, and the w r arm embrace 
 with which he drew me to his bosom. He literally 
 took me up in his arms, and said that he had thought 
 often and much on the subject of his soul's salvation, 
 and expressed a determination to delay the matter no 
 longer. He said he had often felt a wish to attend the 
 prayer meeting, but feared he might intrude. That 
 night he was present, and shortly after gave evidence 
 of decided piety. Through his agency the first Sab- 
 bath school was organized in Princeton, which I think, 
 indeed, was the first established in New Jersey. It 
 w r as his purpose to have preached the Gospel, in con- 
 nection with the Episcopal Church ; but he was called 
 to serve God in his upper temple. The second person 
 that I ventured to address was William J. Armstrong. 
 I knew him to be the son of a distinguished and 
 devoted minister of the Gospel, and of course the sub- 
 ject of many prayers. Mr. A. had been connected 
 with the college but a short time, but sufficiently long 
 to make it known that he was a man of mind, and a 
 scholar of the first order. He was full of life and 
 good humor ; I think in no way immoral, but 
 manifesting no interest on the subject of religion. I 
 met in this case, also, a very cordial reception. I do 
 not remember even the substance of our conversation ; 
 but this I recollect, that he formed the solemn purpose 
 to give his heart to God, and that I believe was the 
 beginning of that obedience and devotedness to God's 
 
28 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 service which characterized his subsequent life. Bro- 
 ther Baker, I think, invariably met with a similar 
 reception, and soon a goodly number attended our 
 evening meeting for prayer; indeed after a few weeks 
 our room could not contain them, and it was a most 
 interesting sight at last to behold the whole college, 
 with perhaps a few exceptions, on their knees in social 
 prayer. Dr. Greene labored abundantly in the work, 
 and had the efficient aid of the professors in the Theo- 
 logical Seminary. Mr. A. communicated the state of 
 his mind to his father, and about the time he began to 
 indulge a hope of an interest in Christ, he received and 
 read to us a most affecting letter from his father, in 
 which he stated that he and his mother had just risen 
 from prayer, where they had wrestled with the angel 
 of the covenant that he might be made the subject of 
 the renewing grace of God. 
 
 " About thirty-five years have passed since these 
 events transpired. I am not able to recall any striking 
 incidents relative to his conversion. 
 
 U I am aware that I have not communicated much of 
 interest to you or to his family. 
 " Yours, &c, 
 
 ' ; Edward Allen." 
 
 From this period, the inclination and purpose of the 
 son were in unison with the desires and plans of the 
 father. He selected the ministry as his profession, and 
 turned his thoughts and studies in that direction. 
 And it is an interesting and well-authenticated fact, 
 that at this early period, his mind was much interested 
 in the foreign missionary work, and he seriously con- 
 templated devoting himself to it. In the spring of 
 1815, either at Princeton or Mendham, probably the 
 latter, he made a profession of his faith in Christ. In 
 
mkmoir of w. j. Armstrong. 20 
 
 1816, he completed his college course, with a respect- 
 able standing as a scholar, and soon after returned to 
 his father, who then had charge of a large and flourish- 
 ing academy in Bloomfield. Placing himself under 
 the care of the Presbytery, as a candidate for the minis- 
 try, he immediately commenced the study of theology, 
 under the direction of his father, in whose school he 
 also rendered assistance as a teacher. Occasionally he 
 submitted himself for examination to the late Dr. Eich- 
 ards, then pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in 
 Newark, and subsequently professor of theology in the 
 Auburn seminary. 
 
 After two years spent in this manner, he was licensed 
 to preach the gospel, but instead of entering fully 
 upon the public labors of the ministry, he repaired to 
 Princeton, w^here he continued a year, enjoying the 
 greater advantages for prosecuting his studies, furnished 
 by the theological seminary in that place. That love 
 for preaching which characterized him through life, 
 led him gladly to avail himself of opportunities, on the 
 Sabbath and at other times, of publishing God's mes- 
 sage of salvation, and beseeching men to become 
 reconciled to him. 
 
 Having thus gone through a thorough course of 
 training for the gospel ministry, he was ready to enter 
 upon the work; and his characteristic ardor and fear- 
 lessness of toil and exposure seem to have led him at 
 the outset to make his way into the most untried and 
 least promising field, and where most difficulties were 
 to be encountered. He did not inquire for a good 
 ministerial people, a well organized, well instructed, and 
 orderly church, where he might have a comfortable 
 home, with little more left for him to do than to carry 
 forward things as he found them. He wished not to 
 build on another man's foundation, but to preach the 
 
30 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 gospel in regions beyond, and not to boast in another 
 man's line of things made ready to his hand. His 
 inquiry seems to have been, Where are men most in 
 want of the instructions and the saving influences of 
 the gospel ? Animated by this spirit, he was commis- 
 sioned b}^ the General Assembly's Board of Missions 
 to proceed to Albemarle county, in the central part of 
 Virginia. Furnished by his father with a horse and 
 travelling equipments, he proceeded to his appointed 
 field. Here he spent two years, laboring principally in 
 Charlottesville and its vicinity, near the residence of the 
 late President Jefferson, and wliere has since been 
 established the University of Virginia. Infidelity and 
 irreligion greatly prevailed. ]STo church, it is stated, 
 had ever been organized there ; and the Lord's Supper 
 had never been administered. The young missionary, 
 with his ardor and singleness of aim, with the uncom- 
 mon amiableness of his character and the peculiar 
 pathos of his eloquence, could not but command atten- 
 tion in such, a place. Marked success attended his 
 labors. A number of interesting cases of conversion 
 occurred among infidels. A Presbyterian church was 
 gathered, which still exists, and the face of society was 
 much changed for the better. It is said that Mr. Jef- 
 ferson, who could not be expected fully to sympathize 
 with the preacher, or appreciate him as an ambassador 
 of Christ, and who yet seems to have been impressed 
 w T ith the great influence lie was exerting, remarked, on 
 hearing that some of his infidel friends had become 
 members of the new^ly organized Christian church, that 
 the preacher who had thus wrought upon them was 
 " more of a knave than a fool." 
 
 The labors of Mr. Armstrong in this interesting field 
 were soon interrupted ; but not until he had in a good 
 measure fulfilled the mission for which he was so pe- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 31 
 
 culiarly qualified. The declining health of his father 
 recalled him to New Jersey in 1821. On his arrival, he 
 found Bloomfield favored with an outpouring of the 
 Holy Spirit. Into this wort he entered with his whole 
 heart, in connection with the pastor of the church, the 
 Eev. Gr. N. Judd. His labors were also highly accept- 
 able ; and as he became known, a number of churches 
 were desirous of obtaining him as their pastor. He 
 accepted the unanimous invitation of the First Presby- 
 terian Church in Trenton, and labored there with fidelity 
 and success nearly three years. 
 
 In the spring of 1824, the late Dr. John H. Eice 
 having left the First Presbyterian Church in Eichmond, 
 Virginia, and entered upon a professorship in the Union 
 Theological Seminary, recommended Mr. Armstrong to 
 that church as his successor in the pastoral office. The 
 invitation was given, and was so earnestly pressed upon 
 him by their late pastor, who was well acquainted with 
 his acceptable and useful labors in Albemarle, that he 
 thought it his duty to accept it. For ten years he was 
 the laborious, beloved, and successful pastor of that 
 church, during which period his labors were extended 
 over a wide circle around, and his Christian influence 
 was steadily increasing through the State. 
 
 There is ample evidence that in all departments of 
 labor as a pastor he was diligent, successful, and highly 
 esteemed. One who resided near him while at Trenton, 
 and afterwards followed him in the pastoral office there, 
 bears the following testimony : 
 
 11 While he was at Trenton, I often listened to his 
 sermons, and there was no man, whom, at that day, I 
 heard with more impression. His discourses were care- 
 fully prepared, and were pronounced with a degree of 
 
32 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 warmth and emotion, which are quite unusual. "While 
 his intonations were far from being rhetorically perfect, 
 the general result of so much truth, uttered with so 
 much energy, could not fail to be an awakening of the 
 hearer's mind. My recollection is vivid of his appeals 
 to the heart, as being of a high order. He was often 
 greatly moved himself, and was heard by numbers, I 
 doubt not, to their everlasting good. 
 
 " When, at a later period, I was called to labor among 
 the same people, I found that he had left that good 
 name, which is ' better than precious ointment.' There 
 were manifest tokens of his faithfulness, in public and 
 in private. 
 
 " Still later, I enjoyed his hospitality, and shared his 
 labors in Virginia, where we both were settled. The 
 same characteristic seriousness and zeal here prevailed 
 in his ministrations ; and I suppose his labors were 
 much increased. In various parts of the State, I have 
 lizard of him, and always in a way which was most 
 honorable to his Christian qualities. No man of my 
 acquaintance seemed to me more simply bent on doing 
 good, and reaching the profound convictions of his 
 hearers. In my humble judgment, Dr. Armstrong was 
 a felicitous sermonizer. His discourses abounded in 
 what I may be allowed to call fervid argument They 
 were often elaborate, always judicious, always unpre- 
 tending, and sometimes highly pathetic. Intense feeling 
 took the place of art, and covered a multitude of minor 
 blemishes. As a private Christian, our lamented friend 
 was above reproach. I never saw him for an instant 
 frivolous, or for an instant sour. His very countenance 
 told of affectionate seriousness. There was at times a 
 beseeching earnestness in his look, which will be re- 
 membered by his friends." 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. M 
 
 Another, who sat under his ministry during the ten 
 years of his settlement in Richmond, writes : 
 
 "Dr. Armstrong was blessed with a strong mind and 
 vigorous body, and was capable of more mental and 
 pt^sical labor than most men, which he never hesitated 
 to tax to the utmost whenever the cause of Christ called 
 for it. I have often, since his removal from us, made 
 something like an estimate of his labors here ; and I 
 am within bounds when I say, that during the ten 
 years which he spent with us, he must have delivered 
 weekly from three to four regular sermons, two or three 
 lectures, besides funeral and occasional sermons, and at 
 the same time taught three large and interesting Bible 
 classes. He was a warm, active, and efficient friend of 
 all our religious and benevolent institutions, which were 
 greatly indebted to his ardent feelings and uncommon 
 business talents for their prosperity and success. 
 
 11 As a preacher, Dr. Armstrong had few equals. He 
 possessed a sound and discriminating mind, a warm 
 heart, and he seemed to throw his whole soul into the 
 subject upon which he was speaking, and constrained 
 the hearer to feel that he believed and felt the truths 
 which he uttered. As the teacher of a Bible class, he 
 excelled. His explanations were clear, simple, and 
 forcible. His readiness to meet every objection, and 
 solve every difficulty, showed clearly that the Bible was 
 a familiar book, while the variety, beauty, and propriety 
 of his illustrations proved the extent and value of his 
 general reading. Few, very few, who entered his Bible 
 class, strangers to the power of the gospel, long con- 
 tinued to resist its claims, as they were pressed upon 
 them by their beloved teacher. 
 
 " As a pastor, he was untiring in his efforts for the 
 good of those placed under his- care. He neglected 
 
94 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 none ; but his special attention was bestowed upon the 
 humblest, weakest, and most afflicted of his flock. He 
 could ' rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with 
 them that weep ;' and many now in heaven, and many 
 who are still on earth, can testify that he had a heart 
 to sympathize with them in their afflictions, and soothe 
 their sorrows by his counsel and prayers. The first two 
 years of our departed brother's labors here, seemed to 
 be without fruit, and he began to despond, and doubt 
 whether the Lord had called him to this field ; but, to 
 use his own favorite expression, ' he encouraged himself 
 in the Lord his God/ and labored and pra} r ed the more 
 earnestly, and soon the Lord granted the desires of his 
 heart in a powerful revival of religion. After a few 
 weeks, seventy persons were received into the church 
 on one Sabbath. Three interesting revivals of religion 
 were enjoyed under his ministry here, in which between 
 two and three hundred persons were hopefully con- 
 verted. Our house of worship becoming too small to 
 accommodate the congregation, he was greatly instru- 
 mental in the erection of a large and convenient one, in 
 which he preached for several years to an interesting 
 church and congregation ; and when he was finally 
 called from us to* take charge of the foreign mission 
 cause, he enjo}^ed the confidence and affection of his 
 people to as great an extent as at any previous period. 
 It would be injustice to him to confine the results of his 
 labors to his particular church and congregation. This 
 whole region of country felt the influence of his labors ; 
 and there are but few neighborhoods in Eastern Virginia 
 where there are not to be found some fruits of his labors. 
 " As a man and a Christian, he was kind, conciliating, 
 and humble ; but where principle was involved, he was 
 firm as a rock. He was naturally a man of ardent 
 temperament and warm feelings ; but his judgment and 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 35 
 
 heart were brought so fully under the power and influ- 
 ence of divine grace, that in some very trying circum- 
 stances he has been known to bear injury and provocation 
 with the spirit q>f his Master. He was also remarkable 
 for the transparency of his character ; his freedom from 
 guile and management were uncommon. In pecuniary 
 matters he was scrupulously particular. I never knew 
 him contract an obligation which he did not sacredly 
 meet ; indeed, he regarded this as essential to ministerial 
 reputation and usefulness. His style of living was very 
 plain ; and although his salary was not large, his 
 expenses were always brought within it, and I was often 
 astonished to see his liberality to religious and benevo- 
 lent objects, not supposing that he had the means of 
 giving as he did." 
 
 Another still, w r ho had the best opportunity for 
 knowing his habits and labors, says : 
 
 " He loved to kneel beside the sick, and attend the 
 dying believer to the gates of heaven. How many have 
 welcomed him, who were fitted, through his instrumen- 
 tality, for that blessed abode ! During the revival in 
 1828, he preached from five to nine times a week, 
 praying with the anxious sinner, and rejoicing with the 
 young convert. Almost every individual composing 
 his Bible classes united with the church. His sermons 
 were written while others slept. During the sickly 
 season of the year, when others retreated to the country, 
 he usually remained in Eichmond, attending to the 
 poor, preaching at their houses when deaths occurred. 
 Many of the ignorant were thus led to the sanctuary. 
 The widow and the orphan shared largely in his sym- 
 pathies. He thought it important to set before his flock 
 an example of Christian simplicity in all things, and to 
 
36 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 live plainly, in order to contribute largely to the treasury 
 of the Lord." 
 
 During his residence in Richmond, in addition to his 
 abundant labors among his own people, he was emi- 
 nently a public man, one who w r as deeply interested in, 
 and ready to labor for, all objects adapted to promote 
 the kingdom of Christ and the welfare of men, and one 
 to whom such interests were confided. He was Secre- 
 tary of the Home Missionary Society of his Presbytery, 
 Trustee of the Union Theological Seminary, Manager 
 in Temperance, Sabbath School, Colonization, and other 
 societies ; regularly attended and took a large share in 
 transacting the business of his Presbytery and Synod, 
 and aided his brethren in special religious meetings. 
 In everything where responsibility w r as devolved upon 
 him, he aimed to meet it, and faithfully perform the 
 duties expected of him. 
 
 During this period also, that special interest in missions 
 to the heathen, which manifested itself in college soon 
 after his conversion, was more fully developed. l He 
 prayed much for the success of missions; uniformly 
 spent a due portion of time in preparing for the monthly 
 concert of prayer ; was an example of liberality in his 
 contributions, so much so as to surprise those acquainted 
 with his limited resources; endeavored to awaken, 
 extend, and foster a missionary spirit among his people, 
 and had the satisfaction of seeing a number of his spi- 
 ritual children go to the heathen. He early became 
 known as one who might be relied on to exert a mis- 
 sionary influence in that part of the country, and was 
 repeatedly invited to engage in agencies for that purpose. 
 But the time when his whole soul seemed to be pecu- 
 liarly moved for the heathen, and he was, as it were, 
 newly baptized with the missionary spirit, was at the 
 meetings for prayer for the conversion of the world, 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 37 
 
 held on the first Monday in January, 1833. Standing 
 among the ministers, and before the assembled churches 
 of Kichmond, with a countenance glowing with love, 
 he said, " My brethren, I am ashamed that there are 
 so many of us here in this Christian land. "We must 
 go to the heathen." " That day of prayer/ 7 says one 
 who was present, " made an impression on many hearts 
 which was deep and lasting/' This was doubtless the 
 way in which God was preparing him to perform the 
 labors to which he was soon to be called in connection 
 with the foreign missionary work. At the meeting of 
 the East Hanover Presbytery, to which he belonged, 
 held in the following spring, a resolution was introduced 
 and unanimously adopted, expressing the conviction 
 that the southern Presbyterian churches were imperi- 
 ously called upon to engage more systematically and 
 vigorously in the work of missions to the heathen, and 
 appointing Mr. Armstrong and the Eev. W. S. Plumer 
 a committee to bring the subject before the Synod of 
 Virginia, which was to meet in the following October. 
 By invitation Dr. Wisner, one of the secretaries of the 
 American Board, attended the meeting of the Synod. 
 The result was that a series of resolutions, with a con- 
 stitution, was adopted with perfect unanimity, and an 
 organization begun, which was designed to embrace the 
 friends of missions within the three Synods of Virginia, 
 North Carolina, and the Chesapeake ; and Mr. Arm- 
 strong, with others, was appointed to attend the meetings 
 of the two latter synods, and aid in completing the 
 organization, which assumed the name of the Central 
 Board of Foreign Missions. This he did. The Synod 
 of North Carolina acted with the same unanimity. The 
 Synod of the Chesapeake failed of having a meeting. At 
 the first meeting of the Central Board, in March, 1834, 
 all eyes were turned towards Mr. Armstrong as the 
 
 3 
 
38 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 principal executive officer of the new society, and he 
 was accordingly, with the hearty concurrence of all, 
 elected its Secretary. During the meeting the following 
 resolutions were introduced and unanimously adopted, 
 after addresses by Mr. Armstrong and others : 
 
 11 Resolved, That this Board acknowledge, in its full 
 force, the obligations of every member of the visible 
 church to live for the conversion of the world. 
 
 " Resolved, That all the steps by which this Board 
 has been brought into existence, and to its present 
 organized state, manifest the kind and special guidance 
 and interposition of the God of missions, and call upon 
 us for a solemn expression of fervent gratitude. 
 
 " Resolved, That one of the cheering indications of 
 Providence respecting our southern Zion is the fact, 
 that a considerable proportion of our candidates for the 
 ministry have either determined to become foreign 
 missionaries, or are seriously considering the claims of 
 the hundreds of millions of our unevangelized fellow- 
 men. 
 
 " Resolved, That, after we have done all that man can 
 do, our whole reliance for success is upon the presence 
 and grace of the Holy Ghost ; and that, therefore, the 
 necessity and duty of unceasing prayer for help from 
 God are most manifest." 
 
 The whole of this movement seems to be traceable 
 to that special effusion of the Holy Spirit upon our 
 departed brother, in the united meeting of the Kich- 
 mond churches on the first Monday in January, 1833. 
 
 From this date a new era in the life of Mr. Armstrong 
 commenced. He was to leave a harmonious and affec- 
 tionate people, with whom he never stood better than 
 at that time; sunder all the ties of the pastoral 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 3D 
 
 relation, the tenderness of which none but the faithful 
 Christian pastor knows ; sacrifice, to- a great extent, his 
 study, the endearments of home, and the quiet and 
 comforts of a settled life. And what was he to receive 
 in return ? No honor, no enjoyment — except such as 
 are to be had in making greater sacrifices, performing 
 more self-denying labor, and encountering various perils 
 for the glory of Christ and the salvation of men. And 
 to his mind these were enough to compensate for all 
 which he relinquished. He shrunk not from the sacri- 
 fice, though peculiarly painful to one of his affectionate 
 and sympathizing temperament. And his church, 
 knowing him too well to question his motives, and in a 
 good measure imbued with the same spirit, with a noble 
 Christian generosity, though with bleeding hearts, gave 
 up their beloved pastor, out of a stronger love to Christ 
 and his cause. Mr. Armstrong often said that such a 
 trial he hoped never to be called to again. No man 
 valued the quiet of home and the endearments of the 
 family relation more than he. Yet all this did he 
 sacrifice; and, says his surviving partner, "he would 
 doubtless have laid down his life, if he could thereby 
 have awakened the people of God to prayer and effort 
 for a dying world." His connection with his people 
 was dissolved on the 6th of May. 
 
 According to an understanding with the newly or- 
 ganized society, Mr. Armstrong was immediately after- 
 wards appointed the General Agent of the American 
 Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions for the 
 States of Virginia and North Carolina, and entered on 
 his arduous labors about the first of June, 1834. His 
 agency was to cover more than one hundred thousand 
 square miles of territory, embracing about two hundred 
 and fifty churches, most of which had never been 
 formally addressed in relation to foreign missions, nor 
 
40 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 had they, to any considerable extent, ever contributed 
 to that object. Writing of this new field of labor, he 
 says, " I fully believe that the salvation of our southern 
 churches depends upon our engaging thoroughly and 
 cordially in foreign missions, and seeking in good 
 earnest the salvation of the perishing heathen among 
 ourselves." His journeyings, his multiplied sermons 
 and addresses, his extended correspondence, and his 
 unwearied efforts in all appropriate ways to accomplish 
 the objects of his agency, were such as the sentiments 
 just quoted, added to his desire for the conversion of 
 the world, might be expected to inspire. He was every- 
 where most cordially received ; much interest was 
 awakened ; and the contributions through that Board, 
 within fourteen months after he commenced his work, 
 increased to about ten thousand dollars. 
 
 After the decease of the Eev. Dr. Wisner, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1834, Mr. Armstrong was almost immediately 
 looked to as a suitable person to fill the vacancy, and 
 was early consulted on the subject ; and at the annual 
 meeting of the Board in the following September, he 
 was elected one of its secretaries for correspondence. 
 With much self-distrust on his part, and regret at re- 
 linquishing the work upon which he had entered so 
 prosperously, and in which he had become deeply in- 
 terested ; and with great reluctance on the part of the 
 ministers and churches in that quarter, he accepted the 
 appointment, and removed to Boston in November. 
 His department of labor was the home correspondence, 
 including the superintendence of the agencies. Incited 
 by the same peculiar zeal in the missionary work which 
 characterized him while a pastor and carried him 
 through his agency, he devoted himself to his new 
 duties with exemplary diligence and activity. He 
 remained in Boston about two years and a half, until 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 41 
 
 April, 1838, when, in compliance with the advice of the 
 Prudential Committee, he removed with his family to 
 the city of New York, expecting to remain there for 
 only a short period ; but the importance which was 
 attached to his labors in that city, together with some 
 considerations drawn from the health of his family, 
 prolonged his residence there, with the approbation of 
 the Prudential Committee, till his decease, though with 
 a considerable modification of his official duties. His 
 relations with the Committee, however, and his asso- 
 ciates in office, and his familiar acquaintance with the 
 business and affairs of the Board, were maintained by 
 a constant correspondence and attending once a month 
 on their meetings. 
 
 Both while in Boston and New York, he was most 
 fully and usefully employed in his official labors. 
 Nearly every Sabbath found him in the pulpit pre- 
 senting, with solemnity and earnestness, and with a 
 peculiar pathos, the claims of Christ and of the heathen 
 nations ; though it was his delight, when opportunities 
 favored, to become, as it were, a pastor again, and plead 
 with men in behalf of their own souls. Especially, 
 after his removal to New York, was his missionary 
 preaching extended through a wide circle. Not only 
 in that city, but in other churches of the State and of 
 the adjacent States, which the time demanded by his 
 other duties would permit him to reach, did he press 
 upon the friends of Christ the work of the world's con- 
 version. In this respect he performed fully the duties 
 of an ordinary preaching agent. Meetings of auxiliary 
 societies and ecclesiastical bodies, together with conven- 
 tions held for prayer, statements and discussions on 
 missionary subjects, called him to travel extensively, 
 to address public bodies, confer with a great number of 
 individuals, ministers and others, and thus to become 
 
42 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 personally known very widely, and to exert a great and 
 salutary influence in favor of the missionary cause. 
 Everywhere his visits, and his statements, and appeals 
 were acceptable. All the friends of Christ loved to 
 commune with such a man on such a subject. There 
 was no controversy, no partizanship, no denunciation, 
 no severity. The understanding was enlightened and 
 convinced ; the best feelings of the heart were stirred ; 
 and there was a heavenly, New-Testament savor in his 
 spirit and in all his communications on these subjects, 
 which in all places secured Christian confidence and 
 cheerful co-operation. 
 
 Mr. Armstrong's correspondence, especially within 
 the bounds of the Presbyterian Church, was very ex- 
 tensive, all of it bearing on the same great work, and 
 pervaded by the same heavenly spirit as his preaching 
 and other public labors ; and the influence which he 
 exerted by means of it was wide-spread and great. 
 
 To those most intimately associated with him in labor, 
 both in Boston and New York, he was truly a faithful 
 Christian brother, sympathizing with them in all their 
 perplexities and trials; endeavoring to alleviate their 
 burdens; bearing with them, counselling them, and 
 praying for them ; never tenacious of his rights, and 
 always scrupulously careful not to wound their feelings, 
 A pleasanter man to co-operate with they could not 
 desire. The benevolent, affectionate interest he mani- 
 fested in them, and the frankness and loveliness of his 
 demeanor in his social intercourse and in transacting 
 business with them, — while the impression can never 
 be effaced from their memories, — no language of theirs 
 can adequately describe. 
 
 But no wide sphere of usefulness ; not his own de- 
 light in the work in which he was engaged ; not the 
 love and respect which wife and children, and associates 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 43 
 
 hi labor, and the friends of Christ generally, cherished 
 for him, could retain him with us, when his Master's 
 time for removing him from this vineyard had come. 
 Our departed brother left New York on Monday, the 
 23d of November, to make his monthly visit to Boston 
 and attend the meeting of the Prudential Committee. 
 He arrived safely the next morning, and spent that day 
 and till the afternoon of the following in perusing com- 
 munications from the missions, attending the meeting 
 of the Committee, and conferring with his associates, 
 as he was accustomed to do. On the twenty -fifth, the 
 day of his contemplated return to New York, a storm 
 set in with great violence. Eepeatedly during the day 
 his associates remarked to him that he ought not to 
 venture upon the water in such a tempest; but not 
 feeling quite well, and strongly desirous to return to 
 his family and spend with them the annual thanksgiving 
 which was to be on the next day, he seemed decided 
 on going, and replied that he had often found that 
 when it was stormy in Boston, it was comparatively 
 calm on Long Island Sound. At five o'clock in the 
 afternoon of Wednesday, he started from Boston, taking 
 the railroad to Norwich and Allyn's Point, where he 
 embarked in the Atlantic and proceeded to New Lon- 
 don, which place the steamer left, after some detention, 
 between twelve and one o'clock on the morning of 
 Thursday, November 26. When about nine miles out 
 of the harbor, the steam-pipe burst, rendering the en- 
 gine useless ; and immediately after, the wind, which, 
 had blown from the northeast, changed to the northwest, 
 and increased in violence. The anchors were thrown 
 out, the decks were cleared, and other measures taken 
 ■ to lighten the vessel and cause it to ride easier amid the 
 terrific raging of the elements. But all was in vain ; 
 the anchors were dragged, and the wreck continued to 
 
44 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 drift towards the leeward shore, the waves continually 
 breaking over it. 
 
 Soon after the accident to the machinery the fires 
 were extinguished, and from that time the passengers 
 suffered greatly from cold and wet, as well as from 
 painful forebodings of the issue. This state of things 
 continued till after four o'clock on the morning of 
 November 27 ; and though God was riding on that 
 storm, and a number of those whom he loved were 
 tossed in that wreck, and no human arm could inter- 
 pose to save, yet the fury of the tempest was not 
 abated, till it had accomplished its work of destruction, 
 and the fragments of the steamer and the lifeless bodies 
 of many of its company were strewed along the shore. 
 Our friend Avas among the dead. But it was no mere 
 chance that involved him in those perils." God had 
 wisely and mercifully placed him there. Survivors 
 inform us that he was conspicuous among the passen- 
 gers throughout the day and evening of Thursday, as a 
 minister of Christ, addressing to his companions in 
 danger appropriate religious instruction and consola- 
 tion, and commending them to God in prayer. On the 
 afternoon of that day, especially, he with about fifty of 
 the passengers assembled in the cabin for prayer and 
 reading of the Scriptures and exhortation. 
 
 During the whole scene he was perfectly calm, but 
 solemn and thoughtful ; eternity seemed to be opening 
 before him. Himself and all around him — how many 
 of them unprepared he could not know — w r ere standing 
 on its brink. For them he was unutterably solicitous ; 
 and for his own last conflict he was gathering strength 
 in God. Some, seeing the dread crisis rapidly approach- 
 ing, drew near and stood by his side, " because," as one 
 remarked, " it seemed safer to be near so good a man." 
 Just before the wreck broke upon the reef, and the 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 45 
 
 falling deck and the overwhelming waves swept him 
 lifeless into the sea, he said to one, "I hope we may be 
 allowed, if God will, to reach the shore with our lives ; 
 but if not, I have perfect confidence in the wisdom and 
 goodness of Him who doeth all things well" This was 
 his dying testimony to the goodness of God and his 
 own faith in him. The vital spark was probably 
 extinguished instantly by the falling timbers. The 
 same expression of calm confidence in God remained 
 enstamped on his features in death, significant, un- 
 doubtedly, of that heavenly peace with which he 
 closed life here, and entered on that life where are no 
 perils, no anxiety, no suffering, no death. A special 
 work had been allotted to him for that last day of his 
 life. He had finished it and gone to his reward. He 
 had come to Boston a week earlier than usual. Con- 
 trary to his general practice, he had taken the Norwich 
 route on his return. All seemed to have been divinely 
 arranged, so that this chosen and faithful servant should 
 be honored with the responsibility of being on board 
 that steamer to exemplify the power of the Christian 
 faith, and act as God's ambassador to that company in 
 those mortal perils. How great was the privilege too, 
 to him who loved to preach beyond almost any other 
 man, to be permitted in the last hour of life, to unfold 
 the gospel to a company whom God, by the dangers of 
 the ocean, and an opening eternity, was simultaneously 
 calling to prepare to meet him ! 
 
 The remains of our friend were recovered from the 
 water, and conveyed to Norwich on Friday afternoon, 
 where they were soon recognised by Christian friends, 
 humanely prepared for the grave by the municipal 
 authorities of the city, and the following day forwarded 
 to New York. On Monday, November SO, the funeral 
 solemnities were attended in the Eev. Dr. Adams's 
 
 3* 
 
46 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 church, in Broome-street, with appropriate addresses 
 and devotional services. A vast assemblage of Chris- 
 tian friends, with the ministerial brethren of the 
 deceased, testified how much they loved him, and how 
 deeply they felt his loss. 
 
 The Prudential Committee entered on their records 
 an appropriate minute, and also requested the Eev. 
 Nehemiah Adams, one of their number, to deliver a 
 sermon in commemoration of their much respected and 
 beloved associate. The sermon was preached on the 
 9th of December. 
 
 In contemplating this great and painful bereavement, 
 we must not fail to recognize with gratitude the special 
 protection which God in his providence has hitherto 
 extended to those who have been connected with this 
 missionary work, -either as missionaries abroad, or 
 laborers at home. From the organization of the 
 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
 sions in September, 1810, to the death of Dr. Arm- 
 strong, the number of outward and home voyages, 
 between the United States and foreign lands, made by 
 persons in the employment of the Board, excluding 
 twenty-seven of whose completion intelligence has not 
 yet been received, is seven hundred and four. These 
 voyages have been made by four hundred and ninety- 
 six persons, male and female, not including twelve now 
 on their way to foreign lands for the first time. Of 
 these voyages actually completed, four hundred and 
 sixty-seven have each been from fifteen to eighteen 
 thousand miles in length. If those voyages along the 
 coast of the United States, on the great lakes, and on 
 the western rivers, and those from one port to another 
 in foreign countries, varying from five hundred to three 
 thousand miles each, are included, and to them are 
 added the voyages made by the children of mission- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 47 
 
 aries, the whole number of voyages will exceed one 
 thousand ; besides many shorter trips on seas, rivers, 
 and lakes. In all these, no individual connected with 
 the Board has been shipwrecked, or has lost his life by 
 drowning. 
 
 The number of ordained missionaries sent out by the 
 Board is two hundred and fifty-three ; physicians, 
 twenty ; other male assistants, one hundred and twenty- 
 two ; and females, four hundred and fifty-seven ; in all, 
 eight hundred and fifty -two ; none of whom, so far as 
 information has been received, have lost their lives, or 
 been seriously injured, in their journeyings to or from 
 their fields of labor, by land or water. Three, — 
 Messrs. Munson and Lyman in Sumatra, and Dr. Sat- 
 terlee, west of the Pawnee county, — lost their lives by 
 savage violence, while on exploring tours; and Eev. 
 Mr. Benham, of the Siam mission, was drowned while 
 crossing a river near his own house. With these 
 exceptions, all the explorations and other journeyings 
 of these eight hundred and fifty-two missionary laborers 
 have been, so far as can now be called to mind, without 
 loss of life or serious accident. 
 
 Going back to the commencement of the operations 
 of the Board, none of its treasurers, secretaries, or 
 agents, amounting to about fifty persons in all, have, in 
 their various and extended journeyings by land and 
 water, and in the almost pathless wilderness on the 
 western frontiers and the contiguous Indian countries, 
 met with any serious accident or calamity, till Dr. 
 Armstrong perished in the wreck of the steamer At- 
 lantic. 
 
 Thus suddenly, and in a most impressive manner, 
 has passed away from among us an eminently good man : 
 one whose intelligent and unaffected, yet ever-living 
 
48 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 and ever-active piety no one doubted or failed to see. 
 Towards God, the filial spirit in him was predominant. 
 He seemed to be, indeed, a child of God, an Israelite in 
 whom was no guile. His affections were eminently 
 spiritual and heavenly, and very seldom, if ever, was 
 there any thing apparent in the state of his mind, in 
 his conversation or demeanor, which was inconsistent 
 with his entering at once into communion with the 
 Christian on the experiences of the internal spiritual 
 life, or with the convicted sinner on the salvation of his 
 soul, or with God in confession and praise. Towards 
 men he manifested nothing but good nature and love. 
 The cast of his features, the tones of his voice, the 
 courteousness of his manners, revealed his heart. To 
 speak of ill-will, or envy, or selfish or malignant pas- 
 sions of any kind, in connection with his name, must 
 seem to all who knew him as altogether incongruous. 
 In him self-seeking seemed to have no place, while his 
 desire to please and benefit all was unbounded, and his 
 charity almost literally hoped and believed all things 
 favorable of those with whom he had to do. Though 
 generally a good judge of character, he sometimes erred 
 on this point ; and when he did so, it was almost 
 always from his unwillingness to entertain so unfavor- 
 able an opinion of men as was demanded. This genuine 
 goodness of heart, the combined result of uncommon 
 amiableness of natural disposition and the sanctifying 
 grace of God, shone with peculiar lustre in the family, 
 where he was a model of affection and fidelity as a 
 husband and father. Few could love or be loved, 
 impart or enjoy so much happiness in those relations, 
 as he. His social qualities generally were remarkable ; 
 and while he loved retirement and was much in it, he 
 also loved to commune with others, and all loved to be 
 with him. To the most serious topics he could happily 
 
MEMOIK OF W. J, ARMSTRONG. 49 
 
 give an aspect of light and joyfulness, or make what 
 was sprightly and gay, and even the vein of humor 
 which he had at command, the means of instruction 
 and serious impression. Cheerfulness and sobriety, 
 concern for great interests, with substantial peace and 
 joy, were in him most appropriately combined. Natu- 
 rally, he was of an animated spirit ; yet there were 
 habitual indications that serious topics were occupying 
 his thoughts, and sad pictures, drawn from such a world 
 as this, were passing before his mind, which often 
 clothed him in plaintiveness, and not unfrequently 
 called forth an audible sigh. The impression that he 
 was a good man was made on all who knew him. 
 
 A laborious servant of Christ, too, has been removed. 
 From Mr. Armstrong's entrance into the ministry till 
 his last hour, his life was one of assiduous and faithful 
 labor. He shrunk from no toil. He was never dis- 
 posed to ease himself by burdening others. He obvi- 
 ously loved labor for Christ and the salvation of men ; 
 and the more of it he was able and permitted to do, the 
 greater honor and favor he regarded it. His only regret 
 seemed to be that he had no more time and strength to 
 expend in such a cause. No interest intrusted to him 
 suffered from indolence or neglect. His varied labors 
 as an evangelist and a pastor, as an agent and a secre- 
 tary, bear ample testimony to this. All were performed 
 promptly and heartily, and yet without display, or 
 thrusting himself into notice. No man seemed to be 
 more truly willing to spend and be spent for Christ, 
 and for human welfare than he. It was indeed his 
 meat and drink to do the will of Christ and finish the 
 work assigned to him. 
 
 A man of much heavenly wisdom has been called away 
 from the counsels and labors of the church militant. 
 Mr. Armstrong had opinions on matters of theology 
 
50 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 and morals and politics, intelligently and firmly held, 
 and frankly expressed and defended on proper occa- 
 sions; but lie knew how to let every one see that his 
 mind was not engrossed b} r those points relating to 
 theology, or to the welfare of our nation, or of our race, 
 which most divide men into parties. His mind appre- 
 ciated and all his powers were enlisted in something 
 higher and better. To what party, as such, did he 
 belong ? With what individual did he have contro- 
 vers} r ? He was independently and fearlessly consci- 
 entious ; yet whose confidence did he lose, or whom did 
 he make his enemy ? His wisdom did not arise from 
 uncommon grasp of mind or sagacity ; but the elements 
 of it were goodness of heart, honesty and singleness of 
 purpose, and trust in God. His love of what was right 
 and Christian, his guilelessness and frankness, led him, 
 as it were, instinctively, and almost intuitively, to discern 
 and aim at the best results, and to pursue them by 
 means and in a manner which could hardly fail to con- 
 ciliate and secure approbation. This, with his prompt- 
 ness and assiduity, enabled him to accomplish his ob- 
 jects more surety and effectually than most other men. 
 
 With the countenance and character and labors of 
 our beloved brother before the mind, and fondly trea- 
 suring up the recollections of that intercourse with him 
 which has been so unexpectedly broken off, we would 
 close this notice with the language of the apostle James, 
 as being eminently descriptive of him whom we com- 
 memorate : Who is a ivise man and endued ivith know- 
 ledge among you ? Let him show, out of a good conversa- 
 tion, his ivorks ivith meekness of ivisdom. The luisdom 
 that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
 easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without 
 partiality and without hypocrisy. 
 
CHAPTER IT. 
 
 Dr. Armstrong on the Steamer Atlantic. 
 
 Why was he on board that steamer? He was not 
 wont to return to New York by that route. The day 
 was tempestuous before leaving Boston, and his kind 
 friends remonstrated against his going on that day. 
 And why did the Great Head of the Church suffer him 
 to go at that time, and in that manner ? Known unto 
 God are all his ways. He purposed the winds, the 
 waves, the wreck. He saw every tear that should be 
 shed — he had measured the anguish and bereavement 
 that should wither the souls of so many families. And 
 why did he so afflict his dear children, and why expose 
 those he loved to such perils and death ? We may not 
 fathom all the reasons of the Divine Mind, yet we may 
 know some of these reasons. We may take a view of 
 that seemingly disastrous event, and of the fatal expo- 
 sure of the subject of this memoir, which shall exhibit 
 it not as an expression of God's displeasure, but as a dis- 
 pensation of his love. Dr. Armstrong was conducted 
 on board that ill-fated vessel by the hand of his Divine 
 Master. It was the Hand of Mercy which led him 
 there. God was about to make one of those terrific 
 displays of his power which ever and anon he makes 
 to awe into silence both his friends and his foes. In 
 this day of confidence and boasting in human skill and 
 power — as if man had triumphed over the elements and 
 could rule them at his will — when men feel that they 
 can go and come as they list — " to-day or to-morrow, 
 go into such a city and buy and sell and get again, " 
 forgetting who holds the winds in his fists and com- 
 
52 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 mands the waves and they obey him — when even God's 
 people are in unusual danger of feeling confidence in 
 human agents and agencies — God would, at such a time, 
 by one signal display, vindicate his majesty and teach 
 man dependence. But incidental to such a display is 
 often an immense amount of suffering and death. 
 Many are in the suddenness of a moment hurried into 
 eternity. Prepared or unprepared, the awful summons 
 comes and there is no reprieve. Such was especially 
 the case in the wreck of the Atlantic. It was, there- 
 fore, in great mercy that God put on board that vessel 
 the subject of this memoir : a man beloved of God and 
 greatly esteemed of man, and, therefore, chosen of God 
 as the forlorn hope of them who were so soon and so 
 suddenly to be called to their final account. Some of 
 God's people were there. Perhaps they had, in the 
 whirl of business and of pleasure, wandered from the 
 fold ; and they were in a moment to be summoned into 
 the presence of their Master. How gracious is Heaven 
 to give them such a spiritual guide in this hour of their 
 severe conflict ! And there were many on that doomed 
 vessel who were not prepared to meet the dread sum- 
 mons. They were now to be hurried away to the 
 Judgment ; and how merciful that He who hath no 
 pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would that he 
 should turn and live, should put on board one who 
 should so faithfully warn them in this last trying mo- 
 ment. Perhaps Dr. A. was never before intrusted with 
 so important a mission. While the Great Head of the 
 Church chose this method of terminating his earthly 
 labors, he chose a termination well befitting the whole 
 course of his previous Christian life. If his days must 
 be shortened and his life of usefulness be so suddenly 
 closed, his most partial friends could not have desired 
 a more befitting close. His last day, his last hour, and 
 
MEMOIR OP W. J. ARMSTRONG. 53 
 
 probably his last moment, was spent in the service of 
 his God. God would not leave so important a post 
 unfilled ; and you might look in vain for a man that 
 should fill it so nobly as Dr. Armstrong did. It was 
 a post of danger and of dread responsibility. Such 
 posts the skilful general fills with tried, faithful, and 
 fearless men. So did the Captain of our salvation 
 when he had thoughts of mercy towards the sufferers 
 on board the Atlantic. How graciously God provides 
 till the last for the salvation of his creatures. 
 
 And this is but another instance of that admirable 
 providential arrangement by which God is wont to dis- 
 perse his people, and place them in situations of useful- 
 ness of which they thought not. Christians are the 
 light of the world ; and it is not a little interesting to 
 see the distribution which he makes of this light — how 
 he scatters his people abroad over the earth. Some- 
 times they go voluntarily, as business, or pleasure, or 
 Christian duty takes them ; sometimes involuntarily, as 
 driven by persecution or compelled by some necessity. 
 The apostles "were scattered abroad, " and this became 
 the means, in the early days of Christianity, of that 
 wide and rapid diffusion of the gospel. The Jewish 
 church and nation were singularly dispersed, and their 
 fall became the riches of the Gentiles. War, com- 
 merce, travel, pleasure, misfortune, accident or design, 
 have, in every age, scattered the people of God, not 
 only among all the tribes and kindreds of the earth, 
 but placed them in every conceivable situation where 
 they might fulfil their mission as the children of light 
 and the almoners of Heaven's mercy. Wherever is 
 want, or woe, or ignorance, or suffering, there has God 
 provided for its relief an agent of his mercy. The frian 
 who fell among thieves, and was wounded, and left for 
 dead, was found by the "good Samaritan," who bound 
 
54 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 up his wounds, pouring in wine and oil. When God's 
 judgments are abroad in the earth, he sends his angels 
 of mercy in their train, to bind up the broken-hearted, 
 to comfort the mourners, to supply the wants of the 
 needy, to scatter light amidst the general darkness, and 
 speak words of warning and consolation to them who 
 are appointed unto death. Nor does it vitiate the bene- 
 volence of God in this distribution ; it detracts nothing 
 from the wise and gracious providence in the matter, 
 that so many of those whom God would have the dis- 
 pensers of his mercy, the good Samaritans to the un- 
 fortunate and suffering, do through hardness of heart 
 and a perverse selfishness, like the priest and the 
 Levite, pass by on the other side. Amid the maladies, 
 the diseases, the blighting desolations of sin, God 'pro- 
 vides the remedy, or, if not a remedy, a relief, and 
 man's perversity, in not dispensing the remedy, mars 
 not the mercy of the Divine provision. 
 
 But it was not so in the case of the Atlantic. He 
 that was commissioned to stand there between the liv- 
 ing and the dead nobly fulfilled his mission. Forgetful 
 of himself, save as with a confidence worth ten thousand 
 worlds, he commits himself and all his interests for 
 time and eternity to the safe keeping of his covenant 
 God, he addresses himself like a man of God to his 
 work. All the words of comfort he spake to the trem- 
 bling saints, all the words of warning he uttered to the 
 (perhaps for the first time) awakened sinner, we may 
 not know till the judgment make its revelations. But 
 what we do know crowns his end with a benevolence 
 and majesty well befitting a life of such eminent and 
 unpretending usefulness. 
 
 So identified were the closing scenes of Dr. Arm- 
 strong's life with the wreck of the Atlantic, that we 
 need offer no apology for the introduction of the fol- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 55 
 
 lowing sketches of that appalling disaster. These are 
 gathered, for the most part, from persons who wrote at 
 the time, and who were more than eye-witnesses of 
 those dreadful scenes. 
 
 A little volume entitled "The Loss of the Atlantic" 
 contains notices of Dr. Armstrong and of the part he 
 acted on board that vessel, which properly, belong to 
 this chapter. We shall therefore use it freely, and 
 thank the writer for his simple and graphic narrative. 
 
 u Dr. Armstrong came to Boston, on the last week in 
 November, to attend a meeting of the Secretaries of 
 the Board. On Wednesday morning, in leading the 
 devotions of the family at the Marlborough hotel, 
 where he tarried, he prayed with unwonted earnest- 
 ness, that each one might feel their nearness to eter- 
 nity, and to be led more in their daily and hourly con- 
 duct by things unseen and eternal, so that at all times 
 they might have the Lord present with them. He 
 afterwards conversed with great emotion of the recent 
 departure of beloved missionaries to heathen lands, and 
 of the great privilege of being accounted worthy of so 
 high calling. 
 
 M That evening he left Boston, in the Norwich train 
 of cars, and went on board the Atlantic, where, in the 
 most unexpected manner, he found his services deeply 
 needed. What opportunities opened to him for words 
 of exhortation and comfort during the long hours of 
 peril, passed by the passengers and crew of the unfor- 
 tunate steamer, and how faithfully he discharged his 
 duties, many are alive to make grateful mention. 
 After he had led the religious services in the cabin on 
 Thanksgiving morning, as has been related, and had 
 offered the last public prayer, he begged each one to 
 remain upon his knees, and silently give himself up to 
 
56 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 God, the only refuge of the sinner ; and to do it then, 
 as it might be among the last opportunities in their 
 season of probation on earth. How many did so, the 
 omniscient eye only knows. How powerful the mo- 
 tives, under such circumstances, which seem to compel 
 the struggling soul to break loose from its earthly hopes 
 and dependencies, and look upward to the Father of 
 Mercies ! Surrounded by the tempest, the winds and 
 waves breaking all around him, where could the trou- 
 bled spirit look for safety, but to Him who alone has 
 power to say to the agonized feelings as well as the 
 raging waters, l Peace, be still ?' 
 
 11 This calm trust in God manifested by Dr. Arm- 
 strong, during those hours of terrible apprehension, re- 
 assured and comforted many hearts. 4 1 hope/ he said, 
 
 * we may be allowed, if God will, to reach the shore 
 with our lives ; but if not, I have perfect confidence in 
 the wisdom and goodness of him, " who doeth all 
 things well." ' The hearts of the passengers seemed to 
 yearn towards him, as towards a father ; they watched 
 him closely, and gathered around him whenever he 
 spoke. Everywhere he was conspicuous as the Minis- 
 ter of Christ, addressing instruction and consolation to 
 his heart-stricken companions, and commending them 
 to God in prayer. Lieutenant Maynard gave him the 
 benefits of his experience in disasters on the sea. He 
 bound the Doctor's head with shreds of blankets, and 
 directed him how to prepare and make use of his float. 
 As the steamer neared the ledge of rocks, and the cap- 
 tain called out to every man to cling to what he could, 
 expecting her to strike at any moment, Dr. Armstrong 
 came up to the stanchion, dragging a heavy door. 
 One, who was clinging to the stanchion, begged per- 
 mission to attach a rope to the other end of the door. 
 
 * Certainly/ he replied, ' if it will be of any service to 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 57 
 
 you.' He did so, and declares that he felt a sort of 
 security in being in company with such a holy man in 
 this hour of peril. After a few moments, the Doctor 
 said, 1 1 think our safest place is below, in the gang- 
 way ; we shall not there have so far to fall/ He then 
 placed himself 'midships on the lowest deck, with his 
 arm around the stove, near the entrance of the ladies' 
 saloon. Immediately after the boat struck, in the fall 
 of some heavy fragments, one struck him in the back 
 part of the head ; a sea then washed him away. It is 
 the opinion of medical men that the blow caused his 
 instant death, and that he knew nothing of the agonized 
 struggles of the drowning man. With twenty-five 
 other bodies, picked up upon the shore, his was carried 
 to Norwich. Some who looked upon the calm and 
 holy expression of the face suspected whom it might 
 be ; his pockets were out, and all his papers being gone, 
 he could not be identified in that way : at last he was 
 recognized by a young minister formerly an inmate of 
 his family, who, happening to be at Norwich, and com- 
 ing down to behold the mournful train, recognised the 
 cold features of his venerated friend." 
 
 Another writer, one of the sixty-three survivors, has 
 drawn the following thrilling picture : 
 
 u By ten o'clock we had drifted to within half a mile 
 • of the rocky shore, against which the angry waves 
 dashed their foaming crests in majestic grandeur. It 
 was a sight as sublime as terrible. Every moment we 
 expected would be our last. Hope now began to wane. 
 Soon after the steam vessel Massachusetts came near 
 us, and, seeing our position and signal of distress, 
 checked her headway a little, but soon passed on. 
 About eleven another steamer, the Mohegan, was seen 
 
58 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 coming, which raised our hopes again, but she dare not 
 approach within hailing distance, and soon went on her 
 way. ' I would give a thousand dollars,' said Captain 
 Dustan, l for another anchor.' But another anchor he 
 could not have. All hope from human aid now van- 
 ished, and our only trust was in God, and to him 
 went up devout supplications for deliverance. All as- 
 sembled in the cabin ; a portion of scripture was read 
 and prayer offered by the lamented Armstrong, in 
 which he prayed that we might be delivered from the 
 perils of the mighty deep and the pangs of death. 
 Another followed, and prayed that, as when our Sa- 
 viour went down into a ship with his disciples, and a 
 storm arose, he would rebuke the wind and the raging 
 of the waters, that they should cease and be calm. 
 Prayer is ever solemn ; but never did those present 
 find a more awakening echo in their own bosoms. A 
 few frail planks and cables separated us from eternity. 
 A few moments, and all might be summoned to the 
 bar of God. 
 
 " From twelve to five o'clock, p.m., the howling storm 
 and tempestuous sea ceased not their wrath. The gale 
 had been a hurricane. Onward towards the dread break- 
 ers we were drifted. The sun went down, and with it 
 the last ray of hope. We were but a few cables' length 
 from the deafening breakers ; and the* roaring tempest 
 increased in its wild madness. Momentarily Ave ex- 
 pected to be dashed upon the rocks. But, though so 
 near the rocks and hoping to be cast ashore while day- 
 light yet lasted, the hour was not yet come. Our an- 
 chors were doubtless entangled in the rocks — the boat 
 was nearly stationary. All night the wind blew a 
 tornado. Before and on either side the fierce billows, 
 increased by the heavy ground swell, like huge levia- 
 thans of the deep, seemed eager for their pr-ey. Behind 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 59 
 
 us was the rockbound shore, rugged and black as the 
 caves of Eolus. On the deck of our fragile bark stood 
 the helpless child and the fond mother, the strength of 
 manhood and the fulness of age. The perils of death 
 by steam, and death by fire, we had passed. And now 
 death by hunger and death by cold confronted us ; or 
 should it be a watery grave, or should we be torn 
 piece-meal by falling timbers, or amid the rugged rocks ! 
 Daylight had gone, and the moon had ceased to lend 
 her cheering rays. Darkness had spread her funereal 
 pall, and the sublimity of horror was at its height. 
 
 "At half-past four o'clock, on Friday morning (27th), 
 a tremendous sea struck her, which made every joint 
 and timber in her entire extent tremble and groan as 
 in the death-struggle. The cable of a large anchor, 
 which had held on so faithfully for a day and two 
 nights, parted ; and immediately after the others snap- 
 ped like threads, and ashore she went, first striking 
 lightly twice, and then hard down upon the rocks. 
 This was the crisis of her fate. A tremendous sea 
 threw her up to the very top of the ledge, so far up as 
 almost to throw her over on the other side. It was 
 terrible and heart-rending in the extreme. In five 
 minutes after she struck she was in pieces. In these 
 five minutes, at least forty -five of her passengers and 
 crew were taken from time into eternity. The screams, 
 the crash, the war of the sea was dreadful. Over the 
 horrors of that awful scene of war and death I would 
 draw a veil. The thought of the sufferings of that 
 melancholy night oppresses my brain. The howling 
 tempest still chills my veins. The crashing of falling 
 timbers still makes me shudder. The earthquake roar 
 of breakers yet stuns my senses. The fearful grinding 
 on the rocks yet grates on my ear. The death shrieks 
 of women and children, as they sink in their cabin- 
 
60 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 coffins into a watery grave, still rend my heart. And 
 the solemn knell of that storm- tolling bell, as it pealed 
 the sea-requiem of the many noble and loving hearts, 
 will for ever ring in my memory." 
 
 Thus wrote one who, in mercy, passed safely through 
 the perils of those appalling scenes. He was cast 
 ashore by the waves which overwhelmed others in 
 death. 
 
 Another more fully delineates that solemn and affect- 
 ing scene, when the beloved Aimstrong first became 
 known to the passengers — when he was first made to 
 feel that a special work was there given him to do. 
 With the failure of Captain Van Pelt, of the Mohegan, 
 to afford relief, hope sank in the bosom of the sufferers. 
 The fearful reality now settled down upon them, that 
 their days were numbered, and a dreadful death and an 
 awful eternity were but a step before them. And to 
 whom should they look in this hour of peril ? Who, 
 during these few hours, big with eternal interests, 
 should guide their minds to the Great Deliverer, to 
 Him who takes away sin ? Armstrong was there. 
 God had placed him there — a prophet and a priest, to 
 instruct them in the way of righteousness, and, by sup- 
 plications and prayers, to present them to the Great 
 High Priest, and to intercede for His pardoning mercy. 
 Says one of the sufferers who survived : " At that 
 time one, whose calm and benevolent face had attracted 
 the attention of many, assembled the passengers in 
 the cabin for prayer. He said they were in great peril, 
 but with God all things were possible ; to Him could 
 they alone look for safety, for the winds and waves 
 obey him. He referred to that time when the disciples, 
 following their Lord into a ship, a great tempest arose, 
 insomuch that the ship was covered with waves. And 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 61 
 
 the disciples coming to Jesus, who was asleep, fcried 
 out, 'Save us, Lord! or we perish;' then he arose, and, 
 rebuking the winds and the waves, a great calm fol- 
 lowed. To such refuge must they, too, look in an 
 hour like that. He then spoke of the care which God 
 had for us : that even as the sparrow shall not fall to 
 the ground without his knowledge, nor our very hairs 
 be unnumbered, so let us not fear, for we are of more 
 value than many sparrows. Thus did he strive to turn 
 the minds of those about him to God, the only sure 
 refuge in the storm. His fervent prayers ascended on 
 high for God to save them from their imminent dangers, 
 and to prepare each soul for what awaited them. It 
 was Dr. Armstrong, one of the Secretaries of the 
 American Board of Missions, a devoted servant of God. 
 The clear, calm tones of his voice, reassured and com- 
 forted many hearts ; while they touched a peculiarly 
 tender chord in the bosom of one who listened. It was 
 Lieutenant Maynard. The tones struck him as the 
 familiar tones of childhood ; the holy expression of that 
 face was one that he had looked upon and reverenced 
 years before. He recognized his old pastor, the pastor 
 of his boyhood, in Kichmond, Virginia. He sought the 
 good man out, and made himself known, and after- 
 wards had the satisfaction of doing all in his power 
 for his comfort and preservation. Such were the 
 .Thanksgiving exercises on board the Atlantic. While 
 multitudes on the shore, and not far off from them, 
 were peacefully rendering their thanksgivings in the 
 house of God that morning, this little band were 
 assembled in the cabin of a lurching, straining steamer, 
 amid the howling winds, but a plank's breadth between 
 life and death." 
 
 Another witness and sufferer in the same scene thus 
 
 4 
 
62 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 writes to the .Boston Traveller. We may copy an 
 extract which will help more fully to delineate the 
 whole picture. 
 
 " In reference to Dr. Armstrong, Mr. Leverett says : — 
 I first noticed him, soon after the bursting of the 
 steam chest, fastening a life-preserver around his body, 
 one, which from inquiry, I ascertained that he carried 
 with him. (It was not until daylight on Thursday 
 morning that the life-preservers belonging to the boat 
 were furnished to the passengers.) An entire stranger, 
 my attention was attracted by the calm, benevolent 
 expression of his countenance. The hearts of the pas- 
 sengers seemed to yearn towards him as towards a 
 father ; they watched him closely, and gathered around 
 him whenever he spoke. When he conducted the only 
 meeting held during our peril, of which I was aware, 
 his remarks were very brief and pertinent, and uttered 
 in a calm, steady tone of voice. He said we were in 
 great peril, but to God all things were possible, the 
 winds and the sea obeying Him. He reminded us of 
 the scene narrated in the 8th chapter of Matthew, 24th, 
 25th, and 26th verses ; he opened the Bible and read 
 from the 10th chapter of Matthew, the 29th, 30th, and 
 31st verses. He then in prayer made most fervent 
 appeals to our heavenly Father to save us from the 
 imminent peril in which we were placed. When the 
 captain called us upon the upper deck, and told us to 
 cling to whatever we could, after assisting in rigging 
 several doors, I took my stand, clinging hold of a 
 stancheon ; soon Dr. Armstrong came up to the same 
 stancheon. I asked of him permission to attach a rope 
 to the other end of his door, and share it with him. 
 { Certainly, if it will be of any service to you,' was his 
 reply. I felt a sort of security in being in company 
 with such a holy man in the hour of peril." 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 63 
 
 It was amidst these scenes of appalling interest that 
 Dr. Armstrong manfully executed his last mission on 
 earth. From the first he was calm, confiding in his 
 God, and about his Master's business. His own life in 
 imminent peril, himself about to give up his last account 
 — and with motives to live stronger than almost any man, 
 he is as serenely and diligently spending himself for 
 the salvation of others as if he had a long life before 
 him. Standing on the verge of eternity, fully con- 
 scious of his solemn position, and surrounded by the 
 fearful, the anxious, and the agonized, he is careful for 
 nothing but to devote his last hours to the benefit of 
 his fellow sufferers and to the honor of his God. How r 
 morally sublime his position ! Confiding his all into 
 the hands of his God, his life, his dear family, his soul, 
 the cause he so much loved, he worked on till the 
 summons came ; and then he was found with his loins 
 girt and ready. Happy man ! no languishing sickness 
 consumed him. He felt not the decrepitude of age. 
 No tiresome days of inactivity withered his ardent soul, 
 "With his armor on and the weapons of his warfare in 
 hand, he passed from the conflicts below to the peaceful 
 fields above. Often during his Christian life it had been 
 remarked of him that he lost no time, but was ever dili- 
 gent about the great work given him to do ; so, in his 
 death, he lost no time. He took no time to die. One 
 short step — one short moment — transported him from 
 •the lower to the upper field, where, without cessation 
 or loss of time, he commenced his eternal round of 
 services in fields more congenial to his high and holy 
 aspirations. What a contrast ! He bids adieu to earth 
 amidst the strifes of the tempest and the raging of the 
 billows. All of earth about him was a wreck ; and his 
 earthly relationships are broken up amidst the war of 
 the elements, and the shrieks and groans of his wretched 
 
64 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 fellow sufferers. All is now consternation and woe. 
 But with him how soon the turmoil and commotion of 
 the elements are hushed ! How soon the wail of anguish, 
 ceases to vibrate in harsh tones upon his ear ; and his 
 peaceful spirit wings its way beyond the reach of wind 
 and storm — where there is no night, no commotion of 
 the tempest, no anguish, no tears, no mourning. Jesus 
 walked upon those angry waves ; and though he suffered 
 his dear servant to be overwhelmed and crushed be- 
 neath the wreck, he was there to receive his spirit and 
 to conduct him safe to his Father's house. 
 
 On the intelligence of the disaster reaching New 
 York, it was said, " A clergyman, by the name of 
 Armstrong,' 7 was among the lost. His friends feared 
 for his fate. Mrs. Armstrong first learned the news, by 
 the cry of the news-carrier beneath her windows. 
 When further accounts corroborated their fears, sorrow 
 filled the religious community, where he was so well 
 known and so deeply beloved. Strong men, unused 
 to tears, were seen to weep over his untimely departure. 
 But who shall confirm the tale to the afflicted wife and 
 family ? This devolved upon Dr. Adams. The wife 
 answered to the ringing of the bell ; he took her hand 
 in his, and its chill told him how truly she apprehended 
 the nature of his visit ; overwhelmed with the burden 
 of his painful duty, he could not for a moment speak. 
 "The Lord always has prepared me to receive the 
 tidings he sends," she said, opening the way for the 
 mournful communication. " And I knew not," after- 
 wards declared Mr. Adams, M at which most to wonder, 
 the mystery of that providence, which had taken away 
 the husband and father, in the midst of his usefulness, 
 or that power of religious principle which sustained 
 the desolated heart of the bereaved." We might well 
 expect that she who could say with a degree of resig- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 65 
 
 nation at once triumphant and sublime, on a former 
 bereavement at the death of an interesting and lovely 
 child, " I rejoice that I had so lovely a child for my 
 Saviour, and that he took my loveliest, for he is worthy 
 of my best," would meet this greater bereavement with 
 that holy fortitude which none can possess but those 
 whose heart is stayed on God ; and how greatly is he 
 honored by examples like this ! what mother can imi- 
 tate it ? what wife can thus glorify her great Lord and 
 Master ? 
 
 Dr. Armstrong's body was carried to the city of 
 New York on Saturday night. His funeral services 
 were on Monday morning at 11 o'clock, at Dr. Adams's 
 church in Broome street. The aisles, vestibule, steps, 
 sidewalks, and the houses opposite, were crowded by 
 the sympathizing multitude, while many went away, 
 unable to enter the church. Ministers and friends met 
 at the house of the deceased, where a prayer was offered 
 by the pastor of the family, Eev. Mr. Eaton. A large 
 procession was then formed, to follow the body, which 
 was borne on a bier, preceded by the officiating clergy- 
 men, Drs. Adams, Skinner, De Witt, Badger, and Mr. 
 Eaton. Hon. T. Frelinghuysen, Drs. White, Ferris, 
 Spring, Patton, Brigham, Eobinson, A. Morrison, 
 Esq., W. W. Chester, P. Perritt, A. G. Phelps, E. T. 
 Haines attending as pall-bearers. A solemn stillness 
 spread over the vast congregation as the body was 
 ushered in and placed in front of the pulpit. Dr. 
 Skinner commenced the services by reading the hymn, 
 beginning, — 
 
 " Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb, 
 
 Take this new treasure to thy trust, 
 And give these sacred relics room 
 To seek a slumber in the dust." 
 
 After singing, he read the 90th Psalm. Dr. Adams 
 
GG MEMOIR OP TV. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 then addressed the assembly in a strain of touching 
 remark. He was followed by Dr. Badger, who dwelt 
 upon the many virtues of the deceased. u It was a 
 public calamity," he said, " to the cause of missions and 
 all kindred institutions. It would be felt in Persia, 
 China, India, as well as amid the islands of the sea. 
 Zion was smitten, and the hand of the Lord was upon 
 them." Kev. Dr. De Witt led in prayer, while the 
 vast throng were in tears. Dr. Cox pronounced the 
 benediction. The services being over, the body was 
 taken to the Third Presbyterian Church in Newark, 
 whose pulpit he had last occupied on earth, where, after 
 appropriate services, conducted by Dr. Eddy and Eev. 
 N. S. Prince, it was placed in a vault of the church ; a 
 numerous and deeply affected assembly were present, 
 among whom were some of the most distinguished 
 individuals of the State. 
 
 At a discourse delivered at Park Street Church, Bos- 
 , ton, by the Eev. N. Adams, by appointment of the 
 Executive Committee of the Board, commemorative of 
 the late Dr. Armstrong, after speaking of his self- 
 denying, arduous labors, of his fervent and excellent 
 piety, Mr. Adams tenderly exclaimed, "Dear associate, 
 brother, friend ! thy path to heaven has been so radiant 
 with glory, that we cannot think of thee among the 
 dead, but as gone before us to that blessed home, to 
 mingle thy notes of thanksgiving, with those of Worces- 
 ter, and Evarts, and Cornelius, thy predecessors in the 
 same field of labor." 
 
 " Among the redeemed/' he proceeded, " the departed 
 Armstrong would look with peculiar interest on the 
 heathen converts; there would he behold the young 
 queen of Madagascar, casting her martyr crown at the 
 feet of Jesus ; the Persian dazzled by a brighter sun 
 than ever shone on the flowery vale of Ispahan ; the 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 67 
 
 Christian, bringing forth fruit in old age ; the Chinese, 
 bowing before the great father ; the Hindoo ; the native 
 of the Isles, purified from all his pollutions ; the son 
 of the forest clothed in a robe of spotless purity. He 
 had now seen the King in his beauty, his throne and 
 his servants, — this was enough. Courage then, soldiers 
 of the Cross ! one of our number has been taken to 
 heaven. Let us return to our work with joy. And as 
 the passengers on board the Atlantic shook hands but 
 a few moments before the fatal stroke, let us pledge 
 ourselves to our missionary brethren, to the world, and 
 to our Master, that we will engage in our work with 
 new diligence, our first business being to save ourselves, 
 the next, to do all we can to save others." 
 
 In the death of Armstrong the cause of missions lost 
 a faithful servant. He was in labors abundant. A 
 large portion of his time was spent in visiting the 
 churches, attending conventions, making missionary 
 tours, and devising means and plans for deepening an in- 
 terest in this great work. In times of extremity, when 
 the funds of the Board were low, he freely relinquished 
 a portion of his salary. He deeply felt that the real 
 success of the missionary work would be graduated by 
 the depth of the spirituality of the Church ; and ex- 
 pected permanent means for carrying forward this work 
 only in the prevalence of genuine revivals of religion. 
 No discouragement daunted him— no diminution of 
 funds or lack of missionary agents depressed him, 
 while the records of revivals brought the intelligence 
 that God was increasing the fervent, active piety of his 
 Church, 
 
 In the absence of such manifestations, and as diffi- 
 culties arose, he would say: " I do not know what we 
 shall do unless God pours out his Spirit on the Churches." 
 On one occasion he wrote thus to the compiler : " There 
 
68 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 is, I trust, some increase of missionary feeling in this 
 city, and perhaps in the churches generally. Yet we 
 are sadly behind the Providence as well as the Word 
 of God, in our readiness for prayer and effort in this 
 great cause. Unless it shall please God to pour out his 
 Spirit more extensively and abundantly than he has 
 yet done, the prospect looks dark. Yet he has not 
 ceased to chastise, and may Ave not hope, when he so 
 rebukes our idolatrous confidence in man, that he 
 means to draw us away from our creature dependencies, 
 and compel us to put our trust in him, and thus prepare 
 us for a blessing. — May it be so." 
 
 But this indefatigable servant began to feel that he 
 had tasked his physical powers to their full measure. 
 
 Two weeks before his death, he preached in the third 
 Presbyterian Church in Newark, and pleaded the cause 
 of missions, with more than his usual eloquence. On 
 being asked, at the close of the afternoon service, if he 
 could address a few words, adapted to the youth of the 
 congregation, he replied: "I am worn out, and if I 
 speak again, I must go and lie down," his physical 
 strength seeming much exhausted. He spoke again in 
 the evening with great earnestness and fervor upon the 
 Nestorian revival, and the great necessity of a revival 
 here. His words always came with great power, for 
 they flowed from a heart deeply imbued with an unc- 
 tion from the Holy One. His last public address was 
 made just two weeks from the day of his death, at the 
 chapel of the Union Theological Seminary, New York. 
 A discussion is usually held on every Friday evening 
 by the students; and on this occasion the question "Is 
 it desirable that Theological Students should decide the 
 question of personal duty in respect to the Missionary 
 work, at an early period in their course ?" was the sub- 
 ject selected. Dr. Armstrong was present, and was re- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 69 
 
 quested to give his opinion. He urged the duty of an 
 early and speedy decision for the sake of the souls 
 who are perishing every hour among the heathen, and 
 for the honor of Christ, whose name and merits we 
 should seek to extend far and wide over the whole 
 earth. 
 
 Thus suitably closed the public labors of this labori- 
 ous and faithful servant. His record is on high ; his 
 works follow him. Though years have elapsed since 
 he ceased from his labors, he still lives fresh in the re- 
 membrance of thousands who once loved to welcome 
 him to their homes and to the sanctuaries of their God. 
 
 The Church of Christ felt the bereavement. The 
 following record did but reiterate the feeling of many 
 a church, and many a benevolent association throughout 
 our land. 
 
 At a meeting of the New York and Brooklyn Foreign 
 Missionary Society, at the Broadway Tabernacle, New 
 York, Dec. 7, 1846, the following preamble and resolu- 
 tions were unanimously adopted. 
 
 11 It having pleased Almighty God to remove from 
 this life the Eev. Dr. Armstrong, one of the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 
 
 " Resolved, That this sudden and painful dispensation 
 is to be regarded as a public bereavement, demanding 
 the most serious attention, profound humiliation, and 
 prayerful improvement on the part of the friends of 
 missions. 
 
 11 Resolved, That the fidelity, zeal and devotion, with 
 which this beloved servant of Christ has discharged 
 his official duties, his cheerful self-denial, indefatigable 
 labors, fervid appeals, and assiduous industry on behalf 
 of missions, while they furnish us with the best evi- 
 dence that he has entered upon the joy of his Lord, 
 
 4* 
 
70 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 combine to make his departure an occasion of unfeigned 
 grief to all who know his worth and cherish his memory. 
 
 "Resolved, That the cause of Foreign Missions being 
 the cause of Him who has all power in heaven and on 
 earth, and who has graven the church on the palms of 
 his hands, no event, however disastrous, should be suf- 
 fered to diminish or relax our exertions in this great 
 undertaking ; and moreover, as chastisements are em- 
 ployed by the great Head of the church, for the benefit 
 of the churches and communities as well as of indivi- 
 duals, we would seriously regard these successive afflic- 
 tions which have befallen the American Board, in the 
 removal of so many of its prominent executive officers, 
 as means designed and adapted to deepen our sympa- 
 thy and augment our love and effort in behalf of that 
 cause to which our deceased brethren were so zealously 
 devoted, remembering the words they spake unto us 
 while they were yet with us. 
 
 "Resolved, That the Executive Committee of this 
 Society be requested, as soon as possible, to make ar- 
 rangements for the improvement of this afflictive dis- % 
 pensation of providence, by a discourse, and other ap- 
 propriate religious exercises. 
 
 " Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, signed 
 by the President and Secretary of this Society, be trans- 
 mitted to the widow and family of Dr. Armstrong, with 
 the expression of our sincere condolence, and most af- 
 fectionate Christian sympathies. 
 
 " Resolved, That the above resolutions be published 
 in the New York Observer, the New York Evangelist, and 
 other religious papers. 
 
 "Signed, 
 
 "P. Perrit, President 
 " A. Merwin, Rec. Sec." 
 
. MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 1l 
 
 A great and a good man has fallen ; but lie fell with 
 his armor on, at the post of danger, working while his 
 day lasted. While we wonder that he, whose pious 
 services seemed so needful to the church on earth, 
 should have been thus taken, we know not how great 
 the work he might have wrought on the last day of his 
 life, when the very elements seemed combined to add 
 power to his instructions, or how wide and blessed is 
 the sphere elsewhere, in which the Lord had need of 
 his ministrations. Let us ask ourselves, if we possess 
 that confidence in God, that sweet assurance of his love, 
 which will fit us calmly and steadily to meet the emer- 
 gencies of life and the suffering and issues of death ; if, 
 like our venerated friend, we are or shall become living 
 epistles, known and read of all men, of the value of 
 faith and prayer above all that the world can give : thus 
 honoring the doctrine of God our Saviour, and winning 
 souls to his holy kingdom. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Further notices of Dr. Armstrong — Rev. J. C. Smith, "Washington Citr. 
 
 Among the notices of Dr. Armstrong which appeared 
 at the time, perhaps none gave a more complete and 
 accurate portraiture than the one prepared by the Rev. 
 John C. Smith, of Washington, and delivered at the 
 Monthly Concert of Prayer in the Fourth Presbyterian 
 Church. While it very beautifully illustrates some of 
 the happiest traits of the character of the departed as a 
 man, it seems, in other respects, the very echo of the 
 voice which had been silenced in the wreck of the 
 Atlantic. Though dead, he yet speaks in accents fa- 
 miliar to the ears of those who used to hear him with 
 so much delight. Is it not Armstrong, still pleading 
 for a dying world? Are not the tones, the spirit, the 
 sound scripture theory of Christian missions, the holy 
 pathos with which duty is urged — are not these the 
 true echo of the voice which had but recently died 
 away amid the deafening surges of the ocean ? And 
 was not the sainted spirit present at that meeting? 
 May there not be such a communion of the spirits of 
 God's children, that the sentiments uttered by a dear 
 friend of the departed, may be received as the senti- 
 ments of the departed yet the present one ? The me- 
 lancholy intelligence from the Atlantic was yet fresh in 
 every mind. Sadness had come over many a heart, 
 and in their sadness and depression the numerous 
 friends of Missions and of the prematurely removed 
 Secretary f had been and told Jesus. And is it strange 
 — improbable, that, as " they talked together of all 
 these things which had happened — while they com- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 73 
 
 mimed together and reasoned" as to why such a thing 
 should be, not only Jesus should draw near to them 
 and speak words of comfort, but that their recently 
 departed friend and brother, the newly entered into 
 glory, should be allowed to hover about a place so con- 
 genial to his soul while living, and doubly dear since 
 dead. Hereafter we may learn that the spirits of de- 
 parted friends who have been closely joined by the ties 
 of holy love, do commune with, do communicate to, 
 kindred spirits who are yet in the flesh. 
 
 The following paragraphs are more particularly 
 valuable, as accurately delineating the feelings and sen- 
 timents of the beloved Armstrong in his missionary 
 character. They pay, too, a deserved tribute to another 
 of the victims of the ill-fated Atlantic : — 
 
 "Among the passengers and crew who met death in 
 the cold waters of Long Island Sound, were more than 
 one whom we had respected and loved. One who had 
 mingled with us in the services of this sanctuary, after 
 an absence of two or three years, was just about to see 
 his beloved wife and their four lovely children, and 
 when almost at home, perished in that howling storm. 
 He had escaped all the perils of the sea, and the dis- 
 eases of the climate ; when all was past, and he almost 
 saw his wife and little ones, he was swept away into 
 eternity ? Dr. Charles A. Hassler is no more. You, 
 my brethren, will sympathize with that widow and her 
 children. You love her too much, to think of aught 
 else. Let your expressions of sympathy be in accord- 
 ance with that love. 
 
 "But there was another passenger on that boat, 
 familiar with all the perils of that dangerous passage, 
 for he had been for years exposed day and night, who, 
 with many others, passed away. You know whom I 
 
74 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 mean, for you well knew and loved Eev. Dr. William 
 J. Armstrong, Secretary of the A. B. C. F. M. For 
 many years he had served the church of Grod in this 
 relation ! His official duties required him to be in 
 Boston once a month. He had been there at the usual 
 time, had finished his business, and was on his return 
 to his office and family in New York. Little did his 
 brethren think, at the adjournment of their meeting, 
 that they should no more assemble for prayer and con- 
 sultation about the interests of the heathen world ! 
 They, like him, are devoted men, wholly consecrated 
 to Grod, and live knowing that the present is all uncer- 
 tain ; but it never, in all probability, passed through 
 their minds, that death would come to any one of them 
 as it came to Dr. Armstrong. When he said farewell 
 to them in Boston, who would have thought that their 
 next greeting would be in heaven? Painful, yet de- 
 lightful thought ! ( Even so, Father, for so it seemed 
 • good in thy sight/ In that terrible gale of the 26th 
 and 27th, the steamer Atlantic was awfully wrecked, 
 and our beloved brother went from the crashing and 
 crushing of the noble vessel, to the home of eternal 
 calm, and blessedness, and joy, and glory. 
 
 We have read to you the shipwreck of the Apostle 
 Paul. Has it ever occurred to you, why is this record 
 preserved ? It has been, and will be preserved. Grod 
 hath done it. It possesses a peculiar interest, especially 
 at a time like this. Expunge it from the record, and 
 you take away from the bereaved family, the church, 
 the country, and the world, one of the brightest illus- 
 trations of Grod's special providences. I assure you, my 
 brethren, that I now read it with new interest, gratitude, 
 and love. Here I know, that however terrible the 
 storm, Grod is there, not merely because he is every 
 where, but he is particularly there. There is something 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 75 
 
 more in this, than that God takes care in general of the 
 lives of his creatures — much more He was present with 
 his servant to cheer, sustain, and enable him in that 
 dreadful time to do his Master's will. Who of all that 
 company spoke out, and who became the director of 
 all that exposed band ?— the prisoner whom the centu- 
 rion's guard were conducting to trial ! Whose voice 
 was heard above the angry roar, and whose influence 
 was greater than the commander's ? Paul's. The Apos- 
 tle was the man, because he was the servant of God, and 
 God was with him ! What are storms, and tempests, 
 and rocks, and wrecks to God ! He holds the winds 
 in his fists, and directeth in the storm ! Life and death 
 are at his disposal, and he doeth according to his wise, 
 gracious, sovereign will. It is the Lord ! We recog- 
 nise God in the whirlwind and storm ; and amidst all 
 that occurs, know that he doeth all things well. In 
 one painful respect, the wreck recorded in this chapter 
 and that of ' the Atlantic ' differs. Paul was saved and 
 all the company ; while in this our beloved brother 
 Armstrong was lost, and many others with, him ! But 
 the passage before us, after all this exception, retains 
 its own place, and furnishes its own consolation. l In 
 thy light we see light. 7 
 
 " I have invited you here, this evening, to improve 
 the dispensation which has reached so many hearts, 
 because this is the evening set apart for prayer for 
 missions. The time to meditate upon this bereavement, 
 is at least most appropriate ; for nothing could have 
 occurred, which would have affected more seriously this 
 cause. The influences on us, are not all depressing ; 
 there is light, strong, beautiful and comforting light in 
 this darkness. So that while we are ready to say that 
 missions have sustained a severe loss, we are now ready 
 to say, that the cause is in the eternal purpose of God, 
 
76 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 and cannot therefore be affected by the loss of its sub- 
 ordinate agencies or instrumentalities. We, my breth- 
 ren, are to regard ourselves and all others, as dispensable 
 agents, to be relieved at any time and in any way that 
 the infinite wisdom of the Chief Missionary may suggest. 
 We have selected this evening as §te time for meditating 
 upon this great theme, viz., that all the agencies and 
 instrumentalities are merely secondary. 
 
 TRUE THEORY OF MISSIONS. 
 
 The cause of missions is in the purpose, councils, and 
 plans of our covenant God, and living, our beloved 
 brother acted on this, and dying, if a moment of con- 
 sciousness was afforded, it was his solace, and all above 
 was light, and covenant love. The idea of missions is a 
 very simple one, and is best expressed, in short, by 
 saying, it is an errand of mercy and salvation. We 
 often think and speak of missions as man's device, and 
 treat the subject accordingly ! Hence many neglect it 
 wholly. Others will attend any and every other meeting 
 but' a missionary meeting, and speak of it with great 
 coldness and indifference, if indeed they speak of it at 
 all. There is in such a want of intelligent views, 
 enlarged mind, or an absence of the spirit of our Lord 
 Jesus, and I am most happy to restate the proposition 
 for our consideration, that ' Missions are in the councils, 
 purpose, and plans of our covenant God. 7 
 
 " Why, what is the love of God but this ! What the 
 gift unspeakable ! — what the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ! what all his groans, sorrows, agonies, and death 
 upon the cross ! but this, ' God so loved the world.' 
 'Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he 
 loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for 
 our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 77 
 
 whole world ?' What is the organization of the church, 
 the continued gospel ministry, but so many parts of 
 this one great missionary scheme of salvation from God 
 to man ? And then, as if that were not enough, the Lord 
 Jesus said, l it is needful for you that I go away, but if 
 1 go away I will send the Comforter to you.' The 
 Holy Spirit is the invisible Divine mission agent from 
 the throne of thrones — the throne of grace ; and every 
 sinner converted, and every Christian saved, are but 
 the fruits of this great missionary plan of grace and 
 glory. 
 
 " The simple plan of missions is, that those who love 
 and enjoy blessings from God, send and communicate 
 these blessings to those who have them not. On this 
 principle God himself acts, and all who have any of his 
 spirit or likeness. Hence l to do good and to commu- 
 nicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well 
 pleased. 7 Jehovah is the one great, eternal source of 
 blessings ; and these he continually dispenses abroad, 
 and therefore his entire gift of grace is one vast mis- 
 sionary heart and treasure, out of which he liberally 
 supplies the whole world. When God was manifested 
 in the flesh, and just as he was about to return to glory, 
 he issued his commission to the Church, ' Go ye into all 
 the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, and 
 lo I am with you, even unto the end of the world. 
 
 " The Church now is ' the salt of the earth,' 'the 
 light of the world,' and is essentially a missionary society, 
 and commissioned to bear the glad tidings of great joy 
 round the world. Every spot where human beings are 
 found, is the point to which efforts are to be directed, 
 for God designs to save the world through the instru- 
 mentality of the Church. l Ye are my witnesses,' saith 
 the Lord. We are to show forth the perfections of Him 
 who hath called us from darkness into light, and the 
 
78 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 Church never will possess the spirit of her Lord, until 
 all this is understood and appreciated, and each of her 
 sons and daughters be consecrated to God in the work 
 of conversion and salvation. Oh, that we may be 
 imbued with this spirit, and our love and zeal be burn- 
 ing before God continually ! 
 
 " The work of missions, we repeat, is the work of 
 God to be accomplished through agencies and instru- 
 mentalities, called into requisition from time to time. 
 These may be changed at any time, reformed, or disused. 
 They are only secondary. In this connexion we find 
 the American Home Missionary Society, and others ; 
 last, but not by any means least, ' The American Board.' 
 This Board has about it the least possible machinery, 
 and conducts its vast plans with the least possible ex- 
 pense. The Secretaries uniformly write and speak of 
 the Board as the agents of the churches, associated to 
 do whatever the churches may agree and determine 
 shall be done. Perfection in its plans and operations 
 has never been claimed. But all these are marked with 
 great wisdom, prudence, and foresight. Great and glo- 
 rious have been the results, for which every Christian 
 heart must praise and magnify the Lord. The brethren 
 on whom is devolved the responsibility of conducting 
 our affairs, ever declare their weakness in grasping the 
 great subject of Missions, and freely confess that theirs 
 is but humble co-operation with God, and that if they 
 die, or even withdraw, the magnitude and importance 
 of the work will remain. Their work and ours is 
 identical. They distribute what we appropriate. They 
 are but almoners of our bounty to a guilty and ruined 
 world. 
 
 Were the American Board disbanded altogether, it 
 would not touch the great principle of its organization; 
 or if all men were to unite and refuse to do anything 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 79 
 
 in the work of missions, we could no more affect the 
 divine cause, than we could scale the throne, or over- 
 turn the government of God. The Board is but one 
 member in the body ; if peradventure it suffer, all the 
 members united suffer with it. Because he who sits 
 therein is c King of kings and Lord of lords,' and he 
 will accomplish all his plans. None can stay his course. 
 He will ride on, conquering and to conquer. Who will 
 rejoice in his triumphs, or be crushed in his power? 
 His is the kingdom, and the power, and glory, for ever, 
 and ever ! Amen ! 
 
 "In accordance with the views exhibited, are we to 
 regard the living and dying of trie friends and agents, 
 in conducting the work of missions? The work is 
 immortal, because divine. Its laborers here are creatures 
 of a moment, and at any time may resign their breath. 
 It becomes all to work while it is called ' to-day,' the 
 night cometh, &c. Take the scriptural view of missions, 
 and we will live in and labor for them. They are but 
 an extended view of the gospel ministry, in which, 
 ministers and Christians are multiplying themselves all 
 over the world, and sowing the seeds of righteousness 
 and peace in all the earth. 
 
 " The views now submitted, I know were those 
 entertained by our late beloved brother, and his whole 
 life corresponded with, them, for never did man give 
 himself more unreservedly to any work than he did to 
 this, in which he lived and died. To my mind, the 
 work has an additional interest in the death of Dr. 
 Armstrong. He loved it even unto his death, and his 
 parting prayer would naturally be that the whole earth, 
 may be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the 
 waters cover the sea." 
 
80 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 dr. Armstrong's labors. 
 
 11 To most of those present, Dr. Armstrong was best 
 known as a Secretary of the American Board ; and we 
 shall speak of him first as thus employed. *I have 
 known him in all the relations of life. In my ordina- 
 tion in Portsmouth, Va., he was a member of the East 
 Hanover Presbytery, and laid his hand upon my head. 
 He, in the name of Grod and the Presbytery, delivered 
 to me the solemn charge, on entering the whole work 
 of the ministry. Never can I forget that occasion — 
 that scene, that charge, that beloved brother ! Oh 
 how earnest he was ! With what emphasis did he charge 
 me to be faithful unto death ! How his heart spoke to 
 mine ! In that service a link was formed but never 
 broken till the dreadful wreck of the Atlantic. He has 
 entered into his rest, while I toil on ; and in the spirit 
 of that charge, desire to be faithful as he was, until 
 with him, I enter into the joy of my Lord. At the 
 time of my ordination just spoken of, he was the Pastor 
 of the First Presbyterian Church, Eichmond — a noble 
 church indeed — it was as a city set upon a hill. Its 
 light was radiated in every direction, and enlightened 
 and comforted many a feeble band laboring up to per- 
 manency and self-support, and shedding its light all 
 over the heathen world. 
 
 " This charge Dr. A. resigned about twelve years ago, 
 and became Secretary mt the Central Board of Foreign 
 Missions. He travelled much through Virginia, and 
 North Carolina, and Maryland, &c. &c, and encountered 
 dangers, trials, difficulties, till 1835, when he was ap- 
 pointed one of the Secretaries of the American Board. 
 
 " In all this time, I have known him intimately. He 
 has visited me and my people annually. His regard 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 81 
 
 and affection for me were seen in my appointment to 
 a place in the Board, as a corporate member— the most 
 distinguished honor to which I could aspire. Unex- 
 pected, never thought of, the manner in which it was 
 done made it so much more agreeable. 
 
 " His department was domestic correspondence with 
 pastors and churches, and raising of funds on a given 
 field, embracing our city, and other Southern churches. 
 He was untiring — working all day, and travelling all 
 night, and he lost his life in this way. He was not 
 with his family more than three months in the year. 
 He constantly preached for his cause, and labored with 
 and for his brethren in their churches. He had great 
 power of physical endurance, and always taxed his 
 strength to the utmost. His zeal never cooled. He 
 never was weary in his work — certainly not of it. 
 
 " His duties called him to speak much of money, 
 and adopt plans to raise it ; but he had no secular taint. 
 He lived above all such influence, and asked for and 
 received money because it was the Lord's, and con- 
 sidered himself the mere distributor. This was a very 
 prominent trait in his character and labors. This was 
 so, because he was pre-eminently a holy man. Not that 
 which expends itself in weeping, or penning beautiful 
 sentences in a diary or a letter ; but acquired in com- 
 munion with Grod, and developed in a consistent life. 
 He lived, he walked, with God, and the more holy he 
 became, the more consecrated he was to his appropriate 
 work. My brethren, you will remember how full of 
 heaven he was in his two last visits to us. I felt it 
 good to be with him. All absorbed he was in preach- 
 ing Christ to all the world, and have the churches share 
 with him in his joys and blessing to all mankind. The 
 children and youth of the church will call to mind his 
 eloquent address to them, at the anniversary of the 
 
82 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 Junior Missionary Society. Will not that society be 
 more holy in heart and life, and do more, much more, 
 for the Nestorians ? I have never known any man 
 who gave himself more entirely to his work than Dr. 
 A. It was all the time. At home, abroad, in his office, 
 in conversation, in the car or steamboat — everywhere, 
 he carried with him this spirit of consecration. The 
 longer he lived, the more he accomplished — the more 
 pure and ardent his desires became. Even now, as I 
 speak, I can see him in his place at the meeting of the 
 Board last September, in New Haven, and as he was 
 on board the steamboat in which we came together to 
 New York. As he lived, so he died, in the discharge 
 of duty, while exposed to death on the boat. What a 
 beautiful testimony to the power of religion ! This man 
 of God was the man to speak to his fellow passengers 
 in their solemn crisis. 
 
 " The amount of his writing, speaking, preaching, 
 and travelling, cannot be appreciated. He never spoke 
 of what he did, only of what he wanted to do ; but the 
 amount must have been very large — for he was never 
 idle, and scarcely ever sick or even unwell. But his 
 memorial is with God, and his reward is here. 
 
 " I knew Dr. A. as a pastor in Eichmond — one of 
 our own elders knew him as such in Trenton, N. J., 
 before he went to Eichmond ; and he blesses God that 
 through him he was converted to God. As a pastor, 
 he was untiring, and faithful, and laborious. He was 
 blessed with revivals, and had a wide influence in the 
 councils of the church. 
 
 " I knew Dr. A. at home, in the bosom of his family, 
 in Eichmond, and New York. He gave me a home for 
 two weeks when I was begging money to build this 
 church. He lived in the plainest and simplest manner. 
 His furniture was of the most ordinary sort, and his 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 83 
 
 children clad with cheap but comfortable apparel. His 
 salary was a bare support, and required economy to 
 make it sufficient. He had nothing over — for his hand 
 was open, as was his heart. Man was not informed of 
 the extent of his benefactions. These are remembered 
 before God. He ordered his household in the fear of 
 God. Now I can hear him, his wife, and their little 
 children, repeating each a verse at their morning devo- 
 tion. God was there. That home was one of the 
 points of light, in that dark, that wicked city of New 
 York. At home he had no idle time. He was reading, 
 or working, or employed in some way for God. The 
 inmates felt, while there, that life was short, and much 
 was to be accomplished, and that that family was striv- 
 ing to do all that in them lay. His wife, now a widow 
 in desolation, was a kindred spirit. I speak deliberate- 
 ly when I say, I never saw any woman whose heart 
 was so deeply in the work of missions as this now sadly 
 bereaved sister. This was the theme of her conversa- 
 tion at all times. Now she is alone. She will feel that 
 the cause has received her only treasure. She had con- 
 secrated herself, her children, and now her husband is 
 gone — sealing their mutual attachment to this divine 
 work of spreading the gospel round the world. The 
 mother and their five children are now left, in new cir- 
 cumstances, to prove the value of the covenant of God. 
 Nor will they be disappointed. God is faithful. He . 
 will perform ; and I am fully persuaded that this lone 
 widow will be provided for, as others have been, and 
 God will be their God for ever and for ever. 
 
 " Dr. A. was remarkably free from a worldly spirit. 
 He was very uniform in his habits, and rather reserved, 
 but still disposed to conversation. In all those which I 
 have had with him alone, or in common with others, 
 he appeared very free from a worldly spirit. He had 
 
84 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 no sectional feelings and prejudices. He was born in 
 New Jersey, and lived and preached the gospel there. 
 The first part of his ministerial life was in Virginia and 
 the South. His removal to the North did not lessen 
 his interest in, or affection for the South. The world 
 was his country, and for that he lived and labored. 
 He was in the world, but not of the world. * * * 
 
 " As a friend, I loved Dr. A. I had the most implicit 
 confidence in his sincerity. He was honest ; and when 
 he gave an opinion or counsel, you might receive it as 
 sincere, and the best his judgment could form. I would 
 have as soon trusted that judgment as any man's I have 
 ever known. Years of intimate friendship had increased 
 my affection for, and confidence in him. * * * * 
 
 " The cause, my brethren, is the same. This event 
 should make it dearer in our hearts, and over this event 
 we should make a fresh consecration of ourselves to God. 
 It is the cause of Jesus ! for which he lived and died, 
 and for which he now intercedes; Identify yourselves, 
 then, with it, and ' be ye holy, for I am holy.' As a 
 means, too, of growth in grace, we are to cherish this 
 cause. It expands our hearts, raises us above all sel- 
 fishness, and in it we act upon the plan before the mind 
 of Jesus himself — the world. 
 
 "Let ua improve this visitation, as a season of great 
 personal holiness, and a means of growth in grace." 
 
 Dr. Armstrong w^s a strong man. Though meek 
 and ever unpretending, he was mighty through God to 
 the pulling down of strongholds. He possessed many 
 of the elements of true greatness and of power. But 
 where lay his power and his greatness? They lay in 
 his moral character. He was eminently a man of God. 
 He had power with God as an angel. He was a man 
 of prayer. All his hopes of success and of permanent 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 85 
 
 prosperity in the work of missions lay in his strong 
 faith that it was the work of God. This strong faith 
 dictated his supplications at the throne of grace, and 
 enabled him to come with a holy boldness and a filial 
 confidence which expected no denial. The intimate 
 friends of Dr. Armstrong were delightfully impressed 
 with this feature of his Christian character. He 
 walked with God; he was much before the mercy 
 seat. We have, recently, somewhere, seen a very 
 pleasant testimony to this fact. A gentleman in New 
 Jersey, a friend of missions and of the late secretary, 
 was in the habit of calling occasionally at his room, 
 and often was it abundantly apparent that he had 
 called his friend from the posture of prayer, and 
 interrupted his supplications with his God. And so 
 testify others, who had occasion to visit his room. He 
 spent much time in prayer. He drew his strength from 
 the God of Jacob. He went out from the place of his 
 sanctuary clad in the armor of the upper Temple. His 
 arm nerved with Heaven's might, he drew the bow of 
 strength and shot no adventurous arrow. He spoke 
 with power. It was the power of goodness. He pleaded 
 the cause of a dying world eloquently, for he spake as 
 his heart was warmed and moved by Heaven's benevo- 
 lence towards this dying world. He felt his theme — 
 he was inspired by the greatness of the thought which 
 devised a scheme of mercy for this ruined world. Like 
 the soul of his master, his soul glowed with a divine 
 compassion for the perishing, and out of the abundance 
 of his heart he eloquently spoke. Many a church will, 
 for a long time to come, cherish a most affectionate re- 
 membrance of him as an organ of the American Board. 
 He pleaded the cause so kindly, so fervently, so evangeli- 
 cally, as greatly to commend him to the love of God's 
 people. He labored, not for a particular department 
 
 5 
 
86 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 of Christian benevolence, but for the kingdom of 
 Christ. 
 
 The pastors and churches in the city of New York 
 were greatly indebted to Dr. Armstrong. He did 
 much there to elevate the spirit of Christian piety and 
 benevolence ; and especially did he a good service in 
 originating the Monthly Missionary Meeting for prayer, 
 and the communication of missionary intelligence pre- 
 paratory to the monthly concert. This meeting has, up 
 to the present time, been attended in the city with the 
 most salutary results. It is held on the afternoon of 
 Monday, when the secretary or agent, residing at New 
 York, presents the most recent intelligence. The 
 Monthly Concert follows in the evening, when this in- 
 telligence is communicated to the several churches in 
 New York and Brooklyn. 
 
 But when we say that Dr. Armstrong's power and 
 greatness lay in his moral character, we do not mean 
 that he was wanting in, or that he possessed but a me- 
 diocrity of intellectual strength. He was a man of a 
 fine literary taste, which, especially in the earlier period 
 of his public life, he carefully and successfully culti- 
 vated ; and he possessed a mind of no common order. 
 And, had his pursuits, in after life, led him to cherish 
 his literary predilections and seek intellectual pre-emi- 
 nence ; or rather, had his views of the office of a New 
 Testament minister been such as to allow him to aim at 
 eminence in the literary and intellectual world, he pos- 
 sessed the capabilities of compassing such an end. But 
 with him literature, science, intellectual attainments, 
 possessed little worth except as they conduced to make 
 him a more simple, fervid, and effective preacher of the 
 gospel. " To preach Christ," says one who knew him 
 well, " was so entirely the business of his life, that his 
 sermons are often destitute of those literary attractions 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 87 
 
 which are so much admired." Yet, as a preacher, he 
 secured, in his public administrations, the highest ends 
 of intellect. He so prepared his sermons, and so de- 
 livered them, as to bring the truths he uttered in con- 
 tact with the minds of his hearers, and to lodge them 
 there. He was a happy example of a chaste and well 
 applied taste, and a consecrated intellect. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Dr. Armstrong as a Pastor, Preacher, <fcc. 
 
 Dr. Armstrong has already been referred to as a pas- 
 tor. In no position, perhaps, did he feel more at home, 
 and for the duties of no other office was he more pecu- 
 liarly fitted. As secretary of the Central Board of Mis- 
 sions he will be long and affectionately remembered as 
 a faithful and indefatigable agent, as the kind and sym- 
 pathising friend of the pastor, as the honest and ardent 
 advocate of a great and good cause. He was a welcome 
 visitor to the churches, and thousands will bear a will- 
 ing testimony to the salutary influences he left behind 
 him. And as Secretary of the American Board, he was 
 in journey ings and in perils oft, in labors abundant ; 
 a judicious, active and successful co-worker ; a safe and 
 valuable counsellor, and a fast friend. In all his rela- 
 tions, in his official station, he was not only most impli- 
 citly confided in, as a valuable and wise coadjutor, but 
 he was greatly beloved as a friend. The feeling of the 
 missionary, of the agent, of his co-secretaries, of every 
 lover of missions, was that he had lost a friend. 
 
 Dr. A. being known more extensively in his rela- 
 tions to the work of missions, it is natural that his cha- 
 racter should be estimated according to the value set 
 upon him in this connection. Nor was he too highly 
 estimated in this respect. Yet we apprehend that his 
 tastes and qualifications were more those of the good 
 pastor than of the agent or the secretary. His forte 
 was before the popular assembly as a preacher, and in 
 the discharge of the various duties of the pastorate. 
 What has already been said we think abundantly shows 
 this. Not a few yet living rise up to call him blessed, 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 89 
 
 for the untiring fidelity and tenderness with which he 
 discharged the duties of the pastoral office. The fol- 
 lowing brief letters indicate the manner in which he was 
 wont to console the afflicted : — 
 
 TO MISS E. D. 
 
 "Richmond, December 11th, 1832. 
 
 " My dear Sister : — 
 
 11 1 sympathise with you in that sore trial which 
 presses you down, that I may be able to console you. 
 Yet what can I do ? I can but stand as a guide post to 
 point 3 7 ou to Him who alone has power to bind up and 
 to heal. 
 
 11 1 fear you are looking too much to me. If so, I 
 have little hope of being able to do you any good. It 
 is my Master's prerogative ' to give beauty for ashes, 
 the oil of joy for mourning, and the garments of praise 
 for the spirit of heaviness ;' and he is 'jealous of his 
 honor, and will not give his glory to another/ Many 
 a time, I doubt not, Christians find means and ordi- 
 nances barren, because they rest in them, instead of re- 
 garding them merely as channels through which a gra- 
 cious God condescends to pour his grace into the thirsty 
 soul. ' My soul, wait thou only upon God,' should ever 
 be the language of our hearts. There are in the pre- 
 cious book of God topics of consolation, rich and nume- 
 rous, and adapted to all the wants and sorrows of his 
 people, while they are pilgrims in this vale of tears. 
 Let me suggest some of them, and let your heart be 
 lifted up in prayer, for that blessed spirit of promise 
 who is styled ( the .comforter,' and whom our Heavenly 
 Father is more ready to give to his children when they 
 ask, than earthly parents to give bread to their children. 
 
 " Consider then, my sister, who has sent this afflic- 
 tion. I w r as dumb, said one, I opened not my mouth, 
 
90 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 because Thou didst it. Is not this enough ? Does a 
 sparrow fall to the ground without our Father? and 
 shall we repine at his dealings? Is he not just, and 
 wise, and good ? Would not any change in his dis- 
 pensations be for the worse? How little do we know 
 the connexions, and what shall be the ultimate results, 
 of those events which now seem to us the most dark 
 and distressing ; and this is as true of events brought 
 about by the agency of Satan, or of wicked men, as of 
 any others. The crucifixion of Christ was probabl}', at 
 the time, matter of overwhelming grief and sorrow to 
 all his disciples, yea, of astonishment to angels. ' Yet, 
 while some of the actors in it probably sealed their own 
 perdition, it was the greatest source of blessings to the 
 world of sinners. So, too, when Joseph's brethren sold 
 him into Egypt : they committed a great sin, they meant 
 it for evil, but God meant to do great good by it. And 
 shall we not submit to his will? Shall we not acqui- 
 esce in his wise and holy dispensations? And these 
 remarks apply as well to all the circumstances as to the 
 event itself. Because God's superintending providence 
 orders time, and place, and manner, as well as the event. 
 
 11 Your relative was taken out of the world in the very 
 way which Infinite Wisdom chose. Now is he God? 
 Your God? Your Father in Christ Jesus? And will 
 you not say, Thy will be done ? Are you not willing 
 to let God do as he pleases ? Shall we let our feelings 
 rise up in opposition to his glory, and the good of his 
 kingdom ? 
 
 " While our friends are with us, it is both our duty 
 and our privilege to pray and labor for their conversion 
 and salvation. But when God has taken them away, 
 and the matter is decided, our only duty in reference to 
 them is submission. If we have done our duty in seek- 
 ing their salvation while they were with us, we have 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 91 
 
 cause to be thankful. Whether we have succeeded or 
 not, we shall not lose our reward. God will be glori- 
 fied, and we profited, by every prayer we have offered 
 and every effort we have put forth for them. 
 
 "If we have failed in our duty, we have cause for 
 penitence, and we should learn from the past to be 
 more prayerful and diligent in future. In either case, 
 we have neither time nor strength to spend in unavail- 
 ing grief, but should feel ourselves called upon to be 
 up and doing, working with our might while the day 
 lasts, because the night cometh when no man can work. 
 
 " My dear sister, do not sit down and pore over this 
 distressing dispensation, but look away to Jesus Christ, 
 who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Let it 
 make him more precious to you. Look forward to the 
 rest that remaineth for the people of God, where is no 
 more death, and God doth wipe away all tears from 
 their eyes. Let it make Heaven more desirable. Look 
 around you upon the many comforts you still possess, 
 and the many opportunities of being useful to near and 
 dear friends yet within your reach. And while you 
 thank God, take courage. Give yourself up anew to 
 Him who has bought you with his own blood ; and, as 
 the time is short, press toward the mark for the prize 
 of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. May he 
 bless this affliction, and every affliction to you, and so 
 fit you for his heavenly kingdom. The Lord bless you. 
 11 Your affectionate pastor, 
 
 " Wm. J. Armstrong." 
 
 TO MISS E. D. 
 
 "New York, June 28th, 1839. 
 
 " My dear Sister : — 
 
 " It pained us to hear that you were 
 
 still weak and suffering. The Lord has given you a 
 
92 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 large share of that fatherly discipline which he pro- 
 mises to all his children. Yet I trust you often feel 
 now, as I am confident 3^011 will joyfully acknowledge 
 at a coming day, that 'he hath done all things well/ 
 afflicting you 4n very faithfulness/ and causing l all 
 things to work together for your good/ He cares far 
 more for our holiness, and our everlasting blessedness, 
 than for our present comfort or ease, and hence in pro- 
 portion as he loves us he chastises us, when his wisdom 
 discerns that our highest good will thus be most signal- 
 ly promoted. 
 
 11 What a consolation it is that we are in the hands of 
 one who cannot err, and whose love to us, as it is un- 
 deserved and sovereign, so it is boundless and unchange- 
 able. Let us meekly kiss the rod, and while he corrects 
 or refines us by affliction, cling more closely to him, and 
 strive and pray to have no will but his. Have you read 
 the memoir of Mrs. Hawkes ? It is a precious book, 
 especially for the afflicted. 
 
 " It may be that our wise and loving Eedeemer de- 
 signs to take you to himself soon, and that he has laid 
 upon you so large a portion of suffering and sorrow 
 since he took you into his school, because it was his 
 purpose to complete your education for heaven at an 
 early day. Or, he may design that you shall glorify 
 him mainly by meek and patient submission, rather 
 than by active exertion in his cause. In either case, if 
 we knew his whole plan, we should see that it was per- 
 fect. We do not know all now, but what we know not 
 now we shall know hereafter, and humble, child-like 
 confidence now may anticipate the bright and clear 
 vision of a better world, and rejoice in the promise of 
 God as in a present reality. But it is much easier to 
 talk about these things than to realize them, and feed 
 upon them, when pain and weakness distress us, and 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 93 
 
 the grave seems just ready to open before us. May 
 you, my dear sister, enjoy his sensible presence in the 
 chamber of sickness, and on the couch of pain ; and 
 when he calls you to go hence, be it sooner or later, be 
 enabled to glorify him by a meek and humble trust, and 
 a joyful testimony to his faithfulness and love. 
 "I am, as ever, 
 11 Very affectionately yours in Christian love, 
 
 " Wm. J. Armstrong." 
 
 TO MISS E. D. 
 
 "New York, May 15th, 1839. 
 
 11 My dear Sister : — 
 
 " It pained me to hear that you are again a prisoner, 
 and suffering severe pain. If we did not know that 
 our best friend sends these afflictions, and as the choicest 
 tokens of his love, how hard it would be to strive 
 against impatience and despondency; and even with 
 this assurance, though the spirit is willing the flesh is 
 weak, and it is only as his grace sustains us, and we are 
 enabled to hang upon his promises, that we can say 
 from the heart, l Thy will be done.' 
 
 " But let us look to him who ' chasteneth us as a 
 father chasteneth his children,' and we shall be sup- 
 ported. What wise and tender parent ever gave a child 
 a more costly token of love than in chastening him, not 
 for his present ease, but for his highest eternal good ! 
 Even so, l whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.' Eead 
 the 103d Psalm, and the first part of the 12th chapter 
 of Hebrews, and may the Holy Spirit apply those pre- 
 cious truths with sweetness and power to your heart, and 
 I am sure you will not only l rejoice in the hope of the 
 glory of God, but glory in tribulation also, knowing 
 that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experi- 
 
 5* 
 
04 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 ence, and experience hope, even the hope that maketh 
 not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in 
 our heart by the Holy Ghost given unto us. 7 How fast 
 our friends are passing into eternity ! We shall soon 
 feel as if the larger portion had gone before us, and 
 that in this respect, also, heaven has more to attract us 
 than earth. Well, if they were Christ's friends, death 
 has triumphed only over their poor frail bodies. Our 
 friends are not in the grave where we laid their cold 
 and senseless dust. No; they are with Christ, made 
 perfect in his likeness, enjoying a communion with him, 
 which nothing can interrupt or mar, and showing forth 
 his praises as they never did on earth. And our turn 
 will come. Let us wait patiently all the days of our 
 appointed time, and, in sickness and suffering, sing — 
 
 " ' Though painful at present, 'twill cease before long, 
 And then, how pleasant the Conqueror's song.' 
 
 11 1 have just read an account of the last moments of 
 an excellent and laborious, but afflicted servant of 
 Christ, who fell asleep in Jesus on the 19th of Decem- 
 ber last, at Basle, in Switzerland. As he was d3'ing, 
 he desired those around him to sing a hymn, closing 
 thus : 
 
 " * As ivy clasps the oak, so may I cling to Thee, 
 Be thine in life and death, yea, thine eternally.* 
 
 " As they closed, he said: 4 Light breaks in! Hallelu- 
 jah !' and departed, to be with Him whom his soul 
 loved. Yes, dear sister, all things are ours. Life and 
 death, if we are Christ's. Be it our concern to lean 
 upon Him, doing his will and suffering his will, and 
 his grace shall be sufficient for us ; and in proportion 
 to our weakness and un worthiness shall his power and 
 
MEMOIIt OF W. J. AJIM8TB0NO. 95 
 
 love be magnified in us. May lie teach you more and 
 more, as he has in days past, that he is faithful and 
 true, and that having loved his own, he loves them to 
 the end. Let us hear from you often. The Lord keep 
 and bless you. 
 
 11 Very affectionately yours, 
 
 11 Wm. J. Armstrong." 
 
 The following notice taken of Dr. A/a death in Kich- 
 mond, Va., where he was for some years Pastor of the 
 First Presbyterian Church, indicates the kind remem- 
 brance which was entertained of him as a pastor and 
 a Christian man in that city: — 
 
 4 'The session of this church has received, with deep 
 sensibility, intelligence of the sudden death (by the 
 wreck of the steamer ( Atlantic') of their beloved friend 
 and christian brother, the Eev. Wm. J. Armstrong, 
 D. D., Secretary of the c American Board of Commis- 
 sioners for Foreign Missions,' and formerly Pastor of 
 the First Presbyterian Church in this city. By this me- 
 lancholy event, the church of Christ has been deprived 
 of one of her most devoted ministers, and the cause of 
 Foreign Missions of a warm friend and able advocate. 
 
 a Resolved, That in behalf of this church, we tender 
 to the A. B. C. F. Missions, and especially to the 
 bereaved family and friends of our departed brother, 
 our lively and heartfelt sympathy, under this trying 
 bereavement. 
 
 " Resolved^ That as Dr. Armstrong had appointed to 
 preach in this church on the 3d Sabbath in this month, 
 and receive our annual contribution to the cause of For- 
 eign Missions, the day be still appropriated to that object; 
 and that the Pastor be requested to preach a sermon on 
 
96 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 the occasion, with special reference to the death of otir 
 departed friend and brother.' 7 
 By order of the session. 
 
 J. C. Stiles, 
 Pastor of the United Pres. Church, 
 
 Shockoe Hill. 
 Samuel Reeve, Clerk. 
 
 Much might be said of Dr. A. 7 s domestic character. 
 But in no way can we in a few words delineate it so 
 pleasantly and truthfully, as is done in the following 
 brief letter from Mrs. A., which we are here permitted 
 to insert. Though it be the tribute of an affectionate 
 wife, it is doubtless a just tribute to actual worth : 
 
 Orange, N. J., Aug. 1st, 1851. 
 
 11 Rev. Hollis Read : 
 
 11 Dear Sir, — It is cause of regret that I cannot furnish 
 you with a private journal detailing my lamented hus- 
 band's daily Christian experience and labors. A diary 
 commenced in college, reveals a deep experience of the 
 conflict with sin and a delightful reliance on the atone- 
 ment and merits of Christ. It was there, at the age of 
 18, he consecrated himself to the ministry, and com- 
 menced those active labors which were blessed in the 
 conversion of souls. Letters of sentiment or friendship 
 he seldom wrote, except when a parishioner or friend 
 needed counsel or consolation. A few of these you 
 have. 
 
 "The work of grace in his soul was greatly quick- 
 ened from time to time by bereavements. Early in 
 life the loss of beloved parents, and of a companion 
 worthy of his love, taught him meek submission to his 
 heavenly Father's will. Subsequently a sister, brother, 
 son. and daughter, were removed from earth. Each 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 97 
 
 of these losses seemed to give him an impulse heaven- 
 ward, and it was evident to his friends that a peculiar 
 tenderness and unction were added to his preaching. 
 This was often poured forth in extemporaneous effusions 
 which we lose in the written sermons. 
 
 11 As a husband and father the natural benevolence 
 of his heart shone out in daily words of kindness or acts 
 of beneficence. He governed by love, while a mild 
 firmness guided all his parental acts. Being much 
 from home, his children could have but little of his 
 instruction ; yet the last duty performed for them was 
 teaching the shorter catechism. His last Sabbath on 
 earth was a day of intense bodily pain, borne with a 
 heavenly expression which I shall never forget. It was 
 the only silent Sabbath during his ministry, except one 
 when a Pastor in Eichmond, Virginia, where he had 
 well nigh fallen a victim to the cholera. But his 
 valuable life was spared for that missionary work which 
 engrossed all his powers. When declining in health I 
 urged him to retire to a country parish, where com- 
 parative quiet might revive his exhausted strength. 
 His answer was, ' I prefer to live and die in this blessed 
 cause. 7 Constant apprehension was felt in the family 
 circle lest his over-taxed energies should suddenly fail. 
 This tended to prepare us for our great loss. His con- 
 stant petition that Grod would prepare us for his Holy 
 will, was answered in that dreadful hour when his body 
 was brought home a lifeless corpse. We were not 
 permitted to murmur or sink, but through sustaining 
 grace, were enabled to say, ' justice and judgment are 
 the habitation of thy throne.' How soothing in the 
 hour of affliction to contemplate the redeemed spirit, 
 rejoicing in the perfect likeness of Christ. 
 
 " The promises to the widow and the fatherless have 
 been abundantly verified in our case, and prove that 
 
98 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 none who trust in Him shall be forsaken. We feel 
 unworthy of the blessings, temporal and spiritual, that 
 have crowned our lives. To our covenant God and 
 Saviour may they all be devoted, and the children 
 honor the memory of their father with much Christian 
 regard. 
 
 11 Yours sincerely, 
 
 "C. C. Armstrong." 
 
 Mrs. Armstrong speaks of the " natural benevolence of 
 his heart." This was read and known of all men as a 
 prominent characteristic of the man. And a trait so 
 characteristic in life, we might expect would manifest 
 itself when he stood amidst the perils of death. Mrs. 
 A. relates an instance beautifully illustrating this : A 
 plain man from the West called on Mrs. Armstrong 
 soon after the wreck, and with deep emotion, related 
 that he was the only survivor of three, who knelt 
 together in prayer at that trying hour when they mo- 
 mentarily expected death. On rising, Dr. A. looked on 
 him with affectionate earnestness and said, " my brother, 
 
 I love you." How much like heaven — how much like 
 the every day tenor of his life. " Christian love," says 
 one that well knew him, u habitually characterised his 
 words and actions. His family well remember that that 
 charity which hopeth all things and beareth all things 
 habitually governed him." 
 
 " Punctuality," we are assured from the same source, 
 
 II was a prominent trait of Dr. Armstrong's character. 
 His people always saw him in the pulpit or at the prayer 
 meeting in season. His business engagements were most 
 scrupulously met." So exact and prompt was he in all 
 pecuniary matters that, at the time of his death, though 
 so sudden and unexpected, scarcely an account remained 
 unadjusted. Weighty and engrossing as his public 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 99 
 
 duties often were, be never overlooked even the minutia3 
 of life's common duties. 
 
 We are permitted to insert here some additional facts 
 relative to Mr. Armstrong's early missionary life in 
 Virginia, and a further testimony as to the estimation 
 in which he was held where he long labored and was 
 well known, kindly furnished by the Eev. Dr. S. B. 
 Wilson, long the honored pastor at Fredericksburg, 
 now Prof, of Theology in Union Theological Seminary. 
 Dr. Wilson had known Mr. Armstrong from his first 
 coming to Virginia as a missionary. He knew, loved and 
 honored him up to the time of his death. In a letter 
 dated Union Theological Seminary, Sept. 24th, 1851, 
 Dr. Wilson says : — 
 
 " My acquaintance with the late Eev. William J. 
 Armstrong, D. D., commenced soon after his licensure, 
 when he came to labor in Virginia as a missionary. 
 In this service he continued some time, preaching in 
 destitute places on both sides of the Kappahannock 
 river, below and above Fredericksburgh. His minis- 
 trations in this destitute field were in a high degree 
 acceptable to the people, and it is believed were in many 
 cases blessed to the conversion of sinners, and the edifi- 
 cation and comfort of Christians, scattered as sheep 
 without a shepherd. He was earnestly solicited to 
 settle in more than one place in this region, where no 
 church had ever been organized, and where the people 
 had previously enjoyed no opportunity of hearing the 
 voice of a Presbyterian minister. These earnest solici- 
 tations, he reluctantly declined from a fear that the 
 climate on the tide water of Virginia would not suit his 
 health. 
 
 " His attention was next directed to the beautiful, 
 fertile, and healthy country that lies immediately on 
 
100 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 the east side of the Blue Ridge. After laboring for a 
 few months in the counties of Orange and Madison, 
 with great acceptableness to the people, he concluded 
 to take charge of the church in Charlotteville, then 
 recently organized, and to which he had been cordially 
 invited. 
 
 11 This selected field of labor was one of great import- 
 ance. Charlotteville was the county town of Albemarle, 
 distinguished for its wealth, and for the intelligence of 
 its inhabitants, and at that time selected as the seat of 
 the university of Virginia, which was then being 
 erected under the direction of Jefferson. It was a 
 position also of no little difficulty ; for in no part of the 
 State was infidelity more rampant, and sustained by 
 greater weight of character, both from high intelligence 
 and political influence. 
 
 11 But Mr. Armstrong, young and inexperienced as he 
 was, proved himself qualified for his station. He con- 
 ducted himself with so much wisdom and prudence, 
 that the mouths of gainsayers were stopped, prejudices 
 were removed, the truth, the necessity, and the infinite 
 value of Christianity were established, and infidelity 
 retired into secret places. The fruits of his labors, 
 cherished and matured by his worthy successors, may 
 be seen to this day, not only in the church to which he 
 ministered, but in the respect shown to religion in all 
 the region round about. By many, in that place and 
 county, his memory is still cherished with the highest 
 esteem and the most ardent affection. 
 
 11 On the removal of Dr. John H. Eice from the First 
 Church in Eichmond, to the Professorship of Christian 
 Theology in Union Theological Seminary, Mr. A. was 
 selected with great unanimity to be his successor. No 
 stronger evidence of the high estimation in which he was 
 held could be given, than his selection to be the Pastor of 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONO. ]01 
 
 the First Church in the capital of Virginia, and the suc- 
 cessor of such a man as Dr. Eice. Important and respon- 
 sible as was the position to which he was now called, he 
 fulfilled its duties to the entire satisfaction of his flock. 
 Under his ministry, his church and congregation so 
 much increased, that a new and larger edifice became 
 necessary. Few pastors have been blessed with larger 
 accessions to their churches than he enjoyed. 
 
 " As a man, Mr. A. was endowed with talents above 
 mediocrity. His literary attainments were not of the 
 first order, but they were considerable, and fitted him 
 in an eminent degree for the duties of his station^ As 
 a christian he was humble, sincere, consistent, and full 
 of ardor. In the social circle he was a cheerful, instruct- 
 ive, and agreeable companion. As a preacher, it was 
 his custom to prepare diligently and carefully for his 
 pulpit services. His sermons were well calculated to 
 instruct, excite, and comfort Christians, and to awaken 
 careless sinners. The fundamental doctrines of the 
 gospel, as held by Calvinists, were preached by him 
 fully and plainly. His style of composition was simple 
 and plain, such as the most illiterate could understand, 
 while the most accomplished scholars could find nothing 
 offensive in it. There was in nearly all his ministra- 
 tions an unction which proved how sincerely he believed 
 what he spoke, and how tenderly he felt for his hearers. 
 Such were the rich stores of truth treasured up in his 
 memory ; and such the fervor of his feelings, that on 
 an emergency, he could speak extempore, with great 
 appropriateness and power. 
 
 " On ecclesiastical judicatories, and other associations 
 for benevolent objects, Mr. A. was a punctual attendant, 
 and faithful in the performance of the duties assigned 
 him. In all his intercourse with his brethren he was 
 
102 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 kind and courteous, and hence was highly esteemed 
 and greatly beloved by all who knew him." 
 
 Many are still living who will recognise in the pic- 
 ture, presented in the following extract, the preacher 
 whom they once loved to hear, and to whom, under 
 God, they were greatly indebted in the things that 
 pertain to the spiritual life: — 
 
 "Albemarle, October 26th,*1851. 
 
 11 My Dear Friend and Sister : 
 
 " At the time when Dr. Armstrong visited Char- 
 lotteville in company with Messrs. Kirk and King, I 
 was pursuing my studies at the university of Virginia. 
 Partty out of respect to the Misses Terrell, and partly 
 from curiosity to hear one whom they considered an 
 eloquent man as well as an excellent preacher, I accom- 
 panied them on Sabbath evening to the Court House. 
 Miss E. Terrell had stated to me that, on a former 
 occasion, during the time of Mr. Armstrong's ministry 
 in Albemarle, her brother had gone to the Court House 
 to hear him. As he entered, and paused for a moment, 
 leaning against the door frame, his attention was arrested 
 by some striking expression or commanding attitude 
 of the speaker, and without materially changing his 
 posture, he listened in wrapt attention to the end of 
 the discourse. When the services were over and Mr. 
 T. was retiring, a friend said to him, ' There were many 
 who wept at that sermon. 7 'Yes,' said Mr. T., ' and 
 one must have had the heart of a lion, not to weep.' 
 
 "From this recital, my mind was prepared for some- 
 thing interesting. I was at that time a self-righteous 
 moralist, believing that I saw as clearly, and felt and 
 acted as well as most others. I fully came up to the 
 description of character to which the text and sermon 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 103 
 
 were addressed. The sermon was a solemn and powerful 
 warning and invitation on Eev. iii., 17,18. ' Because 
 thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and 
 have need of nothing,' &c, &c. 
 
 u Under that sermon I received impressions which 
 were never effaced. I listened with intense interest, 
 never withdrawing my eyes from the speaker; and 
 in consequence of being obliged to sit in such a position 
 that two candles were nearly in my line of vision, my 
 eyes, then strong, were made sore for nearly a week. 
 Two other individuals, present on that occasion, were 
 more affected than myself. One (a young lady) sank 
 down from her seat, and another was quite overcome. 
 Mr. King was afterwards heard to remark that if Mr. 
 Armstrong, in his visits to the country, generally 
 preached as he did on that occasion, it was no wonder 
 that he did good ; and I well remember that when I 
 afterwards spoke of it to one of Mr. Armstrong's elders, 
 he remarked, that much as his session valued his minis- 
 try, they could scarcely regret that he was frequently 
 called to preach for brethren in the country, as they 
 generally heard, sooner or later, that his occasional 
 labors of that sort were blessed. 
 
 " Believe me, with much respect and affection, your 
 brother in Christ, "A. L. Holladay." 
 
 Such testimonials are a sweet savor, a precious 
 ointment, more to be desired than fine gold. But such 
 was the esteem in which this beloved man was every- 
 where held. He was eminently a man beloved. Few 
 have shared so largely in men's best affections. In a 
 note accompanying the above sketch, Dr. W. says : 
 u I only regret that the sketch I have been able to give 
 is not more worthy of one so generally esteemed and 
 loved by all who knew him in Virginia." 
 
104 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 Few men knew Dr. Armstrong better or more favor- 
 ably than Mr. Frelinglnvysen. He was wont to hear 
 him preach when the preacher was in the dew of his 
 youth in Trenton, and well appreciated the peculiar 
 power of Dr. A. in the pulpit then and in after life. 
 And he well knew him as Secretary of the American 
 Board of Missions. The following letter which we 
 have been so kindly furnished with permission to use, 
 indicates in what estimation Mr. F. held him as a 
 preacher, a man, and a Christian. 7 At a single stroke, 
 he thus most graphically and beautifully delineates the 
 man : "As a pastor, a preacher, a Secretary of the 
 Board, he was in earnest. All around him felt it, 
 they could not but feel it. And this made him so 
 effective a laborer in the cause of his Master." But I 
 will quote the letter entire : — 
 
 "Xew Brunswick, October 7, 1851. 
 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 " I duly received your letter requesting, in behalf of 
 Mrs. Armstrong, such recollections of her excellent and 
 lamented husband as I might be able to communicate ; 
 and especially in regard to him as a preacher, and in his 
 official relations to the American Board of Foreign 
 Missions. 
 
 " I very often enjoyed the privilege of hearing him, 
 while he was a stated minister, at Trenton, N. J., and 
 the impression made upon my mind, deep and unfading, 
 was that of uncommon earnestness, sincerity, and power. 
 He commenced in his calm and solemn manner ; he rose 
 with his subject ; his mind kindled and his heart warm- 
 ed, as he discoursed ; and towards the conclusion he 
 poured his whole soul into it, as if he thought he might 
 never speak again, and as if some impenitent friend 
 before him might never hear again the voice of warn- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 105 
 
 ing and the invitations of mercy. I think that this 
 was the ruling element of his character. As a pastor, 
 a preacher, a Secretary of the Board, he was in earnest. 
 All around him felt it; they could not help feeling it; 
 and this made him such an effective laborer in the cause 
 of his Master. He loved the cause so much that he 
 forgot himself. He was disinterested, as few men have 
 attained. 
 
 " There was, besides all this, in his personal inter- 
 course, a Christian courtesy and kindness of manner 
 that seemed to spring up from a heart like the beloved 
 disciple's, and as if he had himself lain in the Saviour's 
 bosom. His countenance beamed with a heavenly 
 benignity. No one of his friends can ever forget, or 
 cease to love, that intelligent, persuasive, and happy 
 countenance. May his mantle fall on many such, for 
 many such are needed. 
 
 14 These, in brief, my dear sir, are some of the strong 
 points that I remember of the Eev. Dr. Wm. J. Arm- 
 strong, a man dear to the church of the Eedeemer ; and 
 that will, I doubt not, be held in everlasting remem- 
 brance. With affectionate regards to Mrs. Armstrong 
 and her children, 
 
 11 Yours, respectfully and truly, 
 
 11 Theodore Frelinghuysen. 
 11 Eev. Hollis Eead." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Other reminiscences. — His early ministry in Charlotteville. — Letter to 
 Mrs. Kelly. — To his sister. — To his daughter on her birthday. — Arm- 
 strong in his first field of missionary labor. — Conclusion. 
 
 Since preparing the foregoing pages, additional papers 
 have been furnished, too beautifully illustrative of the 
 character of our friend not to be allowed a place. As 
 the object has been, not to present a chronological bio- 
 graphy, but to portray the character of Dr. Armstrong 
 as he lives in the memory of his friends, the following 
 papers will serve to fill out the portraiture. In the first, 
 we have the " Eecollections" of a friend (unknown to 
 the writer), who gives us a graphic and charming deli- 
 neation of Mr. Armstrong in a most interesting part of 
 his life. The second is a private letter from himself to 
 a female friend and member of his church in Charlotte- 
 ville, which draws out the heart of the friend, the pas- 
 tor, the missionary, and the private Christian. The 
 third is a short letter to a daughter on her birthday. 
 The fourth, a very characteristic letter to his sister, full 
 of affection, ardor, and Christian fidelity to a beloved 
 one who was out of Christ. The last is an exceedingly 
 interesting communication from a clerical friend, happi- 
 ly delineating the general character of Dr. A., yet pre- 
 senting some particular traits of that character, and at 
 the same time bringing before us certain delightful fea- 
 tures of the churches amidst which Dr. Armstrong la- 
 bored during his connection with the Central Board of 
 Missions, which are perhaps not generally known. 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 107 
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF DR. ARMSTRONG'S LABORS IN 
 CHARLOTTEVILLE, VA. — BY A FRIEND. 
 
 "The summer of 1819 was a season of great drought 
 through all this region of country. The vegetation was 
 burnt up, the streams were dried, and everything indi- 
 cated the want of reviving showers. The moral face 
 of things was as desolate as the natural. God's people 
 were languishing, the seed of truth fell into a soil with- 
 out moisture, and the gospel hardened heart was as in- 
 capable of bearing fruit as the parched earth. In this 
 hour of despair to the Christian's heart, when there 
 was no prospect of ingathering to the Master's king- 
 dom, Mr. A. arrived. The state of things had so long 
 been miserable, that even God's people had almost ceased 
 to hope. It was, therefore, with no very high expecta- 
 tions that the three Presbyterians, all who were in the 
 place, accompanied their youthful missionary to the 
 Court House, where he was to preach, for there was no 
 church in Charlotte ville then. But God was better to 
 his people than their fears. Mr. A.'s first sermon was 
 the occasion of much heart-melting to the three of 
 God's people who were to be the holders up of his 
 hands. After two months of labor it was proposed to 
 hold a communion season. And already the hearts of 
 twelve had been renewed by the Spirit of Grace through 
 his instrumentality, and were ready to confess Christ 
 before men. For three years he continued to preach 
 here and at South Plains, and many were added to the 
 church of such as should be saved. A lady who was 
 present at the meeting of the session, preparatory to 
 the first communion, told me that she should never for- 
 get the scene. Amongst the twelve then admitted were 
 some who had already passed the allotted three score 
 
108 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 and ten, who, having spent their lives without hope and 
 without God in the world, now saw the joys of this life 
 flowing from them day after day, and felt themselves to 
 be descending to a dark and comfortless grave. God 
 made our dear Mr. A. the prophet at whose command 
 their eyes were opened. One of the most venerable of 
 these, at the session alluded to, leaning like a pilgrim 
 upon his staff, his grey locks falling upon his shoulders, 
 and the tears rolling down his furrowed cheeks, spoke 
 in such a way of the goodness and mercy of God as 
 manifested in his salvation, that all who were present 
 caught the spirit of his tears and praises, and wept and 
 praised with him. In the Sabbath school his labors 
 were also much blessed, Mrs. Kelly, who was the su- 
 perintendent of the school, has often told me of the 
 great interest with which the children heard him, and 
 the blessed results which attended his addresses. Many 
 were converted to God in the days of their youth — 
 some of whom soon fell asleep in Jesus. But in the 
 trying hour it was evinced that they had been led in- 
 deed to the Good Shepherd who taketh the lambs in 
 his bosom, and they heeded not the swelling of Jordan. 
 " In the family circle he was eminently fitted for use- 
 fulness. His was a devoted piety, but not a Pharisaical 
 austerity. He was a man of God and a man of the 
 people. He had a ready access to every heart, for every 
 heart was filled with love to him. You have a picture 
 of his fireside intercourse in the copy of the letter sent 
 you. To conclude ; we would say, that his ministry 
 was eminently successful throughout his whole charge, 
 which was scattered all through the county. And we 
 here love to think of him as rejoicing around the 
 throne of God and the Lamb with those who were re- 
 deemed through his instrumentality." 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 109 
 
 The tender interest which Mr. A. felt in the lambs of 
 the flock, and especially in their religious training, as 
 referred to above, was not diminished as in after years 
 the field of his labors enlarged, and the duty of office 
 pressed more heavily upon him. He loved children, 
 noticed them much, and always had a word that should 
 please and instruct them. Another friend who knew 
 him well, speaks of the great care he afterwards took, 
 when in the pastoral office, to encourage habits of active 
 piety among the female portion of his charge. He 
 urged them on to habits of active benevolence — though 
 not to the neglecting of those domestic duties where lies 
 the field of woman's labor and honor ; he encouraged 
 female pra} r er meetings ; lost no opportunity, public or 
 private, of dropping a word of caution and encourage- 
 ment into the ear of the mother ; and particularly did 
 he enjoin on the recently converted the duty of at once 
 coming out and sharing with their older brethren in all 
 the social and public duties of the Christian ; duties 
 which might be regarded as a cross in after life might 
 be made easy if- entered upon early. 
 
 "Trenton, Xew Jersey, January 18th, 1823. 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Kelly : — 
 
 " I little thought when I was with you, that two 
 years and six months would pass without my having 
 any intercourse, verbal or epistolary, with my dear 
 friends in Charlotteville. But it so has happened. 
 Why, I can scarcely tell. Not on my part, because my 
 friends are forgotten, or remembered with indifference. 
 The recollection of their kindness will be obliterated 
 from my memory only when the hand of death shall 
 erase everything earthly that is recorded there ; and 
 the bonds of Christian affection, strengthened by so 
 many seasons when we took sweet counsel together as 
 
 6 
 
110 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 w r e went to the house of God, or when by the fireside 
 and at the family altar we had fellowship with our 
 glorious Saviour and with one another, will endure 
 when every earthly tie is sundered, and bind our hearts 
 together in that blessed world where friends in Christ 
 shall never part. He who knows my heart, knows 
 that I often think of you all, and cease not daily to re- 
 member you in my prayers. Could the excursions of 
 imagination become realities, you would often see me 
 sitting in your back parlor, listening to you while you 
 were singing, or joining in conversation, or courting a 
 kiss from my little coy favorite Mary, or laughing at 
 Mr. Kelly's pet kitten, as it played its tricks for our 
 amusement. 
 
 " But why speak of these things. God hath cast our 
 lots in wisdom and goodness, and though we are sepa- 
 rated, perhaps to meet no more on earth, yet we are, I 
 trust, one in him ; we may meet in spirit at his mercy 
 seat. We have one Father, one Saviour, who hath 
 bought us with his precious blood ; one sanctifier, who 
 dwells in all that believe ; one faith, one hope, one well 
 of life, one source of comfort in affliction, one support 
 in view of death, one advocate on high, one eternal 
 home. 
 
 " Oh ! may none of us be found wanting in the day 
 when they shall come from the east and from the west, 
 from the north and from the south, and sit down with 
 Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 11 1 rejoice to know, that after being destitute for a 
 season, the Lord has sent you one to break to you the 
 bread of life. By a letter of Mr. Bowman to a friend 
 of his in Princeton, I have heard with pleasure that his 
 prospects of usefulness among you are encouraging. 
 The Lord give him many souls in Charlotteville, as seals 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. Ill 
 
 of his ministry. May he be blessed to comfort those 
 who love Christ, and to save sinners, abundantly more 
 than ever I have been. I should be sorry to think that 
 you had ceased to love me, but I hope that you will 
 love him at least as much as you did me, nor will I 
 complain if you like him better. I regretted very 
 much that I did not get better acquainted with brother 
 Bowman before he left New Jersey. My love to him. 
 May the Lord strengthen his hands, and encourage his 
 heart. 
 
 " Since I wrote last to Mr. Kelly, my health has 
 been generally good. I may say, transposing the words 
 of the apostle John, i I wish above all things my soul 
 prospered and be in health as my body is.' But 'alas, 
 my leanness, my leanness ; I am pained to my very 
 heart.' During the past year we have enjoyed some- 
 thing of the gracious presence of the Lord. About 
 thirty-three or thirty-four have been added to the 
 church, but the present is a season of coldness. Ordi- 
 nances appear in a great degree barren, and the word 
 almost without effect. Pray for us, my dear friend ; it 
 is winter with my soul. My father and his family are 
 well. My congregation treat me with much respect 
 and kindness, and I need only the presence of Christ, 
 and larger measures of his grace, to make me happy. 
 But, oh, the deceitful heart, the deceitful world, and de- 
 ceitful sin ! 
 
 " Write to me, I beg of you, immediately ; you do 
 not know how anxious I am to hear from you. Tell 
 me about my old friends at Charlotteville, and at South 
 Plains. Tell me how the cause of Christ prospers 
 among you. Do you still keep up the female prayer 
 meeting ? Do you still pray for me ? My love to all. 
 May you and my dear Mr. Kelly enjoy much of the 
 
112 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 presence of Christ, and be enabled to walk together in 
 all the ordinances of the Lord blameless. 
 11 Yours, &c, 
 
 11 Wm. J. Armstrong.' 7 
 
 to sarah milnor armstrong on her eleventh 
 birthday. 
 
 11 My dear Child : — 
 
 11 You are now ten years of age. More than half of 
 the children who were born the same year that you 
 were, are now in eternity ; but God has spared ycTu. 
 Nine tenths of the children in the world, of your age, 
 have never heard of the love of Christ, and have nore 
 to instruct them or pray for them. But you were dedi- 
 cated to Christ when you were an infant ; you have 
 been instructed and prayed for every day. If you live 
 ten years more, you will be a woman. The time will 
 soon pass away, and if you should grow up and have 
 no love to the Saviour, and no hope in him, what will 
 be the end of it? My dear child, your heavenly 
 Father says to you to-day, ' Give me thy heart ; they 
 that seek me early shall find me.' Will you not hear 
 and obey him now ? What joy you would thus give 
 to your loving mother and 
 
 11 Affectionate father, 
 
 " Wm. J. Armstrong." 
 
 TO MISS MARY ARMSTRONG. 
 
 "Richmond, April 16, 1828. 
 
 " My dear Sister : — 
 
 " I heard last evening that our sister Sarah was no 
 more among the living. Until recently, we have, as a 
 family, been highly favored. Few families so large as 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 113 
 
 that of our dear parents, are spared so long to each 
 other. But God seems now to be admonishing us, by- 
 repeated bereavements, that this world is not our home, 
 and that unless we secure the ever living Saviour as 
 our Friend, we must, in a little while, be bereft of all. 
 How important is it that we should apply our hearts, 
 diligently and prayerfully, to learn the lessons which 
 he teaches. If we do, it shall be well with us ; but if 
 being often reproved we harden our hearts, what can 
 we expect but sudden and remediless destruction. It 
 is painful to part with sister Sarah, but in her removal 
 we have much to console us. Our sorrow is not for 
 her, but for her babes, her husband, and ourselves. 
 She has gone, we trust, to join our dear parents, and 
 other dear friends, in those abodes where sin, pain, 
 and death, are unknown. How differently should we 
 have felt if sister Mary or Frances had been called 
 away instead of Sarah ! Could we then have cherished 
 the same hope? This thought, my dear sister, has, 
 struck me with much force in reflecting upon this dis- 
 pensation of our Heavenly Father. Have you consi- 
 dered it ? Have you sincerely inquired of your own 
 heart, ' am I prepared to leave all things earthly to go 
 into eternity ? to appear before the heart-searching and 
 holy Judge ? to have my everlasting destiny unchange- 
 ably fixed V You have, my dear sister, been conse- 
 crated from your infancy to God by our pious parents. 
 You have been carefully instructed, you have been 
 often prayed for. You have been striven with by the 
 blessed Spirit of God ; you have sometimes been 
 almost persuaded to give your heart to Christ. But 
 where are you now ? What fruit has been produced 
 by so many means and mercies ? Consider this matter 
 seriously, prayfully. Do it now, when you have just 
 been called, by the Providence of God, to look into the 
 
114 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 grave and into eternity; when you have just seen the 
 power of religion to sustain and comfort ; when all 
 things beside were wholly unavailing. I cannot ex- 
 press to you how anxious I feel that this affliction 
 should be sanctified to those who are yet out of Christ, 
 and specially to you, as the oldest of our family, who 
 has not made a profession of religion. My dear sister, 
 be entreated now to give your heart to God. Eealize 
 that you are a sinner, exposed to the displeasure of the 
 Almighty, and in danger of being for ever banished 
 from his presence ; that Jesus Christ is the only and 
 the all-sufficient Saviour of sinners, as able and as wil- 
 ling to save you as ever he was to save any ; and now 
 cast yourself at the foot of his cross in penitence and 
 faith. Do it now, for life is short ; we know not what 
 a day may bring forth. We procrastinate in this con- 
 cern at an infinite hazard. Now is the accepted time. 
 May God bless you with a nevv heart, and teach us all 
 to love him and live to his glory, that we may all meet 
 at last in his presence. 
 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 11 Wm. J. Armstrong." 
 
 11 Eev. H. Bead :— 
 
 11 Dear Sir, — It affords me sincere gratification .to 
 learn that you have in process of preparation, some 
 biographic memento of the late lamented Dr. Wm. J. 
 Armstrong. Let not the life of so good and so useful a 
 man be limited to the few revolving suns and seasons 
 which he spends in the flesh. Not only is it true, that 
 the good which a man does lives after him, but the life 
 itself of the truly good man, in its holy and efficient 
 tendencies, lingers on this side of the tomb while he 
 sleeps in it ; or rather, while he soars beyond it. When, 
 since the day of their birth, have Baxter, and Bunyan, 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 115 
 
 and Doddridge, and Payson had so much of the sub- 
 stance and power of life in the world, as at the present 
 time ? The grave, instead of swallowing up their 
 vitality, seems to have disclosed new sources of it; the 
 rivulets from which, falling into the main current, have 
 swelled it into a mighty river, widening and deepening 
 and fertilizing with salvation a desolate world, as it 
 goes onward to eternity. 
 
 " Was it not thus even with the blessed Saviour 
 himself? His death, not less than his life, was necessary 
 to the consummation of his grand scheme of beneficence ; 
 1 1 tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go 
 away.' And, as in his case, the mightiest manifestations 
 of the power of God were not put forth until after he 
 had passed to the cross, to the sepulchre, and to his 
 eternal glory, so, in his indulgent goodness, our Ilea* 
 venly Father often immortalizes and enhances, in this 
 world, the beneficent energies of his servants, after 
 they are taken to their rest in heaven. Their bodies 
 have gone to the dust ; their tongues are silent in the 
 tomb ; but those virtues which they have breathed 
 around them, those truths which they have preached 
 and lived, form a representative embodiment which, 
 incorruptible by time, and invulnerable to disease, will 
 augment and prolong their influence for good till the 
 blessed consummation comes. So it may be, and so I 
 trust, it will be with him whose life and influence we 
 are aiding to perpetuate. 
 
 a My acquaintance with the subject of your memoir 
 commenced in the spring of 1835, and was sustained 
 with a high degree of intimacy, and, I think, with 
 mutual pleasure, to the end of his useful life. At the 
 time referred to, the American Board, for the better 
 accomplishment of its benevolent enterprise, had re- 
 cently organized a sectional auxiliary at the south, 
 
116 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 called * The Central Board. 7 This society enlisted the 
 services of Mr. Armstrong as its Secretary or gene- 
 ral agent ; and it was in that capacity that he visited 
 Charlotte, North Carolina, where I was residing as 
 
 pastor of the Presbyterian Church. He came on a 
 mission to the churches, and his object was, by the 
 diffusion of missionary intelligence, by the inculcation 
 of divine truth, and by his personal intercourse with 
 the ministry and the people, to awaken a healthy interest 
 in the great cause of missions, and lay a foundation for 
 its permanent and increasing support ; and the success 
 with which he accomplished that object, while he made 
 himself felt to be a blessing to our churches, gave the 
 best proof that divine wisdom guided to his selection 
 for it. 
 
 41 Mr. Armstrong found it necessary to his purpose, 
 that he should pass several weeks within the bounds 
 of our (Concord) Presbytery ; and for the sake of con- 
 venience, as affording a central location, he honored us 
 with the privilege of furnishing him a prophet's accom- 
 modations of a chamber and a stool which he was kind 
 enough to call his c home.' Well he might so call it, 
 for his easy though dignified familiarity and kind 
 interest in all the members of the family soon made us 
 feel that he was no stranger, while his serious, smiling 
 countenance, his sympathizing eyes, his lively sensibility, 
 warm heart, and engaging manners, would soon make 
 4 home 7 anywhere, where goodness could be appreciated, 
 and its indications perceived. A large number of young 
 ladies connected with ' The Southern Female Institute 7 
 of which I was then in charge, were members of our 
 family ; and it will be long, ere I forget the interest 
 which he manifested in their welfare, or the happy 
 impression which his affectionate, serious intercourse 
 made upon their minds. 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 117 
 
 " At morning and evening worship of the family, lie 
 
 was eminently spiritual and edifying, and never failed 
 to engage the attention of all present. A brief expo- 
 sition of scripture truth, or the mention of some 
 illustrative and pertinent incident, or a kind but forcible 
 appeal to the conscience in behalf of personal piety, 
 would fix and throw over our thoughts a religious 
 atmosphere preparing us to accompany him up the 
 sacred mount of the Divine Presence, where we might 
 hold sweet converse with God, and s;ain new convictions 
 of his dreadful holiness and majesty. On one occasion he 
 led us, in our morning devotions, into such a clear, 
 satisfactory, and consolatory view of the Abrahamic 
 Covenant and Christian baptism, especially the baptism 
 of the infants of believers, as I have scarcely ever 
 enjoyed, either before or- since. He seemed to bring 
 God sensibly before us, recognising the nature and per- 
 petuity of that covenant, and graciously renewing his 
 pledges to receive now, from his faithful people, their 
 children consecrated to him according to its stipulations, 
 to be his true heritage for ever. We felt that in this 
 delightful privilege and duty of dedicating our children 
 to God by baptism, our feet were on a rock which 
 would neither crumble and decay by the lapse of time, 
 nor melt and vanish when the earth shall be burned 
 up. And although since this scene transpired, of which 
 no memorandum was ever made, more than sixteen 
 years have passed away, yet the remembrance of it, 
 even at this time, is both vivid and refreshing to the 
 heart. 
 
 11 He was both gentle and condescending. No one 
 among us was so young or so obscure, as to fail to attract 
 a portion of his attention. The child of less than two 
 years w r as made welcome as a companion; and the 
 servants were kindly advised in relation to their spiritual 
 
 6* 
 
118 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 welfare, and earnestly borne in his petitions before the 
 mercy seat. Such attentions won a listening ear and 
 kind regards for the missionary cause, as well as the 
 most affectionate respect towards himself. When, there- 
 fore, an opportunity was given for contributions to be 
 made, we were not surprised at the presentation of a 
 liberal sum by the young ladies of the family, though 
 that the servants should, without our knowledge, bring 
 in a free-will offering of several dollars, was entirely 
 beyond our expectations, and clearly showed how sin- 
 cere and deep an interest had been enkindled in their 
 hearts. He often recurred to this incident with mani- 
 festations of the liveliest satisfaction. 
 
 " The season of the year, selected by Mr. A. for 
 visiting our churches, being that of their regular spring 
 meetings, greatly favored his benevolent enterprise, as 
 it did also his own spiritual enjoyment. It may not be 
 improper to observe here, that in that portion of Carolina, 
 as in some other parts of the south and west, the 
 practice of celebrating the sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper but twice a year, in the fall and spring, gene- 
 rally prevails. On these occasions, preaching is usually 
 had for several successive days previous to the Sacra- 
 mental Sabbath, and neighboring ministers are called 
 in to assist the pastor in his labors. The people too, 
 many of whom dwell at the distance of several miles 
 from their place of worship, in order to enjoy these 
 sacred scenes, gather with their families around the 
 sanctuary in the forest, and there abide through ' the 
 last great day of the feast. 7 In many instances, for their 
 better accommodation, booths or tents are erected in a 
 suitable position near the house of God. These are 
 well covered with weather boards and shingles, and are 
 ordinarily large enough to admit of two or three apart- 
 ments ; so that by good economy of space, fifteen or 
 
MEMOIR OF \V. J. ARMSTRONG. 119 
 
 twenty of them will afford shelter and tolerable comfort 
 to a large number of persons for so short a period. 
 Thus, hundreds and often thousands of people are 
 brought together from the surrounding country, who 
 enjoy the unfrequent and precious privilege of sitting 
 daily under the droppings of the sanctuary, and feasting 
 upon its spiritual bounties. There, often a new lustre 
 is given to the armor of the Christian soldiery, and new 
 zeal fires their hearts. A fresh unction from the Holy 
 One comes upon the followers of Christ ; their love and 
 faith and prayer are kindled anew, and they ' mount 
 up with wings as eagles; run, and are not weary; 
 walk, and are not faint/ There, too, has the Holy 
 Spirit, either as a mighty rushing wind, or as a still 
 small voice, often come down upon the hearts of the 
 unconverted. And oh ! what misery and biting anguish 
 of conviction! and then what songs of ecstacy and 
 thanksgiving have we witnessed beneath the shade of 
 those solemn and venerable Carolina forests ! Blessed 
 manifestations of the spirit ! At the recollection we fall 
 unbidden into the touching strain of Ossian : — 
 
 "The memory of joys that are past is like the 
 Music of Caryl, pleasant and mournful to the soul." 
 
 May God often repeat and long continue these heavenly 
 visitations to those honored churches. 
 
 11 As these ( sacramental meetings' were usually so ar- 
 ranged that but one should occur in the same neighbor- 
 hood on the same Sabbath, it enabled Mr. Armstrong 
 to visit most of the churches on these occasions. This 
 was his delight ; and he carried to them a preparation 
 of mind and heart, a spiritual relish and ardor, which 
 rendered his labors at them signally useful. His dis- 
 courses were not generally of a missionary character, 
 
120 memoir of w. J. Armstrong. 
 
 although he always introduced that subject in some 
 part of the exercises, and took up a contribution for the 
 cause. In his preaching he assumed that animated, 
 living piety, and the missionary spirit, are homoge- 
 nous ; and that the latter is to the former as the tele- 
 scope to the natural eye. The telescope neither fabri- 
 cates the eye, nor supersedes its necessity. On the 
 contrary, it would be of no use without that organ. 
 It does not create vision, but only lengthens its ken. 
 So the missionary spirit is nothing without piety ; it 
 only leads out the truly warm and pious heart into 
 wider and more extensive views of Christian enterprise 
 and duty, and engages its prayer and power for the sal- 
 vation of a benighted world. Could these objects be 
 accomplished, there would be no good cause of appre- 
 hension for the welfare of the heathen. Hearts inflamed 
 with divine love spontaneously ask, c Lord, what wilt 
 thou have me to do V And when the spirit of that in- 
 quiry pervades the whole church, the heathen will be 
 efficiently cared for, and the heralds of salvation will 
 bring them home to God. It was his aim, therefore, to 
 display those truths which are fitted to arouse, enliven, 
 edify, and establish the people of God, and to alarm and 
 persuade sinners to flee from the wrath to come. ( His 
 speech and preaching were not with enticing words of 
 man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit, and 
 of power.' Eeady in the Scriptures, gifted and forci- 
 ble in his natural powers of logic, sufficiently diversi- 
 fied in style and illustration, naturally eager for his ob- 
 ject, and his heart now dilated with the love of God and 
 with concern for sinners, he often poured forth on these 
 occasions torrents of startling truth and impassioned 
 eloquence, which electrified with joy the people of God, 
 and palsied with fear and remorse the hearts of the un- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 121 
 
 converted. None who heard him doubted that he was 
 an ambassador for God — 
 
 11 ' A messenger of grace to guilty man ; 
 much impressed 
 Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
 And anxious mainly that the flock he [fed] 
 [Might] feel it too.' 
 
 "The Sabbath scenes of these occasions — especially 
 the manner of administering the sacramental elements 
 — were probably new to our friend, and did not fail to 
 awaken in his mind a lively and most joyful interest. 
 It was, indeed, an imposing spectacle to witness the 
 thousands who were sometimes congregated in those 
 religions forests, orderly arranged, silent, solemn, and 
 attentive to the messages of grace, as was ever a wor- 
 shipping assembly in a temple ' made by hands.' 
 
 11 Not only the bright radiance of the sun, and the 
 genial air of heaven, but the life-giving influences of 
 the Holy Spirit also w r ere there freely dispensed ; and 
 the bowed head, and glistening eye, and broken heart, 
 and voice of thanksgiving, gave proof that the prayer- 
 hearing God was there, calling the dead to life, and 
 working w T onders of salvation for the lost. 
 
 " The celebration of the Eucharist comes immediately 
 after the regular morning service. The sacred emblems 
 are not circulated through the congregation as is usually 
 practised in most parts of the country ; but those en- 
 titled to communicate ; as many as conveniently can, 
 after appropriate addresses and prayer, and w"Mle a 
 hymn is being sung by the congregation, draw near, 
 and seat themselves at extensive tables which have 
 been previously prepared for the purpose. Here, sur- 
 rounding these tables, they receive the consecrated em- 
 blems, and listen to instructive discourses from the men 
 
122 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 of God, or engage in private edifying meditation for a 
 suitable time ; and then, while the singing is resumed 
 by the congregation, they withdraw, and are succeeded 
 by others in the same privileges. The tables generally 
 used on these occasions, are temporary fixtures, and 
 long enough to accommodate, on both sides, from sixty 
 to one hundred persons. And yet, so numerous is the 
 attendance at some of these meetings, that they have 
 been known to be successively filled, eight, twelve, or 
 fourteen times, first by the white, and then by the 
 colored people, professing to be the followers of the 
 blessed Jesus. As they come forward from different 
 parts of the assembly to participate in the joyful privi- 
 lege, how interesting and affectionate is the scene! 
 Some, with alacrity and humble joy, move to the sacred 
 shrine ; others impenitently linger in their seats, having 
 no part nor lot in the matter. g What solemnity and 
 melting impressiveness must there be, to a devout mind, 
 in witnessing such a spectacle. How naturally will it 
 suggest to him, that next more solemn and fearful 
 scene which it so much resembles, when before the Son 
 of Man, on the throne of his glory, shall be ' gathered 
 all nations, and he shall separate them, one from ano- 
 ther, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; 
 and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the 
 goats on the left/ 
 
 11 Mr. Armstrong had not the heart to be unmoved 
 by these transactions. He looked upon them, not as 
 many, with the indifference of the stoic, nor as many 
 others, who idly gaze upon them as an entertaining, 
 though unmeaning, melo-drama, but with the sincere 
 and earnest faith of him who believes the record that 
 God has given of his Son. He saw there the Lamb of 
 God that taketh away the sin of the world. Before 
 him was a visible manifestation that 'God so loved the 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 123 
 
 world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso- 
 ever believeth on him should not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life/ His eye affected his heart ; and his heart, 
 moved by sympathy and love, and yearning towards 
 the impenitent around him, melted into liquid thought, 
 and gushed forth in the most fervid and earnest strains 
 of appeal and entreaty. 
 
 " ' Vehemens et liquidus puroque simillimus amni.' 
 
 11 These, we have good reason to believe, were to him 
 seasons of rare communion with God, and of spiritual 
 enjoyment. As such, he often, in after years, adverted 
 to them, and spoke with animation and pleasure of their 
 hallowed and happy influence. Nor was the experi- 
 ence of the brethren of Presbytery, and of Christian 
 people generally, at variance with his own in this re- 
 spect. Coming, as he did, from the companionship of 
 the lamented Wisner, and other kindred spirits, and 
 upon an embassy which would naturally lead a pious 
 soul into frequent fellowship with God, he brought 
 among us a tenderness and depth of devotional feeling 
 which so flavored his preaching, and, indeed, all his in- 
 tercourse with us, that others could scarcely fail to im- 
 bibe the happy influence. His visits to our churches, 
 therefore, instead of being shunned, as those of agents 
 have sometimes been, were earnestly coveted by the 
 pastors, and were anticipated as occasions of hope, of 
 effort, and of prayer, for a blessing from on high, as 
 they often proved. Thus, not only was he eminently 
 successful in the special object of his mission — collect- 
 ing liberal contributions, and imparting a healthy mis- 
 sionary tone to our churches — but by wisely making 
 his efforts fall in, and harmonize with, those of the 
 ministry, he became a valued auxiliary in their work, 
 
124 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 and often an almoner of prompt and special blessings to 
 the people. Many of the humble children of God, in 
 those churches, would yet, I doubt not, experience 
 lively pulsations of delight at the mention of his name, 
 and be ready to say, as the two disciples did of their 
 Lord, l Did not our heart burn within us while he talked 
 with us by the way, and while he opened to us the 
 Scriptures, and communed with us in breaking of 
 bread V 
 
 u But no more such seasons shall they ever enjoy with 
 him in the flesh ; though with him and with their Lord, 
 in his kingdom, they may hereafter more joyfully drink 
 the wine neiu. Thither, with believing hope, we turn 
 our eyes. 'In my Father's house are many mansions: 
 I go to prepare a place for you ; and if I go and pre- 
 pare a place for you, I will come again and receive you 
 unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also.' 
 Such is the glorious destiny of the saints ; and when 
 the gracious Saviour comes to fulfil his promise, little 
 does it matter whether we ascend corporally, like Eli- 
 jah, in a chariot of fire, or whether, like our honored 
 and lamented brother, we shake off our dust in the 
 billowing surges of the deep, and wing our way, unseen 
 by mortal eyes, to the ever-bright, ever-blessed home 
 of the good. There, we joyfully believe, this servant 
 of God has been welcomed to repose. Happy in the 
 retrospection of his toils and labors in the cause of his 
 divine Lord ; happy in his works which have followed 
 him, and which will continue to follow him for long 
 ages to come, in the form of souls redeemed and saved 
 by his honored instrumentality ; happy in the spread- 
 ing triumphs of the cross, in the wonders and glories 
 of redemption, in the resplendent visions of immortal- 
 ity ever bursting on his enraptured eye ; and above all, 
 happy in the uninterrupted and unalloyed fruition of 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 125 
 
 the infinite Trinity ; there he has attained, and fully 
 realized, the grand consummation and chief end of hu- 
 man existence — ' to glorify God and enjoy him for 
 ever/ In answer to his many devout and earnest 
 prayers, may a thousand blessings descend upon the 
 church, and thousands of thousands upon the Pagan 
 world to the end of time. 
 
 11 Yours fraternally, 
 
 " A. J. Leavenworth. 
 
 " Petersburgh, Ya., Jan. 17th, 1852." 
 
 In reviewing the reminiscences which we have been 
 able to collect of this truly excellent man, the follow- 
 ing impressions are spontaneously forced upon our 
 mind : — 
 
 I. That Dr. Armstrong was eminently an evangelical 
 man. In his temper of mind, in his every day life and 
 conversation, he was eminently evangelical. Find him 
 where you would, and he was a missionary. His work 
 was one. He was a minister of the New Testament. 
 He was always about his Father's business. Not only 
 did he preach the great and distinguishing doctrines of 
 the cross, but his life was a beautiful illustration of 
 these doctrines. He did the work of an evangelist, 
 first, as sent out by the General Assembly's Board of 
 Missions to Virginia, then at Trenton and Eichmond, 
 where, as pastor, his labors and public teachings were 
 peculiarly seasoned with the salt of the missionary 
 spirit. And such, too, was the character of his whole 
 public ministry and of his Christian life. He com- 
 menced his public ministry, as we have seen, as a mis- 
 sionary in Virginia. He there early became known as 
 the friend of the colored people. " To the poor the 
 gospel is preached." And well did he verify, in his 
 ministry, this delightful characteristic of the great 
 
126 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 scheme of human salvation. Wherever he preached, 
 he fulfilled the same evangelical mission. " While 
 preaching as a missionary in Albemarle,' 7 writes a 
 friend, "Mr, Armstrong was much interested in the 
 welfare of slaves. A traveller, passing a grove, heard 
 the voice of earnest supplication. It was the j^oung 
 missionary pouring out his soul in prayer for the salva- 
 tion of the African race. To them he often preached, 
 and from them he had many seals of his ministry." 
 
 Of few men may it be so truly said that Christ was 
 in all his preaching. The subjects of his sermons were 
 all of this character — all tending to edify and comfort 
 the saint, and to convert the sinner ; all indicating a 
 remarkable singleness of purpose in the whole course of 
 his ministry. If a pastor, it was to preach Christ, and 
 from house to house to urge the claims of Christ on 
 the attention of the perishing sinner. If a missionary, 
 it was to preach Christ where he was not known, and 
 to establish churches where Satan's seat is. If an agent 
 of benevolence, it was to urge the claims of Christ on 
 his church, that she should send his ever blessed gospel 
 to the ends of the earth. If in the social circle, in the 
 family, in the prayer meeting or in the closet, by the 
 wayside, in public or in private, he had but one theme. 
 In the best sense of the term, he was a man of one idea. 
 True as the needle to the pole, he was the missionary, 
 preaching Christ, and him crucified. He was truly a 
 minister of the New Testament. His whole life was 
 beautifully imbued with a living evangelism. 
 
 II. Dr. Armstrong was a man of prayer. He was 
 much in his closet. We have spoken of his habits of 
 secret prayer in his place of business. Though so en- 
 grossed, as he necessarily was, in the business of an 
 onerous office, nothing closed his doors against the calls 
 of his friends, and the friends of missions, but his com- 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 127 
 
 munings with his God. M Much of his work," as a 
 friend recently remarked who had often waited for ad- 
 mission at his door till he had finished his supplications, 
 — the bedewed cheek and the air of devotion clearly in- 
 dicating the nature of his engagement, — "much of his 
 icorlc was prayer." Here lay his great strength. He was 
 mighty in his work, because he was a man of prayer. 
 He wrestled with Jacob's God ; and in the strength of 
 Israel's God he went on in his work. 
 
 In his secret devotions he put on his armor, and girded 
 himself for his work. Here was the hiding and the 
 fountain of his strength. But there was, in relation to 
 his habits of prayer, another remarkable feature ob- 
 served while in the execution of his work. We here 
 refer to his public prayers. Thousands will at once re- 
 call those prayers, and the deep, delightful, lasting im- 
 pression made by them. There was a moral power in 
 his prayers seldom witnessed elsewhere. When he 
 conducted the devotions of an assemblage in the sanc- 
 tuary, there was a melting down of the spirit, a kin- 
 dling of the soul, a sense of the Divine presence ; there 
 was a feeling of solemnity, of awe, of reverence, per- 
 vading the worshipping assemblage ; a feeling that he 
 who was speaking to God had entered within the veil, 
 and was talking with God, face to face. There was 
 eloquence, there vas sublimity ; yet not in words, ex- 
 cept in the dialect of child-like simplicity ; not in 
 thoughts, except in such as brought the great Jehovah 
 near — as made death, judgment, heaven, hell, awful 
 realities — as made the soul feel, how dreadful is this 
 place! this is none other than the house of God, and 
 this is the gate of heaven. 
 
 There was an unction in his prayers ; a confiding of 
 the spirit in God ; a nearness of access to the Father of 
 all mercies ; an expression of strong faith ; the evi- 
 
128 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 dence of hope, and the strong crying of earnest sup- 
 plication, which will long be remembered by those who 
 heard him. It was the power of prayer that gave such 
 weight to the truths which he afterwards uttered, or 
 the facts he stated, or the claims of a dying world 
 which he urged. He was mighty through God. Hence, 
 III. His poicer in the pulpit. We believe it will be 
 readily conceded that Dr. A. exercised a power in the 
 pulpit which falls to the lot of only a favored few. As 
 you heard him preach, you might not have pronounced 
 him a great preacher, or eloquent ; yet, in a very im- 
 portant sense, he was both. If he be a great preacher 
 who, in an uncommon degree, secures the great end of 
 preaching ; who brings forth such thoughts, and. so ar- 
 ranges them, as most effectually to impress, convince, 
 and persuade ; if he be a great preacher who so delivers 
 his sermons as eminentl} r to gain the great end for 
 which he preaches, we may claim for Dr. Armstrong 
 this enviable distinction. He was, in this better sense 
 of the term, a great preacher. His greatness consisted 
 in a beautiful imitation of his Divine Master. His 
 words had power, because they were baptized in the 
 Holy Ghost. His eloquence was fervid, effective, often 
 overpowering: because he spake from a warm heart 
 the burning truths of the everlasting Gospel. He pos- 
 sessed a power in the pulpit which few attain to. Yet 
 it was not the power of words, not the power of great 
 and fresh thoughts ; it was the pathos of a baptized 
 soul. It w r as the glowing ardor of one who stood be- 
 tween the living and the dead ; before whom eternal 
 realities were in full view ; who preached in sight of 
 judgment; above whom heaven smiled, and who 
 heard the groanings of the prisoners beneath, and saw 
 the smoke of their torment ascend. There was in his 
 preaching no theory, no speculation, no tricks to please 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 129 
 
 the ear or fascinate the imagination ; all was practical, 
 all real. It was :his vitality, this appearance of reality, 
 this life and death aspect of the things he set forth, 
 which gave him his power. Herein his great strength 
 lay. Shorn of these locks, he would have been weak 
 as any man. Suspend his communings with heaven ; 
 cut the golden pipe that continually conveyed the oil 
 to his lamp from the living Olive Tree ; take away that 
 holy pathos which he brought with him from behind 
 the veil ; let him dwell on other themes than those 
 which pertain to the reality of the life and death set 
 forth in the Gospel, and you have disrobed him of his 
 great strength. 
 
 Much of what has now been said was true only of 
 the living preacher. It will not all be found in his 
 written sermons. The warmth of his feelings often 
 furnished him with thoughts at the moment which 
 might characterize a whole sermon, but which do not 
 appear on the page. As applicable to the living 
 preacher, we believe, our remarks will meet a cordial 
 response from thousands who heard him. 
 
 IV. Finally, Dr. Armstrong was characterized by an 
 impartial, diffusive benevolence. Of few men could it be 
 more truly said, he loved everybody ; that he was unself- 
 ish, kind, obliging, self-sacrificing for the good of others. 
 All who knew him, took knowledge of him that he had 
 been with Jesus ; that he had there been instructed in the 
 14 new commandment." Whether in the family or in the 
 social circle, or in the performance of official duty, his 
 whole demeanor was pervaded by benevolent feeling. 
 He was the John among the disciples — a living personifi- 
 cation of that charity which suffereth long and is kind, 
 envieth not, vaunteth not itself, seeketh not her own, is 
 not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, beareth all things, 
 believeth all things, hopeth all things. His life was a 
 
130 MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 pleasing commentary on the gospel he loved to preach. 
 It was a living illustration of love. He loved the souls 
 of his fellow men. He was willing to spend and be 
 spent for their salvation. For this end he labored un- 
 tiringly, for this end he contributed liberally as the 
 Lord prospered him. While living, he was a blessing 
 to many ; in his death, he was the ready and honored 
 instrument of bringing consolation and warning to them 
 who were, at that crisis, so suddenly and unexpectedly 
 hurried away to the bar of God ; and a sweet savor 
 perfumes his memory, as his happy spirit reposes in the 
 bosom of his God. 
 
 He rests from his labors, but he is not unmindful of 
 the work which he so much loved while living. He is 
 among that cloud of witnesses who watch with the in- 
 tensest interest the progress of the work of human re- 
 demption. With him all now is reality; judgment, 
 eternity, heaven, hell, are all awful realities. The im- 
 mortal soul — its destiny, its apostasy, its salvation 
 through the atonement of a crucified Saviour, or its 
 utter and final ruin — oh, what awful realities now! 
 And with what angelic earnestness, in what seraphic 
 tones, does he now bid his fellow laborers, who still re- 
 main as co-workers with God below, to use all diligence, 
 to employ all their activities to save, if it be but one 
 soul, from the undying death. 
 
 He has finished his course ; he has gone to his rest ; 
 he has left behind him an example worthy of imitation. 
 We thank God for such trophies of his grace ; for such 
 illustrations of what his love and his power can do in 
 changing the plants of a strange vine into lovely trees of 
 righteousness, and planting these in the house of the 
 Lord. We thank God for these demonstrations of his 
 power, these attestations of his covenant faithfulness. 
 We see what he can, what he does, and what he will 
 
MEMOIR OF W. J. ARMSTRONG, 131 
 
 do. He will fulfil his promises ; he will carry out his 
 purposes of mercy towards ruined man ; he will of 
 these stones raise up children to Abraham. He will 
 accept the labors of his servants ; if we honor him in 
 an honest consecration of ourselves to his service, he 
 will honor us by receiving us as coadjutors with himself 
 in carrying out his plans of mercy towards our world. 
 Surely, then, the life of the good man is a legacy to 
 posterity. We will receive it as a goodly heritage. 
 May we imitate his virtues, and follow him as he fol- 
 lowed Christ ; and, with grateful hearts to Him who 
 has given us another such example of his love to man, 
 respond : 
 
 Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from hence- 
 forth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
 their labors, and their works do follow thek. 
 
£ t -r m : b * ♦ 
 
£» mn n * ♦ 
 
 SEEMON I. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE SAINT. 
 
 " Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." — Psalm 
 cxyi. 15. 
 
 God has a people among men. Wherever he sends his 
 Gospel, he makes it his power and his wisdom to the 
 salvation of some. Their outward circumstances are 
 various. They are known by different names and de- 
 nomiLations. Ignorance and prejudice often prevent 
 them from recognising each other : but, in the omni- 
 scient; eye, they are all a peculiar people, called out from 
 the world and separated from it by a difference wide, 
 essential, and permanent. They have received the 
 Gospel, not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, 
 the word of God. And it has wrought in them, effectu- 
 allv, conviction of sin and conversion to holiness. It 
 has made them humble penitents toward God, and cor- 
 dial believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. It has taught 
 them to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live 
 soberly, and righteously, and godly in the world; to 
 renounce the world as a portion, and to lay up their 
 treasure in heaven ; to look not at the things that are 
 seen and temporal, but at those things that are unseen 
 and eternal ; to endure as seeing him who is invisible ; 
 not as pleasing men, but God who searcheth the heart. 
 
136 SERMONS. 
 
 They are born again by the Word of God which liveth 
 and abidetk for ever. They are the workmanship of 
 God, the Holy Spirit, created in Christ Jesus unto good 
 works. They are dead to the world, to its maxims, 
 fashions, and pleasures, to their own former pursuits, to 
 the principles by which they were once governed, the 
 hopes they cherished, the joys in which they delighted. 
 Their life, as to its source, its principles, its end, is hid 
 with Christ in God. Christ is their life ; his merits 
 and intercession are the foundation of their hope ; his 
 law is their rule of conduct ; his example, their pat- 
 tern ; his grace, the source of their daily strength ; 
 his love, their animating motive ; his glory, the object 
 at which they aim ; perfect conformity to him. and in- 
 timate and everlasting communion with him, the con- 
 summation of all their desires and hopes. 
 
 These are some of the distinguishino; traits of charac- 
 ter by which, according to the bible, the saints of the 
 Lord are marked as a peculiar people. Their develop- 
 ment is more or less full and distinct in their present 
 imperfect state ; and they stand out to the observation 
 of the world in a manner more or less prominent and 
 palpable. But they exist in every child of God, and 
 they divide the righteous from the wicked by a broad 
 line of demarcation, which all shall one day discern and 
 acknowledge. As they differ essentially in character 
 from all others, so do they in condition. 
 
 Having obeyed the Divine command — Come out from 
 the world, and be ye separate, and touch not the un- 
 clean thing — they experience the fulfilment of the pro- 
 mise : I will be a Father unto 3 7 ou, and ye shall be my 
 sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. They 
 are all the children of God by faith, in Jesus Christ ; 
 and if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs 
 with Christ. For a season they may be in heaviness, 
 
THE DEATH OF THE SAINT. 137 
 
 through manifold temptations ; but it is, that the trial 
 of their faith, more precious than that of gold, may be 
 found unto praise and honor and glory, at the appear- 
 ing of Jesus Christ, whom, not having seen, they love. 
 The world knoweth them not, even as it knew not him. 
 In the world they may have tribulation, as their Ke- 
 deemer had ; but as he overcame, so shall they over- 
 come; and when he shall appear, they shall be like 
 him, for they shall see him as he is. They have re- 
 demption through the blood of Christ, even the forgive- 
 ness of sins, according to the riches of his grace ; and 
 being justified by faith, they have peace with God, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only so, they 
 glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation work- 
 eth patience, and patience experience, and experience 
 hope, and their hope maketh not ashamed, because the 
 love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy 
 Ghost given unto them. 
 
 Having God as their Father, and united to the Lord 
 Jesus as the branch to the vine, or as the members of 
 the body to the head, all things are theirs so far as is 
 conducive to their eternal good ; all the dispensations 
 of Divine Providence are adapted to train them up for 
 perfect holiness and happiness ; all the provisions and 
 promises of the Gospel are designed to make them 
 partakers of the Divine nature ; all the means of grace, 
 and the accompanying influences of the Spirit, are insti- 
 tuted and bestowed, to impart unfailing efficacy to those 
 provisions and promises. Every stage and step of their 
 earthly pilgrimage is ordered by infinite wisdom and 
 love. Their present light afflictions work out for them 
 a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 
 And death is theirs ; its bitterness is taken away, its 
 poison is extracted, its sting is drawn ; and the same 
 parental kindness which guides and guards them through 
 
138 SERMONS. 
 
 the perplexities and toils and sorrows of life, presides 
 over its closing scene, arranges all its circumstances, 
 and, accomplishing in it important purposes, causes it 
 to redound to his glory and to their everlasting good. 
 This, I suppose, is the meaning of the expression in the 
 text: a The death of the saints is precious in the sight 
 of the Lord." It is not an event unforeseen, or over- 
 looked, or uncontrolled by him. It has its own place, 
 from the beginning, in the purposes of his everlasting 
 love. It is one of the stages through which he conducts 
 them to that fulness of joy which is in his presence, to 
 those pleasures which are at his right hand for ever- 
 more. He selects the time and place, and appoints all 
 the circumstances of their removal. All its conse- 
 quences to themselves and to others are foreseen and 
 chosen by him; and in the morning of the resurrection, 
 when their salvation is complete, they shall look back 
 upon their passage through the dark valley of the 
 shadow of death, as w r ell as upon their journey through 
 this mortal life, and their temporary abode in the inter- 
 mediate state, and exclaim with wonder, gratitude, and 
 love, what hath Grod wrought ! Eternal praises to his 
 name, He hath done all things well. The Providence 
 of God is administered by general laws. To the view 
 of man all things come alike to all ; there is one event 
 to the righteous and to the wicked. They bow to the 
 same unchanging decree, " Dust thou art, and to the 
 dust thou shalt return." By lingering or violent 
 disease, by gradual decay or sudden disaster, the mys- 
 terious tie that binds the spirit to its earthly companion 
 is severed. The body, cold, motionless, senseless, is 
 committed to the dark and silent tomb. The thinking, 
 active, conscious being that once animated it, and 
 through it held communion with living men, passes at 
 once beyond our range of observation. We follow our 
 
THE DEATH OF THE SAINT. lo9 
 
 fellow being to the very brink of the precipice; avc 
 mark his emotions; we sympathize with them in the 
 very article of dissolution. But in a moment all the 
 ties that bound him to us are severed ; all intercourse 
 ceases : all communion is at an end. No mortal hand 
 may lift the veil that hides him from our view, no 
 mortal eye may penetrate the darkness that rests upon 
 his onward career through the untried futurity. We 
 dwell for a little with a melancholy interest upon the 
 circumstances of his departure from us ; we miss him 
 for a few days from his wonted places of resort ; but 
 other objects engage our attention, other persons fill 
 the vacancy which he has left, and soon he is forgotten. 
 Thus it is with the righteous and the wicked, with him 
 that feareth God, and him that feareth him not. But 
 Tfthen we look at this event in the light of that lamp 
 which God has let down from Heaven, when we view 
 it as it is presented to us by him who came out from 
 the bosom of the Father to teach us our duty and our 
 destiny, and to reveal for our admonition and guidance 
 the secrets of eternity, how wide, how important, the 
 difference ! " The wicked is driven away in his wicked- 
 ness, but the righteous hath hope in his death." To 
 the one, death is the dread arrest of divine justice, 
 summoning the impenitent transgressor away from the 
 probationary state, where he has abused the long suf- 
 fering of his God, neglected the great end of his existence, 
 squandered his time, his talents, and his opportunities 
 to gratify his selfish passions, perverted the very mercies 
 he enjoyed as an occasion of greater sin, filled up the 
 measure of his iniquities, and sealed his own condem- 
 nation — summoning him away to the bar of a righteous 
 Judge to have his whole character, all his conduct and 
 his motives, pass under the scrutiny of omniscient 
 holiness and to receive a just recompense of reward, — 
 
140 SERMONS. 
 
 by which he shall reap the harvest he has sown, and 
 for ever eat of the fruit of his own doings and be filled 
 with his own devices. To the other, death is a welcome 
 messenger sent to announce the period of his toils, and 
 temptations, and sorrows ; to remove him from a world 
 where he has lived a pilgrim and a stranger ; to release 
 him from a body of sin and death, and conduct him far 
 from weakness, frailty, and imperfection, to his Father's 
 house, to the bosom of his Eedeemer, to the society of 
 his brethren, where every holy desire shall be filled, 
 every devout aspiration satisfied, every pious hope 
 realized, and his thirsty soul shall drink of the river of 
 God's pleasures and bathe in an ocean of bliss. To the 
 one, the hour of dissolution is a final separation from 
 all that he has loved, or sought, or known ; from all 
 that had diverted his attention from his own guilt and 
 folly in disobeying God and neglecting his soul; all 
 that had restrained his selfish appetites and passions 
 from raging with unbridled fury, all that had lulled 
 conscience into delusive slumbers or rendered him 
 callous to its reproaches ; it is his removal to a world, 
 w r here he has laid up no treasure, for which he has 
 made no preparation, to which he has looked forward 
 only with anxious doubt, or dark and gloomy forebod- 
 ings, and in which he has no friend, no hope, no portion. 
 To the other, it is a desired and expected removal from 
 weariness, sin, and trouble, to scenes, employments, and 
 joys long sought after with eager hope and ardent effort, 
 for which he has been ripened by a diligent use of all 
 the means of grace, a conscientious obedience to the 
 whole will of God, a sanctified improvement of every 
 dispensation of divine providence ; and by the cherished 
 and powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, transforming 
 him into the likeness of Christ and thus sealing him for 
 the day of redemption, and giving him the earnest of 
 
THE DEATH OF THE SAINT. 141 
 
 eternal life. To both, death is the commissioned agent 
 of the King of kings, executing his pleasure in the way 
 and at the time which he appoints ; but to the wicked, that 
 Almighty Being is an offended sovereign, arresting the 
 stubborn rebel in the very act of lifting the weapons of 
 rebellion against his throne ; a slighted Saviour, sum- 
 moning the despisers of his grace and love to a strict 
 account. To the righteous, a reconciled God and Father 
 calling his children to the embraces of parental love ; a 
 Eedeemer, affectionately trusted and obeyed, gathering 
 in those whom he has ransomed by his blood to the 
 mansions he has prepared for them, that they may be 
 everlasting monuments of his mighty power and abound- 
 ing grace. Precious is their death in his sight. He 
 orders all its circumstances ; he leaves them not unaided 
 in their struggle with the last enemy. In their nature 
 he has himself encountered and overcome the king of 
 terrors, and he knows how to sympathize, to soothe, to 
 sustain, to give the victory. Into the abode of separate 
 spirits he has gone before them, and there will he show 
 them the path of life. The grave he has consecrated 
 as a resting place for his people ; and as he burst the 
 bars of death and ascended up on high, he led captivity 
 captive and entered into his glory, so shall his voice 
 ere long waken their sleeping dust, breathe into their 
 decayed frames immortal life, pour upon them a vigor 
 and a beauty like his own, and, reuniting the pure spirit 
 to its glorified companion, rise with them to his Father 
 and their Father, and his God and their God. " Pre- 
 cious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, 
 yea blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." Whether 
 like aged Jacob, they calmly meet the king of terrors, 
 surrounded by weeping friends, and soothed by every 
 expression of filial love, or, like Lazarus, are borne by 
 angels to Abraham's bosom from the cheerless home 
 
142 SERMONS. 
 
 of want where none were present to sympathize or to 
 pay the last offices of kindness, or like the first martyr, 
 sink under the hand of violence and pass from the circle 
 of enraged enemies, breathing out threatenings and 
 slaughter, to the immediate presence of their glorious 
 Redeemer and the triumphant songs of the upper sanc- 
 tuary ; their death is precious in his sight who hath 
 redeemed them unto himself by his own blood. What- 
 ever in its circumstances may seem mysterious to 
 surviving friends, is all plain and clear to them in the 
 light of that world where they now rejoice. We have 
 abundant reason to believe that such as I have described 
 was the character of that respected member of this 
 Church, whose sudden removal from us we are called 
 to consider and improve to-day, and whose mortal 
 remains are now before us to be borne for the last time 
 from this house of God, where he so often worshipped 
 with delight, to that dark and silent mansion where 
 they will slumber till the morning of the resurrection. 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 THE LOVE OF CHRIST A CONSTRAINING MOTIVE IN 
 THE MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 •* For the love of Christ constraineth us ; because we thus judge , 
 that if one died for all, then were all dead." — 2 Cor. v. 14-. 
 
 Two things are remarkable in the early history of 
 Christianity : the extent and power of the missionary 
 spirit in the primitive church, and the blessing of God 
 crowning missionary effort with signal success. 
 
 The first Christians were a feeble band. They were 
 few in number ; without wealth, without learning, with- 
 out influence, or earthly resources of any kind. When 
 they began to propagate the Gospel, the world had 
 bowed down for ages under the iron yoke of error and 
 superstition. Never was an enterprise more arduous 
 or perilous, or to the eye of reason hopeless of success, 
 than the work of publishing everywhere the glad tid- 
 ings, as it was undertaken by them. From the city 
 where their Master had just suffered an infamous 
 death, a despised and feeble company of his followers 
 went forth to persuade the world to honor him as their 
 Redeemer, Sovereign, and Judge. Into this work, ap- 
 parently so hopeless, they entered with an ardor, a con- 
 stancy, a perseverance, a purpose, and a confidence of 
 success, never surpassed. 
 
 And such was the Divine blessing on their labors, 
 that ere one generation had passed away, it is written 
 of them : u Their line is gone out into all the earth, and 
 their words to the end of the world.' ' And while they 
 were everywhere reviled, and scorned, and persecuted, 
 
144 SERMONS. 
 
 and their path was marked by their tears and blood, 
 and illumined by the fires of martyrdom, the cause for 
 which they toiled and suffered held on its way ? waxing 
 stronger and stronger, till it triumphed over all oppo- 
 sition, and from the throne of imperial Home received 
 the homage of the civilized world. 
 
 In the text, one of the early heralds of the cross — him- 
 self not a whit behind the very chiefest in labors, and 
 sufferings, and successes — tells us what principle ani- 
 mated him and his brethren in this arduous, blessed 
 work : " The love of Christ constraineth us." 
 
 The meaning of this declaration is the same whether 
 we interpret the phrase u the love of Christ," as our love 
 to Christ or Christ's love to us ; if the first, our love to 
 Christ springs from his love to us, and is sustained and 
 animated by it ; if the last, Christ's love to us operates 
 as a practical principle by producing in us love to him. 
 
 Whether we be beside ourselves, as some assert, says 
 the apostle, it is to God ; or whether we be sober it is 
 for your cause ; for we thus judge, &c, &c. 
 
 The phrase by which he describes the influence of the 
 love of Christ is very emphatic ; it constraineth us ; 
 literally, it surrounds us, and presses us on every side, 
 so that we cannot escape from it. It bears us along, 
 like a mighty torrent, with resistless power ; through 
 toils and trials, through sacrifices and sufferings, and 
 death itself, we are borne onward by our love to him 
 who died for us. 
 
 When those disciples thought of Christ's love to them, 
 so free, so strong, so precious in its fruits — when their 
 hearts were opened to the blessed influences of that 
 love — it awakened feelings of gratitude and esteem, and 
 ardent desires to please and honor him who thus loved 
 them and gave himself for them. It called forth in their 
 hearts a love to Christ, stronger than the love of ease, 
 
THE LOVE OF CIIIUST IN THE MISSIONARY WORK, 145 
 
 or the love of wealth, or of reputation, or qf friends, or 
 of life itself. Cheerfully they put all these at hazard 
 for his sake ; joyfully they sacrificed them all when the 
 honor of his name and the promotion of his cause 
 called for the offering. 
 
 Such is the nature of all genuine love to Christ. In 
 proportion as it is sincere and enlightened, it is steady 
 and practical ; it is supreme and transcendent ; it sub- 
 dues everything in the believer himself to its own sway ; 
 it determines the end for which he lives, and marks out 
 the path he pursues, no matter what difficulties may 
 beset that path. Thus it wrought in the primitive 
 church, as the great principle of missionary effort, 
 prompting to every toil, and sacrifice, and suffering, 
 necessary in bearing to all people the glad tidings of 
 great joy. 
 
 Thus the love of Christ will ever operate as a mis- 
 sionary principle, in proportion as the great work of 
 publishing the gospel to every creature is presented to 
 those who love him, as a work to be done, by the bless- 
 ing of God upon their efforts and in answer to their 
 prayers. 
 
 Let us consider this topic — Love to Christ — as the 
 animating motive to missionary effort. 
 
 It is so, first, as it is a principle of obedience. The 
 believer has chosen Christ as his Master and Lord ; he 
 bows in willing subjection to his blessed authority ; 
 but love to a master alwa} r s delights in obedience to his 
 authority ; so Christ says : u If ye love me keep my 
 commandments;" "He that hath my commandments 
 and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." 
 
 He commanded his people, Go preach my Gospel to 
 every creature ; go make disciples of all nations. This 
 was his last command, his parting injunction as he as- 
 cended to Heaven. He uttered it in immediate con- 
 
146 BEHMON& 
 
 nexion witl} tlie assertion of his majesty and glory as 
 mediator : All power is given to me, &c. ; Therefore 
 go, &c, as if lie meant his people to regard it as the 
 grand test of their loyalty to him. He annexed to it 
 the promise of his gracious presence in every age : Go 
 make disciples, &c, and, Lo ! I am with you always, &c, 
 as if it were his purpose to identify it with all the most 
 precious privileges of his people, and all their dearest 
 hopes. He gave the command, after he had borne 
 their sins in his own body on the cross, that they being 
 dead unto sin might live unto God, and in full view of 
 all the toil, and self-denial, and suffering it would cost 
 his people to obey it. Primitive believers seem to have 
 entered into his views ; they sympathized in his feel- 
 ings ; whether they thought of him as dying for their 
 sins, or rising again for their justification ; or ascending 
 on high and entering into heaven as their advocate and 
 representative ; or seated on his throne, to give effici- 
 ency to the purposes of love for which he died. Every 
 view of Christ was associated in their minds with the 
 command, Go preach my Gospel. to every creature. 
 In proportion as they loved him r „and rejoiced in him, 
 they counted it a duty and a privilege to live unto him, 
 for the great purpose for which he had redeemed them 
 unto God by his blood. Love to their Master animated 
 every effort, prompted every act of self-denial, made 
 sacrifices easy and sufferings sweet, and suffered them 
 not to rest till his last command was fully executed, and 
 " Earth's remotest nation had heard Messiah's name." 
 
 Again, Love to Christ wrought in the primitive Chris- 
 tians as a missionary principle, as it filled them with 
 ardent desires to please and honor him. 
 
 When they meditated on his love to them ; on the 
 mire from which he had redeemed them by his suffer- 
 ings in their stead ; on the blessed privileges and hopes 
 
THE LOVE OF CHRIST IS TIIH MISSIONARY WORK. 147 
 
 so dearly purchased and so freely bestowed on them ; 
 when they looked up to Heaven and beheld him enter- 
 ing there as their forerunner, ever living to intercede 
 for them ; when they anticipated his second coming, in 
 the glories of his Grodhead, to be glorified in his saints 
 and admired in all them that believe in him, how could 
 they refrain from asking in the fervor of grateful love, 
 Lord, what wilt thou have us to do? How may we 
 express our gratitude to thee? How may we show 
 forth thy praise ? How may we please and honor thee, 
 oh, thou who wast slain ? 
 
 With such feelings of grateful love to Christ they 
 looked around them, and saw his inheritance in the 
 hands of his enemies ; the god of this world trampling 
 upon his rights ; triumphing in the usurpation and rob- 
 bery of his purchased possession ; they saw his name, 
 and grace, and power, unknown ; or if known, dis- 
 honored and despised ; souls for whom he died, led cap- 
 tive by the devil at his will, going down under the 
 bondage of error and sin to everlasting woe ; and they 
 burned with holy zeal to vindicate their Master's honor 
 and assert his rights. 
 
 They knew that he was honored by the publication 
 of his Gospel ; that by this rod of his strength he sub- 
 dued the proud and stubborn heart, and reigned in the 
 midst of his enemies ; they knew that every triumph 
 of his grace, no matter how obscure and degraded the 
 subject, gave new joy to his benevolent heart, and to 
 the holy choirs that surround him, a new theme of 
 praise ; they knew that every redeemed sinner would 
 stand up before the holy universe a monument of his 
 love, and add a new gem to his diadem of glory. 
 
 When they thought of this and of Christ's love to 
 them, they longed to publish everywhere his sufferings, 
 his resurrection, and his glory ; to tell to all the world 
 
148 SERMONS. 
 
 his love, and grace, and power to save. They thought 
 no labors arduous, no sacrifices great, no sufferings 
 severe, by which they might magnify his grace and 
 win immortal souls to him. No region seemed remote, 
 or dark, or perilous, where they might show forth the 
 riches of his grace and gather jewels for his crown. 
 Time, talents, influence, property, life itself, they counted 
 not dear, if by these they might please and honor him. 
 For this they encountered cold and hunger and naked- 
 ness ; they shrank not from perils by land and perils 
 by sea ; they quailed not at the terror of martyrdom. 
 
 Again, love to Christ wrought in the primitive Chris- 
 tians as a missionary principle, as it led them to desire 
 to be like him and to enjoy communion with him. 
 
 In him, they saw the perfection of moral beauty, and 
 they longed to bear his image. They esteemed him 
 the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely, 
 and they were filled with intense desires to be like him, 
 to breathe his spirit, and walk in his steps, and thus be 
 fitted for communion with him on earth, and for blissful 
 and everlasting fellowship with Christ in Heaven. 
 
 But in labors, and prayers, and sacrifices, and suffer- 
 ings for the promulgation of his gospel and the salvation 
 of men ; in these things they were walking in his steps, 
 seeking the very objects for which he toiled and died, 
 and by means such as he used ! Thus they entered 
 into his plans, they sympathized in his purposes and 
 feelings of love and mercy, they became identified with 
 him. How it sweetened toil and privation and suffering 
 in this work, to recollect that he w r hom their souls loved, 
 had thus wrought in the same work before them. Did 
 they devote property to this object, selling houses and 
 lands, and distributing with a liberal hand, when there 
 was occasion for it ? — He had given all his riches, and 
 made himself poor for the same object ! Did they give 
 
THE LOVE OF CHRIST IN THE MISSIONARY WORK. 140 
 
 to the work time, and thought, and patient labor? — It 
 occupied his thoughts, and filled his heart, and absorbed 
 all his mighty energies ! Did they encounter opposition, 
 and bitter scorn, and hazard life in the work? — lie 
 had borne the contradiction of sinners against himself, 
 and endured the cross, despising the shame, for the 
 same blessed end. No matter how rough and toilsome 
 the path of the heralds of salvation, their master had 
 been there before them. There he had left his foot- 
 prints to guide and to cheer them, and love delighted to 
 follow him, and found a charm in sacrifices and suffer- 
 ings, by which it was conformed to a suffering Saviour, 
 and rilled up what was behind of his afflictions in their 
 flesh, for his body's sake, the Church. 
 
 Thus love to Christ wrought in his primitive disci- 
 ples as the animating principle of missionary effort, 
 constraining them to every labor, and sacrifice, and 
 self-denial by which they might obey his last command, 
 please and honor him who had bought them with his 
 own blood, and cultivate a holy and blessed fellowship 
 with him, in the very purpose and work of mercy, for 
 which he laid down his life. 
 
 Love to the Redeemer was the mighty principle, 
 under whose sweetly constraining power that little band 
 went forth to subdue the world to their crucified mas- 
 ter, or to expend the last particle of their strength and 
 treasure, and pour out the last drop of their blood in the 
 effort ; and his presence went with them, and his pro- 
 mised blessing rested on their labors, and nation after 
 nation, buried for ages in error, pollution, and misery, 
 awoke at the life-giving call from the long slumbers of 
 spiritual death, and casting off its grave-clothes, put on 
 robes of light and purity and joy. 
 
 We may learn from this subject, 1st: The missionary 
 character of true religion. 
 
150 SERMOKS. 
 
 Love to Christ is the soul of piety in every pardoned 
 sinner. It is first among the fruits of the Spirit. Com- 
 mon to all of every name and in every place, who have 
 tasted that the Lord is gracious. Preeminent among 
 the Christian graces, it imparts beauty and value to them 
 all ; it will endure and increase when faith is lost in 
 vision, and hope swallowed up in enjoyment. " Whoso 
 loveth, is born of God and knoweth God ;" but if any 
 man loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathe- 
 ma maranatha. And this love is the animating principle 
 of missionary effort. In its earliest, purest, steadiest 
 impulses ; it prompts the believer to do what he can to 
 make known that Saviour who is precious to his own 
 heart; that salvation in which he rejoices. There is the 
 perennial fountain of toil and sacrifice and self-denial 
 in spreading the Gospel through the world. It cannot 
 fail, while the love of Christ dwells in the hearts of his 
 people, nor while the Eternal Spirit performs his official 
 work, shedding abroad that love in the hearts of par- 
 doned sinners. Once this principle triumphed over all 
 opposition, and undismayed by the terrors of martyr- 
 dom, published salvation by the blood of Christ, where 
 Satan had reigned unmolested through centuries of 
 darkness, and had set in array against the gospel, the 
 embattled hosts of earth and hell, and it is still the same 
 in its heavenly origin, in its practical influence, in all 
 its appropriate fruits. 
 
 My brethren, is this the character of your religion ? 
 Does love to Christ constrain you as it did his primitive 
 disciples, to labor for the promotion of his cause, in 
 obedience to his last command ; as an expression of 
 your gratitude for his matchless mercies, that you may 
 please and honor him, and that you may thus grow into 
 his likeness, and ripen for everlasting communion with 
 
THE LOVE OF CHRIST IN THE MISSIONARY WORK. 151 
 
 him, in the house of his Father and your Father, and 
 his God and your God ? 
 
 2d. We learn what is needed in order to the speedy 
 propagation of the gospel through the world. We have 
 the same gospel to publish which, in primitive times, 
 spread abroad over the world with almost the rapidity 
 of light. It has been committed to us, under the same 
 command to publish it to every creature. We have 
 the same promise of the presence of Christ to go with 
 us when we go forth in obedience to him, the same 
 promise of the Holy Spirit to be given in answer to 
 prayer. In wealth and learning and facilities for tra- 
 velling, and all the external means of instruction and 
 impression, the resources of the Church now are greater 
 beyond comparison than they were then, and the ob- 
 stacles to the work in the unevangelized world, are far 
 less formidable. The Providence of God has gone 
 before us in a signal manner, opening a door of entrance 
 to the dark places of the earth ; and the movements of 
 his spirit awakening inquiry and a desire for instruc- 
 tion, have been such, that at this hour the Macedonian 
 cry, "Come over and help us," comes up to us in a 
 thousand voices of agony from different and distant 
 portions of the heathen world ! 
 
 Why is it, then, that we move so tardily ? Why did 
 their words go out to the ends of the world in less time 
 than the whole Church we have has already taken to 
 publish the glad tidings to less than a fiftieth part of 
 our perishing fellow men ? Why is it that every year 
 twenty millions pass into eternity without God, and 
 having no hope, while we make known the way of sal- 
 vation to one million? Why is it that even at this 
 tardy rate of publishing the gospel, almost every mis- 
 sionary society in the world is at this hour in advance 
 
152 SERMONS. 
 
 of the contributions of the churches, and burdened with 
 a debt ? 
 
 Ah ! my brethren, we lack the animating principle, 
 the moving power, the constraining influence to quicken 
 and rouse to action all the energies of the disciples of 
 Christ in this blessed work) to unite all hearts and 
 hands in publishing salvation to a perishing w r orld. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 A VOICE FROM THE STEAMER ATLANTIC— THE FIELD 
 WHITE FOR THE HARVEST* 
 
 "Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already 
 to harvest." — John iv. 35. 
 
 Our Lord speaks in the text of Samaria. It was then 
 ripe for the successful preaching of the Gospel; it 
 needed but the reaper to enter in and gather fruit unto 
 everlasting life. 
 
 As it was then with Samaria, so is it now with the 
 world, — the field into which he calls us to enter, and 
 reap, and receive wages, and gather fruit unto ever- 
 lasting life ; — it is white to the harvest. 
 
 This truth I wish to illustrate in several particulars, 
 and chiefly by an induction of facts, as they now exist, 
 in the unevangelical world. 
 
 And first, The world is open to the entrance of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 A few years since it was not so. The first mission- 
 aries from our country to the distant heathen, embarked 
 in 1812. For two years they had sought an eligible 
 field of labor to which they might have access ; yet when 
 they left their native land, it was like Abraham, not 
 knowing whither they went. They saw two-thirds of 
 the heathen population of the globe crowded together 
 in southeastern Asia, in dense masses, groping their way 
 to the grave and to the judgment without God, having 
 no hope, and they bent their course to the distant shores 
 
 * This sermon was rescued from the wreck of the Atlantic steamer. 
 
154 SERMONS, 
 
 of British India. But an order ot the government 
 commanding them to return in the same vessel that had 
 carried them out, met them as they landed at Calcutta. 
 In vain did they remonstrate, and entreat permission to 
 preach Christ to the idolatrous subjects of a Christian 
 government. They were compelled to separate, and 
 search in distant regions some door of entrance to testify 
 of Jesus, and salvation to the perishing heathen. One 
 of them, through many trials, found a field of labor in 
 the wilds of Burmah ; two others, after being repulsed 
 at various points, and having manfully encountered 
 opposition and persecution nearly two years, were 
 barely suffered to commence on the western coast of 
 India the first mission of the American Church among 
 the distant heathen. 
 
 Ten years later, when the first missionaries embarked 
 for Western Asia, the undertaking was deemed perilous, 
 and its practicability doubtful. It was hazardous then 
 to speak to a votary of Mohammed of the claims of the 
 Gospel. The first missionary printing establishment, 
 for the benefit of those countries, was planted at Malta, 
 700 miles distant, and remained there ten years, because 
 it was not thought safe to place it anywhere in the 
 Turkish empire. Twenty years ago a firman from the 
 government forbade the distribution of the Scriptures 
 in that empire, and commanded the seizure of s.uch 
 copies as were already printed. 
 
 For the evangelization of China, Morrison labored 
 nearly thirty years ; yet he never ventured to enter the 
 empire, nor to be known publicly among the Chinese 
 as a Christian missionary. For a native of that coun- 
 try to profess Christianity, or to read or distribute the 
 Gospel, or even to teach a foreigner the language, was 
 by the law of China a capital offence. 
 
 Thus it was in India, and Western Asia, and China, 
 
THE FIELD WHITE FOR THE HARVEST. L5fl 
 
 where dwelt four-fifths of tlie unevangclized population 
 of the globe thirty years ago ! 
 
 How is it now ? All India is open. The servant of 
 Christ may traverse the land from Cape Comorin to the 
 snowy mountains of the north, from the Indus to the 
 Burrampooter, and preach Christ to 150,000,000 of ido- 
 laters, with none to make him afraid. Everywhere 
 the government protects him, and the people treat him 
 with respect. If a thousand heralds of the cross should 
 go out this year, every one might find there an open 
 door, an ample field, a welcome from those already in 
 the work. 
 
 Missionary stations and printing establishments are 
 now found in Turkey, and Syria, and Persia. Their 
 books circulate from the Bosphorus to regions beyond 
 the Euphrates, and from the shores of the Black Sea 
 to the borders of Arabia. Groups of converts are 
 found far in the interior, and inquirers after truth at 
 all the centres of business, along the principal thorough- 
 fares, and in many secluded villages. A numerous 
 missionary corps reside at Constantinople under the 
 eye of the Sultan, at the metropolis of the Mohamme- 
 dan world. They have depots for the sale of books, 
 numerous native helpers, boarding schools for the 
 young, a seminary for the education of native teachers 
 and preachers, chapels for the public preaching of the 
 Gospel, and not less than twenty religious meetings 
 every week. The city is filled with their doctrines, yet 
 no man is permitted to do them harm. The great 
 principles of religious toleration have been recognised 
 by the rulers of Turkey and Persia, and public edicts 
 have proclaimed that men shall no longer be put to 
 death for changing their religion. 
 
 China is open to Christian teachers ; their right to 
 profess and propagate their religion is admitted; the 
 
15G sermo.nS. 
 
 laws that forbade the Chinese to embrace it have been 
 repealed, and the absolute ruler of 350,000,000 of ido- 
 laters has declared that the religion of Jesus is good. 
 How wonderful the changes of the last thirty years ! 
 Who could have anticipated them ! With what rapid- 
 ity have they followed each other ! They have opened 
 a door of entrance for the heralds of salvation to 600,- 
 000,000 of unevangelized men. Surely the fields are 
 white to the harvest. 
 
 2d. Facilities for conducting missionary operations 
 have greatly increased. Thirty 3 r ears ago, it was not 
 "uncommon for missionaries to be detained many months, 
 waiting for a passage to heathen countries. Now, 
 dela)^s from this cause are rare indeed. Opportunities 
 are ten times as frequent as they were, and this at less 
 expense, and with far better accommodations. 
 
 So of correspondence. In the early yea^s of the A. 
 B. C. F. M. this was tedious, irregular, and uncertain. 
 To write to missions beyond the Cape of Good Hope, 
 an (J receive answers, required from twelve to eighteen 
 months ; now fewer weeks are needed, than were 
 months then. Letters have been written to the mission 
 at Bombay in August, and replies received at Boston 
 in November. 
 
 So of remittances for the support of missions, Thirty 
 years ago it was necessary to purchase specie, pay 
 freight and insurance, and consign it to an agent at the 
 port, to which the vessel was bound. Thence it was 
 conve} 7 ed by routes often difficult and expensive to the 
 mission, to be taken care of and used as needed. The 
 w r hole process was costly, tedious, uncertain, and haz- 
 ardous. Losses bj^ fraud or robbery were not un- 
 common. 
 
 Now, the Treasurer of the Board drops into the mail 
 a draught on its bankers in London, payable to the 
 
THE FIELD WHITE FOR THE HARVEST. 157 
 
 order of a missionary at Bombay, or Madras?, or Canton, 
 and the remittance goes to its destination as safely, and 
 surely, and rapidly as a merchant in New Orleans 
 remits to his correspondent in New York. Funds are 
 thus sent, as soon as they are collected, to the remotest 
 stations in the heathen world, and so of other supplies. 
 How much have we gained in this respect ! For all 
 purposes of intercourse and influence our missionary 
 brethren, and the heathen among whom they labor, 
 are at our doors. We have but to stretch out our 
 hands and give them the bread of life. We may dis- 
 tribute the Bible, or gather children into schools, or 
 educate a promising youth in a Christian family, or 
 support a native helper as a teacher, or catechist, or 
 colporteur, or evangelist, in Turkey, or India, or China, 
 or the distant isles, as easily as in our own country and 
 at less expense. The same amount of contribution now 
 tells on the great object far more directly and speedily 
 than in former years. God has thus intrusted to us 
 talents, to be occupied for him, in evangelizing the 
 world, such as he never gave to our Fathers nor to any 
 preceding generation, not even to the primitive Church. 
 The fields are white to the harvest. 
 
 3d. We have gained the confidence of those whose 
 salvation we seek. Without this we could have little 
 hope of success ; n or is it easy to secure it. The heathen 
 are ignorant and wicked, and ignorance and wicked- 
 ness are ever full of suspicion and slow to confide in 
 strangers who approach them, with fair professions. 
 They have commonly taken their first impressions of 
 Christianity, not from Christian missionaries, but from 
 those who have gone to them for the sake of gain, and 
 to take advantage of their weakness. Hence a sense 
 of injury, and ^bitter prejudices have combined with 
 
 8 
 
158 SERMONS. 
 
 their own wickedness, to shut their hearts against the 
 Gospel. 
 
 It was not till after much discussion that the first 
 missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, were permitted 
 to land, and then it was for one year only, and on trial. 
 The second company were joyfully welcomed. 
 
 With great difficulty the early missionaries to India 
 prevailed on the people to give them their children to 
 educate. They began with but two or three. More 
 than once, at different stations, vague rumors of evil 
 intentions spread such a panic among the people, that 
 they hastily took away their children. So it was also 
 in Western Asia. 
 
 Now, in the Tamil and Mahratta missions, it is not 
 possible to meet the demands of the people for educa- 
 tion. Delegations come to them from distant towns 
 and villages, entreating them to establish schools, and 
 offering to build school-houses and aid in the support of 
 teachers. When the missionaries give notice that they 
 are willing to receive additional pupils to their boarding 
 schools and seminaries, scores of applicants press upon 
 them. If their ability to receive pupils were tenfold 
 greater than it is, it would be taxed to the utmost. ."Not 
 that the heathen love the gospel, or wish their children 
 to become Christians, but they have learned to. confide 
 in the ability and integrity and kindness of the mis- 
 sionaries. They know that in their hands, their chil- 
 dren will be well taught and kindly cared for. 
 
 In the spring of 1845, when the civil war between 
 the Druzes and Maronites of Mount Lebanon was 
 about to commence, individuals of both the contending 
 parties, committed their money and jewelry and other 
 valuable effects, to the missionaries for safe keeping. 
 Large amounts were thus intrusted to them, without 
 
THE FIELD WHITE FOR THE HARVEST. 159 
 
 taking receipts or other evidence of the deposit. In 
 the heat of that vindictive and bloody contest, they 
 moved about among the combatants unmolested. Their 
 houses were a place of refuge to hundreds of both par- 
 ties, and the poor people felt safe in passing through 
 scenes of deadly strife, if they were in train of an 
 unarmed Missionary. These are but specimens of the 
 manner in which our brethren have gained the confi- 
 dence of the people, whose salvation they seek. And 
 who are these Missionaries ? Our agents and represen- 
 tatives, whom we have sent out. Through them, God 
 has given to us, the confidence of our fellow-men in 
 heathen lands. — He has intrusted to us, a precious 
 talent, to be used for his glory, and their everlasting 
 good. Thus the fields are white to the harvest. 
 
 Again an impression has been made, almost through- 
 out the heathen world, that their systems of religion 
 are passing away, and that Christianity is destined to 
 supplant them, and to be everywhere triumphant. 
 Various causes have combined to make this impression. 
 
 The superiority of Christian nations in arts and arms ; 
 the progress of science and literature, detecting and 
 exposing the gross errors embodied in the prevailing 
 systems of false religion ; the political decay and 
 downfall of the great Pagan and Mohammedan empires 
 of the old world; the contempt everywhere poured 
 upon idolatry by travellers, commercial agents, and 
 seamen, from Christian countries; the imbecility and 
 dotage of the great systems of false religion, once 
 vigorous and active ; the fading splendor of their rites, 
 and the tame and spiritless despondency of their vota- 
 ries ; the loud call so often repeated, in so many lands, 
 by so many voices of Christian missionaries, that men 
 should forsake these vanities and seek the living God 
 — these causes, coinciding with the movements of the 
 
160 SERMONS. 
 
 providence and Spirit of God, have made such impres- 
 sions, as I have stated, on millions of minds not yet so 
 enlightened and convinced as to cast away their idols. 
 And facts passing before them justify those impressions 
 — Boodhism, by the confession of its High Priest, is 
 ready to expire, in the land that gave it birth. Hin- 
 dooism is denounced as an imposture and a fraud, by 
 Hindoo writers, in the chief cities of India. Secessions 
 from it are now taking place among Brahmins, in the 
 heart of the country, under the government of native 
 princes. The supreme head of the Mohammedan 
 world has publicly renounced a fundamental maxim of 
 the Koran, to which the system owed its early tri- 
 umphs and its subsequent support, "that religion is to 
 be maintained and propagated by the sword." 
 
 The powers of darkness, so long lording it over the 
 vast domain of heathenism, are like the Amorites when 
 their iniquity was full, and Joshua led in the hosts of 
 the Lord, to the land of promise; their defence has 
 departed from them, and panic and dismay have gone 
 forth among them — or like Herod and his Court, when 
 they heard the inquiry of the wise men, — Where is he 
 that is born King of the Jews, for we have seen his 
 star in the East, and are come to worship him, and 
 Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him ! In 
 this respect, the way of the Lord is prepared. We go 
 forth in his name, to encounter an enemy already 
 struck with panic, and foreboding defeat and ruin. 
 The fields are white. 
 
 In the labors preparatory to the universal diffusion of 
 the Gospel already performed, we find a fifth illustration 
 of the text. 
 
 The Bible has been already translated into the princi- 
 pal languages of the world, and nine tenths of its hea- 
 then population might now read in their own tongues 
 
THE FIELD WHITE FOR THE HARVEST. 1G1 
 
 the wonderful works of God. Fifteen languages have 
 been reduced to a written form by our own mission- 
 aries, and the germs of all intellectual and moral pro- 
 gress have thus been planted in so many desolate re- 
 gions. They have translated the Bible into more than 
 twenty, and prepared grammars, and dictionaries, and 
 elementary religious tracts, in as many. 
 
 So they have opened schools of various grades, and 
 educated, more or less, many thousands of children and 
 youth, now mingling with their ow r n people. Thus 
 they have taught them the value of education, and 
 created a desire and a demand for it where mind, dark 
 and torpid, had slumbered for ages ; so that the people 
 begin to put forth their own energies, and do what they 
 can to obtain it for themselves. In many heathen 
 countries the prejudice against female education, so 
 widely spread and deeply rooted, has been overcome, 
 and the fetters that bound one half the human family 
 in a degrading and miserable slavery to the other, have 
 been severed, and a gigantic obstacle to the elevation 
 of society removed, and a work fairly commenced in 
 India, and Western Asia, and the islands, which, if 
 pursued, must ultimately renovate the whole frame- 
 work of society, and make the domestic circle what it 
 is in Christian lands — the home of intelligence and 
 mutual respect and kindness, and the nursery of all 
 that adorns and blesses man in this "world, and ripens 
 him for heaven. In like manner institutions have been 
 already formed to prepare native teachers and evange- 
 lists in heathen countries ; and of these, some are al- 
 ready yielding their first fruits for the healing of many, 
 and their number and efficiency are constantly increas- 
 ing ; all this, too, is of a permanent character. The 
 heads that planned, and the hands that began to exe- 
 cute, may slumber in the grave, but the work abides, to 
 
162 SERMONS. 
 
 aid and encourage all who may yet go forth to the work 
 of the Lord in those lands. One soweth and another 
 reapeth, and lo ! the fields are white to the harvest. 
 
 A sixth illustration of the text we find in the spirit 
 of inquiry, the expectation of change, and the desire 
 for improvement, so extensively awakened in the un- 
 evangelized world. These may be seen, more or less 
 distinctly, almost throughout Asia, on the coast of 
 Africa, and in its dark interior, and among the count- 
 less isles that dot the surface of the Pacific and Indian 
 Oceans ; all classes participate in them — nominal Chris- 
 tians, Jews, Mohammedans, and Pagans of every form 
 of idolatry and every grade of civilization ; in Turkey 
 and Syria, and portions of the Western and Southern 
 coast of Africa, in Western, Southern, and Northern 
 India, and part of the Indo-Chinese countries, they find 
 utterance in earnest demands for instruction, demands 
 that chide our tardy movements in obeying the com- 
 mand of Christ to give his Gospel to every creature. 
 And what means this dissatisfaction with the present, 
 these anticipations of change, this restless longing for 
 some improvement they scarce know what, or whence ? 
 Are they not indications of a new era, even now com- 
 mencing ? Look at them through the glass of prophecy, 
 and behold, not transient meteors, flashing a moment- 
 ary gleam over the sullen surface of night, but the 
 first faint streaks of morning on the dark horizon, sum- 
 moning the children of light and of the day to bestir 
 themselves so much the more, as they see the day ap- 
 proaching; incipient movements of the life-giving 
 Spirit brooding over the dark mass of ruined mind, 
 and ready to reduce the chaos to order, and cover it 
 with beauty ! The fields are white already to harvest. 
 
 Let us notice in 'the last place, as illustrating the text, 
 the seal of God's approbation of missionary effort, in 
 
THE FIELD WHITE FOR THE HARVEST. 163 
 
 the saving operations of his grace. What surer indica- 
 tion that the fields are white than the first fruits, already- 
 gathered. God gives us this encouragement. Of per- 
 haps a thousand stations, formed by Christians of every 
 name, in every part of the unevangelized world, nine 
 tenths at least have rejoiced in the presence and power 
 of the Holy Ghost, giving life to the dead in sin. 
 
 Of our own missionary stations, numbering nearly 
 one hundred, and stretching round the globe, there is 
 scarcely one where the triumphs of divine mercy have 
 not been witnessed opening the eyes of the i>lind, and 
 turning them from darkness to light, and from the power 
 of Satan unto God. Seventy -seven churches of con- 
 verted heathens now contain more than 25,000 mem- 
 bers in full communion, and from those churches thou- 
 sands have already gone, rejoicing to mingle in the fel- 
 lowship of the just made perfect. There are redeemed 
 sinners of many tribes, and climes, and colors. Cathe- 
 rine Brown and her parents and brothers of the red 
 men of the forest ; and Kupiolani, and blind Bartimeus, 
 with hundreds more, from the isles of the Pacific ; and 
 the martyred Asaad of the Arab race, with the Arme- 
 nian Sarkis, and Babajee, once a proud Brahmin in 
 India ; and representatives of the treacherous Malay, 
 and the dark tribes of Africa ; with Hall, and Newell, 
 and Parsons, and Fisk, and Worcester, and Evarts, and 
 Cornelius, all joining in the song of praise to him who 
 loved them ; and welcomed by the church triumphant, 
 and angels round the throne, as first fruits of the great 
 harvest already white, and ere long to be gathered from 
 all nations, and tongues, and people, with joy that will 
 be new in heaven, and songs such as never yet made 
 its arches ring and waked the echoes of eternity. 
 
 Already hundreds of native laborers are connected 
 with our own missions, and thousands, with those of 
 our fellow Christians, of whom not a few are supported 
 
164 SERMONS. 
 
 as teachers, pastors, and evangelists, by native churches, 
 — and their numbers and efficiency are constantly in- 
 creasing, — and over wide regions, where the chill, dark 
 night of spiritual death has brooded for ages, the Spirit 
 of God breathes upon the valley of dry bones, and as 
 his servants prophesy, behold a noise and a shaking, 
 and the bones come together, bone to his bone, and the 
 sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin 
 covers them, and they live! 
 
 We very imperfectly appreciate the greatness and 
 importance of that work of spiritual renovation that 
 has been advancing, with growing power, for ten years 
 past, among the Armenians of Turkey, till it attracts 
 the eye and moves the heart of Christendom, and it has 
 more recently commenced with signal power among 
 the Nestorians of Persia. 
 
 And now what practical inference should we draw 
 from these facts ? What should be our spirit and atti- 
 tude at such a time ? Have we not cause to thank God 
 and take courage ? Has he not heard our prayers and 
 smiled on our efforts? Is not the Lord on our side? 
 Do not his Providence and Spirit accompany us ? yea y 
 go before us in our obedience to his command ? Who 
 could have foreseen such results in so short a time, and 
 from such feeble beginnings I If Samuel J. Mills, who, 
 under God, gave the first impulse to this work, and de- 
 parted to his rest, should now revisit us, what would 
 be his emotions ! 
 
 We can hardly measure what has been gained, be- 
 cause so much of the work is preparatory, and looks 
 forward to results not yet developed ; and because, as 
 the Gospel moves onward, like the leaven, its self-pro- 
 pagating power acts with growing energy, and in an 
 ever widening sphere ; and most of all, because it is 
 made efficient by a Divine influence, to be poured out 
 
THE FIELD WHITE FOR THE HARVEST. 165 
 
 ere long, according to promise, as floods on the dry 
 grounds. Those who come after us will be more com- 
 petent than" we are to measure the effects of translating 
 the Bible into so many languages, and publishing the 
 glad tidings to so many nations, and letting in the first 
 rays of heavenly light on so many regions of darkness 
 and the shadow of death ! 
 
 But have we labored in vain, or spent our strength 
 for naught ? Have we not ample cause of thanksgiv- 
 ing and praise ! 
 
 Again : are we not called to go forward in this work 
 with stronger faith, and higher hopes, and larger plans, 
 and a more generous love to Christ and to the souls of 
 men ! It is not to be denied or concealed that we are 
 falling behind our work ; or rather, the providence and 
 Spirit of God are far outstripping our tardy move- 
 ments. The growth of the missionary spirit at home 
 has not kept pace,*for ten years past, with the success 
 of the missionary work abroad. At this hour the 
 ripened harvest is falling and perishing for want of 
 reapers. God has raised up many helpers among the 
 heathen, or the case had been far worse than it is. 
 Shall we sleep in the time of harvest ? or shrink from 
 gathering the fruits of past toil ? That were folly and 
 shame indeed. If the fields are white, let us enter in 
 and reap, and receive wages, and gather fruit unto life 
 eternal. The " Breaker " has gone up before us. The 
 pillar of cloud and fire moves onward towards the land 
 of promise. Shall we not follow ? 
 
 When the valleys are exalted, and the mountains are 
 brought low, and the crooked ways are made straight, 
 and the rough places plain, that the glory of the Lord 
 may be revealed, and all flesh may see it together, shall 
 we not be up and doing, and so much the more as we 
 see the day approaching ! 
 
 8* 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 CHRIST, THE POWER OF GOD IN THE SALVATION 
 
 ' OF MEN. 
 
 "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye there- 
 fore and make disciples of all nations." — Matthew xxviii. 18, 19. 
 
 The speaker in the text is the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 He has risen from the dead ; he is ready to ascend to 
 the glory which he had with the Father before the 
 world began. It is his last earthly interview with those 
 whom he had chosen to bear his name, and publish his 
 message of mercy. He thus asserts his own dominion 
 and majesty, and gives a commission, extending to the 
 whole world and enduring to the £nd of time. The 
 power he here claims is of a peculiar character, and 
 conferred upon him for special purposes. He speaks 
 of himself not simply as God, nor yet simply as man, 
 but as the mediator of the new covenant, divinely 
 appointed ; and furnished for the work of redemption, 
 and combining Deity and humanity, in his own person. 
 Let us consider the power and glory of Christ as Media- 
 tor, and its connection with the command to make 
 disciples of all nations. 
 
 The Bible teaches that this power was given to Christ, 
 as the fruit and the reward of his sufferings to make 
 atonement for sin. Being found in fashion as a man, 
 he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, 
 even the death of the cross ; wherefore God also hath 
 highly exalted him, and given him a name which is 
 above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, 
 
CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF MEN. 167 
 
 and things under the earth ; and every tongue confess 
 that Jesus Christ -is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 
 And again, we see Jesus, who was made a little lower 
 than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned 
 with glory and honor. It was the prospect of this 
 exaltation, and of the revenue of praise to the blessed 
 God, and holiness and happiness to fallen man, which 
 it insures, that sustained the holy and compassionate 
 Eedeemer as he passed through those humiliations and 
 sorrows by which he attained it. For the joy set before 
 him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is 
 set down at the right hand of •the throne of God. It 
 was assured to him by the unfailing promise of God, as 
 the reward of his sufferings, and immediately consequent 
 upon his resurrection from the dead. 
 
 Now he had drained the cup of sorrow. By his own 
 death he had conquered sin, and death, and hell ; from 
 the grave he had risen triumphant ; all power was his 
 in Heaven and in earth; the portals of glory were 
 opened before him; he stood at the threshold ready 
 to sit down upon that throne, where he must reign till 
 he hath put all things under his feet. 
 
 This power and glory were conferred upon him, that 
 he might execute those plans and purposes of eternal 
 love and mercy, according to which he laid down his 
 life. Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be 
 a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, 
 and the remission of sins. God hath set him far above 
 all principality and power and might and dominion, 
 and every name that is named, and hath put all things 
 under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things, 
 to the Church which is his body, the fulness of him, 
 that filleth all in all. It is as the Eedeemer of lost sin- 
 ners, for their salvation from sin and death ; it is as the 
 great head of the Church, for the protection, support, 
 
268 SERMONS. 
 
 and consolation of his people, and their ultimate eternal 
 glory and happiness ; it is for the destruction of Satan's 
 empire, the recovery of our rebellious world to its 
 allegiance to God, and the univeral and everlasting 
 establishment of the kingdom of righteousness, and 
 peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, that Jesus is exalted 
 as Mediator. These are the special purposes for which 
 all power in Heaven and earth is given to him. 
 
 The power conferred upon him for these purposes, 
 reaches all worlds, extends through all time, and em- 
 braces all agents and all events so far as they are 
 connected with the welfare of his Church, the salvation 
 of his people, and the complete eternal triumph of his 
 cause. Mute unconscious nature is obedient to his will ; 
 all her elements are controlled by him. The providen- 
 tial government of the world is in his hands. He orders 
 the times and the seasons ; nations rise and prosper, or 
 decay and perish at his bidding ; he guides and shapes 
 at his pleasure, the earthly destinies of men. Good 
 men are willingly subject to his authority, joyfully they 
 cooperate with him in advancing the great purpose for 
 which he is exalted. He has power over the wicked 
 to restrain their enmity and overrule their bitterest 
 opposition for the promotion of his cause, or to subdue 
 their hearts by his grace, and transform them into 
 friends. 
 
 Evil spirits are put under his dominion. All their 
 craft, and might, and malice, are subject to his sway. 
 Not a hair's breadth beyond his permission can they 
 go to harass and tempt his people, or to hinder the 
 triumphs of his Gospel. 
 
 Angels and principalities and powers in heavenly 
 places, are obedient to him ; as ministering spirits they 
 go forth at his bidding to minister to the heirs of salva- 
 
CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF MEN. 169 
 
 tion, doing his commands, and helping on his work of 
 saving mercy. 
 
 It hath pleased the Father, that in him should all 
 fulness dwell, yea in him dwelleth all the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily, not figuratively, or emblematically, or 
 transiently, but really, substantially, permanently. All 
 the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, of holiness and 
 consolation, of grace and strength, suited to the wants 
 of those for whom he died, and sufficient to make them 
 meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in 
 light, are in his hands ; there deposited for the good of 
 his people and the advancement of his cause ; and by 
 him administered in subserviency to the great ends for 
 which he died, and rose, and reigns. 
 
 The Holy Spirit, in the fulness of his enlightening, 
 new creating, and sanctifying influences, is called in the 
 Scriptures the Spirit of Christ, because, in the economy 
 of redemption, he operates according to the will of 
 Christ, making the Gospel of Christ the power of God 
 unto salvation to all them that believe, and dwelling in 
 the Church of Christ, that it may be sanctified and 
 cleansed and presented to him, a glorious Church, not 
 having spot or wrinkle, or. any such thing ; and that 
 out of it may flow rivers of living waters, making glad 
 the wilderness and the solitary place, and causing the 
 desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose. 
 
 He has power over death and the world of Spirits ; 
 to him it belongeth to raise up and to put down ; to 
 kill and to make alive ; he openeth and no man shut- 
 teth ; he shutteth and no man openeth. 
 
 All the resources that Infinite Wisdom sees needful 
 to carry into perfect execution the plans of everlasting 
 love and mercy in the salvation of sinners, the redemp- 
 tion of this world from the ruins of its apostasy, and 
 its complete and final restoration to holiness and happi- 
 
170 SERMONS. 
 
 ness, all these are in the hands of Jesus Christ, exalted 
 as he now is to the mediatorial throne, and made head 
 over all things to the church which he has purchased 
 with his own blood ; and all this power he will hold 
 and exercise to the end of time, and to the full and 
 everlasting completion of that work of mercy for which 
 he laid down his life. At the grand consummation, 
 his voice shall wake the dead, and gather all the sons 
 of men before the tribunal of eternal judgment ; he 
 shall make the final separation of the righteous and 
 the wicked ; to Him shall every one of us give account 
 of himself in the great day of trial and decision ; his 
 sentence shall consign his impenitent enemies to the 
 prison of despair, and welcome his ransomed people to 
 the mansions of holiness and joy he has prepared for 
 them. 
 
 There he will for ever appear in the midst of his re- 
 deemed, in his glorified humanity, their elder brother, 
 the first-born from the dead, the author of salvation, the 
 centre of all eyes and all hearts, uniting the world of 
 ransomed sinners to the blessed Grod by new and pecu- 
 liar bonds, and the medium through which new and 
 peculiar manifestations of divine glory, and communica- 
 tions of divine blessedness, shall flow out upon them 
 for ever. 
 
 Such, briefly and imperfectly, are the majesty and 
 glory of Christ as mediator; such the authority and 
 power, reaching all worlds, extending through all time, 
 and embracing all agents and all events which he claims 
 as given to him, that he may complete the work of re- 
 deeming mercy for which he laid down his life ; and, 
 therefore, he commissions his servants to make disciples 
 of all nations, baptizing them in his name, and teach- 
 ing them to observe all things whatsoever he has com- 
 manded. 
 
CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF MEN. l7l 
 
 Here, in close connexion with the assertion of his 
 own majesty and glory as King of Kings and Lord of 
 Lords ; here, in the exercise of that supreme authority 
 which he had won by his toils and sufferings for the glory 
 of God in the salvation of men ; here, in his last inter- 
 course with his chosen disciples,he gives to his church the 
 great charter of her privileges and hopes ; to the gospel 
 ministry its broad enduring commission ; to all who 
 profess to love him, a permanent test of their allegiance 
 and loyalty ; and he identifies obedience to this com- 
 mand with all that is most precious to his people in time 
 and eternity, by its connexion with the promise: "Lo, 
 I am with you always, even to the end of the world." 
 
 We have here an ample warrant to seek and expect 
 the conversion of the world ; the charter of the church 
 covers the whole earth ; the commission of the ministry 
 embraces all nations ; the great Eedeemer contem- 
 plates the willing subjection of every creature to his 
 authority ; whatever authority he has given to his peo- 
 ple to make known his grace to their own households, 
 the very same authority have they to publish his gospel 
 to every creature ; whatever warrant they have to seek 
 the salvation of their own families, the very same war- 
 rant have they to make disciples of all nations ; they 
 are authorized to claim for him every inch of territory 
 on earth, and the love and confidence of every human 
 heart. Such a commission he gave in the last accents 
 that fell from his lips, ere he ascended to heaven ; and 
 he had a right to give it ; all things are his ; by him 
 they are sustained ; for him they exist ; he is Lord of 
 all, and heir in all things ; the earth is the Lord's, and 
 the fulness thereof the world and they that dwell 
 therein ; the heathen are his inheritance, the uttermost 
 parts of the earth are his possession ; the man of sin, 
 the false prophet, the demon gods that receive the horn- 
 
1*72 8ERM0SS. 
 
 age of millions, the idols of wood and earth and stone 
 to which they bow down, are usurpers of the rights of 
 Christ, and they must be cast down and utterly demo- 
 lished ; all the forms of infidelity, error, and supersti- 
 tion, that have reigned over the prostrate millions of 
 our race, in pollution, and terror, and blood, through 
 centuries of darkness and sorrow, are thieves and rob- 
 bers of that which belongs to Christ, that which is his 
 by a title that cannot be questioned ; his by the pur- 
 chase of his blood ; his by the gift of the Eternal Fa- 
 ther, ratified in his resurrection from the dead ; his by 
 his exaltation at the right hand of the heavenly majes- 
 ty ; and sentence has gone forth against them ; their 
 doom is sealed ; they shall be destroyed ; to his blood- 
 bought church he has given a commission to assert his 
 right ; to claim for him the supreme love and confidence 
 of every creature ; to make disciples of all nations. 
 Under this commission they are to go forth, employing 
 all the means he has intrusted to them, relying upon 
 his word of promise for success ; asserting his claims to 
 every human heart, and never retiring from the field, 
 never pausing in their onward march till all opposition 
 is subdued, and Jesus Christ is crowned Lord of all. 
 
 2d. We see here the obligation which rests on all who 
 have the gospel, to publish it to their fellow men, and to 
 labor for the conversion of the world. 
 
 It is Christ himself who summons all who hear his 
 word, to engage in this work. The command is ex- 
 press, it is unequivocal. He has connected it inseparably 
 with the assertion of his power and glory as Mediator, 
 as if he would have us to look upon it as the grand law 
 of his mediatorial kingdom; the decisive test of our 
 allegiance to him as King in Zion ; the indispensable 
 condition of our personal interest in the blessings of his 
 mediation ; to enforce which, he has for ever pledged 
 
CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF MEN. 1*73 
 
 all his resources, as Mediator. It binds all who hear 
 it, to submit to his authority and embrace his mercy 
 for themselves ; and to do all they can, to bring all men 
 everywhere to the same willing submission and affec- 
 tionate trust. It puts under requisition for this purpose, 
 all the means adapted to it, according to God's revealed 
 plan, for the conversion of the world ; and to the full 
 extent needed for its complete execution. All the time, 
 and treasure, and labor ; all the consecrated talent and 
 learning ; all the believing prayer and heroic self- 
 denial, to the sacrifice of earthly prospects, and health, 
 and life itself, necessary to the conversion of the world, 
 are, by this command of him who is King in Zion, 
 solemnly claimed for this great work. To reject this 
 claim or by any means to evade it, is virtually to reject 
 his authority as Mediator, nullify the fundamental law 
 of his mediatorial kingdom, and forfeit all title to the 
 blessings of redemption through his blood, and all hope 
 of appearing with him in glory, when he shall appear 
 to be admired in his saints, and glorified in them that 
 believe. It does not, indeed, require all to go forth in 
 person to publish the gospel ; but it does require all to 
 hold forth the word of life, by a holy example ; by 
 personal effort in the sphere of their personal influence ; 
 and, by fervent prayer, affectionate sympathy, and in 
 generous contribution of the means of support and use- 
 fulness, to be fellow helpers of those who for his name's 
 sake go forth to preach his gospel to the nations. Thus 
 it reaches the Christian merchant and mechanic, the 
 farmer and the professional man, and the laborer, and 
 the Christian female, in all the varied walks of useful- 
 ness where they are called to serve Christ and rejoice 
 in him, as really as it does the Christian pastor, or the 
 missionary of the cross. It lays all under obligations 
 equally imperative and sacred. It is the great law of 
 
174 SERMONS. 
 
 the Mediator's kingdom, binding all who profess loyalty 
 to him, as they trust in his mercy and hope for his 
 promised blessedness and glory, to join heart and hand 
 in the blessed work of bringing the whole world to bow 
 to his authority and rejoice in his love. Hear him, O 
 ye, whom he has bought with his own blood ; hear him, 
 from his throne of glory, saying to you, " All power is 
 given unto me in Heaven and in earth ; go ye therefore 
 and make disciples of all nations ! n Has he intrusted 
 to you, anything needed in this work : property, 
 skill in business, talent, learning, influence, power in 
 prayer, your sons, or daughters, or yourself. Hear 
 him, once crucified for you, now exalted far above 
 principalities and powers, and might, and dominion, and 
 every name that is named in heaven and earth. Sear 
 him calling upon you for the willing consecration of 
 all to him in this blessed work ! 
 
 Finally, we see in this subject the assurance of ulti- 
 mate success in the work of converting the nations to 
 God. 
 
 That work is vast and arduous. If our trust was in an 
 arm of flesh, we might well despair. ISTo human power 
 and wisdom has ever yet been sufficient to deliver one 
 soul from the bondage of sin, and bring one heart to 
 bow in willing subjection to the Saviour. What hope, 
 then, of the emancipation of six hundred millions from 
 the thraldom of error, superstition, and wickedness, by 
 which they have been oppressed and crushed for ages, 
 by the feeble efforts of a few imperfect Christians ! If 
 we went forth to this work in our own strength, our 
 movements might well provoke the mockery and scorn 
 of the malignant spirits who rule over the darkness of 
 this world. But in the name of the Lord of hosts we 
 set up our banners. He who has all power in Heaven 
 and earth, has commissioned his people to make disci- 
 
CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF MEN. 175 
 
 pies of all nations. The shout of a King is in the 
 midst of the hosts of the Lord, as at his command they 
 go forth to publish his Gospel. Yea, the Breaker is 
 gone up before them, and the worm Jacob shall thrash 
 the mountains. No matter though their numbers and 
 resources were far less than they are, and the power of 
 the adversary a thousand fold greater ; his power and 
 wisdom are infinite, and they will be the more illustrious 
 in the final triumph, in proportion to the arduousness 
 of the work, and the feebleness of the means. He 
 employs his people in this work, not because he needs 
 their aid, but for their good, as a moral discipline and 
 training, by which they are taught to sympathize with 
 him in the plans and purposes of his love and mercy, 
 and ripened for more intimate and blissful communion 
 and fellowship with him, in time and through eternity. 
 And in proportion as his benevolent desires for their 
 entire consecration to him, and their joy in him are 
 thus accomplished, he will give to their prayerful 
 believing efforts, a power and a success surpassing all 
 they had dared to anticipate or could have imagined. 
 How often already hath his strength been made perfect 
 in weakness, as in the primitive triumph of his gospel. 
 When a few obscure and unlearned Jews began to 
 publish salvation through his blood, in the very city 
 where he had just suffered an ignominious death, and 
 the word went forth through Judea, and Samaria, and 
 Galilee, and thence into Asia Minor and Greece, and 
 Italy, and onward still, till the sound had gone out to 
 the ends of the earth, and in thirty years disciples were 
 multiplied in every part of the known world ; and in 
 our own day, what triumphs has the gospel achieved 
 among Pagan tribes, remote from each other, diverse in 
 manners, habits, and disposition, and stamped with 
 every repulsive feature of dark, debasing, fiend-like 
 
176 SERMONS. 
 
 depravity. The ferocious cannibal of New Zealand, who 
 made war and murder his pastime, has bowed in sweet 
 submission to the Prince of peace. The obscene and 
 cruel Tahitian and Hawaian have been washed from 
 their pollutions, and put on the likeness of the spotless 
 Lamb. The brutish Hottentot and the stupid Esqui- 
 maux have heard the word of Christ, and learned to 
 rejoice in his love and to sing his praises. The vindic- 
 tive savage has been taught to love his enemies, and to 
 exchange the war-whoop for the song of praise. And 
 at this hour how extensively, through the unevangelized 
 world, has he gone before his people, removing obsta- 
 cles, breaking dovvn opposition, multiplying facilities, 
 waking up a spirit of inquiry and a desire for instruc- 
 tion, and impressing the mind of men with a conviction 
 that old systems of error and superstition are passing 
 away, and that vast and momentous changes are at 
 hand. But if we had none of these recorded triumphs 
 of his cross to encourage us, no visible indications of 
 the dawn of a brighter day to cheer us, the power and 
 glory of Christ give ample assurance of success. "We 
 go forth at his command. His promise cannot fail. 
 The work is his, not ours. While he is on the throne, 
 a Prince, a Saviour, to give repentance and the forgive- 
 ness of sins, we cannot labor in vain. No effort, no 
 sacrifice, no prayers for his cause, prompted by obedient 
 love to him, can be lost to that cause, or be forgotten by 
 him at his second coming. 
 
SERMON V. 
 THE LIVING WATERS. 
 
 "But whosoever drinketh of the waters that I shall give him shall 
 never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a 
 well of water, springing up into everlasting life." — John iv. 14. 
 
 It was said of Jesus by a certain class of men, " Never 
 man spake like this man." It was true, not only 
 as to the sublimity and importance of the truths he 
 taught, but also as to the plain and simple, yet forci- 
 ble manner, of his teaching; his illustrations were 
 drawn from the most common and familiar objects ; 
 frequently from objects that were before the eyes of 
 his hearers while they listened to him ; hence, though 
 he spoke of spiritual and unseen realities, no teacher 
 was ever so easily understood ; the weakest of his 
 hearers was in no danger of mistaking his meaning, if 
 he did but sincerely desire instruction. So in the text. 
 He was now at Jacob's well, near Sychar, or in the Old 
 Testament, Sychem, conversing with a woman who had 
 come to draw water from the well. She was thought- 
 less, ignorant, and sinful. He designed to teach her 
 that she was a lost sinner ; to awaken her desires after 
 salvation, and to reveal himself to her, the all suffi- 
 cient Saviour of the lost. For this purpose he intimat- 
 ed to her, after she had expressed her surprise at his 
 asking him for water to quench his thirst, that he was 
 able to bestow upon her that which was as important 
 for the life of the soul, as the water she had come to 
 draw was for the body. When her curiosity was thus 
 
178 SERMONS. 
 
 excited, he replied to her inquiry, "Whence hast thou 
 this water?" by reasserting more plainly, and in stronger 
 language, what he had just said; as if he had said to 
 her, Your soul has wants as real and as urgent as those 
 sensations of thirst which have brought you to this well 
 to-day ; as the waters of this well are suited to the 
 wants of your body, so the blessings which I give are 
 adapted to the necessities of 3^our soul ; ask of me and 
 I will bestow that which will satisfy your soul, as this 
 water quenches thirst ; more than this, I am ready to 
 do for you ; you drink of these waters and are refresh- 
 ed, but the benefit you receive is temporary and par- 
 tial ; soon you will thirst again, and that body, to 
 whose wants you minister, will speedily decay and die, 
 and return to the dust from which it sprung ; but the 
 blessings I give yield permanent satisfaction to the 
 soul ; they abide with it, and are in it, the pledge and 
 assurance, yea, the very germ and principle of unde- 
 caying immortal life. Hunger and thirst, the two lead- 
 ing, universal sensations, which point men to that 
 which is indispensable to the support of animal life, 
 are the significant emblems by which God, in the bible, 
 often presses upon the attention of men, the necessities 
 of their spiritual, immortal part. And the provisions 
 of his infinite mercy, to save our souls, are shadowed 
 forth by those objects that relieve us when hungry 
 and thirsty. Thus it is written, "Ho! everyone that 
 thirsteth ;" " I am the bread of life," &c. Gospel bless- 
 ings are to the needy soul, as bread and water to the 
 famishing body — indispensable, appropriate, nutritious, 
 satisfactory, yea, like wine and milk, eminently grate- 
 ful and cheering. The life which is sustained and 
 cherished in the body by the one, like the body in which 
 it dwells, is frail and evanescent. The other abides in 
 the soul, a principle of action and enjoyment, perma- 
 
THE LIVING WATERS. 179 
 
 nent and deathless like itself. It is bread of life, water 
 of life. If we may distinguish these emblems as special- 
 ly appropriate to distinct parts of the great salvation, 
 the first shadows forth the atoning sacrifice of the in- 
 carnate Son of God ; the meritorious cause of every 
 gracious communication from our righteous Sovereign 
 to his rebellious subjects ; the only medium of our re- 
 conciliation to that God who is of purer eyes than to 
 behold iniquity ; the sole foundation of every solid 
 hope of pardon and eternal life, that ever relieved the 
 burdened conscience of a sinner, or alleviated his trials 
 in life, or dispelled his fears, and calmed his agitated 
 spirit in a dying hour. " My flesh," saith he, " is meat 
 indeed ; " I am the living bread.' 7 
 
 The second is the appropriate emblem of those in- 
 fluences of the Holy Spirit which the risen, exalted 
 Saviour sheds down upon men, as the precious fruit of 
 his obedience unto death in our place. The sure testi- 
 mony and pledge of his power and willingness to save, 
 and the immediate efficient agent in enlightening the 
 minds and renovating the hearts of men, that by their 
 voluntary submission to his authority, and confiding 
 trust in his promises, they may have a personal interest 
 in all the blessings he has purchased by his obedience 
 unto death. So it is 'written, " I will pour water on 
 him that is thirsty ;" and on the last day of the feast of 
 tabernacles, Jesus stood and cried, saying : "If any 
 man thirst," &c. This, then, is the water of which 
 he speaks in the text. The powerful and abundant 
 influences of his Holy Spirit, as refreshing, as invigo- 
 rating to the soul as living water to the thirsty ; cleans- 
 ing it from the pollutions of sin, as by water, making 
 it fruitful in those pure desires, and holy purposes, and 
 devout and benevolent emotions and acts which are 
 well pleasing to God, as those refreshing showers which 
 
180 6ERMOKS. 
 
 clothe the landscape with verdure and beauty, and 
 bring forward the precious fruits of the earth, when the 
 winter is over and gone. Of these spiritual influences, 
 Jesus Christ teaches in the text that they give perma- 
 nent satisfaction to the soul. " Whoso drinketh the 
 water that I shall give him shall never thirst ;" and that 
 they are in the soul the preparation and the pledge, 
 yea, the foretaste and commencement of eternal life. 
 
 In illustration of these truths, consider what is the 
 appropriate work of the Holy Ghost in the gospel plan 
 of redemption. I do not stop now to prove what the 
 bible everywhere teaches, and the observation and ex- 
 perience of every serious and candid mind abundantly 
 confirm, that our moral nature is in a state of deplora- 
 ble disorder and ruin. We bear about with us a con- 
 sciousness of ill desert at the hand of that glorious, 
 awful being, who made us, and governs us, and will 
 bring us into judgment. We are conscious of insatia- 
 ble longings after rest and enjoyment, such as no earth- 
 ly pursuit or attainment can permanently bestow. We 
 tremble at the prospect of death, and shrink back from 
 that unseen world to which we are hastening, because 
 Ave dislike the holiness and dread the justice of the God 
 of eternity. 
 
 Now, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead men 
 into all the truth by which they are saved. To give to 
 those amazing facts which are embodied in the system 
 of redeeming mercy, wrought out and revealed by the 
 Son of God, a living reality before the mind, and a 
 transforming power over the heart. He enlightens, 
 and renews, and sanctifies ; he convinces of sin. and 
 righteousness, and judgment; he takes the things of 
 Christ and shows them to men ; by his silent and gentle, 
 yet powerful influences, men are made willing to believe 
 the declarations, obey the precepts, and trust the pro- 
 
THE LIVING WATERS. 181 
 
 rnises of God. Thus they arc set free from error, their 
 hearts are purified, and they are kept from the evil 
 that is in the world : " they bring forth the fruit of 
 the Spirit, love, joy," &c. With the believing and obe- 
 dient he dwells as the comforter, making every means 
 of grace effectual, sanctifying every dispensation, and 
 causing all things to work together for their best 
 good — " a witnessing and sealing spirit," &c. Thus 
 he probes the wound of our nature to its bottom, 
 and applies the healing balm ; he lays open our moral 
 diseases in all their malignity and inveteracy, and dis- 
 covers and administers to us the sovereign remedy ; for 
 our conscious guilt he leads us to the atoning blood and 
 perfect righteousness 'of him who died for our sins, and 
 rose from the dead, to justify our faith and hope in him. 
 Those desires of good, those large and lofty aspirations 
 which nothing earthly can satisfy, he lifts above the 
 world, and fills them with the faith and hope of unseen 
 eternal joys ; and when sin is pardoned, and the mind 
 has formed acquaintanceship with God and heavenly 
 things, and the heart a relish for holy employment, so- 
 ciety and joys, death is disarmed, and eternity, awful 
 as it is to flesh and blood — which cannot enter it save 
 through the dark and silent chambers of the sepulchre 
 — eternity is anticipated by the regenerated spirit as its 
 proper country — its home, beloved and longed for. 
 Thus, by the spirit of Christ, a sinner is reconciled to 
 God, to his dutj 7 -, to the inevitable trials of his earthly 
 lot, and to the destiny that awaits him when he goes 
 hence. He has peace with God, peace of conscience, 
 and a calm and peaceful frame. Here he finds solid 
 and permanent satisfaction — that which is suited to his 
 nature, to his character, to his circumstances. He who 
 had sought in vain to quench his thirst at the streams 
 of earthly good, drinks at this fountain and thirsts no 
 
 9 
 
182 SERMONS. 
 
 more. Bear witness ye who have made the trial. 
 " There be many that say, who will show us any 
 good?" The inward peace and satisfaction imparted 
 to the soul by the spirit of Christ, are not like that 
 which the world confers upon its most favored vota- 
 ries ; that is even richer in promise than in perform- 
 ance ; its charms fascinate us in their pursuit, but fade 
 and vanish in possession ; whatever value may attach 
 to any of its objects constantly diminishes, because the 
 hour of our final separation from them constantly draws 
 nearer. They are springs that cease to flow in the time 
 of drought ; streams that evaporate and are lost amid 
 arid sands; in the striking language of the prophet, 
 waters that fail — allusion here to the mirage. But saith 
 Jesus, "He that drinketh of the water that I shall give 
 shall never thirst." To the humble, obedient believer, 
 he gives the Spirit to abide with him for ever ; he is a 
 temple of the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in him. 
 The effect is, growth in grace, progress in knowledge, 
 holiness and joy, increasing confidence in the merits of 
 Christ, love to him and his cause, delight in his service, 
 and conformity to his example, "his peace is like a 
 river," &c. The spirit of Christ, in his soul, is as a 
 well of water, pure, refreshing, perennial, and these 
 waters spring up into everlasting life. The character 
 which the spirit forms in him is holy and heavenly in 
 its principles and tendency, as well as in its origin. 
 The habits of thought, and feeling, and conduct, thus 
 acquired, and habitually strengthened and consolidated, 
 are such as prepare the believer for the work, the wor- 
 ship, communion and joy of heaven. And while he 
 is thus made meet for the kingdom of heaven, his title 
 to it is ascertained and certified. " We know that if 
 our earthly house were dissolved, we have a building of 
 God, a house not made with hands." Nay, the work 
 
THE LIVING WATERS. 183 
 
 of the Spirit in the believer is not only th e preparation 
 but the foretaste, not only the pledge but the earnest. 
 This is the full meaning of the expression, " It shall be 
 in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting 
 life.' 7 M So he that believeth hath life ;" " We that be- 
 lieve do enter in." He hath given the earnest, a part 
 of the purchased possession, the same in kind. What 
 is everlasting life ? Is it enlarged, distinct, ever-increas- 
 ing knowledge? "He who commanded the light to 
 shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts." Is it 
 perfect holiness ; freedom and fervor in love ? Now 
 they are set free from the power of sin, renewed in the 
 Spirit, delight in the law. Is it joy, exceeding great? 
 Now they rejoice in Christ ; they have peace and joy ; 
 they rejoice in hope of the glory. Is it the fellowship 
 of just men made perfect ? Here they commune with 
 the saints, take sweet counsel. Is it to dwell in the 
 house of the Lord for ever ? Here they go into his 
 courts ; they see him in his ordinances ; they are 
 satisfied. 
 
 Grace and glory are connected, as the seed time and 
 the harvest, as the bud with the blossom, the dawn with 
 full day, the same in kind they differ in degree. 
 
 There, they eat the fruit of the tree of life, and drink 
 the waters of the river of life ; but here, they feed upon 
 Jesus Christ, the living bud. " And the water that he 
 giveth shall be in him a well of water springing up 
 into everlasting life." 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 THE CROSS OF CHRIST. • 
 
 " But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." — Galatians vi. 14. 
 
 By the cross of Christ, as the phrase is used in the 
 New Testament, we are to understand sometimes those 
 trials, losses, reproaches, and sufferings to which be- 
 lievers submit in obedience to the command of Christ, 
 and out of love to him. But more frequently it signi- 
 fies those various and protracted humiliations, sorrows, 
 and sufferings, by which our blessed Eecleemer wrought 
 out redemption for his people. This is no doubt its 
 meaning in the text. Taking it in this sense, one is 
 ready to consider this a very strange and surprising 
 declaration of the Apostle. If he had gloried in the 
 miraculous power, wisdom, and love of Christ, or in his 
 glorious resurrection from the dead, or in his triumphant 
 ascension to heaven, or in his exaltation at the right 
 hand of the majesty on high and the mission of the 
 Eternal Spirit to bear testimony to his Messiahship, and 
 to convert the nations to the faith ; this had not been 
 wonderful ; for in these things his power and Godhead 
 are manifested, and a rational immortal creature may 
 well glory in them, if he can claim any peculiar relation 
 to him. But to glory in his cross ; that which has 
 ever been a reproach, — to the Jews a stumbling-block, 
 and to the Greeks foolishness; that with which the 
 utmost ignominy and anguish are closely associated! 
 that he should have gloried in this, how surprising. 
 The expression implies, that he regarded the cross of 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 185 
 
 Christ with a high degree of esteem and complacency, 
 as important and excellent. We do not glory in any- 
 thing unless we see in it a worth and beauty that attract 
 our esteem, and the strong expression, " God forbid 
 that I should glory in anything, but the cross of Christ," 
 plainl} T implies that to his view its value and loveliness 
 were unparalleled and incomparable. 
 
 It implies, moreover, that he was conscious of a per- 
 sonal interest in the sufferings of Christ, and a peculiar 
 relation to them ; that to him the cross of Christ stood 
 in intimate connexion with benefits that were very 
 precious, and hopes most dear to his heart. We do not 
 glory in any object unless we have in some way a 
 personal interest in it. I may regard the character of 
 a great and good man with esteem and admiration, 
 though I am no way connected with him. But I do 
 not glory in him unless he is my relative, or friend, or 
 countryman. So, glorying in the cross implies an ap- 
 propriation to ourselves of something in that object, or 
 flowing from it, which we highly prize. 
 
 Lastly, glorying in the cross implies an open declara* 
 tion and avowal of the emotions of esteem with which 
 we regard it, and the blessings we receive or expect 
 from it. So that however others may look upon it 
 with coldness or contempt, or reproach us for our ad- 
 herence to it, we count it honor and happiness to be 
 known as its friends and advocates. Thus did the 
 Apostle glory in the cross of Christ ; and his language 
 intimates a comparative disesteem and disregard of all 
 his other possessions. His great talents and profound 
 learning in which he had few superiors ; his distin- 
 guished privileges as a Jew, in which so many of his 
 countrymen gloried, and even his eminent, gifts, labors, 
 sufferings, and successes as a preacher of the Gospel, in 
 which he came not a whit behind the very chiefest 
 
186 SERMONS. 
 
 Apostles — a comparative disregard of all these — a cor- 
 dial renunciation and abandonment of them all, as a 
 foundation of hope, and a source of consolation ; and a 
 clinging to the cross as the object most vital to his 
 happiness, and dearest to his heart. So he avers else- 
 where : " Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my 
 Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 
 and do count them but dross, that I may win Christ, 
 and be found in him not having mine own righteousness 
 which is of the law, but that which is by the faith of 
 Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that 
 I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and 
 the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable 
 unto his death." And that Paul's brethren and fellow 
 laborers were in this respect like minded, all their 
 writings testify. Everywhere they are unanimous in 
 holding forth the sufferings and death of Christ as of 
 transcendent importance and excellence. Everywhere 
 they speak of them with feelings of cordial esteem and 
 grateful love, such as no other topic awakens. They 
 had learned this from their Master himself. In the 
 hour of his perplexity and sorrow, he said of his suffer- 
 ings w r ith evident exultation, "Now is the judgment of 
 this world ; now is the Prince of this world cast out. 
 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all 
 men unto me," and in that sacred ordinance which seals 
 to believers the benefits of his death, he has appointed 
 a public, solemn memorial and manifestation of his 
 sufferings and death to be set forth and celebrated in 
 his Church through successive ages, down to his second 
 coming. 
 
 My brethren, have w r e fellowship with Paul and his 
 brethren and his Master, in the emotions with which 
 we meditate upon this subject? Do we glory in the 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 187 
 
 cross of Christ? Do we highly esteem it? Do we 
 humbly and thankfully appropriate to ourselves the 
 benefits and blessings that flow from it ? Do we openly 
 avow our attachment to the cross of Christ? These are 
 questions that touch the very essence of character as it 
 appears in the sight of God ! The very foundations of 
 hope, as they shall be put to the test in the great day 
 of trial ! 
 
 Let us inquire what reason Paul had to glory in the 
 cross of Christ — what reason every believer has to be 
 like minded. The sufferings and death of Christ, as 
 they are set forth in the Scriptures of truth, have a two- 
 fold aspect and bearing, as they relate to the character 
 and moral government of God, and as they exert an 
 influence upon the character, condition, and destiny of 
 man. These are inseparably connected. The first 
 stands related to the second, as principle and cause, to 
 its consequence and effect. Both were blended in the 
 song of angels at the Saviour's birth. " Glory to God 
 in the highest ; on earth peace, and good will toward 
 men." Both were present to the divine mind from 
 eternity, and were included in the counsels of everlast- 
 ing wisdom and love. In the execution of the purposes 
 of God, both are progressively unfolded and manifested. 
 They mutually act and re- act, and shed light, beauty, 
 and glory upon each other. In the ultimate perfect 
 consummation of both, the universe of holy beings shall 
 rejoice All the obedient subjects of God's government 
 shall feel themselves laid under new obligations to him 
 who sitteth upon the throne ; and bound to each other 
 by new ties of love and joy. While redeemed sinners, 
 whose salvation was the special object of those suffer- 
 ings, shall celebrate the praises of their deliverer, in 
 peculiar and appropriate strains, they shall sing the 
 new song. Lo, angels are represented as bending from 
 
188 SERMONS. 
 
 their seats of bliss, to look into the mysteries of redeem- 
 ing love, as they shine in the cross of Christ. Unto 
 principalities and powers in heavenly places, is known 
 by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God; and the 
 angels round about the throne join with the ransomed 
 from among men, in that celestial anthem, " Worthy is 
 the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, 
 and wisdom, and strength, and glory, and honor, and 
 blessing." But it is specially to the influence of the 
 sufferings of Christ upon the character and destiny of 
 men, that I wish to direct your attention in what I have 
 yet to say of the reasons why eyery believer should 
 glory in the cross of Christ. 
 
 In this view of the subject, I remark, 1st, we should 
 glory in the cross of Christ, because it furnishes the only 
 solid foundation of hope towards God. How may a 
 sinner be just before God ? is a question which unaided 
 reason can never answer to the satisfaction of an 
 enlightened conscience ! If we have any correct views 
 of the character and moral government of God ; any 
 just discernment of the obligations and excellence of his 
 law; any proper impressions of the evil nature and 
 awful tendency of sin, we shall find it difficult, nay 
 impossible, to reconcile the justice and holiness of God, 
 and the rights of his government, with the pardon of 
 sin, and the restoration of sinners to his favor. But 
 every believer feels himself a sinner. He is conscious 
 that in the sight of God his transgressions are more than 
 he can number. He is conscious, too, that he can make 
 no atonement for his own sins ; that he can offer no 
 satisfaction to divine justice ; make no reparation for 
 his violation of the law, unless it be by suffering in his 
 own person the full weight of that penalty which the 
 justice of God has denounced against sin. But that 
 penalty is endless death. Finite sufferings can never 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 189 
 
 exhaust it. If lie sinks under it, lie sinks for ever. In 
 this situation he feels that Ik? is responsible to God his 
 righteous Judge. He knows that he is fast filling up 
 his allotted period of probation, and hastening to that 
 deeisive interview with his Maker, which must fix his 
 unchangeable destiny. lie looks on every side for 
 some refuge from his conscious guilt and pollution; 
 some solid foundation on which he may build the hope 
 of pardon and salvation. But he looks in vain, until he 
 beholds by faith the Lamb of God who taketh away the 
 sin of the world. He hears the testimony of God con- 
 cerning his Son, and that eternal life which is freely 
 offered to sinners through him. He examines the cha- 
 racter of Christ ; the transcendent dignity of his divine 
 nature ; the spotless purity of his humanity ; the lessons 
 of heavenly wisdom and love that fall from his lips, and 
 the stupendous miracles by which his divine mission 
 was confirmed. He fixes his attention upon the closing 
 scenes of his earthly ministry, the agony of the garden, 
 the ignominy and anguish of the cross, to which the 
 adorable sufferer voluntarily submitted. There he 
 beholds a sacrifice every way suited to make expiation 
 for sin ; an adequate atonement to the violated law : 
 an ample illustration of the justice and righteousness of 
 God. " Him hath God set forth a propitiatory sacrifice, 
 to declare his righteousness in the remission of sins, that 
 God might be just and the justifier of every one that 
 belie veth in him.'' He listens to the gospel call. 
 " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
 saved." And to the testimony of God, that he is exalted 
 to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and 
 the remission of sins. He cordially obeys that call, 
 embraces that offer, and relies upon that gracious assur- 
 ance for pardon and salvation. And being justified by 
 faith, he has peace with God, through our Lord Jesus 
 
 9* 
 
190 SERMONS. 
 
 Christ, and rejoices in hope of the glory of God. He 
 sees the justice and mercy of Jehovah, sweetly blending 
 and harmonizing in the pardon of sin, through the re- 
 demption that is in Christ Jesus, and his conscience is 
 relieved of the burden of guilt, his fears of wrath are 
 dispelled, peace becomes an inmate of his bosom, and 
 hope sheds her balmy influence over his troubled spirit. 
 
 His confidence in the stability and safety of this foun- 
 dation of hope towards God, is confirmed and established 
 by his experience of the power of the very same truths 
 which have spoken peace to his conscience, to subdue 
 his sins, purify his heart, and teach him to walk in new- 
 ness of life. 
 
 This leads us to notice a second reason for the be- 
 lievers glorying in the cross of Christ, his experience 
 of its efficacy to make him holy. Man is made holy, 
 not by any direct operation of Almighty power upon 
 the essential constitution of his soul, adding to it any 
 new faculty, or subverting or changing the laws by 
 which it is governed. To suppose this, is to lose sight 
 of the essential distinction between mind and matter, 
 and to confound physical and moral power and agency. 
 The spirit of God is the only sanctifier ; by his agency 
 and power alone are sinners renewed in righteousness 
 and true holiness. But the Spirit sanctifies men in a 
 way adapted to our rational nature, and conformable to 
 our moral agency. It is not against our will, but by 
 making us willing ; not by any direct and immediate 
 movement, subjecting or infringing our freedom, but 
 by presenting truth to our minds, and pressing it upon 
 our consciences and our hearts, so that in view of it we 
 think and feel, resolve and act. Now the truths by 
 which, pre-eminently, the Spirit thus operates, are the 
 very truths which are illustrated in the sufferings and 
 death of Christ. The views of sin and holiness, of 
 
THE CR088 OF CHRIST. 191 
 
 God and the soul, and the realities of eternity, which 
 there shine out more clearly and powerfully than in any 
 other dispensation of God, are the great means by which 
 the Spirit leads a sinner to repent, and believe, and obey 
 the Gospel, and kindles in his icy heart love to God and 
 love to man. As it is only in the cross of Christ that 
 the awakening sinner finds any solid ground on which 
 to build the hope of pardon and acceptance, so it is 
 only here that he is relieved from the terrors of the 
 Almighty which had fallen upon him, emancipated 
 from the spirit of bondage under which he groaned, 
 and enabled to look up to him with humble hope, and 
 to present to him, not the extorted, reluctant service of 
 a slave, but the free, ingenuous, affectionate homage and 
 obedience of a child. And those very influences of the 
 spirit, without which all means and all motives would 
 be equally and utterly unavailing to restore the love of 
 God to its rightful supremacy in the sinner's heart, are 
 the fruit of the Bedeemer's sufferings and death. They 
 date their origin from his atoning sacrifice, and flow to 
 us from his cross as their perennial fountain and meri- 
 torious cause ; so that in every sense the cross of Christ 
 is the only source of holiness to the believer. There 
 shine those glorious truths which the Spirit uses to sub- 
 due his will and purify his affections, and call forth 
 every devout, and holy, and heavenly emotion of his 
 soul. There he obtains such views of God, and be- 
 holds him standing in such an attitude in relation to 
 himself as is fitted to give those truths a quickening 
 and sanctifying operation upon his heart. And thence 
 come to him those sweet and powerful energies of the 
 Holy Ghost, which make him alive when dead in sin, 
 transform him into the very likeness of Christ, and 
 make him meet for eternal glory. And shall he not 
 glory in that cross which thus emancipates him from 
 
192 SERMONS. 
 
 the hateful bondage of sin, and brings him into the 
 glorious liberty of the sons of God ? It seems to have 
 been specially in view of the sanctifying power of the 
 cross, that the apostle penned the text : " God forbid 
 that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I 
 unto the world." 
 
 In the third place, the believer glories in the cross of 
 Christ, because it is the source of solid consolation and 
 joy to his heart. That which lays a sure foundation of 
 hope towards God ; that which subdues the reigning 
 power of sin over the heart, and enthrones the love of 
 God in the inner man, must be a source of consolation 
 and joy ; the joy of pardoned sin, the consolation of 
 a conscience at peace with God, the tranquil repose of a 
 spirit sweetly bowed down in cheerful acquiescence 
 with the will of God; the holy delight of free and 
 filial access to God upon a mercy seat, as our reconciled 
 God and Father ; the animating consciousness of grow- 
 ing conformity to his blessed likeness; the cheering 
 hope of standing, ere long, faultless in his presence with 
 exceeding joy, and the assurance that all things, not 
 excepting the most mysterious and trying dispensations 
 of Providence, are working together to bring about 
 this most desirable and blessed consummation. These 
 are the immediate consequences of that peace with God, 
 and that restoration to holiness, which the believer re- 
 ceives through the sufferings and death of Christ. These 
 are the fruits of immortality which grow upon the 
 cross of Christ, once stained with his precious blood, 
 now a tree of life to all his humble followers. And the 
 believer knows that these are but the first fruits ; he 
 partakes of them as the earnest of richer blessings that 
 are prepared for him in those mansions which his once 
 
THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 193 
 
 crucified, but now risen and exalted Redeemer, has 
 gone to prepare for him. 
 
 And shall he not glory in the cross? Shall he not 
 highly esteem it ? Shall he not cling to it as the object 
 most precious to his heart ? Shall he not avow his love 
 for a suffering Saviour, and his confidence in him, in 
 the face of a disobedient and gainsaying world? Yes, 
 though it is to some a stumbling-block, and to others 
 foolishness ; though ungodly men pass by it with cold 
 neglect, or wag their heads in scorn, he cannot be 
 ashamed of that which is the power of God unto his 
 salvation ; he cannot but glory in that which is the solid 
 foundation of his hope towards God, the living spring of 
 holy emotion and holy action, the perennial fountain of 
 pure and lasting joys. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 LOVE TO AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR. 
 
 " Whom having not seen, ye love." — 1 Peter i. 8. 
 
 Love to an -unseen Saviour is the distinguishing charac- 
 teristic of the true Christian. In their present imperfect 
 state, the people of Christ differ in many points, but this 
 one trait of character they all possess. Whatever may 
 be their natural dispositions, their attainments in reli- 
 gious knowledge, their opinions on less essential matters 
 of doctrine, all love the Lord Jesus Christ. Without 
 this, none may make any pretence to Christian charac- 
 ter. This is the animating principle of holy obedience, 
 the constraining motive to religious self-denial, the soul 
 of the new creature, which governs and gives life and 
 activity to the whole man. Unregenerate men may be 
 amiable in their tempers, upright in their dealings, un- 
 blameable in their external deportment, scrupulous in 
 the discharge of many religious duties ; they may have 
 an extensive and accurate knowledge of the doctrines 
 and precepts of the bible ; be filled with self-compla- 
 cency while viewing their own attainments, and indulge 
 strong and confident expectations of heaven ; but they 
 never truly love the Lord Jesus while they mistake his 
 true character, while they look upon him only as a sa- 
 viour from misery. Let his character and the nature of 
 his salvation be fairly set before them, and he is in 
 every instance a root out of dry ground. 
 
 In the eyes of men, who look only at the outward 
 appearance, there may often be little difference between 
 the sincere Christian and the hypocrite, the formalist or 
 
LOVE TO AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR. 195 
 
 the merely moral man ; but in the view of the searcher 
 of hearts their different sentiments towards the Lord 
 Jesus constitute a marked distinction — a distinction 
 which gives a coloring to the whole character, and 
 which shall be blazoned forth in that coming day when 
 the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed ; a distinction 
 which will fully justify, in the eyes of all impartial 
 witnesses, that righteous sentence by which, the one 
 shall be welcomed to the mansions of immortal bliss, and 
 the other consigned to the prison of everlasting despair. 
 Yes, beloved hearers, the sentiments of your hearts to- 
 wards Christ are now decisive of your character in the 
 sight of the omniscient God, and if he should at this 
 moment summon you to stand at his tribunal, be as- 
 sured they form the criterion which must fix unaltera- 
 bly your destiny. 
 
 Can there be proposed to any of us a more interest- 
 ing, solemn, and momentous question than this — Do you 
 love Christ ? If a question which is decisive of our cha- 
 racter in the sight of our Maker and our Judge ; which 
 determines whether we stand among the friends or the 
 enemies of the Almighty God ; whether frail and dying 
 as we are, we are now walking on the confines of hea- 
 ven, or on the slippery shores of the burning lake; 
 if such a question be interesting, solemn, and moment- 
 ous, then is this deeply so. That we may be able to 
 answer it without uncertainty, let us inquire, why the 
 Christian loves an unseen Christ ? Men in general find 
 no difficulty in loving those whom they see, and with 
 whom they are every day conversant, provided they 
 possess qualities congenial to their own dispositions, 
 and calculated to attract their esteem and affection; 
 but when they are required to love Christ, if they think 
 of the subject at all, they perhaps often think if they 
 had ever seen the Lord Jesus ; if they had been with 
 
196 SERMONS. 
 
 liim while he was on earth ; had witnessed his un- 
 wearied exertions to do good even to his most bitter 
 enemies ; if they had heard the gracious words which 
 fell from his lips ; if they had been spectators of that 
 deeply affecting scene which closed his eventful life ; 
 of his meekness, his patience, his love to men. his sub- 
 mission to the will of heaven ; if they had listened to 
 that dying prayer for those who nailed him to the cross : 
 " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do : n 
 their hearts must have melted into tenderness and love ; 
 their charmed affections must have hovered round an 
 object so lovely, have fixed upon it with strong desire, 
 and clung to i: w r ith enraptured and unalterable fond- 
 ness. But when their affections are claimed for one 
 whom they have never seen ; who lived and died cen- 
 turies ago — though they must acknowledge he possesses 
 many estimable qualities, yet their hearts are little 
 moved ; and while the God of this world hath blinded 
 their minds that they cannot see the brightest glories of 
 his character, even those excellences which they can 
 appreciate, seem rather like lovely but fantastic visions, 
 than like sober and substantial realities. Not so the 
 Christian ; he possesses that faith in the testimony of 
 God ? s unerring word which is the evidence of things 
 not seen ; he has felt his need of a Saviour ; by the 
 light which the Holy Spirit has poured into his mind, 
 he has seen the glorious all-sufficiency of Christ ; has 
 seen that in him righteousness and peace have met to- 
 gether ; that in him there is glory to God in the high- 
 est, while on earth there is peace and good-will towards 
 men ; and such is his inwrought and heartfelt conviction 
 of these truths, that his love to an unseen Saviour is no 
 less genuine and ardent, than if he saw and communed 
 with him from day to day. Whatever others may 
 think of Christ, in the eyes of the believer he is alto- 
 
LOVE TO AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR. 197 
 
 getlier lovely. While others say, Who will show us 
 any earthly good ? his language is, Lord, lift thou upon 
 me the light of thy countenance. In his person, in his 
 character, in his work, he is the chief among ten thou- 
 sand ; he is precious in the e}'es of his people. With 
 the Psalmist of old they can say, " Thou art fairer than 
 the children of men ; grace is poured into thy lips, 
 therefore God has blessed thee for ever." In his person, 
 the glories of the divine and human natures are united. 
 Whatever there is in divine perfection to awaken reve- 
 rence, esteem, or desire ; whatever in unsullied human 
 excellency to enkindle ardent love, to call forth the 
 strongest expressions of delightful and endearing attach- 
 ment, are united in the person of Christ. Transcendent 
 majesty and gracious condescension, in their highest 
 perfection, meet and blend harmoniously in him. He 
 is the mighty God, the everlasting Father ; and yet the 
 man of sorrows, the meek and lovely Saviour, whose 
 heart melted with the tenderest compassion, from whose 
 lips flowed the mild accents of heavenly mercy. His 
 character is a bright constellation of excellences, where 
 each shines with surpassing lustre. He is the image of 
 the invisible God, the brightness of the Father's glory. 
 In him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ; 
 the riches of his grace are unsearchable, his love pass- 
 eth knowledge ; it was stronger than death ; all power 
 is his, both in heaven and on earth ; he is full of grace 
 and truth; in him all the fulness of the Godhead 
 dwells ; he is head over all things to the church ; what- 
 ever can exalt, dignify, adorn, or endear the character, 
 is found in him, without diminution or alloy. u Never," 
 says an eminent writer, " never was a character at the 
 same time so commanding and natural, so resplendent 
 and pleasing, so amiable and venerable. There is in it 
 a peculiar contrast between an awful greatness and dig- 
 
198 SERMONS. 
 
 nity, and the most conciliating loveliness, tenderness, 
 and compassion. Each separate virtue is made stronger 
 by opposition and contrast ; and the union of so many 
 virtues forms a brightness which fitly represents the 
 glory of that God who dwells in light inaccessible. 
 Such is the Lord Christ, altogether lovely ; such is he 
 in the eyes of his people, therefore do they love him." 
 But that affection which Christ's people bear to him, has 
 special reference to him as Mediator of the covenant of 
 grace. As a Eedeemer, he is very precious to them. 
 The glories of redemption, which are almost entirely 
 hid from an unbelieving world, shine brightest in the 
 view of his people. They love him for the excellency 
 of his mediatorial work. The excellency of this work 
 consists in its sufficiency to supply the necessities of 
 men, and its tendency to promote the glory of God. 
 
 1st. Christ is dear to his people because he has made 
 a full provision for the supply of their necessities ; for 
 they see in him the fulness of pardoning mercy, and 
 of sanctifying grace ; they have felt their need of par- 
 don ; they have seen themselves by nature and by prac- 
 tice sinners ; they have been weighed down by the bur- 
 den of unpardoned guilt, and felt themselves ready to 
 sink under the just, yet awful sentence of a violated 
 law ; they have realized their inability to make any 
 atonement for their sins, or to satisfy the demands of 
 justice ; full of apprehension and dismay, they have, 
 perhaps, attempted to allay their guilty fears by a round 
 of religious duties, by their own obedience to the law 
 to build a hiding-place for their affrighted souls, but the 
 lightnings of Sinai have pursued and driven them from 
 this and every other refuge of lies ; they have expe- 
 rienced the inefficacy of their own efforts, the impotency 
 of all created help. Guilty and helpless, bowed down 
 by a weight of sin, they have seemed to themselves 
 
LOVE TO AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR. 199 
 
 ready to sink in the abyss of despair. In :he moment 
 of their utmost need, Christ has appeared for their re- 
 lief. They have heard him saying, " Come unto me all 
 ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
 rest." lie has calmed their apprehensions of wrath ; 
 he has removed from their consciences the heavy bur- 
 den of unpardoned guilt. Enlightened by the Holy 
 Spirit, they have seen that Christ can be just, and yet 
 the justifier of every one that believeth. Believing in 
 him they have felt the curse remove ; a heavenly peace 
 has been shed abroad in their hearts ; they have been 
 enabled to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Christ 
 has given them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
 mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of 
 heaviness. He has raised them from the horrible pit, 
 and from the miry clay : he has set their feet upon a 
 rock, and put a new song into their mouths, even salva- 
 tion to our God. And shall they not love him? Yes, 
 while they remember the wormwood and the gall, verily 
 they love him for his pardoning mercy. Christ is pre- 
 cious in the eyes of his people, because they see in him 
 a fulness of sanctifying grace. Once they were the 
 willing slaves of sin ; like other men, they inherited a 
 depraved nature ; they wandered far from God. and 
 loved the distance well ; they were utterly averse to 
 holy employments and holy joys ; they had no percep- 
 tion of, or delight in, moral excellence. But they have 
 been created anew by the almighty energies of the Holy 
 Spirit : they have been enlightened to behold the glory 
 of God : to regard him as supremely amiable ; whose 
 character is the perfection of every excellence, and who 
 is the sole fountain of life and blessedness. Hence 
 thev cannot but desire his favor, and pent after conform- 
 ity to his image. Holiness is lovely in their eyes — 
 they see its beauty. Sin is no longer regarded with 
 
200 8ERMONS. 
 
 delight. Intrinsically base, odious, and abominable in 
 the sight of God, it is the object of their abhorrence. 
 They earnestly desire to be freed from its power and 
 pollution. Those remains of sin which they perceive 
 in themselves, cause them to groan, being burdened. 
 Often they are ready, when iniquities prevail against 
 them, to cry with, the apostle, " Oh ! wretched man that 
 I am." 
 
 Christ is a Eedeemer from the power of sin ; they 
 have felt his power to break its yoke from their necks, 
 to redeem their captive souls from its grievous thral- 
 dom ; they are no longer under its dominion, and though 
 thev are not entirely free from its influence, yet from 
 time to time they experience the efficacy of his grace, 
 to sanctify their hearts and fit them for the holy enjoy- 
 ments and employments of Heaven. Though remaining 
 sin requires that their bodies should moulder back to 
 dust, and see corruption, yet confiding in the power 
 and grace of Christ, they trust that from the ruins of 
 its earthly prison, the soul, no longer chained down to 
 objects of sense, every stain washed away in his precious 
 blood, shall shake from its pinions the dust of earth and 
 the dew of death, and rise exulting to the fellowship of 
 kindred spirits in that mansion of rest, where no sin can 
 enter, and all tears are wiped from every eye. And 
 they look forward, full of joyous hope, to that glorious 
 morning when at the call of their Eedeeming God even 
 their sleeping dust shall wake, and bursting the bands 
 of death, shall rise from the dark and silent tomb, no 
 more to see corruption, but glowing with immortal life, 
 resplendent with celestial beauty, arrayed in the shining 
 vestments of immortality, join the glorified spirit, and 
 with it abide for ever in the paradise of God. This 
 glorious redemption from sin is the work of Christ alone. 
 All that they have already felt, all that they hope for, 
 
LOVE TO AN UNSEEN 8AVIOUR. 201 
 
 is from him. And shall they not love him? — not love 
 their unseen Saviour ; when they know and feel that 
 there is in him a fulness of sanctifying grace ! The joy, 
 the ecstasy, the loud and lasting songs of the unnumbered 
 millions who shall appear in his perfect likeness at the 
 day of his second coming, will bear witness to their 
 love. 
 
 But 2nd, Christ is lovely in the eyes of his people, 
 because his work as Mediator of the covenant of grace 
 has gloriously displayed the divine perfections, and its 
 tendency is greatly to promote the glory of God. The 
 heart of the believer has been reconciled to God. He 
 has been enlightened to some just perceptions of the 
 transcendent glory of God, of the excellence and 
 amiableness of the Divine character ; he feels how de- 
 sirable it is that God alone should be exalted. The 
 language of his heart is, " Be thou exalted, O God, 
 above the Heavens, let thy glorj^ fill the earth." Christ, 
 has magnified the divine law, by obedience to its pre- 
 cepts ; by his submission to its penalty he has shown 
 that it is holy, just, and good in its demands, and in its 
 sanctions. In the hour of apprehension, anxiety, and 
 anguish, the petition which calmed his troubled spirits 
 and gave vent to the feelings of his trusting heart, was, 
 14 Father, glorify thy name;" and it was answered. 
 
 In the cross of Christ the Divine perfections shine 
 with the brightest lustre ; there, attributes seemingly 
 jarring and opposite meet and harmonize and illustrate 
 each other. There, wisdom, holiness, justice, truth, 
 goodness, and mercy unite, and mingling their beams 
 pour forth a flood of celestial light, and uncreated glory. 
 There, adoring angels learn new lessons of Jehovah's 
 excellence, and raise louder their songs of praise. There, 
 in distant ages the Heavenly hosts shall fix their ad- 
 miring gaze, and find fresh cause of wonder, gratitude, 
 
202 SERMONS. 
 
 and love. Thence, to all eternity shall accrue an in- 
 creasing revenue of praise to the most High. Thus 
 does Christ's work as Mediator promote the glory of 
 God, an object most dear to the believer. And shall 
 not believers love him? The angels, who need no re- 
 demption, love, and shall not redeemed sinners — the 
 purchase of his blood ? 
 
 Such are some of the grounds of that love which 
 Christians bear to him ; such some of his claims to their 
 attachment. In his person he is the chief among ten 
 thousand, altogether lovely. In his character fairer 
 than the morning star, the brightness of the Father's 
 glory, the very image of the invisible God. As Media- 
 tor he has accomplished a work which no other could 
 have performed ; a work by which objects are attained 
 whose importance outstrips calculation, and defies com- 
 parison ; objects unspeakably dear to the believer's 
 heart, of no less moment than the redemption of an 
 innumerable company of immortals from the thraldom 
 of sin, and the horrors of eternal death, and the display 
 of God's transcendent glory to an admiring universe. 
 In accomplishing this, he trod the wine-press alone ; he 
 bore alone the hiding of his Father's face, the desertion 
 of his friends, the contempt and hatred of his enemies, 
 the malice of infernal spirits ; and after agonizing in the 
 garden, after expiring on the cross, burst the bars of 
 death and ascended on high, there to reign until he has 
 accomplished all the good pleasure of his goodness. 
 And shall not his people love him ? Yerily, they do 
 love him. Their love to him is sincere ; not a feigned 
 or forced complacency towards a character in which 
 they take little interest, but a hearty affection to one, 
 who, though unseen, is very precious to them. It is 
 supreme, triumphing over every opposing attachment, 
 leading them to submit to sufferings, to make sacrifices, 
 
LOVE TO AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR. 203 
 
 to persevere in the most laborious and self-denying 
 exertions for his sake, to hate every earthly thing, yea, 
 their own life when standing in opposition to him. It 
 is most ardent love ; a flame which many waters cannot 
 quench. It increases amid opposition, and consumes 
 every interfering passion. It leads them to prize 
 Christ's presence above all things else while here on 
 earth, and to long that they may depart and be with 
 him, which is far better ; yea, it has often caused his 
 people to triumph amid the agonies of dissolving nature, 
 in the prospect of meeting him whom their souls loved ; 
 to rejoice when he has called them to his presence, 
 though they mounted to Heaven from the gibbet, or 
 their souls rode upward on the wings of the flames by 
 which their bodies were consumed. It manifests itself 
 by frequent and affectionate thoughts of him. While 
 engaged in the common duties of life, their souls often 
 go out to seek for him, and when at leisure they fix on 
 him without constraint, as the needle turns continually 
 to the pole. It manifests itself again by a delight in 
 his word, and in all the ordinances in which he has 
 promised to meet his people, and where he is wont to 
 gladden their hearts by the manifestation of himself. 
 Love to Christ manifests itself by love to his people. 
 M He that loveth him that begat, loveth also him that is 
 begotten of him." It shows itself by love to his cause ; 
 by earnest and persevering exertions to promote his 
 glory. Christ has established a kingdom in the earth. 
 All who love him desire the prosperity of that king- 
 dom, and strive to advance its interests. Above all, 
 Christ's people manifest their love to him by doing his 
 will, by a constant persevering, and cheerful obedience 
 to his commands ! This is the surest test of genuine 
 love to him; it is the one which he himself has set. 
 14 If ye love me keep my commandments." " Then are 
 
204 
 
 SERMONS. 
 
 ye my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." All 
 who love the Lord Jesus Christ strive sincerely to keep 
 all his commandments. Their obedience is not indeed 
 perfect, but its imperfection is matter of grief and sorrow 
 to them ; they are not satisfied with present attainments ; 
 they labor to render their obedience more perfect; 
 they desire to be conformed to the image of Christ ; and 
 they are resolved by his grace never to cease struggling 
 with remaining imperfection, until, being made like 
 him, they see him as he is. 
 
 And now, beloved hearers, do you love an unseen 
 Saviour ? By nature your affections are prone to fix 
 on the objects of sense ; have they been taken off them, 
 and fixed on the uncreated excellences of Christ, who 
 is invisible ? Do you love him because he is lovely in 
 himself, and in his person and character altogether 
 deserving your affections ? Because he is an Almighty 
 Bedeemer, able to deliver your souls from the power 
 of sin and death ? Do you love him because you have 
 experienced his pardoning mercy and sanctifying grace ? 
 — Because you rely on his grace alone, to set you free 
 from the condemning sentence which you feel is just, 
 and from the power of sin, which is your greatest bur- 
 den, and most odious to you ? Does he appear lovely 
 to you because he is an holy Saviour, who has magnified 
 God's law, and gloriously illustrated the Divine perfec- 
 tions ? Does your love manifest itself by frequent and 
 affectionate thoughts of him? Is he the dear object 
 around whom your thoughts hover, and on whom they 
 are ever ready to fix ? Do you love communion with 
 him ? Do you seek it in all the ways of his appoint- 
 ment? When you enter his courts do you desire to 
 see the King in his glory ? Do you love to meet him 
 in your closets ? Do you love his word ? — his people ? 
 Is his image dear to you whenever you behold it? 
 
LOVE TO AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR. 205 
 
 Do you love his cause ? Do you strive to promote his 
 glory in the salvation of your fellow men ? Are you 
 obedient to his commands? Is your obedience uni- 
 versal? — Is it constant? — Is it cheerful? Do you 
 delight to do his will ? Are you ready, if he require it, 
 to forsake all, take up your cross, and follow him ? Do 
 you mourn that jow. obey him no better ? Is it your most 
 earnest desire to be freed from all remaining sin, and 
 serve Christ without imperfection? Then do you 
 indeed love him, and the Father himself loveth you 
 because ye have loved him, and have believed that he 
 came out from God. Then are you of his people, his 
 sheep, to whom he will give eternal life, and they shall 
 never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of his 
 hand. Come then to his table. For you he gave him- 
 self. Be exhorted, then, to go on your way rejoicing. 
 Though now you see him not, yet believing, even now 
 you may rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. 
 That unseen Saviour whom you love will supply all 
 your need, and he will not always be hidden from your 
 sight. The day is near, when he will call you to his 
 presence. He has gone from your view to prepare a 
 place for you, and he will come ere long to take you to 
 himself, that where he is you may be also. There, you 
 shall see his face without a veil ; there, you shall be 
 like him, for you shall see him as he is. Nothing there 
 shall interrupt your intimate communion with him. 
 While you contemplate his uncreated beauty, while 
 your enraptured souls behold new glories open to your 
 view in his person, character, and work, your love 
 shall burn with a purer and a brighter flame, and your 
 joy rise to ecstacy unspeakable, while you unite with 
 the glorious host of the redeemed in ascribing to the 
 Lamb that was slain, power, and riches, and wisdom, 
 and strength, and glory, and honor, and blessing. But 
 
 10 
 
206 mm 
 
 are there not some that now hear me, who do not love 
 an unseen Saviour? whose affections are wholly en- 
 grossed by visible objects? who declare this day by 
 their conduct that they take no delight in him who is 
 invisible? Ah, unhappy fellow sinners ! he will not 
 always be an unseen Christ. Behold, he cometh in 
 clouds, and every eye shall see him ! You, too, must 
 look upon him. That very Saviour whom you now 
 neglect is the appointed Judge of quick and dead. At 
 his bar you must stand ; from his lips you must hear 
 that sentence which will fix your destiny, which, if you 
 do not love him, will consign you to the chambers of 
 eternal death. Hear ye the language of God's word: 
 11 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him 
 be Anathema Maranatha.'' If any man, no matter 
 how amiable in disposition, no matter how moral his 
 deportment, no matter what his gifts and professions of 
 piety, if any man love not him — it is not said if any 
 man openly oppose Christ's cause, persecute his follow- 
 ers, ridicule his religion, or blaspheme his name — if any 
 do not cordially and supremely love the Lord Jesus 
 (ah, how many who are well reported among men, how- 
 many of you does it include), let him be accursed, 
 set apart as a vessel of wrath, singled out as a monu- 
 ment of vengeance, devoted to an awful and eternal 
 destruction when the Lord shall come. In that great 
 day when Christ shall sit upon the throne of his glory, 
 and all the unnumbered millions of Adam's race are 
 gathered before him, when the retributions of eternity 
 begin to take effect, when the righteous are welcomed 
 to the kingdom prepared for them, and the wicked are 
 cast into outer darkness. Oh ! who can bear a curse like 
 this ; who can dwell with devouring fire ; who can lie 
 down with everlasting burnings. Dear fellow sinners, 
 as God is true this must be the doom of everv one who 
 
LOVE TO AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR. 207 
 
 docs not sincerely love Christ. If that awful day should 
 now break upon an astonished world ; if the archangel's 
 trumpet should now awake the sleeping dead ; if the 
 bursting heavens should now reveal the Son of God in 
 flaming fire ; this curse must light on every one of us 
 who does not love Christ. Ah ! how heart-rending, 
 while sinking under its intolerable weight, to remember 
 offers of mercy neglected, and overtures of grace des- 
 pised. Now Christ is waiting to be reconciled to his 
 enemies ; now he knocks at your hearts soliciting ad- 
 mittance. Oh ! be wise ; kiss the Son lest he be angry. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 THE LIKENESS OF GOD. 
 
 ■ I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." — Psalm xvii. 15. 
 
 The children of God are not distinguished by the pos- 
 session of a large share of the good things of this life. 
 A variety of causes conspires to prevent them from 
 amassing the wealth, acquiring the honors, or enjoying 
 the pleasures which earth affords. Frequently a sove- 
 reign God chooses the poor of this world to make them 
 rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom prepared for 
 them that love him. Frequently in his wise and gra- 
 cious providence he frustrates their attempts to pro- 
 cure an abundance of earthly good, or strips them of 
 what they already possess, that he may lead them to 
 seek delight in himself alone, or preserve them from 
 the temptation incident to fulness. Independently of 
 these considerations, the good man's conscience will not 
 permit him to follow many of those paths which lead 
 most directly to present emolument; and he whose 
 treasure is in heaven, cannot be expected to pursue it 
 with the same ardor as those whose hope and portion 
 lie below. But while the lot of the pious is not marked 
 by a profusion of temporal good, it contains a fall pro- 
 portion of those sufferings which render life a vale of 
 tears. They were long since told by one who wrote 
 under the guidance of the Spirit of unerring truth, "If ye 
 endure not chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then 
 are ye not sons ; for whom the Lord loveth he chasten- 
 eth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Their 
 
THE LIKENESS OF GOD. 209 
 
 Heavenly Father often corrects them for their offences, 
 while he permits others to indulge in sin without re- 
 straint, and in undisturbed security to ripen for the day 
 of righteous retribution. Their conscientious opposi- 
 tion to the principles and practice of a degenerate 
 world often subjects them to insult and injury. 
 
 While strangers and pilgrims here, the dissimilarity 
 between their conduct and that of those around them, 
 frequently exposes them to hatred, so that when world- 
 ly policy bears sway, waters of a fall cup are often 
 wrung out to the people of God. Yet, in the midst of 
 all this privation and suffering, they may rejoice ever- 
 more, for there is an angel that goes with them, and 
 strews roses of delight in this thorny path. They have 
 a hope full of immortality, which may well sweeten the 
 cup of affliction, dry the tear of suffering, and cheer the 
 sinking soul in the hour of deepest despondency. 
 
 When the shades of sorrow and distress spread 
 around them the thickest gloom, they have only to 
 raise the eye of faith, and they bohold the near and 
 certain prospect of a portion which will fully satisfy 
 the soul, a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 
 Thus did the pious psalmist. David seems to have 
 written this psalm in a time of great distress from the 
 malice of his enemies ; probably when persecuted by 
 Saul. He earnestly prays for Divine protection ; repre- 
 sents in strong language the cruelty of his enemies ; 
 recognizes the overruling power of Grod in those suffer- 
 ings which were inflicted upon him by the hands of 
 men ; and, in a strain of despondency, speaks of the 
 present prosperity of the wdcked. At the close of the 
 psalm he seems to have felt that his prayer was heard ; 
 the clouds that had gathered around him disperse ; his 
 faith acquires new vigor ; he obtains a glimpse of that 
 bright and glorious inheritance which is reserved for 
 
210 SERMONS. 
 
 all who love God ; and lie exclaims in the language of 
 holy triumph, u As for me, I shall behold thy face in 
 righteousness ; I shall be satisfied when I awake with 
 thy likeness." 
 
 In discussing this subject, it is designed to explain 
 the nature of that likeness to God of which David ex- 
 presses his confident expectation, and which shall be 
 the sure reward of all who truly love God ; and then 
 briefly to notice the time when they shall enter upon 
 the enjoyment of this portion ; when they awake ; and 
 the effect it will have upon them, — u They shall be 
 satisfied." 
 
 I. What is the nature of that likeness to God 
 spoken of in the text ? To this we answer, it is a spirit- 
 ual likeness, an enstamping the Divine image upon the 
 soul, a moulding the soul into the Divine similitude. It 
 cannot be anything corporeal. God is a Spirit, and a ma- 
 terial body cannot resemble spirit. It is true, indeed, 
 our Saviour has ascended into heaven with a body like 
 our own, only unspeakably more glorious, shining with 
 such amazing splendor that a sight of it caused the 
 beloved apostle to fall at his feet as dead ; and we know, 
 if we believe in him, that he will ere long change these 
 vile bodies, and fashion them like unto his glorious 
 body. This w*ill make us like the human nature of our 
 beloved Lord; but this is not the meaning of our text. 
 The likeness of which the psalmist speaks is a conform- 
 ity of soul to God. In order to this, we must undergo 
 a great change ; for, alas ! light and darkness are not 
 more opposite than a holy God and a depraved man. 
 Yet we are not to imagine it to be a change in essence, 
 so that it would be a human soul no longer; neither 
 are we to regard it as implying any power or faculties 
 we do not at present in any degree $>ossess. It may be, 
 indeed, there are in our souls germs of powers which 
 
THE LIK4NKSS OF god. 211 
 
 lie dormant in this infant stage of onr existence, but 
 which will shoot forth and bear fruits of holiness and 
 blessedness in the regions of eternal day, but on this 
 subject the Scriptures are silent, and by our own re- 
 searches we can never arrive at certainty. That like- 
 ness to God of which the righteous shall partake, will 
 consist in a similarity between the qualities of their 
 souls and the attributes of the Divine nature. In this 
 respect they shall be like God. But there are some of 
 the Divine attributes which are incommunicable,because 
 inconsistent with the idea of a created nature. Such 
 are independence, immensity, absolute immutability and 
 eternity ; these, from their very nature, cannot be given 
 to any creature. In respect to these, therefore, the 
 righteous cannot be like God. But their likeness to 
 God will consist in knowledge, holiness and blessed- 
 ness. 
 
 1st. It will consist in knowledge. This we are taught 
 in other passages of the sacred Scriptures. Thus Chris- 
 tians are exhorted to put on the new man, which is re- 
 newed in knowledge after the image of him that created 
 him. The apostle writes of himself, " Now I know in 
 part, but then shall I know even as also I am known." 
 Our knowledge must ever be derived, and dependent, 
 and in this respect unlike that of God, which is unde- 
 rived and independent. God knoweth all things, not 
 from the things themselves or because they exist, but 
 from his own essence : something as a wise builder 
 knows the structure, which he is about to erect, from the 
 image of it in his own mind, though the materials are 
 not yet provided or put together; consequently, his 
 knowledge is absolutely independent. It was the same 
 from eternity, before all creatures began to exist, and it 
 will continue the same to eternity, while created sys- 
 tems rise into being, roll round their appointed course, 
 
212 SERMONS. 
 
 and are dissolved. Nor can creatures ever become om- 
 niscient. It is only that incomprehensible and glorious 
 Being who made and governs all things, whose infinite 
 mind, at one immense survey, beholds all things, certain 
 and contingent, actual and possible, past, present, and 
 future. Yet the righteous shall resemble God in the 
 certainty of their knowledge. At present our know- 
 ledge of the most interesting subject is confined by 
 very narrow limits, and even within those limits there 
 is much uncertainty and error. Our reason, at best, is 
 but a glimmering light, is obscured by sin, and often 
 almost extinguished by prejudice and passion. God 
 hath graciously been pleased, by a plain revelation of 
 his will, to give us absolute certainty with respect to 
 those great truths on which our eternal well-being es- 
 sentially depends. This light from heaven shines on 
 the path of life, but that is a narrow way, and doubts 
 and darkness rest on all beyond. The pleasure we 
 might derive from the discovery of truth is greatly 
 lessened by the "uncertainty in which it is involved. But 
 God knows with infallible certainty ; lie is not liable to 
 be mistaken or deceived. If we are his people, when 
 we awake in his likeness we shall know even as we are 
 known. In thy light, oh ! God, shall we see light. Mis- 
 take and error arise from sin, and they shall cease when 
 Christ's people are freed from the last mark of the apos- 
 tacy, and made gloriously perfect with him. No sha- 
 dow of uncertainty shall rest upon those truths which 
 are objects of contemplation to the blessed ; no "unwel- 
 come doubts intrude to mar their joys. 
 
 Again, the knowledge of glorified saints shall resem- 
 ble the Divine knowledge in its clearness and distinct- 
 ness. Now we see as through a glass darkly. Even 
 of that comparatively small portion of truth with which 
 we are acquained, our views are very indistinct. En- 
 
THE LIKENESS OF GOD. 213 
 
 veloped in the mists of sense, and covered with the 
 darkness of sin, we see objects very superficially, and 
 often they do not appear to us as they really are. 
 When we survey the works of God, how much is there 
 of wisdom and goodness which we cannot see ! how 
 many creatures seem to us useless ! how many even 
 hurtful ! In the Providence of God, how much is to 
 us mysterious and inscrutable! How often are clouds 
 and darkness around about the Almighty, and his ways 
 in the great deep ! When we look into his word, how 
 much which we cannot explain or understand ; how 
 much of which we cannot see the consistency or pro- 
 priety. On every side there is much which, to the eye 
 of feeble reason, seems like darkness, deformit} r , confu- 
 sion, and discord. But ah! my friends, the imperfection 
 is in ourselves. God is light, and in him is no darkness 
 at all. In his sight all things are full of light and beau- 
 ty, order and harmony. No cloud obscures the vision 
 of the Almighty, no number or variety of objects dis- 
 tract his attention ; nothing so hidden or mysterious 
 that it is not naked and open to him. He knows that 
 all things have the proper nature, perform the proper 
 offices, and promote the proper ends. That under his 
 most wise and holy guidance all shall eventually con- 
 spire to bring about the greatest good. Such, also in 
 kind, shall be the knowledge of the blessed, when they 
 shall see, not through a glass darkly, but face to face. 
 When the soul shall be elevated above the mists of 
 sense, and the darkness of sin shall have fled away. 
 Oh ! w r hen the mind shall be freed from all that now 
 obscures it, what unthought of glories shall rise to view 
 in all the works and ways of God. What order and 
 beauty shall shine in all that now appears most confused 
 and inexplicable ! 
 
 Again : though creatures can never become omni- 
 10* 
 
214 SERMONS. 
 
 scient, yet the knowledge of glorified saints, compared 
 with what they now possess, may very properly be said 
 to resemble the Divine knowledge in extent. Several 
 causes will contribute to the enlargement of the sphere 
 of knowledge to those happy spirits who worship in the 
 temple above. Doubtless, the powers of the soul will 
 greatly expand. This life is but the morning of our 
 days, the threshold of our existence. All our powers 
 are but partially unfolded in this infant stage. We are 
 hardly able to be familiar with anything but the fleet- 
 ing visions of this shadowy world. The immense mag- 
 nitude, the awful importance of invisible realities, were 
 they fully seen, would no doubt crush our infant powers, 
 and they are wisely veiled from our view. But when 
 we go to behold them in the clear light of eternity, our 
 minds must be greatly strengthened or we must be over- 
 powered by their dazzling splendor. All obstruction 
 to the acquisition of knowledge will be removed ; the 
 soul will be no longer impeded and clogged by a gross 
 material body. When sin shall be totally eradicated, 
 passion and prejudice, which spring from it, must die. 
 Then the spirits of the blessed will not, as at present, 
 be pent up in a dark^obscure, and narrow corner of the 
 universe, but dwelling in the heavenly Jerusalem, enjo}^ 
 every advantage for the attainment of knowledge. Oh ! 
 with what holy joy will they drink in the truth at the 
 pure eternal fountain where it flows. When freed from 
 error, and confusion, and sin, and standing on the pin- 
 nacle of creation, who can tell what new discoveries of 
 the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator will 
 pour in upon the enlarged soul as it looks abroad over 
 the immensity of the works of God ! 
 
 When the glorious consummation to which they tend 
 shall shed new light upon the dealings of Providence to 
 the church and to individuals, what displays of wisdom 
 
THE LIKENESS OF GOD. 215 
 
 and tenderness, before unknown, shall animate the 
 grateful praises of the blessed, as, from the heights of 
 the heavenly Zion, they review the way in which, they 
 have been led. When the thunders of the judgment 
 day shall have announced the catastrophe of the great 
 drama now acting on the theatre of this life ; when the 
 great work of redeeming sinners shall have been com- 
 pleted, and the ransomed of the Lord have entered 
 Zion with songs and everlasting joy ; when the nations 
 of the saved shall walk in the light of the Lamb; what 
 unutterable glories will blaze in every part of the stu- 
 pendous plan of redeeming love ! But your time com- 
 pels us to dismiss this theme, delightful as it is. We 
 remark, 
 
 2d. The future likeness of the saints to God will con- 
 sist in hoUness. This was a part of that likeness to God 
 in which, man was first created ; for God made man up- 
 right ; but they have sought out many inventions. The 
 moral image of God is defaced and destroyed in apos- 
 tate man. But in Christ Jesus this glory of our nature 
 is restored. They that are Christ's, have put on the new , 
 man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and 
 true holiness. Yet this restoration is only partial in the 
 present life; for, saith the apostle John: "If we say 
 that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth, 
 is not in us." But the whole body of believers shall, 
 ere long, be made perfect in holiness, for the Lord Jesus 
 will present them to himself a glorious church, not hav- 
 ing spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. The Eternal 
 God alone is essentially, independently, and necessarily 
 holy. He is holiness itself, and all that is excellent 
 among creatures is derived from him, and is but a faint 
 reflection of his glorious holiness. He is infinitely re- 
 moved from all sin. All moral evil is the object of his 
 perfect abhorrence. He commands his people — " Be ye 
 
216 SERMONS. 
 
 holy, for I am holy." He has given us a holy law as a 
 rule of our conduct, which, if it were perfectly obeyed, 
 would banish all sin, and make this guilty, wretched 
 world a habitation of holiness and peace. But alas! 
 even the best of men, while in the body, are not per- 
 fectly freed from the power of in-dwelling sin. In no 
 case do they perfectly obey the law. Often they feel 
 their hearts going out after things forbidden ; often 
 they feel a law in their members warring against the 
 law of their mind, and bringing them into subjection 
 to the law of sin in their members. Much sin cleaves 
 to their best duties. How seldom do they rise on the 
 wings of faith to devout and holy contemplation of 
 eternal things ! How weak their faith, how wavering 
 their hope ! How cold their love ! How imperfect 
 their devotional exercises ! This life is a constant war- 
 fare, the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit 
 against the flesh. But the stroke of death, which con- 
 signs their bodies to the tomb, destroys the last of their 
 spiritual foes. When the struggling soul bursts the 
 bars of its prison, it leaves behind it all remaining im- 
 perfection ; it wings its upward flight to the regions of 
 perfect holiness. There, inbred corruption is unknown ; 
 there, temptation no longer annoys ; nothing unholy 
 or unclean disturbs the purity of the heavenly city, 
 and there shall in no wise enter into it anything that 
 defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or 
 maketh a lie. 
 
 In the immediate presence of the blessed God, faith 
 and hope shall attain perfection ; for the one shall be 
 changed into sight, and the other swallowed* up in en- 
 joyment. Sanctified knowledge shall supply abundant 
 fuel to holy love, and it shall burn with a pure light 
 and steady flame. There all, beholding with open face 
 the glory of the Lord, shall be changed into the same 
 
THE LIKENESS OF GOD. 21*7 
 
 image from glory to glory. The glowing image of their 
 Saviour, which shall shine in all the redeemed, shall 
 prove them to be, indeed, members of his body, and 
 proclaim the glory of that matchless grace which was 
 able to exalt sinners to such dignity, and thus to adorn 
 them with the beauties of holiness. We remark, 
 
 3d. The righteous shall be like God in blessedness. 
 This necessarily results from the two last ; for an 
 enlarged view of the character and works of God, ac- 
 companied with perfect love to him, cannot but make 
 the creature perfectly happy ; accordingly the psalmist 
 says : " In thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right 
 hand are pleasures for evermore. " 
 
 Another point of resemblance between the future 
 blessedness of the saints and that of God is in its dura- 
 tion ; it will be eternal. Not, indeed, in the same 
 manner ; his blessedness is without beginning as well 
 as without end. Theirs begins, but it will never end. 
 It is dependent, too ; but it depends upon the faithful 
 promise of an unchanging God ; and while his throne 
 endures, his promise cannot fail. Such is the portion 
 of the saints, such that likeness to God, the greatest and 
 best of beings, which will hereafter exalt, adorn, and 
 bless the poorest and the weakest of those who shall, 
 through much tribulation, inherit the promise. But, 
 though aided by the light of revelation, we can rudely 
 trace the faint outlines of the beauteous picture, what 
 human, what angelic pencil can fill them up, can give 
 to each part the due proportions, and to all the proper 
 coloring ! The language of mortals is too feeble, the 
 mind of man too weak, to conceive the joys which will 
 fill the bosoms of the redeemed, when their knowledge 
 of the most transporting truths shall be certain, distinct, 
 and vastly enlarged, when their souls, unassailed by 
 temptation, unstained by sin, shall shine in perfect 
 
218 SERMONS. 
 
 holiness and be filled with pure and unmixed delight, 
 and the immutable God shall affix the seal of eternity 
 to their happy state. Oh ! it will be a gift worthy of 
 him who spared not his only begotten Son, but delivered 
 him up to shame, pain, and death. Glorious Eedeemer ! 
 it will be a worthy reward of thy bloody agony, of thy 
 prevalent intercession. 
 
 II. And now, beloved hearers, it seems almost needless 
 to notice, under our second general head, the feelings 
 of the blessed, when they enter upon this portion. 
 Surely, they will feel that all their most enlarged desires 
 are filled. Surely, the pious psalmist was not mistaken 
 when he said, " I shall be satisfied ivhen I aivake with thy 
 likeness" The desires of every human soul are large, 
 too large for earth to fill ; yet surely he who made the 
 soul can satisfy its most boundless wishes. 
 
 The psalmist was a man of no common stamp; his 
 natural powers were of no ordinary magnitude, and 
 they had been enlarged by education and experience, 
 and strengthened by frequent meditation on spiritual 
 truth, and devout contemplation of eternal things ; yet 
 guided by the spirit of truth, he exclaims : A I shall be 
 satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." 
 
 Oh, yes, my brethren, the likeness of God which it 
 shall bear, will satisfy the pious soul, will fill up its 
 capacities and wishes. And though its powers expand 
 and expand to eternity, they will never swell beyond 
 the measure of its joys. But when shall they enter 
 upon this portion ? When I awake, says the psalmist. 
 Comparing the life and activity which shall animate the 
 spirits of the blessed when they have shaken off this 
 mortal coil, with their present dull and sluggish frame, 
 or their present indistinct and transient views of the 
 truth with the vivid and lasting impressions it will 
 make upon them when seen in the light of eternity, 
 
THE LIKENKSS OF GOD. 219 
 
 this life may well be called a sleep. And death, their 
 Father's messenger, sent to awake them in the morning 
 of their joys, or the expression, " when I awake;' may 
 refer more immediately to that bright morning when 
 he who is the resurrection and the life, shall pour the 
 light of heaven upon the darkness of the sepulchre ; 
 when, amid the convulsions of dissolving worlds, and 
 the death groans of expiring nature, he shall call from 
 the grave the sleeping dust of all his saints : when this 
 corruption, shall put on incorruption and this mortal 
 shall put on immortality, and death be swallowed up in 
 victory ; when their vile bodies, made like to the 
 Saviour's, glorious and nnited to their glorified spirits, 
 and they shall go to be for ever with the Lord. 
 
 From a review of this subject, let afflicted Christians 
 learn patience and find consolation. David seems to 
 have penned this psalm under great affliction ; he was 
 ready to sink in despondency while the waves of sorrow 
 went over him, but he thought of the portion of the 
 righteous, and his soul rose above the deep waters ; he 
 stood upon a rock where the angry billows could not 
 reach. 
 
 The apostle Paul found consolation in the same 
 truth : " For I judge that the sufferings of this present 
 time are not worthy to be compared with the glory 
 which shall be revealed in us." 
 
 Nothing is better suited to administer comfort to the 
 afflicted follower of Christ than steadfast and believing 
 contemplation of those joys which await them. 
 
 Shall he murmur or repine, or indulge immoderate 
 sorrow at the chastenings of his Heavenly Father, when 
 they are designed to work out the peaceable fruits of 
 righteousness, and to fit him for his crown ; shall he 
 faint under his present light afflictions which are but 
 for a moment, but work out for him a far more exceed- 
 
220 SERMONS. 
 
 ing and eternal weight of glory. Lift up thy head, oh, 
 weeping Christian ! by faith behold thy bright inherit- 
 ance in the skies, and let a song of praise to him, in 
 whose likeness thou shalt awake, succeed thy tears ! 
 
 Again, let Christians learn from this subject to rise 
 above the fears of death. Is it so, that your souls will 
 bear the Divine likeness when they awake from this 
 dream of life ? Is it so, that the hour of death will be 
 the beginning of all that deserves the name of life ? — the 
 morning of a cloudless, an eternal day, in which 
 knowledge, and holiness, and blessedness shall be made 
 perfect ? And can you fear to die ? By virtue of your 
 union to Christ all things are yours. Even death is 
 yours ; it will crown you with glory everlasting. 
 Christless sinners may fear death. No wonder they 
 should shudder at his approach. He is to them indeed 
 the king of terrors ; he cuts them off from all that is 
 dear to them, defeats their plans, destroys their comforts, 
 blasts their hopes, drives their trembling spirits to the 
 bar of an angry Judge, shuts up their bodies in the 
 grave, and opens to their souls the gates of the prison 
 of the damned. But to believers he is a vanquished 
 foe. He has lost his sting: " For the sting of death is 
 sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to 
 God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord." Oh, Christians! be afraid to sin; be afraid 
 to offend your covenant God ; be afraid to dishonor 
 your Saviour whose name you bear. But do not be 
 afraid to die. Eather as servants, who love their mas- 
 ter, be engaged in his service ; be prepared to meet him, 
 and look for and hasten to the coming of your Lord. 
 
 Finally, let me exhort all who hear me, to seek the 
 portion of them that fear God. Is it not a glorious 
 portion? Is it not worth seeking ? Oh, make it yours ; 
 it is offered to you. Repent and be converted, and your 
 
THE LIKENESS OF CJOI). 221 
 
 sins shall be blotted out. Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and you shall be saved. Will you refuse to seek 
 first the kingdom of God and his righteousness ? -Will 
 you still spend money for that which is not bread, and 
 your labor for that which satisfieth not? There is 
 another portion for the impenitent. Shall I name the 
 dread alternative which awaits those who fall short of an 
 inheritance among them that are sanctified? Shall I 
 speak of the blackness of darkness for ever ? Oh ! be 
 entreated, by all that is solemn and awful in eternity, 
 by all that is desirable in the joys of Heaven, by all 
 that is fearful in the agonies o^ hell ; be entreated to 
 seek the Lord. May God add his blessing. Amen. 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 THE END OF ALL THINGS AT HAND. 
 
 "The end of all things is at hand ; be ye therefore sober, and watch 
 unto prayer." — 1 Peter iv. 7. 
 
 It is doubtful whether, in this passage, the apostle refers 
 to the civil and ecclesiastical polity of the Jewish 
 people, their priesthood, their temple service, their 
 sacrifices, and the various rites and ceremonies of their 
 law, which at the time of writing, were on the verge of 
 dissolution, or whether in the expression, " the end of 
 all things is at hand," he calls attention to the brevity 
 and uncertainty of human life, the rapid flight of time, 
 and the near approach of that solemn hour, when each 
 of them must pass into the unseen world, appear at the 
 bar of Omniscient truth and holiness, and enter upon the 
 righteous retributions of eternity. As, however, this 
 letter is addressed to believers in Pontus and Galatia, 
 who, we may suppose, felt no special interest in the fate of 
 Jerusalem, the latter interpretation of the text appears 
 probable. In this sense, it is as applicable to us as to 
 them ; and it suggests instruction appropriate to the 
 present occasion, when the termination of another year 
 forcibly reminds us of the approaching close of all things 
 earthly. 
 
 " The end of all things is at hand." This is literally 
 true of all those objects which we see, or which are 
 obvious to any of our senses. They are temporal ; they 
 have had a beginning, they shall have an end. The 
 time was when they did not exist. The time is coming 
 when they shall exist no longer. Travel back in 
 
TOT END OF ALL THINGS AT HAND. 223 
 
 imagination and you come to that point in a past eter- 
 nity, when the material universe sprang into being at 
 the word of Omnipotence, when before there had been 
 one vast unpeopled solitude, and the eternal God had 
 reigned alone, self-sufficient and all sufficient. Travel 
 forward in imagination, and you arrive at a period, 
 when the same word that called them into existence, 
 shall dissolve them into their original elements, or bid 
 them cease to be. When that sun, which has beheld 
 unchanged the rise and fall of so many empires, and 
 shone with undiminished lustre on the graves of so 
 many generations, shall emit its last expiring raj 7 , and 
 yonder stars that have twinkled from age to age shall 
 be extinguished, and those heavens shall be rolled 
 together as a scroll and pass away, and this earth and 
 all that is therein, shall be burned up. The material 
 universe, in all its beauty and grandeur, forms but a 
 single link in the plans and purposes of that mysterious 
 and adorable Being who is without beginning of days 
 or end of time ; and its whole duration is but a single 
 step in the march of that government which is from 
 everlasting to everlasting ; and however remote the 
 period may now seem, when the mighty angel coming 
 down from heaven and standing on the sea and on the 
 land, shall lift up his hand and swear by him who 
 liveth for ever and ever that time shall be no longer; 
 however numerous the generations of dying men that 
 shall arise in succession and fill up their allotted term 
 of probation, and pass on to their last account ere that- 
 period arrives ; however dim and distant the solemnities 
 of nature's dissolution may appear as you now look 
 forward to them through the tract of coming ages, you 
 shall see and feel them present, and when the notes of 
 the last trump have ceased, and the last convulsive 
 throes of a dying world are hushed, your souls, possess- 
 
224 SERMONS. 
 
 ing the very same consciousness of existence, the very 
 same powers of thought and action, the very same 
 capacities of joy and sorrow they now possess, shall look 
 back upon the whole course of time from the creation 
 to the judgment day, and feel that it bears a less pro- 
 portion to that boundless eternity which there lies 
 stretched out before you, than the year that is just 
 closing to all that comes between it and the end of time. 
 What a view does this give of the value of your souls ! 
 What energy does it impart to that question of the Son 
 of God : " What shall it profit a man if he gain the 
 whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man 
 give in exchange for his soul ?" What wisdom does it 
 accord to the choice of those who seek the salvation of 
 their souls as the one thing needful. Of what guilt and 
 folly does it convict you, who in spite of all the admo- 
 nitions of the word of God and all the strivings of his 
 spirit have persisted to this hour, in bartering your 
 souls for what is offered you by a deceitful world and 
 its lying pleasures that pall upon the sense, or 
 wealth that will soon be wrested from your dying grasp, 
 or honors, that if they fade not while you wear them, 
 must soon deck your grave. Oh ! immortal man, re- 
 member that thy soul must survive the wreck of matter 
 and the crash of worlds; must feel itself just entering 
 on its endless career of joy or sorrow, when time shall 
 be no more, and earth andheaven have passed away. 
 Remember the Eternal God hath made thee to be a 
 monument of his justice, or his mercy, while his throne 
 endures. 
 
 In the second place, the end of all things earthly is 
 at hand, so far as ice are concerned with them, or take 
 an interest in them, because we shall soon leave them 
 all behind. To each of us, brethren, the time is short. 
 Our days are but an hand's breadth, and w r e spend them 
 
THE END OF ALL THINGS AT HAND. 225 
 
 as a tale that is told, as a dream when one awaketh. 
 Like the swift ships they pass away ; like the eagle 
 hasting to his prey, leaving no trace behind. And 
 when these bodies go down naked to the dust, in that 
 very day every earthly thought perishes ; that day will 
 be to us the end of all things earthly. For there is no 
 work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the 
 grave. But what is this to the many generations of 
 men over whom time has passed in her rapid flight, 
 bearing their spirits to the bar of God, and leaving 
 their bodies in silence, darkness, and forgetfulness be- 
 hind ! What is this to thirty millions of our fellow 
 men (or to the scores and hundreds from among our- 
 selves), whom death has conducted to their unseen 
 abodes, and God has fixed in their unalterable desti- 
 nies, during the year that is just closed. Their pains 
 and pleasures, their pursuits and attainments, their dis- 
 appointments and successes, their honors, riches, joys, 
 are at an end. Nothing earthly is left to them but the 
 characters here formed, and the stores of mercy or of 
 wrath here treasured up. They began the year with 
 hopes as sanguine, prospects as bright, plans as discreet, 
 and faculties as efficient as our own. But the places 
 that once knew them, know them now no more. Strang- 
 ers have entered into their possessions, and tread on 
 their unconscious dust. And what are we ? and what 
 our life ? A vapor appearing for a little, then vanish- 
 ing away. The sun of prosperity may tinge it with 
 gold, or paint upon it the colors of the rainbow. But 
 lo ! while men gaze it disappears. For us the graves 
 are ready ; the end of all things is at hand ; and shall 
 we long, and plan, and toil, only for this brief, uncer- 
 tain life ? Shall we devote ourselves to pursuits we 
 must so soon abandon ? Shall we heap up treasures in 
 this world as if it were our eternal home, when we 
 
226 SERMONS. 
 
 know not at what moment we shall be summoned to 
 bid a last adieu to all things earthly ? We have arrived 
 almost at the commencement of a new year; it will 
 pass as swiftly and as silently as the past has, and at its 
 close it will be said of some of us, they have gone to 
 their last account ! Thus it has been in the closing 
 year, and the thing that hath been is that which shall 
 be. Seats are now vacant in this house of God which, 
 at the beginning of the year, w r ere filled by some who 
 were then present as we are now ; and of some of us it 
 is doubtless written in the secret purposes of Heaven, 
 next year they shall die. Oh ! that the conviction of 
 our frailty, and of the brief, uncertain, period of our 
 continuance on earth might even now penetrate our 
 hearts, teaching us to rise in our desires, and hopes, 
 and joys, above this dark scene of our temporary pil- 
 grimage, and to live for God, for heaven, for immortal- 
 ity. Oh ! that it might animate us even now to double 
 diligence, fidelity, patience, self-denial, in doing and suf- 
 fering our Master's will, that when the night cometh, 
 in which no man can work, we may enter into rest, 
 cheered by that joy inspiring testimonial of his graci- 
 ous approbation, " well done, good and faithful servants, 
 enter ye into the joy of your Lord/' 
 
 In the third place, the end of all things is at hand, 
 not only because an appointed day is hastening when 
 this earth and you, hearers, shall pass away, and because 
 we shall, long ere that day arrives, bid a last adieu to 
 all things earthly, but also because all the objects of 
 time and sense are frail and fluctuating ; human socie- 
 ty, in all its relations and interests, is full of change ; 
 and the world itself, with everything fair and excellent 
 that it contains, is constantly fading and dying around us. 
 
 The fashion of this world passeth away, saith the apos- 
 tle. " Surely," saith the psalmist, " every man walk- 
 
THE END OF ALL THINGS AX HAND. 22 Y 
 
 etli in a vain show, surely they are disquieted in vain ; 
 he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall ga- 
 ther them.' 7 What striking illustrations of the fluctua- 
 ting, changeful, and transitory nature of all things earth- 
 ly, does the history of the year that is just closing fur- 
 nish. Throughout the earth preparation has been mak- 
 ing for the consummation of all things. All nature has 
 grown old, and the processes which will ultimately re- 
 duce material things to their original elements have 
 been steadily, though silently, progressive. Under the 
 moral government of God, men have formed and de- 
 veloped their moral character, and thus have heaped up 
 treasures for the last day, and ripened for the retribu- 
 tions of eternity. Some have cordially accepted God's 
 offered mercy, given him their hearts, and been adopt- 
 ed into his redeemed family, and made heirs of an in- 
 corruptible inheritance. Others have rejected his gra- 
 cious offers, hardened their hearts against the calls of 
 liis gospel, grieved away his blessed spirit, and provok- 
 ed him to leave them to their own devices, and thus 
 give them up to hopeless impenitence, and stamp them 
 with the seal of reprobation. To the first, there is now 
 no condemnation. They have seen the end of the 
 guilt and power of sin. The darkness is already past, 
 and the true light, the light of life, has begun to shine 
 upon their souls, and it will brighten till it is lost in the 
 effulgence of eternal day. 
 
 Of the others, it has been already written, " they are 
 joined to idols, let them alone ; they live, but it is to 
 fill up the measure of their sins ; they have seen the 
 end of hope ; they have passed beyond the reach of 
 mercy." Others still, who have not yet attained to de- 
 cisive' piety or hopeless sin, have been steadily advanc- 
 ing towards one of these results. Not one of us has 
 been stationary either in his progress toward eternity, 
 
228 SERMONS. 
 
 or in his preparation for the portion that awaits him 
 there. The acts we have performed, the emotions we 
 have cherished, the motives that have governed us, our 
 privileges and opportunities of doing and receiving 
 good are passed, and can never be recalled. The 
 changes of condition and relations among men, which 
 the last vear has witnessed, have been not less than the 
 changes of character. Some have risen to honor and 
 affluence, while others have sunk into obscurity and 
 povertjr. Some have found settled homes and quiet 
 habitations, while others have gone out from their 
 peaceful abodes to wander among strangers, or are 
 tossed upon the ocean. Intimate connexions, endeared 
 friendships, have been formed, and they have been for 
 ever broken off; new charms have been added to many 
 a social circle, while many another has been invaded 
 and robbed of its brightest ornament by relentless 
 death. Plans and pursuits have been successful and 
 abortive ; hopes and fears have been realized or dissi- 
 pated. All things have been full of change, and all 
 those changes have now passed, never to return. The 
 year on which we shall soon enter will resemble that 
 which is just closing, in its varied and unlooked for 
 changes, as in its .rapid flight. Human life is like the 
 ocean, it ebbs and flows ; now its smooth and glassy 
 surface reflects the heavens ; now it heaves and tosses 
 in restless and fitful agitations. Our plans, our pursuits, 
 our connexions, our enjoyments, are like characters 
 drawn upon the sand, when the next wave passes over 
 and obliterates them for ever. All flesh is as grass, and 
 all the goodliness thereof as the flower of grass ; the 
 grass withereth, the flower thereof fadeth ; the wind 
 passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof 
 shall know it no more. The end of all things is at 
 hand. 
 
THE END OF ALL THINGS AT HAND. 229 
 
 And now, my brethren, what practical lessons ought 
 we to learn from the view we have thus taken of our- 
 selves, as dying creatures, and of this as a fading, dying 
 world? Surely Ave ought to give heed to the ex- 
 hortation of the Eternal Spirit addressed to us by 
 the apostle. Be ye therefore sober and watch unto 
 prayer. Shall we not subdue, and govern, and restrain, 
 within the strictest bounds of temperance, those appe- 
 tites and passions which belong only to these dying 
 bodies, and which, if indulged, will destroy our souls? 
 Shall not the reflection, that the end of all things is at 
 hand, chill the fervors of the sensualist, and teach even 
 ardent, impetuous youth, to check every sally of way- 
 ward passion? Do I address a son or daughter of 
 pleasure, one who seeks happiness in the indulgence of 
 appetite and passion ? Pause, fellow sinner, while the 
 last moments of the closing year yet linger ; pause, and 
 ask thyself, how has it been spent ? What fruit have I 
 gathered as it passed ? What report has it borne to the 
 bar of God ? What influence has it exerted on my ever- 
 lasting destinies ? What record of it is now engraven 
 on my conscience and written in the book of God? 
 Ponder these questions, in the near view of that con- 
 flict with the last enemy which is drawing nigh, and 
 that open grave into which thou art fast descending ! 
 Infatuated being ! may God have mercy on thee, spare 
 thee yet another year, and teach thee to act as becomes 
 a rational, accountable, immortal man. But sobriety 
 implies moderation in our desires, pursuits, and enjoy- 
 ments of earthly good, as well as temperance. There 
 are lessons here for the worldly minded, the votaries of 
 wealth and honor. Oh ! ye who thus labor for the 
 meat that perisheth, the end of all things is at hand. 
 Have you a covenant with death, that he will not take 
 away your idols ; or an agreement with the grave, that 
 
 11 
 
230 SERMONS. 
 
 it shall not swallow up your joys? Let the closing 
 year admonish you that life draws near its close ; that 
 you are going out of the world naked as you entered 
 it ; that you are summoned to give in your last account 
 before a judge who will favor you no more than the 
 meanest beggar, or the poorest slave. Ah ! how many 
 years have you already wasted in the vain attempt to 
 erect an edifice on ground that is sliding away beneath 
 your feet. How long have you imitated him to whom 
 God said, " Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be re- 
 quired of thee." Why will you act so foolish, so sim- 
 ple, so dangerous a part, w T hen life and immortality are 
 brought to light ? When you are invited to seek dura- 
 ble riches, why spend ye money for that which is not 
 bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not ? 
 
 But the subject should teach us lessons of devotion as 
 well as of soberness. Be ye therefore sober, and watch 
 unto prayer. Oh ! my friends, how near, how very 
 near, are the dread realities of the eternal world ; how 
 thin the veil which separates us now from the world of 
 spirits. And as time bears us onward, that distance is 
 daily and hourly growing less, and death stands ready 
 in a moment to draw aside that veil and usher us, dis- 
 embodied spirits, into the immediate presence of the 
 great and holy God ! And shall we forget that awful 
 eternity on whose very threshold we daily walk, or fail 
 to recognise our relations to that adorable Being whose 
 glorious perfections will so soon break, in unclouded 
 splendor, upon our souls ? Forbid it, reason, duty, con- 
 science ; forbid, Parent of our mercies. No : let us 
 look at those things w r hich are unseen and eternal; 
 let us endure, as seeing him who is invisible ; let us 
 walk as pilgrims and strangers, feeling that we have 
 here no abiding place, no continuing city ; let us daily 
 acknowledge our obligations to God, and our depend- 
 
THE END OF ALL THINGS AT HAND. 231 
 
 ence on him ; let us daily seek his favor as life, and his 
 loving kindness as better than life ; let us watch against 
 the fascinations of worldly pursuits and pleasures, and 
 the deplorable proneness of our own hearts to bury 
 themselves amid the transient concerns of this fleeting 
 state. God has made us capable of knowing, loving, 
 and obeying him, and of rising by his grace, and through 
 the mediation of his Son, to the fellowship of angels, 
 and the ennobling and everlasting joys of communion 
 with himself. Be it ours to walk with him by faith in 
 his Son, our Saviour, imploring the continual aid of 
 his blessed Spirit to cherish in us childlike reverence, 
 humility, love, obedience, and confidence, that, being 
 found faithful in doing and suffering all his blessed 
 will, we may enter into rest, and have it said of each of 
 us, as of one of old, " He walked with God, and he 
 was not, for God took him." Then, when we leave this 
 dying world, and all its changing, fading scenes behind, 
 we shall reach the end of our faith, and realize the con- 
 summation of our hopes. 
 
SERMON X. 
 DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 
 
 u It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." 
 — Hebrews ix. 2*7. 
 
 To-day, my friends, I am to speak to you of death and 
 judgment ; subjects not indeed new, but grand, affecting, 
 and solemn ; not unknown to you, but by many of 
 you thoughtlessly neglected, by many of you studi- 
 ously forgotten. 
 
 Oh ! immortal beings, hastening to eternity, yet sur- 
 rounded by objects of sense, and prone to be so fascinated 
 by their fading splendor, that death and judgment steal 
 unobserved upon them. That which reminds them of 
 these great events can hardly be ill-timed. The present 
 occasion, bringing to our recollection one who lately 
 worshipped with us, but has now gone to that unseen 
 world whence there is no return, renders meditation 
 upon these themes peculiarly appropriate. Permit me, 
 then, to call your attention to them as a dying man to 
 his dying fellow men; as an accountable creature of 
 God to those with whom he must shortly appear before 
 him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 
 Do thou, all quickening Spirit, sole author of truth and 
 holiness, breathe upon my soul, that I may speak truth 
 only, and with a faithful application of it to myself; 
 and shed thy gracious influences upon the hearts of this 
 people that they may receive the truth in the love of 
 it ; grant thou the hearing ear, the understanding mind, 
 the applying conscience, that the word may spring up 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 233 
 
 in their hearts and bear fruit unto eternal life, that so 
 we may rejoice together in the great day of the Lord's 
 appearing. 
 
 I am to speak of death : " It is appointed unto men 
 once to die." Ah, who so mad as to doubt that he must 
 die ! Many of you confess that you are mortal, but live 
 as though you would never die. How many of you 
 are as much absorbed in the pursuit or the enjoyment 
 of this world, as if this were the mansion of your eternal 
 residence, not an inn where you can tarry but a night. 
 
 Consider, then, it; is the appointment of the unchang- 
 ing God that all men shall die. In the day that man 
 sinned, God pronounced this affecting sentence : "Dust 
 thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return/' Almighty 
 power is pledged to carry the sentence into execution, 
 and it cannot be resisted; it cannot fail. As the 
 supreme moral Governor of the universe, God gives 
 laws to his intelligent creatures, which it is possible for 
 them to violate, as well as to obey ; but as the Sovereign 
 and uncontrollable disposer of life and death, there is 
 none may stay his hand or say unto him, what doest 
 thou ? While we regard the operation of second causes 
 which are obvious to our senses, we are apt to forget 
 the great first cause from whom they derive all their 
 efficiency. But let us ever bear in mind that if we 
 must die, it is because he has so decreed. On account 
 of our sin, let us know that he will bring us unto death, 
 and to the hour appointed for all living. He has 
 ordained that in our journey to the eternal world we 
 should pass through the dark valley of the shadow of 
 death. He has given to the King of terrors that com- 
 mission to which all must bow. Look back now upon 
 the history of past ages, and consider how uniformly 
 the sentence of the Almighty hath been carried into 
 execution. How many generations of men have lived 
 
234 
 
 RERMOVP. 
 
 on earth from the days of our first parents to the pre- 
 sent time. Each generation once as noisy and as 
 bustling, as full of life and activity, of desire and hope, 
 of business and pleasure, as that to which we belong. 
 But where are they now? The decree of the Eternal 
 God has gone into execution, and they have returned 
 to the dust from which they were taken. On their 
 plans, their pursuits, their pleasure, the grave has closed 
 for ever. How long, think you, ere the present genera- 
 tion shall be numbered with those that have passed 
 away ? How long ere these bodies, cold and lifeless, 
 shall repose beneath the clods of the valley ? the bleak 
 winds of winter howling over our graves : the men of 
 other times trampling on the places where they lie, 
 with as little concern as we now tread on the uncon- 
 scious dust of our predecessors. How many of those 
 whom we once knew have already gone down to the 
 house appointed for all living? Where, my aged 
 hearers, are the tender parents who cherished your 
 helpless infancy ? Where the playmates of your child- 
 hood, the companions of your youth, your associates 
 in the cares, the business, and the pleasures of mature 
 age ? Where, my dear hearers of every age, are many 
 whom we once knew and loved, and who seemed as 
 likely to escape the stroke of death as we ? The record 
 of their kindness and friendship is yet fresh in the 
 tablets of memory and imagination. We can still trace 
 the well known features of each much loved form, but 
 we see them no more, we hear them no more, we shall 
 meet them no more until we meet them in those unseen 
 abodes whither they have gone. We shall go to them, 
 but they will return to us no more. 
 
 Yes, my friends, Ave live in a dying world. All flesh 
 is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of 
 grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 235 
 
 falleth away. For what is our life ; it is but a vapor 
 that appearcth for a little and then vanisheth away. 
 Our fellow men are continually dying around us, and 
 ever and anon the messenger of the Almighty is sent 
 to call away one and another from among ourselves. 
 
 The period which shall terminate our mortal course 
 is already fixed, and each day, each hour, each moment, 
 brings it nearer. This Sabbath past, and one less will 
 remain to us on earth ; and while I speak and while 
 you listen, the time approaches when the cold finger o 
 death shall stop your ears, and his icy touch shall stiffen 
 my tongue ; the seeds of decay and dissolution are 
 sown thickly in these frail and dying bodies ; toil and 
 anxiety, sorrow and disease, weariness and pain — all 
 serve to quicken and promote their vegetation, and to 
 hasten the time when they shall bring forth fruit unto 
 death. In many respects mankind differ ; but in this 
 all agree. The young, the old, the rich, the poor, the 
 bond, the free, the wise and the foolish, the saint and 
 the sinner, all, all, must die. All hasten to the grave, 
 all must lie down in the dust, all must become the vic- 
 tims of corruption, and the food of worms. 
 
 But death is not only certain and universal, it is a 
 most solemn event Consider it only as the extinction 
 of life, and what can be more affecting. There is 
 something in man that clings instinctively to life, that 
 shrinks away from the cold embrace of death ; so that, 
 however wretched men may be, and however regardless 
 of futurity, few are willing deliberately to lay it down. 
 The consciousness of a good cause and the firm hope of 
 a blessed immortality, have often led to a calm and 
 joyful sacrifice of life itself; but where these are want- 
 ing, it has seldom been made except in the transports 
 of passion, the delirium of madness, or the gloom of 
 despair. 
 
236 SERMONS. 
 
 Who can think, without emotion, of all the changes 
 which death makes in these bodies, of all the symptoms 
 which precede, the circumstances which attend, and 
 the consequences which follow it ? How strength, ac- 
 tivity, and beauty wither at his approach ; how the 
 heart ceases to beat, the lungs to play, the bltfod to 
 circulate ; how the cheek fades, the eye is dimmed of 
 its lustre, the countenance robbed of its expression, 
 the brow moistened by the cold dews which congeal 
 upon it, passion is extinguished, sense and motion are 
 destroyed, corruption begins its work, and the cold and 
 silent grave closes upon its victim. 
 
 These are affecting, but when we consider that death 
 makes a final separation between us and every earthly 
 object ; that he takes us away from the friends we love, 
 the pursuits we delight in, the hopes we cherish, the 
 pleasures we seek; that he removes us from all the 
 well known realities of life ; that he leads us to the 
 brink of a precipice, beyond which all is dark and 
 silent, down w^hich though thousands leap, yet each 
 must leap alone, and none return to tell us what lies 
 beyond. "We may well say it is a most solemn thing 
 to die. But what makes it so? It is not the sad 
 retinue of circumstances which precede, attend, and 
 follow the extinction of life in these mortal bodies ; it 
 is not the convulsive struggle in which life and death 
 contend for the mastery, and life is overpowered and 
 death prevails ; it is not the shroud, the coffin, or the 
 grave, cold, dark, and silent as it is. No, it is none of 
 these that gives to death its deepest interest, its most 
 awful solemnity. But when we look upon it as the 
 dissolution of the union between the mortal body and 
 the immortal spirit, which now inhabits it, as the close 
 of our probationary state, as the sentence of the Eternal 
 Judge sealing up our characters, and summoning us 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 23*7 
 
 away to give an account of the deeds done in the body ; 
 then, indeed, it appears to be one of the most momentous 
 eras of our existence ; one of the most awful changes 
 which can ever pass over us. Death unveils to the 
 immortal spirit all the dread realities of the invisible 
 world ; he conducts it to the bar of the great God ; he 
 ushers it into the retributions of eternity ; for as it is 
 appointed to men " once to die, so after this the 
 judgment." The Bible teaches us that death fixes un- 
 changeably the character and the destiny of the evil 
 and the good, that from the struggles of dissolution, 
 the wicked go away to the prison of eternal justice, and 
 the righteous are at once conveyed to the joys and the 
 blessedness of Paradise. In this allotment of their 
 different portions, a divine sentence is virtually passed 
 on every individual. But it teaches also that a day is 
 fixed at the close of the present dispensation, when, to 
 manifest the wisdom and goodness of God in his go- 
 vernment of this world, and to bring to a consummation 
 all his purposes of justice and mercy, there shall be a 
 general judgment. 
 
 This it is that is spoken of in the text as coming after 
 death; not that it follows it immediately, but most 
 certain ly ; and because in judgment every man must 
 appear, and receive his final sentence, in the character he 
 lore ivhen he died. To this judgment to come, let us 
 now direct our attention. 
 
 Admit the being and perfections of God, and no 
 doctrine of natural religion can be more clearly seen by 
 the light of nature. The wisdom, the goodness, the 
 justice, the truth of God, all demand it, as their only 
 vindication from the charges which the inequality and 
 imperfection of the dispensations of Divine Providence 
 in the present life, would otherwise seem to fix upon 
 them. Reason, conscience, and the universal consent 
 
 11* 
 
SERMONS. 
 
 of mankind in every age and country, bear testimony 
 to it in the most positive manner. But why do I appeal 
 to them, when we have in our hands the sure word of 
 the living God? God hath spoken, and what he reveals 
 on this subject commends itself to the conscience of 
 every honest man. He hath assured us that "he will 
 bring every work into judgment with every secret 
 thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil ;" that 
 the time is already fixed, the circumstances are already 
 arranged, and that as surely as men must once die, so 
 surely after this they must be judged. The same God, 
 my friends, who has decreed that you shall die, has 
 decreed also that you shall go to judgment. Y ou can 
 no more escape the one, than you can avoid the other. 
 In the execution of a part of the decree, behold a pledge 
 that the whole shall be fulfilled. The sacred Scriptures 
 give us much interesting information concerning this 
 grand and awful event. They teach that the Judge 
 who, in that solemn day, shall fix the everlasting desti- 
 nies of men, shall be no other than the Saviour of 
 sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the 
 covenant of grace, uniting in his own person supreme 
 Divinity with perfect humanity. And who so proper 
 to settle finally the concerns of this world, as he whose 
 interest and honor are most intimately connected with 
 it ? Who so fit to bestow eternal life on his humble 
 followers as he who lived and died for their salvation, 
 and to pronounce the final sentence of eternal death 
 on the impenitent and unbelieving as he whose gracious 
 offers they have neglected, whose dying love they have 
 despised ? Jesus Christ shall judge the living and the 
 dead at his appearing and kingdom. But oh ! how 
 unlike the man of sorrow, how changed since his soul 
 was exceeding sorrowful even unto death, he lay 
 prostrate in Gethsemane under the burden of our guilt ; 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 239 
 
 exhausted by suffering, he fainted as he bore his cross 
 up the hill of Calvary, and on the cross he cried out as 
 one most desolate, " My God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me/' Behold he cometh with clouds, and 
 every eye shall see him. " The Son of man shall come 
 in the glory of his Father and all the holy angels with 
 him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. 
 And I saw, saith John, a great white throne and him 
 that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens 
 fled away, and there was found no place for them." 
 But who may describe the glory of his appearing? 
 Heaven and earth shall own a present God. He shall 
 speak, and all that are in their graves shall hear his 
 voice and come forth, they that have done good to the 
 resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the 
 resurrection of damnation. Death shall throw open his 
 prison doors, and release his captives. The sea shall 
 give up the dead that are in it, and death and hell shall 
 deliver up the dead who are in them, and the dead, 
 small and great, shall stand before God. In a moment, 
 in the twinkling of an eye, the dead shall be raised and 
 the living shall be changed. 
 
 Before him shall be gathered all nations. We must 
 all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every 
 one may receive the things done in the bod^ according 
 to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Of 
 all the descendants of Adam, not one shall be forgotten, 
 from the first of our fallen race who died by a brother's 
 hand, to the last infant whose earliest slumbers in a 
 mother's arms shall be wakened by the thunders of 
 that day ! 
 
 AVhat a vast assembly ! yet each individual shall feel 
 that his concern in the transactions of that day is per- 
 sonal. Each one shall feel as if the eye of the Judge 
 were fixed on him alone, and all the unnumbered mil- 
 
240 SERMO-NS. 
 
 lions were collected to be spectators of his doom. Oh ! 
 my God, each one of us shall be there. Before thine 
 awful bar each one of us shall lift up his head, waiting 
 with more than mortal transport for his redemption, 
 which draweth nigh, or in wild despair shall cry, and 
 cry in vain : " Mountains fall on us, rocks cover us 
 from the face of the Lamb, for the great day of his 
 wrath is come, and who is able to stand l" 
 
 Every one of us must give account of himself unto 
 God. Then shall the books be opened, and the dead 
 judged out of the things written in the books, accord- 
 ing to their works. What hidden things shall then be 
 revealed ! what secret things be brought to light ! For 
 God will bring every work into judgment, and every 
 secret thing, whether it be good or evil. Now the om- 
 niscient eye of the Judge is upon us; noio it reaches 
 the deepest and darkest recesses of our souls ; noio it 
 penetrates our bosoms, discerns all our motives, lays 
 bare the most hidden springs of our conduct. Our own 
 consciences now record every action, every word, every 
 feeling, every thought. In the day of judgment, the 
 book of conscience and the book of God's omniscience 
 shall be opened, their contents published to an assem- 
 bled universe, to justify that sentence which shall be 
 passed on every one according to his works. Oh ! if 
 ye have not fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set 
 before you in the gospel ; if your sins have not been 
 washed away in a Saviour's blood, and your souls 
 clothed in a Saviour's righteousness, how can ye bear 
 the disclosures of that day ! Whatever may be your 
 lives, you know, my dear brethren, that your hearts 
 are by nature far from God, full of all pride, of forget- 
 fulness of God, of ingratitude for his mercies, of dislike 
 to his worship, and disobedience to his law. Oh ! fly, 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 241 
 
 fly to the atoning blood of Christ, lest death and judg- 
 ment overtake you in your sins. 
 
 Then the character of every man shall be fully dis- 
 closed, and compared with the holy law of God ; and 
 it shall appear that by the deeds of the law, no flesh 
 can be justified in the sight of God. Then it shall be 
 manifest, that if men must stand or fall according to 
 their own merits, one sweeping sentence of condemna- 
 tion must consign every individual to eternal sorrow. 
 But another book shall be opened, which is the book of 
 life. Then shall the inquiry be made, who are united 
 to the Lord Jesus ? who have a right to plead for par- 
 don through his atoning sufferings and death, for eternal 
 life, through his meritorious and perfect righteousness ? 
 I tell you, my dear friends, not every one who now 
 calls himself a Christian, not every one who says " Lord, 
 Lord," shall be accepted of him. " In that day," saith 
 he, " many will say unto me, Lord, Lord, and then I will 
 profess unto them I never knew you ; depart from me 
 ye that work iniquity." The fruits of the spirit shall 
 then be sought after, as the evidence that the spirit of 
 Christ has dwelt in those who named his name ; for if 
 any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his. 
 The work of faith shall then be sought as the evidence 
 of its genuineness. The lives of professing Christians 
 shall then be the test by which the sincerity of the pro- 
 fession shall be tried. And thus, while the rich reward 
 shall be wholly of free grace, it shall be according to 
 every man's work. In that day, many a poor sufferer, 
 who, in deep obscurity, has lived a life of faith and 
 prayer, who has walked humbly with his God, and 
 bowed in meek submission to the hardships of his lot, 
 shall be owned as a son by the King of Kings and 
 Lord of Lords ; while the self-righteous Pharisee, or 
 the licentious Antinomian. shall have his portion as- 
 
242 SERMONS. 
 
 signed him with evil doers, where is weeping and wail- 
 ing, and gnashing of teeth. But if strict scrutiny shall 
 be made among the professed followers of Christ, what 
 shall be the end of those who have never named his 
 name? of the gay, the worldly, the dissipated, the pro- 
 fane, the scoffing ? If the righteous scarcely be saved, 
 where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Mo- 
 mentous question. Listen, I pray you, to the answer 
 of your own consciences and the Word of God. And 
 now when the awful inquiry is ended, when the wicked 
 are separated from among the just, when all the friends 
 of Christ are gathered upon his right hand, and all his 
 enemies upon the left, then shall the King say to them 
 on his right hand, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
 inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
 tion of the world." Then shall he say also to them on 
 his left hand, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
 ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; and 
 these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but 
 the righteous into life eternal." I give you the final 
 sentence, my hearers, in the words of Christ himself; 
 words which you and I must hear at that coming day ; 
 and I will attempt to explain them. Everlasting pun- 
 ishment! Eternal life ! weighty, incomprehensible words ! 
 Whose mind can scan their extent? whose imagination 
 can grasp their import? Oh, Eternity! mysterious, 
 awful, unknown. Thou only canst teach their full 
 meaning to created minds, as thy successive ages roll 
 on in their endless course they shall unfold it, but 
 never, never, shall it be exhausted ! 
 
 My dear hearers, to you it is appointed once to die, 
 but after this the judgment. Yet a little while and 
 those eyes shall be closed for ever on all earthly scenes ; 
 that beating pulse shall cease ; those bodies, cold, mo- 
 tionless, and insensible, shall be wrapped in the shroud, 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 243 
 
 shut up in the coffin, or deposited in the grave. Those 
 immortal spirits shall behold around them the dread re- 
 alities of the invisible world ; shall feel that the eye of 
 the great God is fixed upon them, and know themselves 
 to be children of his love and heirs of his favor ; or 
 children of disobedience and heirs of perdition. A 
 little longer — a very little compared with the eternity of 
 God or the immortal existence of the soul — and the 
 voice of the Son of God shall awaken those bodies 
 from the sleep of death, and, rising from the opening 
 grave, they shall meet those souls called by the same 
 powerful voice from the mansions of the blessed or the 
 prison of despair, where they had waited, in joyful 
 hope or trembling horror, the morning of the resurrec- 
 tion, and be again united to them. Then shall ye be- 
 hold the earth wrapped in the fires of final conflagra- 
 tion, all nature struggling in the last agonies of dissolu- 
 tion, the sun turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, 
 and through yon opening heavens the Son of God de- 
 scending in all his Father's glory, thousand thousands 
 ministering unto him, and ten thousand times ten thou- 
 sand round about him. Then must you stand at his 
 tribunal, and hear from his lips that sentence which, 
 according to the deeds done in the body, shall fix your 
 destiny unchangeably and for ever. Look forward to 
 those solemn scenes which lie before you. Are you 
 prepared for them? Oh ! let the question come home 
 to your consciences. What will it avail to put it from 
 you? "Will that alter it? No. You may forget it, 
 you may deny it, you may even scoff at it, still it is 
 true. God hath appointed unto you once to die, and 
 after this the judgment. It is the counsel of the Lord, 
 and it shall stand, it cannot fail. Are you prepared 
 for it ? The Bible teaches what a preparation is : be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved ; 
 
244 SERMONS. 
 
 repent ye and be converted, and your sins shall be 
 blotted out ; he that believeth not shall be damned ; 
 except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish ; follow 
 holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 
 Have you been converted ? Are you true penitents ? 
 Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ ? And the 
 lives which ye now live in the flesh, do ye live by the 
 faith of the Son of God who loved you and gave him- 
 self for you ? Happy if this be, indeed, your charac- 
 ter. For you, then, death has no terrors ; he has 
 been conquered ; he has been disarmed by the great 
 Captain of your salvation ; for you the grave is the 
 bed of peaceful repose, from which you shall awake 
 with joy in the bright morning of the resurrection. To 
 you all the solemnities of judgment, though awful, 
 shall yet be pleasing ; amid all the majesty of the Judge, 
 you shall recognise your kind, and compassionate, and 
 loving Redeemer ; he will own you as his ; and having 
 overcome you, shall sit down with him on his throne, 
 even as he overcame, and is sat down with his Father 
 on his throne. Wherefore, beloved brethren, be ye 
 steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work 
 of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in 
 the Lord. 
 
 If this be not your character, I call upon you, my 
 dear hearers, by all the solemnities of death, of judg- 
 ment, and eternity, to repent of your sins, and believe 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ without delay. As an ambas- 
 sador of Christ, as though God did beseech you, I pray 
 you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. As a 
 dying fellow creature, who must soon meet you in eter- 
 nity, I entreat, I adjure you, by all that is sacred, pre- 
 pare to meet thy God. 
 
SERMON XL 
 
 PEACE IN DEATH. 
 
 " And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, 
 receive my spirit." — Acts yii. 59. 
 
 The narrative of the death of Stephen, the first disciple 
 of the Lord Jesus who suffered martyrdom for his 
 fidelity and affection to his master, is highly interesting 
 and instructive. It affords, on the one hand, a striking 
 proof of the depravity and blindness of fallen man, and 
 an awful example of the lengths to which men may be 
 carried in impiety and unrighteousness, by prejudice 
 and bigotry, under the specious pretence of zeal for 
 religion ; and on the other, a glorious illustration of the 
 excellence of the Gospel of Christ, and its power to fill 
 the soul with the most pure and ardent love to God 
 and man, and to raise it quite above the dread of dan- 
 ger and the sense of suffering, and enable it, in the most 
 trying circumstances, to rejoice in God with joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory. 
 
 We first hear of Stephen in the sixth chapter of Acts, 
 where we are told he was chosen one of the seven 
 deacons, who were appointed to attend to the temporal 
 concerns of the church. He is there termed " a man 
 full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." In the latter part 
 of the sixth chapter, we are told that Stephen wrought 
 great miracles among the people, and that certain men 
 belonging to a synagogue of unconverted Jews, under- 
 took to dispute with him and refute his doctrine. But 
 they soon found themselves unequal to the task, for 
 
Mi MJUI0X5. 
 
 they could not resist the wisdom and power with which 
 he bore testimony to the divine mission, character, and 
 doctrines of I Too full of prejudice and pride 
 
 to receive the truth with candor, they were inflamed 
 with rage against the man who had thus put them to 
 silence, and sought to take his life. To accomplish 
 their atrocious design, they resorted to falsehood and 
 perjury. They suborned witnesses to testify that he 
 had spoken blasphemy against Moses and against God. 
 This charge, sufficient under any circumstances to rouse 
 the blind zeal and bigotry of the people, was doubly 
 efficacious when alleged against one already obnoxious 
 to their rulers and teachers as a bold and powerful 
 :.— tit:: :: :ie M-rs^iiiil::; :: -7 i s .: s —*_::::: :_tt Lii 
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 they bore him violently into the apartment of the 
 
 ten : :L-r ii. "L::L :"_r ± :i:.: :::.::::- ::' :~_r lirl::. \;s\::.Lt 
 sat, and there called on him to answer to the charge. 
 This he did in a speech of considerable length, evidently 
 designed to prove, from their own history, that God 
 never meant the ceremonial law and the temple service 
 to be perpetual ; that their rejection of Jesus Christ did 
 not in the least invalidate his claims; and that, in 
 opposing him, they were exposing themselves to immi- 
 nent danger of destruction by the judgments of the 
 Almighty. But while he kept these objects in view, 
 he saw that their feelings were such, that he would not 
 lr h:..f~: s :'.. :: s : i:^: :.: iir r :::- i Lis :i:r::::*: = . :.:.;1 
 ::.:•: ::::::'. i'.~ Li ::;:! :_:: y:\~ Lis :.:_".:i-.r^: :.i L~ ~r~: 
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 L;.;l L-r ':-: ::-rrzi:::rd :: in/Lsii Lis sti-^iL. As he 
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 :: Lis ;..:r;_.-i:.:s : i~i :Lri: i::.S;iiii; ::sr :: s:iL 5, 
 
PEACE IN DEATH. 24 7 
 
 height, that he was forced to break off abruptly before 
 he had completed his address. While he did this, he 
 reproved them in the most bold, faithful, and energetic 
 manner, for their unbelief and obduracy, their perse- 
 cutions of the prophets in violations of their own law, 
 and above all, their recent guilt in betraying and mur- 
 dering the Just One, to whom Moses in the law and all 
 the prophets bear witness. To the truth of this charge, 
 their own consciences bore testimony, and they were 
 cut to the heart. Convicted of guilt, and stung with 
 remorse, yet they were too proud and obdurate to repent 
 and seek forgiveness, and they turned all their rage 
 upon the man whose keen reproofs had pierced them 
 
 th such anguis 
 
 Exasperated beyond bounds, they lost all self-com- 
 mand, and gnashed upon him with their teeth. In this 
 trying moment, the master whom he loved did not 
 forsake his faithful servant. Full of faith and of the 
 Holy Ghost, Stephen looked up steadfastly to Heaven, 
 as if calling upon God to bear witness to the truths he 
 had declared, to give him strength to seal his testimony 
 
 h his blood, and to reverse the unrighteous dec:- 
 of his enemies : when, behold, by a miraculous opera- 
 tion of Divine power upon his mind, he had a lively 
 exhibition of the glory of the invisible God, and Jesus, 
 whom he loved, shining in celestial radiance at the right 
 of the Majesty on high, standing as if he had just risen 
 from his throne to witness, encourage, and to receive 
 his servant. In an e r he ex- 
 
 claimed : M Behold, I see the Heaven opened, and the 
 Son of man standing at the right hand of God. He 
 ndemned and crucified, reigns, and shall 
 ever reign to save his people and to execute judgment 
 on his enemies." This was more than they could bear. 
 Stopping their ears that they might hear no more on 
 
. -r I SERM 
 
 this hated subject, and drowning hi3 voice in a loud 
 :;nd horror, -hed upon him, and 
 
 encouraging one another in their bloody work, they 
 thrust him violently out of the city, that it might not 
 be polluted by his blood, and as soon as they had got 
 beyond : with one accord they stoned him to 
 
 death. And now, what a contrast wasexhibited between 
 the spirit of the world and the spirit of J 
 Behold the frantic multitude, hurrying along their 
 im to the place when -ight glut their ven- 
 
 geance with his blood runtenance distorted with 
 
 voice hoarse with pat motion 
 
 indicating the fell demon of cruelty and malice which 
 had taken full possession of their souls. Turn now to 
 the disciple of es is : Bee him b srene and tranquil amid 
 the bursting tempest, his countenance beaming pe 
 and love, and joy, his attention fixed, his mind absorbed, 
 in those bright and beatif: a which opened upon 
 
 him, rapt in the fervors of devotion, and alone with 
 God as if he had been in his closet ; his glad soi il 
 ulting at his departure, i-ing in the strength and beauty 
 of his Redeemer to shake off the dust of earth and the 
 dew of death, and soar on seraph pinions to the bosom 
 of hi- S :.--: hit and his God. See them as they 
 
 :\;shing with savage s upon their 
 
 victim, loading him with execrations, and yieing with 
 each other in the work of death, and when their work 
 is done, gazing with fiend-like exultation on the ghastly 
 mangled object of their rage, retiring slowly and 
 sullenly, their hands stained with the blood of innocence, 
 the guilt of murder on their b meditate on what 
 
 they had done, to feel shame and the dread of a coming 
 judgment as passion subsides, : vrrithe under the up- 
 braiding lilty conscience. Behold the bie 
 martyr recalled to the recollection of what was passing 
 
PEACE IN DEATH. 249 
 
 around him, by the power of his enemies when they 
 had come to the place of execution ; first, calmly com- 
 mitting his spirit to that Saviour who had redeemed 
 him by his blood, whose glories he beheld, for whose 
 sake he died. There, as one, whose last petition for 
 himself was granted, kneeling down, praying with his 
 d}'ing breath that the sin of his murderers might be 
 forgiven, he sweetly falls asleep in Jesus, to awake in 
 the likeness of God and be for ever with his Lord. 
 What a triumph of the gospel ! How closely did the 
 disciple copy the example of his Master! By the 
 promises of the gospel men are said to be partakers of 
 the divine nature, and here it is exemplified. Here is 
 God-like love to enemies. How peaceful was the mar- 
 tyr's end. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the 
 upright, for the end of that man is peace ;" whether 
 like the good old patriarch, he die in his bed with his 
 children around him, or, like Stephen, in the hands of 
 men of violence and blood. But the enemies of the 
 Lord Jesus, the persecutors of his servant — how wretched 
 as well as guilty were they ? Surely the wicked are 
 like the troubled sea which cannot rest, whose waters 
 cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my 
 God, to the wicked. 
 
 The words of our text, the last prayer which Stephen 
 offered for himself, suggest a number of interesting and 
 important remarks. To some of them let me now call 
 your attention ; and, First, they teach us the supreme 
 divinity of our Lord and Saviour ; that Jesus Christ is 
 God. 
 
 No sin is more frequently and more severely con- 
 demned in the Scriptures than idolatry, or giving to 
 creatures that religious worship which is due to God 
 alone. Of this, every one who reads the Bible must 
 be fully aware. It is written in Deuteronomy, and 
 
250 SERMONS. 
 
 again quoted by our Saviour : " Thou shalt worship the 
 Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." The 
 angel forbade John to worship him, saying : " See thou 
 do it not ; worship God." By Isaiah we are command- 
 ed : " Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be 
 your fear, and let him be your dread ;" and in Exodus 
 God saith: "Thou shalt worship no other God; for 
 Jehovah, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God." 
 But here we behold Stephen, the first martyr — a man 
 eminently favored of God, full of faith and of the Holy 
 Ghost, — in the most solemn moment of his existence, in 
 the full assurance of faith, with the Heavens open to his 
 view, offering to the Lord Jesus his last act of religious 
 worship on earth ; presenting his last prayer to him. 
 Was he, indeed, worshipping a creature ? Was he 
 guilty of idolatry while inspired by the Holy Ghost ; 
 while the visions of God beamed upon his soul ; while 
 he stood in the threshold of Heaven, with the full as- 
 surance of an immediate admission there ? If he was 
 not, then Jesus Christ is God. 
 
 Consider what he prays for: "Lord, receive my 
 spirit; Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." The 
 first petition embraces the highest personal benefit for 
 which prayer can be offered — the eternal salvation of 
 the soul. Can any but God save the soul ? Can any- 
 thing short of almighty power, and infinite wisdom 
 and goodness, make the immortal spirit for ever holy 
 and happy ? Stephen asks this favor of Jesus Christ. 
 Was he not sure that he possessed those divine perfec- 
 tions, and was able to grant what he asked ? Again : 
 he prays that his enemies may not be finally condemn- 
 ed for the sin of murdering him. Does he not then at- 
 tribute to Christ the power of forgiving or condemning 
 these murderers ? But who can forgive sin but God ? 
 Can we conceive a higher act of worship than this ; or 
 
TEACE IN DEATH. 251 
 
 an occasion more solemn ; or a person better qualified 
 to worship aright ; or a more satisfactory evidence of 
 acceptance ? Stephen offers to Christ the very prayer 
 which Jesus, on the cross, had offered to the Father. 
 He worships Christ, therefore, just as Christ worshipped 
 the Father ! And is not Jesus Christ God? Nor is 
 this instance of religious worship offered to the Lord 
 Jesus a singular one. The Church is frequently dis- 
 tinguished in the New Testament by the title of those 
 who call upon, or worship, the Lord Jesus. Prophets 
 and apostles are represented as worshipping him. Nay, 
 the Father saith, when he bringeth in the first begotten 
 into the world : " Let all the angels of God worship 
 Jidm. n And John saw, in the Apocalypse, the whole 
 church of the redeemed on high, and all the angels 
 round about the throne worshipping the Lamb, and as- 
 cribing to him power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
 strength, and glory, and honor, and blessing. Were all 
 these idolaters ? Have men, full of faith and the Holy 
 Ghost, violated, through life and in death, the first 
 commandment of Jehovah, " Thou shalt have no other 
 God before me? :? — If Christ is not God, if he is not 
 Jehovah, they have. Is there idolatry in Heaven ? — If 
 Christ is not God, there is. But if this cannot be, then 
 is Jesus Christ the true God and eternal life. The 
 blessed martyr was not mistaken. Prophets and apos- 
 tles, and holy men of God, were not mistaken. That 
 pure and happy company who encircle the throne on 
 high with unceasing songs, who see, face to face, and 
 know even as they are known, are not in sin and error. 
 Jesus Christ is God ; infinite in being and in blessed- 
 ness ; supreme, independent, eternal. In this faith let 
 me live ; and when my soul shall stretch her wings for 
 that world which lies beyond the grave, may I have 
 grace, like Stephen, to commit my eternal all to him, 
 
252 SERMONS. 
 
 and to rely on his infinite power, and wisdom, and 
 goodness, for my salvation. 
 
 In the second place, we learn from this prayer of Ste- 
 phen, that the souls of believers, at their death, go im- 
 mediately to be with Christ. They do not sleep, as 
 some have thought, inactive and unconscious until the 
 resurrection of the body ; nor do they pass through 
 purgatorial fires according to the dreams of others — for 
 the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth them from all sin ; 
 nor are they reserved in an abode distinct from the 
 highest heaven, in some place of rest where they are 
 kept until the day of judgment, by some called the 
 hades of the happy ; but they go directly to heaven it- 
 self, to the immediate presence of the blessed God, to 
 be with the glorified human nature of their beloved 
 Lord. Before his crucifixion, Christ said to his afflicted 
 disciples: "In my Father's house are many mansions ; 
 I go to prepare a place for you ; and if I go to prepare 
 a place for you, I will come again and receive you to 
 myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." After 
 his resurrection, he explained his meaning more fully : 
 " Go to my brethren," said he to Mary, " and say unto 
 them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to 
 my God and your God." There Stephen now beheld 
 him: "I see Heaven opened, and the Son of Man, the 
 glorified human nature of my Redeemer, standing on 
 the right hand of God." Transported with the view of 
 those glories which he saw, he prayed, " Lord Jesus, re- 
 ceive my spirit." What is the meaning of this prayer, 
 offered under these circumstances? Is it not, receive 
 my spirit, to be with thee in that glory which I now 
 behold ; to be with thee in heaven, at the right hand of 
 God ? And this prayer he offered up while filled with 
 the Holy Ghost. It was, therefore, agreeable to the will 
 ©f God, and no doubt it was granted. The same truth 
 
PJCAOI IN DEATH. 253 
 
 Christ teaches in his promise to the penitent thief upon 
 the cross — " To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise." 
 In the faith of this, Paul desired to depart and be with 
 Christ, as for better than to remain in the church on 
 earth ; and he and his brethren were willing rather to 
 be absent from the body and to be present with the 
 Lord. Yes, my brethren, when the body falls asleep in 
 Jesus, the rejoicing spirit of the believer goes at once 
 to be with Christ, to behold his glory, with no interpos- 
 ing veil ; to be perfectly conformed to his likeness ; and 
 to enjoy a blissful and everlasting communion and fel- 
 lowship with him in his Father's house on high. Oh ! 
 who can describe the change as it is experienced hj the 
 departing follower of Jesus. How, as the last convul- 
 sive struggles announce the dissolution of this mortal 
 bod}^, the freed spirit rejoices in the full possession of 
 life that knows no decay ; how, as the visions of time 
 are shut out for ever from the eye closing in death, the 
 realities of eternity break upon the soul in unclouded 
 glory ; as the last sighs and groans of this vale of tears 
 die upon the ear, the soul is ravished by the melody of 
 heaven, and welcomed by those who have gone before, 
 to join in their everlasting songs. As death, with un- 
 pitying hand, breaks the last tie by which she was 
 bound to earth, she feels herself united, indissolubly 
 and for ever, to that Redeemer whom, while yet unseen, 
 she loved, and believing in whom, she rejoiced even 
 here with joy unspeakable and full of glory. " Blessed 
 are the dead who die in the Lord ; yea, saith the Spirit, 
 for they rest from their labors, and their works do fol- 
 low them." 
 
 A third remark, suggested by the words of our text, 
 in connexion with the circumstances in which they were 
 uttered, is this : Faith in Christ yields support and com- 
 fort in a dying hour. None of us may be called to suf- 
 
 12 
 
254 SERMONS. 
 
 fer martyrdom for the truth ; none of us may die by the 
 hand of violence ; yet we must all bow to the stroke of 
 death ; and the conflict with the last enemy, whatever 
 may be its attendant circumstances, is fearful and trying 
 beyond expression. Surround the dying man with all 
 that ingenuity and wealth can provide, soothe him with 
 all the tender assiduities of friendship and affection, ex- 
 haust every source of consolation which reason and 
 philosophy can suggest, how unavailing are all these to 
 relieve his pains or to dispel the gloom that gathers 
 round his soul as his departure draws nigh. He is 
 leaving all that he has loved or known ; he is sinking 
 under a burden that grow r s heavier every moment, in 
 spite of the convulsive struggles of nature to throw it 
 off. A mortal chill creeps over his extremities and ap- 
 proaches his heart ; before him all is dark and silent at 
 the best ; from that world to which he goes, none have 
 returned to give him information ; nor can any accom- 
 pany him on his journey thither ; he is on the brink of 
 a precipice, where all below and beyond is covered 
 with impenetrable gloom ; on its crumbling verge he 
 ponders with unutterable solicitude the destinies that 
 await him. Shall his spirit rise buoyant above it to 
 the regions of eternal day, or plunge into an ocean of 
 sorrow and despair ? Eeason cannot answer : philoso- 
 phy is dumb. The dying man shrinks back from the 
 dark, untried abyss ; but an invisible power urges him 
 onward ; he shudders and leaps headlong ; and his des- 
 tiny is fixed for ever. But in the Gospel, life and immor- 
 tality are brought to light. The lamp of revelation sheds 
 celestial light on the otherwise impervious gloom that 
 shrouds the entrance of eternity. The eye of faith can 
 penetrate the dark chambers of the sepulchre, and 
 descry beyond the holy, happy mansions of the blest. 
 There she sees the general assembly, and church of the 
 
PEACE IN DEATH. 255 
 
 first born, the spirits of just men made perfect, Jesus 
 the mediator of the new covenant, and God the judge 
 of all, confiding in the blood of sprinkling, which 
 cleanseth from all sin, and filled with the spirit of 
 adoption, which crieth Abba Father; the soul rests in 
 the faithful promises of a gracious God, and calmly 
 waits the coming of her last enemy, or hastens exulting 
 to the conflict, assured of being made more than a con- 
 queror through him who loved us and gave himself for 
 us ; and exclaiming, in anticipated triumph, " Oh ! 
 death, where is thy sting ! Oh ! grave, where is thy 
 victory !" How tranquil, how triumphant, was the 
 death of Stephen ! Though no earthly friend was near 
 to soothe his pains, or whisper words of kindness, or 
 close his eyes in death ; though vindictive passion 
 glared upon him from every countenance about him; 
 though he heard only reproaches and execrations, and 
 sank beneath repeated blows from the hand of cruelty 
 and violence ; yet, being full of faith and of the Holy 
 Ghost, he saw Heaven opened, and the Son of Man 
 standing at the right hand of God ; he saw himself sur- 
 rounded by a great cloud of witnesses, sympathizing in 
 his sufferings, approving his fidelity, and waiting to hail 
 him as a conqueror. He beheld Jesus, the great Cap- 
 tain of his salvation, smiling with divine complacency 
 upon his servant, holding forth the incorruptible crown, 
 and cheering him with the promise, " my grace is suf- 
 ficient for thee ; to him that overcometh will I grant to 
 sit down with me upon my throne, even as I overcame 
 and have sat down with my Father upon his throne ; 
 be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
 life." And think you he would have exchanged situa- 
 tions with the most powerful and prosperous of his per- 
 secutors ? Oh ! no. The place of his martyrdom was 
 to him the threshold of heaven. From that enraged cir- 
 
256 8EUM0NS. 
 
 clc of bloody men he passed to join the great company 
 of the redeemed in the paradise on high ; and after a 
 few pains and dying struggles, he entered the Heavenly 
 Zion with songs and everlasting joj r . 
 
 Thus does faith support the believer in the hour of 
 death. Thus Paul could say when in prison, and in 
 daily expectation of martyrdom, u I am now ready to be 
 offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." 
 Thus that blessed company, who loved not their lives 
 unto death, overcame. We must die. Would ye die 
 in peace? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the last place, we may learn from this example of 
 Stephen, that Jesus Christ abundantly rewards those 
 who suffer for his sake. It is required of all who would 
 be his disciples, to forsake all and follow him ; to deny 
 themselves and take up the cross daily ; to love him more 
 than they love houses or lands, or the dearest earthly 
 friends, or life itself. In the first ages of the Church, his 
 followers were often called to make every sacrifice, nay, 
 not unfrequently to endure the most excruciating and 
 unheard of sufferings for his sake. And the spirit of 
 his religion is still the same. We cannot be his dis- 
 ciples in truth without making sacrifices of much that 
 the world counts dear, much that the unrenewed heart 
 prizes highly, and clings to with tenacity. Let none 
 think to follow a man of sorrows without suffering ; let 
 none hope to live godly in Christ Jesus without tribu- 
 lation. Yet the same voice which says " forsake all 
 and follow me," saith also, " There is no man that hath 
 left home, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for 
 the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold 
 more in this present time, and in the world to come, life 
 everlasting." a Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, 
 and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you 
 falsely for my sake ; rejoice and be exceeding glad, for 
 
TEACE IN DEATH. 257 
 
 great ia your reward in Heaven." "If we suffer with 
 him, we shall also reign with him." "Come out from 
 among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the un- 
 clean thing, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye 
 shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Al- 
 mighty.'' And have not these promises been found 
 faithful ? Did not Stephen find them so? Were they 
 not found so by the multitude who, in the first ages, 
 sealed their testimony with their blood? Why, then, 
 did they so cheerfully meet danger and death? Why 
 did they even court the martyr's stake, that they might 
 gain the martyr's crown ? Having these promises, 
 dearly beloved, let us hold fast our profession, nothing 
 wavering ; for if we honor Christ in our lives, we need 
 have no fear that he will forsake us in the trying hour 
 of death. 
 
SERMON XII. 
 
 THE UNREASONABLENESS, GUILT, AND DANGER OF 
 INDECISION. 
 
 " And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long halt ye 
 between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow him ; but if Baal, 
 follow him." — 1 Kings xviii. 21. 
 
 Baal was the name of an idol god, much worshipped 
 by the heathen nations round about Judea. At the 
 time the text was uttered by Elijah, very many, though 
 not all of the people of the ten tribes who formed the 
 kingdom of Israel, under the influence of their heathen 
 neighbors, and greatly strengthened by the example of 
 their own ungodly rulers, had forsaken the altars of 
 Jehovah, and* bowed the knee before this false god. 
 Yet they could not rest perfectly satisfied in their 
 idolatr}^. The instructions they had received in former 
 years, respecting the true God ; the influence of those 
 among them who still worshipped Jehovah ; and more 
 especially certain remarkable events which had recently 
 occurred, or were then taking place, made them feel ill 
 at ease in their service of Baal ; and conscience, at length 
 aroused, warned them of their sin in forsaking the 
 worship of the Grod of their fathers. They were unde- 
 cided as to the course which they should pursue, and 
 this was the occasion which called forth from Elijah 
 the expostulation of the text : " How long halt ye 
 between two opinions? If the Lord be Grod, follow 
 him ; but if Baal, then follow him. 7 ' 
 
 Indecision in religious matters, is an evil no less 
 common now than in the days of Elijah ; and now, as 
 
THE GUILT AND DANCER OF INDECISION. 259 
 
 then, involves those chargeable with it in guilt, and 
 exposes them to ruin. In the spirit of the text, it is my 
 wish to-day to expostulate with those who in this con- 
 ation, are, like Israel of old, "halting between two 
 opinions," and show them the unreasonableness, the sin, 
 and the danger of their indecision. 
 
 I. Let me address myself to those whose minds are 
 not fully made up as to the truth and importance of 
 religion — that religion of the heart which leads a sinner 
 to devote himself to the service of Christ. To this class 
 belong many of those who are commonly styled Infi- 
 dels, and not a few who rank among Unitarians and 
 Universalists. For the most part, such persons are 
 very far from professing that firm and fearless confi- 
 dence in the truth of their professed opinions, for which 
 they wish others to give them credit. No man who 
 hears the gospel, can be certain that it is not true : 
 because no man can refute the evidence by which it is 
 supported ; and, until that is done, all the objections 
 urged against it, may prove groundless. The bare 
 possibility that the gospel may prove to be the word of 
 Almighty Grod, must make every reflecting person who 
 neglects it, sometimes tremble, lest, when it is too late, 
 he may discover its truth to his eternal cost Our 
 everlasting destinies are too solemn, to be left in any 
 uncertainty. Heaven and hell are matters too awfully 
 momentous, to permit any one to reflect, without con- 
 cern, on the bare possibility that he may at last be shut 
 out of Heaven, and be shut up in hell. Only those 
 whom ignorance or stupidity shield against conviction, 
 and the unhappy men who by an obstinate rejection of 
 truth and neglect of known duty, have provoked God 
 to give them up to hardness of heart and blindness of 
 mind — only such, have made the fatal attainment of 
 
260 SERMONS. 
 
 living perfectly at ease in the neglect of religion, and 
 wholly exempt from believing fears. 
 
 With most, who affect to laugh at experimental re- 
 ligion, as enthusiasm or folly, the case is quite different. 
 They know that the Bible condemns the pursuits and 
 pleasures which they love, and they wish it were not 
 true ; or, vain of their understanding, they would seem 
 wiser than other men— superior to vulgar prejudices; 
 and would have us think that they have broken the 
 shackles by which inferior minds are bound ; and thus 
 they add hypocrisy to their sin, and glory in their 
 shame. But though reason may be misled by passion 
 or hoodwinked by vanity, there are moments when the 
 truth forces itself upon their attention, when conscience 
 starts from her slumbers, and " the word of God, the 
 sword of the Spirit," makes its keen edge felt. It is 
 because they are thus disturbed, that they seek so in- 
 dustriously for objections against religion ; that they 
 rail at its doctrines as irrational, at its precepts as severe, 
 at its mysteries as incredible. Hence, too, their eager- 
 ness to make proselytes to their own opinions, and their 
 anxiety lest any of their companions should yield to 
 the force of truth and leave them. They feel insecure ; 
 they are not quite honest in their professed disregard of 
 religion ; their loudest scoffs are sometimes mennt to 
 hide their fears. Could you look into their hearts, you 
 would find that they are not willing to die until they 
 have changed their opinions and practices; or, at the 
 least, not until they have examined the whole subject 
 more thoroughly. Their true condition is that described 
 in the text; they are u halting between two opinions. 7 ' 
 
 Is there one of this class within the sound of my 
 voice? Let me speak with you, my friend, on the 
 unreasonableness of vour conduct. You admit, that it is 
 
THE GUILT AND DANGER OF INDECISION. 261 
 
 possible, at the least, that the Bible may be true ; that 
 it is possible that by neglecting the religion which it 
 teaches, you may plunge yourself into endless sorrow, 
 whilst by giving it your attention you may gain eternal 
 life. You admit, that the time and attention which 
 would be required to come to an intelligent decision 
 respecting its claims, are as nothing when compared 
 with the possible evils to be avoided and the possible 
 blessings to be obtained. Is not, then, your present 
 undecided course unreasonable? The subject is too 
 interesting, too momentous to be left in any uncertainty. 
 Where the soul is concerned, and when eternity is at 
 stake, indecision is infatuation. How can you be at 
 your ease, when, for aught you certainly know, every 
 step you take leads to despair and death, and the 
 blackness of darkness for ever ? 
 
 Your indecision is criminal as well as unreasonable. 
 If the religion of the Bible be true, it ought to control 
 your whole conduct and character; and he whom it 
 claims as its author has laid upon you an obligation, the 
 propriety of which your own reason admits, to give it 
 your first attention. In such circumstances, are you 
 not guilty of a sin against God, in habitually treating 
 religion as if it were false, when you are not sure but it 
 may be true ? Are you not guilty of a sin against your 
 neighbor, in leading him to think you at ease in your 
 rejection of the claims of religion, when you well know 
 that you are not so? Are you- not guilty of a sin 
 against your own soul, when you make it more and 
 more your interest to disbelieve what you are compelled 
 to confess may be true, and what, if it be true, is to you 
 all-important? Will you suffer jowy passions and 
 your pride to interfere in the decision of this question 
 in which the claims of God and your own eternal wel- 
 
 12* 
 
262 SERMONS. 
 
 fare are involved ? Can you reconcile your conscience 
 to this state of uncertainty and indecision ? 
 
 Your course is a dangerous one. While all your 
 feelings and pursuits are hostile to religion, is it not 
 dangerous for you to remain undecided respecting its 
 truth ? Must not your heart become harder, and your 
 sinful habits more inveterate, under the influence of 
 your indecision ? God is the being in whose hands 
 your breath is, and if, in the Bible, he has spoken to 
 you, have you not reason to fear that the indifference, 
 the contempt, with which you treat his message, may 
 provoke him to cut you off at a stroke ; or to leave you 
 to hardness of heart and blindness of mind, whilst you 
 are thus neglecting to examine and decide this question, 
 which your reason and conscience both declare ought 
 to have been decided by you long ago ? Oh ! let this 
 matter be settled: " How long halt ye between two 
 opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if 
 Baal, follow him." If the Bible be the word of God, 
 make religion the first great business of your life ; let 
 everything else go, until you have secured the great 
 salvation which it reveals ; if it be not the word of God, 
 make sure of this matter and be at rest. 
 
 II. Let me address myself to those who profess to 
 believe that the Bible is the word of God, and religion 
 essential to their eternal happiness ; yet who are so 
 absorbed in the business or pleasures of the world, that 
 they pay little attention to it, and allow it little influ- 
 ence over their temper and conduct. This class is 
 numerous wherever the gospel is preached! They do 
 not question its truth ; they speak of the Bible as the 
 word of God ; they pay a decent respect to the solem- 
 nities of public worship. Their reason, their conscience 
 is on the side of truth, but, alas ! their hearts are given 
 to the world. Ask such persons : "Is the Bible true ? n — 
 
THE GUILT AND DANGER OF INDECISION. 263 
 
 they do not doubt it — Is religion important? — nothing 
 more so — Do you mean to be a Christian before you 
 die? — God forbid that I should die any other death 
 than that of the righteous. Follow them now into the 
 world, and observe their conduct. It contradicts this 
 their profession at every point. They live as if there 
 was no God, no Heaven, no hell ; as if all that is to be 
 gained or lost, to be desired or shunned, to be hoped or 
 feared, was here in this world. Could you examine 
 their hearts, 3^011 would find them often alarmed by the 
 warnings of conscience, sometimes startled, by the exhi- 
 bitions of their character and conduct given in the word 
 of God ; ever making good resolutions, and ever break- 
 ing them ; lulling to rest their salutary fears, by saying 
 to serious thoughts, " Go your way for this time ; when 
 I have a convenient season I will call for you." The 
 secret of this inconsistency is, that while reason ap- 
 proves a life of piety, and conscience ranges itself on the 
 side of God, their hearts are wedded to the world. Are 
 not such persons acting a part most unreasonable, sin- 
 ful, and dangerous ? 
 
 You admit, dear hearer, that the interests of the soul 
 and of eternity infinitely transcend all other interests. 
 Why, then, do you not bend all your energies to the 
 work of providing for them ? Why do you not seek 
 first the kingdom of God and his righteousness ? Do 
 you say, it would interfere with other matters, and at 
 present I have not time for it ? Are other matters as 
 important as this ? Why was time given you by God ? 
 Have you time to grow rich ? Have you time to enjoy 
 the pleasures of the world ? Have you time to eat and 
 drink and sleep ? And yet, no time to serve God ; no 
 time to take care of your soul ; no time to provide for 
 eternity ? Mistaken man, beware ! lest God find time 
 for you to die, whilst you are yet unprepared for death, 
 
264 SERMONS. 
 
 then must you find time to appear at his bar an unpar- 
 doned sinner, and time to bemoan your folly in that 
 world of woe, where is weeping and wailing and 
 gnashing of teeth. 
 
 You believe the Bible to be the word of God ; and as 
 taught therein, you believe that you are fallen and de- 
 praved, a child of disobedience and an enemy to God 
 by wicked works. And yet, in this condition, you live 
 at ease, and thus practically declare that you are will- 
 ing to depart from God and be at enmity with him. 
 You believe that if you go into eternity without a new 
 heart, you are for ever undone ; and that you are liable 
 to be cut down by death and hurried hence, at any 
 moment ; and yet you seek not the regenerating influ- 
 ences of the Spirit. You believe that the soul is of such 
 value, that to provide for its salvation, the Eternal Son 
 of God became a man of sorrows, lived a life of toil and 
 self-denial, and died a death of shame and agony ; and 
 yet this salvation, so precious in God's account, when 
 freely offered you, you treat with cold neglect : — And 
 all this, for what ? That you may live a little longer 
 in sin — enjoy a few more of those pleasures which do 
 not satisfy you, while they last, and perish in the using 
 — or amass a little more of that wealth, or obtain a 
 little more of that honor, which must all be left at the 
 grave's mouth, if not sooner. Which is most glaring in 
 a course like this ? Its folly ; its sin ; or its danger ? 
 
 Compare — I should rather say contrast, for there is 
 no comparing things so opposite — contrast your creed 
 with your practice ; and tremble at your own inconsist- 
 ency. "I believe in God the Father, Almighty, just 
 and holy: — but I disobey his known commands, de- 
 spise his threatenings, and brave his displeasure. I be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of lost 
 sinners: — but I account the salvation which he pur- 
 
THI QUILT AND DANGER OF INDFX'ISION. 2G5 
 
 chased with hifl blood, not worth my seeking at the 
 cost of present effort and self-denial ; I care not for his 
 love, and I cast contempt upon his cross. I believe in 
 the Holy Ghost, who alone regenerates and sanctifies 
 the sinful children of men, and prepares them for Hea- 
 ven : — but I do not seek his influences, and when he 
 comes unsought, to lead me to repentance, I resist him, 
 and grieve him to depart and leave me to my enjoy- 
 ment of the world. I believe in a Heaven of perfect 
 and everlasting purity and bliss: — but Hive in sin, and 
 thus shut out my immortal soul from every prospect of 
 participation in its joys. I believe in a Hell of endless 
 and insufferable anguish : — but I love the paths that 
 lead down to its dark and desolate abodes ; and though 
 God invites, and Jesus beseeches, and the Holy Ghost 
 strives, and Christians pray and labor for my salva- 
 tion, I hasten to plunge into its flames ! I" 
 
 How long shall your conviction of truth and your 
 daily practice, your creed and your life, be thus at war 
 one with the other? If the Lord be God, follow him, 
 follow him fully ; if Jesus Christ be the Saviour, come 
 to him, rely upon him ; if the Holy Ghost be the au- 
 thor of spiritual, eternal life, seek and obey his influen- 
 ces ; if you have a soul to be saved or lost, save it — 
 oh ! save it, ere it be too late ; if there be a Hell, fly, 
 fly, from the wrath to come ; and a Heaven, strive, ago- 
 nize to enter into it. 
 
 III. A third class to whom I must address the ex- 
 postulation of the text, "How long halt ye between 
 two opinions?" embraces those who have felt something 
 of the power of the Gospel, enlightening their minds and 
 impressing their hearts ; but who have never yet assum- 
 ed, or do not now maintain, that firm and decided and 
 consistent character which becomes a follower of Jesus. 
 Many who have not made a public profession of reli- 
 
266 SERMONS. 
 
 gion are of this class; and, it is painful to add, not a 
 few of those who have. 
 
 If there be one such in this congregation to-day, to 
 him I address myself You know something of the 
 worth of your soul, and feel something of the import- 
 ance of holiness as a preparation for a happy life here 
 as well as hereafter ; you know that you are a sinner, 
 and need a Saviour, and that Christ, the Saviour of sin- 
 ners, is able and willing to save to the uttermost all that 
 come unto God by him. In so far as you cherish any 
 hope of salvation, it is through his atoning blood and 
 justifying righteousness ; and, on the whole, you think 
 that it is your purpose to obey his commandments. 
 But you are not quite willing to forsake all for Christ, 
 and cheerfully deny yourselves and take up the cross 
 and follow him. Perhaps you are immersed in busi- 
 ness, and strict obedience to Christ would thwart some 
 of your worldly plans : you could not attend to so 
 large a business, or you could not manage it so profita- 
 bly as you now do, if you should follow the Lord fully : 
 or you are not quite willing to renounce all the plea- 
 sures of the world, or to live in the practice of all 
 known Christian duty. Or you fear the neglect, per- 
 haps the scorn, you might incur from the ungodly, by 
 maintaining on all occasions and in all places, a de- 
 portment decidedly Christian. Hence you are waver- 
 ing and irresolute. To-day, we find you with the 
 Lord's people, entering into their plans~ sympathizing 
 in their joys and sorrows, and seeming to esteem them 
 the excellent of the earth ; to-morrow, we find you 
 with the men of the world, and apparently, as much at 
 home with the one class as with the other. Were such 
 a thing possible, you would be glad to reconcile the 
 service of God with that of mammon ; to have so much 
 religion as is indispensable to carry you to Heaven, yet 
 
THE QUILT AND DANGER OF INDECISION. 2fi7 
 
 not so much as to interfere with any worldly pursuit, 
 not in its very nature sinful. 
 
 At times, you seem much engaged in religion. If 
 yon have not made a public profession, you seem ready 
 to do it, — if you have made such profession, you seem 
 Ived to live nearer to Grod and to walk more wor- 
 thy of your vocation. Again you imbibe the spirit of 
 the world, your devout feelings are all chilled, and you 
 can scarcely be distinguished from those who make no 
 pretensions to religion. To quiet conscience, you have 
 many pleas in self-justification, perhaps true in them- 
 selves, but not true as applied by you in y our own case. 
 Are you professors of religion ; you say, it would injure 
 religion to exhibit it on improper occasions ; we mus r , 
 not be too rigid and too severe upon the maxims and 
 practices of the world, lest gay and thoughtless people 
 be disgusted, and religion suffer in their esteem ; it is 
 best to be accommodating, as far as we can consistently 
 with our obligations to Christ. All true enough in 
 itself. Yet not true, in the sense which you put upon 
 these declarations, when you urge them to excuse your 
 sinful levity, your love of pleasure, your neglect of self- 
 denial ; or to justify your un-Christian conformity to the 
 world. Are you professors of religion; you excuse 
 your acknowledged disobedience to the Saviour's dying 
 command, by pleading the danger there is in making a 
 false profession ; and your fear, lest if you should pro- 
 fess, you might afterwards bring reproach upon the 
 cause of Christ. Weighty considerations, certainly : — 
 And yet, all this time, the true cause of your reluc- 
 tance, though you may be self-deceived and uncon- 
 scious of it, is the want of a decided, honest, and reso- 
 lute purpose, to take up the cross and follow Christ. 
 
 Faithfulness to Christ, my master, and faithfulness to 
 your souls, my dear hearers, require me to remind you, 
 
208 SERMONS. 
 
 that iii so far as you shrink from a fearless and open 
 avowal of your love to Christ on every proper occasion ; 
 just so far, are you guilty of being ashamed of him ; and 
 he hath said, M Whosoever 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 the Father, with the holy 
 angels." And again — "Not every one that saith unto 
 me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Hea- 
 ven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is 
 in Heaven." 
 
 Are all your hopes of salvation built on Christ alone? 
 — How unreasonable, then, how sinful, how dangerous 
 for you to neglect what he commands ! Can you an- 
 swer to him for your disobedience to but one of his 
 precepts? Eemember that amiable young man, of 
 whom we read in the gospels, who lacked but one thing. 
 Hath not God said, " The friendship of the world is 
 enmity against God ;" and are you willing to retain its 
 friendship at such a price ? Hath he not said, " They 
 that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and 
 into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men 
 in destruction and perdition ?" And are you willing 
 to make a fortune at such a risk ? Hath he not said, 
 " Kb man can serve two masters ; ye cannot serve God 
 and mammon ?" Beware how you attempt it, lest you 
 find to your cost, that his words are true. Beware, lest 
 while you hesitate and temporize, death overtake you ; 
 a great ransom will not then deliver you. 
 
 But let me appeal to nobler principles than these. 
 Consider his grace, " who though he was rich, yet for 
 our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty 
 might be made rich :" and then say, ought any con- 
 sideration to deter you from honoring him by a holy 
 life and conversation ? Think what reproach and con- 
 
THE GUILT AND DANGER OF INDECISION". 200 
 
 tradiction of sinners he endured for you : and say, is it 
 not most unreasonable, most ungrateful, to shrink from 
 honoring him through fear of man? Oh, meditate on all 
 his suffering; on his dying love; on all the glory he 
 has purchased for them that trust in him: and say. if 
 your most entire and cheerful consecration of yourselves 
 to him, does not fall infinitely below his claims upon 
 you ? Hesitate no longer. M If the Lord be God, fol- 
 low him ;" follow him resolutely, faithfully, constantly, 
 with your whole heart. So shall you secure his bless- 
 ing here, and your end shall be peace, your immortal- 
 eternal life. 
 He who would be successful in any pursuit, must be 
 decided in his course ; pre-eminently is this true in the 
 great business of religion. The obstacles to a faithful 
 following of Christ, are formidable : a deceitful heart, 
 — appetites and passions that clamor for indulgence, — 
 an alluring and ensnaring world, — a spiritual adversa- 
 ry, powerful, crafty, vigilant, cruel. Would you reach 
 the heavenly city ? you must set your faces thitherward 
 as a flint. Would you win the heavenly prize ? there 
 is a battle to be fought ere it can be yours. Time spent 
 in indecision is lost. "While you hesitate, the tide of 
 life is ebbing fast away ; death approaches ; eternity 
 draws nigh ; the judge is even now at the door. The 
 condition of all the dead is fixed for ever. Worlds can- 
 not buy back one moment lost ; the mightiest ansrel 
 cannot blot its record from the book out of which all 
 must be judged. Oh! then, let us be up and doing, — 
 let us work while the da; striving, agonizing to 
 
 enter in at the strait gate, remembering that the night 
 cometh in which no man can work. 
 
SERMON XIII. 
 
 THE HAPPY DECISION. 
 
 [Preached on resigning the pastoral charge of the First Presbyterian 
 Church, Richmond, Virginia.] 
 
 "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this 
 day whom ye will serve ; whether the gods whom your fathers served 
 who were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites. 
 in whose land ye dwell : but as for me and my house, we will serve 
 the Lord." — Joshua xxiv. 15. 
 
 Thus a venerable servant of God addressed a people 
 whom he loved, and who had long looked up to him as 
 their guide and leader. God had made Joshua his 
 honored instrument in subduing the enemies of Israel, 
 and putting them into the peaceful possession of the 
 land of promise. He was now a very aged man ; but 
 his love to the people of his charge glowed with all its 
 youthful fervor. Anticipating an early summons to 
 enter his heavenly rest, he called the people together, 
 and in the most plain, affectionate, and impressive man- 
 ner, gave them his last counsel, admonition, and exhort- 
 ation. He reminded them of all that God had done 
 for them ; he briefly set forth the nature and extent of 
 God's claims to their love and obedience ; and he laid 
 before them the inevitable consequences of their regard- 
 ing those claims or disregarding them. In the text, he 
 draws the whole subject to a point ; he calls upon them 
 to choose intelligently, deliberately, and finally, whether 
 they will serve God or not. And he avows his own 
 fixed determination, whatever they might do : as for 
 him and his house, they would serve the Lord. 
 
THE HAPrY DECISION. 271 
 
 The result of this affectionate and solemn appeal 
 seems to have been very happy. The true servants of 
 God were confirmed and established in their purpose of 
 living to his glory ; many who had been hesitating were 
 brought to a full and immediate decision ; many who 
 had departed from God and lived in sin had their at- 
 tention arrested, and turned to the Lord with purpose 
 of heart. All were left without excuse or apology for 
 their neglect of God, and the ruin of their souls. No 
 doubt all who were present that day remember it now, 
 and will remember it with ever increasing emotions of 
 thankfulness and joy, or remorse and anguish, for ever. 
 
 My dear hearers : I come to you to-day with this ap- 
 peal of God's aged servant to his ancient people. For 
 these ten years, it has been my duty and privilege to 
 labor among you in the work of my Master ; preaching 
 Christ, and him crucified, as the only and the all-suffi- 
 cient Saviour of lost sinners ; teaching every man, and 
 warning every man, in all wisdom, that I might present 
 every man perfect in Christ Jesus. How diligently 
 and faithfully I have labored, is not for me to say. I 
 feel humbled, before God, that I have done so little. 
 But the eye of my Master has been upon me, and 
 there is a record, full and unerring, of all my labors 
 among you, and the spirit and manner of their perform- 
 ance ; and a day is coming when all shall be manifest. 
 
 This morning I come to you, my impenitent hearers, 
 to close up my stated ministry among you, and to be- 
 seech, you once more to be reconciled to God. I know 
 not how I can address you in terms more appropriate 
 to such an occasion, than those of my text: "Choose 
 ye this day whom ye will serve." 
 
 No doubt the All- wise Creator and Sovereign of the 
 universe has a plan and a purpose concerning the work 
 of his hands. This plan and purpose must comprehend 
 
272 SERMONS. 
 
 all worlds, embrace all beings, and reach from eternity. 
 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the Heavens, and 
 his kingdom ruleth over all. The infinite perfections 
 of God secure this plan and purpose against the possi- 
 bility of ultimate failure. All his boundless resources 
 are pledged to execute his wise and holy plan ; in that 
 plan his wisdom has assigned to us a place suited to our 
 nature. We are his creatures, and we cannot escape 
 from his control, or shake off our dependence on him. 
 But he has made us free agents, and placed us in cir- 
 cumstances to give full scope and employment to our 
 free agency. Some things that relate to his glory in 
 us, and to our present and future happiness, God has 
 fixed beyond our control : we cannot change them ; 
 he has set us bounds we cannot pass. In other mat- 
 ters, he has left us to use our freedom ; he has given us 
 power to discover wherein lie our duty and happiness, 
 and to act as we please ; he sets before us life and death, 
 a blessing and a curse, and bids us choose for ourselves. 
 
 Let us call your attention to some things that are not 
 left to 3 r our choice, and to some things that are, and 
 then persuade you in these last to choose aright to-day. 
 
 God has not left it to your choice whether you would 
 exist or not. A few years ago you were not ; your soul 
 had no existence ; your body was unorganized dust ; 
 God chose to call you into being ; he formed your body 
 of the dust ; he breathed into you the breath of life ; 
 and here you are in his house, to-day, the workmanship 
 of his hand. You cannot retire into your original no- 
 thing ; the being he has given, you cannot lay aside. 
 
 Nor has he left it to you to choose in what form you 
 would exist. He might have made you a stock, or a 
 stone, or a brute, or a mere thinking machine, incapa- 
 ble of free agency, of obligation, of responsibility. But 
 he has made j^ou a man, an agent, intelligent and free. 
 
THE HAPPY DECISION. 273 
 
 You have capacities to know him, to love him, to sub- 
 mit to his authority, to co-operate willingly with him in 
 the wise and holy purposes of his government. Thus 
 you are a subject of moral government ; you are under 
 obligation to decide and to act aright towards God and 
 your fellow creatures ; you are responsible to God who 
 made you for the employment of your powers of volun- 
 tary action. It is not left to your choice whether you 
 will be a free agent, bound to obey God, and account- 
 able to him for your actions and your motives. These 
 points are fixed ; you may wish it were not so, but the 
 wish is vain. You are free, under obligation, responsi- 
 ble to God ; you cannot help it. But whether exist- 
 ence shall be a blessing or a curse ; whether as a free 
 agent you will obey God or rebel ; whether you will 
 acknowledge your obligations to God, or trample upon 
 them ; whether your accountableness will raise you to 
 Heaven, or sink you to hell, is for you to decide. Choose 
 ye this day. 
 
 It is not for you to choose whether God shall give 
 you a law, and require you to obey ; whether his all- 
 seeing eye shall mark all your actions, words, and mo- 
 tives ; or whether you will give account of yourself to 
 him or not. These points are already settled. He has 
 placed you under his law, which is holy, and just, and 
 good, and to that law he has annexed eternal life as the 
 reward of .obedience, and eternal death as the penalty 
 of transgression. 
 
 He is, and ever has been, about your path, and about 
 your bed, and spieth out all your ways. No darkness, 
 nor shadow of death, can hide from his eye, nor conceal 
 from him one thought or feeling ; and he will bring 
 every work into judgment, with every secret thing, 
 whether it be good or evil. And with unerring truth 
 and righteousness he will render to you according to 
 
274 SERMONS. 
 
 your works. As to these points you have no choice. 
 God has spoken, and who shall disannul it. For ever, 
 Lord ! thy word is settled in heaven. 
 
 But whether you will obey his law and live, or dis- 
 obey and die ; whether in his presence, and under his 
 eye, you will be wise and gain his favor, or play the 
 fool and provoke his wrath : whether you will stand 
 before his bar, and meet his irrevocable sentence as his 
 friend or his enemy, you are to decide. Choose ye this 
 day. 
 
 It is not for you to say whether your short, uncertain 
 life in this world shall be to you a term of moral pro- 
 bation : whether you are now upon trial for Heaven, 
 forming a character in which to appear before God, and 
 filling up a course of conduct according to which you 
 must be happy or miserable for ever. This point is 
 fixed. The righteous Lord trieth the hearts of the sons 
 of men. He has put you upon your probation, holds 
 you there, and you cannot help it. Every day you are 
 going forward to death and the judgment ; and every 
 day the work of preparation for your eternal destiny is 
 going on : every day, by every dispensation of God, 
 every event and relation in life, every changing 
 scene through which you pass, every action, word, and 
 thought, you are forming a character ; you are filling 
 up a measure : you are making up an account for or 
 against you in the book of God. You are preparing 
 for that last solemn interview with him. and ripening 
 for your final sentence and your eternal doom. 
 
 But whether your character be sinful or holy : whe- 
 ther, day by day, you lay up treasure in Heaven, or 
 treasure up wrath against the day of wrath ; whether, 
 by patient continuance in well doing you seek for glory 
 and eternal life, or being contentious and not obeying 
 the truth, but obeying unrighteousness, you meet indig- 
 
HAPPY I 
 
 nation and v. :br you I Choose ye there- 
 
 fore this day. 
 
 It is not for you who hear me to say, whether 
 will be sinners against God — tra:: s of his holy 
 
 osed to his righteous penalty — aliens from 
 the love of God, unfit for his fa -ence and 
 
 ene: our minds by wicked works. No, mj h 
 
 : you have already sinned and are under condem- 
 nation : already the love of God is not in you, but the 
 carnal mind which is enmity against God. You caunot 
 recall the pas a have done, you cannot undo. 
 
 Go u will, do what you will, you are guilty 
 
 and polluted ; and if your guilt is not pardoned and 
 your pollution cleansed while God is holy, you must be 
 an outcast from his pre- irhile he is just, you 
 
 must meet his frown : nor is it for you to say whether, 
 all be put under a dispensation of mer- 
 and called to seek salvation from sin and death bv 
 repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. In this matter God has already acted without 
 consulting you. He hatL 1 the world as to give 
 
 his only begotten Son. I: La : faithful nd wor- 
 
 thy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the 
 world to Innera He hath borne our sins in his 
 
 own body. He hath received of the Father the pro- 
 mise of the might be created anew. 
 Having finished the work, having risen from the dead, 
 and received all power in heaven and earth. He hath 
 commanded his servants " Go preach repentance and 
 His message of mercy has come 
 ;>u ; unto you is preached in his name, the forgive- 
 him. all that believe are justified. 
 To-day the call and the offer of God are to you, Ee- 
 pent ye and be converted, and all be bio: 
 
 X or is it for you to say, whether the love of God 
 
276 SERMONS. 
 
 in the gift of his Son to save sinners; and the compas- 
 sion of Christ in laying down his life for his enemies ; 
 and the full and free provisions of the Gospel ; and all 
 its gracious calls and offers to j^ou, shall stamp an im- 
 pression on your character, whether they shall enter 
 into your account at the judgment, and whether they 
 shall tell upon your eternal destiny. No, my dear hear- 
 ers, this matter is settled ; the Gospel we preach is unto 
 God a sweet savor of Christ in all who hear it; in them 
 that are saved and in them that perish ; a savor of 
 life unto life, or of death unto death. You are already 
 sinners, sinners under a dispensation of mercy ; as such 
 you are now forming your characters, going forward to 
 the judgment, ripening for the joys or sorrows of eter- 
 nity. You cannot help it. You may deny it — or com- 
 plain of it, — that will not alter it. In these things you 
 have no choice. Whatever you believe, or desire, or 
 do, all is fixed. Ic For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled 
 in Heaven." 
 
 But whether you will confess and forsake your sins 
 and find mercy, or curse them and die ; whether you 
 will follow after holiness, and be made meet to be par- 
 takers of the inheritance of the saints in light, or live 
 on in sin, and have your part with the fearful and un- 
 believing, and abominable, and murderers, and the un- 
 chaste, and all liars, in the lake that burnetii with fire 
 and brimstone which is the second death ; whether 
 you will obey the call of God, believe on the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, and yield yourself up to his service with a 
 willing mind and an obedient heart, that you may 
 have everlasting life; or put away from joxx. the offers 
 of mercy, count yourself unworthy of eternal life, and, 
 Avhile others are saved, behold and despise, and won- 
 der and perish : this is for you to decide. Choose ye, 
 therefore, this day whom ye will serve. 
 
THE HAPPY DECISION. 2 77 
 
 The question is not, my dear hearers, whether you 
 will ever give up the world ; but whether you will for- 
 sake it now } and choose a better, the good part, or hold 
 it fast till your soul is ruined, and it is torn from 
 your reluctant grasp by unrelenting death, is for you to 
 choose. It is not whether you will ever be concerned 
 about your soul and convinced of sin, but whether you 
 will now attend to the things that belong to your peace, 
 and mourn over your sins with a godly sorrow — or put 
 off these things, till the pains of hell take hold upon 
 you, and you weep and wail among the damned. 
 
 It is not whether you will ever believe the testimony 
 of God concerning Jesus Christ, and salvation through 
 his blood. That testimony is true, and a day is com- 
 ing, when no sinner in the universe will doubt it. But 
 whether you will now, with the heart believe unto 
 righteousness and set to your seal that God is true, or 
 for a few days make God a liar, till you pass into eter- 
 nity, and truth pours upon your disembodied spirit, in 
 a blaze of demonstration, that will wither and blast you 
 for ever. It is not whether you will ever submit to 
 Jesus Christ — for at the name of Jesus every knee shall 
 bow and every tongue confess — but whether you must 
 now touch the golden sceptre of his mercy, and bow to 
 him upon a throne of grace or harden your hearts 
 against him, till he dash you in pieces and there be 
 none to deliver. My dear hearers, God is not a man 
 that he should lie. Hath he said it and will he not do 
 it, or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good ! 
 He is of one mind, and who can turn him ? he is a 
 rock ; his way is perfect. It is for you to choose 
 whether you will humbly submit to his authority, and 
 penitently seek his mercy, and cheerfully engage in 
 his service, and devote yourself to the promotion of his 
 cause, and have God upon your side, and all his immu- 
 
 13 
 
278 SERMONS. 
 
 table perfections pledged for your salvation, and rejoice 
 in him as your rock — the strength of your heart and 
 your portion for ever. 
 
 Or whether you will set up your will, in opposition 
 to his, seek your own gratification, in despite of his 
 authority and his mercy, persevere in a course he has 
 forbidden and upon which he frowns, and thus compel 
 him to dash you in pieces, and cast you into hell. 
 
 My dear fellow singers, ean you hesitate, whether you 
 will serve God, or not ! Is there any room for indeci- 
 sion ? any pretexts for delay ? can you harden yourself 
 against him and prosper? What shall it profit you if 
 you gain the whole world and lose your soul ? Oh, fear 
 him who hath power to cast both soul and body in hell. 
 Come, taste, and see the Lord is gracious. 
 
 The case is so plain, one would think it impossible a 
 rational being should hesitate a moment, yet you have 
 hesitated. You are venturing upon the unequal con- 
 test ; your purpose is ultimately to submit, to be upon 
 the Lord T s side. But you delay ; day after day you lin- 
 ger in the open field of sin and rebellion ; thus your 
 habits of impenitence become fixed, your hearts grow 
 hard, the obstacles to your salvation multiply and rise 
 like walls of adamant, till death arrest you when jou 
 think not of it, and you are hurried away, unpardoned, 
 unsanctified, unprepared, to your last interview with 
 God and your eternal doom. 
 
 Joshua had witnessed the fatal consequences of delay 
 in those who hardened their hearts in the wilderness^ 
 and were cut oif in sin ; hence he says, u This day 
 choose." And are delays less dangerous now ! How 
 often, within the last ten years, have I seen the fatal 
 consequences of procrastination in this city. How 
 many of your own acquaintances have fallen victims to 
 their own folly and presumption, Oh I be wise — ac- 
 
THE HAPPY DECISION. 279 
 
 quaint now yourself with God. Now, kiss the Son lest 
 • he be angry. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. 
 Young men, children of the Church and the Sabbath. 
 School — ye with whom God's Spirit has long striven — 
 be wise ; choose ye this day. 
 
 Soon I shall meet you before the judgment seat of 
 Christ. Shall I see you there on the right hand, among 
 those who have washed their robes white in the blood 
 of the Lamb ? or shall I behold you far away on the left 
 hand, among the despisers of mercy, and witness your 
 despair, and hear your bitter cries and your unavailing 
 prayers. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. 
 
SERMON XIV. 
 
 t 
 
 THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS— MEMBERS OF THE 
 CHURCH* 
 
 "But Jesus said, suffer little children, and forbid them not to come 
 unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." — Matthew xix. 14. 
 
 You probably recollect on what occasion these words 
 were spoken. It was now near the close of the Saviour's 
 ministry ; and the surprising power, wisdom, and good- 
 ness he had displayed on so many occasions had brought 
 his character into general notice. This circumstance, 
 while it exasperated the rulers and teachers whom he 
 boldly reproved, and who were determined at all events 
 to reject his claims, had raised the expectations of the 
 common people, and wrought in their minds a convic- 
 tion that he was either the Messiah whose advent had 
 been so often predicted, or, at least, a prophet of Jehovah, 
 mighty in word and deed, whose favor would secure 
 important benefit. Under this impression, parents 
 brought to him their infant children, with a request 
 that he would lay his hands on them and pray for them, 
 
 * As a pastor Dr. A. gave much time to the instruction of the young. 
 His spiritual children will ever remember his faithful Bible class 
 instructions, his personal appeals, and fervent prayers. His min- 
 istry in Richmond was blessed by large accessions of youth to his 
 church. Some of them are still faithful laborers in the vineyard. 
 Others are with him rejoicing in the fulness cf redeeming love. Mrs. 
 Dr. Wilson of the South African Mission to the Zulus, was a subject of 
 converting grace during a revival. At thirteen years of age she joy- 
 fully devoted herself to the service of Christ, and at twenty, said with 
 her dying breath, " I do not regret that I have come to this dark 
 land." 
 
THE CHILDREN OF BEMEVER9. 281 
 
 or bless them as Jacob had blessed the two sons of 
 Joseph, and as those who were eminent for their wisdom 
 and piety frequently offered their prayers, for such, as 
 were younger than themselves. The disciples when 
 they heard this application to their Master, discouraged 
 it, and found fault with those who made it, either think- 
 ing it would be troublesome to one who was so con- 
 stantly occupied in teaching the people and healing their 
 diseases, or regarding such attention to infants as un- 
 suitable to the dignity of his character, and the import- 
 ance of his work. With their ill-timed interference, 
 their Master waa much displeased, and said, Suffer little 
 children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of 
 such is the kingdom of Heaven. And he laid his hands 
 on them, and blessing them, departed thence. It is wor- 
 thy of remark here, that these were infant children, for 
 such is the primary and appropriate meaning of the 
 word used by the Evangelists in relating the event. We 
 are told by Mark, that the Saviour took them up in his 
 arms. There is no reason to suppose that they were 
 diseased, and brought to him to be healed, for no men- 
 tion is made of this, and if it had been so, the disciples 
 would not have forbidden the parents to bring them to 
 their Master, nor w r ould he have given as his reason for 
 receiving them, that of such was the kingdom of Hea- 
 ven, any more than he did when he healed others. It 
 is specially to this reason which our Lord assigned for 
 his conduct on this occasion that I wish to direct your 
 attention. It is as if he had said, you do wrong to 
 forbid their parents to bring their infant offspring to 
 me ; I approve of their conduct ; I will grant their re- 
 quest ; for such belong to that spiritual kingdom which 
 I came to establish. 
 
 If this view of the text be correct, then it teaches 
 this general truth, that the infant children of members of 
 
282 SERMONS. 
 
 the church of Christ are also members of the church. I shall 
 undertake to sustain this position, and to derive from 
 it a number of inferences. The public and solemn 
 recognition of the membership of children, which you 
 have just witnessed, renders this an appropriate subject 
 of our meditations at this time, and I fear that neither 
 the subject itself is as well understood among us as it 
 should be ; nor do the duties which grow out of it 
 receive that diligent attention which they deserve. For 
 these reasons I request your attention to it, disclaiming 
 all intention of attacking the principles or wounding 
 the feelings of our brethren, whose views of this sub- 
 ject differ from our order. 
 
 In confirmation of the assertion that the infant chil- 
 dren of church members are also members of the church, 
 I remark, it is not denied that they were infant child- 
 ren, nor that their parents who brought them to Christ 
 were members of the Jewish church, nor that that 
 church was, until the establishment of Christianity, the 
 church of God. What then does our Saviour mean, 
 when he says of these infant children of church mem- 
 bers, that of such are the kingdom of Heaven? The 
 answer to this question depends upon the meaning of 
 the phrase, the kingdom of Heaven. Xow, this phrase, 
 in the New Testament, always signifies either the work 
 of divine grace on the hearts of believers, or else the 
 visible church of our Lord Jesus Christ. This last is 
 by far the most common meaning of the phrase. In this 
 sense, it sometimes comprehends the church triumph- 
 ant in Heaven, as well as the church militant on earth. 
 Most commonly, it is confined to the visible church of 
 Christ on earth, and alludes to the prophecy of Daniel 
 concerning the times of the Messiah, " In those days 
 shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom." This is 
 its meaning in all those texts, when it is said the king- 
 
THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS. 283 
 
 dom of Heaven is at hand, and where the kingdom of 
 Heaven is compared to a net cast into the sea ; to a field 
 where wheat and tares grow together until the harvest; 
 to a grain of mustard seed, small at first, but growing 
 into a great plant ; to leaven hid in three measures of 
 JL Such must be its meaning here. For it cannot 
 mean a work of grace in the heart, otherwise these child- 
 ren, and all such, are regenerate; and if it means that 
 the church in Heaven is composed of such, then much 
 more do they belong to the church. Xor can it be pro- 
 perly objected to this, that our Lord meant to teach, not 
 that such little children, as were brought to him, were 
 members of his church, but that adults of a childlike 
 temper and spirit were. Both the connexion and the 
 language are unfavorable to this interpretation. It is, 
 indeed, said, in the preceding chapter, except ye be 
 converted and become as little children, ye shall not 
 enter into the kingdom of Heaven ; but there, the w r ord 
 used to express this similarity is altogether different 
 from that which is here employed. Our text, then, 
 fairly interpreted, teaches that these little children, and 
 all like iliem, are members of the visible church. The 
 same truth is taught, if I do not mistake, in other por- 
 tions of the w r ord of God. The first epistle to the- Co- 
 rinthians was written, partly in answer to several ques- 
 tions proposed by that church to the apostle for his 
 decision. One of these grew out of the peculiar state 
 of things at the first promulgation of the Gospel. Among 
 the early conversions to the faith it often happened that 
 the Gospel was believed in by a woman and rejected by 
 her husband, or received by a man and rejected by his 
 wife. Under the old dispensation, such church mem- 
 bers as were married to idolatrous partners, were required 
 to separate from them. A question arose as to the duty 
 of the believing partners ; in the case stated above, ought 
 
284 SERMONS. 
 
 such an one to live with an unbeliever? This question 
 the apostle answers in the affirmative, and adds, For 
 the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and 
 the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband, else 
 were your children unclean, but now are they holy. 
 What does he mean when he says, your children are 
 holy ? Only two meanings are ever attached to this 
 word in the Scriptures. The one is moral, the other 
 ceremonial. 
 
 Persons are said to be holy in the first sense, when 
 their hearts are renewed and purified by the Spirit of 
 God. They are said to be holy ceremonially, when 
 they belong to the visible church, and have a right to 
 partake in its ordinances, and are externally and pro- 
 fessedly devoted to God. In this sense the Jews, and 
 all proselytes to their religion, are frequently called a 
 holy people in the Old Testament, and all who belong 
 to the visible church, whether regenerated by the Spirit 
 of God or not, are styled holy by the apostle Paul, 
 when comparing the visible church to an olive tree, 
 he says: "If the root be holy, so are the branches." 
 Now it is not pretended by any, that all children born 
 of believing parents are holy ; yet the apostle says, " if 
 only one of the parents is a believer, the children are 
 holy. 77 This must therefore mean that they are ceremo- 
 nially holy ; that they stand in a covenant relation to 
 God, and are fit persons to be admitted to his ordinances. 
 The only objection to this interpretation is, that accord- 
 ing to the same reasoning the unbelieving parent is also 
 made a member of the church by the believing partner, 
 For the apostle asserts that the unbelieving husband is 
 sanctified by the wife, as well as that the children are 
 holy. If, therefore, you admit the child to gospel or- 
 dinances because it is holy, as the child of a believing 
 parent, you ought, for the same reason, to admit the 
 
THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS. 285 
 
 unbelieving partner, who is sanctified by the believer. 
 But this you refuse to do ; therefore, as the argument 
 does not prove the membership of the unbelieving pa- 
 rent, it cannot prove that of the child. In answer to 
 this objection, I remark, it takes for granted that the 
 sanctiiication of the husband by the wife, is precisely 
 of the same extent, and produces the same effects, as 
 the holiness inherited by the children from a believing 
 parent. This cannot be admitted ; because God never 
 founded the privilege of admission to his church upon 
 the mere fact of intermarriage with his people, but he 
 did expressly found a right to that privilege upon the 
 fact of being born of them, as was distinctly declared 
 when the church was first formed in the family of Abra- 
 ham, and constantly acted upon from that time. Again, 
 by a positive statute, adults are not to be admitted to 
 the church without a profession of faith. Consequent- 
 ly, Paul's doctrine here must be restricted by that spe- 
 cial and express command. But with respect to infants 
 no such restriction exists. The unbelieving husband is 
 sanctified to a certain extent by his believing wife, for 
 so the apostle asserts, but not to such an extent as to 
 render him a member of the church, for that is express- 
 ly forbidden by the command already quoted. The 
 membership of infants does not contravene this com- 
 mand. Therefore the holiness, which is here ascribed to 
 infants, does involve their membership, though that 
 which is ascribed to the unbelieving parent does not in- 
 volve his. 
 
 To this conclusion the very words of the text lead us. 
 The saoctification of the unbelieving parent here spoken 
 of, evidently regards him, not for his own sake, but on 
 account of his believing partner, and so far as the cove- 
 nant privileges of the children are concerned. It was 
 admitted that if both parents were believers, their child- 
 
 13* 
 
286 SERMONS. 
 
 ren were holy. If both were unbelievers, their children 
 were ceremonially unclean. But what was the situation 
 of the children when one parent was a believer, and the 
 other an unbeliever ? Were they to be esteemed holy 
 on account of the believing parent, or unholy on ac- 
 count of the unbelieving one ? This question the 
 apostle decides by saying, that for the purpose of con- 
 veying to their infants the privilege of being within 
 the visible church, the unbelieving husband is sanctified 
 by the wife, and the unbelieving wife by the husband. 
 That instead of the interest which the child has in the 
 covenant by the faith of one parent being made void 
 by the unbelief of the other, the very fact of being 
 married to a believer shall so far control the effect of 
 unbelief, shall so far consecrate the infidel party, that 
 their children shall be members of the church. Now, 
 saith he, they are holy. Here, then, is a confirmation 
 of the doctrine deduced from the text. 
 
 I will only detain you, to offer in farther confirma- 
 tion of this truth, the original constitution of the church 
 in the family of Abraham, and the testimony of the 
 Scriptures that this church is substantially the same in 
 every age. In the seventeenth chapter of Genesis, we 
 have recorded the covenant made with Abraham, as the 
 Father of the faithful, by which the visible church was 
 formed in his family. This we are carefully to distin- 
 guish from the promises made to Abraham as an indi- 
 vidual, that he should be saved ; that the Saviour should 
 descend from him, and that the land of Canaan should 
 be given to his posterity. These were distinct promises, 
 made many years before. In the same manner we must 
 not confound this with a transaction so entirely distinct 
 from it, as the national covenant made with the child- 
 ren of Israel at the giving of the ceremonial law, four 
 hundred years later. 
 
THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS. 28*7 
 
 By examining this original charter of the Church 
 Gf God, we find that infants were expressly included 
 in it as members, and that their membership was by 
 divine command recognised, and that in precisely the 
 Game manner as that of adults. Now, the Scriptures 
 h us that the very same church which was then 
 formed, exists at this day, and shall continue to the 
 end of the world. To quote only one passage out of 
 many, let us hear the apostle Paul, speaking of the 
 rejection of the Jews from the church on account of 
 unbelief, of the introduction of the Gentiles in their 
 stead, and of their future restoration. Romans xi. 17-24, 
 he tells the Gentiles they were by nature a a wild olive 
 tree," but that the Jews were " the good olive tree." 
 From this good olive tree the Jews were broken off, 
 and into it the Gentiles were grafted as scions into a 
 stock not their own. This cannot refer to their natural 
 state as sinners before God, for in this there was no 
 difference ; nor can it refer to their state as sinners 
 saved by grace, for from such a state, men are not 
 broken off, nor was this the condition of the Jews as a 
 people. It must then refer to their state as a church, 
 to their public relation to God, and their privileges as 
 professedly his people. The Jews were not broken off 
 from the rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices of the Mosaic 
 law, nor were the Gentiles introduced into them, for 
 these were already abolished, when the apostle wrote. 
 The olive tree, then, from which the Jews were broken, 
 and into which the Gentiles were grafted, must mean 
 the visible church, and the privileges of the covenant 
 made with Abraham, who is so often called the father 
 of believing Gentiles, as well as Jews. Now, mark the 
 apostle's language. The olive tree is not cut up by the 
 roots or destroyed, and a new one planted, but some of 
 its branches are broken off, and in their place others 
 
288 SERMONS. 
 
 are inserted, not into another tree but into the very 
 same. The New Testament church is the very same 
 to which the Jews belonged. The Jews are cast out of 
 it for their unbelief. The Gentiles occupy their place, 
 and succeed to all their privileges. One of these, a 
 principal one, was the membership of their infants. 
 This privilege has never been revoked. Therefore the 
 children of Gentile believers are members of the church 
 of God. Again, the apostle speaks thus of the future 
 restoration of the Jews : "If they abide not in unbelief, 
 they shall be grafted in again." Now, if thou wert cut 
 out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert 
 grafted into the good olive, how much more shall these, 
 which be the natural branches, be grafted into their 
 own olive tree. They shall be grafted in again ; grafted 
 into what ? Into their own olive tree. Then their own 
 tree must be preserved. But when they come in, the 
 Gentiles will not be broken off. Both will flourish 
 together; will belong to the same church; will be 
 branches of the same olive tree, and thus will be the 
 same from which the Jews were once broken off. Their 
 own olive tree, saith the apostle. Could any language 
 express more strongly the truth, that the church, though 
 its members are changed and its privileges enlarged, is 
 in every age the same church. But the Jews before 
 their rejection were with their children members of the 
 church. Therefore, when they are reinstated, or grafted 
 in again, their children also must be members of the 
 church. Otherwise the promise fails. But when they 
 are thus reinstated, they will come into the church with 
 the Gentiles. They will share in the same privileges 
 which we now possess. The same truth is taught by 
 all those texts, and they are numerous, which speak of 
 Gentile believers as the childen of Abraham, as inherit- 
 ing the promises made to him, and as confirming, 
 
THE CHILDREN OF RELIEVERS. 289 
 
 by the privileges and blessings they enjoy, the faith- 
 fulness of that covenant, " Thou shalt be a Father of 
 many nations, and I will establish my covenant between 
 me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their genera- 
 tions, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee 
 and to thy seed after thee, a covenant made sure," saith 
 the apostle, to that seed, which is of the faith of Abra- 
 ham who is the Father of as all. In a word, the doctrine 
 of the text is confirmed by all those passages which 
 teach us that the church of God in all ages, and under 
 all the changes of form through which it passes, brings 
 to those who belong to it the same privileges and bless- 
 ings with a distinctness and a fulness constantly increas- 
 ing. If it is the same church substantially, i.e., if it 
 rests on the same promises, has the same head, and 
 secures the same eternal blessings to its living members ; 
 then, however important the changes which may have 
 taken place, those changes are all expressly mentioned, 
 and whatever has not been thus altered remains as 
 before. If any contend that the membership of infants 
 was taken away, they are bound to point us to a " Thus 
 saith the Lord," to support the assertion. 
 
 But if the children of believers are members of the 
 church of Christ, then important consequences follow 
 from this truth. The first inference which I shall notice 
 is this : if they are church members, then they ought 
 to be recognised as such, by that rite which is the 
 appointed external mark of membership. Thus they 
 were always recognised, by Divine command, from the 
 daj-s of Abraham to the coming of Christ. At that 
 time, a change was made in the manner of dispensing 
 the same blessing, of the same covenant, and a corres- 
 ponding change was made, in the external seal of the 
 covenant. Baptism came into the place of circumcision. 
 This is not mere assertion. It is evidently thus of 
 
290 SERMONS. 
 
 adults. Both put a mark upon their subjects as belong- 
 ing to that society which God hath set apart for himself. 
 Both signify and seal justification by faith, even the 
 pardon of sin, the righteousness of Christ. Both repre- 
 sent and are means of renovation and purity of heart, 
 by the spirit of Christ. The only difference between 
 them, as seals of the covenant, relates to that more 
 enlarged and spiritual dispensation of the blessings of 
 the covenant, under which baptism is its seal. This 
 the apostle explains when speaking of being baptized 
 into Christ. He says : " There is neither Jew nor 
 Greek, there is neither male nor female, there is neither 
 bond nor free." Thus positively annulling, in spiritual 
 things, all distinction arising from difference of nation, 
 sex, or condition. And this substitution of baptism, in 
 the place of circumcision, which may be so strongly 
 argued from their similarity of meaning and use, is 
 further confirmed by the fact that baptism holds pre- 
 cisely the same relation to circumcision which the Lord's 
 supper holds to sacrifice, especially the passover. Child- 
 ren are then to be baptized, for the very same reason 
 that they were circumcised before the coming of Christ : 
 because they are members of the church, and this is the 
 prescribed mark by which their membership is to be 
 recognised. 
 
 A second inference from the truths established is : if 
 children of believing parents are members of the church, 
 then it is the duty of the Church to watch over them, 
 to instruct them, and, in a word, to extend to them a 
 discipline suited to their condition and their age. This 
 must be done, in a great measure, indirectly, and through 
 their parents, from whom their membership is derived, 
 and by whom they are presented to receive the seal of 
 that membership. Important and responsible, indeed, 
 are their duties in this respect. To a faithful perform- 
 
THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS. 291 
 
 ance of these duties, they pledge themselves, in the 
 most solemn manner, when they present their children 
 for baptism. If they are faithful, they have every en- 
 couragement to expect a blessing. The promises are to 
 them and to their children. If they neglect their duty, 
 if they do not train up their children, who are thus con- 
 secrated to God, in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord, fearful will be their account ! In this arduous 
 work they are entitled to all the assistance and encou- 
 ragement which the church can give ; especially they 
 are entitled to its prayers, and to the aid and co-opera- 
 tion of its pastors and elders. If this subject were felt 
 as it should be in our churches — if Christian parents, 
 church members, and church officers, would arise to the 
 diligent, faithful, and prayerful discharge of their duty 
 towards those who have in infancy been consecrated to 
 God, by having the seal of his covenant put upon them, 
 — we should see the blessed effects of this Divine ordi- 
 nance in the saving conversion of multitudes, who are 
 now left to grow up lamentably ignorant of Him in 
 whose holy name they have been baptized. Yes, 
 Christian parents, you are under the most sacred obli- 
 gations to train up for God those who have, by their 
 relation to you, been born within the pale of the visi- 
 ble church, and .for whom you have claimed a recogni- 
 tion as members of the church. Great is your encou- 
 ragement to labor and pray for their salvation. The 
 promise is to you and to your children ; plead on their 
 behalf with your covenant-keeping God. Be mindful 
 of those solemn vows which you have taken upon you 
 when you presented them for baptism. Those vows 
 are registered in Heaven, and to be remembered at the 
 bar of God. If your Heavenly Father sees fit to re- 
 move your dear children in infancy, recollect that you 
 gave them to him, and he does but take what you con- 
 
292 SERMONS. 
 
 secrated to him. If he removes you from them, leave 
 them in his hands. Are they not his? Will he not 
 take care of his own ? If he spares them to you, and 
 you to them, always look upon them as devoted to him. 
 Teach them their obligations and their mercies; let 
 them see that their salvation is the most ardent desire 
 of your hearts. Oh ! if they should perish at last, how 
 fearful must be their doom. If they perish through 
 your unfaithfulness, how will you answer when God 
 inquires for those lambs he committed to your care ! 
 How will you meet them at his bar ! Make it your 
 daily prayer, your daily effort, to persuade them joy- 
 fully to ratify, by their own act ; what you did for them 
 ere they were capable of acting for themselves. Christ 
 invites you to bring them to him. Watch over them ; 
 instruct them ; and may you at last be able to say with 
 joy to your Father and theirs, " Here are we and those 
 whom thou hast given us." 
 
 A third inference from the subject we have consider- 
 ed is this : the children of members of the church who 
 have been dedicated to God in infancy, are under pecu- 
 liar obligations to devote themselves to his service ; as 
 such are connected with the church only through their 
 parents, when thej come to act for themselves their 
 membership must be confirmed by their own voluntary 
 dedication of themselves to God, or it ceases, of course, 
 and they wilfully go out from the company of the peo- 
 ple of God, and forfeit the privileges of their birth- 
 right. How fearful is this ! It is not simple rebellion 
 against God, like the sin of those who were never within 
 his church. It is the rupture of the most sacred ties ; 
 it is apostasy ; it is like the sin of Esau, who sold his 
 birthright for a morsel. Let not such plead, these are 
 not obligations of our own choosing, therefore we are 
 not bound by them. True, you did not choose them 
 
THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS. 293 
 
 for yourselves ; God in his mercy chose them for you, 
 before you knew good from evil. But are they for that 
 reason less binding? You did not choose to be born 
 in a Christian land, to be the children of pious parents, 
 to be instructed and prayed for in your childhood. 
 God chose thus for you also. But do they not lay you 
 under the most sacred obligations ? Will he not call 
 you to account for your improvement of them ? You 
 cannot alter any of these things. They are all mercies 
 — rich mercies. If improved aright, they will lead to 
 immortal blessings. So is your membership in the 
 church as the children of God's people. Come then, 
 ratif} r it by your own act ; give your hearts to God, to 
 your God, to your fathers' God. Oh ! how far have ye 
 already departed from him. But hark ! he addresses 
 you : " Beturn, ye backsliding children, and I will heal 
 your backsliding ; I will receive you graciously ; I will 
 love you freely." Come, confess your Saviour before 
 men, and he will confess you before the angels of God. 
 He is gracious and compassionate ; his yoke is easy and 
 his burden light. Oh ! do not renounce your alle- 
 giance to the Lord ; do not disown the Prince of Peace ; 
 do not disclaim your fathers' God; do not forswear 
 your consecration to his service ; do not abjure those 
 solemn vows which were made for you, and over you, 
 when you were presented to him in the sanctuary, when 
 his blessed name was called upon you, and you were 
 sprinkled with the symbol of that blood which cleans- 
 eth from all sin. You cannot sin as others do ; your 
 neglect of Christ is not simple unbelief — it is apostasy 
 from him. Every hour you continue in it, is an hour 
 of contempt for his dying love, for his great salvation. 
 How will your hearts endure, or your hands be strong, 
 when he shall reckon with you for not owning him, for 
 counting the blood of his covenant an unholy thing. 
 
294 6ERMOX8. 
 
 He will reckon with you ; you are his by sacred ties ; 
 you cannot shake off j^our obligations, or blot out those 
 solemn vows which are registered in Heaven. No : 
 you may destroy yourselves for ever; but you cannot 
 shake off your obligations. Oh! come, then, receive 
 the Lord Christ in truth, take your place at his table, 
 and walk in the way of his commandments. 
 
SEEMON XV. 
 TO DIE IS GAIN. 
 
 "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." — Philippians i. 21. 
 
 This brief sentence presents at once the character and 
 the reward of the genuine disciple of Jesus. It is an 
 epitome of the believer's arduous journey, and of its 
 triumphant termination. Paul, once a persecutor, now 
 an apostle of Jesus Christ, and a prisoner in bonds for 
 the love he bore to him, speaks here from his own 
 experience. Life and death, time and eternity, earth 
 and heaven, pass before us as they were present to his 
 mind while he wrote, and under the aspect they habitu- 
 ally assumed while he contemplated them. The language 
 he here uses concerning himself he applies substantially 
 to all believers, in his letter to the Eomans. " For none 
 of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 
 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and 
 whether we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether we live 
 therefore or die, we are the Lord's." This is our war- 
 rant for saying that though in the text he speaks of 
 himself, yet he does not describe anything peculiar to 
 himself, but draws the outline of Christian experience, 
 as it is common to all genuine believers. As, therefore, 
 the text presents the character and hope of the true 
 disciple of Christ, it contains a topic, whose discussion 
 can scarcely be unseasonable at any time, and one 
 peculiarly appropriate to an occasion like the present, 
 designed especially to lead our minds to a suitable 
 recollection and improvement of the recent removal 
 
296 BERMONS. 
 
 from among us of one who had long held a place among 
 the professed followers of Jesus, and whose life, in its 
 progress, and at its close, bore testimony to the sincerity 
 of her profession. 
 
 "To me to live is Christ." The expression is brief 
 and idiomatical, and though somewhat obscure, is lively 
 and fall of energy. It reminds one of the language of 
 the same writer, on other occasions. " Now I live, yet 
 not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life I now live in 
 the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." Again, 
 11 Your life is hid with Christ in God." " When Christ 
 who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with 
 him in glory." So Jesus said, " I am the way and the 
 truth and the life. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of 
 man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." As 
 the living Father sent me and I live by the Father, so 
 he that eateth me, even he shall believe by me. To 
 the believer, to live is Christ, because Christ is the 
 author, and the supporter of spiritual and everlasting 
 life in his soul. By nature all men are dead in tres- 
 passes and sins. They are dead, because under the 
 condemning sentence of that law which declares, " The 
 soul that sinneth, it shall die ;" and because they are 
 destitute of all true holiness, of all genuine love to the 
 character, the government, the service, and the worship 
 of God, of all relish for communion w r ith him, and for 
 the holy joys of his immediate presence. This is the 
 testimony of the Bible concerning every man ; and 
 every genuine disciple of Christ has been experiment- 
 ally taught the truth of this testimony, in its application 
 to himself, by the power of the Holy Ghost convincing 
 him of sin, and constraining him to ask with the earn- 
 estness of one who feels himself lost, what must I do to 
 be saved ? The same Almighty Spirit has guided him 
 to Jesus Christ, who came to seek and to save that 
 
TO DIE IS GAIN. 297 
 
 which was lost. In his obedience and sufferings, he 
 sees a perfect atonement for sin, and a way opened for 
 the extension of mercy to sinners, consistently with the 
 holiness and justice of God. In the promise of the 
 Spirit to enlighten, and renew, and purify all that 
 believe, he beholds a provision adequate to restore him 
 to the knowledge, the law, and the likeness of God ; to 
 qualify him for his service, and for communion with 
 him here, and for the everlasting joys of his presence 
 beyond the grave. Feeling his own lost condition ; 
 persuaded of the truth of the record God hath given 
 us of his Son ; cordially approving of the gospel method 
 of salvation, and encouraged by the love of Christ, in 
 dying for sinners, and by the gracious invitations he 
 addresses to them, he renounces every other hope, and 
 casts himself upon the sovereign, unmerited mercy of 
 God in Christ. He is accepted in the beloved, and his 
 acceptance is confirmed to him by the influences of the 
 Spirit shedding abroad the love of God in his heart, 
 and giving him joy and peace in believing. He has 
 redemption through the blood of Christ, even the for- 
 giveness of sins according to the riches of his grace ; and 
 being delivered from the power of darkness, and trans- 
 lated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, he is made 
 meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in 
 light. By faith he is vitally united to Christ, as the 
 branch is united to the vine, or as the members are 
 united to the body, so that Christ's spirit dwells in him, 
 and he derives wisdom, strength, and consolation from 
 him. 
 
 Thus Christ is the author of spiritual life to every 
 believer, as by his righteousness they are freed from 
 condemnation, and justified in the sight of God ; and by 
 his Spirit, they are created anew in righteousness and 
 true holiness, and qualified for the love, the worship, 
 
298 SERMONS. 
 
 and the enjoyment of God, and that life which flows 
 from Christ as its source into the believer's soul, is sus- 
 tained and supported by him. He lives a life of faith, 
 on the Son of God. Daily he looks to him, and relies 
 upon him for pardon, holiness, and consolation. Christ, 
 in his person, character, offices, and work, as he is set 
 forth in his word and ordinances, is that spiritual food ; 
 that bread of life, by which his soul is fed ; his faith 
 invigorated ; his penitence and humility deepened ; his 
 love increased ; his zeal animated and purified ; 
 his hope confirmed and brightened ; and he is 
 strengthened to labor without fainting, to suffer pa- 
 tiently, to overcome when he is tempted, and to 
 hold fast his profession and his confidence to the end. 
 His spiritual union to the Saviour, and communion 
 with him, is the constant support of that holy love 
 which reigns in his heart, governs his life, and forms 
 and animates his character. As the branch derives its 
 nourishment and support from the vine, so does he from 
 Christ. Without Christ, separated from him, cut off 
 from access to him in his ordinances, and from those 
 supplies of grace w r hich he imparts, he can do nothing. 
 Of himself, he is not sufficient so much as to think a 
 good thought ; but, through Christ strengthening him, 
 he can do all things. Christ liveth in him ; and the life 
 he now lives in the flesh is by the faith of the Son of 
 God. Thus, to live is Christ to the believer; because 
 his spiritual life flows from Christ as its fountain, and by 
 him it is supported and he is nourished unto everlast- 
 ing life. The grace and spirit of Christ is, in all his 
 people, a well of living water springing up unto life 
 eternal. 
 
 But, secondly, to live is Christ, because Christ is the 
 end and object of the believer's life ; as one may say of 
 the sensualist, to live is to gratify his appetites and 
 
TO DIE IS GAIN. 299 
 
 passions ; of a covetous man to live, is to amass wealth ; 
 of the votary of ambition to live, is to acquire power 
 and honor ; so, of the apostle, to live was to glorify 
 Christ ; and of every believer, to live is Christ ; 
 because the great end which he has in view, the 
 prize for which he contends, the mark towards which 
 he presses onward, the goal at which he aims is 
 to honor Christ, by knowing him better; becoming 
 more like him, and enjoying more intimate commu- 
 nion with him ; and by promoting among his fellow 
 men, that cause for which Christ died, that kingdom 
 over which he reigns, and in whose triumph over every 
 opposing interest he will be glorified and rejoice for 
 ever. The context shows that this is the exact mean- 
 ing of the expression here. The apostle remarks that, 
 for himself, it would be far better to depart, and be 
 with Christ ; and he had a desire to do so. But, if his 
 life were prolonged, he would thus have an opportuni- 
 ty of doing more for the honor of Christ, in preaching 
 that gospel by which saints were edified and comforted, 
 and sinners converted and saved ; so that he was at a 
 loss which to prefer, whether to die and be with Christ, 
 which would be unspeakable gain, or to live and labor 
 for the honor of his Saviour, in the salvation of sin- 
 ners, which was more needful for those to whom he 
 wrote. In this sense, to live is Christ to every 
 believer, and I am acquainted with no better proof 
 that one is born of God, no surer test of the genuine- 
 ness of penitence and faith, and the stability of hope, 
 than this : to honor Christ, by promoting in himself, 
 and in his fellow creatures, that work of reconciliation 
 to God, of renovation after his image, and restoration 
 to his favor, for which Christ labored and suffered, for 
 which, having assumed our nature, he lived, and died, 
 and rose, and reigns. This is the great object for which 
 
300 SERMONS. 
 
 every believer lives ; this is habitually before his mind 
 as the one thing needful, the chief end of his existence, 
 the pole-star that guides him over this dark and trou- 
 bled ocean on which he is borne to the shores of eter- 
 nity. When he loses sight of this he is alarmed, for he 
 knows himself in danger ; he is humbled and sorrow- 
 ful, for he is conscious of guilt. Here his desires, his 
 hopes, his affections, centre and terminate ; hither tends 
 every motion of the Spirit of God upon his soul, every 
 active principle of his renewed nature. For this he 
 longs, he prays, he labors, he suffers, he denies himself, 
 he forgets the things that are behind ; and through in- 
 firmities, temptation, toil, weariness, sorrows, bereave- 
 ments, and death itself, he presses towards this mark as 
 the prize of his high calling. 
 
 Thus did the apostle ; thus did every one of his com- 
 panions in labors and tribulation, for that kingdom of 
 God of which they were accounted worthy; thus did that 
 great company of martyrs who counted not their lives 
 dear, that they might finish their course with joy ; thus 
 did that great cloud of witnesses, who, having overcome 
 by the blood of the Lamb, have gone to receive the 
 end of their faith, the salvation of their souls ; thus do 
 all who are partakers of their faith, and imbued with 
 their spirit, and shall at last share their reward The 
 glory of Christ in his own salvation, and in that of his 
 fellow sinners, is the object which every believer pur- 
 sues. In this pursuit love to Christ is his animating 
 motive, the law of Christ is his rule, the grace of Christ 
 is his fountain of wisdom and strength, and conformity 
 to the example of Christ, and communion with him in 
 his ordinances, are the means. To this object he feels 
 himself bound by every motive that can exert an influ- 
 ence upon him as an intelligent, accountable, and im- 
 mortal being. He sees in it a perfect excellence and 
 
TO DDC is (, \IN. 301 
 
 beauty that command his highest esteem and approba- 
 tion, and he learns from the volume of revelation that 
 all holy beings view it with like emotions ; yea, that the 
 blessed God himself regards it with perfect complacency 
 as the grand object of his moral government, for whose 
 attainment he has put forth all those manifestations of 
 his power, wisdom, holiness, truth, and love, which shine 
 in the plan of salvation, fill Heaven, with, admiration 
 and joy, and will be the theme of everlasting songs. 
 He regards this as the end for which he has been creat- 
 ed, preserved, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified, adopt- 
 ed into the family of God, sealed to the day of redemp- 
 tion, and crowned with countless blessings, temporal and 
 spiritual ; and every conviction of duty, every feeling 
 of gratitude, every tie that binds his allegiance to the 
 throne of a sin-pardoning God, bind him to seek the 
 honor of Christ as the great end of life. He beholds 
 the present happiness and the eternal well-being of 
 himself and of all his fellow men inseparably connect- 
 ed with the honor of Christ, in the accomplishment of 
 those holy purposes for which he died. He sees the 
 everlasting interests of his own immortal soul, and of 
 the immortal souls of his fellow men, bound up in this 
 object, identified with it; and it is as dear to him as his 
 own happiness and that of his fellow travellers to eter- 
 nity. Thus it is, my brethren, that every perception of 
 moral excellence and beauty, every feeling of obliga- 
 tion, and every enlightened view of the value of the 
 soul, combine to urge the believer to pursue that course 
 of which the apostle speaks when he-says, "to me to 
 live is Christ/' And he does pursue it, imperfectly in- 
 deed, and not at all times with equal ardor — this is his 
 sin, his burden, and his sorrow — but sincerely, earnest- 
 ly, perseveringivj and with an enlightened zeal, self* 
 
 14 
 
S02 SERMONS* 
 
 devotion, and delight, gradually increasing as he grows 
 in grace and ripens for his Redeemer's presence. 
 
 My brethren, is it thus with you ? Do you look to 
 Christ, and rely on him as the author of spiritual and 
 everlasting life to your souls by his atoning sacrifice 
 and renewing grace? Do you, by faith, go to him 
 daily in his word and ordinances for wisdom, strength, 
 and consolation ? Above all, do you habitually make 
 it the great object of life, to honor him by seeking to 
 know more of him, to be more like him, to love him 
 better, and to enjoy more intimate communion with him 
 yourselves, and by praying, and laboring, and deny- 
 ing yourselves, that you may promote his cause among 
 your fellow sinners, and especially in the hearts of his 
 people ? Examine yourselves ; prove yourselves ; not 
 every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into his 
 kingdom. Unless our religion exerts a transforming 
 influence on our characters ; unless it imbues us with a 
 Christ like spirit, stamps the image of Christ upon our 
 souls, and moulds our lives into a conformitv with his 
 example, it does not prepare us to be with Christ ; it 
 does not fit us for Heaven ; and if it fails of this, no 
 doubt it will fail to procure us admission into Heaven, 
 and we shall be disowned of Christ at last. 
 
 Prove your own selves, therefore, and whatever you 
 would do in this matter do it now — for the time is short 
 — the hour of decision draws nigh — the Judge standeth 
 before the door — soon we shall follow our departed sister 
 into that world where no change is known, where cha- 
 racter and destiny are fixed. Behold, saith the Lord 
 of life and death — behold, I come quickly and my reward 
 is with me, to give to every man according as his work 
 shall be. Happy he who can say in the spirit of the 
 apostle, To me to live is Christ. I know, I feel that I 
 
TO DIM IS GAIN. 303 
 
 am Dot my own ; Christ is the author, the supporter, the 
 end of life to me; I see in him supreme excellence, 
 divine and matchless beauty. He deserves my highest 
 esteem, my firmest confidence, my most devoted obedi- 
 ence. I am bound to him as my sovereign, by every 
 tie of creating power, preserving goodness, of redeem- 
 ing mercy ; my interest, my honor, my happiness here 
 and hereafter, are identified with the success of that 
 cause for which he died ; and to this cause I joyfully 
 consecrate myself, my time, talents, property, influence, 
 all that I have, all that I am, unreservedly, uncondi- 
 tionally, for ever. Let him use me and mine for his 
 glory, and give me some humble place among his redeem- 
 ed to mingle in their everlasting anthems to his praise. 
 Happy he who can thus say to me, To live is Christ ; 
 for he may add, and to die is gain. So said the apostle 
 when he wrote to the Philippians ; and he was of the 
 same mind when death drew nigh. I am now ready to 
 be offered and the time of my departure is at hand ; 
 and he says to all believers : All things are yours, life 
 and death, for ye are Christ's. But why was it gain for 
 him to die ? Because it was to depart and be with 
 Christ. To know by experience that for which the 
 Saviour prayed, as the consummation of his desires, for 
 those to whom his love was stronger than death ; Father, 
 I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with 
 me where I am, that they may behold my glory which 
 thou hast given me ; to enjoy that of which the spirit 
 saith, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for 
 they rest from their labors and their works do follow 
 them ; to share that glory, a glimpse of which led the 
 first martyr to exult amid, the agonies of dissolution, 
 while he cried, Lord Jesus receive my spirit, and which, 
 seen by the eye of faith through the gloom of the dark 
 valley, has lit up a smile of joy on many a pallid coun- 
 
304 SERMONS. 
 
 tenance, and drawn from many a faltering tongue the 
 triumphant song, grave, where is thy victory! O 
 death, where is thy sting ! How can it be otherwise ? 
 If to live be Christ, to die must be gain ; if Christ be 
 the object of supreme love and confidence : if the per- 
 fect knowledge of Christ, perfect conformity to his ex- 
 ample, perfect communion with him, and the perfect 
 accomplishment of all his holy and merciful purposes. 
 be the centre and end of the soul's desires and hopes, 
 there must be gain, unspeakable, eternal gain in death : 
 for while the sinner trembles at his approach, and his 
 hopes wither, and his j . He 
 
 releas that has been born from above from 
 
 all its infirmities and imperfections ; he severs the ties 
 : bound i: to this orld of t rror, 
 
 weariness and b ::: uu and rends the veil t". 
 
 _ 3i gaze : and it rises, buo] 
 with immortal energies^ to behold what it believed, and 
 enjoy what it desired. Now the glorified saint pr: 
 the full efficacy of redeeming love, and, while his 
 Saviour's glories shine upon him with -unclouded radi- 
 ance, feels himself transformed into his perfect like:: 
 
 a that image reflected in all around him, is united to 
 the general assembly and church of the first born by 
 indissoluble bonds of love, rejoices in perfect and ever- 
 ting fellowship with them and with their Lord, and 
 pours out in unison with theirs its notes of rapturous 
 and endless praise. Yes. ::s gain, immense, eternal 
 . to die. Shall we then mourn for who have 
 
 fallen asleep in Jesus ? Shall we mourn because they 
 have left all that they loved on earth? be: eye 
 
 once beaming with Christian affection and Christ 
 hope, and kindling in the fervor of devotion is now 
 close use the lips on which dwelt the law of kind- 
 
 ness are sealed up, and the tongue once vocal with 
 
TO DIE IS GAIN. 305 
 
 accents of supplication, thanksgiving, and praise, is now 
 silent in the grave ? Ah ! let us rather follow with the 
 eye of faith the emancipated spirit, as it leaves all its 
 infirmities, its errors, its sins, and sorrows and fears 
 behind ; and, rising to the consummation of all that it 
 wished and hoped for here, enters the Heavenly Zion 
 with songs and everlasting joy ; and while in spirit we 
 join the gratulations of that holy, happy company who 
 bid it welcome to their blest abodes, let us resolve, in 
 a devout reliance on the grace of God, to live to Christ, 
 more entirely, more cordially, more constantly than we 
 have ever done, that to us it may be gain to die. Die 
 we must. The unchangeable decree of the Almighty 
 consigns these bodies to the dark and silent tomb, and 
 bears their immortal spirits onward to the eternal world ; 
 silently, indeed, but steadily and swiftly as the march 
 of time. And the hour draws nigh — soon our seats will 
 be left vacant in the house of God, and all the places 
 that know us now will know us no more for ever. Will 
 it be gain for us to die ? If ye have sought to know 
 and love and honor Christ as the great end of life, it 
 will; but if you have sought pleasure, or wealth, or 
 honor, or anything but Christ, as the end of life, oh ! 
 it will be loss — eternal loss — the loss of all things ; all 
 things earthly must be left behind, and the soul, unfit 
 for communion with Christ and the society of his saints, 
 must be shut out from Heaven and have its place with 
 all the workers of iniquity. 
 
SEEMON XVI. 
 
 SEEKING GOD WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 
 
 " Ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with 
 all jour heart."— Jeremiah xxix. 13. 
 
 Thus God describes the attitude which his people must 
 assume in order to their reception of the blessings which 
 it was his gracious purpose to bestow upon them. 
 Thus he teaches men in all ages what he requires of 
 them if they would experience the fulfilment of his 
 great and precious promises. To find God, in the sense 
 of the text, is to find him gracious to us, present with 
 us, in the favor he bears to his chosen people ; to find 
 him, as our reconciled God and Father in Christ Jesus ; 
 to find him as the strength of our hearts, the refuge, 
 the portion, and the joy of our souls. Are you an im- 
 penitent sinner ? To find God, is to find pardon through 
 the blood of his Son ; to find renovation of heart and 
 restoration to holiness, by his Word and Spirit ; to find 
 adoption into his redeemed family, a part in his parental 
 care, faithfulness, and love, and a sure title to life 
 eternal through his rich mercy in Christ Jesus ! Are 
 you a child of God, but is your filial love, your venera- 
 tion, your confidence low and languid, and does your 
 heavenly Father rebuke your undutiful deportment 
 and hide his face from you? For you to find God, is 
 to find the light of his countenance lifted upon you ; to 
 feel his love shed abroad in your heart ; to enjoy a 
 holy and blissful communion with him in his ordi- 
 nances; and, by his Spirit dwelling in you, to be 
 
SEEKING GOD WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 307 
 
 furnished for doing and suffering his will, fitted to show 
 forth his praise, and enabled to promote his cause in the 
 salvation of your fellow men. Do we speak of a Church 
 of Christ ? A church finds God, when God is present 
 in her solemn assemblies and at her holy ordinances, as 
 he was with the primitive church at and after the day 
 of Pentecost, when they received the promise of the 
 Father, and were all filled with the Holy Ghost ; when 
 the multitude of them that believed were of one heart 
 and of one soul ; ivhen great grace was upon them all, 
 and they walked in the fear of the Lord and in the 
 comfort of the Holy Ghost, and the Lord added to the 
 church daily such as should be saved. How important 
 is it, how unspeakably desirable for every person in this 
 house, whether saint or sinner, and for this whole 
 church, thus to find God here to-day. It may be done. 
 God is not far from every one of us. He waits to be 
 gracious. He tells us in the text how we may find 
 him. May he incline our hearts now to hear and obey, 
 that we may find him now. 
 
 If you would find him, you must seek him. " Ye 
 shall seek me and ye shall find me." In the gift of his 
 Son to die for our sins ; in the full provision thus made 
 for your pardon and your restoration to holiness ; and 
 in the gracious calls and invitations of the gospel to 
 accept of these blessings as his free gift, and be recon- 
 ciled to him through the blood of the cross ; in these 
 things God is found of them that sought him not. His 
 holy compassion moved toward us in our sinful and 
 perishing condition, and unsolicited, undeserved by us, 
 he gave his unspeakable gift. So in sending to us the 
 glad tidings of peace and pardon through the blood of 
 the cross, when so many millions of our fellow sinners 
 have never heard the sweet sounds of redeeming love, 
 God is found of us ; but, having made so rich a provision 
 
308 SERMONS. 
 
 for us and brought it so near to us, if we would make 
 it our own we must seek it. " Seek and ye shall find ; 
 knock and it shall be opened unto you," are the direc- 
 tions legibly written over the gate of Heaven. You 
 must feel and acknowledge that you need the blessing. 
 You must sincerely and earnestly desire it. You must 
 apply for it at the time and in the way which God has 
 appointed, or you shall never have have it. Slight it, 
 and you shall learn its value when it is for ever out of 
 your reach. Neglect it, or the appropriate means of 
 obtaining it, and you cannot escape. You may count 
 the purchase of the blood of Christ so cheap a thing, as 
 to presume it will be yours whether you seek it or not ; 
 but you will mourn at the last, when the harvest is 
 past and the summer is ended, and you are not saved. 
 You may cherish sloth and formality, and a worldly 
 mind, and fancy all is well, though you do not deny 
 yourself, nor take up the cross daily, nor follow Christ 
 in his zeal for God and love to man ; .but God has said, 
 11 Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion, I will search 
 Jerusalem with candles and punish the men that are 
 settled on their lees." This church may say, I am rich 
 and increased in goods, while her members do not con- 
 tinue with one accord in prayer and supplication, nor 
 remove the stumbling-blocks, nor prepare the way of 
 the Lord ; but she will remain dry and barren while 
 the dews of Heaven are descending all around her, and 
 on her altars may be written Ichabod. God will have 
 us to know our guilt and misery without him. He 
 requires us to feel our dependence and our need of his 
 gracious interposition on our behalf. We must so 
 desire his blessing and apply for it, in the way of his 
 appointment, that when it is bestowed we shall receive 
 it with gratitude, and improve it with diligence, giving 
 him the glory. " Ye shall seek me, and find me." 
 
SEEKING GOD WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 309 
 
 Again: you must seek God with the heart God 
 looks upon the heart ; his eye is upon the secret mo- 
 tives that govern you. In vain may you seek him with 
 ever so much apparent earnestness, if you cherish se- 
 cret sin, and are prompted only by selfish and mercenary 
 motives. He deals with you as moral agents, free and 
 responsible to him for your principles of action, as well 
 as for your conduct. He has clearly taught you his 
 claims upon you, and your obligations to love, obey, 
 and trust in him. He has set motives before you to 
 persuade you to yield a willing obedience to those claims, 
 and now he calls upon you to choose and to act for your- 
 self. If you choose to seek after him with a willing 
 mind and an obedient heart ; if you choose to give to 
 the care of your soul, and the concerns of eternity, that 
 supreme attention which their importance demands ; if 
 you choose to make the exertions and the sacrifices 
 implied in giving up the world and seeking your happi- 
 ness in God ; if you choose to forsake every evil way, 
 and renounce every presumptuous hope, and to dedi- 
 cate yourself wholly to God, relying upon his rich 
 mercy in Christ Jesus for the pardon of your sins and 
 for grace to do his will, God assures you of his readi- 
 ness to receive you, of his willingness to grant you all 
 needed aids of his Holy Spirit, and to bless you for ever 
 with his favor, which is life, and his loving kindness, 
 which is better than life. But if you are not willing to 
 do this ; if you cannot consent to turn your back upon 
 the world; if, to quiet your conscience, or to build 
 yourself up in a vain and self-righteous hope, you pro- 
 fess to seek God and make some partial reformation, 
 and go through some outward forms of religious duty, 
 while you regard iniquity in your heart, and neither 
 cordially forsake and hate your sins nor trust in the 
 
 14* 
 
310 SERMONS. 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ, God will not hear you, God will not 
 be found of you. You must seek God with the heart 
 I remark, in the last place, if you would find God, 
 you must search for him with all your heart. This ex- 
 pression describes intense earnestness of desire, such as 
 David felt when he said, a As the hart panteth after 
 the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O 
 God ; my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." 
 Such desires spring from the heartfelt conviction that 
 one thing is needful; that it will not profit a man 
 though he should gain the whole world and lose his 
 own soul ; that eternal things are the grand realities ; 
 that, compared with the favor of God, and an interest 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ, all other things are vain and 
 worthless. To search for God with all the heart, im- 
 plies, moreover, a determined purpose to secure his favor 
 and a part in his great salvation ; a deliberate, fixed, 
 and solemn resolution, whatever others may do, and 
 whatever may be the consequences to ourselves, we 
 will serve God and seek our happiness in him. Such a 
 desire and such a purpose concentrate all the powers 
 of the soul upon the single point of finding God, and 
 in him life eternal. They will prompt to exertion for 
 the attainment of this object ; exertion made with a 
 careful attention to the directions God has given in his 
 word ; exertion followed up with an ardor, constancy, 
 and perseverance which nothing can divert, or dis- 
 hearten, or relax. Are you a Christian ? In search- 
 ing for God with all your heart, you will wrestle like 
 the patriarch, until the breaking of the day ; you will 
 say, as he said: "I will not let thee go except thou 
 bless me." Are you unconverted? Your very soul 
 will cry, as the jailor did, " What must I do to be 
 saved?" or Paul, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
 
SEEKING GOD WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 311 
 
 do ?" Does a Church of Christ search for God with all 
 the heart ? It will be found like the primitive church 
 in that upper room at Jerusalem — all its members with 
 one accord, in one place, continuing in prayer and sup- 
 plication, waiting for God, in the fulfilment of his pro- 
 mise and the outpouring of his Spirit, more than they 
 that wait for the morning. 
 
 It was this searching for God with all the heart ; this 
 fervor of desire, and decision of purpose, and entire self- 
 devotion to the great concern of the soul which our 
 Saviour taught, when he said, Strive to enter in at the 
 strait gate, for many, I say unto you, shall seek to 
 enter in, and shall not be able. Whoso forsaketh not 
 all that he hath, cannot be my disciple ; he that loveth. 
 father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; 
 and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is 
 not worthy of me ; and he that taketh not up his cross 
 and folio weth after me, cannot be my disciple. Whoso 
 flndeth his life, i.e., as the connexion shows, he that 
 spares himself and shrinks from hazarding even life in 
 my service or at my command, shall lose it; but, 
 whoso loseth his life for my sake, shall keep it unto 
 life eternal. Such was the spirit of many of his primi- 
 tive disciples, when they heard his call : at once they 
 forsook all and followed him. It was in this spirit, that 
 Zaccheus, hearing the call of Christ, made haste and re- 
 ceived him joyfully, and standing up in the presence of 
 a multitude said — " Behold, the half of my goods I 
 give to the poor:" and Jesus replied — " This day is 
 salvation come to this house." It was the want of this 
 fixed and solemn purpose that ruined that interesting 
 and amiable young ruler of whom we read in the Gos- 
 pel : he came running to Jesus Christ, in the eagerness 
 of a suppliant, and kneeling down before him with un- 
 affected humility, asked with the utmost seriousness 
 
312 SERMONS. 
 
 11 Good Master, what must I do, that I may inherit eter- 
 nal life:" but, when he heard in reply, "Go, sell all 
 thou hast and give to the poor, and come follow me, 
 and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven," he went away, 
 sorrowful — sorry that he could not be saved on easier 
 terms. He, not willing to forsake all for Christ, 
 sought God, but he did not search for him with all his 
 heart He perished, so far as we know, like many a one 
 in this day, as moral and amiable as he, as respectful to 
 religion, and as much concerned about the salvation of 
 his soul, but not so fixed and decided as to be willing 
 to make all the sacrifices, and perform all the duties, 
 and practise all the self-denial that Christ requires. My 
 dear hearers, if you would find God, you must search 
 for him with all your heart ; if you would assure the 
 salvation of your soul; if you would enjoy the light of 
 God's countenance, you must feel that this is your grand 
 concern, you must resolve that nothing shall interfere 
 with it, and you must act upon that resolution ; you 
 must compel everything else to bow to this. To your 
 appetites and passions, to your pride, to your love of 
 ease, to your pleasures, to your companions, to your 
 business, you must say, Hinder me not. Thousands 
 perish by undue or ill-timed attention to things lawful 
 in themselves. These occupy their time, and these en- 
 gross their thoughts and feelings, and their serious pur- 
 poses are put off, and their good resolutions set aside 
 or forgotten, till their hearts are hardened, and the 
 Holy Spirit is quenched, and their day of grace is wast- 
 ed and gone ; and, as they go unprepared into eternity, 
 they take up the bitter lamentation, " The harvest is 
 past, and the summer is ended, and I am not saved." If 
 you would find God, you must search for him with all 
 your heart ; you must give yourself up to this work 
 without any secret reserve. It will not do for you to say, 
 
SEEKING GOD WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 313 
 
 14 Thus far I will go, such and such efforts and sacrifices 
 I am willing to make ; but here is this pleasure I cannot 
 give up, or this duty I cannot perform, or that ungodly 
 friend I cannot displease, or that measure I cannot con- 
 sent to." " All, all that the Lord commandeth will I 
 do," must be the language, not of your lips only, but of 
 your heart and your conduct. 
 
 You must give yourself up to this work without any 
 condition ; you must not say, if I feel so and so ; if 
 others do so and so ; or, if God deals with me thus and 
 thus, then I will give my whole heart to him, to trust 
 in his mercy through Christ, and to keep all his com- 
 mandments by the aid of his Spirit. No ; but you must 
 say, I will do all my duty so far as I can discover it, 
 whether I get any comfort or not. I feel that I am 
 perishing ; something must be done ; I have no other 
 hope ; I will cast myself upon his mercy ; I will give 
 myself up to his service, and if I perish, I perish ; and 
 to this unreserved and unconditional searching for. 
 God with all your heart, you must come without any 
 delay. You never search after God with all your heart, 
 till you feel that he is a present God, and resolve to find 
 him now. His salvation is a present salvation, — the 
 word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, 
 and behold, now is the accepted time ; all delay when 
 your duty is known, is known and wilful disobedience ; 
 all delay, when you have heard the call and invitations 
 of Jesus Christ, is contempt of the blessed Jesus ; all 
 delay forfeits the promise of God — that which is a pro- 
 mise of a present blessing to those who are now obe- 
 dient ; all delay hardens your heart, grieves the holy 
 spirit of God, wastes your day of grace, fills up the 
 measure of your sins, and hastens the eternal ruin of 
 your soul. " Ye shall seek me, and ye shall find me, 
 when ye shall search for me with all your heart." Are 
 
314 SERMONS. 
 
 any of you ready to complain that these are hard terms 
 of salvation. "We have nothing to do with making the 
 terms ; our business is simply to declare them as they 
 are laid down by the great Author of salvation, and to 
 persuade you to accept them. To the law and to the 
 testimony, if we speak not according to this word, it is 
 because there is no light in us. If these are his terms, 
 and you do not like them, your controversy lies not 
 with us, but with Him. You are free to comply with them 
 or not ; but they cannot be altered : Behold, saith he, 
 this day I set life and death before you — a blessing and 
 a curse — choose ye, therefore, this day, whom ye will 
 serve. Consider how precious are the interests you have 
 at stake ; how momentous the object to be secured : to 
 find God as your God and portion ; in him to find eter- 
 nal life ! Is it not worth searching for with all your 
 heart ? Consider by what means these blessings have 
 been brought within your reach, at what an expense 
 the Son of God has provided for the salvation of your 
 soul. Look at Gethsemane and Calvary, and say did 
 he not toil and bleed and die to bring you nigh to God ? 
 and will you not search for him with all your heart ? 
 You are not called to make exertions and sacrifices 
 upon an uncertainty ; search for the Lord with all your 
 heart and you shall find him ; and are there no aids of 
 his blessed Spirit which you may expect ? no joys of 
 pardoned sin you may experience ? no peace of God 
 that passeth understanding to keep your heart and mind 
 though Jesus Christ ? Make the experiment ; you shall 
 find that wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and all 
 her paths are peace. 
 
 May we not learn from this subject why this church 
 is not blessed, to the same extent with sister churches ? 
 why Christians here are not full of faith and the Holy 
 
SEEKING GOD WITH THE WHOLE HEART. 315 
 
 Ghost? and why inquiring souls are lingering and 
 hesitating ? 
 
 Let us search for God with all our hearts ; and let us 
 do it now. 
 
SEEMON XVII. 
 
 EARNESTNESS IN RELIGION. 
 
 " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." — Eccle- 
 siastes ix. 10. 
 
 The text announces a maxim of great importance. It 
 is altogether practical in its character ; it admits of a 
 very extensive application. If we regard it simply as 
 the fruit of the writer's reflection and experience, we 
 may quote it to support his claim to be considered the 
 wisest of men. In every important concern of the pre- 
 sent life it deserves our most serious attention. 
 
 When we look upon it as the dictate of inspiration, 
 and consider it in reference to the great concerns of the 
 soul and the life to come, it assumes a more command- 
 ing attitude. Its claims upon us are then paramount 
 and imperative. 
 
 Let us consider, first, its meaning, and the reasons 
 that enforce it ; and secondly, its application. 
 
 In explaining the meaning of the text it is hardly 
 necessary to remark, that we are to do with our might 
 only what is in itself lawful and good. Men often en- 
 gage in pursuits which are in their nature sinful and 
 ruinous. In such cases, all their ardor and energy do 
 but hasten and aggravate their perdition. Every at- 
 tainment they make is like climbing so much higher on 
 the sides of a precipice — it will render their downfall 
 more calamitous. So far from doing evil with our 
 might, we are not to do it at all ; we must turn away 
 our hand from it altogether. To do with our might 
 
EARNESTNESS IN RELIGION. 317 
 
 what our hand findeth to do, is to act with decision 
 and energy. There must be decision of purpose ; this, 
 as distinguished from wilful or capricious obstinacy, 
 rests upon a rational conviction of the value of the ob- 
 ject we seek, and the possibility of obtaining it by 
 proper exertion ; it will lead to the diligent use of all 
 appropriate means ; it will enlist all the energies of the 
 mind in its pursuit ; it will prepare a person for mak- 
 ing any sacrifice, or practising any self-denial that may 
 be essential to his success. 
 
 Again : to do with our might, is to act with prompt- 
 ness. Indifference to an object, or indecision as to the 
 manner of pursuing it, are the great sources of delay. 
 Let these be removed ; let there be earnestness and de- 
 cision ; and no time will be lost. The work will be 
 commenced without delay, and prosecuted with dili- 
 gence. He who loiters in his pursuit of an object, or 
 suffers his attention to be diverted from it, is not doing 
 with his might what his hand findeth to do. 
 
 In the last place, to do with our might, implies per- 
 severing exertion. It stands opposed to that love of 
 change which finds, in the novelty of an object, its 
 chief attraction ; to that fickleness which is ever ready 
 to give up a pursuit through mere caprice, or because 
 it meets unlooked for opposition ; and to that incon- 
 stancy of spirit which passes so readily, from ardent de- 
 sire and raised expectation, to disgust and despondency. 
 He who does with his might, presses forward in pursuit 
 of his object through every obstacle with untiring pa- 
 tience and unrelaxing energy till his efforts are crown- 
 ed with success, or its impossibility is manifest. To do 
 with our might whatsoever our hand findeth to do, is 
 to act with decision, with promptness, and with untir- 
 ing perseverance. 
 
 In our own nature, and in the circumstances in which 
 
318 SERMONS. 
 
 we are placed, we may find numerous and weighty rea- 
 sons to enforce this maxim. We are frail, and our life 
 is proverbially uncertain. In a moment we may be 
 hurried away to return no more, leaving our wisest 
 plans incomplete, and our best purposes unaccomplish- 
 ed. Indecision, therefore, or delay, or relaxation of ef- 
 fort, hazards total failure, and the entire loss of previous 
 exertion. Our mental and physical resources, the power 
 of our minds, and the means at our command for carry- 
 ing our purposes into effect are imperfect, limited, and 
 comparatively feeble. If, therefore, we would not live 
 almost in vain ; if we would accomplish anything great 
 or good, such fixedness of purpose and concentration 
 of effort and energy as shall give to our limited re- 
 sources the greatest possible efficacy, are indispensable. 
 He who roves from object to object, and spends his 
 strength in random or desultory effort, does but waste 
 his life in laborious idleness. 
 
 Again: in this world which has apostatized from 
 God and fallen under the dominion of the prince of 
 darkness, there is an enormous mass of moral evil al- 
 ways in active hostility to every great and good enter- 
 prise; and this opposition is commonly violent and 
 formidable in proportion to the importance and excel- 
 lence of any good work. Nothing can be plainer than 
 the necessity of vigor, promptness, and perseverance, 
 when so many obstacles must be surmounted, and so 
 much hostility overcome, in order to success. See, then, 
 in the frailty and uncertainty of human life ; in the fee- 
 bleness of our powers, and the limited and imperfected 
 nature of our means of action, and in the counteract- 
 ing and opposing influences which are in motion all 
 around us, the importance of doing whatsoever our 
 hand findeth to do with our might. 
 
 We have already intimated that this maxim has a 
 
EARNESTNESS IN RELIGION. 310 
 
 it extensive application. In every lawful and valua- 
 ble concern of the present life, he who disregards it may 
 expect to labor in vain, and spend his strength for 
 nought. Whatever is worth doing at all, is worthy of 
 being well done. Nothing important can be thoroughly 
 executed if it does not -receive, at least for a time, earn- 
 est and exclusive attention. To every purpose there is 
 a time and a season ; he who defers it for one day be- 
 yond its proper time, subjects himself to the necessity 
 either of neglecting it, or of permitting it to crowd out 
 of place something else perhaps of equal importance. 
 Prompt, vigorous, and persevering action, is the great 
 secret of efficiency and success. It has been well un- 
 derstood, and practically illustrated, by those who have 
 been most remarkable for success in worldly pursuits. 
 They have risen to eminence, partly it may be, by the 
 force of native powers, partly by a concurrence of 
 favorable circumstances, but far more by intense devo- 
 tion to their particular object, leading them, whatsoever 
 their hand found to do, to do it with their might. 
 
 But the maxim has a far more interesting and im- 
 portant application to the great concerns of personal 
 religion. In serving God and preparing for eternity, 
 we must do whatsoever our hand findeth to do with 
 our might. The work is great and arduous in itself. 
 It must be carried on and completed in the face of 
 opposition, and over numerous and formidable obsta- 
 cles. In worldly concerns, men may sometimes stumble 
 upon success. Not so here. The way of life is a straight 
 and narrow way. Over the threshold is written, " Strive 
 to enter in, many shall seek and shall not be able." 
 u Whoever forsaketh not all (hat he hath, cannot be my 
 disciple." In such a work, mere knowledge is vain ; 
 wishes are idle. Resolutions are worse than fruitless, 
 without vigorous, prompt, persevering action. This is 
 
320 SERMONS. 
 
 true of the whole course, and it is equally true of every 
 several step in the way of life. In each effort to mortify 
 sin and to cultivate holiness ; in the use of every means 
 of grace ; in the performance of each duty, personal, 
 relative, and social, we must do with our might, we 
 must give our whole attention to the work, our whole 
 souls must be thrown into it, or our expectations of 
 profit and acceptance are unauthorized and vain. In 
 every concern of personal piety one hour of intense 
 application of the whole soul to divine and eternal 
 things is worth more than days or weeks of compara- 
 tive formality and lukewarmness. To such exertion 
 God has promised his blessing, without which all our 
 efforts will be unsuccessful. " Ye shall seek me," saith 
 he, " and ye shall find me, when ye shall search for me 
 with all your heart" " Whatsoever thy hand findeth 
 to do, do it with thy might." 
 
 In the last place, this maxim applies with peculiar 
 force to every enterprise and effort for promoting the 
 glory of Grod in the salvation of men, and to none more 
 than to that form of benevolence which has called us 
 together to-day. Every plan to do good to the souls 
 of men has to encounter a two-fold opposition ; it is 
 opposed by the sloth, unbelief, and selfishness of those 
 who must be active agents in its execution, and by the 
 indifference, worldly-mindedness, and aversion to holi- 
 ness of those for whose benefit it is designed ; and delay 
 in the execution of such plans is doubly hazardous, 
 because both the agents and the objects are liable to 
 be summoned in a moment beyond the sphere of activity 
 and the possibility of change. And the more pure and 
 excellent any enterprise is, the more bitter and deter- 
 mined is the opposition it will commonly meet from 
 the god of this world, and from the maxims, fashions, 
 and spirit of ungodly men. The more certainly there- 
 
EARNESTNESS IN RELIGION. 321 
 
 fore will it fail, if its advocates do not engage in it with 
 an ardent zeal, an inflexible constancy, and a generous 
 and entire self-devotion. Plans to do good to others 
 must ever depend more or less for their success upon 
 their voluntary cooperation. This we cannot expect 
 when we come into collision with their opinions, feel- 
 ings, or habits, unless we enter into the work with our 
 whole hearts. If they see us lukewarm, dilatory, or 
 inconstant, they will hardly give us credit for sincerity. 
 So far from enlisting them under our banner, we shall 
 but confirm their indifference or opposition. They will 
 find it very easy, and think it very safe to disregard 
 that which does not awaken the ardor and energy of its 
 avowed advocates. 
 
 On the other hand, if we are seen engaging in the 
 work with the zeal and energy of men who feel its 
 immense and immediate importance, determined to 
 lose no opportunity, and to leave untried no lawful 
 means of promoting it, we shall carry along with us 
 many who would otherwise have stood neutral, and 
 witness, in many cases, hostility transformed into friend- 
 ship. Our decision and consistency will secure confi- 
 dence, command respect, daunt, if not disarm opposition, 
 and lodge in the consciences of our enemies a testimony 
 for the truth of incalculable value. How important, 
 then, in every plan for doing good to the souls of men, 
 that we do with our might whatsoever our hand findeth 
 to do. 
 
 We live in an age of benevolent enterprise and action. 
 This is true of every Christian land. It is preeminently 
 true of our own country. Here is no corrupt and cor- 
 rupting alliance of Church and State. Here religion is 
 unfettered by the ordinances of man. Here truth, in 
 its simplicity, is brought into contact with a larger mass 
 of cultivated mind than can be elsewhere found. The 
 
322 SERMONS. 
 
 consequence is, that every year witnesses some new 
 enterprise to arrest the growth of impiety and vice ; to 
 dispel ignorance and error ; to multiply converts to 
 truth, holiness, and happiness. In all these, there is 
 vitality, there is energy, there is activity. They move, 
 and their course is onward. As they go forward, their 
 strength increases; their resources are augmented; 
 the sphere of action widens upon their view ; they 
 form bolder plans ; they carry them into effect with more 
 rapid and signal success. No doubt they shall ultimately 
 and gloriously triumph. Not perhaps precisely in their 
 present form, but substantially as to their grand object, 
 completely and for ever. For the Scriptures cannot be 
 broken, and it is written, " The earth shall be fall of 
 the knowledge of the Lord ; all nations shall call him 
 blessed!" But how shall this glorious consummation 
 be attained ? No doubt by the blessing of God upon 
 the prayers and efforts of his people. But to what 
 kind of prayers and efforts will He grant the blessing ? 
 Will they be lukewarm, dilatory, and inconstant ? Will 
 He work miracles to render efficient feeble, slothful, 
 and half in earnest exertions ? We have no reason to 
 expect it. It was not thus that the great Captain of 
 salvation laid the foundations of that spiritual temple 
 in which all nations shall yet offer incense and a pure 
 offering to his name. It was not thus that the apostles 
 and martyrs of primitive times built up the walls, and 
 brought so many to worship in it ; nor is it thus that 
 the topmost stone shall be brought forth, with shouting, 
 Grace, Grace unto it. No, brethren, the mantle of that 
 ascended prophet who said, "It is nry meat and my 
 drink to do the will of my Father, and to finish his 
 work," must descend upon his followers. 
 
 There must be, throughout the church, a spiritual re- 
 surrection of those who counted not their lives dear. 
 
EARNESTNESS IN RELIGION. 323 
 
 that they might finish their course with joy. All the 
 friends of Christ must feel the force of his last com- 
 mand, " Go preach my Gospel to every creature," and 
 gird themselves for prayer and effort, doing whatsoever 
 their hands find to do with their might. When they 
 thus proclaim redemption through the blood of Jesus, 
 the Spirit of God will swell the notes, and like the 
 trump of the archangel, it will wake the slumbering 
 nations, and they shall stand up and adore and bless 
 Immanuel. In that day the Bible will be translated 
 into every tongue ; it will be circulated in every nation ; 
 it will be possessed, and read, and obeyed, and loved in 
 every family. It is no inferior part, in leading on that 
 blessed consummation, which Bible Societies have un- 
 dertaken. The Bible is the sun that must dispel the 
 gloom of ignorance, and sin, and error, which has so 
 long brooded over benighted and dying men. From, 
 this fountain must gush out those streams of salvation 
 that shall gladden the wilderness, and make the desert 
 and the solitary place rejoice. This is the tree of life 
 whose fruit is immortality, and whose leaves are for the 
 healing of the nations. And this universal distribution 
 of the Bible must be effected by the earnest, self-deny- 
 ing, persevering exertions of Christians engaging in the 
 work, and doing with their might what their hands find 
 to do. Copies of the word of life will not be multi- 
 plied and distributed by miracle, but by the strenuous, 
 united efforts of those who love the Bible and are im- 
 bued with its spirit, applying their hearts and hands, 
 their pra} 7 ers and contributions, to forward the work. 
 It is in this way, my brethren, that this Word must be 
 carried to every destitute family on the face of the 
 earth. And they are sparsely scattered over a wide 
 extent of country, in many parts difficult of access ; 
 and there is apathy, and prejudice, and opposition of all 
 
324 SERMONS. 
 
 sorts, even among professing Christians, to be encoun- 
 tered and surmounted before they can be supplied. 
 More than two thirds of this destitution is, indeed, 
 covered by resolutions of local societies. But how 
 many of these resolutions are like our own ! The 
 work is arduous indeed. It will never be done, unless 
 they who love the Bible will arise and pray, and con- 
 tribute and labor with their might. 
 
 Great and difficult as it is, it is practicable. It has 
 been done in other States — in New Jersey, and Penn- 
 sylvania, and Maryland ; in eight others it is nearly 
 completed ; in the Carolinas and Georgia it is in a state 
 of forwardness. And shall it be said that Virginia 
 alone is unable or unwilling to give the Bible to her 
 destitute population ? Is there ^not benevolence and 
 energy enough among us to do the work? Experi- 
 ence has shown that there is. There are few parts 
 of the Commonwealth where the people will not con- 
 tribute enough to supply themselves, provided books 
 are sent to them, and suitable agents to call their 
 attention to the subject. The books are already pre- 
 pared in the depository of the Parent Society, and may 
 be had. The experience we have acquired has taught 
 us some valuable lessons as to the best manner of labor- 
 ing in the work. The plan of operations is now orga- 
 nized, and the machinery is in motion. The work may 
 be completed this year, if the friends of the Bible in 
 this city will begin to-day to do with their might. Let 
 our calculations be made to-day to finish the work dur- 
 ing the present year. 
 
 A recent communication from the Parent Society 
 speaks thus : — " Let books be sent for at once by socie- 
 ties who can pay for them now, or in three, six, or 
 nine months. Let them be requested as a donation 
 when they cannot be purchased. Let agents, ministers 
 
EARNESTNESS IN RELIGION. 325 
 
 of the Gospel, editors of religious papers, and friends 
 of the Bible of every denomination, urge on this glori- 
 ous work. Let supplication ascend from every pulpit, 
 every monthly concert, every family altar, and every 
 pious heart, that the Lord would give free course to his 
 word, and we may yet rejoice, in 1831, that our entire 
 nation is blessed with the oracles of God." Shall Vir- 
 ginia form the solitary exception at that time ? We be- 
 lieve it will not. What a blessed result it will be ; 
 what a testimony in favor of our free institutions ; what 
 a refutation of the slanders of enemies, and the fears of 
 mistaken friends, that religion cannot be supported 
 without a connexion with the State. 
 
 15 
 
SEEMON XVIIL 
 
 IMMEDIATE SUBMISSION. 
 
 "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that 
 is, the word of faith which we preach." — Romans x. 8. 
 
 The gospel of Jesus Christ, is here called " the word 
 of faith." It is so called because it reveals God's method 
 of justifying and saving sinners by faith. Because it 
 offers to all who hear it, salvation from sin and death, 
 upon their believing it with their whole hearts ; because 
 it is worthy of the full, immediate, and cordial belief 
 of all who hear it ; and because the very end and 
 design of Grod in causing it to be recorded in the Bible 
 and proclaimed by the living herald of the cross, is that 
 men may believe and be saved. When the apostle 
 asserts that the word is nigh to those who read or hear 
 it, he does not mean, simply, that certain ideas are 
 distinctly conveyed to their minds by the significant 
 letters and syllables which meet the eye, or the articu- 
 late sounds that fall upon the ear in reading or hearing. 
 No, he speaks of the living realities which are revealed 
 in the word ; of the glorious Saviour whom the word 
 sets forth; of the complete and free salvation which 
 the word offers. This, the connexion shows. It is the 
 righteousness of faith, that speaketh on this wise : " Say 
 not in thine heart, who shall ascend into Heaven, that is 
 to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend 
 into the deep, that is to bring Christ up again from the 
 dead." But what saith it : " The word is nigh thee." 
 The word, not in the letter, but in the Spirit, living and 
 
IMMEDIATE SUBMISSION. 327 
 
 powerful ; a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the 
 heart, able to give life to the dead ; salvation to every- 
 one that believeth ; Christ, in his power and in his 
 mercy ; Lord over all, and rich unto all them that call 
 upon him. So that whosoever, hearing and believing 
 the word, calleth upon him as a present Saviour, shall 
 now be saved ; saved from sin and wrath by his blood 
 and Spirit, not at some future time or some other place, 
 but here and now. 
 
 The doctrine of the text then, is that salvation is 
 brought very nigh to men in.. the gospel; so nigh that 
 there is no long interval to be passed over before they 
 may come to it and know and feel that it is present — 
 so nigh, that no tedious preparatory work is to be per- 
 formed, before they are permitted to receive and rejoice 
 in it. Far from it ; it is brought so very nigh in the 
 gospel call and offer, that while men hear it, they have 
 only to open their hearts to it, and it enters at once in 
 its blessed reality and power. They have only to 
 believe, and be saved ; they have only to obey and live. 
 Let me invite your attention to the illustrations of this 
 truth. 
 
 Nothing is more common than a vague indistinct 
 impression, on the part of sinners who hear the gospel, 
 that after all Christ has done for their salvation, there 
 is, still a great deal to be done by them, before they are 
 required or even permitted to trust in Christ as their 
 Saviour, and to give themselves up to him. When 
 they are partially awakened and begin to feel that they 
 need a Saviour, they think, to use a common phrase, 
 that it will take them a great while to get religion. 
 Having sinned so long, and wandered so far from God, 
 they think it quite out of the question, that they should 
 return to him, be saved from their sins, and restored to 
 his favor at once. Hence they practically deny the 
 
328 SERMONS. 
 
 sincerity of God's offers of immediate pardon and re- 
 generation ; they turn aside the point and urgency of 
 God's calls to immediate repentance and faith in Christ. 
 The faint emotions of desire after salvation, which the 
 word and spirit of God had begun to awaken in their 
 hearts, are discouraged and repressed ; the Holy Spirit 
 is resisted ; sin and Satan take advantage of these false 
 notions, to persuade men to wait for a more convenient 
 season before they enter upon a work so tedious and 
 difficult as that of coming to Christ for salvation. They 
 go out from under the sound of the word, and speedily 
 lose any impression it may have made upon them ; 
 next time they hear it, the same process is repeated with 
 greater facility than before ; thus they pursue a course 
 of guilty delay and unceasing obduracy, until the 
 patience of God is exhausted, their day of grace spent, 
 and they are sealed up in final impenitence, for ever- 
 lasting woe. So, where men are powerfully awakened 
 and deeply concerned at the condition and prospects of 
 their souls, and even when they are so far convinced 
 of sin as to feel that they cannot make themselves better, 
 they still think that God must do something more than 
 he has already done in the way of preparing them for 
 Christ, by increasing their convictions and breaking 
 their hard hearts, before it is their duty or privilege to 
 come to Christ and accept of salvation as his free gift ; 
 and here very often, they linger, indulging pride and 
 self-will, even complaining of God in their hearts be- 
 cause he does not give them such convictions as they 
 think others have, and they must have, before they can 
 believe and be saved. I say here they linger until the 
 Spirit of God, who is all this time striving with them, 
 to bring them to repentance, and whom they are resist- 
 ing, is provoked to forsake them, and they are given 
 up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind, and go 
 
IMMEDIATE SUBMISSION. 329 
 
 down to hell. Now this is the very thing God warns 
 von not to do, when he says, Say not in thine heart, 
 who shall ascend into Heaven to bring Christ down, or 
 who shall go down into the deep, to bring Christ up, 
 as if he was far off, and you could not come to him; 
 — no, Christ is nigh thee, even now, very nigh, in thy 
 mouth and in thy heart, by his word and Spirit, and in 
 the fulness of his saving power and mercy, and thou 
 mayest be saved now ; thou may est be pardoned and 
 regenerated and made a child of God to-day, in this 
 place, if thou wilt now do your indispensable duty. 
 This is the point we wish to establish and illustrate 
 from the Bible. 
 
 I remark, first : Salvation is brought very nigh to you 
 to-day in the Gospel, because the provisions of the Gos- 
 pel are exactly suited to your condition and character. 
 You are to-day sinners, and Jesus Christ came into the 
 world to save sinners ; you are to-day destitute of the 
 favor of God, shut out from communion with God, and 
 in imminent danger of everlasting banishment from the 
 presence of God, and of sinking down under the frown 
 of God into everlasting woe ; and because you are so 
 wretched and lost, the great and holy God has compas- 
 sion on you, and has sent his Son to die for your salva- 
 tion : " God so loved the world that he sent his only 
 beloved Son to die." Was it not a guilty and fallen 
 world for which God did this ? Was it not for the lost ? 
 and are you not so to-day ? 
 
 The meritorious cause of the salvation offered in the 
 Gospel is the atoning sacrifice, the perfect obedience, 
 and the prevalent intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 This is the only ground of hope to every sinner on 
 earth— he has obeyed, he has suffered, and he ever lives 
 to intercede for sinners who can make no atonement for 
 their own sins, offer no obedience of their own which 
 
330 SERMONS. 
 
 a righteous God can accept, and while impenitent and 
 unpardoned, can present no prayer which God will hear. 
 Now, is not this your case to-day ? The effectual appli- 
 cation of this salvation is by the power of the Holy 
 Spirit enlightening the dark mind, renewing the per- 
 verse and stubborn will, and changing and purifying 
 the depraved and unholy heart. Now, is not your mind 
 spiritually dark, your will stubborn and averse to holi- 
 ness, and your heart hard and full of sin to-day ? Is 
 not this salvation, having for its origin the compassion 
 of God to the perishing ; for its meritorious cause the 
 atoning blood, the perfect righteousness and the preva- 
 lent intercession of Christ ; and for its efficient agent 
 the Holy Spirit in his enlightening, renewing, and puri- 
 fying operations upon the soul — is not this salvation 
 just suited to your condition and character to-day ? Is 
 it not nigh you ? Are you not at this moment just pre- 
 pared for it ? You are guilty as a transgressor of God's 
 holy law. Here is an atonement which magnifies that 
 law and makes' it honorable. You are under a sentence 
 of condemnation. Here is a free and full pardon. You 
 are at enmity with the Holy God, and dead in trespasses 
 and sins. Here are influences of the Spirit to sub- 
 due that enmity, impart spiritual life to your soul, and 
 fill you with love to God and to his service. Who can 
 need such influences if you do not? and when, if not 
 now ? You are living without God, and have no hope. 
 Here is reconciliation to God, adoption into his family, 
 a hope full of immortality, and an incorruptible in- 
 heritance. You are utterly unworthy. Here is a sal- 
 vation all of grace, free, sovereign grace ; not of work, 
 lest any man should boast ; but of grace, that man may 
 be humbled, and God have all the glory. Now does 
 not this salvation precisely suit your condition to-day? 
 Is it not nigh you now ? Are you not just fit to-day 
 
IMMEDIATE SUBMISSION. 331 
 
 to be pardoned, regenerated, adopted into the family of 
 God, and filled with the hope of immortality by the rich 
 unmerited love and mercy of God to those who deserve 
 nothing but his wrath? Well, this is the salvation of 
 the Gospel ; and it is nigh you, because it is precisely 
 adapted to your condition, character, and wants to-day. 
 I remark, secondly : The salvation of the Gospel is 
 brought nigh to you to-day, because its invitations and 
 offers are to you just as you are to-day. What are the 
 invitations of the Gospel, and to whom are they ad- 
 dressed ? " Wisdom crieth without,' ' Jesus Christ the 
 wisdom of God. And to whom? " To you, O men! 
 I call, and my voice is to the sons of men ; how long, 
 ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and the scorners 
 delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge ! 
 Turn ye at my reproof! behold I will pour out my 
 Spirit upon you." So Jesus said, "I came not to call 
 the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Did he not 
 come to call you ? So he commissioned his disciples, 
 " Go preach my Gospel to every creature ; go preach 
 repentance and remission of sins to all nations." And 
 how did they understand their commission ? Let facts 
 answer. The very first Gospel sermon ever preached 
 was to those who had taken with wicked hands, and 
 crucified, and slain, the Lord of glory ; and their Mas- 
 ter bore witness to their fidelity in inviting these sin- 
 ners to come to him just as they were, for he sent his 
 Spirit down, and that very day three thousand of those 
 sinners believed in him and were saved. " Look unto 
 me," he saith, " and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, 
 for I am God, and there is none else." " Come unto me 
 all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." " Whosoever will, let him take the water of 
 life freely." Is there a sinner in this house who is not 
 included in these invitations ? And are they not sent 
 
332 SERMONS. 
 
 to you simply in the character of sinners, just as you 
 are here to-day? And to what are you invited? 
 What are the blessings offered to you ? " Behold I will 
 pour out my Spirit upon you : I will make known my 
 words unto you." " Though your sins be as scarlet, 
 they shall be white as snow ; though they be red like 
 crimson, they shall be as wool!" "Be saved; take 
 the water of life freely ; I will give you rest." Now 
 are not these invitations and offers just suited to you 
 to-day ? Do they not reach you now ? Must you wait 
 for any change before it is both your privilege and your 
 duty to accept these invitations, and embrace these of- 
 fers as they are freely tendered to you by the compas- 
 sion of God to-day? No, my hearers. Salvation is 
 brought very nigh you ; you may receive the Spirit, 
 have your sins pardoned, drink of the water of life, and 
 in one word be saved here now. Nay, you must, or 
 reject the invitations of God, and slight and despise a 
 Saviour's love. The call of God reaches you here now, 
 and you cannot take another step without obeying it, or 
 trampling upon it at the peril of your soul. The word 
 is nigh thee. These invitations and offers are made to 
 you by the command of Christ : in his Word, by his 
 servants, by his Holy Spirit. For what are the striv- 
 ings of the Spirit, but his efforts to impress upon your 
 hearts the calls of Christ? And with whom does he 
 strive, but with those who resist and rebel? And 
 Christ, whose offers they are, is present here also ; pre- 
 sent to mark your reception of his message to-day ; 
 present to make good his promise if you will not hard- 
 en your heart ; present to record your refusal against a 
 coming da} r , if you dare despise his offers. 
 
 I remark in the third place : salvation is brought 
 nigh to you now, because its terms are just such as you 
 may, and ought now to comply with. What are the 
 
IMMEDIATE SUBMISSION. 333 
 
 terms of salvation ? You may find them in the next 
 verse : " Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus ; be- 
 lieve in thine heart that God hath raised him from the 
 dead, and thou shalt be saved." Now, how long are 
 you at liberty to put off a compliance with these terms? 
 AVhen is it your duty to acknowledge him whom God 
 hath exalted, and given him a name above every name, 
 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and 
 every tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of 
 God the Father." When is it 'your duty to acknow- 
 ledge him as your Lord and Master, and to give your- 
 self up to him as your Eedeemer from sin and death ? 
 When is it your duty to give your full and cordial as- 
 sent and consent to the whole testimony of God con- 
 cerning Jesus Christ, and salvation through his blood? 
 When, I say, are these things your duty? Yerily, 
 now ! You may not put it off — no, not a day, nor an 
 hour, without great guilt, and at the peril of your 
 soul! Every moment you delay, every moment you 
 remain, you disobey the known command of your Holy 
 Sovereign, and practically make the God of truth a 
 liar. Take another statement of the terms of salva- 
 tion : " Repent ye and be converted, that your sins may 
 be blotted oat." Who are here called upon to forsake 
 sin and turn to God with your whole heart, but you 
 who are to-day living in sin, and at this very moment 
 refusing to give your heart to God ? And when is this 
 your duty? How long may you live in known sin? 
 How long may you persevere in the wicked opposition 
 of your heart to God ? Not a day, nor an hour, nor a 
 moment, but at the risk of eternal woe ! The terms of 
 salvation are such as every sinner in this house not 
 only may comply with, but is most solemnly bound to 
 comply with here, to-day, now ! But comply with 
 these terms and you are saved ; your sins are pardon- 
 
 15* 
 
334 SERMONS. 
 
 ed; you receive the Holy Ghost to regenerate and 
 sanctify you, and fit you for Heaven. The word is 
 nigh thee ; and this doctrine, that salvation is brought 
 very nigh to sinners in the Gospel, precisely corre- 
 sponds with the express and oft repeated declarations of 
 God in his Word. In what language does he there ad- 
 dress you on this subject ? He now commands all men 
 everywhere to repent. "I have heard thee," saith he, 
 " in an accepted time, and in a day of salvation have I 
 succoured thee. Behold, now is the accepted time ! 
 behold, now is the day of salvation !" "We beseech you, 
 therefore, as workers together with Him, that ye receive 
 not the grace of God in vain. Ye do this if you delay. 
 For lo! he limiteth a certain time, saying, u To-day, 
 after so long a time," as the Holy Ghost saith, " Today 
 if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." 
 Can anything be more plain or express than these words 
 of God ? Sinners, they meet you here to-day ! You 
 cannot refuse now to be saved, without despising all his 
 counsel, and setting at naught all his reproof ! Will you 
 do this ? Ponder well the consequences before you ven- 
 ture. God meets you with the call to repentance, and 
 the offer of salvation, just where you are now. He 
 throws all his authority and his grace right across your 
 path. You must be saved here to-day ; you cannot take 
 another step. iSTo, not a step in the path of impeni- 
 tence, and unbelief, and condemnation, without wilfully 
 trampling upon his love. Surely the word is nigh, then. 
 We might bring further illustration of this truth, were 
 it necessary, from the examples recorded in the New 
 Testament. Look at the woman of Samaria in the 4th 
 chapter of John. Take the case of Zaccheus in the 19 th 
 of Luke. What case more unlikely ! Look at the peni- 
 tent thief upon the cross ; the three thousand on the day 
 of Pentecost ; Paul ; the jailor ; one minute on the verge 
 
IMMEDIATE SUBMISSION. 335 
 
 of suicide, the next, asking what he shall do to be 
 saved. 
 
 All speak the same language : that the sinner who 
 hears the call of Christ, has salvation brought very 
 nigh to him ; so nigh, that lie may be saved; that he 
 ought to be saved while he listens to it, without a mo- 
 ment's delay. Yes, sinner! at this moment salvation is 
 nigh to you. Nothing but your own unbelief and im- 
 penitence prevents you from seeing it ; yea, from ex- 
 periencing it, and rejoicing in it now. Christ is now 
 here ; he offers you pardon and eternal life ; he is 
 knocking now at the door of your heart. Will you 
 persist in impenitence and unbelief a day or an hour, in 
 the delusive hope you may thus be brought near? No, 
 you will be further off as long as you refuse to obey 
 and live. Because, every hour you continue in this 
 spirit, you increase the impenitence and unbelief that 
 separates you from Christ and salvation. 
 
 What will you do while you are preparing to believe 
 and obey ? "Will you read ? will you pray ? and all with 
 an impenitent unbelieving heart ? God will not hear 
 you. " If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will 
 not hear me.' ; Will you seek deeper conviction? 
 What, by resisting the Holy Spirit ! No : your heart 
 will grow harder and harder ; you can do nothing 
 good, nothing acceptable ; nothing but what is offen- 
 sive to God ; nothing that is not damning to your soul, 
 till you repent and believe. And this you may do 
 now, for the word is nigh thee. Of this you will one 
 day be convinced ; perhaps when it is for ever too late. 
 
SERMON XIX. 
 
 THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 
 
 " Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a 
 Christian." — Acts xxvi. 28. 
 
 In these words a prosperous and thorough-going man 
 of the world acknowledged the impression made upon 
 his mind, by the preaching of the gospel. Agrippa 
 was now in the prime of life. He was proud, ambitious, 
 enterprising, and a lover of pleasure more than of God. 
 He possessed power, honor, wealth, and ample means 
 and opportunitbr of gratifying appetite and passion. 
 His history shows that no regard to principle restrained 
 him from using, or rather abusing, these talents to selfish 
 ends. He was surrounded by dependents and flatterers 
 ever ready to foster his passions, and to minister to his 
 vices and follies. He heard the gospel under circum- 
 stances adapted to render him insensible to its appeals. 
 He had come to pay a visit of congratulation to Festus, 
 the Koman governor. While there he learned that Paul, 
 a ringleader of the Nazarenes, a sect everywhere spoken 
 against, was at that time a prisoner under charges pre- 
 ferred against him by the chief priests and rulers of the 
 Jews. Prompted by curiosity, or perhaps merely for 
 the sake of pastime, he expressed desire to hear him ; 
 " To-morrow," said the governor, " thou shalt hear him." 
 Accordingly on the morrow, these great men, with their 
 retinues, and a numerous and brilliant assemblage, 
 entered into the place of hearing. Paul was brought 
 forth wearing his fetters, and told that he might speak 
 
THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 33*7 
 
 for himself. With great plainness and simplicity, yet 
 with an affectionate earnestness of manner, expressive 
 of conscious sincerity and of love to his Master and to 
 the souls of his hearers, Paul addressed them. He spoke 
 of his early life, of his zeal against Christianity, and 
 his efforts to destroy it, of his remarkable conversion in 
 the midst of his furious bigotry and persecuting rage, 
 of his commission to preach the gospel and its holy and 
 benevolent object, of his labors, successes, and suffer- 
 ings in executing that commission. In all this, he 
 declared known facts, and he appealed to living wit- 
 nesses, in attestation of what he said. In conclusion 
 he called their attention to the predictions of these very 
 events in the sacred writings of the Jews ; predictions 
 recorded as they knew centuries before, and now 
 literally and minutely fulfilled. And he closed the 
 whole by a direct appeal to the understanding and the 
 conscience -of Agrippa himself. That appeal was at the 
 moment irresistible ; it reached his heart ; it drew from 
 him the unpremeditated and almost involuntary reply, 
 " Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. " Others 
 seem to have felt similar impressions. The whole 
 assembly rose up and dispersed evidently with feelings 
 very different from those with which they had come 
 together, very unlike those of mere gratified curiosity. 
 The principal persons expressed to each other their 
 conviction that Paul was both sincere and innocent; 
 and, whatever they might think of the application of 
 his doctrine to themselves, that he had done nothing 
 worthy of death or of bonds. Whether any of them 
 now forsook their sins, and fled for refuge to the hope 
 set before them, we are not informed. Agrippa himself, 
 if history may be credited, soon lost his serious impres- 
 sions, gave himself up to the dominion of appetite and 
 passion, filled up his term of probation without prepar- 
 
338 SERMONS. 
 
 ing for eternity, and at last died in sin, to meet that 
 Saviour whose disciple he was now almost persuaded 
 to become, as his righteous Judge. 
 
 The case before us, is not a singular one. It is no 
 uncommon thing for similar impressions to be made 
 upon those who hear the gospel. The same causes 
 which rendered religious impressions fruitless in this 
 instance, operate with similar power upon the minds of 
 hundreds and thousands at the present day ; and the 
 result is still the same: the heart is hardened, the 
 Spirit of God is resisted, and the sinner, once on the 
 threshold of the kingdom of Heaven, dies in his sins 
 and is for ever banished from the presence of Infinite 
 Purity. 
 
 Let us examine the state of Agrippa's mind at this 
 time, and trace his subsequent course and the causes of 
 it a little more in detail, and then consider the applica- 
 tion of the subject to ourselves. It is evident that his 
 attention was awakened to the doctrines of the gospel. 
 What he had wished to hear merely for amusement, or 
 to gratify curiosity, urged itself upon his attention as a 
 practical concern of great importance, and personally 
 interesting to himself. It awakened in his mind thoughts 
 and feelings in relation to his own obligation and re- 
 sponsibility, and his prospects beyond the grave, till 
 that hour unknown. He felt that he ought to investi- 
 gate and decide upon its claims. He laid aside, for the 
 moment, the attitude of thoughtless scepticism, or care- 
 less stupidity, and assumed that of awakened attention 
 and serious inquiry. 
 
 It is evident, moreover, that he was convinced of the 
 truth of the gospel. Paul's account of his own conver- 
 sion, was, if true, a demonstration of this ; and his testi- 
 mony to it taken in connexion with his known previous 
 character, his whole subsequent course, and his appear- 
 
THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 339 
 
 ance before Agrippa that day, was worthy of the fullest 
 credit. His statement of undoubted facts, concerning 
 the character and doctrines of Jesus, and the wide and 
 successful promulgation of the gospel, formed another 
 strong and conclusive argument that the gospel must 
 be the power of God unto salvation. And his appeal 
 to the prophetic writings of the Old Testament, so re- 
 markably fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of 
 Jesus of Nazareth, confirmed the whole argument, and 
 established beyond all reasonable doubt the truth of 
 the gospel. For the moment, Agrippa was convinced. 
 His understanding assented to the truth ; he received 
 the truth, but he believed not in the love of it, he be- 
 lieved not with his heart unto salvation. 
 
 It seems evident, again, that the truth reached his con- 
 science, and took hold of his feelings. He saw something 
 of its application to himself ; through the clouds of preju- 
 dice and passion, the light gleamed in upon his soul, not in 
 its clear and steady radiance, but by glimpses, startling 
 though transient. " This man/' he perhaps said to 
 himself, " is neither an impostor nor an enthusiast. He 
 speaks words of truth and soberness. Jesus of Naza- 
 reth is indeed the Messiah, sent of God for the salvation 
 of men. I need an interest in him as well as others. 
 I am a sinner ; I am exposed to the wrath of God ; I 
 am immortal ; I must give an account of myself to my 
 offended Judge ; my rank, and power, and wealth, and 
 the flatteries of my dependents, will not avail anything 
 at the awful tribunal of God. Pardon and eternal life 
 are offered to me now. Perhaps if I reject them now 
 they may retire for ever beyond my reach. This may 
 be the only opportunity of making my peace with God." 
 Such may have been his thoughts and feelings, as he 
 listened to the clear and forcible arguments of the 
 apostle, uttered with all the affectionate and impressive 
 
340 SERMONS. 
 
 earnestness of one, whose heart glowed with love to 
 God and man, and who felt that, under the eye of his 
 Master, he delivered a message fraught with life or 
 death to his fellow sinners ; and when he was personally 
 addressed in that pointed appeal, "King Agrippa, 
 believest thou the prophets ?" the preacher reading in 
 his countenance the emotions of his soul, and immedi- 
 ately adding, "I know that thou believest," he could 
 no longer keep silent. In the presence of that whole 
 assembly, he declared, " Almost thou persuadest me to 
 be a Christian." I am almost ready to lay my honors, 
 my riches, myself, at the feet of Jesus ; to own him as 
 my Lord, trust in him as my Eedeemer, devote my 
 all to his service, and join myself at every hazard to his 
 despised and persecuted followers. Happy had it now 
 been for Agrippa, had he followed the convictions of 
 his judgment, obeyed the dictates of his conscience, 
 yielded to the gracious movements of the Spirit of God, 
 and, by one honest, earnest, determined effort, renounced 
 the world as his portion, cast himself upon the mercy 
 of God in Christ Jesus as the only foundation of his 
 hope, and laid hold upon the promise of eternal life 
 through him. Thus, he might, indeed, have lost his 
 earthly crown, have subjected himself to the scorn and 
 hatred of those ungodly men by whom he was sur- 
 rounded, and have blighted his prospects of prolonged 
 and increasing honor, wealth, and power in this dying 
 world. But instead of these, he had tasted that peace 
 of God which the world cannot give or take away, 
 rejoiced in sweet and holy communion and fellowship 
 with a risen and glorified Eedeemer, and felt the cheer- 
 ing influence of a hope full of immortality shining 
 upon him in every dark passage of his mortal journey, 
 irradiating the dark valley of the shadow of death, and 
 conducting him to those pure and blissful abodes, 
 
THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 341 
 
 where they whose robes are washed and made white in 
 the blood of the Lamb, live and reign with Christ for 
 ever and ever. Then, like Paul, he had finished his 
 course with joy, and with him had now worn a crown 
 of righteousness, and joined in the everlasting anthems 
 of the skies. But he hesitated ; he refused to decide; 
 he disobeyed the authority and rejected the mercy of 
 God ; he broke up the assembly ; he retired not to 
 serious meditation and prayer in his closet, but to 
 mingle in the circles of rank, and splendor, and afflu- 
 ence, and yield himself up to the dominion of pride, 
 ambition," and the love of pleasure. He, no doubt, felt 
 that it would cost him too much self-denial, and inter- 
 fere too seriously with his worldly plans and prospects, 
 to cherish his serious impressions and yield to the 
 dictates of his enlightened conscience, and his sober 
 judgment. He therefore sought to content himself for 
 the present with expressing his conviction of the inno- 
 cence of Paul and the excellence of his doctrines, and 
 making some resolutions of attending seriously to the 
 w r hole subject at some future convenient season. He, 
 no doubt, sought to dismiss it for the present from his 
 mind, as it interrupted his pursuits and pleasures, and 
 made his conscience uneasy. 
 
 In this there is reason to, believe he was fatally suc- 
 cessful. All that we know of his subsequent history, 
 though it presents him to us as an amiable man, fur- 
 nishes no evidence that he ever became a disciple of 
 Jesus. We are not informed that he ever heard the 
 gospel, or had the offer of mercy extended to him 
 again. We do know that by his indecision and pro- 
 crastination on this occasion he hardened his heart, and 
 grieved the Holy Spirit of God. We have every rea- 
 son to believe that his serious impressions were speedi- 
 ly and effectually erased ; that he became more thought- 
 
342 SERMONS. 
 
 less and worldly minded than before ; that he sinned away 
 his day of grace, and died at last impenitent, unpardon- 
 ed, unfit for Heaven, to learn at the bar of his right- 
 eous Judge how great a salvation he had neglected, and 
 what aggravated guilt and awful condemnation he had 
 incurred. His judgment was convinced, his conscience 
 was awakened, his hopes and fears were moved ; but 
 his heart was wedded to the world, his heart was not 
 right in the sight of God, and he lived and died in the 
 gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. 
 
 In the practical improvement of this subject, I re- 
 mark 
 
 First : Cases like that of Agrippa are very common 
 under the faithful preaching of the Gospel. God does not 
 leave his Word without a witness to the hearts and con- 
 sciences of men. The influences of his Holy Spirit ac- 
 company it, and make it quick and powerful, and a dis- 
 cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. In its 
 faithful delineations of human character, in its striking 
 descriptions of man's condition as a sinner, in its per- 
 fect adaptation to the conscious necessities and evils of 
 our fallen nature, in its powerful appeals to the innate 
 sense of obligation and responsibility which we can 
 scarcely shake off, in its clear and solemn manifesta- 
 tions of the moral government of God, in those sublime 
 and awful realities which it reveals as the objects of 
 our hopes and fears beyond the grave, it is fitted to 
 make, and it does make, deep impressions upon the 
 human mind ; it commands the assent of thousands to 
 its truth, its requirements, and its excellences, who never 
 cordially bow to its authority, and never receive it into 
 their hearts by a living faith, never adopt it as the rule 
 of their lives and the charter of their hopes. Many 
 a time, while men listen to it, it dispels the doubts, and 
 cavils, and sophistries of an evil heart of unbelief; dis- 
 
THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 343 
 
 sipates the mists of prejudice and passion ; and dis- 
 solves the enchantments of this dying world. They 
 feel for the time that it is the voice of their Saviour and 
 their Judge ; that he speaks to them in accents of infi- 
 nite authority and love ; and that all their dearest in- 
 terests, for time and eternity, are involved in what he 
 savs. They are convinced, they are moved, they are 
 almost persuaded ; they resolve to neglect it no longer ; 
 they purpose, without delay, to seek through Jesus 
 Christ pardon for sin, peace with God, and preparation 
 for death and judgment. But presently they recollect 
 some worldly plan not yet accomplished ; some sinful 
 pleasure not easily forsaken ; some ungodly associates, 
 whose ridicule or scorn they are not willing to encoun- 
 ter ; some Christian duty or self-denial they know not 
 how to practise. A deceitful heart suggests that some 
 future time to embrace religion will be as safe, and 
 much more convenient ; and they first hesitate, and 
 then conclude to put off for a season the calls of God 
 and the concerns of eternity. They go out into the 
 world, engage in its pursuits, taste its pleasures, and 
 mingle in its society. Thus their good resolutions melt 
 away ; their serious impressions are speedily effaced ; 
 they fall into the snares of the devil, are absorbed by 
 the objects of time and sense, and forget God, and their 
 souls, and the unseen world. Again their attention 
 is arrested by some solemn truth of the Word of God, 
 aided, perhaps, by some affecting dispensation of Pro- 
 vidence ; again their judgments are convinced, their 
 consciences are aroused, their feelings are excited ; 
 again they form resolutions, defer their execution 
 under some vain though plausible pretext, fall into the 
 snares of their spiritual enemies, and voluntarily sur- 
 render themselves anew to the dominion of the w r orld, 
 the flesh, or the devil. Thus their day of grace passes 
 
344 SERMONS. 
 
 away, and at last they are overtaken by death, and 
 hurried away to judgment ere they have made their 
 peace with God, or completed their preparation for 
 eternity. 
 
 My dear hearers : could we now read those pages in 
 the book of God's omniscience, when your moral history 
 is recorded by an unerring hand, how many of you 
 would appear to be pursuing this very course ! 
 
 I remark secondly : The case of those who are almost 
 persuaded to be Christians, and yet pursue the world 
 as a portion, and neglect the great salvation of the Gos- 
 pel, is most deplorable. Your being almost persuaded 
 does not and cannot save you from sin and death. If 
 you were starving, it would not satisfy your appetite to 
 have food placed almost within your reach ; nor would 
 it heal you when sick, to be almost persuaded to call in 
 a physician ; nor release you, if under sentence of 
 death, to almost succeed in obtaining a pardon. So 
 your being almost persuaded will not reconcile you to 
 God, nor unite you to Christ, nor prepare you for Hea- 
 ven. Your souls must famish and die, and sink under 
 the penalty of God's violated law, notwithstanding all 
 your convictions of the truth and excellence of reli- 
 gion, all your serious impressions, all your half in 
 earnest purposes and unexecuted resolutions to repent. 
 But, my dear hearers, though these things will not 
 save you, they may embarrass your pursuit of earthly 
 good, and embitter your enjoyment of earthly pleasure. 
 They may disquiet you in the hour of retirement and 
 sober thought ; make you more disconsolate than ordi- 
 nary sinners under disappointments, dangers, and sor- 
 rows ; and multiply sevenfold the anguish and terror 
 of a dying hour. 
 
 If the heart is hardened, and the Spirit of God is 
 grieved — in proportion to the light which a sinner re- 
 
THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 345 
 
 sists, and the motives against which, he sins — who so 
 likely as you to become obdurate and insensible ? who 
 is so likely to be speedily deserted and abandoned by 
 the Spirit of Grace ? How awful is the condition of that 
 sinner concerning whom God hath said, " He is joined 
 to idols, let him alone;" who lives only to fill up the 
 measure of his iniquities and ripen for his awful doom. 
 
 Jesus Christ has declared, " To whomsoever much is 
 given, of him shall much be required ;" and again, " The 
 servant who knew his Lord's will and did it not, shall be 
 beaten with many stripes." Look at your character 
 and condition in the light of these truths, and consider 
 how great is your guilt, how appalling your danger, 
 how deep and uncommon your perdition, if, like Agrip- 
 pa, you should at last die impenitent and unforgiving ! 
 
 A third practical inference from the subject is this : 
 The perdition of impenitent sinners is voluntary. I 
 speak now of impenitent sinners, who, like Agrippa, 
 hear the Gospel of Christ. 
 
 If such perish, it is not because there is any defect 
 in the evidences of the truth of the Gospel. These are 
 such as Infinite Wisdom has chosen. They have ever 
 satisfied candid and serious inquirers. We do not now 
 see those miracles which were wrought in primitive 
 times; but we have these attested to us by credible 
 witnesses ; we have the evident and wonderful fulfil- 
 ment of prophecy ; we have the Word itself bearing 
 the marks of its divine author ; we see its influence, and 
 have it confirmed to us by those who feel it. Many, 
 like Agrippa, are convinced, though they do not repent. 
 If others are not convinced, it is because they will not 
 examine. Their sin is voluntary. 
 
 Nor is it because the provisions of the Gospel are in- 
 sufficient. These are adequate to the salvation of the 
 world. It was God's purpose to make them so : " God 
 
346 SERMONS. 
 
 so loved the world that he sent his Son, that whosoever 
 believeth should not perish ;" " Behold I bring you 
 glad tidings, which shall be to all people." Christ's 
 work of atonement was complete and perfect. It laid 
 a broad foundation for pardon, and restoration to holi- 
 ness. " His blood cleanseth from all sin." 
 
 There is nothing exclusive in the invitations and of- 
 fers of the Gospel. He directed his apostles to preach 
 repentance and remission to all men. Men are invited 
 simply as sinners, suffering under the effects of the fall. 
 All such, everywhere, are invited to come and live. 
 
 Here, then, is a perfect warrant to every one who 
 hears the invitation, to appropriate to himself the full 
 and perfect provisions of the Gospel, as perfect to all 
 as the truth and love of God can make. And there is 
 no inflexible decree compelling men to reject these invi- 
 tations, no hard necessity binding them to sin and to 
 suffer ; and God has presented all possible motive to 
 repentance and faith; he has instituted an admirable 
 system of means for this very end ; if men neglect 
 them they do it voluntarily ; and he sends his Spirit 
 along with these means, so that men are often convinc- 
 ed, awakened, moved, almost persuaded. 
 
 Where, then, shall we find the cause of the sinner's 
 perdition? Where God charges it in his Word, " Thou 
 hast destroyed thyself;' 7 where conscience charges it; 
 where it will assuredly be found in the great day of 
 trial; in his own voluntary rejection of mercy. 
 
 Yes, fellow sinners, if after all that has been done 
 for you, you die in your sins, your blood will be upon 
 your own head. If you stand before your Judge, im- 
 penitent and unbelieving, you will stand there speech- 
 less. If you go down to everlasting burnings, you will 
 go there under the full conviction that you are self- 
 ruined. 
 
THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 347 
 
 How full of anguish the recollection, while the waves 
 and billows of eternal woe are rolling over your lost 
 soul, that once you were almost persuaded to be saved, 
 but you willingly turned away, and by your own weight 
 sank into the burning lake. 
 
 How will you meet your Judge, or how answer at 
 his bar, when he spreads out before you the full and 
 perfect delineation of your whole course, and says to 
 you, "I called, I entreated, I warned, I besought you; 
 I sent my Spirit, and ye would not come ; you were al- 
 most persuaded ; but you turned away ; you set at 
 naught my counsels ; now, therefore, eat of the fruit of 
 your doings, and be filled with your own desires." 
 
 Oh ! be persuaded this day to become not almost, but 
 altogether, the humble, devoted disciples of Jesus ; be 
 persuaded now to cast yourselves, with broken and con- 
 trite hearts, at the foot of the cross. He will receive 
 you, and you shall know the peace of Grod which pass- 
 eth understanding. 
 
SERMON XX. 
 
 PANTING AFTER GOD. 
 
 " As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul 
 after thee, God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." — 
 Psalm xlii. 1, 2. 
 
 This, my brethren, is the language of true devotion ; 
 of devotion stripped of every adventitious appendage, 
 and purified from every unhallowed mixture. The 
 Spirit of God who fostered it in the soul of the pious 
 psalmist, has caused it to be recorded here, as a test of 
 character and a model for imitation to all who read the 
 sacred volume. If one were required to give a defini- 
 tion of genuine piety, so comprehensive as to extend to 
 all persons, under all circumstances, in all ages, and so 
 discriminating as to distinguish it from every counter- 
 feit, I know not how it could be better done, than by 
 saying, "It is the tendency of the soul towards God ; 
 it is the aspiration of the immortal spirit after the great 
 Father of spirits, in a desire to know him and to be like 
 him." The fervor of this desire, in the soul of the pious 
 psalmist, is compared in the text to the thirst of the 
 hart chased in sultry weather over the dusty plains. 
 In another beautiful psalm, the same devout aspira- 
 tions of the pious soul are thus expressed: "0 God, 
 thou art my God, early will I seek thee ; my soul thirst- 
 eth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and 
 thirsty land where no water is ; to see thy power and 
 thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 
 Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips 
 shall praise thee." A knowledge of God and a con- 
 
PANTING AFTER GOD. 349 
 
 formity to him is the sum of all that is required by the 
 precepts of revelation ; it is the attainment we are urged 
 to seek by all its motives, and encouraged to hope for, 
 in all its promises. The desire of this is the first prin- 
 ciple, the very essence of all true religion, as it glowed 
 in the heart of him whose meat and drink it was, to do 
 the will of his Father and to finish his work ; and as it 
 is experienced in humbler measure, by the feeblest of 
 his followers. In proportion as this desire is pure, 
 ardent, and constant, piety is genuine and fervent. All 
 the forms of worship are valuable, so far as they cherish 
 this ; all the means of grace are successful in propor- 
 tion as they render it lively, active, efficient, and 
 habitual ; an inextinguishable thirst to know more of 
 God and to be more like him is characteristic alike of 
 grace on earth and glory in Heaven. It animates the 
 seraph before the throne, the spirits of the just made 
 perfect, and every child of God now journeying through 
 this wilderness to his Father's house on high. 
 
 Grant me your attention while I attempt to show how 
 this desire is implanted and cherished in the heart of 
 man ; to illustrate its excellence, and to make a practi- 
 cal improvement of the whole. 
 
 I. How is a desire to know God and to be like him 
 implanted and cherished in the heart of man ? Man 
 was made upright ; in the image of God created he 
 man. Before sin had darkened his understanding, 
 corrupted his affections, or loaded his conscience with 
 a sense of guilt, no doubt the spontaneous and habitual 
 tendency of his soul was towards God ; his intellectual 
 powers found their noble and delightful employment 
 in tracing the perfections of his Creator as they shone 
 in every part of his works, then fresh from his forming 
 hand, and every perception of his glory awakened in 
 his heart, new emotions of veneration and love, and 
 
 16 
 
350 SERMONS. 
 
 new aspirations after a perfect conformity to his will. 
 But man being in honor abode not. By transgression 
 he fell from the state in which he was created, and lost 
 the knowledge, the love, and the moral image of God. 
 In this fallen state, there was in man no tendency to 
 return to the knowledge and the love of his Creator. 
 Every bias of his soul lay in an opposite direction, and 
 although he retained all his desire of happiness and his 
 dread of misery, and must at every step of his departure 
 have felt more keenly the bitter consequences of his 
 apostasy, yet the current of depravity would have borne 
 him for ever away from light, and hope, and joy, into 
 the regions of darkness, and despair, and death, if 
 Sovereign mercy had not stretched out her arm to 
 rescue him from perdition, and restored him to the 
 knowledge and the likeness of God. Even if the dark- 
 ness of his understanding and the depravity of his 
 heart, brought on him by the fall, had not shut him out 
 from knowing and loving his Creator, how could the 
 offended majesty and justice of the Eternal Sovereign 
 of the universe, look with complacency on a being 
 loaded with the guilt of multiplied and aggravated 
 transgressions? — or how could man, conscious of his 
 guilt and vileness, contemplate the infinite perfections 
 of his holy Sovereign and Judge, without feeling the 
 terrors of the Almighty fall upon him, and flying if 
 possible from that Being whose glorious attributes stand 
 arrayed in irreconcilable and everlasting opposition to 
 sin ? Lost indeed was our condition, and so lost, that 
 nothing less than Divine wisdom could have devised, 
 and Divine power and love have provided a remedy. 
 " But God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might 
 not perish but have everlasting life." In accordance 
 with the councils of everlasting love, the Son of God 
 
PANTING AFTER GOD. 351 
 
 hath become the Mediator between God and man, by 
 whom we may come into the presence of our offended 
 Sovereign with a well founded hope of acceptance, and 
 even look up to him with joy as our reconciled God 
 and Father. Coming out from the bosom of the Father, 
 resplendent with the brightness of his glory, he assumed 
 a soul and a body like our own, and thus uniting in his 
 person the Divine nature with the human, he is God 
 manifest in the flesh. In him the attributes of Jehovah 
 are embodied, are brought down to the level of our 
 perception, and presented to us in a manner so distinct 
 and palpable, and exhibited with such attractive loveli- 
 ness and compassion, with such sweetly blended majesty 
 and condescension, as gives us every possible advantage 
 for coming to the knowledge of God in Christ. At the 
 same time, having assumed our nature, he hath volun- 
 tarily taken our low place, and through the Eternal 
 Spirit offered himself a sacrifice without spot unto God, 
 to expiate our guilt, and declare the righteousness of 
 Gad, that he might be just, and yet the justified of 
 every one that believeth in Jesus; and having thus 
 provided for the pardon of our guilt by his death upon 
 the cross, he hath, by his word, taught us the will of 
 God concerning our duty and destiny; and, by the 
 promise of the Spirit to create us anew unto righteous- 
 ness and true holiness, he hath provided for subduing 
 our love of sin, and our disrelish for holy employments 
 and enjoyments, and filling our hearts anew with love 
 to God and delight in his service. Thus he is to sinners 
 the way, the truth, and the life, by which they come to 
 God, to know him and to desire and seek conformity 
 to him. By him and in him, they attain that knowledge 
 of the only true God, which is everlasting life. Behold- 
 ing, by the illumination of the Spirit of truth, the glory 
 of God, as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ, they 
 
352 SERMONS. 
 
 are transformed into the same image from glory to 
 glory. All true piety, all genuine devotion in fallen 
 man, has a near and intimate connexion with the Lord 
 Jesus, and is dependent on him. It is by his mediation, 
 that the devout soul aspires towards the blessed God ; 
 it thirsts for fuller and clearer discoveries of his glories, 
 as they shine with a mild effulgence in the person of 
 his incarnate Son ; it longs to attain that conformity to 
 him of which it sees in Jesus Christ the perfect model. 
 Thus it is by the grace of Christ, that the sinner sees 
 all the obstacles which his blindness, his guilt, and 
 his depravity had raised to shut him out from God, 
 taken away, and a fervent desire to know God, and to 
 be like him, implanted and cherished in his heart. 
 
 II. Let us now consider the excellence of this panting 
 of the soul after God, this vital principle of all genuine 
 piety. 
 
 In illustration of this, I remark first, it is a most en- 
 nobling principle ; it elevates and purifies the soul, and 
 produces in the character all that is lovely and of good 
 report. An ardent thirst for useful knowledge is 
 justly esteemed a noble trait of character. Such know- 
 ledge is the food of the mind, by which its faculties are 
 invigorated, the sphere of its observation and its opera- 
 tions enlarged, its sentiments are made liberal and 
 generous, and all its powers nurtured. Such is the 
 native tendency of the acquisition of knowledge in pro- 
 portion to the excellence of its objects, and of the 
 purposes to which it is applied. What then must be 
 the tendency of an inextinguishable thirst after the 
 knowledge of the all perfect and ever blessed God ; and 
 this, in order to imitate his imitable perfections, and 
 grow up into his likeness ! How powerfully must the 
 contemplation of infinite excellence, tend to expand 
 and invigorate the intellect, to purify and elevate the 
 
PANTING AFTER GOD. 353 
 
 affections, to cherish in the soul every generous and 
 noble sentiment, and to purge it from every sordid and 
 selfish passion, and redeem it from the power of every 
 degrading and unworthy principle and motive ! When 
 we see a youth diligently studying the recorded actions 
 and expressions of those great and good men whom 
 history presents as the benefactors of their species and 
 blessings to society, and animated by an ardent desire to 
 emulate their virtues, we esteem this a most auspicious 
 omen of future usefulness, excellence, and happiness; 
 and unless some disastrous influence blights these buds 
 of promise, we are not disappointed. Excellence of 
 every kind assimilates the mind that sees and loves it 
 to itself. How ennobling, then, must be the desire to 
 know the blessed God, as he is manifest in Christ Jesus ; 
 and to imitate his perfections, as they shone in him 
 who went about doing good ? How must the character 
 of the pious man rise and brighten in the view of all 
 superior intelligence, at each successful effort to know 
 more of God, and to be more like him? While the 
 spirit of true devotion glows in his bosom, how does it 
 raise him above the pollution and ruin of this fallen 
 world, and conduct him upward and onward towards 
 those bright abodes into which Heaven is gathering all 
 that is pure and lovely in the universe ! Oh ! my 
 brethren, there is, in the sentiments and the aims of true 
 piety, even in the humblest followers of Jesus, a real 
 sublimity and elevation, a genuine dignity and excel- 
 lence, that outshines all that has been nurtured by 
 earthly principles, in those whom men have applauded 
 and admired as the great and good ; as such, God 
 honors it, and will honor it, before an assembled uni- 
 verse, with the cordial approbation of all holy beings. 
 
 2d. I remark in illustration of the excellence of this 
 tendency of the devout soul towards God, that it is a 
 
354 SERMONS. 
 
 most active principle. All our activity is prompted by 
 the desire of attaining some object, which we place 
 before our minds as the reward of our exertions. If 
 the prospect of ultimately reaching the point at which 
 we aim be equally fair, those efforts will be strenuous 
 and incessant, in proportion to what is felt to be our 
 present distance from it, and the amount of exertion 
 requisite to reach it. If the mind feels secure of success 
 in its pursuits with very little effort, it will be compara- 
 tively sluggish and inactive. If, on the contrary, it 
 beholds the objects of its desires rising far above it, and 
 is conscious that it can hope to succeed in reaching it 
 only by tasking its powers to the utmost, and that suc- 
 cess will amply compensate every effort, it will make 
 corresponding exertions, unless it is discouraged by the 
 remote prospect of success, and its energies are paralysed 
 by despair. Apply these remarks to the subject before 
 us. The object of the devout soul is to attain the 
 knowledge and the likeness of the blessed God. From 
 a world groaning under the ruins of the apostasy, where 
 darkness, and pollution, and misery prevail, and death 
 reigns and triumphs over every living thing, the child 
 of God looks up to that glorious Being whose essence 
 pervades the universe, and whose perfections and bless- 
 edness are immense, unchanging, and eternal, and he 
 longs and. labors to know and resemble him. He 
 aspires after an unclouded vision of his glories and a 
 perfect conformity to his excellence and blessedness. 
 In aiming at attainments so sublime, he knows that he 
 does not lie open to the charge of folly or presumption, 
 for he beholds God manifest in Christ Jesus, reconciling 
 the world unto himself for the express purpose of raising 
 men to his own knowledge and likeness. He is assured 
 that he who spared not his own Son, but delivered him 
 up for us all, will also with him freely give us all things. 
 
PANTING AFTER GOD. 355 
 
 He has the promise of the Spirit to strengthen him with 
 all might in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in 
 his heart by faith, that being rooted and grounded in 
 love, he may know the love of God which passeth* 
 knowledge, and be filled with all the fulness of God. 
 He has given to him exceeding great and precious 
 promises, that by those he might be made a partaker of 
 the Divine nature. He is animated by the example of 
 a great multitude who have gone before him, esteeming 
 God's favor life, and his loving-kindness better than 
 life, and who have already attained the end of their 
 faith, in the immediate presence, the perfect likeness, 
 and full fruition of him they loved. In their circum- 
 stances, how many and powerful are the motives which 
 urge him to lay aside every weight and the sin that 
 doth most easily beset him, and to run with patience the 
 race set before him. How can he do otherwise than, 
 forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth 
 unto those which are before, press towards the mark for 
 the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
 Surely he will give all diligence to add to his faith 
 virtue, and knowledge, and temperance, and patience, 
 and brotherly kindness, and charity, that he may make 
 his calling and election sure^ and have ministered unto 
 him an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom 
 of his Lord and Eedeemer. 
 
 3d. This is a permanent and unfailing principle. The 
 principles which animate and sustain the men of the 
 world in their pursuits are mutable and transient as the 
 fashion of this world which passeth away. Pleasures, 
 riches, honors, all the objects of earthly ambition, glide 
 rapidly beyond the reach of their most ardent and suc- 
 cessful votaries. How wretched their condition who 
 have given their hearts to these, when the finger of 
 death closes all the avenues by which they have held 
 
356 8EKM0NS, 
 
 communion with them, and the passions they have nur- 
 tured, shut out from every gratification, are left to 
 prey upon the mind itself. But where the reigning 
 * principle of the soul is a desire to know and to resemble 
 the blessed God, the way is open not only for permanent 
 felicity, but for boundless and endless expansion and 
 improvement. Each changing scene of his earthly pil- 
 grimage affords the devout man opportunity of growing 
 in the knowledge and the likeness of God, and the 
 touch of death at which his material frame returns to 
 its native dust, does but release his Spirit from every 
 clog, that she may rise unincumbered to see him as he 
 is and know even as she is known. Who may describe 
 the emotions of the devout soul when every interposing 
 veil which separated her from the object of her affec- 
 tions is for ever withdrawn, and bearing his perfect 
 image, she draws nigh to God, and while all her ex- 
 panding powers are filled with his fulness, beholds 
 rising and brightening before her an endless career of 
 ever increasing knowledge, holiness, and joy. Surely 
 they are blessed whose desire is towards God ; who 
 long to know and love and be like him ; who can adopt 
 the language of the psalmist : " As the hart panteth 
 after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O 
 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." 
 
 From this subject we may learn what is not, and 
 what is, genuine piety. It is not a round of religious 
 duties however exact, nor is it zeal for any system of 
 religious doctrines however correct, nor is it any excite- 
 ment of the passions however rapturous or strong, nor 
 even the most exemplary obedience to the dictates of 
 justice and mercy in our intercourse with our fellow 
 men ; all these are indeed more or less intimately con- 
 nected with it. but they are connected with it as the 
 stream with its fountain ; as the fruit with the tree on 
 
PANTING AFTER GOD. 35*7 
 
 which, it grows ; as the language of sincerity with the 
 purpose and emotions which it expresses ; as effects in 
 the moral system with their causes. Piety is but 
 another term for godliness ; the habitual fervent aspira- 
 tion of the devout soul after the knowledge of the 
 blessed God, and a conformity to his will. It has its 
 seat in a mind enlightened by the Holy Ghost; it is a 
 spiritual discernment of his transcendent glory and ex- 
 cellence as they are manifest in Jesus Christ, and a 
 heart renewed by the same blessed agent, to find its joy 
 in his service, and to esteem his favor life and his loving 
 kindness better than life. It is sustained and animated 
 by those manifestations of himself which God makes to 
 such a soul while it waits upon him, and by the ex- 
 ceeding great and precious promises of his word. The 
 man of genuine piety loves his closet and the sanctuary, 
 and the fellowship of the saints, and all the means of 
 grace ; because in these God has promised to meet with 
 his people and grant them communion with himself; 
 and they are all so many avenues by which they draw 
 nigh to God. He is zealous for the truth, because in 
 this he sees the lineaments of the Divine character, and 
 by it he is transformed into the Divine likeness. He 
 mourns over his sins with ingenuous sorrow because 
 they are odious in the sight of God. and disqualify him 
 for his service and the enjoyment of communion with 
 him; he diligently discharges every duty to his fellow 
 men, because this is acceptable in the sight of God, and 
 he is merciful as his Father in Heaven is merciful, for- 
 bearing and forgiving in meekness and love, even as 
 God for Christ's sake forgiveth him. 
 
 "We may see in this subject that grace and glory are 
 intimately connected, and that as a life of piety is a 
 necessary preparation for the holy happiness of Heaven, 
 so that happiness is the natural consummation of such 
 
 16* 
 
358 SERMONS. 
 
 a life. The joy of the just made perfect springs essen- 
 tially from the knowledge of God and their delight in 
 his service. It is his presence, and the unclouded 
 manifestation of his glory that fills Heaven with holy 
 joy and wonder. The object of desire, the source of 
 joy to the child of God in this world, are preciselj T the 
 same. The difference between him and his brethren 
 who are made perfect in their Father's house, consists 
 not so much in the nature of those devout breathings 
 of the soul which are common to both, as in their com- 
 parative fervor and constancy ; and as he grows in 
 grace he approaches nearer and nearer to them. There 
 are in these psalms strains of devotion that bear no 
 unhappy resemblance to the songs of the ransomed of 
 the Lord in the Heavenly Zion, and the brightest pass- 
 ages in the believer's earthly pilgrimage, and the holiest 
 emotions of his soul, are near akin to those of his breth- 
 ren in the skies. They are indeed as the first fruits to 
 the fall harvest, as the earnest of the inheritance to its 
 complete possession, as the fore-taste to the eternal 
 banquet. The same sun sheds light and joy upon both, 
 though to the one his beams are like the dawning 
 morn, while on the other they pour cloudless and end- 
 less day ; and as we can scarcely discern a difference 
 between the light of the rising sun, and that of the 
 same glorious luminary when fully risen, so the closing 
 scene of the believer's earthly pilgrimage is often gilded 
 with celestial radiance, and the transition is brief and 
 £asy. 
 
SERMON XXL 
 
 THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL A MISSIONARY 
 PRINCIPLE. 
 
 " We also believe, and therefore speak" — 2 Cor. iv. 13. 
 
 The missionary zeal of the primitive Christians was 
 not romantic or extravagant ; it did not owe its origin 
 or its support to their peculiar circumstances ; it had no 
 necessary connexion with those miracles by which, at 
 its promulgation, the Gospel received the seal and stamp 
 of Divine authority. 
 
 In all their efforts to publish the Gospel, they did but 
 exemplify the truths which were spirit and life to their 
 own souls. " They believed, and therefore spake." This 
 is the simple explanation of that devotion to the cause 
 of missions which cheerfully forsook ease, wealth, kin- 
 dred, reputation, for the promotion of that cause ; count- 
 ed life itself cheap in comparison with it. They were 
 missionaries because they were Christians. 
 
 In the context Paul speaks of his toils, self-denials, 
 and sufferings, in the prosecution of his work as a mis- 
 sionary to the heathen. In the text he tells us why he 
 thus toiled, and denied himself, and suffered. It was 
 because he believed the Gospel he published ; his own 
 soul rested for salvation on that Saviour whose power 
 and grace he made known to others ; his missionary 
 zeal was an essential element of his spiritual life ; it 
 was identified with his very being as a sinner pardoned 
 and regenerated by the grace of Christ. To believe 
 with the heart unto righteousness, and with the tongue 
 
360 SERMONS, 
 
 to testify of Jesus and salvation to the perishing, seemed 
 to him to be so related that one could not exist in the 
 absence of the other. He was a missionary just because 
 he was a Christian. He believed, and therefore spake. 
 
 Have we received the same Gospel ? Do we build 
 on the same foundation our hopes of eternal life ? 
 That Gospel is missionary in its principles, in its spirit, 
 and in its object. That faith will not suffer us to be 
 silent ; if we believe we shall therefore speak. 
 
 Let us consider this topic — The missionary character 
 of saving faith ; or, the faith of the Gospel a mission- 
 ary principle. 
 
 Look, in illustration of it, at the great objects of faith, 
 the truths believed. 
 
 God, the eternal, uncreated fountain of being and 
 blessedness, infinite and unchangeable, supreme in 
 power, in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth! 
 
 Man, made in the image of God, endowed with capa- 
 cities to know him, to love him, to obey him, to enjoy 
 his favor, to show forth his praise, and under his ap- 
 proving smile make everlasting advances in know- 
 ledge, holiness, and bliss ; but fallen from his high es- 
 tate, an alien from his Maker's love, an outcast from his 
 fellowship! under the curse of a broken law! under 
 the bondage of selfish passions and appetites ; dark, 
 guilty, depraved, polluted, wretched ; filling up with 
 sins and sorrows a brief term of probation, and hasten- 
 ing to the grave — and the untried scenes that lie beyond 
 the grave — with no fitness for Heaven, and no hope of 
 a blessed immortality ! 
 
 Eedemption from the ruins of his apostasy, provided 
 at an infinite expense by the boundless compassion of 
 God, the Eternal Father not sparing his own Son, but 
 delivering him up for us all. The Eternal Son assum- 
 ing our nature, bearing our sins in his own body on the 
 
FAITH A MISSIONARY PRINCIPLE. 361 
 
 cross, rising from the dead to give assurance of his 
 power to save, and able to save to the uttermost all 
 them that came unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth 
 to make intercession for them ! 
 
 The Eternal Spirit bearing his appropriate part in 
 this work of mercy, accompanying the Gospel with his 
 life-giving power, renewing the pardoned sinner after 
 the image of Christ, and educating him for the service 
 of God on earth, and the holy joys of his presence in 
 eternity ! 
 
 These are the great outlines of that Gospel which 
 the Christian believes, and on which he relies, as the 
 hope of his soul ! 
 
 Under this economy of mercy God has put a fallen 
 world ; its provisions are ample for the salvation of all 
 men ; none are excluded from its invitations ; its calls 
 are to men of every clime, and age, and character, for 
 there is no difference ; all have sinned and come short 
 of the glory of God ; and the same Lord over all is 
 rich unto all that call upon him. 
 
 This Gospel so necessary for all men, so adapted to 
 the condition of all men, so ample for the salvation of 
 all men, he has committed to his people, not for them- 
 selves only, but as trustees for their perishing brethren, 
 with his express command, " Go ye into all the world, 
 and publish the good news to everj^ creature ;" and his 
 promise, " Lo ! I am with you always." 
 
 That sinful men may partake of this redemption 
 wrought out for them at such expense, they must call 
 ■upon the name of the Lord ; and " whosoever shall call 
 upon him shall be saved ;" but how shall they call 
 upon him in whom they have not believed? and how 
 shay they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? 
 and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how 
 
362 SERMONS. 
 
 shall they preach except they be sent (literally, mis- 
 sionaries) ? 
 
 By the agency of men must this redemption be im- 
 parted to their fellow men. God has appointed no 
 other means to make it known than the prayers and 
 the efforts of his people. a Ye are the light of the 
 world, ye are the salt of the earth." Pardoned sinners are 
 the selected almoners of Divine mercy to their fellow sin- 
 ners ; freely they have received, freely must they give ; 
 the hopes of a world are suspended on their fidelity 
 and diligence ; every one of them partakes in this fear- 
 ful responsibility ; from this high privilege not one is 
 excluded ; and the time for action is short. Soon the 
 lips that should tell of the love of Christ will be silent, 
 and the ears that should listen to the glad tidings sense- 
 less and cold ; and the hand that should minister to the 
 perishing powerless and motionless. Whatever the 
 Christian would do for the glory of his Redeemer in the 
 salvation of his fellow men must be quickly done. To 
 the grave, to the bar of the Supreme Judge, to the re- 
 tributions of eternity, he and all his contemporaries are 
 passing rapidly away ; each year as it passes bears with 
 it to eternity 25,000,000 out of the unevangelized world. 
 
 Xow I ask, can a man believe these things and not 
 speak of them ? Will not every feeling of common 
 humanity impel him to publish them ? Can he with- 
 hold from his fellow men information so vital to their 
 happiness ? When he looks abroad on a world perish- 
 ing in ignorance and sin, will he dare to suppress such a 
 message from Heaven ! When he hears the command of 
 Christ, " Go preach my Gospel to every creature; free- 
 ly ye have received, freely give," can he be silent? 
 How can he hope for any part in this salvation for him- 
 self, while he disobeys the command of God to make it 
 
FAITH A MISSIONARY PRINCIPLE. 363 
 
 known ? How dare he celebrate the death of Christ at 
 his table, if he is not doing what he can to publish it 
 to every creature ? Surely if we believe we shall there- 
 fore speak ; if we are Christians we shall be missiona- 
 ries ! Is it not so ? 
 
 But the faith of the Gospel is not merely an intelli- 
 gent conviction of these truths ; nor is it simply a specu- 
 lative assent to them. 
 
 It is more, far more ; with the heart man believeth 
 unto righteousness. The believer apprehends the ob- 
 jects of faith in their importance and excellence as well as 
 in their truth, and he evidently receives and approves 
 them in their application to himself and to others, and, 
 therefore, his faith is a missionary principle. If he thus 
 believes he must speak. 
 
 It is the definition of faith that to the truths believed 
 it gives a substantial and a present reality. To the be- 
 liever they are not matters of speculation, they are not 
 a theory, abstract and cold, however sublime and beau- 
 tiful ; nay, they are facts, palpable and weighty ; they 
 are realities, living and powerful ; they take hold of his 
 affections ; they move him and govern him as princi- 
 ples of action. The glory of God, the original dignity 
 and the present degradation and ruin of man, redemp- 
 tion by the expiatory death of the Son of God, applied 
 by the power of the Holy Ghost, received by a cordial 
 trust in the Redeemer, the power and glory of Christ, 
 the worth of the soul, the evil of sin, salvation or per- 
 dition awaiting each individual reception or rejection 
 of the Saviour, human agency as real, as important in 
 these momentous interests as in the every day transac- 
 tions of the life that now is, his own obligation and re- 
 sponsibility thus connected with the destiny of his fel- 
 low men, interwoven and inseparably bound up with 
 their everlasting happiness or misery, as God has com- 
 
S6i SERMONS. 
 
 mitted to him a message pregnant with their salvation 
 or perdition, — these weighty and solemn truths the be- 
 liever beholds and receives as substantial and present re- 
 alities ; he feels their power in their application to him- 
 self; he hides them in his heart; they are his princi- 
 ples of action, the living spring of his emotions, the 
 foundation of his hopes ; in their light he sees the life 
 that now is, and the life that is to come ; he looks 
 abroad upon the world ; he looks upward to his God 
 and Saviour; he looks onward to the last judgment, 
 and to the joys and sorrows of eternity. Thus his faith 
 is the substance of things hoped for, the demonstration 
 of things not seen. 
 
 Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speak- 
 eth. If these things fill the mind and heart of the be- 
 liever, can he forbear to speak of them to others? Can 
 he hold them in unrighteousness, and not publish them 
 to his fellow men ! How insignificant are all the earthly 
 fortunes of men compared with their ruin by sin, and 
 their redemption by the blood of Christ! How vain 
 all the joys and sorrows of the present life compared 
 with the bliss or the anguish of eternity ! Of how lit- 
 tle importance any influence or agency of the believer 
 that terminates on the shadows of earth and time, com- 
 pared with the diffusion of that knowledge of Christ by 
 which souls are rescued from the eternal bondage of sin, 
 and made heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ ! 
 How can the believer hesitate to make any sacrifice of 
 ease, or wealth, or earthly reputation, that the Gospel 
 may be published to those who have not heard the glad 
 tidings, when he realizes the worth of the soul, the price 
 paid for its redemption, and the blessedness and glory 
 that await the ransomed sinner in eternity ! How can 
 he prefer his own ease, or wealth, or reputation, to the 
 
FAITH A MISSIONARY PRINCIPLE. 365 
 
 eternal welfare of his fellow men, and the glory of 
 Christ in their salvation ! 
 
 All the great objects of faith are so many motives to 
 missionary efforts, motives of surpassing weight and 
 power ; and in proportion as the believer apprehends 
 them in their majesty and excellence, and appreciates 
 their bearings and relations, he feels that he must make 
 them known to others, that he must publish them, so far 
 as in him lies, to all ! He believes, and therefore speaks. 
 He is a missionary in spirit, and effort, and prayer, be- 
 cause he is a Christian. 
 
 And this objective power of faith, as a missionary 
 principle, coincides with the relations to the Saviour 
 and to his fellow men, into which the believer is brought 
 by faith, and the influence faith exerts on his character. 
 Eeceiving Christ as his Saviour, relying on him for sal- 
 vation, he becomes identified with the interests and the 
 power of Christ ; he lives no longer to himself, but to 
 him that died for him and rose again. The Spirit of 
 Christ dwells in him ; the love of Christ constrains 
 him; he receives of Christ's fulness; for him to live is 
 Christ. By faith he is brought into intimate union and 
 sympathy with Christ in those views, and feelings, and 
 purposes, which led him when he was rich for our sakes 
 to become poor, that we through his poverty might be 
 made rich, and for which he endured the cross, despis- 
 ing the shame, and is set down at the right hand of 
 God. 
 
 Was Christ a missionary ? Did he come from Hea- 
 ven to earth on an errand of love? Did he made infi- 
 nite sacrifice that he might preach the Gospel to the 
 poor, and submit to infinite self-denial and suffering for 
 the salvation of the lost? The believer, in proportion 
 as his faith is genuine and vigorous, has the same mind 
 that was in Christ, and walks as Christ also walked. 
 
366 SERMONS. 
 
 When he tastes the joy of pardoned sin, and feels the 
 tie of grateful love that binds his obedient heart to him 
 who has redeemed him by his blood, no impulse is more 
 powerful and universal than that which prompts him 
 
 to exclaim — 
 
 " Oh, that all might believe, 
 And salvation receive, 
 And their hope and their joy 
 Be the same." 
 
 His faith worketh by love ; love to his Saviour, in 
 whom, though now he sees him not, yet believing he 
 rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory ; love to 
 souls for whom Christ died ; love to that cause for 
 which Christ rose, and ever lives to intercede ; love to 
 that kingdom over which Christ reigns, and with whose 
 prosperity and ultimate universal triumph the honor, 
 the glory of God in the whole work of the redemption, 
 and the temporal and eternal happiness of men are for 
 ever bound up and identified. 
 
 Such is the subjective power of faith over the heart 
 and life ; and can he, who thus with the heart believes 
 unto righteousness, fail to speak of Jesus and salvation 
 to his fellow men ! Can he thus rob Christ of his glorj^, 
 and them of that salvation Christ purchased with his 
 blood ! Nay, if such should keep silent, methinks the 
 very stones would cry out. If we believe, we shall 
 therefore speak ; if we are Christians, we shall be mis- 
 sionaries ! Is it not so ? I speak as unto wise men ; 
 judge ye what I say. Thus faith wrought in those who 
 saw the glory of Christ when he dwelt among men : — 
 In Andrew, who, when he listened to his word, sought 
 his own brother Simon and said, " We have found the 
 Christ;" in the woman of Samaria, to whom he had no 
 sooner revealed himself at Jacob's well, than, leaving 
 
FAITH A MISSIONARY PRINCIPLE. 367 
 
 there her watering pot she went away into the city and 
 said, " Come see a man that told me all things that ever 
 I did ; is not this the Christ V in the deaf, and dumb, 
 and blind, who, when he had healed them, the more he 
 charged them not to make him known — so much the 
 more a great deal did they publish his power and grace. 
 Thus, pre-eminently, faith wrought in the primitive 
 church, after that Jesus, having commanded them to go 
 into all the world and publish his Gospel to every crea- 
 ture, had ascended to Heaven, and they had received 
 the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost, when Peter and John replied to the great coun- 
 cil of the nation, straightly threatening them, and com- 
 manding them to speak no more in his name : " We 
 cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard ;" 
 and when, afterwards, they had been beaten, and the 
 command repeated, they rejoiced that they were count- 
 ed worth to suffer shame for his name, and daily in the 
 temple and in every house ceased not to teach and to 
 preach Jesus Christ ; when by persecution scattered 
 abroad, the disciples went everywhere preaching the 
 word. Saul of Tarsus had no sooner received forgive- 
 ness than straightway in the synagogues he preached 
 Christ that he is the Son of God ; from the church in 
 Thessalonica, feeble and suffering persecution, the word 
 of the Lord sounded out through Macedonia and Achaia, 
 and the region round about ; and Christians at Philippi 
 shone as a light in the world, holding forth the word of 
 life ; and each church, planted amid the wastes of super- 
 stition and idolatry, was a fountain of living water, 
 gushing out in the desert, causing the wilderness and 
 the solitary place to be glad, and the desert to rejoice 
 and blossom as the rose. Thus it will be again if the 
 spirit of primitive piety returns once more to the 
 church, and a new Pentecost shall bring with it, upon 
 
368 SERMONS. 
 
 ministers and Christians, another baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost and of fire. 
 
 Thus faith wrought as a missionary principle in primi- 
 tive Christians; does it thus work in us? They be- 
 lieved and therefore spake! We believe the same 
 truths, and with the heart unto salvation — such is our 
 profession — do we therefore speak ? Here is a test of 
 character ; here a criterion of the genuineness of faith, 
 a measure of its strength. So much as there is of the 
 spirit and the work of missions in a denomination of 
 Christians, in a single church, in a Christian family, in 
 an individual believer, so much is there of that living 
 faith which unites the soul to Christ, and receives 
 eternal life as the gift of God in him. If our faith 
 does not impel us to prayer and effort for the diffusion 
 of the Gospel where Christ is not known, assuredly we 
 have embraced another gospel than that in which primi- 
 tive believers rejoiced, or we hold the truth in unright- 
 eousness, and have need that one teach us again which 
 be the first principles. 
 
 See what is needed to call forth the resources of the 
 church for the publication of the Gospel through the 
 world. There is no lack of motives to enlist in this 
 work the hearts and hands of all who love the Saviour, 
 and to hold them to it in an earnest, persevering deter- 
 mination that the utmost power of prayer and effort 
 shall be put forth to publish salvation in every language 
 and to every family on earth, ere the present generation 
 passes into eternity. The Providence of God has re- 
 moved obstacles, broken down opposition, multiplied 
 means and facilities, so that an open door is set before 
 us to publish the glad tidings to the ends of the earth. 
 In many lands the Holy Spirit seems to have antici- 
 pated our obedience to the commands of Christ, wak- 
 ing up expectation of change and inquiry after truth 
 
FAITH A MISSIONARY PRINCIPLE. 369 
 
 among nations spell-bound for ages. What then is 
 wanting? Faith! faith! But alas! shall our unbelief 
 render commands and promises of none effect? shall it 
 harden the hearts of Christians against the love of 
 Christ, who laid down his life for the world's redemp- 
 tion ? Do we believe that the heathen are perishing ? 
 that beside the name of Jesus there is no other under 
 Heaven, given unto men, whereby a sinner can be 
 saved ; that his Gospel, attended by the Holy Ghost, 
 is the power of God unto salvation everywhere and al- 
 ways ; and do we believe that nothing is now wanting 
 but the prayers and efforts of those who love the Gos- 
 pel, so to spread and multiply its triumphs, that wher- 
 ever sin now reigneth unto death, grace shall reign 
 through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ 
 our lord. Do you thus believe ? Then speak. 
 
SERMON XXII. 
 THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 
 
 "None of us liveth unto himself." — Romans xiv. 7. 
 
 Selfishness reigns in our fallen world. Unrenewed 
 men seek their own ; they live unto themselves, not for 
 the good of their fellow men. To this supreme selfish- 
 ness, Christianity is the perfect counterpart. Its motto 
 is glory to God in the highest, good will towards men ; 
 its first lesson, deny thyself ; its general object to write 
 upon every heart the law of love. In its great Author 
 it exhibits the perfect model of self-denying love ; it 
 enjoins sympathy with him, and a willing conformity 
 to his example as the test of our interest in him, and 
 the expression of our gratitude for his love to us. "If 
 any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his." 
 
 With supreme selfishness the gospel makes no terms ; 
 it admits no compromise ; it requires for God the whole 
 heart, the whole man. And this not for a season only, 
 but for ever ; not merely in sentiment and theory, but 
 to be embodied and set forth in our daily plans, aims, 
 and actions : " Ye are not your own ; ye are bought 
 with a price ; therefore glorify God in your bodies and 
 with your spirits which are his/' " None of us," saith 
 the apostle, "liveth to himself; for whether we live 
 we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die unto 
 the Lord ; whether therefore we live or die we are the 
 Lord's." 
 
 On the other hand, he whose supreme desire and 
 ruling purpose it is, to please and honor Christ, who 
 
THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 3ll 
 
 forms his plans, shapes his pursuits, governs his own 
 spirit, and regulates all his concerns, in subordination 
 to this as the great end of life, liveth not unto himself. 
 Whatever may be his situation, whether the means he 
 possesses or the influence he exerts, are great or small, 
 he liveth unto the Lord ; he hath the mind of Christ ; 
 Christ is in him, the hope of glory ; and when Christ 
 who is his life shall appear, then shall he also appear 
 with him in glory. 
 
 See here, my brethren, the principle which divides 
 the world into two parties. Behold the separating line 
 on whose opposite sides men now stand, and will stand 
 at the judgment seat of Christ. Mark the grand dis- 
 tinction which will endure, when death's cold wave 
 obliterates all the titles men have written on the sands 
 of time — the unerring test by which each of you may 
 know to-day whether you are righteous or wicked, a 
 friend or an enemy of God, an heir of Heaven, or a son 
 of perdition. The question is not whether you profess 
 religion, whether you stand fair among your fellows, 
 whether your way seemeth right in your own eyes ; but 
 the question is, what do you aim at ? What object do 
 you habitually pursue? What is, day by day, your 
 ruling purpose? Do you live unto yourself? Then 
 you cannot be a Christian ; for no Christian liveth to 
 himself. Do you deny yourself, and live unto him who 
 died for you and rose again ? Do you desire to please 
 him and seek to honor him as the great business of life ? 
 This is Christianity, and you are a Christian, a child of 
 God, an heir of glory ! 
 
 Admit now, that it is your deliberate choice, and your 
 fixed intelligent purpose, to live unto the Lord : let us 
 examine the practical operation of this principle : what 
 will be its influence on your conduct ? — how will you 
 act it out from day to day ? 
 
3*72 SERMONS. 
 
 No doubt you will walk in Christ's steps ; you will 
 imitate Christ's example ; you will labor, and pray, and 
 deny yourself to promote the same ends for which 
 Christ laid aside his glory, endured the contradiction of 
 sinners, toiled and laid down his life. 
 
 But he came into the world to seek and to save the 
 lost! He was lifted up on the cross that he might 
 draw all men unto him. The great object for which he 
 lived, what was it ? The glory of God in the salvation 
 of men. And this he sought by what means ? — By the 
 influence of a holy example, by unwearied diligence in 
 making known the Gospel, and by fervent, unceasing 
 prayer. 
 
 Here, then, is the end for which you will live ; here 
 the work in which you will labor if you live unto 
 Christ, that you may promote the glory of God in the 
 present and eternal good of your fellow men ! And 
 here are the specific means by which you will seek to 
 accomplish this great end for which you live, by diffus- 
 ing around you the light and power of a holy example, 
 by diligent self-denying efforts to make known the sav- 
 ing truths of the Gospel to those who know them not, 
 and by fervent prayer for the abundant influences of 
 the Holy Spirit, to make the Gospel the power of God 
 unto salvation. 
 
 This object you will place distinctly before your mind, 
 and hold it there as the mark at which you aim ; in your 
 closet, in your family, in the social circle, in your daily 
 business, in every sphere of duty or privilege where 
 the Lord calls you to serve him, you will plan and labor 
 for this end, just as the covetous man plans and toils 
 for wealth, the ambitious man for power and honor, the 
 votary of pleasure for sensual indulgence, the student 
 for literary fame, or the worldly-minded physician or 
 lawyer for professional eminence and emolument. So 
 
THE MISSIONARY BriRIT. 3*73 
 
 if you live unto the Lord you will do all you can that 
 the Gospel of Christ may be made known to all men as 
 speedily as possible, and everywhere may be the power 
 of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation. 
 
 This great principle will lead you to prayer, effort, 
 and self-denial, that you may be holy in all manner of 
 conversation, being filled with the Spirit of Christ, hav- 
 ing his word dwelling in you richly in all wisdom, that 
 you may be furnished to every good work, let your 
 light shine, and be an epistle of Christ, known and read 
 of all men. 
 
 Then it will lead you to labor and pray, first for the 
 salvation of your children and the members of your 
 own family, over whom God has given you an influence 
 he has given to no one else, and whose eternal happi- 
 ness depends more upon your agency than on that of 
 any other person. 
 
 Then it will lead you to seek the holiness, usefulness, 
 and comfort of believers, and the salvation of sinners 
 all around you, as far as you can exert a direct personal 
 influence. It will prompt to personal effort for the 
 salvation of men in the Sabbath School, the tract dis- 
 tribution, and by faithful, affectionate exhortation to 
 neighbors and friends. 
 
 But is this all ? Will your love to him who redeemed 
 you with his own blood, and your sympathy with him 
 in his zeal for God, and his compassion for dying men 
 — will they allow you to stop here? Will they not 
 bear you forth in your desires, and prayers, and efforts, 
 beyond your own family, or neighborhood, or country ? 
 You look upon men everywhere as your brethren, par- 
 takers of the same nature, involved in the same sad 
 and guilty apostasy from God, heirs of the same im- 
 mortal being, passing on with you to the judgment seat 
 of the holy God, and the righteous retributions of eter- 
 
 17 
 
374 SERMONS. 
 
 nity. You look abroad, and behold the whole world 
 lying in wickedness : its apostate population groaning 
 beneath the curse, living and dying under the weighty 
 power of superstition, error, and sin. You know that 
 Jesus Christ is able and willing to save unto the utter- 
 most all that come unto God by him ; and that there 
 is no salvation in any other. You know that he has 
 commanded his people to publish his gospel to every 
 creature, and promised in this work to be with them 
 always, and, by pouring out his Spirit upon all flesh, to 
 restore the ruins of the fall, and make the wilderness as 
 Eden, and the desert as the garden of the Lord ! Surely 
 then, if you have the Spirit of Christ, if you live unto 
 him who died for you, you will labor for the salvation 
 of men everywhere. 
 
 "We believe," said the apostle, "and therefore 
 speak ;" and he who believes these weighty, soul-stirring 
 truths must speak ; he cannot keep silent. Your zeal 
 and compassion will not be confined by any limits less 
 extensive than the ravages of sin ; nor will your be- 
 nevolence be more circumscribed than the provisions 
 and promises of the gospel. You will live for the con- 
 version of the world. You will do all you can to send 
 the gospel, as soon as possible, to every creature ; and 
 that it may go everywhere in the demonstration of the 
 spirit and of power. Nor will you cease from solici- 
 tude, prayer, and effort, while there remains one dark 
 region of the globe unblessed by the light of life, or one 
 barbarous tongue in which the story of redeeming love 
 has not been told, or one habitation of man from which 
 no song of praise to the Lamb that was slain has ever 
 gone up to Heaven. 
 
 It may be your duty to leave all that is familiar and 
 precious in your native land, and go forth in person, to 
 tell of Jesus and salvation through his blood to besotted 
 
THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 375 
 
 and perishing idolaters. If so, this principle will con- 
 strain you, as it did the followers of Christ in primitive 
 times, to leave all at his command, and for his name's 
 sake to go forth among the Gentiles, not counting your 
 life dear unto yourself, if you may finish your course 
 with joy. 
 
 But if you are not called thus to consecrate yourself 
 to the toils and perils of a foreign mission, you will not 
 on that account be less truly or less earnestly engaged 
 in laboring for the world's conversion. The spirit of 
 missions is one and the same in the messengers who go 
 out, and in the churches that send them forth, and by 
 whose prayers and contributions they are sustained. 
 There is as fair an opportunity and as urgent a call to 
 live unto Christ for the world's conversion, in the 
 churches at home, as in the missionary stations among 
 the heathen. Self-denial and sacrifices for this object 
 are as truly needed, on our part, as on that of our breth- 
 ren. Nay, at this time, the most obvious defect in the 
 whole system of means, for spreading the gospel through 
 the world, is in the churches at home. Here is the 
 point of severe pressure at this hour. The work abroad 
 languishes because Christians at home do not sustain it 
 by their contributions and their prayers. Laborers who 
 are ready to go, and whose services seem indispensable 
 in fields white to the harvest, are now detained ; and it 
 is necessary to curtail the means of usefulness of those 
 already abroad, and to leave ungathered the ripened 
 fruits of past labors, for want of funds. 
 
 And who can say how far the worldliness, and con- 
 tention, and restraining of prayer for this cause, so 
 prevalent in the churches, shuts the windows of Heaven, 
 and prevents those showers of blessing, which, if we did 
 but ask for them in a true missionary spirit, would de- 
 
3*76 SERMONS. 
 
 scend upon the desert and the solitary place, causing 
 them to bud and blossom as the rose. 
 
 We cannot expect great prosperity at our missions 
 abroad, until there is far more of self-denying love and 
 prayerful zeal in the churches at home. For it is the 
 purpose of Christ not merely to save the world by the 
 agency of his people, but to do it in such a way as shall 
 most signally purify and bless his church. He has 
 made redeemed sinners the almoners of his saving 
 mercy to their fellow sinners, that he may thus draw 
 them into more intimate union and communion with 
 himself, teach them to enter into his plans, to sympa- 
 thize in his purposes, to breathe his Spirit, and to walk 
 in his footsteps, till they are made perfect in his like- 
 ness, and meet to dwell in his presence, to behold and 
 share his glory, and show forth his praise. For this 
 reason his revealed plan calls for all the energies of his 
 people in this work. He has something for every one 
 to do. He invites the feeblest and humblest of those 
 whom he has redeemed with his blood, and made them 
 kings and priests unto God, to. be co-workers with him 
 in this enterprise, which involves the glory of Grod, the 
 best interest of the universe, and the consummation of 
 the purposes of everlasting love and mercy. 
 
 Yes, fellow disciple, you may live unto him who died 
 for you, in helping on the very work for which he died, 
 however humble your powers, or the sphere in which 
 you move. For the world's conversion you may labor 
 acceptably and usefully every day in your closet, and 
 in your family, in the circle of your acquaintances and 
 friends, and in the diligent pursuit of your lawful 
 calling, be it in the counting-house, or the market, or 
 the work-shop, or on your farm, or in the domestic cir- 
 cle, or while you ply your needle or your pen. Your 
 
THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 377 
 
 influence may be felt like the dew of Heaven, among 
 the millions of idolatrous Asia, or the benighted tribes 
 of dark and deeply injured Africa, or the far distant 
 isles of the sea. Your circumstances cannot excuse 
 you from bearing a part in the blessed work. I know 
 an aged widow in humble circumstances, whose health 
 is infirm, a member of one of the largest churches, who 
 does more, and has done more for years, than any other 
 member in the same church. 
 
 God will hear you when, like Simeon or Anna of old, 
 you wait for the consolation of Israel, pouring out your 
 heart unto him in unceasing prayer. He will accept 
 you, when you consecrate to him, for the promotion of 
 his cause, the fruits of diligence, economy, and self- 
 denial. He will smile upon you, when with a heart 
 full of love to him, and faith in his promises, you lay 
 upon his altar your gift, the fruit and expression of 
 that love, though it be small. He will bless you when, 
 sweetly constrained by his love in redeeming your soul 
 from death, your eyes from tears, and your feet from 
 falling, you write upon your time, your talents, your 
 property, your influence, all that he has intrusted to 
 you : " Holiness to Jehovah ! dedicated to him who 
 redeemed me by his blood, for the honor of his name, 
 in the salvation of the world !" 
 
 In many instances, in our own day, the spirit of mis- 
 sions has shone as brightly in those who have lived 
 unto Christ for this work at home, as in those who 
 have toiled and died among the heathen. The names 
 of Goodell, and Bissel, and Evarts stand registered on 
 high, with those of Hall, and Martyn, and Fisk, as ser- 
 vants of Christ and benefactors of mankind. And 
 when the world's redemption is complete, and the pur- 
 poses of Divine mercy are consummated, they will 
 rejoice together in the blessed result; and sweetly 
 
SlS SERMONS. 
 
 mingle their thanksgiving to him who permitted them 
 to be fellow laborers in it. And the hour which shall 
 witness the full power and prevalence of the missionary 
 spirit in the church at home will not long precede those 
 predicted triumphs of redeeming love that usher in 
 the grand jubilee of the universe. 
 
 From this subject we learn, first, the spirit of missions 
 is the genius of Christianity. It is not something in its 
 nature rare and extraordinary, having an arbitrary and 
 incidental connexion with true piety, or created and 
 cherished in the hearts of a few, by some uncommon 
 operation of the Holy Ghost. No, my brethren ; it is 
 the genuine impression of those great truths which the 
 Spirit of God always employs when he renews a sinner 
 after the image of Christ; the proper fruit of those 
 Divine influences without which no man ever called 
 Jesus the Lord, in sincerity and truth ; the spontaneous 
 expression of that unreserved submission to Christ, and 
 that affectionate self-consecration to him, which denote 
 a sinner's acceptance of redemption through his blood ; 
 the first fruits of that holy love in which the justified 
 believer begins to sympathize with that loving Saviour 
 who is his life. Zeal for the honor of God, and com- 
 passion for the souls of men, dwell in that heart on 
 which the Holy Ghost hath written in living characters 
 the great law of love. And if they are not perverted 
 by error, or chilled by covetousness, or paralysed by 
 sloth and unbelief, they will go forth to save that which 
 is lost; they will respond to the command, " Go preach 
 the gospel to every creature," in prayers, and efforts, and 
 sacrifices, to publish far and wide the glad tidings of 
 great joy. Never did a pardoned sinner so taste the 
 joys of salvation, as to sing with the spirit and the 
 understandin g, — 
 
 "How happy are they, who the Saviour obey," 
 
THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 379 
 
 that lie did not add with a glowing heart — 
 
 " Oh, that all might believe, 
 
 And salvation receive, 
 
 And their hope and their joy be the same." 
 
 Again, it is the duty of all Christians to cultivate a 
 missionary spirit. Just as it is the duty of all Chris- 
 tians to grow in grace ; to become more and more like 
 Christ ; to increase and abound in love to God, to 
 one another, and to all men ; to cherish the temper of 
 Heaven, put on its lineaments, and ripen for its society 
 and its joys : just so it is their duty to cultivate a mis- 
 sionary spirit ; for these are not different things, but one 
 and the same. Christianity is in its very nature active, 
 germinant, growing, expansive. In its relations to 
 communities and to mankind, as well as in its relations 
 to individuals, it is like the mustard seed, full of vitality, 
 growing, active ; like leaven, penetrating, diffusive, 
 assimilating ; like the stone cut out without hands, 
 which became a great mountain and filled the whole 
 earth. 
 
 The work of missions is not the work of the Board, 
 or of a particular society ; but of the whole church. 
 The cause I plead to-day, brethren, is not my cause, but 
 yours ; the cause of your Lord and Master, and of all 
 who love him. Jesus Christ calls all his people to 
 cooperate with him in the blessed work for which he 
 died, and rose, and reigns. By his authority and his 
 love, he has bound upon all hearts the obligation to 
 preach his gospel to every creature. Obedience is 
 essential to spiritual prosperity. The primitive church 
 felt this, and acted accordingly. It was poor, despised, 
 persecuted ; yet it was a great missionary society, where 
 each member esteemed it a duty and a privilege to do 
 all in his power to impart to all men the salvation in 
 
380 SERMONS. 
 
 which he rejoiced. While this spirit lived and reigned 
 in her members, the church shone in the beauty of holi- 
 ness. Converts were multiplied as the drops of morning 
 dew. No weapon formed against her could prosper. 
 In the face of opposition, she went forward to the con- 
 quest of the world with inexpressible energy and signal 
 success. But ere long, pride and contention, world- 
 liness and sloth crept in. The spirit of missions was 
 lost, and a thousand years of darkness and spiritual 
 desolation ensued. Thus it has ever been, thus it will 
 be. Whenever the whole church is imbued with this 
 spirit, and enters fully into this work, she will look 
 forth, fair as the moon, clear as the sun. Her walls 
 will be salvation, and her gates praise. The final tri- 
 umphs of redeeming mercy will not then long be de- 
 layed. Soon will voices be heard in Heaven, proclaim- 
 ing, "The kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
 doms of our Lord and of his Christ." 
 
 Let every Christian then cultivate a missionary spirit 
 in his own heart, and do all he can to promote the same 
 spirit in his fellow Christians. Do this by obtaining 
 and diffusing information on missions ; by secret and 
 social prayer for the perishing heathen, and for those 
 who have gone to testify among them of Jesus and sal- 
 vation ; specially by a devout and regular attendance 
 upon the monthly concert of prayer for missions ; by 
 an example of cheerful and self-denying devotedness to 
 this cause. In this work, you know not how much 
 you may do by the blessing of God on your self-deny- 
 ing, prayerful labors. And no honest effort made for 
 this cause, can be lost, either as to its influence in 
 helping onward the grand result, or its gracious reward 
 in the great day of the Lord's coming. 
 
 Finally, how great the blessedness of living unto 
 Christ, in the great work of spreading his gospel through 
 
THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 381 
 
 the world. The Christian whose heart is fixed upon 
 this as the great business of life, is lifted above selfish 
 and temporary pursuits, interests, and vexations. The 
 glory of God, the love of Christ, the welfare of the 
 undying soul, the realities of eternity, fill his mind and 
 heart. He has fellowship with his exalted Lord, in the 
 very purpose for which he reigns. He cooperates with 
 the Eternal Spirit in those exhibitions of power, and 
 wisdom, and mercy, which fill Heaven with everlasting 
 praise. He walks with God, who so loved the world 
 that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth on him, might not perish, but have everlasting 
 life ; and who will have all men come unto him. How 
 ennobling such employment, how honorable, how sanc- 
 tifying, how full of the assurance and the foretaste of 
 Heaven ! And then how great a good is secured by 
 every successful effort in spreading the gospel through 
 the world. Thus the world shall be converted to God. 
 And to convert one sinner from the error of his way — 
 what is it ? To save a soul from death ! an immortal 
 soul ! Who can compute its worth ? Who can measure 
 its joys as it pursues its boundless, endless career from 
 glory to glory, and bliss to bliss. A deathless mind, 
 rescued from ruin and raised to Heaven by God's bless- 
 ing on your efforts, and in answer to your prayers ! 
 What bosom does not swell with emotion at the thought ! 
 What child of God does not bless his Heavenly Father 
 who calls him to such a work ? What self-denial, or 
 sacrifice, or suffering, deserves to be so much as named 
 in the comparison ? An hour is coming, when to have 
 been the honored instrument of such a work, to meet 
 before the eternal throne a fellow immortal, redeemed 
 through our humble agency from the dark debasing 
 bondage of superstition and error, and made perfect in 
 the Saviour's likeness, will be a source of purer joy, 
 
 17* 
 
382 SERMONS. 
 
 and of livelier gratitude to God, than if he had given 
 us all the wealth and honors of the world, without 
 calling us to such a work ! Lord, teach us to know 
 our heavenly calling, and breathe into us its true 
 spirit ! 
 
SEBMON XXin * 
 THE GOSPEL TRIUMPHANT. 
 
 " For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as tha 
 waters cover the sea." — Isaiah xi. 9. 
 
 If the waters of the ocean were suddenly drained, and 
 the channels of the great deep laid bare, a rugged, un- 
 seemly spectacle would meet the eye. The elements of 
 sublimity and beauty might then be seen, but strangely 
 disfigured, and blended in rude chaotic masses; pro- 
 found valleys and dark ravines, the pathways of the 
 monsters of the deep ; gloomy caverns, never visited 
 by the light of day ; towering mountains, abrupt head- 
 lands, and precipitous rocks, the cause of many disas- 
 ters to the adventurous seaman ; would form an un- 
 couth, repulsive scene. 
 
 All these are hidden now by a veil which the Al- 
 mighty has thrown over them ; he has covered them 
 with a fluid, bright, transparent, elastic, filling all the 
 depths, smoothing all the asperities, reducing mountains 
 and valleys to one level, and spreading from the equa- 
 tor to the poles, ever in motion, ever obedient to his 
 will, whether he bids its mountain billows utter his 
 
 * This was the last sermon preached by this devoted servant of 
 Christ. It was marvellously preserved amid the raging of the elements, 
 saturated by water, but left entirely legible, a solemn message to the 
 church. Those who heard it in Newark two weeks previous to his 
 death, will remember the tender earnestness with which it was deli- 
 vered. One remarked, " he is ripening for Heaven." In Sixth Street 
 Church, New York, where he often attended social meetings for prayer , 
 the feeling was that Dr. Armstrong was doing his last work. 
 
384 SERMONS. 
 
 praise in awful tones, or its unruffled surface reflect his 
 glories to the tranquil heavens bending over it. 
 
 Like the dark, rude bed of ocean, emptied of its 
 waters, has been the moral aspect of our world in all 
 ages and countries since the fall. If we look abroad 
 over the nations to-day, what disorder, misery, and ruin, 
 meet the eye and pain the heart ! 
 
 But the text speaks of a blessed change to be realiz- 
 ed ere long : of a coming day, when the earth shall be 
 fall of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover 
 the sea. In the preceding context, the prophetic pencil 
 delineates a revolution, thorough, universal, permanent, 
 and most benign ; the selfish passions and lawless appe- 
 tites that have convulsed society for sixty centuries, are 
 calmed and subdued ; violence and fraud, rapacity and 
 cruelty, prevail no more ; no more do the strong prey 
 upon the weak, nor the crafty plot for the ruin of the 
 simple ; innocence, and peace, and mutual confidence 
 reign ; the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the 
 leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf, and 
 the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little 
 child shall lead them ; and the cow and the bear shall 
 feed, their young ones shall lie down together ; and the 
 lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the suckling child 
 shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child 
 shall put his hand on the adder's den, and they shall 
 not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the 
 earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the 
 waters cover the sea ! 
 
 Behold, my hearers, the cause of this marvellous trans- 
 formation ! Consider the means by which this blessed 
 change will be commenced, and carried on, and com- 
 pleted : by the knowledge of himself everywhere 
 spread abroad, and filling the whole earth, as the 
 waters cover the sea, so will he who sitteth on the 
 
THE GOSPEL TRIUMPHANT. 385 
 
 throne subdue, and purify, and renovate a fallen world, 
 till he hath made all things new. 
 
 All knowledge is valuable ; to be without it is not 
 good. Shut up in ignorance, the spirit pines and fam- 
 ishes ; error and falsehood are mental poison, working 
 death ; all knowledge is from God, and leads to God ; 
 he made the objects of knowledge; he adjusts and 
 governs their relations; he gave the mind its power to 
 know, he sustains its activity, he kindles its quenchless 
 thirst ; the universe he has made is radiant with glory, 
 and vocal in his praise to all holy intelligence. 
 
 Not so to fallen man ; he likes not to retain God in his 
 knowledge, and his foolish heart is darkened ; absorbed 
 in sense, blinded by sin, he sees not God in all the beau- 
 ties of creation, nor hears his voice in all its harmonies. 
 Not from Nature's volume does the knowledge of the 
 Lord shine on this dark world with enlightening, saving 
 power ; nay, it must beam upon man from the page of 
 revelation ; he must behold the glory of God as a sove- 
 reign and a judge, a just God and a Saviour, shining in 
 the face of Jesus Christ ; he must learn his holiness and 
 grace, his truth and love, as God has made them radi- 
 ant in the cross, resplendent in the plan of salvation, 
 through the atoning blood of Christ, and by the renew- 
 ing power of the Holy Ghost. This is the knowledge 
 of the Lord of which the text declares, it shall fill the 
 earth, breaking up the old bondage of sin and error, 
 bringing in the reign of truth, and purity, and love. 
 This is life eternal, that they might know the only true 
 God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. The 
 knowledge of the Lord, in his pardoning mercy, in his 
 sanctifying grace, in his covenant faithfulness and love 
 — of God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself 
 — by his Gospel abolishing death, and bringing life and 
 immortality to light ; of God as a friend, a father, a re- 
 
386 SERMONS. 
 
 fuge in adversity and sorrow, a satisfying, eternal por- 
 tion ! 
 
 Fill the earth with this knowledge, and at once you 
 shut out all false religion, and all irreligion ; idolatry 
 with its dark and bloody rites ; superstition and fanati- 
 cism, with their empty forms and vain austerities, degrad- 
 ing the soul and kindling the fires of intolerance and bi- 
 gotry ; every form, indeed, of superstition, infidelity, and 
 atheism. No place can be found for these in a world 
 that is full of the knowledge of the Lord. The millions 
 that bow down to images of Boodh, or adore the count- 
 less gods of Brahma 4 or mutter charms to obscene and 
 cruel fetishes, or grope in Mohammedan delusion, or in 
 the dim twilight of a corrupt Christianity, follow the 
 traditions of men, and trust in priestly absolution, shall 
 then walk in the light of the Lord ; they shall know 
 the truth, and the truth shall make them free. 
 
 Just imagine every dark shade of religious error dis- 
 pelled and driven out of the world by the universal 
 prevalence of the knowledge of the living and true God, 
 and how changed would be the condition of men ! what 
 a load of imposture, oppression, and suffering, would be 
 at once thrown off ! from what depths of intellectual and 
 moral degradation would man emerge ! what incentives 
 to appetite and passion would be for ever quenched ! 
 what fountains of suffering and sorrow for ever dried up ! 
 
 But the knowledge of the Lord does not merely dis- 
 pel the shades of night, and chase away the phantoms 
 of guilt and fear that haunt the region of darkness and 
 the shadow of death ! It does more, far more. By this 
 knowledge the Divine Spirit puts forth his renewing 
 and cleansing powers upon the heart, and the sinner is 
 created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works ; sanctify 
 them by the truth, thy word is truth ; the law of the 
 Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; fill the' earth with 
 
THE GOSPEL TRIUMPHANT. 387 
 
 the knowledge of the Lord ; and you teach men to love 
 God, and to love one another. By this knowledge the 
 enmity of the heart is slain ; man is reconciled to God ; 
 he has peace of conscience ; he is at peace with his fel- 
 low man ; the love of Christ constrains him, and he 
 lives not unto himself; he seeks not his own; he is 
 taught to dwell in love, forbearing and forgiving, if any 
 man has a quarrel against any, even as God for Christ's 
 sake hath forgiven him. Let this knowledge fill the 
 earth ; let men everywhere receive it in the love of it, 
 and its pure and peaceful influences will pervade and 
 hallow all the relations of society ; they will inform 
 and animate all systems of government, and all modes 
 of administration ; they will bind communities and na- 
 tions to each other in perpetual friendship, and unite 
 and cement in one great lasting brotherhood, the whole 
 family of man ! Then shall they beat their swords into 
 ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks ; and 
 the nations shall learn war no more. War, the science 
 of devastation and murder, which in all ages has ab- 
 sorbed such an amount of talent, and wealth, and labor, 
 shall be obsolete and forgotten. The clanking of fet- 
 ters, and the groans of the oppressed, shall be heard 
 no more, for there shall be none to hurt nor to destroy. 
 Exhausting toil, and pining want, and squalid poverty, 
 shall cease, for labor shall have its reward, and the 
 earth yield her increase, and God, even our own God, 
 shall bless us : God shall bless us, and all the ends of 
 the earth shall fear him. 
 
 Such fruits the knowledge of the Lord has yielded 
 in our own day ! such influences the Gospel has put 
 forth, and is now putting forth, on tribes of dark, de- 
 graded men ; partially, I admit, and on a limited scale ; 
 yet upon portions of the human family as abject and 
 wretched as any other, and just in proportion as that 
 
SERMONS. 
 
 knowledge has flown in upon tliem. Look, for illustra- 
 tion, at the stupid G reenlanders and Esquimaux of the 
 polar regions ; roused from their torpor, emerging from 
 filth and wretchedness, they from habits of industry 
 and forecast, acquire a taste for social comforts, and re- 
 joice in the hope of Heaven. Look at the roaming 
 savages of South Africa, now gathered into villages, 
 cultivating their lands, cherishing the arts, making the 
 desert smile, rejoicing in the endearments of domestic 
 life, and in the anticipation of eternal bliss; see the 
 bloodthirsty cannibal of New Zealand converting his 
 weapons of war into implements of husbandry, learn- 
 ing of the meek and lowly Saviour to love his enemies, 
 and training up in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord the children he was wont to dedicate at Moloch's 
 shrine, an*d to familiarize from infancy to deeds of vio- 
 lence and blood. The knowledge of the Lord has im- 
 parted new life to the torpid mind, taught the sensual, 
 down-trodden soul to pant after immortality, and tamed 
 the vindictive, tiger-like spirit. 
 
 Or select an individual, as an example of the change 
 wrought in man by the knowledge of the Lord. All 
 who are familiar with the history of missions in South- 
 ern Africa, have heard of Christian Africaner. In his 
 youth the chief of a Hottentot clan, then a slave to a 
 border colonist, goaded to madness by oppression, he 
 murdered his master, and fled into the interior ; there 
 he became the leader of a band of robbers and murder- 
 ers, and for years the scourge of the frontiers and the 
 terror of Southern Africa ; a price was set upon his 
 head, and company after company sought in vain to 
 hunt him down. At length an intrepid missionary 
 penetrated to his Kraal in the desert, bearing the mes- 
 sage of Heavenly mercy. As that youthful servant of 
 Christ sought the murderer's hiding place, he was looked 
 
THE GOSPEL TRIUMPHANT. 389 
 
 upon as one devoted to death, and warned not to ven- 
 ture into the tiger's den. But the love of Christ con- 
 strained him, and he went onward ; he found that wild 
 savage man ; he spoke to him of the love of God in 
 giving his Son to die for sinners, and the compassion of 
 Jesus in giving his life a ransom for the lost. Soon his 
 attention was arrested ; light dawned on his dark mind ; 
 his hard heart was melted and subdued, as he listened 
 to the wonderful things revealed in the Word of Life. 
 Whole nights he kept his youthful teacher ministering 
 to his thirst for the knowledge of the Lord. That 
 knowledge filled his soul, and his life became as remark- 
 able for gentleness and love, as it had been for deeds of 
 rapine and blood ; he became noted as a peace-maker 
 far and near, amid the surrounding tribes, making long 
 journeys to quiet their feuds, and rushing in between 
 contending hordes, at the hazard of his life, to stay the 
 shedding of blood. His people revered and loved him 
 as a father ; his very countenance lost the traces of its 
 wonted ferocity, and wore an expression of kindness, 
 and the tear of pity trembled in his eye. Full of years 
 and ripe for Heaven, his last hours were spent exhort- 
 ing his people to live in peace, and to cherish the Gos- 
 pel and the missionaries when he was gone. " Beware," 
 said he, as they gathered round his dying couch, "that 
 you do not fall into those sins into which I have often 
 led you. My former life has been stained with blood, 
 but Jesus Christ has pardoned me, and now he is tak- 
 ing me to Heaven. Dwell in peace and love, and the 
 God of peace shall be with you." 
 
 This, brethren, is the knowledge of the Lord 1 What 
 a world would this be if that knowledge were univer- 
 sal, — if it filled the earth, as the waters cover the sea. 
 But the mouth of the Lord hath spoken : a day is com- 
 ing when none shall need to say to his neighbor, know 
 
390 SERMONS. 
 
 the Lord ; for all shall know him, from the least to the 
 greatest! Eight hundred years before this prophecy- 
 was uttered, God had said by Moses, " As truly as I 
 live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the 
 Lord ;" and again by David, " All nations shall be 
 blessed in Him : all nations shall call him blessed." 
 
 Ages of sin and sorrow have gone by since these pro- 
 mises were given, still darkness covers the earth, and 
 gross darkness the people ! They worship idols with 
 rites impure and bloody, and their sorrows are multi- 
 plied. The dark places of the earth are full of the ha- 
 bitations of cruelty, and the people perish because there 
 is no vision ! But it shall not be ever thus ; ere long, a 
 new era of light and love shall dawn on a benighted 
 world ; the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
 Lord, as the waters cover the sea ; as the waters per- 
 vade and fill up all the channels of the great deep, so 
 the knowledge of the Lord shall penetrate every seclud- 
 ed region, illumine every dark nook and retired corner, 
 and shed its blessed radiance on every tribe and family 
 of man ! Like the resistless swell of the mighty ocean, 
 the tide of knowledge, and holiness, and peace, shall 
 rise, and spread, and prevail, till it bathes every shore, 
 and covers every continent and island, and rolls round 
 the globe an unbroken wave of light, and love, and joy ! 
 
 And this result shall be realized by the blessing of 
 God on human agency. Not to angels did he say, 
 " Ye are the light of the world," but to men redeemed 
 by his blood, and called and taught by his Spirit. Not 
 by working miracles did he send them forth to make 
 disciples of all nations, but by preaching his Gospel to 
 every creature ! His people are the trustees of his 
 grace for their perishing brethren ; pardoned sinners 
 are the almoners of his mercy for a ruined world ! Out 
 of Zion shall go forth the law ; for many shall run to 
 
THE GOSPEL TRIUMPHANT. 391 
 
 and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Here, in 
 the Church of God, are the wells of salvation, whence 
 they shall draw the living waters. 
 
 And let it not be forgotten that all the effort and 
 prayer which shall accomplish a revolution so vast and 
 blessed, will be put forth by individuals ; all the agency 
 employed will be personal agency ; all the prayer offer- 
 ed, the self-denial practised, the sacrifices cheerfully 
 made, the sufferings patiently borne, in filling the earth 
 with the knowledge of the Lord, will be the tribute of 
 the willing minds, and hearts, and hands of Christian 
 men, and women, and children, each redeemed by the 
 blood of Christ, each constrained by the love of Christ, 
 each consecrating to the service of Christ a life that 
 owes all its present joys, and its more precious hopes, 
 to his dying love ! 
 
 And thus does the grand result, in all its majesty 
 and blessedness, connect itself with the intercessions of 
 the humble disciple in his closet, and with the circles 
 where those who love the Saviour meet to pour out 
 their hearts in united prayer, and with the daily habits 
 of economy, and acts of self-denial, by which the poor 
 widow, and the devout laborer, and the pious child, 
 treasure up their gifts for the altar of the Lord. These 
 are the drops of rain that feed the fountains, and rills, 
 and streams, and rivers, whose confluence is the mighty 
 ocean, bright, transparent, joyous, covering this dark, 
 rugged world, and reflecting the purity and the peace 
 of Heaven ! 
 
 Yes, my hearers, each of us may bear a part in this 
 blessed consummation. If we have a heart for such a 
 work ; if we are willing, in the sphere where God has 
 placed us, to do what we can ; to labor and pray for 
 this as the great end of life, according to the ability 
 that God giveth ; each of us may contribute to swell the 
 
392 SERMONS. 
 
 tide of light and joy that shall fill the earth, as the 
 waters cover the sea ! Not one honest effort shall be 
 unavailing, nor one fervent prayer unanswered, nor the 
 humblest laborer forgotten in the mighty aggregate. 
 Is there a nobler object for which to live ! 
 
 In our day, God is calling us to this work by the 
 voice of his Providence, and by the movements of his 
 Spirit, not less than by the precepts and promises of his 
 word. Every thoughtful observer must perceive, that 
 preparation is making on a vast scale for changes, more 
 extensive and momentous than the world has ever wit- 
 nessed ! 
 
 Facilities of intercourse bring the remotest nations 
 into the same neighborhood ; commercial enterprise ex- 
 plores the darkest regions, and studies the manners and 
 habits of the most secluded tribes ; improvements in 
 science and the arts levy contributions on the hidden 
 stores of nature, and make the very elements subservi- 
 ent to the will of man ; knowledge and truth are 
 brought more and more into contact with ignorance 
 and error ; and the infernal spells that have bound un- 
 tutored nations for ages, lose their power. Already a 
 spirit of inquiry, and a thirst for knowledge, and an ex- 
 pectation of change, have gone forth to the ends of the 
 earth, and the power of the press and of other means 
 of education keep pace with the growing desire for in- 
 struction. 
 
 Every aggressive movement of the day finds its cen- 
 tre and salient point in Christendom ; and pre-eminent- 
 ly in that portion of Christendom that acknowledges 
 the supremacy of the Bible, and prizes the knowledge 
 of the Lord as the pillar of its most valued institutions, 
 and the source of its best hopes. 
 
 Meanwhile those vast systems of religious error that 
 have so long overshadowed the nations, are everywhere 
 
THE GOSPEL TRIUMPHANT. 393 
 
 waning and dying. Boodhism and Brahminism, and 
 the delusions of Mohammed, still hold a nominal sway 
 over more than half the population of the globe. But 
 how changed their position ! how shorn of their power ! 
 how tame and spiritless are they ! what missionaries do 
 they send out ! which of their votaries dreams of mak- 
 ing conquests ! Bereft of vigor and vitality, they are 
 giant corpses, prostrate on the fields of their old re- 
 nown, and soon to become an abhorrence and a hiss- 
 ing where they were once adored ! 
 
 Christianity, spurious or genuine, formal or spiritual, 
 traditional or based on the Word of God, moulded and 
 fashioned by human authority, or acknowledging Christ 
 only as supreme, is evidently to conquer and reign over 
 this world. 
 
 And who, with the Bible in his hand, and looking 
 at the changes that have taken place in the last half 
 century, and the steady progress of knowledge, and 
 free discussion, and liberty of conscience, can doubt 
 which of these opposing systems shall -ultimately tri- 
 umph ? Can the human mind relapse into the intel- 
 lectual torpor of the dark ages ? and re-adopt the ex- 
 ploded maxim that ignorance is the mother of devo- 
 tion? 
 
 Nay, my brethren, it cannot be. The man of sin 
 shall be destroyed, and that wicked one who, in the 
 very temple of God, exalts himself above all that is 
 called God, and that is worshipped, shall be consumed. 
 The knoicledge of -the Lord shall cover the earth ; the 
 religion of the Bible shall fill the world ! 
 
 In the sure prospect of such a consummation, and 
 amid so many indications that it is drawing nigh, how 
 great are the privileges, the obligations, the responsibi- 
 lities of Christians in this land of civil and religious 
 liberty, this land of churches, unfettered by alliance 
 
394 SERMONS. 
 
 with the State, of Bibles, and Sabbaths, and revivals of 
 religion ! Surely we are called to bear no common 
 part in this blessed enterprise of filling the world with 
 the knowledge of the Lord ! 
 
ADDEESS 
 
 To the Society for Inquiry \ in the Theological Seminary 
 at Bangor, 1836, u Why young men should become 
 Missionaries. 1 ' 
 
 In an address before a Society for Inquiry on the 
 subject of Foreign Missions, I take it for granted that 
 those to whom my remarks should be specially directed, 
 believe themselves called to the ministry of recon- 
 ciliation. 
 
 Under such a conviction, you have entered upon a 
 course of moral and intellectual culture and discipline 
 with this object in view. Having expended time, labor, 
 and money, in preparing for the work, you are inquir- 
 ing where your services are most needed, and may most 
 effectually promote the great object of the ministry. 
 Your solicitude for a satisfactory reply to this inquiry 
 increases as the time approaches in which you must go 
 forth into the wide field. That field is divided into 
 two great departments, the domestic and the foreign. 
 These are distinct, though parts of the same, and mu- 
 tually dependent. 
 
 The work to be performed, the appropriate attain- 
 ments and qualifications of the laborers, and the grounds 
 of confidence that their labor shall not be in vain in the 
 Lord, are essentially the same in both. 
 
 My object is to present considerations in favor of 
 personal consecration to the work of Foreign Missions. 
 I do not say that these considerations ought to be deci- 
 
396 ADDRESS. 
 
 sive with all who have not yet made up their minds, as 
 to their field of labor. 
 
 I will not assert that they ought to determine all 
 who now hear me to go far hence to the Gentiles. In 
 particular cases, there may be weighty reasons against 
 going abroad. Of these I cannot judge in every case; 
 so there may be substantial reasons why individuals 
 should remain at home and labor together in the har- 
 vest on the domestic field. Where such reasons exist, 
 it is believed they are rarely overlooked. 
 
 I wish to show that every student of Theology is 
 bound to give the subject a serious and thorough ex- 
 amination. That no man may innocently or safely 
 enter the ministry, taking it for granted that he is not 
 called to labor in the foreign field ; that the arguments 
 ■in favor of going abroad are such, and so many, as to 
 deserve patient and prayerful attention. 
 
 The ministerial commission, in its plain literal bearing 
 and import, is wholly missionary : " Go make disciples 
 of all nations:" "Go ye into all the world and preach 
 the gospel to every creature." Such was the language 
 of the great Head of the church when he instituted the 
 ministry, and sent forth his servants to publish in his 
 name the glad tidings of great joy. 
 
 Their commission was missionary ; it bound them to 
 do all they could that the gospel might be preached as 
 speedily as possible in all the world, to every creature. 
 While there remained a nation, or tribe, or family, that 
 had never heard the joyful sound, it was unfulfilled. 
 There is no other or different commission under which 
 Jesus Christ calls any of us to preach the gospel. It 
 lays the whole body of ministers of this generation 
 under the same obligation that it imposed upon those 
 to whom it was first given. If it required them to 
 leave Judea and Galilee, (though doubtless there was 
 
ADDRESS. 397 
 
 enough to be done there) and go out among the Gen- 
 tiles, I see not why it does not require the very same 
 of us. The whole prima facie bearing of the instrument 
 is aggressive ; every man who acts under it is in fact a 
 missionary. If he stays at home he is bound to give a 
 reason for so doing. He that sends others abroad, must 
 stay upon the principle that he can thus do most to 
 spread the gospel through the world. Closely connected 
 with this is another thought worthy of attention. Mi- 
 nisterial labor in the foreign field, tends most directly 
 to accomplish the great object for which the gospel 
 ministry was instituted. That object is to publish the 
 gospel to every creature ; to preach repentance and the 
 remission of sins, in the name of Jesus, to all nations. 
 Where the gospel is fully preached already this object 
 is, in an important sense, accomplished. To some the 
 doctrine of Christ crucified is foolishness, to others the 
 power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation. 
 But in both God is glorified. The heralds of salvation 
 are, unto God, a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are 
 saved, and in them that perish. Our business as evan- 
 gelists is not to convert men, but to preach the gospel. 
 
 When the glad tidings are fully proclaimed every- 
 where, the heralds have fulfilled their commission. He 
 who bears the message to a tribe or a family, or an 
 individual who never heard it before, contributes to 
 this end in a manner more direct and immediate than 
 if he had labored with ever so much success in reiterat- 
 ing the gospel call upon those who have often heard it, 
 and made light of it. 
 
 In this way also, the church is carried forward directly 
 towards the great end for which she was formed, and is 
 sustained, and blessed. What is that end ? Not solely 
 nor chiefly for the growth of individual believers in 
 holiness and consolation, and that, by social ordinances 
 
 18 
 
398 ADDRESS. 
 
 mutual sympathy, and succor, and all the sweet fellow- 
 ship of kindred spirits, they may ripen for Heaven. 
 These no doubt are blessed fruits of the communion of 
 believers in the church. But the grand object for which 
 they are thus associated is, that by their combined 
 prayers and efforts, they may hold forth the word of 
 life, bearing a distinct and commanding testimony for 
 God amid the sins and errors of our apostate race: 
 becoming in fact, what they are in the plan and pur- 
 pose of the Great Kedeemer, the light of the world, and 
 the salt of the earth. And when God is merciful to 
 the church, and blesses her, and causes his face to shine 
 upon her, it is that his way may be known upon the 
 earth, his saving health among all nations. 
 
 Now it is chiefly by the going forth of her sons to 
 declare among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ, and by the flowing out of the sympathies, 
 prayers, and contributions of the people of God to en- 
 courage and sustain them, and bring down a blessing 
 upon their labors, that the church is carried forward 
 toward the great end for which she exists. 
 
 Her pastors may be many and faithful ; her doctrines, 
 order, and discipline pure ; all within her borders may 
 seem peaceful and prosperous ; but if she sends forth no 
 messengers of mercy to the perishing, she is not ful- 
 filling her high vocation, nor is she authorized to expect 
 the smiles of Ler glorious Lord. It is by scattering, she 
 is to increase; it is by devising liberal things that she 
 must stand; she is more blessed in giving than in re- 
 ceiving. When Israel bringeth forth fruit unto himself 
 he is an empty vine. His glory is to blossom and bud 
 and fill the face of the world with fruit. 
 
 The fact that ministers of the gospel are most needed 
 abroad, is another reason for personal consecration to 
 the work of foreign missions. Other things being 
 
ADDRESS. 399 
 
 equal, benevolence guided by wisdom will certainly- 
 lead us first to that part of the field of labor whose ne- 
 cessities are most urgent. But whatever may be the 
 destitutions of our own country, nothing among us will 
 bear a comparison either as to extent or extremity, with 
 the spiritual wants of the unevangelized world. The 
 number of the destitute abroad, is at a moderate calcu- 
 lation, fifty times greater than the whole population of 
 our country. And besides there is a living church and 
 an evangelical minister to every twelve hundred souls 
 in our whole population. Here are thousands of Sunday 
 Schools, millions of Tracts, and a Bible for every family 
 that will receive it, and the richest religious literature 
 in the world. Here, the Lord's day, regularly occurring, 
 reminds every one of God and Christ, the soul, and 
 eternity. And ten thousand sanctuaries with open 
 doors invite men to enter and worship Jehovah, where 
 his name is recorded, and where he has promised to 
 meet them that seek him, and commune with them 
 from the mercy seat. There is no portion of our land 
 where a sinner anxious for salvation may not obtain an 
 answer to the inquiry, " What must I do to be saved?" 
 Look abroad now over the vast regions where more 
 than seven hundred and fifty millions of our fellow 
 men are forming their characters and filling up their 
 probation for eternity. Not a missionary nor a church, 
 nor a Sabbath School on an average, for two millions 
 of souls. Languages spoken by many millions into 
 which the word of God has never been translated, nor 
 a line of revealed truth ever published. Powerful na- 
 tions not having a term to express that holiness without 
 which no man shall see the Lord ; where no Sabbath 
 has ever dawned, no sanctuary has ever been erected, 
 no intimation ever given that " God so loved the world, 
 as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
 
400 ADDRESS. 
 
 lieveth in him might not perish but have eternal life." 
 Their spiritual condition is fitly represented by the 
 prophet's vision, when the Spirit of the Lord led him 
 forth, and he. beheld spread out in the open valley, in 
 utter confusion and chaos, the bones of men bleaching 
 in the sun and winds of Heaven, very many, and very 
 dry. We hear it sometimes said there are heathen 
 enough at home. I admit and deplore the ignorance, 
 error, and irreligion that are sweeping so many into 
 remediless ruin ; but this results from the wilful neglect 
 of the proffered means of recovery and restoration. 
 Their condemnation is that light has come into the 
 world, and they love darkness rather than light. 
 
 How different this from the starless midnight of su- 
 perstition and delusion which reigns, and has reigned 
 for so many ages, in sepulchral gloom over the unevan- 
 gelized world. There the light of nature and reason 
 is clouded and perverted by the devices of Satan, and 
 the many inventions of wicked men. The consciences 
 of men are torpid and powerless, for God is not in all 
 their thoughts ; and even intellect, crushed and buried 
 under mountains of falsehood and absurdity, seems to 
 have lost all elasticity and vigor. Surely if the direst 
 necessity may claim benevolent attention, if degradation 
 and wretchedness may appeal to Christian compassion, 
 the servant of Christ will feel that the cry of the heathen 
 world, " Come over and help us," may not be slightly 
 disregarded. 
 
 And this the more, because, while such is the call 
 for labor abroad, comparatively few go abroad. The 
 whole number of ordained ministers who have gone out 
 to the foreign field, since the formation of the A. B. C. 
 F. M., is to the number in the churches at home nearly 
 as one to eighty. While the number of souls for whom 
 they labor is as fifty to one ; that is, the supply of minis- 
 
ADDRESS. 401 
 
 ters at home, is to the supply abroad as four thousand 
 to one ; and this while the field is the vjorld, while 
 the provisions of the gospel are sufficient for all the 
 perishing, and while the commission, under which every 
 minister preaches, embraces the whole human family, 
 and requires him to do all that in him lies to publish 
 the glad tidings to every creature without delay. The 
 gospel ministry, instituted for the world, and intrusted 
 for the common benefit of mankind with a message in- 
 finitely momentous to every creature, appears at this 
 time, to the eye of him who takes in the world at one 
 view, as if pent up and restricted to a corner ; the mem- 
 bers of the nominal church often crossing each other's 
 paths, and not unfrequently wasting time and strength 
 in unprofitable rivalry and wicked contention, while 
 the great mass of those to whom the gospel is sent are 
 perishing for lack of vision, no man caring for their 
 souls, no man pointing them to the Lamb of God. Is 
 it any wonder that to so great an extent we labor in 
 vain, and spend our strength for naught ? Is it strange 
 that the whole number of additions from the world to 
 evangelical churches in our land, ordinarily, is less, on 
 an average, than five to each minister ; and in large 
 sections of the church, for successive years, less, than 
 that number ? If the field is the world, is it not very 
 evident that many of us have mistaken as to the part 
 of it in which the Lord calls us to labor ? And can we 
 expect his blessing when we are not where he would 
 have us to be ? And is not the fact, that up to this 
 time so few comparatively have gone abroad, a reason 
 why those who have not yet entered the work should 
 look to the foreign field ? 
 
 If so few comparatively go where the will of Christ 
 is so plain, and the work is so great, and the necessities 
 of our fellow men are so urgent, ought not every one 
 
 18* 
 
402 ADDRESS. 
 
 who enters the ministry to hesitate before he resolves 
 to swell the number already so disproportionate of those 
 who labor in the domestic field? Ought he not to 
 have very clear convictions of duty, before he ventures, 
 bearing as he does a message of mercy for the world, 
 with a commission to publish it to every creature, to 
 turn away from nine tenths of his fellow men, whose 
 wants and woes call upon him with importunate ear- 
 nestness, " Come over and help us?" 
 
 Nay, brethren, allow me to inquire further, if these 
 things are so ? Ought not many who have settled down 
 in the churches, without any thorough previous inves- 
 tigation of the question of personal duty as to foreign 
 missions, to inquire whether they may not have mis- 
 taken the Master's will ? — whether the Holy Spirit may 
 not be saying of them, as he said of Paul and Barnabas 
 while they ministered in the church at Antioch, " Sepa- 
 rate unto me Paul and Barnabas for the work where- 
 unto I have called them ?" 
 
 This leads to another remark : the good of the church 
 at home requires that many more go to preach Christ 
 among the heathen. This it does in various ways. 
 Great temporal prosperity has ever been full of peril 
 to the Church. Wealth, and ease, and honor, have pro- 
 duced worldliness of spirit and sloth, luxury, and pride : 
 thus preparing the way for strife and laxity of disci- 
 pline and errors in doctrine, until churches, once flour- 
 ishing, have become apostate and been given up of 
 Grod ; having lost the savor of godliness, they have been 
 cast out and trodden under foot. Perhaps there never 
 was a time when temporal prosperity flowed in upon 
 the professed followers of Christ in such a tide, as in 
 our country, at the present time. The amount of wealth 
 and worldly influence, in the hands of church members, 
 is enormous and rapidly increasing. What shall save 
 
ADDRESS. 403 
 
 the church from the disasters which heretofore have 
 not failed to attend upon such temporal prosperity? 
 disasters of whose near approach, we are not without 
 many alarming symptoms already visible ! I answer, 
 nothing but such a spirit of enlarged, active, self-deny- 
 ing benevolence, diffused through the churches, as shall 
 at once so fill the hearts of God's people as to shut out 
 a proud and idolatrous complacency in their prosperity ; 
 and at the same time so take hold upon their consciences, 
 and enlist their warmest affections, as to make them 
 feel both the sin and the folly of hoarding or squander- 
 ing upon selfish gratifications, that property which God 
 has intrusted to them as his stewards, to be expended 
 for the promotion of his cause, in the salvation of their 
 fellow men. But no object short of the evangelization 
 of the world, is great, and noble, and arduous enough, to 
 awaken, sustain, and give full exercise to such a spirit 
 of benevolence. Either the churches of this land must 
 be fully enlisted in the great w r ork of publishing the 
 gospel through the world, as an object to be sought 
 systematically and perseveringly by Christians of all 
 ranks and conditions in life, or our worldly prosperity 
 will be our ruin. Covetousness, pride, and vanity will 
 speedily prepare the way for the prevalence of a cold, 
 dead, orthodoxy, or of some specious form of baptized 
 infidelity ; and the glory will depart from our Israel, 
 the souls of our children and our children's children 
 will wither and die, unless God, in severe mercy, sends 
 upon us some wide and wasting national judgments, or 
 permits the fires of persecution to be kindled. But no 
 means are so effectual to awaken this deep and diffusive 
 interest in the work of missions as the going forth of 
 laborers. It was by the personal consecration to this 
 w r ork, of Mills and his companions, that the churches 
 were first excited to inquire into the claims of this cause, 
 
404 ADDRESS. 
 
 and to pray and labor for it. And the progress of the 
 work, in every part of the church, has been very much 
 in proportion as the sons and daughters of Zion have 
 willingly offered themselves to go far hence to the 
 Gentiles. Their example and influence before they 
 went forth ; their communications while toiling amid 
 the desolations of heathenism ; and ; in not a few instan- 
 ces, their holy triumphs when dying as martyrs to this 
 cause, have done more to endear it to their fellow 
 Christians, more to bring it home to their business and 
 bosoms as a matter of deep personal interest, than all 
 other means put together. I have no doubt that in this 
 way Hall and Eichards, Pisk and Mrs. Newell, Judson 
 and Winslow, and many more, bearing the heat and 
 burden of the day in distant lands, have done and are 
 doing more for the churches at home in elevating the 
 standard of piety, and promoting a spirit of prayer, and 
 self-denying benevolence, than if they had remained at 
 home and labored ever so faithfully for these objects. 
 And the spirit thus excited has not confined itself to 
 the sphere where it began to act. Its propitious influ- 
 ences have been felt in the cause of Christian and 
 ministerial education of home missions, of Bible and 
 Tract distribution, imparting new vigor and activity to 
 every good purpose and effort ; thus it will be still. 
 The spirit of missions will be diffused through the 
 church very much in proportion to the numbers who 
 consecrate themselves personally to the missionary work. 
 And when this number has so increased that each indi- 
 vidual church, and each smaller circle of Christian 
 friends, has its representation among the heathen, sus- 
 tained by its prayers and contributions, and by direct 
 communication with it, keeping up a lively fellowship 
 and a warm sympathy, then may we look for such 
 unity of spirit and such union of exertion and supplica- 
 
ADDRESS. 405 
 
 tion through the church as were witnessed in the primi- 
 tive church, or as shall prepare the way for more than 
 Pentecostal effusions of the Holy Ghost. Who that has 
 seen the spiritual strength and beauty put on by a circle 
 of Christian friends when they have parted with a 
 beloved one, and bid him God speed on his errand of 
 mercy to some far distant tribe of benighted Pagans, 
 does not feel that the church would be blessed in sending 
 forth many more of her sons to this work ! 
 
 And this leads to another remark : that in a personal 
 consecration to the work of missions, you have reason 
 to hope for more extensive and lasting usefulness than 
 in a different course. This is true, because the work 
 of missions to the heathen is adapted to call out and 
 invigorate the faculties and graces of the servants of 
 Christ, so that their intellect, and moral strength, and 
 efficiency, become positively greater than they would 
 have been if they had not engaged in this work. 
 
 And secondly : the same amount of labor, crowned 
 with equal success, in the foreign field, tells far more 
 upon the grand ultimate object of all ministerial labors 
 than if it had been performed at home. 
 
 The first reason is but an exemplification of the com- 
 mon maxim, that character is moulded and modified by 
 circumstances, and that great occasions make great men. 
 To these must be added, in the present case, that the 
 Great Head of the Church bestows peculiar gifts and 
 endowments upon those who, at his call, enter upon 
 services peculiarly arduous and important. To name 
 individuals in illustration of this topic might seem in- 
 vidious. I may appeal to those who have been fami- 
 liarly acquainted with the brethren who have gone out 
 from our churches to labor among the heathen, if they 
 have not repeatedly been surprised to observe the evi- 
 
406 ADDRESS. 
 
 dent improvement of character which has taken place ; 
 the enlargement of their views, the elevation and man- 
 liness of their spirit ; their fertility of resources ; their 
 courage and decision in facing dangers, or engaging in 
 arduous undertakings for the furtherance of the cause 
 to which not a few, who, if they had remained at home, 
 would have been common men, have obtained in this 
 way a force and an unction that has placed them not a 
 wit behind the most useful and influential. 
 
 Analogous developments of character take place 
 every day where men throw their whole souls into any 
 great and worthy enterprise. They may be expected, 
 most of all, in this most sublime and blessed work, the 
 special patronage and promised aid and presence of 
 him who is the Father of lights, from whom cometh 
 down every good and perfect gift. 
 
 But besides this, the same amount of labor, attended 
 by equal success, is more valuable in the foreign field 
 than it is at home ; more valuable, not because souls 
 are more precious there than at home, but because of 
 its bearing upon the great ultimate result. 
 
 Suppose two men, equal in their gifts and qualifica- 
 tions for usefulness to labor, each a score of years in 
 the Gospel ministry with equal diligence and success, 
 one in the church at home, the other, like Paul, where 
 Christ was not named, so that, through him, " they to 
 whom he was not spoken of, see, and they that had not 
 heard, understand ;" each preaches the Gospel a certain 
 number of times — is instrumental in the conversion of 
 a number of souls — gathers one or more churches, and 
 builds them up in the faith and order of the Gospel, 
 and through the press, contributes to a certain extent 
 to the spiritual benefit of all who read what he has 
 written. But mark the difference in the effect of their 
 
ADDRESS. 407 
 
 labors. The first has but contributed, in common with 
 many others, to maintain at its previous tone, perhaps 
 to elevate a few degrees, the spiritual life of the region 
 where he has labored. The other, by the blessing of 
 God, has introduced a living principle, diffusive and 
 germinant, as the leaven or the mustard seed, where all 
 before was desolate and dead. One has guided the 
 waters of life into a channel more convenient and 
 abundant for the refreshing of a company of Zion's 
 pilgrims than if he had not labored; the other has 
 opened a fountain in the desert, where the healing 
 streams gush out for those who were perishing of thirst, 
 and will not cease to flow ; one has shed the light of 
 truth and love in a clearer and stronger lustre upon 
 those unto whom the Sun of Eighteousness had already 
 arisen with healing on his wings ; the other has borne 
 the lamp of life where darkness covered the earth, and 
 gross darkness the people, and by its rays, though fee- 
 ble and tremulous, the anxious sinner may spell out an 
 answer to the great inquiry ! If Brainerd and Martyn, 
 Milne and Cary, Morrison and Hall, had labored at 
 home, no doubt they would have been able and suc- 
 cessful pastors ; yet not more so than hundreds of their 
 contemporaries. But they went forth, for his name's 
 sake, to toil and die among the Gentiles. And their 
 earthly elevation, shining as stars of the first magnitude 
 in view of the whole church, and of increasing multi- 
 tudes of the heathen, is but the type and emblem of 
 that everlasting splendor with which, having turned 
 many to righteousness, they shall shine in the firma- 
 ment of glory for ever. 
 
 And who can doubt that Judson and Poor, Goodell 
 and Bingham, and the great body of their fellow labor- 
 ers, have already accomplished far more for the glory 
 
408 ADDRESS. 
 
 of Christ in the world's conversion, than if they had 
 labored with equal fidelity and diligence at home. Or 
 where is the pious physician in our country whose life 
 and labors, can be compared, in their bearing, upon the 
 universal spread of the Gospel, and the best, the eternal 
 interests of mankind, or even in the alleviation of pre- 
 sent suffering, with those of Scudder, Grant, or Parker? 
 If we look simply at direct influence upon the church 
 at home, the missionary who is toiling for the diffusion 
 of the light of life in the far distant regions of Pagan 
 darkness or Mohammedan delusion, has reached a moral 
 elevation whence he can embrace, in one clear and com- 
 prehensive view, the whole church, away from those 
 local and partial influences that limit and obscure the 
 field of vision, to the most comprehensive and perspi- 
 cuous minds less favorably situated. He stands on an 
 eminence where all eyes may be fixed upon him, and 
 his voice of affectionate warning or exhortation may 
 be heard through all the churches. Who can measure 
 the usefulness of such appeals as the last message of 
 Gordon Hall to the t churches of his native land ? or 
 Scudder's letters to physicians, or to the young men in 
 our colleges? or the affecting call of the Baptist breth- 
 ren in Burmah for men and funds to prosecute their 
 work? 
 
 For myself, I fully believe that in keeping the last 
 command of her Lord, the church will find there is great 
 reward. Many of those influences by which knowledge 
 and holiness shall be so increased that " the light of the 
 moon shall be as the light of the sun," " the feeble shall 
 be as David," will flow back upon her as the blessed 
 fruits of her labors, and sacrifices, and self-denial, in 
 freely giving to the whole world that which she has 
 freely received. 
 
ADDRESS. 409 
 
 The Church at Antioch was more blessed, I have no 
 doubt, in sending away Paul and Barnabas upon their 
 missionary tour, than if she had retained them to minis- 
 ter at her altars. And the churches of this land will 
 lose nothing, nay, they will be every way gainers, by 
 consecrating the most highly gifted of their sons and 
 daughters to go forth, sustained by their gifts, sympa- 
 thies, and prayers, as heralds of salvation to dying men. 
 Nor have they who, in simplicity and godly sincerity, 
 consecrate themselves to this work, any reason to fear 
 they shall be losers in this life, or that which is to 
 come, by their self-devotion. 
 
 No doubt the foreign missionary work has its pecu- 
 liar snares and temptations; and the faithful laborer 
 must encounter many and sore trials, and be exposed 
 to severe privations and hardships. Yet, take it all in 
 all, no other calling or situation on earth is so favorable 
 to eminent holiness and intimate communion with Christ, 
 as that of Kim who bears the message of Heavenly mercy 
 to his benighted fellow men in heathen lands. 
 
 And as a body, our brethren and sisters, who are now 
 toiling in this work, far away from beloved relatives, 
 and the scenes and associates of early life, and all the 
 precious privileges of their native land, are the happi- 
 est company of the followers of Christ on earth. 
 
 When compelled by failure of health or other causes 
 to retire from the work for a season, they manifest 
 great earnestness of desire to return to it. And their 
 uniform declaration is, we would not exchange places 
 with any of our brethren. 
 
 Such is their testimony in their confidential commu- 
 nications to their dearest friends — in their seasons of 
 sickness and affliction, as well as in times of prosperity. 
 In the honest hour of death, they who are called away 
 
 la 
 
410 ADDRESS. 
 
 when just entering upon the work (like Harriet Newell, 
 the first martyr in this holy cause,) bless God that he 
 ever put it into their hearts to engage in this work of 
 mercy. And they who are spared to wear out life in 
 the holy toil, count it (next to their conversion) their 
 chief mercy that God has called them thus to serve him 
 in the Gospel of his Son among the heathen. Thus 
 Paul esteemed it, after almost thirty years of labors, re- 
 proaches and privations, dangers, stripes, imprisonments, 
 and daily deaths. u Unto me," saith he, " who am less 
 than the least of all saints, is this grace given to preach 
 among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ." 
 
 Not merely that Christ Jesus should count him faith- 
 ful, putting him into the ministry, but that he should 
 send him forth as a missionary to the heathen. Nor did 
 Paul think differently when, standing on the verge of 
 life, he exhorted his beloved son, Timothy, to do the 
 work of an evangelist. "For," said he, "I am now 
 ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at 
 hand." Nor afterward, when having walked in the 
 steps of Jesus Christ, the great missionary, and over- 
 come through his blood, he sat down with him upon 
 his throne, according to his word, even as he overcame 
 and sat down with the Father upon his throne. No 
 man can be a loser in the honest and unreserved conse- 
 cration of himself to this cause. For thus saith the 
 faithful and true witness, " Whosoever shall lose his life 
 for my sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. 
 And there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, 
 or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or 
 lands, for my sake and the Gospel's, but he shall receive 
 an hundred fold in this present time, and in the world 
 to come, life everlasting." 
 
 11 I can bear testimony," said a beloved brother who 
 
ADDRESS. 411 
 
 had spent fifteen years of the prime of life among the 
 heathen, on the evening previous to his embarkation, 
 to return to his field of labor, " I can bear testimony," 
 said he, in the presence of more than a thousand peo- 
 ple, "from my own experience, to the truth of that pre- 
 cious promise of Jesus Christ," 
 
 THE END,