THE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE, &c. (continued 4)

“What shall be said, if it fail of attaining its full measure of good, through the indifference of those whom God has not only ‘blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ,’ but to whom He has also largely afforded the temporal means of imparting those blessings to others? What shall be said if they, who by the abundant mercy of God are themselves supplied with the bread of life, suffer their fellow-creatures, whose necessities are plainly pointed out to them, to perish with hunger? Your committee will not contemplate the possibility of such a deplorable case as this. Grateful for the support which the Society has already received, and through which it has been enabled to effect so much, they will not allow themselves to doubt, but that Providence will now, and from time to time, raise it up friends who will furnish it with more ample and effectual means for the continuance and extension of its ‘labours of love.’”

Every friend of religion must earnestly pray that a hope so humbly and devoutly expressed may be fulfilled, and that the Lord may bless and prosper these Societies, in sowing the good seed of the word, in a field of immense extent, and, in many parts, of the most unpromising barrenness. For they embrace—to particularize only the most important missions—the widely dispersed population of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canadas; the numerous islands of the West Indies; the great Peninsula of India; and the various settlements in Australia. And it is gratifying and highly satisfactory to be able to quote the impartial testimony of a distinguished individual, the late Governor of Nova Scotia, to their efficiency and value: “In countries in which I have resided, and which I have visited—in remote and almost desert places, I have witnessed the blessings and comforts of our holy religion, dispensed, by your servants, to persons who otherwise might pass from the cradle to the grave, without the blessings or benefits, the comforts or the consolations of any appropriate holy office, to sanctify their entrance into life, to receive them into the Christian family, to solemnize those connexions, on the proper observance of which the moral constitution of society essentially depends, and finally to perform the last sad offices over departed humanity. In my own person—in my own family—in visitations the most awful—in severe domestic affliction, I have partaken of those blessings and consolations, administered by your servants.” Let, therefore, the parliament and people of the United Kingdom contribute liberally, not merely towards the continuance, but the extension, of the important labours of a Society, whose only fault has been,—if it be a fault,—that it has so shrunk from any appearance of obtruding its wants, that it has not sufficiently made known its claims upon the friends of religion; who must be at once desirous that our countrymen in our distant dependencies should not be debarred from the exercise of religious worship; and that the light of the Gospel may be shed upon those, who, though living under the government of Great Britain, are lying in darkness and the shadow of death. And if there be any whose hearts expand not with that diffusive spirit of Christian philanthropy, which ardently desires to promote the spiritual welfare of the whole human race; let them at least be sensible to the religious wants, and alive to the religious improvement of their countrymen, who are established in some of the numerous colonies of this vast empire. In this great commercial country, in which the spirit of enterprise or the calls of duty lead so many forth often at an early age into distant lands, there must be an immense number of influential persons, who have a direct interest in this provision for the religious instruction of the residents in our several dependencies. And oh! how consolatory must it prove to the heart of a parent, or even of a friend, who sends forth a youth to seek his fortune far from friends, kindred, and home, to know that he will not be deprived of the public exercise of those religious duties in which he has been early trained. Oh! how immeasurably would the pain of separation, which may be for life—which may be for ever—be increased, if there was a melancholy certainty, that at the most dangerous period of life, when the passions are strong, the judgment weak, and the principles often unsettled; and where the temptations to sensual indulgences abound, and the restraints of parental authority are removed; there was no religious monitor, no duly ordained pastor, to instruct in health, to cheer in sorrow, to strengthen in sickness, and, it may be, to support and console in death, those who are pursuing an useful and honourable course far from their dearest earthly ties, far from what is ever dear to the heart of all—their native land—the land of their fathers.

In entering thus more at length on the subject of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts than on any other Society, an exception has been made in its favour, because it has never yet received that encouragement and support to which its most important object and valuable labours so well entitle it: but imperfect as the notice of other Societies has been, it would be still more so if concluded without any mention of the Church Missionary Society, and the British and Foreign Bible Society. The first of these is formed with the design of endeavouring to obey to the fullest extent the parting command of our blessed Lord, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature:” [219] it is not confined by any limits, but wherever the opening presents itself, thither the indefatigable, zealous, and faithful missionary is sent: and the Lord has greatly prospered their labours. The latter, whether we regard its scope or its machinery, is a mighty and wonderful engine, capable of producing immense benefit to the whole human race: its scope is not merely the supply of the inhabitants of the British dominions with the Scriptures, but their translation into every language, their dissemination in every land; and its vast and complicated machinery has been put into operation in every quarter of the globe. It may suffice to state, that the grand, the beneficent, and most Christian end, which these two Societies have in view, is to evangelize the world: the one sends its missionary either instructed, or to be instructed, in the language of the country where is to be his field in which he is to sow the good seed of the word of life; and the other supplies the sower with that seed of the word of life translated into the language of the country. The difficulties they have to encounter are immense; and the danger of the neglect of the legitimate object, or of perversion of the power and means of these Societies, may be considerable; but still the enterprise of Christian love is not to be abandoned, because it is difficult; nor the means of Christian usefulness sacrificed, because they are capable of abuse: rather let those who rejoice in the light of the Gospel, and thank God every day of their lives for having the high privilege of reading His Book, labour to provide missionaries so well fitted for their office, as to afford reasonable hope that through Him, on whose assistance and blessing they alone depend, they may surmount the many and arduous difficulties which impede their progress: rather let them exercise increased vigilance, and employ greater care and attention, that if any error exist, it may be corrected, that if any abuse has crept in, it may be reformed. Let these Societies be only faithful to their trust—true to the one great object they are ever to keep in view, and they may fully rely upon Him, whose kingdom they labour to advance, whose word they seek to publish—to bless their work and ensure their success. But let them remember that no unsound principles of expediency, no unworthy means to excite popularity, or to gain support, must be had recourse to; such would be to apply to their goodly edifices the “untempered mortar,” which would end in their destruction: let them go forth in the strength of the Lord, and in his strength only; let them seek the extension of Christ’s kingdom, and of His kingdom only; and then all who love the Lord’s Christ, honour His name, and seek to promote His glory—if they can do no more, will at least say, we “bid you God speed.”

The increasing exertions which are making, in this country, for the diffusion of vital religion amongst Christians, and for the spread of the Gospel amongst the heathen, will form one of the brightest pages in its history. And truly at this moment it presents almost the only subject on which the Christian’s anxious eye can rest with unmixed satisfaction and with joyful hope. The prospect around is in many parts dark and discouraging, but in one direction is illumined by a bright and holy light—“the sun of righteousness arising with healing in his wings,” upon the “nations which sit in darkness and the shadow of death.” [221] England appears to be selected by God for this great and glorious work. As the Roman Empire was raised up and employed by the Great Governor of the Universe for the first promulgation of the Gospel; and as the Greek language was made the medium through which that Gospel was extensively diffused: so we may hope that the British Empire, so greatly increased, may be employed, and the English language, so widely spread, be made a medium, for that final promulgation which is to take place, and the result of which is to be thus complete—“the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” [222] But however this may be—for ill does it become short-sighted man to speculate on the unfulfilled prophecies of Holy Writ—our line of duty is plain: we must make the most strenuous exertions, trusting to be instruments in the hands of the Almighty in the conversion of the heathen. The labour of love, which springs from gratitude to God, which is directed by faith in His promises and animated by hope of His blessing, will never be fruitless: if it please not the Divine Providence to give it a prosperous issue to those for whose benefit it was designed, it will return as a blessing—“good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over”—into the bosoms of those, who planned, supported, and conducted it, with a sole view to God’s glory and the salvation of men. This physical pestilence has travelled from India to England: does it not in awful terms reproach us, for having, as a nation, done so little to arrest and heal the moral pestilence which rages throughout that great Peninsula? Oh! let every means be used by the friends of religion to rouse a sinful people to a due sense of what they owe to their home population, to their colonies, and to the world at large. Whatever be the channel in which an individual may wish the stream of his bounty to flow, he will find Societies through which he will best accomplish the good he has in view. Let, therefore, all be active, liberal, and zealous, in the cause of religion: let all, according to the ability which God supplieth, endeavour to promote the present and eternal welfare of all mankind! “Charge them,” says St. Paul, “who are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy: that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate: laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” [223]—“But this I say, he which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound towards you; that ye always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” [224a] “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity:” let all in their several vocations endeavour to improve, to the spiritual advantage of themselves and others, this Divine visitation; that thus its great object being accomplished—for the language of God’s chastisements, whether national or individual, is “be zealous and repent,”—we may humbly hope that our gracious Lord God will be pleased to withdraw His heavy hand from His humbled and contrite people; the duty of each of whom has been shown to be, to effect, through the Divine blessing, a personal reformation; for the sins of each individual form fractions of the immense integral of national guilt, which has called down the Divine displeasure; to employ their rank, influence, and a due proportion of their wealth, in labouring to advance, by their personal exertions, and through the medium of societies, a national reformation; and to diffuse throughout the world the knowledge of the Saviour, that “the kingdoms of this world may become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.” [224b]

And how are they to be addressed who are the enemies of the Lord and of His Christ—who trample under foot his cross, and, at present, stand excluded from all benefit of the great atonement by “counting the blood of the covenant an unholy thing”—how are they to be addressed who deny the Lord who bought them, and secretly maintain, or openly espouse, the doctrines of infidelity? In the language of friendly warning and exhortation. Sometimes the Christian advocate has erred by employing a tone of conscious superiority, of cold severity, or of keen satire: the first offends, the second hardens, the third irritates the proud spirit of unbelief: the voice of remonstrance is often listened to, when authority commands in vain. Let, therefore, whatever has been said, in these pages, be considered, not as intended in the least degree to wound or insult the feelings of any one, but as written in the honest and faithful discharge of Christian duty. And in the spirit of meekness and charity let me entreat those, who reject Christianity, to pause, reflect, and examine deeply into the grounds on which they have come to a decision which involves their eternal destiny. Let me ask them whether they have ever duly considered, first, the possibility of Revelation being true; and, secondly, the consequences of Revelation being true. Surely a creed, which numbers amongst its defenders laymen, who hold the highest place in England’s proud annals of science and philosophy, is not lightly to be rejected by ordinary minds: surely where Bacon, Milton, Boyle, Locke, and Newton, have been believers, there is room to admit the possibility of the creed being true. When intellects of the most powerful grasp, disciplined by the most arduous studies, and stored with the richest fruits of human knowledge, have received with humility, gratitude, reverence, and faith, the Bible, as the inspired Word of God, some doubts may flash across the mind of the infidel, as to whether he has arrived at a just conclusion, in refusing to believe that Bible. And oh! if there do arise a doubt, let him now be entreated to re-examine this most important subject, on which the interests of eternity depend; to reconsider the grounds on which he denies a faith in which, during eighteen hundred years, millions have lived and died.

There is, however, a second point of consideration, and that a very important one, which ought not to be lost sight of, the consequences of Revelation being true,—the unutterable anguish of hopeless, endless despair and torment. Infidels often speak with much levity, and sometimes with profaneness, of the awful punishments of a future world, denounced in Scripture against impenitent guilt; but, if they searched deeply into their own hearts, they would find not only that they were less happy than they were before they shook off their belief in Revelation; but some might discover, almost, the commencement of the gnawing of the undying worm. In health, this may be scarcely perceived, but when the hour approaches, which generally tears away the mask which has concealed internal feelings long kept secret, the hideousness of infidelity is fully seen. Some appear to have acted their part to the last; thus Hume was said to have spent some of his latter hours in reading “the Dialogues of the Dead,” of the Apostate Lucian; but what an employment for one who professed to be a philosopher! At a time, when the eyes are about to close for ever on all that the heart has held dear in life, “drollery, in such circumstances, is neither more nor less than

Moody madness, laughing wild Amidst severest woe.” [227]

But such cases are, generally, of rare, occurrence: as the sombre shades of the evening of life gathered around Gibbon, this melancholy confession escaped him,—the past is gone, the present is but for a moment, and the prospect of the future is dark and doubtful. Paine, who had vauntingly proclaimed, that, during an illness, expected by himself and those around him to be fatal, he had rejoiced that he had published his Age of Reason, when the hour of death really arrived, endured all the agonies of remorse, evincing a horrible combination of awakened terror and blasphemous despair. And that renowned champion of infidelity, Voltaire, who was smitten, in his hour of pride and triumph, suffered in his last hours such intolerable anguish and such overwhelming terror, that the alarmed physician declared, that the furies of Orestes could not equal the horrors of such a death-bed.

Should the consideration of the possibility and consequences of the truth of Revelation, and of the certainty of the present wretchedness of infidelity, awaken in some readers feelings of apprehension,—lest, whilst in imagination they have been releasing themselves from the trammels of superstition, they have in reality been fastening round their own necks the heavy yoke of that hard task-master, the great enemy of the human race; let them be entreated to institute now a strict enquiry as to the unanswerableness of the objections against Revelation, on the strength of which they have withheld their belief; and as to the certainty of those conclusions of unassisted reason, on which they have been content to build their opinions as to an hereafter, unmindful that,

“Dim as the borrowed beams of moon and stars To lonely, weary, wandering travellers, Is reason to the soul.”

Alas! it is melancholy to think how many reject Christianity without due examination: but let the infidel be assured that, whether he is involved in the mazy labyrinth of metaphysical subtleties, perplexed with the false conclusions of materialism, startled by the apparent extent of physical and moral evil, or offended, with the multitude of sceptics, at mysteries, creeds, and articles; he will find answers to all his objections and difficulties in the various treatises which have been written on the evidences of Christianity. But let him not enter upon the subject with a prejudiced mind, in the pride of human reason, or under the influence of human passions. Is it likely that the Great Author of light and life will vouchsafe to illuminate understandings, which prejudice darkens, and pride renders presumptuous; or convert and sanctify hearts, which sensuality debases and pollutes? They who approach the Great Governor of the Universe to be instructed, in what belongs to their everlasting peace, must come with humility, reverence, and awe; they must strive to divest themselves of prepossession, prejudice, and passion; and pray to be guided unto all truth: and if they persevere in patient and dispassionate examination of the evidences of Christianity, and in an humble and careful study of the Scriptures themselves, accompanied with sincere and earnest prayers, in God’s good time, the light of Divine grace will break upon their darkened understandings; they will see how wonderfully the conflicting attributes of justice and mercy have been reconciled in the Divine plan for the restoration of a guilty world to the favour of its offended God; they will be filled with devout admiration of that love of God, which passeth all understanding, which has provided for the most heinous offenders a means of escape from eternal condemnation; and they will thankfully and joyfully embrace the offers of salvation through the Saviour, published in the Gospel.

But if there be any who refuse to return to the God of their youth; any who close their ears against every admonition to examine, deeply, into those principles of infidelity, which they have adopted,—principles too dear to man’s natural pride, too favourable to his natural corruption, to be willingly or easily resigned—let them at least be persuaded not to attempt to make proselytes to their creed. The time may come when they shall be convinced of the truth of Christianity; and oh! how will the weight of guilt, which, in the sad and dark hour of a late repentance, almost overwhelms the soul, be increased, if they have been instrumental in destroying the belief of others, which they have not the power to restore! There is no crime of so deep a die as the ruin of an immortal soul; none which subjects to the same dreadful remorse; none which presents the same terrible impediment to our obtaining pardon and peace: for what present peace can there be to him, who sees one soul exposed to eternal condemnation, through his means? What to him who sees many? What to him, who has the agonising conviction ever present to his mind, that he has no longer the power to attempt to repair the evil he has done, for they have been summoned to judgment, whom he had led astray? There is also another consideration which may have some weight with those who promulgate infidel doctrines, which is, that they blast the present as well as eternal happiness of their miserable converts. “Perhaps our modern sceptics are ignorant, that without the belief of a God and the hope of immortality, the miseries of human life would often be insupportable. Yet this I must suppose, or I must believe them to be the most cruel, the most perfidious, and the most profligate of men.” It is most true, that if you rob a man of his religious principles, you deprive him of what “has both the promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come,” his peace of mind, his trust in God’s protection, his faith in the Saviour, his hope of glory, all that consoles, improves, elevates, and ennobles our nature—all are gone, and in their place are substituted lawless passions, disappointed hopes, and bitter regrets. If, therefore, no other consideration will avail to induce the infidel school to forego their plans of proselytism, let regard for their philanthropy, of which they make such boast, be urged to prevent their rendering men less happy than they are at present, under the mild and benignant rule of Christianity. May that blessed Lord, who “willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live, have mercy upon all infidels and heretics, and so fetch them home to His flock, that they may be made one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The duty of a Christian people, under Divine visitations, however feebly, has been faithfully stated, according to the conscientious belief of the writer: may He, in dependence upon whose blessing, and to promote whose kingdom it has been written, make it instrumental to the production of a religious improvement of the afflictive dispensation sent upon the land. The nature of the disease has ceased to be doubtful, and the pestilence which has been so long advancing towards us is admitted now by all to have reached our shores. Once more, then, let the question be asked, “What will ye do in the day of visitation when your desolation shall come from far, to whom will ye flee for help?” Oh that one simultaneous cry would respond from the inhabitants of this kingdom—“We will trust in the lord for ever, for in the lord jehovah is everlasting strength!” When Solomon, on the dedication of the temple, prayed, “If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, or whatsoever sickness there be: then what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sin, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house; then hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and render to every man according unto all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, for Thou only knowest the hearts of all men.” [233a] The Lord returned the gracious answer: “I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people: if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” [233b]

Prayers, set forth by authority, are offered up to the throne of grace, throughout the kingdom, and it has pleased the Almighty to deal graciously with His people, in mitigating the virulence of the pestilence: let a fast be proclaimed, that on an appointed day the whole nation may “humble themselves, and pray, and seek the Lord’s face:” let associations be formed to assist the ministers of God’s Word and Sacraments, to exhort and entreat the people to “turn from their wicked ways:” and if “the Lord’s people, which are called by His name,” humbled and contrite turn unto Him, with all their hearts, and with mourning and fasting, and cry, “Spare us, O Lord, spare Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy most precious blood; turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause Thine anger towards us to cease;” “Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and just are Thy judgments:” if they “cease to do evil, and learn to do well,” then in God’s good time the gracious promise will be fulfilled, for “the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it,”—I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Oh may it not be, that the wickedness of the land shall avert from it the mercy and blessing of the Most High! May it not be, that the fearful words shall become applicable to us, “Thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not!” Oh! rather may “the spirit of grace and supplications” be poured upon the people, for “Will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment; blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Then shall the Lord’s people derive joy and peace from those transporting words of comfort: “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord Thy Redeemer.”

“God’s judgments are in the earth.” In many places there has been a literal fulfilment of those terrible predictions, the application of which is not to be considered limited to any time or nation: “All joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone: in the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.” [235a] Truly in our case it may be said, “the isles saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were afraid.” [235b] Oh! without experiencing the extreme severity of the scourge, may this nation learn the lesson it is meant to teach! “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord; even the name of the Lord God of Israel, in the isles of the sea.” “Trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.” Proclaim every where “God is our hope and strength,” a “sure refuge in the day of trouble.” “Then shall the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” Then shall they know that “the Lord is a very present help in trouble; blessed are the people whose trust is in Him.” Then, God grant that it may be said of this land, long favoured and blest of heaven, thou “hast glorified God in the day of visitation;” [236a] therefore, thou shalt “obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” [236b] “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy rere-ward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, here i am.” [236c]

May God, whose gracious and never-failing Providence orders all things both in heaven and earth, of His infinite mercy, accomplish this great end of all His visitations, that we may become a “righteous nation unto the Lord.” May those who are slumbering in the fatal lethargy of sin “awake to righteousness and sin not:” alarmed by the judgments impending over them, may habitual sinners seek for grace, “to turn from the evil of their ways,” before “the Lord be revealed from heaven, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on the wicked, and those who know not God.” May the lukewarm, who, even in the hour of danger, still “halt between two opinions,” cleave to the Lord, lest their souls should be required of them, whilst yet balancing the claims of God and mammon. May the faithful trim their lamps, “have their loins girded, and their lights burning, and be like unto men that wait for their Lord: blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching.” And may God pour His especial grace and blessing upon the nation at large: that all may recognize His hand, submit to His will, depend on His protection, profit by His chastisements, and endeavour to promote His glory here and abroad, now and for ever. “Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” [237]