The Attraction of the Cross 4
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III. Let us now anticipate the final CONSUMMATION of Missionary success. "All men shall be brought to Christ." I do not mean to infer from this expression, or from any other which can be found in the Word of God, that we are ever to look for an age when every inhabitant of the globe shall become a real Christian. But what I contend for is, that the Scripture warrants us to expect an era when, by means of human exertion, and in answer to the prayers of the righteous, the power of Antichrist shall be dissolved, all fundamental errors in Christendom shall be exploded, the blasphemies of infidelity shall be hushed, the Jews shall believe in Jesus, the pale crescent of Mohammed shall set forever in the blaze of the Sun of Righteousness, the multiform systems of idolatry retire before the growing brightness of eternal truth, and the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, the fruits of righteousness, and the works of peace. So has God decreed. So has prophecy declared.
"Men shall be blessed in him, all nations shall call him blessed." "I saw in the night visions," said the prophet Daniel, "and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days; and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and languages, and nations, should serve him—his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." If on the one hand there is much in the present condition of the world to try our faith in these animating predictions, is there not, in the exertions of the Christian world, very much on the other hand to confirm and strengthen it? Contemplate for a few moments the state of the earth, together with the means which are employed for its improvement.
Suppose, for the sake of illustration, that you occupied the station of the angel represented in the Apocalypse, as standing in the sun, and that with eyes piercing as the beams of day, you were looking down on the revolutions of this low earthly sphere. Scarcely had England turned towards the east, before Ireland, an integral part of your own empire, would present four million of Roman Catholics, satisfying themselves with the crucifix instead of the cross; at the same time, however, you would behold the preachers of the Irish Evangelical Society, and the Schools of the Hibernian Society, lending their assistance to the Protestant ministers of various denominations, and all infusing the pure principles of the gospel into this mass of superstition. The Atlantic having glided away beneath your view, and with it the United States which fringe its western shore, you would look down on the innumerable tribes which wander without God through the unexplored regions of the American continents; still among these would be discovered here and there a missionary conducting them to Jesus. Then would follow the broad Pacific, spotted with innumerable islands, each the domain of idol gods; yet Tahiti and Eimeo would shine resplendent, like bright specks upon the bosom of the ocean, whence the light of salvation is diverging in every direction over that mighty mass of waters. No sooner had your eye regaled itself with Christian temples, floating, as it were, upon the great South Sea, than China would heave into sight its unwieldy empire, groaning as it rolled beneath the crimes of two hundred millions of idolaters; but even there, groups of Chinese, assembled to read in secret the Testaments circulated by our honored Morrison and Milne, would exhibit the first attraction of the cross in that most singular country.
Now, the plains of Hindustan, watered by the obscene and deified Ganges, would arrest your attention and produce an indescribable horror, as they disclosed the frantic orgies of Juggernaut, the flaming pile of the devoted widow, with innumerable other spectacles of idolatrous cruelty; yet, in the center of Oriental abominations, would you discover the crimson standard waving from the Mission-houses of Serampore and Calcutta, with Carey, and Townley, and the men of other missions, directing the teeming population to the means of salvation. If you looked northward beyond the mountains of India, immense tracts, covered with ignorance and idolatry, would be seen stretching away to the pole, but at the same time you would spot the rose of Sharon, planted by Stallybrass and Rahmn, amidst the snows of Siberia, and attracting the Calmuc and the Tartar by its fragrance and beauty.
Persia and Arabia would succeed, presenting in the numerous millions devoted to the false prophet, a formidable phalanx of blindness and bigotry; but moving down from Astrachan, along the shores of the Caspian, borne by the missionaries of the Edinburgh Society, would be seen the cross, advancing to spread the spirit of division and revolt through this army of the aliens, and to bring down the tottering fabric of Mohammadanism to the dust. Palestine, "the ground of sacred story," next appears. How would your eye linger over the valleys where the father of the faithful pitched his tent, the mountains on which Isaiah struck his harp; and above all, on the summit of that hill, where the Savior of the world poured out his soul unto death. Little, I confess, would be seen at Jerusalem but the mosque and the minaret, save where a company of Jews, veiled with unbelief, sit down round the site of their ancient temple; still would you not there anticipate the accomplishment of those numerous predictions which assure us that the exiles of Judea shall one day dwell in their own cities, and look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn?
In Asia Minor, amidst prevailing superstition, you would trace the Russian Bible Society, bearing back the golden candlestick to its place in one hand, and in the other the torch of truth, to rekindle those lamps which once threw their luster on the waves of the Mediterranean. Africa would then pass by shrouded in the gloom of barbarism, and still bleeding from the wounds inflicted by the ruffian hand of commercial avarice, an object as wretched as ignorance, oppression, and idolatry can render her; but ah! you would exclaim, with joyful exultation, "I see Bethelsdorp, and Theopolis, and Guadenthal, and Sierra Leone, in each of which I behold a pledge that Africa shall yet be free, enlightened, and holy." Europe, debased by the superstitions of the Greek church in the north, and by the errors of the Vatican in the south, would present that wonder of the age, the British and Foreign Bible Society, rising up to complete the work which Luther's life was too short to finish, and effect a universal and perfect reformation.
Such, then, is the present condition of the moral world, and such, in part, the means employed for its improvement; from which you perceive that the church of Christ, like the woman in the parable, has hidden the mystic leaven in the mighty mass, and that the assimilating process is commenced. It has commenced, and though it operates a while unseen, it shall never cease until the whole lump is leavened.
Evidence is not lacking that the period is rapidly approaching when all the nations of the world shall be brought to Christ. I pretend not to ascertain the year, nor the century, when the millennium shall reach its meridian. I am not in the secret of "the times and the seasons which the Father has put into his own power." I am not versed in the symbolical arithmetic of prophecy; but it appears extremely probable, from all the movements of Divine Providence, that a great and happy era is struggling in the birth. The political, the moral, the religious world, have all been agitated of late years, by new and quickening principles. The stagnancy of past ages has been disturbed. A vivifying wind has been sweeping over the face of chaos, preparatory to the new creation. The day has broken upon the world, and, just as might be expected, after a night so lowering and cloudy, beams of light diffuse themselves front one side of the heavens, and the storm rumbles with solemn grandeur, as it retires across the other.
Nor should it be overlooked that the chief splendor of that illustrious era will consist in the universal subjection of the world to Christ. It appears pretty evident that the grand contest which was originated by the entrance of moral evil into the universe; which converted the regions of celestial peace into the scenes of destructive war; which was then cherished in hell by the powers of darkness, and has since been perpetuated on earth in all the multiform systems of error and vice, has more particularly concerned the dominion and glory of the Son. He seems to have been the special object of satanic envy and hate, and to prevent his reign, all the resources of the infernal world have been incessantly in motion.
Here, then, is the glory of the latter day; it shall exhibit the termination of this grand rebellion, the cessation of this long conflict, in an entire victory over the rebel armies, and the universal subjection of the world to Jesus. "Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Christ." "He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet." Hence the shout of victory which is to be uttered at the close of this solemn contest, is represented as uttering this language, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of God, and of his Christ." Let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. Let them anticipate with triumph his universal reign. All men shall be gathered to him. Wherever the traveler directs his course through this wide world of ours, he shall behold in every country, city, town, and village, the friends and the disciples of Jesus, and none else. He shall hear every temple echo with his praise, and see every land filled with his renown. He shall witness all the kings of the earth casting down their crowns, and all the nations laying their glory at his feet.
And how greatly will it contribute to his renown, that this mighty conquest was effected by his cross. It will raise the fame of his power and wisdom to the highest pitch, that by "the foolishness of preaching" he overcame every enemy, and subjugated the world to himself. Had human reason devised a method for overturning the fabric of idolatry, and for establishing the true religion upon its ruins, it would have been anything but that which was employed by God. We would have said, "Adapt your system as nearly as possible to the fashionable philosophy of the day; announce it with Tully's golden writings; and celebrate its glories with the harmony of Virgil's numbers, and then you will probably succeed, especially if its apostles be the princes, the conquerors, and the scholars of the age."
"But God's ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as ours." He determined to conquer by an instrument despised for its weakness, and hated for its ignominy. "The weakness of the rod of Moses magnified the power of which it was the instrument; the contemptible nature of the rams' horns, signalized the victory at Jericho; the despicable appearance of the lamps and pitchers celebrated the defeat in the valley of Moreh; and the 'ignominy of the tree' will raise the fame of the power of Jesus in conquering the world, to a pitch beyond which nothing can advance it. To have broken and dissolved the gates of hell in a situation advantageous and honorable, would have magnified his power and wisdom; but to do this upon the cross, the instrument prepared by themselves for his destruction, elevates the glory of the achievement above our comprehension and our praise."
I shall now conclude with an address to the directors, to missionaries, to ministers, and to the congregation. Directors of this vast and noble institution, see in this subject your honor and your duty. Yours is the distinction of uniting, organizing, and directing the zeal of a large proportion of the Christian world; a zeal which has for its object to make known to perishing millions the Savior of mankind. A sacred trust is reposed in you. May the wisdom that is from above, replenish your minds, the love of Christ constrain your souls, the unity of the Spirit pervades your councils, the bond of peace encircles your hearts, and the blessing of God crowns all your exertions.
Continue to cultivate a friendly fellowship with other kindred societies, remembering that we all attack the same enemy, and move under the same banner; and though one may have inscribed upon the pole of his standard the name of the Church Missionary Society, a second that of the Baptist Mission, a third that of the Wesleyan Missions, yet all have placed the cross in the center of the banner, and all have written over the sacred emblem the ancient motto, "By this conquer!" Your generosity in past times to our Moravian brethren, and more recently to the Edinburgh society, produced but one feeling, and that was admiration; and called forth but one expression, and that was applause. Perish forever all envy and all rivalry, and let the only contest be this—who shall most glorify God and bless the human race.
Direct your missionaries to exhibit the great atoning sacrifice of Christ, to the heathen, and to consider this as the very end of their mission. At the same time, give them every opportunity of acquiring those qualifications which are so pre-eminently important in their situation. I speak the sentiments of all my brethren in the ministry with whom I have conversed on the subject, when I respectfully but urgently advise a lengthened term of education for such of our missionaries as are destined to the East. It is our opinion that four years are quite little enough for the literary and theological education of men who are to preach the doctrines of the gospel in a strange language, and to present them pure as they were revealed from heaven, in a faithful translation of the sacred volume.
In this country, valuable as are literary attainments, and highly valuable they are everywhere, a minister may discharge the duties of his office with considerable success, although he be ignorant of every language but his own; and even should he unhappily swerve from the truth, there are many on every hand to pluck up the weeds of error as fast as they arise in the garden of the Lord. But what is a foreign missionary to do without a literary education, who cannot hold a conversation with a pagan until he has acquired a foreign tongue; who cannot distribute a tract until he is able to translate it into a language—the genius and structure of which are totally dissimilar to any with which he is acquainted?
The work of translating the Scriptures is of immense importance, and of no small difficulty, and should not be entrusted to unskillful hands. One imperfect version of the Bible may pollute the crystal stream of revelation for ages, and one error in theology planted among the heathen, may proliferate amidst almost boundless space. First Scripture versions and first systems of doctrine delivered to the converts from idolatry should be as perfect as possible, since these are the models of others which succeed, and in addition to the circumstance of propagating their own imperfections, if any such attach to them, they soon acquire the veneration which is paid to antiquity, and cover their errors with the defense of this sacred shield. I can assure the directors that any increase of expense incurred, by renewed attention to civilization in barbarous countries, and by an extended literary education being given to their missionaries going to the East, will be most cheerfully defrayed by increased liberality on the part of their constituents.
There is one circumstance which is as a bundle of myrrh in the festive goblet of these annual banquets of benevolence and zeal—I mean the vacant seats of some who have "fallen asleep in Jesus," and the increasing infirmities of others who yet remain. Aged and honorable men! whose revered forms inspire veneration, whose noble exploits provoke emulation, and whose memory will be held in everlasting esteem; you linger amidst the scenes of labor, weary and worn as you are, yet almost unwilling to retire to your eternal repose, through fear lest, when you are gone, the cause which you have sheltered by your prayers, watered with your tears, and which is dearer to you than your life's blood, should be neglected. Dismiss your fears; around you are your younger brethren, whose character you have formed by your example, and into whose spirit you have breathed your own, confide the sacred trust to them. Bequeath to them as a legacy the interests of the Missionary Society, and whenever the chariot shall arrive, far distant be yet the day, which is to convey you in triumph to the skies, step into it without reluctance, being assured that we will search for your descending mantle, and never give up the pursuit until we have found the inspiring vestment.
Missionaries, you noble hearted men, whom I feel myself unworthy to address, and whom we all regard, or ought to regard, not as the servants of our institution, but its respected and beloved agents in foreign countries; receive my congratulations upon the high honor to which you are called. Yours it is to follow in the train of the Redeemer's retinue and earth's best friends, next to apostles, evangelists, and martyrs. Learn from the subject of this discourse your exalted and unalterable duty. Your peculiar and almost exclusive business is to "make manifest the savor of the knowledge of Christ in every place."
"You are debtors both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise, so much as in you is, to be ready to preach the gospel of Christ." You go far hence to the heathen to make known "the unsearchable riches of Christ." However you may sometimes, for relaxation, engage in the studies of natural history or local pursuits; this is your business—to preach the gospel. Seek to have your own minds filled with the glory, and your own hearts attracted by the influence of the cross, until you burn with inextinguishable ardor to plant the holy standard on the loftiest ramparts of superstition. Take as your example the inspired missionary to the Gentiles, and determine in his spirit "to know nothing, except Jesus Christ and him crucified."
Repose unbounded confidence in the weapons of your warfare. Seek to be full of faith. Leave your unbelief in England. In England did I say? Oh no—leave it not here, we have too much of it already; carry it with you on board the vessel which is to convey you to your station, then sink it ten thousand fathoms below the surface of the ocean, and call the monsters of the deep to sing its requiem. "Be holy—you who bear the vessels of the Lord." Be diligent; death has passed on before you; along the line of your march rise the tombs of departed heroes; and Swartz, and Brainerd, and Vanderkemp, and Cran, and Des Granges come forth from their sepulchers as you pass, to admonish you in the language of Scripture, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, where you are going." "Be faithful unto death." Never forsake your cause. When you are found among the slain, let your face be toward the foe, and no scar be seen upon your back; then will we tell the world that,
"When you fell, you fell like stars,
Streaming splendor through the sky."
My respected fathers and brethren in the ministry, has this subject no voice to us? Let us learn here our obligations. The pulpit is intended to be a pedestal for the cross, though, alas! even the cross itself, it is to be feared, is sometimes used as a mere pedestal for the preacher's fame. We may roll the thunders of eloquence, we may dart the coruscations of genius, we may scatter the flowers of poetry, we may diffuse the light of science, we may enforce the precepts of morality from the pulpit—but if we do not make Christ the great subject our preaching, we have forgotten our purpose, and shall do no good. Satan trembles at nothing but the cross. At this he does tremble; and if we would destroy his power, and extend that holy and benevolent kingdom, which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, it must be by means of the cross. "We preach Christ crucified!" "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power." (1 Corinthians 2:2-4)
Upon the congregation, the discourse which they have heard demands just and extensive claims. Behold the Lamb of God for yourselves, my hearers, with penitence, with prayer, and faith. Could you direct the eyes and hopes of millions to the Savior, this would avail nothing for your salvation, in the absence of a personal application on your own behalf. Having first given yourselves to the Lord, then use every scriptural means for making him known to the heathen. Be importunate in prayer that his kingdom may come, his "will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Believing prayer is the animating soul of the missionary cause. It is this which distinguishes it from every worldly combination, and elevates it far above the level of mere earthly institutions. Let this cease, and it sinks down from its own exalted rank, to take the place and share the fortune of all other human associations. Any increase of eloquence, funds, or patronage, which the cause of missions might acquire, when the spirit of prayer is departed, is only like the rigidity which the human body sometimes gains when the vital principle is extinct, or at best but as the swelling which precedes death.
Your property, however, must be added to your prayers, since he who has commanded us to ask, has also enjoined us to seek; evidently intending by such an injunction that all rational means should be united with devotion in every case where human agency is employed for God. Christians, I come to ask you this day, not what you will give to send a specific remedy to a nation desolated every year by the ravages of the plague; with such an object I might be bold in appealing to your benevolence; how much more bold, then, when I ask what you will give, what you ought to give, to send the doctrine of the cross to more than six hundred million of your fellow sinners, who are without Christ, and therefore without God, and without hope in the world.
Answer this question, not upon the principles of a mere worldly calculation, which looks around upon a circle of luxurious enjoyments with the enquiry—what can I spare and not be the poorer; or which values everything by a financial standard; but as a Christian, who professes to have felt the constraining love of Jesus, and "to have rejoiced in God through Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement;" answer me as a Christian, with your eye upon the cross for salvation, what ought you to give out of that property which God has first given you, to send the gospel to the heathen? If anything can be needed to excite your benevolence, I bring forward this morning five petitions, each soliciting your assistance, and each sufficient of itself to merit the greatest liberality.
The first petition is uttered in the groans of six hundred million human beings, who as they pass before you on their way to eternity, repeat that imploring language, "Come over and help us!"
The second petition is from several hundred missionaries, who, looking around upon the immeasurable scene of their labors, urge the admonition of their Master, "The harvest is great, but the laborers are few; ask therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth more laborers into his harvest."
The third petition is from the directors, "stating that their expenditure this year has exceeded their receipts above five thousand pounds, and entreating that they may not be forced to slacken their exertions, for lack of funds to support them; which must inevitably be the case, unless they are encouraged to go forward by increased liberality on the part of their constituents."
The fourth petition is from heaven, borne to us by the spirits of departed missionaries, who hover over our assembly this morning, "beseeching us to carry on with renewed vigor that cause in which they sacrificed their lives; and the magnitude and importance of which, amidst all their zeal for its interests, they never perfectly knew until they were surrounded with the scenes of the eternal world."
The fifth petition is from hell. Yes, directed to your hearts in the shriek of despair, comes the solicitation of many a lost soul in prison "Oh! send a missionary to my father's house, where I have yet five brethren, that he may testify to them, that they come not into this place of torment!" You cannot reply to this, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." What hearts you must possess if you can be deaf to such pleas, and can turn away such petitions unrelieved. Have you arrived at the very limit of your ability, and is every private resource exhausted? Then let us go to the treasury of the sanctuary, let us melt down the golden church plate, and convert even that into a means of sending the gospel to the heathen, assured that if we have nothing else to give, it will be more acceptable to our divine Lord to see it so employed, than to behold it glittering upon his sacramental table.
But do not plead such a necessity until you have surrendered the luxuries of your own houses, until the gorgeous display upon your own tables is given up. The mere 'tithe of extravagance' would support all the Missionary and Bible Societies in existence, magnified to ten times their present extent. A showy and lavish profusion in our habits is not only injurious to our own spiritual interests, but also to the interests of others. It is a felony upon the fund of mercy. Frugality is the best financier of philanthropy, and one of the most important auxiliaries of the missionary cause.
It is an encouragement to your liberality to know that eventually nothing shall be lost. You are employed in building that temple of which Jehovah declares, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations;" and of which the top stone shall at length be brought forth, amidst the shouts of exulting spectators, crying, "Grace, grace unto it!" Stupendous and glorious edifice! its transept shall extend from the northern to the southern pole. Its choir shall rest upon the empire of China, and its western window look out upon the waters of the great South Sea; while all the nations of the earth, attracted by the cross which shines upon its dome, shall assemble within its mighty circumference, and amidst the sacred memorials of missionary institutions, and the monumental inscriptions of illustrious men occupying every niche, and hanging from every pillar, shall celebrate the jubilee of the world, and unite in the sublime anthem, "Hallelujah; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God! The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever! Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!"
While the ten thousand times ten thousand angels around the throne shall respond to the shouts of the redeemed on earth, "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing!" And still the chorus shall swell, and still the strain shall wax louder and louder, "until every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, shall cry, Blessing, honor, glory, and power, be unto him who sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever! Amen! Amen!"
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