The London Missionary Society 5

Next Part The London Missionary Society 6

1. A more intelligent apprehension, a deeper conviction, and a more solemn sense, on the part of the whole church—of the design of God in its erection and continuance in this world—as his witness and instrument for the conversion of the nations.Our Lord Jesus Christ, in his memorable prayer on the eve of his passion, constituted his church on earth one vast missionary society, and laid upon it the burden of pursuing and carrying out his ministry when he should have returned to his Father. This is her great business—to be his missionary to carry salvation to the ends of the earth. Not merely to be a stationary witness, like the Jewish Theocracy—but to be a moving luminary which shall carry the light of truth into the whole realm of darkness and of death.

Her own conservation in truth and holiness is but one half of her duty; the other is to extend herself throughout the world. No longer than she is pursuing this object, is she answering the end of her existence or the design of her Founder. In so far as she is a missionary church, she is a true church—and no farther. What is the duty of the whole church, is the duty of every section and part of it! And that denomination which has most of the missionary spirit has most of the apostolic genius and the true succession. Still following on this analysis, every congregation should be a home and foreign missionary society in itself; and, coming down to the constituent elements of every particular church, no man is a worthy member, or sustains a consistent profession, in whom dwells not the spirit of holy zeal for the spread of the gospel. As every Christian must be a martyr in spirit, though he may not be called to lay his head upon the block, or have his body chained to the stake—so must he be a missionary in spirit, though he may not be called to go to foreign lands to preach the gospel.

The church, as such, has not yet done, and is not even now doing, her duty. She has devolved too much of the work of converting the world upon whoever would undertake it, and has given it too much out of her own hands. She must take it up afresh, as peculiarly her work. She has protected, or attempted to protect, her orthodoxy by articles of faith; she must guard her consistency by articles of practice. She is vigilant against theoretic error; she must be no less so against practical heresy. She rejects from her communion the man who denies the doctrine of the atonement; why should she not equally require a belief in the practical design of the atonement?

That a man may be a very good man, in such an age as this, and feel no deep concern, and make no proportionate effort, for the conversion of the world—is a practical heresy of the deepest die! Over the portals of every church should be written in large and legible characters, "No man lives to himself;" and none should be permitted to step across the threshold who is not fully prepared to subscribe to the sentiment, that the missionary spirit is not merely a decoration to our religion—an article of taste to decorate its attire, or a chaplet of beauty to adorn its brow—but is our religion itself; the expression of our belief in the gospel, and of our submission to the law; the flaming out of the hidden fire of divine love in our hearts. And wherever and by whoever our religion is taught, it must be taught thus. This is to make the church, and not any specific organization, the conservator of the missionary cause. So that if our missionary society were to perish tomorrow, another would soon rise, phoenix-like, from its ashes, in new life, vigor, and beauty.

It is not the society only that we owe to our fathers—but the revival of the principle on which it is founded, and of which it is the embodiment, that the design and business of the church are the conversion of the world; and it is this principle that we of this age must hand down to the next. Church of the living God, awake, awake! All things wait for you. The night is gone; the day is breaking; and all things wait for you. Prophets have forecast your glory; apostles have labored for your advancement; martyrs have bled in your cause; and Providence, by ages of severest discipline, has been preparing you for ages of truth and joy. Events are yours. Merchandise spreads her sails for you. Knowledge trims her lamp for you. Avarice hoards his treasures for you. Temperance curbs the unruly appetite for you. Liberty prepares her throne for you. Slavery and crime scowl and mutter, and shrink away at sight of you. Things visible and invisible wait for you. Church of the living God, awake, awake!

2. If then our zeal be the offspring of our piety, the next thing necessary for the continuance and extension of the missionary enterprise is an increase of spiritual religion. I am not ignorant or unmindful of what our society and other societies have done in the great work of the world's regeneration. The results of modern missions collected into one view, as was done a few years ago by Mr. Malcolm, an American missionary, present a total which cannot be contemplated without feelings of adoring wonder, gratitude, and love. It resembles the labor employed to cultivate an immense wasteland.

The ground is marked out and enclosed. Here are some burning off the heath, the furze, and the brushwood upon the surface; and there are others driving the plough. A little farther on is the sower casting the seed; and in some places are to be observed patches of springing grain. All is the activity and hope of seed time. Over such a scene, compared with what it presented a few years ago, when the reign of universal barrenness was unbroken by a single sight or sound of moral cultivation, we ought not to utter strains resembling the 'raven-croak of despair' sent forth from a blasted oak amidst a region of desolation; but rather such as should imitate the carol of the lark, giving forth his sunbeam of sound in reply to the newly-risen Lord of the day, the leader of the harmonies at once of heaven and earth. Yes, if only a tenth part of what we have seen accomplished had been effected, it would have been more than enough as a reward for ten times the expense and the labor which we have incurred.

But still there is another comparison of our achievements to be made; and that is with what is yet to be done. And in reference to this, we are ready almost in cheerlessness to say with the ancient church, "We have not wrought any deliverance." We are in the second jubilee of our existence; we belong to a nation on which the sun never sets; we have had ships, colonies, and commerce; we have had science and the arts assisting us; we have spent millions; we have sacrificed hundreds of precious lives; we have awakened the attention of the whole earth to our doings—and how is it we have not done more? At the rate we are going on the world can never be converted. Pagans and Mohammedans are born a hundred times faster than they are converted to Christ. Tell me not that God does not despise the day of small things. Neither do I; but, like God, I desire the day of great things.

There is such a thing, I know, as being too discontented with partial success; so there is of being too contented with it. Why, if half the population of the globe were converted to Christ, I would be thankful—but not satisfied until the other half were converted too. I have a sympathy with Christ in the desires of his capacious heart; and of him it is said, "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied." What satisfies him shall satisfy me, and nothing less—and that is the subjugation of the whole world. He is working, waiting, expecting, until all his enemies become his footstool. Satisfied! Tell the hardy life-savers to be contented when they have saved a part of the crew from a wreck. With a humanity boisterous as the storm which they are braving, and tough as the life-boat in which they ride the billows, they will be ready to fling you into the sea for your cruelty, and exclaim, "Satisfied! no, never, until the last seaman is safe ashore."

Satisfied with what we have done! It is the pettiness of our ambition which stints our liberality, our prayers, our faith. Oh for the full inspiration of Carey's immortal aphorism, "Attempt great things, expect great things!" Let us take up as our motto, "The world for Christ!"

But what must the church be, as to her spiritual condition, to act up to such a vocation? What then is needed? What? More faithand more prayer—and in order to that more piety. We need a better church to make a better world. Without a better church we cannot have a much better world; and with a better church we would have a better world. We need more piety for ourselves; we need more to keep what we have; we need more for the wonderful age in which we live to fit us for our duty to that; and we need more for the great missionary work to which we are called. The conversion of a world is a mighty achievement, and requires the most robust and athletic piety, yes, something more than a correct system of church polity and a faultless orthodoxy, something far beyond lifeless formalism and conventional decorum. We need intelligence warmed with holy enthusiasm, and enthusiasm guided by intelligence; a religion of life, of power, of love, and of a sound mind; a religion combining something of the enthusiasmof prophets, the zeal of apostles, the self-denial of pilgrims, and the constancy of martyrs.

Our churches must be composed of members strong in faith and fervent in prayer, of members separated from the world, spiritually-minded, self-denying, rejoicing in hope, and waiting, looking, and longing for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need members who consider this world not so much a place for present gratification as of discipline, probation, and preparation for future glory. We need members carrying something of the devotion of private prayer into the activities of the committee-room and public meeting—and carrying back the cause from the platform to the closet; and feeling as if the eloquence of a thousand speeches would do less for us, than the power of a single, fervent, and believing prayer.

We cannot convert the world as we now are. We may and shall do something. We have done something; but we ought to do more. We may have the blessing; but unless we become more earnest in piety, we shall not have the fullness of the blessing. We may lay the first sheafs upon the altar; but we shall do little towards gathering in the harvest. We have done lesser things; but we have not cast out the demon from a possessed, convulsed, and tortured world. And why could we not cast him out? Our Lord shall answer the question—"This kind does not come out, but by fasting and prayer."

We need money, I know. We need men, I know. But there is something we need more than either, and which, if we had it, would give us more of both these put together—and that is faith and prayer. It was once said by an orator upon our platform, "Money, money, money is the life's blood of the missionary cause." Jealous for the honor of the Lord the Spirit, I did not like the expression.

But granting its truth, still the spirit of faith is the animating soul, without which the blood itself will stagnate at the heart, and the whole body lie a lifeless corpse! And prayer is the vocal organ, without which, though the vital spark were not extinguished, even the living form will put forth nothing but the gestures and contortions of the poor mute—instead of the intelligence, the eloquence, and the influence of the speaking man. We have risen up mighty in organization; but even this will do little for us, except we be also mighty in supplication. Organization, without believing prayer believing for the Spirit's power—is motionless. In Ezekiel's vision the impulsive spirit of the living creatures was in the 'wheels' also.

Next Part The London Missionary Society 6

Back to John Angell James