Two sermons, delivered before the New-York Missionary Society; the first on April 23d. in the Scots Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Dr. Livingston. : The second on April 24th, in the North Dutch Church, by the Rev. Dr. M'Knight. : To which is added, a charge given to the first missionary, by the Rev. Dr. Rodgers; together with the instructions to missionaries, and the report of the directors.

Two sermons, delivered before the New-York Missionary Society; the first on April 23d. in the Scots Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Dr. Livingston. : The second on April 24th, in the North Dutch Church, by the Rev. Dr. M'Knight. : To which is added, a charge given to the first missionary, by the Rev. Dr. Rodgers; together with the instructions to missionaries, and the report of the directors.

Table of contents

Title page

At a meeting of the NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, April 26, 1799,

THE GLORY OF THE REDEEMER. A SERMON, PREACHED BEFORE THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN THE SCOTS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 23d of April, 1799,

LIFE TO THE DEAD. A SERMON, PREACHED BEFORE THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN THE NORTH DUTCH CHURCH, On the 24th of April, 1799,

At a Meeting of the NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, April 26, 1799,

A CHARGE TO THE REV. MR. JOSEPH BULLEN, FIRST MISSIONARY TO THE INDIANS, FROM THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, For propagating the GOSPEL among the HEATHEN, Delivered by Appointment of the SOCIETY, IN THE NEW DUTCH CHURCH, March 21st, 1799,

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE DIRECTORS OF THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, TO THEIR MISSIONARIES among the INDIANS.

THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS.

STATE OF THE FUNDS. The Committee appointed to audit the Treasurer's Accounts beg leave to report,

Officers and other Directors elected November last.

The Plan for Social Prayer, adopted January 18, 1798, by the Directors of the New-York Missionary Society.

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TWO SERMONS, DELIVERED BEFORE THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The First on April 23d, in the SCOTS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BY THE REV. DR. LIVINGSTON.

The Second on April 24th, in the NORTH DUTCH CHURCH, BY THE REV. DR. M'KNIGHT; TO WHICH IS ADDED, A CHARGE given to the FIRST MISSIONARY, BY THE REV. DR. RODGERS; TOGETHER WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS TO MISSIONARIES, AND THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS.

NEW-YORK: PRINTED BY ISAAC COLLINS, No. 189, PEARL-STREET. 1799.

At a meeting of the NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, April 26, 1799,

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RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY,

THAT the thanks of the SOCIETY be given to the Rev. Dr. LIVINGSTON and Dr. M'KNIGHT, for the Sermons delivered by them respectively on the evenings of the 23d and 24th inst. agreeably to appointment; and that they be requested to furnish copies of the same for publication.

Extract from the Minutes of the Society, SAMUEL MILLER, Clerk.

THE GLORY OF THE REDEEMER.
A SERMON, PREACHED BEFORE THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN THE SCOTS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 23d of April, 1799,

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BY JOHN H. LIVINGSTON, D. D. S. T. P. One of the MINISTERS of the REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH of the City of NEW-YORK.

—CHRIST IS ALL AND IN ALL.

COLOSSIANS III. 11.

THE Obligation to love and obey GOD which arises from the perpetual dependence of men, as intelligent creatures, upon GOD, considered as their CREATOR, is the religion of nature. The relation formed by this dependence obliges them to be devoted to the service and glory of him who made, preserves and governs them. In this religion GOD the CREATOR is all and in all.

[Page]Revealed religion is that obligation to love and obey GOD, which results from the total dependence of men, as sinners, upon GOD considered as their REDEEMER. The relation produced by this dependence obliges them to be devoted to the service and glory of him who has atoned for their sins, and is become the LORD their Righteousness. In this religion GOD the REDEEMER is all and in all.

The Apostle adopts this very principle, and confirms it in the text by terms the most comprehensive and unequivocal.—"There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but CHRIST is all and in all."

Believers are risen with CHRIST. They are therefore to place their affections upon things above—to mortify their members which are upon earth—to put off the old man—and put on the new.—From these duties, no exemption can be pleaded; for the omission of them, no excuse admitted. The learned and the ignorant, the civilized and the savage, the Greek and the Jew, all who believe, without distinction of nation, name or condition, are brought into the same relation to GOD, renewed into the same in age, and bound to universal obedience and [...] by the same principle—for CHRIST is all and in all.

[Page]The phrase expresses in a summary manner every thing that can be predicated of the subject. It is applied in the passage before us and in Ephes. i. 23, to the divine REDEEMER, and in 1 Cor. xv. 28, to GOD in the most extensive view, comprehending every relation he sustains to his intelligent creatures.

CHRIST is all, he is every thing essential in the salvation of sinners; he is this to all and in all, the happy objects of his love. There are no local or personal discriminations. No exclusive privileges or monopoly of benefits. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." He is the same LORD, and his power and grace the same for all, and to all who call upon him.

The fulness of the REDEEMER is frequently inculcated, in similar comprehensive sentences. David says of him, "all my springs are in thee"*—"the LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my GOD, my strength"†"the LORD is my light and my salvation—the LORD is the strength of my life."‡ Paul calls him "the captain of salvation"§—"the author and finisher of our faith."‖ [Page] And the blessed Saviour declares concerning himself, "I am Alpha and Omega—the beginning and the ending—the first and the last."¶ These, and innumerable passages which ascribe to him the glory of pardon and peace, of present comfort and future happiness, are summed up in the emphatical words of the text, CHRIST IS ALL AND IN ALL.

CHRIST is an official name. It respects the exalted offices the REDEEMER sustained, and the vast work, which as GOD and man in one person he accomplished.

He must be man, a perfect man, that the law may be obeyed and satisfied, in the same nature which had sinned. He must be GOD, the true GOD, because no mere creature possesses a right to lay down his life and assign his merits to others—because, it requires infinite wisdom, love and power, to procure for and apply salvation to the guilty and depraved—and because, redemption constitutes a new claim to an exclusive property in, and dominion over the redeemed. But the LORD will not give his glory or alienate his claim to another. "I looked," saith he, "and there was none to help—therefore mine own arm brought salvation."*—"I, even I am the LORD, and besides [Page] me there is no Saviour."†—"A just God and a Saviour, there is none besides me."‡

So much of the mysterious manner of the divine existence is revealed; so much of GOD the Father, of GOD the Son, and of GOD the Holy Ghost, the one, the only living and true GOD, as suffices, not to gratify unsanctified curiosity, but to inform believers in what manner JEHOVAH can become their REDEEMER.

In consequence of the union between the divine nature of the Son of GOD and the human nature which he assumed, his whole person as GOD manifested in the flesh, is designated by the name of CHRIST. The Apostle therefore, in the words before us, adopts and confirms the principle, that in revealed religion, GOD the REDEEMER is all and in all.

No subject can be more acceptable to those who love the LORD JESUS CHRIST. None more seasonable when adversaries openly blaspheme that sacred name. And none more suitable to the character in which we now appear in his house and the work in which we profess to be engaged.—Father of lights, source of every good and every perfect gift, remove [Page] the covering which hides thy glories from our view. Increase and strengthen our faith to enter within the vail, that beholding with open face, we may be changed into the same image, from glory to glory!

CHRIST is all and in all. Every thing great, interesting and necessary in salvation is justly predicated of him.—Of a proposition so general, which comprehends the whole system, spreads over all the doctrines, and blends with every article of our creed, the details cannot possibly be considered in the present hour. As a summary of first principles, it must suffice to shew, that CHRIST is all and in all,—in the sacred scriptures—in the religion of sinners— and in providence.

I. In the sacred scriptures CHRIST is all and in all.

The Scriptures testify of CHRIST—in the law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, it is written concerning him, that he was to come, to suffer, and to rise from the dead, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations.—In the Gospels and Epistles the accomplishment of these predictions is recorded, and the doctrines of his grace explained and confirmed.—The Acts of the Apostles exhibit [Page] him in his majesty riding prosperously, sending the rod of his strength out of Zion, and ruling in the midst of his enemies.—The last book of the sacred canon is the Revelation of JESUS CHRIST, the LORD, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the ALMIGHTY. It foretels the prosperous and adverse state of his Church, the rise and destruction of his enemies, and his complete and the final triumph. The volume opens with the promise of his first appearance. It closes with an assurance of his second coming. The Scriptures are full of CHRIST.—Look at every part of the Sacred Word.

The HISTORICAL passages even of the Old Testament, refer to Him. The history of creation—the fall of man—the universal deluge —the call of Abraham—and the lives of the patriarchs. The series of events which respect that people, of whom as concerning the flesh CHRIST came, and the mention of other nations with whose fate that people was in some measure connected, all point to the same object. They are all introduced, to demonstrate the necessity of a Saviour, and discover the marvellous steps by which providence gradually prepared for the coming of MESSIAH.

The PROMISES are all in CHRIST, yea, and in him amen. In him they unite, for his [Page] sake they were made, and through him they become valid and sure. What respects himself is the principal promise. The repetition, explanation and confirmation of this, engross the chief attention of the sacred writers, and run, as golden threads, through every leaf of the inspired volume.

The WORSHIP under the law was designed to direct believers to the MESSIAH.—The municipal institutes of a nation in which the Church and State were united, must of necessity be comprised in the same code with the ecclesiastical, and ultimately refer to the same object. For his sake the theocracy was formed. To secure the fulfilment of the promises respecting him, that people were separated and dwelt alone until Shiloh came. The moral law was especially magnified by his active and passive obedience, and proved to be holy, just and good. In the whole, he is intended. To him it is calculated to lead lost sinners. CHRIST is the end of the law.*

The DEVOTIONAL passages of Scripture all look to Him by whom alone sinners find access to the Throne. It was faith in him as yet to come, which inspired the song of the Old Testament Saints, and tuned their harps to praise. It is faith in him who has come and washed us [Page] from our sins in his own blood, that now raises the voice of rejoicing and salvation in the tabernacles of the righteous.

The DOCTRINES in Scripture, like so many bright lines within the same circle, unite in one glorious point. It is in the face of JESUS CHRIST that the light of the knowledge of the glory of GOD shines most illustriously. Banish CHRIST from the doctrines, and a system luminous, connected and simple, becomes dark, perplexed and broken.

There are detached facts, individual doctrines, moral precepts, which, in themselves, are excellent, and independently on CHRIST or his glorious gospel, cannot fail of claiming approbation and applause.—But it will be found, when viewed in their connection, that these facts are all combined with others which have an immediate respect to the Saviour— that these doctrines either appertain to the religion of nature and are adopted of course into the Christian system, or they form a part of other doctrines which directly relate to CHRIST. And that these moral precepts are calculated to convince of guilt and direct sinners to seek an interest in his atonement; or they prescribe a rule of life, by which his people are to express their gratitude for saving mercies.—They are all, it is confessed, excellent in themselves; [Page] but their highest excellence, their extensive and true meaning, can be discerned alone, by observing the express relation they bear to the divine REDEEMER.

There are in the Scriptures, "some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest unto their own destruction." (2 Pet. iii. 16.)—The prophecies, antecedent to their accomplishment, must of necessity be, in a great measure, obscure.— The doctrines which respect the Holy Trinity—the Word made flesh—the operation of the Spirit—the sovereignty of GOD, and a total dependence upon him, are too sublime and mysterious to be fully comprehended by finite minds. And what relates to the depravity of human nature, with the inseparable consequences of guilt and sin, are directly opposed to the pride and prejudices of men. These are so many sources of difficulty. These render some things hard to be understood, and still harder to be cordially embraced. Yet, these notwithstanding, all who are taught of GOD discover a perspicuity sufficient to render them wise unto salvation, and they delight to meditate upon the word. None cavil but the ignorant and profane. None but they complain, that clouds and darkness rest upon the Scriptures.—Whatever it may be in regard to other matters, it is certainly beyond contradiction [Page] that in CHRIST the history of the Bible terminates—he is the sum of the promises—the end of the law—the spirit of the devotion, and the principal object to which the whole is uniformly directed. He was meant in the types, shadowed forth in the rites, and expressly intended in all the sacrifices. He is the sum, the scope of the Old and of the New Testament. In the Sacred Scriptures CHRIST is all and in all▪

The man, therefore, who reads the Bible without finding the Saviour there, is blind. And the minister of the gospel who, to avoid offence, or recommend himself to the wicked, conceals the exalted REDEEMER, is a madman; especially as,

II. CHRIST is all and in all in the religion of sinners.

That religion which removes the fatal consequences of sin—permits the guilty and depraved to worship in an acceptable manner— restores to the favour and communion of GOD —administers consolation, and produces in the issue, perfection and happiness, that, and that alone, can be denominated the religion of sinners. Every thing short of this must be inadequate to their exigencies, must be insufficient for their salvation.

[Page]The religion of nature is far from answering these exalted purposes.—From the definitions with which this discourse was introduced, and some observations that have transiently occurred, you may perhaps already anticipate what appertains to this part of the subject. It is however of too great importance to be slightly treated. It draws a line of distinction, with which many are evidently unacquainted. And it suggests a principle, of all others the most essential, in refuting the false philosophy of infidelity.

No obligation, and consequently no religion, can exist without some RELATION to constitute a basis or foundation upon which it rests. The foundation of the religion of nature is the relation which arises from the dependence of men considered as intelligent creatures, upon GOD as their CREATOR. This relation will not suffice for sinners.

The religion of nature is universal and unchangeable. It prescribes perfect and perpetual obedience, as its only possible condition; and it ensures happiness as long as a perseverance in such obedience is uninterruptedly maintained. But it contemplates no deviation from the divine law. It knows of no remedy for transgressors. A sinner is a monster unknown and unacknowledged in the religion of [Page] nature. A Saviour is a gift infinitely beyond its province or prerogative.

Sin constitutes a new character. It produces essential embarrassments. It requires help which nothing in the relation between creatures and their CREATOR, as such, can suggest or supply. The new character renders a new relation necessary. There must be a REDEEMER, or the evils produced by sin can never be removed. He alone who made them can redeem them, form the relation, and bring them into it.

The religion of nature is necessarily and forever binding upon all men as intelligent beings. The original obligation can never cease or abate. Nothing can infringe, nothing can destroy it. The religion of nature, in this respect, is as much the religion of men, after they become sinners, as it would have been had they continued holy and perfect; and yet by not providing happiness, is essentially deficient in a most important article.—If it obliges the sinner to obedience, while it condemns, and leaves him to all the direful consequences of his transgression—if the relation upon which it is founded does not reach the new character— if the only condition it prescribes, of do this and live, cannot possibly be complied with, and if the principle that investigates this obligation, [Page] is not competent to the discovery of any other, that will obviate the complicated miseries produced by sin, then the religion of nature cannot save, then it is not, and cannot be, the religion that will suffice for sinners.

Two obligations, each demanding the whole heart, arising from two distinct relations, would interfere and prove inconsistent, were they due to distinct Beings. No man can serve two masters.—But if both relations originate from the same source, and terminate in the same object; if he who is the CREATOR, be also the REDEEMER, no different interests, no clashing of authority, no inconsistency can arise from the additional obligation. The duties may sweetly blend, and one harmonious, rational and divine service be the blessed result.

All these defects are compensated, all these important ends obtained in revealed religion. This fully recognizes and cordially embraces, as of necessity it ought, the religion of nature. But it does much more. It meets the new character. It reveals a new relation. It opens a new access to GOD and happiness. And in this, its essential peculiarity consists.

Revealed religion considers men as sinners, and expressly treats with them as such. CHRIST came to call, not the righteous, but sinners to [Page] repentance. The whole need not a physician, but the sick. This is the religion which professedly provides a remedy against sin. The only religion that informs sinners what they must do to be saved. That procures acceptance for their persons and services—affords comfort in affliction—assuages the pangs of an accusing conscience—promotes holiness in heart and life—and opens a prospect of eternal rest and glory. This therefore, with propriety, may be called THE RELIGION OF SINNERS.

Now, in this religion CHRIST is all and in all. With respect to the foundation upon which it is built—the benefits derived from it—and the duties to which it binds.

What is the language of the Prophets in regard to the FOUNDATION of that religion which can save sinners? Of what importance do they consider CHRIST the divine Redeemer?—Hear them—"the Stone which the Builders refused is become the head stone of the corner."*—"A foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation."† "I have redeemed thee—I am the LORD thy GOD—thy SAVIOUR—your REDEEMER."‡—"Behold the man whose name is the branch—he shall build the temple of the [Page] LORD, even he shall build the temple of the LORD, and he shall bear the glory."*—"The man that is my fellow."† "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty GOD, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."‡ "They shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD with us."§

How do the Apostles speak upon this subject? Who do they declare to be all and in all in the religion of sinners?—"The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."‖ "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is JESUS CHRIST."¶ JESUS CHRIST himself being the chief corner stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy Temple in the LORD. "The fulness of him that filleth all and in all."** "In him ye are complete."†† "Redeemed with the precious blood of CHRIST."‡‡ "CHRIST is our life."§§

What is the testimony of the LORD JESUS CHRIST respecting himself?—"As the Father [Page] hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself."* "I and my Father are one."† "I lay down my life for the sheep."‡ "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."§ "I am the resurrection and the life."‖—Can any believe the Sacred Scriptures, can they affix a consistent meaning to these passages, and hesitate a moment in determining the character of the Saviour—what relation he bears to the redeemed—and of what importance he is to sinners?

The BENEFITS of the everlasting covenant are all ratified in him, and bestowed for his sake.

The new heart is his gift. The new birth is produced by his spirit, and effectual calling accomplished by his grace. He makes his people willing in a day of his power, and he alone gives rest to the weary and heavy laden.

Pardon and peace are the fruits of his purchase. It is in the beloved alone the unworthy are accepted. By faith they are justified as they receive CHRIST and become united to him thereby; not for faith or any merit in believing. The righteousness of the REDEEMER [Page] imputed to his people is the sole meritorious cause of their justification.—As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.* He "who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of GOD in him."† He is the LORD our Righteousness.‡

Sanctification flows from the same opened fountain. For holiness believers are as dependent upon CHRIST as for their pardon and right to eternal life. He is made to his people sanctification. "He delivers his captives from the mighty and his prey from the terrible." Destroys the dominion of sin in them▪ and begins, carries on and perfects what concerns the restoration of his image to all the redeemed.

To him his followers owe their safety and perseverance; he feeds the flock, gathers the lambs with his arms, and none can pluck them out of his hand.

His counsel guides, his arm defends, and his presence cheers and animates them on their way. Strengthened by him, they run and are not weary, they walk and faint not.

[Page]In Death they are comforted by his rod and staff. To him they commit their departing spirits.* They enter into his peace, they rest in their beds of dust.† And dying in him, their death is blessed.‡

His voice will burst the tombs and raise the dead. All who are in their graves shall hear and come forth. The Redeemer of Abraham, and of the children of Abraham, is the Saviour also of the body. Because he lives they shall live also.§

From his mouth the sentence shall proceed which absolves from guilt and welcomes to the mansions he has prepared. And it is he who is to present the redeemed family, washed in his own blood and freed from sin and sorrow, to be satiated with the full fruition of the love of GOD the Father, with the uninterrupted participation of the grace of GOD the Son, and the continued communion of GOD the Holy Ghost.

In all the benefits of the covenant of grace, in all the blessings conferred upon those who are saved, either in this life or hereafter, CHRIST is all and in all. He has procured them. He [Page] bestows them. From him and through him they are all derived.

The DUTIES to which revealed religion binds, are equally related to the adorable Saviour.

Faith, in its first appropriating act, has an immediate respect to him, and it continues to honour him in the whole subsequent life of the believer. "I live," says the Apostle, expressing the experience of himself and of all the children of GOD; "I live, yet not I, but CHRIST liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of GOD, who loved me and gave himself for me."*—In repentance, the contrite and broken in heart look unto him whom they have pierced and mourn.†—Hope rests upon his word, with a firm persuasion that he is able to keep what is committed unto him against that day.‡—We love him because he first loved us.§ His love constrains to affectionate returns; and so essential are these, that all who love not the LORD JESUS CHRIST are stigmatized with an anathema—maranatha.‖—In every act of worship, in prayer, in praise, in celebrating the ordinances, still the REDEEMER is acknowledged. In his name addresses are presented to [Page] the throne; through him believers draw near; baptism and the supper are the signs and feals of what he has accomplished. In all he is expressly remembered.—"Whatsoever his people do in word or in deed, they do all in the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, giving thanks to GOD and the Father by him."* "As the branch cannot bear fruit without the vine, no more can they without him."† By adhering to him, depending upon him, and deriving strength from him they become fruitful. "Without him they can do nothing."‡

Is it not evident, that in practice, as well as in theory, all religion centres in CHRIST?— that he is the foundation of the whole?—that the benefits proceed from him?—and that every duty has a regard to him, is accepted for his sake, and performed by strength derived from him?—In the religion of sinners CHRIST is all and in all.

How little do infidels know of the foundation and properties of that very religion in which they profess to trust, and how much less of that which they oppose! how ignorant are they of the Saviour, who deny his divinity and atonement! With a professed submission to revelation, and various modifications, the Socinian system still remains the religion of nature. [Page] —Over this same stone of stumbling all unconverted men, however found their profession of the truth may be, are actually falling. Strangers to the new relation, to the only foundation which GOD has laid, they still rest upon the old basis. This is all▪ by nature, they can know.

III. CHRIST is all and in all in PROVIDENCE.

The whole administration of providence is in his hand—he is also the End to which its movements are subservient, and in which all the series of events will finally terminate. In both these respects CHRIST is all and in all.

1. He is invested with the actual administration of providence.

CHRIST, the essential word, "was in the beginning with GOD, and was GOD. All things were made by him."* "All that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions or powers, all things were created by him and for him."† As he is before all things, so "by him all things consist." He is the glorious dispenser of providence, the sole ruler and governor of the world. "The father judgeth no [Page] man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father."—He is the king of nations in the most extensive sense, as it respects the divine preservation, co-operation and government. And he is the king of saints, and head of his Church, in consequence of a more intimate and special relation which subsists between him and the redeemed family. Of the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of grace CHRIST has the sole direction. In the actual administration of both he is all and in all.

With regard to the former, it is said of him —"a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth"*— "The LORD reigneth"†—"Thy throne of GOD is forever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom."‡—As in the beginning he laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens were the work of his hands, so to him the government of the whole is committed. He employs them as instruments to fulfil his pleasure, and when his work is accomplished, he shall fold them up as a vesture, and they shall be changed. But he remains the same and his years shall not fail.

The mediatorial kingdom of CHRIST is distinct from that eternal dominion over all worlds [Page] which appertains to him as GOD. It is a kingdom peculiar to the new relation which redemption has formed, and is dispensed in the most perfect harmony with the other.—It has pleased the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, that in CHRIST all fulness should dwell.* And because he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. GOD hath also 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, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of GOD the Father.† The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hands.‡ All power is given unto him in heaven and in earth.§

The union of two natures in CHRIST, renders the independent and the delegated power perfectly consistent. Nothing contradictory or improper is implied in committing the twofold administration to the same hand.—What is peculiar to either nature, is always in scripture ascribed to the whole person of the REDEEMER. To inculcate the mystery of GOD manifest in the flesh more forcibly, things are frequently predicated, with the mention of one nature, [Page] which can of necessity be applicable only to the other. Thus GOD is said to have purchased the Church "with his own blood."* And thus, it was no robbery in CHRIST to be equal with GOD, while at the same time, he was a man, a servant, made under the law and amenable to its demands. And hence also, he may possess an independent and divine right to the government of providence, and yet be cloathed with a delegated authority expressly committed to him as mediator.

The origin, nature, and dignity of this kingdom which CHRIST administers, may be sufficiently gathered from the terms by which it is distinguished in scripture.

It is called the kingdom of God, † because GOD is the immediate author and founder of it‡—GOD himself is the king—and the perfections of GOD are more displayed in this, than in all his other works.

It is called the kingdom of heaven, § because it is great, precious and excellent—more spiritual under the New Testament than it was under the Old—approaches in its privileges and benefits as near to the worship and joys of heaven, as it can on earth be brought—and because [Page] this is the last dispensation, which shall change the state of grace into that of glory.

It is declared to be a kingdom not of this world, * as—it is a spiritual kingdom and respects the heart, principles as well as conduct —is not propagated by external violence, but by the power of the truth and an appeal to conscience—the benefits it confers are of a moral nature and have an immediate relation to a future state—it in no measure interferes with the governments and kingdoms of this world, in their policy, laws, or administration—it possesses no earthly lustre, makes no shew of diadems and purple, and is directly opposed to the carnal expectation of the Jews, who looked for splendour, conquest, and universal dominion over all other nations.—It promises no temporal emoluments, no exemption from troubles, pains or losses—it assures its subjects that in this world they shall have tribulation, while it reserves for them a recompense of joy and everlasting rest, beyond the grave.

The administration of this kingdom commenced, when the Saviour was first promised. From the beginning he has had the charge both of the world and of the church. But, after his resurrection it was displayed in a more illustrious and singular manner. Having finished [Page] the atonement and overcome, the man CHRIST JESUS, the exalted human nature united to the person of the Son of GOD, sat down with his Father upon his throne.* Agreeably to the prediction: I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.†

The duration of his dominion is unlimited. "Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end."‡ His name shall endure for ever. His name shall be continued as long as the sun, "he shall reign throughout all generations,"§ and the change in the administration at the close of the dispensation of grace, will not divest him of his essential honours.

The kingdoms of the earth, every empire and nation have a date fixed for their rise, continuance and dissolution. But this kingdom is founded upon a basis which defies the assaults, and foils the power and policy of all its enemies. Other governments have passed away, and all in their turn shall fall, but this will stand, and with increasing glory remain forever.—Where are the mighty monarchies of Assyria and Chaldea? Where the vestiges of the rapid victories of Alexander, or the splendid triumphs of Caesar, the conquests of Macedonia, [Page] or the domination of Rome? They are all gone. They are vanished like the empty visions of the night, and barely stalk in history, as the ghosts of fallen empires. Where will be the pomp and power of emperors, kings and republican rulers who now desolate the world, with wars, revolutions and havock? like their predecessors, they will soon be crumbled to the dust, and leave not a wreck behind.—Cities once celebrated for their extent, riches and population, are razed, and the remnant of their ruins scarcely exhibit a proof of their former existence. Babylon, the metropolis of the world, the glory of kingdoms, the queen of cities, is swept by the besom of destruction. Her walls and turrets which shadowed the plains of Shinar, her gorgeous palaces, her lofty hanging gardens and sumptuous terraces, are all demolished. It is only known, that amidst the fens and marshes, dragons now howl and satyrs dance, where Babylon once stood.—It is not so with the city which hath foundations, whose maker and builder is GOD. It is not so with the kingdom whose government is administered by the blessed mediator. This shall remain and survive all the successive empires and cities on earth. No weapon that is formed against Zion shall prosper.* GOD is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.†

[Page]The extent of this kingdom will correspond with its dignity and duration. It is a light thing for the glorious REDEEMER to raise up the tribes of Jacob only, he is given also for a light to the Gentiles, to be the salvation of GOD unto the end of the earth.* All Israel shall be saved and the fulness of the Gentiles also come in.† The heathen are given to him for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.‡ He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth."§ The small gleanings from the multitude of sinners which has hitherto been made for CHRIST, cannot comport with the glorious extent intended in these promises. The time will therefore come, when "the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations shall be destroyed."‖ When the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.¶

It is to effect this interesting purpose, that CHRIST the LORD, the Saviour reigns. For this the government is in his hands. Every event is under his controul. In the administration of providence, he is all and in all.

2. But CHRIST is also the End of providence. [Page] To him the whole dispensation has an immediate respect. To fulfil the divine decree of bringing glory to the REDEEMER, all the vast series of events are rendered subservient, and to this point, in all their intricate movements the wheels are forever turning.

The world is established in CHRIST that it cannot be moved.* For his sake it is spared and daily blessings bestowed even upon the rebellious; the world, even for this, has cause to rejoice that the REDEEMER reigneth. But it is especially a reason for joy, and the multitude of isles may be glad, that the whole earth will at length submit to CHRIST, that the darkest corners will be enlightened by the Sun of Righteousness, and all flesh shall see the glory of the LORD.

The event is determined. From the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, his name shall be great among the Gentiles.† All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD; all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.‡ The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our LORD and of his CHRIST.§— Heaven and earth shall pass away, but these promises shall not fail. He will overturn, [Page] overturn, overturn, until he come whose right it is, and he will give it him."* THIS is the great scope and end of providence, and shall most assuredly be attained. Infinite wisdom will employ the best means for producing the best end, and almighty power ensure success.

The different stages through which the Church must pass, the progressive manner in which all this will be obtained, are indisputably marked in the prophetic vision which Daniel interpreted.†—"A stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image—and the stone which smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth—in the days of these kings shall the GOD of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

Let it suffice to remark upon this celebrated prophecy: that the Church, the visible kingdom of CHRIST in the world, is here exhibited as remaining for a series of ages,—small and circumscribed in its limits—moveable and changing its place—suffering and exposed to buffetings and insults. A state, very aptly designated by comparing it to a stone. But a [Page] season will arrive, when it shall triumph over all its adversaries, extend its boundaries and spread throughout the world. Expressed in the prophetic emblem, by a great mountain that shall fill the whole earth.

During the first period, (by a learned expositor* called the kingdom of the stone) the wicked have been permitted to exert their utmost efforts of malice and power against the anointed King of Zion. Enemies from without have assaulted the Church with violent persecutions; and an enemy within, more formidable from his situation, has made deeper thrusts, corrupted the truth, and worn out the saints with cruel oppression. But, when these have wasted their strength, and the gates of hell opposed in vain; at the period fixed for the display of the Saviour's grace and glory in the world, his Church will suddenly assume a new form. Her mourning be turned into joy, her widow's weed exchanged for the garment of salvation. The stone will rapidly grow into a mountain. The kingdom of CHRIST literally fill the whole earth.—Thus it will be gratefully acknowledged that he administers the government; it will then be seen with rapture, that his glory is the end; and mankind will hail the divine REDEEMER as also, all and in all in providence.

[Page]AND NOW, my Brethren, what think ye of CHRIST? what think ye of him who is the principal subject of the bible, the only basis of redemption, the administrator and the end of every dispensation? is he not the chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely? is he not all and in all—in the sacred scriptures —in the religion of sinners—and in providence? and ought he not to be all our salvation and all our desire? should not our hearts glow with gratitude while we contemplate the amazing work? Can we look with cold indifference upon what infinite wisdom has planned, upon what love passing knowledge has accomplished?—Prejudiced infidelity may pronounce the gospel folly, and the humble manifestation of the MESSIAH prove a stumbling block to his ancient people. But to us the scandal of the cross is more than compensated by the glory which succeeded. We know the man of sorrows is now exalted "on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens."* His adversaries may then blaspheme, and the impious say, "we will not have this man to rule over us." But we with cheerful submission and adoring confidence, reply—"come LORD JESUS—King of kings and Lord of lords— thou art worthy to receive glory and honour and power—rule thou in the midst of thine [Page] enemies. Reign in our hearts." Let this be our first impression, this our first sentiment.

Diminutive as man appears when compared with the universe, and less than nothing when likened unto GOD; mean as a creature in the scale of beings, and still less and unworthy as a sinner; there is nevertheless no ground for cavil against the infinite price at which salvation is obtained, or the amazing method by which the work is accomplished. An immortal soul capable of receiving the divine image, of knowing, loving, and serving GOD in consummate bliss forever, is not a little thing. Millions of such are not beneath the notice and care of the Supreme.—Small and great are comparative terms. No part of the moral creation is in itself inconsiderable. The harmony which must subsist in the divine government, the connection of systems, the influence of worlds upon worlds, of every part of the vast dominion of GOD upon the whole, of present transactions upon the ages of eternity, render it absolutely impossible for finite minds to estimate what is small or great, or determine upon the question of propriety and right.—If God designs to magnify his love and display the riches of his grace, in saving even the least, the youngest of the family, it may be expected, that in the plan and accomplishment, it will be worthy of himself. No step can be too marvellous, no part [Page] of the work too astonishing, nor need it offend the highest intelligences to find that, in becoming a Redeemer, he performs a new work, and assumes the very nature he redeems into a personal union with himself. Nothing is too great for GOD. The ends hereby attained may not only reach the redeemed, but in their blessed consequences extend to the whole creation, and produce most glorious and salutary effects to all eternity. Whatever it may be, his thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are our ways his ways. Far then from exclaiming, how can these things be? or raising objections from the character and relative insignificance of man, it becomes us to believe and adore. The difficulty of reconciling such proceedings in the moral government to our views and expectations, serves rather to enhance the value of this great salvation, confirm its certainty, and prompt us with cheerfulness to submit to the glorious gospel of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

The angels of GOD worshipped him.* At his birth they sung "glory to GOD in the highest;" during his humiliation on earth they attended; and are now, through all their shining hierarchies, subjected to his authority and employed by him to minister to the heirs of salvation. He is their LORD, but he is our REDEEMER. To us the child was born. To [Page] us the Son was given. He took not upon him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. He came to save sinners of mankind, the chief of sinners. Let sinners then, let the chief of sinners bow before him, and praise GOD their REDEEMER. Praise him for his unspeakable gift. Praise him for becoming man and suffering, the just for the unjust. Praise him for entering within the vail, as their forerunner and intercessor. Praise the King eternal, immortal and invisible, exalted far above all principalities and powers, the head over all things to the Church. Praise ye him all his angels. Praise ye him all his hosts. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. And be not ye silent who have tasted that he is gracious. Let the redeemed especially say so, "and the children of Zion be joyful in their King."*

2. Are the Sacred Scriptures inspired of GOD, do they reveal a Saviour, are they able to make us wise unto salvation, why then are they neglected, why traduced by those who are within the reach of information and might readily obtain conviction of their origin and authority?—It is not the want of evidence, my brethren; it is not any rational objection that creates this aversion or stimulates to opposition. An enmity against GOD, an impatience under constraint, a licentious spirit, prompt them to [Page] rage and take counsel against the LORD and his anointed. Nothing, that can be devised necessary to support the testimony of Scripture, is lacking. But the precepts are too severe, the doctrines too humbling, and the Saviour too holy, to meet their unsanctified approbation. They hate the Author and wreak their malice upon his book. Had the Bible been only a republication of the religion of nature▪ had no other relation but that of CREATOR been revealed, the system would have been more acceptable, the resistance less strenuous. But provoked to be treated as sinners, enraged at the hand that brings the balm to heal the wounded, they spurn the REDEEMER, and pour contempt upon his proffered blessings.

Know, ye profane, ye infidels be warned, that to reject revealed religion is in the issue to cast off also that of nature. He that hates GOD the REDEEMER cannot love GOD the CREATOR. Deism verges fast upon Atheism. There is but a step between the virulent enemy of the gospel and the wretch who defies the Maker of heaven and earth.—Look at the philosophists of the present age. See the point at which they aim, the goal at which many of them are arrived, and shudder at the fatal consequences that await your infidelity. Fly from the dreadful precipice upon which you stand.

[Page]3. Has the everlasting GOD, the LORD, the CREATOR of the ends of the earth become a REDEEMER? Has he, whom the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain, condescended indeed to dwell on the earth and assume our nature? Has the blessed Emmanuel finished a work▪ too great for men or angels? Did he come to save sinners? Is his call expressly addressed to them, as such? Is he able to save to the uttermost? And, has he promised in no wise to cast out those who come to him?—What glad tidings of great joy! With bended knees and adoring hearts, pronounce him welcome. With the exulting multitude exclaim: "Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the LORD; hosanna in the highest."‖ —But let the external homage of profession, be attended with the sincere dedication of the soul; or in a day of trial your hosannas may change into blasphemies, your cry of welcome into the horrid shout of crucify him, crucify him!

Believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST and thou shalt be saved.† In revealed religion faith is essential. That faith which respects the person of the REDEEMER, while it cordially embraces his truths. That which receives HIM as offered in the gospel, and completes an union, which is the sole basis upon which the imputation of his meritorious Righteousness can proceed. [Page] —Rest not therefore satisfied with a name to live: your benevolence, temperance, rectitude, and all the train of personal and public virtues, which endear you to the community, and render you valuable to society, will not avail to procure pardon with GOD, or purify your polluted souls. It is the blood of CHRIST alone that cleanseth from all sin. He is all and in all in the religion of sinners. Look then unto him and be ye saved.

4. Hath the Father loved the Son and given all things into his hand?—his people love the Son also, and have entrusted him with their all. His fulness is their security; his power and government their choice; and they gladly crown him LORD and King—behold then, believers, the glory of your exalted Head, and whatever others do, rejoice ye that the LORD the Saviour reigns.

Is he all and in all in providence? Then what you have committed to him is safe. Your life is [...] CHRIST in GOD, and nothing shall separate you from his love. He hath said▪ I will never leave you nor forsake you.* He careth for you†—go in his name. Be strong in his strength. Be faithful unto death, and he will give you a crown of life.

[Page]Is he all and in all in providence? Then his Church is safe; his trembling saints may suspend their anxiety for the issue of her conflicts. What, if the wicked combine and strain every nerve to undermine the City of GOD! What, if the enemy with collected strength and increased fury come in like a flood! There is a banner ready to be lifted up, which has waved in triumph over former foes, and will again be the signal of defence and victory. The stone that was cut out without hands may sustain innumerable indignities and be exposed to imminent dangers. But it will resist every shock, and assuredly break in pieces all who fall upon it. That stone is reserved to become a mountain. The REDEEMER is enthroned in power to attain this very end. The decree is passed, and the zeal of the LORD of hosts will fulfil his promise.

5. Every part of this subject has an immediate respect to the work in which we are now engaged. Had the Missionary Society any temporal pursuits in view; did the prospects of gain, of policy or ambition, mingle with the motives which have associated us; some other topic would have been chosen this evening, and arguments of a different complexion, derived from other sources, claimed your attention. But, what is our work, what our object? Is it not to honour the divine REDEEMER—to [Page] make known to the heathen that a Saviour reigns—to extend the kingdom of righteousness, peace and truth to idolatrous savages— and change the habitations of ignorance and cruelty into enlightened dwellings of purity and comfort? This work, like the kingdom to which it appertains, is not of this world. It partakes of nothing that is censurable; opposes no interest but that of hell; and is entitled to the prayers and benedictions of all who ascribe glory to GOD, or cherish good will to men.

Acting upon such principles, and with the answer of a good and well informed conscience, what instruction, in regard to duty, and what encouragement to perseverance, need now be added? Hope for the heathen, the certainty of their future conversion, and the obligation upon Christians to be active and zealous in propagating the gospel, have, upon a former occasion, been urged with such strength of argument, and enforced with so much energy, that the impression then made must be indelible. To present the same objects again to your view, would answer no valuable purpose. If you believe indeed that CHRIST is all and in all, your hearts have burned within you while contemplating the glory which succeeded his sufferings, and you are ready to cry out, "Let the heavens rejoice, [Page] and let the earth be glad—say among the heathen the LORD reigneth.*

The master whom you serve is worthy of every return that obedience and love can dictate. Your most painful labours, persevering industry, and strenuous exertions to promote his gospel, are infinitely less than is due for his distinguishing grace.—The salvation you strive to promulgate is great and worthy of all acceptation. It imparts peace and consolation here; it ensures perfection and glory hereafter. The souls of savages are immortal and precious as your own. Their essential interests the same. —Every sentiment of gratitude to your REDEEMER and of benevolence to men—the obligation to communicate to others what has been freely bestowed upon you, and the express command to "teach all nations," which is still unrepealed, conspire to confirm the duty, fix your resolves, and animate you with courage in this laudable enterprise. May your labours be crowned with success, and the wilderness, under your cultivation, rejoice and blossom as the rose!

The promise annexed to the divine command suggests the most ample support. The presence of the LORD, like the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, will prove a guide, [Page] protection and comfort to his servants. If he be "alway with them, even unto the end of the world," they may proceed with confidence and anticipate prosperity. While some unite their counsels, others can boldly go forth in his name. The root of Jesse will stand for an ensign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious.*

The dispensations of providence in connection with the sure word of prophecy, justly raise our expectations, and may be considered as unequivocal tokens of signal success.—Whatever may be the period from which the rise of Antichrist is to be dated, it is evident his usurpations and tyranny are drawing to a close. That wicked power which has so long resisted the progress of the gospel, but which for some time has been gradually consuming, will soon be destroyed by the brightness of the REDEEMER's coming. The last struggles of the monster may be violent, and his expiring agonies protracted, but he is certainly dying. The western and eastern Antichrist, which with their combined influence, are perhaps considered in scripture as one, arose nearly at the same time and will fall together.

The vials of wrath now pouring upon those nations which gave their aid and support to the [Page] man of sin. The desolations of war, the revolutions, terrors and convulsions, unrecorded before in history, announce the approach of some period, new and interesting. The REDEEMER is shaking the nations, and his people hope, it is to prepare the way for his coming We presume not with confidence to ascertain "the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power."* But as we know, that, when the fig-tree putteth forth leaves, the summer is nigh; so when we see all these things, we know that the coming of the son of man is near, even at the door.†

Under the frown of infidelity, and in defiance of that infernal power which, with accumulated strength and fury, is making havock of the churches, the spirit of the LORD is poured out upon them as waters upon the dry ground, and they unite with a cordiality and come forward with a zeal before unknown. In the Indies, in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, and in Africa, the precious name of JESUS is now proclaimed by their heralds. Our feeble efforts, although late, have not been disowned by our LORD. We have succeeded in obtaining one missionary, and he is now on his way to a tribe of savages upon our frontiers. The LORD direct the steps of his servant, and render this beginning of our labours as "the [Page] handful of corn upon the top of the mountain, the fruit whereof shall shake like Lebanon!"‡

Take, my brethren, a deliberate view of all these events. Collect them in a point, and feel the encouragement which they are calculated to inspire. Whatever may be the immediate consequence of your efforts, it will be accepted of the LORD, that it was in your hearts to build him an house. Whatever may be the issue of the individual or joint exertions in this good work; it will not be long before the morning will break, and with its rising lustre dispel the shades of night. Another season of refreshing is at hand. Another Pentecost will awaken the churches and amaze the world. The cruel conflict which must terminate in killing the witnesses, can afford the adversary but a short triumph. The spirit of life from GOD will again enter into them. (Rev. xi. 11.) Order will speedily arise out of confusion, light succeed to darkness, and the REDEEMER take to himself his great power and reign. His breath will shake the slain multitudes, and nations be born in a day. The Jews are ready to hail their own MESSIAH, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of GOD.— Hear the decree which ensures the final success of the gospel and the glory of the REDEEMER: "He must reign until he hath put all enemies [Page] under his feet—then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to GOD, even the Father—THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL." Amen.

Notes

*

Psal. lxxxvii. 7.

↵

†

Psal. xviii. 2.

↵

‡

Psal. xxvii. 1.

↵

§

Heb. ii. 10.

↵

‖

Heb. xii. 2.

↵

¶

Rev. i. 8, 17.

↵

*

Isai. lxiii. 5.

↵

†

Isai. xliii. 11.

↵

‡

Isai. xlv. 21.

↵

*

Gal. iii. 24.

↵

*

Psal. cxviii. 22.

↵

†

Isai. xxvii. 16.

↵

‡

Isai. xliii. 1, 3, 14.

↵

*

Zach. vi. 12, 13.

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†

Zach. xiii. 7.

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‡

Isai. ix. 6.

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§

Isai. vii. 14. Matt. i. 23.

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‖

John i. 14, 16.

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¶

1 Cor. iii. 11.

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**

Ephes. [...] 20, 21.

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††

Eph. i. 23.

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‡‡

1 Pet. i. 18, 19.

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§§

Colos. iii. 4.

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*

John v. 26.

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†

John x. 30.

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‡

John x. 15.

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§

John xiv. 6.

↵

‖

John xi. 25.

↵

*

Rom. v. 19.

↵

†

2 Cor. v. 21.

↵

‡

Jer. xxiii. 6.

↵

*

Acts vii. 59. Psal. xxxi. 5.

↵

†

Isai. lvii. 2.

↵

‡

Rev. xiv. 13.

↵

§

John xiv. 19.

↵

*

Gal. ii. 20.

↵

†

Zach. xii. 10.

↵

‡

2 Tim. i. [...]2.

↵

§

1 John iv. 19.

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‖

1 Cor. xvi. 22.

↵

*

Colos. iii. 17.

↵

†

John xv. 4.

↵

‡

John xv. 5.

↵

*

John i. 1, 3.

↵

†

Colos. i. 16, 17.

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*

Jer. xxiii. 5.

↵

†

Psal. xciii. 1.

↵

‡

Heb. i. 8.

↵

*

Colos. i. 19.

↵

†

Phil. ii. 8, 9, 10, 11.

↵

‡

John iii. 35.

↵

§

Matt. xxviii. 18.

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*

Acts xx. 28.

↵

†

Psal. xlv. 6. Isai. lii. 7. Luke xvii 20.

↵

‡

Daniel ii. 44. Psal. cx. 1.

↵

§

Matt. iii. 2

↵

*

John xviii. 36.

↵

*

Rev. iii. 21.

↵

†

Psal. ii. 6.

↵

‡

Isai. ix. 7.

↵

§

Psal. lxxii. 17.

↵

*

Isai. liv. 17.

↵

†

Psal. xlvi. 5.

↵

*

Isai. xlix. 6.

↵

†

Rom. xi. 25, 26.

↵

‡

Psal. ii. 8.

↵

§

Psal. lxxii. 8, 11.

↵

‖

Isai. xxv. 7.

↵

¶

Isai. xi. 9.

↵

*

Psal xciii. 1.

↵

†

Mal. i. 11.

↵

‡

Psal. xxii. 27.

↵

§

Rev. xi. 15.

↵

*

Ezek. xxi. 27.

↵

†

Daniel ii. 34, 35, 44.

↵

*

JOSEPH MEDE.—Regnum lapidis—Regnum montis.

↵

*

Heb. viii. 1.

↵

*

Heb. i. 6.

↵

*

Psal. cl.

↵

‖

Matt. xxi. 9.

↵

†

Acts xvi. 31.

↵

*

Heb. xiii. 5, 6.

↵

†

1 Pet. v. 7.

↵

*

Psal. xcvi. 10, 11.

↵

*

Isai. xxi. 10.

↵

*

Acts i. 7.

↵

†

Matt. xxiv. 30, 32, 33.

↵

‡

Psal. lxxii. 16.

↵

LIFE TO THE DEAD.
A SERMON, PREACHED BEFORE THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN THE NORTH DUTCH CHURCH, On the 24th of April, 1799,

[Page]

BY JOHN M'KNIGHT, D. D. One of the MINISTERS of the UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATIONS in the City of NEW-YORK.

EZEKIEL XXXVIII. 3.

AND HE SAID UNTO ME, SON OF MAN, CAN THESE BONES LIVE? AND I ANSWERED, O LORD GOD, THOU KNOWEST.

MY design from these words is, to take a view of that prophetic vision, of which they are a part, in itself and in its applications.

The Prophet tells us, that being carried out, in the Spirit of the LORD, he was set down in the midst of a valley full of bones. Having [Page] passed by them round about, and taken a particular survey of them, behold there were very many, in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry. In these circumstances was the query, in the text proposed to him, Son of man can these bones live? Instead of returning a direct answer to this query, the Prophet resolves the possibility of their living into the purpose, and power of GOD; O LORD GOD, thou knowest. Upon this he was commanded to prophesy upon them, and to say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD GOD unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you; and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

The Prophet did as he was commanded. And what was the consequence? As I prophesied, says he, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above.

As yet, however, they were but dead bodies: for he adds, there was no breath in them.

[Page]He then receives a second commission. Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the LORD GOD, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

He did so. I prophesied, says he, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

What an astonishing sight was this! A great multitude of dry bones, lying dispersed in an open valley, first, put into motion; then, coming together, bone to his bone; the sinews and the flesh afterwards coming up upon them; and the skin covering them above; and, finally, becoming animated, arising, and standing upon their feet an exceeding great army.

The primary object, to which this prophetic vision referred, was, the recovery of the Jews from their captivity, in Babylon, and their restoration to their own land. This is evident from the application, in the eleventh verse. Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.

They had been now seventy years in captivity. Their present circumstances were very unpromising for a restoration. Like the bones, [Page] in the valley of vision, they were dispersed over the whole face of the country; and, like dry bones, they were hopeless, heartless, and possessed of none of the means of their recovery. Therefore, they said, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost, we are cut off for our part.

But the time destined in the divine purpose, and which had been predicted by the prophets, as the period of their captivity, was accomplished. The time of their deliverance was come. And by this prophetic representation GOD would revive and strengthen the faith and hope of his people. He would shew them that though their situation was as unpromising for a restoration, as that a multitude of dry bones, dispersed in a valley, should live; yet, it should be effected: not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD. Therefore prophesy upon these dry bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

What is here predicted, and emblematically represented to the prophet was realized and accomplished when, upon the proclamation of Cyrus, who had been prophesied of, by name, for this express purpose, upwards of one hundred and fifty years before, the Jews returned [Page] to their own land, and rebuilt their city and temple.

Besides the primary intent of this prophetic representation there are several other objects to which it may be justly referred. Permit me now to direct your attention to these.

I. This vision may be considered as an emblematical representation of the recovery of the sinner from a state of spiritual death, to spiritual life and happiness, by the means of grace, and through the effectual operations of the Holy Spirit of GOD.

However some may boast of the dignity and powers of human nature; or, whatever its natural, intellectual, political or moral abilities may be; yet, how to perform spiritual actions, in a holy and spiritual manner, whilst in his natural state, man findeth not. The powers of the soul are not less deranged, nor its competency, for spiritual action, less destroyed by sin, than those of the body are by natural death. Universal experience confirms the truth of those scripture declarations; that every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart is only evil continually; that he is asleep in security, and dead in trespasses and sins; that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of GOD, for they are foolishness unto him, neither [Page] can he know them because they are spiritually discerned; that the carnal mind is enmity against GOD: for it is not subject to the law of GOD, neither indeed can be; and that the exertion of the same Almighty Power which created the world, at first, out of nothing, by which JESUS CHRIST was raised from the dead, and by which our bodies shall be raised at the last day, is necessary to quicken the sinner to a spiritual life, and to make him alive unto GOD.

If there are any of you who have not found this to be the case, be assured, you are yet strangers to your condition. You know not the plagues of your own hearts; you are strangers to the glorious perfections and character of GOD, and to the holiness, spirituality, extent, and power of his law; you are yet without GOD, without CHRIST, and without hope in the world.

When, therefore, we preach the gospel to sinners, and call upon them to repent, to be converted and to believe, we are in precisely similar circumstances with the prophet when he prophesied, saying, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Did our success depend on human probabilities, or the natural efficacy of even instituted means, never, until time [Page] should give place to eternity, would we convert one soul.

But we know that it is the will of GOD the gospel should be preached to every creature; and that we should persuade men by all the terror of the LORD, and by all the allurements of his mercy and grace to be reconciled unto him. We know, that by the preaching of the word, and other gracious institutions GOD is, from time to time, adding to the Church such as shall be saved. We know that his power has been illustriously displayed in the conversion of thousands and tens of thousands already; that it is still equally competent for accomplishing the designs of his grace; and that his word shall not return unto him void, but shall accomplish that which he pleases, and prosper in the thing whereto he sends it. And however unpromising appearances may be, even though sinners should increase unto more ungodliness under our ministrations, still there is ground of encouragement. Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save: neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. Therefore we both labour, and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living GOD who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe.

II. Another object to which this prophetic vision may be referred is, the recovery of the [Page] Church and people of GOD from a state of deadness, degeneracy and declension, to a state of liveliness, vigour, and spiritual prosperity. Happy would it be, for the children and people of GOD, were they always progressive in the divine life: going from strength to strength, reaching forth unto those things which are before, and pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of GOD in CHRIST JESUS. What high attainments in grace might they not reach! What abundant peace and consolation might they not enjoy! This, however, is not the case. Through the influence of remaining corruption, and the numerous temptations to which they are exposed; by negligence in duty, and not duly improving that provision of grace and strength which is made for them in their glorious covenant head, they are liable to awful backslidings and declensions. In these circumstances, however, GOD will not leave his children. He has betrothed them unto himself in faithfulness and forever. They shall not, either totally or finally depart from him; nor will he turn away from them to do them good. He will reclaim them by tender mercies, or the rod. Hence the commission to the prophet, Go and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, Return thou backsliding Israel. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD, for I am married unto you. Hence also those gracious declarations and promises, I will not cause [Page]mine anger to fall upon you. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. Though ye have lain among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

What the people of GOD are liable to, individually, may, and often doth befal them in a collective capacity. The Church of GOD has often been confined to a comparatively small number. Through the abounding of iniquity, the love of the righteous may wax cold. There are times when the wise virgins slumber and sleep with the foolish. There are seasons also, when the powers of earth and hell are so let loose and combined together against the Church as to threaten its entire destruction.

But to whatever difficulties or dangers the cause and interest of the REDEEMER may be exposed in the world, they shall succeed. Though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. GOD is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved: GOD shall help her, and that right early. GOD has founded his Church upon the Rock of ages, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. When the enemy [Page]shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. The time, yea, the set time to favour Zion will come. GOD will hasten it in his own good time. Though it tarry, wait for it. He will arise: his enemies shall be scattered; and he will have mercy upon Zion. He will appear in his glory, and build her up. He will beautify her with salvation. He will cause her to look forth as the morning: fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. The righteousness thereof shall go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

The Jews were once the peculiar people of GOD. He had chosen them for himself, from among all the families of the earth. He had redeemed them from their Egyptian bondage. He had borne them as on the wings of an eagle, and guarded them as the apple of the eye. He had nourished and brought them up as children. He had distinguished them by blessings, both temporal and spiritual, above all the nations of the earth. But having been always a stiff-necked and rebellious people; having often provoked the LORD to anger; and having, at length, completed the measure of their iniquity by the crucifixion of the Son of GOD, the Prince of life and the Lord of glory, and the rejection of his gospel, GOD cast them [Page] off. They were given over to a spirit of blindness, impenitency, and unbelief. Their city and temple were destroyed. They were dispersed over the face of the whole earth; and remain to the present day a persecuted and despised people.

As, however, the rejection of the Jews was not total; so, neither will it be final. GOD will yet remember them with covenant mercy. Though it is now near eighteen hundred years since their rejection and dispersion, they still remain a distinct people, and separated from all others: an instance the like to which has never been known in the world; and a strong presumptive evidence of GOD's special gracious purposes respecting them. GOD has mercy in store for them, which shall, in due time, be displayed towards them, in rich abundance.

This prophetic vision then may be justly considered as emblematical, and predictive of their recovery. To me it appears probable, from the tenor of scripture prophecy, that they will be restored again to their own land; and that, even in a literal sense, Jerusalem shall become a peaceable habitation.

Be this, however, as it may, certain it is, that the time is coming when that vail of ignorance and prejudice which has for so many centuries [Page] been upon their minds, shall be rent; and when, as a people, they shall be brought to know, and to confess that this JESUS, whom we worship, whom they took, and with wicked hands crucified and slew, on Mount Calvary, without the gates of Jerusalem, is, indeed, the true and promised MESSIAH: that in him there is a full accomplishment of all the predictions and promises respecting the seed of the woman, contained in the Old Testament, and that he is the truth and substance of the whole ceremonial law. And if, as the Apostle argues, in the eleventh chapter of his epistle to the Romans, through their fall salvation came to the Gentiles, and the diminution of them be the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world; what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead.

III. This prophetic exhibition justly admits of a particular application to the immediate occasion of our present meeting. We are engaged in an attempt to propagate the gospel among the Indian tribes upon our frontiers. Realize, for a moment, their situation, and the difficulties and discouragements with which we have to contend. You will find them as unfit materials, for the object contemplated, as the dry bones in the valley of vision to constitute an army of living men. Besides that depravity [Page] which is common to human nature; ignorant, uncivilized and savage. Roaming abroad in quest of their prey like the wild beasts of the forest. And, alas! that there is reason to add, corrupted, and their prejudices strongly excited against Christianity, by the still greater depravity and wickedness of a large proportion of those, from among ourselves, with whom they have had intercourse.

Can these dry bones live? Can these savages of the wilderness become Christians? How shall their roving minds be fixed? How shall they be brought to realize and lay to heart their misery and danger? How shall they be brought to apprehend, and embrace the remedy?

O LORD GOD, thou knowest. We believe it our duty to make the attempt. We believe, and are fully persuaded that thou art able to render it successful. Whether thou wilt, or not, belongs not to us to determine. In the name of our GOD would we set up our banners. Confiding in thy purposes, power, and grace, would we prosecute this important undertaking. Hast thou not promised to give unto JESUS, thy Son, the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. Hast thou not said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to [Page]raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel▪ I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Nor, my brethren, are we without considerable grounds of encouragement in our present undertaking. Several concurring circumstances tend to excite our exertions, and to animate our hopes. Has not GOD promised, The wilderness, and the solitary places shall be glad for them: and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our GOD. The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto GOD.

These promises are in themselves, a sufficient foundation for faith and hope, and for the most vigorous exertions. But the providences of GOD, at present, in a particular manner, concur with his promises, and afford ground to hope that their accomplishment draws nigh. Amidst the tumults and confusions of war, a missionary spirit has been poured out in the European world, especially in Great-Britain. [Page] Regardless of party names and distinctions, the friends to the great doctrines of grace have united, as with one heart, and formed societies, in various parts, for propagating the gospel among the heathen. Nine and twenty missionaries, sent out by the society in London, in a vessel of their own, procured for the purpose, have arrived safe in the Islands of the South Sea. Six others, namely, two from the London, two from the Edinburgh, and two from the Glasgow societies have been sent to Sierra Leone, in Africa. Besides those which have been sent, or are about to be sent to the East and West Indies, and to other parts. Add to this that whilst a general and vigorous exertion has been made for evangelizing the heathen, a remarkable zeal has discovered itself, and extraordinary measures have been adopted for promoting the interests of religion at home▪ by the establishment of schools, and sending out itinerant preachers to those parts which were destitute of the gospel.

Societies instituted upon the same principles, and with the same objects in view, have been formed in America. The society, established in this city, has procured, and sent out one missionary. His destination is to the Chickasaw Indians on the western parts of the state of Georgia. Probably by this time he has nearly arrived at the end of his journey. He has gone [Page] forth under the most promising auspices. Christian liberality has hitherto furnished us with pecuniary resources adequate to our exigencies; and should the undertaking succeed, we have no reason to doubt but that we shall still obtain a sufficiency to serve our purposes. Our greatest present want is, at least, another missionary. May the LORD put it into the hearts of some to offer themselves, who shall be found qualified for the work, and whose labours he will crown with abundant success.

In the IVth and last place. This prophetic vision may be considered as a lively emblematical representation of the resurrection of the dead at the last day. The doctrine of a resurrection was denied by the Sadducees, and ridiculed by the heathen philosophers. But it has always been an object of faith and hope to the church and people of God. The difficulties which stand in the way of a resurrection are, in the eye of sense and reason, insuperable. Hence, though the heathen philosophers had some apprehensions of the immortality of the soul, yet they had no idea of the resurrection of the body. Accordingly, when the apostle Paul, in his speech at Athens, made mention of a resurrection, some mocked, others said, we will hear thee again of this matter.

Lift up your eyes upon the congregation of [Page] the dead. Are they not very many, and very dry? Survey the number of Adam's family who, since the first commencement of time, have fallen under the stroke of the King of terrors, and become the prey of corruption and worms. What must be the condition of those who have now been in this situation for hundreds, nay, for thousands of years? What is become of the constituent parts of those bodies which have, so long since, returned to their native dust? Some have been deposited in sepulchres, and become incorporated with their mother earth. Some have been consumed by fire, and their ashes scattered by the winds to the four corners of the earth. Some have been cast into the sea, and devoured by the fishes, or sunk down into the depths of the ocean, under the load of mighty waters. And some have become the prey of the fowls of the air, and of the beasts of the field. The rich and the poor, the honoured and the despised, the learned and the illiterate, the master and the servant, the tyrant and the slave, the king and the beggar, have, long since, been blended together in one promiscuous heap. Can these bones live? How shall these particles be collected and again formed into those bodies of which they were once constituent parts?

Reasoning in the line of analogy, the frequent resurrections which take place, both in [Page] the animal and vegetable world, would seem to afford some presumptive evidence of a resurrection of the human body. Any conclusions, however, which could be drawn from these, would be extremely vague and uncertain. Blessed be GOD we have a more sure foundation on which our faith and hope of this important article rests. Life and immortality have been brought to light by the gospel. The certainty of a resurrection rests upon two principles, namely, the purpose, and the power of GOD. To these two is it referred by our LORD in his reply to the Sadducees. Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of GOD; the scriptures, which declare that there shall be a resurrection; and the power of GOD, which is able to effect it.

That GOD is able to raise the dead cannot be questioned: for what cannot Omnipotence do? He calls those things which are not, as though they were. He made all things, at first, out of nothing. He is the former of the bodies, and the father of the spirits of all flesh. If then GOD made the human body out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into it the breath of life, so that man became a living soul; tell me, ye infidels, is he not able to raise this body again from the dust of the earth, and to re-establish that union between it and the soul which had been destroyed by death?

[Page]That GOD will raise the dead is evident from scripture testimony. I shall rest this on the three following passages. The first you have Job xix. 25, 26 and 27. For I know that my REDEEMER liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see GOD. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. The second passage you have, Isaiah xxvi. 19. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. The third passage, to which I referred, is in John v. 28 and 29. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the grave shall hear the voice of the Son of GOD. And shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Of this resurrection that which was exhibited to the imagination of the Prophet was but a small representation. O the noise and the shaking when atom shall come together to his atom, and bone to his bone of all who shall be numbered with the silent dead! How vast the multitude, how crowded the throng, when the sea shall give up the dead which are in it, and [Page] death and hell shall give up the dead which are in them; and the dead, small and great shall stand before GOD! There, my brethren, shall you and I appear, though, probably, long before that period arrive, we shall have gone the way of all flesh, and our bodies have taken up their residence in the grave; the house appointed for all the living.

We can only, briefly, hint at the various things which present themselves in the application of this subject. It addresses itself to persons of every description and character; and calls for their special improvement.

Such as are the subjects of a new and divine life, may learn from hence the obligations which they are under to the mercy and grace of GOD. Once you were in a state of spiritual death, hopeless and helpless, as the dry bones in the valley of vision. When asleep in security, and dead in trespasses and sins, GOD awakened you, and said unto you, live. Through the effectual operations of his spirit and grace, you have passed from death unto life, and from the power of Satan to serve the living GOD. Your lives are bid with CHRIST in GOD, and you are heirs of that eternal life which GOD, who cannot lie, hath promised to those that are his. You have abundant matter for the exercise of faith and hope, and many powerful excitements [Page] to the duties of thanksgiving and praise. GOD will never leave you, nor forsake you. That grace which has been implanted in you shall be perfected in glory, and, in due time, you shall receive the end of your faith in the salvation of your souls. Your flesh also shall rest in hope, and you may cheerfully resign your bodies to death and the grave in the sure and certain prospect of a glorious resurrection to an immortal life.

2. This subject speaks encouragement to such as are, in any measure, awakened to a sense of their misery and danger, and are inquiring what they shall do to be saved. GOD has caused this noise and shaking. It is a token for good. This is a precious, and, O remember, it is a perilous season. Take care to improve it. Your eternal all is at risk upon it. Resist not the grace which may be exerted towards you. Provoke not the life-giving spirit of GOD to depart from you. Hasten to the Saviour, and to the arms of mercy which are open to receive you. When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, then bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee to smite thine enemies. But if this season is suffered to pass unimproved, the like of it may never return, and you may be left to complain, The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. [Page]Work out your own salvation, then, with fear and trembling. For it is GOD which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live.

3. What has been said affords encouragement to diligence in the use of those means which GOD has instituted for the conversion and salvation of sinners. When we consider the utterly ruined and helpless state of the sinner in himself, and our insufficiency to do any thing effectual for his recovery, our hearts are ready to sink under discouragements, and our hands to hang down. And when we consider the many fruitless attempts which have been made, we are ready to despond, and to desist from any farther endeavours. But when we realize that GOD who has appointed these means both can, and will render them effectual for accomplishing the designs of his grace we take hope, and are encouraged to renew our exertions. It becomes not us to cavil; but with the Prophet to obey. He knew not whether the dry bones, to which he was commanded to prophesy, should live or not. This he knew depended entirely upon the purpose and power of GOD. But, in obedience to the divine command, he prophesied upon them, and called upon them to hear the word of the LORD. And as he prophesied, behold, there [Page] was a noise and a shaking; and as he prophesied they lived and stood up. GOD has bound us to the use of the means; and, blessed be his name, he will put an honour on his own institutions. What was the message which the Prophet was to deliver to these dry bones? It was, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. Let us never despair then, nor be discouraged in the use of the means whilst GOD is mighty to save.

Suffer me then, in the 4th place, in confidence of the power and grace of GOD, to render what may be said effectual, to call upon every sinner in this assembly to hear and obey the gospel message. Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and CHRIST shall give thee light. What meanest thou, O sleeper, arise, call upon thy GOD, if so be that GOD will think upon thee that thou perish not. Repent, and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. Believe in the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and thou shalt be saved. Make you a new heart, and a new spirit, for why will ye die. Let no difficulties nor discouragements deter you from making the attempt, and persisting in your exertions until you succeed. Unless you succeed you are undone for ever. He who called Lazarus from the tomb, can equally call you from the death of sin to a life of holiness. Behold! the grace of the REDEEMER is infinite, and [Page] it is freely tendered unto you. Behold! all the horrors of eternal death, on the one hand, to alarm and drive; and all the glory and joys of heaven, on the other, to allure and draw you. Up then, and be doing. Who knows what mercy and grace may be in store for you. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Yes; there is a Physician, who is perfectly acquainted with every case; and a Balm that is a sovereign remedy for every disease. Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people restored? It is not owing to any want of power or grace, in the glorious REDEEMER, that any pine away, and die with their trespasses and their sins upon them. As I live, saith the LORD GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. But it is owing to their own perverseness and wilful obstinacy. They hold fast their iniquities and will not let them go. And ye will not come to me that ye might have life. Perhaps the poor savage of the wilderness may welcome those messages of grace which you reject and despise. Perhaps, alarming and distressing thought! perhaps, the distinguishing blessings and privileges of the gospel may be taken away from those who so greatly undervalue, and misimprove them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

[Page]In the 5th and last place. I would improve what has been said by exhorting all to the most vigorous exertions in promoting the cause and interest of the REDEEMER in the world. It is a glorious cause, and shall finally prevail and triumph over all opposition. Most of you may contribute to its promotion in various ways: by your instructions, by your advice, by your contributions, and by your example. But there is one most effectual way in which all may contribute: I mean, by their prayers. Let all then be excited to frequency, fervency and importunity in this duty. Ye that fear the LORD, give him no rest until he establish Jerusalem, and make her a name and a praise in the earth. Our LORD spake the parable of the unjust judge and the importunate widow to teach us that we ought always to pray, and not to faint. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, availeth much. GOD has promised to do marvellous things in righteousness for his Church and people: But he has declared, I will yet be inquired of, by the house of Israel to do it for them. Were there many stirred up to wrestle with GOD in prayer, in behalf of his Church, there would be ground to hope that the set time to favour Zion was come, and our eyes might yet see glorious days of the Son of man.

AMEN.

At a Meeting of the NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, April 26, 1799,

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RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY,

THAT the Rev. Dr. RODGERS be requested to furnish a copy of the charge, which he delivered to Mr. BULLEN on the evening of his designation to the office of missionary, that it may be published;—and that the general instructions to missionaries, drawn up by the board of directors, be also published, together with such statements of the funds and proceedings of the society as may be judged proper by the directors, who are hereby requested to superintend the publication of one thousand copies of the sermons, charge, and instructions, in such manner as they shall think most convenient.

Extract from the Minutes of the Society, SAMUEL MILLER, Clerk

A CHARGE TO THE REV. MR. JOSEPH BULLEN, FIRST MISSIONARY TO THE INDIANS, FROM THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, For propagating the GOSPEL among the HEATHEN, Delivered by Appointment of the SOCIETY, IN THE NEW DUTCH CHURCH, March 21st, 1799,

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BY JOHN RODGERS, D. D. SENIOR MINISTER of the UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES in the City of NEW-YORK, and President of said Society.

REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER,

THE character in which you stand before this assembly is highly important, and peculiarly interesting, to all who regard the souls of men, and the prosperity of the Redeemer's kingdom.—You stand here as the first messenger employed by the New-York Missionary Society, to carry the glad tidings of salvation to the heathen on our borders, who are perishing for lack of knowledge.

[Page]You have the honour to be the first in entering upon those labours which the liberality of our Christian brethren has enabled us to commence, and to which we hope others, provided by the great Lord of the harvest, will soon follow you. Every pious heart within these walls feels a tender interest in your undertaking, and beats high with anxious hope for the result of your mission!

You are entering upon a new and untried scene of labour. Though you have been for some years clothed with the honourable character of an ambassador of Christ, you cannot but be sensible, that the field of ministerial exertion to which you are hastening, is widely different from that to which you have been hitherto accustomed. You are going to a region which the joyful sound of the gospel has never yet reached—to a howling wilderness, where the arts of civilized life are almost unknown— to a people covered with the gloom of ignorance, superstition and barbarism. You are about to take upon yourself the mighty task of proclaiming the good news of salvation through a crucified Saviour, to those who never heard of his name, and of carrying the light of the Sun of Righteousness to those who are sitting in the region and shadow of death. Who can tell the consequences of this solemn undertaking! Who can calculate how deeply the glory [Page] of God—the interest of the Redeemer's kingdom—and the salvation of millions yet unborn, may be involved in this mission!

Permit me, therefore, my dear brother, before we bid you adieu, permit me with all plainness and affection, in the name of the society to which you are engaged, to offer you a few words of parting counsel, and to commend you by prayer to the great Head of the Church.

And in the first place, Let me entreat you to maintain an holy jealousy, and an unremitted watchfulness over your own heart. This is of the utmost importance, whether you regard your comfort or your usefulness. Irksome indeed will the labours of the wilderness be, unless you have grace in lively exercise—unless you are habitually animated by ardent love to Christ, and by a tender concern for precious and immortal souls. Nor can it be reasonably expected, that the duties of your mission will be discharged with such diligence and zeal, as to promise much success, unless you are careful to keep alive in your own breast, a deep sense of the importance of the trust committed to you; and unless an holy ambition to advance your Master's kingdom, fire your bosom, and daily stir up the energies of your soul. And here, let me remind you, dear Sir, that the circumstance of your being far removed from your brethren [Page] in the ministry, and from the Christian society which you have hitherto enjoyed, will render peculiar attention to this point necessary. You have been accustomed to the animating conversation, and the consoling intercourse, of Christian friends: But in the distant region to which you are going, you will be in a great measure cut off from these sources of improvement and consolation. The most you can expect from the objects of your mission, will be the kindness of savage barbarism, and occasional ministrations to the wants of your body; you can expect to find no spiritual helpers among them —no gracious hearts that will answer to your own, as face answereth to face in a glass. In this situation it will be your interest and your duty to be more than ordinarily engaged in communing with God, and with your own heart—See that proper motives animate all your exertions, and direct all your labours —Guard equally against that selfish ambition which may lead you astray, and that criminal sloth which will tempt you to shrink from the toils of your important embassy. Make it your daily study to live near to God, and to endure as seeing him who is invisible. Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. Seek after a continual increase of that precious faith which raises the soul more and more above the vanities and the difficulties of this world—Study to grow in that holy love which hopeth all things, [Page]believeth all things, and ENDURETH all things. Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thus may you expect to perform your arduous labours with comfort to yourself, and with usefulness to the souls of men.

In the second place, While you exercise a solicitous care over your own heart, study to deliver to the poor heathen the plain, genuine and unadorned gospel of Christ. We charge you before God, that you know nothing among them, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Never suffer yourself to substitute human devices for the simplicity of evangelical truth. Believe it, my brother, if ever you succeed in converting the heathen from sin to holiness, and from Satan to the living God, it must be by the pure gospel of the Saviour. This is the sharp two-edged sword, which pierceth even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; and which discerneth the thoughts and intents of the heart. This is the weapon which is mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, and which bringeth every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Diligently endeavour, then, in your public preaching, and in your private conferences, to impress upon their rude minds, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God—that by the works of the law no flesh living [Page]can be justified—that sinners are justified, freely by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus—and that his blood cleanseth from all sin. Do not waste your time in doting about questions and strifes of words; or in discussing the subtilties of polemic divinity. Do not imagine that you will be able to remove all the objections which the carnal mind may make to evangelical truth; and therefore do not dwell on these, but rather imitate the conduct of the apostles, who insist much on the fall and depravity of man; on the incarnation, the humiliation, the atonement, and the glory of Jesus Christ. Endeavour often to give simple and affecting recitals of his love, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection and his ascension to glory; and the obligations we are under to the unsearchable riches of his grace. —Take every opportunity of impressing these truths on their minds; deliver them with plainness, with pungency and with affection—not in the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power.—And for this purpose, let the scriptures of truth be your daily study, and the great standard of your preaching. This sacred volume contains at once your commission and your instructions— Keeping close to this, as the rule of your ministry, and living near to the Lord Jesus, as the Captain of your salvation, you may safely trust him for the fruits of all your labours.

[Page]Once more, Let your example among the heathen correspond with your preaching—let your conversation be a living comment on the pure gospel, which you recommend to them— testify to them every day, that the religion which you preach has its proper effect on your own heart and life—and that you are by grace yourself what you would persuade them to be. If they see you violating those precepts of uprightness, temperance, purity and universal holiness, which you will of course deliver to them, it will disgrace your character and destroy your usefulness. An immoral minister of the gospel is every where an odious and a mischievous character; but an immoral missionary, an unholy messenger of salvation to the benighted heathen, is peculiarly odious, and is likely to be an hundred fold more mischievous: For while the uncultivated savage is oftentimes shrewd and discerning, and is soon shocked with the inconsistency of such a character, he is deprived of those advantages, which, if enjoyed, might take away in some measure the force of such fatal example—and thus he is left to all its destructive influence—and is hereby tempted to loathe and shun a religion which has such professors. Be careful, then, to walk worthy of your high calling, in all lowliness and meekness—letting your light so shine before the heathen, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

[Page]And here I would, in an especial manner, enjoin it upon you, to exhibit to the savage tribes among whom you may labour, upon all occasions, that frank, open and disinterested character, that is always impressive, even on the minds of barbarians. Never give them cause to suspect you of mercenary motives, or of hidden and disingenuous designs. All experience proves that the moment any thing of this kind is discovered, your influence will be at an end. Let your diligence, your zeal, your self-denial and mortification to the world, convince them, that you seek not THEIRS, but THEM— that the governing end of all your labours is to promote their temporal and eternal happiness. Accommodate yourself, as far as the purity of the gospel will admit, to their customs and their prejudices—and let your apostolic zeal be tempered with that apostolic prudence, which became all things to all men, that he might gain some. Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.

In a word, my dear brother, you have every reason to expect that you will meet with many trials, and even formidable difficulties. You will have to contend with the perils of the wilderness, and with the numerous inconveniencies of barbarous life. You will have to encounter the obstacles arising from the ferocious temper, the roving disposition, the superstitious prejudices, [Page] and the profound ignorance of the heathen tribes, to which you are going. In addition to the numerous discouragements which ordinarily beset the ambassador of Christ, you will have many peculiar to your situation as a missionary among the heathen. These are considerations which, were there nothing to counterbalance them, would appal the stoutest heart.

But let none of these things move you. Remember the divine commission, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And remember the gracious promise with which it was accompanied—"Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world." Go in the name and in the strength, therefore, of the mighty God of Jacob! Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Count not even your life dear unto you, that you may finish your course with joy, and successfully accomplish the great ends of the ministry you have received from the Lord Jesus. Happy and honoured indeed will you be, if God should make you an instrument of hastening on the glorious period, when the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose—when those who are afar off shall be brought nigh by the blood of Christ —when the heathen shall be given to him for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession—and when all the ends of [Page]the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Go in peace! May you have grace to be faithful unto death! and when the chief Shepherd shall appear, may you receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away!

AMEN.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE DIRECTORS OF THE NEW-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, TO THEIR MISSIONARIES among the INDIANS.

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IN this early stage of the mission, very particular instructions cannot be expected. You will be furnished with them from time to time, according to the circumstances which arise; and something must ever be left to your own prudence. There are, however, certain instructions which will apply at all times and in all circumstances, and by which you are, invariably, to guide yourselves. These respect chiefly, I. Your personal religion. II. The matter and manner of your teaching. III. Your outward deportment. IV. The formation of religious assemblies, and the administration of ordinances. V. The establishment of schools for children. VI. Observations on the language and customs of the Indians; and on the prospects of making settlements, and extending the gospel among them.

I. Your personal religion. No words can express the importance of this, and urge it with sufficient warmth. Your comfort and success in your work depend upon it. Without it, the finest genius, [Page] the highest literary acquirements and the greatest eloquence will be unavailing. By this we mean not only that your hope of an interest in the Saviour be well founded, but that you constantly strive to maintain the power of religion in your hearts; that you live near to God; giving yourselves much to solemn meditation and prayer. As you need in your difficult and perilous situation, uncommon love to God, zeal for his glory, and communications of divine wisdom and strength, so you should habitually seek these, in the full assurance of faith that they will be afforded. Though what is called ostentation in religion is to be avoided as vile, yet endeavour to live in such a manner as that those who observe you may believe you to be holy men, denied to yourselves, crucified to this world, and whose conversation is in heaven.

II. The matter and manner of your teaching. As to the matter, let it be the great and peculiar doctrines of divine revelation; such as the sin and misery of man by the fall; the eternal counsel of God, revealed in time, to save sinners by the substitution of his own Son; the incarnation, obedience, sufferings and death of the Son of God, in the room of sinners; his resurrection, ascension, intercession in heaven, and the final judgment; the application of the redemption of Christ by the Holy Spirit, and the absolute necessity of his agency to change the hearts of men, and bring them to holiness and happiness. The confession of faith contained in the constitution of the Society, is to be the confession of your faith, and your teaching is to be conformable thereto. We believe that these doctrines are appointed by God, and found in experience to be the only and effectual means of savingly [Page] impressing the minds of men, reforming their lives, and turning them to holiness.

We warn, yea, we charge you, our beloved brethren, against setting up your own wisdom; against preaching natural religion distinct from revealed; against founding moral conduct on any other principle than the grace of God. We enjoin you to declare, as your hearers are prepared to receive it, the whole counsel of God; and to remember in all your ministrations, that Christ crucified is unto them which are called, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. We would enforce what we say on this particular by quoting part of the instructions given to the Missionaries to the Islands of the South-Sea.* "The bible, and the experience of the most successful missions, assure us, that the great doctrine of the Atonement must be the chief corner stone. The glory and the humiliation of Jesus, and every thing relative to the deliverance from sin and death by him must make the ground-work. A simple recital of his love, the design of his incarnation, death, and resurrection; these must be the points, chiefly, repeatedly dwelt upon. The obligations of love and duty which we owe him, naturally connect themselves with these views; together with promises of his grace, through the agency of his own spirit, to enable us to follow him in the regeneration. Affect not subtilties and deep points of controversy, either among yourselves or with the natives. Wave as much as possible what would lead to questions, rather than godly edifying. [Page] Attempt not by arguments on the reasonableness, or evidences of the Christian religion, to display your own wisdom; or suppose you can answer and silence all their objections. Adhere to the simplicity which is in Christ, trusting to the power of the Holy Ghost to take the things of Christ, and shew them to their consciences with divine conviction and effectual energy."

As to the manner of your teaching, let it be such as is best adapted to the comprehension of your hearers. It must needs be, when to the untutored Indian, and when by an interpreter, very plain, in short sentences, and frequently interrupted; partaking more of the nature of conversation, than of formal and continued discourse. This will demand of you much condescension, patience, and forbearance. You must become children to adapt yourselves to childish understandings, and patience must have her perfect work, in bearing with ignorance, petulance, and slowness of apprehension. Do not despond when you see no immediate fruits of your labours, but wait in humble dependence on the Spirit of God to give efficacy to his word. As the reading of written discourses will not be necessary, so we would advise against it. Great attention will be required in finding proper interpreters, and it will be desirable, if practicable, that only those be employed who are converts to the Christian faith. You will take pains to acquire as soon and as much as you can, a knowledge of the Indian language, that so you may not be subjected to the inconvenience, and, perhaps to the unskilfulness or unfaithfulness of interpreters.

[Page]III. Your outward deportment. This is a matter to which we wish you carefully to attend. You must be grave, sober, honest, chaste, meek, and faithful to your word. The Indians are grave in transacting all their business, and they expect the same in others. They neither admire nor trust a light and trifling character. They are said to pay a strict regard to truth. Be not you hasty in declaring your intentions, and in making promises; but when made, let them be faithfully and punctually fulfilled. They exhibit on many occasions acuteness and sagacity. They discern deviations from that natural law which is written in their hearts, and, if they find you defective, it will destroy their confidence, and prejudice them against the gospel. The strictest attention to these things is the more necessary, on account of the intercourse which has subsisted between the nations of Indians and some white people, in which the latter have grossly deceived and cheated the former, committed crimes not even named among the heathen, and brought an unjust reproach upon the Christian profession. If you can make the Indians sensible of the difference between nominal and real Christians, and the impropriety of judging of Christianity by the conduct of some who never felt its influence, who violate all its precepts, and who are cast out by real Christians as unworthy of communion, a great point would be gained.

We farther instruct you to abstain from all traffic, all buying and selling of lands, all political discussions, and in one word, from every thing which might excite a suspicion that your errand is for any other purpose, or that you have any other object in view, than, singly, their spiritual and eternal [Page] welfare. It is of the utmost importance that you adhere to this line of conduct, and thus impress the Indians with a conviction of your love to them being great, and not influenced by selfish considerations. Imposed upon in times past, and awakened by the novelty of your mission, they will pry into your motives, and diligently mark your actions. Put no stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall in their way.

By denying yourselves to strong liquors, you may save yourselves both trouble and blame. It is well known how fond the Indians are of rum, and how pernicious it is to them. Should they see you indulge in the use, it will whet their desires, and they will plead your example.

The Missionaries of the United Brethren, usually called Moravians, have never been in the practice of making presents to the Indians to gain their favor and protection; nor are they to be encouraged to expect any from you. Beside that presents would open the door for an expence which the funds of the Society will not admit, we had rather you should gain their favor by more substantial acts of kindness; and teach them that they owe disinterestedness for your own, in foregoing every earthly advantage and comfort to bring them the unsearchable riches of Christ. The Society will make every exertion in their power to promote their knowledge of, and attention to agriculture and the arts of civilized life; but nothing is to be expected for gewgaws and tinsel ornaments.

On whatever regards your external accommodation, we can only say, that it may be necessary to conform [Page] to the habits of living among the Indians, so far as is lawful and decent; and, especially, that you submit to the coarsest fare and the hardest lodging without dissatisfaction and complaint. To expect the conveniences of civilized life, would betray a want of the missionary spirit. The great Apostle of the Gentiles knew, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need; and his divine Master, the Lord and Saviour of us all, when he dwelt upon this earth, had not where to lay his head.

Another thing of great moment in your conduct may be mentioned here, which is, that you shun dissensions among yourselves. While you are careful not to speak of the divisions which so shamefully prevail in the Christian world, you should exhibit in your own society true love and concord. Never differ about particular modes and ceremonies of worship, or things not essential; considering that your work is to win men to Christ, and not to make proselytes to any sect or denomination whatever. In case of your meeting with Missionaries from other denominations, and of a different faith, you are to shun public disputation with them, and to pursue, with mildness, firmness, and steadiness, your own system. The Missionaries of the United Brethren, particularly, are entitled to your esteem and confidence, the Lord having honored them in their long and indefatigable labours. We think that a mutual confidence and correspondence might subsist; and that, without interfering, you should provoke each other unto love, and to good works ▪ We cannot better advise you on the subject of [...] in the words of the excellent charge [Page] addressed to the Missionaries already mentioned.* "Let me advise you not only to guard against falling out by the way, (which God prevent!) and to love one another out of a pure heart fervently, but even let the poor ignorant natives take knowledge of you, that you do so love one another, and that with the love of benevolence you are affectionately attached to them. Let them be constrained to say, 'Behold how these new-comers love one another!' And again, in the words of the Instructions; "Bear and forbear: holding the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Satan's chief device will be to divide you. Form no parties, nor cabals; ever remember the words of the Lord: He is the greatest in his kingdom, who is the servant of all. We request it solemnly, we adjure you in the Great Master's name, Love one another out of a pure heart fervently. Your examples must preach as powerfully as your words. But if ever bitter envyings and strife arise, you will put an effectual bar to your own usefulness, and defeat the great purpose of your mission. Let all your zeal, therefore, be reserved for your work, and let no selfish passions mingle with it, to corrupt the simplicity which is in Christ."

IV. The formation of religious assemblies, and the administration of ordinances. It will be proper to have sixed places in the villages or most populous districts where to assemble, with the Indians who may attend, on the Lord's day, and occasionally on other days, for public worship; and when circumstances admit, to constitute regular congregations. [Page] This should not, however prevent the itinerating from place to place, where access can be had for preaching the gospel.

As soon as a few Indians are brought to embrace the faith, are instructed in the great truths of religion, and give good hope of stedfastness in their profession, they are to be publicly initiated the church by baptism, and afterwards their children. As soon also, as it appears to be for edification, the holy supper of our Lord is to be administered to all the baptized adults. We enjoin, at the same time, that none be admitted to these seals of the covenant, without frequent conversation, and sufficient space for trial. A hasty admission is injurious to the persons themselves, and they may, by their apostacy, deeply wound the cause of Christ.

When Indian women seek instruction in private, let one of the women of the mission be their teacher; or, let the conversation be held in the presence of their husbands, fathers, or others, so as to avoid temptation, and the smallest cause of suspicion to the Indians. We enjoin the utmost circumspection in this matter.

Happy consequences will ensue from teaching the Indians the usefulness and sacredness of the Lord's day, from teaching them the nature and duties of the married state, and, as frequently as possible, solemnizing it with exhortation and prayer.

As the singing of psalms is a necessary and agreeable part of divine worship, we recommend that it be introduced as soon as convenient. It will be acceptable to the Indians, and as such you should [Page] practice it in your private and public devotion, and teach it to them. The tunes which are adopted should be of the simplest, easiest, and gravest kind.

Some of the Indians who give reasonable evidence of their conversion, and are otherwise the best qualified, may be profitably employed as interpreters, instructors, or exhorters. Their knowledge of the language, dispositions and manners of their brethren, will give them a powerful advantage, and they will be an unspeakable security, support and comfort to you.

V. The establishment of schools for children. This will require your early and unintermitted attention. By instructing children, or rather youth, in the English language, the way will be prepared for preaching the gospel hereafter with success, and there will be an opportunity of instilling sound principles, and gradually gaining them over to civilization and religion. Were no other present advantage to offer than this, the next generation might see the most extensive and beneficial effects. Wherever a school or schools can be established, it will be the duty of the persons employed to teach, diligently to attend to this business; and while the children are taught the most common branches of learning, to teach them the principles of the Christian religion, and to lead them, morning and evening, in prayer and singing praises to God.

VI. Observations on the language and customs of the Indians, and on the prospects of making settlements, and extending the gospel among them. Every thing which relates to the Indians, is an object not only of curiosity, but of real utility. By their language [Page] and customs we are most likely to arrive at their origin. A vocabulary of English words, prepared and already sent out by a Gentleman engaged in inquiries of this kind, will be put into your hands, and you are desired to mark the Indian names for these things, that so the number of languages and the different dialects may be ascertained. The Directors will make inquiry as to the assistance which is to be expected from the translations which have been made into some Indian languages of parts of the holy scriptures, and, if found serviceable, means will be taken to supply you with them.

On the subject of obtaining land, and forming a settlement among them, you are to be extremely cautious, as they discover jealousy and opposition. We advise that you do not solicit it, but wait for the proposal to come from them; and that you show them that you are not actuated by ambition or avarice, and desire no farther footing or property among them than is necessary in order to your serving them in their most valuable interests. In this delicate affair, and one which may be attended [...] consequences, we think it our duty [...] you, that no grant of land is to be accepted by any missionary for his personal emolument; that if any offer be made by the Indians, it shall be sent by you to the Directors of the Society, and accepted by them, if judged proper, for the general benefit of the mission. Whenever a settlement is formed, it will be your duty to attend, at proper seasons, to the cultivation of the land, and to the practice of mechanic arts, in order to benefit the Indians, and assist in your own maintenance. Implements will be given you by the Society for this purpose.

[Page]You are carefully to remark what prospects appear of propagating the gospel among the nation you first visit, and other nations around; what Missionaries are needed and might be usefully employed; and what things are necessary to give success and permanency to missions. These and every thing proper for the information of the Society, together with the copy of an exact journal which you must keep of all your proceedings, you are to transmit to the Secretary once every six months, and oftener if occasion requires. We recommend that every person in the mission keep a particular diary of his own; that you unreservedly communicate to one another every material occurrence; and that you appoint one of your number to arrange a general diary of the whole, a copy of which is to be transmitted, and to conduct your correspondence.

Finally, be assured, our beloved brethren in the Lord, that nothing in our power shall be wanting to contribute to your support, your comfort, and your success. Do not faint, or be discouraged under the difficulties with which you may have to struggle. Endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Count not your lives dear unto yourslves, so that you might finish your course with joy, and the ministry which you have recieved of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Your work is most honorable. "I had rather die a missionary," said one, "than live a monarch, for such stars must differ from all other stars in glory."* We commit you to the guidance and protection of God. We shall bear you continually on our minds to his [Page] throne of grace in our private devotions, and in the assemblies of his people. The faithful in every part of the world, daily offer up prayers in your behalf. Be encouraged, above all, by the promise of him to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth, and who hath said, Lo, I am with you alway. May you be instrumental in turning many of the heathen to righteousness, who shall be your hope, your joy and your crown of rejoicing, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, at his coming.

Notes

*

Counsels and instructions for the regulation of the Mission, by the Directors of the London Missionary Society.

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*

The Rev. Edward Parsons in his charge to the missionaries going to Africa.

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THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS.

SOON after the last report, the Directors adopted a plan for social prayer which has been carried into execution, and it is believed, has been attended with beneficial effects. The second wednesday in every month, meetings are held for this purpose in rotation, in all the churches of which the Ministers are members of the Society; and, though no contributions are urged, yet whatever are made, are applied for the benefit of the Society.

The Directors judged it to be their duty to begin a Mission as soon as possible, and accordingly they early appointed a committee to obtain Missionaries, and arrange what appeared necessary on this head. The committee advertised time after time with little apparent success. Receiving, however, intimation [Page] from the Rev. Mr. Joseph Bullen, of Vermont, that he would be willing to accept an appointment as a Missionary, and being ascertained as to his character and qualifications, they recommended him; and the Directors agreed to employ him at the annual salary of three hundred and seventy-five dollars, and to defray his expences in travelling to the place of his destination. They agreed, at the same time, that it would be most eligible to attempt the establishment of a Mission first among the Chickasaw Indians, a nation on the western borders of the state of Georgia; and Mr. Bullen was requested to come on without delay. They also advanced him part of his salary to assist in his preparation, and requested him to preach on a certain evening in one of the churches, on which occasion the President of the Society was appointed to give him a charge as to the duties of his mission. The above request was complied with on the 21st of last month, when he preached, received a charge, and was set apart to his work by solemn prayer. The Directors supplied him with a few books and articles which were deemed proper, and advanced him two hundred and fifty dollars to defray the expences incidental to his journey and mission. He left this city on the 26th of last month, accompanied by his son, a lad of about seventeen years of age, and who, it is supposed, will readily acquire the Indian language, and may be useful in teaching the Indian children; but he is not, at present, in the employ of the Directors. Certain documents from the Government of the United States were cheerfully granted at Philadelphia to Mr. Bullen, and private directions and letters were given him by Gentlemen who kindly and warmly interested themselves in the business. The last account of him is from Lancaster in Pennsylvania [Page] on the first of this month, when he wrote that his journey had been so far prosperous, and that he had not been without evident tokens of the divine presence.*

The Directors farther report, that on the petition referred by the Society to them, from the Rev. Mr. John Sergeant, a Missionary to the Stockbridge Indians, they have sent for his relief one hundred dollars, and they have been happy to learn that the relief was uncommonly seasonable. They have also granted sixty dollars for one year to Paul an Indian preacher who labours among the remains of the Shinnecock, Montack, and Poospettuck tribes in Sussolk county, Long-Island.

Letters have been received by the Secretary from the Glasgow Missionary Society, and from the particular Baptist Missionary Society in England, in answer to letters written to them.

The general Instructions to Missionaries, the Address to the Chiefs and Indians of the Chickasaw nations, and the Charge given to the first Missionary, accompany this report.

[Page] The Society and its benevolent supporters will see that the Directors have not been inattentive to the important trust reposed in them; but that they have prosecuted it, under the smiles of heaven, to a degree of success. If the prospects of the Missionary already sent should prove encouraging, it is intended to strengthen him by others; nor are resources to be despaired of, in this glorious undertaking. Inconsiderable as the beginnings may seem, no one can calculate their probable increase, and tendency to promote the kingdom of the divine Redeemer. He is King on the holy hill of Zion, and it is the irreversible decree of God the Father, to give to his Son the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.

Signed by order of the board of Directors, JOHN M. MASON, Sec'ry.

New-York, April 23d, 1799.

The Society, at their annual meeting in November last did little more than elect Officers and Directors for the ensuing year. Such was the derangement occasioned by the mortal sickness which had prevailed in the city, that they adjourned to meet on the 23d of April following, then to hear the sermons, and to transact whatever business seemed necessary. Though the report of the Directors contains some things which, strictly, belong to the report to be made at the next annual meeting, yet it was judged best to give a summary account of proceedings till the present time.

The Society having transacted their business with harmony and affection, with gratitude to God who had prospered them thus far, and with pleasing [Page] hope that he would crown their labours with still more abundant success, appointed one of their members to preach a sermon in the Brick Presbyterian Church, at their annual meeting, on the first Tuesday of November next, till which time they adjourned.

Notes

*

Since this report was made, a letter has been received from Mr. Bullen, dated Knoxville, in the state of Tenessee, April 24th. He had arrived, through the goodness of Providence, thus far safe; and he mentions that, according to his best information, he had to travel five hundred miles farther by land before he could reach the Chickasaw towns. He mentions also, that the Cherokees who reside in the vicinity of the Tenessee are desirous of [...] Missionaries among them.

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STATE OF THE FUNDS. The Committee appointed to audit the Treasurer's Accounts beg leave to report,

THAT they have carefully examined the Account current of the said Treasurer, and compared it with the vouchers, and find the same to be just and accurate, and that there is a balance in the hands of the Treasurer of three hundred and seventy-four dollars thirty-nine cents.

Your Committee further report that the funds of the Society consisting in money and shares in the New-York Insurance Company amount to the sum of one thousand nine hundred and fifty-two dollars fifteen cents,—and that the arrears due to the Society calculating at the lowest rate fixed by the constitution, including entrance-money and annual subscriptions for the year 1797 amount to sixty-three dollars.

Shares in Insurance Company estimated at prime cost, but now much more valuable | Dls. | Cts.
| 1577 | 76
In hands of the Treasurer | 374 | 39
| 1952 | 15
Estimated arrears | 63 |

ANTHONY POST.

PETER WILSON.

NEW-YORK, 22d April, 1799.

Officers and other Directors elected November last.

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OFFICERS.

JOHN RODGERS, D. D. President.

JOHN H. LIVINGSTON, D. D. Vice-President.

Mr. DIVIE BETHUNE, Treasurer.

Rev. JOHN M. MASON, Secretary.

Rev. SAMUEL MILLER, Clerk.

OTHER DIRECTORS.

WILLIAM JOHN, D. D.

JOHN M'KNIGHT, D. D.

Rev. GERARDUS KUYPERS,

Rev. JOHN N. ABEEL,

PETER WILSON, L. L. D.

THOMAS MACKANESS, Esq.

JOHN BROOME, Esq.

ANTHONY POST, Esq.

LEONARD BLEECKER, Esq.

Mr. GEORGE LINDSAY,

Mr. GEORGE WARNER,

Mr. JOHN BINGHAM,

☞ Donations to the Society will be thankfully received by the Treasurer, or by any other of the Directors.

The Plan for Social Prayer, adopted January 18, 1798, by the Directors of the New-York Missionary Society.

"1. THAT the second Wednesday evening of every month, beginning at candle-light, be observed from February next, by the Members of this Society, and all who are willing to join with them, for the purpose of offering up their prayers and supplications to the God of grace, that he would be pleased to pour out his Spirit on his Church, and send his gospel to all nations; and that he would succeed the endeavours of this Society, and all Societies instituted on the same principles and for the same ends."

[Page]"2. That these evenings of prayer be observed in rotation, in the Churches of this city to whose Judicatories they may be acceptable, and of which there is a Minister belonging to this Society; beginning with the Old Presbyterian Church, and proceeding next to the Scots Presbyterian Church, next to the New Dutch Church, next to the First Baptist Church, next to the Brick Presbyterian Church, next to the North Dutch Church, and then the service to revert to the place it began, provided, that if the Ministers of any other Churches become Members of the Society, a due proportion of the service, in the regular course, be performed in said Churches. Notice to be given on the Lord's day preceding every meeting from the several pulpits."

"3. That the order of the service be as follows: 1. The singing of a psalm, prayer, and a short discourse, or lecture, adapted to the occasion. 2. A prayer. 3. The singing of a psalm, prayer, the singing of another psalm, a collection, and then the blessing to be pronounced.

"4. That a Minister belonging to the Church in which the service is held, always preside for that evening, give out all the psalms, make the introductory prayer, deliver the discourse, and pronounce the blessing; that where more than one Minister belong to the same Church, they preside and perform the aforesaid service in rotation, beginning with the eldest person in the Ministry."

"5. That the second prayer be made by the Minister who is to preside at the next meeting, and the third by the Minister who is to preside at the meeting following: observing, in collegiate Churches, the order of the preceding article: provided, however, that the Ministers who are to officiate may, with the consent of the presiding Minister, exchange their turns with others, and invite any [Page] Ministers belonging to the Society, when occasionally present to officiate for them."

"6. That though no contribution shall be urged, yet, as it is usual and proper to contribute whenever we assemble for public worship, whatever contribution is made, shall, after the expences of the evening are defrayed, be applied to the purposes of the Society."

FINIS.

Information about this book

Title statement

Two sermons, delivered before the New-York Missionary Society; the first on April 23d. in the Scots Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Dr. Livingston. : The second on April 24th, in the North Dutch Church, by the Rev. Dr. M'Knight. : To which is added, a charge given to the first missionary, by the Rev. Dr. Rodgers; together with the instructions to missionaries, and the report of the directors.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2009-04.

ID [DLPS]

N26848

ID [TCP]

N26848

ID [STC]

Evans 35738

ID [NOTIS]

APY1176

ID [IMAGE-SET]

35738

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99028241

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 35738.

Notes

(Evans-TCP ; no. N26848)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 35738)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 35738)

Source

— Two sermons, delivered before the New-York Missionary Society; the first on April 23d. in the Scots Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Dr. Livingston. : The second on April 24th, in the North Dutch Church, by the Rev. Dr. M'Knight. : To which is added, a charge given to the first missionary, by the Rev. Dr. Rodgers; together with the instructions to missionaries, and the report of the directors., Rodgers, John, 1727-1811., Livingston, John Henry, 1746-1825. Glory of the Redeemer., M'Knight, John, 1754-1823. Life to the dead., New York Missionary Society..

Extent

104 p. ; 22 cm. (8vo)

Printed by Isaac Collins, no, 189, Pearl-Street.,. New-York: :: 1799.. ("A charge to the Rev. Mr. Joseph Bullen, first missionary to the Indians, from the New-York Missionary Society ..."--p. [75]-84.)

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