Isaiah sung and wrote; the prophets prophesied; were persecuted and slain, that the world might be prepared for the Messiah's coming. And then he that was to come, came; the brightness of his Father's glory, by whom all things were made, and whose is the throne forever. He came, was born under circumstances which cast reproach on his very birth. He came to bear your sins in his own body on the tree. He died in bitterness and sorrow, and in his death your salvation was purchased. Ye are not your own. Ye are bought with a price. Your Lord, your Master who stooped to save you, now speaks to you through these pages. "My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." He bids you think of the price of your redemption, and the obligation to be wholly devoted to the Lord which this redemption imposes. And he asks you by what right you claim your time, your bodies, your hearts, your minds, your tongues, your pens, and wealth as your own; to be employed without regard to his glory. 2. Consider the nature of the vow you assumed in becoming a member of the Christian church. The contest man holds with God is a contest against rightful authority. It is a contest between the Creator and the created, the Preserver and those sustained in being by him; between the Redeemer and those he has purchased. And man finds neither peace nor safety till he cordially admits the claims of Heaven to entire dominion over him, and cheerfully resigns to God, the right he has hitherto striven to withhold, of using him for his glory. A profession of religion is a formal profession of entire devotedness to Christ. "Henceforth," you say, "I am his servant, to listen attentively to the voice of his word. My person, property, and time, are his." Now the Christian religion was not designed simply to save you; but was intended to bless all nations. You rejoice that it has set you free from the thraldom of sin, diffused peace and knowledge around your domestic hearth, erected over your dwelling the protection of law, and shed its benign influence on your native land. God designed that these same benefits should be conferred on all nations. The Christian religion can flourish under any form of government, and in any clime. It was fitted for all people, and belongs to all. And the Christian church is formed, not simply to save you and the few brethren in Christ who are embraced within it now, nor simply to maintain the worship of God and transmit it to the next generation; but she was formed to spread out her arms like the sea, and embrace the continents, and cover them with the influence of truth. This is one great end of the visible church. And at the accomplishment of that end, should every generation of Christians aim, while they yet live. The church you have joined, is one division of the Redeemer's host. Its ministers and elders are officers to lead it onward in aggressive warfare, and they with you, and you with them, are called upon to be valiant and enterprising soldiers. You have joined the church, you observe the Sabbath, attend at the sanctuary, close around the table of the Lord, pray in secret, honor and sustain your pastor, and follow in the footsteps of the flock. It is well, my brother. You are keeping alive the piety which otherwise would die for lack of sustenance. But must all your piety and devotion be bounded by these narrow lines? Are you not thus deserting your Saviour who is aiming at the world's conversion? If your religion terminates on yourself, where are your love for Christ, and your bowels of mercies for dying sinners, whose lands touch on your lands, and whose houses are within hail of yours? Where your sympathy for a dying world? How often is it enjoined on Christians, that they should let their light shine, that they should glorify God, that for this they should eat, and drink, and do whatsoever they are called to do. The whole aspect of a Christian's duty, as laid down in the New Testament, contemplates him as laboring constantly to produce a religious impression on the minds of men. 3. Consider the command of Christ-his last command. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. This command was addressed to the first generation of Christians, and they strove to obey it. It stands on that sacred page, where you have read it. Christ has not spoken 1837.] OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. 85 to you as to Saul of Tarsus, gleaming upon your eyes in a light from heaven above the sun's meridian splendor. But there is that sacred command, heavensent, clear, pointed, speaking to you with the awful authority of God. And we ask you now in the name of the ascended Saviour, Have you ever laid it to heart and said with Saul, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Look at the place this command occupies in the history of our Master. Its juxtaposition is remarkable. It was after his atoning death; at a solemn meeting of the disciples, and next before his visible ascension. Go ye out, says he, into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. I ascend to your Father and mine, and assume my seat on the throne of God, and wield the power of God that I may establish my kingdom. Lo I am with you alway to the end of the world. The command embraces not that generation of disciples only, but every generation, till the last heathen shall have heard the gospel. You cannot escape from its authority. If you think it addressed to the church in its collective capacity, and therefore not to you individually, you should recollect that the church is but the individuals who compose it, and that unless individuals obey the command, obedience to it is impossible, and that you, with other individual members, are called to obey it. Do not suppose it addressed alone to ministers of the gospel. Could it be a possible thing that the church should be deprived of her ministers to a man, the command would still be binding on her. It would still be her duty to lengthen her cords till she gradually embraced the human family within her inclosure. And it is not by pressing the command upon ministers already in the field, that God provides laborers for carrying abroad the means of salvation. But he brings before the mind of young Christians such passages as this from his holy word, and thus awakens within them the desire to become instrumental in the conversion of men. They give themselves to God as missionaries of the cross, and then leave it to his overruling providence to decide whether they shall labor on these shores or in a foreign land. Every true minister is a missionary of the cross, and is striving to obey that command of the Saviour; and, in deciding where he shall labor, asks, or ought to ask, where he can most advance the glory and kingdom of the Redeemer; and whether that place be at home or abroad, there he seeks his abode. How clear it is, then, that the price paid for your redemption, the vows you have assumed, and the command of your Saviour, bind you to live to the glory of God, and to put forth an influence for the world's conversion. In every part of our lives, and in every step we take, we are to do all with the divine glory in view. How clear it is that every young man, when he chooses his business and walk in life, is bound to choose that pursuit which will enable him most to advance the cause of Christ. It is for you, young disciple of the Redeemer, to say whether you will be wholly the Lord's, and what course of life you will choose that you may glorify him. With you, my brother, rests the fearful responsibility of disowning, or acknowledging, the authority of Him who redeemed you, and who on his throne in heaven is now looking upon the decision you will make. And, with you rests, thanks to the Redeemer, the delightful privilege of laboring in that glorious cause, by promoting which, the elders in past times, obtained a good report. The following queries and suggestions are appended to the Appeal. 1. Every church requires the labors of a pastor. Should not every particular church, then, have one of her sons in training for the holy ministry? If she takes one man from the church at large, as her spiritual guide, should she not put one of her sons into the field to supply his place? 2. Should not every church, having a number of youth within her bosom, who have natural qualifications, which, if improved, would fit them for the ministry, furnish all she can for this sacred office? Should not our vacant pulpits be filled? Should we not pour a constant flood of spiritual instruction over the wide plains lying south and west of us, and send out our sons thither to preach Christ? Assimilated as we are in climate to the great body of the heathen world, have we not a solemn and important work to perform in sending the gospel to them? 3. Perhaps you are a minister, or an elder in the church? Have you ever interested yourself to lead ingenuous, prudent, and devoted young men to reflect on the duty of consecrating their lives to personal efforts for the salvation of souls? Can you recollect any golden opportunities of putting a sanctified, well-balanced mind into operation, with the sole object of doing good; opportunities which you have suffered to pass by unimproved? Will you not now look around you, and see if there are not young men within the circle of your influence, who would be an acquisition to the effective force of the ministry, if they were educated for it? Will you not pray the Lord of the harvest to send them forth into his harvest? 4. Perhaps you have a son, a brother, or some other relative, or some friend, who is a humble, sincere, devoted Christian; and who is possessed of prudence, talents, and education to do good in the ministry. Do you not stand in such relation to that young man, that you can suggest to him the inquiry whether he should not be a minister of the gospel? 5. There may be a young man of your acquaintance who ministry, and who you believe ought to be encouraged to do so. in the way of gratifying the desire of his heart? wishes to labor in the Will you not put him 6. There are some young men who would be glad of the opportunity of doing good which the ministry affords, and who have the proper talents and character: but they are distrustful of themselves, diffident and retiring. Such persons are the very men to do good. They need encouragement and counsel. And these you can afford them without cost. 7. You yourself may be the very young man who ought to be a minister. You are completing your education, are a child of God, a son of the church. You are about deciding on your course for life, "The world before you where to choose your place of rest Will you now listen to the call of ambition, to the call of the god of this world-or to the call of Christ and of dying men? Or, you have not obtained the light of knowledge, and yet would be happy in exercising the office in which Paul labored. Rush not impetuously to the field of battle. Hasten slowly. Are you "apt to teach?" Have you "given yourself to reading? Remember that the church cannot flourish under an ignorant ministry. That the Apostles were miraculously enlightened and endued with gifts. That God never intended that men who have never learned should set themselves up as teachers of others. That Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, and those men whose memories have been most revered in the church have been men of cultivated minds. That if you enter the ministry to teach, you should be above the level of society in knowledge. Otherwise you will degrade the office you assume, and will make it contemptible in the eyes of men.. "Let no man despise thy youth." Enter upon an ample course of study, and unless too far advanced in life, pursue it to its utmost end before you ask your presbytery to authorize you to preach the gospel. PROF. FITCH'S SERMON. THE thoughts here extracted, are as true now as they were when delivered, and deserve to be extended in their circulation. The sermon is from John iii. 8. "We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellow helpers to the truth." to the ministry of the gospel, you promote the cause of divine truth. You do it in various ways. 1. You thereby add to the number of the public advocates of divine truth. The truth is dependent for its progress chiefly upon the devoted ministers of the and influence among men, under God, gospel. No one who considers the wisdom of God in the appointment of such an office, or who has felt the power of a living ministry upon his own mind and heart, or who reflects attentively on the adaptation which After introducing the text the writer pro- such a means of influence has to our nature, ceeds: I. I observe, then, that by patronizing the pious and indigent who are in heart devoted will deny this. If then the cause of divine truth be thus dependent on the ministry of the gospel, will you not help the cause by increasing the number of its advocates? I speak not here of a worldly and corrupt ministry, but of one pious and devoted, such as accords with the high and spiritual standard of the gospel and in this Protestant land, illuminated with the instructions of a faithful ministry, and blessed with revivals of religion, where such men as our Edwards, Witherspoon, Davies, Bellamy, Dwight, have passed in tracks of light and glory, and left their descending mantles to other generations, it would not be difficult, methinks, to find such as in the ministry would be pious, devoted, self-denying. Go to yonder village, where the pastor and his flock have been rejoicing in the visitation of the Divine Spirit and over the triumphs of his grace. Walk with me to that house of indigence. There is a youth, bright in intellect, mature in judgment beyond his years, diffident and humble, yet glowing with ardent love to his Saviour. In his communings with God he has heard the inquiry coming from the throne, "Whom shall we send to preach the gospel," and willing to make his whole life a sacrifice, has replied, Here, Lord, am I, send me. Repressed by his own poverty, if he be presented only with the cold and empty hand of avarice from abroad, he must extinguish this glowing purpose from his breast. He will indeed ever love his Saviour and do what he can for his cause, but he cannot think of the ministry longer. Offer him now the hand of your liberality. Conduct him forward to his noble purpose. Let him bring that intellect and heart, matured and expanded by human and divine knowledge, to bear on the defence and inculcation of the truth of God. All this influence which he now exerts upon the cause of religion, you have added to that cause. His whole life in the ministry, yes, and the everlasting fruits of it in souls gathered to Christ, are henceforth to be the representatives of the little amount of property expended by you in your liberality. You can help the cause of truth in this way. I must say this, while the field of labor continues to be the wide world, and laborers have not gone forth sufficient to reap the whole harvest, and it is possible to procure new and suitable laborers. But is it necessary to say this, when even now, after all that has been done to raise up new laborers, our churches who seek pastors, and our men of benevolence who would send forth missionaries, cannot find their men? 2. Again: By the liberality now urged, you not only add to the number of the public advocates of divine truth, you increase their qualifications and advantages for their work. The necessity of disciplining the mind and heart and furnishing them with matter by study and meditation, in the case of all those who would be public teachers of others, is obvious at once to the common sense of mankind. Nor can there be a case in which the importance of this is so great as, 87 inspiration excepted, in the public advocates of the religion of Christ. The system of divine truth contained in the gospel is itself so broad and deep; it is so connected with all the fields of natural, intellectual, and moral science; it has so many artful evasions and objections to contend against among men; it has so nice an adaptation to all the varieties of human character and condition; it needs to impress its own glowing image of holiness so distinctly and fully on the hearts of its advocates, in order to render them fit organs of communicating it to others; that if any one would rightly and profitably divide this word of truth to his fellow-men, he must be a steward well instructed in the things of the kingdom: he must have continued long and deeply intent at the fountains of human and divine knowledge, and, by a long course of meditation and prayer, have expanded his intellect and heart with their fulness. Needs it words to show that he who does this, will be an abler preacher of the gospel-a more powerful advocate of its truths, a more impressive inculcator of its duties? But in order that ministers or those who are on their way to the office may command the time and means for such qualifications and advantages, they need your liberality. The indigent must labor for their food and clothing, and neglect such qualifications surely, unless Christian liberality come forward for their assistance. The pious, devoted, talented but indigent youth, who aspires to the great office of the ministry you may take under your patronage. You cannot perhaps conveniently receive him under your own roof, but you may shelter him under one which probably will be quite as convenient for his purpose. You may place him where he can consult the gifted of the dead and living, and where he may enjoy the various means of growth in holiness derived from the word and ordinances of God. You may thus greatly elevate and enhance his qualifications and ability to preach the gospel. And the result of your liberality will be seen in rendering his whole ministry increasingly effective on the interests of the truth. Does any one doubt whether the cause of divine truth receives any help from these acquisitions and advantages? Ask the experience of the aged and faithful ministers of Christ. They who have enjoyed the best advantages, will only mourn that they did not improve them better. They who have lacked them will tell you with lamentations, of their great and irreparable loss. Consult the spirit of inquiry and research which characterizes the present age. Will it respect the ministry, think you, which goes not forward with it in their attainments? View the elevation to which the eminent examples which have preceded us, have raised the standard of ministerial effort. Will it subserve the cause of truth to fall back from this standard? Look at the stantial except food and drink and clothing heights and depths of the system of truth and worldly treasures-will say this. But itself, contained in divine revelation. Shall he who believes there is a God and a soul not the mind which is disciplined and capa- and a heavenly grace to calm the agitations cious, more fully explore its mysteries, and of the present life, will not say this. No more clearly unfold them to the understand-true believer will say this. No unbeliever ing of mankind? Surely, until divine truth will say it, when the perishing objects of shall cease to operate on mankind as truth; this world are swept aside and he stands so long as its victories are obtained through with his fellow men amid the overpowering the understanding and imagination and con- light and the undying realities of a future science and heart, its progress will be aided state. by elevating the qualifications of its advocates by bringing more of intellect and imagination and spiritual affection, to bear on the task of illustrating, proving, and apply ing it to man. And how will you elevate these powers of the Christian teacher? 1 can direct you to no other way, since inspiration has ceased, than to a long and severe course of study and discipline, and shall always recommend this till I am informed of a better. 3. Again: By the liberality now urged, you not only add to the number of the advocates of divine truth and increase their qualifications for their work, you introduce them into fields of useful labor. The youth whom your bounty selects, you introduce into a field of usefulness even in the preparatory stages of his education. At the academy and the college, though he is not expected to preach the gospel, it is to be hoped that his godly life and conversation will proclaim to those around him that he has been with Jesus, and thus aid the triumphs of divine truth and grace over minds destined to exert no ordinary influence in after life. II. In the second place, how worthy the cause of divine truth is to claim our assistance. This cause involves interests weighty enough to claim the humble offerings of our liberality. 1. In helping the triumphs of divine truth, you promote the knowledge of the glory of God. 2. By aiding the triumphs of truth, you promote the salvation of souls. 3. By aiding the cause of truth, you promote the temporal happiness of mankind. And now to lay more fully before you the appeal which the subject makes to your liberality, let me remind you that this is a way of doing great good at little expense; a way of doing it which has the sanction of primitive example. Do you say that the good is uncertain? I allow that there is uncertainty whether all the beneficiaries will ever reach their work, through premature death or unfaithful relinquishment of the object; and we must act in this case, as we do in all practical matters, with judgment and upon rational probabilities. Let me put the subject then upon the account of loss and gain. I will allow, (and I think all past experience will show it to be a sufficiently liberal allowance,) that for every ten beneficiaries, two are found to disappoint the hopes of all their friends, supervisors, and patrons. What then have you lost? Not any laborers which the cause of truth would otherwise have had, surely. You have lost nothing except the money you have expended. Perhaps I ought not to say that you have lost even that. You may have given it with a good intent, and it may tell more to your advantage in the end than it would have done had you expended it otherwise; or if you did not give it with such intent, you may at least have prevented yourself from spending it in any worse manner. But allow the loss. What on the other hand have you gained? You have introduced eight able and devoted individuals into the ministry, who shall spend a whole ministerial life with perhaps as many thousand souls, imparting the knowledge of God, gathering the lost into the eternal fold of Jesus, and cheering the weary on their pilgrimage to heaven. You have gained what is of more value than the wealth of worlds, and what it will take a whole eternity to compute! 2. I remark again, that assisting the pious and indigent on their way to the ministry, is a method of doing good which has the sanetion of example in the primitive age of the church. I ask you now to travel back with me through the maze of past centuries to that early period when John wrote his third 1. To assist the pious and indigent on epistle-the letter to Gaius. Transport yourtheir way to the ministry of the gospel, is selves to the mansion of that citizen of doing great good at little expense. You thus Corinth at the time he opens and reads the enlist, prepare, and send forth laborers to letter. He had been in the habit, it seems, promote the high and everlasting triumphs of assisting those indigent persons devoted of divine truth among men; and all you give to the ministry who were on their way to for so great an object is a little of your the field of their labors: and John now worldly possessions. Do you say that the commends him for it, and exhorts him to good obtained is shadowy-without sub-continue the practice. He reads "whom, stance? He who gives substance only to if thou bring forward on their journey after the things which minister to his own grati- a godly sort thou shalt do well"-"we ought fication-who will allow nothing to be sub-to receive such, that we might be fellow |