drous Book into the different dialects of India, which will enable it to be read by a population nearly as large as that of all Europe. Thousands of missionaries, of various descriptions, are now laboring in the different quarters of the world; and through their instrumen. tality hundreds of thousands have renounced paganism; and have cast their dumb idols to the moles and the bats. More than two hundred thousand heathen youths, are at this time receiving a Christians edu. cation in the schools of these missionaries. Numbers who have been thus educated have already become preachers and teachers. Wonderful things have been done through the agency of the Tract Societies. Hundreds of millions of these little messengers have been sent out into the highways and hedges, and have compelled multitudes to come in. The Sabbath schools have been eminently blessed, as one of the means of building up the Redeemer's kingdom. Millions of poor children have thus received a religious education. And many of them have been rescued from ignorance, vice, and misery, and raised to respectability and glory. Yes, my readers, we already hail the early dawn of that glorious day" Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung"-when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of Christ-when, from this earth, as from one vast altar, pure incense shall ascend to the liv. ing God—when one song shall employ all nations, and all cry, "Worthy is the Lamb, for he was slain for us!" Although we should not expect, as some seem to do, that the mille. nial sun will arise immediately, and throw his golden beams over the whole globe, so that there shall not be a benighted spot in it; but "one unclouded blaze of living light"-for in the natural day the sun does not arise at once out of darkness, and lay his glorious rays over the earth. Yet we have great reason to rejoice, and give thanks to God for what we already see; for truly many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which we see, and did not see them; and to hear the things which we hear, and did not hear them! We have our lot in a day, when wonderful things are doing; when God is carrying on a mighty work in this our world; and allows us the unspeakable privilege, the exalted honor, of being co-workers with him. He calls upon us, as by a voice from heaven, to join with him in this glorious enterprise! And, my Christian friends, the peculiarly important age in which we live, imposes upon us peculiar duties, and a peculiar weight of responsibility. If we know the time, we shall know that it is high time for us all to awake out of sleep. It is surely no time for Christians to sleep. The great Head of the church now expects that all his ser vants will be up and active. He is now gathering in his harvest. Read the language of Revelation respecting this period; and then cast your eyes abroad upon the fields-are they not white, ready to harvest? And is not the cry that God would send forth more laborers into the harvest? For that the harvest truly is great, but the laborers comparatively few! There is, then, a loud call upon all the laborers to be active and indefatigable. A voice from the temple of God calls to you, my brethren in the ministry, to thrust in your sickles and reap, for the time is come for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe! But, my Christian friends, there is a loud call upon you all to awake out of sleep! You have all one talent, at the least; and the slothful servant had no more: and his sin was merely suffering it to lie idle. How many that profess to be servants of Christ, are acting in a similar manner! Saying, Lord, Lord, but neglecting to do the will of our heavenly Father. Sleeping in harvest, instead of engaging heart and Doing little, or nothing, for him who has done so hand in his work. much for us. All the world is to be active-heaven, earth, and hell appear to be active and shall we sleep? Satan is active, knowing that his time is short: he is mustering his forces, and disciplining his troops, and preparing for the approaching conflict. He and his agents are busily engaged, endeavoring to obstruct the progress of the gospel. Let not Christians show less zeal to do good, than the wicked to do evil. Let not those who are employed in the service of Christ, and who expect to receive the wages of everlasting life, be less active, less laborious, less indefatigable, than those who are employed in the service of satan, and who will receive the wages of death! Christians are now called upon to pray much, to do much, and to give much. They should let their light so shine before men, that others seeing their good works may glorify our Father who is in heaven. They should show by their conduct that they do really believe the religion they profess; and that they think the soul of more value than ten thousand worlds! and then their admonitions will have weight. They may then warn the wicked of his way to flee from it; and their warnings will tell upon the hearts of sinners. All Christians ought now to make the salvation of sinners, and the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, the principal business of their lives; and rely upon it, their exertions will be like seed-wheat, and will produce some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred-fold. Every person can do much -much more than he thinks he can, if he will only engage heart and soul in the cause of his divine Master. And the great Head of the . church wants no time-servers, no trimmers, no timid soldiers. I repeat, that he now expects that every one of his followers will do his duty. Single individuals have often done wonders, when all their powers and faculties have been intensely directed to one great object. Christians acting singly, may, and many of them are, doing much; but now is a time when they should act in concert. They ought—as was said of the Macedonian phalanx-to move like one body, informed by one soul; and then, like it, they would be irresistible. They are now all called upon to come up, with one accord, to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. And wo be to him who disobeys the call! Christians are now required to give much. They should remember that the silver and gold, all that they have, are the Lord's; and that they are merely his stewards, who must render a strict account. I have read of Christians who had many failings and many faults, but I never yet read of a covetous Christian. No, covetousness is idolatry-and we know that idolaters shall not inherit the kingdom of God. You may have your portion in this life, if you choose it here; but beware lest it be said to you hereafter, "Thoù in thy life time receivedst thy good things!" Our Savior said to the young man in the gospel, "Sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasures in heaven, and come follow me! When he heard that he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich!" We have reason to believe that there are many, who, like him, barter heaven for a little paltry pelf; not remembering who has said, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" True, they cannot, like Dives, be clothed in fine linen and purple, and fare sumptuously every day; but, like him, they will lift up their eyes in torments, without a drop of water to cool their parched tongues, or allay the tortures of those everlasting flames! O! be not any of you like that wicked Esau, who for one morsel of bread sold his birth-right; for ye know that afterwards when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected, though he sought it carefully with tears! You, whom God has blessed with abundance, may now do much with it, and thereby lay up for yourselves an exceeding great reward. A dollar, well bestowed, has been the means of an extensive revival of religion. A single Bible may diffuse the light of heaven through a benighted neighborhood. A tract has often been the means of saving a soul. And what is the worth of a soul? Now is a time when a Christian might well wish for riches; for money may now be put out upon good interest: it may be lent to the Lord; and he will assuredly repay it, in due time, a hundred-fold. Let Christians remember, that the Lord loveth a cheerful giver-that "the liberal soul shall be made fat”—and that he who watereth shall be watered also himself: "he which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly," but "he which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully." True, you may hoard up your wealth, and refuse to give one dollar of it to him who gave it all to you-nay, who gave his own life a ransom for you; and, as was well observed by good John Newton, "God may quarter a physician upon you; and you may thus be compelled to part with more of your miserable money than God would have required-and have the pain and suffering into the bargain!" O! "set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth.” "Lean not on earth, 'twill pierce thee to the heart! On its sharp point peace bleeds, and hope expires!" Remember that riches oft make themselves wings, and fly away, as an eagle toward heaven! And that if they do not leave you, you must soon leave them; and that very shortly, a coffin, a winding sheet, and a few paces of the poorest earth, will be all that you can have of your possessions. And, O! remember, that, "Not all creation's luminaries quench'd at once Were half so sad, as one benighted soul That hopes for heaven, and meets despair!" Acts 2: 38, 39. Then Peter said unto them, repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. In relation to the ordinance of baptism, there are three things of which every conscientious administrator or observer of the rite ought to be fully persuaded in his own mind. That the ordinance is of divine appointment-that those to whom it is administered have a legal claim to the privilege and that it is administered in a way that will not forfeit the divine approbation. That baptism is of divine institution, is clearly established by the commission given by our Savior, Matt. 28:19, 20, and carried out by the precepts and practices of the apostles. But, as this is not a matter of dispute, amongst those we generally term evangelical Christians, we shall at present pass on to the other parts of our subject. With regard to the right of infants to this ordinance, which is claimed by many, there is more opposition; and on a subject of so much importance, it is not strange that much discussion should have been called forth, and sometimes with a degree of ardor and animation seldom exceeded on any subject. If, indeed, the Great Head of the Church has appointed this ordinance for infants, no less than for adults, ruthless and rash must be the hand that would snatch the seal of God's covenant from their brow; but if the institution-so far as they are concerned is destitute of divine authority or scriptural sanction, who can estimate the presumption of misapplying and perverting the ordinances of God's house, and the seals of his covenant, with a " Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord hath not spoken." In a matter, therefore, of so much moment, and involving so many solemn considerations, it cannot be impertinent, again to review the ground on which we stand, as the foundation of our faith and practice in relation to this matter. The duties enjoined in the text, are repentance and baptism; the benefits promised, are the remission of sins and the gifts of the Spirit; and the encouragement offered, is the benefits secured in the promise of God, to the parents, and to the children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Scott on these words |