your

and there he will "wipe away all tears from eyes;"* he will dwell with you, and you with him ; and you shall be "kings and priests unto God" for ever.

When you meet with the next suggestion to infidelity, the next temptation to sin, ask whether those who tempt you can confute the declarations of Jesus; whether they can give such evidence of the falsehood, as he gives of the truth, of his sayings; whether they can offer any thing that is worthy of being put in competition with the blessings he promises; whether all the world affords,even if it could be prolonged to eternity, which cannot be, would be equal to the blessings of eternal and heavenly glory? If not, turn from them; spurn them away; "lay hold on eternal life," and say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

X.

THE SUCCESS OF MISSIONS DEPENDS UPON THE AGENCY OF THE SPIRIT.†

[PREACHED AT THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY MEETING AT CAMBRIDGE, OCTOBER 6, 1819.]

Isa. xxxii. 13—15.-Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous

* Rev. xxi. 4.

+ Printed from the notes of W. B. Gurney, Esq., collated and blended with those of the Rev. S. Hillyard.

city because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

THIS chapter contains a very evident prophecy of the appearance and the kingdom of Christ, as you perceive by referring to the first part of it. Contrary to what might be expected, the prophet turns aside; and, instead of finishing the painting of that beautiful scene of things which might be anticipated as the effect of this appearance, he proceeds to paint a scene of great desolation, of great barrenness, in the words which have now been read to you. Agreeably to this, the actual effect of our Saviour's manifestation, with respect to the people to whom he more immediately came, was by no means such as might be expected. After gathering a few out of that nation, and thus planting the first christian church, God retired from them on account of their impenitence and unbelief; and the land is still abandoned to that desolation and barrenness which is here represented.

Under these figures we are probably principally called to notice the spiritual barrenness, the spiritual blindness, hardness, and impenitence of heart, which have befallen that unhappy people, and under which they at present labour. It is said, in the words now read, that this unhappy state will continue to a certain point of time, or rather till the arrival of a certain important event; that event is predicted in the last verse.

If it were asked the prophet, How long shall this state of desolation last? he answers, "Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest." Thus the prophet teaches us, that the desolations will not come to an end, until, in consequence of great changes, and the improvement of the moral condition of men, there shall arise a state of prosperity by which the wilderness shall be a fruitful field, and that which is now so esteemed, shall be counted in comparison a forest.

Though the immediate bearing of these words is, in all probability, upon the state and prospects of the Jewish people; yet, by parity of reasoning, it may be extended much farther, and may be considered as assigning the reason why the nations of the earth continue in so wretched a state, with respect to things spiritual and divine, as that which they now exhibit: and they may be considered as directing our expectations, and regulating our confidence, respecting the final termination of this state of things; teaching that it will come to an end, that a great and beneficial change will take place, but not till the Spirit be poured out from on high. Then, and not till then, will "the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest."

Considered in this light, these words bear a very close relation to the subject of our present meeting, and tend to regulate our views and expectations respecting the success of that great work, with

at

a view to the promotion of which we this time assembled in the presence of the Almighty; and may allay that dissatisfaction and discontent, so far as it borders on repining, which the comparatively small success attending the proclamation of the gospel in the present times might excite; while it serves to strengthen our faith in the promise of that Being, who, as he has afforded this hope, is abundantly able to accomplish it by that mighty power by which he will "subdue all things unto himself."

The great and momentous truth taught in this passage, you perceive, my brethren, is, that the ultimate success of missions,-of the proclamation of the gospel, in short, in every form, depends upon the communication of the Spirit; and that its perfect success can be effected only in consequence of that Spirit being "poured down from on high." It is this momentous truth, and the proper improvement of it, to which, on the present occasion, I shall request your serious attention.

That the Spirit of God is afforded at present to the church is evident from its existence; for, since the church is entirely a spiritual structure, raised and preserved by that divine Spirit, if it had been utterly withdrawn, it would have been annihilated. Every member of that church is the production of the Spirit, quickened by the Spirit, and moulded to accord with the foundation-stone

upon which, by faith, it is built. We cannot, therefore, for a moment contemplate the total withdrawment of the Spirit of God, either as an

event that has taken place since the first proclamation of christianity, or as one that is to be apprehended. We witness many pleasing instances, in our congregations and churches, of divine communications to the mind, of hearts opened to "receive the truth in the love of it," and brought into willing captivity to Christ; instances as clearly verified as those we read of in the New Testament. But still, though the Spirit of God is not utterly withdrawn, that time has not arrived which is here announced; the Spirit is not "poured from on high" in that plenitude and variety of gifts which may be reasonably expected. A few drops of this sacred influence descend here and there; but it by no means descends in so copious a shower, nor so widely diffuses that spiritual fertility which the Scriptures give us reason to anticipate it is not "poured from on high."

That the success, the ultimate and full success of missions, depends upon the outpouring of the Spirit of God, appears to be manifest from the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. This involves a doctrine so familiar to your apprehensions who are acquainted with "the truth as it is in Jesus," that it would be needless to accumulate all the proofs the Scripture would supply; a few passages only are necessary. Our text is one of this kind. In the prophecies of Isaiah you find frequent passages of Scripture which represent, that the work of diffusing christianity is to be throughout truly the work of God; is to be distinguished as such by every serious spectator.