Page images
PDF
EPUB

foundation for his eternal kingdom, that his regal dignity was formally assumed, and publicly announced. Then, having spoiled principalities and powers, he visibly ascended, in his glorified humanity, to his throne in heaven. There he now reigns, and will reign, until he has put all enemies under his feet ;-until he has extended his mild and peaceful sceptre over a redeemed and subjugated world, and accomplished the purposes of infinite benevolence by gathering into his eternal kingdom the multitudes of the saved.

The love of Christ, my brethren, elevates the soul to communion with him, in the vast designs of his mediation. He, in whose heart it predominates, is absorbed in the greatness and glory of the achievment. To him it is not less real, than sublime. He sees around him the agencies, that are now in active operation in its accomplishment; and he anticipates the grandeur of its consummation, with unhesitating certainty. The relations and the interests of time are lost sight of; and he regards it as his highest honor, to be associated with Christ, though in toil, in suffering, and in reproach, in carrying forward his designs.

Such is the elevated spirit of our holy enterprise. Such was the spirit of the apostles and primitive disciples of our Lord. No one can read their lives without admiring their abstraction from the secular interests that surrounded them; and the vivid impressions of eternal realities, under which they lived. Though in the world, they were not of the world. They lived above the current of its influences.

They gazed upon the visions of eternity. At Jerusalem, at Athens, or at Rome, surrounded by the imposing ceremonies of their ancient faith, by the proudest monuments of art, by academic groves, or by the splendors of the eternal city, they lost sight of all, in the absorbing anticipations of their Redeemer's glory, when he should come to gather into his kingdom the purchase of his blood, and seal up the doom of the lost. Regardless of reproach and toil, they prayed, and wept, and entreated men to flec from the wrath to come, and lay hold on eternal life, as though they were listening to hear the sound of the last trumpet, the wailings of the lost, and the triumphant shout of the glorified.

Such was the spirit of faith, and love, that glowed in their bosoms; that elevated them above the world, and bore them onward in the duties of their high calling. In proportion as the church has possessed this spirit, has she enjoyed the blessing of her exalted Head, and been honored with success in her efforts to extend his kingdom. May this spirit be ours, brethren, in its largest measure, that we may be prepared to go forward to the achievment of that glorious destiny, to which God is now calling

his church.

II. In the second place, the love of Christ is admirably adapted to the peculiar exigencies of the missionary enterprise, as it is not only an elevating, but also a self-sacrificing affection.

It is the nature of love to seek its highest gratification in the happiness of its object. Love lives

in the enjoyments it bestows. This is the element of its existence. It delights in occasions of manifesting its strength, by the extent of its sacrifices, in promoting the good of those that are loved. The eye, brethren, can linger upon nothing more beautiful than the manifestation of this affection. The heart can be subjected to no influence richer in the purest enjoyment. The brightest emanations of Deity, ever contemplated by created minds, are the out-goings of this affection toward our guilty race, by our Lord Jesus Christ. He loved us, and gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for our sins. The gift was the most costly that could be bestowed. The treasures of the universe are nothing in comparison with it. To comprehend its magnitude, we must comprehend the nature and the resources of the godhead; for its fullness dwells in him; we must comprehend the infinite delight of his own bosom, as he surveyed, from his exalted throne, myriads of holy beings, to whom his power had given existence, brightening and exulting, in the sunshine of his complacency, pouring forth the song of exstacy in his praise, and bowing down, in solemn adoration, at his footstool. And from these celestial heights, we must descend, through all those stages of deep humiliation, and those scenes of unparalleled sufferings through which he passed, until, on the cross, he exclaimed, It is finished, and bowed his head in death. Though there were seasons, when pressed down under his extreme agony, he prayed, that if it were possible, the cup of bitterness might pass from him;-he knew, from the be

came.

ginning, what he must endure. He knew that poverty, toil, reproach, and persecution, would be his constant attendants;—that upon him would be poured the fury of the powers of darkness, and the wrath of offended Heaven;-that smitten, afflicted, and forsaken of God, he must die in untold agonies on the accursed tree. Yet, such was the strength, and the devotedness of his love, that he willingly He delighted to enter upon his work. He pressed forward with holy impatience to the darkest hour of his agony; and bared his own bosom to the sword of eternal justice, that man might be saved. Such, my brethren is the love of Christ; the grand example, the exalted pattern, after which, God will mould, in eternal assimilation to himself, the subjects of his holy kingdom. The minds of the apostles were absorbed in admiration of this love. In their solitary musings it was the subject of their devout meditations. It was the theme, the burden of their public ministrations. It woke up in their bosoms a reciprocal affection, that sought its highest gratification in pleasing Christ; and rejoiced in occasions of manifesting its strength and devotedness, by the greatness of the sacrifice made in behalf of his cause. For Christ, they forsook all. They cheerfully suffered the loss of earthly friendships, riches, and honors; and endured poverty, reproach, sufferings, and death itself. Nay, they gloried in tribulation, and rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. It was the impulsive influence of this self-sacrificing affection, that bore them onward from land to land,

and from shore to shore, amid perils the most imminent, though the Holy Ghost bore them witness that bonds and afflictions awaited them wherever they went. But none of these things moved them. No regard for their own personal safety, nor the solicitations of weeping friends, restrained them from pressing forward into thickest dangers, where duty called them. They counted not their lives dear unto themselves, that they might finish their course with joy, and the ministry they had received of the Lord Jesus.

Brethren, with this spirit of self-devotedness, must the church be deeply imbued, before she will be prepared to discharge her solemn obligations to her ascended Lord. We cannot do what God requires from us in the conversion of the world, abiding in our ceiled houses, enjoying the pleasures and luxuries of wealth and refinement. Nor shall we approximate to the measure of our responsibility, by offering up a few prayers for the success of missions, and giving a few dollars of the increase of our substance to aid in sustaining them. The work indeed is the Lord's, and cursed is man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, whose heart departeth from the living God. But now, as ever,, the agencies by which he will accomplish this work, he has intrusted to his church; and upon her has he imposed the solemn responsibility of employing these, in humble dependence on his blessing. Who, as he surveys the moral condition of the world, in the light of God's word-of his promises and commands-and contrasts with it the efforts that have

« PreviousContinue »