will of God. And say not, Oh ye rebellious priests and people of Israel, "Thy will be done," and then fancy ye have done your duty. It is his will that Christian Churches use the means. "Go and disciple all nations; go and proclaim the Gospel to every creature." But, says the objector and caviller, would you have us all go and leave our own country and our own homes, and we pastors go and leave our flocks? No, my brethren, I require no such thing, Heaven requires it not. England's king has many affairs in foreign lands, commercial, and political, and martial; and it would be England's disgrace, if she could find no able and enlightened men and veteran servants to engage in these important missions. And Zion's King has important affairs in all lands; embassies of pardoning mercy to the guilty, of peace to the bitterest enemies; of salvation to perishing sinners, of conflict with the powers of darkness, where Satan and idols are enthroned; and it is the disgrace of our Zion that she sends not some of the ablest, and wisest, and holiest of her servants.

What our Saviour taught, and did, and suffered on earth, was for the benefit of all nations. And it is his revealed will that the glad tidings of salvation should be proclaimed to all nations.

Therefore every disciple, whether private Christian or Minister of the word, at home or abroad, should regard the Lord's will as the rule of his thinking and acting on this subject. He should have solemn soul-communings with the Divine Being on this part of duty; and answer conscientiously to Him, taking that deep interest in the affairs of the kingdom, and making those personal and domestic sacrifices for its welfare, which true unfeigned loyalty to Zion's King demands.

It is incumbent on those who exhort the congregations of God's people, to urge the general duty, leaving the particular application to each individual's conscience in the sight of God. No one has a right to interfere with or judge another man's conscience. As for example, beneficence is a duty binding on every Christian; but no one can prescribe to another how much time, or how much

themselves. The real disciples of Jesus, in becoming such, think for themselves, and in their subsequent career must act for themselves, without ever expecting that their principles and conduct will always meet with the approbation of the non-discipled. Having once seen it right to become the followers of Jesus, we must be guided by his example and his precepts.

There is an evil spirit who rules in the hearts of the disobedient, and he is the god of this world.

To oppose him and subvert his control, Jesus was manifested, and he has erected a standard, surmounted by the cross, on which he died for the redemption of the world, and around it every true Christian is commanded to rally. Not a physical, but a moral and spiritual conflict, is that to which every Christian is called.

However, I dwell not on the figure; the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; we are prepared not to shed the blood of others, but to sacrifice our own as witnesses for the truth. I mention these things briefly to intimate, that a life of ease and unassailed tranquillity ought not to be expected by any genuine disciple. Satan, and the world, and evil propensities, will not leave him in peace; he must defend himself, and that sometimes in bitter conflict; and it is his duty to go forth aggressively against the empire of Satan, of ignorance, of superstition, and of vice.

It is his, however, not to destroy, but to carry aloft into the rebel camp, a proclamation of mercy from the supreme Ruler of the universe.

"I (says the divine Saviour) have all power in heaven and on earth; go ye therefore and proclaim the glad tidings of mercy to every human creature." This did the first Disciples and the Apostles of our Lord, to the extent of their means; and this, more or less, have all their true successors done up to the present day; and this is still the doing of what, in common parlance, is called, "The Missionary enterprize."

Emmanuel appeared not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. The tyrant oppressor, and artful deceiver of

work upon your gratitude. And know ye not that ye are not your own? God requires your services on earth, this is your reasonable service, your duty.

And what is your life? It is but for a moment! And what are ye on earth? Strangers and pilgrims! And what is before you? Death and judgment and an awful eternity; bliss everlasting, or, oh terrible reverse! expulsion from the gates of Paradise, and an eternal dwelling in darkness with demons and hypocrites.

Oh let fear and hope, and gratitude and duty, and common-sense, all conspire to induce, in families and in churches, a ceaseless spirit of devotedness and personal sacrifice for the promotion of Zion's kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven.

Ye fathers and mothers, and sons and daughters, love King Jesus; give him your hearts! cheerfully obey him! in your families sing his praises, devote to him your dearest relatives, your fortunes, and your lives.

If there be any truth in the Bible, if our Christianity be not all selfishness and hypocrisy, this devotedness were a chivalry at once rational and glorious. Away with those shameful complainings, which insinuate that too much is done for the King's cause. Away with those unbelieving anxieties, which belie the divine promises, and which virtually deny that those who honour God he will honour; and which assert that the seed of them who serve Him may be neglected by Providence.

O spirit of God, that convincest of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, convince the families and the churches of this land of their past neglect; and breathe into their souls a spirit of holy zeal and entire devotion to the Saviour's cause among men !

sensuality and impiety, that prevail in the dark places of the earth. And in our own land how much pride and selfishness, avarice and covetousness, earthly-mindedness and ungodliness exist. Hence it is that some false brethren laugh to scorn our feeble efforts, and just the reverse of the former objectors, argue, that so much is to be done that we can effect nothing. But none of these things need move us, whilst we act in obedience to Him who has all power in heaven and on earth, and who bids us go and proclaim the Gospel. There are not wanting those who admit the premises, in this instance, viz. that our Lord has all power in heaven and on earth, but who draw an inference different from that which our Saviour has stated; they say 'the Divine Being must work a miracle to convert the nations, and Christians need not go and preach the Gospel.' And from this cause it is, that the divinely appointed means, the dissemination of Gospel truth, has been so much neglected.

to.

In none of the churches of this country, whether those established and endowed by Government in England and in Scotland, or those who Secede or Dissent from them, is there, in their Constitution or collective capacity, any provision made, either of men or of means, to obey the exalted Saviour's command. Three hundred years have elapsed since the Reformation in Europe, and not more than three tens have elapsed since this precept was materially attended We have indeed heard much of a venerable Society of longer standing, for Promoting Christian Knowledge; but neither its existence, nor the novel Missionary Societies, invalidate what has now been said; that neither the National churches, nor the Congregational churches, have, in their Constitution, made any provision, either of men or of means, for obeying the Saviour's injunction, to disciple all nations, and teach them whatsoever he commanded. Their provisions, so far as we can understand them, are only for the farther instruction of those already discipled in their own country; nothing is contemplated by the Hierarchy of the English church, nor by the Assembled Ministers of the Scotch church, nor by the Independent Pastors of Congregational churches, for going and discipling other nations.

There is a passage in

about the vanity and the shortness of life. Ancient and modern Pagans, Jews, Turks, and Infidels, as well as Christians, have uttered such lamentations. But there is no reason to believe that these bewailings indicate a spirit of piety; for they may exist where there is no knowledge of God, no desire to be acquainted with his ways, no submission, no resignation, no repentance, no obedience, no worship; they do indeed more frequently indicate obduracy of heart, impenitence, and discontentedness. I shall not then merely moralize about the hardships attendant on man in his journey through life, the uncertainty of prosperous circumstances, the inevitable ills to which he is liable, and the manifold difficulties and disgusts which he must often experience in his passage to the grave. These topics are true and important, but they come not up to the Scriptural and Christian view of the case. We will then at once advert to the meaning of our text. the Book of Leviticus, (xxv. 23.) which throws much light on the phrase " strangers and sojourners." It is there said of the possessions of the several Jewish tribes, "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine, (saith Jehovah.) Ye are strangers and sojourners with me." Here the allusion is not to the difficulties of a journey, or to the discomfort of a lodging, but to the right of possession. The whole earth belongs to Jehovah; man is a stranger and a sojourner on it, and resident but for a short period, and has no just cause to assign why he should be allowed to remain. This is the sense which best suits the scope the paragraph in which the words of our text are found. The connexion is this. King David, having attained "a good old age," chose to settle two very important affairs before his death-the succession to the throne, and the erection of a temple to Jehovah. For these purposes the Jewish Monarch "assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies, and the captains over thousands and over hundreds; and the officers and mighty men, and valiant men at Jerusalem."

of

In the presence of this large assembly of the chiefs and