6. The apostles understood their commission to be universal. To go into all the world, to preach the gospel to every creature, and to teach all nations, were not measured terms, or modes of expression that could either be misunderstood, or be interpreted by plausible criticism, to mean less than was spoken. Their commission embraced all the nations that occupied the earth, at the period of its date, and reached forward to every nation that should exist "even to the end of the world." The everlasting gospel is to be preached to "them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." On the day of Pentecost the first apostolic sermon had a universal aspect. Peter, who describes the influences of the Holy Spirit as being to be poured out on "all flesh," said to his hearers of every country and nation, Repent and be baptized "every one of you," for the promise is unto you and to your children, and to "all that are afar off." The apostles were to open their commission in Jerusalem, but having been persecuted there, they took their commission in their bosoms, "and went everywhere preaching the word." They made no exception to any on account of character, condition, descent, or country; for "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord is rich unto all that call upon him:" to barbarians and Scythians, bond or free, they presented Christ "all in all." They went everywhere, and claimed every country and every man for Christ, with as much authority and earnestness, as if the name of that nation or individual had been in so many letters in their commission. The spirit of their commission said to them, "Call not any man common," regard no man as being forbidden salvation, or cast out of God's design of redemption, but treat all men as capable of being converted, and admit all unto the privileges and blessings of the gospel of Christ. The Acts of the Apostles is a simple record, and a beautiful memorial, of the unlimited character of their commission, and of the noble amplitude of their ministry,

7. The churches which were formed by the apostles were instructed to seek the salvation of all around them. Wherever they were formed they were to "shine as lights of the world, holding forth the word of life," so that from them should "sound out the word of the Lord," and "in every place their faith to Godward be spread abroad." These instructions were in full harmony with the principles laid down by Christ himself, who taught his disciples to be the salt of

the earth, and the light of the world. In a parable, he teaches them "as many as ye find bid unto the marriage." Let the church regard itself as the angel in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, stretching the wings of compassion and effort from pole to pole, seeing the vast globe with its myriad population revolving beneath its shade; to every human being, on which its eagle-eye can fix, it is to present the cordial and sincere invitation of the gospel. On this subject the churches are enjoined to be very enlarged in their prayers and supplications, to pray for every class of influences which the "four winds of heaven" can breathe upon the world, for a nation to be born in a day, and for an innumerable company of converts to fly as clouds borne by the gales of the Spirit. These prayers are enforced by the considerations that the harvest is great; that they are good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth; and that there is but one Mediator for the salvation of the world, "the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." The provisions of the gospel are fitted and adapted to the condition and the circumstances of the whole world. It meets an entire world declared guilty before God, with a pardon that is limited to no class of men, and that excludes no offence but the rejection of itself. It exhibits sinners of every character, and of every grade, as specimens and trophies of its power to save. It meets the forlorn and ruined condition of the world by publishing a free salvation, without money and without price, and without any condition by which they could deserve its privileges, or prepare themselves for its reception. Instead of stipulating that the world should become fit for the gospel, the Holy Spirit supplies a gospel designedly fit for the world. Even characters that might suppose themselves to be excluded from the feast of mercy, such as the maimed, the halt, and the blind, are cordially and sincerely invited to come. Men are not invited only, but the messengers of salvation are pressed to "compel them" to come in, to use all the influence of their character, to strive with all their powers of winning persuasion, and to pray all men in Christ's stead, to bring them to accept of blessings so suited to their moral condition, and to their mental capacities, and so blissful to their social order, their political improvement, and their eternal happiness.

II.

The Obligation of Churches to furnish Missionaries.

To separate men to the Holy Ghost, for the work whereunto he has called them, is the honorable office and the bounden duty of every church. The lively oracles are committed to the Christian church for the benefit of all the nations and the generations of the world; and it is the duty of the church to preserve them in their purity, to secure their perpetuity, to promote their dissemination by multiplying the number of copies and by translations into various languages, and also to raise up and furnish teachers and instructors who shall explain the truths revealed, and press them upon the attention of men. Hitherto, few if any churches have made the duty of furnishing missionaries or evangelists, a topic of grave and weighty consideration, and the entrance of young men, on the work and office of preaching, has been left much to themselves. In these cases the churches generally come to their duty, by giving the candidate the sanction of their approval, only after he himself has come to a decision. The selection of proper agents for the work of the Holy Spirit, and for the enterprises of the church, is a subject of no ordinary importance, and its bearings upon the interests of the world are momentous and vital. Were a church to keep its eye on a young Christian of promise, to watch, mark, and ponder the developements of his character, to unfold in affectionate conversations his qualifications, disposition, and inclinations for holy laboriousness, and to do this in a manner not likely to engender thoughts that will foster pride, probably many a David would be discovered, who should eventually fight the battles of the Lord, and crush the Philistines of sin and heathenism.

1. It is scarcely possible to conceive a work more genial, more cheering, and more delightful to a Christian church, than to be marking the progress of rising grace, proving the spirits that are of God, and watching the first glimmerings, and the earliest coruscations, of those who are to be the angels of the churches, or the seraphs of the world. In "the dark unfathomed caves " of poverty and obscurity, there are many "gems of purest ray," that by a little wise attention and delicate discipline, might sparkle with the brightest lustre in the diadem of the church; and that, even by the highways and hedges of rusticity and distant reserve, many flowers blush

and "waste a fragrance," that might, with a little friendly care have charmed the plains of India, or perfumed the knolls of China. To bring, out of the elements of the church, the most solid aggregate of pure religion, enterprising piety, sound sense, energy of character, and masculine ability, and to separate it for the wants of the world, would be a service and an offering to the Lord of sweet-smelling savor. This our churches might do, by ever keeping the missionary enterprise before the minds and near the hearts of their young converts, by exciting desires for missionary labor, as the ancient churches taught their youth to covet the crown of martyrdom; by treating these aspirations as honorable, holy, and great; by feeling that the name of a missionary is the noblest title of a Christian; by educating one or more at their own congregational expense: and, as far as prudently practicable, by regarding him as THEIR messenger to the nations.

2. The preaching of the word is an ordinance of Divine institution: but how can the word be preached except by the instrumentality of men? and how will they preach unless they are sent? and how will they be sent unless the church send them? and how can the church send them unless it produce them? Ministers, evangelists, and missionaries, can be supplied only by the churches themselves. No system of means has been so useful to the world as preaching, and no class of agents employed by the church has produced such extensive and permanent good as the preachers of the word; the churches ought therefore, to exercise the keenest penetration, the soundest judgment, and a vigilance that never slumbers, in the discovery, the selection, and the training of the agents to be employed in such stupendous interests. Ministerial and missionary talents are the gifts of Jesus Christ, and the endowments of the Holy Spirit, which are conferred on the churches for the perfecting of the saints, and for the gaining of all men into the unity of the faith. When these gifts become few, low, and scanty, and when they are perverted from their legitimate uses, the character of the church has no force, and the influence of the church has no weight, and the interests of the world suffer and languish, and sin in every form gains strength and dominion, Since these gifts are the purchase of the atonement of Christ, the churches should set a high value on them, use means to discover them, bring them all into action and use, improve and enlarge them for increasing efforts, and be as much concerned to

produce them and perpetuate them as to possess them. The very work of trying the spirits would imply that the church was in search of them, and was ascertaining their qualifications for usefulness in the world. In this holy research for faithful agents, as well as in others, the aphorism will prove true, "Seek and ye shall find."

3. Jesus Christ intended that his church should continue to the whole length of its duration in the world, a missionary church. An apostolic church is a missionary church for the epithet apostolic, derived from the Greek language, and missionary derived from the Latin, are of identical import; and a church is truly apostolic, not by the number and gradations of its offices, but by its missionary character, and its enlarged efforts to diffuse Christianity. To the end of the world the church is to disciple all nations. It can never sustain this character, unless it produce and furnish missionary laborers for the nations. Indeed, a Christian minister is truly apostolic, not so much by being the faithful and watchful pastor of his own flock, as by imitating "the Good Shepherd," who ranged the whes and the mountains of the world, to bring into the fold other sheep which were not of his flock.

A church ought not to monopolize the ministrations of its pastor. Many churches are either unable through want of training, or reluctant through indolence, to use the established means of grace for their own edification, unless the pastor be ever present in "the assemblings of themselves together." Nothing, except worldliness or sin, tends so much to destroy the missionary character of a minister, as this condition and habit of a church. Such an entire dependence of a church upon the official presence of the minister, prevents him from going about to do good in labors more abundant, except at an expenditure of time and strength, which the expectations and the prejudices of his own people forbid him to lavish. As he reaps of their carnal things, he is expected, for the value received, to be sowing to them spiritual things so incessantly, that he cannot go forth to break up fallow-ground, and sow the good seed of the kingdom, unless he can do it at seasons when he has not been retained for his own enclosures.

A missionary church would encourage the itinerating missions of its pastor, by showing to him that they can derive profit from religious ordinances in his absence on week-evenings, by cheering his fatigues with their smiles, and supporting his hopes with their public prayers. Our churches are