does not burn with a holy zeal to point his perishing fellow mortals to the same refuge?

It is a privilege of no mean character to become the benefactors of others, in things pertaining to this life. All who have made the experiment have found that even here, it is more blessed to give than to receive." How honourable then the employment, how noble the privilege, to contribute to the eternal happiness of our fellow beings to become co-workers with God in the matter of their salvation; to be instruments of rearing eternal monuments of praise to him in a future world?

We celebrate the benevolence of a man, who exposes his life to save another from a watery grave; or who visits the dungeon to find the objects of his compassion, and to administer relief to the lonely sufferer, dying of want or disease. But how much more exalted his charity, who forsakes his kindred and his native land forever, to explore distant and inhospitable regions in quest of sinners, immersed in ignorance and superstition, and wallowing in the mire of sensuality: his charity, who is willing to undergo every hardship, and to sustain every trial, in erecting the banners of the cross among the benighted heathen.

To take the least share in this work, whether by our counsels or our prayers, or if it be only by contributing a humble pittance to the support of those who are more immediately and actively engaged, is an honour worth living for, and for which every good man will be thankful through eternity.

IV. Shall I observe in the fourth place, that though St. Paul esteemed it his highest honour to be instrumental in spreading the gospel among the heathen, yet he did not seek his own glory in this work.

It was not for the purpose of approving himself to his best friends, and much less for the sake of transmitting his name with honour to posterity, that he embarked in an undertaking so full of peril, and fraught with interests of such amazing magnitude. "Neither of men sought we glory," says he to the Corinthians, "nor yet of you. We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.". This was a strong and distinctive feature in his character, as a missionary of the cross. This imparted to him a firmness and elevation of mind, which rendered him superior to corruption and versatility. His pole star being neither human vanity nor pride, but the glory of God and the salvation of men, he was kept steady to his purpose, through all changes and trials. God approved of his sincerity, and rewarded it with the most striking and visible success.

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With the same holy and disinterested spirit, we also may hope to stand approved; and that God will not suffer our labors to be in vain. But if for the humble purpose of treading in the steps of others, and according in our opinions and practice with the fashion of the times; if we seek only to make a figure in our day and generation, unmoved by compassion for the heathen, and a concern for the Divine glory, God will say, "Put your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, L have no delight in them."

Is this remark unseasonable? We cannot doubt that extensive missions among the heathen have been undertaken, aud many sacrifices made, for the narrow purpose of adding to the number and splendour of a particular church; or perhaps with the more selfish design of adding a wreath to the crown of individual

This part of his example is particularly worthy of our regard. The cause of missions is eminently the cause of God. He only can give it success. To the agency of his Spirit we must ascribe it, that any are brought to the saving knowledge of the truth in Christian lands, where the doctrines of the gospel are the creed of men's early years. But among the heathen, where the obstacles to divine truth are multiplied and various, what can we look for without the special agency of the holy Spirit?

I know indeed there are some, who, even with this agency, so long as it falls short of miraculous gifts, imagine that we have bût a discouraging prospect of converting the heathen; and they attribute the want of success among missionaries in modern times to the absence of miraculous powers. We shall certainly not allege that such powers would be of no consequence to the missionary of Christ; but we may safely affirm that they are not necessary. They were all important in laying the foundations of Christianity; but having once existed, and a faithful record of them been transmitted to our times, it is sufficient now to refer to them, whether for the conviction of those who are born under the light of the gospel, or of those to whom the knowledge of it is now to be imparted.

This is not mere theory, brethren. What is the state of facts? Have no nations been converted to Christianity since the age of miracles ceased? When did the ancient Franks and Germans receive the gospel? When the Swedes and Danes, and other northern nations? These, with the greater part of our own ancestors, were heathens long since miraculous powers were known in the church. What shall we say of the Moravian missionaries in Greenland and Labra