Foreign Mission J oijknal
I*nl>liNliv(l Monthly by the Foreign Mission Jionnl oi the Southern ]i:i]>lbt Convention.
“ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH.
GO YE, THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS."
Vol.
П.
— New Scries.
FOREIGN MISSION JOURNAL
KATES
РКП
ANNUM :
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copy . . . Wl cts.
I'onr copies tool over,
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mlilrcus, each . c ts.
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remit by Itruft, Postal Order, or lit Heulslered
better, and notify ns I'lioMl'Ti.v of any chaniro in atltlross.
Address,
КО
REIGN MISSION JOURNAL,
JtlC'llMONb, Va.
FOREIGN MISSION BOARD
OK THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION,
I.OCATKP at RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.
I'liKstOKN-T— ,T. I.. M. OinillY.
Vl(:K-l*itK.4iHKNT«.— Hiram Woods, bid., .1.
Л.
Ifaekctt,
Miss.. K. Ooiiriney, I. a., ,1. II. .Inter, Vtt„ II.
И.
Metis Hum,
Kin., T. II. 1’rltcliard, N. (1„ .1. L. llitrrowfi. Ky., S. Hen¬
derson, Alabania.W. I'opn
Л'еашап,
Mo., .1, li. I.lnlr, Texas,
II. II. Tucker, Oa., .1, O. Kantian, S. U., Matt, lllilsinan,
Tetni., .1. II. lloone, Ark.
(louttr.fi 1*0 Nltl NO SUritr.-r.4tY—
И. Л.
TUI’I’ER.
Тнклышкн—
.1. (I. WlI.l.IAMS.
Kr.rotti4.su SiK-iiKTAliY— W. 11. GWATHMEY.
Aonirint — .lOSKI’ll K. (JiimilllA.
Полип
or
Млялоипн.— Ц.
W. Warren, J. II. Walklns, II.
IC. Kl ly miii, W. K. llalclier, K. Wortliam, Henry McDonald,
W. (loddln, If. H. Harris,
Л.
K. Dickliifion,.!. W. Jones,
Л.
II.
Olarke, .1. II. Winston, T. J. Evans,
О.
If. Winston, S. O.
(Moplnii. _ _
027 'All communication.1! in reference to the business
of this Jionnl should be addressed to II.
Л. Тиггкв,
Om'esponding Secretary, Richmond, Va.
KOKM OK BEQUEST.
“ I hereby give iiml bequeath unto the Southern
Baptist Convention, formed in Augusta, Georgia,
in tint intuit 1 1 tit May, 1S45, and chartered by the
Legislature of tint State of Georgia, by an act
passed and approved December 21ltli, 1S-15. ( here
insert the amount, if in money, or 'subject,' ij
other property, either real or jiersonul,) for Foreign
.Missions.”
SHALL INTEKE8T BE 8AVED I
Last, year the Hoard bad to pay some 3800 inter¬
est on money borrowed to carry forward our work,
while the churches withheld their contributions.
The year is advancing and receipts tire very small,
l.i't the churches answer the question : “Shall
interest lie saved? ”
PERSONAL INFLUENCE,
What it is.
Were, wc asked the meaning of personal influ¬
ence, we would say it is that cltect which every
one’s real character lets upon those with whom he
comes in mental or social contact. The extent of
the ollect. is in proportion to the strength of char¬
acter or the intimacy of the relation ; hut, in a
greater or less degree, we are impressing upon
those alioul, us what we really are. As the clouds,
emptying themselves, produce, the. effects of water,
whatever may he the coloring matter in the drops,
—as tlm sun impinging the earth produces light,
and heat, whatever may he this motes which float
in its beams, so we are ever affecting others by our
trm* character, despite the inconvenient forms of
conduct in which that character may lie embodied.
Tliu vehicles of this influence are varied ; some¬
times invisible, and always mysterious— though not
more mysterious than the channel by which voli¬
tion is conducted to action — action to its remote
eoitsequonoes. “We tiro fearfully and wonder¬
fully made.”
RICHMOND, VA., JULY, 1879.
Two kinds of Influence.
Personal Influence Is voluntary and involuntary.
Voluntary influence is that effect which is produced
when we make a conscious effort to impress our¬
selves on others. When the effort is simple the ef¬
fect will be as certain, though perhaps not so dis¬
tinct as when the die is struck by the hammer on
the fused metal. Involuntary influence is that un¬
conscious effect which our character produces,
which we etui no more prevent than we can pre¬
vent the depleting of the object of sight upon the
the retina of the seeing eye— the sounding of the
vibrating atmosphere upon the tympanum of tlm
hearing ear. As heat radiates from the hotly, as
magnetism from the fervid spirit, so there is
streaming from every soul that which communi¬
cates its likeness to others, as the light impresses
the face or form on the sensitive plate of the pho¬
tographer — as the intervening air conveys the light
of l lie arched heavens to the subtending waters
beneath. Involuntary influence, being uncon¬
scious, is unchecked— lienee is more impressive than
voluntary influence. The latter may he calculated by
the determination of will, the former can he estima¬
ted only by the ticks of time, the pulsations of life.
The one may seem more decisive, like the light¬
ning bolt; but the other, like the rays of the sun,
is more potent, and brings up a world of results
around !
The threefold results of Influence.
Personal influence is reflective. What it man is
to-day is the result of what ho was yesterday and
the t line before. What lie will he to-morrow and
at the day of judgment is the result of to-day and
in the time between this anil then. The future is
the essential present enlarged, as the moth is the
worm winged, the harvest the seed augmented.
In every human life there is tin arithmetical pro¬
cess going on by which the sum of the present, and
the past is equal to the future. Thus knowing
what wc are and have been, we may know what
we shall lje for time and eternity. “ Whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
This Influence is also transitive. We all are an¬
gels of light or of darkness to others. This en¬
hances the value of life. To tend one's own flock
is important; but to tend also another man's, in¬
creases greatly the importance. To keep an ox
which gores us is a serious matter ; but if lie gores
our neighbor too, it is much more serious. The
solemnity is deepened by the countless conduits of
this influence, hound together its we tire in the
endless net-work of human relationships. Life is
is not like a tree— and the members of society like
its leaves— all connected by a few twigs and
branches. Life is like the sea; the drops are dis¬
tinct, hut they arc making combinations as cease¬
less as count less— as inevitable as irresistible ; and
uvery .combination is a channel of influence. By
our words and looks and acts and thoughts and
sentiments, and by ten thousand other means, are
we over moulding the destiny
оГ
others, for weal
or for woe. “ None of us livotli to himself.”
Further, personal influence is reactionary. At
the judgment many will not know themselves ;
saying to the Lord, “ When saw wc thee,” so and
go? “ When saw wo thee,” so anti so? But the
No. 4.— Whole No. 112.
likeness of ourselves, which wc have painted on
ten thousand witnesses, may he produced to make
complete the identification, and to vindicate the
sentence of the Judge: “Come, ye blessed;” or,
“Depart, ye cursed. ” How momentous the
thought that wc arc preparing by our life the testi¬
mony for the final judgment of our souls ! “ Keep
thy heart with all diligence; for out of it arc the
issues of life.”
'The great necessity.
In view of tills nature and these results of per¬
sonal influence, man should live in the constant
exercise of that primal law of his nature, by which
lie is constituted a being of reflection and pros-
pcction. The wise man realizes that lie lives un¬
der a system of law, and that no law is more cer¬
tain than that of cause and effect ; lienee, to regu¬
late tlie future lie must keep ills eye on the pres¬
ent and past, lie expects to bo what lie is and
what lie makes himself under God. “lie tiiat
soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corrup¬
tion ; hut lie that sowetii to the spirit shall leup
life everlasting.” But, to be right, that is this
great tiling. What is, essentially, good character?
How may it he secured? Paul says, “For to me
to live is Christ.” Here is the essence of true char¬
acter, and the fountain of good influence. This
character has an internal and an external develop¬
ment, and may attain to “the measure of the
statue of the fullness of Christ.” To secure it,
we ask for it. One of rite sublime tilings of ,thc
gospel is that it stands before a ruined race, and
proclaims, without qualification, “ Whosoever call-
etli on the name of the Lord shall he saved,”
shall have “Christ formed within him the hope oi
glory.” Ye must he horn again.
Application.
And we repeat that without this essential Christ-
character the influence cannot be blessed ; and its
chilling and freezing oilects can no more he averted
or corrected, by our will, than we can by a breath
dissolve the glacier on the Alpine slope, or dissi¬
pate the icehutg which roams the Arctic seas.
“ Can st tlion loose the hands of Orion?” But if
Christ is the character, the influence, despite our
imperfections, must he Christ-like. As far as the
character may lie conveyed by word, or deed, or
prayer, there Christ is communicated to other
souls. Tims every child of God is not only rceom-
municatlng to his own soul, by Divine Grace, the
image of the Lord Jesus, hut lie may communi¬
cate it to the uttermost parts of the earth. As he
conveys his hotter self by his varied contributions,
lie conveys Jesus. This lie can no more prevent
than lie can prevent the flowers from springing
from the ground, (lie voice of the turtle from sound¬
ing through the air, or the goodly scent of the
clusters from rising from the vine. Overwhelmed
lie may he l>3" a sense of tmwortliincss, ills lot may
he one of poverty or sorrow, the death hour may
lie upon him ; hut these conditions, like the clouds
which batik up the western sky, may only reflect
more gorgeously the rays of the God of Day. Our
character in Christ cannot he in vain ; neither our
labors in the Lord. “Canst thou bind the sweet
influences of Pleiades?” And tints it is that
every soul Inspired by the spirit of the Master is a
missionary of the Cross, and is realizing, in pro¬
portion to the strength of his spiritual character
ami his Christian activity, the great commission :
“ Go and disciple all nations. And lo ! 1 am with
you always; even unto the end of time.”
