-4
• *R* l
-«.К -.*-')
3
Щ
$
№ 5 4 ■ ;SfS' ’ .
;
.**«£
:: -: ■
. 3th
|
Щ
THE COMMISSION.
Vol. a. JANUARY, 1858. $0. 7.
SKETCH OF A SERMOX—TIIE RE¬
FLEX INFLUENCE OF FOREIGN
MISSIONS.
Prov. ii. 25, “ The liberal soul shall be
made fat ; and he .that u-atercth shall be
watered also himself."
It 13 a principle of the divine govern¬
ment, that men shall ho blessed in do-
ing good to others. God has ordained
that selfishness shall defeat its own ends.
It shall fail to accumulate — “There is
that withholdeth more than is meet,
but it tendeth to poverty," v. 24. — or
its accumulations shall he unblessed —
“A little that a righteous man hath is
better than the riches of many wicked,"
1’sa. xxxvii. 1G. — or, worse still, its ac¬
cumulation shall prove a curse — “Saitli
the Lord of Hosts, I will even send a
curse Upon you, and I will curse your
blessings,” Mai. ii. 2. Ilut those who,
from right motives, seek the welfare of
others shall be prosperous. “ The libe¬
ral eoul” — “ the soul of blessing,” ac¬
cording to the marginal reading — the
soul that flows out in blessings on
others, however small tho intrinsic value
of these favors, “shall be made fat” —
shall grow and flourish. “ He that
watcreth shall be watered also himself."
'There is probably an allusion in this
language to a fountain kept fresh, pure
and flowing by constant use. The more
its waters are drawn, the more copious
is its supply. “ There is that scatter-
cth, nnd yetincreascth.”
Tho principle revealed in the text is
13
as applicable to churches, and religious
denominations, as to individuals. These
bodies are composed of individuals,
and whatever promotes the welfare of
the constituents secures the good of the
whole.
The cause of Foreign Missions is com¬
mended to us by Christ’s commission to
the Apostles — by their earnest, self-sacri¬
ficing example in preaching the gospel
among all nations — by tho wicked and
perishing condition of tho heathen — and
by the adaptation of the gospel to their
moral necessities.
If the Foreign Mission enterprise is
approved of God, we shall certainly find
that those who liberally support it pro¬
mote their own interests. What has
been the effect of this work on tho
churches engaged in it ? I now propose
to cxamine,the
REFLEX INFLUENCE OF FOREIGN
MISSIONS.
1. They have been the means of increasing
the piety of the churches at home.
It is easy to perceive that the ten¬
dency of engaging in an enterprise so
vast, difficult and important as that of
converting the heatkeu world to Christ,
must deeply impress on the eburchot
their dependence on God for success —
the necessity of earnest, constant, be¬
lieving prayer — their obligation to con¬
tinued, self-denying liberality — and the
importance of increasing sympathy and
union among themselves. Such, every¬
where among our brethren, have been
the fruits of Foreign Missions. Siuco
-
