7.
“Go
ус
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'
RICHMOND, JULY 15,,
Щ
Southern Baptist (Hcmomtion.
Correspondence
оГ
lho Foreign Board.
Communications relating to the general busi¬
ness of ths Foreign. Mission Hoard, may be ad¬
dressed, post pi id, to
James I). Taylor, Cor. Sec.
Richmond, Vs.
Communications enclosing donations, or rolat •
ing to the financial department, may bo address¬
ed to Archibald Thomas, Trcai.
Richmond, Vs.
Tor tho CommlMton.
What am I to do ?
1 learn, clearly, from the Scriptures that
Christ’s church is a missionary church, and that
the spirit of Christianity is essentially a proselyl
ing ono. I am not to consider myself as sent
into tho world merely to get wealth and enjoy
myself, I am tho servant of Christ, and must
do my Master’s work. I am bought with a
prico, anil ain not my own, and must yield my¬
self up to my Divine Proprietor. 1 am a soldier,
and I am put in requisition by Him to whom 1
belong. I am called out to service. Tho trumpet
bids mo to take my station round tho standard,
and join my comrades in arms to fight the battles
of my Lord. Tim world is in rebellion and hos¬
tility against Cluist, and 1 must take tho field,
and endeavor to bring it in subjection to him. 1
am but ono— but 1 am one.
Г
cannot do much,
but I can do something ; and all I can do, I
ought to do, and by God’s grace will do.
JAMES.
For tlio Commli»lon.
Tho way tho World is to bo Con
verted.
I havo tccently become acquainted with a man
who says, that after ho pays his debts, ho in¬
tends to give all his clear gains to the causo of
benevolence. Now, I ask, did not Christ, who
Night being to her as light
аз
day, she was able
to dispense with candles, and by this means had
saved the money which she handed him.
This waa a touching instance of glorifying
Christ by infirmities. Her soul's eye had beheld
Christ in all his tender relations of brother,
friend, Redeemer and Intercessor, an’d sho was
prepared tomako her very deprivations tho means
of honoring him. Mournful fancy, aided by the
missionaries’ tale and the light of inspiration, had
shewn her tho heathen groping to the tomb and
perdition with a spiritual blindness tho most in¬
tense and dreadful, and sho was ready,— her
mind illumined by eternity’s clear light, with
some conception of that world, where this faculty
nevor shall perish, — ready to mako her blindness
and sulfering the instrument of conveying to their
minds tho light of life, and of pointing them to
the way of righteousness. Who will not imitate
tho blind girl, in devotion to the Lord and pity for
tho miserable heathen!
Wlm that looks with tho natural eye upon the
bright 6un in the heavens, that has hid his heart
cheered and warmed by lho genial rays of the
sun of righteousness, and looks with the eye of
faith to that world of blessedness and light be¬
yond tho grave, will not say, “Hero Lord I give
myself to theb.” Henceforth ho my property,
talents, tlmo, person, all thine,— all obedient to
thy blessed will. X. Y. Z.
appropriate end in being given into the hands of
the servants of tho Lotd, to aid in bringing poor
ruined souls, perishing in their nakedness, to be
clothed in fadeless, ever-enduring robes of bliss
and righteousness! — ‘If so be, that being clothed
they might ‘not bofound naked.’ There is Scrip¬
ture-grounded reason to fear, that they who do
not so estimate the preciousness of that divine
‘wedding, garment,’ as to desire to soo all that
are naked/Clothed therein, have not themselves
proved the blessedness of its pure and heavenly
security.”
“AH that I have to say,” replied Laxus, mov¬
ing away, .‘‘.is, that it seems to me thai you take
such exaggerated views of- everything connected
with religion! Your conceptions of Christian
duty quite transcend the capacity of such poor
weak beings as us frail mortal?: my trust is, that
God is moremerciful than you. At such a rate
as [this, youHvould soon unchristianize half the
professing world.” E. A. L.
* To bo continued.
I.
For the Commlwlon.
pass from Chagres to Panama. Our Board have1
regarded this as one of tliose new fields of labor
which the providence of God called them to ne-’
CUpy:_
“We are constantly receiving testimony to the
value of sailor converts
аз
faithful and successful,
laborers in the causo. of Christ ; a fact which'
speaks volumes for our Bethel operations, .and’
ought to enlist the interest of any who have hith¬
erto been indifferent. A sailor belonging’ to a
Baptist church in New York, while lying at an
island on the. coast of New Grenada/tcok a'de'ep
interest in the spiritual condition ^f 'the Catholic
inhabitants, and . labored to bring- them to ’he
knowledge of the truth. God blesscdhis efforts,
a revival followed, and; sqnip 'eighty or ninety
were convened. In, this condition of things they
naturally looked to him, as their spiritual leader
and teacher. Intelligence was communicated iq
the priesthood on the main, and one of the order
visited the island to persuade the people to le-
nounce their heresy, but they were firm in their
adherence to the truth. The sailor took passage
for Jamaica, to get advice from the Baptist .breyh-
“How
For the Commission.
Arduus and Laxus.
“Mydear brother,” said Arduus, “our church
is in a wrerched condition ; it is swallowed up in
lukewarmness and supinencss. Long enough
have I borne my sorrows in silence; long enough
in secret wept over the unfruilfulness and spirit¬
ual destitution of our decaying Zion! Every
day urges upon me some new indication of a
fearful resolvedncss in il3 opposition to the cause
of Christ ! ‘ I cannot but speak of the things 1
havo seen and heard.’ For a length of lime it
lias been my labor to endeavor to enlist the sym-
does a Missionary’s wife ,enin ,hal islan(1‘ The «suit of the visit. was, -
they ordained the sailor brother, who returned to
his New Grenadian brethren and organized them
into a Baptist church, of which he is thq humble
pastor.
ТЬиз
God
Ьаз
planted an evangelical
church on the borders of that Papal country,
from which may go forth an influence that will
bring that prieSt-ridden people to a knowledge of
the truth.”
was rich, fur our sakes become poor, that we. , , , ,
through his poverty might bo made rich! Did: ralhles,of nl>' professmg brethren, so as to win
not the aposrlcs give all! Did not many tho,,-1 fl0!n ,hcir Profuslun afow ccm* for tho aid of
sands of Christians in the apostles’ days give all!': lll°
т»~У
cause. havo not m one instance
Do not our modern missionaries give all-money, >"cv3llcd' 0!eal Go,1! can lllCr° 1,0 a more, de'
time, talents, influence, case, comfort; yea, every | lc'm,ncd c"ra,,y aSa'nsl ,hee- lhan ,hatwhlch
earthly enjoyment? Suppose every Christian in, “f,lscs ,lia of ,h>'
«““•
cJen
tho world was willing to do everything in his] 110 crumbs which fall from Us superfluous abun-
, ,,
„с
, i dance? lie who lifted up his eyes in torments
power for tho spread of tho gospel; how long , , , ,, . , ,
„
would it bo before the millennial sun would rise ot
«*«"8
clothed himself
»
purple and fine
in all his glory, and dispense light, and lovo andi l1'nc,,> fared sumptuously every day, never
heavenly joy throughout the habitable world ?
Tho brother spoken of abovo has a compe¬
tence. Ho has tho wisdom to perceivo that ho
needs no more, and tho piety to dcsiro no more.
When will wo all havo that much wisdom, and
that much piety? That day is coming. The
truth about tho matter is this: — Tho world is
Christ’s harvest field. All truo Christians are
Christ's servants, sent into Christ’s harvest field
to labor,— noi for themselves, but for him. Ilo
is willing, while wo work for him in his field,
that wo should have an ample support. But
when wo mako tho accumulation of property, or
even tho support of our families, our principal
object, wo lcavo Christ’s work, and go to work
for ourselves.
Tho way the world is4o be converted then, is,
by the entire consecration of all the powers of the
church to that nobio cause.
J. R. II.
Vor lire Commission.
Tho Blind Girl’s Offering.
A minister in England once received from
poor blind girl a liberal sum of money, which sho
desired might bo applied for sending the gospel
to the heathen. Somewhat surprised, ho en¬
quired how sho was able to contribute so largo
an amount. Sho replied that she was employed
in a factory, and worked part of the night.
dreamed of equaling the iron-hearted, all-engross¬
ing selfishness of such an avarico!”
"You astonish me Arduus!" replied Laxus:
"l sco nothing in tho stale of our beloved
church to warrant this bitter severity of accusa¬
tion. It seems to me to bo enjoying a large
share of peace and harmony ; and its member¬
ship from time to time enlarges. I am free to
admit that it is not sufficiently engaged in woiks
of activo benevolenco; but then great allowances
must bo made; you must know this is a time of
present and of greater anticipated pressure.”
“Isit possible! I thought they must be en¬
joying tho most abundant worldly prosperity.
Never as of late have I seen in our congrega¬
tions such a profusion of velvets ar.d broad-cloths,
and silks, and muslins, and feathers, and flowers,
and laces, and scarfs, and streamers! Mydear
sir, does not such a gorgeous show put to the
blush the faintest complaint of hard times ?’
“Ah well, Arduus, you know they had almost
аз
well uso what they havo freely, while it lasts,
as to he scrimping and hoarding it together.”
“ But, my dear sir, has no other alternative
ever presented itself to your imagination! Was
it, indeed, ever given to them to be debased to
these sordid uses (abuses I should say) ? Are
not these gorgeous apparellings the idolatrous
robes put on to celebrate the worship of the
world! Could not the means they and their kin¬
dred indulgences absorb, be sanctified to a more
spend her time?”
A short tfjne ago, a friend’s letter contained
the abovo inquiry. Such questions manifest a
degree of interest in the missionary work; and
the hope of increasing that interest makes it
pleasant to give the desired information. But as
I sat penning a reply, I wondered how the quer-*
ist was spending her time; — and nowit occurs to
me to ask all, your readers, iarge and small, how
they are spending lUir time! Dear friends,
which has the. largest share of your time, anxie¬
ties, efforts, №p'bs and fears; selfish and worldly
attainments, or tho welfare o/eoufs and the glory
of God! Look closely and candidly over the
days and months and years of your life, since
you professed to forsake all things for Christ,
and let the honest voice of conscience be heard.
The general impression is, that missionaries
and ministers of the. gospel are under peculiar
obligations to devoto their time to tho service of
God. And so they are: but look at all God’s
gifts to you,— from the gift of his Son to be a
sacrifice for your sins, down to the daily bless¬
ings of food and raiment, peace and rest, — and
see if your obligations are not more than you can
count or measure. Suffer me, then, to press the
question: — "How much owest thou unto my
Lord! ” And do not imagine that the work of
doing good is to be left entirely to ministers and
missionaries. Every disciple of the Lord Jesus
may, — nay, must, if duty be petformed, take
part in the great work of the world’s conversion.
Some of you have more talents and wealth thau
others; but all are “stewards of the manifold
grace of God;” and to each one of you he says,
“ Freely ye havo received, freely give.” “ Why
stand ye all tho day idle! Go
у
e also into the
vineyard." Look atound you, and abroad upou
the state of the world ; open your ears to the cry
which resounds on every hand— “Come ovet and
help us," and remembering rhat “ you aro not
yout own, that you are bought with a price,
even tho precious blood of Jesus Christ," be no
longer conformed to the world. No longer waste
your lime, talents or money, upon the fleeting,
unsatisfying vanities of this short Iifo; but bo ye
“steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in
the work of tho Lord,” so that when required to
give account of the manner in which your time
has been spent, you may do it with joy and not
with regret. Affectionately, &c.
E. M. Y.
Baptists in New Grenada.
We clip from tho New York Recorder the
following interesting reference to a good work
which has commenced in New Grenada. It will
be remembered that this country embtaccs the
region through which the. California emigrants
The Keflex Influence of Christian
Missions.
The Influence which' the foreign' mission en¬
terprise has exerted on the prosperity of the
churches engaged in it, is one of the decisive
proofs that it has the divino sanction. The
churches opposed to this work, so far as we are
acquainted, are, without an exception, declining
in numbers, efficiency and influence. We can¬
not affirm that there are no flourishing churches
of this class ; bnt it must be admitted, by all in¬
telligent and candid observers, that churches and
associations of this stamp aro lapidly tending,
with rare exceptions, to extinciion. Were we
required to select the most prosperous churches,
we should select precisely such as have made
tho mast generous sacrifices in the cause of mis¬
sions. Not only are their numbers increased,
bnt their discipline is' strictly maintained, and
they exert a strong and extended moral influence..
They “shine as lights in the world, holding forth
tho word of life,”
Whence springs this marked difference be¬
tween the condition of the mission and ihe anti*,
mission churches? It must be ascribed to a prin-.
ciple plainly revealed in the Scriptures. “ The
liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that water*
eth shall be watered also himself.” “ He which
soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; and
ho which soweth bountifully shall reap also boun¬
tifully.”
If individuals or churches cherish a selfish
spirit, and act from contracted views, ,a. blight
will be upon them ; but if they possess a gene¬
rous, self-sacrificing spirit, and aim to ptomole
tho salvation of men, and the glory of Christ,
God will
Ыезз
them. If all tho money which
has been spent by the Baptist denomination in
tho foreign mission cause, had been spent iq
maintaining tho gospel at home, we do rot be¬
lieve so much could have been accomplished, in
multiplying and extending our churches, as has
been done. Tho ignorance, corruption and
wretchedness of heathen nations, spread,, by
means of religious periodicals, ami the addressee
of returned missionaries, before the Christian
world, have stirred their deep sympathies, and
called forth their generous contributions ; and the
fountains of liberality being once opened, have,
poured forth many a stream to refresh and fertil¬
ize our own land. Those who cherish a concern
