The advancement of religion the claim of the times ...

Introduction

At the request of the publisher, I have paid some attention to the work of Dr. R. with the view of expressing my humble judgment of its merits. The reverend author is favorably known to the churches of this country ; and this work, will detract nothing from his reputation. With portions of it, I have been exceedingly interested, as throwing together very important thoughts upon the most important topics of religious instruction ; well arranged, and favorably expressed. The work obviously cost the author time, effort, and prayer ; and it is well worth th e labor and solicitude it cost. Whoever reads it will be abundantly compensated, and if he reads it with the spirit with which it was written, cannot fail to become a more enlightened and useful Christian. The object and aim of the writer is not a selfish one, but it is to do good. He takes a wide range ; and yet after

4 INTRODUCTION.

having read the work, the attentive reader will find that the substance of it is easily remembered. If our churches and our ministers would possess themselves of its principles and imbibe its spirit, they w^ould have less cause to lament the decay of vital godliness, either in their own hearts, their families, or their congregations.

The publisher deserves commendation and encouragement for the attractive form in which he presents this volume to the public ; and I take great pleasure in recommending it to all who purchase books for the sake of reading them.

GARDINER SPRING.

New-York, March, 1843.

Preface

The Lectures composing this work were delivered at the close of the year 1838, and previous to that state of religion already reported to the public. A formal but earnest request was made at the time by the deacons of the church, and by those students of various colleges in fellowship wiih the church, for their publication.

Perhaps the best apology, under the delay, is, that their solicitations have neither been forgotten nor dishonored ; that, now, heallh has been put in peril for their preparation ; and that it is possible, amidst conflicting motive, the balancing consideration and encouragement may have been found in their kind and cordial request.

Now that it is done, it is far from bringing satisfaction to the writer. While constrained to wait, he has been deeply convinced that, if it should be prepared with common-place feeling, it would be altogether nugatory. That the right state of mind and heart has been sought, with trembling and tears, he can truly assert. Would that he could assuredly say he had found it !

If any shall propose to give the book a serious perusal, he would request special attention for the second Lecture, and on a twofold account. First, that it is hkely to be overlooked, as compared with others; and, secondly, that if it is disregarded, no real benefit is likely to arise from the other portions of the work. It is true, that its prevailing sentiments may be regarded as known and familiar ; but the fact is, that by this very familiarity many of the vital truths of religion may pass through our mind, as the sterling currency of the realm does through our hand, without our marking the image and superscription. We require to dwell on them long, and to recur to them often and earnestly. Of the many things wanting, at this time, to the forcible expression of Christian hfe, no one thing is required so much as that we should be converted to our own opinions.

It will be seen that a considerable portion of this book is suggestive. He hopes that it will not, on that account, be condemned as visionary and impracticable. He thinks he may safely say, that all the suggestions are the fruit of actual experiment, or of careful observation and comparison. Of those which, from their nature, admit of being tried in a long course of ministerial life, he can certainly say. They have beeti proved.

Of course it is not to be thought, that suggestions, however good in themselves, and in particular cases, must be alike applicable in all circumstances. On this account, such suggestions

6 ^PREFACE.

as are most practical in their aspect are chiefly resolved into great principles. Detail must always be regulated by discretion, while principle is invariable and eternal.

He also trusts, that because suggestive, no one will therefore conclude the work to be accusatory. He rejoices in all the good that has been done, and in the men who have done it. Yet must we be careful to admit, that if still we are to go forward, it must be by improvement. He has therefore claimed to exercise freedom of remark; but he has labored to speak the truth in love. Where objection is necessarily taken, it is not so distinctive as to find an apphcation to any one person, or society of persons, exclusively ; and it is not taken at all, except where it may contribute to more improved spiritual action in ourselves, and in our institutions.

Although these Lectures preceded the most important and interesting period in the pastoral labors of the Author, and may have been useful in preparing for it, they are not to be confounded with those exercises which were directly employed, to secure a revived state of religion. They were, on the whole, different in their subject, their bearing, and their character. A hope is still cherished, that a favorable opportunity may arise to supply at least a specimen of such Addresses and Sermons, as were found most efficacious in working directly to the proposed end.

If what is now committed to the press shall, in any measure, contribute to clear and fix attention on the one final object, the advancement of vital religion amongst men, it will not have been in vain. The church still wants that singleness of eye and of purpose, which shall give firmness and force to character. She must pass from the secondarij, and seize on the primary — from the little to apprehend the great. Every one venturing to name the name of Christ, must ask for union ; give himself to devoted labor ; and consecrate his service by breathing prayer to his Saviour.

All things now demand this of the church. It is time that she laid aside her puerilities, and put forth the manliness of Christian life. It is time that she felt the force of that love from the skies, which unites her to every Christian, and which separates her from all besides. It is time that she distinctly heard, and instantly obeyed the voice of Providence— the will of her Lord. It is time that the wailings of a lost world should pierce her heart, and constrain her to forget her differences, spring from her slothfulness, and devote herself for its salvation. It is time — surely it is time — that the one church became one in action and in love ; and that the one cry of the united church should go up to heaven, Thy Kingdom come !

Hackney, January 2ndj 1843.

Contents

LECTURE I.

Page THE ADVANCEMENT OF RELIGION DESIRABLE .... 9

LECTURE IL

I

In the first instance, then, let me ask you to look on the present state of the world.

By the world we understand, without exception, its rational inhabitants. Religion is to operate on man ; and we cannot be suitably affected with its desirableness without a careful attention to the state of mankind.

Take the better and nearer view of the subject first. Look on the church. To assist your conceptions, limit your attention to that portion of it with which your are connected, and of which, therefore, you have the better acquaintance. You see instantly much to inspire you with admiration and gratitude. • But does it satisfy you ? Where you discover, certainly, the presence of religion, does it display itself in power and glory ? Is belief the full assurance of faith 1 is expectation the full assurance of hope 1 is knowledge the full assurance of understanding ? Is Christian life so vigorous. Christian character so articulate, and Christian devotedness so complete, as to leave you nothing to desire? Do the Christians you esteem, and with whom you communicate, in comparison with primitive examples, suffer nothing ? Is there any thing in the church so holy, so great, so elevated as to clothe it in your mind with apostolic character 1

Then, of that very assembly, with whom you are accustomed to offer your acts of public worship, how many cieate fear rather than hope ! How many pause in their career; how many draw back from their solemn vows unto perdition ; how many dishonor a holy profession by an unholy and worldly conversation ; how many remain dead in trespasses and sins, insensible alike to the mercy which woos them from heaven, the deep condemnation which awaits them in hell ! Oh, what sources have we of holy and ineffable grief within the very sanctuary where it is our privilege to worship !

Now, rising from this limited sphere of vision, let your eye comprehend the whole Protestant church. What do you see 1 Are there any signs of unity, strength and spiritual life 1 Are not the prevailing features those of deplorable weakness and carnality 7 Torn by schism ; wasted by heresy ; relying on rituals, to the neglect of living piety ; and courting alliance and support from the world she was born to subdue ; she has a name to live, but is dead ! Instead of being, in the hand of the Most High, a prepared instrument for the regeneration of the world, she is to this hour a fearful and a sinful impediment.

Now look abroad on the world, and what remains ? The several forms of corrupt and false religion. What is Popery but baptized Paganism 1 What is Mohamedism but an arrant imposture, addressed to the vices of our fallen nature ? What is Paganism but the religion of Demons, and not of God ? a religion which has for the very objects of its worship personifications of all the vices which torment and destroy mankind.

Mark, then, my brethren, the present state of the world. Those who bear the Christian name under any form may be computed at two hundred millions. Of these, about eighty millions may be considered Protestant ; and of the ■whole Protestant community, it would be making a liberal allowance to say that there are twenty millions living truly under the influence of the religion they profess. But twenty millions is so small an amount, as compared with the world's population, that it scarcely affects the aggregate sum ; and it may still be said, that there are eight hundred millions of beings on our earth who are neglecting the great end of life, and the great and adorable Being who is the single fountain of life and blessedness.

Thus, then, we have, and in the nineteenth century of the Christian era, a world without God, without Christ, and without hope. A world wholly given over jto idolatry — dishonoring and disowning the God that made them. A world lying in wickedness, and perishing in sin. A world enveloped in the shadow of death, and sinking down into the realities of second death and endless despair.

And all this is happening on this earth w^e inhabit j and 2* in the family of man, of which we are part ; in our streets, and at our very doors, it is happening. And it is happening always — happening now ! While we are meditating on their course, many have reached its close, and are precipitated from a life of sin to a state of punishment, and shriek to find themselves lost for ever !

My brethren, are we men, and shall the state of our fellow men be foreign to us ? Have we no pity for their sorrows — no arm for their redemption ? Feeling at once the vanity of all human aid, have we no desires for the accession of that kingdom which has the promise of the life that is, and of that which is to come ?

II

In the second place observe, that the religion of Christ is admirably adapted to the condition of the world.

That our apprehension may be the more distinct, let us limit ourselves to a single aspect of the subject. Religion, as a principle, is love, essential love.

It is love from God to man. The love of God not only appears, it reigns and triumphs, in the religion of Christ. In the exercise of this love to men, there were difficulties to be overcome which were insuperable to all but Omnipotence ; but love is stronger than death, and many waters could not quench or enfeeble it. It has converted every obstacle into an advantage to itself; and it is revealed in all its splendor and power by the gospel. God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son. God was in Christ reconciling a rebellious and recovering a lost world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. Herein was love — divine and infinite.

Religion is love from man to God. His first love to man generates responding love to him. Love casts out fear and enmity. The sinner appreciates the method by which God is reconciled to him, and is himself reconciled to God. The fountain of the affections is purified, and the soul rests on God in the confidence of love. Love brings complacency ; complacency brings fellowship ; fellowship brings assurance. Man, restored from sense and sin, rises above himself, above the creature, above earth and heaven, and says, " Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none on earth that I desire in comparison with Thee."

Religion is love from man to man. At peace with himself, at peace with God, he is, by consequence, at peace with his fellow-man. His great fault, as a sinner, is selfishness ; he finds in himself the centre and reason of action. Restored from this vile idolatry to the love of God, religion, by adjusting his affections to their supreme source, regulates them in all their social exercises. He is commanded, and he is disposed, to love his brother as himself The love of God is the true and perrennial spring of all true philanthropy.

Now is not this the very remedy which is needed for the manifold ills beneath which the world is groaning 1 Various and heavy as they are, is there any evil which this divine charity would not subdue 1 Is there any good, which we can conceive as desirable, which it would not secure 1 What lessons of humility, gentleness, kindness, and beneficence would not this charity teach ? By destroying selfishness, would it not destroy crime, and misery the effect of crime ? Would it not be the fulfilment of all righteousness and of all blessedness ? Can you conceive of this charity being perfectly exemplified, without instantly conceiving of Paradise restored, and this world of guilt and tears converted into a heaven of purity, bliss, and

joy !

My brethren, this remedy is with you. You are partially the witnesses of its efficacy. It is as necessary for each, for all of mankind, as for you. Shall it not be your one fervent desire that it may be applied to you, to them, in all its virtue, and developed in all its blessedness ?

III

In the third place, I would invite you to remark, that not only is the religion of Christ adapted to the state of the world, but that it alone, and exclusively, is adapted to their condition.

This is certainly an important declaration. Providence seems to have designed that its truth should be determined by time and experience. At a much earlier period, therefore, such an assertion might have been premature. It cannot be so now. The experiment has been fully made ; the results have been ascertained and recorded.

For nearly six thousand years, in the neglect of the true rehgion, men have indulged their own inventions to see if they could find out God and his worship. The result has been that they have lost the knowledge which tradition brought them, and have sunk into whatever is most false in faith and corrupt in devotion. All that national policy, and authority, and endowment could do to uphold the acceptable falsehood has been done ; but it has carried within itself the seeds of its ov^rn destruction. System after system, great and flourishing in its time, has lived only to die. Where now are the gods of Egypt, of Assyria, of Persia, of Greece, of Rome ? They have perished like men.

Of the systems which remain amongst living things, the doom is equally certain. The longer they continue, the severer is the test to which they are submitted. Even now they are not what they were. They have shrunk away from their former dimensions ; they are shorn of their pristine glory ; their devotees have lost their enthusiasm ; and on the forehead of every mosque and temple there iswritten by an invisible hand the fearful words which first revealed the doom of Babylon, " Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting ;" wanting, as tested by the lights of eternal truth — wanting, as tested by the necessities of fallen man — wanting, as tried on the assumption of a divine and heavenly origin !

Of the inventions of men, then, nothing is left to us. And what is to come 1 Nothing. It is too late now to invent a new religion. The very term would suggest ridicule to the mind, which would be fatal to its pretensions. There is no opportunity now for a subtle invention' to fold the date of its birth in mystery, to insinuate itself gradually into the reverence and prejudices of a people, and to hide its deformities in the meretricious garments of superstition. It would be forced into the light, and in the light it would expire.

True it is that, in our own times, men, still unwilling to accept a religion whick proposes to make them happy only by making them holy, have sought to satisfy the cravings of the mind by various fabrications ; but their very attempts confirm the truth we assert. Within our time, a nation great, civilized, and refined, wearied of religion in its corrupt forms, sought to supersede the claims of superstition by those of philosophy. And with what success ? Already it is spoken of as a thing that was, and is not ; but the events it evolved are written in blood and tears, and with the hands of fiends, on the page of history, never to be effaced.

More recently, both here and there, by inferior persons and on an inferior scale, schemes have been devised and are devising, which are to bring to society a true worship and true felicity. And much has been said of the dignity •and perfectibility of human nature -, and much of existing institutions as the fatal barrier to our progress. And marriage has been denounced as a prejudice ; property as a usurpation ; and the Bible as an obsolete book ; and men are promised to be introduced to a " new moral world," in which they are to find their character in circumstances, their honor in the worship of the God of nature, and their harmony in having all things common amongst themselves. A new moral world ! and on such premises ! and with the vaunt of man's perfectibility ! Vain and visionary fancies ! Abortions of a sickly imagination and a corrupt heart ! Too feeble to do harm or to preserve life. While we speak of them they expire. Though they flatter human passions, they cannot sustain human hope. Like the insignificant wave on the great waters, they appear and dazzle for an instant, and then disappear for ever, leaving all beneath as cold and as dark as it was before !

Yes, my brethren, it is too late now to invent a new religion. Men are left without an option. They are shut up to the gospel of Christ. If it fail, there is nothing left — the world of mankind must live without hope and lie down in despair.

But religion — the religion of Christ — will not fail. It has been tested more than all ; and it has survived every trial to which it could be submitted. It has passed through the waters, and they have not overflowed it, and through the fires, and they have not kindled on it. It has shown itself to be divine, ethereal, from heaven. It is the hope of the world and the life of men. It is prepared to satisfy the understanding- as the supreme truth, the will as the supreme good, the affections as the supreme beauty, and the conscience as the supreme authority. And when men, wearied of their own devices and oppressed with guilt and fear, shall make it their own, they shall call it blessed.

My brethren, you are in possession of this remedy for the vices and miseries of mankind ; it is not only a remedy, it is the only remedy ; men are sickening under the bitter disappointment of their own vanities, and dying out of life without help or hope; should it not be your first desire to convey to them those words of life and immortality which are all your salvation and all your desire !

IV

The means now employed to advance religion in the world should make it an object of increased desire.

This is called, perhaps with too much self-complacency, a day of exertion. It is not so, as compared with what it should be; but it certainly is so, as compared with time past. This is equally true, whether we look at home or abroad.

At home, the means for the extension of true religion are in excess of all former periods. The whole evangelic church is awaking from her slumbers, and clothing herself with strength. The ministry is increasing in numbers, in intelligence, in piety, and in power; and is called to a measure of service such as the previous generations did not know. No mean number of private Christians are making their worldly vocation subordinate to their religious profession, and are consecrating themselves and their property chiefly to the advancement of the gospeh Our particular congregations are becoming centres of" light and activity to their respective neighborhoods ; where they are, there are the library, the Bible-class, the Sabbathschool, the daily school, the Christian Instruction Society, the Benevolent Society, and those combinations of Christian charity which are meant to reach the ends of the earth. The Bible, the tract, the evangelist, and the schoolmaster are abroad in the land ; and the resources of literature, of opulence, of station, and of voluntary association, are put in requisition for the coming kingdom of God.

What is said of the church at home may b6 asserted, with equal emphasis, of the church in America ; and even the Protestant church of continental Europe, after the torpor of ages, is raising her eyelids on the scene, and stretching her limbs, as if about to shake herself from the dust, and to claim her assigned station in the battle of the Lord against the mighty.

But the most remarkable feature of the times is the instrumentality provided by the church for the conversion of the world. Large as the field of foreign service is, the means are assuming a character of adequacy to the proposed end. The simple facts wdll illustrate this most impressively.

The general organization for the advancement of religion in foreign parts is found in our Bible, Tract, and Missionary Societies. The Holy Scriptures have been, in whole or in part, translated into all the primary languages of the world, and into very many of the dialects. Tracts and religious treatises have been translated into more than one hundred languages, and distributed by millions. There are forty printing-offices, and not less than three hundred presses at work in this service. There are not less than six hundred stations spread over the face of the earth, with their chapels, schools, residences, and machinery. There are upwards of one thousand ordained missionaries, and about one thousand of teachers, assistants, and printers ; and there are several hundred native preachers as the fruit of past labor. To complete this statement, it should be understood that not less than a million annually is now raised for this great object !

My brethren, such a movement as this has not been known in the church since the glorification of the risen Saviour. It is the great proof of the vitality and vigor of Protestant and evangelical truth. It has been sustained now for nearly half a century with growing power, and is accumulating its force from year to year and from day to day. It has effectually called up the attention of the world ; and men are marking its onward course with fear or hope, as they affect or oppose the interests of true religion. You are not merely spectators of the event, but participants. Is not its successful issue an object of infinite moment to you 1 All this swelhng expectation in the heart of the church, shall it be crushed by bitter disappointment ? All this devoted labor at home and abroad to convey to a perishing world the bread of life and the water of life, shall it become, through failure, a mockery and a by-word amongst all people ? The minister, — shall he labor and toil in vain ? The missionary, — shall he exhaust himself, and then lie down in the wilderness and die in vain ? The noblest efforts ever put forth by Christian charity for the world's redemption, shall they be in vain 1 The noblest hope that ever animated the breast of men, shall it expire as a spark which the fire kindleth 1 Oh, what life has already been sacrificed — what treasure has already been expended — what prayer has already been made — what examples of sanctified heroism

/ i have already been presented, in this service of our faith ! And is it nothing to us ? With what accumulated desire should we thirst and pray that the kingdom of heaven may come !

V

Apart from the means employed by the church, let me direct your attention to the facilities supplied by Providence at this period for the advancement of religion.

The circumstance first demanding notice, from its great importance, is the advancing state of religious and civil liberty. Liberty is the child of religion. Its principles were first asserted by Christ and his disciples, and sanctified by their blood. They were, however, ]*esisted and held in bondage for ages, by the lust of power natural to men. At the Reformation they burst from long confinement, and appeared before an astonished world in all their majesty. Still proscribed and persecuted, they fled to the wilderness for refuge; and the wilderness was glad for them, and became as a field which the Lord had blessed. They are now better understood and appreciated. The confusion and mixture in government of religious with civil claims is becoming the practical difficulty of all nations. The advocates of despotic principle in ecclesiastical and civil polity are becoming weaker, and tremble for their fate ; and the friends of true liberty are increasing in number, in confidence, and in power. A broad and visible line of demarcation is being drawn between the prerogatives which belong to God and conscience, and those which belong to Csesar ; and speedily men will not suflfer any earthly power to dictate to them any article of faith or any mode of worship.

The effect of this is, that we have an unexampled measure of liberty, both of speech and of action. Every thing is forced into discussion, and discussion is the arena in which error dies and truth is renovated. The power of public opinion is about to supersede all other power ; and it shall declare itself in favor of liberty and conscience, and shall sweep from the earth the last obstructions which have prevented the free utterance of the gospel to all nations.

The advanced state of education is another facility for the advent of the kingdom of God. It is light ; and education is light ; and light is power. The common mind is being enlightened, and popular ignorance is fast disappearing. Nothing engages more of public attention. All the nations of Europe are looking to it. America has an educated people. Even barbarous governments are asking for letters and the schoolmaster. Especially it should be understood, that education prevails extensively over China; its inhabitants are a reading people ; and they comprise nearly the half of mankind. The result is, that not the few, but, for the first time in the annals of the world, the million are readers. The methods of teaching have received a popular, economical, and expansive character. The infant and the adult are alike taught ; the school and the college are appearing in the East and the West ; in the village and the wilderness; from Iceland to Japan — from the river to the ends of the earth !

Hitherto the great obstruction to the utterance of the gospel has been found in the deep and deplorable ignorance of the people. The missionary especially has been called to sink his character in that of the schoolmaster ; and life has been worn away in reducing language to grammar and writing, and initiating men to the first ^^elements of knowledge. But now that language is fixed, that the sacred Scriptures are translated, that the rising generation read, and that the whole world thirsts for knowledge, may it not be said that his night of toil is past, and that the dawning of a glorious harvest-day is come ?