THE

CHARGE.

DELIVERED BY SAMUEL SPRING, D.D.

Pastor of the North Congregational Church in Newburyport.

DEARLY BELOVED BRETHREN,

WHILE we recollect this memorable direction of Christ to his chosen Missionaries, Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature: while we also survey the perishing state of five hundred millions of souls in Asia, who are destitute of the appointed means of salvation, we are alarmed at the neglect with which they have long been treated. For we hear our merciful God emphatically say, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us, to enlighten and rejoice them with the glad tidings of salvation?—But blessed be his glorious name, who has the hearts of all men in his hand, and directs their destinations, you, my Brethren, in the view of these Divine interrogations, have promptly answered, Here we are, Lord, send us; we are willing to accept the important mission. We will, by the aid of thy gracious providence, take the parting hand of our parents, brothers and sisters, and other dear friends; we will bid farewell to our native land, and cross the wide ocean to Asia, for the sake of preaching Christ to thousands and millions of our fellow mortals, who never heard of the Savior. While we are willing to ascend to heaven from that distant clime, we hope, by the grace of God, to be happily successful in pointing the way to some, if not to many of the Pagans, who will, without seasonable instruction, perish for ever. For how shall they hear without a preacher?

This, if you know your own hearts, is your object; and we charitably hope you are not deceived, though "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."

With your readiness to embrace a foreign embassy to the heathen, the Board of Commissioners, and many devout Christians are deeply, and it is hoped, thankfully impressed: and to qualify you for the regular execution of it, the Council appointed by the Prudential Committee, have invested you with the office of Christ's ministers, by prayer and the imposition of the hands of the Presbytery...

in Being then the ordained ministers of Christ, it is expected, agreeably to the established order of the Christian church on these solemn occasions, that you now receive the word of exhortation, or the usual charge, which I am appointed to administer in the name and behalf of the Council.

Dear Brethren, whether you are duly qualified for the mission, does not, you are sensible, depend either on your opinion, or on ours; but on Christ's who searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children of men, and will soon reveal the real character of every one before the assembled universe. At this interesting moment, then, you will, if Christians, renewedly consecrate your souls and bodies, and all that you possess, to the Lord, and solemnly engage to be faithful ministers of the New Testament, among the Heathen nations and tribes especially, wherever he shall cast your lot and direct your exertions. While then enlisting under the banner of the Cross in this public manner, to preach the Gospel to the perishing world, you cannot but remember that you will displease and dishonor Christ, that you will injure your own souls and the souls of the heathen, unless you sacrifice pride, ambition, personal

honor and emolument, and every private consideration, to the glory of God in the salvation of souls. For if human distinction, or self gratification, in any form whatever, be adverse to Christianity, it is directly, yea, it is totally, hostile to the character and office of Christian missionaries. To obey Christ, and imitate his apostles, those faithful and successful missionaries, who in the course of a few years confounded the adversary and his bold adherents, by spreading the light of the Gospel over the extensive regions of the East, you must be the subjects of deep humilty and much selfdenial. One man cannot serve two masters. He cannot serve God and mammon. He cannot seek his own

glory and the glory of Christ. You must practise selfdenial among the heathen in a conspicuous manner, before you can inculcate it with advantage and success. They, by your pious conduct, must be convinced that your religion, that your God, is preferable to theirs, before they will forsake idolatry and embrace the Gospel of Christ. It will be fruitless to tell them about invisible things, about Heaven and Hell, eternal happiness and eternal misery, if they do not see in your christian conduct what they ought to imitate. You will spend your breath and time in vain, except you let them see the real expression of godliness in your uniform example. The eyes of the Heathen, you will note, rather than their ears, are the avenues by which you can readily have access to their hearts. You must let them see Christ in his missionaries, before they will attentively and patiently hear you display his moral excellency. If you shew them how Christ and his Apostles lived, by living like them, in a meek, humble, and heavenly manner, you may then preach his doctrines. This, then, we emphatically charge. you, never, never preach the theory of the Gospel, till you have present

ed the practice of the Gospel in your own godly example. To To you, who are Christ's embassadors, the poor ignorant créatures will look for the character of the crucified and exalted Redeemer: and if they see him not in you, they will despise you and turn away from your instructions to the practice of idolatry. And woe unto you, if you be found deficient in this respect. But, my brethren, we hope better things of you, and things which accompany salvation, though we thus speak. You will then be exemplary, you will magnify your office, and let no man, no heathen, despise your youth.

In adapting your instructions to the heathen, you will exercise much wisdom and discretion. We make this remark because many missionaries have proved unsuccessful among the heathen, by crowding them with strong meat even before they were prepared for milk. The pagan empire is an empire of ignorance, delusion, and superstition. They know less than nothing relative to the glorious provisions of the Gospel. When you, therefore, begin to instruct them, it will be necessary to give them the most simple and easy lessons in the rudiments of Christianity. When you also attempt to feed them with the bread of life, it must be discreetly served in morsels only. For you will find even the hopeful converts but mere babes, who can digest nothing but milk, which must also be given in small quantities. You will be instant in season, out of season, both in public and from house to house, or from cottage to cottage, in opening to them, according to their apprehension, the being and perfections of God, the divinity of scripture, the contents of his law, the apostasy of man, the necessity and nature of the atonement, the method and the condition of salvation pointed out by Christ in the Gospel.

If God shall succeed and bless your labors of love among the heathen, in multiplying hopeful converts, you will establish churches, break to them the bread of life, and apply the seal of the covenant to the children and domestics of believers, agreeably to the practice of Abraham the father of the faithful, and the subsequent friends of truth, who tread in his steps. In forming churches, you will cautiously admit those, and those only, who exhibit credible evidence that they are the subjects of God's special grace in regeneration. For, if like the degraded priests in the anterior dispensation, you omit making a proper difference between the holy and unholy, between Christians and sinners, you will depreciate the dignity and influence of the Church, and offend Christ, who provides sacramental symbols for his own children, and not for his enemies. We give you this early exhortation, lest, like some elated pompous missionaries, you be tempted to exhibit a more flattering account of converts among the heathen than will bear the test, when God shall make a separation in the final decision between the righteous and the wicked.

Let us, my friends and brethren, act before Christ the searcher of hearts in reference to this object on the principle of integrity. When you transmit to us the state and success of your mission, tell us the simple truth, and nothing but the truth, and then you will honor God, and we shall repose entire confidence in your narratives.

We need not remind you that the object and the consequences of your mission are inestimably important, both to you, the church, and a multitude of souls. No enterprise comparable to this, has been embraced

the American church. All others retire before it like the stars before the rising sun. The success of