do arise from Christians, not from heathens. The heathens, as we have heard to-day, and as you have heard for many days, are "stretching out their hands unto God;" they are thirsting and panting for the waters of life and salvation. The cry is one from every corner of the earth-from India, from the islands of the South Sea Ocean, from New Zealand, from Africa, both southern and western; and in the north, the cry is the same, the people are thirsting for knowledge, panting for the word of the truth of the Gospel. But "the company of preachers" is too few : "O send us more preachers," they cry. And then our difficulty arises; the apathy, the selfishness, the feeling of self-indulgence, of persons who call themselves, perhaps, spiritual Christians here at home.

Then consider, I pray you, the great disadvantages under which we labour, compared with the apostles. We have no miraculous powers whereby to convince the heathen. We have had, indeed, among us, of late, a spurious attempt at miraculous powers: but the senseless jargon of the modern gift of tongues profits us nothing, when we wish every man to hear the Gospel in his own tongue wherein he was born. These are not gifts like the gifts of the apostles; they profit us nothing. We have, therefore, peculiar disadvantages: we have had one hundred and sixty languages to acquire. We have had to struggle against the curse of Babel, and we have had no Pentecostal day to meet it. We have had to reduce to writing many languages not even written before. We have had to send out men, unacquainted with the people's customs, unacquainted with the people's tongues. How hopeless, and, in the eyes of the world, how ridiculous, our endeavours! It was, indeed, an enthusiastic attempt, and must appear so in the eyes of those who know not the power that put it in motion.

Now, considering these dangers, and the disadvantages under which we labour, the results are most surprising; and that considering those difficulties, they positively eclipse the success of the Gospel in the early days. I would undertake to shew to the sceptic, to those who would question the divine origin of our blessed religion, that having nothing but the ordinary influences of God's Spirit, and nothing but those means which we possess, in order to put the light of God's truth through the world, the success which it has had, is more than commensurate with the success which the apostles had. And I am much mistaken, if God is not, in these days, dealing with us as he did with Israel and Judah. Did it ever strike you, in this point of view, that all the miracles of the Old Testament were worked in the ten tribes, and not in the two? Did it ever strike you, on reading the parallel histories of the tribes of Judah and Israel, that the Lord maintained the knowledge of himself in Judah, without miracle, by the temple service, by his ordinary and appointed service; but that in the ten tribes, where there was no temple, and no outward means, there was the school of the prophets; there was the land of miracle: God could not have maintained the knowledge of himself there but by miracle. And is he not showing in these days, as he showed in the former ages, what he could do by the gifts of miracle, and knowledge of tongues-is he not shewing us, in these last days, what he can do without them; and how he does great things, marvellous in our eyes, wherein we rejoice?

It would detain you far too long, were I to attempt to enter, this evening, on the triumphs of the Gospel. O blessed and glorious theme, of which you have

heard, and to which you have listened, for many days past, at this, our season of holy jubilee. There is, on every side, much to praise God for; much to bless our glorious Lord for; that he has, by means so feeble, so unworthy, with so great a mixture of infirmity and corruption, been pleased to work such moral miracles upon the face of the earth. For instance, to mention only one or two scenes of missionary effort-what can surpass the moral miracle that has been wrought by this very institution, in the South Sea Islands? It pains me, sometimes, to hear even good Christians attempting to cast a slur upon that work; for because European sailors and European money have been introduced to those Islands to corrupt those simple people, to turn them aside from the truth, and to empty the once crowded chapels, there are some that turn round and say, the work was not real; it was but superficial. Alas! beloved brethren, are there no such things in England? Is there no drunkenness here; no debauchery and riot here; no divisions and contentious here? There has nothing happened in this island, where the Lord so signally blesses the word, that has not happened in every church of God on the earth. Notwithstanding the partial truth of those statements, I would place them before any candid mind, and say, Did you ever hear, or could you ever tell, of any principle or power on the face of the earth, that could produce such fruits as this; that could, in so few years, operate so powerfully, that a nation changes its character, and its principles, and its conduct? It is the Gospel alone that has done it. How cheering, too, to think, that after so short a period, there are, at this time, upwards of six hundred thousand baptized heathen, and that there are, we may now say, millions every Sabbath-day listening to the preaching of the Gospel. Had we told of these things thirty years ago, we should have been sneered at as madmen they would not have been believed,

Indeed, there is nothing gives me more pain, than to hear professing Christians speak slightingly of the efforts of the present day, to evangelize the world. It is one of the evils that has arisen out of our fierce contentions: each man wants to warp facts to support his own theory. But if we would, in all candour, just take the facts, and leave the results of the future to God, and work hard for our time and day; we should see still more glorious results speedily following. We are often told we are blind, because we cannot "discern the signs of the times" but there is another text to be remembered-that is, that "he that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." We may be lost in our speculations, and be forgetting our toils.

But it is not for me to say, beloved brethren, whither these things tend. It is not for me to say, whether these are the first large drops before the coming shower of God's blessing; whether these be the commencement of the ingathering of the heathen world to the Church of Christ; or whether it is the preaching of the Gospel in all nations as a testimony against them, and that then shall the end be. It is not for me; it would be well for many, if they had not attempted to decide this question. It is enough that God has given the word; that the company of preachers is great; that the blessing has been marvellous; that hundreds and thousands have been gathered into the fold of Jesus, have fallen sweetly asleep in his arms, have died and been buried beside the bodies of those holy men who have devoted themselves to the service and glory of their God and for the future we will all say, : "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”

But there is an interesting point in my text yet remaining to be considered : It is this: "SHE THAT TARRIED AT HOME DIVIDED THE SPOIL."

This has evident allusion to a law that there was in Israel respecting the sharing of the spoils of the enemies taken in battle. If you turn to Numbers, xxxi. 25, you will find it written: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation: and divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation." You find subsequently that this custom was revived under David, 1 Samuel, xxx. 22. It appears that, owing to the confusion which had prevailed for many years among God's people, the law had been lost sight of. It was established again by David on the occasion of his regaining his wives, his children, and his property, from those who had spoiled the city of Ziklag. Among the followers of David were men of Belial, who wanted to take all the spoil to themselves: but David rebuked them, and said, "Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance in Israel unto this day." So that "she that tarrieth at home shall divide the spoil :" that is-if I am right in the interpretation of the whole psalm-it means this: that those who help forward the missionary work, those who assist in the proclamation of the blessed Gospel, and in sending out the heralds of salvation, shall at last share the missionary's crown, and divide the missionary's spoils. She that tarried at home divided the spoil."

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I confess I have been much affected this morning with observations made upon this subject, the sin and danger of tarrying at home. Sure I am that I need not enforce that duty sure I am that our own hearts, so fond of ease and the comforts of home, are very ingenious in devising pleas why it is not my duty, and my duty, to go abroad. Each person among us will find that his mind will use the utmost ingenuity on this subject, to reconcile and quiet his conscience that it is his duty to stay at home, while it is the duty of others to go and bear the burden and heat of the day. It is a very difficult and a very searching subject: and I again repeat, I have deeply felt the observations that were made upon it.

But of this I am sure: no one will deny that it is the duty of some to stay at home; that it is the duty of some ministers to stay at home; that there is great need of Gospel ministers in our land; that there is much unoccupied ground in this great country-I might say, from the information contained in recent publications, much unoccupied ground in this great city. Yes; and we are often asked, on the other hand, by lukewarm Christians, "Why do you send missionaries abroad while there is so much to be done at home?" We do admit, therefore, that there ought to be some of us to stay at home: and now the precious promise of my text is to come in: "She that tarried at home divided the spoil."

We know what these spoils shall be. They are the spoils of the adversary of our souls; they are spirits snatched from the dominion of Satan; they are brands plucked from the great burning pile. The missionary's unbloody trophies at a future day shall be the dark and swarthy children whom he had begotten in a distant land. The trophies of his victories shall be, that when he rises at that great resurrection morn, when the voice will be uttered that shall awaken the dead-then a Schwartz, and a Judson, and a Morrison, and a Brainerd, and an Elliot, shall rise, surrounded by their spiritual children, and shall stand before the Lord, and say, "Behold me and the children whom God hath given me." We believe from Scripture that there are peculiar honours and blessings in reserve for all the faithful ministers of God, who shall shine as stars for ever in heaven. But, for my own part, I deeply feel that the missionary's reward, if difference there be, and the missionary's crown, if difference there be in glory, must be brighter far than ours-must be far more exceedingly glorious, I always reverence a missionary, let him come from whom he will, and be sent by whom he may, if he bear the name of JESUS on his lips, and wear the garb of heaven's pilgrims, and walk worthy of his profession: I reverence that man from the ground of my heart, and would like to be in his situation.

But, beloved brethren, are we then deprived of participation in those blessed and glorious trophies which are prepared for every humble man of God who has laid down his life for Jesus' sake, and in preaching his Gospel? No: it is the assurance of my text-and the assurance, by analogy, of all Scripture-that those who "tarry at home shall divide the spoil." How condescending is our God!

It is to be observed that those who tarried at home must have been Israelites : those who tarried at home" guarded the stuff:" those who tarried at home were the daughters, and the wives, and the relatives of Israelites-believers too and therefore they shared their spoils. Doubtless they helped them with their prayers, as Eli did when the ark went out before the people of the Lord; his heart went along with it: he "tarried at home," and, had there been a victory then, he would have "divided the spoil." So it will be with us. Those are intended in my text who are assisting in this blessed work: the promise is extended to every class of people who are helping it forward; whether it be those in this city who sacrifice their valuable time, and leave their business, their occupations, their counting-houses, and their offices; or whether they leave the scenes of polished life, and shut themselves up for hours, labouring, and toiling, and calculating for the good of institutions like these; or whether it be the humble collector of the poor man's pence, who goes silently from house to house, and quietly helps forward; or whether it be the poor-even the very pauper, who, having nothing to give, gives his prayers and his sympathies, and down whose care-worn cheeks the tear will steal when he hears of missionary sorrows, and on whose countenance a smile will play when he hears of missionary triumphs: he shall divide the spoil: a cup of cold water given to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall have a disciple's reward.

See, I pray you, beloved brethren, what encouragement there is in this precious page of God's Word to lead us to believe that, at that triumphant moment, when the missionaries, the apostolical men, shall be coming from the

east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, each at the head of his respective family-that then shall those whose names have never been whispered in missionary annals, who have never received the plaudits of great assemblies, who have never been flattered by their fellow creatures, but who have been working for God, silently and secretly, and praying for the glory of his name, come and put in their claim; and it shall be admitted. "She" perhaps it is put in that very form to reach the particular case: for who are the most effectual supporters of institutions of this nature? Are they not Christian women? If it can be said, "She hath done what she could," she shall infallibly share the missionary's spoils: she shall partake of his crown of glory, and enter in, with him and his children, to the everlasting abode of the blessed.

Now, beloved brethren, having endeavoured to establish these four important points, allow me, in conclusion, to draw two or three practical deductions from them.

Is it the Lord that gives the word? Then I say to you all, Be careful to embrace that word yourselves. If it is the Lord that gives the word, the Gospel of your salvation, and you trifle with that word, and reject that word, it is not the preacher you reject-it is not Paul nor Apollos you reject; but it is the word of the Everlasting God. O, let that thought sink into your hearts: it is the very word of GOD. When the minister opens the Sacred Volume, when he speaks to you in the name of the Lord-however feeble his talents may be, however small and insignificant his gifts-if he bear simple testimony to the name of Jesus, if he speak according to the law and the testimony, it is at your peril you reject the word; it is no longer the word of man, but in deed and in truth the word of God.

Is there no reason why I should pray you to suffer this word of exhortation? Must I suppose that all who assist on occasions like these have themselves received that word in the power of it? Ah! beloved brethren, it needs something deeper, something further than apparent missionary zeal and missionary exertion. to prove that we ourselves have drank at those waters which we are holding out to others. There is, even in these sacred things, a danger to the speakers, and a danger to the hearers, and a danger to the most diligent labourers in the Lord's vineyard: if you substitute efforts for the salvation of others in the place of efforts for your own salvation, O then indeed you will be miserable losers. I fear that there will be found some at last in the great day of account, who have mingled in religious society, who have spoken all their life-time the language of Zion, who have borne the profession of consistent Christians, who at the great day will be "weighed in the balance," and be "found wanting." It is not for me to say to any one of you, "Thou art the man ;" but O that each might say, “Lord, is it I?" O that each one might turn within the narrow chamber of his own heart this night, and say, "Now I have been engaged all this week, and for many days, in hearing and telling the heart-stirring truths of the proclamation of Jesus. I have heard much to delight, much to cheer, and much to animate me: now let me look into my own heart. How is it there? Has this word taken deep root there? Have I felt its sanctifying power? Has it