of his nature, and the countless varying and transient peculiarities of his endlessly diversified condition, as to put forth an influence suited to move and alike to affect the entire mass of humanity. Such, however, is the influence which the gospel of Jesus sends forth. Addressing itself to the essential and permanent principles of our nature, its effect is alike upon the king and upon the beggar, upon the philosopher and upon the savage, upon the shivering dweller beneath the Pole, and him who pants beneath an equatorial sun, upon the American and the Chinaman. Setting entirely aside the temporary distinctions of the world, it applies the same rule and the same mode of procedure to the whole family of man. With whatever prerogatives some may be clothed, whatever dignities and preeminence have been assigned to some over others, however wide the difference in visible condition, however highly exalted some, and lowly debased others, they are all put in the same category of rebels against the Sovereign of the universe, and condemned to eternal woe. They are all contemplated as alike needing that gracious pardon which the gospel offers in the name of Jesus, and all without respect of persons are cordially invited to accept the pardon and live forever. It was indeed a new era in the history of man, when an institution was introduced into the world whose rules of judging had no reference to the outward appearance or temporal relations of individuals; but recognizing in all a spiritual and immortal nature, primarily regarded this in its relations to its great Author and to its eternal existence beyond this visible scene-which extended one hand to the throne and reached down the other to the filthy hovel, and brought down the lordly occupant of the one, and brought up the lowly inhabitant of the other, and placed them side by side, and judged them by the same rule, and started them together upon their career of a glorious immortality. If the nature of the gospel adapts it to the world of human beings, and its conception indicates its divine original, its spirit, as we have seen, does so no less. It breathes a world-wide philanthropy, and has a feeling and voice of sympathy for human woe, let it come from what quarter it may. Disinterested and impartial benevolence,-boundless and all-encompassing compassion, -lives and glows in every feature of the gospel. Originating as a system of religion within the precincts of a preparatory and restricted dispensation, it burst over and swept away the barriers that interpose between Jew and Gentile, and poured its full tide of living waters round the globe. Its compassion, without overlooking the physical miseries of man, is directed mainly to the alleviation of the agonies and woes of his spirit, and effects a radical cure of these by completely removing their cause. Sin, the sole and universal cause of human misery, is eradicated from the soul of man by the gospel alone. And where a soul is found stung by this monster and writhing under its deadly venom, thither the heavenly compassion of the gospel would move and apply its allefficacious remedy.

Having illustrated the nature of "the glorious gospel," the author proceeds to inquire,

How can we most efficiently promote the spread of the gospel in the earth ?

DIFFERENCE OF RESULTS BETWEEN PRIMITIVE AND MODERN MISSIONS.

As we resorted to the history and character of Jesus of Nazareth for an answer to our first question, what can be more proper than to look to the history of his apostles and first disciples for an answer to the second? Their

success in the blessed work of publishing the gospel of peace, and subduing men to the obedience of the faith, was wholly inexplicable to their own age, and has been a marvel to all succeeding times. We sometimes talk of obstacles to the spread of the gospel now, but had we their obstacles to encounter, with our present measure of faith and devotion, we should probably be deterred from making a single movement. Nevertheless, with all odds against them, their ever-onward march was a continuous scene of triumph. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," says the apostle, "who always causeth us to triumph with Christ in every place." Now it is most pertinent to inquire, Why this difference of results between primitive and present times? What power of motive, what elements of impression, had they which we have not, and having not, may be excused for falling so far below their measure of success? This subject has been treated with great power and clearness by some of the ablest minds in the ministry, but it is by no means exhausted;— there are still points of exceeding interest which are worthy of being brought out into more luminous relief. It has been clearly shown that there is no good reason why we should not return to the primitive style of feeling and acting. The primitive disciples had no relations and responsibilities which we have not, no motives to love and labor,-no incentives to sacrifice, self-denial, zeal and perseverance, that we ought not to feel in equal measure. We were redeemed by the same precious blood. We serve the same Master, we are one with them in Christ. We have the very same gospel, the same supports and consolations in life, and the same prospects and hopes of heaven. And we, too, let us never forget, have the same solemn charge to fulfil and a like work to perform, which were committed to them; and, blessed be God, we have the same promise of divine aid and of ultimate and glorious triumph, which gave such holy energy and joyful hope to them.

CAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE.

Why, then, the difference? We may readily see a proximate cause for it in the humiliating contrast between their Christian zeal and devotion and ours. They were all missionaries in spirit, in purpose, and in act, and went every where preaching the word, not counting their lives dear unto them, joyfully yielding up their earthly substance, cheerfully submitting to sacrifices and privations, boldly encountering dangers, firmly enduring tortures, and calmly, yea triumphantly meeting death in the most frightful shapes. They had a mission to fulfil, and their minds and hearts were engrossed with that. The messages of mercy with which they were charged must be borne to those for whom they were intended,―a perishing world must hear the glad news of a Savior, and all men besought to be reconciled to God, and the whole earth be filled with his glory. These were the objects which filled their minds and inflamed their hearts, and thus going forth, grasping the promise of their Divine Master with the energy of an invincible faith, the results must have been widely different from any thing we could expect from our worldly and undevotional spirit and our feeble and pusillanimous faith. Doubtless if we could take on at once the character of primitive saints, and feel the inspiring energy of their faith, we might witness in our own day the repetition of their successes and triumphs. Whenever we shall do this, Satan's time is short, and the utter overthrow of his empire hasteneth. For, in truth, our visible resources and advantages for the conversion of the world are immeasurably beyond theirs. We have not indeed the power of working miracles, and we do not need it. This power seemed to be

given for the temporary purpose of authenticating the claims of the new religion, and arresting and directing attention to its wonderful truths, and did not belong to the agency employed in turning men's hearts to God. "The gospel, -the GOSPEL was the power of God unto salvation,"-it was the foolishness of preaching this, which God had appointed to save them who believe. This same gospel, we repeat, we have in all its original fulness and power, and far beyond comparison we have the advantage of them in numbers, in wealth, in condition, in means of access and influence, and in every human instrumentality which can be made available in publishing the gospel of the grace of God throughout the earth. We are in advance of them in every thing save in faith and love; but wanting these, we fall out of sight behind them in their impression and influence upon an ungodly world.

THE THING NEEDED.

The main thing needed, then, to prepare us for efficient service in the work before us, is the restoration to our souls of primitive faith and love. But how can this be effected? There is, of course, a summary answer to this question, the truth and vital importance of which must always be taken for granted. The Spirit of God must do the work,-and for His influences we must unceasingly pray. The feeling of our dependence upon the Holy Spirit cannot be too deep and all-pervading. We must not forget, however, that the Spirit does not bestow his influences at random. He has a plan, and works by means. The whole gospel dispensation is a wondrous system of means applied by the Eternal Spirit in condescending conjunction with the spirits of men sanctified and directed by Him. It is relevant and reverential, then, to inquire what means are adapted to restore to us those moral energies of the primitive disciples which made them the conquerors of the world in spite of the wrathful opposition of all the powers of earth and hell.

ELEMENTS OF PRIMITIVE FAITH.

A thorough inquiry into the peculiar elements of the primitive faith, we think would be a valuable and well-timed contribution to our missionary literature. We can attempt nothing of the kind within the limits to which we must be confined in the present discourse. There is one particular, however, to which we desire to invite attention, as giving a peculiar character and type to their faith, and which it is to be feared is greatly wanting or is but a weak element in ours. The special objects of their faith were facts. Some had seen and believed; others had heard and believed; but the faith of all rested, not on ideas or on opinions, or on truths merely whether speculative or inductive, but upon actual occurrences. They firmly believed all that they had seen and heard reported of Jesus, the Christ. It was all to them a substantive reality—a FACT.

THE EFFECT OF THE BELIEF OF A FACT.

We may easily conceive what liveliness and vigor this must have imparted to their faith. The simple belief which apprehends a fact, is not likely to be wavering or imbecile. It produces a peculiar impression upon the mind which nothing else can. It brings home to the very centre of the inner consciousness a sense of actuality. A fact is something fixed. You cannot remove or an-, nihilate it, any more than you can the everlasting hills; and the belief in its existence, if it have any personal interest to us, must be ever attended with a moving power. A man who does not act in view of facts which he truly believes

and which deeply interest him, is insane. It is not so with notions and dogmas received from others. The reception may be with entire quiescence. And though they may give complexion to our speculations and ultimately affect our characters, yet they may long remain in the mind without producing any effect whatever. The effect of the simple faith of the primitive Christians was to bring them completely under the direct influence of the facts of the gospel; and the gracious Being embodying these facts in his own person, became the centre of attraction to all the powers of their souls. He was ever to them an actual living presence, whom those who had not seen, loved, and in whom, though they could not see him with their natural eyes, yet believing, they rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory. And here we would note the peculiarity of their love to this being. It was no transcendental grasping of the finite after the infinite, or the futile struggling of an ethereal passion to embrace a pantheistic phantom, but an intense personal affection. Their God was no abstraction, no impalpable, passionless, all-diffused spirit, but the Lord Jesus Christ, that glorious circumscription of the divine Being which is the effulgence of the Father's glory and the exact image of his substance,-where meet in one every divine perfection and every human excellence,-where "dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily," and where beam and glow every human affection and every human sympathy. This was the being who was to them the object of their strongest and fondest personal regards. They felt that he was their personal friend, almighty indeed, and all glorious, but full of love and tenderness and sympathy for them individually, and an ever present help in all their trials and afflictions. Such faith and love towards such a being, must be all-absorbing. It gave a determinate character to their living and their preaching. Note the prominent characteristics of apostolic preaching. Was it not a simple proclamation of facts together with the obvious and necessary inferences involved in them? Examine the pentecostal sermon of Peter, which produced such a glorious harvest of converts. What is it but a clear statement of facts with their irrefragable proofs. And so of all Paul's preaching. He gives us repeated intimations of the mode of his public ministrations. In writing to the Corinthians, for instance, he says, "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he arose on the third day, according to the scriptures." Observe here a simple series of the characteristic facts of the gospel. The gospel itself is called the "testimony of God concerning his Son Jesus Christ." And primitive preaching was mainly the proclaiming of this testimony to all the world. The apostle declares "he did not count his life dear unto himself, so that he might finish his course with joy and the ministry which he received of the Lord, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." Why, the Spirit himself, who conducts the whole gospel dispensation, is presented to us in the character of a witness. He does not speak of himself, but he testifies of Christ,-he takes of the things of Christ and shows them to us, and brings to remembrance whatsoever things Christ has done and said. Now we know that testimony relates peculiarly to facts, and so does remembrance. No declaration is a testimony which does not fix upon a fact. How clear it is, that primitive faith and preaching had to do principally and almost exclusively with facts. The apostolic epistles, even those more formal treatises of Christian doctrine, may be considered as composed of but two parts,-a clear statement of facts, and the glorious inferences drawn from them. May we not recognize here one of the chief elements of power in primitive preaching,-the proclamation of facts,

and such facts? It could not fail to arrest attention, and powerfully affect the minds of men. A man may come to us propounding theories and unfolding systems, and please us with the grandeur and splendor of his speculations, with the ingenuity and logical exactness of his reasoning, and with the propriety and beauty of his reflections; but he feebly affects our hearts, and produces no change in our conduct. Let him come, however, attesting facts of importance, and of importance to us, and our attention will be riveted and our whole nature moved. The state of the man's own mind will be very different in the two cases,-in the former, calm, passionless, perhaps cold; in the latter, fervid and impassioned. His own vivid convictions will give an impressive earnestness to his whole manner; and this of itself is an element of influence. We may notice here, in passing, that as a consequence of this matter of fact character of the gospel, and the simple faith of primitive believers, the work of publishing it seemed to be in a great measure common to the whole body. All were more or less engaged in it. We do not mean that they were all ministers and teachers, or that there was no distinct class officially set apart for the work of the ministry; but that they were all prompt and ready to bear, and actually did so in various ways, their testimony to the facts. And to this all were competent. Who cannot testify to a fact which he has seen and felt, however mysterious and wondrous its nature? A child can do it, and often too with an earnestness, an eloquence and a pathos, irresistibly impressive and touching. It requires a man of some cultivation and mental ability so to set forth a system of mere opinions, or an order of sentiments, as to be intelligible and secure respectful attention. It is different with facts. And here the blessed gospel is divinely distinguished from every other system of religion. It is affecting to mark the condescending goodness of God in this feature.

CHRISTIANITY, A RELIGION OF FACTS.

Christianity is emphatically a religion of facts,-facts of universal and permanent interest. All can learn them,-all can experience them, and all can testify to them. And just so long as they have their appropriate influence upon the minds of Christians, will their faith be simple, vigorous and abiding. So long as this simplicity and fidelity in bearing testimony to the Lord Jesus characterized primitive preaching, did the gospel come to poor sinners, "not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance." Paul had a profound and affecting conviction of this truth. "I was sent," says he, "to preach the gospel, not with the words of man's wisdom, lest the cross of Christ should be of none effect." He held it to be the peculiar function of his ministry, to proclaim the great and glorious fact of Christ crucified with such simplicity and clearness, that none could misapprehend its meaning. But just so soon as the vivid impression of the facts of Christianity began to fade from the minds of Christians, and the Christian doctors, offended with its extreme simplicity, and anxious to adapt it to the taste of the learned and polite pagans, dignified it into a "philosophy," did it begin to lose its life-giving power, and finally degenerated into a system of inane dogmas and dead forms. Now let us make a

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE FOREGOING REMARKS.

Does our faith, my brethren, fix upon the facts of the gospel, or upon certain doginas of a religious creed, which we call the doctrines of Christianity? The impression from the belief of a doctrine is clearly distinguishable from