66 the churches" on this subject. And the sooner it shall be spoken, not merely by a formal resolution, but by line upon line of plain and full instruction, as the voice of the body of Christ"Prepare ye the way of the Lord," the sooner, and the more submissively will the great lesson be every where learned, and will every limb of the whole body become instinct with the spirit of the common Head. And now is the time for that voice to be heard. The Lord hath stood forth amidst the intestine strivings and agitations, with which we were once distracted, and commanded peace, that our Church may speak His will. And now there is peace. Though the storm be every where else, and there seems no prospect but of its raging more and more; within our bounds there is a great calm. Most remarkably, and most universally, the elements of contention have gone away. The mire and dirt of the once troubled sea have sunk to the depths. Scarcely a ripple remains; whilst a strong, and deep, and quiet tide is setting directly in the course of truth and righteousness. "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." It is the evidence that God is in the midst of us. But it is more. It is opportunity. It is expectation. It is tremendous responsibility. It is like the silence in heaven, when to the seven angels were given the seven trumpets. It is the accepted time-the time prepared for the Church to speak to her people, and summon them to their work, and send out her angels with the trumpet of the everlasting Gospel. Oh! may God, who hath given us the sweet calm, give us grace to keep it, and use it, not for slumber and self-gratulation, but for fervent thanksgiving and prayer; for united action; for unwearied love; for uncrippled and undaunted enterprise-not saving the energies which, in worse times, would be spent in household strife, to be put by in usefulness—but rejoicing that we can concentrate them so much the more profitably upon the one work of propagating the Gospel. I have no time left to say any thing upon the necessity of a spirit of prayer for the sending of laborers, and for the increase of a general missionary spirit, and for all the wisdom and success of the work. And yet it is almost the very work itself. A spirit that shall take off our eyes from the difficulties, and set them immoveably upon God, to open the door and convert men for the field, and prepare hearts to sustain them, is just that, without which our calm will be our death, and with which our weakness shall be strength, the sea our highway, the rock our fountain, the desert as the garden of the Lord, and the whole world His Church. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches." Let the sound be heard on earth universally and without ceasing, from the lips and hearts of the people of God: "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"—and soon the seventh angel shall sound, and there shall be heard great voices in heaven, saying: Allelujah! "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and IIe shall reign forever and ever." AMEN. SERMON XXVIII. THE MISSIONARY CHARTER OF THE CHURCH.* By the Rt. Rev. GEORGE W. DOANE, D. D., MATTHEW XXviii. 18—20. And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. THESE are familiar words. They are engraven on that old foundation rock on which the Church is built. We point to them as the original conveyance of authority to minister in holy things. We draw from them the warrant of our office, as "embassadors * Preached at the Ordination of the Rev. Joseph Wolff, Sept. 26, 1837. for Christ" our claim to your acceptance, and your confidence, beloved brethren, as watchmen for your souls. Do we consider their full import? Are we attentive to the conditions of the grant? Are we as prompt to render what devolves on us as to expect what Christ has promised? Have we reflected well, that it is as they go out, and "make disciples of all nations," and as they teach them to observe all things which they have been commanded by Christ, that he has promised to be with his Apostles, and with their successors, "alway, even unto the end of the world?” In a word, have we sufficiently considered that the Apostolical Commission is also the Missionary Charter of the Church; and, therefore, that it is only as we act with faithfulness and zeal under the one, that we can reasonably expect the blessing to descend upon the other. It is to the line of thought suggested by these questions that I ask attention now. If it be true that, to his APOSTLES, as they were MISSIONARIES, and that they might be MISSIONARIES, in word, not only, but in power, Christ promised his protection and his presence, "alway, even unto the end of the world," it follows clearly, that, to be, in deed and in truth, AN APOSTOLICAL, we must also be, to the utmost reach of our capacity, A MISSIONARY CHURCH. It becomes a question, therefore, of momentous import. The construction of that charter is involved by which we claim to be the Saviour's representatives for the conversion of the world. It concerns the character of that "Church of the living God" which Jesus purchased to himself with his own blood; that it might be "the ground and pillar of the truth" on earth, make known to "principalities and powers in heavenly places," "the manifold wisdom" of its Divine Redeemer, and then be with him where he is. Nor is this all. It involves most intimately the progress of that gracious consummation which the Saviour taught us to press forward in our daily prayers, "Our Father who art in heaven," "thy kingdom come"! It concerns, as we accelerate or hinder the preaching of the glorious Gospel of the grace of God to "every creature," the salvatiou of unnumbered souls. And it concerns-tremendous thought!-as we are faithful or unfaithful to our trust, the immortal being of our own. Spirit of truth and consolation, endue us, for the great inquiry and its resulting duties, with candor, patience, charity; and, since in truth alone there is true consolation, guide us graciously into "all truth!" VOL. II.-42 Ascended Sufferer for sinners, enthroned now in glory, as the King of Saints, be with us here, "as two or three" assembled in thy name; and so imbue us with thy meekness, thy purity, thy piety, thy fearless and unconquerable love, that, walking ever in thy footsteps, and going about with thee to do men good, we may reflect on earth the "daily beauty" of thy benevolent and holy life, and, through the purchase of thy precious blood, attain thy presence in immortal bliss! The record of the text is the concluding portion of St. Matthew's Gospel, and, his ascension excepted, is the latest record of the Saviour's history on earth. It was to the eleven Apostles, after he had risen from the dead, and shortly before he was to ascend into heaven, that Jesus came, as he had appointed with them, and said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore"-the connection is most worthy of attention-"go YE, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." What was the purport of this commission, and to whom was it given? The reduction of a world lying in wickedness, to the obedience of Christ-to be undertaken by cleven men, peasants and fishermen of Galilee. Scas, deserts, mountains, to be traversed, that every nation of the world may hear "the joyful sound." Opposition to be encountered, persecution to be suffered, death to be endured, that the way of life may be made known, and sinners won to turn to it, and live. The stupendous fabric of heathenism, sustained by the victorious arms of Rome, and knit indeed into the very foundations of the empire, to be assailed and shaken and overthrown and trodden under foot, that the cross might be set up on its majestic ruins. Ignorance to be enlightened, licentiousness to be reclaimed, perverseness to be corrected, obstinacy to be subdued-the ties of blood, the sympathies of nature, the prejudices of education, the fear of shame, the pursuit of interest, the hope of reputation, the love of the world in its ten thousand forms, to be contended with and overcomethat the pure faith of Jesus might find an entrance into the heart, and profane Gentiles, and, even more difficult, hard-hearted Jews, be won to the obedience of the Gospel; and, stooping meekly to the washing of that regenerating laver which the Saviour opened on the cross, be scaled, in the eternal triune name, with its mysterious sign. When, at the opening of the former dispensation, God commanded Moses, "Come now, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Isreal out of Egypt;" Moses meekly replied, and said unto God, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" And He said, “Certainly I will be with thee." How much more becoming to that simple company who stood with Jesus on the mount in Galilee, to receive his warrant to convert the world, the question of the Jewish leader! And how considerate the benevolence which anticipates their natural fears, and, re-assuring every heart by that most gracious declaration, "lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world," makes them "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might! In vain, without it, their commission. Desperate, without it, even the thought of such an enterprise.Assured to them by Him who had "all power in heaven and earth," it was their sure protection, their sufficient grace. There was nothing that they need fear. There was nothing that they could not overcome. "Earthen vessels," they had committed to them a treasure which should suffice, through the abounding grace of Him who gave it, for the conversion of the world. "Men of like passions" with others, they went out, and preached that men should "turn from lying vanities, and serve the living God," with such prevailing power, that nations were led captive at their word. Peasants and fishermen of Galilee, they confounded the wise, they humbled the mighty, they "cast down imaginations, and every high thing" that exalted itself against God, until the prophetic promise of a thousand years was literally fulfilled, and kings became the nursing-fathers, and queens the nursing-mothers of the Church. So richly, to his first Apostles, did Christ redeem his promise to be with them always; and so entirely did the value of their great commission lie in the fulfillment of that gracious promisc. And still it is so. It is not we, my reverend brethren, that preach the Gospel, and prevail with men, and bring sinners to the Saviour, and build up the Church, and hasten the coming of the Son of man, but it is Christ in us. We are but flesh, poor perishable, sinful flesh; and, in and of ourselves, there is and can be no good thing. Our calling was of God. The grace that led us to |