HYMN.

JESUS shall reign, where'er the sun
Does his successive journies run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more

For him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown his head;
His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.

People, and realms, of every tongue,
Dwell on his love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on his name.

Blessings abound where'er he reigns;
The prisoner leaps to loose his chains,
The weary find eternal rest,

And all the sons of want are blest.

Where he displays his healing power, Death and the curse are known no more; In him the tribes of Adam boast

More blessings than their father lost.

Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honours to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the long Amen.

END.

AND SOLD AT THEIR DEPOSITORY, NO. 144 NASSAU-STREET, NEAR THE CITY-HALL, NEW-YORK; AND BY AGENTS OF THE

SOCIETY, ITS BRANCHES, AND AUXILIARIES, IN

THE PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS

IN THE UNITED STATES.

Vol. 5.

CONVERSION OF THE WORLD.

How comprehensive and how rational is that petition in the Lord's Prayer, " Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What more could the most exalted piety ask? What more could the most enlarged benevolence desire? It includes the glory of God and the best good of all men. For when God shall reign on earth as he does in heaven, then will he appear in his glory, and then will there be peace on earth, and good will among men. But at present how deplorable is the condition of mankind, and how is the God of heaven dishonoured in this revolted world! Idolatry and superstition prevail over the greatest part of the human race. The fairest portions of the globe are covered with Egyptian darkness, filled with wretchedness, and polluted with crimes!

The Gospel of Christ is the remedy, which the wisdom and mercy of God have provided for the disorders of our fallen world. It is a sovereign remedy. Wherever it has yet prevailed, it has visibly meliorated the condition of men. It has rescued whole nations from the gross ignorance, and the cruel rites of idolatry; and it has purified great multitudes of successive generations from the pollutions of sin, and prepared them for the holy society of heaven. How desirable it is that the benign influence of this religion should be extended over all the nations of the earth! How desirable that the renovating and saving power of the Gospel should be experienced as extensively as the ravages of sin have been spread in our world?

To this end the Son of God was born; for this end he lived, and died, and revived, and rose from the dead. Having commanded his apostles to go and teach all nations, he ascended to heaven, there to reign till all the earth should be subjected to his authority. But though such is the benevolent design of the Gospel; though, in condescending to be born, the Saviour designed to destroy the works of the devil, and to recover all the nations of the earth from idolatry, sin, and wretchedness; it is a melancholy fact, that nearly eighteen hundred years have passed away since his Gospel was first promulgated by himself and his apos

tles, and yet a small proportion only of the human race have received the heavenly message. How shall we account for this fact? If Christianity is from heaven, why is it not the religion of the world? If it is the only remedy for the miseries under which the human race have groaned for six thousand years-if Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven given among men by which they can be saved-why do not all men every where invoke that sacred name?

The answer to these inquiries will readily occur to every reflecting mind. "How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?—and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?—and how shall they hear without a preacher ?-and how shall they preach except they be sent ?" Has the Gospel been preached to all nations? We know it has not. We have then a satisfactory reason why all nations have not believed and obeyed the Gospel. We might as reasonably expect the harvest without sowing the seed, as look for the conversion of the world without first preaching the Gospel to all

nations.

In the Scripture, as now cited, we are plainly taught that the Gospel is to be propagated in the world, not by miraculous power, but in the ordinary way of instruction; that the particular method of instruction which God has ordained, for the conversion of the world, is preaching; and that it is the duty of Christians to send forth preachers of the Gospel in such numbers as to furnish the means of instruction and salvation to the whole world.

That the Gospel is to be propagated by instruction will be readily admitted by all. But there may be some diversity of opinion as to the kind of instruction to be pursued; whether it should be the education of children in the principles of Christianity, or the distribution of the Scriptures, or what is emphatically called the preaching of the word. Some may be disposed to place a greater dependance on one of these methods, and some on another. They are all doubtless the legitimate means of disseminating the Gospel, and will each produce the greatest effect when they all proceed together, and are duly proportioned to each other. But every attentive reader of the word of God must be convinced that the greater stress is there placed

on preaching. When our Lord commanded that his kingdom should be established in all the world, the means which he pointed out for effecting the object was preaching the Gospel to every creature; and St. Paul tells us that when the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. It is fully implied in the declaration, that God has been pleased to appoint what the wisdom of this world esteems folly, namely, the preaching of the Gospel, as the grand instrument and means of salvation in all ages, even to the end of the Christian dispensation. Bibles should by all means be circulated extensively among the Heathen, but ministers of the Gospel should be sent along with them. Thousands of Bibles may be sent with every preacher of the Gospel; but they should not be sent alone. Sending teachers without the Bible was the error of the church of Rome; let it not be the error of Protestants to send the Bible without preachers.

The present position is, It is the duty of Christians to send forth preachers in sufficient numbers to furnish the means of instruction to the whole world.

It is the design of God that all the nations should be brought to the knowledge of Christ; the appointed means is preaching; and preachers must be sent. By whom then are they to be sent, ond what number is required?

If Christian teachers are to be sent forth, it is obvious that the Christian church must send them. We cannot suppose that the world will take up the business of propagating the religion of Christ, or that ministers are to expect a special commission from heaven directing them to go to the Heathen; nor can we suppose that individuals will, of their own accord, and at their own discretion, go and preach to the Heathen; if they should do this, they would not answer the description which the apostle gives of Christian Missionaries, namely, persons that are sent.

As to the number of preachers, the same reasons which prove the duty of sending one, equally prove the duty of sending as many as are requisite to fulfil the command of Christ, to preach the Gospel to every creature.

If we send half a dozen Missionaries to a country where there are as many millions of souls, we are too apt to imagine that we have discharged our duty to that country