the channel through which all blessing flows to the church and the world. While we admire the greatness of the divine plans and the certainty of their execution, let us remember that we can be no idle spectators of God's working,— a responsibility rests on us as vast as the interests at stake,—the honor of God and the salvation of a world are made to hang on the faithfulness and zeal of Christ's disciples, - the kingdom is near or far, just in proportion to the love and faith and prayerful toil of the church.

And the sooner we wake up to the fact that for all purposes of practical duty and privilege, we are the church of Christ, the better it will be for us, and the better for the kingdom. There is a mock-humility that shirks duty and stifles faith. Brethren of the Judson Society, this prayer, "thy kingdom come," is our trumpet-call to arms and to battle for the kingdom of God. Not one of us can truly pray "thy kingdom come," without giving himself body and soul to that work in which he can best promote the coming of the kingdom. By just so much as Christ has endowed us with native ability and with opportunities of culture, by just so much are strengthened his claims to the use of our gifts in the building-up of his sovereignty on earth. In this day when autos-da-fe have ceased and papal fulminations have lost their terror, in this day when the opposition of Satan is so exclusively intellectual, there is need, as never before, of educated talent in the ministry and church of Christ. To every young man entering upon life, the question ought to come: "How can I use my powers for God and the salvation of the world with greatest economy of force,- how can I most surely make every faculty and attainment bear directly upon the coming of the kingdom of God?" Be sure that Christ has portioned out, to each of us who are his followers, some share in the work he is accomplishing on earth. Seeking earnestly to know where our work lies, whether in secular or in sacred duties, at home or abroad, and falling in with the plan of Christ whenever it is made known to us, we may have the assurance and comfort, in labor, in suffering, and in death, that our lives have not been wasted in the service of the world, but have contributed, however humbly, to bring about

"That one far off divine event

To which the whole creation moves."

My brethren, the greatness and power of God and the majesty of his kingdom are revealed to us not to give us excuse for idleness, but to furnish incitement to arduous and self-forgetful labor. The certainty of triumph is the greatest stimulus to earnest warfare. The grandest victories for the truth which the world has seen have been gained by men who were strong in the thought of God's eternal purposes, and who found in Jehovah the motive power of their lives. When the Jewish people were enslaved under Antiochus Epiphanes, that monster of successful iniquity - so enslaved that the sacred Scriptures were a forbidden book which it was death to possess or read, and the statue of the heathen Jupiter was set up for worship in the plundered sanctuary of the temple- the Asamonean family, one reverend old man and five heroic sons, called upon the nation to rise for religion and freedom. Thous ands gathered round them and vowed to "stand for the Law" till death. Upon the banner which was borne before the patriot host were inscribed those stirring Hebrew words from the book of Exodus: Mi Camoka Baalim Jehovah? "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?"--and from the initial letters

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of that inscription-"M," "C," "B"- the Maccabees took their name. The motto of their standard became the inspiration of their war for independence. Trusting as their ancestors did in the omnipotence of God, they were enabled to shake off the yoke of the oppressor and to lift the nation from lethargy and apostasy to a religious zeal which had been unknown for centuries. And the Maccabees themselves - what examples of splendid devotion to religion and country have they left to after ages! My brethren, God has revealed to us his power and purpose to set up his kingdom for this same end that we, like that Asamonean family, may call upon him for great and mighty things, and then, believing his word and promise, may undertake great things for his glory. Let us combine with the motto of the Maccabees, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?" that other motto of Paul's, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," and then let us go forth to do battle for the kingdom of God.

To do battle till we die, or the kingdom fully come. No rest for the soldiers of the cross, till the enemy is ours. No halt to the advancing army, till the world is conquered for Christ. Though the standard-bearers fall, though the years glide by and yet the promised end seems far away, aye, though seeming defeat may cloud our banners, still let the sacramental host press on. For Christ never dies; Christ never desponds; Christ never is defeated; and the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of the Church. In the days of Queen Elizabeth, when the Jesuits were essaying by every art to restore in England that reign of papal darkness which the rising sun of the Reformation had just turned to day, they entered into solemn vows, that so long as there was any one of them left for the gallows, the torture, or the dungeon, they would never cease their endeavors to set up the Catholic religion in that kingdom. That miscalled Society of Jesus has left to the church, the true Society of Jesus, an example in this regard, which if we do not follow, we are false to our vows, false to ourselves, false to humanity, and false to Christ our King. Rather shall we not follow it, concentrating every faculty and power upon the work of Christ, and resolving never for one moment to remit our toil till his supreme dominion is set up in every human heart? With the mighty noise of this conflict of the ages in our ears, with the looming grandeur of the throne of God before us, with the vast sweep of eternity for our dwelling-place, let us not give our lives to ease or to profit or to human fame, but to the end for which Christ lived, the end for which Christ died- the interests and the triumph of the kingdom of God. If we thus live and thus die, it will make little matter whether our names are honored on earth,- -we shall have the honor that comes from God, and we shall reign with Christ forever and ever,- for the kingdom that comes from heaven, and that makes heaven on earth, shall end at last in heaven. But whether we be true subjects or not, whether we give our lives to the kingdom or not, the kingdom shall come. To those who welcome it and labor for it, it shall be a kingdom of eternal blessedness and glory,-- but upon whomsoever this stone shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. Christ will subdue us by the might and loveliness of his grace if may be, but if not by his grace, yet still he will subdue us. For "at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

XXXVI.

LEAVING THE NINETY AND NINE.

The early Christians delighted to picture Christ as the Good Shepherd. In Tertullian's time, they painted him thus upon the cup used at the Lord's Supper; and, a little later, they lightened the gloom of the Catacombs by representations of one who had snatched the lost sheep from the lion's jaws, and who bore it back to the fold with rejoicing. Unlike many of the devices of ecclesiastical art, this one has full warrant in Scripture. The text tells the story more pathetically than any statue or fresco possibly can. The one sheep wandering from the rest, and unable of itself to find its way back to the fold; the shepherd taking no pleasure in the multitude of his flock that feed unharmed about him, so long as that one erring one is exposed to death; the girding of himself for his departure, and the long, anxious search over the dark mountains for the lost; the perseverance that gives itself no rest until he finds it, even though the shepherd's feet and hands are pierced with bitter thorns along the way; the joy of the return, when he brings back upon his shoulders the rescued one, who even now has not strength enough to walk alone,- these are features of the parable that touch our inmost hearts. But, of all the strokes that give impressiveness and pathos to the picture, I know of none so masterly and so divine as the question: "Doth he not leave the ninety and nine?"

There have been many interpretations of it. The ancient expositors saw in it an allusion to that condescension of the eternal Son which led him to leave the many mansions of his Father's house on high, with their myriads of unfallen intelligences, that he might quench his light in the darkness of this little sphere, and so restore this one wandering world to its true place in the great system of God. There were ninety and nine loyal planets that revolved around the central sun. But one had forgotten its allegiance, and had shot off like a comet into the distant night. He who once spoke them all into being now follows, and from the very night of death recovers the one lost world by passing into that night of death himself. In modern times, we have been accustomed to apply the parable, not to the one world that is lost, while the many races of God's great universe still render joyful obedience, but to the one soul that has gone astray, and has become a prey to Satan. What does it matter to the tender Shepherd that such a multitude are safe within the fold, so long as one poor sinner is involved in the misery and guilt of sin, and is in danger of everlasting death? To bring one such sinner back, he thinks it none too great a sacrifice to lay down his life.

*A sermon before the American Baptist Missionary Union, at its annual meeting, Indianapolis, May 22, 1881, on the text, Mat. 18: 12-"Doth he not leave the ninety and nine?"

These are the common interpretations. I make no doubt that both of them are true. There is a principle here that may have great variety of application. It is the principle that the weakest, the most needy, the most miserable, are in a true sense nearest to the Savior's heart. His compassion is measured only by the depth of man's want. And so I bring you still another interpretation of the parable, equally true with the others, this, namely That Christ yearns over the heathen more than he does over the Christian lands, and that his Spirit moves the church to leave the ninety and nine that are safe within the fold of Christendom, and to go out after those who are perishing in their pagan depravity and wretchedness, until she find them, and bring them back to God.

I am well aware that such an application as this runs directly counter to the current of popular opinion in our day. Modern objections to missions have changed their form; but they are more subtle, and with a large class of persons they are more powerful than ever before. Christian people feel them, even if they do not urge them. We do not deny the needs of the heathen, nor the duty of evangelizing the world. But we are inclined to choose our methods, and to consult the natural laws of civilization and progress, more than we consult the commission of Christ and the promise of his Spirit. We are bidden to distinguish between the advancing and the decaying races, and to confine our efforts to those which still have stamina and inherent powers of growth. What hope, we are asked, what hope of permanent success among a people already on the verge of extinction, like the North American Indians, or dying of their vices, like the islanders of the South Seas? Of what use was it for John Eliot to give his life to translating the Bible into an Indian tongue, when there does not now remain a single living Indian who can read it? Tribes without a history are not worth the saving, say the critics. The stuff is too soft to take a stamp, or to give a stamp to others. The Hottentots of Africa are of as little account, so far as mental vigor and influence upon the world are concerned, as the swarming ants of one of their own ant-hills; and there have not been wanting philosophers who could coolly say that we should do with them just what we do with an ant-hill,- namely, stamp on them, and stamp them out of existence.

This reasoning is supported, moreover, by an appeal to apostolic labors. The first disciples did not scatter themselves among the Gentiles, we are told they were commanded to tarry at Jerusalem, the central stronghold of Judaism. Then they seized upon Antioch, the great commercial entrepot between East and West. Paul did not waste his time in country towns. He betook himself to Ephesus and Corinth, as strategic points from which whole provinces might be invaded and subdued. He garrisoned the capitals for Christ, and trusted that from them the gospel would move upon the great outlying regions which they commanded. In fact, nothing would satisfy him but to preach the gospel at Rome. He would make the masters of the world acknowledge the mastership of Christ, knowing that, when the strength of Rome had enlisted under the Savior's banner, the weaker nations would follow her lead. So our new guides would have us devote ourselves to the strong races. Preach the gospel to the Caucasian, who has mind enough to appreciate it and force enough to propagate it. Be sure not to underrate

the Anglo-Saxon race, and that special portion of it which we ourselves represent. In short, American soil furnishes the proper field for the gospel. If you would reach other nations, you will find the best specimens of them here. God has sifted the races of the earth and brought the élite of them all to our shores. We can best evangelize China, by preaching to the Chinese in California; Africa, by teaching the negroes at the South; Germany, by missions among the Germans of Milwaukee and Kansas. Do your foreign work at home. Educate and Christianize yourselves; and, by the same rule, confine your chief attention to the most promising classes within your own borders. Aim at the talent and culture of the land. Let the degraded and the ignorant die out, or at least shift for themselves. The best way to pervade a nation with truth and righteousness, is to raise up an intellectual and spiritual aristocracy. Not a farthing-candle in myriads of houses, but the kindling here and there of electric lamps that shall shine like suns. So to him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

It is, of course, a reductio ad absurdum; but, since many of these notions are prevalent, and wherever they prevail are paralyzing missionary zeal, it may be well to consider carefully the grain of truth that is in them, and also the deadly error. The element of truth is simply this: God's providential arrangement of nations, and of influential centres in those nations, is to be consulted in our evangelistic plans. Other things being equal, it is a duty to avail ourselves of the natural currents of commerce and literature, to seize upon political strongholds, and upon the strong men who offer themselves for the service of the gospel. The field is the world, and the world includes America as well as Hindustan. There are many sorts of places, for many sorts of men. Some are as truly called to serve Christ at home as others are to serve him abroad. There are talents and endowments which distinctly mark men for work of teaching and leadership in this land. There are tasks and impulses which as distinctly mark men for pioneer enterprises in Africa, or for Bible translation in China. Then, too, we must go wherever we can go. God opens the door, and we must enter it. We must follow in the line of geographical exploration, and tread the highways of commerce. We owe more to Africa, than we did before Livingston had reached Lake Nyassa, and Stanley had traced the course of the Congo. Fifty years ago, we might have been better pardoned for not attempting missions to Japan, than now, when the ancient wall of Japanese exclusiveness is beaten down. And so with regard to castes and classes. We must take what God sends. If he will not first give us access to the proud and cultivated Burman, we must welcome the conversion of the Karens. If the Telugu Brahmins will not embrace the gospel, thousands of the Pariahs will. We must work in the line of God's providences, remembering that there is a supernatural element in missions, and a wisdom not of this world, which chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, and weak things of this world to confound the mighty, and base things of this world, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

So we may answer objectors to our plan of distant work among races and classes that do not lead the van of civilization,- answer them by saying that