\ STUDIA IN / 



THE LIBRARY 

of 
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY 

Toronto 



THE FERNLEY LECTURE OF 1884. 



The Universal Mission of 

The Church of Christ 



A DISCOURSE DELIVERED AT HANLEY, STAFFORDSHIRE, 
AUGUST 4, 1884, BEING 



THE FERNLEY LECTURE 



OF 



1884. 



BY < \^ 

BENJAMIN HELLIER. 



LONDON: 

T. WOOLMER, 2, CASTLE STREET, CITY ROAD, E.G., 
AND 66, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G. 

1884. 



BV 

G>OI 

8 
H4 

EMMAHUO. 

STOR 



- 15. 



PREFACE. 



A FEW months ago a member of the Board of Manage 
ment for the Fernley Lecture proposed to me the subject 
of Missions as suitable for the lecture of this year. This 
suggestion I accepted ; but on further consideration con 
cluded that I should best serve the interests of Missions ; 
by giving to the lecture a wider scope than this title would 
suggest. The great work of evangelizing heathen nations 
has been too much regarded in the light of an invention of 
modern times, or as an addendum to the ordinary work of 
the Church ; as something which we may well take an 
interest in if we choose, but which, without serious blame, 
we may let alone. By recurring to the teaching of our 
Lord and His apostles, we are led to see clearly that to 
make Christ and His salvation known is a duty belonging 
to all Christian people at all times, and that from the first 
Christ has never set before His Church any less a work 
than the salvation of all mankind. It is quite true that 
the passages of Scripture relating to this subject, which 
have been cited and dwelt on in the lecture, are very well 
known to us ; but it is also true, as the history of the 
Church too plainly shows, that they have never been suf 
ficiently pondered and acted on ; and there is therefore 
need to insist on them continually, until the obligations 
which they impose are practically recognised. Hence the 



6 Preface. 

first division of the lecture, The purpose of Christ in 
founding His Church. 

It is impossible steadily and earnestly to contemplate 
this great subject without having awakened in our minds 
the question, Why have God s merciful designs respecting 
our race been so partially accomplished ? It is easy to see 
that this question might lead on to the discussion of the 
most profound of all mysteries, such as the origin and 
prevalence of evil, the power of the creature to resist the 
will of the Creator, and so forth. But the purpose of the 
lecture being a practical one, such discussion has been 
avoided, and attention has been directed, under the second 
division, to Causes which have delayed the fulfilment of the 
Divine Founder s purpose. 

Past and present hindrances having been briefly re 
viewed, the practical question remains, What is now to be 
done ? and in the concluding section I have endeavoured 
to point out the present duty of the Church. Here much 
might have been said on the work yet to be accomplished 
within the bounds of nominal Christendom ; but on account 
of the original purpose of the lecture this portion of the sub 
ject has been omitted, and attention directed to that part 
of the Church s work which is most urgent, the carrying to 
the non-Christian nations the glad tidings of salvation. 

The quotations given from the New Testament are 
according to the Eevised Version, except in Acts ii. 47, 
where another rendering seemed preferable. 

In an Appendix there is a list given of works relating to 
Missions, and of some others cited in the lecture. 



The Universal Mission of 

The Church of Christ. 



THE UNIVERSAL MISSION OF THE CHURCH 
OF CHEIST. 

The field is the world. MATT. xiii. 38. 

ALL who take part in the carrying out of any great 
work which has long been established, judge it to be their 
duty often to revert to the views and purposes of its 
founder, with a view to ascertain whether they are 
faithfully fulfilling his design. This is especially 
becoming in those who are engaged in the work of 
the Lord. Our Saviour Christ not only founded the 
Church long ago, but He is now the ever-living, omnipresent 
Controller of all its affairs. He is also our Judge, and at 
His second coming He will render to each man according 
as his work is (Rev. xxii. 12). We are therefore sure 
that whatever is done according to the Divine Founder s 
purpose must be approved, whatever is opposed to it must 
be rejected. Let us therefore consider : 

I. 

THE PUEPOSE OF CHRIST IN FOUNDING His CHURCH. 

We may say briefly that our Lord designed that 
the kingdom of God which He came to establish should 
endure throughout all the asjes of the world, should 



i o Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 



provide salvation for all mankind, and that all who 
received His proffered mercy should become the partakers 
of His own glory in the heavenly world for ever. More 
particularly, 

1. This kingdom is to last till the end of time. 
Old Testament prophecy had foretold the setting 
up of an everlasting kingdom in the last days ; x and 
Christ expressly taught that He was the king spoken of, 
and that His was the kingdom. In the parable of the 
tares among the wheat, He says : The field is the world. 
In the end of the world the Son of man shall send forth 
His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all 
things that cause stumbling (Matt. xiii. 38-41). In 
these few, but most significant words, He who is Lord 
of all declares that He takes possession of this world 
as the field of His Church, and that His servants will 
continue to labour therein down to the end of the world. 
Another of His sayings tells us that when His angels come 
to do His harvest work, they will find the labourers 
scattered all over the earth. And then shall He send 
forth the angels, and shall gather together His elect from 
the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to 
the uttermost part of heaven (Matt. xiii. 27). Eespecting 
the stability of His Church He also said, The gates of 
Hades shall not prevail against it (Matt. xvi. 18). 

As to the design of the Son of God to bless all men 
by His coming into our world, nothing can be more 
express than the saying, God so loved the world, that 

1 See Ps. ii., xlv., Ixxii., ex., cxlv. ; Isa. ii. 1-4, xi. 



Christ s Religion Universal. 1 1 



He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
on Him should not perish, but have eternal life 
(John iii. 16). 1 

Having founded His religion, He declared that it was 
to supersede all other religions. Even Judaism was to 
cease, and the manifest token of this to all nations would 
be the destruction of the temple, and the treading down 
of Jerusalem by the Gentiles (comp. John iv. 23; Matt. 
xxiv. 2 ; Luke xxi. 24). He taught His followers that 
He Himself was the only way to God, the one living 
embodiment of the truth concerning God, the one giver 
of eternal life with God. I am the way, and the truth, 
and the life : no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me 
(John xiv. 6). 

A religion which claims to be exclusive of all others 
ought to be adequate for all men. This Christ claims 
for His religion. It is very noteworthy that our Lord, 
who was the most perfect example of humility that ever 
appeared in this world, nevertheless put forth such claims 
respecting Himself as no living man besides ever dared 
to utter. He said that there were to be found in His 
religion, or rather in Himself, resources of blessing 
sufficient to satisfy the religious need of all mankind. His 
utterances on this subject are highly figurative, but their 
meaning is most clear and express. We find that when 
men are most deeply conscious of their religious needs 
they express these in terms derived from the bodily 

1 Whether we regard these words as spoken by our Lord, or as the utter 
ance of His servant John, we are quite sure that they declare the mind 
of Christ Himself. 



1 2 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

necessities, and because hunger and thirst are the most 
common and most importunate of human wants, they 
speak of their hunger and thirst after God and right 
eousness (comp. Ps. xlii. 1, 2, Ixiii. 1 ; Matt. v. 6). 
So Christ, in reference to the universal longing, says, 
I am the bread of life : he that cometh to Me shall not 
hunger ; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. . . 
Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him 
shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him 
shall become in him a well of water springing up unto 
eternal life (John vi. 35, iv. 14). Man s dissatisfaction 
with the present life finds various expressions, and the 
promises of Christ correspond to the different aspects of 
his discontent. Does life seem to us a weary pilgrimage, 
the path rough, the burden which we bear heavy, the rest 
which we find unsatisfying ? Then He says, c Come unto 
Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest (Matt. xi. 28). Do men complain that 
this life is one of impenetrable mystery, with no safe 
guidance and without hope of happy issue ? Then Christ 
says, He that f olloweth Me shall not walk in the 
darkness, but shall have the light of life (John viii. 12). 
Are we borne clown by the trials and afflictions of life, 
and ready to despair, thinking that the conflict in which 
we are engaged will end our life or destroy our virtue ? 
Then our merciful Lord says to us, as He once did to His 
servant Paul, My grace is sufficient for thee, for My 
power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. xii. 9). 
Are we appalled by the thought of death, fearing that 



The World-wide Commission. 13 



it will prove the entire extinction of our being ? Then 
our Eedeemer says, I am the resurrection and the life : 
he that believeth on Me, though lie die, yet shall he live : 
and whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die 
(John xi. 25, 26). If, once more, we carry our thoughts 
beyond the present world, and wonder how the life of 
man can be endlessly sustained, even to this inquiry the 
words of Christ give the answer : This is life eternal, that 
they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom 
Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ (John xvii. 3). Thus 
there is no aspect under which the moral necessities of our 
nature can present themselves, but we find a promise of 
Christ to meet them, a gift of Christ to satisfy them. 

Our Lord further declared His purpose that the great 
blessings of salvation which He had obtained for our race 
should be made known to all mankind. When about 
to leave the world, He told His sorrowing disciples that 
He would send them another Comforter who should abide 
with the Church for ever, and that the work which He 
came to accomplish should have the world for its object. 
He will convict the world in respect of sin, and of 
righteousness, and of judgment (John xvi. 8). 

When, immediately before His ascension, He sent forth 
His apostles, He gave them a world-wide commission, 
commanding them to go and make disciples of all the 
nations, to preach the gospel to the whole creation. 
He taught them that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in His name unto all the nations ; 
and that His servants should be witnesses for Him both 






14 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto 
the uttermost part of the earth (Matt, xxviii. 1 9 ; Mark 
xvi. 15; Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 8). He also gave the 
distinct assurance that this gospel of the kingdom shall 
be preached in the whole world, for a testimony unto all 
the nations (Matt. xxiv. 14). 

When we pass from the study of the words of Christ in the 
Gospels to the history of the earliest days of the Church, as 
recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, we find that notwith 
standing all the instruction which they had received from 
Christ, the first preachers of the gospel failed to comprehend 
the greatness of the work committed to their trust. Just 
before their Lord ascended into heaven, they were anxiously 
inquiring about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel 
(Acts i. 6), and even after the day of Pentecost, Peter 
spoke of Christ as exalted to give repentance to Israel, 
and remission of sins (Acts v. 31), no mention being 
made of the Gentiles. Afterwards, by the vision which he 
saw in the house of Simon the tanner, and by the scenes 
which he witnessed in the house of Cornelius, he was con 
vinced that the Gentiles were to share the benefits of the 
kingdom of God ; and the Church at Jerusalem was 
brought at length to acknowledge, Then to the Gentiles 
also hath God granted repentance unto life (Acts xi. 18). 

With the conversion of Saul of Tarsus a new era began. 
As soon as it was the good pleasure of God ... to reveal 
His Son in the apostle, that he might preach Him 
among the Gentiles (Gal. i. 15, 16), this wonderful man 
entered into God s purpose in Christ respecting mankind, 



Teaching of the Apostle Paul. . 1 5 

and expounded it in words such as were never uttered 
before or since. In his speeches and letters he sets forth 
the universality, the perpetuity, the greatness, and the 
glory of the Christian religion, in language most clear and 
express ; but so profound that it suggests to us the 
thoughts which wander through eternity. To the Jews 
at Antioch in Pisidia he declared the universal promise of 
pardon, and taught by implication that Judaism had been 
superseded by the religion of Jesus. Be it known unto 
you therefore, brethren, that through this Man is pro 
claimed unto you remission of sins ; and by Him every one 
that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye 
could not be justified by the law of Moses (Acts xiii. 39). 

To the philosophers of Athens he declared that the 
religions which they had once followed were due to times 
of ignorance, towards which God had showed merciful 
forbearance ; but that such ignorance would be henceforth 
inexcusable, because there was made known to them a 
religion which taught the universal Fatherhood of the one 
true God, and consequently the universal brotherhood of 
mankind, and which demanded repentance from all men 
everywhere, in view of the solemn fact that God hath 
appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in 
righteousness by the Man whom He hath ordained ; 
whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in 
that He hath raised Him from the dead (Acts xvii. 
31). 

In his Epistles the apostle delights to dwell on that 
wonderful mystery, that dispensation of the grace of 



1 6 Universal Mission of the C/mrch of Christ. 



God/ which was planned in the Divine counsels before 
times eternal (2 Tim. i. 10), was indeed hidden during 
many ages (Eom. xvi. 28), but was manifested in the 
fulness of the time by the Son of God (Gal. iv. 4). The 
universal character of human redemption is declared in 
the words that God was in Christ reconciling the world 
unto Himself (2 Cor. v. 19). By the combined parallel 
and contrast which he establishes between Adam and 
Christ, the first man and the second man, he shows 
that the blessing which comes from Christ was designed 
to reach to every member of our race (see Eom. v. 11-21 ; 
1 Cor. xv. 21, etc.). He is fully persuaded that the 
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one 
that belie veth (Eom. i. 16). Its saving power he had 
himself experienced, and he looked upon his own con 
version as a prime instance, an example of what would 
take place in multitudes of others, which should hereafter 
believe on Him unto eternal life (1 Tim. i. 17). 

If we look at the religious needs of men individually, 
the apostle tells us how fully they are all met. For man 
burdened by the guilt of sin it provides an all-sufficient 
atonement, through faith in which we obtain peace with 
God, power over sin, and the hope of everlasting life 
(Eom. iii. 22, v. 1, 2). It makes a holy life possible, 
for it frees us from the law of sin and death (Eom. 
viii. 2). It provides for the complete renewal and 
sanctification of our whole nature, throughout spirit, soul, 
and body (2 Cor. v. 17; 1 Thess. v. 23). It sustains 
amidst all the trials of life, and delivers from the fear of 



Christianity sufficient for all Men. 1 7 

death, by the full persuasion that it affords us that the 
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be com 
pared with the glory which shall be revealed to usward 
(Rom. viii. 18). It provides for the happiness of com 
munities, by establishing pure, peaceful, happy households ; 
for it sanctifies and blesses the relationships of husbands, 
wives, parents, children, masters, servants, by uniting all 
in the bonds of a common faith and love towards our Lord 
Jesus Christ (Eph. v. 22, vi. 9). 

Christianity is fully adequate, if everywhere adopted, to 
cure the evils of the whole human society, and to bring in 
a reign of universal righteousness, peace, and joy. The 
kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy 
in the Holy Ghost (Rom. xiv. 17), and in proportion as 
it obtains in any nation, it puts an end to war and violence 
and fraud and wrong-doing of every kind, it establishes 
peace among all classes, and brings in the purest of all 
joys. We cannot say that within the kingdom there is no 
sorrow ; but the sorrow that is found is not born of the 
kingdom ; it comes from without, or it comes from those 
who, though within the kingdom, have not fully yielded 
themselves to its benign sway. This religion as it- prevails 
puts an end to the enmities and jealousies of tribes and 
nations. To men united in Christ the distinctions of 
Greek and Jew . . . barbarian, Scythian, bond and free 
become as nothing in view of the fact that Christ is all 
things in all His people (Col. iii. 11). 

But the greatness and glory of the Church are seen 
especially in the exaltation of Him who is its Head, and 

B 



1 8 Universal Mission of the Ch^trch of Christ. 



in the effects of man s redemption on the universe. Over 
all our race Christ has obtained universal dominion 
founded on universal redemption. He died for all that 
He might be Lord of all, both the dead and the living 
(Eom. xiv. 9). But more than this. Because the Saviour 
stooped so low as to take upon Him our nature, and to 
ransom us by His death, God the Father highly exalted 
Him, and gave Him the name which is above every name, 
that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under 
the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus 
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. ii. 9-11). 
This exaltation of our Saviour has a twofold result. First, 
we are taught that Christ exercises this dominion over the 
whole universe for the benefit of His redeemed people ; for 
He is Head over all things to the Church (Eph. i. 22). 
Secondly, the benefits of man s redemption are to extend, 
in ways and measures now inconceivable by us, far beyond 
the human race. God designs to sum up all things in 
Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the 
earth (Eph. i. 10), to reconcile all things unto Himself, 
having made peace through the blood of His cross ; through 
Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the 
heavens (Col. i. 20). Hence also the earnest expectation 
of the creation waiteth for the revealing of. the sons of God 
(Eom. viii. 19). 

Looking at these wide results of our redemption, we 
cannot wonder that to the angelic powers above us there is 
on earth no object of contemplation so interesting as the- 



Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews. 19 

Church of Christ. It has become to them a new revela 
tion of God which they never cease to study, even as it is 
the purpose of God Himself that now unto the principali 
ties and powers in the heavenly places might be made 
known through the Church the manifold wisdom of God 
(Eph. iii. 10). 

The apostle confidently anticipates the spread of the 
religion of Christ throughout the world, foretelling that 
the time will come when the fulness of the Gentiles 
will come in, and all Israel shall be saved (Eom. xi. 26). 
Of the everlasting perpetuity of the Church he has no 
doubt, for he prays that glory may be given to God in 
the Church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations for 
ever and ever (Eph. iii. 21). 

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews is in full 
accord with the apostle of the Gentiles. That the old 
Jewish covenant is now superseded by a better covenant, 
which hath been enacted upon better promises (Heb. viii. 
6), is made fully manifest. The superiority of the new 
covenant to the old is seen in the infinite dignity of 
the Great High Priest of our confession, at once Son 
of God and a member of our own race, King and 
Priest for ever ; in the perfect efficacy of the atoning 
sacrifice which He has offered once for all, making all 
other sacrifice for sins for ever unnecessary ; in His ever 
lasting mediation for us at the right hand of God in the 
holy places not made with hands ; in that boldness of 
access to God Himself, which He has procured for us ; 
and in our present union by faith with God, the Judge of 



2O Universal Mission of the ChurcJi of Christ. 

all, with Jesus, with saints and angels in the heavenly 
Mount Zion. I need not dwell on the teaching of other 
New Testament writers, which fully accords with what 
has been already stated. I will only add that in that last 
mysterious book, which closes the canon of Holy Scripture, 
whilst many things are obscure, this great truth is made 
plain, that Christ is exalted above all creatures, that all 
the hosts of heaven and all the powers of earth and hell 
are subject to His control, and that all the events of time 
contribute to bring on His final and everlasting triumph. 
All this is summed up in the revelation given to the 
beloved disciple by great voices in heaven which said, 
The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our 
Lord and of His Christ ; and He shall reign for ever and 
ever (Eev. xi. 15). 

This brief statement of the teaching of Christ and His 
apostles places before us the great work of the redemption 
of man by the Son of God, as designed by infinite wisdom 
and mercy before the world was, kept in view and prepared 
for by all the ages preceding the birth of Christ, actually 
accomplished in the fulness of time as the greatest event 
in the world s history, embracing all men in the designs 
of its mercy, and enduring in its blessed results throughout 
all ages, world without end. In this great work we all 
have a deep personal interest ; to participate in its benefits 
ourselves, and to extend them to others, is to have the 
highest joy and to do the noblest work possible to man 
here below. 



Hindrances to the Progress of Christianity. 2 i 



II. 

CAUSES WHICH HAVE DELAYED THE FULFILMENT OF THE 
DIVINE FOUNDER S PURPOSE. 

When from the views given us in the New Testament 
respecting the glorious character and destiny of the Church 
of Christ, we turn to the history of Christianity during the 
last eighteen centuries, and to the present religious condition 
of mankind, we cannot avoid the sorrowful conclusion that 
the merciful purposes of our Saviour have been to a great 
extent frustrated. We direct our thoughts to Christ, and 
reverently inquire : 

Lord over all, if Thou hast made, 

Hast ransomed every soul of man, 
Why is the grace so long delayed ? 
Why unfulfilled the saving plan ? 
The bliss for Adam s race designed, 
When shall it reach to all mankind ? 

To such inquiries it is impossible for any one to give a 
complete answer ; and all that I can hope to do at present 
is to make some contribution towards the solution of this 
great problem. 

But before proceeding to do this, two preliminary obser 
vations are necessary, 

In the first place, we are quite sure that the slow 
progress of His kingdom in the world cannot have taken 
our Lord by surprise. If He had told His earliest 
disciples that they would win an easy and speedy victory 



22 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

over the opposition of mankind, this would have been a 
greater difficulty in the way of our faith in Him than it has 
ever encountered. But He gave no such promise. On the 
contrary, He forewarned them that as the world had hated 
Him so it would hate them ; that many of His faithful 
witnesses would for His sake be persecuted and put to 
death, and that on this account the love of many other of 
His followers would wax cold. By His servant John He 
warned the Churches of Asia that, if they proved unfaithful, 
He would Himself quench the lights already kindled there. 
-So in the writings of the apostles we find prophecies of the 
coming of perilous times, of seasons of falling away, and 
of the appearance of many antichrists. But He who 
foresaw and foretold all these things has also foretold the 
final and glorious triumph. 

In the second place, though we have to speak of many 
failures which have taken place in connection with the ex 
tension of Christ s kingdom in the world, there have never been 
any failures in the religion itself. It has been proclaimed to 
men, and they have refused to receive it. In that respect 
there has been a want of success. But who ever blames a 
physician for not curing those who refuse to follow his 
prescriptions ? Men have professed to adopt the religion 
of Christ, when they have accepted something very 
different from it ; but religion is not answerable for the 
errors which men make respecting it. Many have pro 
fessed and called themselves Christians who have been 
guilty of abominable sins and wickedness, but the religion 
of Christ is no more to blame on this account than the just 



Opposition of the Devil and his Angels. 



laws of this country for the crimes committed by men who 
profess allegiance to those laws. When we contend that 
the religion of Christ itself has never failed, we mean this, 
that whenever any one has truly believed in Christ, loved 
Him, obeyed Him, followed Him, no evil has ever resulted 
from his doing so, but he has been made more pure and 
happy, and more righteous and kind towards all with whom 
he has had to do. When we carefully trace the histories 
of individual Christians, and the history of nations who 
have received the faith of Christ, we find that the results 
which are properly attributable to the religion of Christ 
have been of infinite value to mankind. 1 

In considering the hindrances to the advance of Christ s 
kingdom, we must first of all take into account the fact 
that ever since Christ founded His kingdom of grace and 
truth, there has been an invisible kingdom of darkness 
counterworking it, ruled by the devil and his angels/ 
In the parable of the Tares, in which our Lord first unfolds 
to us His large designs respecting His kingdom, He tells us 
of the malicious work done by the enemy, the devil, in 
order to destroy, or, at least, to hinder the work of Christ s 
servants ; and He also taught that to the end of time the 
evil results of the enemy s sowing will be found in His 
field. The earliest history of the Church is a comment on 
this teaching. Satan put it into the heart of Judas to 
betray his Master ; he desired to have Simon Peter and all 

1 The way in which the religion of Christ has modified and improved the 
laws and customs of nations both in Europe and America, is shown in a very 
able work entitled Gesta Ckr .sti ; or, a History of Humane Progress under 
Christianity, by C. Loring ^race. London, 1882. 



24 Universal Mission of the CJmrch of Christ. 

the apostles, that he might sift them as wheat ; he brought 
trouble on the early Church by filling the hearts of two of 
its members to lie to the Holy Ghost (John xiii. 2 ; Luke 
xxii. 31 ; Acts v. 3). The Apostle Paul found himself 
hindered by Satan in the prosecution of his labours 
(1 Thess. ii. 18); he speaks of the great Adversary as the 
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in 
the sons of disobedience (Eph. ii. 2) ; and, though he had 
many powerful human adversaries, makes light of these 
in comparison with the invisible powers of darkness against 
whom he had to contend. Our wrestling, he says, is not 
against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and 
powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against 
the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places 
(Eph. vi. 12). Although it is impossible for us to say 
what are the ways in which the powers of darkness oppose 
the kingdom of God, we cannot surely be mistaken in 
concluding that their malign influence has had much to do 
with the spread and perpetuation of the fetishism, devil- 
worship, and polytheism of uncultured nations ; and with 
those ancient systems of idolatry and false philosophy 
which have so long held in bondage the nations of the East, 
and whose influence becomes more pernicious from age 
to age. 1 

We cannot doubt also that the prince of this world 
(John xii. 31) has wrought out his malicious purposes by 
means of ungodly men whom he has moved to persecute 

1 See Report of Shanghai Conference, p. 260 ; The Life of Dr. John 
Wilson of Bombay, pp. 302-308 ; Dr. Duff on India and Indian Missions, 
pp. 196-258. 



Persecution. 2 5 



the Church. It is one of the deepest and most perplexing- 
mysteries that God has to so large an extent permitted 
wicked men to hinder and destroy the work of true religion. 
But as to the fact of such permission there can be no doubt. 
From the Acts of the Apostles we learn that very early in 
the history of the Church Herod Agrippa slew James the 
brother of John with the sword ; and that, through the 
avarice of Felix, Paul was kept prisoner for two years at 
Coesarea, his missionary labours being thereby suspended. 
By the persecutions which raged throughout the Roman 
Empire during the first three centuries the progress of the 
Divine kingdom was stayed to an extent impossible for us to 
estimate. I suppose there must be some truth in the oft- 
repeated saying of Tertullian, that the blood of the martyrs 
is the seed of the Church/ but it is also true that in many 
instances the death of the martyrs has been the death of 
the cause for which they testified. 1 

From the seventh century and onwards the Muliam- 
madan power has done immeasurable injury to the Church, 
devastating lands once Christian, replacing churches by 
Muhammadan mosques, and setting up a system of religion 
which has done very much to degrade mankind. Wher 
ever it now rules with unchecked power, it raises an 
almost insuperable barrier to the advance of the kingdom 
of God. 2 

1 Archbishop Trench, speaking of the persecution waged by the Papal 
power against the Albigenses, says : Persecution was successful, as 
generally it is, where, with sufficient power to back it, and knowing 
exactly what it intends, it carries this through with a ruthless and 
relentless persistency. Trench s Mediaeval Church History, p. 219. 

2 On the many very serious defects and errors of Muhammadanism and its 



26 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 



The hindrances already named have come from those 
who are without the kingdom. We must now notice those 
which have proceeded from the professed followers of 
Christ. Here let me say, once for all, that it gives me no 
pleasure to speak of the faults of Christians, whether of 
the past or of the present time. I would much rather 
celebrate their virtues, and commemorate the immeasurable 
debt of gratitude which we owe to Christians of past ages. 
But who can record the history of the Church without 
naming the faults of its adherents ? 

When our Lord left the world and ascended far above 
all the heavens, that He might fill all things (Eph. iv. 
10), He made adequate provision for the continued 
existence of His kingdom, and for its extension through 
the world. He instituted the Sacraments of Baptism and 
the Lord s Supper, involving the formation of a community 
clearly marked off from every other organization of men. 
He also gave gifts unto men in the persons of messengers 
sent forth to preach all the words of this life (Acts 
v. 20). And He gave some to be apostles; and some, 
prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and 
teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of 



antagonism to Christianity, see a valuable passage in the Bampton Lecture 
for 1881, by John Wordsworth, M. A. , pp. 244-269. Sir William Muir, in his 
Life of Mahomet, says : They labour under a miserable delusion who 
suppose that Mahometanism prepares the way for a purer faith. No 
system could have been devised with more consummate skill for shutting 
out the nations over which it has sway from the light of truth. . . . The 
sword of Mahomet and the Koran are the most stubborn enemies of civiliza 
tion, liberty, and truth which the world has yet known. Church 
Missionary Atlas, p. 15. 



The Kingdom advanced by Testimony. 2 7 



ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ 
(Eph. iv. 11, 12). These words have chief reference 
to the strengthening and perfecting of men already 
gathered into the Church. But the continual extension of 
the kingdom was provided for, and this was to be 
accomplished by means of testimony. 

To His apostles our Lord said, When the Comforter is 
come . . . He shall bear witness of Me ; and ye also bear 
witness (John xv. 26 ; 27). Here is a twofold testimony, 
Divine and human ! the great subject of the testimony 
always the same the Lord Jesus Christ. So the "Founder 
of the Church, in the last words uttered by Him on earth, 
spoke of the Holy Ghost who should come upon the 
apostles, and then added, And ye shall be My witnesses. 
Here we have the great fundamental law of the progress of 
Christ s kingdom : the one subject of the Church s teaching, 
Christ ; the teachers, witnesses ; the human testimony made 
effectual ~by the Divine Spirit. Where this law is observed 
the kingdom advances ; where neglected, it recedes. Let us 
look at some of the evils resulting from departure from the 
law. 

In the first place, the professed teachers of the Church 
have in many cases not been witnesses. A witness for 
Christ must not only testify of the outward facts of 
Christianity, of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, 
and not merely of the true doctrines of religion ; but he 
must also testify to those inward, spiritual facts, which are 
the perpetually renewed miracles of Christ, wrought by 
His Spirit in the hearts and lives of men. But how can 



28 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

any one bear witness to a true repentance which he has 
never experienced ? to a saving faith which he has never 
exercised ? to the joys of conscious pardon which he 
has never known ? to the power of the grace of God to 
renew and sanctify the outer life, when his own conduct 
gives no token of this ? When the professed teachers of 
Christ s religion are not witnesses/ in the full sense of the 
term, or when they keep silence respecting the all-important 
doctrines of the gospel, such as the guilt and depravity of 
all men, the atonement offered by Christ, the witness of the 
Spirit, the entire sanctification required in the Christian 
life, the last judgment and its eternal issues, how can we 
expect a work which depends on testimony to advance 
apart from such testimony ? When we remember that 
over large portions of Christendom there is no true preach 
ing of the gospel, that even in many Protestant congre 
gations the testimony to the things concerning the Lord 
Jesus Christ is partial and misleading, and that multi 
tudes of Christian people who might bear witness for their 
Lord keep silence respecting Him, we cannot wonder that 
the knowledge of Christ and His salvation does not 
advance more rapidly. 

Sometimes the testimony of the lips is not supported by 
that of the life. In all ages of the Church Christ has 
had servants who have conspicuously glorified Him by deed 
as well as by word ; but too frequently men who have 
professed and called themselves Christians have dis 
honoured the ever-blessed name, and, by their unworthy 
conduct, have repelled men from Christ instead of attracting 



Corruption of Christian Doctrine. 29 

them to Him. It has been justly said that one detected 
hypocrite may make a hundred infidels. 1 

The simplicity of the faith once delivered to the saints 
has been corrupted by unauthorized additions. This evil 
began very soon. In the clays of the apostles false teachers 
endeavoured to impose Judaism on the Gentile converts, 
and the beginnings of Gnosticism and other errors made 
their appearance. 

Soon after the close of the first century a host of errors 
crept in. The authority of the bishops was unduly exalted, 
and the monstrous assumption was made that the ministers 
of religion constituted the lot of God s inheritance/ His 
K\fjpos, to the exclusion of the laity. 2 

The true conception of Christian holiness was perverted 
by the assertion of the superior sanctity of a life of celibacy, 
and by the spread of monasticism. 3 

Then followed the worship of the relics of martyrs, the 
invocation of saints and angels, and especially the worship 
of the Virgin Mary. 4 Later came the alleged supremacy 
of the Bishop of Borne, the doctrines of the opus operatum or 
necessary grace in the sacraments, Transubstantiation, works 
of Supererogation, Indulgences, Purgatory, and many others. 5 

Had these additions made to the primitive faith been as 
true in themselves and as innocuous as the propositions of 

1 Wordsworth s One Religion, p. 10. 

2 See Schaffs History of the Christian ChurcJi, i. 409. The use of the 
words derm (Latin), clerical, and clergy, as designations of an order within 
the Church, is a survival of this error. 

3 On the wide prevalence of monasticism, even before the Council of Nictea, 
and the manifold evils resulting from it, see Isaac Taylor s Ancient Christi 
anity, vol. i. pp. 277-415 ; Schaff, ii. 117-179. 

4 See Schaff; ii. 409, 428. 

6 On errors of the Church of Rome, see generally, Plain Reasons against 
joining the Church of Rome, by R. F. Littledale, LL.D., D.C.L. 



;o Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 



Euclid s elements, the teaching of them as things necessary 
to be believed in order to salvation would have been an in 
tolerable evil, for it would have made man s access to God and 
to eternal life more difficult than the Founder of our religion 
ever intended it to be. But these additions not being truths, 
but untruths, contradicting the fundamental verities of the 
faith, brought infinite mischief. They spread like dark clouds 
over the bright firmament of the Church, causing multi 
tudes to sit in darkness and the shadow of death, who 
but for them might have been blessed with the light of 
life. This corruption of the truth, continuing through long 
ages, and extending through large portions of professing 
Christendom, has turned the thoughts of men from the 
truth which brings salvation, and has turned them into 
fables and traditions of men ; has withdrawn trust from the 
priestly work of Christ and fixed it on a human priesthood, 
the very notion of which is alien from a true Christianity. 
It has directed men s hopes to the creature rather than 
to the Creator ; it has made religion outward and sensuous, 
instead of inward and spiritual ; and has ended in a religious 
ness divorced from morality, to a lamentable extent silenc 
ing in men s hearts the voice of conscience, and making it ex 
tremely difficult to bring home to them any deep sense of sin. 
Another great hindrance to the spread of Christ s 
kingdom has been this : men have lost confidence in the 
sufficiency of the divinely appointed method of extension, 
that of bearing witness to the truth ; although our Lord 
Himself said that to do this was the great end of His 
coming into the world (John xviii. 37). 



Reliance on Secular Power. 



!N"o one was ever more intensely desirous to extend 
God s kingdom than the Apostle Paul, but he never dis 
covered any more expeditious means of doing this than 
that given in his own words : By the manifestation of the 
truth commending ourselves to every man s conscience in 
the sight of God (2 Cor. iv. 2). But to many Christians 
this method has seemed too slow, and they have foolishly 
attempted to advance Christ s kingdom by means altogether 
opposed to its own true character. 

In numberless instances far too much dependence has 
been placed on the help derived from civil rulers ; and John 
Wesley has well spoken of that fatal period when the 
Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian. - 1 When 
the Church too much relies on princes and nobles, it 
tolerates their faults and vices, and then has but little 
authority to rebuke the same sins in the common people. 
Owing to this cause, the moral standard to which professed 
Christians were required to conform was rapidly lowered 
from the time of Constantine onwards. 

Another great evil arose when the Church began to use 
the secular power of princes and governments to put down 
errors in religion, no longer persuading but compelling to 
obedience. Civil punishment for heresy dates from the 
Council of Mcsea ; 2 and we find the greatest names of 

1 See Wesley s Works, vii. 25. The author of Gesta Christi acknowledges 
that some good results flowed from Constantine s legislation, but says : The 
union of the Christian Church with the State under Constantine we regard 
as one of the great blunders of the historical Church, which has drawn after 
it a long train of evils, whose effects are even yet experienced. Gesta 
Christi, p. 51. 

2 Schaffs History of the Church, iii. 629, 630. 



32 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

the early Church, those of Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom, 
all ranged on the side of persecution. As early as 
385 A.D. Maximus, the rival of Theodosius, instigated by a 
Christian bishop, caused a bishop of another sect, with 
several others, to be tortured and beheaded in the city of 
Treves ; and the bishops assembled at Treves, with one ex 
ception, approved this act. 1 This was the first instance of 
the shedding of the blood of heretics by a Christian prince ; 
but the evil example thus set was followed in countless in 
stances afterwards, many of the very best Christians that 
ever lived being put to death by professed followers of 
Christ, under the miserable delusion that by this means 
they could advance the kingdom of God. 2 Protestants 
have persecuted as well as Catholics, and by so doing have 
greatly hindered the cause of truth, but never advanced it 
a single step. Christ gains no servants by compulsion ; 
His people are a willing people. 

Again, the servants of Christ, in their eagerness to in 
crease the number of His professed followers, have too 
readily admitted men into the visible Church. On the 
day of Pentecost and afterwards, the Lord added to the 
Church daily those that were saved (Acts ii. 4). 3 But at 
a later period large numbers were baptized who must have 
been almost wholly, if not quite, ignorant of the Christian 
faith. The instances of the baptism of King Clovis and 

1 SchafFs History, ii. 142, 143. 

2 In the first eighteen years of the Spanish Inquisition under Torquemada, 
10,000 persons were burnt, and 97,321 imprisoned, banished, or reduced to 
want. Dr. Littledale s Plain Reasons ago, inst joining the Church of Rone, 
p. 131. 

3 See Note A. 



Trust in Things Material. 33 

his Franks, of some of our own Saxon kings and their 
subjects, and of the wholesale baptisms by St. Francis 
Xavier in India are examples of this. 1 By such methods 
the members of the Church are multiplied, but its strength 
is lessened, because, by the mixture of the uninstructed 
and unconverted portion with true Christians, the Church s 
faith is corrupted, and its standard of holy living lowered. 

When men lose faith in the Divine methods of propa 
gating religion, they place undue confidence in other things. 
They rely on the effects of splendid church architecture, 
the ornate vestments of priests, exquisite music, the tink 
ling of bells, and the fumes of incense. Some who have 
no faith in such things may place their dependence on 
their Church systems, and may be in danger of making a 
mere fetish of Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, or Methodism, 
expecting from an organization what can be accomplished 
only by Divine power. We may even trust too much to 
the force of argument and eloquence, despising the sim 
plicity of testimony ; and we need constantly to remind 
ourselves that no power save that of the Holy Spirit can 
make any one a new creature in Christ Jesus. 2 

1 St. Francis Xavier landed at Goa and begun his work there in 1542, and 
died in 1552. According to his own view he made many Christians. He 
often says, feci Christianos. But he never mastered one Oriental language, 
and was frequently without an interpreter. (Dr. G. Smith s Handbook oj 
Missions, pp. 145, 146.) The Roman Breviary, December 3, says of him : 
Multa centena hominum millia ad Christum in Indiis convertit : many 
hundreds of thousands converted, and the missionary ignorant of their 
language ! 

2 On the work of the Spirit, and the absolute dependence of Christian 
workers on His power, see the Fernley Lecture for 1870, by G. Osborn, D.D., 
and that for 1882, by Robert N. Young (Woolmer, London). For the view 
taken of this subject by those engaged in Foreign Mission work, see a power- 



34 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

Amongst the causes of delay must be reckoned the mis 
taken notion which has so largely governed the minds of 
Christian people, that the extension of the Church is to 
be accomplished only or chiefly by the labours of its official 
members. The New Testament theory of the kingdom of 
God is that every member of the same is to contribute to 
its advancement; and that not by gifts of money only, but by 
personal service. This is taught in our Lord s parable of the 
Leaven ; by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians, 
in which he represents the growth of the body of the Church 
as effected through that which every joint supplieth (Eph. 
iv. 16) ; by the many references which his Epistles contain 
to the men and women who were ( his helpers in Christ 
Jesus, and who laboured much in the Lord ; and by the 
very remarkable words which he addresses to the Church of 
Rome, declaring his conviction that every member of that 
Church is able to contribute to the edification of all the 
rest : And I myself also am persuaded of you, my 
brethren, that ye yourselves are full of goodness, filled 
with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another 
(Bom. xv. 14). 

Of the work of the extension of the Church, by means 
of its unordained and unofficial members, we have no more 
instructive example than that given by some of the first 
Christians, of whom we read that after the death of 
Stephen, and owing to the persecution which followed it, 
They therefore that were scattered abroad went about 

ful address on The Holy Spirit in Connection with our Work, by Rev. 
Griffith John (Report of Shanghai Conference, pp. 32-44). 



Divisions Scepticism. 35 

preaching the word, ... and travelled as far as Phoenicia, 
and Cyprus, and Antioch. . . . And the hand of the Lord 
was with them ; and a great number that believed turned 
unto the Lord (Acts viii. 4, xi. 19-21). If the advance 
ment of the work depends on one or two only, it moves 
slowly ; but much is accomplished when all the members of 
the Church bear faithful witness for their Lord. 

The division of Christ s followers into rival sects and 
Churches has been productive of much evil. For myself, 
I plead not for a complete uniformity, and I value not 
at a single straw any outward union that is gained by the 
sacrifice of honest conviction ; but we must all deplore 
the extent to which we find prevalent among Christians 
suspicion, jealousy, contempt, and endeavours to counteract 
one another in their efforts to do good. Most earnestly 
should we join in the prayer, that all they that do 
confess Thy holy name may agree in the truth of Thy 
holy word, and live in unity and godly love. 

Amongst the most formidable of all obstacles to the 
spread of true religion is the spirit of unbelief, both within 
the Church and without. The history of the German and 
Danish Missions during the last century affords melancholy 
examples of the way in which the spread of Eationalism 
in the Churches at home may paralyze and destroy missionary 
work abroad. At the present day the writings of our 
English sceptics and agnostics, circulated among the 
educated natives of India, help to keep back many from 
faith in Christ. 

True science has never been an adversary to religion ; 



36 Universal Mission of the Ckurc/i of Christ. 

but a false philosophy in various forms has exerted a 
most baneful influence in the Church from the first 
century to the present time ; whilst, in the judgment of 
well-informed men, the false systems of philosophy pre 
valent in India and China form most formidable barriers 
to the spread of Christian truth. 1 

In this review of hindrances to the kingdom, we must 
reckon as one of the greatest the very general and long- 
continued disobedience on the part of the Church to 
the command of Christ to His servants, to go into 
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 
During the first three centuries of the Church the ex 
tension of Christianity must be considered rapid, when 
all the forces arrayed against it are taken into account. 
Missionary work has never wholly ceased ; but from the 
close of the tenth century to the beginning of the nine 
teenth, little was accomplished towards winning new 
territory for Christendom, if we except the missions 
of the Roman Catholic Church since the Reformation 
period, and the establishment of Christian communities 
in North and South America. But against these gains 
must be set the losses caused by the spread of the 
Muhammadan delusion; especially in Asia and North 
Africa. 

It must be said further that misunderstanding of the 

1 On the doctrine of the inherent sinfulness of matter, derived from Plato, 
and a source of infinite evil in the Church, see SchafFs Church History, i. 
pp. 223, 231, and following. On the influence of Buddhism, Taoism, and 
Confucianism in China, see discussions in the Report of the Shanghai 
Conference, especially pp. 70-75. 



Opposition of unrenewed Heart. 3 7 

teaching of Scripture respecting the second coming of 
Christ has often checked missionary effort. Just as in 
apostolic times there were some at Thessalonica who had 
ceased from working because they thought the day of 
Christ was at hand, so in many subsequent periods 

Christians have withheld their hands from the missionary 

* 

enterprise, because they thought that there could be no 
further extension of the Church before the Lord returned 
to judgment. 

The greatest hindrance of all is one for which Christian 
workers cannot be blamed, namely, the universal op 
position of the unrenewed heart of man to the doctrines 
and claims of the gospel. Christ s first parable teaches 
what all Church history confirms, that when the workers 
in the field are altogether blameless, and the seed sown 
is perfect, the soil may prove unfruitful. When he that 
sowed was the Son of man, and the seed was the word 
of God, very much of what was sown produced no good 
fruit. When all other hindrances are removed out of the 
way, the hardness of men s hearts remains, as all Christian 
workers find to their sorrow. It is often overcome by the 
power of the Divine Spirit, but not always ; for men 
possess the awful power of resisting the Spirit to their own 
destruction. When Stephen addressed the Jewish San 
hedrim he was filled with the Spirit ; but, his hearers 
resisting the Spirit, the issue of the sermon was the 
murder of the preacher. It has sometimes been said 
that Muhammadanism spread more rapidly than Chris 
tianity, as if that were an argument in favour of the 



38 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 



former. But Muhammadanism makes converts by the 
power of the sword, by the direct encouragement which 
it affords to some of the worst tendencies of human 
nature, and by the promise of a sensual paradise. The 
religion of Christ makes no real advance, except in so 
far as it opposes and overcomes whatever in man is 
contrary to truth and righteousness. 

From this brief review we see that there are two classes 
of causes which hinder the extension of Christ s kingdom, 
those arising from without the Church, for which Christians 
cannot be blamed ; and others which are due to the mistakes 
and unfaithfulness of Christians themselves. The con 
sideration of the first class is not without practical value, 
for it suggests to us the need of constant, earnest prayer, 
in order that against all the adversaries of the Church we 
may obtain the help of Almighty power, so that those 
evils which the craft and subtlety of the devil or man 
worketh against us may be brought to nought, and by the 
providence of God s goodness they may be dispersed. In 
view of the opposition of men s hearts to Christ s gospel, 
we must pray for the abundant outpouring of the Spirit, 
which is God s special promise for these last days. 

Instructed by the history of the Church, we must avoid 
former errors, resolutely refusing to employ for the ex 
tension of the Divine kingdom any methods which our 
Lord disallows. In the earliest recorded example of the 
admission of Gentile converts into the Church, we have 
the true pattern of all Church extension. While Peter 
yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them 



Present Duty of the Church* 39 

which heard the word (Acts x. 44). Here are the 
three mighty factors in the work, the only ones essentially 
necessary : the living human witness, the Divine word 
spoken, the Divine Spirit accompanying the word. It is 
to be noted also that in this instance the manifest bestow- 
ment of the Spirit did not follow baptism, nor accompany 
it, but preceded it. The Lord added to the Church those 
that were saved. 



III. 



THE PKESENT DUTY OF THE CHURCH IN VIEW OF CHRIST S 
PURPOSES, AND OF THE PRESENT EELIGIOUS CONDITION 
OF MANKIND. 

Whilst the Church has a very great work to accomplish 
amongst those who are nominal Christians, the original 
purpose of this lecture leads me to direct attention chiefly 
to what is to be done for the non- Christian peoples of the 
earth. 

One of the first and most important duties of the 
Church is to survey the whole field of its labours, that is, 
to ascertain as fully as possible the present religious 
condition of mankind. The want of zeal and diligence 
on the part of many Christians in promoting the kingdom 
of God is largely due to ignorance of the world s religious 
needs. Such ignorance is highly culpable. If we have 
a field to cultivate, we ought to know its boundaries, 
its extent, and condition. If we have a warfare to wage, 



4O Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 



we ought to know the extent of the forces arrayed against 
us. If it is the duty of the Church to bring all men to 
the knowledge of Christ, we ought to know how many 
have to be reached and taught, what their moral condition 
and religious beliefs are, and what are the causes which 
keep them from the fold of Christ. Information on all 
these subjects is abundant and well-nigh complete. We 
may at least feel confident that we shall not hereafter 
discover any feature of heathenism that will be new to 
us. Thanks to the labours of missionaries, the publications 
of many travellers, and the works of writers who have 
made the various religions of the world their special 
study, we have very full information as to the religious 
state of the world. But it is not enough that such 
knowledge is available if it is not used, that such books 
should be written if they are not read. There is urgent 
need that Christians generally should give less time to 
reading other things, and more to the study of the things 
pertaining to the kingdom of God. 

It is impossible in this lecture to state the facts relating 
to this all-important subject, except in the briefest outline. 

Giving only round numbers, we may say that the 
present condition of the field of the kingdom is this : 

The total population of the globe is taken at 1440 
millions. This is divided into 

Christians, 440 millions. 

Non-Christians, 1000 
Olt the non-Christians 

8 millions are Jews. 



Statistics of Missions. 41 

172 millions are Muhammadans. 
800 Buddhists, Brahmins, etc. 1 

Here is the work of the Church ! In addition to what 
remains to be done among nominal Christians, it has to bring 
these 1000 millions to the knowledge of Christ and salvation. 
The following brief summary indicates the progress 
which has been made by Protestant Missions since the 
beginning of the present century : 

In 1800 Missionary Societies numbered . 7. 

There are now . . . . . 100. 

In 1800 the converts numbered about . 50,000. 

They are now estimated at . . 2,700,000. 

In 1800 the total income of all the 

Societies was about . . . 50,000. 
It is now estimated at . . . 2,275,000. 
In 1800 the Mission schools were about . 70. 

They are now estimated at . . 12,000. 

And the scholars in these are . 400,000. 

In 1800 there were probably about 170 Missionaries 
(100 of these connected with the Moravians), 
with very few native helpers. 
It is estimated that there are now of 
Missionaries of all kinds . . . 4919. 

Native helpers .... 29,471. 

Communicants 622, 577. 2 

1 Dr. G. Smith s Handbook of Missions, p. 194. 

2 See Christlieb s History of Missions, pp. 14-18 ; Dr. G. Smith s Hand 
book of Missions, pp. 192, 193, 196. Compare Dr. Warneck s History of 
Protestant Missions (1882), p. 112. His statistics give somewhat lower 
numbers, but they refer to an earlier period. In any case these figures are 
only approximately correct. 



42 Universal Mission of the CJmrch of Christ. 

The Eoman Catholic Church has conducted missions 
in the East, and in many other regions, with various degrees 
of success, during the last 300 years. Acccording to 
Koman Catholic authorities, the Catholic Christians in 
India and Ceylon number 4,150,000 ; in China, 400,000 ; 
and in other parts of Asia about 300,000. Missions in 
other parts of the world, about 450,000. 1 

It is impossible for us as Protestants to approve of all 
the methods used by Eoman Catholic missionaries, or to 
be satisfied with the character of the conversions recorded ; 
but none can deny that the history of these missions 
contains most striking examples of devoted zeal on the 
part of the missionaries, whilst thousands of their converts 
have been willing to lay down their lives rather than 
deny the faith of Christ. 

The Missionary contributions of the Eoman Catholic 
Propaganda for all parts of the world were, in 1878, 
244,200 ; but this sum by no means includes the 
whole of the contributions of Eoman Catholics to Christian 
Missions. 2 

Very little can be said of the missionary activity of the 
Greek Church, but in 18*70 a society was formed in 

1 Cyclopaedia of M Clintock & Strong, New York, 1876. 

2 The statistics of Roman Catholic Missions are at present very uncertain. 
In contrast with the number of 4,150,000 converts for India and Ceylon, Dr. 
Smith in his Handbook of Missions, p. 150, says: The Roman Catholic 
population of India is returned by the Census of 1882 as 963,058, or half the 
whole Christian population of 1,862,634. Dr. Hunter, in his article on 
India, in the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, gives the total 
number of Christians in British India as 897,682. The Protestant En 
cyclopedic des Sciences Religieuses gives much larger numbers than those 
above stated. In the Roman Catholic Kirchen-Lexicon, oder Encyclopadie 



Greatness of Work to be accomplished. 43 



Moscow, having for its object the conversion of non- 
Christians within the Eussian Empire. It is not beyond 
the limits of a reasonable hope that a revived and reformed 
Greek Church may even yet become a mighty agent in the 
extension of Christianity through the East. 

This brief survey shows us plainly two things. First, 
that we have abundant cause for thankfulness and 
encouragement on account of what has been accomplished 
within the last eighty-three years. But secondly, we see that 
our work, so far from being accomplished, is only just begun. 
Two or three facts make this only too evident. Over 
against the total number of communicants given above as 
622,577, we have to place the 1000 millions of non- 
Christians. The latest statistics give the population of 
India at 250 millions ; and the Eeport of the Calcutta 
Conference on Missions (1883) gives the communicants of 
Protestant Missions as 145,097 ; the native Christians as 
528,590. The population of China is variously estimated, 
but may perhaps be taken as about 300 millions. 1 The 
Eeport of the Shanghai Conference, held in 1877, gives 
the total number of communicants connected with 
Protestant Missions at 13,035; but Dr. Warneck states 

tier Katholischen Theologie, article Mission (Freiburg, 1851), no statement of 
the number of converts is given, but there is a list of twenty-nine colleges 
for the training of missionaries, fifteen in Rome, and fourteen outside Rome. 
Of the latter four are in Ireland. The Jesuits have in Europe thirty 
missions, and connected with these 232 Individuals, i.e. Priests, Scholars, 
and Brothers. Total number of Jesuits in all parts of the world engaged in 
mission work, 625. In Dr. Smith s Handbook, p. 154, there is a list of 
twenty-five Roman Catholic Missionary Agencies. He mentions also the 
Grand Society of the Russian Church. 

1 Whitaker s Almanack for 1883, p. 331 ; Dr. G. Smith s Handbook, p. 195, 
gives 210 millions. 



44 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

that in 1881 the number was 19, 6 GO. 1 If in the centuries 
to come the ingathering of the heathen were to be no 
greater than in the century last past, the length of the 
period which would then be required for the conversion of 
1000 millions of heathen would be so enormous that 
the very contemplation of it is appalling. 2 

But there are many valid grounds for hope that the 
success of the future will be very much greater than that 
of the past. Among such grounds of hope are the 
following. Many difficulties which once hindered mission 
work have been overcome. The hostility of various 
governments has been converted to friendliness, or greatly 
abated; whilst the prejudices of heathen populations against 
missionaries and their work have to a very great extent 
been removed. Thus almost throughout the world the 
door stands open for the messengers of salvation to enter 
in. Since the beginning of this century many languages 
previously unknown to missionaries have been mastered, 
and in several instances reduced to writing by the 
missionaries themselves. Grammars, lexicons, primers 
have been written ; and these have been followed by prayer- 
books, hymn-books, catechisms, compendiums of theology, 
and treatises on various branches of useful knowledge 
written from a Christian point of view. Best of all, the 
Holy Scriptures have been translated into many different 
tongues. At the beginning of the present century the 
Scriptures existed in some fifty translations. Since then 

1 Warneck s Protestant Missions, p. 164. 

2 See Note B. 



Aids to the Progress of Christianity. 45 



translations of the Bible, or of its more important parts, have 
been accomplished in at least 226 languages and dialects/ 

One thing very favourable to the spread of the gospel 
is the general prevalence of peace in the world. It 
cannot indeed be said that wars and fightings have come to 
an end; but never before did so many millions of men 
dwell together in peace, whilst many signs of the times lead 
us to hope that the reign of peace will extend more and 
more as the ages pass on. 

Then too, the greater part of the political power of the 
world is in the hands of Christian nations, and Protestant, 
English-speaking people have the greatest influence with 
non-Christian nations. Half of mankind, if not Christians, 
are ruled by professedly Christian powers. Great Britain 
alone rules one fourth of the race, for whom the " Pax 
Britannica " is doing exactly what God used the " Pax 
Eomana" to do for the eighty-five millions around the 
Mediterranean Sea, when Jesus Christ began His brief three 
years ministry/ 1 

Again, commerce, which exercises an ever-growing in 
fluence upon the destinies of nations, belongs chiefly to the 
English race. It has been estimated that of the whole com 
merce of the world seventy per cent, is English and American. 2 

1 Dr. G. Smith s Handbook of Missions, pp. 23, 24 ; on the advantages of 
Christian rule to non-Christian nations, see Appendix III. 

2 The following statistics are given in Warneck s History of Protestant 
Missions, p. 114 : 

COMMERCE IN 1875. 

The English races, . . . 1,027,970,500 

All other nations, .... 441,254,200 

Total commerce, . . . . . 1,469,224,700 



46 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

The increased facilities for travel by land and sea, and 
the extension of postal and telegraphic communication, make 
it easy for us to visit and communicate with almost every 
part of the world ; whilst by means of the printing-press 
religious publications can be multiplied by millions. All 
these things . seem plainly to indicate that God in His 
providence is preparing the way for the publication of the 
gospel of Christ among all nations. 

Nor can we overlook the help rendered to the cause of 
religion by those Christians who are living in the midst of 
heathen populations, and who, though not professedly 
engaged in missionary work, do much to help it forward. 
This has been especially the case in India, and the great 
names of Henry and John Lawrence, of Havelock, J. C. 
Marshman, Herbert Edwards, Bartle Frere, and many others, 
must ever be remembered as those of men who, by their high 
character as Christians, and in various other ways, greatly 
helped the cause of truth and righteousness. In proportion 
as England becomes more thoroughly Christian, such 
examples will multiply ; whilst those of an opposite 
character, of Englishmen who have been a reproach to the 
Christian name, will diminish. 

We may also anticipate that on the whole much good 
will result from the mingling of the inhabitants of India, 
China, and Japan, with the Christian inhabitants of England, 
America, and Australia. We do not suppose that the effect 
of this will be wholly good ; but unquestionably it will con 
tribute largely to extend the knowledge of religion amongst 
Eastern people, especially those of the educated classes. 



Missionary Societies. 47 

The extension of education under Christian governments 
must also be taken into account. Not that this is always 
favourable to Christianity, but the diffusion of European 
science tends to the inevitable destruction of idolatry and 
superstition, and thus, we may hope, prepares the way for 
a faith established on the everlasting foundations. 

Looking at the great missionary agency itself, we see 
many encouraging signs of progress. The very large 
number of missionary societies now at work is a fact 
of vast significance. 1 These have their headquarters in 
Great Britain, the United States, Canada, the Continent of 
Europe, and Australia. These societies, working from so 
many different centres, not only give hope of a rapid 
extension of the kingdom of Christ in heathen lands, but 
tend also to a wide diffusion of zeal and enterprise among 
all the Churches of Christ. It is difficult to give the 
number of distinct stations in the mission field, but they 
must be exceedingly numerous. 2 

We no longer see the ordained foreign missionary 
working alone. In most cases he has around him a band 
of fellow - labourers. These are the ordained native 
ministers, catechists, day-school teachers, Sunday-school 
teachers, and others. It is very evident that the vast 
masses of the heathen population will have to be won to 

1 1 have given the number at 100 on the authority of Dr. G. Smith s Hand 
book, p. 192. "Warneck s History of Missions, p. 112, gives 70 societies. 
Smith, on pp. 198, 199, gives names and statistics of 75 societies. Neither 
estimate takes account of missionary societies in Australia and the Pacific. 

2 The Report of the Calcutta Conference for 1883 gives 716 for India. 
The Report of the Shanghai Conference, 1877, gives for China : Stations where 
missionaries reside, 91 ; Out-stations, 511 ; Organized churches, 312. 



48 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

Christ by men of their own race and tongue ; and hence 
of late years great efforts have been made to train native 
ministers, to form native churches, and to make these self- 
supporting. These efforts have met with very varying 
degrees of success, but the results in some instances are in 
a high degree satisfactory. 1 

Medical missions are becoming increasingly important. 
As our Lord Himself went about doing good by preaching 
the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sick 
ness and disease among the people, so devoted men among 
His followers are now in heathen countries engaged in the 
work of healing, whilst also preaching the word of life. 
The establishment of hospitals by missionaries, and the 
benefits conferred by means of these on large numbers of 
patients, tends powerfully to conciliate the heathen in 
favour of mission work. Some of these medical mission 
aries are women ; and these have found access to the 
zenanas of women of the highest classes, and have won 
some of them to the faith of God. The work of Christian 
women amongst women in heathen lands is constantly 
extending its blessed influence. The stronghold of super 
stition is maintained by women ; and when these can be 
won for Christ, the triumph of the kingdom of God every 
where will be nigh at hand. 2 

The multiplication of schools of various classes 

1 See Note C. 

2 The number of foreign and Eurasian female missionaries in India is 
about 500. For information on zenana work, see Report of Mlldmay Con 
ference, pp. 179-188, 295-322 ; Calcutta Conference, 315-323 ; Women s Work 
In India, by William Arthur (Woolmer, London, 1882). 



Sunday Schools. 49 



vernacular and English boarding - schools, orphanages, 
high schools, and colleges, promises much. The establish 
ment of Sunday schools in India and China is com 
paratively recent ; but it seems probable that these will 
prove one of the most successful of all the means employed. 
Parents send their children readily ; the young people 
come with unprejudiced minds. They delight in singing 
hymns ; they store their memories with passages of 
Scripture ; and often become powerful pleaders with their 
parents on behalf of the Christian faith. In some 
instances large numbers of children are collected. After 
all that we have heard respecting Cawnpore, it comes 
upon us as a welcome surprise to learn that in that place 
there are nine Sunday schools, belonging to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, containing 1000 scholars. 1 

In some places the heathen parents, seeing the effects 
of Christian teaching on the minds of their children, say 
to the missionary : Sir, we shall not accept Christ, we 
are too old to change ; but our children will certainly 
become Christians. 2 

The most advanced thinkers among the heathen 
anticipate the rapid extension and ultimate triumph of 
Christianity. That remarkable man whose career in India 
has lately closed, Keshub Chunder Sen, once uttered words 
which we trust are truly prophetic. Our hearts, he said, 
are touched, conquered, overcome by a Higher Power; 
and this power is Christ ; no one but Christ has deserved 



1 Calcutta Conference Report, 1883, p. 49. 
* Calcutta Conference, p. 40. 

D 



50 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

the precious diadem of the Indian crown, and He will 
have it. J 

But these fair prospects and cheering hopes call upon 
the Church of Christ for greater efforts and sacrifices than 
it has made hitherto. Two things are required : more 
labourers in the mission field, and larger pecuniary con 
tributions at home. Never had the words of Christ, 
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few, 
so large a meaning as at present ; nor need we doubt 
that, in answer to the prayers of the Church, suitable 
labourers will IDC given. When we call to mind the 
missionaries of modern times, and think of the work of 
Eliot in the 17th century ; of the labours of Brainerd and 
Schwartz in the last century ; of our own Dr. Coke ; of 
the great Indian missionaries, Carey, Marshman and Ward, 
Wilson of Bombay, Duff of Calcutta, Judson of Burmah ; 
of Morrison and Milne in China ; of Barnabas and William 
Shaw, Livingstone and Moffat in South Africa ; of John 
Williams, John Hunt, and Bishop Patteson in the South 
Seas ; we feel that better missionaries than these we cannot 
expect to have, and need not pray for ; but we need such 
in larger numbers. What is more encouraging still is 
to remember that there are not a few merely, but many 
living missionaries, who in personal character, devoted 
zeal, enterprise, and labour, come not a whit behind the 
noblest of their predecessors. We know that among our 



1 See Wordsworth s One Religion, p. 214, and Christlieb s History of 
Missions, p. 195. This is not a solitary example of such anticipations. 
See "Warneck on Modern Missions and Culture, pp. 148, 149. 



A new Crusade needed. 51 

own Methodist brethren there are those who to the 
mission cause have given themselves and all that they 
have. 

"We have to note also the fact that not a few devoted 
men and women have gone forth to do mission work, 
without obtaining from the Churches at home any pledges 
for their support. The facilities for workers of different 
ages, classes, and varied degrees of education to undertake 
mission work are now greater than ever before, especially 
for English - speaking Christians, because of the large 
numbers of non-Christian people, especially in India, who 
understand our own language. Thus an earnest Christian, 
within a month or six weeks after leaving England, may be 
doing effective work for Christ in the missionary field, with 
out having acquired any language but his mother tongue. 
May we not hope that in years to come the volunteers 
in this service will be greatly multiplied. More than 
700 years ago multitudes went forth from England and 
the Continent of Europe to join in the Crusades. They went 
to rescue the sepulchre of Christ and the site of the Jewish 
Temple from the hands of the misbelievers. Kings and 
princes left their kingdoms, and great nobles their estates ; 
whilst knights and their retainers mortgaged their property, 
and raised large sums of money to take them to the Holy 
Land. Vast numbers who thus went forth never returned, 
but laid down their lives in foreign lands on behalf of 
what they judged to be a sacred cause. They went 
because they said, God wills it. With these expeditions 
were connected much folly and sin ; but the impulse was 



5 2 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

a noble one, for these men sought to do honour to Christ. 
Shall we ever see a new and better crusade ? Why not ? 
Why should not the Church of this age, with far better 
views of truth, with wealth immeasurably increased, with 
facilities of travel and ready communication with all 
nations unexampled in the past, send forth its hosts of 
believers, not to rescue the sepulchre of Christ or the site 
of the Temple, but to save from the bondage of degrading 
superstition those who are the purchase of the Saviour s 
blood, and capable of becoming living temples of the 
Holy Ghost ? There are many Christians in England 
whose lives are comparatively aimless, useless, and joyless, 
who, if labouring in the mission field, would find ample 
scope for all their powers, would exchange apathy and 
listlessness for work of the deepest interest, and live a life 
enriched with the purest of all satisfactions, the joy of 
saving souls from death. Of this work of converting the 
heathen to Christ we may surely say, c God wills it. 
Christ calls His servants to it : happy are they who obey 
His call. 1 

If we remain at home, and are to fulfil our duty to 
Christ, we must be prepared to offer larger gifts, much 
larger gifts, to the missionary treasury. We have been 
too well satisfied with the contributions already made. 
According to a statement lately published by Canon Scott 

1 Some Christian gentlemen, possessed of wealth and leisure, have set 
a good example by going on a tour of inspection of mission stations in 
India and elsewhere. Will not many more do the same ? Such visits must 
prove of advantage to the visitors themselves, and will greatly help the 
missionary cause. 



Larger Contributions needed. 53 

Kobertson, the total amount of British Contributions to 
Foreign Missions amounted in 1882 to 1,191,175. 
But as a very considerable portion of this sum was for 
Irish, Continental, and Colonial Missions, what was con 
tributed for the spread of the gospel among the heathen 
was less than one million sterling. No doubt the amount 
just named represents much noble generosity on the part 
of many Christians ; but when we remember that the total 
annual income of the people of Great Britain is estimated 
at 1200 millions, 1 and that our annual drink bill ranges 
from 120 to 140 millions, we must say respecting our 
missionary contributions, Boasting is excluded. If we 
are ever tempted to boast, let us remember that what the 
heathen spend in honour of their false gods far exceeds 
the proportion of our own gifts. Dr. Duff, in his work on 
India, states that in one town in India, at one annual 
festival, half a million sterling is sometimes spent in honour 
of Durga, one out of the 300 millions of India s false gods. 2 
Less than a million of money gathered from the whole of 
this Christian nation in one year to extend Christ s 
kingdom : while half a million is spent in one Indian town 
in a few days, in honour of an idol that is nothing in 
the world ! Dr. Yates of Shanghai has calculated that the 
amount spent by the Chinese in one year, in honour of 
their deceased ancestors, exceeds 30 millions sterling. 8 
Were the people of this country, by a self - imposed 



1 Statesman s Year Book for 1884, p. 227. 

2 India and Indian Missions, by Dr. Duff, p. 232. 

3 Report of Shanghai Conference, p. 385. 



54 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

income-tax, to contribute one penny in the pound of 
their income for missionary purposes, this would yield 
5,000,000. Is it too much to hope, that ere long this 
Christian nation will not think it too much to con 
tribute the 240th part of its income to the noblest of 
all charities ? 

The considerations which should prompt us to increased 
zeal in missionary work are many and powerful. Loyalty 
to Christ our Saviour demands it. He is the rightful Lord 
of all mankind. The heathen have been given to Him as 
His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
as His possession (Ps. ii. 8). 1 He says Himself, All 
authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on 
earth (Matt, xxviii. 18). Every idolater is a rebel 
against Christ ; every Muhammadan sets the false prophet 
above the Eedeemer of the world ; every unbelieving Jew 
is a rejecter of the claims of the Son of God. Surely every 
loyal servant of Christ ought to be anxious to claim and 
win for Him the honour which is His due. What Christian 
heart does not feel the force of the appeal contained in 
the words : Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, 
that ye through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor. viii. 
9). For us men and our salvation He came down from 
heaven ; He endured unspeakable sorrow to give us infinite 
joy ; He submitted to shame and spitting that He might 



1 It is strange that many Christians still pray as if the Father had not 
yet granted this request of the Son. Those who thus pray, however, never 
go on to request the exercise of the kingly power spoken of in the next verse. 



Christianity alone Sufficient. 55 

bring us to glory ; He endured the death of the cross 
that He might bestow on us eternal life. What shall we 
render our good Lord in return for all His mercy to us ? 
We can make Him no recompense, for all that we have 
He has given us ; but we can do what is dear to the 
heart of Christ : we can with deep sympathy enter into 
the purposes of His mercy respecting our race ; we can 
make Him known ; we can extend His kingdom. With 
such service Christ is well pleased. Shall we refuse it ? 

The unutterable misery and degradation of the heathen 
call aloud for our compassion and help ; and our responsi 
bility respecting them is increased by the very full know 
ledge which we now have of their condition. By all our 
sources of information two things are made plain. First, 
that men everywhere need religion, and everywhere seek 
it, though they seek it blindly ; and, secondly, that no 
religion, except that of Christ, is adequate to meet the 
moral needs of men. All other religions fail in the follow 
ing respects. They cannot give peace of conscience, for 
they tell of no adequate atonement for sin ; they cannot \ 
lead to holiness of life, because they do not make known ! 
the Spirit who overcomes the flesh ; they give no infal 
lible rule of faith and practice ; they present men with no ( 
perfect model of a godly life on earth ; and afford no 
sure hope of the life everlasting. The religion of Christ 
is perfect in all these respects. 

In the first part of this lecture I have adverted to 
what Christ and His apostles teach as to the absolute 
sufficiency of the Christian religion to meet the needs of 



56 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

all men, and the history of the Church for more than eighteen 
centuries confirms and illustrates the truth of this teach 
ing. In all these centuries, and never more conspicuously 
than in our own, Christianity, rightly taught and faithfully 
accepted, has proved itself adequate to raise men who were 
sunk in the lowest depths of barbarism and moral degrada 
tion to a new and noble life ; and at the same time it has 
satisfied the reason and moral nature of men endowed 
with the highest intellectual powers of which history 
gives us any record. Of the sufficiency of the religion of 
Christ we, who believe in Him and love Him, have the 
most convincing of all evidence, the immediate testimony 
of our own consciousness ; we know, if we know anything 
at all, that in Christ we have all that we need. We 
know that the love of God, shed abroad in our hearts by 
the Holy Ghost given unto us, reforms our lives, sanctifies 
our souls, lessens all our sorrows, heightens all our joys, 
sustains amidst all the trials of life, and enables us to 
say in prospect of death, We know that if the earthly 
house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building 
from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens (2 Cor. v. 1). If, in reviewing any part of our 
Christian course, we are conscious of failure, we never 
blame the provisions of God s grace as insufficient ; we 
only blame ourselves, because we have not accepted, as 
fully as we might have done, God s proffered mercy. 

Looking, then, at our relation to the heathen, the case 
stands thus. We have what they above all things need. 
They are sitting in darkness, we have the light of life ; 



God saves Man by Man. 5 7 



they are perishing with hunger, we have in our hands the 
bread of life ; they are fallen, we can raise them ; they 
are full of misery, we can bring them satisfying joys ; they 
are full of despair, we, as workers together with God, can 
give them the hope of everlasting life. Shall we refuse 
to share our most precious gifts with them, when we know 
that the more abundant the distribution we make, the more 
we have ourselves. Another consideration is very clear and 
very solemn. The great blessings of the religion of Christ 
never reach the heathen except by our means. It \vere 
too bold a thing to say that God cannot save man without 
man ; but, as far as we can see, He never does so save. 
Did you ever hear of any one in a heathen country who 
up to a given time was a worshipper of idols, and then 
became a worshipper of the true God, apart from human 
agency, direct or indirect ? Did you ever hear of an 
ungodly man in England who broke off his evil ways and 
became a true Christian apart from human help ? Are 
there any such cases recorded ? I know not any. The 
men now living without salvation must le saved ~by some 
one, or they will never be saved at all ; the sheep that 
have wandered from Christ s fold must be sought and 
found and brought back to the fold, or they will never 
enter it. 

I have spoken of the duty of the Church at large ; but 
every Christian must deeply consider his own obligation 
to Christ, and inquire, as Saul of Tarsus did, Lord, what 
wouldest Thou have me to do ? Much good that might 
be done is never accomplished, because men yield to a 



58 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

temptation which conies to them clothed in the garb of a 
false humility. They say, The work is so great, and my 
power to do anything so small, that whether I do anything 
or nothing makes little difference. Let no one say so. 
To each servant of Christ it is a matter of infinite conse 
quence whether he fulfils or not the task assigned him 
by his Lord. The joy of our acceptance in the last day, 
our final recompense in heaven, depend on the use we 
make of the talent or the pound which Christ has 
entrusted to our care. Besides, if one convert a sinner 
from the error of his ways and lead him to Christ and 
life eternal, is not this a matter of infinite moment to the 
one so rescued ? 

The work to be done for Christ in the world is, as we 
have seen, very great ; and by the very circumstances of 
the age in which we live our Lord calls us to work for 
Him. His own word to us is, Seek first the kingdom of 
God and His righteousness ; and our obedience to this 
command is not complete, if we care only to make our 
own election sure, being careless about the salvation of 
others. In truth, we have to choose between a life con 
cerned only about self, and one devoted to Christ and the 
good of our fellow-men. We are free to choose. But let 
us remember this : if life is centred in self and devoted to 
self it will be full of bitter disappointments, for the world 
never gives the selfish man all that he craves from it. 
Such a life is never separable from meanness, for in self- 
seeking there is no elevating power; and the life of the 
selfish man never attains to true dignity or joy. But in a 



The C/mrc/i a Building. 59 

life wholly devoted to Christ there is peace and joy and 
nobleness ; an ever-increasing usefulness, a growing con 
formity to Christ Himself, with blessed foretastes of the 
life to come. Shall we concentrate our thoughts and 
spend our strength on the things which perish with the 
using, or on those which endure for evermore ? 

The Church of Christ, according to the Scriptures, is a 
vast building, ever growing greater and more glorious, but 
never to be finished until He who laid the foundations 
thereof shall come to earth the second time to accomplish 
its perfection, and to fill it with His glory. From this 
comparison the humblest worker in the Church may derive 
encouragement. When we first behold some majestic 
building reared by the hand of man, we give the first and 
highest praise to the architect who designed the whole. 
But we also praise the workmen who placed stone upon 
stone, set up the goodly pillars, framed the arches and 
formed the lights ; and we see that not a particle of labour 
was useless that was expended in fulfilment of the master- 
builder s plan. So when that greatest building of God is 
complete, and we, among the nations of the saved, walk in 
the streets of the New Jerusalem, our first and highest 
praise will be given to Him who, in His infinite wisdom 
and goodness, planned the great design before the world 
was. But we shall also praise the work of apostles, and 
prophets, and martyrs, and of the workers of all ages of the 
Church who have helped to accomplish the purpose of 
Christ ; and we shall then see that no true work done for 
Him and His Church was ever in vain. And would you 



60 Universal Mission of the Church of Christ. 

not wish to find some of your own work there ? Would 
you not like to discover that some of the living stones 
would never have rested on the sure foundation if your 
own hands had not placed them there ? that from the 
everlasting songs some voices would have been wanting if 
you had not first taught them to sing the Saviour s praise ? 
What is all gain of wealth, what is worldly honour or 
selfish pleasure, compared with the blessedness of working 
for Christ and His kingdom ? Who will now put his hand 
to this work ? Who will now arise and do service in 
God s great building, the Church, the result of which shall 
be found in glory given to Christ, in the joy of saved souls, 
and in the perfect bliss of the workman himself when the 
heavens and the earth are no more ! 



APPENDICES. 



APPENDIX I. 

WORKS ON CHRISTIAN MISSIONS, WITH OTHERS 
REFERRED TO IN THE LECTURE. 



I. 

WORKS GIVING COMPENDIOUS VIEWS OF THE 
HISTORY, OPERATIONS, AND RESULTS OP PROTESTANT MISSIONS. 

CHRISTLIEB. Protestant Foreign Missions. By Theodore Christ- 
lieb, D.D. Translated by David B. Croom, M.A. Nisbet, 
London, 1880. 

DORCHESTER. The Problem of Religious Progress. By David 
Dorchester, D.D., New York. (Gives very full statistics of 
Churches of America, and Missions of United States.) 

GUNDERT. Die Evangelische Mission, ihre Lander, Vblker, und 
Arbeiten (Evangelical Missions, their Countries, Peoples, 
and Labours). A. Gundert, Stuttgart, 1881. 

HANDBOOK OF MISSIONS. Elliot Stock, London. 

NEWCOMBE. Cyclopaedia of Missions. By Rev. H. Newcombe, 
New York. 

SMITH. Short History of Missions. By George Smith, LL.D. 
Clark, Edinburgh, 1884. (One of a series of Handbooks for 
Bible Classes. An exceedingly useful manual. Referred to 
in lecture as Dr. G. Smith s Handbook.) 



6 2 Appe ndices. 



WARNECK. Outline of the History of Protestant Missions. By 
Dr. Gustav Warneck. Translated by Thomas Smith, D.D. 
Edinburgh, 1884. 

WARNECK. Modern Missions and Culture : their mutual Re 
lations. By Dr. Gustav Warneck. Translated by Thomas 
Smith, D.D. Edinburgh, 1883. 

ATLASES. Church Missionary Atlas. 1879. 

Grundemann s Allgemeiner Missions-Atlas. Gotha, 
1871. 

II. 

RECORDS OF MISSIONARY CONFERENCES. 

LIVERPOOL CONFERENCE OF 1860. Nisbet, London, 1860. 
ALLAHABAD, 1872-73. Seeley, London, 1873. 
SHANGHAI, 1877. Shanghai Presbyterian Mission Press, 1878. 
MILDMAY PARK, London, 1878. Shaw, London, 1879. 
SOUTH INDIA AND CEYLON, 1879. 2 vols. London, Snow, 1880. 
CALCUTTA SECOND DECENNIAL CONFERENCE, 1882-83. Calcutta 
Baptist Missionary Press, 1883. 

These Reports cannot be too strongly recommended. The 
papers, speeches, and discussions contained in them give us views 
of Mission work by the most competent of all authorities, and 
inspire us with a high regard for the Missionaries themselves. 

III. 

LIVES OF EMINENT MODERN MISSIONARIES. 

BRAINERD. Life of David Brainerd, by D wight. Newhaven, 

U.S., 1822. 
BURNS. Life of W. C. Burns, M.A. By Professor Islay Burns. 

Nisbet, London, 1873. 



Appendices. 63 



CAREY. Carey, Marshman and Ward. By John Marshman. 2 

vols. Also popular edition : Strahan, 1864. (A Life of 

Carey is in preparation by Dr. George Smith, author of Life 

of Dr. Duff.) 
COKE. Life of Dr. Thomas Coke. By Dr. J. W. Etheridge. 

London, 1860. 
DUFF. Life of Alexander Duff, D.D. By Dr. George Smith. 

2 vols. London, 1879. 
ELIOT, JOHN. By Dr. John Wilson. 1829. 
ELLIS, WILLIAM. Memoirs. London, 1874. 
HUNT. Life of John Hunt. By Eev. G. S. Howe. London, 1860. 
JUDSON, ADONIRAM, D.D. By his Son. 1883. 
LIVINGSTONE, DAVID. By H. G. Adams. Hodder & Stoughton, 

London, 1882. 

MARTYN HENRY. By John Sargent. 1819. 
MOFFAT, ROBERT. Life and Labours in South Africa. Snow, 

1871. 
MORRISON, ROBERT, D.D. Memoirs by his Widow. 2 vols. 

London, 1839. 
PATTESON, J. C., Bishop. By C. M. Yonge. 2 vols. London, 

1874. 

SCHWARTZ, CHRISTIAN F. By Dr. Pearson. 1834. 
WILLIAMS, JOHN. Narrative of Missionary Enterprise. Snow, 

1837. 
WILSON, JOHN, D.D. By Dr. George Smith. Murray, London, 

1879. 

IV. 

WORKS ON THE YARIOUS RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD. 

BUDDHISM. By J. W. Rhys Davids. (Christian Knowledge 
Society.) Works by the Rev. R. Spence Hardy, namely : 
Eastern Monachism, London, 1850; Manual of Buddhism, 
London, 1853 ; Legends and Theories of the Buddhists, 
London, 1865. 



64 Appendices. 



CHINA. Religions of China, namely : Confucianism and Taoism. 
By Dr. Legge, London, 1880. (According to Missionaries 
labouring in China, the real religion of the Chinese is the 
worship of ancestors. See on this subject a very valuable 
essay by Dr. Yates in the Record of Shanghai Conference, 
pp. 367-387.) 

HINDUISM. By Monier Williams, M.A. (Christian Knowledge 
Society.) Also Indian Wisdom. By Monier Williams, 
M.A. London, 1876. 

MUHAMMADANISM. Islam and its Founder. By J. W. H. 
Stobart. (Christian Knowledge Society.) 

POLYTHEISM. See Article by Dr. Woolsey in the Cyclopeeclia of 
Drs. M Clintock and Strong, which contains a full list of the 
literature on the subject. 

THE CHURCH MISSIONARY ATLAS gives brief but very useful 
articles on the religious beliefs and moral condition of the 
peoples among whom the agents of the Church Missionary 
Society labour. This Atlas is one of the most useful works 
on Missions ever published. Though relating chiefly to the 
Church Missionary Society, it gives much information that 
is valuable to all interested in Mission work. 

Y. 

WORKS RELATING TO SEPARATE MISSIONARY SOCIETIES, OR 
PARTICULAR FIELDS OF LABOUR. 

Cox. History of the Baptist Missionary Society from 1792 to 

1842. By F. A. Cox, D.D. 

ELLIS. The Martyr Church of Madagascar. By Rev. W. Ellis. 
HAWKINS. Missions of the Church of England. By Rev. W. 

Hawkins. London, 1845. 
HOLMS. History of the Missions of the United Brethren. By 

Rev. J. Holms. 2 vols. London, 1827. 
HOUGH. History of Christianity in India. By James Hough. 

5 vols. 



Appendices. 65 



HUNTER. History of the Missions of the Free Church of Scot 
land. By Hunter. 

MOFFAT. Missionary Labours in South Africa. By Dr. Moffat. 

MOISTER. History of Wesley an Missions. By Rev. W. Moister. 
London, 1871. 

MORRISON. The Fathers and Founders of the London Mis 
sionary Society. By John Morrison, D.D. London, 1839. 

MULLENS. Ten Years Missionary Labour in India. By Dr. 
MULLENS. 

SHAW. The Story of my Mission in South Africa. By the Rev. 
William Shaw. London, 1860. 

VI. 

MISSIONARY PERIODICALS, ORGANS OF THE SOCIETIES. 

1. IN GREAT BRITAIN. The Mission Field (Propagation Society) ; 

Chronicle of London Missionary Society ; Church Missionary 
Intelligencer, and Church Missionary Record; Wesleyan 
Missionary Notices ; Missionary Observer (General Bap 
tists) ; Church of Scotland Home and Foreign Missionary 
Record (Established Church of Scotland); Records of 
Missionary Work (Primitive Methodist); The Missionary 
Herald of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland; The Mes 
senger and Missionary Record of the Presbyterian Church of 
England ; The Missionary Record of the United Presbyterian 
Church ; Missionary Herald (Baptist Missionary Society). 

2. IN THE UNITED STATES. Missionary Herald (American Board 

of Missions); Baptist Missionary Herald; Missionary Ad 
vocate (Methodist Episcopal Church) Spirit of Missions 
(Protestant Episcopal); The Foreign Missionary (Presby 
terian) ; The Missionary Review (Published at Princeton, U.S. 
Two-monthly); The Gospel in all Lands (Weekly: Baltimore), 
o. IN FRANCE. Journal des Missions Evange"liques (Society for 
Evangelical Missions, Paris). 



66 Appendices. 



4. IN GERMANY. Allgenieine Missions- Zeitschrift. (Edited by 
Dr. Warneck) ; Evangelisches Missions-Magazin (Basle 
Society). (See Article Missions in Encyclop6die des 
Sciences Religieuses.) 



OTHER WORKS REFERRED TO IN LECTURE. 

BRACE. Gesta Christi ; or, A History of Humane Progress under 

Christianity. By C. Loring Brace. London, 1882. 
FERNLEY LECTURES. Yol. I. Wesleyan Conference Office, 1874. 
LITTLEDALE. Plain Reasons against joining the Church of Eome. 

By R. F. Littledale, LL.D., D.C.L. Christian Knowledge 

Society, 1881. 
SCHAFF. History of the Christian Church. By Philip Schaff, 

D.D. 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1869. 
TAYLOR. Ancient Christianity. By Isaac Taylor. 2 vols. 

London, 1839, 1842. 
WORDSWORTH. The One Religion. The Banipton Lectures for 

1881. By John Wordsworth, M.A. Oxford, 1881. 

THE FOLLOWING CYCLOPEDIAS. 

CYCLOPAEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL, AND ECCLESIASTICAL 
LITERATURE. Prepared by the Revs. John M Clintock, D.D., 
and James Strong, S.T.D. 10 vols. ^"ew York, 1871-1881. 

ENCYCLOPEDIE DES SCIENCES RELIGIEUSES. 10 vols. Paris, 
1877-1882. 

KIRCHEN-LEXICON, ODER ENCYCLOPADIE DER KATHOLISCHEN 
THEOLOGIE. 12 Bander. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1847- 
1856. 



APPENDIX II. 
LIST OF PROTESTANT MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 



BRITISH FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 

Organized. Communicants. 

Society for the Propagation of the 

Gospel, 1701 26,678 

Moravians, 1732 26,901 

Baptist Missionary Society, . . . 1792 40,247 

London Missionary Society, . . . 1795 86,422 

Church Missionary Society, . . 1799 36,326 

London Society for the Jews, . . 1808 

Wesley an Methodist Missionary Society, 1814 1)1,486 

General Baptist Missionary Society, . 1816 1,193 

Bible Christian Missionary Society, . 1821 4,095 

Colonial and Continental Church Society, 1823 

Established Church of Scotland, . . 1829 415 

Presbyterian Church of Ireland, . . 1840 360 

Welsh Presbyterian, .... 1841 467 

British Society for the Jews, . . . 1842 1,500 

Free Church of Scotland, . . 1843 4,443 

Primitive Methodist, .... 1843 387 

South American Missionary Society, . 1844 220 

Presbyterian Church of England, . . 1847 2,768 

United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, 1847 10,808 

United Free Methodists, . . . 1857 8,094 

Methodist New Connexion, . . . 1860 1,161 

The Universities Mission, . . . 1860 220 



68 Appendices. 



rircr Vort Native 
Organized. Communicants. 


Friends Foreign Mission Association. , 


1865 


3,754 


China Inland Mission, . 


. 1865 


1,080 


Indian Home Mission to the Santals. 


. 1868 


3,216 



Total 352,196 



FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES OF AMERICA. 

American Board, . . . 1810 19,354 

Baptist Missionary Union, . . 1814 102,261 

Methodist Episcopal, . . 1819 29,095 

Methodist Church in Canada. . 1824 834 

Reformed Church in America. . 1832 2,843 

Protestant Episcopal, . . .1835 1,100 

Free Baptist, ... . 1836 551 

Presbyterian North, .... 1837 18,656 

Evangelical Lutheran, General Synod. . 1839 2,537 

Seventh Day Baptists, .... 1842 33 

African Methodist Episcopal, . . 1844 80 

Presbyterian Church in Canada. . . 1844 1,262 

Southern Baptist Convention, . . 1845 1,022 

Methodist Episcopal, South, . .1845 2,796 

United Brethren in Christ, . . . 1853 862 

United Presbyterian, .... 1858 1,906 

Reformed Presbyterian, . 1859 130 

Presbyterian, South, .... 1862 1,700 

Baptist Church of Canada, . . . 1866 925 

Evangelical Lutheran General Council, . 1869 300 

Friends Executive Committee. Indiana, .1875 180 

Foreign Christian Missionary Society, . 1875 1,255 

Cumberland Presbyterian, . . .1876 35 

Evangelical Association, . . . 1876 8,546 
Reformed Church in the United States, . 1878 



Appendices. 69 



Organized. Com J*jSfcknts. 

Associate Keformed Synod of the South, 1878 50 
Methodist Protestant, .... 1878 
German Evangelical Missionary Associa 
tion, . . . . . . ... 175 



Total, . 198,587 

CONTINENTAL FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 

Netherlands Missionary Society, . . 1797 12,000 

Basel Missionary Society, . . .1815 7,225 

Danish Evangelical Lutheran Society, . 1821 95 

Evangelical Missionary Society of Paris, 1822 6,820 

Rhenish Missionary Society, . . . 1828 9,000 

Leipzig Missionary Society, . . . 1836 13,261 

Berlin Missionary Society, . . . 1836 5,724 

Gossner Missionary Union, . . . 1836 10,786 

North German Missionary Society, . 1836 110 

Norwegian Missionary Society, . . 1842 1,680 

Lund s Missionary Society, . . 1845 50 

Jerusalem Missionary Society, . . 1845 177 

Hermannsburg Missionary Society, . 1849 3,800 

Java Committee, 1855 350 

Errnelo Missionary Society, . . 1856 50 

Netherlands Missionary Union, . . 1858 150 

Utrecht Missionary Society, . . .1859 100 

Dutch Reformed Missionary Society, . 1859 150 

Christian Reformed Church, . . .1860 40 

Finnish Missionary Society, . . . 1868 6 

Free Church of Canton de Vaud, . , 1869 60 

Mennonite, . . * > .. . .1880 100 

Total, . 71,734 



70 Appendices. 



Organized. 

Continental, . . . . . 71,734 

Great Britain and Ireland, . . 352,196 

American, 198,587 



Total, . 622,517 

(See Dr. Gr. Smith s Handbook of Missions, pp. 198, 199, where 
more detailed Statistics are given.) 

To these we have to add Colonial Societies. 

Society for Internal and External 

Missions, Batavia, . . . .1851 

Presbyterian Missionary Society. Mel 
bourne, 1851 

Nova Scotia Presbyterian Church Mis 
sion, 1851 1,000 

Reformed Church Mission, Cape of Good 

Hope, 1861 

Melanesian Missionary Society, Auckland, 1861 

Hawaiian Missionary Society, Honolulu, 

West Indian Missionary Board, 

There are also several valuable Associations for promoting Female 
Education in the East, such as 

Berlin Women s Mission for China, . 1852 
Kaiserwerth Deaconesses Institute, . 1852 
Indian Female Normal School Society, . 
Women s Union Missionary Society 

(American), 1845 

Women s Foreign Missionary Society. 

(Methodist Episcopal Church.) . 1845 
Wesley an Ladies Auxiliary Society for 

Female Education, . . ... 



APPENDIX II I. See p. 45. 

[The following paper was drawn up by Dr. John pVilson of 
Bombay, and is a good illustration of results obtained by 
the co-operation of a Christian Government with missionary 
labourers.] 

HORRORS AND INIQUITIES OF INDIA REMOVED BY 
GOVERNMENT. 

I. 

MURDER OF PARENTS. 

(a) By suttee. 

(b) By exposure on the banks of rivers. 

(c) By burial alive. Case in Jondhpore territory, 1860. 

II. 
MURDER OF CHILDREN. 

(a) By dedication to the Ganges, to be devoured by crocodiles. 

(b) By Rajpoot infanticide, West of India, Punjab, East of 

India. 

III. 

HUMAN SACRIFICES. 

(a) Temple sacrifices. 

(b) By wild tribes Meriahs of the Khands. 

IV. 

SUICIDE. 
(a) Crushing by idol cars. 



72 Appendices. 



(b) Devotees drowning themselves in rivers. 

(c) Devotees casting themselves from precipices. 

(d) Leaping into wells widows. 

(e) By Traga. 

Y. 
VOLUNTARY TORMENT. 

(a) By hook-swinging. 

(b) By thigh-piercing. 

(c) By tongue extraction. 

(d) By falling on knives. 

(e) By austerities. 

VI. 

INVOLUNTARY TORMENT. 

(a) Barbarous executions. 

(b) Mutilation of criminals. 

(c) Extraction of evidence by torment. 

(d) Bloody and injurious ordeals. 

(e) Cutting off the noses of women. 

VII. 

SLAVERY. 

(a) Hereditary predial slavery. 

(b) Domestic slavery. 

(c) Importation of slaves from Africa. 

VIII. 
EXTORTIONS. 

(a) By Dharana. 

(b) By Traga, 



Notes. 73 



IX. 

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE. 

(a) Prevention of propagation of Christianity. 

(b) Calling upon the Christian soldiers to fire salutes at heathen 

festivals, etc. 

(c) Saluting gods on official papers. 

(d) Managing affairs of idol temples. 

X. 

SUPPORT OF CASTE BY LAW. 

(a) Exclusion of low castes from offices. 

(b) Exemption of high caste from appearing to give evidence. 

(c) Disparagement of low caste. 

Life of Dr. John Wilson, p. 352. 



NOTE A. See p. 32. 
ON RENDERING OP ACTS ii. 47. 

I have not accepted the rendering of this verse in the Revised 
Version for the following reasons : 

1. Were being saved is recent English, such as is not found 
in the version of 1611. We find in the A.Y. such expressions 
as being justified, being made ; but these are, in fact, perfect 
participles in English, and are used to render aorist participles in 
Greek (Rom. v. 1, Si/catw^eVre? ; Heb. i. 4, yej/o/xei/os). 

2. The use of the present participle passive does not necessarily 
imply subjection to continuous action on the part of the person or 
persons referred to, because the present indicative passive is used where 
such continuous action cannot be meant. For example, we read in 



74 Notes. 



Matt. xi. 5, lepers are cleansed (\cirpol Ka0apiovrai). This does* 
not mean that the lepers spoken of are now undergoing a process 
of cleansing, but plainly this, lepers from time to time are 
cleansed. Why the present tense? Because, though the healing 
is complete in individual lepers, the process continues with respect 
to the class of persons needing cure. So in this passage there is 
nothing in the Greek word to preclude us from supposing that the 
salvation of each of the o-w^evot was complete ; hit that the class 
of people obtaining salvation was incomplete, because it was 
receiving additions every day. 

3. It is in accordance with New Testament teaching for 
Christian believers to regard the salvation of Christ as an 
accomplished event of their past experience. So we read, in 
Rom. viii. 24, l we were saved (eVw^/xei/) ; Eph. ii. 8, ye 
have been saved (co-re o-co-oxr/x-eT/ot) ; in 2 Tim. i. 9, the power 
of God who saved us (roO o-wo-avros ^//.as) ; and in Tit. iii. 5, 
He saved us (eo-wo-ev ^//.as). In one passage only do we find 
the present passive of o-<oo/x,ai spoken of believers. In 1 Cor. 
xv. 2, we have o-a)e<r#e ; but even here, in the commentaries of 
Lange and Meyer, the explanation is given that the apostle 
pictures as present the future, certain salvation. For these 
reasons, the rendering of the American Revision Committee, 
those that were saved, is decidedly to be preferred. (Compare 
notes of this Committee on 1 Cor. i. 18 ; 2 Cor. ii. 15.) As at 
the beginning of the Church, so it is now : people obtain salvation, 
and are added to the Church, daily. 



NOTE B. See p. 44. 

ON PERIOD REQUIRED FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE 
NON-CHRISTIAN NATIONS. 

Various calculations have been made as to the length of time 
which will elapse before all mankind become Christians. We may 



Notes. 75 



treat the question as a merely arithmetical one, and say : Supposing 
that in all succeeding centuries the increase of converts shall be 
no greater than in the century last past, I.e. 2J millions, what 
length of time will be required for the conversion of 1000 
millions 1 Of course the answer will be, 40,000 years ! 

But no sooner is such a suggestion made and its consequence 
stated, than our minds revolt against it, and we exclaim : It 
cannot be, it must not be, that the world s best hopes shall be 
delayed so long. This is the hope of all Christians, and it is one 
main purpose of the lecture to give reasons for this hope. It 
is very evident that in India and China the great difficulty is 
to win the first few millions. The probability is that when in 
each of these countries the converts are once counted by millions, 
the conversion of the remainder will speedily follow. 

We obtain much more hopeful views when we take into account, 
not the actual number of converts in the past century, but the 
ratio of increase during the last few years. 

In the Quarterly Review for April 1875, p. 364, we have the 
following calculation : 

Looking at the experience of the past twenty years, the rate of 
increase in the number of native Christians in India may be ex 
pected to augment, rather than to diminish. On the supposition 
however that the rate remained constant from year to year, and 
from decade to decade, the compilers of the Statistics 1 have 
calculated the results that would accrue. In A.D. 1901, that is, in 
little less than thirty years hence, the number of native Christians 
would amount to nearly a million. Fifty years later it would 
be upwards of 11 millions; and fifty years later, that is, in A.D. 
2001, it would amount to 138 millions. 

Further grounds of encouragement are derived from the recent 
rapid growth of the population in Christian lands, combined with 
additions won from heathenism. 



1 Statistical Tables of Protestant Missions in India, Ceylon, and Burmah for 
1871. Calcutta, 1873. 



76 Notes. 



Dr. G. Smith s Handbook, p. 196, gives the following : 

Christians. 

Three centuries after Christ, Council of Nicea, 5 millions. 

Eight centuries after Christ, Scoto-Irish, . 30 
Ten centuries after Christ, Saxon and 

Romanist, ...... 50 

Fifteen centuries after Christ, Wiclif, . .100 

Eighteen centuries after Christ, William Carey, 174 
Eighteen centuries and a half after Christ s 

Ascension, 440 ,, 

. Dr. Dorchester s Problem of Religious Progress gives the follow 
ing statement of the territorial possessions of Christian nations : 

The latest computations fix the territorial area of the earth 
at 52,062,470 square miles, of which the Christian nations have 
under their civil control 32,419,915 square miles, and the Pagan 
and Mohammedan, 19,624,555, three-fifths Christian, and two- 
fifths Pagan and Mohammedan. Dividing the Christian nations, 
we find under the civil dominion of Protestant Governments 
14,337,187 square miles; under Roman Catholic, 9,304.605 
square miles ; and under Greek Church Governments, 8,778,123 
square miles. x 

Let all these calculations pass for what they are worth. The 
question of the how long- or * how soon in regard to the world s 
conversion really turns upon the Church s faith in the Divine 
promise, and its devotedness to the service of the Divine Master, 
i.e. upon the faith and zeal of each one of Christ s servants. 



NOTE C. See p. 48. 
NATIVE MINISTERS AND NATIVE CHURCHES. 

A very remarkable example of what it is possible to accomplish 
in the way of organizing native churches under native ministers is 
1 Dorchester s Problem of Religious Progress, pp. 525, 526. 



Notes. 77 



afforded by the present position of Christianity in the Fiji Islands. 
The Rev. Joseph Nettleton, for several years a missionary in these 
islands, has kindly furnished me with the following particulars : 

1. Total population of Fijian group, . . . . 125,000 

2. Professed Christians : Wesleyans, 105,000 

Roman Catholics, 10,000 \ 115,000 
Remainder : coolies from India, China, and all the Poly 
nesian groups. 

3. Religious services held : l 

1240 churches and preaching places, with two religious 
services every Sunday : also prayer-meeting at 6.0 A.M., 
and adult Sunday school at 2.0 P.M. 

4. Number of ordained European ministers, . . 10 

5. Number of ordained Native ministers, . . . 51 

6. TJnordained Christian workers : 

Catechists, ... 32 

Assistant catechists, . . . 1070 

Local preachers, . ... 1729 

Class leaders, . . . 3310 

Sunday-school teachers, . . . 2097 



8238 



On the subject of self-support Mr. Nettleton says : 
1 All these places support their native ministers, catechists, and 
schoolmasters. All the buildings have been erected by the native 
Christians without help from the Missionary Society, and are free 
from debt. 

In answer to a further question, To what extent have the 
churches in Fiji become missionary churches? Mr. Nettleton 
adds : They contributed last year more than 4000 towards 
the Foreign Missionary Society. More than forty trained Fijian 
ministers and catechists are missionaries, preaching in other 

1 The statistics which follow relate to Wesleyans only. 



78 Notes. 



languages, in Rotumah, New Britain, New Ireland, Duke of 
York s Group, and on islands along the coast of New Guinea. 

When it is remembered that the first missionaries landed in Fiji 
in 1835, and that the whole of the people were then cannibals and 
idolaters, it will be evident that the work accomplished in less than 
fifty years must be regarded as amongst the most wonderful ever 
recorded in the history of the Church. 

For a full account of this mission, see Fiji and Fijians. By 
Thomas Williams and James Calvert. T. Woolmer, 66, Pater 
noster Row, 1884; and, At Home in Fiji. By C. F. Gordon 
Camming. 2 vols. Black wood, London, 1881. 



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