and Agents for the Conver- AND Self-Denying Love and Liberality Essential to Christian Character and Happiness. BY THOMAS SMYTH, D. D. "Then said Jesus unto His disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me."-Matt. xvi. 24. "As Thou hath sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world."-John xvii. 18. "For none of us liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself."Rom. xiv. 7. "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsover I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."-Matt. xxviii. 18, 19, 20. NEW YORK: Edward O. Jenkins, Printer, 26 Frankfort Street. "The believer in Jesus Christ is the universal benefactor; and it is by such free giving of his free receivings, that he not only enriches the world, but that he obtains grace for grace, and augments the strength, the beauty, and the happiness of his own soul. By such scattering he increases."DR. JAMES HAMILTON. "If any man doubts whether, as a christian, he is bound by the terms of his discipleship, to aid by prayer, self-denying sacrifice, and personal exertion, in preaching the gospel to every creature, let him, as the Duke of Wellington once appropriately and graphically said, 'look to his commission, and there find his marching orders.'" ""Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.' Truth, Lord! a light burden, indeed, which supports him who bears it. I have looked abroad through nature to see if I could find anything that could bear some analogy to this; but I cannot find it, unless it be the wings of a bird, which, while borne of the creature, bear him aloft. In truth, to bear the Lord's burden is to be permitted to cast it, together with ourselves, into the arms of Omnipotence and Grace."-BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX. CHRISTIANS CHRIST'S REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS. I. EVERY one who receives the Bible as "given by inspiration of God," must believe that it will be all verified through the working of that infinite wisdom and power with which He makes all things to conspire for the fulfilment of His purposes, so that "though Heaven and earth may pass away, one jot or tittle of all He has said shall in no wise pass away till all is fulfilled." II. Every believer in the Bible must therefore be convinced that the kingdom of Christ is destined to extend its spiritual conquests until it shall include within its dominion all kingdoms and nations. Nothing can be more explicit than the repeated declarations of this purpose, contained in the word of God. "I will declare the decree. The Lord (i. e. Jehovah) hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee! Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." This is a part of the decree which has been covenanted by the Father to the Son in "the counsel of peace that was between them both," which therefore all nations and kings are commanded, at their peril, to recognize and to be in subjection unto Christ. (Psalm 2; see also Psalm 110.) This is no doubtful interpretation of this same decree. We have another account by the prophet Daniel (7: 13, 14, 27); "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds (the myriad host) of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions (or rulers) shall serve Him." This dominion was assumed, and established, by our Lord Jesus Christ, who laid its foundation in His finished work of obedience unto death, and secured its ultimate and certain accomplishment by His resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and His resumption as "Head over all things for the Church" of that "glory which He had with the Father from before the foundation of the world." When, therefore, after His resurrection, our Saviour appeared to the assembled members of His kingdom, as then existing, who were gathered together by His special appointment, He said unto them: "All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth: go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." We repeat, therefore, our declaration, that every man who believes in the Bible, and in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world, must also believe that the kingdom of Christ is destined to be universal. Everything about it is universal, and nothing local, national, temporary, or exclusive. "Christ its King and Redeemer is the Saviour of all men," and "the propitiation for our sins, but not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." As "God our Saviour, He will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." "He gave Himself, therefore, a ransom for all to be testified in due time" unto all. The knowledge of this Saviour, and of the propitiation made by Him for the sins of all in the world who believe upon Him, is the gospel, the good spell—“the glad tidings which shall be to all people," "good will unto men." As this gospel is "everlasting," so it is universal, and to be proclaimed "unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.' The provisions, the promises, the commands, the obligations, the ordinances, the sacrifices, the benefits, and blessings of this kingdom are equally and alike for all men. It has no respect for persons, and makes no exceptions. It regards every man as a sinner, and guilty before God, and sweeps with this "besom of destruction" all the sublunary distinctions and differences among men. In the administration of this kingdom "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female," there is neither high nor low, rich nor poor, wise or foolish, learned or ignorant, Saxon or Celtic, European, Asiatic, African, or American. "All are one" out of Christ, equally helpless and hopeless, and "all are one in Christ," "for all are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." This great fundamental truth, which levels all human distinctions in one common type of sin and misery, and melts all human relationships into one common brotherhood, and one common fatherhood-God in Christ-is made equally certain by negative, as well as by positive teaching. For as Christ is the Saviour of all men, so that "whosoever of the sons of men believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life," so also is it declared from heaven that "neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, |