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“...Bg 8 ead = 3 og a . : 2 a oy
Book 2
| 1795 Memorials respecting the
founding of the Society
Sermons
T.Haweis
e_G-Burder____ Greatheo d
J.Hey é
R.Hill ,
D. Bogue -
Memoir of the most eligible
part to begin a Mission-
t.Haweis
Foul
1796 |, Sermons
( Tambert
* Pentycross
Jay
Jones
Report
| List of Directors
| Contributions
Disbursements
4 aa! tae 5. + e o~ gs
je Be 5
a Zo ‘ 4 s &/
‘s & a b L3/
“ae o
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“...JONAH 's MISSION TO NINEVEH.
SERMON IL :
PREACHED BY :
GEORGE BURDER,
OF COVENTRY,
AT THE REV. MR. STEVEN'S MEETING-HOUSE,
CROWN-COURT, ON TUESDAY EVENING,
REPT. 22, 2794;...”
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“...Me. : ‘
48 JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH.
| pee uponme. Many, many others might have
1 een found much fitter for the work, but none,
| I believe, more fincerely defirous of its fuccefs.
: And I am not a little animated by the belief, that
| a large part of this affembly is pofiefled of feelings
| in unifon with my own.
Amidit a multitude of texts, which prefled on my
Pe mind, fuited in fome degree to the objeét before
| us, it was not eafy to determine on any one, which
might exaily comprehend all that I withed to fay;
| at length, however, I fixed on the words which
have been read; they contain God’s fecond com-
mand to the Prophet Jonah ; requiring him to go
on a thiffion to Nineveh; a fervice he had before
declined; and if I miftake not, we fhall find feve-
ral hints of inftruétion in the paffage, adapted to
our prefent undertaking.
When God has defigns of mercy to a fieople, he will
% fend a meffenger to them, to call them to repentance.
ms The populous city of Nineveh had become ex-
ceedingly...”
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“...JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH. 29 ©
©, how many of the Lord’s fervants have been
jike-minded? Has not each of us been, at times,
a Jonah? Are we not all implicated in the charge?
We have loved our eafe too well to’ forfake our
nefts in England---to bid adieu to civilized fociety,
---to encounter the dangers of the ocean---to
learn a barbarous language,---to rifk our lives
among favages, in order to bring them to Chrift
and falvation. The time is however come, [| truft,
when we fhall be convinced, that it is not right
that we fhould 2// remain in Britain, while fuch vaft
numbers of our fellow creatures claim our pity, and
our exertions abroad.
We may further obferve, that God ts greatly difpleafed
with thofe who fhun his work, becaufe of its danger; and
that, in fact, we expofe ourfelves by difobedience, to far
greater dangers than thofe we would avoid.
When Jonah thought he had exonerated him-
felf from the heavy tafk of converting Ninevites z
---when he was fo fecure in the fhip, as to...”
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“...30 JONAH'S MISSION TO NINEVEH.
lying under his burden, and would forbear to help him,
thou fhalt furely helh with him. "Exod. xili. 4. 5.
« Doth-God take care for oxen?” Doth he require
compaflion to a beaft, and will he not refent the
neglect of men? Affuredly he will. Obferve what
he faith, Prov. xxiv. 11, 12. Jf thou forbear to de-
liver them that are drawn unto death, and thofe that
are ready to be flain; if thou fayeft, Behold, we knew it
: not: doth not he that pondereth the heart confider it ?
and he that keepeth thy foul, doth not he know wt ? and
fall not he render to every man according to his works ?
{t is evident, from hence, that man is prone to excufe
: himfelf from the labours of love ; and that God no-
tices and refents the criminal negleét. May not
this be the caufe, that we have fo often to com-
: plain, Who hath believed our report, and to whom ts the
; arm of the Lord revealed! Allow me, however, to
exprefs my aflured expeCtation, that if we heartily
= «Engage in this...”
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“...JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH. 3
cellencies, the everlafting bleflings of the gofpel of
Chrift: and if, indeed, we can fo difcern and enjoy
thefe, as to be duly fenfible of our diftinguithed
happinefs, we fhall not dare to withhold the blef
fing from our fellow men. :
Arife, go unto Nineveh, and preach unto it the preach-
ing that I bid thee—the preaching that I bid thee; and
what was that? Cry againft it—Denounce the divine
anger kindled bytheir accumulated fins : accordingly
this was the fubftance of his preaching, when he
actually reached the place. Yer forty days and Ni- '
neveh fhall be overthrown. Weavy tidings thefe! an
awful meffage! But my brethren, what is the
preaching that God bids his minifters preach to al]
nations. It is the Gofpel. The Goffel of God. The
Gofpel of Chri. The Gofpel of Salvation. The glori
ous Copel. The everlafting Gofpel. Thefe are its
{criptural titles.’ Thefe point out its excellency.
Thefe unite to recommend it to us. Thefe call i
upon us to recommend it...”
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“...32 JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH.
i offered ;—and the ftill prevailing cuftom of human
: facrifices in the South fea lands, fhews that their
F expectation of pardon is by blood. God grant that
: we may foon have opportunity to improve upon
; their miftaken traditions, and to fay, Behold the
' Lamb of God, who taketh away the fin of the world.
Hence it was, that St Paul gloried in the gofpel,
becaufe it was “ a miniftration of righteoufnefs,”
4 becaufe “ therein is the righteoufnefs of God by
: . ** faith, revealed for belief.”
Remember, chriftians, That this Goffel is the
grand, the only inftrument of Sanétification and Holinefs.
Take a view of human depravity. ‘ The whole
“ head ts fick, the whole heart is faint ;” ‘ from
** head to foot, all is wounds and bruifes, and pu-
* trifying fores.” The whole world is a horrid
mafs of moral corruption. And who can bring a
clean thing out of an unclean? What Hercules can
: purge this Augean ftable? It is beyond the power
| o | ofman. Great men, great...”
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“...JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH. 33 2
well as faves. This Gofpel abolifhed the inhuman 3
games and gladiatorial fhews, celebrated by the
Romans, in which, horrid to relate! from ten to
twenty thoufand in a month, are faid to have loft
their lives. The barbarous cuftom of murdering
flaves to honor the funerals of their mafters, ceafed
before its benign influence. This Gofpel has
called wandering tribes of American Indians
to focial life. ‘This Gofpel will, we truft, put
@ period to the cruel penances endured by Eaftern
Bramins, and their deluded votaries; and the ,
ftill more dreadful ufage of burning women
with the dead bodies of their hufbands.
See human nature languifhing under innumera-
ble eviuls---Sicknefs, Poverty, Oppreflion---
This is the balm for every wound,
A cordial for its fears.
The Chrifitian knows where to find a refuge in o
every trial; he learns patience from a fuffering -
Saviour, can fmile in tribulation, and triumph in ae
death. In the immediate profpect of d...”
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| 34 JONAH'S MISSION TO NINEVER.
| The compaffionate Father of men mentions the
| greate/s of that populous city, as an inducement to
; the Prophet to preach there ; and when he peevithly
repined at the Lord’s mercy towards the people, in
revoking his fentence againft them, the Lord re-
proved him in thefe words: Doef thou well to be
angry for tle gourd? Thou hafthad pity on the gourd,
for the which thou haft not laboured, neither madeft it
grow: which came upina night, and ferifhed in a night.
And fhould not I {pare Nineveh, that great city, where-
in are fix [core thoujand fierfons, that cannot difcern be-
tween their right hand and their left hand ? (Chap 4,
9, &c.)
It is generally accounted one of the greateft
myfteries in the conduét of divine providence, that
this glorious Gofpel, fo honourable to God, and fo
beneficial to man, fhould not have had an univerfal
fpread. Great fuccefs attended the firft promulga-
= tion of it at Jerufalem. Many thoufands embraced
. it in...”
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“...~
JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH. 36
fecution for the fake of Chrift, and preferred a
wafte and howling wildernefs, with religious liberty,
to all the accommodations of bigotted Britain. :
Bleffed be God, there are millions of perfons called
by the name of Chrift in North America ; nor have
they been wholly wanting in attempts to convert
the Indians ; though little progrefs has been made
in that great work.
The difcoveries of Coox, and other celebrated
navigators, have lately opened to our view, a new
world, equal perhaps in population to. America
itfelf—Clufters of inhabited iflands, fcattered
throughout the vaft Pacific Ocean, and all thefe
inhabited by poor benighted Pagans.
Thofe who are acquainted with the ftate of the
world, need not be informed, that the heathen
tribes, are in general, thockmgly uncivilized. I have
a view more particularly to the inhabitants of the '
South Sea Iflands. Some of theircuttoms are far too —
indelicate to be rehearfed in a Chriftian audience. a
On the...”
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“...- e .
$36 JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH.
foners, but are abfolutely canibals, and feaft on the
flefh of their flaughtered enemies.
Their fuperftitions are alfo very affe€ting to a
pious mind. How ftrange, how abfurd, are their
ideas of a Divine being! Who can enumerate the
multiplied gods of the Heathen? What has reafon,
with all its boafted powers, effe€ted for man with
regard to divine worfhip? Natural religion has not
much to be proud of, when we reflect, that Greeks
and Romans, polifhed as they were---‘‘ became vain in
“ their imagination, and their foolifh heart was darkened.
“© Profefing them/elves to be wife, they became fools ; and
“* changed the glory of the uncorruptible God, into an image
“< made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-
** footed beafts, and creeping things.” Indeed, the Devil
is the chief obje€t of Pagan worthip ; for every
obje& of worfhip, who is not the true God, is fet
up in oppofition to him. And O how long has he
: ‘triumphed over the children of...”
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“...JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH. 37
In other parts of the world, incredible tortures :
are endured on a religious account ; whether as a
penance enjoined to expiate crime, or as the means
of attaining higher degrees of perfeétion, by a
greater abftraétion of mind, and mortification of
the animal nature. ‘ Some are hung up forty feet
“ high in the air, by flefh hooks faftened in their
“ backs, and thus fwung and whirled round for a
“ confiderable time. Others have threads, thirty
“ yards long, paffed through both their fides, im
“ fix different places, the ends being faftened, while
“ they dance backward and forward as in a rope-
“ walk. Others pafs a {pit four feet long through
“ their tongue, drawing it backwards and forwards.
“ Others have fixed themfelves in a certain pofi- |
tion, for feveral years, expofed to the extremes
of heat and cold.”
O Sirs! can you hear thefe things, without long-
ing to go, or fend to them, and to tell them of &
Jefus Chrift, that he is able and willing to fave...”
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“...| * "
4 38 JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH, |
i * might wait for healing and ftrength ; he ‘under-
t * took the journey, and while he halted undera
f « large fhady tree, where the gofpel was fometimes _
i « preached, one of the Miflionaries came, and
; «* preached from thefe words—-The blood of Fefus
* Chrift cleanfeth from all fn. While he was preach-
' ** ing, the poor man rofe up, threw off his torturing
. * fandals, and cried aloud~-This is what I want;
« and he became a lively witnefs, that the blood of»
; € Jefus Chrift, does indeed cleanfe from all fin.”
Who can tell, till a trial be made, how many
wretched men may be found, labouring under
i fearful apprehenfions of divine wrath, and trying in
i vain, by the fuperflitions of their country to obtam
: peace, who would gladly liften to gofpel minifters,
: --- Preaching peace by Fefus Chri. He is Lord of a,
é “ Arife then, go to Nineveh, that greaf city?”
i See millions of men immerfed in ignorance, wick-
ie ednefs, and fuperftition, ready...”
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“...‘
JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH. 39
without God, vil Chrift, without hope; in a
word, children of wrath. Js this their condition?
and fuch it furely is, for foithe God of truth de-
clares it to be, and fhall we not from our hearts pity
them, and unite all our ftrength in making fome
generous and bold efforts for their relief? Sup-
pofing the falvation of the Heathen poflible with-
out the Gofpel, yet would the Gofpel be of no
advantage to them? Would it be no advantage or
pleafure, to know that Jefus, to whom all falvation ©
muft be afcribed--to know the nature and perfeéti-
ons of the only true God ; to be delivered from devils
and devil-worthip, and from all their horrid and pain-
ful fuperftitions ? Would it be no advantage to them
to know the whole will of God, the doétrines of
To the hiftory of the creation, the fall of man, the
ethod of reftoration by Jefus ; his wonderin.
carnation, his holy life, his miracles of mercy, his
love to finners ; the account of that death by which ‘
we live;...”
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“...40 JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH.
: flept. It is high time to awale out of this fleep,
i and by ten-fold diligence make amends, in fome
t meafure, for the long negleét. Should we here-
“ after fucceed in preaching to the Heathen,--when
they fhall have tafied that the Lord is gracious,
‘ may we not expeét they will afk us, Why did you
not bring us the Gofpel before? It was known for
: many hundred years in your favoured ifland;
thoufands, you tell us, lived and died happy in the
; knowledge of it; why then did you-keep it from
: us, while, here, fucceflive generations were perith-
: ing in fin? What anfwer, my friends, could we
give to fuch a cutting queftion ?
: J am well aware that various objections will be
: ftarted, both by friends and foes, to our prefent at-
tempt. It is right that they fhould be attended to;
; andl have the pleafure to inform you, that one of :
g the fucceeding fermons will be chiefly devoted to
this purpofe, and 1 have no doubt that the moft
| formidable objections...”
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“.../
JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH. Al |
may be great, but they are not infuperable |
«« Prayers and pains, through faith in Jefus Chrift, |
“ will do any thing,” fo faid the Apoftolic E//t, |
when, with incredible pains, he had finifhed his on
Indian grammar. That great and good man had
the unf{peakable pleafure to fee a church of Indians
foon formed at Natick, andafterwards feveral more in
other places. Braierd, in his folitary miffion, and un-
der difadvantages which might have been prevented,
was the honoured inftrument of converting great
numbers. The Mayhews, father and fons, were the
{piritual fathers of 1500 in Martha’s Vineyard. The
Danifh miffionaries on the coaft of Coromandel are
faid, fince the year 1706, to have brought 18,000
Gentovs to the profeffion of chriftianity. The Mo-
ravian brethren, by labours unparalelled im their
firmnefs and perfeverance, have been owned for |
the converfion of vaft multitudes in Greenland, in
the Weft Indies, in America, and among the ‘4
Hottentots...”
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“...Az jon AH’s MISSION TO NINEVEH.
refided. O cruel Britain, not content with the
honour of difcovery and the gain of commerce, thou
haf, with a chriftian natne, communicated vice
and difeafe to the poor helplefs Pagan Iflanders!
Chrifiians ! if you deferve that honourable appel-
lation, for Chriit’s fake, endeavour to retrieve the
forfeited glory of our religion, and let thefe abufed
people know’ that our Saviour came sot to deffroy
men's lives but to fave them,--to fave them from their
fins, not to promote their dreadful reign.
What a cutting reproach was lately conveyed to
our country by a letter from the Eaft Indies, writ-
ten by out eetons lately converted to ¢hriftianity.
“ O great Sir, though we thought that many na-
* tions had many kinds of Shaffers, (or holy laws)
“« yet in the country of the Englith we moual
“there was no Shafter at all: for, concern
* ing fin and holinefs, thofe that are here have
‘ “ no judgment at all. We have even thought that
“ they were not men, but a...”
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“...JONAH’S MISSION YO NINEVEH. Agn
from this wicked indifference, and by owr utmoft |
exertions try to remoye this fatal tumbling block |
out of the way. -
We may reafonably hope, that befides the fuc-
cefs which we truft will crown our efforts abroad,
no fmall advantage will accrue to-us at home. God
has faid, and I believe it,-Pray ye for the peace,
or profperity, of the church, they fhall profper that
love her. A pious friend of another denomination
thus expreffes himfelf in a letter to me on this fub+
ject. “ 7
« Had I no ‘hope of fuccefs aitending future
“ efforts among the Heathen, yet I could not but
“ rejoice in the effects which I am perfuaded will
“ attend the prefent exerttongat home. {fn propor-
“ tion as chriftians enter into the real (piri mif-
“ fions, fo will their perfonal piety be promoted.
“ They muft neceffarily think much on the fubject:
“ and habitual reflection on a fubjett fo intimately |
“ conneéted with thecrofs of Chrift, and the beft in-
“ terefts of man, will...”
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“...ee JONAH’S MISSION TO NINEVEH.
“ vioufly indulged, the honour of Chrift, and the
“« happinefs of fouls prevails over every other feel-
“ ing in our brother’s bofom, as well as in our own.
“To mark this temper muft be to love its owner.
** Love will promote intercourfe, and intercourfe
: “in its turn ftrengthen love. Party fpirit, abath-
“ed, will hide its head, and fo the unity of the
“ fpirit be preferved in peace. Jealoufies, invective,
“ infinuations, {neers and bigotry will be banifhed
“* from the churches ; and thus the way will be pre-
** pared for the watchmen’s feeing eye to eye, and
“the Lord’s name becoming ome over all the
eat,
_ To conclude, humbly hoping, that what has
been faid will contribute to the furtherance of our
defign, I cannot finifh without recommending it to
your “ceffant and earnef frayer. Yam well aware,
that however wifely we may lay our plan, however
vigoroufly we may purfue it, nothing effectual will
~ be done without the Lord’s bleffing. Let us hum-
bly a...”
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“...A MISSION TO THE HEATHEN,
FOUNDED UPON THE MORAL LAW.
ee
SERMON Til.
DELIVERED AT HABERDASHER’S HALL MEETING
HOUSE, IN THE FORENOON OF
SEPTEMBER 23> 1795»
_ By SAMUEL GREATHEED, —
OF WOBURN, BEDFORDSHIRE,...”
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