before thine omniscient God, acquitted and discharged? Has justice no demand; has the law no penalty; has the judgment-seat no terror; has death no sting; has the grave no gloom for thee? What, then, owest thou unto thy Lord? When, by that Holy Spirit who glorifies the Saviour, the love of Christ is copiously shed abroad in thine heart, and thou art feelingly alive to a sense of thy obligation to him who loved thee and gave himself for thee, then, art thou prepared to enter into the views, and to participate in the emotions of the Apostle, who felt constrained to say--"I am debtor, both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise?"

In accordance with the spirit of the text, it shall be my attempt to establish and illustrate three connected propositions.

The FIRST is, that it is incumbent on us, to yield our minds and hearts to the full force of the claims, both of those who are more nearly, and of those who are more remotely related to us.

· . The SECOND is,--that a practical regard to the claims of the one class, is not to be postponed, till exertion and solicitude cease to be necessary, on behalf of the other class.

The THIRD is, that by due attention to the claims of the one class, we, at the same time, promote the interests of the other class.

FIRST, It is incumbent on us, to yield our minds and hearts to the full force of the claims, both of those who are more nearly, and of those who are more remotely related to us.

It is to be feared, that in the minds of many who call themselves christians, the idea of debt, and of claim, and of obligation, is seldom, if ever, associated with the idea of benevolence. Deeming themselves the absolute proprietors, rather than the responsible stewards of that which is placed at their disposal; and forgetting the relation in which they stand, to the various branches of the human family, they imagine themselves at liberty, in every instance, either to give, or to refuse, whenever an appeal is made to the principle of benevolence. Their contributions are, therefore, both limited in degree, and defective in principle. They are called forth, rather by casual or by local circumstances, than by comprehensive views and christian motives. The wants which fall not under their actual inspection, they can scarcely be excited to supply; the miseries which are endured, beyond the limits of their own immediate vicinity, they can scarcely be induced to relieve. A few local charities circumscribe the sphere of their vision, and the sympathies of their hearts. How striking is the contrast between feelings such as theirs, and those which gave a character to the apostle of the Gentiles! In his heart, the kindest,

and the gentlest, and the tenderest feelings, towards individuals whom he loved, imposed no limits on the expansion of those sympathies, which embraced a world. His zeal for his brethren according to the flesh, ardently as it burned within him, consumed not one of all the energies of the soul, by which he was impelled from province to province, of the Asiatic and of the European Gentiles. His eagerness of noble daring, to encounter the champions of Grecian and of Roman philosophy, interfered not with the simplicity of his discourses, as "a teacher of babes," an instructor of the unlearned and the unwise. His solicitude for the interests of immortal souls, exposed to the wrath which cometh and abideth, on all that die in their sins, diminished not the benevolent earnestness of his applications for pecuniary aid, in favour of the poor saints at Jerusalem." His deep anxiety for the conversion of sinners, enfeebled not the longings of his soul, for the growing knowledge and comfort and holiness of those, who had already believed through grace. Hear, in connexion with our text, the expressions of that paternal solicitude, which he cherished towards the disciples of Jesus, who were resident at the metropolis of the Roman empire. "I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted, together with you, by the mutual faith, both of

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you and me. Now, I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that, oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let hitherto; that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor, both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also."

Now, with feelings thus excited, and with views thus expanded, should we contemplate the enterprises of christian benevolence, which are the glory of our age and of our country; and those institutions especially, which aim at the conversion of sinners abroad, and the conversion of sinners at home. There must surely be some dimness of intellectual vision, or some defect of compassionate feeling; either, if zeal for the success of foreign missions, indispose a person to take an interest in home missions; or if zeal for the success of missions at home be allied with indifference towards the operations of missions abroad. The claims of both, although distinct, are most intimately connected. They take their rise from the same principles; they aim, substantially, at the same objects. They cannot be justly regarded as at variance; they are, in truth, in strict alliance. Most incorrect would it be, to invite you to contrast, but for a few moments I invite you to compare their respective claims, in order that you may be disposed

to do justice, both to the one and to the other; and in order that the feeling of interest in your minds on behalf of the one, may lend its aid to my pleading on behalf of the other.

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The incitements to promote the cause of foreign missions, arise out of such considerations as these the express command of him who is King of kings and Lord of lords;" who has said in the tone of high and absolute command,--“ Go ye out unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature :"-the vastness of a population, to be computed, not by hundreds nor by thousands nor by hundreds of thousands; but by millions and by hundreds of millions, perishing for lack of knowledge, with "a lie in their right hands" and enmity to the God of heaven ruling in their hearts :

the accumulation of an unpaid debt, which generation after generation has bequeathed to us, and which divine Providence has given to us, far more amply than to any former age, the means of attempting to discharge.

The incitements to promote the cause of home missions, arise out of claims not less valid and legitimate.

Consider the comprehensive, the ancient, the unrepealed command which is the sum of six precepts of the decalogue :-" thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." If, then, thou love not thy neighbour whom thou hast seen, or whom thou