At the Reformation in the sixteenth century, as we have already seen, the light of the gospel spread rapidly among the nations of Europe; and many at that time, fired with a holy zeal for the wider spread of the truth, sent missionaries to foreign parts. Among the first of these were the Swiss, the Swedes, the Dutch, and the Moravians. Many of them were exposed to great sufferings, and, in some instances, were very unsuccessful.
The Baptist Missionary Society seems to have taken the lead in the missionary enterprize in this country, and no doubt, by its example, aroused other churches to their responsibility in reference to the benighted heathen. In October, 1792, a few Baptist ministers assembled at Kettering, in Northamptonshire, united in constituting a Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Heathen. William Carey, then a Baptist minister in Leicestershire, was the chief mover in this new society. He afterward went to India as a missionary and became famous for the acquisition of Eastern languages. Soon after the publication of the New Testament in the Bengali language, translated by Mr. Carey, he was appointed by the Marquis of Wellesley, the British Governor-general, teacher of the Bengali and Sanskrit languages in the new college of Fort-William. The labors of Messrs. Carey, Marshman, and Ward, in India, have been often written, and are generally known. To Dr. Carey, it is said, belongs the honor of having awakened the zeal of the church in the important work of foreign missions.
In 1795 the London Missionary Society was formed. This Institution for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Heathen, was composed of Christians of various denominations. The spread of the truth, irrespective of all denominational distinctions, was its motto. The institution of this society on so broad a scale was everywhere hailed as a new era in the christian church. Its attention was immediately turned to the islands of the South Seas.
In 1799 the Church Missionary Society was formed, consisting of members of the church of England. It sent a mission to the Susoo country, in the neighborhood of Sierra Leone.
In 1796 the Scottish Missionary Society was formed in Edinburgh, and commenced its operations by a mission to the Foulah country, in the neighborhood of Sierra Leone.
In 1812 the familiar names of Judson, Newell, Hull, and others, sailed under the auspices of "The American Board for Foreign Missions," for Calcutta. They labored in many parts of the eastern world.
In 1786 several Wesleyan ministers sailed as missionaries from England for Nova Scotia; but, after encountering a succession of storms, the captain directed his course for the West Indies. Having reached Antigua, and finding the inhabitants favorable, they resolved to attempt the establishment of a mission in the West Indies. Such were the circumstances, under the overruling providence of God, which led the Methodists to turn their attention to the heathen, and to adopt measures for the diffusion of Christianity among them.
Surely we can thank God with full hearts for these societies, notwithstanding their many defects. For a number of years they have been scattering the blessings, of Christianity among many tribes and tongues, where darkness reigned. The light and life of the gospel have been carried to millions who were sitting in the region and shadow of death. The rise and fall of empires, the achievement of great victories, the discovery and civilization of new countries, the improvements of the arts and sciences, are but as nothing compared with the diffusion of the gospel throughout the world, which brings "glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14.)
May the Lord greatly bless both our home and foreign missions, and give good success to the arduous labors of the Sunday school, that His name may be glorified, and multitudes of precious souls eternally saved.
We have now reached, by the good providence of God, the nineteenth century. But before speaking of the fresh and distinct work of God's Spirit in the early part of it, we must refer to the last two churches-Philadelphia and Laodicea-which give us the Lord's mind as to the condition of the professing church before it is finally and forever rejected by Him.
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