USA > West Virginia > The West Virginia pulpit of the Methodist Episcopal church. Sermons from living ministers. With personal sketches of the authors > Part 8
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Brother Hall was blessed with pious parents, who gave him an early religious training. Their house was the home of the itinerant ministers, who pioneered the paths of gospel civiliza- tion, amid the hills and valleys of this western portion of the mother State-Virginia. He was converted at the age of fifteen. Prior to entering the ministry, he served some two years or more as class leader. June 16, 1849, Brother Hall was licensed to preach, and was recommended for the traveling connection by the Quarterly Conference of Kingwood circuit. The follow- ing October, at the session of the West Virginia Conference, at Clarksburg, he was admitted to the ranks of the regular minis- try; and but few of his other brother clergymen can say as much, he has answered "present" at every roll call of the Con- ference since that time.
Brother Hall is a man of method in all that he does. He is among the most faithful of men. He can always be depended upon. He never shirked responsibilities of any kind. Heis as reg- ular as a clockworks. His sermons are model productions of pure English. He never enters the pulpit without thorough prepa- ration. His discourses, therefore, are even, regular-always good. He was never robust, but always managed to do a vast amount of hard study and work. He has served the Church as circuit rider, stationed preacher and Presiding Elder, always faithfully and well. During his ministry in the West Virginia Conference, he received over two thousand persons into the Church on probation. Many sheaves, as the result of his labor, will ultimately be gathered on the highlands of Heaven. He was recently transferred to the Central Ohio Conference, and stationed at Rawson, where, under God, we trust he will yet
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perform a faithful service for the Master, for many years to come.
From a recent letter received from Brother Hall, I extract a paragraph. He says: "My wish is to spend my remaining years, or days, in the Master's work ; but with more complete consecra- tion and greater success. Humbly trusting in the infinite merits of Jesus, I hope, when the end shall come, to pass from the fatigueing toils below, to the refreshing and delightful scenes above .- I hope to live and work forever."
SERMON VII.
BY
REV. ASHFORD HALL.
THEME :- OUR MISSION.
TEXT :- " As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world."-JOHN xvii: 18.
These words form a part of the touching address of the Son of God to the Father; just before his betrayal and crucifixion. Though the scenes of the Garden and Calvary were before him, he did not forget his followers. In the fullness of his sympathy, he prayed for them: not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they might be kept from evil. Not- withstanding he foresaw and foretold what they would be called to do and endure, he sent them into a world of toil and trial. The apostles are spoken of. They were divinely called, and commissioned to perform a specified work-to preach the Gospel. But not them exclusively. They could not, in person, fulfill the command, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." And the accompanying promise, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," shows that others were included. These were representative men. They stood at the head of a long line of laborers, that was to reach "unto the end of the world." They were to commence a work that was to be carried on till every fallen child of Adam should hear the joyful message of salva-
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tion. Every true minister receives a similar commis- sion, and falls into the regular succession.
But not ministers alone are sent. Every man has his mission. No one's life is an accident. God is the Creator ; he has made nothing in vain ; design runs through all his works-through senseless matter in its varied forms and arrangements-through all the grades of sentient existence, from the insect to the Archangel. And is man an exception ? Man, whom God has more richly endowed than all beside; who can think, reason, will, review the past and contem- plate the future. Can we suppose such a wonderful being was formed just to fill up an empty space, or to float aimlessly through the Universe ? He who thinks so, is shamed by every humming insect, rebuked by the clods he treads beneath his feet. The wisdom of God precludes the idea of aimless existence. His good- ness proclaims a benevolent purpose.
" God has his plan for every man."
We may safely assume, that he who gave us exist- ence, who gave us such exalted rank in the scale of intelligent beings-and bestowed upon us such won- derful powers, designed us for a noble destiny : that he has a mission for us to fulfill, corresponding to the powers bestowed ; a work for us to do commensurate with our capacities, and the opportunities and facili- ties afforded.
What is the object of our existence ? What end had the creator in view when he gave us being, and sent us into the world ? To ascertain the divine purposes, should be our first business. On the threshold of life, before forming plans of our own, we should ask in humble submission, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" This is a question of vital importance-a point on which character and destiny are made to turn.
The text may throw some light on this question- may help us to a solution of the problem of life. These words embrace not only the fact that we are sent, but that we are sent on a special mission. A mission bearing some resemblance to that on which
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Christ himself was sent. "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them."
The sphere of labor is the same. We are sent to the same world to which Christ was sent.
There is a similarity in the object of our mission. The end to be accomplished by our existence is, in one aspect, the same as that which brought the Lord of Life and Glory to our world. Our work differs from his in many respects. It is not the same in nature. It falls infinitely short in measure and value. But in its ultimate aims and issues, it is substantially the same.
The primary object was the glory of God, and sub- servient to this, the salvation of men. Jesus was sent to repair the ruin which sin had wrought He came " to seek and to save that which was lost." No other work brings so great glory to God, as that which is done for man's salvation. Look abroad on the uni- verse. Some perfection of the Creator is imprinted on every creature. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork."
" These mighty orbs proclaim his power, Their motions speak his skill."
But in the work of man's salvation, is manifested all the divine attributes.
" Here the whole Deity is known, Nor dares a creature guess, Which of the glories brighter shone, The justice or the grace."
When our Lord had fulfilled his mission, on the eve of his departure from the world, he said, in refer- ence to all he had done for man's deliverance, " I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work thou gavest me to do."
Such was the object of our creation : Each one is sent into the world with the explicit injunction, " Thou shalt glorify me." And when by sin we for- feited the life he gave us, he duplicated the obliga- tion, by giving his Son for our ransom. " Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." This is the chief end of our existence.
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In no other way can we contribute to that end so effectually as in efforts to save men from sin. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father, which is in heaven."
There is a resemblance, also in the manner of ful- fillment. The Son of God was not sent to spend a life of luxurious ease. There was a prescribed work assigned him. "I must work the works of him. that sent me while it is yet day." And with what cheer- fulness and pleasure it was performed. "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."
His was a life of toil. But little is known of his early life. Only a few incidents are recorded. He was subject to his parents. He was known at Nazar- eth as "the carpenter's son." It is therefore probable that he wrought with his hands in an humble occu- pation ; that he was subject to all the inconveniences and hardships of a life of poverty. But from the time he emerged from his obscurity, he was incessant in labor. He went about doing good, dispensing food to the hungry, health to the sick, sight to the blind, joy to the sorrowing, life to the dead.
His was a mission of suffering. "He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He suffered from weariness, from hun- ger, from contact with a wicked world. He endured the contradiction of sinners and the assaults of satan. A life of unparalleled suffering, closed amid the un- told agonies of the Garden and the Cross.
In the human life of Jesus, we have the pattern of our own. There is a work for each to do; a cross for every one to bear. The Creator designed us for ac- tion. These bodies, so "fearfully and wonderfully " formed ; these souls, so richly endowed with boundless capacities of thought and feeling, of will and reason- these opportunities and facilities, all proclaim a work to be done. "Go work in my vineyard," is the divine command. The obligation is universal. None are exempt. All are not required to do the same work, nor an equal amount of work. The work varies with
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the talents of the laborers and the means and oppor- tunities of usefulness.
The mission assigned the minister, in nature and objects, may bear a stronger resemblance to that of the Savior; but the work of every man differs not materially from his in its aims and results.
It is the duty of most persons to pursue some secu- lar business. But in whatever field we are called to labor, one common motive must control the conduct, " Whether therefore ye eat. or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
We are sent to suffer as well as work. "Unto you it is given ... to suffer." We need the discipline of trial and suffering to strengthen our virtues, to com- plete our character, to prepare us for usefulness here, and for higher work and reward hereafter. So oppor- tunity is afforded to all, by doing and suffering, to answer the great end of existence.
We are sent of God. Whether pursuing a sacred or secular vocation, we bear a divine commission. The practical recognition of this fact, is the great want of the Church. Every member-the weakest, the young- est-should feel that he has a work to do, and that for its performance he will be held strictly account- able in the day of final reckoning ; or rather, we have need to realize the elevating and soul-inspiring fact that God has graciously permitted each one the high and glorious privilege of doing something for his glory, and the good of men. He has not placed in " priestly hands the exclusive patent for saving souls." He has bestowed the power and conferred the right on all his followers. The rich rewards of Christian effort, may be obtained by the feeblest and most ob- scure. Even a child may win souls from sin and death. From the narrowest sphere, from the deepest vale of poverty and obscurity, may go forth influ- ences wide as the world and boundless as eternity.
The mission we are sent to fulfill, whether viewed in its relations or in its results, is one of great dignity and importance. Ours is no ordinary work. We are called to follow the footsteps of the Son of God; to perform a similar service; to toil in the same sphere
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and for the same end. It brings man into sympathy and association with God in accomplishing the great- est work ever performed. He might have employed other instruments to affect his purposes. He could have caused the light nings to trace his bow on the clouds, and the thunder to proclaim its threatenings. The sunbeams might have been made to write the Gospel on the azure canopy above us, and the winds and waves might have published the conditions of pardon. Angels, burning with intense desire for his glory, would gladly have become the heralds of glad tidings to a fallen race. He might indeed have dis- pensed with all instruments, and by his Almighty Spirit, by inward movings or outward manifestations, accomplished the work of man's salvation.
But, reserving his power, and setting aside all other methods and instruments, he has seen fit in his wis- dom to take man into partnership with himself in this work-a work of such vast importance as to en- gage the thoughts and enlist the sympathies and en- ergies of a triune God; that brought the Son of God to earth, to toil, to suffer, and to die; and that calls forth his continued intercession at the right hand of the Father. Is it not astonishing that such a work should be committed, in any degree, to the agency of feeble, sinful man! But so it is, "We are workers together with him." And so fully has he committed this work to human instrumentality that he seldom, if ever, saves a soul without that agency. To take the servant's place, to perform any act that will glo- rify God, or in any measure advance his kingdom, imparts a moral grandeur to one's life. It lifts the child of earth to the dignity of a seraph-makes him the peer of angels. But to be sent on so high a mis- sion, to do "the work of the Lord," to be " laborers together with God," raises poor fallen humanity to a height of glory that is indescribable.
This mission imposes fearful responsibilities. The obligation of duty, high and sacred, is upon us. We cannot evade it. We cannot transfer it. It is for each of us to enjoy the pleasure and honor of per- formance, or bear the shame and punishment of neg-
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lect. If we refuse to respond to the call which sum- monses us to live for the glory of God; if we choose instead to spend our time and employ our powers for merely selfish purposes, however successful we may be in the achievement of the objects which usually engage the attention of men, we shall fail to answer the great end of our existence. Temporal prosperity may smile upon us; fortune may dispense her richest favors. We may revel and riot in all the pleasures the world may bestow ; but true happiness will be beyond our reach. Every flower which blooms along our path will give out poison in its perfume, and we shall go down to our graves with the terrible, the withering, blighting consciousness of an unfulfilled destiny, and the eternal future will be a scene of " darkness, deso- lation and death," for " what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
But if we do the work assigned us, whatever it may be, we shall fulfill the obligations of duty and meet the conditions of reward. The glory of God is not opposed to our welfare. We are not to think of it as something even separate from our interest. They are perfectly harmonious. They are indeed insepara- ble. While the divine glory is the ultimate end, our good is not forgotton. Subordinately this work is im- posed, these trials entailed, for our sake, that we may obtain a noble character, and secure greater good here and hereafter. Now, is the hope of re- ward inconsistent with a single purpose to glorify God ? Moses " had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Even Christ himself "for the joy that was set before him, endured the Cross and despised the shame."
Is the Christian sent on a difficult and responsible mission ? There is much to encourage. He goes not alone. Angels are his ministers, charged to keep him in all his ways, his body-guard, strong-armed for his defense by day, and stationed faithful sentinels around his couch by night.
He has the promise of divine protection and support. "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; mine eye shall be upon thee." The shield 8
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of omnipotence is spread above him. "The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms." "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfort- less-I will come unto you. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever."
In the hour of trial, where toil and hardship weigh the spirits down ; when grief wrings the heart with anguish; when friends forsake and fortune frowns, how full of comfort the assurance, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. As thy day, so shall thy strength be." Have we not always found it so?
As we look back on years of toil, we can say with Samuel, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." And as we look forward, the future becomes luminous in the light of the precious promise, " So, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." If, with honest purpose, we engage in this blessed work, we may expect the joy of success. We may not accomplish all we desire, but the effort to do good is never wasted-
"If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters returning
Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill thee full of refreshment.'
Success is certain. "Your labor is not in vain in the Lord." "To him that soweth righteousness is a sure reward." "In due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not." Weary toiler in the Master's vineyard, think of the results that will follow the salvation of a single soul ! It is reserved from death and the undving ago- nies of the world of woe. It enters upon a life of end- less and progressive happiness. A period will come when that soul will have enjoyed more pleasure, than the whole race experienced on carth from the crea- tion to the end of time. More than this, it becomes the instrument of bringing others, thousands it may be, to a like glorious destiny. Not one alone ; many you may turn to righteousness, each of whom becomes the fountain of influences whose streams, flowing in a thousand channels down the ages, may bear myr- iads to the home of the blessed.
In this work is experienced the purest pleasure at- tainable in the present life. Who that ever realized
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the joy of leading as inner to the Cross of Christ, would exchange it for all the pleasures wealth and royalty can bestow ? It would be difficult to form a concep- tion of the joy the faithful servant of God shall feel when, standing on the further limit of a well-spent life, reviewing the past, he can say in his measure, as the Savior said, "I have glorified thee on earth; I have finished the work thou hast given me to do." Then, adorned and enriched with trophies won from earth and hell, he goes down peacefully to the Jordan of death ; the hills of immortality full in view, and shining ones, saved by his efforts, who had passed be- fore to the better land, come down on the golden shore to greet him with glad welcome to their bright abode. And who shall tell the joy that will thrill his heart through the oncoming ages, as he shall wit- ness one after another wafted to the eternal shore, borne thither by influences he originated while on earth ; and when time is no more, to dwell where Jesus is ; to bask in his approving smile ; to stand among that crowned and shining throng, to receive the grateful benedictions of multitudes who own him as the in- strument of their salvation; to meet their loving glance, to bear their swelling hallelujahs to God that he ever had existence. Oh, this will be joy-"joy un- speakable and full of glory !"
This life, then, so high in its aims, so rich in its revenues of happiness and honor, is only preparatory to the higher bliss and glory beyond the grave. It is but the infancy of existence-the bud of being. The flower is to bloom and the fruit to ripen in the purer world above. If these probational years are well spent, we shall rise to a state of glory and felicity transcending our highest hopes. Look at the prom- ises. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He
that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Then, "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." They are exempt from all the ills of this life; they bear the likeness of Christ ; they
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dwell with him ; they behold his glory ; they share it; they reign with him. They experience "fullness of joy and pleasures forever more." These passages in- dicate the character, but not the measure of the re- ward. The reality will exceed all that is revealed, or that the mind can conceive. "As it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
This life is preparatory to higher service also. We are here at school, serving apprenticeship for the great business of that higher life, soon to begin, never to end. If, in this initial period; with all our ignor- ance and weakness, we may glorify God, can we sup- pose that in the state of perfection, we shall cease to employ our powers for his glory ? Both reason and revelation point to a state of tireless activity. "They rest not. Labor, there, will not, as here, be attended with fatigue. There will be no weariness of the body, no flagging of the soul's energies. Every power will be forever fresh and strong, for whatever service we may be permitted to perform. That the eternal years will not be whiled away in idleness, is indicated by the desire which good men feel for active employment. " I delight to do thy will, O, my God !" is the sponta- neous utterance of every renewed soul. This desire becomes more intense as life passes, nor does it die as death approaches. Payson, on his death bed, said, " My soul, instead of growing weak and more lan- guishing, as my body does, seems to be endued with an angel's energies, and to be ready to break away from the body and join those around the throne." And the sainted Fisk, in his last hours, said, " We were not placed here to be idle ; no, nor shall we be idle in heaven. I feel, indeed, as if I should hardly want to go there if I thought I should be idle. If the Lord take me away, he has something for me to do, for he never gave me such an energy of soul as I now feel that I have, without designing me to em- ploy it." These aspirations are prophecies of a glo- rious future. Here, obligation is measured by ability. We are expected to do what we are able to perform.
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If the same law governs there, as doubtless it will, what a work will be assigned us. Every power will be perfect. With perceptions of truth and duty so clear that error in sentiment or act will be impossi- ble; with powers of vision that will meet no obstruc- tion, and find no boundary within the limits of space ; with powers of motion, in comparison with which the sunlight is not more swift; with a universe for a field, and an eternity for the period of service, what may not the glorified soul accomplish; and these capaci- ties for doing and enjoying may increase through un- wasting ages.
And shall the servants of God, sent on such a glo- rious mission, complain of toil and sacrifice ? With such bliss in possession, and such undying honors in prospect, shall we murmer at our lot? Had we a thou- sand lives to live, each one as full of hardships and trial as this, we might well devote them all to this blessed service. Give me a place among those who work for Jesus. Let me be instrumental in saving souls from death, and I will gladly leave to those who wish to gain them, the wealth and honors of earth. To contribute in any degree to such a result, even to the imparting of a good thought, or inspiring a noble purpose, is a grander achievement than the founding of an empire, or the conquest of the world.
My brethren, there is set before us an object worthy of the aims and efforts of immortal minds. Let us draw inspiration from the majesty of our mission, and, baptized afresh by the Holy Spirit, go forth to win new conquests in the Master's cause. Let us toil where he appoints, and suffer what he sends. Thus shall we fulfill our mission. God will be glorified, souls immortal saved, and we prepared for the rewards of the endless life which lies before us.
And when our work is done, as one by one we pass away, may we fall at our post, and amid the welcome of angels and the joyous greetings of glorified spirits, saved by our efforts, may we each hear from the lips of him who sent us, in accents sweeter than a seraph's song, the thrilling plaudit, " Well done, thou good and faithful servant, * enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord."
PERSONAL SKETCH.
REV. EDWARD W. RYAN is a native of Fayette county, West Virginia. He is now in the forty-fith year of his age, and is as young, to all appearances, as he was twenty years ago. He had poor facilities for procuring an education ; but from boyhood he had an insatiable appetite for books. His father was a school teacher of the old-time sort, who assisted him in every way pos- sible. Early in life, the subject of this sketch read all the books he had at home, or could procure in the neighborhood, including Paxton's travels in the Holy Land, Dr. Dick's Works, Pollack's Course of time, Comstock's Philosophy, &c. His parents were religious, and very early in life, he heard the story of the Cross. Among the first things he can now remember, and the impres- sions then made have followed him through life, were the efforts of his mother to implant in his mind the fatherhood of God, and his responsibility to the author of his existence. At the age of nineteen, he was converted, and joined the M. E. Church at a camp meeting in Nicholas county, which was under the supervi- sion of Rev. James L. Clark, now one of the fathers in Israel; and from that time to the present, he has maintained a religious life.
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