this offer of pardon in the Gospel is in view of the complete satisfaction which has been made to the law and justice of God by the Lord Jesus as the redeemer of sinners. When therefore the infinitely great and righteous God condescends to approach sinners with the offers of pardon and reconciliation it is not to be supposed that it is a matter of indifference to him as to how this message would be received by them. The words of our Saviour makes this point very plain. The sins of those who in penitence and love accept of the offer so freely made to them are forgiven, they are restored to the favor of God and become heirs of eternal life-all of which blessings are then comprehended in the one word "they shall be saved." This is the obvious and desired result of the making known of the message. But as any merciful provision without an accompanying penalty for the rejection of the grace would be mere advice-the Saviour has assured all to whom the message comes that there is a terrible consequence connected with the neglect of the offers as well as its rejection. Hence the clause is added "He that believeth not shall be damned." St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews expresses the same idea when he asks, with all the intensity of absolute certainty, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation." Heb. ii. 3.

The commission of our Lord then shuts up every true and faithful ambassador for Christ, in preaching his Gospel, to do it under the conviction that his hearers are in a state of condemnation alreadythat he comes to them from the Lord of life with offers of pardon and salvation to all those who accept of them and that the rejection of this merciful offer will involve those who reject them in a yet deeper condemnation. It presents therefore the terrible truth that there is no other way of salvation to sinners of the human family but through Jesus Christ, who is the only mediator between God and men. The teachings of the Apostles, as we find them recorded in the Acts and the Epistles, show that this is the way in which they understood the commission which they received from their divine master. The Apostle Peter after he was filled with the Holy Ghost says, "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Acts. iv. 11-12. These words of the Apostle do not admit of any doubt as to his meaning. Whatever might be the opinion of men in regard to Jesus Christ, he declares that he is appointed of God, the Supreme Ruler over all, to be the Redeemer of mankind; and that there is no other being through whom, or by whom, sinful men can be saved-" for there is no other name under heaven given among men

whereby we must be saved." It would be difficult to find language which could express this idea more positively than these words do.

It is a very self-evident truth that if sinners of the human race could have been saved in any other way than by the death and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ God would not have given his beloved Son to die the painful and ignominious death of the cross to purchase our redemption. Previous to the death of our Lord men were saved. by faith in a Saviour who was promised to come into the world "to be bruised for our iniquities." They, in accordance with the form of worship given to our first parents immediately after they had sinned, offered the appointed sacrifice of a lamb, as expressing their faith in an atoning Saviour. These teachings of our Lord then preclude the idea that sinners can be saved in any other way than that which he has appointed. And indulgence of speculation on such a deep mystery is seeking to be wise above what is written. And it would be a wide departure from the words of his commission for any minister of Christ to state to his follow men, that some men have been saved in any other way than that which God has appointed. He would be assuming the power which belongs to God only and he would cease to be a faithful ambassador for Christ. Let every one be faithful to his high commission and declare the whole counsel of God. Let the trumpet give no uncertain sound lest men be beguiled into a false security. "If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning; if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from. among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand." Ez. xxxiii. 3, 4, 6.

A STUDENT.

Iteneration.

MR. EDITOR:

In a mission field where the laborers are so few as compared with the people, as is the case in China, it is obvious that itinerating becomes a most necessary and important plan of evangelistic labor. This effort to make up in some measure for the fewness of the laborers, consists in the missionary travelling about from place to place preaching the Gospel wherever he can secure audiences, instead of residing in one place and preaching to the people in that place or vicinity. Experience both in this and other lands proves that very precious

fruits may be gathered from the seed sown during the itinerations made for this purpose. In proportion to the importance of the work and its necessity, it is desirable that it should be so performed as to effect the best results. No one who is acquainted with the darkness in regard to spiritual things that enshrouds the heathen mind, and the strength of their attachment to idolatry, expects much from the occasional presentation of divine truth to heathen auditors. In the great majority of cases it requires repeated hearings of the truths of Christianity before a heathen learns to apprehend the new ideas which the familiar words of his own language are intended to convey to his mind. The Christian ideas of sin, of salvation, of happiness, of misery, of the future life, of God and worship, are all so different from those connected with these words in the heathen mind that the hearers need to be educated in the new ideas before they in any measure apprehend them. And until they come to understand these new ideas, they will not affect their hearts. For Christianity affects the heart by the enlightening of the mind. As the heathen have no just conception of the holiness and majesty of God they have no adequate conception of the nature of sin. Indeed, the hearers must get the idea of the true God, the creator and preserver of all things, before they can get the first idea of their obligation to fear and worship him; for hitherto they have believed in and served those which, though called gods, are not gods. They must then be convinced that these gods which they have worshipped are vanity, and that there is a Being who possesses all the power and attributes which they have hitherto ascribed to their idols. They must come to know the Being "in whom they live and move and have their being," and then will they begin to understand their relation to him and their obligation to serve him. I do not mean to imply that the missionary must first begin to explain the existence and nature of God before he can tell them of a Saviour's love, and the provision which has been made for man's salvation. But the heathen must come to know that there is a God, different and separate from any of those so-called gods which they have heretofore feared and served. And they must also come to know that there are no gods. For until he knows the true God and some of his attributes and works he cannot believe in him. We hold that in no other way can the character and perfections of God be so well made known to the heathen as in telling him "the old, old story" of the love of God in giving his son to die for sinners. We dwell on this point to impress upon the minds of all, that the immediate conversion of the heathen cannot reasonably be expected from a casual presentation of divine truth to them during a transient itineration from place to place, and from

province to province. In nominal Christian lands, where the great body of the people have some knowledge of God and of man's relation to him as their creator and judge, and the evil nature and consequences of sins, the most blessed results follow in many cases from the casual preaching of the Gospel by transient preachers to irreligious crowds; and such results follow the distribution of the sacred Scriptures and religious tracts among such people even when they may be openly wicked. The reason is that they have a knowledge of God and their exposure to his just displeasure and so can at once appreciate and accept the offers of pardon and salvation. But there cannot be such immediate results from casual preaching among the heathen because they have not the knowledge which would enable them at once to accept of a Saviour, "for how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard."

We have made these very self-evident statements because there. appears to be a wide spread forgetfulness of them. Many of those who are interested in missions at home and contribute for their support appear to expect and to hope for great results from a single itineration of some missionaries through a wide extent of country. Whilst in fact to those who have experience of work in heathen lands, even under the most favorable circumstances, little else beside helping the people to be used to the presence of a foreigner in their midst can reasonably be expected from such itinerations. I have purposely written "under the most favorable circumstances," by which we mean when the itinerant speaks the language so as to be understood, and when there is such order and quiet in the audience as to enable them to hear him distinctly. There is such a difference in the manner of speaking in different places not very widely separated, that, however well a person may speak the general language, it is not to be expected that the same person would be much understood at the different villages, towns and cities that he passes through on an extended tour through different provinces. It by no means follows that because such an itinerant can be understood in the ordinary business transactions of purchasing supplies, calling and directing porters and boats that he can also be understood when he discourses to a crowd on the doctrines of salvation. Neither does it follow that he is understood even though the people may listen for a while and some of them may say they understand it.

This expectation of immediate results from transient preaching to the heathen and from the distribution of the sacred Scriptures and religious tracts, is not only awakened in the minds of many people from what occurs as the result of such Christian efforts among the

irreligious in nominally Christian lands, but also from such results having occurred in the days of the Apostles. It is present in the minds of all Christian people that 3000 Jews were converted on the day of Pentecost, that whenever St. Paul preached there were immediate conversions among those who heard him, that the eunuch to whom Philip explained the passage he was reading in the Prophet Isaiah immediately believed and was baptized. But the character and condition of all these persons were widely different from that of the heathen. All those in Jerusalem and those to whom Paul preached and the eunuch knew the true God, they were acquainted with the Old Testament and expected the Messiah. When therefore the preaching of the Apostles accompanied by the Holy Spirit made it clear to them that Jesus of Nazareth was the long expected Messiah they were glad at once to accept of him. But the heathen are situated very differently They have never heard of a Saviour to come, nor of the gracious God who sent him into the world "to seek and save the lost." Hence the missionaries who preach to the heathen have to preach to very different audiences from those to which the Apostles preached when they preached to the Jews whether in Jerusalem or in the countries to which they were scattered alroad. It is only "by line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little," and by frequent reiterations of the most simple truths that he can hope for the rays of divine truth to enter their darkened minds. The state of their minds are very much like that of a neglected field which is all overgrown with weeds and noxious plants. Seeds sown on such a field would only perish under the shade of such a growth. It is necessary that such noxious plants that occupy all the soil and absorb all its richness must be exterpated before a crop of grain can be expected. So it is with the human heart, it is all overgrown with baneful superstitions and idolatries, so that the words of the Gospel find no earth to receive it and cause it to germinate. These superstitions and false beliefs must be removed before the good seed of the kingdom can find a lodgment. This can only be done by patient and repeated instruction in the way of salvation. In thus presenting the general and common way, it must not be supposed that I deny that there may be a preparation in some hearts to receive the Gospel. I have no doubt there are some hearts so prepared, just as in an overgrown field some chance spot might be found in which a chance seed might find a place to take root. But a farmer would waste his labor and his seed who would sow seed on such a field in hopes of chance seed finding a bare spot in which they could take root.

These considerations lead us to the conclusion that itineration to