EPC Australia

"The heathen" — "the uttermost parts of the earth," viewed in the representations of Scripture, and the reports of historians, travellers, and missionaries, seem a very unenviable acquisition. If it be true, that the whole world lieth in wickedness, it seems fitter to be for the inheritance "and the possession" of Satan, than the Son of God. But two things are to be taken into the account. Notwithstanding the present condition of the estate, it contains very valuable and convertible materials.

Every human being, however depraved and degraded, is a creature of God. He is the work of his hands, and is fearfully and wonderfully made. He has a soul of more value than the material world. The child of a savage is a richer production than the sun. The sun sees not his own light, feels not his own heat, and, with all his grandeur, is doomed to perish. But that child is the subject of reason, the heir of immortality. That child is capable of knowing, and serving, and resembling God, and of filling a sphere of everlasting action and enjoyment. That child will hear the heavens passing away with a great noise, and see the elements melting with fervent heat, and stand with all the dead, small and great, before God.

And we are also to consider what they may, and will become. Thus the Saviour viewed them, when they were surrendered to him. He pitied them; and he knew he was able to bless them, and he knew that they would not remain what they were; but that for him the wilderness and solitary place should be made glad, and the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose. He knew it had been said, by Faithfulness and Truth, "Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off." The more desperate the condition of the patient, the more pleasure does his recovery afford the physician; and the more does it display his skill and ability. So here. All these captives the Redeemer ransoms, and each of them, as a justified, sanctified, glorified being, will for ever reflect his honour. He found them at hell's dark door, but he raises them above the heavens. He found them in the likeness of the devil, and he adorns them with the image of God. He found them the disgrace of the universe, and he makes them an eternal excellency, the joy of many generations.

What is so interesting and delightful to a man of taste as alteration and improvement? With what pleasure does he view a piece of rude and barren soil, under his cultivation, looking forth, dressed in living green, and abounding with trees and flowers! What pleasure does a benevolent mind feel, when he views the child he has taken up, exchanging rags for decency, ignorance for knowledge, vicious and idle habits for virtue and industry; and contemplates his comfort, usefulness, and respectability, as the fruit of his kindness and labour! What satisfaction must the Saviour feel to behold, as the effect of his Cross, and his Grace, the renewal of human nature, the deliverance of province after province from the power of Satan, and the kingdoms of this world coming under the influence of the Gospel! What an inheritance, what a possession will the Heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth be to the Messiah, when Paganism, and Mahommedanism, and the man of sin, shall perish; when, in every place, incense shall be offered unto him, and a pure offering; when the nation shall learn war no more; when the people shall be all holy, trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified!

We read of two vast gifts of God in the Scripture; the gift of his Son to the world and the gift of the world to his Son. The first of these is the greatest, and we ought never to think of it without exclaiming, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!" But let us think of the other also; and rejoice that our earth is to come under the dominion of the Messiah, and is given to him for this purpose. It is thus to him, as Canaan was to the Jews. Canaan was to them the Land of Promise, and, God having promised it, in vain was every attempt made to keep them from obtaining it. Egypt was plagued, Pharaoh and his army were destroyed, the sea opened a passage for the heirs of promise, Jordan was driven back, and they were brought in triumph to the rest and the inheritance, which the Lord their God had given them. So will it be here. All opposition will be as vain as it is unreasonable. His enemies shall lick the dust. The word is gone out of God's mouth, and shall not return, that to him every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, until He shall come whose right it is, and I will give it him.

Let us think of his prospects. We have sympathized with him in his agony and bloody sweat, in his cross and passion. Let us exult at the thought, that he is crowned with glory and honour; and has the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. And what an immensity of subjects will he derive from them; and what an infinity of services; and what an eternity of praises and delights! It was the joy set before him; and "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied."

We ought also to rejoice from a principle of benevolence. His dominion involves the happiness of the human race. Nebuchadnezzar, and other conquerors, had nations given into their hand, but they only enslaved, and impoverished, and cursed their subjects. But,

"Blessings abound where'er he reigns:
The pris'ner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest;
And all the sons of want are blest."

Morning Exercises For Everyday In The Year
By Rev. William Jay