Who was William Carey?

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 enterprise 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 afterwards 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 labours of Messrs. Carey, Marshman, and Ward, in India, have been often written, and are generally known. To Dr. Carey, it is said, belongs the honour 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 fumed 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 neighbourhood of Sierra Leone.

And, what is more, we shall be seeking the great things of God. A devoted servant of God, who a century and a half ago was a pioneer in missionary work, had as a motto something like this, "Attempt great things for God: expect great things from God." Carey, the Northamptonshire cobbler, spake thus, and he laboured on, in spite of opposition and sometimes ridicule, particularly at the translation of the Scriptures into native tongues. No spectacular results were visible during his lifetime, but great things from God have sprung from what he attempted for God.

It is computed that since the celebrated Mr. Carey, the cobbler from a tiny Northamptonshire village, went forth as the first missionary to India one hundred years ago, and spite of the fact of 3,000,000 professed converts from heathendom in the century of Christian effort to reach them, for which we profoundly thank God, that there are about 197,000,000 more heathen in the world today than then.

And that were melody without harmony. We prefer both. The beauty of the sound is increased exceedingly. Here is another instance: in enumerating the apostles, the other writers simply say "Matthew and Thomas," putting Matthew before Thomas and saying nothing about his hated profession; whereas, when Matthew enumerates them, he puts himself after Thomas and mentions his own profession, "Thomas and Matthew the publican." "You were originally a shoemaker, Mr. Carey, I believe," loftily said the great dignitary, to the man who translated the Bible for the Hindus. "No, my lord, only a cobbler," he replied.

Ever since that day the gospel has been winning its peaceful triumphs. Century after century rolls on. So also the work of the Lord. St. Augustine, Bishop Paulinus, Huss, Wyckliffe, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesley, Whitefield, Spurgeon, Moody and thousands besides bear testimony to the urge of the Spirit of God in the proclamation of the Divine evangel. Then there is the great missionary movement of the more modern times. Carey, Duff, Moffatt, Livingstone, Hudson Taylor, Bishop Hannington, C. T. Studd and thousands more testify to the urge that will cross oceans and brave martyrdom in the quest of seeking the perishing and lost for the kingdom of God.

“The fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build” (v. 3). And right substantially did they perform their task, for they laid the beams, and set up the doors and locks and bars thereof. Again we are not told what relation fish had to this gate beyond its name. But the connection between fish (the word being used in a symbolic way) and evangelism is very clear in Scripture. Our Lord walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon and Andrew, casting a net into the sea. He called them, saying, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). They straightway left their nets and followed Him. Such was the power of His word. And surely it is the echo of that call throughout the ages that has been heard in ten thousand hearts, and has proved the urge for world-wide evangelism. It called forth Andrew and Peter, Paul, Timothy, the early Fathers, Calvin, Farel, Luther, Zwingli, Wesley, Whitefield, Spurgeon, and a list too long to enumerate. It led Carey and Marshman to India; Moffatt and Livingstone and Arnott to Africa; Hudson Taylor to China; Judson to Burmah; Martyn to Persia; Brainerd to the Red Indians roaming over the prairies of America; Gardner to inclement Patagonia; Paton to the New Hebrides. It has called forth the indomitable labours of hundreds of missionaries in producing the Scriptures in whole or in part in over seven hundred languages and dialects, so that the Word of God is a veritable tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.

The Apostle Paul was the first great missionary to carry the Gospel to strange lands. Since his day we have the record of much missionary effort from the time of St. Augustine, who came as a missionary to the shores of Kent, England, when that country was pagan and idolatrous, to the days of Carey, Judson, Martyn, Moffat, Livingstone, Paton, Hudson Taylor, etc., etc. God speed every missionary labourer in the fields white already to harvest. India, China, Japan, Africa, North America, South America, the far-off islands of the Pacific—all can furnish many thrilling tales of devoted missionaries, many of whom energized by the Spirit of God to carry out our Lord’s commission to evangelize all nations, have laid down their lives in this blessed service.

The missionary, William Carey, tells of a native convert who was asked if he had happiness. "Yes," he answered, "I am thrice happy." He was asked for an explanation. Said he, laying his hand upon his heart, "I have Christ here" (Eph. 3:17). Then he said, laying his hand on his Bengalee Bible, "I have Christ here" (Luke 24:27). "And," he said, pointing towards heaven, "I have Christ up there" (Col. 3:1). Happy man! He had Christ in his heart, and Christ in his Bible, and Christ in heaven. How could he be unhappy? Christians who make everything of Christ are always happy. The psalmist says, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." The sheep of Christ are in a place of pasture which is always green and fresh. They can there find perfect satisfaction. Sheep, they say, lie down when they are satisfied. So David said, "He maketh me to lie down." Where are you, my friend? In Lo-debar, or satisfied amid the ever fresh and fragrant pastures of communion with the Lord?