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uncared for; no man, not even the minister who had vowed to watch for them, having said to
them, Are you ready?—or warned them to flee from the wrath to come.

Is not this description too true of many a district and many a minister? We do not speak in
anger; we do not speak in scorn: we ask the question solemnly and earnestly. It needs an
answer. If ever there was a time when there should be "great searchings of heart" and frank
acknowledgment of unfaithfulness, it is now when God is visiting us—visiting us both in
judgment and mercy. We speak in brotherly-kindness; surely the answer should not be of
wrath and bitterness. And if this description be true, what sin must there be in ministers and
people! How great must be the spiritual desolation that prevails! Surely there is something in
such a case grievously wrong; something which calls for solemn self-examination in every
minister; something which requires deep repentance.

Fields plowed and sown, yet yielding no fruit! Machinery constantly in motion, yet all
without one particle of produce! Nets cast into the sea, and spread wide, yet no fishes
enclosed! All this for years—for a lifetime! How strange! Yet it is true. There is neither
fancy nor exaggeration in the matter. Question some ministers, and what other account can
they give? They can tell you of sermons preached, but of sermons blest they can say nothing.
They can speak of discourses that were admired and praised, but of discourses that have been
made effectual by the Holy Spirit they can not speak. They can tell you how many have been
baptized, how many communicants admitted; but of souls awakened, converted, ripening in
grace, they can give no account. They can enumerate the sacraments they have dispensed;
but as to whether any of them have been "times of refreshing" or times of awakening,
they can not say. They can tell you what and how many cases of discipline have passed
through their hands; but whether any of these have issued in godly sorrow for sin, whether
the professed penitents who were absolved by them gave evidence of being

"washed and sanctified and justified," they can give no information; they never thought of
such an issue! They can tell what is the attendance at school, and what are the abilities of the
teacher; but how many of these precious little ones whom they have vowed to feed are
seeking the Lord they know not; or whether their teacher be a man of prayer and piety they
can not say. They can tell you the population of their parish, the number of their
congregation, or the temporal condition of their flocks; but as to their spiritual state, how
many have been awakened from the sleep of death, how many are followers of God as
dear children, they can not pretend to say. Perhaps they would deem it rashness and
presumption, if not fanaticism, to inquire. And yet they have sworn, before men and
angels, to watch for their souls as they that must give account! But oh, of what use are
sermons, sacraments, schools, if souls are left to perish; if living religion be lost sight of; if
the Holy Spirit be not sought; if men are left to grow up and die unpitied, unprayed for,
unwarned!

It was not so in other days. Our fathers really watched and preached for souls. They asked
and they expected a blessing. Nor were they denied it. They were blessed in turning many to
righteousness. Their lives record their successful labors. How refreshing the lives of those