SERMON, DELIVERED IN BOSTON, SEPT. 17, 1823, BEFORE THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS, AT THEIR FOURTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. BY JEREMIAH DAY, D.D. LL.D. Published by request of the Board. BOSTON: PRINTED BY CROCKER AND BREWSTER, No. 50, Cornhill. SERMON. NEHEMIAH vi, 3. AND I SENT MESSENGERS UNTO THEM, SAYING, I AM DOING A GREAT WORK; SO THAT I CANNOT COME DOWN. WHY SHOULD THE WORK CEASE, WHILE I LEAVE IT, AND COME DOWN TO YOU? WHILE Nehemiah was residing at the Persian court, at a distance from the land of his fathers, he was deeply affected, by the accounts which he received of the desolations of Jerusalem. As he was ministering in his office, the King observed his dejection, and inquired the cause. "Why should not my countenance be sad," he replied, "when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?" Having fasted, and prayed to the God of Israel, he found favor with the King, and received from him a commission, to go to Jerusalem, and rebuild its walls. But when Sanballat and Tobias, and other enemies of Judah heard of it; "it grieved them exceedingly, that there was come a man, to seek the welfare of the children of Israel." They endeavored to divert him from his purpose, sometimes by threats, and sometimes by expressions of contempt |