Hillyer, Asa. A Sermon, preached May, 1820, in the Wall Street Church, New-York, before the Presbyterian Education Society. Newark: Published by the Society. Printed by John Tuttle & Co., 1820. First Edition. [11247]
Removed, sewn into a new acid-free wrapper, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, 21 pages, light foxing. Good. Pamphlet.
The headline "converting the world will usher in the Millennium" is our description of the contents, the exact phrase is not in the sermon.
A sermon on the text Numbers 13:30, "And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome."
After reviewing the setting of the verse Hillyer reminds his hearers that "the time is approaching when the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heavens, shall be given to the saints of the Most High. The whole earth is promised to the church of God. The time, we are assured, will come, and the time we believe is at hand, when she shall have the heathen for her inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth of her possession."
These millennial certainties are the basis for his remarks following, that the heathen and unbelieving around the world, including in the American West, must be brought to convert to Christ, and that the mission of the Presbyterian Education Society to spread the gospel and to educate ministers is a vital part of this end.
Asa Hillyer (1763-1840), b. Sheffield, Massachusetts. A graduate of Yale College (1786), licensed and ordained a Presbyterian minister, and after serving smaller churches he in 1801 accepted a call to Orange, New Jersey, one of the largest and most influential chuches in the state. He remained for more than thirty years. In 1818 he was awarded the degree of D.D. from Alleghany College. Rev. Hillyer stood with the New School at the time of the division in 1837. He was for many years a trustee of the College of New Jersey and one of the first directors of the theological seminary at Princeton.
