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TWO DISCOURSES 
 
 ON OCCASION OF 
 
 THE DEATH 
 
 OF THK LATE 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER TURNBULL, 
 
 MINISTER OF THE ASSOCIATE BURGHER CONGREGATION, 
 CAMPBELL-STREET, GLASGOW. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. FINDLAY STEWART, POLLOCKSHAWS 
 
 REV. WILLIAM MACKRAY, STIRLING. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CONGREGATION- 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 
 PRINTED BY FULLARTON AND CO., VILLAFIELD. 
 
 1834. 
 
Unanticipated and unavoidable occurrences have prevented the publication of 
 these Discourses so soon as their Authors expected and desired. 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 ON OCCASION OF THE DEATH 
 
 OP THE LATE 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER TURNRULL, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. FINDLAY STEWARTV 
 
 POLLOCKSHAWS. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://archive.org/details/twodiscoursesonoOOstew 
 
SERMON. 
 
 Hebrews vii. 8. 
 
 " And here men that die receive tithes ; but there he recciveth them, of whom it 
 
 is witnessed that he liveth." 
 
 The design of the Apostle in the first part of this 
 chapter, is to prove and illustrate the superiority of the 
 typical priesthood of Melchisedec above that of the sons 
 of Levi. To enter into any controversy ' respecting 
 Melchisedec, or even to state the different opinions that 
 have been entertained of this illustrious person, would be 
 very unseasonable on this solemn and mournful occasion. 
 I shall only observe, that he could not, as some have 
 supposed, be the Redeemer, who just for that occasion 
 assumed the appearance of a man; for in this case the 
 Apostle would never have asserted that Melchisedec was 
 " made like unto the Son of God," or that Christ was 
 constituted a " Priest after the order of Melchisedec." 
 Though a very singular character, he seems to have been 
 a mere man, raised up by God to be an eminent type of 
 him, who is the " High Priest of our profession." 
 
 A 
 
4 SERMON. 
 
 When he is said to be " without father, without 
 mother, without descent, having neither beginning of 
 days, nor end of life," — we are not to conclude that he 
 had no human extraction, or that he never died; but 
 only, that the holy Scriptures give no account of his 
 father or mother — of his birth or death ; and that, in the 
 office of priesthood, he had no predecessor — no partner- 
 no successor. In this respect, he fitly represented our 
 great High Priest, who was without father, as man, and 
 without mother, as God, — whose existence is from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting, — and whose priesthood is of per- 
 petual duration. 
 
 In the verse to which I intend, at this time, to direct 
 your attention, the Apostle institutes a comparison be- 
 tween Melchisedec and the priests of the order of Aaron 
 — showing that the former is greatly superior to the 
 latter : " And here men die that receive tithes ; but there 
 he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth." 
 In the case of the sons of Aaron, according to the law 
 of Moses, they who received tithes were mere sinful 
 dying men, whose office descended to others, and at last 
 became extinct : but, in the case of Melchisedec, he who 
 received tithes of Abraham — the great ancestor of the 
 priests of the house of Levi — is represented as living, 
 having none to succeed him in his office ; " by which it 
 is intimated that a Priest should arise, to whom the whole 
 Israel of God would pay their devoted homage, and from 
 whom they would receive the blessing." 
 
 Without noticing the difficulties with which, as some 
 
SERMON*. 5 
 
 interpreters have supposed, this passage is attended, — or 
 attempting to state the points of resemblance between 
 Melchisedec and Christ ; I shall consider the text, on the 
 present occasion, as contrasting the mortality of those 
 whom God calls to the office of the holy ministry, with 
 the immortality of Him, who is an High Priest for ever, 
 and of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 
 
 In the following discourse, I propose, in the first place, 
 to make some observations respecting those who are in- 
 vested with the office of the holy ministry, and their 
 mortality ; and, in the second place, to direct your atten- 
 tion to the immortality of Christ as a source of consola- 
 tion to the Church — especially when her faithful and 
 beloved pastors are removed by death. 
 
 On the first part of the subject, I observe, 
 In the first place, that those whom God invests with 
 the sacred office of the ministry are men. " Here men 
 that die receive tithes." The office of the holy ministry 
 is the most noble and interesting to which any mortal was 
 ever called. Angels of the highest order would have 
 reckoned themselves highly honoured, had they been in- 
 vested with ?t ; and, if we may judge from the delight 
 with which they announced the birth of the Redeemer to 
 the shepherds in the plains of Bethlehem, and joined in 
 chorus to celebrate the glorious event, they would have 
 fulfilled it with alacrity and faithfulness. But angels are 
 not the instruments whom God has chosen to convey his 
 message of salvation to mankind, and to plead with them 
 to accept of his proffered mercy. In different ages, in- 
 
() SERMON. 
 
 deed, they have been sent forth from the throne of the 
 Eternal to publish the determinations of infinite wisdom. 
 As ministering; spirits they are still employed in perform- 
 ing many endearing offices to " the heirs of salvation." 
 But they were never intended to be the permanent min- 
 isters of the church, for dispensing the ordinances of the 
 gospel. As the gospel is to be preached to sinners of 
 mankind, it has pleased God, in all ages, to call men to 
 proclaim the " glad tidings of great joy" to their fellow- 
 sinners ; and in so doing, he has peculiarly displayed his 
 wisdom and condescension. 
 
 Had angels been intrusted with this message, would 
 not the glory and splendour of their appearance have been 
 apt to confound those to whom they were appointed to 
 convey it ? From scripture we learn, that mankind have 
 often been filled with fear and alarm — that they have 
 trembled and fallen at the appearance of these spiritual 
 messengers. When God, by the ministry of angels, de- 
 livered his law from Mount Sinai, we are told, that " all 
 the people who were in the camp trembled. And so ter- 
 rible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear 
 and quake." When the angel appeared to the shepherds 
 of Bethlehem, and the glory of the Lord surrounded 
 them, — it is said, that " they were sore afraid." In con- 
 descension, therefore, to our weakness, God has been 
 pleased to employ men like ourselves in the dispensation 
 of the Gospel. — Besides, were beings of a superior order 
 invested with the office of the ministry, it is evident, that 
 they could not possess an experimental feeling of those 
 
SERMON. 7 
 
 distresses in which mankind, to whom the Gospel is to 
 be preached, are involved by sin, and for which the Gos- 
 pel alone exhibits a remedy. Not being partakers of 
 our nature, angels cannot be touched with the feeling of 
 our infirmities. If our blessed Redeemer, though the 
 Son of the Highest, behoved to assume our nature, and, 
 " in all things to be made like unto his brethren," that 
 he might be enabled to sympathise from experience, and 
 inclined to compassionate the distresses of those, of whose 
 flesh and blood he is a partaker ; surely none can be so 
 well qualified for dispensing the Gospel as those who are 
 partakers of the same nature with the persons to whom it 
 is to be dispensed, and who have been in the very same 
 circumstances with themselves. — In fine, had angels been 
 appointed to the office of the holy ministry, the proofs of 
 Almighty power — in turning men " from darkness to 
 light, and from the power of Satan unto God " — would 
 not have been so conspicuous. Much of the efficacy 
 attending their labours would, in all probability, have 
 been attributed to them, — while the Divine operator 
 might, in a great measure, have been overlooked. " We 
 have this treasure" — the Gospel — not in golden vessels 
 as angels, but " in earthen vessels" — mortal men — "that 
 the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of 
 us." * 
 
 But I observe, in the second place, that those who are 
 invested with the office of the holy ministry are men, 
 
 • 2 Cor. iv. 7. 
 
H SERMON. 
 
 liable, like others, to infirmities — to diseases, and to 
 death. " Here men that die receive tithes." From the 
 infirmities that are common to mankind ministers are not 
 exempt. Not adverting to this, many are disposed to 
 make no allowance for their frailties. They suppose that 
 they should seldom, if ever, discover any of the common 
 weaknesses of erring humanity. But many of those who 
 were most distinguished for their gifts and graces, had in- 
 firmities that tended greatly to obscure their lustre. Both 
 Moses and Aaron, though eminently holy men, were con- 
 demned to die in the wilderness, " because they trespas- 
 sed against the Lord among the children of Israel at the 
 waters of Meribah-kadesh ; and because they sanctified him 
 not in the midst of the children of Israel." Respecting 
 Elias, the Holy Ghost particularly remarks, that, although 
 he was a great reformer in Israel, a noble testimony- 
 bearer against apostasy, and distinguished for his influence 
 in prayer, " he was still a man subject to like passions as 
 we are." As under the law men were made "high- 
 priests who had infirmity," — the case is still the same un- 
 der the gospel. The infirmities of Peter and Paul, of 
 James and John, and of other eminent saints of the Most 
 High, are recorded in scripture to warn others against the 
 temptations into which they fell, and to declare to the 
 world that a sinless perfection is not to be expected from 
 any mere man in this life, even though invested with the 
 sacred office of the ministry. 
 
 Like other men, ministers are also subject to diseases 
 and to death. How feelingly does the apostle Paul re- 
 
SERMON. 
 
 mind the Corinthians of the sufferings and dangers to 
 which he was exposed in fulfilling 1 his ministry ! " We 
 are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are 
 perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not for- 
 saken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing 
 about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the 
 life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 
 For we who live are always delivered unto death for 
 Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made 
 manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in 
 us, but life in you."* Though from those severe trials to 
 which many of their forefathers were exposed, the minis- 
 ters of religion are, at this day, mercifully exempt ; though 
 they are not called to suffer bonds and imprisonments, or 
 to seal their faith with their blood, yet their deep concern 
 for the souls of those who are under their care — their close 
 confinement — their sleepless nights, and their incessant 
 labours and anxieties, often lay the foundation of many 
 painful diseases — the harbingers of death. Hence few of 
 them, comparatively, live to old age. Under the disease 
 which terminated the earthly career of your beloved pas- 
 tor, he seems to have long laboured. His medical attend- 
 ants have declared, that it must have existed for eighteen 
 or twenty years ; that, during that period, he must have 
 suffered severely ; and that he could have obtained relief 
 only by taking exercise in the open air. And now that 
 these circumstances are known to us, we cannot help ex- 
 
 * 2 Cor. iv. 8—12. 
 
10 SERMON. 
 
 pressing our regret that lie had not, at least on some 
 occasions, more of our sympathy. But the patience and 
 composure with which he endured all his sufferings, de- 
 ceived even his most intimate associates as to the progress 
 of the disease; and, though some of them had of late 
 begun to entertain fears that it would, ere long, terminate 
 in death, they had little idea that he would be cut off so 
 soon. 
 
 Even the most eminent servants of the Lord are not, 
 any more than other men, immortal in this world. Like 
 the rest of the human race, they are liable to death in 
 consequence of sin. " Wherefore, as by one man sin 
 entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death 
 passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."* " Our 
 fathers, where are they ? and the prophets, do they live 
 for ever?"f No. Moses and the prophets are dead. 
 Aaron and the priests of his order are dead. The apostles 
 of our Lord are dead. And none of those who are now 
 invested with the office of the holy ministry, any more 
 than the priests under the law, can " continue by reason of 
 death." They are sinful mortal men, appointed to die, 
 and to leave their office in succession from generation to 
 generation. If the people would seriously consider this, 
 it would tend to excite them to a more diligent attendance 
 on their ministrations. It is not uncommon for persons 
 when tempted to loiter at home on the sabbath, to say in 
 excuse, " We have indeed lost a sermon, but it is of no 
 
 • Rom. v. 12. f Zoch. i. 5. 
 
SERMON. 1 1 
 
 great consequence, we can hear our minister again." But 
 were they to reflect, that their minister is a mortal man, 
 and that every sermon they hear from him may be the 
 last — instead of staying at home, or discovering the ut- 
 most listlessness in the house of God, how would they 
 exert themselves to hear every sermon he preaches, and 
 to catch every word as it flows from his lips ! When your 
 late worthy pastor last addressed you, few, if any of you, 
 I suppose, entertained the idea that you would never hear 
 him again. On that occasion, however, he seems to have 
 had a sort of presentiment that his departure was ap- 
 proaching. When, at the conclusion of the public ser- 
 vices of that day,* I said to him, that I had never heard him 
 deliver with more ease and fervour, he replied, " I have, 
 indeed, been greatly helped by the Lord to-day ; but in 
 the evening I addressed my hearers with all the earnest- 
 ness in my power, under the impression that it would be 
 the last address of the kind I would ever deliver." And 
 so it was. As an hireling, he has fulfilled his day ; as a 
 soldier, he has accomplished his warfare ; as a witness, he 
 has finished his testimony ; and as an ambassador, he has 
 been recalled to give an account of his embassy. And, 
 brethren, may we not indulge the animating hope, that 
 not a few of those to whom he ministered will meet him 
 in a better world, where the languors of imperfection, 
 the inroads of disease, and the pangs of separation, will be 
 unknown and unfelt for ever ? " These are thev," said 
 
 * The day on which the Lord'* Supper was last dispensed at Glasgow. 
 
 B 
 
12 SERMON. 
 
 the angel to the beloved disciple, " who came out of great 
 tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them 
 white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they be- 
 fore the throne of God, and serve him day and night in 
 his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell 
 among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst 
 any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 
 heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
 shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of 
 waters : and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes." * 
 
 In the last place, I observe, that to the Church and to 
 society, the removal of faithful ministers, though unheeded 
 by many, is a very severe loss. The prophet Isaiah men- 
 tions the disregarded removal of good men, as an evidence 
 of the wickedness which then prevailed, and as a sad pre- 
 sage of approaching calamities. " The righteous perish- 
 eth, and no man layeth it to heart : and merciful men are 
 taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken 
 away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace : 
 they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his 
 uprightness, "f The death of God's faithful servants is 
 to themselves the greatest benefit, and to others the 
 greatest loss that can be conceived. Their souls enter 
 into those , peaceful regions, where there is nothing to 
 hurt or destroy; and their bodies repose in the silent 
 grave, where " the wicked cease from troubling, and where 
 
 * Rev. vii. 14—17. f Is. lvii. I, 2. 
 
SERMON. 18 
 
 the weary are at rest :" but their departure is an indica- 
 tion of the Divine displeasure, and portends, and makes 
 way for, the judgments of the Almighty. Few, however, 
 are suitably affected with such mournful events. They 
 do not lay them to heart, nor consider them as a public 
 loss. But, though little regretted, the loss sustained by 
 the church and by society, upon the removal of faithful 
 ministers, is very extensive. To the Israelites, the death 
 of Moses was one of the greatest losses they ever met 
 with. The departure of Elijah, though gloriously trium- 
 phant, was a calamity to the nation of Israel exceeding 
 the destruction of its best appointed armies. Hence 
 Elisha, under a sense of his own and Israel's loss, ex- 
 claimed, " My father, my father, the chariot of Israel 
 and the horsemen thereof." Faithful pastors, while they 
 live, are the salt of the earth, the pillars of the world, 
 and the " key-stone of society ;" they diffuse blessings 
 around them, and form the strongest defence of the land 
 in which they dwell. Hence, when they die the loss must 
 be great. By their death, the benefit of their public 
 ministrations — by which the church is instructed, and 
 society ameliorated — is lost. How great also is the loss 
 of their friendly visits — their fervent prayers — their hearty 
 counsels — their tender sympathies — their reproofs, ad- 
 monitions, and warnings — and their pious example ! 
 
 You are witnesses, brethren, and God also, with what 
 fidelity your late beloved pastor fulfilled his ministry. For 
 some years his labours among you were immense. When 
 I considered the business he had to perform of a sessional 
 
14 SERMON. 
 
 nature, — the great number of families which in one week 
 he sometimes visited,* — the different public meetings he 
 attended, — the respectability of his discourses, — and the 
 ardour with which he delivered them, I often expressed 
 my astonishment, that he did not sink under such extra- 
 ordinary exertions. And now when I reflect, that even 
 then he must have laboured under the disease that has 
 brought him to the grave, my astonishment is greatly in- 
 creased. For some time past, through the increase of 
 his disease, his ardour was somewhat abated, and the 
 duties of his office were somewhat burdensome. I have 
 known him, after visiting persons in severe affliction, to 
 be so affected with the sight, as to unfit him, in some mea- 
 sure, for his other ministerial services. — His steadfast ad- 
 herence to the principles, which, at license and ordination, 
 he became bound to maintain, is well known to many of 
 you. In this respect, he never could make any compro- 
 mise. Nor did he ever hesitate to sacrifice friendship 
 rather than principle, when both could not be maintained. 
 To hold principles opposed to those of the society with 
 which he was connected, and, at the same time, continue 
 
 * It was not uncommon for Mr Turnbull, in the course of his ordinary 
 visitation, to exhort and pray in above twenty houses in one day, and in the 
 evening to visit several sick persons. — He has also been known to have 
 preached ten or twelve times in the course of eight days, without neglecting 
 his other official duties. Yet none ever heard him boast of his services, 
 or find fault with his brethren for doing less then he did, — so much did he 
 dislike every appearance of a Pharisaical spirit. Well might one of the 
 ministers of Glasgow say of him — " He has been a very efficient minister, — 
 but has fallen a sacrifice to his ardour." 
 
SERMON. 15 
 
 in its communion, lie always considered to be dishonest. 
 His plain dealing-, on this point, did expose him to oppo- 
 sition and reproach ; but his noble mind they staggered 
 not for a moment. Warmly attached to the standards of 
 the Church of Scotland, he openly and fearlessly defended 
 them when necessity required — from a conviction that 
 they were "agreeable to, and founded on the word of 
 God;" and though he saw it his duty to testify against 
 the corruptions of that Church, he hailed her late attempts 
 at reformation as the dawn of a brighter day. Having 
 finished his labours on earth, we trust that he has given 
 his account with joy, and that he has received the approv- 
 ing testimony of his great Master, — " Well done, good 
 and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 I now go on, in the second place, to direct your atten- 
 tion to the immortality of Christ, as a source of consola- 
 tion to the Church — especially when her faithful and be- 
 loved pastors are removed by death. 
 
 " Here men die that receive tithes ; but there he re- 
 ceiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that He liveth." All 
 men, whatever be their station, die. Husbands die — 
 parents die — ministers die ; but Christ liveth. — He liveth 
 in his divine nature. In this view, his life is underived 
 and independent. Being" possessed of the same divine 
 nature with the other persons of the adorable Trinity, he 
 must be, equally with them, the fountain of life — on 
 whom all creatures depend for life, and who depends on 
 none for his. In this respect he may be said to be the 
 " First and the Last," — " the blessed and only Poten- 
 
16 SERMON. 
 
 tate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; who only 
 hath immortality." In his human nature he has also an 
 " endless life." In this nature he was once numbered 
 with the dead ; but he is alive again, and lives for ever- 
 more. Hence the cheering declaration which he uttered 
 to the disciple whom he distinguished by his love, — " I 
 am he that liveth and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive 
 for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of 
 death." — " He liveth" as God-man Mediator. The scrip- 
 tures represent him as God and man in one person. In this 
 character he liveth. As Mediator he has a personal im- 
 mortality. He will for ever live as " Immanuel, God 
 with us." — " He liveth" in all the important offices he as- 
 sumed in the character of Mediator. He is invested with 
 the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King ; and in all these 
 offices he liveth for ever. 
 
 On this part of the subject, I might have shown you, 
 that the immortality of Christ is a source of consolation 
 to the saints under an overwhelming sense of sin — under 
 breaking dispensations — and under the fears of dissolution. 
 
 But passing these, I shall shortly advert to the three 
 following ideas, as more applicable to our present circum- 
 stances: Christ liveth to preserve the church — to supply 
 her with faithful ministers — and to bestow upon them 
 a glorious reward. 
 
 In the first place, Christ " liveth" to preserve the 
 church in defiance of all opposition. Ever since the reve- 
 lation of mercy to our first parents in the garden of 
 Eden, the opposition of Satan and his agents has been 
 
SERMON. 17 
 
 strong and incessant. To accomplish the destruction of 
 the Church, they have tried all their subtilty, and exerted 
 all their strength. Idolatry, and superstition, and fraud, 
 and violence, and disgrace, and tortures, and heresies, and 
 corruptions, have all been employed for this purpose. 
 " The heathen have raged, and the people imagined a 
 vain tiling ; the kings of the earth have set themselves 
 and the rulers taken counsel together against the Lord and 
 against his Anointed." But every effort has proved un- 
 successful. The kingdom of the Redeemer, after all the 
 struggles it has sustained, subsists to this day. The 
 mightiest empires which once gave laws to the world, 
 and seemed to lay claim to perpetuity, have long ago been 
 swept away with the besom of destruction. But the 
 Church, though she has existed nearly six thousand years, 
 still remains. And why ? Because her Head " liveth." 
 " He liveth" who has purchased the Church with his own 
 blood; and who, though now enthroned on high amidst 
 thousands and tens of thousands of his ransomed ones, is 
 not careless of his little flock in the pathless desert. " He 
 liveth," who turns all the wheels of Providence as he 
 pleaseth, and regulates all events, however complicated 
 and mysterious they may appear to us, in subservience to 
 his own everlasting plans and designs. " He liveth," 
 who has been with his Church in all former generations — 
 who has all along watched over and protected her, and 
 who is still as able to save as ever he was. The instru- 
 ments he employs in the Church's preservation are in- 
 deed often removed ; but his power ceaseth not. " Is the 
 
18 SERMON. 
 
 Lord's ear heavy, that he cannot hear? or is his hand 
 shortened, that he cannot save ?" Remember, brethren, 
 that his strength remains undecayed by the lapse of time, 
 and undiminished by constant exertion. To him all oppo- 
 sition is infinitely " less than a little dust in the way of 
 the whirlwind, or a single particle of vapour before the 
 sun in his rising glory." Your great High-priest, be- 
 lievers, not only " liveth," but he " liveth for evermore." 
 And therefore, when all the kingdoms of this world shall 
 have perished, and all their pageantry shall have passed 
 away as a dream, the Church shall exist in that better 
 country where no weapon can ever wound — no enemy can 
 ever annoy. " No weapon that is formed against thee 
 shall prosper ; and every tongue that riseth against thee in 
 judgment, thou shalt condemn." " No lion shall be there, 
 nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon ; it shall not 
 be found there ; but the redeemed shall walk there." * 
 
 In the second place, " He liveth" to supply the Church 
 with faithful ministers. A faithful Gospel ministry is the 
 gift of our exalted Redeemer to the Church which he has 
 ransomed. The Apostle tells us, that " when he ascend- 
 ed up on high, he gave gifts unto men : he gave some 
 apostles — and some pastors and teachers— for the work of 
 the ministry." By sending forth faithful ministers, the 
 living Head of the Church gives gifts unto men; and 
 when these are removed by death, he raises up others to 
 fill their places, and to carry on his work. Aaron died; 
 
 * Is. liv. 17 : xxxv. 9. 
 
SERMON. 19 
 
 but Eleazar his son was arrayed in his hallowed garments, 
 and invested with his office. Moses died ; but Joshua 
 was appointed to take his place, and to conduct the cho- 
 sen tribes to the land promised to their fathers. Elijah 
 ascended, soul and body, to heaven in a chariot of fire ; 
 but a double portion of his spirit rested on Elisha, his 
 successor. Stephen was stoned to death ; but Paul was 
 converted, and called to the office of the ministry. — 
 Your late much beloved pastor is gone. But is all gone? 
 No. Christ "liveth" to provide for you. Your spirit- 
 ual father is no more ; but your " everlasting Father," 
 on whose shoulders is the government of the Church, 
 continues. Your under-shepherd is removed; but the 
 " chief Shepherd is the same yesterday, and to-day, and 
 for ever." — And, brethren, it is truly consolatory, that, 
 though ministers die, the word of God lives and abides 
 for ever ; and that, though there is no security against 
 temporary vacancies, in particular congregations, a Gos- 
 pel ministry will be continued in the Church until time 
 shall terminate, and eternity be laid open. This is se- 
 cured by the promise of the Redeemer : " Go ye, there- 
 fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; 
 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have 
 commanded you : and, lo, / am with you alway, even to 
 the end of the world" # 
 
 In the last place, " He liveth" to bestow on his faith- 
 
 * Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 
 
 c 
 
*20 SERMON. 
 
 ful ministers a glorious reward. He sends none " a war- 
 fare on their own charges." Even on earth they can 
 testify, that they do not serve him for nought. Need I 
 here mention the tokens of his gracious presence — the 
 testimonies of his approbation — and the seals of their 
 ministry, with which they are favoured, as constituting 
 no mean reward annexed to fidelity in the service of their 
 great Master ? " For God is not unrighteous to forget 
 their work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of 
 hope." — But the reward which I have now particularly 
 in view, is that which they receive when their labours 
 are finished. The apostle Peter exhorts all who are 
 called to the work of the ministry, to perform it with 
 diligence and fidelity, animated by the prospect of an 
 unfading crown of glory which they shall receive, when 
 the chief Shepherd — from whom their office is derived, 
 on whom they depend for supplies, and to whom they 
 must give account — shall appear to judge the world in 
 righteousness. " Feed the flock of God which is among 
 you, and when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall 
 receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." * Of 
 this reward the apostle Paul speaks in the view of his 
 approaching martyrdom: " Henceforth there is laid up 
 for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
 righteous Judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to 
 me only, but unto all them also who love his appearing."! 
 But it ought always to be carefully kept in view, that 
 
 ■ 1 Pet. v. 2, 4. | 2 Tim. iv. 8. 
 
SERMON. 21 
 
 their services, however eminent, do not procure this re- 
 ward. They are in no degree meritorious. The reward 
 is entirely of grace reigning through the righteousness of 
 Jesus Christ. It is the gift of Him who liveth for ever. 
 But the reward and the work are indissolubly connected 
 together : — " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
 thee a crown of life.'* * " They that be wise shall shine 
 as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn 
 many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."f 
 
 Without saying any thing farther respecting our de- 
 parted friend — as something more on this point may be 
 expected from the Lord's servant who is to address you 
 in the afternoon — I shall conclude this discourse by ten- 
 dering to you a word of exhortation. 
 
 Ever bear in mind, my believing brethren, that your 
 High Priest liveth to sympathise with you under all your 
 trials, and to repair all your losses. " We have not," 
 says the Apostle, " an High Priest who cannot be 
 touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all 
 points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."J Per- 
 haps your losses are such as no one on earth is able to 
 repair. You are ready to say with David, — " I looked 
 on my right hand, and beheld ; but there was no man that 
 would know me. Refuge failed me, no man cared for 
 my soul." But your High Priest, who liveth in heaven, 
 is able to make up every loss. Have you lost a husband ? 
 He is the Husband of the widow; and therefore he will 
 
 * Rev. ii. 10. f Dan. xii. 3. \ Hcb. iv. 15. 
 
'2'2 SERMON. 
 
 afford you all that protection, and discover to you all that 
 kind attention which this endearing relation implies. 
 Have you lost a father ? He is the Father of the father- 
 less. However forlorn and destitute your situation may 
 be, your heavenly Father, who can never die, says — " I 
 will not leave you comfortless " — or fatherless—" I will 
 come unto you." Have you lost a brother? He is a 
 Brother born for adversity. " Go to my brethren," says 
 Christ, " and tell them, I ascend to my Father and your 
 Father, and to my God and your God." Have you lost 
 a friend? He is a Friend that sticketh closer than a 
 brother. No change in your outward circumstances can, 
 in any degree, abate the ardour of his affection, or induce 
 him to withhold his support. " With him is no variable- 
 ness, neither shadow of turning." He is " the same yes- 
 terday, to-day, and for ever." Have you lost a faithful 
 minister? He is the Minister of the upper sanctuary. 
 He walketh among " the seven golden candlesticks," to 
 preside over them, and to supply them with oil. He 
 " holdeth the seven stars in his right hand," not only to 
 support and direct them, but to replace them when extin- 
 guished by death. When, therefore, you deplore the loss 
 of a beloved pastor, mourn in hope, that, instead of the 
 fathers, he will take the children ; and that there will be 
 a succession of faithful ministers in the Church till the 
 end of time. 
 
 Farther, seek to cherish a lively faith in your living 
 High Priest; and this faith will revive your fainting spi- 
 rits, and soothe the anguish of your hearts. The eye of 
 
SERMON. 23 
 
 faith directed to Jesus will see, that, while he snatches 
 from you the desire of your eyes — your sweetest earthly 
 enjoyments — it is to moderate your affections to creature 
 comforts, and to give you more substantial, more refined, 
 and more lasting enjoyments, in himself as your portion. 
 O that this faith may lighten your burden of sorrow, and 
 sweeten your cup of affliction ! — The lively exercise of 
 faith in your living Redeemer will bring you into a calm 
 acquiescence in the will of your heavenly Father, under 
 the painful bereavement with which you have been visit- 
 ed. You are not, indeed, forbidden to mourn. To be 
 indifferent, in your present circumstances, would be un- 
 natural. But you are not to " sorrow as others who have 
 no hope." Instead of fretful repinings, say with the 
 Psalmist, when severely tried — " I was dumb, I opened 
 not my mouth, because thou didst it." It was the will of 
 your Father that your pastor has been taken away. And 
 has he not a right to do with his own as he pleaseth ? 
 " Behold he hath taken away, and who can hinder him ?" 
 — Remember, brethren, that you also must die. But 
 exercising faith in Him, " of whom it is witnessed that 
 he liveth," you may contemplate the hour of your depar- 
 ture with unspeakable joy. Christ has the keys of hell 
 and of death. Fixing your eyes on his atoning sacrifice, 
 and confident that he who has promised to deKver, is able 
 also to perform, you may triumphantly exclaim with Paul 
 — " O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy 
 victory ? The sting of death is sin ; and the strength of 
 sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the 
 
24 SERMON. 
 
 victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." — In fine, amid 
 all the changes of this chequered scene, and all the heart- 
 rending separations to which you are exposed, look for- 
 ward to that happy period, when He, " of whom it is 
 witnessed that he liveth," " shall descend from heaven 
 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the 
 trump of God ;'' — when he shall open the graves of his 
 people, and with almighty energy command the dead to 
 come forth ; — when faithful ministers, and those in whose 
 conversion and edification they have been instrumental, 
 shall meet together at the right hand of the Lamb, and 
 shall be each other's "crown of rejoicing;" — when you 
 shall no more be called to sympathise with your friends 
 and relatives overwhelmed with affliction, or to weep over 
 the dying and the dead; — and when you shall ascend 
 with your divine Redeemer to his Father and your 
 Father, and to his God and your God, and shall associate 
 in perfect bliss with patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and 
 martyrs — with the cherubim and the seraphim — with the 
 bodies and " spirits of just men made perfect." " Be- 
 loved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet 
 appear what we shall be : but we know that, when he 
 shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him 
 as he is." 
 
 As for those among you who have held out against all 
 the warnings, and reproofs, and invitations, and promises, 
 and oifers, which your late pastor delivered to you — I 
 confess I am at a loss in what manner I should address 
 you, or what I should say unto you. Yet I cannot think 
 
SERMON. t>5 
 
 of closing this discourse without one effort more, to arouse 
 you from your spiritual slumbers, and to set before you 
 your privilege and your duty. Know then, O sinners, 
 that you are not only mortal, or liable to death, but that 
 you are already dead in the most awful sense of the term. 
 You are " dead in trespasses and sins," — destitute of the 
 favour and image of God, and under a sentence of con- 
 demnation. " He that believeth not is condemned already. 
 He that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the 
 wrath of God abideth on him." If you continue in un- 
 belief and impenitence, eternal death will assuredly be 
 your portion. And O! who can tell what is implied in 
 eternal death? Who can conceive the awfulness of the 
 " vengeance of eternal fire?" " The Lord Jesus," we 
 are told, " shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty 
 angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that 
 know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ : who shall be punished with everlasting de- 
 struction from the presence of the Lord, and from the 
 glory of his power." " Let sinners in Zion then be 
 afraid ; let fearfulness surprise the hypocrites : who among 
 us shall dwell with devouring fire? who shall dwell with 
 everlasting burnings ?" 
 
 But know, O sinners, that from eternal death there is 
 a Deliverer ; and to this Deliverer I would direct you. 
 " I am," says Christ, " the resurrection and the life : he 
 that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he 
 live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
 never die." « The hour is coming and now is, when 
 
26 SERMON. 
 
 the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they 
 that hear shall live." Whatever you are, or whatever 
 you may have been — though you have hitherto despised 
 the offers of salvation, contemned the opportunities of 
 grace, slighted the warnings of Christ's faithful servants, 
 and squandered away your precious time in the service of 
 the devil — the Saviour of sinners is earnestly inviting and 
 entreating you to come to him and accept of his proffered 
 blessings. Your access to him is not suspended on any 
 personal qualifications ; the Gospel warrants you to come 
 to him as guilty and perishing sinners, and to receive all 
 his blessings freely. " Ho, every one that thirsteth, 
 come to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, 
 buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without 
 money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money 
 for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which 
 satisfieth not ? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye 
 that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in 
 fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me ; hear and 
 your soul shall live ; and I will make an everlasting cove- 
 nant with you, even the sure mercies of David." " As 
 I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure, in the 
 death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his 
 ways and live : turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways ; 
 for why will ye die ?" I beseech you then, sinners, in 
 the bowels of compassion and in the spirit of love, to flee 
 to Jesus as your only refuge. Receive him by faith as 
 presented to you in the Gospel. The door of mercy is 
 still open ; but in a little it will be shut for ever. The 
 
SERMON. 27 
 
 glad tidings of salvation may never be again proclaimed 
 in your ears. And are you willing to run the risk of 
 being driven, before the rising of another sun, into that 
 dismal abode where the blackness of darkness for ever 
 reigns, where the fire of Divine vengeance for ever burns, 
 and where the wailing of despair is for ever heard? 
 " Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the 
 day of salvation." " Now then we are ambassadors for 
 Christ, as though God did beseech you by us : we pray 
 you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he 
 hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that 
 we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 
 Amen. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 I had scarcely begun to transcribe the preceding discourse, 
 when I received the mournful notice of the death of the Rev. 
 Robert Torrance, minister of the Associate Congregation 
 of Airdrie. While I deeply sympathize with his family under 
 this bereaving dispensation, I cannot but drop a tear to the 
 memory of one with whom I had agreeably associated in my 
 younger days, and for whom I had always entertained the 
 highest respect. On the Sabbath following his funeral, I 
 preached — to my own congregation — on these words of the 
 Prophet Isaiah — " The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth 
 it to heart : and merciful men are taken away, none consider- 
 ing that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. 
 He shall enter into peace : they shall rest in their beds, each one 
 walking in his uprightness." After considering the characters 
 mentioned in the text — their death — and their happiness after 
 death, I concluded with an address of which the following is 
 a part : — " I am persuaded, brethren, that the most of you have, 
 ere now, perceived that throughout this discourse I have had 
 a particular reference to the death of the Lord's servant, which 
 I announced to you last Sabbath. To him the characters in 
 the text — " righteous and merciful" — were peculiarly applicable. 
 On all occasions, he discovered the utmost candour and up- 
 rightness. Having put on bowels of mercy, he tenderly 
 sympathized with the distressed, and affectionately succoured 
 them — so far as he had it in his power — under all their trials. 
 — His death was awfully sudden. It would appear that he had 
 
APPENDIX. 29 
 
 gone out, I believe in the after part of the day, to visit the 
 sick, and returned in the evening considerably fatigued. After 
 taking some refreshment, he retired to bed, and was instantly 
 seized with palsy, which deprived him of the use both of his 
 speech and limbs. Medical aid, however, being speedily ob- 
 tained, he recovered, in a great measure, the use of both, and 
 continued, apparently, better, till between eight and nine 
 o'clock next morning — when, becoming very uneasy, and at- 
 tempting to rise, he leaned his head on the bosom of the partner 
 of his affections — closed his eyes — and died. His soul, we 
 doubt not, brethren, has entered into peace, while his flesh 
 rests in the hope of a better resurrection. Thus two of the 
 Lord's servants, in the same Presbytery, have, within the 
 short space of two months, been taken away in the mid-time 
 of their days. Their sun has gone down at noon. What an 
 awful voice do these unexpected events send forth " to those 
 who survive !" " Ee ye also ready ; for in such an hour as 
 ye think not the Son of man cometh." 
 
 The following appeared in the Glasgow Chronicle, a few 
 days after his funeral: — " Suddenly, at Airdrie, on the 21st 
 ultimo, the Rev. Robert Torrance, pastor of the Associate 
 Congregation there, in the 54th year of his age, and 28th of his 
 ministry. Mr Torrance was deservedly eminent for his classical 
 attainments, — especially he excelled in Greek and in Hebrew, 
 the original languages of the sacred volume. But what was 
 of far greater importance, (as mere classical acquirements can 
 never constitute ministerial excellence — though they are too 
 often talked of as if they did) he had a most accurate know- 
 ledge of the Gospel of Christ — and preached it with great 
 faithfulness, plainness, and perspicuity — altogether unaccom- 
 panied with ostentatious parade. Very few knew the Scrip- 
 tures so well, or could intermingle them with a discourse, so 
 fluently and appropriately as he. Mr Torrance was quite a 
 working minister of Christ, and associated very much, not 
 only with his own people, but with those of all denominations, 
 in the discharge of his functions. Nor did he follow in the 
 
30 APPENDIX. 
 
 train of the rich and great only, as if they had been alone 
 entitled to a minister's attention. He was most humble and 
 dutiful to the very poorest — aware that in the sight of Him 
 " who is no respecter of persons," their souls are as intrinsi- 
 cally valuable as those of the affluent. His domestic kindness 
 was proverbial, and long must his widow and family have 
 reason to drop a tear over the grave of a husband and a father, 
 in whose bosom tender-heartedness occupied a prominent 
 position — and who made it his daily object to promote their 
 happiness — while his congregation, and the public generally 
 in the neighbourhood of Airdrie, must feel his sudden depar- 
 ture as a very melancholy dispensation — " though they have 
 no reason to sorrow as those who have no hope." Mr Tor- 
 rance's remains were accompanied to the grave, in the burying 
 ground of the church in which he had ministered nearly thirty 
 years, by a large assemblage, composed of a number of the 
 clergymen of his own communion, the clergy and magistrates 
 of Airdrie, and almost all the respectable part of the inha- 
 bitants, while a great many spectators, eager to behold the 
 scene, and to throw the eye of sorrowful recollections over his 
 sepulchre, evinced the regard in which he was held. On the 
 Sabbath after his funeral, the services were conducted by the 
 Rev. Mr Hill of Shotts, who officiated at the earnest request 
 of the Session and congregation, as well as of the family of 
 the deceased. The subject was in Hebrews xiii. 7, 8. verses. 
 " Remember your guides or leaders, who have spoken to you 
 the word of the Lord, whose faith follow — considering the 
 end of their conversation — Jesus Christ [is] the same yester- 
 day, to-day, and for ever." The audience was extremely large, 
 and most solemn and attentive." 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 ON OCCASION OF THE DEATH 
 
 OF THK I.ATR 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER TURNBULL, 
 
 REV. WILLIAM MACKRAY, 
 
 STIRLING. 
 
S E R M O N. 
 
 1 Thess. iv. 18. 
 " Comfort one another with these words." 
 
 Some godly members of the Thessalonian church had 
 been removed by death. Their removal occasioned sor- 
 row to those who remained behind — no doubt peculiar 
 sorrow on the part of those who had been connected with 
 them by the ties of nature, as well as by the bonds of 
 grace. They were in danger of being swallowed up of 
 overmuch grief — of giving way to demonstrations of sor- 
 row, unsuitable to their character, their faith, and their 
 prospects, as believers in the gospel of Christ. Such con- 
 duct on their part the apostle deprecated. In reference to 
 the dead it would be unavailing ; — to their own minds it 
 would be hurtful ; — and, particularly, it would be unworthy 
 of the glorious truths and hopes of the religion they had 
 embraced. It would afford the heathen among whom they 
 dwelt an occasion of slandering the religion of the cross, 
 as affording no better consolation under the afflictions of 
 
 a 2 
 
SERMON. 
 
 life, and in the prospect of death, than their own wretched 
 and gloomy superstitions. To counteract this tendency, 
 therefore, on the part of the Thessalonian Christians, the 
 apostle reminds them of the blissful disclosures the gospel 
 makes respecting the condition of the friends of Christ, on 
 their removal from this fleeting scene. They are " fallen 
 on sleep" — they " sleep in Jesus" — safe and honourable, 
 imited to his person, and under his care. The years of 
 many generations may revolve ere they awake ; yet is the 
 period drawing nigh when their long slumber shall be 
 broken. Jesus, their Lord and Redeemer, will " descend 
 from heaven" in glory, with his mighty angels — will ga- 
 ther their sleeping dust from all the territories of the 
 grave — will fashion their bodies after the splendour of his 
 own — reunite them to their glorified souls, and pass with 
 them into the " mansions" of his " Father's house," where 
 they shall be blessed for ever in the society of each other, 
 and of angels, and of their beloved Lord. " Wherefore," 
 says Paul, concluding this most tender and sublime passage 
 of his epistle, " comfort one another with these words." 
 
 No, my brethren, it is not grief, but immoderate grief, 
 that Christianity forbids. When our beloved friends, who 
 have been endeared to our hearts by the affectionate sym- 
 pathies of many years, and who have assiduously cared, 
 not merely for our temporal welfare, but for the best in- 
 terests of our undying souls, are removed away from 
 us into the land of silence and forgetfulness — O, it is im- 
 possible in such a case not to weep ! and weeping, in such 
 a case, Christianity does not condemn. When we read 
 
SERMON. 5 
 
 the histories of Holy Writ, we find the beloved son of 
 Jacob mourning with a great and very sore lamentation 
 over the remains of his aged sire, — " devout men" carry- 
 ing out Stephen " to be buried," and shedding hallowed 
 tears over his sacred dust ; — nay, we find him, in whose 
 blessed person humanity was perfect, vindicating and en- 
 nobling the tears of Martha and Mary, by mingling his 
 with theirs, at their brother's tomb : — at the grave of 
 Lazarus " Jesus wept." It is immoderate grief that 
 Christianity forbids : — the grief of poor heathens, before 
 whose view the disclosures of the Gospel have never shed 
 any light on the scenes of futurity, — the grief of the un- 
 godly, and of mere worldly men, who part with their be- 
 loved friends without any hope of meeting them again 
 amidst the bliss of a better world, — the grief, in short, of 
 unbelief, distrust, and despair. This is forbidden. It is 
 dishonourable to Christ and his religion — unsuitable to the 
 faith and the hope of those who believe in him — and at 
 utter variance with those strong consolations which the 
 Gospel administers in reference to the departed friends 
 and servants of the Lord. 
 
 Such grief, my brethren, it is not for us this day to in- 
 dulge. We assemble, indeed, in circumstances of a very 
 mournful kind. The honoured and loved individual who 
 so often spoke to you the words of salvation from the 
 place where I now stand, will address you no more. In 
 the very midst of his days and extended usefulness he has 
 been removed from amongst us. You, his beloved fa- 
 mily, and his beloved people, will enjoy the testimonies 
 
6 SERMON. 
 
 of his affectionate and faithful regard no more. And we, 
 his brethren in the holy ministry, to whom on many 
 grounds he was so justly endeared, will no more in this 
 world hear his counsels or enjoy his friendship. On such 
 an occasion, our feelings cannot but be in unison with 
 those of the afflicted elders of the Ephesian church, when, 
 falling on the neck of their beloved Paul, " they wept 
 sore, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words 
 which he spake, that they should see his face no more." 
 But, brethren, let us " not sorrow as others who have no 
 hope:" Let us remember, that there are "words" of 
 consolation in that Gospel which our departed friend so 
 faithfully and affectionately proclaimed, with which we 
 are privileged and exhorted to " comfort one another." 
 With these he himself often comforted you, in reference 
 to the godly friends of whom you were from time to time 
 bereaved : and with these I would this day wish to com- 
 fort you, under the melancholy dispensation which has 
 called him away. 
 
 T. With what sentiment can I introduce my consola- 
 tory advices to you on this mournful occasion, more pro- 
 perly, than with that which of old time relieved and com- 
 posed the mind of the afflicted Psalmist of Israel, — " The 
 Lord hath done it." " I was dumb," said the holy 
 man, " I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it." 
 Yes, it is our duty to remember in days of tribulation, 
 that no adversity springs from the dust — that none of the 
 events which chequer the history of our families, or con- 
 
SERMON. 
 
 gregations, or the church at large, take place from chance. 
 This is the doctrine of Atheism, and if it were true, we 
 might well weep over the dust of revered friends the tears 
 of hopeless, despairing regret. Like Rachel sorrowing 
 for her children, we might refuse to be comforted, " be- 
 cause they are not." But this gloomy doctrine is not 
 true. Revelation impresses on it the brand of utter and 
 everlasting falsehood. It lifts up the curtain that conceals 
 from our view the unseen world, and discovers to us Je- 
 hovah presiding in high providential administration, over 
 the whole universe ; — ordering alike the movements of its 
 mighty orbs, and the concerns of the minutest individual 
 of the numberless beings by whom it is peopled. " The 
 hairs of your head are all numbered." " He hath ap- 
 pointed the bounds of your habitations — the number of 
 your months is with him." Even a sparrow cannot fall 
 to the ground without his controlling view. And reve- 
 lation, at the same time that it unfolds to our view the 
 great doctrine of Jehovah's superintending government, 
 exhibits the saints of God, in days of adversity and sor- 
 row, recognising it, and acting under its influence. Over 
 the bodies of his two sons, smitten with death before his 
 eyes, " Aaron held his peace." " Is it well with thee ? 
 Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child?" 
 inquired the man of God at the bereaved Shunammite ; — 
 she answered, " It is well." " The Lord gave, and the 
 Lord hath taken away," exclaimed the afflicted patriarch of 
 the land of Uz, " and blessed be the name of the Lord ! " 
 Here, then, take your station, Christian mourners ! on 
 
8 SERMON. 
 
 this day of sorrow. Is it the husband of your youth — or 
 the parent who was the guardian of your infant years — or 
 the pastor who " watched for your souls," as they that 
 "must give an account," who has been removed away 
 from you, and whose mortal remains you have followed in 
 bitterness of heart to their long home? — O, remember, 
 " God hath done it ! " — He hath done it who is so- 
 vereign — who " doth according to his will in the army of 
 heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth," — in 
 whose hands we are " as the clay in the hands of the pot- 
 ter," and who has an indisputable right to dispose of us, 
 and our friends, and our enjoyments, and of all his crea- 
 tures, as seemeth good in bis sight. The scenes of ad- 
 versity, my brethren, especially such scenes as that around 
 which we are this day assembled, are emphatically those 
 in which we are called to recognise and glorify the so- 
 vereignty of God — to "be still, and know that He is 
 God." 
 
 But this is not all. Abstract views of the sovereignty 
 of God may silence the mind, but other considerations 
 need to be introduced, and seriously weighed, in order to 
 produce kindly submission, and minister consolation. — 
 Nor are these wanting. 
 
 He hath done it — He hath made this melancholy blank 
 in your domestic circle, and in your congregation, who is 
 not only sovereign but just. He doth all things well. 
 " Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" It is 
 true, my friends, mystery is deeply, O ! how deeply ! in- 
 scribed on his dispensations. His way is " in the sea, and 
 
SERMON", 
 
 his path in the great waters." " Clouds and darkness" 
 are round about many of the events that chequer the his- 
 tory of his servants and his church, which will never be 
 scattered till they reach that world of light and glory, 
 where they " shall know," as they " are known," and 
 where " that which is in part shall be done away." 
 There, Christians, all mysteries shall be explained — all 
 the perplexing events that have drawn forth the amaze- 
 ment and grief of your hearts will be accounted for — 
 and you will join with multitudes who, in every age, 
 have been the subjects of these mysterious dispensations, 
 in proclaiming to the honour of divine faithfulness and 
 love — He hath done all things well ! Meanwhile, the 
 present state is the scene where God's people must 
 " walk by faith ;" and this is one of the great consoling 
 truths on which their faith must rest — and according to 
 their faith in which, their minds will be composed in the 
 day of sorrow — that, though " clouds and darkness are 
 round about him, justice and judgment are the habita- 
 tion of his throne." You cannot see that this dispensation 
 is well. You have lost a beloved pastor and friend, in the 
 midst of his days and labours, and in the prospect of ex- 
 tended usefulness ! " Who could think," as the pious Mr 
 Durham said, on the experience of a very trying bereave- 
 ment, " that this would be^or good, unless the Lord had 
 said it ?" But, brethren, he has said it, and it is for you 
 to honour him by believing it. " We will believe the 
 equity of Jehovah, and, even under the sore smitings of 
 
10 SERMON. 
 
 his hand, we will confess and adore the righteousness of 
 his procedure."* 
 
 Another consideration, I beg to suggest to you, on 
 this part of my subject, than which, I am sure, to those 
 who fear and love God, nothing in the day of sorrow 
 can be more consoling. He hath done this — He is the 
 author of this mysterious bereavement — who is my own, 
 
 CHOSEN, COVENANTED, GRACIOUS, GoD. I trust, my 
 
 brethren, there are not a few of you who can entertain, 
 on good grounds, this endearing view of the character of 
 God. He is your God ! Well, what unspeakable conso- 
 lation is there amidst the sorrows of such a bereavement 
 as this, in the recollection, that he who hath seen meet 
 to visit you with it, is your own God ! Here, my friends, 
 is " firm footing" — here is " solid rock." " When my 
 heart is overwhelmed," prayed the afflicted Psalmist, " lead 
 me to the rock that is higher than I." This is that 
 rock. How high ! How stable ! What a glorious place 
 of safety ! In the clefts of this rock, how secure shall 
 we be against the power of the severest adversity ! The 
 God of providence is my own God. He gave himself to 
 me as my God. He gave me grace to choose him as my 
 
 * Memorable are the words of the Archbishop of Cambray, when in- 
 formed of the death of the duke of Burgundy, to whom he had been pre- 
 ceptor, and for whom he had the most tender affection : — " If I knew," 
 said he, bursting into tears, " that by the turn of a straw I could recover 
 him to life, and yet at the same time was assured that it was contrary to the 
 will of God, I would not do it." 
 
SERMON. 1 1 
 
 God — " O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou 
 art my Lord !" I have taken hold of his covenant, and 
 will abide by it as " all my salvation and all my desire :" 
 And, although he has seen meet to remove away from me 
 a much endeared friend, an affectionate parent, a faithful 
 and beloved instructor, " Why art thou cast down, O my 
 soul ! and why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope in 
 God :" He is my God, and, to those who fear him, and 
 hope in his mercy — he will not only do no wrong, but 
 will make all things " work together for good." Yes, my 
 brethren, the affectionate child will sometimes stand 
 astonished, and burst into tears, at the mysterious frown 
 of a beloved parent. But it will be recalled. I know 
 my parent too well to think he can have become my 
 enemy. There must be some design in this conduct of 
 which I am not aware. I will wait the issue. Children 
 of God ! do likewise. 
 
 II. Allow me, in the second place, to remind you, on 
 this day of sorrow, of the blissful and glorious change 
 which death effects in the condition of the saints and ser- 
 vants of the Lord. They are gone from us — ice feel the 
 loss of their society — but to them death has been " gain" 
 and, if we truly loved them, we will rejoice, because they 
 have gone to " their Father." " For me to live," said 
 the apostle of the Gentiles, " is Christ, and to die is 
 gain ;" and I am sure, the much-loved and honoured pastor 
 and friend, whose loss you this day deplore, was prepared 
 to speak in the same high and hallowed strain. " For 
 
 b 2 
 
12 SERMON. 
 
 the glory of Christ — for gaining souls to him besides 
 those who are already gained — for edifying and comfort- 
 ing his people, I am resigned — I am even desirous to 
 live ; but, should my hour be come — should the conclu- 
 sion of my ministry on earth have arrived, I have the 
 humble but substantial hope, that, for me to die, will be 
 great gain !" Yes ! to your beloved pastor, the event 
 that has occasioned to you and to his surviving brethren 
 in the ministry so much sorrow, has been, we doubt not, 
 great "gain." Often have you heard him dwell, as if 
 with raptured mind, on the "rest" which "remaineth 
 for the people of God ;'' and now, sooner than we could 
 have wished, he knows that " rest" in all the richness of 
 its glory and its joy. Permit me, for my own consolation, 
 as one to whom your beloved pastor was much endeared, 
 and for your consolation, so unexpectedly deprived of his 
 valuable ministrations, to suggest to you two blissful 
 features in the condition of the departed saints and ser- 
 vants of the Lord : They are released from all the evils 
 of this present life, and they are introduced to the pos- 
 session of unmingled happiness. 
 
 Negative though the former of these considerations be, 
 it involves an amount of good, greater than in this " vale 
 of sorrow and of tears" we can comprehend. It is much, 
 we all know, to be freed from one trouble, one anxiety, 
 one sorrow, pressing on and laying waste the mind; — 
 but, what must it be to be set beyond all troubles, all 
 anxieties, all sorrows ; and that not for a few days or 
 years, but during a succession of ages that will never 
 
SERMON. lo 
 
 end ! — " Man that is born of a woman is of few days and 
 full of trouble." He is " born to trouble as the sparks 
 fly upward." Having sinned — he suffers. " His entrance 
 into the world is announced by the voice of weeping, and 
 through every stage of future life, tears, on one ground 
 or another, continue to flow till they are dried up in the 
 dust of the grave." Nor are the heirs of glory, the 
 friends of Jesus, placed beyond the reach of the tribula- 
 tions and sorrows of time. They are subject to all the 
 infirmities and pains of their fellow-men ; nay, are more 
 generally afflicted and tried than they. It is their " Fa- 
 ther's good pleasure to give them the kingdom ;" but he 
 will lead them to it " through much tribulation." And, 
 moreover, the children of God are exposed to distresses and 
 sorrows with which worldly men are altogether unac- 
 quainted. They have many a painful thought, and fear, 
 and disquietude, arising from spiritual causes — from cir- 
 cumstances connected with their own spiritual interests, 
 and those of their fellow-men, and their prospects for the 
 everlasting state. Death concludes all these. They may 
 last till death, but they will last no longer. That day of 
 clouds, and darkness, and weeping, in which the saint o. 
 God bids farewell to this world and all its concerns, is 
 the day in which all these pains and sorrows are parted 
 with for ever. 
 
 This world is the scene of temptation. " The ac- 
 cuser of the brethren" has it, in the meantime, greatly 
 as the region of his power, and carries on in it a malignant 
 warfare against Christ and against his people. He seeks 
 
14 SERMON. 
 
 " to have them, that he may sift them as wheat ;" and the 
 melancholy thought is not seldom forced in on their minds 
 — " one day I shall fall by the hand of this foe." Death 
 sets the friend of Jesus eternally beyond his power. In 
 the world to which his disembodied spirit wings its blissful 
 flight, his presence and his temptations have no place. 
 Entering the gates of " the Jerusalem that is above," the 
 happy soul may take up this triumphant song, " O ene- 
 my, destructions have a perpetual end ! Many a fearful 
 and desponding thought hast thou occasioned me while I 
 sojourned in yonder vale of tears ; but now, these are 
 ended for ever. Temptations to depart from and offend 
 my God, I shall henceforth never know !" 
 
 This world is the scene where the children of God are 
 not unfrequently sorrowful under the hiding or their 
 father's "countenance;" — the consoling apprehension 
 of their interest in God is far away. The causes of this 
 I do not stay at present to investigate. Unquestionably, 
 the guilty cause is often with themselves. " The conso- 
 lations of God " are often " small " with them, because 
 they have with them " some secret thing." * At the 
 same time, I have no doubt that, in sovereignty, and for 
 the accomplishment of important ends, God sometimes 
 permits those who fear him to be in this distressed con- 
 dition. — " Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." 
 — " The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath for- 
 gotten me." — " Hath the Lord forgotten to be gracious 
 — hath he in anger shut up his tender mercy — will he be 
 
 Job xv. 11. 
 
SERMON. 15 
 
 favourable no more ?" — These are expressions which inti- 
 mate the bitterness of hearts apprehending the withdraw- 
 ment of the Divine favour — experiencing the loss of " the 
 light of God's countenance." The face of their heavenly 
 Father may be covered — or they may apprehend it to be 
 covered — with a frown, — " clouds and darkness, and thun- 
 derings, and lightnings," may be round about, and may 
 cover all his throne, — and its canopying " rainbow," the 
 pledge of peace and love, may not be seen. Ay, and 
 on that day — the one in all their history in which they 
 stand most in need of the light of their Father's counte- 
 nance — it may not be enjoyed. Like their blessed Re- 
 deemer, they may leave the world under a cloud. Nay, 
 they may be unable or afraid to say, what forsaken Jesus 
 said — " My God!" — O! my brethren, what a blessed 
 change takes place on that day in the condition of the 
 children of God ! Passing from the scene of pilgrimage, 
 where they have often gone " mourning without the 
 sun," they enter a world of light, over which, through 
 everlasting ages, there shall not rest so much as one 
 darkening or disturbing cloud. No child of God in that 
 happy world shall ever walk in darkness. No " thunder- 
 ings " will ever be heard — no " lightnings '' ever seen — 
 issuing from the throne. The clouds and the darkness 
 will be scattered from around it, and the countenance of 
 " Him who sits " on it, beaming divine complacency, 
 eternally beheld. 
 
 Nor let it be forgotten, in reference to all the faith- 
 ful servants of the Lord, that, while they are subject 
 
16 SERMON. 
 
 with their fellow-men to the afflictions of this present 
 life, and with fellow-christians to their varied spiritual 
 distresses — they are exposed to bitterness of heart pecu- 
 liar to themselves. I need only refer on this point to the 
 seriousness of their official responsibility. They have 
 their own souls' salvation to secure ; but, moreover, they 
 are intrusted with the care of the souls of others. They 
 have to look to their own " vineyard ;" but they have 
 also, to a certain extent, to keep the vineyard of others. 
 They have to exhort and to warn their fellow-men to 
 " give all diligence " to make their " calling and election 
 sure ;" meanwhile, they have to fear, lest, " after having 
 preached the Gospel to others," they themselves should 
 be cast away. Such a responsibility might well induce 
 an Apostle to exclaim — " Who is sufficient for these 
 things ?" And sure I am, no mind but his own can tell 
 the anxiety, and pain, and sorrow, which the man who 
 would be faithful to souls is made to experience, if he has 
 the melancholy apprehension that sinful and immortal 
 beings are passing away from under his charge, unawak- 
 ened, unbelieving, unholy. For this he " weeps in 
 secret places;" — with the mourning prophet, he could 
 wish that his " head were waters, and his eyes a fountain 
 of tears, that he might weep day and night for these slain 
 of the daughter of his people." * In the future world, 
 
 * " Ah ! my brethren " — was the language of the eminently pious Joseph 
 Alleine to the beloved flock from whom the infamous act of uniformity, in 
 1662, removed him — "why should you not all be happy? How it grieves 
 me that any of you should fall short of mercy at last ; that any of the flock, 
 
SERMON. 17 
 
 these sorrows are unknown. The servant of the Lord 
 has " warned the wicked from his evil way," and has 
 " delivered his own soul.'' He has fulfilled his steward- 
 ship, and has entered " into the joy of his Lord." He 
 has gained souls to Christ, and " edified " the saints ; and 
 they are now his " crown." 
 
 In fine, this world is the scene of mortality — a 
 region of dead and dying men. " Death hath passed 
 upon all, for that all have sinned." In holy Scripture 
 we find this last event that chequers the earthly history 
 of mankind represented by images of the most em- 
 phatic and solemnizing nature ; — an " enemy," most 
 formidable, whom we have all to encounter, and whose 
 power cannot be resisted, — a " king of terrors," the very 
 
 over which the Holy Ghost hath made me overseer, should perish ! Ah, 
 dear brethren, I was in great earnest with you, when I besought you, out of 
 the pulpit, many a time, to give a bill of divorce to your sins, and to accept 
 of the mercy that, in the name of Almighty God, I did then offer you. 
 Alas ! how it pitied me, to look over so great a congregation, and to think 
 that I could not, for my life, persuade them, one quarter of them, to be 
 saved ! How it moved me to see your diligence in flocking to the most 
 hazardous opportunities, since the law forbade my public preaching ; and to 
 think that many of you, who went so far, were like to perish for ever, for 
 want of going farther. How fain would I carry you farther than the out- 
 ward profession ! O how loath am I to leave you there ! How troubled 
 to think that any of you should hazard much for religion, and yet mis- 
 carry for ever by the hand of secret pride, or untamed passion, or, which 
 I fear most of all, a predominant love of the world in your hearts ! Alas ! 
 is there no remedy ? Must I carry you to heaven's gate and leave you 
 there ? O that I should leave the work of your souls but half done, and 
 bring you no farther than the almost Christian !" 
 
18 SERMON. 
 
 thought of whom is adapted to fill the mind with dis- 
 may, — a " Jordan" rolling along its heavy and resistless 
 tide, through whose deep waters we must pass, — a " dark 
 and dismal vale," through which we must all take our soli- 
 tary way. These, my brethren, are no exaggerated com- 
 parisons, no hyperbolical similitudes. We do behold it 
 to be a serious, most serious and solemn thing to die, — 
 to encounter this enemy — to grapple with this king of 
 terrors — to wade through this Jordan — to traverse this 
 dreary vale — to do so, as far as human friends are con- 
 cerned, alone ! At thought of it our poor humanity shud- 
 ders ; and through fear of it some, even of those whose 
 death is " precious" in God's sight, are " all their lifetime 
 subject to bondage." But this is the consoling reflection 
 in reference to the saints of God : — death is to them " the 
 last enemy," and is destined to be destroyed, — a " king 
 of terrors" who has been disarmed, and shall be finally 
 overthrown, — a Jordan, through whose swelling tide " the 
 High priest of our profession" will conduct them, and be- 
 yond which stretches forth in all its richness and glory 
 the promised land, — a " dark valley" through which the 
 divine Shepherd will safely lead them, and, emerging from 
 which, he will show them " the path of life, in God's pre- 
 sence, where there is fulness of joy, and at his right hand, 
 where there are pleasures for evermore." 
 
 Yes, my brethren, the death of the children of God is 
 a triumph. Its external circumstances may be dark 
 and painful. The pressure of disease may destroy recol- 
 lection — the force of trouble may seal up the tongue — 
 
SERMON. 
 
 19 
 
 and they may be unable to acknowledge, and claim, and 
 commend, when dying, that gracious God who " led" 
 them all their life long, and whom, many a time in pre- 
 ceding days they delighted to claim and to commend 
 as their " father," their " friend," their " portion for ever." 
 In death, nevertheless, they triumph. He in whom they 
 have believed, in dying, overcame : and the triumph of 
 the Head secures that of his members in their respective 
 times. And in heaven death is abolished. There, there 
 is " no more death, nor sorrow ; neither shall there be any 
 more pain ; for the former things are passed away." 
 
 All this is much. It is much to know, respecting the godly 
 friends who have left us, that they have entered on a state 
 from which all the evils that afflicted them in this vale of 
 tears are eternally excluded. We sympathise with them 
 in this world when we behold them in pain and distress ; 
 we wish, and feel pleasure in their deliverance. How 
 much more — if we could regard matters as we ought — 
 would we experience consolation, in knowing that they 
 are delivered from all infirmities and all sorrows — placed 
 beyond the reach of all evil — exalted to a holy and hap- 
 py world, where there shall be nothing through unceasing 
 ages " to hurt or to destroy !" But this is not all. They 
 have entered on the enjoyment of perfect blessedness. 
 It is not given to us, indeed, in the present state, to des- 
 cribe their felicity. " Caught up to the third heaven," 
 Paul tells us that the things which he saw and heard were 
 "unspeakable." At the same time it is a cheering 
 thought, that when the saints and servants of God are 
 
 c 2 
 
20 SERMON. 
 
 removed away from us by death, they do enter into a 
 scene, where they are not only delivered from the sorrows 
 of their pilgrimage, but made partakers of positive and 
 exalted felicity. And although, in this state of darkness 
 and imperfection, we know comparatively little of their 
 condition in the better world, there are circumstances 
 which, we are sure, constitute ingredients in it, and to the 
 possession of which it is cheering to our minds to think 
 that those whom we regarded with affection are exalted. 
 
 They are perfect in holiness. On earth they were 
 imperfect. " Brethren," would the most sanctified of them 
 say with holy Paul, " I count not myself to have appre- 
 hended : but this one thing I do, forgetting those things 
 which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things 
 which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize 
 of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." That mark 
 they have now reached. The glorious character for which 
 they longed, and sighed, and prayed, while pilgrims in the 
 vale of tears, they now possess. Their sanctification is 
 complete. They have " seen the face of God in right- 
 eousness," and they are " satisfied with his likeness." 
 They have been presented by their exalted Head, fault- 
 less, " before the presence of his Father with exceeding 
 joy;" and now "are they before the throne of God, and 
 serve him day and night in his temple," — to know the 
 imperfections, and wearinesses, and pains, that ofttimes 
 characterised their holy services on earth, no more for 
 ever. 
 
 They are blessed in the knowledge of God. " This," 
 
SERMON. 21 
 
 said the divine Saviour, while he yet tabernacled on earth, 
 " this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only 
 true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." This 
 knowledge it was their privilege, in the day of their spirit- 
 ual " betrothing to the Lord," in some measure to attain. 
 It was the element of their life of grace, and it now con- 
 stitutes, in a more exalted degree, the element of their 
 life of glory. How ennobling is it to think of the won- 
 drous expansion of mind they enjoy, now that the day of 
 heaven has broke on them, and the shadows of this imper- 
 fect state have fled away, — of the wider and still wider 
 grasp which their glorified minds are enabled to extend 
 over the character, the works, and the ways of God — over 
 the mysteries of creation, providence, and redemption ; — 
 and of the sublime delight they experience in traversing 
 these boundless fields of celestial truth ! Here, they saw 
 " through a glass, darkly ;" there, they see " face to face." 
 Here, they " knew in part, and they prophesied in part ;" 
 there, " that which is perfect is come, and that which is 
 in part is done away." 
 
 In short, they are with Christ. This was the pro- 
 mise of their Lord, which cheered their hearts while so- 
 journing in the vale of tears — " Where I am, there shall 
 ye be also." This was the subject of his intercession on 
 their behalf — " Father, I will, that they whom thou hast 
 given me be with me where I am, to behold my glory 
 which thou hast given me." This they esteemed "far 
 better" than even their highest spiritual enjoyments on 
 earth : for this they were willing, they " desired to depart," 
 
22 SERMON. 
 
 and now their desire is fulfilled. They have reached the 
 mansions of their Father's house — they are with their 
 exalted Lord, and behold, in its unveiled effulgence, that 
 glory, which, even when seen on earth by the eye of faith, 
 transformed and gladdened their souls. They " see him 
 as he is," — no more " the man of sorrows," having " his 
 visage marred more than any man, and his form than the 
 sons of men," — but realizing, in all its splendours, the 
 transfiguration of Tabor. They see him in the glory of 
 his manifested godhead, and in the possession of those 
 mediatory honours with which he is invested. They be- 
 hold him in sacerdotal glory — the representative of his 
 Church — advocating her cause before the celestial throne, 
 and leading the worship of the celestial sanctuary. They 
 behold him in prophetic glory, the light of heaven. In 
 short, they behold him encompassed with regal honours — 
 having " a name above every name," — acknowledged as 
 " head over all things," — receiving homage and worship 
 from every order of holy beings. And this vision of glo- 
 rified Christ is the vision of him as their own Redeemer, 
 who hath " redeemed them to God by his own blood," and 
 brought them by his power and grace to the realms of 
 bliss. And it is accompanied with the undisturbed assur- 
 ance of their Father's love, and the unclouded light of their 
 Father's face. What, my brethren, shall we say more ? 
 They are now come, in the full import of the words, 
 " unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company 
 of angels — to the general assembly and church of the 
 
SERMON. »23 
 
 first-born, that are written in heaven, and to God the 
 judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
 and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.' , O 
 blessed change which death accomplishes in the condition 
 of a saint of God ! We think— we cannot but think— with 
 regret of the days and years of affectionate and endeared 
 intercourse that are past,— we feel pained at the thought 
 of parting,— we look in silent anguish on the cold and 
 lifeless form of our much-loved friend, and accompany it 
 in sorrow to the mansions of the dead. But, O ! while 
 we are thus engaged, the disembodied spirit has winged 
 its exidting way to other and happier climes, and is now 
 blessed in the presence of its Father and God. It has 
 exchanged a frail " tabernacle" for a « house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens," — a chamber of dis- 
 ease for a region of unfading health,— " tribulation for 
 joy,— the groanings of corruption for the songs of the 
 redeemed,— and this earth, with all its disasters and woes, 
 for the beatitudes of heaven, and the rapturous enjoy- 
 ments of the presence of God." « These are they that 
 came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes 
 and made them white in the blood of the Lamb : there- 
 fore are they before the throne of God, and serve him 
 day and night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the 
 throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no 
 more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun 
 light on them, nor any heat : for the Lamb, who is in 
 the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead 
 them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe 
 
24 SERMON. 
 
 away all tears from their eyes." " Comfort one another, 
 Christians, with these words." 
 
 III. Remember, that your God and Saviour ever 
 lives. " Fear not," is his own language, " I am the 
 first and the last : I am He that liveth and was dead ; 
 and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have 
 the keys of hell and of death." And, my brethren, whe- 
 ther you regard this blessed truth in its bearing on the 
 calamities with which God is pleased to visit, from time 
 to time, his individual people, or on the desolations 
 which death is producing in the Church, by the removal 
 of her able and faithful ministers, it is full of consolation. 
 When our hearts are awakened to mourning and sorrow 
 by the sudden and melancholy loss of those who have 
 been dear to us as our own soul — when, having left 
 them in the house of silence, we go back into the 
 world, and feel as if it were now to us a blank and deso- 
 late scene ; and when we look forward to future days, 
 and anticipate approaching difficulties, and trials, and sor- 
 rows, under which the counsels and consolations that for- 
 merly guided and cheered us, will be far away, — O! in 
 such a case as this, how supporting and gladdening is it to 
 think that our Lord and Redeemer never dies ! " God liv- 
 eth," said the afflicted Psalmist, "blessed be my Rock:" 
 and this thought, realized by faith, and carried home to 
 the heart, with gracious power by the Holy Spirit, will 
 stay the Christian's mind amidst the deepest adversities 
 with which he can be assailed. Earthly relatives are frail 
 
SERMON. 25 
 
 and fading, and may leave us, but our heavenly Father 
 abides the same. Earthly comforts may be withdrawn, 
 but the great Comforter never dies. And, my brethren, 
 how easy is it with God to compensate unspeakably to 
 those who fear him, every blank he is pleased to make in 
 the circle of their affection by the communications of his 
 love ! Has he not done so? Did he not do so to Jacob 
 of old time, when a solitary and mournful wanderer 
 from his father's house ; to Joshua, when, having deprived 
 him of the presence and the counsels of his venerable pre- 
 decessor, he cheered him with the promise, " As I was 
 with Moses, so will I be with thee ;" — to David, when 
 persecuted in the wilderness, insomuch that the psalms 
 of his exile are the sweetest of all ; — to Solomon, when, 
 pained by the removal of his aged parent, he sought and 
 obtained wisdom from the Lord ? In short, did he not 
 do so very remarkably in the experience of the Apostles 
 of Jesus ? They were troubled at the thought of his de- 
 parture, identifying his presence among them with all 
 their consolation, and with the prosperity of their cause. 
 But he " saw them again," and invigorated them with 
 such strength from on high, as made them joyful in tri- 
 bulation, and prepared them for appearing before the 
 presence of kings and councils, "rejoicing that they were 
 called to su%r shame for his name's sake." These things 
 he has done to his people in former days, and has not for- 
 saken them. And is he less faithful now ? Is his ear 
 heavy, that it cannot hear ; or his arm shortened, that it 
 cannot save ? Are his sympathies toward his people less 
 
26 SERMON. 
 
 tender, and less energetic than in days of old ? No, 
 Christians : and what if one important design of afflictive 
 dispensations — the removal from you of those in whose 
 love, and sympathy, and counsel, you were wont to con- 
 fide — be to convince you of this blessed truth more than 
 ever you have been convinced ; — to bring you nearer to 
 himself — to shut you up more closely to his kindness — 
 to give you experimental evidence, that " as your days 
 are," he can make your strength to be, that, as your sor- 
 rows abound, he can make your joys to abound also ? 
 
 And, as to the public interests of the Church, when her 
 faithful ministers are removed away from her, more espe- 
 cially when they are removed unexpectedly, and appa- 
 rently in the very midst of labour and usefulness, — where 
 can we find refuge and consolation more amply than in 
 the blessed truth we are presently contemplating ? Mi- 
 nisters, the most eminent and most beloved, may not con- 
 tinue by reason of death. Our spiritual " fathers, where 
 are they ?" and " the prophets, do they live for ever ?" 
 Nay, and often at the very time when our warmest re- 
 gards are drawn forth to them, and our most sanguine 
 expectations rest upon them, — as if to show us most con- 
 vincingly that their great Master is independent of all 
 instruments,* — their days are cut off, and they pass away. 
 
 * Memorable were the words of the eminent Dr Owen, on his death- 
 bed, expressing this sentiment. Dark clouds were brooding over the church. 
 It was the day of Zion's perplexity. " I am leaving," said he, " the ship 
 of the Church in a storm, but the great Pilot is with her ; while he is in 
 her she is safe, and the loss of a poor under- rower will be inconsiderable." 
 
SERMON. 27 
 
 But Jesus, the minister of the upper sanctuary, ever lives. 
 He has gone within the celestial veil ; but he has gone 
 thither for the express purpose of caring for his Church. 
 She is " graven on the palms of his hands, — her walls are 
 continually before him." He knows best " the times and 
 the seasons : — how long to continue his servants in his 
 Church — what work to assign them — and when to remove 
 them. But he lives, ye inhabitants of the city of God ! 
 and it is your hope and joy that he does so — to carry on 
 his purposes of mercy among the children of men : and 
 while, from time to time, he removes the "messengers 
 of the churches" from the scene of their ministrations, He 
 has " the residue of the Spirit," — He holds in his right 
 hand " the seven stars" from age to age in all their ful- 
 ness, and will continue to do so until the light which they 
 are the medium of diffusing throughout the world of 
 grace, shall be swallowed up in the more refulgent light 
 of the world of glory. 
 
 IV. If we are Christians indeed — have part and por- 
 tion in Him who was the God and Redeemer of our pious 
 friends — we shall, ere long, meet them again, nev- 
 er to part. This, my brethren, is a consideration emi- 
 
 It well became him — a man of such eminence and usefulness in the Church, 
 to use such language : and, I am sure, the beloved friend, whose lamented 
 removal has given occasion to these discourses, would, if it had been given 
 him to tell, in the day of death, the sentiments of his heart, have spoken 
 the same language of genuine humility and confidence in the life and 
 power and faithfulness of Christ. 
 
 D 2 
 
28 SERMON. 
 
 nently adapted to awaken all the sensibilities of every 
 affectionate and pious heart. Our departed godly friends 
 are now in heaven. Would we wash them back to earth ? 
 " from the sweets of glory to the bitterness of time — 
 from the rivers of pure celestial pleasures, to the mingled 
 streams in this vale of sorrow" — from the peaceful haven, 
 to the storms of this boisterous ocean ? No, surely : lov- 
 ing them, we rejoice that they have gone to the Father. 
 But, we desire to go where they are. Yes, brethren, we 
 all know the attachment which we feel to the spot 
 where the bodies of our friends are laid to their long re- 
 pose. Judah was endeared to Nehemiah as " the land 
 of his fathers' sepulchres ;" and the wish is natural to us 
 all, that our dust might at last be gathered to kindred 
 dust. It is, indeed, in many instances, a wish never re- 
 alized. We have seen the young, and the aged too, car- 
 ried, in mysterious providence, far from the scene of their 
 nativity, to die in places they never knew, and be laid at 
 last among the dust of strangers. Still it is a wish that 
 exists with greater or less energy in every bosom. The 
 thought that the mortal remains of this or the other be- 
 loved friend repose in a particular spot, attracts our hearts 
 to that spot, and hallows it in our esteem. Should not 
 this be much more the case with respect to their departed 
 spirits? Are they in heaven, whom we once loved on 
 earth, and whose memory we will never cease to have in 
 our affectionate remembrance ? Should not this operate 
 in endearing the thought of heaven to our hearts ? It is 
 true, the blissful presence of God and of the Redeemer 
 
SERMON. 29 
 
 is that which constitutes the highest glory of the heavenly 
 country, and for which it is especially to be desired. But 
 it is interesting and endearing to consider the heavenly 
 country as the abode of friends whom we have known and 
 loved, while sojourning in this foreign land; and it is 
 cheering to be able to indulge the thought that we shall 
 meet them there. At present, we feel the pain of separ- 
 ation. We think of the time when we conversed with 
 them ; but the breath departed we cannot recall. We go 
 to the scene where we communed with them; but they 
 are not there. We listen where we were wont to hear 
 them speak; but the well-known sound is no more heard. 
 We wish them back to comfort us, but our wishes are 
 vain. We are obliged to conclude our meditation with 
 the melancholy thought, that they are gone from us never 
 to return, and that their bodies lie, in gloom and silence, 
 in " the house appointed for all living." But what then? 
 Their disembodied spirits are happy in the exercises and 
 enjoyments of a better world; and, if we be followers of 
 their faith, and patience, and holiness, we shall, ere long, 
 meet them again, where the pang of separation is never 
 known. Yes, my brethren, be they the guides and pro- 
 tectors of our early days, or the friends and instructors 
 of our riper years, who have been removed from us into 
 darkness; — imitating their pious conversation, we shall 
 shortly rejoin their society, and participate their bliss, in 
 that happy world, where the heart shall never be wrung 
 by the pang of separation, — where " adieus and farewells 
 are a sound unknown." Never more shall we say, — 
 
•30 SERMON. 
 
 " Lover and friend thou hast put far from me, and mine 
 acquaintance into darkness." 
 
 " A few short years of evil past, 
 
 We reach the happy shore, 
 Where death-divided friends at last 
 
 Shall meet to part no more." 
 
 And sure we are, that although the relationships which 
 exist on earth — of husband and wife, parent and child, 
 pastor and people — will have no place in the future world, 
 — the design of them being realized, — they will, never- 
 theless, be remembered. And who can tell what will be 
 the rapture with which pious parents and pious children, 
 faithful pastors and the people for whose souls they cared, 
 will meet each other in the world of glory, and think of 
 the instrumentality they respectively had in bringing each 
 other to those blissful realms ? This will enhance incon- 
 ceivably the felicity of heaven. 
 
 I have thus, my brethren, endeavoured to bring before 
 your view some considerations with which we are furnish- 
 ed in holy writ, and with which we are exhorted to com- 
 fort one another, under the . loss of godly friends, and 
 eminent and useful ministers of the church : and I indulge 
 the hope, that, through the blessing of God, they will be 
 in some measure effectual in moderating your grief, and 
 tranquillizing your minds, under the melancholy bereave- 
 ment you have experienced. I cannot conclude this dis- 
 course without adverting for a few moments to the char- 
 
SERMON. 31 
 
 aeter of the friend and pastor whose loss we have this day 
 assembled to deplore. And in reference to him, your 
 feelings, I am sure, correspond with mine when I say, 
 that the best and most hallowed memorial of his worth 
 will be found in the love and veneration with which he 
 will long be remembered — by you, among whom for more 
 than twenty years he ministered in the gospel, — by the 
 numerous circle of his friends, — by every portion of the 
 church where he was known, — and by his surviving bre- 
 thren in the holy ministry. Ten years have elapsed since 
 I was brought to enjoy the privilege of his friendship ; 
 and I would be unfaithful and ungrateful if I did not say, 
 that more pleasant hours than those I have spent in his 
 company — whether engaged in the exercises of public or 
 private devotion, or in the conversation of the domestic 
 circle — I have never enjoyed. His mind was stored with 
 knowledge : his acquaintance, particularly with the truths 
 of revelation and the history of the church, was extensive 
 and judicious ; and whether his discourse turned on the 
 one or the other of these subjects, it was impossible to be 
 in his society without deriving both edification and delight. 
 As a Christian, his piety was serious, solemn, conscien- 
 tious; but unostentatious, unobtrusive. His bereaved 
 family bear witness, by their silent anguish, that, as a hus- 
 band and parent, he was affectionate, faithful, kind. His 
 brethren in the ministry, who most intimately enjoyed his 
 acquaintance, can testify that his friendship was ardent 
 and unwavering, and continued unweakened to his friends 
 till the close of his life. As a minister of Christ, his 
 
32 SERMON. 
 
 praise is throughout the church. In the mind of many 
 a Christian whom he never " saw in the flesh," and 
 whom he will never know till they meet on high, his 
 memory will be embalmed long after he has gone to his 
 glorious " rest," as the honoured instrument of their pre- 
 paration for everlasting life. As for you, my brethren, 
 ye remember how he went out and in amongst you, in- 
 structing, exhorting, counselling, comforting you, proving 
 himself " a workman that needed not to be ashamed, right- 
 ly dividing the word of truth." Many souls, I doubt not, 
 have gone from among you, during the last twenty years, 
 who will recognise him as their spiritual father; and 
 many, I trust, remain behind, who will be found to have 
 been the " seals of his ministry," and in the day of Christ 
 will be his glory and joy. By the Synod, of which he 
 was so long a universally esteemed and beloved member, 
 his loss will be felt to be — I had almost said — irreparable. 
 The prudence, and talent, and judicious zeal with which 
 he engaged in the promotion of its business and its inter- 
 ests, will be long remembered among his brethren with 
 affection ; and the absence of one so deservedly respected 
 and beloved from their meetings will long cast over them 
 a melancholy gloom. To his honour be it said, in this 
 day of hollow-hearted profession, he was — what he pro- 
 fessed to be — a genuine seceder. Intimately acquainted 
 with the constitutional principles of the Church of Scot- 
 land, on behalf of which the Secession Testimony was 
 originally displayed, he retained his attachment to them 
 during all his life, and was not ashamed — when he judged 
 
SERMON. 33 
 
 himself called in providence — conscientiously and fearless- 
 ly to avow and defend them. I cannot conclude these 
 allusions to the character of our departed friend, without 
 adverting for a moment to the affecting circumstance, now 
 distinctly ascertained, that arduous as his labours were for 
 the spiritual welfare of his people, they were rendered 
 more arduous still, by the unapprehended pressure for 
 many years of that disease which has now brought him to 
 the dust of death. His heart was in his Master's work, 
 but agonizing, many a time, must have been his feelings 
 in the prosecution of it. " Painfulness and weariness" 
 attended his ministerial life. Even in the midst of his 
 earlier labours, the messenger of death appears to have been 
 secretly undermining his seemingly vigorous frame, and 
 hasting him on to " the house appointed for all living." — 
 And now, my brethren, he is gone. His day of work on 
 earth is over. In silence and sorrow we have laid his 
 body in its " long home ;" and his immortal spirit, we 
 doubt not, has entered into the joy of his Lord. It re- 
 mains for you — for all of us, to improve the solemnizing 
 dispensation. 
 
 In reference to him, if you loved him, you will rejoice, 
 because he is " gone to the Father." But, for yourselves, 
 allow me to remind you, a solemn responsibility rests on 
 you for having so long enjoyed his valuable ministrations. 
 His "heart's desire and prayer to God for you" was that 
 you " might be saved." Many a time, I am sure, did he 
 cast his eye over this large congregation, and think, in the 
 fulness of his benevolent heart, how blessed it would be if 
 
34 SERMON. 
 
 he and you should meet in glory. Brethren, beware, lest 
 any of you be among the number of those who are 
 " hewn" by the Lord's prophets, and "slain by the words 
 of his mouth." Beware, lest, after all the days and years 
 you have sitten under the faithful and arousing ministry 
 which you will now enjoy no more, you be yet " in your 
 sins," — unconverted, unsanctified, lost. Be entreated, by 
 the mercies of God, by the worth of your immortal souls, 
 by your regard to the memory of him whom you will see 
 in this world no more, to call to remembrance, and to im- 
 prove now — if you have not improved before — the many 
 precious truths, and solemn warnings, and affectionate ex- 
 hortations, which in the course of his ministry he address- 
 ed to you. Anticipate the day of death — most certainly 
 approaching to every individual in this assembly — when, 
 eternity opening on the view, and heart and flesh fainting 
 and failing, the worth of vital religion will be seen and 
 felt as it never was before. And think of that " day of 
 dread decision," when you and your departed pastor shall 
 meet again. O, that it may be on the right hand of the 
 Judge, and that he may be able to say of you, " Behold, 
 I and the children thou hast given me ! " " Give all dili- 
 gence to make your calling and election sure." " Re- 
 member them that have had the rule over you, who have 
 spoken unto you the word of God : whose faith follow, 
 considering the end of their conversation." 
 
 Brethren of the Eldership in this congregation, re- 
 member your increased responsibility. And now, when 
 an able and affectionate pastor has been taken from you, 
 
SERMON. 35 
 
 let me urge you to go — as did the disciples of John, when 
 their Master was removed from them — and " tell Jesus ;" 
 tell him your loss — your sorrow — your perplexities — your 
 insufficiency for the charge that has devolved upon you. 
 Remind him of his own promises to his church, and plead 
 them before him. He has " the residue of the Spirit," 
 and so long as he has gracious purposes to accomplish in 
 any place, or among any people, he will not want instru- 
 ments by whom they shall be fulfilled. " Do for us, O 
 God, the Lord !" 
 
 In a considerable portion of the preceding discourse, 
 I have had particularly in view the condition of the family 
 which this dispensation has plunged into bereavement and 
 sorrow. But I cannot conclude without again sympa- 
 thising with them, and commending them to God. Your 
 adversity, my mourning friends, is sore — "the hand of 
 God hath touched" you. We would feel for you — we 
 would weep with you. But we would wish, at the same 
 time, to comfort and counsel you. There is a friend on 
 high who is " the father of the fatherless, and the judge 
 of the widow." Hear his gracious language : " Cast thy 
 fatherless children upon me, and let thy widows trust in 
 me :" " Thy Maker is thy husband, the Lord of Hosts 
 is his name :" " I will be a father to you, and ye shall 
 be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 
 To him we commend you. Take his promise as " the 
 joy and rejoicing of your heart." Plead it from day to 
 day at his throne of grace. - He will accomplish it. He 
 will be your Husband, your Father. He will provide for 
 
36 SERMON. 
 
 you — comfort- you — guide you — go down with you 
 through all the scenes of your future life — and will not 
 leave you until he has done that which he has spoken to 
 you of. When the image of a beloved husband and pa- 
 rent recurs to the view of your mind, let it be recognised 
 calling you to follow his faith, and patience, and devoted- 
 ness to God. This is the best tribute of love you can 
 pay to his memory — thus will you have communion with 
 him still — and thus will you be warranted to indulge the 
 hope of meeting him again, in that blessed world, where 
 sickness, and separation, and sorrow, are for ever un- 
 known. 
 
 " Brethren, the time is short." " The end of all 
 things is at hand." " Be ye, therefore, ready also, for 
 in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man 
 cometh." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 
 H'M-AUTON & CO., PniNTF.RS*, \II LAMF.I.O. 
 

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