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THE DEATH OF MINISTERS ILLUSTRA^j) 
 AND IMPROVED: 
 
 TWO DISCOURSES, 
 
 PREACHED IN PORTSBURGH CHURCH, 23d SEPTEMBER 
 
 1832, FIRST SABBATH AFTER THE FUNERAL OF 
 
 THE REV. ALEXANDER NISBET. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. JOHN SMART, A. M. 
 
 LEITH. 
 
 " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." — " Remember 
 them who had the rule over you : whose faith follow." 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM OLIPHANT, 
 
 22 SOUTH BRIDGE STREET ; 
 
 SOLD BY J. WARDLAW AND W. MATHESON, EDINBURGH j 
 
 J. HENDERSON AND R. ALLARDYCE, LEITH ; AND 
 
 W. COLLINS AND M. OGLE, GLASGOW. 
 
 MDCCCXXXII. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 These Discourses are published at the request 
 of the Elders and Managers of the Church in which 
 they were delivered. The Author thinks it neces- 
 sary to state this as an excuse for a publication 
 which had otherwise been gladly withheld. He is 
 well aware, that beyond a plain statement of Scrip- 
 tural truth, the Discourses contain nothing to re- 
 commend them to public favour. They were com- 
 posed, besides, at a time of considerable personal dis- 
 traction ; and the event which occasioned them pro- 
 duced additional agitation, The request, however, 
 for their publication was enforced by the assurance, 
 that, from the crowded state of a comparatively small 
 house, many for whose benefit they were expressly 
 prepared heard them but partially, while some heard 
 them not at all. This representation prevailed ; 
 and if the Author prove, in any degree, a comforter 
 or a teacher to the sorrowing flock of his valued and 
 lamented brother, he shall be content that no others 
 notice his work. 
 
 Leith, 10th October 1882. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://archive.org/details/deathofministersOOsmar 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 Joshua i. 2— « MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD." 
 
 The text records a fact which to us, in its primary sense, 
 is neither striking nor tender. To us it is no way strange, 
 that He who of old commanded Pharaoh to let Israel go out 
 of his land, and who in the end led them forth, spoiling the 
 Egyptians ; who was the commander of this ancient people 
 during their wanderings in the wilderness, and their leader 
 to the borders of the promised land ; should now be spoken 
 of as among those who have long been dead. And, as there 
 cannot be with us any tender recollection of his person in 
 life or in death, or any individual impressions of his useful- 
 ness, we can peruse the record of his decease without much 
 emotion. Moses was a man of a former age, and that age 
 far removed from our own. He is known to us only from 
 history, and not by actual intercourse. Though we read, 
 therefore, that Moses is dead, we neither wonder nor grieve. 
 
 The event, however, which has required my presence 
 among you this day, and which renders these words an ap- 
 propriate source of meditation, is of a very opposite charac- 
 ter. To human judgment it appears awfully mysterious. 
 To your feelings, as to mine, and those of many others, it 
 is truly sad. When I last stood in this place, I introduced 
 
 A 
 
to you a young friend and brother as your future pastor. 
 Having done so, I sat among you listening to his first pas- 
 toral discourse ; and as it proceeded, my prayers were joined 
 with yours, that his course in the ministry might be long, 
 and useful, and happy. But alas for the frailty of man ! alas 
 for the uncertainty of human hopes, even when most deeply 
 seated, and apparently most wisely formed ! Since then, and 
 how short the interval ! his life has ended, and his ministry 
 has closed. It cannot, then, fail to strike you, and to fill 
 you with sadness, that we who so lately rejoiced together at 
 his rising, should for the first time meet to weep over his 
 grave. But so it is. Our friend sleepeth, — The servant of 
 the Lord is dead * 
 
 Although the death of Moses, then, may be to us neither 
 strange nor sad, that, event which the record of it may guide us 
 rightly \o contemplate and fully to improve, is, as we say, both 
 mysterious and melancholy. A youth, amiable and talented 5 
 gifted by nature and sanctified through grace, has suddenly 
 fallen, and his iS sun has gone down while it was yet day." 
 A minister, accomplished and faithful, useful from the first, 
 and giving sure promise of increasing usefulness, has been 
 taken from the church, and his ministry has been left to 
 -'' wither in all the leaves of its spring." If, then, we say no- 
 thing of parental affection wounded and disappointed, and 
 many relatives who are bereaved and afflicted, and regard 
 only that mysterious aspect of Divine Providence presented 
 to us by the event, and that public calamity occasioned by 
 the sorrowful dispensation, who can treat it without feelings 
 
 • The author had preached at the introduction of Mr Nisbet on 24th 
 November 1831, and had not till now again preached to his congregation. 
 
3 
 
 of perplexity and grief ? Aaron, when two young ministers 
 fell by a wrathful judgment, " held his peace." Much 
 more may we say, Thou didst it and we were silent. 
 
 In the prospect of meeting with you, therefore, in circum- 
 stances so peculiar and tender, it was no easy matter for me 
 to decide on what topic I should address you. Many might 
 have been considered seasonable. The unsearchable, yet 
 wise and gracious character of Divine judgments seemed to 
 me appropriate. The inheritance of the saints in light, on 
 which our departed friend has, we believe, now entered, ap- 
 peared not less so. And to good effect might we have spoken 
 from those words of the Saviour, " If ye loved me ye would 
 rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father.''"' In the end, 
 however, we chose the words now read, as admitting of the 
 greatest variety of consolatory and useful remarks on such 
 an occasion as this. And while I discourse from them, it is 
 my ardent wish to refuse all worldly motives, to suppress 
 every earthly attachment, and with all the solemn anticipa- 
 tions of death, and judgment, and eternity, which the inci- 
 dents of this season bring so powerfully before me, to seek 
 your spiritual comfort and edification. Your circumstances, 
 too, are greatly advantageous for devout impressions. May 
 our mutual profiting, then, appear to all ! 
 
 The text suggests two topics of discourse. The one is 
 the death of ministers. The other is the improvement which 
 should be made of such an event. The first of these shall 
 be the subject of the present discourse. 
 
 In illustration, then, of the death of ministers* we would 
 notice, in the first place, that, 
 
 a2 
 
The sinfulness of ministers explains their mortality. 
 
 " In many things we offend all. 1 ' Such is the statement of 
 an apostle respecting himself and his brethren in office. Deep 
 and just as was their sense of the spiritual and sacred cha- 
 racter of their work, and peculiar as were their qualifications 
 for the performance of it, they yet acknowledged thus their 
 infirmities and their errors. The ministry of reconciliation 
 is yet committed to men of like passions with yourselves. 
 And if even inspired ministers frankly and openly confess 
 their sinfulness, who of the ministers of our day will either 
 claim, or accept the praise of having " made their hearts 
 clean, and of being pure from sin ?" 
 
 Formal or lengthened proof on this subject is neither re- 
 quired nor expected. The servants of the Lord inherit, like 
 other men, a depraved nature. The sinfulness of their na- 
 ture appears in the errors of their lives. The guilt of their 
 sin may be pardoned for His sake whom they set forth as a 
 propitiation ; but depravity yet retains, in the best of them, 
 a part of its early dominion. Accordingly, they sin with 
 their tongues ; in personal duties they are often remiss ; in 
 official labours they frequently transgress ; and those even 
 in the least degree familiar with their persons, or observant 
 of their habits, will soon and easily discover in the holiest of 
 their order, many and sad demonstrations of a sinful na- 
 ture. The perfection, then, of the servants of the Lord, is 
 not so much as imagined by any save those who are ignorant, 
 and therefore superstitious ; and the profane and silly con- 
 ceit is favoured by none of themselves, except such as are 
 hypocritical and foolish. 
 
 But apart from all argumentation on such a subject, we 
 
return to our remark, and affirm every servant of the Lord 
 to be sinful. The best were so whom Jehovah ever gifted 
 to the church, and in whose light the church rejoiced for a 
 season. The treasure is yet in earthen vessels. Accordingly, 
 the judgment of God over our fallen nature is this, " Dust 
 thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." By one man sin 
 entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed 
 on all men for that all have sinned. In the case, then, of 
 even the most devout and spiritual of the servants of God, 
 though " the spirit be life because of righteousness, the body 
 is dead because of sin." How pertinent and affecting is the 
 instance to which the text refers as an illustration of this 
 truth. " Moses the servant of the Lord is dead." He had 
 this testimony, that he pleased God. To his great and va- 
 ried excellence the church of old gladly bare record. " My 
 servant Moses, said Jehovah, is faithful in all mine house, 
 with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently and 
 not in dark speeches, and the similitude of the Lord shall 
 he behold." The Divine favour for him, too, is at the same 
 time proclaimed, to the confusion of all his adversaries ; and 
 it is added, " Wherefore, then, were ye not afraid to speak 
 against my servant Moses t ?" At his death, moreover, in 
 token of their deep sense of the excellence of his character, 
 and the usefulness of his life, the congregation of Israel wept 
 for him thirty days in the plains of Moab. But great and 
 good man as he was, he was a sinner. " He spake unadvis- 
 edly with his lips ;" and, accordingly, in the Sacred Record, 
 his death, as well as that of Aaron, another eminent and holy 
 minister of God, is explained by their sinfulness. " Get thee 
 up," said God, " to mount Abarim, and die in the mount 
 
6 
 
 whither thou goest up, and be gathered to thy people, as 
 was Aaron thy brother ; because ye trespassed against me 
 at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, because ye sanctified me 
 not among the children of Israel.'" 
 
 In like manner, the sinfulness of ministers in our day ex- 
 plains their death. The most devout— the most esteemed 
 of their number must pay the debt of nature. The best 
 are " not suffered to continue by reason of death.'" Such 
 an explanation, however, of the mortality of ministers ought 
 not to diminish the usefulness of their lives, or to lessen the 
 regrets occasioned by their death. If, as believers, they have 
 washed and been made clean in the open fountain of the 
 Saviour's atoning blood, they may profitably serve the church, 
 and, when faithful, claim its esteem. If united to Him who has 
 abolished death, the infliction of it as a curse is done away, 
 and to them death has no sting. " It is appointed unto all 
 men once to die. But blessed are the dead who die in the 
 Lord." 
 
 The servants of the Lord, then, being sinful, are mortal 
 like other men. The voices which are for a time heard in 
 the persuasive accents of earnest and christian benevolence, 
 entreating sinners to be reconciled unto God, and directing 
 saints to make their calling and election sure, must be put 
 to silence. Their busy and elevated course, whose work it 
 is devoutly to muse on holy things, and dispense freely in- 
 struction, and warning, and comfort, must, like that of other 
 men, be arrested by the hand of death. They among whom 
 ministers now go preaching the Gospel, must one day see 
 their faces no more. The spirit shall return to God who 
 gave it. The body shall return to the dust as it was. This 
 
fact, melancholy if we must so call it, is illustrated by the 
 events of every age. Moses, the servant of God, is dead. 
 Joshua, to whom the sad event was announced in the words 
 of our text, is also dead. Our fathers, where are they, and 
 the prophets, do they live for ever ? Every church suf- 
 fers the frequent loss of its pastors. An all- wise Providence 
 has, in close succession, removed two from among yourselves. 
 And in a little while he who thus notices their departure, 
 must himself follow them to the grave. " I know that thou 
 wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all 
 living." 
 
 We would further remark as to the death of ministers, that 
 they have each an appointed time of service in the Church. 
 
 The death of Moses was in no sense fortuitous. The 
 time of it, its scene, all its circumstances indeed, seemed to 
 have been arranged according to the Divine decree. " From 
 the plains of Moab he went up to the Mount Nebo, to the 
 top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho ; and Moses, the 
 servant of God, died there, according to the word of the 
 Lord." From these facts the inference is plain, that to this 
 servant of God there was a certain extent of labour pre- 
 scribed. The time was fixed at which his life should close ; 
 the period determined at which his ministry should end ; 
 and when the number of his years was complete, when his 
 work was done, a devout saying of his own was illustrated, 
 " Thou turnest man to destruction, thou say est Return ye 
 children of men," and he died. 
 
 As to the ministers of Christ in our day, they have still a 
 specified time for labour, a required "portion of work to per r 
 
8 
 
 form. Indeed there is to all men an appointed time upon 
 the earth ; and it is no invidious distinction that of the ser- 
 vants of God this remark be made. To use the words of 
 Job, they " accomplish as an hireling their day." Nay, ac- 
 cording to the Saviour's appointment, — endowed as he gra- 
 ciously pleases, — assigned to that portion of the vineyard 
 which he ordains, — labouring with that degree of success or 
 disappointment which he may in sovereignty vouchsafe or 
 inflict, — they occupy till Christ come, and their Master saith, 
 * Give an account of your stewardship, for you may be no 
 longer stewards."" 
 
 This time of ministerial service which the Head of the 
 Church appoints to all his servants respectively, is fixed by 
 him in absolute but gracious sovereignty. In His hands are 
 all men as clay in the hands of the potter. In Him all men 
 live, and move, and have their being. In His hand our life 
 is, and His are all our ways; and he giveth none account of 
 his matters unto any. May He not do, then, " what he will 
 with his own ?" The sovereignty of Christ, however, is an 
 empire as wise as it is supreme. With this matter then, as 
 with all others, the Church and its faithful ministers gladly 
 and confidently entrust the Saviour. " He is head over all 
 things to the Church, which is his body,"" and its members 
 say, He doth all things well. 
 
 In the exercise of this high sovereignty, however, much 
 may occur to human judgment perplexing and mysterious, 
 and to human affections painful and irreparable. Divine 
 decisions, in this respect, men may be tempted to arraign as 
 capricious and arbitrary; and the results of them many 
 mourners may long and loudly bewail. Indeed, in this de- 
 
9 
 
 partment of providence, the Church may be favoured at 
 times with much that is gratifying and consolatory, or tried 
 at others with every conceivable variety of mysterious or af- 
 flicting dispensations. Some have a long and prosperous 
 course in the ministry ; others a course less extensive, and 
 more chequered with trials; and to some a very brief period 
 of service is appointed. So brief is the ministry of some, 
 that it acquires little public character save for its brevity. 
 All these varieties are to be witnessed in the course of Di- 
 vine providence ; and many diversities occur under these 
 heads. Some are permitted to continue their labours with- 
 out interruption to extreme age, — to bear the burden of 
 many laborious years, — to see the aspect of their flock en- 
 tirely change, — to survive all the friends of their youth, — 
 to cherish the memory of the sires of those whom they now 
 serve, — and, in doing so, to bring from their recollections of 
 these, motives to persuade their " children's children 1 ' to 
 remember the God of their fathers, and to serve him with a 
 perfect heart and with a willing mind. These may lift 
 their voice in the church, and exclaim, We have been young 
 and now are old. By reason of more strength their years 
 are fourscore. The labours of others are not so protracted 
 or continuous. They often faint and are weary ; still they 
 are allowed to survive the years of youth, and to reach ma- 
 ture age, — to review their youthful ministrations after greater 
 experience has been acquired, — to lament the imperfections 
 of these, and to resolve on greater diligence and higher aims ; 
 but just as they approach their new plans, the labours which 
 infirmities often interrupted are terminated by death, and 
 they rest from their labours And there are some who 
 
10 
 
 " work but one hour !" The youths faint and are weary, the 
 young men utterly fall. " They are as a sleep : they are 
 like the grass which groweth up ; in the morning it flou- 
 risheth and groweth up ; in the evening it is cut down and 
 fades."" These but assure the Church of their capacity 
 to serve it, and leave it to lament their premature removal. 
 The congratulations which hail their rising, are soon ex- 
 changed for lamentations at their fall. The aged, who re- 
 joiced that long after themselves they would sustain the 
 cause of Christ, sorrowfully survive them. The young, 
 who gladly hailed the coming of such welcome leaders, are 
 bereaved and dejected. They are not; for Christ has taken 
 them. Such are some of the varieties in the periods of ser- 
 vice appointed to the service of the Lord. A few live to 
 old age prosperous and happy : many die amid their useful 
 labours : some die just as they begin their course. Christ 
 appoints to all the bounds of their habitation, which they 
 cannot pass. 
 
 This view of Christ's sovereignty is intimately connected 
 with the edification of the church, and the comfort of its 
 ministers. It is well that He who gives to his Church pastors 
 and teachers, and who endows them with their peculiar gifts, 
 and supports them in their various spheres, should determine 
 the period of service to be required from each ; and how se- 
 cure and regular shall be the prosperity of the church, in so 
 far as that depends on the lives of its ministers, since He who 
 " walks amid the seven golden candlesticks, holds also the 
 seven stars in his right hand?" It contributes, besides, great- 
 ly to the comfort of Christ's servants, that in every respect 
 they do his will. The thought of Christ's sovereignty cheers 
 
11 
 
 a long and laborious life in the ministry, the comforts of 
 which are not very abundant, the successes of which are not 
 very apparent, and the reward of which is long delayed. 
 The same thought is fitted to reconcile the servant of God 
 to a brief course in the ministry, even though he should 
 need to part with many comforts, and to die when an abun- 
 dant harvest promises to repay his care. " Christ casteth one 
 down, and raiseth another up. Our God is in the heavens, 
 and doeth what pleaseth him." 
 
 We further remark, That ministers often die when their 
 life is most desired, and apparently needful. 
 
 The time of Moses' death was very peculiar. Had the 
 judgment of man appointed it, it had been fixed either much 
 earlier, or somewhat later, than the time at which it did ac- 
 tually occur. This decision might have been defended by 
 many considerations ; some affecting Moses personally, and 
 eiany equally weighty, affecting the congregation of Israel. 
 That illustrious enterprise, on which, if we may not say he 
 spent his strength, since, even at death, his eye was not dim, 
 nor his natural force abated, yet in which his life had passed, 
 — with which his desires and hopes had been so long identi- 
 fied, — the difficulties of which, many and serious as they were, 
 had been met with firmness, and were now nearly termina- 
 ted, — the accomplishment of which was so faithfully expect- 
 ed, even when its progress was most seriously impeded ; — 
 that enterprise was on the very eve of its consummation. 
 And must Moses die now ? must he die here ? Now ! when 
 the labour of his life was so near its earthly recompense ? 
 Here ! while Israel lay encamped on the very borders of the 
 
12 
 
 promised land ? The congregation, too, at this time, we may 
 suppose, must have ardently desired his life, and greatly need- 
 ed his continuance with them. Rebellious as they had often 
 been against his authority, and ungrateful as they had often 
 been for his kind and faithful services, yet we must regard 
 them attached to his person. Who, then, would they de- 
 sire to lead them to triumph, more than he, who had so long 
 shared their trials, endured their provocations, and relieved 
 their cares ? Their entrance, too, into the rest of Canaan, 
 they might fear, would be delayed by his removal : and they 
 might even dread internal anarchy and confusion, or some 
 foreign attacks, which might turn them aside for ever from 
 the inheritance they had so nearly possessed. But, truly, 
 God's thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor his ways as our 
 ways. When his life was most desired, and apparently 
 needful, it was said, " Moses my servant is dead." 
 
 This view of Divine Providence is still frequently pre- 
 sented. It is connected often with the events of private life. 
 That head of a family, who, as fond affection speaks, is 
 its idol — its kind and faithful support — its pride and its dis- 
 tinction — is in a moment withdrawn ; and another is spared, 
 who to his family is a burden, a reproach, and whose death, 
 in itself, would be a less heavy calamity than the many af- 
 flictions of his life. That member of a family, too, most 
 amiable and promising, on whom a parent's affection most 
 readily fixes, and most confidently depends for personal sup- 
 port and sympathy in declining life, and to whom he waits 
 to entrust all his worldly cares when himself is infirm or 
 old, is cut down in an hour; and he survives, who is a 
 foolish son, a heaviness to her who bare him, and who is 
 
13 
 
 bringing down a parent's grey hairs with sorrow to the 
 grave. In general society, too, how often do we see the 
 wise, and benevolent, and patriotic, dying, as we say, prema- 
 turely ; while they live, who corrupt, and injure, and impo- 
 verish the community. If we advert, then, to the history of 
 the Christian church, we may expect to find both its ministers 
 and its members occasionally, or even often, treated in ac- 
 cordance with a similar rule. Therefore it is that pastors 
 who are best qualified, and most useful, die ; while they sur- 
 vive whose powers are inferior, and their success more li- 
 mited. Therefore it is that those in whom the affections of 
 a numerous congregation centre, and from whose labours 
 there are general and enlarged expectations of increasing 
 benefit, are at times removed ; while they survive, who, as 
 man judges, have outlived their usefulness. But, alas ! We 
 do not need to search for instances. Our remark is sadly 
 illustrated in that melancholy event on which we now condole 
 with you, and which it is our wish to improve among you. 
 The servant of the Lord so lately set over you, in circum- 
 stances so pleasing, is dead. As you ponder the fact, are 
 you not tempted to say that his death has been premature ? 
 You knew his amiable manners, and his fitness to adorn and 
 to improve society ; and did you not greatly desire his life, 
 that he might be long and widely known as its ornament 
 and instructor ? You knew his vast acquirements, his fair 
 prospect of high personal distinction, and his power to shed 
 lustre on the association whose interests he so purely loved, or 
 the flock he so affectionately tended; and did you not ardent- 
 ly desire his life, that his praise might be in all the churches ? 
 Nay, you knew how dear he was to your own hearts, and as 
 
14 
 
 you dreaded his removal, were not your hopes sustained by 
 the belief that his continuance was more needful for you ? 
 How needful might you have said was his life ! None will 
 say that God's work depends on human instruments, but it 
 is connected with them. And to you it must appear that you 
 now are exposed to losses and to dangers which the life of 
 my departed brother might have averted. To your spiritual 
 interests he wisely and faithfully ministered. To your tem- 
 poral interests, as a congregation, he was a security. Neither 
 shall suffer, we trust, ultimately ; now, however, you must 
 feel as if both were endangered. But from you he is taken 
 whom you thus loved, and on whom, in some sense, you de- 
 pended. He is taken when your affections were resting on 
 him with all the freshness and vigour of young attachment ; 
 and he has died when his labours were most esteemed, and 
 the success of them most promising. Still we must ask you 
 to say that all is well. So hath the Lord ordained. Say, 
 then, in faith, though you should say it with many tears, 
 " The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed 
 be the name of the Lord."" 
 
 But, once more, we remark that — 
 
 Faithful ministers die to receive the reward of their ser- 
 vice. 
 
 Moses received at death the reward of his service. We 
 allude not to the peculiar honours, whatever these might be, 
 which are associated with the interment of his body. Our 
 reference is to his reception into heaven, and his entrance 
 into the joy of his Lord. Of his personal expectation of 
 this issue of his life, we cannot speak positively, as we know 
 
15 
 
 not the exact state of his knowledge as to the future exist- 
 ence. It may have been that his view of Canaan from the 
 top of Pisgah, his last enjoyment on earth, was accompanied 
 with a spiritual anticipation of the rewards and the glories 
 of the heavenly rest. At all events, thither has he gone. 
 Our information of this is most certain : he was one of the 
 celestial assistants in the glories of the transfiguration, and, 
 with Elias, appeared talking with Christ upon Mount Tabor. 
 But without " tasting of death" this reward could not be 
 reached. His Divine Master had, of his grace, prepared for 
 him a reward for his faithful service, far, far exceeding that 
 of which his mourning friends probably regarded it as a hard- 
 ship that he should be deprived. But it was prepared in 
 another world, not in this. The river of death intervened 
 between him and heaven, as Jordan now intercepted Israel's 
 passage to the Land of Promise. Moses died, then, to reach 
 his reward; and, on dying, he received it. The good and 
 faithful servant this day entered into the joy of his Lord. 
 
 So is it with the faithful ministers of our time ; so is it 
 indeed with all the faithful in Christ Jesus. If they see 
 not in death, Stephen's inspiring vision, Jesus standing at 
 the right hand of God ready to receive them, on death at 
 least they are for ever with the Lord. The death of mi- 
 nisters, however, who are in an especial sense the servants of 
 God, is emphatically an entering into rest. We read that 
 " they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the fir- 
 mament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the 
 stars for ever and ever. 1 ' In the faith of this, you remember 
 Paul's triumphant discourse in view of his own death, which 
 the Spirit taught him to frame in application to the death of 
 all like himself. " I am now ready to be offered, and the time 
 
16 
 
 of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I 
 have finished my course ; I have kept the faith ; henceforth 
 there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
 Lord the righteous judge will give me on that day, and not 
 to me only, but to all those who like me love the appearing 
 of his Son." Death, however, must precede the enjoyment 
 of this reward. The way to it lies through the dark valley 
 of the shadow of death. Those for whom it is prepared, 
 therefore, have, with a few exceptions — so very few as to be 
 known to all — approached it in this way. The servants of 
 the Lord die to receive their reward. 
 
 Such a view of the death of ministers should never be 
 omitted by themselves, when they anticipate the event ; or 
 by their sorrowful friends and people, when it has occurred. 
 To such as are faithful death is an entering into rest, — it is 
 a receiving of the recompense of the reward. In the case of 
 a believer, it is only when death is viewed apart from the 
 light in which Revelation places it, that it is either to him- 
 self an appalling prospect, or to his friends an irreparable 
 loss, and a source of inconsolable distress. It is very terrible 
 to think of our going down into the darkness, and confine- 
 ment, and rottenness of the grave ; and it is very terrible to 
 think that a dear friend, lately our honoured companion or 
 beloved relative, has said " to corruption Thou art my father, 
 and to the worm Thou art my mother and my sister ;* and 
 if we look at death only in this aspect, all its hideous terrors 
 are disclosed and aggravated. But there is One who has 
 " abolished death, and who has brought life and immortality 
 to light by the Gosperf 1 and faith in Him makes death a 
 blessing, and the grave a bed of rest. Let us, then, anticipate 
 our death, and meditate on the death of friends, with such 
 
17 
 
 Christian views of the event as these. We can — we will — 
 do so, if we and they are Christ's. So meditate therefore, my 
 beloved brethren, on that bereavement which the eternal gain 
 of your departed pastor has caused to you. He has attained, 
 and is perfect. Free, for ever free, from all pain and sorrow, 
 sickness or death — and for ever confirmed in the life, and 
 holiness, and joy of heaven — arrived, after a very short delay, 
 at that home which he longed to reach, and conformed, after 
 little but successful discipline, to that celestial society to which 
 he laboured to be assimilated — rejoicing with Christ, where 
 he is, and casting his golden crown at His feet whose atoning 
 blood made him what he is, and whose availing intercession 
 brought him where he is — had he a voice for other discourse 
 than the new song, and present affinity to any save those 
 who join their unwearying voices with his in praise of grace 
 — he would require his dearest friend, who grieves that his 
 place is empty, whom he has left toiling and suffering in this 
 weary sinful world, to rejoice that he has gone to the Father. 
 Such is the joy of him whom we mourn. Such is the re- 
 ward of all the faithful. While we describe its glory, how- 
 ever, let us be careful to record its grace. It shall be given to 
 those for whom it is prepared. It is gifted, and cannot be 
 purchased by man. The Saviour purchased it by his blood, 
 and He bestows it on his servants. The longest and most 
 faithful, the most active and most successful, ministry, can- 
 not merit it : that which is most brief and least successful, if 
 faithful, shall not come short of it. " God is not unrighteous 
 to forget our work and labour of love, in that we have mi- 
 nistered to the saints, and do minister ; and we desire that 
 every one of us may shew the same diligence, to the full as- 
 
18 
 
 surance of hope unto the end ; that we be not slothful, but 
 followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the 
 promises." 
 
 Such are the views of death which we would have you to 
 combine with your lamentations, under that heavy trial 
 which in common with yourselves we deplore, and which all 
 as well as you need to improve. Your loss is no common 
 one, even as he who has been taken from you was no ordi- 
 nary man. You cannot but feel the heavy bereavement. 
 If you did not, we should pity you even more than we do ; 
 and we should be ready to blame you. You cannot but feel, 
 and that keenly. The character of my deceased friend, 
 and all the circumstances of his death, were such as to fill 
 you with sadness. This is no place for fulsome eulogy; 
 nor must I here indulge even in the encomiums of partial 
 friendship. But as the righteous shall be held in everlast- 
 ing remembrance, I must do what I can to embalm the 
 memory of departed worth. My lamented friend was na- 
 turally endowed with mental faculties of great vigour, and 
 a temper most amiable and affectionate. His acquirements 
 were vast and singular ; his devotional habits pure and uni- 
 form ; his public ministrations sincere and impressive ; his 
 life consistent, and his death peaceful and happy. 
 
 As to his natural endowments, the most striking and the 
 most attractive feature in his character was his child-like 
 simplicity, and the total absence of malice or guile. Infan- 
 tine simplicity, at times found conjoined with genius of a 
 high order, was peculiarly his, in union with the higher 
 endowments of wisdom, and judgment, and prudence. His 
 
19 
 
 very aspect, and his outward manners, suggested all this 
 even to strangers ; his conversation and his habits certified 
 it to his friends. The meekness of Moses was truly his. 
 Never did he rudely, or from vanity, obtrude his own claims 
 on respect or distinction ; indeed he did not know how many 
 and how great they were : and, ever forward to admit the 
 claims of others, he gave honour to whom honour was due. 
 He distrusted his own merit, and, far happier in praising 
 others than in being praised himself, he exaggerated rather 
 than depreciated their merits ; while the slightest personal 
 kindness was remembered and esteemed. So amiable, artless, 
 and affectionate was he, that the feeling which all expressed 
 toward him amounted to a positive attachment, and how 
 many say Our Friend sleepeth ! 
 
 His acquirements, however, always appeared to me as the 
 most singular portion of his history. Dying in his 26th 
 year, these truly deserve to be called prodigious. His in- 
 formation was genera], yet accurate and well arranged. 
 There was scarcely a corner in the wide and attractive field 
 of learning into which he had not looked, as if in anticipa- 
 tion of a short life ; and I know not the subject on which 
 he had not read wisely and freely, and on which he could 
 not speak with some credit to himself and profit to others. 
 His professional acquirements were his most valuable ac- 
 complishments ; but to the learning of his profession his at- 
 tention was by no means confined. My first relation to him 
 led me to know his tastes and habits as a student ; and ob- 
 serving, as I did even then, an acquaintance with authors 
 and systems comparatively unknown to other students of 
 his standing, I safely predicted his early distinction, and 
 
 b2 
 
20 
 
 could set no limits to that improvement which time and 
 study would effect. To all his studies, too, his mind in- 
 tensely applied itself. His work was his delight; and if, 
 in conversation, any new view of truth, or any peculiar 
 application of its principles, was suggested to him — espe- 
 cially if some new and engaging labour was proposed — his 
 very aspect betrayed his emotion, — he rejoiced in the tidings 
 of the hidden treasure, and hastened to possess himself of it. 
 Indeed, so fond was he of knowledge, and so ardent in the 
 pursuit of it, that he might be supposed unhappy even in 
 heaven, if there were not new and higher fields of informa- 
 tion to traverse and to enjoy. 
 
 Of his gracious attainments, I must not be silent. lie was 
 a firm and enlightened believer. No man had clearer and 
 juster conceptions of God's way of justifying the ungodly, 
 and no man more humbly, but more confidently, trusted in 
 its wisdom and gracious efficacy. As to the sincerity of his 
 piety, the author having ventured to soothe his fears in death 
 by the mention of it, he may well include it in a rude sketch 
 of his character. In simplicity and godly sincerity he had 
 his conversation in the world. A stranger to guile among 
 men, his heart was right with God. His daily habits as a 
 Christian, I did not minutely know ; — still he may be safely 
 affirmed to have been a man of regular and fervent prayer. 
 
 Christ, too, had counted him faithful, putting him into 
 the ministry. The sense which his ecclesiastical judges ex- 
 pressed of his qualifications for the sacred office is well 
 known. Never did one pass the period of preparatory study 
 with a reputation for talent and diligence, more regularly 
 rising as he proceeded ; and none were ever given to the 
 
21 
 
 church more fully certified as a workman who needed not 
 to be ashamed. The public expectation when he was sent 
 abroad as a probationer was high. Many churches coveted 
 his gifts. This church hastened to possess him, and rejoiced 
 in their success ; and his brief ministrations among you, I do 
 not need to describe. Ye are witnesses how wisely, and 
 affectionately, and purely, he preached Christ. Ye know 
 his diligence and impartiality in his visitations from house to 
 house, and in his attentions to the sick and mournful. But 
 your tears tell the story of his worth. This theme, there- 
 fore, rich and grateful as it is, it is time to close. Yet it were 
 to offend against his memory, and to profane his pulpit, if I 
 stop ere I have added, that " by the grace of God he was 
 what he was." Still I cannot but notice, though I may not 
 minutely detail, the circumstances of his death. A disease 
 of the heart, existing probably from early life, and aggra- 
 vated by an ardent temperament, and the duties of an excit- 
 ing profession, preyed on a frame never robust. This, with 
 his abundant labours, soon told on his weak constitution. 
 Some weeks, however, of his last illness past away, ere, in 
 his own emphatic language, he felt himself " brought to the 
 dust of death." When first aware of his approaching disso- 
 lution, he expressed to a venerable Father in our church 
 some spiritual fears and anxieties. These were treated by 
 him with characteristic judgment, and happily with success. 
 When the author first saw him at this stage of his illness, 
 he was relieved, and spake of his soul's welfare with hope — 
 calm, but firm. His disease was of such a kind as forbade 
 frequent or lengthened conversation with him. All he did 
 say, however, marked the peaceful end of the upright. On 
 
22 
 
 one occasion, with a look of anxiety which I shall not soon 
 forget, he asked me, how I could distinguish his ministry 
 from theirs who in the end shall say, Lord, Lord, have we not 
 prophesied in thy name, and whom Christ shall, notwith- 
 standing, in the end deny ? The answer made by me was 
 from the Saviour's saying, By their fruits ye shall know them. 
 It did not satisfy him, however ; and he replied, Are not 
 their fruits often seemingly abundant, and fair ? A Christian 
 friend — one of yourselves, who, like many others, rejoiced 
 to minister to his wants, — having noticed a reference made 
 by him a little before to Christ as the foundation, reminded 
 him of this, and noticed, that a desire to build there was a 
 good symptom of feeling renewed by grace ; and asked, — 
 Do you not desire to rest on that foundation ? With charac- 
 teristic ardour he answered, " On its very summit ; that 
 though the earth be removed I may not be afraid." During 
 the last two days of his life he was silent, and, at the last, 
 he fell asleep, and died without a struggle. But on such 
 evidences of faith as these, all who sorrow for his death may 
 found their belief of his eternal welfare. " The Lord Jesus 
 Christ died for us, that, whether we sleep or wake, we may 
 live together with him." 
 
SERMON II 
 
 Joshua, i. 2—« MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD." 
 
 In the former Discourse the death of Ministers has been 
 illustrated. In this we shall endeavour to shew how such an 
 event should be improved. The death of a fellow creature — 
 and his death in any circumstances — is an occurrence which 
 must always appear solemn and impressive to a serious mind. 
 The character of uncertainty and vanity which the approach 
 of such an event stamps on all worldly possessions, even on 
 those which men do most ardently desire and most fondly 
 cherish, — the eternal separation from all these, occasioned 
 by its occurrence — and the immediate entrance thereupon 
 into a state of endless enjoyment or irremediable suffering, 
 —such considerations as these, necessarily associated in the 
 serious mind with death, must render the event, in any 
 view of it, capable of general and direct improvement. The 
 living will lay it to heart. The text, however, refers us to 
 the death of the servants of the Lord ; and if the death of 
 any fellow creature should impress and instruct us, the death 
 of ministers should be regarded with peculiar interest, and 
 should be most anxiously improved. When they die, their 
 office and its duties give special force to all such consi- 
 derations as are naturally associated with the decease of 
 other men. In their death there is a forcible illustration of 
 
24 
 
 much of the doctrine which they taught, and of the motives 
 from which they recommended it. They teach, that all earth- 
 ly benefits are uncertain and vain, and on this account they 
 would persuade men to seek the things which are above ; 
 when they die the truth is realized — the wisdom of the coun- 
 sel proved in their own case. They announced the approach 
 of an eternal state, during which all men should inherit un- 
 measured evil, or matchless happiness ; and therefore they 
 implore men to flee from the wrath to come, and to lay hold 
 on eternal life ; when they die, they too go to their place. 
 Besides, the relation in which ministers stand to the church 
 should render their death an event especially admonitory to 
 survivors. They preach — if they be faithful — not them- 
 selves, but Jesus Christ the Lord, and are your servants for 
 Jesus' sake. Even when dead, therefore, they should yet 
 speak ; and, as their very sufferings should fall out to the 
 furtherance of the Gospel, their death should be as their last 
 sermon. 
 
 If these remarks be just, never did an event occur more 
 loudly demanding devout consideration, and better fitted to 
 impress the lessons of heavenly wisdom, than that bereave- 
 ment which you this day lament. How short is life ! How 
 vain are human hopes ! How certain is death ! How valu- 
 able, how inexpressibly dear, the prospects and the consola- 
 tions of religion ! These, with many more akin to them, 
 are the solemn reflections which the sad event awakens. 
 Let me endeavour, then, under the influence of them my- 
 self, to persuade you rightly and fully to improve the loss 
 of my departed friend. 
 
25 
 
 And, in the first place, the death of ministers should be 
 improved as a motive to increased diligence in the work of 
 life. 
 
 Joshua was divinely directed thus to improve the death 
 of Moses : " The Lord spake to Joshua the son of Nun, 
 Moses 1 minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead ; now 
 therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this peo- 
 ple." That Joshua would feel the animating call, we may 
 not doubt. The sad event of his master's removal imposed 
 on him weightier duties than he had hitherto sustained, and 
 these required from him increased exertion. Whether we 
 regard Joshua, then, in his personal or official duties, he 
 was bound to cherish the exciting considerations which 
 would intrude on him even during his sorrows at the death 
 of Moses. As the servant of Jehovah, and as the leader of 
 the people, he was admonished to be more diligent since 
 Moses was dead, and since he, too, could not live always. 
 
 The death of ministers should be still improved thus. 
 The remark is just, whether we refer to their brethren in 
 office, or to Christians in private station. The event is a 
 loud call to official diligence, addressed to surviving pastors. 
 The work with which they are entrusted is of the most ar- 
 duous and most responsible character. The many state- 
 ments of Scripture on this subject are memorable and im- 
 pressive. The pastor is a minister of reconciliation — an 
 ambassador of Christ — an ensample to the flock. To him 
 is instrumentally entrusted the work of explaining and com- 
 mending that propitiation which God hath set forth, and in 
 which all must believe who would be saved from the guilt 
 and the power of sin. To him is committed, in some sense, 
 
26 
 
 the honour of the Saviour ; and with zeal and fervour, and 
 sincerity like his, should the pastor beseech men to be recon- 
 ciled to God, and to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well- 
 pleasing. With him, as a sacred trust, is left the credit of 
 religion ; for according to his doctrine and practice will men 
 judge ill or favouiably of the cause which he advocates. 
 He is sent to guide the living in the way of duty, on the 
 way to heaven ; to sustain the afflicted with the consolations 
 of religion ; and to refer the dying to the inheritance which 
 faith expects. Such is the work of the ministry, and a 
 hasty notice of its difficulties and responsibilities. If such 
 it be, then, what need of fidelity and diligence, of incessant 
 and laborious application on the part of those who discharge 
 it? And if, with all its difficulties, and all its sacredness, 
 some are invested with the office who are destitute of all 
 right sense of its importance, — if many come short of 
 strong and uniform impressions of its magnitude, — and if 
 all, even those who are most faithful and laborious, need to 
 be provoked to love and to good works ; what call should 
 come more quick and welcome on the waiting ear of living 
 ministers than the warning that proceeds from the chamber 
 of their dead or dying brethren ? Let the admonition come 
 in any circumstances, it should be welcome and useful. Let 
 it come from some venerable Father who, after many prosper- 
 ous years of successful labour, retires from the field which he 
 has occupied so long, the voice cries " The night cometh when 
 no man can work." Let it come from a servant of God cut 
 down in mid time of his days, when his plans are most lofty 
 and his labours most promising, still the voice cries "All flesh 
 is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass ; 
 
27 
 
 the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away." Or 
 let it come, as we this day hear the warning, from a servant 
 of God dying in extreme youth, amid the blessings of a grate- 
 ful people, while his work is but begun — Oh, then, surely, 
 the voice comes in more piercing accents, and should be 
 heard with more still and wakeful attention, as it cries, 
 " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy 
 might, as there is neither knowledge, nor device, nor wis- 
 dom in the grave, whither thou goest." To increased faith- 
 fulness and diligence, therefore, in their official duties, the 
 death of ministers should excite their surviving brethren. 
 When thus improved, too, the event will have a salutary 
 effect on the work of personal religion in their own souls. 
 Those who are made the keepers of the vineyard of others 
 ought not to neglect their own. The same motives, accord- 
 ingly, which the brevity of time, the expectation of death, 
 and the prospects of eternity, supply to the increase of official 
 diligence, will be supplied to the enlargement of their anxieties 
 for personal growth in grace. Ministers should " watch, 
 therefore, as they know not what hour their Lord shall come." 
 But to Christians in private station, also, the death of 
 ministers should be most useful. They too should on this 
 account increase their diligence in the work of life. By 
 the phrase, we do not immediately describe those worldly 
 avocations, of which many may be ready to think as we al- 
 lude to the work of life. We must provide for our own and 
 those of our own house, if we would not deny the faith ; and 
 the labours by which we effect this provision devolve on 
 Christians, and should be prosecuted with greater alacrity, 
 when the death of others reminds them of their own. By 
 
28 
 
 the work of life, however, as we have alluded to it, we seek 
 to describe the duties of religion. " This is the work of 
 God, that we believe in the name of his Son, whom he 
 has sent, and that believing we may have life through his 
 name. 11 For the accomplishment of this work of faith is life 
 chiefly given, and on it, life with its chief anxieties should be 
 dutifully bestowed. The importance of it cannot be exag- 
 gerated. There is connected with it, even now, the glory of 
 God, and the peace of our own mind ; and through Eter- 
 nity we shall adore and enjoy God, or blaspheme and suf- 
 fer, as it shall be perfected or unfinished. Still, with all its 
 importance, man naturally despises this work ; and even 
 those who most purely venerate it have need to be stirred up. 
 How exciting, then, the tidings of death, especially of the 
 death of ministers ! They whose calls may have been disre- 
 garded, — whose warnings may have been slighted, — whose 
 encouragement may have been despised, are dead ; yet they 
 shall be seen again, either to receive the pious of their flock 
 as their crown of rejoicing in the day of Christ, or to testify 
 against the impenitent in that day of final trial. These re- 
 sults occur however short the life may be, and however brief 
 that ministry may have been, of which death deprives us. 
 one offer of Christ may, with his blessing, convert a soul : 
 one offer of Him, if rejected, is enough to ensure and to ag- 
 gravate the condemnation of many. The servant of the 
 Lord, then, whom you so lately received in the Lord with 
 all gladness, is dead. Arise, therefore, and call on your 
 God. Retain the memory of his affectionate counsels, and 
 " give all diligence that ye be found of Christ, at last with- 
 out spot, and blameless.' 1 Plead that his ministry may not 
 
29 
 
 be to some condemnation; and that as you now mourn when 
 you think how brief but how pleasant it has been, you may 
 remember, through eternity, its faithful course, and its af- 
 fecting termination, as means which God enabled you to 
 improve in making your calling and election sure. " He 
 that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. 
 He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life 
 everlasting." 
 
 The death of ministers should be further improved, as a 
 call to anxious preparation for the day of death. 
 
 The announcement made in the text would remind Joshua 
 of an event expected by himself. When it was said to him, 
 " Moses my servant is dead," he would not need to inquire 
 what the melancholy tidings denoted^ or to learn what 
 change that was which was expressed by death. He had 
 seen others die, ere he wept for his dead master : and as he 
 mourned for Moses, others lamented the loss of friends as 
 dear to them. The death of Moses, then, would admonish 
 Joshua of his own. All the circumstances of it would shew 
 him the uncertainty of life ; and the event would bring di- 
 rectly to his mind a fact which the living, amid the cares or 
 pleasures of life, are apt to forget, that they must die. If 
 now, then, Joshua, as a devout man, " so numbered his 
 days as to apply his heart to wisdom," he wisely improved 
 the removal of his master. 
 
 In the same manner should the death of ministers be 
 improved in our day. Surviving ministers — surviving Chris- 
 tians — the living generally, who know of the event, should 
 thus improve it. The obligations to this duty lie alike on 
 
30 
 
 each, and the advantages of the exercise are equal to all. " It 
 is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the judg- 
 ment. There is no man who liveth here, and shall not see 
 death. Here we have no continuing city. The grave is 
 the house appointed for all living." The fact of his morta- 
 lity, no man ever doubts. For this event, however, of which 
 all are apprized, few are fully prepared. Even because of its 
 certainty > indeed, men generally desire to forget it ; nay good 
 men allow themselves to be less familiar with it than is wise 
 or dutiful. " Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing 
 it is for the eyes to behold the sun. 1 ' " Skin for skin, nay, 
 all that a man hath will he give for his life." So strong, ac- 
 cordingly, is our desire of life, and so passionate our love of 
 it, that we delay all express preparation for death, as if 
 this would quicken its approach ; and how many live as if 
 there were no such thing in prospect with them ! Tis no 
 poet's fiction, that " all men think all men mortal but them- 
 selves." Death is thought of, and death is spoken about, 
 among us; but if we observe the form either of our re- 
 flections or our discourse, we find it treated in both, rather 
 as a change passed on others, than one about to pass on our- 
 selves, — a reality in their case, rather than in our own. 
 Most of us are made unhappy by a direct expectation of 
 death in our own persons. We know that we must die ; but 
 we dislike, and therefore avoid the prospect. The men of the 
 world invariably feel and act thus ; and even in Christians, 
 there is much sentiment in this respect akin to theirs. What, 
 then, is the consequence of this forgetfulness of death ? As 
 might be expected, they are in every case injurious, in some 
 
 cases fatal. To many this most decisive event comes when they 
 2 
 
31 
 
 are unprepared. On many this final change passes ere they 
 have made their peace with God : some it startles in blame- 
 able sloth and security, which, if not like the carelessness of 
 the men of the world, is not the watchfulness of the servant 
 who expects the coming of his Lord ; and blessed is that 
 servant who is ever ready to rejoice because of his coming, 
 and always prepared to go forth to meet him. In very few- 
 cases, however, is there that state of full and mature prepa- 
 ration for death, that the nature of the event, and the uncer- 
 tainty of its season, so imperatively demand. The apostle's 
 admonition to die daily, and his example to the same effect, 
 are not venerated as they ought to be. Refer we to those 
 who are foolish, or to those who are wise, and as in the pa- 
 rable, so in fact, while the bridegroom tarries we all slumber 
 and sleep. 
 
 Of what account, then, should we hold the death of 
 others, as rebuking such folly, and disclosing its perilous 
 results ? Who ever saw a deathbed, and apprehended its 
 spiritual lessons, — who ever heard of death, and piously 
 weighed the solemn tidings, — and failed to perceive the ex- 
 press call addressed to him, Be ye also ready ? The fall of 
 sinners amid their joyous, thoughtless course of vice, — the 
 death of the w r orldly amid their anxious and covetous efforts 
 to make rich, — and, as happens at times, the sudden smiting 
 down of the profane or the lewd amid the abominations of 
 their respective excesses, call aloud to men that they watch 
 and be sober. The voice of the faithful, on the other hand, 
 as it is able amid the agonies or the weakness of death, is 
 often raised to bewail their own remissness, and to convey 
 the anxious counsel to the living, Prepare to meet thy God. 
 
32 
 
 Such is the admonition which death, in all circumstances, 
 addresses to the living, and the counsel, though more impres- 
 sive in its form, is of a similar character in the death of 
 faithful ministers. If they die in comfort and in triumph, 
 how is wisdom justified of her children ! If they die in 
 doubt or darkness, how impressive is the fact, and how loud 
 the call, in the day of health to provide for the time of death ! 
 " Neglected means, lust opportunities," said your departed 
 minister, in such ejaculatory sayings as indicated the jealous 
 and anxious review of life which he took at its close. If, 
 then, one so diligent and so useful as he was, bemoaned 
 himself thus, how express and touching the counsel to us, 
 that we give all diligence to make our calling and election 
 sure ! His case censures bitterly the common, yet most ab- 
 surd feeling, that in the outset of life it does not concern us 
 to prepare for its close. Had he been left to such delusion, 
 death had found him unprepared, and come on him un- 
 awares. As it was, his anxieties about eternity were most 
 impressive. Who, then, is a wise servant ? Would any 
 desire, and evince such spiritual distinction, let them " die 
 daily." Under the deep impression that life is short, and 
 this world transient, let them moderate every earthly at- 
 tachment : while expecting eternity, and all its realities, they 
 have their loins girded about, and their lamps burning. 
 " Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and 
 will not tarry." " There is but a step between us and 
 death." 
 
 We may further notice, that the death of ministers should 
 be improved by a grateful imitation of their example. 
 
33 
 
 Joshua and the Congregation of Israel had both enjoyed 
 the ministrations of Moses : at his death, therefore, each was 
 under obligation to follow his faith. Joshua, as his minis- 
 ter, must have enjoyed many facilities for studying his cha- 
 racter, and observing his habits as the leader of the people. 
 Was not he, then, bound to improve the removal of his mas- 
 ter, and, as his successor in office, to imitate his meekness 
 and discretion— his zeal and enterprize — his patience and 
 generosity — with every other quality characterizing and 
 adorning the faithful and honoured servant of God ? As 
 subject to his ministry, too, the people had many opportu- 
 nities of witnessing his devout attachments, the meekness of 
 his temper, the prudence of his plans, and the pure patrio- 
 tism of his motives. How much might they have learned, 
 therefore, from the history of his life ; and how impressive 
 such lessons after his decease ? 
 
 The Church of Christ should yet remember thus, " those 
 who have had the rule over them, and be followers of their 
 faith, considering the end of their conversation, who is Jesus 
 Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." In speak- 
 ing, however, of such a subject as this, we would use cau- 
 tion. We do so neither to gratify nor to sanction that pre- 
 sumptuous and captious spirit, which delights to notice and 
 to proclaim the infirmities of ministers ; and which will de- 
 vise faults rather than be cheated of its enjoyment. We do 
 so, because there is no man who liveth here, and who sinneth 
 not; and because, if there were no other and higher pat- 
 tern, we should not refer to this. But blessed be God, there 
 are those among the pastors of the church, who may at least 
 be quoted by others, and whom the church may be directed 
 
to follow, even as they followed Christ. In speaking thus, 
 we do not err. Even in life, and during their whole active 
 course, ministers are required to be " an example of the be- 
 liever in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, 
 in purity.'" When dead, therefore, is it not the duty of all 
 who knew them, especially of such as acknowledged their 
 ministry, to be followers of their faith ? To this effect, ac- 
 cordingly, is the admonition of an apostle to one church : 
 * Be followers of those who through faith and patience do 
 now inherit the promises." For if in life the pastor should 
 be copied, in so far as he resembles Christ ; with what addi- 
 tional interest should his flock recount his excellencies, and 
 imitate his virtues, when they bewail his removal, and grieve 
 for his death ? 
 
 In this way let this church improve the death of their 
 pastor. Such counsel, however, some may consider as less 
 important and impressive than that which has been ten- 
 dered. The brief sojourn among you which my depart- 
 ed friend has made, — the few opportunities (if all have 
 had some) which you have enjoyed of observing his ex- 
 cellence — and the few short months during which he went 
 out and in among you, may seem to lessen the force of 
 any reference to his example, and to excuse those who 
 may not be careful to follow it. But such deceive them- 
 selves. There were some, and these very prominent, fea- 
 tures in his character which all may have observed, — 
 some, and these most important attachments of his, which 
 all may have discovered ; and since his light hath shined 
 even for a little time among you, having seen it, you should 
 be led from it " to glorify your Father who is in heaven." He 
 
35 
 
 owned himself a sinner, and, for aught that he could do to 
 save himself, for ever lost. He acknowledged Christ as a Sa- 
 viour, and, " counting all things loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Jesus Christ, he sought to be found in him, not 
 having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that 
 which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which 
 is of God by faith.''' He venerated the Bible, and anxiously 
 studied it, that he might teach its pure doctrines to you, 
 and himself apprehend its wise lessons and its blessed hopes. 
 He loved the cause and the Church of Christ, and devoted 
 himself to their service. He loved the brethren, and in low- 
 liness of mind esteemed others better than himself. He 
 feared God and kept his commandments, seeking to have a 
 conscience void of offence toward God, and toward man. 
 These features in his character you could not but discern, 
 if you ever studied it. These rules of conduct you could 
 not but discover, if ever you observed the manner of his life. 
 And now since, in addition to the endearments of his life, 
 the peculiar and tender circumstances of his death make 
 your minds more alive to his excellence, and your hearts 
 more impressed with his virtues, be ye like minded — " go 
 ye and do likewise, r> and let his presence in heaven animate 
 you in preparing for its joys. 
 
 To the young among you especially, we recommend the 
 imitation of his virtues. You, perhaps, are the greatest suf- 
 ferers by his removal. The aged expected soon to leave 
 him ; and few but yourselves looked forward to along series 
 of years during which they should enjoy his friendship, and 
 profit from his ministry. You, however, hoped to grow old 
 with him, — to watch his rising excellence, — to help him in 
 
36 
 
 all his labours, — and to make his improvement and dili- 
 gence the standard of your own. But alas ! your hopes 
 have withered in a day, — your youthful pastor is dead. As 
 you admired and loved him then, — as his amiable and engag- 
 ing manners endeared him to your heart, — and as the affect- 
 ing circumstances of his early death make every recollection 
 of him so tender, — oh, remember his virtues and imitate 
 them. And, in pressing such counsel, we know not where 
 we can find a better model for the young than that to which 
 we refer. How gentle, modest, and affectionate was his tem- 
 per ! How great his love of truth ! How ardent his thirst 
 for knowledge ! How diligent and temperate his habits ! 
 How sincere his piety ! How faithful his friendships ! How 
 liberal his sentiments ! How conscientious his practice ! In 
 every domestic relation, how many were his virtues ! How 
 dutiful as a son ! How true and affectionate as a brother ! 
 - — We flatter not the living in such sayings, nor inconside- 
 rately extoll the dead. Safely may we appeal to all who 
 knew our departed friend, and ask if he was not such as we 
 describe him ? Let all, then, who have witnessed his ex- 
 ample, improve his death by an imitation of his virtues ; and 
 let the young, in an especial manner, venerate an example so 
 appropriate, and be followers of him as he was of Christ. 
 
 In the last place, the death of ministers should be im- 
 proved in humble dependence upon God for the supply of 
 their place. 
 
 Moses, according to the statement made in the text, was 
 the servant of God: Whatever excellence, therefore, the 
 congregation of Israel might associate with their recollections 
 
37 
 
 of his character, and whatever advantages might have ac- 
 crued to them from his faithful ministrations, it became them 
 in all to acknowledge the goodness of Jehovah. He had 
 endowed, and appointed, and upheld his servant. And 
 now, when the servant of the Lord was dead, and the peo- 
 ple left without a leader, what lesson was more plainly in- 
 culcated, than dependence on Him who appointed Moses 
 to office, and owned him as his servant. If such was their 
 exercise, the faith of the people, as you know, was rewarded, 
 Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom : 
 as he had been with Moses, so God promised to be with 
 him : and the children of Israel hearkened unto him. 
 
 The same dependence upon God should be cherished and 
 expressed by the Christian Church, when its pastors are re- 
 moved by death. It is of the highest importance that these 
 be ever regarded as the gifts of Christ, and be received in 
 the Lord with all gladness. We attach importance to this 
 fact, not to arrogate to our office a dignity which does not 
 belong to it ; nor do we state it as a fact which we value 
 only as it may minister to human vanity. We esteem it, 
 and we bid you receive it, that the glory of all that is pros- 
 perous and promising in the Church, though connected with 
 the services of its pastors, may be directly referred to Jesus 
 Christ, whose servants they are. There is no greater indig- 
 nity which can be offered to the Saviour, than preferring his 
 servants to himself; and while esteeming them, to forget our 
 obligations to him. 
 
 Yet how common is such an error as this ! How many 
 neglect the Sabbath, and desert the' sanctuary when their 
 favourite pastor is absent for the time, and act as if the pre- 
 
38 
 
 sence of Christ in his ordinances, and the efficacy of these 
 gracious means, depended on the " pleasant voice,'" and other 
 fancied or real attractions in the object of their misplaced 
 attachment. If this sin obtain, need we wonder that the of- 
 fended Master does at times, by most perplexing judgments, 
 recall his servants from the church, and proclaim, " Cease ye, 
 from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he 
 to be accounted of?' 1 Christ will not give his glory to an- 
 other; and if the church has not yet learned, it must be 
 taught, that the success of the Gospel in individuals, and in 
 the world at large, is " not by might, nor by power, but by 
 his Spirit." In noticing these things, we are far from insi- 
 nuating that you put our departed fellow-labourer in the 
 room of his Master, or that you may this day read your sin 
 in your punishment. Your attachment to him, as we well 
 know, was strong and general, yet we believe it was subor- 
 dinate. Your admiration of his talents and his gifts was, 
 we know, fervent and universal, yet we hope you regarded 
 them but as the means of your edification, and looked be- 
 yond him who planted and who watered, to Him who alone 
 giveth the increase. At the same time, we conceive, that even 
 in your presence, we may advert to Christ as asserting his 
 title to supreme homage in the removal of his servant. You 
 expected, and many joined with you in fond, perhaps extra- 
 vagant, anticipations of great results from the life and labours 
 of our deceased friend. May we not think of Christ recall- 
 ing him to certify, in the peculiar circumstances of his death, 
 that even through inferior agents, and at least without those 
 which men esteem the most proper, and whose removal they 
 deprecate, he can cause his work to prosper and to prevail. 
 
39 
 
 At all events, my brethren, ascribe it to the Saviour's grace, 
 that you ever enjoyed your departed minister ; submit to 
 that Saviour's sovereignty, in the exercise of which he has 
 been recalled, and confide in the Saviour's faithfulness for 
 the supply of his place Indeed ! and may we hazard 
 such counsel as contemplates the occupation of that place, 
 which has scarcely ceased to know our lamented friend; 
 and can we, without further wounding your feelings, di- 
 rect you to such a duty as this. From such matter, in 
 other circumstances, we should have thought it proper to 
 refrain. But the relation of a pastor is peculiar ; and, 
 when dissolved, if order and decency be observed, it can- 
 not too soon be renewed. Christ's name shall endure 
 for ever, and last so long as the sun ; and while many 
 of his servants are cut off in mid time of their days, if 
 faithful, they will themselves rejoice, that Christ's years are 
 through all generations, and that by the living he shall be 
 praised when they have gone down to the silent grave. How 
 striking is the fact, that we may defend our doctrine even 
 from that scripture, with a discourse on a part of which 
 your pastor closed his ministrations among you ? " All 
 flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the 
 grass; the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth 
 away, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever, and this 
 is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." 
 Then accept the advice we offer, in reference to the supply 
 of that place which is this day empty ; and look to Christ, 
 that he may yet give you a pastor after his own heart, to 
 feed you with knowledge. A deep debt of gratitude is due 
 from you to that " goodness which swelled your store." On 
 
40 
 
 reviewing, then, what manner of person your late pastor was, 
 and what benefits resulted to you even from his short course 
 in the ministry, ascribe, as is most meet, all the glory to 
 that Divine Master whom he served, and regard it but as an 
 honourable tribute to his memory, a devout respect to his 
 counsel, and, above all, a dutiful and devout confidence in 
 the living Head of the Church, to pray that he would esta- 
 blish you after your former sort, and that He would be 
 better to you than at the beginning. This is among the les- 
 sons which your trial should teach. Formerly ye looked to 
 Jesus for gifts, and your faces were not ashamed. He that 
 hath been mindful of you will bless you still. From what 
 you have enjoyed, learn what you may expect. " Wait on 
 the Lord, and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen 
 your hearts ; wait, I say, on the Lord." Joshua succeeded 
 Moses; and as God was with Moses, so was he with Joshua. 
 Moses led Israel to the borders of the promised land ; 
 Joshua conducted them to its full possession. In like man- 
 ner, Christ may give you another pastor as faithful and di- 
 ligent as he whom he has recalled ; and, through his instru- 
 mentality, even higher benefits than formerly may be vouch- 
 safed to you. The time to favour this Zion will come, the 
 set time ; and though ye now mourn as among its rubbish 
 and its stones, the Lord will appear in his glory to build 
 and to repair it. 
 
 And now, my beloved brethren, having spoken to you so 
 much, in sympathy for your afflictions, and in anxiety for 
 your edification, we only wish that we could add, ere we close, 
 a few such admonitions as may assist you to bear the heavy 
 
41 
 
 bereavement which has come on you, and in continued pros- 
 perity as a congregation to survive it- Ten short months 
 comprised your history under the care of my honoured 
 friend. The interval is so brief, that we can with ease re- 
 call your conduct as a vacancy ; and, remembering this, we 
 may regard your behaviour, then, as a guide to yourselves 
 and a pledge to us — that now, as formerly, ye will seek in 
 union and harmony to improve the visitations of Divine 
 Providence. Let the elders among you resume the charge 
 of the flock, now that he with whom they sat in the govern- 
 ment of it is dead. Your duty is indeed at once melancholy 
 and difficult ; but ye know who is the Comforter and the 
 Teacher. Pray for this Spirit : confide in his guidance. Re- 
 sume among yourselves ; and conduct among your people 
 those meetings at which such prayers may be made, and 
 such faith cherished. Let brotherly love, too, continue 
 among you ; and, by harmonious counsel and united efforts, 
 since the servant of God set over you is dead, arise and lead 
 the people. And though, like the elders of Ephesus, ye weep 
 that ye shall see his face no more, rejoice that Christ liveth, 
 and is alive for evermore. 
 
 To those who are members of this church, let us be per- 
 mitted to recommend a steady attachment to the cause of 
 Christ in connexion with it. The same reasons, you may 
 think, do not now exist to attach you to its interest, or to 
 invite you to its assemblies ; but in this ye do err. It is 
 true that death, inexorable death, has suddenly changed the 
 external aspect of your affairs. Your young, talented, elo- 
 quent pastor is dead. But Christ ever lives, die who may ; 
 
42 
 
 and his blessing makes ordinances effectual, whoever may 
 administer them. Be faithful, then, in the support you owe 
 to this church — punctual in attendance on ordinances as they 
 are here dispensed — be at peace among yourselves ; and, oh ! 
 beware of shewing that your present trial is unsanctified, and 
 of provoking more by disunion or animosities. Public at- 
 tention has been awakened by your trials, and the public sym- 
 pathy moved on account of them ; then be careful that you 
 seek to edify others by a meek endurance of affliction, and 
 an anxious improvement of divine judgments. " Humble 
 yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. 
 He who is strong to smite, is also strong to save. 1 ' 
 
 In one word, let me address the young, whom the death 
 of their minister should, in an especial manner, instruct and 
 impress. Be ye warned against procrastination in religion, and 
 be excited to diligence in its duties, by that sad event which 
 your tender hearts feel so keenly. Above all, part with that 
 profane and foolish notion, which so generally possesses the 
 young, that religion is a matter of gloom and restriction, 
 fatal to the cheerfulness and vivacity of youth, and an enemy 
 to all enjoyment. We remind you of him whom you have 
 lost. Where was one more cheerful in life, more calm in 
 death ? Religion does impose self-denial, regulate the affec- 
 tions, and purify the life ; but " Wisdom's ways are ways of 
 pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." One thing being 
 needful, then, let the young, even while they desire and cul- 
 tivate such accomplishments as adorn and enrich their age, 
 prefer, like him who, amid all his other attainments, prefer- 
 red the wisdom which cometh from above, that like him 
 
43 
 
 at the last they may rejoice in that " better part, which 
 shall never be taken from them." " And now we commend 
 you to God, and to the word. of His grace, which is able to 
 build you up, and to give you an inheritance among them 
 who are sanctified." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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