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 THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO DIE IN 
 
 THE LORD , 
 
 A 
 
 S E R M O N. 
 
 OCCASIONED BY 
 
 THE DEATH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. SAMUEL DYER, 
 
 MISSIONARY TO THE CHINESE, 
 
 ( WHICH TOOK PLACE AT MACAO 24TH. OCTOBER 1843;) 
 
 PREACHED IN THE NEW MISSION CHAPEL SINGAPORE. 
 
 NOVEMBER 9, 1843. 
 
 BY JOHN STRONACH 
 
 MR. DYER’S COLLEAGUE IN THE CHINESE MISSION AT SINGAPORE. 
 
 WITH 
 
 A sketch of Mr. Dyers Life and Character 
 BY HIS WIDOW. 
 
 SINGAPORE: 
 
 Printed at the Mission Press 
 
 1843. 
 

 
 
 
 
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A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 &c. 
 
 REVELATION XIV. 13 . 
 u Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord 
 
 The habitual contemplation of his future state of 
 existence in the unseen world is an employment 
 which may be rendered productive of no small degree 
 of improvement to the true Christian. The state of 
 mind which the heavenly state requires in those who 
 are to partake of its joys, is ju»t that to which it 
 ought to be our special aim to attain even on earth; 
 the favor of God, then to be enjoyed without a cloud, 
 ought to be the principal object of our desires 
 even now. Thus every reflective act of the mind on 
 heavenly things may be made to deepen the spirituali¬ 
 ty of the Believer, and advance faith nearer to 
 an equality with sight. And if it is at all times 
 profitable to turn our thoughts on the great climax 
 of our being, it is especially easy to do so on the oc¬ 
 casion of the death of a beloved friend and brother 
 like him, whose sudden removal from the midst of us 
 lias so deeply affected our hearts. We, who had the 
 privilege of intimate acquainmnce with him, have 
 the full and assured conviction that he has entered 
 
 A 
 
4 
 
 on the enjoyment of the pleasures reserved for the 
 people of God : and we can almost fancy ourselves 
 passing with him through the portals of bliss, and see 
 the rapture of adoring humility with which he casts 
 his crown at the feet of his Saviour. Let us then,—our 
 sympathy with him heightening the power of our 
 imaginations,—seek to gain more exalted conceptions 
 of the Joys of the Redeemed; and so meditate on the 
 Blessedness of those who die in the Lord, as that we 
 may one day ourselves participate in that blessedness. 
 
 The words of the Text naturally suggest two 
 subjects for enquiry: 
 
 j What it is to die in the Lord : and, 
 
 II What is the nature of the blessedness in re¬ 
 serve for those who die in the Lord ? 
 
 I What is it to die in the Lord ? 
 
 £i To be in the Lord ”— u to be in Christ” are ex¬ 
 pressions which must be perfectly familiar to the 
 most cursory reader of the New Testament. “ There 
 is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” 
 <£ If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 
 I do not need to inform you that to be in the 
 condition indicated by these expressions is not 
 the privilege of any of us by nature. When we come 
 into the world, our state must be described by ano¬ 
 ther scriptural phrase — iC at that time we are without 
 Christnor do we, till taught by the spirit of God, 
 regard the condition as either an unpleasant or a dan¬ 
 gerous one. “To he in Christ” is to have a close 
 
and vital union with the Saviour; to be as intimately 
 joined to him as the branches are to the vine, or tho 
 members of the body to the Head; and, in consequence 
 of this union, to realise a oneness of feeling with him 
 in regard to what ara usually called spiritual subjects, 
 a delight in God, a love to his will, a longing for his 
 presence, and a desire to advance his glory. u To be 
 in the Lord, ” is, as the Apostle Paul expresses it, u to 
 live, yet not we, but Christ living in us ; ” to regard his 
 will as supreme; to have him monarch in the world 
 within; and so to conduct ourselves towards our fellow- 
 men as to please him,—our predominant motive being 
 a desire to secure his approbation. Now no one, with 
 the smallest degree of self-knowledge or of candour, 
 can maintain that he naturally feels thus. By the 
 vast majority of so called Christians, and by every one 
 unless born from above, Christ is regarded either with 
 absolute unconcern, or with feelings which are altoge¬ 
 ther vague, undefined, and uninfiuential. The veriest 
 trifle occupies a greater share in their thoughts than 
 the Incarnate Son of God. They realise no union of 
 heart with him, and feel listless and even tired when 
 any but the most cursory reference to him is made in 
 their hearing. If it be thus with such in life, can wo 
 think it will be otherwise in death ? Can they who do 
 not live in the Lord, reasonably expect to die in the 
 Lord ? Will he recognise, beyond the grave, a union 
 with those who on earth made no sincere effort to ob¬ 
 tain union with him, and who regarded the want of 
 it, as a matter of not the slightest consequence ? True 
 there is such a thing as a deathbed repentance: a 
 
6 
 
 deathbed commencement of that faith which unites 
 the sinner to the Saviour, and enables him to die in the 
 Lord, with the certainty of attaining the blessedness 
 connected with that state of union. But still the 
 union is commenced in life; its importance is felt, its 
 necessity recognized, in order to the sinner’s safety 
 for eternity ; an J the blessed results are experienced 
 even on deathbed, in love to Christ, a thirsting after 
 holiness, and a longing for the full enjoyment of the 
 Divine presence. And to those in whom this union has 
 been commenced only at the close of life, it is always 
 a matter of bitter regret, that they did n>t seek for 
 and secure it in youth, and allowed their season of 
 health and vigour to pass by in a state of alienation 
 from the Incarnate Mediator, between God and man. 
 
 We see then that in order to die in the Lord, w r e 
 must during life commence our union with him, and 
 then we may be absolutely sure we shall die in him. 
 It is a doctrine, as well established as it is consoling, 
 that those who have had a good work begun in them, 
 shall have it “ perfected until the day of Jesus Christ. 5 ’ 
 Whensoever and under whatever circumstances, he 
 who has, by faith, been united to Christ, is called to 
 exchange time for eternity, we may rest assured 
 that he will die in the Lord. Death cannot sever the tie 
 that binds them. It is of too strong a texture to be 
 broken by the might even of the last enemy; and the 
 period after death will only prove, more infallibly than 
 ever, the intimacy and indestructibility of the union. 
 
 When we ask the question, however, do all who 
 live in the Lord give the same degree of evidence that 
 
they die iu the enjoyment of that union, the answer 
 given by him who has read of, or witnessed, many 
 deathbed scenes, must be decidedly in the negative. 
 The degrees of evidence on this point afforded by diffe¬ 
 rent individuals are very various; some, faint as the 
 glinmer of (he early dawn ; others, bright as the noon¬ 
 day sun. The state of the body, at the time of dis¬ 
 solution, sometimes altogether prevents any manifest¬ 
 ation of the spirit being one with Christ. Not to refer 
 to what is usually called if sudden death, ” the weak¬ 
 ness often produced by long continued sickness, 
 may be so excessive a3 to prevent the manifest¬ 
 ation of feeling on any subject whatever. Reason 
 may be partially or altogether dethroned, and only 
 regain her dominion, when the connection between 
 the clayey tabernacle and its immaterial inhabitant 
 has been broken up. Or the dying man may have 
 for a long time previously allowed himself to remain 
 at a distance from his Saviour ; and then,—-as the na¬ 
 tural result of such dereliction of duty, as well as to 
 prove to all who are witnesses of the closing scene, 
 that it is an evil and a bitter thing to forsake God, even 
 temporarily,—doubt and fear are allowed to inflict 
 their tortures on the mind ; and it is kept from abso¬ 
 lute despair only by the naked promises of the Gos¬ 
 pel, unaccompanied by any vivid or experimen¬ 
 tal conviction of their truth. In all these cases the 
 dying in the Lord may be real, tho’ to the spectators 
 it may appear exceedingly doubtful. But there are 
 other cases in which this union in dying assumes the 
 aspect of entire and undoubting certainty. By soma 
 
8 
 
 of this privileged class of expiring Believers, perfect 
 calmness is felt at the approach of the King of Terrors : 
 there is an untroubled conviction of the truth that 
 Christ is able and willing to save ; and a strong assu¬ 
 rance that, thro’ boundless grace, an entrance will be 
 vouchsafed into the habitations of everlasting glory. 
 But a more glowing experience still remains to be 
 described ; an experience consisting of extatic raptures; 
 but these not imaginary, visionary, or enthusiastic, but 
 perfectly in accordance with enlightened reason ; rich 
 foretastes of heavenly joy, and vivid and even over¬ 
 powering realisations of God’s Love. Believers thus 
 favoured feel as if they were in heaven before they 
 left earth ;—as if they were actual partakers of the 
 Glories of Eternity, before they ceased to have con¬ 
 nection with the sorrows of time;—as if they already 
 heard vibrating on their ears the notes of u the new 
 song , ,y so that they had become familiar with its ex¬ 
 quisite harmony. 
 
 In regard to the devoted missionary whose death 
 we are now attempting to improve, we are fully borne 
 out in saying, that as he was “ in the Lord,” while he 
 lived, so he gave most satisfactory evidence of that 
 union in dying. Few who knew him will be dispos¬ 
 ed to doubt this description of his life , and we who 
 witnessed his closing scene, can bear abundant testi¬ 
 mony as to the peacefulness of his death. During a 
 missionary career extending thro’ 16 years, there 
 must have occurred abundant opportunities for putting 
 his character to the test; and it is stating no more 
 than the naked truth to say, that extensively known 
 
9 
 
 and respected as he was by the public, those who knew 
 him best loved him most; and their affection was ac¬ 
 companied with no small degree of reverence. When I 
 use the terms suggested by the text to describe his cha¬ 
 racter, I shall not be suspected of a desire to eulogise 
 man, at the expense of the glory due to God. It was 
 “ in the Lord that our deceased friend and brother 
 lived ; to him therefore I ascribe all those traits of 
 moral and spiritual beauty which attracted to him our 
 ardent and ever increasing attachment. In doing this 
 I do just what he himself would have done, if he could 
 have ever been brought to look on his character as 
 possessed of any beauties; for his humility was so 
 great as effectually to prevent him from indulging in 
 any feeling of self-complacence. Humility indeed was 
 a most distinguishing feature both in the man, the 
 Christian, and the Missionary. He was always dis¬ 
 posed to undervalue himself, his acquirements, and 
 his capabilities of usefulness. And to feel thus lowly 
 was to him happiness. How often have we heard him 
 express the^sentiment, the operation of which was 
 manifest throughout his missionary course, that it is 
 an unspeakable privilege to be employed, even in the 
 meanest possible way, in the advancement of the Re¬ 
 deemer’s kingdom ! There was no desiie foi display, 
 no striving for effect, in any thing that he did; silently 
 and unobstrusively he went on his way, doing what 
 few could have done, but doing it as if no credit weic 
 due for what he did. Akin to this part of his charac¬ 
 ter was his forgetfulness of self, whenever he could, 
 at whatever sacrifice of time and trouble, be service- 
 
 b 
 
10 
 
 able to others. Nothing seemed too much to require of 
 him; and he would perform important services, which 
 involved much personal discomfort, with as much readi¬ 
 ness, and as little feeling of annoyance, as if they were 
 the merest trifles. So much pure unmixed benevolence 
 as his, is rarely to be met with ; and all the while, he 
 who exhibited it seemed quite unconscious of having 
 done any thing uncommon. He lived in the happiness 
 of those around him ; and, like his gmat Master,—of 
 whose glory, however, we ought ever to remember, 
 the assembled excellences of ail the good men on 
 earth, and even of the spirits of the just made perfect, 
 afford but a faint and dim representation—he rejoiced 
 above all things in doing good. To this noblest of 
 pursuits lie devoted bis life, his talents, his all He 
 was a missionary of the right order. After he gave him¬ 
 self up to the cause, which he did in early life, he uncea¬ 
 singly directed all the efforts of his mind to its advance¬ 
 ment. He was a rigid economist of time; and not an 
 hour of it was willingly expended on objects that had 
 not a direct bearing on the progress of the Gospel. He 
 loved to preach to the Heathen the truths so precious 
 to his own heart; and he sought to win them, by con¬ 
 versation from house to house, as weil as by his public 
 ministry, to die Lamb of God who could alone take 
 away their sins. He loved to assist his brother mis¬ 
 sionaries to acquire the language in which he bad 
 made such a proficiency himself; and it was always a 
 pleasure to him to be employed in removing obstacles 
 out of the way of those who might follow him in the 
 study of so difficult a tongue. And his private means. 
 
11 
 
 as well as bis lime, were unreservedly consecrated to 
 the advancement of the highest interests of his fellow- 
 men, and the glory of his Lord and Saviour. Much 
 property, as well as much personal labour, did he de¬ 
 vote to an undertaking, which, when finished, will be 
 a most important means of advancing the knowledge 
 of the Gospel in China * And he was emphatically 
 a cheerful giver; every gift of his, whether to God or 
 to man, he gave 11 not grudgingly or of necessity,” 
 but Willingly, delightedly. His heart was large ; his 
 affections were strong as well as tender ; he was an 
 allectionate husband, a loving father, a warmly at¬ 
 tached friend. And all his excellences were the 
 result of Christian principle, the genuine fruits of love 
 to that Saviour, with whom, in prayer, he delighted to 
 hold frequent fellowship. Such is a meagre sketch 
 of one, whose character I had the most abundant op¬ 
 portunities for studying closely, and my delight in 
 w hose friendship never received a single check from 
 its commencement to its close, f 
 
 But it is time for me now to speak of his dying ex¬ 
 perience. It was not of the rapturous or overpowering 
 kind. His disease had laid a powerful hold on his bodi¬ 
 ly irame, and, as is olten the case, lie experienced a 
 corresponding deprt ssion of spirits He had from the 
 first a strong conviction that he would sink under the 
 attack ; a conviction which was doubtless produced by 
 the strength of the disease. His depression of spirit 
 Avas not in any degree the result of doubts as to his 
 
 * For a tew particulars as to this, and also in regard to Mr. Dyer’s last 
 illness, the reader is referred to the extract from the Singapore Free Fress 
 in the Appendix. 
 
 t A short sketch of his life and character, drawn up by his ultlieted 
 widow, will he fojnd at the end of this Discourse, 
 
acceptance with God, or of the attacks of his spiritual 
 adversaries. His hopes of heaven, if they were not 
 highly wrought or glowing, were at least unwaver¬ 
 ing One night when the disease lay very heavy 
 on him, he employed himself, during the hours of 
 darkness, in thinking on all those, whom, as he felt 
 quite certain at the time, he would very soon meet in hea¬ 
 ven ; and his entrance into it seemed so close at hand 
 that ( as he told us, when he rallied a little, ) he felt 
 quite disappointed when he found himself, in the morn¬ 
 ing, still in this world. Towards the termination of his 
 illness, his mind wandered a good deal, and reason 
 was evidently possessed of but partial sway ; but the 
 nature of his feelings and views on religious subjects 
 could not even then be hid. The night before he 
 died, while sleeping in the apartment next to that in 
 which he lay, I w r as awakened by the sound of his 
 voice, which he had raised to the pitch necessary in 
 order to be heard by the assembly, which he evidently 
 thought he was addressing. He spoke, in feeling lang¬ 
 uage, of the happiness of the Christian in having for 
 his God such a glorious Being as the Scriptures 
 display to us. Then, as if concluding his address, 
 he exhorted his hearers to betake themselves for par¬ 
 don and peace to the Saviour of sinners, and seek in 
 him a righteousness, which they never had, nor could 
 have, of their own ; and when they came to die, they 
 would be admitted into the blessed assembly of those 
 who are forever engaged in ascribing u salvation and 
 honor and glory and power to him who sitteth on 
 the throne and to the Lamb 7; . Though filled with the 
 
saddest forebodings as to t lie results of a disease in 
 which delirium had arrived at so great a height, I felt 
 a thrilling sensation of mingled awe and delight 
 when hearing language so strongly indicative of the 
 satisfaction derived by the sufferer from the pure truths 
 of the Bible. A few hours before his death, I told him 
 he would in all probability be soon called away from 
 us ; and although his mind did not feel so much alive to 
 the communication as it would have done had it been 
 unaffected by disease, yet he evidently understood 
 what I said, and asked me to pray with him. In the 
 prayer he heartily joined, and, with much both of in¬ 
 telligence and feeling, continued in the exercise when 
 I had finished. c£ Blessed Jesus ! Sweet Saviour ! [ go 
 to be with him who died for me. Though very weak 
 and very sinful, his grace is sufficient for me, and 
 I shall soon be happy ”.—Such were his frequent 
 exclamations, serving to mark out most distinctly to 
 the deeply affected byestanders, that they were beside 
 the deathbed of a Christian. His latter end was 
 emphatically peace; no doubts or anxieties racked 
 his mind ; pain was not allowed to torment his bodily 
 frame; but calmly and without a struggle he breathed 
 his spirit into the hands of his God and Saviour. And 
 how blessed was the exchange he made ! how enrap- 
 turino’ his emotions, when freed from his mortal pri- 
 son house, and carried by Angels into the presence 
 of the Divine Redeemer! If we feel it so inspiriting to 
 follow him in imagination into the boundless bliss of 
 Heaven, how infinitely greater his happiness who 
 actually enjoys what we so faintly conceive l 
 
14 
 
 In order to deepen our conceptions of that happi¬ 
 ness, let us now proceed to the consideration of the 
 
 II. Head of our Discourse, which was—What is 
 the nature of the blessedness in reserve for those who 
 die in the Lord ? 
 
 One element in it is—* 
 
 1st. Residence in an inconceivably glorious place. 
 That heaven has a locality we cannot doubt, for it 
 contains the glorified bodies of Enoch and Elijah, 
 and of the Incarnate Mediator. That it is an un¬ 
 speakably glorious place, can admit of as little doubt. 
 We believe in the infinite power and majesty and 
 glory of God ; yet this powerful and glorious Being 
 has assigned as a reason for his not being ashamed 
 of being the God of his people, that he has prepared 
 for them a city. And what a city must that be, of 
 which such a God will have no reason to be ashamed ! 
 The special favorites of his grace, those whom he 
 loved from eternity, and on whose characters he so 
 enstamped the glories of his own as to bring down on 
 them his delighted complacency, must surely have 
 allotted to them, as their endless residence, a place al¬ 
 together commensurate in elory with his boundless 
 Love. But there is a more conclusive proof still of 
 the glory of our heavenly home. It has been fitted up 
 for the special honor of Christ; of that u wonderful ” 
 Being, on whom the Father, as Representative of the 
 God-head, is exhibited in Scripture as beaming forth, 
 far above all compeer, the manifestations of his delight. 
 u In my father’s house there are many mansions ”— 
 were our Saviour’s words when on earth : and if he has 
 
not told us of their beauty, as well as of their multi- 
 tude, the only reason of such silence is that human lang¬ 
 uage was not formed to express the fulness of the 
 conception. We experience a rich and varied gratifica¬ 
 tion in contemplating the beauties of earthly scenery ; 
 but the scenery of Heaven will infinitely transcend the 
 most beautiful prospects on earth ; and the eye, the 
 mind, and the heart will he alike ravished while con¬ 
 templating it. Indifference is often felt on looking at 
 prospects, which, though beautiful in themselves, have 
 no ennobling associations connected with them ; and 
 many of the loveliest prospects which gratify the eye 
 of the Christian traveller, are deprived of a great 
 portion, or even of all their attractiveness, on account 
 of their suggesting dark and melancholy associations. 
 But in the plains and mountains of joy, lovely as 
 they all will appear in themselves, not only will there 
 be an entire absence of all that would mar or destroy 
 our delight, but with every scene there will be asso¬ 
 ciated thoughts and feelings and incidents which will 
 throw upon them a heightened radiance of moral and 
 spiritual beauty. It will all be emphatically “ holy 
 ground,” ennobled and hallowed by the communion 
 enjoyed upon it by pure and happy spirits, with each 
 other, and with their all-grecious Creator. Surely 
 to dwell m such a locality must be regarded as no 
 small ingredient in the blessedness of those who die 
 in the Lord. 
 
 2nd. Another is—association with the spirits of the 
 Just made perfect. And what an assemblage that will 
 be ! il Many shall come from the cast and west. and 
 
shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in 
 the Kingdom of Heaven The company of Christian 
 friends on earth is delightful Our eye brightens, our 
 heart dilates, at the prospect of an interview with a be¬ 
 loved companion in this troubled pilgrimage ; and the 
 interview itself excites thoughts and feelings which the 
 memory delights to recall. And yet we must be painful¬ 
 ly conscious of the imperfections in knowledge and in 
 holiness which are visible in every member of our 
 fallen family • of the absence of that perfect sim¬ 
 plicity and openness which are essential to complete 
 satisfaction in friendship. Butin heaven every heart 
 will bo unveiled, and perfect purity will be universal¬ 
 ly attained ; while an amount of knowledge will be 
 possessed by each, however weak and unlearned he 
 may have originally been, which will render him a fit 
 companion for the wisest. And then the marked dif¬ 
 ferences in human character will come beautifully into 
 play ; all tending to increase the general happiness, 
 as well to give us more varied and comprehensive 
 views of the Master-mind from whom all spiritual 
 excellence is derived. There are conspicuous members 
 of the redeemed family who shall draw upon them 
 the delighted attention of all their brethren ; men with 
 whose strains of spiritual melody all succeeding ge¬ 
 nerations of the saints have sung in delightful unison ; 
 and the thought of associating with them may well 
 cause a thrill of joy in every kindred bosom. It is not 
 making an idolatrous use of the representations sup¬ 
 plied by Scripture of the characters of Abraham, David, 
 Paul, and John, to singls out them, and such as they, 
 
It 
 
 from the redeemed host, as fitted to excite in us ft 
 peculiar delight, in the anticipation of their company* 
 for after all, the admiration reverts to Him in whom 
 alone we are complete, and from whom descends, to every 
 member of his body, that living energy which makes 
 it the beautiful and useful thing it is. Nor will the re¬ 
 lationships of earth, and its friendships and intimacies 
 fail to have some share in the affections of the redeem¬ 
 ed ; else we must believe that human nature will be 
 altered in heaven, and many a beautiful page erased 
 from the tablet of memory. But we need not supposes 
 that such violence will be done to our natures. Our 
 lost fnends, if they were in life the friends of God, will 
 all be restored to us, and the mutual welcome will be a 
 fervent and rapturous one : nor will our attachment 
 to them interfere with our love to Him who bestowed 
 them upon us. He will still be our All-in-Ali; and 
 our gratitude and joy will be heightened by sympathy 
 with those whom we kneiv so well, and loved so 
 long and so fondly. Shall we hesitate to believe then, 
 that association with the spirits of the just made 
 perfect is a principal ingredient in the blessedness of 
 those who die in the Lord ? 
 
 3rd. Another ingredient in that blessedness is 
 association with angelic Beings. And the delights of 
 such fellowship we may well anticipate to be very 
 great. Power, holiness, and wisdom are always de¬ 
 scribed as being communicated to them in an abundant 
 measure With many phases of the Divine Character, as 
 it is exhibited to other races of creatures, of whom we 
 are altogether ignorant, they must be familiar. Their 
 
 o 
 
experience of the delights of God’s service must be far 
 greater than that of any of the children of mortality. 
 How comprehensive the survey which they will be a- 
 ble to take of the dealings of the Universal King, ex¬ 
 tending, it may be, thro* myriads of years and over my¬ 
 riads of worlds ! How profound their belief of a par¬ 
 ticular providence, each individual spirit’s history 
 presenting unnumbered proofs of one benign guiding 
 and controlling agency thro’ so many lengthened 
 eras ! How fervent their gratitude, how strong their 
 attachment, to Him whose dealings they have so long 
 observed, and whose conduct towards them has breathed 
 nothing but unmingled Love! Shall we then, the infants 
 
 o O J 
 
 of time, prize lightly the friendship and company of 
 these seniors of Immortality, whose intelligence may 
 one day enlighten us, and their love inflame ours ! 
 How enrapturing the conception of being permitted, 
 and, in consequence of our connection with him who 
 is the Head of all Principalities and Powers, enabled^ 
 to take our place among the high Intelligences of Hea¬ 
 ven, and to assist in increasing the action of mind 
 upon mind ;—an action inconceivably grand, since each 
 mind shall be full to overflowing with the emanations 
 of the Divine excellence. 
 
 4th. But the prime ingredient in heavenly bliss is 
 doubtless the presence of u God, the judge of all, and of 
 Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.*’ In the state 
 of glory. Scripture assures us, we shall know as we 
 are known; and, though these words, when applied 
 to the Divine Character, must be subject to limitation ; 
 (since it is utterly impossible for the finite ever to com- 
 
10 
 
 prehend the Infinite, to (he same extent as the Infinite 
 comprehends the finite; ) yet we may justly consider 
 them as intimating that our knowledge of God will 
 then be indefinitely greater than it is now, and will, in 
 proportion to its increase, increase our happiness. The 
 exceedingly limited knowledge we possess on earth 
 infuses into the pious mind a joy unspeakable and full 
 of glory. He is the first, the greatest, the holiest, and 
 the happiest of Beings; and to us, in the gift of his 
 Son, he has shown himself the most gracious and com¬ 
 passionate of Beings. If the thought of such a Be¬ 
 ing, and especially fellowship with him in prayer, 
 produces even here the most satisfying of pleasures, 
 how much greater the happiness we shall enjoy 
 when, in the fullest consciousness of life, we sh ill dwell 
 in the immediate presence of the centre of Bliss ! But 
 this beatific vision will be granted to us principally, 
 if not solely, through the medium of Immanuel, “God 
 with us ”. On him, as possessing their own nature, 
 thus wonderfully identifying him with themselves, and 
 at the same time mysteriously uniting them with the 
 Godhead, the contemplations of the Ransomed rest 
 with untiring, insatiable delight. Love, in its tender¬ 
 ness and strength surpassing human thought, united 
 with uncreated wisdom and majesty, must, when beheld 
 with unveiled face, affect the purified spirit with 
 emotions which, on account of their strength, though 
 they were partially felt before, will seem altogether 
 new. Personal attachment, founded on gratitude and 
 complacency, will find no antagonist to its power in 
 the adoring reverence which the second person in the 
 
20 
 
 Trinity must ever inspire. The dim visions we have 
 on earth of the unutterable splendour of Him whom 
 we describe as the chief among ten thousand and al¬ 
 together lovely, shall then burst in their full reality 
 on the unsealed eye. It will then seem so plain as ne¬ 
 ver to have admitted of reasonable doubt, that to 
 depart and to be with Christ is far better than to live 
 in t iis lower world ; and “ to be for ever with the 
 Lord 55 will seem the amplest description of celes¬ 
 tial bliss. 
 
 Lastly. The nature of the employments of heaven 
 forms another ingredient in its happiness. Adoration 
 is doubtless o ; e of the principal of these employments } 
 and the exercises of the Heavenly worshippers, we 
 m*»y rest well assured, will be of the noblest kind, and 
 fitted to excite the highest faculties of the soul Spirits 
 of the mightiest ken, the angels who excel in strength, 
 are represented in Scripture as engaged in such ser¬ 
 vices ; and they doubtless derive from them the loftiest 
 satisfaction And if on earth such employments pro¬ 
 duce in the pious mind a tone of holy and happy feeling 
 whuh is produced by no other employment, how rap¬ 
 turous will be the joy of the spirits of the just made 
 perfect, when they celebrate the praises of that God 
 into the glory of whose perfections, and the bounds 
 Jessness of whose love, they have gained so much 
 clearer an insight than they ever had here ! \Ye may 
 easily conceive that the communion they shall enjoy 
 with their Divine, but still Incarnate Saviour, will be 
 bo extatic as necessarily to k'ive rise to unceasing grati¬ 
 tude and devotion. Our minds shall not be inactive 
 
21 
 
 there ; acquisition shall succeed acquisition ; know¬ 
 ledge shall increase, and love shall grow. We shall 
 be always gaining, never losing; and an indefinitely 
 extended series of ages will see us as far as ever from 
 the termination of our acquirements ; for God, the ob¬ 
 ject ot our study, is infinite, and Eternity itself will 
 be too short to discover all his glories. 
 
 I shall now close with a few practical reflections, 
 1st. Let me present this subject as a criterion 
 of your spiritual state. What is the nature of 
 the Heaven you look forward to? Is it the heaven of 
 science ? the freest scope to range amidst the glories of 
 the skies, and opportunity and ability for extended 
 investigation into all the parts of the material uni¬ 
 verse ? When looking on the clear vault above us, 
 it is natural to wish for a more ample and intimate 
 acquaintance with the Heavenly Bodies ; and doubt¬ 
 less the wish will, in the experience of the truly pious, 
 whether they have been learned or ignorant here, be 
 one day abundantly gratified; but if your wishes 
 go no further than this, you may be assured you will 
 not attain even to the material heaven which you 
 long for. Or, are your views quite indefinite on the 
 subject of your soul’s future residence,—you only wish¬ 
 ing that it may be, in some way or other, more happy 
 than your present. If so, it will be necessary to warn 
 you that your expectations of Heaven are as ground¬ 
 less, as your views of it are indistinct; and that unless 
 you possess a desire for the presence of Christ, you 
 will never attain to a happiness briefly but emphatica- 
 ly summed up in the phrase “ seeing the Lord ”, 
 
09 
 
 But perhaps you may be inclined to wonder what 
 enjoyment there can be in engagements such a 3 scrip¬ 
 ture represents those of heaven to be ; you have no plea¬ 
 sure in them, even temporarily, on earth now ; is it pos¬ 
 sible to delight in them, when they shall be unceasing 
 in heaven ? How widely different your feelings 
 from those of the spirits made perfect, and the 
 Angelic Intelligences ! Is there not something far 
 wrong with those who can thus differ from beings so 
 noble and pure? Would not your proper course be to feel 
 ashamed of that depravity of nature which prevents 
 sympathy with them, and to implore the influence of 
 God’s Spirit to fit you for intercourse and e ngagements 
 so spiritual and exalted? Let me intreat you to think 
 seriously of this : for if you are wrong on points like 
 these, your prospects for eternity are melancholy 
 indeed. Oh what can we think of the reasonableness of 
 that man, who, however happy in time, does not feel sad 
 at the thought of its being possible that he should 
 be wretched throughout eternity? Can infatuation grea¬ 
 ter than this be imagined ?—especially when we consi¬ 
 der that a well assured hope of eneless bliss is not only 
 attainable, but is an every-day attainment. It is be¬ 
 yond conception distressing to see how foolish, in this 
 respect, are the wisest of men by nature. How much 
 better were it surely to have a good hope, through grace, 
 of being one day admitted to glory. Do not, let me be¬ 
 seech you, remain a single day longer contented with¬ 
 out it. Turn your thoughts and prayers towards 
 the infinitely compassionate Redeemer ; supplicate His 
 grace who willeth not that any should perish, but that 
 
all should come to repentance and be made lit lor hea¬ 
 ven. And in answer to your prayers he will renew your 
 natures, purify your hearts and eventually gladden 
 you through eternity with the full vision of his glory ! 
 
 2nd. How important and desirable to give the 
 strongest possible evidence when we die, of being in the 
 Lord. Such a termination of our earthly career is what 
 \ve all without the slightest hesitation would prefer. 
 And the preference is justifiable on two grounds. First , 
 Our own comfort in the article of death will be indefi¬ 
 nitely greater, if we give decisive evidence of dying in 
 the Lord. What comfort can be experienced by those 
 who, as it seems, even to themselves, are only making 
 a leap in the dark, who are utterly uncertain whether 
 they shall be wafted to heaven, or driven to hell ? 
 Who would not desire to escape the racking torture 
 of Soul incident to a state of uncertainty as to our 
 eternal destiny, when so near the hour of that destiny 
 being decided. And, on the other hand, how delight- 
 ful to have fulfilled in our own individual experience 
 that promise, so rich in meaning, that “ an entrance 
 shall bj ministered unto us abundantly into the ever¬ 
 lasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’’. 
 H ow enrapturing the thought that at the close of our 
 warfare we shall see the gate into the palace of Deity, 
 not closed before us,—not partially open, leaving just 
 space enough to pass through and no more,—but opened 
 wide as if to admit a conqueror in triumphal robes ! But 
 Second , the desire to give clear evidence when we die, of 
 our dying in the Lord, is reasonable, when we take into 
 account our obligation to advance the Divine Glory,— an? 
 
obligation incumbent oil the Christian, both in life and 
 in death. Those who have witnessed the departure 
 of a Christian unvisited by the demonstrations of 
 God’s love, are often led to entertain the mo 3 t gloomy 
 doubts in regard to the Divine Character. Is He 
 faithful to his promises ? they naturally ask. Does he 
 indeed leave his own to pass through the dark valley 
 alone ? How is this to be reconciled with what Scrip¬ 
 ture testifies regarding the immutability of God ] How 
 different the effect produced upon the mind of him 
 who is privileged to witnes s the deathbed of a fully 
 prepared Christian ! From such a scene, bright rays 
 of glory are reflected on the character of the God of 
 salvation. To those Who stand around a deathbed of 
 this kind, the Words of scripture in regard to God’s 
 Love to his people and his faithfulness to his promises, 
 seem not only clear but transparent ; through them he 
 obtains the most satisfying and exhilarating views of 
 the Divine perfections. 
 
 How then are, we to attain to what is so desirable ? 
 Peter exhorts Christians to Cc grow in grace and in the 
 knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
 and it is by obedience to this precept that we may be 
 enabled to give decisive evidence of dying in the Lord. 
 That which can alone take the sting from death, and 
 divest Deity of the terrors with which our consciences 
 represent him when we are about to enter his presence, 
 is expeiimental and intimate knowledge of, and pure, 
 ardent, personal attachment, (kindled by his love to us) 
 to Him who by his death abolished death, and who is 
 seated in the midst of the throne- of God. If having once 
 
at the commencement of our religious course, expe- 
 rienced his love, we remain content with what we 
 have got, and do not seek increasing enjoyment of 
 it, we can never realise perfect peace and satisfaction 
 in looking forward to meeting him. Love to so glo- 
 lious a Being as He is cannot be allowed to grow 
 cold, or even to remain as it is, without a melan¬ 
 choly diminution of our comfort in the hour of death. 
 If we be contented with continuing at a distance 
 from him, even though it be at the same distance as 
 that at which the first sight of him eased us of the bur¬ 
 den of our sins and gave us peace in believing ; if 
 we do not seek nearer approaches to his presence, 
 clearer perceptions of his beamy an i glory and more 
 abundant manifestations of his love; we cannot wonder 
 that at the period of final trial, the lineaments of his 
 countenance should grow dim, if not altogether fade 
 from our view. It is Christ who is to usher into the 
 presence of Deity those who are to meet With a favor¬ 
 able reception. The more vivid our acquaintance 
 with Him, the greater will be our joy at that solemn 
 hour, and the more complete the evidence we give of 
 our “ dying in the Lord”. How earnest then should 
 we be in daily accumulating stores of knowledge 
 in regard to his character and experiences of his 
 love ! How constant and unceasing ought to be 
 our visits to his throne, to the very footstool of which 
 we are allowed the freest access ! Shouid we ever 
 indeed be m a state of mind that would induce a wish 
 to leave so glorious a place ? “ Truly our fellowship is 
 with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ”; and 
 
26 
 
 this fellowship we can enjoy at all seasons ; not only 
 in the closet, at the family altar, during private medi¬ 
 tation, or in the house of God, but in the active scenes of 
 life where duty calls us. Ever maintaining this state 
 of feeling, what will hinder us from arriving at the 
 very height of assurance so simply yet so beautifully 
 expressed in the hymn ?— 
 
 (< And when I’m to die. 
 
 Receive me, I’il cry; 
 
 For Jesus hath loved me, 
 
 I cannot tell why. 
 
 But this I can find, 
 
 We two are so joined, 
 
 He’ll not be in glory, 
 
 And leave me behind 
 
 3rd. This subject is fraught with rich consolation 
 to the mourning friends of such as have died in the 
 Lord . What we above all things desire for those 
 whom we love is happiness ; and if we are assured 
 that they are in the possession of the highest kind 
 and degree of happiness, even though they be at a dis¬ 
 tance from us, we feel a lively flow of satisfaction. 
 And surely when we reflect that an “ inheritance in¬ 
 corruptible, undefiled, and unfading, 55 and a crown 
 of righteousness that fadeth not away”, are bestowed 
 upon those in whose welfare ours is bound up ; that 
 their enjoyments are absolutely unchangeable; and 
 that, if we are like them in their faith, we shall soon 
 participate with them in the enjoyment of their re¬ 
 ward ; we muot feel that it would bo selfishness 
 to wash them brought back to this scene of sor¬ 
 row and trial They “ died in the Lord” and the 
 Spirit of truth himself has pronounced them <( blessed.” 
 
27 
 
 Let us dry up our tears then since we “ sorrow not as 
 those who have no hope,” but have the assurance that 
 those “ who sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” ; 
 that soon, “ we who are alive and remain shall be 
 caught together with them in the clouds, to meet the 
 Lord in the air ; and s > shall we ever be with the 
 Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these 
 words.” 
 
 4th In the event we are now attempting to im¬ 
 prove, what a striking instance we have of the diffe¬ 
 rence between God’s ways and ours. So estimable a 
 man, so lovely a Cli istian, so useful a missionary, we 
 should have detained many years in this lower world, 
 and thought that in doing so we were advancing the 
 general interests of humanity, of the Christian 
 Church, and of the cause of God among the heathen. 
 We should have allowed him to complete the work 
 he had so auspiciously begun, and so prosperously 
 carried on We should have allowed him to see the 
 fruit of his labours during many lon^ years;—his 
 children arrived at mature age and treading in their 
 father’s footsteps, many converts from Idolatry added 
 to the Church, and Christian truth widely diffused in 
 eonsequence of the plans he had put in operation. 
 And whin his hour for departure actually arrived, 
 we should have had him removed to his final rest sur¬ 
 rounded by all the endearments of home, and bidding 
 a joyful farewell to bis weeping bu( resigned and 
 comforted relatives. It is needless to point out in how 
 many respects the reality differed from what we 
 should have naturally wished for and expected. But 
 
the lesson which this marked difference teaches, if 
 it is a humbling, may be likewise a useful one. 
 il C ase ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, 
 for wher< in is he to be accounted of? ’’ The Creator 
 of man works by whom he pleases. Those seemingly 
 best qualified to advance his purposes he can easily 
 do without. The life of no one is necessary to 
 the accomplishment of the good He intends to 
 effect. However seemingly irreparable the loss His 
 cause may sust*in by the removal of a Missionary 
 from the field, ( and it is in this light that the sur¬ 
 viving labourers in the Chinese Mission regard 
 the event we are now deploring, ) he can readily and 
 with infinite ease make up, arid more than make up, 
 the loss. Whilst we acknowledge then the inscrutabi¬ 
 lity of the Divine counsels, let us confide in the bounds 
 lessness of Divine Love. God’s ways are not our 
 ways, but they must be infinitely better. He has 
 not forsaken his cause, though he has removed one so 
 well fitted to advance it. Onwards will it proceed, 
 in spite of every seeming check. Human instruments 
 are necessarily weak; but He who condescends toem-* 
 ploy them is immutably Almighty and All-gracious, 
 the same yesterday, today, and for ever”. 
 
29 
 
 EXTRACT FROM THE SINGAPORE FREE PRESS, 
 
 Of 9 th } November 1843 . 
 
 (Communicated at the request of the Eidtor.) 
 
 It is with feelings of deep regret that we have this 
 week to record the death of the Revd Samuel Dyer, 
 missionary to the Chinese at Singapore. This melan¬ 
 choly event took place at Macao on the 24th of last 
 month Mr Dyer had gone with other Missionaries 
 of the London Missionary Society, to hold a conference 
 at Hongkong, in regard to the openings in China. To¬ 
 wards the close of his residence there the seeds of fever 
 had been introduced into his system ; but the disease 
 did not discover itself until after his arrival at Canton, 
 By the assiduous attentions of Drs Parker and Mar- 
 joribanks the fever was reduced ] but it left him very 
 weak, and it was only slowly and partially that he re¬ 
 gained strength. The only step which appeared as 
 likely to benefit him was to commence his voyage to 
 Singapore. The ship Charlotte , in which he was 
 passenger, touched on its way at Hongkong and Macao, 
 and during that time he regained some degree of vi¬ 
 gour; but while detained in Macao roads he had an 
 alarming relapse. He was immediately cairied on 
 shore, but though medical assistance was promptly 
 procured and assiduously rendered him, his remaining 
 strength rapidly declined; and on Tuesday morning 
 the 24th ultimo, his sainted spirit gently took its flight 
 into the bosom of the Saviour he loved. While antici¬ 
 pating speedy dissolution Mr Dyer expressed himself 
 
30 
 
 delighted with the prospect of being speedily, through 
 Sovereign grace, admitted into the presence of his Re¬ 
 deemer, and enjoying, as a saved sinner, the ineffable 
 blessedness of heaven. Ilis funeral took place on the 
 the evening of the same day ; and now his remains rest 
 in immediate proximity to those of Dr Morrison and 
 his recently departed Son, awaiting together with them 
 tho arrival of the joyful morning of the resurrection. 
 
 Mr Dyer was well known as a most amiable, hum¬ 
 ble, and devoted Christian, and as a most laborious 
 and zealous Missionary. He left England and came 
 to the Straits in the year 1827; and during the [6 
 years which have elapsed since, ( with the exception 
 of the time occupied by a visit to England)—first at 
 Pinang, then at Malacca, nndjast of all at Singapore, 
 be exerted himself for the furtherance of the Gospel 
 amongkhe Chinese inhabitants of tue three settlements. 
 Not contented with the usu 1 course of Missi onary 
 effort, he applied himself to the compilation of voca¬ 
 bularies of the Chinese language,—to the illustra¬ 
 tion, in various ways, of difficult points in that 
 language,—but principally to the construction of pun¬ 
 ches and matrices for the casting of two fonts of 
 Chinese Type, a larger and a smaller. It was to this 
 last important object that he devoted himself with pe¬ 
 culiar energy and success. A great proportion of those 
 Chinese characters which are most usually met with 
 in the classics and other generally read works have 
 been cast from punches and matrices prepared by Mr 
 Dyer ; and fonts of this larger size of Type have been 
 sent to various mission stations, and have been uni- 
 
vers ally admitted to be the most correct and the bes( 
 adapted to Chinese taste of any that have ever been 
 prepared During the last IS months constant addi- 
 tien have been m ; de to these ; and a new font of a 
 smaller size commenced and vigorously proceeded 
 with, and the appearance of these is equally beautiful 
 with the larger. He had accumulated a great mass of 
 experience in regard to this department, in the ac¬ 
 quirement of which he shewed no small ingenui¬ 
 ty, and devoted much manual labour. In carry¬ 
 ing on these efforts he was greatly assisted by pe¬ 
 cuniary contributions from those who took an in¬ 
 terest in the work ; but he also contributed largely 
 himself out of his own private funds. When, in addi¬ 
 tion to this, it is mentioned that he had constantly 
 the superintendence of a pretiy extensive printing and 
 binding establishment, and also of a foundry in which 
 fonts of Siamese, Malay, and English, as well as of 
 Chinese Types were cast, it will be readily admitted 
 that his life w«s far from being either an idle or a 
 useless one. These ope rations were conducted with 
 the greatest regularity and order ; and multifarious as 
 they were they did not hinder him from engaging in 
 direct Missionary labours • and his very accurate 
 knowledge of the Colloquial Dialect which prevails 
 most in the Straits, ( the Hok-kiep, or Fuh-kien, ) ena¬ 
 bled hirn to communicate to the heathen mind those 
 truths of the Gospel on which he placed his own hopes 
 of salvation His loss will be severely felt not only 
 by the Mission here, and by the Society with which 
 he was connected, but by the Christian public at 
 large ; especially when we take into account the wide' 
 held now opening in the Mighty Empire of China. 
 
A sketch of Mr. Dyer’s Life and’Character 
 
 BY HIS WIDOW. 
 
 My ever dear Husband was born on the 20th of 
 February 1804. About the age of 17 he wms brought 
 to the knowledge of the truth, under the ministry of 
 the Rev. J. Stratton of Paddington, and soon after 
 made a public profession of his faith in Christ. Hav¬ 
 ing chosen the profession of the Bar, he entered at 
 Trinity Hall Cambridge. There the study of Mathe¬ 
 matics so enraptured him, that he pursued it most 
 ardently day and night, and grudged every moment 
 taken from it, except a short period for devotion. 
 So assiduous were his studies that after remaining 
 there only five terms, had he remained over the exa¬ 
 mination, he would have obtained a scholarship. But 
 the great head of the Church had determined to confer 
 upon him a higher honour than any that a University 
 could bestow, namely that of preaching to the perish¬ 
 ing heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ. One 
 Sunday, when he was looking over some religious pam¬ 
 phlets which be had brought from his father’s Li¬ 
 brary, he happened to alight upon the Memoir of 
 Mrs. Mead, wife of the Rev. W. Mead, Missionary 
 at Travancore. The perusal of this so powerfully 
 impressed his mind with the importance of conse¬ 
 crating himself to missionary work, that when 
 he began to study Mathematics again, on Monday 
 morning, he found he could not proceed ; and every 
 time he read this memoir it had the some effect; 
 feo that at last he determined to give up the Bar, and 
 
33 
 
 to devote himself to the work of Christ among the 
 Heathen. He accordingly left Cambridge, returned 
 to London, and offered hirnself to the London Mis¬ 
 sionary Society, by whom he was cordially accept¬ 
 ed, He then commenced a course of study prepara¬ 
 tory to his entering on the high office of a Mis¬ 
 sionary to the Heathen. On the 20th of February 182T, 
 the day on which he completed his twenty third 
 year, he was ordained ; and the deeply interesting 
 nature of that service never can be forgotten: such a 
 heavenly unction seemed to descend upon it, and suchr 
 a holy fervour to pervade it, that one could not but 
 feel persuaded that God must be greatly glorified, and 
 immortal souls benefited, by its means. And on our 
 A isit to England, in 1839, we heard that three indivi¬ 
 duals had been converted on that interesting occasion. 
 
 On the 6tli of M arch 1827 Ave Avere united in holy 
 matrimony ; and if ever there was a union character¬ 
 ised by an intensity of affection such as could not be 
 exceeded except by idolatry, and by a complete oneness 
 of purpose and of aim, it was in our case; and om* 
 conjugal happiness neA T er suffered interruption during 
 the Avhole course of our married life. 
 
 In his character as a Father he Avas most lovely. 
 Often on the Sabbath day might he be seen, with all 
 the dear children on his knees at once, pointing them 
 to Jesus, as soon as their little minds could understand 
 anything; telling them stories about heaven and 
 about the Bible, in such simple and attractive lan¬ 
 guage, that the attention of every mind A\ r as rivetted, 
 and every heart impressed : and as they haA r e found! 
 
 e 
 
34 
 
 'these stories in the Bible, they have come with a dou¬ 
 ble force to their minds, in consequence of their having 
 previously heard them from their dear Papa. Thus 
 constantly did he endeavour to draw them by the 
 cords of love, to walk in the path which leads to 
 heaven. Oh that this precious seed may be watered 
 with the heavenly dew of the Holy Spirit, and that 
 we may indeed be a whole family in Heaven ! 
 
 In his character as a Master, he was most exempla¬ 
 ry. Never was his temper ruffled, nor did an unkind 
 word escape his lips. He was universally respected by 
 all the servants, and the desire which they manifested 
 to comply with his wishes, during his absence in 
 China, and the ardent desire which they shewed to 
 see him come back, and real sorrow at his removal 
 from them, have been most deeply interesting to us all. 
 
 But what was the source of all this excellency in 
 him? It was not in himself; it was the grace of God 
 wh ich made him what he was. And adored forever 
 be the riches of divine grace and mercy, that first call¬ 
 ed him out of darkness into the marvellous light of 
 the gospel; that enabled him constantly to sit at the 
 feet of Jesus, and to learn of Him, to imbibe so much 
 of His lovely spirit, and to live in such near and inti¬ 
 mate communion and fellowship with Him, as caus¬ 
 ed him to diffuse a holy influence all around him ; 
 which supported him under ail the trials and dif¬ 
 ficulties through which he was called to pass du¬ 
 ring the 16 years of his missionary career; which 
 sustained him in the hour of death ; and has now 
 admitted him into the immediate presence and trans- 
 
35 
 
 cendent glory of his God and Saviour, and placed a 
 crown of righteousness upon his head, which shall 
 continue to shine brighter and brighter, as one and 
 another soul enters the realms of glory, whom he has 
 been the means of bringing there ; a crown which he 
 rejoices to take from his own head and place at the 
 feet of his Redeemer, while he sings — u Not unto us, O 
 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be all the praise 
 and glory, for ever and for ever.” Amen. 
 
 May the mantle of this precious saint descend and 
 rest on us, and may we be enabled, by the same grace 3 
 to follow him as he followed Christ l