Mwvas

SERMON,

OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF THE

LATE
RECTOR OF ST. ANDREW'S BY THE WARDROBE
AND ST. ANN'S, BLACKFRIARS,
SUNDAY AFTERNOON LECTURER OF SAINT JOHN'S, WAPPING,
AND LADY CAMDEN'S TUESDAY EVENING LECTURER
AT ST. LAWRENCE JEWRY, CHEAPSIDE.

PREACHED AT THE CHURCH OF THE ABOVE PARISHES,
ON SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 58, 1816,
BY
DANIEL WILSON, M.A.
MINISTEB OF ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL, BEDFORD ROW, AND CHAPLAIN
TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD VISCOUNT GALWAY,

LONDON:
PRINTED BY G. BRIMMER, WATER LANE, FLEET STREET :
SOLD BY J. HATCHARD, BOOKSELLER TO THE QUEEN.
PICCADILLY,
L. B. SEELEY, 169, FLEET STREET,
AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS.

A SERMON, Sfc.

II. PETER, i. 13, 14.
YEA, I THINK IT MEET, AS LONG AS I AM IN
THIS TABERNACLE, TO STIR YOU UP, BY PUT
TING YOU IN REMEMBRANCE; KNOWING THAT
SHORTLY I MUST PUT OFF THIS MY TABERNA
CLE, EVEN AS OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST HATH
SHEWED ME.
ilEATH is always a solemn subject. The
transition from this changing world to an eter
nal state of happiness or of misery, must ever be
deeply interesting. But how much more so when
it is connected with circumstances such as those
which now call us together. The death of a Minis
ter, who has for a long period of years presided
over a large and important parish, is peculiarly
affecting, both as it respects the tender bonds
which it dissolves, and the solemn obligations
which it imposes. To meet, as we now do, to
weep over the memory of a departed pastor, and
to remember the instructions and example which
A

With this view of his state, his body appears
to him, as the Apostle here describes it, a taber
nacle. What an emphatic term ! The apostle
Paul uses the same, " For we know that if our
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved."
This fleshly frame is indeed no more. As the
traveller journeying far from home fixes his tent
for the night, and removes it in the morning;
or as the shepherd arriving with his flock at a
resting place, raises his temporary pavilion, to
be taken down after a brief stay ; or as the sol
dier encamped before the enemy pitches the tent
which his immediate necessities require, always
ready to march and combat, so the Christian re
gards his body as the merely temporary accom
modation where the soul is to reside for a time j
a moveable and frail tenement, to be taken down
with the same ease and celerity with which it
was reared.
And how quickly this may be the case is but
too obvious from the scene now before us. This
thought is also suggested by the express language
of the text. " As long as I am in this Taber
nacle — knowing that shortly I must put off this
my Tabernacle." The time cannot be long when
this momentary abode shall be laid aside. The
vapor of human life will soon be dispersed.
The post will soon have hurried by ; the eagle
have fixed on the prey to which it hastens ; the
brief tale of life be told. At the command of his

Lord the traveller quits his tabernacle, the sol
dier strikes his tent, the shepherd leaves his
tenement. Sudden is this command ; and irre
vocable as it is sudden. Even the most useful
ministers, in the full vigor of their life and la
bors, are often summoned away. In a moment
the frail tabernacle crumbles into dust. The
seeds of a thousand deaths lie planted in our
frame, any one of which springs up in a moment
to a fatal maturity. In this way it has pleased
God to call on you to see your beloved pastor
dropping as the leaf of autumn. In the midst of
his days the tabernacle has fallen around him,
and the disembodied spirit has ascended to God
which gave it.
Nor is the Christian unwilling to answer to
the call of his Lord. It is observable that in
the language of the Apostle there is a remark
able calmness of mind apparent. " I think it
meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, &c.
knowing that I must shortly put off this my
tabernacle." These are the words of one who
is willing to depart, and be with Christ. He
speaks with unruffled composure of the time
of his continuing here. He describes his death
by putting off this his tabernacle with the sort of
indifference with which one would speak of lay
ing aside one's garments at the close of a weary
day, to retire to the evening's repose. This is the
more observable, when we remember that the
a 3

6
Apostle's death was to be accompanied with
the torments of martyrdom, as our Lord had
expressly foretold. Yet, what intimation of vio
lence or presecution do we find in the text?
The putting off a tabernacle, if a description of
a death at all, is surely the description of a calm
and tranquil departure to the glory of his Lord !
We must look to the prophetic language of our
Saviour to learn that St. Peter is, in fact, speaks
ing in these words of a martyrdom. Compare,
then, the holy peace, the calm fortitude, mani
fested here, with the previous cowardice of this
same Apostle, when he denied his Lord at the
voice of a maid-servant, and learn the efficacy
of the grace of Jesus Christ in converting and
sanctifying the heart.
This calmness of our Apostle may however be
partly referred to his submission to the com
mand of his Saviour. He observes expressly,
" as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me,"
referring to his Master's declaration (John xxi.
18, 19), " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when
thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walk-
edst whither thou wouldest ; but when thou
shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, arid carry thee whi
ther thou wouldest not. This spake he, signify
ing by what death he should glorify God." The
entire resignation of the Apostle's mind to his
Lord's will contributed, together with the other

motives to which 1 have alluded, to produce the
holy indifference to life which my text expresses.
To such extraordinary intimations of the divine
will Christians in the present day can make no
pretensions. But we have all of us sufficient
notices of the will of our Lord, in the general
frailty of our nature, and the perpetual warn
ings of the approach of death with which the
Scriptures abound, and which the experience of
every day confirms. We have no need of a par
ticular revelation to be assured that we must
soon depart. There is not a moment which may
not be our last. Every symptom of decaying
strength, all the inroads of particular maladies,
all the silent warnings of hastening years, are
admonitions to us that we must soon put off this
our tabernacle. He who asks for more proof
than this, seeks to deceive himself. And yet
how common is some measure of this self-deceit !
How little did the family and friends of your
late Minister forebode the speedy termination of
his labors ! The progress of the disease having
been slow, and some of the symptoms having been
suspended, how readily did hope kindle in the
anxious eye of his attending relatives and friends !
Even your excellent Minister himself, though so
well aware in general of the uncertainty of life,
was apparently but little aware how speedily he
would be called to quit his earthly tabernacle.
May we all learn then more practically to con
sider the brevity and uncertainty of our coni*.
a 4

8
nuance here ; and may every intimation of ap
proaching dissolution, in the progress of age or
of infirmity, serve as a sufficient intimation of
our Saviour's will !
And we may do this with the greater pleasure
because, in laying aside our earthly tabernacle,
we can as Christians look forward to an endur
ing substance. An allusion, I conceive, to the
?' house which is from heaven" is contained in
the text. For the Apostle has here, as I appre
hend, in his eye the language of Saint Paul,
whom he calls his beloved brother, and to whose
epistles he refers in another place (2 Peter, iii.
15, 16). " For we know," observes Saint Paul,
(2 Cor. v. 1, 2, 4 ; an Epistle written about ten
years prior to the one from which my text is
taken) " that if our earthly house of this taber-*
nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,
an house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. For in this we groan earnestly, desir
ing to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven, For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burthened ; not for that we
would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that
mortality may be swallowed up of life." It is
this prospect which inspires the Christian minis
ter with holy triumph. He looks for " a city
which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God." He knows that from this frail,
corrupt, and temporary shed, he is to pass to

9
those abiding mansions of glory ; where this " cor
ruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal have put on immortality, and the saying
which is written shall be brought to pass, Death
is swallowed up in victory !" This glorious hope
inspired your excellent Minister in his last mo
ments with humble fortitude, and should fill
you, even when weeping over his tomb, with
sentiments of gratitude and resignation. You
sorrow not as those without hope. The eye of
faith can pierce even the darkness of the tomb,
and see the Christian soldier called from a bur-
thened tabernacle and dropping the sinful in
cumbrances of a corrupt body, to put on the
glorious body of immortality, to see his Saviour
as he is, to be with him and enjoy him for ever.
" This is the promise which he hath promised
us, even eternal life." It is the expectation of
this speedy removal from all our labors and toils
on the one hand, and all our opportunities of
usefulness on the other, which animates the
Christian minister to the utmost exertion during
the few moments which he has to pass on earth.
This leads me to consider,
II. The effect produced on the apos
tle's MIND BY THE CONSIDERATION OF THE
brevity and uncertainty of life — A reso
lution to use his utmost diligence to promote
the welfare of the Church.

10
" I think it meet as long as I am in this taber
nacle," he observes, " to stir you up by putting
you in remembrance." And in the verses which
precede and follow the text: " Wherefore I will
not be negligent to put you always in Remem
brance of these things, though ye know them and
be established in the present truth. Moreover I
will endeavor that you may be able after my de
cease to have these things always in Remem
brance." (v. 12 and 15.) What an example of
holy zeal and diligence in his apostolical office
does this language propose to us ; a zeal and
diligence quickened as the approach of death
was about to terminate his labors. The Apostle
seems in it to resolve to employ all his endea
vours in constantly exhorting the Christians to
whom he wrote, to a remembrance of the spe
cial truths of religion which he had been pre
viously inculcating. " These things" is the ex
pression which he twice uses to direct them to
the topics which introduce the verses under
our consideration.
This reference may be either generally to the
doctrines which he had taught in the whole eleven
verses of the chapter, or more particularly to the
exhortation immediately preceding the text. In
the first sense, by the things which the Apostle
would have them always keep in remembrance
we are to understand the great doctrine of the
righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus

11
Christ, (v. 1.) the necessity of living and true
faith, here called "precious faith," (v. 1.) the
grace and peace which flow from the know
ledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord, (v. 2.)
the divine power which communicates all things
needful for life and godliness, (v. 3.) the glory
and virtue to which we are called by the gos
pel, (v. 3.) the exceeding great and precious pro
mises given unto us by our God, (v. 4.) the divine
nature of which we are consequently made par
takers, (v. 5.) and the fruits of holiness by which
our abundant entrance will be secured into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour.
(v. 5—11.)
But I rather conceive that the Apostle's refer
ence is more limited. I think it will appear, if
we consider the context, that the train of the
argument requires us to confine it to the last of
the general topics above enumerated. " Besides
this," says the Apostle, (v. 5.) " giving all dili
gence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue
knowledge ; and to knowledge temperance ; and
to temperance patience ; and to patience godli
ness; and to godliness brotherly kindness ; and
to brotherly kindness charity. For if these
things (the same expression as in the verse pre
ceding and the verse following the text) be in
you and abound, they make you that ye shall
be neither barren nor unfruitful in the know
ledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that

12
lacketh these things (again the same terms) is
blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten
that he was purged from his old sins. Where
fore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make
your calling and election sure ; for if ye do
these things (still carrying on the argument)
ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be
ministered unto you abundantly into the ever
lasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Wherefore" continues the Apostle, in
the paragraph of which my text is a part, " I
will not be negligent to put you always in re
membrance of these things .-" and again, after
the intermediate words of my text, " Moreover
I will endeavor that you may be able after my
decease to have these things always in remem
brance." By this repeated mention of the same
words of reference his meaning is placed beyond
all reasonable doubt.
The chief point then which the Apostle urges
on the Christian disciples is, by diligence in all
good works, to make their calling and elec
tion sure. He calls on them assiduously to
add to their faith every Christian grace and vir
tue. He sets before them the great advantage of
this conduct in preserving them from barrenness
in the knowledge of Christ : and the dreadful
state of those who have not a faith fruitful in good
works, as it proves them to be blind and to have
forgotten that they were purged from their old

13
sins. He then exhorts them by diligence in these
Christian graces and duties to make their calling
and election sure, tracing back with humble gra
titude the fruits of grace to the faith from which
they spring ; their faith to the merciful calling of
God ; and their calling to that gratuitous love
which " chose them in Christ before the founda
tion of the world that they should be holy and
without blame before Him in love ; having pre
destinated them unto the adoption of children by.
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will." (Eph. i. 4, 5.) " Elect, ac
cording to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedi
ence and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.""
(1 Pet. i. 2.) In this holy and cautious deduc
tion of their election from the fruits of faith and
obedience, they might be assured they should
" never fall : but that an entrance should be ad
ministered unto them abundantly into the ever
lasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ." On such topics, then, the Apostle professes
his affectionate design of putting the Christians
in Remembrance. He might have enjoined
them on the churches by his apostolical autho
rity, but he rather uses the mildness and affec
tion of a friend or, a parent. He would not ex
cite any uneasy feeling by appearing to distrust
their fidelity, but would simply stir them up to

14
a recollection of what they knew and professed.
The address of the sacred writers in enforcing
truth, is every where remarkable. They speak
not as bearing dominion over our faith, but as
helpers of our joy. (2 Cor. 1. xxiv.) As a
nurse cherisheth her children, so are they gentle
amongst us. (1 Thess. 2, vii.) " We may learn
from this language of St. Peter," observes the
judicious Calvin, " that we should so moderate
our admonitions that the persons whom we wish
to benefit may not conceive they are treated un
kindly or injuriously. We must take care, at
the same time, whilst we guard against giving
offence, to let instruction have its free course,
and not to allow exhortation to cease." Thus
the apostle Paul observes to the Romans, "And
I myself am persuaded of you, my brethren, that
ye also are full of goodness, filled with all know
ledge, able also to admonish one another. Never
theless, I have written the more boldly unto
you, in some sort, as putting you in mind." (xv.
14.) And indeed how much have we need of
being reminded ! How treacherous are our me
mories ! How soon do the lessons we have learnt
lose their impression! And yet, what is truth,
if it be not present and operative ? What advan
tage do we derive from instructions or princi
ples, if they lie dormant in the mind? How
necessary, then, are animated exhortations and
faithful warnings on all the doctrines and du
ties and graces of the Christian life! " ]t is

15
proper," observes the great author whom I have
just quoted, " to exhort the faithful, for otherwise
fleshly indolence will creep over them. Though
therefore these Christians were established in
the truth, and did not need information, yet they
needed to be stirred up by admonitions, lest se
curity and indolence, as is common, should over
whelm what they had rightly learnt, and should
at length entirely extinguish it."
This sentiment is confirmed by the expression
of the Apostle, " though ye know them, and be
established in the present truth." Even advanced
and well instructed christians have need of
perpetual exhortation. If they are indeed sincere
and upright, they will rejoice to be reminded of
their duties and their hopes ; and if in any re
spects they are defective in their Christian walk,
or especially exposed to the temptations of false
principles or practices, ministerial admonitions
are the more indispensible to their safety. In
fact, not only the young and uninstructed re
quire the constant vigilance of the pastor, but
Christians of every rank and circumstance. This
is God's appointed ordinance for the nourish
ment of piety in the heart. This is rendered
needful by the perpetual infirmity of the flesh.
This is one principal design of the means of
grace, both public and private, which God has,
commanded us to use. The very disposition
also of child-like teachableness and humility

16
which, more than any other, marks the advanced
and matured Christian, is precisely adapted to
welcome these faithful memorials of truth.
Accordingly we must proceed to notice the
DILIGENCE AND PERSEVERANCE which the ApOS-
tle determined to employ in this duty. " Where
fore I will not be negligent to put you always in
Remembrance — yea, I think it meet, as long as
I am in this tabernacle to stir you up, by put
ting you in Remembrance." Whatever induce
ments, then, the minister of Christ may have to
negligence, he must steadily persevere in his
duty. If he should be remiss in exhorting
Christians, in connection with evangelical doc
trines, to zeal in good works, as the only true
evidence of their calling, and the only sure
means of obtaining an abundant entrance into
Heaven, he cannot expect his people to be ac
tive and consistent in their Christian profession.
Such topics may not always be acceptable, and
ministers may be exposed at times to great
temptations to omit them, or hurry them over
with indiscreet rapidity. But the conscientious
pastor, after the example of the Apostle, will
not be negligent in discharging this part of his
ministry, because it may be unpleasant or diffi
cult. He will be no party in deceiving the souls
of men, or diffusing a false and superficial reli-
giom He will consider it meet and right, and
just (5/xa/ov), a branch of his duty, both to God

17
and to the Church, to dwell fully on these topics.
If he require any apology for so frequently in
sisting on them to those who know them, and
are established in the present truth, as the Apos
tle appears tacitly to do, he will find this excuse
in his affection for their welfare, in his autho
rity as a minister of the word, in the extreme
urgency of the danger, and the incalculable value
of eternity. Thus will he aim at " keeping back
nothing profitable to his people, but being pure
from the blood of all men."
And this he will do, that, after his decease,
the Christian flock may continue to honor the
gospel. " Moreover, I will endeavour that you
may be able, after my decease, to have these
things always in remembrance." The Apostle
was not only anxious for the state of the Church,
during the short and uncertain moments of his
continuing in his earthly tabernacle, but was
desirous that the effects of his labors should
survive him in the holy and consistent conduct of
his flock. He was careful they should be furnish
ed with sound principles in the grace of Christ,
that, under the blessing of God, they might not
depend on his personal labors ; but might be able,
after his departure to Heaven, to guard against
the error of the wicked, and preserve their own
stedfastness. (c. iii. 17.) I say, after his departure
to Heaven, for the manner in which the Apostle
here speaks of his death may be noticed, as we
pass on, as confirming the view we have taken of
B

18
the calmness and composure with which he
viewed this event. The word we render decease
is tioSog, a going out, as the Israelites from Egypt,
a departure from this world to a heavenly rest ;
a going out from all the sins and sorrows of time
to a perfectly holy and happy eternity. The
Apostle, in this expression of his anxiety, that
after his decease they should have these things
always in remembrance, has, undoubtedly, in his
view, the Epistles which he was writing, under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the edifi
cation of the Church. By these sacred compo
sitions he has been, indeed, instructing the
Church in every age, and is still enabling us to
have these great truths ever in our memory. The
benevolent heart of the Apostle, free from all
personal interests, is also apparent in this part of
his language. He cares little for himself, and is
only anxious, under whatever future instructors
God may raise up, that the people may grow in
grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.
To these various parts of the Apostle's great
duty of promoting, with all diligence, the welfare
of the Church, he was stimulated by the consi
derations of THE BREVITY OF LIFE, to which We
have already adverted, and of which the present
solemnity is so affecting a memorial. He felt that
he had much to do, and a very short time to do
it in. The impression of the frailty of his fleshly
tabernacle was ever lively upon his mind. He

19
knew that this life was not the place nor time
for rest to a pastor; and therefore, as one who
considered " that the end of all things was at
hand," he was the more alert to leave nothing
undone in his duty to the church of Christ his
Lord. In this respect he resembled Moses in
his solemn admonitions to the people, just be
fore his death. Joshua and David were exam
ples also which he probably proposed to him
self. Or rather, our Lord Jesus Christ, in his
last affecting discourse with his disciples, was
the model which he desired to imitate, as he
approached the termination of his public labors.
Ministers are thus taught not to yield to indo
lence, as age and infirmity draw on. At this
period, the influence of a pious and consistent
pastor is usually the most extensive, and his use
fulness, possibly, even much greater than at any
preceding period of his life. All his endeavors
should be employed with alacrity and diligence,
" as there is no work, nor device, nor wisdom,
in the grave, whither man goeth," to occupy with
his talents till his Lord come. In fact, there is
in the language of the Apostle, a peculiar au
thority, derived from this very source. The re
peated mention of the tabernacle which he was
so soon to lay aside, gives a solemnity to his
counsel, and adds to it the weight of a testament
ary declaration, addressed by one just about to
leave this life and close for ever his pastoral in
structions. With such a dying admonition the

20
Apostle seemed willing to finish his ministry. We
'may consider the passage before us as the last
accents of a faithful minister, father, and friend.
And indeed nothing can more tend to produce
composure in the pangs of death, and the expect
ation of our great account, next to the covenant
of the Saviour's blood, than the consciousness
that we have not sought to please men, or to
obtain wealth, reputation, ease, or indulgence to
ourselves, but have faithfully, simply, and per-
severingly served the Lord Christ, and sought
-his glory and the salvation of souls as the
great aim of all our labors.
Such, I am persuaded, is the kind of reflec
tions which habitually occupied the mind of your
late Minister, and which will tend to relieve in
your bosoms the pangs of your present separa
tion from him. He was this character; he preach
ed the great doctrine of the grace of Christ as
the foundation of your hope. He urged on you
the Christian virtues and graces, as the evidence
of your calling and election, and the means of
your having an abundant entrance into Heaven;
he put you in remembrance of these things,
though you knew them, and were established in
the truth ; he did this with diligence and per
severance ; he labored that after his decease
you might continue stedfast in the faith ; and he
was urged to these duties by the constant im
pression of the brevity and uncertainty of life,
little as he apprehended the immediate termina-

21
tion of his labors at the time when his death
actually impended.
But I shall now, I am aware, be expected to
give some particulars of the life and character
of your esteemed Rector.

Mr. Goode was born at Buckingham in the
year 1762. His father was a member of the Church
of England, and educated him in her communion.
He was gradually brought to a serious knowledge
of religion very early in life. The first impres
sions of its importance were made on his mind
when he was at school ; and these continued till
he was led to a deep repentance for sin, a living
faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and a
holy and devoted obedience to his service by the
grace of the Holy Spirit. The ministry of a
pious clergyman, who afterwards resided for
many years at Macclesfied, was particularly use
ful to him at this time. From the age of four
teen to that of sixteen he followed his father's
business at Buckingham ; but his heart was
even then strongly bent on the office of the sacred
ministry; and he was accustomed to rise at a
very early hour to study the Hebrew language.
His earnest desire to devote himself to the ser
vice of the church continuing unabated, he was
placed by his father at the age of sixteen under
a private tutor, to prepare for the University.
b 3

22
He entered as a commoner at Magdalen Col
lege, Oxford, about the year 1781, and was or
dained to a curacy in Buckinghamshire in 1784.
Not long after his ordination, he heard, when
he was in London, of the curacy of the late Rev.
W. Romaine, and entered soon after on the du
ties of this parish, which he discharged for about
thirty years. He continued curate to Mr. Ro
maine, till the death of that truly eminent charac
ter — a character beloved and honored by all
who could rightly esteem that eminent faith in
Jesus Christ, that holy love to his name, and that
loug course of honorable and consistent obedience
to his gospel, which so much distinguished him.
This event, which occurred after he had been
curate about ten years, led to Mr. Goode's ap
pointment, on the presentation of the crown, to
the rectory of these united parishes. He conti
nued in the weighty and solemn office to which
he was thus called for above twenty years, la
bouring with incessant diligence both in public
and in private. Besides the various private du
ties of his ministry throughout the parish, he
preached regularly three times each week in this
church, namely, on the Sunday morning, the
Tuesday morning (afterwards changed to the
Wednesday), and on the Sunday evening. In
addition to these labors, he was for a long period
Lecturer of St. John's Wapping on the Sunday
afternoon, and Lady Camden's Tuesday Evening
Lecturer at St. Lawrence Jewry.

23
In these scenes of exertion he persevered with
out intermission, lending his aid to most public
designs Of piety and benevolence as they arose,
whether in his own parish and neighbourhood,
or in other parts of the metropolis. To the So
ciety for the Relief of poor pious Clergymen, in
particular, he was a warm and constant friend.
He sustained the situation of Secretary to that
Institution for twenty-one years. He bestowed
likewise great attention on the concerns of the
Church Missionary Society for Africa and the
East. It was first established very much by
his efforts ; and during the early periods of it's
struggling infancy, he always resisted despond
ent feelings, and animated it's friends to go on
steadily, in reliance on the word and promise of
God. Nor did he spare his personal labors.
He was the constant adviser and supporter of
his beloved friend the Secretary of that Society;
he attended regularly general and subordinate
committees, and accommodated the Society with
the use of his own study, till the encreasing
business and success of the Institution made a
discontinuance of that practice necessary. Still
his church was at the service of the Society, and
in this pulpit sixteen anniversary sermons have
been delivered,
I mention these particulars, not only in justice
to the zeal of your excellent Minister, but also
as they stand connected with his last illness and
b 4

24
death- In the autumn of the year before last
(September 1814) he was first seized with the in
disposition which afterwards terminated, his life,
as he accompanied the Secretary to Ipswich in
the service of the Society. The attack, which ap
peared at first only to be a cold, soon became a
confirmed Diabetes, which in the course of about
eighteen months ended in " his putting off this his
tabernacle" and his entering into the joy of his
Lord. During his long illness his patience and
resignation were exemplary. His chief anxiety
was for the welfare of his much-beloved people,
and his chief prayer that the affliction might be
sanctified to his spiritual benefit. This holy
effect indeed was visible to all around. He spent
much of his time in prayer and devotional exer
cises ; his general tone of mind and temper were
obviously softened, and his love to his Saviour
purified and quickened. His zeal also " to stir
up his people's minds by way of remembrance,"
his anxiety not to be negligent in this duty, his
impression how shortly he might be called to
put off his tabernacle, were manifest to all,
though, as I have already said, he was not
aware of the really dangerous nature of his
disease. After various fluctuations in the symptoms
of his complaint, it became but too manifest
that Mr. Goode's general strength was greatly
abated. His debility indeed became gradu-

25
ally so obvious, that his friends, for the last
few months, began to apprehend that the fatal
event could not be distant. Accordingly on
Mpnday, Aprl 15th, at half past four in the
afternoon, at the very period when the Church
was celebrating the resurrection of her Lord
Christ from the dead, this excellent man fell
asleep in Jesus, in the 54th year of his age. He
had in fact been dying from the Thursday pre
ceding. On the Saturday and Sunday his lau-
gor so much encreased that he could not speak
without difficulty. During these days however
he frequently said, " Dear Jesus ! Precious
JesUs ! Oh, for a release !" The last words he
was heard to say were about five o'clock on the
Sunday afternoon, "¦ It is the Lord !" " It is
the Lord !" After he had wholly lost the use of
speech, he evidently continued still in secret
prayer, as appeared by a particular motion of
his hand, which his family had long been accus
tomed to observe in his devotional duties. Dur
ing the remainder of Sunday, and till his dis
mission on the Monday afternoon, he was appa
rently in a kind of stupor, which prevented the
possibility of his expressing his feelings by words,
but which prevented not his Lord and Saviour
from reading the heart of his dying servant.
Thus he departed in the faith of Christ. He
put off this tabernacle. He exchanged the frail
and mean abode of this body of sin for the glo
rious and eternal mansions of his Saviour's pre
sence.

26
Of his character it does not become me to say
much, from the very limited knowledge which
the few years I have resided in London enabled
me to acquire. Nor indeed would any thing, I
am persuaded, be so far from the genuine feel
ings of humility which adorned your valuable
Pastor, as any appearance of panegyric. By
" the grace of God, he was what he was." I
may be allowed however to say, to the " praise
of the glory of God's grace," that many truly
Christian excellencies appeared in him. If he
was not a perfect, he was a consistent Christian
minister. If he was not wholly free from error
and prejudice, he was enlightened and guided in
all main points by the Spirit and Word of his
Lord. If he was not without occasional slight
defects of temper and conduct, he was adorned
with all the genuine fruits of a holy Christian
life. As a man, he had a very active mind, united
with a sound judgment. He was possessed of
great firmness and perseverance of disposition ;
indefatigable in the pursuit of his object, and
prudent in the adoption of the best means for
attaining it. A matured wisdom and prudence
presided over his general conduct. He was ex
tremely methodical in the order of his engage
ments ; and his judgment was so much valued,
that his great predecessor, Mr. Romaine, en
trusted to him the finishing of one of his works
for the public eye.

27
As a minister, his great topic was Jesus Christ
in his person, offices, work, resurrection, and
glory ; the covenant of grace, with its promises
and duties ; the necessity of an entire regenera
tion of the heart by the Holy Spirit, of repent
ance for sin, and of living faith in the righteous
ness of Christ; and the indispensable import
ance of the effects of faith and love in the subju
gation of the tempers, the obedience of the life,
and a holy conformity of the members of the
Christian church with their head. As he was
not a man of impassioned feelings, the impres
sion of his sermons was gradual and permanent,
rather than powerful and rapid. They were ad
dressed to the understanding, and enriched with
that continued reference to the Holy Scriptures
which his long and humble study of the Bible,
and his intimate acquaintance with the original
languages, furnished. His ministry was greatly
blessed to the conversion of sinners, as well as
to the consolation and instruction of true Chris
tians. He was cautious in committing himself
to those who professed to be the converts of his
ministry. But when he thought he could rely
on their integrity and steadiness, he entrusted
himself to them with much affection. He was
much respected in his parish. He joined in
every scheme for the good of it, and a general
testimony of regard and estimation is now affec
tionately borne to him, even by those who did
not altogether receive the doctrines which he
taught.

28
His writings consist chiefly of some sermons
published on different public occasions, and an
entirely new version of the Book of Psalms,
which is entitled to praise for its piety and
talent. The sermon which is best known is
the one preached a year or two back in this
church, at an anniversary of the Church Mis
sionary Society. He has besides left behind
him one hundred and fifty-six Essays on the
Titles of our Saviour, which require only to be
transcribed from the short-hand notes in order
to be prepared for publication, and which I trust
will soon be put to press. By these works his
name will be long endeared to his friends, and
his parishioners will be able to have the instruc
tions he delivered still in remembrance.
To confirm the brief view I have attempted
thus imperfectly to give of his character, I must
now be allowed to read some extracts from his
letters, which are among the best- specimens of
the real unaffected language of the heart. The
first extract is from a letter written from Oxford,
nearly thirty-five years ago, when he was but
nineteen years of age. It is dated October 23rd,
1781.
 " 1 hope he is sincere ; and these, I trust, I every
" where embrace, convinced that if the good of souls
" was more esteemed than the good of party, the glory
" of God would be more promoted. There are ene-
" mies sufficient for Christians to combat with, without
" waging war on one another; and he that attends to

29
" what passes within, will find, that unless we were
" supported by an almighty power, alas ! none could
" stand. Happy we, if we have this almighty arm en-
" gaged on our side : this shall cause us to persevere
" unto the end, and then we shall experimentally know
" the doctrine that it is of God. But persevere in what ?
" in a dry system'of doctrines that affect not the heart?
" No : but in that settled contest against sin, that cheer-
" ful love to God, that dearest of all delights the light
" of his countenance ; all which are happy attendants of
" the way that leads to the final consummation in glory."
Surely this language testifies the sound and
fervent piety with which he was animated at
College, and which he uniformly manifested
during a ministry of thirty-two years continu
ance. It will be only necessary to add one or two
quotations from letters during his last illness.
The first is dated Buckingham, February 23rd,
1815. " Here I can recollect spending many happy hours in
"reading and meditation in very early youth. And,
" tracing the steps by which I have been since con-
" ducted by the providence of a gracious and I trust
" a covenant God, 1 am led to adore his mercy, for-
" bearance and bounty, and learn to trust him for the
" tTme to come with all my hopes and fears. How
" pleasing to remember, in such a changing world as
" this, that the God and Saviour in whom we trust
" knotos no change ; that his love is always the same ;
" and in all the various scenes of life still unchangeably

30
" set Upon his people. Afflictions, though for the pre*
" sent not joyous but grievous, are not among the least
" of his benefits and blessings, and will be found to be
" the most certain proofs of his love. I know that I
" have reason to bless God for mine ; nor would I have
" been without them. I hope I have learned some les-
" sons by them which I needed much to learn ; I hope I
" shall still find it good to be afflicted, &c. and that this
" trial of faith is now working patience and every Chris-
" tian grace, and that it shall be found unto praise and
" honour aud glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
" In this view I feel perfectly satisfied in the will of
" God, whatever it may be, as to its continuance. I
" have great reason to hope that his goodness is pre-
" paring the way of recovery, at least to a moderate
" share of health and strength. His will however tfeel
" must be best ; and if it be attended with his grace to
" uphold this confidence to the end, and to sanctify it
" to my soul, if it continue it will be well, and if it be
" removed it will be well also. It may admit a doubt
" whether it require more grace to use afflictions well,
" or to use health and prosperity. But his grace is
" sufficient for both, and in the path in which he is
" pleased to lead us, whether health or affliction, we
" may expect the full supply of it. And now, my dear
<' friend, what have we to do but to love him and trust
" him, and to endeavour by the purity and integrity of
" our conduct to aim in our several relations and en
gagements to promote his honour? This only we
" shall do, if our general conduct be such as to give an
" impression to all around us that our profession is
*' sincere, that it influences our tempers and disposi-
" tions, has a commanding power in our hearts, and
" effectually directs our actions, in integrity and upright-
" ness towards men, in holy love and sincere devoted-
J* ness to God."

31
The last is addressed to his brother, February
12th, 1816, only about two months before his
decease. " It is my wish to lie, and I hope and trust I have and do
" lie in the hand of the Lord. He has a right to " send
" by whom he will send." It is our glory to be em-
" ployed and made useful in his service ; but if he
" chooses to send by others, and to lay us by for a time
" or altogether, what are we in his hands ? It is as
" much the exercise of grace to submit to do nothing
" as to exert ourselves to the uttermost : and I find it
" needs more faith and patience. I am here miserably
" off on the Sabbath, and can only compare my state,
" and I trust my temper, to that of the Psalmist, lxxxiv.
" 2, 3 ; though, blessed be God ! I have found those
" very times the seasons of sweetest delight in commu-
" nion with God in Christ Jesus. As to the general
" state of my mind, I have to thank God for great
" tranquillity, often for most reviving views and pros-
" pects, and an abiding satisfaction in the wisdom, good-
*' ness, and faithfulness of God in all his dispensations.
" I take hold of his covenant, (Isa. lvi. 4) his covenant
" surety, atonement, righteousness, blessings, and pro-
" mise, and will not let go my hold. This, as a poor
*' helpless sinner, is my only hope. I feel a body of sin
« and death, but this cannot shake my hope in this sal-
" vation. I hope I love the Lord, " esteem all his com-
" mandments to be right," &c. " I love his law," and
" aim feebly, imperfectly, and with much mixture, to
" do his will. But this cannot add to the ground of my
" hope or consolation. In this hope I would continue ;
"" and pray the Spirit of grace and promise thus to
" seal me with the image of my Redeemer, and become
" bv his gracious influence the earnest of the inherit-

32
" ance. This I trust is Christian Experience. If not,
" I wish to be rectified in what is amiss, that I may be
" led more to that temper. " Surely it is meet to be
" said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not
" offend any more : that which I see not teach thou
" me i if I have done iniquity, I will do no more." (Job,
" xxxiv. 31, 32.) This has been my wish and prayer :
" I trust the Lord is answering it."
On this last extract nothing need be said. The
eminent piety, humility, and holiness, which it
breathes, speak the matured and consistent ser
vant of Christ. Surely, though he has put off
this his tabernacle, these his last accents will
still be fixed on your memory and hearts !
This is indeed a principal duty of the solemn
service in which we are now engaged. A brief
reflection or two on this duty shall close the
present already too-extended discourse.
There may possibly be some before me who
have little attended to the instructions of
their late Minister. You have esteemed him as
a man, but you have not received in truth the
grace of God which he delighted to preach.
You lament over the death of a respectable
clergyman, and sympathize with his family and
friends ; but you little think that a messenger
frOm Heaven has been recalled, to give ac
count of the message he delivered, and of the
attention which was paid to it. Allow me then
to ask you what advantage you have derived
from his instructions. Are you truly penitent

33
for sin ? Have you embraced by faith the righ
teousness of our God and Saviour? Are you
separated from the love of this present world ?
Are you born of God and knowing God ? Arq.
you interested in the covenant of grace? Or, are
you still dead in trespasses and sins? Are you
yet impenitent and unbelieving ? Are you rely
ing on your own righteousness, and not submit
ting to the righteousness of God ? Are you liv
ing to yourselves and the world and sin, fulfil
ling the desires of the flesh and of the mind ?
Permit me to call to your minds that the solemn
instructions of your late Minister, which you
might have heard and received, will rise up in
judgment against you, if you are finally impeni
tent. Oh, let me now call on you, whilst medi
tating on his tomb, to have in remembrance the
truths he uttered ! Oh, let me remind you that
your abode here is short and uncertain ; that
you also, little as you may think of it, must put
off your earthly tabernacle. And what will be
your state, if you have no habitation prepared
for you to enter in — no " house not made with
hands eternal in the heavens"? — if stripped of all
that covers you now, you be unclothed and de
fenceless before the bar of God ? " Awake then
to righteousness, and sin not." " Awake, thou
that steepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee life."
There may possibly be others before me who
ARE IN DANGER OF ERRING FROM THE FAITH ;who
C

34
are more than usually exposed, from the seduc
tions of Satan and the infirmity of our fallen na
ture, to the peril of being unstable, and of falling
from their own stedfastness. Let such be affec
tionately warned by the solemnity of the death,
of their Minister and friend, and let them be ad
monished to return into the way of righteousness.
Let them remember the things which their Pas
tor was not negligent to enforce upon them as
long as he was in this tabernacle ; and, oh, may
they call them to mind now after his decease.
Let them be diligent to make their calling and
election sure. Let them labor to add to their
faith every grace and virtue of the Christian pro
fession. Let them well consider that there are
two kinds of faith, a dead and a living one ;
that there are two kinds of religious profession,
the one fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
and Saviour, the other barren and forgetful.
Oh, let them not unhappily remain obstinate
in?the errors which they have rather, perhaps,
been betrayed to approve, than designedly un
derstood and adopted ; and may they, by fol
lowing the humility and teachableness of their
late Minister, and especially of Christ their
great Lord and Master, " recover themselves
from the snare of the Devil" ! May their future
simplicity of faith in Christ, their tenderness of
conscience, their circumspection and holiness,
their charity to their brethren, and their desire
and aim at growth in grace, prove that they have
always iu remembrance the doctrine of the holy

35
Apostles ; and that they are endeavouring, by
every good word and work, to make their call
ing and election sure, and obtain an abundant
entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I need not stop to urge these topics on the
hearts of the large body of serious obedient
christians before me ; many of whom, after
having heard for a course of years the eminent
predecessor of your deceased Rector, were the
support and comfort of his labors during the
twenty years which he ministered among you.
May the death of your affectionate and much
beloved Minister quicken you to remember all
the doctrines arid duties he inculcated, "though
you know them, and be established in the pre
sent truth." You weep over a departed friend ;
but the time will soon come when you shall join
him again in the kingdom of Heaven. He has
dropped this tabernacle, as you must soon put
off your's, but he has entered into another
abode, a " house not made with hands eternal
in the Heavens." Have then in affectionate re
membrance the consolations and obligations he
was accustomed to enforce, and " be followers
of them who through faith and patience have
inherited the promises."
Finally, may I be permitted to urge on the
parish generally the most circumspect and
upright conduct in the discharge of the solemn

36
duty which I understand will devolve upon them
at this season. " May all bitterness, and wrath,
and malice, and clamour, and all evil speak
ing, be put away from you." May you lay aside
every sinful passion and prejudice, and most
simply make choice of that person whom you
conscientiously believe, from his piety and re
spectability of character, will most labor for
your spiritual welfare. Thus will you best tes
tify your value for that doctrine which your late
Pastor enforced upon you. Thus will you shew-
that you "remember them that have the rule over
you, who have spoken unto you the word of life.'"
Thus will you best " follow their faith, remem
bering the end of their conversation, Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."

Lately was Published, by^the same Author, Obedience the
Path to Religious Knowledge ; a Sermon preached
before the University of Oxford, at St. Mary's, on Sunday,
January 28, 1810. Third Edition, price Is. @d.

0. Brimmer, Printer, Water-Lane,
Fleet-Street, London.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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