IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 Iti|2j8 12.5 1^ iiii |2.2 1.1 l.-^l^ ^ IE L25 1 U 116 I <^ ^ V ^^* ■^ 7 y^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. US80 (716) 872-4503 * CIHM/ICMH CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Collection de Series. microfiches. i- • • ' . ' ■"' ■'; r ■ ■ . ' I A 1 Canadian institute, for Historicai IVIicroreproductions / instltut Canadian de microraproduotiont hittoriquM Technical ar'1 Bibliographic Notes/Notes ^^chniques et bibliographiques Th( to The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of lilming, are checked below. Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ D D D D D D Couverture endommag6e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^ et/ou pelliculAe □ Cover title missing/ Le D titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intirieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 filmies. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires; L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiquto ci-dessous. |~n Coloured pages/ D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/oi Pages restauries et/ou peiiicul^es I — I Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ y>l Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ ' Pages dicolordes, tacheties ou piqu^es I I Pages detached/ Pages ditachies Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Qualit^ inigale de I'impression Includes supplementary materit Comprend du matdriel supplimentaire Only edition available/ Seule Mition disponible PT] Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I — I Only edition available/ Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partieilement obscurcies par un feuillet d errata, une pelure. etc., ont M filmdes A nouveau de fa^on d obtenir la meilleure image possible. Th( poi of filr Orl boi thi sic oti fin ■io or Th shi Til wt Ml dif on be rig re( mi This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X >/ 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed h«r« hat bMn r«produc«d thank* to the ganarosity of: Douglas Library Quaan'a University L'axamplaira filmA f ut raproduit grAca k la gAnAroaitA da: Douglas Library Quaen's University The imagaa appearing hare are the bast quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract apacif ications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illuetrated Impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copiee are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illuatrated imprea- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impreaaion. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^- (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charta, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Thoaa too large to be entirely included In one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames aa required. The following diagrama illustrate the method: Lea imagbs suivantes ont AtA raproduites avac la plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition at da la nettet* de I'exemplaire filmA, et en conformity avac las conditions du contrat de filmage. Lea axempiairea originaux dont la couverture en papier est ImprimAe sont filmto en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la darnlAre pege qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par ie second plat, aalon le caa. Tous las autres axempiairas originaux sont filmte en commenpant par la pramlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la darnlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols y signifie 'FIN ". Les cartes, pisnches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A des taux de reduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul ciichA, il est film6 d partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en baa, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Las diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ■'i'.V . ■ I. '. 4 ;Jr ,' "il^fi ■ ■„■.,_,_?, iji-i V- - « :>':'■' ., ;i ; Ai -•^^ '.♦v <:JCX:.'',: ^■-••'Ij- - \t *'- 5' *^ ' *1 If 1 i t ,t^ . i*.:-'—*?*^^^'-^*^ . '^ 'K ' ' •;, t < * ^i ,t fSI* <:^ 5- "WlS'yv.,. "?!;; , ■V»»fl*fr^^ W** I ■V^^ "«>'«* - » >^-''*'jft»'(A» t 'A.n . ^* '^'¥«"''^1? p^" V f. Ik •-..^ lit i j', '( if "HE BEING DEAD YET 8PEA*KETH.'' A SERMON, DBklTCRBD IK ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, TORONTO, ON SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 1847, r«iiw(:»«<»«rr:TKW5.-::Jr: » < 11 SERMON. ^'•^S^^^i^^^^*^-^^*^^*^^^^/^^*^* Hebrews, xi. 4.«~*uch all )a ration len the left the ed dust, nan had ! But ? has it >h over 1 of the he dark and of like the and the body as SERMON. its future dwell inrr place again. So that with such a destiny before them, as they successively left this scene of things, departed generations may thus be truly dc^tcribed as those that are asleep. But, besides this immortality which hath been brought clearly to light, as that to which man shall finally attain, there is a sort of earnest of its reality here and 7107^, in the durability that is stamped on the fiiushe'l course of those who, themselves, have passed into the land of forgetful- nrss. They leave behind them the record of their deeds to maintain a testimony, and exercise an influence after they are gone. The very silence of the grave is expressive. It assumes a tongue which speaks in tones that reach the hfart with a softened and affecting eloquence. Who can stand by the grave of a departed friend, and feel as if nothing but the dust remained ? Arc there not there, also, the remembrances of thought which can never die ? Are there not associations of the living which refuse to be severed from the dead ? Let memory pursue its recollections ! — 'and will it not summon up scenes which seem to assume a second existence ; as in the hallowed associations of the past it presents the interesting details anew ? So that of the silent occupant of the tomb, who has gone to his rest, it may be asserted, in the language of the text, that " he being dead yet speaketh." The subject presented in the text may be considered, — Firsts with reference to the facts it proclaims ; — Secondly^ in connection with the truths it announces, or confirms by the testimony it afF>rds ; and lastly y with regard to the infiuence it is fitted to exercise. Al 6 atUMOK. "■■ • ) i i I. Let us consider the text in connection with the facts which it proclaims. As a general principle it may be asser^erl that the plainest and most convincing exponent of a fact, is its own practical exhibition or development. Description may do m?!ch in the way of presenting it in idea to the mind ; argument may enforce the probabilities connected with it; but it remains for the occurrence and illustration to set Aside every cavil, and to furnish after all the fnoi^ incontrovertible proof. The most prominertt fact to which the text refers, is thus situated :— ^the announcement was early made, ** Dust fhou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." ItwastheYoiceof God that uttered the solemn truth; "and it was thus stamped with certainty as a;n crvent that should actually happen. It was a fact, however, which, although thus attested, manliind were slow to believe ^ and which, notwithstanding alike of its certainty and of its momentoos consequences, has ever found in the human hehtt a disposition personally to disregard it. It is an event that needed the most solemn assurances ; and what assurance could be greater than its own actual occurrence? What more affecting snd convincing demonstration? Death enters the circles which friendship had bound together by the most endearing ties ; it interrupts the happiness which filled the heart of each and beamed in the countenances of all . Heralded to its work of desolation by enfeebling sickness and rbcking pain — the premonitors of the frailty of our frame — ^it completes at last its triumph over earthly hopes, and over the regrets and sympathies of human hearts, by carrying away the successive generations of our race from the activities of life, and from the homes which affection hallowed. is its own i»ERMON. The transition is a mysterious one from life to death — from the consciousness, the effort, and the enjoyment of the present scene, to the silence and solitude of the grave. But that solitude has a voice and a language of its own ; it is itself the utterance of a great truth — the memento of a fact of which it is the practical development ; it is the solemn assertion of man's mortality ! — ^the declaration and the proof that " man that is born of a woman, is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down ; he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not." It is thus that death is embodied in a tangible reality, and transmitted from age to age, as the common inheritance of man. Often as the tomb throws open its gloomy portals, to receive the continuous stream of intrants to its dai^k domains, it anew records the fact that death is man's inevitable destination ; that disposed as those may be to whom health and strength are assigned, to forget or to disregard the certainty of its approach, still the proof is continually presented in that testimony which the*departed furnish, that •* it is appointed unto men once to die." It is written as the common epitaph of all ; although, perhaps, the only thing they had in common — that they died. The decaying body, on which corruption fastens ; the grassy mound, beneath which it dissolves into its kindred dust ; the tablet, on which affection records a few incidents in the simple story of the earthly career ; all have a voice for the ear of contemplation ! And through these tokens of mortality, it is true of the occupant of the grsKve that " he being dead yet speaketh " — proclaiming the certainty that *< the earthly house of this tabernacle must be dissolved." s SERMON. But another fact is thus and thence announced : It is that this mortal is linked to immortality ; that the grave is only the valley of the shadow of death. As the toil-worn and weary lay them down at the close of the day, and are for a time wrapt in the unconsciousness of sleep, so apparently, at least in respect to the body which is laid aside at death, the weary traveller in the joui'ney of life finds a resting place for his labours in the grave. But it is a sleep which shall have an awakening. Revelation has disclosed this as a certainty — having brought life and immortality clearly to light. The fact of a resurrection from the dead, has been written on the very emblems of the corruptible ; nature had enibodied it in dark and distant analogies, as year by year she presented the varied loveliness with which she adorned the summer landscape, erewhile covered with winter's desolations ; and in the change from the withered stem to the fresh foliage and expanding blossom, there might be traced the probability of a revival from the desolations of the grave. In varied manner was this analogy presented, amid the opening beauty of the revolving year. But it is no longer left for analogy or conjecture to proclaim it, from the probable it has passed into the certain ; from being a speculation it has become a fact. Reflected from these holy oracles, the truth has penetrated the dark recesses of the tomb ; it has given to the silent occupant of that narrow house a voice which tells that ^Mhis corruptible must put on incorruption " — proclaiming as if in audible speech that death, which has triumphed over and dissolved the mortal, must itself at length yield to the immortal — as that disorganised body, which the lapse of time scatters into dust, shall be reconstructed into a living frame, when " death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed.'' Oh ! it is the triumph of the Grospel over the mortality of man; that what science could never discover, nor reason demonstrate — that the hopes which imagination could not realize, and which even affection hardly ventured to cherish — are by it clothed in an actual reality ; that the doubts which encircled the resting place where the ashes of the righteous silently repose, are dispersed by the radiance of the Sun of Righteousness ; and that the fetters of that prison-house of the dead are burst asunder by the living Paviour, who, having swallowed up death in victory, have ascended gloriously, with the laurels of His triumph, over its strength and sting. II. In addition to the facts thus announced in the manner described in the text, there is also a testimony thence borne in confirmation of certain important truths ; with regard to which it may be said of the occupant of the grave, that he " being dead yet speaketh " — proclaiming them as truths whose meaning and importance are not destroyed, but established by death. In proof of this, turn for a little to the special case to which the text refers : it was the entrance of death into the world. Thi& was the first victim whom he seized. ^ The details of that scene in which, in unnatural and fatal cruelty, the hand of brother was lifted against brother, need not be here minutely narrated. But what was the occasion of it ? Abel had presented unto God a more acceptable gift than Cain. The latter had offered the fruits of the field — so far a becoming token of thanksgiving to the God of Nature, the Father of Mercies, whose bountiful V I t ^ hand pours out in abundance the gifts which His providence aflbrds. But Abel's was the offering which became man to offer, as standing in need not only of sustenance for the body, but of mercy for the soul. His was at once the thankful heart, acknowledging its obligations for mercies received, and the penitent heart making its confession of sins committed. The sacrifice he thus offered up prefigured the great propitiation for sin ; for it was by reason of its direct reference to it, that it is said to have been "by faith that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." It seemed, indeed, as if that righteous man had gained but little by this preference of his offering, when no sooner had there been afforded a visible token of God's acceptance of it, than he became the object of a brother's implacable resentment, and at length fell a victim to his murderous blow. But going down to the grave he carried with him a testimony to the character of his offering, and a token of its acceptance, whicli death did not destroy, and could not even conceal. For he, being dead, yet speaketh of the ground of a sinner's safety as resting on the merits of Jesus, whom his sacrifice prefigured. Yes, and it is a testimony which, enlarged and explained by the clearer facts and revelations of later times, comes from the graves of all who have cherished like precious faith. This testimony was lifted in many an age by those who died in faith before the fulfilment of the promise, and by all who, under its influence, afterwards entered into their rest. The fires of persecution could not consume it — ^the lonely dungeon could not waste it. There were cruel tortures that once had to be endured for its sake : none of them all could silence the testimony for this precious truth. It dwells or the lips that are closed in death, having dwelt in the heart that* felt its happy influence ; in the lonely wilderness it lifts its voice — where the righteous have sealed their testimony with their blcod ; it lingers around the scenes where its triumphs were exhibited, when the faithful in Christ Jesus refused deliver- ance for its sake, and that they might obtain a better resui rection ; it speaks in the ear of affection in scenes of present and peaceful repose, wherever a humble believer has entered into his rest, — proclaiming as its only, and yet a sufficient, consolation to bereaved hearts, that though it demands its tribute of sorrow from the living, yet that to the departed who have finished their course and kept the faith death is gain ; that the hope which maketh not ashamed is a hope which triumphs over the grave. Mankind benefit but little in the great emergencies of life, from the energies which might be equal to the task of meeting the lesser demands of every day experience ; but which cannot face the difficulty or the danger when it comes. The seamanship which has learned only to paddle along the shore in the sunshine and the calm, but when the storms arise and the darkness settles down around, and when the necessity comes to stretch out into the deep, is thrown at once into perplexity ! Is it to such resources that in these circumstances men would willingly, or could prudently, entrust their property or their lives ? Ignorant of wliither to direct the course, or how to turn and guide the vessel — with neither chart nor compass, nor sufficient knowledge how to use I ! I ! 12 8ERMON. i 1. • them — what could be looked for as the issue of such an adventure, but the utter loss of all. There is enough of this embarking on the ocean of life, thus at a venture. The sails are set to catch the pleasant gales of wordly enjoyment. The vessel of man's hopes, freighted with the destiny of the immortal soul, is steered towards the delusive meteors that appear in the horizon — the wandering stars of human ambition ! But what and whether is the result ? There is a way that seemeth good unto a " man, but the end thereof is destruction." To make shipwreck of the interests of the soul, is the sure. and fearful destination of many a fair and apparently a prosperous voyage on the ocean of life. If there be a course which, however beset with the storms and perils of life, conducts at last to the peaceful haven of the heavenly rest, is not that the one which the highest prudence would dictate, and the most enlightened wisdom approve, and whose result would furnish its own commendation ? There are many opinions, and views, and principles, which are regarded by multitudes good enough for life to be spent under their influence ; as furnishing for man all that he needs. But tell me of those that serve for support at death, to such as properly understand their position then, and without further test these may be pointed to as the truth : — " the truth as it is in Jesus ; " the truth which the believer receives as a living principle within him, and whereby he is sanctified ; the truth which however illustrated during life, has its test and triumph on the bed of sickness and of death ; the truth which receives a testimony to its certainty and value, even from the silent grave of those who r:l died in faith ! — so that of its blessed results the believer ** being dead yet speaketh." Imagine the graves of earth's buried generations — as in figure they may be r^arded — ^thus endowed with the faculty of giving utterance to the results of the completed experience of life. How varied the expression! 'hi it the resting place of one who had known life only as a scene for the pursuit, or the possession of worldly prosperity; who had abundance of this world's good things— the riches, the honours, the enjoym^ts of this life ; or, who spent his days only in seeking them, but who had paid no attention to the pursuit of the riches which neither moth nor rust can corrupt ? Would not that grave tell of the utter worthlessness of all that was possessed in the absence of that which was disregarded ? Would not its testimony be a positive and ready resiponse to that searching question :^-^" What doth it profit a man, though he shmild gain the Whole world and lose his own soul ? " Yes ! What doth it profit him ? Is the testimony greatly dissimilar which would come from the completed course of the votary of any, or of all that pertains merely to this world ? Does it not proclaim that all the glory of man is as the fiower of the grass ? But listen to the response which comes from the grave, where the righteous repose in peace. If rightly interpreted it is just the truth which this word conveys, as it tells how the "wicked was driven away in his wickedness, but the righteous had hope in his death." It shows how religion, which iorn^pd the stay of the believer during his earthly pilgrimage, leaves the radiance of hope around his tomb ; it B ! I. :i gives a voice to the very emblems of mortality which says, that ** precious in the Lord's sight is the death of his saints." That to him their very dust is dear, ** that for such as thus depart in faith there is in store the resurrection unto life, the new song, the entrance into the new Jerusalem, the palm of victory, the white robe, the ceaseless services, and the unfading crown of glory ! '* In the language which revelation has given it, that voice proclaims how this is the good part which shall not be taken away ; it tells how safety was found in Christ, when there was none else to alFord it ; that even though the path might lie through manifold temptations, and the tried believer had to pass through great tribulation, still the end was worthy of it all — worth the seeking, worth the having, worth the parting with all else in order to possess it ; for these ** light afflictions which are but for a moment, work out a far more exceeding, even an eternal, weight of glory." III. The text may also be considered with regard to the influence which the testimony it refers to, is fitted to exert on us, to whom it comes. We have seen what that testimony is, and how it vindicates the career of the righteous. Ought that voice to be unheeded and that testimony disregarded ? You have only to realize the actual state of the case, in the truths that are thus proclaimed from the silent grave, and the circumstances in which they are uttered, to be convinced that this voice — this testimony not only may exercise such influence, but ought to do so ; and that it shall assuredly do so, w+ien its important announcements are fully pondered and adequately felt. Does experience furnish no instance of mankind leaving behind at voice to lis voice — them an influence which tells upon their fellow men after they, themselves, are gone ? The influence which mind has upon mind, in giving origin or modification to the opinions of another mind, is not dependent for the permanence of its effect on the continuance of the original circum- stances connected with their formation. The reception of the truths thus communicated and of the instruction thus afforded, or the doubts which are thus raised, and the scepticism thus awakened, are mental or moral results which, after they have been produced in the individual receiving these impressions, do not necessarily require for their duration the presence of those by whom they were originally imparted. A single interview, a casual expression — ^much more the deliberate and ofl repeated sentiments impressed upon our minds in the intercourse of life, especially by those whom we respect and whose opinions we value — may thus have an enduring influence on our entire course thereafter. Distance may have separated us from them, or death may have ren- dered it impossible that they should ever meet with us again, but memory may have treasured up the " thoughts that breathe and words that burn ; *' and the opinions that they were instrumental in forming in our minds, or the views they were the means of developing, may be the very views and opinions we cherish still. Thus furnishing the proof that it is a matter of supreme importance to exercise care as to the individual with whom we associate, and that we ought to be scrupulous as to the character and tendency of the principles and opinions of those whom we admit to an influence over us ; whilst it furnishes, also, a practical illustration of the text, vilih regard to the influence imparted from the grave,-—** He being dead yet speaketh." But should memory prove treacherous, and these impressions be evanescent, or should we never have been admitted to a living intercourse with those from whom these sentiments proceeded, still there are other ways in which their influence may come to us. Thoughts, sentiments, opinions, principles — ^fitted to" benefit or injure — may be committed to the press and published to the world ; they extend to a wider circle than the voice which uttered them could reach; and they receive a quality of continuance which thus actually gives them an intiuence op the course of far future generations. Individuals, who are separated by intervening centuries, may in this manner hold converse with each other : the dead to give, and the living to receive, the views thus imparted. Our minds in this manner may be admitted to a communion with the minds of those whose lips have long been silent in the dust, or whom we had never seen face to face, for " they being dead yet speak " to us. Is it a book that was meant and fitted to unsettle the faith of men, and to instil into their minds the most dangerous principles, such as infidelity or immorality has not unfrequenily fur- nished; adorned it maybe with many graces of fancy, but only the better adapted on that account to disguise the poison and betray the unwary into its reception? It cannot be recalled from that publicity and perpetuity it has received. It was not written under sense of the fear of the Lord, nor under the influence of the world to come. Oh ! if these had been regarded it should never have seen the light. But, how tremendous the respon. sibility, not only to go heedlessly to the region of darkness and despair, but to drag others towards the same destruction, thus to pollute hearts that had otherwise been pure, and to destroy hopes that might else have been cherished ; to bring into the happy homes of youths who were under the training of pious parents, in the ways of wisdom, that mental poison which blights the early promise ; and in the moral desolation it leaves behind, presents a fearful spectacle of how men ** being dead can yet speak " to mislead and to destroy. But the subject, in this view of it, has its bright side also. You find it in the sacred efTusions of the faithful dead, who before their departure gave forth the lessons of a wisdom they had learned from above. It might be the pious hymn which the lips of little children, thus brought to Christ, were taught to utter — and in uttering which imbibed the first lessons of their faith ; or them- selves received the bent which formed the current and character of their lives ; or it might be reason's noblest tribute to the truth, in rising to the height of some great argument which prostrated the cham- pions of infidelity, and " justified the ways of Grod to man.'' It might be the simple biography of the pious dead, which guided and comforted succeeding travellers in the heavenly course — as it pointed out to them the way in which they might be followers of those who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises. Or there might be nothing more than the recollection of the work of faith, and labour of love, of those whom you have yourselves known in the fiesh, and who$e completed course you can now contemplate, as, amid the associations Bl 18 BEEMON. which hallow these remembrances, you hear how "they being dead yet speak'' to you. Instances there may be in which both precept and example were pressed upon the attention with all the earnestness of affectionate concern for the welfare of those who wrre thus souffht to be led in the ways of wisdom ; and yet these instructions, when given through the living voice, and that pattern while presented in the daily department, may have been ineffectual for the production of such a result. Still, when death has silenced that voice, and terminated that mortal career, there may come from the grave an influence which operates more effectually through the remembrance. It may be witnessed in some such scene as this — of which the world's history may furnish many an instance : An aged mother, whose chief care and comfort in her lonff widowhood had been the training of her son in the fear of the Lord ; for a while her pious solicitude was successful, or seemed to be so, and she looked forward to the future career of that child of her many prayers, as to be such as should gladden her heart and become the stay of her declining years. But, alas ! other influences bog an to assail him ; — temptation came and he did not shun it, wicked companions led him astray ; — a bad book fell in his way, unsettled his faith, and completed the dispersion of the fear of the Lord from his heart. The precepts of that parent were forgotten, her affectionate entreaties were no longer heeded. He broke the ties that once were binding, and away from the restraints of that little house- hold—of which he might have been the hope and stay — he entered on a career of folly which brought down the gray hairs of that parent with sorrow to the grave. But perhaps he is arrested z» m in his course of guilt I y the hand of sickness : reflection is then forced upon him ; other days rush into his memory, with thoughts of that onoe peaceful and happy home, and revived remem- brances of that aged parent then no more, and of the lessons of piety she had taught him. They give a voice to her silent grave, and to her scat- tered dust, and to her own pious example, which reaches the heart in commendation of wisdom's ways with a more subduing eloquence than her living toneue could utter — '< She being dead yet speaketh. Oh ! there are many ways in which a happy influence for God and truth survives the perishable circumstances in which it originated. Tell me, ye who have had the benefit of that domestic training in the lessons of the gospel, which was wont to be the glory of our native land, have you not felt it in many cherished recollections of 'other days, which even the business of life, and perhaps a rough collision with the world have not obliterated from your hearts? Some circumstance of the passing hour may send back the thoughts of bygone events and youthful scenes that are still encircled with a hallowed influence. The quiet Sabbath evenings, when the public serivces of the house of prayer were ended ; the assembled household, where the instructions of the sanctuary were followed up by the pious admonitions around the domestic hearth ! The family circle in which these things were ^ont to be may long since have been broken up — its members separated from each other by distance or by death. But may not the survivors have caught the spirit and carried with them the remembrance of these departed things ? r 1 • '™- Such scenes are green and sunny spots in the memory of other years, on which the mind, in its most devout frame, may often since have loved to repose, and to which the thoughts may still revert to gather benefit from the contemplation, when the testimony which thus comes from departed scenes, and individuals, and events, is one that speaks for God and truth — for the duties, the hopes, the verities of religion. Oh ! happy is the influence thus imparted — blessed the results that flow from it ! It may not be able to contend with the louder calls of the world, or be heard above the turmoil of its contentions ; but in the quiet hour of conC , iplation, when the mind is in a devout frame, its "still, small enters the ear and impresses on the fleshy voice » tablet of the heart some precious truths, whose influence may afterward be felt — and never but for the better — in many a time of need during the pilgrimage of life. It is thus that the record of the faith and patience of the saints exists after they are gone, to influence the cause of far future genera- tions — thus that their mantle falls as they ascend, to impart to others the graces of their example — thus that the hopes which dwell on their dying lips are not lost in their expiring breath, but survive their entrance into rest ; so that, though dead, they yet speak to us of those things in which they finished their course and kept the faith, and left an example that we should follow their steps. Listen, then, to the admonition thus addressed to you. Be followers of those who through faith and patience are inheriting the promises. The memory of their achievements in the faith dwells upon the earth. The indestructible elements of their history survive. They compass you about '• SERMON. 21 as a great cloud of witnesses, and summon yoi- *o the race of faith and patience. Animated by their example, and faithfully treading in their steps — so far as they followed Christ — be it yours to finish your course and keep the faith, and enter at last on the enjoyment of the rest which remains for the people of God. \ The subject in illustration of which these remarks have been offered, has a direct bearing on the circumstances in which I address you. Death has once more entered the circle of this congrega- tion. An Elder of this Church has been called hence. The first breach has been made in the Session so recently appointed to have the oversight of its spiritual affairs. In ordinary circumstances, the Church of our fathers does not deem it advis- able that, from her pulpits, public and pointed notice should be taken, whether of the living or of the dead, rightly judging that this is not the place for lauding either, and lest the practice should prevail to an undue interference with that which should be our constant theme — Christ Jesus, and him crucified. But the removal by death of an office-bearer in the Church, breaks a tie of a solemn and sacred kind, between a departed brother and us who remain, which gives with reference to us as a congregation a prominence to an event, with which as individuals we may all sympathize, and that calls for the tribute which, from this place, I would pay to his memory. He has been removed from amongst us — a pilgrim has reached the close of his mortal career — a believer has laid aside the burden of the earthly tabernacle — a Christian, we trust, is with his God ! What he was as a man and a member of the community. his upright and honourable life of strict integrity furnished the evidence. What he was in the more intimate relationships of life, and within the circle which affection hallows by a separation from the public gaze, there are amongst you bereaved hearts which can bear the most unequivocal testi- mony — as they sorrow for this, " that they shall see hiii face no more." Within the privacy of these sorrows, with which we all sympathize, I would not unnecessarily intrude ; and yet, if any- thing might give consolation and submission in the midst of them, it may well be the strong confidence v/hich may be entertained, that " absent from the body he is present with the Lord ; " nor may it be denied to sorrowing survivors to seek comfort in the reflection, that " what is their loss may be his gain." I am persuaded, that none who saw our departed friend in his last illness, and marked the patient resignation with which he bore his protracted sufferings of no common severity, yet without a murmur, but must have felt it was not so much the fortitude of a manly heart rising above its sufferings, as the humble submission of a heart which divine grace had touched, and renderoi obedient to the will of God, in its readiness to sufTer whatever He should send. His death-bed was emphatically one of peace ; and the peculiar feature of his religion was its deep humility, not venturing on any boastful declaration of its strength and assurance, but content with feeling and asserting his hope and trust in his God and Saviour, who giveth grace unto the humble. In him was pre-eminently exhibited, not so much the speculative as the practical of religion — an H m SERMON. 28 evidence of how the religion of Jesus, as a living principle in the heart, is pre-eminently adapted for that great emergency — the close of life. His lips uttered it as he spake of the hope titat was in him. His whole deportment confirmed it; and now, that his voice is silenced so that its living testimony can no longer fall upon the ear, now that the tomb has closed over all that was mortal of him whom we are no longer to behold in the flesh, still " he being dead yet speaketh." From the silent grave he speaks to us the lesson that death inevitably awaits us all — that over us too the grave shall at last close — for us the mourners shall go about the streets ; and to every one o^us there comes the warning, "Be ye als) ready ; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." From that grave he speaketh of the great value of religion, as furnishing the best, the only preparation for a dying hour — and how that religion which presents to the weary and heavy laden a relief from the burden of their sins, in Christ Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, our propitiation with the Father, our advocate and intercessor at the right hand of God — how the religion which furnishes such hopes to man is the only one that can then be valuable; but at the same time proclaiming how, in order to be of avail, it must be received as a living, practical principle into the heart — to guide our views — to direct our hopes — to develop itself in the duties of faith, and patience, and the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Think you that such having been the testimony of his life, and such the tesli- mony uttered from his grave, it would be different — save perhaps in the intensity with which it would be uttered— were he now to give it from amid the actual realities of the world of spirits, whence it would be the testimony, not of faith, but of vision— nor of hope, but of possession und actual experience. " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the *heart of man, the things which God hath in store for them that love him.'' He " being dead yet speaketh " to admonish us of present duties, that we bo up and doing whilst it is called to-day. It is a voice of warning to the wayward and such as neglect the great salvation— a voice of encouragement to the humble believer— a voice which proclaims that it is not in matters of mere ecclesiastical organization, nor in points of doubtful disputation, but in humble faith and active piety, that the true character of the believer is to be found. And, if I may further refer to that office which he held amongst us, and to the circumstances in which he assumed it, Iwould say that, distinguish- ing between the excitement of party and zeal for the honour df Christ — knowing as he did that assertion is not always equivalent to fad, even though conscientiously made by those who imagined they were doing God service by their denunciations — ^> attachment to the Church of his fathers was not shaken. In the day of her tribulation he stood firmly by her, "When bitter things were wont to be unjustly said against her. Hence, though he hesitated on account of his humble estimate of his own fitness, to undertake the office of a Ruling Elder in this Church, he hesitated not from any doubt as to her true scriptural position. And in undertaking that office at a time when the love of many was waxing cold towards the venerable Church of their fathers, he thus gave the weight of his convictions and of his character to the integrity of her position as a Church of the Lord Jesus, and died in her communion. If I venture thus to allude to that part of his course, it is not for the purpose of casting blame on such as were constrained, by what they considered to be the calls of duty, to act a different part, but to confirm those who followed his example, and to hold up the testimony which in this respect " he being dead yet speaketh." Brethren, a solemn call is addressed unto us all this day, that we gird up the loins of our minds, and have our lamps burning as becomes those who wait for the coming of their Lord. For the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. You cannot tell when the summons shall reach your- selves — whether in the dawn of youth, should that be yours — or in the noonday of manhood's strength, in which you may now rejoice — or in the evening of age, whose admonishing shadow may now be gathering around you. Be ye therefore ready also, for at an hour when ye think not the Son of Man cometh. And, oh ! if you would hope to find comfort theiif seek the Lord while he may be found. Let yours be the religion of the heart and life, if you would have it available as your hope in death ; so that, being thus followers of those who through faith and patience are now inheriting the promises, you may depart in peace when your summons comes ; and in the holy influence which in such a case you shall leave behind, over you also, in a happy sense, it may be said with reference to your example to those who remain, " He being dead yet speaketh.'" cl >» ' I I ' . '* V This Sermon having been printed without the Author^s knowledge and supervision, from his manuscript as prepared for the pulpit, several errors of the press have crept in, the more im- portant of which are corrected in the following table of ERRATA. Page 4, line 26, /or "evening of man" reatf "enemy of man'* 9, 14, /or " have" read " hath" 12, 10, for « wheiher" read " whither" 15, 31, for " individual" read " individuals" 16, 28, for " furnished ;" read » furnished 1" 16, 31, for " reception 1" read " reception." 16, 33, for " under sense" read '< under a sense" 17, 22, for " lives ; or it" read " lives. Or it" 18, 19, for " department" read " deportment" 29, 23, /or "of" read "to" 20, 5, " When" (with a capital W) begins a new sentence, which is to be continued to the end of the tenth line. 20, 21, for " cause" read " course" y '# ;«»!■. 4 ^^;^^f>;: '^.%m '^'.'^k^ mi ''W' ^m^ ", t".ii$i, • -v*^ '^%M' m-ni- "isjr^ i! ^1fe%'< '^mm'^ M\M .# |i '«'" ^^m^ ' ■^'VS '^^M 4f:-'" *t a^ m isV «^*- '■ M- ■-^■: '( ■ ■ynjavy ■ -3: :«ia: wK-"-r.Tg.T.g * -gvr aa Rag R 'T».t a i* !Kj Mi w.i , , * -"r*-*- I t^-*'j^;k^, »*4 - \\ ^v«*t| *>"^^.iv \ g»r ■:_' ' ■ ■' :,i{t '^:l f^tfi,^^^^ ';.v,.«tt. .v; I^SS^^C^ It -V l0*at i ■^^.^^^xk-m"^ Si li •;i i'\ "mM. .# (■; .m M 1 .^M''/y'^-' 1 ^ vi^M ■ ■ ^^■ i • ^ij?v '^1 ■ ■ '^^ •^ ^x^s^Ui M '•••:\'^^M- ■•'■•^ •^'•^ v4i ' --^ '^'MM M r^ ^': ,. m ■ ^ , ^.•,i>#' ■'■ ,■ "' ■':; t >--ii-fe- ; : ' V -i^ ,i*v ; M' This Sermon having been printed without the Author^s knowledge and supervision, from his manuscript as prepared for the pulpit, several errors of the press have crept in, the more im- portant of which are corrected in the following table of ERRATA. Page 4, line 26, /or "evening of man" read "enemy of man" 9, 14, for " have" read " hath" 12, 10, for " whether" read " whither" 15, 31, for ** individual" read " individuals" 16, 28, for " furnished ;" read " furnished 1" 16, 31, for " reception 1" read " reception." 16, 33, /or " under sense" read " under a sense" 17, 22, for " lives ; or it" read " lives. Or it" 18, 19, for " department" read " deportment" 29, 23, for " of" read *« to" 20, 5, " When" (with a capital W) begins a new sentence, which is to be continued to the end of the tenth line. 20, 21, for " cause" read " course" - i'