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diff --git a/old/64716-0.txt b/old/64716-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 72c212b..0000000 --- a/old/64716-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1038 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Farewell Sermon, by Joseph Holden Pott - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: A Farewell Sermon - delivered on Sunday, October 23, A.D. 1842, at the Parish Church of St. Mary Abbotts, Kensington - - -Author: Joseph Holden Pott - - - -Release Date: March 6, 2021 [eBook #64716] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FAREWELL SERMON*** - - -Transcribed from the 1842 J. G. F. & J. Rivington edition by David Price. - - - - - - A - FAREWELL SERMON, - - - DELIVERED - - ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, A.D. 1842, - - AT THE PARISH CHURCH OF - - ST. MARY ABBOTTS, KENSINGTON. - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - BY THE VEN. - ARCHDEACON POTT, M.A. - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - PRINTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE PARISHIONERS. - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - LONDON: - PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON, - ST. PAUL’S CHURCH YARD, - AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. - - * * * * * - - 1842. - - * * * * * - - TO - THE PARISHIONERS - OF - THE PARISH OF KENSINGTON, - - THE FOLLOWING DISCOURSE, - - WITH EVERY FERVENT PRAYER FOR THEIR WELFARE, - - IS INSCRIBED, - - BY THEIR FAITHFUL - - AND AFFECTIONATE SERVANT, - - J. H. POTT. - - - - - - - - A FAREWELL SERMON, &c. - - - ECCLES. iii. 1. - - “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under - the heaven.” - -WHEN time draws on to a close with us, the last opportunities should be -carefully regarded and applied to some such purpose as may show what has -been the chief aim and the main design of past endeavours. - -A sad thing it would be, indeed, if the last portion of our time were to -be reserved for some single effort: for who can accomplish at one step -that which a daily progress only can effect? - -They who enjoyed long lives of old time, indulged, it must be owned, in -some complaints which showed more of the weakness of our common nature, -than of that proficiency for which the loan of life, whatever may be the -term of its duration, is bestowed. The good king Hezekiah poured his -lamentation, when it should seem he had much cause to be contented with -what God had wrought for him in his day. He called that “the cutting off -his days,” which it may be thought he might have met with more -complacency of mind, from the contemplation of the benefits which God had -enabled him to procure for Israel: but if there was any token of -infirmity in this, it was coupled with a pious mind, and the suit was -therefore heard and granted. If David, too, seems sometimes querulous in -his pleas for the enlargement of his days, yet he added a good and -becoming reason for it, that he might show the power of God to that -generation in which his eventful lot was cast, and make it known to those -who were to come. - -But we may remark in general, that we do not form a right judgment of the -Providence of God, if at any time we speak with disparagement of the term -of human life, as too short for the accomplishment of things which form -its proper end. We should consider, rather, that in all cases the gift -of life is made capable of some sufficient share of the mercies and -salvation of the Lord. It becomes so for all who partake a common -nature, where they put no impediment to the current and communication of -Divine Grace. Let us weigh this point with care: it has a seasonable -application at this moment, since it will prevent undue regrets when any -portion of the loan of life may cease to serve the purposes to which it -may have been conducive whilst the season for its exercise endured. - -If, then, it is the child who is called hence to an early grave, he goes -with the seal of grace upon him; and what was wanting here, the bud, the -blossom, and the ripened cluster, will thrive in a happier soil, and -flourish in a more propitious climate. The thread of life, which, in -this case, was so soon severed from the parent’s bosom, was fastened to -the throne of heaven, and death has no power to dissolve it. The -Conqueror of Satan, who brought life and immortality to light, will not -exclude those little ones, whom He once called into his presence, from -the rescued train of countless multitudes who shall hear that glad word -of introduction, “Behold, I and the children whom God hath given me.” -The privileges of the Gospel stood pledged to them in this life to render -their change blessed to themselves, and to leave that consolation, in the -day of sorrow, for surviving friends. - -If the call hence comes in somewhat of maturer years, though still in the -days of youth, the young man will have lived long enough to have learned -the rudiments of saving knowledge, and to have practised the first -lessons of Christian faith and Christian duty; and thus the best end for -which the loan of life was given, will have found that happy earnest of -its future fulness. - -If, again, the thread of life shall have been continued to later periods -of its course, no doubt the opportunities for all those advantages to -which life can minister, will render it at all times a blessing and a -boon. Nor will you wonder, in comparing the longer with the shorter term -of life, that the suit of supplicating parents in our Lord’s days, -whether for the child or for the youth, was so often granted by a -restoration to a more protracted term of life. You will not wonder that -our Blessed Lord should so mark the value of the life which now is, and -its connexion, by a right improvement of it, with the life of glory. We -are bound, indeed, to bless God for all the dispensations of his hand, -for they all serve for good; but we must not reverse the language, not of -natural feeling only, but of more just conceptions of the purposes for -which life is given, or be led to think that death is the boon, and that -a return to this life could be no blessing. When did our Lord make that -answer to the mourner’s suit? or when did He reprove the tears and -sorrows of survivors with that cold reply? So little ground is there, -among the singularities of dress and manners in which some have placed so -much of their religion, for refusing to put on the mourning weed for the -departed. There is but a single instance in the Sacred Volume of a -prohibition so enjoined; and then it was designedly portentous, denoting -the last extremity to which offences had grown up in Israel, and the -punishments which were to follow. - -If now the term of life runs on, and the seasons are prolonged, old age -comes forward, and not without its burdens and privations. Will you -plead here with old Barzillai, to whom David gave a gracious invitation, -to mark the sense he entertained of the value of past services, proposing -that he should return with him when he was restored from exile, and -brought back in peace and honour to Jerusalem? The old man’s answer was -not entirely the most proper and becoming: “and Barzillai said unto the -king, Can thy servant taste what I eat, or what I drink? can I hear any -more the voice of singing-men or singing-women? Wherefore, then, should -thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?” But Barzillai, if -this was ill spoken, showed a prudent spirit in what followed, for he -puts in a prompt plea for his son: “Behold,” said he, “thy servant -Chimham; let him go with my lord the king, and do with him what shall -seem good unto thee.” Now David might, no doubt, have replied, “I want -you for the council-board, where your sage experience may yield me better -service than this youth can furnish.” But David had a due regard to the -privileges of descent, and to the preference to be shown to the children -of deserving parents who may spend their lives in the service of their -country, and frequently can find no reward in this life, but in the -persons of surviving children. It is the plain stamp of barbarism which -rests upon those governments which do not recognize this principle, and -where the hand of power makes one only testament for the frail possessor -after all his services. David formed a different judgment; he accepted -Barzillai’s tender of his son; he followed the same course which he had -pursued with poor Mephibosheth, the son of the princely, noble-minded -Jonathan, who preferred the known will of God, and his love to David, to -the crown of one who had incurred the forfeiture of what he had so -ill-sustained. David placed Mephibosheth at his own board, although he -could neither serve him in the field, nor attend him in his exile. The -first order made upon the king’s return, after receiving Mephibosheth’s -excuse, was to confirm to him the grant which had before been made in his -behalf. - -Thus have we traced the several stages of the life of man, and in each of -them we have found that life might be a blessing, and the ground of every -blessing; and that God, ever gracious, ever merciful, might crown with -some word of benediction the closing days of each such term or period of -the life of man, just as He did the six glorious days of the creation. -The morning and the evening (for so we reckon time) were followed by a -solemn benediction, but with a special blessing for the Sabbath-day, the -crown of all that stupendous work, the day sanctified by the Creator’s -rest; the day claimed for Himself, with a marked reserve, such as the -true Proprietor of all that He had made, and of all the bounties which -distinguished man’s first abode in Paradise, was pleased to attach to one -tree in the garden, by which the first pair might be reminded of the -homage due to God, and might fulfil it by a strict regard to his -commandment. - -The Sabbath-day! With what joy must its regular returns have been hailed -in the first scenes of an unblemished world; and how good and gracious -was the Author of that first hallowed institution, so that in the day of -forfeiture, not only was the first pledge of salvation given, but the -welcome respite from increasing labours by returning Sabbaths was -continued. It had no limitation or exception in its first appointment, -nor should we presume to put such; much less was there any intimation -given in that hour that the appointment of this day, with its solemn -benediction, was but an anticipated notice of the Jewish Sabbath, -together with what was indeed peculiar to it, when, after long -intermissions or neglects, it was revived. Can we think that when “for -every thing there is a season,” there was to be none more especially -provided, in all times, for religious observation? and that, too, when -the Sovereign Lord had set his seal to such provision, without one word -which could affect its perpetuity? Accordingly we find a set time for -religious exercises mentioned in that new scene of discipline and trial -to which man was removed; for, indeed, he was not cast out as an alien -and an enemy, a wanderer and a wretch. - -In this hour of closure for my pastoral care among you, it may not be -unseasonable to advert to things which have found their turns in hours of -teaching and persuasion. Let me then entreat you to remember those first -acts of grace, the early grounds of good hope, which made life itself, -with all its seasons, a blessing, and, if rightly husbanded, the -seed-plot of all blessings to the sons of men. Nothing but a new -apostasy could destroy that hope, when the term of life was continued -where it might have been cut short, in which case the human race would -have been extinguished, and that triumph would have been given to the -common foe to God and man. Nothing but a new apostasy from God would -render man, in his state of promised rescue and encouragement and in the -new term of his probation, an enemy to God. Before that horrible -desertion from his worship, the Most High made his visit to the -patriarchal altar, and gave that memorable declaration of his will, “If -thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” The ground was laid in -purpose and effect for that acceptance; and surely the assurance thus -added was not for one family. - -Thus there is a Sabbath still set apart for a welcome day of rest, and -for religious exercises; a day, the joy of which I have so often shared -with you in these happy seasons of religious worship and communion. -Remember the well-timed distinctions which He who was Lord also of the -Sabbath-day, as the partner of his Father’s glory, prescribed for the -right observance of the day, divesting it of its legal strictness and -peculiarities, and still more protecting it, by an open vindication of -its essential objects, from Jewish scruples and from Jewish -superstitions. - -O look well to the duties of the Christian Sabbath! We want no -traditionary warrant for its transfer to the glad day of the Redeemer’s -resurrection. The Scriptures furnish plain and indubitable vestiges of -that change. Look well to its salutary obligations, bound upon us by the -twofold cogency of precept and example. - -Remember who it was, who, after the scene of his ministerial labours, -kept his last Sabbath in the grave, and crowned with perpetual glory the -day of his triumphant resurrection. Well might that day become not only -the day of rest from labour, but a day of gladness and release from -worldly cares and occupation, and, above all, the happy emblem of a rest -from every evil work, a respite from a bondage worse than that of servile -Egypt, a rest too from the galling yoke and ruling power of sin, which is -the privilege of faith. - -Among such topics as may now claim a seasonable repetition, I may again -remind you how much it behoves us, in consulting the written word, the -rule of faith and duty, to avoid all partial views, by which restriction -one truth would exclude another; or, what is worse, a wrong conclusion -may be joined with what is only true in some respects, and both the truth -and the fallacious inference may thus gain currency together. The -neglect of this rule has brought more strifes and divisions into the -Christian world than almost any thing that can be named. Take an -instance if you think fit; there is more joy when that which is lost is -found again, than for that which was never lost. This is true in that -respect; but will you strain the matter farther, and say that the -recovered sheep is of more worth than the whole flock to which it is -restored? Will you say that the piece of silver which was missing, and -when found creates much joy on that account, outweighs all that the -purse, from whence it dropped, contained? Will you say, that the -pardoned son, who returns to the right path by a true repentance, and -fills his father’s heart with well placed and unwonted joy, is in all -respects to be preferred to the son who never left the right path from an -early day? The forgiving father’s answer will convict that -misconception:—“Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is -thine.” If the elder brother may be thought to have lost his preference, -it could only be because of his envious temper and his ill-timed -remonstrance. In avoiding partial views and misapplications of what is -true, the more numerous and more general and plainer testimonies, and -those which admit but of one construction, will be the guiding light for -reconcilement and consistency—not for preference, for that would still be -but a partial view. - -I may here add a necessary caution (oftentimes suggested, for it -frequently proves needful), to give heed to the native idioms or forms of -speech, which were in use, and rightly understood, by those to whom the -word of treaty and persuasion was first addressed. The use of learned -pains will thus appear, as well as of every method of right reasoning in -the study of the sacred Scriptures, the rule of faith and duty for which -we have to bless God daily. - -I may now touch upon the best and only safe ground of trust which we have -to take in any season of review, when past portions of our lives are -recalled to our consideration. We may look, now, to the hope of pardon, -and allowance for things done amiss, or things left undone; and blessed -be God that ground has been laid, or who could stand in judgment in the -last account? Certainly not the boastful and punctilious Pharisee; -certainly not those who have keener eyes for the faults of others than -for their own defects. Excellent are the words of our Lord’s apostle, -and now most seasonable in their application; thus he marks it for a -ruling principle of charity, that it “thinketh no evil,” and is not, -therefore, apt to censure or condemn. - -It is but in some respects, that we can speak well of those whom we are -least inclined to censure, and most ready to regard with favour;—and with -that remark I shall fairly take leave of what concerns myself in this day -of valediction. - -But I am well aware that the season of departure from accustomed scenes -of duty is a proper season for advice, and to this last tribute of -sincere affection and regard, I will now address myself. - -We stand much for authority, for rights of station, and the sacred -warrant of the pastoral commission—and we do well, for without them there -would be no order in the world, no joint progress in a common path; no -peace, no security. When every man in Israel did what was right in his -own eyes, and nothing by direction or consent, it was a day of trouble -and disaster, of ruin and confusion. They who will own no guide in the -way they have to tread, had need be well acquainted with the road. - -It would be well if such men, who despise all guides, would be content to -go alone—but was it ever so seen in all the world? Are not such the men -who strive most eagerly to press others into their train from all -quarters where they can obtrude themselves and spread their pestilent -opinions, and lay their destructive snares? - -But the rules of pastoral advice derive their obligation from the -simplest forms of truth; were it otherwise, how would they meet the -varied calls for choice and resolution which come forward in the course -of human life? If the truth itself has no special period for the height -and measure of its growth in human breasts, yet it has for its perpetual -standard God’s own eternal attributes. In those perfections of the -Deity, the sure test of truth is established. Our Lord’s apostle takes -this ground; “He that cometh to God, must believe that he is;”—and -observe what follows, “and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently -seek him;”—in which two particulars, the existence of God, and the -never-failing characters of truth, wisdom, equity, and goodness in such -expressions of his favour, the sure foundations of his moral government -are laid, as well as the sum of every moral and religious obligation. -This appears in all the articles of faith, and in all the acts of duteous -service; it appears in all that God hath done for us in the great work of -our redemption more especially, and in all that he requires of us in -order to a future recompense. - -Let no vicissitude in things by which men are tried, but with a sure -refuge under all events for the dutiful, tempt you for a moment to forget -that the “ways of God are equal:” it was his own challenge to backsliding -Israel, and the last result will not fail to confirm it. Let no light -conceit at any time induce you to suppose that the great truths, upon -which the hope of our salvation is built, may be regarded as things -indifferent, for which another season may be found; or that such things, -with all their convincing proofs and trains of evidence, are placed -beyond our reach. Can we think that our Lord’s word is not verified, -that, “Wisdom should be justified of her children?” And with respect -more particularly to disingenuous pleas of difficulty, do we find the -rules of faith and duty things so hard to be ascertained? Have we no -sufficient traces of them in the light of conscience; in the bright -tokens and communications of God’s own grace and solemn declarations, in -the powers of right discrimination, without which there could be no -reasonable choice of any thing that best deserves our compliance? Have -we not (blessed be God!) the sacred, never-erring Word, which has been -written for our learning, and for our sure direction in all things -needful to salvation? - -It is much to be observed, in such general statements, that the Apostles -of our Lord never failed to add to their reasonings with Jew or Gentile, -scribe or sophist, such comprehensive testimonies of the grounds of faith -and the fruits of holiness in those who continue true to their -engagement, as will leave no room for uncertain tests or bold opinions, -for endless fluctuations in the mind and conduct, with doubts and -difficulties of our own creating. It is true, that in the revelations of -God’s will there are things which no human faculties, or even those of -the purest of created beings in the realms of light, could penetrate, -until the Most High so graciously revealed them,—things which relate to -his own Essence, with his purposes and counsels for the redemption of -mankind; but is it so hard to understand that when all was forfeited, God -should send a Saviour from the throne of glory to become the new Head of -mankind, by taking flesh, and in that nature, which He by his Divine -prerogative had power to assume, to fulfil all that wherein our common -sire had failed? Was not this a nobler exercise of Divine wisdom, than -the creating a new race, and leaving that triumph to the common foe to -God and man, that one such race was lost? Is it so hard to be -understood, that to vindicate the credit of God’s Holy Law, there should -be one sufficient satisfactory atonement, one sacrifice never more to be -repeated or renewed? or that, by the prevailing intercession of the same -Divine Redeemer, the gates of Heaven should be set wide to a rescued -race, whose own exertions should from thenceforth be well employed, in -spite of all the force and all the artifices of the common adversary? -The glory of Divine grace is thus exalted, when the first gifts of God -are again directed to their proper ends. To raise children unto Abraham -of the stones of the desert, had been, no doubt, an easy task to the -Almighty; but would it have served so highly to his glory, as the -preservation and recovery of the first formed race? Is it so hard to -perceive how signally the conspiring attributes of God, his justice, -truth, and mercy, were thus illustrated and made to meet together in that -work of redemption, which was accomplished in Christ Jesus? Does it -require much scope of argument or pains of study to enable us to see, -that to redeem mankind was an object no less worthy of Divine -interposition, than to create them from the first? - -Again, could we safely remain strangers (as some would gladly seem to do) -to the several branches of all moral obligations, when they have been -confirmed anew, and drawn out into manifest example, and set before us so -expressly for our imitation, in our Lord’s own life? - -St. Paul’s brief enumeration of faith, hope, and charity, forms the sum -of what in other places he sets forth with a large detail of things -required of us, all serving to the same end and intent: only, remember -carefully what that end is,—it is not the same for which Christ wrought -and suffered, and He only could sustain; yet is it the “reasonable -service,” or “living sacrifice of the whole man,” which is required, in -order not only to our own improvement, which could not thrive without it, -but in order to a promised recompense, which, together with the freedom -of the Gospel state, were procured for us at so rich a cost. The ransom -paid, the heritage obtained, by one only righteous Mediator, how widely -do they differ from the promised recompense for the faithful and sincere! -and yet how consistent are these things in their whole effect! There is -one judgment-seat for both, and one form of judicial sentence, though in -different respects, is applied to both; but how different is the language -in which the same Apostle speaks of each. There is no need to call in -the suffrage of a fellow-witness to correct his view, for both he and his -fellow-witness, when they speak of the same things, use the same -language, and declare the same consistent judgment. - -And what, then, is our Lord’s compendious draft of things required of us -in the days of our probation? it is “to love the Lord our God with all -the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the mind, and with all the -strength; and our neighbour as ourselves.” Will you strain a flight -beyond this, and regard the care for yourselves as too low a pitch for -your wishes to excel, or for the native worth of what is good? Do but -consider that the welfare and the happiness of his reasonable creatures -formed the first object and design of the Creator, and can never cease to -be his purpose; consider, too, that any kind of moral goodness which -should not be good for us, would want just so much of real goodness, and -of its proper and essential excellency. It was one of the vilest errors -of the heathen world, and one which prevailed much, as their earliest -historian tells us, that there was envy towards man among the gods; and -no wonder, if the rule of Providence could be placed in such hands as -they feigned for its administration. - -Again, as the truth itself is always true, and virtue, which is its -image, is no less uniform and constant, most groundless and injurious -must be those restrictions which would shut out any one real virtue or -its exercise from the Christian pattern; for in so doing we should -detract just so much from its integrity. You may reverse the proposition -if you think fit, and say, with truth, that every virtue puts on the -Christian character, not from any date of their adoption, but as they are -cherished and enhanced by new motives and inducements, and strengthened -by the bond of unity and concord in the Christian household. - -Can I forget at this moment, befriended as I have been in the past scene -of my labours, that among the virtues which some would leave to the -heathen, together with the patriot spirit and the courage to maintain it, -Friendship has been made to share the sentence of exclusion? At this -rate the noble-minded Jonathan could not be added to the list of -worthies, to recount which St. Paul found the day too short. But the -glowing pen of David has inscribed the name of his generous and -ever-constant friend with the sons of faith, in characters which no time -shall efface. And what then? Had our blessed Lord no family of friends -which brought him even weeping to the grave of Lazarus? Was it for -nothing that it was then said, “Behold how he loved him?” Had our Lord -no disciple who was laid in his bosom at the paschal feast; to whom also -He gave his last charge concerning her who should be blessed among women? -Most gladly, therefore, shall I pay the debt of friendly obligation on my -removal from among you, and cherish that good property of mind which has -so many moral motives for exciting its first growth, and brings forth so -many moral fruits in its maturity which may be stored in everlasting -garners. - -But as strange as that distinction is which would cast out real virtues -from the Christian code, I may now warn you from an opposite extreme. -Thus have words of _counsel_ been exalted above the word of the -_commandment_. Let us weigh this also for a moment; it has been, and -continues still to be, the nurse of many fond conceits. - -If you strive to put more into a vessel which is already well -replenished, will you not displace some of its contents? And if this be -done where the hand of the Lord hath filled the vessel, that we may drink -and thirst no more, but live for ever, the loss (not to name the -sacrilege) will outweigh the gain a thousand-fold. The boastful young -man, who would not accept the word of the commandment at our Lord’s lips -as a full reply to his inquiry, but said, “All this have I kept from my -youth up; what lack I yet?” did not receive, in answer to this -pretension, a word of counsel. Our Lord showed him plainly what the true -breadth of the commandment was. Thus he required no more of him than -that which became the bounden duty of many in the days of trouble which -succeeded. Many were made to feel the force of that never-changing -precept, which demands the sacrifice of all things sublunary, where the -bond of Truth cannot otherwise be kept. There was no sacrifice, then, -proposed to this aspiring youth, nothing counselled, beyond the verge of -the commandment; and the test to which he was put was but the fruit of -his overweening zeal. - -When some of the early Christians were not contented to wait the coming -of the fore-named obligation, but sought martyrdom of their own accord, -although our Lord enjoined them when persecuted in one city to flee into -another, the Church interposed, and set a mark of public censure upon -such rash exposures of the lives of faithful men. Will you say, then, -that St. Paul put forward words of counsel for which he acknowledged -that, in advising what was best for those days of peril, he had no -commandment? He did so; but as he had received no commandment, so did he -impose none. He left his converts free to follow his advice according to -their own discretion: he laid no bond upon them, no vow, no snare, no -scruple; for, indeed, he was the steady foe to things unbidden. - -And what, then, are the general and never changing precepts which no -flight of zeal can surpass? We have already taken one such comprehensive -rule from our Lord’s lips; but to enlarge a little on a theme so -seasonable at all times, we may remark, that the word of precept requires -us to weigh and esteem things according to their real worth; to seek the -kingdom of God first, and his righteousness; to prize that pearl of price -above all other things; to take readily, as St. Paul showed in his -example, what God giveth, with a thankful and becoming use of the welcome -gift, but with a just sense that what may be bitter and distasteful, if -such be the cup, will serve for good to those who love God; we are thus -enjoined to be content with such things as we have, to keep under and to -combat every evil inclination, for there lies the place and proper -exercise of self-denial; it will prove unfit and injurious when pressed -beyond its uses. It was the aim of the apostle to set free to all things -lawful and becoming, but not to be brought under the power of any; which -shows at once the misery and inconvenience of an iron chain, whether -forged by others, and imposed upon us in their names, or adopted by our -own devices. - -He who will set up better rules than these, must not expect his word to -be taken for them; he must prove them by the known declaration of the -will of God, or by sufficient reasons, tried by the sure word of the -_commandment_. - -There were not wanting, we may now remark, many who passed the season of -attendance before the coming of the promised Mediator, with some profit -to themselves and others. We have noticed this with respect to the -patriarchal age and to the Israel of God; and it holds good, in some -measure, with relation to the Gentile world. There were those even where -the hideous darkness of idolatry prevailed, among whom truth found its -seasonable culture. There were those who sustained in some sort the -credit of the human race. They sought a refuge in their own reflections -from false worship, and delusions gross, impious, and far below the -character of man. They betook themselves accordingly to some sound -principles of moral truth and moral wisdom. Thus the faculty of right -discrimination, and the power of conscience, when not drowned in vice and -superstition, exhibited some lines, and showed some traces of the great -Creator’s image. They reduced the rule of life and of well-doing to some -fixed points; prudence, justice, fortitude, the love of truth, the scorn -of falsehood or deceit, self-government, with other noble qualities, -exhibited plain characters of man’s first resemblance to the Author of -his being. Thus things which are always true and always good, kept their -place in some fair examples, and sustained the claim which such men had -to be the teachers and the monitors of others, although without authority -to teach or to direct—that want remained to be supplied, as the wisest of -them fairly owned. - -Our blessed Lord, who came to bind the bruised reed, and to fan the least -spark of the smoking flax, never turned with scorn from such tokens of -good disposition and right judgment, or failed to give his word of -commendation when they came before him. “I have not found so great -faith, no not in Israel,” were words which embraced the qualities of mind -which were always found to be most favourable to prepare the heart (the -seat of every moral property) for any seed of truth which should be cast -upon it. Such was the good ground of which our Lord made mention in his -instructive parable of the Sower and the Seed. A rational -acknowledgment, with a just esteem for what is good, is the soul of -faith, of which the tenth leper left a memorable proof. Without such -moral properties faith might be the hand for receiving any benefit, but -where would be the mind to understand its value, and perceive the nature -of its obligations? Let the nine lepers who were healed, but returned -not to give thanks, supply the answer. But if the Gentile sages showed -indeed sound judgment in reducing rules of ethics to fixed principles, -our blessed Lord with the full warrant of divine authority formed the -draft of faith and duty, sometimes compendiously, and sometimes with -particular enumerations. - -But again, with these main principles and never-changing objects of -regard, there is another word which has its special season—it is that of -pastoral entreaty; and it remains for me to press it at this time—it -results, indeed, from the whole view which has been taken. - -Never then, I beseech you, my beloved brethren, consent to yield the -profession or the practice of the rule of faith and duty, for fear or -favour; for any flattering bait or treacherous inducement, never lose -sight of what is due to God, to your fellow-creatures, and -yourselves;—only remember that if we neglect to take thought for others, -that is not the care for ourselves which we are enjoined to extend to -others. And here I cannot sufficiently commend the manifold attentions -of the prudent and sincere, which have been paid to the needs of many in -this vicinage. O! let that care continue for your poorer brethren—let it -manifest itself in the religious instructions which your schools provide -for their children, and in a thousand instances of kindness which the -succours which the law requires cannot supply. - -And yet again, amidst all these incumbent obligations, there is still -room for the words of Solomon, “to every thing there is a season;” and -the present moment constrains me yet once more to conjure you to bear -these things in mind, to keep them as the treasure of your hearts. If -such shall be the purpose and endeavour, it matters less at what period -the foot is stayed, provided it be found in the right path when the day -of travel or of any special charge shall close. But in such case, when -we can no longer walk together as companions, there must be the word of -exhortation for those who have to go forward—let it then be the word of -the apostle—to “walk worthy of your vocation wherewith ye are called, -with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one -another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond -of peace. There is . . . one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope -of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of -all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” - -To us who have walked long together, there is another cheering word on -separation, when most happily the new guide, with every hopeful -commendation, is at hand and ready to succeed. - -There is but one word more, one which cannot be amplified, for it -contains the sum of every good wish, every grateful sense and -recollection of past kindnesses—there remains but the little, yet -significant and comprehensive word—farewell; “and this I pray, that your -love may abound yet more and more, in knowledge and in all judgment; that -ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere, and -without offence until the day of Christ.” - - * * * * * - - THE END - - * * * * * - - LONDON: - GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, - ST. 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