Part 2

The great, grand, lesson for the day is therefore this, that we each one seek, and that without delay, for this unchanging union with Christ. You have seen amongst you the fruits of such a union, you have had residing in your midst for the last twenty-five years one who was without a doubt in Christ; who, I would rather say, is in Christ, who is with Christ, and who will rise in Him at his appearing. You have seen the character formed on such a union. You have witnessed the holy peace, the warm affection, the brightness of Christian joy, the tender and ever ready sympathy, the untiring zeal for souls, the patient labour, and the earnest endeavour to bring poor sinners to their Saviour. All this you have seen yourselves. Nor must we lay it down simply to natural character or inborn qualifications. We do not exclude these, for there was undoubtedly a beautiful character as the basis; but it was the union with Christ that gave to all its true beauty. It was the gift of the Holy Spirit earnestly sought in unceasing supplication before God. There never yet was one more ready to confess her own utter nothingness, or who felt more deeply that Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus alone, was her every and only hope. And we must enjoy the same union if we would glorify God. Do we wish to walk in the steps of those that are gone before, or rather to follow Him whom they followed? We must seek the strength to do so in this union with Christ. Do we want to overcome sin, to fight manfully against the corruption of a depraved and fallen nature? Our only hope, and, thanks be to God! it is sufficient, is in this union with Christ. Do we desire to labour for God, and like her that is gone, to spend the powers which He has given in the delightful effort to gather in poor sinners to his kingdom? As the work must be for Christ, so the power must be in Christ, and the whole blessing granted through a union with Him. Do we wish to be able to meet the day of sorrow, and when the heart is overwhelmed to repose peacefully in the sure fidelity and tender sympathy of a gracious God who has loved us with an everlasting love? Again are we driven to the necessity of the same union, for through Him it is that the Holy Comforter descends into the soul. And do we desire to pass peacefully through the valley of the shadow of death, to be kept at peace when all around us fails, when the outward man decays, when the voice becomes silent, and the eye dim? Do we wish then to fall asleep in perfect safety? Our hope must be in that same blessed union with that same blessed Saviour; for not merely in the present may we then look up and say “I will fear no evil for thou art with me,” but we may look beyond the valley and add “Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

Let this then be the deep impression produced by the day. Let us go home to consider well the nature and evidence of our own union with Christ. You, dear children in the schools, for whom it may be well said, that she “travailed in birth till Christ be formed in you.” You young persons that have grown up under her care, and over whom she has watched with almost a maternal interest, since the day that you first crossed the threshold of the infant school. Take good heed every one of you to this great subject, and God grant that when Christ comes, like her, you may be found in Him. You that have been members of her different classes, and have had the privilege of uniting with her in the sweet communion of prayer and Christian intercourse, let the savour of those sacred hours long remain with you, and let the recollection ever rouse you to fresh and vigorous watchfulness as to your own union and abiding fellowship with Christ. Ye that are mourners here this day: ye that have come to this house of God with bleeding hearts. Dear Brethren, let your hearts be comforted. Think of her union with Christ. Remember well her past fellowship with him. Think of her now as sleeping with him, and soon about to return with Him. See what He has already done for her, and let the thought serve to raise your own heart heavenwards. Let it tend to satisfy your own soul in Him. Let it lead you to say, “All my fresh springs are in _thee_,” and may He “supply all you need according to his riches in glory by Chris Jesus!”

And, lastly, you that are still strangers to that blessed Saviour; still unconverted persons, with the burden of sin still on you; with no hope in the advent, and quite unprepared to die; let the death speak to your heart now if the life has failed to reach it. Perhaps you may be young persons trained in the schools, and under her influence from your very childhood, but still strangers to Christ. Remember then the earnestness of her exhortations, and the fervour of her prayers. Remember how she longed for your souls, and let this be the last day either of hardness or indifference. Could that voice speak from the grave how earnestly would it now appeal to you, and let the recollection of that voice now silenced move each stubborn heart to turn to God. The offer is now made to you, and none can say he is excluded. The atonement was made for all, and the offer is made freely to each individual. “Hear, and your soul shall live.” It is impossible that any offer more magnificent could be made to the sinner. Here is pardon, peace, joy, union, resurrection, and everlasting fellowship with God, all offered to the most guilty sinner, and all without money and without price. Shall men remain hardened? Shall the sinner remain indifferent? Shall there be none this day resolved to cast themselves at his feet, that all sin may be blotted out through his blood, that when they depart hence, they may sleep in Him; and that when the trumpet shall sound, they may rise at his bidding, and spend eternity in the full enjoyment of his everlasting love?

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John Colbran, Printer, High Street, Tunbridge Wells.