Part 2

But he also served his own generation _by seizing present opportunities of usefulness_, _and by acting in accordance with the requirements of the times_. He was greatly impressed with the importance of thus acting; and during the eventful period in which he lived, he had many opportunities of manifesting it. When such opportunities presented themselves, he never lingered till they were lost, but whatsoever his hand found to do, he did it with all his might. He was a servant, who not only “knew his Lord’s will,” but also “prepared himself.” He was one of those “who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” When therefore he was appealed to by the cause of Education, of Prison Discipline, of Slave Emancipation, of the Bible Society, of the Poor, or by any department of service which occurred to him as a Christian minister, he promptly responded to the call; and by his persevering labours, imparted strength and courage to his coadjutors. In such cases he sometimes manifested a degree of tact and holy wisdom, which showed how heartily he was devoted to his object. This appears very much in his writings; and in some of his letters, inserted in the unpublished life of the late Lord Suffield; and the anxious desire which he felt that his Lordship’s mind might be brought under the influence of religion, as the only right principle of action, and as the only spring of joy, is truly beautiful and affecting. For instance, when referring to the subject of Prison Discipline, he says, “I truly rejoice in thy thus being enabled to employ thy time, talents, and influence, in the cause of humanity; and may I not say, Christianity? Most heartily do I wish thee well on thy way, and may the preserving power of the Lord be with thee, to protect, bless, and sanctify all thy proceedings, and thy whole self, in body, soul, and spirit.” In another letter he says, “So much for politics; with regard to my last subject—religion—I was a _little_ afraid lest thy silence might indicate dissent, and I am truly rejoiced to find it otherwise. To salute thee as a brother, in ‘_him who died for us and rose again_,’ is a pleasure indeed! I cannot consent to keep silence on this subject, though I feel with thee how much it requires all our _reverence_; but I remember what a certain prophet said, ‘they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.’ I am however quite aware that there are right times and seasons; that the temple must not be polluted by unhallowed feet; and that our feet are too apt to be unhallowed, unless they are first ‘shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.’” “I cannot express,” says he in another place, “what I think of the value of those religious convictions which are hinted at in thy letter. I consider them to be beyond all price, because the work, not of man, but of God. I should conceive that it must have been through much mental conflict that thou hast come at them, for I have long found occasion to believe that we must be made in some measure partakers of the sufferings of Christ, before we can enjoy the privileges of true religion. ‘Are ye willing to drink of the cup that I drink of?’ ‘After what is past, it is impossible not to feel a warm personal interest in thee.’ ‘Such a heart and mind are talents to be employed _in thy Master’s service_.’” Can you conceive of any thing more spiritually beautiful than these extracts are? And who can hear them without thanking God on the writer’s behalf?

And to shew how naturally and gracefully he could mingle religion with the common affairs of life, I may relate to you an incident which was told me by a friend, who one day happened to travel with Mr. Gurney, and some other persons, on the outside of the coach. When they had proceeded a few miles, Mr. Gurney said, “as we started rather early this morning, I was not able, at home, to read my portion of Scripture, so that if there be no objection, I will read a chapter aloud.” He did so, making suitable remarks on the verses as he read them, and diffusing such a hallowed influence on those around him, that my friend said, “it was one of the happiest days I ever spent.” Now, with Mr. Gurney, the doing such a thing as that, was as free from ostentation, as it was from awkwardness. It was a deed of “simplicity and godly sincerity;” and was so conducted, as to seem as appropriate for the top of a coach, as for a meeting house, or a cathedral. There is a paragraph in one of his unpublished manuscripts, which is in beautiful harmony with this anecdote, and which may possibly have some reference to it. After speaking of the duty and importance of “always being on the watch, to make a good use of our time,” he says, “I have sometimes endeavoured to apply these principles to _travelling_, in which a considerable portion of the time of some persons is almost unavoidably occupied. A call of duty or business, may often carry us to places at a distance from our own homes. Is the time, taken up by the journey, to be one of mere indolence? Is the convenience of being conveyed from one place to another, to be the only profit which it shall yield? Ought we not rather to make a point, on such occasions, of adding to our stock of knowledge, and of useful ideas, by reading, by conversation, and reflection? Is there no object of interest which may be examined by the way? Is there no person of piety or talent, with whom we may find a passing opportunity of communicating? Are the motions of the coach or chariot so rapid, that we cannot leave behind us, as we pass from place to place, important instruction in the form of Bibles, Testaments, or tracts? _Much_ may not be required of us; but it is well, if on our arrival at our place of destination, we can acknowledge that we have both received and communicated a _little_ good in the course of our journey.” And again. “As the servant who waits well on his master, is ever on the _qui vive_ to know what will be next wanted, so are we to wait on the hours, and even on the moments of each passing day, to know what duties they point out to us, or what employments they suggest for the improvement of our minds.”

Thus it was, brethren, that our departed friend endeavoured to discharge the office of a servant in his own generation. He served it, by a public profession of the gospel of Christ; by a consistent and influential character; by his liberal contributions to the cause of humanity and religion; by his personal efforts and writings; and by seizing present opportunities of usefulness, and acting in accordance with the requirements of the times.

But we have still to remark, secondly, that a Christian is to serve his own generation IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WILL OF GOD. The text may indeed be read, “after he had, in his own generation, served the will of God.” But even this arrangement of the words implies, that the service which he rendered, in the midst of his own generation, was according to the will of God; and as this refers to the principle and motive of Christian service, it can be applied, equally with the former expression, to the service rendered by our Christian brother, the strongest desire of whose heart it was, so to serve as to please God.

A man may do right acts from wrong motives. The Pharisees gave alms to the poor. That was right. But their motive in giving, was to be seen of men. That was wrong. It was seeking to please men rather than God, who trieth the hearts. No action can be religious which has not its motive and its end in God, and which is not in accordance with his will. The man, therefore, who properly and acceptably serves his own generation, must do it by the will of God. This was exactly the opinion of our beloved friend. “Paul,” says he, often declares himself to be “an apostle by the will of God. Now we may rest assured that had not his will been surrendered at discretion, he would neither have been enabled to lead a life of holiness, nor have been qualified for his peculiar path of religious duty. His whole work and service would have been marred; and he would have been comparable to nothing better than a stunted tree, bringing forth fruit destined not to ripen. Such a sacrifice of the will, is indeed absolutely necessary, not merely to the general purposes of virtue, but to the specific value and usefulness of every member of the church of Christ.”

Acting on these great principles, our departed brother served his own generation _in accordance with the revealed will of God in the Bible_. Whatever peculiarities distinguished him as a member of the Society of Friends, he believed them to be in conformity with the holy Scriptures; and I am sure that, so far as the office of a christian servant is concerned, he would acknowledge no will that appeared to him to be contrary to “the will of God” as revealed in the inspired volume. If he followed the light within himself, it was because he believed it to be from the same divine source with the light without, which shines upon the sacred pages. He was a most attentive and devout reader of this holy book, not only in the family, but in the closet, and in the study; and it was not unusual with him to invite the visitors at his house to join him in those morning readings in the Greek Testament, in which, after breakfast, he was accustomed to engage. The frequency and devotion with which he searched the scriptures, to ascertain his Lord’s will, he earnestly recommended to others; and you are all witnesses how often, in his Bible society Speeches, he repeated and enforced the apostolic declaration, “all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.”

He served his own generation, under a deep conviction of _the supreme and rightful authority of God over him_. There are many persons who live and act on the principle that they have a right to do what they will with themselves, and with what they call their own. “Our lips, say they, are our own, who is Lord over us?” “I am not my own,” was the language of our christian brother. “I belong to Christ, my Lord and Master.” And in language literally his own, he declares, “there is nothing more distasteful to the natural man, than the piercing spirituality, the comprehensive grasp, and the binding authority of God’s precepts. The child of darkness prefers his own devices—he is a rebel to the core. But Christianity requires an uncompromising compliance with the whole counsel of God as it relates to our conduct. Our whole life must be regulated by the directions of his perfect law. No rebellious feeling, no corrupt motive or thought must be harboured; no favourite sin spared; no unwelcome duty omitted.” {19}

He served also in remembrance of _his responsibility to God_. Every step he took in this service, he felt was on his way to the judgment seat, there to give an account of himself unto God. And we, be it remembered, are perpetually approaching the same tribunal. We can no more get rid of our responsibility, than we can of our immortality. Whether we admit it or deny it; whether we declare ourselves to be accountable to God, or independent of God; the great white throne is before us, and he that sits upon it, “will bring every work into judgment, and every secret thing, whether it be good or bad.”

And, once more, he served _under a deep sense of obligation to God_. There is no motive in the universe of such mighty power, in the divine service, as the love of Christ to sinners; his love in redemption; his love in dying for the ungodly. “The love of Christ constraineth us.” And while it constrains us to love Christ, who redeemed us with his precious blood, it also constrains us to persevere in a course of christian service, with an alacrity and devotedness which no other motive could inspire. Oh! how this was felt by our beloved friend. What a master motive to his heart was the love of Christ in becoming the propitiation for our sins! In his speeches, and in his writings, what lofty inspiration did the theme produce! and how he seemed to feel as if he could never say enough, nor do enough, to testify his obligation to that benignant Master, “who loved him, and gave himself for him!”

Delightful as it is, thus to speak of one, who, after this manner, served his own generation according to the will of God, we nevertheless desire to say it all in perfect accordance with the doctrine, that all his disposition, and all his capacity, for his Master’s service, was derived entirely from his Master’s grace. I should be doing a grievous wrong, not only to Scripture sentiment, but to his own most cherished convictions, if I were in the least degree to intimate that any of his spiritual excellencies were either self-originated or meritoriously exercised. No—amidst my highest admiration of his character, I would remember the admonition which he gave to me, when he met me on my way to preach the funeral sermon for Joseph Kinghorn—“praise the Master, not the servant;” and I do so when I say, that all which the servant became, the Master made him. The same hand which gave him the reward of the faithful servant, had previously given him the fidelity; and, therefore, we glorify God in him; and we carefully remember, that the holiest christian on earth, and the brightest saint in heaven, willingly unite in the one declaration, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”

III. Our remarks on the christian servant must now be brought to a close; and having considered the office which he sustains, and the manner in which it is to be discharged, I must briefly consider in the third place, THE STATE IN WHICH IT TERMINATES. “For David, after he had served his own generation, by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers.”

“_He fell on sleep_”—not, he died. “He that believeth on me, says Christ, shall never die.” He becomes absent from the body, and is present with the Lord; but this is not dying. It is not death, to close our eyes on earth, and open them in heaven; to lose the embrace of earthly friendship, and fall into the arms of Christ. This is not death; nor is it even sleep, so far as the spirit of the Christian servant is concerned. The spirit becomes absent from the body, and present with the Lord. It goes out of its tabernacle of clay, into the house which is not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; and there it joins the spirits of just men made perfect, in the general assembly and church of the first-born. But the body sleeps, and sleeps in Jesus, who redeemed it with his precious blood; who made it a temple for the Holy Ghost to dwell in; who will watch over its precious dust while it remains in the grave, “waiting there for the adoption, to wit the redemption of the body;” and who, when that morning of adoption dawns, will “come to wake it out of sleep, and to fashion it like unto his own glorious body;” “for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

“_And was laid unto his fathers_.” The phrase in the Old Testament is, “He was gathered to his people.” So far as it may refer to the body, it alludes to the gathering in the grave; but even in the earliest times, when the phrase was used, it looked beyond the grave, to the people whom God had begun to gather round his throne. And from the days of the patriarchs to our own, the God of all grace has been still increasing the number, and gathering his saints together, “who have made a covenant with him by sacrifice.” And when the spirit of our departed friend entered the mansions of his Father’s house, to what a numerous and a glorious company was he gathered, of those who had gone before, in ancient and in modern times. And while it is to Christ, that the gathering of the people shall be, and while he will be to them, throughout eternity, their joy, and glory, and heaven, yet blessed and celestial will be the recognitions and the remembrances, when the newly arrived guest is introduced to his former companions and coadjutors. What heart can conceive of the heavenly joy with which our departed brother, on his arrival there, met with those eminent and holy men, with whom, when on earth, he had taken sweet counsel, in works of faith and labours of love. What tongue can tell the greetings with which he was welcomed to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when he sat down with Patriarchs, and Prophets, and Apostles, and Martyrs—with Wilberforce, and Simeon, and Buxton, and the glorious company of the Redeemed, in the presence of Christ the Master of the feast! Oh! to be thus gathered to the general assembly and church of the first-born, in that land of light and immortality, where there is no shade to dim its brightness; no sin to defile its purity; no tribulation to interrupt its joys; no languor, no pain, no disease, to burden the willing spirit; and no death to break up the blessed family. Lord “gather not my soul with sinners.” Let me, O Lord, be gathered to my fathers in Christ. “Let me die the death of the righteous, let my last end be like his!”

Well might “devout men carry him to the grave, and make great lamentation for him.” Well might the whole city assume the appearance of a consecrated sabbath, and send forth its thousands and tens of thousands to mourn at his funeral. Well might the voice of triumph mingle with the voice of tears, and exclaim at his sepulchre, “Thanks be to God who hath given him the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ;” for “a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel.” And by his death, which has brought such gain to himself, the poor have lost a sympathizing benefactor; society has lost a bright example; the church of Christ has lost a beloved brother, a laborious servant, and a faithful minister of the gospel; and his own mourning family have lost “the desire of their eyes with a stroke.” Let us then endeavour to supply all this loss, as far as we are able. Let each of us determine, by the grace of God, to serve our own generation with increasing energy and devotedness. And let the review of his life, and the rapidity of his death, urge us all to be “steadfast and unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

THE PREACHER FROM THE PRESS. Sermons to explain and to recommend the Gospel of Jesus Christ.—2 vols., cloth boards, _Price_ 6_s._

THE DEATH OF A MINISTER AN EVENT OF PECULIAR IMPORTANCE. A Funeral Sermon for the Rev. JOHN SYKES, of Guestwick.

THE MOURNING CONGREGATION REMINDED OF THE WORK OF THEIR DECEASED MINISTER. A Funeral Sermon for the Rev. Joseph Kinghorn, of Norwich.

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. An appeal to Christians on the Duty and Importance of Communion with the Church.

THE OBJECTS AND MOTIVES OF MODERN NONCONFORMISTS. A Sermon preached at the Opening of Hingham Chapel.

THE BAPTISM OF THE PRINCE. A Sermon preached in anticipation of the Baptism of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

APOSTOLIC WAYS IN THE CHURCH. The Introductory Discourse delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. ANDREW REED, B.A. in the Old Meeting House, Norwich.

FOOTNOTES.

{11} Essay on Love to God, p. 121.

{19} Essay on Love to God, p. 117.