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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmte en comm^ngant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iliustration at en terminant par la dernldre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la dernldre Image de cheque microfiche, selon ie cas: ie symbols -^ signifie "A SUiVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre f iimts A des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque ie document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cilchd^, 11 est film* d partir do I'angle supirieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'Images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 6 6 •: Ml ■ v.; V ■ I ■ - •■^:.'-,-i: -^/;>:' > X \ ■■ t •I--'-/::. THE PBEPETUITY OF THE GOSPEL. A SERMON !%fUCHKI) ON SABBATH EVUNIIG, Janttaiy 8, 1865. BT ALEX. McLEOD STAVELT, UIKISTIB OP TBS urOBMID PBKWtTBBtAK CHOBCB, 8T. JOHN, N. 9. ^^\^W»UA tiy it«qu$jSt. SAINT JOHN, N. B. PRtNTBD BY BARNES AN» COMPANY, ntlNCE WILLIAM StiUCKT, 1885. ^m- 'Z-V:'ll h I A: 2 J-i lrmi^i!fi% *r0-i:*iff (r ^mt^'^ni^twt* Bt. John,Ji. §., January 11, 1S6§. Rev. a. McLeod STA^1:LY : De^ji Sir — We, who had the privilege of hearing your Discourse on last Sabbath evening, preached with special reference to the death of your vene- rated Father, the late Rev. William John Stately, D. D., desire to have it in a permanent form ; '^nd therefore request that you will ^ve it for public cation, confident that it will do good beyond the bounds of your oirn congregation. We are, dear Sir, Very truly yours,* JOHN BOYD, THOB. MACLELLAN. ' OEOBGE BUFFSEN, BOBEBT EWING, JOHN MILLEN, WILLUM DOUGALL, 6E0BSE BEIX, JOHN MuMASTEB, SAMUEL EEID, JOHN TOT AND, JAMES DUNBAB, NEIL M0EEI80N, JAMES MILLEB. Mr DEAR Fbiemds : January 18, 18 65. I cacnot but appreciate the feelings of kindness in which your request is made, and while, from considerations of delicacy, I feel a great measure of hesitation in complying with it, yet, in deference to your wish, and that of others who heard the discourse, and whv«e opinion and judgment I likewise respect, it is now given to the press. I am, very affectionately yours, A. M. STAVELY. Mewrs. Jdmr Botd, Tnos. Maolellan, du. Ao., 9vx«3Reim^qvmflgpiv^H >i '/'vit^, "l rt <,1 -•tV « 'V ' '■ "'i.-' rCf^r'' f , ,V"..< t/,i,'> r •>? •> .u.'. ^ .ii).i ;A3.J:Jlir.'£^'f (1 J"« Jjp"» i-'if>'^ i iff" 'ill's t.>A, S i ,*:'?>•■ i< '' f ( "t^; SSRMON. / 1 PexxR i. 2fi : — The word of the Lord enduretti for over. And this is tha word which by the gospel is preached unto you. We are permitted this evening, in the good providence of God, to meet you again in the sanctuary, and to meet some of you here for the first time since the opening of the New Year, that we may raise^our Ehen-ezer of gratitude, and inscribe on it sentiments of thanksgiving and praise. ** Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Let us now, under the enlightening, sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, whose presence and blessing we have just implored at the throne of mercy, embrace this renewed opportunity of di- recting your thoughts to the word of the Lord, that you and I may thus be strong in the grace that is in Christ, and that through the blessing of God on our labours much good may be done amongst us in the name and by the power of His holy child Jesus. " My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day ; for I know not the numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only." The verse which we have read as the subject of our pre- sent discourse, suggests a theme at once pleasing and pro- fitable, a theme which must ever be precious to all true believers. Seeing then that the Apostle has used great plainness of speech in thus addressing " the strangers scat- tered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," let us imitate his example and follow in his footsteps when we declare unto you, feliow christians and fellow sinners, the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. The first part of this text was, as you perceive, originally « addressed to tlip Old Testament church, and is contained in that sublime and beniitit'ul chapter which we have just read at the commencement of this service— the fortieth of the prophecies of Isaiah. He heard a voice. "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the fleld : tlie grass witheretli, the flower fadeth : but the word of our God shall stand for ever." The Apostle Peter is inspired to make the same announcement to the New Tes- tament church. All fieah is as grass. How expressive is this poetical imagery of the vanity of man in his best estate. God may clothe it in the morning, when fresh with the early dew, in a splendour superior to that of Solomon in all his glory when he made himself a great chariot of ivory ^ and overlaid it with the best gold, but ere the evening sun goes down the scorching east wind blows, or before the mower's scythe it withers and dies. In like mann^i* all the goodliness of man is as the flower of the field. In the mor- ning it flourisheth and groweth up ; in the evening it is cut down and withereth. At this season of the year the voice of nature and the voice of revelation unite with the sublime voice of Providence in giving emphasis to the language of our text. Where is now the grass which only a few weeks ago so richly adorned our hills and valleys with their verdant carpet ? Where are now those fragrant flowers which cheered the eye with their beauty and regaled the smell with their perfume ? They are gone ; and the barren fields and leafless trees and withered branches covered with snow like wool and hoarfrost as ashes : whilst they remind us of the divine faithfulness in the recur- rence of the seasons, and that while the earth reraaineth, seed time and harvest, cold, and heat, day apd night, summer and winter shall not cease ; they remind us, too, that as in the natural world ,^umnler succeeds spring, autuum suc- ceeds summer, and winter, succeeds autumn— so man passes from childhood to youth, from youth to manhood, from manhood to old ago, from life to death. " We all," says • 1- .'•.:;-'^''--''i>';''^' '-'"■ K Isaiah, "do f-Mlo as a leaf," and the getiius of niunspirod poetry tlius improves the similitude. " Like leaves on U-oen, the race of man Is found — Now f»TOCn in youth, now withering on the ground ; Anotlier race the following spring supplies ; They fall succeseivc, and successive rise. So generations in their course decay, So flourish these when those are passed ar-?.y." "Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth ; for the faith- ful fail from among the children of men." " But," saith the Spirit, " the word of the Lord cndureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." Our text contains two propositions. In discoursing from these words, I shall consider,;'; v^ '"•"." FrasT. The perpetuity of the gospel here called the word of the Lord, as contrasted with the frailty of man. Secondly. Tlie preaching of the gospel as the appointed means of dispensing the blessings of salvation to the end of time. I. It endutethfov ever. "Whilst every thing on earth is subject to change and liable to decay, the glorious gospel of the blessed God is like its divine author — the same yes- terday, to-day, and forever. It is the word of the Lord, a tried word. " His covenant will he not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth. He remembereth his covenant forever, the thoughts of his heart to a thousand generations." The word of the Lord, the proclamation of mercy to our guilty race, written under the inspiration of the Spirit, endureth forever. In tbe adorable purposes of everlasting love from all eternity it pleased the triune Je- ' hovah, that the second person of the adorable Trinity, the Son of God, should become the Saviour, and appear in the fulness of time, according to the arrangements of the me- diatorial covenant, that by his obedience, suflferings and death, he might open np a channel through which mercy might flow to guilty man. This salvation, worthy of the God of all grace to devise, and worthy of the Son of God to effect, early became the subject of Scripture prophecy — it was announced in tho first promiBo, proiigured in every type, rejoiced in by every patriarch, foretold by evei-y pro- phet, and all tlie dispensations of Providence from age to age during four thousand yorfrs were wonderfully overruled to prepare the way for Christ's coming in tlie flesh. To Patriarchs and Prophets, to Apostles and Evaiiijelists, God imparted a knowledge of his will, and the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are given unto ns that we may learn therefrom the doctrines we are to believe and the duties we arc to practise in every situation and relation of life. "We read in the epistle to Timothy : " All scrip- ture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- eousness • that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." On the same subject Peter says : " Tho prophecy oame not in old time b'" the will of man ; but holy men of God sp^ke as lihey wore moved by the Holy Ghost." Again, " Goc( spake by his holy servants the prophets." That which they have writ- ten, that which the evangelists have written remains what it w^as, what it is, and what it will be, till the end of time, and the consummation of all things. We are assured that th^re never will be any new revelation of the will cf God to mar kind, and that the revelation which we have in the Scriptures never can grow old. " And I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book." Bev. xxii. 18. ^ ear after year may revolve, generation after generation may appear on the theatre of human existence and pass away, all things bright an4 beautiful on earth may fade ; the marble monument, the imperial city^ even the pyra- mids of Egypt, and the most drrable works of human art, may mingle with the dust of bygone centuries, yea, the mountains may depart and the everlasting hills be remo- ved, the heavens may be rolled together as a parchment 9 scroll, and \he oleiucnts melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein may bo burnt up. But here is perpetuity. The word of God endureth for evrer. Blessed be bis name, when patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and evangelists have died, it still lives to guide our feet in the way of peace and salvation, to our heavenly home. Oh, let us receive it, as did some of old, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God. " Being bom again, hot of corruptible seed, but of in- corruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." (1 Pet. i. 23.) " ThU lamp from off the everlasting Tbrona Mercy brought down ; and in the night of time Stands cantmg on the dark her graoioua bow, And evermore beseeching men, with tears and earnest sighs, To read, believe, and live." II. It end/wreth forever^ to make us acquainted with the way oflifd amd imrruyHaliiy. By some, it is asserted that human reason is of itself 6u£Scient to lead men to all necessary knowledge as to holiness and happiness. It is altogether vain to talk of what human reason might have accomplished, when both the intellectual and the moral powers of man were unim- paired by sin and transgression. It is equally vain to talk of what reason has done or can do in morality or religion in professedly christian countries, because it is aided by divine revelation, shedding light upon the relation which man sustains to his fellow man and his God. The most distinguished of the heathen philosophers, a Pythagoras, a Plato, and an Aristotle had no correct views of immorta- lity. Unaided reas<^u might indeed teach Socrates, favored as he was with some dark glimpses of 1 .turity, to use such language as this. "By and bye," said Socratps to his friends, "you will be saying that Socrates is dead, but So- crates will not be dead. By and ll>ye you will be saying that Socrates is in his coffin, but Socrates will not be in his coffin. By and bye you will be saying: we are going to bury Socrates ; but you will not bury Socrates, you will 10 cnlj bury Bomethiug that belonged to him." It is, how- ever, a question whether the uoctrine which he taught concerning the immortality of the soul was not derived from some scattored ray of the light of revelation. But however this may have been we are convinced obat those destitute of the gospel, by which life and immortality are brought to xight, have no correct idea of the doctrine of a future state, and there is every reason to suppose that of the resurrection of the body they are entirely ignorant. When the apostle Paul, driven by persecution from Berea, preached at Athens, then one of the most distinguished cities in the world, and not more distinguished for the learning than for the wickedness of its inhabitants— they had the choicest advantages for making the most of human reason, .mb, the leopard and the kid, shall lie together on the same pasture ; and men shall not learn war any more : because that Christianity has spread its leavening irfluence over the whole earth ; till then, even then, we ,.iy, will God raise up a divinely com- missioned ministry to hold forth the word of life. Speaking of things not as they ought to be, and will be, but as they are, we remark again : The same reasons as formerh/ existed for preaching the gospel stiU contm'ue, a/nd wiU contmite to the end of time. The scriptures teach us, in language that can- not be misunderstood, that all the descenditnte of Adam are alienated from God, and enemies in their minds by wicked works ; and the most eminent saints have always been the most ready to confess this humiliating truth. Indeed the divine testimony on this all-important subject is confirmed by universal observation and esiperi- ence. Does not every page in the volume of this world's history establish the inspired account of that corruption which has been transmitted from Adam to his descendants? In respect to tlie universal spread of this hereditary disease there is no difference between the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the prince and the peasant, the illiterate and the learned. As all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, so all are by nature his enemies, the slaves of sin and the children of wrath. The m^sage of heaven .• ,N . . ■ , 20 to the sinful myriads of our guilty race is contained in these words : Be ye reconciled to Ood. Did wo find some ver- dant hill or peaceful vale on the earth^s surface inhabited by human beings who need not such a message, we might say that they are like the angels, and that the gospel is not intended for them. But, alas I even the angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and tongue, and people, has seen no such second paradise. Far different, indeed, are the mournful characteristics of some of the fairest and most luxuriant portions of the habitable globe, " where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile." But the world, all the world is the field of missio- nary exertion ; and till the tidings of redeeming grace are borne on the wings of the wind to the innumerable islands of the vast Pacific — till the idolatrous worshippers of India and China hear them — till the six hundred millions of the eight hundred and sixty millions of this earth's inhabitants, without God and without Christ, whether involved in Pa- gan darkness or Mahommedan delusion, or Hindoo super- stition, hear them and share in the blessedness of the people who know the joyful sound," the words of our text will re- main unrepealed on the statute book of heaven. Human laws are altogether inadequate to reach the cause of man'6 misery, or to remove the black spot which the Arabs say is on every man's heart by nature. Systems of philosophy, schemes of education, codes of jurisprudence, precepts of morality, fail altogether to meet the wants of man's spiritual being. The gospel is the true balm of Gilead, the only effectual and divinely appointed remedy for man's spiritual and moral diseases ; and a cloud of wit- nesses on earth and in heaven attest its efficacy. It is needed in every land, and with it the living missionary, the servant of the God of the Bible, to proclaim its message and its mission to every continent, and to every clime, far as the wants and woes of man extend. Oh, when it comes home to the hearts of those who are dead in trespasses and ■ i \ I in these ome ver- nhabited e might >el is not flying in to preach kion, and ise. Far of some abitable man is f missio- jrace are e islands of India IS of the abitants, id in Pa- )o super- le people ; will re- ;he cause hich the stems of udence, v^ants of )alm of remedy i of wit- 91 sins, who see no beauty in Christ, no excellency in holi- ness, divine love triumphs over human hatred : they are quickened to a spiritual life, bom again of the Holy Ghost, and it is their earnest prayer that the word which proscribes every other method of salvation, and testifies of Jesus Christ, of his incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension, as their only Saviour, may dwell in them richly, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Thus they make its promises the foundation of their hopes, its pre- cepts the rule of their conduct, and God's glory the end of their being : whilst they confess that without Christ abi- ding in them by his Spirit, and their abiding in Christ by faith, they cannot successfully resist or overcome their Bpintual enemies. Let those whose experience can be de- scribed in such language as this bless God, who has called them out of darkness into the marvellous light of the gos- pel, and at the same time seek to be instruments of doing good to others, whilst they cherish the tenderest sympathy to such of their fellow creatures as are still in ignorance without any saving knowledge of those truths which the werd of life inculcates. "We do not expect that the enemies of Christ's righteousness will exert themselcss in the promotion of Christianity ; but we have reason to ex- pect that its professed friends, under a sacred impulse, and in the exercise of a benevolence which is not limited to any country nor bounded by any sea, will do more than look with what they regard as a lively interest on those benight- ed regions which the foot of civilization has never yet trod, and where the glad tidings of salvation have never yet been proclaimed. The money which in the nominally Christian world is spent annually on riotous living would, if differently appropriated, by the machinery of the gospel, produce a revolution far more extensive than the pages of history record, and more bwieficial, beyond description, than ever has been effected by implements of war. Ne- vertheless the human mind, called into action by the voice of him who said, " Let th&re le lighiy cmd there was light," 22 18 directing its cnergios as it has never done before to tlio amolioratijon of mankind. Men of piety and eii^erprigo Yolnnteer their services; men of learning dedicate their literature ; the poor of this world, who are rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom, pour out their supplications ; and many of the opulent are cheerfully and liberally contribut- ing of their substance to the spread, both at home and abroad, of the glorious gospel. The times in which we live require energy and action. Much has been done; but much, very much, remains yet to be accomplished. Hear again the voice of the evangelical prophet : ^' O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain ; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength : lift it up, be not afraid ; say unto the cities of Jndah, Behold your God !" Isaiah xl. 9. Worldliness, ungodliness, idolatry, infidelity, error and heresy may for a time continue to prevail, but fear not : the Almighty has pledged his veracity, that in spite of every opposition His name shall be great among the Gen- tiles ; and in every place incense shall be offered to His name, and a pure offering. The battle of truth against error, of faith against unbelief, of Ohrist against Satan aud his emissaries, may be long and painful, but the cause of truth and righteousness, being the cause of God, must eventually prevail. The spirit of a Luther, and a Een- wick, and a Guthrie, and a Knox, shall yet arise. Then from the lips of troth one mighty breath Shall, like a whiriwind, scatter in ita breeze The whole dark pile of human mockeries. Lastly, in connexion with this part of our subject, we observe: The past history of the Ghwoh encourages its to believe that there toiU he a succession of gospd ministers through- out aU generations. God hath established a testimony and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to eome might know them, even the chil- 23 dren to be born^ "My Spirit, tliat is upon fliee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever." Isaiah lix. 21. The removal by death of godly ministers may sometimes excite in survivors feelings of anxiety and sadness with regard to the porpe' tual dispensation of gospel ordinances, by those divinely appointed to publish the glad tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ ; but there is no good reason to fear that the Church will in any age be left destitute of such witnesses for the truth. It is certain indeed that those who teach the doctrines pertaining to the kingdom of God, like other men, have a time to he. horn and a time to die, but Jehovah lives andliveth forever more. Our adorable Saviour, who is "the same yesterday, to-day, and forever," furnishes pastors and teachers, with all needful qualifications, making them the messengers of the churches and the glory of Christ ; and when they have served their own generation, and passed away from the scene of their labors, others are raised up to occupy their places ; so that the ministers of the gospel in any particular period of time may be regarded as so many links in that wondrous chain of instrumentality, which stretches backward to the beginning and forward to the end of time : He has put the treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be all his own. Under the Old Testamenjb dispensation Qod separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to ramister unto him, and to Wess his name. From this tribe ho established in the family of Aaron an everlasting priesthood, to offer sacrifices and to burn incense in his tabernacle throughout their ge- nerations. The Lord said unto Moses, " Thou shalt take unto thee Aaron, thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto' me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazai* and Ithamar, Aaron's sons." (Exodus xxviii. 1). / 24 When again Aaron was to be gathered to his people, Moses accompanied him to the top of mount Hor, ptripped him of his garments, and put them on Eleazar this son, and then saw him die on the mount. Afterwards this divicely in- stituted priesthood was continued from generation to gene- ration, until superseded by the Christian dispensation. It was foretold by Isaiah that God would take some of the Gentiles for priests and for Levites ; and by Malachi, tho last of the Jewish prophets, that not in Jerusalem only, bnt in every place, incense should be oifered to His name, and a pure offering. Aaron himself was a type of our great High Priest. And now that Christ has come by the sacrifice of himself, to finish transgression, make an end of sin, and bring in an everlasting righteousness, the ministry of the New Testament, and the preaching of the word, ac- companied by the Holy Ghost, is God's great ordinance — a standing ordinance for extending a knowledge of the gospel throughout the whole earth. It appears from sacred history that the disciples, having the gift of tongues and tho power of working miracles com- mitted to them, went forth expounding the Scriptures, telling the simple story of the crucifixion and exaltation of Christ- -preaching repentance and remission of sins in his name, beginning at Jerusalem; and that extraordinary success attended their labors. Thus we find that a few years' after the ascension of our Lord the number of the disciples, as the first fruits of the apostle's preaching on the day of Pentecost, was three thousand converts ; that the Lord added daily to the Church of such as should be saved. Yea, that multitudes both of men and women, won from the darkness of heathenism, idolatry and superstition, embraced the doctrine of the despised Nazarene. After- wards the conversion of Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian band, followed by the miraculouc outpouring of the Ho^y Ghost, was regarded as a divine intimation that the gospel of the Kingdom, as owned of God, was to be preached to uil nations. Nearly nineteen ccnturice have rolled over our 25 world, and we have thesame gospel still— a preached gospel ; we have still the same commission and commandment — the same promise of the Lord's presence and blessing on this divinely appointed instrumentality for making known to the most distant regions of the earth a full, free, and eternal salvation. As for mcmy his days a/re as grass; as a flower of the fleld, 80 hfi fl • ^mmimfmm ■■■PHV 26 honourod associate, for more than the first half of the pre- sent century, of a McFadden, an Orr, an Alexander, a Gamble, and a Cameron, the ministry of a past but still remembered generation in our native land, to unfurl a ban- ner for the truth on earth, and is now, as we feel assured, with his SaAaoT.r in heaven. The righteous shall he in ever- lasimg TefinfumOyrance. " And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, "W rite, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." My father was born 12th October, 1780, at Annsborough, County Down, near Belfast, Ireland, the residence of his father ,*then pastor of the congregation of Kn jckbracken &c. From a personal and domestic memorandum written by him- self, it appears that after having received a suitable prepara- tory education, he became a student in the college of Glas- gow, Nov. 1797. There fo.' four successive sessions he enj oy ed the pnv'7ige of an extensive curriculum of literary and phi- losophical education ; and he has left behind him ample evi- dence that he applied himself to his collegiate studies with diligence and success. In the mathematical and natural phi- losophy classes especially, he received some of the highest honors that ancient seat of learning could bestow. It does not appear that until this time he had been decided as to what profession should engage the energies of his future life • but it does seem that from an early age ho was the subject of divine grace : and he now speedily adopted the resolu- tion of devoting hin self to the ministry of the word of life. After giving the usual pieces of trial before the Reformed Presbytery, he was licensed on the 19th of November, 1802, to preach the everlasting gospel ; and he became thus ac- credited, according to the good order of the Presbyterian Church, to receive an invitation from any particular con- gregation to become its pastor. To use his own language — " I had not been long a probationer when I received a call from three vacant congregations: Lower Antrim, * The Rev. Wm. Stavely, latterly of KcUswatcr, County Antrim. ' *■" 27 Lower Down, and Crevagh. At length, after mature deli- beration, I accepted . the call from Lower Antrim at the Spring meeting of Presbytery, 1804. This congregation was regarded for many reasons, as the least eligible of the three ; yet the choice was determined by Him who disposes of the minds of men. Having, as is customary, given the pieces of trial before Presbytery, I was ordained at Dervock meeting house, 5th September, 1804." In one (district of his widely scattered charge, Kilraughts, through his exertions, a large and commodious house of worship was soon erected ; and at the first census of the congregation there were 227 communicants. He who or- ders our footsteps and tells our wanderings, cast his lot in a part of the world where the ministers of the gospel were comparatively few : so that he was fav< > ed from Sabbath to Sabbath with a large audience ; and he had cheering evidence from an early period that his labours were not ia vain, and that the pleasure of the Lord prospered in his hand. " External amendment have in some instances cer- tainly been accomplished ; as to what is internal we must of course be silent. The Kingdom of God in the hearts of men cometh not with observation. The building of the spiritual temple in this respect resembles that of the Tem- ple of old, in which was not found the sound of a hammer, or of the workman's tool." ..mL-'.^ We pass over much which under other circumstances we might mention concerning his ministerial labours during a period of more than fifty years. We have heard, and known, and our fathers have told us what God did in their- day through their instrumentality and in answer to the prayers of his people. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of thfl Lord, and his strength, and the wonderful works which he hath done. . (/,v. %%:iv v.,, v». > After the toils and anxieties, the watchings and the prayers incident to such a long and chequered period in. the life of man, he says, " The promising state of our con- ■VI 1 1 I 'Wt 28 gregation is a reason why we should joy and rejoice in the Lord. I could record its statistics, but I fear to say or write anything which might border on boasting. Union, co-operation, and the divine blessing, can do wonders. God has done much for us. That cause committed to our keeping has neither been abandoned nor mutilated ; neither have we permitted any known innovation. We received it as we thought it the cause of God ; we retain it, because we think it his ; and, with his assistance, we purpose hand- ing it down unimpaired to those who are pressing forward to occupy our place. "We most cordially rejoice in every step of reformation made by any denomination of chris- tians, and that there are so many valiant for the truth in that part of the world where God has ordered our lot: whilst we ourselves maintain the doctrine, worship, discip- line and government of the ancient Kirk of Scotiand) as presently professed and preached in our Church." . ..." I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant." It was his desire in 1832 that his congregation, which in that year numbered upwards of five hundred communi- cants, and had within its boundaries three houses of wor- ship, should become "two bands." " Feeling," says he, in in reply to an address, with a very valuable testimonial, presented to him in 1854, " feeling unequal to the toil which a congregation so numerous and so extended required, I considered it my duty to recommend a division of the con- gregation. This was gone about in an orderly way; and in 1832 two calls were presented me through Presbytery — the one requesting that my ministerial services be restricted to Eilraughts, and the other asking that tliey be confined to Dervock congregation. Acting now as I had done at a period more remote, I gave myself to the weaker of the two ; and from that time to this I have been the stated pastor of the united conjgregation of Dervock and Bally- money, This, like many others, is sustaining annual loss in a continued emigration to the 'Far West;' yet the . ■rJtv^ to h!^v •^'if/ m 29 Master whom we serve, and whose cause we advo- cate, has amid deserved wrath remembered mercy. There are now in om> congregation over three hundred commnnicants." " In regard to onr ministrations there are several inci- dents deserving of recollection. During the fifty years of my ministerial services there were only three Sabbaths in which I was not employed. One Sabbath I was not en- gaged in conseqaence of an altered appointment. On a second Sabbath death had entered into my family, and wrested from my embrace my first bom son ; and on the third Sabbath I was indisposed. ** A second thing deserving notice is, that of 228 persons whose names were placed beneath my first call, there is not on« forthcoming. They are all gone. They were, but now a/re not. I stand alo .a insulated by the ravages of the last enemy. Between us and death there is only one step. Yes, the very ministers and licentiates of 1804, with one excep- tion and myself, have passed away — ^when sought for they are not to be found. ' " A third thing deserving special notice is, that during this long period, and amid very many changes in the world, there has been a good understanding between minister and people. We have lived together in love and peace; and at no time was there any alienation of affection between teacher and taught. We have had times of scattering and times of gathering, times of sorrow and times of joy, times of lifting up and times of casting down, stiU the bond of union to Christ the Head, and to one another in Him, ex.- ists, and is, we believe, in continued operation. The sup- pressed sigh and the noiseless tear indicate, however, that the waters of Jordan are before us — not behind us. They are not crossed — ^but are yet to be crossed." ■ For a few years after he thus spake and wrote, and until some more hoary heads had disappeared from the elder- ship and membership of his flock, he continued with much of the zeal and earnestness of bygone days to go in and 30 out amongst his attached people. They beheld from Sab- bath to Sabbath, with solemn and affectionate interest, that venerable countenance which had now become so familiar, and heard that voice which they had so long known, still leading them in the green pastures and by the still waters of the sanctuary. In 1857, when the Reformed Presbyterian Synod in Ire- land met at Dervock for the purpose of renewing the Co- venants, Kational and Solemn League, in a Bond suited to the present time, it devolved on him, as the oldest minister of Synod, to preside in the solemn work. The Bond, as adapted to the circumstances of the Ohurch, having been read over, paragraph by paragraph, he was the first to ap- pend his signature to it, as engrossed in a roll of parch- ment ; and all the ministers, elders and licentiates, followed, severally attaching their names.* u But to proceed. Advancing age brought its infirmities ; and in 1858 our parent solicited the appointment of an as- sistant; and in 1860, the Rev. James Brown, by the una- nimous choice of the Ghnrch, was ordained his assistant and successor, and is now the esteemed minister of that old and respectable congregation to which my father sustained the * We cannot refrain from quoting in this connexion the following expressive references to that memorable occason, in the affecting services of which many brethren took a part : " The scene was indeed very striking and impressive— forcibly reminding one of some of those favoured occasions, in which our Presbyterian forefathers pub- licly pledged tiieir allegiance to 2ion's Covenanted King. The day was calm and delightful — the sun breaking forth with mellow splendour about the time the discourse on Covenanting was commenced, and contbuing to shed his beams upon the House of Worship, and lurrounding grounds, and to gladden the as- sembly, till he simk beneath the horizon. The dense congregation — consisting besides those in the neighbourhood, of many friends of the covenanted cause who had come from remote distances, and even of several brethren fron: Scot- land — remained immoveable in their seats for many hours ; and appeared, at different parts of the service, penetrated by deep devotional feelii^ When the ministers and elders stood up and swore the Covenant, many of the specta- tors shed tears ; and as they came forward tc append their signatures, the act was witnessed with breathless attention. It was as if all felt that God was among his people of a truth ; and that an act had been performed, which tended to elevate and spiritualize the minds of all, and whose happy results would ex- tend far beyond the present service, into future generations." — FVom " A Me- morial of Covenanting" a very irUeretting volume, by the Heir. Thos. Houston, D. D., Knoekbracken. • liV 1 ^ I I'; 31 pastoral relation for so many years, and in which I believe he had many seals to his ministry — many who wiU be, yea, are even now, his "joy and crown." In the evening of his days he was not a stranger to those domestic afflictions which are common to the children of men. His eldest son, already referred to, at the age and in the vigor of manhood, was first called home ; then the faithful and beloved partner of his years ; then a daughter; and then his youngest son, the staff and stay of his advan- cing age. But when toward the close of his well-spent life the " grief and labour" of a prolonged continuance on earth manifested itself to a considerable extent in debility both of mind and body, he had still, in the providence of God, those of his own family left around him who w6re willing, with all tenderness and love, to minister to his every comfort ; and at last, on Sabbath evening, the fourth of December, 1864, in the 86th year of his age and the sixty-first of his ministry, the good father, the devoted pas- tor, the faithful friend and humble christian, peacefully passed away from the Sabbath on earth to enjoy a better Sabbath where there will be no night — ^where, in the soci- ety of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, he now enjoys the promised rest that remaineth to the chris- tian in Heaven. " Soldier of Christ;, well done — Rest from thy loved employ ; The battle fought, the victory won — :■■' ''^':^*.-- Enter thy Master's joy." The apparently deep interest which you manifest in what I have spoken, connected with the history of the departed Minister of Christ, encourages me to say a few words more respecting one or two features of his general character. The limits of this discourse will not permit of that delinea- tion of which the subject is capable, and which we have ample materials to supply. In this congregation, from my earliest settlement, he naturally took the deepest interest, and always associated any little measure of success we !S .■'■•'- •.,. "■ "-■ ■' I'-';-;"- r* . ;■;' .■■'''. ' >■'■'. '*''*'..,'^<' ••■':.5»:v:.*'':'^.-' ''^ • ■ 1 '■ . ' ' , ,, • ■.* !>■ ■',■'■'*-■*..' * - • = ■,.".-. ' " -V ■ . . . I.. «:f .■ ^v. fv .'V' 'W':: ■ -, ■ .-' -'■..^.■.,; -iv--,. '~^-^. ■■ ■■>,■'-:_ : a . '-, . ■ /- .:■■.".'; -: .. t-j 33 might have with your Bpiritual welfare and growth in grace.. I remember how in one communication he feelingly ex- pressed a desire to know our peciple and friends here by name. Often indeed, at a late as well as an early period of his ministry, did he cherish an earnest desire, yea even form the resolution, of visiting this Western world. " In consequence," says he in his memoranda, " of an invitation which I received in 1806 from America, I resolved to re- move thither, but Presbytery after mature deliberation counteracted my intention." On this side of the Atlantic he had numerous correspondents, and amongst the ministers and members of the Church in the United States he had many warmly attached fHends. Some of these, a McLeod, a Black, a Wylie, and a Wilson, who once adorned the American Ohurch, with the McMillans, the Eowatts, the Masons, and the Symingtons, of the Scottish Church, were earlier called away, and he has now joined them in a brighter and better world where the genial fellowship of the redeemed, who meet to part no more, shall be uninter- rupted and eternal. To others who are left behind, both on this and that side of the great waters, we doubt not his me- mory will long be precious. Amongst ourselves there was one kind ifriend, who immediately on receiving intelligence of this bereavement, contributed, through the press, a graceful and affectionate tribute to his memory, who as a shock of com fully ripe, has been cut down by the hand of death, and entered into the joy of his Lord. When on earth few could more feelingly than he weep with them that wept, or comfort more tenderly the sons and daughters of affliction. He loved to follow in the footsteps of Him who was sent to hind 'wp the hroTcen hea/rty and to comfort all that mourn. " First he practised, after- ward he preached." Whilst as a minister of Christ the great and substantial truths of the gospel were his favourite themes, and the energetic discharge of pastoral duties the object of his unwearied assiduity, missionary operations, tract societies, Sabbath schools, schools for the education .# .)'■•■ ■' r / ./.,n.v-..?,. ■ (^. 8 xu w ti St at to tr de ac W( a& an ^^ ...l*V.->,< */ , ' I 'J ion 8a of the young and rising generation, as well as other Insti- tutions of benevolence and philanthropy, had his cordial and constant support. As he was always well acquainted with the public movements, civil and ecclesiastical, of the times in which he lived, and could make his information profitable to others, his conversation was equally interesting and instructive. Seldom we think did any one retire from his society without having realized some pleasure and reaped some advantage. In the young, especially young men looking forward to the ministry, he always took a deep interest, and gave them when required, with all the ear- nestness and affection of a father, his judicious and friendly counsel. In the social and domestic circle he had a kind and happy manner, much of that simplicity and godly sin- cerity which will not soon be forgotten by his family, his flock, or his friends.'*'" In the Courts of the Church his counsels were much valued, and in any discussion that arose he seemed always to remember that there is a time to he silent and a time to speak. He was, we need scarcely remark, a man oi prayer, and his addresses to the throne of grace were characterized by much unction and liberty. Besides the morning and evening worship of God in the .family, singing on each occasion some portion of the Psalms of David, which he so dearly loved, he spent the Sabbath f-'. evening chiefly according to the good old custom of former years — ^a custom we fear too much neglected by many pro- fessing christians in our day^— in catechetical exercises, cx- * One who knew him well (I refer to our mutual friend, the Rev. William SommerviUe), in a letter written to me shortly after bis decease, incidentally makes the following allusion : — " If I was asked to tell what Dr. Stavely was I would say, he was habitually cheerful but a stranger to levity, yet very suscep- tible of enjoyment from the sallies of youth. W'^hout being censorious or a stem reprover, profanity dare not develop itself it in his presence. The poor and ignorant admitted to the nearest familiarity, never lost the profound respect to which ho was entitled. His piety and ministerial consistency were never ob- truded upon the notice of others but were ielt, and giving form to his whole deportment left their impress on observers. Possessed of the dignity and address of a gentleman], which made his society ever acceptable to men of the world, he never forgot, nor permitted others to forget, that he was a Christian and a minister of the gospel. The only defect [that seemed to cleave to him arose from that delicate sensibility which led him to bear an injury rather than give expression to wounded feelings." ,v^^. 34 amining the members of his household on what they had heard or read through the day ; thns striving to imprest religious truth on the consciences and hearts of those around him. It is much, but not we tliink too much, to say that in every relation and in the discharge of every duty, he manifested in some good measure that sublime view of the christian life which the apostle enjoined upon Timothy, "An example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." When a friend re- joiced he rejoiced with him — ^when he suffered adversity he sympathized with him — when he needed guidance he coun- selled him — when he erred he reproved him with the me^- 9ies8 of wisdom. To a beloved brother in the ministry, named this evening amongst the departed, oi the occasion of a sad domestic be- reavement, he thus wrote : " Oh, it was a heavy stroke which deprirtd jou of I- and J— ~ . But whence came this stroke ? It was from the hand of a Father, yes, from 70W Father and my Father, from your Ood and my Ood. We should not open -our mouths to question, to fret, to repine. Thii work, " Lord, is thine." Here is the arresting and solemnizing consideration. It was the Lord's doing. He gare, and He has taken away. Oh that we co'.i1d in the AiU exercise of filial submission say, ' Blessed be the name of the Lord.* I am not sure, my dear Brother, that there is any of the New Covenant relations in which God stands to his people which should more frequently command our attentive con- dideration than that oi a Father. In a father's love, in a father's pity, in a father's care, and in the chastisement of a father's hand, there is much instruc- tion. We discern ail this pretty well ; but yet we are puzzled about chastise- ment. We can explain it in reference to others ; but when afflictions come on us, or on our children, we have difficulty in learning the lessons we have been striving to teach ; we are nonplussed in reducing to prnctice the rery in- structions we have been tendering to our fellow sufferers. It is only tht, sove- reign grace of God that can make us docile, submissive and contented. Be- lie'nng that you have been taught of God, you have now an opportunity of bringing before the surviving members of your family, before your congrega- tion, before your townsmen — ^before the church and before the world — the hal- lowed and heavenly bearing of that divine tuition under which you have been. It Is, and shall be my daily prayer, that you and yours, coming out of the fur'^ naoe, may not only appear, but actually be a family from which the glory of God shall be reflected to every part of the circle with which you are connected. " What more does the Lord require. In a little, a very little time, my Brother, shall you be called home ; yoUr Father T»ill shortly require your attendance in the upper story of the building of mercy, and all that he has been doing in you and around you has had for its object your holy, happy and tri- umphant departure. Your work and day shall together goon terminate, and some of these ill^ble pages in the volume of Frovidoice which are nor. read so badly shall be then well understood. Do not allow yourself to shrink from the stroke ; it is accompanied with a Father's love. Your children gave hopefbl evidence that they were bom of God — children of his family and partalkera of hii holiBeas. You may have lost, they have gained. You may be sad, but ' \-f ■. '■ -.\jf it they hitd to impresB toBe around to say that iry duty, he view of the D Timothy, ^rersation, in a friend re- adversity he incehecoun- ,th the meek- L this evening domestic be- — — and J • Father, yes, from e should not open Lord, is thine." sthe Lord's doing, ihefhll exercise of am not sure, my ons in which God lonr attentive con- father's pity, in a re is much instroc- led about chastise- n afflictions come I lessons we have »ctice thereryin- It is only tht, sove- d contented. Be- an opportunity of ,re your congrega- te world— the hal- ich you have been, ling out of the fur- rhich the glory of ou are connected, a very little time, (rtly require your id all that he has )ly, happy and tri- ihiate, and some are no\ read so to shrink from i^e Idren gave hopewl ,nily and partakera u may be sad, but 35 they posses* an unspeakable joy and an knpertHliable glory." ■ They have reached ihcir heavenly home, far away fmax a worlb of sin and sorrow, and mingle, whilst I am writing, with the redeemed vfMXt before the throne of the Eternal " Weep not fur me," said the compassioiwte Saviour, " weep not for me, but for yourselves, and for your children." * * In conclusion, as there may be some mourner now pre- sent needing comfort under bereavement, I will add an extract from a letter written to another Christian friend — one whose house had likewise been darkened by the shadow of death : — "Lately I addressed my people from these words — 'How wilt thou do in the sweUing of Jordan ? ' This is a question which concerns us. The death of our neighbors, our friends, our children, brings this question home to you and to me. To collect materials for a correct and soul -satisfying answer is not by any means so easy aa some might imagine. Is it not well that conscienoei becomes an advocate for the claims of Jehovah ? It rejects our own righteous- ness; it even rejects its combination with Christ's righteousness, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, fequires a total reliance on our New Testa- ment Joshua fur conducting us through Jordan's heavy surges into the land of peace and rest. * * • Wheu the foundations of the second temple were laid, the voice of joy an'l of sorrow were so blended that it was difficult to distinguish the one urom the other. Thus I believe it is in the bereavement which pious parents sustain in the removal of their pious childi-en. May ^e good Lord make up your loss in the enlarged commuuication of his grace to your own soul, and may the affliction you have sustained be instrumental in preparing you for the enjoyment of a holiness and a huppiuess which belong exclusively to the redeemed. " IMPROVEMENT. 'vi "^CJhristian Friends — The subject which we have brought under your consideration this evening, the perpetuity of the word of God, " which by the gospel is preached unto you," is indeed a subject of infinite importance. Oh, let I every one of us seek so to receive the message with which we are favored, that when all our tears, trials and comforts, in so far as this present state of existence is concerned, have passed away forever, we may together enjoy that eternal life secured by the blood of Christ to all who believe in his name. "•■;■■. ■■■.,.•.—■■ v:^-.- - ••• . '-^. :.,-—» . ..^ ■..,^vi_ Surely if the angels in glory rejoiced at the Saviour^s birth we, though neither possessed of their knowledge nor of their purity, should be exceeding glad ; as the Saviour was not provided for angels, but for the children of men. That we might be saved from the curse of a broken law he was made a curse for us. Though holy and innocent in himself il se he WM nnmbered with the transgreMon. For ns he suf- fered and died — for as he lives and reigns. What then ? We toho live should not live unto oursehesj hut unto Sim who died for ue and rose again. Oh, it is no wonder that these " sons of God" who sang together at creation's birth should even now tarry in their flight of love, as they are sent to minister to the heirs of salvation, that they may look into the mysteries of redeeming mercy, ever discover- ing in these things new matter for admiration, gratitude and praise. I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God, by the truth of his word, by the certainty of his threatenings, by the faithfulness of his promises, by the shortness of time, and the endless duration of eternity, to improve what we have said. Seek now the promised aid of divine grace, thai you may be prepared at last in a state of glory to unite with holy angels and holy men in joyful M ascriptions of gratitude to "Him who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever." He who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and holds in his right hand the seven stars, which are the ministers of the seven churches, has been pleased to institute and bless a system of means which shall prove the wisdom of God, and the power of God in the salvation of all his people. He hath promised to bless Sion's provision, to satisfy her poor with bread, to clothe her priests with salvation, and that her saints shall shout aloud for joy : yet for these things will he be enquired of by the house of Israel. He with whom is the residue of the Spirit is e^ er willing to give if we are willing to ask. Has he not saj'I, ^^ Ash and ye shall receive.^* y Yea, the word has goi a out of his mouth, and endureth forever — a source of encouragement to the sinner, and of consolation to the saint, JSe will give his holy S^pirit to them who ask him. " Wcdk about Zion, and go round about her : teU the towers thereof. Mark ye well her hihoarks, consider herpcdaoes; that ye may tdl it to the generation foUowmg. For this Ood is our God for ever and ever; he will he our guide even vm.to deathP Psalm zl viii. 12, 13, \^^i \ % »' > .1 r, :ii «7 Finally, brethren— J!^ voice qf bweamemeiity vohioh is at the same time the voice of admonition^ shouldhe Keaird^ and its lessons of wisdom im^proved. Whilst, therefore, we seek to avoid the mournful symptom of degeneracy so em- phatically described by Isaiah, whose words of inspired wisdom we have so frequently introduced this evening — " The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart ; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come," (Isaiah ' Ivii. 1) — let us seek to follow those who have lived and j, died by faithj even as they also have followed Christ. Surely it becometh us to remember what they now are, that we ourselves may resemble in some measure what they once were. For him, to whose life and character we have at this time briefly referred, we need not weep : foi we sorrow not as those who have no hope. His work in the church militant was done ; and having finished his course, and kept the faith, he now wears a crown of glory in the Kingdom of his blessed Master. The removal by death, from our society and friendship of those who were the sharers of our joys and sorrows, of L those who were united to us on earth by the dearest and ;' Iv tenderest ties of nature and of grace; of those, especially, ? [., who sought in the early stages of our life's journey, under i , a solemn sense of their obligation to God, to bring us up ! in the nurture and knowledge of the Lord, and who at the i family altar as the morning opened and the evening closed, I whenever the psalm of praise was sung and the voice of ^ prayer was uttered, remembered us, is an event which it I : would be criminal and ungrateful to forget. : " Weep ye not for the dead," says Jeremiah, " neither ! bemoan him, but weep sore for him that goeth away, for he shall return no more nor see his native country." He who has come away, to improve the allusion of the weeping I' Prophet, from all those fond family endearments which he enjoyed in infancy and youth, when every scene was glad- ,\ ness, and every season spring, and every spot was green, 3f can find no place deai'er to him then his childhood's home. The very name is hallowed and delightful. Yes, as changes come and m&carer years pass away, pregnant with the stern realities of life, its anxieties, its hereavements and its cores, busy memory retracing every scene still looks back to those bright and happy days when in a pious mother's love, and a godly father's care, and a gentle sister's smile, he found his chiefest joy. Happy, indeed, is the Exile, and some before uie far far away from their native land can recognize the truth and application of such a reference, who, as he hears from time to time of the links of his once unbroken family circle being severed by the hand of disease or death, and who, though he was not privileged to stand around the dying bed, or to cast a longing, lingering look on that loveliness in death. '< which parts not quite with parting breath," or to join in the slow and solemn funeral preces- sion, or to appear chief amongst the mourners around the open tomb as it received to their last resting place — even earth's lowest rooin — the lifeless dust of the honoured dead ; who, though he may never be privileged in after days or years to bedew the urn of relationship with affection's tears, yet guided not by the faint glimmerings of nature's light, nor by the vague and unsatisfactory teachings of philosophy, but by the noontide brightness of revelation and the good hope of the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as a disciple of Him who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light, can look beyond the dark cloud of sorrow, the chilling shadows of the valley of death fOid the deep gloom of the grave, to a happy meeting and a happy home with those whom he has loved and mourned on eardi, where no natural or moral evil can exist, where former trials will be remembered only to increase an ever present joy ; where the mystery and tiie mercy of every dispensation will be made clear in an ever advancing knowledge of the perfections and the providence of God ; where there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor .crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the I 1 ''( 4t \\ *^,i i|: ■;>V r 39 former things are passed away from that building of God, that house not made with hands, even the many mansions of our Father's house in that place which Christ himself has gone to prepare for his people, and where all the re- deemed, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, evartge- lists, pastors and saints, from every age, from every dis- pensation and from ever}' clime, from the north and the south, and the east and the west, shall form one family, one great society under one blessed Head, Jesus Christ the elder Brother ; a family that car. experience no change and can mourn over no separation, for the links which bind its members together can never be broken — a whole family forevermore at Home nr Heaven. In conclusion, gospel hearer, may we not ask the ques- tion — Sow wUt thou do in the swelling of Jordan f Can you now claim an interest in this promise : " When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest through the Are thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon you." If so, rejoice — ^you are Christ's. You have no other friend that loves you like this Friend ; and he will love yon to the end. Clothed in his righte- ousness, and sanctified by his Spirit, you need fear neither fire nor flood. The land of promise is before you. Hj» gracious pj-Gsence with you, as you pass through that river which divides time from eternity, is a sure antidote against the fear of death; and wherever and whenever the last enemy may come — whether at the beginning, or the mid- dle, or the close of the year — ^whether at midnight or at cock-crowing, or in the morning, Jesus himself will come too, that he may introduce you to life and rest, and joy, to a stainless holiness, a spotless happiness, and an uninter- rapted peace. " Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself : for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." Isaiah Ix. 20. And He will come again at the end of the world in his own and his Father's glory, and the 40 glory of hig holy angelS) when yonder heavens and this earth shall witness that none else is Judge but God ! Behold^ aa,jB hey I come quickly ; hold that fast which thou hastf that no man take thy crown. Hear again his voice — it is the voice of your beloved : Be thou faithful unto deaths and I will give thee a crown of life, *' On the brow of mighty monarchs may sparkle many a gem, And gold, and pearls, and jewels may deck the diadem ; But it shines with earthly lustre — ^it will tarnish and decay — While the Christianas crown of amaranth will never fade away. Proud were the mighty conquerors, crown'd in Olympic games ; They deem'd that deathless honours were entwin'd around theirnames ; But sere was soon the iry wreath, and the olive, and the bay. While the christian's crown of amaranth will never fade away. - i!-^\ With a harp of angel melody, and a palm-branch in his hand, '^^t '. The saint, 'mid circling spirits, round the golden throne shall stand ; And his song shall be enduring as heaven's eternal day. And his victor crown of amaranth shall never fade away." Kow, brethren, we commend you to God, who is able i.o keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sancti- fied, prayiDg that he would make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well- pleasing to his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen, v « ;' : fix -r .iX-l :^*'#,A m ■r-ii iy-s^ ,,(jynii*"i!^;>i ^H^ -i-'r W 1 : (Nv- /' m vtii jw-iJS,^,^ .'.!'•",, APPENDIX iA- . ^M ;--■-„ Aw.--.*; t'. After the previous Sermon was in type, the author received a copy of a Discourse, delivered in Ballymoney, by the Rev. Robert Nevin, and published in January. Mr. Nevin is the son of one who was, till the time of his death, a greatly esteemed Elder of Dervock and Ballymoney congregation. He himself is a distinguished Minister, and now Pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Londonderry, Ireland. From this Discourse, founded on 2 Sam. iii. 88, the following extracts are made:— "When I would attempt a delineation of the gharactkr of our beloved father, as a man, a Christian, and a minister of the Word, I approach a part of my theme of greater difficulty and delicacy. We have, no doubt, here a noble subject for a moral portraiture. May it not be marred in the hands of an incompetent artist ! Dr. Stavely was tall in stature, robust, and well-pro- portioned, altogether a man of commanding presence. Grave and dignified in aspect and demeanour, blameless in the truthfulness and integrity of his life and conduct, those who knew him best would have been shocked and indignant at the very idea of connecting any thing little, mean, or frivolous with his name. His very presence was an effectual check and restraint on every approach to unbecoming levity on the part of others. Yet in admirable com- bination with this dignity was the affability, the kindliness, the geniality of his nature. Easily accessible to all, he knew well how to suit himself to every capacity, at home alike with the sage philosopher and the little child. His manners were cast in the mould of true politeness. His conversational powers were of the highest order. Drawing from the rich stores of his cultivated mind that which his refined taste and delicacy of judgment enabled him to set off to the best advantage, he was fitted to take a place in any circle of society, and shine brilliantly there. In these respects, indeed, he was a prince amongst men, reigning easily without a rival, like Saul among the Israelites, the head and shoulders above others. He was the very model of the finished Christian gentleman. In all the relations of private life, he was an example of the believers — a most affectionate husband, a tender father, a firm friend, ii judicious counsellor. Given to hospitality, his acquaintance was large, his society was courted, and he had an extensive correspondence with many on both sides of the Atlantic. In the pulpit he was peculiarly solemn and im- pressive. The doctrines of free grace were declared with all fidelity and much unction. There was ho tinsel or meretricious adornment, but solid instruction and weighty sentiment, the manifest result of much study. The scientific cast of his mind enabled him to express his thoughts in language at once logically precise, appropriate, chaste, and elegant. Clearly apprehending both doctrine and duty himself, with the bearing of the one upon the other, he set them forth plainly and forcibly before his auditory, urging them home to the heart and conscience in measured accents and distinct utterance. A dis- course from him was no exemplification of labored dexterity in mere word building ; not a bushel of chaff, in which one wonld have to search long and hard to find a grain of wheat. Rather was it a bushel of rich grain in which the labor and the search would be to (ind a single particle of clinff. Xev«r. li mmm 42 hfi!^^:^^: ■'''^'fW^y'.^mi-l, «•* perhaps, was there one to whom the well-known lines of Cowpcr oonUI have a more strikingly just application : — " Would I describe a preacher, such as Paul, Were he on t^rtb, would hear, approve, and own, * Paul should himself direct me. I Would trace * His master strokes, and draw from his design : I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; In doctrint) uncorrnpt; in language plain, And plain in manner ; decent, solemn, chaste. And natural in gesture ; much impressed h. Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, » And Anxious mainly that the flock he feeds , May feel it too ; affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men." Sincerely attached to the Principles and Testimony of the Reformed Presby- terian Church, he did not shun the exposition and application of them when occasion seemed to require. One posaesseJ of his accomplishments, tiaturai and acquirec \d he chosen a different profesyion, or had he even entered th;^ ministry of si / .. r connection, might easily have raised his prospects ftjr this world very higher. Lut having, on deliberate and conscientious conviction, cast U, ot with the Covenanters, and decided on exercising his ministry amongst, them, he never after repented his choice, notwithstanding the privations Khich it necessarily involved. Yet his was no narrow and sectarian spirit that would coop itself up within tiic limits of its own denomination, &\\d refuse the practical recognition of any excellence lying beyond. He acknow- ledged and rejoiced in the universal brotherhood of believers in Jesus. AV'hen another appeared in the tield, engaged in fighting the good fight of faith, though his uniform might be somewhat different from his own, and ttiough it wa.s 'inder a banner somewhat different from that whioli he followed, he could salute him as a fellow-soldier in the one great sacramental host of the Divine Capiajn of the common salvation. He made hbuself versant with the various movements in the world abroad, t^lat he might have understanding of the times, and sound a seasonable tnnnpet-uote of warning as to what Israel ought to do ; iind lie was ever ready and willing to co-operate with brethren of other denominations, in any scheme of piety and benevolence, when this could be done without the compromise or abandonment, to any extent, of our peculiar position. This trait in his character, this large-hearted catholicity, was well-known and appreciated. A touching evidence of this was furnished on the day of his interment. I could not but note with great satisfaction the numbers of brother ministei'S, belonging to another section of the Church of Christ, some of them from considerable distances, who joined in the funeral procession, and in paying the last sad offices of respect to the renrains of departed worth. * * * * And now that he has gone to his reward : that we shall see his face and hear his voice no more on earth, it may seem to some the .fond and partial estimate of one who is only delighted to have this public opportunity to acknowledge his obligations to him ; and who, if he has any clear views in respect to lyhristian faith and practice, ascribes it in a great measure, under God, to having sat at his feet, and having grown up listening from Sabbath to Sabbath to his lucid expo- sitions of divinely revealed truth, nevertheless the conviction is strong,iand I must express it : " Take him for all in all, we ne'er shall look upou his like again.'' A stranger might deem the eulogium exaggerated. But I address nrv'solf to those who have known him most intimately, who have seen his going out and coming in, and had the best opportunities of remarking the boautiiul, Christ-like consistency of his long life. I sjjcak to men of intelUgence and discriminating judgment. Say — I can trust your verdict — have I overdrawn the picture in the least? have I dipped ray brush in oiie whit too glowing «'oloui"s y Tlie call in Providence is loud to you, ray beloved brethren : " Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen thi.? day in, Israel V" , H-'l: J ■ ' 1\' V [. •' ,\ • ! * \S _ \