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3» iWcmoriiim.

-A. SEK/lVCOniT

ON THE DEATH OF

Pliss Ipargarct ||lacbonaIli :

JOHN JENNINGS, D. D.

i-HfnCster, i$a» Street Urcstjijtcrfau Cliurcii.

PRINTED BY REQUEST.

W:, r n 1 :

JOHN YOUNG, 93 YONGE STKEET,

1868.

111'

iiiiiii

><-v7r/:M-:-:!->-

Note!— The Author relets the Oelay in compljing with the
request to have ^this senuon pnhte<V'; biit iiklis*poyition, owing to
partial blindBCss, preventfedWin from prepdrittg it sooner for the press,
froth the short-hand manuscript.

I o ■ r •. r

."; i ; I ; ■ ■ .

, 1 . 1 1 ■ • . ■
>>i : ' ;.■ ii: ■■ I,-

' 1,

• 1 ■ ■ ^ ' f

(

■ •■ / : 1

I I I

SERMOHSr.

" Ifau dietli, and waateth away ; yon, man giveth up tlic pho»t, and
where is h^; ?" — .Tob xiv. l(t.

the

jT to

ress,

;>>

•'1 ■

Fn the uiiivoim' — aiul «»f" its inagiiitiuU' we luivc no a|»|irc'oi-
able coi)ce})tioii'T— there 18 an iiiiiiH'iii!iityof'l>eiii&jr, iie8]K.'ctiii^ whidi
we arc in total iguorance. How very little of it the eye has
seen ; and how uiuoh le^K of it the ear has lieard ! It is said of
Sir Isaac Newton that, notwithstandiuj; hit* ^ar-s4»arcliing enqui-
ries, he found himself to be only like a little child who had
gathered a few fine pebbles on tlie sea shore, while there yet lay
stretched out before him the great ocean wjtfi all its undisturbed
and undiscovered treasures. — There are, again, certain truths
about wliich. om* knowle(t«re is xerv limited, and we cannot
attain to the full comprehension of them : they become subjects
for faith rather than for reason. — There are, too, what some
hold to be facts, and what othei*s maintain to be fallacies ;
things which cause differences, beliefs, douMs, or denials. — Phi-
losophers have their controvei*sies ; and theologians their di^'ers
interpretations and disputations. — Those who study nature do
not all agree, and give an unanimous report of what they have
found in the sen, on the land, and in the sky. — ^Those who
study the Bible do not all agree either, and return but one
system of divinity. And if it shall be pleaded in behalf of
scepticism that the Bible is hard to be understood, because
those who study it have so many differences in inter|>reting it,
it can well be retorted on the devotees of natural theology
that they are by no means charactenscd t>y unanimity, either
in what they read, or from what they learn of the first volume
of the revelation of Ood.

12-3^/^'

^KIIMON.

Tht'iv is OIK' fact, however, as to wbirh tbiii' is no doubt,
no controverHV— tlie man who reads only the liook of ?>ature,
an<l lie who reads also the Hook of Tiispiration ; tlie (Mtristiau
and the infidel; the polished eagu au<J the naked barbarian,
are all aj^need on it — a fact wliicli is co extensive witli Innnani-
ty — and it is this, that man dies ; he is doomed to <lie : and
it is a belief that fixes itself iqaally on the blooming- babe in it::=
fulness of joy in its mother's niins, as on hoary age, which Time
is leaning on and pressing down into the grave ; and on those
who have been compolled to migrate and people the city of the
dead. Human faith is unanimous in that ; and if doubts arise
concerning man, if awful (juestions agitate and j)res8 for solu-
tion, they are not about the fact of death, but the consequences;
for these, indeed, are mighty and mysterious enough, and such sis
natural science can never explore, for only to the door-posts of the
gateway to the invisible can unaided reason go.

The text asserts an universal and undeniable fact ; but it
also contains the (piestion which gives rise to doubts, or fears, or
hopt.'s ; and to speculations so deep, that reason, imaided by the
Bible, has not a phnnmet heavy enough and a line, long enough to
re,ach the mysterious soundings, and bring up the evi<lences
which shall be, alike a reply and a faith.

There are the two conjunct facts — death and dissolution ; "' man
iHKru, AND WASTKTH AAVAY." Death, SO couunoii, allows none
to see any nearer or clearer under its inscrutable ijall. When 1
say this, I mean not as to its cause. There is no mystej-y in tliat.
One sentence reveals it all : for " by one m.'in sin entered into the
world, iUuX death by siiijjand. so death hath passed upon all men,
because all have sinned." .Inst as if you go to some }>arts of
Asia or Africa, and see whole regions bare of every green thing —
grass-less plains, crop-less fields, and leaf-less trees, you mark
the ravages of the army of famine, in the locusts which go forth
by bands ; or just as if you go to some seat of war, and behold
trenehes, and batteries, and battlements that have endured an
iron tempest, the turn soil, the crumbkMl walls, the broken
armour, the deadly shot that lies rusting atU'i- its destructive

SKUMON.

men,

Its of

in^- —

nuirk

forth

.'hold

lU'tlVC

mission is <l(nu', tin- mouiuls scuttoroil so thickly that coiituiii
thoiviiiiiinsof fhiviihous hiittalioiis, and lu-ri' and tUvvv thr bones of
tUo brave wliich tlie vnhure has left, and around are wasted and
trodden Helds an<l deserted honie.<, once 8o happy ones, and yt)U
mark the fell realities of war, — so, as surely, in the universality
of death, can we traee its eause, and find it threatened even in
Eden; and since that first blood of the rijjjhteous Abel which was
shed by the i^uilty friitricide, the prerosjative has been irivon to
«leath, l»v manv instrumentalities, to vindicate an inflexible law
of (iod.

" Death is wIktc billows fojiiii.
Peuth is wluTo music melts upon tlu' air ;
Death is aruunil us in our pi'MLcful lionit',
And the world calls us forth — and death is tlicrt'.

Deatli is wlu^re friend unlets friend,

Beiieatli the shadow of the elm to rest ;

Death is where fo*; meets foe, and trinnpets rend

The skies, and swords heat down the princely crest.

Leaves have their time to fall,

Aud flowers to wither at the north wind's breath,

And stars to set — but all,

Thoti hast au. seasons for thine own, O ! death !"

Even though we know tlu' cause of it, still there is a wonder-
ful mvsterionsness when we carrv on our en<iuirv into the future.
Who has ever stood and looked at a corpse, at the remains of a
friend, of one with whom you had loviuijf associati«.)n, and saw
the eyes, but ii; soul now lookiuix out tliere ; the nu>uth, but no
more coming from it the language of intelligence, the tones of
love, or the melodies of song : that form, once so active and
strong, now inanimate and cold as the clod of the valley : who
has ever stood and looked thus — if he had not the stolid stare
and vacant min<l — who has not felt the mystery of death coming,
for a time, like an Egyptian cloud of blackness, and sweeping
an«l whirling around his brain ! Who has ever stood so, and
looked so, who has not felt himself asking, "andean it be pos-
sible that that shall yet [»ut on immortality ? can it be that
this corruptible, now to be given to the grave and worms, shall
yet put on incorruj)tion V and was there, afh'r all, a sou 1 in tliat
i)ody? ami does it still live ? and if so, wdiere ? wliere ?" Yes,
even with the Bible in vour hand and its faith in vour heart, vou

J •QU(«5l'^

sKinroN.

Ciiniiot lu'lit focrnii; an ovfritowcriii'j; invstcrioiisiu'ss ns vun stJiiMl
by ii cdttiii side ; iiinl stniiim' (|U4>sti(>iih and straiiirc tliouu:lits —
v\v\\ ill spit<' of fnitli — will stnrt up and ludd wundi'iinl and
ji('r|»l('\injj; cnnver!*!' within you.

.•i»«

'„,'.. i\

Tliis lias always Ih'cm oxihtumu'imI. Wv inav take tlic hook

•-I »

of Joh as oiu' of the larlicst hooks of the liihlc — if not indooil
writtt'U hofo'v Mosi's' day — and we find in this <-ha|>tcr of it
SOUK' of the rcasoninajs that \\\\v ontiTtaiiu'd : the stni««'<din«'^s of
a tnu' faith in tlu' starliufht of n'liu:i<nis kn(»wk'd«'('. loiii» a'-'t's
a«itom', iK'forc life and ininiortality were hronixht to liuht hy the
gospel. The grass, though cut down hy tho scytlu* of the
the hnshandnian, will spring again; the tree, tli<>ugli it rv-
ccivc a dci'p wonn<l from the woiKhnan's axe will recover
and heal again, ami even though levelled to the ground, will cast
forth sjuouts from its roots. In the vcgctahlc world there arc
recuperati\(' itowers ; and thoii<ih winter may seem to deaden all
with its icy breath, and swathe all for burial in the redic woven
by the frost king, yi't

" Tli«; woods slmll lii-iir tlic voire ot' spiriif;-,
And tloiiriisli green Hgain ;"

but for man, death, as far as this existence iroes, is his tinalitv :
his jdace he never tills again, and there is no reviving spring, to
him, from " the ashes of the urn." Thus, as respects this w«u-ld,
the tjrass of the field and the willow bv the stream have an ad-
vantage over man. The watei" that ascends from the ocean, that
floats in the cloud, that falls in the rain, that runs into the
rill, the rivulet to the river, and the river to the sea, thus tinds its
wav back auain, but man conies no ukuc to revisit the ohl
scenes. The man of l'/, by his reasoning, did not mean to be an
annihilationist, for he believed in a future state, as the whole
tone, spirit, and hope of his declarati<Mis indicate — tli()Ugh 1 can-
not readily accept as a clear proof that, which is often given,
" For 1 know that mv Hedeenier liveth, ami that He shall
stand at the latter day u|>ou the earth ; and though after
niv skin worms destroy this body, yet in mv tlesli shall 1
see (iod," for that possibly had by him another reference ;

SKKMON.

)rl<l,
II ail-
that
. tlic
(Is its
(. oM
\iv an
■wliolc
can-
iviMi,
shall
after
lall I
once ;

yet it is true in a Li:«»sjn*l sciisr to I'Vrrv lu'ru-xrr, ami iid <loul>t it
will |»r«»\(' tnu' to him too, hut what ht* iiitcndcil t)) «-onv('y was
that, wIm.'Ii wo cxamiuo the suhjcet, there is a «laikiicss sueh as
the best light from tiie analon;ifs of nature iloew nut <lis|u'l.

I need not speak of the opinions of either ancient or niodeni
heathen, where the faint relic of a once full, luMLrht truth in
the soul is all that we now timi in their mytholoLries ; iiiit even
the olil .lews had it not fully, and h -M it not clearK as we. It
was not to them a well proven fict, in aetua! history, 'riicv had
heard ()f Enoch, whom (4od '' toMk" in a liajtpy translation, hut
he was the solitary instance in the aiiteijiluvian w<u'ld, and taki'ii
to represent in lu-aven hnnmnitv lu'forc the flood. Tlu*v ha«l
heard of Klijali, who finished his splendid proplu'tic career in a
glorious ascension ; hut he was the only one in the lonu" line of
all their ureat and i;odIy ones, and taken to represent the Jewish
church in the (diurch triumphant. Tliev had not vet heard of a
hurial and then a resurrection. They went to the sepulchre, and
saw a ujreat st<Mie with an unhroken seal at the <loor of it. The
fidness of time had nf)t yet <;ome when they should heliold it
i*olle<l awav, and when there should he heard the cheeriiiu' invi-
tation to " come see the place where the Lord lay." Life
and immortality, from the <j:rave, had not yet a li\ inu' representa-
tive of a dead or a dyinu' humanity in either earth or heaven. The
urand evidence was wantinu: until i::iveu hv the Son of ]Mar\ as
the real iVran, and the Son of (4od as very Divinity, unitin<.r
both natures in one ; iriyfiiir Ilis life, and takinu; it aii:aiii : yield-
iiiir to death in His humanity, ami iroinn' down amonu: Ilis kindred
of the flesh ; and then cotupu'rini*- death l»y His divinity, and
risiii!^ auaiii, and hiddiiiLj us enter His empty tom'o, to have a
misty faith illuminated with the clearest of evidence, ami then
to foUow Him in the crowd of witnesses, and to he assure<l that
the Lord was risen indeed. The resurrection of Jesus is the
culminatinir testimony. The first fruit of the harvest of immor-
tality was taken from the borrowed tomb i>f the irood inan of
Arimathea ; and it is a token au<l assurance that there shall be
yet a harvest home, when the reapers shall be the ani^els, and
have trathered into the kinirdom of uflorv all the redeenuMl from

W SKItMON.

aiiioiitr iiHii. .Icsiis (.'lirisl .mikI lie cnicitiril i> tlic *lucriiiic to
U*!i<l tin- siiiiu'f to ( i(mI f'<M' his s;ilv;iti()ii. .loiis Christ .iimI He
risen from thr (h:i<I is the- <h»ctriiu' tu clicci- thi- ilyiiiu' (liristinii
thiit he simll not hr forijotti'ii in his ifravc. .Icsns Christ iunl
lie ascrndi'il ;it ihc riuht hand ot'ddd the Kathc ris the (htctrinc
to lift ns np ahovc all earth's ills ami deaths, ami to teaeh lis that
He, who is there, has all power ujiven nnto Ilini in heaven ami in
earth, and that lie will conn' attain and rncive ns inito llimselt;
and then, our j<>y shall he fnll as we sl;in<l aronnd the tree of
life, in the paradise of (Jod.

"Man niK'ni, am* wastkth away." Some read it thns, Man
WA.siKrii AWAY, ANi> i>iKin, Natnre uradnally fails : the silver
eonl has its threads snajiped one l>y one : the l>o\\| is piece hy
piece broken at the fountain ; an<l that is true so tar, as when he
who has uathertd tin- snows of aue on his head ami hows and
bends hi)n on his slatl', that he thns wasteth away, and slowly
"jjoes out of sii^lit i)assinLf down the >alie\- of the shadow of
death ; but thouuh this is tf fact, it is not f/ii iniifoini one; for
thf lo\(Iy babe, the mother's jewel of her laart, ami nn)re pre-
cious to her than rubies, is taken away : the stronii; man dies
while the tide of health is runninu^ at a \\\>^\\ Hood, and his bones
are fnll of marrow ; and fell consumj>tion suddeidy pales the
younii' rose-blush on the cheek of beauty. — The readini>' of the
text is better, man dieth, and t/ic/i he wasteth away back to his
oriuin — all but his sold — ^dust to dust, and ashes to ashes. O!
men and bicthren, if we were to read our fate <ndy in thelaniiuau'e
of death ; if all our liiL>ht were that which comes from the window-
less walls of the hoiise appointed for all li\ini>', we would hio\irn
for our belove<l dead without ho))e, and sobbings would be
turned into w ailinns, and patient urief into a yell of auony ;
but, blessed be (Jod, the gospel jtlaecs a lamp of li\inu' hope in
the cottin, r.n<l by faith we see its ethereal tlanu' on the uraNcs of
all the Lord's sleepers therein, and by its li«rht Ave ri-ad with joy
that they shall rise again ; ami thus, for them and for ourselves
Ave look, far beyond, to the daAvn of that Ljlorio\is day Avhich
shall have no sun-set ; avIumi the resurrection shall brinu; Vip the
<'on<pierors, with the challenge to their aiu'ient foes, forever van-

MKKMitN. H

«|ui>ln'»l tlu'ii, " () tli'iitli I winTf i> tliy >liuii';' < > urav c I wlu'iv
is tliy vi«'.tory V" Dratlil tlioii luulst a sliiii;:, Init tin- poiijon U
I'xtnu'tcd ; ufiiivt'I tliou luidst ^utcs ;in»l l»ars, luit they aiv ull
Imrst mikI Uiokt'ii ; :in(l now, rrdrciiuMl, it'ii('\V(<|, rcstorcfl, wv
lift <mr forclicads to tlic sky, to 1k'1i(»I(| and to I'/ar the Lor»l
<U'sccu<lini; from lioavi'ii wlili a sliont of triunij»lial <-oiM|iU'st ;
au«l ascrilx', in all tlit- ufratit'ido of* conscious innnortalitv, " thanks
Ik' to (io<l, wlio ^ivctli US tni' vit'tory tlnoni;li our Lord .Icsus
("in-ist." ■ ,.,' ,. - , . , .,...,. " ..,

Tlic text furtluT stati's, tliat l»v di'atli tlicrc is not oidv the
inanimation and conscMiui'nt dissolution f»t' tlic '>ody, lnii, besides,
there is anotlicr tact, "yka man <.i\ ktii vv iiik <;host." Now
i'nnn tlie orioinal word tor " i/hnsf^' we, perhaps, can gather no
more mcaninLf than sitnply ///'c Man uiveth np tht'lite. Still tlieiv
comes the eiKjuiry, w hat is life ? Does it consist oidy in eon-
sciims activity of hrain an<l heart, "olood \essels, nnisch's, and
nerves V If so. man is alloirethei- like the l)east of the field ! 1
must have more than that. Tlu' " ^ivimj up"' infers a livinjjj
part, a restorinii; or retiii-ninn' of a portion of what constituted
human existence. The preaelier in .lernsalem, after speaking of
death, says, " t/i<:/i shall the spirit retni'u to (iod who o:»\-e it."
We find the soul hei'e ; and Mliich is the i-eal, living, respousihie
constituent of man. Death is the separation of the material from
the spiritual, an<l dissolution seizes on the one, and(iod recalls
the other, IJeasou can do absolutely nothing foi- us in this. It
is a subject of [)ure faith, and that faith resting on heavenly
revealings. I>y reason, we know nothing about death any further
than we see. Wliat was life, is lifeless : everv sense uttei'lv un-
conscious. That is all we can tell. We bi-liold no pait oi- parti-
cle escaping — no tenant flitting from an old honu'. Hut then' is
a sublime wonder in the fact that the soul from that body has
[Kisse<l, (piicker than electric light, through uuknowii regions into
the clear atmosj)hei'e of eternity, and ai'rixcd at the very foot of
the throne of the (iodhead. We want words to express the uiys-
teriousness, the sublimity, the awfuluess of the truth which
so directly concerns <'very one of us : for wc, too, must give up
our souls to Uod, utul stand l)efore JJitn, vither friendless, Ijaviu^

SKl{>t(>X. ' .

never soiijxht tlio sinner's F''iMen<l, or to be presented us rjinsonied
spirits, tlirouuli Jesns Clirist, and to begiii etei-iiity in tlie blessed
eoTMpany oftlie sjiirits ofjnst ;nen made perfect.

,; I tun not sure but not a tc\v make a niistake, and think and speak
too much about the wronj; thing. They think of the grave, how
forbidding it is ; and recoil at tiniling a new mother in the earth, and
tlieir sisterliood and brotherhood in the worm : they mourn, and think
of the <k*ar departed as in tlie grave ; and they go to the grave, to
weep there, and as it were to get tlie nearer to them. Now, haUow
the spot where our dead rest : but let not mere sense act to the ex-
clusion of faitli. Tlie shortest, sweetest verse in all the Bible contains
the out-gushing sym})athy of the Lord Avith bereavement, " Jesus
wept :'" yet lie l»ids us think of the soul — the real, the best, the
living part : and to lift up our eyes from the dust, and our truest
affection from the toinb ; and if our dead died in Christ, to have a
comnuinion of spirit with them in the praise of the same Redeemer :
to feel as if a saintly uiantle fell on us, to help us on to heaven,
and to live in contemplation of a joyful and unbroken reunion in the
world of life. It is a relic of paganism that leads us to clothe the
Christian mourner in sackcloth : the early Christianity had the flowing-
robes of white. It is the spirit of paganism that carves on the tomb-
stone the death scull and cross-b(mes : it is Christianity that teaches
us to chisel thereon the holy emblems of the anchor and the palm.

The text has an all-important (juestion. " WnERK is UK .'" Where
iis man after he dieth, and wasteth away i Where is he after he giveth
up the ghost '. Of necessity, in considering the former part in the light
of the gospel, the rei)ly has been indicated ; nevertheless, to complete
the subject, it requires a special distinctiveness.

^kU

•' WuKUK IS UK r Is that all of him we see in the shroiul — all
of him that is wasting away under the sod in the Necroi>olis, which,
l>eing interpreted, means the city of the dead i Are we to learn no
more about him th»n can be heard from a grim member of the con-
gregation of the silent ( If so, it were frightful. If so, we would live
with the black pit of extinction gaping to receive us — to end life, with
all its thoughts, and deeds, and aspirations, in an eternal blank : to live
believing that Me are made but a little lower than the angels, and to die
the inferior even of the worm. My nature abhors the very thought of
It. There is that within me which clings to life ; if not life here, yet
life somewhere. The murky gloom of severe disappointment n>ay drive

SKUMO.N.

lii£ht

1(1— all
kvhich.
irn nt)
e con-
1(1 live
with
[o livi-
to die
i^rht of
'c, yet
drive

tlu' lijiht from reason ; or the (lesj)air of conscience he so terriMe as
to Inirrv a man from tlie present to the anywhere — and, if possihU', the
nowhere — bnt in ordinary c(msciousness it is the Imman feeling to keep
hold on existence. Even heathenism, in its every phase, has never
accepted death as the tinality. It nuiy not be reason, properly so called,
but there is a something in man which asserts a claim to inunortality.
Such, at any rate, has been the fact in all ages, and the broad denial of
it has come, strangely, only from those who, having Bible light, have
closed their eyes to it, and, seated in the chair (jf the scorner. have
impiously declared that there is no God, and preferred to liken them-
selves unto the beasts that i>erisli. . i. ,,,, , . ,, , ,

I, ,,,

.<■

Where is man after he dies i Jlere, replies nature ; — not all
here, says a hope Avithin us ; — not here at all, says revelation. The
soul is the man, is the doctrine of the Bible; a doctrine which re-
futes nature, and substantiates the instinct of hope for life. The
Bible raises us from the dead body to the living sentient man returned
to God, and there to wait till the resurrection day when the reunion
shall be completed. But some man will say, how arc the dead raised
up. and with what bodies do they come < The reply is to be found only
in the word of God ; and for the argument, let me refer you to the I5th
chapter of 1st Corinthians, and to the evidence of the resurrection of
Jesus. And here comes the issue of faith or intidelity ; for, •" if Christ
be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and ytmr faith is also vain."
Some, indeed, may hold that both our pleaching and our faith are
fabulous, and, discarding them, view the future as a blank, and them-
selves as doomed to nothingness ; but their creed will not make void
the declaration that God hath appointed a day in the which He will
raise the dead, and judge them too. They may now attempt to look
on death, not even as a leap in the dark, l)Ut a leap into oblivion. Yet,
to judge bv the historv of such intidelitv, there will ( iiue a tryinu
hour — if the;y have time to think — when their courage to face annihila-
lion will fail theui. and the verity of a God aiid a Judgment to con\e
will !ij)pear before them as more than possible : as a fact which they had
derided, then rising up in awful solemnity, and cither by the mercy of
Christ bringing them humldy to His grace, or ringing the knell of doom
through all their soul.

'* WiiKHK IS im. (' .Iiulging by the unconcern of many, it would
seem as if they could reply, we neither know norj care. But to such
1 would say, what ought to awaken the deepest Interest in you more
than your own futurity ( Enquire, and are you no better than a i»east.

SKinroN.

with ii sjjirit that uoctli downwanl : or aic you a man, witli a soul whose
father is (t(kI :• Arc you indiftereiit about yourself^ Tlien I sliall
entreat for yourself — your future self— a hi^ih and lioly sellishness — that
you <;ive instant and earnest lieed to what the Bible teaches : that by
the terrors of the Lord ye be persuaded to go no farther in the way of
sin ; and by the ])roniise8 of the Lord you may l)c led into the way of
life. I would ur<?c you, by "crtain misery, that you flee from it, while
yet there is time ; and by.cternal blessedness, that you make it your choice
while it is yet within your reach ; and let faith in the Bible lay hold on
eternal life. It is your own self throuj^h all eternity which is the moment-
ous matter : it is you r. saint, or you a sinner for evbr : it is yoii to lie
either up anion;!; the oloiiHed. holy and happy as an auji'd who never
fell, or it is you down auionjij all the misery of hell — hell within you and
hell around you, weepinj; and wailinji' and o-uashing your teeth because
of misery von feel ; an<l because ot" mercy, !>race, and tjlorv, all of which
you have lost. 1 can plead, too, by the mercy <)f God in Christ that
you o'ive not yourself to perish ; foi- surely you need a Saviour, when it
required that none other and none less should be provided than the Son
of God ; and surely eternal salvation is a mij^hty reality, when Jesus
died to purchase it : and that in believing you nuiy have life through
His name. But shall you tell mc that God is so merciful that lie will
not condemn men to eternal misery, and therefore you shall be safe in
His condoning grace. Ah I remember that you know nothing of the
soul, or heaven, or hell otherwise than the Bil)le declares. And why
is there mention of heaven, if there are to be no rewards ; and why tell
of hell, if there is to be no punishment : Avhy faith in a Saviotir. if thbre
•r to be universal absolution : why a Saviour at all, if the mere mau-
^date of Divine mercy is to cause ac<iuittal : where the justice of putting
the good and the bad on equal terms ; and where the felicities we asso-
ciate with heaven, if the pure and the foul are alike to compose its
society i Vou extol God's mercy, and so do I ; but God's mercy is here,
and through Christ full and free to you now : but if y(m reject it here,
while it is ottered, on what ground of Scrijjture, or reason, or sense can
you expect it. or clain it then ^ You are careless about yourself now ;
and whv should God be careful about vou then, and after He liad called
and you had refused ; after He had stretched out His hands but you
regarded them not ? You look for God's mercv in the future, 1 entreat

vou to seek it now

an{

d. in apostolic word;

I l)eseech vou therefore,

brethren, bv the mercies of God that ve liresent vour bodies a living
sacritice, lu»ly. acceptable unto God. which is your reasonable service." '

WUKHK IS I IK

In a state in which he is neither to be tried nor

SKUMON.

ivd nor

puriJiecl. He t?lmiri»L' givon no ojjportiinity for thtMCH.i'i)ti()n or rtijec-
tion of gnice tlien. His hnnnmlifo was his season of trial, and at tleatli
his clianveter is sealed for ever. He shall have no means, no nu-rcv, no
Holy 8])int to make him righteous then. Tlu; inHexIMe law is, " lie
that is unjust, let him l)e unjust still ; autl he who is filthy, let him be
Hlthy still ; and he that is righteous, let him he righteous still : and he
that is holy, let him be holy still." The character after death. I l)elieve,
will be the same in kind, but not in degree ; and will be |)r()gressiv('
either in glory, or in misery. It is the law of (»od in this world that there
is no standing still in anything ; it is life, or decay ; it is better, or
worse ; and so it is respecting man ; and the same ])rincipIo will cou-
tinue for evermore. The saint, in the beatitudes of heaven, will be
receiving more knowledge as ho ascends another and yet another
mountain to]) of glory, and gazes afar on new scenes full of the works
and wonders of God ; and his book of new songs will Ix; constantly
(mlarging as he offers the tribute of his joy in praise to ihn] and to
the Lamb ; and on tlie opposite, the,condemne<t. iu the region of woe,
will find ii deep, and yet a lower deej). into which his nature is descend-
ing ; and the old passions, Avhich tired and forced him on in his lifetime,
gi'owing more tierce and furious in the company of tlie devil and his
angels ; and still hating the very evil which possesses him. and mad-
dened by despair, hin\self will be hell, bla/.ing in still liotter tlames. lutjj

■ O ! brethren, hearken to the many lessons which are addressed to
you. The saints in glory bid you to lie follov,ers of them who
through tViith and patience are now inheriting the promises ; and the
spirits in woe would send a n\es.sage, if they could, that you come
not into that place of torment. The Bible has its lessons, radiant
with the light of heaven, and full of the experience of cai'th ; and
the grand object of all its teaching is to educate and prci)are you to
receive the I)ivin(^ benedicti«)n, and the fulness of joy to which it
leads. And death has its lessons, so many, and some so sad, and
some so sweet. Our end»lein is the shadow — and often shadows we
pursue. It is in the grass tliut withers, and in the llowcr that fades.
Here we have no day or hour we c:an truly call our own, for wc
know not what the next may bring. In these talternacles of ours,
our souls are oidy tenants at will ; and our suinvnie duty lu-re is to
live, using life in high and holy relations to that hereafter to which
the Bible jjoints the way, and which by the grace anil stryugtU of
Christ all the faithful shall be enabled to pursue. ••. - .

In concludinu', it is almost uimccessarv to sav that this sultjccr
has been forcil)lv brouyjht to our consideration bv the death of one

wmm

KKKMOK.

of our own omjfiepHtion. I think it can be said, wi'tiiout exritinjf tinvv
ill any bf'east, that one of tlie very loveliest of our young people has*
l>a«Me(l away from us. Death, ah the reaper, with the sickle keen, has
selected one of our finest flowers, to pn^sent it to the Lord of Para-
^Bse.' I speak of our deflr departed yotirtp friend, Maooie Ma.cdonald —
tiiat'was hei* old name; for her hew name, written in the white ston<*
of the New .lerusalem, no man knoweth save she who hath receive<l
it, and lie who hestoWed it. .

[fh- In her earlier days — haviujGC a good religious and secular education —
her special characteristic was a very imaffected and most amiable disposi-
tion; and <me which, if it wwe possible, improved witli her ye^irs, so that
she wjts a choice favorite amongst all her jwquaintances. No pride in
<lress, no pride in nnmner; but there was a winning ease, with dignity,
that in her girl-hood comnmnded alike attention aiul respect. She had
warmth in her uttwrtions, but not forward in showing it. She wus natur-
ally cheerful, but never gay : with a keen sense of the humorous, but
always kecjiing it within the bounds of a true relinement. She had
much of the beautiful — beautiful in person, beautiful in mind and
clmraot^r ; traits such as we might say that Jesus saw in the young
nobleman, and Jc-^us loved hiui for them. Still these were not enough,
and tlie Lord gave lu'r a cix)ss to l^ear, and sent her into the school of
artlictiim, to train lier tor Himself For about four years there had been
a ccmflict for life,, and every likely means were U4*ed to ward oft" a slow
liut shipping consumption. At length there came another conflict for
eternal life. Slve was always most resiwjotful regarding religiows
things, andreaclyto H'arn, divine truth ; but the gieat concern had not
pressed home on her h^'art till last siunmer, when tlien it did^ annmnting
jiJmost to a. struggle— a soul striving to get f'nmi the l^ondage of natural
sill' intt) the glorious liberty of the cliildreii of God, — a soul deeply con-
vinced of inj^'.curity seeking for refuge in Christ. — a soul in earnest,
asking what must I, do Xp be saved, and striving for salvation tltrough
the Crucifled.. Faitli, the hand of the soul, M'as at flrst weak hi the
trial, but it grew stronger, and at length laid hold, with a grasp that
w<mld never relax, on the Lord her Redeemer : and she found _|oy and
peace in believiug. She jn as not a member of the cliurch. though more
than once she thought seriously of becoming one ; and latterly, had her
strength permitted, she most gratefully would hav<i gone to tiie Lard's
table, and' with aH' its soleiufn memoriftls have confessed her frtith, and
satisfied her h6art at the feast which the Lord has pi'ovided for his own
ltelove<l. But it wa? not to be that thus and there she was to make a
ptiblic professitm. She did well that she did it in her heart, when she

'■»*»- ■,

HKUMON.

envy
e ha»^
I, liftt*

Para-

\L1J —
■ stoiK-
ceiveti

■A i't'VV

■,'■;«» '-'A'-'
tion—
lisposi-
«(> that
Ada in
lignity.
•he liad
< natur
UB, but
lie had
lid and
; young
I'uough,
3I100I of
lad been
a slow
flict for
I'ligitwis
lad »ot
)unting
natural
,ly con-
jearncst.
Ihrougb
in the
sy that
hoy and
hi more
liad Iwr
LordV
fch, aud
Ids own
jnake a
lien she

could do no more ; and surely the Lord actepted, according to His pro-
uiisc, the sacramcnting and consecration of her whole soul. And though
<lenied a precious privilege, ttn<l the discharge of a holy duty in the
courts of the Lortl's house an<l at the altar-tid^le of tlevoutest ordinance,
yet she failed not to confess Jesus in her sick room and on her dying
bed : and with almost her even last breath it wais her admonition to all
who knew her, and especially to those she loved so well, that they should
come to Jesus, and be Christians; an<l that those who profi'sso<l the
faith should hold it fast, and also hold it forth.

Death had no terrors to her. 8he saw InunanucPs lan<l beyond the
cold flow of the Jordan, and she was glad. She was so calm — so very
calm — with every mental faculty clear as light, and strong as ever it was ;
and she spoke of dying as collectedly and pleasantly as ever in the days
of her strength she talked of a thing of earthly joy and loving anticipa-
tion. She could

*• Leave the world withoiit a tear.
Save for the friends she held so »k*ar."

and then turning from the world, w ith all its attachment'*, she rejoiced
in the hope ai' meeting ('hrist, aad joining in the blissful society of the
redeemed around the throne. One of her delights was, from an expoai-
tion of Jesus' meiiuing, when He said " In my Father's house are many
mansions. I go to prepare a place for you" ; — that he was not leaving
the house, but going only to another w)om in the palace of the great
King ; so she, in departing, was only passing to a higher room in tjie
paternal residence, and to enjoy its; prej)aration and «'ompany in the
presence of her Lord. A favorite hymn of her's, which expres9e<l
her faith and feelings, is that choicest of the choice, " Just as J am,
without one plea ;" tmd which, at her request, was read to her a short
tinw; before she died ; along with another that with joy in' he
face, and almost with her last utterance, she kept repeating, as she
foretasted the glorious reality of being ''Forever with the Lord."

>jhe fell asleep in Jesus oil the morning' of tlie *21st of Maix*h,
and in the twentieth year of her age; and her re([uiem let it bo, as if
we could speak into the dull ear of death, ...

'• Thou art gone to the grave I but we will not dc'ph)re thee.

Though sorrows and darkness encompass the tomj) ; . , ,
■ ' The Savionr has'i^assed thn>ugh its portals before tliee.

And the lamp of His love is thy gujde through the gloonr:

'»/..-">$ ■I'"/'

1«;

XKH.MON.

•"'1 TIkmi art j^one to the ixnivt- 1 wc no longer Ik'IioIiI tlu'i\
((••iiiMi; Nor tread tlic V()\\<x\\ paths of the world \>\ thy s'kU':
' •' But the \vi(U' arms of inercv are spread to enfohl tliee, ,
And sinners may Ijop". siiiee tlie Sinless hath died.

■ :.u > ■

; t I ■

Thoii art gone to the j^ruve 1 I ail 'tweiv vain to deplore thee,
. When (Jod was thy ransom, thy guardian, thy guitle ; ,. ^
lie gave thee, He took thee, and He will restore thee ;
And death hath no sting, since the Saviour hath died." ^^.; ,

-1
«.

Now, in eiosing, I would jijiecially address tiu' young ; and it wiaiid
Ite in the earnest luessage your tleparted young friend anil companion in
this house of (rod has left ; and though dead, may she speak to you.
urging you to early i)iety — to he Christians, — to the (ledieatiinx of your
heart and lite to the love and service of Him ^vllo loved you and
gave Himself for you. May the Dninc Spirit apply it savingly to
voii all :

You must <lie: y<Hi may die young: you nuiy die soon: you may
die without having time to [)ray : and () 1 bethink you of all that is
heyond death. Prepare to die ; yes, hut the best preparation Is your
living holiness. F*rcpare to live ; to live now a life of faith in the Son
of (toiI : and that is yoiu' security, let death come when and how it
may. The Chiistian character is the first to seek, and the best to have ,-
and in it there is a Avelling joy, from a fountain tha' is never dry : a
good hope in it that sheds bright cheer on life's darkest hours, and
'Ihnnines the very gloom of death, and rising u]) to the vorld of the

Innnortals, linds it turned into a glorious fruition there. '. ' " '""' ""'

. ■ • , ' ' ■ - ■ ' .. . /: _ » i '';■ 'r^ifx-jijij

', ' Now, may God grant that this service, on the death of her we now
uu)Urn, may be blessed, for the spiritual life of both young and old.
'• The voice said. cry. And what shall I cry .' All llesli is grass, and all
the goodliness thereoT is as the Howei' of the tield : the grass withereth.
the Hower fadeth : because the Spirit of the Lord Itloweth upon it;
surely the [)eoj)le is grass. The grass withereth. the iiower fadeth : l>ut
the wonl oi" our (iod shall stand for ever." ' = ". •,,"..

.... ■> ! . I.' '! 'kj

' ' . r 1 ^2 ;f; ,J^i ,. , , ,y, _ ,: ,' . .1

. ,-■ ii-' i ■'!!,; .<'i*rii,;'lf>fl#'' 'tj:-'^'_;iy ■■ •'--■:■•'••'' ''-^'"iv--"^ .n't;'-