PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CONGREGATION.
NORWICH:
PRINTED BY JOSIAH FLETCHER, UPPER HAYMARKET;
SOLD ALSO BY
JARROLD AND SONS, LONDON STREET;
LONDON: JACKSON AND WALFORD.
1847.
The following sermon, which the Author composed and preached without the slightest intention of publishing it, and which he prepared for the press at the bedside of a dying son, is now presented to his congregation, in compliance with their earnest request; and to the public, in the hope that they will mildly censure its defects, and that they will imitate the example of Christian excellence which it describes.
Some additional extracts from Mr. Gurney’s works are now inserted, which were omitted in the delivery of the discourse.
A SERMON.
Acts xiii, 36.
“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers.”
There are, as you will readily perceive, several interesting points of resemblance, between David, here spoken of, and our beloved and honoured friend, whose lamented death has occasioned this discourse. Both of them became religious early in life; and consecrated their youth to the God of their fathers. Both of them were men after God’s own heart; who, in the midst of human infirmities and imperfections, reverenced the divine authority, looked for pardon and salvation to the divine mercy, and esteemed the divine loving-kindness to be better than life. Both of them had the tongue and the pen of a ready writer; and said much, and wrote much, for the edification of the church of God. Both of them contributed largely and cheerfully of their own property, for the support and extension of the cause of God and of true religion. Both of them, when brought into various tribulations, found it good to be afflicted, and made the everlasting covenant of their God, all their salvation and all their desire. And of both of them it may with propriety be said, in the language of our text, “They served their own generation by the will of God; they fell on sleep; and they were laid to their fathers.” There are also, as you are aware, some points of difference between them, as well as of resemblance; to which, however, it is not needful to refer particularly; especially as I am desirous to direct your attention, in this discourse, not so much to specific instances of resemblance between these holy men, as to the beautiful accordance which there is between the description given in our text, and the life and character of Mr. Gurney. There are indeed various terms by which he might be appropriately designated; yet the one which is used in our text, though in some respects the humblest, is perhaps the best. He was a servant; and till he fell asleep in death, and was laid unto his fathers, he was employed in serving his own generation by the will of God. I think that all who were acquainted with him, will acknowledge that his whole life was service; service as opposed to selfishness, and idleness, and injuriousness; service done for God, on behalf of the church and the world; and service which he was prompted to undertake by Jesus Christ his Lord and Master, and from the exercise of which he became eminently beneficial to society, and eminently holy and happy in his own person. As he was, to a great extent, a public man, well known not only to you who compose this numerous congregation, but to most of our fellow-citizens, and to many of our fellow-countrymen, I may without impropriety speak of him more freely and more fully than I would speak of a more private individual; and especially as I am desirous that his character and conduct, as a christian servant, should be clearly and influentially perceived by us all; that by the grace of God we may imitate his example, and enable survivors to say of each one of us, “He served his own generation by the will of God, and fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers.” In order therefore to describe and recommend to you the christian servant, we shall consider the office which he sustains; the manner in which he is to discharge it; and the state in which it terminates.
I. Let us consider, in the first place, THE OFFICE WHICH HE SUSTAINS. I make this a distinct and primary subject of consideration, not that there is any difficulty in ascertaining what christian service is, but because I am desirous you should perceive and feel that it is an essential part of christian character. It is true that the office of servant is not the only one which a man of God sustains; nor is the name the only one which is descriptive of his character and life. He is a disciple; who sits at the feet of Jesus, and learns from his word the great mystery of godliness. He is a professor of Christ’s gospel; who publicly declares his belief of its doctrines, and his subjection to its authority. He is a soldier; who endures hardness, and fights the good fight of faith. And he is a son; a child of God; a partaker of the spirit of adoption, whereby he cries Abba, Father; and an heir of God through Jesus Christ. But he is a servant, in a sense which includes these names and relationships, and which describes a condition, in some respects superior to them all. As a servant is one who is subject to the authority of another person, and is employed on his behalf, so a christian is in willing subjection to God, and is employed by and for his Master in heaven. Formerly he was in the service of Satan, serving divers lusts and passions; but from that service he has been redeemed, not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ; and from that service he has been called by the effectual voice of the Holy Spirit, who has constrained him to renounce sin, and Satan, and the world, and to consecrate his service to the Lord. “Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked, that, though ye were the servants of sin, ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
The man who thus becomes the servant of God, receives a qualification and a commission to serve both the church and the world—to serve the church, by seeking the spirituality, union, and increase of its members; and to serve the world, by seeking the temporal and spiritual welfare of all mankind. Without the desire and the practice of service such as this, religion would be but an empty name, or a mere sentimental emotion. It would be, not a living, but a dead religion; “for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” This christian service which is thus the effect, becomes also the evidence of personal piety. There are some things, the possession or the practice of which are no decisive test of character. You may be in membership with a church of orthodox principles; and you may be the zealous advocate of denominational peculiarities; and yet, by these very things, you may be gratifying prejudice rather than piety; and your religious professions and attachments, may be only modifications of selfishness. But if you are found sustaining the office and discharging the duties of a servant of Christ, you are walking in the footsteps of your Lord and Master; you are living, not to yourself, but to him who died for you and rose again; you are looking not at your own things only, but at the things of others also; and therefore you love not in word, or in tongue, but in deed, and in truth.