walls are ever before him. Take his word for your rule; live according to the same; seek him by prayer and supplication; and you shall yet praise him.

We now bid farewell, a long farewell, to the sleeping dust of our departed brother: but, blessed be God, though it be a long fare well, it will not be an everlasting one. We shall meet again. What we are to-day sowing in dishonour, shall be raised in glory. The trumpet shall sound; our brother will arise; we shall meet no more to part. When Jesus comes, he will bring all his saints with him. Comfort ye one another with these things.

The promised presence of Christ with his people a source of consolation

under the most painful bereavements.

A SERMON,

Occasioned by the death of

THE REV. SAMUEL PEARCE, A. M.

BY JOHN RYLAND, D. D.

JOHN xiv. 18.

I will not leave you comfortless. I will come unto you.

So deeply am I sensible of the loss sustained by this church in general, not to say by the nearest relative of my dear departed brother, that on a partial view of their circumstances, (and four views, especially of afflictive events, are too commonly partial,) I could not be surprised, were some now present ready to exclaim, "Is there any sorrow like unto our sorrow, wherewith the Lord has this day afflicted us ?" But though I scarcely know where a church could sustain an equal loss, by the removal of so young a pastor; nor can I conceive, there exists a widow, whom death has plundered of a richer store of blessings, by taking from her and from her infant care the guide of their youth; yet, on more mature consideration, we must not admit that lamentation to be applicable, even to them that feel the most pungent grief in this assembly. The event which has occasioned our present meeting, must deeply affect even strangers, whose hearts know how to feel; but all the dearest friends of the deceased must acknowledge, that

the days of tribulation, which preceded this mournful evening, were not the season of displaying the Lord's anger, but of the clear manifestation of his faithfulness and love: they were to him the days of heaven upon earth. Surely they who drank with him the deepest out of his cup of affliction, could find no savour of the curse, no, not at the bottom; nor could they drink the bitter, without tasting also of the sweet, which was not sparingly dropped into it, but copiously infused. And after such proofs and illustrations of divine fidelity, I cannot but believe, that she who needs them most of all, shall find further stores of consolation laid up for her relief: since God her Maker is her husband, who giveth songs in the night.

This church also must be reminded, that there was a church at Jerusalem, near eighteen centuries ago; which sustained a loss unspeakably greater than that which they now bewail; while yet the sorrow, which was then endured, was quickly turned into joy. And your affectionate pastor, who, both in health and in sickness, cared so much for your welfare, did not hesitate to recommend to your attention, the kind assurance which was given for their relief; as believing it to contain ground of encouragement, on which you also are authorized to depend. He who said to his dear disciples, "I will not leave you comfortless orphans, I will come unto you,” has the same respect to his whole church in every age; and you, my brethren, may as safely rely on his gracious promise, as his very apostles.

Yes, beloved, we were authorized to make a general application of this word of consolation; and must affirm, that the promised presence of the blessed Redeemer is the best source of comfort, to all his people, in every time of trouble.

In complying with the request of my dear deceased brother, I shall first consider the subject in reference to those, to whom it was immediately addressed, and then endeavour to apply it to the present occasion.

First. Let us notice the immediate reference of this declaration, to our Lord's disciples, who were then favoured with his bodily presence.

You are well aware that the words I have read were spoken by the blessed Jesus, to those who followed him in the days of his

humiliation; and that when he thus addressed them, sorrow had filled their hearts, because he had just announced his approaching departure. He came from the Father, and was come into the world, and though the world was made by him, yet the world knew him not; but he had made himself known to these his disciples, whom he had chosen out of the world; and now when he was about to leave them, and go unto the Father, though his stupid and ungrateful countrymen would rather rejoice at his leaving the earth, than bewail it, yet his disciples could not but weep and lament, and be sorrowful; and surely, well they might, at the thought of losing such an invaluable friend!

Especially we might expect this to be the case, if we reflect on the manner in which he was to be removed from them. They were to see him falsely accused, unjustly condemned, and cruelly murdered; being nailed to the cross with wicked hands, suspended between two thieves, and while thus numbered with transgressors, insulted and derided in his last agonies. Yes, he would be treated as the object of national abhorrence and execration, and that by the only people upon earth, who professed to be the worshippers of the true God. And his disciples must either view this barbarous treatment of their blessed Lord, or hide themselves from the shocking scene, by forsaking him in the hour of distress. In the meanwhile, he was also apparently abandoned by God himself, the zeal of whose house had consumed him; the Lord was pleased to bruise him, and put him to grief; he was resolved to make his soul an offering for sin, and therefore he called on his sword to awake against him, who was their Good Shepherd; though he was one in covenant, yea, one in nature with himself; who could without robbery claim equality with God. What could be more surprising, distressing, and perplexing to his disciples, than such a series of events?

While Jesus was with them he had fed them, and kept them as a shepherd doth his flock; he had laid them like lambs in his bosom, and led them on gradually in the paths of truth and righteousness, as they were able to bear it. He had been gentle among them, as a nursing father is gentle towards his little children; pitying their infirmities, rectifying their mistakes, supplying their VOL. VI.

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wants, healing their maladies; manifesting to them his Father's will, and keeping them in his name: and must they now lose his visible presence, and see him no more?

He had been little more than three and thirty years in the world, and most of them had known him but a very small part of that period; they had, however, now beheld his glory, and were convinced that it was the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. They were satisfied that he alone had the words of eternal life; they believed and knew that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God; though at present they understood but imperfectly that plan of redemption, which rendered it expedient and necessary, that he should suffer all these things and then enter into glory. This remaining ignorance must abundantly enhance their grief, at the intimations given them of his departure being at hand.*

But in these words, their gracious Lord suggests, that they had no occasion to sink under their sorrows. He would not leave them comfortless, like destitute orphans, who had no affectionate parent, no wise tutor, no faithful guardian, to supply their wants, sympathize with them, protect them from evil, or instruct them in the way of duty. No, he had promised them his Holy Spirit, to be their Comforter and Monitor; and here he engages also, to come again to them himself; I will come unto you saith our Lord. This promise was fulfilled to them in several ways—

*The conception of the disciples, on the subject of Christ's atoning sacrifice, appears to have been much less distinct than those of David, Isaiah, and many of the Old Testament saints, who lived before the declension of the Jewish church; which appears to have lost much of its spiritual light, and to have become more and more carnalized, from the days of Malachi, till the coming of our Lord. And as it seemed necessary that this general declension, and ignorance of the nature of the Messiah's character and kingdom should be suffered to take place, in order to the fulfilment of prophecy, in the death of our Saviour, by the hands of his own countrymen; so there was an expediency, and a display of wisdom in concealing from the disciples the necessity and glorious design of Christ's Death, that they might not rejoice in so awful an event, till after it was over: had their ideas been clear on this head, they must have rejoiced in his sufferings at the very time of them; but it seemed more fitting that they should mourn then, and that their sorrow should be turned into joy, after his resurrection.