The faithful servant: A sermon, preached in St. Peter's, Southborough, on occasion of the death of the Rev. Stephen LangstonHoare, Edward
Religion
The faithful servant: A sermon, preached in St. Peter's, Southborough, on occasion of the death of the Rev. Stephen Langston
Hoare, Edward
Funeral sermons; Langston, Stephen, -1878 -- Death and burial -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
What would he say to you believers? Do you think he would tell you to
give up for that your faith is in vain? Would he not rather say, that
the half was not told you, no not the thousandth part, and that there is
such a fulness in Christ Jesus as when on earth he never had had the
least idea of? Would he not entreat you to cleave to him, to follow him,
to love him, to serve him, to labour for him, and to clasp him to your
heart as the strength of your life, and the joy of your soul?
And what would he say to the unconverted? Would he say to them that it
does not matter whether they are converted or not, and that he finds that
he was mistaken? You may remember what he said in his farewell Sermon,
“I think with grief of those who have not submitted to the Gospel of
Christ. To such, the minister stands in a very awful position as a
witness. Oh, those words, “Son remember!” You See how the Father of the
faithful addressed him, owned him as a son, and one of the family, so
that he might have shared its blessing; but he had cast them away. My
unconverted brethren, if you die without Christ, oh the bitterness of the
anguish, and remorse! What must be the worm that never dies, the fire
that is never quenched? O consider this ye that forget God. He that
being often rebuked, and invited, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy. My hearers, what I want is that your
hearts may be given to the Lord. I want Christ to be enthroned in your
hearts. I want you to become His, to enter in while the door of mercy
invites your approach, and to share all the blessings of everlasting
salvation so freely offered through Christ Jesus the Saviour!” Do you
think he would say less now, now that he has seen the great realities?
Oh! how would he plead with you, and how would he persuade you, and how
would he point you to the Lord Jesus Christ for life! But we shall hear
that voice no more on earth, and we can never again listen to him
pleading with souls. Nevertheless, the message remains, the Redeemer
remains, the salvation remains, the open door still remains, and may God
grant that there may be such a work in each one of us, that when we pass
beyond the veil, we may be welcomed, as we are sure that he has been,
with the words—“Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!”
* * * * *
* * * * *
HENRY S. COLBRAN, PRINTER, TUNBRIDGE WELLS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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