REV. EDWARD HOARE,
_Incumbent of Trinity Church_, _Tunbridge Wells_.
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DOVER: BATCHELLER.
LONDON: NISBET, BERNERS STREET.
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SERMON,
BY THE REV. HERBERT JAMES.
“Remember them which have the rule over you (are the guides), who
have spoken unto you the Word of God: whose faith follow, considering
the end of their conversation.”—Heb. xiii. 7.
God’s gifts to His Church are manifold. He has given Christ and eternal
life in Him. He has given the Word of Christ, the precious casket which
enshrines Him and His salvation. He has given the Holy Ghost to lead us
by the Word Inspired to the Word Incarnate. And He has given Christians
indeed—men and women saved by Christ—living embodiments of a living
Saviour and a living Word, through the living Spirit.
In all these gifts He has a special purpose in view. They are not thrown
at random into the world. God does nothing aimlessly.
When He called this world of ours into being, and gave it its proper
place in the universe as the habitation for man,—when He gathered up the
light into the light-bearers, and commanded them to be for signs, and for
seasons, for days, and years,—when He put the topstone to creation, and
set man upon the earth to be His representative,—in all this there was
nothing without design. “He hath made His wonderful works to be
remembered.”
And so, brethren, has He dealt in things of higher moment. When He gave
His Son, His Word, His Spirit, His people, there was a meaning in each of
these gifts. They are no accidents. His choosing is for our using. His
mercies are for our minding. His gifts are for our gain, as well as for
the glory of His own grace.
Now, this is specially true of that great, but often little-regarded,
gift—_a Christian indeed_. It is a mistake to suppose that such an one
is here merely to work out his own salvation, and heap up treasure for
himself in the world to come.
He is _not_ here _for himself_. As an unconverted man an end is to be
served by his being. As a converted man a far higher end is to be served
by his being in Christ. He is God’s workmanship, God’s appointment _for
others_;—a privilege for those amongst whom he is placed; a light to see
by; salt to be savoured by; a leader to be marked; a guide to be
followed.
The apostle recognises this truth in the scripture before us. He is
writing to a people whom he wishes to establish in the faith. For this
he plies them with motives, and suggests means. In so doing he comes to
set before them those who were their guides in the faith. He urges them
to follow their example whilst living, to treasure their memory when
dead. They would find this a mighty help towards standing fast.
Brethren, _we_ are called to a like duty this day. We are met together,
the poorer, most of us, by a friend; the richer, all of us, by a memory
and an example. We have had—we still have—a gift of God, in the person
of His sainted servant. We have had a real Christian to look upon and
live by.
Let us listen, then, to these words of earnest exhortation, and “remember
those who are the guides—following their faith, and considering the end
(the termination), of their conversation.” Will you not pray that God
the Holy Ghost may clothe His Word with new power, and enable me to speak
so as to glorify God—to quicken, to comfort, to edify souls?
I propose more especially to take up the latter half of the verse, and to
mark—