Transcribed from the 1847 Josiah Fletcher edition by David Price.
THE CHRISTIAN SERVING HIS OWN GENERATION.
A SERMON
OCCASIONED BY THE LAMENTED DEATH OF
JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY, ESQ.,
AND PREACHED IN
PRINCE’S STREET CHAPEL, NORWICH,
ON
SUNDAY EVENING, JAN. 17th, 1847,
BY JOHN ALEXANDER.
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.
How perfectly was this office sustained by Jesus Christ, the servant of God in the redemption of sinners. He himself is Lord of all; the Maker and the Monarch of the universe. “He was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.” And how perfectly this “form” was indicative of the reality. “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” “I am among you, said he to his disciples, as one that serveth;” and when, on one occasion, he had girded himself with a towel, and washed his disciples’ feet, he said, “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord; neither is he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” Happy indeed! for both happiness and honour are derived, not from exalting, but from humbling ourselves; not from self-indulgence, but from self-denial; and from a cordial and practical imitation of Him, who was meek and lowly in heart, and who went about doing good. How peculiarly and prominently was this the character of our departed friend. How much he had received of his Master’s spirit, and how willing he was to walk in his Master’s steps. Many of you, my brethren, I trust have so received, and are so inclined. Let us therefore follow him as he followed Christ. And as we profess to sustain the office of Christian servants, let us now give the more earnest heed to the apostolic injunction, “Let every one of us please his neighbour, for his good, to edification.”
II. Such being the office, which the Christian servant sustains, let us consider, in the second place, The manner in which it is to be discharged. “He is to Serve his own generation by the will of God.” Here, you perceive, is a course of conduct regulated by an important principle; both of which are to be included in our consideration of the manner in which this office is to be discharged. On an ordinary occasion, I would have described and illustrated this conduct, and this principle, by an express reference to scripture doctrine, precept, and example. But it is our privilege to have had among us an individual, well and publicly known, who sustained this office, and whose life and character afford an impressive illustration of the manner in which it should be discharged; and therefore, as Peter “freely” spake to the people, of the patriarch David, who served his own generation by the will of God, I shall now freely speak to you of our departed friend and brother, as an example of the same religious service.
In the first place then, A CHRISTIAN IS TO SERVE HIS OWN GENERATION. He may indeed be the means of serving future generations also. While David was serving the men and the institutions of his own time, his prayer was, “Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have shewed thy strength to this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” And the God to whom this prayer was addressed, enabled him to accomplish his desire, by the preparations which he made for the erection of the future temple, and by the Psalms which he composed, and which have contributed so richly to the instruction and comfort of our own and of preceding generations. Martyrs and Reformers of old, who, as servants of Christ, were faithful even unto death, and sealed their service with their blood, were also thereby the means of securing benefits to the church and the world, which have come down from their days to our own, and by which we ourselves are established and blessed. And our beloved friend too, who has served the present generation, will serve the future also. “He, being dead, yet speaketh,” and he will continue to speak, not only by the remembrance of his holy example, but also by the vigour which he has imparted to many of our benevolent and religious institutions, and by the books which he has published, and which future generations will read. Of every truly Christian servant it may therefore be said, even when he rests from his labours, that his works do follow him. His years are thereby prolonged to many generations. He lives on earth, and in heaven, at the same time. And blessed is that servant, who, amidst the repose and joy of his celestial home, is crowned by the benedictions of men of generations subsequent to his own, to whose salvation he was the means of contributing. But let no one aim at the future, to the neglect of the present. Let no one withhold time, and self-denial, and personal effort, from the present, with the intention of making an atonement by levying a tax on his property for the future. Let no one accumulate, and hoard up now, with the intention of letting a portion go when he can no longer retain it. But let every man be his own executor, as far as he is able, and let him endeavour to serve future generations by generously and religiously serving his own.
The present generation is emphatically “our own;” and, therefore, it has upon us peculiar claims. Every good man has been converted and sanctified by the grace of God, in order that he may be qualified and disposed to serve it. The objects which have the first claim upon our service, are our own families; nor are we to undertake the service of a philanthropist, of a Sunday school teacher, or even of a preacher of the gospel, to their neglect and injury; “for if any man provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” Those among whom we are placed as neighbours, demand our service next; and so on, according to our means and opportunities, till the circle of our service is as wide as the family of man. Our charity, which may thus begin at home, is therefore not to end there; but must resemble the service rendered by the sun, who sheds his light and sweet influences, first on the planets which are nearest to his centre, and then extends them to those which lie at the remote circumference.
Our Christian brother, now departed, so faithfully served his own generation, that his conduct in this respect may furnish an influential rule and encouragement to ourselves; and though we may not have the means and capacities which he possessed, yet from his extensive service, we may learn how to conduct our own, according to the ability which God hath given us. He, then, served his own generation, by a public profession of the gospel of Christ. In early life he was placed in circumstances where he was free to choose whom he would serve; and he had wealth, and talents, and attractive influences, which would have gained him a cordial welcome among the men of the world, who have their portion in this life. But he came out from among them, and was separate. He determined to become a disciple of Christ, not secretly, for fear of the frown or ridicule of the world, but publicly, declaring himself to society and to the church, as a Christian man, bound to act on Christian principles, and to exhibit them publicly and practically in all his religious and his secular affairs. This was a most appropriate act of Christian service; and the moral courage which he manifested in thus following out his convictions, by confessing Christ before men, is a noble example to the men of his own class, and of his own generation. “Vain,” says he, “will be our belief in the glad tidings of salvation through the crucified Immanuel, unless it be followed by a holy decision of mind, in giving up ourselves to God. The want of this holy decision, may be regarded as the second grand cause of the imperfections which so often interrupt our conformity to the divine will. When Saul was arrested in his career of violence, by a light and voice from above, he ‘was not disobedient to the heavenly vision;’ he surrendered at discretion to the all-conquering Saviour; forsook, at once, his self righteousness and self will, and became, without reserve, what every Christian ought to be, a servant of the Lord. The die was cast, which for ever determined his adherence to the cause of Jesus Christ and him crucified.” [11]
He served his own generation by a consistent and influential character. He not only began well in his Christian course, but having obtained help of God, he continued in it, even to the end. Suppose it had been otherwise. Suppose that, after he had made a public profession of the gospel, he had renounced it; or, by some act or course of immorality, had profaned it. What a frightful supposition! Can you estimate the evil and the disservice of such an apostacy? How would the church have mourned, not as she did at his death, with sorrow softened with hope, but with bitter tears, and a broken heart; and how would the enemies of truth and purity have rejoiced and blasphemed! Can you then estimate the service which he rendered to Christ and to his church, by that long course of holy and consistent conduct which, by the grace of God, he was enabled to pursue; and during which he was neither ashamed of the gospel nor a shame unto it. Brethren, let us watch and pray, that we may thus serve God ourselves, and let us devoutly listen to the charge which our divine Master is ever addressing to his servants, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
He served his own generation by his liberal contributions, which he rendered to the cause of humanity and religion. Giving money, in due proportion, and to proper objects, was placed by him among the duties inculcated by religion and benevolence; and his giving was distinguished, not only by the largeness of its amount, but by the manner in which it was conducted. He gave cheerfully, constantly, and religiously. If you have ever been refused money, when you have asked it for a really deserving case, the refusal was not from Mr. Gurney. If, after long and beseeching entreaty, you have received a donation grudgingly, it was not from Mr. Gurney. There were sometimes cases when he might have excused himself, by pleading the amount he had already given to similar objects, or the claims and the peculiarities of his own religious denomination; but, though he would not give against the convictions of his conscience, yet his giving was evidently limited only by those convictions, and by the range of his own means. “I only wish to keep my head fairly above water,” was the remark which he made to a friend, who had received a donation from him for a religious purpose, just after he had been giving some large sums of money; and when an effort was being made, some time ago, to induce persons to become collectors for a charitable institution in this city, to which he had given liberally, he said, “It sometimes requires more self-denial to ask for contributions than it does to give them, and the most liberal people are often those who beg, not those who give.” You know how he remembered the poor; and I shall never forget the gratification which he expressed when the District Visiting Society was established, because, as he then said, he had the means of sending money to the poor, in a way that would secure its proper distribution. I have said that he gave religiously. He regarded his possessions as a sacred trust, committed to him by his divine Master, for the supply of the wants of others as well as of his own; and he felt his responsibility as a steward who would soon be called to give an account of himself unto God. What he gave, therefore, was given unto the Lord; and many a cup of water has he given to his disciples, because they belonged to Christ. How many lessons of wisdom and religion, relative to the principle and mode of giving, may thus be learned from the example of our departed brother, who never saw an object of necessity or distress and then “passed by on the other side,” but whose oil, and wine, and purse, were always ready for the necessities of his neighbour.
He served his own generation by personal efforts. His gifts were not merely pecuniary. It was his own maxim, that a man may give much money, and yet exercise very little of benevolence or of self-denial. He gave what, to a man in his circumstances, was often more valuable than gold—he gave time, and personal attention, and laborious effort, to assist in the working of many of the public institutions with which he was connected; and till circumstances rendered it needful that he should in some measure withdraw his personal attendance, he was one of our most punctual and regular committee men; and sometimes undertook service which others preferred to decline. Many of our public institutions are really conducted by comparatively few individuals; and it will be a great advantage to the societies themselves, and to the public at large, when we have a greater number of men who, like Joseph John Gurney, will be seen in our committee rooms, and on our platforms, giving their presence and influence, as well as their silver and gold.
I need not say that, among his personal efforts, he served his own generation by his writings. In the many volumes which he has published, there are of course the expression and the advocacy of his peculiar opinions as a Dissenter, and as a Friend; but his writings are characterized, not by these peculiarities, but by what is common to the church of God. They are full of the truth as it is in Jesus. Some of them are eminently critical, argumentative, and learned; all of them are eminently excellent in their sentiments and influence; containing no words which, “when dying, he need wish to blot,” but only such as were serviceable to the interests of sobriety, righteousness, and godliness.
