{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52768/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52768","id":"gutenberg_52768","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52768","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church of England -- Sermons","Funeral sermons","Sermons, English -- 19th century","Storr, Francis, 1808-1888 -- Death and burial"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1888 William Rice edition by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                                Memorials\n                                    OF\n                              FRANCIS STORR.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                _SERMONS_\n                                    BY\n                            REV. CANON HOARE,\n                                   AND\n                               REV. W. MAY,\n\n          _Preached in Brenchley Church_, _26 February_, _1888_.\n\n                                   ALSO\n\n                  _NOTES OF THE LAST SERMON PREACHED BY_\n                              REV. F. STORR,\n                          _12 February_, _1888_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                   WILLIAM RICE, 86 FLEET STREET, E.C.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nIn Memoriam.\nFRANCIS STORR.\n\n\n              _From the_ GUARDIAN, _Feb._ 29_th_, 1888. {3}\n\nOn Saturday, February 25th, the mortal remains of the Rev. Francis Storr,\nfor thirty-four years Vicar of the parish, were buried in the beautiful\nchurchyard of Brenchley.  The snow lay thick upon the ground, but the sun\nshone bright in heaven, and the outward scene symbolised and reflected\nthe feelings of the mourners\u2014the blank sorrow of a bereaved parish, and\nthe rejoicing that the last prayer of their beloved pastor had been\ngranted, and that he had been summoned home before increasing years had\nnecessitated that resignation of his work and ministry which would have\nbeen to him a living death.\n\nHis work was well described by Canon Hoare, who preached the funeral\nsermon:\u2014\u201cHe was a true specimen of a devoted parish clergyman.  He did\nnot take much part in things outside his parish.  Most thankful should we\nhave often been if we had had more of his help and counsel in matters\nconcerning the diocese and the Church.  But the parish was his sphere,\nthe parish was his home, and the parish was the one object for the\nbenefit of which he spent his life.\u201d  The Bishop of Dover writes,\u2014\u201cNo one\ncould possibly be half-an-hour in his company without seeing a\ntransparently Christian character, the chief features of which were\npersonal humility and genial sociability.\u201d  And the Archbishop of\nCanterbury writes,\u2014\u201cMy last day in Brenchley, and my walk and talk with\nhim were one of the never-to-be-forgotten days.  The labour and the love\nwhich turned an affliction so great [his blindness] into a gain, were\nindeed in the very spirit of St. Paul and of his Master.\u201d\n\nBorn in 1808, and educated at Harrow and Queen\u2019s College, Oxford, he\nentered the ministry in 1833 as curate of Up-Waltham, in Sussex, where he\noften exchanged pulpits with Archdeacon (now Cardinal) Manning.  In 1837,\nhe was appointed to the rectory of Otley in Suffolk, through the\ninstrumentality of the present Bishop of Norwich, who, with a\nconscientiousness which was in those days rarer than now, refused himself\nto hold two livings.  The parish had never before had a resident\nincumbent.  A dilapidated and empty church was speedily restored and\nfilled.  The young preacher with his striking presence, clear voice, and\nimpassioned delivery, attracted a congregation not only from his own\nparish, but from the neighbouring villages, where in those days such\npreaching was unknown, so that hearers from twenty-three different\nparishes have been counted at one Otley service.\n\nIn 1846, he was presented by Lord Tollemache, who as a near neighbour had\nseen and appreciated his work at Otley, to the living of Acton, in\nCheshire.  Acton is a large and straggling agricultural parish, but with\nthe help of curates and district visitors, he soon got to know each\nhousehold almost as intimately as in the village of Otley, and any one in\ntrouble, whether of mind or body, instinctively turned to the Vicarage.\nActon was one of the first parishes, if not the first parish, to give up\ngenerally the practice of Sunday cheese-making.  Till, at his\ninstigation, the experiment was tried, it had been pronounced by farmers\nan impossibility.  After eight years of incessant labour (he was hardly\nabsent as many Sundays from his parish), the declining health of his wife\ncompelled him to move southward, and he was appointed to the living of\nBrenchley, vacant by the death of the Rev. R. Davies, Secretary of the\nC.M.S., whose widow some years later became his second wife.  The special\nwork of his predecessor was carried on by him with ever-increasing zeal\nand success, and, whereas in 1848 Brenchley had scarcely heard of the\nC.M.S., in 1887 the contribution from the parish amounted to over \u00a3300.\nPart of this sum came from outside friends who knew that the most\nacceptable birthday present they could make to the Vicar was a\nsubscription to his favourite Society, but the larger proportion was\ngiven in sixpences and coppers.  It must not be supposed that this\npreference made him overlook other claims, or ignore other charitable\nsocieties.  In particular, the London City Mission, the Flower Mission,\nand the Bible Society were very near his heart.  As for the wants of his\nown parishioners, he not only gave profusely himself, but he was\nindefatigable in urging their claims on all who could or would give.  He\nwas, I believe, the first incumbent in Kent to remit, without\nsolicitation, a percentage of the tithe.  Latterly, in hop-gardens where\nno hops were picked, the tithe was wholly remitted, and no farmer who was\nin real straits was ever pressed for payment.  For labourers out of work,\nwork was somehow made or found.  Thus, during the last winter, as many as\nthirty at a time were employed by him in road-making.  Endless similar\ncharities might be recorded, and still more were done in secret and\nunknown; but these would wholly fail to represent \u201cthat best portion of a\ngood man\u2019s life, his little nameless unremembered acts of kindness and of\nlove.\u201d  His utter unselfishness and his quick power of sympathy endeared\nhim to an ever-widening circle of friends.  He never lost sight of any he\nhad known, and all, whether rich or poor, knew that, if content with\nsimple fare, they would be welcome visitors at the Vicarage.\n\nDuring the last ten years of his life, the greatest of earthly privations\nwas sent him.  There was a gradual failure of sight, ending in total\nblindness.  None who knew him even slightly can have failed to admire the\nserenity and cheerfulness with which this loss was borne.  Like Milton,\nhe \u201cbated not a jot of heart or hope, but still bore up and steered right\nonward . . . content, though blind.\u201d  He never would admit that it was to\nhim a heavy trial, though to a man of his independent character and\nrestless energy it must have been a daily thorn in the flesh.  Thanks to\nthe guidance of loving hands, he was able to continue to the last his\npastoral visits, and would fearlessly mount the narrowest and steepest\nstairs of cottages, wherever the sick or dying needed his ministrations.\nHis sermons and lectures seemed almost to gain in power by his\nconcentration of thought and abstraction from objects of sense.  He would\nnot rarely take (I had almost written \u201cread\u201d) the whole of the Morning\nService, including the Psalms and the Holy Communion.  Even in his\neightieth year his memory was hardly impaired, and he would give chapter\nand verse for text after text quoted in his sermons.  His knowledge of\nthe Bible was wonderful; it was as if he had it photographed on his\nheart.  The last sermon, preached only nine days before his death, was\nclear, stirring, and energetic, and bore no trace of flagging powers.\n\nHis life was one of the many golden threads that run through the\nvariegated warp of England\u2019s Church history, and show the continuity of\nher ministry.  Though severed by five centuries, he is the direct lineal\ndescendant of Chaucer\u2019s \u201cpoure Persoun of a toun,\u201d and there is scarce a\nword in that marvellous portraiture that might not have been written of\nFrancis Storr, for\n\n          \u201cChristes lore, and his apostles twelve,\n    He taughte, but first he folwede it himselve.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nIn Memoriam.\nFRANCIS STORR.\n\n\n                 _From the_ RECORD, _March_ 2_nd_, 1888.\n\nAmong the deaths of last week our readers will have seen the name of the\nRev. Francis Storr, Vicar of Brenchley, Kent.  The news reached us only\nin time to record the bare fact, but we cannot pass over in silence a\nlife, uneventful indeed, but none the less noteworthy.  Mr. Storr was one\nof the oldest, if not the oldest, of a remarkable band of men, linked\ntogether by common views and doctrines, but still more closely united by\nthe apostolic zeal and devotedness to Christ\u2019s service which animated one\nand all.  He was the brother-in-law and intimate ally of Dean Champneys\nand Bishop Utterton, and the life-long friend of the Bishop of Norwich\nand the Bishop of Liverpool.\n\nBorn in 1808, he graduated at Oxford in 1833 (the year of the first\nappearance of _Tracts for the Times_), being awarded an honorary Fourth\nClass.  With the Tractarian movement he felt no sympathy, and, though on\nterms of friendship with some of the leaders of that movement, from the\nvery first he threw in his lot with the Evangelical party, never swerving\nin his allegiance to the end, though ripening years taught him more and\nmore to see good in everything and to attach less importance to party\ndistinctions.  In the same year he was ordained by the Bishop of\nChichester to the curacy of Up-Waltham, and two years after he took the\ncuracy of Beckenham, Kent.  Here he married his first wife, Caroline,\ndaughter of Colonel Holland of Langley Farm, Beckenham, a true and\nconstant helpmate during the twenty years that she was spared to share\nhis labours.  In 1837 he was presented to the living of Otley, in\nSuffolk, and in this small but neglected parish his energies found for a\ntime full scope.  When he came, there was no parsonage (no previous\nRector had ever lived in the parish), the church was dilapidated, and the\nchurchyard a neglected waste.  A parsonage was built, the church\nrestored, and the churchyard reclaimed.  But the spiritual change wrought\nby his means in the parish was even more striking.  The voice of one\ncrying, not in a dissenting chapel, but from a Church of England pulpit,\n\u201cRepent ye,\u201d and appealing with all the fervour and some of the eloquence\nof a Whitfield, to the individual conscience was a strange sound in that\nsleepy hollow.  Those who had never before set foot in a church came,\nfirst from curiosity, then from genuine interest, and then carried the\ngood news to their neighbours, so that the little church could sometimes\nnot contain the hearers who came from twenty parishes round.  His sermons\nwere wholly extempore; he never took a note with him into the pulpit.  In\nthe most literal sense of the words, \u201che preached unto them the\nScriptures,\u201d for having studied the text of the Bible as few clergymen\nare now wont in these days of multiplied expositions and commentaries,\nand being gifted with a strong memory, he would pour forth verse after\nverse in support of any point he was urging, giving in each case the\nexact reference.  But it was even more by house-to-house visitation than\nin the pulpit that he made his influence felt.  By his absolute\nunselfishness, his large-hearted sympathy, his deep personal humility,\nand his genial humour, he found his way sooner or later to every heart,\nand Dissenters who would denounce him in public as part and parcel of the\nhated and apostate Establishment, welcomed him in private as their truest\ncounsellor and friend.  Over children he exercised almost a fascination;\nthey would follow him along the village street like the Pied Piper, and\nfor each child he would have his sportive nickname or little private\njoke.\n\nLeaving Otley for Acton was one of the greatest trials to his singularly\naffectionate nature, and to the end of his life Otley and its people were\nvery dear to his heart.  But, much as he loved his first parish, he felt\nthat he could not resist the call to a wider sphere of duty.  Of his work\nat Acton, his successful crusade against Sunday cheese-making, and his\nunflagging work and labour, both spiritual and sanitary, in the fatal\ncholera year, we have left ourselves no space to speak.  We must pass to\nthe last and longest chapter of his life at Brenchley, of which for\nthirty-four years he was the Vicar.  Succeeding the Rev. Richard Davies,\nthe faithful and devoted Secretary of the C.M.S., he accepted as a sacred\nlegacy the furtherance of the claims of that Society.  How successfully\nhe pleaded its cause is shown by the fact that in 1886 Brenchley, a rural\nparish with no resident squire, sent up a larger contribution than the\nwhole of Scotland.  The chief proportion of this came from the coppers of\nmissionary boxes, and the proceeds of a missionary basket to which an old\nservant of the family was \u201ctold off.\u201d  During his incumbency the growing\ndistrict of Paddock Wood, and the off-lying hamlet of Matfield, were made\ninto separate parishes.  If all parishes had had an Incumbent like the\nVicar of Brenchley, we may confidently say that the question of\nextraordinary tithe would never have arisen.  Each defaulter was treated\nby him as a tenant in arrears with his rent would be treated by an\nindulgent landlord, and in bad years some remission of tithe was freely\ngranted at a time when such indulgence was unknown, at least in Kent.\nNor were the labourers less cared for than the farmers.  No man or woman\nwho could show a plausible case of distress was ever sent empty away from\nthe Vicarage, and relief was always, if possible, given in kind or by\nproviding employment.  For the hop-pickers who swarmed each autumn from\nthe slums of London one or more Scripture-readers from the London City\nMission were always retained; field meetings, magic-lantern\nentertainments, &c., were got up; pressure was brought to bear on the\nfarmers to supply more decent sleeping accommodation\u2014in a word, they were\ntreated for the time as members of the flock, and, as far as time and\nopportunity permitted, Christianised.  Of his private life this is not\nthe place to speak, but this much we may venture to state\u2014no man since\nDr. Primrose numbered so many poor relations, for the plea of poverty or\ndistress was at once admitted by him as a claim of kinship.  And he never\nlost sight of a friend.  Curates who had worked with him forty years ago\nwould still write to seek his counsel and help in any difficulty.\n\nFor the last ten years of his life it pleased God to afflict him with the\nhardest of human trials\u2014the total loss of sight.  Yet he found a way to\nturn his loss to gain, and his noble example of cheerful and almost\njoyous resignation to the will of his Father more than compensated for\nany diminution of his energy as a pastor.  Not indeed that he relaxed or\nslackened his work to the very end.  In his eightieth year it was his\nhabit to take the Communion Service and Sermon in the Morning, and to\nread Prayers in the Afternoon; and, though he had necessarily to depend\nmore on others for seeking information and carrying out his behests, no\nhousehold in the parish was unknown or uncared for.\n\nHis last prayer, \u1f10\u03bd \u03c6\u03ac\u03b5\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f44\u03bb\u03b5\u03c3\u03c3\u03bf\u03bd, was granted him, and he died in\nharness, quietly, almost painlessly, and with consciousness to the last.\nOne minute only before he was taken, he asked one of his sons on what\ntext he had preached the previous Sunday, and on being told, \u201cOur Father,\nwhich art in heaven,\u201d he whispered, \u201cOur Father\u2014in those two words,\nrightly understood, lies the whole of the Gospel.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nI.\nSERMON\nBY\nREV. CANON HOARE, M.A.\n_Sunday Morning_, _February_ 26_th_, 1888.\n\n\n    Ezekiel xxxiii. 33: \u201c_And when this cometh to pass_ (_lo_, _it will\n    come_), _then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them_.\u201d\n\nYOU can see at a glance the application of these words to the solemn\noccasion that has brought us together this day.  They were spoken to\nEzekiel.  He was a very popular and attractive preacher.  The people sat\nbefore him, and his words were unto them \u201cas a very lovely song of one\nthat hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument.\u201d  But\nthey produced no effect; for the people heard his words, but they did\nthem not.  These words were therefore spoken to warn them that when\ncertain predicted troubles should arise, they would learn the truth of\nEzekiel\u2019s ministry.  Those troubles are described in verses 27, 28; and\nthese words were added to warn the people that when all this should come\nto pass\u2014which it most surely would do\u2014they would then learn the awful\nfact that there had been a terrible reality in the message of the\nprophet, and be taught by too late experience that, although they had\nregarded him not, they had had a prophet among them.\n\nNow, the word \u201cprophet\u201d is not applied only to those persons who were\nmoved by the Spirit to predict the future, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and\nEzekiel.  It means one who speaks forth the Word of God, and proclaims\nthe message of God in the Lord\u2019s name.  It is a term therefore that, in\nthis its wider sense, may well be applied to your late beloved pastor,\nour dear and honoured brother now taken from us, of whom it may be said\nwith the most perfect truth that for thirty-four years he went in and out\na true prophet among you.\n\nHe was a prophet in the true meaning of the word, for he spent his life\nin publishing or speaking forth amongst you the hidden mysteries of the\nsalvation of God.  We quite acknowledge that he was not a prophet like\nEzekiel, carried away in lofty flights of inspired ecstasy; nor like John\nthe Baptist, feeding on locusts and wild honey; but he was one who was in\nhis own quiet, devoted life a true prophet, and who for fifty-five years\nlaboured for souls and faithfully preached Christ Jesus his Saviour.\n\nI have no words to express my profound reverence for such a man.  He was\na true specimen of that most honourable class, the country clergymen of\nthe Church of England.  He did not take much part in things outside the\nparish.  Most thankful should we often have been if we had had more of\nhis valuable help and counsel in matters concerning the Diocese and the\nChurch.  But the parish was his sphere, the parish was his home, and the\nparish was the great object for which he spent his life.\n\nRemember him, then, in his Pastoral work.  For thirty-four years (the\nbest part of his ministry) you have enjoyed this privilege.  I am\nspeaking, I know, to a bereaved flock; and I want you to look back on\nyour past privileges.  He went in his pastoral work into the homes of his\npeople.  Think of him: how kind, how faithful, how full of sympathy, how\ndiligent in visiting, even in his blindness.  Was he not in very truth a\ntrue friend to you all?  I am sure every heart must answer, \u201cHe was.\u201d\n\nThink of him among the Young.  The majority of you must have grown up\nunder his care, and you know what an interest he took in you; how he\nwatched over you in the schools, cared for you in your confirmation, and\nwelcomed you when you became communicants at the Table of the Lord.\n\nIn my position at Tunbridge Wells, I see young people from all the\nsurrounding villages, and by the candidates which I have for confirmation\nI can form some estimate of what is going on in the different parishes.\nNow I always have a good hope when I have to do with young people who\nhave been brought up at Brenchley.  I find them, as a general rule, well\ntrained in the Gospel.  I cannot say that they all love it, but they have\nbeen taught it, and all that the pastor can do has been done for them in\ntheir early training.  How many are there in this church at this present\ntime who can look back with profound thanksgiving to lessons taught them\nin early life by that venerable man!\n\nThink of him in his Missionary work.  I do not mean in parochial\nmissions, such as you have just been having\u2014I mean in his warm love for\nthat grand institution, the Church Missionary Society.  Were there ever\nknown such Bible and Missionary meetings as those in his schoolroom?\nWhat a holy enthusiasm did he kindle amongst us!  What a glow there was\nall around him!  The dullest hearts could not fail to catch his fire.\nHow he knew the history of each box!  He could not see the records\nbecause of his blindness, but he knew all about the boxes and their\npossessors; and it was impossible to be apathetic in his presence.  And\nwhat was the secret of it all?  How was it brought about?  How was this\nfire kindled\u2014this enthusiasm?  Was it not that he was a man of prayer?  I\nremember the last meeting I was at in Brenchley.  Just before we left the\nVicarage we knelt together in his study, and there he poured out his\nwhole soul before God, and pleaded for that blessing which he found\nawaiting him when we reached the schoolroom.  There was the secret of his\npower, and there it was that he learned that even in his loss of eyesight\nGod\u2019s grace was sufficient for his need.\n\nThen think of him in the Church.  What a wonderful thing to have seen\nthat man, totally blind, standing at the Communion Table only last Ash\nWednesday, and going through the service with the Epistle and Gospel as\nwell as those who have their full vision.  It was a grand thing to see\nthe blind man not reading the prayers but repeating them.  He had loved\nthose prayers throughout his ministry; he had prayed them all through the\ndays of his eyesight, and they had become so completely a part of himself\nthat, when his eyesight was gone, the prayers remained written both on\nhis memory and soul; so that instead of sight he had memory, and instead\nof his prayer-book he made use of the fleshy tables of the heart.  That\nis the way to pray.\n\nAnd then follow him to the Pulpit.  How often has he stood in this pulpit\nto plead with you!  He must have preached in this church between three\nand four thousand sermons! and who can measure the value of such a\nministry?  Here he stood as the ambassador for Christ, \u201cwarning every man\nand teaching every man in all wisdom that he might present every man\nperfect in Christ Jesus,\u201d &c.  Here he stood to warn the wicked, to\nawaken the careless, to carry hope to the convicted, to proclaim pardon\nto the repentant, help to the weak, comfort to the afflicted, and to give\nfood to those hungering and thirsting after righteousness.  To sum up, he\npreached the Gospel of God through the power of the Holy Ghost.  And how\nearnestly did he do it, and how prayerfully! how faithfully and yet how\ntenderly!  How did his heart yearn for souls!  How did he first plead\nwith God for sinners in his own home, and then come here to plead with\nsinners for God!  It is to such preaching as this that for the last\nthirty-four years you have listened habitually, and who shall venture to\nsay that there has not been a prophet among you?\n\nOnce more, look at him on his Death-bed.  For a long time it had been his\nconstant prayer that it would please God to take him home before he had\nto give up his work, and so when the answer came all was ready.  There\nwas no alarm, no hurry, no confusion.  He could still think of his\nbeloved people whom he was about to leave, mentioning by name some of the\nsick and aged whom he was habitually visiting.  He could say, as Mr.\nStandfast in \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress\u201d did, \u201cI see myself now at the end of my\njourney; my toilsome days are ended.  I have formerly lived by faith, but\nnow I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be with Him in whose\ncompany I delight myself.\u201d\n\nAnd so in the peaceful calm of an assured faith, with his blessed Saviour\nfull in view, and his beloved people, like the names on Aaron\u2019s\nbreastplate, borne still on his heart, he could step across the\nborder-line to receive from his Lord, whom he had so faithfully served\nand so truly loved, the blessed welcome, \u201cWell done, good and faithful\nservant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\u201d\n\nAnd now, what was the secret of the whole character and the whole work?\nWhat was it that made him what he was in the home, in the parish, amongst\nthe young, in the mission work, in the church, and on his death-bed?\nWhat was it that was the very essence of his life?\n\nThere was one thing, and one only.  And what was that?  I appeal to all\nwho knew him.  Am I not right in saying that it was nothing else than the\nglorious old Gospel of the Grace of God in Christ Jesus, his blessed\nSaviour?  On that he lived, on that he laboured, on that he died; and\nthat was the one secret of his peace and power.  He was not ashamed of\nthe Gospel of Christ; he knew it as the power of God unto salvation in\nhis own soul, and he did not want to attempt to improve it by any\nnew-fangled notions of the nineteenth century.  He believed in what have\nbeen called the three R\u2019s\u2014Ruin, Redemption, and Regeneration.  He was one\nof what people call the old-fashioned Evangelical school\u2014and a very good\nfashion too, for what foundation so good as one that has been tried?  He\nbelieved in the utter ruin of human nature; in the satisfaction of the\nLaw through the propitiatory sacrifice of the Son of God; in the free\npardon through the Blood of the Lamb, and justification through faith\nalone; in the perfection of imputed righteousness; in the new birth by\nthe Holy Ghost; in His sanctifying power in the souls of believers.  He\nbelieved that the Lord Jesus Christ would come again, and would keep His\npeople safe to the end; and with a happy, peaceful, bright expectation,\nhe could live \u201clooking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing\nof our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.\u201d  These were the great\nprinciples of his life; and by them was his whole character governed.\nThese were the truths on which he lived himself, and which he taught in\nhis ministry; and these were the principles which I trust he has left\nindelibly written on the hearts and understandings of all of you, who for\nthese many years have enjoyed the privilege of being members of his\nflock.\n\nWe are all agreed, then, that there has been a true prophet among you;\nand now the question is, What has been the result of his prophecy?  His\nlabour is over, he is gone to his rest, and we may apply to him the\nwords, \u201cBlessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea,\nsaith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works\ndo follow them\u201d (Rev. xiv. 13).  And now we have to consider what works\nthere are to follow him.  In the case of Ezekiel there was great\ndisappointment.  He was an inspired man, and a most attractive preacher.\nHe was one that was heard with admiration; but there was no result, for\nthe people did not act on his words.\n\nNow I fear we must believe that it has been the same with some at\nBrenchley, for we have no reason to expect that the results of our\nministry will be different to that of the ministry of St. Paul, of which\nit is said, \u201cSame believed the things which were spoken, and some\nbelieved not\u201d (Acts xxviii. 24).  In all probability, therefore, there\nare in this parish some who have been familiar with the venerable man\nlabouring amongst them, and who have often heard his earnest words, but\nhave never yet been touched in heart by the grace of God.  The hard heart\nhas never yet been broken, the self-will has never yet submitted, and\nthey are still as far from God as if there had never been a prophet among\nthem.  Now, if there be such here, remember.  You will never hear that\nvoice again; you will no more listen to his earnest pleadings with you\nfor your souls.  But those appeals may still tell on you.  It is said of\nAbel, \u201cHe, being dead, yet speaketh.\u201d  Now you know his character, you\nknow how true and consistent he was; you have heard how peacefully he\ncould depart to be with Christ; and may not his death reach your heart\neven if his life has failed to do so?  What do you think he would say to\nyou now if he could speak from heaven?  He might speak possibly with more\npersuasive earnestness, but I do not believe there would be the slightest\nchange in his message.  I firmly believe that it would be nothing but the\nsame old, old story\u2014Christ Jesus for the sinner, and the sinner for\nChrist Jesus.  Think, then, of all you can remember of his ministry.  You\nwill never hear it again, so gather up the fragments that remain that\nnothing be lost.  In some cases there may be but very little, for Satan\ncarried most of it away before you left the church; but let that little\ntell.  If you remember nothing more, remember, at all events, his\nearnestness for your souls\u2019 salvation; remember how he watched for your\nsouls as one that must give account; and if you pained and grieved him by\nyour carelessness when here, remember that you may possibly be able to\ngladden him even now, for are we not told that \u201cthere is joy in heaven\nover one sinner that repenteth,\u201d &c.?  So let his heart be gladdened even\nin heaven; let the angels carry up the blessed tidings that the lost\nsheep is found, and do you listen to those words of St. Peter, which I am\nsure would be the words of the saint before the throne: \u201cRepent and be\nconverted every one of you, that your sins may be blotted out.\u201d\n\nBut it is not to all that I would repeat those words, for I cannot doubt\nfor one moment that the ministry of my dear friend was not in vain in the\nLord.  There cannot be the slightest doubt that God has richly blessed\nthat ministry to the salvation of very many souls.  Who can doubt that\nthere are at this present moment very many with himself before the Throne\nof God, who owe their place there to God\u2019s blessing on his work in this\nparish?  What a loving welcome must they have given him last Wednesday!\nAnd how many are there amongst the living; how many in this church this\nmorning; how many of you who are now before me, have reason to bless God\nfor all eternity for that knowledge of Christ Jesus your Saviour which\nyou learned through the instrumentality of him who will now speak to you\nno more?  May it not be said of this church, \u201cThis and that man was born\nhere\u201d?  Has not God the Holy Ghost brought life to your souls in Christ\nJesus, that life which is in the knowledge of Him? and have you not\nreason most profoundly to thank God for him whom He sent to be to you the\nmessenger of mercy?\n\nAnd now he is gone, and what are you to do?  The prophet is gone, and\nwhat remains?  That is a good verse for such an occasion in Phil. ii. 12,\nfor it is the voice of the absent pastor, and it teaches that the flock\nwhen bereaved must be thrown on their own personal union with God\nhimself\u2014\u201cWherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my\npresence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own\nSalvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you\nboth to will and to do of his good pleasure.\u201d  So now remember that the\nLord Jesus Christ is not taken from you.  Though your beloved Vicar is\ngone, your Saviour remains.  You may draw as near to Him this day as you\ndid when that beloved voice led you in prayer.  So keep fast to Him, and\nin Him to each other.  Whenever there is a change in the ministry there\nis a tendency to unsettlement, but let there be no unsettlement here.  Do\nnot begin to wander because he is gone; but walk in the steps in which he\nsought to lead you, as consistent Churchmen abiding in the old paths, and\nas humble believers so keeping close to the Lord Jesus Christ that,\nthrough the power of the Holy Ghost given in Him, you may be enabled\nthrough His great grace to glorify His name.\n\n\n\n\nII.\nSERMON\nBY\nREV. W. May, M.A.\n_Sunday Afternoon_, _February_ 26_th_, 1888.\n\n\n    2 Kings ii. 5: \u201c_Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master\n    from thy head to-day_? _and he answered_, _Yea_, _I know it_, _hold\n    ye your peace_.\u201d\n\nWOULD not an empty pulpit to-day have been the most effective sermon?\nThe voice which for thirty-four years has spoken to you from this place,\nso faithfully, so fervently, so wisely, and with the eloquence always of\nlove\u2014that voice is silent.  There was once \u201csilence in heaven about the\nspace of half-an-hour;\u201d and a still silence might be a speaking testimony\nhere, to him who on Wednesday week was ministering in this church, and\nthe Wednesday after was called home\u2014a testimony to the life which he led,\nto the truths which he taught, and the precious fragrance of loving words\nand deeds which he has left behind.  It seems as if God Himself were\ndealing with us, too closely almost for human intervention; dealing with\nour consciences, our memories, our hearts.  The Lord has taken away our\nmaster from our head to-day.  Should we not hold our peace?  Ought we not\nto be dumb and open not our mouth, because He is acting?  Should we not\nin thought and imagination go in and stand before our Master, judging\nourselves that we be not judged of the Lord, accounting to Him for the\nway we have dealt with His servant, and then, convicted every one of\nus\u2014as well we may be, the preacher first\u2014by our own conscience, go out\none by one, saying, \u201cHow dreadful is this place: this is none other but\nthe House of God, and this is the gate of heaven.\u201d  For a gate of heaven\ntruly it is.  It has been the gate of heaven for twenty-five years to the\nspeaker, and but for words spoken at this gate, God only knows whether he\nwould be able to-day to subscribe with his hand unto the Lord and say, \u201cI\nam His.\u201d  Sermons reckoned by the thousand, full of sacred truth, full of\nsanctified common sense, full of marked originality, full of \u201cpower and\nlove and of a sound mind\u201d\u2014these have to be accounted for.\n\nAnd his prayers, public and private\u2014prayers put up for us on every\npossible occasion\u2014effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man standing\never in thought and feeling in the presence of God, and in the sweet,\nbracing, healthful atmosphere of unfeigned love to man, these are\nresponsibilities which none can evade.\n\nWhat a true pastor he was! what a faithful friend! what a saintly\nservant! what a large-hearted man!  Which of us but has had proof, nay,\ncountless proofs of his loving-kindness?  Which of us could ever have\nsucceeded, even if we had wished, in making that man our enemy?  Oh!\nbrethren, tears may well be in our hearts to-day\u2014well may we weep for\nourselves and for our children, weep because he is gone, weep because not\none of us appreciated him enough, prayed for him enough, loved him\nenough, while he was still here.  Oh! but he was a pastor who pressed his\ndear people to his heart, and then bore them up on that large heart of\nhis before his divine Master,\u2014every one of us, and our needs were\ncontinually in his mind.  And now the Master has need of _him_, and has\ncome and called him away; and, after a short and comparatively easy\npassage, he has forded the river, and gone up the shining path, and we\nstand alone and cry, \u201cMy father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the\nhorsemen thereof,\u201d and we see him no more.\n\nAnd yet he would not have us silent to-day.  He would bid us encourage\nourselves, encourage one another in the Lord.  He would exhort us to\npreach the Word.  He would remind us that the time is short, and beseech\nus to buy up the opportunity.  Let us do it, checking our tears.  Did not\nwe hear only yesterday that word of Christ, \u201cWhosoever liveth and\nbelieveth in me shall never die\u201d?  Is there then loss to-day of any man\u2019s\n_life_ amongst us, or only of the ship?  \u201cNot lost, but gone before,\u201d is\nthat life, if the word of Christ be true.  Our pastor \u201cis not dead, but\nsleepeth.\u201d  The ship is broken by the violence of the waves, but all the\n_life_ is \u201csafe to land.\u201d  The casket is shattered, but the precious\njewel is in the hand, nay, in the very bosom of the Saviour.  \u201cHe is not\ndead, but sleepeth.\u201d  _Dead_ four days?  Nay, but _alive_, with a life\nfar brighter and keener and more joyous than he ever had on earth!  He\nsleeps well, and presently the Lord of life will say, \u201cI go that I may\nawake him out of sleep.\u201d  And how near that day-dawn, that awaking time\nmay be, the morning of the resurrection, when the dead in Christ shall\nrise first.  Meanwhile, the voice that speaks to us from that farther\nshore, aye, and will speak \u201ctill thought and memory flee\u201d\u2014that voice\nsaith in death, when it cannot be silent, what it would have hesitated in\nits humility to say in life: \u201cBe ye followers of me, even as I am of\nChrist.\u201d  And so we call upon the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Living\nGod and of Jesus, and offer this prayer\u2014\n\n    \u201cRefining fire, go through my heart,\n       Illuminate my soul;\n    Scatter Thy life through every part,\n       And sanctify the whole.\n\n    \u201cMy steadfast soul from falling free,\n       Shall then no longer move,\n    And Christ be all in all to me,\n       And all my heart be love.\u201d\n\nTurn we now from our dear master who has been taken away to that Master,\nstill more dear, that perfect Master, \u201cchiefest among ten thousand, and\naltogether lovely,\u201d who remains.  _They_ fail, but _Thou_ remainest.\nHuman friends, comforters, pastors forsake us, but Thou, O Christ, art\nwith us all the days even unto the end.  Even an Elijah, that chief of\nthe prophets, had to go up and stand before his Master.  But we, beloved,\nhave a kingdom which cannot be moved, and a kingly Master who cannot die.\nHe, \u201cthe same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever, is able to keep us\nfrom falling.  He shall preserve us blameless, and present us faultless\nbefore the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nEarth and heaven are not very far apart.  When we stand at the foot of\nthe ladder with the ascending and descending angels, when we sit at the\nfeet of Jesus, some down here, some up there, but _all_, all for ever at\nHis feet, and all, all for ever in His hand, and every one of us\nreceiving of His words\u2014when this is so, beloved, heaven draws very near\nto earth, and earth to heaven; and when the gate opens to receive some\nloved one in, we can almost hear the music and the singing.  There is\njust this difference and distinction: here on earth we are labouring to\nenter into rest; there they are resting in the midst of joyful labour,\nbeing so close to their King.  _We_ might be closer than we are, and thus\nhave more \u201cdays of heaven upon earth.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nAnd now, feeling sure on this occasion of your forbearance and sympathy,\nI add a few things which may interest you concerning our earthly master,\nfather, teacher, friend, taken from our head to-day by the Lord.\n\nHis knowledge of Scripture was wonderful, was it not? and his memory for\nquotation\u2014not the words only, but chapter and verse\u2014up to the very last,\nafter ten years of total blindness.\n\nHis knowledge too of that piece of intricate and, alas! disordered\nmechanism, the human heart, was remarkable.  How his sermons turned us\ninside out, so to speak, but all loving, wise, and persuasive, leading us\nto Christ and to comfort.\n\nThe wondrous mixture in his disposition and character of thorough\nhumanity and great spirituality\u2014of manliness, vigour and cheerfulness,\nwith a very tender, sympathising heart!  How he could turn at once, and\nwithout causing any jar to our feelings, or any sense of discrepancy in\nhis action, from the brightest play of mirth and humour to fervent,\npleading prayer.  How _real_ and transparent he was, both as a man and a\nChristian!\n\nThere is another thing I desire to mention.  \u201cWhen the messengers of John\nwere departed, Jesus began to speak unto the people concerning John: What\nwent ye out into the wilderness to see, a reed shaken with the wind? . . .\na man clothed in soft raiment? . . . a prophet?\u201d  You remember that\n_that_, on Sunday week, was the text your dear pastor last preached from;\nand what reply can we give to that question as regards himself?  Was he a\nfickle, changeable man, \u201ca reed shaken with the wind\u201d?  Was he a man\nliving delicately, surrounding himself with luxury, and not rather a man\ngiven to self-denial, rising very early in the morning, winter and\nsummer, and depriving himself of comforts, almost of necessaries, for the\nsake of his beloved poor?\n\n\u201cBut what went ye out for to see, a prophet?\u201d  Yea, and a true prophet\nconcerning the things of God.  If you know not now, the day is coming\nwhen \u201cye _shall_ know that there has been a prophet among you.\u201d  For\nmyself, I desire this once publicly to testify that I have never heard a\nsermon from his lips (and I have heard many) or spent half-an-hour in his\ncompany (and I have spent many), without gaining conscious benefit to my\nsoul.\n\nCan any of you who heard it, forget that last sermon of his on Sunday\nweek?  Did you mark the look of holy joy in his dear face, as he\nportrayed the eager readiness of the Baptist for martyrdom, a martyrdom\nwhich would solve his last doubt, deliver him from his last sin, free him\nfrom his last infirmity, and place before his opened eyes the face of the\nKing?  Yes, on Wednesday morning _his_ eyes looked upon Jesus, who for\nlong years _had_ looked on no man.  \u201cHe has received his sight, and\nfollowed Jesus in the way.\u201d\n\nBut are you aware that he had proposed to return to the subject of John\nthe Baptist? that very shortly before his translation (for it was\ntranslation rather than death), that verse was constantly in his\nthoughts: \u201cJohn did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this\nman were true\u201d (John x. 41).  Well, all I can say is of our beloved\nfriend and pastor, if _he_ did no miracle, _God_ did many miracles by\nhim.  Who shall reckon up the number of precious souls saved, cheered,\ntaught, strengthened, made meet for the Master\u2019s use by means of him who\nnow rests from his labours, but whose works _do_, yea, and _shall_ follow\nhim.  One thing, I believe, eternity will show\u2014not that your minister was\na perfect minister or a perfect man; he had his faults, his mistakes, his\nsins\u2014but this is what eternity will show, and oh! the weight of\nresponsibility it lays on _all_ of us: \u201c_The things which Francis Storr\nspake of Jesus Christ were true_.\u201d\n\nYet once more.  With special prayer and consideration, he drew up for\nthis winter a Course of Wednesday Evening Lectures.  Two only, out of the\ntwelve, were delivered.  The subject of the third was announced, as\nusual, in church for the following Wednesday, but the address was not\ngiven.  And what _was_ the subject?  \u201cBy it, he being dead, yet\nspeaketh;\u201d \u201cand when he had said this, he fell asleep.\u201d  What does that\nword _it_ refer to\u2014\u201cby it, he being dead, yet speaketh\u201d?  Abel\u2019s\nsacrifice, type of Christ\u2019s, which Abel looked at and God accepted.  To\nthe worth of that atoning sacrifice Abel testified, your pastor\ntestified, in life, unto death, and for ever.  The lecture was not\ndelivered.  His death, not his living voice, was to declare it, for we\nhad the text, and the text only, \u201cand when he had said this, he fell\nasleep.\u201d\n\nDo you remember, brethren, the last time we all met\u2014he, and you, and I,\nfor prayer and praise and conference at the opening of the year, in that\nwell-loved school-room\u2014do you remember that the speaker was led to quote\nthese lines?\u2014\n\n    \u201cThe great and terrible wilderness of famine and of drought\n    Lies in the shadow behind me, for the Lord hath brought me out;\n    The great and terrible river, though shrouded still from view,\n    Lies in the shadow before me, but the Lord will bring me through.\u201d\n\nNow he has reached that river, and crossed it, Christ and he\u2014the Master\nand his beloved disciple.  \u201cThey two went on;\u201d \u201cthey two went over.\u201d\n\n    \u201cSo they passed over quickly towards the goal,\n    But the wistful, loving gaze of the parting soul\n    Grew only more rapt and joyful as he held his Master\u2019s hand;\n    Methinks or ever he was aware, they were come to the Holy Land.\u201d\n\nAnd so his favourite oft-repeated text, \u201cOr ever I was aware, my soul\nmade me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib\u201d (Song Sol. vi. 12), was\nfulfilled.  Literally, the words are, \u201cOr ever I was aware, my soul set\nme on the chariots of my willing people.\u201d  Ah! these were \u201cthe chariots\nof Israel and the horsemen thereof,\u201d which raised his spirits and lifted\nhim heavenward, while he was still down here, _his people_ \u201c_made willing\nin the day of God\u2019s power_.\u201d  Beloved, we may raise him higher yet! we\nmay gladden his heart still! we may cause his reward to grow exceedingly,\nwe may yet give him souls for his hire, seals to his ministry!  Shall we\nnot hear him to-day, dead yet speaking, beseeching us on this his first\nSabbath in heaven, to carry on and carry out the work God permitted him\nto do among us?  \u201cIf there is therefore any comfort in Christ, if any\nconsolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender\nmercies and compassions, _fulfil ye my joy_!\u201d (Phil. ii. 1, R. V.).\n\nThat we may do it, let us give earnest heed to the prayer of our master\u2019s\nChrist, for the answer is not doubtful: \u201cWhile I was with them in the\nworld, I kept them in Thy name. . . . and now come I to Thee, and these\nthings I speak. . . . _that they might have my joy fulfilled in\nthemselves_,\u201d (John xvii. 12, 13).\n\n\n\n\nIII.\nNOTES OF THE LAST SERMON\nPREACHED BY\nREV. F. STORR, M.A.,\n_February_ 12, 1888.\n\n\n    Matthew xi. 9, 10: \u201c_But what went ye out for to see_?  _A prophet_?\n    _Yea_, _I say unto you_, _and more than a prophet_.  _For this is he\n    of whom it is written_, _Behold_, _I send my messenger before thy\n    face_, _which shall prepare thy way before thee_.\u201d\n\nI PROPOSE to you for your own reading and meditation and self-examination\nduring the season of Lent the life and history of John the Baptist.  Seek\nout all the special passages which allude to him, and pass them not\nlightly over, and see and mark the great reformer, still more the great\nforerunner.  That which may be done at any time is too often not done at\nall; thus our Church has wisely set before us certain seasons for\nmeditation on certain subjects.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nSome do not approve of services in unconsecrated buildings.  I confess it\nseems to me that such are not very assiduous in their attendance in\nconsecrated buildings!  No, we want a heart for these services; we want\nthe Holy Spirit to make us know that we are dying creatures\u2014that we must\nall stand before the Judgment-seat of Christ.  \u201cIt is high time to awake\nout of sleep\u201d (Rom. xiii. 11).\n\nGlance at the leading features of John\u2019s life:\u2014\n\n1.  Self-discipline.\n\n2.  The Witness.\n\n3.  The closing scene of his life.\n\n1.  If you notice particularly Matt, iii., Luke i., John iii. (towards\nthe end of the chapter), Luke iii., Mark vi., you will have before you\nthe comprehensive features of John the Baptist\u2019s life.  Let me direct you\nto his credentials.  This is the man who was prophesied of seven\ncenturies before the coming of the Lord, not in Isaiah xl. only, but in\nMalachi iv. 5.  He went into the wilderness, the less inhabited country.\nHe probably had tried Jerusalem; it is not unlikely that he had consorted\nwith the learned Jews.  He found little encouragement, it may be.  Then\nhe cast himself on the Lord\u2014HE never disappoints.  We shall ever and anon\n(God grant always) cast ourselves on Him\u2014there is no disappointment\nthere.  The world disappoints, friends disappoint, there is very much\ndisappointment in our own hearts.  God never disappoints.\n\nMen would consider it a great waste of time, those three years in the\ndesert\u2014so much for him to do, so much misery and wickedness and sin.\nThere he was in the desert, assuredly not doing nothing for men, but in\nthe wilderness, holding little intercourse with men.  Rely upon it, the\ngreatest things done for God are done in secret.  Religion does not come\nforth full-blown.  God sows the seed; the roots strike downward, unseen.\nSelf-examination, self-discipline, communion with God,\u2014these fit men for\ngreat enterprises, for conflict in daily life, and for the trustful and\nrejoicing walk with God.  Self-examination\u2014very mild and charitable\ntowards others, very strict and exacting towards ourselves.  Converse\nwith God: there is no one you can tell everything to, but God.  Away with\nthe idea of confession to our fellow-man\u2014casting our burden upon the\npriest, as though he could take it to God for us.  That is not the way of\nthe saints of God.  No, we want much converse with God, much searching of\nHis Word, and what that Word saith to us individually, whenever we hear\nHis voice speaking to us, do it.  George M\u00fcller, at the age of twenty,\nmade this Book \u201cthe man of his counsels.\u201d  M\u00fcller\u2019s life is one of the\nmost wonderful miracles of Providence that ever was performed; that man,\nwithout ever asking for one farthing from anyone, committed his way to\nthe Lord, walked with God, and in fifty years a million of money has\npassed through his hands; I forget how many orphans he has clothed and\nfed.  It is just as much a miracle as when the ravens fed Elijah, brought\nhim bread and flesh every morning and evening.\n\nNow, the season of Lent reminds us of self-examination, of self-judgment;\nand surely if self-judgment, it will be self-condemnation.  It bids us\ntake everything to God: thus shall we be blessed in the Lord, and in the\npower of the Holy Ghost we shall have His peace pervading our hearts.\nNow let us proceed to\u2014\n\n2.  The Witness.\n\nIt was in \u201cthe fulness of time\u201d that our Lord came.  They had often been\nasking, Where are the signs of His coming?  It is of no use for man\u2019s\nclock to strike before God\u2019s.  If I may say so with reverence, God\u2019s\nclock struck, and then John the Baptist came\u2014six months before the Lord.\nLong predicted and anticipated, at length he came.  He was of good\nparentage.  There is a great deal in being of good parentage.  \u201cThe seed\nof the blessed of the Lord\u201d (Isa. lxv. 23).  The real thing\u2014that is what\nwe want; not gilding or veneer, but the good heart of oak.  \u201cThey were\nboth righteous before God,\u201d etc. (Luke i. 6).  That is the good\nparentage.  Children are apt to follow parents really walking \u201cin the\nways of the Lord.\u201d\n\nHis witness was uncompromising.  It was no time for mincing words.  \u201cThe\naxe is laid unto the root of the tree,\u201d etc. (Matt. iii. 10).  He went\nstraight to the mark.\n\nHis witness was general.  Observe this, when you hear men say, \u201cThe\nGospel is not to be preached to all; it is only for the elect.\u201d  God has\nHis elect; God forbid that we should deny it.  But how shall we know\nthem?\n\nIt was a good answer of John Newton\u2019s (too familiar it may have been)\nwhen one was finding fault with him for preaching the Gospel to all men,\nhe said, \u201cYou chalk the elect, and then I will preach to them apart.\u201d\nThough the words are too familiar, they strike the right note.  John\npreached the Gospel to all, \u201cRepent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at\nhand.\u201d  Mark you, the same word his blessed Master preached (Matt. iv.\n17).  \u201cRepent ye,\u201d\u2014change your mind; go straight to Christ, to God.\nCease to do evil by the power of the Holy Ghost.\n\nThough the Gospel has been preached from this place forty to fifty years,\nthere are those who sit there, year after year, just as they were.  How\nwill they be found in the Day of the Lord?\n\nAs his witness was wholly uncompromising and general, so was it\n_practical_.  He went direct to the mark.  The soldiers, the publicans,\nthe people, all came to him; even the Pharisees stripped off, or rather\ncovered over, their phylacteries.  The Spirit of the Living God to\nconvince of sin and quicken the conscience of each sinner\u2014that is what we\nwant.  Unless we speak in the Holy Ghost and in power, we might as well,\nand far better, never speak at all.\n\nThe soldiers were coming into very great power at that time; he told\nthem, \u201cDo no violence,\u201d etc., \u201cand be content with your wages.\u201d  Then the\ntax-gatherers (who were utterly different from ours) had great\nopportunities of over-reaching; and some did not fail to take advantage\nof the power.  Sad advantage for them.  He told them, \u201cExact no more than\nthat which is appointed you.\u201d  \u201cHe that hath two garments, let him impart\nto him that hath none.\u201d  If you can do good to any one, do it; if you\nhave small means, use them; if you have great, use them.  John used very\nplain language, \u201cO generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from\nthe wrath to come?\u201d  Yes, beloved, John could hardly have moved in polite\nsociety, for he ventured to speak of hell, of \u201cthe unquenchable fire,\u201d of\n\u201cthe wrath to come.\u201d  He told them to _flee_, not to creep, not to walk,\n\u201cfrom the wrath to come.\u201d  He urged\u2014his Master rather urged\u2014\u201cRepent ye,\u201d\netc.  He spoke to the conscience.  Oh, that the Lord in my few remaining\ndays, if any more days are given me, oh, that He would make my words more\nplain.  I have striven to be plain, brethren.\n\nJohn was the uncompromising, the faithful, the affectionate witness.  We\nwant a practical religion.  If not practical, we had better throw it\nbehind our backs; it will not profit us in the last day.  What is the use\nof our religion if it is not to influence our life, if it is not to make\nyou, dear children, better children, more obedient children, keeping your\ntongues from evil words, making you kind and gentle, your father\u2019s joy\nand your mother\u2019s darling, because they can trust you?  As a dear little\ngrandchild of mine said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what papa would do without me; I\u2019m\nhis right hand, he says,\u201d and she added, \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know what I should\ndo without him!\u201d  Yes, we want practical religion.  If we are not\nhonest-hearted, faithful to our trust, if we do not to others as we would\nthey should do to us, when we get to the gate of heaven and begin _then_\nto look for our religion, to hunt for our certificate, it will not be\nfound.  The man without the wedding garment was speechless.\n\nI remember an account of a ship that struck on rocks; they rose sheer and\nprecipitous\u2014not a chance of escape.  All at once a ladder was let down\nfrom the top of the rock, and the poor sailors, who had given up hope,\nescaped all safe to land.\n\nYou are on the edge of the sea of eternity.  The tide is coming in, the\nwaves rolling up one after another; but there is a Rock.  You must reach\nit, you must cling to it.  How are you going to do it?  You are not\nflies, children, that you can walk up a perpendicular wall.  We have got\nsomething far more difficult to do\u2014to live to God, to glorify God in our\ndaily walk and conversation.  In other words, you want \u201ca ladder set up\u201d\n(Gen. xxviii. 12).\n\nWhat is that Ladder?  John the Baptist preached holiness, practice.  He\nwas a practical man, because he did not teach men to make bricks without\nstraw\u2014he pointed them to Christ.  Standing by the river Jordan, and\nseeing Jesus coming, he directed all the people to Him with the words,\n\u201cBehold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.\u201d  That\nwas his ladder.  There is no godliness without Christ: \u201cWithout Me ye can\ndo nothing.\u201d  The man who seeks safety on any other raft\u2014lifeboat he may\ncall it\u2014is venturing on the ocean of Eternity in an unseaworthy craft.\nWe must rest simply and wholly on Him, the Lamb of God, the Alpha and\nOmega\u2014trust and know and love, as well as serve, the Lord Jesus.  Now,\ntime fails me, brethren, and I want very much to speak to you about the\nclosing scene.  I must do so as briefly as I can.\n\n3.  The closing scene of his life.\n\nA great deal is made of the closing scene of a man\u2019s life.  Take, for\ninstance, one who has lived to himself all through life; he is on his\ndeath-bed, we strain our ears to hear if we can, any word to give a\nglimmer of hope.  He may have lived as he listed, and then at the close\nof life, when he is at the last gasp, and Death has him in his grip,\nfriends lean over the pillow and question, \u201cAre you trusting in Christ?\u201d\nand if the whispered answer should be \u201cYes,\u201d they are satisfied!  Poor\ndying man! what else is left for him to do?  Is such an act, at such a\nmoment, real faith?  If a house is on fire, and a man leaps from the\nsecond storey window, you do not say he is a good leaper.  What else\ncould he do?  I do not mean to say that there may not be such a thing as\na death-bed repentance, but a death-bed repentance can scarcely be called\nsatisfactory.  Tell me what a man\u2019s _life_ has been\u2014has it been spent in\nChrist\u2019s service and to the glory of God?\u2014and I care not _that_ whether\nhe has any last words on his death-bed or not.\n\nLook at John the Baptist\u2019s end.  You do not find the account of many\ndeathbeds in Scripture\u2014the fact is, the great thing is how a man lives.\nIs Christ his life?  Is holiness the result?  Then will he lift up his\nhead in joy whether in life or death.\n\nLook at that last scene in the life of John the Baptist.  He had had a\ngreat and strong struggle.  Read his life, my children.  You like\nstory-books; you will find this Book far more entertaining than you think\nfor, as, for example, the story of the three children in the fire, Daniel\nin the lion\u2019s den, and the story of the earthquake and shipwreck as told\nin the life of St. Paul.  John was in prison, imprisoned by the king\u2014(I\npass over his uncompromising witness against sin).  It is difficult to\nspeak before the great; it is comparatively an easy thing for me to stand\nup here and say, My fellow sinner, thou art going to hell!  \u201cCome with us\nand we will do thee good.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nA cloud had come over John the Baptist\u2019s mind; the faith which had\nhitherto borne him up, is now sharply exercised.  He sent his disciples\nto Jesus.  I do not think that he had the disciples\u2019 good _only_ in view.\nOur blessed Lord \u201cin that same hour cured many,\u201d etc.  (Luke vii. 21,\n22), and answered them, \u201cGo your way,\u201d etc. (ver. 22); and He added this\n(Oh, I thank God for that addition), \u201cAnd blessed is he whosoever shall\nnot be offended in me.\u201d  Have you ever had prayers so answered\u2014I hope you\nhave had many\u2014that you almost, as they say, leapt out of your skin, you\nhave been so astounded?  You will have many more if you \u201ccome boldly to\nthe Throne of Grace.\u201d  I believe then, when the Lord sent this message to\nHis faithful servant, He answered the very want and questioning of his\nheart, and that word satisfied the yearning of his heart.  John the\nBaptist must have said, \u201cWhy, He knows my very thoughts, my very doubts,\nmy failings, my fears!\u201d  May I not thus interpret?  I do not add to the\nWord of God.\n\nAll clouds disappeared; the Sun of Righteousness shines out with healing\nin His wings.  By-and-by there is the glimmer of a light, the sound of\nthe key in the lock.  \u201cAh! my lord\u201d (so the jailor would probably have\ncalled the prophet), \u201cI bring you heavy tidings\u2014the king has sent his\nexecutioner.\u201d  \u201cHeavy tidings?  Nay, joyous tidings! blessed tidings!\nglorious tidings!  Lord Jesus, I thank Thee!  Where is he?  Do not keep\nme one moment from heaven and glory!\u201d  Down he laid his head on the block\njoyfully, and another saint was in glory!  Oh, my brethren, think what\nthat will be\u2014\u201cFor ever with the Lord\u201d!\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n           C. F. HODGSON AND SON, PRINTERS, GOUGH SQUARE, E.C.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{3} Some printers\u2019 errors have been corrected, and a few sentences\nomitted by the Editor re-inserted.","title":"Memorials of Francis Storr: Sermons","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":10577}