with joy, and not with grief, for that will be no profit to you.

The good Lord grant that we may all fo live, as that we may die in peace, and reft in hope, and rife in glory; for the Lord Jefus' fake.

To whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

SERMON

SERMON XCIX.

PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF THE REV. DR. WALKER, VICAR-GENERAL, AND RECTOR OF BALLAUGH.

ST. PAUL'S COMFORT IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH, APPLICABLE TO EVERY FAITHFUL MINISTER OF CHRIST.

PHIL. i. 21.

TO ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST; AND TO DIE IS GAIN.*

THAT is, to me, the motive I have to de

fire to live is the service of Chrift; but to die in his fervice would be my greatest gain.

St. Paul fhews, in these words, what a most comfortable profpect of death he had; that he was well affured he should be a gainer by it. He was ready and willing either to live or die, as it fhould be moft for the glory of God and the good of his flock.

It will be well worth our pains to enquire, ift. Upon what foundation this affurance of St. Paul was founded. And,

2dly. Whether every minister of Christ may not be able to say the fame thing, and with some reasonable affurance, if it be not his own fault.

I. We will first enquire, upon what foundation this comfortable affurance of St. Paul was built.

* See Acts xx. 26. 2 Tim. iv. 8. 1 Theff. ii. 19. Phil. ii. 16.

And,

And, in the first place, he himself tells us, long before this, what was his greatest comfort in life: I have lived in all good confcience before God unto this day; that is, I ever fincerely followed the judgment of my confcience; I always acted according to the best light I had. When I was a Jew, when I perfecuted the church of Chrift, when I did many things contrary to the name of Jefus,-I did it through a firm perfuafion that it was my duty to do so.

Why, will this juftify any one who follows the judgment of a wrong-informed conscience? No, by no means; St. Paul himself tells us it will not. But he tells us, at the fame time," that he obtained mercy, even the grace of converfion; because what he had done amifs, he did it, not against knowledge, but ignorantly.

From hence we learn, what a dreadful thing it is to act against knowledge and confcience; -that fuch are entirely out of the way of converfion, and are too often forfaken of God, and given over to a reprobate mind.

Whereas such as act uprightly are objects of the divine mercy, as St. Paul was, who, through God's grace, became an instrument of the greatest good to the world, and at the fame time to himself, fo as to be able to say, to me to die is gain. That which makes the fight of death uneafy to flesh and blood, and frightful to others, makes it to me easy and comfortable, and even to be chofen and wifhed for.-What that was, we now come D 1 Tim. i. 13.

• Acts xxiii. 1.

to

to confider. He was, in the first place, a fincere lover of God, and a lover of fouls.

We have the fulleft inftances of this in the account of his life, and in the feveral epiftles he wrote; where he is ever and anon expressing his love and gratitude to God for the favours he had vouchfafed himfelf, and the church thro' his means. I thank Chrift Jefus the Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.

And this, by the way, was the very first fubject which this worthy perfon, and imitator of St. Paul, preached upon, when he entered into holy orders; afcribing to God his ability, his vocation to the ministry, and all his holy purposes and refolutions to difcharge his duty faithfully.

How faithfully he performed this, will be better understood by the lofs his flock will have of him, than by any words of mine.

To return to St. Paul, and to the other reafons he had, not to be afraid of dying. To me to die is gain!-St Paul might very well fay this, when he could make this appeal to his people, and to God: Ye are witnesses, and God is witness, bow bolily, and justly, and unblameably, we behaved ourselves amongst you.

This is fome comfort for a minister of Christ when he comes to die; when, for inftance, he can fay with truth, and with thi I apostle, I have kept a confcience void of offence towards God and towards man.

1 Tim. i. 12. di Theff. ii. 10. • Acts xxiv.

When