Excerpt from A Sermon Preached in King's Chapel, November 22, 1835: The Sunday After the Funeral of the Rev. James Freeman, D.D

Five sabbaths ago, I had occasion to observe to you, my brethren, that it was then fifty-three years, since our father, the senior pastor of this church, commenced his ministerial services here. I said also, that his active labors having been suspended for a long period by the will of Providence, he was on that other, and perhaps more difficult post of duty, standing and waiting - that he was standing, calm, cheerful and composed, his lamp trimmed and burning in his hand, waiting to hear the cry, Behold the bridegroom cometh!

At length the cry was made at midnight, and the bridegroom came. The servant was found watching and ready, he has gone in with his Lord, and the door is shut.

Doth our father yet live? In the sense in which the words of the text were originally spoken, we know that he does not. If we answer the question according to its first and literal import, as it was put by Joseph to his brethren, we must say that our father is no longer living - that he is numbered among the dead. But is there not another sense with which we may clothe those ancient words of filial inquiry? And in that other, spirit ual, Christian sense, may we not answer precisely as thebrethren of Joseph did, when on a former occasion he put to them a similar inquiry?-when he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? And they answer ed, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. Is it not well with our father? Is he not alive? Does he not live, not only in our memories and hearts, but a far more enduring life in the memory of God - in the presence of God - in the society of the just - ln the mansions of heaven? Is it not well with him, and is he not in good health? Are not his pains relieved, his sicknesses removed; his groanings quieted, and his sorrows ended? That burthen of many years which pressed upon him so wearily, is it not taken off That veil of dimness which had begun to gather before his mind, is it not drawn aside? Those daily sinkings, those nightly sufferings, that anxious looking for him who came not, are they not over now?-our father is alive; he is in good health. He is gone to the land where pain and sickness are unknown; his youth is renewed his faculties are more than restored; his vigor is immor tal; he lives in a better country, that is, an heavenly, with saints and angels, with Christ and with God.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.