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III. We are to write his epitaph; and his epitaph is contained in these short words: "this also is vanity." And now in a few words I will endeavor to show that it is vanity for a man to come and go from the house of God, and yet have no true religion. If I made up my mind to hate God, to sin against him, and to be lost at last, I would do it thoroughly, out and out. If I had determined to be damned, and had calculated the chances, and made up my mind that it would be better to be cast away for ever, I know there is one thing I would not do, I would not go to the house of God. Well may we write over him, "This also is vanity!" But, sir, you will be more laughed at for your pretensions than if you had made none. Having professed to be religious, and having pretended to carry it out, you shall have more scorn than if you had came out in your right colors, and have said, "Who is the Lord, that I should fear him? Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice ?" And now, are there any here who are so wicked as to choose eternal wrath? if thou art choosing self-righteousness, if thou art choosing pride, or lust, or the pleasures of this world; remember, thou art choosing pride, or lust, or the pleasures of this world; remember, thou art choosing damnation, for the two things cannot but go together. Sin is the guilt, and hell is the bread beneath it. If you choose sin, you have virtually chosen perdition. Think of this, I beseech you.

"O Lord! do thou the sinner turn!

Now rouse him from his senseless state;
O let him not thy counsel spurn,

Nor rue his fatal choice too late."

A GOOD MINISTER.

A SERMON PREACHED IN TABERNACLE CHURCHI, (BAPTIST) PHILADELPHIA, BY GEORGE E. REES, PASTOR, ON THE DEATH OF W. T. BRANTLY, D. D., A FORMER PASTOR OF THE CHURCH.

I

A good minister of Jesus Christ.-1 TIM. iv: 6.

WILL speak of Dr. Brantly under the guidance of the text that I have read: "A good minister of Jesus Christ." There are many ministers in the church. Every one who enters upon the service of the brotherhood for Christ's sake is a minister-the teachers, the visitors, the givers, the helpers-all who go on the Lord's errands, all who do good unto men, are ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. But a minister of Jesus is chiefly known as one who devotes himself to the preaching of the Word, and to the oversight of the Church of God.

I. The essential elements of a good minister of Christ are found primarily in his personal character.

There is no work in life in which fitness depends so largely on character as that of the ministry. Genius might set her zeal on the spoken word, and commonplace truths may shine with new lustre; knowledge might buttress the truth with facts and arguments; imagination might clothe the Word with beauty, so as to kindle the delight and awaken the emotions of hearers; zeal might bring system and efficiency into every department of ministerial labor, yet these, separated from genuineness and goodness of character, do not render one a good minister of Christ.

A lawyer's argument in a court of law is not vitiated because the speaker may be an unjust and wicked man; there is no connection between his professional calling

and his moral character. A physician ministering to the sick prescribes his remedies, and nothing in his character or bearing can possibly change the effect of his prescription on the health of the patient. But, when we come to the work of the ministry, we find that the effect of spoken trnth is dependent on the character of the speaker. The truth indeed, is as shot fired from a cannon; but the force that sends it forth with effect lies hidden in the heart of life.

Reverence for the dead and sorrow at their departure, I know, dim our vision as to faults in their character, and bring into vividness virtues that had been hidden through life; and so it should ever be; scars and flaws and blotches make deleterious fare on which to feed our eyes, even when they are on the living, how much more so when they are upon the dead. Let us ever remember that infirmities are transient and will pass away; but virtues are eternal. Infirmities are the accidents of Christian manhood; virtues are woven into its very texture. Infimities are the lingering traces of a corrupt nature fast sinking into death; virtues are signs of the germinating and budding of that immortal life which Christ gives us, and which will grow and bloom and ripen in the after-world.

But it is one of our chastened joys to-day that we can trace the life of this revered friend without being disturbed by memories of glaring faults and deficiencies. Often we have to forget, to forgive, and to extenuate, while we speak of even endeared and worthy friends; but it is our privilege to review a life which suggests no memories but which are pleasant, ennobling, and assuring. To pronounce his life perfect would be to deny that it was human; but to say that it was pre-eminent among other lives, is only to give it the tribute which it merits. There is no higher eulogy that we can give at such a time

as this than to say, He was a good man and a Christian. Intellectual greatness, social distinction, and worldly success will elicit praise and admiration ; but it is goodness which compels the heart to render the homage of its affection, and perpetuates itself in the loving memories of the living.

Dr. Brantly's character was not marked by any one conspicuous, overshadowing excellency, but by the blending of many; so that there was symmetry in his life. There was in him the grace of proportion. His life was orderly, systematic, harmonious and balanced. There were no corners and crevices and angles in him. The intellectual did not overtop the moral and emotional. Strength blended with gentleness. Strictness was softened by charity. Self-assurance, which is an element in every successful life, was allied with humility. Fervor was controlled by sobriety. He was, therefore, not an enthusiast, but an earnest man; he was not a reformer sent to destroy, but a wise builder. He was not isolated from his fellow men by reason of any great, extraordinary gift-like a high mountain peak standing apart from the lesser hills-but he touched them at many points, and walked with them in familiar fellowship, for he had so much in common with other men.

II. The essential elements of a good minister are found in his gifts and consecrations.

His wide success was reached, not, by one particular gift-not by his gift of utterance alone, not by his pastoral skill alone, not by his scholarship alone,-but by his varied powers and devotion working in harmony towards one specific end. His sermons instructed, quickened, and comforted his hearers; never perhaps rising to sublime heights in eloquence, and never falling into weakness or commonplace; thoughtful and graceful,

spoken with benign counterance, and couched in happy diction.

Perhaps he owed as much of his success in the ministry to his pastoral gift, as to his pulpit. In fruitfulness, this is the greater gift of the two, and, perhaps, the rarer. The solid abiding work in the church is mostly done in this way. Here his gracious nature came into loving contact with other natures, and all felt the touch of a holy presence. Two needed elements for pastoral work are the power of sympathy and godly conversation; both of these were possessed in an unusual degree by him. Through pastoral work, a connection is established between the preacher and the hearer, a connection like to that in the great system of telephoning; the living voice speaking from the platform, vibrates in the hearer's heart. Not the least of his powers was that of Christian conversation. One, in writing to me said: "It almost paid to be sick to have him come to see you, and to speak of Jesus, and pray with you.”

I must omit speaking of other elements of a good minister of Jesus Christ, and will now refer to his work while pastor of this church. . . .

His peaceful, Christlike life is ended. And within five brief hours after the Sabbath-evening benediction. fell from this lips he opened his eyes on scenes in the eternal world. An angel from God touched the mortal chains that held him here, and his spirit rose, ransomed and liberated, to walk in the light of God's face. The conflict lasted but a moment; his spirit quickly yielded; and with a meekness already possessed, it entered upon the inheritance of the saints in light.

It was a sudden death. Some may covet it, dreading lingering pain and wearisome watchings; some may covet it to escape the torment of fear; some call it the best and happiest of deaths. We know not, except this;

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