Chapter I: The Work in Which, as a Minister of the Gospel, He Was Engaged During

HIS LIFE.

The work of a minister of the gospel, as intimated by the apostle, is to remind his hearers of the various and important truths which the gospel of Christ contains; for he determines to put them “always in remembrance of these things,” and “to stir them up by putting them in remembrance.”

The “THINGS” to which the apostle here refers are evidently the various doctrines, and exhortations, and blessings, which he has recorded in the preceding parts of this chapter; and which, in the third verse, are emphatically called “_all things that pertain unto life and godliness_.” They are the “grace and peace,” which is multiplied to all the partakers of “precious faith”—the “promises,” which are “exceeding great and precious”—the influences by which we become “partakers of the divine nature”—the Christian graces, which include “faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity”—the admonitions by which we are warned lest we lack any of these things, and exhorted to give all diligence to secure them—and the motives and prospects which are presented to us, full of constraining and inspiring energy, “for if ye do these things ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Such, my brethren, is the beautiful and comprehensive view, which the apostle gives us, of the doctrines, and promises, and influences of the gospel of Christ, and such is the evidence which he affords that it contains “all things which pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue,” and by whose precious blood and efficacious grace we are redeemed, and sanctified, and saved. To make these things known, for the conversion and salvation of the guilty and depraved, is the great work of the Christian _preacher_, to whom is committed the word of reconciliation, and who beseeches men to be reconciled to God. And to “stir up” the minds of those who know these things already, and are established in the present truth, in order that they may have them always in remembrance, is the peculiar work of the Christian _pastor_, whose office it is “to feed the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood.”

In the verses before us, the apostle directs our attention, however, more particularly to _the manner_ in which, as a minister of the gospel, he endeavoured to discharge this work; and the several statements which he has made are so strikingly descriptive of the ministerial labours of your own pastor and teacher, that I proceed at once to connect them with the work in which he was engaged.

In the first place, he endeavoured to discharge his work DILIGENTLY. “I will not be negligent,” says the apostle—and the man who undertakes to watch for the souls of others, and yet neglects them, is of all men the most criminal in his conduct now, and will be of all men the most miserable in his condition hereafter, when their blood is required at his hand. How mercifully clear from this awful charge is the character and conduct of your lamented pastor. “I will not be negligent,” was his motto and his determination every day of his life. It is true that he was endowed with intellectual capacities of a superior order, which enabled him, with considerable facility, to acquire languages and to collect stores of general knowledge; but he was always endeavouring to accumulate and improve; and, distinguished as he was by natural talents, he was equally distinguished by his aversion to negligence, and by his laborious and conscientious diligence. His habits, in this respect, had become so matured and confirmed, that he was as diligent in the fortieth year of his ministry, as he was in the first; and was pursuing, with all his heart, his inquiries into the great subjects connected with the gospel ministry, till he was smitten by the stroke of death. “In common life,” says he, in one of his printed sermons, “we consider it a shame to a man not to understand his business, and surely it is a shame to a man, who appears as a minister of Christ, not to be well versed in that knowledge which is intimately connected with the whole of his ministerial labour.” Influenced by these considerations, _as a Christian_ he “gave diligence to make his calling and election sure;” living by faith on the Son of God, adding to his faith every Christian grace, wrestling with God in prayer, and crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts, lest, having professed and preached the gospel to others, he himself should be cast away. _As a student_, he meditated on these things, and gave himself wholly to them; daily searching the Scriptures in their original languages, and always having before him some object of inquiry and pursuit, which he investigated with a degree of devotedness and curiosity which remained as diligent and as prying in his age, as it had ever been in his youth. And, _as a minister_, he was diligent to know the state of his flock, and in making such studious preparations for the pulpit as enabled him always to feed you with knowledge and understanding. It was this diligence, which gave to all his social conversations, and especially to all his public discourses, a peculiarly instructive character; so that you might “know these things, and become established in the present truth.” You, my beloved friends, have not been accustomed to receive from your minister that which cost him nothing to procure. His sermons on the Lord’s day, were not the extemporaneous effusions of the moment, nor the hasty accumulations of the Saturday evening, which when delivered were “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” They were fraught with instruction, because they had been previously prepared with diligence and prayer: and you have listened to many of his expositions on the epistles, and to many of his courses of sermons on particular subjects, which shewed that he was “a scribe well instructed in the kingdom of heaven, who brought forth from his treasure things new and old.” These discourses had been previously written with great neatness and care, most of them too at considerable length: and he once acknowledged to a friend that, to the constant practice of writing his sermons, he owed what degree of accuracy they might possess when delivered. And it was this diligence that doubled his life: for if life is to be measured, not merely by years, but by labours and acquirements, it will appear that he lived twice the sixty-six years of some persons, and thereby enjoyed the fulfilment of the promise, “it shall be well with thee, and thou shalt live long upon the earth.”

Secondly, he endeavoured to discharge his work IMPRESSIVELY. The apostle says that he repeated the things which pertained to life and godliness, in order to “stir up” the minds of those whom he addressed, and thus to excite and to persuade them to cherish every christian grace, and to perform every christian duty. It is of essential importance that the doctrines which a minister addresses to his hearers, should be “the truth as it is in Jesus”—the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But even truth itself may be presented to the mind in such a way as make no “stir” in its energies or emotions. The matter may be good, but the manner may be so destitute of spirit and life, as to render every sermon an illustration of the scripture maxim, “the body without the spirit is dead, being alone.” This, you are aware, my brethren, was not the character of Mr. Kinghorn’s preaching. It was deeply impressive. It was full of “thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.” It exhibited all the force of his intellect, combined with all the fervour of his heart, so that every sermon which he preached resembled “the sea of glass which was mingled with fire.” The impressive and spirit-stirring influence which his preaching was calculated to produce, may however be traced to a variety of circumstances. For instance, he endeavoured to stir up your minds, _by the plain and practical character of his discourses_. Persons who live at a distance, and who judge of Mr. Kinghorn merely by his literary fame, or by his controversial writings, may perhaps suppose that his sermons were learned disquisitions and doubtful disputations. This was by no means the case—and though he could appear, and on suitable occasions did appear, as the profound scholar, and the skilful reasoner,—yet, however he may be estimated elsewhere, by those who knew him not, those who have been accustomed to associate with him in this city, and to sit under his ministry, knew him as the plain and practical preacher of the gospel, whose dress, and domestic economy, and manners in the parlour and in the pulpit, were simple and unostentatious, and whose one object it was to win souls to Jesus Christ. “It is the duty of the Christian minister,” and I am quoting his own words, “to exert himself, as far as he is able, that what he says may be intelligible and plain; and that, from the manner in which he delivers it, it may be impressive.” {9} He endeavoured to stir up your minds also, _by the point and force with which he directed his appeals to your consciences and hearts_; so that he met you at every turn, he compassed your path at every step, he pursued you into every avenue, and it seemed impossible to escape from his close and searching admonitions. His object was, not to polish his style so as to gain your admiration and applause, (he had no taste for that), but to point every sentence till it became like a two-edged sword, quick and powerful, which pierced to the dividing asunder of soul and body, and discerned the very thoughts and intents of your hearts. He endeavoured also to stir up your minds, _by the earnestness and impressiveness of his manner_. Though he was with you during a longer time than Moses was with the Israelites in the wilderness, yet “his eye was not dim, nor was his natural force abated.” He retained even to old age, much of the vigour and vivacity of his youth; and those who have had the opportunity of comparing together the earlier and the later periods of his ministry, are of opinion that the sermons of the last few years were more earnestly and impressively delivered, even than those which preceded. He no doubt felt increasingly the value of the gospel, as a source of holiness and happiness on earth, and as revealing and bestowing a life of eternal blessedness in heaven; and therefore, in proclaiming that gospel to you, he became increasingly earnest and fervent both in his feelings and in his manner. His heart was anointed with a holy unction which diffused its fragrance over all his feelings and his words, and his eyes often became “fountains of tears” when he spoke of the hopes which the gospel inspires, and when he told the enemies of the cross that their end was destruction. And when, on such occasions, his voice broke, (and it sometimes did with tremulous impressiveness,) a burst of holy eloquence was sure to follow, which thrilled, and subdued, and overwhelmed. But we must not omit to notice, that he endeavoured to stir up your minds, _by the simplicity and piety of his life_. And without this, his talents, his literature, and his eloquence, would have been of but little avail, for all his public labours would have been neutralized by his practical inconsistencies. But we all knew him and venerated him as a man of God. The doctrines which he preached in the pulpit were written in his life; and he was not only a preacher of Christ to his own congregation, but also “an epistle of Christ known and read of all men.” In the course of his religious experience, he had indeed passed through paths of darkness, and had contended with doubts and difficulties, such as but few Christians are called to endure. But, through the mercy of God, they served ultimately only to strengthen his faith and to confirm his hope—they gave him “the tongue of the learned, so that he knew how to speak a word in season to him that was weary”—and they chastened and humbled his mind under a deep conviction of human ignorance and imperfection, and of the necessity and value of that grace without which we are nothing, and can do nothing. Under the influence of that all-sufficient grace, his own character was formed and his own mind was excited, so that he was enabled to stir you up by his holy example, as well as by the simplicity, and point, and impressiveness of his preaching, that you might have these things always in your remembrance.

Thirdly, He endeavoured to discharge his work PERSEVERINGLY. The apostle determined to put them “_always_ in remembrance of these things”—he thought it meet to stir up their minds _as long as he was in this tabernacle_,—“yea!” says he, “I will endeavour that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance.” And this part of the apostle’s language is equally descriptive as the former of the determination and the conduct of our departed friend. Though his mind was highly speculative, though his curiosity was as young and prying at sixty as at twenty, and though, “through desire, he sought and intermeddled with all wisdom,” yet how steady, and straight forward, and persevering, was the course which he pursued. Whilst many by whom he was surrounded have diverged, some to the right hand, and others to the left, he kept on the even tenor of his way—professing neither to be a dreamer nor an interpreter of dreams, neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but a disciple and a minister of Jesus Christ, whose duty it was to give himself wholly to the great things of the gospel, and to endeavour to pluck sinners as brands from the burning.

This, my brethren, is not to be considered as a full delineation of your beloved pastor’s general character. I have not attempted that, but merely to give you a brief sketch of the work in which he was engaged, and of the manner in which he endeavoured to discharge it. Still it may be sufficient to remind you of the _diligence_, the _impressiveness_, and the _perseverance_ by which you knew him to be distinguished, and of your obligations to that power and grace which endowed him with these mental and moral qualities, and which induced and enabled him to consecrate them all to your service in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was from first to last, a sinner saved by grace. It was Christ alone who inspired his intellect, and formed his character, and redeemed his soul—and I honour the servant for the sake of the Master who made him what he was. For if such was the character of the minister, what must be the character of the Master! If such was the workmanship, what must be the skill and power of the architect himself! “Not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name be the glory for what thy servants are. They have no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth in thee—for of thee, and through thee, and to thee are all things, and unto thee be glory for ever.”

Having thus considered the work in which, as a minister of the gospel, he was engaged during his life, let us now proceed to the second part of our subject, and consider,