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SERMON,

OCCASIONED BY THE

Death

OF THE REVEREND

WILLIAM GOODE, M. A.

LATE RECTOR OF ST. ANDREW BY THE WARDROBE
AND ST. ANN, BLACKFRIARS,

Sunday Afternoon Lecturer of St. John, Wapping,

AND

LADY CAMDEN'S TUESDAY EVENING LECTURER AT ST. LAWRENCE JEWRY, CHEAPSIDE.

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SERMON,

&c.

II PETER, i. 13, 14.

Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up, by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

DEATH is always a solemn subject. The transition, from this changing world to an eternal state of happiness or of misery, must ever be deeply interesting. But how much more so when it is connected with circumstances such as those which now call us together. The death of a Minister, who has for a long period of years presided over a large and important parish, is peculiarly affecting, both as it respects the tender bonds which it dissolves, and the solemn

obligations which it imposes. To meet, as we now do, to weep over the memory of a departed pastor, and to remember the instructions and example which he has left behind, is a mournful as well as important duty. I have only to regret that, owing to the previous engagements of the older friends of your late excellent Minister, which it was not possible for them to avoid, it has fallen to me to discharge the present office. Suddenly called to it, in a manner the most unexpected, I have been led to consider the language of the apostle St. Peter previously to his decease; when, pressed with the reflection of his speedy death, he excites the Christians whom he addressed, to a remembrance of the truths which they had received, and professes his purpose to endeavour that after his departure they should continue to preserve in their memories the doctrines and duties of the Gospel. A review of these feelings of the holy apostle will serve, I trust, to remind you both of the labours of your late excellent pastor, and of the obligations you are under to remember his instructions; at the same time that it will naturally introduce a few observations on his life and character.

May the Holy Spirit of God," without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy," assist us by his sacred inspiration, while we notice,

I. The SOLEMN CONSIDERATION WHICH APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN PRESENT TO THE MIND OF THE

APOSTLE-THE BREVITY AND UNCERTAINTY

OF HIS ABODE ON EARTH.

II. THE EFFECT WHICH THIS CONSIDERATION PRODUCED A RESOLUTION TO USE HIS UTMOST

DILIGENCE IN PROMOTING THE WELFARE OF

THE CHURCH.

I. The SOLEMN CONSIDERATION which was present to the mind of the Apostle, was the brevity and uncertainty of his abode on earth.

The expression which the Apostle employs to convey his feeling of the near approach of death is remarkable-Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle. It seems to imply that he considered himself as a TRAVELLER to an eternal world, residing for a time only in a temporary tent or covering. His body was not an abode, but a tabernacle. Such truly is the condition of man. He is on a journey from this world to another. Neither his home nor his rest are here. His stay is short and uncertain. His progress to his final destination ceaseless and rapid. The Christian, like the Apostle, deliberately considers this to be his situation. Being born of God, united by faith to Jesus Christ, and interested in the hopes and promises of the covenant of grace, he willingly looks forward to heaven as his exalted country. He views him

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