Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-04-24
HORACE w. SHELDON'S FUNERAL

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF AND READ AT HIS
FUNERAL AND THAT OF HIS WIFE, AT

| EAST MlDDlEBURY, APRIL q, 1881.
lie, being;dead, yet speaketh-HEB. Nj; l.
Was it ever said of Il man that he
preached his own funeral sermon? The
rich man at whose gate Lazarus was
laid, full of sores, when he died and saw
Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, requested
that he might minister to his wants in
cooling his tongue. Being denied this,
he requested that he might be sent to his
fathers house, where he had five breth-
rem, to testify unto them, or to warn
them that they come not to that place of
torment. Now, | do not expect to rise
from the dead in season to hold converse
with any individual present before you
go into eternity, yet in making this APP
peal unto you out of the regular order
or line of things | may reach some in
dividual whom | never personally in
vted to come to Christ; and if by this
invitation one soul be brought into the
kingdom, my pilgrimage of a years
will not have been in vain. You may
say, "lhou vast altogether born in sins,
and dost thou teach u.s." Or, as one
said to me with an oath when reproved
for sin, ~ shall get to heaven as soon
as you will, unless you die first" |
would say | make no pretentions to
perfection, and it is written, "Every
man must give account of himself to
Cod. and he makes use of weak ones,
yes, of wicked ones, to accomplish his
purposes, else the Saviour had never
been slain. 1t is said of Samson that
the dead which he slew at his death
were more than they that he slew in
his life, Would to God that this, my
last effort, might have like success. In
this my discourse to you | shall use
great plainness of speech, leaving the
truth for the Holy Spirit to SET home to
the heart and if there is one soul pres
ent that has not surrendered unto Christ,
it is you whom 1 address. Although
there are illusions to others, yet in the
main am speaking to you, and not the
one that sits beside you or the one the
garment fits so well in your estimation.
Do not look at those around you to see
how they receive the truth, but look
into your own heart and see how it fits
you. You welcome the pain caused by
the forceps in extracting the tooth rath-
er than endure the prolonged suffering
of retaining it. You submit to the use
of the knife and saw in removing Il dis
eased limb rather than that your limb
and body both perish together so may
the word of Cod which is quick and
powerful, and sharper than any two
edged sword, piercing even to the divid-
ing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of
the Joints and marrow, burn out the
gangrene of sin that is in your soul,
that Christ may come in and abide in
your heart forever.
Many small words are of large sig
nificance. for example, the word sin is
very short, yet the consequences of it
are, all the pain and suffering there is
or ever will be in earth or hell. Love,
! il nj hrnI1
Lord of Glory from heaven to earth, and
redeemed a world from sin and iniquity,
and had it not been for this, we never
should have found our text, which, too,
is short, and sweet, the word come.
You will find it all through the bible.
from Genesis to the last of Revelations.
1t will be used in the first part of this
discourse as an invitation to come and
receive pardon, and its blessings. And
second as call to the judgment, and
third as Il welcome to the redeemed. who
have accepted the offer of pardon to
come and enter upon their inheritance
lst, when we receive an invitation, we
expect pleasure, Joy, or benefit to be
conferred upon us by accepting the in
vitation. SO in this our text. you are
invited to come to Christ, that you in
return may receive life everlasting. The
llISl l)IiCc Ill WHICH we llul lllc NOIU
come is IN Genesis {, lst where God
says to Noah, Come thou and all thine
house into the ark" The benefit here
conferred upon Noah was the saving OF
his family, together with all animals
birds and reptiles upon the earth. II
lsa. | Is God says, "COme now, ant
let Us reason together" If the king OF
high heaven, who hath created the uni
verse, which moves at his word if he
will condescend to talk with you whom
he has created, free moral agent, anC
invested in you the power and will tt
decide your own destiny, whether yol
will accept him or not, will you no
listen to him: Hear what he says tt
you; Though your sins be as scarlet
they shall be white as SNOW" Now
Wilderness denotes purity. as you viii
see by the following passages. purge
me with hyssop and | shall be clean"
"Wash me and | shall be whittier than
snow" (Rev. vii ~. These are they
that come out of great tribulation ant
have washed their robes and made then
white in the blood of the lamb. Here
passages we are considering. God goe;
on to say, "Though your sins be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool
He does not say your small sins shall be
washed away, but the most aggravated
sins, for crimson represents sins of the
darkest dye and as without the shedding
of blood there is no remission of sins.
so the shedding of Christ's blood, the
crimson flow, is the only means by
which you can find pardon. Hear how
he still reasons with you, Wash We, make
you clean; put away the evil of your
doings from before mine eyes; cease to
do EVIL, learn to do well seek judgment
relieve the opprest, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widows. If we be willing
and obedient We shall eat the good of
the land, but if we refuse and rebel We
shall be devoured of the sword, for the
mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Now
what do you say? You have heard
Gods reasoning with you and do you
accept it? Do you say "God be merci-
full to me sinner? If you do in earn.
est, from the heart, he will wash away
all your sins and make you white as
snow.
In wa find tbaca words