The faithful servant A sermon, preached in St. Peter's, Southborough, on occasion of the death of the Rev. Stephen Langston — Reading Notes

Transcribed from the [1879] Hatchards edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

THE FAITHFUL SERVANT.

A SERMON, PREACHED IN ST. PETER’S, SOUTHBOROUGH, ON OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF THE REV. STEPHEN LANGSTON, _Late Vicar of that Parish_, BY THE REV. CANON HOARE, _Vicar of Trinity_, _Tunbridge Wells_.

LONDON: HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY. TUNBRIDGE WELLS: HENRY S. COLBRAN, 9, CALVERLEY ROAD, NEAR THE TOWN HALL.

“Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”—MATTHEW XXV. 23.

THERE is something very solemn in the death of any one, but peculiarly solemn in the death of a minister of God; for when he dies he resigns not his life only, but his ministry. He gives back the ministerial trust committed to him. So our revered, and honoured friend, has not merely fallen asleep in the Lord Jesus; but he has, as it were, handed back to Him who gave it the sacred stewardship of God’s ministry committed to him by God.

Thus this text seems very appropriate, for it contains the words of a master who had been faithfully served, to two servants who had faithfully served him. When they met him face to face, and resigned the trusts committed to their care, the master said to each of them, “Well done thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” And it is no unwarranted stretch of the imagination to believe that a similar welcome was given to our honoured friend when he breathed forth his spirit, and yielded up his ministry to Him who had called him by His grace, and commissioned him for his service.

I take the words therefore as addressed to him at the end of his course, and we may consider them at expressing the master’s verdict, and the master’s welcome.

May God be with us in the study, and may He grant that when we are gathered into his presence, the same words may be addressed to ourselves!

I. THE MASTER’S VERDICT. “Thou hast been faithful.”

It does not say, “Thou hast been rich,” or “great,” or “powerful,” or “brilliant,” but “faithful.” And it is remarkable that the master said exactly the same words to the servant who had the two talents, as he did to the one that had the five. They were not equally gifted, but both were declared to be faithful. This is a great encouragement for those who are conscious that they have not the same gifts as our venerable father. We may not have his powerful, and melodious, voice; his intimate acquaintance with our great English divines; or his marvellous power of exhibiting truth. We may have only two talents, or perhaps only one, when he had five; but God may give us grace to be faithful, and we may faithfully use that one talent to his glory. God said to Moses, “What is that in thine hand?” And, though there was nothing there but a common, rough, shepherd’s rod, God used it for the performance of the greatest miracles in Israel’s history. So he says to each of us, “What is that in thine hand?” And whatever it is, however humble, he gives us the sacred privilege of using it faithfully in his service.

But I do not want to consider general principles this morning, so much as to turn your attention to the special case of him whom we have all known as so faithful a servant of his most blessed Lord and Saviour.

(1) To appreciate that faithfulness, we must note first, that IT BEGAN IN EARLY LIFE. His was an early call.