A MEMORIAL SERVICE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 209, 4 September 1899, Page 2

A MEMORIAL SERVICE.

A memorial service for the late Mrs \. Rose was held last evening in the Newmarket Wesleyan Church. The Rev. J. T. Pinfold occupied the pulpit, and preached a sermon from Rev. xiv. 13. Some men say that bereavement should be met by stoical indifference, but Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus. Religion does not destroy, but restrain natural affection. The friends of Stephen after his martyrdom made great lamentation over him. Christian sorrow is submissive, holy and enlightened. It discerns the hand of God, profits by discipline, and regards separation as not final, but looks forward to re-union. Hence we sympathize with the bereaved, and earnestly pray that the God of all consolation will sustain and comfort them. Blessed are the dead which' die in the Lord, because their temptations have come to an end. All men experience temptation. They are the grim spectres that cross life's pathway. But God permits them for wise purposes. We are made more sympathetic and our higher natures are strengthened by them. So with afflictions. Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. We see the consistency of love in an earthly parent inflicting pain; surely we shall not close our eyes to the wisdom of our Heavenly Father acting from the same motive. The surgeon with his scalpel and the gardener with his pruning knife were cited as illustrations of the same truth. These afflictions of life work out for those rightly exercised by them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. But we are all thankful and glad when they come to an end because their purpose has been fully served. The dead that die in the Lord are blessed because Heaven is gained by them. Ideas of the better world vary largely according to our present environment. To the bereaved heaven is a place of reunion.

So part we sadly in this troublous

world, To meet with Joy in sweet Jerusalem

This beautiful thought affords comfort to the bereaved. The blessedness referred to in the text will be found in fellowship with Jesus and a continuous increase of knowledge. The death of our friend should teach us the vanity of the world, the power of religion, and the necessity of preparation for our own death.