He Preached His Own Funeral Sermon
by Rev. David T. Myers

Subscribers to This Day in Presbyterian History, are familiar with our character today, namely, the Rev. Samuel Davies. If we would sum up his life and ministry, the following titles would adequately describe him: Presbyterian pastor, who in the early days of this country, before it was a country, rode a circuit of five hundred miles through forests and fields ministering to the hearts of saved and unsaved alike; church planter, the first non-Anglican minister in Virginia; hymn writer, author of “Great God of Wonders!” on page 82 of the red Trinity Hymnal, evangelist, defender of persons and places, being described at the best recruiter of the “military” in the French and Indian War; and yes, president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University and Seminary) in May 1759.

This last post of ministry, Samuel Davies, was most reluctant to take. It would mean giving up his scattered but effective ministry to the people of Virginia, especially at Polegreen Presbyterian Church in Virginia. Biblical Presbyterianism was just beginning to get a toe-hold in that area. Frankly, Virginia Presbyterians were not of the opinion that he should give up the fields which were white unto harvest. But he was convinced by the board of trustees of this young Presbyterian college to take the position. They saw that God has bestowed, as it was said then by one trustee, “prodigious, uncommon gifts” upon Samuel Davies. And so He had. Samuel Davies took reluctantly the position, though not a well man. Two years later, on February 4, 1761, Samuel Davies would entered heaven’s gates to receive his rewards.

But where does our title enter into the picture, you ask? Well, Samuel Davies did preach his own funeral sermon. It was on January 1, 1761 that Samuel Davies preached a sermon in Princeton, New Jersey on New Year’s day from Jeremiah 28:16, entitled “This Very Year You Are Going to Die!” And thirty-five days later, he did die on this day, February 4, 1761.

A few excerpts from that sermon, which is on-line, are important to recount, for they speak of the fervor of the gospel sermon which for all practical purposes was for himself, though unknown by him at the time. He preached on that Lord’s Day in Princeton, New Jersey,

“While we are entering into the threshold of a new year, it may be proper for us to stand, and pause, and take a serious view of the occurrences that may happen to us this year – that we may be prepared to meet them. Future contingencies are indeed unknown to us; and this ignorance is as agreeable to our present state, and as conducive to our improvement and happiness – as our knowledge of the things which it concerns us to know. But though we cannot predict to ourselves the particular events that may befall us – yet the events of life in general, in a vague indeterminate view, are not so contingent and unknowable as to leave no room for rationale suppositions, and probably expectations”

In the sixth paragraph of his sermon, Samuel Davies goes on to say, “Yes, it is highly probably, that if some prophet, like Jeremiah, should open to us the book of the divine decrees, one or another of us would there see our sentence, and the time of its execution fixed! ‘Thus says the Lord – This very year you are going to die!’”

In thirty-five days, after only two years as president of what later became Princeton University and Seminary, at the age of 37, Samuel Davies died! In a way, he preached his very own funeral sermon on that first day in 1761.

Words to Live By:
None of our readers, nor your two authors, like to think of this solemn and unchangeable event, but it is, as the Lord states, appointed unto us to die at some day at our Lord’s choosing. Far better for us to prepare for this eventuality, by first making sure that we have received by faith alone the Lord Jesus and His accomplished work on the cross for us. And then, in appreciation of that great salvation, seek while we are on this earth to buy up every opportunity for the Lord’s service, whether in the home, church, and/or society, by being the salt of the earth and shining the gospel light upon the spiritually dark world.(Matthew 5:13 – 16)

The Author and Finisher of Faith
by Rev. David T. Myers

We return again to the devotional diary of David Brainerd, the Presbyterian missionary of the middle eighteenth century.  What could account for the zeal which this early missionary showed as he traveled, not by modern conveyance but on  horseback? His travels did not take him by established thoroughfares, but rather on frontier trails through forests and across swollen rivers.  These areas were safe, when you stop to think of it, as hostile forces and wild animals were sure to block his way.  What could prompt an individual to undertake such an arduous journey?


As we look at his diary for February 3, 1744, we ascertain at least several strong reasons for his constant ministry.  Read his words and see if you can glean the answer.  He wrote:

“Enjoyed more freedom and comfort than of late; was engaged in meditation upon the different whispers of the various powers and affections of a pious mind exercised with a great variety of dispensations, and could not but write, as well as meditate on so entertaining a subject.  I hope the Lord gave me some true sense of divine things this day, but alas, how great and pressing are the remains of indwelling corruption!  I am now more sensible than ever, that God alone is ‘the author and finisher of faith,’ i.e. that the whole and every part of sanctification, and every good word, works, or thought, found in me, is the effect of his power and grace, that ‘without him I can do nothing,’ in the strictest sense, and that ‘he works in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure,’ and from no other motives.  Oh! how amazing it is that people can talk so much about men’s power and goodness, when if God did not hold us back every moment, we should be devils incarnate! This is my bitter experience, for several days last past, and has abundantly taught me concerning myself.”

If you carefully meditate on this diary entry, you cannot help but see the place of Scripture permeating his thoughts.  He quotes portions of Hebrews 12:2, John 15:5, and Philippians 2:13 in this section.  In other words,  he lived and breathed Scripture!

David Brainerd also had a practical understanding of the work of sanctification in his soul, and understood the remnants of sin within himself.  Thus, with a true sense of himself, but more importantly, a true understanding of his God, he could move forward each day to do the work of evangelism and discipleship among the native population to whom God had called him.

Words to Live By: “How amazing it is that people can talk so much about men’s power and goodness, when if God did not hold us back every moment, we should be devil’s  incarnate.” — David Brainerd

THE SCHOOL & FAMILY CATECHIST
by Rev. William Smith (1834)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Questions 81 & 82.

Q. 81. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?

A. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions or affections to any thing that is his.

EXPLICATION.

All discontentment with our own estate. –Every thing like being displeased, or dissatisfied, with that which God has ordered to be our lot in this world.

Envying. –Feeling uneasy or vexed at the welfare or happiness of another.

Inordinate motions and affections. –Excessive and unreasonable desires after what is not our own.

ANALYSIS.

The sins forbidden in the tenth commandment are of three kinds:

1. All discontentment with our own estate. –1 Cor x. 10. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
2. All envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor. –James iii. 16. Where envying and strife is, there is confusion, and every evil work.
3. All inordinate motions and affections to any thing that belongs to our neighbor. –Col. iii. 5. Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Q. 82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

A. No mere man, since the fall, is able, in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.

EXPLICATION.

No mere man. –No one who is only a human being, and nothing else.  Hence the Lord Jesus Christ is excepted, who alone, since the fall, was able to keep the commandments perfectly; but he was both God and man in one person, and therefore was not a mere man.

Since the fall. –Since the time when Adam committed the first sin.

ANALYSIS.

In this answer we are taught two things:

1. That no mere man since the fall, is able, in this life, to keep God’s commandments perfectly. –Eccles. vii. 20. There is not a just man upon earth who doeth good and sinneth not.
2. That every man daily breaks God’s commandments. –Job xv. 14. What is man that he should be clean? Psal. xiv. 3. They are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

We are here also taught, that mankind break the commandments of God in three ways:

1. In thought. –Gen. viii. 21. The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.
2. In word. –James iii. 8. The tongue can no man tame, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
3. In deed. –James iii. 2. In many things we offend all.

He Shouldn’t Have Been Elected
by Rev. David T. Myers

Given his political choice of party—he was a Federalist in the early nineteenth century in Delaware—he should have been a Methodist or an Episcopalian.  Those denominations usually won the governor’s office.  But John Clark was a Federalist Presbyterian, an oddity to be sure.  Clearly, Someone higher than those in earthly roles was directing this race and subsequent election to the governor’s chair.

John Clark was born on February 1, 1761 on the family farm in New Bristol, north of Smyrna, Delaware.  He had limited schooling in his younger days, but made up for it with an insatiable desire for the knowledge found in books.  He was “well read,” as the papers put it at that time.  In 1784, he married Sarah Corbit, herself the daughter of a governor of Delaware.  They had at least one daughter, and possibly others which history does not name for us.

John Clark obviously had the gifts of leadership.  He was the Colonel of the Third Regiment of Militia for a year in 1807 – 1808.  He served as a sheriff, state treasurer, a member of the State House, and then as governor.  His accomplishments included improvements in educational opportunities.  His argument was that Delaware was a small state and not suitable for increased opportunities in business.  Better plans must to be made to develop the capabilities of its citizens.

After serving for his term as governor, he became involved in banking in Smyrna, Delaware.  He died on August 14, 1821 and is buried in the cemetery of Duck Creek Presbyterian Church in Smyrna.

This contributor looked in vain for any quotable quotes on the significance of personal Christianity in the state or country, and his beliefs on those topics.  The only hope we have for a credible profession of faith is that his membership was in the Presbyterian church and his burial was in a Presbyterian cemetery.  Usually in those days, such inclusion would not have taken place unless there was a credible testimony in Christ as Lord and Savior.

Words to live by:  Both words and spiritual fruit must be found in a Christian’s to declare that redemption has taken place in a believer’s life.  They may have been found at the time with respect to John Clark, but were simply not recorded in the usual sources we have available today.  Let it not be said of you that no expressions of Christianity are found lacking in your mouth.  Let there be no doubt that you are a professing and confessing Christian to all who observe what you say and do.