Mourning A Beloved Shepherd

October 9, 1859 thousands gathered in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in NY City for the memorial service for their beloved pastor James Waddel Alexander (1804-1859). Charles Hodge, famed professor from Princeton Seminary, and John Hall, life-long friend of Alexander, and his successor at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, were asked to speak to the mourners who gathered. Both sermons exalt the Lord Jesus Christ as they seek to honor a choice servant of the Savior of sinners. Charles Hodge selected Acts 9:20 as his text and fixed his attention upon three words: "He preached Christ." He began his memorial address with these words: "Nothing higher than this can be said of any man. Angels stand uncovered round the humblest tomb on which these words are inscribed. And so do we. The feeling which has gathered this audience; which now fills every breast, bows every head, and moistens every eye, is reverential love for him who in this desk preached Christ." John Hall selected 2 Peter 1:15 as his text with these words: "Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance." Having carried on a correspondence with Alexander for forty years there was no one better suited to the task than Hall, and he did not disappoint. Reading this sermon will stir up the soul of every true child of God, but will especially challenge minister's of the Gospel to spend and be spent in the service of their Master.