Ehe Useful Man. A SERMON DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL OF HON. CHARLES PAINE. AT NORTHFIELD, VT., SEPT. 1, 1853, BY EZRA S. GANNETT, MINISTER OF THE FEDERAL STREET SOCIETY IN BOSTON, MASS. NORTHFIELD: PRINTED BY WOODWORTH & GOULD. 1853. SERMON. Philippians II: 4-Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. God has put us here to be useful. That is the meaning of the text, and that is the truth which this occasion seems to me suited to impress on our minds by the example of a life which, alike in its early and its mature manhood, was largely productive of good to others. God has put us here to be useful,—each one in his own sphere and in his own way; that is, according to the abilities with which he is endowed and the circumstances in which he is placed. We may state the purpose of human life in different terms, as we contemplate it under one or another class of relations, but the superficial contradiction will cover a real harmony. Man should live for God. It should be his aim and law, to glorify his Maker,—to obey the supreme Will, and to fit himself for an enjoyment of the Divine favour hereafter. Again, he should covet personal excellence, and labour assiduously to unfold the spiritual elements of his nature in preparation for a higher state of being. In either case walking by faith, and looking "at the things which are unseen and eternal." And yet it is plain |