Holding Fast the Faithful Word: Sermons and Addresses by Samuel Miller

Resolved, that, by the grace of God, I will not merge my office as a minister of the gospel, in that of professor. I will still preach as often as my Master gives me opportunity and strength. I am persuaded that no minister of the gospel, to whatever office he may be called, ought to give up preaching. He owes it to his ordination vows, to his office, to his Master, to the church of God, to his own character, to his own soul, to go on preaching to his last hour. Lord, give me grace to act on this principle! 

With this commitment in place, Samuel Miller entered his career at Princeton Seminary determined not to allow his professorial duties to diminish his calling as a minister of the gospel. And with such conviction, Miller did, indeed, continue preaching unto the last days of his life. Holding Fast the Faithful Word collects a number of sermons Miller had published during his ministry. Miller’s sermons are models of organizational clarity. His main headings are easily discerned, and he always provides practical applications from the doctrines contained in his discourses.

Contents:

Biographical Sketch of Samuel Miller

1. Christ Our Righteousness

2. The Evidence and Duty of Being on the Lord’s Side

3. The Earth Filled with the Glory of the Lord

4. The Vision is Yet for an Appointed Time

5. The Difficulties and Temptations Which Attend the Preaching of the Gospel in Great Cities

6. Christ the Model of Gospel Ministers

7. The Sacred Office Magnified

8. Holding Fast the Faithful Word

9. The Duty of the Church to Take Measures for Providing an Able and Faithful Ministry

10. A Plea for an Enlarged Ministry

11. The Divine Appointment, the Duties, and the Qualifications of Ruling Elders

12. The Duty, the Benefits, and the Proper Method of Religious Fasting

13. The Importance of Domestic Happiness

14. The Means of Domestic Happiness

15. The Appropriate Duty and Ornament of the Female Sex

16. The Dangers of Education in Roman Catholic Schools

17. The Guilt, Folly, and Sources of Suicide

18. Theatrical Amusements

19. The Rejection of Revealed Truth Referable to Moral Depravity

20. The Importance of Gospel Truth

21. Opening of the New Presbyterian Church, in Arch Street

Author

Samuel Miller (1769–1850) was a Presbyterian minister and served as professor of ecclesiastical history and church government at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Endorsement

“A prolific author and beloved professor, Samuel Miller was an equally dedicated pastor and preacher. While he is most remembered for his writings on church government, baptism, and prayer, Miller was widely appreciated among contemporaries and peers for his pulpit ministry and public addresses. Topical in approach and formal in style, Miller’s messages are suffused with warm pastoral insight and detailed practical application. Delivered during the early nineteenth century and thereby dated in certain particulars, the thrust of Miller’s material is as relevant and applicable today as when first presented. Whether addressing personal matters such as depression and suicide or the pulpit ministry of the church, Miller’s expositions are Scripture-saturated treatments of their topics. Church leaders, seminarians, and laity alike will find Miller’s studies a gold mine of timeless biblical instruction on the life of piety and calling and work of the Christian ministry.” — James M. Garretson, author of An Able and Faithful Ministry: Samuel Miller and the Pastoral Office