A Funeral Sermon PREACHED Upon the DEATH of The Reverend Mr. Nathaniel Oldfield Who Deceased Decemb. 31. 1696. Aetat 32. With some Account of his Exemplary Character By JOHN SHOWER LONDON Printed by J. Astwood for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey 1697. TO His Worthy Friend and Brother Mr. Joshua Oldfield SIR THE Honour which it pleased God to bestow on Your Deceased Brother to be so much a Blessing and Beloved while Living ought to qualifie your Sorrow for his Death and make you the more softly to lament your Loss therein If the reading of this Sermon do any way renew your Grief you must thank your self and those who join'd with you in desiring to have it published 'T WAS his Serious Godliness that made him so valuable and in some respects You and I are more obliged than others to Follow his Faith or Christian Piety in * 2 Tim. I. 5. Chap. IV. 6. that sense you know the word is sometimes used The Integrity of his Heart towards God joyn'd with a true Zeal for his Glory qualified him for great Service as a Minister WILL you suffer me to mind my Self and You who I am perswaded need it less than I do that it was his solicitous Care and Concern about the Salvation of his own Soul that made him so Diligent and Successfull for the Souls of others He had very much Help herein by the frequent and Attentive Perusal of the close Warnings and Directions given Ministers in * Mr. B's Gildas Selvianus The Reformed Pastor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chap. 1. §. 9. Chap. V. §. 5 6 7 c. The Reformed Pastor To take heed lest we be Preachers and no Christians dedicated to the Altar as God's Priests and not sanctified by dedication to Christ as his Disciples and so worship an unknown God and preach an unknown Saviour an unknown Spirit an unknown state of Holiness and Communion with God and a Glory that is unknown and like to he unknown for ever If we soundly believe and are affected with the Truth we study and preach we shall preach it more heartily Experience will direct us to the fittest Subjects and furnish us with Matter and quicken us to set it home Whereas he is like to be but an Heartless Preacher who is a Stranger to that Christ and Grace he preacheth of to others And so if he do not first preach to himself what he teacheth them for if our own Hearts be cold our Preaching will be so And if we have but an affected Fervency we cann't expect a Blessing should attend it THERE are many Passages in that Book of the like Tendency which we can hardly read without Fear and Trembling some of 'em as I remember he own'd did most deeply affect his Soul and I have sometimes thought they had some good impression on mine I desire to be more under the Awe and Influence of such Considerations It may be the Recital of a few more of 'em may be of use to some of the Younger Ministers tho' I know your Character so well that I do not add them for your sake but my own and others As Face answers to Face in a Glass so doth the Heart of Man one to another What was of use to him and me may reach more HOW many have preach'd Christ and perisht for want of a saving Interest in him Many may be now in Hell who have told their Hearers of the Torments of Hell and warn'd them to avoid it Who have preach'd of the Wrath of God against sinners and are now feeling of it O what sadder Case can there be in the World than for a Man whose Business and Calling it was to proclaim Salvation and help others to obtain it yet after all himself to be shut out That we should have so many Books in our Libraries that tell us the way to Heaven that we should spend so much time in reading those Books and studying the Doctrine of Eternal Life and after all to miss of it That we should preach so many Sermons of Eternal Salvation and yet fall short of it And this because we preached of Christ but neglected him of the Spirit but resisted him of Faith but did not heartily believe of Repentance and Conversion but continued in a state of Sin of an Heavenly Heart and Life but remained Carnal and Earthly our selves Do we not know that God is no Respecter of Persons and that an Holy Calling will never save an Unholy Man That the Preachers of the Gospel must be judged by the Gospel stand at the same Bar be sentenc'd on the same Terms and dealt with as severely as other Men It is a fearful thing to be an unsanctified Professor but much more so to be an Unholy Preacher When we open our Bibles should we not tremble lest we read our own Condemnation When we pen our Sermons little do we think we are drawing up Indictments against our own Souls When we are arguing against sin that we are but aggravating our own When we magnifie the Riches of Christ and his Grace and declare it to others we publish our own Iniquity in rejecting him and our own Misery in being Strangers to him O Miserable Life that a Man should study and preach from year to year against himself and spend his dayes in a Course of Self-condemning What aggravated Misery will it be to perish in the midst of Plenty to famish with the Bread of Life in our Hands while we offer it to others and urge them to receive it but we our selves will not NEXT to His Piety or as a part of it his Peaceableness and Charity in opposition to Bitterness and Dividing Zeal and a Narrow Spirit was very Commendable and Exemplary He could unite with all Christians in Things Necessary and was not for making more Fundamentals and Necessaries than Christ hath made or for other Terms of Church-Communion than the Terms of our Common Christianity And therefore was ready to receive All whom he believ'd Christ would receive He was of one Church with All those whom he hop'd to meet in Heaven Endeavouring to hold the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace because he acknowledged that there is but One Body one Spirit one Lord Jesus Christ one Hope one Faith one Baptism and consequently but one Holy Table one God and Father of all from whom and by whom and for whom are all Things 'T IS from this Principle as esteeming the Piety Learning and Usefulness of Men of all Perswasions that I cannot be unaffected at the Death of the Reverend Dr. Horneck of the Savoy this Week His Devotion Zeal and Diligence in Preaching Writing and otherways endeavouring to do good to the Souls of Men makes him to be deservedly and generally lamented tho' I had no particular Acquaintance with him I reckon my self bound to value and love every Man who endeavours to promote Reformation and Practical Religion and spends his Time as he did
speaks 2 Cor. 〈…〉 We are unto God a sweet Savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish 'T is certain he bare you much upon his Heart in daily Prayer in order to the Success of his Ministry among you And gave Thanks to God for any such Fruit for any Service he had been enabled to do for your Souls And was affected with your grateful Sense of it testified by your Kindness to him in his last Sickness which he thankfully acknowledged SOME of you will never forget the Last Sermon he preached in Publick when with much Difficulty he was brought into the Pulpit how he spake as in the View and Sense of another World with what serious Affection he prov'd and press'd the Obligation we are under Whether we live that we live to the Lord or whether we dye that we dye to the Lord so that Whether we live or dye we are the Lords Rom. XIV 8. and that if we be thought besides our selves or sober it is for your sakes 2 Cor. V. 13. How agreeable to the Sense of his Heart was it for him from such a passage to say Let me be esteemed a Fool or a Mad-man and besides my self if I may but gain One Soul let the Devil roar against me if I can but snatch the Prey out of his Jaws let him calumniate and revile me if I can but weaken his Kingdom But when by such an Essay he was made sensible of his own Weakness and found himself really disabled for publick Service he then declared he was satisfied Now says he I know my Work is done IF any of you are ready to Object that his Work might not have been done so soon if he had prudently managed his Health and Strength and not shortned his Days by Over-doing I grant that his Zeal and Fervour and unwearied Diligence tho' from a good Principle might as to Humane Prospect have been managed so as to continue his Usefulness longer But let us take heed not to blame him too much for Imprudence in this matter unless we are certain that we know what it is to long for the Salvation of Souls to be filled with Love to Christ and to live above the Love of Life at the rate he did However * Dr. Gilpin of Temptation 4 to Part. III. Chap. 15. it may be reckoned as one of Satan's Temptations to the most diligent and useful Ministers by over-doing to lay a Snare for their Lives lavishing their Strength in a Prodigality of Pains for the good of Souls which like a Thief in a Candle immediately wasts them whereas a better husbanded Strength might be more advantagious by continuing the Light longer And yet their Ends are so sincere their Work so pleasant and their Hearts so enflamed with Zeal that they seldom observe as they might that the Devil is glad of the Opportunity to destroy them with their own Weapon THIS many of his Freinds took Notice of among others that Great and Good Man Mr. Baxter who very much esteemed and loved him not long before he left this World he sent him this kind Message That he should take heed lest he spent too fast That Mr. Baxter loved him I reckon to his Honour He was one of many who thank'd God for the Assistance he received as a Christian and as a Minister from the useful Books Preaching and Conversation of that Excellent Man I freely concur with him therein having reason to thank God upon the like Account HE was Fervent in Spirit serving the Lord His own Soul was fill'd with Zeal to kindle Holy Fire in the Souls of others He was willing to spend and to be spent And hereby he wasted and at last consumed himself He ran fast and was the sooner at his Journies-End But if we judge of our Days and Time on Earth by the good we do in this World and the Progress we make in preparing for another that is if we judge by weight and not by measure He lived long he dyed old and full of days Many a Man with a grey Head had not lived so much tho' he might have been longer in the World For he lived more in a Year than many do in seven He did more Service in less than Thirty three Years than many do in Threescore Tho' we reckon God took him off in the midst of his Days and in the midst of his Ministry it was not too soon for Him tho' it may be for you He was ripe and ready And considering his long languishing Pains and Weakness under all the Attempts and Endeavours for his Recovery which Humane Art Skill and Care with the Earnest Prayers of many for Success could contribute We may say that God was kind and Gracious to call him home He did not so properly take away his Life as * Non tam ereptam ei vitam a Dijs Immortalibus sed Donatam Mertem Cicero concerning Crassus bestow Death Or to use the Words of †Dr. Sam. Annesly concerning Dr. Drake an Eminent Elder Prophet who went to Heaven the same day Elijah and Elisha an Aged Paul and a Young Timothy within few hours who speaking of Another on the like Occasion saith That he went out like one of the Lamps of the Sanctuary with a sweet perfume So hath my Dear Brother left this World and left a Good Name as of a pretious sweet smelling Odour behind him AND now He is gone should I say any thing further to Surviving Relations and to you that sate under his Ministry I shall but open another Sluice of Sorrow If I should consider him as a Husband I might speak to Her who so carefully and diligently assisted him in his long Sickness and beseech her to Remember how he was the Guide of her Youth to Remember his Love to her Person and his Love to her Soul and beg of God that she may experience the promised Blessing Isa LIV. 5. Thy Maker is thine Husband the Lord of Hosts is his Name and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel the God of the Whole Earth shall he be called FOR his Children who may yet be more profited by our Prayers than Counsel let us pray to God that as their Father's Memory is Blessed his Posterity after him may be so And we may do this with the more Hope because there is the Entail of Covenant Mercy to be pleaded from Generation to Generation both on the Father's Side and on the Mother's as being both descended from Excellent Christians and Eminent Ministers Upon which Accounts you are encouraged to trust God as to the Children Hoping that their Father's God and their Grand Fathers God will be their God and Guide SHOULD I consider him as a Son as a Brother as a Kinsman as a Friend c. and how he carried it in each Relation I must be very large You are sensible of your Loss be thankful to God for him Remember his Example follow his Faith think of
this World and what there Business here is and Whether they are going and how it will go with them at their latter End But we could never get the most of them to spend one hour in serious thoughts of these weighty Matters Many a time did we entreat them to try whether they were Regenerate or not whether Christ and his Spirit were in them or not whether their Souls were brought back to God by Sanctification but they would not try We did beseech them to make sure Work and not leave such a Matter as Everlasting Joy or Torment to a bold and mad Adventure but we could not prevail We entreated them to lay all other Businesses aside a little while in the World and to enquire by the Direction of the Word of God what would become of them in the World to come and to judge themselves before God came to judge them seeing they had the Law and Rule of Judgment before them But their Minds were blinded and their Hearts were hardned and the Profit and Pleasure and Honour of this World did either stop their Ears or quickly steal away their Hearts so that we could never get them to a sober Consideration nor ever win their Hearts to God This will be the Witness that many hundred Ministers of the Gospel must give in against the Souls of their People at that day But to draw to a Close Let us all be affected with his Death so as wisely to improve it The Removal of such an one at his Age is a Publick Loss not only to his Family and to the Congregation but to the Poor to the City to the Nation to the Church of Christ One of a clear Head and warm Heart who understood believ'd and obey'd the Gospel One of a Peaceable and Publick Spirit Abundant in Prayer and of an Exemplary Life and of Extraordinary Diligence to do Good Being fitted for it as he was filled with Love to Christ and the Souls of Men to carry on the great Design of Faith and Holiness to the utmost of his Power in the Station God had put him And full of Thoughts and Care therein to abide with God But mourn not for Him Some sorrowful Concern 't is true is unavoidable if you are sensible of your Loss and 't is also fit and becoming For 't is a Judgment upon any and a Reproach upon a Minister to dye unlamented As if his Life were of no Use and the World were weary of him But you need not mourn for Him when you Consider Who he was and Where he Now is being exalted to a higher Sphere of Action and Enjoyment for which through Grace and Holy Diligence he was prepared And so for ever delivered from all Pain and Sickness from Sin and Sorrow Corruption and Temptation If you follow his Faith and Patience you shall meet him again in Unutterable and Endless Joy HEREUPON you will do well to admit the Thought that all your other Ministers are mortal and dying and that you your Selves are so And therefore should improve their Lives and and Labours as you shall wish you had done when They are Dead or when You your selves are ready to dye TO Conclude Because He alone who made this Breach hath the Residue of the Spirit and can supply it let me advise you tho' the Shepherd be smitten yet that the Sheep do not scatter Let not this Breach occasion Others but Agree together and take the best Advice you can in looking out speedily for a Suitable Supply And the Lord direct you to a Man after his own Heart that may be like-minded with my Deceased Brother And whatever you have received and heard and learnt and seen in Him as a Follower of Christ that do and The God of Grace and Peace be with you Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey MR. Baxter's Life published by Mr. Sylvester Folio Mr. Lorimers Apology for the Ministers that subscribed to the stating the Truths and Errors in Mr. Williams's Book in Answer to Mr. Trails Letter to a Minister in the Country In 4 o. Mr. Lorimers Remarks on Mr. T. Goodwins Discourse of the Gospel proving that the Gospel-Covenant is a Law of Grace answering his Objections to the contrary In 4 to Mr. Stephens's Sermon before the Lord-Mayor Jan. 30. 1693. 4 to his Thanksgiving Sermon April 16. 1696. before the Lord Mayor 4 to Mr. Gibbons Sermon of Justification 4 to Mr. Slaters Thanksgiving Sermon Octob. 27. 1692. 4 to his Sermons at the Funerals of Mr. John Reynolds and Mr. Fincher Ministers of the Gospel 4 to Dr. Burtons Discourses of Purity Charity Repentance and seeking first the Kingdom of God Pubished with a Preface by Dr. John Tillotson late Arch-bishop of Canterbury 8vo Bishop Wilkins's Discourses of the Gift of Prayer and Preaching the latter much Enlarged by the Bishops of Norwich and Chichester Mr. Samuel Slaters Earnest Call to Family Religion in Eighteen Sermons 8 vo A Help to true Spelling and Reading or a very easie Method for Teaching Children or elder Persons rightly to Spell and exactly to Read English in much less time then usual By William Scoffin 8vo Mr. Addy's Stenographia or the Art of Short-writing compleated in a far more compendious way than any extant 8 vo Mr. Addy's Short-hand Bible in the same Character Sir Robert Howards Free Discourse Wherein the Doctrines which make for Tyranny are Displayed The Title of our Rightful and Lawful King William vindicated and the Unreasonableness and Mischievous Tendency of the Odious Distinction of a King de Facto and de Jure Discovered 8 vo Robinsons Cambridge Phrases being a General Phrase-Book for the Use of Schools In 8 vo The London-Dispensatory reduced to the Practice of the London Physitians wherein are contained the Medicines Gallenical and Chymical that are now in Use those out of use omitted and those in use not in the latter Copy here added By John Peachey of the Colledge of Physitians London In 12 o. The Dying Mans Assistant or short Instructions for those who are concerned in the preparing of sick Persons for Death Being also no less worthy the Consideration of all good Christians in Time of Health As shewing the importance of an Early Preparation for their latter End with Regard as well to their Temporal as Eternal State 12 o. Mr. Alkins English Grammar or the English Tongue reduced to Grammatical Rules Composed for the use of Schools 8 vo