sometimes by Lingering Painful Sickness Antecedent to dying Therefore you may and should take Heart by their Examples and follow their Faith HOW you should do so I will sum up in * See Mr. Baxter's Life of Faith 4 to Chap. XXII p. 585. And Mr. D. B's Christian Commemoration and Imitation of Saints Deported 120. 1691. Where these things are more fully express'd better Words than my own Let us fix upon the same Ends to Glorifie God and Enjoy him let us choose the same Guide and Captain of our Salvation let us believe the same Gospel and build upon the same Promises let us obey and trust to the same Spirit of Holiness and Comfort let us live upon the same Truths and exercise the same Graces and watch against the same Sins and Corruptions let us choose prefer and use the same Company and other helps and means of Grace and under all the Trials and Temptations of this Life act the same Faith and Patience and Hope unto the End and we shall finish our Course as they did and inherit the Promises as they do In order whereto III. LET us consider the End of their Conversation Be mindful of your Deceased Ministers that you may observe the happy End of their Conversation and so be assisted to follow their Faith Their Conversation and Course of Life was agreeable to their Faith agreeable to the Doctrine they believed and taught and their End was answerable They lived in the Faith and they dyed in the Faith The End of their Conversations an End attended with Victory and Deliverance the same Word that is used for Escape 1 Cor. X. 13. Consider what Difficulties they met with and yet did overcome their Faith did not fail their Hope did not perish their Courage did not faint They endured to the End and finished their Course came off with Victory and are got safe to Everlasting Rest THE Consideration of this their happy End knowing what they were and what we are should encourage us to Follow them It ought to raise our Desires and Hopes fix our Resolutions answer our Doubts scatter our Fears make Death less formidable and the thoughts of Heaven more familiar and so excite and forward our Preparations for it That following their Faith we may with them at last receive the End of our Faith and Hope the Salvation of our Souls I NOW come to the other Part of my Subject to speak of Your Deceased Pastor Not that I design to give you the History of his Parentage Birth and Education before he came to London that is before my Acquaintance with him or yours but some Account of his Example as a Christian and as a Minister of Christ that being the more sensible of your Loss you may take the more care to improve it AND tho' I feel my self a real and hearty Mourner with you as for one whom I highly esteemed and loved and had a great deal of Reason to do so I shall yet take care that my Affection may not prompt me to say any thing concerning him that cannot be well attested either by my own Knowledge or by some of you who now hear me As knowing that I ought not to speak any thing that is not true of a dead Friend any more than raise an Evil Report of a living Enemy But I speak to those who knew his Doctrine and manner of Life Purpose Faith Patience Love Long-suffering and Charity 1. HE was considered as a Christian a lively Instance of inward Godliness and Real Religion He believed and practis'd what he preached to others He lived in the firm Perswasion and Expectation of the Invisible Everlasting World and in diligent Preparation of himself and others for it Humility the Badge of our Relation to Christ was his Cloathing and Ornament endeavouring to approve himself to God and to the Consciences of Men as in the sight of God Not as pleasing Men but God who seeth the Heart 2 Cor. X. 14 15. PRAYER was his Delight Strength and Excellency I have hardly heard of any more abundant in Prayer more Constant and Conscientious in it with the like Variety and Fervour upon all Occasions Besides what you had the Assistance of in Publick in his Family and Closet every day and also with his Wife with that Seriousness and Frequency that 't would be thought incredible should I name Particulars And many times early in the morning before day after the Example of his Blessed Master he wrestled with God in Secret Prayer He tasted the Sweetness and reaped the Benefit of such Converse with God AT other times the Thought of God and how often in a day did he think of God! and the very Name of God was wont to strike him with a becoming A we and Reverence His whole Life was almost a Life of Prayer which made his Face to shine and his Grace to thrive and gained him so much of the Divine Presence in his publick Work that sometimes you might manifestly discern that God was with him He never went about to compose nor preach a Sermon without most serious earnest Prayer before-hand with a particular Reference to that Occasion He gave himself continually to Prayer as well as to the Ministry of the Word Acknowledging the most and best of his Knowledge and Learning he got upon his Knees PRAISE and Thankfulness to God for all his Mercies was a great part of his daily Prayer and made up much of his Religion The Love of God and the joyful Praises of our Redeemer were his constant and most hearty Service They that knew him best can witness how much he delighted in Singing the Praises of God and how stated a part of Family-worship he made it every day THE Hely Scriptures were his continual Delightful Study as a Treasury of Divine Wisdom and Knowledge He despised all Books of other Learning in comparison of this And next to the Bible he most esteemed such Practical Books as Mr. R. and Jos Allen's and Mr. Corbet's Kingdom of God amongst Men c. THE Lords-Day was his Peculiar Delight and the Solemn Worship of it the Joy of his Soul He was then and thereby revived tho' he had been ill all the Week before And when confined to his Chamber by Pain and Languishing Sickness so as he could not attend the publick Assemblies how would he lament the slight Sabbaths he thought he kept and made Others keep but could add Thanks be to God it was otherwise formerly HIS Relative Religion in his Family was most strictly Christian and Exemplary His Affection to his Relations evidenced in his Concern for their Souls and particular Recommendation of their Case to God by Prayer upon all Occasions aggravates their Loss in his Death but will make his Memory precious with them AS to his Carriage and Behaviour abroad he thought the Life of a Minister in some respects was scandalous if it were not Exemplary and managed with greater Strictness than that of Ordinary Christians What
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
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