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
Advantage in order to Success THESE here whose Faith is mentioned were also Exemplary in all the Fruits of Faith They lived up to the Doctrine they preached and therein others are exhorted to follow them They represented in a Holy Life the Doctrine they taught and so glorified him in whose Name they dispensed it By Humility and Meekness Moderation and Self-denial Zeal for the Glory of God Mortification of Corrupt Affections Contempt of the World Readiness for the Cross Condescension and Patience towards All Heavenly-mindedness c. In all things Ministers should show themselves Patterns of good works and be Examples unto Believers in Word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity Tit. II. 2 7. 1 Tim. IV. 12. THIS is the most likely Method to have Success For tho' it may now and then possibly fall out that the Seed of Divine Truth * Dr. Spurstow's Medit. on a Debauched Minister Medit. XX. 8vo like Corn sown by a Leprous Hand may grow up into some fruit yet how small is the Good that is wrought by his Doctrine in comparison of the great Hurt that is done by the dissolute Life of such a Minister Is it likely that he that in the Pulpit pleads for Honour unto the Person of Christ for Obedience to his Commands and Faith to be exercised in his Promises and when he is out of it contradicts all that he hath said by a sensual practice is it likely he should ever win many Disciples to Christ Will Men ever hearken to such who decry Drunkenness and Wantonness and Covetousness c. as the way to Destruction and yet turn not their own feet from walking therein will they not say Physician heal thy self or thou Hypocrite First cast the Beam out of thine own Eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the Mote that is in thy Brothers Eye HOW can He be a Pattern to Believers in those Graces he is a Stranger to How can he kindle Heavenly Affections in the Souls of others when he feels nothing himself How can he speak of Divine Truth according to the Excellency and Necessity and Importance of it if he doth not believe and live and obey it himself We may as well think that a Heretick may teach you the Truth as well as the Orthodox and a Schismatick teach you Unity and Peace as well as a Catholick Peaceable Pastor or a Man ignorant of Regeneration and the Grace of God may teach you that which he knoweth not himself or an Enemy to Piety and Charity teach you to be Pious and Charitable as well as any other The voice of Jacob will do little good if the Hands be the Hands of Esau They that are unholy and unexperienced as to real Godliness they have a secret Enmity in their Hearts against that Holiness which they should daily preach which is a Clog at their Feet and a Gag in their Mouths as to some Truths and Duties They will some way or other harden and embolden others in their Sins as well as make themselves and the Offering of the Lord contemptable by shewing that they do not believe what they say How can you think they should lead you in the way of Holiness who never walked i◠〈◊〉 themselves or guide you to 〈◊〉 and conduct you in the Chriâ—â—â—â—â—Warfare who are Servants of the World the Devil and the Flesh against whom they must Exhort you to Fight HOW dreadful will be the Account and Portion of such Evil Stewards and Unfaithful Guides who preach to others and yet perish As the Men that were employed to build the Ark of Noah yet were not saved in it He that winneth Souls is wise but it is he only that shall do as well as teach the Commandments who shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven or ever come there The Judge himself hath told us that many in his Name may have prophesied and preached and cast out Devils and yet shall be disclaimed as Workers of Iniquity And it is certainly more easie to make ten good Sermons than to practice one and to expose and declaim against all Sins than to relinquish any HOW terrible is that known passage of Chrysostom with relation to this Saying That he is perswaded that very few of those who are entrusted with the Gospel and Care of Souls are likely to be Saved and that he apprehends the far greater part will be damned For this Work saith he requires a Soul more than ordinary He had need have a thousand Eyes in his Head and have them all awake c. How severe are the Psalmists Words and how upbraiding of Ungodly Ministers Psal 50.16 17. What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes or that thou shouldst take my Covenant into thy Mouth seeing thou hatest Instruction and castest my Words behind thee How must such a Man be confounded in Preaching against his own Sins and pronouncing Damnation against himself And with how little Success can he pray for the People of his Charge when he himself is not reconciled to God Sâ—â— for the Elders of the Church when sick saith the Apostle and the Prayer of Faith shall save the Sick but 't is the servent Prayer of a Righteous Man James V. 14 15. 4. HE mentions their Constancy and Perseverance in Faith and Holiness 'till the happy End and Exit of their Conversation And this he exhorts them to Consider to review to reflect upon and that not transiently but with deep Attention not once only but again and again To consider what their Carriage and Deportment hath been in publick and in private what was their Behaviour in every Relation and Condition as keeping a good Conscience both towards God and Man and this not for a start for a little while for a few Years only and then drew back or turned afide But consider The End of their Conversation How they finished their Course with Joy Their Beginning and Progress was commendable and their latter End was answerably good and safe desirable and happy either by a natural death in the Peace of God or with the Crown of Martyrdom by a violent one I SHALL not need to enquire how far the Apostle may here refer to the Death of the first Martyr Stephen and of James the Son of Zebbedee who both exercised their Ministty at Jerusalem and suffered Martyrdom there as 't is thought did the other James the Brother of our Lord several years before the date of this Epistle to the Hebrews II. LET us consider what is the Peoples Duty to such their Deceased Ministers and Pastors It is threefold 1. To Remember them 2. To Imitate them in Faith and Holiness 3. In order to this to Consider seriously and often their Conversation and the happy End of it 1. REMEMBER your Spiritual Guides who have had the Instruction and Conduct of your Souls and faithfully discharged their Office Remember them so as to be thankful to God for their Gifts and
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
the Lord and several of them in one Church making use sometimes of the one Name sometimes of the other OUR Blessed Saviour is called the Head the Husband the Shepherd the Lord of his Church which imports Authority and the Church is his Body his Spouse his Flock his Family and Houshold and his Ministers are called Rulers of his Houshold Mat. 24.45 When he was about to leave the World he declared that all Power in Heaven and Earth was committed to him and commissioned his Apostles to make Disciples by baptizing and teaching promising his presence with them therein to the end of the World And when he ascended up on high he gave Gifts to Men as part of his Dowry not only Prophets and Apostles and Evangelists who were empowered by Miracles as a Divine Attestation to prove their Authority to reveal and publish the Rule of Faith and Life but Pastors and Teachers to open and apply the Rule they sealed and delivered HE hath determined in his Word that every Church should have a Pastor one or more he hath stated the Nature of the Ministerial Office and Power to proclaim Repentance and Remission of Sins to turn Men from the power of Satan to God to edifie the Body of Christ and to gather feed and govern the Churches of Christ to rule as well as teach the Flock to judge who should be publickly taken into the Church by Baptism or cast out to rebuke those that are disorderly and see that all things be done to the Edification of the Church to bind over the impenitent who are contumacious to the Bar of Christ and reject 'em from the Communion of the Church and to absolve the penitent and comfort 'em and by themselves or others to look after the Poor and visit the Sick c. He hath described the Persons that he would have to be such Officers by their requisite Qualifications he did not appoint a necessary Work to be done and leave it to the wide World who should do it And that will help to determine who are the individual Persons that are fittest according to Christ's Description I DISPUTE not whether there hath not been and ought not to be a distinction of Powers and Persons in Ecclesiastical Government or whether an absolute Equality must not necessarily be attended with very ill consequences or whether Ministers do not need Order and Rule and Government among themselves as well as every other Company and Society of Men in the World But that which I argue from this Text is this That they who preach the Gospel are to Guide Oversee and Rule their own Flock according to the Holy Scripture THEY are the Servants of Christ in his Work and your Servants for Jesus sake They pretend not to Dominion over your Faith or to be Lords or Owners of the Flock but to be Helpers of your Joy by their care the Sheep are to be sed guided preserved healed and brought home They are Rulers over Christ's Houshold but not by secular Force and Rigour not to compel Men to the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel otherwise than by Truth and Love by Instruction and Perswasion and declaring the Mind of Christ in his Word You are not to obey Ministers as Civil Magistrates that rule by the Sword but thankfully receive the Truths they teach and the Mercies they offer Our Weapons in the Christian Warfare are not Carnal but Spiritual to Edification not destruction not coercive but ministerial We are to instruct and warn to reprove and exhort with Faithfulness and Seriousness in the Name of Christ and with his Authority which as it is another thing from the Power of a * See Dr. Hammond's Paraphrase and Annotations on 1 Pet. 5.1 2 3. Acts 11.30 Acts 20.28 Heb. 12.7 17. 1 Tim. 1.17 1 Thes 5.12 Tit. 3.10 1 Cor. 12.28 c. Magistrate so by vertue of the Order and Institution of Christ it is very different from the private Counsel and Admonitions of one Friend to another The same works are not done with the same Authority Efficacy Certainty or Order by a private hand as by publick Officers For in this case you are obliged to Submit your selves in the Lord to whatever is made known to you to be according to the Will of God revealed in his Word 'T is true if we exceed our Commission you are not to receive us but if we keep to the Words of Christ he that despiseth our Message Despiseth not Man but God You know how earnestly the Apostle admonishes to this purpose 1 Thes 5.12 13. We beseech you Brethren to mind them who labour amongst you and preside over you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Lord i. e. in the things of the Lord and according to his Order and that admonish you and to esteem them more than exceedingly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in love for their Work or Office sake And let the Elders who rule well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be counted worthy of double Honour or Recompence as the Original Word often signifies 1 Tim. 5.17 18. I MAY be blamed by some for saying thus much but there are certain Seasons when it is expedient at least not unfit for a Man to praise the Country or the Family to which he belongs or the Society to which he is related And therefore I here take the Liberty to Magnifie mine Office tho' I should become a Fool in glorying 2 Cor. 12.11 As to the Institution Commission and Authority of the Ministry it is not of Men or by Man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead Gal. 1.1 they received their Ministry from the Lord Col. 4.17 he makes 'em Oversers Acts 20.28 Timothy is called the Servant of the Lord 2 Tim. 2.24 Ministers by their Office are as it were his Menial Servants that approach nearer to his Person than others and are employed in his particular Business They are Stewards over the House and Family of God Tit. 1.7 Luke 12.42 which is no mean station They are called Presidents Guides Rulers Shepherds Planters Husbandmen Pastors Ambassadors for Christ and the Glory of Christ and the Ministers of his Spiritual Kingdom Angels of the Churches Builders of his Church c. By Baptism to initiate Disciples unto Christ and by the other Sacrament to confirm them to feed 'em with the sincere Milk of the Word to intercede for them in Prayer to bless them in the Name of Christ to convey his Messages Instructions Counsels and Comforts to 'em which without his Institution and Appointment they could no more do than a Messenger can carry a Pardon to a condemned Person which his Prince never sent No man taketh the Honour to himself but he that is called of God 2. THEY are described to be such as have spoken unto you the Word of God To feed the Flock by sound Doctrine Serious Study of the Holy Scriptures and diligent Preaching of the Word is no little part of the
Business of a Gospel-Minister Simon Peter lovest thou me Feed my Sheep feed my Lambs As Stewards of the Houshold they are to provide for the Family as Shepherds to feed by Teaching And it is in great Wisdom and Mercy to the Souls of Men that our Blessed Lord has appointed some Persons on purpose to devote themselves to this Work that they may be able to instruct the Ignorant and establish the Wavering and comsort the Sad and recover the Backslider to awaken warn convince and encourage Others in the Christian Warfare And whatever some pretend that there is no such need of Preaching now as there was in the Infancy of the Church yet in all Ages this is the ordinary Means which God hath appointed and is wont to bless for the Conversion and Salvation of Souls 1 Cor. 1.21 It pleaseth God now as well as formerly by the foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe And it is the Commission of our Saviour for the Ministerial Office that they Preach the Gospel to every Creature And this not only to plant a Church but to carry on its growth it is for the perfecting of the Saints and for the edifying of the Body of Christ The Ministry of the Gospel may be needful to Converts and Believers and real Saints and is so there being something still lacking to their Faith and Comfort And they had need to be put always in Remembrance of the things they do know that they may be rooted and established in the Truth 1 Pet. 2.12 IT is wonderful to Observe how our Saviour rather chose to Convert Men by the Preaching and Miracles of his Apostles than by his own how he would not fully convert Paul without the Ministry of Annanias tho' he spake to him from Heaven himself and reasoned with him against his Persecution how he would not fully convert Cornelius and his Houshold without the Ministry of Peter tho' he sent an Angel to direct him to a Teacher nor would he convert the Ethiopian Eunuch without the Ministery of Phillip nor the Goaler without the Ministery of Paul and Silas tho' he wrought a Miracle to prepare for his Conversion Our Lord knew the Necessity that the Infants of his Family had of such Nurses and he will keep up the Honour of his own Officers whom he hath appointed for such an End and Use HOW much the Welfare of the Church depends upon the Ministers and Teachers of the Word and how little the Beauty and Glory of Religion can ever be kept up in the World if Ministers do not labour in the Word and Doctrine will very easily appear to such as consider how Religion has declined and been lost by the Ignorance and Unfaithfulness and Negligence of those that ought to have Preached the Gospel of Christ And how the Denial or Contempt of the Ministry hath alway been accompanied with the growth of Atheism Infidelity and Prophaness How solemnly does the Apostle charge the Elders of the Church of Ephesus Acts 20.28 30. Take heed unto your selves and to all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood and to warn every man lest they be perverted by false Teachers c. And how expresly to the like purpose are they required to labour with their utmost strength in this Work 1 Tim. 1.17 1 Cor. 16.16 1 Thes 5.12 They are To give themselves continually to Prayer and the Ministry of the Word Acts 6.4 AND how needful is it that they should do so who are to unfold the Mind of God to others to teach them what they must know believe and do avoid and hope for who have so many difficulties to explain and so often need the Tongue of the Learned and a good share of Prudence to speak a Word in Season To acquaint their Hearers with their several Maladies and Remedies Dangers and Duties to hold forth the Excellency of Christ so as to make him receiv'd and obey'd admired and loved and to be diligent in such Work in season and out of season managing all as under an Awe of God and with sincere Compassion and Love to Souls SUPPOSING the Word of God here to be the Written Word I need not enquire curiously how much of Divine Revelation or the Written Word was then extant when the Apostle wrote this Epistle which is thought to be about the fifty seventh or fifty eighth year of our Blessed Lord while he was a Prisoner at Rome and towards the end of his first Imprisonment there All the New Testament seems to be then written save the Epistles of St. John and his Revelations and the Second Epistle of St. Peter 'T is certain that the whole Word of God in the Holy Scriptures is to be explained and applyed by Preaching and that this is a principal part of a Ministers Work They therefore who pretend to the Ministerial Office according to the order of Christ and yet either despise or neglect the Preaching of the Word one would think either do not understand their Office or are not faithful to it 3. ANOTHER Thing concerning these Deceased Ministers the Apostle mentions is their Exemplary Faith They would not have been proposed as Patterns with respect to Faith if they had not been Famous and Exemplary as to the Clearness of their Minds and the Soundness of their Doctrine Follow their Faith Doubtless he means it of such who as to Knowledg and firmness of Perswasion concerning the Truths of the Gospel and fruitfulness in suitable Effects did in Spirit and Practice shew themselves Believers They would not otherwise have been named as fit Examples for the People to follow as to their Faith You find Ministers are exhorted to Take heed to their Doctrine 1 Tim. IV. 16. and to continue therein that they May save themselves and them that hear them and to speak the things that become sound Doctrine 1 Tim. VI. 3. They are to keep the Doctrine of the Gospel pure and uncorrupt and to feed the People with the sincere Milk of the Word For if the Doctrine which should promote Faith and Holiness should be depraved by the Ministers of the Word how is it possible that true Christianity should spread and flourish or be preserved and continued What need have we to beg that God would give and continue such Pastors after his own Heart as may feed his People with Good Knowledge and Sound Vnderstanding They must hold fast the faithful Word that they have been taught that they may be able by sound Doctrine to exhort and convince Gain-sayers Tit. 1.6 9. Chap. 2.1 Such Speech that cannot be condemned that he who is of the contrary party may be ashamed And how comfortably and usefully may they preach to others who are firmly perswaded of the Truth of what they say who believe and live the Truths they deliver This is a great help to Ministers in their Work and a great