Living Loves Betwixt Christ and Dying Christians, Title page – To the reader
LIVING LOVES BETWIXT CHRIST AND DYING CHRISTIANS. A SERMON Preached At M. Magdalene Bermondſey in Southwark, near London, June 6. 1654. At the Funeral of that faithful Servant of Chriſt Mr. Jeremiah Whitaker, Miniſter of the Goſpel, and Paſtor of the Church there.
With a Narative of his Exemplarily holy Life and Death.
By SIMEON ASHE, his much endeared Friend and Brother.
Together with POEMS and ELEGIES on his Death, by divers Miniſters in the City of LONDON.
The Righteous periſh and no man layeth it to heart, and merciful men are taken away, none conſidering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He ſhall enter into Peace, they ſhall reſt in their beds, each one walking in his uprightneſs. Iſai. 57. 1, 2
London, Printed by T. M. for Ralph Smith, at the Bible in Cornhil, near the Royal Exchange. 1654.
The Licencer's Epiſtle to the READER.
IT is reported in the life of Ambroſe, that when he Ambroſii vitâ per Paulinum ſcriptâ, flebat amariſſimè quotieſcunque fortè nuntiatum illi fuerat de cujuſcun que ſancti obitu ſacerdotis, &c. Iſa. 57. 1.heard of the death of any holy Miniſters, he would weep very bitterly. The like I read of Philo, that when he came into any Town or Village, and heard of the death of any good man there dwelling, he would mourn exceedingly, becau…e of the great loſſe that place and the whole Church of Chriſt had received thereby. How much more cauſe have we of this age to lament our condition, who have in few years loſt ſo many precious Saints, and ſo many Reverend, Learned, and godly Miniſters; Surely this ſad providence of God ſpeaks with a loud voice, that miſeries and calamities are haſting upon this Nation. For the righteous periſh (ſaith the Prophet) and no man layeth it to heart, and merciful men are taken away, none conſidering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. Thus Auſtin died a little before Hippo (wherin he dwelt) was taken. And Paraeus, before Heilderbergh was ſacked. And Luther immediately before Germany was overrun with wa… and bloodſhed▪ *Mr. Scuddar. Mr. Greſl…. Mr. Ferrihj. Mr. Ludlam. Mr. Nat. Ward. Dr. Gouge. Dr. Hill. Mr. Walker. Mr. Conaut. Mr. Wilſon. Mr. Paramoor. Mr. Gataker. &c.And now of late years many eminent Lights have been extinguiſhed in this Nation, to fore ſignifie the great darkneſſe that is coming upon us. Amongſt which, I cannot but reckon my revere…d brother Mr. Jeremiahforeign. Whitaker, at whoſe Funeral this enſuing Sermon was preached. If I ſhould enter upon his commendation, I might truly ſay what Nazianzene doth of his ſister Gorgonia, That I have more cauſe to fear leaſt I ſhould ſpeak below, then above the Truth; for he was a burning and a ſhining light in this our Iſrael; a Meſſenger and an Interpreter, one among a thouſand; a Bezaleel in Gods Tabernacle, a true Nathanael, that by his integrity, humility, conſtancy, charity, publickneſſe, and peaceableneſſe of ſpirit, and by his diligence and faithfulneſſe in preaching the Goſpel, made his life both amiable and deſirable. He was (yet not he, but the grace of God with him) foreign.Naz. Oratio Funebris in laudem Patris ſui, &c. foreign. And though I will not ſay what Nazianzene ſaith of Athanaſius, that to commend him, were to commend Vertue, becauſe all Vertues were contracted in him; yet this I will ſay (which is alſo ſaid of Athanaſius, That he was) foreign, An Adamant and a Load-ſtone. To all that converſed with him he was as a Load-ſtone to draw their hearts to love him: but in the cauſe of God, & in reference to the truths of Chriſt he is as an unconquerable Adamant. He was a Jeremiah both in mourning for and witneſſing against the ſins of the times. He was a ſecond Whitaker, though not ſo eminent in learning as to be (what is In vita D. Whitakeri Oratio Funebris.ſaid of him) Mundi miraculum, Academiae oraculum; yet he was (which is alſo ſaid of him) ſound in the faith, one that had no private opinion, that did not in veteri viâ novam ſemitam quaerere, ſeek out new pathes of his own, but kept the old way and the old path, That had a great wit without any mixture of madneſſe.
It is very diſputable to me, whether he preached more by the heavenlyneſſe of his Doctrine, or by the holineſſe of his life. Sure I am, he had this peculiar diſpenſation, That he preached as effectually by his death, as by his life or Doctrine. For the manner of his ſickneſſe and death speaketh to all that ſaw it, or ſhall now know it by reading this Sermon.
1. That the beſt of men are ſubject to the worst of Diſeaſes: That all things come alike to all, that no man knoweth love or hatred by all that is before him.
2. That though the Lord cauſe his chlldren to paſſe through the waters and through the fire, yet he will be with them, ſo as the waters ſhall not overflow them, nor the fire burn them. Though they are troubled on every ſide, yet they are not diſtreſſed; though perplexed, yet not in deſpair, though perſecuted, yet not forſaken; though caſt down, yet not deſtroyed. For ſo great was the patience that God meaſured out to this our dear Brother, that though he groaned, yet he never grumbled; though he often mourned, yet he never murmured; nay, though he often roared by reaſon of the greatneſſe of his pain, yet he always juſtified and magnified God; and this he did ſo conſtantly, and in ſuch a degree and proportion, that as it is ſaid of Job, ſo it will be ſaid by the Saints that ſucceed us, for their mutual conſolation and encouragement; Ye have heard of the patience of Whitaker: He had an ulcerated fleſh, but a ſound and whole ſpirit, and that made him bear his infirmity; he had a ſtone in the bladder, but a very tender and ſoft heart; he had a body gangren'd, but a ſoul unbelepred with ſin. I heard him often ſay with thankfulneſſe, That under all his bodily ſufferings, he had a bleſſed calmneſſe, and quietneſſe in his ſpirit; that God ſpake peace; that though he roared for pain, yet the devil was chained up from roaring upon him.
It was no ſmall delight to me to behold the tears that were ſhed at his Funeral. Not that I was glad that there was ſuch cauſe of ſorrow, but to ſee (in theſe dayes, eſpecially wherein the godly Miniſtery is ſo much undervalued) a Miniſter that neither lived undeſired, nor died unlamented: of whom it may be ſaid, as is of Stephen, That devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. But I will not detein the Reader from beholding theſe things more largely related in the following Sermon, by one that was his fidus Achates, and as dear to him as Jonathan to David. The Lord ſanctifie this example to all that ſhall hear of it, and fit us his Miniſters that ſupervive, to preach and live as he did, To fight a good fight, to finiſh our courſe, and to keep the faith, that ſo we may at laſt obtaine a crown of righteouſneſs which the righteous Judge will give at the laſt day to all that love his appearing.
So prayeth Your ſervant in the work of the Miniſtery EDM. CALAMY.