Sermon 16 December 1654, Title page – Dedication
A SERMON Preached Decemb. 16. 1654. AT THE FVNERALL OF Mr ANDREVV PERN, Preacher of the Word of God at Wilby in Northampton-ſhire.
BY SAMƲEL AINSWORTH Rector of Kelmarſh.
LONDON, Printed for William Gilbertſon, and are to be ſold by Thomas Collins neare Alhallows Church in Northampton. 1655.
To the Religious, and my much honoured Aunt, Mrs Mary Pern, Grace and peace be multiplied.
Deare Aunt,
WE read in the firſt Chapter of Ruth, how Naomi, a very gracious Matron, loſt first her Husband, and not long after her two Sons: Your condition is not much, though ſomewhat, unlike hers. Your loſſe, in reſpect of your Husband, is not a jot inferiour to hers; her loſſe, in reſpect of her children was greater than yours; ſhe loſt two Sons, you a Daughter only; what difference ſoever there hath been between your loſſes, I ſuppoſe, there is none between your griefes. When you enjoyed both Husband and Child you might well be called Naomi, pleaſant, but ſince the wiſe God hath deprived you of them both, the name Marah, bitter, hath been more ſutable to your condition, for it hath been ſad and bitter.
To tell you what a Husband you have lost were but to encreaſe your ſorrow, which I feare needs ſtopping rather than venting; I ſhall therefore obſerve that courſe which was uſed by the Iews, who when their deare friends, or neighbours, had loſt either Husband or Wife, Father or Child, they brought them a cup of conſolation for to comfort them, Jer. 16.7. The Prophet David tels us, Pſal. 119.50. That the word of God was his comfort in his affliction; and the Apoſtle Paul labours to ſupport the Theſſalonians for the loſſe of their Chriſtian friends by ſetting the word of God before them, 1 Theſ. 4.18. Theſe following Scriptures therefore are the cup of conſolation with which I ſhall preſent you to mitigate your too much abounding ſorrow, Prov. 3.12. Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the ſon in whom he delighteth. Rom. 8.28. We know all things worke together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpoſe. Iſa. 27.9. By this therefore ſhall the iniquity of Iacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, to take away his ſin, Heb. 12.10, 11. For they verily for a few daies chaſtened us after their own pleaſure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holineſſe. Now no chaſtening for the preſent ſeems to be joyous but grievous: nevertheleſs afterwards it yeeldeth the peaceable fruit of righteouſneſs unto them which are exerciſed thereby, Iſa. 54.5. Thy maker is thy husband, Pſal. 146.9. The Lord preſerveth the ſtrangers, he releeveth the fatherleſs and widdow. Now if God hath taken away your deare husband and child out of love to your ſoule; if their naturall deaths ſhall promote your ſpirituall life; if their taking up to heaven ſhall prepare and make you fitter for heaven; if their loſſe ſhall be your gaine, the purging away of your droſſe, and the making of you a more refined veſſell for your Maſters uſe, the weakning of your corruptions, and the ſtrengthning of your graces; if God will be a husband to you, whoſe love is more pure, ſtrong, raviſhing, ſatisfying, and durable than the love of the beſt husband that ever breath'd upon earth; if God will be preſent with you, in whoſe preſence is fulneſſe of joy, and take care of you, to protect and counſell, to help and releeve you, be your enemies and dangers what they will; Have you not more cauſe to rejoyce in theſe ſpirituall priviledges than to mourne for your temporall loſſes? Take therefore the counſell of the Apoſtle, 1 Theſ. 4.18. Comfort your ſelfe in the meditation of theſe Scriptures. Do as David did when he had loſt all at Ziglag, encourage your ſelfe in the Lord your God, 1 Sam. 30.6. Although Ciſterns fail, yet God is a fountaine that cannot be drawn dry; when the Creature neither is nor can be the ſame to us, yet God is the ſame, yeſterday, and to day, and for ever, Heb. 13.8. Now that the God of all grace and conſolation would make up your loſſes by the abundant ſupplies of his bleſſed Spirit, ſanctifie his correcting hand unto you, ſupport you under your heavy burden, and fit you with all joy and peace in beleeving, is the prayer of
Your ſympathizing and much obliged kinſman, SAMUEL AINSVVORTH.