A sermon preached at the funeral of reverend Mr. Will. Whitaker, late minister of…

Proposition 2. Though Ministers dye, their message shall survive them. The authority and certainty of our message doth not depend upon our usage in the world, nor our going out of it. It is an easy matter to quarrel with the messenger, but it is impossible to evade the message. We are as subject to death as other men, and what if I should say (I speak it by way of enquiry, not positively) 'tis worth while to consider, Whether there be not fewer eminently faithful Ministers live to old age, than persons of any other Calling whatsoever. They live more time (time worth the name of living) in one year, than others do in twenty: The keener the Knife, the sooner it cuts the Sheath. Those that run hard, are soonest at the end of their race. But doth their message dye with ⟨p. 10⟩them? No sure. What is said of young Samuel, that lived to see his words verified, may be said of those that dye before they see any effect of them, 1 Sam. 3.19. The Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. Though men let them fall to the ground, God will not. 2 Tim. 2.9. I (saith the Apostle) suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. I know not why we should restrain this to the liberty the Apostle had while in prison to preach to those that were present, and to write Epistles to those that were absent, but it may also refer to the power and efficacy of the Word, that it never returns in vain to him that sent it; those to whom it is sent, shall most certainly be the captives of his love, or of his wrath. And let me here put in one word for the comfort of believers, As God in justice fulfils threatenings, after the Ministers, that publish them are dead; so God graciously fulfils Promises, after the Ministers that declare them are dead. How many troubled souls are ready to conclude, upon the death of their spiritual Physician, to whom (to their comfort) they have opened their grief; Oh now they have none to speak to; now those refreshments they were wont to have shall cease. No. Dear Christians, fear it not; the Promises they have helped you to apply, shall abide by you, and God will bring you into a profitable acquaintance with others, that shall through grace help you to experiment, that spiritual Physic will not lose its efficacy by the death of the Physician.