A79010:73
The righteous mans death lamented. A sermon preached at St. Austins, London, Aug.23. 1662…
The righteous mans death lamented. A sermon preached at St. Austins, London, Aug.23. 1662 at the funeral of that eminent servant of Jesus Christ, Mr. Simeon Ash late minister of the gospel there. By Edmund Calamy, B.D.
London : s.n., printed in the year 1662
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The first and chief Jewel that I did beautify and adorn ⟨p. 18⟩this our brother, was his sincerity and uprightness of heart; which indeed is not a single grace, but the soul of all grace, and the interlineary that must run through all grace; for what is faith if it be not unfeigned? what will love to God profit you if it be not without dissimulation? what is repentance worth if it be not in truth? as the body without the soul is a rotten carcass, so is all grace without sincerity; this is the soul of all grace, this is the girdle of truth. Sincerity is that which girts all our spiritual armour together and makes them useful; what advantage is it to have the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of hope, if they be but painted things? it is the girdle of sincerity that makes all the other parts of our armour useful. Now this excellent grace of sincerity was eminent in this our dear brother; he was a true Nathanael, in whom there was no guile; I mean, no allowed hypocrisy; and this was that which carried him through the pangs of death with a great deal of comfort; for he was able to say with Hezekiah, Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart. He could say with Paul, This is my rejoicing, the testimony of my conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, I have had my conversation in the world.
The first and chief Jewel that I did beautifie and adorn ⟨p. 18⟩this our brother, was his sincerity and uprightnes of heart; which indeed is not a single grace, but the soul of all grace, and the interlineary that must run through all grace; for what is faith if it be not unfained? what will love to God profit you if it be not without dissimulation? what is repentance worth if it be not in truth? as the body without the soul is a rotten carkass, so is all grace without sincerity; this is the soul of all grace, this is the girdle of truth. Sincerity is that which girts all our spiritual armour together and makes them useful; what advantage is it to have the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of hope, if they be but painted things? it is the girdle of sincerity that makes all the other parts of our armour useful. Now this excellent grace of sincerity was eminent in this our dear brother; he was a true Nathanael, in whom there was no guile; I mean, no allowed hypocrisie; and this was that which carried him through the pangs of death with a great deal of comfort; for he was able to say with Hezekiah, Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart. He could say with Paul, This is my rejoycing, the testimony of my conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, I have had my conversation in the world.