The Glory of Grace Effected by Weak Means: Being the Substance of a Sermon, Preached on the Death of Samuel Church, Aged Twelve Years. On Sunday Evening, April 14, 1822, by J. Church, at the Surrey Tabernacle. — John Shaqi
The Glory of Grace Effected by Weak Means: Being the Substance of a Sermon, Preached on the Death of Samuel Church, Aged Twelve Years. On Sunday Evening, April 14, 1822, by J. Church, at the Surrey Tabernacle.Church, J. (John)
Religion
The Glory of Grace Effected by Weak Means: Being the Substance of a Sermon, Preached on the Death of Samuel Church, Aged Twelve Years. On Sunday Evening, April 14, 1822, by J. Church, at the Surrey Tabernacle.
Church, J. (John)
Funeral sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
I come now to speak of the closing scene of my much-loved son. On this
subject I want much fortitude and power from on high, to sustain my
deeply affected heart. None but God knows the strange mixture of my
feelings, grief and gratitude, sorrow and wonder. I have not room here
to enlarge on the subject of nature and affection, and the feelings these
ties inspire in the loss of one so dear to my heart. Cruel memory recals
to mind a thousand endearments, in such departed worth, but I fall at the
footstool of divine mercy, and bless the God of all grace, that I am not
sorrowing as one without hope. Many whom I am now addressing, knew him
well, and all who knew him loved him. He was beloved of his God—blest
from infancy with peculiar powers, which no doubt would have shown
brightly in life, had he been spared. But though the subject of deep
affliction, yet grace shone in his mind, and its radiance was sweetly
emitted to an eminent manner, as his afflictions abounded. He was the
last son of his dear mother, who is in glory; and being favored at his
birth with a peculiar answer to prayer, I adopted the method of ancient
believers, on extraordinary occasions, and called him Samuel, _heard of
God_! and so he proved to be. About six years ago, he broke his leg,
which afterwards produced great weakness through the fright; the pain,
and long confinement. This had a serious effect upon his whole mass of
blood, which afterwards shewed itself in several abscesses. These
baffled all the skill of medicine, and though well attended by medical
persons, and most tenderly and carefully nursed, and watched by day and
by night, yet God had determined to bring him to glory, at nearly twelve
years of age, nor can I wish him back again.
To be with dire afflictions tost and tore,
The suffering little boy he was before!
But during the last months he was with his kind affectionate, attentive
Aunt and Uncle, who have been long in the ways of God, and have had a
most clear and blessed experience of grace and truth themselves, they
were often highly delighted to see the work of grace so eminently
displayed in their dear little suffering nephew. Many precious things he
said to me, but as a father, perhaps it might be attributed to weakness,
or an inordinate affection for a son, if I made any remarks. ’Tis
however very pleasing to me that his dear Aunt was enabled to seize a few
opportunities, secretly, to pen down some of those words which fell from
him at times. A few only, can be asserted here, but which plainly
indicates the work of grace upon his heart, by the confession of his
lips, and sweetly proving, that out of the mouth of this dear child God
had ordained his own glory.
The contents of the following letter, sent to me by his Aunt, I beg leave
also to insert, without a single comment of my own.
* * * * *
DEAR BROTHER,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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