Thomas Coleman

“ As a minister of Christ, he united orthodoxy of sentiment with liberality of spirit; as a man, he was admired most by those who were best acquainted with him—warm and faithful in his friendships, of a most enlarged benevolence, and universally regarded as the ardent and consistent advocate of civil and religious liberty throughout the world. The later years of life were distinguished by a growing spirituality of mind; and as he drew near to the close of his labours upon earth, he seemed to increase in the fervour of his public ministrations. ”

“ Sanderson, a friend wrote—"Poor Rowell lies in sackcloth. Oh, that she might know in this her day the things that make for her peace! They have my best wishes and earnest prayers that the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, may find out a man to stand in the gap, and fill up the breach which he has so awfully made, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep which have no shepherd." ”

“ Then the redeemed of the Lord shall live by sight, in full fruition—see face to face, and know as they are known; no clouds shall come between their beloved and them; no corruptions from within, no thorns and briars from without; and a brother shall not then be as a thorn hedge; but as God is love, we shall be like him, swallowed up in love to God and to one another. ”

“ It may eminently be said of you, my friends, in a spiritual sense, that you have been "fed with the finest of the wheat," as the pure and uncorrupted truths of the Gospel have been preached amongst you with plainness and seriousness, and in the spirit of love. Your minds have not been amused with useless subtilties and barren speculations; you have not been vexed with strifes of words, unprofitable and vain ”

“ I tell you, if you knew what Christ's prisoners some of them enjoyed in their gaols, you would not fear their condition, but long for it; and I am persuaded, could their enemies conceive of their comfort, in mere vexation of heart they would stay their persecutions. "Therefore, my brethren, my joy, my crown, stand fast in the Lord;" rejoice greatly to run your race; fear not their fear; sit loose from the world; allot yourselves this portion, that God has allotted you, "through many tribulations to enter into the kingdom of heaven." Come, the worst is death, and that is the best of all. ”

“ Early habituated to business, his increasing family and peculiar circumstances led him into complicated scenes of worldly engagements, all of which, to the best of my knowledge, he discharged with unblemished integrity and uncommon disinterestedness. In such a situation, I believe, no man ever lived wholly without censure, much less a real Christian, and least of all a minister of the Gospel. Envy is sure to attack such a character on one side or the other. Failings, from which the best of men are never exempt, are often in such cases dwelt upon with pleasure, if not magnified with diligence. ”

“ We promise to cultivate the duties of the closet, and to promote family prayer, that God may dwell with us and bless us, and all that are dear to us. We also promise to abound in the strict sanctification of the Lord's-day, and to bring all we can under the droppings of God's sanctuary. And all this we promise, not in our own strength and power, but in the name and strength of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whose blood we desire this covenant may be sprinkled. ”

“ His disposition as a man was peaceable, loving, and friendly. His weeping family bear testimony to his peculiar tenderness and love, both as a husband and parent. It is my duty to unite with his friends in speaking of that kindness and disinterestedness with which he administered every service in his power to all who enjoyed his familiar friendship. I do not doubt but the town of Olney will miss and lament him, and so will this Church and congregation; and I am sure several ministers of the Gospel will feel the wound deeply. ”

“ To be able to discover very distinctly the origin of a Christian society of 160 years' standing, and from thence to trace the varied events of its history, is especially interesting to those minds that love to observe how the great Head of the Church carries on the affairs of his kingdom by the varied operations of providence and of grace, employing the agency of his servants, and showing the influence of Christian principle in promoting his great designs. ”

“ How weighty the charge! how weak the instrument! and how arduous the employment! Oh, to be spiritually minded, watchful, and useful! Lord, form my mind to bear all the trials and duties of my station, and thine shall be the praise!"
Mr. Pickering's labours were continued here for thirty-three years. He was the pious, affectionate, kind, amiable, and faithful pastor of the village Church. He had, on the whole, a peaceful and useful course; always plain and serious, evangelical and devout, in his engagements as a minister, while his daily temper and conduct recommended the Gospel he preached. ”

“ He thinks much of the weight of business that would lie upon him as tutor and pastor; of his own youth; the largeness of the congregation, and having no prospect of an assistant. But he is passing through a room of the house where he lodges, and hears a child reading a chapter in the Bible to its mother;—the only words he distinctly catches are, "As thy day so shall thy strength be." This deeply impressed him, yet he persisted in his refusal. Then a deacon of the Church, whose father was ill, presents an urgent request for him to improve his father's death when he is taken away. ”

“ Though we bear in our outward man "the dying of the Lord Jesus," yet if the life, spirit, and vigour of Christ be exercised in our inward man, we shall live to him eternally hereafter, as spiritually here. But the want of that divine vigour and true Christian magnanimity fills most souls with despondency, bowels with sighs, and tongues with complaints. Yet we have no reason to murmur against or complain of our God, who doth all things justly, and wisely, and well, but of ourselves, who neither know, do, nor suffer as we ought ”

“ A spirit of fervent love, of ardent prayer, and of devout seriousness, characterized the services of the day, and inspired the hearts of all who witnessed them with hopes of the most pleasing results. ”

“ As soon as he had received the grace of God, it was his great concern to watch against everything that might obstruct his progress in religion, and to use all proper means to promote and strengthen the Christian temper in all its branches. It was a strong desire to do good to the souls of men, by "teaching transgressors the ways of God, that sinners might be converted to him," which inclined him to devote himself to the work of the ministry. He found so much real satisfaction in religion, that he was willing others might taste its pleasures ”

“ Being simply an agricultural district, without trade or manufactures, there is no prospect of much increase. As young persons rise into life they remove to other places for employment, and some of the most active and useful have been thus lost to the place that gave them birth: but still a small Church remains to bear its testimony to the great principles of the Gospel, and to the truth and faithfulness of God; and it may yet extend and prosper, by united believing prayer and earnest effort, under the blessing of the great God of Zion. ”

“ I am very much disposed to believe, or rather I have no doubt, that, had the history of students and ministers in general been accurately written, the way in which they have neglected their health, entailed diseases on their frame, and shortened their lives, would furnish some of the most striking instances on record in the pages of history, of imprudence in those who ought to be eminent for prudence, and of folly in those whose office it is to teach wisdom to others. ”

“ Of this advice we heartily approve as a Church of Christ; and desire that the Spirit of the Lord may be with you in it, and enable you to go comfortably through it, and give you success in it. We pity you under your great and sore trials, and, as helping you, prayed for you, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God. We pity any who have been deluded from their duty under specious pretences, and desire that the God of all grace would give them speedily to renounce them. ”

“ We call heaven and earth, angels and men, to witness this day that we recognize our baptismal covenant, and give up ourselves to God the Father, Son, and Spirit, as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.
3. We do bind ourselves, in the presence of God, to walk together in his ways; to attend upon his word and ordinances of his grace; resolving to cleave to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to him alone, for pardon and salvation. ”

“ While we record the pecuniary aid thus afforded to a small body of Nonconformists in these places, who have no wealthy individuals amongst them, and who have to stand against much influence that bears against the advancement of their principles, we trust it is ever borne in mind that the promotion of the cause of pure and undefiled Christianity, the conversion of sinners unto God, and the advancement of believers in divine knowledge, faith, holiness, and love, are the great objects for which a Christian Church is formed and the ministry of the Gospel sustained. ”

“ William Bull, of Newport, preached his funeral sermon.
Whilst this excellent man displayed at times an eccentric manner, and there might be something imprudent connected with his zeal, yet his excellent temper, disinterested labours, sound learning, and true piety, secured for him the respect and veneration of many; and the formation of several flourishing congregations, and the conversion of many souls, prove that he did not labour in vain. ”

“ The deep humility, piety, and devotedness of his spirit were manifest by a solemn dedication of himself to God, drawn up about this time in Latin, of which the following is a translation:—
O my God, on account of my sins thou hast afflicted me with thy judgments! Thou art just, O Lord! in all thy dispensations towards me, because I have grievously offended against thee. I have followed the world; I have too much indulged the flesh; and I have been very often overcome by Satan. To thee I give up myself, to live to thee. ”

“ The Elders and Deacons of the Church of Christ assembling on Castle Hill, Northampton, to their brethren of the Church, greeting.
Dear Brethren, beloved in the Lord,—As we are chosen, in common with our pastor, to watch over you, and serve among you in offices relating to the public honour, edification, and comfort of the society, we think it our duty to address ourselves to you with one consent, on a subject which appears to us of great importance. ”

“ We solemnly promise to walk with all our fellow Christians with all humility and tenderness; to love one another, even as Christ has loved us, and given himself for us; to avoid jealousies, suspicions, backbitings, censurings, provokings, secret risings of spirit against them ”

“ A sound judgment, a correct taste, and extraordinary diligence in reading and studying the word of God, joined with a proper use of our best commentators, enabled him to appear to great advantage as an interpreter of Scripture.
In preaching, he never addressed the passions, but in subservience to reason and truth. In explaining and defending the doctrines and precepts of Christianity he was calm, perspicuous, and often very ingenious. He was a firm but not dogmatizing advocate for the sentiments usually styled Calvinistical. ”

“ And, sir, as your religious sentiments, piety, zeal, and ministerial ability afford an encouraging prospect of your usefulness, it appears to us very desirable that you would now, sir, enter into the relation of a pastor to us, in which request you may depend upon our unanimity, and our endeavour to make your situation comfortable and useful, by our constant prayers and all other means proper to us as private Christians, who are, sir, your cordial friends and most humble servants. ”

“ Not more than sixty-four years have passed since the professing Christians residing in this place who dissented from the Established Church were formed into a regular independent Christian society; but in looking back to the early days of Nonconformity, we find a Mr. Edmund Matthews, a man of good learning, sound judgment, and serious piety, who had been the vicar of Wollaston, resigning the living, refusing to submit to the terms imposed by the Act of Uniformity, coming out from the Church, and taking his place among the noble band of Nonconformist worthies. ”

“ Thomas Strange, many years Protestant Dissenting minister at Kilsby. She was "an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile." To the last she manifested an ardent attachment to the Redeemer, and a great delight in the ordinances of religion. As her course was holy, so it pleased God that her end should be peaceful. Under the most severe affliction, which terminated her life, she was supported by those words—"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?" from which Mr. Knight preached her funeral sermon. ”