To serve man's necessity is charitable; to serve his convenience is warrantable; to serve his iniquity is blamable - but to serve his purity is honorable! The design of this piece is not the ostentation of the author - but the edification of the reader. In this subject you have a breviary of true religion. The works enjoined in it are weighty, and the blessings annexed to it are many. Christianity is here dressed in the white linen of purity. As grace begins in God's love to us - so it ends in our love to Him. Grace both makes our comforts greater - and our crowns brighter. Those children of God who are found moving in the orbits of obedience - shall enjoy the clearest sunshine of their Father's countenance! Beloved, be sure to raise your superstructure upon an immovable foundation; and enter into such a business, as has an immediate tendency to blessedness. It is an unparalleled mercy - to be preserved from corruption in the midst of general infection. It is far better to be innocent than penitent; to prevent the malady, than invent the remedy!"
William Secker preached at Tewkesbury and afterwards at All-Hallows, London Wall. He may have been the William Secker who was appointed rector of Leigh, Essex, on 30 Aug. 1667, and died there before November 1681.
Secker's sermon on 'A Wedding Ring fit for the Finger, or the Salve of Divinity on the Sore of Humanity, laid open at a Wedding in St. Edmunds, London, 1658, 12mo, was very popular, and was often reprinted. It was translated into Welsh.
Secker also dedicated to Sir Edward and Lady Frances Barkham of Tottenham, who had befriended him, a volume of sermons entitled 'The Nonsuch Professor' (London, 1660, 8vo). It was several times reprinted in America.
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