A SERMON Preached at the FUNERAL OF Sir Willoughby Chamberlain K t. WHO Died at his House at Chelsey Dec. 6. and was Interred at the Parish Church of St. James Garlick Hith London Dec. 12. 1697. By JOHN KING Rector of Chelsey near London LONDON Printed for Thomas Bennet at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1697. TO THE Lady Chamberlain Madam ALL who know your Ladyship will easily excuse me for Publishing this Discourse if at the same time they are acquainted it is done in Obedience to your Command But did they know the particular obligations I lie under they would Tax that modesty which should suppress it for ungrateful Now though I find no small aversion in me to the Publication yet I find a greater to ingratitude I have been a Witness of your great Affliction and if I can do any thing that may be serviceable to you under your present loss and grief if I can Administer comfort to the Mourner which is a Special act of Christain Charity I shall be glad of the occasion and not value the Censure may be justly due to this hasty and indigested Treatise That an happiness suitable to your Virtue and Piety for I need wish no more may attend you here and an infinitely greater crown you hereafter is the Prayer of Madam Your Ladyship 's Most Obliged and Humble Servant John King TO THE READER A Preface may seem superfluous were I not obliged to bespeak your favourable reception of the following Discourse and your Charitable Judgment of the Subject thereof As to the former 't is needless to alledge it was hastily composed and not designed to be made publick you will easily discover that from its incorrectness and imperfections But whatever allowances are to be made for them there are I assure thee none required to the sincerity of the relation And its brevity is a virtue Perhaps some may disapprove of the Texts being taken out of the Apocrypha but I hope none of our Church will say much on that point since this excellent Book of Ecclesiasticus is appointed to be read in Churches for Example of Life and instruction of Manners not as a Rule of Faith which is as much as any Sermon or mere humane composure can pretend to And for the Explication of the words I humbly submit it to better judgments The Gentleman here represented was born in the Fruitful and Rich Island of Barbadoes where he had a great Estate and must be confessed that he had lived as freely and as much at large to use the softest terms of the dead as any who are exposed to the temptations and snares of much Riches and under the Conduct of little Prudence and Self-Government So that the former part of his Life was irregular enough and he can be esteemed but a late Convert His Reformation is to be dated from the death of his Son about eight Months before his own a great but I may say for him an happy Affliction For that begat in him a visible change and a Repentance I hope more early than his last Sickness Vnder his illness he applied himself to the most eminent and learned in their profession for his Bodily Cure and Health and to the great Physician of Souls for his Spiritual and as his Submission was more regular under the prescriptions of the latter so I trust was his Success better His Distemper was lingring and so afforded him time to further that preparation he had begun which he did with all visible chearfulness and application And it was happy that he did so for his Distemper terminated in the heigth of a Lamentable Frenzy Here I wish I could avoid this dismal Scene wherein his condition for three days was the most moving and pitiful can well be imagined He showed such a variety of humours as was scarce ever seen in one Person in so short a time for you might discover in the running of a few Minutes Sorrow and Joy Fury and Temper Meekness and Anger grave Devotion and inconsistent Rovings and twenty Contrarieties more succeeding one another But the most deplorable accident of his Distemper was a most dreadful Chastisement of himself and as soon as he was sensible his owning God's Justice in that particular The Spirit of a Man will sustain his infirmity but a wounded Spirit who can bear May all who knew or heard of him or shall read his Character judge Charitably consider seriously the terror of God's Judgments and learn from the sudden and extreme violence of such Diseases to take all care of living Holy and Religious Lives or working out a timely Repentance and not expose Eternity to a fatal and dangerous surprize of Sickness and Death And may God's Grace which maketh small things Instruments of great Good improve what thou shalt meet with here to thy Spiritual Benefit and then with me give God the Glory Ecclus. XVI 22 Who shall declare the Works of his Justice or who can endure them For his Covenant is afar off and the Tryal of all things is in the End THese Words of the Son of Sirach which I am now obliged to discourse on are my task not my choice They were sometime since mark'd out and design'd for this occasion by the Gentleman we Lament Probably upon some Meditations he had on a late severe Affliction that made a mighty impression on him in the loss of his only Child which almost as soon as lent him was snatch'd out of his Arms by the afflicting hand of Providence For accordingly in the beginning of this Chapter the Wise Moralist makes excellent reflections and passes a just sentence on the vanity and unprofitableness of abounding in Children and that there is no reason to desire them or rejoyce in them unless they prove good and vertuous V. 1 and 2. Desire not a Multitude of unprofitable Children neither delight in ungodly Sons Though they multiply rejoyce not in them except the fear of the Lord be with them He proceeds to show that the enjoyment of them is a very fickle and uncertain Blessing and that it is better for men to want them than to be afflicted with such as are wicked V. 3. Trust not in their life neither respect their multitude for one that is just is better than a thousand and better is it to die without Children than to have them that are ungodly An Excellent Lenitive to mitigate the grief of Parents for the early losses of Children before they can be assur'd whether they will make a fair and virtuous or a deformed and vicious figure in the World But not to insist longer upon the motive that might induce him to read and frequently meditate on this Chapter as I understand He did or to chuse these words to be enlarged on at present as if He had some presage and aboding of his severe and astonishing Distemper we who saw this particular instance and work of Divine Justice and Mercy on him may with great reason use and
in a State of Sin whosoever conceives the contrary deceives himself and the truth is not in him Yea the best of Men have been grievous sinners so that the most upright of our kind can only pretend to a comparative goodness are only good in respect of those who are more wicked for in an absolute sense there is none that doth good no not one and none that can be called good but God only Now let us farther reflect that the wages of Sin is Death and that Good Men according to the common acceptation of the Word are obnoxious and we shall be fully convinced that crosses and sufferings in this Life are mild punishments even to the Righteous and the Best deserve the worst of Temporal Judgments This no less nor worse a Man than David owns who confesses his Sins and acknowledges if God pleases to punish him for them his Justice cannot be impeached or questioned Against thee have I sinned and done evil in thy sight that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest and clear when thou judgest And thus St. Paul vindicates the Divine Justice in this particular and silences such as murmur against it But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God what shall we say is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance I speak as a Man God forbid for how then shall God judge the World So that it is both Just and Merciful in God to afflict us here Just to punish us in this Life and Merciful in that he does it in order to acquit us in the next which we ought to own as an exceeding act of Grace and Kindness The Tenderest Father punishes the very beginnings of Sin nips the first buddings of Vice in his Son and after the Punishment is over is reconciled to him But if his Vices and Extravagancies become too great and prove above the corrections of a Father he is cast off and dis-inherited That our Heavenly Father deals so with us is a Truth most manifest The Apostles witnesses If ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with Sons but if ye be without chastisement then are ye Bastards and no Sons So that when wicked Men pass with impunity here they are greater objects of our Pity than our Envy and we ought not to fret our selves because of evil doers neither be envious against the workers of Iniquity who are fattened and appointed as Sheep for the slaughter and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of God's righteous Judgment who will then render to every Man acccording to his deeds For surely there is an end and thine expectation shall not be cut off Hence we may raise more comfortable hopes from their severe afflictions in this World than from their outward flourishing and prosperity Thus we see God's favours and frowns in temporal blessings and sufferings are no rule to measure the Happiness or Misery of Men in the next Life We must rest satisfied and suspend our Judgment here because Lastly The Tryal of all things is in the end The end crowns every Action and Work of Man and the last and finishing stroak is of mighty importance As the Tree falls so it lies A Sincere Repentance and a stedfast Faith to the last are necessary qualifications to make an happy Conclusion of this Life and fit us for that Judgment which after Death is appointed for all Men. Under their conduct we shall abide with comfort The great Tryal of things in the End at that last and general Judgment and coming of our Lord a day of joy and comfort to the Godly but of Terror to the Wicked Under them though ever so sharp bodily agonies and pangs conclude this frail Life of Man Charity will oblige us to Pronounce the end of that Man is Peace And I hope Christian Charity will thus judge of our Deceased Friend Concerning whom I must beg leave to speak a word or two and so conclude In which I shall use all the modesty and sincerity that becomes this Place and my Profession I need not acquaint you that He was a Gentleman born to an ample Fortune and Estate and became too early perhaps Master both of That and Himself For he had the Misfortune to lose his Father when young which affords oftentimes an occasion to young Gentlemen of lashing out into great Excesses Under such unhappy circumstances it must be an extraordinary pitch of Prudence and an uncommon tendency to Virtue and inclination to Goodness that can secure and keep Youth within just bounds in this licentious and vicious Age. But I shall confine my self in what I speak upon this subject to my own knowledge And if from thence it shall appear that the last and finishing Stroaks of his Life be in different Characters and made a distinct figure from the former part thereof known to some of you it will I hope be owned as an Argument of his Repentance and a reason for comfortable hopes to you and all his surviving Friends concerning him My knowledge of him has been but of late I cannot say I intimately knew him untill his Late affliction and last Sickness Upon the former which was occasioned by the Death of his Son though his grief was great and he seemed afflicted to the last degree yet I must own I scarce ever met with any one who expressed himself better on the Duty of Christian submission to God's will and what good uses we ought to make of such severe Afflictions And I hope he made a Good use of that for since that time his Excellent Lady and the whole Family can bear me Witness they discovered a great change in the choise of his Company the observing regular hours the avoiding excesses the keeping generally at home and exercising himself in reading and in all respects observed in him a far more Serious and Sober deportment And to his Last long Illness when I was frequently called and went to visit and assist him I found in him all the Notes and Temper of one truly penitent and who seriously applyed himself to make his Peace with God by an Humble Confession by an hearty sorrow for his Sins by a Professed Resolution of better obedience if God should restore him by a Devout receiving the Blessed Sacrament and by constant Prayers Now as to his sincerity in these Duties and devout performance of them it is best known to that Omniscient God who is the only Searcher of hearts to whom they were offered But his generous Oblation and Charity to the Poor when He receiv'd the Sacrament in his Sickness and the frequent opportunities he took of being Charitable at other times beyond most in the place where he lived a Duty which Hypocrites commonly fail in as being too chargeable will strongly plead for his sincerity will cover a multitude of his smaller sins of failure and infirmity where-ever that Charity prevails which is kind believeth all things hopeth all things Under this head I ought
with the most sensible emphasis utter these words Who can declare the Works of his Justice or who can endure them For his Covenant is afar off and the tryal of all things is in the end I need not dwell on a large explication of the words though the latter part of them is not so plain as not to need some clearing An unforced and obvious sense will arise from them by granting they present to our Observation I. The Unsearchableness and Terror of Gods Justice Who can declare the Works of his Justice or who can endure them II. That his Mercies the result of his Promises and Covenant are not to be measured wholly from the Good Men enjoy or the Evil they suffer in this Life but the next which is farther off is the proper season when we can make a right Judgment and certain determination of the state of Man and of the Justice and Mercy of God in his Misery or Happiness And First The works of God's Justice or his Judgments are ineffable they are to us unfathomable and like the great Deep Whence comes it to pass that all Humane affairs are so full of vicissitude and change that no Man can in this Life assure himself of the success or discern the certain event of any of his Actions No Human design or contrivance though founded upon the greatest reason and policy and carried on by the most prudent managment but may defeat the Contriver Our foresight is so short that we cannot tell what will befall us the next minute We cannot securely provide for our safety We can neither foresee nor prevent evils that may befall us We are so subjected to Sickness and Death to Crosses and Disappointments in this World that our security is owing to the vigilance and protection and our success and all prosperous events that attend us to the guidance and conduct of an Almighty Providence This is that Invisible Power that disposes and rules all Created Beings over-rules Human Actions and is the cause that the Race is not to the Swift nor the Battle to the Mighty Now this Providence is that whereby God either foresees or Permits orders and directs things to a certain end Which is done oftentimes through so many turnings and windings and carried on in so dark and mysterious way and so far above all Humane Scrutiny that though it concerns our selves and our disposal in this Life we are forced with the Psalmist to confess Such Knowledge is too wonderful for us it is high we cannot attain to it And the knowledge 〈◊〉 scarce of any thing is more above us or more unattainable by us than of that important day and hour of our Lord and Masters coming in that particular Judgment and Punishment for man's Primitive Rebellion To reflect how the Providence of God who takes care of the meanest of his Creatures so that not a Sparrow falls to the ground without his advertency determines the frail lives of men How strangely different and various are the means and works of his Justice in this particular we may use the Apostle's Exclamation How unsearchable are his Jugdments and his ways past finding out Indeed so short sighted are we in what may come or happen that we are non-pluss'd in our desires and puzzled in our choice of things in this World A short Life is often-times but a long never fails of being subject to Aches Infirmities Pains Afflictions Weakness and innumerable Evils So that a long Life under these Circumstances is what no Wise or Good Man will chuse for Himself or desire for his Friend Especially if he consider that the longer we Live the further are we from our desired Haven of Rest and Quietness and the longer exposed to the tempestuous Billows and Storms of this Life For alas what is it we are so fond of in it It is full of Wants in the midst of Worldly Plenty so frail and deficient that according to the Psalmist in our best estate we are altogether Vanity And the Funeral Office most fitly pronounces In the midst of Life we are in Death And we shall readily assent thereunto upon reflecting that there is scarce a Creature so feeble but may deprive us of this good and if armed by Providence the meanest are more than sufficient to effect it A Fly an Hair a Grape-stone if poor Anacreon's story be true can extinguish this faint Lamp of Life And the young Lady whose innocence shields her from the Fatal Sword shall rather than fail meet with Death at the point of her Needle Death according to an Elegant Author reigns in all the portions of our time The Autumn with its Fruits provides disorders for us and the Winter Cold turns them into sharp Diseases The Spring brings forth Flowers to strew our Hearses and the Summer gives green Turf to cover our Graves To be short since in every place and season we are in danger since every thing even the necessaries of Life may destroy it the Air may infect and our Food surfeit us how unreasonable is it to build our hopes upon this fickle Life and how reasonable is it to suppose that which is but as a span long would be even as nothing were it not wholly supported by an Almighty Power and Providence And as for the various ways and means of our Deaths they are only open to his Omniscient Eye So that who shall declare these Works of his Justice But Secondly The Divine Judgments are terrible The Works of his Justice who can endure Though his Compassion and tender Mercies fail not Though he doth not Afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men though great be the forbearance and long-suffering of God towards us yet we may so far abuse his Patience and receive his Grace in vain as to render him a God of the sharpest Anger and highest Resentment And so he is set out by the Holy Spirit to be against obdurate and impenitent Sinners Such will experience him the strictest Justiciary For our God is a consuming Fire The Worm of Conscience that never dyeth and Flames unquenchable are the instruments of his Justice Now such a wounded Spirit who can bear Or who can dwell with everlasting burnings So that as this wise Author observes there is a due proportion of Mercy and Justice in God v. 11 12. Mercy and Wrath are with him He is mighty to forgive and to pour out displeasure As his Mercy is great so is his Correction also He judgeth a Man according to his Works Now according to our sence of things it would seem a just and equitable Law that only Good men should be entituled to Rewards and Mercies and the Wicked to God's Judgments And so all Men in this World as well as in the next should be happy or miserable fortunate or unfortunate according to their own deservings That the best of Men should fare best and the worst receive the coursest treatment any one without much