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A59884
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A sermon preached at the funeral of the Reverend Richard Meggot D.D. and late Dean of Winchester, Decemb. 10th, 1692 at Twickenham by William Sherlock ...
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Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing S3355; ESTC R11116
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9,300
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33
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A SERMON PREACHED At the Funeral of the Reverend RICHARD MEGGOT D. D. AND LATE Dean of WINCHESTER Decemb. 10 th 1692. AT TWICKENHAM By WILLIAM SHERLOCK D. D. Dean of St. Pauls Master of the Temple and Chaplain in Ordinary to their Majesties IMPRIMATUR Geo. Royse R. R mo in Christo Patri ac Dom. Dom. Johanni Archiep. Cantuar. Ã Sacris Domest Decemb. 18. 1692. London Printed for W. Rogers at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetsteet 1693. A SERMON Preached at the Funeral of Dr. Meggot Decemb. 10. 1692. I PHIL. 23 24. For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you ST Paul wrote this Epistle to Philippi from Rome where he was in Bonds for the Gospel but though his Body was confined to a Prison his Soul his great Divine Soul was at Liberty to visit the Churches he had planted to advise and counsel and comfort them to encrease their Knowledge and to confirm their Faith to inflame their Zeal and to spur them forward to more perfect Attainments in all Piety and Vertue The Philippians seem greatly concerned least the Progress of the Gospel should be hindred by St. Paul's Imprisonment and least they and the whole Church should be deprived of the Labours and Ministry of so great an Apostle should this Persecution extend to Life as they had reason to fear it would As for the first St. Paul assures them That his Bonds were for the furtherance of the Gospel for his Imprisonment was taken notice of both in the Court and City which made Men curious to know what that Doctrine was which he preached and for which he suffered Bonds and this published the Gospel more effectually than his Preaching could have done v. 12 13 c. As for the second he tells them He was no farther concerned either about Life or Death but that Christ might be magnified in his Body If he lived his Life was wholly devoted to the Service of Christ and of his Church if he died it would be for his own great Advantage To me to live is Christ and to die is gain vers 20 21. and this made it a hard choice to him whether he should desire to live or die whether he should get rid of his Bonds and make his Escape out of a troublesom World into the Regions of Ease and Rest to reap the Fruit of his Labours here in the eternal Enjoyment of his Lord whom he had so faithfully served or whether he should live to Encounter with a thousand Difficulties and Deaths in the Service of Christ and of the Souls of Men. What I should chose I wot not for I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better nevertheless to abide in the Flesh is more needful for you Was there ever such a Dispute as this before That a Man who was as certain to go to Heaven as he was to die who had himself been snatch'd up into the third Heavens and had his Mind possest with strong and vigorous and lively Idea's of the Glories of that place who had seen and heard such things as could not be expressed who saw a Crown a glorious immarcessible Crown prepared for him I say that such a Man should make any question what he should chose whether immediately to take possession of this Crown and Kingdom or to live longer in this World to suffer Bonds and Imprisonments Hunger and Cold and Stripes and all the ill usage which he had so often met with for no other reason but still to preach the Gospel and to enlarge the Borders of Christ's Church What a Contempt is this not only of the little Pleasures and Satisfactions but even of all the Miseries of Life what a Triumph is this over the World over all the Frowns and Terrours of it what a Triumph is this over Self such a degree of Self-denial as the Gospel it self does not command which is in some sence to deny Heaven to deny all the Joys of Christ's Presence for the sake of doing good for it is to delay to put off Heaven to adjourn his own Happiness that he may live the longer to serve his great Master though with great Difficulties and Labours What Love was this to his Lord what Love was this to the Souls of Men it is certainly the most perfect imitation of the Love of Christ that is possible to Man Christ so loved us as to come down from Heaven to live a laborious Life and to die an accursed Death for us this great Apostle so loved his Lord and so loved the Souls of Men that he made it his choice to stay some time out of Heaven and to encounter all the Miseries and Terrours of this Life to serve Christ and his Church Where is this Divine Spirit now to be found Let us my beloved Brethren who are entrusted also with the Care of Souls by the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls blush to think how far short we fall of this Example let this inspire us with a flaming Love and Zeal for the Souls of Men for whom Christ died and make us at least contented to deny our selves some of the Ease and Security and Pleasures of Life to serve the Church of Christ which he hath purchased with his own blood But to keep my self within some Bounds I shall briefly Discourse on these two Heads which are very proper for this Occasion and very proper to my Text. First The great Rewards of faithful Pastors and Ministers of Christ and how much it is for their advantage to be removed out of this World St. Paul was very sensible of this which made him desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Secondly How necessary the Lives of such Men are to the Church and what a great loss it is when God removes them out of it Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you 1. Let us then consider in the first place the great Rewards of the faithful Ministers of Christ and how much it is for their advantage to depart and to be with Christ. Now I do not here intend a comparison between Heaven and Earth Good God! what different things are these and what Christian doubts whether Heaven be a happier Place than this World Heaven whither no Troubles or Sorrows can follow us no persecuting Sword no persecuting Tongue where we shall be delivered from all the Wants Necessities and Infirmities of the Body from Hunger and Cold and Nakedness from wracking Pains and languishing Sicknesses where there is eternal Ease and Rest and Joy without labour without discontents without quarrels where our Souls shall be perfected in knowledge and in love where we shall dwell in the Presence of God see him as he is and know him even as we are known where
we shall dwell with Christ adore his Love behold his Glory and be transformed our selves into the likeness and image of his Glory We have but obscure imperfect Conceptions of these things now Heaven will out-do our highest Expectations as much as the most perfect state of Happiness in this World always falls short of what we expected and this is the case of all good Men it is a mighty happy Change they make when they remove from Earth to Heaven But there are different Degrees of Glory in the next World proportioned not only to our different attainments in Vertue but to those different Trusts and Services which we have been employed in and have faithfully discharged here We read of the Reward of a Prophet that he who gives a Cup of cold Water to a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall have a Prophets Reward which must signifie some peculiar Reward that shall be bestowed on Prophets We know so little of the other World that we cannot conceive what these different Rewards shall be The Prophet Daniel represents it by an external Glory 12 Dan. 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever But our Saviour represents this by a different degree of Rule and Empire 12 Luke 42. 43 44. And the Lord said who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make ruler over his houshold to give them their meat in due season This is the honourable Character of Gospel Ministers in this World that they are Rulers in God's houshold to instruct and feed them with the Word of Life and their Reward is proportioned to their Work Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Of a truth I say unto you that he will make him ruler over all that he hath What this Rule signifies in the other World is a Mystery to us especially since we have fancied the other World to be only a State of Contemplation not of Action where we shall have nothing to do but to see God and to love and to praise him but no service to do for him but we know there are different orders of Angels who are imployed in great Trusts and Offices Arch-Angels Angels Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers which are names of Rule and Government though we know not what their Power and Authority is nor how they Govern in like manner our Saviour promises his Apostles verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel 19 Matth. 28. The like we may see in the Parable of the Pounds and Talents He who had gained ten Pounds had Rule over ten Cities and he who gained five Pounds had Rule over five Cities for these Servants to whom the Lord gave these Pounds and Talents to improve plainly signifie his Stewards and the Ministers of his spiritual Kingdom for no other Persons have in so peculiar a manner this honourable Character of the Servants of Christ throughout the Gospel And if there be Order and Government among the Angels themselves Why should we think that there is nothing like this among glorified Saints if Angels are the Ministers of God there is no reason to think that Heaven is a State of meer Rest and Contemplation especially when Happiness consists in Action And if Christ have any Ministers of his spiritual Kingdom in the next World it is most reasonable to think that those shall have the greatest Authority and be employed in the noblest Services who have been his faithful Stewards and Ministers in this World For the Church on Earth and in Heaven is the same Church though their State be very different and therefore they do not lose their relation to Christ nor their station in his Church by removing to Heaven It is a sacerdotal Kingdom our High Priest is King and therefore a Priest of Jesus how mean soever this be thought now will be one of the highest Characters in Heaven What the Happiness of this is we cannot tell but we know that there are no empty Titles in Heaven but every degree of Dignity there signifies a peculiar degree of Happiness and what an advantageous exchange then is it for a faithful Minister of Jesus to be removed from Earth to Heaven For let us consider what the State of Christ's Ministers is in this World what it was in St. Paul ' s days he tells us 2 Cor. 6. 4 10. In all things approving our selves as the Ministers of God in much patience in afflictions in necessities in distresses in Stripes in imprisonments in tumults in labours in watchings in fasting by pureness by knowledge by long suffering by kindnesses by the Holy Ghost by love unfeigned by the word of truth by the power of God by the Armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left by honour and dishonour by evil report and good report as deceivers and yet true as unknown and yet well known as dying and behold we live as chastened and not killed as sorrowful yet always rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing and yet possessing all things Which describes a most laborious Life a Scene of Wants of Difficulties of Sufferings a perpetual exercise of passive Vertues to reconcile the most appearing Contradictions to live and struggle and contend in this World and to fetch their Comforts and Supports from Heaven This indeed is not always the State of the Christian Church nor of the Ministers of it but yet in the greatest external Prosperity of the Church the Ministers of Religion who discharged their Trust with Diligence and Faithfulness find many difficulties to encounter The care of Mens Souls is itself a mighty Trust and Who is sufficient for these things consider but the Charge St. Paul gives to Timothy 1 Epist. 4. 11 c. Let no man despise thy youth but be thou an example of the believers in word in conversation in charity in spirit in faith in purity give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by Prophesie by laying on of the hands of the Presbytery Meditate upon these things give thy self wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all take heed to thy self and to thy doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thy self and then that hear thee Here is work enough to employ the whole Man and our utmost care and diligence and prudence work for the Study for the Closet for the Pulpit as the same Apostle exhorts and charges Timothy to preach the word to be instant in season out of season to reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and Doctrine 2 Tim 4. 2. But yet though there be