THE Royal Guest: OR, A SERMON PREACHED AT LENT Assizes, Anno Dom. M.DC.XXXVI. At the Cathedral of SARUM being the first Sunday of Lent, before Sr. JOHN FINCH and Sr. JOHN DENHAM His Majesty's Justices of Assize. By THOMAS DRANT of Shaston in Com. Dorset. LONDON, Printed by G. M. for Walter Hammond, and are to be sold by Michael Spark in Greene-Arbour. 1637. TO THE WORSHIPFUL PETER BALL ESQUIRE, Recorder of the famous City of EXON. health in this life, true happiness in the life to come. SIR, I Might Preface to you, with Reasons of this Dedication, or with Apologies: You are a stranger to me, nec beneficio, nec injuria cognitus, Tacitus de Galba, Othone, vitel. Hist. Lib. 1. Only I affect to be known unto you; this is motive enough, nor plead I other excuse: What your ears graced with a liking in the passage, these sheets speak to your eyes, but more standingly, my hopes are blessed, if I please both senses: Your applause (as 'tis traditioned me) was full and liberal, much above the worth of these thoughts; I silence the causes made them Public, that makes them Yours; and candour 'tis, I honour more, than greatness in a Patron: I owe your love an acknowledgement, deeds were little enough to express it, but my aims are crowned, if by your Pardon or Acceptance, this so small Book, professione pietatis, Tacitus in vita julij Agricolae. aut laudatus erit, aut excusatus: Farewell Worthy Sir: Shaston: Decimo Sexto Kalendarum Aprilis. Yours in all services gladly devoted THOMAS DRANT. The Royal Guest. REVELAT. 3. VER. 20. Behold I stand at the door, and Knock. WE meet here a Royal Guest, who enstated in all the Royalties of Heaven, yet sues for a welcome on earth: and we have him in my Text. First, for Posture, Standing, I stand. Secondly, for Place: At the door: I stand at the door. Thirdly, for Action: Knocking: I stand at the door and Knocke. Behold I stand at the door, and Knocke. These are the several Branches the body of this Text spreads into, where do perch on every sprig, Wonder and Mercy: Wonder that GOD who is all Glory, should come down unto man who is all vileness: Mercy that Man who is a foul rag of uncleanness, should be made a temple for GOD to dwell in, who is all Holy; GOD and man were at distance but now, nay at odds, nay at feud, if ever any, happy is that union, which brings them under one roof, to one table: this is marvellous in our eyes, and therefore chained in with an Ecce here; Behold, I stand at the door, and Knocke. Behold is a word of Emphasis and Energy: if this Star stand over the house, a JESUS is within, nor points this hand in the Margin, but there's juice and substance in the Text: Some of rank are in the Palace, where this Porter keeps the gate, and fruits not to be plucked rudely, in that Paradise, where this Cherube guards the entry▪ where Ecce is written on the box, be sure the ointment's precious, something of weight and moment doth march in the rear, if Behold leads up the front, and as the Baptist in Sacred Writ, prepares the way to it; 'tis so here; GOD bows the Heavens and comes down among men, nor comes he armed with thunders, clothed with Majesty, darkness being his pavilion about him, as to Israel on Mount Sinai, Exod. 19 16. So to come, would strike terror in all hearts; nor comes he as sometime he came into his Sanctuary, where the Singers went before, Psal. 68 23. the players of instruments followed after, among them were the Damosels playing with timbrels; thus to come would be a pleasant object to all eyes: He comes here forma pauperis, as a Mendicant who begs an alms for GOD'S sake: He breaks not into our rooms, but stands at our doors, at whose least breath the gates of hell fly open, and the bars of iron burst in pieces: here is patience and humility to a miracle, and both stamped with an Ecce, Behold I Stand, etc. Nay not a word here but this dash of the HOLY GHOSTS quill, the impression of this character is due unto it. First, I, it were enough were I a guardian Angel to some Monarch below, if one from the Sacred Choir of the Prophets, if the least among those feathered Hierarchies above: but I, the Prince of peace, the King of glory, the LORD Paramount of Heaven and Earth. Secondly, I stand, I sit not in my chair of state, I lean not on a cushion of ease, I roll not on beds of violets and strew of rosebuds; but I stand, and this posture of mine, speaks as my readiness to enter, so my patience to await it. Thirdly, I Stand at the door, not in the Hall, where the warmth of a fire might cheer me, not in the chamber, where I might rest my limbs on a couch of Ivory, but at the door, without shelter or penthouse; where the drislie sleet chills, and the stormy tempest beats upon me; where my head is is filled with the dew, and my lecks defiled with the drops of the night. Fourthly, I stand at the door and Knocke. I stand not at the door, Prov. 9 14. as the harlot sat at hers in the Proverbs, to toll in, gain, and enamour the passenger to folly: Gen. 19 14. nor stand I, as those Sodomites, who thronged about the doors of Lot, to shed that blood which bedews the earth, and with its shrieks awakens Heaven to vengeance: I stand not with my hands in my bosom, or my arms enfolded together, or to gaze about me, as those Idlers in the Marketplace: but I stand to knock, nor give I a rap and away, as a Post that flieth by, but as 'tis a piece of my devoir to gain an entry, so I stand to it: if by any means, they will open to me, and their own happiness: Behold I stand at the door and Knocke. Now, O LORD, what is Man though retinu'de with all the pomp of greatness! what the Sons of men, those who move in the highest Orbs, what the whole Series and descent of them, even theirs, whose blood flows from the noblest veins? What the whole cluster and bunch of mankind, that so mighty a GOD, at whose persence the Heaven's drop, Psal 68 8. out of whose mouth coals of fire devour, Psal 18 8. whose voice rends the rocks and discovers the forests: Psal. 29 9 that he should stand at our doors and knock: How many rounds of wonder in this one Ladder, in this one chain how many links of Miracle? what wedges of gold in this rich Mineral? I shall dig for some▪ and one precious ingot I light on at the very head of this Mine: 'tis the party who stands at our door, implied in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, expressed in our English I, the Guest himself; I stand. I who? I who stretch out the Heavens like a curtain, and again make a sack their covering, and shall shrivel them up as a parched scroll at the last day: I who ride upon a Cherube and fly, who fly upon the wings of the wind: Psal. 18. 10. I who have founded the earth upon the waters, Psal. 28. 2. and established it upon the floods: I who have shut up the Sea with doors, and made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness the swaddling band for it: Job 38. 10. I who weigh the mountains in a balance, to whom the Nations are as the droppings of a bucket, I who dwell above the circle of the Moon, and hold the ball of the world in my hand: In a word, I who am Alpha and Omega, all full of grace and truth, in whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily; who think it no robbery to be equal with GOD, as being the image and character of his goodness: whose throne is at the right hand of my Father, but my Sovereignty is throughout all ages, and to the ends of the earth: I thus robbed with dignity, thus engirt with power, thus bedecked and crowned with Majesty; I stand. Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Saint chrysostom in a holy trance here: O the height and depth of the mercy of GOD, O the bowels and entrailes of the love of CHRIST: thou art O SAVIOUR a plant of the Celestial Eden, what finger could pluck thee thence! A stone thou art cut out of the Heavenly quarre, but by what hand? Who could force thee from the bosom of thy Father, thy palaces of glory? Who but thyself? 'twas for us Men, and our Salvation that thou cam'st down from Heaven: this Abyss of thy goodness we cannot fathom, nor measure its greatness: we may guess at it, if we reflect, 1. On thy All-worthinesse, 2. On our All-worthlesnesse. First, On thy All-worthinesse: but what tongue of the learned is not dumb here? CHRIST comes not for his own benefit, but ours: we solace ourselves in the diffused rays of the Sun, but doth our looking on him, add the least spark to his brightness: the earth is enriched by the showers that fall upon it, do those drops or the ground gain? Sure our goodness extendeth not to thee, O LORD, or should we impoverish ourselves, what were our Mite to thy Treasure? Our Guest here, is the Heir of all things, nor comes He to gain by us, but to gain us: He wants not what is ours, for His is the Heaven, and the Heaven of Heavens, Deut. 10. 14. the Earth also, and all that therein is: here is worth enough, as to bless, so entrance us. Secondly, On our own All-worthlesnesse: alas; what impure Sties, what Stables of dung, what Cabins of filth are we? How unworthy under whose roof such a Guest should come? is there any beauty in us to attract his love? any comeliness to ravish him unto us? None; Miriam was not more leprous, never Leopard more spotty▪ we are as Homer paints out Thersites, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. B. One mass and lump of deformity: Do our garments smell of Myrrh, or are they perfumed with the powders of the Merchant, that with the savour of our Ointments we may draw Him after us: No, we have on no clothing, not a skirt to cover our nakedness, or our coat is pollutio panni, Isa. 64. 6. stains and rags, an unclean thing in the Prophet, that either way we are the objects either of a frown or scorn: thus wallowing loathsomely in our own gore, thus patched up with shreds of filthiness, CHRIST now looks upon and loves us: O the over-flowing of a gracious pity! what channels or banks can hold it? how freely runs it, how fully? but love is strong as death, and by that cord we might pull Him to us? Neither, how dear we loved Him, witness His head harrowed with thorns, His face blurred with spittle, His eyes tortured with all spectacles of shame, His ears board with blasphemies, those iron plates, which pierced His hands and feet, AEnaead. lib. 2. and by which Dido did conjure her Aenaeas, corpus sanguine mersum, His body drowned in blood: See here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Ephes. 3. 19 as the Apostle phraseth it (and 'tis a strain of divine elegancy) A love not to be sampled or scanned by us, above the reach of all finite Apprehension: but pitch ourselves at the highest, our purest Oar hath its dross, our sweetest fruits their sourness, our best works (and they too like Salomon's Sculpture, A lily upon a pillar, 1 King 7. 19 A lily upon a pillar, rare and few) will they not weigh light in the Scales of the Sanctuary? gideon's plea, when he was to rescue Israel from the Shackles of Midian, and startled at the Summons, it may be ours, who ever are the wealthiest among us in sacred graces, Behold my family is poor in Manasseh, judg. 6. 13. I am the least in my Father's house: what than are we, that such a visit should be given us, how poor cottagers to entertain so great a Landlord? can our tabernacles of sticks hold Him, whom the huge vastness of heaven and earth contains not? Here is a Maze, who can tread it? it is not for my pencil to limb in this piece, give me leave than to draw a veil, and pass, from the Guest who He is, to my first general, his Posture which is Standing: Behold I stand. I stand. First, Standing is a posture of Readiness, Acts. 7. 55. Saint Stephen when he was to fall under that shower of stones, saw the Heaven's open, and JESUS standing at the right hand of GOD: we read often that he sits in the conflicts of his Church not bloody. He but looks on or helps with ease; 'tis but here that He Stands; Stands, now that his Saints engaged in a fight to death, as a Champion with his sword girt unto his thigh, and so is Ready to enter the lists upon the signal given, and though conquered to bring him off victorious: CHRIST stands at our door in my Text, and by this gesture shows us clearly, as if it were described by the rays of the Sun, that with the whole train, and choir of his graces, He is ready to enter into our hearts, if we open unto Him: what a blessing is it to be the mansions of the blessed Trinity, the Exchequers and Magazines of all holy endowments, the favourites and darlings of Heaven? this happiness, CHRIST is ready to make ours, and that we may not miss it, as being bewitched with the world's enchantments, with what throws and pangs of love doth He wish, Deut. 5. 29. O that there were such a heart in this people to fear me always! with what pathetical Rhetoric doth he persuade, Cant. 6 12. Return, return O Shunamite return: with what deep sighs and streams of tears laments He, Mat. 23 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thee together, as the hen her chickens: CHRIST weeps not in sport, as those two Mimiks, the Stage-player and the Hypoerite; it is for our weal or loss that waters flow from His eyes; if throbs and groans break from Him, 'tis, or for our stubbornness that we not, or for His own desire, that He would have us lay hold on mercy, if we bar our gates against Him, He deplores our contumacy, but were He not willing to come in, He would not stand at our doors. Secondly, Standing is a posture of Expectance; Gehazi went in and stood before his Master; 2 King. 5. 25. In all likelihood to expect what errand, he might have for him, what dispatch to employ him in. CHRIST stands here, His offers of love He gives not over, nor through despair of prevailing on his own, nor through churlishness of repulse on our parts: He stands in spite of denials, He tries the Sea, after may Shipwrecks, puts His shoulder more strongly to the load, and beats still at that door, which He never say opened: How, as in a visible Sampler, shines out now the patience of my SAVIOUR, the Longanimity of my GOD: there is power in His hand, He could make an entry by force, but there is patience in His heart, and therefore He stands: if His words can work upon us, He will spare His blows, nor will He double these if at the first stripe we cry peccavi: GOD in a moment can thunder down sin with vengeance, and rain fire from the clouds upon it; but if the dews of His mercy will soften us, He will not pour out of the viols of His plagues: nor will He blow the trumpet to war without a parley, or we refuse the often proffers of a happy peace: Every Story is a Chronicle of this truth, and the whole world the practice, nor need I be bankrupt of instances, One Israel is able to furnish me: observe the degrees of their obstinacy, what a climax there is in it: I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people: Isa. 65. 2. the whole day, beat it out to its utmost dimensions, I wrestle with them by my bounty, and gain not; but what say you to years, a long lease of them; Psal. 95. 10. Forty years long was I greeved with this generation and said, it is a people that do err, etc. In half the time, I could have greeved every vein of their hearts, so long they grieve my soul, and I am patient: would man be so to his brother, when an injury heats his blood? but my plea against these is from their very cradle and first stone of their city: The children of Israel, Jer. 32. 30, 31. and the children of judah, have only done evil before me from their youth up; And this city hath been to me a provocation of my anger and fury, from the day that they built it: where is that Plato now, whose cheeks choler never died? where that Socrates, who never spoke storms, but smiles, not when Xanthippe comes like a tempest upon him: Diog. Laert. vit. Philos lib. 2. where that job, who entangled in so many Labyrinths of woes, in those windings lost not his patience, nor himself: the patience of man may be great, but matched with GOD'S, how small a drop is it to that Ocean? How weak a glimmering to that Sun, How faint a beating to that life? write it on the tablets of your hearts, and set it up, as a trophy of his due praise, GOD only is patient at the evils, and gracious unto the sins of men; O that spiders should suck venom out of so sweet a flower! or because he is not quick with them, Atheists say He is slack, and ask in scorn, Where is the promise of His coming? not to wander after these ignes fatui: CHRIST He stands at our doors as yet, will He do always so? the Sun that shines will it never sit? the day is clear, may not a cloud black it? GOD'S jealousy is not quickly incensed, but if once kindled, will all the rivers of the South quench it? be wise than, and before wrath come forth, and burn like fire, have tears of Penitence in store to quench it: whilst it is day, work, when GOD calls speak, whilst He stands open: He who stands now, may be gone, especially if he stand without a covert, in the street, at the door, which is my second general, the Place. Behold I stand at the door: If some Grandee of the State stood there, if some magnifico swollen with titles, would we not hast to open, and think such a presence an honour to us? this we would do to the Nimrods' of the world, and Peers of the earth: Behold One is here to whom the greatest Monarch is more base, than the basest Boar to the greatest Monarch, one who knocks importunately, why shut we Him out, why are docres blocked up against Him? O our lunacy and madness! Satan angel's for us, with a bait of honours, we are caught, the world as pleasingly gives us the music of gain, we are charmed. the flesh unveils a beauty, a piece of clay more handsomely attired, we burn: Riches are but the garbage of the earth, we dig into its entrails for them; pleasures are but a flower, garish to the eye, soon withered, Our senses are captivated with their smell; Aug. de civet. Dei. lib 3 cop. 17. Dignities, as Saint Augustine censures them, are but a light fume, a breath of the chaps, a fleshly pair of bellowes, we are hot in the sent of these, and for all keep open house: CHRIST in respect of whom, and those endowments He brings with Him, all things else, as Plato stamps them, are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, nothing and nothing worth; He sues, as in the Canticles, Open unto me, my Love▪ my Sister, my Undefiled. Open the door, of thy soul O my unspotted Church, let me come and dwell with thee in my Graces: here we or coin excuses for delay, as the Spouse now, I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on? Cant 5. 3. I have washed my feet how shall I defile them? or we out Him into our stables with the Bethlemites anon, as having no room in the Inn of our hearts for Him. CHRIST yet, but in the closet of our hearts, will take up no lodging in us; and to this the door alludes here, so runs the stream of Expositors; not the doors of our lips we are bid open, though these too, but the door of our hearts; GOD asks the root of this, not the rind and shell of those▪ My Son give me thy heart; not thy wisdom, for all the treasures of it are in myself, not thy wealth, Psal. 50. for the earth is mine and the fullness thereof, 1 Sam. 2. 8. not thy greatness, for 'tis, I who make to inherit the throne of glory; not an outside, a plausible varnish of devotion, the eye glotted up to Heaven, the knee kissing the earth, the hand martyring the breast, a talon of talk, without a mite of charity, Seneca de Beneficijs lib. 1. but thy Heart: Aeschines brought the best gift, who gave himself to his Master, and Socrates prized it above the costlier presents of his other Scholars: thy heart is a jewel, give it to thy GOD, this small pebble is of more worth with him, than whole rocks of Diamonds, this one living stone than the quarries of the vast world; all thy offerings are but Sacrileges and Sorceries without it, all thy front of holiness but daub and mortar: all is not manhood, that looks big, and spits fire as it speaks, nor is all beauty, which the sumptuous art of a trimming sets forth: there is a dress and paint of holiness, GOD will wash it away with a flood of brimstone, for without the heart no colours can take him: As man's heart is, such is he, if this be soiled, laid over thou mayst be with a vermilion die, Acts 23. 3. but GOD shall smite thee thou painted wall: if this be pure, thou art all white as the snow on Salmon, no juice of Isop can cleanse thee more, and sure GOD is best pleased with his own work which is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 David's Orisons flew up for, Psal. 51. 10. Create a clean heart in me O LORD: GOD gives thee this, and give it Him again or keep all. Keep thy alms, though alms be a sweet perfume in His nostrils, thy prayers, though prayer be as incense in His sight, thy fasting, though fasting be the Armour of true penitence, thy thousand of Rams to make fat, thy ten thousand rivers of oil to glad His altars: A wreath of glory waits on our Almsdeeds, as they are dispensed by charity, the Almoner of faith: these she doth disperse abroad, and they come laden home with sheaves of bliss from the plentifullest fields, Prov. 13. 9 for a good eye shall be blessed of GOD; but what are good works without the pity of the heart, this temple must sanctify this gold, or as Daniel told Balthasher, so GOD us, Keep thy rewards to thyself, and give thy gifts to another: Prayer is a heavenly Dialogue, or the soul's colloquy with its Maker; 'tis a chain, whose links do reach from Heaven to Earth, and by which we pull down GOD to us, For GOD is nigh to all that call upon Him, Psal. 145. 18. nay in S. Basils' phrase, Basil in Epist. ad Gregor. 'tis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a GOD dwelling in us: but what are our prayers without the devotion of the heart? this is the wine must season those bottles, or we babble in vain, nay to our hurt, and beg not a blessing, but a curse, as Bias told the Mariners in a storm, when sailing with them, they were on their knees to their gods, Diog. Laert. de vit. Phil. lib. 1. Silete, ne vos hîc illi navigare sentiant: the Jews honour GOD with their lips alone, what's the issue, when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you, Isa. 1. 15. when ye make many prayers I will not hear: Aug. in Psal. 42 One wing in Augustine by which our prayers do soar on high, is Fasting, nor is it a mushroom of a day's growth, 'tis of an ancient stock, fetching its pedigree from Paradise; where the first man forbade the tree of Knowledge, was in that enjoined a law of Abstinence: many are the rich encomioms wherewith 'tis robbed in Antiquity, Cypr. de jeju. Christi. Saint Cyprian shall speak for all: By fasting the sink of vice is dried up, wantonness waxeth cold, concupiscences grow faint, and pleasures like fugitives run away: but what is fasting without a contrite heart? what is it to tame the flesh, if this mutiny within us? what to grasp this shadow, if we fathom not that substance; if that jebusite be not subdued within thee, in vain dost thou macerate thy body into a skeleton, bury it in a shroud of sackcloth, and instead of sweet Odours besprinklest it with Ashes; Isa. 58. 5. For is it such a fast as I have chosen, a day for a man to bow down his head like a bulrush? When we fast at once from meats and sins, Ambr. Ser. 33. as Saint Ambrose speaks, when we beat down the body, to keep the mind chaste, this is the life of a true fast and that which crownes it: not to muster up other instances, thus much in gross: As the trace of a could, so all our goodness shall vanish, howe'er we parget and sleek it over, where the heart is not right; is thy heart right, saith jehu, when he would feel the pulse of jehonadab how it bear towards him, 2 King. 10. 15. give me thy hand, thus man doth judge the root by the fruits: is thy hand right, saith GOD, is there no juggling, no imposture, no legerdemain in what thou dost; Give me thy heart, thus GOD doth judge the fruits by the root: and sure all the wheels are set on going by this Primum mobile, all the Planets move, as this Sphere turns; the whole infantry, the foot are lead up by this man of valour, the Heart, every member of the body, says to it, as the Israelites to joshuah, josh 1. 16. All thou commandest us, we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go: only the LORD be with thee: and doubt not, but GOD will be with it, if it be His, if it be not, He hath the more wrong, for He bought it dear, it cost Him that blood, one drop whereof was worth a million of worlds, it was a spittle of filth, He hath made a palace of righteousness, Satan had his throne there, He hath bound this strong man and cast him forth: so that now 'tis His own house by purchase, by conquest: who than dares to keep Him out? who so litigiously given, as not to open, when He knocks? which is my third general, the Action itself, I Knock: Behold I stand at the door and Knocke. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say Etymologists, a Metaphor taken from beasts, whom nature hath armed with horns to strike: no creature is without its weapons, either to ward of from himself, or to thrust with a blow at others: the Armadello on land hath his hard skin for a coat, the Tortoise in the Sea, his as hard a shell for a covering, the timorous Roe his swift feet to fly, the wary Fox his Labyrinths, to hide from danger: the Basilisk hath an eye to kill, the Dragon a breath to poison, the Scorpion a sting to wound: the Boar roots up with his tusk, the Griffins tear with their nails, the Eagle with her talons rends in pieces, and the Bulls of Bashan push strongly with the horn: to knock is tropically taken here, and borrowed from these, and it implies a mighty stroke, as a blow from a sinewed neck, or those horns of iron, which Zedekiah made, when he betrayed himself to error by a false spirit, by the gull of a false victory he cheated Ahab, 1 King. 22 11. and told him, with these shalt thou push the Syrians, till thou have consumed them: 'tis then a knock with force and all GOD'S are so, let us rank them into their several files. First, GOD knocks by the Ministry of His Word, Word. this is a knock of power, and His, who knocks with Authority, Rom. 1. 16. for such is His Word, and so He teacheth, Mat 7. 29. what strong holds will not this engine pull down? what bulwarks of humane policy not scale, what rampiers of flesh and blood not raze and dig through? it casts down, saith Saint Paul (and he speaks it as an Oracle) every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of GOD, 2 Cor. 10. 5. and brings into captivity every thought to the obedience of CHRIST: Men have foreheads of Stone, necks veined with Adamant, hearts ribbed with Marble, these cannot bleed, nor those bow, nor other blush, the Word is a hammer to break this rock a pieces, Jer. 23. 29. a fire to melt it into softness, a rod to make waters of penitence gush out from it: Men stop their ears like the Adder, Exod. 17. 6. the One they couch to the ground, ram into it store of covetous dirt; the Other they close up with their winding tale, fill it with carols and rounds of lust; Even these Serpents have been charmed by the Word, 'tis heavenly incantations have undeaft them, they have danced to the pipe of the Gospel, the silver bells of Aaron have ravished them out of their selves, and now no music to the sweet songs of Zion: how unfruitful a soil is man's soul, how barren a piece of earth, till the Word distils as the dew upon it, and than O the happy fruits of a few drops! is the heart malicious? no knee can beg a pardon of it, as soon we may calm the Sea, when all the winds are in an uproar: is it covetous? no balm can supple it to pity, none art extract a mite from it: is it ambitious, and will we stay its career! as well we may stop the lightning: is it factious? all the harmony of Heaven cannot sing it into peace: is it fruitless, as soon we may plow the waters and expect a crop thence: is it hard: what means can mollify it? what oil here, what vinegar there? Deut. 32. 2. Behold, the Word drops as the rain upon it; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: strait this flint softens into flesh, these jars kiss in a sweet concord, this rough Ocean doth cease to rage, that Gilboah is clothed in Greene, where but now no blade was, not a leaf of grass to apparel it: as if a new soul were breathed into him, such a change is in the whole man: Aenaead. lib. 1. quantum mutatus ab illo: Zacheus is merciful, Paul tame as a lamb, Ahab puts sackcloth upon his flesh, Felix trembles like an Aspen leaf: Peter taken from the nets, doth catch a thousand and a thousand souls at a draught, nay the world is won to the faith, not by the Sages of Egypt, but the refuse of jury, the Rabbis with these, with those the Magis are mastered by them; the words of Fishermen are read, saith Augustine, Serm. 59 de verbis Domini. but the necks of Orators are subdued: that Roman Chieftain might not more boast his veni, vidi, A. Hirtij de bello Alexand comment. vici, than they, they conquered as many nations as they saw: not o'er gladij, with the edge of the sword, this can but gash the flesh, at most make a gap for the soul to step out at; but gladio oris the keen blade of the Word, which divides between the soul and the spirit, no other weapon can pierce so deep, not that fiery one, with which the Cherubins kept the passage of Paradise: not a heart within these walls, but GOD now knocks at it by this Word, though not by this only: for Secondly, GOD knocks by His Mercies: His Mercies! Mercy. A theme for Angels to descant on, the sweetest Attribute of the Deity, the alone object of His delight; Heaven were as Hell without it, and all approach to His Throne, Death; whom would not Majesty swallow up, did not mercy temper it? we are consumed with His fires, as He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Capitol of justice, but we sly into His bosom, as He is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Asylum of mercy; and the best Sanctuary He is, nay joys to be so: Tully speaks it of himself, and take him as the Emblem of a good judge, Orat pro Luc. Murena. Parts lenitatis misericordi aeque semper egi libenter, gravitatis severitatisque personam non appetivi: I willingly acted the parts of mildness, the bent of my nature was this way; the Public good is at stake, and the dignity of the Empire to be rescued, when I put on the person of severity: if GOD strike, as our sins may force a weapon into His hands, Isa. 28. 21. He styles it a strange work, a strange Act: Austerity is no consort of His, no familiar, little acquaintance He hath with it, nor glories He to have any: Suet. Tranq. de Vesp. Aug cap 15. etiam justissimis paenis illachrymat, as Suetonius of Vespasian, he doomed not to the most just punishment with dry cheeks, not like that bloody Massalla, who in one day having struck off four thousand heads (so Valerius reckons them) vaunts Valer. lib. 11. it among those piles of carcases, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, O Act worthy a King: no such tyranny in our GOD, of whom all the heavenly Coiristers chant it, and let us bear a part with them: The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy, Psal. 145. 8. the LORD is good to all and His tender mercies are above all His works: what above all His works? that starry roof over our heads, and those millions of tapers which burn there? this pavement of thy workmanship, O LORD, we tread on, every the least inch of it, the whole earth is full of thy goodness: Psal. 119. 64. but doth it reach to that height, which to look on, tires the eye by the way? that precious vault wherewith thou hast walled in this inferior globe? Heaven is high, nine hundred miles upwards, say some, five hundred years' journey, say others, who have calculated curiously, is thy Mercy so? can it overtop this Pyramid? He who said it, could speak it without an Hyperbole, Psal. 36. 5. Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the Heavens, Psal. 36. it than equals them for site here, but it transcends them there, is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now, Thy mercy is great above the heavens, Psal. 108. 4. Psal. 108. the whole world is a huge to me and volume of these mercies, a large Map of them, an Abstract and Epitome of all was one Israel, they were abriged into that little table, one jacob, his portion: we have their catalogue drawn up by Moses: He kept him as the Apple of his eye, he bore him on his wings as an Eagle, he gave him the increase of the fields, he made him suck honey out of the rock, Deut. 32. 14. fed him with butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of Lambs, and Rams of the breed of Bashan: May I speak it to the conscience of every one here, who hath not tasted and seen that the LORD is good? Psal. 34. 8. whom amongst us hath He not drawn with the coards of men, the bands of love? Host 11. 14. as He did his Own in Hosea: we sit every man under his own vine, and beak ourselves in the Sunshine of an Haltion peace; the red sea of war is dried to our feet, nor see we the garments rolled in blood: we eat the finest of the wheat flower, Psal. 65. 3● our presses burst with new wine: our garners are full of store, our bones of marrow, our bellies of GOD'S hid treasures: our vines hang full of clusters, our meadows shoot up their grass, our valleys are covered over with corn, they shoot for joy and sing: we cannot say, as the Prince of the Apostles, silver and gold have we none, we can, as Pindarus did of the city Rhodes, the King of the gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Ode. every tide waves in rich Ore unto us, and every way showers of mercy distil on our heads, more precious than those dews of Hermon, which fell upon the hills of Zion: these are blessed knockings, if they miscarry, will GOD leave us so? no, He will knock more sharply yet, with a more smarting blow, by His Afflictions: Afflictions. these are knocks of mercy too, if we survey aright Them or our Selves. First, Them, they are indeed the strokes of justice properly, as a real Sermon, by which GOD doth preach unto us the vileness of our sins and His loathing of them: they are eventually a pawn of love, for as those floods rise, so with them the Ark of the Church is more lifted up to Heaven, by these rough rocks, as jonatthan to the garrison of the Philistines, the Saints climb up, as by stairs to glory: crosses are rough and pricklie, they are waters of marah, as draughts of Hemlock to an unhallowed palate: but there is an unction of joy, that supples them them to the godly, honey is sucked by them from these thistles, and now here is Sampsons' riddle without a mystery, Out of the eater comes meat, and out of the strong comes sweet: that Absynthium which smarts our eye clears it, and we thank that pain which gives us sight: the way to cleanse thy sore, may be to lance and tent it to the quick, and to dead thy festering flesh thou bidst a free welcome, even to sear and cauteries: to purge out my gross humours, I ask not for sugared but working potions, nor will I distaste their bitterness, though intermingled with gall: he shall die without my pity, who will languish rather under a wilful sickness, than venture on a harsh remedy: A sound body may house a crazy soul, and 'tis a rare one, that hath not some notable malady: One swells with a tympany of pride, that reels with the staggers of drunkenness; this rots with a consumption of envy, other thirsts with a dropsy of Avarice, in many the whole heart is sick; crosses are our best medicines, what if their relish displease us? it is enough that they are sovereign, though not savoury; if they are wholesome, why are we squeamish? who loves his taste, above his health, may he be diseased still. Secondly, sift we ourselves, and those knockings, which go against the grain, weigh how they work to our good, and how in them GOD doth cross us with a blessing! Cur bonis viris mala eveniant Sen. Nihil infaelicius eo, cui nihil unquam evenit adversi, it was the Heroical voice of Demetrius, saith Seneca: never to be miserable is the greatest unhappiness: should Prosperity always cast sweetening dews in his face, should a smooth gale ever fill his sails, what an elated meteor would man grow to, how would this Colosse ore-stradle the world? Alexander if he be Great, some flatterers of his court (and these burrs still cleave to the coats of greatness) will entitle him to immortality, and say, he is a god: we are easily befooled to an over-valuing of ourselves, so was he, until wounded with a dart; Diog Laert de vita Phillip lib 3. Plut. Apot●e● Anaxarchas asks him Laertius, himself in Plutarch tells those about him, this is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Such a juice as drops from the veins of the gods: As men's pomp, so their minds rise, these are higher, as that is more lackeyed: how can it be full sea in the thoughts, if the ebb be low in the state, or to whom the world is imbittered, will they suck vanity from her breasts? this knocks at the rich man's door, nor lies it on a pad of straw, but a bed of down: Pro. 1. 23. Ease slayeth the foolish, it puffs up this bladder of wind, if plenty waft in a high tide to him, and but what is in those Airs, the world fan's on his cheeks, other happiness he knows none: what more endears our home unto us, than our wants abroad? as but for the interchange of cold & winter, who would long for the spring, though for ornament the most gorgeous season of the year? the Prodigal, when he feeds on husks, than thinks on his Father's house, as at the thought of Egypt and her fleshpots, Israel loathes Canaan itself: where do our desires breathe so short of Heaven, as where Usury sits wrapped in furs, where bravery fails in tissues and embroideries, where opulency showers down in fleeces of gold, where honours fawn, and all things flow in an over prosperous abundance: such a wretchedness it is to be too happy: Minutius bears away the palm of a glorious victory, and all Rome echoes as one Theatour in his praises Fabius his wise Colleague than fears him most, and most justly, for said that famous Orator, in a more famous Senate, Isocr. Areop. the Areopage at Athens, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Insolency is lodged under a high-built fortune, your sober mind in one low roof: pride is usually the child of riches, and in the seat of honour sits haughtiness: 'tis the misery of mean ones, not to be thought men, and 'tis the misery of great ones not to think there is a GOD: Ephraim not accustomed to the yoke, may turn the heel, but Israel being smitten, Psal 78. 34. seeks after GOD early: David's sweetest songs were his lachrymae, this Saint in a tempest how crestfallen in his devotion, when he lies at hull at home! Psal 119. 71. and therefore it is good for me that I was in trouble: it was good for Naaman that he was a Leper, but by his leprosy he had not known Elisha, nor GOD, but by his Prophet; it was good for Paul, that he had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a stub in the flesh, he might through his heavenly rapture, have been enamoured on himself, but for those corrosives of sharp buffet: Even the worst men may be made good by sufferings, they make the good happy; and so expect not their patience only but cheerfulness; Every bird can chirp it in a temperate Air, give me those notes are caroled in the midst of a storm: not an Epicures spleen but claps his wanton sides in the midst of his jollity, but O that inimaginable joy of Martyrs, which made them sing at the stake! never repine we, let them glad us rather, at those beat, which humble us here, to exalt us hereafter, the rod is worthy to be kissed, which doth lash out our folly: if therefore the sound of thy Word pierce not my dull ears, if I speak not at the ravishing knock of thy blessings, knock on, till I not hear but smart, but still in Mercy, O LORD and not in judgement, and this is GOD'S fourth way of Knocking. Fourthly, GOD knocketh by His Judgements, whether at the next door, or our own. First, if at the next, His strokes there, are caveats to us; if others are beat, thou art warned: Sodom and those cities of the plain, which were mixed with clouds of pitch, and heaps of Ashes, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the seventh of jude, are items to all; to all who have fronts of whoredoms, that in those legible characters they may spell what GOD means to themselves; to all too, who have hearts of flesh, and look on those monuments of vengeance, as Seamen do on shelves, to shun them: Remember Lot's wife, she is made a statue to thee, a pillar of Salt to this end, ut suo te exemplo condiret, as Saint Augustine warbles it, to season thee by her example, to scare thee by her doom too, for 'tis the property of Salt, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: So that great Ornament of the Greek Church Saint chrysostom: the Galileans blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, they were offered up with their Holocausts: CHRIST told of this tragedy, samples it with another of eighteen, on whom the tower of Shiloe fell, and buried them under its ruinous heaps: sad spectacles both, and of both that great Pastor and Bishop of our souls makes this holy use: Luke 13. 5. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish: happy he, whom▪ others harms make wise, and whom they teach not, he may want not grief, but pity: Lamech slays a man to his wounding, and a young man to his hurt, nor could the Precedent of Cain take of his edge from bloodshed: we need no jury to pass upon him, no judge to sentence him for this, his own mouth hath done it: if Cain shall be avenged seven fold, Gen 4 24. sure Lamech seventy and seven fold: how often are men swallowed up of those judgements, they see to ingulfe others, and slight them: Oportet abietem ululare, quia cecidit cedrus; if the Cedar fall, let the fir-tree howl, the next blow stocks up that too: the cloud may gather a far of, and some fury of the storm may break on our heads: the Sword which is drunk with blood yonder, will perhaps quaff thine, the Pestilence which destroys in the next City, what garrisons can keep it out of this? if my neighbour's house be on fire, shall I warm my hands at the flame? may not those sparks catch my roof? let a Nero sing, when Rome burns, by another's losses, I shall collect mine own, what they may be, how near to arrest me, Pro. 19 25. Smite a scorner and the simple will beware: may others engross all the skill of Egypt, let me be blessed with this simplicity, no vatican or Library of the world is enriched with so true wisdom: for who bleeds at another's hurt doth in that forestall his own, if that punishment makes thee wary, which lies at the next threshold, be sure, it shall not step o'er thine: Otherwise Secondly, GOD knocks by his judgements at our own doors: His knocks of mercy, are as the rain that comes down upon the mown grass, not with noise enough to rouse us: the knocks of Afflictions gall us, but wound not, these arrows strike, but stick not in us, with some little pains we shake them of, Virg. Aenead non haeret lateri lethalis arundo: the knock of judgement, though at the next wicket, is out of our hearing, and therefore out of our care, yet is it not for want of sound in that, but for want of ears in us: but these knocks at our own gates, no bars of iron can hold out against them, no heart so knotty, but they cleave it: GOD smites another and we keep aloof from His sore, Lips. de Constant. lib. 1. cap 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as Homer doth advise warily: or we look upon His Plague, but with David's friends, those oily Sycophants of his court rather, we stand a far of: make the case our own: our wounds corrupt and stink, our loins are filled with a loathsome disease, we call in haste, O for some sovereign Balsams, O for some gentle Baths to wash me, O for some good Samaritan to pour in wine and oil: juven. Sat. 4. poor Codrus his lodge flames about his ears, we will not heave at a bucket to quench it, a few sticks we tell him, and some clay, will rebuild him as goodly a tabernacle: Let his palace of Cedar burn, or his fields of barley be set on fire, 2 Sam. 14. 31. what joab will not rise? whether not run? whom not affront with the injury? this disease is Epidemical, GOD may scourge those about us with whips of Scorpions, if our own sides are not torn with those stripes, we still frolic it, all is Comedy with us, our instruments are turned to mirth, and here is that ignis erraticus, which still misleads us, evil is not within our dwellings, and we say, it shall not come nigh them; but now, that it is come, will it not dishearten and turn us into stone, as that scroll on the wall did Balthasher? who flatter themselves with a supersedeas from all arrests, or that they can put off judgement till a hundred years after, as the judges of Athens, Aul. Gellius 12. 7. so Aul. Gellius stories it, bound o'er a woman for the trial of her cause, when they could not sentence it, who descants on others falls, without the least reflex to their own merits, or turn tail, like a weathercock in a gentle calm, when GOD courts them by His mercies, where will these hide them, in what rocks, under what mountains, when GOD will be known by the judgement that he executeth, Psal. 9 16. and at their own homes: GOD speaks to us in a still voice, as to Eliah on Mount Horeb, 1 King 19 3. Psal. 8. 7. we will not hear, He will be heard when He speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the secret place of thunder, when he speaks not to the ear only, but the sense itself, as to Pharaoh in the voice of his signs; so those plagues are styled, which came in with a miracle, and went out in blood, Deut. 4. 8. a Sea of blood: he must sleep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Endaemons' sleep in Theocritus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. whom thunders startle not, and those strokes of judgements, heavier than of axes and hammers: if this Lion roar in the forest, do not the beasts foare? if this sword hang but by a hair o'er his head, if already sheathed in his bowels, Horat. Other. lib. 3. Od. 1. can Damocles relish his viands? who dare forge in the wilds of vice, Psal. 105. 27, 28, 29. when GOD shows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the words of His prodigies as the Original emphatically: such words as darkness black as hell, and frogs in the chambers of their Kings, and lice in all their quarters, and locusts without number, did speak to the Egyptians, and that in a language, that was both heard and felt: felt to, not as a goad that pricks the skin only, and smarts the flesh, but as a flail of iron, that doth bruise in pieces: O those immaleable souls, whom these blows rift not! I should stagger in my belief, whether any such are, but that I know there have been: their Obstinacy is chronicled, read it and bless yourselves, jer. 5. ver. 3. Thou hast smitten them; but they have not greeved, Jer. 5. 3. thou hast consumed them, but they have made their faces harder than a rock: So Saint Augustine upbraideth the seduct Pagans: Perdidistis utilitatem calamitatis, De civet Dei lib. 2. cap. 33. miseri facti estis, & pessimi permansist is: wickedness makes you wretched, wretchedness makes you worse, so the fruits of your calamities die in their touch, and like those by the Lake Asphalites crumble into Ashes: joseph. de bello judaico lib. 5. cap. 5. these Oaks will not bow, they shall break, may I swim through a river of brimstone, wade through a torrent of Sulphur, to be eternally happy and with my GOD: but what Heraldry can blazon their woes, what pencil paint them, who are under the scourge here, and under the curse for ever? as they must be, at whose doors judgements do knock without grace: which is GOD'S fist and last way of knocking. GOD five knocks by the sweet inspirements Spirit. of His holy Spirit: from whom are suggestions to holiness, excitements to penitence, and powerful workings on the heart of faith: these motions are that voice in Isai, we hear behind us, saying, This is the way, Isa. 30. 11. walk in it: a voice audible to all within the pale of the Church, even those false fires of Religion, which but glow in it: these have their pangs of zeal, their quames of devotion, their flashes of holiness, and from this Spirit are all these, however nicknamed: this Spirit enkindled those sparks, Mark. 6. 20. when Herod did many things, and heard the Baptist gladly: when rapt with Paul's sanctified strains, Acts 26. 28. Agrippa was at the point to turn Christian; but it blew them up into a flame, when Gamaliels Scholar is none plust spite of his subtle disputes, and made a Proselyte with those, whom but now he martyred: if we think a good thought, it is grace infused, so Saint Augustine the devout patron of it, if we speak a good word, it is grace effused, if we do a good work, it is grace diffused; now what is done by grace, the Spirit doth it, whose royal Epitheton and character it is, The Spirit of grace: there is a Spirit of giddiness, Zach 11. 10. it rules much in some brainsick hot-spurs, whom it doth possess at once with a zealous frenzy, and cast them, as that dumb One did the child in the Gospel, Mark. 9 22. now into the water, sullen and rheumatic drivelings, spitting against the Church, whose Hierarchy they beat down, that their own brains may sway; anon into the fire, so hot a contention about Ceremonies, though enjoined with equal modesty and right, as if Heaven and Earth were to little to be mingled in the quarrel; this Spirit, whether in a Church-parlour at Amsterdam, abroad there, or an uncharitable conventicle of our Zelots', at home here, is as far from grace, as unity, it at once rends into Schisms, divides that coat is seamelesse, & opens a sluice for Anarchy, disorder, irreligion: they are other fruits, which blossom on that tree, the good Spirit plants; James 3. 17. these are Humility, Meekness, Brotherly love, and that rich Diamond of all humane happiness, Union and Identity of heart in those, who keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: Ephes' 4. 3. if this Spirit inspire not with holy motions to unity, we are all jars, if by His gracious instincts He work us not to holiness, we are all profane, no other means are effectual. First, GOD knocks by His Word, Esay 28. 10. this is to us, Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little: if this Spirit inflame not our hearts to the love of the truth, how do we look the Prophets in the face, Psal. 50. 17. and cast their words behind our backs? or hear them as we do music to stuff our ears, when our bellies are full. Secondly, GOD knocks by His Mercies, exhausts all the treasures of them, and crownes us with His blessings: if this Spirit mould not our hearts to thankfulness, how as wild heifers do we kick being full, or how, like a peevish beauty, the more GOD woes us by His bounty, the more coy and shy are we? Thirdly, GOD knocks by Afflictions, these rise not out of the dust, none can take of, or add the least scruple to their weight, and they are for our health those drams that are mingled to us of them; this heavenly physic works not on our souls; if the Spirit make it not operative, without Him the whole head is still sick, nor hath any drugster's shop that medicine can cure us. Fourthly, GOD knocks by His judgements, they break in like waves of the sea, this on the neck of that, ere the former have wrought all his spite: they beat with blows able to shake the centre, man's heart like the Anvil, the more 'tis hammered on, the harder it grows; only this Spirit makes us flexible mettle; judgements may leave an impression behind them, but no stamp to that of Grace. Pour out O LORD, of this thy Spirit upon us; Knock by thy Word, and may it lead us in the paths of life; Knock by thy Mercies, and may those loadstones attract our longing to thee; Knock by thy Afflictions, and in that School, may we con new lessons of Amendment; Knock by thy judgements, may they put us in fear, and make us know ourselves to be but dust and ashes: Knock above all by thy Sacred Spirit, O thou who hast the keys of hell and death, say effectually to our souls; Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in: So Veni Domine jesu, Come LORD JESV, come quickly: To whom with the Father and the Spirit, be All praise, and honour for ever, Amen. FINIS. Perlegi hanc Concionem, dignamque judico quae typis mandetur. THO: WYKES R. P. Episc. Lond. Cap. Domest.