thirsteth in the midst of waters but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Come into the ioy of thy Master and take part of it with delight and satisfaction as one that doth feele and tast how good the Lord is Thus doth one deepe call vpon another Abyssus luminosa abyssum tenebrosam The depth of light and claritie vpon the depth of blindnesse and obscurity the depth of power and maiestie vpon the depth of weaknesse and humilitie the depth of goodnesse and mercie vpon the depth of wretchednesse and misery And all this for the noise of the water pipes which is nothing but the sound and the cry of repentance and humilitie Hee sware vnto the generation of our fathers they should neuer enter into his rest because they prouoked him in the wildernes Hee saith onely to the generation of their children they shall enter into his rest If they obey his precepts What is his word as good as his oath yes when he that speaketh is truth it selfe and he sweareth that hath none greater then himselfe For his passion was our redemption and if I may vse the words of Bernard Clauus penetrans clauis aperiens The nayles that fastned him to the crosse the speare that ran him through the lance that opened his side the iron that went into his soule is made a key to vnlocke heauen and to make vs enter Therefore do wee sing triumphantly in the Churches Liturgie When thou hadst ouecome the sharpnesse of death thou didst open the kingdome of heauen to all beleeuers Agreeable whereunto is the vision of Saint Iohn I lookt and behold there was a doore opened in the midst of heauen and the first voice I heard was as the sound of a trumpet saying Come vp higher But if God himselfe did not rest the seuenth day before he considered the works of his creation and found them good God saw all that was made loe it was very good Gen. 1. 31. How shall we hope to enter his rest that eternall Sabboth of our bodies and our spirits before we haue done some good examined our hearts tried our faith prooued our workes and found some goodnesse in the midst of their imperfections wee may not please God without faith or see God withour holinesse The bridegroome will passe by without notice of vs if wee haue neither faith in our hearts nor oyle in our vessels The oyle of grace the oyle of mercy the oyle of deuotion the oyle of charitie shining and burning to the comfort of our brethren As wisedome doth not enter the house of an euill soule so an euill soule doth not enter the house of wisedome Therefore doth he stand at the doore and knocke with an aperi sponsa aperi columba Open my loue open my done Open to me the gates of righteousnesse that I may open to thee the gates of blessednesse For except your righteousnesse exceed that of the Pharises yee shall neuer enter the kingdome of heauen Looke vpon those Elders which stand before the throne they are clothed with white robes and haue palmes in their hands which is nothing but the flower and beauty of their good workes and Christian pietie It is storied of the Scythians that once a yeare they made a great feast where none may come but such as haue slaine an enemie The feast God makes vs is the ioy of my Text a great feast and in the simplicitie of termes exceeding gaudies but there is no entrance or admission before we haue crucified the body of sinne slaine an enemie sacrificed a rebell yea many enemies and many rebels that fight against the soule by true confession and heartie repentance neuer to be repented of Adiebus Ioannis Baptistae saith Christ Since the time of Iohn Baptist the kingdome of heauen suffers violence Why since the time of Iohn Baptist But onely to shew the vertue of repentance because hee taught repentance and was neuer without a poenitentiam agite in his mouth Repent for the kingdome of God is at hand Repent for the kingdome of heauen is at hand Whence is that of Gregorie Rapiamus fletibus quod non debetur meritis Let vs snatch that by force of teares which is not due to the merits of workes If any bee meeke patient humble penitent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Christ taught in a Sermon vpon the mount theirs is the kingdome of heauen and theirs onely is the kingdome of heauen I know there bee many pretend keyes and would faine leade vs into a fooles paradise by a vaine conceit of their deceitfull merits witnesse that great Clauiger of Rome that vsurpeth all power in heauen and earth as if he alone had the key of Dauid That openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth It is not enough for Christ to loose if hee binde it is not enough for Christ to remit if he retaine it is not enough for Christ to say enter if hee say be gone O the cursed blasphemie of that open sepulchre how doe they spoile God of his naturall right and peculiar iurisdiction And yet they are not the keyes of heauen but of hell which these men keepe abyssi claues as Saint Iohn writes the keyes of that bottomlesse pit where they leade many by the heresie of their doctrine and the impiety of their actions If not by the thunder and lightning of their fierce anathemaes and direfull imprecations It is a pretty story which I read of Pope Leo when he was troubled in conscience and toucht with the remorse for his iniquities his Confessor cheared him vp with a Quid times sancte pater Holy father what makes you affraid Haue not you the keyes of heauen and the merits of Christ at your dispose There is none in the world that hath so great power and command as your selfe O saith Leo know yee not that hee which sells any thing hath no right in that which is sold I feare since wee haue so often sold Christ and his merits we shall haue no right nor interest in them our selues Wretched men that yee are who shall deliuer yee from the body of despaire May we not say to them as Christ did to others in the Gospell Woe be vnto you yee take the keye of knowledge but yee do not enter your selues and such as come yee forbid Woe be vnto you ye take vnto you the keyes of heauen but you do not enter your selues and such as come yee forbid or rather indeed yee bid all that come at your publike Iubilies as base Hucsters of Gods free mercy in the sale and market of Pardons and Indulgences But howsoeuer these men abuse that power against the truth which is giuen for the truth we are sure Christ hath left keyes with his Church Tibi dabo claues was a grant made to the Apostles in the name of Peter and stands good to euery Minister of the Gospell vnder the broad seale of the Crosse To thee will I giue the keyes of heauen They haue all the
power made vs the power of his God-head his weakenesse saued vs the weakenesse of his manhood Therefore may he iustly set his marke vpon vs yet is it not the rubie or the chrysolite or the saphir or the diamond or any other pretious stone that he would stocke and graft in vs but himselfe the image of himselfe more deare and precious then all the world beside O that we did esteeme him as a rich pearle or iewell of great price and incomparable value and not onely so but in this imitate Cleopatra put him into our draft and traiect him into our bowels with the hunger and thirst of righteousnesse We know the zeale of that Theban Captaine when being brought into the campe halfe dead he asked whether his shield were taken by the enemie as if nothing else were to be regarded and when he found it safe he began to kisse it and reuiue againe Such ought to be our zeale toward Christ the shield of our defence and the seale of our redemption What is the Church but as a garden What are we but as spirituall Bees O let vs sucke the flowers and draw the sweetnesse and neuer rest till we haue made a hiue of our soules and bodies that our hearts may be as waxe softened and mollified for the impression of this seale and nothing but this I meane Christ Iesus and him crucified The place he chuseth for himselfe is the heart by faith and confidence the arme by loue and charitable operations and that as a seale or a signet for esteeme and dignity Let me therefore once more beseech you that you would all be keepers of this seale without which nothing is to bee held but chiefly the house of Aaron and the Tribe of Leuie whether God hath placed vs as the signet of his arme iudge you there is peace within our walls and plenteousnesse within our palaces we sit vnder our vines and our figtrees and there is none to make vs affraid our sonnes grow vp as young plants and our daughters as the polisht corners of the Temple our garners abound and are full of all manner of store our sheepe bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our folds our oxen are strong to labour and there is no decay no leading captiue no complaining in our streets Thus hath he put vs as the seale of his heart and as the signet of his arme by the care of his loue and the tendernesse of his affection Not to do the like with him and to answer loue by loue were great inhumanity wonderfull impietie he doth not so with other Nations he rather maketh them as a marke to shoote at in the fiercenesse of his displeasure but let vs neuer forget his abundant louing kindnesse crying with Saint Bernard Sufficit amor Christi the loue of Christ sufficeth in him alone we are rich and haue enough he is very sweet and delectable the rest of our labour the stay of our pilgrimage the comfort of our heauines the pledge of blessednesse That as now we are as the seale of his left hand by temporall fauours so hereafter we may be as the seale of his right hand by his euerlasting mercies Which the Lord grant for the merits of his Sonne to whom with the Spirit three persons and one God be honour and glorie power and maiestie this day and for euer Amen Triumphus CHRISTI Christs Triumph AVG. Ser. de Temp. Didicit coelum portare hominem sub pedibus Christi famulantia aethera iacuerunt THE SECOND SERMON PSAL. 45. 5. Good lucke haue thou with thine honour ride on for the word of truth and meekenesse and righteousnesse CHrist is the end of the Law saith the Apostle yea and of the figures and of the Ceremonies towards him they all looke from him they receiue their accomplishment and perfection He is the Moses that shewes vs the true God and teacheth vs his Law He is the Ioshua that destroyeth our enemies and brings vs vnto Canaan He the Dauid that smote Goliah He the Solomon that built a temple a temple I say not made with hands but eternall in the heauens Where then shall I go for the meaning of these words but to that vniuersall center of euery line within this sacred volume Non recedamus à lapide angulari saith Austin There is no departing from the corner stone vnlesse we meane to loose our way Christ is the landmark and boundary of this and other prophesies what though Dauid write vnto the King or speake of his sonne It is the beloued Sonne of God that lyeth in the bosome of the Father that is the subiect of his prediction Thus doth one wheele run within another as in the vision of Ezechiel Christ in Solomon and grace in Christ for what the Apostles saw in the flesh the Prophets behold in the spirit and if euer Dauid were the pen of another mooued by the holy Ghost and set a worke by the finger of that eternall Maiestie to write and speake not after the will of man but after the will of God it is now whilst vnder the shadow of termes indefinit he proclaimes honour and felicitie with the flourishing increase of triumphant exaltation to the Lord and to his annointed and that for his words sake that Euangelicall word the word of the Gospell Good lucke haue thou with thine honour ride on for the word of truth and of meeknesse and of righteousnesse Referre my Text to Solomon you haue a bene diction referre it vnto Christ you haue a prediction it wisheth well to Solomon and there it is Oratio it speaketh well of Christ and there it is Oraculum Not shewing what he would haue done but what should be done by the rod of his power and the scepter of his Dominion Good lucke haue thou with thine honour What then do you obserue in the land-scope of these words But the dew of Hermon lying vpon the hill of Sion honour attended with felicitie the promise of felicitie as the dew of Hermon the sublimitie of honour as the hill of Sion Good lucke haue thou with thine honour Or rather if you please a golden branch on the top of Libanus the flower and the leafe thereof is honour the fruite and sweetnesse is felicitie Good lucke haue thou with thine honour The expansion and stretching forth is encrease Ride on with thine honour The roote and body is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word of truth Good lucke haue thou with thine honour ride on for the word of truth and of meeknesse and of righteousnesse O the blessed foundation whereon the Apostle builds gold and siluer and precious stones honour and felicitie with the ioyfull succession of victorious power and royall soueraignty It is a word of truth and confirmes his promises it is a word of meekenesse and prayeth for his enemies it is a word of righteousnesse and iustifies his seruants Hee was crowned with honour in the worke of our redemption he was aduanced to ride
vs to a reckoning If we haue gained nothing wee shall loose all if wee haue bene carefull of a little wee shall be rulers ouer much and when that mysticall traueller that went a farre off shall returne home he will not onely gratulate our pietie with an Euge bone serue well done good seruant but reward our fidelitie with an intraui gaudium Domini tui Enter into thy masters ioy These words are a gracious inuitation of our Sauiour Christ to the quiet fruition of peace and rest Whereof I may say as King Solomon did of his Spouses tongue Lac mel sub lingua tua Milke and honie are vnder thy roofe milke and hony are vnder their couer the milke of diuine truth and spirituall comfort the hony of liquid pleasure and most incomparable sweetnesse streaming and deriued vpon the heires of righteousnesse that it may be true which Dauid long since prophesied Exultabunt sancti in gloria the Saints shall reioyce with glorie and sing vpon their beds the beds of peace and holinesse the beds of securitie and blessednesse in the mount of God and Citie of Ierusalem If you please to marke the cells as it were of this waxen combe from whence the hony drops yee shall find they are but three First the right and power of the admission they are authorized by God to make their entry and therefore saith the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Enter Secondly the nature and qualitie of their possession it is ioy and felicitie and therefore saith the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Enter into ioy Last of all the benefit and priuiledge of their seruice and relation they are ioyned with their master and made partners with our Sauiour and therefore saith the text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Enter into thy masters ioy In that we haue leaue to enter I note that priuate secresie of that heauenly kingdome In that wee must enter into ioy I note the sweete iucunditie of our future condition In that it is the ioy of our master I note the wonderfull dignitie of euery Christian Lift vp your heads byee gates and bee ye lifted vp yee euerlasting doores the King of glorie shall come in Yea and all his Saints with him the King and his daughter the Lord and his seruants God and his Church Christ and his members to the end they may receiue Denarium salutis as S. Austin speakes the hire of their labour and the pennie of their saluation How iustly may wee cry with Peter Master whither shall we goe Thou hast the words of eternall life It is thy life wee seeke and it is thy ioy wee hope to enter whilst thou dost so freely call vs and so graciously inuite vs to the communion and fellowship of thine euerlasting inheritance Intra in gaudium Domini tui Enter into thy masters ioy By this yee may see what the Text imports and therefore since a great an effectuall doore is opened to mee from the readinesse of your hearts and the promptnesse of your deuotion I will descend speedily and make entry Me thinkes I heare your expectation say to mee as Christ vnto you all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Enter And who I pray you would not gladly enter the gates of Paradise if he might All like the sweetnesse of the place few the straitnesse of the way and though we care not to be holy yet wee desire to be happie euer crying with the Prophet Amaui Domine habitationem domus tui O God I haue loued the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth Yet is it not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy No man commeth to the Sonne the knowledge of the Sonne vnlesse the Father draw him no man comes vnto the Father the glory of the Father vnlesse the Sonne admit him Hee it is that puts some on the right hand with a Venite benedicti Come yee blessed others on the left hand with a Recedite maledicti Depart ye cursed that saith vnto one enter of another cast him forth into outward darknesse where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth Whence is that of Iohn Blessed are they which doe his will and haue right in the tree of life to enter the gates of the Citie For without shall be dogs and inchanters and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and euery one that loueth and speaketh lyes the last and the 14. of the Apoca. It is a curious diuision which I read in S. Bernard and worthy obseruation Alij mercantur alij furantur c. Some purchase heauen and they are such as make friends with the riches of iniquitie others steale heauen and they are like the woman that was healed by the secret touch of our Sauiours garment many inuade heauen and take it by force for indeed the kingdome of heauen suffers violence and they may bee compared to Iacob that stroue with God and wrestled with an Angell but whether theeues and robbers that steale heauen by faith or Merchants and Factors that purchase heauen by charitie or vsurers and intruders that inuade heauen and take it by force the most gracious and acceptable force of prayers and deuotion they must all confesse that it is in the name and mediation of Christ Iesus by that new and liuing way as the Apostle notes Which he made for vs through the vayle that is his flesh Heb. 10. 20. So that I may say of heauen and the doores thereof as Saint Iohn doth of the booke and the seales thereof Nemo dignus est inuentus there is none found worthie to open the booke and to loose the seales thereof but onely the Lambe and there is none found worthy to open the gates of heauen and to loose the barres thereof but onely the Lambe that Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world Hence is he termed the way and if that be not plaine and easie the doore and if that be not open and peruious life and saluation in the abstract that hath the keyes of death and of hell or rather of felicitie and of heauen where hee sits at the right hand of God and saith vnto vs enter Enter friends and take your comfort enter seruants and take your wages enter children and take your patrimonie enter brethren and take your portion enter all ye that seeke the kingdome of heauen and the righteousnesse thereof and receiue a crowne which is layd vp for you in the highest Diues non excluditur the poore is not shut out for want of money the rich is not turned backe for the abundance of his comforts the weake is not thrust out for want of strength nor the mightie refused for the danger of their forces but euery one hath boldnesse to draw neare vnto the throne of grace by the merits of Christ Iesus For it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 come towards the ioy of thy master and looke vpon it with desire and greedinesse as one that