is borne 2 Secondly to note the eternall efficacie of his birth life death and passion with all the other parts of his obedience in respect of which he was not only A Child borne but A lambe slaine from the beginning of the world Mich. 5.2 And as the prophet Micah tels us his goings forth were from the begining and from everlasting one would thinke that in this verse the prophet did speake contradictions In the beginning of it he tels us he shall come Out of thee shall he come that shall be captaine of my people and in the latter end of it he tels us he is come already come long agoe his goings out have beene from the beginning and from everlasting this cleare distinction reconciles the matter There is a twofold comming of the Messiah an Actuall comming and A Vertuall comming Actually he shall come Vertually he is come already His goings out have beene from the beginning and from everlasting the vertue and efficacie of his redemption reaching as well to the first man that was created in the world as to the last that shall stand upon the earth at the last day even Adam the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was saved by his death for of the salvation even of him notwithstanding his grievous sinne and fall wee nothing doubt yea Origen hath recorded it that when he had finished his daies on earth and returned to the dust from whence he was taken he was buried in mount Calvery in the very place where about 4000 years afterwards the Crosse of Christ was set whereon he was crucified A wonderfull providence if true Ut primus virtutē sanguinis Christi sentiret qui primus peccati author fuerit That he might first feele the efficacie of Christs blood which was the first cause of shedding it Hee did not then * That is vertually and efficaciously according to the distinction foregoing first open the Kingdome of heaven to all beleevers when hee had overcome the sharpnesse of death but when by covenant made with his father and concluded upon for the reconciling of the world Hee tooke upon him to deliver man And had it not been so the patriarchs and fathers of former generations before his coming in the flesh had beene very unhappy with all their faith and hope piety and patience holinesse and obedience in which they were exemplary to be thrust into Limbus there to be imprisoned for so many hundreds of yeares as by the doctrine of the Church of Rome they must untill Christ came thither with his Crosse to breake open the prison doores and to set them free They were in Christ before us they saw his day and rejoyced and not onely Isay in his time but the Fathers of the first ages of the world long before him embraced this child in the armes of their faith and hope acknowledged as in the Text Unto us this Child is born 3 Thirdly by this expression doth the Prophet preach to us and declare the omniscience and eternity of the Lord God with whom there is no distinction of time nor any part of it past or to come but to whom all time is present with whom one day is as a thousand yeares and a thousand yeares but as one day which sees all things past and to come uno intuita at one view present before him which calleth things that are not as if they were which saith unto Cyrus thou art my Shepheard I have knowne thee and called thee by name an hundred yeares before Cyrus was borne neither is it in the power of any power under or in heaven so to speak but only of him who writes himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I AM the Α Alpha and the Ω Omega the beginning and the end Exod. 3.14 the first and the last which lifteth up his hand to heaven and saith Revel 1. I live for ever And therefore upon this triall the Lord challengeth all the heathen gods pretenders to deity Isay 41.21 Produce your cause saith the Lord shew your strong reasons saith the King of Jacob let them bring them forth and shew us what shall happen Isay 41. let them shew the former things what they be that wee may consider them and know the latter end of them or 〈◊〉 them declare the things for to come shew the things that are to come hereafter that wee may know that ye are gods A more convincing argument of the deity then that of miracles in them there may be juggling and Jannes and Jambres in many strange things may goe as farre as Moses but to foresee things to come at such a distance at which it is impossible to see them in their causes any farther then as it is the will and councell of him that hath ordained them to bring them to passe according to his owne purpose is the act and worke onely of a deity When therefore you read in these words what the Prophet speakes do but remember withall from whom he speaks and you will be satisfied Adde hereunto that the Prophet though speaking hereof the Messiah yet alludes to Hezekiah the young Prince and lively type of him in whom he is said to be actually borne as in his type and representitive In all which respects the expression of the Prophet here is not only defensible but divine high full of grace and truth and preacheth to the world Christ incarnate with power The Angell seconds him Luke 2.11 Unto you is borne this day in the City of David A Saviour even Christ the Lord. And see with what joy does hee deliver the newes of it and how beautfull are his feet upon the mountaines bringing the glad tidings of it the whole universe seemes to be sensible of it men and Angels rejoyce at it and heaven and earth joyne together to celebrate his Nativitie the starre appeares the Angels sing the heralds poast the shepheards run the Kings come in to bring their presents and to tender their homage to him in his very cradle And shall it be reproveable in us this day to joyn with them in contributing our halleluiahs of joy and praise for our share in this holy birth or in the Church that it hath appointed a set and solemne day for that purpose because * For there are that undertake to give us in more then that the very minute in which he first opened the matrix as Cardanus a famous Astronomour who gives it in at 15. minutes after 10. at night Virgo being then ascendant in prima domo in his Commentary on Ptolomies Quadri partite perhaps we cannot give you in precisely at this distance of time the very day or houre of the day wherein he was borne into the world why it is not our purpose to calculate his nativitie that wee should be so precise in this matter But to the honour of God and for our owne comfort to preserve and perpetuate the memory of so great a mercy to renew our
receive it at the hands of a man infinitely meaner then himselfe one that profeseth he was not worthy to unloose the latchet of his shooe yet without disputing he goes into the water Matth. 3. and is baptised of him Behold A Child But looke up and you shall see the heavens opened unto him and the Spirit of God in the likenesse of a dove descending upon him and you shall heare a voyce from heaven giving testimony of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased Behold A Sonne When his parents as the manner was went up to Jerusalem to the feast of the Passeover they tooke him along with them he was numbred among other children and as an ordinary child hee went in the multitude with the rest when his parents missing him rebuked him for it hee submitted to their reprehension and as the text tels us Luk. 2. He came downe and was obedient to them Behold A Child But do you not read how at the same time being but twelve yeares old he went into the Temple presented himselfe among the Doctors disputed with them both hearing them and posing them asking them questions resolving their doubts and that with such gravity such satisfactory resolution as raised astonishment and admiration in all that heard him Behold A Sonne Lastly to conclude this paralele at the time of his passion you see him under the hands and power of his enemies scourged crowned crucified hanging on the Crosse bowing downe his head sorrowing complaining weeping bleeding dying Behold the Child But do you not see at the same time the heavens grow blacke and darkned above and the earth trembling beneath him do you not see the graves open the rockes cleave in sunder the vaile of the Temple rent and the whole universe seeme to be troubled at the sadnesse of the spectacle Behold the Sonne And thus you see not only in my text but all along the history of the Gospell and throughout the whole course of our blessed Redeemers life the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud the divinity of the Sonne of God breaking out through the cloud and veyle of his flesh and both of them clearly manifesting themselves in the person of our Mediatour And therefore as the Father hath observed when you see him crying in the cradle Ambrose or crucifyed on the crosse when you see him hungry and thirsty weary weeping sorrowing grieving bleeding dying Ecc◠homo Behold A man But when you see him casting out Devils raising the dead feeding of thousands with a few loaves and fewer fishes miraculously multiplyed when you see him reading the riddles of mens inmost thoughts forgiving sinnes commanding not onely winds and seas but uncleane spirits and devills unto obedience then Ecce Deus Behold A God Behold them both in my text in this child and in this sonne Infans vagiens in cunabulo filius tonans in Coelo Ambrose A child crying in the Cradle and hee at the same time A sonne thundering in heaven an Infant thrust out of doores to take up his harbour in a stable and he at the same time A Sonne disposing of Paradise and of the glorious mansions in heaven at the right hand of his Father And there was a reason for all this Reasons of this marvelous union of two natures in the one undivided person of our Mediatour yea there was a necessity of it on our parts or els he could never have reconciled us to God the Father nor have become for us a fit and perfect Mediatour Neither the child without the sonne nor the sonne without the child could have done it hee must be both A Child and A Sonne too both God and man that was to reconcile God and man heaven and earth together Had he beene only man he could never have laid downe a price which might have beene of sufficient value to ransome the sinnes of the whole world and had hee beene onely God he had not had what to lay downe to ransome them withall not a body to offer up in sacrifice for us nor blood to shed without which there is no redemption for the God head is impatible Had he beene onely man he could never have gone through the great worke of our redemption he could never have stood under the great weight of his Fathers wrath and the burden of the sinnes of the whole world which were to be laid upon him And had he beene onely God he could not have satisfied the justice of God for the sinne of man which required that satisfaction should be made in that nature that had offended and what satisfaction had it been for God to satisfie himselfe upon himselfe for the sinne and offence that was committed against him by another There was a necessity therefore that he should be both that the Child and the Sonne together the Humanity and the Divinity united in one might make up the person of a fit Mediatour 1 There was a necessity that hee should be man that so he might punctually satisfie the justice of God for the sinne of man answering for sinne in that nature that had committed it Therefore A Child And there was a necessity hee should be God too that by the dignity of his person hee might adde value to his sufferings and obedience to make them meritorious and of a sufficient price to ransome the sinne of thousands Therefore A Sonne 2 It was necessary he should be man that so hee might have what to offer up to God in sacrifice for us even a body capable of death and blood to be shed for remission of sinne for the taking off of the sentence of death that was gone out against us Therefore A Child And it was necessary hee should be God too that so by the power of his deity hee might support his humanity in that great conflict and under that great burden of his Fathers wrath and the sinne of the whole world that lay upon him and that in the end he might be able to rescue himselfe out of the hands and power of hell death and the grave and by his owne power to raise up his body from death to life and openly to triumph over it Therefore A Sonne Therefore both that hee might be a fit Mediatour betweene both neither as God so tendering the honour of the Deity offended as to forget the misery of the poore lost sonnes of Adam Nor yet as man so compassionating the misery of the lost sonnes of Adam as to neglect the honour of the Deity offended but as one that was partaker of both deare to both and both to him hee might lay an indifferent hand upon both and so become betweene both an aequall indifferent and impartiall Mediatour And here beloved you have the revelation of that great mystery the mystery of godlinesse the mystery of which Saint Paul writes to Tymothy 1 Tim 3.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without controversie great is
Reasons why it was necessary Christ should not onely be made man but borne a Child nay there was a necessity of it it must needs be so and I will give you in three Reason for it 1 The first concernes the posterity of Adam in generall 2 The second concernes the daughters of Eve more specially 3 And the the third concernes the infants that are borne of them and issue from them both 1 First in respect of the posterity of Adam in generall it was necessary that our Mediatour should become a Child be conceived in the wombe and borne Psal 51. That he might begin the cure of our disease where our disease it selfe begins and that is in the very wombe Behold saies the Prophet David I was conceived in sinne and borne in iniquity Psal 51. Our blessed Lord becomming our Mediatour and undertaking to satisfie the justice of God for this sinne and to cure us of so grievous a disease that layes hold on us in the very wombe is faine to descend into the wombe of a daughter of Eve there to take our nature upon him and there to be conceived though without sinne and of her to be borne but without iniquity a pure birth that so by the purity of his humane nature imputed unto us the impurity of ours may be cured and cleansed and that by his Originall righteousnesse our originall sin may be done away There is beloved if you marke it A method observed by the second Adam in curing the evils we receive from the first and I pray do for it is well worth your marking and much comfort shall you reap by it when you apprehend it aright There is I say A method observed by the second Adam in curing the evills which we have received from the first it is a methodicall cure wherein the second Adam hath trac't the first step by step and where ever he saw that he had wounded us he prouided to heale us and prepared for us a remedy proportionable to our malady a salve suitable to the sore and proper for the cure of it To shew you this a little more plainly There are three things wherein the first Adam hath deadly and desperately wounded his posterity First by depraving their natures this is that which is called Originall sinne the corruption and depravation of our natures from that which we were by creation by this hee struck us dead in the very wombe by this we are wicked as soone as we are even before we have done good or evill wicked in the very roote because wee have in us a principle of all wickednesse and so become children of wrath by nature miserable from the very cradle from the very wombe even in our conception The second thing wherein hee undid us was by breaking Covenant with God in failing in the performance of the condition of it which said thus fac hoc vives doe this and thou shalt live and so breaking the Commandement in the mandatory part of it be forfeited to himselfe and his all that life and happinesse which upon the condition of obedience was made over to him and them And the third was by his actuall rebellion against God and positive disobedience by which he desperately brake the Commandement in the minatory part of it which said In quo die comederis morte morieris in the day that thou eatest thou shalt die the death and so made us liable to all the miseries of this life and of that which is to come By his privative disobedience breaking the holy Comandement in the mandatory part of it he forfeited to himselfe and us the inheritance of Paradise our right and title to the Kingdome of Heaven but by his positive disobedience transgressing the holy Law and Commandement in the minatory part of it he hath plung'd us all into the lowest hell Now for the relieving of us in all these desperate evils was our Lord faine to provide for us suitable remedies and to apply each of them to that malady for the cure whereof it was most proper and so he did though they cost him deare For 1 First for the cure of our Originall sinne he applies his Originall righteousnesse that he may punctually satisfie the justice of God for the depravation of our natures the sinne wherein wee are conceived and borne himselfe is conceived by the holy Ghost and borne of the Virgin Mary that he may begin the cure of our disease where our disease begins in the very wombe even thither is hee content to descend and there to take our nature upon him that in his person our natures might be sanctified and our birth-sinne cured and done away 2 Secondly for relieving of us in the second of these evills our failing in performance of the condition of the Covenant of workes he applyes unto us his active obedience by which he fulfilled the Law for us in every part and particle of it in the dayes of his flesh that so by this his obedience imputed unto us he might punctually satisfie the Justice of God for all our failings and sins of omission and so restore us againe to our right and title to the Kingdom of heaven our forfeited inheritance 3 And for the relieving of us in the third the transgression of the Law and holy Commandement in the minatory part by actuall sinnes and positive disobedience hee applyes unto us his passive obedience himselfe bearing our sinnes in his body upon the tree and by his death taking off from us that sentence of death that was gone out against us By this his passive obedience he hath satisfied the law in the minatory part of it and by his active in the mandatory by his passive obedience he hath satisfied the justice of God for all our sins of Commission and by his active for all our failings and our sins of omission by his passive obedience he hath freed us A poena sensus from the punishment of paine and by his active A poena damni from the punishment of losse by his passive obedience he hath rescued us out of the jawes of hell and by his active he hath opened unto us the gate of heaven his passive obedience was satisfactory and his active meritorious And thus by these three parts of his obedience the obedience of his birth the obedience of his life and the obedience of his death by the obedience of his birth in his incarnation of his life in his holy conversation and of his death in his passion hee hath fulfilled for us all righteousnesse he is become unto us A perfect Saviomr and hath wrought out for us plentifull redemption Had the sonne of God come downe from Heaven to earth and here beene made man for us taken our nature upon him in a body created as Adams was and in that body liv'd amongst us as long as he did and during all that time by his most holy conversation perfectly fulfilled the Law for us and performed the
her sin so it might be some extenuation to Adams sinne who did therein but second what she had done before for by her eating the Covenant was broken the law transgressed and though Adam had not eaten at all yet she had done enough to undoe us all at least her selfe and all her daughters which were involved in the transgression with her and with whom they all stood and fell Vpon these aggravations the Lord doth not only lay upon her these burthens before mentioned but the Apostle in this Text which I have under hand intimates a greater danger which she had cast her selfe into then all they amount unto even into danher of perishing everlastingly Eve by her transgresson cast all her daughters into farre greater danger then Adam did his Sonnes what else meanes this adversative here in the Text neverthelesse Neverthelesse through child-bearing she shall be saved It shews plainly that if God had not found out a remedy for her if God of his goodnesse had not provided a meanes whereby she might be relieved in this dangerous case she could not have beene saved Hence hath arisen the question whether Eve were saved or no and from that another touching the state of all her sexe for her sake the opening of this Text shall cleare them both That both Adam and Eve our first parents were saved we nothing doubt yea Origen and â—â—â—iphanius have recorded it that after Adam had finished his daies on earth and was returned to his dust from whence he was taken he was buried in mount Calvary in the very place whereabout 4000 yeares after the Crosse was set on which Christ the second Adam was crucified A wonderfull providence if true Vt primus virtutem sanguinis Christi sentiret Origen qui primus peccati author fuerit that he might first tast the power and vertue of Christs blood which was first cause of shedding it and what fitter objects for the Lord Iesus on which to shew his power to save Epiphan then those very persons on whom Satan had used all his skill and power to destroy But the question is not so much whether they were saved as how and this not so much of the Man as of the Woman for the reasons before mentioned And the Apostle tells you in this Text how he saies it shall be by Child-bearing Yet neverthelesse by or through Child-bearing she shall be saved But what child-bearing he here meanes is still the Quaere The most Authors that I have consulted in this matter and I have consulted not a few concieve it to be understood of these two things 1 Of the sore paine and travaile which women indure in chid-bearing which being laid upon them as a punishment for this their transgression by enduring it with patience in the acknowledgment of their offence that brought it upon them they make some amends for that which they had done amisse and satisfaction for their transgression so Cornelius à Lapide and those of his strayne 2ly Others extend it not only to bearing of children but especially to breeding up of Children in the feare of God and nurture of the Lord because in the next words t is said if they continue in faith and love with holinesse sobrietie which they understand as required of the Children which they beare bred up in these gratious waies by their care and so by this meanes they shall be saved So Danaeus others both equally mistaken neither in the one nor in the other have they hit the Apostles meaning 1. Tim. 16. interpreted and cleered examine it a litle and you shall see whether they have or no. For if the extraordinary paines which women endure be a kinde of amends and satisfaction for their extraordinary transgression then what doe we by this doctrine but establish a Purgatory and set out a way of satisfying for sin and meriting life and salvation by doing and suffering Moreover if child bearing in this sense be the soveraigne remedy of recovering that sexe out of the danger they have brought upon themselves by that great transgression and the meanes whereby they shall be saved what shall become of the barren wombe that beares not or of maidens that knowe not man Surely upon this account the case of Harlots and Strumpets were better then theirs but to finde out the Apostles meaning here we must finde out another child-bearing such as all the daughters of Eve have a share in such as in which the barren as well as the bearing wombe the maiden that never knew man as well as the married wife hath an equall interest This place therefore may be best expounded by another place of the same Apostles Gal. 3 16. Gal. 3. Where the Apostle discoursing of the promise of God to Abraham Gen. 22.18 In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed excellently observes This is not spoken to his seeds as of many but as of one unto thy seed which is Christ By the like analogy as Paul here interprets Moses so wil I interpret Paul he saith not in this place the woman shall be saved by bearing of Children as speaking of many but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through her child-birth or child-bearing as meaning one which one is Christ the very Child in my Text the Child Iesus But if this be so why was not the mentioning of the Child enough by the Child she shall be saved It is usuall with the Hebrews to put the abstract for the concrete Child-bearing for the Child-borne or the child which she should beare what need any mention of the bearing of it by Child-bearing she shall be saved Yes there is something in that too there is an emphasis in that even by the bearing of the Child doth the woman gaine not only honour and reputatation above the man but reparation in her losse and comfort after her fall suitable to the danger she had fallen into by this her Child-birth shee receives more grace from him and hath a neerer relation to him and interest in the Saviour of the world then the man hath and this the Scripture takes speciall notice of and often mentions for her consolation Gen. 3.15 Semen mulieris the seed of the woman shall breake the Serpents head not so of the man he did not so much as share with her in this honour Gal. 4.4 In the fulnesse of time God sent his Sonne made of a woman not of a man the first woman was made of a man now by a contrary way of generation this man this blessed Child in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed was made of a woman even of one of the daughters of Eve the Virgin Mary so that as in the first Eve conceiving sinne all the whole sex and race of her daughters miscarried so in the second Eve as I may say conceiving in her wombe and bearing in her body the Saviour of the world sA the first Eve conceiving sin
them by the studious and carefull practise of the contrary duties to make amends for their former folly and to take a holy revenge of themselves for their past error whereby they had so grievously offended And this is the second reason enforcing the necessitie of the child-birth in my Text in reference to the woman and all women kinde I have beene something large in opening this Scripture upon which this reason is grounded in regard of the difficulty of it and for justifying this interpretation and cleering it of those obje ions which might seeme to question it wherein I hope I have given you some reasonable satisfaction 3. The third reason for which it was necessary this child should be borne respects infants and children more peculiarly for infants sakes did he become an infant for childrens sakes was hee content become a child that by his birth hee might merit for them their New-birth hee was borne that they might be borne againe That from his very conception and incarnation they might draw virtue and derive grace to their spirituall regeneration and in his person their natures might be sanctified in the very wombe That in him the Lord might become not only the God of beleevers but of their seed also that the promise made to thē and to their childrē by this means might be made good they made capable of receiving it though as yet they knew him not nor their right hand from their left And this part of his humiliation as for this end it was most necessary so for our comfort it was not obscurely foreshewed and preacht to the world by the Prophets of old In the 49. of Genesis and the 10. verse we have a famous and ancient prophesie to this purpose The scepter shall not depart from Iudah nor a Law-giver from between his feet till Shiloh come It is cleere by all the circumstances in the Text and by the fulfilling of the prophesie since which is the best interpretation of it that by this Shiloh is meant none other but the Messiah Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world but why Shiloh rather then the Messiah Emanuel or any other of his names by which he is in scripture made knowne unto us why doth the Patriarch prophesie of him under so strange a name surely there is a mystery in it and if you consult the Hebrew it will give you some light to the finding of it out This word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with very little alteration either in sense or sound refers to a word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shiliah which in the originall signifies that part in a child-bearing woman which is called secundina the After-birth that filme which containes the Child in the womde after it is conceived and wherein it is nourished by the navell untill it be ripened for the birth so that in this expression there is a double figure first by a Metonimy naming the vessell containing for that which is contained in it by Shiloh here is signified a man child 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sonne and then by a synecdoche using a word more generall for that which is more particular and eminent in that kinde by this childe is meant none other but the holy Child Iesus the Christ the Messiah that was to come in whom this prophesie was evidently fulfilled This is that then which in this prophesie is so remarkable and speaks home to out purpose That this holy Prophet and Patriarch prophesiing of this great Prince the Messiah and preaching to the world the Saviour thereof hee doth not shew you Christ upon the Crosse suffering for our sinnes nor Christ in the pulpit preaching to the world the doctrine of salvation nor Christ working miracles going about and doing good though all these were necessary parts of his obedience and performances of the office of his Mediatorship respectively but hee prophesies of Christ in Shiloh he points at Christ in Shiloh he sends you to Christ in Shiloh to Christ in the wombe to Christ in his incarnation to Christ in his conception that you may knowe that you derive grace and vertue not only from Christ crucified but from Christ borne and incarnate not onley from his death but from his birth too not onely from his blood which he shed for you but even from the holy seed of which his body was formed for you not only from the Crosse of Christ but even from his cradle too not only from his passion and crucifixion but from his conception and incarnation Hence you shall observe that the holy pen-men of our blessed Lords life and death are as carefull and punctuall in giving you an account of his conception and incarnation as of his death and passion consult but the beginning of St Mathews Gospell for the one and of St Lukes for the other you shall finde it to be so And the Apostolicall Creed teaches you and tells you that it is not sufficient that you knowe and believe that he was crucified for you under Pontius Pilate but also that he was conceived for you by the holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary That the Infants even as yet unborne may have cause to praise him who out of a tender regard to them was content to take their nature and infirmities upon him in the wombe that he might cure them What once the Lord by way of reproach objected against his unthankfull people Ezek. 16. that may he by way of magnifying his compassion toward these little ones most suitably apply to them word for word ver 3. Thy Father was an Amorite and thy Mother an Hittite Vers 4. And in thy nativitie when thou wast borne thy navill was not cut thou wast not washt with water to soften thee thou wast not salted with salt nor swadled with clothes 5 None eye pitied thee to doe any of these unto thee for to have compassion upon thee but thou wast cast out in the open field to the contempt of thy person in the day that thou wast borne 6 And when I passed by thee I saw thee polluted in thine owne blood And I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood I said thou shalt live 8 Now when I passed by thee I had compassion on thee I spred my skirt over thee and covered thy nakednesse 9 I washed thee with water yea I washed away thy blood frous thee I annointed thee with oyle and I cloathed thee c. This was their case and this was their cure and such was his love to them and his compassion on them that to the end he might effect it he is content not only to be made man but to become a child too for their sakes And this is the third Reason why Unto us and unto them this Child is borne The Vses ANd now whar use shall we make of this Meditation surely very great It is of great use in the Church of God well-nigh all the errors that men have runne into concerning
Fathers of former generations was preacht and pointed at in types and figures promises and prophesies sacraments sacrifices under the law That child whose day Abraham saw a farre off but dimly as it were through a perspective glasse and at a distance that child which was the joy of the world the expectation of the nations the hope of all the ends of the earth that 's the child which here the Prophet speakes off and in the Text presents to us as visibly as if with old Symion he had him in his armes Unto us A Child is borne And to this give all the Prophets witnesse Micah foretold long before the place where he should be borne at * The very name of it did prophesie and promise some singular good to us out of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the home of bread and out of it did hee come that was the bread of life Bethlem Micah 5.2 little Bethlem in this Honourable above all the Cities of all the other tribes Act. 10.34 yea above Jerusalem it selfe in that it was the birth-place of our blessed Lord which therefore St Ambrose often calls Christi villula Christs little village Old Jacob 1000 yeares before that foretold the time when he should be borne Gen. 49.10 when the Scepter was departed from Judah and the Lawgiver from betweene his feet not before This our Prophet 19. Generations before he was borne foretels us out of what stocke tribe family he should come Isay 11.1 That hee should be a branch springing out of the roote of Jesse of the Tribe of Judah of the stocke and linage of David And in the 7th of this Prophesie and 14th verse hee comes nearer yet and describes the very woman of whom he should be borne tels us what manner of woman she should be and what manner of child he should be that was to be borne of her that his mother should be a Maid Behold a virgin shall conceive and beare a sonne and the child should be a twin and yet but one neither but that one consisting of two natures united together in one person and these natures as different one from the other as heaven is distant from earth and therefore had he a name assigned him from heaven suitable to them both and comprehending both of them in the signification of it His name shall be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Immanu-el So then you have the time when the place where the tribe and family out of which this child should be borne you have him described by two distinguishing properties besides the one in the mother that should beare him the other in the child that should be borne by which he may be knowne from all other children in the world Then wee need goe no further in this enquirie lay all these together and compare them with what you read in the first chapter of the Gospel by St Matthew Mat. 1. and the second by St Luke and you have found the child that we looke for Luk. 2. what here you have in the prophesie there you have in the history This day are all these Scriptures fulfilled in your eares There is no stronger prop to our faith to confirme us in the truth of those things which wee beleeve then when wee see that those things which are come to passe were so long before foretold that they should so come to passe and among all the great things which time hath brought forth since the creation of the world there is nothing wherein this hath beene so punctually made good as in the things concerning this child of whom there is scarce any passage in his conception birth baptisme life death buriall resurrection or ascention so small but wee can shew it you either in promise or prophesie or type or figure or sacrament or sacrifice long before many of them some thousands of years before foretold and foreshewed whence it is that you read so often in the Gospells such expressions as these That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the mouth of such a Prophet Matth 1.22 and that it might be fulfilled which was written by such a Prophet Matth 2.15 That you may see how in all things concerning the Messiah the Prophesie and the history agree and answer each other as in a glasse face to face Nor to be trembled at then the impudence of the Athist that dare call them into question In so much as there is nothing more to be wondered at or indeed to be lamented then the judiciall blindnesse of the Jewes which to this day doe not see these things nor acknowledge the Messiah come in the flesh but doe with great earnestnesse still looke for him out at the window when he is long since come in at the doore The Lord open their eyes that they may see him and that they may looke upon him whom they have pierced Zach. 11.9 and and mourne for him abundantly even as a mother mourneth for her sonne and as one that is in bitternesse for her first borne And that they may do so here it is necessary that we remove the scruple in the Text which they stumble at arising from the time wherein the Prophet gives you in his birth which here he expresseth in the praeter tense as a thing done already is borne is given whereas they say even the child that wee speake of was not borne till about 700 yeares after this prophesie uttered And it is true that they say for if we search the Chronologies of time and the Genealogies of this Child Mat. 1. we shall find there were 19 generations between this of Ahaz in which the prophet prophesied this and that of Mary wherein and of whom this child was borne which tooke up much about this time that they speake of But it is an usuall thing with the penmen of the Holy Ghost especially writing the historicall and propheticall parts of Scripture thus to expresse themselves and to speake of things to come as if present or past already by a figure usually found in Scriptures called Anticipatio Anticipatio But there is more in this expression here in this place then a bare figure the prophet hath a further meaning in it and would thereby teach us and point out unto us these three things 1. First the certainty of fulfilling the promise of his comming that it was as sure as if they had had him then amongst them what you have in hope grounded upon a promise from the all-sufficient God is as sure as if you had it in hand in whom all the promises are yea and Amen If the Lord hath said it shall be done write it done already it is as sure as if it were done Hab. 2.3 though the vision tarry wait for in the end it will surely come it will not tarry If the Lord hath said hee shall be borne the Prophet dares boldly write him borne already unto us A Child
brought forth death So the second Eve conceiving the Saviour brought forth life they are all repar'd and restor'd againe As shee by being first in the transgression cast all her daughters into a more desperate condition then Adam did his sonnes so God found out a more soveraigne remedy for her by which she receives more grace from Christ and challenges a neerer relation to and interest in the Saviour of the world then he can claime from her substance did he take that flesh which hee offered up in sacrifice to God for us from her body did he take that blood which he shed for the redemption of the world he could truly call a woman his mother but no man living his Father as Adam once said to Eve Thou art flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone so could the second Eve in whom all the daughters of the first are repair'd and restor'd say to to the Saviour of the world Thou art flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone unto all the which relations the man is a stranger and shares not with her in the honour of them See how the goodnesse of God for the comfort of that sexe against this their grievous fall hath provided a remedy suitable to their maladie a measure of consolation answerable to their dejection a ground of hope agreeable to their feares doubts a reparation proportionable to their losse if they were first in the transgression they are likewise first in being instrumentall in the meanes of our salvation if they were deepest in the guilt of the prevarication they were fairest for the meanes of their reparation Through Child-bearing she shall be saved For this cause was this child the seed the woman Gen. 3.15 Made of a Woman Gai. 4 4. Borne of a Woman Math. 1. and that sexe may say after a more peculiar manner then the man may Vnto us yea of us and for us this Child is borne That other condition which followes in this Text If they continue in faith and love with holinesse and sobriety is not to be referred to the children that are to be borne of the Woman but to the woman her selfe upon whom these duties are especially charged as cautions or preservatives to keepe her from ever falling into the like sinne againe as you shall heare anon but that they are not to bee understood here as charg'd upon her children is cleare by this that they are charged as conditions upō which she is to be saved now if to this intent the conditions here mentioned be charged upon thē then by this doctrine may Parents be saved by the holinesse and righteousnesse of their children which is cleane contrary to the exact justice of God revealed in Scripture which saith iustus sua fide vivet the iust shall live by his owne faith Besides we have knowne many gracious women which have done their best in this way to bring up their children in faith and love in holinesse and sobrietie which yet have not proved such and contrariwise we could instance in some carnall lewd and ungodly women whose children have proved gracious cōtinuing in faith with love c. And yet neither hath the graciousnesse of these profited nor the gracelesnesse of the other prejudic't to the saving or not saving of their mothers that bare them therefore this charge in this place referres not to the children that are borne but to the woman that beares them All the difficulty will be how we shall reconcile this seeming incongruity betweene the 2 pronouns shee and they shee shall bee saved if they continue how can these two in grammaticall construction be refer'd to the same as understood of the same person or persons For satisfying of this doubt consider these three things 1 First divers Greek copies have it in the singular number so Musculas and so Theophilact reads it so Danaeus and others si permanserit if shee continue not they and if that reading be currant there is no farther question at all in the matter 2 But be it so that the latter Pronoune Verbe be of the plurall number it is usuall with the Hebrews to joyne singulars and pluralls together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dii creavit in which is the mystery of the Trinity in the two very first words of the holy Bible you have such an expression 3 But that which is satisfactory beyond exception is this that the first pronoune she though it be of the singular number yet is of plurall signification nomen multitudinis a name of multitude such as Turba ruunt collectivum á collective pronounce comprehending in it not only Eve but all woman kinde all her whole sexe and race descended from her and so is aequivalent and of as large extent as they in the next word she that is Eve with all her daughters all her sexe all the whole race of womankind descēded frō her shall be saved If they continue in the faith and loue with holinesse and sobriety And that this charge concernes the woman more peculiarly it further appeares by the suitablenes of it to the sin by which she had transgrest the foure duties here enjoyned being directly opposite to the foure sinnes by which in her first and great transgression she had offended her first sinne was unbeliefe God had said in the day that she did eat of that fruit she should dye the Devill told her she should not dye at all and she believes him rather then God she was an unbelieving soule therefore the first duty charg'd upon her is Faith if they continue in faith the 2d fin was in violating the law of love which she ow'd both to God and to her husband she slighted them both and adher'd to the Serpent as her better friend and therefore the next duty charg'd upon her is Love if she continue in love Her third sinne was against the rules of holinesse she defiled her selfe by touching and tasting that which being forbidden her was to her polluted and so by her grievous sinne drew not only upon her selfe but upon all hers corruption of nature which like the leprosie of Gehazi cleaves to them their posterity for ever and therefore the third duty enjoynd charg'd upon her is holinesse Lastly her fourth sinne was intemperance in that all the variety of the fruits in the Paradise of God which he had so graciously and bountifully allowd her not only for necessity but for delight too yet would not serve her turne but whereas there were but two trees reserv'd her luxurious appetite must needs glut it selfe with them too and therefore the fourth duty charged upon her is temperance or sobrietie if they continue in faith and love with holinesse and sobrietee by all which duties directly opposite to the sins whereby she had transgrest the Apostle doth not onely put them in minde of those sinnes that in remembrance of them they may be humbled and caution'd against the like sinnes hereafter but also admonisheth