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
condition of the Covenant of workes in our behalfe yet he had not wrought out for us plentifull redemption he had by this his active obedience onely fulfilled the Law in the mandatory part of it and so satisfied the justice of God for our sinnes of omission but still he had left us open to the justice and wrath of God for our sinnes of Commission and for our transgressions of the law in the minatory part of it and so left us to the curse of it even death and damnation Had hee not onely so fulfilled the law for us by his active obedience in the dayes of his life but in the end thereof laid downe his life for us and shed his blood for the ransome of our soules yet he had not wrought out for us plentifull redemption hee had indeed by this his passive obedience satisfied the justice of God for all our sinnes of commission too and by fulfilling the Law in the minatory part of it cleared us of all our transgressions committed against it but still hee had left us indebted unto God and in danger of his wrath and justice for the sinne of our nature our radicall pravitie and originall corruption in which wee are conceived and borne but that he might cleare us of this sin also and so become unto us a perfect Saviour and worke out for us Plentifull redemption it was necessary that hee should be incarnate that in the very wombe hee should take our nature upon him and be borne of a woman without sinne that so by the purity of his humane nature imputed unto us the impurity of ours might be cured and that in his person our natures might be sanctified in the wombe and from the wombe And so by grace derived from these three parts in the obedience of the second Adam we are perfectly cured of all the evill wee receaved from the first by the merit of his incarnation in his holy birth by his active obedience in his holy life and of his passive obedience in his bitter death and passion hee hath fulfilled for us all righteousnesse he is become unto us a perfect Saviour and hath wrought out for us plentifull redemption And this was the first reason why it was necessary that our Mediator should not onely be made man but borne a child The second reason of this part and passage in the obedience of our Mediatour and of this so low degree of his humiliation respects the Woman more especially even Eve with all her daughters for their sakes more peculiarly and unto them and of them was he borne that by his birth hee might repaire them in a losse and recover them out of a danger into which beyond and aboue the man they had cast themselves by being first in the transgression If you heedfully observe the story of the fall compared with other Scriptures commenting upon it you will finde it to be so Gen. 3. if you read but the processe made against her and the doome pronounc't upon her at the day of her tryall you will finde a heavier charge against her and a greater burthen laid upon her then upon Adam was laid but waving that the Scripture upon which this reason is grounded is that famous place of St Paul to Timothy 1. Tim. 2.16 vers 1.2.16 Yet neverthelesse through child-bearing she shall be savd if they continue in Faith and Charity with holinesse and sobroetie which because it is a very intricate Scripture one of those which are hard to be understood and so generally mistaken by most men so few have attained to the true meaning of it I will take some paines to examine it and to finde it out both for my own and others satisfaction which that I may doe I must intreat you to looke back with me to 2. or 3. verses going before there you shall finde the Apostle had laid 2 heavy yokes upon her Silence and Subiection V. 11. And that you may know what silence he meanes in the next verse hee interprets himselfe and tells you he meanes silence as t is put in opposition to teaching or publique preaching I permit not a woman to teach though I see not but by the grounds upon which most men take upon them to teach now adaies she hath as good a licence to teach as any of them all and that is meerely the inward calling or at least a conceipt of it but St Paul that had reason to knowe their gifts of ability well enough and their desire to exercise them in the Church yet directly silences them as to this intent she that preacht such false doctrine to her husband as whereby she had undone us all he thinks it fit she should be silence't from ever preaching more I permit not a woman to teach but let her be silent 2ly Subiection I permit not the woman to usurp authority over the man in the same verse if she doe t is usurpation shee hath no right so to doe Therefore let her be silent and let her be subiect v. 11.12 But verse 14. the Apostle shews the reason why the Lord laid this heavy burthen upon her and that was the deepnesse of her guilt in the matter of the first and great transgression For Adam was not in the transgression but Eve being deceived was in the transgression that is comparatiuely nothing so deeply as shee was hee was in it but as accessary she was the principall for first shee seduced him so became an Agent for Satan to prevaile with her husband to doe that which himselfe was confident he could never have perswaded him too 2ly She was first in the transgression A grievous aggravation if rightly considered for the meaning of it is she was first in the transgressiō not only because she first gave her consent to Satan tempting her nor because she tempted her husband to doe the like who of himselfe had no such thoughts nor desires that we read of till she suggested them but shee was first in the transgression because she did first actually eat of the forbidden fruit without the consent of her hurband or knowledge either for sure enough the iubtle Serpent watcht the advantage of such an opportunity to attempt her in the absence of her husband whom he might well imagine would have prevented her transgression and given her better counsell what a grievous errour was this in her to adventure upon such a fact of so infinite consequence as this was upon which depended the everlasting weale or woe of her selfe and all her posterity after her without the knowledge or consent of her husband who might have given her better counsell and whose advise in all reason she should have desired but she staid not for that she hearkned to the Serpent promising high things unto her to ensue upon her eating and she believed him and so without ever acquainting him with it she eat of it shee was first in the transgression this as it was the aggravation of
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
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
Infants have proceeded from the ignorance of this Gospell truth namely of the grace and vertue which we derive and receive from this part in the obedience of Christ and degree of his humiliation his conception and incarnation 1 First therefore it is of use for satisfaction of doubtfull minds in that Quaere which these times have made more questionable then ever as indeed they have done all the other ordinances in the Church of Christ concerning the lawfulnes of the baptizing of Infants Who will doubt it when hee is sufficiently inform'd what grace and vertue they receive from the incarnation The ground of baptizing Infants and birth of the holy Child Iesus And that the very end why hee became a Child and was conceived in the womb was to merit it for them Are they capable of corruption conveyed unto them from the first Adam in their very conception before they have done good or evill and are they not capable of the grace merited for them and derived unto them from the second untill they come to be of 14. or 15. yeares of age or if they be why should we deny unto them the seale of that covenant the grace whereof wee doe not deny them Nay upon this ground I dare affirme that if it were possible it were lawfull to baptize a childe in the very wombe Secondly the knowledge of this truth is of use for confutation of the uncharitable doctrine of the Church of Rome concerning infants dying without baptisme The state of children dying without baptisme which cruelly condemnes all such though not to the lowest hell yet to a place belonging to it which they call Limbus infantum the Limbus of Infants a hard sentence some of the Fathers likewise of better repute in the Church have puzzeld themselves and been mistaken in this point some of them condemning infants thus dying ad poenam damni though excusing them from Poena sensus that is depriving them of the happinesse and joyes of heaven though not condemning them to the paines of Hell St Augustine laies upon them poenam mitissimam some most gentle punishment but what that is dares not determine Prudentius goes a middle way betweene both the happinesse of heaven hee will not allow them nor dares hee condemne them to the paines of hell but hath found out for them a third place betweene both these and that is the new heaven and the new earth which shall be created when these shall be dissolv'd thus have they wandred in their own fancies and framd to themselves divers conceipts in their own imaginations concerning these little ones but all without a guide and without a ground and all this because all this while they saw not this little one herein my Text or at least considered not the maine reason why he became such a one nor the vertue and the grace which these little ones they speake of derive from him and in particular from this degree of his humiliation his conception and incarnation as the cure of their originall sinne and sanctification of their natures their regeneration and new birth all which had meanes and opportunity for it been afforded should and ought in the laver of regeneration to have been sealed up unto them in the want of which and not the contempt of it let us know for our cōfort that the grace of Almightie God is not so tied to his outward ordinance as that he may not often doth save without it and may when he please dispense with the absence or omission of it though we may not Baptismus signum est non causa salutis Contempsisse nefas sed caruisse minùs Baptisme is the signe but not the cause of salvation it is the contempt not the want of it that is so dangerous Thirdly it is of use for consolation to tenderhearted parents mourning over their children either stil-borne Of Children still borne or called out of the world before they were washt in the Laver of regeneration Let them not give them for lost nor mourne for them as men without hope when they see the grace derived from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ takes hold of them in the very wombe and reaches to their very conception 5. Lastly it is of use for reprehension of the ignorance and uncharitablenesse of some men women in the base opinion they have entertained of abortive births esteeming no more nor better of thē then of so much earth diggd out of the ground yea of so much carrion and therefore have denied them Christian buriall or any other ordinary respect Of abortive births which if not in Christianity yet at least in Humanity were due to the children of Adam Let such knowe that even those abortives if they were once formed and quickned in the wombe and had that soule infused into them whereby they were distinguished from vegetatives and sensitives they were capable of that grace which in his conception this child in my Text hath merited for them It is worth our observation to consider in what tearmes the Covenant runnes I will be thy God and the God of thy seed not of thy of-spring nor of thy posterity nor of thy children but of thy Seed intimating that even in the womb as soone as they have a being while they are but yet as seed the Lord takes them into Covenant with him and ownes them for his own These are the benefits which we reap by the birth of this blessed Child these the fruits and advantages accrewing to the Church by this part of his obedience this degree of his humiliation his incarnation And it shall be our wisdome to learne much for our comfort distinctly to knowe Christ borne Christ crucified Christ dead Christ raised Christ ascended Christ glorified Christ in all the parts of his obedience and degrees of his humiliation and exaltation and to discerne what particular grace comfort each part and degree in it doth peculiarly afford and to apply it to that part of our disease and spirituall defect in our soules for the cure whereof it is most proper As there is no woūd given unto us by the disobedience of the first Adam but there is found in the obedience of the second a cure proper for it this when you are able to discover and sutably to apply then have you learned Christ crucified indeed when you can see in his originall righteousnes the cure of your originall sinne in his active obedience your fulfilling of the law in the precept or mandatory part of it in his passive obedience your satisfaction of the law in the curse or minatory part of it when you can see in his apprehension your dismission in his condemnation your absolution in his stripes your healing in his death your life in his resurrection and ascention your glorification all these are impli'd in the paralel between the two Adams Rom. 5.19 As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience
unfeined love to him that commanded it Now saith the Lord I know that thou lovest me Gen. 25. If that were evidence cleere enough of mans love to God how much stronger must it needs bee of Gods far greater love to man that did not only offer to offer up his sonne but offered him up indeed a sacrifice for their ransome No marvayle if St Iohn reporting this set it forth with a note of admiration Joh. 13.16 God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten sonne to the end that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have life everlasting Those foure circumstances in that Text tantus tantillos tâ—les and tanti That such a high Majestie as the Lord is should so value such wormes as we are as to give for us such a price as he did to redeem us out of misery and thraldome by the death of his owne sonne doe rayse this his love to such a heighth as is beyond the comprehension of men or Angells As therefore the Jews seeing Christ weeping over Lazarus his grave Joh. 11. tooke notice of it as a speciall evidence of this love that he bare him and whispered one to another as in that Text See how he loved him So when you see the Lord parting with his owne sonne out of his own bosome and freely giving him up to us to be borne and to dye for us say as these Jews and upon as infallible grounds and evidence See how he loved us And when you see the sonne taking leave of his father laying by all his robes of dignity and glory which hee did enjoy at the right hand of his father to come downe to the earth to be borne for us and to dye for us to take our nature upon him and in that nature to doe and to suffer such grievous things as he did and suffered When you see him reviled buffeted spit upon scourged crowned crucified when you see him upon the Crosse weeping bleeding dying for you say as those Jews did upon a lesse occasion 2. Sam. 1. See how he loved us surely his love to us was wonderfull passing the love of women 2. Secondly hence I conclude that henceforth the Lord will deny us nothing that is good for us what will the Lord deny us that hath not denied us his sonne to dye for us he that spared not his sonne but gave him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things Rom. 8.32 The argument concludes strongly à majori from the greater to the lesse when Acsah the daughter of Caleb made suit to her father for a well of water Josh 15 thus she accoasts him Thou hast given me a South countrey give me also a well of water she was coÌ„fident that he that had given her the greater would not deny her this small re-request and she was not deceaved in it for the Text tells us he granted her request with advantage Hee gave her the upper springs and the neather springs so we may upon the same ground perswade our selves of our heavenly father he hath given us the greater he will not surely deny us the lesser mercies he hath given us Fields and Vineyards hee will not deny us a well of water but will give us the upper Springs and the neather Springs hee will not deny us supply in our wants comfort in our afflictions protection in dangers deliverance out of troubles the neather Springs nor will he deny us his spirit his grace remission of our sinnes life everlasting and an inheritance in glory the upper Springs Oh the happinesse of the Saints and people of God in this his favour hee hath nothing too deare for them thinks nothing too good for them with what boldnesse and confidence may they at all times draw neere the Throne of grace in assurance that they shall finde help in times of need And so I have done with the gift too the gift of the sonne The child was borne the sonn was given BUt there is no gift The third generall part nor giver but there is a receiver in this there are many wee must not overlook them it is very fit wee should reflect our eyes a little upon them too to let them knowe their engagement by so great a gift that so thanks may be given by many for the gift bestowed upon many And this pronoune tells us who they are to whom he was given Nohis To us and twise for failing Nobis To us Because indeed he is given to us in a twofold respect 1 First Nobis To us exclusivè exclusively 2 Secondly Nobis To us inclusive inclusively Nobis To us exclusivè excluding some And Nobis To us inclusivè including others Excluding first himselfe for hee was not borne for himselfe nor did he live to himselfe nor dye for himselfe but Nobis to Us and Nobis for Us for us men and for our salvation it was that he came down from heaven as the Nicaene Creed in our Church Liturgie puts us in minde He needed not have done nor suffered any of these things for himselfe nor did hee thereby merit for himselfe nor could there any addition be made to that glory and happinesse which from all eternitie he did enjoy at the right hand of his father unlesse it were this to see us happy with him which before were miserable that hee might doe so he is content to become miserable that wee might be happy exinanire se to emply himselfe saies one Text annihilare to annihilate saies another to emply himselfe that he might fill us to make nothing of himselfe that he might make something of us which were worse then nothing to become poore that we might be made rich naked that wee might be cloathed harbourlesse that we might have mansions in heaven a prisoner that we might be set free and at these great disadvantages to exchange conditions with us that we might be happy and therefore truely Nobis to us was he given and Nobis exclusivè exclusively to us not for himselfe 2. Secondly Nobis to us exclusively in respect of the Angels Heb. For he tooke not upon him the nature of Angells And therefore when an Angell preacheth this doctrine Luke 2.11 hee preacheth it not in the first person Nobis to us but in the second person Luk. 2.11 Vobus to you is borne this day in the Citty of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. He was not given for the Angells whether it were because their sin was of a more higher nature then the sin of Adam was or whether it came within the compasse of the sin ag t the holy Ghost or whether it was because they sinned with an higher hand against God or that they sinned against greater light against greater grace and greater strength to subsist then Adam had or whether it were because their sin was more voluntary in that they sinned without a tempter wee dispute not This we have
tree so few and so thinne as some imagine But to hold our selves close to the word in this matter as t is fit we should Understand here Nobis To us in that sence in which our Lord himselfe understands it speaking of this very gift Ioh. 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten sonne to the end that whosoever beleeved in him should not perish but have life everlasting Nobis to us in that sense in which S. Paul understands it Rom. 5.10 As by the offence of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation so by the righteousnesse of one the free gift came upon all men to iustification of life Nobis to us in that sense in which the same Apostle understands it 1. Tim. 2.4 when he saies God would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth And vers 7. of the same Chapter which gave himselfe a ransome for all For sinners 1. Tim. 1.15 for the ungodly Rom. 5.6 For his enimies vers 10. For them that deny him 2. Pet. 2.1 Even for them that are damn'd in the same Text the latter end of the verse Let no man here charge me with Arminianisme in that I preach up grace so high or if he doe I passe not much as long as by his own confession t is grace that I preach let me preach it as high as I can I shal therein be found more faithfull to my Master then they that extenuate conceale suppresse or monopolize it Upon these testimonies of holy writ I am perswaded to beleeve that there is no son of Adam that ever was or shall be borne in the world but the second Adam when he tooke his nature upon him did something for him so much at least as hath freed him of the guilt of the sin of the first Adam imputed to him hath put him upon a new score and a new account with the Lord God made over salvation to him upon a new covenant purchased by his blood made upon better tearmes conditions and promises then the old was that he shall never perish everlastingly unlesse he forfeit his salvation a second time All the questiō is de modo applicandi about the manner how Christ and the grace by him comes to bee applied to thē seeing there are so many nations that never heard so much as of his name or knowe what the Gospell meanes of which I shall by Gods helpe shortly give you an account and I hope some reasonable satisfaction in a Treatise which I have now under my hand upon the parallell between the two Adams compar'd in the fift Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans In the meane time rest upon this That with God all things are possible And as in the case of infants so of these where their ignorance is invincible and the meanes whereby that should bee cured to them impossible to be attained although they cannot apply themselves unto Christ the Lord of his abundant grace and goodnesse can apply Christ unto them Who is found of them that sought him not and seeks out them that asked not after him Know farther that there are different degrees of salvation hath the Lord but one blessing for all his sonnes or but one heaven to put his redeemed ones in or but one sort of mansions in that heaven what think you is the meaning of that Scripture 1. Tim. 4 10. Who is the Saviour of all men especially of them that beleeve Although it is certaine they are in no wise capable of that speciall salvation peculiar to beleivers yet I trust it is no heresie neither against grace nor charity to hope that walking up with all their might to that light which they have by the mercy of God and the merits of the Mediator they may be found capable of some degree of salvation and of an estate at least above that of perdition in the lake of everlasting burnings 3. Consider thirdly that at the last and great day of account though all the world shall bee judged at one barre yet they shall not all be juded by one Law but the meere Gentile by the Law of nature the meere Jew by the Law of Moses the Christian by the Gospell the Law of grace according to their conformity to these three Laws shall they receive their doome their Euge or their Apage Rom. 2.12 But to leave them to stand or fall to their own master give me leave to turne my selfe to you Bel and to speak something to you by way of application and so I will conclude this point And I have three things to say to you concerning this matter 1. The first is to put you in mind of your great happinesse and priviledge that you have above these poore people we speake of in this particular inasmuch as the Lord hath dealt more liberally with you then with them he hath done that which concerning them is but a question is to you out of question to you is this salvation sent which to them is denied to you this sonne is given to you is hee come to you he offers himselfe in his Gospell in his Ordinances how happy are you if you can see your happinesse to whom such meanes of happinesse are afforded what a price have you in your hands to get knowledge life and salvation what faire opportunity to build up your selves in grace here and to lay for your selves a foundation of glory hereafter blessed are your eyes that see the things that you see and your eares that heare the things that you heare which Kings and Prophets have desired to see and heare and have not and which to the greatest part of the world besides hath been denied But how miserable are you if in the midst of all these meanes you should miscarry if such a light being come into the world you should love darknesse rather then light if having such a price put into your hands to get knowledge grace and glory you like fooles should have no heart If the Lord having freely given you his son you should not receave him how ill must the Lord needs take this at your hands how heavily will he charge you another day as being in the number of those that wilfully forsake their own mercy that refuse and dispise great salvation and thrust from them the kingdome of heaven he would have gathered you but you would not be gathered he would have healed you but you would not be healed 2. Wherefore the next duty charged upon you is this if the Lord hath so freely given you his son then is it your duty with all joy and thankfulnesse to receive him t is not the sending of his sonne that will make you happy nor the giving but the receiving of this gift that will enrich you receive him therefore by your ready and cheerefull entertainement of the Gospell in which he offers himselfe unto you receive him into your hearts by Faith into