obtained and purchased unto his Church in so doing Let not the Jewe stumble at the Crosse of Christ by telling us that we beleeve in a crucified God nor let the Atheist stumble at the Cradle of Christ by telling us we embrace a Child for our God Nestorius his Blasphemy Nor let Nestorius reproach us with our bimestris aut trimestris Deus a God of two or three months old as hee blaspemously calls him If the Child seeme little in your eyes behold the Sonne if the Cradle offend you behold the Starre if the Crosse offend you behold the Heavens without a Sunne and the Starres withold their shining at the spectacle And be not faithlesse but believe and you shall see greater things then these You shall see this Sonne of man comming in the clouds Matth 25. with power and great glory Now you see him in the Cradle then you shall see him in a fiery Chariot riding upon the wings of the wind now he came in Virgine then hee shall come in Libra with a ballance in one hand to weigh the actions of the sonnes of men and a two edged sword in the other to cut them off and to be avenged on his enemies now he came attended with a few fishermen and others of the meaner sort that followed him but then he shall come attended with thousands and thousands of thousands of Angels and Arch-Angels now he came in humility then he shall come in glory now he came to be judged but then he shall come to judge both quick and dead yea to judge even them that judged him the souldiers shall looke upon him whom they have pierced Zach 11. and the Jew shall looke upon him whom they have rejected and the Arrians Eunomians Ebionites Corinthians Photinians Socinians and Mohomitans shall looke upon him whom they have denyed and despised and shall be confounded when they shall see him now armed with power and authority to be avenged on them for their contempts and injuries done to him and his for his sake And those that have confessed him shall say unto them by way of reproach and insultation Behold yee despisers and wonder and perish Act. 13.41 Luk 19.27 And the King shall say unto them as sometimes to those Rebels in the Gospell Those that would not that I should raigne over them bring them hither and slay them before my face Psal 2.12 Oh then kisse the Sonne lest hee be angry and so ye perish embrace the Child in the arms of your faith and best affections Ambrose that so hereafter he may embrace you in the armes of his mercy Infans est noli timere filius noli spernere Behold he is a Child that you should not be afraid to draw neare unto him and a Sonne that you may not dispise him Let the meditation of the former raise in you hope and confidence and of the latter beget in you feare and reverence and both together that saving comfort sound joy and settled peace that flowes from your reconciliation with God and your adoption to the honour to become the Sonnes of God brethren to this Child and coheires with this Sonne of an inheritance in glory the very end of this his Child-hood and of this his Sonship the very end why he was borne to us and given for us Lord let him have his end in us that we may have our fruit in him even the end of our hopes the salvation of our soules in blisse and glory that never shall have end Amen The end of the first Sermon COMFORT FROM THE CRADLE AS WELL AS from the Crosse of CHRIST The second SERMON ESAIAH 9.6 Vnto us a Child is borne Vnto us a Sonne is given I Have given you an account of the first generall part of the Text inquiring of the person who and what hee is of whom the Prophet speaketh this as he is here represented to us under the names and notions of A Child A Sonne Transitio and there in I have discovered unto you the stupendious mystery which lyes coucht under these two words and is clearly made out from them and that is tâ—â—â—wâ— really distinguisht natures united in the onâ— individed person of our Mediatour the Deity the Humanity of the Son of God both made good not only out of the text but all along throughout the whole course of his life from his birth to his baptisme from his baptisme to his death as in the severall passages of them all I have observed In his birth you had A Cradle for the Child and a Starre for the Sonne In his Baptisme water for the Child and a voyce from Heaven for the Sonne In his passion A Crosse and A Crowne of thornes nailes and a speare scourgings and whippings and stripes for the Child and thundrings and darknesse and an earth-quake and rocks cleaving in sunder and graves opening and the veyle of the Temple rent for the Sonne and generally throughout the whole course of his life in the severall eminent passages of it you saw the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud infallible evidences of the Deity breaking out through the cloud and veile of his flesh I shewed you the reasons of all these wonders they were wonderfull things that he was to doe and therefore not to be transacted but by wonderfull means and by a wonderfull person even by him whose name is called VVonderfull And I shewed you the friuts issuing out of them all Glory to God on high peace on earth below and towards men good will I am now to examine the second generall proposed Luke 2. wherein we are to consider what it is which is here affirmed of this Child and of this Son and that is laid down in two words more Is borne Is given The Child is borne but the Sonne is given First The Child is borne That is was necessary that our Mediatour should be made man it is confest and we have shewed the reasons of it but why A Child why borne of a woman why to be conceived in the wombe this is much more and surely there is more of the mystery in it which yet we have not discovered when the first Adam was created he was made A man not A child created not begotten A man in full strength and perfection of life and so was excused all the impotencies and imperfections of Childhood and infancy And when the second Adam came to repaire and to restore what he had lost was it not reasonable and agreeable to his type that hee should be made a man too in perfect state stature and perfection of life as the first was and so have beene abated all those parts of his sufferings and degrees of his humiliation which in the wombe and from the wombe in his childhood and infancy hee past through must he needs become A Child be conceived in the wombe and borne what was the reason of this Yes surely there was reason for it
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
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
your houses by Charity into your affections by Joy and Praise and into your practise too by imitation though he be given to us of the Father yet he is never actually ours till he be thus ours by a partciular reception application of him to our selves our own soules T is not the Universall Nobis that makes him ours that speaks him at too great a distance nor the Nationall Nobis that gives us an interest in him that 's yet too generall t is the Personall nobis that brings him home to us and gives us assurance nay nor that neither untill we come yet neerer home by changing the number the plurall into the singular when insteed of Nobis natus and Nobis datus we can with old Simeon take up this child and hugge him in our armes by a more speciall application and say mihi natus and mihi datus unto mee this child is borne and unto me this Son is given 3. The third duty charged upon us in consideration of this gift shall conclude this discourse And that followes ex congruo by way of congruity It is thankfulnesse It is very fit that thanks should bee given by many for the gift bestowed upon many Hitherto we have been of the taking hand all hath been to us to us the childe and to us the Sonn to us the birth and to us the gift all hath beene to us but what will there be nothing lookt for from us think you for all this good communicated to us No returne to bee made upon the receipt of so great a gift Nothing to the Father that gave him Nothing to the Sonne that was given Nothing to the child that was born for us and to us Yes surely something to them all 1. First thanks to the Father that gave the Son We thanke thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou wert pleased to spare and part with thine owne Son out of thine own bosome for our sakes that by his merit and mediation of sons of wrath we might be made sonnes of grace sons of adoption and coheyers with this thy son of an inheritance in glory Now thanks be to God for this unspeakable gift 2. Secondly thanks to the Sonne that was willing to be given and content to submit to such hard conditions to rescue us out of that miserable thraldome into which we had cast our selves and under which without him helpes and hopelesse wee had lyen for ever 3. And thirdly thanks to the child for his love shewed to the Children of men in that for their sakes he was content to become a child to bee conceived in the wombe borne of a woman and in his person to beare all the infirmities of infancy childhood that so he might merit for them the sanctification of their natures and by the holinesse of his imputed to them purifie theirs and cure them of their Originall sin even in the wombe But what Nothing but thankes for all this Yes something more though it be not much that we can doe in compensation of so great love and kindnesse nor much that we can give by way of returne yet let us give what we can let us doe what we can Let us give up our selves soules and bodies a living sacrifice unto him which gave up his to be a dying sacrifice for us Let us love the Child reverence the Sonne honour the Father ever more admiring adoring the Philanthropie of the child the humility of the Sonne the wisdome power grace justice truth and mercy of the Father all set aworke in this great designe undertaken meerely for the good of mankind for us men and for our salvation For unto us the Child was borne And unto us the Sonne was given and therefore from us and from all the hoasts of Heaven from men and from Angels let there bee ascribed unto them all as is most due All glory honour power praise might Majestie thanksgiving obedience and dominion with Halleluiah For evermore Amen Amen FINIS
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
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
thankfulnesse for the unspeakeable good purchased unto the world by it to meditate upon the benefit of his conception and incarnation and to rejoyce before the Lord and in the Lord for the favour and good will which thereby hee hath shewed to the sonnes of men duties which though on no day unseasonable yet then surely most suitable when a day being set apart for those duties we set our selves apart for that day and suspending our thoughts from all worldly cares and taking our selves off from all other distractions wee bend our minds with most serious devotion and intended affections to the performance of the duty of the day in the day of the duty And this is the day that calls for that duty at our hands Come let us rejoyce and be glad in it harke how the Angels sing their Gloria in excelsis Mary exults in her Magnificat and why should not we amongst them beare a part in this heavenly Choyre for our part in this holy birth Let us also with joy and praise sing Glory to God on high for his Peace sent on earth below and for his good-will shewed to the sonnes of men let our soules magnifie the Lord and our spirits rejoyce in God our Saviour for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lanu Lanu unto us even unto us This Child is borne SO then you see by the help of the Starre we have found the child we spake off The second branch of the first generall part The Sonne But what say you to the Sonne whether is it the same with the Child here in the Text or some other and if the same why doth the Prophet so suddenly vary in his expression but even now a Child and presently in the next word a Sonne surely there 's something in it what may be the meaning of it Nothing at all saith the Rabbi but only this in the first word Rabbi Kimhi he told you there was a Child borne and in the next he tels you what manner of child it was it was a man-child a sonne and not a daughter 1 But by the Rabbies leave there 's more in it then so If indeed the former word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jelad here rendred a Child were of the Common-gender as in our English it is and did signifie a woman-child as well as a man-child indifferently then there were some ground for this conjecture but if you examine the originall text you will find it otherwise you will find that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jelad is of the masculine gender can signifie no other but a man-child And so for the Prophet to bring us newes that a man-child was borne and presently tell us it was a sonne were an unnecessary tautologie therefore there is more in it then so 2 There are which tell us that by these masculine expressions of a Manchild A Sonne is intimated to us the honour and prerogative that the man hath above the woman in this businesse and the interest he hath in Christ before her in that hee was borne a man-child not a woman-child a Sonne and not a daughter But to this we answer if this circumstance may be a ground of an argument whereby to prove the priviledge of either sexe and whether of them be nearer a kinnne to Christ certainly it will conclude for the woman rather then for the man for although our Lord tooke upon him the nature of a man in that sexe yet he tooke that nature of a woman not of a man yea without the help of man and so hee hath united that sexe unto himselfe in a kind of consanguinity which the man cannot chillenge But Saint Ambrose hath reconciled this difference by dividing Christ equally between them thus Virum assumendo de foemina nascendo utrumque sexum honoravit Christus Our Lord Christ by taking upon him the nature of man and yet taking that nature of a woman hath hereby equally honoured both sexes and shewed that they have both an equall interest in him in Jesus Christ in this respect there is neither male nor female 3 But yet wee have not sounded the bottome of this mystery there is more in it yet then all this let it be well lookt into and it will be found that in these two words is contained and taught the greatest mystery that is in all the Christian Religion and that is the two really distinguished natures united in the one and undivided person of our Mediatour the humanity and the Divinity of the Sonne of God Vnto us A Child is borne there 's his humanity and Vnto us A Sonne is given there 's his Divinity As he was a child so he was the sonne of Mary as a sonne so he was by eternall generation the naturall Sonne of God as a child so he had a Mother but was without a Father as a sonne so he had a Father but was without a Mother Heb. and so was the true Antitype of him in whom hee was long before typified Melchizedek without father without mother without generation in respect of his humanity without a father in respect of his Divinity without a mother and therefore his generation who shall declare Isay No wonder if a few words after my text the Prophet tels us his name shall be called Wonderfull And as here in my text so all along throughout the whole course of his life fom his birth to his baptisme from his baptisme to his death and passion you shall observe how this child and this sonne the Divinity and the Humanity of Christ like Hypocrates his twins goe hand in hand together His birth was meane his parents poore there was no roome for them in the Inne they are faine to take up a stable for their quarter they find more kindnesse among the beasts then among them that owed them there is he borne Luke 2.7 Behold the Child But do you not see at the same time a strange and new created starre appeare in heaven waiting upon his birth and the place where the child lay and doe you not heare the Angels singing Luke 2. Gloria in excelsis in honour of his Nativitie Behold the Sonne Luke 2. As his birth was meane so his accommodations are meaner being borne he hath not a place where to lay his head This shall be a signe unto you saith the Angell you shall find the babe wrapt in swadling clothes and laid in a manger Behold a Child But do you not see at the same time Kings by inspiration come from the East to doe him homage do you not read how they brought their presents to him Gold Frankincense and Myrrhe Gold representing the Kingly office Francumcense the Priestly and Myrrhe the Propheticall office which hee was borne to The Kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts Ps 45. and which he was to beare and exercise in the Church Behold A Sonne When he was to be baptized he submits himselfe unto an ordinance and to