A Century of Sermons

could not speed us as they desired, but as soon as they saw the Prince of Physicians was come into the world, first one Angel appeared the Prolocutor of the whole Host, and he broke with the Shepherds about good tidings of great joy to all People, This day is born, &c. All this while the rest of his consort hovered in the air, and at last became visible, and discovered themselves in a Volley ( Apparuerunt cum illo Angeli, says the Syrian Paraphrast ) exulting and praising God that the Lamb was yeaned that should take away the sins of the World.

Secondly, The fruit of this birth came to us, and not to them, Nusquam Angelos; Christ took not on him the seed of Angels, but the seed of Abraham, yet they are as forward in praise and thanksgiving, as if the benefit had been their own. Let the envy of wicked natures envy at this, that God hath such good servants, as are possessed with exceeding joy, not for their own, but for their fellow servants happiness. O most Angelical perfection to account of the blessings that fall upon our brethren, as if they descended upon ourselves. This heavenly Host did sing with mirth upon our Holy day, but it is the Devils manner to howl and cry at the good of others; if Christ came to save a man, they roar that he came to torment them before the time. Since the deliverance of poor distressed men was the Devils pain, let the salvation of all those upon whom the faith of the Gospel doth shine be our rejoicing. The foundation of Lycurgus his Commonwealth among the Spartans was, Ne scirent privatim vivere, that they should not accustom themselves to think of the private, but of the public good, and it is the foundation of charity among Christians, Nescirent privatim gratias agere, that they should not restrain their thankfulness to their own peculiar, but to extend it for favors which do befall every member in the Church of Christ.

Thirdly, The Choire of heaven sang praise unto God on this day, to set us in, whom it concerned, to us a Child is born, and to us a Son is given; Shall the standers by pour out their Jubilee, and will we hold our peace? Will we make it no holy day, when it only concerns ours, and not the Angels redemption? Was it not opprobrious to the Scribes, and High Priests, and Pharisees, that a troop of Wisemen should beat out a journey of twelve days perhaps, and peradventure more, and bring all the precious gifts with them that those Eastern Countries afforded, and all this to honor him that was born King of the Jews, and yet his own people neither visit upon those reports, nor search for him, suffer him to fly away into Egypt, and never miss him; he came unto his own, and his own received him not. And when Satan stands forth to accuse the Sons of men, will he not as much cast it in our teeth, the Angels began a pleasant Song for your sakes, and you ungrateful, whose nature he took upon him, did not follow, they, piped unto you, but you did not dance: He came unto his own, and his own rejoiced not.

Fourthly, Gregory puts in his conjecture among the rest, Dum nos conspiciunt recipi, suum gaudent numerum impleri. Lucifer and his adherents whose rebellion had cast them out of Heaven, did break the numbers of the glorious Angels, and make them less; therefore they break out into singing, because the rooms of those collapsed Angels shall be filled in Heaven, with those penitent sinners on earth, that walk by Faith and newness of life: as Peter and the rest no doubt were much comforted, after Judas had fallen away from his place by transgression, that Matthias was numbered with the eleven Apostles. The Church of Christ hath lost ground in great shares of Europe, and Asia; but what happy tidings are those, and I trust they shall be better and better, when we hear that souls are gained as fast in the furthest India, and remotest America. The Lacedemonians had a choice band of Soldiers, which they called their immortal Phalanx, because the number was always kept full, at the instant almost when one of the band died, or was slain, another was elected into the order: So the true flock of Christ is certain and invariable, the number cannot be wronged; many Apostates slide away, yet elsewhere many millions are added to the Church. This augmentation of them that are lost makes the Angels glad and sing, Glory be to God on high.

Fifthly, and lastly, since the eternal Son of God did inhabit upon the earth, the earth was become an amiable theater for heavenly creatures to play their parts upon. And as the Poet flattered Augustus Caesar, that the spirits of the Decii and of the Scipio's wisht they had been reserved to have lived in his happy Reign: so we may say, and yet in no flattering phrase, that the Angels either wisht themselves incarnate, or else to minister to Christ continually upon earth in their incorporeal condition. As the Saints arose out of their graves in their bodies, and descended out of heaven in their souls, and appeared unto many in the holy City of our Savior's Resurrection, so the Cherubims came down from the firmament above, and made their apparition in a visible form to celebrate the mystery of his Incarnation. Not one of the Fathers but have wrote resolutely without doubting, that Angels are part of our assembly in these Congregations ever since, and most intelligently do so interpret St. Paul, 1 Cor. 11.10. The woman ought to have power of her head because of the Angels, that is, to do nothing immodestly, or unchastly, because the Angels would be witnesses of their impudency. And thus far on that point, how the celestial chantors, that modulate their tunes continually before the Throne of God; these were the organs and well tuned Cymbals that welcomed Christ with a Song of Joy unto the earth.

But beside their heavenly nature they were a multitude, a numberless concourse of them, as some think, even the whole company of Angels, ten thousands of thousands that minister before the Throne of God, as the Prophet Daniel speaks; the windows of heaven were opened, and Seraphim came down as thick as rain: It is hard to say whether it would not have been pain and grief for any of those blessed Spirits to have staid behind, though it were in Heaven? whether they could have quieted their own desires to be absent from this occasion. I am sure St. Paul leaves out none of them, but cites them altogether, Heb. i. 6. When he brings his first-born into the world, he saith, and let all the Angels of God worship him. Another says, and that's Salmeron, the fields of Bethlehem could not contain all the Angels, supposing as it is truth, that they appeared visibly, Sed ex omni hierarchia aliqui advenerant, sicut in militia sunt multi ordines, but some appeared out of every Hierarchy instead of all the rest; as sometimes certain choice Soldiers are picked out of every Squadron in an Army. It was a matter of great consequence, never any tidings of such weight were brought into the world before; and reason good then that divers should come to testify it: and it was matter of great praise as ever shall be sung; and reason good then that many should come to celebrate it. If you will argue what would barely have sufficed, I confess though fewer had preached Christ in the audience of the Shepherds, and though a multitude of this multitude had been spared, yet the tidings would effectually have been believed, and the whole world have been partakers of them: But it is no contradiction to say, he that will afford honor unto Christ but even a bare enough, affords him a great deal too little. God did not appoint such Glory unto his Son, as did just suffice, but to teach us with what abundant, magnificent reverence he should have been received. He makes the whole train of Angels, as some say, the selected flower of them as others say, attend him, that his advent may be all in all illustrious. Be it so, yet I would it were not so, that some do grudge and cavil at many points of ornament, and decency which they find in our holy Service. May not sundry Ceremonies be left out, say they, and yet our Religion be sound and entire? Indeed our Ceremonies are not necessary in themselves we grant it; why, and what if such great Cathedral Churches had not been built, nor such rich costly ornaments bestowed upon the Roof, upon the Choire, upon the Communion-Table, might not Prayers be read, and Sermons preached with poorer habiliments and in meaner places? well, no man denies but God was faithfully served in Dens, and Rocks, and Caves of the earth, when the Apostles and Prophets were persecuted. Besides, there are that complain, when one Minister may sufficiently and audibly read Service to the Congregation: frustra fit per plura, what a needless thing it is, to have a Choire of Singers discharge that, which ordinarily is no more than one man's labor? They that make these objections, let them consider what errors they fall into; they may as well tax God himself for sending a multitude of Angels to congratulate the birth of his Son, when two or three would have done the business; for out of the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be justified. Why should a reasonable man think it fit to glorify God with bare scanty provision? God hath given us full measure of all his blessings, and running over; therefore no decent Ceremony is superfluous, no rich Ornament too gorgeous, no strain of our Wit too eloquent, no Music too sweet, no Multitude too great to advance his name, who hath exalted us by the humiliation of his Son, and made us capable to live with Angels in Heaven, because Christ was content to lie among beasts in a manger.

Yet I am not out of this point concerning the multitude that came. Angels came by one, or by two at some other famous births in holy Scripture; now they come not single, or by pairs, but they throng together at this Birth, because this was no petty Savior. This was he that God gave in his great mercy to call all the ends of the world together, from the East unto the West; therefore all the dwellers in Heaven mustered themselves together from one end to another, and prophesied by their multitudes what increase the Evangelical Church should have, A great multitude of all nations, and kindred, and people, which none could number, Rev. vii. 9. A great draught of fish enclosed in the net, so that the net was ready to break. Some Feasts in the Old Law, as that of the Passover, and that of Tabernacles, had seven days annexed to honor them. Christmas-day hath twelve days join'd unto it, to eche out the solemnity; why should he not have most days to solemnize it of any Feast? for through that holy Incarnation the company ot true Worshippers is infinitely larger than it was before. As nothing is hidden from the heat of the Sun, so every corner of the earth is disclosed to the light of the Gospel. And remember that there is no variation or change in God, as he appointed many Angels to sing out his Birth, so to this time and forever he loves to be glorified by multitudes. Let two or three be gathered together in his name rather than one separatist alone: but if you will multiply those two or three to hundreds, to thousands of souls, O then his desire is upon them that fear him, and upon those thwackt congregations that call upon his name. He that invited the guests in the Gospel did not think his Feast well bestowed till his room was full; therefore he bid his servants scower the Highways and bring them in, that his number might be augmented. I commend your private exercises of Prayer between God and your own heart, that your Father that sees you devout in secret may reward you openly: But those Prayers which you would have most prosperous and successful, send them up in the thickest press of Prayers, when a great assembly opens their lips together. He that joins his spirit with the spirit of the Church shall be heard as if he prayed with ten thousand voices. Finally, to bring this point to the end, Angels flock by multitudes to disperse these tidings, that Christ is born; and who should take up this message after them, but they that are called Angels in the Testaments New and Old. The Priests lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth; for he is the Messenger, or the Angel of the Lord of hosts, Mal. ii. 7. And then the Church is blessed when there is multitudo exercitus, a multitude of this Ecclesiastical host, a multitude of these Angels upon earth; when there are many among you to break the bread of life. I know after the old Proverb there may be Multi thyrsigeri, pauci Bacchi, many Priests and few Pulpit-men, many of that office and few that officiate: therefore our Savior bad those that followed him to pray, that since the harvest was plenteous, and the laborers were few, that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into his harvest. God will send forth many Reapers at the last to gather his Wheat into his Barn, and to burn up the Chaff; therefore if there be not many sowers, and many laborers, the sickle will light upon those to cut them down for weeds, that being Angels in the Church, and sufficient for multitude, did not often tune their music after their ditty in my Text, &c.

The connection of the next point will fit well with the former; for thirdly they are an host of Angels, and therefore many, nay, they must be very many, and more than one rank or file that make an host-like multitude: the number of fifty or an hundred would make a full train for messengers, but they would be much too few to make an Army: As Tigranes scoffed at the Roman legions which Lucullus led, says he, if they come to me for Ambassadors they are a fair company, if they come against me for an Army they are but an handful. A multitude, though unarmed, are a good safeguard in their populous numbers, how much more when they appear in battle array, and stand readily charged in warlike preparation? But I will come in order to the reasons of this apparition. There are no creatures so mean and weak but God is able to put strength into them, and to raise an invincible host; therefore the very Flies and Grashoppers are called his Army, and an Army which Pharaoh knew not how to withstand, or which way to drive them back, unless Moses prayed for him. But more eminently than all other creatures, the constellations of Stars are very frequently in holy Scriptures, called the host of heaven: as Deut. xvii. 3. If there be any found among you which hath worshipped the Sun, or Moon, or any of the host of heaven, bring forth that man or woman, and thou shalt stone them with stones that they die, 2 Kings xvii. 16. The reason is given why Shalmaneser the King of Assyria took away Hoshea the King of Israel, and the ten Tribes into captivity, because they made them two Calves, even molten Images, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. There is admirable order indeed in the Stars of the Firmament, as in a well-marshall'd Camp; the Planets one above another, the Sun running his course in the midst, as in the main battle: nay, there is virtue and influence in them to overthrow God's enemies; but the knowledge after what manner they fight against sinners is too excellent for us to attain unto it: but Deborah the Prophetess said it, that the Stars in their courses fought against Sisera, Judge. v. 20. Josephus says upon that story, that hail, and thunder, and winds were raised up by some planetary aspect, which did great annoyance against Sisera, and the Midianites. Like as Livy says, that the brightness of the Sun, and clouds of dust blown about by the winds fell both together into the eyes of the Romans, when they lost their whole Army at Cannae; and the heavens above caused those incommodities almost to their utter destruction. So Claudian sings of Theodosius the Emperor 's Victory, that the heavens above did fight of his side against his enemies. O nimium dilecte Deo cui militat aether: therefore the Stars, whether you regard their order or their efficacy are rightly called an heavenly host.

And if these visible lights which the Lord hath set in the firmament to distinguish day and night, are a celestial battle, how much more the Angels whom God hath made invisible by nature, and as fierce as fire in activity, Who maketh his Angels spirits, and his Ministers a flame of fire. So Elisha presented a muster of them to his servant, not simply as an host, but as a fiery host: the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Elisha, 2 Kings vi. 17. Scarce any Prophet but touches upon it, though darkly and mystically, that the Angels are a militia ready to war and fight. David, Psalm xxxiv. 7. The Angel of the Lord (castrametatur) encampeth round about them that fear him. Is there any number of his armies? meaning there is a multitude of heavenly Spirits assisting before the throne of God continually, Job xxv. 2. Who hath created these things that bringeth out their host by number? Isa. xl. 26. I saw in my vision and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great Sea, Dan. vii. 2. And these says St. Jerome were the four Angelical powers, to whom the four principal Monarchies of the world were committed: But before any other Prophet of God mentioned that warlikeness which is in Angels, Jacob did, Gen. xxxii. 2. when he was returning with his wife and children into Canaan, the Angels of God met him, and when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host; and he called the name of the place Mahanaim. Mahanain is of the dual number, and signifies two several Camps; whether he meant the troop of Angels that came to guard him for one, and the servants of his own family for another; or rather as a learned Author says, he saw a band of Angels before him, and another behind him. The Angels that particularly protect Palestine received him into that Country, and they that were Guardians of Mesopotamia delivered him up, and brought him thither. You see that the phrase of our Evangelist is confirmed by all the Prophets in the Old Testament; but if it appear that Christ himself hath said as much, you will believe the more that the sense is very useful and mystical. Why Josh. v. 14. when Joshua was about to besiege Jericho, he lift up his eyes and saw a man over against him with his Sword drawn in his hand, says he, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? and he said, nay, but a Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. Many Pontificians had the rather say this was an Angel, because Joshua worshipped, to help out their bad cause of the Worship of Angels; but Andreas Masius proves it learnedly that this was Christ himself, who conducted the people of the promise into the Land of Canaan, even as he shall bring all his Elect into the Kingdom of Heaven, and many times showed himself in a visible form as a man unto the Patriarchs, to learn them the Faith of his Incarnation in the fullness of time. The same Masius cites some words out of one Moses Gerundensis a Jewish Cabalist, which I cannot omit, says the Jew, There is one principal Angel, the Prince of all the rest, who is the face of God; for it is said, Exod. xxxiii. 14. Behold I will send my presence, or my face before thee. You know how this agrees with Christ the second Person in Trinity, who is called the express image of his Fathers presence, Heb. i. 3.) The Cabalist goes on, The Jews did much desire to see that principal Angel who he was; they could not know him by any prophetical vision, nor by their Law, whereas the face of God can be nothing else but God himself, and God promised of him to the people, He shall be kind and gentle to thee, neither shall he hold thee to the strict and rigid Law, but shall deal favourably and mercifully with thee. A most manifest description of Christ and his Kingdom, but that his Jewish obstinacy would not let him see it. This we gain out of it, Christ is General of the Angels, and they his Army; Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabbath, that is of Hosts, as we say it and sing it often in our morning Hymn.

These, being under the banner of Christ are the Chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof. These did once turn the point of their Sword against us, now Christ hath reconciled all things in heaven and in earth; and they made this armilustrium, this training in warlike ostentation at the birth of Christ, to give us knowledge and comfort that they will turn their arms against our enemies. That the Kingdom of Satan should be thenceforth brought under, and suppressed, that the strong man should be cast out of his house, and spoiled of all his munition: Therefore this Canticle of theirs is an Epinicium or Song of triumph for a victory assured or obtained, Like the joy of them that divide the spoil, says the Prophet Isaiah upon the occasion of the Birth of Christ. Here are species praeliantium, & voces cantantium, the habit of War, and the Song of Peace. Their habit shows what was before, war and enmity against the earth; their Song shows what shall be hereafter, confidence and courage against our spiritual foes, and assurance to get the mastery, and so to have joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. If Herod and all his partizans were troubled to hear the wisemen ask, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? what concussion of fear would have been among them to have heard that he brought a multitude of heavenly Soldiers with him into the world? they are a defensive guard unto his little flock; and though Tyrants rage, though Inquisitions be advanced, though Leagues be sworn, though Armadoes fill the Seas and the Air with their Ships and Sails, though the Rulers of the earth take counsel against the Lord and against his Christ; yet there is an Army always ready pressed in the Air, the mighty one hath girt his Sword upon his thigh to deliver his Church in the time of need; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it: Therefore Solomon says of it, thou art comely as Jerusalem, and terrible as an Army with banners, Cant. vi. 4. Some of little Faith may look upon Christ newly born with fleshly eyes, and may doubtingly say, Nunquid isle salvare potest Israelem? Can this Infant restore Israel? can this sucking babe lead forth our Armies to vanquish our enemies. O see how many legions he can command from Heaven, and then say, it is a vain thing to trust in the forces of man, it is the Lord that hath powers and principalities in store to awe the world: loe he cometh with a multitude of the heavenly host.

Thus much of the Choiristers, I have now to speak of the preparation to their music, which is twofold; for it was with much speediness, and with much cheerfulness, with much speediness; for suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host. The Choire was not long a tuning, but the Hymn was sung immediately after the Sermon was ended, like a chime that follows a Clock without distinction of a minute: one good work follows another incontinently without any tedious pause or lingering respite: as Pliny said of the Emperor Trajan in his Panegyric, that the people did often give him extemporary applauses, and those sudden acclamations were a sign of their true hearty liking of his government, Quae fingendi non habent tempus, for being done of a sudden, they had no leisure to think how to dissemble or flatter him; so it is a sign our heart is right with the Lord, when we break out into sudden praises of his goodness upon all occasional meditations. When we have received any favor, or when the merciful kindness of the Lord comes into our remembrance, why do we not break forth into a speedy benediction and thanksgiving? at what should we stick? certainly every hesitation is a sin, every moment of delay is ingratitude: it was a Prophetical motion in John the Baptist before he was born, as soon as the voice of the salutation of the Blessed Virgin sounded in Elizabeth's ears, the babe leaped in her womb for joy. Quick motions of zeal and devotion are ever most acceptable. Procrastinating of time is the ready way to be taken tardy like the foolish Virgins. When Abraham entertained Angels, Gen. xviii. he gave them welcome, as I may say, with Angelical celerity. Abraham hastened into the Tent to Sarah, Sarah made ready quickly three measures of fine meal, Abraham ran into the herd for a tender Calf, and gave it to a young man, and he hasted to dress it. See what an active family here was, all upon the speed to do good. Nemo piger est in domo charitatis, a charitable house had not one sluggish person in it. The Cherubims are graven with wings, to put wings to our slothfulness: our heart should fly as fast to all good works, as an arrow out of a well drawn bow. The faithful among the Jews had long waited for the joy of their eyes, the promised Messias, day by day they did expect his appearance; and one of their own says it was a chief part of the service and Prayers in the Synagogues to beseech God that his Anointed, his Christ would come into the world. After this earnest expectation, he comes with as much haste and expedition as heart could wish; messenger upon messenger, one Angel after another, and a third telling his errand almost before the second had done. And because all the Angels equally wish our salvation one as much as another, the whole multitude of them, with the same nimble dispatch, at the same instant proclaim it, That the day-spring from on high hath visited us. Yet before I end this point understand the case right, the heavenly host did publish these glad tidings suddenly, that God should be glorified, the earth should have peace, and good will should be imparted to sinners; not that suddenly and immediately from that moment it should so come to pass. Joseph had a dream sent him from God, that his Father and his Brethren should bend unto him, and he should be possessed of great command: and so it came to pass, but after long imprisonment, and much tribulation. The Angel Gabriel greeted Mary, that she was highly favored of God, the Shepherds honor'd her, the Wise men visited her, Simeon blest her; yet the same Simeon tells her that before her blessedness should be accomplisht, a Sword should pierce her own soul. So the Angels give sudden intelligence of glad tidings (and sudden joy makes the passion the stronger) but many years were to turn about, before the effects of their message should be fulfilled; that is, the earth enjoy her peace and God his glory.

For the speediness of the coming of the heavenly host let this suffice; the other circumstance which concurs with the delivery of their message is their cheerfulness and alacrity, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 they praised God with a merry noise, and I must say it, since all Expositors have said as much before me; they sang cheerfully to the God of Jacob. They that offer him praise do honor him, Psal. l. 23. Now after the honoring of God for his own being, for the eternal generation of the word, for the proceeding of the Holy Ghost, the supreme, most excellent, most glorious work is the Incarnation of Christ. This is that noble act, for whose sake all voices that have utterance shall magnify him for evermore. Therefore the usual Evening Anthem in Cathedrals, I and the Psalms sung in private Parishes, I am sure my observation deceives not, was wont to be, Psal. cxlviii. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens, praise ye him all his Angels, praise him all the host, praise ye him Sun and Moon, praise him all ye stars of light, &c. And the first Psalm among those proper ones appointed for morning Prayer begins, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handy work. About beatitude or final felicity there have been great disputes whether it should consist in action or in contemplation; but the best resolution of the problem is, that praise consisting partly in contemplating the great goodness of the object to be praised, partly in the fruit of the lips, which sends forth that honor our; blessedness shall consist in giving land to the Holy Trinity, and unto the Lamb that sits upon the Throne for evermore. Vidisti vilia, audi mirifica, says St. Ambrose, upon these words, that which the Shepherds saw with their eyes was a little Infant poorly brought forth into the world, and cast aside neglectfully in a corner of a stable: but that which they heard with their ears was strange and admirable, both that all the tongues of men should glorify this child, and that the Angels who by nature had no tongues, assumed bodies for that hour, that they might speak with such a mouth, with such a voice, with such a dialect and language as men use to do, and fill the world with praises of his name, who made himself an improperium, a derision and scorn unto many to take away our infamy, and therefore worthy to be praised.

The Devil feigned the tongue of man to delude our first Parents, that they should be made like unto God; the good Angels also frame a voice in the air like unto the tongue of man to dissolve the works of the Devil, and to teach us that God is made like unto us. Let the Serpent hiss at it, this heavenly host which consists of our friends and protectors doth sing it out, and warble it, Coelesti quadam & ineffabili modulatione, says the ordinary gloss, with a celestial harmony, far transcending all human music, and above all possible Relation. A Nurses lullaby will sing a Child out of crying and frowardness, and make it still: but it had need be a singing Angel, nay the consent and harmony of all the Angels that should cheer up our hearts with the gladness of a Savior, and wipe away all tears from our eyes, when before we knew ourselves dead in sins and trespasses. And it is good to take it at the best sense; great comfort it is, that these holy Ministers of Heaven came with singing and exultation: It was a sign that there was a great change wrought in the world, and favor and propitiation come about to the full desire of our heart. Angels have been sent with fire and brimstome, as against Sodom and Gomorrah; with wrath and reproof to make all the children of Israel to weep, Judge. ii. with a Sword, and with the noisome Pestilence, when David had sinned in numbering the people: but all this horror and dreriment is cast aside by the birth of Christ, says St. Chrysostom: and Angels come with Anthems and Carols of praise. Thus the Lord hath put a song of thanksgiving into our mouth, for he hath done marvelous things.

If Asaph and that Choire did lift up their note with all sorts of musical instruments in the Old Law, while the Sacrifice was burning upon the Altar, I am sure we have much more cause, not in imitation of Asaph, but of the Angels to praise the Lord with Psalms, and Hymns, and spiritual Songs. Luther, I know not upon what reason, unless it were because the Angels in my Text did begin the Gospel with melody, he makes Psalmody to be one of the notes of the Orthodox Church of Christ. The voice of man certainly is to praise God in its best tunes and elegancies: and the reasons why musical notes are most fit and necessary amidst our Christian Prayers are these four. 1. Rules of piety steal into our mind with the delight of the harmony. The Agathyrsians even to Plato 's days were wont to sing their Laws, and put them in tune, that men might repeat them in their Recreations. 2. It kindles Devotion, and fills the soul with more loving affections. Make a cheerful noise to the God of Jacob, says David. As the noise of Flutes, and of Trumpets inspire a courage into Soldiers, and enflame them to be victorious, so the Psalms of the Church raise up the heart, and make it leap to be with God; as if our soul were upon our lips, and would fly away to heaven. 3. An heavy spirit oppresseth zeal, and that service of God is twice done which is done with alacrity: and our Christian merriment by St. James his rule is, singing and making melody to the Lord. When our Savior and his company were sad the night before his Passion, to put away that heaviness they sung an Hymn, when they went to Mount Olivet. 4. To sing some part of Divine Doctrine is very profitable, because that which is sung is most treatibly pronounced; the understanding stays long upon it, and nails it the faster to the memory. It was a Law of Numa among the Romans, Nihil oportet in transcursu à diis petere, sed ubi vacat, & est otium, we must ask nothing of God by snatches, but with sober deliberation.

And as our Parochial singing of Psalms is very sweet and requisite, wherein all or most of the Congregation bear a part, so it doth well become Princes Courts, and Episcopal Churches to have more curious and sumptuous music of several Instruments, and a skillful Choire appointed to execute it. It is semblable to that of my Text, where the Angels sung the Service, and the Shepherds gave them audience. If some wayward humors say, this Choiral Music hath no relish with them, it doth not help them in the practice of Religion, they understand it not. I answer, they accuse themselves of many faults in their own complaint: 1. That they understand not that which they have by roat, if they would mark it. 2. They are malicious that would deprive them of that sweetness who are much affected with it. 3. It is arrogancy in a high nature to wish that their own ignorant, immusical, unfashion'd humor should be a prescription to a whole Church. To conclude all, I come from public Church Music to our private delight in holy Songs. S. Jerome testifies that in his days, as they walked about the Market, as they sailed in Ships, as they were busy at Work they sung some holy Ditties. It is our solace at home, our recreation abroad, says St. Basil: Neither is it irksome to any but to the evil spirit, for the evil spirit went out of Saul when David played upon his Harp: and David was no profane Minstrel, but a Divine Singer. But I read of two sorts of Heretics that quarrelled it; the Arians dislik'd singing of Psalms, because the Orthodox Christians did use it; and the Manicheans because they condemned the whole Old Testament: Insani sunt adversus medicamentum quo sani esse potuissent. They are furious to find fault with that which would have healed their fury. But we have learned to praise the Lord with our best skill, with our best harmony, with our best cheerfulness, from the example of Angels, especially at this time for the Birth of our blessed Lord and Savior, &c.

THE EIGHTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION.

O Sing unto the Lord a new Song, for he hath done marvelous things. I will begin the New year from that portion of David's Canticle. Marvelous things they were, you will all confess, that the powerful God should be made a feeble Infant: that a woman should bear him in her womb, who supports the world, and all the Creatures that are contained in it; that the Eternal should be born who had no beginning; never was the like heard or seen before, therefore whatsoever was said of old will not agree to set it forth, it must be a new Song of praise and thanksgiving to our God. So is the Text which I have read before you. It cometh to pass by the providence of God, that St. Luke's Gospel is more cheerful than all the rest, and full of Music: So that he is well called by one, not only the Evangelist, but the Psalmist of the New Testament. The Song of Zacharias, the Song of Mary's Magnificat, the Song of Simeon, this Song of the Angels, the Church is beholding to him for reciting them, and to no other Penman of the holy Word. St. Paul calls him Luke the Physician; some of the Roman Church, to serve their own Imagery delights, out of some Histories unallowed, call him Luke the Painter, there is no conjecture for that out of the book of Scripture, which cannot lie: But I have more conjecture for my own opinion, that he was Luke the Musician, (a man of divers gifts and qualities) for the Prophets and Evangelists wrote the Scriptures by divine revelation, yet always with a sweet tincture of their own abilities; The stately eloquence of Isaiah shows his breeding; St. Paul's Logical Arguments show his Scholarship; St. Peters facile Exhortations show his zeal, and plain Education; Finally, if I be not deceived, the repeating of so many celestial Hymns in St. Luke show his musical art and affection.

Now, the Spirit of the Church hath been ever so directed by God, to take in all the Songs of the New Testament into its public Service and Liturgy, the Magnificat, the Benedictus, the Nunc Dimittis. Thus it is not only with us, but was so most anciently in all flourishing and well established Churches. Neither is this Versicle of the Angels, I mean my Text, left out, but it is referred to the chief part of our serving of God in the celebration of the holy Communion; before we part from the Table of the Lord our Rubrique commands us to sing or say, Glory be to God on high. Indeed, that Prayer as we have it, is enlarged with many other pithy strains of devotion, We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, &c. And such as have wrote of ancient Ceremonies say that Pope Telesphorus made up that excellent prayer of Laud and Thanksgiving, beginning with my Text. Very ancient it is I am sure, because I meet with it for the most part in those pieces which are called the Constitutions of Clemens, and St. James his Liturgy. But for the words which I handle I have great cause to judge that they were the most acceptable Prayer of the Primitive Church, for St. Paul begins his Epistles with grace and peace be multiplied, as much as to say, peace on earth, and good will towards men; and the end of many clauses in his Epistles is that Doxology to God, To whom be glory for evermore, Amen. I wonder that the words themselves are bended in and out with such curious divisions by many Divines, for the Angel hath parted them into three several rests, and I will not go about to mend his work; and whereas Points are raised out of Grammatical constructions of the Verb, whether they should be the Indicative or the Optative Mood it shall be all one to that way in which I will handle the parts, for I will handle every of the three members three ways: First, As a Congratulation or thanksgiving. Secondly, By way of Prayer or Petition. Thirdly, By way of Doctrine and Instruction. Thanksgiving unto God that his glory on high appeareth, that peace doth flourish on earth, and that he is pleased with men; or make it a Prayer or Postulation that all glory may be given to God, all safety to the earth, and that an happy reconciliation may be begun with men. Otherwise, if it be a Sermon or Exhortation, the sum is, that God be magnified, peace preserved, a friendship with God endeavored; thus nothing shall be lost of this divine musical Embassage, Glory be to God in the highest, &c.

Now we cannot be to seek, what is the sum of the first member, Glory to God in the highest, it must be thus, the Angels glorify God for sending Christ in the flesh to redeem mankind, and they wish and pray that men may glorify God in Christ; and they teach us that God's glory is to be sought before all things; and so I proceed to explicate it before you. If the Disciples be silent at what time it is fit to praise God, the stones shall speak, says our Savior, that's ultimum refugium, the last shift and refuge, that the very dross of the earth, if need were, should not want a tongue to magnify its Creator. But it stirs up emulation, and provokes us more, when those that are far above us discharge the duty which we ought to execute, rather than when those things which are much beneath us should give us example. So my Text lets you see, that if men be silent, and set not forth the praise of the Lord, the Angels will speak, and give him glory. It were a great shame for the Commons to be rude and irrespectful towards their King, when the Nobles and Princes of the people are most dutiful and obsequious; so when the Cherubims devote their Songs to extol the most High, it were a beastly neglect in man, a worm in respect of a Cherubin, not to bear a part in that humble piety: But to speak after the method of reason, had it not been more proper for the Angels at this time to have proclaimed Christ's Poverty than his Power, his Infancy than his Majesty, his Humility in the lowest, rather than his glory in the highest? If there wereany glory coming out of this work of the Incarnation, it may seem we had it rather than our Savior, and he lost it. But the piercing eye of those celestial Spirits could see abundant honor compassing Christ about, where ignorant man could espy nothing but vileness and misery. For first they celebrate the glory of God's justice in sending his Son made of a woman, and made under the Law, to suffer for us that had sinned against the Law, because that Justice would not receive man into favor without a Lutrum, or satisfaction. This stops the mouth of the Devil that he cannot calumniate, and it resounds the praise of God that the iniquity of the world did not escape unrevenged. Caiaphas meant to speak bitterly, and to blaspheme; but the Lord turned the curse of his mouth into the words of blessing, It is expedient for us that one man die for the people, and that the whole Nation perish not, Joh. xi. 50. Secondly, They divulge the honor of Christ unto the ends of the world, for the mercy that came down with him upon all those that should believe in his name; if his Justice was not forgotten in their Song, surely his Mercy should be much more solemnized. The Angels for their own share were unacquainted with mercy, 'twas news in heaven till this occasion happened; they had felt gratiam confirmantem, but not gratiam condonantem; that is, the Lord bestowed upon the good Angels grace to confirm them in grace; but for those rebellious ones of their Order that had sinned, they found no grace to remit their trespasses; properly that is called mercy, but a thing so rare and unheard of in heaven, that as soon as ever they saw it stirring in the earth, they sing Glory to God in the highest. Thirdly, They praise the Lord on high for the Incarnation of his Son, because the dignity of the work was so from himself, that no Creature did merit it, none did beseech or intercede unto him for it, before he had destinate it, nothing but his own 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and compassion could move him to it; Nemo in hoc opere glorietur, nullius merito ascribatur; no man can ascribe it to his deserts, no man can partake in the glory. What was man that the Son of God did visit him? For him we shall be glorified, by him we have obtained peace, through him good will hath shined upon men, therefore unto him be all the glory.

This was the Angels Congratulation, and no doubt God shall be glorified in his holy places on high; but shall that God who is most high be worshipped and glorified by us below? That is it the Angels pray for, and wish for our sakes, and for our Salvation, that we of the Militant Church beneath may extol the name of the Lord, and give him glory. Among men, sinners pray for sinners, and it is but one for another; the People pray for the Prince, and the Prince for the People: The Priest for the Congregation, and the Congregation for the Priest. Great and small there are no odds in that, they requite one another with their mutual Charity, the head cannot say unto the feet I have no need of your Prayers, nor the feet unto the head, Dum singuli orant pro omnibus, omnes orant pro singulis, while every particular man prays for all Christians in the Church, all Christians in the Church pray for every particular man; but as I said, this is sinners for sinners, quid pro quo: But when the Angels are solicitous in Hymns and Supplications for us, it is not that we should pray to them, or pray for them again, but show charity that cannot be requited. They know that many Sacrifices of Prayers are requisite to bless any Congregation on earth, that God may have his due honor from it, and therefore all the powers in heaven above assist us with their intercession. And especially they are mindful over us to make that Petition on our behalf, that we may never forget that our condition is base, and as low as the clay and dust of the earth, and that God is highly exalted above all the world, therefore that we are made to worship him, and to fall down before him, and to render the homage of our humility to our Chief, that is dominion and glory to him that is the highest. We find this title of most high in Melchizedek's title, Gen. xiv. 18. and never before. There it comes in, as some say, whom I approve for this reason: Melchizedek is the first in holy Scripture that is called a King, that being the greatest name of pre-eminency among men. God blazons his own honor just at the first discovery of that name, to show how far it exceeds all earthly Principality, and calls him, Melchizedek King of Salem, a Priest of the most high God. And indeed there was a glory due to that Melchizedek, and to everyone in his rank, that is set on high above the people; but take heed we let not our Worship and Service rest in them, and in the admiration of their outward Pomp, and go no higher. God set Princes in their Thrones of Majesty to be bowed unto, and obeyed, that we may rise up in our Meditations, and consider how excellent and superlative he is that gave such power and dominion to men. Before Christ came into the world it was Gloria in excelsis, men worshipped their Idols in every high place, as the Prophets did greatly complain of it; but it was not Deo in altissimis, they worshipped the Host of heaven, and things above, but they did not lift up their hearts to him that sitteth above the heavens. Therefore this is the sum of the Angels Prayer, that men may give dominion, and praise, and thanksgiving to the true God; and their wish was as effectual as they could desire, for even immediately upon the Birth of Christ Idolatry went down, the heathen God's were discovered more and more to be but Wood and Stone, the work of men's hands, and the praise of the true God began to be sounded forth in all places.

The next issue of this first Point is, the Angels teach us by the contents of their Prayer, that God's glory is to be sought before all things. Nihil aequius est quam ut pro quo quis oret pro eo etiam laboret, says St. Austin. Whatsoever we pray for, we must not only stand wishing it, but as much as in us lies endeavor it also. First, repeating often the marvelous works which he hath done for the conservation of those that praise him, and for the destruction of his enemies. O God we have heard with our ears, and our Fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou didst in their days, and in the old time before them. Secondly, By confessing of our grievous sins, which makes his mercy and his grace so excellent throughout all the world: and depressing our best works to be as ineffectual as our sins unto Salvation, unless the Lord will cover the stains that are in them with the blood of Christ. Surely the reward which he brings with him is much exalted, when we deny not but the best thing we do is less than the least of all his mercies. Thirdly, by defying, by shunning, by resisting, nay, by rooting out the children of Belial that blaspheme his glory; for God will avenge himself of them that are tame and patient when his name is violated, and his honor profaned; it is the glory of human Laws, and of Princely Justice, that there is no impunity or connivency for them that scandalize the glory of the great King who ruleth over all. Fourthly, God hath his house wherein he hath promised to dwell, let everything therein be magnificent, full of splendor, bountiful, fit to entertain his Majesty. The Angels might have said, Fie upon the earth when they sang glory in the highest to see Christ tumbled heedlessly in a Stable by most brutish hospitality; I am sure men deserved no glory for this days work, to bestow their Savior in so ignominious a Lodging; we may all blush to remember it, but that I hope through all Ages we will satisfy for it, as we shall be able, and reform it. Provide for him sumptuously in the beauty of holiness, let no place be statelier than Christ's Church among us Gentiles, because no place was worse than the Manger, wherein he was received among the Jews. These things as I have laid them in order, you may do well to do, and then the good Angels have their wish; but the Devil doth all he can to spoil their celestial music. We like not this partition, says St. Austin, wherein men have peace demised to them, and God hath all the glory; Et dum gloriam usurpant turbant pacem, but they drive away their own peace by usurping glory. O stulti filii Adae, qui contemnentes pacem, & gloriam appetentes, & pacem perdunt, & gloriam; Fond and silly men that neglect peace, and seize upon glory to themselves, and so they lose both peace and glory. But most accurate is this distribution as the Choir of heaven hath laid it forth; Here is nothing but discord and sedition in this lower world, Nation against Nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom; nay, the very bowels of the Church torn out with Questions and Controversies; here the blessing of peace is most to be desired to bring bone unto his bone, and sinew unto his sinew: In the world above their is nothing but righteousness, and zeal, and purity, therefore the proper Incense to be sent up thither is perpetual praise and glory. Avoid Satan that wouldst confound these things, that malignant Spirit knows it would be no peace in earth if men on earth should hunt for glory, but peace will ensue here if glory be given to him that is above. So runs these words which are the Angels Congratulation to God, their Prayer for men, their Sermon unto men, Glory be, &c.

The next staff of the Song is, and on earth peace; for the second happiness on earth is peace, and there is but one blessing, that is God's glory, before it. Some take the word peace in this place personally for Christ himself, as if the Song went, Let God be glorified that hath sent Jesus the Prince of Peace upon earth, who brings good will to men. Qui in coelis glorificatur in terrâ est, & factus terrenus, says one. He that sitteth in the heavens and ruleth over all dwelt upon the earth, and became the peace of earth, and the chastisement of our peace is upon him, Isa. liii. Indeed, he is God from heaven, man from earth, partaker of both in his two natures, and therefore fit to reconcile all, and to put all in peace. It is the Hypostatical union that brings both ends together, the two extremes heaven and earth, and by that inseparable union God greets us with the kiss of love, and gives us osculum pacis, the Symbol of much endeared friendship, the kiss of peace. All enmities were so compounded, and well agreed for his sake, that St. Paul says, He is our peace, Eph. ii. 14. The principal reconciliation which he obtained was, that man might have peace with God; for God wanted his own glory through the Idolatry of the world, and therefore men wanted their peace because of their sins. Our first Fathers prevarication (we must often look back to that woeful estate) had caused such a rupture between God and us, that no doubt the very Angels wondered how that offense would ever be remitted and forgotten. And indeed, that rent could never have been made up, unless God and man by an infinite dispensation had been pieced together in one person; unless he that is greater than Moses had stood before him in the gap to turn away his wrathful indignation, we should all have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Justice hath a great voice among the Attributes of God, carries a mighty sway, and it roared out from Mount Sinai, Cursed is he that keeps not this whole Law, cursed be he that breaks a tittle. Then Christ steps in, the Malediction light upon me, I will endure it, but these Sheep let them be spared. Why Justice could not say this was a total indulgence, then it would have clamoured, but only a commutation of punishment; for our acquitment the Lord did lay upon his Son the iniquity of us all. We must not say, this was just, therefore the Lord decreed it, but the Lord decreed it, therefore this was just. Alius solvit pro debitore, aliud solvitur quam debebatur; one was the debtor, and another satisfied: one thing was owed to God, I mean the life of sinners; another thing was paid, I mean the life of an innocent. So Justice had no injury, and Mercy had no denial; but justitia & pax osculatae sunt, two things that stood at distance were brought together, that is, righteousness and peace did kiss each other, Psal. lxxxiv. If we set not Christ before us the Mediator between God and man, our unworthiness would be such, that we durst not ask of God to be appeased with us: We could expect nothing but tribulation and anguish upon every soul both Jew and Gentile, and that all the Angels should be in arms like Soldiers to bid us battle and to slay us. But Christ came into the world like an Herald to stop the battle, the Angels sang of their arms, Salvation appeared unto us, we cast up our eyes with joy to heaven from whence cometh our help, our help cometh even from the Lord, which hath made heaven and earth; therefore when Christ was brought with triumph into Jerusalem, the Song of the people did a little vary from my Text, Peace in heaven, say they, and glory in the highest; for when the great Majesty of heaven was pleased to spare men on earth, the sure part of the amity was peace in heaven, for when Christ had reconciled us to his Father, that the peace came downward, the Covenant was sure, and could never be broken.

The next peace which the Angels congratulate unto us, is, Interioris domus tranquillitas, if Christ have atoned the variances which our sins made between us and God, peace will succeed within the closets of the conscience, where there was nothing but horror before, and perturbation: Therefore Theophylact doth thus connect the first and second part of this Song, Gloria in excelsis Deo, quia in terra pacem secit, Glory be to God on high, because he hath made peace on earth. Lord let me not be at war with my own heart, though all the world should defy me and set themselves against me. As a continual dripping of humors upon the lungs consumes the body, so a continual disquieting of mind, as if viols of anger from heaven were ready to be poured upon it, breeds such an anxiety in the whole man, that he will wish his whole substance were dissolved into nothing. O thrice happy when God sends that serenity of favor into our thoughts and cogitations, to make us truly say with David, Turn again unto thy rest, O my soul, Psal. cxvi. 7. This is that peace which the world cannot give. This is St. Paul 's confidence against all opposers, Who is he that condemneth, it is Christ that justifieth. When the Wise men asked, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. So sore troubled that he would not spare poor inoffensive babes, who could not offend him; no not his own babes as some say, who were the pillars of his family: when he thrust his sword into them he digged into his own bowels. No man is able to express what a discomfortable mutiny this wretch had within himself. No plague like a wounded disturbed spirit, whereas old Simeon, that saw death at the door, that felt one foot in the Grave, was exhilerated for all that through the joy which he had in Christ, and warbled that Swan-like Dirge over his own Grave, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. Wherefore if there be any of you which have a conscience sorely wounded with horror, and even tempted to despair (which God forbid) chide it with David out of that dreadful mood, Why art thou so sad O my soul? and why art thou so disquieted within me? Hath not Christ said there is peace between God and thee, and dost thou say there is enmity? foolish heart, shall I not rather believe the tidings which an Angel brings, than that which thou dost suggest? and doth not he say, Peace on earth? Whosoever will not be cheered up, will not be comforted, will not be established with hope from this sweet proclamation which the Ministers of Heaven sang unto the Shepherds, it had been better for him that he had never been born: nay, I speak it with reverence to God, and condemnation to such a one, it had been better for him that Christ had never been born, because he receives not the Son of God into his heart, neither believes in his Redemption. Many flagitious sins do make men as execrable before God as the devil himself, but he that despairs of God's mercies, as if Christ would not keep his Covenant of peace with him, I may truly pronounce it against him, that he is even possessed with a devil. O cast forth that evil Spirit, and be resolved, the Lord would never have sent his Angel to sing the Hymn of peace unto men, but to revive our souls, and to raise them up from dust and despair, because he is gracious and favorable to all penitent sinners.

And thus you have heard that upon the occasion of this blessed Nativity of Christ's, the Angels have congratulated both heaven and earth, as David foretold it, Psal. xcvi. 11. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad. The congratulation to men on earth hath been unfolded in two members, that there is peace above us which passeth all understanding; and peace within us, such as the world cannot give. Thirdly, It follows, they sing and rejoice for our sakes that there is peace without us, and on every side a good way laid open to take away all Schisms, strifes, divisions, debates, and as Solomon says in his mystical Song, the voice of the Turtle is heard in our land. What a hurly burly was in the world before Christ made his Church one body out of all Languages and Nations. They that professed the Law of Moses you know had no communication with those millions of millions that knew no Schoolmaster to teach them but the law of nature. Among those few that were zealous of the Law, the Jew forsook them of Israel of the ten Tribes for Rebels and Idolaters. Among the Jews the Pharisee condemned the Sadducce for an Heretic: Then the Samaritan had an antipathy both against Jew and Israelite; and all these accounted of the Gentiles no other ways than as bond-slaves of the Devil. Here was nothing but hate and defiance between one Sect and another over all the world, until Christ broke down the wall of separation, made of two one, invited them all to embrace, and to greet one another with an holy kiss. Thus the Prophet Isaiah upon it, Chap. xix. 23. in his stately but dark eloquence, In that day shall there be a high-way out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and in that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria; that is, there shall be traffic and friendship, and conversation together, from one Nation to another over all the earth. And indeed National feuds are the more odious and unchristian, by how much Christ hath called all people to the sprinkling of the same water, and to alike participation of his Body and Blood at the same table. And it was well apprehended of one, that God hath given unto men more excellent gifts in the skill of Navigation since his Son is born, than ever they had before; that he might show the way how all the Kingdoms of the earth should be sociable together: for Christ hath breathed his peace upon all the Kingdoms of the world.

Then I descend from generals to specials. The Angels did not only see that our Savior had built a wall of Charity, as it were about the whole earth, and made it one, but that his Gospel is the love knot and band of agreement between one member and another in all particular persons. It turns the hearts of the Fathers unto the Children, and of the Children unto the Fathers: it makes peace conjugal between man and wife; for Marriage is a Mystery of Christ and his Church: and the instance which the Apostle lays before us, is, how Christ loved his Church, and laid down his life for it. It attones variances between Neighbor and Neighbor; for it calls upon us to forgive and put up injuries: it non-suits many actions of trespass between man and man, with St. Paul's sweet proposition to the Corinthians, Why do ye not rather suffer wrong? That jangling fellow in the Gospel that came to Jesus to give him authority for his contention, Dic fratri ut mecum dividat, Master, bid my brother that he divide the inheritance with me; our Lord put him off, and would hear of no division: Such motions did jar in the ear of him that was the God of reconciliation. The Law of Moses either was or did seem to be vindicative, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, but the Gospel exhibiteth patience for wrongs received, and benediction for injuries. And indeed the charity of the Law was but partial, as I may say, it admonisheth fairly, Levite. xix. 18. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: But this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or forgetting of all evil done unto them extended only to Israelites, which was not the full and large duty, but an epitome of Charity. If aliens from their own stock had provoked them, though many years before, there's another lesson for it, Deut. xxv. 17. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt. Such fruit grows upon the bramble of the Law, not upon the Olive tree of the Gospel. God forbid that we should keep a Register what Moab, or Amalek, or what any adversary hath done unto us; the peace which the Angels proclaimed forbids, that after the beginning of the new year we should remember the enmities or discords that were occasioned in the old: whosoever nourishes old grudges and contentions, when the heavens sing peace, gives the lie unto the Angels. Let your ear receive this with it, that all other practices of Religion, having not peace and perfect amity among them are but forms of godliness, which deny the power thereof. This is not far off to be proved, but within the verge of the Text; for it will not be regarded that you give glory to God on high, if there be not peace below; you must leave your gift upon the Altar, your glory to God, and go home for peace; go and be reconciled to your brother, and then you are a fit instrument to give God his honor.

Some are always wrangling for the glory of God, as they pretend, and care not which way peace goes on earth. Every theological conclusion, I say not Articles of Faith, but disputable deductions not near the foundation of Faith, must be maintained precisely as they apprehend it, or they cry out that truth is violated further than can be endured: Every ceremonial observation must be either taken off, or discharged punctually as they score a line, or else they contend bitterly that God's Worship is abused. All this while two things are quite forgotten, First, that there is a compass and latitude for men's wits and judgments to be diverse one from another, and yet no unity to be broken. All points touch not to the quick; and in such things because every man's reason hath not the same kind of reach and notion, there may be much variety of opinions without all dissention. Secondly, few lay it to their thoughts, that to meet in agreement as far as possibly the conservation of truth will permit, is far more acceptable to God than an inflexible pertinency, which is rather rigorous than pacificous. There was much ado to settle the pure Doctrine of the Church in the first four hundred years, but nothing avail'd more than that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as the Greek Fathers call it; a condescending one to another, making moderation the umpire of all strifes: By these calm degrees God was more glorified among the Gentiles that were unconverted, who perceived how the Christians kept the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace, than if they had wrangled about every nicety, and prosecuted every disagreement to an utter separation. Peace on earth is a ready means, that glory in the highest may not be scandalized.

And after all this that hath been said, certainly the Angels meaning extends itself thus much further, that the Child which was born in Bethlehem, the Messias of the world would direct them in a way, if men would be diligent to observe it, that there should be no bloody Wars of seditious Princes in all the earth, no Armies clattering together, no rolling in blood; it is his property to break the bow, and knap the Spears in sunder, and to burn the Chariots in the fire: and it makes much that this is votum militare, peace on earth comes from the mouth of Soldiers; the Angels were arrayed like an host in battle when they preached it; as if military men could best tell the world, what a blessed thing it is to have cessation from Wars, and sweet agreement. Our neighbor Kingdoms know the true relish of this Doctrine, who live in continual alarms, losses, destructions, desolations; alas their vintage is become not the blood of grapes, but of men. O 'tis a most savage, a very brutish affection in them that are sick of the long continuance of peace, and wish that Leagues and Truces were expired. They are of another mind, I warrant you, that have felt the unutterable miseries of War, for the space of fifteen years and more, in their flourishing Empire without pause or respiration. He that could certainly pronounce before them, that they should enjoy the liberty of their conscience, and no hostility should invade them, they would receive him with as much gladness as the Shepherd heard the Angel say, Glory he to God in the highest, and on earth peace. But the objection is ready to be cast in my way by every man, (I would it were not) that all the divine inspirations of God have ensued plentifully upon Christ's coming into the world, but nothing less than peace. Persecutions, Massacres, Contentions, irreconcilable Wars, these have entered in wheresoever the Gospel hath been taught, and Jesus denied it not, but said unto the twelve, Think not that I come to send peace into the world, I come not to send peace but a sword, Mat. x. 34. Beloved, opposition and war are not the right fruits of the Gospel, no more than Ivy is the fruit of the Oak tree, though it creep upon it: But pre-supposing the malice and corruption of men, the tidings of salvation, though they exhort unto peace, yet they will beget division; for Satan reigns in the wicked, and it makes him rage to hear celestial Doctrine preached; and that impiety which was asleep before is roused up with the noise of the Gospel, and grows tumultuous: this is consequentiae necessitas non consequentis, an accidental misfortune, not a proper effect.

Yet very true that none is a greater adversary than our Savior to some sorts of peace, Pax Christi bellum indicit mundo, voluptati, carni, demoni, says Beda upon my Text, The peace of Christ breaks the confederacy which sinners have in evil; it defies the Devil and the vain pomp of the world; it draws the sword against blasphemy and Idolatry; it will not let a man be at quiet within himself when he is full of vicious concupiscence. To make a Covenant with Hell, as the Prophet speaks, or to have any fellowship with the works of darkness, as St. Paul speaks, Illa mala pax est, & indigna hominibus bonae voluntatis, that's a pernicious peace, and unworthy of those to whom that blessing belongs, good will towards men. But for brethren to dwell together in a good amity, and as much as in us lies to have peace with all men, it makes heaven upon earth. Malignities and disagreements are things whereof the Angels have no experience in heaven; but because the earth is full of mischief and debate, and there must be seditious truce-breakers at all times, that peace-makers may be more approved: Therefore the Angels do not only congratulate the Church, but they pray for it, that it may abound with peace; and they preach unto it that it may seek peace, and ensue it. We know not so well as the Angels do what an Hell it is to be an enmity with God; we perceive not so well as they what a black sin it is to be at strife and division among ourselves: Hear and attend what they wish for our sakes, and will not we wish the same benefit as heartily to ourselves? wish and labor for it; for they that will not do their part to effect that they pray for, they did but dream, and not pray. The Angels in these words gave our Church a pattern to repeat the collect for peace every day in our morning Devotion, O God which art the author of peace and lover of concord. And that which we pray for daily, compose we our charity to practice daily, especially while it is called today, when we come to the Table of the Lord: The Angels Song is persuasive, but the Body and Blood of Christ doth more effectually commend unto us this middle strain of my Text, Peace on earth.

Now I come to the last part of the three: and as the close of a Song is best composed when it hath a soft and a gentle cadence; so it fails not here in the last note of all, and good will towards men. And good will, &c. so our old English Translation reads it with the conjunction copulative; and perhaps upon the authority of some Greek Copies: but for my own part I never saw, or heard of any that had 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Yet Beza commends the Syrian Paraphrase for adding it to the clearing of the sense, and so do I. And this is gained by it, that the author of that Syrian gloss goes against the common reading of the Latin Church, that make but two portions of this Angelical Ditty, Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , make that noun the Genitive case, as they do, and the whole order is inverted. It is not to be denied unto them but that such a reading is in some ancient Fathers; but the most and the best concur with our Translation. Howsoever let the words have the right interpretation, and that shall make no disagreement.

The Latin Expositors are divided in it; for some say it is peace of good will towards men: others say it is towards men of good will peace. So Beda, Non est pax impiis, sed hominibus bonae voluntatis, This peace on earth belongs not to all promiscuously, good and bad, elect and reprobate, but to such as are well affected to God's glory. And Leo inclines most that way, In terra pax conceditur quae facit homines bona voluntatis; such a peace is come down on earth, as makes men willing and ready to serve the Lord. Surely this is an enforced sense, and must rightly be understood of God's good will towards men, and not of man's good will towards God; for it is the praise of God, and not of man: it is but a color therefore of some learned Romanists to say that as it is specified in the first section to whom glory is given, to God in the highest: so it is fitly specified in the second section, to whom peace is bequeathed, to men of good will. For the very word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 or good will is mostly referred to God, and not to man: and surely it refers itself to God and his good pleasure, not to men, or to any good will of theirs. I know it, and ever preach that consolation to you, that where there is a diligent and a studious endeavor, God will accept of our good will, though the action be offensive, Ut si sit actionis infirmitas, at sit voluntatis integritas, and the Lord will speak peace unto their souls that are men of good will: but Christ came not to save us, because any of us all were men of good will, and took delight in him: nay, he came unto his own, and his own received him not, and when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, Rom. v. 10. They make far better use of the Latin reading that expound 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to be as much as 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , men of good will are men whom God hath respected from on high in his good will and pleasure, such as belong to his beneplacitum, to his election and purpose, before the beginning of the world, and are the children of it. So Tolet most ingeniously, on earth peace of good will towards men, Hoc est, ex Dei beneplacito, & gratuita voluntate, non ex eorum meritis, in the Jewish salutation peace was as much as health and salvation; and God grants peace and salvation of good will to men out of his free love, and the eternal counsel of his own will, and out of no merits of ours. Sponte & gratis nullis praecedentibus meritis voluit mundum salvare, says Nyssen upon it. Of his own accord, of his gratuitous goodness Christ came to save mankind, and for no preceding good works, or good will of ours.

And then the most common reading of the Greek Church is coincident with that true Orthodox sense, and good will towards men; that is, and God's free grace and kind acceptation towards them with whom he was offended. So St. Chrysost. conceives it, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and reconciliation to men. So the Syrian Paraphrast, Et bonum nuntium or Evangelium hominibus, and good tidings towards men: a happy cheerful message to all that will believe in the name of the Lord Jesus; for Christ is our glorifier in heaven, our pacifier on earth, and our reconciler to God. Indeed as there is no difference in the Text between earth and men, so there is as little between peace and good will: peace were rather a captious advantage than a true peace, unless benevolence and good will did follow it. Let God the Father have his glory to himself alone, and to no other; then God the Son will be our peace, our peace that shall have no end, Isa. ix. 7. and God the Holy Ghost, who is the essential love of the Godhead, will seal a pledge and earnest of the Divine Love unto our hearts, and will breath into us the Spirit of love and good will one to another. Amen.

THE NINTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION.

T His is the Sons day, and not the Mothers: This is Christ's own day, and not Mary's. Therefore it is not for the Wombs sake, but for the Fruit of the Womb; not for the Paps of a mortal woman, but for the Infants sake, an immortal God, that I have chosen this Text. A good Israelitess she was that magnified Christ on this manner; though she was not spoken to, yet her heart was full, and she must speak, for her joy would have stifled her if she had not uttered it. If you mark the Context of the Chapter, immediately before these words our Savior had taught his Disciples to pray most divinely he had cast out devils most triumphantly, he had answered the Calumniations of the Pharisees most rationally, he had put on glorious apparel, as the Psalmist says, and girded himself with strength: While these wonderful works were fresh in memory, the Lord from on high could have sent Legions of Angels to magnify his Son, and to praise him with celestial Canticles. But to strike the greater shame into the Pharisees that had blasphemed him, he stirs up a woman, a nameless one, a poor Plebeian; one not admitted near him, she stood afar off, and was fain to speak aloud to be heard, Blessed is the Womb that bare thee, and the Paps which thou hast sucked. It was a free acclamation, a sudden start, a passion that came from her spirit ex tempore, and that I may give Christ his full honor, and attribute no more to the woman than is truth, she prophesied in this saying of greater things than at that time she understood. The Holy Ghost gave her the privilege to be the tongue that delivered this Congratulation, but it remains to us to lend it an heart, that we may truly conceive it. For the inward sense of it is the gladsome contents of this day, blessed be the Father of all mercies for the Incarnation of his Son, that he was made of a woman for our sakes, and blessed are all mankind that he hath taken flesh of our flesh, and that he is made partaker of our human nature. But because it would not prove our benefit that he was born for us, unless he be born in us likewise by faith and obedience, it follows to make our joy and crown complete, yea, rather blessed are they that hear, &c.

The parts are as manifestly two as the two hands wherewith we handle. First, Blessedness offered to us in Christ's Incarnation. Secondly, Blessedness made complete in our own application. The woman begins the Text in the first part, Christ finished in the second. She said well for his Incarnation, Blessed is the Womb that bare thee; He makes it much better by stirrig us up to the use and fruit of it, yea, rather, &c. She blesseth Christ, and Christ blesseth us: she would have all felicity to rest in him; he would have a share of felicity to be derived to us. A pretty strife between a devout Creature and a merciful Creator, between an humble Servant and a bountiful Master; between a true faith, that heaps all honor upon God, and between a gracious God, that heaps the treasures of his riches upon a true faith.

To begin with that which the woman said it must be considered two ways, in a Litteral sense, such as flesh and blood revealed to her: And in a Prophetical sense above her understanding, such as the Spirit of God hath revealed to us. Blessed is the Womb that bare thee: And so it was indeed, according to the Latitude of this woman's natural understanding: For first, she knew at large that it was a blessed thing to be an Instrument, or conveyance of any great good unto others. Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber be, blessed shall she be above women in the Tent, Judge. v. 24. She had done her part to work deliverance for Israel. And when Judith had sped in her adventure to cut off the head of Holofernes, says Oziah, Blessed art thou of the most high God above all the women upon earth, Judith xiii. 18. A good Messenger is called an happy, and the feet of those are pronounced beautiful that bring glad tidings of peace. It is a narrow and an abject conceit of some, that think themselves fortunate, and at the best, when they receive and take in all that can be heaped upon them. These men measure felicity backward, for beatius est dare quam accipere, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Though that Maxim be not extant in any of the Evangelists; St. Paul tells us upon his credit it was our Savior's; The souls of them that are converted to true holiness shall bless the lips of the Priest, the poor shall bless the liberal, after Ages shall bless public Spirits, that do famous things, and are provident for Posterity. A Cistern that contains the waters poured into it is much inferior to a Fountain that sends them forth. It is nothing so laudable to be wrought upon, as to work that which is honorable. Even the Parents, that have enriched the world with such as are ornaments unto it, benediction reflects upon them for it, because they are Conduit pipes of public felicity. Yet all those that have made others happy by their gifts and qualities had been forever unhappy themselves if the Child that was born this day had not sucked the breasts of a Virgin. O happy Parent! whose Womb contained all the treasure that maintains the whole earth. Somewhat she collineated at this meaning that said unto our Savior, Blessed, &c.

And each Parent partakes in this reason, that it is joy and honor to them to have a renowned Son; and it may be this woman was partial to her own Sex, that contented herself to speak of no more than the womb of the Mother. In strict Divinity indeed her words are admirable, for Christ had no Father according to the flesh, but that is more than I collect out of St. Luke, that she mentioned not his Father for that reason: But in all human births, that prove successful and glorious, the loins of the Father are blessed, as well as the womb of the Mother, and the glory of children are their Fathers, Prov. xvii. 6. Yet in the next construction of mere natural capacity, it was proper to say for his sake blessed is the womb, because barrenness was a curse, and fruitfulness of children a blessing. They that propagate a faithful seed upon earth give the means to replenish heaven with Saints; it is that wherein we exceed Angels, to beget Sons and Daughters in our own likeness; and to continue a Generation like ourselves makes mankind by succession as incorruptible as the Angels. God blessed all living Creatures, mark that, God blessed them, and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, Gen. i. 28. Though the Lord said it in his wrath, that the mothers womb should bring forth children in sorrow, yet he never recalled his former Sentence of grace, but that fecundity should be a benediction. As a rich harvest is joyfully received when the Valleys stand thick with Corn, and a rich Autumn is most welcome when the trees bow down their arms to reach us fruit: So Children, and the fruit of the womb are a most desired Heritage that cometh of the Lord. Old Jacob, anon before he departed out of the world, poured out the strength of his prayers upon Joseph, and this benefit he did impropriate to him, Gen. xlix. 25. The God of thy fathers shall bless thee with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. But it had been better for us that all women had been barren if the Savior of mankind had not been enclosed in the womb of Mary. All fruitfulness is to be congratulated, but hers especially, Blessed is the womb, &c.

Thirdly, I make no scruple to affirm it, that this was the very thought and fancy of the woman that uttered these words, that the Mother was most honored, full of fame and glory, who had a Son that spake so divinely, and wrought such heavenly Miracles. It is a great recompense which God gives to careful Parents upon earth, when their offspring live soberly and temperately to be their comfort and honor. Do you question it, but that Rebekah was pleased above all contents which the earth could afford, when Jacob, whom she tendered as her hearts darling, was so just and diligent in the fear of the Lord? Do you suppose that Bathsheba knew not how many eyes of favor were upon her, how many tongues did congratulate her, when her Solomon was the wisest of all the Kings of the earth that sat upon a Throne? With what exultation did Olimpia speak often of her Son Alexander and his Monarchy? How did Cornelia, the Mother of the Gracchi, please herself, when certain strangers noted her for a plain Matron, that wore no rich or gaudy dressings, as the fashion of the Roman Ladies was in those days; but when her hopeful Sons came home, she told her Guests those were her Cabinet of Jewels, Hi sunt mei torques, haec mea monilia. And this is the reward on earth of all Paternal care and anxiety, Spes surgentis Iuli, that solace which you take in the ingenuous obedience of children, as we call it, towardliness. And the neglect of their breeding (a mischief which is seldom recovered, if the Plant be marred in the first setting and tendance) I say that neglect is a manifest 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a plain want of natural affection, which is a denying of the faith: But the fear of the Lord which is instilled into Children from their Infancy is not only the Children's, but even the Parents happiness. The rare endowments that appeared in Christ made a certain woman here cast the praise of it upon the Mother, Blessed, &c.

And thus far in the Litteral sense, as far as flesh and blood could reveal unto her: But if she could have seen into the Scriptures, as the holy Spirit hath enabled us to see into them, there are other grounds of more Evangelical observation. And first let it be noted, that the blessedness which is attributed to the womb that bore our Savior redounds to all the members of his mystical body. Even as upon that saying of our Savior to St. Peter, Blessed art thou, &c. Mat. xvi. St. Austin says, that the words should not have a full and illustrious sense unless they were referred to the whole Church: So this saying in my Text were maimed and imperfect unless we enlarged it thus to all Believers, blessed, and thrice blessed are all the Sons and Daughters of God through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, who was he that came down into this wretched world to make it almost equal with heaven itself. Let the Earth be glad, and let the Hills rejoice, let the Sea make a noise, and all that is therein. What a flower of Jessai did the earth bring forth instead of thorns and briars? What a Day-star did shine upon our Hemisphere, which was justly threatened with eternal darkness? What Prince of peace was this which visited us when we were at war and defiance with God and ourselves, and with all the Powers of Heaven? What purity was this which mixed with our uncleanness? What Omnipotent that descended to our weakness? What Immortal that would be dishonored with our corruption and mortality? All treasures of Wisdom are hid in his age of nonage; all Strength in his infant infirmity; all Riches in his state of poverty; all Righteousness in him that was accused of iniquity; all Freedom from bondage in him that was wrapped up in swaddling clouts; all Felicity in him that was encompassed with weakness and misery: These are the fruits of his Nativity, these are the benefits of his birth and infancy. The Eternal Father did more for us when he made him flesh than when he made the heaven and the earth beside; without his Incarnation the Earth had been our Curse, all the Elements our Plague, the Heaven above our Envy, and the Hell beneath our portion forever. But as soon as ever the Babe, who is blessed forever, did open the womb, our fetters were broken in sunder, the kingdom of darkness spoiled, no Malediction remained in the Law any longer, no curse in death. Hoc est Christianae fidei fundamentum, quia unus per quem ruina, alius homo Christus per quem structura. This is the foundation of Christian faith, this is the scope of all the Scripture, this is the ground work of all hearts ease and consolation, that one man was our ruin, and another man was our reparation.

As the Apostle says, Heb. ii. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? we deserve to mourn if we do not magnify God for this joy: we deserve to be miserable forever, if we prefer not the blessing we received this day for the very crown of our happiness. Though you now see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory, 1 Pet. i. 8. One man in a family having a fortunate advancement makes his whole blood and kindred fortunate with him; how much more shall Christ make all mankind happy being made one of us, accedens ad nos per id quod assumpsit ex nostro, & liberans nos per id quod mansit ex suo. He is come near unto us all by that nature which he assumed of ours; and he hath redeemed us all by that glorious Deity which was ever his own. Finally, there was a concurrency of all sorts of blessedness in this most mysterious Incarnation. The Mother pure from all carnal copulation and incorrupt in her Virginity, the place comfortable to the worst sinners, because he chose his habitation among beasts in a stable, and an ostery for the common resort of all passengers, because he came into the world for a public benefit. The time most seasonable and accommodate, the very fullness of time, as the Apostle says. Whereupon St. Ambrose, Christus tanquam maturitas advenit, ut nihil acerbum, nihil immaturum, nihil immite sit, he came when all the fruits of comfort were mellow, ripe, and delicious, that nothing might be sower, or harsh, or distasteful to us. Tardius enascitur cupressus seris umbram factura nepotibus, says Pliny, the Cypress tree is long a growing, yet when it is grown up to a tree, the shade of it serves for an harbor to the child unborn. So the long expectation of Christ's coming is requited with those blessings that grow up more and more, and spread wider and wider for all generations to come. The company that came from heaven to congratulate this day most glorious, and cheerful, a multitude of heavenly host; and what a mighty army hath he levied to take our part, in respect of those few scattered forces which are against us. The manner of his birth most edifying and instructive, in all abjectness and low estate, in all poverty and humility. A magnificent pompous Savior would have been a scandalous example, as we may well mistrust it, to the high imaginations of our hearts, and might sooner have destroyed this proud world than redeemed it; we did not want a Champion in arms, but an Infant in swaddling clouts. We did not need a Prince guarded with his Peers, but one in the form of a servant, whose best companions that came about him were silly Shepherds. It was not for our turn to have one that would keep state and ruffle, Superbia non est magnitudo sed tumor, Pride is not greatness verily and in truth; nay, but a tumor that is blown up with appearance. It was for our profit to have one that did empty himself of his glory, and make himself of low degree, that man may blush away his own pride, when he sees the Son of God invested with humility. Finally, the fruit of this Nativity, O the fruit of it is passing delectable and unutterable! grace, illumination, vacancy from fear of condemnation, tranquility of conscience, angelical protection here, angelical society hereafter: to know the rigor of the Law was the old lesson, to know the Covenant of Grace the new: to live and die were vulgar things, to rise from death and to live forever came by him, who being our head was made mortal, that we might be immortal members of his body. So I have pointed only to severals as in a map, to the felicity of the Womb he chose, of the place that received him, of the time that exactly fitted him, of the company that congratulated him, of the humility that adorned him, of the precious fruit that grew from him, that the Sum might redound to make up this principal point of my Text: everlasting blessing is the free gift of God to this whole world, through the Incarnation, &c.

The second Evangelical observation above that which the woman conceived that spake these words is thus: Both the Womb and the Paps also of common Mothers are obnoxious to many miseries, and to such great ones sometimes that they prove mortal. The subtlety of the Serpent brought this curse upon the Womb of mothers, Gen. iii. 16. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and conception, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. That calamity is a common wound to that tender sex, not so apt to bear any sore affliction. But the birth of Christ was without the pangs and hard travail of the Mother. The malediction was not upon Mary, but Blessed was the womb that bare him, Ipsa genetrix fuit, & obstetrix, says St. Cyprian, Mary was both the Mother and the Midwife of the Child: Far be it from us to think that the weak hand of any woman could facilitate that work which was guided only by the miraculous hand of God, The Lord did do his own work; so great, so transcendent without all human assistance. And mark another reason of St. Austin's, if any should headily contradict it, Quod sine voluptate carnis concepit, sine dolore peperit; The Virgin conceived our Lord without the lusts of the flesh, and therefore she brought him forth without the dolour, without the curse of the flesh. And many other of the Fathers, for it was their common tradition, have these similitudes upon it; As a Be draws honey from the flower without offending it; as Eve was taken out Adams side without any grief to him; as a Sprig opens the bark of a tree to grow out of it; as the light sparkles from the light of a Star: such ease it was to Mary to bring forth her first born Son. Gravida sed non gravabatur, says Bernard, She had a burden in her Womb before she was delivered; yet she was not burdened: that lies upon this proof that she took a journey instantly before she was delivered from Nazareth to Bethlehem, above forty miles; and yet she suffered it without weariness or complaint. For such was the power of the Babe, that he did rather support the Mothers weakness, than was supported. And as he lightened his Mothers travail by t he way, that it was not tedious to her tender age; so he took away all dolour and imbecility from her travail in Child-birth: This was a benediction upon her Womb, Blessed is the Womb, &c.

Thirdly, In this the woman prophesied more than she understood; that whereas nature is like Hagar that bringeth forth children unto bondage; and all the offsprings which Mothers bring forth are in themselves accursed from the womb; for we are all born and conceived in sin, Prius reati quam nati; only this child, this Immanuel, this holy of holies was a righteous branch, that knew no sin, that had no part in iniquity; and therefore exempted from that malediction which lies upon our shoulders from the first hour wherein we are born. According to the strictness of the Law, by which no flesh is justified, that sentence is most righteous against us all, Deut. xxviii. 18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body. Therefore Job sell out with his birth-day, and so did Jeremy; for until the time that we are regenerate and born anew, 'tis most true, which they perhaps disgusted in discontent, Cursed be the day wherein I was born; let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. St. Ambrose reduceth it very well to this moral application, let the day of my first birth perish, that I may be accounted to live from the day of my regeneration, Pereat dies secularis ut dies spiritualis oriatur, vanish those days of sin, that none but spiritual days may shine upon me. But all that bitter mourning came from hence, that nothing but wrath and rejection belongs unto us, as we are born in original depravation. This is true in all, one only excepted, who in the similitude of sinful flesh took our nature upon him without the filthiness of it. Blessed was the womb which brought him forth who was blessed from the Womb, who was born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but was the holy one of God, and conceived by the Holy Ghost. If ten righteous had been found in Sodom, it had not been destroyed for tens sake; but when one righteous one was not found among all the sons and daughters of men, when we have all gone out of the way, and there is none that doth good, no not one, Rom. iii. 12. What will become of us, when there is not one to make atonement? not one for whose sake the rest may be mercifully entreated? Why, it rested only in him who is one by himself, above all, to be made poor, that we might be made rich; to be made sin for our sakes, that we might be found righteous in him who was born pure and unstained, yet made a curse for our sakes, that we that are born under the malignity of a curse might be made pure and undefiled to live in blessedness for evermore.

Nay fourthly, before I end this point, she that said Blessed is the womb that bare thee, she came short in her conceit by far, how highly Mary was favored of God, how highly exalted above all women, that the Infinite did not abhor to be enclosed in her Womb. Never was such honor cast upon any mortal creature, never the like glory incident to any Archangel: Nay, since this fact is past and gone, which is so marvelous in our eyes, none can be capable of such excellency hereafter. And therefore Beza breaks out, Quis non fateatur Mariam infinitis partibus omnium mulierum praestantiam superare? Who will not confess that Mary excels all women in glory by infinite degrees? Is not that home spoken? no just praise can be attributed to so excellent a vessel, that our Church will not say Amen unto it. An evil spirit is in them that charge us for being malignant to her eximious praise; because as we avoid contumacious neglect of her honor, so we do as much decline Superstition and Blasphemy. We never gain-said that Hymn in their Missal, Beata viscera Mariae Virginis, quae portaverunt aeterni patris filium, Blessed be the Womb of Mary that bore the Son of an Eternal Father. We learnt it of the Angel, Luke i. 28. Blessed art thou among women. We learnt it of her Cousin Elizabeth who was great at that time with the greatest Prophet that ever was, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Ver. 45. Elizabeth renowns her in the very same words that the Angel did, says St. Ambrose, Novit sermonem suum spiritus sanctus, neque unquam obliviscitur: Nay we will rather learn it of herself than of Angels, and Prophets, All generations shall call me blessed. She bare record of herself, and yet she is worthy to be believed; for she sought not her own praise, but magnified the power of God.

I would some would stay at this, and not pour on such measure as runs over, and cannot be defended. What a vanity is it to tell us that the Angels sing Hymns of her praise in Heaven? for which of them hath ascended up to Heaven to bring us tidings of that? and what an impiety it is to abuse the people with so many thousand Miracles of her aid, assistance, and apparitions, as can be believed by none, but by idiots of most stupid credulity; and with what scandalous profaneness are they transported to call her the Queen of Heaven; to enstile her a Court of Chancery, to which we must sue to mitigate Christ's Justice, to cry out Impera filio tuo Deipara, command thy Son thou Mother of God: as St. Jerome said of Nepotian in his funeral Oration, Felix qui haec non videt, foelix qui haec non audit, happy she that did not see that immoderate honors done unto her, happy she that did not hear those Blasphemies. When Blesilla a woman that had been most modest in her apparel was buried with great pomp, and a golden Mantle was cast upon the Coffin, says the same Father, Videbatur mihi clamare de coelo non agnosco vestes, amictus iste non est meus, she seemed to me to cry from Heaven, I renounce this pomp, that gorgeous garment which you cast upon my corps, I will not own it for mine. So methinks the Holy Virgin speaks from heaven, I renounce these superlative super-mortal titles, the worship that you give me, the prayers that you make unto me are not mine. Go not further than this woman did, who did lift up her voice for our Savior's sake, and said, Blessed, &c.

I have done with the first general part of the Text, the acclamation, both as a certain woman apprehended the words in her natural understanding, and in that prophetical sense which was above her understanding. Now it will be most material to observe how the Master of all wisdom corrected and refined it, yea rather blessed, &c. First, upon the note of emendation 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , yea rather, then upon the simple proposition, Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , yea rather blessed are they; which is spoken not negatively, but comparatively, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 says Theophylact, Christ doth not thrust out his Mother from the list of the blessed; take heed of such a thought: neither doth he reject it, but that it was to be counted in some part of happiness, that Mary bore such a Son. An accumulation of good in any kind is a felicity much more in this, Blessed are the eyes which see that which you see, says our Savior to his Disciples. I, and he were to be reputed a stupid stock, that would not have reckoned himself most fortunate to have cast his eyes upon that glorious Babe in the Cratch, whom the poor Shepherds beheld this day with so much reverence; then ascend up in your imaginations, and compare things together justly: Was it not ten thousand times more noble and happy to be his Mother, than to be his beholder; to have fed him with her Breasts, than to have seen him as some did, to have attended him, as Joseph his reputed Father did, or to have held him in his arms as Simeon did, or to have touched the hem of his garment, as one that had a bloody issue did: yet there was somewhat which doth surpass all these: for they that pierced him saw him, Judas touched him and kist him, the High Priests servants held him and bound him, his Mother Mary bore him, and nourished him with her paps; but that did not make her soul more holy, or more acceptable to God: she magnified God, she believed, she obeyed. From thence and from nothing else we are assured, that her soul reigneth in eternal glory.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , yea, rather; that note is not at all in the Syrian Paraphrast: so we can have no help from thence to understand it. Erasmus says it is a particle, Quae nec affirmat, nec negat; it neither assents to that which the woman uttered, nor yet contradicts it, but leaves it in medio, untouched and unanswer'd. The Jesuit Maldonado will make Calvin his adversary many times where he is not, and lays to his charge this impiety, that Christ should cross all that was said before. 'It is not so that the Womb is blessed which bare me, no, blessed are they, &c. Calvin God wot, hath no such asseveration, but thus, Fere pro nihilo haec ducit Christus, & longe est inferius, &c. But 'tis large in this form, it cannot be denied, says he, but that God exalted Mary to the highest honor, when he elected and destined her to be the Mother of his Son; but Christ reputes this as nothing, and much inferior to the other: to hear the word of God and keep it, is there any offense in this? not any. And what if it be Maldonats own opinion in other words: thus he, Utrum que, & quod dictum est, & quod dicendum affirmat, sed dicto, dicendum proponit. Our Savior affirms that the woman said true, Blessed is the womb, &c. And he affirms it was blessed to hear the word of God and keep it: but he prefers the spiritual blessedness of hearing the word of God and keeping it, before the natural blessedness to bear him in the womb. This is most true, and runs thus in St. Austin's elegancy, Beatior Maria percipiendo fidem Christi, quam concipiendo carnem Christi. O sacred Virgin much more happy in entertaining the Faith of Christ, than in conceiving the Flesh of Christ. For the second Covenant, which is the anchor of Salvation, is, Crede & vive, believe and thou shalt be saved; not uterum gere & vive, bear the Son of God in thy Womb, and thou shalt be saved. Eusebius Emissenus speaks enough to have angered Maldonado, yet sound and good in true construction; She whom thou dost magnify was not therefore blessed, because she was my mother and bore me, Sed quia verbum audivit, audiendo credidit, credendo custodivit; but because she was glad to hear my word, and what she heard she believed willingly, and what she believed she practiced diligently.

Her own Cousin Elizabeth extended her salutation to this sense, Blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord, Luke i. 45. A quip for her own Husband Zacharias by the way, who had a message brought him by an Angel, and gave no credit to it, and was stricken dumb for incredulity; but Mary had all applause and congratulation from heaven and earth, from Angels and men, because she heard the word and believed it. Nay, Christ himself hath confirmed this construction most sharply and emphatically, Mat. xii. 48. Who is my Mother? and who are my brethren? and he stretched forth his hand to his Disciples Behold my mother and my brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of my Father that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother. And if it would not profit Mary to have given the bread to such a Son without Faith and obedience, how can any other carnal respect and advantage do us good? fleshly consanguinities and prerogatives make additions in a coat of armory; but we must stand before the tribunal of God disrayed of all such circumstances. A wise Heathen could taunt at them that boasted the smoky Images of their Ancestors, Ut quod in fructu non teneas mireris in trunco, says St. Jerome, as eloquent as any of the Heathens, Shall we commend the stock of a tree, when we cannot commend the fruit? Finally, St. Paul divorceth the Jews and all others from pretending a carnal propinquity with Christ: says he, We know no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth we know him so no more, 2 Cor. v. 16. The Mother whose paps he sucked must not glory that she fed him, but that he fed her, and gave her living waters of his Word and Spirit to drink. Yea rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.

I must not, and if I would I have no time, set forth before you what a secundity of error there is in man's heart about the notion of blessedness. Our Savior confines our straggling imaginations to this rule, that no good thing of a subordinate condition can style a man happy; 'tis a title to be given to that immense communication of good, when the soul shall enjoy the fullness of him that filleth all in all. But the means that impetrate a reward, and the reward itself are knit so individually together, that nothing is enjoyed in the one, but is affirmed of the other: And he that goes the right way to the eternal joys above, is canonized happy, as if he were in those joys already, Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. The Kingdom of God is not meats and drinks, but a pure and a righteous spirit. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , says St. Basil very truly; a pure and a sanctified soul is the first ascent of happiness. And this is tried by two particulars; first, if we treasure up the precious things of God in our ear, then if we transmit them to a more inward and a safer place, and treasure them up in our heart. Whether your consciences be sometimes vexed with a Sermon, or whether your heart be pricked, or whether the Doctrine delivered be most opposite to your appetite in way of profit, or pleasure, or reputation; yet still remember it is a blessed thing to hear, and a great honor to dust and ashes that God will speak unto you: And he that is cloy'd with hearing hath such a surfeited constitution, that he is cloy'd with blessedness. Mary her sitting attentive to hear our Savior, was unum necessarium, not a thing well done, but yet indifferent, and at her own choice whether she would do it or no: but it was, unum necessarium, a necessary part of obedience which concerned her salvation. The Lord from heaven began his law with the command of hearing, hear O Israel, Deut. iv. 1. And so the voice of the Father from heaven began the Gospel, This is my beloved Son, hear him. The fault of this age (to speak the truth) is not in this, that there want hearers; for excepting some few that think themselves wise enough already, and that they need not learn; and excepting some irreligious and profane ones that refuse true wisdom, and never think of their latter end; but the generality in all places will not stick to show their duty in hearing, but with divers they are men's gifts and persons which they admire and follow: if those men teach whom their ear tastes, or if it be such kind of teaching as they will only like in their prejudicate humors, then have with you, they will be present in the Congregation. Whereas our Savior hath abstracted from all such human qualifications and scandalous niceties, that the sound of his Ministers should go forth into all the world, and he that hath ears to hear, let him not be so scrupulous in his choice, but let him hear. Paul was pleased to have Christ preached either through contention, or sincerely; all manner of ways, says he, I rejoice, Phil. i. 18. They that came to mock the Apostles as men drunk, were caught by hearing them. They that came to take our Savior, themselves were taken by hearing, John vii. 37. Many of the negligent rank, that come to gaze about, rather than to attend; many that come hither with affections worse than beasts, depart converted and repentant with a new heart, and a new spirit more like Angels than men. In brief, let the Heathen, that communicate not in the Gospel, enjoy all that this earth and the plenty thereof can afford; yet they, and none but they are blessed that hear the word of God.

And if you will make a good man, ply him apace with this exhortation to hear, yet know now that is but the first rude draught of him till you finish him with that which follows; he must hear and keep that which he hears. Let him hear the sayings of Christ and do them, then he shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, Mat. vii. 24. Custodia Sermons Dei est ejus adimpletio, says Euthymius upon my Text, to keep the word is to do as we are taught, and to endeavor to fulfil the royal Law. This is the very concluding promise which God did send to Israel by his messenger Moses, If thou shalt hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, blessed shalt thou be in the City, and blessed in the field, Deut. xxviii. most divinely the Psalmist, Psal. cxi. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding have all they that do thereafter. So that the understanding of the law of God consists not in knowledge and speculation, but in practice and execution. We must be Servants as well as Disciples. The work of a Disciple is to hear and conceive aright, but the work of a Servant is to do and obey: and though dissimulation will intrude itself into every good thing, yet there may be, nay, there is ten thousand times more hypocrisy in hearing, than there can be in doing. Imperfect fruits are more pleasing to God than bare leaves. A sorry doer such a one as Ahab was, in his sullen and crude repentance, shall have more recompense from God than a barren unprofitable hearer, that thrusts in at all the Lectures and Exercises that City and Country affords. Live so, that all men may see you have often talked with God, and God hath spoken often to you from this holy place; else I must leave you among those that are censured by St. Paul, 2 Tim. iii. 7. Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. I told you before that Mary sat at our Savior's feet to hear his Sermon, when Martha minded other domestical business; between those two, Mary's choice was much more transcendent, and unum necessarium, but not unicum, one necessary duty, but not the only; a part of Religion but not the whole: for in another place Mary's part of doing was far better than her part of hearing; I mean her anointing of Christ's head with a box of precious ointment, For this that she hath done shall be spoken of throughout the world, Mat. xxvi. 13.

Let me make a summary application of all, and so conclude. This day we begin to solemnize the Incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and continue it with a Festival dedication for twelve days following. There are three sorts of men that make most different uses of it; some that are Epicures, and never consider what great work the Lord wrought at this time, that we have an Advocate with the Father, who is the propitiation for our sins: but they consider that feasting and freedom are vulgar in these days, and they take their fill of that: but according to their riotous manners you cannot conceive that they keep the Birth of Christ holy, but that they celebrate a wakes for the making of some golden Calf, for they sit down to eat and to drink, and rise up to play. Secondly, There are others that honor God with their lips, that will say this is an happy season wherein a Redeemer came down among us; God hath raised up a mighty salvation for us all, because he hath sent his Son to take our nature upon him. And as Micah said, being a most idolatrous sinner, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my Priest, Judge. xvii. 11. So these men flatter themselves in their impenitent lives, Now know I that the Lord will be merciful and spare me, since the word became flesh and dwelt among us. But I hope there are many of the third sort, that conceive unutterrable gladness for the Nativity of their Savior; but they know withal that as Christ is the meritorious cause of all blessedness, so it is a most barren faith to rest only in the contemplation of that: for as all mankind are blessed that the womb did bear him, and that the paps did give him suck; so it must be accomplisht by this obedience, Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. Do you love him for his Incarnation? then keep his sayings, If a man love me he will keep my sayings. Do you wonder that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son? then take heed of maligning and hating one another. He that says he loves God, and hateth his brother, is a liar, and there is no truth in him. Do you honor his humility, then command yourself to imitate him in lowliness of heart? would you do all due celebration to his sacred Birth, frequent his holy Temple, and hear his word and observe it. 'It is much in every ones talk, who keeps a good house in Christmas. Beloved, you are now at this present in the best that is, Can any man keep a better house than God? would you wish a more delicious banquet then such Confessions, such Collects, such Litanies, such heavenly Prayers, as our Church hath appointed, in which there is nothing wanting but company to attend them; what delicacies are contained in the holy Scriptures both read and preached unto you? what edifying Doctrine in the Homilies which are read on the Saints days, together with the Divine Service? and above all, what Nectar? what Manna? what restoring Cordials are received in the Blessed Sacrament? This is the house which God keeps, who also allows you to be cheerful at home at this season, and commends it to you to feed the hungry; but especially show your thankful heart in frequenting his Church of Saints, that you may hear his word gladly, and obey it dutifully, and reign with him eternally. Amen.

THE TENTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION.

O Ur Text the last year for the solemnization of this day was, Blessed is the Womb that bare thee, and the Paps which thou hast sucked. Our Text this year makes good the words of our Savior, Blessed are the eyes which see that which ye see. For so the devout Simeon magnifies his own happiness that the Incarnation of Christ fell out in his days, and that his eyes had seen his salvation. To give him suck was more than to look upon him, to bear him in the Womb far more noble than to dandle him in the Arms, therefore this Text doth follow the other, as the lesser happiness comes behind the greater. Yet if you regard it as a testimony among those Witnesses that confessed Christ was come into the world, it is either equal to the first, or next unto the best. I bear more reverence to the Thrones that stand before the face of God than to compare him with the Angels, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , &c. they are immortal, and cannot see death; Simeon had one foot in the grave, and beg'd to depart in peace. If they speak from heaven they command us to believe them, he was a frail man, obnoxious to passions, and though he spake as the Spirit gave him utterance he could no more than persuade. Without all controversy therefore the testimony of Angels, so far as I have laid it forth, is much more excellent. Yet will you come now to other Collations, the Angel preached his hodie natus, this day a Savior is born, to a few, and to the meanest of the Laity, to certain Shepherds. Simeon testified that the salvation of God was come unto Israel before the best of the Priests, in the audience of all those that were met together in the Temple, and so his saying would go much farther than the Angels when persons of such authority and estimation received them from his mouth. The Angels seemed to restrain the fruit of Christ's birth to the Jews only, vobis natus, this day is born unto you: The Prophetical Ejaculations of this old Patriarch impart him to all, to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel. With all others that witnessed of this day thus far I will contend, whether they were the Shepherds, or the Wise men of the East, they were blessed instruments of God's honor, yet the Scripture hath not given us their names, nor yet described them by any sanctified property; but Simeon is named, and his virtues are remembered, he was a just man, and a devout, and he looked for the consolation of Israel. The rest were like to live, and vigorous of body, some could endure to watch over their flocks all night, some could travel from far Countries in the depth of Winter, neither of them probably near their end, this man was full of days, ready to give up the Ghost, ready to give up his accounts to God, and to answer for every idle word, and at the last gasp, when it was no time to dissemble, he preached that the Babe whom he then embraced was Christ the Lord. He preached it; nay, he sang it likewise, in a more joyful strain than any Witness that had gone before him (except the Angels ) his words in his own language (which we have not) were Metrical and Poetical, says Maldonado, the whole tradition of the Church is so universal for it, that Calvin, who useth to condescend to no terms but such as are found in Scripture, is content to call it the Song of Simeon. If you allege, that the Magnificat of the blessed Virgin was a triumphal holy Song, and likewise the Benedictus of Zacharias, I will not gainsay it, so I rejoin, which is true, that they were sung in private houses, this is the first Hymn or Anthem in all the New Testament which was sung in the Public Temple. Finally, That I be not tedious in my Proem, this Song, whereof my Text is a Moyty; was uttered with such a divine gravity, that at this testimony, and at no other, it is said, that Joseph and his Mother marveled at these things which were spoken of him, ver. 33 in this Chapter.

But to make that which they wondered at easy to be understood, there are these two general parts of my Text, Occidens and Oriens, a Star setting, and the Sun rising, Simeon departing this world and Christ approaching. Therefore the first verse is Epicedium, a Dirge for a Funeral, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word: The second verse is Genethliacon, a Congratulation of a Nativity, For mine eyes have seen thy Salvation. Simeon would be gone because Christ was come; marvelous strange indeed, for if ever this world were worth the living in, it was when He did live upon the earth, in the form of a man. To sift therefore the agreeableness of those two parts attend to these particulars: First, Here is a Supplicant the servant of the Lord, Lord now lettest thou thy servant. Secondly, The Petition of his soul, to depart. Thirdly, The time which he sets, Now, Lord now — Fourthly, he pleads that he was well prepared to depart, for his heart was in peace, Lord now — Fifthly, the assurance in which he trusted that God would grant him his desire, for it was according to his word. Sixthly, and principally, Here is the reason upon which he framed his desire why he would depart, he had seen that which his soul waited for before it flitted away, For mine eyes have seen thy Salvation. You shall now hear the income of these, if you will attend them.

The Supplicant stiles himself the Servant of the Lord, and he that can say so much for himself may speak with boldness, for the Lord will deal well with his servant according to his word, Psal. cxix. 35. Magna humilitas, sed magna simul dignitas, says St. Jerome; It is great humility to confess ones self a Servant, but it is no little dignity to profess ones self such a Servant, to be the Servant of God, and not the Servant of men by vile obsequiousness, nor the Servant of a man's own Passions by lust and sensuality, nor the Servant of sin by giving place unto the Devil, this is a freedom that excels all other liberty. To serve the Lord, Optabilius est quàm regnare, nedum liberum esse, says Philo, it is to be preferred before a Kingdom, how much more before that, which the world calls freedom from servitude. And yet I deny not but the bondage of them that served God faithfully under the Law was very great, they were enthraled to Ceremonies about Meats, about Apparel, touching Marriages, touching Observation of days, touching the very labor of the Cattle in the field, and what not; It was a burden, as the Apostles testify, which neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear; yet there was sweetness in all this, because it was done for the Lord's sake, though the task had been stricter. David did well set forth the condition of the Law, unto what great bondage it did captivate a man, in these words, Behold, O Lord, how that I am thy servant, I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid, a servant in extremity of thralldom, and therefore it was repeated a Servant born, for partus sequitur ventrem, he must needs be so that was the Son of an handmaid; he was born to be circumcised, and to be a debtor to the whole Law. Such were all they that boasted themselves to be the only freemen in the world, because they were the Sons of Abraham. Nay, Simeon was not only such a Servant, as I have hitherto described, bridled under the Pedagogy of Moses Law, but out of the relative terms of my Text I will show that he was in greater subjection and awe; for how doth he call the Lord here? Not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is a Lord that had power of life and death over his Vassal, you shall not find it used again in all the four Evangelists. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ; says Favorinus; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is the Lord of a bondman, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of a freeman, that is an hired servant. I have plaid the Critick enough; such servants, those 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 were anciently called so, not because they were paid for their labor which they did undergo in drudgery, but because they were taken by hostility, and their lives were forfeited to the Conqueror, who had power to slay them, yet spared them, and resigned them up into their hands that would lay down a ransom for them. So Simeon confesseth that God had the power of life and death over him; when he might have killed him, out of his clemency he spared him. Behold a Servant then (and such as he was such were all the Jews) a man under the yoke of the Law, and under the power of death. But behold as this day the Deliverer was born, and did quite change the copy of our service. Christ as God did put the Church under the servitude of the Law, but being made man he hath exempted us to the liberty of the Gospel; and though we shall all die, through that sentence which cannot be repealed, yet if we believe that he hath given himself a ransom for us, and live unto righteousness, we shall not die unto condemnation.

But that you may know what kind of servants they are that retain to that family whereof God takes the care and administration, mind the character of Simeon, which the Holy Ghost gives him in the verses preceding my Text; for his Calling it is obscurely past over thus, there was a man in Jerusalem. Galatinus says out of the Rabbins that one Simeon the just, was the Master of the great Doctor Gamaliel, and that may very well light upon this Simeon. Much hath been urged to prove him to be a Priest, but to no purpose. Salmeron and Tolet allege, that when a child came to be presented to the Lord, the Priest took the child out of the arms of his Mother, and did not restore him again till he was redeemed for five Shekles of Silver according to the Law, Num. xviii. but how will they prove that a Child might not light into the arms of some other incidentally, as well as into the arms of the Priest? Yea, but Simeon blessed Joseph and Mary, ver. 34. that is a Sacerdotal action. Nay, not always; old Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and every Prophet is an instrument of Benediction. At the last heave, says Tolet, it is an old tradition of the Church to paint him in a Priestly Vesture; an hard refuge, when they refer us for a proof to Pictures, and not to the Word of God. Whether the Priesthood or the Layty may challenge him for theirs I know not; one thing I know, that he was a just man, and waited for the consolation of Israel; a pious holy Father, a frequenter of the Temple, a man uncompounded with the world, but this was his righteousness, that he looked for the blessed offspring God and man, whom the Lord would send to redeem his Saints. You will say, perhaps, did not all the Jews expect the Messias? What did he more than other men? Why, herein he did exceed them, that they did not look for such benefits from the Messias as Simeon did, such spiritual refreshment for the soul and for the spirit. Then, the common sort of people looked for Christ afar off, he looked for him just at that time, near at hand. As Joseph of Arimathea is said to look for the Kingdom of God, that is, to see Christ incarnate even then, in the fullness of time, Luke xxiii. 51. Again, others waited for Christ, but carelessly without any earnest affection, Simeon even languisht with longing, and did passionately desire it. St. Austin says, that he did continually pray for the coming of Christ, and often repeated that of David, Psal. lxxxv. Shew us thy mercy O Lord, and grant us thy salvation, and then God answered him, that he would fulfill his hearts desire. Nicephorus tells us a vagrant story, that Simeon was reading those words, Isa. vii. Behold a Virgin shall conceive a Son, and being solicitous what that place should mean, an Angel appeared, and told him he should not die till he had seen that Babe with his eyes of whom Isaiah Prophesied. This is certain, the Holy Ghost had given him some great assurance of it. The Spirit was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , ver. 25. not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , not only in him, but upon him, which signifies extraordinary assistance, as when it is said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Isa. lxi. You see now with what endowments of heavenly graces Simeon was enriched, before he called himself the servant of the Lord. His modesty would give himself no better title, yet our Savior speaks better things of those that believed, Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth, but I have called you friends, &c. Joh. xv. 15. It is not the meaning, that we shall ever out-grow the name of servant, for even at the day of judgment, in the time of our reward, it shall be said, Well done good and faithful servant. But here it is, we are all servants by debt and nature, the Gospel stiles us friends by Covenant and Composition. Before Christ was revealed God dealt with them of the Synagogue as with servants, he did not reveal the mysteries of the Trinity, of the Incarnation, of the coming of the Holy Ghost; if he did reveal them to the Prophets, it was ex privilegio, not ration status, it was by special privilege, not by common publication; that which was a secret among some few is now vulgar to all. God hath disclosed his hidden treasures to us as unto friends. He was their Lord, so he is ours, but he is also our Father. They were his servants, and so are we; but the interest we have in Christ, that hath taken our nature upon him; hath made us more than servants, and exalted us to be his friends.

Hitherto I have held your attentions to the Supplicant, now the Petition of his soul comes in order, that he may depart. The Servant had a burden that oppressed him, a frail and a corruptible body, and he desires the Lord to ease him of it, and to take it from him. For so St. Ambrose and the Syrian Paraphrast read the word optatively Dimitte, O take me away from hence, and let me depart. And they that say it is dimittis for dimittes, the Present Tense for the Future, bring it up to the same sense, Lord thou wilt now let thy servant depart (so Origen and St. Cyprian read it) for the Hebrews use to make their Petitions in the future time, as thou shalt hear my prayer in an acceptable time, which is a fit form of words to ask in faith, and not to waver, as St. James says; but the word here is Metaphorical in the original, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as you would say in the native term, Lord now lettest thou thy servant be unloosed, as horses are taken from the Plough, and set up to rest, when they have drawn till Evening and are weary; or to signify, says St. Ambrose, that necessity compelled him to stay here, Ideo dimitti poscit, quasi à vinculis quibusdam, ad libertatem festinaret, therefore he desires to be let loose, as if he had been enthraled like some Captive, and now would shake off his bonds and attain his liberty. This earth is not our Country, therefore though we have an inbred desire to have the union of the body and soul maintained, yet our willingness inclines to be unclothed of the body, rather than not go from hence, when we are full of days. Quis peregre constitutus non prepararet in patriam regredi? says St. Cyprian, that man were unnatural that affected to be a stranger, and had rather travel always than settle himself at home in peace; revolve in your memory the words of just men in holy Scripture, and you shall find that this is common to them all, to mourn and sigh because their pilgrimage was prolonged, Woe is me that I am constrained to live with Mesech, says David. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Says St. Paul. It is enough Lord, take away my life, I am not better than my Fathers, says Elias. While the body was a Palace, the soul was content to stay in it, now it is become a filthy prison no wonder if it desires to be gone.

Let not Simeon's Nunc dimittis, nor this Doctrine be mistaken, every man's willingness to leave this world, and to die is not commended from hence, but when it is joined with patience, and good internal motives, especially when we find an aptness and good preparation in ourselves, that when we go from hence we shall be joined to the Lord. There is no worse sign in some that God is departed from them than when they are sullen and froward with their life, and care not which way they break violently out of the world so they may depart. Seneca could say, Mori velle non tantum fortis; & patiens, set etiam fastidiosus potest; that is, not only stout men are resolved to die, and such as are fortified against fear, but the discontented that cannot bear his cross, had rather lose himself than his peevishness; good and bad upon several reasons are contented both to die and to live, Sunt homines qui cum patientiâ moriuntur, sunt autem quidam perfecti qui cum patientiâ vivunt, says St. Austin. There are some holy men that exercise their patience to be content to die, there are some perfect men that exercise their patience to be content to live; therefore the motives that induced Simeon to this must be sifted to make him an inoffensive, nay a profitable example. Salmeron the Jesuit follows a most capricious invention, that this reverend Sire, importuned God to put a period to his days as soon as Christ was born, that he might be the first Nuncio to the Fathers that were in limbo, and certify them that the Messias was come into the world, who would exalt them from that lowly condition in which they were held, and conduct their souls into the Kingdom of heaven. This is so extravagant, that I give it you to note the man, and the far-fetched way of their expositions. The true reason is, that this cygnea cantio, this farewell Song of his hath taught us, that there is no terror in going to the Grave; no sting in death, since God appeared before us, and became man, to deliver our souls from the nethermost hell, and to make our bodies like to his own most glorious body. They that know not what their condition may be in the next world must needs think of death with an heavy heart, and sigh and wring their hands when they feel it approaching. He that could see Christ no otherwise than through the dark mists of the Law, did count it somewhat an irksome thing to go out of the land of the living; it was a good King of Judah that chattered like a Swallow when Isaiah told him he should live no longer. But it is incredible to human reason how it encourageth a faithful man to meet his death with cheerfulness, because, though not in our own bodies, yet in the Apostles and others we have seen, we have heard, and our hands have handled the word of life, and that we know there is plenteous redemption for us in Christ our Savior. Simeon knew the instant of his dissolution was at hand, and yet he sang away the remainder of his life with joy; as who should say, Egredere ô anima; fly away my soul, fly away like a dove and take thy rest, for now I see that the promises of grace and mercy are true; here is Christ thy Savior in thy hands, thine eyes do see, thine arms do support thy Salvation; though thou departest thou shalt not go from him, for he is man on earth to comfort thee, and God in heaven to glorify thee. This is it which did animate Simeon to say, Lord let me depart, and therefore as the Patriarchs in the time of the Law desired length of days upon earth that they might live to see the Messias, so let us desire a joyful departure to be with him for evermore.

I proceed, the time which he sets for the accomplishment of his Petition is presently, or at that instant, Now, Lord now let, &c. Nunc, ante hâc non item. As who should say, if I had been summoned to leave my station before this day came, my soul had been in bitterness, and I had been gathered to my Fathers in sorrow, but now my Pilgrimage hath been prolonged till I am full of happiness, now I am fledg'd with all my feathers to fly away, for what will satisfy him upon earth whom the sight of a Savior will not satisfy? This Nunc, this welcome instant it is circumstanced with two things especially to be observed, the old age of Simeon, and the miseries of those times wherein he lived; The context of the Scripture hath not expressly described him by old age, yet that's collected out of the words, that he should not see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ, meaning sure that he was far stricken in years, and yet not mellow enough to drop off from the tree till the Nativity of Jesus was fulfilled, and he a witness of it; neither would it sound well out of the mouth of any that were not rich in silver hairs, Let me now depart in peace: Observe therefore that he had waited long before the time came that Christ appeared, he might say with David, Expectando expectavi, He looked many a long look before he beheld his Savior. And this is the nature of God's Promises, they are seldom accomplished till his faith hath been thoroughly tried to whom they are made, and that he doth even languish with expectation. Some will say perhaps, O I have waited long, this will never fall out as God hath promised. Nay, the more like to be because you have waited; every long put off will have his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and you shall say at last, though I was a murmurer and repined, yet now I see that the Lord is faithful, and will not deceive his servants; the glass of Simeon's life was almost run out to the last sand before the Virgin brought forth her Son, but days were added to his days, that the words of the Psalmist might be verified in him, With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

Secondly, Simeon reserved himself for joyful days to see the glory and the salvation of Israel, but even to this now, whereof he spake in my Text, he had seen as much misery and infelicity as ever had befallen any poor Kingdom in the world. But though he saw all things most contrary to the Promises of God, still he trusted to see the day star shine, and those clouds to be blown over, and having a steadfast hope even against hope, the most high came down from above and comforted his people. Who would not have been weary before this time of the former days? Their Kingdom was given to strangers; and the Romans that hated them were Lord's over them; their Scepter was departed to Herod an Idumean: their Tributes were so grievous, that the poor Virgin Mother, being ready to lie down, was compelled to take a journey to be taxed; their Religion was so profaned, that the Pharisees made the Commandments of God in vain through their Traditions; the High Priesthood, which had been so admirable in the sight of God and man, was confer'd by favor and corruption upon the basest of the people; The Temple was defiled with Images contrary to the Law, and such as resisted it, their blood was shed like water on every side of Jerusalem. Notwithstanding these dismal days this reverend Sire was contented to live in all this affliction, he did patiently bear the calamities of the Church and Kingdom, and staid the good time when Christ should come to help all. This was the season, he knew it according to the Prophets; and seeing so prosperous a sign arise, which assured that the happiness which had befallen his Nation did far exceed their precedent miseries, he was willing now to bring his weather-beaten Vessel into the Haven. I know what the conceit of the most will be upon it, that when troubles were past, and consolation newly manifesting itself in his Horizon, it were more proper to say, Vah vivere etiam nunc lubet, O let me live, and add many years unto me, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation; but was this a time to bid the world farewell, and to say, now let me depart? Indeed this were a strong objection if he had been obnoxious to self-love: But allowing that which must be granted, that a good man judgeth himself most fortunate in the public happiness of others, no wonder if Simeon's desires were crowned with all that his heart could wish, and was content to make a full stop there, when he saw that all Jerusalem, and all his kindred and posterity were in the ready way to be filled with the salvation of the Lord. I have no approved Author whom I dare cite unto you, how long this aged Israelite did live after our Savior was born and presented in the Temple. Nicephorus says he went immediately from that place to his own home, and took his rest forever: but this I gather from it, a devout man is or should be always at these terms with God, Nunc dimittis, I am not fastened to this world with the love of it, I have set my house in order, I have thrown away the superfluity of my sins, I am ready to give up my Stewardship when my Master will take my accounts; I have bid adieu to all impediments, Lord receive me when it is thy will and pleasure. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Pythagoras his Symbole, to have our fardles ready trust up to be gone. Again, reason good he should ask of God to close his eyes, for they could never do him such good service anymore, as they did at that instant, when they saw that mighty God in the visible form of a little Infant. The superstition and the barbarisms of the Turks being so well known, I do assent to some stories reported of them, which may seem incredible to civil Nations. I instance in this particular, that when some of their Zealots have made a Pilgrimage to Mecha to do their Adorations to the Tomb of Mahomet, they presently draw hot burning steel before their eyes to put them out, that they may never see any other spectacle, after they have been honored to see that Monument of their Prophet: Far better a gread deal, and without superstition might Simeon say, mine eyes have seen thy salvation, O Jehovah, now draw their curtains before them, that they may never hereafter see the iniquities of men. To touch the point yet more to the quick, there were some things to come to pass, which Simeon foresaw in his Prophetical spirit, and he chose rather to die than to be present at them. God himself, I may say it with humility, could do no greater favor to the world, than to send us his Son, and to give him a body. The world on the contrary, I speak it with horror, could offer no greater despite to God, than to reproach his Son, and to crucify him. Therefore this Saint begs, that since he had seen Jesus in the bosom of his Mother, and in his own arms, he might not live to see him hanging between two Thieves; as if he had said, O let me not survive to see the infidelity of mine own Nation: O let me not live to see him crowned with thorns. Lastly, A man's native Country can never deserve so ill, but he will wish it subsistence, that it may not utterly be ruined: and albeit the sins of Jerusalem would call for vengeance and desolation upon it, this loving Patriot desired to be called out of the way, that he might not see her made an heap of stones. As the Historian says that Anastasius a good Bishop of Rome gave up his breath with a broken heart immediately before the Goths had sacked that imperial City, Ne orbis caput sub tali Episcopo truncaretur. So Simeon saw that the sins of the Jews were not yet come to the worst, but that their hardness of heart, rejecting Christ, would draw more grievous judgments upon them; therefore he desired, while matters were not yet come to their extremity, now he might depart in peace.

I know 'tis trivial with every rash spirit that is discontented with his fortune to say, emori cupio, like Clitipho in the Scene, I would I were out of the world; but it is a good corrective speech of the old man's, Prius quaeso disce quid sit vivere, learn first to live as you ought; and so had Simeon done, for in the fourth part of my Text he pleads that he was prepared to die in peace, Lord now, &c. It cannot be conceived of him, since we must allow the best men some grains of infirmity, but that his heart had been oppressed with many recurrent thoughts, between that long space that God did first make the promise unto him, unto the actual birth of Christ: never did any Father expect the return of his only Son after twice seven years travail from month to month, from day today, as he did watch the advent of the Lord continually, when he should be presented in the Temple: and surely it is likely that Hanna and divers more had heard from Simeon's mouth what the Lord had revealed unto him, and that his credit suffered a little with good people, as if he had deluded them: for the riff raff, if such a thing were come to their ear, no marvel if they taunted him that he was a lying Prophet, and that he was possessed with a spirit of wicked divination: These assaults from without, and the revolvings of his heart from within did make his conscience boil like a troubled Sea, because that gracious Oracle which he had received was not yet to come to pass, nor like to be fulfilled in the short remainder of his days, since his candle was burnt to the socket; wherefore at the first glimpse that he viewed the holy one of God in swaddling clouts, this ejaculation starts from him, as if his joy had burst the vessel, like new liquors that swelled within it; as who should say, I began to be troubled, I began to distrust, I was afraid that thy promises would fail; and by so much the more I was afraid of death: now come what will come, I am secure and confirmed, my heart is quiet, my Faith is built upon a rock, Lord, now, &c. just as old Jacob was ready to die for gladness, when he saw that Joseph was alive; says he, now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive, Gen. xlvi. 30.

And the content which this holy Prophet took in embracing the Messias, who had been so long waited for, could not be better expressed than thus, that his soul was ready to take leave of the world in peace: for as bread imports all manner of sustenance in the phrase of the Hebrews, so peace in their signification imports all manner of good that is desirable, health, plenty, honor, safety, tranquility of conscience, comfort in the Holy Ghost, all sorts of prosperity, heavenly and earthly are no more but peace in their acception: therefore the interpretations what [ 1] Simeon would have are many, and all agreeable to pious analogy. First, Euthymius expounds it of the peace of his thoughts, that he did fluctuate before, and hang in suspense what God would do; but when Christ was born he was resolved against all the slights and cavillations of Satan, that the Lord was just in all his sayings, and holy in all his works. There may be security in a bad man, I will not deny him that carnal privilege, who refresheth himself with the comforts of this life, but there can be no stability in him, no setledness against distraction and fluctuation, unless by much meditation he do set Christ before his eyes, as if he were born in him, and endeavor to Incarnate the promises of the word in his soul by Faith, as the blessed Virgin gave flesh to the eternal word by bearing him [ 2] in her womb. Secondly, Others interpret this peace, de pace intrepiditatis, he did not fear to be dissolved, though his decayed body lay even under the stroke of death, he saw nothing why he should flinch, but that he might say with David, I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest. Before a Savior was granted to mankind death was death, and Hell to boot; now it is but a sleep without all disturbance, a repose without all annoyance, a releasement out of bonds, a transmigration to felicity: He therefore that will not die in peace knowing that Christ stands at the right hand of God to make intercession for him, and to purchase in his behalf instead of a transitory estate a far abundant exceeding weight of glory, the fault is his own, Vitam in manibus fero, mori non timeo. A strange darkness is before the eyes of unbelieving impenitent men at their last gasp, their conscience knows not how to answer that objection which it makes to itself, Quae nunc abibis in loca? My soul whither art thou going? in what woe or sorrow shalt thou be entertained hereafter? Thus Cain was dejected, Everyone that findeth me will slay me, Gen. iv. 14. Thus Nabal's dastardly spirit fainted, and nothing brought him to death but the fear of death. His sordid, churlish, inhospitable life here, and the rest of his undeservings represented nothing but horrors to entertain him in the life to come. Sed quis est iste qui de hoc seculo recedit in pace, nisi is qui intelligit Deus erat in Christo mundum reconcilians sibi, says St. Austin: But who is the man that gathers up his feet into his bed sweet and placidly, as old Jacob did, and dies in peace? but he that felt the consolation within him that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. [ 3] Thirdly, The sense holds very well to interpret it de pace gaudii, he should be gathered to the dead in great joy, because the troubles and thraldoms of his Nation should no more disquiet him. For who could doubt of the deliverance of Israel when he was born, that was the Redeemer of all deliverers? This is that emplaister of which Isaiah Prophesied that it should lenifie all their sores, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith our God, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, Isa. xl. 1. And again, the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her wast places, he will make her Wilderness like Eden, and her Desert like the Garden of the Lord, joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody, Isa. li. 3. what a quick-sighted faith had Simeon that he could see so far into Christ, upon what part of him did he cast his eye, that he could find such a Champion in a little Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes? O what an heavenly light there shines before faith, that the old man could espy in this little Bethlehemite, that he should turn their captivity like the rivers in the South? there was nothing to behold externally in Christ, but contempt, and weakness, and poverty in those days: who will distrust his protection now, when there is nothing to be viewed about him but Power, and Fortitude, and Majesty? O that men should be afraid to perish even in the presence, nay even in the hand of such a Savior! He that is yet to seek for the peace of joy, though death were at the door, let him consume in his own infidelity. Fourthly, He had purchased peace before his departure, because he had as [ 4] much as could be asked; his heart was satiated with good things: a very greedy avarice had been in him, if he could have asked anymore. And so Theophylact glosseth very judiciously upon my Text, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , he that hath gained the sum and substance of all his hopes and petitions, he may justly say that he can bid adieu to this world in peace. So God promised to Abraham, Gen. xv. 15. thou shalt be buried in a good old age, and thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace, that is, thy desire shall be filled brim full, and measure running over; nothing that thou canst ask in Faith but I will give it thee. So Simeon possessed the complement of all felicity, he had so much that he could desire no more: for he that hath given us his Son, will he not with him likewise give us all things? And take this to your use from hence, that a wishing heart which is ever thirsting for more, struggling for some addition, and yet some more to that, cannot be said to be in peace, no more than an Hydropical man that thirsts for drink continually can be said to be in health. Crescit indulgens sibi dirus hydrops, the satiating of one concupiscence begets another, and that's like a mill-horse in a circle, that you can never say he is at his journeys end. Therefore if you mean to be at ease, and not to be wracked with care, let tomorrow care for itself. Fifthly, And so to give this point its last allowance; [ 5] Origen and Irenaeus interpret my Text of that peace which Christ came to make between God and man. St. Paul says that when we were darkened in our understanding, walking in the lust of our own mind we were enemies with God: and alas we are sure to come by the worst of that enmity; for who is able to sustain his displeasure: and it was no petty enmity, but God did abhor us, and provide all manner of scourges to plague us both in this world, and in that which is to come. No creatures which are noted for antipathies do shun one another at more distance than God doth abhor an impure soul; and they are not sacrifices of Beasts that could make an atonement for us: they were not Angels that could deprecate the Divine wrath, and reconcile us, they were glad to bring the tidings that an Eternal Son of an Eternal Father had done that good office for us, Glory be to God on high, and in earth peace; it could never be well sung but at this Incarnation, and therefore it could never be well said but at his Incarnation, Lord now lettest thou thy servant, &c.

You have heard of the supplicant, and of his petition, and the time which he sets, and his good preparation of peace, to go from hence and to be with the Lord. After this it is seasonable to speak of the assurance in which he trusted, that God would grant him his desire; for he asked nothing extravagantly, and without warrant, but it was secundum verbum tuum, according to thy word: and that word upon which he might steadfastly build, is, ver. 26. it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, till he had seen the Lord 's Christ revealed unto him. But perhaps you will say, why might it not be his own imagination that deluded him, and no revelation from God? We indeed that walk in the ordinary course of Grace, may be cozened, like Enthusiasts, and think that our own doting fancies are inspirations from Heaven. But Prophets that had extraordinary illuminations were able to distinguish between brain-sick notions, and the word of God when it spake within them. And Simeon, you will mark it when I tell it you, had a double, and a double portion of the Spirit. In the last days, says Joel, Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. These are different graces for several persons, only in this Prophet, they concur'd both. He had the old man's dream to reveal unto him that he should not die till Christ was manifested: and he had the young man's vision to accomplish his happiness, His eyes did see his salvation. No doubt then he had sufficient means to prove in himself that it was the word of God, that is, the word of the Holy Ghost, from whom he received that Oracle: and hence St. Athanasius doth learnedly prove the divinity of the Holy Ghost. And the plenty of this point will contribute this especially unto us, that it is presumption to expect anything to be granted us, without warrant and promise received from the word of God. That's the Organ or Tongue by which the Holy Ghost speaks with us; and he that puts himself upon any hazardous action, without encouragement from it to bring him off with safety, he makes a snare to bring himself to destruction. Satan durst not be so impudent to tempt our Savior, to fall down from a pinnacle of the Temple, without pretence of authority from the Psalm, that He shall give his Angels charge over thee; and therefore we justly exclaim against Monastical Vows of perpetual Chastity; and we see how frequently they apostate from their Vow, and wallow in all lust and uncleanness; because it is nowhere written, if any one will take this yoke upon him, I will assist him, and make it light. It is a miserable thing to have no other staff to lean upon then the word of men, though they call themselves the Church; for the children of men are deceitful upon the weights, they are [ 1] altogether lighter than vanity itself. To draw this Doctrine straight and even upon the Text, 1. Many will allege Simeon's example, and say they could willingly die if they might see this or that come to pass. Pray observe that such as these seldom or never see their desire come to pass, because they fabricate vain [ 2] hopes to themselves without the word of the Lord. 2. When that which they longed for doth come to pass, they are content to redeem it with any Physic or cost that they may not die for all their bragging; like the woman in the Fable that was miserably poor, and gathering sticks for her fire, and herbs for her sustenance; being vexed with extreme want, she bursts out into this frowardness, O that death would come to me. Says the Fable, death did come to her to know what she would have, Help me up with my bundle of sticks, says she, I have nothing else to say to you. But this is the sum of this point, all our petitions are but avaricious craving, or unchristian presumption, unless we say, Lord let it be according to thy word.

And now I shall end my Sermon in that point, wherein Simeon desired to end his life; it is the reason upon which he stood why he would depart, because he had seen that which his soul waited for before it flitted away, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which is to this effect, the Redeemer is come, let my fetters therefore be broken off; my joy is excessive and superlative, this frail flesh cannot contain it: The new Wine is poured in, O let the old bottles break. Thou hast granted me more than ever thou didst grant to any Prophet upon earth; therefore exalt me to thy Saints in heaven. For all the Prophets could get no more than this answer, that a Virgin should conceive, Immanuel, that is God with us, should be born, and their posterity should not fail to behold him in after ages; but says St. Paul, all these died in Faith, not having received the promises themselves, but having seen them afar off, Heb. xi. 13. Now this Patriarch did far exceed all the Prophets, that he saw the Messias with his own eyes, and none other. And mark the Pleonasmus, not contented to have said, I have seen thy salvation: He doth denote the assurance of the act that he was not deceived, hisce oculis vidi, I have seen him with mine eyes: it is the very Jesus that shall save the world, I cannot be deluded, as Ulysses speaks to Circe in Homer that she should re-transform his associates, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , distinguishing true sight from phantastical. Nicephorus, a most corrupt Historian, hath a tale by himself, that Simeon was so far stricken in years that he had been long blind, and as soon as ever this heavenly babe was brought near unto him he recovered his sight; and therefore he magnifies God that his eyes were restored to see the object of all objects, the blessed Child Incarnate: and is it likely that St. Luke would have concealed such a miracle; if it had been true? and would God have let us receive it from so corrupt an hand as Nicephorus? The Scripture says, ver. 27. of this Chapter, He came by the Spirit into the Temple; not that he was led like a blind man. There are some conjectures that rove at random likewise, by what means he should discern such Divine glory in our Savior. Admit there were other Infants presented in the Temple at the same time, how did he perceive that this was the Son of the most high, rather than any of the rest? I find one Author shoot his bolt, that a celestial splendor came down from Heaven, and shone round about the Child. I find another Author more superstitious than this, that the Blessed Virgin was compassed about with a cloud of glorious light in the place where she stood; and so that honor should terminate itself upon her, and not upon Christ. This is to trifle in a most serious matter, for certainly the suggestion of the Holy Ghost within him was enough to direct him, without any external cognizance: and therefore Nyssen says well, Blessed were the eyes both of his soul and body: his bodily eyes did see the happiest sight in heaven and earth, but the eyes of his soul did respect that which is invisible.

His bodily eyes did see God made of a woman, an object more beautiful and estimable then even Paradise itself, when Adam saw it at the best. Nay more beautiful than the whole Revelation which S. John saw in heaven, excepting Christ himself, whom he saw upon his throne. Abraham would have given his portion in the promised land to have seen him, David his Kingdom, Solomon his revenues of Ophir; and therefore no wonder if Simeon triumph in it, that the eyes of his body had seen him. But what the eyes of his soul did pierce into, is magnum auctarium, an huge addition. They did see his salvation, and salvation cannot be comprehended but by a lively and an effectual Faith. They did see 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , cornu salutis, as old Zacharias calls it, in whom God had reposed all the stock and treasure of salvation. But why thy salvation? and not rather ours? had it not been more proper to say, mine eyes have seen mine, or our salvation? There is no difference in effect, one saying is as proper as the other, salutare tuum, for he is the Son of God, the gift of God to us, the holy One conceived by the Holy Ghost, and in those notions God's salvation, as David says, the Lord hath made known his salvation, Psal. xcviii. 2. Again, salutare nostrum, for he came to redeem us, and to give himself a ransom for us, and so he is our salvation. As if Simeon had said, this is he after whom Jacob's heart panted, Gen. xlix. 18. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. This is he of whom Isaiah foretold, All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God, chap. lii. 10. He comes with much impotency and weakness, to be presented in the Temple, and to be redeemed after the custom of the Law, with five shekels of silver, but he will redeem us both from the bondage of the Law, and from the bondage of sin, with the five wounds of his body. If such salvation as this were only to be glanced upon perfunctorily, this sage Israelite would have been contented to have seen him, and rested there; but forasmuch as we must incorporate our Savior in our souls, and endeavor that there be a real union 'twixt Christ and us: therefore in the verse before my Text, Simeon took up our Savior into his arms, and St. John makes that a great mystery of his own, and his brethren's happiness, that their hands had handled the word of life. Quod Simeon ulnis gestavit nos fide gestemus, he doth bear us up always in his hands, let us bear him and enclasp him in our Faith, and say as Israel did, I will not let thee go till thou hast blessed me, says Origen. Was it so beneficial to a poor woman to touch the hem of Christ's garment in the Gospel, then how profitable will it be to hold him close in our embraces as this Father did? And as Maldonado says very truly, Non credentis est modo sed amantis, complectimur quos amamus. This doth not only betoken Faith, but exceeding love; we hug them in our arms whom we have in dear estimation, we catch them in our arms, as if we would grow together: so if we love the Lord sincerely, we are one with him, and he with us; we dwell in him, and he in us. This amplexus arctissimus, and he that loves not our Lord Jesus, let him be accursed. Chiefly at this time in the holy Sacrament we see him upon the Lord's Table, we take him in our hands, we incorporate him in our souls by a lively faith; and at his mystical presence in these Elements let us say as it is reported of a Religious Votary called Maria Aegyptiaca, when Zozimus the Abbot gave her the Bread of Life upon her sick bed, she beheld the Sacrament wishly, which is the seal of all Christ's mercies towards us, and brake out into this song of Simeon, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Amen.

THE ELEVENTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION.

A Mong all portions of Scripture that afford matter for Christmas day, I have for the most part hitherto chosen those Texts to speak of before you which are extracted out of the Songs of the New Testament. Our Proverb goes, It is good to be merry and wise. Every Section of the Gospel disposeth us to be wise unto eternal life: but the Canticles which sing the birth of Christ, they teach us to be merry and wise unto Salvation. Nothing doth better agree with this day than a godly Song, Sing we merrily unto God our strength, make a cheerful noise unto the God of Jacob. You have heard me divers times preach unto you out of the Angels Carol, Luke ii. The last year I made my Sermon out of the Song of Simeon, Nunc dimittis; and I am sure I could not furnish myself better this year than out of the Song of Zacharias, so appositely doth it serve our turn, both for our spiritual benefit, procured in our Savior's Nativity, and for our temporal benefit, God having repossessed us after a lingering and destructive contagion in health and safety, to break out into this Thanksgiving, Blessed be the Lord, &c. The Lord turn us unto him, and bring us out of our evil ways, for therefore he visited us. The Lord make us his own peculiar people, zealous of good works, for therefore he hath redeemed us. When you hear of a Visitation and Redemption, I know your thoughts will carry you presently to your late sufferance under a bitter scourge, and to God's merciful deliverance. This is not amiss, and I wish it may be long in your mind to bring forth the fruit of righteousness. But this Visitation whereof my Text speaks, it invites you to look above you, not about you; it invites you to think of that heavenly Infant that was born unto us, not of those Sucklings and Infants that were swept away with the late mortality; and by all means let us prefer the rejoicing that we have in Christ at this time, before that other gladness for our bodily prosperity; intend that chiefly, and the condition of our own particular welfare let that come behind in a latter regard; so did Zacharias the Priest, from whose mouth my Text proceeded. God did give him a Son for the comfort of his own Family, and such a Son as a greater than he was not born of a woman, John the Baptist. God also gave him to understand by Prophetical illumination, that the Messias, the Redeemer of the World, was in the womb of the blessed Virgin. Mark now the Piety of this good old man, first he praiseth God for the Incarnation of Jesus, that he raised up an horn of salvation for them out of the house of David, and in the last close of the Song he magnifies that blessing, that such a Son should be born to him in his old age, and thou Child shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest. This is a fair direction for our use, that this should be the first thing in our thoughts, and in our thankfulness, to say, Blessed be the Lord, that the Word was made Flesh, and hath dwelt among us.

Having told you how well this Song doth become the day, and that the chief note of the Song is in the word Visitavit, the Son of God did visit his people in an human body; I will yet give you more content out of the Text by informing you that it is a most remarkable Prophesy: from Malachi for the space of four hundred years there had been no Prophet in all the Land of Judea; and therefore we count all that Apocryphal Scripture, which is thrust upon us from the days of Malachi to Christ, because there was no Prophetical inspiration among the Jews. Behold now when a Prophet was grown such a rare thing among them, the Lord opens the mouth of Zacharias the Priest, and he begins to Prophesy. It is well noted of Origen, that after the blessed Virgin conceived our Savior, men and women wheresoever she came were all inspired with Prophesy. Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias, breaks out into admiration, and how is it that the Mother of my Lord doth come unto me? And she Prophesies, the Child sprang in the mothers womb for exultation that the Messias was under that Roofe, that was a mighty Prophesy, not in word, but in deed. When Mary came to the Temple, and brought Jesus with her to be purified after the Law, Simeon and Anna in their several turns gave thanks unto the Lord and Prophesied; but Zacharias, though last named, he is the first and most memorable of the rest that spake mighty things in the Spirit, the reviver of Prophesy after a long time it had lain asleep; and to set an Emphasis upon my Text, the words of it are the first that came from him after he had been dumb, and the first that he uttered after he became a Prophet. In a word mark it that he is the first-born of the Sons of the Prophets in the New Testament, and this Text is the first fruits of his Prophesy. Christ was yet but an Embryo, his mother but three months gone since she conceived, and yet Zacharias speaks with a most Prophetical confidence of things to come as if they were past already, as if the sweet Babe were born who had not yet opened the womb, He hath visited, and he hath redeemed his people. Take the whole verse now together, which is the exordium of this Prophetical Song, and it contains two parts; the magnifying of the divine goodness, and the reason rendered why it was fit to break out into that devotion. In the first, here is the comprehension of all praise in this word blessed. Secondly, the comprehension of the divine titles, the Lord God of Israel. The next general member why this praise is given is drawn from two acts, that God hath visited, and that he hath redeemed. And the Object of both those acts is it which makes it praise-worthy, and thanks worth; he hath visited his People.

First of all, here is a full ascribing of all glory to God in this word blessed. O how Zacharias did meditate this all the while he was dumb! O how much he desired all the while his utterance was stopped to bring forth these good words to the honor of his Maker! He kept silence a long time from this heavenly Canticle, but it was pain and grief unto him. Now his mouth was opened with the key of the Holy Spirit to discourse of the wonderful works of God; and it was a blessed thing that as soon as he was able to talk, this was the first language that flowed from him, Blessed be the Lord. Two things are the grace and dignity of our Elocutions, Deum laudare, verum dicere, to praise the great Majesty of Heaven, and to tell the truth upon Earth; but why do I divide them two which will most properly fall into one? For no truth so clear and evident as that the name of Christ is blessed for evermore. They that speak the truth of him must speak well of him: and whosoever blasphemes his honor is a Liar, and an Antichrist. As Hezekiah paid the Tribute, which Sennacherib imposed upon him, out of the Treasure of the house of the Lord, and out of the Gold which over-laid the doors of the Temple, 2 Kings xviii. 16. so the praise of God is the chief treasure of our heart, the chief thing that belongs to this holy place, the very Gold of the Temple; therefore when we magnify his name, we pay him Tribute out of the best thing which the Church can afford. Neither is there any good business of Religion, whereof we may be so confident, that we are in a right course, and do not swerve: Our Belief may be grounded upon strong errors, as it is among Heretics; Our Zeal may be transported into Faction, as it is among Schismatics; Our Repentance may be slight and superficial, as it is among Hypocrites; We may be too forward in our Hope, having no firm assurance from the fruits of a good Conscience; Too free of our Charity, when we do not distinguish who are fit to receive it; Too prodigal of our Commendations, when we do not note men's Actions whether they deserve it; but be as copious as you will in magnifying your Creator, and Redeemer, and you are certain the work is very good, most certain that you cannot tread awry. Yet Satan and our own negligence are able to frame an objection against any truth which is most demonstrative. What will our sluggish spirit say? The honor of God doth not depend upon the fame of this World. His glory cannot be raised higher than it is by our Jubilees and Songs, or by our Instruments of Music, no though we could praise him as loud as claps of Thunder. But for all this will you be content to glorify him, if it will bring yourself to honor, though it be no amplification to the Majesty of God? Agreed then.

And first it is an high advancement, that he will permit us to do him that homage, though we should have no recompense for our labor; it is abundantly rewarded that he will give us leave to exalt him, he hath not dealt so with all people. Unto the ungodly said God, Why dost thou take my name within thy lips? As it is an honor to the Magistrate, that God hath committed the Sword of Justice to their power, so it is an honor to every Christian that he hath permitted unto us to talk of his honor; it is an Angels life continually to bless him, and sound forth his glory. Therefore that parcel of the Psalm may look this way, let the praise of God be in their mouth, and a two edged Sword in their hand, the one is as great a privilege belonging to us as the other to a Magistrate.

Secondly, St. Peter grants it generally to all godly people, Ye are an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices to God, 1 Pet. ii. 5. What is the spiritual Sacrifice but Praise and Thanksgiving? Therefore let us offer up the sacrifice of praise sweetly and devoutly, and all Christians shall become Priests in that respect, and the holy portion of God; and having offered up this visible sacrifice of praise, we ourselves in our hearts shall become the invisible sacrifice of God, and bring oblation upon oblation unto the Altar, it is nothing worth unless your own soul be the principal Oblation. I press this the rather, because it is so ill forgotten in the Roman Missal: For they that do so often trouble your ears with their sacrifice, and their Altar, have not one word in their Missal, that we, or our souls, should be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice to God.

Thirdly, In giving glory to the Lamb, and to him that sits upon the Throne, we do not give but receive; for no man can ascribe much praise to God, but out of a large capacity of faith; no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost; no man can speak of the King of Kings, according to his due excellency, but it will procreate devotion and reverence; therefore though God's honor be in the same state that it was before, yet your soul is in better state than it was before by praise and glorification.

Fourthly, We do all agree with St. Paul, that Charity is greater than the two other Theological Virtues, greater than Faith that believeth all mysteries, greater than Hope that expecteth all Promises, and therefore greater, because it shall abide with us in the Kingdom of Heaven when the other two shall vanish away: So to laud and magnify our Omnipotent Creator is far above all other acts of Religion, because nothing else shall abide with us when we see God face to face. There shall be no confession of Christ our Mediator, for none shall deny him; there shall be no fasting, for man shall eat Angels food, and have no need of nourishment; no Alms shall be given, for it is life without want and scarcity; no Prayer for forgiveness of sins, no hearing of the Word, no sufferance of the Cross, no intercession for them that suffer, but the praise of God continueth, and supplieth all the rest, incessantly we shall cry out, Holy, holy Lord God of Hosts, which was, and is, and is to come. Therefore it is called blessing of God, because it shall be our only work when we have attained to blessedness, for God doth bless man by pouring his benefits upon him, and man doth bless God, by confessing the good which he hath received.

Fifthly and lastly, Whereas our Savior did abase himself to become man, and emptied himself of his glory for our sakes, we set upon it to do him all possible honor, that we may weigh up again the Scale of his glory, which himself depressed for our advancement; as Peter said unto him, when he went about to do that work of a servant to his Disciples, Dost thou wash my feet, no thou shalt never wash my feet, he contended with his Lord, that he would not cast himself down so far: So Zacharias sings a triumphal ditty to bless his poor Nativity, we do all bow at the name of Jesus, who bowed the heavens, and came down to visit us; we advance his Cross in our forehead; we erect our goodliest Churches in his name; we make Christmas day, the high Feast of the year, the great holy day of Praise and thanksgiving; as if the Saints of God had conspired not to let Christ be humbled, though he would be humbled. So when he came to Jerusalem with the meanest pomp that could be imagined, riding upon an Ass, they that had loyal and zealous hearts to him combined to conduct him into the great City in as Princely a manner as they could devise, laying their garments under his feet, and in a manner proclaiming my very Text before him, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The sum of this first Point is thus much, O sing unto the Lord for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God; yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.

So I have discharged the first Point, that there is a comprehension of all praise in this word Blessed, beside here is a comprehension of the chief divine titles, the Lord God of Israel. The names of the Lord do not consist in compound Epithets, and magniloquous appellations. The heathen did affect that bravery to set out the luster of their Idols, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , &c. as the Poet Callimachus expresseth it in his Hymn of Diana, she desired an hundred brave names to be given her by her Priests, as many attributes as Apollo had in his Temple. Some will have these to be those vain repetitions of the Heathen, which our Savior reproves, Mat. vi. 7. taxing them that they thought they should be heard for their much speaking. Sacred titles consist not in number, but in weight, and no words could be more ponderous and significative, and yet contracted into fewer Syllables than these, the Lord God of Israel. A Law-giver will prefix his most ample attributes before the Pandect of his Laws, and this is the Inscription over the two Tables, Deut. xx. I am the Lord thy God; which is all one as to say, I am the Lord God of Israel. And the very words of my Text seem to be a current Eulogy in David's time, as it is Psal. cvi. 48. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and let all the people say, Amen. Which names must needs contain an infinite excellency when they march in a rank together, since if you take them one by one they are most dreadful and venerable. He is called the Lord, because he is the supreme and highest above all things, so every King in his Sphere is a Lord in chief, as Joab said to David, Why doth my Lord the King delight in this thing? He is called Elohim, or God, because he is set over all his Creatures to judge and revenge their iniquities; therefore the Princes of the people are nuncupative God's in Scripture, because they sit upon the Throne of Judgment on earth to judge between man and man. Or rather he is called God, from his infinite and incomprehensible Essence; Lord, from his power and dominion, but Lord God of Israel by application of his mercy to his Church above all the Kingdoms of the World. Therefore he is to be worshipped as God eternal, to be obeyed in all his Commandments as the Lord Omnipotent, and be magnified and blessed for Israel's sake, because he loved that people above all things, whom he hath chosen to be his inheritance forever.

St. Austin cast out the difference on this wise, that the Creator of all things is styled God, and when he gave a Law unto mankind, Gen. ii. 15. then he was styled a Lord. But the observation hath an oversight in it, for he is called the Lord God four times in the same Chapter before he commanded Adam to dress the garden of Eden, and to keep it. The Annotation would run better thus, that while all things were in making in the Creation the Creator is termed God, and God said let there be Light, and God said let there be a Firmament; so in every work throughout all the first Chapter of Genesis. When the Creation was quite finished, and the whole Universe of Creatures set in order, then in the second of Genesis he is called Lord. From whence a question is started, much agitated in the School, Whether the great Jehovah may be called Dominus ab aeterno? The Lord from all eternity. Thou art God from everlasting, that is an Article of faith never doubted of. Nebuchadonosor could see that by the wonders and tokens which were wrought for Daniel's sake, therefore he makes a Decree, that men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, and steadfast forever: But the scruple is, since he did not exercise his dominion before the works which he made were extant, whether the title of Lord did not accrue unto him in the beginning of time, and not from all Eternity? St. Austin moved the Controversy, but out of his wonted modesty passed it by undefined. Tertullian against Hermogenes says, It is none of the eternal Appellations of the Divine Nature, for it belongs not to the Divine Essence, but to the Power, and the Power could not exercise itself before there was an Object created. Many of the School-men are convicted in their judgment by this reason of 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 Tertullian, and hold to his opinion. I think if St. Austin would have determined it, he would have gone the other way; and for my part I take it to be most probable, that we may say God was the Lord from all eternity, before the Creatures were existent and produced. It is true, that if we measure things by our own power, or rather by our own infirmity, we can command nothing but that which is, and hath a being; but God is the Lord of all things even before they are, and when they yet are not he can command them to have a being; he spake the word, and all things were made, he commanded, and they were created, Non possunt per mandatum fieri quae non erant, nisi dominium praecederet; things that have no being could not be commanded to be made unless he had dominion over them, that is, unless he were Lord over them before they were made, Rom. iv. he calleth things that are not as things that are; therefore he hath authority as a Lord over things that are not, as much as over things that are. The fair conclusion of it is, the actual relation of the Creatures to his dominion began in time, but their subjection to his will and power is forever, therefore God is the Lord from all eternity.

Whatsoever distinction may be put between these names, yet when we praise God let us do as Zacharias doth, join them both together; when we confess him, let us do so likewise, as Jonas did, I am an Hebrew, who worship the Lord God that made heaven and earth. When we say our Belief let us do the same, even as the Nicene Fathers did before us, I believe in one God, and in one Lord Jesus Christ. And if you please yourselves to distinguish accurately upon such Titles, because St. Paul hath said that there be God's many, and Lord's many; let us distinguish between them and this supreme one, the Lord God of Israel, who is blessed forever more. Christ says the Scripture calleth them God's to whom the word of God came, Joh. x. 34. That Scripture is Psal. lxxxii. 6. I have said ye are God's, and ye are all the children of the most high. From thence, and from my Text you may state a profitable difference. 1. Dixi, I have said ye are God's, he hath said it, and that made them so; unless he had Godded them they had had no such pre-eminence. What they have it is by entitling and nuncupation. 2. Dixi Dii estis, there are many of those God's, not only every Prince and Ruler challengeth it by his Crown, but every Christian hath his interest in it by adoption of filliation. So I cited it from the mouth of our Savior before, the Scripture hath said they are God's to whom the Word of God came. 3. Estis, ye are, for a while ye are, and after a while ye shall go from hence and be no more seen; ye shall die like men, but the true God abideth forever. 4. These heathen Semi-gods, these that carry that badge upon earth, shall not only die like men, but like sinful men, for it follows in the Psalm, that when they fall God shall arise to judge the earth; after they have judged, they shall be judged upon it hereafter how they have judged: But O man thou must not reply against the God of heaven, his judgments are indisputable. 5. The ever blessed God is praised in everything that pertains unto him, he is praised in all places of his dominion, he is praised in all his works. He hath done all things well, say the people of Christ, but among the actions of the best men, Sunt bona, sunt quaedam mediocria, sunt mala plura; Among some good there is much evil, among some flourishing sprigs of praise there are divers dead boughs of frailty. 6. These Nuncupative God's preside over Civil Governments, each of them is a golden head over his own Political body, but Christ only is head of the whole Church, from whence the whole body increaseth with the increase of God, he alone is the Lord.

And it is likewise upon some remarkable appropriation that the Psalmist says, the Lord is his name; he bears it certainly with many notorious marks of difference from all the Lordlings in the world.

First, The dominion of man is joined with some servitude in the Master, for he that stands in need is a servant to his own necessities: and the Master stands in need of the drudgery of the laboring man, as much, or more perhaps, than that drudge stands in need of the wages of the Master: But all our service is of no use or benefit to the King of heaven. I said unto the Lord thou art my God, my goods are nothing unto thee, Psal. xvi. and therefore, says St. Austin, God did not make the world from all eternity, to show that he did not want the help of his Creature.

Secondly, All things serve the Lord above, nothing is hidden from the Scepter of his dominion; but man in the highest Office upon earth is confined to a small scantling of authority; he can command the body of his Vassal, but not his soul. He cannot command his Grass to grow, or his Trees to bear, or his Cattle to increase, or the weather to be seasonable: But as the people said in admiration of the Miracles of the Son of God, Who is this that commandeth the Winds and Seas, and they obey him?

Thirdly, All the Lordship upon earth is subalternate and dependant from a greater [ 3] command. Masters do that which is just unto your Servants, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven, Col. iv. There is but one Lord, and none but he that is responsive to no other, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lord's. Our Savior, though an unscrutable Abyssus of humility, assumed that unto himself, Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am, Joh. xiii. 13. Such a Lord to whom all the Sons of men do bow and obey; Such a Lord, that though he were David's Son, yet David in spirit calleth him Lord, The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Lord of all things by the Essence of his Godhead; Lord of all things in his Manhood by the Hypostatical Union; but by special interest Lord of all those whom he redeemed with his most precious blood; Lord God of Israel; in which numbers as soon as ever he believed, Thomas concluded himself, saying, My Lord and my God. As we have the Humanity of Christ expressed in the two subsequent actions, so we have as surely his Divinity set forth in these Titles, the Lord God of Israel.

But that God that filleth the heaven of heavens, and that Lord who hath stretched out the line of his power over the whole earth, he is Canton'd in this Text to a little Region of the earth, but a Molehill in respect of the extent of his Majesty, the Lord God of Israel. It was not with Zacharias the Priest in this elegant Canto, as it useth to be with other Poets, who out of affectation do strain their Poetry to make honorable mention of their own Country, where there was neither cause, nor merit: But this holy Prophet had sufficient warrant from the Spirit which cannot err, to nominate him the Patron of this people, rather than of any other, the God of Israel, and that for two reasons, Propter notitiam verbi, propter promissiones seminis benedicti.

First, The Oracles of the Scriptures were committed to them, and God was not [ 1] truly worshipped anywhere but in the Synagogues of the Hebrews, and therefore says the Psalmist, Notus Deus in Israele. God is well known in Israel; there they knew him that he was to be adored, that he was to be feared, that he was to be admired for his excellency; that he was increate, immortal, eternal, and not like the Idols of the Heathen; there was Grace and Religion: other Nations knew not him, therefore he puts them by as if he knew not them, he is the God of Israel.

Secondly, This whole World is made for no other end, but that Christ may exalt [ 2] his Dominion in it, and therefore the Nation, of whom he was to come according to the Flesh, that is spoken of as if it belonged to God alone, and all other People were quite forgotten. Well therefore might Zacharias say, O thou God of Israel; for upon the Nativity of Christ now it was fulfilled, why long since he was called the God of Israel. His Incarnation, as old Simeon said, it was the glory of his people Israel, his conversation among them was their temporal protection, that their enemies should not devour them, while he was with them upon earth, his word confirmed it, that the children of the Bride-chamber should not mourn while the Bridegroom was with them.

Finally, His appearance among them in the Flesh was their spiritual exaltation, for he preached to none other but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But Israel doth now no longer stand for those that according to the Flesh descended out of the Loins of