86 OftheNAT IV!. Tl :E. Sermon xo. (;cn.ts. 7 • choufand yeares before, Gm.48·7·J As plainc (this)as plainemaybe: No Oradleof Delphos; without any equivocation at all. , . ·\ 1 We have thePlace: Now, what mannerplaceis it~ Et tu Bethlehem,parvula,' 8 , 61 ,;,m, Par1mla, This little,dotha little trouble us: Why, it is a lorry poore Village, fdtrce I•"'•· worth anApoftrcphe; Specially, to turne from Iemfalem, to turneto it. And,as'little likelihood, rhat fo great a State as theGuide of the whole worldfhould come creeping out of fuch a corner: Locm,& locatum(ever) a,recquall. That Birth is(fure)too big forthis place. TheProphet diffembles it not; faw,what flei11 and bloodwould except Joh.t.f•. frraight: As;(ever)they tarry a conceit,againfi fomePlafes and ierjfns'. Add,tari ~y !·4 6 · gre.t matter come from them~ What, from Bethlehem?What, out ofGalile? Nay, if fo great aState, He would come from another manner place,thanihat. EM11 l?r'f– faltm,from lerufalem,Damafcw, C.efarea; from fomefiately Citie, much betterbj:. feeming Him. Thefe arc Diaata carnis. · . Firit,He denyes not,Litt/eit was; and,not i>i')'@-, but '''J'""' notparva,butparvt•; la;diminmively little.So /itt/e(faith the Prophet) thaiit \'tas not to be reckoneduna de mi/libtU, not one of athot1and, for the meanneffe of it. And the Evangelifl makes it ttmll,,,6, rather worfe,than better: for,the Prophets wordparvula, he turnes ''~X;,.,, that is; mi. nima,even the11ery leaft of all. , This he confeffes: but then,joynes this iffue,that,though the T11 be little, theEx te may be great. Ex teparva egrediet11r non parv11s : As little as it is, no little Perfon ihall come 0111 of ir. Though it bee not tmade mi/!ibJI;, for the meanneffe, (as faith ..Mica:) Notwithfianding, He chat is to come o"t of it,may be, and is, eleEiuo""'" d,. . ~•nq. 10• !"illibuo, om•f atho11{and, for his.~nice,for his exceUencie. Though it;not wor~hy_ t0beone of the Thoufands of Iuda, 1tihould fend forth one, that lhouldrule the thi?t{•, ja11ds of I11da, and the ten thote[ands of I{r11el: tAndhot of Ij'rael only,afrertheJlefh; (but a handfull,in cornparifon of them, He fhould lead, ) but, the IJrael ofGod;,His .faithfull chofen people, all the world over. Indeed,Hehad anfweted ~he objection, b~foreHe made it,in Ephrata: tlm,little it was, but fttlitfull,and not a: little fruitfull. Which two counrer:points make (in i11ew) acotiflitl,qrcontradiction, bctwet:ne ~mh,•.•· the,Propbct, and the Evangeliif. ThePnphet faith, Thoudrtthe leaft: TheEvangetift (citing him) faith the clcane contrary, •.Thot? art net the leJft. Bethlehem, minima, & non'mi»ima; leajl;and mt leaft; howmay bothbe~ Well enough,both: So,both he not f.1id,re&ard had to one and the fame thing. Leaft (!Jith .Mica,and faith true,) for thecompaffe of the rerritory,leaft; for tfle ·[mall numberof the Inhabitants, leaft; for the thinnelfe and me:mneffe ofthe buil. Luk< •. 7, dings,(as wasfceneat CHR Is Ts Birth, not able to give Lodging to any number:) So haft. But thenagaine,not /eajl(faith S..Matthew,and faith truly roo :)Not,in regard ·of any ofthe three nowmentioned;hut,of another,able (ofit felfe alone) to weigh them all downe: in that it 010uld yceldAltmmum lamgr.rndun, fogreat abirth, as thegreat Mejia<ofth; world: One,whofeonlycommingforth ofit was able ro make it,noc the le4f,nay,thegreateft and mofi famous ofall rhedwellings ofIacub:, ofthe whole Land; Nay,.ofrhewholeworld, then. And thus,not the ledjl. Thoughminima,for the;ru :, nonminima,for theex te: 'l{gn minima,ifit were but for Him,and for nothingdfe. -- What fhall we make of this~ Nothing, but what commeth'from it ofit fe!te; without itraining.That,withGod,itis no new 'thing ; (Nay,very familiar,as even the Hearhen have obferved; fo familiar, as Go o feemes to take delight init;) to bring maxima, de minimis ;great,olltoflittle; CH R. r ST, outofBethlehem. Which is plainct, r.l,;,h.•J· P. e.ven in Nature. How huge anoke, from how [mall anacorne! (Bur,thataskesgreat - · ume :) from how lmlc agrame ofmuftard-feed(the very Bethlehemmmtma,the leaft of"llfeeds) how large a plant!Ofhow faire a fpread!and that,in little time,a moneth orrwo at mofl. - · · : · . But,we are·not in1{,tture, now : in this very point (here) of G11ides andR11lersi therein (too) it hathbeenenounufuallthingw~hHim,outof [mall beginnings, tO' raife mighty States. Their firft Guide (.Mofes,) whence camehe~ out of a basket if !!".~:;3'\ ~Hl-mjhes, forlorne a(!d jlMting am.o11g theJifggu,; ta_keo up 1 · ~~!_!by 'llan,e. The · - gr~a~
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