'"' ' \ 8 Of the ,NATI v 1TIE. Sermon 1. lorui s.,9 the truefeed, reacherh both thou and us.) Saith He; if ye be Abrahamsfonnes, then mrefly<t Rom.4." doe the.vorkes ofAbraham. Which,the Ap#lewdl callerh,theft•ps,or imprefiions ofAbra. hams fatth ; Or, we may call.them; the.fru#s ofthufeed, here. So reafoneth our Saviour. I>m ,,,.,Hoc nonfectt Abraham; Thu didnot he_; ifye doe it, ·ye are nor hisfeed: This did he; doey~ GJI.5.6. thehke,andhufeedye are. So, here 1s a doubleapprehenflon: 'oneofS, Pattl; , the orher of S.I•mes; Worke, for bo~h hands ro apprehend. Both, .' Charitas, 1"" exjde; and :• Tim, 6. ,jdes if"" percharttatemoperatttr. By which we ihall be able (f.1irh Saint Pa1el) tolay holdof 10 ' eternal/life; and fo, be Abrahamsfeedhere at the firfi · and come to lAbrahams bofome there atthcl~ft. So have we abriefe ofSemen l/lbrah£.' ' ·!P,t~e Now, what is robe commcnded rous our ofthis Text, fo: us to lay holdof? Verily,' Text. firfi, tO tak~us to our medttatton; the meditation, wluch the * Pjaltnift bath, and which rhe 1 For-'~<- v1p#le, (m thiSChapter,) voucherh our ofh1m (at thefixt/, Verfe ;) When I confider (faith :itaeion. hee) the Heavens, (fay we, the<..Angels ofHeavm,) and fee thofe Glorior;s Spirits palfed by ~!'UI·8·4· andman taken, even to ftgh with him, and fay, Lord, what ir man, (either Adam, or Abra~ ham,) that tho:tf/,ouldeft bethttsmindefrtllofhim, orrhefeed,orjonnes ofeither, that thonJbord– deft mJtkethis doeabout him1The cafe is het:e farre orhcrwife, farre more worth our conft– deration. There, Thou haft made him alittle lower: Here, thou halt made him agreat deale higher,than the Angels, For they, this day firfi,and ever ftnce,dayly have, and doe adore ' ,ourNatttre,in the perfonall Vnion with the D • I T I • · Looke you(faith rhev1poft!e;) Htbr.l. 6, when Hee brought Hu onely bego;tm Sonne mto the World, thu Hee proclazmedbefore Him, Let all the Angels worjbip Him : and fo they did. And upon this very daycs taking the feet!, ~· ~~,~~· hath enfued (as the Fathers note) agreat alrerario~'· Be[ore, in theold Teftament, rhcy fuf– Apo.;t 9 : fered Davtdto fit upon h1s knees before them: Smce, (m the .'1\.trv) they endure nor, Saint · John fl10uld fall do.vne ro them, but ac~nowledge, the cafe IS altered, now; and no more fuperioriry, but all fellow {ervant!. And, even in this one part, two things prefem rhem– felvcs unto us: 1 His humility, !f!.!!i noneff confr•f ~«(as, in the eleventh Verfe, the v1p#!~ fpeakerh) who wa< not confounded,thns to takeour Nature. •And withall,rheHonour and hapLuk. "·lf pindfe of v1brahams feed, ut dtgm haberentur, that were counted worthy to bee taken, [(J neere unto him. · ";,:'?'ReThe next point: That, afterwe have well confidered it,we be affeCted with it; and that,' fo~'ts6 no orherwife, thanAbrahamwas. Abrahamfaw ir, even this day, and bur afarre off, and He · - rejoyctd At it: And fo lhall we, on it, ifwe be His truefeed. It broughtfonh aBenediCJ'M, and aM4gnijcat,from the truefeedofAbraham;Ifir doe not thelike,from us,cerrainly it but fl.ores in our braines; we but warble about it : Bur, we beleeve it not, and therefore, neither doe we rightly underfiand it. Sure I am, ifthe Angels had fuch a feafi to keepe, ifHe had done thelike forrhem, they would hold .it with all joy and jubilee. They rejoyce ofour good; bur, ifthey had one oftheir owne, they muCt needs doe it afrer another manner; farre more effcCl:ually. Ifwe doe nor, as they would doe, (were thecafe theirs,) ir is,becaufe we arelho1t, in conceiving the excellencie ofrhe benefit. It would have (furely) due obferva.~ tion, if it had his due and lerious meditation. Luk,,.;4e. Further, we are to underfiand this: That to whom much irgiven, ofthem willmr;ch Gere; quired; and (as Gregorie well faith) C11m crefcunt dona; crefcrmt & ratione; donomm, As the, gifts grow, fo grow.rhe accompts t?O: ~herefore, that by th1~ new d1g~1ry befallen ~s, Ne<efita< tf""'dam nobts impoflta eft (fa1rh Samtv1uguffme,) there IS a cerratne necefiiry la1d upon us, ro become,infome mea[ure, fut~ble unto it; in that we areone; oneftefb; and one bloud, with theSonne ofGod. Bemgrhusmhonor, we ought to underCtand our efiate,and not l'f 3 ·49· 1 l fall intothe Pfalmifts reproofe,that webecome like the beafts thatperifb. For,ifwe do (indeed) thinkc our Nature is ennobled by this fo high a conjunCtion, we fl1all henceforth hold our felves ;more deare, and at a higher rate,rhan to proititute our [elves t~flnne, for every bafe,' trifling, and rranftrory pleafure. For tell me, men that are takenr~ this degree, fl1all any of them proveaDevill(as chrift faidofluda<:) or ever (as thele With us, oflate) have to doe lohn6. 7 owith anydevilifb or Irtdafly faCl: '! Shall any man,afrer thi~ ajfitmpti~n, be as Horfe or Mt~!e." l'bl.J• 9· that have no underftanding; and, machriftunprofefiion, hve a brt~tijb hfe{ Nay then, Samt •1 Cor.J.J Paulrels us further that if we henceforrli walke ltke men, (ltke but evencarnalt or naturaU ~--- men,) it is a fault i~ us. Somewha~mull: appeare, in us, more than in o~di!lary men, who · ar~
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