158 JJook IV. !inner? why, unto thee uborna Saviour, hi~ Nam~-;;S~viour~~;;,~~fores~ caufehe will fave hi& people from th;ir fins. Come then, and bring out thy fins,- and we1gh them to the urmofl:aggravauonof them, and take m every circumfhnce both of Law and Gofpel, and fet bur this in the other Scale, that unto tbu is bom a Savio~tr, fure– ly all thy iniquities will feem lighter than vanity, yea they will be as nothing in compaluke 1.46,47· rtfon thereof; il'fy So"/ doth magnifie tbe !-ord (fa1d .M~ry) and my Spirit· rejo)'ceth in God my Sa·vioJtr. Her foul and her fptrit within her rejoyced at this birth of Chrilt. thereiscaufe tlm_every foul, and every fpirit fiiould rejoyce, that hathany interel!i~ this birth ?f Clmfl: 0 my foul, how OJOuldefl thou but rejoyce if thou wilt confider theJe particulars. r. God himfdf is come down into the world - becauf< it was imnoffible for thee to Zeco. 9 . 9 • come to hi;n,he is come to thee;this confideration ~ade theProphet cryour,Rejo)'ce grent– ly C? Daugmcr of Zton,Jhout 0 Daugbter of Jcrufalcm, behold thy King cometh unto thee; he IS calle.d aKmg, and therefore he ts able ; andhe isth).' king, and therefore he is will– mg; but tn that thy Kmg comerh unto thee,here the 11 marvtlous hve and mercy of God in Chrifl:; Kings do not ufually come ro vifit1nd to wait upon their fubjeL'ls,it is well ifpoor fubjecrs may come to them,and be addmined into their prefence ro wait on them, 0 but fee the &rear King ofheaven and earth, the King ofKings, and Lord of Lords frnoping, and bowmg the heavens to come do·.vn to the ; furely thts IS tood tydings of great joy, and therefore rejoycegreatly 0 d~~<ghrer ofZion. A little joy is too fcant and narro·v for this news; heartSnwuldbe inlarged, the doors and gates Jhould be fet wide O?en for this Kin<> ofglory to come in; as Balaam faid oflfi'ael, God is withhimaud rhejhou:of,, Icing is a~ mongft them? fo now may we fay, God is with us, and the Owut of a King is among(! Numb. '3· 21. us; Reioyce Zion, jhout 0 Daughter of Jerufalem. 2. God is come down in fl eOJ; he bath laid afide, as it were, hi• own glory, whilf! he convetfeth with thee; when God manifefl:ed himfelf, as on Mount Sinai, he came down in Thunder and Lightning ; and if now he had appeared in Thunder and Light– ning, if how he had been guarded with an innumerable company of Angels, all having their fwords of vengeance and juflice drawn, well might poor fouls have trembled, and have run into corners; for who could ever be able to endure his coming in this way? but lo poor foul, God iscomedowninjleOt, he bath made his appearance as a man, as one of us, and there is not in this regard the leall di[lance betwixt him and us. Sure– ly this is fewel for joy to feed upon: 0 why lhould God come down fo [otably, fo lowly, as in our nature, if he would have thy poor foul robe afraid of him? dotb not this very delign intend confohtion to thy foul? 0 gather up th)• fpirit, anoint thy heart with the oyl of gladnefs; fee God himfelf is come down in fleOtto live amongfl us, he profelfeth he will have no other life but amongfl: the fons of men ; fee what a fweer way of familiarity and intercoarfe is made betwixt God and us, now he is come down in humane frailty. 3. God bath took on him our Nature as a vafl pipe to his Godhead, that it may flow om in all manner of fweetne;s upon our hearts ; if God bad come down in fleOJ, only to have been feen of us, it had been a wonderful condefcention, and a great mercy: if' I Exod. ll·"· have fottnd fa'?our in thy eyes (faid M.jes} Jhew me the WP:J that 1 may. k§ow rh:e; bur to comedown mflefh,&to comedown in fleJh,not only to be feen.bm to dtfpatcb the great bufinefs ofour fouls falvation, here's comfort indeed: with what joy ll1ould we draw water out of this Wdl of falvation? Surely the great reafon of the ntaliownefs of our Co:11fom, ll10rtnefs of uur Hopes, the faimnefs of our Spirits, the lownef; of our Graces, IS from the not knowing, or the not heeding of this particular; Cltrifl in fleJh fl:ands not for a Cypher, but iti< an Organ of life and grace unto us·; it is a fountain of Comfort that can never run dry. In this flefh there is laid in on purpofe fuch a fulnefs of the God– head, that of his fulnefs we might receive in our meafure gr:;,e for grace. 0 n1')!' foul. thou art daily bufie in eying this and that; but above_ all,knowtbat aU thefulnefs ofGod lies in Chrill:incarnate, to be emptied upon thee: thts was the meamng of ~hnll1akmg on him fleJh, that through his fleJh he might convey to tbee whatfoever tS t~ lumfelf as God. As for infiance God in himfelt is good, and gracious, and powerful, and all-fufficient , and merciful, and what not? Now by his being in flellt, he fut.rs all this, and conveys all tbis to thee.; obferve this for rhJ>: eternal comfort, God mand through the flefh makes all his Attributes and Glory fervtceable to rhy foul. . 4· God in our nature bath laid our the Model and Draught of what l1e w1ll do UntO
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