Sermon zo. Ofthe NATIVITIE. of His office. ' Tobe ourguide,tolead '"'(faithMica: ) , Dux, quipa[cet ;Lead m, an4feedtu(faith Mttttlm•) both. A~d,fo lea~tng andfeedmgm,to conduct and bring Mattl:.:.o. us tothej~yes and]oyfu!ldayesofetermtze:whnher,wuhomH1m,wecan never come: an'd,whitber till '.ve come,we lhallnever be,as we would be,(that JS)truly hap~- d~d This is His office. And,asH1s Office to lead, and tofeed m: fo, our Dlfie tobe.!edand to be fedhy Him.. That followes ofit felfe. ' w~~'-*'~Wff~,Jt<>-;tt~~~~~~-w~~;Jt~ E'/'fttB~thtehem. A word,ofthe charac1er, or manner ofthe fpeech. For,this The M•nncr · _ Yer(e bath no dcpen~~mce at all, on that,went before. The Prophet breakes off';!, ~:'Ji,;,'1~:' thedifcourfe,he was m,and breakes mto th1s of Bethlehem(here,) all of a fud- hem. den. This, wecallanvfpoftrophe; and,it is O!le of the.figures, that beftirrersofar. te~tim. ...., "" For, this we finde; that, while on goes on !lill with a talei~ a continued tenour of (peech, attention growes dull ;and, no readier way,to awake Jt, (as theMafters of that Arttell us)than,fuddenly to break offthepoim,we were in hand with,and turne us to quiteanothcr matter; whicln':'ith the firangendfe, will affect rhe hearer, and make him hilen afrelh,whether he'w1ll or no. TheProphet cloth fo, in this. H~was <b~t the ve;febefore,) mufieringgarri(o.ots and layingSiege to Iemfalem : and, mthe midll: of h1s tale, f~lls from that, and pre– fentlyisatBethlehem ' tells us, of a newmatter; abonta Ch1lde to be borne there. This mull:needs move attention. AnyApojlrophewill doe it, more or lelfe. ' · But of all,notleto that,which is framed in the Second Ferfon: as,this is. For,itis hOt a fp;ech of,or concerningBethtehem,in the Third Perfon, (as that ofEfay, B:h~!d • Virgin. [ohere, Behold,out of Bethtehem,foa!lcome :) Not, Emmttattve. ButJtls a fpeech, ;oBethlehem, in theSuo19dperfon: Et tt<, andthott Bethlehem, ont of thee,foa/1 :,here ctme : Anmmtiative; whichhath more vigour in it. IfEfay had faid [And thou rirgin [halt conceive,] it had beenemoreeffectuall, than[BeholdaYirginjhallcon– ceive;]More,a great deale. But more fpecially yet; if, in the fecond pcrfon,we turne our fpecchadinanim~: ta, to things that can neither heare,nor underfiand. Not,that we hold them capable of that which is fpoken : but that,if in any degree they were fo, it is fuch, as furely would move them. Such is the Prophets here : turnes him to the Towne-walls of Bethlehem; makes a fet fpeech to them; tells them of all this matter : Andthou Beth– lehem, to thee be it fpokcn, ollt of thee, foal/there come. And this is very forcible,and full oflife : For,it intends, that, if the very walls and ll:ones in them could heare,or could rejoyce, there is good caufe, they lhould doe both : in that there !hould come, out of them,Onc,for whom, Ierufalemandallthe Cities of I~tda,Nay,all the world· fuould be the better. Weigh it well,and you {hall linde,there is more in this[Et tu] than is, or can be, in anyEmof them all. And this for Etttl, theManner ofthe fpeech. Fo.r theMatter: ItisananCwcrtothequcftion, (YbirWuJejl ;)"of theWife-men, TI>eM«<Jtrof Whereu He that i& borne? Borne Hewlf4,(that they knew: )Whereborne,Cthattheyknew"· not :) The Starretold them one; theProphet, the other. Et claritlf4 daritatem clarijiI. <•t,and,a cleereStarre is made mor.e cle~re,by a Propheci~ as cleere, orcleerer tha~ ir. '"2,~/;b~.' For, very cleere 11 IS (the propheCJe)Without all ClrCmtle, notin", naming, (and ma manner)pointing to it: Andthou Bethlehem. "' And, becaufe there were two BetMehems, On~, in theTribeofZabt~lon, (Iof. 1 9· r ~3·b Another, intheTribeof Iuda : He faith, it was Bethlehem Ephrata, which Beth/tbt/11 1~ t at m the Tribe of luda, as Saint UUatthe'lll (rather <>iviog the [enfe, than !tan- fttra,..•, dm~on the words)citesir. There can be no en:our, R.ach~ls sqmlthcr was thereby: 11-~,;;l~~~t 11.'4> el w.as bumd,by Ephr4t4; Ephrata,the J 1111" t< Btthlehem,Mi[este!s us,mo•e ~hana Gcn. 3 PJ!< 1 moufa.11~ '
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