Sermon 1. Of the N AT 1 v 1T 1 E. 1· ~ ;meth the r(almijis queftion; Nrmquidin vanum;&crW/Jat hailthou made .tl mmfor n0t1ght! p(,_a 7•41 .Thlt cannot be: Sogre;zt wi{-dome cannot doe fdgreat a worke, mvAme. But tn vame lt had beene,ifGodhad nor/hewed mercy; And, therefore was mans cafe rather; ofthe twame, atterof commiferanon. (This 1s Leo.) ,m And rhus havnhey travelled, and thefe haveth~y found, why He dida_pprihendus, ra~ 3 h than them. It may be, nor amilfc. Bur, we will conrenrour felves, for ourundenobu ho~r? when.:c commet:h this to us, with the anfwer ofthe Scriptures :\Vhence, _but from L"<.qt. h t ndfYmercies ofour God, whereby_thtS day /;ath vijitedm? zelus Domtm (fa1th Ef•y,) The EL•y 9 . 1 • t ~eof the LerdofHojls )hallbringit topa(Je: propter nimiam charitatem (faith the Apofile) Eph.q ; ;:, ~cu; dtlexit (faith He, He Himfdfe;) And we (taught by Him)fay,Evcnfo Lord;fJr, [o ~: •. !~~~; it was thy good pleafure thus to doe. · . All thiswhilearcwc abouttakingthe Sud: theSwlingencrall. But now, why AbraIll; h411's Seed? Since it is<Angels, [n thdir(l: parr,why nor Men m the fecond, but Seed? Or;1f The S(ed, to exprelfeournatrm; why nottheSeed of the woman, but thd~edof .Abraham_? It Choice. mzy be thought, becaufe he wrote to theHcbrerves, he rather ufed this terme of AbrahamJ ;;;;;.:,– feea,becaufe,[othey were, and fo loved ro bdhlcd, and he would pleafe them. Bur, I find, s"d. the ancient F•thmgoe further; and, out of1t, ra1fe matter, both ot comfort,andofdtrec1son: and that, for us too. r. OfCOttifort, firf't; with reference to our S4viour,who taking on Him<.Abrahamsfad, ! muf'twithall take on Him thejignattm of Abrahams Sctd, and be, as He was, circrw;ci(ed. F'"{."' 1hereis agreat matterdependeth evrn on that. For, beirlgcircumcifed, Hebecame a debtor, o7t.~'.'i. to keepe the whole law of God: which bondwehad broken, and forfeited, andincurred rh.e eurfeannexed,and were ready to beapprehended, and comm~tted for it. That fo, H~,keeping the Law, might recoverbackc the chzrographtem c~ntra nos, the hand.wntmgthatrv.u a: Cota.t 4 , gllinftm ;and fo,fet us free ofthe debt. TillS Bondd1dnot relate, to theSeedofthe Woman; it pertained (properly) to thefeed ofAbraham :therefore, that terme fir1_eth us better.W1th· out faile, two difiinct benefits they are: 'Fa[/us homo, and > Faelus freb lege ;and, fo doth Saint P-<~,ul recount them. <.Made man; that is, the S~edofthe Woman: and, made underthe G•l.ti· , Law; rhatJs the SeedofAbraham. To lmle purpote, He fi1ould have taken the one, 1f He .had not alfo undertaken the other, and, as theSeed ofAbraham, emred bond for us, and t:!- our debt upon Him. This firfr. 2. And, belides this, there is yet another; referring it to the Nation, or Peopl<.>, whom He tookeupon Him. It is fure, thev were, ofall other people, themo(bmtorvard; both, of the hardeft hearts, and of the f!iffofl neckes; and(asthcHeathen mannoteththem)ofthc worfrmmres. Go n Himfelfetdleththemfo; it was, fornovertueoftheirs, or for any pure naturals in them, that He rooke them to Him, forthey were,that way, the worfr ofrhc Deur. 9.f. wholeearth. And fo then, the taking of...Abrahams feed amounreth roas much, as that of Saint Pare!, (nolelfetme, thanworthy ofall men tu be received;) tlilar Hecame into the world, to, Tim.•.•S fave jilmers; and that, chiefeJinners, as (itis cerraine) they were; even theSeed ofAbrdham, ofalltheSeedofv1dam. ' But, not for comfort ondy, but for dire[/i6n too, doth He ufe v1brahams name here. 2 Even, to cntailc the benefit comming by it, to hisSeed; that is, to fuch as he was. For, for For ?ur Ji– hi<fake,were all 'l{•tions blejfed. And Chrijl,though He rook the feed ofthe WOman, yet doth Z~~~:~ .. ~ notb~nefit any,bm thefeedofv1braham; even thofethatfollow the fieps of-Hisfaith. For, bybth,Abraham tooke~o)d ofH1m,by whom,He was in mercy taken holq of: Et ttt mitte G:n.'"'' fritm& tent~ijlz_(fatth Samt Augreftme..) That faith ofhis, to Him, was acco4ntedfor righte- Rom. 4 . 3 . ..f,e(!e. To him was, and to us fi1all be (fmh the Apojlle,) ifwe be inlike{orrappY'hen(ive hfH,m. Either, as A~raham; or, as the true SeedofAbraham (Iacob) was, that took~fuch holdonHtm, as he fatd plamdy, Non dcmittam te, niji bcmdixeris mihi. wirhour a blefling G•·n.p.•~ llwouldnotlet Him goe. Surely,nottheHebrewes alone. nay north~ Hebtenies at all fo; Rom.~.t. a their carnal! propagation: they ondy are Abrahams fe~d, that lay hold ofthe wo;d of f::~~e. And, theGalatians [o do[ng, though they were meereheathen men, (as we be;) yet G>!. 3 .d. Be eththem, they are Abrahamsfeed, and fhall be blelfcd togctherw[th him. : ur,thatls not all; there goeth more to themaking us Abrahamsfeed;(as ChrijlHim[elfe; B 4 the r /
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