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8
Of
the ,NATI
v
1TIE.
Sermon
1.
lorui s.,9
the true
feed,
reacherh both thou and us.) Saith He;
if
ye be Abrahamsfonnes, then mrefly<t
Rom.4."
doe the.vorkes ofAbraham.
Which,the
Ap#le
wdl callerh,the
ft•ps,or
imprefiions of
Abra.
hams fatth ;
Or,
we may call.them;
the.fru#s ofthufeed,
here. So reafoneth our Saviour.
I>m
,,,.,Hoc nonfectt Abraham; Thu didnot he_;
if
ye
doe it, ·ye are nor
hisfeed: This did he;
doe
y~
GJI.5.6.
thehke,and
hufeed
ye are. So, here 1s a double
apprehenflon:
'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
Abrahamsfeed
here at the firfi · and come to
lAbrahams bofome
there
atthcl~ft.
So have we abriefe of
Semen 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 thiS
Chapter,)
voucherh our ofh1m (at thefixt/,
Verfe ;) When
I
confider
(faith
:itaeion.
hee)
the Heavens,
(fay we, the
<..Angels
of
Heavm,)
and fee thofe
Glorior;s Spirits
palfed by
~!'UI·
8
·4·
and
man taken,
even to ftgh with him, and fay,
Lord, what
ir
man,
(either
Adam,
or
A
bra~
ham,) that tho:tf/,ouldeft bethttsmindefrtllofhim, orrhefeed,orjonnes
ofeither,
that thonJbord–
deft mJtkethis doe
about him
1
The 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
'
,our
Natttre,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 the
old 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
non
eff
confr•f
~«(as,
in the
eleventh Verfe,
the
v1p#!~
fpeakerh)
who wa< not confounded,thns
to
take
our
Nature.
•
And withall,rhe
Honour
and hap-
Luk. "·lf
pindfe of
v1brahams feed, ut dtgm haberentur,
that were counted worthy to bee taken,
[(J
neere unto him.
·
";,:'?'Re-
The next point: That, afterwe have well confidered it,we be affeCted with it; and that,'
fo~'ts6
no orherwife, than
Abraham
was.
Abraham
faw ir, even
this day,
and bur afarre off, and He
· -
rejoyctd At it:
And fo lhall we, on it, ifwe be His true
feed.
It broughtfonh a
BenediCJ'M,
and a
M
4gnijcat,from
the true
feedofAbraham;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
ir
given, 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 Samt
v1uguffme,)
there IS a cerratne necefiiry la1d
upon us, ro become,infome mea[ure,
fut~ble
unto it; in that we are
one; oneftefb;
and one
bloud,
with the
Sonne ofGod.
Bemgrhusm
honor,
we ought to underCtand our efiate,and not
l'f
3 ·49· 1 l
fall intothe
Pfalmifts
reproofe,that we
become 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 taken
r~
this degree, fl1all any of
them provea
Devill(as chrift
faid
ofluda<:)
or ever (as thele With us, oflate) have to doe
lohn
6. 7
o
with any
devilifb
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, ma
chriftun
profefiion, hve a
brt~tijb
hfe
{
Nay then, Samt
•1
Cor.J.J
Paulrels
us further that if we henceforrli
walke ltke men,
(ltke but even
carnalt
or
naturaU
~
---
men,) it is a fault
i~
us.
Somewha~
mull: appeare, in us, more than in
o~di!lary
men, who
·
ar~