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OftheNATIVITIE.
Sermon4.
Ails 1.7.
herelivech ;. and therefore let this "Vi"l''•fia)' us.
The Times And Sea(ons He hathptttin Hi<
owntpower,zt u not
fort~&
to know them.
This IS for us to know, that wuh His appointment,
we mull: come
to
a full point. So doth the
<..ApoJ!le,
and fo let us, and not bulie ourfelves
muchwith
ir,time
is bur the
meafr~re
or caske, that wherewith it is
jilfed,doth
more coneerne
us. Totharrherefore !erus come.
I
2.
(Jod[tnt.
I
The
degrees
arefeven (as Ifaid.) To take them as they rife.
tMijit Dem, Godfent.
That ll:andeth firll:
~
and at it, let our firll: ll:ay be. That will fall out to make the
ftrft
de–
gree. For,eventhts,that Go o fentatall,
IpJI"~mittercDei,
this veryfendingitfelfe,is
a degree. Itts fo; and fo we would reckon of It, tfwe knew the
Sender,
and who
He is
;the
M
Ajejfie
ofHis prefence how great it is, and howglorious, how farre furpalling all we can
fee on earth.
For
Him,
for fuch an one as
He,
to condefcend,buttofend;is fure a degree. For enouoh
it had beene.,and more than enough for
llim,ro befent to;
and not to
fcndHimfe!fe.To
ha~e
fit Hill, and beene contenr, that we might
fend
to
Him,and
haveour mclfage and petition ad–
mitted,and not
Htfend
to us. That had beene as much as we could looke for,and well,ifwe
might have beene vouchfafed but that. But it wasl/ethatfent: not
nie
to
Him
firfi, nay,
not wetol/tmatall, but
lie
to
m.
·
He
to
us?
And what were
we, thatllttoru? Vs,
(as elfe-where He rermeth
us)meere
Eph.•.
n.
Aliens from Him,
and
His llot<}/,oldc
Not that onely, but
Vs,
in cafe ofmen,whom the Law
had palfed upon. (So is our ellate defcribed in the end oftheText.)For Him, to
{end to11s.,
[ ogreat
as
He,ro fuch
as
we;
to thinke
ru, tanti,
fo much wonh, as to make any
mifion,
or
motion, orro difeafeany about
us;
This may well bethejirft. Be it then fo; thattb
ru,
or
for"',
or
concerning
ttS,
Go o would trouble
H~rnfe!fe
to make any
fending
..
A
fielnef!e
there
is in this.
Frdl He
was;
afulne)Je
there wasmHtm,
(eventhefrelneffiofcornpafioninHis
bowels over ourell:ate)dfc fuch a
Sender
would never once have
(ent.
·
2
Go o
fen.t
.·
Sent, and.fent His
SoN N
•:
That, (I make no quell:ion,)will beare a
Husmt.flcond. others
He might have·fem; and
who{oever
it had beene He had fenc, it might well
hav.eferved our tl)rnes. Iffenc
by.~he
hand of
a~y
His
Servants,
any
Patriarch, Prophet,
any
ordinary meJ!enger,
it·had beene enough• So, httherto had beene his
Sending.
So, and no
ocherwife, evertill now.
· ,
.
. .
Then)'ifte
fend
by
Any
may feeme fufficienr, to
fend His
SoN N•, mull needs feeme
:.
·
.fr~U.
For ever the moree,.<Jellenc
thePerfonfertt,
the more honourable the
fending:
the
t,:o!.>.g.
grtater He,
thefieH~r
it.
Now,grtater
there is not than
His Sonne,
His
ftrjl,
His
onely begottm
Sonne,
in
whom ihefrilnej{e oftile'God.headdwelt;
In fending
Him,
He fent the greateft, the
beft, the
frt!lejf
thing He had. ·
_, Toheape the
meafureup
yet more, with the
car{e ofHisfending,
in the word
·~.,.;,..,
...
'lpwas'
voluntary
.•·
He fenc Him not for need
:
buc for meere love to us, acd nothing elfe.
There was no
ahJ!.lttte nmfity
that He lhould have fent
Him.
He might have done what He
i;lrenlled, bytf!e meanes and minill:ery offomebelides. Go o could have enabled a
Crea–
tllre"1
a
Creature
enabled by Go o,
andthepOJverofEiis might,
could foone have
troddowne
8Aial1
under
or~rfeet'
·But ifit had beene any
other
He had feur, His love and regard eo us had
[email protected] lhe'wed fo
ft•ll. '
'lt had
beene,:oftendit Deus charitatem,
but not,
Ec.ce quantam charitA-
' lob. 3·
1 •
t'emojlendit De
ut.
Whomfoever He had fent bclides, His love had nm beene
fi•O:
at leafi,
not
{o
ftdl
as it QJould have beene, ifHe had fent His
Sonne.
That therefore it might be
full,
and fo appeareto us for
fidl, Mijit Dms
ftlir~m
frcum.
Enough it was, in compaffion ofour
efiat!l, to have relecved us by
any :
Men chat are in need eo be releeved, care not who they be
that doe it. Enough then for
compafion:
but notenough
to
manifefi
tht fulnt([e
ofHis love,
unlerfe toreleeveus,
Hefent His owne Sonne.
3
This is
full.
one 'would t)1ii\ke: Yet, the
tMAnner
of His
f~nding
Him, is
{11/ltr
Jli!l.
Made.
tMijit Filium; Filium faCium.
'S~nt
His
Sonne;
His
Sonne mAde.
Senc Him, and fent
Him
madt:
This is a
third.
rFor if He would have fenr Him, Helhould not have fent
him-made :
but as He was,
neither made nor created,
but like Himfelfe in His owne efiate,'
as was meet for the
Sonne oj'Gbd,
to
be fent.
To
11Jakt Him
any thing, is to
marre
Him ,be'it
what it will be.
''fbjJndl!im made,
is to
{end Him marred,
and no better. There–
fore! make no doitbt,
C'l'i' J\'i :s' r s
fending
is one degree,
Hismakingis3n~her:
So
to
''
,.
[md
I
'