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<DATE>2014-03-10</DATE>
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<NAME>Kate Allen</NAME>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B13693">
<STC T="S">11567</STC>
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<VID>177631</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>A SERMON CONCERNING THE EPIPHANY, PREACHED AT THE Cathedrall Church of Chri&s;t in <HI>Oxford.</HI></P>
<P>By RICHARD GARDYNER, D. D. and <HI>Canon</HI> of the &s;ame <HI>Church.</HI></P>
<P><HI>OXFORD,</HI> Printed by LEONARD LICHFIELD, and are to be &s;old by MATTH. HVNT. <HI>Anno Dom.</HI> 1639.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE RIGHT <HI>REVEREND FATHER</HI> IN GOD, IOHN, LORD-BISHOP OF <HI>OXFORD,</HI> my much Honour'd <HI>Dioce&s;an.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>My Lord,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_I Am as full of <HI>hope</HI> as <HI>de&s;ire</HI> that your <HI>Gentlene&s;&s;e</HI> will helpe into the <HI>light</HI> this <HI>ba&s;hfull</HI> Piece of my <HI>Compo&s;ure.</HI> For having long liv'd in the <HI>Sun-&s;hine</HI> of your Favour, it may
<PB REF="3">well be expected that &s;omewhat of mine &s;hould bee <HI>colour'd</HI> with the <HI>beames.</HI> The <HI>Argument</HI> being the <HI>wi&s;e mens</HI> devotion claimes a peculi|ar Intere&s;t in your <HI>religious</HI> protecti|on, &s;ince 'tis <HI>demon&s;tratively</HI> evident that the Example of their <HI>piety</HI> hath made a con&s;picuous <HI>reflection</HI> on your <HI>practi&s;e,</HI> which &s;pares <HI>no Co&s;t</HI> that <HI>God</HI> may be <HI>&s;erv'd</HI> like <HI>Him&s;elfe.</HI></P>
<P>We have &s;eene their <HI>well-ground|ed</HI> faith, which <HI>S. Peter</HI> calls <HI>Luci|ferum in cordibus,</HI> appeare in the franke, and free Large&s;&s;e of your Love to <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> The &s;acriledge of former times purloyn'd the <HI>holy trea&s;ures,</HI> challeng'd the &s;etl'd <HI>man&s;i|ons</HI> of your <HI>Sea</HI> for their owne by <HI>Law,</HI> as if they mean'd you &s;hould
<PB REF="3">be knowne to be the <HI>mo&s;t Chri&s;tian Bi&s;hop</HI> in having with <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> no <HI>hou&s;e</HI> left to <HI>repo&s;e</HI> your <HI>head</HI> in, nor <HI>Chappell</HI> &s;tanding, wherein you might offer up <HI>Attonement for them.</HI></P>
<P>To remove this &s;candall your <HI>Exemplary</HI> munificence ayded by <HI>So|veraigne Power</HI> hath <HI>given</HI> out of your <HI>Cofers</HI> to the Church, what o|thers have <HI>taken away</HI> from the Church to <HI>&s;tore</HI> their <HI>Cofers. So</HI> that through your Lord-&s;hips bounty we may now againe &s;ay <HI>here</HI> &s;tands the <HI>Lords Oratory,</HI> and <HI>This</HI> is the Bi&s;hops <HI>Palace.</HI> Heretofore the <HI>E|vangelicall</HI> Altar was plac'd &s;o <HI>incon|gruou&s;ly</HI> throughout the whole <HI>Dio|ce&s;se</HI> that a <HI>Pro&s;elyte</HI> might ea&s;ily mi|&s;take it for a <HI>&s;ecular</HI> Table, or <HI>common</HI>
<PB REF="4">Boord: now it hath that exact <HI>po&s;iti|on,</HI> which is con&s;onant to the <HI>Pri|mitive</HI> Times. To prevent a <HI>promi&s;|cuous</HI> imployment of our Cathedrall <HI>&V;ten&s;ills</HI> your pious Zeale hath <HI>&s;tampt</HI> Gods <HI>Marke</HI> upon them, whereby none may dare to alter the <HI>propriety,</HI> nor pollute them with <HI>pro|fane</HI> u&s;es. And thus you have <HI>wal|ked</HI> in the <HI>&s;teppes</HI> of wi&s;e men both in the <HI>Sub&s;tance,</HI> and <HI>circum&s;tance,</HI> which makes me confident that this <HI>Narration</HI> of the <HI>wi&s;e mens</HI> diligent enquiring, and devout wor&s;hipping our <HI>Saviour</HI> will find a gracious ac|ceptance, being humbly pre&s;ented to your <HI>Fatherly indulgence</HI> by</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Lord&s;hips obliged to &s;erve you in all Canonicall obedience. <HI>RICHARD GARDYNER.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<PB N="1" REF="4">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>TEXT 2. C. V. 2. Of the Go&s;pell by S^t Mathew.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Where is he that is borne King of the Iews? For we have &s;eene his &s;tarre in the Ea&s;t, and are come to wor&s;hip him.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_I Have heretofore re|related the <HI>Iournall,</HI> &amp; <HI>Ge&s;tes</HI> of the Pro|gre&s;&s;e, which the <HI>Ma|gi</HI> made to <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> taking my <HI>Ri&s;e</HI> at the fir&s;t ver&s;e, as at the fir&s;t <HI>stage</HI> of their &s;et|ting forth. Now quite to leave them there, and upon no opportunity to reflect on the <HI>Motive,</HI> and <HI>End</HI> of their Journey; what
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<PB N="2" REF="6">were it but with the <HI>Foxe</HI> in the <HI>Fable</HI> to lick the <HI>out&s;ide</HI> of the Gla&s;&s;e, and not to ta&s;t the <HI>&s;weetes</HI> that are within it,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Naz. Orat. 11.</NOTE> or in the words of <HI>Nazianzen</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, to commend a goodly <HI>Statue</HI> fro~ the <HI>&s;hadow</HI> it ca&s;ts, and to pa&s;&s;e by <GAP DESC="foreign">, tho&s;e perfections, which de|&s;erve our <HI>chiefe</HI> commendations. The <HI>Tue&s;day</HI> Cour&s;e then being almo&s;t conti|guous to their <HI>Solemne</HI> Fe&s;tivall &s;ea&s;onably reverted me to a &s;urvay of this &s;econd ver&s;e, &s;ince therein we may di&s;cover the maine <HI>drift</HI> of their <HI>travell,</HI> &amp; <HI>expence.</HI> Our <HI>Dialect</HI> renders them <HI>Wi&s;e men,</HI> and &s;ignifi|cantly too: For at their fir&s;t arrivall they did not weare away the <HI>Spanne</HI> of their time in de&s;crying the <HI>Gaudes</HI> and <HI>Glories</HI> of the Citty, in trifling about impertinent, &amp; frivolous Que&s;tions, but like <HI>Wi&s;e men</HI> in|deed they forthwith propound a <HI>religious</HI> demand, &s;aying, <HI>Where is He, which is borne King of the Iews?</HI> And yet I feare the world|ly wi&s;e will take them for none of the wi|&s;e&s;t in regard of that <HI>forme</HI> of <HI>Jntergatory.</HI>
<PB N="3" REF="6">The method of humane Policy pre&s;cribes Travellers to &s;et a watch before their mouthes, to bee <HI>thrifty</HI> of their language when they conver&s;e with forreine Nati|ons, becau&s;e a <GAP DESC="foreign">, or freedome of &s;peech in &s;uch betrayes <HI>levity,</HI> and hazards <HI>&s;afety.</HI> The&s;e then may &s;eeme to be <HI>nick|nam'd</HI> Wi&s;emen, onely in an <HI>Jrony,</HI> for who would not e&s;teeme it rather an in&s;olent <HI>pre&s;umption</HI> then well weigh'd <HI>di&s;cretion</HI> to di&s;pute the <HI>Rights,</HI> and <HI>Proprieties</HI> of a Crowne; to rai&s;e a bruit of a <HI>Naturall</HI> King newly borne when another is elected, and <HI>establi&s;hed</HI> in the <HI>Throne?</HI> Such an affront as this is able to &s;trike fire out of the dulle&s;t <HI>Prince,</HI> much more out of <HI>Herod,</HI> who as he was a <HI>Foxe</HI> in &s;ubtlety, &s;o he &s;hew'd him&s;elfe a <HI>Lion</HI> in Cruelty. For when their <HI>Errand</HI> was pre&s;ented to his Eares his enra|ged jealou&s;ie burn'd &s;o fiercely that it <HI>&s;uck'd</HI> up the bloud of all the <HI>Male</HI> Infants with|in the Coa&s;ts <HI>of Bethle~.</HI> And had not an hea|venly in&s;piration diverted the&s;e <HI>Nuncios</HI> from the intended way of their <HI>Returne,</HI>
<PB N="4" REF="7">their bloud al&s;o &s;hould have runn'd among the <HI>Ingredients,</HI> and made up the <HI>do&s;e</HI> to al|lay his fury.</P>
<P>But the <HI>Babe-&s;layer</HI> needed not thus to rave, <HI>Chri&s;t's</HI> &s;u&s;ception of our Nature was no way <HI>ominous</HI> to his u&s;urped Title. Hee came, &s;aith S. <HI>Mathew,</HI> to <HI>mini&s;ter, and not to be mini&s;tr'd unto.</HI> Tis true, He was a <HI>King, Pilate</HI> an Infidell to the <HI>preiudice</HI> of <HI>Cae&s;ar,</HI> his Emperour, &amp; with <HI>hazard</HI> of his owne life &s;tilld him &s;o at his death, as tho&s;e &s;tran|gers did at his <HI>Birth.</HI> Yea him&s;elfe confe&s;s'd it, <HI>Mark</HI> 14. <HI>&amp;</HI> his <HI>Father</HI> confirm'd it. P&s;. 2. <HI>At Rex fuit in Saecula, non de &s;aeculo:</HI> yet he was no <HI>Temporary</HI> Monarch <HI>of</HI> this Earth, but the King <HI>Eternal</HI> who hath all power <HI>in</HI> heaven, and <HI>in</HI> Earth, and &s;o he was not to <HI>&s;ucceed</HI> any, nor any other him. Indeed his <HI>Royall</HI> De&s;cent, &amp; proximity of &s;ucce&s;sion to the <HI>Crown</HI> might have claim'd the <HI>Throne</HI> of his <HI>Father</HI> David,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">See this fully prov'd in <HI>Speeds.</HI> Cloud of witne&s;&s;es.</NOTE> the externall <HI>Monar|chy</HI> of all <HI>Iewry.</HI> For both by <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> his <HI>Le|gall</HI> Father, and <HI>Mary</HI> his <HI>Naturall</HI> Mother, him&s;elfe was the onely immediate, next
<PB N="5" REF="7"><HI>Heire</HI> to <HI>Abiud,</HI> &amp; <HI>Rhe&s;a</HI> &s;onnes of <HI>Zerubba|bel,</HI> in who&s;e <HI>Line</HI> the Crowne by <HI>Right,</HI> &s;hould have been inve&s;ted after <HI>Jechoniah.</HI></P>
<P>But he would not hold by <HI>that tenure:</HI> if he had, his <HI>Birth</HI> &s;hould not have bin &s;o vile, and contemptible, nor his <HI>life</HI> &s;o toile|&s;ome, and mi&s;erable. He would not have <HI>begunne</HI> his <HI>State</HI> in a Manger, nor &s;hould a <HI>Cratch</HI> have been his <HI>Cradle;</HI> and <HI>bruti&s;h</HI> attendants his neere&s;t <HI>Courtiers.</HI> A &s;can|dall &s;o great in the <HI>fa&s;tuous</HI> conceit of the <HI>Prie&s;ts,</HI> and <HI>Scribes,</HI> that they would not be brought to acknowledge him to be the <HI>Me&s;sias,</HI> to whom they were to doe their <HI>homage,</HI> and &s;weare <HI>allegeance,</HI> although their forefather <HI>Iacob</HI> directly left it in his Te&s;tament, that when <HI>Shiloh</HI> came, all the &s;hew, and <HI>outward</HI> pompe of the earthly <HI>Scepter</HI> &s;hould depart from <HI>Iudah,</HI> and <HI>Za|chary</HI> in expre&s;&s;e tearmes proclaimed it to <HI>Jeru&s;alem, Behold thy King cometh to thee poore and lowly.</HI> For the <HI>Iewes,</HI> who have been more diligent in the <HI>custody</HI> and <HI>por|tage</HI> of the old <HI>Te&s;tament,</HI> then in the true
<PB N="6" REF="8">Expo&s;ition of it, were notable to di&s;cerne through &s;o thick a <HI>vaile</HI> as lay over their eyes, plaine <HI>Prophe&s;ies</HI> from ob&s;cure <HI>Aenig|maes,</HI> &amp; therefore being de&s;irous to brave it in the fle&s;h, <HI>phanta&s;tically</HI> &s;uppo&s;ed that He who was to be borne <HI>King</HI> in their <HI>Quarters</HI> &s;hould trample on the necks, and Crownes of <HI>Princes,</HI> loo&s;en the chaines wherewith they were manacl'd by the <HI>Romanes,</HI> and make them all great, and powerfull <HI>Potentates.</HI></P>
<P>But <HI>the Lord raignes, be the Earth never &s;o impatient: Non brachio &s;aeculari,</HI> not by out|ward force over our goods and bodies, &s;o terre&s;triall <HI>Rulers</HI> exerci&s;e dominion. The weapons of his Kingdome, are of an <HI>hea|venly</HI> nature, his <HI>two edged</HI> &s;word cutts be|yond the <HI>marrow,</HI> pierceth the deepe&s;t &s;e|crets, and retir'd cogitations of the inward <HI>Cabinet.</HI> The mo&s;t obdurate &s;inner that &s;ets up cavills, and rai&s;eth as it were bull|warks again&s;t the Lord, and his Anointed, feeles at one time or other, the power of his <HI>Spirit,</HI> ready to beat downe tho&s;e <HI>&s;trong
<PB N="7" REF="8">holds</HI> of &s;infull imaginations. So that the brea&s;t of every carnall man hath that, which will &s;peak for &s;ubjection to <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> dominion. I will not wander beyond the <HI>pale</HI> of the Church, nor touch tho&s;e bad <HI>humors</HI> in the <HI>my&s;ticall</HI> Body, which want <HI>nerves,</HI> and <HI>&s;inewes</HI> of faith to unite them to the <HI>Head.</HI> Our Saviour's entire <HI>Regiment</HI> is among his true members, who receive &s;en&s;e, motion, and <HI>quickning</HI> &s;pirits out of his <HI>Fulne&s;&s;e.</HI> The A&s;&s;emblies of the <HI>Faith|full</HI> are his <HI>immediat</HI> &s;ubjects, with whom his <HI>Word</HI> goes for a <HI>Law,</HI> and the <HI>guidance</HI> of his Spirit, for the <HI>&s;way</HI> of his Scepter. In them he <HI>Lordes</HI> it as a <HI>King</HI> in his King|dome, when their under&s;tandings de&s;ire to know nothing but <HI>him,</HI> and what may &s;tand with his <HI>truth;</HI> when their wills, and affections re&s;igne, and yeeld up all in obe|dience, and <HI>conformity</HI> to his <HI>will.</HI> He ma|nife&s;ts the <HI>might</HI> of his <HI>Supremacy</HI> in their <HI>re&s;cue</HI> from the thraldome of &s;inne, the <HI>&s;or|cery</HI> of the fle&s;h, and from the <HI>vigour</HI> of the Cur&s;e. And that the world may know he
<PB N="8" REF="9">is <GAP DESC="foreign"> the great <HI>Monarch</HI> of the uni|ver&s;e, <HI>King</HI> of <HI>Kings,</HI> and raigning over all that raignes, he makes all things <HI>&s;ervice|able</HI> to their good. Sometimes permitting the rage of <HI>Tyrants</HI> to grow on high, that thereby he may be glorified in the Cou|rage, and con&s;tancy of his Servants amid&s;t the <HI>pangs</HI> and torments of death. Other|whiles he re&s;traines the tyranny of their <HI>Per&s;ecutors,</HI> cau&s;ing them on a &s;udden to become his <HI>Peoples</HI> humble <HI>Oratours.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Magi</HI> guided by the holy Gho&s;t, en|title him King of the <HI>Iewes tran&s;cendently,</HI> becau&s;e his Kingdome of <HI>Grace,</HI> the <HI>Stan|dard</HI> of the Go&s;pell, was fir&s;t advanc'd in their <HI>Coasts.</HI> They were his <HI>Primogeniti;</HI> and 'tis the <HI>Prerogative</HI> of the fir&s;t begot|ten, to have a more honourable mention then others, which are <HI>Aliens.</HI> Yet his af|fection was not &s;o <HI>wedded</HI> to that <HI>Nation,</HI> that he wholy put the <HI>Gentiles</HI> out of his protection. The <HI>Pale</HI> of <HI>Pale&s;tine</HI> was too re&s;train'd, too narrow for his bounds. His dominion was to be extended &s;o farre as
<PB N="9" REF="9">the Sunne <HI>darts</HI> his <HI>beames:</HI> the <HI>Heathen</HI> were given as his Inheritance, and the ends of the Earth for his Po&s;&s;e&s;sion. The pro|mi&s;e of the &s;eed of the woman, which &s;hould break the <HI>Serpent's</HI> head, was made to <HI>Adam</HI> in Paradi&s;e as he repre&s;ented the whole <HI>Po&s;terity</HI> of <HI>Man-kinde,</HI> and &s;o no <HI>Nation,</HI> no <HI>Condition</HI> can &s;hut out a good heart from <HI>God.</HI> Why was the <HI>Stranger</HI> which &s;ojourn'd among the <HI>Hebrewes</HI> ca|pable of Circumci&s;ion, the <HI>pledge</HI> and <HI>&s;eale</HI> of <HI>God's</HI> favour, but to &s;ignifie that &s;aving health was to be deriv'd from their <HI>Tribes</HI> to all the <HI>Kinreds</HI> of the Earth. Neither is it without a <HI>my&s;tery</HI> that in old Simeon's <HI>Anthem</HI> the <HI>light</HI> of the Gentiles is placed before the <HI>glory</HI> of I&s;raell.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tert ul. lib. adv. Iudae.</NOTE> <HI>Tertullian</HI> is &s;o farre from giving preeminence to the <HI>Iews</HI> that <HI>he</HI> proves it was prefigur'd by the Birth of <HI>E&s;au,</HI> and <HI>Iacob,</HI> that the elder people of the <HI>Jewes</HI> &s;hould &s;erve the younger of the <HI>Gentiles.</HI> Others will have their rejection to be &s;hadow'd forth in <HI>Gedeon's</HI> dry <HI>fleece,</HI> and the vocation of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> in the wet
<PB N="10" REF="10"><HI>floore.</HI> So that the <HI>Jewes</HI> were no more to be compar'd to the encrea&s;e of the <HI>Gentills,</HI> then the litle peece of <HI>Wooll</HI> to the whole <HI>Floore.</HI> Indeed the <HI>Jewes</HI> may truly be &s;aid to be like <HI>Gedeon's</HI> fleece; for as it was <HI>wa|ter'd</HI> with the raine of heaven when all the Land el&s;e was dry, &s;o God did let fall the <HI>dew</HI> of his mercies on their <HI>territories,</HI> when he left all <HI>other</HI> places barren, and dryed up through want of the <HI>influence</HI> of his graces. But after their rebellion they became like <HI>Gedeon's</HI> fleece, which afterwards was on|ly dry, when there was <HI>dew</HI> on all the Earth be&s;ides. They were at fir&s;t to <HI>God</HI> as <HI>Reu|ben</HI> to <HI>Iacob,</HI> the &s;trength, and glory of his age; but by ingratitude with <HI>Reuben</HI> they lo&s;t their <HI>dignitie,</HI> and with <HI>E&s;au</HI> their <HI>birth-right.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">S. Ambro&s;. Ep. 73. l. 9.</NOTE> <HI>Nam quomodo dicent Pater c&ugrave;m verum Dei Filium negant per quem adoptio acquiri|tur?</HI> For with what comfort can they call <HI>God</HI> Father, who beleeve not in his onely <HI>Sonne,</HI> without whom they cannot bee a|dopted his <HI>children? Quomod&ograve; Te&s;tamen|tum nuncupant, qui mortem Te&s;tatoris negant.</HI>
<PB N="11" REF="10">What <HI>right</HI> can they have in the <HI>Covenant,</HI> who undervalue the <HI>death</HI> of the <HI>Te&s;tator</HI> by which 'tis ratified? <HI>Quomod&ograve; libertatem u&s;urpant, qui negant &s;anguinem, quo redempti &s;unt?</HI> How can they challenge the glorious <HI>liberty</HI> of the cho&s;en, when they trample under their feet the <HI>bloud</HI> of their Redemp|tion? In vaine doe they boa&s;t they are de|&s;cended from <HI>Abraham,</HI> &s;ince he is not a <HI>Jew</HI> who is one <HI>outward</HI> in the fle&s;h, but <HI>in|ward</HI> in the Spirit. The Commonwealth of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> is as well <HI>My&s;ticall,</HI> as <HI>Literall,</HI> and they are <HI>right</HI> heires to Chri&s;t's Kingdome, who reverence him as their <HI>Lord,</HI> &amp; <HI>King.</HI> So that <HI>wee</HI> are the &s;eed of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> having <HI>prevailed</HI> to be adopted God's people. For where&s;oever true beleevers keep their <HI>re&s;i|dence,</HI> there the <HI>Land</HI> becomes <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> &amp; the <HI>Church</HI> Sion. <HI>Quou&s;&abque; ergo Iudaee duri&s;sime?</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">S. Maxim.</NOTE> How long therefore &ocirc; thou carnall, &s;tiffe|neck'd <HI>Iew,</HI> wilt thou &s;top thy Eares again&s;t the Dictates of the <HI>Patriark's,</HI> and Te&s;ti|monies of the <HI>Prophets?</HI> What a deadly ob|&s;tinacy hath po&s;&s;e&s;s'd <HI>thy</HI> heart above all o|thers?
<PB N="12" REF="11">Thou can&s;t not be per&s;waded to <HI>thy</HI> &s;alvation by the <HI>tongues</HI> of <HI>Angels,</HI> &amp; yet the <HI>Wi&s;emen</HI> were confirm'd, and brought to <HI>thy Chri&s;t</HI> by the <HI>&s;ight</HI> of <HI>one</HI> &s;tarre, which is the <HI>motive</HI> of their Journey, <HI>vidimus stellam Ejus.</HI> Where is He that is borne King of the Jewes? for we have &s;een <HI>his</HI> Starre.</P>
<P><HI>Tully</HI> was of opinion that the world was fram'd in &s;uch an order at the fir&s;t begin|ning,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cicero de Divinat.</NOTE> <HI>ut certis rebus quaedam &s;igna praecurre|rent,</HI> that certain &s;ignes, or tokens &s;hould al|waies runne before certaine effects to give a <HI>glimp&s;e,</HI> or light of their approaching. But this rule cannot be extended unto all, for as it is fal&s;e <HI>Logick</HI> to maintain an argument <HI>affirmatively</HI> from the <HI>part</HI> to the <HI>whole,</HI> &s;o were it likewi&s;e a gro&s;&s;e Errour in <HI>Divini|ty</HI> to pre&s;&s;e <HI>God,</HI> as it were perforce, to re|veale his plea&s;ure touching future events becau&s;e he hath given warning by expre&s;&s;e &s;ignes of <HI>&s;ome</HI> particulars. Yet the fruitle&s;&s;e <HI>Plodders,</HI> and <HI>Prolers</HI> in Nativities thought no matter of <HI>importance</HI> could fall out,
<PB N="13" REF="11">without the &s;ame were &s;ignified before hand by the <HI>Starres. Cardan</HI> was &s;o &s;aw|cy as to <HI>erect</HI> a <HI>Figure</HI> of our <HI>Saviour's</HI> Birth:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Earle of North <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">a~p|ton in his de|&s;en&s;ative p. 108 &s;o cites him.</NOTE> <HI>Christ</HI> &s;aith he was borne <HI>Prim&acirc;fa|cie virginis a&s;cendente,</HI> the fir&s;t face of the <HI>Virgin a&s;cending,</HI> who&s;e proper image is a <HI>&V;irgin</HI> nouri&s;hing a <HI>Child,</HI> and thereup|on, grounds an a&s;&s;urance that the <HI>Starres,</HI> and <HI>Planets</HI> wrought in his <HI>Nativity.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. de Idololat.</NOTE> <HI>Cre|do hoc nomine Chri&s;tum &s;ibi obligaverunt.</HI> J think, as <HI>Tertullian</HI> &s;peaks &s;coffingly, &s;uch <HI>Figure-flingers</HI> as the&s;e, bound <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> to their <HI>profe&s;sion,</HI> by this courte&s;y of making the &s;tarres to keep an <HI>Audit</HI> of his com|ming. But 'tis both impious, and ridicu|lous to &s;uppo&s;e the influence of the <HI>Planets</HI> doe in&s;pire, and force effects, which are ordained by <HI>God.</HI> The Father is <HI>round</HI> with them. <HI>Non e&s;t regnum caelorum &s;perare,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tertul. ut &s;u|pra.</NOTE> <HI>cujus radius, aut digitus abutitur caelo.</HI> He cannot hope for the Kingdome of Heaven, who thus abu&s;eth heaven either with his <HI>finger,</HI> or his <HI>Compa&s;&s;e.</HI> The&s;e execrable illu&s;ions <HI>ip&s;am propemod&ucirc;m dei maje&s;tatem pul&s;ant,</HI>
<PB N="14" REF="12">doe almo&s;t &s;trike at the <HI>Almighties</HI> &s;ove|raigne Maje&s;ty, and make it as it were a <HI>va&s;&s;all</HI> to the works of his owne hands. There is no doubt but the very minute wherein all the miracles, and mercies &s;hould be wrought by <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> was fix'd in the Divine providence before the <HI>world</HI> was made. The fulne&s;&s;e of time in which <HI>God</HI> &s;ent his &s;onne was no other time then that which his <HI>Prophets,</HI> and not the <HI>Ho|ro&s;cope</HI> foretold.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ol.</NOTE> <HI>&V;idimus &s;tellam ejus</HI> (as 'tis in the Text) (i.) <HI>Eum, qui habet stellam, non habetur &agrave; &s;tella: Cujus ortum tenebat Autor, non quae ortum tenebat Autoris.</HI> Wee have &s;een <HI>his</HI> &s;tarre <HI>(i)</HI> we have &s;een <HI>him,</HI> who govern'd the <HI>&s;tarre,</HI> and not the &s;tarre <HI>him.</HI> Very well doe they call it <HI>his</HI> &s;tarre, becau&s;e although all the <HI>&s;tarres</HI> being created by him are his, yet this was <HI>Chri&s;t's</HI> more <HI>pe|culiarly.</HI> The re&s;t of the &s;tarres were made that they might <HI>di&s;tingui&s;h</HI> the times, and &s;ea&s;ons, this was commanded to appeare that it might declare the Lord of the world, and the time of his heavenly King|dome
<PB N="15" REF="12">was <HI>at hand. Stella erat non legifera,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;ol.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ed &s;ignifera, non apparuit caeli climate, &s;ed virtute na&s;centis. Chri&s;t's</HI> nativity depen|ded not upon the <HI>&s;tarre,</HI> but the &s;tarre on his <HI>Nativity,</HI> in re&s;pect whereof it was fir&s;t created.</P>
<P>It cannot be that this <HI>starre</HI> could be a|ny of tho&s;e glorious lights either <HI>fix'd</HI> or <HI>planetary,</HI> which in the creation were made for the <HI>ornament</HI> of heaven, and to enlighten <HI>&s;ublunary</HI> creatures. Betwixt them and this there are many differences, both in re&s;pect of its <HI>motion, &s;plendor, &s;itua|tion,</HI> and the <HI>manner</HI> of appearing. All o|ther &s;tarres move <HI>ad motum primi mobilis,</HI> circularly, from the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> towards the <HI>We&s;t,</HI> whereas this <HI>&s;tarre</HI> proceeded in a &s;traight line from the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> towards the <HI>South.</HI> O|the &s;tarres appeare not in the day time, their light is ob&s;cur'd by the light of the <HI>Sunne:</HI> this &s;tarre appeard, and directed one <HI>Wi&s;e-men</HI> at <HI>high noone.</HI> Other &s;tarres are placed in the heaven, this was not in the
<PB N="16" REF="13"><HI>firmament,</HI> but the <HI>Aire,</HI> otherwi&s;e it could not have pointed out the <HI>way</HI> to the <HI>Wi&s;e-men,</HI> nor the <HI>hou&s;e</HI> where the <HI>Infant</HI> lay. La&s;tly this <HI>Starre</HI> did differ from other &s;tars in the <HI>manner</HI> of appearing, for &s;ometimes it appeard, and &s;ometimes it did not; &s;ome|times it appear'd <HI>moving,</HI> and &s;ometimes <HI>&s;tanding,</HI> &s;o that it mu&s;t needs follow it was no <HI>common</HI> &s;tarre, remaining in the heaven from the beginning, but a new light deputed only to the honour of our <HI>Saviour's</HI> birth, and the &s;ervice of the&s;e <HI>Magi.</HI></P>
<P>Now if you would know how they under&s;tood the office of this <HI>&s;tarre</HI> was to be a <HI>Conduct</HI> to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> fir&s;t we lay it as an undoubted truth they could not di&s;cover it by skill of the <HI>A&s;trolabe,</HI> that light was but a &s;light ground for a <HI>&s;upernaturall</HI> be|liefe. Some hold they had often heard from the Oracles of the <HI>Sibils,</HI> and their own Prophet <HI>Balam</HI> had &s;pread it over all their Country, that there &s;hould ri&s;e a
<PB N="17" REF="13"><HI>Starre</HI> out of <HI>Iacob,</HI> and together with it a <HI>Scepter</HI> to <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as 'tis recorded in the Book of <HI>Numbers.</HI> This they learn'd, and this ranne in their mindes, this they made u&s;e of, and &s;o comparing the <HI>Prophecies</HI> with the <HI>Event,</HI> they fell upon the right that this &s;tarre did portend <GAP DESC="foreign">, the <HI>&s;cepterd King</HI> was borne to the <HI>Iewes.</HI></P>
<P>J will not affirme, as &s;ome doe,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vid. Mal|donat. &s;u|per Math. c. 1.</NOTE> that the holy <HI>Spirit</HI> him&s;elfe a&s;&s;um'd the <HI>figure,</HI> and <HI>forme</HI> of this &s;tarre, but J may &s;afely &s;ay that by vertue of his <HI>&s;pirit,</HI> who is the <HI>Mor|ning Starre</HI> of the <HI>East,</HI> which guides <HI>Ar|cturus,</HI> and his <HI>Sonnes,</HI> as <HI>Job</HI> &s;peakes, they attain'd the knowledge how this &s;tarre did fore-tell the birth of the <HI>Me&s;siah,</HI> which &s;hould <HI>&s;mite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Seth.</HI> The Eternall <HI>word,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, that light of <HI>truth</HI> did illuminate their &s;oules to under&s;tand what <HI>Balam</HI> their <HI>Countreyman</HI> had divulged. The &s;tarre was a <HI>&s;park</HI> of Chri&s;t's owne <HI>kindling;</HI> A <HI>torch</HI> which him&s;elfe <HI>lighted</HI> to direct the&s;e
<PB N="18" REF="14"><HI>Wi&s;emens</HI> foot&s;teps. For they &s;ay not wee have &s;een a new &s;tarre in the ayre, &s;trange, and miraculous, but they adde the <HI>particle</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>the</HI> &s;tarre, thereby intimating they had &s;eene a &s;tarre <HI>expected,</HI> and formerly reveal'd.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">D. Leo.</NOTE> <HI>Dedit a&s;picientibus intellectum, qui prae&s;titit &s;ignum.</HI> Certainly, &s;aith <HI>Leo</HI> the great, he, which guided their <HI>Eye</HI> outward|ly in&s;pir'd their <HI>heart</HI> inwardly.</P>
<P>And here from bringing the <HI>Magi</HI> to a new <HI>Sunne</HI> on <HI>Earth</HI> by a new <HI>&s;tarre</HI> in <HI>hea|ven</HI> we may ob&s;erve how &s;weetly, and fa|vourably the Lord dealts in that hee wins men by tho&s;e meanes, which are <HI>&s;uteable,</HI> and corre&s;pondent to their <HI>di&s;po&s;itions.</HI> The&s;e <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> were &s;tudious, and dili|gent to &s;eeke after God in his <HI>coele&s;tiall</HI> works, &amp; therefore he teacheth them out of their <HI>own book,</HI> a <HI>&s;tarre</HI> from heaven &s;hall lead them to the place where <HI>divine</HI> know|ledge is to be had. <HI>God</HI> is never <HI>deficient</HI> to him that is not &s;o to <HI>him&s;elfe.</HI> Indeed our inbred corruption infects what&s;oever is
<PB N="19" REF="14">infus'd into us, and &s;o no goodne&s;&s;e in us of it &s;elfe is a fit mover of the good graces of <HI>God,</HI> yet his <HI>voluntary</HI> favour, his frank, &amp; free affection regards the &s;mall <HI>&s;parkes,</HI> and beginnings of light, which him&s;elfe hath <HI>&s;et up</HI> in our &s;oules, and though it burnes <HI>dimme,</HI> yet if we let it not goe out, but doe our be&s;t to <HI>cleare</HI> that <HI>ob&s;cure,</HI> faint light, he will make us capable of a greater light. The weake, <HI>waxen</HI> wings of <HI>nature</HI> are not <HI>&s;ufficient</HI> to rai&s;e us to our <GAP DESC="foreign"> of eternall happine&s;&s;e, yet if her faculties, by <HI>grace enabled,</HI> be well <HI>husbanded,</HI> rightly <HI>managed,</HI> they will not hinder an a&s;cending a degree, or two towards it. They cannot <HI>&s;ave</HI> us, they may &s;ome way <HI>profit</HI> us, if wee doe not &s;it downe in the <HI>beginnings</HI> of knowledge, but with a willing minde goe on, and travell for more.</P>
<P>J &s;uppo&s;e none will conceave the liberall intentions, &amp; bountifull actions of <HI>Morall hone&s;t</HI> men to be evill <HI>formally,</HI> in the very <HI>E&s;&s;ence,</HI> though they are &s;o, being taken <HI>cir|cum&s;tantially,</HI>
<PB N="20" REF="15">in re&s;pect they ayme not at the right <HI>end, Chri&s;t's</HI> glory, which makes them <HI>ineffectuall.</HI> For as <HI>trueth</HI> is truth <HI>where|&s;oever</HI> we finde it, &s;o <HI>good</HI> cea&s;eth not to be good in <HI>whom&s;oever</HI> it re&s;ideth. Jf the <HI>&s;ub|ject</HI> &s;hall alter the very <HI>nature</HI> of a quality, then the <HI>mi&s;placing</HI> of a vertue will prove its lo&s;&s;e, &amp; <HI>de&s;truction;</HI> vertue &s;hall <HI>degene|rate</HI> into vice, and &s;o two <HI>oppo&s;ites</HI> may not onely agree, but grow into an in&s;eparable <HI>union,</HI> and be entirely <HI>one.</HI> The <HI>Scripture</HI> is &s;o farre from crying downe <HI>morall prepara|tions,</HI> that it pre&s;&s;eth particulars of that kinde, which <HI>God</HI> hath &s;o accepted that up|on their right imployment he hath <HI>graci|ou&s;ly</HI> pleas'd to <HI>infu&s;e</HI> a more ample mea|&s;ure of holine&s;&s;e, a further meanes of &s;alva|tion. The <HI>Eunuch</HI> in the Acts was well af|fected to Religion in undertaking &s;o long a journey as from <HI>Aethiopia</HI> to <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> for devotion &s;ake. The <HI>Lord</HI> regi&s;ters his <HI>religious</HI> &s;teps, and the <HI>Spirit</HI> convaies <HI>Phi|lip</HI> to his Chariot to give him better in&s;tru|ction. <HI>Cornelius</HI> was a ju&s;t man, and, which
<PB N="21" REF="15">was <HI>&s;trange</HI> in a <HI>Captaine,</HI> made up of almes, and good works, he was one that fear'd <HI>God,</HI> and this was the utmo&s;t period of his <HI>explicit Creed</HI> before he met with S. <HI>Peter</HI> for ought appeares in the text. The <HI>Lord</HI> takes notice of this devout di&s;po&s;iti|on, and in a vi&s;ion directs him how to &s;end for <HI>Peter</HI> to be inform'd in the Knowledge of the <HI>Go&s;pell.</HI> The <HI>Ancients</HI> then who hop'd well of <HI>morall hone&s;t men</HI> are not too <HI>uncharitably</HI> to be cen&s;urd, for, as they urge, though <HI>God</HI> tyes <HI>us</HI> to the ordinary means, yet he hath not tyed <HI>him&s;elfe.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, or <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>ingenuity</HI> of nature, and other <HI>morall</HI> excellencies are not <HI>oppo&s;ite,</HI> but <HI>&s;ubordinate</HI> to grace: Grace de&s;troyes not, nor aboli&s;h|eth them, but <HI>heales,</HI> and perfects them. The <HI>Wi&s;emen</HI> de&s;ir'd to improve their piety, and God <HI>&s;ublimates</HI> it, &s;ending his &s;tarre as a <HI>Harbinger</HI> to draw them clo&s;er to him, &amp; that out of the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> which is the place of the <HI>&s;tarre's</HI> fir&s;t appearing. <HI>Where is he which is borne King of the Iewes?</HI> We have &s;een <HI>his</HI> &s;tarre in the <HI>East.</HI></P>
<PB N="22" REF="16">
<P>The <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> as it followes in the <HI>Evange|li&s;t,</HI> was the place of the Starres <HI>first</HI> ap|pearing that where <HI>&s;inne</HI> abounded <HI>grace</HI> might &s;uperabound. There <HI>Sorcerers,</HI> and Practi&s;ers of helli&s;h Arts &s;erv'd <HI>Satan,</HI> and thence &s;hin'd a <HI>&s;pirituall</HI> light to cha&s;e a|way <HI>darke</HI> ignorance, and &s;pirituall wic|kedne&s;&s;e. <HI>In lumine tuo ridebunt lumen.</HI> In <HI>thy</HI> light they &s;hall &s;ee light &s;aith <HI>David;</HI>
<NOTE N="(i)" PLACE="marg">S. Au&s;ten.</NOTE> <HI>In Chri&s;to tuo videbunt gratiam.</HI> In the Lords <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> or Gods <HI>Anoynted</HI> they &s;hall apprehend grace to be made partakers of the inheritance of the <HI>Saints</HI> in <HI>Light,</HI> who hath taken them out of the Kingdome of darkne&s;&s;e, and tran&s;lated them into the Kingdome of his deare <HI>Sonne.</HI> So true is that of <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> the people of the <HI>Gentills,</HI> which &s;ate in darkne&s;&s;e &s;aw a great <HI>light,</HI> and light is ri&s;en to them, which dwell in the region of the &s;hadow of death.</P>
<P>And indeed not without good ground, did this new &s;tarre appeare in that part of the world where the Sunne <HI>ri&s;eth,</HI> &s;ince it
<PB N="23" REF="16">was to declare, the new ri&s;eing of the Sunne of <HI>righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> which enlightens every one that comes into the world. Be|&s;ides, from whence &s;hould our <HI>faith</HI> have its beginning, but from thence where the <HI>Sunne</HI> hath its fir&s;t ri&s;ing, <HI>faith</HI> giving light to the &s;oule, as the <HI>Sunne</HI> to the body. <HI>Bon|adventure</HI> holds it fit in congruity, that from the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> man &s;hould fir&s;t be taught to wor&s;hip God, &s;ince in the <HI>East</HI> he had fir&s;t offended him. 'Tis no vaine conceipt that our <HI>Saviour</HI> was pleas'd to be crucified with his back towards the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> to inti|mate he had <HI>ca&s;t behind</HI> him, and quite for|got all &s;inne, who&s;e fir&s;t footing was in the <HI>Ea&s;t. Salmeron's</HI> opinion concurring with the <HI>Centuri&s;ts</HI> may &s;eem probable that becau&s;e the&s;e <HI>Fir&s;t fruits</HI> of the <HI>Gen|tills</HI> came from the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> well order'd Chri&s;tians in a commendable conformity to the <HI>primitive</HI> times, doe u&s;e <HI>to pray</HI> with their faces <HI>that way,</HI> as profe&s;sing how in the <HI>per&s;ons</HI> of the&s;e <HI>Wi&s;e-men</HI> they receav'd the rudiments, and <HI>Principles</HI> of their <HI>be|leefe.</HI>
<PB N="22" REF="17">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="23" REF="17">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="24" REF="18">The turning our <HI>backs</HI> to the <HI>We&s;t</HI> when we are in religious devotions, may be morally u&s;efull again&s;t the <HI>Jewes,</HI> as &s;ig|nifying we believe <HI>Chri&s;t's</HI> death to be <HI>pa&s;s'd,</HI> and <HI>behind</HI> us, and therefore we look to the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> thereby acknowledging both his <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> &amp; comming againe to <HI>Judgement,</HI> who &s;hall come as the light|ning which cometh from the <HI>Ea&s;t, Math,</HI> 24. Hence the wi&s;dome of our <HI>Church</HI> hath order'd, that in &s;ituating Chri&s;tian bodies in the grave, their <HI>faces</HI> be &s;etled <HI>Ea&s;tward,</HI> as thence expecting the glorious &s;econd coming of their ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Saviour.</HI> But J am to con&s;ider for what end the <HI>Wi&s;e-men</HI> pre|&s;ented them&s;elves to <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> at his fir&s;t com|ing in the fle&s;h, and that's &s;pecified in the clo&s;e of the ver&s;e, it was to performe the <HI>religious</HI> Act of adoration, we have &s;een (&s;ay they) his &s;tarre in the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> and are come to <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> him.</P>
<P>The <HI>Scribes,</HI> and <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> yea whole multitudes &s;ought our <HI>Saviour,</HI> but it was
<PB N="25" REF="18">either to crucify him, or to entrap him in his &s;peech, to &s;ee his miracles, or to be fed with his loaves, and fi&s;hes. The&s;e took by|paths, and wrong waies to come to <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> The per&s;ons in the Text &s;ought <HI>viam in vi&acirc;,</HI> the Lord of <HI>truth</HI> in the <HI>true</HI> way; they ap|prehended <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> not only as the way <HI>to life,</HI> but as the <HI>way,</HI> and the <HI>life,</HI> which made them fall downe, and <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> him. Wherein they acknowledged the <HI>Sonne</HI> of <HI>Mary</HI> to be the King of <HI>Eternity,</HI> adoration being the homage due to the <HI>God</HI> of hea|ven. But is it not &s;trange that the <HI>circum|ci&s;ed</HI> &s;hould deny him, who was borne King in the mid&s;t of them, and yet the <HI>un|circumci&s;ed,</HI> aliens to the <HI>Covenant,</HI> confe&s;&s;e his &s;overaigne power in <HI>Ieru&s;alem,</HI> the <HI>Mo|tropolis,</HI> and Royall &s;eat of the circumci&s;i|on? 'Tis an <HI>Axiom</HI> in Philo&s;ophy <HI>Qu&ograve;d &s;en|&s;ibile po&s;itum &s;upra Sen&s;orium non facit &s;en&s;a|tionem,</HI> that an <HI>object</HI> too neere applied to its proper <HI>Organ,</HI> makes the &s;en&s;e loo&s;e its apprehen&s;ion. As a hand laid too clo&s;e upon the eye cannot be di&s;cern'd, as it may
<PB N="26" REF="19">at a <HI>di&s;tance.</HI> Much after this manner it befell the <HI>Iewes. Christ</HI> being &s;o neere to them, that he lineally de&s;cended from that <HI>Nation,</HI> they neglected a right application of him, and became &s;o <HI>blind</HI> in the <HI>fight</HI> of him, who was the <HI>light</HI> of the world, that they could not &s;ee the glory of his power, and the <HI>fruit</HI> of his coming, whereas this bright &s;tarre of <HI>righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e</HI> &s;hin'd clearly in the region of darkne&s;&s;e. They, who dwelled farre off were carefull to follow the light of rea&s;on, and con&s;cience, to im|prove, and make the be&s;t u&s;e of <HI>prudentiall</HI> motives. And here I mu&s;t take leave to vary from <HI>Calvin's</HI> expo&s;ition,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vide S. <HI>A|than.</HI> l. de In|carn. <HI>Nazi|anz.</HI> Orat. 9.5. Augu&s;t. Ser. 29. de Temp.</NOTE> the current of <HI>Antiquity</HI> being again&s;t it. He would have the <HI>Wor&s;hip</HI> in this place tender'd, not to be an act of <HI>Religion,</HI> but <HI>Civility.</HI></P>
<P>We deny not that <GAP DESC="foreign"> promi&s;cu|ou&s;ly &s;ignifies civill, and divine reverence, yet the Holy <HI>Gho&s;t</HI> commonly u&s;eth it for a <HI>religious</HI> pro&s;tration of the body in the act of <HI>adoration. Cornelius</HI> his devout man|ner
<PB N="27" REF="19">of wor&s;hipping S. <HI>Peter,</HI> in the tenth of the Acts is expre&s;&s;ed by <GAP DESC="foreign">. The wor&s;hip, which the foure and twen|ty <HI>Elders</HI> yeeld to <HI>God</HI> in the 19. of the <HI>Re|vel.</HI> is render'd by <GAP DESC="foreign">, and our Savi|our applies it to Satan S. Math. 4. <GAP DESC="foreign">, thou &s;halt wor&s;hip the Lord thy God. And in the &s;ame <HI>religious</HI> &s;en&s;e, the word mu&s;t be under&s;tood in my text, o|therwi&s;e the <HI>Wi&s;e men</HI> had been ridiculous in undertaking &s;uch a tedious journey, if the end of their coming were to wor&s;hip a temporall <HI>Prince,</HI> who being newly borne could neither take notice of their <HI>homage,</HI> nor under&s;tand the honour was pre&s;ented to him. <HI>Herod</HI> might well be of|fended with this action, becau&s;e they went about to &s;et up another King within his <HI>Territories.</HI> Their countreymen at home might &s;u&s;pect them of &s;editious pra|cti&s;es, as if they mean'd to bring in a for|raigne <HI>Ruler.</HI> Wherefore J may &s;afely con|clude that the meanne&s;&s;e of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> birth would have dimini&s;hed his glory even in
<PB N="28" REF="20">the judgement of tho&s;e <HI>Wi&s;e men,</HI> if they had not beleeved that He, whom they &s;aw in the manger was <HI>Ip&s;e Ille</HI> that bare rule in heaven.</P>
<P>The <HI>&V;biquitaries</HI> in declining an irreli|gious neglect have fallen to exce&s;&s;e of piety by exhibiting <HI>divine</HI> wor&s;hip to the <HI>hu|mane</HI> nature <HI>ab&s;tractedly</HI> from the divine, whereby they doe not much differ from Heathen Jdolaters, who adore the <HI>Creature</HI> for the <HI>Creator.</HI> The <HI>Schoole</HI> is herein or|thodox;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aqu. part. 3. q. 25. art. 2.</NOTE> <HI>Adoratio latriae non exhibetur huma|nitati Chri&s;ti ratione &s;ui ip&s;ius, &s;ed ratione divi|nitatis, cui unitur:</HI> divine wor&s;hip is not gi|ven to th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> humanity in re&s;pect of it &s;elfe, but in regard of the Divinity to which it is united.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">S. Au&s;t tract. in Ioh. 42.</NOTE> <HI>Divinitas ejus quo imus, humanitas e|jus qu&acirc; imus,</HI> &s;o &s;aith S. <HI>Au&s;ten.</HI> His divini|ty is that whereunto we goe, his humani|ty is that whereby we goe:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Paulinus A|quiliens: cont: Felicem l. 1. in Biblioth. pat.</NOTE> <HI>at non alter in &s;uo, Alter in nostro,</HI> yet he is not another in that which is his, and another in that which is ours, <HI>&s;ed totus in &s;uo, &amp; totus in no|&s;tro,
<PB N="29" REF="20">idem in utro&abque;.</HI> But whole in that which is his <HI>owne,</HI> and whole in that is <HI>ours,</HI> and the &s;ame in both.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Concil. Con|&s;tantinop. 5. Can. 9. juxta Concil. E|phe&s;. c. 8.</NOTE> Hence it is that we doe not <HI>terminate</HI> our adoration in ei|ther nature a part, and <HI>&s;everally,</HI> but we wor&s;hip with <HI>one</HI> adoration the <HI>God-head</HI> with the <HI>Man-hood</HI> in the per&s;on of the Word. <HI>Dama&s;cen</HI> &s;peaks it out, <GAP DESC="foreign">,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dama&s;. l. 3. Orth. Fid. c. 8.</NOTE> &s;aith he, <GAP DESC="foreign">. I for|beare to pur&s;ue the&s;e &s;peculative <HI>litigations,</HI> being de&s;irous rather to <HI>&s;tint</HI> my &s;elfe then to <HI>la&s;h</HI> out. Give me leave then to &s;umme up all with that which may excite de|votion.</P>
<P><HI>Quod fecit</HI> Magus <HI>non faciet</HI> Chri&s;tianus? The Ea&s;terne <HI>Sages</HI> travell'd farre in the eztremity of <HI>winter</HI> to pre&s;ent, a &s;olemnt wor&s;hip to our Lord, and Saviour, where are they that will &s;carce <HI>step</HI> out of doores to <HI>God's</HI> publique wor&s;hip, when the <HI>Church</HI> &s;tands hard by, if perchance there fall a few drops of raine to wet their <HI>dre&s;&s;e,</HI> or to <HI>di&s;colour</HI> their &s;hooes? <HI>The&s;e</HI> in the
<PB N="30" REF="21">text had but the <HI>irradiation</HI> of one &s;tarre for a <HI>Convoy</HI> to <HI>Christ,</HI> we have a <HI>Con&s;tellation</HI> of many &s;tarres, and &s;ome of the fir&s;t <HI>Mag|nitude,</HI> &s;hining cleerely in this <HI>Horizon.</HI> Eminent, and powerfull Preachers of the <HI>Go&s;pell,</HI> tho&s;e great <HI>Lights</HI> of the <HI>Church</HI> have a long time convey'd a bright illu&s;tra|tion upon this <HI>Go&s;hen,</HI> this our land of light, and &s;hall we come &s;hort of the <HI>dar|ke&s;t</HI> times in the <HI>lu&s;tre</HI> of religion? What a &s;hame is it that they &s;hould be more devout before the <HI>Manger</HI> in the &s;tate of Chri&s;t's <HI>humiliation</HI> then wee are before the <HI>Altar</HI> now he is in the height of his <HI>Exaltation!</HI> All the <HI>po&s;tures</HI> of their bodies, and &s;oules were awfully affected to <HI>Chri&s;t's</HI> infinite gentlene&s;&s;e, &amp; goodne&s;&s;e, even then, when he made a <HI>Stable</HI> the <HI>Chamber</HI> of his <HI>Pre|&s;ence.</HI> And therefore 'tis to be fear'd, if we leave not of our prophane carele&s;ne&s;&s;e, that the men of the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> will ri&s;e up in Judgement again&s;t the Men of the <HI>West</HI> (i) again&s;t many in our daies, who pre&s;ent them&s;elves in the <HI>Courts</HI> of the <HI>Lord</HI> at
<PB N="31" REF="21">times of divine &s;ervice in <HI>ambulatory</HI> moti|ons, <HI>irreverent</HI> deportments, <HI>vaine</HI> Com|munications, as if they made litle or no dif|ference betwixt the <HI>Exchange,</HI> and the <HI>Church,</HI> the common <HI>Taverne,</HI> and the &s;a|cred <HI>Tabernacle.</HI></P>
<P>But let us, who acknowledge <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> our <HI>Leige</HI> Prince, and Soveraigne, like good &s;ubjects humbly &s;eek, &amp; come to this <HI>God Incarnate,</HI> falling down at the <HI>Manger,</HI> and at the lap of the Virgin, where this ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Childe</HI> lyeth ('tis <HI>Luthers</HI> zealous exhorta|tion on the Galath.) and there behold him given to us, borne for us, &s;ucking, growing, dying, ri&s;ing againe, a&s;cending above the heavens that he may at length bring us thi|ther, where we &s;hall &s;ee him <HI>face</HI> to <HI>face,</HI> which we be&s;eech him to grant us for his mercies, and merits &s;ake. AMEN.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
