GOD'S Newyears gift sent unto England: Or, The sum of the Gospel, contained in these words; God so loved the world, that he hath given his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but should have life everlasting, john 3.16.  
The first part.  
Written by Samuel Nicholson, M. of Artes.  
Imprinted at London, by Simon Stafford, dwelling in Hosier lane near Smithfield. 1602.   

God's Newyears gift, sent unto England: Or, The sum of the Gospel, contained in these words: GOD so loved the world, that he hath given his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but should have life everlasting, john 3.16.  
HE that writes himself, Alpha & Omega: the first and the last, signified thereby, that he is not only the eternal Word, but also, the beginning, middle, and end of the written word, yea, the scope of all the Scriptures. Search the Scriptures (saith Christ:) for it is they that witness of me. Every line in them cries out like john Baptist, Behold the Lamb of God. The Scriptures are a Circle, and Christ the Centre, wherein all their prophecies meet. They are like the Image of janus, which looked forward & backward. So the old Testament beheld Christ to comes as Abraham saw his day, and rejoiced. The new sees him already come, as saith good father Simeon, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.  
And as Christ is the contents of the scripture: so the whole scripture seems to be contained in this verse of my text. As all joseph's brethren were feasted with variety, but Benjamins mess exceeded them all: so all scripture is profitable; but this most precious: all scripture is tried gold; but this is orient pearl: so that here the Evangelist seems to propound all the word in a word. If thy memory be short, here is a lesson as short as sweet: so that it is doubtful, whether the quantity of the words, or their quality and worth, be more admirable.  
These words are like precious jewels, containing great riches in a little room. Before we unlock the casket wherein this treasure is contained, let us look back to the happy occasion the cast this wealth on our shores.  
The occasion of this comfortable scripture, was a conflict between Verity and Vanity, light and darkness, Christ and Nicodemus: for our Saviour being that summum bonum, that loves to communicate his goodness with his creature; that Light that would lighten every man that comes into the world; that Sun that makes all things increase & multiply; the Physician that seeks out them that are sick; the Shepherd sent to the lost sheep of Israel: his meat & drink was, to infuse grace into men, and reduce souls unto God. When did he eat, but he broke the bread of Life? When did he drink, but he opened the fountains of Grace? When did he walk, but he taught the ways of GOD? When did he rest, but he preached an everlasting Sabbath, and happy jubilee to the penitent? Witness so many journeys, so many Sermone, so many Miracles: and witness this present conference with Nicodemus.  
This Nicodemus being a better Lawper than a gospeler, one the with Paul was brought up at Gamaliels' feet, but never sat all Christ's feet with Marie, seeking for light in darkness, comes unto Christ by night.  
What might induce this great Doctor to come unto Christ, is as full of supposes, as far from certainty. Some think, Nicodemus came to tempt Christ, and therefore cunningly extols him, as the Wrestler lifts up his adversary, that he may cast him down: Or as the Hyaena, who counterfeiting a man's voice, seeks to destroy him. Some think it was a sinister influence of 〈◊〉 glory, that drew this fantastic to Christ, as the Athenians into their exchange, only to hear news. Some think Derision came to catch our Saviour in a trap, that so rash judgement might condemn him. Others presume, that being affected with Christ's doctrine, he came to gratulate our Saviour, as the best sort of our bad hearers, turn their own profiting, into the praise of the teacher. But I think, this lukewarm lover coming so by night, was more afraid of the world, then affected with the Word, which he so praised: for Verus admirator virtutis, non borret Aristidis exilium, non Socratis condemnationem. etc. Howsoever, this Spider coming to suck poison from Christ's wholesome doctrine, was at the length catched in his own net: for this plausible Doctor, as if he had the Art of flattery, tips his insinuating tongue with a triple praise, whose Syren-voyce, above above all pernicious swéets in the world, tickles the very heartstrings of man: therefore S. Jerome cries out, Happy is that soul, which is neither subject to flatteries nor flatter. And in Epist. ad Greg he says, Nos ad patriam festinantes, mortiferos Syrenaris cantus surda aure transire debemus. And Alanus saith, Quid ergo Adulationis unctio, nisi domerum emunctio? quid commendationis allusio, 〈◊〉 Prelatorum delusio? What is the oil of Flattery, but the foil of families? what the poison of praise, but the infection of Prelates? But our Saviour being thus assaulted by this Siren, shows himself like the Psylli in Africa, or the Marsijs in Italy; who are not only themselves safe from all venomous serpents, but have also power to suck the poison from others infected. So Christ, who knew, that Laudari a laudato, was vera laus, would not applaud his vain praise: for our Saviour having got the substance, scorned the shadow; having in perfect action the possession of all virtues, refused the imperfect affection of vain glory. Therefore Nicodemus was a fool, to buckle the light bladder of idle praise on his back, which was ordained to bear the Cross of humility: he that loves virtue for praise, his mind is mercenary. We never read, that Christ ever admitted in himself this poison of human praise, though she often offered him her painted garland to adorn his virtues: whose perfection gave a tongue of praises to his very foes; and out of the mouth of envy, have haled his commendations: but finding in this blind Doctor, fit matter for his mercy to work upon, like a 〈◊〉 Musician, he casts not away this jarring justrument; but after the correction of his folly, gives him instruction in the faith: as the Physician first lets out the hurtful blood, and then ministereth wholesome sood. For though the Bull be offended with red, and the best sometimes are not mended with roughness: yet Christ knew, a sharp rebuke was a sovereign remedy for Nicodemus. A child will easily grow with cherishing: but an old tree transplanted, will hardly prosper without pruning. honey is street, yet it is sharp where it finds a sore. Though the budding Rose perish with a man's breath, yet the Camomile must be trod on, to make it grow. He that is stung of the Asp, must have the infected member cut off. The Ape killeth her young ones with too much cherishing: and the ivy choketh her supporter with too much embracing. If Apelles should see his Venus blemished, or Protogenes his Hialysus broken, surely the one would turn away his eyes, and the other throw away his Pencil. Then, shall we not allow Christ to be sorry, seeing his own Image so defaced through ignorance, & so spotted with error? Yet Christ in his correction is like a kind Nurse, that whips her crying Babe on the coat, not on the carcase: 〈◊〉 though he knits his brow, he knits in it a blessing: as the father holds an Apple in one hand, and a rod in the other. But let us first hear how Christ shakes his rod at Nicodemus, roundly rebuking him for his blindness in a chief point of Religion, the mystery of Regeneration.  
O Nicodemus, art thou a Doctor in Israel, and knowest not these things? Art thou a Teacher in Christ's school, and hast not yet learned Christs-Crosse? How art thou accounted a wise man in Israel, being a fool in Religion? There is no Wisdom but the Truth, in qua tenetur & cernitur summum bonum. Solomon my servant, in stead of riches, desired of GOD the Spirit of Rule. If this was his prayer, much more should it be thy wish, since he was but King of their bodies, but thou art a corrector of souls. How canst thou teach men to shun the second death, which art so ignorant of the second birth? A teacher should be Organon veritatis, the right hand of Truth, to minister to every one, their food in due season. Thou art an overseer in Israel, & art shamefully overseen thyself. Now age hath snown down Winter on thy head, those hairs, which should be Heralds of wisdom, show thee to be twice a child. I would have thee as a new borne babe, & thou art a babe, not knowing new birth. I would have my Disciples to shine as lights, but thou art a counterfeit Diamond, made precious by the foil of Moses' chair, where thou art falsely set. O Nicodemus, he must needs be the devils Doctor, that was never yet Gods Disciple. I appeal to thyself, Is not a small blemish in the face, more ugly than a great blot in the rest of the body? He that combs himself, where should he look but in a glass? And he that corrects himself, on whom should he look but on his elders? Though the Moon be dark, it shows no great danger: but when the Sun is eclipsed, it signifieth death. If the blind lead the blind, how can they but fall? Where the shipmaster sleepeth, who fears not sinking? And where the shepherd watcheth not, the sheep go round to the shambles. Thou being a Doctor in Israel, thy lips should preserve knowledge, & thy life should be the lay-man's book. If thy salt be unsanory, how wilt thou season the simple? If thy rule be crooked, how canst thou either direct the weak, or correct the wicked? Finally, if thy light be darkness, how great is that darkness itself? Thou resemblest the herd Empetron, which the nearer it grows to the sea, the less salt it is: so thou, being a teacher in Israel, art a stranger in Israel. But why do I reprove thy folly, and not rehearse thy fault? Dost thou not know, Ad veram sapientiam pervenire non possunt, qui falsae suae sapientiae fiducia desipiunt. They shall never attain heavenly wisdom, which hunt after it with human wit. The Hart brags in vain of his branched horns, because he wants courage: and in vain dost thou vaunt of Templum Domini, because thou want'st knowledge. They which would see perfectly, wink on one eye. So, if thou wilt see the mysteries of God, thou must shut the eye of natural reason. But no marvel thou art so dull: for as Cyclops exoculatus, manus quoque ver sum porrigebat nullo certo scopo: so thy eye of faith being out, thy blind reason gropes in the dark, being too shallow a Pilot to guide thee into the mystery of Regeneration. I commend thee for thy skill in the law, but condemn thee for thy blindness in the Gospel. The seaman that escapes all syrtes and shelves, yet in the sight of the Haven suffers ship wrack, is counted no less foolish, then unfortunate: and thou passing all the Labyrinths of human learning, yet coming short of the knowledge of New birth, art to be pitied for thy fortune, & derided for thy folly. Thou knowest I never allowed him that had all manner of knowledge, yet had not the mean of knowing. He that seeks knowledge, must note three things, Quo ordine, quo study, quo fine quaeque nosseoporteat. The order of knowledge is to know that first, which brings soonest to the way of salvation: the desire in knowledge must be to love that knowledge chief, which most enforceth us to love: and the end of our knowledge, is not to win the praise of thyself, but to work the profit of others. But alas, that which should be the first in thy conscience, is the farthest from thy care: that which should have possessed thy love, is divorced from thy liking: & that which should have been the end of thy knowledge, is the beginning of thy shame. Qui Episcopatum desiderat, bonum opus desider at. It seems thou desirest bonum, not opus; the worship, not the work: the goods of the fleece, not the good of the flock: else wouldst thou not be ignorant in the very rudiments of Religion, & foolishly build without a foundation. Thy coming to me, shows in part thy love; yet thy coming in the night says thy love is but little: but I know, the flame when it kindleth, is mixed with smoke: and so is thy little knowledge with the smoke of ignorance: yet I will not quench this smoking flax, nor break this bruised reed: though thou camest to me without business, thou shalt not departed without a blessing. As Abraham sent his servant with gifts in his hand, so I will send thee hence with grace in thy heart: & for thy 3. idle praises, I will repay thee 3. endless profits: hear therefore the nature of Faith, the depth of God's love, & the mystery of Regeneration.  
Thus did our Saviour shake up this foolish shadow of a Prophet, this idle echo of his praises, this empty vessel containing nothing but the bare name of a Doctor in Israel: whose example if we moralise, it teacheth us, That (in God's matters) the greatest Clarks are not the wisest men. Philosophers have great wits, but they are enemies to Grace. and the world hath her wisdom, but it is enmity with God. Learning is a Lodestar, & the knowledge of tongues is the key of truth: but if profane learning turn Lucifer, and think to usurp Moses chair, she must be thrust (with the Parrot) out of jupiters' Parliament. If Ishmael mock Isaac, though he be the son of Abraham, he must be bavished: And if Learning mar Religion, though it be the gift of God, it must be abandoned. The Stars give some light, but the Moon must be mistress of the night. As the poor Israelites borrowed of the Egyptians all their jewels, but to adorn themselves: so we must borrow from profane Arts all their ornaments, & with their spoils adorn the Temple of God. So doing, Learning & Religion, like two twins, will live and love together. And thus much touching the occasion of these words.  
Having found out the Hive, let us search for the honey, contained in this heavenly verse: GOD so loved the world, that he hath given his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but should have life everlasting, john 3.16.  
THese words contain a Deed of gist: which, for our better light, I branch into these six parts. First, the giver, God. Second, the cause moving him to this exceeding hounty, which is here said to be love. Third, the gift: his only begotten Son. Fourth, the party to whom this Legacy or gift is bequeathed: the World. Fifth, the fruit following this Gift, which is twofold: first, a ransom, in these words, should not perish: Secondly, a reward, in these words, should have life everlasting. Sixth, the hand where with we receive this Gift, (namely Faith) whosoever believeth in him.  

CHAP. I. Of GOD, the giver.  
FIrst, The giver, God. The wealth of a Gift appears in the worth of the giver: and if the giver be base, the Gift is contemned: but if the giver be gracious in our heart, the Gift is as precious in our eye. While our ships ride in our harbours, We regard them not: but when they return from the farthest Ocean, we look for great riches. If a Messenger come to us from a mean person, we give him mean entertainment: but if a Prince send his worst servant unto us, we give him princely regard. Well, God is richer than the Ocean, his bosom is full of blessings: God is greater than a Prince, his kingdom is everlasting: And as his thoughts are not as man's thoughts, so his Gifts are not as man's gifts: for as he gives without merit, so he gives without measure: he is excellent in all his works. If he love, it's without repentance: if he hate, his anger endures forever: if he give, he powers down his blessings: if he take, non habenti, etiam quod habet, auferetur, he takes away all: He loves a cheerful giver, & shall we think him a fearful giver? A poor man on a time begging a groat of a King, the King snipped him with this answer, Non est Regium. If an earthly Prince thus stood on his gift, shall not the heavenly King regard what he giveth? Christ telieth us, that Beatius est dare, quàm accipere: its a part of his Father's blessedness to give. And S. Augustine says, Beneficium est benevola actio tribuens, captansque gaudium tribuendo, A benefit or gift, is a work of good will, that pleasures as much in the giving, as the receiver doth in the gift. So then, if God's gift be a work of good will towards man, we may measure out his been ficence by his benevolence, his work by his will, and his gift by the joy that he taketh in giving. When Gods love intends a largesse, the gift must needs be great. The lower the vale, the more rain it receiveth: and the unworthyer man is, the greater Gods love is, and the richer his gift, In a word, the excellency of this gift appears in the excellency of the giver, whose perfection is such, as only silence must show it, while cencept and reason lie in a trance through endless admiration. A Philosopher being commanded to tell the King what God was, he asked a days respite: and when the day was done, and the King expected his promise, he asked two days: which being ended, he asked four days, and after, eight. The King admiring his slackness, demanded why he so abiourned his promise? Because (quoth he) the more I think of him, the less I know of him. S. Bernard saith, Quid est Deus? Longitudo, Latitudo, sublimitas, profundum: longitudo, propter aeternitatem: latitudo, propter charitatem: sublimitas, propter maiestatem: profundum, propter sapientiam: and therefore as God is wonderful, so are his gifts,  
Amongst men indeed, the giver may he wicked, and the gift too. In the 22. of Numb. Balak was a wicked giver, and so was his gift which he offced to curse the Israelites. So in Acts 8. Simon Magus is a giver, but a cursed giver: for he thought with gifts, to buy the gifts of God's spirit. And such givers were the pharisees: for they gave 30. pence to betray the Lord of life. But as judas received the earnest penny of his perdition, so they betrayed their own posterity to endless misery. In a word, the Devil himself is a giver, but a wicked giver: for he offered Christ all the world for an hours worship: as the Pope gave all the Newfound world to the Spaniards, because they should worship him. But David tells us, Domini est terra. How shall the Devil give the world to Christ, that cannot give himself an hours respite from torment? His thorn yields no such Grapes; his thistle bears no such Figs, howsoever, like a bragging suitor, he boasts of his riches: Though he promise an Angel of Light, he pays with light Angels, and shall have his portion with lewd Angels in hell fire.  
But God, as he made all things good, so doth he give all things that are good. james saith, Omne bonum est Dei donum: Every good gift, is God's Gift. In jeremy GOD says, There is not an evil in the City, which I have not created. If God create Evil for a correction, much more doth he create Good for our comfort. He is like the good father, that spends himself in providing for his son: or the kind mother, which no sooner hath a sweet thing, but she gives it her child: or the cunning Artificer, who cares not what cost he bestows on his work, to make it more beautiful. So God is affected towards his creature: as he made all exceeding good, so he desires the good of all, especially man, whom he made for the glass of his glory, & the Image of himself, to be his Son on earth, & his Heir in heaven: and though here man is but tenant at will, yet he sits at an easy rent, the bare debt of thankfulness.  
The sum of this discourse is, seeing God is the giver of all good, we must look for all good things at his hands, & desire nothing that is good, farther than it is God's gift: for the which is snatched from others, is the devils bait, not God's blessing. The world is full of such snatching Nimrods', mighty hunters: for some hunt after Honour, some after Pleasure, and some after profit: And these three Hunters have almost hunted all Religion and Virtue out of our borders. But let them know, that, Quaedam dat Deus misericorditer, quaedam finit habere iratus: Whatsoever comes by oppression, tyranny, bribery, simony, or usury, is not God's gift, & therefore no good gift, but a pledge of his anger. Therefore whatsoever thou possessest or desirest, let conscience be thy Cater, and the word thy warrant: so shall the transitories of this life, be unto thee a handsel of heaven, and an earnest penny of that bliss, which the world never dreams of.   

CHAP. II. Of GOD'S love.  
THus having brought thee to the waters of life, namely, GOD the giver, I will show thee the Wellspring of all blessings, his love to the world, etc.  
The persuading cause of this gift, is here said to be Love: God so loved. Quid est Amor (saith Aug.) nisi quaedam vita duo aliqua copulans, vel copulare appetens, Amantem & amatum? What is Love, but as it were one life in two hearts, one soul in two bodies? the Fire which blesseth where it burneth, the Soather which no art can sunder, the Knot which no time can untie, the Hand which descants sweet music on the heartstrings, the Cause which made God become man, & the Virtue which makes man like unto God: (I speak not of that hellish fire which makes men slaves, but of that heavenly Flame which makes them Saints.) As Christ was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows; so this virtue is adorned with the crown of eternity above all her fellows: for Paul saith, that faith brings us but to the Coffin, & Hope watcheth the coarse till the Resurrection. These two virtues are confined with our life, but our love is refined by our death, and dwells with us after our glorification.  
But this our love is but a shadow of God's Love, an Arm of his sea, a drop of his fountain, a little flame of his living Fire; neither in quality so precious, nor in quantity so sp●cious by infinite degrees. God loves without cause; our love is our duty: God loves us his enemies; we love him our friend: God loves without reward; our love inherits heaven: God loves us first; our love pays him back his own: God's love is fervent; our love is lukewarm: God's love is infinite; our love is little, like our knowledge, & low of stature like Zacheus. Christ must dine in our house, his love must shine in our hearts, before we can reflect our borrowed heames, & love him again. The excellency of this God's love can neither be expressed by our tongue, nor impressed in our hearts: as it made the world of nothing: so the world is nothing to it: for it comprehendeth all, & is not comprehended of any. Our Saviour here thought best to express this Love with a sic dilexit, to show us, that his Father is even sick of love: his description is indefinite, because his love is infinite. Either Gods love is so deep the Christ could not sound it, or our reason so shallow that we cannot see it. As the Painter that drew Agamemnon, sorrowing for the death of his daughter, knew not how to figure his grief in his face, and therefore drew a Veil over it, thinking it impossible the gazer's idle eye should behold what the father's grieved heart could not hold: 〈◊〉 Christ leaves that to our admiration, which understanding cannot attain. A holy Father would feign aim at the dimensions of this Love, saying, Dilèxit Tantus tantillos: He a God of infinite majesty, loved us men of infinite misery. But this is obscurum per obscurius: for we know neither quantus Deus, the greatness of his Majesty, nor yet quantuli nos: our grievous misery. In a word, as we cannot see the Sun but by his own light: so we cannot learn this Love, but by Gods own words. The Star alone must lead the Wisemen to Christ, and Christ alone must lead us to his love. Now whereas he expresseth it with a Sic: So GOD loved the world, etc. a Father saith, This adverb Sic, contains in it all adverbs of Love: as if Christ had said, My Father loved the world so dearly, so vehemently, so fatherly, so fervently, etc. And Bernard on the Canticles saith, Deus ex se miserandi sumit materiem: Gods own nacure is the motive of his mercy. Then he that can explain God's Nature, may express his love. Whereof to affirm the one, is impious, and to perform the other, impossible.  
This is that Love, (Christian Reader) which in the zeal of God I commend to thine endless admiration: this is the riches of his Grace, the chief of his Works, the sum df his Word, the shadow of himself, the perfection of his Glory. This teacheth our Faith to stand, and our Hope to climb, and our love to burn: This cheereth our labours, and beareth our losses, and teacheth our sorrow to smile. In a word, to this exceeding Love alone, we own our salvation. Therefore damnable is the doctrine of the Church of Rome, that teacheth us to err both in the manner and matter of our Faith: First, in the manner, they teach us to doubt of our salvation. O injury intolerable, to doubt of the Promise, where such a Love is our warrant! What more free than gift? or who more faithful than God the Giver? Shall his Love give Christ unto me, and my unbelief thrust him from me? Is the Truth like unto man, the he should lie? or is his arm shortened, that he cannot save? God forbidden. This Gift is sealed with the blood of his Son, registered in the sight of heaven, witnessed by the holy Angels, passed with an oath to the world. O incredulity, the wit of fools, how many blessings dost thou bar us from! Christ could not work his miracles, God cannot show his mercy, where this monste lurketh. Again, in the matter of our faith they soyst in most dangerously a lump of their own Leaven: for God requires a Wedding garment to cover sin; they bring in a menstruous cloth: he will have us build on his Love; they would have us justified by our own Labour: he will have us trust to his Mercy; they would have us trust in our merits. Paul's whole Epistle to the Romans shoots only at this mark, to beat down the pride of man, who would fain be his own saiour, to depress Nature, and extol Grace: therefore in the end he adds this upshot, So then, we are saved, not of works, but of grace. And August, saith, Gratia est nullo modo, quae non est gratuita emni modo: Grace is all grace, or no grace at all. Again be saith, Quisquis tibi enumerat meritasua, quid tibi enumerat, msi munera tua? Again, Vis excidere gratta? jacta merita tua, Our very Faith, as it's a grace in us, is beholding to Grace: it saves, as it's a hand to lay hold on Christ, not, as it's a virtue & a work: for all works must humbly be cast at Christ's feet with Marie, & there meitate on his mercy: they must not be busy with Martha in the matter of our justification. As God said to Paul, My Grace is sufficient for thee, so I say to all, God's Love is sufficient for you: this love made you, when you were nothing; and this Love must save you, now your are worse than nothing. Let the Papists cloth themselves in the rags of their own righteousness, and the jews trust to their Templum Domini, and the Heathen brag of their painted virtues, (which Augustine calls splendida peccata) but let us only triumph in this love of God, and esteem it the strength of our salvation.  
Thus having discovered the rich treasure of God's love, let us know our duty, that we may be accounted worthy to win and to wear it. S. August. Lib. de Anima & Spiritu, seems to study for this duty, saying, Miser ego, quantum deberem diligere Deum meum, qui me fecit cum non eram, redemit, cum perieram, etc. O sinful wretch, how shall I requite the rare love of God, who created me of nothing, and redeemed me being worse than nothing, etc. And after, having found this duty out, he teacheth it to the world, Si non impendere, at rependere debemus, If we will bestow no love upon God, yet let us repay his love which he hath showed first. The world cries shame upon an ungrateful person. If thou shouldest travel into a strange Country, and there fall into the hands of thieves, and in mere compassion of thy misery, the King of that Country should set thee free again, giving thee life & liberty, what would the world think? yea, what then wouldst thou esteem of thyself, if thou shouldst prove unthankful to so good a Prince? We are all strangers in the world, and passengers from earth to heaven: now in our journey we meet with the world and the devil, and these rob us of all grace, these wound us and leave us for dead: now God of his exceeding mercy finds us out, & sends his Son that good Samaritan, to power the oil of Grace into our wounds, & to mount us on the back of his merit, and so carry us to the Inn of our rest, the joys of heaven, O Love, beyond all love, how much thou art! O blessed God, teach us the depth of thy Love, that we may know the debt of our thankfulness. Thine endless blessing hath made us bankrupts, for we are not able to repay the interest of thy love. If we proffer our goods, alas, we received them of thee: If we offer our lives, they are redeemed by thee. Surely this shall be our thanks, the remembrance of thy mercy: and since thy blessed Son hath taught us, that the loving of thee, is the keeping of thy Commandments, we will labour to be all keepers: as we have spent our time in the service of the world, the flesh, and the devil, so will we spend the remnant of our days in the rebuke of sin, and the recording of thy love. And since the love of so worthy a creature as man, is too costly a cement to join earth to earth, we abandon all earthly desires, and freely give thee our hearts, and betrothe our love to thine.  
Dear God, by the fire of thy spirit, draw up our affections to thee, divorce us from the liking of the world, and marry us to the love of thy son: Let us light our candle at thy Love, & learn by thy endless mercy, never to end our thankfulness, till death translate us from this vale of tears to Mount Zion, where our love shall join us to thee eternally.   

CHAP. III. Of the Gift, CHRIST.  
NOw are we come to the Gift itself, the greatest that ever was, whether we respect the bounty of God, or the blessing of man: for what could God give greater than himself? or what could man receive better than his salvation? He hath given his only begotten Son. This blessed Gift is it that made Abraham rejoice, and the Angels sing, and john Baptist dance in his mother's belly: this is able to make the World wax young against, if Grace would open her eyes, and Wisdom teach her to see her own nakedness, and the riches of this Garment sent unto her. As the Saints in heaven follow the lamb wheresoever he goeth: so all the blessings of the earth follow Christ this Gift, wheresoever he goeth: for Habenti dabitur: He that hath this Gift, shall have all other gifts, yea, he shall have the Giver too: for Christ saith, He that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. And Ambrose saith, Omnia habemus in Christo: si a vulnere curari desideras, Medicus est: si febribus aestuas, fons est: si gravaris imquitate, justitia est: si indiges auxilio, virtus est: simortem times, vita est: si tenebras fugis, lux est: si coelum desideras, via est: si cibum quęris, alimentum est, etc.  
(He hath given.) God did not lend his Son, nor sell him, but he gave him to us. Herein appears the riches of his mercy, and the greatness of our poverty: he did not sell him; we were not able to buy him; but he gave him: which shows us to be beggars & bankrupts, and that God must for pity give us a Saviour scanke & free, when we had neither means to deserve, nor grace to desire him.  
(His only begotten Son. He gave us not an Angel, nor a servant, nor a creature, but his Son. The name of a son is music in the ear of a father: & the life of a child is more precious in the parent's eye, than their own salety. Many parents, to save their sons life, have willingly spilled their owns. Examples hereof we have in profane & sacred Scriptures: we will take an handful from a heap. In Gen. 37. when good father jacob heard of the supposed death of his son, (his wicked children giving a false fire to his fear) he was smitten with sorrow, rivers of tears gushed out, and his heart bled at his eyes, for the supposed slaughter of joseph: his affection to his son was too hot, to admit the cold comfort of his other children: he that had wrestled with an Angel, could not wrestle with this affection; and therefore in the grief of a father, he sets down this resolution: joseph my son is surely torn in pieces, and in my son myself was torn: the claw of that beast hath rend my bleeding heart, & his cruelty hath killed two in one. O my son, my life was shut in thy looks, which now is shaken in thy loss: I made thee a coat of many colours, to show, the thou wast the rainbow pledge of my peace: but lo, the beauty of my rainbow is rend, and in stead thereof, this bloody Meteor appears, showing the death of my joy, the devouring of my son. The earth is made to cover the root, not to contain the branch: I am the withered root, my son, & thou the branch, whom untimely death hath cropped. Why should the grave be decked with green boughs, that was made for grey hairs? If children predecease their parents, we are their of spring, & they none of ours. Well, since comfort will not be my gheft, grief shallbe my companion: & seeing my son forsakes me in my life, I will overtake him in my death; for nothing but sorrow shall bring my grey head to that grave. Thus a good father mourned for a gracious son: but will you hear a loving parents moan for a lewd child? In the 2. Sam. 18. when God purposed to chastise David, he made the son to whip the father: for Absalon, that by name should have been his father's joy, by nature proved a Parricide, & sought to depose his own sire: but God having sufficiently humbled David his child, threw the rod in the fire, and brought a judgement upon Absolom which cost him his life. Notwithstanding, David being moved with the good affection of a father, more than the bad condition of his son, was so far from rejoicing in Absoloms death, that it almost cost him his own life. O Absolom my son (quoth he) would God I had died for thee; O Absolom, my son, my son. But God here is neither like jacob lamenting a good son, nor David bewailing a wicked child: he resembles good Abraham, who willingly sacrificed his son Isaak.  
This was much, to give a son: yet as if this were not enough to express God's love, the holy Ghost addeth, his only begotten son: he gave not an adopted son, as Abraham offered a Ramme in stead of Isaac: but his own son. And herein appears his perfect justice, a blessed precedent to all justiciaries. In all God's actions this virtue sways: though his mercy be above all his works, yet mercy and justice must kiss together. The dearest drop of Christ's blood must be shed, before GOD'S justice be left unsatisfied.  
Nay, this was not enough to satisfy God's mercy; his love mounts a degree higher, and further it cannot ascend. He gave his only begotten Son. When the world could not yield the price of our redemption, he searched his own bosom for a Saviour, & gave us his only son. If God had many sons, his mercy had been meaner, & his love had seemed less: but he gave us not one son of many, but one & all, his only Son (for whose sake, he spared not his Angels) his delight, his bosom friend, the image of himself, for the ransom of the world.  
O love beyond all love, how much thou art! A holy father in admiration of this love, cries, Quàm dives es in misericordia, quàm magnificus in justicia, quàm munificus in gratia, Domine Deus noster! Again, Passio tua, Domine jesu, ultimum est refugium, singular remedium: deficiente sapientia, justitia non sufficient, sanctiatis succumbentibus meritis, illa succurrit: cum enim defecerit virtus mea, non conturbor: scio quid faciam, poculum salutaris accipiam, etc.  
The instruction that we must learn from the consideration of this unspeakable Gift Christ, is twofold: First, we are taught to return our love again, as Aug. says, Sinon am are, saltem redam are debemus: As GOD hath given us his only Son, so we must show our reciprocal love to God, and for his Son, give him ourselves: as he hath given us wealth, we must bestow our wealth on him again: as he hath given us liberty, honour, children, long life, knowledge, wisdom, courage, etc. these must all wait on him, and do him honour and service: Thus we must give him love for love, again.  
The second use of God's unspeakable bounty, is, to teach us to love our brethren. Christ teacheth us this lesson for his Love, saying, I have given you an example how to love one another. Brethren must be united in the bond of mutual love, like Cyrus the Sythians Faggot: for the unity of brothers is, Ecce quàm iucundan, exceeding joy to all the Saints. But alas, let us see what Lovers, and what Givers our wicked age doth afford. When I study upon this duty, I find four sorts of Givers: The first & the worst sort, have the hand to give, but not the heart to grant: of whom I may say as Christ said, Better this hand were cut off, & they were as poor as Irus, then with their rusting riches to be cast into Hell. These are the Mammonists of our age, whose soul lies treasured with their rusting pence, who are more unmerciful than the devil, for he would have Christ turn stones into bread: but these men turn bread into stones, even the bread of the poor, into stone walls, or else spend it on their accursed lusts, forgetting mercy: therefore damnation attends them. The second fore have the heart, but not the hand; whose myts God accepts above all the Mines of the wealthy, & takes their love for their largesse. The third sort, are such as have neither heart nor hand in this duty; & these are poor men every way: for he that can bring forth neither good work, nor good will, is a dead member in Christ's Body, & shall be cut off. The fourth sort, have both hand & heart; & these walk in brotherly love; these are they the walk worthy of this Gift Christ, & shall have their deeds of mercy, crowned with that sweet harvest song, Come ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me meat, etc.   

CHAP. FOUR Of the world.  
Now it remains, that we consider, to whom this great Legacy is bequeathed. The world. What, is the world some friend of Gods? No. What, is God indebted to the world? No. What is the world? The world is named and taken divers ways: first, pro soto creato, john. 1.10. Heb. 11.3. secondly, pro mundo damnato. joh. 17.9. thirdly, pro homine mundato, Rom. 5.10. Col. 1.20.2. Cor. 5.19. and so it is taken in this place: for the world here meant, is a certain small number of the sons of Adam, which God, of his unspeakable clemency, hath set apart, to exercise his mercy upon them; and hath chosen them out of the same lump & mass that the damned world is of, even all alike firebrands of hell, fellows with the falling Angels; all alike Traitors, Rebels, incarnate Devils: for Augustine saith, Quod tuum est, Sathanas est: Every man is of himself a devil. Will you hear what Gods judgement & opinion is of the world, as men are in themselves? In the 145. Psalm, God takes a view of man, and then says, Homo vanitati similis factus est: Man is become like vanity. As if he had said, When I made man, I made him to mine own likeness, I had a pleasure to look on him again and again; I held my workmanship exceeding good, Gen. 1: But lo, man hath marred what I have made, he hath befaeed mine Image, & hath made himself like unto vanity: nay, he hath so long delighted in vantly, the now he is vanity itself, Psal, 39.5. In job 1. It is written, Naked I came out of my mother's wob: yea (saith a holy Father) naked of all grace & vertne. In 1. Cor. 3. it's said, The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God. How is it then the God bestows this great Legacy upon fools? we know, no man willingly leaves his land to a fool. I answer, This amplifies the mercy of God, who hath chosen the foolish things of the world, etc. Again, 1. Cor. 2. Paul says, The carnal man understands not the things of ●od. How then? Why surely, Ignoti nulla cupido: what a man understands not he neither desires, nor delights in. Therefore the world was as worthy of this great present, as swine are of pearls; or the swinish Gergesenes were of Christ's company, when they willed him to departed out of their coasts. Again, job. 15.16. it's said, The heavens are unclean in God's sight, how much more is man abominable & filthy, which drinketh iniquity like unto water? Le here, flesh & blood, thou wretched offspring of Adam, consider here, thou unworthy world, & tell me what thou wast, when God's mercy found thee out. O Love, beyond all love, how much thou art! Man, abominable and filthy man, is fit matter for God's mercy to work on: Man that drinketh iniquity like unto water, is thought worthy to drink of the waters of Life. In this saying, job doth anatomize the world, calling it abominable & filthy. But will you see a more exact Anatomy of the world, limb me by limb? Paul, to the Gal. 5. rips up the body of the world, & there finds in it a whole den of devils: the works of the world (saith he) are, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, wantonness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, debate, emulations, wrath, contentions, seditions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, gluttony, etc. Here are the devils which God must cast out the world, as he did the buyers & sellers out of his Temple, if he will reconcile the world to himself. The Apostle brings them in by ranks, as if hell were broke lose, or as if this later world were so wicked, that either devils seemed to be turned into men, or men into devils. And this signifies S. john's saying, Totus mundus in maligno positus: the whole world is set on mischief.  
To conclude this 4. point of the unworthiness of the world, to whom God hath given this Legacy. This Unworthiness shall appear most excellently, if we consider the jews, a choose part of the world, or rather, a people chosen from the world; let us, I say, consider in them, what the world is, & how unworthy of such a present. When God had sent this unspeakable Gift of his only begotten Son to the jews, by the hands of his servants, the Prophets, they took his servants, & beat some, and killed some, and stoned others. God sent again his Prophets, & they used them likewise. The loving mercy of God look no unkindness at this; but at last, sent to them this Gift by the hand of his only Son, thinking surely, Though they regard not my Gift, yet they will reverence my Son. But how did they reverence him? This is the heir (say they) come, let us kill him, & the inheritance shall be ours. Christ was no soo●● 〈◊〉 ●●orne, but they sought his life: how was he entertained, reviled, blasphemed, persecuted, contemned, hunted too & fro, haled before the Magistrate, accused in 2. Consistories, & there reviled, smitten, condemned, & at last most cruelly done to death? Behold here the desert of the world, behold here to whom God hath sent his Son: consider this uprightly, & thou will cry out with David, Lord, what is man, that thou regardest him? what is either jew or Gentile, the thou respectest him? If thou wilt needs show such Love, them show it to thy holy Angels, who honour thee; to thy goodly creatures, the Sun, the Moon, & stars, who never did offend thee: only man is the sinner in this world, and he alone tastes of thy goodness. I. this is mercy, Lord, to save, where thou mightest destroy; to salve, where thou findest sick; to help, where thou findest need; to forgive our sins, while we forget our thanks; & to give us heaven, who have deserved hell. As the stars shine clearest in the darkest night, so thy mercy appears whitest being compared with the blackness of our deserts. Thou didst visit us, when we were nothing but banity: thou didst cloth us in the righteousness of thy Son, when we were all naked of grace, thou didst instruct us when we were fools, and heaie us when we were abominable & filthy: thou didst seek us when we knew thee not, & find us when we had lost ourselves: thou didst set thy hear● 〈◊〉 us, when our hearts were set on mischief: thou didst pray for us, when we persscuted thee; & died for us, when we hated thee; & thirst our salvation, when we thirsted thy hlood: thou hast ransomed us from hell, & rewarded us with heaven. Therefore to thee Lord, to thee, will we sing a new song, and rejoice in the strength of our salvation.  
We are taught from this 4. point, the exceeding riches of God's mercy. And to come home to ourselves; what were we before this Gift was sent to us by the most happy reign of our dreas Sovereign? As Abraham sent not his servant without gifts, when he went to take a wife for Isaac; so God sent not Religion empty-handed into our Land, but accompanied with a virtuous Prince, and gracious Mother of this our Israel; and all, to woe and win us an unspotted Spouse to our Isaac, Christ. But what were we, I say, to whom God hath showed such mercy, the this Text seems to be spoken of us, So God loved England, that he hath given, & c? What were we, when his Love sought us, & his mercy found us out? Were we not blind Idolaters, horrible backsliders, & cruel murderers of his Saints? For these sins he cast off his people the jews; and yet, with these sins hath he chosen us. As a man taketh his wife with all her infirmities: so the Lord 〈◊〉 taken us with all our faults: our blind Idolatry and horrible rebellion; our wilful ignorant and wicked resistance; our profane lives & polinted consciences; our hate of the fruth, & love unto lies; our following the Pope, & forsaking of Christ; all this was but matter for God's mercy to work on. So that we may say with David, Lord, what is man, that thou regardest him? Lord, what is England, that thou respectest it? this poor frozen corner of the North, that thou art mindful of us? We are frostbitten Snakes, worms, & no men, whom thou hast so pitifully cherished in thy bosom. If hate deserve love, if cruelty merit kindness, if fin purchase pardon, if murder require mercy: then Christ is our due, than God is our debtor, than heaven is our own. But, Lord, our hearts tells us, that we are this un worthy world; our lives witness, that hell is our portion, damnation is our due: but eternal Life is the Gift of GOD in Christ: To whom with thee, and the holy Chost, he all praise, honour, and glory, for ever and ever.  
Amen.  
FINIS.