A BOX OF SPIKENARD Newly Broken. Not so much for the preparation of the Burial; as for the clearer Illustration, and Exornation of the Birth and Nativity of our blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus. CONTAINED In a short and sweet discourse which was at first hinted, and occasioned through a Question propounded by R.B.P. de K. Which is now answered and resolved by T.M. P. de P. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cant. 1.12. While the King siteth at his Table, my Spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. London, Printed by J. S. for George Sawbridge, and are to 〈…〉 THE AUTHOR TO THE Indifferent and Impartial Reader. I Shall use no further Preface or Introduction to this ensuing Treatise, but only to acquaint thee, that this Task was at first undertaken by me, not only for the satisfaction of some private intimate Friends and honest-minded Protestants, who did much solicit and entreat me hereunto; but also for the confutation of all such peevish and perverse opposers of the Truth. And to stop the mouths (if it were possible) of such Malignant Antilegons', Antagonists and Gain-sayers; who do much grieve and offend their weak Brethren, by putting a stumbling block, or an occasion to fall in their way; even touching things indifferent and matters of little or no consequence at all. Rom. 14. Such men as these you know are censured and perstringed by St. Paul. And I know, also that by the Law of Moses they are condemned, Levit. 19.14. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God; I am the Lord. As for such acquaint and curious, difficult and precise Readers as these, I care not how few these poor labours of mine do meet with: I know they will be apt, like Zoilus, to look upon them, front corrugante, with a wrinkled or bended brow; and, with Momus, not only to ●ite the lip at them, but, cum dente Theonino, gnash with their malicious teeth, and be ready to rend and tear them in pieces; I know that they will be apt to say, that I am become a fool in print, and am very forward to blaze my own folly and foppery; yea, and to maintain my old Popery and Superstition; yea, perhaps, they will call me and accuse me; as Tertullus did Paul, Act. 24.5. to be a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition, and an enemy to the State, with the like obloquys and exprobrations: But when I meet with such as these I presently put on Paul's resolution, and say, 1 Cor. 3.4. with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of them, or of man's Judgement; yea, I judge not mine own self, for I know nothing of myself: (i. e.) whereof to boast, saving of mine infirmities, (as he speaks elsewhere): yet put the case I should know any thing in myself that is commendable or praiseworthy, yet am I not hereby justified; but he that judgeth me is the Lord: Quod olim altè & acutè quispiam, id hîc verâ voce proclamo: Satis mihi pauci lectores, satis est unus, satis est nullus: id tamen peto, ut quicunque haec tangens cognoscendi animum adferat, & simul ignoscendi; namque vetus & verum proverbium est, Ut facilius est carpere quám corrigere, sic facilius est interrogare quam respondere. We have in these last and worst times, in these perilous and pernicious, dangerous and Climacterical days of ours a new brood of those old Serpents, a fresh generation of Vipers lately hatched and sprung forth amongst us, as it were a spawn of those proud and insolent and supercilious Scribes and Pharisees that were amongst the Jews, who vilify Christ, and do both scornfully and disdainfully think and speak of Him, as they did, Mark 6.3. Is not this the Carpenter, the Son of Mary, the Brother of James, and Joses, and Juda, and Simon? and are not his Sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. And how truly did that old good man Simeon Prophesy of Him; saying, Behold, this Child is set for the Fall and Rising again of many in Israel, and for a Sign that shall be spoken against: Neither is it without a Mystery which the Angel told the Shepherds. This shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling Clothes: Upon which word, devout Bernard descants sweetly thus, In signum positi sunt panni tui (o bone Jesû); said, in signum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a sign that is spoken against, a sign that is done against; for we cannot abide thy Clouts, nor thy Rags (O Lord Jesus), nor any part of thy Humility: which makes the Proud and Arrogant, and insolent spirits of a late up start Fantastical and Pharaisaicall Generation; so peremptorily and perversely to speak, and audaciously to write, against the solemn Remembrance of thy Nativity. Courteous Reader, to show their frenzy and madness I have written, and adventured to divulge these Papers, and if thou dost receive any comfort or profit by these poor labours of mine, give God the Glory, and wish well to him, Who wisheth nothing but well to thee in Christ Jesus. T. M. AN Appendix to the Preface. THere are two things principally required in a Minister, the one that he be able to exhort with wholesome Doctrine: the other that he hath skill to Improve them that say against it, Tit. 2.9. whereunto agreeth that witty saying of grave St. Austin, that he must be veritatis propugnator, & erroris expugnator, (i.e.) he must be a maintainer of the Truth, and a withstander of Error, August, de doctrinâ Christi. Lib. 4. c. 4. Author ad Libellum. Vade sed incultus,— Candidus Auctoris Amicus, ad Lectorem candidum et benevolum. REad on good Reader but read aright; Do not mistake, nor construe things in spite. 'Tis a proud word to speak yet true I ween, That such a Book as this you have seldom seen. All Books this Christmas, whereon vain men do look, Are not to be compared to this Little Book. You cannot play at a more delightsome Game, Than to handle, and peruse, and read the same. 'Tis not Pandora's Box, here is no ill; Be not afraid, but open't with goodwill. 'Tis rather Mary's Box, she broke in love Of her dear Saviour, as't did truly prove; An Ointment 'twas, so precious and so sweet, It did perfume the House where they did meet: Spikenard the same was called, and so it was, For it did other Odours far surpass. So if this Spikenard shall afford a pleasing smell, Such Readers (I wis) shall please us passing well. It is not for his Burial but his Birth, 'Cause He was born for to redeem the Earth; Other wise we had all been cast to Hell, With the Devil and his Angels there to dwell. O happy time! that ever He was born, To save poor Sinners that were thus forlorn. To celebrate the five and twentieth of December, O let us all, with one accord, remember, And not forget His kindness towards Man, But set forth's praise with all the Might we can. Did not the Augels do the same, and sing A holy Carol to our Heavenly King? Did not the Shepherds & Wise men of the East Praise Him, & bring presents of the best; Even Gold, & Frankincense, & Myrrh? To come so far they did themselves bestir; In so short a time (I mean) to come so far: But they were guided by a glorious Star To Bethlem Town, and to that very place Wherein that blessed Babe layfull of grace, Though mean in show, and laid but in a Manger, Yet they acknowledged him, though they were strangers; And down they fell upon their bended knee, And aid adore and worship him, all three; Opening their Treasures, & offering such a thing As did become a Man, a God, a King: A Mystery! for Myrrh, & Frankincense, & Gold Do signify the Office of Christ threefold: For both King, Priest, & Prophet's He To rule, & pray for, & teach both thee & me. And this, according to the Christian Poet Juvencus, Aurum, Thus, Myrrham, Regique Deoque Hominique Dona ferunt. Liber ad Lectorem. Si Natura negat, facit Indignatio Versum. AND is it News you look for? O Sir, There's none; I do but tell you of a thing done long ago: Yet this is News, for methinks 'tis very strange To hear of such an uncouth, & prodigious Change, That Christmas should be buried! Is old England dead? Alas! This whimsy comes from a strange head, Who would have all things new, in spite of old. Sure they would have a new Christ if they could; A Christ without a Birth: How strange is this? Sure they are mad, or else they dote, I wis: New Lords, new Laws: What, would they have new Gods? Or do they long to be scourged with new Rods. War was in the Gates, und many a misery moe, When Israel did the living God forego, To worship dead Idols of wood and stone, Whereas they should have worshipped God alone. But mark their reason, which is not worth a rush, They all want shame, or else they would blush; Because they know not when Christ was born, Therefore, like Jews, at's Birth they scorn; And scoff at us, because that we do dance Before the Ark, & do Christ's Name advance: But let them Michol-like disdain, yet we With holy David, will yet viler be. The Article of his Birthday they do deny Such Antichristian Tenet's I defy: For born he was, and of a Virgin pure, And did for us the pains of Hell endure, To bring us unto happiness, and perfect bliss, Wherein no sense of grief nor sorrow is. Then cause have we for to observe this time, And not to account it any fault or crime: This Feast of Christ hath been highly kept of yore, And never yet esteemed Popery before. It is not Superstition to eat a Pie; Sure, he that tells you this, tells you a Lie, And doth dissemble with his glozing tongue. These Round head Hypocrites do all the wrong: All ancient customs be they ne'er so good, They esteem no more than Tales of Robin-hood. 'Cause Papists keep it, therefore must not we? 'Cause they are good to the poor we'll hidebounded be. Oh no! Not so, my Masters, whatsoever betid, Let us follow the Scripture for our only Guide, Which tells us, 'Tis better to give than to receive; And he that saith not so, doth us deceive. Reader farewell, I do defy All those which Christ's Birthday deny. To his Loving Friend Mr. T. M. IT being my hap, not long since, to find this Treatise of Yours, even before the printing and publishing thereof, in a Friend's House; And being, upon Inquiry, informed touching the Quality of the Author, I wondered what man it was, that had so much Christian Courage in him, as to adventure to vindicate this Christian Duty of celebrating the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus; contemning the clamorous Censures, and the vain Objections, and Argumenta mutilata of the weak multitude of Pretenders to Religion and Learning. Therefore being much affected with your Christian valour, in this kind, and desirous to commend the same to posterity; It is not in my power to do it more effectually, than by adding this Epistle to your Treatise, which (if I were eloquent) I should commend in the Superlative degree. For, although the valiant and learned Champions, or rather railing Antagonists, of our times, evemunt quicquid in buccam venit, and spit out their venom against it, and strive, tanquam pro aris & focis, to maintain that it is a mere vanity to observe the blessed time of Christ's Birthday: Yet, if they will give me leave to speak, I shall tell them, That the most learned Arguments that their subtle brains can invent or produce, are not sufficient to prove it a Sin, to celebrate this time; and besides, I will tell them, it is an Herculean labour, and as hard a task as to fetch Cerberus out of Hell. And although they give out the worst words they can rake out of the sink of their rotten brains, against it; yet I will tell them, It is easier for them to drive a Sponge into a Millstone, than to dissuade many godly People from the due Observation of it. Reader, Whoever thou art, be persuaded in thyself, That the bonouring of this time is just, honest, commendable, good, and lawful. And I prove it thus, with a threefold Argument (and you know that a Cord which is threefold, or thrice doubled, is not easily broken): My Argument is this, That which God, and the Church of God, and the ancient Fathers have commanded to be kept and celebrated, aught to be kept and celebrated; and the use of it, is good, pious, lawful, and commendable: But God, and the Church of God, and the Fathers, have commanded this day to be kept and celebrated. Ergo. etc. I prove that God hath commanded it out of Heb. 1.6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And again, when he bringeth the first-begotten into the World, he saith, And let all the Angels of God worship Him, Psal. 77.7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Incurvate vos ei omnes Divi. Luke Chap. 2. ver. 10.11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And the Angel said unto them, Fear not, etc. That the Church of God, and the Fathers, commanded it to be celebrated, is exactly proved in the Answers of some of the 14 Arguments, and I need not recite them here: And I do believe that there is no man in this Nation, who hath lived forty or fifty years, but hath known Christmas— day strictly observed and kept. But alas! We can expect no goodness, if we cast but our eyes upon the age wherein we live. It is most admirably deciphered by the Poet, — De duro est Ultima ferro; Protinus irrupit venae pejoris in aevum Omne nefas: Fugêre Pudor, Verumque, Fidesque, In quorum subiêre locum frandesque, dolique, Insidiaeque, & vis, & amor sceleratus habendi. At last the Iron-Age comes blustering in, I'th' latter times, and fills the World with Sin; All Shame, and Truth, and Faithfulness are gone: Fraud and Deceit, Lord's paramount, alone, Do rule: By snares and violence men get Estates, and all is Fish that comes to Net. Which how truly it is verified, every body may see, if not as blind as Moles; and may feel, if not senseless. I shall now speak a word or two to some which rail at, and preach down, the Solemnity of this Time: & desire them to spend the time which they spend in burying Antiquity and lawful Customs, in the Translating of many things which are not as yet translated, and not to monopolise Knowledge. I will name some places which are not as yet translated, viz. Psal. 56. To the Chief Musician upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Why could not they have translated it Super Columbam mutam remotis, The dumb Dove in a far Country. And I am persuaded, that they durst not translate one Word, when they looked on their own Coats, Zeph. 1.4. I will cut off the names of the CHEMARIMS with the Priests; meeting with the Word, now and then, in Hosea, they translated it Priests; but here it being joined with the word PRIEST, my Blades played the honest (I should have said, the selfish) men, and never translated it at all: Tremelius and Junius give it a very honest and true Version, Nomen Atratorum cum Sacerdotibus, The Names of Black-Coats with the Priests. I commend this Scripture to the serious considerations of our Rigid Presbyterians: and when they look upon it, let them do as the Peacock doth, when he looks on his legs. I desire the Reader of this Book, not to give credit to every one that speaks against Antiquity, nor to carp at that which they cannot mend: for I dare say, and will affirm, that the Author here of hath written herein, nothing but what is true, nothing contrary to the Will of God; to whose Protection I leave him. The Almighty bless him, & prosper his studies: For such is the desire and hopes of him, who craves leave to subscribe himself, Your Humble Servant and true admirer of your Christian Ingenuity, Sincerity, and Courage. T. J. Courteous Reader. MAny of our late Divines bring such poor weak Arguments against the Celebration of Christ's birthday, that I am almost ashamed to repeat any of them; much less then, will I trouble myself to answer them, they being so ridiculous, that (if it were possible) they would cause corpus rationis vacuum, to laugh them to scorn. Two or three I will repeat: the first is of a Divine that brought a Rubric or Almanac into the Pulpit to bury this Day, and reads Arguments out of it to the People, and tells them a tale of a rub without a bottom; I am sure this Gentleman might have looked in a Jackdaws Nest, and have found as good Arguments there, as any he found in his Almanac. Another Divine saith, It is not only a bad time, but it is the worst of all times; and thinks, This ignis fatuus, of his giddy brain, is sufficient to lead men from the Truth; But Alas! I will be so bold as to deny his Proposition, and I am sure, he cannot prove it, for he hath no more skill in arguing, than a Cow hath in dancing. The third Divine saith, It is the Devil's day, and therefore aught to be buried, and never to be celebrated. But I reply thus: His Body will descend into Orcus, and his Name will be buried in Oblivion, long before this Day will be buried: for I doubt not, but it will be celebrated as it ought to be, until there will be a period put unto all things. I wish all Christian Readers of this Book, happiness in this World, and a Crown of Glory in that to come. T. J. A BOX OF Spikenard Newly Broken. The Question propounded by Richard B. which was the occasion of this Treatise. Quest. WHether the Nativity of Christ, commonly called Christmas-day, aught to be celebrated; R. B. denyeth it, and endeavours to prove the contrary. His Arguments are these 14 following. Arg. 1. There is nothing in the World a Duty, which God hath not made a Duty; But God never made this a Duty: Ergo, it is no Duty. Arg. 2. If I should observe this Day, I am afraid lest I should deny the perfection of the Scriptures? Arg. 3. I am fearful lest by doing so, I should arrogate the making of a Day to myself: for if I should do so much as in me lieth, I should make a Day to myself. Arg. 4. I am fearful lest by so doing, I should set up a Day against God. Arg. 5. It is the Devil's policy to imitate God, and when he will be holy, he will be holier than God; and when he seethe God will have a Sabbath to be kept, than he will set up a Day, and he will have a Christmas Day to be kept, and he will have his Pictures in the Church-windows, and the Cross made on the children's foreheads in Baptism? Arg. 6. I am fearful, lest I should be condemned for accusing God for want of Wisdom, and so make myself wiser than God, as though he knew not what should be done as well as I, and so derogate from the Wisdom of God. Arg. 7. I am fearful of being more inexcusable for my sin. Arg. 8. It seemeth to me a vain and needless thing, First, because God hath set apart a Sabbath, the Lords Day, for this purpose to meditate upon God's love in redeeming the World; Secondly, Because I never heard a good Argument for it. Arg. 9 It is an impossibility to keep it, and God never made an impossibility, a duty: no man knoweth certainly on which day Christ was born. Arg. 10. I observe God hides things purposely from us, to see whether we will do any thing on our own heads. Arg. 11. It hath not been the practice of Christian Churches to observe it? Arg. 12. In all doubtful Cases a man ought to go on the surest side: Now I am sure, It is no sin not to keep it, but am not sure, It is no sin to keep it. Arg. 13. This time ought not to be celebrated; for there is more sin committed in these 12 Days, then is in all the year after, in Drunkenness, Gluttony, etc. Arg. 14. God blesseth his own Day, the Sabbath, but hath not blessed this, with success? Here followeth the Answer of Thomas M. to the forerecited Questions and Arguments: and herein, the honour of Christ his Nativity is Vindicated, or the Solemnity of his Birthday (which is commonly called Christmas-day), avowed and averred, (i. e.) justified and maintained to be lawful and good: Even in this Answer to fourteen arrogant Arguments, or weak Linsey-Woolsy Reasons, which have been of late eventilated, and divulged in writing to the contrary. Answer to the first Argument. You may remember that the first Argument runneth thus; There is nothing in the World a duty which God hath not made a duty. But God never made the Celebration of the Nativity of Christ a Duty, Ergo, it is no Duty. Though this Argument is Scholastically and Syllogistically propounded, yet I shall be so bold as to deny the Minor or second proposition, and that for these Reasons: for although it be not in words plainly expressed, yet in sense it is significantly and sufficiently employed, and, by way of necessary consequence, may be deduced and gathered out of the first Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, at the 6. Verse. When he bringeth forth his first begotten Son into the World, He saith, And let all the Angels of Gods worship him; and for proof hereof, to show the sweet harmony and consent of both Testaments, the Old and the New, and that one and the same Spirit speaks in both: For the same God is Author of both, and the same Christ is Subject of both; insomuch that each Testament is in other: for in the Law there is an hidden Gospel, and in the Gospel a revealed Law; Being like the two Cherubius on the Mercy-Seat, whose faces looked one towards the other, Exod. 15.20. St. Paul allegeth that in Psal. 97.7. And howsoever the ordinary reading of the Psalm is, worship Him all ye gods; yet the Apostle Interprets it of Angels directly, saying according as Tremelius renders it out of the Original, Incurvanto se, bonorem exhibentes ei, omnes Angeli; Let all the Angels of God worship Him: For so we find it to be true indeed, and so it was at Christ's Birth, and upon the very Day of his Nativity; That one Angel first reports it to the Shepherds of Bethlehem; and many other of those Celestial Choristers sing Praises to God for it; Fear not, said Gabriel, for Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all Nations; For unto you is born this Day in the City of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord; and suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, Gloria Deo in Excelsis, etc. Luke 2.13.14. Now I infer from hence, that these Angels came not about this Errand without some special Commission and Command from God, and therefore it was a Duty Commanded and Given in charge to them; Now, if the Angels for whom Christ came not, were to perform it; How much more ought we Men to observe it, for whose sake, and for whose Salvation he was Incarnate, and became Man; for verily, He took not on Him, Naturam Angelorum, sed Semen Abrahami, Heb. 2.10. not the nature of Angels, but the seed of Abraham, saith the Apostle. Dubartas. Wherefore the Angels, As they are called by a Divine Poet, The sacred Tutors of the Saints, and the guard of God's Elect, &c: So they may also be called Tutors and Instructors to us, to instruct and teach us this Lesson, and may be also exemplary Patterns and Precedents to us, in the practice and performance of this Duty. Answerable and agreeable hereunto, is the platform of our grand Master, and blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus; who hath taught us in the third Petition of that his most absolute and perfect Prayer, to pray thus, Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven: wherein we are taught to pray, (as all the best Orthodoxal Divines do expound it), that the will of God may be obeyed, and done by us as Cheerfully, Speedily, Faithfully, Constantly and Continually: as it is done by the Angels in Heaven. And therefore as the Angels melodiously chanted it here on Earth at the Birth of Christ: So let us likewise unanimously celebrate, & set forth his praise, and say, Glory be to God on High, in Earth Peace, good will towards Men. We bless Thee, we praise Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for thy great Glory. These words were at first added to the Heavenly Carol of the Holy Angels, by that famous Bishop Hilary, and used by him in his own Church, Anno 340. So saith Cassander's Litturgy, Cap. 22. And that this is a Duty expected and required from us, upon good ground, and special Reasons and Causes that should move us hereunto, grave St. Austin tells us wittily, and profoundly, This Quaery hath a sufficient Quaery, Quia verbum caro factum est, & habitavit intra nos, Because the Word was made flesh, and dwelled amongst us, & vidimus Gloriam, and we faw his Glory (saith St. John) as of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth, John 1.14. Wherefore as those Persian Sages (who were both Wisemen and Kings) being led by the guidance, and assistance, and direction of a Star to the place of Christ's Birth, and there did adore and worship Him, and presented gifts unto Him, Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, Math. 2.10. and this their coming made to the greater condemnation of the Jews, and to shame their blockishness and blindness, their sluggishness carnality and infidelity, who standing hard-by, saw not so much as they who came from far, according to that speech of Leo, Veritas illuminat magos, Infidelitas obcoecat magistros: So it is to be feared, lest the Lord for our contempt of Christ, and the unspeakable benefits that we have received by his first coming in the flesh, lest the Lord (I say) for our ingratitude, and for our carelessness and carnality, take his Word from us Christians, as he did his King ●om from the Jews, and give it to such as we think to be most alien from God and his Gospel, even to Moors, and Tartars, Turks, and Infidels, who perhaps may bring forth better fruits of Obedience and Thankfulness than we have done and so rise up in Judgement at the latter day, and condemn us; for if wisemen, brought up in Gentilism and Idolatry, come to Christ and believe, what excuse then belongs to the Jews? So if Infidels and Pagans believe and obey, What shall become of us, Christians, who want both Faith and Obedience? Thus much for the answering of the first Argument. Answer to the second Argument. The Words of the second Argument are these, If I should observe this day, I am fearful lest I should deny the Perfection of the Scripture; for in the Scripture all things are contained which are necessary to Salvation, and all things which are needful to be believed, and done by a Christian man, for the attainment of Salvation. But the Celebration of Christ's Nativity is not contained therein; Ergo, If I should observe this, I should deny the Perfection of the Scriptures. To this I answer, That the Article of our Faith, touching Christ's Incarnation and Manifestation in the Flesh, is both commended, and commanded, in the Scripture; and I refer you or any other indifferent Man, not only to our Apostolical Creed, which, although it be not Protocanonical Scripture, yet (as Ambrose speaks) it is the Key of the Scripture, and (as Augustine terms it) a plain, short, absolute, sum of all holy Faith: It is indeed a sweet and brief Compendium and Abridgement of the whole Gospel: But also I refer you to the learned and authentic Creed of judicious Athanasius, (which is an accurate and complete Exposition of the former;) who saith, Quicunque vult salvari etc. Whosoever will be saved, it is necessary to his everlasting Salvation, That he believe rightly in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ: For the right Faith is, That we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man: And when did He become Man? or when was God manifested in the Flesh, but on this day? And what fit day can there be, to confess this Faith, than on the very same day he was born? For this is to perform, Opus diei in die suo. And this hath been both done and authorized, or allowed of, also to be done, by as ancient, learned, godly, and zealous Doctors and Divines, as ever the whole Christian World afforded, since the first appearance of Christ in the shape of Man; even by those Chariots & Horsemen of Israel, who were the chief Orient and resplendent Lights of the times, the Glory of the Churches, and the only Diamonds, Pearls, and Ornaments, of the places where they lived, men famous and renowned in their Generations; namely, St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. chrysostom, Basil, Cyril, Beda, Theophylact, Euthymius, Ludolphus, Erasmus, cum multis aliis, etc. whose Sermons, Homilies, and Orations, for this day's Solemnity, are both extant and eminent: and might be made also evident and apparent (if need were), sufficient to convince and stop the mouth of any peevish and perverse Antagonist or Gainsayer whatsoever. To these we may add (Dia Poemata) the Divine Poems of those sweet, mellifluous, Christian Poets, Palladius and Prudentius, made in an honourable memorial of our blessed Lord and Saviour's Nativity: And what if we mentioned here the rate Prophecies and Praedictious of the Sybillaes' of old, who foretold us of these things; and the very Heroical Verses, and stately Genethliacon's of Heathenish Poets, who lived both before some of them, and othersome also about the time of the Birth of Christ, who received their Raptures and Enthusiasms, not only from Sibylla or Apollo, but as some think, and are bold to conjecture it, from the Spirit of God. This was it that made Virgil to raise up his Muse to a higher strain, Eclog. 4. Sicelides Musae, paulo majora canamus; Jam redit & Virgo, redeunt Saturnia Regna, Jam nova Progenies coelo dimittitur alto: Aspice, venturo laetentur ut omnia sêclo. For now return the days of Peace, now the new Progeny is sent from Heaven; behold, all things shall then rejoice and be glad. Tully, in Lib. Divinationis, gives this Observation out of Sibyl, that she prophesyeth of a King to come, Quem Regem colere debemus, si velimus esse salvi; which King we must worship if we would be saved. And this King should abolish all false Religions whatsoever. Now concerning all these, if you should cavil and object against them, or any of them, and say, What is this to the Scripture? Then will I answer you, as our Saviour answered the Pharisees, finding fault with his Disciples, for their crying Hosanna before him, when he rid into Jerusalem; I tell you, that if these should have held their peace, the very stones would cry out and applaud Him. Well then, Have all these doted and delired in their writing concerning this thing, namely, the solemn Observation of this high and festival Time, in honour of the World's most gracious, and glorious, and blessed Redeemer? and are you the only wise man (as it were) that is now left upon the Earth, to correct them and direct us? have all these erred? Even so will we. And more sweet shall our Error be unto us with these, (I speak especially of those ancient and reverend Fathers of the Primitive Church, whom I named before,) who, I dare say, were all, and every one of them, as fearful to offend God, in denying the Perfection of the Scriptures, as you for the very life can possibly be; more sweet, I say, shall our error be unto us, with these, of whom we make no question, but that they are all bound up in the bundle of life, with the Congregation of the firstborn, than a new and recent device and purpose, of burying the Anniversary remembrance of this day, in the silent Night, and darksome Grave of everlasting Oblivion, obtruded unto us by you, and such as you, who take upon them to be the grand Reformers of these times, and great Undertakers, and principal Innovators, of all ancient, lawful, and laudable Customs whatsoever. Let others affect Novelty how they please; for my own part, I ever reverenced and admired Antiquity, especially when I have found it in the way of Verity; and If I were worthy to admonish our young, upstart, malapert, Masters of these times, I would wish them to remember what grave St. Austin saith in his 118 Epist. & cap. 5. Ipsa mutatio consuetudinis, etiam quâ adjuvat utilitate, perturbat novitate. Auswer to the third Argument. The words of the third Argument are these, I am fearful lest I should make a day to myself, etc. Sir, I wonder whether your Lecture-day is not a day made to yourself? I doubt not but you have done as much as in you lieth concerning your Lecture-day, and both extol and prefer it before the day of Christ's Birth; For this day happening, not long since, to be upon your Lecture-day, you did not spare to speak it, nor blush to give it out in the Pulpit, (as I was credibly informed by some that heard you;) That if that day had not happened on your Lecture-day, you had not then preached; so that your day, must by all means, be observed and kept strictly and praecisely, but our Saviour's day must be scornfully slighted and neglected, as a day not scarce fit to be named, much less to be celebrated and regarded with honour. But I say, Let his Birthday be celebrated, yea, all praise and Glory be unto him, who was born and died for our Salvation, Amen. Answer to the fourth Argument. The fourth Argument is this, I am fearful, lest by observing this day, I should set up a day against God. To this I answer, If you observe and celebrate this day, you set not a day up against God, but for God: for that which you do for Christ, you do for God, for we know that God and Christ are not divided, but He and the Father are One, they are his own words, John 10.30. Ego & Pater Vnum sumus: hoc est, substantialiter Idem, & in Personis Distincti: In which few words, both the Heresy of the Arrians and Sabellians is sufficiently confuted. For, as learned Athanasius observeth, (who for this was happily called the World's Eye, because he did see so much, and pierce so far, into this unsearchable and ineffable Mystery) we must neither confound the Persons with Sabellius, nor divide the Substance with Arrius, for there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Ghost, but the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Ghost, is all One; the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal; such as the Father is, such is the Son, etc. And therefore the Glory, Honour, and Worship, that is done to the One is done to the other, or is both due, and aught to be done, to the other. How then can it be otherwise, that the least Homage. Honour, and Duty, that is done to Christ on this day, is accepted of God, if it be done in Faith and Obedience? Why then do you say, That by keeping this day, you are fearful lest you should offend God, and set up a day against Him? It may be you will object, and say here, as you do in your thirteenth Argument, that God is in many places much dishonoured by the great Abuse and Disorders that is committed at this time. To this I briefly answer by the way, according to that true and well-known Rule, The Abuse of any good thing cannot abrogate or take away the right and lawful Use of it; and therefore why should you fear, when there is no such just cause at all to fear? Remember what Christ sayeth, Luk. 9.48. Whosoever shall receive me, receiveth Him that sent me; and in the same place, and upon the very same occasion, when John told Him saying, Master, we saw one casting out Devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us; But Jesus said, For bid him not, for there is no man which shall do a Miracle in my Name, that can lightly speak evil of Me; for he that is not against us is for us. And I am verily persuaded in my Soul and Conscience, that whosoever is truly, really, and sincerely, addicted and devoted to Christ, neither can, nor will, speak a word amiss against the due Festivity and Solemnity of this day; thus (as the Apostle speaks) Rom. 14.5. One man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike; Let every man be persuaded in his own mind, he that regardeth a day regardeth it to the Lord; and I am persuaded, if any man regard this day as he ought to do, the Lord will both regard & reward him for so doing. Answer to the fifth Argument. The fifth Argument is this; It is the Devil's policy to imitate God, and when he will be holy, he will be holier than God, etc. Sir, This Argument is as strange stuff as ever I have either seen, felt, heard, or understood; for although the antecedent part cannot be much misliked, it being taken pro concesso, & confesso, for a thing granted and confessed to be true, that it is the Devil's policy to imitate God (for in many things he is God's Ape, as some Divines compare him), seeking to counterfeit and resemble him as an Ape doth a Man, in such gestures and tricks which he useth; and where God will have his Church he will have his Chapel, and he will have his Exorcisms, and Charms and Spells instead of God's-spell, (i. e.) the Gospel; but your Sequel or Subsequent, is a mere new fangled Parodox, and a Proposition, or rather a Supposition, which is not only absurd, but ridiculous; not only erroneous, but also blasphemous; and may be ranked and reckoned amongst those evil-surmisings, and perverse dispute which are mentioned by the Apostle, 1 Tim. 4.5. and are utterly condemned by him: but let us examine what you say in the latter part, viz. That when the Devil will be holy, he will be holier than God; And is that possible? But you instance for an example thus; When he seethe God will have a Sabbath to be kept, then will he set up a Day, and he will have a Christmas day to be kept; o monstrum, horrendum, what a horrible, terrible secret is this! Is Saul among the prophets? is Satan among the Saints of God? Is it possible? or, it is probable? or, is it any way likely to be true? That he that was (even like the great Turk) an Enemy to Christ and all Christendom, should so far be a friend and favourer of Christ, as to be a prime and forward Erector, Abettor, and Setter up of a Day for the celebrating and setting forth of his Praise and Honour: Alas! if this be so, in what a lamentable and pitiful case are we, and how have we and our forefathers been led hoodwinked (as it were) and blindfolded all this while, and have been taken in the snare of the Devil, and be Captive by him at his will, 2 Tim. 2.26. We have sure served a very ill Saint all this while, if, like the People of Calicut, we have worshipped the Devil in observing that Day which you affirm he hath set up; but I say it is not so, Good Sir, for toto erras coelo, you are foully and grossly deceived in this point. Shall you, or any man alive make me believe that ever the Devil had any desire or inclination this way, to propagate or promote the Cause of Christ, or of his Gospel; who was ever an Adversary, bonis incoeptis in germine, and whose continual and daily practice is, suffocare Dei filios, dum parvuli sunt, to smother and murder the Children of God while they are little ones. Was it not he who stirred up Pharaoh at the first, and moved him to command and charge the Midwives to drown the male-childrens of the Hebrew Women so soon as they were born, Exod. 1.22? And was it not this Merchant or Factor, or rather that old Serpent, called the Devil and Satan, who went about the same design at Christ's birth? did not he instigate Herod to send his Men of War, and to kill all the young Children of Bethlehem from two years Old and under, intending thereby to murder Christ in Infancy and Childhood: wherefore, as devout Bernard cryeth out in the like Case, so may we; o malitia Herediana nascentem persequi Christum, & nascentem persequi religionem; O Herodian malice, to persecute Christ and his Religion in their minority, to destroy the Sprig, lest it become a Tree, and break the Egg, lest it prove a Dove, O devilish malice indeed! for (as Expositors upon the place aptly observe, and apply it thus) Herod represents the Devil, Apoc. 12.4 who stands before the Woman in the Wilderness great with Child, ready to devour her Babe; Gen. 3.15. He knew that the seed which should break his head, was to be born of the Jews, and therefore caused Pharaoh to murder all the Hebrew Males, Exod, 1. And stirred up Haman to destroy the whole Nation of the Jews, Esther 3. And Athalia to kill all the sons of David. 2 King. 12. And so soon as the noise was of Christ's Birth, Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, Math. 2. And he sent incontinent to cut the throats of all the Children in Bethlehem; yea, more than this (if if you will believe Josephus, who is a credible Author, and a sufficient Reporter of that which was true, being testis oculatus, an eye-witness of many things which he wrote of, and saw them acted and done before his eyes) this malicious crafty Fox Herod (as he tells us lib. antiquit. 10.) put to death almost all the Nobility of Juda, and burned the Genealogies of their Kings and Princes, commanding a Pedigree to be drawn out for himself, as descending from the Kings of Juda. This was a right Matchiavilian policy, and a deep sleight and stratagem of Satan, to extirpate and eradicate the name of Christ, and the name of Christians for being a People from under Heaven: How then shall we think, or believe it, that he hath any will or desire to set up a Day for Christ, or to have him worshipped or adored, who set upon Christ in the Wilderness, and tempted Him, by proffering the whole World, and all the Kingdoms and Glory of it to Him, if he would but shall down and worship Him: So that you plainly see, he had rather be worshipped himself, then to have Christ to be worshipped; All his chief aim is to have the Power and Kingdom of Christ to be lessened and diminished, and his own Kingdom to be enlarged and advanced. But what did our Saviour answer? or how did he resist his temptation? Why, surely he defied him, and put him from him, with a Apage Satana, Avoid Satan, or get thee hence Satan; For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve, Math. 4.10. As if he had said, If thou wilt not worship and serve him in Faith and Love, thou shalt be compelled to worship him in fear and trembling: and for this end is he reserved in everlasting Chains under darkness, unto the Judgement of the great day, saith St. Judas in his Epistle, at the 8. ver. As for Christ we know that all Power is given unto Him, both in Heaven and Earth, Math. 28. And this was it that the Angel Gabriel intimated to the Virgin Mary, when he saluted her with that first happy and ever-joyful news of bringing forth a Son; He shall be great (saith he) and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David, and he shall Reign over the House of Jacob for ever, and of his Kingdom there shall be no end: Semper regnabit quem mater virge generabit, It was the answer which Octavius the Emperor received from the Oracle, concerning his Successor. And David himself foretold as much of him; saying, Psal. 145.13. Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and thy Dominion endureth throughout all Ages. Answer to the sixth Argument. The sixth Argument is this, If I should celebrate this Day, I am fearful lest I should be condemned for accusing God for want of wisdom, etc. To this I answer, As our Saviour saith, This is the condemnation (or this is the cause of men's condemnation as Beza interprets the place), that light is come into the World, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. For in Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shined in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not, John 1.4, 5. (i.e.) The darkness that was in the Gentiles thoughts and cogitations, and the Veil of blindness that was upon the hearts of the Jews, 2 Cor. 4.15 when Moses was read unto them, caused them that they could neither apprehend nor comprehend this light; And therefore they are both censured and condemned by the Apostle for want of wisdom, and for want of a discerning Spirit, 1 Cor. 1.21, 22, 23, 24. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the World by wisdom knew not God; it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching [or by that preaching which the wise men of the World counted foolishness] to save them that believe: for the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ Crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness: but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks; Christ the Power of God, and the wisdom of God: because the foolishness of God is wiser than Men, and the weakness of God stronger than Men. And therefore I wire you not, for being careful and chary of accusing God for want of wisdom, as they did: and yet whereas you say further, you are fearful lest you should make yourself wiser than God, as though He knew not what should be done as well as you, and so derogate from the wisdom of God, and herein so far as I conceive your meaning, you seem a little to derogate from the wisdom of God, thinking yourself not bound to keep this Day, because God in his wisdom hath not directly revealed, or particularly nominated and set down in the Rubric and Ephemeris, or in the Register or Calendar of his Word, what day his Son Christ was born, and there enjoined and commanded it to be observed and kept, which, albeit he hath not done it immediately from his own mouth: yet mediately or ministerially hath he done it by that heavenly Trumpeter of his, the Angel Gabriel, who particularly did Preach, promulgate, express and declare it openly in the Fields to those Shepherds of Bethlehem; Luke 2. for this thing was not done in secret, nor in a corner. Now I proceed to the seventh Argument. Answer to the seventh Argument. The words of the seventh Argument are these; if I should observe this day, I am fearful lest I should be the more inexcusable for my Sins. Sir, This quirk or transcendent ambiguity (as I may so call it) is but petitio principii, and no better than idem per idem, (i. e.) no more than you have said in some of the former: yet, in this case I will not say to you as Christ said to Peter, Mar. 14.21. when he adventuring presumptuously to walk upon the Water, was afraid, and his heart deceiving him, or rather his Faith failing him, he began to sink; immediately whereupon, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? So, wherefore do you sear, lest, if you should keep this Day, (I mean) the Day of Christ's Nativity, that then you should be the more inexcusable for your fins? What, do you conceit that your careful and conscionable observing of this time shall add to the weight of your sins? or increase the measure and number of your impieties? What a strange and wonderful, anxious and pensive surmising, and prejudicated or preposterous misdeeming is this? Wherefore as our Saviour cheered and comforted his Disciples against the Persecutions and Tribulations which they feared would befall them after his departure from them, John 14.1. So let me, with your leave, a little rectify, and direct you in this point; Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me: and I verily believe it, and am strongly persuaded, that in doing this thing which, you say, you are fearful to do, lest you should be the more inexcusable for your sins; you shall be so far from being accused and condemned for it, that it shall rather be a means to excuse you, and a help to hid and cover your sins at the day of Judgement: and all the harm I wish unto you or myself, or to any of the dearest and nearest Friends that I have in his World, is, that we had no greater Crime or Offence then this to answer for, at the great and terrible Day of our general and common appearance. For than should we be acquitted and dismissed with that sentence of absolution; I mean with that joyful and comfortable, and soul-reviving sentence of Venite Benedicti, Come ye blessed: And for your further satisfaction herein, and better confirmation of that which I have affirmed and averred: Let me give you a hint and instance of it, in that one and remarkable example of Mary Magdalen, who though she were a notorious Malefactor, and a great and grievous Sinner, Luke 7. as the History Evangelical effigiates, and sets her forth unto us: yet, hearing that Jesus sat down to meat in a Pharisee's house, she presnmed and made bold to go into the house; and bringing an Alablaster-Box of Ointment, she stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears; and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the Ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him, saw it, he spoke within himself being discontented; saying, This man if he were a Prophet, would have known who, and what manner of Woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a Sinner: And Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee; and he saith, Master say on: There was a certain Creditor who had two Debtors, the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty; and when they had nothing to pay, He freely forgave them hoth: tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and ●aid, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most, and he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged: And he turned unto the Woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this Woman? I entered into thy House, Thou gavest me not water for my Feet, but she hath washed my Feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head; Thou gavest me not kiss, but this Woman since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my Feet: My Feet with Oil thou didst not anoint, but this Woman hath anointed my Feet with Ointment: Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little: Where the Argument is not (as learned Fulk observeth, and as the whole discourse of the Text makes it manifest) from the Cause to the Effect, but from the Effect to the Cause, Many sins are forgiven her, therefore she hath loved much; (for our Saviour had cast seven Devils out of her), therefore she had good cause to love him much, for to whom little is remitted, he loveth little, wherefore our Saviour prefers and extolleth her kindness both above, and before the entertainment of the Pharisees House. So that, if we in like manner do show our love to Christ freely and cheerfully, in celebrating the memorial of his Birth, as she did in token of his Burial, we shall not only be excused but accepted as she was; for as St. Mark relates the same story more briefly, Mark 14. 4. When there were some that murmured at it, and had indignation within themselves; saying, Why was this waste of the Ointment made, for it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor? But Jesus said by way of Apology for her, Let her alone, Why trouble you her? She hath wrought a good work on me: for you have the poor with you always; and whensoever ye will, you may do them good, but me you have not always: She hath done what she could, she is come aforehand to anoint my Body to the Burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the Gospel shall be preached thorough out the whole World, this also that she hath done, shall be spoken for a memorial of her, (i. e.) for a memorial of her love, of that good work that she hath bestowed upon me. Wherefore as St. Austin answers some who made a question, How it was possible a Virgin should bring forth a Child, Fides adsit & nulla quaestio remanebit; So I say to you, Si amor adsit timor, iste removebit, if you love Christ in sincerity, as you ought to do, than this fear will soon remove, and expel such timorous Niceties, and frivolous Scrupulosities out of your mind: for what saith the Apostle St. John, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment, or fear hath painfulness 1 John 4.18. And let this suffice for the answering of the seventh Argument. Answer to the eighth Argument. The words of the eighth Argument are these, It seems to me a vain and needless thing: etc. To this Argument I answer first in the words of the Roman Orator, Quaedam videntur & non sunt, some things seem to be that which they are not; for according to the Opinion of the Philosopher, Quandoque sensus fallitur circa proprium Objectum, sometimes the sense is deceived about its proper Object; as when a Man seethe a Bush a far off he takes it to be a Man, which when he cometh near it, he finds it to be no such matter: even as the Man in the Gospel, having received a little glimpse and glimmering of his sight, thought he saw men walk like Trees, (i.e.) he took them to be as big as Trees, because the Organ of his Eye, being not sufficiently cleansed, he could not otherwise discern them, Mark 8.24. But it seems to you to be a vain and needless thing. What? Is it a vain and needless thing to serve God? It seems there were some who both thought and spoke so in, Malachi's time: Mal. 3.13, 14. but their gross error and their madness was reproved by the Prophet; even as St. Peter tells us that Balaam was rebuked for his Iniquity: the dumb Ass, speaking with Man's veice, forbade the madness of that false Prophet, because he loved the wages of Unrighteousness, & went beyond his permission, being blinded with the hope of Bribes and Rewards of Divination; 2 Pet. 2.16. and, Is it (think you) a vain thing & unprofitable to serve the Lord? as Eliphaz the Temanite saith, Job 4.7. Who ever perished being innocent. So, who ever waited on the Lord and went away unrewarded? He that serveth himself serveth a Fool; He that serveth the Devil serveth his Enemy; He that serveth the World serveth his Servant; The only true freedom is, to serve the Lord: For Godliness with Contentment is great Gain (saith the Apostle) 1 Tim. 6.6. yea, it is profitable unto all things (saith he) having promise of the life which now is, & of that which is to come, 1 Tim. 4.8. How then can you justify or affirm it to be a vain & needless thing to spend this time in the public Worship and Service of God; namely, in the duties of Piety, and exercises of Religion, in hearing of the Word, & in offering up Prayers & Praises to God, celebrating it, & lauding his holy and glorious Name, with Psalms, and Hymns, and spiritual Songs. singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord, Eph. 5.19, 20. giving thanks always, for all things, unto God and the Father, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And especially, and above all things, giving thanks for this one thing; I mean, that inestimable benefit and unspeakable gift which God bestowed upon the World at this time. And me thinks, to this end and purpose we may very well encourage and stir up ourselves with the words of David, and say as he doth Psal. 69.31, 32. I will praise the name of God with a Song; and magnify it with thanksgiving, this also shall please the Lord better than a Bullock which hath horns and hoofs; yea this shall be as precious and odoriferous in his Nostrils, and no less pleasing and acceptable in his sight than that right & costly Spikenard which was spent to anoint our Saviour's feet withal; although it be said of that, That the whole House wherein our Saviour was at that time was filled and perfumed with the odour of the Ointment, Joh. 12.3. But the Reasons you allege, to prove it to be a vain and needless thing to observe this day, are in the next place to be examined and considered; the first whereof is this, as you affirm it, because God hath set apart a Sabbath, the Lord's-day, for this purpose, to meditate upon God's Love in redeeming the World, and this seems to be an indifferent good one; yet you know, or at the lest cannot but know, that the Sabbath, or the Seventh day, was at the first ordained, sanctified, and set apart, only in remembrance of the World's Creation, as it appears in that passage or Conclusion of the fourth Commandment, Exod. 20. For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth, the Sea, and all that in them is: Wherefore the Lord blessed the Seventh day, and hallowed it: For this Commandment is hedged in on every side, lest we should break out from observing it; with a Caveat and special Memorandum before it, Remember etc. and with two Reasons after; one drawn from the Equity of the Law, and the other taken from the Law-giver's, or the Law-maker's, own Example: Six days shalt thou labour; As if God should speak thus, If I permit thee six whole days to follow thine own business, thou mayest well afford me one only for my own Service; but six days shalt thou labour and do all thine own work, therefore hollow the Seventh in doing my work. Six days shalt thou labour; whereupon, both Reverend Calvin, and that learned Gentleman B. Babington, who was once Bishop of this Diocese, a man of no mean Note, but of good Report both for Life and Learning, do observe, That these Words (Six days shalt thou labour etc.) are a permission, or a remission of God's right, who might challenge all, rather than an absolute Commandment: For as Judicious Perkins hath also delivered it in his Golden Chain, for a sound, Orthodoxal, and undeniable Thesis, Catenâ aureâ, cap. 13 The Church upon just occasion may separate some week days also to the Service of the Lord, and rest from Labour, Joel 2.15. Blow the Trumpet in Zion, sanctify a Fast; call a solemn Assembly. And as days of public Fasting for some great Judgement, so days of public Rejoicing for some great Benefit, are not unlawful, but exceeding commendable, yea, necessary: And you cannot in Modesty, and I hope you will not for Shame, deny this to be the Truth; for besides the ordinary Sabbath, among the Jews, they had their Sabbaths, and their new Moons, and appointed Feasts; yea, Almighty God himself ordained, in the old Testament, divers and sundry Feasts, to put his People in mind of his great Benefits bestowed upon them: Amongst the rest there were three solemn Festivals every year; namely, the Passover, the Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, as we read in the 16th of Deuteronomy; The Passover was instituted in remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt's bondage; Pentecost, in remembrance of the Law, given in Mount Sinui; The Feast of Tabernacles, in remembrance of Israel's dwelling in Tents forty years in the Wilderness: Now, as Hemingius observes in his Postil. dom. 1. post Epiph. instead of those three Jewish Feasts, our Christian Church (which may challenge as much Liberty as the Jewish, if not more) hath substituted Christmas in honour of Christ's Incarnation; Easter, in honour of Christ's Resurrection; and Whitsuntide, in honour of Christ's confirmation of the Gospel, by sending unto us the Holy Ghost at that time; So that we say, according as St. Austin saith in his 108 Epist. cap. 1, Celebrantes Anniversariâ solemnitate Pascha, reliquasque Christianas' diêrum Festivitutes non observamus tempora, sed quae illis significantur temporibiu: (i.e.) In celebrating Easter, and other Christian Feasts, we do not so much observe the times, as the things that are represented and signified unto us at those times. If then it be granted, as it cannot be denied, according to your words, that God hath set apart a Sabbath (which is our Christian Sabbath) and is called the Lord's Day, because the Lord risen from death to life on that Day, and that on this day (in that respect) we are to meditate on God's Love in redeeming the World; if we must do this once every week in an ordinary course, how much more may the Church and Spouse of Christ appoint, and set apart, one day in the year, after an extraordinary manner, to meditate, and muse, and think on his Love in redeeming her from the hands of all her Enemies; for so indeed the holy Priest Zacharias tells us, in his Song called Benedictus, That this was the main End of our Redemption, Luk. 1.74. that we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our Life: Whereupon I infer, That if we must serve him all the days of our life, as he may justly challenge and require it at our hands, in regard he hath redeemed us, How much more ought we to meditate on his Love, not only once a week, but also once in every year praise his most Holy Name after a more special and singular manner? For at this time especially and particularly, it may be said of Him, as the Psalmist doth Psal. 111.9. He sent Redemption unto his People; He hath commanded his Covenant for ever, holy and reverend is His Name. But, in your second Reason, you say That you never heard a good Argument for it: Well, be it so as you say, yet I dare say, that you say it, not so much out of your Ignorance, as through a misconstruction and sinister Interpretation of that which you have both heard and read concerning this thing: Wherefore for answering you, first, Hoc tibi innotescere velimus, we do you to wit, or would have you to know and understand, That albeit the gray-headed Antiquity and Authority of our dear Mother, the Church of England, and the uniform Discipline with Us established, for some Centuries of years, making and constituting it an ancient and laudable Order, and generally approved Custom, may be a sufficient Plea, Argument and Warrant to persuade you, or any other rational man to consent and conform unto it; for what saith grave St. Austin, He that will have God to be his Father, must acknowledge the Church of God for his Mother: and then, let every Member of this Church remember that good and wholesome advice of Solomon's, Prov. 11.8. My Son, hear thy Father's Instruction, and forsake not thy Mother's teaching: For St. Austin tells us in his Epist. 118. Extremae est dementiae seu insolentis insaniae, ea negligere 〈◊〉 repudiare quae tota observat ecclesia. It is extreme folly, and insolent madness to neglect and refuse, to observe those things which the whole Church (whereof we are born Members) doth observe; yet for your better satisfaction herein, I have a desire and purpose to bring in a few Arguments, which perhaps may be thought by some to be as good, and strong, and forcible for the keeping of this Day, as any you have high her to urged, or may hereafter devise and produce, against it. The first that I shall propound and present to your acquaint and curious and supercilious censure, or to your Austeres and Rigid consideration, shall be the Legality and lawfulness of Ordering and Ordaining, and setting apart of some days of public Thanksgiving, and holy rejoicing to the Lord for great Benefits, and public Blessings received; which, if this day of Christ his Incarnation and Manifestation in the flesh, might be but set up and celebrated amongst the rest as it deserveth, I am persuaded it would contend and strive so for the Superiority and Pre-eminence above the rest, that it would even devour and swallow the rest up, as Aaron's Serpent did the Serpents of those Egyptian Magicians and Praestigiators; or excel them, and cast them down, as the Ark did Dagon; or as the Image of Christ when it was placed by the Senators at Rome in the Capitol, threw down the Image of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and others of their feigned heathenish gods, as Ensebius and Nicephorus report it for truth; and the Men of this Generation would soon condescend and yield to this motion, and not deny nor gainsay this reasonable proposition, if they were not too much like those blind and blinded Pharisees among the Jews, who were for the most part, culicem excolantes, & Camelum deglutientes, apt and inclined to strain at a Gnat, and swallow a Camel, Math. 23, 24. For if it be lawful to give God thanks for Corporal and Temporal Deliverances, How much more for our Spiritual and Eternal Deliverance by Christ, from the thraldom of sin and Satan; Again, If it shall be thought lawful and allowable to praise God for the spilling of blood, 2 Kings 6. and destroying of men's lives, (which yet neither the Prophet Elisha, 2 Chron. 2.8. nor the Prophet Oded would allow of;) how much more than shall it be lawful and commendable to praise the Lord for the sparing and preserving of men's lives, and for the saving of their Souls, and freeing or delivering both their Bodies and Souls from the everlasting pains and torments of Death and Hell; For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost, and God sent not his Son into the World, to condemn the World, but that the World through Him might be saved, Joh. 3.17. The second Argument which I shall here set down for the solemnity of this Day, I will make bold to borrow from the words of St. Austin, which, I do not only conjecture, but presume, were Preached and Delivered by him on the very Day; we find them recorded in his Serm. 2. & 4. de tempore; Behold (saith he), all of us are bidden on this Day to a Marriage, for Christ came out of the Virgin's Womb, as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber; the Godhead was joined unto the Flesh, and the Flesh unto the Godhead, and these two were coupled together; and, after an ineffable manner, in an ineffable Marriage made one. The marriage-Chamber was the Virgin's Womb, (which he abhorred not) out of which that Sun of Righteousness, Christ Jesus came in the day of his Birth, as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber, Psal. 19.5. and as a strong man joyful to run his race. For the Son of God, knowing that according to the eternal decree enacted in the Court of Heaven, our Salvation could not be perfected before he was Incarnate; Gal. 4.4. in the fullness of time, came down (sealing our Redemption) with rejoicing of Spirit, and gladness of heart, exsuiting, trium phing, and preparing himself to the desired work of his mediatorship. Long had the Church waited and prayed for this coming of Christ in the flesh: Isa. 64.1. O would God thou wouldst burst the Heavens, and come down: Cant. 8.1. O that then wert as my Brother, which sucked the breast of my Mother, partaking the same humane nature with me. I would find thee without, here below on Earth, I would kiss thee, and familiarly entreat thee without the reproach of the World. Then I would lead thee, and bring thee into my Mother's house, though now I am penned up in the straits of Judea, I would bring thee into the Light and Knowledge of the Universal Church, whose Daughter I am; and herefore he was worthily called desideratus omnium gentium, Hag. 2.7. the desired of all Nations: but when he came, he came merrily; with nimbleness of Spirit, zeal of Piety, fervency of Love, as the Church espying him, joyfully relates it; It is the voice of my wellbeloved, Cant. 2.8. Behold, he cometh leaping by the Mountains, skipping by the Hills: My wellbeloved is like a Roe or Hart. He came flying on the wings of the Wind, he out-leapt Gabriel the Archangel, and came to the Virgin before him, by the Testimony of the Angel himself: Luk. 1.27. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Behold, Gabriel left Christ in Heaven, but finds him in the Womb: How so? Volavit & praevolavit super pennas vontorum, he flew, and out-flew him on the wings of the wind; he sent his Messenger, but (like Ahinoaz) got before him. Will you see his Jumps? He leapt from Heaven into the Womb, from the Womb to the Manger, from the Manger to the Cross, from the Cross to the Grave, from the Grave to Heaven again: from whence we look for, and expect his second coming. David sang of this his alacrity; Psal. 20. The King is glad of thy strength (O Lord) and exceeding joyful of thy Salvation, Quia verbum caro factum est, & habitavit in nobis; because (saith Augustine on those words), The Word was made flesh, and dwelled in us, the Day of Christ's Nativity was his Day of Festivity, his Birth Day was his Mirth Day, for then his Mother Crowned him with the Crown of his Incarnation; which was the Day of his Espousals, or the Day of the joy and gladness of his heart, as it is so called, Cant. 3.10. This is a great Mystery (saith Paul), but I speak concerning Christ and the Church; &, sine dubio, magnum est pietatis mysterium; And without controversy great is the Mystery of godliness; How God was manifested in the Flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the World, 1 Tim. 3.16. and received up in Glory; and He being thus ascended and received up into Glory; for the Heaven must receive Him (in regard of his bodily presence) until the times of restitution of all things, saith Peter, Act. 3.21. And thus, leaving his Spouse the Church as a Widow, as He hath enjoined and Commanded her in the Gospel to think upon his Love, and oftentimes to remember him and his Death, especially as often as she receiveth the blessed Sacraments of his Body and Blood: So she for her part thinks it meet not only to Commemorate his Death, but sometimes, also especially once a year to Congratulate and Solace herself in remembrance of his Birth; That happy and joyful Marriage day which was once Solemnised betwixt her and that great King of Glory's Son, who now sitteth at the right hand of his Father in Heaven: even as I have also observed it to be the fashion and condition of many good and honest Couples whilst they live on Earth together, to keep a solemn remembrance every year of their Wedding day, even until their Dying day: So should every good Christian and faithful Soul keep a due and perpetual remembrance of her Loving Lord, and gracious Head and Husband, Christ Jesus. As it is reported of that famous Artemisia, That to show her love to her dead Husband Mausolus, she took the ashes of his Urn or Pitcher, and mingled them with her Drink, and so entombed his dead Carcase within her living Body: And it is said of blessed Ignatius after his Martyrdom, that these words were found written upon his heart (so it were to be wished that they were also engraven and imprinted in Ours) Amor mens crucifixus, my Love Christ Jesus was crucified for me. But perhaps here you, will object, and say, that this is Symbolica Theologiae, and that it is not Argumentativa, (i. e.) that it is an Argument Rhetorical rather than Dialectical. What say you then to Theologia miraculis confirmata: which▪ in the third place I shall allege; namely, the strange accidents, and wonderful effects that happened at the Birth of Christ, or rather those rare and singular miracles that were acted and done near about the time of his Nativity: For a little before, this was it that made a young Babe while he was yet in the Womb of his Mother to Spring and Sprout, and leap therein for joy; yea, Luk. 1.44. this was it that made an old man that was dumb before, to speak, and to praise the Lord with a song; and say, Luke 1.6, 8. Blessed be the Lord, etc. And this was it that moved another old man, after he had seen the Lord Christ to hold him in his arms, and desire life no longer. He was so much ravished and overjoyed with the sight of his Saviour, that he presently chanted out Cantionem Cygneam, that swanne-like song, Lord, now it is enough, and I am abundantly satisfied because thou hast fulfilled my desire, in performing thy promise to me, that I should not see Death before I had seen thy Son. To these we may add the apparition of that glorious Star which shown itself unto the Wise men of the East, about the time of his Nativity: which was not an ordinary Star, but extraordinary and miraculously created at this time, for this very end and purpose, not only to signify, but to dignify and set forth the Birth of Christ, Math. 2. for said they, We have seen his Star in the East, that is, the Star which he hath newly made, to testify unto the World, that he is born. It differed from other Stars in Place and Motion, in Lustre and Brightness. Haec stella quae solis rotam vincit decore ac lumine, saith Prudentius of this Star; it hath another way then the way of the Stars from the East to the South, from Persia to Palestina, it appeared not when other Stars appeared; It shined in the day, Other in the Night; it did appear & was hid, it was hid and did appear. It shown itself before they entered Jerusalem, and hid itself while they were there: but so soon as they left Herod and the City, it did show itself; and went right forwards in a strait course towards Bethlehem, no otherwise then the Cloud and Pillar of fire went before the People of Israel at their departure, and going out of Egypt into Canaan: It kept not the ordinary course of the Stars, nor any proper way, for it went that way which the wise men would go, and when they would stand still, then that stood still; yea, it did not keep aloft like other Stars, but it descended to show the Messiah: the Messah so poor, so base and contemptible. Whereupon it is that St. Austin calleth it, magnifica lingua caeli, the stately congue of heaven, appointed by God, as it were, to reveal and preach unto the wise men that Christ was that Star of Jacob, prophesied of by Balaam, Numb. 24.17. that he was Stella illa splendida & matutina, that bright Morning Starr, Revel. 22.16. and that he was Oriens ab alto, that dayspring from high, that came to visit us, and to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of Peace, as that holy Priest Zacharias telleth us comfortably in his song, Luke 1.75. Wherefore, as the Roman Orator speaks, so will I here say, Nihil horum era vultusque movernunt? and as the Roman Poet elegantly, Quid satis est, si Roma parum: so will I be bold here to speak it, Quid satis erit illi, cui non sufficient ista? If these things will not serve to convince you, I know not what will? Mark. 16. ●6. For, if neither the Word, nor Miracles, nor the Word confirmed by Miracles, will prevail and work upon us to make us believe; then I say, as it is in the 16 of Luke at the last verse, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one risen from the dead: Yet, willingly would I add here one strange thing more or two, (which are no more strange than true) as a Corollary and Appendix to the former; which though they were not Synchronisms, or things Contemporaneous with the Birth of Christ, yet the People of our Nation, and our own Countrymen can witness them to be true, as I relate them; The first is the Thorn at Glastenbury in Sommersetshire, which was commonly called Joseph's Thorn: which for many hundred years together, even (as it is to be thought) since the first arriving of Joseph of Arimathea there, which was within five years after the Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, (as that ancient Historian of our Nation, the Golden-mouthed Gildas reporteth) this Thorn constantly budded and showed forth its green leaves, fair, fresh and flourishing on this Day every year, to the great admiration of all Spectators that came of purpose to behold it; and this was no other than a Miracle, and may serve for our confirmation in the faith of Him, who, for our sakes was contented to wear (Coronam Spineam) a Crown of Thorns: Or it may well be supposed, that it flourished on this Day, to testify the truth of his Nativity, and to signify the flourishing Estate of the Gospel by Him, which shall prosper and flourish, manger the head and hatred of all Gain-sayers. And although this Thorn be now, as they say, cut down by some spiteful and malignant Zoilus; yet, those sufficient men of our parts, who, with their eyes have seen it, and beheld it, will still talk of it, and tell it to their Children, not for an old Wife's Fable, but for truth; and one Gentleman among the rest of good rank and quality in these Parts (who is a man well affected and devoted to the power and purity of Religion) for that Thorn's sake, having seen it, doth strictly, and carefully, and conscionably keep this Day, and is resolved to observe and keep it so long as he liveth. The other rare and strange thing, are the three pits of Durham, commonly called Hell kettles, which are adjoining near unto Darlington, whose Waters are somewhat warm; these are thought to come of an Earthquake, which happened in the year of Grace, 1179. whereof the Chronicle of Tinmouth maketh mention, whose record is this; That on Christmasday at Oxenhall, in the Territories of Darlington, within the County of Durham, the ground heaved aloft, like unto a high Tower, and so continued all that day, as it were unmoveable, until the evening, and then fell with so horrible a noise, that it made the Neighbourhood-dwellers much afraid, and the Earth swallowed it up, and made in the same place three deep pits, which are there to be seen for a Testimony unto this Day. Here than we may apply that of the Psalmist, and say, Tremble thou Earth at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, which turned the hard Rock into a standing Water, and the flint stone into a springing Well, Psal. 114.7, 8. But whilst I am reling you a story of a Thorne-Tree, and of deep pits of Water, you bring me into another difficult and thorny question, and plunge me, as it were, in a deep pit of non plus, or nil ultra; and into such a quick and and quagmire of troublesome meditation, that I shall hardly get out of it; the Quaery is this ninth following. Answer to the ninth Argument. The ninth Argument is this; It is an impossibility to keep it, and God never made an impossibility a Duty: and, that no man in the World knoweth certainly what day Christ was born on. To this I answer, although I first ingenuously confess, according to that Adage, Davus sum ego, non Oedipus: for it is true which chrysostom saith, Praestat probâ ignoratione detineri quàm falsa opinione mancipari. It is easier to blow in the plain, then in the ground new-stocked; better to write on a paper free from writing, than on that which is full of lines; and more easy to reach the simple, then him that is opinionated of his own knowledge: Better it is for a man, and more commendable to confess a little ignorance, then to boast of too much knowledge; wherefore, as Beza on that place in 1 Cor. 11.10. For this Cause ought the Woman to have power on her head, because of the Angels gives no other note but this, Quid hoc sit, nondum mihi liquet, wherein he confesseth, he did not understand, as yet, what the Apostle meant by these words: So if we should here yield and acknowledge that we do not certainly know what day Christ was born on: Vaux. yet, As a late Starrgazing Speculator takes upon him in his Almanac, to define the year of Christ his coming to Judgement, but dare not precisely set down the day and hour of his coming; So perhaps we shall here endeavour, pro Nosse & Posse, to calculate and discover unto you the year when our Saviour Christ was born, if not the day. And for this I shall refer you to the Rhemists Marginal note on the second of Luke, which reports unto us that in the year from the Creation of the World 3199, from Noah's flood 2957, from the Nativity of Abraham 2015, from Moses and the coming forth of the People of Israel out of Egypt 1510, from David anointed King 1032, from the first Olympias 800, from the building of Rome 752, Hebdomada 63, according to the prophecy of Daniel (c. 9) that is in the year 440, or thereabout; in the sixth age of the World, when there was universal Peace in all the World: the eternal God, and son of the eternal Father, meaning to Consecrate and Sanctify the World with his most blessed coming, being conceived of the Holy Ghost nine Months after his Conception; Jesus Christ the Son of God is born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the year of Caesar Augustus 42 (Usuard in the Martyrol) * And then why should not the 25 of Decem. be as solemnly observed, and kept, as the 5 of Nou. December 25 according to the common ancient supputation. But it may be, you will object against this, & because it comes from the Rhemists, you will mislike it, and disdain it; yet nevertheless (I say) because it is not thwarted nor contradicted by Calvin, nor Beza, nor Fulke, nor any other of our late Protestant Writers; I see no just Cause or Reason why we should reject it, but rather receive it, Fide historicâ, and believe it for truth, as it is faithfully and exactly related by them for a sufficient Author, and ancient Chronologer, or Reporter of that which was nothing else but a true story, and cannot be denied or disproved; yet, put the Case here that we neither do, nor cannot certainly know the Day whereon Christ was born, therefore shall it be thought a thing impossible to keep it? Then by the same Rule and Reason, you may as well say, It is impossible to keep the Sabbath day: H. Wolphii Chronol. lib. 2 p. 1. p. 92. For the Commandment doth not say, remember to keep holy the seventh day, next following the sixth day of the Creation; or this or that seventh day; but indefinitely, remember that thou keep holy a seventh day. And to speak properly, as we take a day for the distinction of time, called either a day natural consisting of twenty four hours; or a day artificial consisting of twelve hours, from Sunrising to Sunsetting: and withal consider the Sun standing still at noon in Joshua's time the space of a whole day, Josh. 10.12, 13. and the same going back ten degrees (viz. five hours, 2 K●ng. 26.11. almost half an arificial Day) in Ezekias' time; the Jews themselves could not keep this Sabbath upon that precise and just distinction of time, called at the first, The seventh day from the Creation; therefore in such difficult and doubtful Cases, the best way is to be ordered and guided, and resolved by the Judgement and Discipline and Direction of the Church wherein we live: for she is our Mother, saith Calvin, Lib. Instit. 4. C. 1. Sect. 4. forasmuch as there is no other entry into life, unless she conceive us in her Womb, unless she bring us forth, unless she feed us with her Breasts, and keep us under her Custody and Governance, until such time as being unclothed of mortal flesh, we shall be like unto Angels. Again in his Lib. 4. Cap. 10. Sect. 30. He saith of the Church and Church-Ordinances, that in outward discipline and Ceremonies, the will of God was not to prescribe each thing particularly what we ought to follow, because he foresaw this to hang upon the State of times, and did not think one form to be fit for all Ages) herein we must fly to those general Rules which he hath given, that thereby all those things should be tried, which the necessity of the Church shall require to be commanded for order and comeliness. And forasmuch as he hath therefore taught nothing expressly, because these things both are not necessary to Salvarion, and according to the manners of every Nation and Age, ought diversely to be applied to the edifying of the Church; therefore as the profit of the Church shall require, though it might be thought convenient as well to change and abrogate those that be used, as to institute new: yet, I grant it indeed, and must needs confess it, That we ought not rashly, nor oft, nor for leight and trivial Causes to run to Innovation, but what may hurt or edify, Charity shall best be judge: which if we will suffer to be the Governess, all shall be safe. And in the next Section at the latter end thereof; It is always meet, saith he, for the public worship and service of God, that there be both certain days and appointed hours, and a place fit to receive all, if there be regard had of the preservation of peace. For how great an occasion of scandal, brawling, and contention should the confusion of these things be, if it were lawful for every man as he listeth to change those things which belong to common State; forasmuch as it will never come to pass that one and the same thing shall please all Men, (it being an old and true saying, difficillimum est omnibus placere) if things be left (as it were) at random, and in the midst to the choice of every Man to do what he pleaseth, to have a Psalm, and a Doctrine, and a Revelation, and an Interpretation by himself, as the Apostle speaketh with a kind of Indignation and Increpation of them that used it, 1 Cor. 14.26. If any man therefore do Carp and Cavil against us, and herein will be more wise than he ought, let him see himself by what reason he can defend his own preciseness to the Lord. As for us, That saying of Paul ought to satisfy us; If any man seem to be Schismatical and contentious, we have no such use, we have no such Custom nor the Churches of God, 1 Cor. 11.16. Where we may perceive that that good Man and faithful Pastor of Geneva, though he liked not the Mass, yet he preached Christ sincerely, and maintained and defended his Church, and laboured by all means to preserve, Tunicam ejus inconsutilem, his seamlesse Coat to be without brack or breach, Sector Schism, Rent or Division at all; but still to continue pure and undefiled without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. I will then conclude and shut up this passage with the witty Sentences of St. Austin, Contrarationem nemo sobrius, contra Scripturas nemo Christianus, contra ecclesiam nemo pacificus senserii. And if we will be the Children of the Church, as we profess ourselves to be, then let us hearken what the wise man saith: Ecclus. 3.1. The Children of wisdom are the Church of the Righteous, and their exercise is Obedience and Love. Answer to the tenth Argument. The words are these, I observe, God hides things on purpose from us, to see whether we will do any things on our own heads. I answer, This Argument is derived de profundis, and drawn or fetched ab absconditis & secretis. 'Tis true, and we cannot much deny it; For He hideth, or concealeth from us, his Decree of Election, and final Dereliction or Reprobation, Rom. 9.13 because he will have Mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth; And this he doth, because he would not have us like curious Bethshemites to pry into the Ark of his Secrets, but rather to work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling, Phil. 2.12. as the Apostle St. Paul speaks; and as the other Apostle teacheth and exhorteth us, 2 Pet. 1.10. to give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure. And now is this to be understood? why, surely thus, if I be not deceived; sure to God. I need not, I cannot, 2 Tim. 2.19. the Foundation of God stands sure enough of itself, and the Gifts and Calling of God are without Repentance, Rom. 11.29. (i. e.) Sine mutatione stabiliter fixa sunt, saith St. Austin, they are irrevocable, immutable, and unchangeable; but, Sure to my own Soul, I may, I must, by all means labour and endeavour to make and effect it, or else this Precept is in vain, of giving all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure. Secondly, He hideth the hour of every particular man's death, and the day of the general Judgement, from us, and reserveth them in the private Cabinet of his own Foreknowledgeship; Act. 1.17. For it is not for us to know the times and the Seasons which the Father hath reserved in his own Power: And this he doth for this very end, as an ancient Father of the Primitive Church hath told us truly and especially, Ideò latet ultimus dies, ut observetur omnis dies, It is to make us careful and watchful, every day and hour, of that last day and hour, Omnem crede diem, etc. And doth not our Saviour himself tell us as much, and forwarn us, both in the 24. and 25. Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, Watch therefore, for ye neither know the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh; But whereas you say that God hides things on purpose from us, to see whether we will do any thing on our own heads, I perceive your meaning is, that God hath so hidden and concealed the day of Christ's Birth from us, to try whether we will celebrate and observe it, or no, as both you and others of your Fraternity have made the Comparison, and vented and vaunted it in the Pulpit, touching the body of Moses, how God should bury it Himself in some secret place, and keep it from the Knowledge of the Children of Israel, lest they should worship and adore it: So you would have the Remembrance of this day to be buried for ever, and quite obliterated and forgotten, lest we should commit Idolatry to it. Now, touching the body of Moses, we know it was buried by God, as appeareth, Deut. 34.6. that no man should know where his Sepulchre was: Therefore, as learned Fulk answereth the Rhemists on the Epistle of Judas, at the 9th. verse; It is like, the Altercation and Combat that is there mentioned to be betwixt Michael the Archangel and the Devil about it, was immediately before that time, when the Devil desired to have the Body of Moses discovered, that it might be abused to Idolatry; as it always hath been the practice of Satan to persecute the Saints while they live, and to make Idols of their Bodies when they are dead. That ancient Father which wrote the Book De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae, which goeth under the name of St. Augastine lib. 1. cap. 35. writeth thus of the body of Moses; For two Causes, as wise men say, No man was privy of his death, nor of his Sepulchre; First, That no man should see that face, which had shined through the familiarity of the Lord's Speech unto him, stricken down or dimmed with the heaviness of Death. And then Secondly, lest the People of Israel, if they had known where his Sepulchre was, should have adored it. Wherefore, as most men think, he carried away with him the Rod wherewith he had done Wonders, lest it should have been adored; seeing the Children of Israel did afterwards adore the Serpent which he made. But there cannot be the same reason for the burying of Christ's Birthday, as was for the burying of the Body of Moses; It is but a lame Similitude, neither can the Comparison be aequivaleut, or any way co-incident or correspondent; for Moses was but a Servant, Christ a Son; and the Servant abideth not in the House for ever, but the Son abideth ever, Joh. 8.35. Moses was a Type and Shadow, Christ the Body and Substance; the Shadow vanisheth, but the Body and Substance remaineth. Besides this, the one was but a Man, the other God, even God and Man; and shall that be counted Idolatry and Superstition, which is a holy Worship, and devout Service performed to the true God? So that Moses must yield, subscribe, and give way to Christ; when he is present, the Law must departed out of the Conscience, Isa. 28.20. and leave the Bed which is so straight, that it cannot hold two, to Christ alone: For the Law came by Moses, but Christ hath put an end to the Law, and so Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ, Joh. 1.16. (i. e.) Joy, and Liberty, and Freedom, and Justification, and Redemption; for if the Son once shall make us free, we shall be free indeed. For there is a great Antithesis, even a great deal of distance and difference, betwixt Moses and Christ, the Law and the Gospel; the one being the ministration of Death & Condemnation, and the other the ministration of Righteousness and Life eternal, 2 Cor. 3. And therefore I say, to conclude this Point, that this day is not so hidden and obscured from us, but that the very dawning and breaking thereof is discovered and descried: For, did not the heavenly Herald proclaim it in the fields of Bethlehem? and did not the Shepherds find it to be true, that very day, according as the Angel had told them? and shall we think that there were no Registers nor Records of it in that City wherein he was born? and did not that Star in the East, signifying this Daystar from on high coming to visit us; did it not directly point the Wisemen to the place of his Birth? Yea, And Christ himself told the Jews of this his day, Job, 8.56. saying, Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced: Hic Dies Domini uil aliud significat quàm Adventum Christi in carne, This day of Christ (saith Beza, on that place in John) signifieth nothing else but his first coming in the Flesh, which many Prophets and Kings desired to have seen as well as Abraham; for the Messiah is called The desire of all Nations, Hag. 2.8. of whom the Prophets enquired, searching when or what time the Spirit, which was in them, should declare the Sufferings which should come to Christ, and the Glory that should follow, 1 Pet. 1.11. When Balaam had prophesied of Christ, There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, Numb. 24.17. he broke forth into this Passion; Alas! Who shall live when God doth this? As if he should have said, Happy men are they, who shall see that glorious Star, and Sun of Righteousness, coming out of his Chamber as a Bridegroom; giving light to such as sit in darkness, and in the Shadow of Death: Oh that thou wouldst break the Heavens and come down, said the Prophet, Isa. 64.1. Good old Simeon looked long for this day, and with an earnest desire waited for the consolation of Israel: So did also Joseph of Arimathaea, that honourable Counsellor & great Friend and Wellwisher to Christ; for he also himself was one of them who waited for the Kingdom of God, Luk. 23.51. So did that ancient and reverend Father St. Augustine, of whom it is reported that he wished he might have seen three things especially, Rome in her Glory, Paul in the Pulpit, and Christ in the Flesh. If the Queen of Sheba reputed the Servants of Solomon happy, for that, attending about his Throne, 1 King. 10.8. 1 King. 4.33. they heard his Wisdom difcoursing of Prees, from the Cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the Hyssop that springeth out of the Wall: How blessed and happy then may we think were the Disciples of Christ, in hearing a greater than Solomon, Math. 12.4. and in seeing him who was fairer than the Sons of Men, Psal. 45.3. and in whom also are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge, Colos. 2.3. Answer to the eleventh Argument. In the Eleventh Objection you say, It hath not been the Practice of Christian Churches to observe the Birthday of Christ. To this I say, you deserve a sharp rejection, and a serious and severe reprehension. For it is a mere falsehood, and a gross and manifest untruth; and I wonder that a man of your account, Countenance and gravity, should suffer such an unjustifiable thing, to fall either from your tongue or pen; for I say, contrarium hujus argumenti est verum, &, credat Judaus Apella, non ego, believe it who will, for I cannot otherwise be persuaded, but you speak herein that which is contrary to truth: for, besides that it is well known among the Learned, especially by those who are conversant in the large Volumes, and accurate writings of the Ancient Fathers; It hath been the annual and constant Practice of the Primitive Church to observe it; especially in the time, August. 118. Epist. cap. 7. and since the time of Constantine the Great, who gave peace to the Church and commanded this Festival time among divers others to be observed. Witness August. con. Aimant. c. 16.118. Epist. and in divers of his Sermons de Tempore, especially in his second and fourth Sermon de Tempore. Witness Fulgentius de dup. Nat. Christi, witness Ambrose de Incarnate. Domini, witness Bernard in his first Sermon in Nat. Domini. for that ingenuous and Religion's man, that witty and Godly Father of the Primitive Church, preaching on this day, in that his first Sermon, and towards the latter end of it, uttered these words, and said, Brevitas temporis cogit me contrahere & coarctare Sermonem meum; the shortness of the time constraineth me to shorten my Sermon, at this time; & ne cui vestrûm sit mirum, si brevis esse laboro, Let none (quoth he) wonder if my words be short, seeing on this day, God the Father hath abbreviated his own Word: For whereas it was so long and so large, that it filled Heaven and Earth (Jer. 23.24.) it was on this day so short, that it was laid in a Manger: I wish here unfeignedly, with the same devour Bernard in his Sermon in Natalem Domini, that as the Word was made flesh, so our stony Hearts may be made flesh also; that we might always meditate on his Sacred Message, and his. Heavenly Gospel: Unto you this day is born, in the City of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord: For all our sound comfort stands in happiness, and all our happiness is in the Fellowship and Communion with God, and all our Fellowship and Communion with God, is by Jesus. Christ, for so that good Divine St. John, tells us in his 1 Epist. cap. 2.3. Wherefore also, St. Austin useth a most excellent acclamation, to this purpose, in his ninth Sermon de Tempore, which as it is probable, he also preached on this day, o beatum vagitum Infantuli beati, oh the blessed crying of a blessed babe, by which every faithful servant and Son of God, escapeth eternal howl in Hell; o splendidum & Gloriosum praesepe! Oh famous and glorious Manger, in which our Souls Manna lay! 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the bread of life that came down from Heaven, on which if a man once, etc. o quàm dites: sunt panni tui! Oh how Rich and Honourable are the rags which have made plasters for our sores, even for our sins! I will shut up this passage with a Hymn of Prudentius. Mortal corpus sumpsit immortalitas. dum caducum poytat aeternus deus. Transire nostrum possit ad coelestia. And what say you now to these things before said? Can they not yet persuade you to yield, that it was the practice of Christian Churches in Ancient times to observe it? Yet put the case, or suppose it was not; you cannot, yea, I hope you will not deny, but it hath been the practice of these our Churches of Great Britain, I mean the Churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland, for divers Centuries, or hundreds of years to observe it; for they are both Christian, and reformed Churches, and therefore, unless you mean by Christian Churches, the old Brownists of Amsterdam, or the new Anabaptists, and Antipaedobaptists of England, and other the like proud and fantastical, and Pharisaical Sectaries, and Separatists that are amongst us, in these Giddy and unsettled times of ours, who think there is no true Christian Church, but what is of their choosing, planting, and erecting; who, like the Jews of old, cry Templum Domini, or like the Papists, who will have no Church to be a true Church, but their Church at Rome; who stand upon their Pontificatibus, and are all for the justification of their own Opinion, saying as those Justiciaries of old did, Esay 65.5. Stand by thyself, or stand far off me, come not near me, for I am Holier than thou, etc. And here I could tell you a thing (which perhaps also you are not ignorant of) that the late upstart Seraphical illuminated Independents, (as it is commonly thought) are likely to jostle and thrust the proud, rigid, Fantastical, and Pharisaical Presbyterians out of their places, even as they have cunningly supplanted, and undermined the Reverend Bishops, and their conformable Clergy out of theirs, neque enim lex justior ulla est, Quam necis artifices, etc. Indeed I never heard nor read of any Christian Churches, but have observed this day; and therefore howsoever such factious and Schismatical Wild-brained Zelots of our time, refuse to do it, and both write and speak against it, yet we know that all the Ancient Fathers of the Primitive Church, did celebrate it with great Solemnities, as Mr, Fisher in his Vindication of our Gospel's Festivals, hath wittily observed in his fifth Section, even Cyprian, Basil, Nazianzene, Ambrose, Epiphanius, Jerome, chrysostom, Fulgentius, alleging and producing their very words, which they preached on this day, and proving it withal, punctually plainly, and directly, that it was the 25th day of December that Christ was born on: And further, to confute your palpable Error, he tells us there, That the Churches of Helvetia, Bohemia, lay Sunday a Sab. pag. 173. Dr. Rain. Confer. with Hart. c. 8. S. 2. Bremen, Auspurg, the Churches of Savoy, Poland, Hungary, Scotland, France, and the Low-Countries, do allow the Feasts that belong to Christ, his Nativity, Circumcision, Passion, etc. The Churches of Denmark, Sweden, and all other Lutheran-Churches, do solemnly observe the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, and on that day use proper Hymns of Thanksgiving, made by Martin Luther himself; Perth. Assembly refuted. pag. 85. the Church of Geneva doth celebrate the day of his Nativity: wherefore (as he saith here for a Conclusion) seeing we are compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses, we must, according to the truth, affirm, That the Celebration of this Feast, is confirmed by the judgement of the Christian Church in all ages. So we conclude against you, that your eleventh Assertion is a mere falsehood, and manifest untruth, and no more to be credited or believed, than that vain fancy, and fond surmise of yours, I mean the Fable and story you tell us of in your Saints Rest, touching the raining down of Manna, on the Leads of the Church at Bridgnorth when you preached there: For some Gentlemen of worth in those parts, have credibly reported it to be nothing else then the seeds of Hips and Haws, being the excrements of Rooks and Jackdaws, which they there had voided. Answer to the Twelfth Argument. The twelfth Argument is this, In all doubtful Cases, a Wise man ought to go on the surest side, and I am sure it is no Sin not to keep it, etc. I Answer, in this Allegation you seem to play the part of a Wise man; but in my Opinion you are only wise in your own conceit; for my part, this I am sure of; First, in respect that Christmas day being the day of our Lord's Nativity, is the Lords day, Cant. 4.9. and by his spouse the Church is set a part to God's public worship, and our Souls edification, therefore it ought clearly to be esteemed above any other of the common Week days. And for people on this day, wilfully and contemptuously, to follow their ordinary (though at other times lawful) vocations, or Callings, is in the first place, a breach of the fourth Commandment, for the day of Christ's Nativity, is a Sabbath or Rest to the Lord, and God will have us to keep holy the Sabbath or Rest-day. Next, it is a despising, Perk. cases of Consc. l. 1. c. 5. Sect. 5. and dishonouring of their Mother the Church, which, whosoever are guilty of, not only sin against the fifth Commandment, but by our Saviour himself, we are Enjoined to account all such as Revolters from the Christian faith, Heathen men, and Publicans, Matth. 18.17. Lastly, it is a ground and inlet to the violation of all order and decency in God's Service, which is expressly condemned in Holy Scripture: and if to break God's Commandments, 1 Cor. 14.40. to contemn his Church's Authority, to become Heathens and Publicans, and to overthrow all order and decency in God's Services, be sins and Offences to God; Then must we conclude, that not to keep this day, must needs be a sin; and that to work, or follow our vocations on Christmas day, is a great and high offence, or indignity offered unto God, and his Church. And how then are you sure it is no sin not to keep it, but that your erroneous Conscience tells you so, and yet is it so nice and tender? on the other side you are not sure, it is no sin to keep it; this is the other part of your Dilemma, (for this is called in the Schools Syllogismus cornutus, or Syllogismus Crocodilinus) Well, sat verbum Sapienti; If a word to the Wise may serve the turn, then will I answer you in a word: for although you are persuaded, and sure in your strong Conscience, that it is no sin not to keep it; yet we, on the other side, in our weak Consciences, are persuaded, that it is a sin if we keep it not: And therefore if you remember, the Apostle's rule is, Let not the stronger Christian despise the weaker, Rom. 13.3, 4. especially in such a Case as this, Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him that eateth not, judge him that eateth, for God hath received him; Who art thou then that judgest another man's Servant? to his own Master he standeth or falleth, yea he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind; he that regardeth a day regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it: He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks: For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dyeth to himself, for the Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink, but Righteousness, and Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost; and he that in these things serveth Christ, is acceptable to God and approved of Men. Let us therefore follow after the the things which make for peace, and things wherewith we may edify another, for meat destroy not the work of God; all things indeed are pure, but it is evil for that man who eateth with Offence. It is good, neither to eat Flesh, nor to drink Wine, nor any thing, whereby thy Brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak; You see how wary the Apostle is, to advise us in and for things indifferent. not to be offended one with another, but to use all good Christian moderation and discretion, & not to abuse our Christian Liberty, to the Scandal and Offence of our weak Brethren. Answer to the thirteenth Argument. The thirteenth Argument is, That this day ought not to be celebrated because there is more Sin committed in these 12 days than is in all the year following, viz. in Drunkenness, etc. Oh Sir! This Argument and your last, are the least and the weakest of them all, & therefore I shall more easily answer them, & briefly conclude. To this 13th I say as I did before, The Abuse of a thing, that in itself is lawful and good, cannot justly abolish or take away the lawful Use of it; For the best things that ever God created have been abused through Man's Corruption; even the whole Creature is subject unto Vanity, that is, to Destruction, because of Man's sin, Rom. 8.20. The holy Temple of our God hath been profaned and defiled, and made a den of Thiefs, and a Cage of unclean Birds, and a very Stable for Barbarous Soldiers Horses to Lodge in, in these late uncivil Wars; the holy Sabbath of our Lord hath been polluted, his Word and Sacraments abused: Yea, because the Scriptures are in some places somewhat hard to be understood, therefore those that are unlearned and unstable, do wrist them and perven them to their own Destruction, 〈…〉 P●●. 3.16. And because of this, must the Scriptures be rejected, and not perused? Because the good Creatures of God are abuse 〈◊〉 some ungodly and wicked Miscreants, therefore must the Creatures be refused, seeing every Creature of God is good, and nothing aught to be refused, 1 Tim. 4.4. especially if it be received with thankfulness: for i● is land ●●ed unto us by the Word of God. 〈◊〉 prayer. The like may be said of 〈◊〉 Sanctuary of our God, of the Sab●●… 〈◊〉 the Sacraments; for unto the 〈…〉 things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving, is nothing pure, but even their minds and consciences are defiled, Titus 1.15. But you affirm, and that peremptorily, that there is more sin committed in these Twelve Days, than in all the year after, in Drunkenness and Gluttony: And how are you sure of this? for it is impossible that you should prove this to be true. Can God be more dishonoured in Twelve Days, than in twelve Months? Although a bare Denial might serve here for a sufficient answer: yet put the case that many men, being at this time apt and addicted, genio suo indulgere, to give way to their unbrideled lusts, and disordered affections, in the free use of God's Creatures, should be excessive in their Eating and Drinking, and so exorbitant and extravagant in other vain Recreations, and idle Gamings and Pastimes, that God may hereby be somewhat dishonoured, and this blessed time of his Son's Nativity abused, men a little forgetting the right and proper End wherefore at first it was instituted and ordained: Yet considering the many good, and gracious, and bountiful Deeds, that heretofore have been done at this time, the gallant Hospitality, the free and generous House-keeping, by our worthy, noble, and renowned Gentlemen, and our rich, honest, able, and sufficient Yeomen, by relieving the Poor, helping Widows and Fatherless Children, clothing the Naked, feeding the Hungry, visiting the Sick, and those that were in Prisons. Take but a Balance, or a pair of Scales, and lay these many good Alms-Deeds and Works of Piety and Charity in one Scale, and put the Evil Deeds that have been committed in the other Scale, and I dare say the good deeds shall outweigh the bad, Zac. 5.7. though they be as heavy as massa plumbi, a Talon of Lead. And this which I have here written, hath more probability and likelihood of truth in it, than that which you affirm, in saying there is more sin committed in these Twelve Days, than in all the year after. But you had spoken more properly and truly, if you had said, There are more good Deeds done by some good minded and charitably disposed Christians, in these Twelve Days, than in all the year after. Yours is a false assertion, and a gross absurd asseveration: and I verily think, that you vent it to scar and deter men from keeping any Christmas at all, because some ignorant, dissolute, and deboist Fellows do spend this time idly and vainly in excessive eating and drinking, rioting and revelling, etc. But our pious Ancestors, of famous memory, were so addicted and devoted to the Reverence, and religious Observation of this Time, that they spent it in a sober, civil, and careful manner, being thankful to God, and rejoicing in the Lord, for that ineffable and inaestimable Benefit and Blessing which he bestowed upon the World at this time; and therefore they were willing and contented, freely and cheerfully to part with their goods, and impart them to the poor, in plentiful manner: And this they did for his sake alone, who, being rich, for their sakes became poor, that so they, through his Poverty, might be made rich, as the Apostle elegantly expresseth it, and setteth forth the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, in a most sweet, and gracious, and glorious manner, 2 Cor. 8.9. But where is our Bounty, or our Beneficence? Where is our Charity, Liberality, and Hospitality, in these cold degenerate and Apostate times? That witty Saying may here be verified, How that one handful of old Friendship, is better than an an armful of new Courtesy; For all our Love and Charity, in these days, is turned into nothing else but mere verbal and external Compliment, so true is that of the Apostle, Tit. 1.16. Men in these days profess that they know God, but by their works they deny him, and therefore they are abominable and disobedient, and to every good work, reprobate. Answer to the fourteenth Argument. The fourteenth is this, God blesseth His own day, the Sabbath, but hath not blessed this with success. Int his your ultimum Refugium, you think you have paid it home, and bit the ver● Nail on the head: But, Good Sir, What could you say, If any man should ask you, Why God hath not blessed this day? For it hath been proved, that this day is equal and aequipollent with the Sabbath; and if he hath blessed the one, so questionless he hath blessed the other, and sanctified it, and set it apart, for a holy Convocation, and thankful Commemoration, of the Birth and Nativity of his only begotten Son; and that in the 118 Psalms, may fitly and properly be applied unto it, This is the day which the Lord hath made, (i. e.) which the Lord hath magnifyed, and advanced, and singled out, and selected, for a more peculiar end and purpose than other ordinary days of the year are; And this Interpretation of the Word, that place in the 1 Sam. 12.5, 6. doth well approve of, and allow it: This is then the day which the Lord hath made; yea, this is the day wherein the Lord Himself was made, saith Eusebius Emissenus. Therefore we will rejoice and be glad in it; Fear not (said the Angel Gabriel to those Shepherds of Bethlehem), for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy; so that here good Tidings do attend it, and great Joy doth accompany it, which shall be unto all People: for unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the lord And that the Lord hath blessed this day with success, the goodly fellowship of the Prophets, and their harmonious and unanimous consents, shall bear me witness. First, That Evangelical Prophet Isaiah prophecies of it, saying, Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; Datus ex Divinitate, natus ex Virgin, saith Eusebius Emissenus on the words, excellently; In that he is said to be born, it betokens his Manhood; in that he is said to be given, it signifies his Divine Nature: The Hypostatical. Union of both doth make one and the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or one Immanuel, (i. e.) God with us: The Government is upon his shoulder, his Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; the Increase of his Government and Peace shall have none End, he shall sit upon the Throne of David, and upon his. Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it, with Judgement and with Justice, from henceforth even for ever: The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this, (i.e.) his singular Love and Care for his Elect shall effect it. And doth not God bless this day then with snccesse? and doth not the Princely Prophet David also sing of this Alacrity, and chant it to the Tune of his Harp and Viol., and set forth the happy and prosperous success of this Day, and the flourishing Estate of the Church, by the Kingdom, and coming of Christ in the Flesh? The Lord said unto my Lord, Sat thou at my right hand until I make thine Enemies tpy Foot: stool, in Mat. 22.44. we find that Christ Himself giveth the Interpretation hereof, and showeth that this cannot be properly applied unto David, but to Himself; and this appeareth by the words that follow in that Psalm, Psal. 110.1, 2, 3. The Lord shall send the Rod of thy Power out of Zion. For out of Zion hath God appeared in perfect Beauty, Psal. 50.2. And from thence, this Rod and this Power of his shall streth forth itself throughout all the World; and this Power chief consisteth and standeth in the Preaching of his Word; and by this Rod, and by this Sceptre of thy Kingdom, which is a right Sceptre, be thou Ruler in the midst of thine Enemies; thy People shall come willingly at the time of assembling thine Army in holy beauty, (i.e.) by thy Word, thy People shall be assembled into thy Church; whose Increase shall be so abundant, so plentiful, and so wonderful as the drops of the Dew of the Morning; For it is said, The Youth of thy Womb shall be as the Morning Dew, or (as the ordinary Reading of the Psalm is), In the Day of thy Power shall they offer thee Free-will-Offerings with a Holy Worship; the Dew of thy Birth is of the Womb of the Morning. Which howsoever some Interpret it of the Birth of Christ, yet Junius and Tremelius do understand it to be innumera illa multitudo electorum quae comparebit in ecclesia tanquam stillans ros à coele, & sub auroram depluens, That innumerable multitude of the Elect, which shall be as visible and apparent, and as abundant in the Church, as the dew which distilleth from Heaven, and lieth on the face of the Earth in the morning; as we know the Elect elsewhere in the Scripture are compared to the Stars of Heaven, Gen. 22.17 and to the sand which is upon the Seashore for multitude; the Prophet Haggai hath also foretold of these things, speaking of the peace, and plenty, and glory of the Church of God, that should be by the Kingdom and coming of Christ: Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, saith he, Yet a little while, and I will shake the Heavens and the Earth, and the Sea, and the dry Land; and I will move all Nations, and the desire of all Nations shall come, and I will fill this House with Glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. The desire of all Nations shall come; (i. e.) Christ, for in Him are all things that can be desired, and all Nations ought to look for, and desire Him; and therefore in this sense He is called Rex gentium, the King of Nations, because all Nations ought not only to seek and desire Him, Jer. 10.7. but also to serve Him and obey Him: And doth not also the Prophet Zachariah say as much? For he prophesied much about the time as Haggai did, and was sent of the Lord to help him in the labour, and to confirm the same Doctrine, even when the time of the 70 years' Captivity, prophesied by Jeremiah, was expired; and he paralleleth or compareth that time of their deliverance from Captivity, to this happy time of our spiritual deliverance from the thraldom and Captivity of Sin and Satan; saying, Zach. 9.9. Kejoyce greatly O Daughter of Zion; shout for joy O Daughter of Jerusalem; Behold, Thy King cometh unto thee; He is just, and having Salvation; He is meek and lowly, Riding upon an Ass, and upon a Colt the foal of an Ass. And I will cut off the Chariot from Ephraim, and the Horse from Jerusalem, and the Battle-bow shall be cut off; and He shall speak peace unto the Heathen, and His Dominion shall be from Sea even to Sea, and from the River (i. e. from the River Euphrates) even to the Ends of the Earth. Here is success enough, if we observe it; for His Dominion shall be from Sea to Sea, that is, from the Red Sea, to the Sea called Syriacum: and by these places, which the Jews knew well enough, he meant an infinite space and compass over the whole World. As for Thee also, (i. e. as for Thee Oh Daughter of Zion and Daughter Jerusalem) by the blood of my Covenant, (i. e.) the blood of Christ, Thou shalt be saved; and by this blood I have loosed, or I have sent forth the Prisoners out of the pit, (i. e.) not the pit of purgatory, or Limbus patrum, as the Papists would have it understood; but out of the bottomless pit of Hell, wherein there is no water; (i. e.) no Comfort, no Cooling, no refreshing at all, for they that are there, are always scorched and tormented in these infernal, eternal, and unquenchable flames without any hope of ease or end at all, as it may appear by the confession of Dives; Turn ye then to the strong hold, ye Prisoners of hope, even to Day do I declare that I will render double unto Thee; that is, double Benefit, and prosperity in respect of that which your Fathers enjoyed, from David's time to the Captivity, as some Interp●e● the place; or, as others think, by double in that place, may well be understood a double deliverance; not only a Temporal and Corporal, but a Spiritual and Eternal deliverance; no only a deliverance from 400 years' bondage in Egypt, Act. 7.6. or from 70 years' Captivity in Babylon, but from the everlasting bondage, Captivity, and Thraldom of Sin and Sarban. Wherefore comfort ye my People, doth your God say by the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah, Isa. 40.1. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto Her, that Her warfare is accomplished, (i. e.) That the time of Her affliction is ended, and that Her iniquity is pardoned, for She hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins, (i. e.) as some understand it sufficient correction for all Her sins, insinuating that the Lord will afflict his People no more so long, or so sharply, because his Lovingkindness hath overcome his heavy displeasure; so saith Jerome and Calvin, the word [double] aught to be taken for enough, or full, as it is used by the same Prophet, or as some interpret it, Isa. 61.7. double grace for double grief; as Jerusalem had a double punishment, one in her Soul, another in her Body; so now, she shall have by Christ a double blessing, vix. in this World Collation of grace, and in the World to come possession of glory: or a double favour; First, in that her travail is ended; Secondly, For that her sin is pardoned: or double, that is, as Vatablus and Arcularius expound it, many benefits, a certain number being put for an uncertain, (which is an usual Hebraism in the old Testament,) for the sufferings of Christ are a sufficient propitiation for all her sins, 1 Joh. 2.2. and for the sins of the whole World: yea, where sin abounded, there grace superabounded, saith Paul, Rom. 5.20. For, that place in Esay before alleged, is, a direct prophecy concerning the coming of Christ in the flesh, and the happy success of this Day, as both Musculus and Hyperius and Calvin do expound it; and the coming of Christ in the Flesh (you know) is the consolation of Israel, and comfort of Jerusalem, (for so it is called, Luke 2.25.) and this comfort the God of all comfort will have proclaimed unto Jerusalem by the mouth of all his Prophets and Preachers, which have been since the World began, and so we find in holy Writ, that he stirred up Daniel, Haggai, Malachi, Zachariah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and other; (until the coming of Christ himself) who did always exhort his People, to be of good cheer, and to be of good comfort in the midst of all their afflictions and tribulations, and still to hope against hope, as our Father Abraham did: Rom. 4. 1● So Zacharias, in his Hymn, openeth his mouth, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath Visited and Redeemed his People, raising up the horn of Salvation unto us, as he speak by the mouth of all his Prophets, which have been since the World began; So St. Peter in his Sermon, ad populum, all the Prophets from Samuel, and thenceforth, as many have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days; and to Cornelius, that pious and famous Captain of Caesarea, Acts 10.43. To him give all the Prophet's witness, That through his Name, all that believe in Him shall receive remission of sins: Now with what face can any man say, That God hath not blessed this Day with success, seeing this Day hath produced so many good & gracious effects, glorious wonders, and these not only in the Earth, but also in the Heavens; for if we will believe Venerable Beda, it was so, nato Domino, stellae dederunt lumen in Custodiis, & laetatae sunt; plus namque solit● luxêrrent ei cum Jocunditate, qui fecit illas, quasi sign is sic conclamantes, Hic est dominus noster & non aestimabitur alius: The Staris at His Birth did shine more clearly and cheerfully then their custom was; because their Maker was then born, seeming to tell us; This is the Lord our God, and we must look for none other. Here methinks, alluding to that excellent saying in Job, I cannot choose but argue and infer upon it; Did the Stars of the morning praise him, the wise men of the East rejoice, and so the Shepherds, and all the Children of God (i. e.) the Angels rejoice and sing? Job 38.7. And why then shall we be dumb and silent? and not break forth into the like Exultation, Jubilation, and Rejoicing? And have we not a warrant so to do, Psal. 33.1. Rejoice in the Lord, Oye Righteous, for it becometh well the just to be thankful; Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say Rejoice, Phil. 4.4. Yea, let the heart of all them rejoice that serve the Lord. Let us then here a little correct ourselves and recollect our Spirits, as those four leprous men did, who returned from the spoil of the Syrian-Camp; and say, We do not well, This Day is a Day of good tidings, and should we hold our peace? For mine own part, let the Leprosy of those men cleave unto my skin, if it be not as joyful a thing to me to record, and recount, to commemorate and congratulate the honour and happiness, and good success of this Day, as ever it was to them to carry the happy news of the flight of Aram: Rejoice then O ye Heavens, and be glad O Earth, for on this Day Heaven and Earth were reconciled, and God was made Man to make peace between God and Man: Rejoice, O Grandfather Adam, for on this Day, that first promise made unto thee concerning Christ, began to be fulfilled, How that the seed of the Woman should break the Serpent's head, Gen. 3.15. Rejoice, father Abraham; for on this Day in thy Seed All the Nations of the Earth are blessed, Gen. 22.18. Rejoice, King David; for on this Day God hath of the fruit of thy Body, set a King upon thy Throne, Psal. 132.11. Rejoice, ye Prophets of the Lord; for all your prophecies on this Day were fulfilled. Rejoice ye that are sick, for on this Day the Physician of the World was borne. Venit de coelo magnus Medicus, Qui per totom ubique Jacebat agrotus, saith St. Austin. Rejoice ye Virgins, for a Virgin on this Day brought forth a Son: Rejoice ye Children, for on this Day the great God became a little Babe: Let all People, Jews, and Gentiles; Bond and Free; High and Low; Rich and Poor, one with another: Let all rejoice together, for that He who was in the beginning without any beginning; for He is that true Melchezedeck, who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, having neither beginning of Days, nor end of Life, Heb. 7.3. And therefore in this sense is Styled an everlasting Father, Isa. 9.6. because he is the Author of eternity to all Creatures, for that He who was in the beginning, before all beginnings, and in a time when there was no time measured or limited out, Gal. 4.4. yet in the fullness of time was made of a Woman, and wrapped in Swadling-Clothes; for that He who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Luke 2.7. the Word became Infans in cunis vagiens, an Infant not able to speak one syllable; so that He, who was God, did vouchsafe to become Deus nobiscum, God with us; yea, and to dwell amongst us, appearing in the shape of a Man; for as the Apostle exellently expresseth both his humiliation and exaltation, thus saying, Phil. 2.7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Ipse sese exinanivit (i. e.) as Theodore Beza neatly expoundeth it, Quasi ex omni seipsum ad nihil redegit, (i. e.) He that at first made all things of nothing, did afterwards make nothing of Himself for Man's sake, He made Himself of no Reputation, and took upon Him the form of a Servant, and was made in the likeness of a Man; and being found in fashion of a Man, he humbled Himself, and became obedient unto Death, even the Death of the Cross: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every Name, That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, of things in Earth, and of things under the Earth: and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. To which God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, three in one, and one in three; one immortal, invisible, indivisible, incomprehensible, and one only ever wise God; be rendered and ascribed (as of due belongeth) all Honour and Glory, Power, and Praise, and Obedience, both now and for ever more Amen. FINIS.