A century of sermons upon several remarkable subjects preached by the Right Reverend Father in God, John Hacket, late Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry ; published by Thomas Plume ...

THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION. (Book 1)

LUKE ii. 7.

And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped him in swadling cloths, and laid him in a Manger, because there was no room for them in the Inn, &c.

THis is a part of that joyful news which God did impart at first unto the Angels, which the Angels in the twelfth ver. did reveal unto the Shepherds, which the Shepherds in the seventeenth verse made known abroad, and thereby at first, perchance, it came to St. Luke, which St. Luke made known in this Gospel to the Church; which the Church from time to time hath delivered unto us; which I at this day deliver unto you, and which you must tell unto your Children, that one Generation may comfort another with it unto the ends of the World. I am in love with my Text; but how shall I open and dilate my joy upon it? No, that most venerable name Mary, the blessed Mother of our Lord, knew not how to do it. For although when Gabriel brought tidings unto her, that she should conceive, then she could come out with a strange word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as if her spirit friskt and danc'd within for gladness; yet upon the birth no 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 would serve the turn, the joy was too big for the Language of man to deliver. How shall we then express our selves for the honour of the day? Preaching is our present business; but words were too little, and therefore the An∣gels turn'd Musicians and sung it; Musick was not enough, and therefore Wise men brought Gifts unto the Cradle; Neither were Gifts the way, for you may see by the cratch and the swadling clouts that He affected Poverty. The Tongues of men, that is Preaching and Prayer; the Tongues of Angels, that is Musick and Singing; the courteous Gifts of the Eastern men, Gold, Myrrh, and Frankincense, all are fit for the solemnity of these twelve days, but not all sufficient.

This happy day made an end of the woful Captivity of the Sons of men under sin and Satan. See how far David went, when none but the Tribe of Judah came back from the Captivity of Babylon, When the Lord turned the Captivity of Sion, then were we like to them that dream. This is the greatest strain of joy, as we may inter∣pret it. I do not mean that we should doubt whether we were verily preserved from the captivity of Sin by the birth of Christ, whether it were so indeed, or but a dream, like the Poets amorous fancy, Credimus? an qui amant, ipsi sibi somnia fingunt?* 1.1 or as Livy said of the Grecians when the Romans sent them unexpected liberty after their hard thraldom, Mirabundi velut somni speciem arbitrabantur, they were amazed as if they were not awake, but sleeping: but I would have your Soul transported as it were with an Extasie of devotion, as if Zeal and the Love of Jesus Christ put you in a dream; imagine strongly that this day is not the Anniversary to be celebrated after many years, but the very day it self of Christs Nativity. Cannot you think

that this Church is the Cratch that received the Babe? O cui cuncta possunt invidere marmora. Cannot you think your selves to be those Shepherds whom the Angels sent of the good Errand, to look out a Saviour? Who had not rather be one of them Shepherds than any King in the world? Then strongly possess your souls that you see the Son of God; that you stand over him and behold him, as he is wrapped in swadling clouts, lying in a Manger. O that we could so deeply perswade our Soul that this Text is no report, but a vision before our eyes. So we must do, or else it is not full Christmas joy, it is no true Angelical devotion.

And then you shall see in this verse Mary laid of her Child: O the passing exal∣tation for flesh and bloud to be such a Mother, and the Child laid in a Manger. O the wonderful humiliation of the eternal God to be such a Son! But that every part of the Text may be handled apart by it self in his own order I will insist upon these five things: 1. Here is the strange condition of the Mother, Et illa peperit, and she brought forth a Son, who by nature was no bearer, for she was a Virgin. 2. The strange condition of the Babe, ejus primogenitus, the first begotten of God was the first born Son of flesh and bloud. 3. The strange condition of the Birth, that it was without the curse of woman, without the pangs of travail; the Fathers collect it from hence, that as soon as the Babe was born she could wrap him in swadling clouts, a manifest sign that there was no debility or weakness in her. 4. The strange condition of the place of the Nativity, She laid him in a Manger. Lastly, the strange condition of men, that there was no room in the Inn for Jesus and Mary; these are the parts of my Text: With great reverence be it spoken, I may call them the swadling clouts wherewith I must wrap my Saviour.

First, Let us consider the strange condition of a maiden Mother, Et illa peperit, and she brought forth a Son, who by nature was no bearer, for she was a Virgin. A Doctrine which the Heathen and Pagan men will not admit, and which the Incredulous Jew to this day after his manner derides. The Heathen were so confident that a Virgin could not bring forth, that as Orosius reports, when Augustus Caesar had rest round about from all his enemies, He shut up the Gates of Janus his Temple, and called it the Temple of peace; and enquiring from their Oracles of Sorcery how long it should stand shut; it was answered, Quousque Virgo pariet, untill the time that a Virgin brings forth a Son. The Messengers thought this answer to be, as if he had said,* 1.2 it should stand shut for ever: and so they wrote upon the Gates, Templum pacis aeternum, The Temple of peace was eternal. Let me dispute the case with a meer natural man, How doth the harvest of the field enrich the Husbandman? It is answered, By the Seed which was sown in the ground. Say again, How came Seed into the world to sow the ground? Surely you must confess, that the first Seed had a Maker, who did not derive it from the Ears of Wheat, but made it of no∣thing by the power of his own hand; Qui sine seminibus operatur semina, &c. says St. Austin,* 1.3 then God could make a man without the Seed of man in the Virgins womb, who made Seed for the corn before ever there was earing or harvest. Nay, there is an instance for it in the little Bees, as the Poet doth Philosophize, they do not bring forth their young ones, as other Creatures do, by the help of Male and Fe∣male together; but they gather the seed which begets the young ones from the dew of leaves,* 1.4 and herbs, and flowers, and so they bring them forth. Nec concubitu indulgent nec corpora segnes in Venerem solvunt, and therefore the Bee by some is called the Emblem of Virginity.

And as for the unbelieving Jew, the darkness and blindness of his heart cannot put out the light of Isaiahs Prophesie, Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son; for what though the word in the Original signifie not only a Virgin, but any woman of a young and tender age?* 1.5 Yet in that place, as St. Hierom says very well, it must be nomen integritatis non aetatis, a name of Virginal integrity, and not of young age, or else you drown the astonishment which the Prophet doth so much exaggerate and amplifie. I will give you a Sign; why, what sign is it for a young woman to bear a Child?* 1.6 No extraordinary one I am sure. Nay, says he, Ecce Virgo, behold and wonder at it. Behold a Miracle which shall never be wrought but once in the world. This was Virga Aaron florida, nec humectata; Aarons Rod which was not watered, and yet being a dry stick, which had the help of no sap to make it fruit∣ful, it flourisht and put out, and brought forth fruit: So this maiden Mother knew no man,* 1.7 she did not conceive after the manner of women, but by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost shall over-shadow thee, says Gabriel. Bene dictum est obumbra∣bit, says Gregory, Ʋmbra enim a lumine formatur & corpore, i. e. A Deo & Virgine. The

world is full of expression, which says the Holy Ghost shall over-shadow her; for a shadow is caused by the resplendency of Light, and the opacity of a gross body standing between: So Christ, who is the shadow of our refuge, under which we stand to couch our selves from the scorching anger of Gods wrath, he was conceived in the womb of the blessed Virgin, that was the body, the Light of Heaven, and the Holy Ghost reflecting upon it. Ʋerbum fuit pater ejus & auditus mater, says Fulgenti∣us; Upon the word of the Salutation of the Angel, and by the Ear of Mary that heard the word, between these two alone he was made man, and they were unto him like as a Father, and a Mother.

St. Austin says very sweetly that this admirable Creature Mary the Mother of our Lord is in this verse like unto the Church of Christ; the Church is often called a Vir∣gin, the Virgin the Daughter of Sion. I,* 1.8 but since so many faithful Sons are born un∣to the Church by the Preaching of the Gospel, how can they be the Sons of the Church, or the Church their Mother, if she be still a Virgin? Very fitly and conve∣niently as he answers, Virgo est & parit, Mariam imitatur quae Dominum peperit; the Church is a Virgin, and yet fruitful of Children; for she is like the Mother of our Lord, who was a Virgin Mother. Why God did make this choice, I mean why he chose this Blessed Virgin of the line of David to carry her own Redeemer and ours in her Womb before all the daughters of women, ask in Gods name, and seek the reason; but let this be the ground upon which you build, Sapientia aedificavit sibi do∣mum, Prov. 9.1. Wisdom did build her self an house, God did befit himself with so clean a vessel as there was not a more heavenly creature upon earth, neither since nor before her: and such a Virgin was the purest casket which might be found wherein to lay up the gem of the world. The very body of Christ with∣out the soul was laid up in a tomb, wherein never Corps were laid before, in a new Tomb, and reason good; for though the soul was flitted away, yet the union between the Body and the Divine Nature was not dissolved: and therefore his Sepulchre was a new Sepulchre which was never seasoned with man before. O then when the living Body and the Godhead were united into one person, very meet and requisite it was that no Child should ever take up that Womb before the Son of God; the son of a sinner was not first to possess that place which was or∣dained for the Son of God. Moreover as the Woman Mary did bring forth the Son who bruised the Serpents head, which brought sin into the world by the woman Eve, so the Virgin Mary was the occasion of Grace, as the Virgin Eve was the cause of Damnation: Eve had not known Adam as yet when she was beguiled, and seduced the man; so Mary had not known Joseph, Et illa peperit, and she brought forth her first born Son. And thus you see Sapientia adificavit sibi domum, wisdom did build her self an house.

To make some use of this point unto our selves, we see how well the Womb of the Virgin Mary did fit the Birth of Christ: but will you know what manner of house wisdom doth build unto her self, even unto this day? Our Saviour was so well pleased with a Virgin-dwelling for once, that ever since he loves to abide and dwell in a Virgin, and unpolluted heart. Cor simplex est cor Virgineum, a plain dealing heart, such a one as Jacobs was: a charitable well-meaning heart is a single heart that hath no guile; such a one is in travel with Christ. Cor duplex est cor adulterum, an hypocrites heart that hath two faces and speaks with two tongues, he con∣ceives mischief, and brings forth ungodliness; this is an adulterous heart: and as concerning the heart of the hypocrite, and malicious, if any man say, loe here is Christ, or loe there is Christ, believe them not. Beloved you see how curiously every feathered Fowl makes a nest to lay her young one, art and reason are not able to make such a work, as the ingenuity of Nature doth; wherefore let it not irk you once again to hearken how to prepare a nest wherein to lay your Saviour; Grace is more choice and curious than either Art or Nature. Still I am resolved it must be a Virgins breast that is fruitful to bring forth Christ; but in my sense Zacheus was a Virgin; and perchance living in the state of Wedlock. Nay Mary Magdalen was a Virgin in this acception, though sometimes a Sinner given to the flesh: yet Anna the ancient Widow may pass for this Virgin without a Paradox: For as a Virgin is at the dispose of her Father to be given and betrothed, so is the virgin soul altogether into the will of God: and surely in a sort Christ himself is there, for it hath conceived by the Holy Ghost.

Nothing is wanting that this soul so formed into obedience should be answerable unto Mary; but as we read of her, it must be of the house and lineage of David. Saint

Chrysostom said of David's heart, it was volumen charitatis, a volume of love and charity, always chanting and singing zeal and devotion, to let your heart say ac∣cording to the tune of his heart, My heart is fixed O God, my heart is fixed, I will sing and give praise, as if it could not be removed from God nor God from it; and then it is of the house and lineage of David. I have said enough I think to shew what is in some competent sort proportionable in a good Christian to the virginity of Mary, that his soul may be made fit to bring forth Christ. St. Bernard calls me back a little, Respexit Dominus humilitatem Mariae non virginitatem, Mary confessed her self that God regarded her lowliness, and not her virginity. Et illa peperit, and the lowly hand-maid brought forth the Babe of exceeding glory. Hail thou that art highly favoured, says the Angel: yea but thrice hail thou that art lowly mind∣ed: Etiam in coelo stare non potuit superba sublimitas, if we will not beware of pride by the fall of men whose examples are often seen, why take heed of it by the fall of Angels. Heaven would not let pride be unpunished in Lucifer but threw it lower than the earth. Christ would not let great humility be unrewarded in Mary, but exalted it I may say above the heavens; for so you shall perceive by the second part of my Text the strange condition of the child. Et illa peperit promigenitum, &c.

It was Nicodemus his problem which he propounded to our Saviour, Iterum potest homo nasci? Can a man be born again, or the second time? that which is impos∣sible to Nicodemus is true in the person of our Saviour;* 1.9 for he that was the first be∣gotten of God before all worlds, is Ejus primogenitus, at a second birth he is be∣come the first born Son of Mary:* 1.10 De victo genere sumsit hominem per quem generis hu∣mani vinceret inimicum, says St. Austin. The Devil thought that at one skirmish in the Garden of Eden he had made a perfect conquest over the poor nature of man, flesh and blood could never rise up again to take arms against him: His malice was like Caligula's, that wisht all the subjects of the Roman Empire had but one head up∣on their shoulders, that at one blow he might destroy the whole generation; but de Victo genere, as the Father said, Christ mannageth the quarrel between us and Satan, so fairly and indifferently, that he took upon him not the substance of Angels, but even the flesh which was overcome, that in the same Nature he might destroy our enemies. The Potter may make what vessels do like him best out of his own clay. But how strangely was the wheel turn'd about when the Clay did make the Potter; was it not enough to make man after the image of God, but moreover to make God after the image and likeness of man? was it not enough that the breath of the Lord should be made a living soul for man, but that the eternal word of God should be made Flesh;* 1.11 Ʋtinam sicut verbum caro factum est, ita cor nostrum fiat carneum, O that as the word was made flesh, so our stony hearts, as the Prophet says, may be made flesh, that we may believe and glorifie this wonderful genera∣tion; but the manner of this generation is a secret of God, within the rail, and I will not touch it.

Let it suffice us to know concerning her first-born. 1. That he was never called the Son of the Holy Ghost, though he were conceived by him. 2. That among all those of the genealogy from whom he descended, especially he is called the Son of David and Abraham: But 3. by the nearest interest he was Ejus primogenitus the first-born Son of Mary. Touching the first, it is an Article of our Creed, that the Holy Ghost was the active principle of the generation of Christ; and why then was he not called his Father? because to be the father of another thing is not enough to be the active principle of it: for even the Sun is the active cause that produceth Worms and Flies, and all those which are called insecta animalia, and yet it is not called the father of those creatures; but a father must beget a thing accord∣ing to his own kind and species; and therefore Christ was born after the species and nature of the Woman, whereby he is called not the Son of the Holy Ghost, but the Son of Mary.

Again, as for the next thine observed in the Preface of St. Matthew's Gospel among all those that belong to the line of our Saviours Parentage, the persons es∣pecially pickt out are David and Abraham; which was the Son of David, which was the Son of Abraham, and that for this reason, though Christ came from the loins of many others. St. Luke counts 77 descents between Adam and Christ, yet the words of promise benedicentur in semine tuo, it was only spoke unto Abraham and David, that in their seed, that is in Christ all the Kingdoms of the earth should be blessed: And therefore Abraham and David were known by name above others: It was in every mans mouth that the Messias should come out of their stock; the

Oath which he swore to our fore-father Abraham says Zachary in his Song;* 1.12 and blind men and beggars had it at their fingers end, Son of David have mercy on us. The more to illustrate this, you must know that there was a twofold root or foun∣dation of the Children of Israel for their temporal being:* 1.13 Abraham was the root of the people; the Kingdom was rent from Saul, and therefore David was the root of the Kingdom; among all the Kings in the Pedigree none but He hath the name,* 1.14 and Jesse begat David the King, and David the King begat Solomon; and therefore so often as God did profess to spare the people, though He were angry, He says he would do it for Abrahams sake: So often as He professeth to spare the Kingdom of Judah, He says he would do it for his Servant Davids sake. So that ratione radicis, as Abraham and David are roots of the People and Kingdom, especially Christ is cal∣led the Son of David, the Son of Abraham; and to say no more, their Faith in the Incarnation of Christ is of some moment in this point.* 1.15 David having obtained the name to be called the Prophet 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, because he doth so fully express the Birth and Passion of our Saviour; and Abrahams faith is most notable in that one in∣stance says Fulgentius, when He made Eleezer his Steward, put his hand under his thigh, and take an oath in the name of the Lord, not that he thought there was any connexion between his own flesh and the God of heaven, Sed ut ostenderet Deum coeli ex eâ carne nasciturum, but to shew that the blessed Babe of Mary should descend lineally from his Loyns.

Who in the third place by the nearest interest, is called Ejus primogenitus, the first-born Son of Mary. Non quod post eum alius, sed quod ante eum nemo, says St. Austin: not called the first-born Son as the eldest of them Sons that followed, but as being the first fruits of a Virgin-womb that had none before nor after; here is Isaiahs Prophesie, Puer natus nobis, a Child born unto us; Natus est non sibi Christus, sed mihi, for He was born not for himself, but for me, and for all the Faithful. Here is Je∣remies Prophesie, Mulier circundabit virum, that a woman shall compass a man; Jer. 31.22. The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man. For Isaiahs Child is called a Man in Jeremiah, Insinuans, ei nunquam defuisse virtutem, because in the very swadling clouts he came forth, not as a weak Infant, but full of power and virtue, as a Giant to run his course. He grew on indeed, says St. Austin, from an infant to a man, but never to be an old man, Crescat & fides tua robur inveniat, vetustatem nesciat. So let thy faith wax more and more; let it come to perfection, and maturity, but never unto old age, as if it droopt and were declining.

I come to the third strange condition of the Birth, it was without travel, or the pangs of woman, as I will shew you out of these words, Fasciis involvit, that she wrapt him in swadling clouts, and laid him in a Manger. Ipsa genitrix, fuit & obstetrix, says St. Cyprian, Mary was both the Mother and the Midwife of the Child; far be it from us to think that the weak hand of the woman could facilitate the work which was guided only by the miraculous hand of God. The Virgin conceived our Lord without the Lusts of the flesh, and therefore she had not the pangs and travel of women upon her, she brought him forth without the curse of the flesh. These be the Fa∣thers comparisons, As Bees draw honey from the flower without offending it, as Eve was taken out of Adams side without any grief to him, as a sprig issues out of the bark of the tree, as the sparkling light from the brightness of the Star, such ease was it to Mary to bring forth her first-born Son; and therefore having no weakness in her body, feeling no want of Vigour, she did not deliver him to any profane hand to be drest, but by a special abillity, above all that are newly delivered, she wrapt him in swadling clouts. Gravida, sed non gravabatur, she had a burden in her womb, before she was delivered, and yet she was not burdened: for her journey which she took so instantly, before the time of the Childs birth from Nazareth to Bethlem was above forty miles, and yet she suffered it without weariness or com∣plaint, for such was the power of the Babe, that rather he did support the Mothers weakness than was supported; and as he lightned his Mothers travel by the way from Nazareth to Bethlem that it was not tedious to her tender age, so he took away all her dolour and imbecillity from her travel in Child-birth, and therefore she wrapt him in swadling clouts.

Now these clouts here mentioned which were not worth the taking up, but that we find them in this Text, are more to be esteemed than the Robes of Solomon in all his Royalty; yea, more valuable than the beauty of the Lilly, or any Flower of the field or garden, which did surpass all the Royalty of Solomon. I may say they are the Pride of Poverty, for I know not in what thing poverty may better boast

and glory than in the raggs of Christ. His tears are no comfort to them that laugh; his Crach in the Manger is no comfort to them that affect the highest rooms in the Synagogues; his want is no comfort to them that are rich; his mean apparel is no comfort to our costly garments: but this is a comfort to them that want cloathing to cover their Nakedness, that Christ himself was wrapt in swadling clouts. He triumphed over poverty in this poor and base Array, says St. Austin, as tru∣ly and verily as he triumphed over death. Now death was conquered by Christ, not that we should not dye at all, but that we should vanquish death by the Resurrection: So Poverty was thus led captive, and overcome, Non ut omnino essugeamus, sed ut majori letitia toleremus; not that we should never sustain it, but that we should sustain it chearfully, and with patience. This was but the beginning of sorrow, to be tenderly bound up in warm cloths, there is a worse binding to come when the high Priests Servants shall find him in the Garden, and lead him away bound like a Malefactor; Feret aspera grandior aetas vincula cum palmam clavus utramque premet, says a Christian Poet; his hands will be straiter bound when they are pinned to the Cross with Nails and Iron; for as the bloud which he spent at Circumcision was but an earnest of those drops which he should shed at his Passion: So this wrap∣ping and swadling of his Arms and Legs was but a representation how he should yield up all his Limbs to be bound unto the Cross.

O behold this thing, you that think it no Christmas without bravery upon your backs, these were our Saviours cloaths for this good time, he had no other gaudy Garments; but take up the fringe of your own Coats, look upon the Ornaments you wear, and tell me what Saviour it is you imitate; you lay all you can upon your backs to celebrate his first coming into the world, which was in baseness and poverty. I pray you what would you be willing to put on when you shall meet him at his second coming in the clouds? O then our mortal shall be swallowed up of immortality: and as holy Nazianzen says 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, nakedness is all the cloathing we shall put on at the day of the great Resurrection. Blessed Mary, says St. Austin, began betimes to let her Babe see nothing but modesty about him. Nunc mulieres cum lacte in cunis superbiam infantibus instillant; Now adays, says he, our women do so nuzzle their little Imps in their Cradle, that they suck in vanity as soon as they take the dug; and for the most part (let men be so base to follow it if they will) all our gay fashions come from some she inventrix, as Synesius says of the Wife of Triphon, that it was all her ambition, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to have the name of the curious Lady, and that all fashions were warranted by her invention; when by their leaves I think it is as little for their reputation, as it was for Anak to find out Mules.

Thus I have followed the stream, not departing from the common adnotation upon this place, which says that Christ did consecrate, and as it were sanctifie Po∣verty by this instance, that he was wrapt in swadling clouts: which is not so to be understood, I think, as if the first Linnen Ephod, which was so happy to apparel the great High Priest of the Church, had been some base or wragged piece of cloth. For beloved, to do all due right to the ever blessed Virgin, she was not ignorant what a heavenly burden she bore, she knew that after the custom of women the time of her deliverance was at hand; she understood the Scriptures as well as the high Priests and Scribes that Christ must be born in Bethlem of Judah, the place to which she went to be taxed with Joseph her husband. Can we then imagine but that this most religious Mother had made preparation for such a Child, and had furnisht her self against their journey, Cum lineis pannis purissimis, utpote partus conscia, with the purest fine linnen cloths, because she knew the hour of the most happy Nativity was at hand? 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, says the Greek Text; in one word, she swadled him up, but sure with all observance, and reverent decency.

But the poor and abject estate into which this Kingly Babe was cast as soon as he was born will appear most clearly by the fourth circumstance of the Text, the strange condition of the place of his Nativity,* 1.16 She laid him in a Manger. And will the Lord dwell upon earth, says Solomon when he had dedicated unto his name the most augustious Temple in the world; Was a question made concerning such a Magnificent house, whether it were fit for the Lord? Then what say you to this grot? This Manger of the Stable? As Seneca said of Caius Marius, when he was turned abroad to seek his lodging among the flags of the Fens, Quis eum fuisse consulem aut futurum crederet? Who would ever think that a man who shrowded his head in so mean a place had been the great Consul of Rome before, or should be Consul again? So he

that should find Christ in such a despicable corner of a Room where beasts did feed, who could think that it was that God that created the World before, or should judge the World hereafter? But to say the truth, was he not safer among the beasts than he could be elsewhere in all the Town of Bethlem? His enemies per∣chance would say unto him as Jael did to Sisera, Turn in, turn in my Lord, when she purposed to kill him; as the men of Keilah made a fair shew to give David all cour∣teous hospitality, but the issue would prove, if God had not blessed him, that they mean to deliver him into the hands of Saul that sought his bloud. So there was no trusting of the Bethlemites, who knows but that they would have prevented Judas, and betrayed him for thirty pieces of Silver unto Herod? More humanity is to be expected from the beasts than from some men, and therefore she laid him in a Manger.

Do not your bowels yearn, Beloved, to make Christ some amends for this poor entertainment? Do not you perswade your selves if you had been in Bethlem it should not have been so as it was? Your Zeal is good, and there is no time lost to do it yet. Non erat ei nisi angustia in terris, ut tu ei locum cordis tui proprium dilatares. Christ was streightned for room in the Inn, and thrust into the Stable, that you might open your heart wide, and enlarge it, to give him an habitation to content him. The heart of an Heretick, the heart of a profane person is more loathsom, more unfit for Christ than any Manger in the world; between such a polluted sink of iniquity, and this Manger as it was adorned, there was no comparison. It was the recreation which the old Friers had in their Monastical Cells, to write lies; Le∣gends are for the most part fabulous, and I had as lieve believe the dreams of a sick man as believe all the story of our Saviours birth which goes under the name of St. Bridget: Yet I am altogether inclined to think, that the Stable wherein Christ was born was so beautified for the time with the light of heaven, which did shine in the place, that a Palace of beaten gold could not seem to be half so rich and preci∣ous; my reason is, that if the glory of the Lord did shine about the Shepherds in the field with such an heavenly luster, when the Angels came to sing their Carol, most likely it is, that the same glory seven fold brighter did cast celestial beams upon this place, where this Child was laid in a Manger: But no such beams of Heaven ever did shine upon the heart of a profligate sinner, and therefore I have good rea∣son to say that a Manger amongst beasts was fitter for our Saviour.

O praesepe splendidum in quo panis inventus est Angelorum: O holy and venerable Cratch which was the repository to receive the bread of Angels. Reclinavit is the strangest word to me in all the Text, that Mary could part with him out of her arms, and lay him aside in the Manger. I did ever think old Simeon much indebted to her for that favour that he was permitted to take him up in his arms; but what, did the Stable and Cratch deserve to be the Throne of the Son of God? Surely, if Jacob understood that there was a Mystery in it, when he laid his head upon a stone to sleep, then it cannot be without many Mysteries that this Infant was laid in a Manger. I will separate all the Meditations which the Fathers raise upon it that he was born in an Inn, and confine my self only to express why this homely Room was lent him in a Stable.

First, Beloved, Periculosum est inter delicias poni; 'tis full of peril to rest among pleasures and delights; It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, Eccl. 7.2. Adam had his habitation among the sweet savours and most delightful recreations of the Garden of Eden; his senses were so filled with objects of pleasures, that he forgot the Lord: Therefore Jesus Christ the Second Adam, who came to restore all that was lost, pitcht upon the worst corner of the house, where there were no delights at all to move tentation. Shall I tell you a paradox which St. Chrysostome held? He said, he had rather be cast into Prison with St. Paul, into the house of affliction, than be wrapt up with him into the third Heavens. Kings houses, and well furnisht Mansions have their occasions of Lewdness, but she laid her Son in a Manger.

Secondly, Omnis caro sicut foenum, all flesh is grass, and our beauty is as a flower of the field, this caused the flesh of Christ to be laid in the part of the Stable, where the grass is cut down and withered; Corruption sorts with Corruption; the Saints that are in glory, and can dye no more, their dwellings are in the highest heavens, which are free from change and alteration, but the Son of man hath put on morta∣lity, and to signifie that his body is like unto ours, which shall wither like grass; Reclinavit in praesepi, he was laid in a Manger.

Thirdly, Learn from hence to condescend unto the Humility of Christ if you mean to ascend unto his glory; for as the custom of those Regions was, this Man∣ger was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a Vault cut out of a Rock, as low a place as he could cast himself into; but no man projects so wisely to raise up a mighty building as he that lays a low foundation: It is reported of Sixtus Quintus, how he was so far from shame that he was born in a poor Cottage, that he would sport with his own fortune, and say, he was Familiâ illustri natus, born in a bright resplendent Family, because the Sun lookt in at every cranny of the house; it is not the meanness of the place that can justly turn to any mans scorn, nor doth a magnificent Palace build up any mans reputation. Holofernes had a costly Tent to cover him, and yet was never the honester; and it was a pretty objection of Plutarchs against the vain consumption of cost upon the decking of our houses. Quare homines in auratis lectis somnum capiunt quem Dii gratis dederunt: What do we mean, says he, to be at such cost to deck our Chambers? Why will we pay so dear for our sleep, when God, if you please, hath given you that for nothing? the slenderest place served our Saviour to cover his head, Reclinavit in praesepi, She laid him in a Manger.

Fourthly, and lastly, God provided the Virgins wombe for our Saviour before he was born, man provided a Manger after he was born, that you may see that God is ever worse provided for by man than he provides for himself. Let him provide for himself the manner of an Ark, or inspire the heart of Solomon what Temple should be built unto him, and the world had never such a piece of work for beauty and magnificence. Let him trust to the benevolence of men, I praise God I am not in the place now where I need to complain, but more eyes have seen such Churches, especially such Chancels which our Zealous Lay Parsons of the Kingdom have sacrile∣giously unroof'd, and uncas'd the Lead, and left them thatch and straw for a covering, and scarce that too. O God I shame to speak it, surely by all descripti∣on of antient Writers, our Saviour was better provided when He was laid in a Manger.

Their unworthiness deserves to be parallel'd with those men of strange conditi∣on in the last part of my Text, that kept possession against Christ himself, and shut him out of doors, for there was no room for him in the Inn, nor for his Mother Mary. Was there no Obadiah that would receive a Prophet? No Obededom that would take the Ark of God into his house? Some say, that because the whole City of David was so ungrateful to their new-born King, therefore the Angel of purpose shunned all the Inhabitants, and went into the field to find out Shepherds, and sent them first to behold their Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Others say, because Bethlem was so pittiless to this Babe, therefore God raised up the fury of Herod, which had no pity of their Babes, but slew all their Children from two years old and un∣der. Surely we all see how the Roman Conquerours carried them away captive from their own Country, neither man nor child hath room to inhabite Bethlem this day, neither is there such a Town as Bethlem standing, because there was no room for Christ. You know the Parable of the good Samaritan, that took the wounded man and carried him to his Inn, and left him safe there, and paid his charges. The sence of the Parable is reduced by many of the Fathers unto Christ himself; He is the good Samaritan that would not let our wounds bleed abroad, but hous'd us, and lodg'd us in his own Inn, that is, the Church, to upbraid the incivility of men by the Letter of the Parable, that we gave no hospitality to the Son of God.

The reasons given why Joseph and Mary were thus excluded are three:

The first is false, nay, indeed calumnious, that they came tardy, and after all other company to pay their Tribute money: No, Beloved, such an hasty Couple, so forward to give unto God that which is Gods, would never be slack to give unto Caesar that which is Caesars. Besides, if she brought forth her first-born Son upon the first day of the week, upon Sunday, as some cast it out, then the whole day be∣fore she was in Bethlem, for upon the Saturday, or Sabbath she must not travel; per∣chance they had been longer in the City, and, as we say, danced attendance, being poor persons, before the Officers of the Tribute would dispatch them; and yet all this while no room was made in the Inn, nor in any charitable house for the Nativity of Christ. The indignation against this were able to make us, like Jacob, live under the dew and frost of Heaven; as the Prophet protested, never to climbe up to our bed because Christ was so disappointed.* 1.17 Or as Ʋriah said unto David, The Ark abides in Tents, my Lord Joab is encampt in the open field, and shall I go up into mine

own house. The glory of Israel was laid in a Cratch, the Salvation of the world was turned into a Stable, and dost thou permit us to live in sieled houses?

But the second and true reason why the Inn afforded them no room was this: Augustus Caesars Tax had drawn multitudes unto Bethlem that filled every corner; the true use of it was, that there might be more attendance about the King of Glory to do him reverence and homage; but the greater multitude, the fouler was the neglect, the more inexcusable the disobedience. They that glory in multitudes as a great testimony to prove the verity of their Church are as wise as them that should prove their Harvest to be plentiful because it hath abundance of Thistles. A multitude flockt after Christ in the Wilderness, verily it is to eat of the Loaves and Fishes, not for the Doctrines sake. A multitude followed him into the High Priests Hall, and the whole Rabble cried out, Let him be crucified; A troupe of Soul∣diers watcht his Sepulchre, and belied his Resurrection; a multitude was in Beth∣lem at his Nativity, and there was no room for him in the Inn.

But thirdly, We may suppose the multitudes had not so pestered the Town but that one Lodging might be spar'd, if there were horse-room in the Stable, as it appears there was, because Christ lay in the Manger, then it cannot sound in my ear but there might be room made for men in the Inn. Yes, but Lazarus is poor, and therefore he must not come over the Threshold, but lie at the rich Gluttons door; and though the fish of the Sea were so liberal to pay our Saviours Tribute, the beasts of the Stable so obedient to leave space for his birth, yet reasonable men stood up∣on it that they would not entertain him for nothing. Booz was a rare example, that took Ruth into his house when she went a begging: Booz was a Bethlemite, but it seems he had left none behind him, for Mary and Joseph were poor, and there was no room for them in the Inn. I know not how it came to pass, but for the credit of Poverty, which was thus despised, not many rich, but many poor in the days of our Saviour did receive the Gospel. As dry wood, says Bernard, sooner taketh fire than that which is green and flourishing: So the poor did embrace the glad tidings of Salvation without resistance, when the Nobles of the world, that flourisht in their wealth, refused it.

O but let Bethlem be ten times more populous for multitude, were Mary of the poorest of the people, which could not be, admitting that she and Joseph paid Sub∣sidies to Caesar; nay, were she a Samaritan, with whom the Jew hated to commerce, yet Barbarians would take her in, and cherish her in the time of Childbirth. Belo∣ved, it is a kind of churlishness that can admit no Apology. This is all that I can say, since men had left their civility to be men, to wipe away that foul ignominy God took our nature upon him, and was made man, even He of whom it is said in my Text, She brought forth, &c. It is a sign of very bad times when we lose pity and humanity to men, and reverence to God.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Eclog. 8. Lib. 33.
• * 1.2

  Oros. lib. 6. c. 20.
• * 1.3

  Ep. 3.
• * 1.4

  Vir. Geor. lib. 4.
• * 1.5

  Isa. 7.14.
• * 1.6

  St. Aust. Ser. 6. de Nat.
• * 1.7

  Lib. Moral. 1.18. c. 33.
• * 1.8

  Sermo. de Temp. 1 9.
• * 1.9

  John 3.
• * 1.10

  De Nata. Dom. Serm. 16.
• * 1.11

  Bernard.
• * 1.12

  Maldonat. Lyra, Tosta∣tus.
• * 1.13

  2 Kings 13.28.
• * 1.14

  2 Kings 8.19.
• * 1.15

  De Incarnat.
• * 1.16

  1 Kings 3.17.
• * 1.17

  2 Sam. 11.11.