a sermon preached before the kings maiestie at white-hall, on munday the . of december, being christmas day, anno . by the bishop of elie his maiesties almoner andrewes, lancelot, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a sermon preached before the kings maiestie at white-hall, on munday the . of december, being christmas day, anno . by the bishop of elie his maiesties almoner andrewes, lancelot, - . [ ], , [ ] p. by robert barker, printer to the kings most excellent maiestie, imprinted at london : [ ?] bishop of elie = lancelot andrewes. publication date conjectured by stc. reproduction of the original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng christmas sermons -- early works to . sermons, english -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread - emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached before the kings maiestie at white-hall , on munday the . of december , being christmas day , anno . ¶ by the bishop of elie his maiesties almoner . ¶ imprinted at london by robert barker , printer to the kings most excellent maiestie . a sermon preached before the kings maiestie at whitehall , on christmas day . anno . galat. . verse . , . when the fulnesse of time was come , god sent his sonne , made of a woman , made vnder the law. that , hee might redeeme , them that were vnder the law , that wee might receiue the adoption of sonnes . if when the fulnesse of time commeth , god sent his sonne : then , when god sent his sonne , is the fulnesse of time come . and as this day , god sent his sonne . this day therfore , ( so oft as by the reuolution of the yeere it commeth about ) is to vs a yeerely representation of the fulnesse of time . so it is : and a speciall honour it is to the feast , that so it is . and wee our selues seeme so to esteeme of it . for we allow for euery month a day , ( looke how many moneths so many dayes ) to this feast ; as if it were , and wee so thought it to be , the ful recapitulation of the whole yere . this honour it hath , from christ , who is the substance of this , and all other solemnities . peculiarly , â christi missá , from christs sending . ( for , they that read the ancient writers of the latin church , tertullian , & cyprian know that missa , and missio , & remissa and remissio , with them are taken for one . so that christi missa , is the sending of christ. ) and when then hath this text place so fit , as now ? or what time so seasonable to entreat of it , as this ? of the sending of his sonne ; as , when god sent his sonne : of the fulnesse of time ; as , on the yeerely returne and memoriall of it . to entreat of it then . the heads are two● . of the fulnesse of time . . and of that , wherewith it is filled . . times fulnesse , in these , when the fulnesse of time came . times filling in the rest , god sent his sonne , made of a woman , made vnder the law , &c. in the former , ( quando venit plenitudo temporis , ) there be foure points . . plenitudo temporis , that , time hath a fulnesse ; or , that there is a fulnesse of time . . venit plenitudo . that , that fulnesse commeth , by steps and degrees , not all a● once . . quando venit . that , it hath a quando , ( that is , ) there is a time , when time thus commeth to this fulnesse . . and , when that when is ? and that is , when god sent his sonne . and so passe wee ouer to the other part , in the same verse , mi●it deus ; god sent his sonne . for the other part , ( touching the filling of time . ) there be texts , the right way to consider of them , is to take them in pieces . and this is of that kinde . and if wee take it in sunder , we shall see ; as it is of fulnesse , so a kinde of fulnesse there is in it : euery word , more full then other : euery word , a step in it , whereby it riseth still higher , till by seuen seuerall degree● it commeth to the top , and so the measure is full . . god sent , the first . . sent his sonne , the second . . his sonne made , the third . . and that twice made , made of a woman the fourth . . made vnder the law , the fift , euery one fuller then other , still . and all this , for some persons , and some pur●ose . the persons , vt nos , that we . the purpose , ●eciperemus , that we might receiue . nay , ( if you marke it ) there be two vt's , vt ille , vt nos , that he might , and , that we might . he might redeeme : ●●d we might receiue , that is , hee , pay for it , ●nd , wee reape the benefit . . a double benefit , of redemption first from the state of persons cast and condemned , vnder the law , which is the sixt . and then , of translation into the state of adopted children of god , which is the seuenth ; & the very filling vp of the measure . al which , we may reduce to a double fulnesse . gods , as much as he can send . ours , as much as we can desire . gods , in the fiue first . . god sent . . sent his sonne . . his sonne made . made of a woman . . made vnder the law. and ours in the two latter , . we are redeemed , the sixt . we receiue adoption , the seuenth . in that of gods , euery point is full ; the thing sent , full . the sending , and the maner of sending full . the making , and the two maners of making of a woman , and , vnder the law , both full . and our fulnesse in the two latter , the effects of these two actes , or makings of a woman vnder th● lawe , redemption , and adoption , which mak● vp all . that , when we were strangers from th● adoption ; and not that onely , but lay vnder th● law , as men whom sentence had passed on from this latter , we are redeemed , ( hee vnd●● the law , that we from vnder the law ) tha● ( being so redeemed ) we might further recei●● the adoption of children , ( and as hee the son●● of man : so we might be made the sonnes of god. ) which two are as much as we can wish . and this is our fulnesse . and to these , i will craue leaue to adde another fulnesse o● ours , rising out of these , and to make a motion , for it . that , as it is the time , when wee from god , receiue the fulness● ●f his bounty : so it might be the time also , when he from vs , may likewise receiue the fulnesse of our duetie . the time , of his bounty fulnesse , and the time , of our thanke-fulnesse : that it may be plenitudo temporis , quà ad illum , quà ad nos ; downeward , and vpward ; from him to vs , and from vs to him againe : and so be both wayes , the fulnesse of time . quando venit plenitudo temporis . first , there is a fulnesse in time. the terme , fulnesse , carieth our conceit to measure straight , fromwhence it is borrowed : which , is then said to be full , when it hath as much , as it can hold . now , god hath made all things in measure : and if all things , then time. yea , time it selfe is by the apostle called , mensura temporis , the measure of time . as then , all other measures haue theirs ; so the measure of time also hath his fulnesse , when it receiueth so much , as the capacitie will conteine no more . so , time is a measure : it hath a capacitie : that hath a fulnesse . that , there is such a thing as , as the fulnesse of time . b●● , nothing is full at first : no more is time by and by . venit plenitudo , it commeth , not at once , or straightwayes , but by steps and paces , neerer and neerer : fill's , first a quarter , and then halfe , till at last it come to the brim . and degrees there be , by which it commeth . ecce palmares posuisti dies meos , psal. . . from which word palmares , it is an obseruation of one of the fathers , a man may reade his time . in his owne hand , visibly there is an ascent , the fingers rise still , till they come to the top of the middle finger ; and when they be come thither● downe againe by like descent , till they come to the little , which is the lowest of all : so is i● in our time ; it riseth still by degrees , till we com● to the full pitch of our age , and then declinet● againe , till we grow to the lower end of ou● dayes . but , howsoeuer it may be ( as it oft falle● out ) the descent is sudden , wee goe down● headlong without degrees , goe away in a mo●ment ; yet , euer this holdeth , to our fulnesse we come not , but by degrees . now thirdly , this comming hath a quando venit , a time , when it commeth thither . as a time there is a great while , when we may say , nondum venit hora , the time is not yet come , while the measure is yet but in filling : so at the last , a time too , that we may say , venit hora , the time is now come , when the measure is full : that is , a time there is , when time commeth to the full : as in the day , when the sunne commeth to the meridian line : in the moneth , when it commeth to the point of opposition with the moone : in the yeare , when to the solstice : in man , when he commeth to his full yeres : for that is the fulnesse of time the apostle alledgeth , in the three verses before . and , when is that when , that time thus commeth to his fulnesse ? quando misit deus , when god sends it : for , time receiues his filling from god. of it selfe , time is but an emptie measure , hath nothing in it : many dayes and moneths ●unne ouer our heads , dies inanes , sayth the psalmist . menses vacui , sayth iob : emptie dayes , psal. . . void moneths , without any thing to fill them , iob . . that which filleth time , is some memorable thing of gods powring into it , or ( as it is in the text ) of his sending , to fill it withall . mi●it deus is it : and so commeth time to be more or lesse full ; therafter as that is , which god sends to fill it . now , many memorable mission's did god make before this heere ; whereby in some measure , hee filled vp certaine times of the yeere vnder moses , and the prophets : all which , may well be termed , the implements of time. but , for all them , the measure was not yet full●filled perhaps to a certaine degree , but not full to the brimme : full it was not ( seeing it migh● bee still fuller ) till god sent that , then which , ● more full could not be sent . and , that he sent , when he sent his sonne , a fuller then whom , he could not send , nor time could not receiue . therefore , with the sending him , when that was , time was at the top , that was the quando venit , then it was plenitud● temporis , indeed . and , well might that time , be called the fulnesse of time. for when he was sent into the world , in whom the fulnes of the godhead dwel● bodily : in whom the spirit was not by measure● in whom was the fulnesse of grace and trueth . of whose fulnesse we all receiue , when he was sent , that was thus full , then was time at the full . and well also might it be called the fulnesse of time , in another regard . for , till then all was but in promise , in shadowes , and figures , and prophecies onely , which fill not , god knowes . but when the performance of those promises , the body of those shadowes , the substance of those figures , the fulfilling or filling full of all those prophecies came , then came the fulnesse of time , truely so called . till then , it came not : then it came . and well might it bee called the fulnesse of time , in a third respect . for , then the heire , ( that is the world ) was come to his full age : and so , that the fittest time , for him to bee sent . for to that , compareth the apostle their estate then ; that , the former times vnder moses and the prophets were as the nonage of the world ; sub paedagogo , in the . chapter , ver . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , at their a.b.c. or rudiments , ( as in the very last words before these ) their estate then , as of children in their minority , little differing from seruants . for , all this while , nondum venit , the fulnesse of time was not yet come . but a time there was , as for man ; so for mankind to come to his full yeeres : that time , came with christs comming , and christs comming with it , and neuer till then , was the fulnesse of time ; but then it was . and let this be enough , for this point ; more there is not in the text. but if any shall further aske , why then , at that age of the world , the world was at his full age , iust then , and neither sooner nor later ? i know , many heads haue bene full of deuices , to satisfie mens curiositie in that point . but , i hold it safest , , to rest with the apostle ( in the second verse ) on gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . let that content vs. then was the time , for that was tempus praefinitum á patre , the time appointed of the father . for , euen among men , ( though the father being dead ) the lawe setteth a time , for the sonne to come to his heritage : yet the father liuing , no time can be prefixed , but onely when it liketh him to appoint ; and the father here liueth ; and therefore let his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stay vs. the times and seasons , he hath put in his owne power , it is not for vs to know them . this is for vs to know , that , with his appointment , we● must come to a full point . so doth the apostle ● and so let vs , & not busie our selues much with it time is but the measure or caske , that wherewith it is filled , doth more concerne vs. to that therefore let vs come . the degrees are seuen ( as i said . ) to take them , as they rise . misit deus . god sent . that standeth first ; and , at it , let our first stay be . that , will fall out , to make the first degree . for , euen this , that god sent at all , ipsum mittere dei , this very sending it selfe , is a degree . it is so ; and so we would reckon of it , if wee knew the sender , and who he is ; the maiestie of his presence how great it is , & how glorious , how farre surpassing all we can see on earth . for him , for such an one as hee , to condescend , but to send ; is sure a degree . for , ynough it had beene , and more then ynough , for him , to be sent to ; and not to send , himselfe . to haue sit still , and beene content , that we might send to him , and haue our message and petition admitted , and not , he send to vs. that had beene asmuch as we could ●ooke for , and well , if wee might haue ●ene vouchsafed but that . but it was he that sent , not we to him first , nay , not we to him at ●ll , but , he to vs. he to vs ? and what were we , that he to vs ? vs , ( as elsewhere he termeth vs ) meere aliens from him , and his houshold ; not that onely , but vs , in case of men , whom the law had passed vpon . ( so is our estate described in the end of the text : ) for him , to send to vs , so great as he , to such as we ; to thinke vs , tanti , so much worth , as to make any mission , or motion , or to disease any about vs ; this , may well be the first . be it then so ; that to vs , or for vs , or concerning vs , god would trouble himselfe , to make any sending . a fulnesse , there is in this . full he was ; a fulnesse there was in him , ( euen the fulnesse of compassion in his bowels ouer our estate , ) else such a sender , would neuer once haue sent . god sent ; sent , and sent his sonne . that , ( i make no question , ) will beare a second . other● he might haue sent ; and whosoeuer it had bene hee had sent , it might well haue serued ou● turnes . if , sent by the hand of any his seruants , any patriarch , prophet , any ordinary messenger , it had beene ynough . so hitherto had bene his sending . so , and no otherwise● euer till now . then , if to send by any may seeme sufficient● to send his sonne , must needs seeme full . for● euer the more excellent the person sent● the more honourable the sending : the greater he , the fuller it . now , greater there is not , then his sonne , his first , his onely begotten sonne , in whom the fulnes of the godhead dwelt ; in sending him , he sent the greatest , the best , the fullest thing he had . to heape the measure vp yet more , with the cause of his sending , in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; it was voluntarie . hee sent him not for need : but for meere loue to vs , and nothing else . there was no absolute necessitie , that he should haue sent him . he might haue done what hee intended by the meanes and ministerie of some besides . god could haue enabled a creature ; a creature enabled by god , and the power of his might , could soone haue troad downe sathan vnder our feete . but , if it had bene any other hee had sent , his loue and regard to vs , had not shewed so full . it had bin ostendit deus charitatem , but not , ecce quantam charitatem ostendit deus . whomsoeuer he had sent besides , his loue had not bene full , at least not so full , as it should haue beene , if he had sent his sonne . that therefore it might be full , and so appeare to vs for full , misit deus filium suum . enough it was , in compassion of our estate , to haue releeued vs , by any : men that are in need to be releeued , care not , who they be that doe it . enough then for compassion : but not enough , to manifest the fulnesse of his loue , vnlesse to relieue vs , he se● his owne sonne . this is full , one would thinke : yet , the manner of his sending him , is fuller still . misi● flium ; filium factum . sent his sonne ; his sonne made . sent him , and sent him made . this is a third . for , if hee would haue sent him , hee should not haue sen● him , made : but as hee was , neither made 〈◊〉 created , but like himselfe , in his owne estate , as was meete for the sonne of god , to bee sent . to make him any thing , is to mar●● him , bee it what it will bee . to send hi● made , is to send him marred , and no better . therefore , i make not doubt , christs sending is one degree , his making is another : so 〈◊〉 sende , as withall to make , are two distinct measures , of this filling . as he is , hee is a maker , a creator : if god make him any thing● he must be a thing made , a creature ; and that is a great disparagement . so that , howsoeue● the time is the fuller , for this ; hee is th● ●mptier : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the fulnesse of time , is his emptinesse ; the exalting of that , his abasing . and , this very exinaniuit seipsum , emptying himselfe , for our sake , is a pressing downe the measure : and so , euen by that , still the measure is more full . yea , the very maner of this making , hath his encrease too , addeth to it stil. in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is not euery making , but making it his nature . to haue made him a bodie , and taken it vpon him for a time , till he had performed his embassage , and then laid it off againe , that , had bene much : but so to be made , as once made and euer made : so to take it , as neuer lay it of more , but , continue so still , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it to become his very nature ; so to be made , is to be made indeed , so to to be made is to make the vnion full . and to make the vnion with vs full , he was content , not to be sent alone , but to be made , and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to be made so , as neuer vnmade more . our manhood becomming his nature , no lesse then the godhead it selfe : this is filium factum indeed . made , and twise made , ( for so it is in the verse ) factum ex , and factum sub , made of and made vnder . of a woman ; vnder , the law. so two makings there be , either of them of it selfe , a filling to the measure , but , both of them , maketh it perfectly full . made , first of a woman : that , i take cleerely ●o be one . for , it hee , if the sonne of god must be made a creature ; it were meet , he should bee made , the best creature of all . and if made of any thing , ( if any one thing , better then another ) of that : made some glorious spirit , some of the orders of the angels . nay , made , but made no spirit , verbum caro factum est , the word became flesh : made , but made no angel● nusquam angelos : hee in no wise tooke the angels nature vpon him. but made man , first i will aske with dauid , domine , quid est homo ? lord , what is man ? and then , tell you his answere : homo quasi res nihili . man is like a thing of nought . and this he was made , this he became , made man , made of a woman ; did not abhorre the virgin● wombe , ( as wee sing daily , to the high praise o● the fulnesse of his humilitie , to which his lou● brought him for our sakes . ) for , whatsoeue● else he had bin made , it would haue done vs no good . in this then , was the fulnes of his loue● as before of his fathers , that he would bee made , and was made , not what was fittest for him , but what was best , for vs : not , what was most for his glory , but what was most , for our benefit and behoofe . made of a woman . for man he might haue bin made , and yet haue had a body framed for him in heauen , and not made of a woman . but when he saith , factum ex muliere , it is euident , he passed not through her , as water through a conduite pipe , ( as , fondly dreameth the anabaptist . ) made of , factum ex : ex , dicit materiam . made of her ; she ministred the matter , flesh of her flesh . semen mulieris . the seed , and semen intimum substantiae , that is the principall and very inward chiefe part of the substance . made of that , made of her very substance . and so haue we here now in one , both twaine his natures . god sent his sonne , there his diuine : made of a woman , heere his humane nature , that , from the bosome of his father , before all worlds : this , from the wombe of his mother , in the world . so that , as from eternitie , god his father might say , that verse of the psalme . filius meus es tu , hodie genui te : thou art my sonne , this day haue i begotten thee . so , in the fulnesse of time , might the virgine his mother , no lesse truely say , filius meus es tu , hodie peperite : thou art my sonne , this day haue i brought thee into the world . and heere now , at this word , made of a woman , he beginneth to concerne vs somewhat . there groweth an alliance betweene vs : for we also are made of a woman . and our hope is , as , he will not be confounded , to be counted inte●●natos mulierum : no more will he be , ( saith the apostle ) to say in medio fratrum ; to acknowledge vs , his brethren . and so by this time h● groweth , somewhat neere vs. this now , is full for the vnion with our nature , to be made of a woman . but so to be made 〈◊〉 a woman , without he be also made vnder th● law , is not neere enough yet . for , if he be out 〈◊〉 the compasse of the law , that the law canno● take hold of him , factum ex muliere will doe 〈◊〉 small pleasure . and he was so borne , so made 〈◊〉 a woman : as the verity , of his conception , is 〈◊〉 this factum ex muliere : so , the puritie , is in thi● that it is but ex muliere , and no more ; of th● virgin alone , by the power of the holy ghos● without mixture of fleshly generation . b● vertue whereof , no originall soile was i● him ; iust borne he was , and iusto non 〈◊〉 lex posita , no law for the iust , no law could touch him . and so wee , neuer the better , for factum ex muliere . for , if one be in debt and danger of the law , to haue a brother , of the same blood , made of the same woman , both ( as we say ) lying in one belly ; will little auaile him , except he will also come vnder the law , that is , become his surety , and vndertake for him . and such was our estate . as debters wee were , by vertue of chirographum contra nos , the hand writing that was against vs. which was our bond , and we had forfeited it . and so , factus ex muliere , to vs , without factus sub lege , would haue bene to small purpose . no remedy therefore , he must be new made , made againe once more . and so he was , cast in a new mould , and at his second making , made vnder the law , vnder which if he had not bene made , we had bene marred : euen quite vndone for euer , if this had not beene done for vs too . therefore , he became bound for vs also , entred bond anew , tooke on him , not onely our nature , but our debt ; our nature , and condition both nature , as men : condition , as sinful men ; expressed in the words following ; [ them that were vnder the lawe ] for that was our condition . there had indeed beene no captiuitie in him , to doe this , if the former had not gone before , factum ex muliere ; if he had not bene , as we , made of a woman , but the former was for this ; made of a woman he was , that he might be mad● vnder the law : being ex muliere , he might the● become sub lege , which before he could not , but then he might and did : and so , this still is the fuller . and when did he this ? when was he mad● vnder the lawe ? euen then , when he was circumcised . for this doth s. paul testifie , in the third of the next chapter , behold , i paul testifi● vnto you , whosoeuer is circumcised , factus est debitor vniuersae legis . he becomes a debter to the whole lawe . at his circumcision then , he entred bond anewe with vs , & in signe that so h● did , he shed then a few drops of his blood wherby he signed the bonde ( as it were ) and gaue those few drops then , tanquan arrham vniuersi sanguinis effundendi , as a pledge or earnest , that when the fulnesse of time came , he would be readie to shed all the rest , as he did for , i would not haue you mistake , though we speake of this , sub lege , being vnder the law , in the termes of a debt sometimes : yet , the truth is , this debt of ours was no money debt , we were not sub lege pecuniariâ , but capitali : and the debt of a capitall law , is death : and vnder that , vnder death he went , and that the worst death law had to inflict , euen the death of the crosse , the most bitter , reprochfull , cursed death of the crosse. so that vpon the matter , factus sub lege , and factus in cruce , come both to one ; one amounts to as much , as the other . well , this hee did vndertake for vs , at his circumcision : and therefore then , and not till then , he had his n●me giuen him , the name of iesus a sauiour . ●●r then , tooke he on him the obligation to saue vs. and looke , what then at his circumcision he vndertooke , at his passion he paid , euen to the full , and hauing paid it , deleuit chirographum , cancelled the sentence of the lawe , that till then , was of record , and stood in full force against vs. howbeit all this , was but one part of the law , but he was made sub lege vniuersâ , vnder the whole law , and that , not by his death onely , but by his life too . the one halfe of the law , ( that is , the directiue part ) hee was made vnder that , and satisfied it , by the innocencie of his life , without breaking so much , as one iot or title of the lawe : and so , answered that part ( as it might be , the principall . ) the other halfe of the law , which is the penaltie , he was vnder that part also , and satisfied it , by suffering a wrongful death , no way deserued , or due by him , and so answered that ( as it might be the forfeiture . ● so , he was made vnder both , vnder the whol● law . satisfying the principall , there was no reason , he should be lyable to the forfeiture , an● penaltie : yet , vener that he was also . and al● 〈◊〉 the whole law might be satisfied fully , b● 〈◊〉 being vnder both parts , and so , no part 〈◊〉 it light vpon vs. these two then , made of a woman . 〈◊〉 made vnder the law , ye see , are two seuerall 〈◊〉 kings , and both very requisite . therefore , e●●ther hath a seuerall feast , they diuide this s●●lemnitie betweene them . sixe dayes a peece , 〈◊〉 either ; as the seuerall moities of this fulnesse 〈◊〉 time . this day , verbum caro factum , the wo●● made flesh : that day , him that knew no sinn● he made sinne , ( that is ) made him vnderta●● to bee handled as a sinner , to be vnder the la● and to endure what the lawe could lay vpo● him. and so now , the thing sent is full : an● fully sent , because made : and fully made , because made once and twice ouer : fully made ours , because fully vnited to vs : made of a woman as wel as we . made vnder the law as deepe as we , both ex muliere , and sub lege . so of our nature ( of a woman , ) that of our condition also ( vnder the lawe : ) so , fully vnited to vs in nature , and condition both . . and so we are come , to the full measure of his sending . and , that we are come to the ful , ye shall plainely see , by the ouerflowing , by that which we receiue from this fulnesse , which is the latter part of the verse , and is our fulnesse , euen the fulnesse , of all that we can desire . for , if we come now to aske , for whom , is al this adoe this sending , this making , ouer & ouer againe ? it is for vs. so is the conclusion , vt nos , that wee might from this fulnesse , receiue the full of our wish . for in these two behinde , redemption , and adoption ; to be redeemed , and to be adopted , are the full of all , we can wish our selues . the transcendent diuision , of good and euill , is it , that comprehendeth all . and heere it is . our desire can extend it selfe no further then to be rid of all euill , and to attaine all , that good is . by these two , ( being redeemed , and being adopted ) we are made partakers of them both . to be redeemed from vnder the law , is to be quit of all euill . to receiue the adoption of children , is to be stated in all that is good. for , all euill is in being vnder the law , from whence we are redeemed , and , all good , in being inuested , in the heauenly inheritance , whereunto we are adopted . thus stood the case with vs : aliens we● were from god his couenant , and his kingdome : more then that , prisoners we were fast layed vp vnder the lawe . from this latter wee are freed : of the former , we are seised : and what would we more ? onely , this you shall obserue , that in th● idiom of the scriptures , it is vsuall ; two point● being set downe , when they are resumed againe , to beginne with the latter , and so ende with the former . so is it heere , at the first mad● of a woman , made vnder the lawe . at the resuming , he beginnes with the latter , made vnde● the lawe , that he might redeeme them , tha● were vnder the lawe . and then comes to th● former , made of a woman , made the sonne o● man , that we by adoption might be made the son● of god. but this we are to marke , it is he that i● at all the cost & paine : and we , that haue the benefit by it . at the redeeming it is , v●●ille ● at the receiuing it is , vt nos . briefly of either : and first , of our redeeming . redeeming ( as the word giueth it ) is a second buying , or buying backe of a thing , before aliened or sold. euer , a former sale is presupposed before it . and such a thing there had gone before . a kinde of alienation , had formerly beene , whereby we had made away our selues , ( for a sale i cannot call it , it was for such a trifle ) our nature aliened in adam , for the forbidden fruit ; a matter of no moment . our persons likewise , daily wee our selues alien them , for some trifling pleasure , or profit , matters not much more worth . and , when wee haue thus passed our selues away , by this selling our selues vnder sinne , the law seizeth on vs , and vnder it wee are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. . . euen lockt vp , as it were in a dungeon , tyed fast with the cordes of our sinnes , prou. . : the sentence passed on vs , and wee waiting but for execution . what euill is there not , in this estate , and on euery soule that is in it ? well then , the first vt , the first ende is , to get vs ridde , from vnder this estate . he did it : not by way of intreaty , step in and beg our pardon : that would not serue ; sold we were , and bought we must be . a price must be laide downe for vs : to get vs from vnder the lawe , it was not a matter of intercession ● to sue ●or it , and haue it . no , he must purchase it , and pay for it . it was a matter of redemption . and , in redemption or a purchase , we looke to the price . for , if it be at any easie rate , it is so much the beter . but with an high price , he purchased vs ; it cost him deare to bring it about● non auro , nec argento . neither of them woul● serue , at an higher rate it was , euen pretioso sa●●guine . his precious blood , was the price , w● stood him in . which he payed , when he ga●● his life a ransome for many . it stood thus , betweene him and vs , in th● point of redemption . heere are certaine mal● factors , vnder the lawe , to suffer , to be execute● what say you to them ? why , i will becom● vnder the lawe , suffer that they should , take v●●on me their execution , vpon condition , the● may be quit : in effect so much , at his pass●●● he said , si ergo me quaeritis io. . . if youl● hold on me , if i must discharge all , sinite 〈◊〉 abire , let these goe their way , let the price pay be their redemption : and so it was . and , so wee come , to bee redeemed from vnder the lawe . and this is to be marked , that them that were vnder the law , and , we that are to receiue , are but one , one and the same persons both : but being so redeemed , then we are our selues . till then , the apostle speakes of vs , in the third person , them , that were vnder the lawe , as of some strangers , as of men of another world , none of our owne : but now being redeemed , the stile changeth . he speaketh of vs , in the first person vt nos , that we : for till now we were not our owne , we were not our selues , but now we are : till this , it was the old yeere still with vs , but with the new yeere , commeth our new estate . being thus redeemed , we are got from vnder the lawe : and that is much . till a party come to be once vnder it , and feele the weight of it , hee shall neuer vnderstand this aright ; but then he shall . and if any haue beene vnder it , he knowes what it is , and how great a benefit to be got thence . but is this all ? no , he leaues vs not heere ; but to make the measure compleat , yea , euen to flowe ouer , he giues vs not ouer , when he had rid vs out of this wretched estate , till he haue brought vs to an estate , as good , as he himselfe is in . after our redemption , we stood , but as prisoners enlarged ; that was all : but , still we were as strangers , no part , nor portion in god , or his kingdome : nor , no reason , we should hope for any . he now goeth one step further , which is the highest and furthe●t step of all . for further then it , he cannot goe . that we might receiue the adoption , ( that is ) from the estate of prisoners condemned , be translated into the estate of children adopted . of adopted : for , of naturall , we could not : that is his peculiar alone , and he therein onely abou● vs , but else , fully to the ioynt fruition , of all that he hath , which is fully as much , as we could desire . and this is our fieri out of his factum ex muliere . we made the sonnes of god , as hee the sonne of man ; we made partakers of his diuine ● as he of our humane nature . to purchase our pardon , to free vs from death , and the laws sentence , this seemed a small thing to him : ye● this is lex hominis . mans goodnesse goeth no farther ; and gracious is the prince , that dot● but so much . for who euer heard of a condemned man , adopted afterward ; or that thought i● not enough and enough , if hee did but scape● with his life ? so farre then to exalt his bountie , to that fulnesse ; as pardon , and adopt both , non est lex hominis haec . no such measure among men , zelus domini exercituum , the zeale of the lord of hosts , was to performe this : the fulnesse of the godhead , dwelt in him , that brought this to passe . for ( to speake of adopting : ) we see it dayly ; no father adopts , vnlesse he be orbe , haue no childe ; or i● he haue one , for some deepe dislike , haue cast him of . but god had a sonne , the brightnes of his glorie ; the true character of his substance : and no displeasure there was ; no , in quo complacitum est , in whom he was absolutely well pleased : yet , would he by adoption , for all that , bring many sonnes to glory . is not this full on his part ? we see againe , no heire will endure to heare of adoption , nay , nor diuide his inheritance , no not with his naturall brethren . then , that the heire of all things , should admit ioynt heires to the kingdome hee was borne to ; and that admit them , not out of such , as were neere him , but from such as were strangers , yea such as had beene condemned men vnder the lawe , is not this full on his part ? to purchase vs , and to purchase for vs , both at once ? and not to doe this for vs alone but to assure it to vs : for , as his father , in this verse , sends him : so , in the next verse , he sends the spirit of his sonne , to giue vs sei●in of this our adoption : wherby we now call him , the iewes abba , the gentiles pa●ter , as children all , and he our father , which is the priuiledge of the adoption , wee hee● receiue . and now , are we come to the fulnes indeed● for this adoption , is the fulnesse of our optio●● we cannot extende ; we our wish : or he 〈◊〉 loue and goodnesse any further . for , what can w● aske , or he giue more , seeing in giuing this , 〈◊〉 giueth all he is worth ? by this time , it is 〈◊〉 sea. all the banckes are filled . it is now , as e●●●kiels waters , that he sawe flowe , from vnder 〈◊〉 threshold of the temple ● that tooke him to 〈◊〉 ancles first , then to the knees , after to 〈◊〉 loynes , at last , so high risen , there was no mo●● passage . . from the fulnesse of his compassion , 〈◊〉 sent to release vs : . from the fulnesse of 〈◊〉 loue , he sent his sonne : . in the fulnesse 〈◊〉 humilitie , hee sent him made : . made 〈◊〉 woman , to make a full vnion with our nature● made vnder the lawe , to make the vnion yet more perfectly full with our sinfull condition : . that we might obteine a full deliuerance , from all euill , by being redeemed : . and a full estate , of all the ioy and glory of his heauenly inheritance , by being adopted . so , there is fulnes , of all handes . and so much , for the fulnes of the benefit , we receiue . now , for the fulnes of the duetie , we are to performe this day . for , in the fulnes of time , all things are to be full . plenitudo temporis , tempus plenitudinis . and , seing god hath suffered vs to liue , to see the yeare run about , to this plenitudo temporis : if it be so , on gods part ; meete also , it be so on ours : and that we , be not emptie , in thi● fulnes of time . it is not fit , if he be at the brincke , that we be at the bottom . but as we be willing , to yeeld him of ours againe ; of our duety ( i meane : ) that it , to him , in a measure , and proportion be like full ; as his bountie , hath ●eene full aboue measure , toward vs. that so from vs. & on our parts , it may be plenitudo temporis , or tempus plenitudinis , the fulnesse of time , or time of fulnes , choose you whether . . and , a time of fulnes it wil be , ( i knowe ) in a sense : of fulnes of bread , of fulnes of brauerie , of fulnes of sport , and pastime : and this it may be . and it hath beene euer , a ioyfull time in apparance , for it should be so : with the ioy ( sayth esay a verse or two before , puer natus est nobis , vnto vs a childe is borne ) that men reioyce with , in haruest . not to goe from our text here , with the ioy of men that are come out of prison , haue scaped the lawe , with the ioy of men , that hau● got the reuersiō , of a goodly heritage . only , tha● we forget not the principal , that this outwa●● ioy , eate not vp , euacuate not our spirituall io● ● proper to the feast : that we haue in mind , 〈◊〉 the middest of our mirth , the cause of it , christ● sending , and the benefits that come thereby and , it shall be a good signe vnto vs , if we c●● thus reioyce , if this our ioy can be full , if we ca● make a spirituall blessing , the obiect of o●● mirth . beatus populus , qui scit iubilationem . blessed is the people , that can reioyce on this manner . and , after our ioy-fulnesse , or fulnesse of ioy , o● fulnes of thankes , or thank-fulnesse , is to ensue for , with that fulnesse , we are to celebrate it likewise . our minds first , and then our mouthes , t● be filled with blessing , and praise , and thankes t● him that hath made our times , not to fall int● those emptie ages of the world , but to fall within this fulnesse of time , which so many kings and prophets desired to haue liued in , but ●ell short of ; and liued then , when the times were full of shadowes , and promises , and nothing else . how instantly they longed , to haue held such a feast , to haue kept a christmasse , it is euident , by dauids inclina caelos , by esays vtinam disrumpas caelos , bow the heauens , and breake the heauens : how much ( i say ) they longed for it : and therefore , that we make not light account of it . to render our thankes then , and to remember to doe it fully , to forget none : to him that was sent , and to him , that sent ; sent his sonne , in this ; the spirit of his sonne , in the next verse . to beginne wi●h osculamini filium , it is the first duetie enioyned vs this day , to kisse the babe new borne , that when his father would send him , sayd , ecce venio , so readily : and when he would make him , was content with corpus aptasti mihi , to haue a body made him , meete for him to suffer in : who willingly yeelded to be our shilo ; to this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heere ; yea to be not onely christ , but an apostle for vs , heb. . . euen ●he apostle of our profession . and not to him that was sent and made alone : but , to the father that sent him , and to the holy ghost that made him , ( as by whom he was conceiued . ) to the father , for his mission ; the sonne , for his redemption ; the holy ghost , for his adoption ; for by him it is wrought● he that made him the sonne of man , doth likewise regenerate vs , to the state of the sonnes 〈◊〉 god. and this for our thankefulnesse . and , to these two , ( to make the measure full ) to ioyne , the fulnesse of duetie , euen whatsoeuer duetifull minded persons , may yeeld 〈◊〉 a bountifull minded , & a bountifull handed benefactor . and with this to begin , to consecra●● this first day of this fulnesse of time : euen wi●● our seruice to him at the full ; which , is then● the full , when no part is missing : when all o● dueties , of preaching , and praying , of hymnes , 〈◊〉 offering , of sacrament , and al , meet together . n●● fulnes there is of our liturgie , or publike so●lemne seruice , without the sacrament . som● part ; yea , the chief part is wanting , if that 〈◊〉 wanting . but our thanks are surely not ful , with●out the holy eucharist , which is by interpre●●●tion , thankesgiuing it selfe . fully we cannot say quid retribuam domino ? but we must answer● calicem salutaris accipiam , we will take the cup of saluation , and with it in our hands giue thankes to him ; render him our true eucharist , or ●eall thankesgiuing indeed . in which cup is the blood , not onely of our redemption of the couenant , that freeth vs from the lawe , and maketh the destroyer pass eouer vs : but of our adoption of the new testament also , which intitles vs , and conueyes vnto vs ( testament-wise , or by way of legacie ) the estate wee haue in the ioy and blisse of his heauenly kingdome , whereto we are adopted . we are then made partakers of him , and with him of both these his benefits . we there are made to drinke of the spirit , by which we are sealed , to the day of our redemption , and adoption both . so that , our freeing from vnder the law , our inuestiture into our new adopted state , are not fully consummate without it . and what ? shall this be all ? no , when this is done , there is allowance of . dayes more , for this fulnesse of time : that , we shrinke not vp our duety then into this day alone , but in the rest also remember , to redeeme some part of the day , to adopt some howre at the least , to bethinke our selues of the duetie , the time calleth to vs for : that so , we haue not iobs dies vacuos , no day quite emptie in this fulnesse of time . hereof assuring our selues , that what we doe in this fulnesse of time , will haue full acceptance at his hands . it is the time of his birth , which is euer a time as accepted , so of accepting , wherein , what i● done , will be acceptebly taken to the full : fully accepted , and fully rewarded by him , of whose fulnesse we all receiue : with this condition , of grace for grace , euer one grace for an other . and so , growing from grace to grace , finally from this fulnes , we shall come to be partakers of another yet behinde , to which we aspire . for all this , is but the fulnesse of time ● but that , the fulnesse of eternitie , when time shall be runn● out , and his glasse emptie , et tempus non erit amplius ; which is , at his next sending . for y●● once more shall god send him , and he come againe . at which comming , we shall then indeed receiue the fuln●sse of our redemption , not from the law ( that we haue alreadie ) bu● from corruption , to which our bodies are ye● subiect ; and receiue the full fruition of the inheritance , whereto we are heere but adopted . and then it will be perfect , compleat , absolute fulnesse indeed , when we shall all be filled with the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all . for , so shall a●● be when nothing shall be wanting in any : for god shall be all , in all . not as heere he is , something , and but something in euery one ; but then omnia in omnibus . and then the measure shall be so full , as it cannot enter into vs , we cannot hold it : wee must enter into it ; intra in gaudium domini tui . to this we aspire , and to this in the fulnesse appointed of euery one of our times , almightie god bring vs , by him , and for his sake , that in this fulnesse of time , was sent to worke it for vs , in his person : and worke it in vs , by the operation of his blessed spirit . to whom● &c. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e plenitudo tempor●● sap. . . eph. . . venit pleni●udo . alcuin . quando venit . ioh. . . ioh. . . quando . col. . . ioh. . . ioh. . . ioh. . . acts . . god sent . ephes. . . his sonne . colos. . . . iohn . . made . phil. . . made of a woman . iohn . . heb. . . ●sal . . . gen. . . psal. . . heb. . . rom. . . made vnder the law. . tim. . . col. . . gal. . . luke . . . col. . . ioh. . . . cor. . verse . eph● . . . that hee might redeeme them that were vnder the lawe . rom. . . . pet. . . mat. . that wee might receiue the adoption of children . pet. . . sam. . . es. . ● heb. . ● mat. . . heb. ● . . heb. . . rom. . . ezek. . , , . esa. . . psal. . . luk. . . psal . . esa. . psal. . . psal. . . gen. . psal. . . . mat. . . . cor. . . ephe. . . . cor. . . ioh. . . apo. . . ephe. . . . cor. . . mat. . . thomas law bell-man. his christmass greeting to his masters of st. giles cripplegate, within the freedom, presenteth his love and humble endeavours, as followeth. law, thomas, bellman. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b interim tract supplement guide c. .f. [ ] ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books; tract supplement ; a : [ ]) thomas law bell-man. his christmass greeting to his masters of st. giles cripplegate, within the freedom, presenteth his love and humble endeavours, as followeth. law, thomas, bellman. sheet ([ ] p.). [s.n.], london, : printed in the year, . verse: "nn other psalme this morne i intend to sing ..." cf. wing l which has 'christmas' in the title. reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng christmas -- poetry -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - scott lepisto sampled and proofread - scott lepisto text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion thomas law bell-man . his christmass greeting to his masters of st. giles cripplegate , within the freedom , presenteth his love and humble endeavours , as followeth . i. for the king and queen . nn other psalme this morne i intend to sing , but lord thy prayers for our sacred king , and sacred consort , his deserving queen , in which blest union lord , as thou wert seen , from whose consent in mercy it did proceed , so let be seen thy mercy in their seed , that from the most deserving loines of theirs , the kingdome may obtaine deserving heires . ii. our royal navy lord protect and bless , and crown their just endeavours w●th success . to vindicate our cause that justly goes against our unjust and incroaching foes : whose thundering cannons from the goodings-sands , rings peals of terror to their neighbouring lands , who if they might , would use him as they please , whom the lord hath deputed o're the narrow seas . iii. all you that on your bedds in safety lie , call to your mind that all th●ngs borne must dye : and not the healthy'st of you all can say , that he shall live a year , a moneth , a day : and who knows but his glass so near is run , that he may dye before this morning sun. iv. fly man the vanity of being proud , and think how near thou may'st be to thy shrowd : consider the condition of us right , and frailty of our state by day and night : sleeping , we death resemble , and by day we are at best but walking lumps of clay . v. the house-keeper would watch , if he but knew , what houre of the night the thiefe would venter : and doubtless so would ever one of you , knew you the certaine hour when death would enter : strengthen our souls lord , by thy gratious power , that we may still keep watchful for that hour . vi. all you that on your feeble beds do lye , lift up your hearts and hands to god on high ; and so reflect upon the day of doome , what time our saviour through the clowds will come with troops of angels , and with trumpets call to give us summons , and to judge us all . vii . after your sweet repose of nightly rest , collect , and think on god who hath you blest : and ere you do prepare your selves to rise , offer to him your morning sacrifice of faithful prayers , that god may still persever his mercys towards you , and forsake you never . viii . vvhat a good conscience still would man retaine , could he avoid all pleasures that are vaine . if he could cast away all worldly care , and only think on things that heav'nly are : and wholly trust in god ? what joy of mind ●…ould he possess ? what comfort would he find ? ix . consider man with dilligence and care , vvhat harmes thou may'st avoyd if thou beware : vvhat comforts at deaths pinch may thee befriend , if alwayes thou be thinking on thy end : and ever so endeavouring to live here , thou may'st at death , rather rejoyce then fear . x. death ( masters ) doth not use to knock nor call , but like a thiefe , he st●aleth ●n us all : and merciless ( as h● is ) he puts us ●ill in hope of living , when he means to kill : unhappy is that man that doth depend on deaths reprevement , and n●glects his end. xi . squalled , and meagre is the face of death , and known by the shortness of h●s breath : he speaks to 〈…〉 word , but kill , yet has this death 〈◊〉 power one soul to spill . grace makes the 〈…〉 , joyes aspire , or 〈◊〉 comm●… it to e●…●…al ●…re . xii . doubtful and swift is 〈◊〉 in her course , and death takes all , for better and for worse : the rich and poor ( to him ) a●e all alike , the weak and strong , the healthy and the sick : for the great bridegroome then prepare thy heart , and ha●g with mourning thy aspiring part , thy soul ; which through a true repentance may prevent some blushes on that marriage day . xiii . vve have no cause to wonder ( gentle friends ) neither at timely , nor untimely ends : death's common unto all both you and i , and every living earthly thing must dye : swift time doth carry all things to destruction , all natures frame is guilty of corruption : god grant we endeavour here , whil'st we have breath , not to be guilty of the second death . xiv . this world 's a vvilderness , all set with snares , a laberinth full of confuse● cares : a sea fill'd up with hos incensing lusts , subject to all temptations , hellish gusts : still raising billowes in our flesh and blood , more dangerous and threatning then the flood : this gulfe hath founder'd many a barke of clay , and many an owner of them cast away . xv. note that the gentle crafts-man makes his end , he doth his threads to several lengths extend : so are we drawn from the clue of life , to the fates heedless and uneven knife : let us be careful then , that we do spin our threads of life , without the knots of sin : and god will sure in deaths uncertaine doles , grant us good ends , to benefit our soules . xvi . remember man the weakness of thy frame , and humble thee to god who knows the same : and unto him for grace and mercy call , that thou may'st hope to rise , but fear to fall . xvii . mans life is like a bubble in a brook , that 's broken in the twinckling of a look ? or globe upon a point perami●al , that still on every side is like to fall : lay hould upon repentance man ; renew thy peace with god , and for his mercy sue : that in deaths case , and dismal times of danger , thou may'st not pass from hence to him a stranger . xviii . behould the grass so beautiful to sight , green in the morning , and cut down e're night : so suddenly man falleth to decay , and withers in his flesh as grass to hay : then le● all christians , early and late , be truly mindful of our mortal state : in gracefulness may we daily thrive , and glory our mortality survive . xix . like to the withered leafe before the winde , vaine man on earth no resting place can find ; for wheresoere 〈…〉 nes his eare or eye , he is encounter'd still with vanity : how then must man order his resolution , to obtaine rest ? by natures dissolution ? beware man ! if thou unrepented fall , thy birth was better then thy burial . xx. uncertaine is the distance that we have , between the womb that bare us and the grave : some as the gourd of ionas by the worme , are by death strangl'd , soon as they are borne : others perhaps , bring seaventy years about , or live some longer date of nature out : but which of all , come safest unto reft ? not they who live the longest , but the best . xxi . although long life , be a reward indeed , by promise due to all obedient seed : yet 't is not th'age of old mathusalem , can bring us safest to ierusalem : to which most happy , they that mind their course ; but heedless souls that do , through babels force , put their conversions off from day to day , the longer liv'd , the more they loose their way . xxii . what pestilence could not invite us to , nor cruel war compel our hearts to doe : londons sad chance , may make us understand , and tremble at the rigor of gods hand , vvho with his flameing sword , hath now at last mow'd down her streets , and lay'd her all to wast : sad case : but far more sad to tempt gods ire , or mind him not , till he appears in fire . xxiii . no sooner hath saint andrew crown'd november but boreas from the north , brings cold december : and i have often heard a many say , he brings the vvinter moneth new castle way : for comfort here of poor distressed soules , vvould he had with him brought a fleet of coles . london , printed in the year , . a sermon preached before the king & queen at white-hall on christmas-day, by ... john, lord archbishop of york ... sharp, john, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a sermon preached before the king & queen at white-hall on christmas-day, by ... john, lord archbishop of york ... sharp, john, - . [ ], p. printed for walter kettilby ..., london : . reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -- n.t. -- hebrews ix, -- sermons. sermons, english -- th century. christmas sermons. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preach'd before the king & queen at white-hall , on christmas-day , . by the most reverend father in god , john , lord archbishop of york , primate of england and metropolitan . published by their majesties special command . london , printed for walter kettilby at the bishop's head in st. paul's church-yard , . a sermon preach'd before the king and queen . heb. ix . . now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself . this text doth naturally suggest five things to be insisted on , most of them proper for our meditations on this day ; which therefore i shall make the heads of my following discourse . i. in general the appearance of our lord. now hath he appeared . ii. the time of that appearance . in the end of the world. iii. the end and design for which he appeared . to put away sin. iv. the means by which he accomplished that end. by the sacrifice of himself . v. the difference of his sacrifice from the jewish ones . his was but once performed ; theirs were every day repeated . if his sacrifice had been like theirs ; then ( as you have it in the former part of the verse ) must be often have suffered since the foundation of the world ; but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself . this is the just resolution of the text into its several particulars , of each of which i shall discourse as briefly and practically as i can . i. i begin with the first , the appearance of our lord in general . now hath he appeared . let us here consider , first , who it was that appeared . and then , how he did appear . the person appearing we will consider both as to his nature and as to his office. he that appeared as to his nature was god and man ; both these natures were united in him and made one person . he was god with us . so the angel stiles him in the first of s. matthew . he was the word that was with god , and was god , and by whom all things were made . he was , i say , that word made flesh and dwelling among us . so s. john stiles him in the first of his gospel . lastly , he was god manifest in the flesh , so s. paul stiles him in the first epistle to timothy . this was the person that the text saith , now appeared , that is , the son of god in humane nature . god of the substance of his father begotten before all worlds , and man of the substance of his mother born in the world. perfect god , and perfect man , and yet but one person . for as the reasonable soul and the body make one man ; so here god and man make one christ. as our creed expresses it . and this leads me to his office. this divine person , god-man , that the text here saith appeared , was , by his office , the christ , the messias , that is , that great minister of god , that anointed king and priest and prophet , which from the beginning of the world he promised to send down upon earth for the salvation of mankind . who was believed in by the patriarchs ; typified by the law ; foretold by all the prophets ; shadowed out in all the oeconomy of the jewish nation ; expected by all the israelites ; and wished for by the best of the heathen world. this person invested with this office at last appeared ; and in what manner , you all know from his story in the gospel . he was by the holy spirit of god conceived in the womb of a virgin , as was foretold of him by the prophets ; of which an angel of the highest order in heaven first brought the happy tidings to the virgin her self . this virgin , by as strange a providence , when the time of her delivery drew near , was brought from her own city and habitation in galilee , to bethlehem a city of judah , where she brought forth this illustrious babe ; and thereby fulfilled another prophecy concerning him , namely , that he should be born in bethlehem , which also the scribes at that time acknowledged . the circumstances indeed of his birth were far from any outward pomp and magnificence . the virgin his mother was poor and a stranger ; and so ill befriended , that in that confluence of people with which the city was then crowded , she was able to procure no better a lodging than the stable of an inn ● so that a manger was the place that first received the lord of glory . this slur , this affront god then thought fit to put upon all that external splendour and grandeur which usually doth so much dazle the eyes of mortal men. but god failed not to make abundant amends for the meanness of this birth , by giving sundry other demonstrable evidences of the dignity of the person that was then born . for the magi from the east ( princes shall i call them , or philosophers ? ) being conducted by a new star , came and pay'd their homage , and brou●ht their offerings to this king of the world in a manger . and the shepherds , that were watching their flocks in the fields by night , were surprized with the glory of the lord shining round about them , and an angel that thus spoke to them ; fear not , for behold i bring you tidings of great ioy which shall be to all people , for unto you is born this day in the city of david a saviour which is christ the lord. and this shall be a sign unto you , ye shall find the babe wrapped in swadling cloths lying in a manger . and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host , praising god , and saying ; glory to god in the highest , on earth peace , good will towards men. after this manner was the appearance of our saviour , and much after the same manner was his following life . it was a life of much poverty and meanness as to outward cirumstances ; but it was a life in every period of it fraught with wonders . whether we consider the admirable goodness and charmingness of his temper ; or the exemplary vertue and piety that did shine out in all his conversation ; or the divinity of his sermons and doctrines ; or his prodigious inimitable miracles ; or the attestations which were given to him from heaven ; or the usage he received from men ; or the events which followed upon all these things in the world. but it is his first appearance in the flesh that we are this day met together to commemorate . and never had mankind so noble an argument given them , to exercise their thoughts and meditations upon . if we consider the quality of the person appearing , that he was no other than the eternal son of god : how ought we to be wrapt with wonder and astonishment at the infiniteness of the divine condescension ? how ought we to be affected with love and thankfulness at such a never-to-be-parallell'd instance of god's kindness to us , that he should so love us as to send his only-begotten son into the world , that we might live through him . if we consider that this son of god resolving to appear in the world , of all other ways chose to do it in our flesh , and so united both the deity and humanity in one person : o what a sense ought this to impress upon us of the honour that is hereby done to our nature , and the dignity it is advanced to ? and how ought that sense , either to fright us , or to shame us from prostituting this our nature to any vile unworthy mixtures and communications which god did not disdain to take into so near a relation to himself . if we consider that this god , in humane flesh , came as the messiah , the saviour of the world , so long before promised , and so long expected : how ought this to fill our hearts with joy and thankfulness ? how should it move us to pour out our souls in benedictions to god for having thus visited and redeemed his people ? and putting us into that dispensation which so many holy men , for so many ages , wished to see , but did not see it ; nay , and which the angels themselves desired to look into ; and which the jews for rejecting , at the time it was published , are , to this day , a standing monument of god's displeasure and vengeance . if we consider the many evidences , that this our saviour gave at his appearance , of his being the true christ ; how exactly in all the circumstances of his nativity , and all the passages of his life , he fulfilled the prophecies which went before of him ; and how convincing the testimonies were , which god gave to the truth of his mission : how ought this consideration to strengthen our faith in this christ ? to make us constant to the death in owning him for our saviour , our messiah , in opposition to all the pretences of the jews , and infidels , and atheists , and scepticks to the contrary . lastly , if we consider the mean circumstances that this our christ chose to appear in ; so say below the dignity of so great a prince , that there is not the poorest beggar 's child among us , but generally finds better accommodation when it comes into the world : o what a check , what a rebuke ought this to be to that spirit of ambition , and pride , and vain-glory , that too often possesses us poor mortals ? how ought it to take off our admiration , and lessen the too great esteem we are apt to have of all outward pomp and greatness ▪ nay , and to make us despise all the glittering shews and bravery of the world : since god has given us so visible a demonstration , by the sending his own son into it , how little a value he sets upon these things . but , ii. i proceed to the second point , which my text leads me to speak to , and that is the time of our saviour's appearance here mentioned , once hath he appeared in the end of the world. you see here that the time of his appearance is said to be the end of the world. but how is that to be understood ? if we take the expression in the literal sense , and as we commonly use it ; the thing is not true . for there have already passed near seventeen hundred years since our saviour's appearance ; and yet the end of the world is not come , nor do we know when it will. but there will be no difficulty in this matter , if we carefully attend to the phrase the apostle here useth , and interpret it according to the propriety of the language in which it is delivered . the word in my text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which every body , that is versed in the style of the new testament , knows may be better and more naturally rendred the consummation or conclusion of the ages , than the end of the world. for the understanding this phrase , we must have recourse to the known idiom of the jews , who used to speak of the several oeconomies and dispensations , under which the world successively had been , or was to be , as of so many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or ages . the last of which ages , and the accomplishment and completion of all of them , they held to be the age of the messia● ; beyond which they knew there was to be no other age or oeconomy . with reference to this way of speaking , the times of the gospel dispensation are frequently called in scripture , the last times , the last days , the fulness of the times , and in the text , the consummation or shutting up of the ages . the meaning of all which phrases is no more than this . that the times of the gospel , that is , the appearance and revelation of our saviour ; though god intended them from the beginning , yet should they be the last of all times . there should be several dispensations set on foot in the world before they came ; and when those times were fufilled , when the ends of those dispensations were accomplished , then should our saviour appear , and begin his kingdom which should never be succeeded by any other . this is the true meaning of christ's appearing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as the text expresseth it , that is , not ( as we translate it ) in the end of the world , but in the last of the ages , or at the time when the ages were fulfilled and accomplished . now what use we are to make of this consideration , the apostle himself doth fairly intimate to us in the beginning of this epistle : god , saith he , who at sundry times and in diverse manners , spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets , hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son , whom he hath made heir of all things , and by whom he made the worlds . and so he goes on to set forth the incomparable dignity and preheminence of this last messenger of god , above that of either angels or men , by whom he had spoke to mankind before . but what is the inference he draws from all this ? why , that you may see in the beginning of the second chapter . we ought therefore ( saith he ) to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard ( that is to say , the doctrine of the gospel ) lest at any time we let them slip . for if the word spoken by angels was stedfast , and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward ; how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation as was spoken to us by the lord jesus ? the apostle's argument here proceeds on this manner . god's revelation of his will to mankind , and the discovery of his grace and goodness was not all at once , but gradual and by parts . he first spake to mankind by the patriarchs who were burning and shining lights in their generations . he afterwards singles out the nation of the jews to be his peculiar people , and to them he gives a written law which was delivered to them by angels in the hand of moses their mediator ( as the apostle speaks in the third of the galatians ) which law was a shadow or dark representation of the good things which were afterward to be revealed . after this he sends prophets in a continual succession for several ages , who do more clearly discover god's will to them ; who call upon them to holiness and virtue ; and who speak in very plain terms of that great salvation which god should one day manifest to the world. and last of all , as the lord of the vineyard in the parable dealt with his husband-men , who after he had sent servants one after another , of different qualities and degrees , at last sent his own son : so at last , i say , did the great lord of the world , when the fulness of the time was come , send his own son to be his embassador to mankind , his own son who was the brightness of his glory , and the express image of his person . if now , as the apostle here argues : if under the former dispensations when god only declared his will by angels or by prophets , he was yet so severe that no transgression or disobedience escaped without a just recompence of vengeance ; how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation , as that was , which in these last days was preached by iesus christ ? how can we escape , if these last and greatest methods of god for our good , and in which all the treasures of his wisdom and goodness are displayed ; i say , if these have no effect upon us in order to the making us both holy and happy . what teachers , what instructers can we further expect ? what new lights or assistances do we yet wait for ? can any one think that god should set on foot some other new dispensation for the bringing off those wretched people upon whom this last could prevail nothing ? do we dream of another covenant , or another mediator between god and man , besides christ jesus ? do we fancy that god will send some other embassador or saviour into the world after he hath sent his own son ? or that the son of god will come a second time in humane flesh , and again be crucified for us ? no certainly , god hath afforded the last and greatest means for man's salvation , and no other is ever to be expected . christ hath once appeared in the end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself ; and to those that believe in him , and love him , and obey him , will be appear the second time to their salvation . but never will he appear again to make a new reconciliation for those men , that are not reconciled to god by his first appearance . to such ( as our apostle speaks in the tenth chapter ) there remains no more sacrifice for sin , but a fearful expectation of iudgment and fiery indignation to consume the adversaries . iii. the third general point i am to insist on from the text is the end of our saviour's appearance ; and that is here said to be the putting away of sin. once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin. this is that which the scripture every where assigns as the business and design of christ's coming . to run over all the particular texts would be tedious in so plain a case . i shall therefore only name one or two . this is the account that s. john gives of his appearance , . ep. ch. . ye know , saith he , that he was manifested to take away our sins . and again , this is the account that the angel gives to joseph a little before his birth , mat. . . fear not , saith he , to take unto thee mary thy wife , for that which is conceived in her is of the holy ghost . and she shall bring forth a son , and thou shalt call his name iesus , for he shall save his people from their sins . he was called jesus because he was designed by god to be our saviour ; for so much that word imports . and he is therefore our saviour , because he saves his people from their sins , which is in the words of the text , to put them away . but what is it to be saved from our sins , or to have our sins put away ? since the salvation we have by christ doth consist in this , it is fit we should a little more particularly insist on it . in answer therefore to this question , we say that two things are implyed in christ's putting away sin. first his saving or delivering us from the guilt of our sins , and the punishment due to them . secondly his saving or delivering us from the power and dominion of them . in these two things consists the salvation obtained for us by jesus christ ; and if either of them was wanting , or was not effected , he would not be a compleat saviour . first christ appeared to put away sin , by delivering us from the guilt and punishment of it ; that is to say , by procuring for us the pardon and remission of it . this is the salvation which zachary in his hymn foretels john baptist should publish to the world , luke . to give knowledge of salvation to his people for the remission of their sins . and this is that redemption of christ which s. paul speaks of , coloss. . in whom we have redemption through his blood , even the forgiveness of sins . and lastly , s. paul s sermon to the gentiles is , be it known unto you men and brethren , that through this man iesus christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins , and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of moses , acts . and therefore much less certainly by the law of nature . the effect of these texts is , that all mankind are sinners , are concluded under sin , are become guilty before god ▪ as the apostle speaks . the most innocent person is not excepted . all without exception have by their sins fallen short of the glory of god. means now for the freeing themselves from the guilt of these sins they have none , nor is it possible they should have , for that wholly depends upon the pleasure of him to whom they have rendred themselves obnoxious ; and that is god , the governour of the world. here therefore appears the infinite mercy of god , and the kindness of our saviour . the eternal word interposeth and offers himself to become man , and in that person to make satisfaction for the sins of the world. and god accepts the terms . and hereupon a covenant is made between god and mankind ; wherein god for his part upon account of this mediation of christ , promises forgiveness of all sins , to all true penitents all the world over . o joyful tidings these ! what ease is here to wounded consciences ? what comfort to despairing sinners ? what encouragement to all men every where to repent . if we consider mankind in their pure naturals , and as without christ jesus , this plainly was their case . they did believe a supreme god ; and their reason it is likely would tell them that god was good and merciful . but yet this reason could discover no more than god's general goodness to them that all along endeavoured to please and approve themselves to him. but as for his willingness to pardon and forgive sinners , especially those that had offended him by very grievous crimes , or lived in a long habitual course of wickedness ; this they could not conclude from their reason . nay if they did reason as they justly might , they might rather be inclined to believe that he would not pardon such criminals . for as their reason told them , that god was good : so the same reason told them that he was just , and had an infinite regard to the honour and reputation of his laws . which laws , their own consciences told them , they had heinously transgressed ; nor had they any thing wherewith to compensate or make satisfaction for the transgression of them : and therefore what could they expect from so just a god , but to undergo the punishment they had deserved . this was a very uncomfortable reasoning . and yet such a one it was , as there was no answer to be given to , in the state of nature ; and therefore in what a melancholy condition were mankind all the while ? what encouragement had they seriously to set upon the amendment of their wicked lives ? or , if they did , what fruit , what comfort could they promise to themselves by such amendment ? but blessed be god that hath removed us out of these uncertainties ; blessed be god that hath given us the greatest assurance that is possible , of his love and kindness to the greatest of sinners ; and consequently laid the greatest obligation upon all mankind to turn from their evil ways . he hath sent his son , his only son into the world , on purpose to assure us of his good will to us ; to give a demonstration of the unfeigned love and kindness that he bears to every soul of the sons of adam ; that he would not have any of them perish , but that they should all come to the knowledge of the truth , and be saved . this son of his , doth most solemnly in the name of his father , proclaim pardon and remission of sins to every one that should believe in him. there is no sinner excepted , even the oldest , the greatest , the most enormous of sinners , if they will come in and and submit to the yoke of jesus christ , have his certain promise that they shall be received . and least any one should fear the divine justice , upon account that there is no satisfaction made to it for his sins : our lord hath taken care to remove that objection . for he by the unvaluable merits of his person , and the free unconstrained offering up of himself to an ignominious death upon the cross , on the behalf of mankind , hath made a full , compleat , and entire satisfaction to god's justice for all the sins of the world , from the beginning to the end thereof . so that now every one hath free access to god , and a right to his favour through the blood of jesus christ. and tho we have been never so bad , never so unworthy ; yet if we have but the hearts to forsake our sins , and to come to jesus christ , we shall as certainly obtain the acceptance and the love of our heavenly father , as if we had been innocent and never sinned at all . nay god is not only willing to receive us , but he earnestly begs and sollicits us to take his mercy . and so pleased he is at the return of a sinner , that our saviour has told us there is joy in heaven over such a one . nay more joy among the angels over a sinner that repenteth ; than over ninety nine just persons that need no repentance . o how welcome ought this news to be to us ? how transported should we be at the infinite kindness of god manifested to us by our saviour ? o! praised be god for his astonishing love. for ever adored be our lord jesus , that has made a propitiation for us by his blood. o let us for ever kiss and hug the pretious unvaluable scriptures of the new testament , if there was nothing else in them but that faithful saying , that saying , worthy of all men to be received , that iesus christ came into the world to save sinners ; to save you , and me , and all sinners , even the greatest of sinners . o , who is there that is in his wits , would chuse to be out of the christian dispensation ; or be left to the methods of nature and philosophy for the attaining their happiness , as some loose people among us do sometimes talk ▪ were the natural talents of mankind exalted far above what they either are , or ever have been ; yet i would value that one saying , that jesus christ came into the world to save sinners , more than all the notions and speculations of reason and philosophy . i would desire to know nothing but iesus christ , and him crucified . i would , with the apostle , count all things as loss , nay , as dung , in comparison of the excellency of the knowledge of christ iesus my saviour ; and that i may be found in him , not having my own righteousness , which is by nature , but that righteousness which is by the faith of iesus christ , who gave himself for me . and thus much of christ's appearing to put away sin , in the first notion of that expression . but secondly , christ appeared also to put away sin in another sense : that is to say , to destroy the power and dominion of it from among men ; to abolish it , so as that it should not henceforth reign in our mortal bodies . to free us from sin , as the apostle speaks , that is , to enable us to lead holy and virtuous lives . so that whereas mankind heretofore yielded their members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity ; so they should now yield their members servants to righteousness unto holiness . thus to put away sin was as principal an end of christ's coming as the other before mentioned , nay perhaps more principal : for the other , in true reasoning , may be said to be wholly in order to this . certain it is , unless this end be attained , the other will signifie nothing to us : for we are not capable of any benefit from the remission of sin which was purchased for us by christ , until our sins be put away by repentance , and we become holy persons by the change and renewal of our natures . never therefore let us deceive our selves . though christ hath actually put away all the sins of the world in the former sense by his satisfaction ; that is to say , hath procured the pardon of them ; hath taken away the sting of them , so as that they shall not be deadly to any : yet all this is upon supposition that the strength of them he taken away in us ; that they 〈◊〉 no dominion over us ; that we mortifie them in all our members ; that we daily die to them , and live a life o● righteousness . all that christ merited or purchased for the world , will not do us the least good , unless we be made conformable to him in his death and resurrection , by our dying to sin and living to righteousness . and in truth , if we will mind it , the putting away sin in this sense of it , hath as great weight laid upon it in scripture , and is as often assigned for the great end and business of christs appearance as the other . s. john tells us plainly , that for this purpose was the son of god manifested , that he might destroy the works of the devil . and s. paul likewise tells us , that he therefore gave himself for us , that he might redeem us from all iniquity , and purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works . and lastly , s. peter gives the same account of his coming , acts . . where he tells us , that therefore god raised up his son iesus , that is , sent him into the world ( for his raising up there spoken of , as any one will see that looks into the context , was not his being raised from the dead , but his being manifested to mankind . for here the apostle's business is to apply that promise or prophesie of moses unto our saviour , viz. that god would in due thim raise up to his people a prophet like unto him , whom they should all be obliged to hearken to . ) i say therefore god raised up his son iesus , i.e. sent him into the world , that he might bless his people , in turning every one of them from their iniquities . this turning every one from their iniquities was the great end for which our lord jesus christ was manifested unto mankind . and indeed reason will teach us all this as well as revelation . for in the nature of the thing , none can be truly happy but those that are truly pious . and in the same degree and proportion that any one is wicked , or is under the power of his lusts in the same degree he must needs be miserable . so that if christ came to be our saviour , and in that , meant either to make us happy , or to keep us from being miserable ; there was an absolute necessity that his first and principal design must be to root our of our nature all sin and wickedness ; and to restore the image of god in our minds , which consists in unchangeable purity and holiness and goodness . away therefore with all those hypotheses that give such an account of christs coming into the world , as to make the ultimate end of it , to be the freeing us from hell and damnation , and purchasing heaven and eternal life for us , but without any respect had to the renewing our natures , or the making us sincerely holy and virtuous . all such accounts of christ's undertaking , are monstrously unreasonable and absurd . for not to insist upon the manifest affront they put upon god's justice and holiness , in making him the great patron of sin , whilst they assert him to be the justifier of wicked men even whilst they continue wicked . you cannot , as i said , but see ( in the first place ) how very much such doctrins do disparage the love of our saviour and lessen his undertaking ▪ for whilst he is here supposed to have redeemed us only from his fathers wrath , and the punishment consequent thereupon ; leaving us in the mean time to the wickedness and impurity of our own nature , which alone without the accession of any other external evil , is a misery great enough : he is hereby rendred but half a saviour ; one that freed us indeed from an external evil , but left us irremediably exposed to an internal one , as grievous as the other . one that delivered us from the apprehensions of a gibbet , or an executioner ▪ but could not or would not cure us of the inward sicknesses and maladies , under which we languished . but this is not all . in the second place , it ought to be taken notice of , what an absurd inconsistent notion this kind of doctrine gives us of the happiness of mankind . for whilst they suppose that a man under the power and dominion of sin , is capable of that happiness which christ purchased for us in the other world ( which happiness as both scripture and reason testifie , doth chiefly consist in the enjoyment of god , and of his excellencies and perfections ) : they must at the same time suppose , that a man may be rendred happy by the enjoyment of that of which he has no sense , no perception ; or rather , to speak properly , that he is the happiest creature alive in the enjoyment of an object to which he has the greatest a version and antipathy in the world. which , if it be not an absurdity , i know not what is . when light can have communion with darkness , when god can have fellowship with belial ; then , and not till then , can a wicked man , a man that lives in sin , and loves it , he capable of that happiness which jesus christ hath purchased for us . iv. the fourth thing i should speak to from this text , is the means by which our saviour brought to pass the great end of his appearance . viz. the putting away of sin . which means are said to be the sacrifice of himself . now once in the end of the world , hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself . two things should be done in order to a just discourse upon this point . first , to give an account , how the death of christ was a means for the putting away of sin in the first sense i gave , that is , the procuring the pardon of it . secondly , how it was a means of putting it away in the other sense , that is , the destroying or mortifying it in us . but these things being foreign to our present business , and more proper for the argument of a good-friday sermon . i shall say no more of them , but proceed to my last point . v. the fifth and last thing observable from the text , is the difference of christ's sacrifice whereby he put away sin from the mosaical ones . which difference so far as it is here taken notice of , consists in this . that the legal sacrifices for the expiation of sin were daily offered ; but christ offered the sacrifice of himself but once . once in the end of the world , &c. the apostle in this chapter is discoursing of the difference between the law and the gospel . and as to that point , he insists much on the difference of their sacrifices . the christians that owned the gospel had but one sacrifice , the sacrifice of christ once offered ; whereas those that were under the law were forced to have many . nay even the most solemn sacrifice that god had appointed for the expiation of their sins was repeated once a year , as the apostle tells us in the verse before my text. but now the sacrifice of christ , which he puts by way of opposition to theirs , that was but once offered , and was never to be repeated . this is the point with which he concludes this chapter ; two verses after my text , christ , saith he , was once offered to bear the sins of many , and unto there that look for him shall be appear the second time unto salvation . this is the apostle's doctrine , and i insist on it now , because all those that design on this day to receive the holy sacrament are concerned in it . let us from hence take notice , that in this service of the holy communion , we are not to pretend to offer christ as a sacrifice to his father ▪ his sacrifice was but once to be offered , and that was done years ago , and in the virtue of that sacrifice once offered , all faithful christians and sincere penitents shall receive remission of sins , and all other benefits of his passion ▪ but for us to think of offering christ again as a sacrifice , is in effect to put our selves into the same rank and condition with the unbelieving jewes , that is , to need the repetition of the same sacrifices every year , nay every day , which is the very reason for which the apostle denys the efficacie of them . we do not indeed deny , but that every time we approach to the lord's table for the receiving of the holy communion , we offer sacrifices to god : for we offer our alms , which we beg of god to accept as our oblations ; and these in the language of scripture , are sacrifices with which god is well pleased . we likewise offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to god for the death of our saviour . and all our prayers and supplications we put up in his name , and in the virtue , and for the merits of that sacrifice he offered to god in our behalf : and in so doing we commemorate that sacrifice both to god , and before men. and this is all , we are confident , that the ancient church meant , by the great christian sacrifice or the sacrifice of the altar . but if we go further , if we will in the communion pretend to offer up the body and blood of christ in sacrifice to god , that was once sacrificed upon the cross : it is intolerable . it is a thing that was never dreamed of in the first ages of the church : it is directly contradictory to the foundation of all the apostles argument and discourse here in the text ; and the very supposal of it brings along with it many grievous ▪ absurdities in the theory , and something that looks like impious in the practice . and yet this is the constant and avowed doctrine and practice of the church of rome , in every sacrament they have , and that is in every mass that is said among them . the main business of that mystery they make to consist in the priest's offering up to god the very body and blood of christ , the same body and blood that was once offered up at jerusalem ; this they pretend to offer up as a sacrifice every day : and they attribute to this their offering the same virtue and efficacy that the apostles and all christians have always attributed to the one sacrifice of christ upon the cross ; that is , that it is a true propitiatory sacrifice for the living and for the dead : and none among them dare deny this , under pain of an anathema , as the council of trent hath ordered the matter . good god! whither will interest and faction and zeal for a party transport men ? but it is not my business to expose them , but to put you in mind of what concerns our selves , namely , as i said , that when we come to the lord's table , we do not approach thither with a belief that our lord jesus is there again offered , but only with a design to commemorate his sacrifice that was once offered . we come not thither to sacrifice christ , but to be partakers of his sacrifice . we are not to feast god ; but god there feasts us , and that with the best food in the world ; such food as will nourish us to eternal life , if we be worthy guests : only we must not appear before god empty at this solemnity : we must offer to him of our substance : we must offer our prayers and supplications , not only for our selves , but for all the world ; but more especially for all that are called by the name of christ ; and among those , most particularly for our own church and kingdom , and all orders and degrees of men therein . we must offer likewise our selves , our souls and bodies a living sacrifice , holy and acceptable to god , which is our reasonable service . and lastly , to conclude , we must offer our most hearty and affectionate thanks to god almighty , for that incomprehensible instance of his love , in sending christ jesus to us to be our saviour ; for his wonderful birth , for his holy life , for his pretious death , for his glorious resurrection and ascension , and for his intercession for us at the right hand of god. and o thou blessed saviour that hast done all this for us , give us such a lively sense of thy marvelous love in leaving thy glory , and taking humane flesh upon thee , that thou mightest dwell among us , and instruct us in our duty , and assist us in the performance of it , and encourage thereto by the glorious hopes of a never dying life , and at last make thy self an offering for our sins : o let these things sink so deeply into our minds , and so wholly possess our hearts , that we may entirely give up our selves to thee : that we may with our whole souls embrace all thy doctrines and revelations : that we may endeavour in all our actions to conform our selves to thy example ; and make it the business of our lives to be obedient to thy precepts , to submit to thy will , and to be contented to be disposed of by thee in all the circumstances of our lives . o let nothing in thy religion ever be an offence to us . but enable us to hold the profession of our faith in thee without wavering , in all the tryals and difficulties thou shalt think fit to expose us to that so in faith and obedience , in patience and perseverance , we may ever wait for , and at last obtain that crown of righteousness which thou hast laid up for all that love thee , and expect thy second and more glorious appearance . to thee , o eternal son of god , thou great lover of mankind ; to thee , who tookest upon thee to deliver man , and didst not abhor the virgins womb ; to thee , who overcamest the sharpness of death , and didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers ; to thee , o most dear , o most beloved , o most adorable jesus , be for ever given by us , and by all the souls whom thou hast redeemed , and by all the creatures in heaven and earth ; all honor , and glory , and praise , all service and love and obedience , henceforth and for evermore . finis . a letter concerning christmasse sent to a knight in suffolke by that reverent father in god dr. joseph hall ... hall, joseph, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing h ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a letter concerning christmasse sent to a knight in suffolke by that reverent father in god dr. joseph hall ... hall, joseph, - . [ ], - p., [ ] leaf of plates : port. printed by e.c. for fran grove ..., london : . engraved frontispiece portrait of author opposite t.p. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. eng christmas. a r (wing h ). civilwar no a letter concerning christmasse sent to a knight in suffolke by that reverent father in god dr. joseph hall ... hall, joseph c the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the c category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - derek lee sampled and proofread - derek lee text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion vera effigies reverendi doni . iosephi hall norwici nuper episcopi a letter concerning christmasse ; sent to a knight in suffolke : by that reverent father in god dr. joseph hall , late lord bishop of norwich . london , printed by e.c. for fran grove , dwelling on snow-hill . . to the reader . i here present you with a true copie of a letter sent by dr. joseph hall , late of norwich bishop , to the right worshipfull sir iohn wentworth knight , in suffolke ; and this iaverre to be transcribed by me iohn smith from the bishops own hand-writting , and i wish it as good success as st. pauls letter to the corinthians had ( that you may not read it with prejuduce ) that ye sorrow godly , so that in nothing ye be hurt therby . and rather then this so worthy a letter should have been obscured ● one familie i have ventured it to the publick ; that they may save the good that was meant to my noble friend and kinsman before mentioned , and that that hvmble and meeke author ( and saint now in abrahams-bosom ; might have his due of all . now the lord grace us with all spirituall blessings , till he bring us to glory the perfection of grace ; for the attainment of which , together with all external prosperity , and temporal felicitie in this life , you shall never want the instant prayer of , john smith , gent. a letter concerning christmass , sent to a knight in suffolke . by that reverent father in god dr. joseph hall , the late lord bishop of norwich . sir , with my loving remembrance , &c. it cannot but be a great griefe to any wise and moderate christian , to see zealous and well meaning soules carried away after the giddy humour of their new tea●ers , to a contempt of all holy and reverant antiquitie ; and to an eager affectation of novel fancies , even whilst they cry out most utterly against innovation ; when the practice and judgement of the whole christian world , even from the daies of the blessed apostles to this present age , is pleaded , for ●●y forme of government , or laudable observation , they are streight taught that old things are passed , and that all things are become new ; making their word good by so new , and unheard of an interpretation of scripture , whereby they may as justly argue the introducing of a new church , a new gospel , a new religion , with the annulling of the old ; and that they may not want an alsufficient patronage of their fond conceit , our blessed saviour himself is brought in , who in his sermon on the mount controlled the antiquity of the pharisaical glosses of the law . mat. . , . ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old , thus and thus ; but i say unto you thus & thus , & as if the son of god in checking the upstart antiquities of a misgrounded & unreasonable tradition , meant to condemn the truly ancient and commendable customs of the whole christian church , which all sober and judicious christians are wont to look upon with meet respect and reverence : and certainly whosoever shall have set down this resolution with himself to sleight those , either institutions or practices which are derived to us from the primitive times , and have ever since been entertained by the whole church of christ upon earth , that man hath laid sufficient foundation of schismes and dangerous singularities : and doth that which the most eminent of the fathers st. augustine , chargeth with no less then the most insolent madness , insolenti sini est , &c. for me and my friends , god give us grace to take the advice which our saviour gave his spouse , to go forth by the footsteps of the flock , and to feed our kids besides the shepherds tents , canticle . and to walk in the sure paths of uncorrupt antiquity , for the celebration of the solemn feast of our saviours nativity , resurrection , ascension , and the coming down of the holy ghost , which you say is cryed down by your zealous lecturers : one would think these should be reasons enough in those wonderfull and unspeakable benefits , which those days serve to commemorate unto us ; for ( to instance in the said feast of the nativity ) when the angel brought the news of that blessed birth to the jewish shepherds : behold ( saith he ) i bring you good tidings of great joy , which shall be unto all people ; for unto you is born this day a saviour , luke . . if then the report of this blessing were the best tidings of the greatest joy that ever was , or ever could be possibly incident unto mankinde , why should not the commemoration thereof be answerable : where we conceive the greatest joy , what should hinder us to express it in a joyfull festivity ; but you are taught to say the day conferred nothing on the blessing : that every day we should with equal thankfulness remember this inestimable benefit of the incarnation of the son of god . so as a set aniversary day is altogether needless . know then and consider , that the all-wise god , who knew it fit that his people should every day think of the great work of the creation , and of that miraculous deliverance of the egyptian servitude , and should daily give honour to their almighty creator and deliverer ; yet ordained one day of seven for the more special recognition of these marvellous works , as well knowing , how apt we are to forget those duties , wherewith we are only encharged in common , without the designement of a particular renumeration : besides , the same reason will hold proportionable against any monethly or annual celebration whatsoever : the jews should have been much to blame , if they had not every day thankfully remembred the great deliverance which god wrought for them from the bloody design of cruel haman : yet it was thought requisite , if not necessary , that there should be two special days of purim set apart for the aniversary memorial of that wonderful preservation , the like may be said for the english purim of november . it is well in besides the general tye of our thankfulness , a precise day ordained by authority can enough quicken our unthankful dulness to give god his own for so great a mercy : shall we say it is the work of the year , what needs a day ? as therefore no day should pass over our heads without a gratefull acknowledgement of the great mysterie of god incarnate : so withall the wisdom of the primitive church , no doubt but by the direction of the holy ghost hath pitched upon one special day wherein we should intirely devote our thoughts to the meditation of this work which the angels of heaven cannot enough admire . but we are told , that perhaps we misse of the day , since the season is litigious , uncertain , unknown , and in all likelyhood other then our december , and that it is purposely not revealed , that it may not be kept . as to the first , i deny not that the just day is not certainly known , the great saviour of the world , that would have his second coming without observation going before it , would have his first coming without observation following it : he meant to come down without noise , without a recorded notice , even in the second hundred so ancient we are sure this festivity is . there was question and different opinions of the season , the just knowledge and determination whereof , matters nothing at all to the duty of our celebration ; most sure we are that such a day there was , and no less sure that it was the happiest day that ever lookt forth into the world : it is all one to us , whether this day , or that , we content our selves with this , that it hath pleased the church for many hundred years to ordain this day for the commemoration of that transcendent blessing , what care we to stand upon these . hours that made up the artificial day wherein this wonderfull work was wrought , which we are sure cannot be much changed by so many intercalations , so long and constant a practise of the christian church upon so holy grounds , it is no less warrant to us , then if an angel from heaven should have revealed unto us the just hour of this blessed nativitie . as to the second , surely , whosoever shall tell you , that god did purposely hide this day from us that it might escape a celebration , as he concealed the burial of moses to avoid the danger of an idolatrous adoration , makes himself a presumptuous commentator upon the actions of the almighty ; when did god tell him so ? or what revelation can he pretend for so bold an assertion ? if this were the matter , why then did not the same god , with equal caution conceal the day of the passion , resurrection , & ascension of our blessed saviour , and of the descent of the holy ghost , the observation of all which days , is with no less vehemency , and upon the same danger cried down by these scrupulous persons ; either therefore let him say that god would have these other feast days observed because he would have them known to the world , or yield that he did not therefore conceal the day of the nativity of christ , because he would not have it observed . but you hear it said , there is popery and superstition in keeping that day . tell those that suggest so , that they cast a foul slander upon the saints of god in the primitive church , upon the holy and learned fathers , who preached , and wrote so , and kept the feast of christs nativity ; which sacred solemnity many hundred years before popery was hatched , and that they little know what wrong they do to religion and themselves , and what honour they put upon that superstition which they profess to detest , in ascribing that to popery which was the meer act of holy and devout christians . but to colour this plea , you are taught that the mysterie of iniquity began early to work , even in the very apostolick times ; and that antichrist did secretly put in his claw before his whole body appeared . surely there is a singular use wont to be made of this shift by those which would avoid the countenance of all primitive authority , to any displeasing ( however lawfull and laudible ) institutions and practises : so the anabaptists tels us , that the baptizing of infants is one of the timely workings of the mysterie of iniquity ; so the blasphemous nestorians of our time tell us that the mysterie of the blessed trinity of persons in the unity of one godhead , is but an ancient device of antichrist , working under hand before his formal exhibition . every sort is apt to make this challenge , and therefore it behooves us wisely to distinguish betwixt those things which men did as good christians , and those which they did as engaged to their own private , or to the more common interest of others : what advantage can we conceive it might be to antichrist , that christ should have a day celebrated to the memory of his blessed birth , and that devout christians should meet together in their holy assemblies , to praise god for the benefit of that happy incarnation : and what other effect could be expected from so religious a work , but glory to god and edification to men ? who can suppose that the enemy of christ should gain by the honour done to christ ? away therefore with this groundless imagination , and let us be so popish , so superstitious , as those holy fathers , and doctors of the primitive church , famous for learning and piety , who lived and died devout observers of this christian festival . but you are bidden to aske what warrant we find in the word of god ( which is to be the rule of all our actions ) for the solemn keeping of this day ? in answer you may tell that questionist , that to argue from the scripture negatively in things of this nature is somewhat untheological . aske you him again with better reason , what scripture he findes to forbid it , for if that be unlawfull to be done , which is not in gods word commanded ▪ then much rather that which is not there forbidden , cannot be unlawfull to be done : generall grounds of edification , decency , peaceable conformity to the injunctions of our spiritual governors , are in these cases more then enough to build our practice upon : if it be replyed that we are injoyned six dayes to labour , and forbidden to observe dayes and times as being part of the jewish pedoegogie ( two common pretences with which the eyes of the jgnorant are wont to be bleared ) know that for the first , it is not so much preceptive , as permissive , neither was it the intentions of the almighty to interpose the command of humane affaires in the first table of his royal law , wherein himselfe and his service is imediately concern'd , in such like expressions ; mayst , and shalt , are equivalent and promiscvovsly used , that instance is clear and pregnant , gen. . . the lord , ( saith the text ) commanded the man , saying , eating thou shalt eat of every tree in the garden , which our last version renders well to the sense : thou mayst freely eat of every tree of the garden . and if that charge in the th . commandment were absolute and peremptory , what humane authority could dispense with those large threds of time , which we usually cut out of the six days for sacred occasions , what warrant could we have to intermit our work for a daily lecture ; or a monethly fast , or for an aniversary fifth of november ; and if notwithstanding this command of god it be allowed to be in the power of man , whether soveraign ( as constantine appropriated it ) or spiritual , to ordain the setting of some set parcels of time to holy uses , why should it be stuck at in the appropriating and observing the pious and usefull celebration of this festival . as for that other suggestion of the apostles taxation of observing days and times ; any one that hath but half an eye may see that it hath respect to those judaical holy days , which were part of the ceremonial law , now long since out of date , as being of typical signification , and shadows of things to come , should we therefore go about to revive those jewish feasts , or did we erect any new day to an essential part of the worship of god ? or place holiness in it as such ? we should justly incur that blame which the apostles cast upon the galatians and colossians , false teachers ; but to wrest this forbiddance to a christian solemn purity , which is meerly commemoration of a blessing received , without any prefiguration of things to come , without any opinion of holiness anexed to the day , is no other then injurious violence . vpon all this which hath been said , and upon a serious weighing of what ever may be further alledged to the contrary , i dare confidently affirm that there is no just reason why good christians should not withall godly cheerfulness observe this , which that holy father stiled the metropolis of all feasts , to which i add that those , which by their example and doctrine sleight this day , causing their people to dishonour it with their worst cloaths , with shops open , with servile works , stand guilty before god of an high and sinfull contempt of that lawfull authority under which they live ; for as much by the statutes of our land made by the full concurrence of king and state : this is commanded to be kept holy by all english subjects , and this power is backed by the charge of god ; submit your selves to every ordinance of man for the lords sake . if now after all this i should let my pen loose to the suffragant testjmonies , whether of antiquity , or modern divines , and reformed churches , i should tire your patience , and instead of a letter send you a volume , let it suffice , that ever since the second ▪ years after christ , this feast hath without contradiction obtained due respect in the church of god , & received many noble elogies and passionate inforcements from the learned and holy fathers of the church , amongst the rest that of gregory nazianzen [ in his orations upon the day of the nativity of christ ] is so remarkable , that i may not omit it , as that which sets forth the excess of joyfull respect wherewith the ancient christians were wont to keep this day . let us saith he , celebrate this feast , not in a panegyrical , but divine , not in a worldly , but supersecular manner : not regarding so much our selvs , or others ; as the worship of christ , and how shall we effect this ? not with crowning our doors with garlands , nor leading of dances , nor adorning our streets , not by feeding our eyes , not by delighting our ears with pleasant songs , not by effeminating our smell with perfumes , not with humouring our taste with dainties , not with pleasing our touch , not with silken & costly cloaths , and not with the sparkling jewels , not with the luster of gold , not with the artifice of counterfeit colours ; let us leave these things to pagans ; for their pomp , &c. but we who adore the word of the father , if we think fit to affect delicacies , let us feed our selves with the dainties of the law of god , and with those divine discourses , especiall which are fitting for this present festival . so that learned and eloquent father to his auditors of constantinople , where to , let me ( if you please ) have leave to add one or two practical instances , one shall be of the good emperour theodosius , lying now for eight moneths under the severe censure of bishop ambrose when the feast of the nativity drew neer , what moan did that religious prince make to his courtiers , that he was by that resolute bishop shut out ( for his blood-guiltiness ) from partaking with the assembly in that holy service , and what importunate means did he make for his admission , hist. tri . partit . lib. . cap. . had that gracious emperour been of the diet of these our new divines he would have sleighted that repulse , and gladly taken this occasion of absense from that superstitious solemnity , or had one of these grave monitors been at his elbow , he might have saved that pious prince the expence of many sighs and tears , which now he bestowed upon his abstention from that dearly affected devotion . the other shal be a history of as much note , as horror , too clear a proofe of the ancient celebration of this feastival , it was under the tyrany of dioclesian , and his co-partner maximinus , nicephor . . . ca. . that . christians met to celebrate the feast of this nativity in the large church of nicomedia , which were made an holocaust , and burnt together with that goodly fabrick to ashes on that day ; lo so great a multitude as . christians of al ages , of both sexes , had not thus mett together in a time of so mortal danger , to celebrate this feast , if the holy zeal of their duty had not told them they ought to keep that day , which these novellers teach us to contemne . now let these bold men see , of how contrary a disposition they are to those , blessed martyrs , which as this day sent up their soules ( like manoahs angel ) to heaven in those flames . after thus much said , i should be glad to know ( since reason there can be none ) what authority induces these gain-saiers to oppose so antient & received a custome in the church of god ; you tell me of a double testimony cyted to this purpose , the one of socrates the historian , which i suppose is fetched out of the th . book of eclesiastical story chap. . where upon occasion of the feast of easter , he passeth his judgement upon the indeffrent nature of all those ancient feasts which were of use in the primitive times , shewing , that the apostles never meant to make any law for the keeping them , but left men to the free observation thereof . for answer whereunto , i do not tell you that this author is wont to be impeached of novatianism , and therefore may seem fit to yield patronage to such a clyent ; i rather say , that take him at the worst , he is no enemy to our opinion , or practice , we agree with him that the apostles would have men free from servitude of the jewish observation of days , that they enacted no law for set festivals , but left persons and places so to their liberty in these cases , that none should impose a necessity upon others ; this were to be pressed upon victor bishop of rome , who violently obtruded a day for the celebration of easter upon all churches ( supposing in the mean time an easter universally kept of all christians , though not on the same day . ) this makes nothing against us , who place no holiness in the very hours , nor plead any apostolicall injunction for days , nor tye any person , or church to our strict calender , but only hold it fit out of obedience to the laws both of our church and kingdom , to continue a joyfull celebration of a memorial day to the honour of our blessed saviour : but that other authority which you tell me was urged to this purpose , i confess doth not a little amaze me : it was , you say , of k. james our learned soveraign of late & blessed memory , whose testimony was brought in before the credulous people ( not without the just applause of a solomon-like-wisdom ) as crying down these festivals : and in a certain speech of his applauding the purity of the church of scotland above that of geneva , for that it observed not the common feasts of christs nativity & resurrection , &c. is it possible , that any mouth could name that wife and good king , in such a cause , whom all the world knows to have been as zealous a patron of these festivals , as any lived upon earth ; and if he had let fall any such speech before he had any down upon his chin , & whiles he was under the ferule , what candor is it to produce it now to the contradiction of his better experience , and riper judgement : nay , is it not famously known that it was one of the main errands of his journey into his native kingdom of scotland , to reduce that church into a conformity to the rest of the churches of christendom in the observation of these solemn dayes , and to this purpose was it not one of the main businesses which he set on work in the assembly at perth . [ one of the . articles of perth ] and wherein he imployed the service of his worthy chaplain , dr. young dean of winchester , to recall and re-establish these festivals . and accordingly in pursuance of his majesties earnest desires this way , was it not enacted in that assembly , that the said feasts should be duly kept ? doubtless it was , & that not without much wise care & holy caution , which act because it cannot be had every where , and is well worthy of your notice : and that which clears the point in hand , i have thought good here to insert : the tenor of it , therfore is this , as we abhor the superstitious observation of festivall days by the papist : and detest all licentious and prophane abuse thereof , by the common sort of professors , so we think that the inestimable benefits received from god by our lord iesus christs birth , passion , resurrection , ascension , and sending down of the holy ghost , was commendably and godly remembred at certain particular days , and times , by the whole churches of the world , and may be also now ; therefore the assembly ordains that every minister shall upon these days have the commemoration of the aforesaid inestimable benefits , and make choice of severall pertinent texts of scripture , and frame their doctrine and exhortations thereto , and rebuke all superstitious observation , & licentious prophanation thereof . i could , if it were needfull , give you other proofs of k. iames his zeal for these days : but what should i spend time in proving there is a sun in the heaven , & light in the sun , the name of that great king suffereth for his exces this way . seeing then the church of god , his anointed law , antiquity , and reason , are for us in this point ( and i doubt not but we wil gladly be on their side ) away with all innovations and frivolous quarrels , we were divided enough before , and little needed any new rents ; the god of peace quiet all these distempers , and unite our hearts one to another , and all to himself ; farewell in the lord . finis . the examination and tryall of old father christmas at the assizes held at the town of difference, in the county of discontent. written according to legal proceeding, by josiah king. king, josiah. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing k b). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing k b estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the examination and tryall of old father christmas at the assizes held at the town of difference, in the county of discontent. written according to legal proceeding, by josiah king. king, josiah. p. : ill. printed for thomas johnson, at the sign of the golden key in pauls church-yard, london : . with illustration on a v. copy has print show-through; microfilm lacks p. . reproduction of the original in the bodleian library. eng christmas -- humor -- early works to . a r (wing k b). civilwar no the examination and tryall of old father christmas. at the assizes held at the town of difference, in the county of discontent. written acco king, josiah f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - taryn hakala sampled and proofread - taryn hakala text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion depiction of father christmas behold the majestie and grace — ! of loueing , cheerfull , christmas face . whome many thousands , with one breath : cry out , let him be put to death . who indeede can neuer die : so long as man hath memory . the examination and tryall of old father christmas . at the assizes held at the town of difference , in the county of discontent . written according to legal proceeding , by josiah king . london : printed for thomas johnson , at the sign of the golden key in pauls church-yard , . to the worshipful john hodge , doctor of physick at modbury in devon . sir : pardon i beseech you my presumption , in presenting you this insuing allegory : i must confess , it is too trivial for your grave perusal , yet the reading perhaps may serve to the same end the writing did , which was only recreation ; fancy is a daughter of salomons good houswife ; she will bee spinning before it bee light : sir , i hope you will candidly construe his intention , who is weak in his indeavours , though strong in his desires , and if he could he would not ; or if he would , hee could not , be otherwise than your servant in the bonds of affection . josiah king . to captain thomas prinne , of wembury . sir : in discharge of my promise , i here tender you the service of an old man , let him not be served , like the serving-man , turned away because old ; i hope he will not speak any thing that may offend a chast ear : yet i question not , but there will be evil reports raised on him , and indeed , woe were to him , if all should speak well of him . i know you are ingenious , and besides i have been told , a lover of good tydes : o let them flow ! if they content do bring ; but never ebbe , thus praies your servant king . to momus , or the critick . self-conceited sir , i know thou wilt brag , thy very breath is enough to poyson the muses : how many pots of oyntment hast thou spoyl'd , i know thou wilt be chopping upon my broken stile , but tell me , canst thou expect flowers from him , that never walkt in apollo's garden ? if thou sayest , here is something stolne , i say thou lyest ; it is but borrowed , and that is the method : the author of the isle of man , and i had it from the assizes ; now be advised by me , put thy ears in under thy cap , and shut thy black mouth , and then no body will know thee ; thus saith i. k. to the honest reader . friend : my intent in writing this allegorical tryal of christmas , was not to vent mine opinion upon the observation of the time , he that observes a day as hee should , may keep christmas every day : only herein is expressed some part of those arguments which are used in pleading for , or against the keeping of it : it will be i hope no cause of controversie , there is too much division already , for which there is as much grief of heart : pray for the peace of jerusalem , let them prosper that love it . blessed are those that all dissention hate , and strive to quiet a disturbed state . vale . the tryall of christmas . the day appointed for the assizes being come ; the judge and the sherriffe with the justices of the peace , came to the place where they were to sit : and first i think it would not bee amisse to tell you the names of them ; the judge was called judge hate-bate , the sherriffs name was sir leonard love-peace ; the justices are call'd as followeth ; the first is justice hate-bribe , the second is justice wise , the third justice vpright , the fourth justice doe-good , the fifth justice fearnone ; these with the judge and sheriffe , being setled on the bench , the judge read his commission ; after which , the chief of the prisoners , being one old christmas , was commanded to bee brought to the bar ; then was a jury for life and death to bee impanneld , who are for the common-wealth , and are to give in their verdict according to their evidence , and as they were to be called , there stept up one sir hica busy ▪ and delivered a list to the sheriff , informing him , that the country desired those men whose names were set down , might bee the jury to pass upon old christmas at the bar ; which the sheriffe for quietness sake , delivered to the clerk of the arraignment , to have them called , a company of brave gentlemen , you shall hear them named by and by . the clerk having received the paper , bid the cryer call , as followeth . cler. cryer , call mr. starve-mouse . cr. o yes , mr. starve-mouse . cryer , call mr. all-pride . cr. o yes , mr. all-pride . cryer , call mr. keep-all . cr. o yes , mr. keep-all . cryer , call mr. love-none . cr. o yes , mr. love-none . cryer , call mr. eat-alone . cr. o yes , mr. eat-alone . cryer , call mr. give-little . cr. o yes , mr. give-little . cryer , call mr. hoord-corn . cr. o yes , mr. hoord-corn . cryer , call mr. grutch-meat . cr. o yes , mr. grutch-meat . cryer , call mr. knit-gut . cr. o yes , mr. knit-gut . cryer , call mr. serve-time . cr. o yes , mr. serve-time . cryer , call mr. hate-good . cr. o yes , mr. hate-good . cryer , call mr. cold-kitc●in . cr. o yes , mr. cold-kitchin . then saith the clerk to the cryer , count them , starve-mouse one , all-pride two , keep-all three , love-none four , eat-alone five , give-little six , hoord-corn seven , grutch-meat eight , knit-gut nine , serve-time ten , hate-good eleven , cold-kitchin twelve . then saith the cryer , all you bountiful gentlemen of the jury answer to your names , and stand together , and hear your charge . with that there was such a lamentable groan heard , enough to turn ice into ashes , which caused the judge , and the rest of the bench , to demand what the matter was ; it was replied , that the grave old gentleman christmas , did sound at the naming of the jury ; then it was commanded that they should give him air , and comfort him up , so that hee might plead for himself : and here i cannot passe by in silence the love that was expressed by the country people , some shreeking and crying for the old man ; others striving to hold him up , others hugging him , till they had almost broke the back of him , others running for cordials and strong waters , insomuch that at last they had call'd back his wandring spirits , which were ready to take their last farewell . then said the judge , old man , what 's the matter ? christm . ah good my lord ! i have been grosly abused , and had been trodden under foot , had not these good country people helpt me . judg. but mee thought i heard some say , it was at the naming of the jury ; if thou hast ought justly to except against them , i will hear thee . christm . i heartily thank your honour , and this favour which your lordship hath granted me , hath encouraged me to crave another , and that is , that you be pleased to grant mee the benefit of a councel , in regard of mine age , and defect of memory and expression . besides , the jury are all strangers to mee , as well as enemies : and therefore i desire my councel may be one of this county , that so he may describe the gentlemen of the jury . judg. well christmas , in regard that thou wert a merry old man when i was but a boy , and did often at thy comming make me sport , i have granted thy request , choose thy councellor . christm . i humbly thank your goodnesse my lord . then the old man whispered to a friend , to deliver a fee to councellor crab , and desire him to decypher the jury , and as occasion did offer it self , to plead his cause . the fee being delivered , and accepted , the councellor after this manner spake to the bench . councel . my lord , may it please your honour , this jury which is now impanneld , and to pass their verdict upon old christmas , is illegally chosen , there is not one of them a free-man , and all mortal enemies to this old gentleman . and first of all here is mr. starve-mouse , i wonder how hee dare shew his face in court , the very cats cannot abide him . secondly , here is mr. all-pride , i must confess he hath an estate . but at his house-keeping you may admire , where silken gowns do quench the kitchin fire ; and of his cup , there 's none that ever ●●ste , and break their necks may , sooner than their fast . and when at any time a feast he 'l keep , he in bravado will kill half a sheep . here 's another my lord cald eat-alone , a malefactor my lord , and ought to be condemned by magna charta ; where it is to be found , that one of the lord chief justices own clerks being accused , was forc'd to free himself , and get it recorded , that he eat not his morsel alone . to be short my lord , to eat his breakfast he a corner sought , and in his pocket hath his dinner brought . there 's another of them cald give-little , hee may well be called give nothing , yet the fool will sometimes bragge of his charity ; if he kills but an egge , and give the offall to the needy : he is , my lord , a great benefactor to the poor , but will bestow nothing upon the beggers ; and as for master cold-kitchin , here is his man sam servant , is ready to give oath , that hee hath almost sterved him to death . and for mr. hoord-corn , the people in general all curse him , it is he that makes the epha small , and the shekel great ; good my lord , let justice be done upon him , unlesse he will save gregory the labour , and follow the steps of his father , who the last cheap year hanged himself . there 's another of them cald mr. grutch-meat , he may be termed grutch cloaths too , for his cloathes were never young in my memory , they may be set down in the almanack with the dear year , and the great frost : he is one that never gave almes in his life , the house of his owne body he will not keep tenantable , but it had been irrecoverably decayed ; had it not been for the reparations of other mens tables , where hee hoords up meat enough for a month ; in a word , my lord , he is a base fellow , and so i leave him . there 's another of them cald mr. serve-time , he dwells at the signe of the weather-cock ; he hath a glove for every hand , he holds it most safe to do as most do , right or wrong , he 'l be on the harder side . and when a hunting goes , i have been told , he with the hare will run , and hound will bold . so my lord not sit for a juror , because he makes conscience of nothing . judg. were there ever such a brood of vipers as these , mr. sheriffe , how came this to pass ? sheriff . surely my lord it was sir hica busy that gave me the list , and told mee , it was the countries desire that these men should bee the jury ; and i was induced to beleeve it , in regard i know him to bee a popular man . with this the jury began to murmure , and told the judge that the councellor had abused them to please his client , as most of his fraternity will doe ; and therefore would appeal , or stand to justification . councel . my lord , here are some witnesses to prove the truth of what i have spoken . judg. let them come in . coun. cryer , call humility . o yes , humility . judg. come friend , can you testifie any thing against any of the jury ? hum. my lord , i am convinced , that all that hath been spoken by the worshipfull councellor is true , but especially i can speak something more against mr. all-pride than hath been yet declared : for may it please your honour , hee hath indeavoured to murder mee , and my neighbour patience : all his practice is in brave cloaths , bigge looks , swearing and swaggering , and insulting over his poore neighbours , there was one mr. good-work lived in the house before this fellow threw him out of the doores ; he spent more in mustard every year , than this gaudy gentleman doth in beef , hee keeps two wicked men to his servants ; the one is call'd stony-heart , the other bribe , and these help to keep him up in his wicked courses . my lord , here are many more witnesses if your lordship please to examine them . judg. no , no , this is no joshad's day ; mr. sheriffe , let another jury be impanneld immediately , a pack like the former , if they bee to be gotten , councel . before he finde their fellows , he must rake tophet throughout , and the infernal lake . the jury being chosen , were called as followeth . mr. love-friend one . mr. hate-strife two . mr. free-man three . mr. cloath-back four . mr. warm-gut five . mr. good-work six . mr. neighbour-hood seven . mr. ope-house eight . mr. scorn-use nine . mr. soft-heart ten . mr. merry-man eleven . mr. true-love twelve . no man taking any exception against this jury , the clerk read the inditement against old christmas , as followeth . cler. christmas hearken to they inditement . christmas , thou art here indited by the name of christmas , of the town of superstition in the county of idolatry , and that thou hast from time to time abused the people of this common-wealth , drawing and inticing them to drunkennesse , gluttony , and unlawful gaming , wantonnesse , uncleanness , lasciviousness , cursing , swearing , abuse of the creatures , some to one vice , and some to another , all to idleness : what sayest thou to thy inditement , guilty , or not guilty ? he answered not guilty , and so put himself to the tryall . after this , the parties that can give evidence against him are call'd . councel . his innocence appears ; i lay a crown , whiter than untrod snow , or culver down . cler. cryer call in gregory grutch-meat . o yes gregory grutchmeat . iudg. come you thin belly , what can you say against the prisoner at the barr , dost thou know him ? greg. know him , yes my lord , his name is christmas , a great waster & spend-thrift , he hath been all his days nothing like sampsons lyon , out of that eater came forth meat , but this old fellow devours all , and produces nothing , hee passes the great eater of kent , his mind is wholly set upon his belly , for satisfaction of which , hee murders the poor innocent creatures : my lord , let the records be searcht ; and before the flood , we cannot find , that man ever eat any thing but fruit or hearbs , but this cormorant is all for flesh flesh , and eats it with the blood thereof , which is the cause that he is so beastly minded , a meer esau , he will sell , his birthright to satisfy his belly , he is a bastard , begotten of the horseleaches daughter continually crying , give , give ; some people of this nation are so besotted by this old fool , that they make a world of provision against his coming , and invite him to be gossip to all their pyes , and call them after his name , christmas-pyes . my lord , here is an honest neighbour of mine called pinch-gut , can testify as much as my self . councel . hear me a word my lord , and if you please , pharoahs ill-favoured kine were fed by these . clerk , cryer call pinch-gut . cr. o yes , mr. pinch-gut . iudg. come fellow , what can you say against the prisoner ? pinch . i perceive my lord the councellor is purposed to abuse us , to please his clyent , as all the fraternity will do , but i would have him know , that i was well descended , my father was call'd saving , and my mothers name was spare , a very good hous-wife ; and of great repute amongst the farmers . iudg. fellow , i am not come here to examine pedigrees , were they as authentick as a welch-mans . but come let me hear what thou canst say in the behalf of the common-wealth , against the prisoner at the barr. pinch-gut , my lord , i can say that this old man is an epicure , all his delight is to please his pallat , his throat is an open sepulchre , he is the canker of the common-wealth ; worse than the locust ; or the palmer-worm , and this is the summe of what i can testify . councel . this is a liberall fellow t' is confest , he will keep all , and give away the rest . iudg. what witnesses are there more ? clerk . call mr. allwork . cr. o yes , mr. allwork allwork allwork . iudg. friend , what 's the matter you must have so much calling , and so long coming ? counc . it must be so my lord , even snails keep state , when with slow pace , their horns peep forth the gate . allwork . i was very busy my lord , in my shop . iudg. can you evidence any thing against the prisoner ? allw. i can witnesse that he is a very idle fellow : i saw a warrant the other day under the lord chief justices own hand ; commanding us to work six days , and this old villain would perswade us to play twelve : he teaches also revelling and rebellion , we cannot bear any rule with our servants when he come , for if we command them to follow their work , they will murmur and deny it , saying is it not christmas time ? thus my lord , and severall other wayes , he is the author of rebellion and sedition , in fine my lord , he brings with him , both fire , fuel , and bellows of contention , thus being extream hasty , about my labour , i desire your honour to excuse me . counc . go too industrious fool , labour for those , which ne're will thank thee ; nay , perhaps thy foes . iudg. are there any more ? clerk . call mr. meanwell . cr. o yes , mr. meanwell . iudg. come fellow , what can you say ? moan . my lord , i can say that this old man is a spend-thrift , a riotous spoil-good , he is the chief cause that the good creatures are abused , he is a superstitious and an idolatrous fellow , an observer of times , he makes his belly his god , a meer dives , he faresdeliciously every day , but his feasting is the cause of poor eazarus his fasting . he provokes only to wanton fullnesse , & lustfull love , he makes those that love him , and his company , unfit for any good dutys ; but on the contrary , he makes them ready for all evil , as uncleannesse , scurrility , vain talking , and the like , he is like the idolatrous israelites , they eat and drank , no mention of grace before meat ; and rose up to play ; there 's no mention of grace after meat , just so doth he , he teaches that which the people of the old world practised ; only eating and drinking , and such other delights ▪ this was he my lord that invited iobs sons to dinner . he overcomes men with surfeiting , and drunkonn●sse , and makes them that they cannot pronounce shiboleth : he hath twelve sons , all follow the steps of their father , and they keep company with one mr. prodigul , mr. wast-full , belly-chear , and idle , with mr. gamester , and such others like them , all the accursed brats of base men , here is a friend of mine , called mris. prudence , she can inform your honour of some thing else . councel . thy name is mean-well friend , i know 't is so that thou art call'd , yet so thou ne're didst do . thy father he was call'd curious , he would know , whither the rain-bow had a string or no what wood , the man that 's in the moon doth carry , or whither he intend or no , to marry . such monsters , yea such salyres , and mad strains , danc'd in the wilderness of his wild brains . cler. call mris. prudence . cr. o yes , mris. prudence . iudg. make room for that gentlewoman to come in , come good woman , are not you a stranger-hereabouts . prud. my lord , wheresoever your honour is , i desire to be your hand-maid , as for my residence , it is most in the university , & here and there , sometimes in the countrey , i am found as soon in a lowly cottage , as under a lofty crown . i have a sister call'd wisdome , we always travell and dwell together . iudg. jury take a speciall notice of this womans testimony , and get as much acquaintance with her & her sister as you can , come vertuous woman , let me hear what thou canst say , in the behalf of the common-wealth against the prisoner . prud. my lord , much hath been already spoken , and much more i can say , this old man hath been one chief instrument that i & my children have been abused . i have three daughters , my lord , the first is called patience , the second temperance , and the third chastity , & one so named sobriety , all these by this christmasses means , are injuriously dealt withall , and violently handled : which before his coming , were in good estimation in gentlemens houses ; my daughter patience is an admirable good servant , she uses to look to the children , and servants , & would keep them in love , peace , and quiet , if at any time she were reviled , she would not revile again . iosephs words were often in her mouth , see that yee fall not out by the way : she is an excellent labourer ▪ and in the winter time of adversity , no christian able to live without her , yet this naughty fellow , hath much wronged this my daughter , and caused her to be thrown out of doors : for wheresoever he is entertain'd he carries a very base fellow called gamester with him , and he hath two companions , the one called spendall , and the other careless ; these will ride abroad night times , vizarded to glean money , to maintain their play , and make men stand , that would fain be going , and leave the stranger with a heavy heart , and light purse : this gamester hath also one chief man called anger , and also two pages , the one called swearing , the other cursing , and when there is any difference about their masters play , these two presently call in two others as good as themselves , one named quarrelling , the other named fighting ; and these murder my daughter patience . for my second daughter temperance , she is a very abstemious maid , and uses alwaies to wait upon the table , before this wicked wretch comes , & then she is banisht , or choaked , at the best thrown out of the doors : and then perhaps , must lye without in the street , no entertainment can get , if he be in the town , unless it be at some honest tradesmans house , it may be at the ministers , if he be one of the last edition . my third daughter chastity is as beautifull as the sun , and she is a chamber-maid , and this fellow is the cause that she is abused also , for gluttony hath two associates , chambering & wantonnesse , and these kick my poor daughter diverse times down the staires ; thus my lord , my children whom i have so educated , as they are fit companions for princes , are by this vile varlet abused : my lord in few words , he is the cause that many men make their tables and alter to their belly , and a snare to their souls . iudg. prudence many women have dont vertuously , but thou hast excelled them all . pru. good my lord pity me ? iudg. i do , and will pity thee . coun. good my lord , your pitty a while hold , one tale is good , untill the others told then . hear but old christmas what he says , and you will reserve some pitty for old men . iudg. old christmas hold up thy head and speak for thy self , thou hast heard thy inditement , & also what all these witnesses have evidenced against thee : what sayest thou now for thy self , that sentence of condemnation should not be pronounced against thee ? christm . good my lord be favourable to an old man , i am above one thousand six hundred years old , & never was questioned at sizes or sessions before : my lord , look on these white hairs , are they not a crown of glory ? iudg. yea , if they be found in a good way . christm . i hope you shall not find these in a bad way . and first my lord , i am wronged in being indited by a wrong name . i am corruptly called christmas , my name is christ-tide , or time . and though i generally come at a set time , yet i am with him every day that knows how to use me . my lord , let the records be searcht , and you shall find , that the angels rejoyc'd at my coming , and sung gloria in excelsis : the patriarcks , and prophets ; longed to see me . the fathers have sweetly imbraced me , our modern divines all comfortably cherisht mee , o let me not be despised now i am old . is there not an injunction in magna charta , that commands men to inquire for the old way , which is the good way : many good deeds do i do , o why do the people hate me ? we are commanded to be given to hospitality , and this hath been my practise from my youth upward : i come to put men in mind of their redemption : to have them love one the other , to impart with something here below , that they may receive more and better things above : the wiseman saith , there is a time for all things , and why not for thankfulnesse ? i have been the cause , that at my coming ministers have instructed the people every day in the publick : telling the people how they should use me , and other delights , not to effeminate or corrupt the mind ▪ and bid them abhor those pleasures from which they should not use bettered , and that they should by no means turn pass-time into trade : and if that at any time they have stept an inch into excesse , to punish themselves for it , and be ever after the more carefull to keep within compass . and did also advise them , to manage their sports without passion : they would also tell the people , that their feasts should not be much more than nature requires , and grace mederates : not pinching , nor pampering : and whereas they say that i am the cause they sit down to meat , and rise up again gracelesse , they abundantly wrong me : i have told them , that before any one should put his hand in the dish , he should look up to the owner ; and hate to put one morsell in his mouth unblessed : i tell them they ought to give thanks for that which is paid for already , knowing that neither the meat , nor the mouth , nor the man , are of his own making : i bid them fill their bellies , not their eyes , and rise from the board , not glutted but only satisfied : and charge them to have a care , that their guts be no hinderances to their brains , or hands : and that they should not loose themselves in their feasts ; but bid hem be soberly merry , and wisely free . i also advise them to get friendly thrift to be their caterer , and temperance to carve at the board , and be very watchfull that obscenity , detraction , and scurrility , be banisht the table : but let their discourse be as savoury as the meat : and so feed as though they did eat to live , not live to eat : and at last , rise as full of thankfulnesse , as of food : this hath , this is , and this shall be my continuall practise : now concerning the particulars that these folks charge me with , i cannot answer them , because i do not remember them ; my memory is but weak , as old mens use to be : but me thinks they seem to be the seed of the dragon , they send forth of their mouths , whole floods of impious inventions against me , and lay to my charge things that i am not guilty of : which hath caused some of my friends to forsake me , and look upon me as a stranger : my brother good-works broke his heart , when he hear don 't : my sister charity was taken with the numpalsy , so that she cannot stretch forth an hand : o tell it not in the city , nor publish it in the country : my lord , i am but a bad orator , therefore i humbly desire your honour , to hearken to my councell and witnesses . in the mean space , i 'le weep i cannot hold , good works is dead , & charitie 's half cold . iudg. councellor , what can you say . coun. me thinks my lord , the very clouds blush , to see this old gentleman thus egregiously abused ▪ if at any time any have abused themselves by immoderate eating , and drinking or otherwise spoil the creatures , it is none of this old mans fault ; neither ought he to suffer for it ; for example the sun and the moon are by the heathe is worship'● are they therefore bad because idolized ? so if any abuse this old man , they are bad for abusing him , not he bad , for being abused : these bastards of amon , have abused him , and therefore now would banish him : far beit from my lord , to casheir a good thing , with the base use annexed thereunto : they term his charity wasting and spoiling , the making of idlers , and encreasing of beggers : but where too much charity hath slain her thousands , too little hath slain her ten thousands some of these witnesses did hint at religion , but i believe they are maidens for that , the first that wooes them may win them they tax him of rebellion , and sedition , but how can love and peace be the author of that : for that is his motto : as for mris. prudence , because your honour is pleased to give more credence to her testimony , than to any of the rest ; i shall answer her in particulars : and first for her children , i must confesse as she said , they are fit companions for princes , but she standers old father christmas , to say that he ever wronged any of them : no , he ever had a good esteem of them , it was one anger , a fiery fellow , with wrath and rage his sons ; that threw her daughter patience out of doors , and not he and for her daughter temperance it was gluttony , and unsatiable appetite , that abused her and not this old man . and for her daughter chastity , it was a scurvy scabby fellow , called carnal concupiscence : that forced her , therefore i beseech your honour ; give not any ear to these false reports : then said the judge , mr. sheriffe give order for the apprehending of these fellows , and presently after apprehending of them , execute them . then aragg them to the ditch , where let them lye , so long as one man hath a memory . coun. my lord here are some honest men , desire to give in their evidence in the old mansbehalf . iudg. who are they , let them be called . clerk . cryer , call simon servant . cr. o yes , simon servant . call peter poor . cr. peter poor . call , nicholas neighborhood . cr. nich. neighborhood . iudg. come simon servant , what can you say in behalf of the old man here . serv. my lord , i live at the town of bond , in the county of little rest ; my master is called mr. hard-heart , a great enemy to his old father at the barr : but for mine own part , i will speak upon my oath ; that i had suffered more than an egyptian bondage had it not been for him . i had had a sabbathlesse pursuit of my masters labour , had it not been for him : the very beasts that groan under the burden are beholden to him for ease , for when the oxe and the asses neck , seem'd married to the yoak , he divorc't them , the very jews had their jubilees , times of rest , therefore good my lord , if you give us nothing , keep not our brick and straw from us . iudg. peter poor , what can you say . poor . my lord , i dwell at the town of want , in the county of needs , poor in name , and poor in estate : and had it not been for old christmas i had been poorer , if poorer i could have been ; had it not been for him , my best friend god-free giving , had lost his life : all that have spoke against him , are all gadarens , and of the linage of naball , ( mris. prudence only excepted ) if you take away this merry old gentleman from us , you take away all our joy , and comfort that we have on earth . hear us good iudge , we for thy favour call ; save him alive , or else destroy us all . clerk . call mr. neighborhood . cr. o yes , neighborhood . iudg. come friend what can you say ? neighbor . may it please you my lord , i dwell at the town of amity , in the county of unity , my father was the good samaritan , and my mother was called dorcas , and all that i can say for this old man is , that he is a very kind and loving man ; inoffensive to all : a hater of strife , a lover of harmless mirth : our whole town & county are much beholding to him when he comes , for he uses all means to bring us together , & to renew friendship : he is a great peacemaker , if there have been any difference betwixt party , & party , he will indeavour to end it in an amicable way : he alwayes uses to tell me ( next god ) i must love my name sake , to gloify the first , & tenderly affect the second : in christmas in & out, or, our lord & saviour christs birth-day to the reader ... / [by] john taylor. taylor, john, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing t ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing t estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) christmas in & out, or, our lord & saviour christs birth-day to the reader ... / [by] john taylor. taylor, john, - . p. printed at the charge of the authour, london : . imperfect: stained and tightly bound, with print show-through and loss of print. reproduction of original in the huntington library. eng christmas -- england. holidays -- england. a r (wing t ). civilwar no christmas in & out: or, our lord & saviour christs birth-day. to the reader. ... thine john taylor. taylor, john d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion christmas in & ovt : or , our lord & saviour christs birth-day . to the reader . good joshua once ordain'd a holy-day , because the sun stood still in gi●eon , and at his prayers that the moon did stay his course , above the vaile of aialon : and shal not christians stil give thanks & praise on th' yearly day our blest redeemer came ? shall powder treasons and thanks giving dayes be still observed in records of fame ? then let not christs birth-day forgotten bee , remember him that doth remember thee . thine john taylor . london , printed at the charge of the authour , . christmas , or christs day , or christs birth-day . in imitation of my great and glorious lord and master ( jesus christ ) in love to them that hate me , i am come to them that love me not . my almighty master was , is , and ever will be god , from whom nothing was , is , or ever shall be hid ; and he did not onely know , but commiserate the miseries of his enemies ( most miserable mankinde ) to whom he had often sent his patriarks , prophets , and other messengers of peace and prosperity , and how they were , and should be entertained in the world ; god knew before , and all histories of the sacred volumes , or other books of eclesiasticall writings will testifie . and as my good master did know how coursely he should be dealt withall ( by misbelieving hard hearted jewes ) yet he came on this day , from whom i have my name of christmas , or christs day : even so , i come this . of december , though i know i shall be hardly welcome to a great many ; yet i am sure that as many as love my master , will rejoyce to see this day : but as my sirname of mas , there is much exceptions taken , by some that understand not what mas , or christmas meaneth . i have heard learned men say , that the word mas doth signifie some heavy or ponderous thing , as massa is a wedge of gold or iron , or any thing that is pressed or made into a lump of any thick matter of dough , or curds , cheese , or such like ; but my sirname of mas is mistaken , for my name is christi missi , or christ sent , as being sent from god to us this day . christ had his mission , he came not before he was sent ( as himselfe said to his disciples . ) he that believes in you believes in me , and he that believes in me , believes in him that sent me . here it is plaine that my master was sent , and as he was sent , so he sent his apostles , and they gave mission to the succeeding ministery , and they that were sent went , and none were so bold to intrude into the ministery without his mission or commission of being sent : and so much concerning my name of christmas . but i am more properly called christs day , for he himselfe did honour me with that name , and though all dayes are his ( for as he is god , he is the antient of daies ) for whem the jewes did speak of abraham , joh. , , my master sayd , before abraham was , i am , for abramam saw my day , and rejoyced in it , and was glad . he appointed me to be the peculiar day of his blessed birth ; he was promised in paradice , foretold and foreseen by the patriarks and prophets ; proclaimed by angels , with glory be to god in the highest , peace on earth , good will towards men , luk. . . a song or christmas carroll , of three parts , to god , to earth , to men , ( glory , peace , & good will ) a gracious consort sung by celestiall spirits , angels , and a multitude of heavenly souldiers , they sung and rejoyced all for our good , and not for their owne : then let men sing psalmes and anthems in churches , and hymns and carols in our houses , let us give glory to god on high , and he will give us peace below . faith is very clear sighted , for abraham was more than two thousand yeares before christ came in the flesh , yet ( with the eye of eaith ) he saw me , he saw my master and my masters day , and rejoyced in it ; and his rejoycing was approved of , but the jews which rejoyced not were reprehended . the holy patriark rejoyced , and christ allowed it , and he did dislike the unbelieving jews that rejoyced not . the jewes did not ( and do not ) observe it , but all christians did , doe , and will celebrate it and acknowledge it , for no christian will strike , blot , or scrape christs day out of the kalender . the prophet isaiah did write of christs comming years before he came , in these words , behold a virgin shall conceive and beare a son , and he shall call his name immanuell , or emanuell , esay . v. . and again in the . chapter v. . for unto us a child is borne , and unto us a son is given : he is born and unto us a son is given born of the blessed virgin his mother , and given by almighty god his father : a child natus , a gift datus , is borne , is given : the prophet saies not , was borne and given , but is , which is ever , in the present tense , borne still in the heart , soule , and memory of every christian . he that was , and is , and is to come , was borne a child and is born a child unto us , was given a son , and is given a son unto us , this day of my masters blessed nativity . in the second of s. luke , v. . then the angel said unto them , be not afraid , for behold i bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people , a saviour is born on this day , christs day , christs birth-day , my day , christmas day . the angel appeared to the shepheards , and told them newes of a lamb , the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world : a lamb that was come to save all the sheep of israel that were lost , and lost everlastingly we should have been , had not this blessed lamb come and redeemed us . and as he was a lamb , so likewise he was a shepheard , the true shepheard , the chiefe shepheard , pet. . . the good shepheard , joh. . . so we read that his birth and birth-day was first made knowne unto shepheards . indeed shepheards were in odious and contemptible abhomination amongst the idolatrous egyptians , gen. . . so was and is my master christs name and birth-day to the misbelieving jewes , miscreant turke , and sectarian , schismaticall , out-side seeming christians . this day he that was prophecied of to come , did come , and he that was promised is come ; an angell preached at his comming , and quires and multitudes of blessed spirits sung , when our saviour came , who was , is , and ever will be , not only a saviour , but salvation it selfe . he was the word , and the word was god , and god was the word . here god ( the word ) was a childe , a babe , an infant ; and here the word was not able to speak a word , joh. . and the word was made flesh , and dwelt among us , we saw the glory thereof , as the glory of the onely begotten son of the father , full of grace and truth . god sent his son this day ; note who he was that did send , and what it was that he sent : he sent first to us , that should in all humility have been petitioners to him ; we were enemies to god , to us he had sent often by his messengers ; but this day he sent his son , who was and is himselfe . therefore let our deserved misery , and gods undeserved mercy , love and compassion , be thankfully remembred this day , and every day in all places , times , ages , and generations . this day , mercy and truth are met together , and righteousnesse and peace have kissed each other , truth shall flourish out of the earth and righteousnesse hath looked downe from heaven , psal. . here was a gracious and happy meeting , here the lord chiefe justice of heaven and earth , brings justice , truth , and righteousnesse to judge , and mercy and compassion to save ; here mercy shewed her selfe a good mistris to misery : this day he came in clouts that will come in clouds . and without controversie great is the mystery of godliness , which is , god is manifested in the flesh , justified in the spirit , seen of angells , preached to the gentiles , believed on in the world , and received up in glory , tim. . this was a great m●stery indeed ; this was the summe and substance of all tropes , types , figures , shadowes , sacrifices , ceremonies , and the one and onely absolute fulfilling and accomplishment of all prophesies . and in the first chapter to the hebrewes , verse , , . the apostle saith : and at sundry times , and in divers places , god spake in the old time to our fathers by the prophets ; in these last dayes he hath spoken to us by his son . thus my master ( who had no beginning ) did begin this day to come and dwell amongst sinfull men ; the son of god , the king of glory came this day , and this day was the first day of christianity to all christians , and as many as have true faith in christ . this was he to whom god the father said , psal. . thou art my son , this day have i begotten thee . and this was he that in the same psalme was prophesied to say , lord i will preach thy law , and declare thy will . the evangelist s. luke saith , chap. . ver. , . and this shall be a sign unto you , you shall finde the babe swadled and laid in a cratch , some read it in a manger . here is to be noted the great humility of my master , that though he were lord and maker of all , the first joyfull tydings of his birth was , not brought to princes and potentates , or to scribes , pharisees , lawyers , or doctors ; but he was gratiously pleased to be first declared to poore and humble shepheards , and not to be borne in any magnificent or stately palace , or in the best room in the inne : no , the inkeeper had his chambers filled with guests more welcome and gainfull then christ : there was no room for him in the inne , therefore the redeemer of mankind had entertainment in a stable amongst beasts , swadled and laid in a cratch . neither would he be borne in any great or glorious city , jerusalem had not the honour to be graced with the birth and first presence of the son of god ; in great cities there hath ever been more misery than mercy , and more persecution than pity ; therefore great jerusalem was the place of his bitter death and passion , and little bethlehem was honoured with his birth , as it was prophecied many years before , by the prophet micah , chap. . in these words : and thou bethlehem ephrathah are little to be among the thousands of judah , yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me , that shall be the ruler in israel , whose goings forth have been from the beginning , and from everlasting . and heb. . . for he in no wise took the angells ▪ but the seed of abraham he took . he took our nature ( in the seed of abraham ) upon him , the nature of angells he took not : he came this day to help us , who had most need of a saviour ; he gave to us not onely a dignity which he gave not to angells , but also he gave himselfe for us , and sure we cannot take 〈◊〉 safer or wiser course , than thankfully with all humility 〈◊〉 give our selves to him that gave himself for us . my master gave power to his church to celebrate and to ordain and command the annuall celebration of his blessed nativity , i have twelve dayes to attend me , and twelve moneths i do absent my selfe before i come again , the kinde or course entertainment , the courteous or churlish usage to me , doth not , or cannot increase , or diminish my masters glory ; or adde to me , or take from me one minute of time ; if men could be as faithfull and charitable as abraham , as humble as david , as milde and meek as moses , as zealous as elias , as patient as job , as solicitous as martha , and as devout as the blessed virgin mary : those gracious gifts have been , are , and will be a happinesse unspeakable to such as are by supernall grace endowed with them , but the profit of them is onely theirs that have them , for he that is rich in mercy , cannot be inriched by the piety-vertue , or merits of men ; so that every christian may truly say , lord the great love thou bear'st to me is thine , but all the profit of it 's only mine . so likewise if poore old christmas day be made welcome , i am not the richer or fatter , if i be ill entertain'd , i will neither be poorer or leaner : let them make me a feasting or fasting day , all my joy or grief is not of long continuance , i am but a short day , and not far from the shortest day , and therefore their loves are but short to my master , that will not rejoyce and be glad at the comming of his anniversary birth day . the old yeare was before christ , when misbelieving iewes and gentiles lived in the darknesse of ignorant idolatry under the law , ( or without the law ) but the new yeare came when the father of lights sent my master ( the light of the world ) who by the glorious light of his gospell expelled and dispersed the black clouds and mists of egyptian blindnesse , and devillish idolatry . therefore with the old year let is shake off our old faults , ( the deeds of darkness ) and with the new yeare let us be renewed in our minds , and follow the true light , and amend our maners , & let our hearts be fill'd with praises & thanksgivings , before our bellies be overfill'd with meat . there were lately some over curious , hot zealous brethren , who with a superbian predominance did doe what they could to keep christmas day out of england ; they did in divers places preach me for dead in funerall sermons , and labour'd tooth and nail to bury me alive in the grave of oblivion ; they were of opinions , that from the . of december at night , till the . of january following , that plumb-pottage was meer popery , that a coller of brawn was an obhomination , that roast beef was antichristian , that mince pies were reliques of the whore of babylon ▪ and a goose , a turkey , or a capon , were marks of the beast . in detestation of which superstitious diet , they assum'd to themselvs spirituall and temporall jurisdiction , power , and authority to search and plunder pottage-pots , to ransack and rifle ovens , and to strip spits stark naked , and triumphantly carry the pillage to be disposed of as they pleased , for the profit and edification of the righteous , and chastisement of the wicked . as there are many sundry nations , so are there as many inclinations : the russian , polonian , german , belgian , are excellent in the art of drinking , the spaniard will wench it , the italian is revengefull , the french man is for fashions , the irish man usquebagh makes him light heel'd , the welsh mans cowss-boby works ( by insusion ) to his fingers ends , and translates them into the nature of lime-twigs , and it is said , that a scot will prove false to his father , and dissemble with his brother ; but for an english man he is so cleare from any of th●se vices , that he is perfectly exquisite and excellently indued with all those noble above said exercises . i am old and bold to tell the nose wise brethren of these critick daies , that my great master is king of kings , & lord of lords , whois the ancient of daies , who never had beginning , and never shall have end . and on this day , which is kept in a thankfull remembrance of his blessed incarnation , years since , i [ christmas ] have not failed to make my aniversary & yearly progress into christendom . when my master christ was graciously pleased to exchange his unexpressible grory for mans unsupportable misery , when ( in his mercy ) he put off the majesty of his godhead , and took upon him our miserable manhood , leaving his glorious throne for a maunger , when he laid by his immortall honour , and cloathed himselfe with our shame , to free all true believers from eternall damnation : then ( on his daies birth ) my day began . then on that day , and at that time , as the shepheards were in the field , they were saluted with an angel , and a multitude of the heavenly host with a most celestiall carroll . luk. . all glory be to god on the high'st , and on the earth be peace . good will towards men , 't is the will of christ , our joyes should never cease . thus was my good master usher'd into the world , and for his sake , i with my followers ( being daies in number ) honest stephen & true john , with my innocents pages , and all the rest have been welcom'd and joyfully entertained ever since , by all sorts of people that have lov'd or do love and honour the memory of the birth-day of my gracious and glorious lord and master . but now of late the case is quite altred , christ and christmas are both alike welcome ; and if the saviour of mankinde should come personally here amongst us againe , he were likely ( through ignorance , malice , and madnesse ) to be re-crucified : if christmas may be so bold as to aske those fiery spirited people the same question as my master might have asked the jews ; for which of my good works that i have done do you stone me ? so i may say to england , what harme have i ever done unto you ? i am sure i never perswaded you to be so uncharitable as to cut one anothers throats , and to starve and famish the poore ( as you have done continually ) and do still ever since you banished me from your territories , and it is to be feared that you will never be quiet , or have a happy peace amongst you , till you do give me better welcome for my masters sake ; he is the prince of peace , and his peace you will never have that do unthankfully dispise & neglect to solemnize the day of his most blessed nativity . it is a lamentable and too long a story to relate in what a pittifull quandary i and my followers have been in any time these twelve years , when we came into this country : i was in good hope that so long a misery would have made them glad to bid a merry christmas welcome : but welcome or not welcome , i am come , and at my comming ( a little before day ) i heard the cock crow merrily , which ● took for a good omen , or preface of a most free and jovial accommodation , which rejoyced me much , for i and m● men were as hungry as hawks , and as cold as snow-ball the sable curtains of the night being drawn , i gazed to an● fro to make choice of the best houses , and house-keeper to take up my quarters amongst them ; but alas , the com fort that i found was colder then the weather ; indeed saw many stately buildings , but very little smoak from the chimnies , for most of the owners did carry their kitchi● in boxes , and the best and dearest part of their roast-me● in pipes ; besides there was a great complaint that mr. 〈◊〉 and mr. plunder had plaid a long game at sweep-sta 〈…〉 mongst them , and that they would willingly have 〈…〉 ded good chear for me , but that they are so misera 〈…〉 that they were not able to feed themselves . this was no good news to me and my company ; we had not been used to such uncomfortable breakfasts , which made us all search up and down the chief cities for better chear , but my especiall mind was to try the curtesie of london , where i entred a fair house which had been an aldermans , but it was now possest with a grave fox-fur'd mammonist , whom i found sitting over a few cinders to warm his gouty toes , ( for no other part of him did need the comfort of a fire , ) from head to heel he was fur'd like a muscovite , and instead of a bible he had a bond in his hand , which he poard upon to see if it were forfeit or no ; he seldome looked upward , but as it were riveted his eyes to the earth , as if he had been looking for a mine : his keys of his treasure were hanged at his waste , and his clutches alwayes on them , and he no sooner espied me and my company , but he cried thieves , thieves , and reviled his ●oor starveling servant , saying , thou villain , hast thou let in base rakehells to rob me , and cut my throat . then i began to intreat him to be patient , saying , sir , there are none here that intend to hurt you , if you take any ●arme , it must be your selfe that must do it to your selfe , ●nd not we . my name is christmas these gray haired men that are with me , are men of my old acquaintance ; ●hey are all poor and true ; we are come to dine with you , out if it be not your pleasure to give us entertainment , it is not our purposes to force it . this old muck worme cast as dogged a look upon me as if i had brought him a privy seal to borrow money , and ●t last he opened his mouth and said , thou old saucy intru●ing fellow , i prithee let me have thy absence , thou com●st to do nothing but mischief , to make men waste and 〈◊〉 so much to entertain thee in twelve or thirteen days 〈◊〉 of riotous gluttony and gurmondizing , that for 〈…〉 after they can hardly purchase a good meals meat ; besides thou art attended and waited on by a cursed crew of gamesters , cheaters , swearers , roarers , and whimwham gambolls ; me thinkes one of thy age should have left off thy coltish tricks , and prodigall expences : dost thou see any one that hath a care to live and thrive in the world , to be so mad as to minde thee and thy bables , we are grown somewhat wiser in twelve yeares , than our fathers were in twice eight hundred : there dwells my worshipfull good neighbour ( sir achitophel pinchgut , and m. nabal ( an ancient justice of the quorum ) it is neither they or my selfe that had ever come to have any estates , if we had entertained thee , or relieved beggers : i tell thee if we and a great many more had been as lavishly minded as thou wouldst have us to be , we had then been as poore as thou , or any of the rest of the vaggabond beggerly varlets that are thy hangers on , and so let them hang still , or starve , all 's one to me ; therefore without any more adoe , avoid my house , i have nothing for thee , neither am i in the giving humour at this time . i could have answered him with divine commandments and precepts , with many humane histories and examples concerning good house-keeping , and charitable hospitality ; but every vertue ( in this age of vice ) is between two extremes , ( as my master was betwixt two thieves ) as liberallity is in the middle , but prodigality and covetousnesse are on each side of her , alwayes ready to spoil and devour her . all true christians do know , that what reliefe soever is given to the poore , is lent unto my lord and master christ , and he hath , is , and will be bound to see it paid with heavenly interest ; but he is a surety that few usurers will accept of . at my departure from this old father penny-wise , his sonne , ( m. pound foolish ) desired his crabbed sire to bid me stay and dine with him , at which the miserable curmudgeon was even half mad with anger , calling his son spend-thrift , and prodigall jack-an-apes , saying , that if he bad me to dinner , that i with my followers , would take the boldnesse to sup with him , and lodge in his house till twelftide was past , and that i would draw more guests to his house then he had a mind to bid welcome , & more beggers to his gate then he had a mind to relieve . thus was poor christmas used , which made me and my men look blank upon the matter , and without bidding him farewell , i took a going welcome from him , and wandring into the countrey up and downe from house to house , i found little or small comfort in any ; some would only smile upon me , and ( because i should not pisse at their doors ) they would give me a cup of single , slender , lean , small beer , or ale , which had the vertue to cause a man to make an alphabet of faces , for it would have warmed a mans heart like pangs of death in a frosty morning . and as thinking or remembring former prosperities , doe make adversities seem the more heavy : so i call to minde the vigorous spirit of the buttry , nappy . nut-browne , berry-browne , ale abelendo , whose infusion and inspiration was wont to have such aleaborate operation to elevate & exhillerate the vitals , to put alementall raptures and enthusiasms in the most capitall perricranion , in such plenitude that the meanest and most illiterate plow jogger could speedily play the rhetorician , and speak alequently , as if he were mounted up into the aletitude . this merry memory ( or sad remembrance ) of ale , caused me to ask the reason of this alteration , to which question an honest smith made this answer . alas father christmas ( quoth he ) our high and mighty ale , that would formerly knock down hercules , and trip up the heels of a gyant , is lately st●ook into a deep consumption , the strength of it being quite gone with a blow which it received from westminster , and there is a tetter and ringworme called excise , doth make it look thinner then it would otherwise do ; before these times every brewer did keep two strong fellows to carry the mault , and one weake boy to pump the water ; but now they have shifted or changed hands unluckily , for the poore boy carries the mault , and the two strong knaves carry the water . indeed ( to speake truth ) my best and freest welcome with some kind of countrey farmers , i will describe one for all the rest in devonshire and cornwall , where though both the armies had been with them , and given them severall visits , insomuch that if the cavaliers had taken their horses , thee other party made bold with their oxen ; if the one had their sheep , the other plaid sweep-stake ; so that ( according to the countrey phrase ) great crock , and little chock , all was i go ; yet as soon as they spied me , they saluted me with much love and reverend curtesie . the good-man , with the dame of the house , and all the rest of the men were exceeding glad to see me , and with all countrey curtesie and solemnity , i was had into the parlour , there i was placed at the upper end of the table and my company about me , we had good chear and free welcome , and we were merry without musick . a , ha , quoth i , this piece of the world is well mended , our dinner is better then our breakfast , this was as christmas would have it , here is neither too much cost , nor too little meat ; here is no surfeit on the one side , or hunger on the other ; they are alwaies the best feasts where the poor are reliev'd , for the rich can help themselves . after dinner we arose from the boord , and sate by the fire , where the harth was imbrodered all over with roasted apples , piping hot , expecting a bole of ale for a cooler ( which presently was transformed into warm lambs-wooll : ) within an houre after we went to church , where a good old minister spoke very reverendly of my master christ , and also he uttered many good speeches concerning me , exciting and exhorting the people to love and unity one with another , and to extend their charities to the needy and distressed . after prayers we returned home , where we discoursed merrily , wi●hout either prophaneness or obscenity ; supper being ended , we went to cards , some sung carrols , and merry songs ( suitable to the times ; ) then the poor la●ouring hinds , and the maid servants , with the plow●oyes , went nimbly to dancing , the poore toyling wretches being all glad of my company , because they had little or no sport at all till i came amongst them ; and therefore 〈◊〉 leaped and skipped for joy , singing a catch to the tune of hey , let 's dance and sing and make good cheare , for christmas comes but once a yeare . thus at active games and gambols of hotcockles , 〈◊〉 the wild mare , and the like harmless sports , some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the tedious night was spent ; and early in the morning we took our leaves of them thankfully , and though we had been thirteen dayes well entertained , yet the poor people were very unwilling to let me goe ; so i left them 〈◊〉 out of hope to have my company againe for a twelve-months space , that if i were not banished in my absence they should have my presence again the next . of december . glory be to god in the highest , peace on earth , and to men good-will . finis . the complaint of christmas, and the teares of twelfetyde by iohn taylor. taylor, john, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc . estc s ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the complaint of christmas, and the teares of twelfetyde by iohn taylor. taylor, john, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed for iames boler, dwelling at the signe of the marigold in pauls church-yard, london : . signatures: a-e⁴. includes: a christmas carroll, to the tune of poore tom. imperfect: stained with print show-through. reproduction of original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng christmas. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the complaint of christmas ▪ and the teares of twelfetyde . by iohn taylor . london : printed for iames boler , dwelling at the signe of the marigold in pauls church-yard . . to the most mighty , much vnworthy honored , and to the right rich-worshipped disworshipped , & to the al-to-much powerfull and respected ; the miserable money-mongers & mammonists , whose hatefull habitations are within the bounds of europe or the pales of christendome ; christmas sends greeting . take it as you please you almighty makers of beggers , you prouokers of theeues and encreasers of vagabōds ; i , i my selfe , old christmas ( without feare or flattery , proclaimes your base entertainment , are you all turn'd fox-fur'd , goldfinches wolues , cormorants , caterpillers , & curmudgeans ? hath the diuel & the world so besotted and bewitched you , that you will wilfully spend your dayes miserably , to end your liues detestedly ? will you liue poore to dye rich ? will you empty your consciences , to fill your bagges ? and will you pinch your bellies to starue yoursoules ? hee that should haue told mee for fiue hundred yeares ago , that christmas and hospitalitie should haue bin thus vnregarded and sleighted , i shold haue held him for a lying prophet , and a false prognosticator . oh mad and brutish age , wherein the auarice of one is the preiudice of thousands ; when the coach eates vp the cart , the backe robs the belly , when the perfumes , crewels , cullisses and the castingbottle , makes a warme chamber and a cold kitchin ; know you thick skin'd hide-bound chuffes , that you are hared of god & men , yea your owne childrē or heires ( for whom you rake and rauine ) doe inwardly curse & hate you , and know , that what most vilely you get ouer the diuels backe , your inheritours will as wickedly spend vnder his dammes belly . what a shame it is ( if you had the grace to see it ) that you shold giue your mindes to liue vpon the vnnaturall lecherie and engendring of money , that all the meate you eate in your owne houses is the accursed spawnes of oppression , extortion , bribery , and insatiat couetousnes : and yet some of you keepe no houses at all , but pinch your owne and your families guttes at home , when at other mens boords you are tirants , where you turne the old custome backeward , and instead of keeping christmas , you ( like droues ) make christmas keepe you ; but take it for a warning , let me not finde it so the next yeere ; for if i do , i will send you such guests as shall neuer forsake you ; as the dropsie , gout , collick , the stone , & the like kinde tokens of my iust anger , which you shall receiue as most worthy & deserued new-yeeres-guifts . your friend or foe , as you hereafter vse him , chritmas . to the most right and truely honorable , to the rightly approued and deseruinglie beloued , right worshipfull , and to the rest of the smal number of liberall and charitable houskeepers of christendome ; old christmas sēds louing commendations . you that are thicke sowne and thin come vp , as if the world were barren of vertue , or past breeding of goodnesse : you that are as rare as phenixes , as scare as black swans or white negroes , and as much to be held in admiration as snow in iuly , strawberries in december , the sunshine at midnight , or a blazing starre at noone : i assure you my braue worthy benefactors , that i your ancient and yeerly guest ( christmas , ) am heartily sorry to see your quondam number so much shrunke in the wetting ; and although you are falne into that lamentable consumption that i with my friends fauourers and followers can scarcely finde the tithe of my former entertainment : yet ( to shew my thankefull memory to your worthy predecessors , ) with my gratefulnesse to you ( too few ) that are suruiuers , and to encourage a fruitfull spring , enease or multiplication of your successors . i send to you this my louing & friendly epistle . you in your discetions , hold the commendable and golden meane way betwixt the two extreame gulphs of niggerality and prodegality , betwixt hunger & gluttony , betwixt hide all & spend all , betwixt wilful slauery and wastefull brauery . i wish most vnfeignedly that the dew of heauen may descend blessedly , that you may fructifie , multiply fruitfully , encrease and ampliffe , like the tree which nabuchadnezar drempt of , whose toppe reach'd to heauen , and whose branches extended and stretch'd to the ends of the earth : you haue the celestiall graces ; your hope is constant , your faith is feruent , your charity is frequent : your hope is in assurance of that neuer faiing possession wherein the vnblasted tree of your faith is firmely fixed and rooted ; and your charity is the pious fruit which springs from that faithfull tree . and he that with his grace doth plant it , water it , and cause it to increase , will crowne his own gifts on your heads , that are his beloued instruments ; not onely here , with blessings transitory and temporall , but hereafter with that vnspeakable glory which was , is , and shall bee permanent and eternall . yours in the best of friendship , christmas . to the profuse sardanapallitanians , most famous infamous heliogabalonians , the compleat companie of cockbrain'd whimsie-pated gul-gallants , the intēperate prodigals and abusiuely nick-nam'd and cald either honorable , worshipful honest , wise , or any stile or title that hath a relish of commendations . braue sparks haue amōgst you , though christmas be old , yet you shall perceiue that hee neither feares your toledoes , bilboes , or steelettoes ; i know that each of you haue more shadow than substāce , more tongue than truth , and more haire than wit , though many of you be bald or beardlesse . you that haue ror'd away your land , whor'd away your money , and scor'd away your credits ; that with often vnnaturall going to bed at sun-rising , and rising at supper time to breakefast , by turning the course of time out of his natural circumuolution ; as the day into night , and the night into day , like owles , bats , and glowormes , are monsters against nature , that pay more for the maring of your clothes , then for the making , giuing twice as much for the cutting as for the sowing ; whose exercise is drinking and dicing , and whose grace is swearing ; who entertaine old christmas with gluttony and ebriety , with the ill gotten expences of thieuery , cheating , vnthristy borrowing , vnmeasurable exhausting , vnmercifull oppressing , or any vnlawfull obtaining ; know , all the whole kennell or litter of you , that i scorne you and your surfeiting welcome : let me perswade you to be wiser hereafter , and not to keepe mee company in such prodigall manner , that you must be forced to fare the worse all the yeere after : let it not bee imputed to mee , that i and my company did in twelue dayes , eate vp that which shold haue lasted . the old prouerb saith enough is a feast , and as you loue to feast , so haue no more then enough , lest to much feasting perforce , doe breed and engender to much fasting spight of your teeth . finally , know , that i doe come euery yeere in memory of a great blessing , and i would not haue your wastefull profusenesse to turne that blessed time of remembrance into an accursed vse of impious blasphemie , and worse then heathenish , paganish , bacchanalliall beastiallitie . so wishing euery of you to vse your best endeuours each one to mend one , i leaue you till the next yeere , in small hope to haue my request granted . no way your friend , till you mend your manners , christmas . the complaint of christmas . about that time of the yeare when skiegilding , and earth-polishing don phoebus had ( like a skilfull clothworker ) stretch'd the nights vpon the longest tenterhookes of time , and curtold the dayes to the coldest abreuiation , or a briefe coldnesse , ( an embleme of frozen charity : ) i , christmas , according to my old custome of . yeares standing , visited the world ; and like a quick post , riding vpon the wings of full speed , in ten dayes space i haunted the most kingdomes and climates of the christian world . i was in the stewing-stoues of russia , muscouia , pollonia , sweauia , hungaria , austria , bohemia , germania , and so many other num-cold teeth-gnashing regions , that if i should name them all , i should strike the readers into such a shiuering , and indanger their wits and bounties with a perpetuall dead palfie or apoplexie : in the most of these places my cheere and entertainment was pilchards , anchouies , pickled-herring , white and red dried sprats , neats tongues , stock fish , hang'd beefe , mutton , raw bacon , brand-wine , ( alias aqua vitae ) tantablins , durty puddings , and flapdraggons sowsd and carowsd with balderdash . indeed most of their diet is so well seasoned , that the men doe naturally sweat salt , and the women doe weepe brine : and i noted that they neuer watered either their saltest fish or flesh in any other vessels than their bellies , which was an exceeding policie to vent their mault , and a stratagem to make saltpeeter of their vrin. in spain and italy i was welcom'd in many great dons and magnificoes houses , with three alphabets of sallads at one meale , but all the meat vpon fiue of their tables would scarce giue a zealous puritan his supper on good friday . i haue seene a hungry signeor or clarissimo eat a trusse of sampheir , with his forke like a prenge or pitchsorke tossing it into the hay-loft of his chaps , as if his mouth had beene an hostry : in a word , i perceiued that what either the italian or spaniard doth want in glu●tony and drunkennesse , he takes out his share in pride and lechery with more extortion than threescore in the hundred . so ( amongst their multiplicity of sawces ) i leaue them like sawcie companions . being at rome i was mightily feasted , for they thought nothing too hot , too heauy , or too deare for me : i met there with no sects of dull or cinicall diogenasses , there was no parsimonious banquets , or phylosophicall kinde of feasting , i found not a man that was not halfe a doctor , and was well skild in kitching physicke , and they knew that roots and fountaine water would breed crudities , therefore if they eat any , it was potatoes , skerrets , or eringoes , bak'd with the lushious pulpe , p●● or linings of the marrow-bones of hee goats , or lusty rammes . vitellius or helliogabalus could not haue bid mee better welcome than those charitable minded men did : i mused at it ; but at last i considered that his holinesse with all his cardinals and clergie , were like millers , and had toll out of all the kingdomes of christendome , and that they had mines of gold and siluer in purgatory , ( and it is thought that the philosophers stone is there , ) which was more safely brought into the treasury , than the king of spaines ships can come from the west indies , ( for purgatory is a country which the sea-sowsd pickled hollander neuer yet discouered . ) indeed we did out-epicure the epicure , and made epicurisme seeme sobriety , both in meat , musicke , perfumes , masques , or any thing that might with delight fill the fiue senses , or cinque-ports of man. for recreation i went to visit the leane carthusian friers , whom i no sooner beheld , but me thought i saw so many deaths heads , or memento mories , a man might haue told their ribs like so many ragged laths , their looks were almost as sharp as a hatchet ; a good anatomist might haue discerned them onely by the eye without incision : for how could it be otherwise with them , that all their whole life time feed vpon flegmaticke fish ; fish , fish , nothing but fish . sometimes perhaps they tasted cauiare , potathoes , or anchouies , which they renc'd downe with the suds of sacke : then they had almond butter , a few blew figges , and reisins of the sunne to make vp a starueling meale ; but i obseru'd one thing in this frier whom i fasted withall , he would eat no poore iohn , or offer to catch a ling by the pole , but he lou'd a well growne place exceeding well ▪ prouided , it were well buttered : he neuer would goe to bed without a cods head , for maids hee fed hungerly vpon them , but as for soles hee trod them vnder his fect . hee gaue me a dish of fish , drest ( as he said ) with the same oyle that was made of the oliues that grew vpon mount oliuet the last time my great lord and master was there ▪ which i beleeu'd to be as true as saint iohn baptist had two heads , or saint dennis hauing his owne head cut off , did take it vp in his hands and carry it more than a mile . i gaue my frier the hearing , and the eating of some of his fish to boot , but i was very parsimonious and frugall of beleefe , and indeed i could not spare or affoord him any . at last i grew so bold with him , with whom i dined that day , as to aske him the reason why he and the rest of his order did neuer eat flesh ; he answered me , that it was in honour of s. peter , because he was a fisher-man : by the same substantiall reason , i repli'd you might ( for the honor of s. paul ) dwell in tents , for he was a tent-maker . but there is a great mystery , or misery in it , that men should hold opinion that a man cannot go towards heauen with as good a conscience hauing the leg or wing of a capon in his belly , as he might doe with the cob of a red herring . for reuerend sir , quoth i , you are a carnall man though you eat nothing but fish , for you must vnderstand that there is a flesh of fishes : besides , as there are beasts on the land , so there is a sea-horse , a sea-calfe , a sea-oxe , and the like ; and further you know , that whatsoeuer goes into the mouth doth not defile the man : but he would not heare on that side , but praied me to feed and stop my mouth of such as the blessed virgin and the saints had sent him , ( indeed i heard him not talke of god at all . ) so my belly being more full of his talke than his cheere , i tooke my leaue thankfully of him , bidding him heartily farewell , which he could hardly do● hauing no better diet . in france i found a great deale more meat and lese sawce , but the most part of the mounsiers were sawcie enough of themselues . indeed the entertainment i had there , made me halfe amazed ; for i thought the people themselues had beene so many sacrifices to me , the men ( for the most part ) the gallants i meane , were in the most bitterest of winter cut and slash'd and carbonadoed into rashers , collops , steakes , and spitchcocks ; that it was no more but cast a handfull of salt vpon a gentleman , and hee was ready for the broyling . their pride would haue out-fac'd the cold of caucausus ; nay , had they beene vnder the frozen zone , they would haue shewed their linnen thorow the sippers of their sleeues , breasts and sholders , the heat of the fashion warm'd them , although their teeth chatterd in their heads . the women were well-fac'd creatures , ( but like our melancholly gentlemen , who are in danger of a man-catching serieant ) they seem'd afraid to shew their faces , and therefore they hid their heads in blacke bagges , like lawyers declarations ; the difference is , that the ladies bagge is silke , and the lawyers buckrum . there euery peasant keepes his wife like a hawke ( for they all weare hoods ) and a paire of old english boots will hood a brace of them from generation to generation : and i obseru'd that the miserable country people durst not eat their o wne beefe or mutton ( except the tripes and offall ) for there is a penalty laid vpon them if they bring not their best to the markets , either of beast or bird ; the gallant mounsiers haue a prerogatiue to haue all the geese , guls , and woodcocks that the country yeelds , the buzzards , widgeons , and cuckooes are for the cities diet onely , but the partridge , pheasant and peacocke are courtiers . i had almost forgotten some particularities which i obferued in germany , for i perceiued they had beene mad gamesters at vi'd ruffe almost ouer all the empire : the most of them had wrangled and played foule play , for hypocrisie , and cruelty cut , ambition rubd , and oppression wonne the game , whilest royall and reall vertues were meerely cheated and abused : clubs being trump wanne the sett by fraud and force , the spades and diamonds assisting them , so that the harts onely suffered , whilest kingdomes , principalities , and many faire lordships lay at stake for 't . descending into the low-countries , or netherlands , the dutch states feasted mee in state ; and comming to amsterdam , where there are almost as many heresies as nations , i was indifferently bid welcome by most of the sectaries , but i was most villainously vs'd ( rather abus'd ) by a prick-ear'd puritan , whose beard was warp'd like greene wainscot , or a capitall s. ( i thinke it stood as many wayes as a sea-mans compasse . ) hee was a cobler on translater by his trade ; and comming to him i found his shop open , and he a mending of a bad or wicked soale of a zealous sisters who had often trod awry , and his brotherly function was to patch or peece her vpright ; but in sincerity i perceiued the cobler was crafty , and wrought altogether to his owne ends . i mused at his little respect of me , because he was at worke , and telling him that i was come to dine with him , and keepe holy-day : hee ask'd me my name , and i told him my name was christmas . at the very name of masse , he leap'd from me like a squirrell , as nimbly as if he had had neither gut in his belly , or stone in his breech . and hauing recouered himselfe , hee stop'd both his eares , for feare my name the second time should strike him : hee told me that the masse was prophane , and so were all the dayes in the yeare that ended with the word masse , as candle - masse , lam - masse , michael - masse , , martle-masse , and that some papist had beene my godfather ; therefore he would haue nothing to doe with mee . it is abomination ( said he ) and the mimicke solemnizing of this hell-borne superstition was borrowed ( or stolne ) from the heathens ; therefore there was one said well when hee called the synagogue , or finfull assembly , or frie of friers at the masse , the kingdome of apes , for there is such mopping and mowing , such crossing and creeping , such ducking and nodding , that any reasonable man would thinke they were mad ; besides , the priest hath more postures than six fencers , as if he were at quarter-staffe with his breaden god , that i am perswaded the god of heauen hold them in derision , and their seruice to be rather masquing or mummery than diuine ; therefore , i say , the masse is prophane , and so art thou , therefore with me thou gett'st no entertainment . thus was poore christmas welcom'd like iacke drum and thrust out of doores ; yet i suspected his hypocriticality spake at us inuectiuely against the masse , that he might ( with the more cunning and lesse suspect ) defend what was ill in himselfe and be held the more deuout , ( much like as one whore or theefe should reuile and scandall another ) for howsoeuer he prated , i thought him a rascall , that would imploy himselfe about his trade on such a day as was celebrated in the memory of the birth of our glorious redeemer , god and man , iesus christ , which was the happiest day that mortality euer beheld : for in our creation god shewed his power , but in our redemption his vnspeakeable loue and mercy : therefore this day should bee kept holy in remembrance of him that is the holy of holiest . that day wee haue escaped any danger , we celebrate with all ioy and mirth , and shall this day bee put to prophane vses whereon our inestimable ransome was giuen vs , that on this day put on mortality to make vs immortall , that on this blessed day did put off his vnspeakable glory , and put on our insupportable misery , thereby to make vs eternally glorious ; that on this day came to conquer and confound the power of our conquerors , sinne , death , and hell , and to free vs from perpetuall malediction . saint austin ( that blessed lamb , and angelicall doctor of the church ) did with great thankfulnes celebrate his birth-day , saying , let vs so celebrate the day of our births , that wee may giue thankes to god who : would haue vs to be borne that wee might be consecrated to himselfe . also pharaoh and herod did not omit the celebration of the dayes of their natiuities . at the birth of a young prince the bels doe clamour the ioy of the people , the great ordnance doe thunder out their reioycings , the bonefires doe manifest mens feruent affections : why not then on this happiest day , whereon our chiefest happinesse came , this great day when the angell of the great counsell came to make our eternall peace betweene god and man ; oh let vs then for his sake be merry in god , and charitable to our neighbours , let vs feast with thankfulnesse , and releeue with alacrity those impouerish'd members , of whom our gloriour redeemer is the head . but you master confusion the puritan , who are a weathercocke , shittlecocke , a right laodician , neither hot or cold , fit to be cast out of all good society of christendome , or to be perpetually amster-damnified into holland ; your sincerity being void of verity ; your faith vnfruitfull of good works , your hope innouation , your charity inuifible , or like a noune adiectiue , not to be seene , felt , heard , or vnderstood . i arriued in england the . of december , about one of the clocke in the morning , where i was no sooner landed , but ( as old as i was ) i cut a caper for ioy , assuring my selfe that i was now in my ancient harbour or heauen of happinesse , in the eden of the earth , the paradice of terrestriall peace , plenty and pleasure , the most fruitfull garden of the rotundious globe , the comfortable canaan , that flowest with milke and hony. and as thou ( o england ) hast euer giuen old christmas ( with his twelue holy-day seruingmen ) good entertainment , with such cheere , hospitality , and welcome , as the christian world neuer hath done the like . so ( i obseruing the ancient prouerbe ) where i was wont to fare well am come againe . i hauing beene foure houres wrapt in this extasie of ioy of my safe landing , at last i heard master chantecleere ( the nights liuing clocke , or cocke , and the dayes dyall ) with the care-piercing clang of his horne-trumpet , crow out a proclamation of the approach of aurora ; which i was glad to heare , for poore christmas was as cold as a snow-ball . day being risen out of his orientall bed ( the blacke curtaines of the night being drawne ) i look'd vp and downe the country to see into which house i should goe first , for i saw many faire houses which i had often beene well entertained at ; but i could perceiue no doores open no lights thorow the windowes , or smoake from the chimnies , which made mee doubtfull where i was . my poore twelue old fellowes were halfe frozen with feare and amazement , till ( by meere fortune ) i spi'd a swarme of beggers , who made towards vs , bidding vs very welcome , saying , they had mist vs long , acknowledging themselues beholding to vs all , but chiefly to me . not much to me ( quoth i ) but i remember there is a lords of the mannours house at the end of this village , i will goe thither , and doe you come after me , and anon i will giue you your bellies full of good cheere . so the beggers and i parted , and i with my men went to the lords house , where finding the gate shut , i peep'd in at the key-hole , saw an old poore halfe-staru'd seruingman leane against the wall , bewailing the miseries of the time present , and grieuing at the alterations of the time past , despairing of the amendment of the time to come . i was halfe afraid of him dreading that instead of better meat he would fall aboord of mee and my troope ; at last , seeing me retreat backe , he beckened to me , and watering euery word with a teare , he spake to mee as followeth : oh christmas , old reuerend christmas ! whither art thou going ? what haste art thou now making to this house , where hospitality had once her habitation ; where the poore man was relieued , the stranger succoured , the traueller refresh'd , and all men bid welcome ? why art thou making such haste now ? now it is decayed , ruined , sunke . this house that from the conquest hath beene famour for hospitality , is now buried in her owne ruins . looke round about thee , where are now those high woods that did shelter this house from the winds violence ? now they are low enough , the woodmans axe hath humbled their proud heads . looke into the parks : deere may be deare now , for there are very sew there : my young master not long fince closed them in a paste pale , in a tauerne , where they were hunted by a company of fawning flattering hounds . looke into the meddowes , dost thou see an oxe there ? no , no ; they are all driuen to the citie . is there a calfe or sheepe in the pastures ? no , they are all knockt on the head , and houe their throats cut , hauing parchment made of their skinnes to make him bonds after hee had sold their flesh . looke into the garden , is there a bee-hiue there ? no , all the honey-birds are fled , and the waxe spent in sealing bonds for commodities . looke about the yard , there is not a ducke , chicken , hen or capon to be seene ? not a goose to be had ? they are all pluckt , and haue pens made of their quils to set his hand to his vndoing . looke into the barne , there is not so many eares to be found there as there are on a common bailies head ; or so much corne in the garners as will breakfast a chicken . o christmas , christmas , my old eyes are almost bloodshot with weeping at the follies of my yong master , who iustead of making his chymneyes smoake in the countrey , makes his nose smoake in a tobaceo-shop in the citie . his predecessours was wont to inuite his tenants to dinner , but now he hath more neede to be inuited himselfe ; which his quondam tenants are not able todoe , for their new landlord hath vsed them like traytors , and set them on the racke . instead of keeping a good house in the countrey , some blinde house in the city keepes him : instead of keeping a kennell of hounds , he is afraid to be fed on by hounds ; hee dares not looke a serieant in the face , for feare he should bite him by the shoulder . instead of keeping a faire stable of horse , hee keepes a foule table of — rauenous beasts that at one riotous supper will deuoure more than the paris-garden dogs . instead of keeping a proper seruing-men , he hath much adoe to keepe himselfe ; and whereas hee should walke in his owne gardens in the country , he walks the temple garden in the city : and last of all he thinks milford-lane as safe a harbour for him as milford hauen . oh christmas , is it not pitty that such an ancient house as this where hospitality , the romans houshold god dwel●● ▪ should thus decay ? an old vserer in the deepe whi●●epit of his ill conscience , hath deuoured my young masters house and lands . thus haue i vnballanced my selfe of that burthen of griefe i was laden with , if you will not beleeue me draw nigh the house ; the doore is open for this old penny-father ( whom i am forced to serue ) need feares no theeues , for they rather feare him : for if they see any thing in this house now worth carrying away , they haue better eyes than euer i had . the complaint of this poore seruingman was but an ill breakfast for me and my company that cold morning ; yet i and my comrades went along with him thorow the yard , which look'd much of his complexion , very leane ; and i no sooner was in the house but i fell into a swound : so that had it not beene for those that were about me i had departed ; for they gaue me hot waters , and rubb'd my temples , and at last , with much adoe , brought me to my selfe ; so that then i purposed , what sight soeuer should poyson my eyes , i would make a full suruey of all the chiefe parts of the house . the wide roome that i first set my foot in , was rather like the hole of some lothsome iaile , than the hall of an house : indeed it rather was a hell where a damnable extorting diuell dwelt with a few spirits about him . i may properly call them spirits , for they had little flesh about them . there was not so much fire in the chimney as would broyle a pilcher , for his harth was as cold as my heart . the blacke-iacke whom euery seruingman in the house was wont to wring by the eare , for being too sawcie with them , ( for hee often would fling them into the fire , and make them quarrell without without cause ) was cast aside in a blinde corner . this spright of the buttery , ( that would runne foaming at the mouth vp and downe the house as being weary of trauelling ) was lamentably abused ; this leather-suited seruingman ( whom the butler had often pitch'd ouer the barre ) i saw lye in a darke corner on his belly , with his mouth wide open like a canon , as it were gaping for that full charge hee was wont to haue in his old master's time . thus lay he sleeping in a hole that had made many sleepe . the tables ( that were wont to be spread with cleane linnen , diaper and damaske for the rich , and home-spunne for the poore , ) were now couered with dust , and a company of staru'd mice and rats , that for want of crummes were scarce able to crawle out of their nests , supplyed the places of many guests , that were wont to fill them , in the time of bounteous house-keepers . i haue knowne the time when i haue seene a gentleman sewer ( that captainelike led a company of seruingmen bare , or bare seruingmen ) armed with full dishes of meat , and the clerke of the kitching , the clerke of that stomackfull band bringing vp the reare , that in a quarter of an houres warning , would performe a braue peece of seruice , and spite of hunger and famine place the right worshipfull sur-loyne at the vpper end of the table , attended by two sawcers of vineger and pepper , that waited on him like his pages . i had almost forgot the stiffe-neck'd colerick coller of brawn , that boldly charg'd on the front with his sprig of rosemary on his head , instead of a white feather , like a bride-bush : but if these stout captaines , brawne and burly beefe could not take downe the stomackes of those that did assault them with their sleighted blades , instantly vpon the reare would come whole troopes of hot souldiers , ss capons , hens , lambe , mutton and veale to their rescue , and after them whole compani●s of wilde-fowle would come flying to their succour ; many tender-hearted chicken haue i seene torne in peeces in these terrible conflicts , many plumpe partriges and quailes that could not quaile their stomacks . often haue i seene the dogges ( that could doe more than many knights of the post ) fall together by the eares for bones , the well fill'd guests haue slung vnder the tables to them . i haue seene the wide throated vsher of the hall , that tooke no small pride to cry gentlemen and yeomen to the dresser , fill the almes . basket with meat and bread well sopp'd with the fat of wholesome powder beefe . i haue seene these windowes stucke full of holly and luy ; but now the laborious spider , that most skilfull spinner and weauer , that in his nets intraps the silly flie , as artificially as the spider-like trades-man doth the young gentleman , hath his loomb-worke hanging in euery window , not fearing the house wiues broome . last of all , this hall haue i seene strewed with rushes , a signe of the soft and kinde entertainment the guests should haue : i haue seene a lord of misrule , that with his honest mirth hath made old christmas laugh : i haue seene armour , swords , and pikes adorne this hall , which seemed to defend and ayd hospitality , but now there is no such starre appeares , no such sight seene , and i feare , i am growne so old and dimme , that i shell neuer see it againe . from the hall , i made a step into the buttery , but the thirsty butler could not make me drinke ; he could not entertaine me as a man would doe a dogge , which is with a crust . but the seruingman told me , because his master would not be thought prodigall , bought his beere and bread at the next alehouse . instead of plate , i saw a company of old peuterpots , which ( though they had no leakes ) very seldome did hold any beere in them . the bynne grew musty for want of vse , and the chipping-knife rusty for want of exercise . the butler was not many crums the better for all the bread that came into the house in a weeke , for he had not so many chippins to his fees , as would breakfast a mouse ; or so much waste beere , as would dround a flye . as for cards and dice that were wont to be as good to the butler as a ten pound coppy-hold , the master held prophane : for hee held the one were the diuels bookes , the other witches bones ; therefore vnlawfull to be read , or followed . i was going downe into the celler , but i thought it in vaine to descend so loe , seeing so little drinke stirring aboue . seeing i could not quench my thirst in the buttery , i made bold to see if i could breake my fast in the kitchin , which had not so many seacoles or wood mit as would rost three ribbes of a racke of mutton : then saw i the master cooke ( that now was not able to licke his owne fingers ) turne the leane spit ; so that now he was both cooke and scullion . the dripping pannes and kettles ●●apt many a scouring , which indeede was good husbandry in their owner , for too much vse would make the kettles looke thinne , and too much scouring the spits to sharpe . the ouen that had wont to looke as blacke in the mouth as a tobacco pipe , and as hot as a maquanella that drinkes nothing but aquavitae , was now coole enough ; hee could not now complaine of any hart-burning , or of the vnkindnesse of the cooke that oftentimes did surfet him with filling his belly to full , and cramming him vp to the mouth with pasties , and bak'd meats . the dresser-boord look'd as leane as a cookes shop in the time of the forty fasting dayes . the collericke cooke that in times past would out of his fury scald the breakfast beggers , as they stood cutting slices of roast beefe off from the spit , and boyld out of the pot , now was as tame as a water-man in a great frost , as a player in a great plague . hee told me that hee had not one quarter of beefe in the kitchin , for a quarter of a yeare together ; so that now he could not be beholding to the butler for his ladle of beere , or the butler to him for a trencher of meat : for the one was almost chok'd for want of liquor , and the other staru'd for want of meat . there was one sight did much afflict mee , and that was the iacke , which in former times did rule the roast , and hindred many poore mens children from the warme office of turne-broches . it neuer was a bountifull time since a dogge in the wheele , and the iacke in the mantle-tree began to turne the spit ; for they began first to turne hospitality out of doores . but the fault is in our english brewers , that dutch-men haue such deuices in their sconces , for if they did not tunne vp so many barrels of our brittanian barly-broth in their buckingtub - bellies , their geometricall pates could neuer finde out such vncharitable engines . being weary of the kitcken , i tooke lazanello de coquo by the fingers and bad him be of good cheere ( if hee could get any meate to his dinner ) and i went into the larder , that was wont to looke as fat as a tripe-wife ; but now , the coppy of that louely complexion was changed , for i haue knowne when the smell of it ( as a man past by ) would haue giuen him his breakfast , but now would not yeeld so much as would stay a mans stomacke while dinner time : it was falne much away since i saw it last , by reason of his thin dyet : so i forsooke the larder , and went into the dairie , as soone as i came in i saw the boles whelm'd vpon each other backes , like so many men that lay heapt vp in one graue in a time of pestilence : they lay on the ground as if they mourn'd for their emptinesse . the cherme stood behinde the doore , as if it were asham'd of it selfe ; for whereas hee was wont to haue his mouth butter'd more then any flemmings , now he was as leane as any spaniards . the cheese-presse , that like a cockney loued to feede on curds and congeal'd milke into welchmens roastmeate , stood close against the wall , as if it had beene loath i should haue seene it : and to be plaine with you , there was not so much cheese to be seene as would baite a moustrap , or so much butter as would make a toste for a citizens sonne . there was not a timerous fearefull custard to be seene , whose nature is to quake if your teeth doe but water at him . thus looking into euery corner of the house beloestaires ( as narrowly as if i had beene some enquiring constable , and had warrant for the search ) but finding no such thing as i expected , vp staires went i and all my sorrowfull associates , and looking into a withdrawing-chamber i saw the old mammon himselfe sitting ouer a few cinders to warme his gowtie tooes , for no other part did neede the comfort of a fire , for from head to foot , he was furr'd like a muscouite . instead of a bible he had a bond in his hand , which hee was diligently perusing to see if it were forfeit or no : his face very seldome did looke vpward , for his dull melancholy eyes was most commonly fix'd on the earth , as if he were looking out for a myne : he kept his keyes continually tack'd at his girdie , one hand alwayes on them , as if he feard they would runne from him and vnlocke his chest for those that would doe more good with his bagges , than he himselfe euer had . he was like the poets euclio that feard euery man that did but looke towards his house , came to rob it : for he no sooner cast his ospray eyes on me and my company , but hee cried , theeues , theeues , as lowd as his hoarse throat could creake it out , brauing his poore seruants , telling them they had let in fellowes to rob him : so to stop this hell-hounds mouth , i spake to him as followeth . sir , feare not , there are none here that intend to hurt you : if you catch any it must be your selfe that must doe it to your selfe , and not we . my name is christmas , these gray hair'd men that are with me , are men of my neere and deere acquaintance , these poore men in their patch'd cloaks , poore people that wish well to me : all true men , though poore men ; and we come to you for a few daies , hoping of a free entertainment : if it is not your pleasure to welcome vs as your guests , it is not our part to force it . this old penny-father look'd as sowre on me , as if i had brought him a priuy-seale to borrow money of him , or a subpaena out of the exchequer for extortion : and in briefe told me , that i was an imposture , and onely came to entice the people to prodigality and expence : and as for the poore , he had nothing to doe with them , for he was poore himselfe . poore your selfe , said i , 't is true ; for how can you be rich , that neuer thinke you haue enough . in this you shew your selfe most vnnaturall , for nature is content with a little , but you with neuer so much . therefore couetous rich men may well bee called the sonnes of the earth because they hunt after nothing but earth . what need you be couetous ? hath not god giuen you himselfe , what need you haue any more ? if god cannot suffice you , what can satisfie you ? as for externall riches they are more fugitiue than chymists quicksiluer , or the most notorious vagabond . he inherits nothing that loseth christ , hee loseth nothing that possesseth christ. will you possesse him , let the poore possesse some of your wealth ? wilt thou lose nothing , then put it to a spirituall interest , let the poore borrow some of thee ? here on earth thou hast but eight for a hundred , which is most finfull vse ; but with the poore thou shalt haue a hundred for eight , which is a most heauenly interest . he that doth bestow his beneuolence on the poore , doth not lose , but get ; and by scattering his bread on the waters , doth gather and increase . by keeping them you doe not possesse them , or by dispersing them , lose them . gold and siluer are good , not that they can make you good , but that you may doe good . how can money be better lent than to the poore , for my lord and master will be bound to see it payd in againe but he is a surety few vserers will take . what is gold , but yellow rubbish ? what is siluer , but white drosse ? and nothing makes them precious but couetousnesse . gold is a matter of labour , his perill that doth possesse it : it is an ill master , a worse seruant . bee not a slaue then to your estate , but entertaine mee with some part of it , releeue those that follow me , couer your boords and load them with well-fild dishes ▪ so shall you crowne your selfe with all our blessings . my oratory would doe no good , my physicke would not worke ; blessings he regarded as much as a true protestant will the anathema of the holy father the pope ▪ for without any verball answer hee thrust mee and my company out of doores without saying farewell . thus was poore christmas vsed , which made me and my consorts looke very blanke vpon the matter : so we wandred vp and downe from house to house but found little comfort . some would onely smile on me , another aske me how i did , and giue me a cup of small beere and a crust , and so farewell : a fourth , that laid all on his backe , would not looke on me ; so away went wee still iogging on . at last i cast vp my dimme eyes , and i saw a house where for foure or fiue yeares together i had not beene bountifully , but profusely entertained , for the master of it did almost surfeit me euery meale : a way went we thither , and comming to the gate , the grumbling seruingman ( that opened his mouth wider than a trap doore ) told me , there was no entertainment for me , but began to raile at me , and said , that his master was the worse for me by a thousand pound a yeare , therefore bid me be gone , for he had warrant from his master to locke me , out of doores ; telling mee moreouer , if i would speake with his master i must to london , for he was soiourning there , not intending to returne while the parliament was ended . well , thought i , it were good if the proclamation that summons all country-gentlemen to returne into the countrey , would ●ake hold of him and many others that lye lurking there because they would not be troubled in the country with their poore nieghbours . as for thy master , that spent more in three or foure yeare , than hee is able to get together againe in threescore , i did not entice to that expence . can i helpe his riot and excesse ? i desire to vndoe no man. i loue to see men bountifull , not prodigall : i neuer enticed him to luxury ; i thought what would become of his prodigality . he was prodigall because hee would be accounted a good house-keeper . a good house-keeper ? oh simplicity ▪ that for keeping three or foure prodigall and fulsome feasts he should make himselfe a begger for euer after . i thinke indeed now that a good house is abler to keepe him , than he a good house . no , no , they are the meanes that blesse , no man can liue without them , though few haue them . what cause had your master to feast all the richest in the country , and at one sumptuous and sinfull supper , to consume more than would releeue a parish of poore folks a quarter ? is this charity ? no , no. but i thinke your master doth scarce know where he may reade this . his fulsome , gluttonous , and bacchanalian feasts , did presage of fasts . it grieved mee first to foresee it , now to know it . is it charity to lard and grease the fat country bores , i meane the rich chuffes that haue enough in their barnes to releeue themselues and their poore neighbours ? this kils , not cures charity . gluttonous feasts cost much , doe little good , much hurt . they mingle earth , heauen , sea , and fire in their bellies at one sitting . what fowle soeuer flies in the aire , what beast soeuer treads on the earth , what fish soeuer swimmes in the sea , and what strange drinkes , wines , and strong waters soeuer , ( that are of fiery natures ) we barrall vp in our bellies at one dinner or supper : so that the confusion of these elements cannot choose but beget diuers tempests in vs , which like earthquakes continually shake our bodies by the arising of hot and fiery vapours from our stomackes . so that if nature could finde her tongue now , as in the dayes of ouid , shee would complaine once more to ioue of her wrongs : for is it not against nature to see fishes that should swimme in the seas , first swimme in wine vinegar , then in wine , being so scorcht , carbonadoed , sows'd , and so martyred , that when it comes to the table , a man cannot iudge whether it be fish or flesh ? then to haue another dish brought to the boord couer'd ouer with an inundation of vinegar , oyle , and pepper ? is it not against nature to haue pounds of butter rosted , whose cooking with white-bread , cinamond and sugar will cost more than halfe a dozen milch kine will yeeld in a weeke ? is it not against nature to haue mutton larded with ambergreece , and breaded with ciuet ? to haue birds come to the table lim'd to the dish with viscous and clammy sawces , faster than they were before in the fowlers lime-twigs ? and to haue many of these inuented and made dishes come to a table , doe you thinke it would not make nature complaine ? yes , yes ; for all this doth no good to charity . and it is no wonder , as the philosopher faith , why so suddenly we dye , seeing we liue by deathe . some will out-epicure geta the emperour , that had his table furnish'd with dishes according to the alphabet : some againe almost as gluttonous as theocritus chius , that hauing deuoured at one bit , a liue fish , said that hee had swallowed heauen : to whom one answered , that he wanted one thing , which was to drinke off the sea at a draught ; now if hee had but remembred to bid him eat the earth instead of bread , he had made a pretty meale of it . alas , alas , this luxuriousnesse kils as many as physicke . let christmas be at a feast where is good store of good cheere , but not too dainty or costly , but such as a mans owne yard or pasture affords : where the tables are fill'd with guests , not rich , but poore : not so few as the graces , that are onely three ; or no more than the muses , nine ; for a feast ought to be absolute for all commers . i am of his minde , for if i haue a moderate preparation of meat and drinke , honest mirth , good welcome , and a cup of good wine or beere ; i care not for set suppers , high musicke , complementall cringies . no , no , if your master had but began thus moderately , he need not now to haue taken the city ouer his head to hide himselfe from me . but he is not the first that hath done so , ( though that bee no excuse for him ) i would he might be the last , for i and my followers fare the worse for him and such profuse prodigals . so away went i and my traine , hauing little comfort yet as you may perceiue , but as wee were walking and talking of our bad fortune , wee might perceiue a plaine country man come towards vs : hee had high-shooes on that look'd as blacke as a bullice , white stockings made of the wooll of his owne sheepe , gray trunke-hose , with all accoutriments belonging to this country plainenesse : as soone as hee came somewhat nigh mee , he began to salute mee and bid mee welcome into the country , telling me if it pleased me i should be welcome to his house : so without many circumstances i tooke his proffer , and with my ( now ) merry mates went toward his farme , which was not farre off . as soone as we came into the yard ( well stored with poultrey ) the farmer himselfe shooke me by the hand , and bid all the rest welcome . the dame of the house drest vp in her home-spunne gowne , came to meet me ; the maid-seruants reioyced to see mee , and the plow-mens hearts leap'd in their straw-colour'd letherd doublets for ioy of my approach . then with all country solemnity i was had into the parlour and set downe by a good fire . i was presented with a cup of browne ale , seasoned with sinamon , nutmegs , and sugar . when dinner was ready , i was set at the vpper end of the table , my owne company set round about me , and the rest eat with the seruants . we had brawne of their owne feeding , beefe of their owne killing ; wee had braue plum broth in bole-dishes of a quart . the white-loafe ranne vp and downe the table , like a bowle in an alley , euery man might haue a fling at him : the march beere march'd vp and downe , and wee were all merry without the helpe of any musicians . we had good cheere , and good welcome which was worth all : for the good-man of the house did not looke with a sower or stoicall brow , but was full of mirth and alacrity , so that it made the house merry . a , ha , quoth i , this is something like , our dinner is better than our breakfast , this is as christmas would haue it , here is neither too delicate cheere , which doth cost much , or will cause surfeits , or too little or meane , but such as will kill hunger . they are the best feasts where the poore are releeued , the rich are able to helpe themselues . dinner being done , grace being said , the cloth taken away , the poore refresh'd , wee went to the fire : before which , lay store of apples piping hot , expecting a bole of ale to coole themselues in . euening prayer drew nigh , so we all repaired to church , where i heard my selfe much spoken of , but after seruice was done , few respected me : some indeed , inuited me to their houses , but i thought my entertainment would not bee worth my labour , considering my company : so went i home againe with my honest hobnaile-wearer , with whom i past the time away in discourse while supper , which being ended , wee went to cards . some sung carrols , merry songs , some againe to waste the long nights , would tell winter-tales . at last came in a company of maids with wassell , wassell , iolly wassell : i tasted of their cakes , and sup'd of their bole : and for my sake , the white-loafe and cheese were set before them , with minee-pies , and other meat . these being gone , the iolly youths and plaine dealing plow-swaines , being weary of cards , fell to dancing ; from dancing to shew mee some gambols . some ventured the breaking of their shinnes to make mee sport , some the scalding of their lippes to catch at apples tyed at the end of a sticke , hauing a lighted candle at the other ; some shod the wilde mare ; some at hotcockles , and the like . these country reuels expiring with the night , early in the morning we all tooke our leaue of them , being loth to be too troublesome ; and rendring them vnfained thanks for our good cheere ( who still desired that we would stay with them a little longer ) wee instantly trauelled towards the city . being entred into it , we saw very few look with a smiling countenance on vs , but a few prentices or iourneymen that were trick'd vp in their holliday cloathes ; but we coniectured their masters were not vp , or else wee could not goe so farre vnbidden . at last the bels began to ring , euery house-holder began to bestirre himselfe , the maid-seruants wee saw run hurrying to the cookes shops with pies , and the iacks went as nimbly as any of the wiues tongues : and before we were aware , whole parishes of people came to inuite vs to dinner : some tooke me by the hands and would haue me his guest , another tooke saint stephen ; a third , saint iohn ; a fourth , childermasse ; but new-yeares day was welcome to them all , especially to the rich ; but all this while the poore was not look'd on , they were not inuited : it grieued me , as it did them ( poore soules ) and i spake as much as i could for them ; but i was answered , the parish had taken order for the poore already , and that their houses were onely for their friends , and not beggers ; and for my part , if i would stay with them for a weeke or so , i should bee as welcome to them as any of their rich neighbours . alas , alas , said i , is charity as well as conscience banish'd out of your freedome ? how can you make me truly welcome , except the poore feed with me ? it doth me more good to see a prisoner releas'd , and the poore man relieued , than taste of your daintiest meat . yet i will confesse i haue scene many famous and memorable deeds done by well-disposed citizens ; the hospitals and other charitable houses can witnesse it , and that some in these daies follow the foot-steps of their predecessors ; but the present compared to those past , are no more in comparison than the least starre to the sunne , or a gloworme to a starre . charity in those times was in her youth , in her prime , in her perfect ripenesse ; now shee is old , decrepit , and lame : for she is seldome seene walking in the streets , shee is now onely an vmbra , a shadow , a ghost : her substance is vanish'd ; nay , shee is dead : and will you know when shee died ? i will tell you , when prodigality , drunkennesse , and excesse began to liue , then she died ; their generation was her destruction . when prodigality spent as much one day as would keepe her a moneth ; when pride wore as many cloathes on her backe as would cloath an hospitall of fatherlesse children ; when drunkennesse swallowed , in the whirlepoole of his belly , more drinke at one draught than would quench the thirsts of many poore children ; when gluttony spent more at one meale than would content many hungry lazars ; when farmers began to make their sonnes gentlemen , and young gentlemen began to be deuoured by vsurers : then , then , charity lay on her sicke-bed , nay , on her death-bed . will you know when she was in her perfect health ? i will tell you . when gentlemen did not know what a yard of sattin , veluet , cloth of gold , or tissue is worth ; when gold and siluer lace were not seen in cheap-side ; when beuerhats , blew , red , yellow , and greene starch were not worne ; when lords went in good cloth , and their seruingmen in good frize , or stuffe ; when the gentry did not know what did belong to tobacco , anchouies , chauiare , and pickled-oysters ; when such walking-spirits as foot-boyes and pages went inuisible ; when we went not hurrying along the streets in their french carts , as fast as if the diuell had beene the coach-man : then , then . charity was well , was in health , and look'd cheerefully . the roman catholikes boast they haue charity liuing with them ( which they reuerence as much as they doe their saints ) by which , with the helpe of good works they hope to merite . alas , alas , they are deceiued , their charity will doe them little good , except they haue the helpe of her elder sister , faith. therefore i thinke it not amisse , if the romanists would borrow some of our faith for some of their charity and good deeds , for wee wnnt one , as much as they doe the other . but i beginne to bee weary with talking thus to no purpose : therefore england , beautifull , fruitfull , and yet blessed land , take heed lest thy gluttony , pride , and excesse , couetousnesse , bribery , and extortion , haue that adamantine force to pull downe heauens iudgements on thee as they did on sodome . thou art as sumptuous as that city was , be not thou so sinfull . before it was burnt it was compared to a garden , nay , to a paradise for the neat and pleasant scituation , and the happy plentifulnesse of all things : but now it is a place destitute of water and fruit ; onely , there are such growing , that onely delight the eye , but deride the touch and taste : for on those stinking and burnt bankes , grow apples , that being toucht fall in dust . thou maist be so , thou wilt be so , except some of thy fulnesse haue vent toward the poore . thou art such a fortunate iland , that histrographers write of , blest with an excellent temperature of ayre , and singular clemencie of heauen : where about march , the spring begins to cloath the earth in a summer liuery . heauen is bountifull and patient , bee thou penitent and thankfull . but as i was going forward with my admonition , they stop'd my mouth by their entreating me to be their guest for three or foure daies : so for such a small quantity of time , i bestowed my selfe among them . but i was the most royallest , noblest , and worthiliest entertained at court , innes of court and temples , where i was resident while candlemas , and then left this land. finis . a christmas carroll , to the tune of poore tom . reioyce , reioyce , this day is come saluation vnto christendome : all that will heare their blest redeemers voyce , let them all with mirth reioyce , reioyce . the sauiour of the world is borne , to ransome vs that were forlorne : he left the heauens , and came to vs on earth , and from a blessed virgins wombe had birth . here a mighty mystery well was wrought , whose depth no man can gather ; a mayden-mother pure , a sonne forth brought , and no man was the father : god aboue , with peace and loue , the sinfull world possessed with heauenly treasure , past all measure , who is euer blessed . he this day to grace a feast , sent his sonne to be a guest : let vs then , like thankfull men giue entertainment to him : and let vs still with heart and will , our best of seruice doe him : himselfe for vs he hath giuen , to draw vs from earth to heauen . therefore for all his paine , let 's giue him our selues againe . to wipe away our sinnes great summes , gods sonne and heire in person comes ; he left his glorious and immortall throne , and vnderneath his fathers curse did groane : downe from the heauens to the earth he came , to honour vs he tooke our shame ; he suffer'd death that we might liue thereby , and through his merits reigne eternally . seeing he hath with his precious blood wash'd cleare our foule offences , how can we render any thing that may be recompences , since we may not any way giue any thing worth taking ; or all that can be done by man , no satisfaction making : let vs doe as dauid sayes , giue him honour , laud and praise . let christmas day put vs in minde , that christ was borne this day : let 's entertaine him here , that we may entertaine him aye . that we all with one heart and desire , amidst the celestiall quire all honour and praise may sing , to christ our heauenly king. finis . a catalogve of all m r iohn taylors seuerall bookes , printed together in one volumne in folio . taylors vrania . the first part of the troubles and destructions of ierusalem . the second part and finall destruction of ierusalem by titus and vespasian . the life and death of the most blessed amongst women , the virgin mary , the mother of our lord iesus christ. superbiae flagellum , or the whip of pride . against cursing and swearing . the fearefull summer . the trauels of tweluepence . the armado , or nauy of ships that saile as well by land as by sea . the begger , or the praise of beggers beggery & begging . taylors goose. iacke a lent. taylors pennilesse pilgrimage , or iourney ( without money ) from london to edenborough in scotland , and backe to london . the acts and exploits of wood the great eater in kent . sir gregory nonsence ▪ a very merry wherry voyage from london to yorke with a paire of oares . a new difcouery , ( by sea ) with a wherry , from london to salisbury . a kicksie winsie , or a lerry cum twang . taylors motto . an epicedium or mournfull death-song for coriats supposed drowning . the eighth wonder of the world , or coriats reuiuing . laugh and be fat . coriats newes and letter with the authors paraphasing verses . a bawd very modest . a whore very honest . a theese very true . a hangman very necessary . the vnnaturall father . taylors reuenge against fenner . fenners defence . a caft ouer the water to fenner . the water-mans suite concerning players . wit and mirth . a dogge of warre . the world runs on wheeles . the nipping or snipping of abuses . a briefe of the chronicle from brute to this present in verse . a briefe of the chronicle from the norman conquest to this present . a farewell to the towre bottles . the marriage of the princesse elizabeth . a funerall elegy for king iames. a funerall elegie for the earle of nottingham . a funerall elegie for the earle of holdernesse . a funerall elegie for the bishop of winchester . a funerall elegie for the duke of richmond and lenox . a funerall elegie for iohn moray esquire . these bookes in number sixty three are heere , bound in one volume , scattred here and there : they stand not thus in order in the booke , but any man may finde them that will looke . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e corin. . an old seruingmans complaint to christmas . note . christmas survey thorowout the house . the hall. the iacke . the tables . mince-pies were quite forgot , also plum-broth buttery . kitchen . the iacke on the mantletree . larder . dairie . the discription of the vserer . christmas to the curmudgion . note . anagram . pecunia cui pena a farmer . when charity began to sicken . when in her prime . certain quæries touching the rise and observation of christmas; propounded to the consideration of all such as are zealously (but blindly) affected towards the observation of it. / to which an answer is desired and expected by joseph heming. heming, joseph. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing h thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) certain quæries touching the rise and observation of christmas; propounded to the consideration of all such as are zealously (but blindly) affected towards the observation of it. / to which an answer is desired and expected by joseph heming. heming, joseph. p. [s.n.], london : printed, ann: dom: . annotation on thomason copy: "dec: ". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng christmas -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no certain quæries touching the rise and observation of christmas;: propounded to the consideration of all such as are zealously (but blindly) heming, joseph. f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion certain qvaeries touching the rise and observation of christmas ; propounded to the consideration of all such as are zealously ( but blindly ) affected towards the observation of it . to which an answer is desired and expected by joseph heming . london printed , ann : dom : . certaine quaeries touching the rise and observation of christmas , &c. quaere i. whether such religious customes as are binding to all the churches of iesus christ , ought not to have sure footing upon the word of god , or apostolicall practice ? ii. whether you can substantially prove that christ was borne on the of december ? and what your proofes are ? iii. whether the celebration of that day ( grant he was borne on it ) can be clearely warranted by you from scripture ? and what your scriptures are ? iv. whether you can cleare it by sound consequence from the new testament , though not set downe there in totidein verbis ? v. whether you can do it by universall tradition ? vi . whether ( in case it can be evidenced by none of these , viz. plaine text , sollid inference , universall tradition ) it be not a moere humane invention , and so will-worship ? and how you will one day acquit your selves before god , for placing , and crying up mens inventions , instead of the institutions of iefus christ ? and whether it were not faithfull dealing with poore simple people to tell them that you have neither of these to warrant it ? vii . ( since daies and times commanded by god himselfe to be observed under the law , were and are unlawfull under the gospell ) whether daies and times commanded by men , and not by god , under the gospell , are not lesse lawfull . viii . whether the true and genuine interpretation of christmas be christ man ? and whether to perswade people t is so , be not to abuse and delude them ? and whether we may not as well interpret candlemas candleman , michaelmas michaelman , as christmas christman ? ix . whether the saints are bound to rejoice in the birth of christ on that day men superstitiously call christmas , more then at other times ? and whether the lords day be not [ the ] day appointed for them to rejoice on ? x. whether christmas day ought in any respect to be esteemed above another of the weeke daies ? and whether people may not without offence to god follow their lawfull vocations on that day ? xi . whether you thinke the parliament and assemblie have erred and played the fooles in condemning and rasing out holy-daies not warranted in the word ? and whether to observe them be not highly to dislike , and flatly to contradict ( in point of practice at least ) their proceedings in order to a reformation ? xii . whether ( since most men and women in england do blindlie and superstitiouslie beleeve christ was borne on that day ) preaching on it doth not nourish and strengthen them in that beleefe ? xiii . whether this feast had not its rise and growth from christians conformitie to the mad feasts saturnalia ( kept in december to saturne the father of gods ) in which there was a sheafe offered to ceres goddesse of corne ; a hymne in her praise called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ? and whether those christians by name , to cloake it , did not afterwards call it yule ; and christmas ( as though it were for christs honour ? ) and whether it be not yet by some ( more ancient then truelie or knowinglie religious ) called yule , and the mad plaies or sports ( wherewith t is celebrated , like those saturnalia ) yule-games ? and whether from the offering of that sheafe to ceres ; from that song in her praise ; from those gifts the heathens gave their friends in the calends of ianuarie , ominis gratia ; did not arise or spring our blazes ; christmas kariles , and new-yeares gifts ? xiv . whether conformitie to , and retention of heathenish customes be commendable in christains , sutable or agreeable with gospell principles , though under pretext of christ honour and worship ? xv . whether you are not bound to prove your practice for the conviction and satisfaction of your brethren , whose duty it is to walke with you in things agreeable to the mind of christ ? and in case you cannot ; whether you ought not to acknowledge your errour , lay downe your practice ( as others have done theirs ) no longer befooling and misleading the people committed to your charge ? xvi . whether in case you returne no answer to these quaeries , i have not ground sufficient to conclude you utterly unable to give any rationall account of your practice , now put upon it ? from my study in vttoxeter . . finis to all that observe dayes. f. b. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing b ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing b estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) to all that observe dayes. f. b. sheet ([ ] p.) s.n., [london : ] signed: f.b. date and place of publication suggested by wing. reproduction of original in: friends' library (london, england). eng anti-catholicism -- england -- early works to . christmas -- england -- early works to . society of friends -- england -- doctrines -- early works to . broadsides -- england -- th century. a r (wing b ). civilwar no to all that observe dayes. the lord is a witnesse against all your idolatry who are following idols, and observing dayes, and times, and sea f. b a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to all that observe dayes . the lord is a witnesse against all your idolatry who are following idols , and observing dayes , and times , and seasons , which is idolatry . oh london ! what , art thou falling back into popish idolatry again ? which sometime there hath been a spirit in thee which hath denyed ? what , have you lost your zeal for the lord ? and is your zeal quite dead which once was in you against the practices of the whore of rome ? alas , what do you meane , in your observing the popish mass-dayes , in observing christmas , as you call it . i had thought that spirit had been banished ; and i looked e're this , that observing of dayes would have been quite extinguished ; and i hoped that your mindes and hearts would have enclined to better things , and would wholly have forgotten and left off all your superstitious practices , which had any foundation or savour of the popish church . but alas , i see your zeal for god is grown dead , and the spirit of idolatry cleaves fast unto you ; even so fast is it seated in your hearts , that an act of parliament , or any outward teaching or profession can separate you from idolatry ; and i perceive there is nothing till the just judgement of god fall among you , because of your sins that can worke out of your hearts , the spirit that runs after idols . you seem to be joyned to idols , as if an idol were your god ; is not this idolatry ? as if you kept dayes wholly to the lord , you keep your shops shut , and you forbear all manner of worke , and you put on your fine apparell ; and yet you go into vanity , into pride and wantonnesse , and commits great wickednesse in the sight of god , in pleasures , in sports , and lusts , and drunkennesse , and idlenesse , and all this is idolatry . and thus you keep your holy-dayes , as you call them , spending your time in vanity , both masters and servants , parents and children ; and ye say ye will keep christmas , and ye are greatly offended at them that will not , and cries against them , and scoffes at their godliness ; and thus are you glewed to the old customes of the romish church , that whore , from whence you have learned these things ; for she was the first that ever instituted and practiced these cursed abominations ; and her practices which she was the author of , are you zealously performing even in london , the place of great reformation as you professe : and thus are you doing , that call your selves the reformed churches , and that seems in words to deny her ; yet are you treading in her steps of idolatry . what , observing christmas in london yet ? what , ye of the reformed churches ? what , ye that have seemed some years since to turne away from these things , are ye even again observing these things ? oh! hypocrisie and deceit fills your hearts . oh yee hypocrites ! that cries against the romish church , and yet are observing of her practices , in feasting and ryoting and ryotousness , in drinking and wantonnesse , in idleness and sports , and this ye call keeping the holy-dayes . oh wretched idolatry ! the lords judgements will come upon these things , the lord is a witnesse against you . what , is all your profession come to this ? have not some of you cryed against the pope and his inventions these many years ? and are you sitten down in the practice of his inventions ? it seems you are but reformed in words , and onely hath denyed the pope in words , but are beholding to him for an invention , that ye may keep holy-days as ye say , which ye keep unholy ; and manifold abominations in those days do abound to your shame . therefore repent ye idolaters , the time is at hand when the lord will overturn , and overthrow all your idolatrous wayes , and practices . as for the quakers , they feare god , and they dare not joyne with you in these abominations ; and therefore you despise them , and say in your hearts , who shall controul you ; for these things will ye do , and none shall prevent you . and thus is the popish spirit of idolatry shewed forth in thee , oh london , and thy reformed peeople are guilty of popish superstitions and vain idolatries , till the judgements of the lord enter upon you , and smite you , you will not regard nor return . f. b. friday the four and twentieth day of december, . resolved by the parliament, that the markets be kept to morrow, being the five and twentieth day of december; ... england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason .f. [ ]). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing e thomason .f. [ ] estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; : f [ ]) friday the four and twentieth day of december, . resolved by the parliament, that the markets be kept to morrow, being the five and twentieth day of december; ... england and wales. parliament. sheet ([ ] p.) printed by john field, printer to the paliament of england, london : . title from caption and opening words of text. signed: hen: scobell, cleric. parliamenti. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng christmas -- england -- early works to . great britain -- politics and government -- - -- early works to . london (england) -- history -- th century -- early works to . a r (thomason .f. [ ]). civilwar no friday the four and twentieth day of december, . resolved by the parliament, that the markets be kept to morrow, being the five and twen england and wales. parliament. a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion blazon or coat of arms friday the four and twentieth day of december , . resolved by the parliament , that the markets be kept to morrow , being the five and twentieth day of december ; and that the lord major , and sheriffs of london and middlesex , and the iustices of peace for the city of westminster and liberties thereof , do take care , that all such persons as shall open their shops on that day , be protected from vvrong or violence , and the offenders punished . resolved by the parliament , that no observation shall be had of the five and twentieth day of december , commonly called christmas-day ; nor any solemnity used or exercised in churches upon that day in respect thereof . ordered by the parliament , that the lord major of the city of london , and sheriffs of london and middlesex , and the iustices of peace of middlesex respectively , be authorized and required to see this order duly observed within the late lines of communication , and weekly bills of mortality . hen : scobell , cleric . parliamenti . london , printed by john field , printer to the parliament of england . . a sermon of the nativity of our lord preached before the queen dowager in her chappel at somerset-house on christmas day, / by thomas godden. godden, thomas, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing g estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a sermon of the nativity of our lord preached before the queen dowager in her chappel at somerset-house on christmas day, / by thomas godden. godden, thomas, - . p. printed by henry hills, london : . "published by her majesties command." reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng jesus christ -- nativity. christmas sermons. sermons, english -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - pip willcox sampled and proofread - pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon of the nativity of our lord , preached before the queen dowager , in her chappel at somerset-house , on christmas day . . by thomas godden d. d. preacher in ordinary to her majesty . published by her majesties command . london , printed by henry hills , printer to the king 's most excellent majesty , for his houshold and chappel . . a sermon preach'd before her majesty the queen dowager on christmas day , anno . luke . . pastores loquebantur ad invicem , transeamus usque ad bethlehem , & videamus hoc verbum quod factum est , quod dominus ostendit nobis . the shepherds said one to another , let us now go even to bethlehem , and see this word which is made ( or this thing which is come to pass , ) which our lord hath made known to us . the fulness of time for the redemption of man being come , a time , when all things were in quiet silence , and the night was in the midst of her swift course , the omnipotent word of the eternal father descended from his royal throne , and took up his lodging in a stable of bethlehem . no sooner was he arrived there , but he presently dispatched an angel to carry the news of his birth to certain shepherds , who were at that time keeping the watches of the night over their flocks in the fields adjoyning . the messenger , to shew that he was the minister of the sun of justice , clothed himself with a glittering robe of light , and so great was the brightness which enlightned the place , that the gospel calls it , claritas dei , the brightness of god ; and those words of david may be said to have been then literally fulfilled , nox sicut dies illuminabitur , that the night should be as light as the day . the shepherds terrified as well with the presence of the angel , who stood beside them , as with the unusualness of the light , which shone round about them , were ready to fall to the ground for fear , when the heavenly ambassador bid them be of good cheer , for that he came not to bring them tidings of dread and terror , but of joy , and great joy to them , and to all people , that on this bright day there was born in bethlehem , the saviour of the world. and that their own experience might further satisfie them of the truth of what he had said , he gave them a sign , by which , if they would take the pains , they might find the new-born infant , hoc vobis signum , this , said he , shall be to you a sign ; you shall find the infant wrapped in swadling-clothes , and laid in a manger : o king of glory ! is not this the day in which the angels invite the daughters of sion to go forth , and behold thee in the diadem with which thy virgin-mother crown'd thee in the day of thy espousals in her purest womb ? and must a manger be thy cradle ? o treasure of heaven ! who would have sought for thee in a little hay or straw ? who would have thought to have found thee in a manger of beasts ? surely the shepherds , who were terrified with the light , must have been much more surprized with the seeming disproportion of the sign , had not a multitude of the heavenly host presently joyned themselves with the angel , praising god , and saying , gloria in altissimis deo , glory be to god in the highest , and on earth peace to men of good will. with this canticle of joy the angels return'd into their former heaven above , and where may we think were the shepherds souls ▪ but in the new heaven below in the stable of bethlehem ; and that their bodies might be there too , to pay a double homage to this new-born king , loquebantur ad invicem , they said one to another , let us now go even to bethlehem , and see this word which is made , which our lord hath made known unto us . and the resolution was no sooner taken , but presently put in execution . but give me leave , devout shepherds , to ask you , whither away so fast ? were not you keeping the watches of the night over your flocks ? and will you now leave them in the open fields ? are you not afraid , that they may go astray in your absence , or the wolves break in and devour them ? no , we are going to find out the lamb , which is come to take away the sins of the world : this lamb will take care both of the shepherds and the flocks ; and should we sustain any loss for his sake , it would still be our greater gain . piously resolved indeed ; but have you forgotten what hapned of old to another of your profession , when god appearing to him in the bush , he said as you do now , i will go and see this great sight ? have you forgotten , i say , how he was commanded not to draw near , but to stand at a distance , and put off his shoes ; and how he turned away his face , that he might not see ? and are you not afraid to meet with the same prohibition he did ? nothing less . the scene is now changed . god in a burning bush is an object of terror indeed ; but god in swadling-clothes and laid in a manger , is so great an attractive of love , that we fear nothing but to lose time to go to see it . they went therefore with haste , and being admitted by the sacred virgin , ( whose leave no doubt they would ask ) to see and adore their new-born saviour , the evangelist says , that they returned glorifying and praising god for all that they had heard and seen , as it had been said unto them . this is the summ of what is contain'd in the second gospel of this great day . what i have made choice of for the subject of your present entertainment , is the pious resolution of the shepherds to go to bethlehem . that we may enter with like devotion into the consideration of this great mystery , and return , as they did , glorifying and praising god for all we shall hear and see , let us instead of asking leave of the virgin-mother to visit the manger , humbly beg her intercession at the throne of grace , for a blessing upon my endeavours , saluting her with the words of the angel , ave maria. transeamus usque ad bethlehem , &c. the shepherds said one to another , let us now go even to bethlehem , and see this word which is made , which our lord hath shown unto us . 't is the opinion of st. cyprian and others of the fathers , that these shepherds at the same time that the angel made known unto them the nativity of the saviour of the world , the so long expected messias , had their understandings illuminated by the holy ghost , to know and believe , that it was he of whom the prophet esay had foretold , that his name should be called emmanuel , that is , god with us , and who should verifie those glorious attributes given him by the same prophet of admirabilis , deus , fortis , princeps pacis , that is , of wonderful , god , mighty , and prince of peace . magisterio spiritus sancti intus edocti , quem parvulum vident confitentur immensum . and hence it is , that whereas the words of my text in the original are capable of a double translation , that is of being rendred in english , let us see this thing which is come to pass , or let us see this word which is made , i have made choice of the latter with venerable bede , as more suitable to the intention of the shepherds , and more expressive of the mystery we celebrate this day of the word being made flesh for our sakes . taking the words therefore in this sence , two things offer themselves at the first view to our consideration . the first is , the resolution of the shepherds to go to bethlehem , transeamus usque ad bethlehem . let us now go even to bethlehem . the second , the end they proposed to themselves in going thither , which was to see the word which was made . and accordingly i shall divide my discourse into these two principal parts . in the first i shall let you see the devotion of the shepherds in so readily resolving to go seek their new-born saviour . in the second , the end we are to propose to our selves in seeing this word which was made flesh , as the creed declares , for us men , and for our salvation . for us men , i say , as the object of our worship ; and then again , for our salvation , as a pattern drawn by god himself for our imitation . i begin with the first , the devotion of the shepherds in their resolution to go to bethlehem . the first part. devotion , as it denotes a particular virtue , is defined by st. thomas to be a preparation or disposition of the will , by which a man promptly and readily , tradit se , gives himself up , or ( as we use to say ) devotes himself to execute the things which belong to the service of god. some of these things are expresly commanded by god himself , others intimated only or commended , as pleasing to him . and whereas there is this difference between them , that every command of god is a sign of his will , but every signification of his good pleasure is not a command , 't is manifest , that as the perfection of devotion on consists in a readiness to comply with both , so it shews it self chiefly in the execution of the latter . and such was that of the shepherds of my text. they went to find out the new-born christ , without being commanded . the angel , as you have heard , gave them a sign , by which , if they would take the pains , they might find him , which was that they should find him wrapped in swadling-clothes , and laid in a manger . but it is no where expressed in the gospel , that he bid them go . we do not read that the angel said unto them , ite pastores , go to bethlehem ; but only , hoc vobis signum : this shall be to you a sign , and yet they presently resolv'd to go . and we need not go far to seek the reason . the angel in the proclamation he made of peace upon earth , when he return'd to heaven , sufficiently signified them to be men of good will , that is , as holy david describes such persons , men , whose wills are in the law of god : in lege domini voluntas ejus : and the law of god in their wills . lex dei ejus in corde ipsius . and where the will and the law are thus reciprocally in each other , in order to the service of god , a command serves but for a sign , and a sign becomes a command . . to men of good will , a precept serves them but for a sign , to point out what they are to do . and this is what the great apostle st. paul gives us to understand , when he says , that lex justo non est posita . the law is not made for the just man , but for such as are unjust and refractory . and why not for the just man also , if he cannot be just without the observance of it ? but because , as you heard before , the will of a just man is in the law , and not under the law. 't is on thing says st. austin to be in the law , and another to be under the law. he whose will is in the law , secundum legem agit , acts indeed conformable to the law. but he whose will is under the law , secùndum legem agitur , is driven or forced by the law. the law like a severe adversary stands over him with threats and menaces to compel him to the performance of what it commands ; and therefore our saviour , as the same st. austin expounds his words , matth. . . bids us to agree with this adversary , that is , to conform our wills to his , quickly whilst we are in the way of this life , lest at any time , ( and we know not how soon ) he deliver us to the judge , and the judge to the officer , and we be cast into a prison , from whence there shall be no delivery , till we have paid the uttermost farthing , nihil sic adversatur peccantibus ac praeceptum dei , nothing so opposite to sinners as the law of god ; because their will is in the sin they would commit , and not in the law. nothing so agreeable to the just as the law , of god , because their will is in his law that they may not sin . to those the law is a weight which lies heavy upon them , and presses them down ; to these , it is a weight also , but such as that of wings , which bears them up , and carries them , christi sarcina pennas habet , to those it is a curbing bitt , which restrains their licentious and irregular appetites ; to these a gentle bridle , which serves only to turn them into the way they are to go : to those , it is a rod of iron , which compels them for fear not to do , what otherwise they would , reges eos in virga ferrea , thou shalt rule them , ( that is the refractory ) in a rod of iron . to these a rod of direction , to point out to them , what their wills are ready to perform . virga directionis , virga regni tui ; the rod of thy kingdom ( and such are the just ) is a rod of direction . in a word , such is the force of love , that if it possess the heart , that which is a precept to the unjust and refractory , serves but for a sign to men of good will. but this is not all . 't is the property of love to dilate the heart it possesses , and render it so pliant to the motions of grace , and ready to execute what is pleasing to god , that , . to men of good will a sign becomes a command . their hearts like that of david are doubly ready , paratum cor meum , deus , paratum cor meum , ready to do what god commands : and again , ready to do what he signifies only to be his good will and pleasure . their will ( as i said before ) is in the law of god , and the law of god in their will. and what is the product of this happy union , but that the will , as consider'd in the law changes a command into a sign , because it performs it willingly ; and the law , as consider'd in the will , improves that which is but a sign into a command ; because the will performs it exactly . this is the happy state of men of good will , let them but have a sign , an intimation of what they are to do ; their hearts are ready , and they presently set themselves to put it in execution . what moved the wisemen of the east to undertake so long and dangerous a journey , to find out , and adore the new-born king of the jews ? all the account they give of it , is , vidimus stellam ejus , that they had seen his star , that is his sign , in the east . they had heard , if not read , what balaam had prophesied of old , that a star should arise out of jacob. they expected the rising of this star ; and no sooner did it appear , but , as the church represents their devotion in one of her antiphons , they said one to another , hoc signum magni regis est , this is the sign of the great king , who is to be born , eamus & inquiramus eum , let us go and enquire him out , & offeramus ei munera , aurum , thus , & myrrham , and offer to him gifts , gold , frankincense and myrrh . and what can be more parallel to the devotion of the shepherds in my text ? no sooner had the angel given them a sign , by which they might find out the same new-born saviour of the world , but presently they said one to another , transeamus usque ad bethlehem , let us now go even to bethlehem . those wisest of kings saw but the sign , and went without delay , vidimus & venimus . these faithfullest of shepherds heard but hoc , vobis signum , this shall be a sign to you , and went with hast , venerunt festinantes . o the incomparable devotion both of kings and shepherds ! how happy should we be , would we follow their example , and not neglect , or ( which is yet worse ) reject so often as we do the holy inspirations which god is pleased from time to time to give us for the amendment of our lives , and setling our selves after a more serious manner to his service , to comply with the modes of the world , and our own ease and humour ? o how different is this comportment from that of these kings and shepherds ? a sign is to them , a precept , and an intimation in lieu of a command . and by whom may we think were they inspired with this devotion , but by the divine infant himself , whom they went to seek , of whom albertus magnus saith , voluntas & complacentia patris summum praeceptum fuit , that the good will and pleasure of his father , in order to man's redemption , was to him as the greatest and strictest of commands . god , when he vouchsafes to speak to us of himself , is pleased to speak to us after our own manner , and in our own language ; and we can speak no otherwise of him . whatever we affirm , says the great st. dennis , of god , is by reason of the narrowness both of our thoughts and words , incompetent and unsuitable to what he is in himself , as always carrying some tincture of imperfection in it . whilst therefore i endeavour , as i may , to express what my own low thoughts have been able to conceive of this gracious concurrence of the son , with the good pleasure of his father , in relation to the great design of his incarnation , and perhaps in words not reaching my own conceptions , your pious and charitable attention , will , i hope , help to supply the defect of the one , and make allowance for the other . the eternal father ( whose goodness is equal to his knowledge , ) fore-seeing from all eternity the fall of man , out of the bowels of his mercy , design'd forthwith to repair it , and that by the incarnation of his son. this amongst many other means , which were present to his infinite wisdom , he was pleased to make choice of , as most conducing to his own honour , and the redress and advantage of man. but how was this great design to be brought about ? by laying a command on his son to take our nature upon him ? no , for , ( as st. thomas observes , ) a command supposes inferiority in the person to be commanded ; and catholic faith tells us , that in the most holy trinity there is no inferiority or subjection : no one of the persons higher or lower , greater or less than another , but as they are all co eternal in duration , so are they co-equal in dignity and authority . there could be no place for a command , where there was no inequality ; nor even for counsel , as supposing an advantage of wisdom in the giver , in respect of the person to whom it is given . what then remain'd , but ( if i may be permitted to speak according to our imperfect and incompetent manner of conceiving in this life ) an intimation of the fathers good pleasure to his son ; presenting him in the comprehensive knowledge , which he communicated to him of all things both future and possible , together with his essence , a prospect ( as i may call it ) of a humane body , so to be framed , as might serve for a decent tabernacle for the divinity to dwell in , and a fit and proper instrument for him , who was the word , to accomplish the redemption of man , by uniting himself to it . how readily he concurred with his consent to this gracious intention of his father , thus communicated to him , is seen by the blessed in heaven , in the unity of one and the same will in both ; but can be discern'd only by us in this state of obscurity in it's effect , as in a glass which reflects rhe beams that are darted upon it . and such is the account which the royal prophet gives of its execution in his th psalm , where he represents the son at his coming into the world , addressing himself to his father in these words , sacrificium & oblationem noluisti , i see , o my eternal father , that sacrifices and oblations are rejected by thee , as insufficient to make satisfaction for the sins of men , and to appease thy wrath so justly enkindled against them . but withall i see , corpus aptasti mihi , that thou hast framed a body fit for me , and me alone , as the means thou hast made choice of for this great work . and what follows then , but ecce venio , behold i come ? nor was a like concurrence of the holy ghost wanting to the compleating this great design , as may be gather'd from those words of the angel to the blessed virgin on the day that it was to be put in execution , when he told her , that the holy ghost should come upon her , and the power of the most high should over-shadow her , and therefore the holy thing , which should be born of her , should be called the son of god. thus as the great st. leo excellently observes , divisit sibi opus nostrae reparationis misericordia trinitatis , the three persons of the most sacred trinity , in that co-eternal and mutual design they had of repairing lost man , divided ( as i may say ) the work of his redemption amongst them , not by way of command , but out of that pure mercy and goodness , which is the same in them all. pater ( as the same st. leo goes on ) ut propitiaretur ; filius , ut propitiaret ; spiritus sanctus , ut igniret . the father , by communicating together with his essence his propension to accept of a propitiation for the sins of mankind : the son , by mutually concurring to make the propitiation ; and the holy ghost , by as readily undertaking to execute what was the good will and pleasure of both. from all which it appears , that tho the son ( the decree of the incarnation supposed ) receiv'd a command from his father to lay down his life for the redemption of man , ( as considered subsisting in our humane nature , and in that consideration inferiour to him ) yet the sourse and origin of his undertaking to make a propitiation for our sins , was not any precept ( of which , as consider'd subsisting only in the divinity he was not capable , being equal to his father , ) but a communication only , he receiv'd in his divine procession from him , of his good will and pleasure , that he should unite himself personally to our humane nature to redeem us . and as he , most willingly and readily concurr'd with this gracious design , ( but in a manner infinitely transcending what the understandings of the highest angels are able to comprehend ; ) so as soon as he was born into the world he inspir'd the shepherds to do the like : he only gave them a sign or intimation by which they might find him , and presently without delay they resolv'd to go seek him out . loquebantur pastores ad invicem , the shepherds ▪ said one to another , let us now go even to bethlehem . thus , dear christian auditors , was this divine lover of our souls pleased both to prove and make known to us the devotion of the shepherds , when he came into the world : and now that he has finished his dispensation upon earth , and is return'd to heaven ; has he left us no sign of his good will and pleasure , to provoke our love , to sollicite our affections and show our devotion to him ? yes : corpus aptavit nobis , he has left us also a body , the same body which his father framed for him , and he gave to the shepherds ; but in a different manner to them and to us : to them as wrapped in swadling clothes , and laid in a manger : hoc vobis signum . to us , cloth'd with the forms of bread and wine , and laid upon the altar , hoc nobis signum . and what greater sign could he give us of his love , than to give us that very flesh to be our food , which he had given for the life of the world ? admirable is the reflection which st. chrisostom makes upon this passage . mothers , says he , oftentimes put forth their children to be nurs'd and fed by others , but not so i , ( and he speaks in the person of christ , ) i feed you with my own flesh ; i set my self before you for food , so to breed generous spirits in you , and fill you with hopes of future glory ; since you cannot think , but that i , who have given my self to you here , will do it in a much more excellent manner hereafter . that i took flesh and blood upon me , was out of the desire i had to become your brother ; and now behold i give the same flesh and blood to be taken by you , by which i became so nearly related to you . these are the words of that great father and light of the church st. chrysostom , by which he declares the faith of the church of his time ( which was between the third and fourth of the four first general councils ) to be the same which the catholic church professes at this day . and now , dear christans , that this divine lover of our souls has left us so great a sign and pledge of his good will and love , shall we not make hast with the devout shepherds to go to bethlehem ? bethlehem in english signifies the house of bread. and st. gregory observes , that our lord would have the place in which he was to be born , to be called long before by this name , to signifie to us , that he who appeared there in our flesh , is the living bread , which came down from heaven to nourish the souls of his elect to everlasting life . and now , as i said , that he has given us so incomparable a sign of his good will and pleasure , shall we not make hast with the shepherds to bethlehem ? shall we let this holy time pass over , or rather shall we trifle it all away in pastime and merriment , without ever approaching to this holy table ? such was the fervour of the first christians , that they were wont to communicate every day . and necessary it was in those times of cruel persecution , to arm themselves daily with the bread of life against the fear of death . but no sooner was peace restored to the church in the beginning of the fourth age , but piety began to languish ; ( so much more hard is it for virtue to bear up against a prosperous , than an adverse condition ) which gave st. chrysostom , before that age was ended , cause to inveigh so frequently as he does , against such as were present at the divine mysteries , without communicating . but the malady went on increasing , and christians grew so tepid in the performance of this duty , that the council of agde in the beginning of the sixth age , thought fit to declare , that those who did not communicate at the three great feasts of the year , christmas , easter and whitsontide , were not to be believ'd to be catholics , nor reputed for such : and the council of tours in the beginning of the eighth age , found it necessary to admonish them anew to communicate , if not oftner , yet three times at least in the year , viz. at the three aforesaid feasts . and if the church in these later times , as still more remiss , have thought good to lay no farther obligation upon all the faithful of both sexes , than of receiving once a year , and that at easter , yet the addition of the words , ad minus , ( that it must be done then at least ) sufficiently shows the desire she has that they would do it oftner , and that a command were not at all necessary to compel , where there is so great an attractive of bounty to invite . lex justo non est posita . this law was not made for the just , for men of good will , who are led by the spirit of love , but for such servile and degenerous spirits , as are acted only by fear of punishment : and it is much to be feared , that those who in this matter , will do no more than just what the letter of the law obliges , would not do that neither , but for fear of the censure annexed . o the prodigious sloth and negligence of such careless christians , whom so great signs and pledges of their dear saviours goodness cannot draw , without the necessity of a precept to drive them to him ! what will they pretend for their excuse ? that they cannot , that is , will not leave their sins ? few will be willing to own this , but such as have lost all fear of god's justice , and care of their own souls . will they say they have no time ? but has god then given us days in a year , and shall not we afford to give him one at least in the hundred ? or finally , will they pretend , that they do not find themselves worthy to come oftner than once a year to this divine table ? this indeed carries some show of religion in it , but such as st. cyril doubts not to call damnosam religionem : amischievous sort of religion , which the devil makes use of to perswade remiss and slothful christians , to deprive themselves of the food of life : but alas ! as the same h. father saith , if they find themselves not worthy now , when will they make themselves so ? will it be easier to do it after ten or twelve months , than after one , or two , or three ? or will it require less pains to make themselves worthy , after their sins by long continuance , and repeated acts , have taken deep root in their hearts , than whilst they are yet green and tender ? caveamus ne loco laquei damnosam religionem diabolus nobis praetendat , let us beware , that our enemy do not ensnare us to our ruine under a feigned pretence of religion : or rather , let none be deluded with such irreligious pretenses as these to make him abstain from frequenting this holy table . and that we may do it worthily , let us go with these devout shepherds to bethlehem , and there see the word which is made flesh for our sakes , first to adore him as our god and saviour , and then to adorn our souls with those virtues of which he has given us so pretious an example , which is the subject of my second part. the second part. videamus hoc verbum , quod factum est . let us see this word which is made . 't is so natural to man , who draws all his knowledge from the impressions of his senses to desire to see what he is to worship , that not being able to see the true god with his eyes , he fell to worshiping the creature , rather than the creator , changing as st. paul says , the glory of the incorruptible god into an image made like to corruptible man , and to birds and four-footed beasts , and creeping things . thus did they become vain , as the same apostle says , in their imaginations , and their foolish heart was darkned , resolving to worship what they saw , because they could not see , whom they were to worship . four thousand years had this error over-spread the world , excepting only the little corner of judea , when god commiserating the sad condition of man , and knowing , as st. peter chrysologus says , visendi se desiderio cruciari , lassarique mortales , with what anxiety men desired to see him , and that nothing could content them , but a visible deity , unde se visibilem faceret , hoc elegit ; out of his infinite goodness was pleased to take upon him the nature of man , that he might be seen by them . this remedy alone was left to cure the blindness of humane nature , because this object alone was able to draw the eyes of men from all other visible things , and fix them upon it self . and of this our saviour himself was pleas'd to give us a figure in the miraculous cure he wrought upon the blind man , joh. . by anointing his eyes with a mixture made of his sacred spittle and the dust of the earth , in which was represented the union of the divine wisdom with humane nature , caecatis luminibus , ( as st. anselm elegantly expresses it ) collyrium suae incarnationis apponens , applying the eye-salve of his incarnation to the eyes of men , that those who could not behold him in the splendors of his divinity , might see him appearing in the form of man. o the riches of the goodness and mercy of god , in condescending thus graciously to the weakness of our nature , and making himself visible , to satisfie the desire we had of seeing with our eyes the god whom we are to worship ! this the devout shepherds did , as you heard before , when they found him in his crib ; and this must we do , as often as we present our selves before him at his altar . but was this all ? was this the only end , why he was pleas'd to appear to us in this visible manner ? no : st. austin tells us of a farther design he had in it , when he says , sapientia dei hominem ad exemplum unde viveremus suscepit , that the wisdom of god , that is , god the word , the second person of the trinity , took the nature of man upon him , to give us an example how to live well by living like him . 't is the particular priviledge of this divine word made flesh for our fakes , that whereas other words are , properly speaking , the objects not of the eyes , but of the ears , this word not only speaks to our ears by his doctrine , but much more to our eyes by his example . and hence it is , that that great devote of our saviours nativity , st. thomas de villa nova , calls the manger , in which he first appeared , magna cathedra , the great divinity-chair or pulpit , which his eternal father had prepared for him , as soon as he should make himself visible in our nature , to teach us the doctrine of salvation . draw near then , o christian souls , and hear , or rather see ( says this holy saint ) the lessons which the word made flesh preaches to your eyes from the pulpit of his crib . discite paupertatem , learn of me , says he , to be truly poor , that is , you who are poor not to repine at your condition , and you who are rich , not to set your hearts upon the riches of this world , but to abridge your selves in superfluities to communicate to those who are in want , because i who am the lord of the universe , and can dispose of all that is in it , at my pleasure , have no other mantles to shroud my tender body , but such as a poor carpenters spouse could provide me with , and no other cradle to repose my head in , but a manger . discite humilitatem , learn of me to be truly humble , each esteeming other better than themselves ; because i , who am the most high , have humbled my self so low , as to become the companion of beasts . discite mansuetudinem , learn of me to be truly meek , forgiving from your hearts those that offend you , since i , who am the person offended , do here water my hard couch with my tears to make an attonement for the sins you have committed against me . discite patientiam , learn of me to be patient in all your sufferings , because i , who am omnipotent , lye here exposed in an open stable to the contempt of the world , and the rigour of the elements . discite obedientiam , learn of me to be obedient to your superiors , because i , who am the king of kings , and lord of lords , have submitted my self as a little infant to the disposal and conduct of a young and unexperienced virgin. discite charitatem , learn of me to love your neighbours for my sake , since i , who am true god of true god , have made my self man for yours . discite denique verum bonorum omnium hujus saeculi contemptum . lastly , learn of me a true and real contempt of all the goods of this world , since i , who am the wisdom of god , have despised and rejected them as false and counterfeit , to teach you by my example the true way to heaven . these are the lessons which this divine word preaches to our eyes from the pulpit of his cribb . and if the scholars of pythagoras had so great a veneration for their master , that whatever he said , they believ'd it , because he said it , quia ipse dixit ; now that a greater than pythagoras is here , now that god himself is become both our master , and pattern in his own person , shall we not much rather do what we see him do , quia ipse fecit , because he has done it , and not only so , but quia ipse factus est , because himself was pleased to be made man , that we might see him with our eyes , and learn from his example the true way to bliss ? and when shall we do it , if we do it not now ? holy david , astonish'd , ( as we may say ) to see the general depravation of mankind in his time , how their hearts were bent upon nothing , but the love of the things of this world , as their only happiness , calls upon them to bethink themselves of their error in these words , filii hominum usquequo gravi corde ! ut quid diligitis vanitatem , & quaeritis mendacium ? o ye sons of men , how long will you let your hearts lye groveling upon the earth ! why will you set your affections upon vanity , and seek after a lye , meaning the transitory and deceitful goods of this world ? and st. austin to extenuate , as it were , in some measure their fault , subjoins , saltem usque ad adventum filii dei error vester duraverit , that possibly this error of theirs might continue till the coming of the son of god into the world . but then considering the depraved lives of too many christians , he changes the prophets usquequo , and crys out himself quid ▪ ultra graves corde estis ? o ye sons of men , why are your hearts still possessed with this error , now that the son of god is come in the flesh to teach you the true way of life ? quando habituri finem fallaciarum , si praesente veritate non habetis ! o , when will you make an end of suffering your selves to be cheated with the fallacious maximes and fashions of the world ? if you do it not now that truth it self has taken a body , and presents it self visible to your very eyes to teach you by its own example what you are to chuse , and what to avoid . is it possible , dear christians , that we can think that to be good and desirable , which he , who is truth it self , has rejected and contemned , or that to be vile and contemptible , which he has made choice of and embraced ? if our judgment and conduct be not conform to his , one of the two must follow , either that he was deceived , or we are mistaken . and no doubt , but the mistake will be found to be on our side , if we think to go to heaven by any other way , than that by which he went himself . if he who was innocent , chose not only to walk upon thorns in this world , but wore them for a crown upon his head , must we , who are the criminals , expect to have the way strew'd with flowers , and our temples crown'd with garlands of roses ? let me tell you , dear christians , that 't is as much an article of our faith to believe the way to heaven , as to believe heaven it self : and if he who has told us , there is such a place prepared for us , as heaven , if we take the right way to it , has told us also , that that way is no other , than what himself calls , the strait way , viz. the mortifying of our sensual appetites , renouncing the pomps and vanities of the world , crucifying the flesh with its inordinate desires , bringing the body into subjection to the spirit , by praying , fasting , and other penitential works , giving what is above necessity , and true christian decency , in alms to the poor , denying our own wills , patiently bearing the afflictions and crosses which god sends , meekly forgiving those that offend us , and the like christian duties ; either we believe this to be the only way to heaven , or we do not ? if we do not , why do we believe there is such a thing as heaven at all , since he who has told us the one , has told us the other also . when he said of himself , ego sum via , veritas & vita , i am the way , the truth , and the life , he placed truth in the middle , between the way and the end , as equally engag'd for both . but then again , if we do believe , the strait way , and which himself made choice of , to be the only way to heaven , why do we chuse to walk in the broad and beaten road of the world , as if that would bring us thither ? is it by pleasing the senses , pampering the body , mispending the time which god has given us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling , in indulging to our own ease the best part of the day , and throwing away the rest in vain , and too often criminal conversations and pastimes , and the riches he has bestowed upon us , to secure our own salvation by relieving his poor and necessitous brethren , in purchasing to our selves , all that may conduce to the gratifying of our fancies , and the satisfying of our sensual appetites ; is it , i say , by doing these things , that we can think at last to arrive at heaven ? o no ; we are convinc'd of the contrary both by the doctrine and practice of god himself made man for our sakes . and when shall we put an end to this fatal cheat , if we do it now ? let us then no longer suffer our selves to be deluded with the vain and transitory things of this world . but transeamus usque ad bethlehem , passing over , let us with the devout shepherds go to bethlehem ; and see this word which is made flesh for our sakes , which our lord hath shown unto us . let us in a word , see and do according to the pattern which is shown us in the manger , purifying our hearts from all sinful affections , and transcribing those vertues , of which this fair original has given us so lively an example , into the copy of our own lives . so shall we be prepared worthily to receive him here under the sacramental veils , in which he lies wrapped upon the altar , no less truly , than he did in his swadling-clothes in the manger ; and be found worthy , when he shall come the second time into the world with great power and majesty , to behold him face to face in his glory ; which god of his infinite mercy grant us all , to whom in unity and trinity be all honour and glory now and for ever . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e psa . . . stabulum visum est esse coelum in terra . epiphan . orat. de deipera . exod. . isai . . . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . verbum quod semper erat , videamus quomodo pro nobis factum sit . quod enim videre non poteramus , dum erat verbum , videamus factum , quia caro est . sum. . q. . a. o. psal . . psal . . . tim. . . st. aug. in psal . . de sermon . dom. c. . st. aug. in psal . . froenum quo pulchrè agitur st. chrisost . hom. . in tim. . in morali . psal . . . psal . . . num. . affirmationes de deo sunt incompactae . st. dionys . st. tho. . p. q. . serm. . pentecost . hom. . ad pop. antioch . ego autèm non ita ; sed carnibus meis alo , & meipsum vobis appono , vos omnes generosos esse volens , &c. volui frater vester fieri . vobis vicissim ipsam carnem & sanguinem , per quae cognatus vester factus sum , trado . st. greg. hom. . in evang. conc. agath . an. . conc. turon . . an. . st. cyril . alex. l. . in jo. c. . rom. . . serm. . s. aug. l. . quaest . q. serm , . de nat. dom. phil. . . psal . . . st. aug. in psal . . matth. . . joh. . . a sermon preached before the king & queen at white-hall on christmas-day, by the right reverend father in god, edward lord bishop of worcester. stillingfleet, edward, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing s estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a sermon preached before the king & queen at white-hall on christmas-day, by the right reverend father in god, edward lord bishop of worcester. stillingfleet, edward, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed by j.h. for henry mortlock ..., london : . "published by their majesties special command." advertisement: p. [ ] at end. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -- n.t. -- john iii -- sermons. christmas sermons. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - melanie sanders sampled and proofread - melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached before the king & queen at white-hall , on christmass-day , . by the right reverend father in god , edward lord bishop of worcester . published by their majesties special command . london , printed by i. h. for henry mortlock , at the phoenix in s. paul's church-yard , . s. john iii. . for god sent not his son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him might be saved . these words are part of the gospel written by s. john , wherein he doth not only fill up the history of our saviour with many particular discourses omitted by the other evangelists , but the whole seems to be penned in another strain and with some different purpose and design . it 's true , that they all agree in the same general end of writing which s. john mentions , viz. that we might believe that jesus is the christ the son of god , and that believing we might have life through his name ; but they make use of several methods , as most agreeable to the circumstances of the time and place and occasion of their writing . s. matthew wrote his gospel for the sake of the jews ; and therefore he begins with the genealogy of jesus christ from abraham , and shews that the prophecies were accomplished in him , and how he came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it , and that his miracles and doctrine were sufficient to convince them that he was the promised messias . s. mark wrote only a summary account of the most material passages relating to the person and doctrine of christ for the sake of the gentiles . s. luke takes a larger compass , and puts things into an exacter order of time , as himself tells us , and adds many circumstances relating to the birth of christ , and the general advantage to mankind by his coming ; that he was to be a light to lighten the gentiles , as well as the glory of his people israel . s. john succeeding the rest , found two great things which gave him occasion of writing his gospel ; . the perverting the doctrine of christ by the ebionites and cerinthians , who pretended to give great honour to christ as an excellent person both for wisdom and holiness , but yet so that he was but a meer man , to whom god , upon his baptism , had given extraordinary gifts and assistances of his holy spirit . . the other was , that the gospel which was designed for the universal good of the world met with such cold reception and entertainment from it . he was in the world , and the world was made by him , and the world knew him not . he came unto his own , and his own received him not . what could be more uneasy to so true a lover of christ as s. john was , than that he lived to see his doctrine perverted , and his design in so great a measure rendred ineffectual ? and therefore in the writing of this gospel , . he begins after another manner ; and in a very short , significant and lofty style , he sets forth his eternal being and godhead . in the beginning was the word , and the word was with god , and the word was god. and as the eternal power and godhead were understood by the things that were made , as s. paul saith , so he adds , that all things were made by him , and without him was not any thing made that was made . vvhich is as certain an argument of the divinity of christ , as there is of the being of god from the creation of the vvorld . . as to the other point ; it was indeed a sad and amazing consideration , that the wonderfull love of god in sending his son into the world should have so little effect upon the generality of those to whom he was sent and his doctrine preached ; but the apostle contents himself with these two accounts of it ; . that it was far from being god's intention or design in sending his son to make mens condition worse and more desperate ; for god sent not his son into the world to condemn the world , but that the world through him might be saved . . but it might be presently objected , that if this were god's intention , the world would not have receiv'd so little benefit by it , but according to the terms of salvation proposed by the gospel so few will have advantage by it ; therefore the evangelist adds , that if men did perish they must thank themselves for it ; for , this is the condemnation that light is come into the world , and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil , v. . so that here are two things which deserve our consideration . i. the wonderfull condescension and gracious intention of god in sending his son into the world. ii. the true reason why so many miscarry , as to their salvation notwithstanding ; viz. their own wickedness and folly. . the former of these , is that , which upon this day we have particular reason to take notice of ; not in a slight superficial manner , ( as though an annual commemoration of it were all that god expected from us , ) but our minds and souls ought to be possessed with a deep and humble sense of so great , so undeserved , so astonishing a condescension of god to mankind . and the more we think and consider of it , the more amazing and surprizing it must appear to us : for when the psalmist thought but of god's providence towards mankind , he could not but break out into that expression , lord , what is man , that thou art mindfull of him , and the son of man , that thou so regardest him ! what is man indeed ! a mass of vanity and disorder ; weak in his judgment , wilfull in his passions ; uncertain in his best resolutions , violent in his worst inclinations ; strangely bent upon what tends to his ruin , and hardly brought to understand and pursue his truest interest ! what is such a creature as this , that a god infinitely wise and powerfull , far above our thoughts as well as our services , should concern himself about the low and trifling affairs of mankind ! but such is the goodness and condescension of god , that he humbles himself so far , as not only to behold , but to govern the things that are done upon earth . but what is man that he should visit him ! not with the meer common demonstrations of his kindness , which he affords to other creatures ; but that when mankind had so far degenerated and fallen off from god by their sins , that they deserved to be for ever cast off and forgotten by him ; that then god should visit him by sending his son into the world that the world through him might be saved ; this is so far above our imaginations as well as deserts , that it seems to be the most colourable pretence for infidelity , that it is too great a thing for mankind to believe . but i am sensible , that in this sceptical and unbelieving age , there is such a humour of cavilling against matters of revelation , especially this fundamental article of it , that it would seem as if we were afraid to look their objections in the face , if we take no notice of them ; and on the other side , to insist too much upon them , were to make them appear much more considerable than they are . therefore i shall pass over all the trifling and impertinent talk of such men ( which is not whispered in corners , but i am afraid is become a matter of too common and publick discourse ) and i shall single out that which seems to have the greatest weight in it ; viz. suppose god should have an intention to offer terms of salvation to mankind , yet what need was there that the son of god should come into the world for that end ? had not god easier methods of doing it than by the incarnation and crucifixion of his son ? is it not more credible , that god should forgive sins without any attonement , than that he should send his son to be a sacrifice of propitiation to himself ? is it not enough for us to believe all the principles of natural religion to be true ; for we own a god , and providence , and a life to come , and rewards and punishments of mankind according to the nature of their actions ; but why should our faith be cramp'd by such incredible mysteries as these , concerning the son of god's coming into the world ; in such a manner as the evangelists describe it : this is so far from being a kindness to the world , that it makes the condition of salvation so much harder , if we must believe things which seem so impossible to us , and so hard to be reconciled to the natural principles of reason and religion . i shall not dispute it with such men whether these late pretenders to natural religion have at the bottom any real kindness for the principles of it , or not ; i am willing to hope the best , and that it is a meer dissatisfaction in them as to our revealed religion ; and that this pretended zeal for natural religion is little more than a meer sham and disguise to avoid a more odious imputation . but let it be as great and real as they pretend , what i at present undertake , is to make it appear , that none who do embrace the principles of natural religion can have any reason to reject the christian , even as to this article of god's sending his son into the world , which they seem most to stumble at . i shall not go about to shew , how the christian religion not only supposes , but improves , refines , establishes and enforces the most noted and allowed principles of natural religion , as to the being of god and providence ; the most agreeable way of worship ; the nature and kinds of moral duties , the rewards and punishments of another world , since no one of common sense can deny that the christian religion is very exact and particular in these things above any other institution in the world. and therefore i cannot , but in passing , take notice , that i do not remember any one institution in the world with respect to religion , except that which we have by revelation , which hath not some notorious blunders in it , as to the principles of natural religion and vertue ; and therefore they have far less reason to quarrel with christianity than any other religion ( if their quarrel were not really against all , as i fear it is ; ) let them look abroad over the unchristian world ; and they will find such foolish notions , such vain superstitions , such incoherent fables , such immoral practices allowed by their several religions , as would make a considering man wonder how the notion of religion could be so debased among men. let them look backward upon the passages of elder times , and they shall find either they set up false gods with the true , or the false worship of the true god ; or a worship disagreeable to the divine nature by mean representations , or uncouth sacrifices , or impure rites ; or else there were some horrible flaws , as to the common principles of morality , as to conjugal society , or the rights of property , or the due regard to the preservation of mankind ; or they give such a pitifull representation of the rewards and punishments of another life , as if they had a mind to have them look'd on as fables , or despised as unworthy our regarding them above the present pleasures of life . but i dare challenge the most cavilling sceptick to find any just fault with the duties of christianity ; for the worship of god required therein , is pure , holy , spiritual , very agreeable to the divine nature and the common reason of mankind . the moral precepts of it are clear , weighty and comprehensive . and those who have delivered them to us , neither commend any vice , nor sink the reputation of any vertue ; they never lessen our duties to god , or to one another ; all the just complaint is , that the precepts are too strict and severe , too good and too hard for mankind to practise them . but is this an objection against our religion , or against mankind ? if they think that , let our religion require what it will , the generality of the world will still live and act like brutes , and go against all reason and religion ; how can we help it ? but we hope the blame is not to be laid on reason or religion , that so great a part of mankind are either fools or mad-men ; i. e. either want sense to understand their duty , or are resolved not to practise it . especially considering , that the rewards and punishments of another life , are set forth in the gospel , with that clearness , that force , that authority , that if any thing of that nature would work upon mankind , these must . but all these things i pass over , and come to that which i proposed as my chief design , which is to prove , that none who truly believe the principles of natural religion , can have any reason to reject this fundamental article of it , as to god's sending his son into the world. and that upon two accounts . i. that the principles of natural religion make this design appear very credible , or fit to be believed by men of sense and understanding . ii. that the principles on which this fundamental article of our revealed religion stands , afford sufficient evidence to prove it true ; and therefore that we are bound to believe it . as to the former , the grounds or principles which i go upon , are these : i. that the great end of christ's coming into the world , viz. the salvation of mankind , is most agreeable to the infinite wisdom and goodness of god. no one who believes a god , can deny him to be of infinite wisdom and goodness ; for the very same reasons which move men to believe a god , do convince them that he must be of infinite wisdom and goodness , seeing the strongest evidences to prove his being are from the instances of them in the world. these being then supposed , as essential and inseparable attributes of the divine nature ; we are to consider what end with respect to mankind is most agreeable to these to carry on ; and we must suppose mankind to be made up of soul and body , which are capable of pleasures and satisfaction , both in this world and another : but our souls are of an immortal nature , that will subsist in happiness or misery after this life , otherwise the rewards and punishments of another world signify nothing ; the question then is ( if it can be made a question ) whether it be more agreeable to the infinite goodness and wisdom of god to provide for the well-being of mankind in such a low and gloomy a region , as this earth is , or to advance them into a far better place , and better company , and more noble and divine delights , and those not depending on a fading , drooping , dying life , but on the perpetual enjoyment of a complete happiness both of soul and body . no one that ever dares to think or consider of these things , can believe there is any comparison between them ; so that the salvation tendred by the gospel , is the most agreeable end which the wisdom and goodness of god could carry on for the benefit of mankind . but why should mankind flatter themselves with the hopes or expectation of a happiness so far above what they can pretend to deserve ? there were some grounds for such an objection as this ; if we supposed the rewards of another life to come from any other fountain than the infinite goodness of god towards those who sincerely love him and endeavour to please him ; although with many failings and imperfections . but this is the only hypothesis , which we maintain to be the christian doctrine : and what is there in it , which is repugnant to the wisdom and goodness of god ? what was it but infinite goodness which gave a being to the world at first , and hath preserved it ever since , and made it so usefull and beneficial to mankind ? what is it , but infinite goodness that suffers us to live and enjoy so many comforts of life , after so many great and continual provocations ? if we were to argue from our deserts , it were impossible for us to justifie the wonderfull patience and long-suffering of god towards the sinfull race of mankind ; for we are certain , that they have long since deserved to be cut off from the face of the earth ? if we consider the justice and holiness of god , whereby he is daily provoked to punish offenders , and the power he hath to execute his justice in a moment , without any opposite power to controll or resist him ; we have reason to be astonished at the wonderfull patience and forbearance of god , of which we every day see so large experience . but this is not all ; he doth not only suffer them to live , but often makes their condition easie and prosperous as to this world , having health , riches and honour , and the hopes of their posterity , enjoying the same things after them . now these to such , who do not believe or value another life , are the greatest things god can do to their satisfaction . but if they can allow so much goodness in god towards those who continually offend him ; why should they question greater instances of it towards those that endeavour to please him ? i do not mean as to this world , but as to another which they value far before it ; for if they do not , they have no reason to expect any happiness in it : why then should it be thought more unreasonable for god to bestow the happiness of another life , on those who esteem and choose it , than to give the good things of this life to those who love and admire it ? i do not say , the wisdom is equal in the choice ; but the goodness of god is wonderfull in both . and there can be no imaginable ground to suspect , that god should be really less kind to those who love him best . it is a vain thing to talk of those being saved by christ's coming into the world , who do not heartily love god and keep his commandments ; for the whole design of the gospel is to perswade us to one in order to the other ; and therefore it is not a well-grounded hope , but a fond imagination for any to expect salvation by christ on any other terms . if we then take in the whole hypothesis or true scheme of christianity together , it is no other than that god sent his son into the world , that the world through him might be saved ; not by continuing in the sinfull practises of this world , which s. john calls the lust of the flesh , and the lust of the eye , and the pride of life ; but by subduing and mortifying all disorderly passions do prepare themselves for a better state. now , if there be in our minds a firm perswasion of the infinite goodness of god , of which we are convinced by meer natural reason ; why should it be thought hard to believe , that god should take care of so great and good an end , as the eternal salvation of those who truly love and obey him . ii. the next principle agreeable to natural reason and religion is , that no such thing as salvation or happiness in a future state can be expected without the particular favour of god. for , all who do own natural religion , must agree that the soul of man is an immortal thinking being ; and therefore its happiness must consist in such a sort of thinking , as carries the greatest pleasure and satisfaction along with it . let us think with our selves what a soul separate from the body can do , to make it self happy : here it was intangled , corrupted , and therefore apt to be deceived by the false appearances of things , which glide through the senses and leave too lasting impressions on the mind ; and thereby it comes to mistake shews for substance and meer colours for realities . but this is a mistake so common and so fatal to mankind , that very few are throughly undeceived in this world ; for one way or other they are apt to flatter themselves with some pleasing mistakes and delightfull errors of life . but assoon as the soul is dislodged from this cloudy mansion in the body , all things will then appear , not as by an uncertain sky-light in a dark room , but in an open and distinct view , and then it will be impossible to be any longer deceived by false representations of things . what then can be conceived sufficient to entertain and please the mind ? will it be the reflection on the past pleasures of the body ? no certainly ; for those cannot bear a severe reflection onw ; and the very thoughts of them make men's minds very uneasie ; for the most tempting pleasures of sin leave no grateful relish behind them . how then should the mind bear up it self in another state , when its reflections must be far more constant and severe ? what then ? can the mind lay it self asleep , and put it self into a state of unthinking ? that were all one , as a kind of self-annihilation if it be of a thinking nature . there is a state of unthinking in this vvorld , which is too common ; when the mind is as it were overlaid and stifled with feathers ; i mean is so taken up with trifling and vain imaginations , as hardly give way to one serious thought . but this is impossible in another state ; and therefore nothing but what will bear a most strict and severe scrutiny can give any support or comfort to the mind then . it must be true and real good to create any satisfaction ; it must be durable and lasting to keep it up ; it must be compleat and perfect to answer all the just and reasonable desires of an immortal soul. and what can this be less than god himself ? and therefore the christian religion speaks most agreeably to natural reason , when it still supposes the happiness of another vvorld to consist in the presence and enjoyment of god. for those must have all that is desireable , who enjoy the favour of him who commands all things , and knows how to suit them to the greatest advantage to those to whom he designs to shew his favour . and this prospect of another state , or of the salvation of mankind by christ's coming into the world , is that which lets us into another view of all that relates to the son of god's coming into the vvorld : for if our minds be possessed with great apprehensions of the power and greatness of the vvorld ; all that the gospel represents as to the manner of god's sending his son into the vvorld , his being born of an obscure virgin , being laid in the common manger , being bred up in a private place , having so mean followers , meeting with so cold a reception from his own people , and at last , being exposed to an ignominious death by them , looks very reproachfull and contemptible . but on the other side , if we could raise our minds to such idea's of things here , as the glorious spirits above have ; and see how all things are esteemed by them according to the ends and purposes they are designed for , we should then perceive how admirably all these things were fitted for his great end ; which was to wean mens hearts from the pomp and vanities of this vvorld and to prepare them for a better ; and we should then have quite another opinion of these things : for as there is a certain greatness , which is above all the formal shews and affected appearances of it , so when a great and noble design is to be carried on , the true measure of decorum in that case , is that which is most serviceable to the principal end. if a great person had a design to rescue some near relations out of slavery , he would never go with a splendid equipage and a long train of attendance , which would but make his person more gazed at and his design less effectual . if he had intended to have rescued them by force out of captivity , it had been necessary to have had power and strength proportionable to his design ; but if it were only by perswasion , then he must accommodate himself to such methods as were most likely to prevail . the great end of the coming of christ was to deliver the souls of men from a much worse captivity , viz. of their own sinfull passions and the devil's tyranny by their means ; but he did not come in a way of violence to break open the prison-doors and in an instant to knock off their fetters and bid them be free ; but he makes use of all the gentle and effectual methods of perswasion , not only by his words but by his own example ; that they might learn by him to despise this world , who had so little in it , and to prepare for that from whence he came , where their happiness should be unconceivable and without end. iii. the third principle is , that no such particular favour of god is to be expected , as long as his displeasure is so just against mankind for sin , and no effectual means used to remove it . the truth is , the whole scheme of the gospel turns upon this point , whether god be really displeased with mankind for their sins , so as to need a reconciliation : for , if all that the scripture so often expresses concerning the wrath and displeasure of god against mankind for sin , be only figurative and hyperbolical expressions , then the whole design of the gospel must be given up as a meer scheme ; for , if god be not really displeased , there is no need of reconciliation ; if no need of that , then there can be no need of christ's coming to reconcile us to god ; and if he did not come for that end , we have no reason to believe the scripture , which affirms it over and over . and i do not think any stronger argument can be brought to prove a thing , than that the most emphatical expressions are so often applied to that purpose , by such persons who used all sincerity and plainness . so that this matter as to the scripture is clear , if any thing can be made so ; and if nothing can , i cannot see how it is possible to have a written rule of faith ; since all writings are capable by ambiguity of words and phrases , by the different use of particles and transposition of letters and syllables , of very different interpretations . but this is not my present business , which is rather to consider the natural sense and reason of mankind as to this matter . we cannot in reason suppose any such passion in an infinitely perfect being , as that which we call wrath and anger in men. for that is a violent perturbation arising from surprise and indignation ; but there can be no disorder or surprise in a being of infinite wisdom . therefore wrath in god must suppose two things . . a just cause of displeasure given by us . . such a just displeasure following upon it as will end in the severe punishment of offenders if it be not removed . now , whether there be a just cause of displeasure or not , must depend upon the natural differences of good and evil. and it is impossible that any one who exercises his reason , can judge amiss in this matter . not , that all the differences of good and evil are equally clear , for all propositions in mathematicks are not so ; but it is sufficient to our purpose , that the general principles are so ; and the greater instances ; so that no man can think that he acts as much according to reaso in one as the other . and , can any one of common sense imagine god to be as well pleased with him who blasphemes his name , and despises his service , and hates religion , as with one that fears and honours him , and endeavours to please him ? can he be as well pleased with him , that assassines his parents , as with him that obeys them ? with him that robs and defrauds his neighbour , as with him that relieves him in his necessities ? with him who subdues his disorderly passions , as with him that gives way to them ? with him who is cruel , inhuman and perfidious , as with him that is faithfull and just and compassionate ? these are but some of the instances of the differences of good and evil , but they are so plain and notorious , that a man must renounce the common principles of humanity , who doth not own them . and to say there are no such differences , because there have been mistakes and disputes about some things accounted good and evil , is as absurd , as to say , there is no difference between day and night , because in the twilight it is hard to distinguish them . but if there be such a real difference in the nature of human actions , and god be a strict observer of them , he being a god of infinite holiness and justice , cannot but be offended with mankind's wilfull omission of what they know to be good , and commission of what they know to be evil. but here we must distingush between god's displeasure against the actions and against the persons who commit them . the former is a necessary consequent upon the evil of sin and can never be removed , for god is irreconcileable to sin. but those who commit sin are his creatures ; and therefore capable of mercy and forgiveness . there is always a desert of punishment following upon sin ; but there is no inseparable connection between the sin and the punishment ; for the great and wise governor of the vvorld acts not by necessity of nature in punishing sinners , but by the methods of vvisdom and justice . and if the saving of sinners upon their repentance can be made agreeable to these , such is the mercy and goodness of god to his creatures , that there is great reason to hope for a reconciliation . for , although god be displeased , he is not implacable ; although he be justly provoked to punish sinners , yet there is no absolute necessity that he should ; nor any irreversible decree that he will do it ; and therefore notwithstanding this displeasure of god , there is a way still left open for reconciliation , which leads to the next . iv. the fourth principle is , that if god be thus displeased with the sins of mankind , and yet there is a possibility of reconciliation between god and them , he alone is the most proper and competent judge , on what terms this reconciliation may be obtained . for being both the offended party and the supreme governor , he hath the sole right on both accounts of fixing those terms and conditions , upon which he will forgive sins , and receive the offenders into favour . it is a vain thing for any to argue from one attribute of god against another . some are apt to flatter themselves that god will easily forgive sins , because he is mercifull , but they ought to consider that he is just and holy as well as mercifull ; and there is as much ground to fear that he will not forgive because he is just ; as there can be to hope that he will because he is mercifull . and thus it is impossible for a considering man to satisfie his own mind as to god's forgiving his sins ; unless he be some way assured from himself that he will do it . and therefore a particular revelation in this case must be made , if god designs to bring men to repentance by the hopes of forgiveness . but meer repentance can never make any satisfaction to god for the breach of his laws . suppose a sinner comes to himself and is heartily sorry that he hath offended god so many ways , and with such aggravating circumstances as he hath done ; and now resolves in the anguish of his soul never more to return to the practice of them ; this no doubt , is far more pleasing to god , than going on to offend still ; but all this is no more than a man in justice to god and to himself is bound to doe ; for he is bound to vindicate the honour of god's laws , and to condemn himself for his own folly , and to return no more to the practice of it . but what amends is made by all this , for the infinite dishonour which hath been done to god and his laws by the violation of them ? the courts of justice among men take no notice of the malefactors repentance ; however he be affected , the law must be observed , and offenders punished . how then can any persons be assured from meer natural reason , that god will not be as tender of the honour and justice of his laws , as mankind are allowed to be without any imputation of cruelty or injustice ? if god should be exact in punishing offenders , who could complain ? for who can plead not-guilty before his maker ? and when a man 's own conscience condemns him that he hath deserved punishment , what reason can he have from himself not to expect it ? and if he doth justly expect to be punished , what reason can he have to hope for forgiveness ? since he knows that he deserves to be punished , and therefore can never deserve to be forgiven . it must be therefore a free act of grace and mercy in god to forgive even penitent sinners ; and upon what terms and in what manner he will do it depends wholly upon his own good will. he may forgive sins if he pleases , and it is agreeable to his nature to do it , if sinners do repent and forsake their sins ; but whether god hath actually made known to us the way of reconciliation cannot be known by any principles of nature ; because it is a matter of fact and must have such proof as a thing of that nature is capable of . ii. having thus shewed , how strongly the principles of natural religion do make way for entertaining this point of the christian doctrine , as to god's sending his son into the world in order to our reconciliation with him and our salvation by him ; it remains now to shew how justly god doth require the belief of it from us as true ; for the next words tell us , that he that believeth on him is not condemned ; but he that believeth not is condemned already , because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god , v. . this , some may say , is very hard doctrine ; for they believe as much as they can ; and if they can believe no more it is no fault ; for no man can be bound to believe more than he can . i do not question but nicodemus ( to whom these words are generally supposed to be spoken by our saviour ) thought he had gone a great way , when he used those words to christ , v. . rabbi we know that thou art a teacher come from god , for no man can do these miracles that thou dost except god be with him . i. e. he was willing to believe him some great prophet whom god had sent ; and this was a fair step for a ruler among the jews , who were generally very unreasonable unbelievers . but christ tells him plainly this would not do ; for unless he believed him to be the only begotten son of god , he could not be saved . and this is the great point , that god so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten son , that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life , v. . not , as though meer believing this were sufficient ( for this carries a great many other things along with it ) but that since god had sent his only begotten son into the world upon such a message , he did expect that he should be received and entertained as such upon their utmost peril . but can we believe farther than we have reason to believe ? no ; god doth not expect it from us , provided that with sincere and impartial minds we set our selves to consider and weigh the evidence and with great humility beg the assistance of divine grace , without which god may justly leave us to our unbelief . it would be too large a subject now to lay open the several arguments to prove that it is as evident , as a matter of fact can be made to us , that god did send his son that the world through him might be saved ; therefore i shall only mention these two things . . that if the matters of fact are true concerning the history of christ's coming , as related by the evangelists , there can be no reason to doubt his being the son of god. for he that was the most exact pattern of humility and self-denial , not only frequently assumes this title to himself , and his most intimate disciples affirm it of him ; but god himself gave the most ample and convincing testimony to it ; by his miraculous birth ; and a voice from heaven to that purpose at his baptism ; by a long train and series of publick and usefull miracles to attest the truth of his doctrine ; by his resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven , and wonderfull effusion of the h. ghost , with the strange effects which followed it ; so that no one who doth believe these things to be true can have any ground to say that he cannot believe christ to be the son of god. . that if these matters of fact are not to be believed as true we cannot be bound to believe any thing but what we see our selves . for the distance of time and place are equal in this case ; and no other matters of fact are so well attesten as these are . and so , as the apostle saith of christ's resurrection , if he be not risen our faith is vain ; so in this case i say if there be not reason to believe these things all faith is vain . for no other matters of fact , which we should be accounted fools for not believing , have had such a sort of testimony which these have had . for these things were not conveyed by a silent tradition for some time till the chief parties were dead who could either prove or disprove them ; but they were publick and exposed to all manner of examination ; they were not deliver'd by one or two , who were trusted with a secret , but openly avowed by a great number of competent witnesses , who were present ; and none of them could be brought by the greatest sufferings to deny , or falsify , or conceal any part of their evidence ; that when these things had been thus delivered by those who saw them , who were most remarkable for their innocency and integrity , in the next ages they were examined and enquired into by men of sagacity and learning , who upon the strictest search found no reason to suspect their testimony ; and therefore heartily embraced and defended the christian faith. and from thence they have been conveyed down to us ; not by an uncertain oral tradition , which can hardly hold the same from one end of the town to another ; but by unquestionable writings ; of such authority , that the christians would rather dye than deliver up their books . and in these are all those circumstances contained , which we are bound to believe as christians ; among which this is one of the chief , that god sent his son into the world for the salvation of mankind . to summ up all ; i desire those who after all this pretend that they are willing to believe as much as they can , and those who are liable to any suggestions of infidelity , to consider seriously with themselves , whether there can be a greater and more noble design , more becoming the wisdom , power and goodness of god to carry on , than that of rescuing mankind out of a miserable state , and putting them into a certain way of eternal happiness ? whether such a design must not be discovered in some particular age of the world , with all the circumstances relating to it ? whether that age were not the fittest of all others , wherein the most remarkable prophecies were to be accomplished , as to the coming of the messias , while the second temple was standing ? whether the difficulties as to human testimonies be not equal to all ages and things ? whether because it is possible for all men to deceive , it be reasonable to infer that all men are deceived ; and that there is nothing but illusion and imposture in the world ; and that all men lye and deceive for the sake of lying and deceiving ? but if there be a difference to be made between men and between testimonies ; then we are to examine the different characters of truth and falshood and give our assent according to them . and if after the severest examination we do not find sufficient reason to believe that god sent his son into the world for the salvation of mankind , upon such testimonies as are given of it , we must conclude all mankind to be made up of fraud and imposture ; and that there is no such thing as sincerity and honesty in the world ; or that if there be , it is not possible for others to discern it . which are such fatal reproaches upon human nature , that no one who pretends to any regard to it can be guilty of . for if they be universally true , they must condemn themselves ; if not , we must see some very particular reason why we should not rather think them deceived , than fix such an indelible blot upon the reputation of mankind . and surely it is a great advantage to the truth of religion to find , that it cannot be overthrown but by such methods , as equally overturn all truth and certainty , and that the faith of christianity stands not only upon the same bottom with the common faith of mankind . but if we reject such assurance as is offer'd us for the faith of the gospel , our infidelity cannot be the effect of reason and argument , but of a causeless suspicion and unreasonable mistrust of the best part of mankind . who have most firmly believed the truth of these things and have led the most holy and exemplary lives in hopes of a blessed immortality . and if the testimony of any persons deserves to be taken before others , it must be of such who could have no design upon this world but were resolved by faith and patience to prepare for a better . to conclude . for us who believe and own the truth of this great and fundamental article of the christian faith , we have something else to do than meerly to vindicate and assert it . this at some times is more necessary than at others ; and i heartily wish this were none of them . i am willing to hope the best of all who in such an age of infidelity have the courage and zeal to own the faith of this day ; viz. that god sent his son into the world in order to the making us for ever happy . and i hope none who profess themselves christians this day will ever be discouraged by the mocks and flouts of infidels so as to let go the anchor of their hope , or mistrust the foundation of their faith. it is as great a piece of wisdom to know when to believe , as when not to believe ; and it is as certain an argument of a weak mind to be always doubting , as to be over-forward in believing : for the soil must be very bad that can bear no foundation . but withall let us not flatter our selves only that we have a better faith than others . for how miserable will our case be , if we have nothing but a superficial faith ; and a sort of anniversary devotion . we can never thank god too much for the blessing of this day ; but god expects something more from us , than meerly the giving him solemn thanks once a year for sending his son into the world. we must endeavour to answer the end of god's sending him , i. e. to save us first from our sins , and then from the wrath to come . this is the method which god himself hath appointed , not barely from his own will and pleasure , but from the necessary order and reason of things . for , otherwise a man might be rewarded for doing amiss , and punished for performing his duty . if we therefore ever hope for any benefit by this coming of christ into the world , we must apply our minds to consider seriously on what conditions we may reasonably hope for salvation by him . can they think that christ came to so little purpose as to save men in their sins ? if that were to be hoped , there had been no need of his coming ; but it is a hard work indeed to save us from them . the guilt must be expiated , and the power subdued ; the former christ hath done ; but he expects , and with great reason , that we should deny ungodly and worldly lusts , and work out our own salvation with fear and trembling . finis . lately printed for henry mortlock at the phoenix in st. paul's church-yard . a sermon preached before the queen at white-hall feb. . / . upon pet. . . a sermon preached before the king and queen at white-hall , march . / . upon ecclesiastes . . christian magnanimity : a sermon preached in the cathedral-church at worcester , at the time of the assizes , sept. . . upon tim. . . a sermon preached before the queen at white-hall , march . / on luke . . a sermon preached before the queen at white-hall , march . / . upon rom. . . the mysteries of the christian faith vindicated , in a sermon preached at st. lawrence-iewry , london , april . . upon tim. . . all six by the right reverend father in god , edward lord bishop of worcester . the bishop of worcester's charge to the clergy of his diocese , in his primary visitation , begun at worcester , sept. . . the unreasonableness of a separation from the new bishops : or a treatise out of ecclesiastical history . shewing , that although a bishop was unjustly deprived , neither he nor the church ever made a separation , if the successor was not a heretick . translated out of an ancient greek manuscript in the publick library at oxford . the case of sees vacant , by an unjust or uncanonical deprivation , stated : in reply to a treatise , entituled , a vindication of the deprived bishops , &c. together with the several pamphlets lately published as answers to the baroccian treatise : both by humphrey hody , d. d. fellow of wadham-college in oxford . the folly and unreasonableness of atheism demonstrated , from the advantage and pleasure of a religious life ; the faculties of human souls ; the structure of animate bodies , and the origin and frame of the world : in eight sermons , preached at the lecture founded by the honourable robert boyle esq in the first year . by richard bentley , m. a. chaplain to the right reverend father in god , edward lord bishop of worcester . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e ch . . . ch . . . . . ch . . . . rom. . ver . . psal. . . . . ● joh. . . a brief remembrancer, or, the right improvement of christ's birth-day. t. c. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing c a interim tract supplement guide c. .f. [ ] ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books; tract supplement ; a : [ ]) a brief remembrancer, or, the right improvement of christ's birth-day. t. c. sheet ([ ] p.). printed by e.t. and r.h. for william miller at the gilded acorn in s. pauls church-yard, near the little north door, london, : [ ]. signed: collected by t.c. "licensed and entred [sic] according to order." verse: "the glorious day doth now begin to dawn ..." imperfect: cropped at foot affecting imprint; date of publication suggested by wing. reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng jesus christ -- poetry -- early works to . christmas -- poetry -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john pas sampled and proofread - john pas text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a brief remembrancer , or , the right improvement of christ's birth-day . the glorious day doth now begin to dawn ; now is the curtain of thick darkness drawn : now doth the lord of all things condescend to take up in a stable , and be pen'd within a dirty manger : now thou' rt blest ignorant inn with this most glorious guest . and now the saviour of the world 's reveal'd from heaven to shepherds watching in the field . the glory of an angel did surround them : the glory was so great , it did confound them . fear not , said he , perceiving them afraid , fear not all , be not at all dismay'd : 't is joyful tydings that i come to bring , this day is born your sav'our and your king ; in bethlehem you 'l find it as i said , the babe's wrapt up , and in a manger laid . and hardly had the angel made an end , but there whole quires of angels did attend that king with hallelujahs to adore , that sitteth on the throne for evermore . glory to god on high , peace on the earth , good will to men they sung with holy mirth . then ran the shepherds to the town , and saw mary and joseph , and the babe in straw . they fill'd the town with fame ; and their relation fill'd all that heard the same with admiration . but mary pondr'd all things in her heart : and they with joy and praise to god depart . him at the time prefixt they circumcis'd , naming him jesus , as they were advis'd . some five weeks after that , his parents went up to jerusalem him to present . now while they were i' th' temple , came to them old upright simeon of jerusalem . who by the spirit had been certifi'd of seeing god's anoynted , ere de dy'd . fill'd with the holy ghost he came in hast , and in his arms that holy child embrac'd . now let thy servant lord ( said he ) decease according to thy holy word in peace ; for i have seen the thing i waited for , now i have seen my lord my saviour . anna , a proph'tess also thither came to render praise and glory to his name , affirming jesus to be christ , to them that waited for him at jerusalem . the wise-men from the east enquire for one born amongst them to sit on judah's throne : we 've seen said they the star of your great king , and came to worship with our offering . herod's amaz'd with this strange suddain news , with all the learned rabbies of the jews : and having askt the hebrew doctors , where messiah should be born ? 't was made appear that beth'lem was the place : from bethlehem micah sends forth this ruler over them . then herod , after private conference about the star's appearing , sent them thence : desiring them to search and find him out , then to return , and tell him where about . but warn'd of god to flee the tyrant , they returned home again another way . but seeing he was mockt , in cursed fury resolves the death of every child in jury . but the all-piercing eye this secret views , and unto joseph swiftly sends the news . up ( said the angel ) take the child , and 's mother ; this place is not secure , go seek another . herod hath murd'rous thoughts , his rage is stir'd , go dwell in egypt , till i bring you word . joseph obey'd , and there he stay'd , till thence god call'd his son , as he had done long since . christ's four houses . his first house was the blessed virgin 's womb ; the next a cratch , the third a cross , the fourth a tomb. we often read our blessed saviour wept ; but never laught , and seldom that he slept : ah sure his heavy eyes did wake and weep for us that sin , so oft , in mirth and sleep . o thou that wert the king of heav'n and earth , how mean was thy attendance at thy birth ! a manger was thy cradle , and a stable thy privy chamber , marys knees thy table . thieves were thy courtiers , & the cross thy throne . thy dyet gall ; a wreath of thorns thy crown ; all this the king of glory endur'd and more , to make us kings that rebels were before . faith in this jesus is the substance of things not seen , and the evidence of things hoped for : by which faith abel offered , enoch was translated , noah warned and prepared an ark , to the saving of him , and his condemning the world ; abraham by this faith , when called obeyed , and was a sojourner in the land of promise ; through faith sarah conceived when she was past age ; after this abraham being tryed offered up isaac ; by faith isaac blessed jacob and esau concerning things to come ; by faith jacob when he was dying blessed the sons of joseph ; by faith joseph when he dyed made mention of the departure of israel out of egypt . by faith moses when he was born , was hid , and at age refused to be called the son of king pharaoh's daughter , rather chusing to suffer affliction with god's israel in affliction ; for the esteem of the reproach of christ , he forsook egypt , kept the passeover , passed through the red sea. by faith the walls of jericho fell , and rahab the harlot by faith escaped . faith upheld gideon , barak , sampson , jephtha , david , samuel , and the prophets , who through faith subdued kingdoms , obtained promises , stopped the mouths of lions , quenched the violence of fire , &c. women received their dead raised to life , others were tortured , others tryed with cruel mockings and scourgings , others were stoned , sawn asunder , tempted , slain with the sword ; and others wandred about in sheep-skins and goat-skins being destitute , afflicted , tormented , of whom the world was not worthy ; they wandred in desarts , and in mountains , and in dens and caves of the earth , and these all obtained a good report through faith in this jesus . let the perished unbelieving israelites mind you of infidelity , and the condition of faln angels reserved in chains awake you , the suffering sodomites in eternal fire affright you to leave off these spots of feeding without fear , of drinking without measure : foam not out your own shame ; leave off ungodly deedes , hard speeches , rash censures ; mock not at piety , but hate the garment spotted by the flesh ; oh all you that pretend to keep christ's time and to observe christ's day , be in love with christ's wayes and worship , which is in spirit and truth . collected by t. c. reader , there is lately extant divine examples of god's severe judgments upon sabbath-breakers in their unlawsul sports , collected out of several divine subjects , viz , mr. h. b. mr. beard , and the practice of piety : a fit monument for our present times , &c. licensed and entred according to order london printed by e. t. and r. h. for william miller at the gilded acorn in s. pauls church-yard , near the little north door . ● the lawfulness of the celebration of christs birth-day debated, in case it be annnally [sic] known or not known. discussed by scripture, and consequence of scripture; and many objections answered, and refuted by reasons. by george palmer, wel-willer to a particular and solemn joyous-thankfulness to god, for his several special mercies in christ; by way of gradation. palmer, george, b. or . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing p thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) the lawfulness of the celebration of christs birth-day debated, in case it be annnally [sic] known or not known. discussed by scripture, and consequence of scripture; and many objections answered, and refuted by reasons. by george palmer, wel-willer to a particular and solemn joyous-thankfulness to god, for his several special mercies in christ; by way of gradation. palmer, george, b. or . [ ], p. [s.n.], london : printed in the yeer, . [i.e. ] annotation on thomason copy: "dec: th". thomason received his copy in december, . reproduction of the original in the british library. eng jesus christ -- nativity -- early works to . christmas -- early works to . fasts and feasts -- church of england -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no the lawfulness of the celebration of christs birth-day debated,: in case it be annnally [sic] known or not known. discussed by scripture, a palmer, george b the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - angela berkley sampled and proofread - angela berkley text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the lawfulness of the celebration of christs birth-day debated , in case it be annnally known or not known . discussed by scripture , and consequence of scripture ; and many objections answered , and refuted by reasons . by george palmer , wel-willer to a particular and solemn joyous-thankfulness to god , for his several special mercies in christ ; by way of gradation . job . . , . daies should speak , and multitude of yeers should teach knowledge , but there is a spirit in man , and the inspiration of the almighty giveth them understanding . isa. . , . & cor. . , . for as much as this people draw neer me with their mouth , and with their lips do honour me , but have removed their heart far from me , and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men : therefore , behold i will proceed to do a marvellous work and wonder ; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish , and the understanding of their prudent men shal be hid . london , printed in the yeer , . to the reader . beloved , it may seem strange ( to many ) that i am intermedling with controversies amongst the learned in divinity . and therefore it ▪ is likely that some will say of me , as it was somtime said of one , thou art but a stripling , but they are men of war from their youth ▪ and therefore not to be encountred with by thee . and they will think it more safer for me to be employed about meaner matters , of a lower nature , rather than to encounter with gyants . and ( perhaps ) give me a nipping check , like that of eliab to david ; viz. where are those few sheep left in the wilderness ? it is thy pride that moved thee to come and see the battel . but my answer is as that which then was made , what have i now done ? is there not a cause ? &c. there were israelites on the one side that stood for the glory of god ▪ and the lawful liberty of his children ; and there were philistines on the other side , that did defie christ and his redeemed ones , and they had one great goliah on whom they did cast their confidence , and he did approach towards the israelites with reproach and defiance , and yet those israelites remained in a kind of astonishment . our condition is somwhat like theirs ( if well examined . ) and although i am not furnished with such complete armour as some other ( spiritual ) warriours are , yet if the stone of israel be with me , i shall have good success ; you know , a jaw-bone was but a strange peice of armour , yet a thousand philistins could not stand against it , for god was with it : and his riddle did occasion the quarrel between them ; for they brake the covenant of garments and sheets , as some have done in a covenant with me here . i will not compare my self with any of those warriours : yet give me leave to put forth a riddle ; by weakness comes strength ▪ yet strength beareth down weakness . canterbury , may , . yours , for truth , george palmer . the lawfvlnesse of the celebration of christs birth-day debated , &c. in the second chapter of the gospel by saint luke , from the tenth verse to the fourteenth verse , you may find , that the angel of the lord , the same day that christ jesus was born , did incite the shepherds to rejoyce , by reason of the good tydings which he then the same day brought them , concerning the birth of christ the lord : and for their example , and greater encouragement thereunto , the lord our god had then the same day , appointed a multitude of holy angels to begin the songs of praise with joy , praising god , and saying , glory to god in the highest , and on earth peace , good will towards men . yea , the first angel did render them an exceeding strong reason to move their affections and wills thereunto , in these words ; for , unto you is born ( this day ) a saviour , which is christ the lord . from whence i will note one thing by the way , from the speedy delivery of this message to the shepherds ; that if it had not bin the will of our god , that that day should be the day of their solemn joyous praise , then the angel might have divulged the birth-day of our saviour afterwards only , and not soo speedily in the same day of his birth ; but he was speedy in the delivery of his message , and emphatical in his expression , viz. this day is born unto you a saviour , which is christ the lord . and very great reason there was that men should then so rejoyce , for , if the angel told zechariah that many should rejoyce at the birth of john the baptist ( who was but the fore-runner of christ , to prepare his way before him ) as in chap. . verse . you may see ; then much more cause had the children of god had , to rejoyce at the birth of christ their saviour . in the next place , i will observe what our lord god hath caused to be written ( for our instruction in this particular , ) by the evangelist s. matthew , in chap. . and some of the former verses . there we may see how the lord god would cause the wise men , of the east to honour christ ( being new-born ) with precious gifts , gold , franckincense , and myrrhe ; yea you may see in the second verse , that the star that appeared unto them , did denote to them his birth ; these are the words , where is he that is born king of the iews ? for we have seen his star in the east , and are come to worship him . this birth of christ was much respected by the prophet isaiah , as in the ninth chapter of his prophesie doth appear ; for he seeing it ( by faith ) admired it in these words , behold , unto us a child is born ! &c. many scriptures might be brought in to prove the excellent esteem or account of his birth . the apostle took good notice of the excellent resemblance that is between christs bodily-birth , and our spiritual-birth , as well as of his circumcision , and our heart-circumcision , and of his death , and our dying to sin , and of his resurrection , and our rising again to newness of life . and farther , the excellencie of his birth was typified before-hand , to be very much esteemed of in a particular respect ; for every male that first opened the womb , was to be accounted holy to the lord . and if the type was to be accounted holy , then much more was the thing typified to be esteemed holy . thus i have noted to you the message of the angel to the shepherds , inciting them to rejoyce , with the reason to move them to perform that their duty ; and also the example set before them , to encourage them therein , by a multitude of angels singing out his praise , & proclaming his glory at his birth : and how the wise men did honour him , being moved by a star , denoting his birth in an especial manner . and how the prophet isaiah admired and esteemed of it ( he seeing it but by faith . ) and how his birth was esteemed in the types of it , viz. the first born male was to be esteemed holy to the lord . therefore i cannot but conclude , that christs birth was to be esteemed very highly by them then living , and therefore that they were to rejoyce for that great blessing of god , that same day of his birth , so many as could take notice of that day ; no man will deny this to be a truth , unless such as are of a diabolical spirit . and also that the birth of christ is to be much esteemed by all those that at any time afterwards do trust for salvation by him ; as it was by them that lived at that time , and so rejoyced in it . but a question is made , whether it be to be celebrated annually , and solemnly with such joy for ever after , if in case his birth-day be known to us now , as it was to them then ; or whether that incitation given by the angel to the shepherds , belongs to us christians successively and annually , or no ? first , i answer , that it concerneth us now , as much as it did those shepherds , and others then living and believing in him : for the chief reason or cause of their joy at his birth , was from the benefit which by and from him they were to receive , who then , and at that time was newly born : and we that do believe in him , do obtain the same benefit by his birth , as they did that then rejoyced in him ; and therefore it needed not to be commanded in express words successively . but some object farther , that when the jews were to keep any day successively and annually for the remembrance and solemn thanks-giving for any special benefit received ; they then were enjoyned to do it by gods special command successively and annually . to this i answer plainly , that those benefits did concern them in some temporal deliverances , and were for that particular people only , or chiefly at the most ; as the israelites deliverance out of aegypt , and their deliverance from an intended slaughter in the time of queen hester , &c. but this birth of christ concerneth all believers in all places , to the end of the world : for so saith the angel , behold , i bring you good tydings of great joy , that shall be to all people , &c. and therefore it being for the good of all believers in christ , of all sorts of people to the end of the world , it belongeth to all believers in christ to rejoyce for the birth of christ , as it did belong to them to rejoyce that were then living ; for the message is belonging to us , as much as it was to them ; in as much as the good tydings belongeth to all people : and therefore it being for the good of all believers to the end of the world , the angel requireth our greater attention and admiration , by this word , behold , behold , i bring you good tydings of great joy that shall be to all people , for unto you is born this day , &c. a saviour , which is christ the lord . and we read of no command from god for the keeping of the new-purim , but it is noted as well done by them &c. and that it ought annually to be celebrated with joy we may collect farther by reason , that it ought so to be ; for if great temporal deliverances deserved annual thanks-givings on some special daies , then doth an everlasting deliverance from damnation , deserve much more such manner of thanks . but it is farther objected , that all believers in christ , do give thanks for that great mercy of god ( as they do for all other his benefits ) upon the lords daies in special , and upon all ordinary occasions . to this i answer thus , so were the jews to do upon their sabbaths , for all their temporal deliverances ; as for their deliverance from egyptian bondage , and hamans decree of their death ; and yet they had their feast of passeover and purim , to commemorate those deliverances more specially ; and we have special daies set apart for us to praise the lord for our deliverances from the spanish invasion , and the gun-powder treason ; and also for many deliverances , from divers great dangers in these our times of war . but it is objected again , that we do not know certainly what day in our yeer christs birth-day can be celebrated , as the right and true annual day , it being not certainly known ; or at the least , it is questioned by many learned christians . to this i answer , first , that it is not so great a matter whether we know ( strictly ) the day or no ; so as we do solemnize one day thankfully , so neer the true day as we can guess ; for in such a case we shall be accepted : for so saith the apostle , god accepteth the willing mind of his children for the deed , ( which endeavoureth to perform according to their knowledge . secondly , if in case we do know the day strictly , yet it is not absolutely necessary for us to keep it upon that day alwaies 〈◊〉 for the jews did not keep their purim upon the same day of the yeer wherein their deliverance was given them , but as on the next day after ; as you may see in the book of esther , the ninth chapter , and the sixteenth verse to the two and twentienth . and christ jesus himself did excuse david for eating the shew-bread in his great ( necessity : ) and he excused his owne disciples for plucking the eares of corne upon the sabbath day , &c. upon their necessity ; and therein was the ancient proverb verified , viz. necessity hath no law . we are necessitated to observe a day neer the day of christs birth . and the passeover was to be eaten in the first moneth , as you may see in exodus . , . &c. neverthelesse if you look in chron. . , . compared with verses the . and . you may there finde that hezekiah and his people kept it ( at that time ) in the second moneth , contrary to the institution ( in that particular , ) and the reason is there rendred , viz. that they could not keep it at that time in the first moneth ; and yet they were accepted of god too , as in the . verse you may see . and although it be said in the last verse now quoted , that hezekiah prayed for the people , and that the lord healed them ; which implyeth , that god was offended with them : you shall see that the reason thereof was for their not preparing themselves better when they did come , ( as in the . verse you may see ) for they came unpreparedly to that holy sacrament . if it be questioned whether we may keep it festivally or not ? i answer , we may and ought so to do : ( though not in excesse thereof , ) but first we are to be exercised in the use of the publike ordinances , as the preaching and hearing the word , and in godly prayers and praises , &c. and after that in plentifull feasting , and giving gifts to the poor according to our several abilities : for though fasting be for mourners , yet feasting is for joy and mirth , as you may see in the . chapter of the book of nehemiah , the former part of that chapter to the verse , these are those words , eat the fat , and drink the sweet , and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared , &c. for the joy of the lord is your strength : and the jewes purim was kept festivally , as in the ninth chapter doth appear , in verses the , . . but it is objected again , that the name that is given to the day , or the manner of its celebration is now justly excepted against , for it is called christ-masse day , which causeth us to beleeve that it was instituted by the pope , or at the least thus named by the pope , for his service which he pretendeth to christ , is called masse , or at least , much of his service is so called . to this i answer briefly , that it is not taken for a bad service in its signification , but indifferently for either bad or good service , ( as some affirm ) and some one word may have divers significations ; and besides it is by some expositors taken for an heap and greatnesse in quantitie , and so we often now use the word , as a masse of money , and the like : but it was taken ( as some affirm ) to dismisse an assembly with a blessing , called missa . and besides if the name were given to a bad intent at the first ( which i do not beleeve ) if in case the pope first gave this name to it , ( for the first popes were such as did accompany us in the way to salvation , and were not so bad as in latter times they have been , and now are ) yet may we not omit so great a duty of joyous praise as the celebration of so great a mercy is , because some have cast in some evill weed into it ; but refine it again that it may be better spirituall nutriment . and therefore take this example of the prophet elisha , who did not cast away all the pottage which had some gourds of the wilde vine in it , but did put in some meal that might over-powre the killing strength of the gourds of that wilde vine , as you may see king. . . to . therefore if the name offend you , you may take as quick a way to alter that fault , as the anabaptists do in a thing not so warrantable as this ; for they can provide a new name against their next washing . but it is further objected , that of late time this feasting hath been abused , by excesse therein , and many vicious actions have been committed in that day we lately so celebrated to that end we now plead so much for ; and therefore it ought to be no more observed as a day of joyous feasting in the remembrance of the birth of christ our saviour . to this i answer : thus the best things have been abused , as namely , the lords day it self ; but many things which are abused may not be taken away or made void , but the abuses purged from them , as i said before concerning the name of the day ; for , though some things may be taken away , or suspended when they are much abused , yet such things whose losse will produce very great ill consequences may not be made void ; for in so doing we shall , lose many good substances which are maintained and preserved by some means that are of lesse concernment , ( in themselves considered ) and especially it is very dangerous to clip off the speciall occasioning of the remembring of so great a mercy , as the celebration of the birth of so dear a saviour . and if we clip off so great a commemoration of christs birth now , it will make way to the neglecting of some other the like mercy another time ; and so ( ere long be ) we shall ( through the displeasure of our god ) lose all good occasions of our speciall thankfulnesse to our god for his sending of christ in the flesh . selah . the especiall celebration of christs birth-day ( though uncertainly known ) doth strengthen our faith concerning his humain nature , or of his taking it in , and of the virgin mary , contrary to the heresie of divers hereticks , as the valentinians , &c. and very likely it was therefore so specially divulged by the angel ( as gods messenger ) to be noted , and celebrated with joy by those shepheards , and also performed by the multitude of angels , as an example to men on earth , to preserve the saints from the heresies of those hereticks , as are mentioned by st. john in his . epistle , chap. . , , . and his d . epistle , ver. . for , that men may be assured that he took his humane nature in , and of the virgin mary , and not otherwise , therefore his birth is expressed by name , in these words , vnto you is born , &c. and because they should rejoyce for it timely , therefore the time is made known to them also , in these words , this day . and lest they should not be incited or moved thereunto by the bare promulgation , therfore their welfare in him , is divulged unto them , in this word saviour ; and that they might not think , that it should be to them onely , they are therefore certified that the benefit belonged to all sorts of people . and because he was to save them from their sins , therfore it was tydings of great joy , ( said the angel . ) and that they might take the greater notice of this so great a mercy , therefore the angel prepareth their attention with this word , behold , behold i bring you tydings of great joy , &c. thus we may see how the all-sufficient fore-knowing god hath provided for us a speciall means to strengthen our faith , concerning the humane nature of our saviour , taking it in , and from the virgin mary , against all those hereticall seducings of men ( that afterwards were to deny the same ) by noting his birth to the shepherds for its joyfull celebration . and surely ( as it is reported ) the polonians do kneel at the receiving of the sacrament of the body and blood of christ , because many arrians deny him to be god . so we may upon the like reason , and with a better warrant , solemnize the commemoration of christs birth , because many now begin to question his humanitie ; i say upon better warrant : viz : from the angel his inciting the shepherds to rejoyce at his birth , and the multitude of the heavenly host promulgating of their exemplary praises , for that transcendent gift , given for the everlasting joy of all ( sorts of ) people . and also , from the shepherds exemplary gloryfying , and praising god , as they returned from that joyfull sight of christ then new born , as appears ver. . and surely the chief question is ( by our christians that oppose the celebration of a day in commemoration of his birth ) whether we may set apart some speciall day for a joyous and festivall celebration of his birth , or whether we ought to do it onely in the generall ; and me thinks it is a very weak question for wise and knowing men to make , the premises wel considered . and you may take notice that the children of israel ( being enjoyned to offer divers offerings ) might offer some offerings over and above to the lord of their own voluntary will and affections , as thank-offerings , and the like , as you may see in levit. . . and chap. . . and they might make some vows to do , or not to do some things , and therefore david inciteth us to it in psal . . in these words , offer unto god thanksgiving , and pay thy vows to the most high . and in colos. . paul will have us to abound in thanksgiving . and likewise they might offer some burnt-offerings of their voluntary free will without any strict injunction in that particular , as in chron. . . you may see . and in the new testament it is said , that paul had a vow ; and in acts . it is said , that there were foure men that had a vow on them ; for , we have liberty to vow to humble and afflict our souls ( as they of the jews had ) when we please , ( upon divers occasions ) as in numb. . . and act. . . &c. and so likewise have we libertie to give thanks with joy to god particularly , and specially , upon divers occasions concurring , and solemnly too ; for , although all kinds of sacrifices might not be offered at mans choice of times , yet some kinds of sacrifices might be offered at mans choice , and choice of times ( for the more part ) and voluntarily of their free will onely , as in deut. . . what think you of that which the israelites did in the time of the reign of king hezekiah , as in chron. . . you may read ; for they kept other seven dayes festivally to the lord , after they had kept the feast of the passeover ; and that . dayes feast ; was of their own free will and affections , by their own counsell , saith the text there . and you may there perceive that the holy ghost noteth it to their commendation . and truly if this solemne joyous thankfulnesse in a festivall way , was so acceptable to god without any speciall command , then much more will the joyous , and thankfull celebration of christs birth-day in a festivall way be acceptable upon a more warrantable ground , namely , the proclamation from god by his holy angel to the shepherds ( at first ) to rejoyce for a great good , given for the good of ( all ) people ; for we must abound in thanksgiving , and rejoyce evermore ; these being our spirituall sacrifices , as those corporall sacrifices were for them then . besides all this alreadie premised , let us take notice of the great inconveniences that cometh to the civill state of the whole kingdom , by the endeavouring to overthrow the joyous observation of this birth-day of our saviour ; and especially in these times wherein the state standeth so fickle , wicked men being apt to make an insurrection upon the least occasion : and much more upon such an occasion as this , wherein ungodly men may procure so great a partie of better men to joyne with them , though not to so bad an end , but , in an holy indignation ; for many of those that love christ , with a well-informed judgement in this particular , upon the consideration of the great love that christ hath shewed to them , in coming to be their saviour , taking flesh in and of the virgin : will be apt to be jealous of the losse of the occasion of the especiall remembring of his coming in the flesh . and besides , wicked men will be forward to take this occasion as a cloak to put on to make a par●ie for a worse end , when they see the observation thereof so much opposed . therefore it is fitting that we i 〈◊〉 itate the apostle in the cutting off occasion from them that seek occasion ( to do wickednes and mischief ) and especially in a matter that is so clearly lawfull , and convenient too , as the speciall giving of thanks with joy is , or as the joyous celebration of christs birth-day is to the spouse of christ . for , although the leviticall-ceremoniall daies , times , months , and yeers , are abolished , being but types of those things that are fulfilled by christ : as is mentioned in gal. . . see v. . yet the same apostle affirmeth confidently , that he that thinketh he may not set apart some dayes now under the gospel to celebrate evangelicall duties , as hearing the word , and receiving the sacraments , and offering the sacrifice of speciall thanksgivings for some speciall mercies of god , is as weak as he that thinketh that he may eat but hearbs , as you may see in rom. . , , , , , . and therefore i entreat all well affected people to use their endeavour to get vitious men to be restrained from their abusing of themselves , and the time , to the dishonour of our saviour , the wounding of their own souls to everlasting death , and to the scandalizing of good men , and the perverting of others . and this may be done sometimes by gentle means , and sometimes by chastisements , and punishments , provided that the fault be a notorious sin , or at the least more then an ordinary blemish ; for i know that some make mountains of mole-hils ( comparing one sin to another ) against some men . and truly i beleeve that some do rejoyce to see some men transgresse against god in that day , because they would thereby take an occasion to make the observation of it to be odious to some that may be a mean to take it quite away ; out of a malignant spirit towards the observers of it . i hope better of many . i entreat you to consider , that when men are restrained from the libertie of timely recreation , they then ( for a time ) will be the more unruly when first they come to obtain it again ; and especially from youths , and young raw-manner'd men ; as it is with horses and cows that have been stalled up , &c. if we under the gospel be not afforded daies of refreshing , yea , and somewhat often too , we shall be in greater bondage ( in this kinde ) then the jews in or under the old testament ; for they had many festivals , and they were much refreshed by them ; shall we be in greater bondage to labour then they were ? and shall not we have liberty from sparing dye● , for feasting , as well as they ? they feasted divers dayes together , sometimes , and thereby love and good will was the better occasioned in many that were godly ; and we may do so too ; though not with all the same ceremonies as they did , because not altogether to the same end as they did ; and at such times the poore may be the more easily relieved , and give thanks to god , and pray for us . and by this means men will not be so forward to borrow so much of the sabbath , or lords day to prophane it as ( perhaps ) now they do , when they shall have other convenient time , for their necessarie recreation . i do confesse that some things that are lawfull to be observed and celebrated , may ( for a time ) be suspended , and not celebrated ; provided that it be not forborn as a thing unlawfull , but as a thing inconvenient ; as to prevent a farther mischief for the present time ; but if that which in it self is lawfull , be forborn as a thing unlawfull , then will honest knowing men be offended , and so it will breed a great disturbance in the state ; evill men taking that occasion as a fair cloak to put on , for to begin a quarrell ; and so incite some better men to take part with them ( though not ayming at the same end ) ; therefore it is fitting that men be taught how to distinguish between things lawfull , and things unlawfull ; and between those things that are so lawfull as that they may not be dispensed with , so as to neglect the celebration thereof at the instant time ; and those things that may be dispensed with for a time to prevent some great mischief . and now i will note ( to those that shall either read or hear the premises in this little tract ) some of the particulars contained in the same , for their better remembring what i have been hitherto spelling . first , that the celebration of christs birth with joy was promulgated to the shepherds , because he was born to them a saviour . secondly , that they had an example set before them to lead them on to the performance of that their duty , by a multitude of angels singing out his glory at his birth . thirdly , that his birth was much respected by the prophet isaiah , he seeing it but by faith . fourthly , that the wisemen of the east were sent by the speciall providence of god , by a speciall star , to honour christ being new born . fifthly , that because the angel told zachariah that many should rejoyce at the birth of john the baptist , ( who was but the fore-runner of christ ) therefore , they were to rejoyce at the birth of christ their saviour much more . sixthly , that it is our dutie to rejoyce for the birth of christ as much as it was their duty so to do , because the benefit of his birth belongeth to us as much as it did unto them then ; for the tydings of joy by reason of the birth of our saviour christ , belong to all those that at any time did , do , or shall beleeve in him , as said the angel . seventhly , divers questions are answered , as , first whether we are , or ought , to keep it annually and successively , in case the day of his birth be known to us annually in the strict time . eightly , whether we ought , or may , keep the celebration of christs birth as neer the annuall day , as may be , if in case the strict time be not known to us as it was to those shepherds then living at his birth , &c. and many the like questions . ninthly , that if in case there had been no command given for the joyous celebration of his birth , yet we may do it at our freedome of choice which is left us by the will of god ; for i have proved , that as the jews might afflict their souls voluntarily ( as they had occasions ) so they might rejoyce , and offer thanksgivings at their own free will solemnly without any speciall command , ( at some convenient time ) at their own choice . tenthly , i have proved , that the jews in the dayes of king hezekiah did keep seven dayes with joyous feasting to the lord , by their own counsell , after they had kept the passeover , without any command from god so to do ; and yet the holy ghost noteth it as acceptable , and therefore it is an example for us to do the like . and if we kept more dayes evangelically holy , we should not sin in so doing . eleventhly , i have noted divers reasons for the keeping of the celebration of his birth-day , as to prevent us from being seduced to the heresie of those that did ( and perhaps now do ) deny that christ came in the flesh ; and that he did not take it in and of the virgin mary , &c. and lastly , i have noted divers other inconveniences that may hap to the civill state by our not observing it in times of divisions ( in some cases , ) and therefore the premises well considered , ( especially with the leave of authority ) i will conclude with the words of st. paul in corinth . . . though he spake it in a spirituall way , let us keep the feast , not with old leaven , neither with the leaven of malice and wickednesse : but with the unleavened bread of sinceritie and truth . thus let strength bear down weaknesse . octob. . . imprimatur john downame . finis . the mysterie of christes natiuitie a sermon preached in the parish church of all-saints in dorchester, within the countie of dorset, the . day of december . being christmas daye. by william iones, master of arts, and preacher of gods word. jones, william, b. or . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the mysterie of christes natiuitie a sermon preached in the parish church of all-saints in dorchester, within the countie of dorset, the . day of december . being christmas daye. by william iones, master of arts, and preacher of gods word. jones, william, b. or . [ ] p. printed [by william stansby] for richard hawkins, and are to be sold at his shop in chancery-lane, neere seriants inne, london : . printer's name from stc. signatures: a-d⁴ e² . running title reads: the mysterie of christs natiuitie. identified as stc on umi microfilm. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng christmas sermons. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - andrew kuster sampled and proofread - andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the mysterie of christes nativitie . a sermon preached in the parish church of all-saints in dorchester , within the countie of dorset , the . day of december . being christmas daye . by william iones , master of arts , and preacher of gods word . bernard . puto me iam spernere non poterit christus , os de offibus meis , & caro de carne mea . how is it possible that the blessed sonne of god should now reiect me , sith by taking our nature vpon him , he is become flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone . london . printed for richard hawkins , and are to be sold at his shop in chancery-lane , neere seriants inne . . to the worshipfull m. thomas hvssy justice of peace , master iasper meller esquire , master lavrence meller , m. tho. pawlet , m. mathew chubb , m. richard blachford , and m. thomas blachford , gentlemen of dorset-shire , my especiall kind and louing friends , grace and peace bee multiplied through christ iesus our lord . as the preaching of the gospell of christ was not , nor is , the least gift of grace that god gaue vnto his church ; but euen the greatest miracle that euer christ wrought hecre on earth , for our conuersion vnto the * faith : so the abuse of this grace is not the least , but the greatest sinne , that can be committed . the which being truly considered ; i maruell not a little ? why diotrephes with his schollers will persist in resisting of this grace ; or simon magus with his champions continue in purchasing of this grace ; or iudas with his successors perseuer in buying and selling of christ spouse the church , contrarie to the gospell of grace . but forasmuch as that i minde not in this ensuing treatise to tax them , or their wicked abuses : yet my prayers vnto god for them shal bee ; to turne their hearts from farther renting of the garments of christ and his church , least they become like vnto these their predecessors , partakers not of the least grace . the subiect or matter , wherewith i am now to present your worships withall : is touching the mysterie of christ his natiuitie . the text hath beene handed often , and by manie ; yea and of such men , who for their great vnderstanding , reading , wittie inuention , and profound iudgement , haue manie degrees exceeded my selfe . yet to satisfie the earnest and godly requests of some of my especiall good friends , i haue enterprised , and aduentured , to set forth the same in print : hoping that your worshippes will vouchsafe to giue it the perusall , and accept these the first fruits of my labours , with the selfe-same affection wherwith it is offered ; how smal and simple soeuer it seeme to be . and now the lord iesus giue it his grace , that it may not be like firekinled on his altar in vaine ; but that it may proue to bee as the morning incense , and as euening sacrifice , acceptable vnto god , and profitable vnto this church . vnto the same god will i pray alwayes to powre downe his mercies vpon you , to enrich you with his graces , and to preserue your worships for the good both of church and common-wealth , vnto his glorie amen . your worships to be commanded w. iones , the mysterie of christes nativitie . galat. . . when the fulnesse of time was come , god sent his sonne made of a woman , &c. with what solemnitie wee are to celebrate this day of christs natiuitie ( deerely beloued ) the many mysteries , and excellencies therein contained , may declare vnto vs. now is hee brought out of the virgins wombe , who before liued eternally in the bosome of his father : now is the word , that made the world , borne an infant into the world , now the ancient of dayes is become a child : now iudas lyon rowsed himselfe to encounter the red dragon : now iacobs starre arose to be the gentles light , and israels glorie : now the bridegrome came out of his chamber , to meet his spouse : now the sonne of god became man , that men might be made the sonnes of god : now christ came out clothed with our flesh , that wee might bee inuested with his spirit : now the lord took on him the forme of a seruant , that we his seruants might be made partakers of his lordship . these great blessings , doth this blessed day conueigh vnto vs. wherfore to put you in mind , that your vnderstadings may be enlightned to know them ; and your wils inclined to serue and praise god for them : i haue made choice of this text , which being indeed the quintessence of the golpell , proposeth vnto vs concerning christ his comming these circumstances . first , the time , when the fulnesse of time , &c. secondly , the causes , god sent his sonne . thirdly , the manner , made of a woman &c. fourthly , the end , that he might redeeme them , &c. these points are best be seeming this time : which when breifly & rudely i shall haue discoursed vpon , i wil then end , & cōmend yee to god. when the fulnesse of time was come &c. three things , measure all durations ; aeternitie , immortalitie , time. aeternitie hath neyther beginning nor end ; and is proper only to god , who is euerlasting . immortalitie hath beginning , but none end ; and is proper to spirits , as angels , and mens soules , that once were not , and yet now cannot die . time hath both beginning and end , and is proper to all bodies , such as are possible and corruptible substances : of whom t is said , omniaorta occidunt & aucta senescunt : now then christ consisting of godhead , soule , and bodie , hath these his three natures limited by these three quantities , his godhead by eternitie , his soule by immortalitie : and his bodie by time. thus in respect not of his diuinitie , but his humanitie , the maker of time was made in time , and time saith aristotle is the measure of motion , but paul here shewes vs more strange philosophie , that it is the measure of the first mouer it selfe . would yee not wonder ( deere christians ) to heare that a gyants foote should bee thrust into a childes shooe , or that the ocean sea should bee intruded into a bottle , and asmuch then may you maruell at this that god who is infinite , should bee borne in a time finite , but this doubt is thus dissolued three things , vt supra &c. and as our apostle saith , in the fulnesse thereof . as places , so time haue their fulnesse and emptinesse , some places are emptie hauing nought but ayre in them , and some are replenished with siluer , with gold , pearle , precious stones , and such like treasure , like so of times , some are void of strange accidents , and some are full of memorable and admirable occurrents , & in such a time was our sauiour borne , as the age of the world , the yeare , moneth , day , houre , these parts of time may impart vnto vs ; touching the worlds age , know that it was the sixth . the first age was from adam to noah . the second from noah to abraham . the third from abraham to dauid . the fourth from dauid to the transmigration from babylon . the fifth from that to christs natiuitie , which fell in the sixth age : where note an excellent mysterie , how correspondent gods workes of our creation , and recreation are . as in the worlds sixth day god did make man : so in the worlds sixth age hee did redeeme man. in the worlds sixth day the first adam was made , in whom wee are deformed : and in the worlds sixth age was the second adam made , in whom wee are reformed . here arise now two questions : why god louing man so wel , had not beene borne before or presently after mans fal , sith gratia ab officio quod mor a tar dat abest . secondly : why god minding to die for the sinnes of all the world , had not defer'd his comming to the end of the world . six is a number neyther diminute nor superabundant , but perfect , sith all his partes put together doe make the whole , as . . and . make six : so then in the number of perfection came the author of perfection . by sixe staires did men ascend to salomons throne , and by six ages came the word to the throne of grace . these scruples thus i remoue . first , for christ to haue beene borne before adam fel , had bin an action superfluous . for the end of his comming being ( vtinquit euang. ) to seeke the lost sheep of the house of israel ; to bind vp the broken hearted , to call sinners to repentance , and by it to saluation : what needed this seeker before man was lost ? what needed this phisition before man was sick ? what needed this sauiour before adam was a sinner ? againe for christ to haue come presently after mans fall , had beene also very inconuenient . man sinned by pride , and by pride was throwne into calamitie : from which if straightwayes hee should haue beene freed , perhaps the spirit of loftinesse and insolencie might haue come vpon him againe . god therefore sixe ages lest him in his miserie , that he might know his fault , & knowing it , be humbled for the same . farther it was meet , that as the entrance of a king into a citie , so the comming of so worthie a person as the sonne of god into the world , should bee foreshewed by the predictions of such worthie messengers , as were the patriarckes and prophets ; which could not haue beene had christ beene borne in the time of adam . as for the deferring of his birth to the end of the world , these reasons disproue it . first , the testimonie of abacuc . . where it is said of god there , the workes of his mercie should bee reuiued in medio annorum . againe why should christ then bee borne on earth , when men shall haue no faith to beleeue on him , no charitie to loue him , and no religion to worshippe him ? but these things shall happen in the latter daies ( as the euangelists write ) and therefore the worlds end is a season , rather for christ to come in iudgment to reuenge , then in mercie to redeeme . this for the age . now for the yeare . it was the two and fortieth of the reign of augustus caesar the roman emperor : in whose time that christ was borne , it was in regard of the manie resemblances that were between them . as augustus was a temporal , so was christ a spiritual monarch . as augustus was the second emperour of rome , so was christ the second person in trinitie . as augustus was so called , because hee did amplifie his regiment , so christ was so called , because he doth annoint vs his seruants : as augustus taxing the world receiued tribute from men and registred their names . so christ preaching vnto the world had obedience yeelded vnto him , and noted such as serued him in the booke of life . as augustus hauing vanquished his enemies ; planted peace among his people ( for in his dayes the temple of ianus was shut , that else in the time of warre was wont euer to bee open ) so christ hauing subdued his foes , death and the deuill , placed quietnesse in the conscience of his childrē , who before were distressed with many troubles ; from the age and the yeare , come we to the month and the day . christ was borne on the fiue and twentieth day of december , then being the shortest day of the yeare and sunday : as both by the fathers is testified , and by calculation may be proued , wherof note with me eyther the reasons or mystries . december is the tenth moneth and in it was he borne , that came to make satisfaction for our transgression of his fathers ten commandements . december concludes the old yeare , and giues way to a new , and christ now born gaue an end to the old ceremonies of the law , and brought in , in steed thereof the new ordinances of grace . ten degrees went the sunne backward to signifie to sicke ezechiah that he should not die , and ten moneths in assuming our flesh did christ goe back as it were for his majestie to assure vs of his mercie , the number of ten is the first article : compound of the figure , . and a cipher . and in the tenth moneth was he borne , whose person did consist of the figure of his diuinitie , and the cipher of his humanitie . in the shortest day is the sunne in his greatest and lowest south declination , and when was the sonne of god euer farther from the aequinoction of his glorie and lower in basenesse , then when hee came out into the world , clothed with our flesh . in the shortest day the sunne is said to be in his tropick , that is so called of the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to turne , & when so graciously as now in his birth did the sonne of god turne vnto vs , saith iohn baptist of christ , ioh. . me oportet minui illum autem crescere , verified as in their qualities of dignitie and estimation : so also in the times of their natiuities . iohn baptist was borne the longest day of the yeare , and therefore being at the highest his time must decrease : and christ was borne in the shortest , and therefore being at the lowest , his time must needs encrease . in the shortest day , the sunne beginnes that returne , that turnes joy and comfort to liuing thinges , and christ now put his first foot in that race , that yeelds blessednesse and happinesse to all christians : in the shortest day , the cold is greatest , and therefore sayth bernard , christ chose a time trouble some to his flesh , that we should learne not to pamper ours : on a sunday , god the father in his power beganne the world : and now on a sunday , god the sonne in his mercie began to redeeme the world . sunday was first made before any other time : and christ theron borne , is called the first begotten of al creatures . on sunday god made the light , and on sunday now produced was he , that is the true light , lightning euery one that comes into the world , as also all those that sit in darknesse & the shadow of death . to proceed yet to more particulars . what part of the day ? & what houre was christ borne in ? luc. records that it was in the night , when the shepheards were watching their flockes , that though the angell said to them , there is borne this day to ye a sauiour , ye are to vnderstand it spoken not of the artificiall day , that holds from sun to sun , but of the naturall day that containes the space of foure and twentie houres . thus in the time of darknesse was hee borne , that came to dissolue the power of darknesse ; shining in darknesse , when the darknesse could not comprehend him . nox is so called a nocendo , because if men then walke without light , they may easily hurt themselues : and now as a physition in the best opportunitie came the great helper in the time of hurting ; to shew that hee was strōger then the deuil . christ vāquished the deuil in his own time , the prince of the night , in the night . farther , touching the houre , if we may beleue cardanus that great physition & astronomer , it was about tenne of the clock , and fifteene minutes . for he in his comment vpon ptolemies quadripartite , treating christs natiuitie , makes the eleuenth degree of virgo to ascend in prima domo , which could not bee but at that time . the fathers write that hee was borne at midnight , as hierom , and bernard : which of these opinions is truest , i will not decide . mysteries there are in both of them . if cardan say true , then it fitly fell out , that the sonne of a virgin was borne when the heauenly figure virgo did ascend . if the fathers say true , then opportunately came he in medio noctis , that was to be the medium betweene god and man. the greatest obscuritie is at midnight ; and then therefore was produced the greatest light ; hee that was the brightnes of his fathers glorie . thus then in the sixth age of the world , in the two and fortieth yeere of augustus caesars reigne , in the moneth of december , in the fiue and twentieth and shortest day , on sunday , betweene ten and twelue at night , was our blessed sauiour blessedly born . which season saint paul cals the fulnesse of time , as because each part thereof , as ye see , is full of mysteries , so by reason of other occasions that i am now to acquaint you with . and first , this then . whatsoeuer god eyther promised , or the patriarckes and prophets eyther in their speeches foreshewed , in their actions prefigured , or affections desired ▪ that all at this time is fully fulfilled . now accomplished are gods promises made to eue , that her seed should bruise the serpents head . gen. . to abraham that in his seed all nations of the earth should bee blest . gen. . to dauid that of the fruit of his loynes , hee would set one on his seat that should rule as a king for euer . psal . . now fulfilled are the predictions of the patriarcks and prophets ; of iacob when he said . gen. . the scepter shall not be taken from the tribe of iuda , and a captaine from his thigh , till he come , that is to be sent , and hee shall be the expectation of nations . of moses when he said deut. . a prophet shall the lord our god raise vp vnto yee , among your brethren , him shall yee heare . of balam , when he said , numb . . a starre shall rise from iacob : and a staffe from israel , that shall strike the moabites . of esay , when he said , that a virgin should beare a sonne , and call his name emanuel . es . . of michea : when he said , mich : . and thou bethleem ephrata , art but a little one in respect of thousands in iuda : and yet there shall come forth of thee one , that shall bee the ruler of israel , and his comming forth is from the beginning , and from the days of eternitie . of daniel , when he said dan. . that after certaine weekes of yeares expired the holy of holyes should be annointed . now fulfilled are the figures of the patriarcks and prophets actions : now abraham came a stranger into aegypt : when christ came as a pilgrime ; where comming amongst his owne , his owne receiued him not : now moses was put into a basket . ioseph throwne into the pit , hieremy into the dungeon . daniel into the lyons denne , when christ was sent into this wretched world , a place of perplexities : now the stone was cut from the mountaine without hands , when christ was borne of his mortall mother , neuer being begotten by mortall father : now aarons rod did bud and beare almonds , when a spotlesse virgin did produce a child : now a woman did compasse a man , when hee was contained in a womans womb , that doth himself cōprehend heauen & earth : now a riuer flowed to water paradise , when christ was borne ; with his bloud to wash away the sinnes of the world : now the mountaines did distil sweetnes , when heauen did let god to descend on earth : now salomon made himselfe a throne of iuorie , when christ made himselfe a bodie of flesh in the virgins wombe : now the doue came from noahs arke , when the sonne of god came from the bosome of his father : now the bush burned and was not consumed , when a virgine brought forth a son , and was not corrupted : mercy and truth met together , when christs diuinitie and humanitie met in one person , to work our redemption . now the sunne was couered with a cloud , when god clothed himselfe with our flesh . againe now fulfilled are the desires of the patriarches and prophets . abraham tooke great joy of this day , and now he saw it ioh. . expectabo salutare tuum saith iacob gen . i will wait for thy saluation , o lord and now behold his expectation satisfied . dauid cried out , psal . . ostende nobis domine misericor diam tuam , and now he might say as in psal . . suscepimus deus misericor diam tuam in medio templi . begge no longer moses to say to god as it is deu. . mitte obsecro quem missurus es ; for now is he come amongst vs. crie not longer out esay as it is . es . . vtinam disrumperes coelos & descenderes , o that thou wouldest cleaue the heauens and come downe , for this day came hee out of a virgins wombe . the summe of this is this : now are gods promises , the patriarches and prophets predictions , actions , and affections , fulfilled . and therefore most excellently is it termed the fulnesse of time . againe , now was the fulnesse of gods communication when he came to giue vs himselfe in his sonnes flesh ; wherein as it is . col . dwelt the fulnesse of the godhead bodily . now was the fulnesse of mans redemption , when a sauiour was borne to begin the gracious work therof in preseruing vs , by his merits , from sin , death , hell , and the deuill : now was the fulnesse of graces promotion , we taking them out of his fulnes as ioh. saith . and who can denie this to be the fulnesse of time ? to this let me addo , that the world was now ful of miracles : now the angels sang in heauen and comforted shepheards on earth : now a strange starre guided the wisemen to christ : now a wel-spring in rome did runne with oyle : now three sunnes appeared , shining first seuerally , and then joyntly : now augustus his aeternum palatium , that was prophesied neuer to fall before a virgin did beare a child , was ruinated to the ground : now augustus , asking one of the sybils whether there were any where a greater person then himselfe , saw in the sunne a virgin giuing an infant sucke , to whom afterwards hee dedicated an altar , and called it , aram coeli , the altar of heauen . and thus yee see it proued , that it was the fulnesse of time , when he , that as s. ioh. saith , full of grace & truth was borne amongst vs. the iewes expect yet a messtas to come : denying iesus whom wee beleeue on , to bee the worlds sauiour . and the turkes dare to compare him with their mahomet . but this doctrine of the fulnesse of time , wherein christ was born , doth most plainly and forcibly confute them . for sith all the promises and mercies of god ; sith the prophesies , figures , and desires of our famous forefathers , and manie admirable miracles , met in the time of christs natiuitie ; and that neuer mahomet had the like ; nor any creature can haue the like : wee are fully to bee resolued , by this fulnesse of time , the true messtas to bee borne . i could spend more time in discoursing vpon this time , but that greater matters , viz. the causes of christs birth doe now offer themselues vnto mee in these wordes , god sent his sonne : where the efficient cause is god ; the formall cause his sending ; and the materiall cause his sonne christ himselfe : god sent . who ? the father , the sonne , or the holy ghost ? surely all three of them . for know , that opera a trinitatis sunt in-diuisa : and , vnlesse in personall respects , euermore in essentiall actions , what one doth they all doe ; as now in this worke of christs birth , the whole trinitie shewed their industrie . the father sent mee saith christ , ioh. . . here the father labours . i went out from the father and came into the world : here is the labour of the sonne . the holy ghost shall come vpon thee quoth the angell gabriel to the blessed virgin , when she was to conceiue christ : this is the labour of the holy ghost . thus the three persons , being one god , had each of them their action in christs incarnation ; and that most fitly : sith it being a worke of great power , wisdome , and goodnes , it was requisite that the father with his power , the sonne with his wisedome , and the holie ghost with his goodnesse , should accomplish it . what more powerfull a thing , then to joyne two such extreamely distant natures as the creatour and the creature together ! it is gods especiall power in compound bodies , to joyne the foure elements together ; it is greater power to joyne our bodie to our created spirits , that is to say , our soules . but to joyne all these to the increated spirit , god ; this is a might aboue all measure . againe what more wise thing , then that to the perfection and complement of the whole ; the beginning and the end of a worke should hang together . and now note this mysterie . the word was the beginning of the vvorld : for by it god made the world ; and adam was the last creature of the vvorld . the word then becomming man , the first and the last , that is to say god and man , were vnited together . againe what greater goodnesse can bee , then that the creatour should communicate himselfe to the creatures ? it is his great kindnesse , that god giues himselfe to his creatures by his essence , presence , and power : it is his greater kindnes that he giues himselfe to good men by his grace : but that hee should giue himselfe to our nature , by vnion with it , that is to say , by assuming our humanitic into his diuinitie ; this surmounts all fauour that may bee said or thought vpon . thus i say the fathers power , the sonnes wisdome , and the holy ghosts goodnesse , were all actors in clothing christ with our flesh . to the doing whereof what moued them ? our merits ? no ; ( brethren ) but their mercies according to that of ioh. . god soloued the world , that he sent his sonne , &c. loue is manifested three wayes : dono , passione , opere , in giuing , suffering , and working . the father shewed his loue , when he gaue vs his sonne : the sonne shewed his loue , when hee suffered death for our sinnes ; and the holy ghost shewes his loue , in setting vs forward in good workes . thus the manifestation of the blessed trinities power , wisdome , goodnesse , and mercie , are as it were the foure wheeles , vpon which the charriot of gods prouidence brought christ into this world : who came as sent , god sent sayth my text . heere is a doubt worthie to be discust . christ was neuer separated from god his father . for when saint iohn saw him vpon earth , hee yet acknowledged him to bee in the bosome of his father secundum id . cap. vnigenitus quie st in sinis patris , &c. as also that hee was in heauen , secundumid tertio capite , nemo ascendit , &c. qui est in coelo ; yea that hee was in the world before his birth , sith hee made the world ; as it is cap. . and how then may it be said , that god sent him , when hee neuer went from him ? an interpretation shall make euident all this . missio , saith thomas aquinas commenting vpon this place , fuit assumptio carnis , non depositio maiestatis : christ left not to bee god , when hee became man ; but tooke more vnto his godhead when hee became man , viz. our humanitie into his diuinitie : that through our visible nature assumed , he might acquaint vs with his inuisible excelencies , which els could neuer haue beene known of vs. as the sun shining in his perfit brightnes , can not be looked vpon ; but in a cloud or mist , hauing his beames refracted , may bee beheld so god , in his infinite and incomprehensible essence , being considered of vs , cannot be knowne of vs , for he is too powerful an object for our weake vnderstanding ; but in our nature , by his sonne assumed , hauing his glorie and majestie contracted , wee may take a full view of him . and thus christ his incarnating is his proper sending . but why sent god his sonne the second person in trinitie ? wherefore had not the father , and the holy ghost , come to be man aswel as the sonne ? ( brethren ) this is a high point in diuinitie , requiring judiciall and attentiue eares : which if yee lend mee , thus then i resolue yee . truely there wanted no power in any of those persons to performe this ; for they are all omnipotent , and able to doe what soeuer pleaseth them . but yet why the sonne did it rather then the rest ; great reasons are to bee alleaged . first , it was meete that by what instruments god made the world , by the same he should repaire the world : but god by his sonne made the world , as it is heb. . and therfore as it is . cor. . well was god in christ , by whom hee reconciled the world. secondly , it was fit that hee who was the sonne in the diuinitie , should also bee the sonne in humanitie : least if the father or the holy ghost had bin the sonnes of men , they had then beene temporall sonnes to the eternall sonne . thirdly , the father is of himselfe alone , and the sonne is of the father . now then more seemely it is that he be sent , who is of another , then he that is of himselfe . fourthly , the sonne was sent to be man , that wee might know how the father did loue man in sending so precious a thing to redeeme man therby , thus to strengthen our languishing hope , that sith god thought not his sonne too good forvs , how can wee doubt but that hee will bestow all other things on vs whatsoeuer wee begge of him ? fiftly , god bath predestinated vs saith saint paul romans . to bee conformable to the image of his sonne : that therefore had hee not sent his sonne , how could wee bee like to his sonne ? had not he come that was the naturall sonne ; wee should neuer haue beene adopted sonnes . the sonne of god therefore was made the sonne of man , that we sonnes of men might bee made the sonnes of god. sixtly , god the sonne is the middle person betweene god the father , and god the holy ghost , and therefore was fittest to bee sent to bee the mediator betweene god and man. seuenthly , he that was to worke our redemption was to be an intercessor and supplicator to god for vs. but these properties are more proper to a sonne , then a father : for a sonne is to intreat the father , and not the father the sonne . and therefore did god best to send his sonne . last of all ; the mediator betweene god and man was to pacifie , so to teach and guide man to be obedient vnto god. now then christ being the word of god and wisdome of god , as saint iohn and saint paul affirme : meetest was hee , the sonne , to be mans teacher and counsailor . why god sent his son yee see the reasons . now behold wee in what manner he sent him : the third thing i am to speak of . it is said made of a woman and made vnder the law . what is written before in my text of him , that in the fulnesse of time god sent him , pointes to his diuinitie , and his glorie : but that now hee is made of a woman and vnder the law , this shewes his humanitie and humilitie : how the two natures godhead and manhood were vnited together in the vnitie of his person . paul . tim. . talkes of a great mysterie of pietie , how god was manifested in the flesh , iustified in the spirit , was seene of angels , was preached to the gentiles , beleiued on in the world , and assumed into glorie . and heere behold this production of god , to be made of a woman , is the beginning of it ; opening as it were the doore to the other most admirable actions . but what a strange thing is this , that the maker of the world should thus bee made of a woman : and that the creatour should haue his being from a creature . this rightly to conceiue , ye are to note this . christ in respect of his godhead , was increated ; in respect of his soule he was created ; and in respect of his bodie he was made of a woman . as we christians are borne , first , naturally of our parents , and afterwards are born spiritually of the holy ghost : so christ beeing god , was begotten naturally of god ; and now being man , was made temporally of a woman . verbum caro factum est , &c. saith saint iohn cap. . paul affirmeth . tim. . that he came of the seed of dauid , and heb. . that no where hee tooke on him the angels , but the seed of abraham tooke he on him , and all this by being made of a woman , of a woman ' ? yee will say what reason had god to effect so strange an action : i will tell yee ; to aduance his glorie , and doe vs the more good . o how kind did god shew himselfe in taking vpon him our fraile nature ! hee might haue come to vs as he did to moses and the israelites on mount sinay in thundering , lightning , fire , and smoake : hee might haue come to vs in the substance of an angell assumed , but yet because hee loued man , to man he came in the estate of man. o how just did god shew himselfe to bee made of a woman ! the deuill before had conquered all flesh in the first adam : and now the second adam took flesh in it to subdue the deuill . o how wise did god herein shew himselfe , that when one man by sinne had displeased him , another man by his righteousnesse should pacific him ! i meane iesus , who being god , therefore became man to be the mediatour betweene god and man : which office no other creature neyther man nor angell could possibly haue executed , sith infinite being the maiestie of him that by sinne was offended , by no person but him that is of infinite goodnesse it could be appeased . christ therefore tooke god and man into the vnitie of his person to reconcile god and man into the vnitie of affection . these & such like inuisible excellencies of kindnesse , iustice , wisdome , to make visible vnto vs , he took on him our visible nature in mercie descending to vs ; sith wee in might could not ascend to him . secondly , christus factus est , &c. as for the promotion of his owne glorie , so for the procurement of our good , in many things to help vs ; to instruct our faith which could not but beleeue , when she heard god himselfe to speake ; to comfort our hope which could not but bee cheered , when she saw god vnited to our nature ; to kindle our charitie , that could not but loue god , sensibly perceiuing how god loued man , to draw our actions to vertue , that could not but imitate god , giuing himselfe for an example ; and to make vs partakers of his diuinitie , that as god was the sonne of man , so wee men should bee made the sonnes of god. againe , christus factus est , &c. to remoue many euils from vs , that the deuill the author of sin , though hee were an angell should not be preferred before vs ; that man considering the dignitie of his nature , how it is in vnion with god , should not spot it with sinne , that our presumption with the thought of christes merites , our pride with the remembrance of his humilitie , and the feare of death and hell with the consideration of his person , might bee daunted and abated . further , dei filius factus est , &c. to verifie his incarnation . valentine held christ to haue brought a body with him from heauen , and to haue taken no flesh from his mother , marcion , apelles , cerdonius , and manes , affirmed christ to haue but a phantastical body , such as angels and spirits assume . the turkes and moores imagine christ to bee the breath of god , whom because god saw that the iewes would crucifie , he therefore suffered christ to delude their eyes , in seeming to doe and suffer what hee did not . but these heresies are notably confuted in this , that he was made of a woman . for if a woman were his true mother , bearing him ten monethes in her wombe , bringing him forth & giuing him sucke : then vndoubtedly he was a true man , and had a true , naturall , and not a celestiall and phantasticall body , last of all , christ was made of a woman , to grace women kind with his birth , that before had disgraced it selfe with the deuils temptation . a woman in paradise , was a meane to make man a sinner , and a woman in bethlem was an instrument to bring forth to man a sauiour . wherefore an ancient father saith thus ; because the male kind is more noble , christ would be a man : and yet that woman should not bee contemned , hee was borne of a woman . but why doth paul here name so expressly a woman , and not mention a man ? because indeede man had no action in christs generation : for as our sauior being god had a father , & no mother : so being man he had a mother , but no father . where note , that mankind is brought forth foure kind of wayes . adam was made without man or woman : eue was made of a man without a woman : we are made of men and women ; and christ was made of a woman without a man. if yee aske of what woman ? i answere yee , marie the virgine , whom all generations doe call blessed . of her bloud or seede , by the working of the holy ghost was christ made . o what strange birth was this , that a virgin was the mother , and god the sonne ! saith bernard . it became not god to haue any mother but a maiden : and it beseemed a maide to haue no sonne but god. wonders are in this mother , and in this sonne . this mother was sanctified with the fulnesse of grace , with the ouer-shadowing of the holy ghost , and the inhabitation of the sonne of god. shee was , saith saint bernard , sinepudore foecunda , sine grauamine granida , sine dolore puerpera . by bearing christ , shee was the starre that gaue light to the sunne , the branch that bare the vine , the riuer that yeelded the fountaine , the daughter that brought forth her father , the creature that gaue being to the creatour : shee was i say the mother of her father , and the daughter of her sonne , yonger then her birth , lesser then what shee contained , a maiden , and a mother , to haue a sonne with god the father : whereas virgines were cursed for barrennesse , and wiues for bringing forth with sorrow , marie was free from either of these : for being a virgine shee was fruitfull , and bringing forth child shee felt no paines . as the sunne shines through glasse and corrupts it not : so god came made of a virgine without breach of her chastitie . and because shee conceiued without sinne , shee was therefore deliuered without paines . aganie , wonders are in this sonne . in the instant of his conception , and now by succession of time he was a perfit man in soule and body , voide of sinne and full of grace . hee had a father in heauen , and a mother on earth , but yet a father without a mother , and a mother without a father . further by being made of a woman , of a lord he became a seruant , of eternall he was made temporall , of infinite he became an infant , of high he became low , of incomprehensible locall , of intelligible , sensible : borne hee was in a womans wombe , himselfe bearing the world , and suck he did at a maidens brests , himselfe giuing food to all things . thus of a woman was christ made , and not onely so , but also vnder the law : made of a woman is the humilitie of his birth ; made vnder the law is the humilitie of his life : in birth , in life , and in manie other thinges crying out vnto vs , that we would learne of him , to bee humble and meeke . among the iewes diuers lawes were in vse in christs time , the morall , ceremoniall , iudiciall , and vnder all these our sauiour was made . yee will object how can this bee ? they ( saith paul ) gal. . that are led by the spirit , are not vnder the law : but christ was led by the spirit , and was full of the spirit , and therfore the law had nought to doe with him . for answere accept this . to be vnder the law carrieth a double sense ; to bee vnder eyther the obseruance of the law , or the oppression of the law. now then christ was vnder the obseruance of the law. for he was circumcised the eight day , presented afterwardes in the temple , and did those things that the law required : but not vnder the oppression of the law , so as the breach thereof did any way burden him ; sith hee was harmelesse and innocent ▪ and yet in respect of our sinnes , the guilt wherof in mercie he vndertooke , he was vnder the lawes oppression . also for the punishment due to our offences , the law inflicted on him ; it accused him , and condemned him before the tribunall of god of all the sinnes of the world ; it made his bodie sweat water and bloud , it made his soule heauie to the death ; and on the crosse so perplexed his whole humanitie that he cried out , my god my god , why hast thou for saken me . thus the blessed maker of all thinges was twise now made . first , of a woman , to entertaine our nature , and secondly , vnder the law , to sustaine our sinnes . and all this to what end ? it followes in the end of my text , which shewes the end why christ came , &c. to redeeme those that were vnder the law , that we might receiue the adoption of sonnes . see ( deere christians ) how proportionable gods meanes are to the effecting of his purposes ! christ was made vnder the law to redeeme vs from the law , and was made the sonne of a woman , that we might receiue the adoptiō to be the sons of god. two generall and singular blessings containing all that christ hath done for vs , are heere conueighed vnto vs : redemption , and exaltation , freedome , and aduancement : redemption and freedome to be exempted from the law ; and exaltation and aduancement to haue the adoption to bee gods sonnes . the law , before christ came , did dominari , as s. paul saith : playing the tyrant amongst men , as pharao did among the israelites ; it stil cried out , keep the commandement ; with infinite curses to those that eyther would not , or could not keep euery jot of it . it imposed , vpon men an insupportable burden , it aggrauated sinne , it terrified the conscience , and as it is . cor. . it was the administration of death and damnation . now then christ made vnder the law , did free men from this law ; and how but by his fulfilling of it for vs ? his humilitie satisfied the law for our pride , his fasting for our gluttonie , his chastitie for our wantonnesse , his mildnesse for our wrath , his kindnesse for our enuie , his obedience for our negligence , his excellencies for our infirmities : that when the law gaping so for righteousnesse , as a lyon for his prey , hauing the morsell of christ , perfection and holinesse , throwne into her mouth , she was presently satisfied and appeased , and vpon that doth feed yet at this houre , which otherwise could not not be contented with anie thing which poore man could yeeld vnto her . againe , as before christ came , wee were bondslaues vnder the law : so were we bastards in nature , degenerated from that holinesse and righteousnes wherein we were created , aud thereby depirued of our heauenly inheritance . and now our sauiour by being made of a woman , doth make vs to be true sonnes againe ; for hee by clothing himselfe with our nature becomming our brother , as paul termes him primogenitꝰ inter multosfratres , by a consequent drawes vs in to be the sonnes of his father ; so giuing vs of his spirit to be the children of god , as hee tooke of our flesh to bee the sonne of man : he by our flesh counted the virgin his mother , and we by his spirit ( as the apostle sayth ) crie abba father . thus not onely to make vs freemen , but also sonnes ; the sonne of god came . the summe of this point is briefly this , christ came as manna from heauen to feede vs being hungrie , as the cluster of grapes out of the vineyard , to satisfie vs being thirstie , as oyle powred out to cure vs being wounded . hee came as our head , that giues vs spiritual sense and motion ; as our mediatour , that being god and man best reconciles god and man ; as our foundation which we build our faith ; as our doore giuing passage to paradise ; as our shepheard feeding vs ; our sacrifice expiating vs ; our priest praying for vs ; as our way in example , life in reward . hee came as a man to make vs gods , as a seruant to make vs lords , to earth to lift vs vp to heauen . he came mortall to make vs immortall , poore to make vs rich , and base to make vs glorious . in a word , he that was the bread was hungrie that we might be fed : he that was the fountaine was dry , that wee might be satisfied . hee that was joy was sad , that we might be comforted ; and he that was the way , was wearied , that we might be directed to heauen . and thus haue yee heard the circumstances of christ his comming : the time , causes , manner , end. the doctrine wherof , for a conclusion ; let vs put to these vses . first , sith in the fulnesse of time came he that was full of grace and truth , let vs also fulfill our times that wee spend in godly labours : in time of prayer , deuout ; in time of preaching , attentiue ; in time of prosperitie bountifull ; in time of pouertie , patient ; in time of feasting , temperate ; in all times vertuous and honest , and then no time shal passe emptie of dutie . next , sith god sent his sonne , let vs acknowledge the benefit hereof , how much we are bound to the lord , that so great a person as hee would bestow so great a gift on vs most vnworthie creatures , and withall prouide our hearts to haue such roomes in them , as may be fit to enteraine so honourable a guest thus sent vnto vs : let our repentance sweep cleane the chambers of our soules , let a good conscience be his bedding , and let graces and vertues be the ornaments of his lodging . next sith he was made of a woman , and vnder the law , let vs learne that sith he hath so dignified our nature , as with it to cloth himselfe , to haue a care that wee spot it not or defile it with sinne . a poore maide married to a king , ought to forget her base bringing vp , and to forgoe her clownish qualities : and our nature married to god must vnloose the filthie actions of her corrupt generation , and put on the new man , to be like to christ . further sith vnder the law , let vs remember what a heauie burden hee tooke on him to ease our shoulders , and so be the more willing to beare any crosse that he shall lay vpon vs. finally , sith hee hath redeemed vs from the law , and makes vs adopted sonnes : let vs carrie our selues as men that haue christian libertie , scourging sinne , death , hell , and the deuill ; that with the chaines of slauish feare would stil keep vs captiue . last of all , sith we are his sonnes by adoption , let vs doe our dutie to our heauenly father : let vs loue , feare , and serue him with all our hearts soules and strength : let vs bee taught with his precepts , let vs be guided with his counsailes , allured with his promises , terrified with his threatnings , but especially be wonne with his mercies . then as gracious sonnes will hee reward vs with the glorious inheritance of his heauenly kingdome . to the which place hee that was borne for vs , bring vs. amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e * math. . . . ep. ioh. v. . act. . . matth. . . mal. . . notes for div a -e ioh. . . luc. . . . gen. . gen. . psa . . gen. . deut. . num. . esa . . mich. . dail . . ioh. . gen. . ps . . ps . . deu. . esa . . col. . ioh. . . ioh. . . . . . rom. . . ioh. . . luc. . . ioh. . . ioh. . : ioh. . . ioh. . . heb. . . cor. . rom. . . . tim. . . tim. . heb. . luc. . . gal. . . . cor. . rom. . a sermon preached before the king at whitehall, on christmas-day, by the right reverend father in god, gilbert lord bishop of sarum. burnet, gilbert, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a sermon preached before the king at whitehall, on christmas-day, by the right reverend father in god, gilbert lord bishop of sarum. burnet, gilbert, - . [ ], p. printed for ri. chiswell, london : . reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng christmas sermons. sermons, english -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion printed by his majesty's special command . a sermon preached before the king at whitehall , on christmas-day , . by the right reverend father in god , gilbert lord bishop of sarum . london : printed for ri. chiswell , at the rose and crown in st. paul's church-yard . mdcxcvii . the bishop of salisbury's sermon before the king , on christmas-day . . a sermon preached before the king . gal. iv. ver . . but when the fulness of the time was come , god sent forth his son made of a woman . the mysteries of god's providence , are of all others the most amazing . a small measure of true reason , with good degrees of humility and modesty , will easily bring one over to submit to matters of doctrine , relating to the divine essence , if it appears that they are expresly revealed , though the forming distinct apprehensions of them be above our faculties , which god knows are weak and short-sighted ; but it is a more obvious , as well as a more pressing difficulty , that arises from the methods of god's governing the world. there is no great matter in that which is drawn from the varieties and seeming partialities of providence : the prosperity of bad men , and the afflictions of the just , have often such visible tendencies in this life , and are followed with such a just distribution of rewards and punishments in another state , that this is no formidable objection . but that the world should be , as it were , abandoned , so great a part of it being , as it were , delivered up in bulk to ignorance , idolatry , immorality , and magick ; so small a part of it being enlightned , and of that so very small a part being either guided or bettered by that light , carries in it a train of difficulties , which we can never hope to see through , till welcome at that light to which we cannot now approach . why the world was let run into so much corruption for about years , before the son of god was sent forth into it ; why this light has not shined into all the corners of the world ever since ; and that which is the most amazing of all , is , why do those who enjoy it value it so little , and are so little reformed by it , are indeed mysteries that we cannot see through . yet though we cannot quite comprehend them , we have some hints given us to shew us , that there was a certain conduct , and by consequence a wise direction in this great transaction . a time was prefixed for it , long before it happened ; and the accomplishment did punctually answer the predictions . i shall name only two of the most remarkable . about years before it , jacob when dying had foretold , that the scepter should not depart from iudah , till shiloh should come , by whom the gentiles were to be called to the knowledge of god. the importance of which was , that the tribe of judah should continue to be god's people , under their peculiar laws and government , till the messias should come , to whom the gentiles were to be gathered . the other tribes were for the greater part so lost , that scarce any remnant of them was left : but the tribe of judah still remained a visible body of men , governed by their peculiar laws , till the time of our saviour's coming into the world . herod had been made their king by the roman senate , and was afterwards confirmed by augustus ; they were thereby brought under subjection , though herod governed them indeed according to mose's law. augustus ordered a taxing of all the empire , of the tributary or subjected provinces , as well as of that which was incorporated into the empire : and this happened precisely at the time of our saviour's birth . soon after that , judea was made a province ; their current money was only the roman coin ; pontius pilate the roman procurator condemned our saviour ; and by that time , according to the prediction , the gentiles were called to the knowledge of god ( through this shiloh the messias , ) the jewish nation was destroyed , their temple burnt down , their city razed down to the ground , and they scattered to the four winds of heaven ; but far the greater part adhering firmly to their religion , still owned the prophecies , which we hope are to have at last a glorious effect upon them for their final conversion . here is one character of the time , and we see the fulness of it was come . another is yet more express , given out about years before the accomplishment ; it was revealed to daniel , that within sixty nine weeks after the going forth of the commandment to build and restore ierusalem , messiah the prince should come , and be cut off . that by weeks are meant so many sevens of years , is confessed by the jews ; and can easily be proved to have been a common form of designing such a period of time among them . the commandment to build ierusalem , was given in the th . year of artaxerxes longimanus ; the edict given out before by cyrus , and confirmed by darius , being only for the building the temple , and for the worshipping of god in it . sixty nine weeks of years are just : now we have the certain characters of those times left , by which we are sure , that from the th . year of artaxerxes to the th . of tiberius , in which our saviour suffered , there were just so many years , neither more nor less , according to the calculation of years that we know the caldeans then reckoned by , of days to a year , which they divided into twelve months , assigning thirty days to every month ; which we see by jeremiah was likewise the measure that the jews counted by ; and of such years only can that prophecy of daniel's be understood . here are two evident characters that the fulness of the time was come ; that a time was prefixed to this great transaction long before , and that it happen'd punctually according to it . we do likewise find in the state of the gentile world a great conjuncture of favourable circumstances previous to its appearance : the roman empire was as calm at this time as it was great : the world was conquer'd , and after a course of many years wars janus temple was shut . it was a constitution made up of justice and morality ; but was under a religion that was then so strangely corrupted , that the tempers as well as laws of that nation did very much dispose them to an aversion to that religion , or rather to that mixture of all religions , which the wiser and better sort among themselves could not but despise and abhor : by consequence this prepared them to receive a religion that not only agreed to all their notions of morality , but that tended to improve and exalt them all . thus we who cannot know why this was the time marked for the appearance of the son of god , yet do certainly know that it was precisely marked out , and was as exactly fulfilled ; and from that we have reason to acknowledge and adore that wisdom in it , which we cannot yet discover . i go next to the great article of the christian religion mentioned in the text , that the messias who was sent forth , was the son of god. the jews understood these two designations to be so inseparable , that they had no other controversy at first with the apostles and the first converts , but about this , whether jesus was the messias , or not ? but supposing him to be the messias , they never questioned his being the son of god ; nor did they object to the christians their giving him divine adoration . we have the martyrdom of st. stephen the most punctually related of any of all the passages that happen'd in the first beginnings of christianity : the jews heard and saw all that past ; st. stephen died calling upon the lord iesus to receive his spirit , and praying to him not to lay that sin to the charge of his murtherers . if the jews had not then believed that the messiah was to be truly god , and that as such he was to be invocated , they must after this have reproached the christians with idolatry ; with making a man god , and with the worshipping him as such . this they did not do ; which shews that then they owned that the messiah was to be truly god. this was yet more instructing to the christians , who could not but observe that st. stephen ended his life in acts of invocation of christ , to the same effect with those in which christ himself had called on his heavenly father , when he gave up the ghost : into thy hands i commit my spirit , being of the same importance with that of st. stephen's , lord iesus receive my spirit : as , father , forgive them , they know not what they do , being the same act in effect with this , lord , lay not this to their charge . if christ was not truly god , and to be worshipp'd as such , it is not possible to excuse this from a very high degree of idolatry . i love not in such an audience to dwell long on points of speculation : yet since this is the capital article of the christian religion , and since it is one of the great infelicities of the age we live in , that as many have been carried to question the truth of the whole of it , so not a few have with a particular eagerness attack'd this fundamental point of it ; i hope the day , as well as the time we are in , will justify the insisting a little more upon it . it is certain , that if we confess that the new testament was a book writ by divine inspiration ( which those who deny this doctrine , profess they do acknowledge ) , we must also confess , that divine honours are through the whole of it ascribed to jesus christ : from this , common sense seems to infer , that either he was truly god , by such a real union with the eternal word , who is god , as makes both natures one person in him ; the nearest resemblance to which is the union of our souls and bodies , out of which very different natures arises one man , or one person : or if this is not true , it will follow , that the christian religion , one of whose main ends was to banish idolatry out of the world , did really only change the object of this idolatry , and draw men from worshipping the deities of the several nations , to worship one who according to those mens doctrine was only a creature , and yet was to be worshipp'd with the same honour which is due to the eternal god ; which were indeed a strain in idolatry beyond that of most heathen nations . but to make this matter yet plainer : all the sects among christians that have rejected our saviour's divinity , who yet acknowledge that divine honour is due to him , may be reduced to these two ; either such as hold him to have been some excellent created being , made before the world , and imployed by god in making and governing the world , and so dignified with divine honour . these were the arians of old , who under many high words , seem to have meant no more but to acknowledge that he was some created mind , such as the jews and we all apprehend angels to be ; superior indeed , in rank and order , to any other of them ; but no idea can be formed of a created mind , how perfect soever , but what is of the nature of angels . now st. paul in his epistle to the hebrews , begins it with the rejecting this conceit ; and he pursues that in the two first chapters , in expressions , that considering the simplicity of stile in which the new testament is writ , are as full as can be imagined . they are of the nature of negative words , which are always to be severely understood . they are likewise set in the terms of opposition , and so must be strictly expounded : the bare repeating them will make this yet more more sensible . it is said of christ , that he was the brightness of the father's glory , and the express image of his person . being made so much better than the angels , as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they . whatsoever dignity they have , it is a free donation , whereas christ has his by inheritance . to which of the angels said he at any time , thou art my son this day have i begotten thee . but when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world , he saith , and let all the angels of god worship him ; an opposition as express as it is full . these words are in the book of psalms ; but they are also in the conclusion of the last song of moses , according to the septuagint translation , tho' not in the hebrew : rejoyce , o ye heavens , and let all the angels of god worship him . this being then the translation that was in use among the jews , when st. paul writ , it is most probable that he had regard to it , there being no part of the law , that the jews think is more full of mystery and prophecy than that song . the angels being thus called on to worship the messias , is a very strict expression of another nature in him , superior to theirs , and to which they are subject . that is farther prosecuted : of angels , this is said , he makes his angels spirits ( that is , winds , which imports the quickness of their motion ) , and his ministers a flaming fire ( a figure importing their subtil force ) . in opposition to which , this follows ; but unto the son he saith , thy throne , o god , is for ever and ever . — and , thou , lord , in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth , and the heavens are the works of thiue hands ▪ — they shall be changed , but thou art the same , and thy years shall not fail . the creation of the heavens and the earth , and eternity , being in these words plainly affirmed of the messias , which could not be said without blasphemy , if he was not truly god. this is carried yet further : to which of the angels said he at any time , sit thou at my right hand , until i make thine enemies thy footstool ; in opposition to which , it is said further of angels , are they not all ministring spirits , sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation . this is more expresly prosecuted in the next chapter , where this is made a part of the difference between the mosaical and the christian dispensation , that the former was spoken by angels ; whereas this was first begun to be spoken by the lord. for unto angels god hath not put in subjection the world to come ( a phrase importing in the jewish stile , the dispensation of the messias ) ; whereas the messias , though made a little lower than the angels , was crowned with glory and honour , and set over the whole creation . in the conclusion of that chapter , there is an expression that makes all this yet more evident ; for verily he took not on him the nature of angels , but he took on him the seed of abraham ; which fully shews that the nature in him , which he had before his incarnation , was not the nature of angels . the second supposition on which those who deny his divinity , do yet pretend to assert the high dignity to which he is raised , is the sublimity of that ministry and dispensation that was committed to him ; in conclusion of which , and as a reward of his patient sufferings , he was raised up , and exalted to divine honour . this artemon of old , and the socinians of late , have advanced : but , as by a spirit of prophecy , st. paul does in the next place destroy this conceit in that way , which of all others , was the best suited to the notions of the jews . he sets christ in opposition to moses , not only in a priority of rank , and precedence , but in a superiority of nature . he prefaces this with a charge to us , to consider the high-priest and apostle of our profession : to which he adds , that both moses and he were faithful , but with this distinction ; that this man was counted worthy of more glory than moses , in as much as he who hath built the house hath more honour than the house . he adds to this ; that he who hath built all things , is god. but the opposition follows ; moses was faithful in all his house as a servant ; but christ as a son over his own house . words that are as clear as they are full . to make this yet more sensible , it is to be considered , that the degree of moses's inspiration , is set by god himself above any other prophecy , in these words : if there be a prophet among you , i will make my self known to him in a vision , and will speak to him in a dream . my servant moses is not so , who is faithful in all my house , with him will i speak mouth to mouth ( or face to face , as one man speaks to another ) even apparently , and not in dark speeches ; and the similitude of the lord shall he behold : or , to put this in modern expressions , he shall see god in a true and compleat idea . thus moses was above all other prophets . the peculiar excellencies of the pe al pe , face to face , is well known to all who have any acquaintance with jewish notions . now after all this , christ is not only preferred to moses , but is put in such an opposition to him as is that of a son to a servant . these are plain and simple authorities , that need only a little reflection , but no commentary , to make us apprehend the force and evidence that is in them . god be thanked , that by his good providence , and the care of all the churches , we have this book brought down to us , in its first genuine and uncorrupted state , in which the inspired penmen delivered it to the world. it was the interest of the enemies of this doctrine , to endeavour to corrupt it . they understood that , and followed it ; for which we have an undeniable testimony recorded to us by a writer who was too favourable to them to be declined as partial against them . it was eusebius , who in his history cites a passage from a writer in the beginning of the d century , believed to be gaius presbyter of rome , who tells us that artemon's disciples had endeavoured to corrupt the new testament , but in such a manner , that as they could shew no ancient copies to justify their corruptions , so they did not agree among themselves ; and these corruptions were , as he says , very strange and enormous ones . so notwithstanding all the cry that they do now raise of the corruption of the text , we see who they were that begun it ; but that the church was watchful in preserving this sacred depositum , and did early detect this impious piece of fraud , and stopt it in its first beginnings . if any shall ask , how can these things be ? it must be answered , we cannot tell : we can form no distinct apprehensions concerning them . this is wisdom indeed , in a mystery : it is wisdom , because it comes from god ; but it is in a mystery , because we cannot attain unto it . can we apprehend eternity , or god's being every where ? and that in one single act he sees all things past , present , and to come ? can we form any distinct thought concerning creation ? how beings arise out of nothing , in consequence to the will of an infinite mind , who said of all things , let them be , and they were ? or can we so much as apprehend how matter thus created , shall move at the act and will of its eternal creator ? can matter know that will to obey it ? or can an intellectual act give motion to insensible matter ? can we apprehend the propagation of plants , much less of animals ? and as to that which of all other things we perceive the most sensibly , can we apprehend how soul and body dwell together ? how thought and motion , how distant soever in their natures , have that union with , and influence upon one another ? how a motion of matter can throw an inexpressible agony into a mind ; and how a mind can command so many regular and unaccountable motions of matter , as we perceive in memory , imagination , and speech ; are difficulties that confound us . these are such plain and home convictions of the defectiveness of our faculties , which can much more easily apprehend difficulties , than resolve them , that it can be no just objection to any part of the divine revelation , that it contains matters out of which great difficulties do arise , and that we are not able to give our selves any account of them . our apprehensions are not only finite , but very much bounded ; we see but a very little way ; and therefore we ought not to plead our want of capacity , in opposition to any thing that appears to be plainly revealed to us in scriptures . when such things occur to us , we ought to take the shield of faith ; maintaining our selves with this , that the god of truth , who cannot lye , has revealed such things to us ; and when we are sure of that , we are at the same time as sure that it must be true , because it comes from him : and by this we may beat back all the fiery darts of the devil ; all those objections that arise out of a mixture of pride and weakness ; for our faculties are as weak , as our arrogance and self-conceit is high . this is so important a part of the christian religion , that it deserves well to be insisted on , and to be made out , as much as the nature of the thing , or rather as much as our nature is capable of . the next thing to be considered , is the ends for which the son of god was sent forth into the world. they were certainly great , since such extraordinary methods were taken to promote them : when it was introduced with so many particular and distinct predictions ; when all was supported with such a series of miracles , done not only by our saviour himself , but by those who were sent in his name : the propagation it self , considering the instruments made use of , and the opposition it met with from all hands , being one of the greatest of all miracles . now since it is unsuitable to infinite wisdom , to employ extraordinary methods for the attaining of some ordinary ends , it is very just to conclude , that the ends must be great , when the means used in order to them were such . they were indeed the greatest that the humane nature was capable of : all the principles of natural religion , together with the tradition concerning the first beginnings of the world , were so corrupted , or so intermixed with fables , that it was necessary to restore these by a mighty authority . that which we call strictly religion , was turned wholly to idolatry and magick , charm , or superstition . it was therefore necessary to raise up just and great ideas of god , which the philosophers had attempted , but faintly and with small success . barbarity and vice had so over-run the world , that the plainest ideas of virtue were either quite lost , or rendred very doubtful . under such a corruption of religion , it was no wonder if atheism made a great progress , since few can be much concerned to support a religion that is visibly made up of fraud ; and that may make men the worse , but cannot make them the better for adhering to it ; and such was the heathenish religion . judaism it self , though sound in its own nature , as well as divine in its original , yet was but low , and was become much more so by the increase of the ceremonial part by tradition , which still as it increases too much , does sink the moral and best part of religion . it being then necessary to free the jews from their bondage ( which is the occasion upon which these words are in this place made use of by st. paul ) as well as to deliver the gentiles out of their darkness , which was become black and thick as the shadow of death ; god sent his son to give the world true and high notions of god and his attributes ; of his justice and goodness more particularly ; to open a way of worship that should be plain and simple ; suitable to the ideas of god , and to our faculties : and to set such rules to mens inward thoughts and tempers , as well as to their lives and actions , as should rectify human nature , and render mutual society both safe and happy . for this end he delivered his doctrine to his hearers , and lived it as well as he spake it . if an angel from heaven had pronounced it , as the law was given on mount sinai , it could not have had so sensible an effect , as when the person who delivered it set such a pattern as gave more distinct ideas concerning his end in it . in it he expressed what a sort of holiness he came to promote : not the affectations of a pompous exterior , but the real purity of genuine virtue ; of truth and goodness ; of modesty , humility , and charity . here was one great end for which the son of god was sent forth : a great one it was ; to raise and reform mens natures ; to give us noble thoughts and excellent rules , as well as a clear pattern , that can neither fail nor misguide us . a second end of his coming , was to open such a method of reconciling sinners to god , as should both render them capable of the mercies of god , and yet give them great impressions both of the guilt of sin , and of the justice as well as the goodness of god. no offer of pardon at all , must have made men desperate ; as too easy a one , must have made them bold in sinning . the offer of a pardon was necessary to be begun with , but it must be made in such a manner , that it might not encourage men to live on in sin , at the same time that it gave them the hopes of mercy . the ideas of the guilt and odiousness of sin were to be kept up in a religion whose chief design was to reform and purify mankind , at the same time that a general offer of a pardon was to be proclaimed to the world. therefore this messias , who was to procure that offer to be made , was to become a sacrifice himself in our name and stead , he was to bear our sins , and so to take them away : he was not to be brought by priests , to be offered up on an altar , as the heathens did with their piacular victims ; much less was he to slay himself , according to some stories that the heathens had . every thing in him was to be innocent , as well as great ; such as became both the majesty of god , and the purity as well as the dignity of his person . he was therefore fallen upon by an enraged multitude , who to satisfy their own brutal fury , first treated him most barbarously , and then put him ignominiously to death ; all which he who could have saved himself by miracle , if not by other ways , not only bore patiently , but with an intire submission to the will of god , and an unconquerable charity towards even those his persecutors . this was only the outside , and the visible part of his sufferings ; but with these he endured an inexpressible agony in his mind , both before and during his being on the cross , of which we who understand only the agonies of guilt , of pain , or of passion , can form no distinct idea . all this he offered himself to bear ; he was not surprized in it ; he foresaw it coming , and longed for it . it is by this , and on the account of it , that sinners are encouraged to come to god , and to claim their pardon . in this they find great characters , setting forth both the guilt of sin , and the holiness , the justice , as well as the goodness of god. by such a ransom it appears , how hateful a thing sin is , since god has thought fit to offer the pardon of it , in so solemn and so severe a manner . by this the doctrine of the messias has this most effectual recommendation accompanying it , that he shewed he loved us , in instances beyond imagination , as well as expression . a third design upon which god sent forth his son , was to bring men to awaken much within themselves , the ideas of god in the seriousest and tenderest manner , by frequent meditation , and earnest prayer : to which he added the most encouraging of all promises , that god will not only hear , but answer our prayers ; and more especially that he will give his holy spirit to every one that asks it . our faculties are not only under a great depression , but a vast disorder : appetite and passion do soon fire us , and are not easily resisted ; we may have some good minutes , but we have many more weak and bad ones : we do plainly perceive that without some inward assistance to cure and rectify our nature , we cannot go through with the business of religion . our saviour has assured us of this ; and he has made the condition of our attaining it , to be that which is both in it self easy , for nothing can be easier than to have a thing for the asking , and is the properest method possible , to keep alive in us great and powerful impressions of god ; which are the seeds and principles that must reform our natures , and mould them unto the likeness of god. before the son of god was sent forth , there were some general ideas of god's hearing and answering of prayer , and of his furnishing his worshippers with an inward aid . but it was our saviour only , who made it a part of the covenant that he came to establish between god and man , that a divine power should be conveyed into the faculties of all such as should earnestly pray to him , by which they should be enabled to pay him that sincere obedience , of which he is pleased graciously to accept ; and in consideration of which , he does through the merits and intercession of christ , pardon all our other errors and defects . this is now to us , a foederal promise ; we may depend upon it , and with all humble confidence claim to it . the fourth great design of god's , in sending forth his son , was , that he might give the world the most powerful of all motives , to work either on their hopes , or fears , by offering them both a full assurance , and a particular description of a future state. some notices of this were still in the world ; but they were both doubtful and dark : the greatest assertors of it among the greeks and latins , did it but faintly : they proposed it , rather as an opinion that was highly probable , and fit to be believed , than as that which was certainly true . the hints given of it in the old testament , are very general , and may be made capable of other senses : by it the jews might be inclined to believe not only another state , but the resurrection of the body ; but the account they contain of it , is very defective . our saviour brought it to light ; he not only affirmed it in many expressions , that were so full and so plain , that it is not possible to doubt any longer about it , without rejecting his authority : he gave a very express proof of the possibility of the resurrection , by his own rising from the dead : he went further , and assured us , that we should then be made like unto angels : that our bodies should shine as the sun ; that we should be for ever with god , inheriting that kingdom which was prepared for us ; previous to this , he told us , that we shall hear his voice , by the power of which we shall be raised out of our graves , and be judged according to all that we have done in this life ; and that the micked shall go into everlasting punishment , and the righteous into life eternal . this being then so evidently delivered , and so fully described by him , we have in it given to us exceeding great and precious promises , with the greatest encouragement possible , to undertake that course of holiness , which he has set before us , in consideration of the glory which , with it , he hath also set before us . we are assured by him , that if we go through life in an imitation of his example , and an obedience of his laws , as well , as in a submission to those sufferings by which he may think fit to exercise our faith and patience , we shall at last escape out of this evil world , and from these vile bodies : we shall arise above the depressions of sense and imagination , and the disorders of appetite and passion . we shall drop our bodies with all the necessities and weaknesses that hang about them ; and shall arise into a state of pure and clear light ; into a state of purity and perfection ; into the fellowship of angels and saints , and be brought to see and enjoy god to all eternity ; and that too , with all the fulness of comprehension , as well as of joy , that our faculties in their utmost enlargement and elevation are capable of . these are the hopes that the son of god has given us . i will not turn the prospect , and give the black face of that dismal eternity , which he has at the same time denounced against the impenitent . the joy of this day agrees not so well with that , as withthe other more lovely and more animating prospect ; which we ought to carry ever in our thoughts , that so we may lay hold on that eternal life , which he who cannot lye has thus set before us . these are the great ends for which god sent forth his son : they are all worthy of god , as they are the greatest that the human nature is capable of . but what are we the better for all this , if we come not under the influences of it , if we are only brought to have chaster thoughts of the divinity , a decenter way of worship , with correcter expressions , and more reasonable opinions , but come not under the vital energy of it ? if neither our hearts nor our lives are made the better for it , we do very little consider or pursue the ends for which the son of god was sent into the world. can we imagine that all this was designed for no higher end , than to bring men under some forms , and to bind them to some opinions ? this amounts to little , and must needs give but a mean idea of a religion , that with how much pomp soever it might be introduced , seems now to have very little effect on the great numbers of those who profess it . this alone disposes the world more to doubt of it , than all that prophane minds can draw from any part of it , as a prejudice against it : then shall these be the most effectually confuted , when the world shall see many instances of such true christians , over whose thoughts and actions this religion bears sway . human nature is too universally corrupted , to expect great numbers of such ; but a happy mixture of some of these among the crouds of those who are called christians , but are the reproaches of their profession , would give another air of authority to all that we can say in behalf of our faith ; if we could at the same time appeal to such who are the living apologies for religion . this ought to be the noble ambition of those , whom god has eminently distinguished from the rest of mankind , and exalted above them : to be patterns to others to follow , is an honour far beyond the authority of commanding them : the examples of those in great posts , will be both followed and observed in that which is good , as well as in that which is bad . happy they who live so as to convince the world of the power that religion has over them ; and that give such an essay of the beauty as well as the purity of true holiness , as disposes the rest of mankind to love it as well as to follow it . let us all then consider for what ends god sent his son into the world ; that we may comply with them , and correspond to them . let us fill our minds with great thoughts of god , with just ones of our selves , and with the generous principles of virtue , even in its most heroical instances . let us study the doctrine of christ , that we may be enlightened by it , and have it in all its branches distinctly before our thoughts , and in our memories ; that so we may ever know how to conduct our selves by it : and let the pattern of our saviour's holy life and deportment , be ever as a picture before us , that we may always study and copy after it . let the meditations of what he suffered for us , and for our sins , be ever tender upon our minds ; to humble us when we reflect on our sins ; to give us deep horror for what is past , and great cantion for the future : that so we may learn to value those souls that were to be purchased at such a price , as well as these sins that were to be expiated by such a sacrifice . let us not sink under the sense of our frailty , since we have great assistances at hand , such as will strengthen us against all difficulties , and will enable us to resist all temptations , and in the end to be more than conquerors . all this is offered to us through him , in whom , as the fulness of the godhead dwelt bodily ; so out of that fulness we shall all receive grace proportioned to our occasions , to our necessities , and to those services in which we are to be imployed . finally , let us with joy look beyond life and mortality , and all the fading glories of this world : those scenes that change so often , and so suddenly . let us look beyond sense , and matter , and all that train of vanity and vexation that accompanies them , unto those regions above , where dwelleth light and love , and life for evermore . let us look unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith , whom god sent forth into the world , to seek and save lost sinners , of whom we ought to reckon our selves among the chief . to whom with the father and the h. ghost , be all honour and glory both now and evermore . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e gen. . . dan. . . neh. . , . ezra . . . ezra . . heb. . . ver . . ver . , . ps. . . deut. . . heb. . , , , , . ver . , . heb. . , , . ver . . . ver . . heb. . . ver . . ver . , . numb . . . eus. hist. l. . c. . a sermon preached before the king & queen at white-hall, on christmas-day, by the right reverend father in god, gilbert, lord bishop of sarum. burnet, gilbert, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a sermon preached before the king & queen at white-hall, on christmas-day, by the right reverend father in god, gilbert, lord bishop of sarum. burnet, gilbert, - . [ ], p. printed for richard chiswell ..., london : . advertisement: p. . reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -- n.t. -- timothy, st, iii, -- sermons. sermons, english -- th century. christmas sermons. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - jonathan blaney sampled and proofread - jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion printed by their majesties special command . a sermon preached before the king & queen , at white-hall , on christmas-day , . by the right reverend father in god , gilbert lord bishop of sarum . london , printed for richard thiswell , at the rose and crown in st. paul's church-yard , mdc ●xc . the bishop of salisbury's sermon before the king and queen on christmas-day , . a sermon preached before the king and queen , &c. tim . iii. ver . . and without controversie , great is the mystery of godliness : god was manifest in the flesh , justified in the spirit , seen of angels , preached unto the gentiles , believed on in the world , and receive up into glory . the most venerable part of religion consists in the mysteries it contains : and the more sacred and sublime that these are , the religion to which they belong , becomes thereby so much the more august . the minds of men are subject to two extreams in the matter of mysteries : some have such a liking for every thing that pretends to mystery , that this alone serves to recommend all things to them ; and as if religion were designed to give perpetual affronts to reason , they despise things that are intelligible , and think it is a character of a mean and contemptible religion , if it is not full of unaccountable things : and they seem to be so taken with a sickness after mystery , that the more absurd that any doctrines are , they like them the better : this serving to gild or sweeten the pill : and perhaps they think that a fond credulity will atone for all other faults ; as if an easiness of believing might serve to compound for the most hainous sins . but on the other hand , some have such thoughts of themselves , and of the force and compass of their own reasons , that they think it an unreasonable imposing on them to expect that they should believe any thing which they cannot quite comprehend . the mean between these , is to fix such sure measures in this matter as may preserve us both from a tameness , that may expose us to be an easie prey to every one that will force perswasions on us , with this bugbear , that they are mysteries , and that therefore they ought to be believed , even before they are examined : and also on the other hand , from such a swelling of pride , as to reject every thing how solemnly soever attested , only because it does not agree with our notions . we have st. paul here in my text concluding a charge that he had given to timothy , and in him to all that should minister in holy things , that he should from the rules here set him , learn how he ought to behave himself in the church of god : for since the world that is ever apt to be implicit in its thoughts of religion , will judge of that which they do not know , nor understand , i mean the doctrine , from that which they do see and know , i mean the lives of those who do teach and profess it ; and since the majesty that is in some mysteries requires a suitable authority and gravity in those that handle and propose them ; therefore the obligation that lies on church-men to a great exactness of deportment , appears particularly from this , that the mystery of their religion is without controversie great ; and that it is likewise a mystery of godliness that leads to right thoughts of god , and to a way of worshipping him , that is suitable to his nature and attributes : both which considerations agree to point out this to us , that the bishops and pastors of the church ought to be men of a sublime pitch of mind , and of an unaffected strictness of holiness . in speaking to these words i shall consider , i. what is the true and strict notion of a mystery in general . ii. what reason there may be for us to believe such mysteries as may be revealed to us by god. iii. how credible the mysteries mentioned in my text are in themselves . iv. what reason we have offered to us that obliges us to believe them . v. in what sense this is a mystery of godliness . i. mystery in its common and general notion , is a sacred secret : and it was chiefly applied by the heathens who first used the word , to those rites and ceremonies by which men were either initiated into religion , or reconciled to the deity : and the performance of these things , had in it many secrets which the priests were careful enough to conceal , and thereby to encrease their value . among the romans it was one of the methods by which the people were managed to make them believe that publick misfortunes rise from some error in the performance of the service that they paid their gods. a deputation of fifteen men who were of the most intire confidence was appointed on great occasions ; to examine the rituals of their religion ; and these either found or pretended they had found out , both the error that had been committed , and the proper remedy : upon which it was given out , that the offended deity was pacified , and thereupon the people that were out of heart , took new courage ; and this to be sure , contributed not a little to the procuring them better success . from this common use of the term mystery , it is applied in some places in the new testament , to some of the rites and doctrines of christians . marriage is said to be a mystery , not as if there were any thing mysterious in that compact , which is founded on the laws of nature and society : but st. paul had been shewing the reciprocal tie that is between the man and the wife ; by which it appears that a man can no more have two wives , than a wife have two husbands : and upon that he says , that in this lay a mystery relating to christ and the church ; that is , a mystical argument to prove that the gentiles were to be brought to equal priviledges in the dispensation of the messias with the iews : for the prophecies having expressed the union of god with mankind , in the messias , under the figure of a marriage , then it follows according to the allegory of a marriage , that all must be called to him in an equality of priviledge and dignity ; and not as the iews imagined , that they were to have many priviledges under the messias above the gentiles , who were only to have a second share after them . now in the mystical way of arguing which was in use among the iews at that time , it was no ill way to convince them , to shew that the whole church was to come as one wife under the same priviledges : otherwise a disparity in that , some having more and some fewer , looked like the state of polygamy , or concubinate , and not of a single marriage . but to return from this digression : the sacraments of the christian religion came to be also called mysteries , because in these , men were initiated and confirmed in their religion ; yet not by any secret methods that priests only might know , but in actions that were plain , simple and significative . this great doctrine of the christian religion , mentioned in my text , of god's dwelling among us in flesh , is likewise called a mystery , as containing in it , not any secret which was too sacred to be trusted to lay-hands , that priests only might know ; but carrying in it a sublime discovery of the divine nature , and of the person and conception of the saviour of the world. ii. and this leads me to the second point , which is to shew , that if any such extraordinary discovery is made , we ought not thereupon to be prejudiced against it , because it contains some things , of which we can form no clear and distinct notion . it seems indeed at first view a hard imposition on us , to require us to believe that of which we can form no thought at all , and which by consequence is nothing to us . it seems also unreasonable to think that god has given us faculties which yet we must contradict and over-rule in matters of religion . but all this , how much soever it may be enlarged , and how specious soever it may appear , will have less force when it is considered , that really our faculties are so defective , that we do not penetrate into the essence of any one thing what soever ; and therefore tho'we can never be obliged to believe any thing that is contrary to our faculties and to our simplest conceptions , yet we may be obliged to believe things in which we find difficulties , through which we cannot make our way . the notions of time , space and motion , are entangled with inextricable difficulties ; the continuity of matter , or the admitting of vacuities in it , are subject to no less exceptions ; but these are matters of a more remote speculation : that which is more sensible to every one , is , that there are in us thinking beings , which we call souls , that are united to beings of a quite different nature , which are bodies , in so strange a manner , that the acts of the mind give the body a great variety of motions : we will , we reason , we remember , speak , or move , and immediately our animal spirits go into the chanels into which they are directed , without mistaking their way or their errand . now , how the acts of a mind should give , or , at least , direct the motion of matter , is as unconceivable to us , as how the motions of matter should give a mind pain or joy ; yet after all , in fact we find it is so , though we can give our selves no reasonable account how it should be so . indeed , if we examin memory alone , it affords us matter enough for wonder ; for it is not conceivable , how we should have lodged in our brain the figures of all words , persons , and things , which we can call up when we please , and so quick as words come into our mouths when we speak : now , what the nature , the variety , and order of all these figures should be , is that which we can as little understand , as how the soul should read them , ( if i may so speak ) and be able to do nothing without them . thus it appears , that in the thing which of all others we should be like to understand best , i mean our own souls dwelling in our bodies , and acting upon them , we plainly perceive , that a thing may be true , though at the same time all the notions that we can form of it do present to us difficulties concerning it , which we cannot overcome . it will then be no prejudice against religion , if it should offer some things to us , that we can as little reconcile to our own notions , as we can do , that of our souls lodging in our bodies , and governing them . it seems indeed to be very unconceivable , how the same person should be both god and man ; but it is not a whit more conceivable , how the same man should consist both of body and soul , so united in one , that the properties of both should belong to the same man , who from the characters of his mind , may be said to be just , wise , and good ; and from the characters of his body , may be said to be tall , fair , or sickly . so that though these , strictly speaking , belong only to one part of a man ; yet the denomination from each of them , goes to the whole . it cannot be denied , that our souls are united to our bodies , though we do not conceive how it should be so ; for we must consider , that all that which is imported by this union , is , that our bodies being put and kept in such a mechanical texture and disposition , our souls act upon and govern them , both in their vital and their free or rational operations : and this government is called the union of our soul and body ; which is no other than the bodies being put and kept in such a mechanical state , that the motion of the animal spirits runs regularly through it , which way soever the acts of the mind do determine and direct it ; and when the structure of the body is so disordered , that the animal spirits do their work imperfectly , then pain and sickness follow upon it ; but when they can do nothing , then death comes , the body being no longer in a disposition to be subordinate to the mind . by vertue of this union , the mind receives likewise many sensations from the body . all which lead us very near the forming somewhat like a notion of the union of the two natures in christ. for , if a body , which is a different sort of beings from the soul , is capable of being brought under such an immediate and constant direction from the mind , as we see it is in our selves ; then it is not at all absurd to think , that the soul of a man should be brought under an immediate and constant actuation from the divine nature , which may as well denominate god and man to be one , as the union of the soul and body denominates the compound of both to be one man : and as the whole man has the attributes both of soul and body given to him , so the whole in our saviour may also have the attributes both of god and man given to him . and this is as true an union , as is that between soul and body ; only whereas the body gives sensations of pain and pleasure to the mind , by vertue of the union between them , the perfection of the divine nature is such , that it can receive no reciprocal returns from the humane nature ; though it does immediately and constantly act upon and conduct it . i do not pretend , that this does fully explain the mystery , but it brings it nearer to our thoughts : so that if it does not help us to comprehend it clearly , yet it carries us so far toward it , that we perceive that it is not impossible : and that is all which is at present offered at . there is somewhat in the old testament , that will also contribute to give us a more distinct notion of this mystery . there was a mass of shining matter that hovered over the cherubims , which was wrapped about with a cloud ; and it sometimes broke through it , and gave answers to the israelites , when they consulted god by the high-priests . this had at first appeared to the whole nation , in the wilderness , and rested on the top of the tabernacle , and went before them in their march , and was the lasting character of god's presence among them . it was the standing miracle of their religion , which none of their idolatrous kings could ever disprove ; and it continued among them till their temple was destroyed by the babylonians . now this cloud was called god's face , his glory , and the light of his countenance , and even god himself . o thou that dwellest between the cherubims , shew thy self , and shine forth . and yet never was there any thing more carefully managed , than the diverting that people from every step that might have any tendency to idolatry . so the true account of this cloud 's being so spoken of , is , that this mass of pure and bright matter , as well as the thicker cloud that was folded about it , must have been quickly dissipated , according to the laws of motion , all flame being quickly gone , if not fed by new fewel ; but that god by an act of his power ; kept it constantly in that fixed state , and did sometimes make it break through the cloud to declare his mind to his people that consulted him . so by vertue of the constant impression that god made upon that matter , he was said to be in it ; and by vertue of that , the cloud is said to be god. now it was prophesied , that the glory of the second temple should be greater than the glory of the first ; and this cloud , in which god was present , being the proper glory of the first , and it being wanting in the second , a higher degree of glory was god's not only acting upon , and appearing in a mass of dead matter ; but his acting upon and appearing in animated matter ▪ in a man that had all the principles and ingredients of our nature in him . and thus this mystery that god was manifest in the flesh , has nothing in it that can render it any way incredible , either from the principles of reason or philosophy , or from the discoveries that were made concerning god in the old testament . as for another part of this mystery , that our saviour was born of a virgin , that carries not any thing in it , which reason shews to be absurd or impossible . for all matter being uniform , and only different by the figure and motion into which it is put , as god did upon the first creation of matter , put it into what form he pleased , he can still put any part of it , into what shape or motion he intends to impress upon it : so that there is no difficulty in apprehending how god could have formed the first principles of our saviour's body in the virgin. and it being necessary that the author of so holy a religion should be perfectly pure and holy , that he might be a perfect pattern , and so recommend his doctrine with the more advantage , it was suitable to this , that he should have none of those frailties in his nature and constitution , which might have exposed him to the failings , into which the best men that have their natures vitiated with those ill inclinations , are apt to fall . it is certain , that with the first principles of our being , there are derived to us the seeds of ill dispositions , both of body and mind . cronical diseases , such as gout and stone , folly and madness , are thus derived ; and tho' this is in some instances more visible and sensible than it is in others , yet as every man has some particular feebleness , of which some principles descend to those who derive their being from him , so in all men this is sensible , that their bodies and bodily impressions grow too hard for their minds , and do always struggle and often revolt against them . it was then sutable both to this holy religion , and to the union unto which the divine nature assumed the author of it , that he should be free from all that disorder ; and therefore the matter from which he was to take his beginning , was to be so exactly rectified and purified , that there should be no principle of ill inclination in it : for we perceive that our minds act so much the more perfectly , the more pure and clear , that our bodies are : we grow as our bodies ripen , to be another sort of beings , than we were when we were first born ; and a distemper in our brain , may so hide or disorder all our ideas , that we may thereby become in a moment fit for nothing : nor shall it be a small part of our happiness in another state , that our bodies shall be highly rectified , and so our minds must become both purer and sublimer when they shall dwell in bodies of heavenly and exalted matter . upon all this , it is plain , that as there is no absurdity in believing that our saviour's first principles were formed by miracle , so it was highly suitable to the design on which he was sent into the world , that his body should be freed from all that disorder which follows the ordinary course of nature . iii. but yet after all this , it may still be said , why must things of this nature be required to be believed of us ? why was this doctrine of christianity , which is hard enough in practice , made so much the harder , by containing in it so many things which render it so difficult to be believed ? and why were such prejudices laid in the way , both of iews and gentiles , by making these doctrines to be parts of our faith , which seemed to savour of their most absurd fables , as if there were in the godhead a descent from father to son ▪ to all which this is to be answered , that as there was no doctrine more ancient and sacred among the philosophers , than this of three in the deity , which is well known to all that have well examined the matter , so nothing could more recommend a religion , that was to meet with great oppositions both in the nature of man , and from the powers that were then in the world , than the great dignity of the author of it ; and therefore , as he was brought into the world with so much pomp , so many prophesies going before his birth , and so many miracles accompanying it , a whole nation being selected , out of which he was to descend , and a religion being instituted that was full of types and ceremonies that were to be accomplished in him , so god thought fit to vest him with all possible glory ; that so his doctrine might not only have the more credit , but that all men might be the more encouraged to come into it , and to continue in it , by the great assistances and the mighty protection that they were to expect from one that was the head of angels : and was also the brightness of the fathers glory : and since it was necessary to draw men to think seriously of religion , by offering them a full and free pardon of all past sins , it being in vain to press men to come into any religion , if they are told that by their sins they are already become miserable , past recovery and redemption ; god therefore as he resolved to offer a pardon in the gospel , so thought fit to do it in such a manner , as should declare his hatred of sin , as well as his love to mankind ; and therefore he so ordered it , that the author of this holy religion after he had fully declared it to the world , should be seized on by wicked men , and be by them cruelly put to death ; in the suffering of which , as he offered himself up with all submission to the will of god , and bore every thing with all imaginable patience ; so he felt in his mind , the most unconceivable sense imaginable of the sins & miseries of mankind , and of the offence done to god by sin , which raised in him the vastest agonies possible ; all which concurring to make his sufferings most exquisite , must have overset a human force , if it had not been supported from a higher principle : and as it pleased god to accept this of him , as a sacrifice for the sins of the world , and to crown him in reward of it , not only with honour and glory , but by giving him all power both in heaven and on earth ; so he conferred on him , an authority of giving eternal life to all that should believe on his name ; and receive his holy gospel , and live according to it : and therefore since the making mankind eternally happy , was a design of so high a narure , it was suitable to so glorious a project , that the person in and by whom all this should be wrought , should be raised up to the highest pitch of glory possible . thus though it is always a bold question to ask , why were things so ordered by god ? since if they are declared to us by him , we ought to conclude , without any further enquiry , that they were ordered according to the best and most infallible reason , even tho' we should not be able to find it out ; yet here even we , can discern a great sutableness in all these high mysteries , to the great design of god in this holy religion . iv. but yet in the next place must be acknowledged that we ought never to be too easie in believing things , that seem hard impositions on us ; and that therefore there ought to be a degree of certainty and clearness in the revelation of any such thing , that is proportioned to the weight and the extraordinary nature of that which is proposed to us ; for as in the common affairs of life , an ordinary degree of evidence serves to persuade us of an ordinary thing ; but if somewhat that is very much out of the way is told us , we then are in the right , not to believe it , till we find it is well attested to us ; and that by a very good authority . so in divine matters such precepts of morality as agree with our natures and the ends of human society , may be easily received , as needing no extraordinary authority to recommend them to us ; but if doctrines that are more above us are laid upon us , we ought to examine well the authority upon which they rest , that so we may not become too easie a prey , to every one that thinks to subdue us with the terrour of the word mystery . since then that the acknowledging that one who as to all his outward appearance was a man , like unto us , was also the true and the great god , or the son of the living god , carries such an uncouth sound in it , that it naturally affrights and startles us , it is necessary that though the possibility of this has been already considered , yet that before we believe it , we be sure that it is a truth , which is clearly revealed to us by god ; for a thing of this kind must appear in the scripture , if it is at all in it , with such an evidence as must put it past all doubt ; since it is not suitable to the design and ends of divine revelation , that a thing which is both so dark and yet so important , as this must be acknowledged to be , should be revealed , so as to be proved only by hints , inferences , or some passages that are capable of a double meaning . now in pursuance of this , we must observe two things ; st . that there is nothing which is more expresly forbid in the scriptures , than the giving divine adoration to a creature . idolatry is no other , than the worshipping those that by nature are not gods ; and even the old testament for all the compliances that were in it , to sensible nature , yet allowed of nothing that looked like idolatry ; and this is much less to be imagined in the new , that carries religion in all respects , to a higher degree of sublimity and purity than the old did : this then is to be laid down for a principle , that nothing is proposed to us in the new testament , as the proper object of our adoration , but god himself . in the next place , it is no less plain , that all the acts of worship , such as adoration , prayer , praises , faith , and confidence , and in a word , every act by which we testifie our dependance on god , and our homage to him , is declared to be due to iesus christ in the same words , in which it is said to be due to god himself ; therefore when these two things are laid together , the result of both is , that either the new testament is the most incoherent and the worst composed legend that ever was writ , in which one main and essential point is contradict by another , or that iesus christ must be truly god. it is certain , that he is either such , or we christians that pay him divine adoration , in so ample a manner as we do , are the greatest idolaters that ever were . and as this is contained in the new testament , in express words , so the whole doctrine that is revealed in it , was attested in so eminent and so indisputable a manner , as to leave no pretence to infidelity ; so many prophecies concurring in the person of our saviour to prove him the true messias , promised to the jews many ages before ; and so many miracles appearing , first at his birth , and afterwards in the whole course of his life , but above all at his death , his resurrection , and ascension . the apostles published the history of all this soon after it was done , and mentioned many circumstances that were involved in it ; which , if false , might have been authentically overthrown by the jews , in whose hands the authority was lodged at that time , and who had both interest and malice enough to set them on to make the discovery . one part of the story was such , that it is not possible to believe that it could have past upon the world if it was not true . the apostles pretended , that after the holy ghost was poured out on them , they not only wrought miracles , but had likewise the gift of tongues . now this was such a thing , that if it was false , it was in the power of every one of any strange nation , to make the discovery , and by so doing , to overthrow the credit of the whole gospel . we see , by what both suetonius , tacitus , and pliny have left to us , that the christian religion was soon spread up and down the world ; and that both in rome , and in remote provinces , their numbers and their maxims , made them to be very considerable . we also see , in the last of these , that he had strictly enquired into their doctrine , their worship , and their course of life , and had put some of the women , that were the deaconesses in the churches , to the torture , to draw from them a discovery of such things whereof they were accused : yet he found nothing but a great probity of manners , and a great steadiness in adhering to the doctrine which was believed among them : upon whose enquiry the emperor ordered a stop to be put to the persecution , that was then begun : so that this carries in it , not only an apology for the morals of christians , but a proof of the doctrines of christianity ; for it being so easy a thing to have confuted them , if these things which the evangelists relate had been false , since they cannot be said to be cunningly devised fables ; we cannot conceive how it is possible that their enemies , who were then the governing party , did not discover , and so confound them . upon the whole matter then it appears , that god did by a profusion of miracles , if i may so speak , give this divine doctrine its first authority and credit in the world ; and he continued to water what had been so planted , with a succession of miraculous powers , which continued for some ages in the church , and to which the fathers made most solemn appeals , in the apologies that they writ for their religion ; of which some were address'd to the emperors , and others to the senate of rome . if these things which they assert , and to which they appeal , had not been known to be certainly true , it is not easy to determine whether their madness in venturing upon such an appeal , or the heathens in not joining issue with them in it , was the greatest . and thus without controversy , great is the mystery of godliness , or of the christian religion : god was manifest in the flesh , that is , in the humane nature of our saviour , in which he dwelt . he was also justified in the spirit , that is , proved to be so , in the wonderful evidences of the divine power , that were solemnly given in the confirmation of it : he was seen of angels , the heavenly host appearing visibly at his nativity , and celebrating the glory of it ; preached unto the gentiles by a company of poor illiterate fishermen , who went about with those mighty credentials of the gift of tongues , and the power of miracles ; attesting the truth of what they themselves had seen , and known ; upon whose evidence he was believed on in the world , by the gentiles , tho rejected by the iews ; who being possessed with false prejudices concerning the messias , could not then receive an humble and a suffering one , while they look'd for nothing but triumphs and conquests under him . but this loss was more than ballanced by the great multitudes of the gentiles ; who tho they laboured under the prejudices of their education , and the more biassed liberties which the heathen religion allowed them , yet did in great numbers renounce their idolatry , and embrace a religion that both obliged them to a great strictness of life , and also exposed them to many present sufferings , besides what the first planters of it warned them of , concerning a persecution that was quickly to overtake them . we see by tacitus , what multitudes of them were in rome in nero's time ; and by pliny , that almost all those of bithnia and pontus , both in town and country , were become christian. and in conclusion , god thus made manifest , was received up into glory ; which either relates to his ascension , when in the sight of his apostles , while he was talking to them , and blessing them , he was caught up , so that they beheld him ascending up into heaven ; or this received in glory , for so it may be rendred , may relate to the glorious instances of god's power , that appeared in the first planting of christianity : for , as a cloud of glory had appeared hovering over the tabernacle , and leading the israelites through the wilderness , which gave the chief authority to the law of moses ; so in this first setling of our most holy faith , god seemed , as it were , to have made bare his arm , and shewed the greatness of his glory , as well as of his power . thus he appeared to st. stephen at his death , and to st. paul at his conversion ; but above all , the wonderful effusion of the holy ghost at pentecost , was such a declaration of his glory , as far exceeded all that ever had appeared before or since . v. in the last place it remains to be considered , how this is said to be a mystery of godliness : the word signifies true piety , or the right way of worshipping god. so the meaning of this is , that the wonders and glories which appeared in the person of christ , and at the planting of his gospel , are not only lofty declarations of the greatness and power of god , and of the truth of our religion , upon which we are to value our selves , and our doctrines , but that they were all intended by god to give our religion the more authority , that so it might have the more efficacy upon us , for the reforming and governing of our lives : for all the use that we make of them besides , is only to boast , that we believe a religion to which god has given a great deal of credit , but to which we will give none at all . by godliness is comprehended the having right notions of god , the worshipping him suitably to these , and the framing our whole lives according to them : and therefore we treat this mystery but as a sublime cant , and not as a mystery of godliness , unless it has these effects on us . when our minds are by this so possessed with a noble idea of god and of his attributes , that we adore his power , we admire his wisdom , and rejoice in his goodness and love : when we compare the prophecies that went before , with their accomplishment in our saviour's person ; when we observe all the circumstances of providence that accompanied this transaction ; when from thence we form right notions of the hatefulness of sin , and of the purity of the divine nature , of his justice as well as of his mercy ; and when from all these laid together , our hearts become full of high and great thoughts of god , which dwell upon us , and possess us , then we make it become to us a mystery of godliness indeed . besides , when this leads us to a right notion of the worship of god , as not consisting in outward pomp nor glory , much less in proposing to our selves visible objects of worship , or in dressing it up , as if it were rather a sort of opera , than the worship of that god , who has in his gospel revealed himself to be spirit and truth , and that he will be worshipped accordingly . when our worship consists in humble acts of confessing our own sins , that needed such an expiation , in earnest prayers for a share in all the benefits of it , and in solemn acknowledgments of the wonders of it , and of all those blessings which we are always to own as the effects of it , flowing to us through it : when these , i say , are our thoughts and exercises in the worship of god , then does this become to us a mystery of godliness . and finally , when our minds are so seasoned with it , that our whole lives carry the impressions of it upon them ; when we are afraid of departing from the rules of it ; when we are strict in observing them ; when it appears that we highly value the blessing of the knowledg of the gospel , that we are sensible of the danger of losing it , and that we rejoice in it above all other things ; and when the honour of our religion does so affect us , that we are wounded at heart , when it falls under any reproach or suffering , but rejoice in all the glory of it ; when we feel a sensible concern in the whole body that professes it , and in all the accidents that relate to it ; then do we shew that we make this to be , that which truly it is , a mystery of godliness . but if we are only proud of our religion , and factious about it ; if it neither works on our hearts , nor reforms our lives ; if we grow neither the better nor the wiser for it ; if on the contrary , it is only a pretence to cover ill designs , and a handle to manage factions by ; if it makes us think that we may compound by our heat in point of opinion , for our coldness in true piety , and that orthodoxy will atone for immorality ; if we lay in fewel for our ill nature from it ; if we make use of it to serve every end , but that for which it was appointed of god ; and in a word , if , instead of growing better by it , are really the worse for it : then here is the most fatal reversing of the greatest design that ever was . in order to the examining the truth of all this , it is necessary for us to consider , what impressions have the various scenes that we have seen , with relation to religion , made upon us ? how did our apprehensions of losing it affect us ? was it only with the sense of a party , and the anger of thinking that we were depressed , and like to be ill used ? or did that scene make us reflect on our sins , that had rendred us unworthy of so great a blessing , and that had brought us so near the danger of losing it : did we in all that time of fear and melancholly , turn to god , repent us of our sins , and enter into solemn vows of living more suitably to our religion , if god should be so gracious as to restore it to us ? such a preparation as this , had made our deliverance prove a double blessing to us . and how have we received it ? has it been only with the joy of seeing our enemies fall before us , and of finding our selves now come in for a turn in the advantages of fortune ? does this serve only to lift us up upon our success and prosperity , and to make us remember all quarrels , and so gratify passion and revenge ? is our ease and abundance abused into luxury and vanity ? are our hearts lifted up , or our passions sharpened ? and instead of parting with our old sins , are we adding new ones to them ? if our hearts , when sincerely asked by us , concerning all these things , tell us that they are but too true , then we need not wonder if we see a stand made in the course of those blessings , which god has been holding forth to us , but that we have by our sins not only stopt , but turned many of them to curses . we ought in that case to ask our selves , what have we done ? and wherein have we troubled israel ? it is but a melancholly comfort when a man is full of so sad a speculation , to think that man is so made , that it ever was , and ever will be so . when the christian religion in constantine's time , became triumphant over all the powers of darkness , that had conspired its destruction , and that after many cruel persecutions , had set on foot the last , that was both the bloodiest and the longest of all that had gone before it ; in which , for ten years together , the sword had been made drunk with the blood of the saints ; and it was so firmly believed that the name of a christian was extinguished , that medals were struck to perpetuate the memory of that performance ; when , i say , the christian religion got out of all this , and had not only edicts of liberty in its favour , but was also cherished by the kindness and protection of emperours ; one should have expected that a society which had been so long in the fire , as they had been , must have come out of it freed from all its dross : and that the christians from the remembrance of the former persecution , and the reflections on their present ease , should have been so full of a sense , both of what they had escaped then , and what they enjoyed , that there should have been nothing to be found among them , but churches full of devotion , clergy-men animated with zeal , and christians that were an honour to their profession . but how far was it from all this ! generally ignorant and vicious men were promoted to their best and greatest sees , who fell into most extravagant disputes concerning the dignity and privileges of their episcopal sees . in africk a breach arose upon no greater matter than this , whether cecilian , the bishop of carthage , was ordained by men that had , during the persecution , denied the faith , or not ? this was of no great consequence , if it had been true ; and being a matter of fact that turned upon proof , the case was judged against donatus , and his party , who complained of cecilian : but this did not stop the breach , which made such a fatal progress , that almost in every town in africk there was a church formed with a bishop over it , that adhered to donatus : and the division continued above years , and at last grew to be a matter of so violent an animosity , that much blood was shed upon it : and they continued to be destroying one another , till the vandals broke in upon them , and conquered , and consumed them both . at the same time that this dispute began at carthage , another was raised at alexandria , occasioned at first by some indiscreet words that passed between alexander the bishop , and arius ; whose spirits being sharpned against one another upon secret reasons , they aggravated some mistaken expressions too far : as appears from the wisest writing of that age , the letter which constantine writ to them upon this occasion : but this was carried afterwards so far , that we may safely say the spirit and power of the christian religion was lost in the dispute . the scandals given by the ill lives , not only of lay christians , but even of the chief bishops of the church , and those no less scandalous disputes among them , brought much shame and infamy on that holy profession : which will ever suffer , when those who pretend to it , are a reproach to it . in conclusion , after a whole age of god's long-suffering patience and forbearance , there fell on the church , both in the east , and in the west , a succession of the terriblest plagues for two ages together , that is in history : one conquerour coming after another , and wasting what the former had left . and these brought on such famines and pestilences upon the whole roman empire , that all the history of those ages is a continued scene of horror and misery . these are speaking things , and are set before us for our terror , as well as for our instruction ; to let us see what we ought to look for , it not warned by such terrible examples , we should still continue to despise all the methods of god's providence , as well the severity of his judgments , as his long-suffering patience , and forbearance towards us . if any had observed the constancy and zeal that appeared in this nation , for some years last past , when we saw our religion in danger , and that scarce any could be prevailed on , so much as to give way , much less , to concur or comply with the designs that were then on foot ; from thence , one that saw the matter at a distance , would have been tempted to think that we were full of zeal for our religion , since neither hope nor fear could work on any considerable number among us ; and from thence one might have been led to conclude , that if god should have delivered us from all that danger , with a high and uplifted hand , and should have prevented even our hopes and wishes , in giving us such a quick and cheap deliverance , as is without example in history ; that at least all people should have received this with all possible acknowledgments ; and that upon it , we should all have considered , what were the causes of our late dangers , that threw us into them ; and that we should have agreed in this , that our divisions had been from the beginning to the end , the chief foundation of all our enemies hopes ; that they had been set on , and managed by them in order to our ruin ; that nothing made our publick councils so slow and feeble , and that nothing did so violently distract the minds of the people , as to see us so broken among our selves , especially in matters of religion ; and that we should have studied to have healed all differences among our selves ; and in conclusion , that the effects of so great a revolution , should have been a visible reformation among all ranks and conditions of people . but what shall be said , if all this change of affairs , has produced no other change among us , but for the worse ? if we are as bad as ever in all respects ; if vices of all sorts have still their free course among us ; and if those animorsities which were generally looked on for some years , as forgot and extinct ▪ are now revived with a new and greater heat ; and if different sentiments , whether with relation to sacred , or to temporal concerns , should now disturb us in so unseasonable a time , when the eyes of all the world are upon us , and that all europe expects from hence , a deliverance from a tyranny , which has now lain so long and so heavy on it . all these things are sad indications of our great indifferency in the matters of religion ; that after all the talk that has been about them , we either believe them not , or at least , consider them not to be as they are indeed , the most valuable of all things . but let the world think of these things as they please , in them we see the power , and the wisdom of god : and as morality without religion , will be found to be but a feeble principle ; and such as will only constrain a man to follow his interests , or at least his pride , which in that language , is called honour ; so religion in general , unless it is grounded on a divine revelation , will not have strength enough to hold , or govern a man , it not having foundation enough for much weight to be laid on it : and therefore here is a short resolution of a good man's principles . he is persuaded that god sent down this divine person into the world , to declare to us the will of god ; and upon our following it , to assure us of the pardon of sin , of the favour of god , and of eternal happiness . next upon his believing these things , he sets himself to the serious performance of all that is commanded him by god ; in doing which , he finds great inward joy in himself , since a mind reduced to a calm and quiet state , will feel as real a complacency in all that is good , as the eye feels in light , or the ear in musick ; from this arises in a good man , a secret confidence in god ; for as he feels that he is conforming himself to his will , so he grows assured of the favour and love of that infinitely good god ; out of that there springs in a good mind , a perpetual source of joy ; he is walking with god , and ever delighting himself in him ; and this joy goes far beyond life , and all that is present ; it shoots out into another world , and gives him both a prospect of eternity , and also some earnests of it . this is the state of a truly godly man , he feels himself happy , but rejoyces because he believes he shall be infinitely more so , when he shall be in a state where he shall perfectly comprehend that , which is now to him the great mystery of godliness ; to which state , god of his infinite mercy bring us , through jesus christ our lord. amen . finis . books lately printed for richard chiswell . jacobi usserii armacbani archiep. historia dogmatica controversiae inter orthodoxos & pontificios de scripturis & sacris vernaculis , nunc primum edita . accesserunt ejusdem dissertationes de pseudo-dionysii scriptis , & de epistola ad laodicenos antehac ineditae . descripsit , digessit , & notis atque auctuario locuplet avit henricus wharton , a. m. reverendissimo archiep. cantuariensi à sacris domesticis . a discourse concerning the unreasonableness of a new separation on account of the oaths . with an answer to the history of passive obedience . a discourse concerning the ecclesiastical commission opened in the ierusalem ▪ chamber , octob. . . dr. wakes sermons and discourses on several occasions , vo . a sermon preached at the assizes at hertford , july . . by iohn strype , m. a. vicar of low-leyton in essex . the bishop of salisbury's sermon before the house of peers , novemb ▪ . . — his sermon of peace and unity , to . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e ephes. . . exod. . , . psal. . , . kin. . . psal. . . hag . . matth. 〈◊〉 . . 〈◊〉 . . . & . . galat . . revel . . . heb. . . heb. . . john . . cor. . , . luke . . acts . . verses, presented to his masters in the ward of st. giles's cripplegate, within the freedom. / by william briscoe, bell-man. briscoe, william. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). b wing b interim tract supplement guide c. .f. [ ] ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. b ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books; tract supplement ; a : [ ]) verses, presented to his masters in the ward of st. giles's cripplegate, within the freedom. / by william briscoe, bell-man. briscoe, william. sheet ([ ] p.). [s.n.], london, : printed decemb. the th, in the year m.dc.lx.vii. [ ] verse: "christmass is come; the great cathedral feast ..." reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng christmas -- poetry -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion verses , presented to his masters in the ward of st. giles's cripplegate , within the freedom . by william briscoe , bell-man . on christmass day . christmass is come ; the great cathedral feast : christmass , the day of labour , not of rest , on which the word , and workman of creation , came , not to rest , but work for our salvation : he came , according to prophetick truth , to work , to be in labour from his youth : descending to a manger , from his throne : he came to do our bus'ness , not his own . another for christmass day . vvith angels man now sing with chearful voice , more cause hast thou , than angels to rejoice : the peace proclaim'd this morn , is for thy sake , for thee did god , our human nature take , to gain his lost-sheep-man , of grace bereft , whil'st ninety nine , he in the desert left . for st. stephen's day . blessed st. stephen , whom the faithless jews did apprehend , and falsly him accuse : for speaking truth , he stoned was to death ; and for his deaths-men , pray'd to his last breath . being th' first martyr , as true story saith , that ever suffer'd for the christian faith. for st. john's day . st. john , who was sirnamed , the divine , having set forth his gospel , most sublime ; in boiling oyl , confirm'd the truth he wrote , where john receiv'd a martyrs crown ; in vote of whom we read no other martyrdom ; what if john stay ( said christ ) until i come ? for innocents day . the bethlem-babes this day receiv'd their harms , the soldiers cut them from their mothers arms ; herod commands it , and it must be done ; so , to cut off the worlds salvation : nothing could move , nor melt the tyrant's eyes , not the babes innnocence , nor mothers cries . but herod's curs'd design god did prevent , and christ for safety , was to egypt sent . on the late unhappy fire in the city . gods's heavy scourge laid late upon the city , what eye beheld it , but with tears of pity ! how fast the fire the houses did unframe , and stately streets were lickt up by the flame ! the formidable warning of whose rod , make us use penitent means to move our god , to put his sword of indignation up , lest all be made to taste of the same cup. lord , who vouchsafed'st with miraculous speed , to free thy servants here in time of need , from th' all-deserving-fury of thy wrath , which on our neighbours heavy lighted hath : though 't is acknowledg'd , we as faulty were whom thou hast spar'd , as those that suffer'd there : all praise for this thy special mercy done , be to thy name , so long as ages run . london has drunk of sorrow's cup so deep , that now for ages , she is laid to sleep ; but in regard that underneath the cope , she was the phoenix-city , there is hope our children may survive to see the day , when from th' old phoenix-city , london may a new proceed ; london made new agen , a penitent habitation for new men . london , printed decemb. the th , in the year mdc . lx.vii . christmass revived: or an ansvver to certain objections made against the observation of a day in memory of our saviour christ his birth. by john reading. m.a. and one of the prebends of christs-church in canterbury. reading, john, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (thomason e _ ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing r thomason e _ estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) christmass revived: or an ansvver to certain objections made against the observation of a day in memory of our saviour christ his birth. by john reading. m.a. and one of the prebends of christs-church in canterbury. reading, john, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed for john andrewes and john garway, and are to be sold at the white-lion near py-corner, london : [ ] publication date from wing. annotation on thomason copy: "decemb: ". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng jesus christ -- biography -- early works to . christmas -- early works to . a r (thomason e _ ). civilwar no christmass revived: or an ansvver to certain objections made against the observation of a day in memory of our saviour christ his birth.: b reading, john f the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the f category of texts with or more defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images - mona logarbo sampled and proofread - mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to my honoured kinsman , mr. william rooke ▪ sir , you know the occasion of my medling with this controversy : it remaineth that i give account of my permitting these rude papers to the publike view ; which is , first , because all good christians are not satisfied herein : if i may hereby undeceive some of them , i have so much of my end ; next i conceive it the duty of every good son of our sacred mother the church of england , to defend her rites and holy decrees against the calumnies of turbulent spirits , possessing so many in these times : whose study is to cavil at all , but the vain minerva's of their own brains . if my endeavour may happily contribute any thing to peace , i shall think my labour well bestowed . lastly , the candid reader may be advertised that the satisfaction which he receives herein , he oweth to you . the god of peace compose all our unhappy differences , which is the constant prayer of your affectionate kinsman , i. r. an answer to certain crudities and frivolous objections made against the observation of a day in memorie of our saviour christ his birth . a true coppy of the objections . the question concerning the observation of a day in memorie of chri●●'s birth , is the same which our saviour put to the pharisees , whether johns baptism were of heaven or from men ? luke . . so the observation of this day , if it be of god , it is a duty and a sin to omit it . but if it were set up by man , all men do acknowledg , that what man shall set up , man may take down . therefore first . . have we any command in scripture for it ? if not , then . did the apostles or disciples ever observe it ? . would they have omitted it , if it had been a duty ? . was it observed in the primitive church for fifty years after the apostles were all dead ? search the scripture and ecclesiasticall history . . how came it to be christs day ? tell us the original of this duty , that we may know , whether it be divine or humane . is it like to be a duty and no footsteps at all left in the word , either precept or example looking that way ? . whether the papists may not say as much for all their heaps of traditions , as we can say for this ? and if we once follow traditionall divinity , where shall we stop ? . give us a definition of that sin which the scripture calls will-worship . i suppos● these queries duely weighed , will satisfy ●ny ingenuous spirit , that man was the founder of this festivall . object . do we not celebrate days of thanksgiving at the appointment of the magistrate ( as the . of november . ) and may we not this day as well as those ? answer . . where-ever the magistrate appoints such days , it is lawfull for him to forbid them again when he will . answer . if god had not appointed what memorial he would have of his son christ , man had the greater liberty . but where we are directed how and when to celebrate the remembrance of our blessed saviour , for us to superadd , we have cause to fear , lest we become guilty of that sin which scripture calls will-worship . like whereto is that sin taxed , ezek. . . setting our threshold by his threshold , and our posts by his posts , which is there called a defilement . besides , consider the constant abuse of this solemnity ; and though i know , abusus non tollit usum ; yet where it is never otherwise , but the devil hath more service at this time then god , i think it concerneth the magistrate to look to it . he that would read more on this subject , let him read mr cawdrys book against dr. hamond concerning holydays and superstitious ▪ worship . consider that there is nothing more often blamed in scripture then this , to follow the inventions of man in the worship of god , which is the case in hand . i would ask that man who blames the neglect of this festival whether he that will not keep this memorial , doth break any of the ten commandements in so doing ? and if not , then sure it is no sin to omit it . sect. . the question concerning observation of a day in memory of christs birth , is the same which our saviour put to the pharisees , whether john's baptism were of heaven , or from men ? luke . in all orderly di●putes , the question should necessarily be stated ▪ now by your strict prohibition of our solemn commemoration of our saviours nativity , it seemeth the question is , whether it be lawful on any day to remember our saviours birth , and therein to meet in holy assemblies , to preach and hear the word of god , to sing psalms , pray , give thanks , administer and receive the holy saeraments ? we affirme , your sect deny it , as if some act of amnestie had passed upon that day as , job . 〈◊〉 &c. and it were resolved upon the question , the day of christ's birth shall be no more had in remembrance . this opponent not so much as repeating the question , as in some sudden passion when furor ar●a minist●at , snatcheth up that which first comes to hand , and so precipita●ely rusheth on to the encounter , that he stumbleth in his on-set saying , the question concerning the observation of a day in memorie of christ's birth , is the same which our saviour put to the pharises , &c. we answer . in the scr●pture which you cite , luk ▪ . . there is no mention of the pharises , neither math. . . mark . . where the same history is recorded : we read {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the cheif priests , and ( or with ) the elders of the ▪ people : consider whether you do well translate that , the pharisees , &c. . we say , that the ●ord answered their question by another question , which was concerning the baptism of ●ohn ; there is not a word concerning the day of his nativity ; now to say that things so much differing are the same , consider what you would call it if another had said so ? what a filly animal would you deeme him who would admit such conclusions ? in many respects this pretended parallel runs uneven . . ●hrists dilemma was necessary to shew that if they had believed john baptists testimony , they would have known by what authority christ did those things ▪ but your objection is unnecessary , as will appear . . that was an holy refutation of jewish u●beliefe ; but yours a schismatical caption , to the contempt of the christian churches customes . but to pass by these first over-sights of yours ; we may use goliahs sword to cut him shorter , and thus retort the point of your argument ▪ the prohibition of our observation of a day in memory of christs n tivity , is it from heaven , or of men ? if from heaven , shew us an● place of holy scripture forbidding the same : if you say , that prohibition is of men ; we shall with good conscience follow venerable an●iquity , rather then ▪ trouble the sacred peace of the church about things of such nature . sect. . so the observation of this day ] what supplement is here necessary for your elliptical speaking ? we would rather that you should consider , then we determine , being unwilling to injure you . so the observation , &c. do you mean , ho● dato , that christs forementioned question and yours , are the same ? you have no● much reason so to beg the question ▪ and we should have as little to ●rant you that which you shall never be able to prove . sect. . if it be of god , it is a duty &c. ] deal syllogistically , and your assumption will be , but it is no sin to omit it , which your better informed conscience , we hope will shew you is false , when you shall know that contumacy against the lawfull decrees and customes of the church of christ , disturbance of her peace , breach of holy unity , uncharitable censuring and condemning your brethren , offence of weak consciences , bringing an odious scandal on the church , opening a wide and dangerous window to sects and perni●ious heresies and other mischeivous consequences hereof , are a sinne whose name is legion . sect. . all in ●n do acknowledge , that what man shall set up , man may take down ] it is very troublesom handling such dis-joynted arguments , but their infirmity may not excuse their falshood — that all men acknow●edge , or ought so to do , is very false ; for some better understand , and so we hope will you . sect. . that what man shall set up , man may take down ] we are very willing to think that these lame expressions vail some more solid and sincere meaning : if your proposition be , man may lawfully take down that which man seteth up ( which you must meane if you dispute , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and to any purpose ) then we may justly enquire concerning the quantitie of the proposition , viz. whether you universally affirme it ; your sence being thus , whatsoever man seteth up , he may lawfully take down ; if it be but indefinite , as ( some things which man setteth up &c. suppose an house , barn &c. he may lawfully take down ) if it be to no other mans pr●iudice , we shall willingly grant it : but if you universally affirme , in a determinate subject , subordinate to the service and glory of god , your second thoughts will enform you that your assertion is false and erroneous : for it will not hold in things dedicated to god . the centurion built a synagogue for the jewes , l●ke . . . he might not after dedication thereof have taken it down . again by setting up , we conceive you use a translatitious maner of speaking borrowed from builders , founders , appointers , or authors of things , to customes ▪ or rites appliable ; as if you said , whatsoever man foundeth , determineth , appointeth or bringeth into use or custome , may lawfnlly be annulled and taken away by man ; which is very false , if the instance be in things subordinate to the service of god , whether we consider circumstance , or thing : for example ; there are two circumstances to every action of man appertaining . . place , concerning which a due consideration of the forecited instance may satisfie : it was lawful for the centurion to design that place for a synagogue on which he did build it , but not lawfull , thence to take it being consecrated or dedicated to the service of god , durante usu : . it was lawfull for a man to appoint or determine his days of nazaritship for a certain time , concerning which he might vow , or set up that resolution , but not lawfully take down or annull the same : see numb. . so the vow of jonadab son of rechab , commanding his posterety to drink no wine , build house , sow seed &c was at first , arbitrary , and so it was but an appointment by man ; yet they might not annull or take it down . see je●em . . , , , , . and there are now some temporal vows binding . . a thing determined by man in subordination to gods service , however arbitrary it be for the proprietor to ordain it so , or otherwise to dispose of it as he pleaseth ; yet after he hath so ordained , and set it up , he may not lawfully take it down or impropriate the same , lest he beare his sin , as ananias and saphira too late knew . act. , , . &c. whence the falshood of your ground appeareth , and what your superstructions are like to prove , may easily be conj●ctured . sect. . have we any command in scripture for it ? ] if you mean in terminis terminantihus , thus , is there any express scripture which saith ▪ on the . of december ▪ keep the feast of christ's nativity ? we affirme not , neither were it needfull , seeing that in christ , god freed us from the band of l●gal ceremoni●s as well concerning detemined times by the levitical law appointed and limited , as places : we are not now bound to go to je●usalem to worship : john . . nor to the . day of the first month ( exod. . . ) but for circumstances of time and place , it is left to the authority of the church , orderly ▪ and conveniently in things publike to determine for the government of the church , in which the ●eremoniall law left no such liberty : but god never did , never will permit the publi●e government to the fancies or judgements of private spirits : for what order or peace ever was , or can be in such a confused liberty ▪ yet we must know that god never ▪ lefr it arbitrary , whether man would worship hiw or no ; or whether they might at their pleasures contemne the authority of the church , and disturbe her sacred peace , the apo●●le saying — but if any man seem to be contentious , we have no such custome , neither the churches of god . and again , despise ye the church of god ? what shall i say to you ? shall i praise you in this ? i praise you not . . cor. . , . if you wo●ld here syllogistically dispute , your arguement would be to this purpose . that which hath no command in terminis in scripture for it , may not be done or may be left undone , though the church otherwise determin : but the observation of a day in memory of christ's birth , hath no command in termin ▪ s in scripture for it . ergo &c. who perceiveth not the falshood of the first proposition ? seeing that we have no express command in terminis in scripture for any thing indifferent ( for were it expresly commanded or forbidden there , it were not indifferent ) those things being left to the church to determin : we have not express command in scripture for some things necessary , as administration of the lords supper to women , &c. and if you will allow payment in your own coyne , may not the anabaptis●s say as much for their denyall of poedobaptism ? if you say women are included in the generall precepts , as also infants of beleiving parents , which is true ; then allow us the same liberty of concluding , and we shall satisfy those who will understand . lastly we say ( concerning the observation of a day in memorie of christ's birth ) have we any command in scripture against it ? you will not affirm that : being then neither expresly commanded nor forbidden , you grant it of its owne nature adiaphorous or indifferent ; and we are sure that in things of that nature you must acknowledge that the church of christ hath power to determin , if at least you will allow her any . sect. . did the apostles or disciples ever observe it ? ] we answer , doth it appear that they did not observe it ? further we say that all that which our lord jesus did , is not recorded in scripture , john . . . john . . . and can we reasonably think that all things which the apostles or disciples did , are written in holy scripture ? we read not that all the apostles were baptized , where , when , and by whom ; will you therefore conclude , that they were not at all baptized ? in things simply necessary to salvation , the general precept was sufficient to shew it so ; and for things subordinate to decency , unity , & order , it was left to the church to determin conveniently in respect of times , places , and persons : hence appeareth a sufficient answer to your next . quaere . sect. . vvould they have ▪ omitted it , if it had been a duty ? ] to dispute ex non concessis , either presupposeth much igrance in the respondent , or bewrayeth it in the opponent ; who ever granted you that the apostles &c. omitted it ? or when did you , or ever shall be able to prove that they did ? what vain trilling use you in such a frequent begging of the question ? sect ▪ . vvas it observed in the primitive church for fifty yeers after the apostles were dead ? search the scriptures and ecclesiastiall history . ] we answer again ; that you found us in possession of many hundred years prescription , and therefore it rests on your parts to shew us that it was not observed in and from the apostles times ( except untill now of late days ) which when you attempt to do , or to shew that any consent of the uniuersall church ever annulled the observation thereof , we shall begin with you upon a new score . if your argument lie thus , it is not found in scripture nor in ecclesiastical history , &c. therefore in the apostles times and fifty years after the apostles were dead , it was not observed ; the consequence is l●me ; for , a non scripto ad non factum , non valet argumentum : how absurd is it to say , it is not found written ; therefore it was not done ? all is not written which christ did , as hath been said before : if therefore you finde any thing to the contrary in your search of the scriptures , &c. proclaime your {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in open streets , and sacrifice to your invention : we finde that good and antient authors spake of the observation of that day , as of a thing long before their times accustomed and in use . see ammianus marcellinus . l. . who lived about three hundred and sixty years after christ . gregorie nazianz ▪ orat. . who lived about the same age , augustin and many others . and we further say , that the reason why little or no mention of this days observation , not onely for fifty but many more years can be found in the antient ecclesiastical writers , may be , and most probably is , because so long , none opposed that rite and custome of the church : so was it in case of paedobaptisme , unto cyprian time and the conncils of carthage and the milevetan . an. . . ( in which pelagius and caelestius were condemned ) because no opposition did before that , for some hundred years , give the orthodox fathers occasi●n to dispute or write in defence of it : indeed , to what end should any write in defence of that which none opposed ? but when some pretenders to christian religion opposed the truth , or raised schismes dangerous to the unity of the church , or the wholsome rites and customes of the same , then the orthodox wrote , and many of their works are yet extant , and so are divers of their sermons and godly or●tions delivered to the people on the same day , which sufficiently testify ▪ the custom of the church of christ concerning the observation of the day in memory of our saviours nativity : lastly , it is well known , that there were some obscure ages , wh erein few or none writ , or none so eminent and known , as that there writings were transmitted to posteritie . sect. . how came it to be christs day ? ] if you beleive that which the angel told the shepherds . luke . . , . that christ was on that day borne , this quere is superfluous ; marke the words , the angel said unto th●m , fear not , for b● hold i bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all p●ople ▪ for unto you is born this day in the city o● david , a saviour which is christ the lord . you pos●ibly will say , what is that to us ? what cause of joy or commemoration have we ? certainly the same that all the people of god then had , if christ were born your savior : for in that he saith , which shall be to all people , he includeth us gentiles as well as the jews , for he is not only the saviour of the jews , but of the b●l●iving gentiles also , rom . neither of those only who lived that day , but of all ages : you may say , how know we whether he were born on that day which we observe ? we answer , how know you the contrary ? one day of the year he was born ; you that so obstinately deny the day which we observe to be it , assigne us one other which you will affirme , was the day of his nativity , except you think he was not born in any time : you will say again ; ●ut why should we yearly observe a day ? we say first , for the same reason which moses gave israel for the yearly observation of the passover ; when your children shall say unto you , what mean you by this service ? you shall say , as this day ( by the computation of the church of england ) was our saviour christ born , whom god sent into the world to deliver us , not from a temporall bondage but from the e●ernall misery of hell and damnation , to which sin had inslaved us . again secondly , you may as rationally say , why should we at all , or any time be thankful to god for this his greatest mercy conferred on the elect , considering the end of his incarnation , his suffering and mans redemption , which paul reciteth under the motion of a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation . . tim. . . and our saviour recounteth as a principal specimen of gods love to mankind , john . . indeed it was the cheif ; non enim prodesset nasci , nifi redimi profuisset . ambros. and is it not worth thanks in your sence ? sect. . ●ell us the originall of this duty ] they who will not learne of christ ( the onely mediatour between god and man , through whom , and by whose merits onely , they can be heard ) to say , thy will be done in earth , as it is heaven , &c. may possibly doubt concerning the originall of this duty , not knowing , or not beleiving the practice of an holy angel , or a multitude of the heavenly hoste , praysing god on the day of christ's nativity , luke . . . . to be a sufficient warrant ( without consent of pharisees ) to prescribe a duty to men on earth ; but believers , whose hearts and tongues do indeed accord in prayer , neither question the original of this duty , nor whether it were divine and from heaven , or of men ; guided by gods spirit they were . the ground of your doubt is a meer caption and begging of the question , sufficiently refuted in that which hath been said . ●hat you say , no footsteps at all are left in the word , either precept , or example looking th●t way ; consider better and know that the gospel ( luke . . ) is the word of god , and the practice of a multitude of holy angels example sufficient for them who desire ind●ed to do the will of god on earth as it is don● in heaven : lastly , we say , shew us before mr calvins time any footstep or example , i say not of holy angels , but of any true christian for your new discipline . sect. . vvhether the papists may not say as much for all their heaps of traditions , as we can for this ? ] they may , and do say ( as you do ) some things untrue . but for satisfaction in this behalf , you must know , . that some traditions were apostolical . . thes. . . and they were either written , as the dogmata , doctrines of holy scripture , which jr●naeus calleth veritatis traditionem l. . c. . or sine charactere vel atramento ▪ of which , saith he , many nations of the barbarians , who beleive in christ , diligently holding the old tradition , beleiving in one god the maker of the heaven and earth ▪ & all things that are therein , by christ jesus his son , through faith please god ▪ &c. therefore some traditions apostolical , were not written but delivered viva voce , to the churches which they planted , as rites for o●der and convenience of the same . the ground of this d●sti●ction , the apost●e himself lay●th down th●s. . saying , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , hold fast the traditions , which ye have been taught , whether by word , or by our epistle : and we must remember that the apostles committed not all to writing , but onely those things which appertained unto the ground and essence of faith and sanctification , or thereto neerly subordinate ▪ again it is ne●essary to distinguish ri es of the hurch from doctrines , and things necessary from indifferent ; also things perpe●ual , from changable , which are not universal , as some of the others are : for som● of the apostolical traditions were acc●mmodated to times , places and persons , and so not to be esteemed universally binding , a● all times , places , and all persons ; as for example , saluting with an holy kiss ▪ anointing the sick ( jam . . ) abs●inence from blood . act. . , . also , as it is necessary to distinguish in these things ; so , to know that in things of their own nature indifferent , thou art bound to give no offence to the brethren with whom thou livest , but to observe such their rites ; there being necessary to all men ever , and in all places , as one faith , so one love , but not one rite or custom , though these are not rashly to be violated by any person , the institution whereof was from its beginning in publike authority of the church , not any private spirits . moreover by traditions , good writers sometimes understand any thing concerning rites , doctrine and discipline ecclesiastical , not expresly written in scripture , but that which is by good and necessary consequence , thence to be concluded , as paedobaptism , observation of the christian sabboth , &c. wherein it is observable that christ condemned the sadduces of error , through ignorance of that scripture , whose consequence they knew ▪ not or would not acknowledge . moses said , i am the god of abraham , &c. here was no express word to prove the resurrection of the dead ; but necessary consequence here is , because god is the god of the living . thus understand in holy duties , that though we must ever be regulated by the holy scriptures , yet is it not always necessary to have express scripture in terminis for our warrant therein , where a necessary consequence from the general rule is sufficient ; for example , we finde no express word commanding us to pray in the english tongue ; you cannot hence conclude , that praying in english is will worship , because we have no express word of god for it ; because the general rule is sufficient , omnis lingua laudet dominum , and the sense of scripture , that we should pray in a known tongue , viz. in that tongue which we , & those with whom we pray , do understand : we read not in any express scripture that we must preach the gospel in england , or that the apostles ever did so ; yet you will not say that it is will-worship , or popery so to do ; because the general rule is sufficient warrant , which saith , go into all the world ▪ preach the gospel to every creature . mark . . . but this is a tradition and practice of the church since religion was planted among the english ; though we finde no express mention of england in holy scriptures , yet we know no cause to doubt whether we ought to preach in england , or may lawfully so do , without danger of being guilty of will-worship , because we have no express scripture for it ; and if it be lawful to preach in this place upon the generall warrant , why not also to preach , pray , praise god , on the . of december ? the general warrant concerning the circumstance of time being , rejoyce evermore , pray without ceasing , in every thing give thanks . see ephes. . . and . . thes. . , , . thes. . . thes. . . phil . . col. . . tim . . hebr. . . in what scripture finde you your exception to the . of december ? may we not on that day give god thanks for our meat and drink with your good leave ? and why not for the greatest of blessings , the bread of life bestowed upon us on that day ? to conclude , hence it may appear that the church may appoint and use external rites and orders for conveniency and decency tending to edification ; though we hold that no tradition be●●des holy scripture is simple necessary to salvation ; yet as augustin saith , ●p . casulano , in his rebus de quibus nih●l certi statuit scriptura divina , mos populi dei vel instituta maiorum pro lege tenend sunt , that is , in those things concerning which divine scripture determineth nothing certain , t●e custom of gods eople , or institutions of our ancesters are to be held instead of a law : provided that th re appear nothing therein constituted ▪ accustomed , or used , contrary to the word of god : so much be spoken concerning apostolical and holy traditions . . apostolical traditions are tares of the envious mans scattering , meer inventions of men , not subordinate to faith , sanctity and edification , nor consonant to the holy word of god ; many such crept into the jewish church before our saviours incarnation ; whereof see math. . . . . mark . . gal. . . paul before his calling , saith , that he was more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers . with these we may arrange that same faraginem of the talmudists , and if you will so call them , heapes of traditions which crept into the church of rome , to the corruption of doctrine and truth ; for which traditions the papists so eagerly contend ; see their long council of trent ; and consider the vast difference between their traditions , and our rites . popish traditions are generally against express scriptures , or necessary consequences thence to be deduced ; and of them , some against the fundamentals of religion ; which none but the very ignorant or malicious can object against the rites of the church of england . popish traditions ( properly so called ) are points which generally were never received by the church or orthodox fathers , thereof but rather generally opposed by them of the purest ages ; but ours , for instance this concerning the observation of a day in memory of our saviours nativity , was never opposed untill of late years : popish traditions , as also the pharisaicall , did make void the doctrine of god ; which none can justly object against us : now we speak of popish traditions properly so called ; for we are not of their number who call all that popery , which either they understand not , or which agreeth not with their fanatical opinions ; for when they speak for truth and apostolical traditions , they do no more speak their owne , then the devil did speak his owne words , or sence when ( in hope thereby either to gain credit to his lyes , or to bring a suspition on the truth of the gospel ) he affirmed christ to be the holy one of god , luk. . . mark . . . nay but when he speaks a lie , then speaketh he of his own , john . . . all is not devillish which the devil said ; so neither count we all popish which the papists say : when therefore they speak for those traditions whereby they slid away , and continued not in the truth of christ , then speak they for their heaps of traditions , such as their council of trent equalled with the dictates of gods ●pirit in sacred scriptures ; and such other inventions of man may hereto be added , as the old pharisees did , or the modern now do obtrude upon their deluded hearers for doctrines , whereby they elevate the commandement of god , and as much as in them is , make then of less power and authority with men ; and so force gods commands to give place to old traditions , as papists do , or to new , as some , therein as bad , or worse , now do . and now bona vestra cum venia , we would gladly be satisfied , whether you ( who would fain pin your fancy of will-worship upon our sleeves ) do not you in your classical traditions , fall into a more just censure , or suspition of will-worship and depowering the commandements god , who expresly saith , endeavour to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace , ephs. . . and heb. , . . let us consider one another to provoke unto love , not forsaking the assembling our selves together , but your tradition ( not so much valuing the unity and peace of christ's church as your own wills ) will not admit any to communicate with you , except he can reach his conscience so wide as to subscri●e to your new discipline . gods word ●aith ( rom. . . ) be that observeth a day , observeth it unto the lord ; and ver. . why dost thou judge thy brother ? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother ? and ver. . let us n●t judge one another , and ver . if thy brother be greived , now walkest thou not charitably ; destroy not him with thy meat for whom christ died : and ver. . for whosoever in these things serveth christ , is acceptable unto god ▪ let us then follow those things which concern peace , and wherewith one may ●dify another : but you would have all follow your rigid opinions , or else you will neither hold communion nor charity with them ; bnt brand them with that bloody name of malignant , then which you can say no worse , but only reprobate . sect. . and if we once follow traditional divinity , where shall we stop ? ] what will not unskilful confidence venter on ? had you been well informed to●distinguish between traditions , you might have spared your selves this trouble . certainly they that follow the apostolical traditions or doctrine of the gospel onely , shall safely stop , and rest satisfied therein , which ●uide and constancy we heartily wish you , but as yet know not that in ●our late-born discilpine vou follow ei●her , who have so many off-sets of several sects sprung from you , as are oft to seek where to stop , or of what religion to be ; i speak things too well known ; witnesse the miserable divisions which have torne in sunder the late happy unity of the church of england . lastly , you vainly trifle , and would imply , that we observing a day in remembrance of our saviours nativity , do therein follow traditionall divinity in your sence , which is a parologism and silly begging of the question , which a junior sophister would account very absurd and ridiculous . sect. . give us a definition of that sin which the scripture calleth will-worship ] if you know not what that is , why take you up a medium to prove your opinion with , which your self understand not ? could you teach , who understand not what you say , nor whereof you affirme ? if you do indeed know what {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is , why are you not theticall in laying down your own sence and definition thereof ? you that would catechise us concerning will-worship ; rather dispute fairly ; and your argument will thus lie . whatsoever the scripture calleth will-worship , is a sin : but , the scripture calleth observation of a day in rememberance of christs nativity will worship : ergo . obseruation of a day in remembrance of christs nativity , is a sin . we answer ; untill you shew us where the scripture so calleth it , we shall laugh at your bold weakness , who durst undertake this q●arrel : yet to do you a curtesy , we tell you that will-worship is any thing brought into the worship of god , without his commands or by the without of man only , which hath not its ground in ho●y scripture . as for our parts , we worship n●ither time nor place ( though we cannot worship without these circumstances ) we worship god through christ ( by whom he made both time and place , heb . . gen. . joh. . . col , . . ) we worship him by prayer , thanksgiving , preaching and hearing the holy word on that day ; w●ich being according to the will of god , and the express word of god , bewa●e that you bespatter not with your dirty terms of will-worship , and the like : we suppose you will not blame the angels for comming from heaven , that they might sing and praise god for christs nativity on the d●y thereof , and preach the same unto men : o but say you , you count it a holy day ; why not ? seeing according to the custome of the church of christ , we set it apart to gods s●rvice . but say you then , is not that will-worship ? we demand ; is dedicating of a thing to gods service , in that act , a making it holy ? or is a counting a consecrated thing holy , concluded will-worship in your schools ? nay but it doth not universally conclude any worship : we suppose that you will grant the elect angels are holy ; that supposition concludes no adoration of angels at all due . sect. . i suppose these queries duely weighed will sati●fy any ingenuous spirit , that man was the founder of this festival . ] to argue by such often queries may breed doubts rather then resolve them : how you come to lay claim to ingenuous , or witty , who are satisfied by these questions , we wish that we were satisfied ; seeing that the more we weigh them , the lighter and more frivolous we find them : your consequence from your supposed ingenuous sence is another begging the question , which wise men account the most foolish of all fallacies . sect. . ans. . where ever the magistrate appoints such days , &c. ] we remit you to the former answer , sect. . to which we onely add , was the magistrate or power appointing that half the day , novem. . should be kept holy ( in memory of gods great mercy that day shewed in delivering us from eminent destruction of our bodies ) authors of will-worship ? or the due observation of that statute , such ? which you seem ingenuously to suppose ; if not , why had not former magistrates , and parliaments as much power in the days of old to appoint or consecrate unto the same lord , days of thanksgiving and solemn commemoration ( for their deliverance from eternall destruction of body and soule ) as they had for the other in these last times ? and why may not we without offence , observe them still ? our consciences being not satisfied , how any authority or consent of men may lawfully recall , impropriate , or , in your phrase , take down that which they have with a general and unanimous consent of lal parties interessed , once dedicated to the service of god , the same reason , end , and use thereof , still remaining . sect. . ans. . bvt where we are directed how , and when to celebrate the remembance of our blessed saviour , for us to sup●radd &c. ] how and when ? if you mean in praising god by christ , preaching him , hearing his word , adminstration and receiving the holy sacraments , which represent , and remember us of our ever blessed saviour ; we are so far from superadding , that we onely desire free liberty of doing those very things which gods word evidently directeth us to do in his service : consider well , whether it be not a superaddition of yours to permit remembrance of our blessed saviour , adding this exception , onely upon the . of december it is a sin so to do : and whether in your sence , this be not like that sin taxed ez●k . we understand not why we may not remember our saviours birth-day and coming into the world ( without which he had not suffered for our salvation ) or why it should be estemed good on any day of the year , but evil on the . of december , if you can solidly teach us , we shall indeed think you ingenuous , and our selves your debters ; but in the mean time we confess , that a day prohibited time and place , we cannot understand . sect. . like whereto is that sin taxed ezek. . . &c. ] we suppose you mean ezek. . . which is as much unlike this business , as your self to a sound interpreter ; shew us that there is any abomination ( which in that place is charged on israel ) in remembring that we had a saviour born on the of december , in preaching on those texts of holy scriptures , which either foretold , or declared the truth of god accordingly fulfilled concerning the same , or to praise , pray , sing ●salmes , and read scripture , or to administer the holy sacraments ; this is all we desire should on that day be permitted us : if your weak stomacks cannot bear the smell of superstitious pyes , or pottage , we will forbear them , rather then lose your company at church . but to the matter , that place of the prophet , teacheth how isreal sinned in defiling the temple of the lord , by setting up idols therein , or in places and chappels neer to the place which god had set apart to his own service , this is jdolatry is there and else where called whoredome , which he said , ver. . should be no more , which was litterally fulfilled after their return from their babylonish captivity ; and to so this day they have no idols , though they worship not the true god aright because they beleive no● in christ , whom they do not think yet to be born , and therefore would willingly accord with you in forbidding a day in remembrance of christs nativity : but to your parallel , like whereto &c. it is easily and truly refuted , by saying unlike whereto is that sin taxed &c. for there israel defiled gods house by idolatry ; is it so when we preach , pray , or communicate ? your ingenious application is admirable , and 't is strange that whatsoever you think , the bells must ring . sect. . yet where it is never otherwise , but the devil hath more service that time &c. we answer concerning this cup put into benjamins sack , with whomsoever it be found , let him die , and bear his sin : but we desire the calumniator to read and well consider deut. . , . &c. sect. . i think it concerns the magistrate to look to it . ] it doth so , if you mean the abuse of it ; but that you say , is never otherwise , is a calumny which would suit with the accuser of the brethren , but such untruths ill become a christian : here your own concession is answer enough , were your assumption true , abusus non tollit usum : you may know howmuch prayer , preaching , &c. are abused ; should they therefore be used no more ? sect. . lee him read mr ▪ cawdryes &c. ] let him for us , who knows no no better use of preceious hours . sect. . which is the case in hand ] still begging the question ? 't is not the case in hand : here is no following the inventions of man in the wors●●p of god ; what a silly combatant would you judge him , who inst●ad of using his armes , would only intreat his antogonist to give him that which is contended for ? sect. . any of the ten commandments in so doing &c. ] we retort your argument , and shoot your bolt back again , asking you who blame the obseruation of this festivial ; whether he that keepeth this day in memory of our ▪ saviours nativity , doth thereby break any of the ten commandments ▪ and if not , then sure it is no sin to observe it ; and what ground then , have all your clamors against so constant a custome of the church of christ ? but to come neerer to you , this your quaere is not much more rationall then that ridiculous question , what part of speech is qui ante non ●avet , post dolebit ? what if one should ask you ; doth he that violateth charity and the unity of the church of christ , break any of the ten commandements , would you not readily answer , that he breaks them all ? because you know that charity is the sum and end of the law . math. . , . tim. . . without which whatso●ver else we do , is nothing worth , cor. . . &c. and therefore the apostle saith , rom. . , . &c. ( speaking of things in their own natu●e indifferent , whereof he instanceth in two , choice of meats , and observation of days ) that god may be glorified on this ground , that he giveth god thanks , ver. . and earnestly blameth judging or censuring a brother in such things . ver. . concluding that , if thy brother be greived &c. now walkest thou not charitably , or according to charity ; and if i by thanksgiving am partaker of christian liberty and freedome to serve god and to give him thanks and praise him on any day , why is my liberty judged of another mans conscience ? and why am i evil spok●n of for that for which i give thanks ? have you for these and other like respects so much rent the sacred unity of the late happy church of england , that we now seem like those dry and scattered bones in the prophets vision , ezek. . whereof the question may be , can these dry bones live ? have these quarrels caused the english to be a scorn and derision to foriagn nations ? hath the contempt of the holy churches authority opened the door to so many ridiculous , irrationall and impious heresies , which all know were at first but your off-sets ? hath the bloody sword so often disputed these unhappy questions , undone so many noble and good families ? and sed praestat motos componere fluctus ; i say no more , but do you question whether they by whom these offences come , do therein break any of the commandments ? please your selves , conclude , sure it is no sin : for our part , we look upon these prodigious divisions with greif of heart , and fear of the issue , being truly sensible that these breaches are too wide already , and heartily desire their happy closure , as for many reasons of greatest moment , so for that which the holy ghost recordeth , gen. . . to mark the dangerous importunity of that strife , between abraham's and lot's pastors , the canaanite and the perizzite dwelled then in the land . let us therefore entreat all in the apostles words phil. . . &c. if there be therefore any consolation in christ , if any comfort of love , if any fellowship of the spirit , be like● minded , having the same love , being of one accord , of one minde &c. and now joyn in petition with us , unto the god of peace that he would be pleased to breath the spirit of unity and life upon our divided parts , and to give a right understanding to all parties , that with one heart and tongue we may glorifie him , and live to him , that we may be saved by him . amen . finis .