more respect to man on earth, than he hath to Christ in heaven? If any man sin, saith St. John, we have an Advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins (1 John ii. 1, 2). But we must take heed that we call upon this Advocate while we have space given us in this life, lest when we are once dead, there be no hope of salvation left unto us. For as every man sleepeth with his own cause, so every man shall rise again with his own cause. And look in what state he dieth, in the same state he shall be also judged, whether it be to salvation or damnation. Let us not therefore dream either of purgatory, or of prayer for the souls of them that be dead: but let us earnestly and diligently pray for them which are expressly commanded in Holy Scripture, namely, for kings and rulers, for ministers of God's holy word and sacraments, for the saints of this world, otherwise called the faithful: to be short, for all men living, be they never so great enemies to God and his people, as Jews, Turks, pagans, infidels, heretics, &c. Then shall we truly fulfil the commandment of God in that behalf, and plainly declare ourselves to be the true children of our heavenly Father, who suffereth the sun to shine upon the good and the bad, and the rain to fall upon the just and the unjust [Matt. v. 45]. For which, and all other benefits most abundantly bestowed upon mankind from the beginning, let us give him hearty thanks, as we are most bound, and praise his name for ever and ever. Amen.

AN HOMILY OR SERMON CONCERNING THE NATIVITY AND BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

AMONG all the creatures that God made in the beginning of the world most excellent and wonderful in their kind, there was none, as the Scripture beareth witness, to be compared almost in any point unto man, who as well in body as in soul exceedeth all other, no less than the sun in brightness and light exceedeth every small and little star in the firmament. He was made according to the image and similitude of God, he was endued with all kind of heavenly gifts, he had no spot of uncleanness in him, he was sound and perfect in all parts, both outwardly and inwardly, his reason was uncorrupt, his understanding was pure and good, his will was obedient and godly, he was made altogether like unto God, in righteousness, in holiness, in wisdom, in truth; to be short, in all kind of perfection.

When he was thus created and made, Almighty God, in token of his great love towards him, chose out a special place of the earth for him, namely paradise, where he lived in all tranquillity and pleasure, having great abundance of worldly goods, and lacking nothing that he might justly require, or desire to have. For, as it is said, God made him lord and ruler over all the works of his hands, that he should have under his feet all sheep and oxen, all beasts of the field, all fowls of the air, all fishes of the sea, and use them always at his own pleasure, according as he should have need (Psalm viii. 6-8). Was not this a mirror of perfection? Was not this a full, perfect, and blessed estate? Could any thing else be well added hereunto, or greater felicity desired in this world? But as the common nature of all men is, in time of prosperity and wealth, to forget not only themselves, but also God; even so did this first man Adam, who having but one commandment at God's hand, namely, that he should not eat of the fruit of knowledge of good and ill, did notwithstanding, most unmindfully, or rather most wilfully break

it, in forgetting the strait charge of his Maker, and giving ear to the crafty suggestion of that wicked serpent the devil. Whereby it came to pass, that as before he was blessed, so now he was accursed; as before he was loved, so now he was abhorred; as before he was most beautiful and precious, so now he was most vile and wretched in the sight of his Lord and Maker. Instead of the image of God, he was now become the image of the devil: instead of the citizen of heaven, he was become the bond-slave of hell, having in himself no one part of his former purity and cleanness, but being altogether spotted and defiled; insomuch that now he seemed to be nothing else but a lump of sin, and therefore by the just judgment of God was condemned to everlasting death. This so great and miserable a plague, if it had only rested on Adam, who first offended, it had been so much the easier, and might the better have been borne. But it fell not only on him, but also on his posterity and children for ever, so that the whole brood of Adam's flesh should sustain the self-same fall and punishment, which their forefather by his offence most justly had deserved. St. Paul in the fifth chapter to the Romans [vv. 18, 19], saith, By the offence of only Adam, the fault came upon all men to condemnation, and by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. By which words we are taught, that as in Adam all men universally sinned, so in Adam all men universally received the reward of sin; that is to say, became mortal, and subject unto death, having in themselves nothing but everlasting damnation both of body and soul. They became (as David saith) corrupt and abominable, they went all out of the way, there was none that did good, no not one [Ps. xiv. 1, 3].

O what a miserable and woeful state was this, that the sin of one man should destroy and condemn all men, that nothing in all the world might be looked for, but only pangs of death, and pains of hell! Had it been any marvel if mankind had been utterly driven to desperation, being thus fallen from life to death, from salvation to destruction, froin heaven to hell? But behold the great goodness and tender mercy of God in his behalf: albeit man's wickedness and sinful behaviour was such, that it deserved not in any part to be forgiven; yet to the intent he might not be clean destitute of all hope and comfort in

time to come, he ordained a new covenant, and made a sure promise thereof, namely, that he would send a Messias or Mediator into the world, which should make intercession, and put himself as a stay between both parties, to pacify the wrath and indignation conceived against sin, and to deliver man out of the miserable curse and cursed misery, whereinto he was fallen headlong, by disobeying the will and commandment of his only Lord and Maker. This covenant and promise was first made unto Adam himself immediately after his fall, as we read in the third of Genesis [v. 15], where God said to the serpent on this wise, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her Seed. He shall break thine head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Afterward the self-same covenant was also more amply and plainly renewed unto Abraham, where God promised him, that in his Seed all nations and families of the earth should be blessed (Gen. xii. 3; [xxii. 18]). Again, it was continued and confirmed unto Isaac in the same form of words as it was before unto his father (Gen. xxvi. 4). And to the intent that mankind might not despair, but always live in hope, Almighty God never ceased to publish, repeat, confirm, and continue the same, by divers and sundry testimonies of his prophets; who, for the better persuasion of the thing, prophesied the time, the place, the manner, and circumstance of his birth, the affliction of his life, the kind of his death, the glory of his resurrection, the receiving of his kingdom, the deliverance of his people, with all other circumstances belonging thereunto. Isaiah prophesied, that he should be born of a virgin and called Emanuel [Is. vii. 14]. Micah prophesied, that he should be born in Bethlehem, a place of Jewry [Mic. v. 2]. Ezekiel prophesied, that he should come of the stock and lineage of David [Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24]. Daniel prophesied, that all nations and languages should serve him [Dan. vii. 14]. Zechariah prophesied, that he should come in poverty, riding upon an ass [Zech. ix. 9]. Malachi prophesied, that he should send Elias before him, which was John the Baptist [Mal. iii. 1; iv. 5; Matt. xi. 14; xvii. 10–13]. Zechariah prophesied, that he should be sold for thirty pieces of silver, &c. [Zech. xi. 12, 13]. And all this was done, that the promise and covenant of God, made unto Abraham and his posterity concerning

the redemption of the world, might be credited and fully believed.

Now, as the apostle Paul saith, when the fulness of time was come, that is, the perfection and course of years appointed from the beginning, then God, according to his former covenant and promise, sent a Messias, otherwise called a Mediator, into the world; not such a one as Moses was, not such a one as Joshua, Saul, or David was; but such a one as should deliver mankind from the bitter curse of the law, and make perfect satisfaction by his death for the sins of all people; namely, he sent his dear and only Son Jesus Christ, born, as the apostle saith, of a woman, and made under the law, that he might redeem them that were in bondage of the law, and make them the children of God by adoption [Gal. iv. 4, 5]. Was not this a wonderful great love towards us that were his professed and open enemies, towards us that were by nature the children of wrath, and fire-brands of hell-fire? In this, saith St. John, appeared the great love of God, that he sent his only-begotten Son into the world to save us, when we were his extreme enemies. Herein is love, not that we loved him, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a reconciliation for our sins [1 John iv. 9, 10]. St. Paul also saith, Christ, when we were yet of no strength, died for us being ungodly. Doubtless a man will scarce die for a righteous man. Peradventure some one durst die for him of whom he hath received good. But God setteth out his love towards us, in that he sent Christ to die for us, when we were yet void of all goodness (Rom. v. 6—8). This and such other comparisons doth the apostle use, to amplify and set forth the tender mercy and great goodness of God, declared towards mankind, in sending down a Saviour from heaven, even Christ the Lord. Which one benefit among all other is so great and wonderful, that neither tongue can well express it, neither heart think it, much less give sufficient thanks to God for it.

But here is a great controversy between us and the Jews, whether the same Jesus, which was born of the virgin Mary, be the true Messias, and true Saviour of the world, so long promised and prophesied of before. They, as they are, and have been always, proud and stiffnecked, would never acknowledge him until this day, but have looked and waited for another to come. They have