Project Canterbury
Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology
Lancelot Andrewes Works, Sermons, Volume
One
SERMONS
OF THE NATIVITY.
PREACHED UPON CHRISTMAS-DAY, 1605.
Preached before King James, at Whitehall, on Tuesday, the Twenty-fifth of
December, A.D. MDCV.
Transcribed by Dr Marianne Dorman
AD 2001
Hebrews ii:16
For verily He took not on Him the
nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.
Nusquam enim angelos apprehendit; sed semen Abrahae apprehendit.
And
even because this day He took not the angels' nature upon Him, but took our
nature in "the seed of Abraham," therefore hold we this day as a high
feast; therefore meet we thus every year in a holy assembly, upon us a dignity
which upon the angels He bestowed not. That
He, as in the chapter before the Apostle setteth Him forth, That is, "the
brightness of His Father's glory, the very character of His substance, the
Heir of all things, by Whom He made the world;" He, when both needed
itNHis taking upon Him their natureNand both stood before Him, men and
Angels, "the Angels He took not," but men "He took;" was made Man, was
not made an Angel; that is, did more for them than He did for the Angels of
Heaven.
Elsewhere the Apostle doth
deliver this very point positively, and that, not without some vehemency;
"Without all question great is the mystery of godliness: God is manifested
in the flesh." Which is in effect the same that is here said, but that here
it is delivered by way of comparison; for this speech is evidently a
comparison. If he had thus set it down, "Our nature He took," that had
been positive; but setting it down [1/2] thus, "Ours He took, the AngelsO
He took not," it is certainly comparative.
1.
Now the masters of speech tell us that there is power in the positive if
it be given forth with an earnest asseveration, but nothing to that that
is in the comparative. It is nothing so full to say, "I will never forget
you," as thus to say it; "Can a mother forget the child of her own womb?
Well, if she can, yet will not I forget you." Nothing so forcible to
say thus, "I will hold my word with you," as thus, "Heaven and earth
shall pass, but My word shall not pass." The comparative expressing is
without all question more significant; and this here is such. Theirs,
the AngelsO, nusquam,
"at no handO He took, but ours He did.
2.
Now the comparison is, as is the thing in nature whereunto it is made; if the
thing be ordinary, the comparison is according; but then is it full of force,
when it is with no means or base thing, but with the chief and choice of all
the creatures as here it is, even with the Angels themselves; for then it is
at the highest. 1. That of Elihu in Job, that God "teacheth us more than the
beasts, and giveth us more understanding than the fowls of the air;" that
is, that God has been more gracious to us than to them, being made of the same
mould that we are; that yet He hath given us a privilege above themNthis is
much. 2. That of the Psalmist, "He hath not dealt so with every nation," nay, not with any other nation, in giving us the knowledge of His heavenly
truth and laws; even, that we have a prerogative, if we be compared with the
rest of mankind;Nmore than the beasts, much; more than all men besides, much
more. 3. But this here, nusquam Angelos,
etc, that He hath given us a preeminence above the AngelsNthat is a
comparison at the very highest, and farther we cannot go.
3.
One degree yet more; and that is this. As in comparisons making it skill much
the excellency of the thing wherewithal it is compared, the pitch that is
taken in it. It is one thing to make it in
tanto, another, in toto. One
thing when it is in degreesNthat more, this less; this not so much as that,
yet that somewhat thoughNanother, when one is, the other is not at all. So
is it here; Assumpsit; non assumpsit;
[2/3] "us He did take; the Angels, o"dE`pou
not in any wise;" not in a less, or a lower degree than us, but them "not
at all." So it is with the highest, and at the highest. So much is said
here, and more cannot be said.
The
only exception that may be made to these comparisons is, that most-what they
be odious; it breedeth a kind of disdain in the higher to be matched with
the lower, especially to be overmatched with the lower, especially to
be overmatched with him. We need not fear it here. The blessed Spirits,
the Angels, will take no offence at is; they will not remove Jacob's
ladder for all this, or descend to us, or ascend for us, ever a whit
the slower, because He is become "the Son of Man." There is not in them
that envious mind that was in the elder brother in the Gospel, when the
younger was received to grace after his riotous course.
When
the Apostle tells us of the "great mystery," that "God was manifested in
the flesh," immediately after he tells that He was "seen of the Angels;"
and lest we might think they saw it, as we do many things here which
we would not see, St. Peter tells us, that desiderant
prospicere, that with "desire and delightO they saw it, and cannot
be satisfied with the sight of it, pleased them well. And even this day,
the day it was done, an Angel
was the first that came to bring news of it to the shepherds; and he no sooner
had delivered his message, but "presently there was with him a whole choir
of angels," singing, and joying and making melody, for this e"dokELa
?u ‘uqr?poij
"good-will of God towards men." So that, without
dread of any disdain or exception on the Angels' part, we may proceed in our
text.I.
Wherein first, of the parties compared; Angels, and Men.II.
Then, 1. of that, wherein they are compared, "assumption," or
"apprehension;" in the word "taking:' 2. And not every "taking," but
apprehensio seminis, "taking on Him the seed.O11I.
Lastly, of this term, "Abraham's seed;" the choice of that word, or term,
to express mankind by, thus taken on by Him. That He saith not, "but men He
took;" or, "but the seed of Adam," or "the seed of the woman He
took;" "but the seed of Abraham He took.O1.
Of the parties compared, Angels and Men. These two we must first compare, that
we may the more clearly see the greatness of the grace and benefit this day
vouchsafed us. [3/4] No long process will need to lay before you how far
inferior our nature is to that of angels; it is a comparison without
comparison. It is too apparent;
if we be laid together, or weighed together, we shall be found minus
habentes, "far too light." They are in express terms said, both in the
Old and in the New Testaments, "to excel us in power;" and as in power, so
in all the rest. This one thing, may suffice to show the odds; that our
nature, that we, when we are at our very highest perfectionNit is even thus
expressedNthat we come near, or are therein like to, or as an angel. Perfect
beauty in St. Stephen; "they saw his face as the face of an Angel." Perfect wisdom in David; "my Lord the King is wise, as an Angel of God." Perfect eloquence in St. Paul; "though I speak with the tongues of men, nay
of Angels." All our excellency, our highest and most perfect estate, is but
to be as they; therefore, they above us far.But
to come nearer; What are the Angels? Surely, they are Spirits;NGlorious
Spirits;NHeavenly Spirits;NImmortal Spirits. For their nature or
substance, Spirits; for their quality or property, glorious; for their place
or abode, Heavenly; for their durance or continuance, immortal.And
what is "the seed of Abraham?" but as Abraham himself is? And what is Abraham?
Let him answer himself; "I am dust and ashes." What is "the seed of Abraham?"
Let one answer in the persons of all the rest; dicens
putredini, &c. "saying to rottenness, Thou art my mother; and to the
worms, Ye are my brethren." 1. They are Spirits; now, what are we- what is
this; the seed of Abraham?" Flesh. And what is the very harvest of this seed
of flesh? what, but corruption, and rottenness, and worms? This is the
substance of our bodies.2.
They, glorious Spirits; we vile bodiesNbear with it, it is the Holy Ghost's
own terms; "Who shall change our vile bodiesONand not only base and
vile, but filthy and unclean; ex immundo
conceptum semine, "conceived of unclean seed." There is the metal. And
the mould is no better; the womb wherein we were conceived, vile, base,
filthy, and unclean. This is our quality.3.
They, Heavenly Spirits, Angels of Heaven; that is, their place of abode is in
Heaven above. Ours is here below p.5. in the dust, inter
pulices, et culices, tineas, araneas, et vermes; Our place is here
"among fleas and flies, moths and spiders, and crawling worms." There is
our place of dwelling.4.
They, immortal Spirits; that is their durance. Our time is proclaimed in the
prophet: flesh; "all flesh is grass, and the glory of it as the flower of
the field;ONfrom April to June. The scythe comes, nay the "wind but
bloweth and we are gone," withering sooner than the grass which is short,
nay "fadingO sooner than the "flower of the grass." which is much
shorter; nay, saith Job, "rubbed in pieces more easily than any moth.OThis
we are to them, if you lay us together. And if you weigh us upon the
"balance," we are "altogether lighter than vanity itself;" there is
our weight. And if you value us, "man is but a thing of nought;" there is
our worth. Hoc est omnis homo, this is Abraham, and this is "Abraham's
seed;" and who would stand to compare these with Angels? Truly, there is no
comparison; they are, incomparably, far better than the best of us.Now
then, this is the rule of reason, the guide of all choice; evermore to take
the better and leave the worse. Thus would man do; H3/4c
est lex hominis. Here then cometh the matter of admiration:
notwithstanding these things stand thus, between the Angels and "AbrahamOs
seed;" they, Spirits, glorious, heavenly, immortal;Nyet "took He notO
them, yet "in no wise took He them, but the seed of Abraham." "The seed
of AbrahamO with their bodies, "vile bodies," earthly bodies of clay,
bodies of mortality, corruption and death;Nthese He took, these He took all
for that. Men, and not Angels; so it is: and that granted to us that denied to
them. Granted to us, so base, that denied them so glorious. Denied, and
strongly denied;
o", o"dE`pou, "not, not in any wise, not at
any hand," to them. They, every way, in every thing else, above and before
us; in this beneath and behind us. And we, unworthy, wretched men that we are,
above and before the Angels, the Cherubim, the Seraphim, and all the
Principalities, and Thrones, in this dignity. This being beyond the rules and
reach of all reason is surely matter of astonishment. ToOto,
saith St. Chrysostom , [4/5] this it casteth me into
an ecstasy, and maketh me to imagine of our nature some great matter, I cannot
well express what. Thus it is, "It is the Lord, let him do what seems good
in His own eyes."
And
with this, I pass over to the second point. This little is enough, to show
what odds between the parties here matched. It will much better appear, this,
when we shall weigh the word u`pilamb’netai, that wherein they are matched. Wherein two degrees
we observed; 1. Apprehendit, and 2. Apprehendit semen.1.
Of apprehendit, first. Many words
were more obvious, and offered themselves to the Apostle, no doubtl suscepit, or assumpsit, or
other such like. "This word was sought for, certainly, and made choice
of,"saith the Greek Scholiast; and he can best tell us it is no common word,
and tell us also what it weigheth. DhloUN d
, saith he, ~ti
yNmeUNj
?feo`gomen,
AE d
?dELwke,
kaoN di?kwu INfqase, kaoN
fq’saj ?pel’beto;
"this word supposeth a flight of the one party,
and a pursuit of the otherNa pursuit eager, and so long till he overtake;"
and when he has overtaken, ?pilambaunmenoj,
aprehendens, "laying fast hold,
and seizing surely on him." So two things it supposes; 1. a flight of
the one, and 2, a hot pursuit of the other.It
may well suppose a flight. For of the Angels there were that fled, that
kept not their original, but forsook and fell away from their first estate.
And man fell, and fled too, and "hid himself in the thick treesO from the
presence of God. And this is the first issue. Upon the Angels' flight He
stirred not, sat still, never vouchsafed to follow them; let them go whither
they would, as if they had not been worth the while. Nay, He never assumed
aught by way of promise for them; no promise in the Old, to be born nor suffer;
no Gospel in the New Testament, neither was born nor suffered for them.But
when man fell He did all; made after him presently with Ubi
es? sought to reclaim him, "What have you done? Why have you done
so?" Protested enmity to him that had drawn him thus away, made His assumpsit
of "the womanOs seed.OAnd,
which is yet more, when that would not serve sent after him still by
the hand of His Prophets, to solicit his return.And,
which is yet more, when that would not serve neither, [6/7] went after
Himself in person; left His "ninety-and-nine in the fold," and got Him after
the "lost sheep;" never left till He "found him, laid him on His own
shoulders, and brought him home again.OIt
was much even but to look after us, to respect us do far who were not
worth the cast of His eye; much to call us back, or vouchsafe us an Ubi esBut
more, when we came not for all that, to send after us. For if He had
but only been content to give us leave to come to Him again, but given
us leave to come to Him again, but given us leave to "lay holdO on Him,
to "touch but the hem of His garmentONHimself sitting still, and never
calling to us, nor sending after usNit had been favour enough, far above
that we worth. But not only to send by others, but to come Himself after
us; to say, Corpus apta Mihi, Ecce venio; "Get Me a body, I will Myself after
Him;ONthis was exceeding much, that we fled, and He followed us flying.But
yet this is not all, this is but to follow. He not only followed, but
did it so with such eagerness, with such earnestness, as that is worthy
a second consideration. To follow is somewhat, yet that may be done faintly,
and afar off; but to follow through thick and thin, to follow hard and
not to give over, never to give over till He overtakeNthat is it.And
He gave not over His pursuit, though it were long and laborious, and
He full weary; though it cast Him into a "sweat," a "sweat of blood." Angelis suis non pepercit, saith St. Peter, "The Angels offending,
He spared not them;" man offending, He spared him, and to spare him,
saith St. Paul, "He spared not His own Son." Nor His own Son spared not
Himself, but followed His pursuit through danger, distress, yea, through
death itself. Followed, and so followed, as nothing made Him leave following
till He overtook.And
when He had overtaken, for those two are but pre-supposed, the more kindly
to bring in the word ?pel’beto,
when, I say, He had overtaken them, cometh in fitly
and properly ?pilamb’uetai.
Which is not every "taking," not suscipere
or assumere, but manum injicere, arripere, apprehendere; "to seize upon it with
great vehemency, to lay hold on it with both hands as upon a thing we
are glad we have got, [7/8] and will be loath to let go again." We know assumpsit
and apprehendit both "take;" but apprehendit
with far more fervour and zeal than the other. Assumpsit, any common ordinary thing; apprehendit, a thing of price which we hold dear, and much esteem
of.Now
to the former comparison, of what they, and what we, but specially what
we, add this threefold consideration; 1. That He denied it to the Angels, o":
denied it "peremptorily," o"dE`pou,
neither looked, nor called, nor sent, nor went after them; neither
took hold of them, nor suffered them to take hold of Him, or any promise
from Him; denied it them, and denied it them thus. 2. But granted it
us, and granted it how? That He followed us first, and that, with pain;
and seized on us after, and that, with great desire: we flying and
not worth the following, and lying and not worth the taking up. 1.
That He gave not leave for us to come to Him; or sat still, and suffered
us to return, and take hold; yet this He did. 2. That He did not look
after us, nor call after us, nor send after us only; yet all this He
did too. 3. But Himself rose out of His place, and came after us, and
with hand and foot made after us, followed us with His feet; and seized
on us with His hands, and that, per
viam, non assumptionis, sed apprehensionis, the manner more than
the thing itself. All these if we lay together, and when we have done,
weigh them well, it is able to work with us. Surely it must demonstrate
to us the care, the love, the affection, He had to us, we know no cause
why; being but, as Abraham was, dust;
and as Abraham's seed Jacob said, less,
and not worthy of any one of these; no, not of the meanest
of His mercies. Especially, when the same thing so graciously
granted us was denied to no less persons than the Angels, far more
worthy than we. Sure He would not have done it for us, and not
for them, if He had not esteemed of us, made more account of us
than of them.And
yet, behold a far greater than all these; which is, apprehendit
semen. He took not the person, but "He took the seed," that
is, the nature of man. Many there be that can be content to take
upon them the persons, and to represent them, whose natures nothing
could hire them once to take upon them. But the seed is the nature;
yea, as the philosopher saith, natur3/4 intimum, "the very internal essence of nature is the
seed." [8/9] The Apostle sheweth what his meaning is of this "taking
the seed," when the verse next afore save one he saith, that "Forasmuch
as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, He also would
take part with them by taking the same." To take the flesh and
blood, He must needs take the seed, for from the seed the flesh
and blood doth proceed; which is nothing else but the blessed apprehension of
our nature by this day's nativity. Whereby
He and we become not only one
flesh,
as man and wife do by conjugal union, but even one blood too, as
brethren by natural union; per
omnia similis,
saith the Apostle, in the next verse after again, sin only set aside;
"Alike and suitable to us in all things," flesh and blood and nature
and all. So taking "the seed of Abraham;" so was, and so is truly
termed in the Scriptures. Which is it that doth consummate, and knit
up all this point, and is the head of all. For in all other "apprehensions"
we may let go, and lay down when we will; but thisNthis "taking on
the seed," the nature of manNcan never be put off. It is an "assumption"
without a deposition. One we are, He and we, and so we must be; one,
as this day, so for ever.
And
emergent or issuing from this, are all those other "apprehendings," or
seizures of the persons of menNby which God layeth hold on them, and
bringeth them back from error to truth, and from sin to grace, who have
been from the beginning, or shall be to the end of the world. That of
Abraham himself, whom God laid hold of, and brought from out of Ur of
the Chaldeans, and the idols he there worshipped. That of our Apostle
St. Paul, that was "apprehended" in the way to Damascus. That of St.
Peter, that in the very act of sin was "seized on" with bitter remorse for
it. All those, and all these, whereby men daily are laid hold in spirit,
and taken from the by-paths of sins and error, and reduced in the right
way; and so their persons recovered to God, and seized to His use. All
these "apprehensions of the branchesO come from this "apprehension of
the seed," they their beginning and their being from this day's "taking,"
even semen
apprehendit; our
receiving His Spirit, for "taking our flesh." This seed wherewith Abraham
is made the son of God, from the seed wherewith Christ is made the Son of
Abraham.
[10]
And the end why He thus took upon Him "the seed of Abraham" was, because
He took upon Him to deliver "the seed of Abraham." Deliver them He
could not except He destroyed "death, and the lord of death, the devil."
Them He could not destroy unless He died; die He could not except He
were mortal; mortal He could not be except He took our nature on him,
that is the "seed of Abraham." But taking it He became mortal, died,
destroyed death, delivered us; was Himself "apprehended" that we might
be let go.One
thing more then out of this word apprehendit.
The former toucheth His love, whereby He so laid hold of us, as of a thing
very precious to Him. This now toucheth our danger, whereby He so caught us,
as if He had not it had been a great venture but we had sunk and perished.
One and the same word, apprehendit,
sorteth well to express both His affection whereby He did it, and our great
peril whereby we needed it. We had been before laid hold of and
"apprehendedO by one, mentioned in the fourteenth verse, he that hath
"power of death, even the devil;" we were in danger to be swallowed up by
him, we needed one to lay hold on us fast, and to pluck us out of his jaws.
So He did. And I would have you mark, it is the same word that is used to St.
Peter in like danger, when, being ready to sink, ?pel’beto, Christ
"caught him by the handO and saved him. The same here in the Greek, that in
the Hebrew is used to Lot and his daughters in the like danger, when "the Angels
caught him, and by strong hand plucked him out of Sodom." One delivered from
the water, the other from the fire.And it may truly be said, inasmuch as all
God's promises, as well touching temporal as eternal deliverances, and as well
corporal as spiritual, be "in Christ yea, and AmenO- yea, in the giving forth,
Amen in the performingNthat even our temporal delivery from the dangers that
daily compass us about, even from this last so great and so fearful as the
like was never imagined before; all have their ground from this great
"apprehension," are fruits of this seed Seed here, this blessed Seed, for
Whose sake and for Whose truth's sake that we (though unworthily) profess we
were by Him caught hold of, and so plucked out of it; and but for which Seed, facti
essemus sicut Sodoma, [10/11] "We had been even as Sodom," and
perished in the fire, and the powder there had even blow up all.And
may not I add to this apprehendit ut
liberaret, the other in the eighth chapter following, apprehendit
ut manu duceret; to this of "taking us by the hand to deliver us," that
"of taking us by the hand to guide us;" and so out of one word present Him
to you, not only as our Delivered, but as our Guide too? Our Deliverer to rid
us from him that hath "power of death," our Guide to Him that hath "power of
life," to lead us even by the way of truth to the path of life, by the stations
of well-doing to the "mansions in His Father's House." Seeing He hath signified
it is His pleasure not to let go our hands, but to hold us still till He has
brought us, "that where His, we may also be." This also is incident to apprehendit,
but because it is out of the compass of the text I touch it only, and pass
it.And
can we now pass by this, but we must ask the question that St. John Baptist's
mother sometime asked on the like occasion? Unde
mihi hoc? saith she; Unde nobis hoc?
may we say. Not, quod mater Domini,
but quod Dominus Ipse venit ad nos;
"Whence cometh thus unto us, that the Lord Himself thus came unto us and
took us, letting the Angels go?" Angels are better than the best of us, and
reason would ever the better should be taken; how then were we taken that were
not the better?Sure,
not without good ground, say the Fathers, who have adventured to search out
the technology of this point; such reasons as might serve for inducements to
Him that is promus ad miserendum,
"naturally inclined to pity;" why upon us He would rather have compassion.
And two divers such I find; I will touch only one or two of them.
First,
Man's case was more to be pitied than theirs, because man was tempted by
another;Nhad a tempter. The Angels
had noneNnone tempted them; but themselves. Et
levius est alienñ mente pecñsse quam propriñ, saith Augustine "the
offence is the less if it grow from another, than if it breed in ourselves;" and the less the offence, the more pardonable.
Again,
Of the Angels, when some fell, other some stood, and so they all did not
perish. But in the first man all men fell, and so every mother's child had
died, and no flesh been [11/12] saved, for all were in Adam; and so, in and
with Adam, all had come to nought. Then cometh the Psalmist's question, Nunquid in vanum, ett.? "What hast Thou made all men for nought?"
That cannot be, so great wisdom cannot do so great a work in vain. But in vain
it had been if God had not shewed mercy, and therefore was man's case rather
of the twain matter of commiseration. (This is Leo.)
And
thus have they travailed, and these have they found, why he "apprehend" us
rather than them. It may be not amiss. But we will content ourselves for us unde nobis hoc? "whence cometh this to us?" with the answer of
the Scriptures. Whence, but from "tender mercies of our God, whereby t his
day hath visited us?" Zelus Domini,
saith Esay, "the zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall bring it to pass." Propter
nimiam charitatem,saith the Apostle; Sic
Deus dilexit, saith HeNHe Himself; and we taught by Him say, "Even so,
Lord, for so it was Thy good pleasure thus to do."
All
this while are we about "taking the seed,"Nthe seed in general. But now,
why not men in the second but seed? Or, if "seed" to express our nature,
why not "the seed of the woman," but "the seed of Abraham?" It may be
thought because he wrote to the Hebrews, he rather used this term of
"Abraham's seed," because so they were, and so loved to be styled, and he
would please them. But I find the ancient Fathers go farther, and out of
it raise matter both of comfort and of direction, and that, for us too.
1.
Of comfort, first, with reference to our Saviour, Who taking on Him
"Abraham's seed," must withal take on Him the signature of Abraham's
seed, and be, as he was circumcised. There is a great matter dependeth even
on that. For being circumcised, He "became a debtor to keep the whole
Law of God;" which bond we had broken, and forfeited, and incurred the
curse annexed, and were ready to be apprehended and committed for it.
That so, He keeping the Law might recover back the chirographum contra nos, "the handwriting what was against us," and
so set us free of the debt. This bond did not relate to "the
seed of the woman," it pertained properly to "the seed of Abraham;"
therefore that term fitted us better. Without fail, two distinct
benefits they [12/13] are: 1. Factus homo,
and 2. Factus sub lege; and so doeth St. Paul recount them. "Made man,"
that is, "the seed of the woman;" and "made under the Law,"
that is, "the seed of Abraham." To little purpose He should
have taken the one, if He had not also undertaken the other,
and as "the seed of Abraham" entered bond for us, and taken
our death upon Him. This first.2.
And besides this, there is yet another; referring it to the nation, or people,
whom He took upon Him. It is sure they were of all other people the most
"untoward;" both of the "hardest hearts," and of the "stiffest
neck;" and as the heathen man noteth them, of the worst natures. God himself
telleth them so; it was for no virtue of theirs, or for any pure naturals
in them, that He took them to Him, for they were that way worst
of the whole earth. And so then the taking of "Abraham's seed"
amounteth to as much as that of St. Paul, no less true than
"worthy of all men to be received," that He "came into the
world to save sinners," and that chief sinners, as it is certain
they were; even "the seed of Abraham," of all the seed of Adam.
But
not for comfort only, but for direction too doth He use Abraham's name here.
Even to entail the benefit coming by it to his seed, that is, to such as he
was. For, "for his sake were all nations blessed." And Christ, though He
took "the seed of woman," yet doth not benefit any but "the seed of
Abraham," even those who follow the steps of his faith. For by faith Abraham
took hold of Him by Whom he was in mercy taken hold of: Et
tu mitte fidem et tenuisti, saith St. Augustine. That faith of his
to him was "accounted for righteousness." To him was, and to us shall be,
saith the Apostle, if we be in like sort "apprehensive" of Him. Jacob was,
that took such hold on Him as he said plainly, Non
dimittam Te, nisi benedixeris mihi; "without
a blessing he would not let Him go." Surely, not the Hebrews alone; nay,
not the Hebrews at all, for all their carnal propogation. they only are
"Abraham's seed" that lay hold of the word of promise. And the Galatians
so doing, though they were mere heathen men as we be, yet he telleth them
they are "Abraham's seed," and shall be blessed together with him.
[14] But
that is not all; there goeth more to the making us "Abraham's seed,"
as Christ Himself, the true Seed, teacheth both them and us. Saith He,
"If ye be Abraham's sons, then must you do the works of Abraham," which
the Apostle well calleth, the "steps" or impressions of "Abraham's faith;"
or we may call them the fruits of this seed here. So reasoneth our Saviour: Hoc
non fecit Abraham; "This did not he;" if ye do it, ye are not "his
seed." "This did he;Ndo ye the like, and his seed ye are." So here is
a double "apprehension;" 1. one of St. Paul, 2. the other of St.
JamesNwork for both hands to apprehend. Both 1. charitas
quæ ex fide; and 2. fides quæ per
charitatem operatur. By which we shall be able, saith St. Paul, "to
lay hold of eternal life;" and so be "Abraham's seed" here at the first,
and come to "Abraham's bosom" there at the last. So have we a brief of semen
Abrahæ.
Now
what is to be commended to us out of this text for us to lay hold of? Verily
first, to take us to our meditation, the meditation which the Psalmist hath,
and which the Apostle in this chapter voucheth out of him at the sixth verse.
"When I consider," saith he, "the HeavensO -say we, the Angels of
HeavenNand see those glorious Spirits passed by, and man taken, even to sigh
with him, and say, "Lord, what is man," either Adam or Abraham, "that
Thou shouldest be thus mindful of him, or the seed, or sons of either, that
Thou shouldest make this do about him!" The case is here far otherwiseNfar
more worth our consideration. There, "Thou hast made him a little lower;"
here, "Thou hast made him a great deal higher than the Angels." For they,
this day first, and ever since, daily have and do adore our nature in the
personal union with the Deity. Look you, saith the Apostle, "when He brought
His only-begotten Son into the world, this He proclaimed before Him, Let
all the Angels worship Him;" and so they did. And upon this very day's
"taking the seed" hath ensued, as the Fathers note, a great alteration.
Before in the Old Testament, they suffered David to sit upon his knees
before them; since, in the New, they endure not St. John should fall
down to them, but acknowledge the cast is altered now, and no more superiority,
but all fellow-servants. And even in this one part two things [14/15]
present themselves unto us; 1. His humility,
Qui non est confusus, as in the eleventh verse the Apostle speaketh,
"Who was not confounded" thus to take our nature. 2. And withal, the
honour and happiness of Abraham's seed, ut
digni haberentur, that were "counted worthy to be taken so near unto
Him."The
next point; that after we have well considered it we be affected with it,
and that no otherwise than Abraham was. "Abraham saw it," even this day,
and but far off, "and he rejoiced at it;" and so shall we on it, if we
be His true seed. It brought forth a Benedictus
and a Magnificat, from the true
seed of Abraham; if it do not the like from us, certainly it but floats in
our brains we but warble about it; but we believe it not, and therefore neither
do we rightly understand it. Sure I am, if the Angels had such a feast to
keep, if He had done the like for them, they would hold it with all joy and
jubilee. They rejoice of our god, but if they had one of their own, they
must needs do it after another manner, far more effectually. If we do not
as they would do were the case theirs, it is because we are short in conceiving
the excellency of the benefit. It would have surely due observation, if it
had this due and serious meditation.
Farther,
we are to understand this, "that to whom much is given, of them will much
be required;" and as St. Gregory wells saith, Cum
crescunt dona, crescunt et rationes donorum, "As the gifts grow, so
grow the accounts too;" therefore, that by this new dignity befallen us, Necessitas
qu3/4dam nobis imposita est, saith St. Augustine, "there is a certain
necessity laid upon us" to become in some measure suitable unto it; in that
we are one--one flesh and one blood, with the Son of God. Being thus "in
honour," we ought to understand our estate, and not fall into the Psalmist's
reproof, that we, "become like the beasts that perish." For if we do
indeed think our nature is ennobled by this so high a conjunction, we shall
henceforth hold ourselves more dear, and at a higher rate, than to prostitute
ourselves to sin, for every base, trifling, and transitory pleasure.
For tell me, men that are taken to this degree, shall any of them
prove a devil, as Christ said of Judas? or ever, as these with us of late,
have to do with any devilish or Judasly fact?
Shall
any man, after this "assumption, be as "horse or mule [15/16] that have no
understanding,' and in a Christian profession like a brutish life? Nay then,
St. Paul tells us further, that if we henceforth "walk like men," like but
even carnal or natural men, it is a fault in us. Somewhat must appear in us
more than in ordinary men, who are vouchsafed so extraordinary a favour.
Somewhat more than common would come from us, if it but for this day's sake.
To
conclude; not only thus to frame meditations and resolutions, but even some
practice too, out of this act of "apprehension." It is very agreeable to
reason, saith the Apostle, that we endeavour and make a proffer, if we may
by any means, to "apprehend" Him in His, by Whom we are thus in our nature
"apprehended," or, as He termeth it, "comphrended," even Christ Jesus;
and be united to Him this day, as He was to us this day, by a mutual and
reciprocal "apprehension." We may so, and we are bound so; vere
dignum et justum est. And we do so, so oft as we do with St. James
lay hold of, "apprehend," or receive insitum
verbum, the "word which is daily grafted into us." For "the Word"
He is, and in the word He is received by us. But that is not the proper of
this day, unless there be another joined unto it. This day Verbum
caro factum est, and so must be "apprehended" in both. But specially
in His flesh as this day giveth it, as this day would have us. Now "the
bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body, of the flesh,
of Jesus Christ?" It is surely, and by it and by nothing more are we made
partakers of this blessed union. A little before He said, "Because the
children were partakers of flesh and blood, He also would take part with
them--may not we say the same? Because He hath so done, taken ours of us,
we also ensuing His steps will participate with Him and with His flesh which
He hath taken of us. It is most
kindly to take part with Him in that which He took part in with us, and that,
to no other end, but that He might make the receiving of it by us a means
whereby He might "dwell in us, and we in Him." He taking our flesh, and we
receiving His Spirit; by His flesh which He took of us receiving His Spirit
which He imparteth to us; that, as He by ours became consors
humanae naturae, so we by His might become consortes
Divinae naturae, "partakers of the Divine nature." Verily, it is
the most straight and [16/17] perfect "taking holdO that is. No union
so knitteth as it. Not consanguinity; brethren fall out.
Not marriage; man and wife are severed. But that which is nourished,
and the nourishment wherewithNthey never are, never can be severed, but
remain one for ever. With this
act then of mutual "taking," taking of His flesh as He has taken ours, let
us seal our duty to Him this day, for taking not "Angels," but "the seed
of Abraham."
Almighty
God, grant &c.
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