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the factious ambition of a few, bear all the sway; but where one is sovereign. Such is the government of heaven: such is Christ's government, &c. &c. &c.

And now what is all this to us?

Yes; to us it is;

We come now to

and that twice over for failing. look another while into our interest to it, and our benefit by it. Nobis is acquisitivè positus: we get by it; we are gainers by all this.

To us, not to himself. For a far more noble nativity had he, before all worlds, and needed no more birth. Not to be born at all; specially, not thus basely to be born. Not to him therefore, but to us and our behoof.

To us, as in bar of himself, so likewise of his angels. Nusquam angelos, not to the angels was he born or given; but to us he was both. Not an angel in heaven can say nobis,— vobis they can: the angels said it twice, nobis natus or datus-they cannot; but we can both.

Nobis exclusive, and nobis inclusive. Esay speaks not of himself only, but taketh in Ahaz. Both are in nobis: Esay an holy prophet, and Ahaz a worse than whom you shall hardly read of. Esay indulgeth himself, as having need, though a saint; and excludeth not Ahaz from having part, though a sinner. Not only Simeon the Just, but Paul, the sinner of the quorum, and the first of the quorum.—Inclu

sive not only of Esay, and his countrymen the Jews; it is of a larger extent. The angel so interpreteth it, this day to the shepherds: Gaudium, quod erit omni populo, joy that shall be to all people; not the people of the Jews, or the people of the Gentiles; but simply to all people. His name is Jesus Christ, half Hebrew, half Greek: Jesus, Hebrew, Christ, Greek: so sorted of purpose, to shew, Jews and Greeks have equal interest in him. And now, so is his father's name too, Abba, Father, to shew the benefit equally intended by him, to them that call him Abba, that is, the Jews; to us that call him Father, that is, the Gentiles.

*

God with us, Immanuel-why? to what end? To save us from our sins, and from perishing by them. * * And now to look into the name. It is compounded, and to be taken in pieces. First, into Immanu and El: of which El, (the latter) is the more principal by far: for El is God. Now, for any thing yet said in concipiet and pariet, is but man with

us not God with us, till now.

all

By the name, we take our first notice, that this child is God: and this is a great addition; and here (lo!) is the wonder! For, as for any child of a woman, to eat butter and honey, (the words that next follow) where is the ecce? But, for El, for God, to do it; that is worth an ecce indeed! El is God: and not God every way; but (as the force of the word is) God, in his full

strength and virtue: God, cum plenitudine potestatis (as we say) with all that ever he can do: and that is enough, I am sure.

For the other Immanu: though El be the more principal, yet I cannot tell, whether it or Immanu do more concern us: for as in El is might, so in Immanu, is our right to his might, and to all he hath, or is worth: by that word we hold; therefore we lay hold of it. The very standing of it thus before, thus in the first place, toucheth us somewhat. The first thing ever that we look for, is nos, nobis, and noster, the possessives: for they do mittere in possessionem, put us in possession. We look for it first; and lo! it stands here first: nobiscum first, and then Deus, after. I shall not need to tell you that in nobiscum there is mecum; in nobiscum for us all, a me

сит for every one of us. Out of this generality, of with us, in gross, may every one deduce his own particular; with me, and me, and me. For all put together make but nobiscum.

* This Immanu is

a compound again: we may take it in sunder, into nobis and cum and so then have we three pieces, El, the mighty God; and Anu, we, poor we; (poor indeed, if we have all the world beside, if we have not Him to be with us :) and im, which is cum, and that cum in the midst between nobis and Deus, God and us; to couple God and us thereby to convey the things of the one to the other.

Ours to God:

(alas! they be not worth the speaking of) chiefly then to convey to us the things of God. For that is worth the while: they are indeed worth the conveying.

This cum we shall never conceive to purpose, but carendo: the value of with, no way so well, as by without by stripping of cum from nobis. And so let nobis, (us) stand by ourselves, without Him, to see what our case is, but for this Immanuel. What if this virgin's child had not this day been born us; nobiscum (after) will be the better esteemed. For if this child be Immanuel, God with us; then without this child, this Immanuel, we be without God. Without Him in this world (saith the Apostle); and if without Him in this, without Him in the next; and if without Him there, if it be not Immanu-el, it will be Immanu-hel; and that, and no other place, will fall, I fear me, to our share. Without Him, this we are: what with Him? Why, if we have Him, and God by Him, we need no more; Immanu-el and Immanu-all. All that we can desire is, for us to be with Him, with God, and he to be with us: and we from Him, and he from us, never to be parted. We were with Him, once before, and we were well and when we left Him, and he no longer with us, then began all our misery: whensoever we go from Him, so shall we be in evil case: and never be well till we be back with Him again.

Then if this be our case; that we cannot be without Him, no remedy then, but to get a cum, by whose means, nobis and Deus may come together again. And Christ is that cum, to bring it to pass. The parties are God and we: and now this day he is both. God, before, eternally; and now to-day, man: and so both, and takes hold of both, and brings both together again; for two natures here are in Him: if conceived and born of a woman, then a man; If God with us, then God. So Esay offered his sign, from the height above, or from the depth beneath: here it is. From above, El; from beneath,

Anu; one of us, now: and so his sign from both. And both these natures in the unity of one person, called by one name, even this name Immanuel. Vocabit nomen, I told you, in his name, is his vocation or office, to be, cum; to come between, that is, to be a mediator, to make him that was contra nos, nobiscum again. A mediator is not of one, but God is one. God and man are two; and they were two, (as they say ;) were two, and two will be, till he make them one. Recapitulate and cast up both into one sum; to knit Anu, that is, we, and El, that is, God, with his Im, into one: one word and one thing, univoce, again. So upon the point, in these three pieces, there be three persons; so, a second kind of trinity-God, we, and Christ; El is God; Anu we; for Christ nothing left but Im; that is, cum,

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