THE THIRD SERMON

ON THE

EPIPHANY.

MATTHEW ii. 11.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

XX.

OUR last year's business from the text was to see what the SERMON wise men saw: Philip's counsel to Nathanael, to " come and see." This year's shall be to do what the wise men did, John i. 46. what all wise men will do still; holy David's invitation to "fall down and worship." For having found this blessed [Ps. xev. 6.] "Child," the end of all our journeys, the crown of all our labours, the sum of all our desires and wishes-this InfantGod, this young King of heaven and earth-what can we less than do our obeisance and pay our homage? All wise men will do so-adore the rising Sun, make sure of somewhat; or, in the Psalmist's phrase, "rejoice with reverence, (Ps. ii. 11, and kiss this Son, lest he be angry, and so we perish;" fall 12.] down before him, and even kiss his feet in an humble adoration, that he may lift us up and advance us in his kingdom,at least remember us when he comes into it.

To "come into the house" else, where Jesus is, and there to see him,-to stand and look upon him only, and no more,- is a journey and sight to little purpose. The ox and the ass "saw" him; and many, no doubt, to as little purpose, upon the

27.

XX.

SERMON shepherds' report, and the rumour of these wise men coming from the East, came to see and gaze upon him. It is this worshipping that sanctifies, prospers all our journeys; we begin them but untowardly, and finish them but unluckily, without it. If we fall not down upon our knees before we go out, and bow not ourselves and worship not in thankfulness when we come in, we cannot assure ourselves of any great good, either of our goings out or of our comings in, how successful soever they seem at first-even to have obtained their ends, even found Jesus too. This same worshipping is both the end and blessing of all our journeys, if they be blest; nor see we, or understand we, anything thoroughly or comfortably where that is wanting, where the worship and service of God and our Saviour is not both the aim and endeavour of all our motions.

Wise men "they" were here, that now for these twelve days Acts viii. have made it theirs; and the Ethiopian eunuch, a great counsellor, made it the only business of his journey "to Jerusalem to worship" only, and so return. And in the devouter times of Christianity, the devout Christians, when their haste was such they could not stay out a prayer or collect, would yet never pass a church but they would in and bow themselves and worship and be gone. Tanti est adorare; so weighty a business it is to worship, though but in transitu, to prosper anything we are about.

It was so thought then: it would be so now, did we not more study to make enquiries about Christ than to serve him, to dispute about Christianity than to practise it. Christianity here begins with it. These first Christians, I may call them, thus professed their service to their Saviour, thus addict themselves to the faith and obedience of Christ and were there no other reason in the world to persuade it, it were certainly enough, that the first faith in Christ was after this fashion, thus acknowledged and performed.

:

Three acts there are of it in the text:—πεσόντες, προσεκύνησαν, προσήνεγκαν, falling down, worshipping, and offering. The first, the worship of the body; the second, of the soul; the third, of our goods: with these three, our bodies, our souls, our goods, we are to worship him with all these his worship is to be performed: without them all it

is but a lame and maimed sacrifice, neither fit for wise men SERMON to give, nor Christ to receive.

Two points of the text we are gone through: the wise men's journey and success, their coming and their seeing, their labour and their reward. Three now we have to go through-procidentes, adorarunt, et obtulerunt; the three acts, or parts, or points of worship we are to perform to Christeach in its order as it lies. And first, of procidentes, their prostration.

Here it is we first hear of any worship done to Christ; and this falling down, this prostration, the first worship; as if no other, no lesser adoration could serve turn after so great a blessing as the sight of a Saviour: as if his taking on a body challenged our whole bodies now; his coming down from heaven, our falling down upon the earth; his so great humiliation, our greatest expression of our humility.

31.

XX.

Gen. xviii.

Many sorts of adoration have been observed, greater and lesser,-bowing the head, bowing the body, bending the knee, Exod. iv. worshipping upon the knee. God thus worshipped by them all. And falling down before him is no news to hear of, neither in 2. Scripture nor antiquity, whatsoever niceness, or laziness, or Ps. xcv. 6. profaneness, of late have either said or practised against it.

They were wise men here that did it; yet it is well that the Scripture calls them so. I know who have been counted fools, superstitious fools, for as little a matter, for the same; though I cannot but wonder to see as much done in a compliment to a thing worse than a reasonable man, whilst God himself is denied it. Indeed, it may be, if we compare the persons, we shall quickly see the reason. These in the text were wise men, of credit and reputation; men of some quality; men that understood themselves, and knew the language of heaven, and can turn the stars to their proper uses; that think not much of much pains to find a Redeemer; that know how to use a King, and serve a God; that run readily at the first call of Heaven to pay this worship. Yourselves can inform you what they are that deny it: I shall not tell you.

Poor ignorant shepherds may, perhaps, through ignorance or astonishment, omit the ceremony and be pardoned, so they go away praising and rejoicing; but great learned clerks cannot be excused if they pretermit it; but neither the

Isa. xlv.23.

SERMON
ΧΧ.

Gen. xvii.

17.

Gen. xxiv. 26.

Gen. xlvii.

31.

31.

Deut. ix.

18.

Ps. v. 7. 2 Chron. vi. 13.

13.

Dan. vi.

10.

2 Chron.

one nor the other, if they deny it. Ignorance will be no sufficient plea for the one, nor a distinction or a pretence of scandal for the other, in a point so plain, as perpetual custom from the beginning of the world, and plain words of Scripture, make it.

Abraham falls "upon his face" in a thankful acceptance of God's promise. His servant Eleazar "bows down and worships." Old Jacob did as much as he could towards it on his bed. And the people of Israel, and this before the Exod. iv. law was given-and Moses, before the law was written"fell down before the Lord," as he tells the people. So it was no Jewish law or custom then, but even a point of the law of nature, though practised also by the Jew-by David, by Solomon, by Ezekiel, by Daniel, by all the prophets, by Ezek. xi. all the people; all the children of Israel together "bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped and praised the Lord." Christ himself allows the people to do as much to him; takes it, and takes it kindly from them. Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, "falls at his feet." Mary does as much. Others often do the same, and none forbidden it: nay, he himself does it to his Father, "fell down and prayed;" and do we then think much to do it? The very saints in heaven, where there is nor Rev. v. 8. shadow, certainly, nor ceremony, fall down before him, even before the Lamb and are we too good to do it? Is the practice of all ages-of heaven, of earth, and Christ too-not strong enough to bow our stubborn necks? Is there Judaism and superstition in heaven, in Christ too? Oh, then, let me be superstitious! I am content to be so, to be called so by any generation upon earth.

vii. 3.

Mark v. 22. John xi. 32.

Mark xiv. 35.

Rev. xi. 16.

Rev. xix. 4.

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But to make it yet more evident, if it can be-nature itself, in the midst of its corruptions, keeps yet this impression undefaced, and more plainly professes this reverence due to the Deity, than even the Deity itself. Never did any, the most blind and foolish heathen, yet acknowledge a God, but presently they worshipped him with their bodies. Nay, never did any ever pretend either honour or respect to man, but he expressed it some way by his body, by some gesture or other of it. And must God that made it, and Christ that redeemed it, only go without it? Must man be reverenced

XX.

with the body, and the devil served with it; and God be put SERMON off with the worship of the soul, which yet neither can express itself, nor think, nor do anything without the body, whilst it is in it? It was thought a good argument by S. Paul, to "glorify God in our body as well as in our spirits," (and in old manuscripts, I must tell you, év πveúμatɩ is not found; ev T owμari, the body only, is,) because they are God's. He hath "bought them with a price," 1 Cor. vi. 20: good reason, then, that he should have them. "The body is for the Lord," (ver. 13 of that chapter.) Who then should have it but he? It is for nobody else: he only can claim it; others do but borrow it, or usurp it: let him therefore have it; it is his own, and it cannot be bestowed better; he knows best to use it, how to keep it, fear we not. Indeed, it is so unreasonable to deny it him, so unprofitable to the very body to keep it from him, that I know not why we should expect to have it either safe or well when we deny it him. Who can keep it better? Who can easier lift it up when it is down, raise it up when it is fallen, preserve it in health and strength, than he? And are we such fond fools, then; not to present it always to his protection, and lay it at his feet, who if he tread upon it does yet do it good?

Though we were heretics of the highest impudence, and denied his Godhead, yet confessing his humanity we can do no less than give the worship of our bodies to him; we can give him nothing less. I may, without breach of charity, I fear, suspect that this generation, that are so violent against the worship of the body, will ere long neither confess his Godhead nor his manhood; turn Arian and Manichee both together, and prove a kind of mixed heretics unheard of hitherto, beyond all the wickedness and folly of all their former predecessors; come so far at last to think all done in a fancy or a dream, make all the work of our redemption come to nothing; for certainly, did they either seriously think him true God or true man, we should see it by their bodies, especially seeing we cannot see any thing by their 1 Kings spirits to the contrary. Even men used to be thus wor- i. 31. shipped, and prophets. So that, did they confess him any ii. 15. thing, they would certainly fall down and worship him, not deny it, to be sure, whether do it or no.

2 Kings