do

put out of your hearts all anxious thought and care? Why do ye not so compose and set yourselves, that all the

gestures of your body may frankly, and with a lasty courage, declare your joy, mirth, gladness, felicity, and pleasure ? There is, believe me, not one cause of sadness, but of gladness many, yea and innumerable. For God is now no more an enemy unto you, but a dear friend. He is become, of a severe Judge, a merciful Saviour; of an austere and fierce Lord, a bounteous and gentle Father; of an extreme Revenger, a tender Forgiver. To be short, he is now become the very same unto you, that a most tender, most gentle, most loving, most bounteous, most kind, most beneficial, most liberal, and most benign father is to his own son, whom he most entirely loves, and tenderly enhales* above all the others. How therefore can ye be sad ? How can ye any

otherwise than rejoice and be merry ? seeing that all dolour, all sorrow, all care, all grief, all pain, all peril, all trouble, all danger, all disquietness, all hatred, all malice, all enmity, all malevolence, all ill will, all wrath, all displeasure, all desire of vengeance, and all that ever is contrary to your joy and pleasure, to your health and comfort, to your rest and tranquillity, is utterly extinguished; and so put away for ever and ever, that you who are of God's faithful congregation, obedient to his word, and ready to accomplish his most holy and divine will, shall never after this perish and fall out of favour, but have eternal life. And all this is come to pass through God's grand mercies, by the glorious nativity and most blessed birth of his well-beloved Son Jesus Christ; who this day is born of a pure virgin in Bethlehem, a city of David, through the miraculous and wonderful operation of the Holy Ghost; that he should be a Saviour, yea

and an all-sufficient Saviour, to save his people, that is to say, so many as believe in him, from their sins, and from the danger of Satan, that they may be made inheritors of eternal glory.

These NEWS OUT OF Heaven, am I, Gabriel, the angel and ambassador of God, sent to declare unto you, that

ye may unfeignedly rejoice, not in vain and worldly things, but first in the Lord God your Saviour, and afterwards in celestial and heavenly things, and evermore be thankful for them ; walking worthy this inestimable benignity and unspeakable goodness of God the Father through Jesus

Christ; that these singular benefits may not at any time seem to be showed to ungrateful and unthankful persons.

Methinks I see you now begin to rejoice and leap for joy, yea, and seriously to triumph, as persons full of frank courage at the hearing of these most pleasant and joyful news, which is to me certainly no common delight and small pleasure. But that ye may rejoice unfeignedly, and know that ye have an urgent and weighty cause to be glad, yea, and that with a continual mirth, and such a joy as ought to be immortal and never die ; I will rehearse to you what a damnable state ye were in, before these most comfortable news were sent unto you from the most glorious and imperial seat of the inost blessed Trinity; that you, perceiving your own miserable condition, may the more seriously rejoice in these sweet and delectable news.

God, in the beginning, as the holy scriptures testify, created man according to his own similitude, likeness, and image. That is to say, He endued him with immortality, wit, * reason, sapience,f justice, free will, mercy, goodness, holiness, truth, and all perfection, and gave him empire and rule over all living creatures ; placing himn in a joyful paradise, a garden full of pleasure, that he should work in it and keep it ; giving him also authority, power, and liberty to eat of every tree in the garden, save only of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If man did eat of that ever so soon, God told him before that he should die the death—that is, fall from the glorious state wherein then he was, and become mortal, wretched, sinful, miserable, servile, thrall,ş captive, and a very bond-slave to satanhated of God, void of all goodness, bent to all mischief, the son of perdition, a firebrand of hell, a vessel of ire and wrath. All these things did God tell before unto Adam, that he might be prudent, wise, and circumspect, and the better arm himself with courageous valour to fight against the crafty and subtle assaults of his enemy.

Not long after, Satan, whom God before had thrown out of heaven for his proud disobedience, and disobedient pride, envying man that blessed and glorious state wherein he did remain ; desiring also his perdition like his own, full craftily and like a wily serpent, attempted the woman as the more frail vessel, and ready to be subdued and overcome;, so that at the last, through his subtle and • Understanding.

+ Wisdom. | Righteousness.

§ A bond gervant.

crafty persuasions, she gave place to that wily serpent, the father of lying, and wickedly transgressed God's most holy commandment. For Satan told her plainly that there was no danger in eating of that fruit which was forbidden; neither should they die the death, though they so did ; yea, rather their eyes should be opened, and they should be as gods, knowing good and evil. The woman, being enflamed with these honey-like and sweet enticements, seeing also that the tree was good to eat of, fair to the eye and pleasant to behold, took the fruit of it, did eat, and afterwards gave of it to her husband, who did eat in like manner; so that straightway both their eyes were opened, and they saw that they were naked ; that is, they perceived right well that they were now become miserable, wretched, sinful, reduced to extreme calamity, and utterly, fallen from the favour of God, for the transgression of his most blessed precept, which made them to be very much ashamed, and to hide themselves from the face of God. Oh miserable and pitiful change! Oh chance more perilous than cạn be expressed !

Now is a man become of immortal, mortal; of good, evil; of righteous, wicked; of wise, foolish; of holy, profane; of virtuous, ill-disposed; of free, bond; of merciful, cruel ; of godly, devilish ; of faithful, unfaithful; of spiritual, carnal; of true, false; of a vessel of mercy, the vessel of wrath ; of the son of God, the son of the devil; of the heir of glory, the heir of damnation, Alas! when man was in honour, he perceived it not, and therefore is he now become even like unto a brute beast. He is altogether without the Spirit of God, he is all carnal and fleshly, therefore God's Spirit cannot abide in him, neither can man perceive those things that pertain to the Spirit of God; yea, and what is more to be lamented, not Adam alone is fallen into this damnable state, but also all his posterity. For through this his fault and wicked sin, all the earth, with the inhabitants thereof, are accursed. So that so many as come of this old Adam are damned, cursed, and thrown from the favour of God.

This one transgression of God's commandment hath made you all subject to the yoke and tyranny of Satan, and bound to everlasting damnation. Adam is your father, and you are his children; look therefore, in what case he is, in the very same are you. Adam is carnal, therefore are ye carnal; Adam is wicked, therefore are ye wicked; Adam

is the son of wrath, therefore are ye the sons of wrath ; Adam is a liar, and nothing but vanity, therefore are ye liars and nothing but vanity; Adam is captive and bond prisoner to Satan, sin, death, and hell, therefore are ye captives and bond-prisoners to Satan, sin, death, and hell. How can it be otherwise ? That which is born of flesh is flesh. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of briers ? So likewise every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth ill fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth ill fruit, neither a corrupt tree good fruit. Even as it is impossible for a sour crah-tree to bring forth savoury and sweet apples, so is it impossible for a sinful man, drowned and buried all in sin, I mean Adam, to beget any other than sinful, ungodly, and wicked children. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the ill treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is ill. Now Adam was evil, therefore whatsoever he brought forth must needs be evil. Yea, verily, by the sin of this one man Adam, evil was brought forth upon all men unto damnation. By the disobedience of him were ye all made sinners, and by nature the sons of wrath. For this one man's fault did sin enter into the world, and through sin, death ; and so death came upon all men, insomuch as all ye have sipned. Ye were therefore begotten in sin, conceived in sin, and brought forth in sin. None of you all is pure, but every one is polluted with ungodliness. There is no difference; all have sinned, and want the glory of God. Ye are corrupt and become abominable in your studies, there is not one that doeth good, no not one. For the Lord hath looked from heaven upon the children of men, for to see if there were any that had understanding, or seeketh after God. But all are fallen from the true way, they are altogether become unprofitable, there is not one that doeth good, no not one. Their throat is like a wide-mouthed grave, they work deceit with their tongues, the poison of adders is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and wretchedness are in their ways; they know not the way of peace, neither is there any fear of God before their eyes.

These are the sinful, wicked, and damnable fruits which you, full of sin, wickedness, and damnation, bring forth.

Your minds and thoughts also are prone to evil at all times. Ye are not able once to think a good thought of yourselves. Who being born of woman, can appear pure and clean in the sight of God, before whom the stars are not pure? What is then to be thought of man, who is nothing but dust, and a very worm? Who is able to say, My heart is clean, and I am pure from sin ? Ye have all sinned! Ye are all become unclean! All your righteousnesses are like a polluted cloth. Ye are fallen as a leaf, and your iniquities have carried you away, as the wind. If ye say that ye have no sin, ye deceive yourselves, and the truth is not in you. For your heart is wicked and inscrutable. Ye are unprofitable servants; yea, ye are hypocrites and wicked, and the mouths of you all have spoken foolishness. All of you have gone astray as sheep; every one has walked after his own fantasy. Ye all are of stubborn heart; ye love vanities and seek after lies. To be short, ye are foolish people, unwise children, and mad. To do mischief ye are wise enough, but to do good ye are very fools.

Here may ye see, as in a clear mirror, your deformity, your botches, your sores, your grievous wounds. Now may ye learn what ye are of yourselves ; certainly, very flesh. That is to say, all that ever is naught, enemies to God, lovers of yourselves, captives to Satan, and firebrands of hell. What remedy, what shift will ye find ? Whither will ye go? To what coast will ye turn you? How will ye escape the fierce wrath of God? Whither will ye go from his Spirit? Whither will ye flee from his face? If ye go up into heaven, he is there; if ye go down to hell, there is he ready also. If ye take your flight in the morning, and dwell in the furthest part of the sea ; verily his hand will reach you there, yea, and his right hand shall catch you. What will

ye do now? To flee profiteth nothing, to abide also bringeth damnation ; thus you see that ye cannot escape by any means. To mitigate and assuage the divine ire and God's wrath ye are not able. Your sin hath made God angry with you. What have ye now, I pray you, wherewith ye may please him ? Yourselves, as ye have heard heretofore, are the children of wrath, begotten in sin, conceived in sin, born in sin, carnal, wicked, and ungodly: your heart is corrupt, unclean, stinking, flowing with iniquity, arrogant, puffed up, proud, hating God, loving itself, full of hypocrisy and all evil. Your fruits are like unto yourselves, that is, detestable in the