A SERMON

ON THE

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

S. MATT. xxi. 9.

And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

"BLESSED is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" Blessed is any coming and going that comes so: Hosanna to him, God bless him, or Hosanna for him; God be blessed for him, whoever he be. All that went before, and all that follow, all men will say so.

And yet in nomine Domini incipit omne malum, said Luther once, "In the name of the Lord begins all mischief." (And we still find it so) the whole game of mischief begun and carried on in nomine Domini, "under the name of God," as the Lord's work. How should we do, then, to discern the right in nomine Domini, when he that comes in the name of the Lord comes truly so? Many ways, peradventure, may be given to know it by, but this is the shortest: If the multitudes that went before, and that followed after, cry Hosanna to him; if the saints of former ages and their successors approve the manner of his coming; if it be in a way the Church of Christ has from its first beginning allowed for Christian; that is, if he come meek and lowly, humbly riding upon an ass, with palms and olives, the ensigns of peace and love; then he comes in nomine Domini right: but if proud and scornful, with horse and chariot, sword and spear, instead of

SERMON

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SERMON olive boughs and branches, with a sword to cut in sunder the

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bond of peace and unity, and a spear to keep off charity, let him cry out in nomine Domini, talk of the Lord, and take his name into his mouth never so much, it is but a mere in nomine, and no more; a mere pretence and name, no Domini, nothing in it really of God; neither the multitudes before, nor multitudes that follow, nor any of the Primitive Christians ever sung Hosanna, gave any blessing or approbation, to such comers or their comings. He that comes here in the text, came nothing so; and he that will come after him must not come so: Hosanna to no such.

But Hosanna to him that truly comes in the name of the Lord God's blessing with him. To him that comes so in the text, "to the Son of David," to Him no question. It is the business, both text and time; the words in hand, the days in hand, the days of holy Advent, are to teach us to sing Hosannas to our Saviour, to bless God for his coming, to bless him for his coming, all his comings, all his ways of coming to us; to bless his day that is a-coming, whence all his other comings come; to bless him in the highest, with heart, and tongue, and hand, to the highest we can go, that he may also bless us for it in the highest.

That it might be done the better, Holy Church has designed four Sundays to prepare us for it, wherein to tune our pipes, and fit our instruments and voices to sing Hosanna in the right key, the highest pitch, to praise God as is fitting for Christ's coming.

A business sure well worth the doing, and some good time for it worth the observing, if we either think him worth it that is here spoke of as coming, or his coming worth it. Indeed, the coming in the text is not the coming of that Feast that is now a-coming, but it is one of the ways prescribed by the Church for our better coming to the Feast, by preparing with these multitudes some boughs and branches, some Hosannas and Benedictuses, some provision of holy thoughts and divine affections for it. They "that went before," and they "that followed," in the text, sung Hosanna for a lesser coming of Christ's than that was in the flesh: we may well do it for a greater, especially making this in the text a degree or note to ascend to that, one coming to

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usher to the other; the humility of his coming to Jerusalem, SERMON a way to exalt the greater humility of his coming into the world. And we have the multitudes before, and the multitudes that follow; all Patriarchs before rejoicing with Father Abraham at his day, and all the Fathers since; all that went before or followed since his coming-former and later Christians for our example. They all, in their several generations, thought fit yearly to remember it; and so long, even four Advent Sundays together, to prepare the multitudes and people for it; that so, by preaching to them the way and manner of all Christ's comings, they might-1, Perfectly be instructed who it was, and is, that truly comes blessed "in the name of the Lord," and not be deceived by pretenders and pretences; and 2, Also truly and duly give the blessing where it ought, sing the Hosanna when, and where, and to whom we should, celebrate the memory of Christ's coming right, and Hosanna it as is meet.

Thus did all that went before; and it is fit they that come after should do as much, unless they were wiser or better than all that went before them. And all will do it; but those who are afraid to have their comings discovered to be no comings "in the name of the Lord," by the unlikeness of their comings; afraid to lose their in nomine, the name however, to have the multitudes that follow them fall off from them, if they should be taught by day, or time, or text, how far different their ways and comings are from the humble lowly comings and ways of Christ, whose name they so much pretend to come in, though their own name be the only name they truly come for.

Better example we have here before us, and by God's blessing we will bless with them-follow them in blessing Christ, both himself and coming, in the time and manner all that have followed him ever did it. And to do it the better, and more according to text and time, let us consider

I. Who they were that here blessed Christ for his coming: "The multitudes that went before, and that followed:" both of them, says the text.

II. What was their way of blessing, how they did it, expačov, says the Evangelist; they "cried," cried it aloud. III. Their song of blessing, what they cried, "Hosanna to

SERMON the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."

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When we have thoroughly considered these particulars, there will remain nothing but a word of exhortation to follow them that thus go before us; as they cried it and sung it before, so are we still to cry it and sing it after them. I begin with the persons, that we may, in the first place, know whom it is we follow, the "multitudes that went before, and that followed."

And that to the letter is no more than those companies of people, men, women, and children, who went out to Mount Olivet to meet our Saviour at his coming to Jerusalem, when he came riding thither upon an ass, some of them before him, some behind him, crying out Hosanna.

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Many they were, it seems, and not a single multitude neither, oxo, multitudes in the plural, several multitudes that did it and though it be no argument to prove anything good or lawful because the multitudes do it, yet when the multitudes do good it is good to take some notice of it; nay, when so many do it, it looks the better. The song of praise sounds never better than in the great congregation, and among much people; the music never sweeter in the ears of heaven than when the choir is fullest; a good note to teach us to fill holy assemblies, to bear our parts in the congregation.

And in this congregation, 2, the music, it seems, has all its keys and voices; men, women, and children all sing their parts; no sex or age to think themselves exempted from bearing part in God's service: though the Apostle will not suffer women to preach and teach, he will give them leave to sing and pray, to answer the responses, antiphones, and versicles, the Hymns and Psalms; the little children, too, to learn betimes to lisp them out; no better seasoning of their mouths than with prayers and praises to their Redeemer.

Nor, 3, were these multitudes merely the rout of people; there were men of all conditions in them, though it may be not many Josephs or Nicodemuses, yet some, no doubt,-so many of the rulers having had their sick servants, or wives, or children healed by him. There are none too good or great for God's service. It is no disparagement to any man's