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I.

1, carnestly and heartily desire God to bless, to bless all SERMON Christ's ways of coming to us, that we may joyfully, and cheerfully, and devoutly entertain him. Desire God, 2, to bless him that cometh in his name, him, whoever he be, that he sends to us; but this 'O èpxóμevos especially, that his coming may come abroad to all the world, all come in unto him. Desire, 3, that man may bless him; incite the sons of men to sing praise too unto him. "Praise him, all ye nations; praise him, all ye people;" strive what we can to get all we come nigh to come with us, and bear a part in blessing him.

In a word, bless we ourselves in him; think, and profess, and proclaim ourselves blessed that Christ is come to us, that we have our part and portion in him; place all our joy, all our rejoicing, all our triumph that he is with us, that the "name of the Lord is declared" unto us, that by his coming the name of the Lord is called upon us, that we are now of his retinue, that we now belong unto him, that he is daily coming in us.

And for this Hosanna, now, 3, in excelsis indeed, “Hosanna to him in the highest:" sing we it as loud as we can reach, as loud as we can cry it.

And that may pass for the first interpretation of in excelsis, that we are to cry it as loud as we can cry it, do what we can to express our joy, how we can to give him thanks, to exalt his praise what we are able, in excelsis, "to the highest" of our power; so, 1, "Praise him in the height."

We all of us in excelsis, in our highest, yea, and 2, the very highest, the very most in excelsis of us all, the highest of us, is too low to praise him worthily; yet praise him, O ye highest, ye kings and princes of the earth, "Kings of the earth and all people," come down from your excelsis, and lay your crowns and sceptres at the feet of this King (as S. Luke) that cometh, and submit all your kingdoms to the kingdom of Christ; make ye all your kingdoms to bless his, that your kingdoms also may be blessed.

Ps. cxlviii. 1.

Ps.

cxlviii. 11.

Ps.

Nay, and yet there are higher than these highest, who are to praise him: "Praise him, all ye heavens," "Praise him, all ye angels: praise him, all his hosts." So S. Luke intimates it when he expresses it, "Peace on earth, in heaven, and glory ver. 2.

cxlviii. 4.

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SERMON in the highest ;" glory in heaven for the peace that is made between heaven and earth by Him that cometh here in the name of the Lord; by whom, says the Apostle, all things are Col. i. 20. reconciled, "whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." "Hosanna in the highest," for this peace with the highest, sung be it by heaven and earth, by angels and The angels sang somewhat a like song at his birth when he was coming into the world, according as S. Luke interprets it; and will sing it again if we invite them, as the Psalmist does, to sing with us; and we must desire it, that God may be praised: all glory both in heaven and earth.

men.

That is the way, indeed, to "Hosanna in the highest," as it is a song of praise; but it is also, we told you, a prayer, that even our praises, and the ground of them, may continue.

A prayer, 1, to God in excelsis, the most highest, as the Psalmist speaks, "Save us, O thou most highest." No salvation but from those everlasting hills of mercy, salvation to be looked for from none else; the very meanest of the multitude know that.

A prayer, 2, for salvation in excelsis, that he would deliver us with a high hand, work salvation with a mighty arm, such as all the world might see it; that he would magnify this King that cometh, and exalt his Kingdom that cometh to the clouds, set it above the reach and power of malicious men, make it grow and prosper, maugre all contradiction and opposition of the highest and strongest of the earth.

A prayer, 3, for salvation in excelsis indeed, for salvation in the highest heavens; not only to be delivered here, but to be saved hereafter; not only for grace and righteousness here of the highest pitch, but for glory of the highest order: a prayer that God, as he has exalted Him that here came in his name, so he would exalt us, all that call upon his name, to sit at his right hand in heavenly places, in the highest right. So these multitudes pray, and so pray we; so praise they, and so praise we. Do what we can ourselves to praise and bless him, and do what we can to get others to do it; call upon the angels to join with us, do it with all our might and strength, stretch out our voices, screw up our strings; nothing content or satisfy us in our vers or praises, but

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the highest, the highest thankfulness, the highest devotion, SERMON the highest expression and way of both, that either the multitudes before, or the multitudes that follow, Jews or Christians, former or latter saints, ever used before us.

All, perhaps, cannot spread carpets, cloths, and garments to entertain him, nor have all boughs of palms or olives to meet him with; all have not wherewith to make a solemn show and flourish; but all have tongues, all may sing Hosannas to him; or if that word be hard, all may cry, "Save us, Lord," and "Blessed be he that came and cometh." If we have neither substance to praise him with, nor solemn ceremonies allowed us to praise him by, nor solemn services permitted to pray to him, or to praise him, we have yet words, and Psalms, and prayers to do it with, and times and places that none can hinder us. And if we set about it in excelsis, with high courage, such as becomes the servants of the Highest, and neither fear the face of man nor devil; we may do it in excelsis too, with high solemnities. Our Hosanna to be saved, "Save us, O King of Heaven, when we call upon thee;" our prayers will save us from any thing that can hurt us; He that is in the highest will succour and defend us, preserve and bless us and if we follow him strongly with our cries, follow these multitudes close in their devotion to follow Christ, sing out his praise with courage, pray with fervency, go out to meet him with joy, entertain him with gladness, own his coming with confidence, celebrate it with holy worship, do all to the highest of our powers our Hosannas shall be quickly turned into Allelujahs, our blessing him into being blessed ourselves by him, and we, with all the Saints that went before or followed him, sing Benedictuses and Allelujahs in the highest; to the highest God in the highest heavens, for ever and ever. Amen.

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A SERMON

ON THE

SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

II.

S. MARK i. 3.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

SERMON S. JOHN BAPTIST is here sent, in the verse before the text, to prepare his way. Holy Church sends her baptists and preachers still, four several days together before the time (for so many Advent Sundays or great days of preparation there are in her holy Calendar) to do as much. Conceive me the voice of one of them to-day, of one crying in the wilderness, in a land as wild and barren of good, as any wilderness of water, "Prepare ye the way," &c.

Indeed he had need of a better voice than mine, that cries it now to any purpose. Need there is of a loud crier indeed, of vox clamantis at the highest, one to cry it aloud, and ring it in men's ears, to get them to it; they have so almost forgotten, many of them, both day and preparation-his day and his way, so many new ones have they of their own.

Nay, and where old day and way are both pretended to be observed, there is too much wilderness and desert; so many wild, irregular, unmortified passions and affections, such dry, barren doings, so much of our own ways, and ends, and interests, even in religious business, the straight way deserted but too much, that we had need of some rough John Baptist to thunder it to awaken us.

Nor will once crying it serve the turn. One single "Prepare" will do no good. "Prepare, make straight," both little

II.

enough; and three Evangelists to cry it so after the Baptist SERMON has done crying: again and again, over and over, scarce sufficient to keep wild passions under, to work us to a sufficient preparation, to make straight paths, or keep them.

S. John, the Gospeller for the day, has only the first part of the text, the other three have both, S. Matt. iii. 3, S. Luke iii. 4, and S. Mark here in the text. The Prophet Isaiah, whence the words are taken, has so too, with some addition. Were we what S. John would have us, we should need no addition; but being what we are, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little," are too little for it. It is best to take the fullest, that our preparation may be the fuller; to take it too out of the mouths of two or three witnesses, that so every word may be established in our hearts and in our memories: the Lord's way prepared, his paths made straight, the work done against his coming, whensoever, and howsoever, and which way soever he shall vouchsafe to come unto us.

The words are originally the Prophet Isaiah's, prophesied Isa. xl. 3. by him, but proclaimed by S. John Baptist, Christ's herald to proclaim his coming, and his harbinger to take up his lodging for him in the hearts of the sons of men. And a proclamation they are to all to prepare and to make ready, make all ready to entertain him and two points there are of it, two parts of the preparation required in it.

I. To prepare his way.

II. To make straight his paths.

This way of his divides itself, you see, into the great open road, and into narrow paths: and each has its proper way of ordering; "prepare" to one, and "make straight" to the other. Prepare his way, make straight his paths.

But to prepare it for the fuller and easier understanding (for I preach to all), I shall do with the text as we do with our rooms and houses, when we prepare and make them ready; in doing that, we turn things upside down, remove them this way and that way, hither and thither, till we find where to place them best. I shall use the words so here; disturb their order, that I may bring all into the better order, and we all make the better preparation, and set all things straight.

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