A commentary or, exposition upon the divine second epistle general, writtenA commentary or, exposition vpon the diuine second epistle generall, written

First, that the Coming of CHRIST was in Power, Esa. 64.1. Oh that thou wouldest rent the heavens, and come down; that the mountains might flow at thy presence. Alas, how could this be when as he came in such baseness! Esa. 53.2. He hath •o form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Therefore when he came unto his own, his own received him not, John 1.11. His Palace was a stable, his Courtiers beasts, his chair of state a man• ger, his royal robes a few rags. No bells ring, no bonfires proclaim his birth through the popular streets: no great Ladies came to visit his mother. In stead of thundering in the clouds, he lies crying in the clouts▪ for beating down his enemies, he is glad to flee from their faces into Egypt. Where was then his glorious Power, or how appeared his majesty? Yes, his coming was in great Power: for if all the devils in hell could have hindered it, he had been stayed. Yea for this he came, •o dissolve the works of the devil. If our sins could have letted it: yea, they rather brought him. De caelo traxerunt non merita nostra, sed peccata, Aug. It was not our merits, but our sins, that drew him from heaven. The tyranny of Herod, and that butcherly Inquisition bloodied in the deaths of so many Infant Martyrs, could not cross it. Psal. 2. The Kings of the earth conspire, and take counsel together but nec artes nec martes, neither their power nor policy could withstand it. Neither was the glory of Christ wanting, though it conveyed it self in a less public for me. He had a famous Harbinger to go before him, and to prepare his way; John the Baptist, than whom there rose not a greater, among them that were borne of women. His bonfire was in heaven, a Star directing the wise men to him. The bells that rung for joy, were armies of Angels; an heavenly host praising God, Luk. 2.13. His Palace heaven, his regal Throne mans conscience, his robes his own merits, richly adorning us: there was majesty in his humility. Thus came the Lord of life to the children of death. Non liberatum fuisset humanum genus, nisi Sermo Dei dignatus esse humanus, Aug. Mankind had not been redeemed, unless the word of God had been hominified. If we say that he hath humanity in him, that receives a man into his house; Quàm humanus ille qui suscipit hominem in seipsum;