Seven godly and learned sermons preachedSeuen godly and learned sermons preached

for at what time Adam had transgressed Gods commandment, and so fallen from the joys of Paradise; God himself, to put Adam in some comfort again, pronounced these words against the wicked Serpent that had wrought him that woe,¹ and said, Ipsum conteret caput tuum, The seed of the woman shall tread down thy head: he, he it is that shall break down and destroy the power of the devil, said God unto Adam. This promise (I say) even at the beginning of the world was made by God unto Adam, and so continued to the time of Christ: for afterward this same promise declared God likewise, to many a good and godly man. He said unto Abraham, ²In sum tuo benedicentur omnes fives terrae, In thy seed (said God) in that seed of thine shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed. To David also God declared likewise this promise, and said;³ De semine tuo ponam super soliū tuū, Of the truit of thy body shall I set upon thy seat. And so in the time of Isaiah his prophet, god continued this promise, and said;⁴ Ecce virgo concipiet, & pariet ⟨image 68⟩filium cuius nomen erit Emanuel, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, whose name shall be Emanuel, that is, God amongst us. And hereunto witnessed all the Patriarchs and Prophets, even from the first beginning of the world, unto the time of the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. And therefore, because the whole Scriptures, the Patriarchs, the Prophets, spake thus plainly of Christ, and declared his coming. Christ said, Scrutamini Scripturas, ⁵illae enim testimonium perhibent de me, search you the Scriptures, for they do bear witness of me. Likewise again to the Scribes and Pharisees, he said, Si Mosei crederetis crederetis & mihi, ⁶If ye believed Moses, ye would believe me, for Moses also hath written to me; he hath told you of me, said Christ, & therefore if you believed him, ye would also believe me. And thus all the whole body of the Scriptures bare record of the coming of Christ: the Patriarchs knew long before that Christ should be borne: the Prophets prophesied of his coming into the world. But when