THE SPLENDOUR OF THE SPOUSE A SERMON Preached in the Parish Church of WARE, Anno Domini, 1638. BY AUGUSTINE HILL, Rector of Dengey, in the County of ESSEX. BERN. Pascimur & patimur. AUG. Vsque ad hujus seculi sinem inter persecutiones mundi, & consolationes Dei procurrit Ecclesia. LONDON, Printed by E. P. for Nicholas Bourne, and are to be sold at his Shop, at the South Entrance of the Royal Exchange. 1640. TO THE HONOURABLE SIR THOMAS FANSHAW Knight of the Bath, his Majesty's Remembrancer in the Court of Exchequer. SIR, IT was the greatest happiness that ever did befall me, that I was assumed into your noble Family where I was furnished once, and a second time likewise with Ecclesiastical promotions, without any deserts, yea little or none attendance. A true Friend is deciphered to be an Angel clothed with flesh and blood, such have you been to me, the most careful and faithful friend that ever poor Scholar had. Coming to pay my annual tribute of thankfulness, a Sermon, it pleased you to accept of it, and to cast a respective eye more than ordinary towards me for it, though there be nothing in it to be affected, and in myself no affectation at all of it, but rather an indignation against mine own imbecility and endowments that I was not able to speak of those heavenly things in that manner as might raise my hearers to divine cogitations. What weight there is in it comes from your balance and favourable construction, for it was handled in plain familiar words, rather to express clearly the matter, then to hunt for polished phrases, and my desire is more to speak fortia quam diserta, as Saint Hierome saith, things of strength than eloquence, and rather vivere then loqui, as Minutius Felix observes, to live, then speak them. But I am a man compassed with infirmity, 'tis truly said of me, my bodily presence is weak, and my speech contemptible, 2 Corin. 10.10. But such was your sweet disposition that you still cast a mantle upon mine infirm carriage, which hath engaged my heart in a more thankful observance towards your worthy self. In testimony whereof I present to you this poor Sermon as a public Record, that to your Noble Family I own myself, and from thence have received all the livelihood and means of subsistence which I now enjoy, my loins and bowels bless you continually. The Lord increase upon you the blessings of heaven above, the blessings of the deep that lieth under, the blessings of the breasts and of the womb, Gen. 49.25. and the goodwill of him that dwelled in the bush dwell with you for ever, are the prayers of Yours most thankfully and humbly devoted, AUG. HILL. THE SPLENDOUR OF THE SPOUSE. CANT. 2.2. As the Lily among Thorns, so is my Love among the Daughters. I Have gleaned at this time in Solomon's Field, and that parcel of his called the Canticles, a Song of Songs, by way of eminency; for though there be many other sacred Songs, as that of Moses, of Deborah and Barak, Exod. 15. judges 5. and of the sweet Singer of Israel, and solomon's own Songs were a thousand and five, 1 Kings 4.32. yet this not only exceeds all them, but all other mentioned in holy writ. Doctor Hall. Let me use the words of a truly Divine man. Who can read this Book with understanding, and not be transported from the world, from himself, and be any where save in heaven before his time? there is nothing in it but savours of spiritual ecstasy and soul ravishment; If I say no more of it, it is sufficient that it is solomon's, a man above a man, above himself, who being ravished in spirit, and taken up as it were into the third heavens, warbled out that sweet affinity and nearness, that is, and shall be betwixt Christ and his Church, Ephes. 5.32. that great mystery as Saint Paul calls it. Interpreters are at odds about the former verse, but agree in this, that it is the voice of Christ concerning his Church, either describing her present condition amongst others, or preferring her before them, or persuading her how she ought to demean herself amongst them, to retain her native beauty and sweetness, though she be beset with never so many thorns. There is in the Text something positive, something comparative, the positive part is, that the Church is Christ his Love, the other are Daughters, the comparative part takes up the rest of the words. The positive part shows the sweet stile and title which Christ gives to his Church; He calls Her Love, and with a happy appropriation, my Love, which is a term both of propriety and possession. Others which are not the Church are called by the name of Daughters, by which are meant either Foreign Congregations, or such as live within the pale of the visible Church, yet belong not to him, therefore he forbears to challenge his interest in them, and leaves them, to a common appellation, the Daughters, not my Daughters. The comparative part hath these things obvious to every eye: First the subjects of this resemblance, the Church is like the Lily, the others are like Thorns. Secondly, the situation of the resembled parties. The Church is like the Lily among the Thorns. The stile which Christ gives his Church is Love. It comes nearest his own nature, for God is love, it best resembleth his benefits done for her, 1 john 4.16. Ephes. 5.25. husbands love your wives as Christ loved his Church, and how he loved it he expresseth in a way beyond humane expression, he gave himself for it, he loved it better than he loved himself. Dilexistime magis quam te, quando mori voluisti pro me. August. And it best sets forth the reference she hath to him, as being his Spouse, his Bride. The servant must honour his master, the Disciple must attend for instruction, the wife must love her husband, Bernard. amor ab amando, non honorando, saith Saint Bernard, and he gives these reasons for it, una utriusque haereditas, una domus, una mensa, unus etiam thorus, and there is no fit a union of these than love. The original then of the Church's bliss is Christ his love towards her. The first spring of election is love. Rom. 9 john 3.16. Hoseah 11.4. Jacob have I loved, the main Conduit or Cistern of Redemption is love. God so loved the world, the streams of vocation and sanctification. I drew thee with the cords of a man, with the bands of love, and the main Ocean of eternal glory, In amore haec insunt omnia, all is from love. There neither is nor can be any in her to move him to love her, much less to deserve his love, not her beauty, she acknowledgeth herself black, no Miriam more leprous, Can. 1. no polluted Thamar more hated in the eyes of an Amnon than she in his eyes, when he first took liking to her, not her parentage, for her father was an Amorite, her mother a Hittite, nor her portion, for what was hers naturally, Ezekiel 16. but sin and everlasting death the wages of it? nor her parts, for the best child of grace acknowledgeth, In me there dwelleth no manner of thing that is good; all than was in him free and pure love. Now we say magnes amoris amor, Rom. 7 love hath an attractive power to draw love, therefore let every Spouse of Christ remember to return love to him again, that every heart may plead for itself, as Peter did, Lord thou knowest that I love thee. O then let us pitch and settle our affections upon him, who is as Saint Bernard saith, verè amans & amabilis, one most truly loving us, and most worthy to be beloved of us: the Apostle pronounceth an extreme Anathema to him that fails in the retribution of it. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. 16.22. let him be Anathema Maranatha, and it should be a double engagement of our obedience and thank: and let us not only with the inward man love him; but with the outward also honour and confess him, who pleads for us before his Father in heaven: 'tis but a dead heart that hath a dumb voice when Christ his cause is in question: Canes latrare possunt pro Dominis, & non vis me latrare pro Christo? Hier. Tract. 3. op. 40. saith Saint Jerome to Ruffinus, the Dogs will bark for their masters, and wilt thou not have me speak for Christ? and he goes on: si ista causadi scordiae est, mori possum, tacere non possum: if that be the cause of our jars, I may die before hold my peace, yea let us so fare as in us lieth, not suffer him to be blasphemed by others: it was the zealous resolution of that holy Father. Ego si patrem, si matrem, si uxorem, si filios, si germanos adversum Christum meum audivissem ista dicentes, quasi rabidus canis blasphemantia ora lacerassem, & fuisset in primis manus mea super eos: Id, op. 20. And lastly it should be a double engagement of our obedience and thankfulness of our obedience to live unto him who hath so dear loved us, as to die for us, and our thankfulness may have that heavenly burden of the Saints, Rev. 1.5, 6. To him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen. The word is rendered Vicina, my neighbour, adjoining Inhabitant. Themistocles having a house to sell, commended it, that it had bonum vicinum, a good neighbour; the Church's bliss is, that Christ is pleased to dwell with them, yea in them, and make a resolution as in the Psalm, Psalm. 32. Here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein: and not only vicina, but proxima, my nearest one, both for counsel and comfort, he revealeth his secrets to them, and is ready at all assays to help them, yea amica my friend, as Abraham was called the friend of God, Jac. 2.23. He need fear no enemy who hath God to his friend: yet the original word goes further, for it is taken from feeding or conversing together, and expresseth that inward familiarity and union that is betwixt them. It must teach us all, by no means to estrange ourselves from Christ, but to keep a correspondence with him, to cherish our familiarity, friendship, to preserve our union, that we professing him to be ours, he may confess us to be his, as he doth his Church here, My love, which is a term both of propriety, and of possession. Of propriety, he claims a special interest in his Church, and he hath a true right in us all, both by making us his at the first, and by buying us again, when we had made away ourselves: his dear purchase we are, therefore let us not alienate ourselves from him, either in our affection, for he is the proper and adequate object of our love, minus east è te amat, Aug. qui aliquid praeter te amat, quod non propter te amat, he loves thee amiss who loves any thing besides thee, which he loves not in and for thee; nor in our obedience, but wholly devote ourselves to him, and him alone, that none may have the honour of our service but he, that abased himself to save us. Of possession: he hath a special care and custody of his Church, he keeps them as choicely as his jewels, as the apple of his own eye, he keeps their head as with a shield, that not a hair of it shall perish: yea their very feet, that they dash them not against a stone. By the Daughters are meant either foreign Congregations, as the Daughter of Babylon, Psalm 137. or else (as I conceive) such as live within the Pale of the visible Church, enjoy the same holy Word and Sacraments, which the elect Spouse of Christ doth, yet are they Thorns to his Lily: Spinae propter malignitatem morum, filiae propter Sacramentorum communionem: Aug. Vincentio Epist. 48. Id, in Ps. 36. eadem professio, sed non idem cor, saith the same Father, they have the same profession, but not the same heart, therefore the more dangerous, Mali Christianitantò nocentiores quanto interiores mimici, saith Saint August. Tom. 4. De side rerum invisibilium, if that work be his, the more inward enemies the more hurtful. Saint Bernard descanting of the Church's complaint of her bitterness, saith she was amara prius in niece martyrum, amarior postea in conflictu haereticorum, amarissima in moribus domesticorum: bitter first in the death of her Martyrs, more bitter in succeeding ages in her concertation with Heretics, most bitter in these last times in the corrupt manners of them of her own household. 2 Cor. 11.26. 1 john 2.19. Saint Paul speaks of perils among false brethren, and Saint John of some, they went out from us, Rom. 2. but they were not of us, they are not all Israel which are of Israel, Rom. 9 6. And he is a Jew which is one inwardly. Our Saviour mentions some that come in sheep's clothing. Tertul. Quae nam sunt istae pelles ovium, nisi nominis Christiani extrinsecus superficies, they have the name but not the nature of Christians, their habit shows them to be Daughters of Jerusalem, but in heart they are but Daughters of Babylon, therefore Christ leaves them to a common appellation, not gracing them with his appropriating term, my. Th●se whom Christ owns not here he will deny hereafter, and though they be never so nigh him, and enjoy all the outward privileges of the Church, yet non novi vos, is their doom: depart from me, Mat. 7. I know you not. So I return from the Goats to the Sheep, the Church of Christ here compared to a Lily, for as the Lily doth open herself to receive the bright rays and influences of the shining Sun: so doth the Church open her heart and affections to admit the heat and spiritual vigour of that Sun of righteousness; and again as the Lily shuts and closeth herself for her custody and safety so doth the Church contract and collect herself close together in a holy care and vigilancy to preserve herself from the rage and violence of temptations: and further as the Lily is always green, and changeth not her hue: so ought the Christian to be constant and immutable in holy duties. I will not press the comparison too fare, only touch the choice and most useful parts of the resemblance. Saint Bernard observes two special qualities wherein the Church doth resemble the Lily, propter candorem & odorem, the whiteness in colour and the sweetness of smell. 1. Whiteness, that is purity, & integrity of conscience, 2 Cor. 1.12. Can. 4.7. Saint Paul styles it simplicity and godly sincerity, in this respect is the Church said to be all fair, in regard of inward sincerity, that admits not the stain of black and foul hypocrisy, that let all us the children of the Church labour to be like our mother in this divine quality. Innocency is the badge, the true character of Christians. Innocentiam profitetur qui Christum profitetur, as Erasmus, Christianity is a profession composed of innocency. Saint Benard observes that a Christian of all beasts is resembled to the Lamb, of all birds to the Dove, of all trees to the Vine, of all flowers to the Lily, because the moral predominant quality of them all is innocency, and this whiteness is the genuine colour of our wedding garment in heaven, and in this life on earth, for the Saints above are described so clad, Rev. 7.9. And holy David sets them out in the same habit, Psa. 24. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, and here below our true cognisance is purity and uprightness of heart, joined with hands as white as snow in Salmon, for innocency, that no injustice may cleave unto our fingers, then shall we be like Christ our Master, in whom was no fault found nor guile in his mouth, and the issue shall be happy, we shall have peace at the last. Psalm. 37. 2. Odour or sweetness, the fragrancy of the Lily is admirable in pleasing the senses, and with the sweet smell thereof rejoicing the heart, so let there be in spiritual Lilies the odour of a good life which may smell sweet in the nostrils of God and man: of God, that he may testify of us, as Isaac did of Jacob, The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Gen. 27.27. Of man, that as Saint Paul saith, we may be the savour of Christ his knowledge in every place, that our name may be unguentum effusum, 2 Cor. 2. Cant. 1.3. Luc, 4.14. ointment poured forth, and as Christ his fame went through all the Region round about, so may the fame of our sanctity and justice be spread in those coasts where we abide, and as the Box of spikenard, wherewith Mary anointed Christ, filled the house with the odour of the ointment: john 12.3 so the savour of our gracious actions may fill the places where we live, then may be the Lily for sweetness and fragrancy. Zanch. in Hos. 14. A later Divine notes two other qualities wherein the Church should be like the Lily. First, in abundant fertility; for as he out of Pliny, Lilio nihil est foecundius, nothing is more fruitful than the Lily, nor aught to be then a Christian, who should be like those sheep whereof every one beareth twins, or like the tree of life, Cant. 4.2. Revel. 22.2. which beareth twelve manner of fruits. Grace admits not of a windy emptiness, but the wisdom that comes from above is full of mercy and good fruits, jac, 3.17. Phil. 1.11. jac. 2.5. 1 Tim. 6.18. and Saint Paul prays for the Philippians, that they might be filled with the fruits of righteousness; nor of beggarly poverty, but Christians must be rich in faith, rich in good works. Barrenness or fruitfulness not answerable to the bestowed cost, is accursed, there is not the same expectation of the Lily that grows of itself in the field, without the art and industry of man, and of ●ha in the Garden which is planted, manured and dressed with kindly husbandry. Certainly unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required, and they which receive five or two talents, must return a proportionable advantage: where God sows a Gomer, he will not be content at the harvest to re●pe an Ephah. Labour we then (my brethren) to abound in the work of the Lord, to make accounts agreeable to our receipts, that so we may answer the blessing, patience, and expectation of our Master: and the fruit of this abundant fruitfulness shall be, that an ●…rance shall be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. 1.11. Secondly, in a mature and seasonable fructification: as soon as the Spring comes, that the Sun yields a nourishing heat, the sweet influences of the Pleyades are loosed, the earth openeth her womb, and the warm showers and dews do distil upon it, that it is the time of vegetation; the Lily stays not but immediately gins to shoot and show herself in fruitfulness: so must spiritual Lilies do, take the very first tender and offer of grace, and readily obey the motions of God's Spirit: when God's voice speaks as in the 27. Psa. seek ye my face, our hearts may echo to it again. Thy face Lord will I seek, Primitiae Deo, the first fruits are fittest for the oblation of the Highest, the first borne for his service, his soul desires the first ripe fruit, the choicest trees of God's Orchard are Palms and Cedars, Psal. 91.11. Palms bring fruit betimes, and flourish abundantly, and Cedars they last very long. O take we heed of quenching those blessed motions which Gods Spirit breathes into our souls, of resisting the holy-Ghost, of receiving the grace of God in vain: 2 Cor. 6.1. depend not too much upon latter reins, and lateward Springs, but when his wind blows upon our garden, Cant. 4.16. Psalm 1.3. let the spices thereof flow out: then shall we be like the tree-planted by the water side, that brings forth his fruit in due season, yea like the Lily here in the Text. And now be pleased to cast but your eye upon the Daughters in the comparative part, and then we will view them as they are together, the Lily among the Thorns. They are like the Thorns, 1. For their noxious quality hurtful to every thing that toucheth them, they will wound and tear not only the garment but the flesh itself: I will tear your flesh with the Thorns of the wilderness: judges 8.7. yea they will putrify the flesh where they are hidden: so are wicked men full of cruelty, rapine, malignity, yea a secret venom they have which empoisons and corrupts whatsoever they adhere unto. The Prophet describing the general and desperate pravity of Prince and people, thus seems to aggravate it; The best of them is a briar, the most upright is sharper than a thorne-hedge: Micah. 7.4. and the blessing promised to Israel was this: There shall be no more a pricking briar unto the house of Israel, Ezek. 28.24. nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them. 2. For their sterility and barrenness of fruit, they bring forth nothing immediately profitable unto man. In the ninth Chapter of Judges, there is mention made of the Olives fatness, the Figtrees sweetness, the Vines refreshing and cheering, yet nothing of the thorn and bramble, but unparallelled ambition, pride, dissension, that ends in utter ruin, and destruction, yea they are causes of barrenness in others, they make the best soil and the most fruitful Land barren so are evil men unprofitable themselves, and make others good for nothing, like the Pharises who compass Sea and Land to make a Prosylite, Mat. 23.15. and when he is made, they make him twofold more the child of hell than themselves. Heb. 6.8. Math. 25. Lastly, for their end, for as of thorns the end is to be burned; so everlasting fire is the issue of all sinful courses, where they shall receive their just and deserved meed in that Lake that burns with fire and brimstone forever, where we will leave them, and come to speak of the Church her mixture with them here in this life, as being a Lily among the thorns. As the Lily among Thorns, so is my Love among the Daughters. 1. Saint Jerome expounds it, De Ecclesia Gentium quae velè medio remedio infidelium & non credentium quasi ex spinis emerserit, Hier. in Cant. God doth select and pick out his Church of the Gentiles from among unbelievers, as a Lily out of a great heap of thorns, so in the Prophet, I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness, Hoseah, 9.10. where no man expected them, yea God doth find us like Lilies among thorns, but even when we are very thorns as hurtful, as unfruitful, as fit for the fire as they, till God of thorns make us Lilies, therefore let us glorify the riches of his grace, and set forrh the praise of him who hath changed our disposition, made us innocent, pleasing to himself, profitable to others, and shall be one day transplanted into his Celestial Paradise. 2. Saint Austin understands it of the mixture of good and bad in the visible Church, Aug. in Ps. 99 Lily and Thornes promiscuously growing together, so that the Church is like Rebeccahs' womb, two several Nations are in it, like Noah's Ark, that hath clean and unclean beasts in it, like Saint Peter's net, which gathered fish and rubbish, like the Samaritans Inn entertains all manner of guests: wheat and chaff in one floor, meal and bran in one lump: and Saint Paul saith, in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but of wood and stone, some to honour, and some to dishonour. Saint Bernard saithe, Tria sunt loca, 2 Tim. 2.20. Ber. Sent. there be three places, heaven, hell, and earth, & each of these hath his several Inhabitants: Heaven hath none but good, hell none but bad, the earth hath good and bad mixed together. Saint Austin seems to apply it briefly, thus. Aug. loc. cit. 1. Quomodo consolaris? how dost thou comfort thy Church, (O Lord) against the multitude of ungodly men? she may seem to despair when she sees such thickets of thorns, as if all was turned to a wilderness, yet there is hope for her in this, sunt grana inter paleam, est Lilium inter spinas, There be some grains of corn amongst the great heaps of chaff, and a Lily among the multitude of thorns. Thus God cheers up Elijah in his grievous complaint, I have left me seven thousand that have not bowed the knee to Baal, and the Prophet tells the people, 1 Kings 19.18. Revel 2.4. there is a remnant, and there be a few names in Sardis, Matthew and Zachey among the Publicans, the Centurion among the Soldiers, Mary Magdalene among the harlots. Therefore though we do gemere as he saith, mourn that the ways of Zion want passengers, yet let us not mourn as Rachel for her children, refusing to be comforted because they were not, nor sorrow as they that are without hope. Doubtless many shall come from the East and from the West, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in that blessed Kingdom above, though we be not privy to the places they have there, nor to their going thither, the Church herself saith, in admiration of her increased number, who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, Isa. 49.21. and am desolate, a captive and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? behold I was left alone, these where had they been? And take we heed of over sullen censures, lest we condemn the generation of God's children, and take them for thorns which were Lilies, August. De nullo pronuntiandum est. 2. Quomodo confor●as? How dost thou strengthen us against the temptations of Satan and the seductions of wicked men? when thou tellest us thy Church is and continueth a Lily though amongst never so many thorns, she is (as I have already said) in a special manner in Christ his care and custody, in his hands, and none shall be able to pluck her thence, built upon a rock, and remains like mount Zion . Psal. 125. 3. Quomodo terres? How dost thou affright us with the consideration of our dangerous and militant condition here on earth, that we are beset with thorns, plainly in Ezekiels' case, briars and thorns are with us, Ezekiel, 2.6. and we dwell among Scorpions, and as God left the Canaanites to be pricks in the eyes, and thorns in the sides of Israel to teach them war, Judges 3.2. So hath he left us enemies to train us up in our military profession of Christianity. 4. That which is opposite to the scope of his exposition, and of the Text itself, is to persuade us, Tolerare malos, to be content to bear with and forbear them that be evil, for God himself hath said, that the tares shall not only be, but grow among the wheat, until the Harvest, and the bad shall be amongst the good in the same net, Math. 13.30. Aug. tom. 4. the Catech. 12. rud. until they be drawn to shore at the end of the world, even, he quem nihil frurorum latet, who knoweth right well what they are, and what they will be, suffereth them not only to enjoy being, but well being, all manner of outward blessings, causeth his Sun to shine, and his rain to rain upon them, yea Christ himself in the days of his flesh endured, even the contradiction of sinners, so that all those furious spirits, that seek an immediate and uttereradication of the thorns, and if it lay in their power, would command fire from heaven to consume them, do not imitate these blessed examples, show a great deal of nonproficiency in Christianity, as Saint Austin, Aug. decerpt. sen. Qui ideo neminem vult pati hominum quia ut arbitratur multum proficit, per hoc ●psum quod alios non tolerat, ostendit quod potius non proficit, a great want of patience, yea of Christian charity, which still hopes the best, judgeth nothing till the time come, and hath always a mantle ready to cover the infirmities of others, 1 Thess. 5.14. yea, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bear them up as a crouch doth a body that is lame, or a beam a house, that is declining, whereas these are ready to discover the nakedness of others, and even to thrust their fingers into their wounds to make them greater; and so in an unjust unchristian way, separate themselves, and while they relinquish the flock for the Goat's sake, crept in amongst them, they leave the sheep exposed to the rage of the wolf, whereas they ought to bear with the Goats for the sheep's sake, Aug. Epist. 48. Vicentio. Non enim propter malos boni deserendi, sed propter bonos mali tolerandi, The good are not to be forsaken by reason of those amongst them; which are evil, but the evil are to be tolerated in regard of those amongst them which are good, yea in forsaking them that, Aug. tom. 6. contra Faustum, man. l. 13. c. 16. be good, they relinquish Christ himself, cum isti relinquuntur iste relin quitur, who accounts himself relinquished, when they are relinquished which he accounts of: that question of S. Austin, is very fit for every one of them who precipitate God's judgement. Tom. 9 Hom. de ●vib. c. 10. li. c. 5. Hanc tune Angelus eradicans zizania? art thou the Angel which must pluck up the tares? and in the same Homily, Homo carne septus carnem portans, aut fortè caro totus, id est, caro corpore, carnalis animo, audes usurpate officium alienum, quod nec in mess erit tuum? Dares thou being perhaps carnal, at least clothed with flesh, and a man of like passions with others, usurp that office which shall never belong unto thee but to the Angels, and not be theirs, till the end of the world? and whereas thou shouldest supplicate for the further manuring and longer growth of the tree, dost thou antevert a commission to cut it down, that it may cumber the ground no longer? rather ●oe thou say and desire, as he, destroy it not, there is a blessing in it, Isaiah 65.8. I will close this point with that of Saint Cyprian worthy to be written in letters of gold, Etsi videntur in Ecclesiaesse zizania, non tamen impediri debet, aut fides aut charitas nostra, Cyp. ep. l. 3. ep 3. ut quoniam zizania esse i● Ecclesia cernimus, ipsi de Ecclesia recedamus. Nobis modò laborandum ut frumentum esse possumus, ut cum caeperit frumentum Dominicis horreis condi fructum pro opere nostro, & labour capiamus. The being of tares in the field, the Church ought not to be a hindrance to our faith or charity, nor is a sufficient cause of our separation from the Church, we should rather labour to be good corn ourselves, that when the Harvest comes we may be gathered into God's Barn, & there receive the fruit of our faith and obedience or further as he goes on, There be in a great house vessels of wood and earth, made for inferior uses, and others of gold and silver made for honourable services: thus it is in God's great house, the Church, we must labour to be vessels of honour, fit for our Master's use, and leave those of base metal to his disposal, who will at his own time break them in pieces like a Potter's vessel. 3. Junius thinks it spoken of the excellency & dignity of the Church in comparison of other Congregations, jun. in loc. and of such as are not truly hers, though mixed with hers. Tantum superat Ecclesia coeteros omnes caetus quantum Lilium spinas. The Church doth as far excel all other Congregations in worth, as the Lily doth thorns. Our Saviour speaks of the Lily, that even Solomon in all his Royalty was not arrayed like one of them, Mat. 6.29. if Solomon the most glorious Prince, in the height of his glory attained not to the lustre of the Lily: what a low rank must the burr, bramble, a thorn be of, to the spiritual Lily? what is Bethaven to Bethel, the house of Ammon to the house of God? the Tents of Sedar to the Tabernacle of Testimony? Abana and Pharpar, the puddle waters of Damascus to the clear waters of Israel, the wells of salvation? glorious things are spoken of the City, the Church of God, as glorious she is as the Sun when he goes forth in his might, Judges 5.31. nay, more glorious than the other Sun, for she is clothed with the Sun of righteousness, Revel. 12.11, and the Moon under her feet. They say the Pope is greater than any Prince of the earth, by so many degrees as the Sun is greater than the earth; let Parasites say what they will, we may truly lay the comparison, that the true Church of Christ doth infinitely excel that Antichristian Synagogue of Satan, and all profane Congregations, though they assume to themselves never so many vain titles of honour, as Sancta Ecclesia Catholica Romana, and so forth, and Musselmanni, as the Turks title themselves true believers, yet are they all thorns to the pure Lily, the Church. If it be referred to the Daughrers such as I have mentioned, that live within the pale of the visible Church, yet are not the peculiar Spouse of Christ. The truly Christian soul as fare exceeds them, as the Lily doth the thorns; what comparison is there betwixt the gold and the dross? the wine and the lees? the faithful Spouse of Christ, and the filthy harlot of the Devil? surely one little spot of ground Goshen that hath light in it, is worth all Egypt full of darkness, gross and palpable. Learn we highly to esteem these Lilies, and to prise these choice jewels, and in whomsoever we see true grace, sanctity and justice, which two are the candour and odour of the Lily, to value them, though they be beset with never so many thorns of infirmities or adversities, let us account of them as they are, indeed the heirs of heaven, the nobles of the world, for Generosa Christi festa, nobilitat viros cui quisquis servit ille vere est nobilis, and the pledges of our peace, it may be the fire had been before this time sent into the thorns, but that there are some Lilies amongst them to be preserved, and for their sakes God doth spare the thorns so long. Our later Divines have observed many other reasons and respects why the Church may be said to be a Lily among the thorns: I will only rub some few of their ears of corn, and leave the harvest to some other choice workman his gathering. A Lily among thorns. 4. In regard of the multitude of afflictions she suffereth in this life, for the Church hath ever been like Abraham's Ram held in a thicket of adversity, Christianus is Crutianus, as Luther was wont to say, a man of crosses. The servant is not above his master, God had but one only Son, and he was sine peccato, yet not sine stagello. Aug. in Psa. 31. Luc. 9 23. Beza. Therefore let us take up our Cross 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a day by day, ut dies diem sequitur, ita crux crucem accipiat every day we must expect sufficient travel, and with patience let us possess our souls for it, resolve that through many tribulation and afflict on's, we must enter into God's Kingdom, if we will have Christ, his Crown of glory, Acts, 14 22. we must be content to wear a crown of thorns. For the Church is a Lily among thorns. 5. In regard of the manifold impediments she hath to hinder her spiritual growth, namely, First, Satan is a black thorn in his temptations, always pricking and wounding the children of God, yea biting at the very root of the Lily, like the worm at the root of Jonahs' Gourd, and the Lily would as soon whither as that Gourd did, was there not a sovereign power from above to preserve it, pray we then unto God to rebuke Satan in all his assaults, that our Lily may flourish in despite of him. Secondly, natural corruption which God hath left to be pricks in our eyes, and thorns in our sides. Sa●nt Paul, that choice vessel of grace complains of them, Rom 7. I carry about me a body of sin and death, he calls it by the very term in my Text, the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, take we his course even to solicit God by frequent prayer, 2 Cor. 12.7. till we have the same answer which he obtained, my grace shall be sufficient for thee, and beg of him who comes with healing in his wings to heal our nature, that it may not be so fruitful in bringing forth these pricking thorns. S. Bernard particularizeth these to be Amores seculares immoderate, earthly desires, & worldly cogitations, which brings a barrenness of goodness to the soul, Math. 13. and choke the seed of the word. O munde, munde, saith St. Austin, Fallax & proditor, impure world, a traitor to us and a deceiver of us. It glues our wings, that we cannot soar upwards, and as he that hath a thorn in his foot is utterly unfit for travel, so he that hath these thorns of worldly cares stick in his soul, is unmeet for his journey to heaven. Let us therefore pluck out this thorn, and if riches increase, set not our heart upon them. Psal. 62.10. Thirdly, the perverse and sinful conversation of wicked men, which are thorns in our way to heaven, the sons of Belial shall be as thorns thrust away, 2 Sam. 23.67. because they cannot be taken with hands, but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with Iron, Cant. 1.6. and the staff of a Spear. The Church complains that her mother's sons made her the keeper of the Vineyards, but her own Vineyard she kept not, and hath not every member of the Church cause to complain with David, Psalm 119.61. Bern. in Cant. Ser. 48. the bands of wicked men have rob me? Saint Bernard is seasonable for a close of this point, Si Lilium est inter spinas videat unaquisque anima quam vigilem solicit ámque esse oporteat super custodia sui, septa undique spinis hinc inde aculeos intendentibus, The Church is like a Lily beset round about with thorns, that seek to wound and tear her, therefore let every soul be watchful and careful for the preservation of itself, that neither the thorn within do impoison her, nor those other without do pierce her to hinder her growth in grace here, or to deprive her of glory hereafter. 6. In regard of the small number of those that are the true members of the Church, in comparison of foreign Congregations without, and false brethren within, one Lily many thorns. Plures mali, they which are evil, Byas. are the greatest number. There is much mould whereof earthen vessels are made, but little dust that gold cometh of, 2 Esdras 8. many trees are planted, but few like that good tree bring forth fruit in their season: much seed is sown, but three parts thereof miscarry, Saint Augustin gives a good rule, Aug. in Ps. 39 Noli numerare sed append, stateram affer aequam non dolosam, Do not take them by number, but consider well of them, weigh them in the balance of the Sanctuary, or else thou mistakest, then afterwards, Noli imitari, Do not imitate them that be the most, or in words of holy writ, Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; the reason is given by one, Seneca. Est turba semper argumentum pessimi, the worse go by heaps and troops, the least are oftentimes solitary, of twenty Kings of Israel, not one good that cleave to the Lord with all his heart, of six hundred thousand Israelites, but two came into the Land of Canaan. It was a remarkable folly and punishment of Radbodus King of Frisia, who ask whether there were most in heaven or hell, and was answered, that in hell was the greatest number, withdrew himself from holy baptism, and professed plainly that he would go to hell, where the most company was, but he enjoyed his madness and contempt of God's Ordinance but a short space, for the third day after, he died suddenly. It is better to be with Noah & his small family in the Ark, then with the whole world to be drowned in the deluge, to be planted in God's garden with the Lily, then to be thrown into the fire with a whole wilderness of thorns. 7. Lastly, the Church is as the Lily among thorns in respect of her unity and their divisions and distractions, being torn in more pieces than the Prophet Ahjiahs' garment was, 1 Kings 12. for that was only into twelve, but these are infinite, parted into as many several conventicles are there be men of deeply corrupt minds, who do parts facere, as Saint Augustin saith of the Donatists, and gather disciples unto themselves, Aug. de unitate Ecclesiae. c. 3. Quis possit singulas quasi haereses enumerare gentium singalarem? saith Saint Augustin, who is able to reckon up all the heresies of every several Nation, Aug. de unitate Ecclesiae, c. 3. Daniel, ●. yea the several Sects that are in one Nation, these hold not the head Christ, and are as those beasts of Daniel, divers one from another, yet all against the Church, as the enemies to the Lily, and folded together to do more mischief, as the thorns are, Nahum. 1.10. they have unitatem contra unitatem, as S. Augustin saith, I am sure contra veritatem, a unity against truth, for our Saviour tells us not only of many false Prophets, but of false Christ's. But there is but one true Christ the head, and believers are the several members of his mystical body, united by faith to him their head, and in Christian charity one to another; and though there be threescore Queens and fourscore Concubines, and Virgins without number, yet is Christ his Spouse una & unica, Cant. 6.9. one and the only one of her mother. And S. Paul tells us, that there is but one body, one spirit, one hope of their spiritual calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, of all who is above all, our through all, Eph. 4.4, 5. john, 17. and in all his children, therefore they ought all to be one, as our Saviour prayed for them five times in one Chapter, the very thorns will lesson us in this duty; shall they be folded together to do hurt, and shall not the Lilies hold together to preserve one another? It is unity will make our colour more candid, out odour more fragrant, and fruitfulness, Aug. ep. 15. Hieronymo. more seasonable and abundant. For omnis pulchritudinis forma unitas, unity is the form of beauty and uniformity is the form of unity, where there is cor unum, and viauna, one heart and one way, the carriage of things will be prosperous, the end comfortable. I will close then with that prayer of Saint Paul for the Thessalonians. 2 Thess. 3.15. Now the Lord of peace himself give us peace us always, by all means, and that for Jesus Christ his sake, the Prince of peace, who dear bought our peace by his precious blood, to whom with the Father and the holy-Ghost, be given all glory, dominion, might, majesty, and thanksgiving from this time forth and for evermore, Amen. FINIS.