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Show Horr> the spcufe is the Rofe o.f sharm, (tlf, I am the RJfe.of Sbaron, Tl'f '-'illy of the Vallie!. Hence the Propolition, Prop. Tbe brlieving Snrll, or the Clmrcb of God, ( madt "P or jiteb Soul!) is like the Rn[e of Sbaron, and the Lilly of the Va/liu. My Work is but to open this ~1etapi}Or, and make a fuitable Application of it. Why doth the Spoofe compare her felf to the l~o[e of S;,.m,. and tbfLilly oftbo Val/in? t. They are both Flower!. He that wifdy confidersa Flower, will dilcern it a rJre piece of divine Workm1nlhip, fcarce excelled by any rh:ng elfe in nature. ut coelit111 p#izu demitti quam rx terra prodire videatur, faith ENr,J: whether you confider rhe unity and fubtilty of irs matter, or the odmirable contexture of its parts ; the variou; and rare finells which come from it, or the various ufes in which it ferverh the Sons of men. The !lower is an excelkr. t creature. Luk.r2.2 7. Solomon in all his glory was not like a tlower,one ofrhefe here mentioned, a Lrlly. · The believing Soul is a glorious creature, that Soul that hath learned to live tbe life robicb it >~on> livet by Faith ht tbe [on of God, f as f•tnt P~nl fpeaks): 1 fay rhrs Soul is a glorious creature. This ts rhe Ktngs daug,hrer that is gloricllls within. It is rrue as every .V"Igar CI'C dorh nor difcern rhe glory of the flower, not' confidertog the fubtiliry of the m1rrer, nor the contexture of rhe plrt"s ( yer rhe moll ordinary and leal! intelligent Perfons fee the beaury and !mell the fweernefs of Come !lowers;) Co every Vulgar Soul underlbnds ~ot the. e:><cellency of a Believer, every one Ieeth not ~he Spmrualrry ofhts Jrfe, the contexture of his Graces; yet rhere ts none to whom, the fweet odour of a Gofpel-Converfation atiling from Fairh, doth ~ot in fome meafure approve it felf, and who doth ~otto Come thrng~ underHand that the rigbteout i1 better than lm nerJ!.hbo11r, The Worldling in all his glory is not like co one of Chrilts Lillies, he ~ives but by bread [by the fenfitive things of thrs lrfe l; but rhe Belreving Soulliverh by the ward of God and hath. that (weer joy, and peace of which rhe world k~ows norhmg. 2 • The Rofe and the Lilly of all orher flowers are accounted tbe mofl noble f/orJJm. The Rofe is inter flom fprllatiffim 111( [Jy Nat~ ralrils) next the Rnfe ( f1ith Pliny ) rhe 'Lilly was accounted 1 fie~mofl extcllcnt •. The ~ofe excellerh, for Colour, for fmc II, for u e ulnefs; The Lrlly for tts rr>hittnefi( though in deed rhey are of dtversColour5) for talimfi, for frrritf14/Jufi, Pliny faith, one of thofe tl•e Lilly of the Val/ies l thofe !lowers will have in it fomctimes five hundred colours. The wori<S of Gods hands arc vatious, and there is an exceiJ(ricy in all of them, (though one Star dilfcrs from another in glory. ) Bur among!! all the flowers which God hath phntcd in the Gardm of his Creation, there's none like to the believing Soul; there are the Excellmt of the Eurh; Ro[er for fweernefs, Lilliu 'for whirenefs; Rofes for ufefulnefs, Lillin f ur fmitjitlnrfi. All rhe [weer finells of Heaven a~e in rhe Church of God; there is rhe fweet odour of fairh, foacceptablc to God, and fweer-finelling charity, fo IDvely to the fons of men: There's humility,temperance,meek,_nefi,brotherly- f,Jnd•trfi,goodnefi, gentlenefi; in 010rt wharloever is amiable arnongll the Cons of men. The mural Vertuour ma11 is a kind of Rower, and hath his lovelinefs; but rhe truly Believing Chriflian, the true child of God, excels the fair eft flower, thar can grow in the garden of meer nature; as much as the Rofe of S baron excelled all other Rofes, or the Lil,ly of rhe Vallies or her Lillies, Thirdly, The Ro[e of Sharon and rhe Lilly of tbe Vallie~, they are bnt floiPerr oft he field; and rhus I told you rhe Sept. and fome other Interpreters interpret rhjs Text, Ego fum flor campi: Sbaron indeed. was no ordinary field, it was a glorious field, far more fruitful than the places of the wildernefs; but an open field. There is a difference between the flower of the Garden ( thar's enclofed, proteded, and defended by an ordinlry hedg ), and the flower of the field tha'rs expofed to wind and weather; and (as we !hall hear afterward) if a Lilly amongfl thorns, Sim11l exponit f•wn pulcritudi, em, et etiam ptricu/i gravitalem ( fairh De Ponte upon that 1 ext ) as that !be calls her felf, a Rofc, a Lilly, !he fetterh om her L ovelinefs and Excellency but in rhar 01~ calls her feffThe Ro[e of Sharpn, The Lilly of tbe Vallie~, 01e lignifies her danger to whiclt fhe is expofed. The beleiving Soul, though a Rofe, is but like a Rofe in Sharon; though a Lilly is but a Lilly of rhe Val/in, white it is in rhis life,both th_sfe rar_e flowers might be trodden down and abufed by rhe herds that fed there. The world is Sbaron, lr is the place ofrhe Valleyr, As God harh his flower there, So rhe God of the world, keeps his herds there. God harh made the prefent world a Common both for Saints and Sinners: and though· as rhe foil of grounds is di/ferenr, one part more fruitful than another ; 10 in the world there is a difference betwixt Sharon and tbt Wildrrnejr,rhofeparts where the Church is,and thofe where Pagani[m reigneth; yet there's no-place Cecure from the wildbea!ls that |