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Show " 1 lfow the spo11fe is the Rofe of Shttro•, that fed here. Thus I have opened the Metaphor,and. fhewedynu how the Believing Soul is the Rofe of Sharou and the Ltlly of the Vallm. 1, It fignifies fir(!, the Believers beauty, glory and ufefulnefs. 2 • It fignifies the dangerous State of the BelteYer :md of the Church in this life. 2. Qu. But wlmrce if it, tbat tbe fpo•fe ;, tbe Rofe of Sluron, tbe Lily of the Valliu l And rf jhe be fitch why doth God fuffer lm to be a flower oft he firldl - 1 • As to' the firll, give me leave to fay as the Apotlle, What bajf lhou whicb thou h<1fl not received l Whatfoever the Soul of man is other than filth, and corruption, is all by Grace. The fairell RofofSh> w<,was a nettle by nature, the moll lovely Liliy of the Vallie~ was but a poifonous plant. We are perfed: through Cbrijll. comelimji put upun u1, Ezek. 16. 1 4· Pliny tells u.a !lory of Lillics, that thole wbo have attended ,the drelling and improving thofe plants have ufed 'wben they lirll fhoot up in the Spring, to pour the lees o!Red-wineupon the root,and afterwa~ds in trenches where thofe roots fland,to pour a good quantity of that .Wine; which (faith he) the :root fo eff«~lually drinks in, that it fends forth blofTomes and 1\owets perfectly of the Colour. I will ~ot di(. pute the truth of that flory: But give me leave to tell you that Chritl taketh much fuch a courfe to create the beautiful Role of Sharon; He hath trodden the wineprrfi of hi1 Father! 7P>'atb alone. The wine Waf red, Chrill poureth this red-wine of his blood up. on the Soul, and fo it becomes a Ro{e of Sharon, a Lilly: he caufeth the Soul to imbibe thi! blood, and by this it brings forth the ,fruits of Righteoufnefs and Holinefs. Shar011 naturally brings forth a beautifnl Rofe, and the Valliu naturally produce thefe lovely Lillies: But it was by vertue of a fruitful juice which the God of nature had firfl poured out'upon that foil, The Believing Soul on courfe brings forth the pleafant fruits ofRighteoufnes acd Holinefs; but it is the Gcd of Grace who by' the Spirit of Sanctification applying the blood ofChrill to the Soul,hath firfi created in it fuch a gracious difpofition.Without difiinguifhing Grace rhertwould be as little a difference berwixr a Believing Soul and another, as there was betwixt Sharon and a Wilderntji, luppoGng the firfl robe bldfcd by the great Creator with no more far, and fettled difpofition than anJther, He that looketh upon the natmal face of the child of the Lilly oft he VallieJ l o! God, and juclgeth of him by the lines of that, mull pronounce hrm, Proud and Smbbmr and Vab:, and fooli01 as another is. And the child of God hath nothing to fay bm (as Socratu told the Phyliognomer, I was (o indeed by nature, bnt Edncation hath made me otherwife) I was fo till the Grace of God made me be~tcr. E,·eh PaJtt himftlf was a btafpbemtr, a perfecutor, and it was by Grace that he was any other, that he"'" what be W.JJ : But this is a theme which I have had already frequent cccaGons to touch upon. 2. (2,1. Some may further fay to me, Bul why {h.;u/d God fiifJ<r bir Ro{e! to grow in the field, hi! LiUit! lo ]land in the Val/iu 1 Wby bath • he 11ot ( li~ men) a G>rden inclofed for them l why jit}j(rt he tbe wbeat to grow •montlf the tarer I · To this I anfwer, who art thou th•t difputrfl with God; or olfer. ell counfels to inilinitc wlrdom l or why fhould we leek to find out the reafon of his actions l yet fo far as we may give a rea ion ofhisactions? .._ I. God i1 every day makjng Rofe 1 and Lzlliu of the herb! of the field, ~nd hts Ro{er fianding there, his Li/liu being there, hof grtat rtje tn lrder to thi1 work, When all Gods Rofes and Lit/iu in the world O~all be come up and difplayed, you fhall fcc a tranfplantation in. a moment of time. God is every day converting Come or other changing one heat! or another, and he lets his Lillies and Rofe~ !land amongfi the weeds of the field. in order to this great work. Ftiny faith, that the Liiliu breed Lilliel'with its juice: fute we are ~hat both that and the Role too by the feed they 01ed, and by the . Influence of their roots, breed p\Jnts like themfelves. The child of God drops his holy feed, the juice of his Grace, and is infiru· mental in breeding more. They mufllland in the field, that others [ inconverted Son I<] may fee their honefi Converfation · and glorifie God in tbe day of their Vzfitation, 1 Pet.>. 12. Noah' mufi lland in the old-world, and kt in Sodom ( though their ·own nghteous Souls be vexed) that they m1y Preacb rightrolffnefi. Ob 1 that the Pe·ople of God would confider this, that one enc\ of thdr fianding in the world is to make others like themfelves.' z.Again,Ybey have a work._ to do to glorifie God on eartb:Even Chrifi himfelf prays not to be f!,lorifted with the Father, rijl he had laid, Jo~:t7+ I ha~c glorified thee on lprtb, Ihave fiNifhedthe "'"k.. wh<ch th1H haft giVen me to do. Chrifi hath a garden for all his flla·nts of Grace, a garden fo indo fed that the winds !hall not hmt tlwn, |