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Show c-hrijl1 spoufo 4 LiUJ arn~11gft Thor111. time will come whenChtifr will pluck his Rofes, and tranfplant his Lillies and' then the herds !hall bite them no more, the fro!\ nip them' no more , nor the winds bllfr them any more. Cant. 2. v. 2. A1 a LiLy~mcngft the 1hmts;fo >s my beloved among!! tbeDaugbterr. CHrifi had heard his belo~ed fay, I am tbe Rofe of Sharon, and the Lilly of tbe VaUzer; htmfelf now takes up her words, and replieth upon her in her own metaphor : 0 my beloved, it is not without a caufethat thou haft complfed thy felfto a Lilly; for ar a LiUy ammg~ tbe 1ho••nn, fo is my beloved ama>tgft tb~ Daughterr. Whtther he )peaks this by W3Y of condoling, pityi~g her dangero ~s and afflicted State, ( as lome thiRk ) or by way of cammwdation of her, that fhe was M a LiUy ( though amongft Thornr,) or by way of camllioH of lm. Thou lookel\ for Ret!, and talkell of a Bed; but ala_s ! thy_ fr~te js 110 !late ofR~!l,thou art a Lilly among!\ Thorns ! Or by 1>1-u' .of ,;JmJP.rt· to her, (as fame others think) m whethe~>upll\\ aU. t)l~fe i!<:c<;>unts will be matter of our farther inquiry herll3fter. , In the mean time every ooe may fee, that the Text is a compari!<m, and in it there are 2 comparifons. Here is a comparifon betwixt, I. A. Beloved and a Lilly. 2 . Betwixt tee D•u.ghters and the,1bar~s. _ T~e Notes, of ~h_e, Comparifon are the 2 pa~ticks: TIJe,ai)iK~ alld 1h~ par tide t::l jic11( :_ Let me tir!l o-pen the tetmSJ j_ < • ~ • •• •• r : we met wltb the word tranfiated Lilly in the (drrner verfe : It hath its name in. Heb. from its 6 {,.eaves; they fay the City Rofe, Sbujhan had its name from this word, becaufe of the many Lillics growing near ,to it. ~_ The word_tranOated Tf;prns is iW:l. There are many words in ~he .Heb. tQpgue _which lij,l'ify Thorns; fome fay 20, fomefay 9• Thit; is one, and is often ufed, I Sam. r3. 6. there it is tranOarec\ thickets, a r,hicket is a place of Thorns. So, 2 Chron. 33. 11. M~na§es was took amongft tbe Tborns. It is. tranllated thil\les, 'Job. 31. 40. It is ufed, Prav. 2 6 . 9· tranfiated l!rambler, I fa. 3 4· is. 1hifiler, 2 Kings I 4· 9· you f,e Interpreters at a lofs concerning what kind of Thorns t·o interpret the term; and theseforolliey Hanfiatc it a Tborn, a Braml.le, a Thi!Ue, a <Jbid;~t; nor do I thlnk .a Curiofi•y of inquiry worth the- while. For the other words of the Text we have met with them befor e, nor chri.fh spo1lje a LiUy amongft Thor111• no_r is the_re a_ny diflicul!y in them : r !hall therefore proceed from tins exphcatton of the words, to a more ufefu! explication of the matter m the Text: The PropoGtion li es before you. Prop. Ar a Lilly am011g Thorn<, fo is Cbri(ls beloved amanlft tbe Vaughterr. - · 1. It is Gregory Niffinr Obfcrvation. That here is a method of Similitudes obferved by our Saviour, he had bCrore likened the Spoufe to a Bride,to a Virgi11 beloved of a man,to fhew the tranfcen~ e~t love which he_ b~rc to her; this he repeats in this ver fe. l'1 li"l ~ever was Vtrgtn fo beloved of him that follicit cd her for~ Wtfe a; th~ Church ~nd every bel ieving So ul is beloved of Chnll ; !he tS Ius Companron, his near kj11jwaman, his Beloved. 2. H~ had con;pa~ed her to a Dove for it's eyes,as Chafl as a Dove, as qutck and ptere~ng as a Dove. 3· Here he likens her to a flower, yea to the fincll of flowers, but amongll Thorns, to mind her that a;fhe hath a duty of po!itive Holinefs in which 01e is indebted to htm: ~o fhc hath a d~ty of -felf-d enial and falTering for his name. 2. It ts the obfervat!on of others. That out Sav.iour compares the beloved to one Ltlry ; but fpeaks of Tharn1 in the plural number. Chr~[lr f/ackJ< a ltttle flack._, grc~t, if conlidered in ir fell;7ooo of every rnbe were fealed; but (mallm comparifon of the rell of the _world. There wereman.Y widawri11 I[rael, faith our Saviour, but tt was ?at to one widow that Elijah wM fent. There are many Sou_Is tO the world, but they arc but few to whom Chrill cometh m the workings of his faving Grace: it is not1eJery one that [ait/1 Lord, Lord, but he that doth the· will of •ur f~~ther·.' ·lfhe way •to , Heaven is a (rrait way and few there be thar find it. ' l - 3· Delrio obferv~s, That it is a t~ken of Love and Intimacy, when a prefent frtend fpeaks of a frtend prefent in the; perfon • . Chtifr doth not fay as a Lilly among ·1 /urns [o art thou; but fo is my b.Joved at~ong~ the Daughters : If ~hhe' be any· love to be conduded from the fGrm of the Exprcffton ir certainly cannot be more properly noted in any Difcourfe tha'rl that 0f Chri!l to his belovtd. As his heart is full GfLove, fo his wo<ds are nothing elfe but that Love.B_ur th~t I may not lltck too mttch upon theSkirtsof the text, let us tnqutr~ l>y way bf Explication ; Who u thu beloved. 2. What are thefe 'fhar/11, and why ate they fo fet out. 3: Who are the b•~ghrets~ wherein the aptnef' of the fimiliwde _lm. 4· Wby Cbrift wt/1'/et hlf beloved be among)! Tborm. 5· what tmprovern~nts may be made of this notion. C3 1, Who |