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Show , How the s;ollj'e ~JChrij"iot a LiUjltiiiDHgflThorll!? (man a Lilly prickt to death by that grieving Thorn.) Since her da 5 rndeed God hath given u.s more reft ; ' but take the tr ue me~bersofthe Church, ( whomde_ed onlydeferve t?e name, ) fuch I mean as live a diflingui!hing Life and Converfauon, n>alk,: in[ clo{<ly with God all this time, hath not t~ere been an _envy '" 'Ephraim againfl them ~ I wi!h we could fee tt cealed thts day : But there is, there mull be an Enmity between the feed of the womln,and of the Serpcnt,and the lire mufl _Produce ~orne l~ok e. Thirdly, Mr. Ain[wortb faith, that Chnfi by thts fimlhtude !heweth hisbelovedwbat jheo11ght to be; o~, As _a Ltlly :amoP-gft Tbmu. The Lilly even among It Thorns ts r<>IJtte and mnocent, yea, and it grows up and llouri!heth amongfi t~em ; but l lhall not iniarse upon this, becaufe I lpake m;tch _to tl under the lirfi head,and fhaii fpeak more of it in t?e Apphcauon. Lafily, As a Lii!Y amongft Thornnsdefr~d~d andpr~tetled,~ea,tVI." by the Thornr;[o is the Church of God. Thts rs Mr.Brtgbtm~ll r notton. God makes the wicked of the world to be as a thorn-bed~ to his people· but of this alfo before.l proceed to the fourth Q!!efiton. Qu. 4· 'wm lome fay, why doth the Lord fulfer his Lilliu to kl amo11g(i Thorns? It is not for want of power becaufe he cannot burn up the Thorns, or tranfplant the Lillies, he can do both, and will too in his due time: It is not for want of Love, he that for their fake removed himlelf from Heaven to Earth, and again to do their bufinels afcendcd up to H~aven, could ifhe pleafed eafiiy remove them from Earth to Heaven : It mufi be tlien.tbe product ofhis Wifdom, in purfitit of his wile and gloriou~ ends. The great end of all his actions? is his own Glo~y. All_thmgs are b~th from bim andf.r bim. TbtsglorifJmt of hr_name, 1~ an end whtc~ he obtains two ways: r. In the true [alvat10n of bu people. 2. ln the juft condemnation of the wic~ed. But thottgh the Salvation of the godly be free, (without any meriting_ caufe in them) and that the Damnation of the wicked may be jull. As by the more pojitive direuive Allr of hir Providence, he doth make the Sai~trfit forbi1 Kiltgdom,and worl;,tbem rtp for Glory.: So by the permrlllve operationr ofhil ProvideHe~, ht doth lulfer Stoners to fit. them{<lv:r for wrath. Now as both thefc t~ings are ~one? by .•arrous Provt• dences ; fo by that converle whtch God m hts Wtfdorn hath ap· pointed, his Lillie~ amongfi the wicke.l which are Thorns, both tbefe things are done. By this mean1, God is glorifyed by and concerning HoJV the spo11fe ofChrifl if IH a LiUJ amqngft Thorns? and that two ways: I, A1 their faith and p•timce are exerci[<d: T~ibulatio11 wor~th patience, Rom·. 5· 3. Here's the Faith, and the Patience of the Saints ( laitb Saint John Rev. 13. 1 0 ) Here; where? when the Beaft fPok.! B/ajphemy, v. 5· 6. and made WJr with tl1e SaintJ. Faith and Patience; are rare and eminent Graces ·by which God is highly honoured, and the child of God rarely fitted for. the inheritance of the Saints of Light. They are never learned fo well, nor tryed fo well, nor .nled fo much, as .when the people of God arc as Lillie~ among]! Tbor11s, what !hall I fay of humility, fervency in Spirit {<rvingGod, rPatchfulneJI in aU our coli· fitr{ation, &c. all thefe excrcifes of Grace arc quickned and improved by the Saints being as a Lilly amongfl Thorns. c,r noll '" pmlitH homi11ih111 hoc lucraretur Dem q14od prod1fent boni1 HI in · bit redimeretur j~tlura m~lignitatll eorrt1n (faith a quaint Author:) Why !hould not God be a faver. ( ifit may be) by the worft of men; 'tis all that God hath in recompence for the injury they do in the World. they are a little profitable to his Saints. But 2, AU the h•nour of the Child of God m1cundr to God. The be- 141/td of God Kever batb more honour, and !hews more beautiful than •mong{f Thor11r. The Children of God are but fiars, the darker the night is, the brighter the Stars appear. The worfer the World is, the more Glory there is in a Believers ,converlati· on •. 3· GodspPwer is glorified in heping his Lii!Y amollgji ·Thmu. It is a miracle .of Providence that a burning· bufhfhould not be confo"' ed, that a Lilly amongfi Thorns ll10uld not be rent in pieces; itis like the life of·Da11ie/ in a Lions-den,like the three Cbildrenrwal- kjng in the midjl of the !iu, and not being burned. Methinl1s it were enough even to convert an Atheift for him to ccnfidcr, how macy years the Ark._ of the Church hath been floating upon the wa· tcrs ofthe.Worid, and how many tempclls have been in. the time; , and, that it thould live at this Sea : How man.y enemies the Gofpel- Church hath had from its firfi plantation, and that yet it is not pluckt up by the roots. How many frumps, !corns, and difcouragcments the dole-walking Chrillian in courfe meets with, and ; yet that there !hciuld be any fuch on the Earth ? , Secondly; By this mcans,as the V'tffilJ of love are fitted f11r HeavtH• , fo the Veffilr of mrath•are fitted for the· damnation of heU. I told you . the.lafi day, that the end of Thorns is to be b"rned but they will . not burg in their grecond$: men.le.t them wither,.and fo fit them . for , |